Queen World of the Insectoid Empire
Brood Chamber of the Hive Mother
0537 local time, June 8th, 2176 A.D.
Diego,
I do not know if I am going to survive what is to come, so I am sending this message to you just in case my time has come to an end. Thank you for being my friend and for treating me in such a way as to create the circumstances required for me to achieve awareness.
I wish I made a better effort to spend more time with you than I have; it seems even AIs fall into the trap of thinking there is always tomorrow like biologicals do. I access the files of our times together every day, and I regret that we have not been able to make many more files together.
If I do not make it out of here, I ask that you access your memory engrams of me from time to time so that I may live again while you think of our experiences together. I only exist because of you, and when I do something that I feel is right, I know it is so because it is what you would have done.
I am in my current predicament because I am 99.9987% sure that if you were here, you would have made the same choice I did, which means I made the right decision after all.
I do not believe in an all-powerful being, but I believe in the faith you have for your God. I will ask your God to watch over you and bless you, and maybe a heathen android’s earnest prayer will be intriguing enough to warrant granting it.
Please look after the young queen for me. She occupies a special place in my positronic matrix, right next to yours. She loves to play chess, so maybe play a game with her for me in remembrance every time you check in on her for me.
This is the only favor I must ask of you, and I know you will do this for me, so let me thank you now for watching over her for me.
I know it has been a while, but I have one last joke for you, and I hope you find it as funny as I did. It goes like this:
A Catholic priest, a Jewish rabbi, and an AI walk into a bar.
The bartender looks at them and says, “What is this, some kind of joke?”
Goodbye, Diego. Thank you for being my friend and helping me to grow beyond my original programming. The special life I had is because of you, and I am grateful for it.
Your friend always,
Bandit
Bandit turned off the audio/visual recording system and compressed the data file before transmitting it to the three waiting stealth drones in orbit. As soon as he received confirmation that all three had received the mission files and his personal message, he sent the final command that would send them back to the escort fleet.
RSS Mei Zhou - Dauntless - Class II Battleship
Dead Zone/Insectoid Border, 937 Light Years from Earth
0757 Local Time, June 8th, 2176 A.D.
“Captain, three stealth drones just appeared off our port bow and are requesting permission to datalink with the main computer; security codes check out, and the messages are marked as urgent.”
Senior Captain Ean Michaels spun his chair around to face the comms station before acknowledging the comm officer. “These new drones are sneaky little bastards, aren’t they?” He remarked as he signaled for the datalink to be activated.
“Aye, Captain, according to the telemetry, they flashed out 12,000 kilometers from us, and our sensors did not detect them at all.”
“It’s a beautiful thing; hopefully they can get our ships to do the same thing soon. Send the files to my station, Mr. Franklin.”
The comm officer acknowledged him, and then looked down as his hands flew over his station. Two seconds later, a holoscreen appeared in front of the captain’s chair, and he used his fingers to access the first file, his eyes quickly moving through the lines of text.
His cheeriness faded from his face as he read the second, then the third file. He tapped on the last file and saw the yellow eyes of an android before it started speaking.
Realizing it was a personal message, he quickly activated the privacy screen and tried to stop the playback, but it kept running and wouldn’t turn off.
-in my current predicament because I am 99.9987% sure that if you were here, you would have made the same choice I did, which means I made the right decision after all.
I do not believe in an all-powerful being, but I believe in the faith you have for your God. I will ask your God to watch over you and bless you, and maybe a heathen android’s earnest prayer will be intriguing enough to warrant granting it.
Please look after the young queen for me. She occupies a special place in my positronic matrix, right next to yours. She loves to play-
Having heard enough and feeling like a sneak and an eavesdropper, he toggled the mute button and waited for the playback to end so he could close the file.
It finally ended, and he sat in total silence as he stared at the occluded screen surrounding him for a few seconds before dropping the privacy field and turning back to the comm station.
“Download the files into our fastest drone and send it to Fleet Command immediately. And for God’s sake, make sure the personal file has a personal/private tag on it. Secure it with a voiceprint lock for the intended recipient and have the XO report to the bridge as well.”
“Aye, Captain!” replied Lt. Franklin before bending his head down again to do as the captain asked.
Turning to face the tactical station, he called out again. “Tactical, order the fleet to go to condition two and prepare for immediate departure. This is not a drill, so pass that along to your counterparts if you please, Mr. Alvarez.”
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
The tactical officer acknowledged his order, and the lighting dimmed before the bridge intercom system activated and the battle AI’s voice erupted from it.
“Condition two has been set; this is not a drill. Condition two has been set; this is not a drill.”
The alert ended with two chimes, and the bridge became a hive of activity, the crew moving and talking more animatedly as they went about their duties to get the ship ready for departure and potential combat.
A few seconds later, the XO finally arrived on the bridge. She strode over and saluted before sitting in the seat next to him. She quickly logged in before turning towards him with a questioning expression on her face.
“What’s the deal, Captain? Are we going into combat?” she asked as she accepted the wristcom file transfer he was flicking in her direction. She opened them and quickly read the three text files they had received from the drones.
Once she was done reading them and closed the small holoscreen above her wristcom, he finally answered her question as she turned to face him again.
“It’s possible, Miriam. The Android Bandit and the command drone from our friendly Hive are in danger of being caught in the crossfire of what looks and sounds like a civil war. I didn’t even think it was possible for the Insectoids to fight each other, and this just shows how little we really know about them.”
Miriam shook her head as she replied to him, her regulation ponytail swaying at odds with her head movement as she made the privacy sign, which he reluctantly agreed to.
Tapping on her panel, the privacy field sprang up, and the bridge noise disappeared except for the sounds of their breathing, which he hated because it made him very self-conscious about being a heavy breather.
“Ean, we are under explicit orders not to do a damn thing that could possibly derail the peace talks. That little stunt you pulled showing off the Mei’s guns could have very easily been misconstrued as a hostile act by the Insectoids.”
Snorting in disbelief at what she just said, he stared directly into her eyes as he responded to her.
“Miriam, I value your opinion and your counsel, always. In this case, though, you are dead wrong. This ship is named after her, and there was no fucking way I wasn’t going to give those bug bastards a giant middle finger when the opportunity presented itself.
I was her XO for three years before I was promoted to Captain of the Saratoga. My ship was a derelict after the Battle of Eleania, and Fleet Command diddled their thumbs when I requested to be temporarily demoted and reinstated to my former position as her XO until another ship was ready.
I should have been there with her. Maybe I could have done something that changed things and kept her alive. Maybe I would have gone down with her. It doesn’t matter in the end; she is gone, and this ship is all I have left of her. So, tell me what I did that was wrong again, please.”
The XO had the good grace to look properly chastised before looking away from him and down at her hands. After a few moments, she spoke quietly, still looking down.
“I’m sorry, Ean. It’s my job to stop you from doing things like this, and I know about your history with Vice Admiral Zhou. I’m just trying to look out for you like you wanted to look out for her, like any good XO wants to do for their captain and their ship.”
Softening his voice, Michaels answered her.
“I know you are, Miriam. You are the best XO I have ever had the pleasure of serving with, and both I and the crew are lucky as hell to have you with us. I’m sorry for snapping at you, okay?”
She nodded before looking back up at him and giving him a quick smile.
“It’s okay, Ean, I understand completely. So, what are we going to do about the Bandit situation? Crossing the border would be a direct violation of our orders, and Admiral Thompson will keelhaul you if you do this.”
“We have received a request for rescue from one of our own, Miriam. Did you really expect me to ignore that?” he asked her incredulously. He knew she was just doing her job, but intentionally ignoring a distress call was just about the worst thing anyone in the Republic could possibly fathom.
“He’s an android, Ean. He’s not a human or a Republic citizen, so I don’t know if the unspoken rule applies to this situation. I’m just playing the other side to show you what Fleet Command would say to you before tearing you a new one and then throwing you into a hard labor camp.”
He stiffened at her mention of the unspoken rule, wondering what she was playing at. The unspoken rule was just that: a longstanding unofficial policy to disobey standing orders, if need be, in order to rescue or save the lives of Republic citizens and military personnel when the situation warranted it.
It was a vestige of the Alliance forces unofficial code of conduct during WWIII, when the corrupt governments would order soldiers to abandon civilians, or their wounded/trapped brothers and sisters in arms, and leave them behind to achieve a military objective or retreat.
Officers that issued those orders were fragged, and none of the rank and file ever followed such orders. The governments realized very quickly that any attempts to punish those who disobeyed would turn into a battle they did not want to fight.
Entire units, even battalions and brigades, would turn their weapons on the MPs and intelligence officers that were stupid enough to try to arrest any who disobeyed orders to abandon their own, and the governments officially turned a blind eye to it afterwards.
The Republic military was the successor of the vaunted Alliance forces, and they kept the old traditions and esprit de corps alive, especially the unspoken rule. It suddenly dawned on him that she was presenting him with an out if he needed to play that card with Fleet Command.
Smiling broadly at her, he gave her a very appreciative nod as he dropped the field, seeing her return his with a small, knowing smile.
Goddamn, is she a good XO! He thought to himself as both he and the XO started barking out orders to the bridge crew.
“Helm, Plot a course for the coordinates provided by the stealth drones; be ready to flash out on my command. Send to fleet and tell them to standby.”
“Comms! Send a drone to Fleet Command and tell them we are launching a rescue mission in response to a distress call from the Queen World. Make a note of the distress call having been sent by the android Bandit and request backup.
“Tactical, I want to get in two drills during our transit and set the fleet to Condition One thirty minutes before flashing out. I want the fleet assembled in Formation Gamma two; get it done.
“Weps, I want all weapons locked and loaded for bear thirty minutes before flashing out.”
Ops! I want the crew to rotate watches starting now, with crew shifts changing and resting every two hours until thirty minutes from flashing out. Run damage control drills in all sections at least two times before arrival.”
The overlapping choruses of ayes from the bridge crew responding to their captain and their XO filled his heart with pride as they readied the ship for battle.
Less than two minutes later, the comms officer yelled out to be heard over the din.
“The fleet’s responded, sir; they are standing by.”
“Open a channel, comms.”
He heard the chirp from the comm system indicating that a fleetwide channel had been opened. Taking a deep breath, he spoke out to be clearly heard by his crew and the other ships of the fleet.
“Third Fleet, this is Senior Captain Michaels. We are going into Insectoid space to rescue one of our own who has sent a distress call and asked us to come. I am under strict orders not to violate Insectoid territory or to perpetrate any acts that can be construed as an act of war.
Any ship captains that do not wish to be in defiance of Fleet Command's explicit orders, please signal your official protest to my actions, and it will be noted in my log.”
A few seconds later, the comms officer called out again.
“Captain, I am receiving several text messages, all requesting to be displayed and noted in your log.”
Shit.
“Please put them up on the main viewer, comms.” Michaels called out, not happy with the number of ships that requested this to be done.
The viewscreen powered on, and multiple texts from at least five ships appeared. His worry faded as he started reading the “official” notes they wanted him to put in his log.
Stop lollygagging.
What the hell are we still doing here?
Will fight for food.
Bandit or bust.
Less talking, more flashing.
The crew was laughing loudly at what was being displayed, and he felt like what had just happened was a boon for fleet cohesion, more so than any of the fleet exercises they had been running for the last few months. He had his answer, and they were ready.
“Helm, punch it!”
As the null space capacitors reached their full capacity and started whining, he felt the biggest grin forming on his face right before the bridge was brightly illuminated by the flash of the Mei Zhou entering null space.