Both Simone and I had successfully moved the time we shared into our long term memory, that way, Hailey wouldn't have access to it right away. She knew we had sex, since we weren't hiding that it happened, we were only stopping her from seeing the details and feeling the things we had felt. It was not something that we wanted a young and impressionable mind to have access to. At least, not until she was old enough to understand what it meant.
Over the next two weeks, while I waited for the last of the first shipment of satellites to be delivered, I constructed another hundred of them and sent them out on a fast cargo ship. The pings the network hub received on an hourly basis was astonishing and the credits kept rolling in.
I also managed to install a third reactor core into Adona and added all of the primary power coils and assault laser cannons that required. I included six extra coils and spread the power load, that way they could maintain continuous fire and not drain the reactor. They were mounted on gimbals so they could rotate in a limited capacity, too. Even Adona was surprised at the versatility the cannons I had spread around her outer shell gave her in ship offense.
Hailey continued her flying lessons and was becoming a fairly good pilot, even though she wasn't allowed to have a license or allowed to fly or co-pilot 'officially'. We had Udelis log all of her time anyway, just in case, so that when she could get her license, she would already have accumulated the required flight time to go from the provisional license to the full license. That was the best we could do for her in that respect and she was quite happy that she wasn't wasting her or our time by having everyone teach her.
When the last satellite from that very first shipment was delivered, which ironically was the last system on the fast cargo ship's way back, it was time to start planning the first covert mission. It didn't take us long to figure out we were going to take Adona, since we wanted some extra protection when going to the system. Nothing said 'back off' like an old destroyer ship design. I left off the two observation bubbles that it was supposed to have, mainly because Adona didn't need for people to see for her.
“This place is going to be... awful.” Simone said and brought up the data on the holographic table.
“You have got to be kidding me.” Jelly said and read it.
“It's one of their holding facilities for prisoners.” Simone said sadly and looked at me. “I'm really glad I convinced you to put this off until now, because we needed the satellite to give us this new data.”
I nodded. “I'm glad the codes we retrieved from the data still worked.”
Simone nodded back. “I can't believe there's something like this so close to a main traffic system.”
“Sometimes hiding in plain sight can keep you hidden.” I said. “What is the business? A recruitment camp?”
Gleas barked a laugh. “Goddess! What a simple explanation for extra fencing, guards all over the place, and haggard people inside when they are seen!”
“We are taking this down, right?” Deborah asked with a determined look in her eyes.
“We are.” I said. “Just as soon as we decide who wants to go.”
Everyone stood up from their seats.
“We can't all go.” I said.
“I'm not staying behind if Beatrice goes.” Sandy said.
“I don't want to stay home, either.” Hailey said. “You'll be a week's travel away and if anything happens, I won't know it unless... unless...”
I reached out and hugged her. “Don't worry. You've seen some of the things I've been through. This isn't going to be nearly as tough.”
Hailey heard my thoughts and gasped. “Will that work?”
“We're going to find out.” I said with a smile.
“Will what work?” Gleas asked.
“Simone? If you would.” I motioned to the table and she changed the display to show the scan of a man's head. It zoomed in and went inside to show the little bomb inside.
“You're going to set them off!” Gleas exclaimed. She was always the first to grasp a situation.
“You got it.” I said. “It's going to take a bit of tech-wizardry to figure out how to broadcast an internal signal from an external source, though.”
“Why do it artificially?” Gleas asked. “Isn't your detection range at two miles?”
“I can't use it or they'll blow the buildings.” I said and Simone changed the display to a wire frame of the buildings in their compound and red blips showed up on every second floor and were scattered in a pattern to ensure complete destruction.
“They really don't want anyone discovering them.” I said. “As soon as they feel my Presence, they will respond with deadly force.”
“You already have something made to try, don't you?” Sheph asked and I nodded.
“There's no way to test it before getting into the thick of it, though.” I said and took out a device that was the size of my fist. “It uses vibrations and resonance to send signals through physical objects.”
“It also needs direct contact to work.” Simone said and glared at me, then sighed. “That's why he said trying to figure out how to reproduce it on a large scale will be difficult.”
“I guess that would stop them from being activated every time they step through a security scanner.” Gleas said and thought about it. “Having to touch each person to kill them is not very feasible.”
“That wouldn't normally be a problem, since we could just shoot the place up with laser cannon fire or just drop a few chunks of rock on them from orbit.” Simone said. “It's not knowing where the prisoners are that's got our previous plans completely messed up.”
Gleas stared at the building setup and remembered what the thing was called. “Are you sure they are actually prisoners?”
I turned my head to look at her. “You think they have actual recruits mixed in, that way they get the same experience as a prisoner.”
Gleas nodded. “It's the perfect cover, isn't it? Who would question one or two new people showing up or a few going missing occasionally? Actual prisoners coming and going would be completely hidden.”
“Son of a bitch.” Simone said and sat down. “This headache is getting bigger and bigger!”
I chuckled and put a hand on her shoulder and shared some Presence with her. “We have time, since none of them know we know.” I said. “We'll keep gathering information and we'll work something out. When we do, then and only then will we move.”
Simone took a breath and let it out, then nodded. “Okay. We can do this.” She said. “I know we can.”
“That's the spirit.” I said. “I doubt we can get into their systems externally, since they are compartmentalized.” I turned the display around and highlighted the main building. “Once we're inside, though...”
“We can access their records and find out which ones are actual prisoners!” Simone said.
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“I'm hoping they also have a device to...” I stopped and looked at Hailey when she gasped. “I'm sorry, Honey.” I kissed her cheek and looked back at Simone. “I hope they have a device they use to torture the prisoners, something they use to threaten to blow the suicide charge...”
Everyone else gasped this time.
“Yes, it's a horrible thing to want.” I said. “If they have one, though... all of our future missions against this organization will be that much smoother.”
“Even other places with prisoners won't make any difference, especially if we can give the signal the ability to be broadcast.” Simone said and I nodded.
“It's going to be another stealth mission, and a very dangerous one.” I cautioned.
“It won't matter if we pull it off.” Simone said. “Especially if they do have a device we can use.”
“Do you really want to use a torture device?” Sheph asked, surprised.
I reached out and touched her hand. “No, I'm not going to use it to torture them. I'm going to use it to activate the suicide charge in their head to kill them. No threats, no questioning, no anything that would constitute cruel and unusual punishment.”
Sheph relaxed at my words. “I was worried we were going to have to drag you back from the brink of madness if you were going to torture them.”
“I appreciate that you think you could bring me back from that.” I said with a chuckle, and she smiled.
“I'd try.” Sheph said. “We all would.”
Everyone nodded, so I stood up straight and held my arms out wide.
“You... are all... my conscience!” I said dramatically and they laughed.
“All right.” Sheph said and turned the building display again. “We have to get this figured out.”
“Are you coming, too?” Hailey asked.
“No, I'm no good for field operations.” Sheph said. “I'm only an administrator.”
I chuckled at that. “You ran part of the government for an entire planetary star system. You are not only an administrator.”
“Hunter!” Sandy pointed at Sheph. “Let her run your company!”
I was surprised that I hadn't thought of that before.
“I couldn't possibly...” Sheph started to say.
“I'm going to be too busy myself for... well, now that the satellites are in place, I'm going to be running missions pretty constantly.” I said and gave Sheph an appraising eye. “Can you lower yourself enough to only running a company?”
Sheph laughed. “I'm not qualified for it.”
“Neither am I.” I said with a smile. “So, what other argument have you got?”
“I'm too busy enjoying my vacation.” Sheph said, and that made everyone laugh. “What? It's true!”
Hailey and Simone laughed harder at the lie and I grinned.
“You've been pacing your room and wondering what you were going to do for the rest of your life.” I said to Sheph. She opened her mouth to deny it, then sighed.
“What am I going to do with my life from now on?”
“You can take care of my business for now, then if you feel like doing something else later, you can do that, too.” I said. “What do you say? Can you take care of us with Opina's help?”
“What do you think, Opina?” Sheph asked the room. “Should I accept?”
“I think having something to do is better than wearing out the carpet some more.” Opina said.
“I guess that means I'm doing it.” Sheph said with a smile.
“I think I found you an assistant, too.” I said and pointed to Sandy.
“What?” Sandy looked surprised.
“You've been placing the orders for things ever since the medical supply debacle.” I said. “You need to let Sheph know what you've been doing and what state everything is currently in. Becoming her assistant would not only let you keep doing what you're doing, you also get a fancy new title out of it.”
Sandy huffed and looked at Beatrice, who looked back at her with sparkling eyes. “You want me to?”
Beatrice nodded. “You've been doing it all anyway.”
Sandy nodded and looked at me. “All right. I'm in.”
“Great.” I said and tapped my knuckle on the table. “Let's leave this planning session alone for an hour or so and see if we can't come up with something better later.”
“Are you sure? We need this sorted out before we can decide who we need on the mission.” Simone said and then smiled. “That is, unless you're making food.”
I chuckled. “Yes, I'll make lunch.”
“Meeting adjourned.” Simone said with authority. “Hailey, you know what to do.”
“I'll get the aprons and you get the food!” Hailey said and ran from the meeting room with Simone right behind her.
“Hey, I didn't agree to have two assistants!” I said to their backs and they laughed.
“I'll move the chairs at the table to face the right way.” Gleas said with a grin and left.
“I think I've spoiled you all with my cooking.” I said and the rest of us left the meeting room together.
“Yes, it's all your fault that you're a great cook and we love eating your meals.” Sheph laughed.
We all went to the huge octagon in the middle of the third floor and Gleas already had the chairs arrayed near the counter so that they could all watch me as I cooked the meal.
“I should sell tickets.” I joked and took the apron Hailey held out to me and put it on.
“Or record a show.” Simone said and opened four different cabinets and grabbed several different things at the same time.
“Hey, no pre-adding ingredients.” I swatted her hand. “You don't even know what I'm cooking yet.”
“It doesn't matter.” Simone said with a laugh and handed Hailey a big bowl and a whisk with two hands. “Start telling us what you want or I'll empty all of the cupboards.”
I shook my head. “All right, all right.” I said and stepped between them and started to direct them. They both rubbed against me, grabbed the ingredients I needed, then listened to my directions. I did the same to them, of course. That was the fun of couple's cooking, after all. Both Hailey and Simone were giggling and in great moods by the time the meal was prepared, and when we turned around, we were met with applause.
“We definitely should have filmed that.” Sandy said. “Just the coordination alone was amazing to see.”
“I have to agree.” Sheph said. “How do I sign up for the next cooking lesson?”
“You just did.” I said and she gave me a huge smile.
“Let's eat!” Simone said and carried four plates to the table. Hailey carried two, and I carried the rest. We all sat at the huge table and enjoyed the food that was made with both skill and love.
That sounds a little corny, even in my head. I thought with a smile.
Both Simone and Hailey looked at me. I love you. They thought at the same time.
I love you, too. I thought and gave them what I felt about them. They blushed and went back to eating.
We finished the meal and let it digest as we talked about any way we could make the next mission safer. We knew that we could only do so much without actually being there and witnessing what the conditions were like. The problem was that there was nowhere near for the place to be observed from without giving us away.
We went back to the meeting room and continued to discuss it. After two more hours, we had a tentative plan in place and had the crew picked out. Sheph, Beatrice, Sandy, and Hailey would be staying behind and everyone else would be coming along.
“You can't leave me behind.” Hailey commanded and stared at me angrily.
“Hailey.” I took her hand and knelt on one knee to put her head slightly above mine. “I could travel across the universe all alone and I will never leave you behind.” I said and let my Presence out and touched hers. “No matter where I go, there you'll be, because you are in my heart and always will be.”
Hailey's eyes teared up as she felt how I felt and knew that it was the truth. The Presence didn't waver at all and she put her arms around my neck and hugged me. We stayed that way for several minutes, then she composed herself and let me go.
“If you die on me, I'm going to kill you.” Hailey said sternly.
“I would definitely deserve it.” I said and wiped at her eyes, then gave her a quick kiss.
I stood up and saw that there wasn't a dry eye anywhere on the others. No one commented on it and we ended the meeting. We would leave the next day after loading the appropriate supplies onto Adona, then we would be gone for over two weeks, depending on how long it took to do the mission when there. It wasn't the best plan; but, it had the highest chance of success, according to the three AIs we had.
We didn't ask what the odds of failure were.
We all went back to our rooms and went to bed, some anxious about the mission to come, others nervous about being left behind, and all of us hoped it all worked out and that it wasn't a fool's errand.
The next day came and after eating and loading the ship, we were off. A week's travel isn't that long in space terms; but, each day seemed to drag on and was a lot longer than it was supposed to be. I rested fitfully, even with Simone in my bed and sharing energy and thoughts.
I didn't know why I was suffering like that until I stood in the cockpit of the ship when it left hyperspace. We had entered the nearby star system that was a day's normal space travel away from the target and I felt my Presence being sucked out. My body trembled and Simone said something that I didn't hear. I tried to take several shaky steps, then I collapsed to the floor.
“HUNTER!” Simone yelled and knelt beside me. “What's wrong?”
“S-star... the star.” I managed to say. “Get... away... from...” I lost consciousness as my Presence drained away.
*
“What's wrong with the star?” Gleas asked. “It's a brown dwarf star, isn't it?” She asked and checked the instruments. “It's barely giving off any light.”
Simone gasped. “Oh, god!” She exclaimed. “Get us out of here! Right now!”
Gleas didn't question why and turned the ship around and added power to the engines. “Deborah?”
“Coordinates are coming.” Deborah said. “Thirty seconds.”
“God, please let us survive long enough to jump.” Simone prayed, her voice full of sincerity.
Ten seconds later, the entire ship lurched off course as something massive slammed into it from above.
“ARGH! What was that?” Adona asked from the intercom speakers. “I can't see anything!”
“We can't see anything, either!” Gleas said and checked the instruments and then looked out through the cockpit's window again. “Whatever it is, it's invisible!”
The ship was slammed again and flipped over. Thankfully, the internal gravity was strong enough to stop everyone from being thrown around like ragdolls. Gleas managed to right the ship and get it back on course.
“Got them!” Deborah said and sent Gleas the coordinates to jump.
“Hold on!” Gleas said and pushed the levers and hit the button to jump. Just then, there was a sound of wrenching metal as if it was being crushed, the ship's AI Adona let out a scream, then the ship disappeared into hyperspace.