Resurgence (Redleg In Space Book 2) Read online

  “What do you mean ‘what have I done’ to you? I thought you would be happy to have company on your crusade to right the wrongs of this universe and find your home,” her voice taking on a dangerously defensive tone. “You have set out to do everything I wanted to do when I joined the Academe.”

  “You can’t be so naive that you don’t see the problems with you being on my ship. Your father isn’t stupid. As soon as he finds out that you went missing about the same time I took off, he’s going to connect the dots. He knows what ship I’m in, and now he has a reason to hunt me.”

  “How simple do you think I am?” she asked rhetorically before continuing. “Have you forgotten that I have completed the most rigorous command course in the known universe?”

  “I don’t think you’re simple, and I don’t understand what your schooling has to do with this.”

  “My father gave me a speeder, a little single-seater starship, to practice my flight training in. Every time I would get pissed, I would take her out for a spin through the asteroid field in orbit next to Xi’Ga to clear my head. My father should be getting the report that my speeder slammed into a rock any time now,” she explained with a smug smirk on her face.

  “You gave up your life of luxury and faked your own death just to be with me?” he asked in disbelief.

  “Hell no, lover boy. I gave up being my father’s photo op and all the political bullshit to do what I’ve wanted to do since I was a child. I want to help people. You are a wildcard and my only real opportunity to do that. So, here I am.”

  Used again, he thought as he stood and addressed both Samix and Ann.

  “I’m not dealing with this right now. We have two days of warp for me to decide what to do with you. Dropping you off at the first civilized planet we come across is just as appealing as keeping you on the crew. Ann, scan her and show her to a set of quarters. No access to anything but her room and the galley until I make my decision.”

  He didn’t wait for the AI’s response to trudge towards his cabin. The post-battle crash was in full effect and he didn’t want anything but a shower and some rest. He entered the corridor running away from the cargo bay to the sounds of Samix’s protests and Ann’s introduction. Just before the hatch slid closed behind him, he heard the pop of the charge Ann used to scan organic lifeforms. He entered his cabin with his own grin.

  He tossed his helmet on the bed and stripped out of his combat suit. He hadn’t had the time to fully explore the bathroom in his suite but was pleased to find that it matched the one on the XES01 enough to be usable. As he dried off after his shower, Ann appeared in his room.

  “I think Samix will be a useful member of the crew,” she stated factually.

  “And why is that? She’s already proven herself untrustworthy by lying to me several times. Plus, she doesn’t seem to have a problem using people like pawns to achieve her goals. Right now, I am inclined to drop her off at the first settlement we run across.”

  “When I scanned her, I saw her deceit and puppeteering, but she felt it was all necessary for the good of her crew. With her extensive training at the Academe, I think she will make a good pilot and flight officer. She would make the crew stronger.”

  The road to hell is paved with good intentions, he thought.

  “Why do I need a pilot? You did fine piloting the ship during the fighter attack.”

  “The fighter attack was simple. Once I have weapons solutions to calculate, ancillary systems to manage, and battlefield analysis to provide you, I will be stretched thin. A living pilot would allow me to commit more resources to those other tasks.”

  “I’m going to take a nap and think about it. Please wake me in three hours,” he said, feeling exhaustion settling on him like a heavy blanket.

  “Very well. I suggest you sleep with the helmet on again to strengthen your bond with it. When you wake, Samix will be waiting for you in the galley. She has some questions about the ship and your new armor. While you sleep, I will continue talking to her,” Ann said before disappearing, leaving him alone in his darkened quarters.

  He took Ann’s advice and put his helmet back on before lying down. He had expected its interior to stink of sweat and spent adrenaline, but it was clean and dry. His nap was similar to the first time he had slept with the helmet on, but instead of his memories being paired with similar otherworldly events, the nap consisted entirely of visions of alien training exercises.

  ∆∆∆

  Ann’s soft voice lifted him from the depths of slumber, gently bringing him back to reality. He noticed her voice didn’t seem to be emanating from anywhere in the room, but rather from directly inside his headgear, similarly to when he was in the cargo hold. He was never one for naps, always feeling groggy afterward, but, to his surprise, he felt refreshed as he stretched.

  Once she realized that he was coherent and fully awake, Ann began filling him in on what she had accomplished while he slept.

  “While you were resting, I ran through the events that occurred from the time you were taken from your planet. After reviewing the events from both your perspective and Samix’s perspective, I can say that she isn’t as manipulative as you fear.”

  Zade mulled over what Ann had said. He was happy to have the connection with his ship and the insight that such a bond could provide, but he was also concerned about how dependent he would become of the ship. He strapped on his sidearm and took off his helmet, choosing to carry it to the meeting with Samix instead of wearing it.

  “Don’t be too hard on her,” Ann said as he opened the hatch to head towards the galley. “From what I can tell, she admires what you are trying to accomplish and felt that you were her only escape. I haven’t told her anything about myself except that I am the ship AI. I felt it would be best for you to reveal the information yourself if you chose to do so.”

  He headed down to the galley where he found Samix waiting for him at the long table in the middle of the room. She had had the chance to clean herself up and was now wearing one of the Groz combat under suits. After a nod of acknowledgment to her, he set his helmet on the table and headed to grabbed a cup of sloop. He returned to the table and sat directly across from her. She sat quietly as he took a couple of sips of the deliciously bitter brew, waiting for him to begin the conversation.

  “Why are you really here?” he asked, his voice taking on an edge of irritation.

  Sensing his tone, she tried to lay down some guidelines.

  “No, this isn’t going to be an interrogation. We are both ship captains. I suggest we go back and forth,” she said, sensing his tone and trying to lay down some guidelines. “I will answer one of your questions, and then you will answer one of mine.”

  “That’s not how this is going to happen. If, and I really want to emphasize the if, your story is true, you were a captain, but you chose to give that up. I am a captain. The captain of a ship your family just tried to destroy with me aboard. You’ll have to forgive my lack of trust at the moment. So, I ask again. Why are you really here?” he took another sip of sloop as he waited for her response.

  “We lived together and fought side by side for months. If we can’t be civil as captains, can we at least be civil because of that?” she retorted, fidgeting with her cup, unwilling to meet his eyes.

  He noticed her nervous behavior and sat silently trying to figure out the cause of her unease. Was she nervous because she had been caught? Was she nervous because she feared the outcome of the discussion? Was she nervous because she feared he would turn her away? If she had been in on the attempt on his life, he assumed she would have made an attempt to take the ship while he was sleeping. If she was nervous about the discussion, he couldn’t figure out why she was having it. He popped on his helmet so he could have a private conversation with Ann.

  “Ann, what did she do while I was sleeping?” he asked quietly inside the helmet.

  “She demanded to talk to you for a while. She eventually gave up the demands at my refusal. After that, she
showered and paced around her quarters.”

  “Thank you, Ann,” he said, taking off his helmet.

  “Fine,” he said, addressing Samix as he set his helmet on the table in from of him. “A question for a question. Why are you really here?”

  She began answering his question by rehashing what she had told him before about how she was saved by Unity troopers after her parents had been killed. The story still dredged up emotions for her. As she spoke, he watched different emotions jockeying for position on her face. Eventually, a deep sadness settled into place. After that moment in her life, she wanted to become a trooper so she could help people who needed it. Her sadness gave way to hope and determination as she explained how she strove to help people. Because the chancellor adopted her, she was coddled her entire life and kept from doing anything remotely dangerous.

  “The XES01 mission was supposed to be minimal risk to anyone aboard,” she said. “When father found out that I lost a crew member and came in contact with combatants on your home world when we picked you up, he was furious. I haven’t seen anger like that before, Zade. He had the entire chain of command that had a hand in approving the mission executed. He believes that the mission was intentionally approved by some sort of uprising that was attempting to ruin his reputation and cut off his lineage.”

  Tears graced her eyes as she spoke. She was genuinely bothered by what she was saying. He hadn’t seen her respond to anything this way before. Her stoicism had been shattered by betrayal.

  “I only found out about the outcome when I went back to my father to complain about the ship he had given you,” she continued. “I overheard him speaking about it before I could speak to him. My father’s obsession with maintaining his reputation is driving him to madness. He had seventeen loyal Unity military members slaughtered because of me. I can’t see anyone else get hurt because of me. That’s why I am here.”

  There was an uneasy silence as he pondered her response, waiting for her question.

  “What kind of ship is this?” she asked, wiping away the tears and pushing the pain from her face; this was the Samix he remembered.

  “Are you familiar with the Groz?” Zade asked in turn, to see where he would need to start his story.

  “The Groz are just a fairytale told to children who misbehave. You know, ‘go to sleep or the Groz will take you away.’ They are supposed to be some monstrous, evil species bent on the subjugation of the entire universe. But, as far as I know, they are entirely made up.”

  “The fact that you are sitting on this ship disproves that statement,” Zade said.

  “This….. This is a Groz ship?” Samix stammered, her eyes widening in surprise.

  “It is,” Zade said.

  He started to explain what he had learned about the Groz from Ann. He spoke of their culture and their technology, and how they grew as a powerful nation. He spoke about their encounter with the Unity and the Domain, and the partnership the two groups had, and how together, they had overpowered the fractured race. His demeanor was laced with despair and disgust that he knew was not his own.

  “The Groz had no intentions of enslaving the universe,” he hissed. “They simply didn’t want to become a part of the Unity. They just wanted to remain autonomous. The Unity made them out to be monsters to justify the conflict and eradication of an entire race.”

  He watched her expression change from disbelief to confusion to understanding. After seeing how her father had spun her interactions with Zade, she could believe that the Unity would paint a whole species as murderous to promote their agenda. Samix asked for some clarification throughout his story but sat captivated until he was finished.

  “You have been royalty much of your life, Sam. When you said jump, the people around you asked how high. If I let you stay on, can you be a productive member of my crew, without trying to take over?” he asked after a few moments of silence.

  “I can and will, as long as you take my advice and opinions into consideration. You may be a warrior, but I have grown up with the ability to travel the stars. Please, leverage my knowledge and experiences,” she answered, her nervousness beginning to dissipate. “What is up with the helmet?”

  “Groz society was built around the utilization of Rua, an energy that permeates the universe and separates sentient beings from animals,” he explained. “None of the Unity scientists could figure out how the ship worked without the helmet, eventually leading them to believe it was junk. Groz youth would have to apprentice with seasoned Groz crews before their patron spent Rua to give them their helmets. Each helmet was created to enhance the specific skills of the wearer and grew as the person harvested more energy. Victory and proficiency were rewarded because those that supported the Groz warriors got a cut of energy harvested. Every helmet pairs with the wearer and creates a unique bond.

  “If you haven’t realized it yet, Ann isn’t just the ship AI. She is the ship itself. She is under the impression that you would make a valuable addition to the crew as a pilot and flight officer. Do you understand that if you stick with me, you may never be able to go home again? I am banned from the core planets and this adventure will be dangerous. It will take you far away from your home.”

  He hadn’t been given a choice about exploring the stars and never being able to go home. He had to make sure she knew everything she was giving up before she committed to joining his crew.

  “My parents were drifters,” she responded quietly. “Xi’Ga was never really my home anyway.”

  “I appreciate the sentiment, but I need to hear you say it, Samix. You may never be able to go back to the core if you continue down this path.”

  “I may never be able to return to the core if I continue down this path,” she said quickly. “And I don’t want to. Where are we headed now?”

  “Ann has a list of the last known location of other Groz ships and settlements,” he responded. “We are headed to a class two system that may have a Groz relic. We are missing some key equipment on the ship, and I am hoping to scavenge a couple of derelict ships before I start looking for Earth.”

  With the conversation at a natural ending point, Zade finished his sloop and gave Samix a formal tour of the ship. She was most fascinated with the command deck, where Ann had a projection of known space showing as they entered. Ann showed her the pilot’s station located in the center of the command deck, closest to the front of the ship. He began to wonder if Ann somehow knew he would keep Samix on the crew when he found out that she was already billeted in the pilot’s quarters.

  Samix spent some time moving her gear into her new room. When she was done with the move, she had Ann teach her everything she could about piloting the Groz ship. Zade didn’t waste the time in warp either. He spent the time learning more about the ship’s other capabilities and what he would need to do to improve the ship and the crew. Ann split her capacity easily enough, dedicating part of herself to teaching Samix and part to teaching Zade. Since Samix didn’t have a helmet yet, Ann had to project herself from the ceiling of the command deck to interact with her. When Zade wasn’t on the command deck, she would teach him via projection as well. When their lessons overlapped and both were on the command deck, Zade would just wear his helmet so Ann could continue his lesson through it without interrupting his pilot.

  Chapter 3

  Ann alerted the crew just before the ship dropped out of warp. Both Zade and Samix were on the command deck to watch the system appear. Zade noticed that, unlike Earth’s home system, this one was a binary star system. At first, he couldn’t understand what he was seeing, but a quick thought through his helmet caused the stars to zoom into focus. After analyzing the stars, he understood better.

  The first star was a B-type star, illuminated brightly in a bluish hue, and the other was a G-type star that shone yellow, much like the sun. The gravity from both stars caused the planets and asteroid belt to weave between the two in their orbits.

  “This system only contains one planet, but there are man
y planetoids in the asteroid belt that could be suitable for habitation,” Ann announced. “Based on electromagnetic signals, the planet is inhabited. There are also faint signals coming from one of the planetoids in the belt, but, due to interference at this range, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly which one.”

  Zade thanked her for the information and continued scanning the system. The mission didn’t require the crew to interact with the inhabitants, and he hoped they weren’t technologically advanced enough to want to come and investigate their new visitors. As he thought about the mission to explore the Groz relic, he felt the ship shift and start moving towards the outermost section of the asteroid belt. Unlike the majority of the belt, the corner to which they were heading was well outside the strong rays of the stars. He had a good idea to which area they were moving, but before he could ask, Ann informed him that she was moving towards a faint Groz distress signal.

  “What’s the plan when we get to the other ship?” he asked aloud so that Samix was included in the conversation.

  “Until we get into active sensor range, I cannot be sure,” Ann replied. “But we will attempt to dock with the other ship, at which point you will board it and search for any equipment we can use.”

  Even though he was moving through space faster than any other human had ever moved, the trudge towards the dark section of the asteroid belt seemed to take forever. He sat in the captain’s seat and began fiddling with the view screens on either armrest to try and bring up any information he could find about either the Groz ship or the inhabitants of the system. The commands felt clunky and unfamiliar since he had never used Groz technology before, but memories began to surface that showed him how to use the system.

  The first information he queried was anything he could find about the derelict ship they were approaching. Ann’s lack of functionality had drastically reduced her access to memory stores, which meant that all he could get were basic specs on the ship. From what he could tell, it appeared to be the space equivalent of an aircraft carrier. Its crew of over nine thousand could quickly deploy any or all of the thousand fighter contingent that was assigned to the ship. It had the same sleek black design as his current ship but dwarfed it in size by orders of magnitude. He was thankful he would have Ann’s help. Without it, the salvage operations would take months.