Chapter 9
The Lilacron AI robot started to pull most of the panels off the walls inside the storage compartment, and while it did that, Rayne and I shoved all of the cargo into the far corners so that we had as much room as possible to get the stasis tubes into the compartment. I knew that it might be a tight squeeze, even with the crates stowed out of the way, but we all knew that we had to find a way to make it work.
I had vowed to keep the Lilacrons inside the stasis tubes safe and to do everything I could to get them to the Frumentum Colony, where the rest of their species was congregating. It was a gargantuan task and not one I had agreed to lightly, but they were Francine’s creators. We hadn’t made it to Lilacron in time to save the rest of the species from a devastating genocide, but at least I could get these Lilacrons to the colony to join the other survivors.
I was hoping that once I got to the colony and met with the other Lilacrons, they would be able to tell me more about the Karaak, and maybe help me defeat them before they got to Earth and recreated the scene they had left behind on Lilacron. I just prayed that the survivors would be able to share some insight on the Karaak’s weapons, their numbers, and maybe even their weaknesses, although those seemed few and far between. I’d only just met the species face to face for the first time myself, and the only thing I knew for sure was that they were a murderous species bent on causing destruction.
Once all of the boxes and crates were stowed away, the AI had a look around the compartment. It paused for a moment while Rayne and I waited patiently on the ramp as it calculated the amount of space it would need and if we had achieved that goal.
Eventually, it informed us that we had enough room and so it would proceed with the transfer, and then it disappeared off to the Lilacron ship to collect all of the wiring and tech it needed to install in my ship. It also took Bob with it, and I assumed that was so it could make the promised upgrades to the little robot.
As it stood, Bob could fix things within reason, but his mobility was somewhat limited, and he didn’t have many weapons at his disposal. But with the fate of Earth and the rest of the galaxy in our hands, we needed all the backup that we could get, so upgrading Bob wasn’t a bad idea by any means.
I wasn’t sure exactly how much work we had to do to get my ship in perfect shape to house the Lilacron stasis tubes, but what I did know was that the clock was definitely counting down and that we didn’t have a lot of time until the Karaak descended on The Crossed Swords in search of the Lilacron escapees. I found myself scanning the dark skies over the town for any Karaak vessels or large chunks of rock that would announce their arrival.
The skies were still clear, though, so I turned my gaze on the ship next to mine. The ramp to the storage compartment was still down, and I could see a red light that poured out down the ramp and spilled over onto the dusty ground. A moment later, I heard metal panels drop to the floor and Bob beep as he received some sort of instruction from the AI. I made a mental note to ensure that the Lilacron robot talked me through everything it did to my ship, just in case anything broke or stopped working on our flight, so I would be able to fix it.
However, it appeared that Rayne and I had a little bit of time on our hands while the robots worked, and I scratched my head as I debated what I should do.
“Will, while you have a moment, I would suggest that you have a look at the top of the ship, where the Karaak managed to get a shot in at us,” Francine said.
“Good idea,” I replied as I stepped over to one side of the ramp. “Can you detect any damage to the ship?”
“No, but the shields had to work at full capacity just to repel the shot, which is scary since we only caught the edge of the blast, not the full brunt of it,” she replied.
“That is scary,” I agreed. “Alright, I’m going up for a look. Besides, I wanna know exactly what that yellow stuff was. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Nor have I,” Francine said.
“I’m just gonna check where the Karaak hit us,” I told Rayne when I saw her watching me.
“I was about to remind you to do that,” she chuckled.
“Francine got there first,” I replied.
At the back of the ship, just beside the ramp, there were a couple of handholds that I could use to reach the top of the ship for just such an inspection. So I scrambled up the hull of the ship, and then stopped at the edge as I tried to remember exactly where the weird goo had made contact. I thought it had been near the back of the ship, but as I walked slowly back and forth along the top, I found little evidence of a hit.
Near one of the corners, there were a couple of tiny droplets that had managed to slither through the shields. In fact, they had probably just been the residue left over from the blast, and when I had turned off the shields, it had dropped down onto the ship. There was no damage, which was a relief, but the droplets did intrigue me, since they didn’t blow off or dry up from atmospheric friction.
They were bright yellow, and disgustingly resembled mucus. It had dried a bit and some dust had gotten caught in it, so the edges of each drop were a bit crusty, but I was still able to get a good idea of what we were dealing with.
“It’s definitely organic,” I said.
“Yes,” Francine said. “And I was correct about it being acidic, as well. It has an extremely low pH. I would definitely recommend not touching it with your bare skin.”
“Okay,” I said as I looked closer at the blackened edges around the droplets. “Hey, Rayne?”
“Yeah?” she called out from the ramp.
“Could you pass me a wrench or something?” I asked. “Something metal.”
“Sure,” she replied, and she disappeared into the cargo hold for a moment, and then reappeared with a screwdriver. “This was at the top of the pile.”
“Perfect,” I said.
Rayne threw it up to me, and I caught it in my right hand. Then, I turned back to the yellow goo.
The first droplet was so small and dried that when I tried to scrape it off the surface of my ship, the material just flicked off like a scab and flew off the side toward the ground. So, I moved onto the bigger bead of the stuff.
I dug my screwdriver under the small dollop of goo and slowly lifted it off my ship. It peeled off like syrup and stringy tendrils of it remained stuck to my ship. There wasn’t a gaping hole beneath it, but I could see that the metal had been corroded. Thanks to the shields, all I had was a black spot that could be easily buffed out, but it wasn’t difficult to imagine what sort of damage this weird mucus could do to an unprotected ship.
“Will, the screwdriver!” Rayne called out.
I looked at the tool in my hand and saw that the yellow goo was starting to dissolve the screwdriver. I stared at it in surprise for a moment, and then I quickly scraped the rest of the goo off the roof of the ship and clambered down. Once I was back on the ground, I raced to the edge of the parking lot and chucked the screwdriver into the rocky darkness beyond the lot, which wasn’t lit and looked like an untouched wasteland. I didn’t want the Karaak’s acid anywhere near either of the ships, so that seemed like the safest option for now. I just hoped no unlucky soul came across the screwdriver out there and decided to touch the bright yellow goop on it.
I made my way back to my ship and joined Rayne inside the storage compartment.
“It burned through the screwdriver,” she said.
“Luckily, it didn’t do the same to the ship,” I replied. “Although, if I’d left it up there much longer, it could have started to get through the top layer.”
“You said it’s organic?” she asked.
“Yeah, it kinda looks like mucus,” I replied.
“Gross,” she said with a shudder.
“Yeah,” I chuckled. “It’s also super acidic, according to Francine, so if you ever see any of it, don’t touch it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said. “Although, I’m kind of hoping that we don’t come in contact with it again.”
“I like your attitude,” I laughed.
We both looked over at the pale, Lilacron ship beside us, which appeared like some kind of mystical, glowing object in the bright lights that shone down on it.
“What I don’t get is why they don’t just wake the Lilacrons up,” Rayne said.
“Because it is protocol not to wake our creators up before we have reached a safe haven,” Francine’s voice said, although it sounded different.
It sounded much more robotic, but the biggest difference was that it didn’t sound like it was coming from inside my head this time.
I looked around and saw Bob standing at the bottom of the ramp. Only, Bob now looked a little different. For starters, he was able to stand up on his hind legs, and all of his legs had been lengthened to make him taller than when he was on all fours. He had a couple of other additions, such as a laser on top of his yellow torso, and grappling arms so he was able to grab hold of things. I was sure that there were other upgrades as well, but for now, that was what I was able to physically see.
And of course, there was the fact that Francine’s voice had just come out of him. He had been able to beep at us before, and if Francine needed him to do something, she was able to take control of the robot. But now, both Rayne and I could hear her talk through Bob.
“I thought it best to add this feature so that you did not have to keep relaying what I say to Rayne,” Francine-Bob said. “Since she seems to be a permanent member of our team now, it seemed logical for her to be able to communicate with me.”
“Awesome,” Rayne said happily.
“That’s great, Frankie,” I said.
“I also had the other AI install a laser arm, grappling arms, and it upgraded the strength and length of all of the limbs,” Francine-Bob added. “Bob will be able to fight now, with my help of course. When I am not controlling him, he will behave the same as before.”
“That’s perfect,” I replied.
The robot got back down onto all fours and trotted back over to the Lilacron ship, where I assumed it was needed in order to collect some materials to bring over to my ship. It was such a relief that Rayne would be able to be involved in our conversations now, and it would save so much time now that I didn’t have to relay everything to her that Francine told me.
“Will Ryder, Rayne Trader,” the Lilcron bot said as it appeared at the bottom of my ramp.
“How’s it going?” I asked.
“Very well,” it said. “I have retrieved all of the parts I will need to upgrade your ship.”
“Well, judging by the work you’ve done on Bob, I’m sure we’re in good hands,” I replied.
“I am glad you are satisfied with my work on your robot,” it said. “Would you like to hear my plans for the ship?”
“Definitely,” I said.
“I am planning to strip all non-essential parts out of my ship in order to put them into yours,” the AI said. “The cargo hold will be turned into the stasis tube bay, and I will upgrade the wiring to support powering the tubes. I will also put in the necessary mechanisms to supply each tube with sustenance and to remove and recycle waste products.”
“Okay, that sounds good so far,” I said.
“Also, from my quick assessment of your ship, I can see that you are operating with an older design model,” it said. “It is very well built, and I assume that the upgrades made at the Aghoan Intergalactic Space Station improved it substantially.”
“You’ve got that right,” I said.
“Still, there are some adjustments that I would like to make on your engines that only the AI from Lilacron would be able to carry out,” it said.
“What sort of changes would you be making?” I asked.
“Your AI, who I believe you call Francine, is a slightly older model,” it said.
“Excuse you?” Francine-Bob huffed as the robot arrived at the bottom of the ramp as well.
“I will upgrade your engines so that they are lighter, faster, more powerful, and use less energy,” the AI said.
“It sounds like you’re selling me a dream right now,” I replied.
“I am not,” the AI said. “My upgrades will decrease the recharge time on your folding engine from twelve hours to five. Five hours is the best we have accomplished to date on Lilacron, and I think you will find that it’s the fastest recovery time in the known galaxy.”
“That would be amazing,” I gasped. “Wait. How will that affect the recovery it’s going through now?”
“I can transfer some of the power from my ship as well,” the robot replied. “Your ship will be ready to make its next jump once I have completed my work.”
“Damn,” I muttered and glanced at Rayne. “That would be great.”
“I also will use Bob to make some changes in the cockpit,” Francine-Bob said. “You will be able to monitor the stasis tubes from the cockpit, and I also want to improve what I have nicknamed my ‘workshop’, so that I can upgrade and update your suit and gun, and also create new technology, a lot faster.”
“This sounds like a hell of a lot of work,” Rayne said. “Considering we are kind of in a hurry.”
“Well, luckily, we have some extra help at our disposal,” the Lilacron bot said, and we all looked over at the Lilacron ship as a small fleet of worker bots descended the ramp carrying various bunches of wires, piles of tools, and clumps of metal. “I will get to work on the engines first.”
“Okay, then,” I said with a grin.
“Will, I will give you an upload so that you are able to work on the storage compartment while the other AI works on the engine,” Francine said inside my head.
“Sounds like a plan,” I replied. “Hopefully, it doesn’t knock me out. It’s been a while since I’ve had one.”
“What’s knocking you out?” Rayne asked.
“If I fall over, catch me,” I said as I placed my hand on my chestplate, where a small sliver of Francine resided.
“What?” Rayne asked.
Before I could answer, I felt a surge go through my whole body. It flooded every inch of me and then congregated inside my brain. I felt my eyes roll back as flashes of images shot through my mind as fast as lightning, and then a ton of information filled my mind like a dam had been broken. I felt the immense pressure inside my head as my brain took in all of the knowledge that Francine was uploading, and just as it started to feel unbearable, it stopped.
I let my hand drop to my side, and I opened my bleary eyes to discover that I was now seated on the floor with Rayne crouched down beside me.
“What the hell was that?” she asked. “You had some kind of seizure.”
“It was an upload,” I told her as I slowly got to my feet.
“A what now?” she asked.
“An upload,” I said. “When I first met Francine, she enhanced my body with these nanobots. They’re in my body constantly, and they help with my speed and my strength, and they also heal me pretty fast. They’re also in my brain, so when I need to quickly learn how to do something, Francine is able to upload a large amount of information directly into my brain. It takes it out of me a bit, but it gets easier every time I do it.”
“And that’s what that was?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “And now I know how to wire this place up to get it ready for the stasis tubes.”
“And there I was thinking you were actually smart,” she said as she gave me a joking punch on the arm.
“Hey, I only get an upload if we’re pushed for time,” I said. “I learned to fly the ship pretty much on my own.”
“Sure you did,” she said, and she gave me a patronizing pat on the shoulder.
The worker bots had already started their own tasks while I’d been getting my own upgrade, and I sorted through the collection of wiring and tools they’d brought over for the items I would need. I quickly found what I needed and then turned to look at the rest of the crew.
“Okay, team,” I said. “Let’s get to work.”
Over the next couple of hours, the worker bots and I started rewiring the storage compartment as well as hooking up the tubing for the food and waste that would keep the Lilacrons fed and the stasis tubes clean. Rayne knew how to weld, so I gave her the task of encasing all of the finished wiring back behind the metal bulkheads so one of us wouldn’t accidentally shock ourselves or knock something off-line.
The Lilacron bot, Bob, and a few of the other worker robots worked on the engines, which was a far more detailed and difficult job. I was extremely happy that the Lilacron AI was able to reduce the recharge time on the folding engine, and I felt myself growing more excited at the prospect of testing it out.
The folding engine was an excellent tool for moving quickly through the star systems, but it was frustrating that it wasn’t readily available after each jump. Twelve hours was a long time to be stranded somewhere, especially with a species like the Karaak not far behind, and a five-hour downtime felt like nothing in comparison.
“You’re humming,” Rayne whispered at one point.
“Am I?” I asked in surprise. “I guess I was just thinking about the new engine. That’s going to save us a lot of time.”
“Uh-huh,” she laughed and then returned to her own work.
We worked quickly and carefully the rest of the time, and soon, the cargo hold was almost ready for the stasis tubes. But as I was finishing up part of the wiring, there was a very loud sound, and the ground shook for a moment. It seemed to come from the city, and Rayne and I glanced at one another as if we weren’t sure that we’d actually heard or felt anything.
“Did you hear that?” I asked the AI robot when it appeared a moment later.
“Yes,” it replied.
“Do you know what it is?” Rayne asked.
“No, I have not heard that sound before,” it replied.
“It sounds like a warning alarm,” Rayne said.
“Damn,” I said. “You’re right. I wonder if the Karaak finally found us.”
“I’ve finished with the welding for now, so I’m gonna check it out,” Rayne said, and she started to march down the ramp. “It might just be some other local authorities who have shown up.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I said as I chased after her. “You can’t go alone.”
“Why not?” she asked. “I’m not gonna head all the way inside the city. I’ll just find someone who can tell me what the heck is going on and come right back.”
“I’m sure Francine will figure it out,” I said.
“Will, I appreciate that you care about me,” she said. “But I used to rummage around old, mutant-infested power plants back home. I’ll be fine. Just get the ship finished as quickly as you can, and I’ll make sure there aren’t any asteroid tossing ships nearby. Okay?”
“Okay,” I sighed. “But if there’s any sign of danger, come right back.”
“Deal,” she chuckled, and then she jogged down the rest of the ramp and took off toward the city.
“We need to hurry,” I said to the Lilacron AI.
“Agreed,” it said.
I finished up in the storage compartment over the next couple of minutes, and then I joined the other AI by the engine near the front of the ship. It looked to me like the last few bits were being completed by the bot and Bob, yet I couldn’t help but feel a tad impatient as I kept looking over toward the city. At first, I was able to see Rayne’s silhouette as she ran toward the city, despite her claim that she wouldn’t get that close, but eventually, she was too far away for me to see her anymore.
“We need a plan,” I said to Bob and the Lilacron bot. “I’ve got a feeling that the alarm means the Karaak have found us, and we need to slip away before they get close enough to stop us.”
“I would agree with that logic,” the robot replied. “And I have already formulated a plan that I believe is your best chance at escaping this planet alive.”
“I’m all ears,” I said.
“It is simple,” the AI said. “I will fly in one direction in my ship, and you will fly toward the Frumentum Colony in yours.”
“Because the Karaak are more likely to go for your ship,” I said. “They’ll think the Lilacrons are still on board and will chase after you, which will give me enough time to jump to another part of the galaxy.”
“Correct,” the robot said.
“But your ship doesn’t have much left,” I pointed out as I glanced at the other vessel.
“Shields are still available,” the AI replied. “And there is enough power in the engines to lead the Karaak away from here. We should be able to provide you with a sizable lead.”
“What you’re suggesting is a suicide mission,” I said quietly. “Once the Karaak ship spots you--”
“I am AI,” it said. “The sole purpose of my existence is to protect my creators. If I must be destroyed to protect the Lilacrons in my care, then that is what I will do. It is the only plan that will work.”
I really wanted to argue with the robot and to explain that I had a better plan that wouldn’t require the loss of yet another AI. But I couldn’t come up with any harebrained scheme that might save the robot, and I finally sighed and shook my head.
“Okay, then,” I said. “As much as I hate to leave any man, or… robot, behind, it does sound like our best bet of getting out of here in one piece.”
A somber air descended on our group for a moment, but it was broken when the Lilacron AI slammed the panel closed and quickly sealed it.
“We need to start moving the stasis tubes,” it said.
“Right,” I replied as I hurried after the robot.
I tried to ignore the alarm that was still blaring in the city as we ran over to the Lilacron ship. Inside, I could see where wiring and tubing had been stripped from the walls, and I wondered if the AI had lied about just how much damage the little ship could still endure.
But then my eyes were drawn to the stasis tubes, the source of the red glow that I’d seen near the ramp. There were six of them, all neatly lined up next to one another inside the cargo bay. Most of the tubes were opaque, so I wasn’t able to see anything below the frosted glass. But a patch of the glass just over their faces was somehow kept free of frost, and I was finally able to see what a live Lilacron looked like for the first time.
Their skin was ghostly pale, and I wondered whether that was due to a lack of sunlight from being inside the stasis tubes, or whether that was just their normal complexion. Their eyes were closed and there was a mask over their mouths and noses, supplying them with air and food, and as I peered into the stasis chambers at an angle, I could see what looked like IV tubes that snaked in and around their bodies in order to keep them alive, yet sedated.
Three of them had a feminine appearance, while the other three seemed male, although I wasn’t entirely sure if their sexes were the same as humans. All of them had no hair, and their transparent skin meant that I could just about see their dark irises underneath their eyelids, as well as the purple veins that pumped their blood through their bodies.
They looked so peaceful in their private little worlds, and I wondered if they had any idea of the chaos and turmoil that was going on around them. Did they somehow know about the genocide of their species? Or were they in complete, blissful, and total ignorance?
Maybe blissful ignorance would be best, especially since we were about to shove them rather unceremoniously across an alien parking lot to my ship.
We set up a system where the Lilacron bot and Bob would retrieve them from the Lilacron ship, and I would wire the tubes back up the moment the two AI bots delivered them to me.
We moved fast, and it wasn’t long before we had two of them loaded into my ship and wired up.
Then, I heard footsteps.
I poked my head out of the ship and looked toward the city, and that was when I saw Rayne running as fast as she could toward us. She looked panicked and nervous, and when she arrived, she only allowed herself a couple of seconds to catch her breath before she told us what she had found out.
“The alarm,” she panted between ragged breaths. “It’s… the… Karaak.”
“They’re here?” I asked as I glanced at the Lilacron bot. “Well, that’s not a surprise. But why haven’t they started bombarding the city?”
“They’re not actually here, yet,” she said and took a couple more deep breaths. “They’re close. But they’re close enough that they managed to get a message through to the city. It’s on all of the information boards on every street corner.”
“A message?” I asked. “What kind of message?”
“They say they’re only looking for the Lilacron ship, and they’ll ignore the rest of the city if…” she said with a fearful look in her eyes.
“If what?” I pressed.
“There’s a bounty for whoever delivers it to them,” she said.
“Shit,” I sighed.
“We’re literally in the meeting place for every bounty hunter, thief, and money-hungry alien in the galaxy,” Rayne said. “You should’ve seen their faces when they saw how many credits they could get if they find that ship. Everyone’s gonna be looking for us.”
“Then we need to get the rest of the tubes in the ship and go,” I said. “Now!”