his head.

“ Malice command informs us that his shuttle is on it's way,” reported the tall, thin blond haired communications officer.

“Have him meet me in my quarters,” he said as he stood and straightened his long grey shirt. The exit was right behind him, something he liked about the new bridge design. He was forced to walk a few steps down from his solitary command seat then around the dais, which was a design aspect he did not like, however. The rationale behind it was simple; no one could speak to him from behind. He still disliked the extra few steps he had to traverse in order to get to and from the chair.

The main hallways on the new ship weren't broad like the ones on the Overlord class vessels, one of the few things he missed from his days with Vindyne, but three people could pass without knocking elbows. Just a few steps outside the bridge there was a private lift so he could reach his quarters in less than a minute. A request he had made when they assigned him to the Saviour. From what he saw in the report regarding the alteration, which he barely read, they had to re-route main power lines and many critical control circuits to fulfil his request.

He didn't care as long as they got it done by the time he arrived on board, and it was all there as promised on the ship's recommissioning date. The ship was only a year old, but he insisted it be re-christened under its new name. He was bringing them Hampon and more importantly, the obsessed Meunez. To Regent Galactic's broad approval, the plans were working. The Eden Fleet was under their control, and the Holocaust Virus was starting its rampant tear across the universe.

Only the Saved and Regent Galactic controlled systems would be safe from the billions of artificial intelligences that saw humanity as a scourge. The company would have control over as much or as little of the galactic market as they liked. When the Virus made it to the Core Worlds, the economic center of the known galaxy, all of humanity would quake. A new center would be formed, the location of which would be left to Regent Galactic's choosing.

The double doors to his quarters parted and he stepped inside. The open concept space lit up dully. The whole ceiling and half circle hull surrounding the living space was transparent. The white and blue rogue planet was in full view. The ice and water spouted out into space, a sight he would miss. Just to the edge of the its horizon was the Malice. Compared to the efficient looking design of the Saviour the Vindyne warship looked like it was constructed out of blocks and rectangles laid down from left to right, from largest sections to smallest. It looked like it was from not only a different part of space, but another time entirely. The galaxy has moved on out here, Gabriel. I wish you could see that and move on as well. You were a good man before Alice came along.

The center of the lavish abode was reserved for entertainment and seating. Three sofas that shifted and reclined as the occupant moved were the main feature of the semicircular seating area. Between them were blue recliners that were of similar feature, and in the middle was an antique cedar coffee table. Atop that was another of his favourite things; apple whiskey. Of all the things Regent Galactic produced, and there were millions of objects, that was his favourite.

He clapped his hands, rubbed them together and walked around the low table to the middle sofa. General Collins poured himself a glass of apple whiskey and sat back.

As he just finished taking his first sip and smacked his lips the door chime dinged. “Come in!” Collins called out.

Gabriel Meunez stepped inside and walked straight to the window. Outside was the Malice, her long, severe shape was darkened by the edge of the rogue planet's shadow. “I haven't seen the repairs from the outside of the ship yet.”

Collins looked at the man. He was in a dark blue Freegrounder vacsuit. Over top he wore a flight jacket, like the antique leathers pilots donned in centuries past on earth, before space travel. It was inspired by Alice, he knew, and it didn't suit the shoddy looking scrawny man. His shoulder length hair was unkempt, it looked like he hadn't slept in days. Something had happened to the genius at the core of their operation. He could hear the micro motor in the other man's eye adjust and focus in on the ship in the distance. “You should get that fixed or replaced by a biological one with a wet circuit that does the same thing.”

“It works perfectly. The noise is only an irritation to those who have an intolerance for people who improve themselves past specification,” he examined the section of the ship that had been damaged by the antimatter explosion set off by Jonas and Alice when they escaped. “I'll have to reward my crew when I return. They did an excellent job. You almost can't tell there was ever any damage.”

“You should put that ship in mothballs and accept Regent Galactic's offer. These new destroyers do with a quarter the crew and a third the size what two average Vindyne vessels were capable of.”

“Ah, the Malice is not a typical Vindyne ship. There are few vessels in the galaxy that can match her,” Meunez turned around and picked up the decanter on the table. “Your criticisms aside, how is the deployment going?”

“Perfectly. The Clever Dream allowed her pilot to land and once she was refuelled it started sending the Holocaust Virus through every communications system on the planet. After that she moved on.”

“Where to?”

“Most likely the nearest settled area with a hyper-transmitter system.”

“Was anyone aboard?”

“We couldn't tell for certain, the infected AI aboard-”

“Lewis,” Meunez filled in as he put the decanter back down making a disgusted expression at the smell of the liquid inside.

“Lewis was too evasive. We won't be actively tracking the Clever Dream anyway. Dozens of hyperdrive and wormhole capable ships have already left the system to spread the virus.”

“You should track Lewis, there are possibilities there. Are you surprised at my Holocaust Virus? How much more capable it is than yours?” Meunez asked with a smug grin.

“Two tools performing two completely different tasks. Mine defeated all the digital defences of the Eden Fleet and created a control interface while yours twists and corrupts normal artificial intelligences then tasks them to obey Hampon's zealots. Both are impressive in their own way.”

“Modest as always. What of Alice?”

“She's probably dead. She's not in the West Keeper or the Saved databases, so the AIs won't spare her.”

“You didn't send units down to rescue her?”

Collins looked at the other man and sighed. “Gabriel, you have to let it go. You've obviously learned what you had to from her, what more can there be?”

Meunez pushed his wavy dark hair out of his face and sat down in a deeply padded blue arm chair. “She is a miracle. Compared to her your kind are but children at play.”

“We have scans of her, whole nervous system and brain captures from numerous port authority checks. There's nothing there Gabriel. Whatever special attribute that body or her artificial intelligence had that allowed her to seamlessly cross over is gone. She's probably grown out of it or become so well integrated that she's just another human woman now. Perhaps exceptional on that scale, but worthy of quoting poetry and sending millions worth in resources after?” Collins threw up his hands. “It's pointless.”

Gabriel stood up and pointed angrily. “The deal was; I get Alice and keep Jonas if I can infect Lewis with the virus and get this whole God damned show started for Regent Galactic so they can push their Saved agenda out here and the Citizenship agenda closer to the core. That was the deal!”

“That was supplemental to what we actually needed! All you really had to do was finish your Holocaust Virus and find a ship to distribute it, something small, fast and durable enough to survive several jumps to well settled systems. As for the riders you attached to our deal, well, you're the one who let Jonas and Alice escape. I'm surprised they didn't discover the Holocaust Virus and disable it. You took far too great a risk.”

“The Clever Dream is the perfect ship, and there's no telling how far she'll go with Lewis aboard. I did my part, but you knew Alice was on that planet and just ignored the opportunity to get her back to me. I risk my life for the cause and you just disregard my goals? That's an insult!”

“Some assets are too much trouble to acquire! Go back to your ship and deal with it, get over it, make some flesh and machine amalgamation or transformed tart of your own in that lab of yours.”

“If only it were so easy. You never did appreciate the uniqueness of her. Besides, Eve's children and the Holocaust infected AIs will not kill her. She was the first name on the Saved list. The only one that will not have to

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