Chutes & Ladders (Prosperous Book 1) Read online

  “My dad agreed to let her live on the computer as long as she didn’t interfere with regular ship routines, or transfer to another computer.” Tru crossed his arms, shifting his weight from one foot to another. “Since being introduced to the Silerium in the hull, Gracie has developed even more in her organic form. She has expanded into the space between the inner and outer hulls and fused into the metal. She is integrated into every system on this ship. She sees and hears through the communication system, smells through the ventilation, and she is very protective of Prosperous and its crew.”

  Tru stopped talking and waited. He imagined that between this news and the battle they’d just been through his Control crew was having a hard time absorbing this.

  “So…” Aris turned her chair. Her face had almost returned to looking like a puppy. “So the short version is that your computer is some creature that lives inside Prosperous?”

  “No, Ensign. The computer no longer exists, it is now Gracie, and she has integrated into every part of the ship. Prosperous is Gracie. We are inside a living, breathing, creature, Ensign.”

  Aris let out a frightened whimper.

  Equ’Haglef quietly said, “There are rumors that she eats crewmen.”

  They heard a chuckle across the speakers that Tru echoed. “Gracie is a vegetarian. She doesn’t believe in consuming creatures. Although she will steal your sweets if you don’t keep an eye on them.”

  “All these little outbursts we’ve seen since leaving port are actually feelings, aren’t they? She feels like we do?” Aris asked.

  “Yes.”

  Jackie asked, “Does she hear everything?”

  Yes, I do Jackie Joan. Tru, the droids have landed. Ensign Rhoades should be receiving images within the next twenty seconds.

  “Link up with the droids has been established,” Jackie said.

  “We had one casualty, sir,” Equ’Haglef reported.

  Tru looked at him. “Who?”

  “Your Lead COM officer, Enima Niwerek, sir. She was on G deck when it breached.”

  ‘I guess that solves what I’m going to do about her.’ Tru shook his head at the loss of life. “Ask Q’al to take care of her.”

  Tru glanced at Amanda when she walked into the back of the Control.

  “I’m receiving video,” Jackie reported, “Routing the feed to the main screen.”

  Tru turned his attention to the viewscreen.

  A video from one of the droids appeared. It moved through a dark corridor, the light on its head gliding over corpses, cutting a sharp slice through the darkness.

  “Gracie, get a lit shot of the bodies,” Tru ordered.

  The droid stopped and turned to a body. A light came on, momentarily over-lighting the image. It faded, revealing the hall was full of Terallians. Tru walked up to the helm.

  “Capture that image and then tell it to keep searching for any Paskians.”

  The image didn’t move, but they could hear the droid’s movement over the Control speakers.

  “They are all Terallians,” Aris said.

  “Why would Terallians try shooting us out of the sky?” Reuben asked.

  Tru wondered that too.

  “Wrigley,” Tru said, turning to where he’d last seen her standing.

  She wasn’t on the Control. Tru turned back to the screen. “Gracie, send probes to the other ships. Jackie, try to link to as many ship computers as you can.”

  “Aye, sir,” the two replied.

  “If you find anything, Jackie, alert me. Aris, as soon as we have the black box data, get us back on course. Reuben, you have the Control.”

  Tru walked toward the back of the Control, quietly he ordered, “Gracie, transport me to Wrigley.”

  A concentrated mind will pierce a rock.

  Human, Japanese proverb

  Chapter 22

  NOVEMBER 2660

  AMIDIEN SAT BACK IN HIS CHAIR. HE MOURNED THE WASTED LIVES OF THE Terallians, but the destruction of the ship meant this mission was over.

  “Captain Ekal is asking if he should attack, sir.”

  “No.”

  “He wishes to speak to you.”

  “On screen.”

  On one of the screens, the Terallian appeared.

  “What do you mean no?” Ekal asked. “You haven’t backed this mission since it began, Amidien. I declare—”

  “Perhaps you didn’t read the mission orders, Ekal.”

  “I read them.”

  “Then you missed the part that Merchant Raitor ships were only to see the Paskian and Avinion ship. I’m sure there was a reason for that order, and I suspect that if a Terallian ship were to attack them, your first born would die.”

  “By you?”

  “By order of the Emperor.”

  “He is clearly trying to instigate a revolt against the Merchant Raitor Union,” Ekal argued.

  “What the Emperor is or is not doing is not my concern, Captain Ekal. My orders are my only concern, and they were clear that Terallian ships were not to attack Merchant Raitor ships. I will readily relinquish command of this mission to you if you feel that you know something I don’t and are willing to risk the life of your only son.”

  Ekal stared into the screen for a long moment. He finally nodded once, and the screen went back to showing the ship. Probes were going over to the Paskian ship. Soon they’d know it was full of Terallians, not Paskians. Amidien didn’t care. With any luck, they’d take the news back to Merchant Raitor and whatever plan the Emperor had would be thwarted.

  “Sir, I found something on the ship,” Jali told him. “It is registered to a human, Doctor Truman Barnett. Do you wish to review the ship record?”

  Amidien lifted his chin. Admiral Larson often spoke of the Barnett’s, and jokingly claim that Tru and his brothers and sister were like his own children. Amidien was even more grateful he’d won. It meant he wouldn’t have to tell Larson he’d been responsible for the human’s death.

  “Does it tell us what kind of sensors the ship has?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Move us further into the corona and contact Battle Fleet Command.” Amidien stood. “I’ll pull the record up in my quarters. Computer, transport me to my quarters.”

  Amidien disappeared from the Control.

  Chapter 23

  TRU MATERIALIZED OUTSIDE OF AMANDA’S QUARTERS

  “Is she in her quarters?” Tru asked Gracie.

  Yes, and I think she’s having an episode. I’m reading an elevated heart rate and respiration, tremors, and—

  “That’s enough, Gracie.”

  Gracie stopped talking.

  Tru tapped the biometric pad and waited, but the door didn’t open. He tapped it again. When she didn’t answer Tru tapped a code into the numeric pad above it and held his hand over the biometric pad. The door slid open, and he stepped into a tossed room.

  Items had been thrown off shelves. The closet door had been knocked open, and clothes were strewn across the floor. A broken mirror lay on the terminal desk. Amanda was huddled in a corner of the room with her head in her hands. It sounded painful as she gasped and sobbed at the same time.

  “Wrigley,” Tru said, walking up to her.

  She didn’t acknowledge him, so he crouched down next to her.

  “Is this what do you do when you’re frightened, Wrigley?” Tru quietly asked.

  “My room…” Amanda looked up suddenly, glaring at him. “Get out.”

  “Wrig—”

  “I didn’t invite you in, Captain. Get out!”

  “Sometimes a captain has to take unilateral action, Wrigley.”

  Meekly she threatened, “I could report you.”

  Tru sat down next to her. “Is that what you want to do?”

  Amanda put her head back in her hands.

  “Wrigley, is this what happens when your routines are disrupted, or your room is messed up?”

  Amanda looked away.

  “Wrigley, I need my XO.”

  “You
have Gracie.”

  “Gracie can’t help me off the ship as you can. I need to know I have my First Executive Officer, Wrigley.”

  Amanda laid her head against the wall. “You need a new XO.”

  Tru leaned in, and she tried to pull away, but she had put herself in a corner. She looked into his eyes and didn’t see things she was used to seeing in the eyes of her captain. He wasn’t angry with her. He wasn’t ridiculing her. He was concerned.

  “Are you having an anxiety attack right now?” Tru asked.

  Amanda bit down on her bottom lip. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She nodded.

  “Will you try something for me?”

  She nodded.

  Tru dug into his hip pocket and pulled something out. He picked up her clenched fist, uncurled her fingers, and placed a small, flat stone in her hand. It was smooth, probably collected from a stream somewhere. In the center was a depression worn smooth. On the other side was a swirl and she wondered if he’d cut it into the stone himself. Tru gently pushed her thumb into the depression and curled her fingers around it before looking back into her eyes.

  “When you feel like you can’t deal with things, hold this stone like this. Focus all your fears and anxiety into that spot your thumb is pressing, and repeat to yourself, ‘This is only a moment.’ Repeat that over and over until the emotions pass. I bet that as you do this more often, you’ll find the panic attacks will pass quicker.”

  “Did you clean this?”

  “I hope so. It’s been in my pocket for years.”

  She looked at him. “It’s yours?”

  Tru nodded. “And I want you to have it. I want you to use it when things get bad, and your routines have been disrupted. Will you try this for me?”

  “What if it doesn’t work?”

  “I have a thousand other tricks we can try.”

  “Like drugs?”

  “I don’t think you need drugs. Do you?”

  Amanda closed her hand tight around the rock. Strangely, she was already feeling better just holding it. Or was Tru doing that?

  “I don’t want to get put on drugs, sir. It didn’t…” Amanda looked away.

  Tru waited for her to finish and when she didn’t, he asked, “Drugs didn’t do what?”

  “It didn’t help last time.”

  “Then we won’t use drugs, will we?”

  Amanda smiled, weakly. “No, sir.”

  Tru got up, looking around her room. “Gracie, pull the cleaning droids from my quarters and send them here. Let’s get the XO’s room straightened up first from now on, okay?”

  Okay. I’m here for you too, XO. Anytime.

  Tru looked down at Amanda. “Breathing during that mantra works too, Wrigley. Then I don’t have to send you to Infirmary for passing out.”

  “Yes. Sir? Is Gracie safe? After that battle and… Can I trust her?”

  “You can. She is protective and a big softy. Once you and I got past the Silerium thing, she seems to have taken a liking to you.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never asked. You can ask her if you’d like.”

  “How?”

  “Pretend she’s right here in front of us and just ask.”

  “Why… Why do you like me, Gracie? No one likes me.”

  I like you because I had a caretaker like you once. That was so long ago I’d nearly forgotten her. She was hard to get used to, and it took a long time for us to become friends. Once we did, though, she was one of my best friends. Maybe you and I won’t be that close, but I’d like to think that someday we could be friends.

  Amanda didn’t speak.

  “Are you feeling better?”

  Amanda didn’t answer quickly. “I need to be alone.”

  “Alright. If you change your mind, let me know.” Tru got up and left.

  Amanda wrapped her hand around the rock, pushing her thumb into the depression. She began muttering to herself, “This is only a moment.”

  If you’d like, I could say it with you.

  Amanda hesitated. “Yes.”

  Together the two changed Amanda’s new mantra.

  Chapter 24

  TRU LOOKED UP WHEN THE LIFT DOORS OPENED. Q’AL GLANCED UP from the doc-slip in his hand, but didn’t say anything. He had a medical case slung over his shoulder, probably headed off to check on a crewman’s injury. Tru stepped on and turned to face the door. The lift descended. It stopped, and the two walked off. Two turns later, Tru began to wonder if they were headed to the same locations.

  “Going to check Gracie’s injury?” Tru asked.

  “Yes.”

  Tru looked away, not seeing Q’al glance at him.

  “Is that where you’re headed, Captain?”

  “Yes. The engineering crew is a little nervous around her, and she says they won’t do their work because they’re afraid of hurting her.”

  “This is a new experience for everyone, Captain, including me.”

  Tru smiled. “I know. It’ll take some time for everyone to adjust. Now if I can just convince Gracie of that.”

  I know that already, Tru, Gracie argued.

  “If you say so, Gracie.”

  Q’al was amused by their interaction. “How old is Gracie believed to be?”

  “It’s hard to tell,” Tru replied. “Living entities can’t be carbon dated.”

  Q’al nodded. “Do you know, Gracie?”

  No. I wasn’t aware of time as you are aware of it. Not until I came to Prosperous. I still don’t really understand it.

  “What do you suppose happened to others like her?”

  Tru shrugged. “No one knows, but every time we’re within the range of a new planet, she scans for others.”

  I can’t be the only one of my kind, can I, Q’al?

  “It’s possible you are, Gracie. Evolution is strange like that.”

  That would be cruel.

  Tru smiled. “It’s not so cruel. You got stuck with us. Just imagine how the first Sileriums felt, Gracie. Alone with psychic abilities and parents who didn’t want them. I can’t imagine what it was like for them.”

  Q’al looked down at the mention of Sileriums. He was still uncomfortable with the idea that his captain was half Silerium.

  “And they eventually found others like themselves, didn’t they?” Tru continued.

  Yes.

  Q’al looked at Tru. He was staring down the hall with a distant look. Q’al guessed he had a lot on his mind.

  “Are you concerned about what we’ll find in the Paskian computer?”

  “Hm?” He looked at Q’al.

  “Are you concerned about what the Terallians are up to?”

  Tru nodded. “I’d be a fool not to be. The Terallians have never been very friendly toward the other races, especially humans, but Emperor Lixu approached the Merchant Raitor board to request joining. After two decades, I don’t know why he would risk being banned.”

  “Perhaps this was the actions of a faction.”

  “I hope so.”

  The two were silent for a few more steps. Q’al suddenly stopped in front of Tru. It made Tru stumbled to a stop before stepping back.

  “I’m not comfortable with Sileriums, Captain, but I trust you. From the first day we spoke, I felt I could trust you. Perhaps it has something to do with how much you’ve contributed to psychology and your optimistic views, or perhaps it’s how I’ve seen this crew take to you. Even Ga’reicht crewmen trust you, and they don’t trust anyone! But… There will always be that little voice telling me to be wary of your Silerium side because they are known to be unpredictable and untrustworthy.” Q’al drew a breath. “Perhaps time will eventually shut the voice up.”

  “Doctor Equ’Wixal, racism doesn’t work like that. You need to request a transfer when we get to Righel. I can’t afford for you to distrust me because I’m half Silerium. And each time we have these talks I feel less and less like I would ever be able to trust you. I don't feel comfortable putting my life in your han
ds, which is a problem since you’re the senior medical officer.”

  “You could request it if it’s that much of a problem.”

  “If I request it, I won’t hide your racism. And we are finished with this topic. Understood?”

  Q’al didn’t answer.

  Tru walked around him, continuing down the hall.

  Chapter 25

  “EMPEROR,” RILIQ SAID AS HE RUSHED INTO THE ROOM.

  Lixu sat behind a wide desk, reading the reports of the raids. He watched Riliq rush up to him, holding out a holo-pad.

  “Sir, the last of Amidien’s decoy ships were destroyed.” He handed over the holo-pad. “It got away with information about the Paskian decoy and copied the recorders of at least three destroyed ships. I recommend putting him in solitaire for a year for this failure.”

  Lixu paged through the text. Suddenly he sat up straight.

  “This ship has an Oadagan living in it. Amidien won’t be reprimanded for not destroying it, Riliq.”

  “It has a… May I review the information myself, sire?” Riliq held his hand out for the holo-pad.

  Lixu handed it over, sitting back in his chair.

  Riliq read the information. “It was found abandoned on a planet that has never been in our territory.” Riliq looked up at him. “How did one get that far out of our territory? How did we not know one was living in this man’s ship for so long?”

  Lixu tapped his fingers together, mulling over the information. “Those are good questions, aren’t they, Riliq?” Lixu leaned forward, fixing a hard stare on his Admiral. “I want that Oadagan, Riliq.”

  Riliq wasn’t sure he’d heard his emperor correctly. “I don’t understand, Emperor.”

  “I want that ship. If humans discover that a single cell can grow in any computer, we will lose our advantage when it comes time to strike. We cannot let this Oadagan remain in human hands. I want that ship brought to Tetra.”