Chapter 16

After the events that transpired with our encounter with the Neornith ship, things were thankfully quiet for the remainder of our journey home. I made sure to have our sensors at their longest range to ensure we weren’t being followed. Things had been put into motion now, and it was only a matter of time before they wound up on our doorstep. Our plans and timetable would have to change fast, and I only hoped there was enough time.

My worry and stress begin to dissipate slightly as the vortex opened and we emerged at the edge of our system. Despite the buoy network and all we have done to give ourselves an advanced warning system, it still had me on edge. I had us hold position for nearly twenty minutes, waiting for any sign of a vortex opening, just to be completely certain. Once I was sure, we moved through the system to the station. I breathed a little easier when the ship came to rest in the docking bay. We had around a twenty-minute wait until the passages of the Obsidian were cleared enough for us to leave.

“Tali,” I called out, causing her to shimmer into view. “I want you to update Alta about what happened to us, along with all focus shifted to getting the White Claw up and running. I don’t care about anything that is nonessential to the combat systems of the ship, we need to be ready! Make sure that Ev is made aware of the shift of focus. Begin calculations on the needed materials for completion of the ship.”

She replied with a nod and a ‘yes, sir’ before simmering out of view. I focused on going over the data we had collected from our brief encounter and noticed a few things. Despite the upgrades we had fashioned, they were still not enough to match that ship. Mind you, the Obsidian wasn’t designed for combat of that kind, especially ships of that size, but I wasn’t sure that the White Claw would be able to match it, either. It seemed their power plant was more efficient than the one we had reverse engineered, as was their weapon output and energy transfer efficiency. It made me even more curious about their updated systems and furious that the ship was destroyed. We needed to get our hands on one of their ships or make some new friends, but there was still no telling who was allied with the Neornith.

Once we got all clear from Tali, I made a beeline out of the docking bay and headed towards the space dock.

Despite my determined stride and extreme focus, I made sure to greet whoever said hello as I passed. Popping into the tram for my trip across the station, my mind raced across the various aspects of the fight and encounter we’d had. Despite the utter devastation inflicted on the Mac’skarian civilization by the Neornith, whoever contacted me reacted so strongly at the notion of the ship that you would think they were still at war. They would no doubt notice the loss of one of their vessels and there was no way to know how their systems worked. There was the slim chance that the information their ship collected was destroyed in the blast, but there was the chance that they had means to share that kind of information at long range, or had their ships connected in some way.

When the tram opened, I walked as fast as I could across the concourse to the docking port. I was shocked to find Ev waiting at the docking port entrance when I entered. Then I realized that she had probably already been updated by Tali and Alta about the change of situation, along with my pending arrival.

“Okay, so tell me what happened,” Ev said, gesturing me inside. “They told me you ran into a ship of the creatures that attacked this place.”

I nodded, and replied, “Yeah they call themselves the Neornith, and, from the way their captain reacted, they hate the Mac’skarians.”

I explained what had happened as I had seen it while we walked to the engineering room. Once inside, we walked over to the nearby display table and had Tali use digital constructs to recreate the fight. I wanted her to get as much information as she could, to better allow her to produce ideas to counteract or eliminate the various threats she would perceive from the fight. Then I pulled up what I was able to get from our sensors from the point of contact to the destruction of their ship.

“Well, that was surprising,” Ev said as she scratched under her arm. “So, it looks like they are used to fighting smaller craft at times, given how they were quick to adjust things to have the thrusters turn the ship faster while keeping the shields reinforced. That tells me that they are running a powerful power plant, with conduits capable of high energy transfer rates. It looked like their cannons were only slightly larger than the ones that we are outfitting the Fang with, but I am surprised that they didn’t use point defence systems as well, given the power output.”

“What if they have issues with too many power draws?” I suggested. “Perhaps it reduces their energy transfer rates along with lowering the possible power of their main cannons?”

She entered some commands and brought up the schematics for the White Claw on the display. She began entering commands and I watched in amazement as the schematics changed as new objects were added to the diagram.

“Well, they could have easily added a second power plant,” she replied. “That can power the point defence systems with negligible effect on the main weapons if the primary plant is used for those. Say, engine, shields, weapons, and the various primary systems were fed through the primary plant. Then the point defences and a few other secondary systems were run through the second one. Then you can build in redundancies so that, if the primary plant fails, the life support and such would run off the second plant. Emergency power could be saved for the shields and engines allowing us to survive longer. It would also allow for more available power to distribute to the shields or weapons without having to sacrifice speed. We still need to find out how they overloaded their cores, so that we are able to nullify that. Otherwise, we are going to be on the wrong end of this arms race.”

“Of that, we are agreed,” I replied with a nod. “I want one of them, too, but to be honest, I wanna get my hands on a Neornith and find out where this feud came from.”

With that conversation out of the way, I decided to turn my focus on the other thing that bothered me.

“Tali and Alta, front and centre!” I called out, causing them to appear before me. “There is something I don’t understand fully, so please explain.”

Tali gave a slight bow and replied, “Of course Captain. I would be happy to tell you whatever I am able.”

“Good,” I said curtly. “Why was Vish’ala spared instead of the other two and why did you not release any of them after the crash?”

Ev nodded, “Yeah it does seem a little odd to not wake up the crew once your scans proved the coast was clear.”

Tali looked a little upset and said, “Unfortunately, despite her recent changes, Evie is not authorized to hear all of this at the moment. Not to mention the other personnel that are present.”

I sighed in frustration, “Fine. Ev could you excuse us for a little bit? I will find you after we are done here.”

Ev nodded and called for the rest of her crew to vacate the engine room. A few minutes later I was alone with the two holograms.

Tali and Alta glanced at one another before Alta replied, “The Omega Protocol. While the attack was impulsive, the protocol was activated before the empire’s communications network went dark. In the event of an attack, if the protocol is activated, we are to follow it no matter what. In the event of a crash, all members of the crew are kept in suspension until a viable candidate is found, per the protocol. Vish’ala is the equivalent to a lieutenant in your military, with the engineer and the medical technician being of lower rank. Thus, the highest rank is picked over all others, to maintain as much of the military hierarchy that could be saved. The reason they were not awoken was again due to the protocol. If the protocol has been activated, it means the empire was going to be destroyed, and that it occurred with help from within the empire. This is the will of the Liger council, ensuring that no traitors are allowed to work against their wishes. The crew is suspended until the protocol is fulfilled and then they serve the new captain. Any who would disagree would be interrogated and, if found a member of the attack, are killed for treason. Thanks to you, I have more freedom to choose, but at the time the protocol was absolute.”

“Okay that makes some sense,” I replied. “How would you make sure the new Captain would be ideal for this role, especially if their view differed from that of the Liger Council’s mandate?”

Tali’s eyes became downcast, “The changes that would occur to a candidate within the pod would not just increase their mental abilities but hardwire loyalty to the Liger council and its objectives.”

“So, you’re saying that my mind has been altered to fit their agenda?” I asked, the anger of my words evident.

She shook her head, “No, they aren’t. The various things I learned about your world, and the good people in it, showed me ta better way. When I saw the same traits in you, I disabled that aspect of the program. You are your own person, I swear!”

I sighed and decided to change the subject, “Is there anything in your records about the Neornith? Maybe not a direct reference, but a hint to some species like them? There needs to be some reason for their outright hatred of your kind and their need to obliterate them.”

Tali shook her head, “I cannot find anything, nor has Alta had any luck. Perhaps if we were able to access the Liger archives, there might be something there, but we don’t even know if they still exist. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were attacked back when our race was much more conquest driven and warlike. Perhaps they simply did to us what our people did to them eons ago. There were some survivors that rebuilt their people in secret and their entire focus turned to our destruction. They would make allies or force our allies to betray us to reach their goal. If they spent generations hating us, even coming across a chance of our survival would be an affront to them and cause a very heated response.”

I began to pace and said, “Well, it seems like a distinct possibility, but then the question becomes, did the Mac’skarian people deserve annihilation? Do the ends justify the means? Do the more peaceful changes in the Mac’skarian Empire prior to the attack warrant some reprieve to the slaughter, or was it too little too late? Will we maintain the endless cycle of bloodshed or somehow find a way to peace?”

Tali and Alta exchanged glances, as I waited for a response. I could tell that they weren’t fully sure what the correct answers were. Being AI units, they probably didn’t have to think about the consequences of things beforehand. If they were to be a part of what we were building now, they were going to need to think of the ramifications of the choices we made and to figure out what their future goals were.

“I don’t expect an answer right now,” I offered, with a dismissive wave of my hand. “Take some time and really think about this. I know that you were just used as tools and now you are being treated like actual living beings with thoughts and feelings. You need to explore that and find out what you really want, because there will come a time where we will possibly run into an official council, and they may not agree with the choices we have made. Not just by me, but by you, as well.”

They glanced at one another and nodded before disappearing in a flash of light. With that out of the way, I left the engine core to look for Ev. I came across one of her crew members, a tall male with leopard-like spots, and was told that Vish’ala had come, and they had left together. I groaned in frustration and told him that they could return to work now. Figuring that Vish’ala would probably have taken her to her quarters to talk privately, I left the ship and hurried to the tram. I wasn’t sure how much of a head start they would have, but I had little doubt that, by the time I reached them, Vish’ala would have told her what happened. While I was sure that my sister would have enjoyed another’s take on the interaction with the Neornith ship, that isn’t the part of the conversation that worried me. I had no idea how Evie would react to the sexual encounter I had with Vish’ala, especially given her attraction and desire to be with me. A small ball of anxiety built as I travelled to where I believed they had gone.