Seraph’s Gambit- Episode 48

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Ariana

“Well, that used to be a ship,” Noah quipped. Despite the levity of his words, it felt forced to Ariana.

Forcing herself to focus, Ariana asked, “Vlasa, what do you make of it?”

A long pause followed before Vlasa said, “That definitely use to be a Rokma cruiser. I also believe there are parts of at least two other ships. Possibly AI.”

“Is it the Martoth?” Ariana asked, afraid she already knew the answer.

“Indeterminate. But this system was along their flight path. I find it unlikely it would be a different Rokma cruiser.”

“There might be escape pods,” Noah said hopefully.

“There might,” Ariana said. She shifted the sensors from the debris and began scanning for emergency transponders. The computer had already identified several. Like she feared, most of them were clustered near one unusually large piece of debris.

“I found the escape pods,” Ariana said, with a heavy sigh.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Noah asked.

“I believe the captain is concerned with a Samaritan Snare. It proved an effective strategy in killing many biologicals.” Mesu chirped. For a moment, Ariana thought he sounded genuinely happy, rather than it just being his default voice tone.

“Samaritan snare?” Noah asked, “You mean like the bombs those pirates left for us?”

“Yeah but this time it won’t be ion weapons left to disable us. It’s usually a ship hidden among the debris.”

“So, let’s blow up anything that is big enough to be a ship.”

“Sure, and we’ll have to fire through the escape pods to do that. And then the drone will start firing back, keeping the escape pods between us. I’ve seen it before.”

“So how do we get past it? You obviously lived through it.”

“The only effective tactic is not one I’m willing to do,” Ariana said, her voice flat as she recalled the incident. She closed her eyes for a moment to push the emotions it brought up aside.

“The only effective strategy to combat a Samaritan Snare such as this, is to destroy the drone as you suggest, ignoring the escape pods.” Vlasa explained.

“Damn, that’s cold.” Noah said, “Makes sense, though. But Olivia, Serene, Squee or Javi might be on one of those pods.”

“Not to mention all of the rest of the Rokma crew,” Vlasa emphasized.

“Sure, sure.”

“Vlasa, if that is a drone, why didn’t our AI warning alert us?” Ariana asked.

“If that is indeed a functional drone, it is completely powered down to avoid detection. That means its long-range comm system is not querying for other AI connections. There was nothing for the hack to detect.”

“Which means the rest of the LFD fleet is unaware we’re here.”

“Presumably.”

Putting the discussion out of her mind, Ariana switched her earpiece to a new channel. She started broadcasting on the emergency frequency, “Rokma survivors, this is Seraph. Do you read us?”

She repeated the message a few times before she got any reply. She recognized the gravely voice of Cru. He sounded decidedly less menacing than before, “Seraph, we read you.”

“Cru, how many of your crew made it off?”

“Seventy-three, including Squee and your Olivia.”

Ariana closed her eyes and forced back a tear when Cru didn’t say Javi’s name. Pushing her emotions down, she said, “We can try and render assistance, but Seraph cannot handle that many people onboard.”

“Understood. Our pods are in good condition. We will be able to survive for several days. I managed to launch an FTL beacon before the ship was destroyed, and confirmed it made the jump successfully.”

“Cru, you know the closest systems are under the sway of LFD. They might not be willing to provide aid.”

“I am aware,” Cru said, his voice resigned. “But that is not our primary concern. You must complete the mission in our stead.”

“We will. I promise. But we can still help first. Seraph is only rated for twelve long term. But we could probably handle forty for a short time.”

“I will send two pods to dock with you. They will be ones with your former crewmembers and as many of our security forces as made it off the ship. You will need them to complete our mission.”

“Don’t dispatch them yet. I believe the AI left behind a drone.”

“Yes, they did.” Cru said, “Do not worry, Captain. We will take care of that.”

“How…” Ariana started to ask, and then a warning on the sensors flashed. She brought the display to the front and watched helplessly as half a dozen escape pods rocketed into the object she suspected was the functional drone. The escape pods had managed to accelerate rapidly and tore into the drone-ship. Energy levels from the drone spiked as it tried to power up, and then suddenly died again as it indeed became a part of the debris field.

“What the hell?” Noah bellowed.

Ariana realized her channel had automatically reset to the ships channel when her connection with Cru ended. He must have been among those that had slammed into the drone ship. Her body felt weary, and her shoulders slumped.

“First Shield Cru lived up to his title,” Ariana said quietly. After a long moment of silence, she ordered, “Noah, we have two pods incoming. Prepare to dock with them.”

Continue to Episode 49

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