15


I kicked back in my captain's chair, feet up on one of the terminals.
Elise read from her tablet. She’d picked up some fiction about a young woman who saved the galaxy. The main character was five or six years older than her, and it seemed to me that Elise had adopted her as someone to look up to. There were also some romantic overtones in the story, which I stayed away from. After one or two conversations about the book, I concluded it was better just to let her read it and butt out.
She looked up. "Are we there yet?”
"Not exactly," I said. "Captain's log, star date get-me-out-of-this-godsdamn-tunnel.” I cleared my throat. “My crew is holding up well, except for the young woman who I had high hopes for. She's become moody and difficult, like a teenager. I’m considering the airlock solution."
"Ha, ha, ha. You think you're pretty funny?" Elise asked. "Why don't you add to that log that the made-up captain isn't a real captain.”
"You probably got me there," I said, then lowered my feet to the deck slowly, aches and pains from Path’s instruction restricting my movement. “Ship driving isn’t my specialty.”
Elise put away her tablet then stood and stretched. If she'd been hitting the gym a lot before, now she practically lived there. We were all trying to stay busy. The ship had never been in better repair.
We'd managed to shuttle Tom back and forth from the Jellybird and the Lady Faith several times. He put his ship engineering skills to good use. From time to time, even James Henshaw was helpful.
He’d added his advanced programming and biomechanical knowledge to what Tom had already done. I was starting to think my arm, at least, was better than when I had full Union support for my Reaper gear. What he couldn't help me with, and wouldn't talk about, was the prospect of X-37 going off-line without a proper update.
"We need to ration supplies," I muttered, trying to remember how many slip tunnels we’d been through on this odyssey. We were up to something like ten or fifteen slip tunnels now, probably going in three dimensional circles around the galaxy—or far beyond the Deadlands. The long trip frustrated me but also reassured me we were on to something. A secret Reaper facility should be hard to find, I thought.
"Oh, you are a captain!" Elise exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Captain Obvious!"
“Okay, I had that coming,” I admitted, not sure why Elise’s jab actually made me chuckle.
"May I interrupt?" Jelly asked.
I knew it was something serious because X-37 also beeped to warn me of his presence. "Of course."
"We are approaching the end of the slip tunnel," Jelly said. "I have double-checked my data with the Lady Faith and our combined level of confidence in this conclusion is extremely high."
"That's great news, Jelly. Elise was starting to get worried,” I said in retaliation to her Captain Obvious comment.
Elise rolled her eyes and laughed. "Whatever."
"All right, let's do this the right way. Full scans the moment we are safely clear of the exit," I said. My Reaper nerve-ware didn't give me precognition. My instincts, however, were on high alert and I felt like the shit was about to hit the rocket intake valves.
The slip tunnel was still narrow, convulsing slightly. Jelly promised me none of the slip tunnels we’d traveled were in real danger of collapsing, but I still didn’t like the look of them. This Union facility was really at the ass end of the universe.
"Talk to me, Jelly," I said. "Are we making progress at least? Our fuel and supplies won’t last forever."
I’d thought about this a lot lately, despite Tom’s insistence we still had several days’ worth of food, water, and fuel. That was fine, if we were getting close to a place we could gather those resources. We would soon approach the point of no return.
"My analysis is limited by lack of input. We will triangulate known astrological features once we emerge from this tunnel and see if anything looks familiar," Jelly said, the words coming slower than normal as though her system was overburdened.
"Just give me some good news, Jelly," I said. “That’s all I’m asking for.”
“You will be the first to know when I’ve discovered our destination,” Jelly promised.
“I have been in constant communication with Jelly,” X-37 said. “The distance we have traveled is concerning but not unexpected.”
“Thanks, X. I think.” My LAI was trying to reassure me.
"Can we look for alternate destinations? A system where we can at least gather raw materials for processing," I asked, feeling my adrenaline rise. Near me, Elise started pacing the small bridge of the Jellybird.
"I make this type of assessment each time we emerge from a slip tunnel. It is standard procedure. When I know, you will know," Jelly said.
“Thanks, Jelly,” I said. “So, all we really need to fear is dying of boredom.”
Elise laughed. Neither Jelly nor X-37 found humor in my statement.
"We're leaving slip space now," Jelly announced.
“Thanks for the warning,” I drawled, not really caring. We’d been through this so many times it was becoming routine. Only the view was exciting.
Images flashed onto the screen. Leaving slip space was always a relief, but this time it felt especially so. I’d been on missions where an opponent left mines for pursuing ships. I'd never been discharged into a debris field.
Until now.
"Jelly, take evasive maneuvers!" I shouted.
"Navigating our way free of the debris field now," Jelly said. “Moving about the cabin should be avoided if possible."
Objects bounced off the hull of the ship. Items that I thought were man-made zipped past us. Speed was relative. We were still moving quick enough that any collision was dangerous.
Something big struck the Jellybird, shaking the deck beneath my feet. A piece of metal—possibly a section of an interior wall—slapped against the camera view, disappearing as rapidly as it bounced away from the impact. The Jellybird’s shields flickered as other bits and pieces of something man made were deflected.
"X, what do you think of that? Is this a shipwreck or the aftermath of a space battle?" I asked.
"That is an excellent observation, Reaper Cain," X-37 said. "If this was the result of a major space battle, there would likely be a much greater density of objects. From that brief glimpse of the scene, I believe we are looking at wreckage of some sort. Jelly advises me she does not detect a ship-to-ship conflict at this time."
The Jellybird and the Lady Faith moved cautiously through the area, eventually finding the edge of the debris cloud and standing off at a safe distance.
"Jelly, please complete a scan of the system," I said. The ship AI was already doing that, but I wanted something specific. "X, give Jelly my Reaper base code. See if she can scan for any signals like mine."
"That is an excellent idea," X-37 said. "Two seconds, please."
"There are no functioning Reaper units in the system,” X-37 said after consulting with Jelly. “There are, however, many components and rare minerals that indicate the Union's presence. I have metallurgical profiles of both Union and Sarkonian building materials. They use the same raw materials, but in different ratios. I can say with reasonable confidence this debris was originally constructed by Union engineers. Furthermore, I detected Reaper-like hardware in some of the debris."
"What are you trying to say?" I asked, having my suspicions. “What kind of Reaper-like hardware?”
“Let me show you,” Jelly said, then zoomed in on a cloud of parts floating as they would probably float undisturbed for millennia.
It took me a minute to see what she meant. There was part of a metal arm among the wreckage.
"This was likely the Reaper facility you were seeking," X-37 said. “I may be able to analyze some of this with Jelly’s help, but it won’t tell us much. The basic conclusion is obvious. Someone wanted the Reaper program to end here.”
"Can you determine what caused this?" I imagined two possibilities. One, the Union initiated a self-destruct sequence before leaving the system. Two, they blasted it to smithereens with one of their cruisers.
I thought about X-37 and his fate if I didn't find the proper facility. I also wondered what we would've found if this place had still been intact.
"The primary scan of the system has been completed," Jelly advised. "There are two other possible facilities in this region of space."
I didn't bother hiding my interest. "Are these functional facilities? What can you tell me about them?" I asked.
"Neither facility is broadcasting a beacon. To clarify, I'm detecting dark spots in two distant locations. Basically, all I can tell you for certain is that there is an unnatural object in sectors two and seven of this system. Sector two is near a gas giant with a rather dangerous asteroid belt. If either are Union Reaper facilities, they have been abandoned," Jelly said.
“That’s good work, Jelly,” I said. “Keep me updated.” I attempted to hail the Lady Faith. “Cain for Henshaw, do you copy? I could use some help on this one."
Several moments passed. "He does not seem to be answering," Jelly said.
Elise stared at the screen accusingly. "What do you want from him?"
“He knows more about the Reaper Corps than he’s admitted, and I think he knows a lot more about these facilities, too,” I said.
“I say we send him back through a slip tunnel and be done with him,” Elise said. “He can’t be trusted.”
“I agree, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t valuable. We just have to handle him carefully,” I said. “I’ve got my eye on him. And so do you. Think of him as a dangerous weapon we need for a while longer.”
Elise crossed her arms and nodded. “I can live with that. Tom found this place. He should get the credit.”
“I doubt he is looking for credit, especially if this goes bad,” I said. "Jelly and X, run a deeper scan and tell me if this was the result of a battle or something else. Do your best. I understand you can't give me absolutes."
Elise started pacing again. "I know we're not in a hurry. It'll take days to cross the system, am I right? But I just don't like this. Something is definitely wrong. What the hell were they doing out here?"
"Good question. X, can you help us out?" I asked.
"We have very little data to work with," X-37 said.
"Fine," I said, then motioned for Elise to follow me. "Let's get some more information."
"And how are we going to do that?" She crossed her arms and refused to budge.
I was pretty sure she knew what I had planned and didn't like the idea. The last several weeks in the slip tunnels had taught me a lot about reading her body language.
"We're gonna go for a walk," I said. "Weren't you the one who told me operating an extra vehicle activity suit didn't seem that hard?"
Color drained from her face as she lowered her arms. "Well, yeah. How hard can it be? If you can do it, I can do it."
"I have Union training,” I reminded her. “Not to mention everything I've done since I joined the Reaper Corps," I said.
"It can't be that hard," she insisted.
Path arrived at the bridge, already wearing EVA gear after I broadcast the alert. "Your ship advised everyone to put on safety equipment. Has that changed?"
"No. But the reason we all need to be in our space suits has changed," I said, then led Elise to the equipment room.
"I can tell you one thing," X-37 promised. "I don't believe there was a battle. All of the wreckage seems to be from one source, which suggests sabotage or a natural disaster—like a meteor storm."
"So which is it?" I asked.
"Insufficient data," X-37 said. "There is, however, a high probability that data recorders can be recovered from the wreckage."
I'd hoped that he was going to talk me out of the spacewalk. But now we had to go.