"There are what appears to be government backdoors in most consumer hardware, to allow the intelligence services access. That made things much simpler."
"I fucking knew it! They're spying on us all the time!" Marty yelled.
"We've got to scout that base and see if we can confirm that those materials are even there."
"Yeah! We can take the Redemption on her first flight and check it out!" Marty said.
I shook my head. "Actually, no. She's not up to it. No weapons, no shields, and no stealth. It'd be too risky."
Marty just grinned like a kid with a secret he can't bear to keep any longer.
"What?" I asked.
"I was convinced to change the design for my hauler slightly to free up enough exotics to complete the stealth systems on the Redemption," Metra said. "While this change means a measurable decrease in performance, I felt getting Redemption functional enough to be usable was worth the sacrifice."
"Isn't she the best?" Marty enthused.
"Yeah," I agreed. "So is she ready to go now?"
"Not yet. It will take some time to free up the materials from components that were already manufactured and installed. A day or so. Once that's done the hangar can install the stealth system and Redemption will be stealthy with enough flight capability to get you anywhere you like on Dirt."
"Earth, Metra," I said reflexively. I knew she was doing it just to bug me, but I couldn't help myself.
"And I can fly her! I've got the skill implanted and everything," Marty said.
I didn't see any reason not to let him. After all, it wasn't like I was a skilled or naturally talented pilot.
"Fine. We'll need some things first.”
Chapter Twenty-Six: Scouting the Base
THE SOLID ROOF OF THE hangar overtop of us opened smoothly, exposing the night sky. There were a few wispy clouds, but there was absolutely zero light pollution that far north. We could see the Milky Way in all its glory, and a few traces of the northern lights. It was breathtaking.
Marty and I were sitting in the cockpit of the Redemption. The Interface had made the entire ship invisible around me. It seemed like I was sitting on empty air inside the hangar, rather than in the second seat of the little spaceship. With a thought, I brought up the Redemption's status sheet.
╠═╦╬╧╪
Redemption
Hull Integrity: Nominal
Weapons
None
Defense Systems
None
Other Systems
Mitrasa Deluxe Scoutship Stealth Package
Energy
Internal Generation: 200 PU/s
Internal Storage: 10000/10000 PU
Energy Consumption:
Propulsion: 0/50 PU/s
Other: 0/25 PU/s
╠═╦╬╧╪
"I'm going to take her up now," Marty said, sounding a bit nervous.
It had taken a couple of days to get ready for this trip, and Marty had been practicing on an Interface-provided simulator since then. I was pretty sure we'd be fine.
We'd opened the gate and I'd spent some time designing new drones for this scouting trip. They needed to be basically invisible, completely silent, and able to interface with Earth tech. That last part had been the toughest but I'd gotten it done. I was calling them infiltration drones and a rack of ten of them sat behind us in the small cargo space, ready to go.
Marty had spent his time either on the simulator or hanging out with Metra. He seemed almost a different person now. He'd filled out, gaining a lot of muscle on his lanky frame. He was more confident and assured, a changed man compared to the thin, pasty nerd I'd met in Farnell's jail.
I wondered what I would look like to someone who knew me from before. Would Meredith even recognize me?
It had been a while since I'd thought about her. Our lives rarely overlapped. We weren't the kind of siblings that were close after we grew up. We weren't even close when we were kids. Mentally, I pushed "contacting my sister” back on the to-do pile. I didn't have time for that, and she'd just try to put her fingers in and exert control.
I realized Marty was waiting for me to respond. He was the pilot, but I was the captain. I had to live up to that.
"Mr. Farnell—engage."
Marty grinned widely and the Redemption rose smoothly out of the hangar she had been built in. The outpost's records told us that Grandpa had never had a chance to fly her. This was her maiden flight. We rapidly left the heavily forested ground behind, the ship rising invisibly into the sky.
We had tested the ship’s stealth package, and it was nearly flawless. When engaged, you could stand fifteen feet away and see nothing. Not even a shimmer in the air. You had to get about three feet away before you could see something was off. You would probably smack your head into the ship before you noticed it. It was similar to the stealth coating on my improved Scout drones, but much more comprehensive. The Redemption would be invisible to Earth radar, the naked eye, and even most Union-tech sensor systems as long as she contained her emissions. That meant no maintaining our invisibility while we were firing weapons, or taking weapons fire.
"I can confirm that the Redemption is invisible to radar," Brick said.
"Thank you, Brick," I replied. I didn't need to ask him how he knew.
He's probably compromised every computer on the planet by now.
I couldn't help but wonder if I'd accidentally unleashed a monster. Was this how the galactic war against the AIs had started? Honestly, I wasn't that worried. I was pretty sure Brick was on our side. He was a friend, not a ruthless AI just waiting to go all Skynet on us.
At least I hope that's true.
Brick marked our destination for us and with the ease of long practice, Marty sent the Redemption streaking in that direction.
We flew below the clouds. Not because it was better for any reason, only because we wanted to be able to see the Earth as we flew. Both of us had vision Augments, so even in the dark of night, we could see perfectly fine. Marty avoided flying over major cities and airports, just in case. The
