“The shuttle on the surface is in motion,” Veirn told Kellen.
He didn’t ask what that movement might mean. How could the AI know?
So far it didn’t seem as if the blockade could see them, so their cloak was working. If his ship had been equipped with phased cloaking, he’d have tried to pass through the blockade, but his ship was not equipped with the ability to pass through solid objects.
It hadn’t been offered the tech, but then he hadn’t asked for it. It had seemed unnecessary and risky. He’d seen video of a ship passing through another ship and the wrongness of it had given him nightmares. Now…
“Can we slip between the ships to reach the surface?” he asked.
“They are too close together for the size of our ship,” Veirn said.
His people were so close. It was frustrating to have come so far to be stopped now.
“Can we make contact with our people without our signal being detected?” It would have been nice to at least let them know help was here. And with their smaller ship, they could most likely pass between the blockade ships and get to them.
“I am uncertain,” Veirn said. It did not sound happy. The AI didn’t like being uncertain. “Their technology, some of their technology, is unfamiliar. I have been unable to access their systems.”
It had tried to access their systems? Kellen felt discomfort at the idea. He wouldn’t like anyone accessing his systems without his knowledge, but…they were far from home. They had no backup. And they had people at risk and out of reach.
“How…” Kellen wasn’t sure exactly how to phrase the question.
“The crew of the Najer had this capability and the information came with their information upload,” Veirn said. “I had not planned to use the information, but…”
And there it was again. But.
He needed to either stop the AI or give verbal approval.
“Very well,” Kellen said. “Just…do no harm,” he added. And if the AI learned they were more than hostile? If doing harm was the only way to get to their people? He wanted to push the decision off until it had to be made but—and there it was again—in the heat of the situation was not the best time to decide. At least it would give him something new to think about.
“Any ideas or suggestions on how to proceed?” Kellen couldn’t believe he’d said the words. He was the ship’s captain. He should know or have ideas. But it wasn’t unheard of to get ideas from the crew and Veirn was all the crew he had.
“I am running scenarios,” Veirn said.
Kellen might be surprised it had plural scenarios to run. He could think of only two. Try to shoot their way past them. Try to talk to them.
“I suppose we could try making contact with them,” Kellen said, reluctantly, presenting what felt like the lesser of two difficulties.
“I would save that as a last resort,” Veirn said.
Kellen wished they had another, different last resort than trying to make contact with a large, unknown flotilla of ships.
The building rumbled, reminding him of the seismic activity back on Arroxan Prime. Dust filtered down from the high domed ceiling.
“Riina?” He asked.
“I have opened an outside hatch,” she said. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.” But the structure around him still seemed to shudder with movement. It suddenly felt urgent to make a decision about the prisoners. He still didn’t like his odds. But then, they hadn’t been that good since they’d been sucked into that unknown ship and then dumped here.
“Is there a secondary hatch in the floor?”
“Yes,” she said. “I was going to wait…”
“Open it,” he said.
He began to work the controls as he felt and saw the upper roof of the chamber begin to slide back. Its resistance told him that it hadn’t been activated in a long time.
And now, at his level, doors began to release on the various cells. The humans inside looked surprised and wary. Through the opening from above, T’Korrin flew down and began to circle the chamber, calling out what sounded very much like a warning.
