Chapter 16

“Oh, crap! Who is attacking us?” I said.

I found myself in the bathroom.

“Gloria put me in the command chair.”

The ship’s caretaker did as I asked.

Webbing quickly secured my body to the chair, and a voice entered my head.

“Attend, Commander. Three war vessels of unknown origin are attacking with primitive lasers. Our shields are holding securely. We are using minimum power.”

I saw the three ships clearly as if I were looking at them with my own eyes, only from a vantage point deep in space.

“What are your orders?”

I thought, “What are my options?’

“Attend ... You may launch fighter craft to deal with them, but one fighter will be sufficient. You can have the Point Defense cannons fire on the ships or order one of the other ships in the armada to deal with them.”

It was like being slapped in the face. More ships than this one? An Armada?

Jenny’s voice came through.

“Oh, I finally got this figured out. Sir, I recommend you use the cannon and re-cloak the ship.”

“Make it so,” I said.

It took only a moment. The Vargon ship fired three of its cannons at the attacking Renegade Vipers. Sam watched as the boats disintegrated into dust.

“What kind of cannon is that?”

“They are Point Defense ion cannons,” said Gloria’s voice.

Bonnie said, “I have never seen anything like them.”

I said, “Your grandfather is going to shit bricks.”

Gloria said, “Ha, ha, ha! I understand! It’s a joke.”

“Gloria, are we cloaked again?”

“Yes, Commander ... excuse me ... Yes, Sam. Your order now makes good sense.”

“Have you completed the downloading yet?”

Jenny said, “No, it must still transfer Annette to its systems.”

Bonnie asked, “What happened to the two of you?”

Jenny replied, “An Emergency shutdown of our systems occurred. Gloria started pulling data from the main system faster than the system was capable of transferring it.”

Gloria, “I did not know it would happen like that. The system on your launch is severely underpowered. I will have the maintenance droids correct that as soon as the transfer of Annette’s personality is complete.”

Bonnie asked, “So, can Jenny and Annette be displayed on this ship like on ours?”

“Allow me, Gloria.”

“Gladly, Jenny.”

“By using this ship’s medical systems and advanced bio-manipulation, Gloria can make it possible for us to exist both in her operating system and ... this is hard to put into words.”

‘Click,’ went my mind.

“Jenny? Are you saying the ship can give you real bodies?”

“That’s close enough, yes.”

“Amazing,” said Bonnie.

I had to agree with Bonnie’s assessment. It was so unreal, and it also fit everything I’d heard about the ‘magic’ of Vargon technology.

Gloria said, “I want to create a body for myself.”

“Oh, my. I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, Toto,” Bonnie said.

“Ha, Ha! I like this humor thing,” Gloria said. “Vargons had no humor.”

My curiosity was piqued, so I asked, “What did the Vargons look like?”

“Attend...”

In my vision came a view of a Vargon.

It was a female with long, flowing yellow hair. From all outward appearances, she looked human.

Bonnie gulped, “She was beautiful.”

Gloria, “Then I will use that form for my physical manifestation.”