Valentine nodded andclosed her eyes.
“A number of new features havebeen added, but your Cortex will explain once fully updated.A lot has changed in the lastmonths.”
Valentine almostopened her eyes, but she knew it would befar too disorienting. Instead, she concentrated on the voice of thetech and thought about the new changes.
“What kind of changes?”
“Well, the capacity increase isthe big one, but the memory speed and onboardcaches have been increased as well,giving much faster data throughput. Your Cortex will be able tosift and work through data streams faster than ever in combat. Thebig one is the new security and protection system, plus thehardware integration module. All of that is provided by secondaryprocessors built into the cranial implant.”
“Integration? Okay.You lost me on the first part. Security? What doyou mean?”
“With the increase in storagecapacity and function comes additional risks, internal andexternal. You will now have the mentalability to supress your Cortex at any moment. The system is tieddirectly to your biometric data only, giving you full control atany time. This is hardwired and cannot be overridden unless yougive express permission for the Cortex to remain live.”
“I see. Not sure when that might ever happen. And theintegration?”
A flicker of something gnawed ather mind, and for a split second she was sure she could feel thepresence of her old friend. But then itwas gone as quickly as it had arrived.
“There. System restarted, and…”
Valentine knew something was up rightaway.
“What is it?”
“One moment. Keep your eyes closed. I need to….”
The sound of thetech’s voice changed and then becameincredibly muffled. Valentine opened her eyes, but her eyelidsrefused to move. She couldn’t feel her limbs, and her breathingseemed to have failed. It was enough to bring on a panic attack,and she might have passed out completely when suddenly the sound ofthe tech’s voice returned.
CHAPTER FOUR
Martian Moon Deimos,Sol System
“…diagnostics show everything isnormal. I recommend not suppressing the Cortex unless absolutelynecessary. As you know, it is an excellent manager of your owninternals, and will be another set of eyes and ears.”
“Thank you.” Valentine opened her eyes. It took a second for herto focus, and then a familiar voice spoke to her.
Valentine. Where have you been?
She smiled, knowing too well that he knew where she’dbeen.
You know.
The tech looked confused as Valentine continued her silentconversation.
Looks like you’ve been in the warsagain.
“He’s back,” she said with anod, “Now, what was it you said aboutintegration?”
“Your Cortex can tellyou about that. The artificer has already leftfor your ship, along with his inventory. I suggest you see him onceyou’re aboard.”
Valentine looked to her left and wassurprised to see all the people that had been there before were nowgone.
“How long was I here?”
“Ninety minutes,” said the tech,“The firmware upgrade takes time, but the system tests take evenlonger.”
Valentine rose to her feet andstretched her aching joints. But then she looked to her new armsand sighed. These limbs were completely artificial, with nothingnatural about them.
“I understandyou’ll be joining the new offensive,”said the Tech Sergeant.
“Yes, Sergeant.”
“Good, it’s time somebody gave those Xeno scum a lesson inpayback.”
Valentine could feel the hairsalong her back rising. Unlike most, she was aware of what hadoccurred on Eridani Prime. She had been there tohelp rescue those that had escaped andhad also learned of what had started the violence with the alienrace. She had no sympathy for the alien race as they’d expandedtheir struggle to all-out war, but she also understood why it hadbegun.
“We’ll do thebest we can, Sergeant.”
“No. Hunt them down and kill every last one of them. It’s timefor humanity to take off the kid gloves and show our neighbourswho’s in charge. Trust me, it’s the only way we can survive outhere.”
Valentine was surprised to hearthat, and she found her eyes moving alongthe soldier’s uniform until she saw the markings of the Earth onher chest. The old planets had managed to avoid the worst of theviolence in the last two wars, but they had also missed out on theopportunities contact with the Byotai, Helions, and others hadbrought.
“Thank you for the firmwareupgrade.”
“Anytime, Lance Corporal. Kill someXenos for me.”
Valentine moved away and lookedabout the half-deserted building. Some were still working there,but it was obvious most of the kit hadbeen stripped away for the operation.
“Val!”
She took a few moresteps, and there was Alexis waiting atthe doorway leading out into the open. Behind her was a singlelance of Novas, all carrying heavy equipment on their shoulders asthey moved away.
“What took you solong? You’re supposed to beready.”
She looked down at Valentine’slegs.
“And you’ve still not been to theartificer. The Sarge is gonna be pissed.”
“I…uh,I only just left. Something must have…”
“Don’t worry about it. You’re lucky it didn’t take another half anhour, or you’d be left behind.”
“What’sthe rush?”
“The fleet is leavingearly, that’s what the rushis.”
“But why?”
Valentine moved closeras they walked out into the open.
“I don’t know. But rumour has it,something has happened at EpsilonEridani, and somebody high wants us there, stat.”
She leaned closer to her right ear.
“One of the gunners told methat some ships have gone missing, anentire hunter squadron. They reckon it’s something big.”
“Mysterious.”
They reached the ramp leading up into the ship and stepped ontothe metal decking. Alexis was already heading back inside, but whenValentine reached the halfway mark, she turned and looked back.There were technicians, marines, and a host of others racing about,obviously making last minute preparations before the craft dockedon the moon would be leaving.
“I hope we’ve got enough people anddefences left here if anybody tries something again.”
“You’re kidding, right? The home fleet has deployed a squadronhere, as well as several companies of regulars. For the last sixmonths the air defence systems have been boosted. Trust me, Marsand her moons are like a fortress now.”
“Maybe. This place. It cost a lot to hold onto it. I’d hate tothink we could lose it again.”
“Val, we’ve got ourown problems, believe me. Now come on, it’s timeto leave.”
She looked to the landing bay onelast time and did her best to soak in the details. The metal flooring plates and the passages cut out ofthe rock with high-powered mining
