Stolen Flyght – Chapter 9

My belly tightens as I stare out the bridge windows across the expanse at our secondary ship, one of Jinzo’s called the Daegu. I wish I was there instead of here.

“We’re ready to go here,” Skylar says over the vidcall. “Carlos, Eamon, and Yan are deep into their computers doing super nerdy shit, and Simon is hovering over them like a tyrant of a father.”

I look over at the screen, and Skylar is rolling her eyes.

“God, help me. I am surrounded by the nerdiest men in the universe. It’s not fair.” She adjusts some knobs and switches on her side of the conversation.

“You’re not on a date, Sky. You’re on a secret spy mission.”

“Look,” she says, pointing through the connection at me, “I can still get laid while working a secret spy mission. There are all of those movies from Earth that tell me it’s possible.”

I smile, and she winks at me. Skylar knows just how to keep me from vomiting out of pure anxiety. Some snarky humor and good jokes are always her forté.

“How do you like the Daegu so far?” Jinzo asks, leaning into the conversation.

She bops her head from side to side. “I have some suggestions about what you can do to improve a few things, but she’s a serviceable ship.”

We all know the Daegu isn’t the Amagi, and Skylar is careful not to say so.

The screen blinks with an incoming call, and Ken’s head pops into a new window.

“What did I miss?” he asks, sitting back in his chair on his ship.

“Nothing yet. Just waiting on everyone.” I prop my chin on my hand. “Hi there. Why don’t you tell us what’s going on?”

Ken accesses his datapad. “Good news and bad news. What do you want first?”

“Good news always.” I glance up at Jinzo, Mat, and Gus.

“The good news is we’ve gotten through to the military court, and if the division on Neve doesn’t release the Amagi in three days, then we will be granted the pleasure of arguing in court to get it back.”

“That’s good news?”

“Yeah,” he says, sighing. “The lawyers believe that once we go to court, we have an excellent chance of winning it back. This news seems to please them.” Ken acts like he has this pit of rabid and blood-thirsty lawyers who snarl and spit and beg to be sicced on cases like a pack of hungry wolves. I don’t think it’s far from the truth. “They’re champing at the bit to get in there and argue.”

“Then what’s the bad news? Or should I even ask?”

“Latest security footage from the Neve base shows them gutting the Amagi. The beds are out of all the cabins now.” He switches to stills of the Amagi, and yes, there next to it on the cargo bay deck are three beds from the main top-level cabins. I lean in and look closer. Yep, pretty sure that’s my bed some military monkey wrench is sitting on.

“Fuck me,” I breathe out.

“This is one of their tactics. They pull a ship to pieces so that, even if the owners get the ship back, it’s too fucked up for them to feel good about it.”

I look at Skylar, and her face is a grim mask. “I am this close to murdering someone,” she mumbles.

A ping sounds, and Carlos joins the call with Eamon and Yan at his side. “Good thing I have this call encrypted, or we’d have a whole host of problems right now.” He clears his throat behind his fist. “Captain, we have a few tricks up our sleeves for the mission, including a potential distraction should you need it. Eamon and I are forgoing sleep to get everything in place. Yan has already confirmed that your new identities are set to go into the military’s database once we get there.”

“I’m forwarding over the ID photos and descriptions now.” Yan steps in to take over the briefing. “You must memorize and use your alternate names. We have keyed everything to your real biometrics. The base uses hand and optical scanners, and DNA too, in some places. This is why I spent those hours taking photos, handprints, and mouth swabs. Whenever an access point asks for biometrical data, you should be good to go.”

“I’ve found a route through to communicate with you on the ground using a civilian satellite,” Carlos says, returning into the conversation. “And I’ve written a… well, the best way to describe it is an AI parasite program that is designed to corrupt all their video surveillance feeds. It will erase all their footage going forward without alerting their security teams. Then it presents the military’s security with false feeds to keep them from guessing we’ve hacked them, and it will also go back and destroy everything they’ve ever put in backup.”

I pull away at the sheer destructiveness of Carlos. His smile is small and wicked.

“I don’t play around. If this works, and I’m confident it will, aside from first-hand accounts of seeing you in the flesh, they will never know you were there.”

“What about the android memories?”

“Those too. Everything they observe goes into the off-site backup facility. Eamon is adapting my code to handle them as well.”

I swallow hard. It will be more important than ever to stay concealed.

I nod to him. “I understand.”

We’re interrupted by another call, voice-only. I swipe it up into the conference meeting.

“Good evening, everyone,” Ai says, her voice breathy. “Carlos, Eamon, and Yan will be busy during this operation, so Skylar and I will take the lead as communications specialists on this mission. Carlos and Eamon have lifted my executive function blocks and given me the autonomy to make decisions during the mission.”

Oh well, I wasn’t totally scared before, but I am now.

“Even if Skylar or Carlos are occupied and unable to make emergency decisions, I will take care of you. It is my utmost priority to see you all home, safe and sound.”

“Thank you, Ai.” I try to keep my voice even and light so Ai doesn’t suspect I’m dubious about her claims. She was supposed to be a sexbot, not an elite spy, and certainly not an autonomous being with decision-making capabilities beyond the usual sexual acts.

“So, that’s the extent of the pre-mission planning,” Carlos butts in. “We have a bunch of items in place so we can get you in. There’s programming that’s almost complete that we’ll deploy once we arrive. And then the rest will be up to you, thinking on your feet on the ground. Once we access the data center, we’ll be able to pull up maps and security feeds and whatever else we’ll need to spur you along on your journey.”

“Your new identities are in your inboxes,” Yan says. “Learn them, memorize them, become them. Some of you have new appearances, too. Sorry about that, Captain.”

I reach out my fingers to access my inbox, but I pull them back to me. Wait. Don’t be impatient. Impatient Vivian is nothing but trouble.

“So, we’ll see you all at the rendezvous point in a few days.” Skylar’s smile is confident.

“Sounds good.” I’m ready to cut off this conversation and move on to everything I need to know and memorize before we hit the jump ring.

Ken pipes in after being quiet for so long. “I’ll be over to say goodbye in a bit.”

“Of course.” I soften and smile at him. “See you soon.”

“Hey, Viv?” Skylar’s voice catches my attention before I cut off the call.

“Yeah?”

“If you see my ship, tell her I will get her back. Okay?”

I return a small, sad smile. “Of course. I will.”

The screen flips to black, and I’m left feeling like I’m in free fall.

—-

This mission will be a lot harder than I thought it would be. Am I capable of accomplishing a goal so complex in the broken state I live in every day?

I don’t think so.

Before I can look at any messages or briefings, I need to compose myself, bring back the Vivian I can depend upon when times are tough. Wandering through the ship, I finally find a place to be alone with my thoughts — the port side airlock. I open the door and take a deep breath before stepping through and shutting it behind me. Two pressure suits hang to the left of the door, and there’s enough space between them to wiggle in and sit with my back to the wall.

Okay.

Okay. I know things look terrible right now, and I’m going to have to agree with that. My life has taken a tremendous turn for the worse lately… something I didn’t even know was possible after everything I’ve been through in the last few weeks.

Tomu mortgages the farm into debt and runs, taking all of our money with him. Then suddenly, I’m a spaceship captain, growing illegal plants, planning on being a drug dealer, and hopping from one system to another, gathering men as I go. My life wasn’t crazy enough with a giant squid trying to make me into a meal or getting caught trafficking humans.

No. Now I’m stuck in a perilous situation that has the most potential of everything to kill me.

What the fuck, Vivian?

I wring my hands together and stare at my knuckles, my wrists, my arms. Sighing, I lean my head against the wall and lightly tap it on the unforgiving metal.

It wasn’t supposed to be this difficult. I was just going to get the money, pay off the debt, and bam. The farm would have been mine again.

What a sham this all is.

But as stupid as this mission feels, I can see how I ended up here. The steps and decisions that led to this moment are right there, each one defined by another obstacle I had to get past. Looking back on the last few weeks, I don’t know where I could have done anything differently and had a better outcome. It is the dumbest idea to send someone as unqualified and awkward as me into a dangerous situation, but alas, here we are.

But I can’t do this broken, high, lost, or silent.

It’s time I gather up all the different Vivians and assemble them together to make me whole again. There’s no need to keep them separate anymore, to protect myself. My brother is dead, killed right before my eyes. The men in my relationship network are happy and pleased with our union and the progress we’ve made so far.

Maybe it would be better to wait until after this mission to try to heal, yes? Maybe I should keep going as I have been to stay consistent?

I squeeze my hands together one more time and let go with a huge puff of breath.

No. I will not let this continue. I fractured my personalities to handle the grief of losing my life as I knew it, the anger at my brother, and the self-hatred for letting it all happen without stopping it. But I’m better now. There’s the possibility I can get everything back, and if not, I will go on. I’m still angry with my brother, but the fucker is dead, so I don’t have to worry about him coming after me again. And I don’t hate myself as much anymore. I’m depressed and scared and annoyed, but I’m not hateful.

I stand up and wiggle my way out from between the two pressure suits. Pacing up and down the airlock, I gather up all the Vivians and piece them back together like a puzzle.

Bitch Vivian, you were a treat. I never got to be bitchy before you came along.

Desperate Vivian, I hated that I needed you, but you got me Ken when I least expected it.

Business Vivian, if there’s anyone closest to the real me, it’s you.

Polite Vivian, Calm Vivian, you kept me going when anger wasn’t enough.

Paranoid Vivian, Suspicious Vivian, you both saved me from having my ass handed to me.

Sad Vivian, Angry Vivian, I’ve had enough of both of you to last me the rest of my life.

Sexy Vivian, you can stay.

Crazy Vivian, Devious Vivian, please, by all means, keep a lid on it in the upcoming mission.

I gather these and more up and stick them back into my psyche, making myself more whole than I’ve been in a long time. I’ll need all the strength I can get.

But then I look down at my hands, and I see one more Vivian left.

Captain Vivian.

Captain Vivian, you were the hardest to get used to, and the one I never expected to be. You showed me what it’s like to lead, that I could lead, and that my crew could depend on me. I think, somehow, I’ll always be Captain Vivian, whether on a spaceship or on my farm or, if that doesn’t come to be, for my network.

Every one of these other Vivians makes Captain Vivian whole.

Yes, Captain Vivian.

I smile as I look at my reflection in the pressure suit’s helmet.

I am happy to be Captain Vivian.

Now, it’s time to put her to good use.