Part 10
Imogen awoke to the sounds of distant screaming. She tensed, not remembering her current predicament. Her vision remained blurry, due to the haze of the medical stasis, and she craned her neck to look over at Brennus. He was still unconscious, the skin tight around his closed eyes did little to mask the pain he obviously still felt. Imogen felt sympathy for the soldier lying helpless.
Another scream accompanied by a loud thump on the door rang out, causing the hairs on the back of Imogen's neck to raise.
"They're here."
"What?" Imogen frowned. "Brennus, who's here?"
"Those monsters," he said with eyes still closed.
Her pulse began to quicken as she realized her options were slim. There was no attending tech to pull them out of stasis, nor did either of them have the ability to defend themselves. She lowered her head back down and sorrow dripped into her heart through a pinhole of anxiousness. She squinted past tears and they rolled down her half-healed cheeks.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?" Imogen managed to ask through labored breathing.
"I should have been able to stop this . . . stop all of this."
She looked again at Brennus, but found him motionless. Then a figure appeared in her periphery. Its rounded chassis moved with a quiet efficiency that she had grown to easily identify. The AI settled in between the two broken members of the Primary Pioneer Group.
"Watchman."
More massive pounding on the door began to cause dents, leaving little time for further discussion. Eran deactivated both stasis divans and Imogen slumped uncomfortably.
Brennus gritted his teeth and groaned from the pain. "Eran? Why are you here?" he asked angrily. He tried to say more but the pain doubled him over.
"I have come to save you. Save the both of you." The door creaked against the constant strain, bringing Eran to face the coming threat. "Come. We must leave."
Imogen sat up and felt like vomiting. She resisted the urge and stabilized herself with her outstretched arms, clinging to the edge of the bed. "Where are we going? Why us?"
"You two are the only ones that can fully understand." Eran's eye brightened. "We're going back to Avail Run."
As the door buckled under immense weight, Eran activated the teleportation grid and the three left the command ship.
Aodhán stood at attention before his pacing superior officer. His hands clammy, his heart racing. He had never known the Administrator to be so angry at anything or anyone. And all that anger is directed at me. After being segregated from the PPG survivors, Aodhán was led to the Administrator's private quarters. He was not aware of who had been saved but knew the number was small. A throat clearing brought his head up.
"So, not only have you managed to loose more than half the ships in your command, but you've also lost one of the most advanced AIs Fleet Command has ever created."
Aodhán frowned and nearly lost his composure. "Eran is gone?"
The Administrator turned on his heal and came face to face with Aodhán. "Yes, Eran is gone! To where, we don't know. And I hold you responsible. That AI holds vital information on the PPG's whereabouts throughout the galaxy. If this new enemy can interpret Watchman's internal systems or decipher its memory cache, then they'll know exactly how to dismantle us."
Aodhán lowered his gaze from a random spot on the wall to one on the tiled floor. If I had not ordered the AI to lockdown, it still would be in our possession. I never thought Eran could be so easily captured, but apparently that is exactly what has happened.
"So now we are left with a fraction of what you had." The Administrator sighed and fished a comm device from a pocket. He held it out for Aodhán. "You are to order your remaining ships to disperse to the designated systems." He nodded to Aodhán to take the device. "They cannot know I was ever here," he added with narrowed eyes.
Begrudgingly, Aodhán snatched the communicator and issued the pre-rehearsed commands. When he was finished he handed it back to the Administrator who watched him the entire time.
"Now, as for the remaining problem . . ." The Administrator waved to a display unit off to his right and the rolling image of stars against the backdrop of space appeared. Two ships came into view: First Observance and Avail Run. The former took up nearly half the display while the later drifted off some distance away. "I thought you'd might want to witness this first hand."
Aodhán turned to face the image and felt his chest tighten. His flagship was speckled over the upper portions where drop pods had breached the hull. Fires burned through various viewports and exterior lights flickered sporadically.
"First Observance can no longer be. Its star charts and general information will be handing the enemy a tool we cannot afford to give them." The Administrator brought up the communicator and murmured something into it. He gave an unsatisfactory smile to Aodhán and faced the display again.
Aodhán watched a lance of red energy pulse from the bottom right corner of the screen and felt the heavily modified yacht shudder under the release. His stomach turned to ice when the beam of destruction effortlessly cut through the dying ship's shields and strike along the port side, gutting the ship like a fisherman to his latest catch. Multiple explosions engulfed First Observance, washing it with orange and yellow light. Liquefied sections of the hull ripped free as interior pressured leaked and sent the debris spilling out into the cold, dark void. Then the reactor blew, evaporating what was left of the hull.
Aodhán cringed and suddenly felt weak in the knees. All his life, he wanted to captain his own ship. All his life, he wanted to break free of the mold from that he was cast. For Aodhán, First Observance was his last vestige of freedom, and he felt as if he had just lost a close friend.
But for the Administrator, it was just another day at the helm. Coldly, he made eye contact with Aodhán. "That was necessary, no matter what you may think." With his eyes still fixed on First Observance's former captain, the Administrator called into the comm device. "Fire on Avail Run."
Both allowed their gazes to drift back to the display, but both were not prepared for what they witnessed.
Avail Run was gone, but not by the yacht's weapons.
"What happened?" the commanding officer demanded.
An accented voice could be heard over the small communicator. "She activated her slipspace drive halfway through your order, Sir."
The Administrator stood perfectly still for a few lasting seconds. Then, as if struck by an unknown realization, he snapped out of his stupor. "Doesn't matter. We'll track her down like the others."
From the tone of voice he used, Aodhán could tell his superior wasn't fully convinced of his own words. Perhaps he's calculated too many variables.
Aodhán sighed. Too many variables. That was the story of his life.
The Administrator was back to his usual self in seconds. "Dismissed, Captain Aodhán. The orderly outside will see you to your new quarters. The information packet regarding your next assignment is waiting there." He worked his jaw a moment. "I suggest you review it."
Aodhán took one last look at the display: the remnants of the latest chapter of his life. He wondered how many more he would have. He gave a forced salute and marched out of the Administrator's presence.
Eran watched Imogen as she helped Brennus off the deck to stand upright. The soldier struggled to maintain his balance, but steadied himself against the smaller female.
"I'm sorry. I guess I'm not doing much better at all," Brennus apologized.
Imogen gave him a brave smile. "It's okay. I'm stronger that I look."
Eran chuckled at the remark. He had informed both of them of his plans for Avail Run, and both agreed to follow through with their assistance. He had heard the exchange between Captain Aodhán and the Administrator about his own possible rampancy or capture and knew they had to hide from the SEU operative. Eran had concluded the best course of action was to act independently until they could bring their findings to Fleet Command.
Eran led them to the Medical Hibernation Chamber, unique even for a medical frigate, set in conjunction with the stasis pods. While a stasis pod did have its own function and purpose, Medical Hibernation Pods would allow the two wounded to rest indefinitely, without fear of aging, ailment, or mental instability. When the pods would open, the user would simply be awakened from a deep slumber.
Eran turned back around to face the two survivors and felt at ease. The strength these two possess is unmatched.
Arriving at their destination, Eran moved to the left and allowed the two to pass through the opened doorway. Yes, at ease. Eran knew the fact that Brennus had survived the first encounter with the creatures was beyond his skill as a warrior. His body was either resistant to infection or he was "patient zero" and had the antibodies to combat this plague. Eran was sure, with the help of a medical expert such as Imogen, the three could develop a cure or at the very least, a countermeasure.
But first, he needed to perform an analysis of the recent situation: go over countless samples, extract various medical records from the ship's network, and examine the video files of the attacks. With time and hard work, Eran was sure of their success.
Imogen helped lower Brennus into the pod. When Brennus settled on the soft material, he reached out and took her hand. "Thank you." He seemed to want to say more, but just smiled weakly.
She placed her other hand on top of his. "You just rest." She stood as Eran keyed the hatched closed. She held a hand up in the traditional departing gesture.
He returned the tight-fingered greeting as the air inside quickly plunged in temperature, freezing his pose.
Imogen placed her had over the silhouette, feeling the cool surface, and stepped back. Eran was surprised to find tears welling under her eyes. She has gone through so much over the past few days, that the weight of it all must finally be sinking in. She wiped at the moisture on her cheeks and gave him a brave smile.
Eran moved to the next pod over, opened the hatch, and paused, blocking Imogen's entrance. "You are indeed strong, Imogen. Pioneers must be."
"Pioneers," she repeated. "Of all that's gone on, I've forgotten our true purpose out here."
"Yes, but now we have a new one." Eran moved to the side.
Imogen place a foot in, followed by the rest of her slender frame. "Don't be long, Eran." She nodded and Eran lowered the hatch. Her merry expression was lost in the pressurizing cold when her head lolled to the side.
As Avail Run traveled through slipspace, Eran watched the two survivors he had rescued with a new sense of interest.
With their help, Eran could ride the rising tide of this flood.
The End