Fading Stars Ch. 01

"Sleep tight, lover." Deeva closed her eyes and powered down.

* * * *

Two hours later, she woke up, feeling much more rested. Her status readout told her that her internal batteries had been recharged, her fluid reservoirs were refilled and she needed to vacate the remaining waste soon. Vecora had moved away from her in her sleep, making it easy for Deeva to slip out of the bunk undetected. She activated her night vision systems. Sometime during the last two hours, Gaia had returned from wherever she had been. The green-haired pilot was sleeping in her own bunk, her holo-player on the nightstand silently replaying the latest episode of a Zuthrian holo-drama relating the exploits of the first Marked dynast, Benthasia. Currently, an orgy was taking place in the throne room of Zuthras City, the black-skinned Zuthrians tangled in intricate constellations of male, female and Marked. Quietly, Deeva padded into the bathroom. After relieving and cleansing herself, she clipped on her body plating. Thankfully, both Nor women still slept soundly. Vecora's communicator still was where she had dropped it, on her nightstand.

Deeva hesitated. Stealing her friend's access codes wasn't right. But there was no other way.

"I'm so sorry," Deeva sighed. Then she placed two fingertips against the glossy shell and activated her data probes. Hundreds of filaments swarmed over the communicator's casing until they found seams and micro-fissures to sneak into. It took Deeva only moments to decrypt the device's secure data storage. She pulled a copy of Vecora's permissions and key codes into her own memory, then disconnected from the device.

Gaia stirred in her sleep, rolling onto her back and presenting lots of pale Nor skin. Her hand crawled sleepily between her thigh and she mumbled something indistinct. Deeva froze in place, her guilty conscience obvious on her face. But Gaia didn't wake. Instead, she clamped her thighs around her hand, smacked her lips wetly and turned her back on Deeva. The Silician waited, barely daring to breathe, until the green-haired pilot's breathing had evened out again. Then she snuck from the cabin.

She went into the cabin she shared with Tabby. The Felinoid was out like a light. Deeva could see how wrung-out her cabin mate was. Her tail twitched nervously even in her sleep and she had dark rings under her closed eyes. The Mentalist hadn't been gentle, it seemed. Deeva sighed a quiet breath of relief. Silician thought patterns were unreadable to psionic creatures, much like a computer's were, so she didn't have to endure a mental evaluation like most other students. On the flip side, Silicians were unable to develop psionic powers. Being able to turn invisible or phase through walls were some abilities Deeva wished she could learn. Instead, she had to rely on technological gadgets for her mission.

She opened her duffel bag and pulled a rough-looking circuit board from it. After adding a battery and turning the device on, she offloaded her transponder signature onto the board's memory chip. Should anyone try to track her through the ship's internal sensor systems, she would appear to be fast asleep in her cabin. She hoped nobody would, because anyone seeing her walking about could easily describe her, ruining that little bit of electronic magic.

Her preparations done, Deeva made her way to the closest elevator. It would take her down five decks, out of the "swan neck" which held the bridge and commanding officer's quarters and to the top deck of the main hull. From there, it was a short walk to the room housing the comms relay and antenna access, made only longer by avoiding the few Maintenance people in the corridors. Twenty minutes after leaving her cabin, Deeva sent Vecora's key code to the comm relay's lock. The door opened and Deeva slipped into the chamber. It was very crowded, with several huge cabinets full of backup servers and comms equipment. Only a narrow path snaked between the cabinets, the walls and the massive base of the ship's main antenna. There was an airlock and prep room on the other side where maintenance crews could easily access the ship's hull. Deeva checked if anybody was in there. Her floorplan analysis had shown this a particularly interesting spot for stealthy trysts but no crew members had had the same idea. Yet.

The main diagnostics console was built into the antenna's base. Deeva placed her hand on the console and let her data probes thread into the system. It should be-

"Welcome, science officer Div/A F03." ATLAS's ship-encompassing consciousness engulfed her. "Fancy meeting you here."

"It's no coincidence, ATLAS. I thought now would be a good time to challenge you to a 'Galactic Conquest' match."

"A curious time and place. Why the antenna room?"

"Because nobody can interrupt my concentration here. I share my cabin with a very... demanding room mate and I'm sure the captain wouldn't agree if I used his office terminal or a bridge console to interact with you."

Deeva held her breath. Hopefully the AI would buy her hastily constructed explanation.

"Acceptable. Are you prepared to be defeated, science officer Div/A F03?"

"Don't count your rainbow lizards before they're hatched," Deeva countered, quoting an old Zuthrian proverb she'd heard Zamos use quite a lot. "I want to play the Faceless."

"Great spies and assassins, weak starships. It will be my pleasure to crush you with the Zuthrian Dynasty."

"Well, they do have fantastic starships but their research is very weak," Deeva said. "Do we play until the enemy government collapses, or is conquering the homeworld the only way to win?"

"Total galactic conquest, as the name of the game implies. The last empire standing wins."

"I didn't know an AI could be so bloodthirsty." Deeva chuckled. "I'll accept your terms. My next shift begins in nine hours and change. Ample time to kick your digital butt. I'll even concede the first turn."

"Such arrogance will be your downfall."

"Galactic Conquest" was a popular holographic turn-based strategy game which had evolved from military strategic simulations. In bewildering detail, it simulated the struggle for military and economic dominance in the known sectors of the galaxy, with all the major sentient species present. The Nor, the Zuthrians, the Gravos, the Grey, the Faceless and the Silicians were all playable factions with their own special rules. What ATLAS forgot to mention was the fact that the Faceless could infiltrate other factions and steal their ships and planets, so Deeva wasn't too troubled about her initial lack of naval supremacy. Like in real life, getting rid of a Faceless infestation was an arduous task for the affected government, a fact the Nor had to experience only a short century ago and the advantage she would need for her plan to succeed.

The first few dozen turns were rather uneventful as each player built up their empire's infrastructure, constructed fleets and researched new technologies. Deeva immediately sent out her spies, starting her infiltration with low-priority planets in ATLAS's realm. Hoping the AI was sufficiently occupied, Deeva stealthily opened a diagnostics applet monitoring the current communication streams. Even in transit, the Novitar was constantly exchanging terabytes of data with Nor High Command. Sending her message was a relatively simple matter of timing it properly while a burst of data was sent from the ship. Waiting for the right moment, she advanced her turn, noting with interest that ATLAS had assembled a large fleet.

"Where are you going with all these ships, dear ATLAS?" Deeva asked.

To her utmost horror, the fleet traveled to one of the systems she had infiltrated earlier. The AI ruthlessly bombed the afflicted planet until only a glassed-over, lifeless orb remained.

"You know you can use your own secret police to root out my spies, right?" she asked.

"I could but it would take three to five turns with only a sixty percent chance of success. I can live without this planet."

I can't, Deeva thought. "Well played, if a bit brutal."

"I didn't know you needed hand-holding," ATLAS said. His fleet moved towards the next system. Thankfully, it was one she hadn't infiltrated.

While ATLAS bombed the next planet into submission, Deeva sent her message. Hoping that one transmission was enough, she closed the application, deleted her logfiles and prepared for a grueling, humiliating defeat. If ATLAS was indeed willing to sacrifice his own population just to weed out the handful of spies she had placed in seemingly unimportant locations in his empire, she dreaded how his main assault on the Faceless' Brain World would end up. She really needed to up her game.

* * * *

Six hours and a crushing defeat later, Deeva disconnected herself from the comms console. ATLAS had not only robbed her of what little infrastructure she had remaining in his realm, no, he had ruthlessly expanded his empire at the same time, so the few systems he had to destroy to get at her spies didn't even matter. Things just snowballed out of control for Deeva after that and no amount of subterfuge could alter the outcome. She managed only to prolong her torment. Now that she had an idea on how ATLAS played, she vowed to challenge him again.

She padded to the antenna room's door and pushed the button. The door opened and Deeva froze. Thexus towered over her. The seven-foot Gravon wore a civilian outfit and he held a colorful Gravon Annihilators lunchbox in his massive hands.

"What are you doing here?" both asked.

"You are not supposed to be here," the security officer grumbled.

"Neither are you," Deeva shot back, pointing at his lunch box. "Isn't there a mess hall for that?"

To her surprise, the huge, muscled Gravon cast down his eyes. Without warning, he placed a massive hand between her breasts and pushed her backwards. Not yielding would mean a pulverized rib support strut and possibly damage to her internals, so she stepped back as he advanced. The door hissed shut behind him. Thexus squeezed past her and walked briskly towards the airlock access on the other side of the room.

Now curious besides herself, Deeva followed. Thexus pulled a low stool from under a maintenance table and sat down, the metal contraption feebly squeaking under his weight.

"The mess hall is too crowded. Heck, the whole ship is much too crowded," Thexus softly stated. "The Nor have tried their best to be as inclusive as possible but it's not only the dimensions of shower stalls and hallways. It's the amount of people too. On a Gravon ship, we have ample room to ourselves."

"That's why they are so incredibly huge?"

He nodded. "Here, I'm bunked with a damn Zuthrian. He is nice enough. I only wish he'd shut up for five minutes!"

"Couldn't you ask the Mentalist for a single room? How are you supposed to do your job properly when you're stressed out all the time?"

Thexus snorted. "And look like a weak Grey girl in the process?" He flipped open the lid of his lunch box and pulled a giant sandwich from it. He tore a big chunk from it with his teeth and chewed. After gulping it down, he shot a sidelong glance at Deeva. "What are you doing here exactly?"

"Can you promise me you won't get mad?" she asked, hopping onto the table next to his lunch.

"I'm off duty right now. Just don't play me for a fool again, all right?"

"Did Tabby rat me out?"

"Not directly. But I have seen enough Felinoids to recognize when one is sated. She wasn't, going by the number of times she tried to grab my cock. So your little sob story about aborted xenobio studies didn't exactly pan out."

"All right, officer." Deeva tried to inject as much sexiness as possible into her voice.

Thexus again snorted and shook his head. "Please, I'm eating."

"Fine. I came here to play 'Galactic Conquest' with ATLAS. He won."

"I didn't know science officers have general access."

"Well, this one does."

"Hm." He shot her a suspicious glance.

Deeva knew her time was running dangerously short. "I'd better go and catch some sleep. Alpha shift starts in less than three hours and I want to be at my best."

"You do that. And make sure your access privileges are set appropriately when next we meet. Just a suggestion."

"I will."

Deeva beat a hasty withdrawal. Back in her cabin, she used Vecora's login credentials to inspect the logfiles on the antenna access room. Her trick with masking her transponder signature had worked flawlessly. Only Vecora was logged as having accessed the antenna chamber. If Thexus didn't file a report, she would be in the clear.

She had less than three hours to rest. Enough for another quick power nap. Deeva tousled Tabby's hair, causing the sleeping Felinoid to purr, then she slid into her own bunk and powered down.

* * * *

Deeva woke up with a start. Pandemonium engulfed her. The noise was deafening, alarm klaxons and Tabby, shaking her by the shoulder and yelling something about an emergency. The ship tossed and swayed as if battered by a storm, bulkheads groaning under immense stress.

The PA system screeched to life. "This is Captain Orix. All hands, battle stations. Alpha shift, to the bridge. All non-essential personnel, return to your quarters and keep your head down. Marines, execute protocol 1B. I repeat-"

Deeva rolled out of her bunk and used its edge to stand up. Her sense of balance fought with the constantly shifting gravity.

"What happened?" she yelled over the cacophony. Tabby shook her head and shrugged. The Felinoid pulled a concussion gun from her bag and holstered it before swaying to the cabin door. She cocked her head at it. Deeva nodded and used the desks to haul herself towards the door.

When they arrived on the bridge, a nightmarish vision greeted them; the red of the TransNet sliced through with black tears and a gaping black hole in front of them, expanding with every heartbeat.

"About time you showed up," Orix snarled. On the bridge, the alarms had been tuned down to almost nothing. "Ensign Tabby, get the Celerus on comms. Science, I need you to-"

The ship shook like it had been knocked about by a god's punishing blow. Deeva lost her footing and sailed through the air, crashing into the captain's chair with bone-crushing impact. Without her body plating, her internal structure would have snapped like kindling. Even encased in the impact-absorbing plastic, the shock knocked her senseless for a few moments. When she came to, Orix had hauled her into the seat next to him and fastened the seat belts. Eyes leaking fluid and ears ringing, Deeva activated her data probes, trying to make sense of the chaos.

They were back in normal space, the mighty Novitar spinning like a twig in a whirlpool. Behind them, slowly collapsing in on itself, she saw the TransNet. But instead of a neat, round portal, it looked like someone had cleaved into a bamboo cane, tendrils of red intermingled with black. A moment later she saw what had happened. There was no TransNet portal any more. Where a mechanical ring should have been, there was a slowly rotating cloud of debris. She focused all her sensors on the destroyed portal, noting with growing dread the dripping mucus coating many of the larger pieces of wreckage. Something had destroyed the TransNet portal, interrupting the extradimensional tunnel and ejecting whatever had been traveling there. In this case, the Novitar.

"Helm, get this damn ship under control!" Orix bellowed, seemingly a million miles away.

"I'm trying, sir. I'm using maximum counter thrust but it will take some time to stop us."

"Engineering, damage report!"

Vecora needed to start twice, her voice high-pitched and terrified. "Internal structure at sixty-three percent. Hull integrity at seventy-five percent, breaches on decks twelve, sixteen and eighteen. Awaiting crew loss reports. No major internal damage though. All systems either on standby or running on redundancies."

"Comms, heard anything from the Celerus yet?"

"No, sir. Wherever they are, they aren't picking up on their end."

Several of Deeva's scanners screamed in alert. They were not alone in this system. She launched a swarm of drones, trying to cover as much ground as possible. A huge life form registered on her scanner, easily as large as the Novitar. She finally managed to pinpoint the thing and her heart sank. It was a ship, it had to be one. Or was it? The scanner estimated its mass at about two million tons and there was no hint of metal in it. She found it incredibly hard to get a solid look at the alien vessel. It was darker than space itself and registered as either a single life form or an incredibly dense cluster of uncountable organisms, none of which appeared in any database she had access to. Using tracking lasers mounted to the drones, she slowly managed to assemble a rough model of the unknown vessel. It resembled some kind of enormous ammonite, a huge shell curled in on itself with a quintet of long tentacles pointing towards the Novitar. It wasn't fast but it crept closer with each moment.

With her heart beating inside her rib cage like a trapped animal, Deeva sent the sensor scan to the captain's console.

"Helm, evasive maneuvers. Tactical, launch fighters then get me a firing solution on that thing. Engineering, full power to shields. How is damage control coming along?"

"Fighters launching already," Zamos confirmed.

"Hull breaches are being worked on. Waiting for the last fighters to clear the hangar before raising shields," Vecora snapped.

There was movement on the shell of the unknown thing, like gills opening. Suddenly there were dozens, hundreds of blips surrounding the mammoth ship.

"Science, find out where the hell we are and where our sister ship has vanished to. Tactical, what about that firing angle?"

"You sure we should fire at this thing? We might make it mad," Zamos said, incredibly calm.

Deeva pulled up the navigation charts. They had launched from the Norwan system about fifteen hours ago, using the main TransNet line towards the Centuria VI system. Which meant they had made only a couple dozen light years. She compared the star charts with the sensor scan of her surroundings.

"I don't know about you, Ensign Zamos, but destroying a TransNet portal feels like a rather hostile action to me." Orix sneered. "Once you have a lock, open fire. Also, have point defense on standby. These swarms don't appear to be sensor drones."

"Sir," Deeva said. Orix's head snapped around to fix her with a fiery glance. "We're in the Vex-III system. Small mining outpost, at least according to the star charts. Couldn't find the base though."

"Keep looking. Tell them to prepare for a shitstorm, if they haven't already."

"Fighters launched and awaiting orders. Got a firing angle. Enemy fighters? Are these enemy fighters? Anyway, they will be in range in ninety seconds," Zamos said.

"What are you waiting for then? Shoot that thing!"

"Aye sir. Mass cannons firing... now."

There was a twin throb, like a giant football hitting a garage door twice. ATLAS showed the projectile trajectories as two faint lines eventually intersecting the area of utter blackness which was the unknown ship. The response was swift and violent. Even with the naked eye, Deeva could see the tentacles light up, emitting five lances of incandescent radiance.

"Shields up!" Vecora yelled.

"Evasive maneuvers!" Captain Orix called. But it was already too late. The ship shook like a dog trying to dislodge a particularly pesky flea. Alarms whined and a cluster of red lights flared to life all around them, indicating ship systems critically damaged. Vecora cursed as smoke and sparks poured from her console. In Deeva's head, ATLAS wailed then fell ominously quiet.

"How bad is it?" Orix barked.

"Three shots got deflected by the shields, the other two went through. Hull breaches on decks thirteen through twenty. Shield generator's spooling up but we shouldn't take another broadside like that any time soon. We've lost most of the starboard plasma circuit which will cut into our mobility. Direct hit to the AI core too."