Precipice of Darkness Page 6
“That’s not what I meant,” Valkris Sera shot back. “Don’t you want to know which one of us is a copy of the other?”
Sera raised her hands. “Easy, now. We’re not really copies, its different than that.”
LMC Sera waved a hand. “Right, we’re sourced from a backup of your neural network, making us more like branches of a tree than copies. That’s all semantics; it doesn’t change the facts of the matter. You’re the original; we’re divergent.”
“Not that divergent,” Valkris Sera said with a coarse laugh.
“I have to admit,” Sera mused, hoping to placate her sisters. “I’ve wondered if I’m not a copy, as well. Like there was some earlier Sera that mother didn’t quite like, so she made some tweaks, and here I am.”
LMC Sera snorted. “Given your wardrobe proclivities, I’m pretty sure you’re not the Sera made in her image.”
Valkris Sera raised her eyebrows. “I’ve been meaning to ask. Can I get it back? The skin?”
“You want it?” Sera asked.
“Stars, yes! Mother said that it was destroyed in the attack that killed Helen—all lies, I know now—but hot damn, I’ve missed it. I was halfway tempted to send someone to Silstrand just to find out where Rebecca sourced that original suit that devoured our skin.”
LMC Sera shook her head. “I’m more than happy to keep my real skin—and how do you know that the attack and Helen’s death was a lie? What if this other one of us,” here she paused to gesture at Sera, “is the imposter? What if—”
Valkris Sera leant over the table and placed a hand on LMC Sera’s wrist. “We both know that’s not true. Besides, the ISF freed us from mother’s control. I know you feel it. I feel it too.”
A shuddering breath sucked past Valkris Sera’s lips and she nodded. “Yeah…it just sucks balls.”
“All the balls,” Sera added.
“You?” Both other Seras asked in unison. “Why does it suck for you?”
“Really?” Sera asked. “Don’t you get it? I might not be in the same boat as you two, but I’m in the one right next to you. Mother made me just like she did with you. She made the version of father that she wanted, and then she made me—only after failing to create a viable scion with Andrea.”
LMC Sera snorted. “At least Mom knew a total write-off when she saw it.”
The three women broke into soft laughter before falling silent once more.
“Here’s how I see it,” Sera said. “Mom fucked with all three of us. Tried to make us to be her puppets. But that doesn’t mean we’re lesser beings. We’re still exactly who we’ve always been—tough, sexy, ass-kicking women who aren’t going to take this laying down. And Tanis has a mission for us: take out Airtha in a targeted strike. We can do that and save the Transcend. Then we stop those douchebags in Orion, and finally bringthe fight to the Core AIs. Everyone who has a god complex goes down.”
“There may be some specifics in there that I would like to tweak, but in general, I’m onboard with this plan,” LMC Sera said with a grim smile.
“What of Tanis?” Valkris Sera asked. “She’s got a bit of a god complex, if you ask me.”
Sera shrugged. “Maybe a bit. You have to admit, she’s something different. Either way, it’s a miracle that she and the ISF are here trying to help. I think if Tangel were to order it, they’d all just head off and leave us to our devices.”
“Maybe,” Valkris Sera said with a shrug.
LMC Sera set her elbows on the table and folded her hands before setting her chin on them. “So. Let’s finally talk about the elephant in the room. Who gets to keep the name?”
“Sera?” Sera asked.
“Yeah,” Valkris Sera said. “It’ll be confusing as fuck if everyone has to call all of us Sera—especially if we’re going on a mission together.”
“Well, there’s Seraphina, or Fina… What Finaeus used to call me—us—when we were kids,” Sera suggested.
“I say none of us gets to keep any of the names,” Valkris Sera said as she gestured to Sera. “Having to call you ‘Sera’ will just feel too weird. How’s about you’re Red Sera?”
Sera snorted. “ ‘Red Sera’? Really?”
“You have to admit that it fits,” LMC Sera said with a grin. “You’re always red.”
“Mostly,” Sera said with a shrug. “I do like to shake things up, though. I happen to enjoy the color blue.” She lifted her hand, and her skin turned from red to blue.
“Nuh-uh,” Valkris Sera said with a shake of her head. “When I get the skin upgrade back, I’m going blue. I call dibs. I’m Blue Sera.”
“You can’t call dibs on a color,” Sera shot back.
“Well I’m sticking with skin-color,” LMC Sera interjected. “Maybe I’ll take the skin job, but I kinda like looking human.”
Sera grinned at her sister, running her hands down her sides. “Deviant. You want the sexy feels, but you don’t want to stand out.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Valkris Sera added. “We’ve always liked standing out.”
“Oh I’m all for reverting to form,” LMC Sera replied with a smile. “But I really like all the leather I used to wear before that catsuit ripped my skin off. That was my jam.”
Sera’s hand changed from blue to a leathery texture. “You can do leather, too. This stuff is ridiculously versatile.”
“Deal,” LMC Sera said. “But I’m not going to be ‘Leather Sera’. Sounds like I’m some sort of pirate…or serial killer.”
“Well, we were a pirate once,” Sera said with a wink.
Valkris Sera snorted. “You can be Pi—”
“Don’t even go there!” LMC Sera snapped. “I’ll be…Black Sera. But I’m going with red hair, because that’ll look badass.”
“What?” Sera asked. “That’s going to be as confusing as all get-out!”
LMC Sera winked at Sera. “No, just means you have to keep your skin red all the time to avoid confusion.”
“You realize,” Valkris Sera said, a wicked grin on her lips, “We’re going to be able to mess with everyone so much.”
“She has a point,” Sera said. “Though I don’t really have an issue with being called ‘Red’, to be honest.”
“OK…maybe we think about Seraphina and Fina again,” Valkris Sera suggested. “I mean…I still call dibs on being blue. But I’m willing to take on ‘Fina’. I have a lot of good memories of Uncle Finaeus calling me that as a little girl.”
“Yeah, but that means I have to go with ‘Seraphina’,” LMC Sera said, her lips twisting in dismay. “That’s what Helen called us when she was mad…”
“And Helen was mom,” Sera completed the thought, then glanced at Valkris Sera. “I still say you can’t call dibs on a color.”
“Screw it.” LMC Sera slapped her palm on the table. “Every version of Seraphina is a name given to us by our fucking bastard of a mother. Why can’t I just go with Seraphina? Time to take it back.”
“That’s the spirit,” Fina said, raising a fist into the air. “Stars. I bet when Mom learns the three of us are united, she’s going to shit digital bricks all over her pretty diamond ring. Sera, Fina, and Seraphina are coming for her!”
“To us!” Sera said, joining Fina and thrusting her fist into the air, tremendously relieved that their first meeting had ended like this, and not in a firefight.
A smile crept across Serpahina’s face, and she reached out, placing a hand on each of her sister’s fists. “She’s never gonna know what hit her.”
SVETLANA’S TEN THOUSAND
STELLAR DATE: 09.23.8949 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: TSS Cossack’s Sword
REGION: Khardine System, Transcend Interstellar Alliance
Svetlana stood at the head of the long virtual table and watched her fleet commanders get settled.
; Though her force was small, it consisted of the hardiest ships she could secure for the mission—including a group of ISF rail destroyers that were commanded by a stern looking colonel named Caldwell.
The rest of the team was made up of TSF personnel, starting with Rear Admiral Sebastian, who commanded the second division of the fleet. General Lorelai, who commanded the combat forces, sat across from him, followed by colonels Lia and Colton, who were responsible for the fighter wings.
Beyond them were the senior captains, thirty-six in all, followed by hundreds more captains filling the holographic space. At the end of the table were the men and women she needed to be onboard with this the most: the senior warrant and petty officers, most specifically, Command Master Chief Merrick.
Though he sat at the end of the table, Svetlana knew he was the most respected person in her fleet. Merrick had served as a noncom in the Transcend Space Force for over a thousand years. The only reason he hadn’t ever taken the role of Master Chief of the Space Force was because, in his words, ‘I got my own shit to do. Can’t waste time sticking my nose up bureaucrats’ asses all day.’
Svetlana both respected and feared the man. In part because of his venerable status, but also because he was her father.
His hard-eyed gaze gave her no indication as to whether or not he approved of the strategy to take fleets deep into Orion space, but she hoped that if he didn’t agree, he wouldn’t voice it here, and would instead take it up with her privately.
After waiting another half-minute for everyone to settle, she addressed the group.
“You’ve all read the brief. You know why we’re here, what we’re going to do. Fleet Admiral Wrentham needs us to take the pressure off the Orion Fronts, and that’s just what we’re going to do. Admiral Mardus is going to be hitting Herschel, and we’re striking the center of the Perseus Expansion Districts.”
As Svetlana spoke, a display of the Orion Arm appeared over the table, a yellow outline highlighting the PED, while a red marker appeared at Quera, close—galactically speaking—to the edge of the Orion Arm.
“As most of you know, Admiral Keller of the ISF passed through these regions of Orion space on reconnaissance aboard the Sabrina nearly two years ago, so our intel is a bit out of date, but we have supplements from the few Hand agents in that area.
“The locals are low-tech, folks. Half of them don’t even have the Link, and those that do usually just have oculars. From what we know, the PED is mostly populated by refuges who fled toward the rim during the FTL wars. Orion absorbed them and offered succor and sanctuary in exchange for strict adherence to draconian laws regarding technological advancements.”
Svetlana paused, her gaze sweeping across the assemblage.
“Essentially, they’re going to shit bricks when they see us. We have reason to believe that the PED’s inhabitants think the Inner Stars are still utter anarchy, and have no idea that the Transcend even exists.”
“Intel supports that?” General Lorelai asked. “I understand that information about the Inner Stars and the Transcend may not be in the public databases on their worlds, but surely there must be some underground knowledge. Their populace gets conscripted by the OG—many of those get sent to the front. They must come back with stories.”
“That’s what we’ve believed for some time,” Svetlana replied, nodding in agreement. “But the intel that Admiral Keller brought back indicates otherwise. It’s different out by Herschel, but in the Perseus Arm and the PED, the Orion Guard is the boogeyman, and doesn’t enlist many troops from the local populations.
“They have local militia-style space forces, but they’re really just there to police things. Fear of the OG seems to keep them in line.”
“Well, Admiral Keller would know,” Colonel Caldwell said to General Lorelai. “She spent ten years in Orion space.”
“Seems like such a waste.” Lorelai shook her head then shrugged. “So I take it this means we’re to go easy on the locals.”
“That’s the idea right now,” Svetlana replied with a curt nod. “Unless we find Keller’s assessment to be wrong, in which case we’ll adapt our strategy. Still, we have to assume them to be a hostile population. They’ll see us as invaders, not liberators.”
“Could we not establish a beachhead?” One of the senior captains asked. “Take and hold systems, force Orion to come to us?”
Svetlana shook her head. “That’s not how I want to approach this. If we take and hold, we have to police and defend. Our intel indicates that the OG isn’t afraid to strike out at their own population, and Fleet Intel thinks they may use that against us.
“Instead, our approach is to strike hard, destroy military and major infrastructure targets, and move on. We never go back to a system we’ve been to before, never give them a reason to use a populace against us. Our goal is to be like the Hoplites in Persia. We’re pushing to the Sea. Our Sea is the Perseus Arm. We get there, we get to go home.”
“Perseus?” Admiral Sebastian asked. “That could take years, a decade if we get bogged down at all.”
“I’m being a bit hyperbolic,” Svetlana replied. “I’d like to think that we’ll get to strike a more decisive blow before we get that far.”
“An attack on New Sol?” Lorelai asked.
“Or a truce.” Svetlana glanced at her father and saw him nod slowly. “If we can win against Airtha and end the war in the Inner Stars, then suddenly Kirkland faces the rest of humanity alone.”
Caldwell set his elbows on the table and nodded. “That seems like a laudable goal.”
“Agreed,” Sebastian added. “So what is our first target?”
Sebastian knew the plan, of course. He and Svetlana had spent some time crafting it, but she appreciated him leading the conversation along.
She triggered the holodisplay to focus in on the Quera System, where Costa Station was—or maybe wasn’t anymore, given that Jessica Keller’s team had fired RMs at its gate before jumping back to New Canaan.
“We’re going to start here. We’ll jump in an observation ship with a drone gate a quarter light year out. It will make an assessment and send back the findings. We’ll hop into Quera either way; whether or not it’s empty will just affect how we deploy. We’ll scour it for any intel, and then move on to either the Norma or Ferra Systems. Neither have large military presences, but we’ll crush what’s there and move on. We want to keep moving and keep making lightning strikes for as long as possible. Unpredictable and deadly is the name of the game.”
Svetlana widened the view of the PED, showing the possible routes through the region of space. One path roughly followed Jessica Keller’s route from the Perseus Arm, while the other veered spinward, toward a cluster of systems with names like ‘Eashira’, ‘Cush’, and ‘Machete’.
“Are we worried that they’ll try to bottle us up?” one of the captains, a woman named Jula, asked. “Predict our moves and lay in wait?”
“Technically, that’s what we want,” Svetlana replied. “I do worry about it, though. We have superior weaponry and shields, but the OGs have numbers on their side. We know that enough firepower can overwhelm even stasis shielding, and we have to assume that they know to hit us in the engines while we’re burning. So we’re not going to be stupid—plus, not all our ships have stasis shields.
“That scout ship I mentioned has already deployed to the Quera System. Once it drops its drone, it’ll pack up its gate and leave for Ferra. The ship’s crewed by an elite team, SF and Hand agents, who are going to scout ahead of us, and build a network of contacts as fast as possible. They also have intel on two Hand agents in the vicinity, and will try to make contact with them for the latest intel.”
“So what’s next?” Colonel Colton asked.
“We’re only taking four fab-ships and we’re going to rely on the folks back here at Khardine to send us supplies as we need them. The QuanComm network and the jump gates are setting us up for a new kind of warfare that we’ve never practiced and the Oggies have ne
ver seen. Still, don’t pack light,” Svetlana paused as a few of the officers laughed. “If you don’t bring it along, you better not need it for a year. I’m not calling back to Admiral Greer to ask him to send your jammies and teddy bears out to the PED.
“Everyone has two days to inform their crews that we’re about to go on a long-duration tour—no details ‘til we ship. Transfer out anyone you think will have issues with that. We leave in fifty hours.”
“Fifty hours?” one of the captains blurted out, then reddened.
“Yes, fifty. Not a minute more. This is the Space Force, not your kid’s daycare. Let’s get this shit done, and get the show on the road.”
A CHAT WITH TROY
STELLAR DATE: 09.23.8949 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: A1 Dock, ISS I2
REGION: Pyra, Albany System, Thebes, Septhian Alliance
Tangel watched with a measure of melancholy-tinged joy as the Voyager settled on the cradle before her. Seeing the ship brought back a host of memories—which was strange, considering that she’d never seen the vessel before.
She—well, Tanis—had ordered the Voyager’s construction back at Kapteyn’s Star, where it was placed at the secret pico-research site as an interstellar-capable evac vehicle. Later, when the site had been cleared out, Angela had suggested leaving the ship behind in case Katrina, or someone else, had a need to leave Kapteyn’s star.
Judging by the looks of the vessel, it had been through a lot more than Tanis or Angela had ever expected.
But that wasn’t what had Tangel feeling anxious.
It was who was aboard the ship.
“He doesn’t hold a grudge.” Katrina’s voice was barely above a whisper, where she stood next to Tangel. “He and I talked about it back at Victoria. Don’t forget, I was governor after that battle. I’m just as much to blame for not finding them right away.”
Tangel glanced at the woman next to her. Katrina was barely recognizable from the person who had first come aboard the I2 a few days earlier. Gone was the grey hair, aged skin, and slight stoop. The woman who had been so many things—from spy to governor to warlord to pirate—now looked like she’d barely passed her twentieth birthday.