Seraph’s Gambit- Episode 51
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Ariana
“I’m getting a signal,” Vlasa declared. “And so is the AI detector. Both originating on a bearing toward
Ariana closed her eyes and cursed to herself. Out loud, she said, “Not unexpected. Get me a connection to PUG HQ. Office of Personnel.”
“Personnel?”
“I need someone who will take my call in the middle of a crisis.”
“Okay, I’m disconnecting the AI hack so we can use the transmitter. Establishing connection.”
Several minutes passed while Ariana waited, alone in the weapons control room. Everyone else remained eerily silent on the ship’s network. That made her more uncomfortable than anything else. She almost wished Noah would say something to annoy Vlasa.
Lost in the silence, Ariana wasn’t ready when the comm became active, “Ariana, now is not a good time dear.”
“Dad, I assume you’re referring to the fleet of AI drones attacking?”
“How did you know about that?”
“That’s a long story. I’m going to give you the highlights. Just accept what I’m saying and don’t ask any questions. For once. Please.”
There was a long pause before her father finally said, “Okay.”
She quickly relayed the highlights of LFD’s plan, and how she had acquired the command ships schematics. She concluded with, “I am sending them to you now. If you destroy that ship or at least disable its central AI computer, that should disrupt the whole drone fleet.”
“I’m not sure anyone is going to believe you. You didn’t exactly leave the fleet on the best terms.”
“I don’t really care what they think.” Ariana fumed, “Just so long as they destroy that ship.”
“All right, all right. I’ll see what I can do. But personnel staffers don’t really have a position in the middle of the battle. But I’ll try. Stand by.”
The connection went into standby, and Ariana leaned back in her chair. It had been quite a few years since she had exchanged this many words with her father. He hadn’t exactly been thrilled when she had left the navy, and had felt no compulsion to not share that with her every chance he got. But at least he hadn’t hesitated to take her call.
“So, you’re Dad works for the navy, huh?”
Ariana jerked in surprise at Noah’s voice. She hadn’t realized anyone else had been listening to the conversation. Glancing at the screen, she saw she had not put herself on an isolated channel.
“Yes, he does. Civilian working for the personnel department.”
“Wouldn’t he be to old to still be working?” Olivia asked.
“What? He’s only sixty-eight.”
“Oh. He must have been pretty young when he had you.”
“What? Why?” Ariana asked, “Wait, how old do you think I am?”
“Fifty-ummm…Fifty?” Olivia said sheepishly.
“Based on the captain’s physical condition and diet, that is not a terrible estimate of her effective age.” Mesu said, “At her current rate of deterioration, she will succumb to the fragility of the biological structure far earlier than even most humans.”
Ariana sighed. Noah laughed. For the moment, things felt normal. But then her father’s voice came back.
“Ariana?”
“Here, Dad.”
“I’ve spoken to Admiral Fitzgerald. There are no ships like you described in the system.”
“It’s there. Somewhere. Or in a nearby system. They might have kept it back for safety. But it has the same comm range limitations we do. Send out some scouts for it.”
“We’ll try, but there aren’t any ships to spare. We’re barely holding their fleet at bay. We can’t afford to send any out, and any that were in neighboring systems have already been called in to assist. Besides, I don’t think they actually believed me.”
“You mean they don’t believe me,” Ariana said, “Good to see the admiralty hasn’t changed in all these years.”
“I’ll do what I can. But, Ariana, I don’t know how this is going to end. It looks pretty bad. Get yourself to safety. Promise me that?”
“If I can.”
“I love you. Remember that. Despite how I may have acted, I never stopped loving you.”
Ariana felt tears swell in her eyes. She started to say something back, but the link suddenly went dead. A glance at the screen didn’t give her any indication whether it had been cut off, or her father had disconnected. She wrapped her arms around herself for a second, and gave herself a moment to regain control of herself.
“What do you want to do now, Captain?” Vlasa asked, his voice calm and to the point.
“Everyone meet me in the cargo bay.”
Unbuckling herself, Ariana straightened and took a deep breath before walking down to the cargo bay at a brisk pace. She tried to avoid going fast enough to feel winded, and she realized Mesu might have had a point. Putting that aside, she entered to find the rest of the crew, apart from Olivia who ran in just after her, already there.
“Vlasa, display the LFD’s command ship.”
Vlasa nodded and then started projecting a holographic image from his eye implant. The schematics Javi had given them laid out the ship in exquisite detail. She doubted she had this much information about Seraph.
“The ship is pretty massive, but after the damage we would have done to it when we rammed her, it looks like it should only have four main armaments left,” Ariana began. “Triple missile launchers, a heavy energy beam, ion cannons and tri cannons. The shields do appear to be considerable, however. We will need to hit them with everything we have to have any hope of penetrating them.”
“Captain, you’re not suggesting we attack them?” Vlasa asked, the hologram wavering slightly as he moved his head.
“That’s exactly what I’m suggesting.”
“But your father said they couldn’t locate the ship.”
“Which means it’s not in the Triask system.”
“So how, exactly, are we supposed to find it?” Noah asked, “Even if we wanted to attack it. Which I am not suggesting.”
“The AI hack,” Olivia said through a quick intake of breath.
Ariana turned to the young girl and gave her as sympathetic a smile as she could. “Exactly. If we complete its connection to the FTL, it will carry out its last instructions, and try to jump us to the command ship.”
“If I complete the connections to the FTL, disabling them will not be a quick operation. That means we won’t be able to jump away.” Vlasa said, his voice oddly neutral.
“I suspected as much,” Ariana said. “But once we disable the central AI, the hack won’t matter.”
“How are we going to do that?” Noah said, “We know exactly how outmatched we are against that ship. Not to mention any escorts.”
Ariana shook her head. “There won’t be any escorts. LFD accelerated their plans. They had to devote everything to this attack. They won’t risk failure by leaving any ships behind.”
“Then why did they leave the command ship?” Olivia asked.
“Because of us,” Squee said. “They know we’re still out here. That’s why they are attacking now. That’s why they are keeping the command ship well away from the PUG fleet. We are the only ones who can complete this mission. We are the only ones they fear.”
Ariana raised an eyebrow at Squee. She wouldn’t put it quite like that, but it would work for her. “If the PUG falls to AI, we’re all doomed. We’re the only ones who know how to defeat their fleet. We’re the ones who have to do it.”
The other Rokma nodded immediately, which relieved her. They would be essential to pulling this off. But they weren’t the ones she thought it would be difficult to convince.
“So, I guess we do it, then,” Noah said with a sigh. Vlasa, Mesu and finally Olivia nodded their heads in agreement.
Continue to Episode 52
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