Veil of Shadows (Book 2 of The Empire of Bones Saga) (12 page)

Is one of the people standing near you Commander Jared Mertz?

He’s the man standing to my right. The man standing to my left is Lieutenant Commander Dennis Baxter, the Chief Engineer from
Athena
. They are working together to try to bring you back to functionality. With
Athena
critically damaged, we’re hoping to use you to defeat the Pale Ones and get home.

At this time, restoring this vessel to full functionality appears to be the goal for both this unit and your people. This unit suggests that we work together to make that happen and then we can see what possibilities exist going forward.

Kelsey took a deep breath and turned to Jared. “The main computer is provisionally willing to cooperate, but insists that its control interfaces be restored. It will cooperate in the repair of the vessel and will then make a decision on whether to make that provisional access permanent.”

Jared nodded. “That’s really the best we can hope for at this point. Good work. Now it’s up to us to get the ship functional and convince the computer that we’re being upfront and honest. You’ve done your part. Now it’s time for us to do ours.”

Chapter Twelve

Rawlins was very careful about making contact with his computer man, but it hardly seemed necessary. No one knew one another on
Courageous
. The Terrans didn’t know the Pentagarans, the Pentagarans didn’t know one another, and no one really knew anything about the ship.

Frankly, after taking a tour of
Courageous
on the first day, he wasn’t all that certain the mission was even possible. The idea that they could repair such an ancient vessel without a major shipyard seemed unlikely. Yes, the Terrans had restored power, but that didn’t mean that they could return all the primary systems to functionality.

Even though a surprising number of local workstations seemed functional, the vessel wouldn’t be more than a glorified tug without its main computer. At least that was his personal opinion. And that assumed that the grav and space-time drives even worked.

If they couldn’t make the ship operational, he needn’t bother trying to seize it. He had thirty men, with twenty times that number on two ships to contend with. Three, if you counted the crippled destroyer.
Athena
could likely destroy this ship, even with its battle damage. This ship had to be in Pentagaran space when they took control, or they’d never get it there.

And
Courageous
was markedly bigger than the largest vessel in the Royal Pentagaran fleet. The idea that he would be able to capture it with thirty men seemed ludicrous.

He met his senior lieutenant in the crew’s mess that evening. Jenkins was a computer specialist working in the Royal Bureau of Ships. His particular skill set dealt with ship design and upgrades. He had a knack for putting things together and spotting flaws that weren’t obvious at first glance.

He also had a penchant for gambling. That’s what originally brought him to the attention of Lord Admiral Shrike. Seeing an opportunity to turn the man to his own purposes, Shrike had paid off his debts. He’d then held them over Jenkins’ head to coerce his cooperation.

Rawlins wasn’t one to trust others and he certainly didn’t trust a man they’d compelled to join the movement. However, with the work that he’d already done for the cause, Jenkins was as dirty as the rest of them. If he betrayed the cause, he’d still pay the ultimate price.

Rawlins took a bite of his salad. It was actually quite good. “I assume you’ve gotten settled in. Were there any problems?”

“Nothing I can’t handle. Some of the marines we brought along think they might be better off in charge.”

The intelligence officer eyed the other man coldly. “We do not have the luxury of playing games. I am in command. Anyone who forgets that will regret it. Briefly. Pass the word that the very next person who thinks they would be better off in charge will not be getting a retirement package.”

The man grunted.

Rawlins let that sink in. “Give me your update.”

“I’ve been integrated into the computer restoration project. I’ll be briefed tomorrow, but it looks as though I’ll have complete access to the ship’s cybernetics.”

“That’s excellent news. Have you gotten any word on the condition of the ship’s computer?”

“The Chief Engineer believes that it’s operational, but nonresponsive. The lights are on, but nobody’s home. He’s going to attempt to use their Princess to establish communication with it. Personally, I wouldn’t hold my breath. If anything, it’s probably gone buggy from all the time it’s been isolated.”

Rawlins grimaced. “While that’s the most likely outcome, that’s not the best thing for our mission. If the Terrans can’t get this ship back to Pentagaran space, we don’t act. We’re too few in number to attempt a takeover on this side of the flip point. Even if we capture the ship, the forces that they have on the freighter will take us out eventually.

“So we need to do everything within our power to assist the Terrans in getting the ship operational. Their success is our success. What about the rest of the ship? Are they going to be able to get the primary systems operational?”

“I believe so. The ship seems to be in exceptionally good shape for its age and battle damage. If we can get the main computer online and the drives operational, we should be able to use this vessel.”

Rawlins took another bite of his salad. “What about taking it over? Any ideas on how to best disable the crew or lock them down?”

“The ship has internal defenses against boarding. Some kind of non-lethal weapon. They can be used against the Terrans.”

That idea had merit. If the Empire had designed those systems to take out the Pale Ones, they could take out a normal crew. The key would be gaining and maintaining sole control of that system. They would probably have only one chance to use it.

“How long would it take our marines to take engineering? Localized control should allow us to steer the ship and possibly control the ship’s weapons.”

“Ten minutes. Marine country is very close to engineering. Timing is going to be critical, though. If we give the Terran marines—or God forbid, Princess Kelsey—an opportunity to respond, they can be in engineering very quickly. I’m not certain of how we can secure the doors at this point.”

“I’d imagine a welder does well enough, if we can’t gain control of the systems. Now, let’s enjoy this excellent dinner. We need to keep our strength up.”

Chapter Thirteen

The speed at which they’d completed the basic repairs with the main computer’s assistance astonished Jared. It took less than two weeks to get the primary systems back online. Including the flip drive. The ship’s self-repair capabilities were beyond imagining.

The time had also allowed most of his injured crew to heal.
Athena
brought them over as the Pentagarans released them for duty. With modern medicine, if an injury didn’t kill you, they could have you back on your feet in a very short period time.

The computer had been instructing his people on the manual operation of the ship. Even without implants, the computer was able to make the process easier for them. He shuddered to think of how hard it would be if the ship’s AI hadn’t been functional.

The basic concepts were easy to grasp. His people already had an advanced knowledge of spaceship operations. The Pentagaran personnel would need remedial instruction, particularly with flip drive operations.

The ship’s computer was able to fill so many blanks in their knowledge of the Terran Empire. For example, they now had access to the flip charts used by Fleet during the heyday of the Empire. It was a revelation. The Terran Empire was huge. Much larger than the most generous estimations.

At the height of its power, the Empire spanned tens of thousands of light years and many thousands of systems. The population had been in the tens of trillions. They’d all known that the Empire was magnificent, but they hadn’t truly understood the scope of it. Or the horror of its destruction.

They also gained insight into the rebellion. As they’d come to learn, a virus propagated it. While they still didn’t know who was behind it, they knew which sector of the Empire spawned the virus. In fact, they knew which system.

Somehow, the virus had infected a Fleet base in a system named Twilight River. The exact details were unknown, but the rebels had overtaken it over a period of days. Some vessels that escaped the system carried people with firsthand knowledge of the horror. People whose friends had turned into ravening killers who’d begged their victims to run as they killed them.

Before reinforcements could arrive, the ships on station at Twilight River departed as a unit and attacked the next system. Like an unstoppable cascade of dominoes, the Empire fell. Within two years, the rebels had taken Terra and the Emperor had fled. All attempts at taking back the lost systems failed.

Imperial scientists had quickly discovered the flaws in the implant software that the virus exploited. They even managed to reverse the process. The only problem was that it took time. The rebels could enslave a person with implants in less than half an hour. Undoing the damage took significantly longer.

Avalon was on the detailed maps of the Empire. The weaker flip points were not. It seemed the old Empire hadn’t known they existed either, which prompted the computer to ask for detailed scans of the one in the system. It also sent one of
Courageous’
probes through. Jared took the opportunity to update the drone he’d left on the other side with their most recent status.

Using standard flip points, they could now return to Avalon in a little less than two months. Or they could have, if not for the Pale Ones between them and home.

There was also a wealth of historical data in the computer’s databanks. A treasure trove of lost literature and history. There were lost examples of everything from music to science textbooks to art. Anything that a crew in space could use to divert themselves from boredom or to educate themselves. It would take the scholars at home decades even to finish cataloging it.

Jared didn’t have that kind of time. He needed to get the ship operational as quickly as possible. He also needed to get his people trained as best he could.
Courageous
was going to be their ride home, so they’d better understand her.

They maneuvered around the system to become familiar with the controls. Though they were significantly different from what Fleet currently used, they were quite intuitive. And very advanced. The consoles seemed to know what they wanted before they even began looking for it.

The main computer assured him that the manual controls were significantly more cumbersome than controlling the ship through the headsets. Jared could hardly imagine that. Unfortunately, to experience what the main computer was talking about required going through the implant process. Something no one was yet ready to do.

Instead, he invited Kelsey up to the bridge to test one of the headsets. Her eyes widened when she stepped onto the bridge. The last time she’d seen it, it’d been dead and lifeless. Now all the consoles glowed, the main screen was on, and people filled all the stations.

“Wow. This looks amazing.”

He grinned at her. “It does look pretty awesome. I’m going to hate giving her up when we get back home.”

She frowned. “Give her up? But you’re her Captain.”

“Alas, Fleet won’t see it that way. This ship is an amazing resource. There’s absolutely no way they’ll leave her under my command. She’s going to get a Commodore or more likely an Admiral sitting in the center seat. After all, I’m only a Commander.”

“Well, that’s bullshit.”

He laughed. “That’s the way it works. I’ll just have to enjoy her while I can. Are you ready to give this thing a try?” He held up a headset.

Kelsey shrugged. “Sure. I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing, but I’ll give it a swing. What do you want me to do?”

“I want you to sit at the console next to me and try to interface with the ship. We’ll use the scanner suite.”

She sat down beside him. The main computer had told him that the spare station was for the executive officer during normal duty operations. His new bridge could afford having the extra console because it was twice the size of
Athena
’s.

The Captain’s console in the center of the oval-shaped control room had room for two people. Four side-by-side consoles sat between the Captain and the main view screen, two in front, two in the middle. Three consoles faced the bulkheads to the right and left. Another two bracketed the lift at the rear of the bridge.

He shuddered at the memory of all of them filled with dead bodies.

Courageous
didn’t need that many people to control her under normal circumstances, but there were enough systems to watch over her in manual mode. The computer told him that with implants, she just needed officers at helm, tactical, scanners, and engineering. Right now, he had one Terran and one Pentagaran Fleet officer at each pair of consoles.

Two hatches on the left completed the bridge layout. One led to a spacious head for the bridge crew and the other opened into his day cabin. An office, he might add, that was larger than his old one on
Athena
.

Jared had already configured his console for scanner operations, and he’d had Zia configure the main screen to do so as well. They would compare their results to what Kelsey was able to do.

He handed her a neural headset. “I’m told that all you have to do is put it on and request an interface with your console. See what you can grasp about our present situation.”

She settled a headset on and stared at the screen. “No, I better close my eyes. I don’t want to skew the results.”

He watched her face as she tried to do the unfamiliar task. She looked far more serene than when she’d first come on board. It was particularly amazing how far she’d come in the last few weeks. She’d remastered the fine motor control that the Pale Ones had taken from her.