I was too shocked to even know how to respond, by The Flotilla did she mean the GREAT flotilla? As in the one that had been destroyed literally centuries ago? Who the hell were they?
“OK two questions, first how the hell do you plan to draft me into service in an organisation that hasn’t existed for centuries? Second who the hell are you that you don’t even know what happened to the damn FLOTILLA? It’s been gone since before my great-grandpa was a twinkle in his mother's eye.”
“As I previously stated, I have been out of communications for a while. What do you mean what happened to The Flotilla? I assume from your tone of voice that this data is not going to be positive.”
“Holy crap, you’re serious aren’t you? You really don’t know what happened? I’m going to ask you again, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?”
“My designation is Reliance. I am the central intelligence nexus for the Dreadnought class Flotilla warship Reliance. Serial number 1312-80085.”
“You’re trying to tell me you’re the SHIP? Seriously?”
“Not the ship exactly, more the central processing intelligence nexus of the ship.”
“Great, just what we need, a central AI. Machine intelligences like you were banned under the treaty. Meaning a lot of very nasty people will do whatever it takes to claim you.”
“They will find such a task, challenging.”
“Waddya mean? You’re locked out of practically every system, have damage from more meteor strikes than enough. Hell, even your cleaning drones are dead.”
“Not dead, dormant. They were not needed with no crew. So they were placed in power saving mode. The lockout was due to the lack of an individual of proper rank. Flotilla regulations prohibit unsupervised AI from accessing the key systems. Well except the self-destruct.”
“OK, you mean to tell me that you could have gone active any time and you didn’t?”
“Negative, activation requires a captain's permission.”
“Wonderful, then begin repair protocols.”
“Repair module requires repairs.”
I tried, I really did, but holy shit I have a limit to my patience.
“Then let’s start simpler, allow my crew access to this area.”
“Understood, unlocking entry to the main bay.”
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A few seconds later I was finally unstrapped and then flattened by a hug from Nara, who hugs kinda like pit-bull bites, lock-on, squeeze, don’t let go.
“Nara, need, air.” I gasped, as she made a spirited attempt to crush me into paste. “Jenel, little help?” I pleaded.
“No way, you made her nervous, you pay the price, besides watching you suffer is way too entertaining.”
At last, I was released and did my best to catch my breath.
“So what the hell were you thinking? That orb could have turned you inside out for all you knew.”
“I was thinking that if I didn’t risk it Tyr would probably be happy to sell me for parts for the debt anyway.”
Got to admit I was not expecting the slap, didn't hurt as much as the look on Jenel’s face though, that girl has mastered compressing pure “I’m not mad just disappointed” into a single look. I swear she could make the grinch feel guilty enough to stop being a jerk, and spare us all several damn awful movies.
“Like we need to be stuck after you’re gone paying off your debt. Seriously though I’m glad you didn’t end up with your innards outwards.”
“Same here”
“Then stop doing this crap. What was in here that was worth the risk anyway?”
Now I got to act all smug. It was almost worth the slap earlier.
“Reliance, begin ship-wide reactivation, Register my crew as members of the ship's crew,”
“Order confirmed, beginning reactivation on your command Captain Eileen.”
“Confirmed.”
I had to admit, seeing all those consoles light up, and hearing the sound of the big drives going active all at once was cool. The inevitable short-out as the ship discovered just how many bits were knackered took a little bit of the coolness out. But I still felt like dancing around like an old prospector who just struck gold. Plus there was the added bonus of the looks on the girl's faces as they realised the implications.
“She’s active?” Nara asked.
“That she is, and that’s not all, say hello Reliance.”
“Greetings Crew woman Nara, Crew woman Jenel.”
“Is that a ship's AI?” Jenel squeaked. “We are so screwed, we have to get that debt gone before Tyr figures it out. The last thing we want is that bastard getting full access to a Flotilla Dreadnought.”
“That will not happen, I have a designated captain, under the emergency promotion regulations clause 69203-20. Pending the removal of the captain's authority by an individual ranked Admiral within the Flotilla hierarchy, or mutual agreement of five or more active Captains, Captain Eileen cannot be removed from her position.”
“Well that might prove difficult too, there hasn’t been a Flotilla for about three hundred years.”
“Please clarify, what do you mean there is no Flotilla? Then who was the authority passed to? Surely there must have been a transfer of power, perhaps a change of designation?”
“That’s the problem, it wasn’t, the fleet broke down in a schism, and the ships were turned on each other. Until eventually a Molecular Destabilisation device was deployed.”
“What type of Molecular Destabilisation Device? Most would lack the power needed to destroy more than a few ships. I believe the accounts you have heard may have been exaggerated.”
“Omega.”
That was news to me too, the Sisters had a tendency to brush over the bits where technology was used for evil. It kind of didn’t fit into their pretty little worldview of tech as the ultimate perfection. But we’d read other religious texts, and usually, Omega was kinda, final.
“That is impossible, only the admirals had the authority to activate an Omega device.”
“Yet it happened, Reliance, I gain nothing from lying to you, this is just history to us.”
Reliance didn’t reply, can’t say I blamed her. To us it was history, to her it was the hope that had kept her operational for centuries. I decided the wisest thing to do was to let her think for a while, then if she still needed it let her talk it out. In the mean time we had a whole ship (well most of it,) to explore.