The walls and ceiling were polished to a silvery shine. When Alice opened her eyes, she saw a woman that she recognized immediately, but what she saw didn’t make sense. The brown-haired, blue eyed, tall woman who stared back at her felt perfectly right, but she’d never physically been that woman. One of her eyes was cybernetic, and seemed exactly like the one she’d been given on Veers Nine, but it was blue, matching her natural eye.
Someone had put a grey metal choker on her. The vacsuit, heavy boots, as well as the thick command and control unit were all Freeground military issue. They were newer models, but definitely Freeground. She pushed her fingers through her straight, longer than shoulder-length brown hair. Her smile reflected back at her and broadened at the sight of it.
She remembered dying. That body that was such a reliable host for years was fully corrected, and the flaw in its brain that allowed her to borrow it for so long was gone. Alice remembered being trapped, hearing many of the Triton crew speaking to her, entertaining her for hours on end. Then she let go, and copied herself into a digital system. Her last memory was of the man who treated her like his daughter, patiently sitting at her bedside. She’d said goodbye, but he couldn’t hear her.
“I’ll make sure he hears me when I say ‘hello,’” she said aloud. The sound of her voice in the silent space was so surprising she clapped both her hands over her mouth and giggled. It was a strong voice with a very feminine tonality, almost exactly how she sounded when she was still an artificial intelligence running on Jonas Valent’s command and control unit. “Now, how’d they do that?”
Alice tried to scan the small room but her cybernetic eye failed. She could feel the choker around her neck interacting with the eye and the implant that allowed her to communicate through neural channels. “A restraint,” she said, tugging on it with no success.
The outline of a door appeared and a slab of metal was drawn out of the way. A woman with sharp features and long, dark red hair emerged. She wasn’t wearing a soldier’s uniform, but a long, conservatively cut green dress. The woman nodded at the soldiers behind her and the door closed. “We don’t have long, so I would like you to answer my questions quickly. Then you can go.”
Alice decided that the conversation should begin with a logical leap, maybe that would skip a lot of minutiae and get to the point. “Why has Freeground Intelligence resurrected me, and how did they do it?”
The woman looked stunned for a moment then smiled. “Why didn’t I see that assumption coming?”
Alice’s guess was obviously a miss, but she pressed on. “This room, the style, it’s all Freeground. That door’s a metre thick.”
“So you have no memories from the artificial intelligence version of yourself, or your experiences while you were my passenger?”
Alice thought for a moment, and remembered. She sent herself towards the biggest Regent Galactic communications hub she could find right before she made the transfer to digital. “What happened?”
“An artificial version of you separated from a file that it guarded. That file had all your memories and human traits. It started degrading so your artificial intelligence copied the file into my brain. You don’t have any memory of that, do you?”
“No,” Alice said. She tried to remember what it was like to be an artificial intelligence before she was human and realized she could barely recall anything. Her life as software was, for the most part, gone. Her human memories were rich, clearer than ever before. “Someone did some serious housekeeping in my head.”
The smile that brought on in the woman watching her was surprisingly joyful. “I’m glad you’re back. I only wish we had more time.”
Alice watched the woman, there was something inexplicably familiar about her, but she couldn’t figure out what. “Okay, then where am I? Whose pet project am I?”
“You have to promise not to react too extremely, let me explain the whole situation.”
“Okay,” Alice replied, sitting up straight. “I’ll let you finish before I decide on an escape plan.”
“The creator of framework technology didn’t stop developing it after escaping Vindyne. He incorporated edxi and issyrian technologies and kept on researching the secrets to true immortality.”
“Edxi,” Alice said, nodding. “I met one, looked like it took a real act of will for it to resist tearing into me like an entrée. They don’t like anyone researching or altering them.”
“That may be true, but Omira, formerly Doctor Marcelles, had a lot of success. Your framework created a modified version of human physiology. You have neural pockets scattered throughout your body, a little more strength, you’re hardened against vacuum, radiation, and extreme temperatures to a certain extent.”
Alice looked at her bare hand. It looked completely normal. She pinched it has hard as she could with her fingernails. She felt the normal pinching pain, but it didn’t break the skin. “Vacsuit skin.”
“That’s accurate. You also have a reserve lung and a bladder that reprocesses excess moisture, like an issyrian,” the woman said. “I wasn’t told this until you’d been transferred across, and they offered the same upgrades to me. Our version of the technology is locked, so we can’t make modifications to it.”
“This thing locks me down?” Alice said, picking at the choker.
“No, the lock is mental, and it can be broken, but I’ve seen what can happen when that’s done, and I don’t recommend it. That choker is keeping your cybernetics from operating. If you reached out to networks outside this ship, or started scanning things with your eye, the fleet would detect it.”
“Okay, if Omira could upgrade most of my important bits by borrowing from other races, why do I even have cybernetics?”
“Those are manifestations of your mental self image. Your memories of yourself having those are so clear that the framework duplicated them when you were transferred.”
“So if I had four arms before…”
“I suppose you’d have four now,” the woman replied, smiling at the whimsical thought.
“Damn,” Alice said. “Should have pictured five myself five years younger, with wings and a pooper that dumped platinum.”
The woman chuckled and pressed on. “You’re on Omira’s research vessel, the Fallen Star. We don’t know where she is, before you ask. We have a ship ready for you with the coordinates of Jacob Valent programmed in. Once you are clear of our fleet, the choker will fall off, and you’ll be able to use your implants however you like.”
“That’s one great big prize package, lady. Who are you?” Alice asked. “What did I do to win all that? Oh, and where am I?”
“You’re in the middle of the main Order of Eden fleet. I’m not going to tell you where the fleet is operating from, since that would breach our security too drastically. I’m also not going to tell you who I am. I could have had you cut out when I discovered you in my head, but instead allowed you to be saved.”
“Well, that’s the most terrifying thing I’ve ever heard. I’m in a cell, in the middle of the enemy camp, which I’m assuming is bigger than I could guess.” Alice thought for a moment. “What happened to the artificial intelligence that put me in your head?”
“She deleted herself after Meunez arrived, at least that’s what she said she’d be doing.”
“Gabriel Meunez is here? Talk about burying the lead. Now I know I need to get going,” Alice replied.
“Answer a couple of questions for me, and I’ll set you free.”
“Fire away, Red. If Meunez is nearby, I have to get out of here. I didn’t make the greatest impression last time we ran into each other.”
“Well, he’s moved on to other things, but we’ll get to that. I’m wondering, what happened to Lewis?”
“How do you know about the Clever Dream’s AI?” Alice asked.
“There was another Lewis, before.”
The memory of him, and his last moments instantly lowered her spirits. “He’s dead.”
“Oh,” the woman replied. “How?”
“Okay, before I spill the nitty gritty on one of the most complicated men I’ve ever met, I’ve just gotta know why you’re asking after someone who was maybe known on two worlds. Two worlds that, I’m just guessing here, are a long way away.”
“I read about him in your history, but the file was incomplete,” the woman replied.
“Wait,” Alice said. “My memories were in your head. They didn’t stay sealed, did they?”
“No. I remembered parts of your life in dreams.”
“Well, it would have saved us a little time if you said that straight off, Nora.”
The woman regarded her with surprise. “How did you know my name?”
“Seemed right, just a guess,” Alice said, making her best effort to underplay how disturbing the idea that she’d gotten some of the other woman’s memories as part of her transfer. “Right, so you found out about Lewis. He saved my butt twice, then I saved his once. Where did the memory end for you?”
“Before you saved him,” Nora replied.
Nora didn’t seem to want to dwell on how she knew her name, so Alice continued the story. “We had to stop for food, so we hit this drift. I think it was called Yikin, no, it was Yelkin. We were just finishing up at a Spacerwares mini-store when Lewis caught a stun round. I managed to drag him under cover and fire back. The whole quad broke into a full-on firefight, most of them taking the opportunity to take shots at whoever they didn’t like or figuring they would play law-maker and shoot whoever’s shooting. Drifts get busy with the idiots of the galaxy, the ones that shouldn’t have guns but tend to have the biggest collections. Long story short, I stole an antigravity cart and got him to a shuttle only a little more beat up than the one he had.”
“How did you start it?” Nora asked, engrossed in the story as though it was unlike anything she’d ever heard.
“It was a cheap shuttle, I busted the main console open with his sword-“
“He had a sword?” Nora asked.
“Yeah, this Zurra Cutter, like a nanosword with microsaw edges but four times as broad with heavier components, so it could cut through most metal. Can I continue?”
“Please.”
“I got into that panel and shorted the old security board inside. Once Lewis was back up on his feet, he plotted a course that would keep us away from most of the traffic. We made it back to Ulrik, but it took us three days.”
“What did you do during that time?”
Alice regarded her warily and decided that she’d please her audience of one so she could get out of her cell faster. “He was different during quiet times. Nice, interesting, he had a lot of stories and didn’t like people around him getting bored. We got close, I guess.”
“Did you,” Nora hesitated awkwardly. “Fornicate with him?” she asked quietly.
Alice recoiled at the thought. “No! Wow, that would have been so weird. He played the ‘old soldier’ part too well, and I guess that’s not my thing, and I don’t think he was too interested in that kind of thing with me, either. He never made it obvious if he did.”
“What happened after that?”
“We showed up at Ulrik’s estate,” Alice paused a moment. “Did you learn about his place? What the job was about?”
“Yes, the Amber Heart,” Nora replied.
“Right, that hunk of old sap from Earth. We touched down on the platform and had a hundred barrels on us in a second.” Alice took a moment to close her eyes. The memory of that platform, the cool wind against her face, and the surprise at seeing dozens of house soldiers pointing weapons at them was too clear. She could even remember the smell of the forest below. The recollection of the next moment was almost enough to bring tears to her eyes. “He was such a proud idiot,” she said to herself.
“Who?”
“Never mind,” Alice said, regaining her composure. “Ulrik comes out smiling and Lewis quick-draws on him. I’ve never seen anyone as fast. Cybernetics helped; it turns out Lewis’ whole right half had been replaced. Probably because of some injury on Veers Nine. There wasn’t enough of Ulrik left to put back together. Lewis was using a tri-shot modification on his sidearm, so it fired hot enough to burn a few strands of my hair just because I was standing beside him. He got all three shots off before the guards killed him. I caught a couple of rounds too, but it was minor, just crossfire.”
“Why?” Nora asked. “He had to know he would be killed, surrounded by guards.”
“Territory,” Alice said. “One of Ulrik’s companies was on Veers Nine, fighting for a share, and Lewis’ job was to dismantle his operation however he could. He decided that killing the man at the top was the last chance he had since Ulrik had already caught on.”
“How did you get out?”
“Well, I woke up in a room a lot different from this. Big windows, fresh flowers on the bedside table. One of Ulrik’s wives, Rada was her name, told me that I didn’t come up when they ran a check on known enemies, and I finished my mission, so she gave me my reward after I told her where she could find Amber, the wife that stole the Amber Heart. When I powered on my new ship, it asked me two questions: what the ship was called, and what I would name my new artificial intelligence.”
“So you named it Lewis,” Nora said.
“I named it Lewis,” Alice nodded. “Can I get out of here now? Feeling a little claustrophobic right now.”
“Thank you, Alice,” Nora said, tears welling up. “You helped me feel human again. I don’t remember much of you, just the dreams, so you don’t have to worry, but you at least brought my humanity back.”
Alice stood, trying to look like she cared more about Nora’s apparent breakthrough, and she received a heartfelt hug as her reward. “I’m sure you would have found it eventually, I mean, it can’t go far, right?”
“I’ll miss you,” Nora repeated. “This’ll be the last time I see you.”
The door opened and Alice followed Nora out. The transparent wall beyond her cell was difficult to see through, but she made out roughly man-shaped creatures swimming, tending to what looked like clusters of heavy bubbles. She jumped as an issyrian swam right for her and bumped the wall playfully. “Wow,” Alice said. “Never seen that before.” It smiled at her, pressing its webbed hands against the transparent plating between them. It was away with a push, disappearing into the dark depths.
“That’s all you’ll be seeing, sorry,” said a soldier as he put a bag over her head and cinched it under her chin. Another guard tied her hands, then her feet with great expertise.
“Okay, this is going to make walking around really interesting, and the trip to the shuttle really slow,” Alice said. She yelped as strong arms picked her up and put her on the bed of a cart or hard gurney. “Oh, this kind of trip never ends well, see ya!” Alice said as she did her best to roll off.
Hands caught her easily, and restraints were pressed across her chest, waist, and knees. “A girl’s gotta try,” she sighed.
Alice made sporadic attempts at breaking the restraints as she was pushed swiftly down hallways. She assumed they were using a hover cart, because there were no bumps or squeaking wheels. They were running quickly, judging from the pounding of their boots on the deck. She heard heavy doors and hatches opening, closing and felt herself go down a ramp.
The cart came to a sudden stop and her restraints were hastily removed. “Gabriel Meunez is on his way to the Rega Gain system with an invasion fleet,” one of the soldiers said to her. Their headgear made it difficult to determine if it was a woman or man speaking, or it could have been an issyrian under that armour, Alice couldn’t guess. “We are sending you there, so you can warn them. Don’t interfere with the autopilot, or you could disrupt the combined wormhole and hyperdrive systems.”
The guards picked her up, there were at least eight hands on her. “Like hell! I don’t want to run into that freak. As soon as I unlock the computer I’m heading in the opposite direction.”
“Your ship, Jacob Valent, and all his friends are there, on the Tamber moon,” the guard explained. She was roughly tossed through the air, and she landed head and right shoulder first. The vacsuit, and her new, sturdier body, helped with the blow, but it was no less awkward.
Alice pulled the bag off her head in time to see the narrow gangway raising, almost closed. “Why didn’t you say so? And, hey! You got his name wrong! It’s Jacob Valance! You guys should know, you bought the company that made the copy!” The engines fired, rumbling the interior of the shuttle.
It was well lit. The interior was in pristine condition. There were shoulder racks recessed into the sides of the cabin, enough to support sixteen. It looked like the seats pulled out into beds, and overhead there were bunks that would lower for even more. “Okay, it looks like Freeground’s deluxe model shuttle. Maybe there are some new features?” she said to herself as she got to her feet and started opening compartments. “Fully equipped,” she muttered as she opened a gun cabinet and saw brand new, high-powered weaponry. Another compartment revealed heavy armour; it looked like a Freeground design, but every suit was heavier, more advanced than she’d ever seen. The compartments seemed endless.
“Toys, toys, and more toys. Enough for a whole squad of heavy stealthers,” she said as she rummaged. “Ooh!” she shouted as she found one of the food compartments under a bench. “So hungry.” She ripped one open and pocketed two more before heading for the cockpit. “Let’s see if you open.” Alice tried the door and made a celebratory sound around a mouthful of vanilla meal bar. Dropping herself into the pilot’s seat she took a look at the control panel and immediately saw the engraving along the edge that read: SUNSPIRE SHUTTLE IX
“Well, I’m sure there’s a story there,” she said. Alice looked through the transparent portions of the hull around her and her mouth dropped open as she saw the Overlord II looming nearby. There were hundreds of large ships everywhere, every one of them armed to the teeth. A chill ran down her spine and she was frozen for several seconds. “Wow, am I ever not supposed to be here!” she said in a half choked voice, dropping out of the chair and rolling behind it. “Time to go little shuttle, all your toys and food won’t help me one bit against that big bad blast from my past.” She peeked around the bucket seat then looked over the console, and saw that the wormhole generator was ninety seven percent charged. “Hurry, hurry, hurry,” she said, looking to the communications station. There were twenty-four urgent hails waiting and counting. There was nothing she could do but watch the wormhole generator charge up, and when it hit one hundred percent she looked at the scanning screen and pressed the projection button. An image of a wormhole appeared as the generator system projected it and she cheered. As the shuttle entered the wormhole and accelerated, she danced behind the seats. “Yes! Yes! Yes! Rega Gain, here I come!”