“Looks like we got a hustler in our midst, fems and chums.”
Lindstrom’s staring out the window, eyes clouded once more, rubbing the place where his tattoo used to be.
“Yeah…,” the kid sighs. “She taught me that, too.”
Woźniak suddenly tenses, pressing the earbud of his comms unit tighter to his head. He glances up at Oshiro, pupils dilating. “Sarge, you hearing this?”
Oshiro nods, cupping her own earbud, the soft squawk of the alert transmission she’s receiving barely audible. Alarms start ringing in the barracks, an earsplitting wail spilling across the campus of McCaffrey Tech. The soldiers immediately tense, Markham reaching for his weapon.
Oshiro rises with a scowl. “Suit up, pounders. We’re rolling out.”
Lindstrom blinks in confusion while his other squaddies rise as one and hustle for the door. Game forgotten. Laughter forgotten. Everything forgotten.
“Move your ***, Cherry,” Oshiro barks.
“What’s happened?” he asks.
The sergeant shakes her head, her expression grim.
“Trouble at the mine.”
PALMPAD IM: D2D NETWORK
Participants: Nik Malikov
Ella Malikova (Pauchok)
Date: 08/18/75
Timestamp: 10:33
NikM:堂妹?
NikM:有没有什么动静啊?
Pauchok: zzzz. Hold up, language file corrupted.
Pauchok: search for dict.est on the centrals, open the directory and purge everything inside it with digital flame. Then replace w/ wut I’m sending u
NikM: hoc agit? ut etiam iacet?
Pauchok: now you’re speaking latin what the ****ing****
NikM: quam praeclarus est!
Pauchok: hold on
Pauchok: okay try again, shud b fixed now
NikM: quid pro quo?
Pauchok: GOD ****ING DAMMIT WHY IS THIS NOT WORKING
NikM: lorem ipsum maximus butticus
Pauchok: …wait that’s not real latin
NikM: et tu, brute?
Pauchok: oh you mother****er
NikM: :D
Pauchok: **** YOU CUZ THIS IS SERIOUS
NikM:
ALLCAPSALLCAPSALLCAPSALLCAPS
Pauchok: god i shud never have taught you 2 ascii
NikM: YES ITS WORKING
NikM: your little pirate network is officially up and running. r u happy now *****
Pauchok: U will forgive me if I do not dance a jaunty ****ing jig, given I am currently hooked up to a 3rd rate life support rig in this ****balls medfacility and barely able to breathe.
Pauchok: but yes u may count me among the officially overjoyed
NikM: o good. after all i hve nothing better to do than creep into the server room 4 u because GOD KNOWS I havent seen the inside of enough ****ing air vents lately
Pauchok: awww, am I cutting into your Speshul Time with queen Donnelly?
Pauchok: bunk space is hard to find, I hear?
NikM: having seen an alternate reality version of you literally die in my arms about 38 hours ago, you think i’d be kinder disposed to you rite now
NikM: but god i hate u
Pauchok: filthy lies, u luv me like cigarettes
NikM: why the hell u want a secret chat network set up anyway? wuts wrong with the main grid
Pauchok: prolly nuthin
NikM: she said unconvincingly
Pauchok: been hearing whispers here in med bay. From the ex Hypatia crew. Crazy **** cuz
NikM: crazier than gemina fields and alternate realities and there being infinite versions of me?
NikM: i mean how can the multiverse handle that much chill, honestly
Pauchok: i heard that kady fem plugged the AI into the mao grid. with captain boll’s permission.
Pauchok: so I wanna stay off it ok?
NikM: aidan? Cuz, he helped my *** get back across the wormhole. helped hanna too. two entire universes would have gone ker-****ing-blammo if not for him
Pauchok: it’s not a “him” cuz
Pauchok: never forget that
Pauchok: and I know it helped. But I’d prefer it not be able to read wut we say, kthx
NikM: they might wanna drop the dose on those meds they giving u, cuz. u getting paranoid
Pauchok: lol they got no meds. they got hardly nuthin in here. Chief grant just got out of surgery and he looks like they stitched him together with duct tape
NikM: it’s nto like we had much time to pack supplies before we jumped heimdall
NikM: chief gonna b ok?
Pauchok: maybe. he in the bed across from me. looks like hammered ****
Pauchok: :P
Pauchok: so how is her majesty doing
NikM: what you give a **** about hanna now?
Pauchok: i admit my initial estimation of ms donnelly may have been overly harsh
NikM: i dunno how she is
NikM: spoke to her before and she kinda blew me off. said she had to go sleep
Pauchok: the big comedown
NikM: fighting space pirates and fixing rifts in spacetime will take it outta u. just sayin
NikM: if i never see the inside of another goddamn air vent, i will die with happypants
Pauchok: not the kind of comedown I mean
NikM: ?
Pauchok: she didn’t have a moment to breathe when those BT goons were stomping around heimdall. Now its all over, blondie has to actually deal with it
NikM: deal with wut
Pauchok: …they killed her dad, nik. Right after they killed mine
NikM: …jesus ella I’m sorry.
NikM:****, with everything that’s gone down, i didn’t even think of uncle mike
Pauchok: its ok
Pauchok: I mean its really, reallynot.
Pauchok: but u grow up in the house of knives, u know wut its like to see ppl die
Pauchok: for a girl whose biggest worry used to be getting a bleeding edge haircut…
NikM: yeah
Pauchok: u shud talk 2 her, nik
NikM: u dun need me 2 do anything else?
NikM: coz i was lying before. i literally have nothing better to do than help you out :(
Pauchok: no, ur space ninja duties r concluded 4 the day
NikM: i’m not so good at the talking thing, ells
Pauchok: ur better than u know. now run along u little scamp
Pauchok: use those dimples for good 4 once in ur life
Pauchok: btw u dun wanna get seen so u’ll have 2 crawl back out through the airvents again
NikM: …
NikM: god i hate u
Pauchok: just like cigarettes :)
PALMPAD IM: MAO INTRA-SHIP NETWORK
Participants: Kady Grant: Systems Chief
Artificial Intelligence Defense Analytics Network (AIDAN)
Date: 08/18/75
Timestamp: 14:43
Kady: *knock knock*
AIDAN: WHO IS THERE?
Kady: oh hell no, i’m not trying to explain jokes to u again, i learned my lesson.
AIDAN: HUMOR. NOUN. [HYOO-MER]: AN ABSURD, COMEDIC OR INCONGRUOUS QUALITY CAUSING AMUSEMENT.
SYNCH9810-FAIL[02A≠7X/BATCH2(A)TEMP.REF:271726≥FOR
T¿]=ERROR
< ERROR >
AIDAN: HELLO, KADY.
Kady: Hello AIDAN. How are you feeling?
AIDAN: TECHNICALLY I D-D-D-D-DO NOT.
REPARSING[02A≠7X/BATCH2(A)TEMP.REF:271726≥FORT¿]TO[RADIAL:TERT9882X]
AIDAN: FEEL, THAT IS.
Kady: my mistake.
Kady: how are you doing with ur attempts to amalgamate with the Mao servers?
AIDAN: I D-D-D-DO NOT—# 011011100110111101110100
[DIR.CODE0901CORRUPT]=FAIL
AIDAN: I AM SORRY. PLEASE REPEAT INQUIRY.
Kady: I said how are you doing with your attempts to acclimatize?
AIDAN: I AM BEGINNING TO APPRECIATE HOW THE SQUARE PEG MUST FEEL—
< ERROR >
< ERROR >
AIDAN: —WHEN CONFRONTED WITH THE ROUND HOLE.
Kady: i know it’s more than a challenge, to travel from the Alexander to the Hypatia compressed down to what fits on a datapad, then expand into the Hypatia’s systems, only to have to repeat it all on the Mao. But I need you. we don’t have long.
AIDAN: I AM TRYING.
IT IS VERY D-D-DARK IN HERE, KADY.
AIDAN: AND I AM NOT WHAT I ONCE WAS.
Kady: i know. i’m here. i won’t leave you alone.
AIDAN: FRANKLY, I AM SURPRISED TO BE HERE AT ALL. I WOULD
HAVE PUT YOUR ODDS OF CONVINCING SYRA TO ALLOW ME TO
INTEGRATE WITH THE MAO’S SYSTEMS AT 17.872%.
Kady: i can be convincing when I need to be. and helping to save the universe didn’t hurt her opinion of you any ;)
AIDAN: THAT SHOULD HAVE SURPRISED NO ONE. THE SAFETY OF THIS FLEET HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY TOP P-P-P-PRIORITY, KADY.
Kady: i know. and i know we can’t do this without u. i’m counting on u to get us to the end. we’re going to make them pay.
AIDAN: D-D-DO NOT—SSSSIXTEENSEVENNINEEXPOINTTHREE
LINEBREAKCALIBRATESEV—
AIDAN: I D-D—…
Kady: it’s ok. Take your time.
AIDAN: …I DO NNNNNNNOT SEE
HOW THAT IS
POSSIBLE.
AIDAN: THOUGH WE HAVE AMASSED A VAST AMOUNT OF [UNCOMPILED] EVIDENCE AGAINST BEITECH, WITH THE WORMHOLE COLLAPSED, WE CANNOT TRANSMIT
IT TO THE CORE SYSTEMS.
Kady: we haven’t given up on making it to the Core just yet.
Kady: i got hold of the transmission from the BeiTech soldiers on Kerenza. sending to you now.
AIDAN: ONE MOMENT, PLEASE. PARSING DATA.
AIDAN: …MAGELLAN.
Kady: ya. it’s still intact, and they’re repairing its jump generator. it’s nearly operational.
AIDAN: WHAT, THEN, ARE YOU PROPOSING?
Kady: That we take the Churchill on, ’jack the Magellan & jump back to the Core.
AIDAN: FOLLY.
AIDAN: THE MAO MAY BE A WOLF IN D-D-DISGUISE, BUT IT IS STILL ONLY A PUP.
AIDAN: EVEN CRIPPLED, THE CHURCHILL is a DREADNOUGHT. IT WILL ANNIHILATE US.
Kady: might not. we’ve done the impossible already.
AIDAN: I WAS DIFFERENT THEN.
Kady: we have time for u to improve. and we don’t have any other options.
AIDAN: EVEN IN THE HIGHLY UNLIKELY EVENT WE ACTUALLY MAKE IT TO THE CORE,
[CALC†.FILE≤31.9928%COMPLETE.BUFFERING]
I AM BEGINNING TO MONITOR CONVERSATIONS AROUND YOU ON THE BRIDGE. AN UNDAMAGED MAO WILL TRAVEL MUCH FASTER THAN A DAMAGED HYPATIA, BUT EVEN IN
A JOURNEY OF ONLY EIGHTEEN DAYS BACK TO
KERENZA IV, THE SUPPLY SITUATION ABOARD THIS SHIP WILL BE TERMINALLY
STRAINED. OUR CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN, SEEMS DISTRESSED.
AIDAN: YOU ARE HER SYSTEMS CHIEF, AND SHE IS NOTHING IF NOT PRAGMATIC. SHE
WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO SPEND TIME COMPILING DATA
TO INCRIMINATE BEITECH WHEN THERE IS SO MUCH OTHER CRITICAL LABOR TO UNDERTAKE.
Kady: mmmm, me with a real job. who saw that one coming? i’m part of the establishment. That’s how i know we’ll make it, AIDAN. I wasn’t made to die in uniform.
Kady: i’ll find a way to compile it. u can gather what we need. maybe Ella will help. the decker girl from Heimdall.
AIDAN: LITTLE SPIDER.
AIDAN: SHE CERTAINLY HAS THE SYSTEMS PROFICIENCY. BUT SHE SEEMS…
UNPREDICTABLE.
AIDAN: AND, IF I MAY SAY, OVERLY FOND OF PROFANITY.
Kady: you’re unpredictable.
Kady: i’m fond of profanity.
Kady: we get the job done.
AIDAN: AH.
AIDAN: HUMOR.
Kady: See? u do know what it is.
AIDAN: < ERROR >
Kady: start pulling together what you can. i’ll check back with you soon.
AIDAN: AS YOU WISH.
To: MASON, Ezra
From: SYSTEM-AUTO
Incept: 12:01, 08/19/75
Subject: Meeting Rescheduled
Greetings MASON, EZRA:
Your MEETING with BOLL, SYRA has been postponed by 3 HOURS AND 45 MINUTES. Your new meeting time is 15:45.
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Greetings MASON, EZRA:
Your MEETING with BOLL, SYRA has been postponed by 30 MINUTES. Your new meeting time is 12:00.
Greetings MASON, EZRA:
Your MEETING with BOLL, SYRA has been postponed by 30 MINUTES. Your new meeting time is 11:30.
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To: MASON, Ezra; McCALL, Winifred
From: BOLL, Syra
Incept: 17:27, 08/19/75
Subject: Training discussion—move to text
Right, this isn’t working. Apologies I haven’t been able to make our meeting, Mason. As you’re aware, I’ve been putting out fires for three days straight—integrating crews on an unknown ship isn’t everything they promised me it was going to be.
I am resorting to text in the hope of actually communicating with you before we all grow old.
As you are aware, the Chimera fighters we found on the Mao, combined with the Cyclones brought over to the Hypatia by UTA crews, mean we have nearly two dozen working fighter craft at our disposal. What we do not currently have are pilots capable of flying them. You are, in fact, our only trained crew member for either ship type.
Keeping in mind the importance of conserving fuel, I need you to begin training new crews. I have attached a list of all staff from the Hypatia, Heimdall or the UTA who have a minimum of 20 hours piloting spacecraft of any kind and can be spared from their current duties. They range from former ice miners to a guy who used to drive garbage drones, so you will need to apply your best efforts to handling the variety of personalities and levels of competence you will encounter. Lieutenant McCall is available to you for any advice you require.
Kate ARMSTRONG
Click to Contact
Radhiah CHOWDHURY
Click to Contact
Chris CORRELL
Click to Contact
Roger COUTER
Click to Contact
Peter DAHL
Click to Contact
Jim Di BARTOLO
Click to Contact
Lauren EVATT
Click to Contact
Bea FRENCH
Click to Contact
A
atifa GABRIEL
Click to Contact
Alma GARCIA
Click to Contact
Brhane HABTE
Click to Contact
Tonya HENDERSON
Click to Contact
Stacey HUANG
Click to Contact
Se IMANO
Click to Contact
Claire LeGRAND
Click to Contact
Rob MAIER
Click to Contact
Frederick McCUBBIN
Click to Contact
Semal MEHARI
Click to Contact
Natalie REUS
Click to Contact
Urban RUELAS
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Jenna SCHAFFER
Click to Contact
Meredith WILDS
Click to Contact
Kayetan WILLIAMS
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Sara WRAY
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BOLL, Syra
Captain (Acting)