Battle Station Read Free

hitching way.
    “Kwon, have you secured the ship’s armories?” I asked.
    “Yes sir, already done.”
    “Marvin, have you rerouted the ship’s messaging system yet?”
    “Yes Colonel,” Marvin said. “All communications will go through me now—literally. I’ve automated the system and the processor load should be quite low. I’ve set up a series of key phrases and conditions to flag questionable messages for your personal approval before they are allowed to be transmitted or received.”
    I turned to Captain Miklos next, who had listened throughout the meeting without making any comments. “Captain, are the new ship rosters ready? I want those crews remixed before Decker pulls out.”
    “Yes sir,” Miklos said. “You’re longstanding veterans are all moving onto the destroyers. May I say something, Colonel?”
    I nodded.
    “I find the entire process of commandeering these ships disturbing. Is it absolutely necessary?”
    “I feel that it is.”
    “Very good, sir.”
    The meeting broke up. Everyone left quickly, as they all had something urgent to do. I watched them go with mixed feelings. I hadn’t crossed the Rubicon yet, but I’d certainly given Crow a good look at my middle finger. I wondered how it would all turn out in the end.

 
    -2-
     
    When avoiding the intent of your orders, but not completely blowing them off, it is important to maintain appearances. Therefore, I decided to “clean up the system” as my first action. There were plenty of Macros running around on the local planets, and I meant to eradicate them.
    I had ulterior motives to choosing this course of action. One was to appear to be following orders—but there were other reasons. I wanted the Macros dead, of course. And I wanted to help the Centaurs regain their lands as I’d promised them I would. But more than that, I wanted factories. I couldn’t run a campaign on what we had with us this time, which was a single factory. Socorro had the sole production unit. As my command staff split up and went to perform their various duties, I crossed over to Socorro . I quickly reassigned the two-man crew to Decker’s group, bidding them a fond farewell. They exited with bitter glances back at me. Good riddance, I thought, even as I beamed and waved at them.
    Once aboard Socorro , I ceremoniously changed the locks. This amounted to altering all the passwords and resetting the rules as to who was allowed to board and command her. Essentially, I reduced the list to a single person: me.
    I stretched out on my command chair and heaved a sigh. “It’s good to be home, Socorro.”
    “We are in the Eden system.”
    “Yeah, but for a Star Force veteran, home is found in the guts of a friendly ship.”
    “Reference stored. Welcome home, Colonel.”
    I chuckled. Socorro had advanced since I’d built her. I’d designed this ship with a dozen variations in comparison to other Nano ships. She had more engines, better sensors, and a bigger brainbox. When the ship had started out life she’d not been overly perceptive. As time went on, she became as savvy as any Nano ship—but now, I sensed she’d advanced further. Her nanite chains were more complex, even sophisticated. She’d spent a lot of time with humans and I could tell she understood us better than the original Nano ships, which had more rigid programming and more limited mental capacities.
    Strangely, I really did feel at home. Sandra and I had taken a few adventurous voyages on this ship. We’d made love frequently, and nearly died almost as often. I walked the ship’s nanite-sculpted rooms, starting with the observatory. I saw the cracks in the glass floor had been repaired. Looking out into space, I was instantly captivated by the scene.
    Using magnification systems I’d had installed, I was able to directly view many of the twenty-one worlds in this system. Hel was one of the farthest out from the local G-class star. Looking sunward, I was able to pick out most of the