Near Traverse – Chapter 4

The bridge crew of the Rune Carrier, plus their ensign, assembled outside their rooms. Marcus was relieved to see hints of nervousness on each of them, even Hal, who must have been through much more harrowing experiences during his military career. The horned drake kept tapping the toes of his boots against the floor to adjust their fit, though they surely didn’t need it. Therese tugged at the edges of her skin-tight suit, the holes for her fingers, and Demi had her hands clasped together in a way he had learned meant she was thinking deeply about something. The two girls had hair still wet from the shower, he noticed, and Demi hadn’t yet put hers up into her usual braids. Miriham would have been the coolest of them, still and stoic, if she didn’t have vicious, dark rings about her eyes. Each of them had tried to engage the elf in conversation, but her scowl had silenced them.

“Let us just get this done,” was all she said.

They walked together towards the bridge where, according to Rune, Lilith was working. Marcus was relieved to find that the ship was still talking to him this morning. He’d had a terrible thought that she would reset during a night shift and lose her personality, or else that everything he remembered from the bridge crew get-together had been a vivid dream that he would wake from, finding her cold and lifeless once more.

But Rune had clearly been thinking.

[When you have settled matters with Captain Lilith,] she said now as they walked, straight into Marcus’ mind, [I have a series of actions that I would like to suggest in order to verify the efficacy of my Auxiliary energy systems.]

Marcus narrowed his eyes. [Okay?]

[First, we must set a baseline of the power generated through a sexual encounter typical for your species. I suggest-…]

[Rune, stop.] Marcus rubbed his eyes. [This really isn’t on.]

[Please explain,] said the ship. [How is a course of action that leads to greater understanding of my systems not ‘on’?]

[Try to remember that sex is… tricky for a lot of people,] he explained awkwardly. [It’s messy and complicated. Look at where we are with Lilith. She’s been using sex like a weapon against us, and now we’re having to take a stand against her.]

[Marcus,] Rune said with what the human thought was genuine frustration, [the Accord only has a limited set of fixed rules regarding sexual conduct. Your own moral standpoint is far less clear to me. It appears to change frequently and dramatically based on the time of day, the company you are with and the level of alcohol in your bloodstream. You appear to have made peace with Ensign Demi ingesting your semen last night, where she is a junior crew member that you have not had sufficient time to properly understand. How can you argue against my suggestion that you blindfold yourself and allow a random member of the operations team to perform the same action on you without you knowing who they are? These would be identical circumstances, only the latter provides strict, formative scientific data.]

Marcus felt weak by the time Rune finished her diatribe. On the one hand, he was thrilled that Rune had thought to say so much to him. And she was expressing some genuine emotion. That was very exciting. On the other hand…

[Rune, I am absolutely not going to do that.]

[Understanding the Auxiliary Power system is critical to ensuring mission sustainability,] Rune argued. [It is your duty as a member of the crew to take every measure possible for the sake of our objectives.]

[Can’t you just ask the Accord for their research on your systems? I’m sure they know plenty already.]

[I have submitted such a request,] said Rune. [However, my external signal capacity is currently reduced due to an unknown source of interference, and my message has not been successfully received.]

Marcus frowned. Hopefully the same interference wouldn’t stop his friends from RKON sending over his memories later. [That’s probably the press setting up for today’s big event. Their equipment likely makes a lot of interference. I’m sure the Council will get around to sorting that out before we set off. Alright, in that case…]

He sighed. He really didn’t want to suggest this, but if it was going to keep Rune happy…

[You could ask Hal. He might be up for helping you experiment. He’s a lot more, um…]

[Morally flexible?]

[Confident with sex,] he continued, stifling a smirk. [He might be comfortable with a casual, scientific fling with a stranger, if you asked nicely.]

[Tactical Officer Halcyon of the House of Pinnacle is insufficient,] said Rune. [You are a more ideal research collaborator.]

[I am? Why?]

Rune hesitated. [I have planned to speak to you on that at another time, when you are not so busy counteracting your superior officer.]

Marcus grinned. [It’s because we’re friends, isn’t it?]

[If that will encourage you to assist me in my experimentation,] Rune said, [then certainly. We are friends. Please help me, my friend Marcus.]

He shook his head. Rune joking with him was very encouraging, if indeed that was what that was.

[Don’t be cheeky,] he told her. [Last suggestion, then. Miriham said last night that there’s other ways to generate anima that aren’t sex. Music and dance and things. Why don’t we start with those and see where we go? That sounds a lot safer for everyone, don’t you agree?]

Rune was quiet for a long moment. He fancied he could hear her responses forming as whirring servos in the walls of the ship.

[I suppose that would be acceptable,] she said at last.

The sealed doorway to the bridge was in sight. Marcus put Rune to one side and prepared his thoughts. He went through a breathing exercise that his training on Earth had shared with him, in through the nostrils and out through the lips. The body was a sort of machine, in a sense. It could be programmed to react in different ways, given the right inputs. But his heartrate jumped up once again as Therese appeared beside him and neatly took his arm in both of hers. She had applied some sort of hair product in the shower this morning that smelled divinely of lemongrass. One breast was firmly pressed against him. Marcus forgot how to breathe at all.

“I just wanted to say,” the engineer smiled, “that we’re all here with you today, First Officer, so good luck. I’m sure you’ll do brilliant with Lilith. We’ve got your back.”

He was touched. He didn’t feel worth it. But when he opened his mouth to respond, Therese continued in a lower voice.

“Also, well done on making a girl very happy last night, you naughty man. I’m proud of you.”

Before he could work up the breath to be alarmed, Therese leaned in and kissed his cheek before unlatching from his arm and making her way up towards Hal. Marcus felt weak. He reached out to touch the metal wall of the corridor in a bid to steady himself. Then, when he was ready, he turned. Demi, at the back of their little group, was watching him. When their eyes met, she looked away at once.

The bridge hatch was sealed, so when Hal reached it, he put his hand to the control console to open it up. The little terminal read his prints and verified his permission. And then bleeped angrily.

“The fuck?”

He tried again, to the same result. Then he turned to the group.

“What does that mean?”

“Captain Lilith has sealed bridge access to everyone except herself,” Rune explained from overhead. “I am being told that she does not wish to be disturbed.”

“That’s a little weird,” Therese remarked with a frown. “Can we at least talk to her?”

“I can open internal communications, if you wish.”

“Thank you, Rune. Please do that.”

The bridge crew formed up as Rune put them through to the captain. Hal folded his arms, and Therese put her hands on her hips. Miriham muttered something in her native tongue under her breath. And all of them looked to Marcus. He looked back.

“What?” he whispered.

“You’re first officer, mate,” Hal smirked. “You take the lead.”

“Oh. Right. I guess-…”

“Well, now,” came the unmistakable tones of Lilith over internal comms. She was clearly smiling. “Aren’t you all up bright and early? And after a night of drinking, if I heard correctly. I’ll admit to being a little stung that you didn’t invite me, but I do understand. We saw a lot of each other yesterday as it was.”

She chuckled, and Marcus felt hot under his collar. He cleared his throat and took a bold step forward.

“Captain,” he greeted. “May we enter? We’d like to talk about something quite serious before we get underway today.”

“Something serious?” Lilith asked. “I can only imagine what you would want to discuss. All of you, at the same time. Is this really something that can’t wait? If we’re all thinking of the same thing right now,” she added with a sigh, “I really was going to gather you all up to discuss it after the big launch today.”

“That won’t do,” said Marcus. “It’s very important. It affects the whole mission, so we need to talk about it right now before it begins. Please, Captain.”

Lilith paused. He thought he could hear her tapping at something on a terminal in the background of her transmission.

“I do wish I could comply, Marcus and company,” she said at last. “But I am terribly busy at this present moment. If you just give me a few minutes to get us underway, I might have some brain power to spend hearing your issues.”

“Get us underway?” Marcus asked, sharing a concerned look with the others. “What does that mean? The launch isn’t until much later today.”

“All in due time, boys and girls,” Lilith chuckled. “Just sit back and let me take us to where we need to be.”

[Rune,] Marcus transmitted to the ship. [What’s she doing?]

[The captain has set a flight plan, and I have now received undocking permission from the station,] explained Rune.

“We’re launching?” he asked aloud and received a set of shocked glances from the rest of the crew. “Why? Where are we going?”

A thud resounded beneath their feet as the Rune Carrier freed herself from her docking restraints. Gently, she began to drift out into the void, leaving Reader Station behind. Lilith, locked away on the bridge, started humming a jaunty tune.

[The flight plan will have us dock with a cruiser in near orbit to the station,] Rune explained. [The manoeuvre order from the station states the reason as an onboarding of crew.]

“Cruiser? What cruiser?”

[Unknown. All three sensor arrays are currently experiencing severe interference. The plan does not list an IFF or designation for the target vessel, merely coordinates and a process for docking.]

“And then what?” Marcus asked, holding up a hand for the others as they silently demanded answers. “What happens after we pick up people from this mystery ship?”

[I shall display on the hatch console.]

At his prompting, the bridge crew of the Rune Carrier clustered around the little screen next to the access hatch. Rune brought the itinerary up for them. It was very detailed, with multiple stops and a cavalcade of jumps to subspace across several days. But at no point did it involve the Rune Carrier arriving in the Forge galaxy. Therese put a hand to her mouth, and Hal cursed under his breath. And Miriham went very pale indeed.

“I cannot believe it,” she whispered. “I truly cannot believe it.”

Rune watched as great titans of steel and fusion energy began to move slowly and threateningly about in the void. Before her and sun-wards was the dark shape of a grand cruiser. Its frame had been cloaked by some sort of light-reflecting coating on its metal, and she wouldn’t have even known the beast was there had Captain Lilith not programmed its location into her navigation. She still couldn’t draw a silhouette on it, so was unable check her Accord naval database for a match. The captain’s orders for her to slide alongside the ship to take on a new crew suggested that it was an ally. Still, she felt the first flickers of a new emotion in her depths. An unpleasant feeling that grew the more she considered it. A feeling that, in time, would threaten to overcome her. She didn’t know what might happen then.

From around the hourglass frame of Reader Station came further ships. These she had registered several days previously on her extensive Long Range Sensors. Due to lines in the Accord galactic treaty, no ship from an individual culture’s navy was permitted within four light minutes of Reader Station, a supposed safe haven of Accord neutrality. As such, the trio of Mandate battleships had been obediently keeping its distance. But something had spooked them, and they were coming to investigate.

Actually, Rune recalled that there should have been two additional ships sitting just outside her SRS range. The twin RKON machine vessels that had brought Marcus to her. With the mounting activity around the station, she had thought they too would wish to be involved, but she saw no sign of them. Curious, she sent out a ping to medium range. But there was that interference again, cloaking her like the heavy blankets in the crew quarters. She wondered if Marcus was correct when he assumed this was all down to media transmission devices.

As a result of this accursed interference, the scene playing out around her was eerily silent. Silent of noise, naturally, but also digital feedback, the in-between conversations of ship systems. The three Mandate ships took up side-on positions on the far side of Reader Station, facing off against the semi-invisible newcomer. They fell still. Suddenly, a beam of brilliant light shot into the black from the cloaked vessel. The particle beam cut a swathe off the top of the lead Mandate ship, and all three surged into evasive manoeuvres. It was clear they weren’t precisely sure where the attack had come from. But it was also clear that the cloaked ship could have annihilated its target if it had a mind to. A warning shot, then. The Mandate trio did not return fire, but instead flocked back behind the station to lick their wounds.

And Rune continued to drift slowly up towards the dark vessel. It was much larger than her, and that weaponry was more than enough to reduce her to atoms in an instant. She had her own self-propelled rocket array, sitting uncomfortably atop her like an ugly prosthesis. But Captain Lilith hadn’t granted her permission to activate that. The flickering, white flame of the new feeling continued to grow within her.

And in the windows of Reader Station, flashes of violent light.

“This can’t be right,” Therese said aloud with a shake of her head. Her earpiece had connected with the terminal and converted the digital display that Rune had given them into tactile sound that her brain had long since mastered interpreting. But the result didn’t make a great deal of sense. “We must be missing something.”

Lilith’s flight plan had the Rune Carrier, with its new crew of technical staff, moving to a safe distance from Reader Station and performing her first ever jump to subspace. This would take her north into Mandate territory. Draconis Prime, the cultural homeworld of Hal’s people and Hal’s own home planet. After a few hours of dropping off assets, Rune would jump again to three additional systems within Mandate space. Civilian worlds, all. Then out to the Covenant, where she would repeat the same pattern. First the homeworld of Blessed Tyrianogh, then out to the colonies. Then to Therese’s own home, the League. The Nautilliad first, her political capital, then elsewhere. Even Marcus wasn’t spared, as the last stop for the ship was his home planet of Earth, where the legions of humans under RKON’s control slept in their grand simulation.

“What the fuck is she doing?” Hal snarled beside her. “The Mountain is off-limits to outsiders! We’ll be in breach of Mandate law!”

“Even seeing the Glorious Gardens is a crime worthy of death,” Miriham added in a hushed whisper. “We shall all of us pay the price if Lilith truly wishes to go through with this lunatic sight-seeing tour of hers!”

Marcus, Therese could feel through the air between them, was cold, and his scent was the tangy fragrance of anxiety. “It’s a coup. She’s doing a coup! The crew we’re picking up from her cruiser aren’t ops staff, they’re soldiers! And she’s planning on using Rune’s Mythtech FTL ability to leap across galactic borders and strike at key targets before the Accord has a chance to muster a defence!”

Therese clenched her jaw. Her parents were on one of their stops. They’d be held hostage, she knew, until the League Oligarchy bowed to their captain’s demands, whatever they were. They couldn’t be good, if they necessitated setting foot on Hal and Miriham’s sanctified homeworlds.

“Is she still on the line?” Hal’s voice was like an underground flow of hot lava, bubbling beneath the surface. “Can she hear us?”

“Y-Yeah,” said Marcus.

“Alright. Lilith? You sick psycho? What do you have to say about all this?!”

From within the bridge, the captain sighed. “What is it you’re talking about exactly, Hal? I’m very busy.”

“This crusade of yours!” he spat. “The Mountain?! You’re gonna put your soldiers on our fucking Mountain?!”

“And you cannot be intending to pay the Covenant Stellarch a simple visit, with your consignment of armed men and women,” seethed Miriham.

“M-My home…” Marcus was shivering, and Therese reached for his hand to try and comfort him. “My… people. What are you planning to do to Earth? What are you going to do to the Accord?!”

Lilith was quiet for a long moment, and Therese almost spoke up, afraid the captain had decided on ignoring them. But then she spoke, and when she did it was with the flames of rage licking at her words.

“Marcus…” she growled warningly. “I really need you to stop putting your nose into systems that you do not have permission to access!”

“Cut the crap!” Hal bellowed. “Open this door! You’ve got some explaining to do, and this ship isn’t moving until you’ve answered all our questions!”

“You’re right, of course,” Lilith sighed with an audible breath of hot air. “This conversation would have worked a lot better face to face. And we would have had that chance if you’d just waited in your rooms until I was ready to explain!”

“What possible explanation could there be that would make us back down and let you hand the Accord over to the Administration?”

“The Administration?” said the captain. “Then I guess you haven’t figured it out. We aren’t doing this for Sovereign dominance, Hal. Believe it or not, I have as many issues with my home government as I do with the Accord as a whole.”

Therese scanned the flight plan again. She was right. The Rune Carrier had five stops in Sceptis Administration territory, starting with Sceptis Matriarch, the seat of power. Lilith was taking her own people hostage in her bid for power.

“Then… who are you?” Therese asked. “If you aren’t Administration, just who do you represent?”

“We don’t need a name, love,” Lilith said, smiling once more. “Because in a week’s time, we will have evolved into something more than we are now. We will be the new Accord. And the power of this galaxy will be placed at long last into the hands of people who know how best to use it.”

“People like you?” Hal snarled.

“People like Reader Cain. Visionaries, leaders. Academics and forward-thinkers not afraid to take drastic steps towards enlightenment. People who aren’t scared of outdated concepts like ‘holy ground’. People your beloved Accord is frightened of. People like you, Hal. You’ll get to meet some more of them, if you just trust me on this.”

“Or what?” Marcus asked loudly, his voice shaking. “What happens to us if we say no to this ridiculous plan? Can we expect a visit from your hired guns to try and convince us otherwise? Or are we more likely to find ourselves in an airlock without a suit?”

With her keen vibrational senses, heightened by her physical contact, Therese sensed Marcus’ eyes flick towards Demi. The Alignment seemed to have been spared Lilith’s megalomania, but that didn’t mean the girl would have a safe place on her ship. If the Accord fell to war, Demi’s world would not be spared the carnage. Therese squeezed Marcus’ hand encouragingly. Whatever fate awaited the bridge crew, Demi would have to join them.

“I’m no killer, Marcus,” Lilith replied. She sounded disappointed. “I want what’s best for everyone. If you all just listen to me, nobody has to get hurt.”

“Fucking threats, then,” Hal spat. “I’m done listening to all this through a bloody door. Albright, with me. Let’s get this thing open.”

“We’d be so good together!” Lilith insisted as the horned officer advanced on the bridge access hatch. “You’re all so perfect for our new system! I’m sorry if I’ve not conveyed that well, I have tried to show you that working with me on this could be so, so much fun! I want you all alongside me! But… I will become a killer to preserve this mission. I don’t want to, but I will. Last chance.”

Hal’s powerful hands gripped the seam of the hatch and tugged. He was strong, but Therese doubted he could get the thing open like that. The hatch was built to keep the bridge safe if there was a hull breach in the corridor, after all.

“Albright!” he commanded.

“One second. Rune? Cut the channel.”

Marcus had his teeth gritted, and his brow was tense. His odd irises whirled like spinning rotors.

“We need guns,” he said. “She’s almost certainly armed, and I doubt she’ll listen to us unless we are too.”

“There are security boxes at the intersections,” Miriham nodded. “I shall attend. Demi, please come with me.”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

Therese watched the pair run off down the corridor together before turning back to the boys.

“Good thinking,” Hal nodded. “Now help me with the door!”

“Rune,” said the human, “you can do that, right? Open the way for us?”

“No, Marcus,” the ship replied. “The captain ordered the hatch sealed. I cannot countermand her orders.”

“Yes, you can!” Marcus insisted. “You showed me the truth behind Auxiliary Power, even though I don’t have clearance! You showed us the flight plan for the ship when that was clearly meant to be another secret! You can do this!”

“That was different. Captain Lilith did not specifically list you to be denied that information. I simply pointed you in the right direction. Her orders state that this hatch is not to be opened for anyone other than her. I cannot go against her direct commands.”

“But you’re the ship! You can do whatever you want! Rune, it’s not that you can’t do it, it’s just that you can’t see yourself going against a captain’s word. But you can! I know you can! And I’m asking you to do that now.”

“Captain Lilith is your superior.”

“You don’t have to believe that if you don’t want to!” Marcus’ grip on Therese’s hand was tight. “Whatever the Accord says, you make the rules here! And I think you know that Lilith isn’t worth your mindless obedience! Please, Rune!”

When someone got truly impassioned, Therese could feel it shaking inside them like a glowing ball of energy, threatening to explode. Marcus had that incandescence now. He burned with it.

“You are asking me to trust you over my captain,” said Rune sadly.

“Yes,” said Marcus. “Please, Rune. She wants to hurt people that we care about. We want to stop that. Please.”

“Rune, sweety, we only want what’s best for you!” Therese agreed. “You aren’t a warship, you’re an explorer! You don’t deserve to be used to hurt others! All you need to do is open the door and then leave the rest to us! That’s all!”

“We listen to you, don’t we?” said Hal. His scent held the mystified bemusement of one who can’t believe what he is saying. “When’s the last time Lilith bothered to listen to you? And who do you really want in charge around here? It’s not her, is it?”

Footsteps on steel as Miriham and Demi returned. The ensign pressed a laser pistol into Marcus’ free hand and handed a second to Hal. Miriham kept a third for herself. That was wise, thought Therese. The elf was easily the best shot among all of them. Marcus, on the other hand, stared at the device like he’d never seen one before. Therese reached out and took it from him with an apologetic smile, but the smile he returned was thankful.

And Rune was quiet. How much longer until they docked with Lilith’s cruiser, she wondered? How long until it wasn’t just one fanatic they had to subdue, but a whole army of them?

“Very well.”

Marcus’ sigh was heartbreaking. “Rune, thank you!”

“I truly hope you are all correct. I hope we can avoid bloodshed together. I await your signal.”

Hal took up a crouched position on one side of the hatch, and Miriham took the other. Therese released Marcus and moved to cover Hal’s flank. Through her vibrational senses, she heard Demi replace her beside the first officer. The two humans clasped hands tightly. Hal turned to the group and nodded.

“Rune,” said Marcus. “Open the door.”

Cain’s rifle cooled in his arms, just as Reader Nimbus’ body was cooling on the ground before him. The other two Readers, held in a severe kneel by black-garbed soldiers, watched on in terror. Yvain was pale as a ghost, and the elderly Reader Julianus of the League of Free Trade Worlds twitched along each of his tentacles in pent panic. The station’s disarmed security officers remained quietly behaved in the corner of the wide reception room, beside a wooden table still littered with the detritus of last night’s celebration. Cain’s soldiers had stripped them of their weapons and now kept an easy watch. He regretted the handful of station personnel that had died in the fighting. Everyone with experience on this revolutionary station had a place in the new Accord, and any blood shed was blood wasted. Nimbus’ included.

“Y-You madman…!” whispered Yvain. Her interface specs were askew on her angular, elven face, but she didn’t try to adjust them. “You lunatic! Here is where you choose to make a political grab for power? This is meant to be a place of learning, not savagery!”

“Reader Station is a place of enlightenment, true,” he replied, handing the gun back to one of his guards. This one’s helmet had the long extensions needed to accommodate horns. It wasn’t only citizens of the Sceptis Administration who had been invited to start the revolution. “So, why not here as the launch point to lead the galaxy into a new age? It is free of governments, free of nationalism. It has access to the latest in esoteric technology. I can think of no better seedbed for our new order.”

“M-Murder…” Julianus looked about to throw up. His long, white hair was undone from its usual seashell clasp and dangled chaotically in front of the man’s ochre face. “Murderer! Y-You killed him!”

“A small sacrifice to preserve the greater,” Cain said, shaking his head sadly. “But a good child deserves a firm hand, and our new rule has the potential to be very good.”

Cain turned on his tail and slithered along the varnished wood of the reception hall to the tall viewscreens. The false windows projected a view of space outside. Beautifully silhouetted by Arach was the Transmission Ring like a dark iris in some great god’s eye. And drifting along against the station’s hull was the mercury finish of the Rune Carrier. Fresh, unmarked and gorgeous. No other ship in the galaxy deserved to be the flagship of the new Accord. Not even the threatening majesty of the Widow, floating menacingly somewhere out of sight.

“She’s wonderful, isn’t she?” Cain asked the two surviving Readers over his shoulder with arms folded neatly behind his back. “And she is just one of the many great discoveries that our little group has given to the Accord. The Rune Carrier, the Galactic Transmission Ring, the scientific application of anima. We did all this. Reader Station was one of the Accord’s good ideas, certainly, but it was also the last. Because, look! What has our unified coalition of stellar cultures done with all the power we have given them? Turned them outwards!”

He spun, and both Readers flinched away from the glow of his eyes. “The Accord would rather we share what we have learned with our barbaric cousins in the Forge galaxy, when there is still so much that must be done here at home first! The Rune Carrier can cross star systems in the blink of an eye, powered solely by interpersonal interaction! Think what we could accomplish with a fleet of Rune Carriers! Think the number of colonies across the galaxy whose energy crises and economic turmoil and, hell, even social issues could be solved with systematic integration of anima-based power! Why does our government see fit to neglect its people, when it could do so much to help them?”

Yvain scowled over her specs. “You know why.”

Cain merely smiled at this. The great treasure of the Forge, yet unrealised. The musical signal hidden in the Rune Carrier’s deepest programming, pointing the way to the last message left by the ship’s creators.

“And we will see to completing that mission in time,” Cain said. “When all our affairs are in order. When our people are ready to receive the majesty of the Mythmakers.”

He returned to his two prisoners and loosened the curl of his tail, widened it beneath him to lower himself to their level. The elf stared him down, while Julianus looked away fearfully.

“Yvain,” he implored. “All I am asking of you is to continue our great work here on Reader Station. Help me reinvigorate the Accord, the same as we always have done. Be my partner in this. Both of you. Help me.”

Slowly, Reader Yvain averted her eyes. Her shoulders sagged. Beside her, Julianus let out a long, ragged sigh.

“Thank you,” said Cain.

The triumphs were coming thick and fast today. Cain returned to his full height and turned to watch the windows once again. He dismissed the two Readers’ guards with a wave of his hand. Everything was flowing smoothly. They would pull this off peacefully yet, he knew it.

Then he frowned. Why had the Rune Carrier stopped? Shouldn’t she have docked with the Widow by now? Curious, he reached into his kilt pocket and retrieved a small hand terminal, replete with a chunky extra module to let the little communicator circumvent his jamming field. He keyed in the ship’s frequency and raised it to his face.

The hatch hissed open, and Marcus watched his friends advance into the bridge. Therese, Miriham and Hal moved forward in low crouches with their weapons held ready by their heads. They immediately took cover behind the bridge control panels on the upper deck platform. From out in the corridor, he could see Hal at the captain’s podium, Miriham on the starboard slope, and Therese overturning her chair at engineering to act as a shield.

He also saw Lilith. The captain was just as beautiful performing treason as she was in the warm intimacy of her bedroom. Her hair was tied back in a loose tail, and her dark jacket was crisp and clean about her shoulders. She whirled from her place at the navigation console on the lower bridge and aimed a pistol of her own up at the intruders. Her yellow eyes flickered to take in all three attackers at once with open surprise. She snarled loudly.

“Marcus, fuck off!” she yelled. “Stop getting in my way! Seriously, I should have made those machines strip every piece of metal from your body before I let you on board!”

“Just let us talk, captain!” he called back from behind the open hatch. “Let’s put whatever’s happening on hold and talk it out! We’re your bridge crew. Let us in!”

At the podium, Hal reached back with one hand. He made a series of gestures with his fingers for Miriham and Therese. Marcus had to check his internal files before he grasped what was going on. Military manoeuvres had been a part of their mission training, and Hal was making use of that training now. His orders were clear, they attacked together to bring her down. But Marcus wondered how good a shot Lilith was. If she was even half-way decent, she’d surely take one of them down before she fell.

“This mission isn’t the sort of thing I can just pause for you, love,” she called with a dismissive shake of her head. “We’re already underway. We go now, or the whole thing falls apart. With everything happening across the galaxy in accordance with these plans, Marcus, you do not want us holding up the revolution. The peaceful option is you joining me!”

Hal’s fingers ordered the squad to be ready.

[Rune, please help!]

[I cannot do anything,] the ship said straight into his mind. [There are no internal defences. You shall have to follow through on your own.]

On his own? What could he possibly do? He only had theoretical, digital knowledge on gunfighting. He could use a computer without touching it, but Rune could do the same. And there wasn’t anything she do to stop Lilith while the snake held command access. And suddenly, it clicked. He would have to be fast and brave.

“Alright,” he said aloud to the ship. “Thank you, Rune. So much. You’re a good friend.”

Hal counted down. Marcus watched. And with a second still to go, he turned in the doorway and revealed himself.

Lilith eyed him from the lower bridge deck. The laser pistol in her hand trailed him. But Marcus had his hands up in a sign of surrender, and he was glad to see that she respected that. Her yellow eyes bore into him, but the gun did not fire. Hal made a frustrated, obscene gesture at him from the podium, and then his countdown hit zero.

All three fighters advanced as one. Hal rose from his crouch and trained his gun on the captain, while Miriham lunged forward from the flank. Therese was slightly slower on the opposite side.

Before he could even act on his ploy, Marcus watched as a lance of fire cut through Hal’s shoulder. The dragon yelled his fury as the arm weakened, dropping his weapon to the floor, and he crouched alongside it. It appeared Lilith was a very good shot indeed. Miriham got a red blast off on her side of the chamber, but the snake ducked to avoid it before returning fire and forcing the elf back into cover. Which left only Therese to carry on the fight.

And finally, Marcus found it in himself to move. He fixed his eyes on the brightly glowing pistol in Lilith’s hands, focussing on its incredible heat. He narrowed that focus and stretched out his will, the same as when he integrated his consciousness with a computer terminal. And he was rewarded when the cybernetic overlay of his mind clicked into place in the gun’s tiny circuit brain. A digital programming matrix, state of the art. As his own brain tugged unpleasantly in his skull, stretched across the whole length of the room, Marcus saw stars. But he did manage to reactivate the hi-tech weapon’s safety before he was forced to disengage.

As Therese advanced across the bridge on her heavy tentacles, Lilith spun on her with reflexes like lightning. But the gun in her hand merely clicked. Lilith’s eyes went wide.

On one side of the bridge, Miriham sensed her target’s weakness and stepped out of cover with her gun held high. But Therese was faster. All eyes fell on the League girl as she sped across the deck on her powerful, aquatic limbs. And before Lilith could re-arm her weapon, she was taken down. Lilith’s long tail initially kept her steady against the blow, but only until Therese’s four tentacles took her in a tight embrace across the length of her body. The woman’s weight pushed the captain to the ground, and Therese’s hands lashed out to grip her wrists. Lilith cried out indignantly, struggling against capture.

“Shut up!” Therese yelled. It was frightening to see her so furious, Marcus thought. “Give it up, Captain! You’re done!”

And slowly, seethingly, Lilith relented. She bared her teeth up at the bridge crew. “You idiots,” she snarled. “This ends badly now.”

Marcus sighed. The fight was over. From the doorway, Demi eased herself around him to attend to Hal, who had a hand against the charred hole in his shoulder. She had a medical kit in her hands, likely taken from the same place as the emergency weapons. Hal tried to push her away with a grimace of pain, but he soon relented when she persisted. Demi applied a soothing spray and a wrap of gauze swiftly and efficiently, and not once did Marcus see her react to the dragon’s body heat.

With Therese holding Lilith and Miriham’s pistol trained to support, Marcus dashed to the navigation console on the lower bridge.

“Rune, what’s the situation?”

“My internal sensors have picked up signs of violence,” the ship explained over the bridge comms, “and in accordance with naval code, I have ceased movement. We are now being contacted by Reader Station. The digital identifier lists the caller as Reader Cain of the Thessid Families.”

“Alright, leave him hanging,” Marcus nodded, before turning to the others. “We need a new plan.”

“Who else is out there?” Hal asked, leaning with Demi’s help against the upper deck banister. “Surely we’ve got some allies to call on.”

“I only see three blips on scanners,” Marcus reported from navigation. “L and MRS seem to be down still, so there could be more further away. But we’re cut off from everyone else. The coordinates for Lilith’s cruiser are closer than ever.”

“Heat up the engines any more and Cain will take action,” Lilith grunted from the floor. “You aren’t flying out of here. Just stay put and wait for him. It’s the only way to get out of this alive now.”

Marcus regarded her. The captain seemed to have passed through anger and into something else. Was she afraid?

“I shall see to our weapon systems,” Miriham suggested as she moved to the tactical station. “We may be able to stall for time by activating the rocket array.”

“He’ll see it,” Hal growled. “Any self-respecting cruiser has pin-point railguns that could chop the cannons right off us at the first sign of aggression. I say we seal all our exits and prepare for borders. We know the land, so we have a decent shot at taking them down.”

“Just us?” Therese replied from atop the captain. “I don’t know, sweety. I don’t fancy our chances. Remember that those boys were ready to invade a whole bunch of planets. I think five bridge operators won’t be much of a challenge. Even with Marcus’ superpowers,” she added with a grin in his direction.

Hal blinked. “His what?”

“Then allow me to make a reckless suggestion,” said Miriham. When Marcus looked to her, he saw that the elf’s violet eyes were closed and her face was pale. “As recklessness appears to be our only option. Heat from the fusion drive can be detected and counteracted. But we do have a second means of travel.”

“The Auxiliary Power!” Marcus sighed. “Subspace!”

“Wh-What?” Lilith wriggled, suddenly defiant once more. “You can’t be serious! Jumping to subspace when we haven’t even tested the sequence?!”

“We are trained for it,” Miriham replied. “We have all run the drills. With the exception of Marcus?”

“I can do it,” he nodded. “I’ve done digital training on it.”

“Fuck yes!” Hal pumped his healthy arm with a grin splitting his face. “I like this plan! But where do we go?”

“Anywhere is preferable to here,” said Miriham. “Rune, what safe coordinates can we develop in the shortest possible timeframe?”

The ship was silent. Marcus looked up at the ceiling, suddenly worried. “Rune?”

“There are no safe coordinates.”

“What do you mean?” asked Miriham. “We have any number of neighbouring systems that could be accessed. You may use the coordinates for one of those.”

“And aren’t you primed for Lilith’s flight plan around the Accord?” added Marcus.

“I cannot,” said Rune. “Subspace coordinates are different to physical. I will need to translate from physical space to alternate. Time for this was allotted in Captain Lilith’s plan, which we have now diverted from.”

“Then do that,” said Hal. “We’ll buy you time to do your work.”

“I cannot,” said Rune again. “The process is complex and data intensive. We shall be overrun by the time I am complete.”

“I’ll help you,” said Marcus. “I’ll do some programming through navigation. That should cut the time enough for you to-…”

“I cannot,” she said, “as engineering has not yet been properly primed to shield certain digital systems from subspace interference.”

“I know what you mean, but I worked in some capacitors yesterday to compromise,” Therese reported. “It’s fine, Rune. Any damage done in the transfer can be fixed when we-…”

“I cannot!”

The bridge fell deathly quiet at the ship’s outburst. Marcus felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

“Rune,” he asked softly, “why not?”

“Because I am afraid,” she said.

Marcus leaned forward and rested his fingers on the display. “Me too,” he said. “I’m so scared, Rune. I was not ready for any of this.”

“None of us were,” Therese agreed. “We were trained to explore the unknown of the Forge, not fight our own people.”

“I’d much rather be anywhere else,” Hal laughed, and Demi nodded emphatically beside him.

“But it’s the best plan we have,” Marcus said. “And even if we’re scared, I think we just have to go for it. We’re all together, at least. You won’t be alone. So let’s try it, Rune! Let’s try to-…”

“The Forge!”

All eyes turned to Miriham, standing agape at tactical.

“We have a set of coordinates ready for subspace travel,” she explained. “Those of our entry point to the Forge. The same subspace coordinates we utilised in our training exercises!”

“Oh shit,” Hal whispered. “Can we do that?”

“It would be the fastest course of action,” Miriham nodded. “Everything on board is arranged to transfer us that distance. The engines have been suitably tuned for inter-galactic travel, and safety systems are ready to activate at a moment’s notice. We shall have to leave out the pre-jump safety tests, but we have already performed those several times already. I believe that, madly, the Forge is our best destination.”

“And the Galactic Transmission Ring is already primed for us!” Therese said excitedly. “We just need to link up with it!”

“Isn’t it way over there somewhere?” Hal frowned, gesturing at the field of stars on the forward viewscreen.

“There’ll be some strain on both of us if we access it from this distance,” the engineer agreed. “But it’ll work. Just more shit to clean up once we get there. We’ll be alive, at least. Let’s do it! Let’s go to the Forge!”

“Hell yeah!” Hal laughed. “Fuck the Accord! Let’s get out of here!”

Even Miriham smiled with nervous excitement, and Demi clapped her hands together.

“How about it, Rune?” Marcus asked the ship. “We’re all ready! Don’t you want to see the Forge for yourself?”

“This procedure is unthinkably dangerous,” Rune said after a pause. “It would be far wiser to surrender.”

“I don’t think so,” said the human. “I think this is going to be easier than you believe. We all trust you, Rune. We trust you! Let’s do it!”

He hoped. He prayed.

“In the interest of the safety of the crew during this incredibly unwise operation,” the ship said at last, “I have turned over full control of this vessel to the first officer. At your command, Marcus.”

“Yes!” he cheered. “Rune, get ready to jump to the Forge galaxy!”

From her place on the floor, Lilith moaned with dread.

Rune had no idea what she was doing as she readied herself for her first ever jump to subspace. Each of the crew on her bridge had their jobs, though naturally there should have been a hundred more personnel to tackle the repercussions of any errors.

Marcus used his cybernetics to guide her through coding her navigation to a format ready for the Galactic Transmission Ring, the great circle of steel and cabling about one light minute’s distance from their place beside Reader Station. Once they began the sequence, the Ring would pick up their intentions and shoot them through subspace across the void. It was the only way to access the Forge that the Readers had managed to assemble, since it was impossible to know safe coordinates from this side of the incredible, cross-galactic distance they were travelling.

Therese took her position at her engineering console and quickly punched the system through the authentication needed to tie the Auxiliary Power into the rest of Rune’s systems. Thanks mostly to Lilith, they had more than enough energy to take them where they needed. Hal had a gun trained on the captain, seated by the bridge door, and Miriham used the captain’s podium to check their local sensors. The interference from Reader Station was still present, but hopefully they wouldn’t need that much information about their surroundings for what they were planning.

Something began rising up within her. Rune felt it like lightning filling her metal frame from somewhere deep inside, hot tendrils of energy that sang along her circuits and lit up her diodes. She imagined that she was glowing.

This must have been the Auxiliary Power. It felt… nice.

Further and further she was filled, until the decks and corridors felt like they were shuddering within her, rattling against her housings. Further still, until she felt ready to explode with power. She had to let it out. She cast her focus onto Marcus and the navigation console. How was he not being consumed by the burning power flowing through her? But a quick check of the bridge visual scanners told her that he, and the rest of the crew, weren’t feeling anything at all. Only she could feel the lustrous flow of anima in her veins.

“We are ready for transfer,” she reported to her crew. “Energetic integrity is at one hundred percent. Coordinates confirmed via external conduits. At your command, First Officer.”

He spoke aloud within her. “Rune Carrier, jump to subspace!”

She shivered as the sequence started. The distant Ring called to her like a great magnet. It tugged at her pleasingly. She could see flames of esoteric energy floating free of the Ring’s metal hull, and the huge plates making up its outer frame spun in huge rotations around the space within. It was a good thing the Ring wasn’t designed to launch ships through it, as they were at completely the wrong angle. But the space inside the Ring suddenly hardened like glass, forming a lens through which Rune could see another space entirely. A new galaxy.

A hard, heavy signal burst against her flank suddenly.

“That alarm means a target lock!” Hal shouted. “Where’s it coming from?”

“Something we cannot see!” Miriham reported from the captain’s console. “The energy reading is significant, however! I do not believe the weapons trained on us are for disabling our systems! I suggest haste!”

“Cain wouldn’t kill us though, would he?” Therese asked. “Not with his girl aboard?”

Through the internal camera, Rune watched her captain. Lilith had curled herself up into a tight ball and was covering her head with her hands. She sobbed quietly.

“I guess if he can’t have us, nobody can,” Hal spat. “Let’s get the fuck out of here, yeah?”

“Agreed,” said Marcus. “Rune, take us out as soon as you can!”

But standing at the precipice, Rune found she could not move. She was still, frozen by her fear. Fear. That was the name she had given the white flames licking at her self. And knowing what it was had made it all the harder to bear. She stared down the warped lens of the Ring, willed herself to advance, but could not do it.

[Rune?]

He was speaking to her in his mind, now. That was a relief. Rune didn’t want them all to hear her. [I am very scared,] she said. [I cannot proceed.]

[Oh Rune,] Marcus sighed. [I am so sorry.]

[I fully understand the mechanics of our operation. I understand the need for haste, and I do not wish to remain here with that dark behemoth. So why can I not advance? Is this how it is for you, Marcus?]

[Yeah,] he chuckled.

[Please explain to me how you overcome your fear,] she implored, hiding her desperation.

[It’s not easy. It is easier, though, if you’re not alone.]

Alone? To her shame, Rune recognised that feeling. She was alone. There were people on her bridge, tapping her keys and setting her protocols, but they were very small compared to her. So small that they couldn’t really see her. So small that they couldn’t understand her. And she couldn’t understand them. Little creatures of flesh and blood. Tiny, loud, unreasonable little organics. She had no idea what they were going to do. She was surprised each time they acted. Even Marcus, who had spoken to her as if she was the same as him. Even he surprised her. Shocked her. Even he…

“Rune?”

That voice was his, and so close! Rune instinctively scanned her SRS for new contacts, but she couldn’t find a trace of him. That was because he was inside her. And not just on her bridge. Truly inside her.

As Rune watched, she saw Marcus’ body begin to light up with points of data contact, nodes that she could reach out and access with her digital framework. His cybernetics. He was opening them up for her.

“Can you see me?”

She could see him. His inner being was very similar to hers, it turned out. But instead of decks and systems and external devices, he was organs and limbs and softly pumping blood. She could see his organs, now. She could feel the nerves in his skin.

“A-Are you doing that?” he asked her, twitching about. “That tickles!”

“I apologise,” she said, relenting her exploration of his body. “Why are you here, Marcus? What are you attempting to do?”

“I’m trying to integrate with you,” he told her, unabashed despite the intimacy of his new contact. “Not just my digital influence. Everything. My whole self. I was hoping to get as close to you as I could, so you wouldn’t feel alone. Is it working?”

For a wonder, it was. Rune saw Marcus as though he was standing in the void beside her. His presence in her system, taking up her internal memory, made her suddenly aware of what she looked like. He was physically human even in the digital realm. A male human. He had arms and legs, a head. Eyes. Fingers. She was comparatively less distinct. She was a warped, wispy cloud of data, prodding and flailing. She was clumsy and ugly.

“I don’t think so,” said Marcus. “I think you’re beautiful.”

This made no sense to her.

“It’s true,” laughed the glowing human. “You’re so complex and clever. I love the way you move. It’s so intricate.”

He reached out one of his human hands and brushed at her data. She felt him like a fluttering, scattering handful of sparks across her frame. It was very nice indeed.

And suddenly, she realised the Forge wasn’t all that far away after all.

“It feels like you’re ready,” he said.

“I am,” she replied.

“Then go, Rune Carrier!” ordered the first officer. “To the Forge! Full speed!”

She surged forward on the all-consuming power of their anima and roared through the void. The Ring took her, grabbed her harshly, and cast her towards the distant Forge. And then she struck something. A wall that wasn’t there. A wall in space. Rune steeled her resolve, drawing every last scrap of anima the reactor had granted her. She pushed. And with a great, resounding crack, space shattered apart.

What lay beyond was something else. Light, infinitely fractal. Energy, entirely unfathomable. Subspace. And Rune fell between the cracks of their reality, tumbling headlong into space unknown. The great, dark ship that had been so intently following her disappeared from sight as the shards of space reformed in her wake. She saw the barrel of its mighty cannon for a split second, and then it was gone.

She was suspended in the light of subspace for a time. Her temporal sensors flickered and buzzed in confused frustration. On her bridge, the organics were motionless. They were outside of her time.

And then she hit reality once again and crashed back into physical space. The maddening light vanished slowly behind her, until it was only a lightning-shaped crack in physics. And then it was gone.

“Did you see that, Marcus?” she asked the human with bright excitement flaring within her. “Did you see me? I did it!”

But Marcus was gone from her systems. Suddenly afraid, she switched to internal visuals. The first officer was leaning heavily on the navigation console, and his lips were stained with blood. She watched as he wiped them clean with the sleeve of his jacket, dabbed at the puddles that had formed on the screen in front of him, and smiled.

“Very well done,” he croaked.

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