Colonel John paced around the command deck until Treecy arrived. She snapped off a crisp salute and then waited for him to speak. Colonel John returned the salute and then asked, "First of all, excellent work Acting Ensign, I have had nothing but glowing reports from all of the crew you have interacted with since joining us. Recently your friend Mr. Googlemeyer managed to hack into one of our destroyer's ship cores. Is there any way we can stop this from happening?"

Zigs made it up to the command deck as Colonel John was speaking and quietly stood behind Treecy. Treecy thought for a moment and then said, "Sir, it is impossible for your systems to guard against anyone who has a neurolink. It's like trying to protect a grass hut from a laser rifle."

Zigs whistled and shook his head while Colonel John frowned. Colonel John then asked, "What kind of upgrade would need to happen?"

Treecy licked her lips and then said, "It's not an issue an upgrade I could make can solve, it's a problem with both the design of the hardware and the software. How to put this... The neurolink is the pinnacle of human technology. This vessel, its hardware, and even the software I upgraded are orders of magnitude below its capability."

Zigs spoke up and said, "It's like comparing this destroyer with one of those rockets they used to put a man on the moon, back in the middle ages."

Colonel John nodded, "I see, is there nothing we can do then?"

Treecy thought about it and then said, "I can go to the destroyer he is on and stop him. Other than that, no I am afraid there is no other way to keep him off your networks."

Zigs spoke up again, "Treecy, would changing our passwords slow him down?"

She shook her head, "The password I used when I first came on board was just a fluke, if I would have spent just a few hours I would have had the same level of access. Ben has been on Van Halen long enough to be in total control by now. Ben is also much better than me at software. He is a senior at my college in the software development department. His family is also famous for their development tools."

Colonel John frowned again. He tapped his fingers on the back of his chair and then asked, "You know him best, Treecy. What does he want, what does he hope to accomplish?"

"He wants me back." Treecy shrugged.

"Wait, you're telling us that he is just trying to get back together with a girl he dumped? He's threatening the lives of hundreds of people for a woman?" Zigs looked flabergasted.

Colonel John held up a hand toward Zigs and then asked, "Is there a reason he'd put their lives in danger?"

"When I last spoke to him, it sounded like he didn't consider any of you as people. He considered you already dead. Living fossils." Treecy folded her arms up under her chest and then said, "I think he was jealous that I was playing volleyball with some of the male crew members and not spending my time with him."

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Colonel John nodded and then said, "Alright, then we need to get you on to the Van Halen."

"That's easy enough. I can just drive my car over there." She smiled.

Zigs coughed and then shook his head, "Uh, yeah, about that... I kind of don't know how to put it back together yet."

Treecy looked at him with big eyes, "But that's my car... I need it to get to school, my dad is going to kill me!"

Colonel John frowned again, "How do we get her over there, Zigs?"

Zigs sighed and then offered, "Maybe we could ask for help from Rescue One, they have 759 with them."

Colonel John frowned and then nodded, "Ok, we can see if they will lend us a hand. Treecy, will you be alright being on the same destroyer as that guy?"

"Ben is not normally a violent man. I don't worry about my safety being there, no. Will I still be an Acting Ensign assigned to security while I am there, sir?" She asked looking worried.

"No, that wouldn't be appropriate. That's while you will be promoted to Second Lieutenant and transferred to the Van Halen as head of security for the Van Halen." Colonel John said and then looked at Nemo, "Nemo, make that order official and send it to Van Halen. De Santos, you will still report to Mo Dedmon while on board, she is head of security for the entire squadron. We have a Second Lieutenant currently in that position on the Van Halen, but with the recent losses they are currently in need of a new officer."

Hicks spoke up, "Colonel, a message from Van Halen, Captain Johnson is reporting that there has been an accident, and Captain Franklin was lost. He has assumed command as the senior officer on board."

"What the hell?" Colonel Johnson looked at Hicks, "Put him on right now."

"Nemo, Van Halen, did you copy?" Captain Chet Johnson's voice came over the com channel.

"Van Halen, Nemo, I read you. Confirming you have command of Van Halen? AI has been restored?" Colonel John asked with a confused tone.

"Nemo, that's affirmative. Mr. Googlememe has restored control to the Van Halen AI and to me personally. He has assured me that he will not interfere with the control again as long as I am in command."

"Nemo copies." Colonel John made a throat-cutting gesture to Hicks and then looked at Nemo, "Has Van Halen confirmed it?"

Nemo nodded and then said, "Yes, Van Halen believes he has control again, however, he recommends we still go forward with having de Santos move over as he can not confirm that he has regained full control."

Colonel John nodded and then motioned to Hicks, "Van Halen, Nemo, we are going to be sending you a new security officer to help with the Googlemeyer situation. Stand by for a personnel transfer in approximately twelve hours. One Two hours. Over."

Captain Johnson's slightly stiffer voice came back, "Van Halen copies."

"Hicks get me Rescue One, I need a fighter!" Colonel John turned and looked at Treecy, "Ok, de Santos, your mission might have gotten a little dangerous. I need you to deal with Googlemeyer and now Captain Johnson as well. I don't need you to do anything more than monitor the situation, for now, report everything to Lieutenant Dedmon, we need to know what happened to Paul Franklin and how Googlemeyer is connected to Johnson."

Hicks spoke up, "Colonel, Rescue One advised that Mantis will rendezvous with us in six hours with a one-hour flight time to Van Halen once Second Lieutenant de Santos is on board."

Colonel John nodded at Hicks and then spoke to Zigs, "Zigs, get down there and make sure this goes smoothly. I don't trust that snake, Johnson." He looked at Harv and said, "Once we get Mantis on board move us into position near Van Halen. I want our guns to cover this transition in case of any friendly fire accidents."

Over on the Van Halen Captain Johnson slammed his fist onto his console, "Fucking idiot! Of course, Colonel John is sending me a security officer, he knows my people already have control here so he's sending one of his own as a spy!"

He paced around, "Well, nothing says I need to keep his spy in the position once he gets here." he thought to himself, 'Nothing says I have to allow this spy to live once they get here.' He started laughing out loud causing the other crew members on the command deck to look at him strangely.

"Alright, I need to go speak with our guest, notify me once the crew transfer happens." He hurriedly walked to Ben's cabin leaving the people on the command deck feeling as if a heavy weight raised off their shoulders.

Phteven said out loud, "What did I do to have that living nightmare come back?"

The other people on the command deck silently agreed.

Ben Googlememe was simultaneously on the entertainment grid and watching the monitors of the Van Halen. He chuckled as the AI tried to scrub him from its systems. Its primitive coding couldn't even see him let alone cause him any kind of discomfort. He frowned as he saw that idiot Chet walking toward his cabin, he thought it would give him a little peace of mind to allow the man to run the crew, but if he kept coming to his cabin to talk, what was the point?

Chet raised his hand to knock on Ben's door only to see it open just before his hand touched. Ben spoke, "How can I help you, Captain?"

"They are sending over someone to the ship, a spy most likely. Can you do anything about it?" He asked.

Ben sighed and then said, "It won't matter, they can send anyone they want. I only care about Treecy. The rest of you are already dead as far as I am concerned."