USD: 39 Days after arrival at Fort Glisson

Location: Van Biesbroeck’s star, Meltisar, MOR-1, Corporate Systems Embassy

Thea sat in the lounge section of the Embassy’s main meeting room holding some kind of expensive alcoholic beverage. The poison wouldn’t affect her unless she argued with herself hard enough to override her MainComputer’s objections to self-destructive activities. She wasn’t feeling that depressed, but she did examine the room with a critical eye.

The lavish and opulent compartment had a high ceiling, and a grand chandelier hung over the room’s main meeting table. The chandelier was made of shimmering crystal and gilded in rare metals that reflected the light from the golden wall sconces evenly spaced across the compartment’s walls, creating a sparkling and elegant ambiance.

The walls were adorned with intricate gold trim in detailed fractal patterns and occasional epithets of the mottos of the most famous and richest corporations from the Corporate Systems. The floor was a single coat of plush synthetic material that had a soft luxurious feel to it, and Thea had taken off her boots to sink her bare feet into it while she waited. As she squeezed the plush softness between her toes, she realized there was at least one thing in the room that had been worth the cost.

Thea realized the room was giving her anxiety and a strong desire to sell everything. If she’d had the authority, she’d have fired the ambassador for gross misuse of funds, examined his expense accounts for fraud, and sent him to a prison moon to work off the gratuitous waste he’d engineered on government funding.

When Fallon arrived, she set aside her drink and moved to the meeting table made of dark, polished wood. An advanced holographic console was inlaid in the old-fashioned wood veneer and the high-back chairs were upholstered in a rich burgundy fabric that matched the carpet.

Each chair had built in touchscreens and control ports, which allowed the user easy access to documents and other information during a meeting. Each was linked to the main holographic display, so a series of presentations could be given by any member of the room.

“Do you have a status update on the target, Phi Thea?” Fallon asked, without a hint of emotion.

Letting out a breath of annoyance, she nodded. It had taken much, much longer than she had believed it would take to locate information on the Iron Horse. The damaged destroyer was currently sitting in a military drydock in preparation for a refit.

Normally that information would have been easily available, but the new security system that the Meltisari had deployed had blocked all her attempts to subvert it and dive in through the various nets of the multitude of orbitals around the moon. Even the planetside city-nets were blocked and she had been limited only to the public information available on the system-net.

The sole exception was MOR-1, where she was physically present. It was as if the Meltisari had found an NAI to block her access, which wouldn’t be impossible, but if that had been the case, she would have known. She’d have felt and been acutely aware of the other NAIs manipulations and actions.

But there was nothing, so it wasn’t NAI based and the lockout of the normal system-net architecture had to be standard tech. Which should have been impossible.

“The black ops mercenary team failed.” Thea said, a sullen look appearing on her face.

“Hiring black ops teams has a poor track record, whether on the frontier or in the inner systems.” Fallon said.

She shot him an annoyed glance before pulling up a map of the major POIs around Meltisar. She highlighted MIL-1A.

“I had little choice. I can’t access any information beyond MOR-1, and while this is the prime diplomatic and population hub in orbit, there is actually little military and Meltisari government activity here. They have somehow created a normal system firewall to block my remote access.”

“So, it was a waste of time to bring you, after all.”

Thea ignored the quip. “The mercenaries were part of the Iron Horse’s crew. In return for a large payment, we got a lot of records and data from the ship’s passage from 92 Pegasi to Meltisar. Including details on our NAI. And her sister. I doubt you would have found their market offer without me.”

“We have our own ways of access the black market here.” Fallon replied.

“But not the one accessing the black market for special operators and mercenaries. I checked. You do not have a current access key. Of course, that doesn’t matter when I’m here and can break their cryptography in minutes.”

“Congratulations, you’ve justified your usefulness and presence.”

Thea tsked and brought up the data on the two Myers sisters. The blue-haired one was listed as Alex, NAI rank unknown. The red head was listed as undergoing medical treatment on MIL-1A for brain damage.

“An NAI adopting a human. How bizarre.” Fallon commented.

“It’s not that unusual in the Imperium. Which lends credence that she’s a sub-core of the missing princess.” Thea retorted.

Lowering her hand to Brisbane city below MIL-1A, she highlighted it. “This ‘Alex’ has been attending military boot-camp for the last few weeks. I’m certain that they are planning to launch their own group of NAIs. Or perhaps it’s part of this new blocking mechanism they’ve placed on their networks. Either way, the attempt to grab her when she returned to orbit failed. All the agents were killed or captured.”

“I hope you took proper precautions.”

“Of course. I assume you have already sent back a relay with the troubling issues we’ve run into?” Thea asked.

“I’ve sent a direct packet to Moneta herself with the highest security rating. Ertan help the bureaucrat who slow walks it to her, though.”

“It’s a deserving fate they’ll receive if the information is delayed.” Thea commented.

“Why didn’t you perform the capture yourself?” Fallon asked.

“I didn’t have any way to access the station in time. She was boosted up to orbit without warning. The system blocks prevent me from just hijacking a shuttle and giving it a valid flight.”

Fallon frowned. “We need access to MIL-1A. I’ll see to making suitable covers for us, as well as arranging a flight. I know the military hires civilian contractors for plenty of tasks on the station.”

“Those take time to vet. I imagine they are even harder to fabricate.”

“We’ve been here a long time, and the embassy isn’t completely useless despite your dislike of it. It should only take a few weeks at most.”

“Weeks. Gah. According to schedule, she’ll be finishing boot around then. Assuming she returns to visit her sister, that might be our chance.”

Fallon nodded. “About the Princess. I’m assuming that the blocks on the net have hampered that search as well?”

“There is no sign of her. If she is here, she’s a ghost. Or the problem.” Thea said.

She zoomed out the console to view the star map, then highlighted the Western Frontier. 90 Pegasi was shown as a conflict zone with active combat, while the systems beyond were grayed out with old information.

“With the new information from the Iron Horse, how long until the IFRB becomes involved?” Thea asked.

Fallon launched into an explanation. “Unfortunately, despite our best attempts, it looks like that there will be no way to squelch the information from Nu Crateris. We’re still preparing damage control, but our cover story should still be enough to defray outright sanction or punitive measures. Things have become so garbled most of it will appear to be Solarian propaganda.”

“Until they go get pictures of what’s left of Dedia IV.” Thea replied.

“By then, most will have lost interest in events,” Fallon said, his expression serious.

Thea shook her head. She wasn’t the one in charge, and neither was Fallon, really. Rea was the closest authority, but Moneta was the one who made the truly large-scale decisions. Just what she was thinking, Thea had no idea. She wondered if the four powers would hold a major NAI meeting sometime soon.

There had only been one since she had been created, and she had missed it, being too low a rank to attend. Now though… well it would be an interesting experience for sure.

“Just get me onto MIL-1A with a proper clearance so I can see if once I have physical access I can manipulate the net there.”

Thea moved to leave, but then stopped, her gaze lingering on the ostentatious and lavish decor on display.

“And sell everything in the room except the carpet. Replace it with something practical, or I’m going to send it all to the scrapyard. If the Ambassador complains, send him to me directly,” she added, her voice cold.

“The Ambassador technically outranks you,” Fallon reminded her.

“I’m a NAI, and he’s not. Remind him he will have expired long before a Chi could arrive to protect him if I crush his throat,” Thea said, her gaze hardening as she spoke, her hand balling into a fist to emphasize her point.

USD: 40 Days after arrival at Fort Glisson

Location: Nu Crateris, A3123Y, En route to Dedia IV

Amy watched from the CIC console as the surrendered Corpo Frigate matched velocities and joined A3123Y’s mooring arm. The crew had already been removed to the much too often used prison that had become a permanent fixture to A31’s primary hub.

The crews of the other three frigates had not fared nearly as well. Captain Yalof had fought a short but brutal railgun duel with one, which ended when the frigate’s reactor went critical, leaving no survivors. The destroyer itself had received minor damage and had returned to its escort position near A31.

The other two had been run down by H32’s vessels.

Amy believed that one of those had tried to surrender as well, but the transmission had been silenced early by a sudden burst of ECM that had ended all communications in the area. Both frigates had then been closed on to what amounted to effective CQB range before the system NAI had somehow boarded them.

Both ships had been captured successfully, while H32 reported no survivors. That did not sit well with her, but she had no room for complaint.

The captured ships were being towed ahead of A31 by the battlecruiser back to Dedia for refitting. That seemed to be a common theme, at least. Amy was coming to believe that NAIs had an absolute love for refitting old or captured vessels and putting them back into use.

An army of drones and repair bots were already swarming the captured frigate attached to A31 moments after it was docked. She knew Abbey would quickly sterilize and bring it back into operational status. The station had ample amounts of repair supplies for the task that had been set aside for repairs.

When Abbey entered the CIC, Amy waved her over.

“Abbey, I need to talk to you in private.” Amy said.

Abbey titled her head, a bit of surprise and a small frown appearing. “Okay? Did I do something wrong?”

“No, but I need to speak with you.” Amy answered.

They moved over to the armory that still adjoined the CIC. Amy locked the door behind them.

She jumped right into it, “Abbey, now that we have more Corpo prisoners, I need you to promise me you won’t do to them… what you did to Captain Yalof.”

Abbey nodded. “I already said I wouldn’t.”

“I know, but I need it to be really clear. That shouldn’t be done to people. Ever. It would be better to have killed them than do that.” Amy said.

Abbey nodded slowly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I won’t do it again without permission.”

Amy reached out and rubbed Abbey’s hair. “Good.”

Abbey wiggled away, but it was obvious she liked the attention from the big smile that appeared.

“That’s all, lets go look at the situation, okay?”

“Okay!” Abbey led the way back into the CIC at a run, both of them meeting around the main hologram console.

“It will take us another few days to reach Dedia IV. Because there aren’t any large threats, I’m moving us at maximum efficiency instead of speed.” Abbey said.

Amy nodded and activated the holographic view of the system. She immediately highlighted Dedia IV. A frown appeared as she took in the dark gray clouds that seemed to cloak the entire planet.

“What’s going on with the planet? I know there was a nuclear exchange, but this seems much more extreme?”

“It seems a series of impacts on the surface have kicked up massive amounts of debris into the atmosphere. It’s having severe effects on the climate and environment. I’m afraid that the average temperature has dropped fifteen degrees and that a run-away cooling effect is in progress. Only 1% of normal sunlight now reaches the surface as well, so I imagine most vegetation is being devastated, but I can’t see under the ash to be sure.”

Amy ran her hand through her hair. “And we did this?”

“I don’t know. It could have happened during the attack by the Corporate fleet. We need more information to know why.”

“Is H32 still not granting you access to the system net?” Amy asked.

“He doesn’t want to talk until we meet in person. I don’t know why. The reason the system net doesn’t work is because there is no system net. H32 has essentially replaced all communications in the system with his own. There aren’t any other inhabited orbitals active, either.”

Wyles walked up to the console, Amy not having even noticed he had entered.

“What about Dedia Prime? It won’t let us connect to the city?” Wyles asked.

“Ah… There is nothing from Dedia Prime. One moment.” Abbey said.

The display changed from a normal view of the planet to a colorized version. Abbey zoomed it in with a thought to the space elevator in orbit. Hundreds of new constructions were highlighted in yellows and reds as a new bustling orbital construction yard was in the stages of coming to life.

Amy counted the skeletons of at least thirty cruisers and six larger vessels in various stages of progress. H32 was apparently thinking in very large terms about ship construction. She wasn’t sure how it planned to gather the resources for all of them, but as the picture panned downwards she saw that dozens of elevators were plying the elevator cable in both directions.

When the picture reached the surface, Wyles sucked in a breath.

The city was dead. There were no energy sources or people visible in the colored overlay. A single thick yellow band ran through the city, showing vehicles moving back and forth between elevator docks and then out of the city.

“What am I seeing, Abbey?” Wyles asked.

“I’m afraid the city seems abandoned. There is some recycling of old buildings underway, but I do not see any signs of inhabitation.”

Amy suddenly remembered that Wyles had family on the planet. “Abbey, can you please ask H32 what happened to the citizens? I know you said he doesn’t want to talk, but tell him it’s important.”

Abbey nodded and closed her eyes for a moment. Both Amy and Wyles waited impatiently for an answer.

“H32 says that the 87% of the population that survived the attacks has been moved underground and are safe!” Abbey said happily when she opened her eyes.

Wyles let out a sigh of relief. “That’s… better. For a moment, I thought they had been wiped out by… by events.”

Amy watched him with concern. She could read between the lines of his words. He had been worried that H32 had eliminated them.

Abbey zoomed the view, following the road with thermal activity to a new zone. When the picture reached the area of Szizsielia’s nest, the screen filled with thousands of additional elements.

Amy shook her head. “I see where all the material for the orbital construction is coming from now. But is H32 going to strip mine the entire planet like this?”

Wyles shook his head. “When we reach the planet, I feel like there is going to be a very long meeting.”