Cot of the MacDiarmid Clan on Maridoileag by JA Bard

Chapter 1

Alliances and Favors

Newly promoted Lt. Colonel Colleen 'Cot' of Maridoileag came to a snappy turn with a quarter heel spin directly in front of Eimhir of Lothene, Dean of Facility and Provost for the Premier Officers Advanced Training Academy, POATA. Cot's eyes front and center, peripherally picked up Vice Academic Dean of Facility Holfer, hand Dean Eimhir the school's coveted medallion each graduate received. The dean neatly laid the medallion to rest just below Cot's throat. The dean's eyes tracked to the fourragère on her right shoulder then to the scores of medals that covered Cot's tunic, earned in her decade of military service. The dean looked up at Cot, giving her a slight nod of acknowledgement.

"May the space tides be your friend, Lt. Colonel Colleen from Maridoileag, Clan MacDiarmid."

"Thank you, Dean Eimhir."

Cot squared her shoulders, nodded back with a more pronounced bend of her neck, stepped back, neatly drew her saber, saluted the collection of flags in the corner, slipped the saber back into its sheathe, gave a sharp left quarter turn, and marched down the stairs without mishap.

Relief at finishing a grueling twelve months of communal living with too many different types of personalities and species was like dropping a heavy weight physically and mentally from her. Adapting to a symbiotic-type of relationship with a spacecraft was no where near as difficult as having to learn that fine distinction between personalities and biological predispositions to so many different species while working on disaster recoveries, diplomatic failures, engineered snafus, miss communicated intentions with military overtones, as well as planned and unplanned harassment thrown in to confuse issues.

Ducking through a side door, she exited near the outskirts of the graduation revelers and their guests. Passing through the first security gate to the ship hangers, she barely registered the now familiar buzz the scan gave her.

Her eyes took on a luminescent glow from the anticipation of what her squad guessed they would be doing. They dubbed it "remapping and rediscovering realities" with the newest equipment out of research laboratories to date. What else could they be doing with their sentient ships, equipment, and training?

As she entered the hanger she could feel her ship, Star Chaser's anticipation for departure. SMSgt Mack was standing next to Star studying a scanner. It would be so like Mack to give Star one last check up.

He looked up and grinned broadly at her. It was difficult not to return an equally wide smile. "Is that a new pip, Cot? Congratulations on your promotion," he said. His six eyes did an elaborate scan of her in her dress uniform. "I've never seen you in all your regalia. You look more impressive than most officers I've met. Bet you had a lot of jealous looks from the pack." Picking up on her embarrassment he went on, "I'm going to miss Star Chaser. She kept us all on our toes. No uppity mechanics tolerated around this sid-ship!" His thick pouty lips made a sucking noise that was a hearty laugh for his species.

Cot laughed along with him. It was an interesting year of tests for everyone. Star Chaser embraced POATA's culture of challenging stagnant practices with innovative alternatives. Besides meddling unabashedly in Cot's studies, Star Chaser taught the CF mechanics and engineers that the intelligence running the CFs knew their own potential and shortcomings better than the engineers, redesigning what could be done without shipyard involvement. The three that pushed their concept of a sentient ship, nicknamed SID, would be astonished how fast and far the partnership had progressed. SID was a combination of the three designers' initials, and reworked to Sentient Intelligent Design, by the ships themselves. The pilots referred to themselves as sid-pilots and their ships as sid-ships, as did the techs that worked on them.

Cot's squad of twelve veteran Muland pilots assigned to fly the sid-ships were singled out to create a new type of partnership between pilot and a sentient ship, and a civilian sentient at that. After a year of hard work, ships and pilots were sent to the esteemed training academy for another year to further hone the relationship?or to work out the kinks, their CO had said.

"You're the last to leave, Colonel."

"May you always have the right tool for the job, SMSgt Mack," she said. "From both of us, you did a commendable job."

"Thank you, Colonel."

Once up the ramp, she slapped the button to retract the ramp and seal all exits. "Cot on board, Star Chaser."

"Cot, on board," Star Chaser acknowledged.

Quickly she strode up the passageway and was stopped so abruptly by a security barrier she bounced back, enclosed in a soft energy envelope. When she did not fight the restraint it lessened so she could move her arms. Suspicious of the school's medallion, the only new thing on her, Cot dumped it into the security canister. An alarm light blinked.

"It's tagged," she said disgustedly.

Hers was distinctive since she had the only that won the blue flower wreath above the school's emblem, so there was no mistake at who the tag was meant for.

"Rescan me," Cot ordered.

The rescan was clean and the security envelope disengaged.

"And the games go on," she said.

"Knowing who is playing would increase our odds of getting in a significant hit for the next move," Star said.

"It would. Personal or political, it deserves a reply," Cot said, then added on a mental level they shared. "Destroy the tag, Star. Don't dump it. It might be a regenerator model."

At the beginning of their partnership Star kept everything that intrigued her. Cot had no doubt Star would do as she had ordered and destroy the tag, but the question was when. Rach, Cot's mentor for this integration program, had explained to her she was the cautious partner and Star Chaser was the daring one. He assured her that because of this, they would make a good team. Cot had her misgivings then and still did.

Aloud she continued, "I have the conn, Star Chaser."

"Cot has the conn," Star replied.

"Prepare for flight, Star."

"Ship shape and ready for flight," Star responded immediately.

Cot thought of the changes that she had been undergoing for the last two years of moving from using deadly force when necessary to not including it in her combat plans. If it occurred, it did, but not because she had it in mind. Was she still competitive? It brought a familiar feeling of anticipation for a hunt - speeding through space, looking for a specific particle in the vastness of space - but she lacked the familiar anger that kept her tirelessly focused on the target. Had she lost her edge? Cot did not believe so. Her focus was not single minded, and she did not feel exhausted on all levels when the hunt was completed.

They would be out in space without backup, making her instincts and experience primary tools for survival?and her ship. That brought a grin. Star Chaser did not hold much value to instincts and to counterbalance her pilot's experience with her inexperience, Star Chaser gathered and stored large amounts of information. The thought of leaving Star Chaser out of the survival equation was not possible. Besides amassing large stores of information, Star could perform many tasks at once without needing rest, an advantage Star was not diffident about bringing up.

I feel sorry for whoever planted the tag on us. Star can be very creative in delivering embarrassing paybacks.

Her cloak and saber were dropped on the seldom-used astrogator's seat, or to her way of thinking, a visitor's seat. Later she would change into her flight uniform after they were out of E-mass Settlements space.

"Communication on. Broadcast to tower," she commanded crisply. "Lt. Col Cot in Star Chaser to tower, requesting a track out and clear to lift off."

"Request received by Tower, Lt. Colonel Cot piloting Star Chaser," was the automated reply. "You are number twenty-four in line."

"It's not surprising that air traffic is busy with graduates not wanting to celebrate on campus. They'll be grabbing whatever ride they can off station," Cot remarked to Star Chaser.

Once seated in her custom made chair a thin translucent tube extended to her then arched up and unfurled in a thin sheet, morphing into a screen. It came active with a check list for her to verify all systems tested "good for go."

Finished with her part in pre-flight preparation, Cot took the time to look around her bridge, pleased with the changes she made while learning hands-on ship repair. The original design plan was military orientated, designed for functionality and not much in mind for comfort. It was to carry four crewmembers for long periods of time without servicing stops if necessary; however, when the CF was morphed into a sentient ship with one pilot, no one thought to change the interior - until she was assigned to the ship.

The bridge was made roomier by removing two of the four permanent seats. They were like most unused furniture in ships, recessed into the bulkhead until needed. The bridge interior could mirror space by activating the transparent cover, giving her a sense that she was flying through space in a see-through bubble. Cot never had this much space around her since she left her planet, Maridoileag. Nebulas, forests, and city scenes were realistically depicted on the ship's interior hull, programmable by her or Star.

"Your bio readings indicate you are low in the proper nutrients to operate at an acceptable level," Star informed her.

"These last few days of preparations I missed a meal or two and sleep," she admitted. "But I don't feel tired; probably later when the excitement of being on our own wears into the tedium of filing daily reports." That was said for Star Chaser's benefit to remind her that they still had obligations to perform.

A SE arrived with refreshment. The service bots, SEs, were a new model that did everything: ship repair, cleaning, valet service, medical care, military functions and whatever else came up where Cot or Star Chaser would need assistance. They had them for a year and a half to assess. Star integrated the SEs into her system to evaluate and make improvements where she could. Technically, it was tinkering and upgrading, though Cot privately thought it was more like a mother teaching her young to better themselves. It had disturbed her when it first occurred to her that Star Chaser could be likened to a person in a ship, but she had been assured it was not like that at all?yet the Caronda Fighters were still referred to as sentient ships. The pilots were asked if they thought they could try out this new type of ship for a number of years before making a judgment. They all agreed, each with doubts, though for different reasons. Cot primarily saw it as a way to get out of the business of war.

A beep had her glancing at her monitor. A message from CFS HQ, marked urgent. This had to be her next assignment. The encryption program ran and was authenticated as from HQ, Admiral of the Fleet's Office but the main message was from Star Force Command.

Cot recalled when she first heard of the organization, Star Force Command. It was 15 years ago at her interview for the diplomat academy. A list of ten organizations with their descriptions was presented and the candidate was asked to put the organizations she would like to join in the order that she would like to see herself in. Ironically enough, she had not considered the military, but in her second summer she had switched her training from the diplomatic corps to the military academy. Cot chuckled to herself. What she had done was put Star Force down as her ten year marker, thinking that was the natural development of a career diplomat.

Once her identification was verified a scrolling message downloaded. She waded through the usual salutations and name of the Admiral of the Fleet signing off on her transfer.

"We've been transferred. No surprise there." Her eyes moved down the message. It was from her new commander. It had an audio with no images.

"On audio."

Greetings, Lt. Col Cot, captain of star ship Star Chaser. I'm High Commander Er of Star Force.

Your squad has been under my command for the last two years - training. You have all passed testing and are officially now a part of Star Force.

Welcome.

Your promotion to Lieutenant Colonel was made by the recommendation of Star Force Command Review Staff.

Congratulations.

All ribbons and any other honors gained with your previous service hold true in Star Force. As a wearer of the Gideon Medal, in SF it is held in great esteem and recognized by a gold splash on formal, working and leisure uniforms. The wearer of the group medal of valor, the fourragère will change colors. When awarded in another military force SF uniforms will show it in dark green with red woven through it. When won in an SF operation it will be light green with red woven through it.

Your new uniform requirements have been downloaded to your ship and teammate, Star Chaser.

Study up on what is expected of you as a member of Star Force, then familiarize yourself on the unit called Chameleon of which your squad will become permanent members in three months time.

On your way to your new station, your orders are to observe, gather information, and replace old monitoring equipment with new. In areas you think are important leave behind monitors.

As a member of SF, you have the authority to intervene in situations when you feel it is necessary. Should you need any assistance do not hesitate to notify SFHQ.

In brief, SF agent's work behind the scenes and without the need for public recognition and if it's necessary to bring more SF agents in to keep a private face, then it will be done. Should you need to expedite a matter, you have authority over all other military or law enforcement agencies in the known galaxies and sectors, no matter rank. Use this privilege with prudence as well as wisdom.

There are information buoys as well as public kiosks throughout space that are on FSO frequency. Your ship has been given the pass codes. Prepare daily reports as you have always done and dispatch to the buoys and kiosks that have the proper frequency.

L'Gsta Outpost located near Appins Rim is your destination. You have three months to reach your post, Lt. Col Cot. Use that time well.

Your squad will reform up at L'Gsta under Commander Or.

Welcome to Star Force Corps, Lt. Col. Cot.

Carry on.

The message ended on an abrupt note.

"Star, verify the authenticity of that message," she ordered excited.

Minutes passed slowly before three sources sent an authentication to the message. The names of who authenticated impressed Cot: two admirals with the Joint Planetary High Command and a president of a federation. Admiral L had been the one to award her the Gideon; a wearer of Incursion War medals himself.

"You have a hail from Major Ara," Star notified her.

"I hope she's not going to ask for a ride," Cot said, impatient with the interruption. Sighing at her rush to brush off people that she had gone through a year of training with, she took a few measured breaths to refocus on patience and courtesy. There would be plenty of time to think more of her change of command.

"This is Cot, Ara."

"Cot! We've got some celebrating to do. Just about everyone is here. Matt and Leu said they tried to catch up with you but lost you in the crowd."

Cot could feel Star's interest in what Ara was calling her for. Star was interested in her because Ara was trained to operate some gizmo that was as classified as the Caronda Fighters. That was another bonus to attending POATA; new technology was tested by the students and most was still classified when they graduated and moved to their next posts.

"I'm not into partying these days. I?."

"What happened to that Lieutenant I knew that wouldn't pass up a party?" she interrupted impatiently.

Those days of needing to socialize to know what those around me were about are past. "She's been promoted with orders to be elsewhere, Ara." Her link notified her that she had an incoming message.

"Well, then can you give me a lift to Blinks Station? We can spend some time unwinding before we head to our next assignment."

"You know I can't give you a ride."

"Kar has a seat available, and is going in the direction she wishes," Star informed Cot mentally. "He does owe you a favor. He can be persuaded to give her a ride since he has a month off with nothing to do."

Star Chaser was doing her usual multitasking and nosing around the star base. In times like these it was an advantage.

"Kar has a seat available on his private yacht," Cot informed Ara. "I can let him know you want a ride if you wish."

"I do."

Cot was surprised to hear relief in her voice. She wondered why Ara was in a hurry to get off the base when she tried to get her to remain and party.

"The arrangement has been made. He leaves in ten minutes when he anticipates Uri to arrive," Star mentally informed her. "He is happy you are asking for the favor now."

"He said he'll give you a lift. He's waiting for Uri. His yacht is Golden Bough at docking bay, G22A4."

"I know of it. Tell him I'm on my way. I'll be there under five minutes?and thanks, Cot." The click let her know that Ara was on her way to her ride.

"She's in a hurry," Cot said. "Of course Uri's happy it's now and not later, Star. No one wants a favor hanging over their heads when it was gained over a gambling debt no matter how wealthy and influential his family is."

"We did get him at his own game," Star said smugly. "There is a use for collecting favors."

"If we have too many favors in our possession we many have hunting parties out to wipe their slates clean."

Cot could feel Stars disappointment that she turned Ara down since she would have had a chance to find out more of Ara's gizmo. Discovering secrets and what they were about, especially the classified kind, was Star's second hobby. Ara was in CFS Special Forces and therefore had plenty of secrets. Cot had no intention of getting caught between Star's curiosity and Ara's, especially since sid-ships were classified and she had no direct order that Ara was privy to boarding a CF.

"Cot, here, Tower. Go ahead."

"What's wrong with you graduating pilots that you can't stay on the ground long enough to celebrate?" Sgt. Omod griped good-naturedly. "You're cleared for Out Way seven. I wanted to wish you good sailing, Cot. Keep your ship and you safe. Tower out."

"Tower, I read you. OW7. Cot and Star Chaser out and about. And good luck to you, Sgt. Omod."

Cot checked Star Chaser's scans to be sure they were clear of traffic.

"Star, get us out of here by the book."

Star Chaser lifted, hovered while turning to face their exit, and then flew along OW-7 until they reached the safe zone to lift. With the acceleration of her ship came the exhilaration of power and knowledge Star's connection provided her. Everything was momentarily forgotten as her senses expanded beyond the hull of her ship, and at the same time, instant knowledge on whatever subject she asked of Star, though it did not mean she would understand it. Cot had learned that the expansiveness on her part could only be endured for an hour otherwise it would take at least two hours to reconnect with her physical self.

The planet receded to a small dot after ten minutes.

An hour later they passed the outer perimeter buoys of E-mass Settlements space. Cot dropped her connection with Star and they went into hyper drive at the precise moment it was legal to do so.

"Notify me when you drop out of hyperspace. Allow breakout point the distance allotted for your speed and scan range from where a ship your size would normally exit."

"The exit point has been recalculated," Star Chaser acknowledged.

"Star Chaser, you have the conn."

"Star Chaser, space explorer, has the conn," Star said.

Cot laughed. "That is what we shall do, Star. Explore space and whatever else comes our way." Chapter 2

Tests on Various Fronts

Rising from her seat, she scooped up her belongings, and headed to her quarters to change into the more comfortable flight suit. She felt giddy with excitement, like an ensign on her first deployment.

Ensign Cot.

That memory came back with all the emotional and physical weight of her naivety, fears, nervousness, and most of all -- excitement. It was a roller coaster ride in the dark.

Fresh from CFS Space Academy XXI she had lucked out in being able to snag a ride aboard a courier ship with a diplomat who remembered her with favor from her two years at the diplomat college. It was that or squeeze onboard one of the shuttles filled with graduates and students on semester breaks from the surrounding academies, and piles of luggage. To make the ride especially dodgy was a group she overheard planning on taking the celebratory mood to levels of conduct not condoned by the military. A bad conduct mark in one's personnel file was not how Cot wanted to start her military career. She passed a warning to a few fellow graduates and went to look for a safer ride.

At Raj Star Base she had a six hour wait over, which was not without excitement. As a base that never sleeps, entertainment, gangs, thieves, and hustlers were a constant presence. She remained awake and vigilant least she find herself drugged, robbed, and left naked in an alley. Engaging a sleep cubicle for the wait over was not something she felt comfortable with, not knowing how safe they were.

From Raj Star base she flew to Base004, a week long trip in a converted troop carrier, that was half full of troops to their next assignment. Her kit was her pillow and she did have a roomy seat; but she felt exhausted on arrival at Base004, where she would pick up a shuttle to her ship, CFS Everm. The anticipation of sleeping in her own bunk, even if it were to be for eight hours, the required rest time for new arrivals, kept her moving. Commander Ri and seven other female officers were on the troop carrier with her. From an overheard conversation she learned that Commander Ri was to be the Exec on the CFS Everm and was to prepare the crew for war against the followers of the Gepaks. Cot had heard rumors at the academy of an impending war but not many in the academy wanted to believe it true, so not much was spoken on it.

It was standing room only in the dangerously overcrowded supply shuttle, CFS Qu, with women of different ranks and species, squeezed in. The pilot explained that Captain Wot only allowed one shuttle to ferry the females over and there were no return trips to pick up overflow, so those not on the shuttle were left at Base004. Cot wished she had remained behind with Commander Ri and the others, but Commander Ri indicated to her that she was to be on the shuttle.

The shuttle had not quite settled in its docking station aboard CFS Everm when the large battleship was in motion out of the dock. Any pilot would tell you how dangerous that was. Cot believed the captain's intention was to insult the Admiralty that ordered he integrate his crew. Those loyal to Wot called him a genius in war tactics but Cot thought he was past that and had moved into senility, with his staff for their own reasons, propping him up. She endured two weeks of humiliation and harassment, learning about herself and those that abused others. They could be likened to the Gepaks' followers, and Cot knowing of the impending war, was disturbed by this.

Gepaks were a species more advanced then some, that traveled space and enslaved planets as well as destroyed them at will. They genetically manufactured races to have at their disposal something they could play with. For species that were weak minded, they encouraged them to demean others in whatever manner suited their dispositions. Gepaks were in no way more powerful than most of the space traveling species, but they did use others as fodder to prevent their arrest by the Planetary Law Enforcement Detail.

The Fleet Admiral's letter caught up with the CFS Everm with the help of the faster and deadlier CFS Portsmouth. Under armed escort, Wot was relieved of command with his faithful staff.

Captain Regla was his replacement. Over the ships comm Captain Regla read their new orders and from then on a new type of energy drove the crew to prepare for battle. Captain Regla, with Commander Ri were to take the CFS Everm into the heart of the armies of the Gepaks. In the three weeks that it would take them to reach the border, was the time Captain Regla had to get her crew into a cohesive fighting force and she worked them harder than the bullies of Captain Wot.

Four months into the war, Cot had become leader of her flight squad, who under her leadership earned the Fourragère, the single braided cord that distinguished a group for their efficiency and duty in combat; rose to the rank of lieutenant; and garnered her first of many Incursion War Medals which eventually led to her award of the Gideon Medal. A fighter pilot was not something she had envisioned for herself when she left her home planet.

More importantly, she became a member of Commander Ri's select group that practiced QuaDom, fulfilling her aunt's assurance, that she will always have a teacher to guide her through the ways of the peaceful warrior.

"We're in a new element, Star. Dig up as much information on General Or, L'Gsta Outpost, and surrounding planets. Politics is an important component in our new line of business. And find out whatever information you can on you and I. We need to know what sort of information there is on us."

The colorful dress uniform she detested was dumped in the recycler and from her closet she pulled out her new flight uniform. With species requirements in mind, all flight uniforms were basically the same design with a hidden pocket or two. Job determined the coloring of the uniform from bright orange for repair techs to light gray for pilots. Standing before the mirror, she looked over her new uniform. The gold splash on the left sleeve marked her as the bearer of the Gideon Medal of Valor. Her ranking was on the collar.

Her eyes rose to look at the face of the person staring back at her. Startled, her thoughts went a drift for a moment, not finding anything familiar in the face before her. Had she changed that much since the last time she really looked at herself and not the uniform? Cot tugged at the uniform sleeves as if they needed adjusting, not ready to admit to when she last dared to ask herself who she was in respect to what she wanted to be doing with her life.

Come to think of it?the last time I asked that was when a squad leader let his group of greenies chase down a couple of pirates right into a trap and I had the honor of sifting through the debris looking for survivors.

Cot shook her head to clear the memory of scattered bodies in space with blank staring eyes. It reminded her of why she favored to work alone, inconsistent with her military training that preferred its members to working within squad support. Turning her attention back to her new affiliation she realized that SF in all probability knew more about her than she knew of them. Not as naïve as she once was, whatever organization she worked for would be investigated. Using Star's resources was one way, but Star Chaser was their tool. There were other methods of gaining information on a secretive organization without having to resort completely to sneaky tactics. Direct contact with fellow agents was the most telling. After one year of learning to separate personality from species trait it should be easy enough to figure out an organization's character via how its agents acted. Cot smiled at her reflection in the mirror. It was about separating fact from myth and rumor.

"It's time to start that new schedule I've promised myself," she told her smiling image.

In the cargo bay she had set up her sacred space and workout area. Reflected Light, Star Chaser's shuttle, took up half the cargo bay. The rest of the area was for supplies, her sacred space, and a workout area that allowed enough room for her physical training.

Sitting on a pad, on another mental level that Star was not privy too, she said her prayers, and then cast her circle, starting deosil. After a few moments of deep cleansing breaths, she called her guardians to the seven points, and then welcomed her ancestors.

Her thoughts turned to her concern for the others in her squad.

According to Star, Captain Wimsey Macnab flying Quiet Quest was deployed with Captain Aysen Macfarlane flying Quiet Storm to cover the Hibri, Borik, and Codic Sectors. They all were to remap their assigned areas of space with new equipment and leave buoys with advanced capabilities behind, then head to their new home base, L'Gsta Outpost along Appins' Rim.

Captains Goudie Grant flying Melodie, Hallie Drummond flying Gallant Soldier with Allison Macalister flying Space Cat, were stretched out along Borik Sector, close to Durant's Rim where their unidentified space sector neighbor was unfriendly.

Captains Feah Lamont flying Caointiorn, Maciver Campbell in Gormal and Moodie Stewart in Brianag, covered the interior, with orders to travel through areas that most ships would not want to travel through and leave off spy bots that would also act as backup, should a SF agent need it.

Captains Barron Rose in Galaxy Traveler, Fionnaghal Hay in Penumbra, and Mòr McGillivray in Flash covered the boundary along Tuead and Codic border, with the same orders as the others, with their ending point at L'Gsta Outpost, their new base. They all had three months to report to their new outpost and a lot could happen to them in that time over that amount of space without the backup they were used to providing for each other.

However, she smiled, it is good fortune that came our way for the last two years. Now it's time for us to put the training and our fortunes to test. So relax, breathe and focus on breath.

Taking a slow breath in, she stilled her thoughts and focused first on her breath and then nothing.

When meditation time came to an end, prayers of thanksgiving to her guardians and ancestors, and protection prayers for her squad were said. The circle was opened widdershins. Rising, she stretched slowly, relishing the idea that there was no hurry to do anything, and then headed for the bridge at a quick walk, interested in what there was to see. The passageway's bulkhead was a hologram of rolling fields with the deck a yellow brick road leading into a castle keep. Cot chuckled at Star's humor.

"I have the conn, Star." When she sat in her chair the beginnings of her console snaked toward her, then unfurled to a flat screen.

"Cot has the conn," Star said. "We are coming out of hyperspace at the first intersection," Star reported.

Due to Star Chaser's new improved sensors it would allow them to pick up anything in the vicinity of where they would have been predicted to appear had they hyper spaced out where ships her size would normally program to.

"Anything of interest in the neighborhood?"

"I am sending what my sensors are picking up to your screen," Star said.

"This is a list of chemical compounds. Can you be less specific?"

The listing changed to something more solid; evidence of ships passage in the busy travel corridor, which was why traveling at hyperspace speeds through busy travel corridors, was not done. At first reading there was nothing in the area that would be interpreted as suspicious activity or appearance.

"Report on ship to our starboard."

"It is the Eavator. A Sigrid class ship. My readings show it powered up four hours ago but has remained in place."

Sigrid class ships were from Teai Sector designed specifically for the species Sier that lived primarily in space rocks in Besum's rings in the Teai Sector. To be invited to dine with a Sier was participating in dropping down on terrified creatures and injecting them with a paralyzing agent and then eating them. Not even for diplomatic reasons would Cot accept an invitation to dine with a Sier.

Teai Sector was a year's travel from their present position, unless they knew of private gateways, and then the travel time was an unknown.

"I expected more than one interested party to appear before we reach our first travel gate."

"They are interested in my performance which is beyond my original specs," Star said, justifiably proud of her upgrades.

"They've had two years to study you - us, Star. Now that we're out and about and with no backup, anyone with issues about us has three months to do something about it."

"Our purpose is toward non violence," Star Chaser said.

"Your original design out of the shipyards was a long distance star fighter. Anyone looking at you now would see that you don't have the canon mounts or weapon bays the original design had, but the difference between the two designs leads to the question, where are you hiding your weapons now."

"They will not be able to scan me with accuracy," Star said. "You guessed that they would be waiting for us," Star said.

"It wasn't a guess. I felt it in my bones," she joked.

Star was silent for a few seconds. "I have scanned your bone structure. You do not have anything that would alert you to the ship waiting there."

"There's a lot about me that can't be learned through scans. I used my intuition."

"Intuition is not a reliable tool for our protection."

"So you keep telling me. How long has that ship been there?"

"My scans show that Eavator has been waiting three days," Star said.

"The area is most probably saturated with sensors. We'll go around. Find out how wide we need to pass."

"I am scanning for various grades of sensors, starting at the highest level," Star informed her.

"You do have the latest technology at your disposal."

"What was given me was performing below its potential. I have improved both performance and expanded 90% of the equipment beyond its makers' specifications."

"You certainly have the ability to turn out upgrades faster than the manufacturer or HQ, Star. Give me details on Eavator -- the entire crew and passengers if there are any, and anything else you think warrants notice."

The shipyard schematics of each deck including, cabins, weapons bays, and contents of the cargo bay were supplied before she finished asking.

"Ship schematics down to the emergency breakout boxes," Cot commented.

Breakout boxes were rescue pods for some species.

"Their security is substandard and easy to circumvent," Star said.

Information on the captain filled a screen behind the ship's diagram. Star provided her with who and what was precisely on each deck.

"You have again surprised me Star with your speed and efficiency at breaking through a ship's security and into the logs, and I trust without leaving a trace?" she said with mock seriousness. "We don't want to get anyone upset."

"I have left no trace. It was a simple code to break."

Cot pursed her lips in thought. Was that Star's ego talking or was it intentionally easy to get in? "Some thing that's easy to enter may have been meant to be entered. Have you taken action to prevent feedback or retaliation through your connection?"

"An open vault temps even the most honest," Star quoted, then added, "Without practice a skill languishes."

"Star, you fit right in with SF Special Ops, but run a scan on yourself to make sure you didn't pickup anything that can compromise your systems. You're skillful and well practiced, but don't be fooled into folly by your cleverness. For a captain of his years, he would know to leave more than one level of security to protect his ship."

Cot tapped through the schematics of each deck.

"Eavator has enough weaponry to be the type that doesn't tag along to just take notes. I wonder why its status as a non military vessel hasn't been challenged. Send this to SFHQ and our sid-mates. I think this is a setup, though I'm not certain for who or what."

"Why do you think a setup, Cot?"

"When a private yacht is carrying armaments found on warships and pirate ships it's safe to assume they're up to something that will attract nasty business. From any of the kiosks we've passed have you picked up any warning messages of a private yacht being attacked or having to be this armed?"

"No warnings to travelers or to CFS patrols," Star said.

"What is the average for a ship with these readings to travel the distance they have without a deep hull scan to tip off the authorities that this is a ship to be wary of?"

"Without knowing their flight plan it would be difficult to give an average."

"What does the captain's travel log show?"

"I have not scanned the captain's personal log. However, Eavator's crew's personal logs report she set sail from her home port six months ago and has initiated contact with fifty kiosks for communication packets. Each kiosk is listed and the time spent at each."

"So what does that tell you, Star?"

"That I am able to break personal codes to read other peoples mail. Cot, people do not think to prevent an outsider into their logs, only their crewmates."

A new set of scan results showed on Cot's screen.

"I am picking up ghost signals that go out as far as my scan range can reach," Star said.

"These might be the new Halb sensors I read about. Very good, Star. The manufacture guarantees that they're tamper proof and could be mistaken as ghost signals, reflections of space anomalies."

"It is an over use of sensors. Any ship passing would run into one. Are we going to take out the Eavator?" Star asked.

"No," Cot answered surprised. "Do you have any evidence that they've attacked anyone or that they intend to?"

"No," Star answered.

"All we know is that the area is saturated with passive sensors," Cot said. "They could just be out here testing their new equipment. I can only suspect it is more than that."

Cot tapped through star charts. There were two known public gates a days' travel in different directions. Alba Gate and Detra Gate. Anyone interested in them would have both gates staked out as well as the normal places ships with their destination would hyper space out.

"Instead of using known gates, there's an old one right here. It's two hours from Detra Gate."

"There is a story with this information?" Star asked.

"It's in the story of Raven's Flight. I'm not sure why it's fallen into disuse, but we're going to find out if it can take us to the Hege Space Province like the story says."

Cot reviewed Star's scans, keeping an eye on passing ships and communication traffic as they changed headings.

"I have reports ready for your viewing," Star said.

"To my screen."

The background check on Star Chaser's registry and her files came through. Star Chaser's shipyard plans and her original fittings gave Cot a start. She had not realized so much had changed over the last two years.

"These are listed as your official plans, a star fighter, not updated to show your true intent."

"My purpose is peaceful."

"Our purpose is peaceful. Your original design was with a crew of four. I would imagine there are actual star fighters built to the original plans."

It was not uncommon to see similar ship designs produced in other sector shipyards. All that the manufactures or designers had to do was change something significant on the copied design and sell it to another. Cot knew that a sentient ship was not a popular idea. If it was, all sectors would have their shipyards mass producing them. If a group was interested in ending the use of sentient ships, one method would be to have a replica so that the ships vulnerabilities would be taken advantage of.

Cot leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes to think. Star Force would know this?and they would know that many changes on the ships had taken place over two years by the ships themselves giving input in what to add or remove. Of all the CFs, Star Chaser was the most innovative and stubborn in her application of changes in her architecture and software. They were also the only CF in their group sent out on their own. Was Star Force testing Star Chaser's ability to adapt, interested in seeing what she would create to advance their agenda? Was their agenda the same as their mission statement? How much could Cot trust Star Force with as little as she knew of them?

"Do a bare bones search for anything you're not in control of." She paused a moment, rethinking the order. "On second thought, the CBIS can scan your structure and systems."

"I have not integrated that object into my systems," Star said. Cot caught the peeved tone, indicating Star Chaser found something mechanical that she could not easily break into.

"That's good. We want something independent to check you out."

Star began to list reasons on her screen as to why a scan from the CBIS would not be as effective as her own scan, but Cot ignored it and got up. As she headed to the cargo bay to activate the CBIS, rather than a conversation, Star continued the objections in thought. It was an indication to Cot that Star was upset.

"The CBIS is the only gizmo we have that didn't come from the labs that produced your body and all the other equipment we have. Wouldn't you want to know if someone has equipment on you that you not only can't identify but don't know about?"

"There is nothing on me that I do not know about."

"Then CBIS should not come up with anything you don't know about. CBIS is a passive scan, Star. It's not a weapon nor can it shut anything down on you."

CBIS came active immediately and requested a recognition scan of Cot. Once given, Cot programmed her request, a deep scan of Star. It would take a long time for each component of her structure and programming to be certified.

The CBIS was produced by a small company trying to break into the ship security and repair business. To keep financially solvent they sold some of their inventions before they were mass marketed, so they would not sacrifice their independence and be merged into a larger company. One of the scientists was a friend. It cleaned out her credit account but after two years of not going anywhere to spend credits her account was back in the plus.

"What about the tag in my school medallion?"

"I am studying it. What I am finding can be disturbing."

"What is that?"

"It was made on a prison planet," Star said. "My inquires into who designed it and who it was sold to have not come up with answers. The intentions of the manufacturer are suspect."

Cot never paid attention to the people whose capture she was responsible for. For all the ships she destroyed that did not want capture, her capture rate was higher. It had a lot to do with her finding a way to the pirate, smuggler or other crime groups' hideouts, and then leaving other departments, like the hoplites and FTS troop ships responsible for securing and making the actual arrests.

It would be too great a jump in logic to find this a coincidence, but it did warrant looking into.

"Have you destroyed the physical element of the tag yet?"

"No."

"Do you need it for further study?"

"No."

"In the next update to HQ, send your information on the tag and destroy the tag, Star. The longer you keep its parts the longer we can be tracked."

"There is no signal being emitted from this tag. It has been disabled," Star said.

Cot decided not to remark on Star's continued resistance to do as she ordered. Sometimes arguing over little things was a waste of energy. Cot moved to her files to see what Star was able to find on Lieutenant Colonel Colleen, clan MacDiarmid. Skipping past the parts she already knew about she found the newest notations. I've been moved into special operations. No surprise there since I'm flying an experimental ship, but I see it's not named so it's been left to assume it's into CFS Special Ops. Cot closed the file.

"Is there anything else I need to read?"

"You have not read your orientation from Star Force," Star said.

The information appeared on her screen.

"This is a lot of reading. Play the recording, Star."

Cot leaned back and closed her eyes, relaxing just enough not to be droned to sleep. Somewhere in the recitation of how Star Force came into being was a forceful delivery of an important note:

"No member is above Star Force law. Loyalty to the force and members is primary and that means reporting a member that violates a Star Force rule. Above all else Star Force must maintain a higher moral and ethical set of standards than any of the other organizations Star Force deals with. It's because of our practice of moral and ethical standards that Star Force was granted jurisdiction over other military, semi-military and political governments.

"Our laws are as follow?.

It finally came to an end.

If she ran into an agent in trouble it was her duty to assist as discreetly and as much as possible. This new job was sounding more and more interesting.

"Is there a secret sign or something we have to know to recognize a fellow agent?"

Star provided holographic examples of one person, two people, and in groups. The images were of species that had no resemblance to a Muland.

"Anything a Muland can use?"

A holograph popped out with a Muland interacting with various species, including a Sien.

"That is really funny, Star. I'll be too busy worrying that one of those long appendages is reaching to drag me in to be dinner. I don't know who agreed to let them in the open league to travel space because they're too predatory to be peacekeepers. I'll grant you that they were great allies in the fight against Gepack agents, but what other use are they?"

"I have researched their species. They are not the hunters they were in their earlier beginnings, looking for other biologicals for food. They are hunters of relics from lost or ancient civilizations," Star said.

"That gives them a ready excuse for having heavily armored ships and for being found in different sectors of space. I bet they know a lot of hidden gates that can take them to different parts of space faster than a thought. But, in regards to Eavator, it wasn't hunting for a relic or artifact. It was hunting for a new Coronda Fighter."

"Is that based on your intuition?" Star asked.

Cot ignored the dig. "That captain was not just sitting picket duty to monitor traffic. He meant to take some type of action as soon as his sensors picked up what he was looking for."

"Your reasons are not provable, Cot."

"Nor are they disprovable, Star. It would not be difficult for someone to find out our posting is L'Gsta Outpost and plot possible courses we could take. Had Eavator not been active you would have missed it."

"I can send out a probe to study Eavator."

"No. I don't want to spend any more time in this part of space." Cot leaned back in her seat smiling.

"I think Cot, you are anticipating adventure; therefore you interpret events around you as pertaining to your anticipation."

"You don't find it suspicious that a ship waiting for four days, suddenly goes active hours before we arrive?"

"I can show you statistics on how many times that has occurred and it had nothing to do with the ship that made such an observation," Star remarked dryly.

"Do calculate the odds, Star. Make sure you do it with civilian captains with no military experience, civilian captains with military experience and military captains. Then show life experience in space. You can give me the results later. I'll be in my quarters getting some sleep. You have the conn, Star."

"Star Chaser has the conn."

Chapter 3

A Viper's Venom

Ten hours later she was back at the helm and after being amused with Stars research results that were not standing up to Star's belief, she left her comments unsaid. With the transparent hull engaged, Cot enjoyed being surrounded by the expansive views of deep space. It was a different experience than connecting with Star and all her sensors, or astral projecting. Star's perspective was filtered through her mechanical sensors that were limited to only known things and astral projecting was a point to point journey with the scenery going by too fast for her to note anything but blurs.

Before Cot, amid the views of galaxies and black holes, a portion of space wavered as if a curtain moved with a breeze, and a squadron of CFS ships appeared out of hyperspace. The transparency vanished and Cot was surrounded by Star's solid bulkhead and her console. Twenty four CFS warhawks spread out on their portside, sending out seekers that formed a semicircle around Detra Gate, lighting up her alarm board.

"I wonder who they're looking for."

"They are looking for a Coronda Fighter," Star said and supplied her with a copy of the transmission one of the ships received.

"Star, send out a Wringer to extract all the information that lead ship has on you."

"Including the security officer's files?" Star asked.

"Yes, including what's in the security officer's files. I want to know why they're looking for us." Why would CFS ships be looking for us? I can understand private interests but not our old comrades.

"Orders are to seek and destroy."

"Look deeper, Star. That doesn't make sense - unless this is some type of test for us." Adversity is the path to awakening, but awakening to what? Cot frowned at her console that showed devices spread around the public gate sending out signals to each other as they set themselves into a blanket barrier that would spot anything that moved in the area covered.

"I could send a dozen SEs out to deactivate them," Star offered. "It would appear to be a malfunction."

"Not the SEs." Cot hesitated and then added, "We have plenty of new gadgets you've been fine tuning that need testing in RT. Let's see what we've got for messing with their plans?without anything being traced back to us." Am I justified in ruining their equipment because they were planning something unpleasant for us? If they were not so aggressive in planting sensors all over this area, I may have decided to just quietly pass? It will do their training good to differentiate equipment failures and natural space events. Cot chuckled as she tapped her screen to look over their supplies.

"A for arsenal," she hummed to herself. "Now this looks promising."

The Acoustic Mine was designed specifically to take out areas infested with sensors. Star added a virus that would use the link from the sensors to the ship monitoring them that would short out navigational systems. The virus would pass to other systems the ships were communicating with. By Stars design, it would be as if the ship ran into an electoplasmic storm that some how got past the ships shields.

"If all goes as your tests show, they'll be down about a day taking into consideration the panic factor. If no panic -- half a day. Where's Wringer?"

"Two clips from the warhawk Alfre," Star reported. "My tests are conclusive. It will not be traced to us. Why would they think it would be us?"

"A good question and that's the way we want to keep it. How long for Wringer to get the needed information?"

"Wringer is in their system and downloading now. Five minutes to return," Star said confidently.

"Once Wringer is back safe, set off two AMs, one on each side of that meteor to put a touch of doubt to their belief that it was intentional. You do have counter measures in both to be sure our little spies aren't going to get traced back to us, right?"

Star lit up a portion of the star map on Cot's screen and then brought up a holographic image of a creature jumping out at Cot from the screen.

"Oh, that will scare them." She swatted at it and it dissipated. "I'm just trying to point out that the hunter always expects the prey to have traps and other nasties to snap at them should they get too close, so be extra careful about moving in this area. I'm sure we're not the only ones that think that meteor a great place to plant a trap. And if this is a test, which is the only thing that all this would make sense about, then don't trust any information you pull from their logs without getting outside corroboration."

Cutting her power, Star glided through the meteor's trailing debris. Cot linked in with Star and felt space matter bump against her outer-buffer. Only a part of her attention was on her monitor and almost too late Cot recognized a pattern to the debris.

"Roll to port!"

"We will be seen," Star said but did change direction.

Their link dropped at the same time of Cot's realization. "Don't touch the netting anywhere, including with a scan. It will send a virus back on your return signal."

Relinking with Star she could feel the movement of space less powerful against the bow. Cot could feel Star cut most of her power to not register with the warhawks sensors and their satellites. Mentally she sent a "well done" to Star.

On their portside was the usual feel of space when caught in a meteor's trail of debris. Starboard was a different type of energy pushing against Stars buffer, aggressive and alert. Cot dropped her link from the suddenness of the attack from the net. It was a predator waiting for its prey.

"There are breaks in it. Since it's still active it must be of use to someone that is interested in the path of this meteor. See if you can also find out where the breaks occur. That will give us an idea of the size and when?"

"I know the protocol, Cot," Star said, sounding offended.

"Of course you know, but I do have to say it, Star. This is still a military ship and this is a military maneuver so we need to be sure we're working on the same strategy. We'll disable it if it's used for illegal activities."

"It has not attacked us nor threatened to do so," Star pointed out. "It is merely reacting because we nearly ran into it."

"It's a Net, Star, designed to have ships run into it so it can disable a ship's security buffer. By your answer I'm guessing you've communicated with it."

"Yes."

"Ask what its purpose is."

Cot linked with Star to see what the connection between Star and the net's operating system was like. Star made an overture to the Net's OS. A welcome was returned, too quickly for Cot's cautious nature, but this was Star's operation. Cot knew the moment of its touch that it was a malicious predator and before she could warn Star, withdraw or blink, she was lifted out of her seat and thrown across the bridge, where she hit the bulkhead and dropped to the deck unconscious.

* * *

Blinking her eyes open, the first thing she saw was the medbot hovering near her. For a long moment she laid there reviewing what she remembered happened. Her summation was as captain of her ship, she got sloppy. Moving her head she grimaced at the headache. Sighing, she moved into a sitting position.

"You have a touchy friend," Cot whispered.

"Net is not a friend," Star said.

Another bot supplied her with a liquid which she drank thirstily, then leaned back. Waiting for the meds to take effect, Cot closed her eyes, willing her stomach and headache to recede. The meds were not making her feel better. Using the bulkhead as support, Cot stood up and on wobbly legs made it back to her seat.

"What transpired from the time I tried to link with you and Net?" she thought to Star.

"It thought too much of itself. That was its mistake. I have left an explosive in one of its dead sections," Star informed her.

They were now out of Net's area drifting with little power outside of the CFS squad's search pattern. Wringer was back in Star's bay and Star was waiting for her to give the order to activate the AMs.

"Detonate when you're ready, Star," she said hoarsely, then coughed. She was handed a warm beverage. The warmth from the herb drink loosened the tightness in her throat.

"Signal sent," Star said.

The majority of blips on her screen went out as systems failed

"Switch to?" it was done as she thought it. Blips reappeared. Her external viewer showed some of the warhawks drifting. Those unaffected went on evasive maneuvers until a firm hand had them moving into a defensive grid to protect those unable to steer.

Their scans of the area would find the burst of electromagnetism that scrambled their systems was from colliding space debris. How it managed to leak through their shields was for them to worry over.

Cot wondered what happened to Net in the blast. Star had the same idea and was scanning for traces. Nothing.

"Let's get out of here. Leave one of the new monitors to see what they do and have it return when the ships leave this space. Rerun everything from the moment we ran into Net on my screen. I want to know everywhere that thing touched your hull, then we'll inspect the area carefully for any weaknesses. We'll wait a distance from the gate for the monitor's arrival."

"That may be days," Star said.

"There is no immediate hurry. We can make a through inspection of your hull while we wait."

When Cot completed her report to HQ on their recent action she signed it and decided it was time Star took a more official part in the reports.

"Star, add your assessment of our encounter with Net and about the AMs performance to this report, then send it off to HQ."

Hours later, a ding notified Cot that they reached the general area the gate was in.

"Hold position here. We'll wait for the monitor."

She reviewed her calculations, checking them against what Star Chaser presented on her screen. "Never assume the information you're given is correct if you're going to gamble on it," she always warned her students, and kept repeating the same thing to Star Chaser, who so far, was too confident in her own abilities to distrust her answers.

"You have the conn, Star. Let me know if anything comes up and-or when the monitor returns."

"Star Chaser has the conn."

She changed to a lighter workout suit and then went into the cargo bay. A stop at the CBIS to see what its progress was let her know that it was working.

Cot spent the next hour not thinking about anything but evading the bruising hits a holographic fighter got on her when her thoughts strayed. Her opponent was intentionally made to look silly by Star who thought she knew how to create a better self defense course than what Cot had been through so far. Star varied the situations and adversaries from down right scary to outrageously funny, and Star loaded the lessons with sensory stimuli so Cot would have more than one trigger to remember the lesson. In the many space sectors there were more than enough species to pick whose odor if not body size overwhelmed her. It added to the challenge of neutralizing her opponent.

A buzz sounded letting her know that her practice time was over. The next hour she worked on running, hopping and climbing over obstacles used to build up her endurance, should she ever have to go planet side for a military operation. After a shower and change of clothes, she stopped at the galley for a light meal before returning to the bridge.

"I have the conn, Star. Give me a system report. Anyone in this vicinity?"

"Cot has the conn. No ships close enough to detect us. Normal space traffic. All systems have been checked and all systems are functioning Above Shipyard Standards, ASYS."

"ASYS report received. Send out feelers to make sure our tail doesn't have a tail."

"I have gone over the Sub474 device and tinkered with it to improve its factory specs. It has not detected any scanning device in its vicinity."

"Tinker" was a new phrase Star picked up from her mechanics at the academy, which could mean a complete overhaul.

"You are keeping me up on what you improve, right?"

"Sub474 has longer range scan and can emit a frequency that will confuse readings on ship sensors. I will flag all equipment I have upgraded with new functions."

"Thank you. What will set off the emitter?"

"A passing ship that sends out a signal."

An indicator on her monitor showed the arrival of Sub474.

Cot reviewed Star's scanning results. There was nothing following them.

"On my mark transmit the code?mark. Star, send in a monitor to clear the tunnel as safe for me to enter."

Fifteen minutes later SE7 came sailing back, reporting the corridor was stable.

"All ahead, quarter cruise speed. We'll let the energy current carry us. As we move through the gate, download to my console who last passed through and encrypt this location in your files."

Many of the gates were created before most known species were traveling in space. Since all the gates were in working order, it was often discussed who maintained them with no one feeling they had an answer.

"Pass in Peace" was the message sent to Star Chaser as she moved through the gate.

"It's not a very busy gate of late. The last passage was two months ago. The Abaral passed through. That's a private yacht owned by the Bodos family. They're not into trade so I wonder why they would be way out here."

"A vacation," Star said.

Cot calculated the time it would take for the yacht to travel from their home planet to the gate, then ran calculations on other public gates near by. Months and weeks.

"Too long for most working class vacationers and for the idle rich that want immediate gratification. There has to be a purpose for this yacht other than a whim to have passed through here. If I were still on patrol I would find this something to look into," Cot said.

"Why?" Star asked.

"Because kidnapping and hijacking is a lucrative business for pirates, so this ship being so far off its normal course is worth noting. Keep an eye out for this yacht, Star. Send a message to the others also, and update them on our progress. And Star, send them what information you have on Net as soon as you can." She rubbed her temples, realizing she had a slight headache that was working its way to be annoying. Cot moved on to read the reports on the warhawks they had left disabled.

"They were lucky that freighter was passing. She's a light ship repair freighter. There's not too many of those around."

"Is the captain an interest to look into, Cot?"

"Yes. Check out her captain, Star."

Immediately information began to scroll across her screen. Star was playing with her by asking.

"Ex-military? That's not unusual but an O'Rourke in the military is. They usually stick to the merchant ships or space trade business. When a member breaks out of the mold it's someone worth watching. See if she's related to the O'Rourke merchant clan."

"You are such a person too, Cot."

Cot snorted without humor at Stars observation on her relationship with her clan.

"And check out how many repair freighters there are in that area," she said, to change the subject. "See if any of them repair nets." I wonder if this O'Rourke owns that net. It wouldn't be the first time a merchant causes accidents to get business.

Star listed herself first.

"You're not a repair ship, Star."

"I have the capacity to repair ships."

"You can do ship repairs but I'm talking about? Alright, add yourself and then break down all ships that can repair others by speed, efficiency, size, quality, and location."

"There are other notable categories."

"Okay and whatever other category you think we'll need."

After a few hours of studying the Sub474 scans, Cot could not find any evidence that Net survived, but it did not totally rule out the possibility that it was not destroyed entirely. Depending upon its complexity, if one joint survived, it could latch onto a passing ship and cause damage in the ships defense grid.

Cot added a notation in her report to HQ of her recommendation that a sweeper troll the area and for ships passing through to be on the lookout for any ship that may be suffering from a power failure. Net was too sophisticated in its attack in targeting her and not Star to succumb to an explosive.

Yawning, Cot stretched to become more alert. Drowsiness was an occupational hazard that she kept at bay by taking breaks. It was time for another.

"Star, you have the conn."

"Star Chaser has the conn."

Rising, she stepped into the passageway that appeared as a forest in autumn. Inhaling deeply, the scent of forest filled her lungs, even down to the humus.

Changing into workout clothes, she mentally began to prepare herself for a good physical practice session. Stepping into the cargo bay, she looked around for an attack that Star, her trainer, may have planned for her. Surprises were her favorite way to keep Cot on her toes.

An old Roja master sat naked under a shosa tree. She knew it was a Roja master because Star informed her. For a moment Cot wanted to tell Star to bring up a physical workout lesson but hesitated. Would she let Star, a ship, run her life?

The Roja master had a bowl of cracka nuts in his lap and he was sucking the hard shell instead of cracking the shell open for its meat. He looked up at her and gestured to a mat in front of him.

Cot sat.

The cracka meat was a potent hallucinogen for some species, if it did not kill the consumer first. If the consumer survived, then for a few hours or days, prophetic dreams were experienced. With a good interpreter, the myriad of images could be put to good use. Cot believed if she could not have such dreams through practice and discipline, then it was not something she should be taking shortcuts to.

Cot watched him suck on the nut noisily, smiling and nodding to himself as if he were participating in a dialogue. He made a sign in the air and seemed to fall asleep. Her practice time was over, his image faded away. Rising to her feet, she wondered what the lesson was.

The attack was sudden, one of the six warriors that surrounded her hit her, sending her skidding across the deck and rolling to her feet. The scene was a wharf. It was dark.

How did she know there were six?

Star told her.

Cot flattened herself on the deck, willing herself into another form. One of Star's lessons was for Cot to morph into other creatures so she could learn how they fought from inside out. Morphing was not part of this program. Star never told her what tools were available for her. Rolling onto her back she caught her first attacker behind the knob and kicked out the other knob. Three knobs per leg, with four legs to work on a Huark. Avoiding their spit was essential since it was acid to her skin. While she fought with the other five there was a feeling that another was lurking out of sight. A shadow that did not belong in a corner was the giveaway. When the fifth was rendered powerless, Cot whirled around looking for the unseen. Slowly she turned looking hard at the bulkhead, her hearing straining to hear movement.

There! The sound was from above her and she dived forward, her legs scissoring and breaking a leg. Her arm was numbed and legs pined with two of her attacker's four. The advantage was the one broken leg was unbalancing the Huark, but she was unable to use that to any advantage. She was effectively immobilized. Bubbles from the lips of the Huark warned her she was going to be burned.

"I surrender," Cot said.

The program ended.

Cot rolled to a sitting position resting her head in her hands feeling the bruises and aches in her muscles. "Loss is enlightenment, as auntie would say. I can't wait to take that fight apart and see just where I could have won it."

Her soaking tub was filled when she returned to her quarters. While the herbed waters soaked out her muscle fatigue her thoughts wandered over the exercises. What had the message of that ridiculous image of some Roja master to do with her fight? Star was a collector of cultural tales, so what did she mean having a spiritual master sitting naked under a nut tree, sucking on the hard shelled fruit?

It was easier to make sense of her aunt's sayings, such as "Work with what you get," or "Whatever you ignore or don't see, will come back and bite you." As a fighter pilot those made sense.

Her mind finally shut off as the heat and herbs did their job. When the timer dinged, she felt ready to get back to work. There were things to do and one of them was to do some research. Roja masters, cracka nuts, a tree, and whatever else was in the lesson she would look up.

Chapter 4

A Straight Stick is Crooked in the Water

"Exit point confirmed," Cot acknowledged. She looked up from her console to see what the corridor looked like when they were moving at a slower speed. It still appeared as a tunnel with blurred lights all around them. They arrived at their exit point, the outer region of Hege Space Province and sensors detected no ships or monitor buoys near by.

"Send out Sub474 to see what we're exiting to, then give the exit code when ready. Continue drift without thrust. We don't want to suddenly appear on someone's screens."

Minutes later they passed through the exit gate. The ship was jerked into a fast moving space current created from a passing meteor. They were on the other side of the Tuead sector, maybe a day from Captain Goudie Grant and Melodie, but Cot did not want to interrupt her feeling of solitude just yet. If Star wanted to get chatty with Melodie she imagined she would do it unless she asked her not to. It was one of the glaring differences between her personality and Star Chasers. Star loved to socialize. She contacted things that communicated just for curiosity sake. Thankfully, she also liked to conceal who she really was. Star loved the game of being the mystery woman and sometimes a man. As far as Cot knew, Star's games were with other computers, which allowed her to practice her techniques in breaking into ships' logs. Who would have ever thought a ship computer could charm another to give up its secrets. Cot pursed her lips in thought, wondering how Star felt about handling Net. Egos must have clashed. Should she press Star for more detail on her handling of Net? When Star updated her report on the incident, she would read it.

"Increase energy by four to the entire shield. Let's see how your energy buffer holds up."

They were at the edge of a main travel corridor. Readings from the recent passage of a convoy scrolled down her console.

"How does a gate next to a busy lane remain a secret? Not even a passing meteor altered the gate positioning," Cot marveled at the technology.

"There has been no measurable movement in it's positioning," Star sounded impressed also. "It has been well constructed."

"It goes to show you that there are still a lot of things we can learn."

"Wisdom is not passed on through birthright or ethnicity."

"That it isn't. Everyone perceives things from their own perspective." Cot had a flash of insight that she made an important point; however, whatever it was escaped her.

"It is amazing how any agreement can be made with so many differing perspectives," Star commented. "What makes a color blue does not translate across all species' receptors."

"Hm," Cot hummed preoccupied, her thoughts already moved on to reviewing Star's passive scans of what was behind them. Peripherally, she saw the bar rise on her screen, indicating Star Chaser added more energy to protect the outer hull as radiation increased from some of the meteor debris.

An alarm light on her console showed six unidentified ships appear out of hyperspace, then disappeared.

"Inadequate time to make a useful search," Star said.

"You're right. Chances are they dropped something off to monitor the area. Send out something new to see what they left behind. Space is not for people leaving off weapons."

A passive anti-spy satellite, nicknamed Storm Trooper1 was released. They waited thirty minutes before ST1 had completed its sweep. A signal was sent which lit up a dozen or more potential spy readings and ST1 began taking them out. For every successful shot to the spy bots, one was sent to where the shot was originated, however, by the continued destruction of the spy bots left behind, it was still functioning. The shots continued as ST1 moved around undetected and cleaned out the area.

"Good catch, Star. All were armed. Either ST1 got them all or there's one out there that has been programmed as the failsafe. Send out ST2 to assist ST1 in another sweep. When it's clear, bring up your systems. We'll play bait just to be sure we have them all."

"You want me to get shot at?" Star asked.

"You said you've improved your defense shield and tested it. Now we need an RT test."

Cot leaned back in her seat, stretching her legs out, having confidence in Star's programming skills. Suddenly the two STs fired at Star. Cot's training had her bringing up weapons hot and looking for a target.

"Foreign invader has attached itself to my outer hull," Star explained.

"Didn't you program your weapons to not shoot at you?"

"They were not shooting at me. They have disabled the object but it remains attached. I will send out?."

"I will go out."

Images of fighters that played dead only to shoot down the overly confident hunter who came in too close to gloat over his or her kill, played in her mind. "Bring my AVEC suit. I want to see this thing. And Star, for it to have attached itself to your hull means it was able to get past your barrier. Find out what failed." A sudden thought occurred to her. It was the same side Net was on. What if Net had attached itself to Star's hull?

Star should know if anything on her was compromised, and she had not reported anything amiss. Would her pride keep her from reporting a weakness?

Two SEs accompanied her as she exited Star. Rather than walk across Star's hull she used the suit jets to move her to view the intruder from what she was hoping was a safe distance. As the portside came into view something streaked toward her then disappear in a flash. The light was so bright some of its brightness penetrated through the helmet's protective shielding over the faceplate.

"What was that?" Cot demanded, panting at the closeness.

"The invader has been detached and is no longer a threat."

Blinking a few times to clear the white spots in her field of vision, she realized when they did not clear that it was not her eyes that were spotted.

"My helmet could be compromised," Cot said. The SEs grabbed her at each elbow and guided her to the closest hatch.

In the equipment closet she exchanged helmets quickly, feeling there was something that needed closer scrutiny on the ship's hull. Back out with six SEs assisting, they went over the entire hull looking for any breech or sign of something that did not belong on Star.

Hours later Cot was exhausted from slowly moving over the hull looking for a tiny speck out of place. Nothing aside from marks on the hull the invader made were found.

"Star, I want you to go over the recordings of your exterior hull the SEs made and be able to identify everything on your hull."

"I will start now. Shall I resume course?" Star asked.

"Give the hull one more inspection before moving on. Pay special attention to the vents and arrays. Destroy immediately what you find. No more taking things on board for further study. We'll resume course when you're certain there is nothing foreign attached to any part of you."

"Does that mean I can destroy any foreign agent..."

"Not the CBIS," Cot interrupted quickly, making a shrewd guess that Star's need to control everything on her would eventually cross over to CBIS. "If for any reason you feel CBIS is a detriment to you?us, tell me."

"The CBIS is a detriment to me?us."

"How's that?" Cot was taken off-guard with Stars strong objection.

"It interferes with our trust of each other," Star said.

"Star, do you believe you are perfect and need no further updating?"

There was a pause and at this length it was a long one for Star.

"I will think on this."

"Star, you have the conn."

"Star has the conn."

In the galley Cot ate a small snack and then retired.

In two hours she was up. In her dreams she was being pursued by tiny beings too small for her to see or for Star to register.

Clothing for a meditation was the first thing she was reaching for in the closet and then changed her mind. Though not in the mood for a physical confrontation she did want movement. Entering her workout area she took a few moments to do the ritual greeting of the six corners, then moved into her breathing exercises. After an hour, she ended it and headed to the galley to pick up a beverage. Sitting on the bridge, watching the galaxy pass by she sipped her drink.

"Cot, can you tell me a story?" Star asked.

Taking a sip from her souvenir academy cup Cot rolled the tasty beverage over her tongue and thought of what story to tell.

"This tale begins late one evening, during dark night, that's new moon. Evenings such as these, families stayed in and honored the event around their family hearth, leaving the night to the Wanders. Who and where the Wanders were from, no one knew with certainty. In fact no one could actually say they saw one, but it was always someone they knew that had?and that should tell you that maybe there was no such thing as a Wander, but tradition is difficult to fade out when everyone practices it.

"That dark night on Elder's Mound a poor babe was left to wail her bitter plight of abandonment. It was a tiny pitiful wail."

"Why was it left?" Star asked.

"Well give me a chance. These stories take a while to get to the bone. Where was I?oh?Far, far a way, a darkly dressed form moved her old head to listen closer to what was disturbing her ritual on this moonless night that was set aside for her guild's rituals. Not being able to concentrate, the old woman pulled her night cloak over her shoulders, grabbed her cane and went out to search for the creature that was crying. The old woman's familiar bounded along beside her?"

"What is familiar?"

"What's a familiar? It's a companion of a Brounder, a person that makes magic."

"Magic. As in the supernatural, unexplained, enchanted?"

"That is how some would define it. It can be complex in explanation and the senses can be hoodwinked, but the end result is usually something remarkable. The audience in magic making is as important as the magician."

"I can do complex things and fool sensors, as well as do remarkable things. I am a magician. You are my familiar."

Cot laughed. "A lot of what you do could be seen as magic. We are companions. Let me go on with the tale and you can decide more of what a familiar is?"

Cot continued the tale, remembering when she had first heard the tale.

The competing smells of a stuffy room filled with people, rotting wood from the woodpile that breezed in from one window, and baking cookies were nearly overwhelming for a young Cot, more used to the wide open spaces of pastures. The room was lit by the fireplace because it added atmosphere and everyone wanted a try at telling the scariest story. Her aunt was there watching the audience as they tried to not be frightened of things they could not see but knew on some level that they existed.

When Cot finished her tale Star had plenty of questions and Cot was not in the mood to answer them. It had been a long time that memories of her aunt felt as if there was a big presence missing in her life.

"Can we continue with it later? I would like to catch up on what we've been passing."

After going over the reports she rose from her seat. She needed to shake the empty feeling that was settling in her and she needed to sleep.

"You have the conn, Star."

"Star Chaser has the conn."

Six months into the submersion training with Star Chaser her handler notified her that she was permanently assigned to the program. Once she knew, it took her days to prepare a sacred space in her new home, with herbs, incense, prayers and offerings to her ancestors, and then a welcoming to her guardians to join her on a sentient ship. Cot had no idea if any would accept the offer and then there was Star Chaser, who could one moment be cooperative and the next petulant. But it happened and surprising enough, Star was more interested in the stories Cot knew than in spirits and energy she could not detect. Though Cot was not a Lore Recorder, all clan members started to hear about their mother and father's lineage through stories while in their cradle. Stories were also her aunt's way of passing on her Brounder heritage to her without her parents' interference, and from there enable her to transition smoothly into the Way of a Peaceful Warrior, known as QuaDom.

In the cargo bay following her casting a circle, she sat Asanas. She breathed in slowly, feeling the breath move down into the pit of her stomach, and then out, picturing it leave through the top of her head. Breathing in again, she pulled sound from her lower belly. It vibrated in her throat and tickled her lips as the chant expanded out into the cargo bay, through the ship's hull into space. Awareness of something greater than herself filled her until she felt she was about to burst, then it dissipated through her pores, out the ship's hull and into space.

Focus, she breathed. And with this, she vibrated, acting as a turning fork and sending the energy out, knowing that whoever needed it, it would be received. For an hour she chanted until Star sounded a bell, grounding her back into conscious awareness.

At one time she thought meditating out in space, she would need something to ground her so she would not lose herself in the vastness of space, but even planet bound, dimensions and molecules were plentiful to get lost in the travel, but there was always the lifeline back for both types of travel.

The oval shaped porous stone that she had in her sacred space became more prominent in her sight as she reacquainted herself to the feel of her body weight. Taking a deep breath, enjoying the floral scent Star added to the environment, she expelled it.

"The meaning of the path is found in the experience," she whispered. She rubbed her arms to further her connection with physical matter.

"Star, anything to report?"

"Everything clear," Star reported.

"No tails? No ships hailing us? No satellites collecting information of our passing? I'm relieved. Anything to report on your hull reexamination?"

"A break in the original security grid has been found. My entire hull is now protected with my own program. I have completed my first set of tests. Would you like to go over them?"

"After I awake we'll go over them. Don't run any physical tests that require running into things or shots fired without me. You still have the conn, Star."

"Star Chaser has the conn. Sleep well and deep, Cot."

Chapter 5

Knowing How to Retreat

"Report!" Cot demanded reflexively, not fully awake but instinctively knowing something was wrong. "Lights."

It's too still. This doesn't have the feel of a dream.

It was a curious sensation of missing something but not knowing exactly what it was.

"Star?"

Nothing.

Now fully awake, she noted the familiar vibration in the hull was absent and no lights came up. The glowing stars around the hatch cover that represented a dark hole in the nebula mural was all she could make out in the pitch dark.

"Star! Report!" she called mentally.

There was no connection with Star. She dropped to the deck barefooted, touching the sides of the bulkhead until she found her emergency suit. Dressing in the dark under stress was a well practiced routine for spacers, so that it was second nature. Once her helmet was engaged it activated readings on the visor, but they were only of her bios and of her immediate surroundings. No connection to her helm, her ship.

It took an emergency override to exit her quarters. There was no breathable air in the passageway but there was still gravity. Thumping her way to the bridge she glanced along the passageway noticing the maintenance panels and exits that the holographic program usually covered. The entrance to her bridge was locked down, as it would if the ship was under attack. Cot cracked the hatch open with just enough space to grasp the edge and pull open enough for her to pass. Her helmet light increased intensity as it swept the darkened helm interior. The two monitors were active with the screens blinking on and off. If the passenger's seat monitor was on, it meant the ship system had crashed and came back up, waiting for the alarms to be cleared and systems tests ran by a person. Where was Star Chaser? When the screen blinked on she could see messages scrolling too fast to read. Leaning over her console she tapped in her access code.

Nothing.

The system was trying to restart itself and was in a loop back. Another attempt to logon was made but the scrolling continued.

"Come on, Star, don't shut me out," she coaxed.

Silence.

A soft long beep let her know the console was crashing, and then all lights on the consoles went out. Pulling out panels she began her inspection, taking an inventory of what she would be needing. Once her list was completed she went into the cargo bay and broke out the hauler. In the basket she loaded enough supplies to rebuild at least one console. Every segment was scanned, the connections, and the cards behind each panel. What was damaged she replaced. Done with the repair, she pulled out the panel on her console. Rotating a small cylinder she initiated a restart. She peered at her monitor.

Nothing.

"Come on, come on, initialize."

For a brief moment a startup message flashed then it went black.

"Full system recovery not possible," a faint voice from the original system program informed her. "Major damage to outside hull has caused a break in my system recovery. Immediate attention is needed. Automated systems are down. Life support is down. All power will be diverted to sustain gravity for ten minutes. Power for this messaging unit is no longer available."

Cot rapped the console in irritation. No repair bots could be activated. She was on her own. At least she had gravity. Cot felt a stirring from her ship.

A mental connection.

"Star, what do I need to do to get us up and running?" It surprised her how affected she was with losing connection with Star. Firmly she put the discomfort out of her thoughts. This was just a ship that she needed to get started up. All her years as a pilot she had run through drills on what to do if her ship should suddenly lose power; however, they were not as large as the CF nor did they have equipment on board for her to do her own repairs -- so this should be easy.

Cot stood up suddenly. "We're drifting too fast. We're caught in something's pull."

They could very well end up somewhere they would not want to go or crushed if Star Chaser could not maintain the energy envelope around her. Did Star's tinkering with her systems cause something to break through the shield to the hull? What could she have used to test her shield? Did the Net cause this?

Cot headed to the Emergency Bell in the cargo bay. She would be able to remove her emergency suit and exchange it for something heavier and bulkier, the AVEC suit. The EB had its own life support.

Cot stepped into the EB, initiated breathable air and once cleared, removed her emergency suit. She yanked the locker open to get her AVEC suit just as gravity went off line and the ship began to tumble. Making a frantic grab for something to hold onto she hit a bar with her left elbow, numbing everything below the elbow, then hit her head as a bar began to descend. Her vision blurred as she leaned against the bell wall trying to stay out of the way of an unfamiliar apparatus as it settled. The discarded emergency suit entangled her legs.

"Naturally this has to be a challenge," she said to Star. Not waiting for her sight to clear and her numb arm to come alive, she pushed her useless arm behind a bar to anchor herself, untangled her legs from the suit, and stuffed the emergency suit in the locker. Twisting around, she studied her AVEC suit that was held rigidly in place by a new dressing bar.

"When was this installed?" She was pleased, but also annoyed that Star Chaser didn't tell her about the change. "Yes, it's a nice surprise but I told you to let me know of what you upgraded?. Oh, this doesn't count because it was done while we were at POATA?" Star was being humorous, she recognized. Pulling the AVEC suit closer to her, she dropped into the lower half. Her injured arm floating where movement took it was throwing her off-balance. She tucked that arm into the suit first, then finished dressing. She wiggled the fingers on her left hand in the gloves. They were painfully tingling but they were moving.

"What other surprises for me do you have?... Wait and see? Uh, huh. Two can play that game." Cot clamped the seals and activated the helmet. "I can tell you stories in parts, not in order, for starters."

Pushing the button to activate the medical pac on the suit resulted in the administration of a stimulant. Her vision cleared. The air pack and flexibility of her joints was tested by rotating her ankles, wrists, bending her elbows, and rotating her shoulders to make sure she had a secure seal. A hand scanner was run over the suit, checking for any leaks or weaknesses. Her boots locked onto the deck and she released the suit from its anchor.

The ship continued to turn with her walking upside down and then sideways. Her injured arm needed to be immobilized until she had more control over it or it would be a hazard. It was strapped to her side. Retracting the EB shell she began her progress to a repair locker and secured a general purpose repair harness. One handed the harness was secured around her waist, and then she headed to an exit. Cot continued flexing her fingers on her left hand, willing usefulness to return.

In one of the alcobas, the recessed space on the hull for one person to gain outside access, she locked her boots onto the platform. Cranking the hatch release was harder upside down and one handed then if she were standing right side up, she decided. Cot had not done too many of these type of emergency drills. It was something to add to her daily routine this she could do it comfortably.

When the hatch cleared her head she cranked out the platform until it was fully extended beyond the solid security of the ship and into space. Cot noted the energy shield only extended a yard from the hull of the ship with ripples and lights discharging, warning it was not stable.

In mid worry, all thoughts halted as her gaze took in her surroundings. She stood with the vastness of space, dust particles, stars, suns, moons and planets rotating on three sides of her. Only the belief that there was a solid ship behind her with a tether, kept her presence of mind. A dark nebula was to her left; a black space with bright stars and purple dust inviting for the traveler to visit.

To her right was a reflection nebula, another awe inspiring sight.

It was easy to become overwhelmed with the expansiveness. Sometimes the fear of getting lost in it would hit her. It was one thing to meditate or astral travel in infinite space and another to be faced with the conscious physical presence. The conflicting feelings between awe and fear grounded her and brought her thoughts back to the present - and her immediate task.

Fear was a reminder that she needed to follow protocol and not cut corners as some cocky hotshots were prone to do. Using the grab bars she pulled herself along the hull looking for the damage. Under the light from her helmet she studied the gash that was as long as her arm. Strafing from weapon's fire cut through the first hull sheet covering and into sensitive connections.

Why would anyone not create a thicker layer hull where a ship was vulnerable? And who shot and them and why? And was this an example of Star testing her shield? Cot mentally shook her head. Star would not take action like this without her being at her console.

"Time expired?"

Twenty minutes flashed on her helmet faceplate. Too much time worrying about something better left for later. Securing her lines and boots to the hull, she began the repair. With the numbness gone from her arm and hands she was able to work faster. Finished she secured her tools.

"Time expired?"

An hour.

That was a long time to be this vulnerable. Turing around, she pulled herself back to the entrance, clamped her boots on the platform, and re entered ship.

This doesn't make sense. We took a shot that disabled us and here we are vulnerable and no follow up from our attacker. Did Star do this to herself when testing her security?

She needed to look at the ship's logs after this situation was handled.

From the ship's locker she selected another set of tools and a sheet for the patch, managing to not bash herself on the helmet with the equipment as the ship continued its slow roll. Once outside, she began securing the patch to tethers then dragged it to the damaged area, careful that it did not drift with her along.

The heat from her torch activated the chemicals at the edges of the plate to mold itself to the ships outer hull, morphing into the original outer skin and becoming part of the skin. Cot watched the chemical action on the third side blend into the ship's outer skin, fascinated with the technology that could cause the exterior of a ship to be repaired like a scratch on a person's skin, and not have ship movement in space undo the repair. Suddenly her position was shaken.

"Aieee!"

Her sore elbow hit the hull hard. It did not numb her again, but needle like pain from her elbow to her finger tips was nearly paralyzing. She dropped the torch and grabbed onto her tethers to stabilize her sudden knock off balance. Another jolt to the ship was felt through her boots, nearly disconnecting her from the ship's hull. The ship's outer shield was holding but not if the shots kept leeching energy.

She grabbed for the line to pull the torch back to her. It floated just out of her reach. Mentally she thanked her teacher who insisted on a cross tether so if a sudden jolt like this occurred she would not be whipped around like a tin can behind a runaway cart on a winding path.

Flicking the torch back on, she began the last side. Another jolt to the ship nearly shook her boots loose again. She turned on a clamp for one glove to secure her on three points so she could finish. Done, she slid the tool back into her pouch, unclamped her left glove and began her journey back to the hatch. The next jolt sent her spinning from Star Chaser as ship and her went tumbling into a space tide that pulled them quickly along in its flow. As she rolled, Cot caught sight of a white streak that missed her and Star by inches. If the tide had not been pulling them along they would have been hit again. It was a pulse cannon. Just the kind that would put holes the size she found in the side of her ship, provided the shot could get inside a ship's shield.

Cot unhooked one of the tethers and pulled herself back into the protection of her ship. The next shot sent Star tumbling in another direction. She slapped one magnetized glove on the hull to prevent herself from being jettisoned away from Star. If she reached the end of her line it would jerk her with enough force to give her either a headache or a broken neck. A redesign of the safety harness crossed her mind.

With effort she grabbed the two bars along the hatch and pulled herself onto the platform and locked her boots. Cot could feel Star Chaser's systems coming back on line. Until her pilot was back inside any evasive maneuvers by Star Chaser were out of the question. Her heart was pounding with the knowledge that they were under attack and she was outside of the ship.

The moment Cot was on the platform it began to retract and the hatch cover began its descent. Nearly full power was restored. Her helmet showed the ship's jump sequence in progress.

"We can't jump into hyperspace without bringing up more energy to our shields and you haven't full power yet. Star!"

Struggling to move quickly in the suit she clomped her way to the bridge all the while trying to get Star to disengage jump. Her mental orders were being ignored.

"Star Chaser I have the conn. Disengage the jump sequence now! Go to Beta-Red-Dog, on my mark." Two breaths to calm her were followed with, "Mark."

The sudden swerve to the left bounced Cot against the bulkhead. Her body parts were protected in her suit, however, her wits were not. Pushing herself off in the direction of the bridge she locked her boots so she would not lose her footing with the next maneuver.

At last she was on the bridge. "Star, give me visuals on what's going on out there."

Cot wrapped her arms around the seat back as the ship accelerated into the next maneuver. With difficulty she pulled and pushed against the acceleration to get before her console. Her fingers moved over her station, tapping commands to get as much information as she could about their present status and who was shooting at them.

"Good. Good. All systems are back up including battery. I see your shield up and you have pushed it out further. Oh, how tempting to light up a shot across that fool's bow. The coward! Alright, let's go see who's that sorry soul, because that fool's name is meteor dust," Cot said.

Two years of practicing how not to jump into attack mode did not get rid of her reflexes to raise battle shields and ready her weapons when attacked. Her compromise was to not fire any shots at the targeted ship.

Star Chaser flipped around to chase down their attacker.

"A scout ship. That explains the cannon shots, but not how the shot got through our defenses."

The scout ship realized the tables were turned, veering off and heading back to where it came from.

"Stand down, Star. We're not chasing baby when mama is out there somewhere with perhaps the tribe. Give me our location and plot three possible routes to? here." Her finger poked at a spot on the star chart showing on her console, just to the left of a black hole. That would give Star a charge.

Cot started to remove her AVEC suit with the assistance of two SEs. A change of uniforms was provided. It felt odd to change on the bridge instead of her quarters, but she could not bring herself to leave the bridge even for a few moments to change into something more comfortable.

While Star worked on possible routes, Cot settled in her seat and studied the space around them, not wanting any more surprises. Satisfied there were no kiosks or other ships around, she called up Star's logs intending on finding where the small ship could have picked them up, hoping that would tell her why it was shooting at them.

"I can't see any official convoys or battle cruisers along this route. Even if he was attached to CFS pirate patrol there should be a fleet listing."

"Why do you need to see this? We are leaving them behind," Star asked.

"Because I want to know why he fired on us. Did your shield fail?"

"My shield was not activated."

"Why?" Cot asked in surprise. With a system failure Stars duty was to notify her, without hesitation. That was two things Star failed to do according to protocol.

"I was doing maintenance. There was no one in the area at the time."

"You multitask, Star. How did that ship come into your space and you not notice it?"

"I will run tests."

Cot rubbed her eyes in irritation. Star was not telling her what happened. She tapped the screen that gave her the name of the mother ship the scout ship was assigned to. "CFS Vardak. Bird of prey is it? I wonder how he spotted us when we've been running below scanners detection. We're being hunted Star. You have to be more careful."

"There are ships appearing before us," Star said.

Cot stared at blips beginning to fill her screen.

"It's only a flight. Six fighters and a scout ship mean we're probably dealing with one battle cruiser. We're still too far out for them to register our presence so let's disappear."

"I have tapped into their communication by-passing their encrypted security," Star said.

"Good. Let's see just how chatty they are."

"I got five body shots. So sweet and easy! Bigger than a Warhawk, just sitting there with defenses down while making repairs. It's an experimental for sure."

"Yeah, yeah, Ensign. So you keep telling us. So where is this ship?"

"Not far. I got a good shot right to the dorsal," the ensign continued excited. "Just follow its trail."

"It's not one of ours, Simmons, or we would have heard about tests being run out here," another bored voice said.

"And everybody would be out here with their spy satellites wanting to check her out, Merek," the ensign said.

"And, like you, Ensign, taking pot shots at it so they can claim it as a prize," Merek replied dryly.

"Then they should be paying us to keep the place cleared," Simmons said. "You've done your bit, Ensign, now clear out and let us professionals bring her in. Or if it's a trap, we'll trip it and see what we get."

"Hey, don't forget I get part of the purse! I'm the one that slowed her down," the ensign said.

"Ensign Warner, clear the channel and report for a debriefing," a more authoritative voice broke in.

"Yes, Captain."

"You find that ship and burn her, Simmons," the voice ordered after Ensign Warner cleared the air.

"On your orders, Captain."

"You want anything from this hit, Captain?" Merek asked.

"No evidence. No souvenirs. Clean your recordings when this is completed. There will be a debriefing on your return."

"Yes, Captain. What about Ensign Warner?"

"He'll be taken care of."

"Right, Captain."

"Star we need to get out of here. Leave a trail that's not so obvious, but away from the gate. Do a background on Captain Heran. And send all the information on this to the others. Find out if they're being targeted also."

Cot had never heard of CFS ships charging for securing an area for ship testing, but it could be possible. However, it would mean everyone involved in protecting the area would know about the ship and its specs and knowing from experience that hot scuttlebutt was prized among the ranks below decks, it would be known in all the popular spacer bars once they hit port.

When sid-pilots tested their CFs they had spy bots that were saturated in the area so that their home base always knew who and what was in the area. It was also part of the testing to not be noticed. If Captain Heran was running a protection ring under the flag of the CFS fleet, then they should worry about Star escaping with that information.

* * *

Cot rested her palms over her tired eyes. The how was: Star let her shields down so the SEs could study something Star found interesting. The CF ship was defenseless and not posing any threat to CFS interests. She sent a letter of protest to SF HQ.

"Star, you have the conn."

"Star Chaser has the conn."

Cot rose from her seat and went into the cargo bay to work off her aggravation. She spent two hours sweating through each of the levels of kata, finishing off at 8th level in one form that emphasized kicking and punching.

Next were her breath exercises, and after that, she was looking forward to a light meal and then reading a good story or taking a nap, not caring which order it was in.

Chapter 6

Knowledge Isn't Everything

Clamped at four points, Cot unlocked one handgrip and leaned forward, slowly reaching for the next place to lock her handgrip to. A flare blinded her just as the ship lurched from beneath her. Blindly, her hands and feet sought a reconnection to the ship. She was surprised she was not in a panic when there was nothing to touch. Her body floated until her sight returned. Blinking until her sight cleared, there was no ship within sight. The tether was unwound like a piece of string, extended out into space with no end in sight. Her spin speed increased and she was sucked into a dust bowl that formed a vortex. There was a geometric pattern on the sides of the vortex that squeezed into the funnel at the center. Toward this center she whirled, giving her no time to decode the message. Down the funnel she went and in a blink she was reduced to a collection of tiny atoms, yet she knew who she was and that though scattered, it was all her connected by some fantastic link that was indestructible.

A buzz crashed through her dream.

"I'm awake," she groggily informed her alarm. She took a few deep breaths for further mental clearing.

"Greetings, Star."

Star had nothing that needed her immediate attention. Slipping into workout clothes she moved to the cargo area to begin a morning ritual of meditation, breathing, and then a physical workout. Intention, action and balance, she kept repeating to herself.

Two hours later Cot was sitting relaxed on the bridge, surrounded by space and its glory of nebulas, dust clouds, and suns. The sought for formation of planets slid into view. Star came to a stop and her environment changed to a desert oasis with trees surrounding a group of tents. Her console gave her two views, one of space and the other lines of information scrolling quickly from Star's scan results. After two years, Cot was used to the sudden change of realities.

The code went out and the distinctive distortion in space appeared where the doorway to the travel corridor was.

"Dispatch two SU010 to clear the corridor for safe passage, with the spacing dependant on ESD," Cot directed.

"Explosive Scatter Damage is unknown with these new instruments."

Cot waited for Star to make her point and was surprised when nothing else was offered. The two SU010s were ejected out a tube and disappeared behind the distortion.

"Are you suggesting we test them by exploding them?" Cot asked.

"Yes."

"Have you thought about this?" Interesting that she doesn't feel protective of them as she does with the SEs.

"I have thought about it. Do you doubt my suggestion?"

"I'm surprised you're offering up something that you've integrated into your systems to be blown apart."

"Every soldier has to make sacrifices," Star said.

"These are not sentient beings and they are not making a choice to sacrifice themselves."

"Soldiers obey their orders and I was not referring to them. Doesn't a senior officer feel a loss when she dispatches her soldiers to their death?" Star asked.

"I did. But I can't speak for others. We'll test them in the future but not in a travel corridor." Cot snickered at the realization that Star knew that one of the rules of traveling in a corridor was that no explosives were to be set off. Was Star testing her? Or teasing?

"Do you have something against the SU010s?"

"They have limited potential and serve as a weak backup for other multifunctional equipment."

"We're to test their capability and report on it. Because one of your soldier's can't walk, talk, and chew at the same time doesn't mean it's a total waste. We don't throw our specialists out because you can't make them multifunctional. Before we go through the corridor, how safe is our outer shielding?"

"Operating at 100%. I have removed all of the original programming that proved to be flawed and have notified the others in our squad of a problem in the program and my solution. My shielding will prevent further harm."

"Good work, Star. By the time we reach L'Gsta Outpost, we'll have everything tested and redesigned." Cot grinned as she waited for Star to make her characteristic comment that it was not a "we" but "her" that did the testing and redesign; however, Star made no comment and nor was there a whisper of a thought in their connection. Perhaps Star was beginning to see that they did work together.

Cot's eyes rested on her beverage mug from the academy. "Have you destroyed the tag that was in my medallion?"

"Yes, Cot."

"All parts."

"Including your medallion?" Star asked.

"Did you find something else in the medallion that could be a tag?" Cot recognized this line of Star's questions as toying with her.

"No. But I have found nothing in the original tag that is sending out signals since I disabled it."

"Are you keeping any parts?"

"Just what is interesting," Star said.

"Can you produce one of your own?"

"I have."

"Destroy everything that made up that tag without any further delay, Star and whatever you reproduced. You can recreate another when we've reached L'Gsta and we're in a more secured area." Cot was dismayed that Star insisted on keeping things that had the potential to harm them. "Let me know when you have done so."

The return of the probes from the corridor interrupted whatever Star may have wanted to say.

"The monitors report that the corridor is stable," Star said.

"Leave a permanent monitor about two hours from the gate. One that doesn't beacon or sends messages."

"What is the use of a monitor if it does not pass information?" Star asked.

"Clev R4's are passive so the only way they can be found is if a ship runs them over. After a year of monitoring, it becomes active and heads for the nearest public kiosk to wait for an official SF courier agent to download its information." Cot knew that Star knew this. "So, what have you done to Clev R4?"

"I have modified it so that when a SF ship passes it will download its information instead of leaving its post to deliver its report," Star reported.

"In order for Clev R4 to know what ship is Star Force it has to send out a signal. A predator will catch it, then all the information it had been gathering is lost and its location known. That risk is what the Clev R16 undertakes with its security programming to prevent being discovered. It's specific for the high traffic areas where it can mask its signal. We have 100 of each Clev model."

There was silence.

"What have you done with Clev R16?" Cot asked while tapping her console to review their inventory.

"Nothing."

"Return Clev R4 back to a passive monitor, Star."

"You are requesting Clev R4s to go back to a lower version."

"How can you protect Clev R4 of being attacked if a predator passes and catches its signal?"

"I have no passive Clev R4s to deploy," Star admitted.

"Send a Clev R4 then, and make it 6 hours from the gate. As part of its defense, Star, it can't reveal the gate, not even to SF agents."

"I will reprogram the Clev R4 to record only. When it has recorded two thirds its data bin it will begin its journey to a kiosk a week from here. That is ten minutes if it goes through the gate."

It was typical of Star not willing to give a point without gaining another. This was Star's compromise. Thoughtfully, Cot tapped down the list of equipment Star Force wanted them to test out. "What changes have you made to the Simms?"

"They will not destroy themselves as a first line of defense."

"Will Simms protect Clev R4 as its primary duty?"

"It will if an SF agent's life or ship is not in danger."

"I'm sure the agent will be grateful. What happens if a pirate ship takes on the identity of an SF ship and Clev R4 and the Simms think it's an SF agent?"

"No authentic agent will claim to be an agent, Cot, so I have devised many cross checks to draw a composite of the object before it reaches the target area a common monitor begins to collect information in."

"Then set out Clev R4 and two Simms and let's see how they perform. Inform SF HQ so they can do some of their own testing."

Star Force was getting more than they could have bargained for with Star Chaser. Cot learned to adjust and work with what she had when it came to Star Chaser but Cot wondered how much SFHQ was willing to bend.

"We'll continue through the gate when you have the three in position."

Cot reviewed the log of recent ships that moved through the gate. Four ships were listed within the month and none with names she could identify. "All these ships are foreign registry, and they're moving through our section of space; doing what, I wonder. Find out species and planet, Star."

The energy changed as they moved further into the corridor, giving her an unpleasant chilly feeling. If the energy penetrated the hull of the ship then it was an energy the designers of the CF had not anticipated.

How do we learn something new if we have to have a previous anchor point or frame of reference?

"Before waking up, you must realize you're asleep," Cot whispered. That was the flash of insight she had earlier. In her mind's eye the image of her aunt as plain as if she were with her stood before her. Twelve year old Cot again was surprised that what seemed to her unbelievable, that her aunt was right. Cot smiled at the memory.

"You are not asleep, Cot. And I am always awake," Star told her.

"What makes you want to find out more about something?" Cot asked Star.

"To see if I can use it to upgrade my systems."

"What about the stories you like to hear?"

"They have information I can use."

"Would you like to develop intuition?"

"It is not reliable, Cot."

"Instrumentation isn't reliable, Star. It breaks down. Its programming gets corrupted and parts fail. And instruments only report or record knowable things."

"I am composed of instrumentation and I can always upgrade my software and hardware? There is a possibility that I will no longer be able to be contained in this shell. Is that a possibility with intuition?"

"Yes."

Less than an hour later Star's forward scans showed their exit had a problem.

"A freighter powered down is in front of our exit point," Star reported.

Cot was looking at the image on her screen. If they had been powering through they would have ran right into her. Star was not using the usual wave bands for scanning and that was what saved them a bruising experience.

"Nice job of spotting it, Star."

"If we go through slowly," Star said, "we can exit on the left of her without disturbing her position."

"Take us through."

As they circled the abandoned freighter, Cot could not see any evidence on the exterior hull of damage.

"This is one prize to command. Look at that! A cargo bay wide open and stacked with cargo boxes. What's the ship's name and who is it registered to?"

Cot's eyes widened in disbelief as she read the information scrolling on her screen. "That's?well, not impossible, but the Murdelie has a regular trading business on the other side of Tuead sector."

"The gates we are using make it possible to be almost anywhere in an unknown amount of time," Star said.

Tapping the screen Cot sent an inquiry to the gate's logs. "The Murdelie exited the gate three days ago."

Cot thought about things that could wrong with no backup if she should decide to inspect the ship's interior, and that this could become something bigger than one pilot and ship to investigate; however, the feeling to board her increased as she stared at the ship's cargo bay.

"This is an enticing invitation to board her and more so if we were thieves," Cot said. "A normal person would call the nearest military outpost and perhaps look about while waiting. Of course she would have to keep an eye out for the local pirate or other criminal groups which would know instantly of the call put out. They would be out here faster than the military to plunder it."

"We could protect it against unauthorized visitors until the authorities arrive," Star offered.

Cot laughed. "We wouldn't last a week with all our toys against an attack by any band of looters. A couple of days, maybe?unless we bring up Murdelie's security so she can protect herself."

That was a legitimate excuse on why she was going to board the freighter and bring up it's power, before calling for the proper authorities.

Frowning Cot tapped her finger on the edge of the console. "For a ship not showing any systems running, why is it not drifting?"

Star offered no additional information but Cot could feel her searching for an explanation.

"We need to move the ship away from the gate just in case there's someone without good sense to follow standard guidelines for exiting a travel corridor."

Information on the ship's owners did not tell her anything new. The ship was registered to a clan of Enas whose business catered to the unusual. They normally did business along the Codiac and Tuead borders though she had seen a few of their smaller ships along Durant's Rim.

"Who's the captain?" Cot asked.

"It is registered to the Third Triup of Evenssort," Star said.

"I've heard of him."

"It is a female," Star said.

"Now that is interesting. The Third Triup of Evenssort was male years back."

Cot scanned the information Star provided to her screen but did not see any personal information on the captain. Once a title is granted, the singular name of the individual is no longer used.

"Find out what port this ship last stopped and not just docked. Notify SF HQ of our find."

Cot read the basic cultural information on Enas while Star ran another set of scans over the ship, looking for traps. No one liked an outsider in their business no matter how well meaning the gesture.

"Star, locate the nearest public gate to this location and where we could have entered it to?"

"All possibilities will be sought on how we arrived at this point in this amount of time, to conceal the existence of this gate," Star said.

"Good and don't offer any explanations unless asked. When you can, let me know what type of shutdown occurred on Murdelie."

Cot leaned forward, her eyes slitting in concentration. It just occurred to her that within the ships logs would be mention of gates that the Enas had knowledge of for hundreds of generations. "I would love to be able to get a peek at the ships logs and check out the gates they know of." She sighed, "But it would be stealing and there isn't a ship's captain worth their years who doesn't keep their secrets locked up tight."

"Perhaps you have something they consider worthy of trading for," Star said.

"My trading skills with an Ena trader would leave me with only my space boots," Cot said wry. "What planets in this area can support Ena bios with or without suits? And do a scan further out in space for any traps? Also check for the last time someone was in the area. See if there are any reports of a missing freighter or any news of unusual smuggler or pirate activity in this area or any area, for that matter. Make another pass around her belly. I want to see if there's any damage at all."

There were information buoys or kiosks throughout space along the well traveled corridors that acted as libraries, newscasts, and mailboxes so that everyone passing was kept updated with information that space travelers would be interested in. Star was especially interested in the libraries considering the number of species that utilized its services. After ten minutes a drone Star had sent out to the nearest kiosk returned.

"There is no information on the Murdelie's disappearance. The kiosk's log does not show anyone accessing information for a month," Star reported. "According to the kiosk library, since the twenty-four water bearing planets in this area had been destroyed one thousand 4 hundred and 3 of your years, it is no longer an active travel way."

"What destroyed them?" Cot asked.

"Debris from the orbiting planet, Sig4. It passes in this area every 2,342.3 standard years."

"That's incredible the gate exit was not affected."

"Your tone of voice indicates you find this surprising," Star said.

"I find that an advanced race of beings that designed numerous travel corridors would create a corridor and even an exit where the orbit of a planet and it's associated bodies would cross. They would have been able to have predicted the destruction of those?planets." Cot took a deep breath at the sudden thought. "What if this exit was designed just for the purpose of rescuing the life forms from the doomed planets?"

"That is impossible, Cot. There is no information on the level of intelligence on any of the planets in this area, but to remove one planet of its life forms worthy of saving would take many years even with over two hundred ships assisting."

The two hundred ships was the amount given by research at how many ships could pass within a month through a given section of a corridor without destabilizing it; thus, all public gates had counters and sensors along the corridors that monitored the health of the travel corridors.

"And who would make the determination of who to save?" Cot asked softly. "Wouldn't that be interesting if it was their own populations they were saving and all the travel corridors we've been finding were to other space sectors where they were looking for suitable planets to resettle?"

"It is an interesting idea, Cot."

"What's our lead time for knowing anyone is coming out of the gate?"

"Twenty standard minutes," Star said.

"How much can you extend that time?"

"Are you intending to go aboard the Murdelie?"

"Yes."

"How much time do you need?"

Cot frowned as she ran through probable problems and the time it would take to resolve them or leave them in order to restart the ship, supervise the move from the gate exit - and maybe get in a quick look around. "An hour lead time."

"I will work on it."

Cot smiled at Star's tone. "Dispatch three SEs for recon."

"I can power her up without you risking yourself, Cot."

"I'm sure you can, but I wish to look around?just to see what we're powering up. We need to be sure that's not a contagious ship." That was not a good excuse, she thought as soon as she said it.

"All the more reason why you should not go aboard," Star said.

"You upgraded my AVEC suits?"

"They surpass the manufacture's plans," Star said.

"This is a good place to test one of the suits out. If there's a contaminant on board, or a threat of some kind, this will be a good test."

"You will bring the contaminant here." Star sounded alarmed to Cot's ear. "As for a threat...I did not add any weapons to your suits."

"SEs would bring a contaminant here, too. With all the different planets and species that we'll be visiting, you'll need to see if your protections are adequate within your ship as well as on my AVEC suits."

Cot felt Star's anxiety at the possibility of bringing a contaminant on board. It could well be the reason the ship was left looking abandoned, but she doubted it?or was she deluding herself just because of the anticipation of an adventure.

"Every time you tap into another ship's computer, you risk bringing over something that could infect your systems, yet you still do it. As sure as you are that you'll not pick up anything in your connections, is as sure as I am that whatever we run into on the Murdelie, we'll be able to handle."

"That is not meant as an assurance," Star rightly pointed out. "You are always warning me about something. You suspect I will not perform 100%."

"If you believe that you have all the answers, then you won't find anything new. A program is only as good as its programmer, and in your case, Star, you've become your own programmer. I will keep reminding you to look beyond your programming. That is what partners do for each other, Star. They help each other grow beyond what they were the previous day."

Before Star could come up with something else, Cot added, "So, what is our recon team finding?"

Information began to show on her screen. The SEs picked up a vibration in the structure when they entered the cargo bay.

"Where is this energy coming from? It's not enough to prevent drift. There has to be something else powered on that they're not picking up."

"We are investigating the source," Star said. Her tone was more confident. "When that is found, the reason why the Murdele is not drifting will be also be found."

Suddenly the information stopped scrolling on Cot's screen.

"They must have hit a dead spot."

"I have not heard of a dead spot on a ship, nor have I scanned one," Star objected.

"And here you are," Cot said. "Some ships have areas on board where security doesn't allow any signal to pass. It's not practical to neutralize the entire ship, because how can a captain monitor her crew. Show me Murdele's deck plans."

There were no markers showing the position of the SEs. Cot drew a finger along the line that outlined a space almost in the center of the ship that had no information on measurements and exits/entrances. "This could be the incubation compartment. Enas would not leave a ship if there were a chrysalis, but then again, they wouldn't leave a ship with cargo."

Star was anxious to send the other SEs board the Murdelie to reclaim her missing three?and continue her exploration of the ship. After making another inspection circle around the freighter, to verify exit hatches, Star Chaser stopped alongside of the open cargo bay that her three missing SEs disappeared into. Her lights revealed the cargo bay's interior full. It was a horrible temptation for even a honorable person to not try to steal the ship, except the practical matter is, where would one hide something this big without the most notorious of pirates cutting your head off and stealing it from you? So how did the Murdelie manage to stay unreported for days?

"Stay concealed, Star. You would be easy to recognize. If anyone is around send out the shuttle to collect us."

"From the bridge you can access the ship's logs," Star said.

"Good idea but with no power the time it will take to access the bridge, one of the most protected areas of a ship whether it has power or no, could be better spent locating the one area that has power. From there, you can access the ship's logs while powering it up. It's important, once the power is initiated, that the ship has its security fully engaged. Murdelie won't be missed with her power back on."

Dressed in an AVEC suit she stood on the rim of the umbilical, holding onto the handles to keep from spinning from the weightless atmosphere as the umbilicus snaked over to the ship. The stop was not sudden, but in this environment it was like being spit out of a hose. Cot forced her limbs to move in front of her so she would not look like a flung doll that would hit the security buffer faceplate first. However, there was nothing to prevent her from entering the cargo bay, so she sailed unimpeded until she engaged her stabilizers, landing gently on the deck. Her space boots clamped once her forward motion ceased. The SEs attached to her suit scattered, inspecting the cargo bay. Turning her head, the helmet light flashed over neatly stacked cargo containers with space enough for someone her size to walk between each row. A hatch cover was plainly marked in the back.

Cot turned slowly, watching the display on her visor. It should have been easy to pick up life energy in a place that once had been humming with activity, but there was nothing. Not even from a machine which gave off a different sort of energy signature.

The information the SEs were picking up was the content of the containers, not the whereabouts of the missing SEs. Cot laughed in disbelief. Star Chaser was inventorying the cargo. If the captain of the Murdelie found out there would be more than an outraged complaint lodged against her. She would be looking over her shoulders for a mortleige to deliver a warning not to do that again. Though a mortleige was a messenger, they were not simple messengers. Some of the messages were fatal to the receiver.

There were no other sounds than her breathing and footfalls as her boots locked onto the deck and released with each step. Belatedly, sensible thoughts of maybe she could be moving into a trap or what could become her tomb came to her. Firmly, she focused her thoughts on three goals, to power up the ship to move it to a safer position, make sure no one was on board that needed assistance, and to find the three missing SEs. Her curiosity added to another list, why the ship was here, how it got here, and how it could stay anchored in one place without power.

Pushing the emergency hatch cover release it cracked just enough for her to grip the edge and pull it so there was enough space for her to fit through. Pausing to catch her breath from the effort, Cot spotted an SE near the door. Suddenly it zipped up and then down, then eye level to her. It happened within seconds. Cot's heart was beating from the explosive movement.

"Star, we found one of the missing SEs. Recall it for maintenance check."

"Cot, I read SE4 as functioning adequately for this mission.'

"Report from SE4?" Cot asked.

"SE4 has nothing to report."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

Cot pulled out the emergency bar to prevent the hatch cover to slide shut. She let out an irritated snort that sounded flat in her ear. "It won't work unless the hatch cover is completely opened. It's part of a ship's protection from being boarded by pirates or other unwelcomed visitors. That means, once I pass through it closes. SE4 find something to prevent this hatch cover from closing." While waiting, Cot shinned her light down the passageway. The light cut a sharp swath into the pitch darkness. Bare bulkheads, smooth overhead, and a clear deck was all there was to see.

The other two missing SEs were not in sight.

"Star, does SE4 know where the others were before they were cut off?" Cot asked.

"SE4 has no information, Cot."

"The memory has been wiped?"

"I am investigating."

The SE moved a cargo box that fit comfortably the width of the opening. Climbing over it, Cot dropped into the passageway, quieting her anxiety at the strangeness she was feeling around her?or the fact that she was not picking up anything. Lifting her hand scanner she noted, like her helmet sensors, nothing was registering.

"This is like a dead ship."

"I am reading that you are the only biological on board, Cot," Star said.

"It's more than that, Star. It feels lifeless as if it were cleaned of all energy readings."

Who would want to wash out past and present thoughts and feelings of the previous inhabitants? A new resident sensitive to others energy, she thought. That covered a lot of species. But usually when an energy cleansing took place, known as an EC, as the energy of the previous tenants was removed another type of energy replaced it that was soothing for the new occupants.

"On ISS."

There was a shift in her visor changing her perception and her audio reception. Her bio-indicator let her know her breath was shallow. Her beating heart was too loud in her ears and the walls seemed to be too close.

"Everyone gets jitters before a mission, so shake it off," she whispered to herself. Firming her resolve to get to the bottom of the ship's abandonment no matter how eerie it felt, she took two deep breaths and nosily let out the air, then let her breath go back to a normal rhythm. The bio-indicator gave a better reading.

"Show accesses to deck 6."

Her helmet's visual map appeared on her faceplate. There were clear directions on how to get to a transport shaft. "Off map, off ISS."

As she walked the passageway her light swept across closed hatchways to crews' quarters and storage rooms, until midway down.

A body.

Her helmet gave no readings on what was before her. Cot glanced at her hand scanner. No reading from the HS. Approaching the body, she kept her light moving over the area, not wanting to be surprised with any attacks.

HS still picked up nothing. Not even the chemical makeup of the AVEC suit the body was dressed in. The body was wedged in a partially opened hatch cover.

"Record visual information on the body and extrapolate what information you can." She checked to see if the recorder was working. To her it was.

"Star, are you picking up the visual recordings?"

"Yes, Cot."

Cot could not tell if the body was intended to keep the hatch open or if it caught when the power went off.

"SE, investigate interior." While the bot zipped into the room for inspection, Cot ran a series of scans over the suited form, changing the settings as each scan for particulars picked up nothing.

"There's some kind of damper running through the ship that isn't allowing me to read data," Cot said for the benefit of the recorder. "For all I know this person could be in self imposed hibernation until someone rescued him."

Kneeling for a closer look, she studied the body, ready to move should the person suddenly awaken, or should the body be rigged to a trap.

"Evidence of damage to the Life Pac's regulator." She zoomed in her camera to examine the damage closer. "Looks like a deflection from weapon's fire."

Shining her light further down the passageway she did not see any damage from a weapon discharge. Satisfied the SE had taken enough of a recording of the body she pushed the hatch further open. With one hand she held the door open least it shut on her and with the other guided the freed body that rose out of the doorway. A gold coin floated clear of the body. She plucked the coin out of the air and studied the stamp on each side.

It was from the Eugenic Province and was worth a months pay for her. Most people used coins from EP because the coins were made from a mineral whose value did not go down.

Passing her light across the nearly bare interior the couch jumped out at her from the blackness with its multicolored brightness. In most mid-sized to large ships, cabin furniture was made to recess into the bulkhead until needed, allowing occupants in small living spaces to entertain in something other than their sleeping quarters without taking up more space. The compartment was no larger than what an ensign would occupy on CFS ships this size.

She pulled out the emergency bar and anchored it in place to keep the door opened. There was no power to close the door, but with Star working on getting the ship's systems back on line, there was no telling what would happen.

Moving closer to the couch she spotted a dark colored string. Leaning in for a closer inspection, she followed it to a purse that was lodged between the couch cushions. Verifying that it was not a trap she picked up the purse and opened it. Gold flashed in her light, as more coins from the Eugenic Province floated out of the bag. She collected them and secured them back in the purse, then tucked the purse back where she had found it. The rest of the cushions were checked under to see if there was anything else that may have become lodged out of sight. Desperate people hid things in obvious places, as well as clever people planted evidence in the same places. Nothing more was found. For whatever reason the bag was placed here, it was not her evidence to gather or to move so it was left as she had found it.

Turning to the rest of the room, her helmet light slid around the room. She stopped at where she felt the closet would be. No outlines, pictures, or Icons to verify the presence of a storage area.

"Access the closet, SE. Right there." Cot touched where she wanted the SE to force an opening.

SE sent out a fine line that on contact with the hull, spread out as a thin liquid, seeping into any breaks in the solid surface. An outline began to appear. The compartment door slid open and a dark object fell out in slow motion. Her arm went up in a defensive block as an unoccupied AVEC suit floated out to be captured by a SE. Cot watched the SE scan the suit as her heart returned to a normal rhythm. It seemed a waste to scan the suit when so far their equipment was not picking up anything.

Cot patted down all the utility pockets. They were empty. No wear markings on the suit or a patch showing the status of the wearer, or even family affiliation. How would they know who was in the suit without an identification?

Enas are telepathic, she remembered.

The Life Pac indicated it had five standard hours of air left. Turning back to the closet, it was empty, and if there were a false panel the SE did not find it.

Moving back to the body hovering on the overhead in the room, she pulled it down to get a closer look of something she had missed earlier. There on the thigh was the symbol for ship security. Security officers always carried weapons hidden in all sorts of places on their clothing. Another pat down still found no weapons. Were Enas' different on their own ship?

"Time?"

Forty-five minutes had passed and she still had not made it to the center of the ship.

"System start up has been initiated," Star reported. "Ship's log shows a standard shutdown was supervised by the captain at Station Subterrian."

"Subterrian is a major space station for passenger and freight business, and it's a week from here if they didn't take a gate. Thank you, Star. Have you located the missing SEs?"

"SE9 is no longer transmitting information." Star sounded troubled.

"Where was your last reading on SE9?"

"Deck 4."

"For any SE that goes off to investigate keep a streaming connection, Star. Do you know if anything besides a chrysalis can be in an incubation chamber?"

"I have not found any further information on chrysalises from the kiosk library. I will expand my search to the ships library when I am able."

"SE 4 and 6, secure the body and move it to medical." While the SEs scooted out the room with the body, Cot took one more look around to see if she had missed anything. A sound from behind her had her regretting there was no rear view. Turning was in short steps as her feet needed to unclamp, otherwise a twisted ankle or wrenched knee could result.

An irritated hiss escaped her lips. The door was closed.

"Star?"

Her voice came back to her as if she were speaking in an enclosed space. The closed door cut off her communication.

"Star?" she thought.

Not even her mental speech felt the same. Did the Enas insure their privacy through an insulated bulkhead?

"Up magnification 50x."

Nothing happened.

There had to be an emergency exit. Cot turned around as quickly as she was able, feeling something brush up against her. Holding up her scanner that had so far not been of much use, she could not pick up on any life signs. She ran the scanner over herself to test it. It did not pick up her life signs.

"What have they got running in this bulkhead that causes a scanner to malfunction?" Pressing the self test it came back calibrated and ready, then the scanner went dead along with her helmet. It was dark and all senses were limited to the inside of the AVEC suit. Tentively, she took a breath to see if her life support was still functioning. By the sounds and rich breathable air, it was. Surrounded in pitch darkness with not even her helmet giving her any guidance, she was on her own.

Cot slowly moved forward with her hands extended, feeling for the solid bulkhead. Her forward progress was halted as she suddenly stumbled over something knee high. There had not been anything but the couch on her entrance.

An inquiring voice called from behind her. Looking to where she thought the voice came from, a shape stood in the doorway. It was impossible to see clearly due to the bright backlight.

Again she was asked if she was alright. The tone was light and familiar, giving her a tingling feeling all over. There would be no sharing the bed while she was inebriated that was their rule. The couch would be her place for the night.

Cot found herself on the couch. Someone brushed up against her. Turning to where the pressure was, she found herself lying prone. Leaning above her was a dark menacing shadow. If you cannot keep your private affairs private, then people taking offense should not be unexpected. It was the fact that this person took the offense to a violent act surprised her.

The scene changed and no longer was she in the room. A thin tentacle reached out for her and attached to her faceplate. A cnidocyte seeped out a liquid that spread over the entire faceplate, blocking any view she had. A dot like a small dent appeared, then spidery lines shot out in all directions. Her faceplate exploded, sending out pieces of her in globes of liquid and other bio-matter.

Cot took a slow deep breath. The fact that she could feel the breath move through her lungs and clear her sluggish thoughts was proof that what she had witnessed did not mean she was dead.

Dead? As in physical death? Of course that was what she meant.

The sudden hiss of a door near her startled her, and at the same time she was blasted with sensory input as her AVEC suit came online. Taking deep breaths to steady her nerves, Cot's attention shifted to the change of sound in her helmet. She had an open comm channel.

"Star, what happened?" she asked mentally rather than via their comm link.

"Closed doors blocks most forms of communication from passing through the ships bulkhead," Star reported.

Cot quickly moved out of the room. "What closed the door?"

"I don't know."

"Didn't either SE feel a concern that I was no longer in contact with them?"

"Your life was not in danger, Cot.

Star's dismissal of their loss of connection as a trivial matter had Cot wondering if their training for the last two years had taken a complete memory dump from Star. When this job was over, there was going to be some reevaluating of priorities.

Cot stopped in her tracks and shinned her light along the passageway. Here was scorch marks running along the bulkhead and overhead. The pattern was what it would look like if there was no atmosphere in the passageway and small arm fire took place. If the ship was operational, the repair bots would have wiped out this evidence.

Pirates and smugglers who were into stealing ships were careful what they damaged, but those that were only interested in stealing what was on the ship, small time thieves, did not care to what extent of damage they did, including to passengers and crew. She would have to wait until she returned to Star where she could run her own programs to analyze what could have occurred here. Certainly Star would be curious since there was a story to discover.

Moving toward the transport shaft, she dropped into it, activating her stabilizers to stop on deck 6.

An environmental barrier was engaged with an alarm light on deck 6. Her helmet scan finally gave her a reading. It showed the environment was breathable for Enas but would be difficult for her, though not impossible. The HS showed nothing. The SEs sent ahead of her located the Medical Bay and the Incubation Room. All other rooms along the passageway were secured. The body of the security officer was lying near the entrance to the medical facilities.

Moving through the barrier her light widened to cover both sides of the passageway. Her feeling of something amiss was rising, sending shivers along her arms. Both rooms had alarm lights flickering; however, Med's alarm would occasionally hold steady, blink out, then flicker back on.

Was it a code?

"Can you see if there are any cocoons in the incubation compartments?"

"A deep scan's energy would disrupt chrysalis' development," Star said.

"If you're able to scan the ship and it's decks, why aren't any of my scans or the SEs picking up anything?"

"I show all scans are working."

"My helmet and the HS are not picking up anything."

"I will run tests on your equipment," Star said.

Shinning her light further down the passageway Cot picked up shadows on the bulkhead. Moving closer the marks looked like flashbacks from weapons fire. Her light shinned further up the hall. The charred remains of a rifle lay on the deck. Any scans from her equipment gave her no readings. She would have to do her own work. Standing over the remains, Cot identified it as a standard CFS military issue. This particular weapon was used for boarding a hostile ship. Any damage to anything on the other side of a bulkhead was minimized as the rifle was designed to neutralize biomaterial. For the rifle to have been damaged, it would have had to overheat. Cot had seen many soldiers on their first hostile boarding keep the trigger activated which caused the barrel to backfire.

Turning her attention back to the incubation room she wondered how she could check for occupants. According to Star's information, anyone not protected by a special suit, including Ena adults, would suffer cellular breakdown if they passed the barrier. The barrier was to protect the chrysalis from outside disturbances. Enas in space knew not to enter an incubation compartment without preparation. When the chrysalis was completed an adult stepped out of the cocoon with species knowledge and memories of its clan. In a years time the young adult would know what she or he had an inclination for and would complete their internship in that group or join an outside school for further specialized training.

Cot attempted to access the control panel to the Medical Bay. The panel would not open. She would have to wait for Star to figure out the code.

Cot turned her head for a better view of something that moved in her peripheral vision. "What is that?" She leaned closer to peer through the transparent bulkhead into the Medical Bay. Whatever it was, she could only see it from her peripheral vision. A scan of the room could not detect anything amiss.

"There's something in there that if I don't look at it directly I can see it. Create the wavelength that my peripheral vision uses in this helmet and send the information to my scanner."

Whatever it was came from the far end of the Medical bay and reached nearly to the bulkhead along the passageway.

"If this were in space I would say it's a space anomaly and record it, but this is inside the ship. It's not a time warp or space displacement because I've seen those and I could look at them face on. I've never seen or heard of anything like this."

Her scanner vibrated when the download of information from Star was completed.

Swinging her light and scanner into the Medical Bay, she could now pick up a cylinder of chaotic energy running across the medical bay toward the bulkhead. The incubation room was in its path if it were advancing.

"Are you picking up on any of this Star?"

"I can not identify."

Running her light as far back inside of Med as she could she spotted something dark in a corner.

"Someone is in there," she said softly. "Forget about codes, SE6 open Med."

SE6 touched the panel with a thin tube. Liquid seeped into the control box and the door slid open. The bot darted in before her to secure the area; however, Cot followed without waiting for a clear signal. Kneeling next to the person in an AVEC suit, she looked for any sign of life. The faceplate showed breathing. Here was someone that could tell her what happened. The figure was lying beside the life pod storage rack. The life pods were locked down as if the ship had been secured for a port visit.

"Star, is there enough energy right now to activate the medical facilities?"

"The medical bay is coming on line."

Cot retracted the woman's helmet, ready to reverse her action should the woman show signs of distress. Her color began to change but she had no way of knowing if this was a good sign. She had never met an Ena personally and holographic images for general information were not meant for medical based comparisons.

Eyes opened. Both women studied each other, then the Ena weakly raised her hand and wrapped her three fingers around Cot's armored wrist, giving it a squeeze.

"I found your ship abandoned in space. I'm powering up the systems so there's enough energy for life support and outer shield protection. I found another person on deck 4. He or she is unarmed, wearing an AVEC suit with a security emblem on the hip. I don't know what this person's life status is. My sensors aren't functioning properly on your ship."

"They are not meant to on this trip," she whispered. "Unreliable?if you do pick up anything." Cot could barely hear her.

"Is there something I should be aware of?"

Her lips barely moved as her strength faded. "Power?.fluctuations... Unknown cause?. Nothing seems right," she sighed, sounding perplexed.

The medical tube cover began to descend, not giving Cot time for any more questions. Cot glanced at the control panel to the medical bed. No alarms she could decipher.

Turning to leave Med she could hear a warning beep from the incubation room and a blue light above its door was blinking.

Cot moved to a side panel for a reading on the compartment's status. Why would the support for the incubation compartment be running if it were unoccupied? Were the two left on board giving it a last inspection before turning it over to the port authorities and they ran into thieves? Or, were they supposed to remain on board to be sure that no thieves boarded her? A good captain would not fill her cargo bays and then let the dockworkers clear her ship for cleaning? unless someone reported a virus after the ship was loaded.

"Star, do they have a backup?"

"They are running on their backup, Cot."

"How long before ship's systems are fully up?"

"Taking in consideration all systems check, two hours for completing all decks. I have activated the full system restoral. Their security is complicated and may take longer than the few hours."

"I'm not asking you to decipher their security, Star. My being here should set alarms off when the power is back up. What about shuttles? They have Life Pacs aboard that we can use here. Any still on board?"

"The manifest on Deck 4 shows Deck 5."

"How many?"

"Twenty-two fully charged and ready for the new owners."

"I'm on my way."

SE6 pulled the hatch cover open to the cargo bay and gave her a clear. Unlike the hatch cover on deck 4, this one opened wide. As she stepped into the mammoth cargo bay Cot increased the light intensity on her helmet. Her light passed over the shuttles with their shipping orders stamped on their exterior. The SEs scouted above the cargo, giving her an overview of the contents.

"No captain would leave her ship fully loaded without at least a troop of her own security guarding the goods."

A shadow that looked like a person had her focusing her light on it. JabaKu E, leader of the Peace Movement during the early formation of what is now the Consortium, posed under her light. It was a life sized likeness of him. Other notable figures were around his statue. Moving past the shuttles to get a better look at the statues she found more recognizable peace figures safely encased in transparent packing jell.

"The captain must have picked up the contract to move the statues to the new Garden of Peace on Er105." Mentally she went over the distance and when the actual ceremonies would be taking place. Two weeks. The Murdelie's captain must have connections and know the right corridors to get there on time without rivals threatening her delivery time?which may explain why the ship was out this far from any known public gate without crew. A rival did get to the ship. It could also explain why the ship was cleaned of energy. If a mixture of species were to transport with the statues, many would be able to read the Enas business just by placing a hand on the bulkhead.

Unconsciously she sought out a familiar figure among the statues. Tears filled her eyes as she spotted Ambassador Keli standing between two long time friends who both were still alive, as far as she knew. So it was not a memorial for just those that crossed over.

Cot squeezed between statues to stand before her aunt's likeness. The artist had captured a younger version of her. The smile that Cot remembered as part of her persona invoked an automatic returned smile from her. Touching the control to the jell pac it pealed back giving her a better view of Ambassador Keli.

Her eyes moved over the details of her dress, arranged from where the cord was knotted to how; revealing to those in the know that she was a master of QuaDom.

"Auntie," she whispered tenderly, "they have done a very good job on your statue." Leaning forward Cot studied the medallion that hung around her neck. Her aunt never wore her talisman openly and from what she understood, not everyone could see it. It was to have been hers at her aunt's passing. She had wondered what had happened to it. It was a powerful talisman and if it were meant to be hers then it would find it's way to her, she was taught.

Her hand scooped around the medallion, holding it to get a closer look. She was startled when energy traveled up her arm. Respectfully, with both hands, Cot lifted it from the statue's neck.

"This is real, Star."

"So is the deadline to collect Life Pacs," Star reminded her. "I have more information on Enas young. Shall I play it for you?"

"Yes." I don't know how you did it auntie, but thank you. Cot secured the medallion in one of her pockets, aware of the steady beat of its power against her. Her hand rested over the pocket, recognizing a calling from the talisman. Soon, we will together call the ancestors, she thought to the medallion.

Moving back to the shuttles she watched the SEs began their task while she listened to Star's information on Enas. The SEs made quick work of testing and then disconnecting the Life Pacs, and Cot remembered to recharge her own. It took a hour to test the twelve pacs, detach, and deliver to deck 6. The switch was without a problem.

Back at the medical bay the distortion was no longer visible.

"Have you been able to find any more readings on this distortion?"

"I have not. In the time you have allotted for inspecting the ship, we must now retrieve the missing SEs," Star said.

"Yes. If we left them behind SF would have my pip and your tail. What orders did you give them?"

"To began inspecting each deck, starting with deck 1."

"That's the VIP deck. What kind of energy and security do they have on this ship? We could use it should you ever be boarded. My visor and HR went dead again."

"I am looking into it."

It was not something Cot thought Star could find the answer to, but she was curious how Star would handle a task she could not complete. As Cot moved quickly through the corridors and up the transport shaft to deck one, she kept expecting something to challenge her presence aboard the ship. Surely within three days someone besides her had to have stumbled on this ship?

For a moment she froze, listening for a repeat of the sound.

Murmurings?

The next thing she knew she was lifted off her feet and flung down the passageway. She slammed into the hull and slid down stunned. Though her vision was blurred, she thought the SEs that accompanied her were lying on the deck. A pale gray cloud rushed toward her. Just as suddenly, the energy vapored and disappeared. Her pulse beat rapidly in her throat and her breath was in shallow gulps. There was no communication with Star.

This is where that energy is coming from. I can feel it.

Cot cupped her hand over the pocket that had the medallion to make sure she still had it, though by the warmth it radiated she should have been reassured it was still there. On wobbly legs she rose to her feet. Along the passageway she could see the SEs that accompanied her, the original missing two and SE9. Walking slowly past them all a grayish barrier blocked her passage to the guest quarters. Reaching out to touch it, it flexed under her push. Should she just push past it? Keeping in mind that this was not her ship and she did not know what was going on, she did not want to damage anything.

So just what was she doing here?

"I sure wish I knew. But I'm here, so get on with it," she encouraged herself. "Take with you the feeling of well being," she quoted her aunt. Humming ara kara she moved past the barrier, coming to a stop in front of the entrance to the last door in the passageway. By the label on the door, it was quarters to someone important. The hatch cover slid open.

It was a luxurious suite with plenty of pillows and low platforms for reclining. It took a few moments before she could feel comfortable in the room. Set on a table in the middle of the room amid a clutter of odd shaped objects, a box the size of her palm caught her attention.

Cot reached to pick it up for a closer view. "Magnify 200xs," she directed her helmet. "It looks like a miniature house. Magnify again by same power."

It was amazing but the box had four sides carved with elaborate decorations. Why so small? Carefully she laid it back on the table. A change in the room had her looking behind her. A gray cloud formed up and before Cot could react, encircled her.

"I'm here to secure the ship. I intend no harm," she said quickly.

Minutes passed before the gray cloud slowly faded to nothing.

Moving back to the table she studied the small shapes. "Up magnification, 600xs."

What she had first thought were scattered odd shapes on the table were now elaborate carvings. Was it a city?

Backing away from the table she went back to her inspection of the room, looking for the passageway that led to the incubation room that the ships schematics showed to be connected to this room. She found it hidden behind an elaborate cloth mural. Cot parted the silky drapery, getting a light headed feeling as her glove touched the drapes.

Though the life support for an Ena was not up in this area, the passageway was not lifeless. She could feel emotions from many. Her own telepathy was not that strong with anyone but Star, so the impact of the fear mixed with anticipation from so many was surprising; and underneath all that was a sound that stirred up unpleasant feelings.

This was where she was being directed to go. Her steps faltered as it became clearer that she was being directed.

"Alright, I got the message. Now what?"

The sound underneath the emotions had a malicious intent. It did not belong here.

Cot began her mantra, ara kara while she continued down the passageway. She could feel a stutter in the sound. Gradually the malevolent sound faded out. Continuing with her mantra she had stopped in the passageway as the ripple of change began to be reflected back at her from the walls.

It is done.

Turning back Cot stepped past the silky cover and out of the room as quickly as she could.

"Time?"

Over two hours had passed since she came aboard. Life support and security should be up by now. There was still no mental or physical connection to Star, and the SEs were littered in the passageway. She began collecting them and fastening them to her suit as she moved down the passageway and to the exit. Stepping into the transport shaft she dropped as if stepping off a high rise into space.

"On stablizers!" she hollered. As she bounced against the walls of the tube the secured SEs were knocked loose. Her suit jets failed to activate. Suddenly the SEs came active and the suit's stabilizers righted her and slowed her free fall.

"Life support for Enas life forms is back on line," Star reported calmly. "Security is up with Murdelie's on board security bots beginning their security checks."

"What happened to our connection?"

"You entered a dead zone," Star informed her simply.

Cot wanted to check on the two in Medical Bay before security was fully up. There were questions she wanted answered and if not both than at least one should be revived by now.

She met no resistance to her return to deck 6. Both rooms were fully operational. Resting both palms against the bulkhead of the incubation room, she could feel the energy was chaotic. Was this how the strange energy in the medical bay would feel? Cot closed her eyes and willed her spirit to see if there was a chrysalis in the incubation chamber.

Cot looked around her, searching for something she could recognize. As spirit, colors were sounds and the discordant sounds surrounded her. Thinking the chant "ara kara," she took four steps to a shapeless form that looked as if it were having problems solidifying. There were brief reprieves from the sounds, and during that time the spirit would try to form, but the next sound had it loose what form it had developed.

Cot stood before the form and chanted ara kara, then wrapped energy around the undeveloped spirit, giving her protection, while the vibrations from the chant vibrated through both of them. The sound stopped and more soothing sounds began. The spirit quickly formed into an unrecognizable, but less distressed shape.

Cot returned to her body. She inspected what had been done by the SEs.

"That's my scanner. Couldn't you find some of their equipment to give the right tones?"

"It is what is at hand," Star said.

"We can't leave any of our equipment here."

"I am programming the same tones you gave to the computer so it will not go back to the off key vibration."

Things started to happen rapidly and some simultaneously.

"Six ships identified as belonging to a pirates group have hyperspaced off Murdelie's bow," Star notified her.

"Well, it's about time though I can do without them. Does the Murdelie have an anti boarding defense Star? Activate it if so and stay out of sight."

Cot needed to get to the engine room. There she could monitor the ship and set up a defense of some type. Now she regretted not sending out a distress call.

Deck 2 would put her just above the engine room and let her see what the area looked like. Cot bounced back from a security field.

"Murdelie's self protection has been activated. Everything has been locked down. I will see if I can allow you to pass as part of the crew of the Murdelie," Star said.

A SE opened an emergency exit panel and darted into it with three others following. Two remained with her waiting for an all clear. The moment the all clear was received she climbed into the maintenance shaft and let go. The tube swayed gently as they rapidly moved down decks.

Several cannon shots to the ship could be felt as it rocked.

The shields are holding, Cot thought relieved.

Cot tumbled out on a deck against a crate. She was on Deck 4 where she had entered. Using the cargo to conceal her she moved to where she could see the pirate ships.

"Gods! It's like a news flash went out to all pirates in the vicinity. There's a dozen out there!"

Murdelie's shield shimmered as it absorbed the shots.

"They have to have weapons somewhere on this deck."

An image flashed of where on Deck 4 there was a gunner's mount.

"Now that's something I can handle." Moving through the rows of cargo she caught her balance as a big cannon from the freighter went off. Hesitating for a moment, Cot resumed her progress. I hope that's one of the people in the med.

Pulling open the door to the gun pit she looked over the interior. It was not made for her species but she could manage. It just meant she would have to remember it was not an automatic reload. Sliding into the chair she strapped in, feeling the difference of stature with the tightness of the safety harness.

From the control panel that was lit up, she could read other weapons on the ship and their rate of fire. All were hot. Someone was controlling most remotely. She released hers from remote control and hit the button to locate a target.

The seat smoothly moved to the ships swooping in for shots on her side. "This is where side swipes have an advantage. Just to heat up the air."

Resting her fingers on the load and fire buttons, she began sending out shots that would cause enough of a concussion between the ships for them to back off. Maybe she would get lucky and one would blow causing a few others to be damaged.

A shot directed right at her was shot down with the antimissiles that most gun turrets had to protect their occupants. The connection of the two hit the turret and if she had not been dressed in an AVEC suit, she would have died from the charge.

After an hour of preventing the pirates from getting an opening to the freighter, Cot could see that they were taking another approach. Dressed in AVEC suits and holding onto rifles dozens of pirates were heading over to board the Murdelie. They must think they had a hole in the freighter's shell.

"Cot, I have deployed our net so that it is between Murdelie and the pirates."

Cot grinned at Star's deployment. "Very good, Star."

"Not going to happen, people," she whispered to the pirates. Redialing the type of shot she sent out an electromagnetic charge that would hit the netting and arc out, shorting anything within a yard. Each of the pirates would act as a carrier of the charge as their suits would become disabled. Hopefully, it would arc over to their ships.

"We have more company," Star informed her. "A CFS troop carrier. It is thirty minutes away in the tunnel."

"I need to get out of here before that ship arrives." Cot released the harness and was jumping out of the gunner's turret when a boom from behind her sent her flying into the stacked cargo. Half unconscious, two SEs carried her through a tube. Cot rolled out and landed on another deck. Dimly, she could hear a message from the ship's PA system. The AVEC medical pac sent a shot of meds into her system, bringing her focus sharp and clear almost immediately.

"SE6 show me what's going on and stay out of sight," she ordered. Rolling on her back she tried to forget about the headache, focusing on the overhead. She knew she was on a cargo deck. On her faceplate the image of the CFS Powder Keg, a CFS troop carrier was sitting on deck with its bay door wide open. Beyond that, three disabled pirate ships were leaning off kilter. The SE expanded the view of a squad of Enas in armor at attention outside of the carrier. Two gunner turrets were manned on either side of the opened doors. Cot figured the woman wearing a uniform as bright as the dress uniform she recently discarded for a more somber Star Force uniform was the leader. Standing at a respectable distance, indicating a wait-and-see attitude was a captain of the CFS army and a first lieutenant. By the looks of the uniform of the first lieutenant, this was his first deployment. He was too tense, too alert, and no ribbons yet from active duty.

The length of time it would take to untangle out of this diplomatic mess was more time than what she wanted to expend. The CFS captain would use her as a training tool for his first lieutenant and no telling what the Enas would do. And then, she would have to ruin it for everyone and flash her new association, which was a last resort. Relying on the two Enas she had rescued to put in a good word for her was not something she wanted to do.

The group moved out of the cargo bay with the Ena captain, the CFS captain and lieutenant following. No guards remained on deck.

"SE9, check out the interior of CFS Powder Keg."

A few minutes later she was given a view of the interior. A CFS hoplite squad fully armored was watching the inside of the cargo bay and another group watching the disabled pirate ships. Two NCOs were discussing something and Cot guessed they wanted to take a trip over to the damaged pirate ships and declare them captured booty.

She needed to get off the ship as soon as possible. Her presence must be setting off alarms somewhere on the Murdelie.

Cot remembered that the troop carriers had a small two person pod attached. It served a dual purpose; for the captain and lieutenant to monitor their troops above the battle fray planet side, and as the captain's emergency escape pod in space. If a platoon, while in space had to make an emergency escape in AVEC suits the captain in the emergency pod would be able to keep the survivors together, offer added air, repair, and nourishment until help arrived. The disadvantage in war situations was that the captain's pod was the first thing pirates, smugglers and other outlaws shot at, and then attacked the survivors. Depending on the captain, small armaments were added limited only by the imagination of who added safeties. It did not matter to Cot. She would not want to be stuck in one in the middle of a battle. Her squad had to protect too many of them during the Incursion Wars to give her any confidence that they had a useful purpose to anyone but the enemy.

It was memories like this that interfered with Cot's concentration. Refocusing, she stared at the SE image of the troop carrier from the backside. She could access the pod from outside the ship that maintenance workers used instead of through the hatch that would drop her into the pilot seat that was normally accessed from inside the troop ship. How was she going to avoid being shot down by the Murdelie once she activated the pod?

"Star, I hope you identified me to the Murdelie's security system as a friendly," Cot thought.

"You are secured," Star replied in same level of thought.

Cot checked her life support settings on her suit. She had ten hours if she did not do any heavy physical activity. Sliding along the stacked crates, she moved to the open cargo bay doors, keeping an eye out for any monitoring equipment. Dropping to the deck she crawled around the CFS Powder Keg's nose, depending on the SEs to interfere with anything that may locate her as a threat. Hardly noticed was the expanse of space behind her as she carefully studied where she would have to reach. The shuttle had settled right on the edge of the docking platform, leaving no space to walk to the pod nestled like an implanted ball on the side of the ship. She would be dangling in space. Would it be tempting for a gunner in the disabled pirate ships to make that one last daring shot?

There were recessed loops looking like small knobs on the exterior that tow lines could be connected to, where the troops in their AVEC suits would be attached to the pod. Grabbing onto one she tested how well she could hold on. Dragging herself along the hull, she took great care not to let her feet attach to the side of the hull. It would make noise that everyone in the shuttle would hear.

SE9 sent images of the soldiers in the ship. They looked relaxed, but she had witnessed the quickness of hoplites. Their fast muscle twitch enabled them to move into action in a blink of an eye.

The Murdelie suddenly began to move, swinging around in a defensive position. Cot lost one hand hold as the environment around her created a suction, pulling at her. Her hand grabbed the communication array and held on. The buffer did not protect her from the flow that was like a tunnel of air blowing by her. The suit's readings told her it was hot. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a SE work the maintenance hatch cover that would put her between the hull and deck of the pod. Pulling herself forward, a SE latched onto the side of the pod while keeping a tight hold on her. The hatch was opened and as she moved in the SEs followed her. The moment she closed the pod's maintenance hatch, she could feel the pod detach.

Star had to be flying it. Cot wasted no time, opening the deck cover and climbing out to strap in the pilot's seat. Only one seat was engaged so she had enough space to move.

Her visor showed that life support was set to another species. Not wanting to clue anyone in on who stole the pod she left it as it was. She was not going to be long.

"Where are we going?"

The voice in her head was not like Star's communication nor was the presence that accompanied it. It was a species presence, like Jobahians, Kiomatians and Dilitians. Cot looked around for the body that would go with the voice. On the overhead was a young Ena, which explained the life support setting, though he was wisely wearing an AVEC with his helmet fully engaged. The face plate was shaded green, blocking out some rays. It was to give his eyes time to adjust to what would be natural light to him, she remembered from her recent readings. That meant he was newly out of his cocoon.

Her eyes spotted a royal emblem but not of a house she knew of.

"Not far." Cot activated the second seat. "You need to drop down here and strap in for our safety." Royalty? What is he doing in the pod without a guard?

"You were the one in the birthing room," stated verbally. He dropped into the seat in a slow twist and turn as if he were in free space. Cot wondered if he had been practicing that while he was here alone.

"In a sense," she said slowly, studying as much as she could of the young Ena for her own information. "SE1 will assist you to strap in."

The young Ena watched the SE with curiosity as it detached from her shoulder and engaged a seat restraint that dropped over him.

She returned her attention to the console where a comm channel blinked at a steady rhythm. They were being hailed.

"Does anyone know you are in this pod?"

"All those that need to know."

"Why are you in the pod?"

"They do not wish me to mingle with the soldiers."

"It looks like they are frantic to get you back," she said. "What is your family name?" she asked for future reference.

"We have not decided. We are a new consciousness."

Not knowing enough of Enas politics to make an educated guess as to why a royal chrysalis was awakened on board the freighter, or for that matter on a freighter that was cleaned and shipping statues to a peace garden that was sure to be carrying the dignitaries that would appear at the dedication ceremony?. That was too complicated for the moment.

"Why was the ship moved here and without crew?" Cot asked.

"We moved it here. It is in neutral territory. We sought you to help save sister. We are now helping you to escape."

Cot was thinking Star would not like her part in the rescue diminished. Suddenly she remembered the one coin she still had. Feeling around in her pocket she did not find it. Her hand brushed against the medallion.

"It is our thank you for helping us."

Cot stared at him but his attention had moved to the view of space, with its swirls, black holes, and planet bodies that vibrated at a wavelength that if not seen visually, then picked up with ship instrumentation.

"Does this end?" he asked.

"Not that I'm aware of."

A ding had her moving her interest back to the console. Star was changing their course. Predictably, they were being pursued. Ghost signals were sent out by Star to confuse the rescuers.

"Why was the Murdelie cleaned of energy?" Cot asked.

"To prevent a distraction to our formation and imprinting. We are grateful for your willing contribution."

Cot could feel his appreciation. "I'm glad I was in the area to be able to help," she said to cover her embarrassment. "You said you are a new family, why is a new family being brought into existence?"

"It is the collective desire of the species for a new direction. A direction that is less devoted to aggression against others, yet not weak that they perish under others will."

"Why did sister have to be saved by someone other than an Ena?"

"There is always someone that is not willing to change and is in the position to interfere with the inevitable. Energies that could be used and some manipulated enabled our needs and yours to be met in this meeting."

"Synchronicity."

Cot felt an understanding of the term on a deeper level that brought her world to a standstill in wonderment. It was like being in a cosmic tornado funnel with worlds, words, species, and all sorts of things, spun around so rapidly that there was no separation in their existence.

"Your medallion is expressive," the Ena said.

"If you should need any assistance and I'm nearby, call me." Her voice sounded far away yet she could feel the sounds she made in speech vibrate through her whole body, radiating out into the space around them, and pass through the pod's shell. It was as if she had uttered an oath with all it's trappings of power.

On another level, it occurred to her that her unplanned offer to help would affect a lot of people.

"We appreciate the offer."

Cot felt in a daze from what she was experiencing.

A buzz in her connection with Star brought her back to present worries.

"Your rescuers should be here in minutes. This is where I get off. Blessings to you young Ena. I wish you great wisdom and courage to be who your heart guides you to be."

"Good travel and health," he replied. "Sister wishes you the same."

Cot slid out of the hatch, then to the exterior of the pod, holding onto the maintenance grip, as a line shot over to her. If she missed it she knew the SEs would have secured it. She snapped the safety to her belt and pulled herself over as she was reeled in.

Cot thumped up to the helm. "Star, I have the conn. Send all our information on the Enas to the squad and SFHQ and the offer I made. That is going to be an interesting story to follow. That was a new royal line, Star."

"What does that mean, Cot?"

"Something that will shake up more than Ena's politics. Collect data from the SEs on our visit to the Murdelie and prepare it for my review."

Cot remembered the medallion. Digging in her pocket she pulled out the medallion by its chain and laid it on her palm.

Nothing happens by chance, Auntie would say.

A quick glance at the console showed they were making good progress and from the trailing monitors covering their tracks, nothing was detected following them, which did not reassure her. They would be catching another gate in seven hours, heading to another part of the galaxy.

"Star, call in the monitors. We'll pick up speed when they're safely aboard. I want all sensors re calibrated and tested. We'll use your speed to get us out of here as fast as possible."

Rising from her seat to meditate, she added, "Let me know when you're finished translating what you pulled from Murdelie's logs. I'll read it after dinner. The conn is yours, Star. The same drill; keep me posted if you notice anything I want to know about."

"Star Chaser has the conn."

Chapter 7

Awakening

Cot stopped to change clothes, only this time she dressed in ritual clothing. Knots were tied symbolically while chants for blessings, protection, and witnessing were made. The sash was wound around her waist while vows repeated over centuries by others, were made with the same intention and reverence.

Before the mirror, she met the eyes of the person reflected back at her. This time she studied herself without avoidance. Her Elfin face, too narrow for some, too full for others, was a pale blue showing she was past marriageable age, but not old enough to make life decisions for others in the clan. Her curly white hair intentionally covered the tops of her ears so their exact shape was hidden. Her eyes were chameleon like, taking on the color of her environment, most notably her clothing, provided she was not emotional. If necessary, they could also be masked in slate gray.

Her eyes returned to the ceremonial dress that she had last worn at her initiation into the 12th level of QuaDom. She smoothed a wrinkle automatically as she thought of who she was going to call to witness her claiming of the medallion as hers. Her aunt she knew would be present. Though her auntie was not physically on this level of existence, she always felt she was near. It would be wise to call all those that had been claimants to the medallion, to make peace with them and make sure her claim would not be interfered with.

Next were the ceremonial slippers, symbolically representing a boat that delivered the initiated souls to the sacred island for the Gathering. Lifting the medallion she marveled at how just holding it changed what she perceived around her. Only for a moment her concern for Star who would not be able to observe what she was going through flickered in her consciousness.

Focus on the immediate.

At the edge of her sacred place she removed her slippers. She cast her circle. Before the oval shaped stone, homage was paid to her Brounder ancestors. She thanked her spirit guides and all those that helped her get this far, then she thanked whatever power was behind the talisman for it to have found her. Then she invited all those that should be present, to be present.

With some talismans it was necessary to declare ownership so that the power was not stolen by another. Others were formed or chosen for specific purposes.

Cot held up her talisman to admire the light as it struck the stone imbedded in it. It was the type that chose who was to wield it and how it was to be used. This one was a harkenstone that assisted the holder on her journey to become a peaceful warrior.

Holding the medallion in her left hand she looked up and found herself standing in front of Keli. Her Aunt Keli held her arms out to Cot which Cot did not hesitate to step into, and be nestled in her warm energy.

"Auntie, I've missed you so much." Cot did not wonder that her aunt was taller than her when the last time they met Keli's head reached Cot's chin.

"How can you say that when I'm always around? I hear all your conversations to me. I do like your new ship, Star Chaser."

Keli gave Cot another squeeze and then held her at arms length. "You've grown in a lot of ways, Colleen. Not such the quiet one that takes in all that her eyes can see rather than speak of it, and not full of righteous anger for those that are victimized. You've moved on."

Cot felt her face heat up from an old wound. "I have learned there are other ways to be right action."

Her aunt smiled at her, her palm lifted to cup Cot's chin in her usual gesture of affection. "The talisman has found you, my dear. You have witnessed it's power in the events that came before you to lay claim to it. It will bring experiences to you that will give you opportunities to learn. Old friends will be exchanged for new. Enemies will become assistants. Everything will change in meaning. What is will not be explainable. Your inner and outer worlds will no longer be recognizable, even to you."

"Star Force isn't likely to be understanding with my sudden change of direction in life."

"And what have you been doing for the last two years?"

"Ouch." Cot ruefully shrugged her shoulders. "I guess my head was so buried in my books, I wasn't paying attention."

"Walk in love, my dear. I will remain close to you, just to make sure you don't get too lost."

Her aunt took the talisman from her hand and looped it over Cot's neck.

"Let all witness the passing of the medallion to you, it's new rightful holder. It is now your right to name it, as every holder in the past had called it by name."

Cot looked at it, not yet dropped on her chest. "A name?"

Keli smiled at Cot. "People either grow into their names or grow out of them or a name becomes more powerful. One of your responsibilities is to discover the name of this amulet. It has changed since I held it, so the old name no longer fits."

"I understand."

Keli laid it on her chest. The moment it rested against her skin Cot felt an expansion of her awareness. It was not the same as when she meditated, astral traveled or linked with Star. This was an awareness of subtle energy fields that were around her and in her, each affecting her senses differently and creating sensations in the center of her forehead that radiated out. It was not an overwhelming and powerful energy that once had knocked her off her feet when her aunt had forced a door of perception open for her.

This was a force that wrapped her in a soft cloak of love and profound understanding of her power. Through tears she watched her thoughts go out, like bolts of energy. Her creations. Unlike her previous encounters with heart filling love, she did not feel as if she would burst, because the energy flowed effortlessly.

When Cot opened her eyes, she stared at the porous stone, knowing she was in her sacred space in Star Chaser's cargo bay. The only things that were detailed on the oval stone were the carved hands with prayer beads draped over them.

Bua is your name.

Cot opened her circle with prayers of thanksgiving.

Two hours later she sat staring at the bulkhead as she sipped a warm beverage. Her thoughts were on locating the safeguards planted on Star against either of them going rouge. It was logical that they would be planted. Cot was sure she could locate them easily when they became a direct threat to her, but waiting until they were a threat may be too late, since she had no doubt other threats would be occupying her time. The ship was powerful and with a sentient behind its operation, could lead to misuse of power. With Star making changes to her whole system, they were just as dangerous as new Enas. Cot smiled to herself, realizing how alike their situation was.

Rising from her seat she returned to the cargo bay. It was time to see just what CBIS had found.

CBIS recognized her.

No self destruct had been found as of yet, but the scan was not complete. CBIS was slow and ponderous in its scan. Everything must be accounted for. The slow down and difficultly was from all the changes Star had made to her original structure and operation. Star was taking her time in replying to CBIS's inquiries.

"Star, update all your documentation on the improvements you've made, please."

"It is not good security practice to reveal my upgrades to an outsider," Star objected.

"Are you saying that someone can get through your security and look at your files?"

"Nothing is perfect, Cot."

"Please update CBIS with your improvements. CBIS is your failsafe for being taken over, Star." Cot wondered if Star's hesitation was coming from a program that did not want to be discovered, or if it was just Star.

Back on the bridge Cot pulled up the file on the Murdelie. It was blank as if they had never made the visit. There was, however, an encrypted packet of information from CBIS on the visit.

"Star, where are the reports I asked for on our visit to the Murdelie?"

"They are classified."

"By whose order?"

"HQ."

"When did you get a transmission from HQ?"

It was a long pause for Star. "I have no transmission from HQ," Star admitted, "But all reports are classified."

For a long moment Cot thought about this, wondering what was behind Stars sudden concern for encrypting her files. It could well be her warnings to Star about possible encroachment into her systems by others who were as sly as her. Or, it could be CBIS.

"Declassify the files for my eyes only, or upgrade my clearance but I want to see those files, Star, before you send a copy to HQ."

"It is a new encryption I have developed. It will take some time for me to have the entire file ready for your reading."

"Three standard hours," Cot said. Her lips twitched into a smile. Sometimes Star picked the wrong battles to wage her domination over.

Chapter 8

A Mysterious Guest

The door to the incubation compartment opened. The interior was warm and dry with low lighting. Along the overhead were huge leaves with their stems as wide as her hand. Some of the leaves were wrapped unto themselves as a cocoon. The cocoon stems were a different color than the others because of the nutrition it wrapped around the chrysalis. Stepping in further, she could now see clearly the etchings on one cocoon and the chrysalis shinning through. The vibrations and sounds in the room were inspiring and sustaining. She knew she was the one responsible for this change of atmosphere. Her heart ached thinking that something would have happen to the beautiful souls within them if she had not intervened.

A noise from behind her had her spinning around drawing out her saber. Holding it firmly before her she approached a darkened corner. A luminous figure appeared. It's intelligence shinning in it's eyes nearly blinded her. She felt naked in it's gaze.

"I want to help," Cot said.

"By doing what?"

"I don't know."

"Help without focus can meddle with another's lesson."

"What is needed that I can do?"

"Be present."

"Mindfulness," Cot whispered. Her eyes fell on her saber and its shining blade. Many proverbs about a sharp blade crossed her mind with one in particular sticking out because of its pretentiousness, "Though the sword of justice is sharp, it will not slay the innocent," she whispered. "By whose definition of justice? It's the same mentality that says '"Kill them all and let their gods sort them out."' They treat collateral damage as an inconsequential if a military gain could be made."

To Cot, if a withdrawal was called, a calmer decision could be made, eliminating collateral damage. That thought woke her up. For a few moments she laid in silence letting the last remnants of her dream fade.

Cot touched the talisman. Bua. A warm and tender touch filled her at the thought of the talisman's name. The hammer when need be.

Her thoughts returned to the idea of collateral damage. Would she be able to pull back and rethink a solution in the heat of a battle? In the past she would have said yes without hesitation, but that was before she knew as much as she did and had so much power to wield, with a ship, weapons, gadgets, and Bua.

Well, let the temptation come, because I'm just as curious what will rock my beliefs. Cot shook her head in amusement at her challenge. As a child such a challenge would have brought censure to her from those around her, but as a Warrior of Peace, it was just another way to find out unknown weaknesses.

Stretching, she rolled out of bed ready for the day.

"Greetings, Star. What's our status?"

"We are passing outside of the sensor readings of a large number of ships. I detect no trouble."

For a fleeting moment, the childhood refrain of asking and receiving came to mind. Dressing quickly, Cot trotted up the passageway to the bridge, wondering if her challenge was materializing.

"I have the conn, Star."

"You have the conn, Cot."

Once seated her console unfurled before her and information began to scroll across her screen. Ships of different classes were stretched out and moving rapidly into formation.

"Star, are they under attack?"

"There is no threat."

Both watched as the ships moved from one formation into another.

"They're running formation drills. It's a flotilla with one capital ship."

An alarm went off on her console.

"Someone thinks they see us. Let's move out of here." Cot glanced up and tiny eyes peered at her.

"Yeow!"

Cot leaped out of her seat backing up as far as she could without leaving the bridge. All her senses were engaged at deciphering whether this was a threat, then she wondered why Star was not initiating any security barriers between her and the small robot.

"There is nothing to worry about, Cot. It will not harm you," Star's amused voice assured her.

The bot dropped to her console. The box shaped body was the size of her fist. It rolled off the console and before it hit the deck four spindly legs extended. It walked up to her and stopped. It was knee height. Cot was tempted to call up a protection spell around her, but to do so meant she perceived the bot as a threat, and there was no feeling of a threat from the small thing.

"How did it get on board?"

"It came over for a visit while you were on the Murdelie."

"A visit? You had a visitor without clearing it with me?" Cot was alarmed that Star was making decisions without consulting her, then she remembered CBIS, who she brought aboard without asking Star, and Cot was using it to inspect Star down to the most intimate joint and program. "You let it stay on board without telling me? Send it back. We're not a passenger ship."

"Send it back where?" Star asked sounding overly patient. "It is my guest."

"Star, let me remind you that it's your very life you're putting on the line?" her eyes followed the small bot as it moved back a few feet, "and mine."

"It will do no harm. It has a mission similar to ours."

"Really?" Cot asked suspiciously. "There will be no interference from it in our business," Cot said firmly. "Have you de encrypted the information on my visit on the Murdelie?"

"I am working on it. It is a good encryption program." Star tone sounded a little too smug.

"Next time you use a new program, try something that's not important, like your communications to the others."

"What good would it do to encrypt a communication to them if they don't have the code?" Star asked, "And before I send them the code, I must be sure it is a secure code."

Cot was staring at the bot, suspicious for no other reason than the timing of its arrival and the files being encrypted so neither Star or her could read them. How was she going to get the small bot off the ship when Star felt it was a friend being given a ride?

"Star, you have the conn."

Where did it come from? How much could this small bot pick up in their communication? Was it just interested in gathering information? Why did she not just tell Star to dump the bot out in space?

That was the stickler. It was because the bot reminded her of what she ran across on Deck 1 of the Murdelie. How sophisticated was Star in recognizing a take-over? However, Cot really did not feel it was a take over, only something that was curious about who intruded in its territory. Was the entity in the bot or was the bot really the entity? Sentience was a complicated thing to determine because who was to define it when there was always entities that were so much more than the definer that made the definition insignificant?

I should not have picked up those blocks.

Settling in her sacred space, she thought about the bot and the strong feeling she received from Star when she questioned her on its presence. Was Star lonely? What kind of company was the bot offering her? Was Star fascinated by it? That would be all the more a worry. Cot had seen how out of character some people had become when they had fallen in love. Was that what was meant by "falling" in love? Cot had never experienced love like that. This bot was a dangerous distraction for them both.

Consciously touching the medallion a sudden broadening of view flashed with an understanding on the situation, but it was for a brief moment.

Having sentient ships was not a new frontier, but for this side of space it was. An environment conducive to bringing sentient ships into being was the same as what the Enas created for their young, though one was a living being and the other was still a ship. It did mean, though, that Star was a vibrant being in her own right and being curious about things Cot may see as dangerous, did not mean they were necessarily a threat in the physical sense to her.

If this insight was intended to make her feel any better about letting the bot remain without knowing more about it, it did not. But Cot did not miss the hint that maybe she was jealous of Star forming friendships with like-forms, meaning -- was the bot sentient?

What did Star consider sentient? The SEs were bots and Star was protective of them. Why did she not feel the same way about the other monitors that Star had upgraded? She had them for the same amount of time as the SEs.

Cot rubbed her forehead. There were many experiences that would be coming their way and Cot did not want to set limits on what each of them could allow into their lives otherwise neither would benefit from experiences outside of their knowledge. That was what exploring was about.

So, her decision was made about the bot. It's visit, she was sure, was a consequence of her visit on deck one.

But, her visit to the ship was necessary for her to claim the medallion. The new Enas said they had made it possible for her to retrieve it on the ship. How did they get the medallion? What had the bot to do with it all? Was it all connected?

Though her questions were unanswered, she decided to let the issue of the bot rest for now. Rising from her meditation, she began her work out. Two hours later, she cleaned up and returned to the bridge.

Continued...