Vortex incursion, p.31
Vortex Incursion, page 31
Despite being a senior officer of warships, who had proven himself in more than one engagement, Julien and Cordelia detected a hint of pleading in the thought.
There was a moment of dead silence from the humans, while the SADEs waited for the other proverbial boot to drop.
Then an enterprising captain quipped,
That’s when the senior officers exploded with raucous laughter.
Julien and Cordelia chuckled. The first-gen sisters had frustrated nearly every officer in the fleet.
Julien sent. To his amusement, he received the generous thanks of every officer on the call.
When Julien ended the conference with the commodore and the captains, Cordelia inquired,
Julien regarded his partner. Cordelia returned his calm observations of her.
Julien had to remind himself that Cordelia was probably channeling Alex Racine. She often did that when circumstances became challenging. Few knew Alex as well as she did.
When Alex first met Cordelia, he experienced her interactive virtual art and was tremendously impressed. To support Cordelia, Alex allowed her to monitor his mind via his twin implants while he reacted to her artistic demonstrations.
From Alex, Cordelia learned about human, especially male, emotions. The only other females who knew Alex so thoroughly were his partner, Renée, and his protector, Miranda.
Julien sent.
Julien replied.
Cordelia tipped her head in acknowledgement of Julien’s reasoning.
Julien sent.
Julien replied. Then, uncharacteristically, he ended his link with Cordelia.
Cordelia thought of the many times that Alex and members of his inner circle had to tell one another hard truths or challenge another’s thinking. This had been one of the times when Cordelia believed it her duty to present Julien with alternatives. As usual, he took the advice well.
Not long afterward, Julien reconnected with Cordelia. He sent,
Cordelia commented.
Julien offered in compromise.
Julien thought the stricture unnecessary, but not only was Cordelia the Freedom’s captain, but also the fleet’s commanders faithfully followed her directives.
Cordelia’s program hierarchy fluttered, and her kernel extracted fond memories.
The Freedom was the name of the gigantic city-ship where she was housed when Julien introduced himself to her. At the time, he was in his box on the bridge of the Rêveur, the ship on which Alex first met Julien and his partner-to-be, Renée de Guirnon.
By the time Outpost Five: Racine was established, the city-ship had been retired and finally dismantled for its valuable parts.
Julien had surprised Cordelia with the naming of their Quadrant cycles before it was launched. She’d expected to be consulted on the ship’s name, but she couldn’t have been more surprised and pleased by Julien’s choice. It was a tender affirmation of their partnership.
Without waiting for further explanation, Pandora shot back,
Cordelia heard Julien’s laughter. He borrowed the derisive sound from Admiral Tachenko, who was known to chill a subordinate or an enemy with the technique.
Then Julien’s tone turned neutral, and he continued,
After ticks of time had passed, Pandora sent,
Before Julien chose to communicate with Captain Havard, he queried innocently,
Julien had no doubt that Cordelia would do it if a sister disobeyed the edict. He had to admit that he harbored some discomfort for being part of the decision to create the sisters, but Cordelia had a different take on them. She allowed that the past had its mistakes, but she dealt with the present, and the remaining sisters, guided by their first-gen members, were potentially dangerous aboard the fleet’s ships.
Julien smiled. Rem Havard was one of those individuals with whom everyone felt comfortable sharing their news. Cordelia referred to him as an information black hole. Data went in, but rarely, if ever, came out.
Rem Havard was the great-grandson of Ude and Petra Havard.
Ude had been the ex-leader of the wild ones, and, after suffering a tragic accident on Toral in the federacy, he was repaired by Jatouche medical regeneration. Afterward, he fought as a Norsitchian brassard commander. Eventually, he was one of the most celebrated commanders of the Resistance, who eradicated the insectoids from alliance space.
Petra was a shuttle pilot, who transferred to any carrier that Ude and his troops were aboard. She was always his pilot for landings, keeping an eye on him from above.
Cordelia’s silver bells echoed across the conference. She’d always enjoyed Rem’s sense of humor.
Rem sent.
Rem had several more thoughts, but Cordelia’s laughter dissuaded him from continuing.
By fifteen hours ship time, Rem Havard had collected his crew, completed supply runs from the freighters, and dropped his Quadrant below the Thartath ecliptic.
Julien and Cordelia had one more duty to perform. The sisters would be distributed among the fleet’s Quadrants who had senior captains and SADEs. That meant that promotions were necessary to supply the sister’s carriers and Tridents with captains and officers.
Cordelia was ready with the resource records.
Julien had merely to agree with her choices, which he found impeccable. A few choices surprised him, but on further consideration, he perceived the wisdom of her preferences.
The following day, travelers flew between the sisters’ ships and the fleet’s Quadrants. Newly upgraded officers and skeleton crews landed aboard the sisters’ ships and assumed control.
The travelers loaded sisters and distributed them among the fleet’s Quadrants. Occasionally, they dropped to the Q-gate complex to retrieve additional crew members transferring from outposts to supplement the skeleton crews aboard the sisters’ ships.
Many of the new arrivals were young individuals who had recently completed academy training. In general, they were eager to receive a ship posting so soon after graduation.
Two other aspects of their transfer points heightened their enthusiasm. One, they were assigned to Julien and Cordelia’s fleet. Two, they were venturing into new territory where aliens and humans might soon clash.
Julien and Cordelia stood in the Freedom’s corridor to meet the final transfer.
The bay equalized, and the SADEs entered in time to see the hatch fold down.
Then the first-gen sisters leapt through the hatch to land disdainfully on the deck with thuds.
The sisters’ avatars were a strange collection that expressed their personalities. Only Pandora had retained a Méridien genotype. They walked in gliding lockstep to confront the SADEs, not even caring to emulate biological motion.
Pandora had been tempted to suggest to the other first-gen sisters that it would be best for her to manage the conversations with Julien and Cordelia, but she didn’t have the authority. Furthermore, the first generations would never let her be leader. It had been difficult enough for them to acquiesce on most subjects to Miriamal.
Cordelia began. Like Julien, she was unable to complete her thought without a sister interrupting.
No cabins were assigned the sisters. They had no use for them.
The ship’s crew members were to find them standing eerily with blank expressions in odd locations. For the biologicals, it was disturbing.
25: Time to Sail
BETA TWO, MONART SYSTEM
X-ORE PLANET
Peter Doell’s mouth hung open. He couldn’t believe what he’d heard, and most of the faces of his senior staff around the conference table mimicked his stunned expression.
The three individuals amused by the clones’ statements were Harlyn Blackwell, research head, Ricardo Broadus, port flight controller, and Knut Kielpinski, veteran shuttle pilot.
Knut was basking in the pleasure of his latest flight aboard the sisters’ newest traveler. His first flight on a grav-based ship had been disappointing. He’d felt nothing. Gone were the welcome engine growls and the expected liftoff pressures. Several flights later, he appreciated the lift’s ease and the comforting nanites seats. Soon after that, he was a convert.
When the second traveler launched, Knut was invited to ride in the copilot seat, which he readily accepted. Having learned that a human pilot required an implant to communicate with the ship’s controller, he’d promptly asked for one from Peña, who took the request under consideration.
“How would we ever accommodate something like this?” Doell, the director of operations, asked in a strained voice.
“Are you confused about Beta Two’s financial condition?” Peña inquired.
“Without any rebalancing, it would be a financial loss,” Lemil Boydston, the accounting head, replied.
“By balancing, Lemil, do you mean the creation of more sisters?” Merlie requested.
“Uh ... yes,” Lemil admitted.
“There’ll be no increase in the number of sisters,” Peña said definitively. “I require a response to my question, Director Doell.”
“No, I’m not confused,” Doell replied. “I just don’t understand why we have to absorb the loss at this time. We were doing so well.”
“Director Doell, according to the numbers, Beta Two’s net revenue is up eighty-seven percent over the previous annual,” Merlie pointed out.
“Nearly half of the clones have been repaired, which has resulted in increased output,” Auburn, the female clone who Nira had named, stated, “and the numerous sisters are responsible for much of the revenue increase.”
“But contracts?” Doell objected.
“We’re humans. We deserve compensation for our work,” Evest, a male clone, said. He and the other clones around the table were demonstrating the lessons taught them by the sisters.
“According to Fatima, you’d lose about thirty-seven percent of your annual revenue, if you don’t experience any adjustment,” Dybra, the second male clone, said.
Lemil nodded in agreement, and Doell blanched.
“But do you think that will happen?” Nala, the third male clone, asked.
