Mae didn’t trust the security of the comms on Minos, or that they weren’t being monitored by security personnel. When they re-entered the station and took the elevator back to the galleria level, she kept her face a mask.
Her mother was ordering some noodles from the stand and chatting to Station Chief Rolstad as if he were an old friend. Zula Hendricks began life as a firebrand, but with age and experience, she’d learned some diplomacy. As she laughed about the hot sauce level in the noodles, she spotted Mae.
Her daughter used a flick of her eyes to signal that they needed to leave.
Zula folded the top of her noodle container shut. “Looks like I will have to enjoy this on the Fury. I have some more logistics to carry out on board. Thank you for your hospitality, Station Chief.”
Rolstad chuckled. “Ah yes, logistics. The bane of any leader. I hope to see you back for some R&R yourself when you are done.”
The unit of Jackals spun and followed their colonel back to the umbilical. It was supremely difficult for Mae not to blurt out what she and Rook had uncovered.
Even once they were back on board, Zula held up her hand. “Erynis, Hendricks, Shipp, and Rook, join me in my ready room.”
Only once the door shut behind them did Mae and Rook reveal all they had discovered on level eleven. Mae watched Zula’s expression shift from calmness to rage. Only a person with deep knowledge of the colonel would have been able to spot it, because she hid it well. To Mae, though, her hair might as well have caught on fire.
Human experiments were not only illegal, but the one sure way to ignite Colonel Zula Hendricks’s hatred. As soon as Mae uttered those words, she’d sealed the fate of Minos Station.
“So, a lab conducting some kind of genetic manipulation on living human subjects?” Her mother adjusted her jacket to control herself. “That never gets old, does it? Bastards. Let’s take them down sooner than later. Ideas?”
“There’s no way to be stealthy about it,” Rook chimed in helpfully. “Mae and I were only able to penetrate the very outer edges of the laboratory, but we learned that whatever they are doing is not happening only there.” He leaned over and tapped the part of the window showing the space elevator. “Most of the human subjects are on the planet.”
Zula’s jaw clenched. “So when we breach this laboratory, then it’ll alert whoever is in charge down there. Depending on their protocols, they might kill every subject immediately. We just don’t know.”
“We can cut comms between the two?” Captain Shipp suggested, clasping her hands behind her back. “That would buy some time to save people.”
Erynis’s eyes flickered for an instant. “EWA says she can’t do that remotely. It will take someone to spike the network node for her to gain control of station systems.”
“So we need a small team to take the command center covertly. Even so, it won’t give us long until they become suspicious.” Zula sat down at her desk. “We do not want any of these bastards to escape or destroy evidence. If we go in hard, here, I am going to have to justify it to General Cunningham.”
“Then we need three strike teams,” Mae said. She opened up her wrist-pd and projected the limited intel they had on the laboratory and space elevator. “We take control of the station command center when it is on the dark rotation, not so many people about. We also send a team to the surface of the planet to eliminate whatever research is taking place there and rescue any people still alive. At the same time, a third team hits the laboratory.”
“The timing needs to be precise.” Shipp crossed her arms. “And we can’t broadcast on open comms for Kaspar to overhear. The three teams will have to maintain their own isolated networks using end-to-end encrypted suit pds until we control the station’s systems.”
“That’ll mean we won’t be able to communicate between different teams before then.” Zula frowned, running the odds like only she could. “Back to basics, then. Any trouble before we get control over that command center, we confirm two randomized static signals. One to indicate trouble, and one for all clear.”
“Once Green Team has control, they send that last one, and we can connect the three networks.” Shipp pressed her lips together. She didn’t need to say how dangerous the insertion would be before then. Those three teams would be on their own until that moment.
Zula glanced at Shipp, before locking her gaze with Mae. “We need to move fast. The station chief is suspicious as hell about us already. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s plotting to sabotage the project without us noticing. Mae, I want you and Rook on the laboratory attack. You have specific scientific knowledge. That’s Blue Team. Shipp, you and I will lead the assault on the planet. We’ll be Red Team. Lieutenant Keith and his strike team will do a stealth insertion and take station comms. Green Team.”
Shipp shifted slightly. “Colonel, permission to speak freely?”
Zula waved her hand. “Don’t say what you’re about to, Olivia. I sat out on the last one, and whatever is down there, I have the most experience dealing with it.”
Mae straightened. The desire to protect her mother was at the core of her programming. “Colonel, I would also—”
“Not you either. That’s an order.” Zula got to her feet and leaned across the desk to address them both. “I will not sit out on the sidelines this time. Not again. This is my war, and I’m not letting others die for it while I stay in my ready room. Understood?”
Shipp snapped to attention, accepting that her long friendship with the colonel meant nothing in this particular scenario.
“Good.” Zula smiled thinly. “Now, Erynis, can EWA provide any cover for the first covert team?”
“Perhaps, Colonel. If they take a synthetic unit to run interference on the cameras and sensors as they go. This will not stop humans from seeing them, however.”
“That we can take care of.” Zula scanned them all for a moment. “This could get messy, and we’ve got to minimize any casualties outside the security forces. Our supportive general could flip on us if there is collateral damage. We need to collect evidence before we burn everything down.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Rook seemed amused as the surrounding Jackals responded.
Zula tucked her hands behind her back. “Then get to selecting your team and bringing me as much intel as our scanners can manage, as covertly as possible. You have two hours before the dark rotation. Rook and Erynis, go with Captain Shipp to assist her. Mae, stay right where you are.”
Olivia Shipp shared only a brief glance with Mae before she snapped off a salute and hurried to begin the planning. The two synthetics followed silently in her wake. Rook was smart enough to shut the door behind him.
Zula glanced at her daughter. “EWA, turn off listening in ready room.”
“Yes, ma’am.” A steady red light illuminated a button on the desk, signaling they were truly alone.
Given the opportunity, Mae made her thoughts known. “I want to go with you.”
Her mother shook her head. “Permission denied. I need you with Rook, not just for your knowledge of the pathogen, but also to keep an eye on him.”
“You don’t think he can be trusted?”
Zula shrugged. “The good thing about being an old marine is you’re always suspicious. Besides, if anything were to happen to me, I’d die happy knowing you’ll be in charge of the Jackals—like Davis planned.”
“No, he wanted me to support you in your fight.”
She laughed at that. “Maybe a bit, but Davis was nearly always logical. Humans have an end; synthetics, not so much.”
Mae frowned. Though she missed her father’s voice in her head, she wondered sometimes how much of what he had told her was the truth, compared to what he thought she needed to hear. “But then, I should definitely come with you.”
“I said permission denied, and I meant it. No one can be in two places at the same time.”
The solution was right there. “I respectfully disagree.” Now it was Mae’s turn to smile. “I can go with Rook to take over the laboratory and also go down to the surface with you. While I’m at it, I can also be with Green Team. All I have to do is make a couple of splinters of myself and put them into a couple of base combat droids.”
“Copies of your core personality? I recall Davis mentioning that feature, but aren’t there risks to your major programming?”
Mae enjoyed a moment of independence and lied to her mother. “Not at all. I’ll load the splinters into two combat units going in with the strike teams. When they get back, I’ll integrate them back into my primary core.”
Zula paused. Davis had projected himself into several strange objects before. Once, even a hairpin. For a human, the idea of a splinter of a dominant personality didn’t seem impossible at all. After all, they changed and altered so much over their lives.
Mae didn’t share with her mother the inherent danger of splintering. When reintegrating splinters into the main matrix of her consciousness, there was a possibility that it would cause conflicts. A cascading effect might occur, and then even Mae wasn’t confident of what might happen.
“You’re sure?” her mother pressed.
Mae didn’t have any of the usual blocks and rules nearly all synthetics possessed. Like Rook, she was free to lie to—and even kill—humans. For now, she decided to be only fractionally deceptive. “It isn’t a problem, Mother.”
Zula gave a lopsided smile. “Alright then. I’ll admit, it’ll be good to have you there at my side.”
“I’m glad to know that, and my scientific databases could prove useful in both places.”
Her mother touched the side of Mae’s face. “That’s not what I meant.” She dropped a kiss where her hand touched.
Mae’s empathic matrix had developed a lot since her father’s death triggered her awakening. Her first moments on the Righteous Fury were confusing, and human emotion was difficult to grasp. However, she’d identified and labeled so many emotions since then that now she could discern these ones as pure joy and acceptance.
“Then do I have your permission to create the splinters?”
Zula squeezed her shoulder. “Yes. Choose the best combat bodies for both.”
They were all the same, so choosing wasn’t important at all, but Mae recognized this was her mother’s way of comforting herself. “I’m already uploading the splinters. G1 and R1, the lead combat synths in each team.”
“Good. I guess—I mean, I will see you there.” Zula let out a little laugh. “You’d think after all my time with Davis I’d be used to synthetics’ flexibility.” She cupped her daughter’s face. “I won’t say be safe, but I will remind you to protect this body. Might be difficult to get you another for a while.” She pressed the red-lit button on her desk, bringing EWA back to listening mode.
Mae stepped aside as her mother exited the ready room.
Out on the flight deck, Erynis and Rook stood side by side waiting for them.
“EWA, I’m assigning your conduit synthetic to go with Green Team to the command center. He will help take control of the station’s AI.” Zula glanced at Rook. “You’ll be taking on that lab with my daughter. I expect you to make sure she comes back in one piece.”
The synthetic inclined his head. “I’ll do my best, Colonel.”
“Then you have your orders. I’ll see you on the other side.” Mae’s last glimpse of her mother was her heading into action, and that seemed more than fitting.
* * *
Mae and Rook spent the next hour assembling their Blue Team. Mae scrolled through the units available. She absorbed all the personnel files of the Jackals, but she already had one in mind.
Mae sent an order confirmation to Lieutenant Debois that she was taking command of her section for a special mission. Debois acknowledged the change of command and pinged Sergeant Fesolai to inform him. It wasn’t usual for a unit, but the Jackals ran fast and loose compared to other galactic militaries. As such a small force, they needed to be nimble. Fesolai acknowledged the orders and said he would assemble the unit on deck 3D to await Mae’s arrival.
“We have our team and our orders.” She turned to Rook. “Now I need you to confirm you can be a cohesive part of the unit. Can you still access your initial military programming?”
“Naturally. I didn’t think I would have further use of it, but it is still there.”
“Then let’s get to deck 3D.”
She led Rook through the Fury to where the newly designated Blue Team formed up. These were some of the Jackals she’d fought with while on Shānmén. Even though she’d been in a combat body then, Mae thought it a good idea to stick with those who’d survived that together. Meanwhile Red Team assembled on deck 3C, preparing to head to the surface. That team comprised of those Zula trusted most of all.
Mae had already deployed the two splinters into their respective bodies. They were autonomous now: on their own until she could gather them back up. It seemed strange to wish herself luck, but it couldn’t hurt.
When Mae stood in front of the squads, she analyzed the programming on leadership. These Jackals were veterans of different militaries. The UPP, the 3WC, and the UA were represented here. These were no raw recruits. It wouldn’t be productive to sugarcoat anything.
So Mae kept it brief.
“Jackals, welcome to Blue Team. Our job is to penetrate the laboratory on level eleven and obtain evidence of the human experiments the company is carrying out there.”
Even amongst these hardened soldiers, that caused a low rumble.
“We will go EVA, enter the airlock, and await go/no-go from Green Team. They will secure the station command center before we go in. Meanwhile, Red Team will use the elevator’s crawlers to reach the planet to take care of business down there.”
Corporal Ware, one of the more seasoned Jackals, frowned and ran a hand over her shaved dark hair. She might not be an officer, but the others put a lot of stock in her opinion. Mae waited for her to comment, but it was a good sign Ware kept her thoughts to herself.
Private Kaur, the machine-gunner in squad two, was the only one who spoke. The ragged scar on his right cheek pulled his smile to one side. “Tight needle to thread at the right time.”
“We’re the Jackals.” Mae raked her gaze over them all. “We face death and pick over the bones. Correct?”
“Yes, ma’am.” They responded in a full-throated cry. “Oorah!”
She nodded. “Then I want you to suit up and arm yourself for station combat. No smart guns or armor-piercing rounds. Stick with small arms fire. I understand it isn’t optimal, but we don’t need to punch a hole in Weyland-Yutani’s tin can.”
A few grumbled at that, but they understood. Gunners never liked downgrading to rifles.
They weren’t going to like the next order she gave. “I know it is a pain in the ass, but we have to keep radio silent on this. Suit-to-suit encrypted messages only until we have this locked down. So keep it brief.”
A second murmur ran through the ranks, but more muted this time. No one wanted to attract attention from the station. Short-range, encrypted suit messages would be their only line of communication until all teams secured their objectives. In the bulky suits, hand gestures were hard to see, so the onboard computer translated finger movements to commands heard in the earpiece. Once again, synthetic people had the advantage; they could send far more complex sentences. Mae would have to watch and keep things human and short.
“Sergeant Fesolai, make sure everyone complies. And then wait on the ready line. We’re going to have to haul ass when Green Team gives us the signal. We can’t be late.”
While the squads hustled to pull on their suits, Rook and Mae put on theirs. “Nice words,” he said with a twisted smile. “I see the Hendricks apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree.”
Mae secured her EVA suit’s closures and checked for leaks. “For a synthetic, you love metaphors.”
He handed her a helmet. “I’m making a study of them. I like to throw one out now and then, see how the humans like them.”
Mae didn’t reply. Instead, she kept her eye on her unit of Jackals, ready to go at a moment’s notice. Blue Team waited on deck in their EVA suits. The synthetics powered down into rest mode to preserve their battery capacity, while the humans stood at ease. All of them were ready for the call.
The laboratory, apart from being locked down, seemed an excellent target. Her small team should be able to handle whatever scientists and regular security awaited them inside.
Mae played through as many scenarios as she could and hoped that would be enough for her first command mission. It wouldn’t do to fail and leave only the shallow splinters of herself to help Zula Hendricks.