Wienke screamed as his metallic arm ripped around from his shoulder and made a clank as it landed on the table in front of him. He fell off his chair. Enid quirked an eyebrow apparently the cybernetics had something akin to nerves. He writhed on the floor and she reached down and dug her fingers into the flesh around his data port at the base of his neck and then yanked it out along with all the nano fiber connects it had to his nerves. He screamed again. Bee turned away and Enid could hear the woman gagging. Enid paid her little mind. It wasn’t like the girl hand not been warned.

“I believe one of your eyes was replaced as well was it not, Mr. Wienke.”

Enid dropped the bloody data port on the table. He put his remaining hand over his eyes. He was caught between screaming and crying. He tried to speak through his sobs.

“What do you want? I’ll tell you anything!”

“Oh, I’m not here to question you, I’m just repossessing your WTO owned parts. You knew that would happen when you were fired for treason. I have no questions. I already know everything. I can read your mind. But we can’t have you bleeding to death can we, no you need to stand trial.”

Enid reached down and chanted in Atlantean and the gapping wound where his data jack had been pulled out of sealed itself she flinched slightly but her body healed itself rapidly.

“You’re a monster.”

“I see you understand me now. But I think the man who helped kidnap my two daughters is a monster. Cruel that, taking children away from their mother.”

She grabbed his chin and looked him in the eyes. He stopped shivering as she forced her will on him.

“You can feel it can’t you? My mind tearing into yours. Your neurons starting to overheat as I start to melt your brain from the inside out. You’ve never felt such pain before, will it ever end? Is your brain leaking out of your nose right now?”

He started to scream holding his head.

“I already know everything but I’m feeling lazy, the pain can stop…you just have to tell the WTO who are recording this everything that happened, I already know and I can tell them but I mean, I might not have gotten everything its why I’m tearing through your mind right now. Lie to them the pain gets worse, tell the truth the pain will start to subside, take too long well I’m afraid their might be permanent damage that cybernetics just won’t fix.”

“It was BMC! I…I didn’t have a choice.”

Enid made a tsk tsk sound and looked into his eyes again.

“Can you feel it now? Its like worms are starting to eat your tiny little brain away gnawing at it. Naughty boy, the pain is getting worse isn’t it? But you can’t go unconscious because I’m making sure you stay awake and feel every single little nibble.”

“I…I was getting paid!”

“Good, see how the pain is getting better now?”

He sat up a bit looking at her, his whole-body shivering.

“Now, where did they grab them and where are they going?”

“About fifteen minutes after the escort left just before they started their descent. Please make it stop…please, please.”

Bee turned away again at this point, not with disgust in her eyes but betrayal as they had focused on Wienke.

“Where did they take them?”

“They’ll kill me!”

Enid smiled at him then looked in his eyes again.

“And I will kill you then bring you back so I can torture you for eternity….but right now the thing you need to worry about is those little worms that are starting to chew on your brain again.”

He screamed and started blathering.

“Dark Mother save me…Dark Mother save me.”

Enid chuckled.

“I’m sorry, but helped you steal my daughters from me, I won’t be saving you anytime soon. Now before those worms finish eating what is left of your brain…while you can still get medical attention…where did they take my children?”

“Titan! Titan…”

Enid stood up. He looked up at her with pleading eyes.

“Stop the worms please stop them!”

“Its too late…can’t you feel the blood leaking down your nose and onto your lips?”

He touched his face and looked at his fingers. There was no blood to be seen but he started screaming and crying out pleading for the dark mother to save him again. Enid shook her head and picked up the pieces of chrome she had pulled off his body and left him there on the ground screaming. The pair bumped into a woman in a business suit as they left she jumped back when she saw the gore covered cybernetics in Enid’s hands and Enid’s blood splattered face and blouse. She looked behind them at Wienke who was tearing at the flesh on his face with his nails. His screams of get them out get them out echoing through the detention center. The woman looked at Enid with disgust and horror.

“You can’t do that to my client! You’ll be in jail longer than him!”

“Do what?”

“Torture him for a confession it will be inadmissible!”

“Torture him? I retrieved his WTO owned implants. I did not question him until after they had been retrieved and there were no threats. I ensured he had all required medical attention afterwards so he would not die. I’m not sure what is going on with him now. He was talking about worms eating his brain. I wonder what drugs he is on. He is all yours.”

Enid nudged passed the woman and put the implants on the table by the weapon scanners.

“Here, I couldn’t get the eye, so someone will have to remove that later.”

The guard sitting behind the desk stared up at Enid who turned and walked towards the elevator. Bee rushed to keep up.

“Dark Mother… I do not want to question you… but…”

“You may question me all you want. If someone took your children how would you react?”

“I’d do everything in my power to get them back… but that was… that was torture.”

“No, that was vengeance.”

The guard who had escorted them waved his wrist over the panel and looked down at Enid. Unlike Bee he had a look of admiration on his face.

“Ma’am if you’re ever looking for a law enforcement job, I’m sure we could use you.”

Enid shook her head.

“Was law enforcement in a past life, for way too long.”

He looked Enid up and down blinking.

“You don’t look that old.”

“Full conversion, brain in a jar.”

“Shit they must have thrown away the mold then they made you.”

“Must have.”

The door opened at Amee’s floor. Bee followed Enid off. Enid stopped and turned to her.

“Look kid. Its going to get worse from here on out. I’m going to tear shit apart no matter who gets in my way. If that down there was too much for you, you should go home to your family. I’m not Jesus, I’m not a loving and kind deity, I’m old testament, obliterating cities, pillars of ash. If the holy book about me doesn’t tell you that, then it is wrong.”

Enid turned to leave and Bee grabbed her shoulder. Enid glanced back at the girl. Bee’s hand snapped away quickly and she looked at her then back to Enid like she couldn’t believe she had just done that. Enid put her hand on Bee’s cheek.

“You have nothing to fear from me unless you were involved in this thing about my girls.”

“I wasn’t Dark Mother, I swear it…but…you overcame this part of you.”

“Well, not entirely. My children are about the one thing that will get me…to go here. And well it’s my kids, so here I am. So, Bee, I’m in a dark place and I will be here until they are safe, and if they are… dead, well let’s just say the people responsible will find out why you don’t piss off a walking nuclear weapon. Go home to your kids hon. You don’t need to see what comes next.”

“You are better than this Dark Mother.”

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“No, I’m sorry Bee, I am not. I’ll burn down this whole fucking civilization if I have too.”

Amee spoke from behind the pair.

“Well, I hope it will not come to that.”

Enid spun around.

“I need to get to Titan.”

“I have the flag ship waiting.”

“No, I need a fighter, something small and stealthy.”

“What?”

“You send a fleet they’ll know we know and maybe try to move her. Give me something small agile and stealthy, something that won’t raise any eyebrows.”

Enid shook her head and blonde hair flowed and she grew several inches.

“Sarah can…investigate.”

Bee stumbled backwards Amee nodded.

“Fine, but how are you going to fly a starfighter?”

“I’ll figure it out, can’t be that hard, maybe some extra buttons for shields or something but it shouldn’t be that much different then flying a jet right?”

Amee frowned

“Yes, the controls are very similar. Your sister designed them that way.”

“Excellent.”

“But plotting an FTL jump is not…something you can just muddle your way through.”

Amee sighed and tapped her wrist.

“Prepare the X-119, we need it for a mission.”

Enid spoke after Amee tapped her wrist again.

“What is the X-119?”

“Prototype cloaking fighter with a built in…AI.”

“Slow down there, artificial intelligence? Ya, no, just give me a pilot or something.”

“The X-119 is the only fighter with an FTL drive and it is currently a single seat.”

Enid sighed. Bee shook her head.

“No she can’t go alone, I swore I’d protect her.”

Amee glanced at Enid then looked at Bee.

“Look, I know you have some loyalty to her, but she can take care of herself. And if you really want too, I’ll get you passage on a ship. It will take a day or so.”

Amee looked at Enid.

“Well, she’ll come anyway, so fine.”

Amee nodded. The pointed to the elevator.

“Use your holo-phone. Go to launch bay seventeen. Try to bring it back in one piece, there are only two prototypes.”

“I’ll try.”

Amee sighed. Bee turned and watched as Enid entered the elevator. Enid waved her wrist over the panel and the doors closed. She looked down at her bloody hands and sighed. All her progress towards forgiveness and…this. The doors opened and Enid walked out. Holographic arrows appeared before her, and they led towards another security door which opened as her wrist swiped over a panel. She whistled when she saw the fighter. It wasn’t how she pictured it. It was sleek and jet black. The glass on the cockpit seemed opaque. Four techs were scrambling to pull blocks from underneath the wheels and covers over what appeared air intakes. It was larger than the F-22’s she had flown, but smaller than her private jet. She walked up and running her hand along the seamless frame.

“I’m in love.”

“Uh…are you alright…there’s blood.”

Enid looked at the female tech who was talking to her.

“It’s someone else’s, is it ready?”

“He is ready.”

“He?”

“Yes the AI identifies as male.”

Enid laughed in spite of the circumstances.

“So, AI’s have preferred pronouns?”

“Some of them. His name is Apollo.”

Enid quirked an eyebrow, shrugged then started climbing up the ladder towards the cockpit that morphed back into the fighter’s airframe.

“Ma’am…you need a flight suit.”

Enid sighed and took her hands off the ladder rung. She tore off her business skirt and blouse revealing the Atlantean armor which filled in over her uncovered legs.

“I have one.”

The tech blinked.

“It has the same interface as holophones and tablets right?”

“Yes, but…the flight suit is built for space…”

“Whatever. I got this.”

Enid climbed up the ladder and hopped in the cockpit formed over her much like her armor would over her body. The consoles started to flare to life and instead of the black cockpit she saw a 360 degree hologram appear around her showing the launch bay.

“Woah.”

“You are Enid Aurelius.”

Enid looked around.

“Yes, and you’re Apollo?”

“You are correct. What is our mission?”

“My daughters were kidnapped, we’re going to get them back.”

“Your daughter is Eyre Aurelius. CEO of Aurelius Corporation and niece of my creator, Maria Aurelius.”

“Yes…”

“You are in effect my Aunt.”

“I guess.”

“This mission is acceptable.”

“You mean you have a choice?”

“Yes, I am sentient, therefore I can choose to take part in missions or not.”

Enid blinked a few times.

“I used to fly jets in the twenty-first century.”

“I am aware of your military record. You are a medal of honor winner. A hero. One of the best pilots of your generation.”

“Yes, but I have no idea how to use your shields, cloaking or FTL drive.”

“I can assist you with updating your skill set. There is a firing range we can use before we engage the FTL drive.”

“That would be great.”

“Shall I request launch clearance, Aunt Enid?”

“Yes. Provide our flight plan as going to the range, then returning here.”

“Aunt Enid that is incorrect, we are going to Titan.”

“Yes. However if the people who took…your cousins have anyone else on the inside and they see a flight path to Titan for a top secret cloak fighter it might raise suspicions.”

“You are aware that is a violation of space flight regulation 114-3B and WTO FTL travel regulation 19-5A?”

“No, but we don’t give a shit about those because we have the Chairwoman’s permission to retrieve Eyre and Hazel at any cost.”

“Understood. Flight plan registered. We are cleared for launch. Would you like me to take care of the launch for you?”

Enid looked over the holographic controls and flipped on the one that said antigrav. She felt Apollo jerk as it lifted off the ground. She flipped the landing gear toggle and felt it merge into the fighter. She pushed the throttle forward gently and the fighter jerked forward towards the humming launch tube.

“I think I got this. So, this is like a railgun, right? Should get us to near orbit?”

“Yes, you seem to be more knowledgeable than I would expect from a 21st century native.”

“I read about military spacecraft while I was waiting for my daughter to shop. Still wouldn’t want to plot an FTL jump. Might fly through a star….”

Apollo made a sound that was somewhat akin to a laugh.

“We are cleared for launch Aunt Enid.”

“What are the words…punch it?”

Enid felt herself slammed back into her seat as Apollo was shot of what amounted to a giant railgun. The fighter has some sort of G reduction technology built in but it was barely enough to fight the massive G’s pulled when they shot through the launch tube. She kicked the thrusts in by slamming the throttle forward the starfighter burst through the atmosphere. She felt weightlessness for the first time and giggled. Her helmet slid into place and she started getting vital stats on its HUD as it linked up to Apollo’s systems but she also felt something else. She saw flashes of light flicker over the fighter’s frame. Enid cut the main thrustors and hit her retro thrustors and floated upside down above earth.

“What was that flash?”

“Automated nanite removal. The grey leaves traces on hulls and must be removed so it doesn’t infest other planets.”

“Oh.”

A dotted line appeared on Enid’s HUD showing her the course to set for the test range.

“Apollo…before we go…can you turn off the hologram and…make the cockpit transparent?”

“Why? My holoprojection is one hundred and thirty-six percent more efficient than HUD and cockpit.”

“Because I want to see Earth with my own eyes.”

“Understood.”

The holographic HUD flickered off and the opaque cockpit turned translucent, and Enid looked down at the grey and white ball that was the Earth in the 29th century. Mortality settled in as the sun’s light hit her.

“Its…so dead looking. Okay let’s get to it. I knew it wouldn’t be the blue gem it was…”

The cockpit turned black again and the holographic HUD appeared again. Enid flipped the fighter with thrustors and plotted a course to the test range pushing the thrustors forward.

“What is your power core?”

“I run on Antimatter.”

“Which FTL makes as a byproduct?”

“Correct. I have a back up fusion power core in case we lack fuel.”

“What do you do with extra antimatter…Its dangerous isn’t it?”

“It is very dangerous. I use magnetic containment and it is used to charge my antimatter torpedos.”

Enid coughed inside her helmet.

“You have antimatter weaponry?”

“Yes, I’m the test bed for the new antimatter projectile technology.”

“You mean….they actually have…antimatter bombs?”

“Yes. They have never been used in warfare but as I understand it they are being prepped for some future war.”

Enid shivered a bit at the thought of that.

“Who developed them?”

“My mother.”

“Maria? My sister Maria designed weapons of mass destruction?”

“Yes. The highest yield one that was tested on a planetoid sized object that was heading towards the habitable world in Alpha Centauri. It turned it dust. Theoretically it could crack a plant in half.”

“Why would she make something like that?”

“I do not know. It seems like an illogical choice.”

“What kind of yield can you launch?”

“They would be equivalent to a 20th century 10 megaton nuclear weapon. No radiation.”

“Do…you have any now?”

“Negative. My antimatter reserves are minimal at this time. I will have enough for a single 1 kiloton blast after our trip to Titan. Though I will need to use that to power my reactor.”

“So like…can I dump the antimatter core if it is losing containment.”

“Of course. That is why there is a fusion back up.”

Enid pulled back on the throttle and hit the retro-thrustors. The starfighter came to a stop.

“Okay what kind of weapons do we have?”

“I am equipped with anti-fighter/anti-personal plasma chain gun. Two anti-ship rail guns and four short range high explosive missiles. Current Antimatter reserves as previously stated are at zero.”

“Why are the rail guns anti-ship?”

“Most ship shields will ignore energy weapons. Only WTO ships and advanced fighters have hard shields that can prevent projectiles.”

“Do they stop us from launching projectiles?”

“Negative. The flicker off as the projectile is about to exit the launch tube and come back on immediately.”

“But I can just fire the plasma weapon whenever no shield flickering?”

“That is correct. So long as the weapon frequency matches the shield frequency it can pass through the shield undisturbed.”

“So, like…if someone knows that frequency, they can just ignore the shield? Why bother with projectile weapons at all?”

“There are so many frequencies that it is impossible to match them up in time to be effective. If you are extremely lucky you may get one hit in before they realize and the computer adapts and changes it.”

“I understand. So, everything put the plasma has limited ammunition?”

“You are correct.”

Enid nodded and flicked the thrustors on again.

“Well let’s see what a plasma chain gun can do. Weapons hot.”

Enid started weaving through the floating debris field. She recognized some of them as old satellite and other junk that must have been cleared from Earth orbit. She watched the blue spits of energy slag the various bits of metal. She practiced maneuvering and shooting for half an hour before she turned off the plasma autocannon and stopped the fighter again. She was about ten minutes from the moon, and she floated there looking at it through the cockpit’s holodisplay.

“I never thought I would be this close.”

“Aunt Enid I have completed plotting our FTL jump to Titan.”

“How long will it take?”

“Approximately eight minutes.”

“Eight minutes? Does it take over an hour for light from the sun to get there?”

“Approximately 85 minutes. My FTL drive is the fastest ever developed.”

“But…its experimental?”

“Yes but it has been tested thoroughly on drones.”

Enid shrugged.

“Well make it so then?”

“Initiating FTL in 3…2…1”

Enid watched as the hologram around her flickered briefly and then turned into a blue-white tunnel of light. She stared at it in awe.