"Insane...Everyone has gone completely insane!" Captain Miskyl muttered vehemently under her breath as she stormed out of her office onto the bridge. "I would have been better off never waking from that accursed stasis pod than putting up with these imbeciles." Captain Miskyl was completely oblivious to the fact that her voice was steadily rising. In the two months since her awakening from stasis, things had gone from horrific to...whatever was worse than that. As a captain of a mid-sized warship, most of the details regarding this operation were kept secret from her and those around her. Apparently, there wasn't a need to know. Well, there was now. How she wished those who had planned, or really failed to plan, were still alive so she could kill them herself.
Captain Miskyl paused mid-step. She had been pacing around the bridge and her dark mood was having a noticeable effect on the crew. She mentally kicked herself for allowing a habit, she had thought she had done away with years ago, to resurface. She masked her emotions and said, "As you were." The crew returned to their duties, curious but too frightened to ask what had set their captain off. Miskyl caught her newly appointed second in command's attention and motioned for him to follow.
Captain Miskyl eased herself behind her desk and waited for the timid officer. He finally entered, and glanced around as if looking for a way to escape. With shaking hands, he grabbed the seat and slowly maneuvered his body so that a quick escape would still be possible. Miskyl was beyond annoyed with the lack of spine the man showed, but competent officers were in short supply, much like everything else. Miskyl entertained her twisted sense of humor and let the awkward silence hang for several minutes. The young officer sitting in front of her had been a very low ranking officer when they had set out on this mission. When it looked like he could take no more, Miskyl spoke, "I need you to clean out your office immediately." The young officer looked like he was about to protest, but Miskyl refused to give him the chance. "Effective immediately, you are in command of this ship and its crew. Congratulations Captain." Miskyl held out her hand to the stunned young man.
"Wh...What about you?" he managed to stutter out.
"The announcement will be made by the end of the day, so you are sworn to secrecy until then, but I have been elected as High Fleet Admiral by the council of Captains," Miskyl replied.
"Congratulations," the new captain began to say, but trailed off at the threatening stare Miskyl gave him.
"This is all Alykyl's doing," Miskyl ranted. "He's been jealous of me ever since I outranked him in command school. He could never accept the fact that a woman was better than he was. I've been given an impossible situation and he can't wait for me to fail. On top of all that you have the nerve to congratulate me?" Miskyl spent a few more minutes venting before realizing the new captain was about to make a mess all over his new office. "You're dismissed," she grunted. The young captain was gone the moment the words passed Miskyl's lips. The young man's attitude was doing little to assuage her anxiety. A few moments later, her desk chimed, informing her that her short recess was over. It was time for the Council of Captains to reconvene and make more impossible decisions.
***
It had been a quarter cycle since she had been thrust into the position of High Admiral. They were finally on the move. A planet capable of sustaining life had finally been located, and though the planet boasted no life itself, the fleet had enough supplies to begin seeding the planet. The only other planet in the system was a massive gas giant. It was the perfect combination. The gas giant would provide the fuel needed to keep their ancient fleet of ships moving.
Miskyl sat in her comfortable office, contemplating the ramifications of the upcoming meeting. Now that a new colony could be founded, the Council of Captains wanted to decide the future of civil matters. Enough genetic material had been preserved that they would be able to grow their population as rapidly as their food supplies would allow. Now it was time to decide the future leadership of their race. Miskyl had a suspicion that the slime Alykyl was secretly coveting the regency. Miskyl was determined not to let that happen. Not only would Alykyl lead everything they had worked for to ruin, we would be given authority over the military as well. Miskyl reviewed the candidate choices one last time while she awaited the appointed time.
An hour into the meeting, the candidates had been narrowed down to two. "It would be a mistake to give ultimate authority over to a single man," Alykyl stated heatedly. "This violates all precedence!"
"What precedence?" someone else asked just as heatedly. "Show me when our people have faced such a challenge. We are small in number. It is only logical that we consolidate our leadership until we have solidified our tenuous position."
"We need to uphold the standards of those before us," somebody else argued. "Giving ultimate power to a single individual would disgrace those who went before us."
"If I may have a moment," Admiral Miskyl calmly stated. She had been keeping her silence for some time now, just waiting to see how things would turn out. "As many of you know, I have not sought out any form of leadership, other than that of a ship's captain. I was given trust over our fleet, and even Alykyl, who is attempting to demerit me, strongly approved my appointment. If I remember correctly, he was the one who suggested me in the first place. I bring this up not to discredit him, but to point out his inconsistencies. It appears to me that he has some other agenda in mind, and not the future of our people. This is a dark time for us. We are unprepared for the situation in which we find ourselves. I would like to submit a limit for whomever is selected as regent. They will relinquish their title as soon as there is a civilian population raised who are able to provide sufficient governance for themselves."
Many responded to Miskyl's calm demeanor. Most were nodding their heads in agreement to his suggestions. "History will look at us as saviors or failures," Miskyl continued. "Either way they view us is fine with me, as long as they are alive to make these debates. I call a vote. Let us see where the majority lie and let us choose who will lead us. Too much time has been spent in debate already. We need to be a people of action if we are to survive the days ahead."
The votes came in and they overwhelmingly supported Miskyl as regent. An irate Alykyl abruptly left the meeting. "Now that we have selected our Regent, my engineers tell me that the nanites should be ready soon." One of the other captains stated. "Once our Regent is injected, we will start mass production. I know you are anxious to get the neural network running, and though it won't be as complex as it was when our people still lived, we will still gain many advantages from the nanites."
Several more topics were discussed and quickly decided upon. Miskyl decided to forgo the formal inauguration that traditionally haunted those selected to be Regent. A small celebration would be held on a later date, once there was a planet to hold one.
It took slightly longer than expected for the nanites to be ready for injection, but once they were, Miskyl was ready. Prolonged stasis required the subject be stripped of all nanites, and Miskyl was anxious to get them back. Once she was injected and the nanites had successfully integrated, some would be harvested to create the nanites for the rest of her people. This was what set the Regent apart from their subjects. Regent nanites, as they were commonly referred to, had complete and unrestricted access to the neural network. Essentially, they were the master set of nanites. Once successors were selected, they were given the same regent nanites. The only difference was they were dormant until the Regent had passed away.
The technician explained this and other obvious details as he prepped Miskyl for injection. Miskyl knew everything the technician was saying, but was being polite by keeping silent. The silver liquid that suspended that nanites and provided building materials for future nanites slowly made its way into her bloodstream. Miskyl began convulsing and then went still.
While it seemed that Miskyl was resting peacefully, she was really interacting with the nanites as the slowly integrated into her body. She kept her body comatose to giver herself more time to integrate and program the nanites as she saw fit. She had begun thinking of this right after she had accepted the role as Regent. She didn't trust that snake Alykyl, and knew he would do something to try and hurt her. She was methodical in her reprograming and only made slight alterations where they would go unnoticed. What she was doing was technically treason, and if discovered would certainly doom her. She was betting on the fact that the fleet didn't have the technology necessary to truly test the nanites for tampering.
Once she was satisfied with her work, she slowly began bringing her body awake. As she opened her eyes, her nanite enhanced senses were working overtime. Everything seemed more alive. She could make out details she wouldn't have thought to look for before.
"It appears we have a successful integration," the technician stated. "I'm going to take a sample of your blood so we can harvest the nanites and begin manufacturing more the general distribution."
"No need," Miskyl replied. She grabbed a clear vial from a nearby table and placed a finger over it. A small slit opened in the finger and a single drop of blood fell. "There is a concentrated amount of nanites in this drop. I believe it will be more than sufficient for you to begin your work. How long until you can start distributing them?"
"We will have the first doses ready by the end of the day. The engineers overseeing nanite production will be the first to receive them. We predict this will significantly increase further production rates."
"Give my thanks to those who have worked so hard to get these ready. You all have done a marvelous job." Once the technician was gone, Miskyl returned to her bed and to the neural network. She was the only one with access for now, which gave her plenty of time to plan what changes she would make.