Aneka Jansen 5: The Greatest Heights of Honour (25 page)

‘War is arranging for a whole bunch of skill chips for me,’ Ella explained in a calm voice. ‘Bash and Drake could handle a lot of things better than I can, but they can’t swap between
all
of them, and we don’t know what we might need. The only other person here who can do it is Abby, and we can’t ask her to do it.’

‘You could ask,’ Abby replied.

‘No,’ Aneka said, ‘we can’t. You’re needed here. You’ve a treaty to negotiate.’

Abby nodded. She had already sent a message to Old Earth saying that she had arrived safely and was talking to some ‘important alien dignitaries.’ They had all decided that further detail could wait until a decision had been made about how things should go forward.

Gillian looked at Aneka. ‘I don’t understand how you can agree to this.’

‘I’m not happy about it,’ Aneka replied. ‘But she’s got all the AIs on her side and… They’re right. Alone I don’t like my chances, even with that ship they’ve built for me. With Ella there I might be able to pull this off.’

‘All right,’ Drake said. The ex-Navy man seemed rather more sanguine, or perhaps resigned, than the others. Maybe he had done his own assessment and agreed with Ella and the AIs. ‘So the two of you go in there, and do what, exactly?’

‘The AIs have probe ships in various major systems. They’ve been monitoring communications coming out of an asteroid in the Herosia system which seem to indicate that it is the central command and control centre for their war effort.’

‘Not Galinor?’

Aneka shook her head, but it was Ella who went on. ‘No, they think that the central government in Galinor has been sidelined, along with various core elements of the military. You know how the Herosians are. As long as the forces being driven out of Herosia come out on top, the rest of them will step up and say it was a great idea, and until then they won’t do anything either way. They’ll hope to salvage the Federation by claiming that it was just rogues who went to war.’

‘Not that New Earth is going to buy that,’ Monkey put in.

Gillian nodded. ‘Some of the border worlds might be a little more pragmatic, but not the core.’

‘Anyway,’ Aneka said, ‘the AIs have built some sort of computer virus, a non-volitional, replicating AI. It’ll transmit itself out over the tachyon relay system, infecting every Herosian station it comes to. Then it’ll track down and destroy records of Xinti technology, shut down offensive systems where it can, and kill their FTL communications.’

‘Their entire infrastructure will grind to a halt,’ Ella said. ‘They won’t be able to build more ships, and the ones they do have will be crippled as soon as they get within radio range of an infected communications site.’

‘The only problem is that it’ll need to be inserted into that communications hub in Herosia.’ Aneka gave a little grimace. ‘Which is why they’ve built this super-ninja spaceship to get us in there.’

There were some blank looks, including one on Ella’s face. ‘Super-ninja?’ the redhead asked.

‘Ninjas were a type of warrior in ancient times,’ Abby told them. ‘They were famous for stealth and assassination.’

Aneka laughed. ‘You have no idea how nice it is to have someone else to explain stuff like that.’

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There was definitely something ninja-like about the ship sitting in the hangar bay. It was sleek, dart-shaped, and the kind of black that seemed to drink in light. You could imagine it slipping through space without being noticed at all and killing its target before anyone was the wiser. There was a single, slim weapon port under the nose and a turret mounted on either side of the sleek hull forward of the wings. She was obviously designed to be as fast, manoeuvrable, and invisible in an atmosphere as she was in a vacuum.

‘That is an evil-looking ship,’ Drake commented. ‘Beautiful, but nasty.’

‘Can’t wait to see what she can do,’ Aneka replied.

The cockpit of the Gwy was a windowless room in the core of the forward section. Access was a gravity tube from the floor above which housed the two habitation modules. It was a little tight getting everyone in, and there was not much to see, just a pilot’s chair without any sign of visible controls. Drake and Shannon were there, so was Wallace, and Gillian and Bashford were along for the ride. With Ella they were just about at capacity.

‘How do you fly the thing?’ Drake asked, frowning at the blank room.

‘Virtual flight system,’ Ella told him. ‘Another reason why I’m one of the few people who could fly her.’

‘Basically,’ Aneka explained, ‘the ship links to the pilot and the pilot sits in a virtual flight environment. I connect by wireless, Ella can plug herself in. Her reaction time in flight might be a little better than mine.’

‘Almost makes me want an implant,’ Shannon said. Then she grinned. ‘Almost.’

Aneka grinned back. ‘Go get yourselves strapped in and we’ll get underway.’

As they floated back up to the next floor, Aneka settled into the deeply reclined chair and strapped herself in. Gwy was supposed to be capable of phenomenal acceleration, quite sufficient that, even with the compensators, there would be some appreciable pull on course shifts.

‘Okay, Al, initiate the connection and start the software.’

‘Initiating now…’

Aneka found herself sitting more upright in a chair with twin joysticks on the arms. Around her was blackness for the second or so it took for the ship to transfer their environment data through to the software running alongside Al. Then it seemed like she was hanging in space, or inside the hangar bay of the station anyway. Virtual display panels unfolded before her, transparent enough not to obscure her view, but showing all the data she might need to fly the ship.

A soft, female voice sounded from the space around her, seeming to come from everywhere at once. ‘Good morning, Aneka, I am Gwy. It is a pleasure to finally meet you.’

Of course the ship had an AI. ‘Hello. Uh, are we ready for this flight?’

‘All systems are fully functional. Pre-flight checks have been made.’

‘Thank you. Coordinate with Al, please. He’s my backup.’

‘We are already communicating.’

‘Great. Could I have internal comms, please?’ A display lit up to indicate that she did almost immediately. ‘Everyone ready up there?’

‘I’m just strapping in,’ Ella said, ‘then we’re ready.’

‘Not much of a view,’ Drake commented. Then he added, ‘Okay, I take that back.’

‘That’s actually a little unnerving,’ Gillian commented. ‘Even the floor. Uh, we’ve got a full outside view now, Aneka. The whole room just became a video projection suite. It’s like the chairs are sitting on space.’

‘Yeah, I’ve got the same thing going here,’ Aneka replied. ‘Okay, buckle up and we’ll get going.’

Gwy cut the connection before Aneka could ask for it. ‘Flight clearance has been given,’ the computer said. ‘We can make our exit when you are ready.’

Taking a deep breath, Aneka took hold of the controls and nudged the ship around to face the bay doors. It turned instantly, as though it were being moved by some great hand. Aneka grinned.

‘Leave the internal comms on, Gwy. Drake and Shannon will be expecting commentary.’

‘As you wish, Aneka.’

The light came on again as she pushed the ship smoothly toward the hatch. ‘This thing is ridiculously responsive,’ she said.

‘The ship’s we flew around Negral were like that,’ Shannon replied. ‘Reactionless drives take a little getting used to, but they’re amazing.’

‘Gwy’s engine is supposed to be something special.’

‘I read the specs,’ Drake said. ‘Around a hundred Gs maximum thrust.’

‘We have cleared the bay doors and are free to accelerate,’ Gwy announced.

‘Well then,’ Aneka said, ‘let’s see what she can do.’ She pushed forward on the right stick and suddenly they were moving, their pace increasing at an incredibly rapid rate. Not that it was easy to tell since the view in front of them was blackness.

‘Gopi!’ Ella said. ‘Look back at the station.’

Aneka risked a brief look back over her shoulder and sure enough the huge space station they had come from was vanishing into the distance very rapidly. She cut the throttle and moved the left stick, and the ship swung around so that they were flying backward with the station receding in front of them.

‘Oh wow,’ Shannon said. ‘She
is
responsive.’

‘Aggy will be jealous,’ Drake commented.

‘Maybe we can get her a refit,’ Aneka suggested.

Just for the practice, she swung them around end-over-end, which left them flying ‘upside down,’ if that were a valid orientation in space, and then rolled the ship around its axis until they were upright.

‘You’re playing, Aneka,’ Gillian said.

‘Getting the feel of the ship,’ Aneka replied. ‘That’s right, isn’t it, Drake?’

‘Oh yeah,’ the Captain replied. ‘It looks a lot like playing, but it’s deadly serious. Yup.’

Aneka giggled. ‘Okay. Gwy, let’s bring the warp core online. We’ll go out five minutes or so, then turn around. I just want to know what she feels like.’

‘Warp core online,’ Gwy replied immediately. ‘Initiate when ready.’

‘Hold onto your seats, folks,’ Aneka said. ‘Initiating warp… now.’ She hit a button on one of the joysticks and the world around them blurred, rippled, and went back to normal. Ahead of her, Aneka could see the warp field metrics being displayed. She could hear nothing from the advanced drive and everything looked the way she expected it to look. The speed was a match for the Pegasus, except that Gwy had full defences and the Pegasus was toothless.

‘Okay, I’m going up to see our passengers,’ Aneka said. ‘Give me minimal interface.’

And she was back in the blank walled cockpit with a small, in-vision display giving important flight parameters. Undoing her straps, she sat up and found herself looking at a girl with obsidian skin, opalescent eyes, and a cap of blue-blonde hair. She was not especially tall, had pixie-like, slightly mischievous features, and a young-looking, slim body with long legs.

‘Gwy?’ Aneka asked. ‘Have you been talking to Aggy?’

‘I have had lengthy conversations with Agroa Gar since her arrival,’ Gwy replied, smiling. She had pearly white teeth, literally. ‘She suggested that a humanoid avatar would make things more… comfortable.’

‘Okay, well I assume you can project into the room upstairs as well as my eyes?’

‘Of course.’

‘Then I’ll meet you up there.’ Aneka stepped across the room into the gravity tube and was rising up to the floor above before she had hit the button to do so. Gwy appeared to be a helpful sort of computer.

‘She has been designed specifically for this vessel,’ Al supplied. ‘That means that she is more like me than Aggy, in a way. Her purpose revolves around you.’

‘That’s not going to be a problem if Ella has to fly her, is it?’

‘Gwy is designed to anticipate your needs, but that won’t stop her functioning perfectly well for Ella. She may, in fact, adapt to both of you if Ella is to spend significant time with her.’

Nodding, Aneka stepped out onto the upper deck and turned right into the secondary habitat. The room was configurable. Dynamically configurable. Right now it housed comfortable seating for six, but it could be a conference room, an office, or a sickbay as required. As Aneka walked in, the room display changed from the open star field to a more room-like appearance. They could still see the stars through virtual windows in the side walls and ceiling, but it seemed more solid. And Gwy was standing to one side, arms clasped behind her back.

‘How’s everyone doing? No problems?’ Aneka asked.

‘We’re fine,’ Drake replied. ‘I take it our new friend is Gwy?’

‘Yup. She’s been chatting to Aggy. I assume you know who everyone is, Gwy?’

‘I have been fully briefed on my guests.’ She held out an arm and a display materialised beside Wallace’s chair. ‘I have taken the liberty of arranging the warp core diagnostics for you, Doctor Wallace. I was told you would be interested.’

The aging physicist beamed at the avatar and leaned over to examine the displays.

‘Let me know if you see anything odd, Abraham,’ Aneka suggested.

‘Of course,’ Wallace replied. ‘Not that I expect to find anything odd.’

‘She feels like she’s running smoothly,’ Drake commented.

‘According to the flight data I’m seeing, she is,’ Aneka told him.

‘So you’re still in control, even here?’

‘Theoretically I can initiate the full control environment anywhere on the ship. The bandwidth is more restricted outside the cockpit though.’

‘She’s quite a ship,’ Shannon said.

‘Thank you, Miss Patton,’ Gwy replied.

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Aneka floated in a vacuum, her skin wrapped in living metal, and watched as Ella moved smoothly over Gwy’s outer hull in a Xinti-designed spacesuit. The anthropology specialist was showing remarkable aptitude for engineering at the moment. An hour earlier she had been inside going over the communications system with equal skill.

Gwy had no engine room so if you needed to work on several of the major systems you needed a dry dock or you had to suit up and float around the hull. While it made repairs in battle more or less impossible, it conserved interior space and was not viewed as a problem. In many ways, if Gwy needed to be repaired during a fight she had already failed.

‘It’s pretty amazing what those chips can do for you,’ Aneka commented.

‘Uh-huh,’ Ella replied a little absently as she concentrated on her tasks. ‘I get the knowledge I need, but they also included virtual tutor programmes which take me through a number of tasks step by step.’ She fumbled a securing bolt, cursed, and caught it before it floated away. ‘Of course, it’ll be a lot easier when I have that new suit. The gloves on these don’t make delicate work easy.’

‘You’ll need to familiarise yourself with that too. We’ll do a couple of EVAs tomorrow with it, and some training when we’re in flight.’

‘Uh-huh. Plus I’m going to look really sexy in it.’

Aneka laughed. ‘It’s for protection, not allure.’

‘It never hurts to look good while you’re being badass,’ Ella replied.