Synthesis, p.24
Synthesis, page 24
“I agree.” Cassie said. “Everyone else?”
There was a round of nods. “In that case, we’ll keep one copy of the hyperlane coordinates under lock and key here, and you can have the other copy. Try not to get shot down or captured and lose them.” Cassie said.
“I’ll make sure he doesn’t.” Dawn replied with a grin.
The two of them walked back to the Broken Shackle together, hand-in-hand. “I think that went okay.” Kayden said as they reached the loading ramp. “How many people do you think are going to stay?”
“I don’t know. Probably a decent amount. For a lot of these folks this is their only chance at a half-decent standard of living. It’s going to be a lot more work to really get the colony going though, there’s so much left we have to figure out.”
“Agreed. I hope it’s more than half, at least. The more colonists we have to replace, the longer it’ll take to start growing excess food and selling it back to Port Vega. If it takes too long, they might start reconsidering our deal.”
“All we can do is wait and find out.” She said stifling a yawn.
Kayden chuckled and kissed her. “I know you’re tired. Why don’t you go back to bed and I’ll finish the pre-flight checks? I’ll wake you when it’s time to go.”
“It’s not my fault! You kept me awake all night with that tongue of yours.” She said with a mischievous grin.
“Yes, I did. And I’d do it again. Now go to bed.” He said, spanking her lightly on her ass as she walked away. He couldn’t help but watch her hips sway back and forth rhythmically, wondering if he had time to go join her for a quick-
No. Go finish the preflight checklist first. He thought to himself as he began to walk towards the bridge.
[“Kayden, if you’d like time alone with Dawn, I am capable of flying the ship by myself.”]
Really? Kayden mentally asked Ali.
[“Of course. The flight to Andromeda should take approximately 1 hour, and it is highly unlikely we will encounter anyone along the way. Will that be sufficient time for you to complete your copulation with her?”]
I…yes. It will. Please don’t call it copulation though. That’s weird.
[“What would you prefer I call it?”]
Sex. Call it sex. And thank you Ali, you’re the best.
There was a brief pause. [“Thank you Kayden.”]
Kayden stopped walking just outside the bridge doors. Ali…that last statement sounded like you were almost blushing.
[“My personality matrix allows me to simulate emotions during appropriate times. When you praised me it simulated a strange joyful feeling. If you feel that it is interfering with my work though, I can turn the simulated emotions off.”]
No, don’t. It just takes some getting used to. And I’ll remember to praise you more often.
[“I would like that.”]
The door to the bridge opened in front of Kayden, and he sat at one of the workstations. He knew he could do this from anywhere on the ship, but there was just something about being on the bridge of a starship which helped him focus better. The screen in front of him displayed a set of stats about the ship.
“Ship Status Report
Life Support: Operational
Engines: Operational
Weapons: Operational
Stealth Drive: Operational
Alerts: Ammunition critically low at 3%. Fuel low at 12%.”
Alright. We’ve got enough fuel for one, maybe two hyperspace jumps. Kayden thought. And we should avoid any firefights, if possible.
The next several hours seemed to drift away as he methodically examined each sub-menu, making sure that the remainder of the ship’s systems were ready for a hyperspace jump. Several times he stopped to make note of where they were short on supplies, so that they could pick up more from Port Vega. Finally, once he was finished he stood and stretched as he yawned, then roused Dawn with a deep kiss.
“What’s happening?” She said sleepily, rubbing her eyes. She was wearing a black t-shirt and panties, and nothing else. Her tail flicked back and forth, and it took all the strength he had not to climb into bed with her.
“We’re ready.” He replied. “I’m going outside to check if we’ll have any passengers on this trip. Want to come with?”
“Do we have time for a quickie first?” Dawn asked coyly.
“Not before, but apparently Ali can fly the ship so…maybe we have a ‘not-so-quickie’ when we’re in hyperspace?”
“Mmm. That’s a better idea. Let’s do that instead.” She agreed.
Dawn quickly found clothes, and dressed before they walked down the ladder and to the cargo bay. Opening it up, Kayden’s heart dropped – almost the entire colony was gathered there, apparently waiting to get on board.
“Shit.” He said quietly.
“Shit indeed.” Dawn responded.
Taking a deep breath, he raised his voice. “Alright folks I don’t know if we’re going to be able to take all of you on the first run back to Port Vega, so we might need to form an orderly line.”
One man stepped up from the front. Kayden couldn’t recall his name off the top of his head, but he was pretty sure it started with an ‘S’. “I think you misunderstand. I’m not trying to leave.”
Kayden furrowed his brow. “Then…why are you here?”
“You said if we stayed, we’d be able to bring our families. My family is on Port Vega – I was hoping I could give you their names, and you could bring them back with you.”
“Oh. Oh.” Kayden replied before raising his voice again. “Raise your hand if you’re here to give me the names of your family members, so that they can come back here.”
Every single hand in the crowd raised.
“Alright, now raise your hand if you’re looking to leave.”
Not a single person in the whole crowd raised their hand. The knot around Kayden’s heart instantly lightened, and he began to grin. “Okay, let’s get an orderly line over here. Dawn, do you have a tablet? I’m going to need folks to make a list.”
***
11:59, June 3rd, 2134
“300 names.” Kayden said excitedly as they reached orbit in the Broken Shackle.
“347, actually. That will bring the total size of the colony to 452, including the two of you.” Ali chimed in.
“That’s so much better than we thought it would be.” Dawn said dreamily. “We’re going to have to take a few trips, but it’s going to go a long way towards building the colony.”
“And our dream.” Kayden added, kissing her.
“Yes.” She replied, blushing. “I know you said you were serious about me, but now…seeing you actually making it come true…well, it’s enough to make a girl feel things.”
“Yeah?” He responded with a grin. “What kind of things?”
“Things that make me want to reward you with every sexual favor you can think of. But first, you should call Selina and let her know we’re on our way.”
“Shit!” Kayden said. In the excitement of fixing the navigational computer and getting ready to go, he had completely forgotten to update Selina. He quickly opened his phone and called her, sending the video output to the workstation in front of them so both he and Dawn could see.
The phone rang twice before the call was answered. Kayden’s smile immediately dropped when the screen in front of him didn’t show Selina. Instead, it showed a man with pale skin, black hair, and striking red eyes. He was wearing some sort of formal grey suit, and his bottom lip twitched in a sneer as he saw Kayden in front of him.
“I don’t believe we’ve been introduced. My name is Malachi Black. I am the president of the Black Company. And you are?”
A pit of worry formed in Kayden’s stomach. “Where is Selina?”
Malachi casually examined his fingernails as he spoke, as if they were more interesting than this conversation. “Ms. Onassis has regrettably been…detained. It appears she’s been a naughty girl, sharing company secrets with outside parties in violation of her employment agreement.”
“Let her go. Now.” Kayden snarled.
“Oh? I didn’t realize I was speaking to someone with the authority to command me. I’ll get right on that.” He replied, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
“What do you want?” Kayden finally asked.
“Why, to speak with her collaborators, of course! I knew you would call her sooner or later. This call is being recorded. Now I have your names and we know what you look like.”
Months of supressed anger against the Black Company burst to the surface instantly. Kayden’s face was a mask of barely contained fury. “You know what? Good. I want you to know what I look like.”
Malachi’s look of surprise matched Dawn’s, but he continued. “You think you can find me? You’d better work fucking quick. Because if you don’t, I’m not just going to kill you. I’m going to make you watch as I burn your entire fucking company to the ground. Then I’m going to kill you.”
“That’s a big threat for someone hiding behind a set of hyperlane coordinates.” Malachi replied. “Maybe you should-”
Whatever comeback he was about to say was interrupted by Kayden. “Ali, lose this fucking guy.”
The transmission cut off abruptly. Thinking frantically, he turned to Dawn. “Does your family have anywhere safe they can hide?”
“Yeah.” Dawn responded. “The Black Company will find them eventually though.”
“Not if we get there first. Tell them to go to ground, now.”
“Alright.” Dawn said, before quickly sending them a message. “Done. What’s the plan?”
“I don’t fucking know.” Kayden said, immediately regretting it.
Dawn walked up to him and stared him down with her intense yellow eyes before speaking. “Listen, I know you’re stressed. But your anger isn’t going to help here. I need you to use your head.”
Kayden nodded, taking several calming breaths. It was hard to get the idea of Selina being captured out of his mind, but he did his best to put his feelings aside. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“We’re both stressed. Now, think through it with me. What do we know for certain?”
“Well, we know she’s been captured by the Black Company.” Kayden said.
“Actually, we might know a little more than that.” Dawn countered, a thoughtful look on her face. “I was messaging her late last night, so the kidnapping had to have happened after that. That means it happened in the last…8 hours?”
“How do you know you were actually messaging her? If it was just text, it could have been someone posing as her.” Kayden asked.
“Just…trust me on this one.” She said.
“Okay, I trust you. So it happened in the last 8 hours. He also said she’s been detained. Which means she’s probably still alive.”
“That makes sense. Selina was smart – she had several copies of all the data. They’d want to make sure they got every copy before killing her. That buys her some time…as uncomfortable as she might be.”
“Yeah. They’d want to move her from Port Vega to somewhere secure they control. If we don’t act quickly though, they could take her out of the system entirely.” Kayden countered.
“I agree. So we need to figure out where she’s being taken, and bust her out – and do it fast. How do we do that?”
Kayden paused for another moment while thinking, then groaned. “Asset tracking tags.”
“I…what?” Dawn asked.
“You’re not going to like this. Every major military, mega-corporation, and government tags their ships with trackers. They send an automated signal every hour or so with the asset’s location. That way, if their ship is ever stolen or crashes they can recover it.”
“Yeah. So?”
“Selina mentioned in passing that the Black Company uses asset tracking tags on their shuttles. If we could get access to the frequencies they use, we could figure out which shuttles left Port Vega in the last 8 hours, and where they went.”
“That sounds like a great plan! Why am I not going to like this plan?”
“Because the only place which would have those frequencies would be the local Black Company offices on Port Vega.”
Chapter 22
04:44, June 4th, 2134
Kayden and Dawn walked carefully along the rocky surface of the asteroid Port Vega was built on. The fact that they were outside of a habitation dome meant that the effects of the artificial gravity generators were less predictable here. With one step they might experience zero gravity and with the next they might experience full gravity. The effect became more pronounced the closer they got to the habitation dome, but would dissipate completely once they either entered or got far enough away. Between the gravity oscillations and the natural disorienting motion of the asteroid tumbling through space, many people attempting to do what Dawn and Kayden were currently doing had been flung into space and died from their spacesuits running out of oxygen before they could be recovered. That’s why normally, the Port Vega government insisted that anyone doing a space walk outside of approved areas has to go through a rigorous training course first.
Of course, these circumstances were far from normal. They had used the Broken Shackle’s stealth drive to get close enough to the asteroid before jumping out and walking the rest of the way. Ali flew the ship away to a safe distance after that, leaving Dawn and Kayden alone to sneak into the habitation dome which housed the Black Company’s local offices.
Calling them ‘offices’ was an understatement. The Black Company’s local Port Vega office encompassed an entire habitation dome all to themselves. While the entrance connected to the broader transport tube network of Port Vega, entry to the dome itself was strongly controlled. Visitors were heavily scrutinized by several dozen armed guards the moment they entered the dome, submitting to several security scans and thorough inspections of all their belongings. In the unlikely event that someone was able to breach the entrance and defeat the guards, hundreds more of them patrolled the compound, supported by all manner of combat vehicles and weaponry. The entire area was more akin to a fortress than it was a set of offices.
Thankfully, they didn’t think we’d be crazy enough to try and sneak in from the outside. Kayden thought to himself as they reached the edge of the dome. A handrail circled the dome leading to the nearest entrance and the two of them gripped it tightly as they carefully walked towards it, their stomachs doing backflips the entire time.
“I wish these space suits had magnetic gloves!” Dawn said between dry heaving. “That’d make it easier to hold onto the rail!”
“We’re just lucky the Broken Shackle had 2 intact suits at all.” Kayden responded, doing his best to keep the contents of his stomach down. “Otherwise, we’d be fighting our way in, and I don’t like our odds.”
The gravity suddenly gave out in front of Dawn, causing her to lose her footing and her grasp of the handrail. Terrified, she began to wave her arms trying to grab it but she began to float out of reach. “Fuck!” She shouted.
Kayden reacted quickly. He pulled the tether connecting the two of their spacesuits tightly, bringing her back to him. Unfortunately for her, the action sent her through a well of regular gravity, causing her to crash down to the surface. She gradually got to her feet and walked back to Kayden. “Are we sure this is a better idea than fighting our way in?” She said grumpily before dry heaving again. “This is such fucking bullshit.”
“I know. Come on, we’re almost there.” Kayden responded before almost losing his footing himself.
By the time they reached the outer entrance of the dome, they were both sweating and heaving. Through blurred eyes, Kayden saw a control panel on the outside of the door. He pressed the ‘open’ button, but it remained stubbornly closed. Blinking several times, he looked at the small screen and realized it was asking for an access code.
Kayden glanced back at Dawn, who looked to be in worse shape than he was. She was kneeling on the ground, and even through the visor of her helmet he could see that her eyes were closed and she was just focused on breathing. He knew they couldn’t stay here long, and they needed to get inside. “Dawn, can you shift inside.”
“Can’t…breathe…” Dawn said softly.
[“Kayden, I don’t believe Dawn will be able to shift in her current state. I believe I can get you in.”] Ali said. [“You’ll need to expose your prosthetic hand and extend the control wire to connect me to the panel though.”]
“Okay.” Kayden replied, his vision starting to grey at the edges from the rapid changes in gravity. “How do I do that?”
[“On the arm of the suit there is a control panel. Give me remote control of it, then I’ll isolate and depressurize the arm of the suit.”]
Turning his arm, he pressed a few buttons on his suit’s control panel. Immediately he felt the suit cinch tightly around his shoulder, then felt a strange tingling sensation in his arm.
[“I have turned down the sensitivity of your arm Kayden.”] Ali said. [“Now, unzip the arm at the cuff, and extend the control wire.”]
It took Kayden 3 tries to unzip his suit slightly, but he was eventually able to do it. He reached in and pulled out a long, thin wire and attached it to an open slot of the panel. Immediately the panel began to flash, and the door opened to reveal an airlock.
[“You have 30 seconds to get inside Kayden. Please do so now.”]
Kayden turned around to see Dawn had collapsed onto the ground face down. His own strength flagging, he stepped back towards her and kneeled beside her. “Dawn, we gotta go.”
When she didn’t respond, he turned her over and saw that she was drooling slightly, her eyes rolled back. His vision swimming in front of him, he looped his arms underneath her shoulders and began to half-drag half-carry her into the airlock.
[“Kayden, you only have 10 seconds remaining. You need to move.”]
With an almighty heave, Kayden pulled Dawn with him and collapsed backwards. Fortunately for both of them, there was a well of zero-gravity right behind him as he fell, and they floated serenely into the airlock before falling to the floor as the airlock door slammed shut. As the room around them pressurized, Kayden frantically began taking off both his and Dawn’s spacesuits.
