CHAPTER 25

STORIES

Secured room – Lower levels

'Your position is a tenuous one, Advocate.'

Ise opened her eyes. She was strapped to a table in the same drab metal room, surrounded by a ring of Exo's robots. She looked at one of them but said nothing.

'Your Guardian has left you behind, your crew is scattered and afraid, and you have the power to save them. All you must do is say you will stay behind, and I will let the others go.'

Ise glanced to the display showing camera feeds. It was cycling between groups. The screen showed Dan in a room, laying on his side, with a robot next to him. It then showed John and Jing walking down a hallway, looking frustrated. It cycled back to Dan.

Ise smiled. 'I can't help but notice that the Captain and Victor weren't on there.'

'They will be found soon enough. I am searching the facility for them as we speak.'

'So long as there's a factor you haven't accounted for, you aren't in total control,' Ise said.

'I assure you, they will not remain undetected for long,' Exo said, 'but you could fix the situation yourself.'

'I know, by agreeing to stay with you,' Ise said.

'It's an easy choice. One life for the lives of your crew, and it's not as if you are going off to die. I am giving you a chance to experience life anew, in ways you had never imagined.'

'I think you might be mistaking me for someone else. None of this sound very appealing.' Ise said.

'Perhaps I have mistaken your character. Maybe the forceful approach is in order.'

Incoming Advocate Uplink Signal...

Encryption failed...

Signal terminated...

Incoming Advocate Uplink Signal...

Encryption failed...

Signal terminated...

'You'll never break my systems.' Ise said, as more errors flashed in her mind.

'We have plenty of time to find out. I think you may have mistaken me for a normal Guardian. I've had a considerable amount of time to improve my own systems.'

Ise closed her eyes and focused halting his renewed attacks on her systems.

***

While following Shirp, Victor had spotted an access to one of the main conduits in the facility. It ran parallel to the maintenance shafts and contained power and data cables. Shirp had pulled the panel off the wall, and Victor was looking in at the cabling.

Shirp and Samantha were keeping watch in the tunnel.

'What have you got Vick?'

'Power is flowing one way, and data is flowing the other way.'

'Anything you can do?'

'If I try, it might alert the Guardian to where we are,' Victor said.

'If nothing is to be found here, Shirp suggests we keep moving. Have not found ships to flee,' Shirp said through his translator.

'Wait. If we follow the cables, we may find the Guardian core. If we could get to it, we could force it to let us all go,' Victor said.

'The core is probably guarded,' Sam added.

'Would it be though? This place is filled with animals, not people.'

'Which way do the cables lead?'

'Down. My tablet says it keeps going to the lower levels.'

'Ships will not be down. Shirp suggests up. Find shaft, ascend to upper levels. Escape.'

Samantha thought for a moment. 'You're probably right Shirp. Let's keep moving.'

Victor got out of the hole in the wall and stood up. He put his tablet away and pulled out his sidearm.

Shirp moved, and they followed.

'Captain Samantha,' the voice came from Victor and Sam's comms systems, 'This is a general broadcast. I know you have discovered that I am tracking you via your transmissions. If you do not reply to my message, I will still be unable to track you. This is XO-33, the Guardian of this facility, and I desire to speak with you.'

Samantha froze. XO-33 was a name she knew.

'Your crew is separated, demoralized, and ready to go home. All I require is for one of them to stay behind with me, and the rest of you can go. Your crew mates are looking to you for leadership. You can save them, either by staying behind yourself or ordering one to stay. Do not delay. Time is of the essence. Your injured friend is in a poor situation, and will not survive much longer. Your ship has fled of its own accord leaving you stranded. If you reply, we can talk and work this all out. If not, we will have to see if one of your crew makes the noble sacrifice before it's too late.'

The transmission stopped.

Sam turned to Victor with a look of determination in her eyes. 'The cables lead down?'

'Yes, Captain.'

'We're going after the Guardian.'

'Shirp will not go.'

Sam spun and looked at Shirp. 'When we find a shaft, you can go up, and we'll go down, I'm not letting this thing continue to live.'

Shirp nodded slowly. 'You have a story with this great mind.'

'Yes. My mother told me about XO-33. She knew him as Exo. He was the Guardian on the colony ship that took her from Earth to Veil. The Guardian killed its own advocate and tried to kill everyone on the ship. She could never trust a Guardian after that. She's an Advocate without a mission. This thing stole her humanity, her childhood, and her future. If I have a chance to give her some solace now and stop this thing from threatening my crew, I will not walk away from that.'

'Shirp understands. Shirp will go up, and you will go down. May you live to tell your story.'

Sam nodded, 'Let's go.'

The three continued down the maintenance tunnel.