Chaos Rising

10

"So, I can't trick you after all..." the sniper chided Kiron.

"Just keeping you honest," Kiron said happily.

"And I thought that was my job," Kiron's brother laughed.

"Engineers, I'm Captain Sei'rik Altelai. You can come out now," the Techara woman said. Dray watched as the crates moved around. Slowly, a crowd of 17 oil-stained workers appeared from the gloom. Five of them carried assault rifles, while the others were largely unarmed.

"Are they gone?" one of the engineers asked her captain.

"I think so," the Techara replied. "I wish Winter was still in the system..."

Dray felt a pang in his heart. He hadn't processed Winter's death yet.

"Wait, she was helping you too?" Kiron asked, returning to the crowd with his brother.

"I still am," a strange voice said over the engine room loudspeakers.

Dray's heart rose a little, but the voice was definitely not Winter's, he reminded himself. It was organic and smooth and... melodic.

"Winter?" the doctor asked shakily.

"I'm afraid so," the voice replied. Dray felt a warmth in his chest.

"You're alive?!" he asked, feeling a bristle of new emotion.

"No," came the reply. "I have... Well, I seem to have downloaded myself into the shipboard computer." There was a pause. "I have been trying to help you, but it was so... confusing." Another pause. "I am sorry about the new voice. The vocoder I had was an implant in my body, and only my mind was downloaded to the ship's hard drive. I had to raid the ship's music library to communicate with you again. I believe this is the voice of Lahara singer Elize."

"Wait, you downloaded yourself?" Hael asked. "I thought you were, you know, alive?

"How is that even possible?" the Captain asked.

"I was alive, sir, but I was genetically modified to think like a computer," the singsong voice replied. "Apparently, it was extensive enough to make my neural network compatible with the computer."

"I can't even try to understand any of that," Hael said, while shaking his head.

"Can I interrupt?" Kiron's brother asked. "What's the deal with the slavers?"

"Their ship is pulling away. Their weapons systems are cold," Winter reported.

"They're not trying to finish us off?" Hael asked.

"They... they want us to spread the word about them," the Captain added.

"Captain, I believe they may have deceived you," Winter interrupted. "The distress beacon they sent is already broadcasting a copy of the bridge logs, which already mention the pirates. They do not need you to spread the word; the word is already out. When I integrated with the computer, I discovered that, while docking, a cyberwarfare suite in their ship hacked our navicomputer and erased the entire cache. I believe they wanted any survivors to live in hope of a chance to escape."

"We're stranded?" one of the engineers asked, sounding pissed.

The Captain hissed a foreign word that sounded coarse.

"Not entirely," Winter assured them. "I might be able to navigate the ship through the slaving vessel's ion emissions."

"You want us to follow the slavers?" Hael asked. "You're crazy!"

"What? Is that possible? Dray asked. He never doubted Winter, but he'd like to hear her logic on this one.

"It is risky, but we have little choice," Winter replied. "Their ship is low on fuel, and they will need to offload their slaves somewhere. They're likely heading to a port of some kind. Wherever that is, it is better than drifting here in space."

"I'm looking at these power fluctuations," one of the engineers said. "We're losing power every second. We won't make it."

"Yes we will," the Captain said firmly. "Winter, broadcast this message across the ship: Attention all surviving passengers and crew; This is Captain Sei'rik Altelai. The slaving vessel is fleeing, but for us to get back to civilisation, we need to conserve power. I need all survivors to head down to Engineering. I am here with the engineers and some other survivors. Come and find me. If you need any help, we have a, uh, shipboard computer called Winter. Just speak her name out loud and she will help you as best she can. Double time it, people!"

Dray felt a little empowered by the speech, even though he was already in Engineering.

"Winter, can you help them find their way?" Captain Altelai continued. "Also, cut power to Observation and Stores. We won't be using them now."

"Yes, Captain," Winter replied. After a tiny pause, she continued; "Medical is also clear. Shall I cut power?"

"We might need some first aid," Altelai said, looking right at Dray. "Can you cut power to separate areas? If so, keep the emergency ward powered up."

"Doing it now," Winter replied. "Captain, you might like to know that your ensigns are on their way. They are bringing the injured guards with them."

"Good," the Techara said warmly. "Do we have enough power to jump to lightspeed?"

"Yes, Captain."

The Captain looked at each of the people in the engine room.

"Do it," she said firmly.