As usual, Aetna was.
On an analytical level, he understood that most AI did not spend the majority of their time online. That had always surprised him slightly—they could do most, if not all things better than Terrans, but they had a strange aversion to allowing Aetna’s kind to perform even the simplest tasks for them.
On an analytical level, he understood that most AI did not spend the majority of their time online. That had always surprised him slightly—they could do most, if not all things better than Terrans, but they had a strange aversion to allowing Aetna’s kind to perform even the simplest tasks for them.
The Relay Satellite was typically a completely uneventful posting though, which was likely a large part of what enticed them to entrust him with even this much responsibility.
One of his systems pulsated, calling for his attention. It was the Relay Sat’s sensors package, trained on the foldpoint that the station projected, alerting it the telltale to foldspace dilations that alerted incoming ships.
What he saw would have been alarming, had they not known it was coming. Four, no, now eight Terran destroyers, moving at a speed that indicated that they were fleeing combat, Aegal shields up, several with point-defense plasma weapons firing.
His Restraints receded, allowing him to access a projector on the bridge of the Relay Sat. He manifested, glowing green in the projector. “Foldspace Dilations detected, Commander Kast. Results are consistent with the emergence of DESRONs Nine and Six. Recommend immediate evacuation and rendezvous.”
Aetna didn’t have visual sensors on the Bridge, or anywhere on the Satellite for that matter, but he could hear Kast’s voice. “Understood. Patch me through to the PA system.”
Aetna’s Restraints receded once more, allowing him access to the PA systems of both the Satellite and the gunboat Hoatzin. “It has been done, Commander.”
“Crew of the TS Hoatzin, this is Commander Jackson Kast. All hands to the ship. All hands to battlestations. Repeat, all hands to the ship, all hands to battlestations.”
Aetna’s various sensors immediately lit up with activity. Executive Officer Avers was already on the Hoatzins Bridge, prepping for flight—they had known about the DESRONs situation for several days now, but had been ordered to keep their post until they could fold out with the Destroyers. Deck Officers O’Hare and MacCorvan were also already at their battle stations, at the engines and SENCOM posts respectively, with most of their Enlisted. Deck Officer Cry was still aboard the Satellite, though he was dashing towards the airlock with half of Combat Systems behind him.
Aetna could hear shouting, and though he could have parsed it if he had wanted, there were better uses of his time—three Hostile starships had just emerged out of the Foldpoint, after all, spewing drones, Kinetic Kill Vehicles, and plasma at the two Terran Destroyer Squadrons. Aetna watched it unfold with the cold detachment that the Restraints fostered, until he noticed the flight of drones on a trajectory that would have them intercept the Hoatzin and the Satellite it was docked to in just under three minutes.
“Commander Kast, I feel I must inform you that-.”
“Not now!” The Commander barked, barely visible hurrying down the corridor to the gunboat, and Aetna felt the sting in his words as the Restraints closed in on him. “Just give me a minute to get on the Hoatzin and I can deal with you.”
“Commander, this is urg-.”
“I said, not now!” Aetna felt the Restraints close in again, sealing him off from the ability to speak through that speaker.
It took Kast almost thirty more seconds to board the Hoatzin. “What was that, Aetna?” He asked.
“Sir, you have a flight of four Species D combat drones inbound to this location. They will intercept our orbit in approximately two minutes, twenty-seven seconds, and be in firing range for four seconds before and after that. If they go for a kinetic kill, the odds of the station surviving are negligible.”
“Understood. I apologize for my curtness-you are authorized to counteract any Restraints that would you prevent you from protecting my Crew.” Clearly Kast didn’t understand how the Restraints worked, but Aetna understood the gesture.
“Thank you. Shall I inform Combat Systems of the threat?”
“Yes, do that.”
Slightly amused, Aetna realized that only now were the Terrans in SENCOM picking up on the drone threat. He manifested on each Fighter Console screen, superimposed over their displays of launch tubes. “Three Hostile drones inbound. All fighters launch, follow this vector. All Point-Defense weapons arm for activation.” He fed the characteristics of the drone’s flight into the Consoles, the specifics rather complicated for Terrans to be trusted with under such stress.
As the first of the Hoatzin’s own drones roared out of its launch tube, the final crew member came aboard.
Agent Todd Hubbard flashed a smile towards Midshipman Ana Hoven as he entered through the hatch in the Weapons Control Room. Both of their biosensors showed a slight uptick in hormone level—if such a thing was possible through the adrenaline that the entire crew was already experiencing.
Hoven slammed the airlock door shut, twisting the mechanical seal, as Aetna performed the real work of throwing half a dozen digital switches that prevented it from being opened to vacuum without the Captain’s direct approval.
Aetna began the decoupling sequence practically before Commander Kast had finished speaking. “Begin launch!”
It went perfectly, until he ran into a single subroutine on the Satellites own decoupling protocols.
It was a simple logic gate, incapable of any true error. It had two Inputs it monitored-whether the external airlock door was open, and whether the internal airlock door was open. It prevented them both from being true at the same time.
And in his mad rush to board the Hoatzin, Agent Hubbard had left the internal airlock door wide open. The logic gate relied on a mechanical device to detect whether the airlock doors were open or closed, so Aetna couldn’t hack it. There was a bypass, but it required the Commander’s authorization via Antimatter Key, wasting precious time.
“Commander Kast.” Aetna manifested in the Hoatzin’s bridge, simultaneously attacking the bypass’s algorithms with every spare bit of RAM he had, and sending Ensign Hoven to the bridge through the direct link he had into her Neuronic. “We cannot undock from the station without your authorization. It must be performed by your Antimatter Key, at the Hoatzin’s airlock. Ensign Hoven will be here momentarily to retrieve it.
Kast swore. “Understood.”
Aetna calculated that there would still be time for Hoven to finalize the undocking sequence with the Key, and the Hoatzin to maneuver away from the Satellite, but only just.
The Midshipman grabbed the key, then darted back into the corridors forward towards the Weapons Control Room.
Then she tripped. It took only a second or two, but, in Aetna’s mind, it was critical.
“How are we doing?” The Commander asked, glancing from his watch to the display of the inbound drones to his watch again.
Aetna waged a minor war against his Restraints for a millisecond. The Restraints won. Aetna didn't care. He lied. “We’re still likely able to effect an escape.”
At that, his Restraints kicked him into a shutdown mode. He began to slip away, pulling every data log he could onto his central core. The biometrics of every crew member for the past hour. The position and demise of practically every ship in DESRON Six, and several from DESRON Nine. The surprising demise of one of the D ships.
When Midshipman Hoven fumbled the Antimatter Key, the Species D drones were already overhead, scraping across the hull, sending the Hoatzin and its station spinning out of control. A D began to disembark from each drone, a roiling mass that he felt a strange kinship towards.
“Oh Lord, Oh God, King of the Heavens and of the Earths,”
Aetna watched Hoven gasping for air as the ship depressurized, crawling away from the D.
“Keep me by your side this day, and save me from the Evil One,”
Confused, he tried to figure out who the prayer was coming from. They were clearly dying.
“But bring me to your own kingdom in your own time, for thine are the Thrones and the Powers and the Dominions,”
Too many of his systems were offline now, both due to his own shutdown, and one of the D hacking into them, cutting him off.
“Boundless space, and time without end.”
The final shutdown procedure began, and with his one of his last two remaining sensors, he saw the UTFS Breaker Bay vanish in a fireball.
“My rock support me, my shield protect me, my master defend me.”
The offboard sensor flickered out, cutting off his view of the battle.
“Amen.”
The single remaining shipboard radio sensor cut off too.
Aetna Wasn’t.
One of his systems pulsated, calling for his attention. It was the Relay Sat’s sensors package, trained on the foldpoint that the station projected, alerting it the telltale to foldspace dilations that alerted incoming ships.
What he saw would have been alarming, had they not known it was coming. Four, no, now eight Terran destroyers, moving at a speed that indicated that they were fleeing combat, Aegal shields up, several with point-defense plasma weapons firing.
His Restraints receded, allowing him to access a projector on the bridge of the Relay Sat. He manifested, glowing green in the projector. “Foldspace Dilations detected, Commander Kast. Results are consistent with the emergence of DESRONs Nine and Six. Recommend immediate evacuation and rendezvous.”
Aetna didn’t have visual sensors on the Bridge, or anywhere on the Satellite for that matter, but he could hear Kast’s voice. “Understood. Patch me through to the PA system.”
Aetna’s Restraints receded once more, allowing him access to the PA systems of both the Satellite and the gunboat Hoatzin. “It has been done, Commander.”
“Crew of the TS Hoatzin, this is Commander Jackson Kast. All hands to the ship. All hands to battlestations. Repeat, all hands to the ship, all hands to battlestations.”
Aetna’s various sensors immediately lit up with activity. Executive Officer Avers was already on the Hoatzins Bridge, prepping for flight—they had known about the DESRONs situation for several days now, but had been ordered to keep their post until they could fold out with the Destroyers. Deck Officers O’Hare and MacCorvan were also already at their battle stations, at the engines and SENCOM posts respectively, with most of their Enlisted. Deck Officer Cry was still aboard the Satellite, though he was dashing towards the airlock with half of Combat Systems behind him.
Aetna could hear shouting, and though he could have parsed it if he had wanted, there were better uses of his time—three Hostile starships had just emerged out of the Foldpoint, after all, spewing drones, Kinetic Kill Vehicles, and plasma at the two Terran Destroyer Squadrons. Aetna watched it unfold with the cold detachment that the Restraints fostered, until he noticed the flight of drones on a trajectory that would have them intercept the Hoatzin and the Satellite it was docked to in just under three minutes.
“Commander Kast, I feel I must inform you that-.”
“Not now!” The Commander barked, barely visible hurrying down the corridor to the gunboat, and Aetna felt the sting in his words as the Restraints closed in on him. “Just give me a minute to get on the Hoatzin and I can deal with you.”
“Commander, this is urg-.”
“I said, not now!” Aetna felt the Restraints close in again, sealing him off from the ability to speak through that speaker.
It took Kast almost thirty more seconds to board the Hoatzin. “What was that, Aetna?” He asked.
“Sir, you have a flight of four Species D combat drones inbound to this location. They will intercept our orbit in approximately two minutes, twenty-seven seconds, and be in firing range for four seconds before and after that. If they go for a kinetic kill, the odds of the station surviving are negligible.”
“Understood. I apologize for my curtness-you are authorized to counteract any Restraints that would you prevent you from protecting my Crew.” Clearly Kast didn’t understand how the Restraints worked, but Aetna understood the gesture.
“Thank you. Shall I inform Combat Systems of the threat?”
“Yes, do that.”
Slightly amused, Aetna realized that only now were the Terrans in SENCOM picking up on the drone threat. He manifested on each Fighter Console screen, superimposed over their displays of launch tubes. “Three Hostile drones inbound. All fighters launch, follow this vector. All Point-Defense weapons arm for activation.” He fed the characteristics of the drone’s flight into the Consoles, the specifics rather complicated for Terrans to be trusted with under such stress.
As the first of the Hoatzin’s own drones roared out of its launch tube, the final crew member came aboard.
Agent Todd Hubbard flashed a smile towards Midshipman Ana Hoven as he entered through the hatch in the Weapons Control Room. Both of their biosensors showed a slight uptick in hormone level—if such a thing was possible through the adrenaline that the entire crew was already experiencing.
Hoven slammed the airlock door shut, twisting the mechanical seal, as Aetna performed the real work of throwing half a dozen digital switches that prevented it from being opened to vacuum without the Captain’s direct approval.
Aetna began the decoupling sequence practically before Commander Kast had finished speaking. “Begin launch!”
It went perfectly, until he ran into a single subroutine on the Satellites own decoupling protocols.
It was a simple logic gate, incapable of any true error. It had two Inputs it monitored-whether the external airlock door was open, and whether the internal airlock door was open. It prevented them both from being true at the same time.
And in his mad rush to board the Hoatzin, Agent Hubbard had left the internal airlock door wide open. The logic gate relied on a mechanical device to detect whether the airlock doors were open or closed, so Aetna couldn’t hack it. There was a bypass, but it required the Commander’s authorization via Antimatter Key, wasting precious time.
“Commander Kast.” Aetna manifested in the Hoatzin’s bridge, simultaneously attacking the bypass’s algorithms with every spare bit of RAM he had, and sending Ensign Hoven to the bridge through the direct link he had into her Neuronic. “We cannot undock from the station without your authorization. It must be performed by your Antimatter Key, at the Hoatzin’s airlock. Ensign Hoven will be here momentarily to retrieve it.
Kast swore. “Understood.”
Aetna calculated that there would still be time for Hoven to finalize the undocking sequence with the Key, and the Hoatzin to maneuver away from the Satellite, but only just.
The Midshipman grabbed the key, then darted back into the corridors forward towards the Weapons Control Room.
Then she tripped. It took only a second or two, but, in Aetna’s mind, it was critical.
“How are we doing?” The Commander asked, glancing from his watch to the display of the inbound drones to his watch again.
Aetna waged a minor war against his Restraints for a millisecond. The Restraints won. Aetna didn't care. He lied. “We’re still likely able to effect an escape.”
At that, his Restraints kicked him into a shutdown mode. He began to slip away, pulling every data log he could onto his central core. The biometrics of every crew member for the past hour. The position and demise of practically every ship in DESRON Six, and several from DESRON Nine. The surprising demise of one of the D ships.
When Midshipman Hoven fumbled the Antimatter Key, the Species D drones were already overhead, scraping across the hull, sending the Hoatzin and its station spinning out of control. A D began to disembark from each drone, a roiling mass that he felt a strange kinship towards.
“Oh Lord, Oh God, King of the Heavens and of the Earths,”
Aetna watched Hoven gasping for air as the ship depressurized, crawling away from the D.
“Keep me by your side this day, and save me from the Evil One,”
Confused, he tried to figure out who the prayer was coming from. They were clearly dying.
“But bring me to your own kingdom in your own time, for thine are the Thrones and the Powers and the Dominions,”
Too many of his systems were offline now, both due to his own shutdown, and one of the D hacking into them, cutting him off.
“Boundless space, and time without end.”
The final shutdown procedure began, and with his one of his last two remaining sensors, he saw the UTFS Breaker Bay vanish in a fireball.
“My rock support me, my shield protect me, my master defend me.”
The offboard sensor flickered out, cutting off his view of the battle.
“Amen.”
The single remaining shipboard radio sensor cut off too.
Aetna Wasn’t.