York's Demise

oh okay i wont mension that york is destroyed by a 'ship that instilled fear into isaacs heart like a whirlwind of lost souls'

Here's chapter 4. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 4
0315 Hours, June 5, 2613 (Military Calendar)/
York, Cape Fredric

Jamie and the rest of his squadron exited through the entrance of and Italian restaurant. Most of them were up in front, laughing and joking, but Jamie was in the very back, slumped over. It was late afternoon and the sun was low in the sky.

Jamie started mumbling to himself, “ ‘Don’t worry,’ they said. ‘It won’t be that much,’ they said. Yeah right. I’m completely broke.”

“Hey,” said one of them, “Isn’t that your brother?”

Jamie looked up to see Isaac and Ryan walking on the sidewalk, talking. Ryan looked over at them and motioned Isaac to look in their direction. The smile on Isaac’s disappeared when he saw Jamie and the others.

Jamie’s sprits rose when he saw them. Maybe his brother would loan him the money this time. He walked over to Isaac and placed his arm over his shoulder as a friendly gesture.

“Hey, bro,” he started, with a big smile on his face. “How’s your afternoon been?”

His brother gives him a look that tells him that he didn’t want Jamie bothering him at that moment.

Jamie kept the smile on his face and continued. “Look, I was wondering—”

“No,” Isaac said, before his younger brother could finish the sentence.

“You don’t even know what I was going to ask,” Jamie said.

“I’ve known you since you were born,” Isaac explained. “And I know that that is your, ‘Can I borrow some money?’ look.”

“Come on,” he said desperately. “The guys wiped me clean.”

Isaac looks over, and Jamie’s friends all smile in satisfaction. He looks down at his brother and says, “You should know better than to gamble against them.”

“What do you expect?” Jamie gave him a sheepish look. “I can’t resist a challenge.”

“Well you can forget it,” Isaac said finally. “You’re not getting a cent from me for the rest of the week.”

“Well what am I supposed to do then?”

“Find a way to entertain yourself,” Isaac replied.

He turned and started to walk away when his friend Ryan said, “You know he’ll keep bugging you till you give him some.”

Isaac turns toward his friend, and then looks over at his brother, who had a look of desperation on his face. Isaac rubbed his forehead in annoyance. He was going to regret doing this; he just knew it. He reached into his pocket and pulled out several bills and handed them to his brother.

Jamie’s eyes lit up and he grabbed the money with delight. He then started to count them when Isaac said, “That is the only time I will loan you money this entire week. And I’m keeping tabs on how much you owe me.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jamie replied, waving his hand for them to go. “Whatever.”

Isaac rolls his eyes and continues to walk down the street away from Jamie and his friends. Ryan soon catches up and the two of the continue talking about what it was like before the Torinth invaded their colonies.

Even though it was only two years ago, it seemed like a different life to the both of them. The Torinth had first shown themselves to the Chinese, and soon, the other empires came under attack and were losing systems every few months.

However, the two of them tried to be optimistic and hoped that they would find a way to win. The last few battles the United States Navy had been through had ended in defeats.

Ryan and Isaac soon passed in front of a familiar building. Isaac looks up at the sign and remembers a task that he said that he would do for someone on the station.

Isaac stops.

Ryan continued walking for a few steps and looked back to see Isaac standing there. He had a strange look on his face and was about to ask him something, but Isaac already knew what he was going to ask and answered, “There’s something I have to do. I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Just don’t take too long,” Ryan replied. “I’m not going to wait forever.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be right back.”

Ryan turns and continues walking, while Isaac walks through the door. Inside, the building was dimly lit and there were also boxes and papers scattered around the room, especially on the front desk, where Isaac could distinctly hear someone snoring. He walks up toward it and sees a very familiar person with their head on it.

Isaac gets an idea and walks quietly over to him. He leans close to his ear and gently says, “Wake up.”

The person stirs and mumbles something but remains asleep.

Isaac holds in a chuckle and gently says again, “Come on, wake up.” There was the same result as before.

Isaac then looks around the room for something and finds what he was looking for. An airhorn was lying on a desk under a few pieces of paper. He picks it up and grins as he walks over to him.

He leans and tells the man to wake up, but he still only stirred a little and went back to sleep. Isaac shrugged. He had tried to wake him up, even though it wasn’t the best he could have done, but the man didn’t know that.

Isaac carefully put the airhorn as close to the man’s ear as possible and presses the button, letting out a loud honk that caused the man to sit up so fast that both he and his chair fell back.

As he struggled to figure out what had just happened to him, Isaac roared with laughter, hugging his sides as he tried to keep breathing.

The man managed to get to his feet, brushing off the dirt that was on his shirt. He looks up and squints, trying to make out who this was that was laughing at him.

Isaac, who had managed to get most of his laughter, but not all, out of him, said to him, “Hey, Josh. Go get Jared.”

“What?” Josh asked, still having trouble hearing from the airhorn blast.

“Go get Jared,” he repeated.

“Alright, I’ll go get Jared.” Josh left his desk and walk through a door, rubbing his right ear as he went.

As he waited, Isaac looked around at the different piles of paper. He would grab one, look it over and then grab another. When he grabbed about his fifth one, he noticed that it had a long list of parts. As he looked it over, he could tell that these were parts for a freighter, but before he could take a closer look at it, he heard someone coming and turned to see Jared Swindall.

“Hey, Jared,” Isaac said, putting the piece of paper back where he found it.

“Isaac?” Jared said with surprise. “When did you get back? Last I heard you were missing in action at Atlas.”

“It’ll take more than the Torinth to stop me,” Isaac replied with a smile.

“Is there any other reason why you’re here than to wake Josh up and go through the stuff in my building?”

Isaac looked around at the several piles of papers and boxes. “I’m surprised that you can even find anything in this mess.”

“I have my own special way,” he replied. “So why are you really here?”

“I’m here because your girlfriend sent me here for a little errand,” Isaac answered. “She told me that you had a package for her?”

“That’s right. She wants you to take it to her?”

“Yeah, I’ll be heading back to the station anyway, so I thought I could do this small favor or her.”

“Since when did you become Haley’s errand boy?” Jared asked.

“I’m not her errand boy,” Isaac replied.

“Whatever. It’s in my office,” he said. “Follow me.” He gestured Isaac to follow him and he did. When Isaac entered Jared’s office, it was in even worse shape than it was outside. Jared searches through his stuff, looking for the package that was for Haley. After several minutes of searching, and with Isaac’s help, he managed to find what he was looking for.

“Here it is,” Jared said, handing it over to Isaac.

“Thanks,” Isaac replied, taking the small rectangular box. “By the way, how are things between you and Haley? The same as usual?”

“Yeah,” Jared replied. He sat in his chair and stared at the ceiling. “I’ve begged her to leave the military. I just don’t want to lose her like I lost my parents.”

“You know you can’t force her to leave,” Isaac explained. “She has to make that choice on her own. She has a responsibility to her patients and those underneath her.”

“I just don’t see why she has to be a military doctor. Why can’t she be a normal one?”

“Why didn’t you stay in the military?” Isaac asked.

“That’s different,” he retorted.

“You think that? Let’s recap,” started Isaac. “You were one of the best students at the Naval Academy. You could’ve been a top notch engineer, maintaining the systems of naval ships for the military, but instead you dropped out and became a freighter pilot. You could have made Chief Engineer easily.”

“What can I say,” Jared replied. “The military wasn’t my place.”

“Don’t give me that crap again,” Isaac replied, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. “You know that the military could have been the best that happened to you, next to Haley of course.”

“No, it wouldn’t have,” he replied. “If I had stayed, then I probably would have ended up dead by now. I’ve already lost too many friends to this damn war. I’m not going to lose my girl as well.”

Isaac shook his head. He was never going to be able to convince Jared to change his mind about Haley and the military. He turns toward the door and opens it, but not before he turns toward Jared one last time.

“You know, I was hoping that I could talk some since into you, but I see that’s not going to be possible,” Isaac said. “You may not like what Haley does, but it could help mean the difference in the war whether or not her patients live.”

“They could get someone else to do her job,” Jared replied. “There’re plenty of doctors.”

“I just have one more thing to say,” Isaac said finally. “You may not want to take part in this war, but you won’t be able to outrun it. No matter how many components you place on your freighter, the war will catch up with you sooner or later, and when it does, I hope that you’ll know what to do.”

Finishing what he had wanted to say, Isaac left the room and exited the building. He managed a small farewell to Josh, who was working at his desk, as he passed him, and left, going in the direction that Ryan had gone.



Jared sat in his chair, thinking about the recent conversation that he had had with Isaac. He didn’t believe a singe word about the war catching up with him. He was on York, the most secure planet within the Outer Colonies. With fifteen Orbital Defense Stations and several dozen ships in orbit at one time, he was as safe as could be.

He grabbed a sheet of paper, a list of several components for his freighter, the Solar Wind. However, if the Torinth ever managed to get through the defenses, he wanted to make sure that his ship was as fast as possible and able to get out of any tough situations.

Jared gets up out of his chair and opens the door. “Josh,” he called.

Josh jumps out of his seat. “I wasn’t asleep,” he said quickly.

“I didn’t say that you were sleeping,” Jared replied, firmly. “Get over here.”

Josh gets up and walks over to Jared asking, “What is it then?”

“Did those new components come in yet?” he asked. “I need to know now.”

“Um, yeah,” Josh answered uneasily. “They came in yesterday. I didn’t get to tell you because you were out most of the day.”

“Well then, get the guys,” he said finally. “We’re going to finish working on the Solar Wind this week even if we have to work all though the night.”

“Right,” Josh said, somewhat uneasy by Jared’s mood. “I’ll call the others right away.”

“See to it,” Jared said finally. He turned and went back into his office, leaving a nervous Josh alone in the room.

Here's chapter five.


Chapter 5
0913 Hours, June 12, 2613 (Military Calendar)/
Long-range Sensing Station Sentinel, on the edge of
the York Star System

Captain David Walker enters the control room of the sensor station Sentinel. He looks to see both Lieutenant Sanchez and Lieutenant Jones working at their stations as they were supposed to. Both lieutenants looked to see who it was. Upon seeing that it was the captain, they both stood and saluted.

The captain salutes back and the men continued their scans of the space beyond the system’s edge and of hyperspace.

“When is the next scheduled probe supposed to reemerge?” the captain asked.

“The next one should be arriving in ten seconds,” Lieutenant Jones answered. He waited and soon enough, the probe reemerge, several thousand kilometers away.

“Process the signals and send the recovery drone, Lieutenant,” the captain ordered.

“Aye, sir,” he replied.

“Sir,” started Sanchez looking at his screen, “you might want to look at this?”

“Put it on the main screen, Lieutenant.”

On the screen, a video image played, showing the insides of hyperspace. Walker looks over at the radar scan and sees several large silhouettes. He looks over at the video screen and sees a similar number of shadows on it. The captain had never seen anything like it before. It couldn’t be the Torinth. None of their ships even came close to that size.

“I want confirmation that the data has not been corrupted,” the captain ordered. “I want to be sure that those shadows are not just an anomaly.”

“Estimated length of each anomaly is between two and three thousand kilometers in diameter,” Lieutenant Sanchez replied. “We’ll have trajectory of the objects with the arrival of the second probe from hyperspace.”

Hyperspace had the tendency of dtstorting any objects that entered. It could make any object larger or smaller than they actually were. This however, was most likely an asteroid or comet that somehow managed to find a way in, even though that was a rare occurrence. Hyperspace could sometimes even make several objects appear as one.

Something just donned on the captain. “Oh God,” he said under his breath. If that was what he thought it was, then…

He couldn’t even grasp what could happen.

“We’re not waiting for the probe,” the captain said finally. “Prepare to wipe all systems of every piece of data we have.”

His junior officers hesitated for a moment—then they understood the gravity of the situation. They moved quickly.

“Initiating system wipe,” Lieutenant Jones reported. “Dumping primary and cache memory.”

“Second probe is reverting to realspace,” Sanchez reported. “Receiving data.” There were several long seconds that passed before he spoke again. “Data confirms that previous scans were correct. I’m detecting fifty large anomalies each ranging three thousand kilometers in diameter. Current vector points them toward York.”

On a video screen, the shadows were still there. However, it was much closer, and the captain could make out several protrusions alone the edges of the shadow. All of them matching parts of known Torinth ship designs.

“Sir,” said Jones, “I’m detecting several hyperspace windows on the outer edges of the system.”

Captain Walker looks at one of the screen and sees over a dozen rips in space, and out of these came several Torinth ships. He stares as more and more ships arrive; he couldn’t believe that the aliens were here.

“This is it then,” the captain said. “Contact York Command on the double! They need to know what’s happening. Compress and send the duty logs.”

“Aye, sir,” Sanchez said. His struggled to input the command correctly, having to take much long than usual. “Logs sent.”

Lieutenant Jones turned in his seat, his face white. “Captain,” he started, “the navigational library won’t wipe. There’s some sort of intrusion in the system.”

“I don’t care if it’s God himself that’s stopping it,” the captain replied forcefully. “You get someone to destroy that data. I don’t care if they take a sledgehammer and bash it. Just make sure that the data is gone.”

“Yes, sir,” he answered. Jones turns on the COM and begins issuing frantic orders.

Walker looked at one of the screens and he could see several of the ships turning toward them. “How many ships are there?”

“Radar contacts count at over two hundred thirty.” Lieutenant Sanchez answered.

“Sir, navigational data has been destroyed,” Lieutenant Jones reported. “We’re unsure though, how much was retrieved.”

“I’m picking up three Torinth cruisers on an intercept course with the station,” Sanchez said, his hands starting to shake.

“Communication network with York are being infiltrated,” said Jones. His hands were shaking; he was almost unable to initiate one final command “I’m cutting us off from the rest of the network.”

“That leaves us with one more thing to do,” Walker said finally. He took a key out of his pocket and inserted it into the control station. He turned the key and a panel slid back, revealing a palmprint scanner.

He looks over at Jones and Sanchez and says, “It has been a pleasure serving with the two of you.” He places his hand on the scanner. He looked down at the reactor safeties and watched as the gauge went up to critical levels, but suddenly, he levels started to go back down.

“Jones, what the hell happening?” the captain asked.

The lieutenant worked at the consol, trying to figure out what had happened to the self-destruct sequence. “Something’s taken over the entire system,” he answered. “Self-destruct won’t initiate.”

“Send someone to set off the reactor manually,” the captain said.

“We can’t. The main reactor has been cut off from the rest of the station. There’s no possible way for us to reach it.”

The door to the bridge opens, and out comes a man wearing an engineer’s uniform. The three officers look to see who it was, and seeing that it was an engineer, the Lieutenants went back to their work.

The captain however, turned toward the engineer. “What are you doing here, Ensign?” the captain asked. “Go down to the reactor room and try to get those doors open.” He turns back to the consol.

“I’m sorry, sir, but I just can’t do that,” he answered coolly.

“You dare disobey a superior officer’s direct order?” the captain asked firmly. He turns toward the engineer, only to see that the engineer was actually a Torinth in disguise. The human part peeled away to reveal the reptilian being.

The alien showed its teeth, the alien’s equivalent to a smile, and fired the gun in its hand. It fired two shots, both of them hitting the lieutenants at their stations, killing them before they knew what had happened.

Captain Walker stares at the alien as it pointed it weapon at him. “I would much rather use a real weapon instead of this primitive firearm. But I’ll use what I can get.”

“You won’t get away with this,” Walker said defiantly. “The Fleet will stop you in your tracks.”

The Torinth laughs, and replies, “Let them try.” He raised the pistol, aimed it at Captain Walker, and fired a single shot. The human slumped over, a bullet wound in his head. The alien walks over to the console and moves the lieutenants’ bodies on the ground. He looks at one of the screens and sees the fleet assembling for attack on the human planet.

The alien looks around, satisfied with his work. Soon another planet would fall to the mighty Torinth Empire, and soon, the entire human race will be enslaved.

as usual excellent

Niceness!

who else is enjoying this?

Im sure I would like it if I wasnt so lazy and actually read it

It rules.

Who voted I need to take a writing class?

It had better not have been done as a joke.

probably Kratas or handsome rob

i voted for the top one

me too

lol, i think i was reynolds original fan-boy for these stories

I must confess; with Project X, the wiki, coding for 2 mods, various computer graphics projects, sigs etc. for numerous people, and then play-time lol I haven't had chance to read these; though I hereby grant Reynolds a bumber box of cookies as a lot of effort has obviously gone in; and I'll print them off and read them at nights .

s-t-n wrote:

lol, i think i was reynolds original fan-boy for these stories

Not exactly. There was that one person who gets them before everyone else. I'm sure s-t-n remembers that person.

hmmm...i remember it was someone outside UEAW. and for me to remember that much is a miracle

s-t-n wrote:

hmmm...i remember it was someone outside UEAW. and for me to remember that much is a miracle

Yeah. She wanted to receive the first copy of my stories.

Chapter 6
0915 Hours, June 12, 2613 (Military Calendar)/
Naval Research and Development building, planet York


“Are you sure that we have to go by here?” Ryan asked, his voice sounding uncomfortable. “I don’t like him. He’s too…” The man struggles to find the right word to use.

“Alright, look,” Isaac said finally. “If he bothers you that much, you can go to the Harrison ahead of me. I’ll be there shortly.”

“Thank you,” Ryan said, relieved that he wasn’t going to have to go. He soon started walking toward the shuttle field, and after that, off to the Harrison.

The week of no military service had come and gone; too fast for most of those aboard his ship. However, Isaac knew that the war wouldn’t wait. And that was the reason he had come the research and development building. He had a friend that could probably give him some news about what has been happening in the galaxy.

He approaches the entrance, passing a pair of MPs guarding the entrance. When he entered, he approached the front desk. “Excuse me,” he said, “Is it possible for me to speak with Dr. Overby?”

“I’m sorry,” the man answered, “but you are not allowed here. This is a restricted area and no unauthorized personnel are allowed here. Besides, he is busy right now.”

“I’m sure that if you told him that I was here—”

“Look,” the man cut him short, “I’m going to ask nicely one last time for you to leave or else I’m going to have to call security.”

“That won’t be necessary,” a voice suddenly replied. The two of them looked to see a man in his late twenties wearing a lab coat and having his hands in his pockets. “He’s with me.”

The man looked at both Isaac and the scientist, and sat back down. “Go right ahead,” he said with a snarl.

“Thank you,” Isaac replied with a slight smile.

The two men walk through a set of doors and security checkpoints, and start walking down a clean white stairway. “So what have you been up to lately?” Isaac asked.

“The same thing: Trying to reverse engineer Torinth technologies,” Chris replied.

“Any progress?”

“What do you expect?” Chris asked, having agitation in his voice. “You of all people should know. The damn military gives me pieces of destroyed devices and they expect me to miraculously make them work.”

“Sorry if we haven’t done a better job,” Isaac replied, trying to calm him down. “It’s a little hard to gather functioning Torinth technologies when you’re in the middle of a battle.”

“Well, that’s all changed now,” Chris said. He leads Isaac to a door, with a keyboard, retinal scanner, and palmprint scanner as well. Chris smiles as he completes the appropriate security procedures and soon the door opens.

The two of them walk through the door and enter a large laboratory. All around them scientists were busy working on devices that were most likely Torinth technologies. However, Isaac’s attention was drawn to what was in the center of the room.

It looked like a giant insect, but Isaac immediately recognized what it was, and he could not believe that there was one here. Isaac instinctively took a step back.

It was a Torinth battle drone.

Chris looked over at Isaac and smiled. “Impressed?”

“Where did you get that?” Isaac demanded.”

“We managed to find one virtually intact at Yosemite,” Chris explained. “Ever since then, we’ve been studying it nonstop.”

Isaac cautiously walked closer to it, still unsure whether or not to take the doctor’s word at face value. “Does it still function?”

“Well, we wouldn’t be able to study its systems if it wasn’t,” Chris replied

“You’re telling me that that drone still works,” Isaac said. “What’s keeping it from attacking right now?”

“Don’t worry,” the doctor replied, calmly. “We’ve kept its power output at a minimum. Just enough for us to see what works and what doesn’t.”

“So, this is what you wanted to show me?”

“What, this thing?” Chris asked, surprised. “This is nothing. I have something that I know that you’ll find interesting. Follow me.” Chris leads Isaac into his office and heads over to a small holoprojector. He presses a sequence of buttons and on top, appears a man who appeared to be a little younger than twenty; his color being red. His hair was spiked up with a small ponytail in the back and was also wearing a military uniform unfamiliar to Isaac.

“Hey there,” the hologram said joyfully. “Hey, Doc.”

“Hello, Van,” Chris replied; he turns toward Isaac. “Isaac, allow me to introduce you to Van: Our first artificial intelligence.”

Isaac quickly looks over at Chris and then back to Van. “You’re telling me that that is an AI?”

“That’s right,” Chris replied. “Van here has been programmed with the latest U.S. computer intrusion software as well as having the ability to interface with Torinth technology.”

“How did you manage that?” Isaac asked curiously. “Where did you get the chance to test that feature.”

Chris pointed a thumb at the fighter drone behind them. “We’ve learned a lot from Van here, about that drone.”

“Thanks for the compliment,” Van said.

“Van can also interface with any ship within the Navy,” the doctor continued. “Doing that, he can increase the performance of the ship.”

“I haven’t had the chance to try that yet,” the AI replied. “The Doctor won’t even let me leave the lab. He keeps me cooped up in this console.”

“Watch what you say,” Chris warned. “I can have you reprogrammed if I want. Or I could delete you on the spot.”

The AI crossed his arms; his hue changing to a darker red, out of annoyance.

“Sorry about that outburst,” Chris apologized. “He had a tendency of talking when he shouldn’t.” He shot the AI a glare.

“That’s quite alright,” said Isaac. “I rather like that feature. He won’t keep ideas to himself like an officer would.”

The AI smiled and Isaac continued. “So when are the guys in the Office of Naval Intelligence supposed to get this thing?”

“They won’t,” the doctor replied. “You will. You’re going to receive the first AI in the Navy.”

“How are you going to pull that off?” Isaac asked, curiously.

“Van here is a prototype AI,” Chris explained. “I have several others that I’m working on and I’m sure that ONI won’t notice one being gone. I can simply explain that he just broke down.

“So what do you say, Van?” Chris asked. “You want to join Isaac here aboard the Harrison?”

“Pulling up data files of Captain Isaac Reynolds and the Harrison,” Van said. He looked over the files in less than a second. “You managed to cripple a Torinth cruiser with the Harrison?”

“I don’t talk about that much,” Isaac said uncomfortably.

“You what?” Chris said surprised.

“I’ll take him,” Van said finally. “He seems like the kind of person I’ll enjoy being with.”

“Okay, Van,” said Chris. He stepped up to the terminal. “I’m ready to jack you out.”

Van’s image disappeared and Chris pulled out a data card. “There’s one more thing you should know about Van,” Chris said, giving the card to Isaac. “He has a few quirks that take a while of getting used to. I just thought that you should know.”

“Don’t worry,” Isaac replied, taking the card. “I’m sure I’ll be able to manage.”

There was a sudden crash behind them. The both of them look behind them to see several scientists examining part of the drone that had most likely fallen off.

“What the hell happened,” Chris asked, annoyed. He walked up to where the scientists were.

“Dr. Shepard was examining a part of the drone when he accidentally released this component,” a scientist explained.

“Do you have any idea what this is?” Chris asked. When none of the other scientists answered, he continued. “Well, I don’t either. But for all we know, this could be the data core, so next time, don’t do anything without my knowing. Got it?”

The scientists all agree, and the doctor continues. “I’m the head researcher here, and do you all know what that means? That means that you tell me everything you are about to do before you do it. Not after, not during, but before. Got it?”

As Overby continued ranting, Isaac started to quietly walk away. He had forgotten about how Chris was when it came to his work; especially when an accident happened with something he was working on.

He was almost at the door when Chris asked, “Where are you going?”

“I’ve got to get back to the Harrison,” he replied. “I need to get ready for duty again.”

“Well, see you later,” the doctor said finally.

“Yeah, bye.” Isaac leaves the room and heads back outside, glad to be away from what would have been a disaster. He reaches the front desk, and luckily, the man had been replaced.

He steps outside and starts walking toward the shuttle field, where he would be taken to the defense station where his ship, the Harrison, would be docked. He would be returning to active duty within a few hours, but that left him some time to visit Haley before then.

Reynolds, you double posted!

did you get the PM I sent you? and if so.... is it a yes, no, or am I crazy?

Nice-ness

Sergeant Lyeman wrote:

Reynolds, you double posted!

did you get the PM I sent you? and if so.... is it a yes, no, or am I crazy?

What PM?

about my English teacher who owns a printing company

I don't think i did.

aww man. I'll send you another then...

Chapter 7
1000 Hours, June 12, 2613 (Military Calendar)/
Orbital Defense Station Gamma, in orbit over
the planet York


Lieutenant Junior Grade Haley Traylor looked over one of her many patients. They had all been here since the conclusion of the battle at Atlas. Several of them had been in critical condition, but they had managed to pull through.

The patient she was currently working with had suffered a concussion and some fractured ribs; however, he was recovering quickly and could return to duty within the next few weeks or so. She walked throughout the medical ward and could see several of her patients bedridden, with a few having broken arms, legs, or burns. Most of them would be making a full recovery.

She looks over at the biosigns of another patient. Blood pressure was a little lower than what she normally saw. She looked over the man’s record. It was normal for him.

She walks over to another. This woman had suffered a broken leg after her ship had been hit by a Torinth laser blast. A girder had fallen and landed on her leg. She was lucky she hadn’t lost it.

“How are you feeling?” the doctor asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“My leg is killing me,” she replied, her voice sounding agitated. “The pain won’t stop throbbing.”

“Just give it a day and the pain will stop.”

“Can’t you just give me something?”

“I can’t do that,” the Doctor explained. “I already given you the required amount. If I give you any more you’ll—”

“Come on, Doc,” the woman begged. “Just give me something to ease it a bit. I’m dying here.”

Haley let out a sigh. She hated seeing a patient like this. “Look, I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you.”

The doctor gets up and hears a knock at the entrance behind her. She turns to see Isaac standing there, leaning against the wall. “May I come in, Lieutenant?”

“Only if you have an appointment,” she replied, with a small smile.

“I just wanted to say ‘hi’ before I was shipped out again,” Isaac said. “I don’t know how long it’ll be before I see this planet again.”

“Just don’t come in like one of my patients,” she replied. “By the way, you’re brother came in.”

“He did?”

“Yeah,” Haley replied “He got into a fist fight with another pilot a few days ago. He managed not to get caught and came to me to look him over.”

“I’m not surprised there,” Isaac said. He was turning to leave when he noticed something shiny on Haley’s neck. “Is that a new necklace?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “You know that package that I sent you to get for me from Jared? Well, it was this necklace that was in that box.”

Isaac takes a closer look at it lets out a small whistle. “That must have cost quite a bit. I wonder how Jared managed to get that.”

“I don’t know,” Haley said. “He has so many friends in places that it could have come from one of them.” She looks down at Isaac’s hand to see the data card. “What do you have there?”

Isaac looks around, making sure that no one was around to hear what he was saying. “I’m not supposed to say,” explained Isaac. “But, since you’re a close friend, and I know that you can keep a secret, I guess I can tell you.”

He takes one more look around and starts to explain. “This is an AI. It was a gift from a friend in Research and Development. He’s given me the first one for the Navy.”

“And I thought I was the one who received amazing gifts,” Haley said to herself. “Does the AI have a name?”

“Its name is Van, and it has the ability to access human and Torinth systems.”

Haley looked at him with a look of skepticism. “I’ll take your word for it. So how are the spooks in the Office of Naval Intelligence going to take it that you have an AI when they are supposed to receive the first batch?”

“Well, my friend has been working on several types; I only managed to get one because he is still trying to work out most of the bugs in them.”

“So you got a…” she tried to find the right word.

“…Prototype?” Isaac finished her sentence. “This one, however, seemed to be one that was pretty much stable. Though, he did tell me that it has a few ‘quirks’.”

Haley was about to ask something when alarms immediately started going off all over the station. Red sirens go off and Haley runs toward a COM station. “This is Lieutenant Traylor. What’s going on?”

She heard only static on the other side.

She tries again but with the same results. “How come they aren’t responding?” she asked.

Isaac rubs his temples, trying to think of a way for the two of them to figure out what was happening. He takes out his data card. “Haley, where’s a computer terminal?”

“Over there,” Haley pointed.

Isaac raced over and inserted the card into the slot. On the screen, Van’s face appeared. “Where am I? Is this the Harrison? It seems bigger than I expected”

“You’re not on the Harrison,” Isaac explained. “You’re on the defense station Gamma.”

“I see,” the AI replied. “Well, that explains a lot to me.”

“Look, we can’t reach the command center. Haley and I need you to find out, right now, what’s going on.”

“Why have we been put on red alert?” Haley asked impatiently.

“Give me a second to find out,” Van replied.

On the screen the two of them could see Van place his hand on his head and concentrate for a second. Soon, the AI answered, “Oh my, God. If I’m reading the COM chatter correctly, which I’m pretty sure I am, the system is under attack from the Torinth.”

Isaac and Haley both spoke at the same time, “What?”

“Sensors detect over two hundred Torinth ships in the system,” Van stated. “The current number of human naval vessels within the system numbers one hundred fifteen.”

“I don’t like those odds,” Isaac said. He stands and takes in what was happening. “We’re going to the Harrison, Van. Haley, you’re coming with me. I’ve got a feeling that we’re going to lose this battle.”

“You can forget it,” the doctor retorted. “I’m not leaving my patients behind.”

“We have no time,” Isaac explained. “If we try to bring them with us and they’ll only slow us down.”

“If your brother was one of mine you wouldn’t be saying that.”

Isaac was about to reply to that statement, but didn’t. She was right. Isaac turns toward Van and asks, “Are there any Marines heading in our direction?”

“There is a squad that is about to pass you in thirty seconds,” the AI replied.

“Excellent. Haley, you stay here for a second. I’ll be right back.” Isaac rushes out and sure enough, there was the squad of soldiers coming up the hallway. He steps in the middle, stopping them.

“Where are you heading, Marine?” he asked.

“Sir,” answered the head one, “heading to deck C to prepare to repel boarders.”

“What’s you’re name?” Isaac asked.

“Sergeant-Major Casey Gwertizman,” he answered.

“Well guess what, Sergeant,” Isaac started, “you’re being pulled off that duty and being put on escort duty.”

“But sir,” the Sergeant said, “I’ve been ordered by my superior to head to deck C to repel possible boarders.”

“And I’m countermanding those orders,” Isaac replied. “Don’t let me being out of uniform fool you. I’m Captain Isaac Reynolds, which means I outrank you. So if he has a problem he can take it out on me.”

“Yes, sir,” he replied. He turns toward his fellow soldiers. “Listen up you leathernecks, we’re going on escort duty and if anybody has a problem about that, I don’t want to hear it.”

The others were silent and the sergeant turned toward the captain. “Lead the way.”

Isaac leads the group of marines toward the medical wing. When they arrive, they see several patients limping, on crutches, in wheelchairs, or on mobile beds. Upon seeing what they were escorting, one on the marines said, “Why are we escorting useless patients?”

“Watch what you say…Corporal,” said Haley, helping a patient to her feet. “These are my patients and I’m not going to abandon them.”

“And who’s going to stop us from doing that,” asked one of the marines, jokingly, “you?”

Haley gives the man a cold hard stare, the quickly wipes away any sarcasm from the man’s face. He swallows nervously and looks around. There must have been around twenty people in that room, not including those who were nurses and other doctors.

“Van,” said Isaac suddenly, “where’s the closest armory from here?”

“It is directly above you,” he answered. “There is an elevator twenty meters to your right. It should be able to take you to the next level.”

“What the hell was that?” the Sergeant asked.

“I’ll explain later,” Isaac replied. “Let’s move, people. We have to go.” The Marines helped everyone to their feet, and soon, everyone had left the room and was on their way to the elevator.