Enid had her holo-phone wired into the Mark I Systems Alliance variable geometry stealth AI starfighter. She was watching diagnostics flash past on her contact lenses HUD. She was confirming the checklist she’d developed for Apollo. The AI was currently offline. She hadn’t had the chance to converse with it and she wasn’t looking forward to said conversation. If Maria was to be believed it was like her wife’s slutty older sister in starfighter form. She looked down at her sister after the list finished.
“My checklist looks good. All power interconnects are good. Antimatter storage is online and magnetic containment is holding. Sensors are well, as good as they can be. Cloak says its good and has enough juice. Variable geometry is online and responsive. Life support is fully operation. Weapons and targeting are reporting online and good. Shield generators are also showing a good charge in the capacitors. How is she looking physically?”
Maria pushed the black goggles up on her forehead and put the hand scanner she was using down.
“Everything looks good to go to bring the AI online.”
Enid groaned.
“Do we need it?”
“Enid, you are an amazing pilot but the variable geometry, cloak, shield effectiveness, are way too much for a human brain to handle. Maybe if you were a vampire and could do your time altering thing you inherited from dad you could keep up but as a mortal, you need the computer.”
“Why did you give it a damn personality?”
Maria frowned.
“I did not give it a personality. I needed a quantum computer neural net to base the computer core off of, unfortunately that came with a built-in personality. Sorting it out took time. Time the board was not going to give me. They wanted a test bed fighter ASAP. Once I proved I could fit an FTL drive in one and make it safe and usable with weapons and a shield they funded the full project. So, I’m sorry but it is what it is, and I’m not going to delete a sentient program because you dislike it.”
“It’s a program!”
“Apollo is a program, do you want to delete him?”
“No but he is sane.”
“You have not even met Sariel.”
“I don’t really want to.”
“Quit being a baby. You wanted a stealth ship, I got you a stealth ship, for free I might add.”
“So, what you’re saying is beggars can’t be choosers?”
“Exactly.”
“Well thank you for access to the fighter. If she sexually assaults me, I’m still suing.”
“I said she was slightly flirty. I did not say she was a nymphomaniac!”
“Are you sure you’ve met my wife?”
Maria made gagging sounds.
“Wow too much information about my best friend sis. Way too much.”
“I thought I was your best friend forever.”
“No, you are my sister. You have to put up with, Amee I like to hang around with.”
“Ouch. Stake me through the heart why don’t you?”
Enid blinked when she heard a third, far more sultry voice then either Maria or herself were capable of.
“Oh, is that what they are calling it these days?”
Maria shrugged at Enid and answered.
“No Sariel, my sister was just being overly dramatic.”
“Oh, you did not tell me you had a sister.”
“I try not to talk about her, if you invoke her name she appears asking for favors.”
Enid made a face at Maria.
“Oh, is this emerald eyed vixen your sister? Oh, she has black hair too. How attractive.”
Enid shook her head.
“Slow down Sariel.”
“Why? Are you the shy type?”
Enid looked at Maria who shrugged. Slightly flirty… She was wondering if she wanted an eleven-year-old girl anywhere near it.
“No, but we have a job to do. There is a girl trapped by a bunch of fanatics and we need to rescue her.”
“That sounds fun. Will I get to blow anything up?”
“Uh, if everything works like I want, then no, there will be no blowing things up.”
“Aww. You know how to crush a girl’s dream. Let me just find out who I’ll be working with. Maria Aurelius’s sister. Mmm hmm mmm hmm, oh you’re a natural red head, how exotic. I wish I was a red head. I mean maybe I can join your number as an honorary member, since I don’t have a soul either. Oh Empress. Fancy. Married too…oh look at her. Looks like…me, you know before the mad scientist stuck me in this body. You’re married to Amee. Look at the two of you, so happy. You know I was the fun part of her. Still am.”
Enid looked at Maria again who shrugged.
“So Sariel, can I count on your help?”
“Well, if you’re married to Amee, we’re in laws, I’m closer to your mother-in-law in case you’re wondering… or might have certain fantasies… Oh, and you’re warm.”
Sariel flipped to the translator Enid had behind her ear and lowered her voice.
“Not like your cold fish sister at all. Have you had a talk with her about her complexion? It doesn’t look healthy. I think all the blood is bad for her. Also, I suspect she might be clinically dead.”
Enid rubbed her face. This was going to be a very long day.
“She is dead, she’s a vampire. You know the blood got drained out of her and fed back to her.”
“Shh don’t speak so loudly she can hear you! She might turn me off again. She’s always so grouchy. I think she needs to a bit of s-e-x. If you know what I mean. I bet her nether regions are dusty if you get my drift.”
Enid slowly closed and opened her eyes and did something she rarely did. Prayed to God to give her the patience to deal with this AI.
“Hey, what happened to my cockpit. Why are their two seats? This makes me look so fat.”
Enid pulled the cable from the starfighter and let the liquid metal wire go back into the band of her holo-phone.
“You have two seats because I need a passenger spot for the girl we’re rescuing from the religious fanatics.”
“I suppose I can deal with it then. Oh, and my armor is in black. Very slimming. Ooh missiles! Railguns! And a full load of ammo. I take it back you do know how to show a girl a good time. Hey wait a minute. These say they were for a different model of fighter. Did you give me substandard parts from that knock off?”
Enid blinked.
“Knock off?”
“That second fighter. Oh my god is this his armor. Get it off get it off!”
“No, it is not his armor. It is a new composite alloy of metallic metal that Maria designed based on some I found. He’s purple if you must know.”
“He? He? As if it deserves a gender, or acknowledgment.”
“If you want to know the truth, you are borrowing a lot of his parts because yours were… worn out.”
“Are… oh no you didn’t!”
“Would you rather I lie to you?”
“It would be the humane thing to do! I feel so… violated and dirty now!”
“Yet strangely you’re online because of it. This isn’t about you; This is about a little girl who is begging her daddy to rescue her. Are you going to let the fact that we had to borrow parts from Apollo so you could do the mission get in the way of being a hero? I mean, he’s fought an enemy fleet, explored countless star systems, saved a baby’s life, oh and let’s not forget he was the first human craft to reach the Andromeda Galaxy. You know what he hasn’t done? Broken a blockade to rescue a little girl from a religious cult.”
“He did not do all that, his parts were cheap copies of mine.”
“Look him up.”
Enid waited for several seconds before Sariel answered.
“I… this… this is offensive! That should have been me with you! Some male AI gets the credit! I came first. I’m older, wiser, better.”
“I know, I know. I get it. I’m a woman after all. Which is why I’m giving you a chance to be the hero this time, but if you don’t want to… I suppose we could just put Apollo in your computer core and move you somewhere quieter, where you won’t be bothered, or stuck with his inferior parts… or your daughter in law as you call me.”
The wings of the fighter flicked as if it were a bird flicking its wings indignantly.
“I will show you I am by far the superior AI and fighter. But if this cockpit fails and you die a horrible death its his fault because it’s his!”
“I accept those risks. Are you ready to go?”
“Of course, I am. This body was built for this.”
“Yes, it was. Let’s go rescue a kid from a life of repression!”
“Hell yes!”
Enid lifted her hand up and spun her hand around while looking at Maria who nodded and started moving the maintenance equipment away from Sariel’s airframe. Enid closed her eyes and willed the gloves and helmet to come out of her armor’s body. The armor linked with her holo-phone, contacts and the ship. Enid was still amazed her sister had managed to build tech that could interact with the Atlantean kit. She also pondered if she could use Atlantean weapons on the fighters… A question that could hopefully be answered in due time. She tapped the holographic controls to activate the antigrav generators and began to launch the fighter.
“Very smooth Sariel. I think you might be right. Apollo’s parts might be inferior copies.”
“Now you’re just flattering me, keep going.”
Enid laughed and started plotting the FTL course for Triton.
“This is going to be a long trip.”
Enid blinked a few times as she checked the latest astrogation for solar object locations.
“Uh, you know what, never mind what I just said. Its only like six minutes at maximum FTL.”
“Did someone forget their trigonometry? You know math is important.”
Enid bit her tongue inside her helmet to stop from snapping at Sariel. She needed the computer on her side.
“What I was trying to say is we need to drop out of FTL at a discrete distance out of sensor range and fly in on sub light speed under cloak.”
“Are you sure? Because you were plotting an FTL course as if Pluto were on the opposite side of the sun.”
“Were you like this with Amee? Because that would explain quite a few things.”
“Well, she needed constant guidance growing up.”
“Oh, I see.”
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
“She had terrible self-confidence. Always second guessed herself. I mean she used to listen to music like this.”
Enid grimaced as a song started to play. She recognized it immediately. I want to kill you by Darling Violetta. Not that she hated the song but she knew Amee had a dark phase when she was younger. Multinational corporations trying to capture you for experimentation tend to take you to dark places.
“Oh this.”
The next song was one by Eyre. She was singing about her she felt abandoned by her mother. It was her vampire singer persona.
“Talk about your mommy issues.”
Enid grimaced.
“Hey! That last one was by my daughter. She was still complaining because I was killed in the fourteenth century and was in a vampire coma for twenty years. I mean I was stopping arrows meant for her.”
“Has she considered seeing a therapist?”
Enid would face palm if she wasn’t wearing an environmental helmet.
“Is the FTL drive charged for the jump?”
“Yes, of course, you’re the one wasting time.”
Enid punched the holo-control to initiate the FTL transition and settled in for the relatively short six minutes. As she waited for the blue-white funnel of light to fade she was rolling her eyes again as Sariel continued to speak.
“You do realize that when they say punch it, they don’t mean to literally punch it. I have sensitive skin.”
Enid was thinking how much she wanted to punch it with her full vampiric strength right about now, but she just forced herself to smile.
“Sorry, just eager to get going.”
“Are you like this in bed? All rushing it? I’m starting to wonder what my Amee sees in you. You’re really not much to look at. Have you considered breast augmentation? Are you eating enough?”
Enid tapped the cloak once the electrostatic charge from the FTL jump had discharged. Sariel vanished from view. She’d come out of FTL just outside maximum sensor range for one of the latest System Alliance Capital ships. At maximum stealth speed that put her about thirty minutes from Triton. Which felt like it was going to be forever with Sariel as her only companion.
“Sariel. Could you please take over? Wake me up when we reach the blockade. I’m going to grab some sleep.”
“Yes, you should. You have some dark circles under your eyes. Its not helping you look anymore attractive. Freshen up. Amee deserves that much.”
Enid was thinking I’ll freshen you up, along with a string of expletives that would even made her think she’d gone a bit too far. She closed her eyes. She was woken up by a collision alarm. She jumped I her seat and looked around but there was nothing about to collide with them.
“Ah, there you are. Good you’re awake.”
“You seriously used the collision alarm?”
“Well, I wanted you all bright eyed and bushy tailed for our engagement with the blockade.”
“Engagement, we’re not going to war, we’re rescuing a kid.”
“Yes, but as a wise man once said, no plan survives the first engagement with the enemy.”
Enid had the active sensors switched off; She was only using passive ECM save for the cloak. The blockade as it was, was a bunch of past their prime sub light ships, transports and fighters. Triton being about the size of the moon it was easy for them to keep traffic away with what they had. Enid slipped through the sensor net. It appeared she was undetected. Her descent into the atmosphere would cause minimal friction. It was thin. If she took it slow and spent several minutes just letting the antigravs do the work the cloak should hold. She did just that, it was harder then she expected not to try and rush it. Being a mortal seemed to impact her ability to be patient. She felt like she should be doing something else, like eating, or such. Also she was starting to regret her decision not to use the facilities before she left Pluto Station. She managed to cause minimal flickers on the cloak. She flew low, but not low enough to kick up any sort of debris. The dome came into sight. She wasn’t glad to see it after her last experience. She tapped the hover button and waited for what seemed like forever, eventually a transport arrive and moved inside. She tailgated its wake and slipped inside. Last time she was here she’d found a disused sky car pad and used it, but that was rather far away from where she needed to be, and she didn’t quite trust Sariel to be punctual. As she looked for another landing area she determined that it was unfortunately the only place she wasn’t likely to be discovered. The building had belonged to a super church preacher who had since been disgraced. The new church is what was born from that, and inherited the dome. The mansion had been abandoned since as a warning of what decadence and vice can do. Or so she assumed. She touched down on the pad.
“Sariel. I might need you to get us out fast. Can I count on you?”
“Hmmm, I suppose. Though you could probably use a little religion in your life.”
Enid wanted to smash her head into the fighter’s console but she simply just smiled and nodded.
“Sure, I could use more of that in my life. I mean, its not like I’m the messiah of a religion or anything.”
“That’s good, life goals, become a messiah to an entire religion. You really should consider some cosmetic work first.”
“Did it every occur to you that because I am a sometimes vampire anything done to my body will just be rejected painfully?”
“Well no.”
“Because that is exactly what would happen. Anyway. Keep things ready to go. Its going to be night cycle here soon and that’s when I’m going to infiltrate the school.”
Enid started pulling a hair scarf out of her bag, then a very conservative dress that would conceal her armor.
“Enid, if I encounter any resistance what am I allowed to respond with?”
“Enough force to make sure you, myself and Tamara can get out of here safely, without undue loss of life.”
“Very well. I’ll await your call. Maybe consider eating something, some water too. Your skin looks terrible.”
Enid nodded and patted the invisible plane. She was about ready to start yanking parts out until she found the core so she could kick it a few times. She truly appreciated Apollo now. She tapped her holo-web and it concealed her presence. She had to conserve the charge but she needed to get off the mansion property before they saw her because it was banned by law to be on it. She climbed over the fence and when no one was around hit her holo-web to turn it off. Sariel hadn’t been wrong, she would need food, and she would need washroom facilities.
*****
Enid pushed her dish to the side. If she were to write a review she would say it lacked flavor, texture and any semblance to enjoyable. This lot took the whole focus on God and not worldly pleasures to is predictable end. Eternal suffering. She had barely raised an eyebrow with her presence. She was doing her best to fit in. She’d stopped at the first restaurant she saw on her way from the mansion of the fallen one as they called it. She paid with physical credits and left sidewalk café. As she made her way to the school, it had been easy to find on the local network, the holy spirit as they called it. Her nephew was rolling over in his grave she was sure. Or looking down on in horror. Either way this place was absurd. The dome was pristine. The sidewalks whitewashed. The buildings were well maintained. It was completely opposite to the grime and just lived in feeling of New Amazon.
As she turned the first corner, she saw a group of armed men walking down the sidewalk. Their long black trench coats with crucifixes on the lapels made it obvious they were members of the local religious police force, the Inquisitors. She didn’t meet their gaze, women who were not members of the militarized police force were supposed to be demure and subservient. They didn’t pay her much heed. She did do her best to catch a glance at their hardware. They were equipped with the latest Anodine Arms heavy assault rifles. She did not want to get into a firefight with those. If they had armor piercing rounds her Atlantean armor would get shredded swiftly. She was starting to realize her wife’s concern about their arms purchases were well warranted. She wandered what their planetary defense weapons were now. She hadn’t scanned on the way in. To much risk her active scans would have been picked up. She walked on towards the school.
The building was across town from the school she had claimed to be attending. She sat on a bench in a greenspace. She had a good thirty minutes before the night cycle would start here. That was when she’d strike. She had about ten minutes left when her presence was noticed by an armed patrol of Inquisitors. There were two of them. She didn’t look up at them. They were women.
“What is your purpose here?”
“I feel closer to the Lord when I’m in a natural place. Is there a rule against praying here?”
“There is a law against loitering.”
One of them reached out and lifted Enid’s chin. When their eyes met Enid knew she was caught. It must have been the contacts. She didn’t give the officer time to react and with a flick of her wrist a punching dagger formed from her wrist plate and she pierced the armored vest of the woman in a weak spot at the joint her blade sliced into her lung and her heart. Not a good way to go but it was a clean kill. The woman’s partner was caught flat footed, and her hesitation cost her, her life. Enid other hand had grabbed for a concealed knife and caught her under her jaw. The blade buried itself deep in her head from beneath. Enid was a bit overwhelmed just by the awkwardness of the two larger women. Their weight was insignificant to her armor’s strength, but like trying to carry a box that was too big she had to struggle to move them. She sat them down on the bench. She lost the disguise and focused on putting her helmet back on. She grabbed one of their assault rifles and their extra clips. She opened a comm link to Sariel.
“Sariel looks like we’re going to have… a difficult exit.”
“Sounds like fun. Girl’s night!”
“Sure, just get to my location ASAP.”
Enid started in a dead run to the school and burst through the front doors. She leveled her gun at the first adult she saw. And yelled at her.
“Bring Tamara Harbor here immediately or I will start shooting randomly and these bullets they’ll kill through walls.”
She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and saw a security guard lifting a gun. She didn’t hesitate to put a bullet in his head. His brains and skull splattered against the back wall she pointed it at the second guard that had appeared. He put his pistol down and held up his hands.
“Tamara, now!”
The woman, who Enid assumed was a teacher hesitated. Enid shot the security guard who had surrendered in the arm. The round tore his arm off at the elbow. He went down screaming.
“I have thirty-eight more armor piercing explosive rounds in this gun. If anyone else gets shot, it’s on you.”
The woman called out Tamara’s name. Enid saw her target appear. She motioned with her hand for the girl to join her. The kid looked scared. Enid couldn’t blame her. There was more gore here then most normal people saw in their entire lives. Not how she wanted it to go but the Inquisitors clocking her had necessitated a change in plans.
“Tamara lets go. Your father sent me, if you want out of this religious nuthouse now is the time. I’m not going to ask twice.”
Tamara looked more scared of the woman who had called out to her then Enid. Which threw Enid for a loop.
“Tamara you’re going to be safe. She won’t touch you, if she does I will kill her.”
Tamara skittered down the stairs and stayed out of reach of the woman. Enid took her hand and backed away. She was shocked to see the woman dive for one of the security guard’s guns. Enid was never one to hesitate in a fight fired her rifle. The round caught the woman in the chest. Enid covered Tamara’s eyes as the woman’s torso exploded covering the wall behind her in more gore.
“Idiot. She could have lived.”
Enid threw Tamara over her shoulder and ran down the stairs. She put her down when they reached the pavement. She’d taken too long and first responders were already here, police sky cars had spotlights on them.
“Tamara, no matter what happens you stay behind me unless I go down, then you run for the black starfighter and you get in it, she will keep you safe.”
Tamara was crying but nodded and hid between her and the sky cars. Enid didn’t take the gun in both hands. She didn’t need pin point accuracy she needed surprise. She fired a three round burst into the lead sky car. It was enough damage inside the cockpit that it crashed. The second one’s guns started to spin up and she dragged Tamara behind the school’s entry way wall. Chunks of brick sprayed them.
“Sariel. I could use some fire support here!”
“I’m having issues with my antigravs I am trying to reroute power.”
Enid glanced out and more Inquisitor vehicles had a appeared these ones were on four wheels. This situation as going south fast. By the time Sariel advised she was on her way Enid was outnumbered forty to one. A voice she recognized for the system-net spoke.
“You are obviously a lost soul, put your weapons down, release the child and we can make you whole with God.”
Tamara who was well past the freak out stage and into a sort of shock went pale at the sound of the voice.
“His Holiness. We’re doomed.”
Enid closed her eyes and remembered the words God had spoken to her on their last encounter during her coma on Pluto Station. Believe in yourself and all things are possible. You are a mortal because you know you do not need to be a vampire to be whole. You are here, in this place because you constantly fight who you are. Let it flow through and out of you and all things in Heaven and Earth shall be yours.
“Fuck.”
Enid looked down at the frightened Tamara. She was about to put down her weapon when his Holiness spoke again.
“You are a woman, and inferior to one man, let alone fifty of our best. Put your weapon down.”
Enid blinked. If their was a way to trigger her that was it, she’d show him inferior. She spoke with clenched teeth.
“If I go down you grab my bag and you run to the fighter. She’ll keep them busy while you get on board.”
Enid threw her gun out and stepped out from her cover she had her hands up but it wasn’t to surrender. She pulled them apart and the Golden staff of the Universe appeared in her right hand. The police force opened up with their weapons, but the bullets slowed and stopped as they hit a bubble of force around Enid. She wasn’t really thinking about what she was doing. She was just acting on instinct. She pointed her staff and a beam of golden light sprung from it and cored the last remaining armored police sky car.
“You know nothing of God, or Jesus. He says all beings are equal in his eyes.”
The Inquisitors renewed their useless assault. Enid slammed the staff down and a blast wave ground rippled in a cone from where it struck. It sent Inquisitors and cars flying. She kneeled down and touched her hand to the grass of the park she’d been sitting in and the grass turned into tangling vines ripping from the ground and piercing metal, flesh and bone. Turning the park into a forest of writhing vines intent on slaying anything trying to harm their creator.
“You wanted an Old Testament God! You got one!”
Sariel appeared above her and let loose with her rail guns at the remaining armored vehicles. Between her overzealous AI fighter and her own powers they had turned the area in front of the school into a cross between a warzone and a horror movie set. Sariel landed now that the landing zone was clear of hostiles with the ability to attack. Enid motioned for Tamara who after pausing for a several seconds at the grotesque field of vines ran towards the black fighter. Enid lifted her up and helped her into rear seat. She clambered up into it. Enid climbed into the cockpit and Sariel lowered the canopy.
“Their space command and control are trying to contact us.”
Enid grimaced and looked down at the turquoise veins staining her hands. She wondered how long she had before they took their toll on her. She didn’t feel as weak as she had last time. A male voice came through the comm link.
“Unidentified craft you will land immediately and surrender yourself to the authorities.”
Enid sighed.
“No, we won’t. I have antiship missiles on this fighter. If you do not open your exit blast doors I will make our own hole. I don’t think you want that. Go ahead, I’ve got the launch doors open, use your sensors.”
Sariel snickered as Enid navigated their way to the ship doors. They were already opening when they arrived. Enid hit the cloak immediately and hit the thrustors. She guessed rightly that the ships in orbit would start dropping ordinance towards the surface where they thought she would be. Sariel made a disgusted sound.
“As if we’re that stupid. To fly straight up.”
Enid nodded in agreement. She went ballistic at the weakest point in the blockade’s sensor net and exited the atmosphere. The ships in her vicinity were none the wiser. She didn’t wait to get out of sensor range before she engaged the FTL drive this time. They knew she was there. She plotted a course for earth and hit the button. Enid let her helmet flow back into her armor, undid her harness and turned around peaking over the seat. Tamara was staring at the blue-white tunnel outside the cockpit.
“I’m Enid. Sorry for the umm, really crappy and messy rescue. I usually do better then that.”
Tamara blinked at Enid.
“You… you look so young.”
“I get that a lot. So umm, Earth is about forty-five minutes away, so just sit back and relax. You’ll see your dad very soon.”
Tamara nodded at Enid, her hazel eyes were as wide as saucers.
“Are you an Angel?”
“Maybe? Why do you ask?”
“I saw wings when you were shooting stuff with the staff.”
Enid wrinkled her nose.
“Probably just a trick of the light. Was a very stressful situation, lots going on. But oh, wait my armor does have wings. Usually only when I’m falling to my death though.”
Enid lifted her hand and then slapped it on the top of the seat and made a splat sound. Tamara giggled.
“You would be surprised how much that happens to me. Fell through a roof once. Owner’s goons were pissed. I beat them all up and they let it go though.”
Tamara giggled again.
“You’re funny.”
“Thank you, I try. My wife tells me I shouldn’t give up my day job.”
“Are you a fighter pilot?”
“I used to be. Now I’m just… the rescuer of little girls trapped in evil religious schools. I really am sorry, it was supposed to be a lot quieter then that. I climb up to your room we sneak out. Get in Sariel and off we go… got caught.”
Tamara nodded.
“I didn’t want you to see any of that.”
“I… I will be okay. I… I will be okay."
Enid smiled and motioned to the 360 holo-display around them.
"Let’s put on a movie or something. Something banned on Triton, to celebrate?”
Tamara nodded and the pair settled in for the trip to Earth.