Angels and Wormholes

Meeting of Minds

"Most of my CNS," Lujain answered. "Any more questions, meat bag?"

"I guess not."

"And this is Cutter," Wojtek continued, "our in-house cybernetics surgeon." He motioned to Cutter. "They'll be accompanying us to the Catechumen."

"That wasn't the agreement," Erin said.

"What's the difference?" Wojtek asked. "The more the merrier."

"Optics," Erin answered. "And manageability."

"Manageability? We'll be on our best behaviour." Wojtek grinned. "Promise."

"It's not up for debate," Erin said. "I've already arranged the meeting. They're expecting to meet with the alien. The rest of you are staying. Leave this to a professional."

"Meaning you?" Wojtek raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Erin answered. "Unless pirates are taking classes in diplomacy."

"For the record, we're not pirates. But I do believe in letting experts do their thing. That's why we have 'em, after all."

"Great." Erin smiled. "I'm glad you see it that way."

"So since we all understand the value of experts, I'll let you deal with the diplomacy, and Cutter here'll deal with the cybernetics."

"Cybernetics?" Erin asked.

"The prisoners," Wojtek said. "The one's hooked up to the machine. Cutter'll take a look at the system, figure out what makes it tick."

"Not a chance." Erin shook her head. "What part of 'discussion' don't you understand? We're not infilitrating their machines."

"Captain Barron," Wojtek glanced from Erin to Rolland. "I know you're concerned about the prisoners. What do you say?"

"What exactly are you proposing?" Rolland stroked his chin.

"I'm a hacker," Cutter answered. "Wetware computing and cybernetic systems. I'll figure out how it works, what they're doin' to the prisoners, maybe expose a weakness."

Erin shook her head. "It's a bad idea."

"Can you do it without pissing them off?" Rolland asked.

"I can do it without affecting their system," Cutter answered. "Ambient signal analysis. No need for me to break anything. They wouldn't even know."

"I know the Federation isn't exactly up to speed on their cybernetics." Wojtek smiled. "There's a downside to all your compliance laws. So this is your best chance to learn about that neural prison over there. Maybe find something that could help those prisoners."

"What's in it for you?" Rolland asked Wojtek.

"Money." Wojtek answered with a smile. "Me and Zoojin have an understanding. We all get out of there in one piece and he makes it worth my while."

"I know I'd love to take a look at the tech' they've got running over there," Cutter said. "You don't get many chances like this."

"Their fleet is getting close to Blue Sky," Lujain added. "If they decide to go that way, it wouldn't hurt to have some advanced intel'."

"Besides -" Wojtek grinned "- it's so rare that we get to work for the good guys. So what do you say, Captain? Should we take our expert along for a quick tour?"

Rolland paused. "Yeah," he answered finally. "Let's do it."

"Alright," Erin jumped in. Doubting she could change Rolland's mind now, her best hope was to manage the situation. "But lose the weapons." She gave a quick look to the e-pistol holstered at Wojtek's side. "And the cyborg stays."