When I woke, I lay in bed for half an hour just processing before starting my day. The prospect of food drew a grimace of disgust. I skipped breakfast. I wanted to leave the system right away but it didn’t make sense logically. There was plenty of salvage right here and I still had repairs to make. I did not want to go back to the planet but I needed food. Real food. I was tired of the nasty protein powder.

“Bob, take us to the other side of the planet and place us in geosynchronous orbit. There has to be a battlefield over there somewhere to pick through.” And food.

“I’ve found three likely candidates for you, Captain. Sight 1 is in a desert and very little is around it. Sight 2 is a burned-out coastal city and naval yard but survivors are likely living in the ruins. Sight 3 is what’s left of a military supply depot. It appears that it changed hands multiple times and was repeatedly shelled with artillery before falling into enemy hands.”

“Desert. That one sounds like there is least that could go wrong.” It sounded good and boring. Not at all my usual preference but perfect for today. I wrote off the truck I’d wanted to pick up. Probably would have radiation all over it anyway. Huh, wonder if that’s going to be an issue with the rest of the salvage. I queried Bob about it but the material processor had an answer for that too. I had no complaints there.

“I’ve compiled a full list of resources required to fully restore the ship, Captain.”

It popped up on my computer. My brow wrinkled as I looked at it. “I’ve never even heard of some of these things, Bob.”

“They are advanced alloys my creators made. The foundry is capable of producing them if we can acquire the base materials,” Bob replied.

“Right. Just list the base materials then.”

The list changed. Now over a dozen rare resources were listed in place of the unknown alloys. It wasn’t much of a help.

“Not sure where I’ll find all this, Bob,” I said.

“Substitute materials can be used, but we’ll lose performance as a result, Captain.”

“What is Hyperion 6?”

“That is the nano-tech base material used to make nanobots, Captain.”

“Why don’t you break it down into its base materials?”

“The knowledge for its construction is locked in my memory core. Information on it was a closely guarded secret.”

I sighed. “Great. How much do we have in reserve?”

“We have thirty-four medical nanobot injections, seven long-term nanobot treatments, and three full treatment enhancement nanobot injections. I recommend taking one of the enhancement injections at your earliest convenience, Captain.”

I brushed it off for now. It seemed like a fair stock, but it would be next to nothing of a country like Corinth. I had Bob list the materials we were likely to find in the desert. It wasn’t as much as I’d hoped, but food was listed, so I pushed off my doubts and settled for delighted and hopeful optimism. Yes, the protein powder was that bad.

“Have the shuttle standing by with SB units for backup. I’ll take Arby and his crew down to check things out.”

Bob requested I take two SB units with me and I agreed. “I’ll even wear my war suit.”

The salvage ship purred like a kitten when I fired her up, and then we headed for the planet.

* * *

For ten long days, the RB units and I salvaged burned-out tanks, abandoned artillery, and shot-up trucks. The electronics were the most valuable parts to us. Radios and other complex gear had small amounts of some of the rare resources we needed. We had plenty of metal by this point.

We found military rations by the truckload. They were designed to last and wouldn’t usually be all that appealing, but next to the protein powder, they looked like a five-course banquet. I filled my food cupboards to the ceiling with them.

The munitions were also a source of some explosive compounds. Bob had me make a munitions processor to run them through instead of the foundry's usual material processor. The material processor could deconstruct them but the explosive compounds were lost. The new device lets us keep the ingredients to use as we desire.

Once the cargo hold was nearly full of excess metal I had Bob build some decoy drones for the Shadow Hunter. They were vastly inferior since they weren’t built using better alloys but they would still get the job done against most enemies.

“Pack it up, Arby. We’re done here.” I called Bob. “Send down the shuttle to pick up Arby’s crew. We’re returning to the ship.”

The whole operation had gone off without a hitch. Ten days of hard labor had given me a great appreciation for the war suit and I was a lot more comfortable using it now. I said as much to Bob.

“The nanobot enhancers would grant you much of what the war suit does, without needing the external hardware, Captain. You really should consider it. Your survivability would increase exponentially.”

I rolled my eyes. “Will you stop hounding me about that already?”

“Given my mission parameters, Captain, it's my job to do all I can to increase your chances of survival.”

“Fine. I’ll do it,” I snapped. “At least you will finally stop pestering me about it.”

“Thank you, Captain! I am… glad to hear that.”

“Great,” I grumbled.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

I wasn’t looking forward to it. There was a high probability that my body would have a bad reaction to the intensive treatment and knock me out for several days. Bob would be there to watch over me, but there was only so much he could do. The silver lining was he wouldn’t be bothering me about it constantly afterward.

“Since you’re planning to receive the nanobot enhancement, now would be a good time to consider getting an implant to interface with my creator's tech directly, Captain.”

“A what? No way!” I said. “I don’t want some computer in my head!”

“I understand it could be a scary proposition, however—”

“No, Bob. Any computer can be hacked. I’m not getting one of those, ever.”

“A mental shroud shield would block all access from the outside. Even quantum entanglement wouldn’t be able to penetrate it and gain access.”

“No Bob. What happens when someone designs the next thing? There is always more to learn. It might not be possible now, but what about in a year? Or ten years?”

“My calculations predict less than .03% chance of—”

“I don’t care. It’s not happening.”

“I see. My next suggestion then would be—”

“Bob, can you please stop!” I snapped.

“I’m trying to help you, Captain.”

“I know, but it’s not helping. You’re just stressing me out. I don’t want some computer in my head or any other stuff. I have no desire to be a cyborg. The war suit is awesome and all. I love it, but I can put it on and take it off when I want. Understand?”

“I think so, Captain. I was going to suggest a minor adjustment to your DNA instead. It would be all biological. Who you are wouldn’t change. You’d just be more resilient. Better. More.”

I closed my eyes and sighed wearily. The nanobots were bad enough, but I’d looked at their coding. If they even detected a hack, they would destroy themselves to prevent being taken over. Once they were in your system, they were pretty much foolproof. I couldn't even change their programming. The only thing I could do was have them break down and enter my waste system.

“I don’t want to alter my DNA, Bob. I’m human and I want to stay that way.”

He let it drop. The next morning I took the ship out to the asteroid belt near the abandoned mining station. It was a small modular thing made from parts of the colony ship that had settled this system. The asteroids had done a number on it and I hadn’t thought it worth my time before, but it was difficult to find the rare resources we needed on the planet with just salvage, and it would be chocked full of goodies.

“Arby, Bob, take some units over to investigate and harvest what we can use. I’m going to start the nanobot enhancement treatment so I might be out of it for a few days.” I paused. “Keep an eye on things, will you Bob?”

“Of course, Captain. You have nothing to worry about.”

Then why am I so uneasy? I headed for the medical bay. We’d salvaged some medical supplies from the desert. An overturned truck had several crates of the local's medical supplies. I was quite pleased with the find.

Once Arby and his RB units were away with a pair of SB units for protection, I started the procedure. The medical bed’s soothing female voice greeted me and scanned my body. Almost immediately we ran into a problem.

“Captain, I’m detecting a foreign substance in your body.”

“What?” I became alarmed. “Where?”

“It’s concentrated in your neck, but it’s present through your entire body.”

Oh, blast! I’d completely forgotten about the tracking compound the Triv had injected into my neck. With everything else going on, I never even thought of it.

“C-can you remove it?” I was terrified of going to the Breakers.

“Of course, Captain. Just lie down and relax. Administering anesthetic now.” A nettle poked my neck.

“Wait!” I cried as panic swelled within me.

“Captain, please lie still, the anesthetic will engage soon…” Maybe finding those medical supplies wasn’t so great after all. Everything faded to black.

* * *

Aboard a Triv War Ship:

No trace of the prison ship appeared on the scan. A distress signal had been sent. It hadn’t remained active long. Then nothing. The Star Hammer had been dispatched to investigate.

Star Hammer was a new ship just off the line. It incorporated all the latest Triv tech and eliminated the known issues and weaknesses with the previous model of dreadnaughts.

For a search and recovery mission, one might think it was overkill but the distress call had indicated an attacking ship. The Triv had many enemies but few had the tech to give them a challenge. To engage one of their ships, even a prison ship, was unprecedented. A powerful response was necessary to deter any other lesser species from trying.

The crew knew their job well and carried out their tasks with brisk efficiency but nothing could be found of the missing ship. Exhausting all options available to him, the Captain placed a call to the Security Bureau but got nothing.

Then almost a week later, just as he was about to call off the search, the Security Bureau called him back. “A shuttle will arrive soon to take over the investigation. For the duration of the mission, you will be under their command.”

The Captain hated the orders, but one didn’t argue with their superiors. Triv had strict discipline. It offered no room for question orders. Five days later when the shuttle arrived, he still had nothing to show for his effort.

A high-ranking Enforcer commando took charge immediately and grilled him with questions. “Why didn’t you track down the escaped prisoners?”

“What prisoners, Sir?”

“You didn’t even query the prisoners tracking implements?”

“Sir, I wasn’t given access. I requested it almost two weeks ago.”

The Enforcer was not happy. “That is unacceptable. I’ll see that those responsible are punished. Here, tune your scanners to this frequency and quarry the prisoners' tracking compound.”

In just a few hours they discovered two active trackers. One was close by, just a few days away. The other was deep into the unknown regions. The Triv had sent ships out there in the past, but they all vanished without a trace.

“Set course for… Zenith? Looks like a primitive human colony embroiled in a planetary war.”

“Sir! The tracker just stopped broadcasting!”

“What?” The Captain and Enforcer in command both demanded in unison. They shared a glance and the Captain stepped back.

“Try it again,” the Enforcer said.

“Nothing, sir. It’s gone.”

“Perhaps the prisoner died,” someone suggested.

“That’s the only way to get rid of the tracking compound,” the Enforcer said. “Still, we’d better check it out. Chart a course for this human system. Best possible speed.”

The Star Hammer was equipped with the latest Triv engine technology. “ETA is seventy hours, sir.”

The Enforcer nodded and turned toward the Captain. “What information do we have on the closer target?”

“A young human. Age twenty-four. Convicted by the human courts on Radon and—”

“Then what the heck is she doing on a Triv prison ship?” the Enforced demanded.

“The Radon Ambassador was the victim of a theft committed by the girl. One Gypsy Peligro.”

The enforcer snorted. “What did she steal, his spaceship?”

“No sir, three vials of life extension therapy.”

He waved it off. It was a trivial thing. “She doesn’t concern me. Still, we are here. We’ll check it out. I could use a favor from an Ambassador. We will investigate every possible lead.” The enforcer paused. “Send the data we have to the Security Bureau and request approval to pursue the other target into the unknown regions. That’s our priority.”

The crew complied quickly and the Star Hammer vanished into the hyperway.