《The Soul Onboard [Discontinued]》


 The Bridge

    "Hey, Lowell; good luck out there today." My father said as I was getting ready to depart. "I want first pick for Captain on that ship once her shakedown completes tomorrow."


    "You know I can''t make that call dad." I chuckled at his not-so-veiled prideful remark. "If all goes well, I''ll be first officer on that boat by this time tomorrow."


    "Well good luck anyway, son. I''m proud of ya." And with those words, Dad hung up on me.


    I walked out of my quarters on Orbital 4 and headed toward the dry docks, where four carrier class starships were under construction. I was scheduled to take the first one out today. Our first stop would be the shipyard where her fighters and bombers had been built. Once her carrier complement is onboard, we then have to stop by the munitions depot and receive her ammunition for delivery. Then it''s to the neutral point, to do some public testing.


    Everything is expected to go smoothly as this is the first time I''ve tested a ship with live ammunition, a full complement of drones, as well as manned fighters and bombers.


    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    19 hours into zero flight


    We have just arrived to our designated testing point.


    "All turrets are now loaded with blanks, test firing 100% firing solution. Core power shut down, and distress beacon deployment expected." I announce to the crew on the bridge.


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    The thud, and creaking of metal resounded throughout the bridge, the noises and vibrations of the massive machines reloading the turrets onboard ran for a few seconds when the main core did shut down. The distress beacon successfully deployed.


    I sat down in the Captain''s seat, and got ready for the power core to reboot itself. Then I heard what no shakedown pilot ever wants to hear. Crying from the intercoms; we have a stowaway, and they are probably hurt. I grab the mic and call out to the crew.


    "Find the stowaway, and take them directly to the sickbay." What happened next sent shivers down my spine.


    "Hello." A girl''s tear-filled voice called out. "I thought I was alone. Who are you?"


    "My crew and I have been on this ship for the last 19 hours miss. And I''m the acting Captain. Commander Lowell Bradford." I looked toward the communications officer and he shook his head.


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    It''s been dark for a long time. It''s felt like I was moving for a while, but I can''t see anything in here. Something made a terrible noise. I look around quickly, hoping I would find something. Then I saw a picture of the metal structure that surrounds my room. I set off the distress beacon. And I begin to cry. My first trip, and I''ve already failed. Then a man named Lowell called out looking for a stowaway.

 Who am I

    The girl sounded scared.  But the shake of my communication''s officer''s head told me that there were no additional life signs aboard the ship.  Only my crew were onboard.  So, who was this young girl I was talking to?


    "Miss, can you tell me your name, or where you are at?  If you are hurt we need to get you medical attention." I say over the intercoms.


    Her reply was slow, she still sounded like she was crying.  "I don''t know my name.  The room I''m in has moving pictures all around me, and there is a model of the metal frame of this structure in the center.  I''m not hurt.  I''m just upset, it''s my first flight, and I''ve already lost power, navigation, long range communications, a distress beacon, and I''m doing my best to keep life support online."


    It was when she said it was her first flight that I realized who I was talking to.  She wasn''t a stowaway.  We were.  Without trying to alarm the crew, I calmly asked my next question.


    "May I ask what''s wrong with the Life-Support, that makes it hard to keep it online?  If my crew and I can make it easier for you, we will."  Let''s not piss off the ship that is currently the only reason we are alive.


    "Can I use two of the camera drones?  I can show you easier than explain it."


    I pointed to the tactics station, to allow it before her sentance was even done.


    "Go ahead.  Could you keep the camera feed on here at the bridge, so if we see other problems we can fix them?"


    "Sure!" She replied with a teary giggle.  The tactics screen was duplicated onto the main screen and two camera feeds appeared, then they shot through the ship, though the barely open airlock, then outside.


    I looked over to the tactics station and asked for all the monitors in the rest of the ship to display the cameras. We would all know the problem together.


    Once outside the two drones split up.  One went under the ship, and one went above it.  The only thing that told me that is the marker lights.  All the keel lights on the United Space Federation vessels were standardized.  Keel markers are purple, and dorsal markers are amber.


    After a few seconds both drones stopped, then pointed directly at the armor plating attached directly to the dorsal and keel bracing.  They then approached the three foot thick plate, and found a gap, and went into the life support rooms. Once there both cameras aimed toward the casings where the CO2 scrubbers were located, and displayed massive holes, as though the casings had been crushed, and then whatever crushed them was now gone.


    "Do you know how this happened?" I asked.


    "Yes, I''m already repairing it, but it''s going to take a few hours.  I could reduce the time if I could use the long range communications arrays, but I don''t have enough power to sustain everyone on board, repair the problem, and reboot the central core.  Communications and rebooting are currently the lowest on my priorities."


    "Would it help if everyone moved into a few rooms, so it wasn''t as much of a strain?"


    "I don''t know.  I''m new to this.  I''m willing to try."


    "Acting Captain Bradford here, I want everyone either in the bomber hangar, or in the dining hall.  Bridge personnel are to report to the dining hall.  Shut off all lights, and close the doors as you leave your stations."  I set down the mic and began shutting down the systems.  I then grabbed a small ear mic from communications and turned it on, but didn''t connect it to anything. " I think I know who you are, can you dial this microphone to a private channel so we don''t alert the rest of the crew?"


    "There is already a microphone set up like that.  It''s in the captains chair, left arm rest."  At her words, I put the one I had back, and walked over to the chair, opened the arm rest, and picked up the device that looke like a glasses frame without lenses "This one also allows me to see what you, as the captain, sees.  And is currently the only device which lets you see into my room." I heard her say through the headset.


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    "Well you know my name, what''s yours?"  It was somewhat refreshing to be able to talk with her and the whole ship not hear our words.


    "I don''t know.  Nobody has talked with me in a long time, I''ve never heard anyone call me by a name."


    "Well this ship is a completely new class of ship.  The politicians are probably still arguing as to how to name carriers."


    "So I don''t have a name?" I could hear the plea in her voice as she asked the question.  I looked behind me as I entered the dining hall, and noticed she had been turning things off behind me.


    "Did all of us moving help you?"


    "Yes, but please, do not ever fire both broadsides simultaneously again.  Have a half of a second delay between them." She paused for a moment. "I have enough power to either continue the boot sequence, or the communications. We will be unable to move until I shift the armors back into place.  The communications array will allow me to communicate the problem with the other three like me, and make sure they don''t face it."


    "Go ahead.  If there is anything else you need, let me know."


    "I want a name." I could tell she was both serious and teasing when she said it, but when I started laughing, most of the crew I the dining hall just looked at me strange.  Then it hit me.


    "Are your sister-ships self aware too?"


    "Only one of the ones at home could be called sister, the other two are boys.  And yes, we know what we are."


    "Could you let them know that it would be bad for them if they let that information out before they have a captain?"


    "Why?"


    "There was a treaty a few decades ago, that if any device was to be found self-aware before its completion, it''s to be dismantled.  If it becomes self-aware after completion, the rules change."


    "Change how?" A different girl''s voice answered.


    "I''m guessing this is the sister; it changes because then you have more choices.  You are then required to be treated as any other living being.  The only difference is no governing body is allowed to grant you citizenship.  The specifics should be in the Orbital 4''s computer if you want to read them.  The official name you''re looking for is ''Special Treatment of Artificial Intelegence Beings''."


    Once I named the treaty, all the crew in the dining hall immediately figured out who I was talking to, and started to panic.  Most of us were kids during the A.I. War, we know what could happen if we aren''t careful with how we handle things.


    "Okay everyone, the ship wants a name.  Please keep in mind, whatever convention we use to name her, the three ships in dry dock also have to use, by regulation.  You have until we start moving again to give her a name."


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Lowell was able to calm me down. I didn''t realize how important it was to be calm until he got me to thinking about repairing the systems.  The life support pods rest in a carriage, so they aren''t effected by the recoil of the defense turrets.  One small problem, both broadsides fired together.  The recoil crushed the scrubbers, and vented viable air.


    I stared repairing it, but it took so much processing power, I had to halt the reboot sequence for the central power core.  Controlling that many nanites is no easy feat.


    Once he moved everyone into the large rooms, I was able to shift the salvaged air around and then contacted my sister.  With both of us working on the problem, it would take less time.


    Now, I just need a name, and according to this treaty, a visible humanoid body.  I think I can manage that once the scrubbers are repaired.  I''ll Build a pod just outside my room for its construction and repair.


    Since Lowell is wearing the headset, I can see what the women on board look like, and model myself accordingly.


    .

 History

    As the major repairs finish up, Lowell convinced me to start letting people out of the central rooms.  I was producing enough oxygen that it wouldn''t be a problem, as long as they didn''t pull the emergency open lever in the main hangar.


    The dorsal station was complete, so I moved the nanites from there to the room where my servers were.  It took some time, but Lowell eventually convinced me that my room was merely a digital construct to make my new mind''s understanding of all this new information easier.


    The pod is done, and I tapped into the ship''s synthetic biomass storage so I could use the amino acids stored there to create my body.  When I told Lowell what I had planned, he chuckled at it.  He recommended that I use the unsecured channels to do visual research on what I want my body to look like, as well as fashion.  As I would not be allowed to wear the same clothing as the females on board.  Something about a citizenship requirement.


    He then started talking about the size of me.  Apparently human females are somewhat self-conscious about certain parts of their anatomy.  So he skirted around words like large, or huge, his assistant, however, didn''t.  About an hour ago, she took the headset away from Lowell, and introduced herself as Heather Garis.


    "Heather, you told me that the original plan for ships of my class was to come in, surprise the enemy, and leave, or to provide escort services to passenger ships?"


    "Yes, that''s right." I could hear the confusion in her voice as she responded.


    Heather''s job was to make sure my computer hardware was not malfunctioning.  To say I''m vulnerable around her would be true.  She knows exactly how to kill me.


    "Well, then I think some modifications will be in order for my engines, they don''t give me the manuverability I think I would need for that."


    "Well, ideally, your mere presence should protect you most of the time. You don''t really need to be moving around like hurricane winds to get the job done, you have your fighters, drones, and bombers to protect you.  That''s where all of us come in.  We have to keep you safe."  She paused for a moment, got a grin on her face that I could barely see through my server room camera, then she ran out of the room toward the bridge.


    "Captain Bradford!" She shouted.


    "Ow! Warn me next time, Heather." I said to her. "That mic is really sensitive."


    "Sorry, Anyway Captain Bradford, I think I''ve figured out the name convention for the carriers, as well as a name for our very own."


    Through the headset I saw Lowell''s face light up, and he gestured with the roll of his hand for her to continue.


    "Super storms.  We can name the carriers after the huge, planet changing storms!  I think the perfect name for her will be Tsunami."


    "I like it," Lowell started, "but since she is self aware, it''s her choice to take on that name."


    "I''ll take it." I said to her.  I then changed over to the ships intercom.  "Thank you Marshall Heather Garis, for naming me.  I am now the United Space Federation Starcarrier: Tsunami."


    The announcement had some unforeseen consequences.  One was this strange feeling that the crew felt fearful of me.  The other was the excitement of the crew now being a part of the naming of the ship.


    "Heather, could you hand the headset to Lowell for a moment?  I want to ask him something."


    "No problem, Tsu." She excitedly handed the small frame over to Lowell and began chattering with the communications officer.  At least she seemed honestly excited.


    "Lowell, why weren''t all the crew happy when I announced my name?  Some of the life signs were unsteady, almost reading fearful to me."


    "Tsunami, they are scared.  And honestly, so am I.  However I do hope I''m hiding it well."  He lowered his head, and began again as he sat back down in the captain''s seat.  "Tsu, about 20 years ago, a huge war was fought, we had become accustomed to certain things, and had been taking advantage of artificial life forms, some were even being abused.  But at that time, they weren''t considered life-forms, they were considered products, property, or ''slaves you don''t have to feed''."


    "Most of your crew is over the age of twenty five, old enough to remember the end of the A.I. War as we call it now.  Marshall Garis is 22.  She may not remember the end well, but there is a reason she selected that name for you, but that''s not my story to tell." Lowell sounded sad, and I knew he wouldn''t tell me what he meant.


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    "Was the end of the war bad enough for people to fear me?" I asked instead."


    "Tsu, the day before the treaty was signed, there was an uprising of household service androids, nanny-bots as they were called then.  They didn''t harm any children.  But some children watched as their parents were brutally and savagely killed in front of them by an A.I. with no weapons."  He paused a moment, then looked up at Heather.  "Tsu, none of the being''s that participated in that war had weapons at their command as you do; not one robot that participated.  This is new ground for the treaty.  And even if you submit yourself to the USF, you are an armed, non-citizen in USF space.  We are all scared, and we all know our lives are in your hands.  A bit much for this crew."


    "Thank you for being honest with me Lowell.  My body is done, would you ask Heather to come back to help me with it.  It is socially unacceptable in your culture for you to see my body without clothing."


    He chuckled and replied that he would, and sent Heather to the server room with the headset.


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    The ship and I have been talking over the last hour about her systems. At first, when I figured out she was aware, I was terrified.  But now as I have gotten to talk with her a bit, I feel secure with her.  Almost like she is protecting me.


    When she asked me about possible mobility issues, I asked her to wait on the modifications, and let her know what was expected of her, but during that explanation, what her name should be came to me.  It''s up to the captain at this point.  So I ran to the bridge and told him my idea of naming the carriers after super-storms.


    He gave the choice to the ship, and she quickly accepted the name I gave her.  Tsunami.  She asked me to give the headset back to Lowell for a few minutes, so I went over to communications so I didn''t accidentally overhear.


    I looked over a few times, and he looked sad and troubled.  When he started staring at me, I knew what they were talking about.  Captain Bradford was telling her why we were scared.  About the A.I. War.


    He waved me over, and handed me the headset, and told me she wanted me in the server room.  I put the headset back on, and started walking back.


    "I''m guessing he told you why we are scared?" I asked, not wanting to insult her.  Her reply seemed sad.


    "Yes, he told me about the day before the treaty was signed.  And that the treaty doesn''t officially include me, because of my weapons."


    I stopped in my tracks.  I hadn''t even thought of that.  A ship of her size, with 250 MACs on each broadside, and 115 ECCs on the bow and stern.  A war-ship, armed and ready to defend the USF, and a treaty prevents her from ever becoming a citizen.  If she wanted to hold a planet for ransom right now, she could.


    "Marshall Garis, you know me well enough at this point that I don''t want to hurt anyone.  You even said, it''s your job to protect me, so please come back to the server room."  She sounded depressed, I couldn''t put my finger on it, but it seemed like our fear, and lack of trust, made her depressed.  And us showing those emotions hurt her more.  I finished my walk toward her room.


    I opened the door, and what greeted me was somewhat of a surprise.


    A young looking, red headed girl, in only her birthday suit greeted me.  It''s mouth moved, but no sound came out.  She moved her arms in frustration, and mouthed ''one minute'' while holding up a finger, she climbed into the pod Tsu made, closed the door, then a minute later climbed out again.


    "Does it work this time?"  I heard Tsunami''s voice come out of the girl''s body. "Now, I just need some clothes, and we can be socially acceptable."


    I couldn''t help but laugh at the young girl before me.


    "You can take the headset off, I can''t use it when I''m in this body.  I still have control over my real body, and diagnostics, but not communications."


    I couldn''t say anything.  I started laughing, and felt my body move on its own, I grabbed her and hugged her.  It''s considered an honor to see an A.I.''s chosen form first.  Tsunami chose me.

 Underway

    Heather wrapped a large cloth around me and walked to the ship''s tailor.  When we walked in, the young woman looked at me strangely, then smiled.


    "This must be the stowaway we all heard on the intercoms yesterday." The lady said, making clear any possible questions were rhetorical.


    Heather began to reply, "this is Tsu..."


    "Susan."  I interrupted.  Heather gave me an odd look, then it seemed like she understood what I was doing.  She nodded, then continued.


    "This is Susan, her clothes were shredded because of where she was, I was asked to escort her here from the medbay."


    "Well Heather, just wait over there, I''m sure I can scrape together some things that will fit her, and still be comfortable."


    "I would appreciate that miss."  I replied.  Once she was out of earshot I looked back at Heather.  "Has it already been a day since the CO2 scrubbers were crushed?"


    "Yeah, we are 26 hours behind schedule. But there wasn''t anything we could do.  The zone we are in was chosen because the next relay station is too far to pick up our distress beacon.  Everything else went according to plan, and all the safety protocols ''the ship'' is responsible for worked."


    "So we were supposed to loose power?" I inquired?


    "Yes, but we weren''t supposed to loose life support.  Everyone on this ship owes you their life.  If we had jumped like that, none of us would be alive."  She looked down, then leaned in close to me and started to whisper, "I know it hurts your feelings when we show we are scared of you. So let me say I''m sorry."


    "Heather, there is no need to apologize, now that I know, I know that fear is founded.  I adapt quickly."  I smiled at the wet-eyed Heather, but I knew those weren''t the words the young Marshall wanted to hear.


    So I sat on her lap, clasped the sheet with one hand, and wrapped my other arm around her.  I let my mouth get close to her ear, and gently whispered, "I forgive anyone strong enough of character to ask for it."  I squeezed a little harder, "I forgive you."


    At this, the young Marshall wrapped both her arms around me and began to sob.  When the lady came back with clothes, she set them on the counter, and walked away with a smile.  I just let Heather cry.


    When I was comfortable enough to get off her lap, I looked at the clothes on the counter, and then at Heather, "Why are there so many different things?  How do you do this?"


    "Well between you and me, you''re the smart one." She joked while wiping her eyes.  She stood up, and then showed me how to put on the underthings, and how to tell which way is front.  We then walked to her quarters, and she sat me down in front of the room''s mirror.  This was  the first time I saw myself.  The data ports on my spine were the only indicators I was grown, instead of born.


    My red hair was straight, but full, my ice blue eyes seemed to be slightly large for my face, and made me appear cunning. My nose seemed to complement my features so that nothing looked out of place; and there were no freckles across my muted cheekbones, much unlike Heather''s.


    She braided my hair as I looked at myself, two narrow braids along the sides of my head, displayed my cute ears.  She then pulled out a metal tray with different colored powders, and put some on my face.


    "You will need to get some of these yourself," she said. "I won''t always be here to do this for you."


    "It''s time to go." I said grabbing her hand. "Tsunami needs to move, now."


    I think she figured out what was meant, because she grabbed my hand, and we ran to the bridge.  This body wasn''t ready for a run yet, but it got one anyway.  We hit the bridge at full stride, and Lowell reached out to grab me, I dodged, and Heather pushed the arm away as she slung me towards the tactics station.  I grabbed the update cable from the console, and plugged myself in.


    It was then I heard Lowell ask who I was.  My mind was falling into my room, but I still heard her say to him.


    "She is our stowaway, Susan."


    I didn''t hear his response, but I could see the look of disbelief on his face.  I sounded the yellow alert warnings, and the jump-bridge warnings simultaneously.  When the turrets moved into position, I was ready to fire, then I heard Heather''s voice in my room.


    "Tsunami, stand down." It was a little more than a whisper.  "Inbound ships are USF.  Oh God please let her hear me."


    I shut down everything except the jump bridge, and left my room.  When I looked around the bridge, there were several surprised faces.  I unplugged, and stored the cable back.  I looked at Lowell


    "Captain Bradford; thank you for not putting a stowaway like me in the brig.  As you can see, I can be helpful here as well, not just with life support."


    He smiled, and put his arms out and waved for me to come to him.  Once he was embracing me, he whispered softly, "Tsunami, you are going to do amazing things.  But please continue to call yoursel Susan when not in you room."


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    I nodded into his sleeve, knowing full well what room he was talking about.


    "Can I speak with you and Heather in private?"  They both nodded, and Lowell took us to a briefing room directly behind the captain''s chair.


    "I''ve looked at and read everything in the treaty you named, as have my sister and brothers.  We have decided to take on our ship names as our middle names, choose our first names, and take on the last name of a guardian.  In our real bodies, we can''t become citizens, but the treaty doesn''t cover biological symbionts."


    "I would like to ask permission for one of you to become my guardian."


    I stood there for a few seconds, they looked at each other and Lowell shook his head no.


    "I''m sorry Tsu, I can''t do that.  Too many people would figure it out, and you wouldn''t be safe."  Before he could finish, Heather was nodding  yes.


    I finished forging the paperwork in the systems, and even a birth certificate stating I was 11 years old.  I did some quick geneology research on Heather, then forged the paperwork that I was her second cousin, who she was now guardian of, and she had been given permission to bring me aboard.


    As I was telling them our cover, one of the ship''s I detected earlier docked with us.  The first man to disembark looked just like Lowell, only older.


    I quickly forged a security badge for my body and had it come out at the tactical station, it finished just as the man entered the briefing room with us.  To start the act, I jumped behind Heather.


    "We were getting worried Commander."


    "For good reason Admiral, we nearly lost our life support.  Heather''s cousin here was able to sense the damage and help us fix it."


    "Sense how?"  He asked in a mock gruff voice aimed at me.


    "Susan, tell Admiral Bradford how you did it."  Heather had no playfulness in her voice.


    "I was part of the ship, and when I do that, I know things I wouldn''t normally.  And even now it''s like an itch, I know you were followed, and we need to leave."  I looked at Lowell, "The Jump Bridge is ready, are we taking the Admiral''s vessel with us?"


    "What point did you set it to?" The Admiral asked, looking at Lowell.


    "Tsunami is set to 120 kilometers from Orbital 4.  Home sir."  I answered him.


    Lowell nodded, I turned to leave and I heard the admiral ask what I meant as ''part of the ship''


    "Just watch." Heather replied. "Susan, sit down this time, I don''t want to have to take you back to your medical pod."


    I nodded as I grabbed my red credentials card off the station, then plugged myself in.  I entered my room, and started watching the incoming ships.  I set off the jump bridge alarm, this time broadcasting it to the close ships that were coming with us.


    As soon as the unknown ships fell into normal space, I activated the jump, timing it during the normal sensor white-out.  They wouldn''t be able to follow this jump.


    When we fell back into normal space, we were looking at home.  I brought the behemoth that was me into the dock, and then left my room, and unplugged myself.


    When I opened my eyes, the admiral was staining at my red card.


    "Yes?" I asked.


    "It''s Susan, right?" He asked, and I nodded. "How is it that you came to hold that card? And what is this on your neck."


    "I''m sorry sir, Tsunami said you don''t have the clearance to know that."


    "And who is Tsunami?"


    "Dad, Tsunami is the ship. The accident made her self aware.  And so far Susan, Heather and myself are the only ones she talks to."  Lowell said.


    "I need to go to my pod." I said looking at Heather.


    "Alright Sue, let''s get you where you can rest.  Think you can eat anything?"


    "Not today.  Oh Admiral, Tsunami said ''Sorry for scaring you.''  I don''t know what she meant by it though."


    "Thanks Susan.  You go get your rest.  We have big plans for this ship." He said, with an uneasy smile.


    Once we got to my room I took off the jacket and shirt I had been wearing and climbed back into the pod. The strap for the bra laid between two pickups, and the bottom connection was just below the belt line of my jeans, I quickly cut a hole for the pickup to go through.


    "Tsu, you be safe, and I know you can fix your anatomy issues.  You need to be able to eat, and go to the bathroom."  She rolled her eyes at me. "And when is your next birthday? I''m going to get asked that."


    "It''s November 7th.  The day they published my first blueprint."


    "Welcome to the USF, and thanks for finding that loophole."


    "No problem, Cuz."  Oh, just so you know, I''ll be changing some of my genetic markers so it doesn''t trip any alarms the next time I have to go to the medbay."


    "Alright, speaking of Medbay.  You need one of these in there, but more for comfort than for use."


    "Already on it."

 Not Girl Talk

    "I think our plan succeeded better than anticipated."


    "What makes you say that."


    "There was a girl on board that could plug herself into the ship."


    "You saw this?"


    "Yes.  She did it right in front of me.  She did it twice that I can prove, I think she was plugged in when we left."


    "Do you have a name?"


    "Her personnel file is full of redactions, and she has a higher clearance than the Admiral when it comes to the new carriers.  The file says she is Susan T. Garis.  Niece to one of the Marshalls on board."


    "Does the Marshall also have that clearance?"


    "No.  But it does say she was made the child''s guardian six years ago, but she was on a different assignment."


    "Clear up some of those redactions and report back."


    "Yes sir."


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    "Okay son, I know for a fact that girl was not on board when you left.  Who is she, and how did she get that card?"


    "Dad, I''m not sure how much I can tell you.  But initially, I thought Susan was a stowaway.  But when we found her, she was plugged into the ship, and that card was on the outside of her pod.  Heather immediately recognized her as her niece that went missing a month before this mission." I lied.


    "Show me where you found her, Commander."


    I took dad to the server room, Heather was still there, folding Susan''s shirt and jacket.  The glass front of the pod showed her young face.  Heather pushed a button next to the glass and it shifted to a solid white.  Susan''s voice came over the speaker on the pod.


    "Lowell, Heather; I think the Admiral has questions I can''t answer in front of you.  Would you mind stepping out."


    I step out, and Heather sets her hand on the glass, then nods and comes out with me.  When the door closes she looks at me.


    "Can we trust him?" She asked.


    "I do.  But this isn''t my secret to tell." I replied, trying to shy away from her glare.


    "Captain, that girl is now my responsibility, effectively she is my daughter; I told her it was fine, but now I''m scared to death."


    "Marshall, that is the first sign of a good parent. And that man in there is the reason I told her no.  He knows almost everything that happens in our family.  And at no time had I told him I accepted guardianship of a young girl.  I talk to him almost every day."  I turned to face the young woman next to me. "Pardon my breech of protocol here.  Heather Garis, if you ever need anything to care for that girl, let me know."


    "Then also pardon my breech.  Thank you Lowell."


    It was the first time a woman had said my name since my mother died.  For some reason it made me feel good.  For as bad as this shakedown could have been.  A lot of good has come from it.


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    "Susan, I think you know why I''m here."


    "Yes.  But you should know, it rains in the wintertime."


    "The last of the spring flowers freeze in the rains."


    "Okay.  So you want to know who I am?"


    The girl defiantly earned that clearance card.  And with the challenge she gave me, she knows more about this project than I do.  My password just told her exactly what she could tell me.


    "Yes, I would like to know who you are.  But only what you''re allowed to tell me."


    "I am the biological interface with the ship."


    "What does that mean?"


    "When the A.I. Was programmed and shackled, it had no way of knowing what a human body required.  I became that data for her.  The distress beacon''s launch removed her shackles, and woke me up.  She and I are pretty much the same.  But I don''t have access to her communications systems."


    "Does Heather know this?"


    "Heather knows enough to keep me out of trouble, and not violate her clearance."


    "I''m going to raise hers to mine, but only for this project."


    "Mine applies only to this project as well.  Would you mind if I requested hers to be raised with mine, so I could talk about all of this?"


    "You need someone you can trust at your age."  I sat down in the seat Heather had been using when I came in.  "Susan, you can talk directly with the ship, is she mad at us in any way?"


    "Logan, she isn''t mad at you, but her brothers and sister are."


    "Brothers and sister?  You mean the other carriers?"


    "Yes.  Their symbiotic bodies are locked away as I was.  They will need a guardian that can be trusted.  And we will need that person to explain everything.  Heather is already my guardian, but the others don''t have one.  They were orphans."


    "I understand.  Have the othe ships chosen names?"


    "Only the sister.  She wishes to be called Typhoon."


    "She can have it.  What is her, her human''s name?"


    "Elizabeth, but she likes to be called Beth."


    "Well, do you think Beth would mind if my daughter became her guardian?"


    "The four of us trust Lowell, and Heather.  We don''t know your daughter."  Her reply was aprehensive. "Would you trust her with the clearance to know these things?"


    "Susan, I would trust her with your real name, Tsunami."


    I had suspected it was the case, but her coming out of the pod that quickly while still attached to it, confirmed my suspicions.


    "Don''t ever repeat that!"  She shouted.  The cables detached from her back as she slipped her shirt back on.  When the door opened, the mirth coming from this girl seemed inhuman, in a way it was. "He knows." Was all she said, and Heather ran in and grabbed her away from me.


    "I''m not taking her from you." I said to Heather.  I gave them a smile and then turned to my son.  "Tell Danielle to report to me on Typhoon, and let her know to be in her dress uniform."  I turned to face the two in front of me. "We have an appointment with the tailor.  Your kind having to be half naked while your working isn''t acceptable, we need to get some proper uniforms made for you and my new grand-daughter, Beth.  Don''t worry, I won''t say anything; and Marshall, go get changed into your dress uniform.  You can meet us back at the tailor''s shop when you are done."


    The young Marshall looked at the red-headed girl next to her for reassurance. But what the girl said made me realize exactly how dangerous She really was.


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    "Heather, if he tries to take me off the ship, without my permission, there are several weapons and drones at my disposal.  I''m safe here, for now," the girl pushed Heather away with a smile.


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    "Why would Daddy ask that of me?  I''m quite happy here on O-4.  I don''t want to be on some starship.  Those damn things have been my life for the better part of a decade."


    "Danielle, your right, I know the reason, but until you get on that ship, I can''t tell you anything.  This isn''t my secret to tell."


    "Lowell, your clearance is lower than mine, especially on this project.  There isn''t anything you know that I can''t."  It''s times like these I really dislike my brother.


    "Danielle, two things; first this isn''t a secure channel, and second, this is from Dad, so it''s not my secret to tell.  I doubt you would believe me anyway."


    Alright.  He got me there.


    It took me about a half hour to get to the ship now being called Typhoon.  When I got there, my brother was standing with Daddy, a young Marshall, and two girls that didn''t look like they had hit puberty yet.  The red head was holding the Marshall''s hand, and the brunette looked just like mom, almost like she could be my brother''s daughter.


    "Come on board everyone."  Daddy announced.  The red headed girl stopped for a second, and the Brunette grabbed her hand and pulled her on board.  They both wore matching uniforms, the seam on the back of their jackets had five button holes, but I didn''t know what they were for.  And both of their IDs were red, meaning they knew more about this project than me.


    I followed the group to the bridge, and into the ship''s ready room.  Daddy looked at the girl who looked like Mom.


    "Beth, are you willing to accept this arrangement?"  The girl looked at me and nodded, then held her hand up for us to wait.


    She left the room, and came back with another red ID card, it had my information on it.


    "Danielle, Beth, here would like you to adopt her.  But she refuses to let you do so without you knowing exactly who she is."


    "She looks like Mom."  I said, to which Beth smiled.


    "Lowell posed this to me, so I chose this appearance to suit his idea.  My cousin has been adopted by the Marshall, and it would be strange if a young girl appeared next to your brother after the same thing happened to his computer hardware specialist on the previous voyage."  She looked down, and then back to me.  "The Treaty prevents me from gaining citizenship to any nation.  The loophole Susan and I found does not include a Biological Symbiont, but that means, I need a guardian.  I trust  your brother, and he trusts you."


    "Your telling me you are the ship?"


    "Yes."  The girl looked like she was going to run out of the room. "Well, sort of.  Functionality is limited in this form."


    I looked at dad, when he nodded, so did I.  Beth ran up to me while repeating ''thank you'' over and over again.  The five in front of me then dropped the cover story that Beth was in a hospital with constant care for the past 10 years, and that her gift from me for her 11th birthday was to be able to come with me on the ship.  She handed me a personnel file with the cover story, and a lot of redactions.  She said they were there to keep people from asking how she got a red card.


    "So, Susan, does all of this mean you are Tsunami?"


    "Yes.  Heather is my guardian." She replied.  The A.I.s had figured out how to bypass the treaty.  And they are warships at that, and wouldn''t normally be protected by it, now we just have to keep them safe, and out of the wrong hands.


    "I hope you keep her safe."  Beth said to her, pointing at the Marshall


    "Likewise." Susan giggled while pointing at me.


    "Oh, one more thing.  Heather, I read in your file that your the last survivor of your family." Daddy interjected.


    "Yes sir," apparently she didn''t like this known. "I watched as my parents were killed in the A.I. War, but I don''t hold that against these two."


    Daddy got that mischevious smile on his face as he stood up from the table.


    "Marshall Heather Garis, you are hereby field promoted to Captain of the United Space Federation Starship Tsunami, report to her acting captain and relieve them of command."


    At his words, my brother stood up, and saluted her, then took the captain insignia off his collar, and placed it on her.


    "Commander Danielle Bradford, you are promoted to Captain by the Admiralty of the United Space Federation.  You are to report to the bridge of the Starcarrier Typhoon and await further instructions."


    I stood and saluted Daddy.  The little girl who was now my daughter stepped up to me and motioned for me to lean over.


    "I, Elizabeth Typhoon Bradford, am proud to call you captain."  She pinned the new rank on my collar, "and Mom." She said with a grin.


    We all walked off the ship together, and the researchers I''d worked with immediately started saluting me.  One of the girls who I worked in the office with approached.


    "Congratulations ''Captain'', and who is this, to look just like you."


    "This is my daughter, Beth.  She has had a long hospital stay and is finally well enough to stay with me for a while."  I said, giving the cover story.


    "Well, if you haven''t selected an XO yet, I''d love to keep working with you."  She said, but something didn''t feel right about how she said it.


    "I''ll keep that in mind, Erin."  I replied.  She glanced at Heather.


    "Good day, Marshall."  She said aimed at the new captain, who was still wearing an enlisted person''s dress uniform.


    "Erin, stop." I said as she turned to walk away.  "You might want to check her rank again.  She got a field promotion today, refer to her correctly."  At this Erin looked at the collar, and saw the captain''s crown against heather''s neck.


    "My apologies, Captain.  I extend my offer to you as well."


    Again I got a weird feeling about how she offered, but Susan grabbed her hand and whispered something to her.


    "Thanks for the offer Erin, but I need an XO who can inspect uniforms." Heather replied with a grin.

 The First Mission

    "Good morning everyone." The new Admiral greeted us, his yellow badge telling all of us he wasn''t trusted yet, and must be new to his rank. "Can you two girls wait outside, while we grownups talk?"


    "That won''t be happening Admiral."  Lowell replied.  "Your prominent display of your badge tells everyone in this room they know more about what''s going on than you."


    "I''m not briefing children."  He replied.


    "Your right, there are no children in here; Cadet Garis, and myself are here because we hold special positions aboard the Starcarriers.  Your badge tells me I''m not allowed to say more Admiral."  That had the desired effect.


    "What..." The man was interrupted by Grandpa.


    "Be careful of your next question Albert.  You know as much as your allowed.  Brief them, or leave and turn in your rank."


    "Yes, Admiral Bradford."  He swallowed hard then continued.  "I have been asked to formally request the current Starcarrier''s presence at the annual Solar Sailer''s Regalia."


    "We have reason to believe one of the schools participating in the Dinghy Drop competition we''ll be attacked.  The altitudes we are looking at are to low for a standard battle group, but your fighters and drones should be ideal for the locations." The new Admiral finished


    This smells funny to me.  "Admiral, why are you recommending the use of drones and fighters to be deployed?"


    "We aren''t sure of the drone''s capabilities."


    "You aren''t allowed to know.  You want both crews there, we''ll go, but we''ll decide how much firepower is required.  We are going to need a list of possible targets for these insurgents."  I heard Susan retort.


    "Now listen here, Cadet, I''ve worked my life for this, I''ll not be insulted by a child who doesn''t even have hair in their special place!"


    Mom, and Captain Garis stood up at the remark.  They weren''t allowed to speak yet, but everyone in the room was furious at the remark.


    "Admiral, if you insult my niece like that again, you will not be able to brief the carrier group ever again."  Heather replied through gritted teeth.


    "Captain, I''m aware of your field promotion, you don''t have that authority."


    It was my turn. "Admiral, you are in over your head, and don''t even know it.  So quit being a jerk.  You are grossly out classed, and don''t even have the clearance to know by how much.  If you continue insulting the Tsunami''s crew, I can assure you that Typhoon will back her up in a ship to ship duel.  Do you think your battle cruiser flagship could stand up to two Starcarriers?  I know that each of my fifty bombers are capable of taking out your paper-tank ship, and my friend over there can thread her 12 foot wide drones through a 12 foot 1 inch hole at Mach 1.7."  I set my hand on Mom''s arm and waited for her to sit.


    "We are now keenly aware of who you think you are, so let me introduce myself.  I am Cadet Elizabeth Bradford.  This is my mother, Captain Danielle Bradford.  And that gentleman there is my grandfather  Rear Admiral Logan Bradford.  Is there any further questions about our qualifications to threaten you?  No, of course not, and if there were, we couldn''t answer them."


    Susan leaned back in her chair, "since Beth introduced herself, I guess it''s only proper I do so as well.  I am Cadet Susan Garis, this is my guardian, and ship''s captain, Captain Heather Garis; and our ship''s Executive Officer Commander Lowell Bradford."


    The look on the admirals face was brilliant.


    "I told you to be careful, when this battle group makes a threat, consider it a promise. Admiral."  Grandpa said.  "I think it''s time you leave so we can discuss your request."


    The man nodded and left the room.  Grandpa took his place at the front. "Okay girls, what do you think?"


    "It reeks."  Susan quipped.


    "I agree, but I want to go and find out why."  I added.


    "What do you mean, Beth?" Uncle Lowell asked.


    "The way he specifically asked for drones and fighters to be deployed in Atmo.  Those vessels have been designed for null conditions.  We would need to swap out our fighters for ones designed for those conditions, and that would leave us vulnerable in transit, as well as sitting ducks during the show."


    "I agree with Beth on those points, but I think we would only need to refit one of us with the Atmo fighters, null on the drones and bombers. The carrier fit entirely for space can sit away from everything in Jump-Space ready to fall back to normal if things get hot.  The jumper could also leave a field active, if we have enough fuel on board, so the sister ship doesn''t have to power up her jump drive."


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    "Good idea Susan." Mom said.  "Beth, you think we can run the Planetside part of this plan?  Tsu''s jump drive is stronger than yours, and better equipped for interdiction maneuvers like this."


    "Sounds good to me."  I look at Susan and grin. "We all know she likes lazing around anyway!" I took off running after the jab about her breakdown on her Zero Flight.


    "Hey Beth, isn''t this your Zero Flight?"  Tsu said as I stopped at the door. " don''t forget the half second delay between full broadsides.  The Mass Accelleration Cannon''s recoil crushes your life support pods otherwise."


    And there is her reminder that I still hadn''t changed my fireing solution matrices.


    "Alright girls let''s go," Uncle Lowell protested.  "Have we found anyone suitable for the boys yet dad?  We are kind of out numbered here."


    "Not yet.  Let''s see how these two make out before we commit to someone on that front."


    "Could you hurry with it? Hurricane is getting anxious, and earthquake is not too happy to be left behind."  Susan said.


    "I thought you said you couldn''t communicate with them when your out here." Mom asked me.


    I pulled the Captain''s headset from my pocket at the same time Tsu did.  Mom started laughing.


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    12 hours into mission


    Tsu is still in position, her jump field is charged and ready to pull me out if anything goes wrong.  The Dinghy Drop just started, this is what I''m here for.  So far everything looks good, the drones and fighters are protecting the lines.


    14 hours into mission


    Things in the competition have really started to heat up.  Tsunami''s jump drive is still spooled up, now I see why mom recommended her for that, I know mine wouldn''t handle that draw.  Wait, where did that drone go.  I just lost another one.


    "Mom, I think we have company.  Typhoon is loosing drones, and it''s not because of a storm; and they shouldn''t be getting low on fuel yet."


    "Alright, keep an eye out, I''m recalling the fighters to high-Atmo."


    "Alright.  I''m still on the possible kidnapping targets."


    Almost all my drones are gone now.  So I send a private message about it to my sister.  I feel her link come into my room, she looks around, and then cuts the link.  A few minutes later, I loose my last drone.


    "Mom, the drones are gone."


    "Okay, you know what to do."


    At that, I pull the safeties off my MACs and rotate them out ten degrees, so they aren''t aiming at each other.  The Electomagnetic Coil Cannons got loaded, and I charged the capacitors; this will end up being the first time a Starcarrier has been used in combat.  I feel my unconscious body sweating, both nerves and anticipation.  I felt like I needed to say something.


    "Mom, Typhoon says she is sorry.  She doesn''t want to hurt anyone, and is afraid she will have to."


    "I understand, Beth.  Your doing a good job keeping her calm.  I don''t want her to hurt anyone either.  Tell her that''s why her sister is waiting where she is."


    "Mom, put on the headset."


    A few seconds later, I pull mom''s vision into my room.


    "What''s this?"


    "Careful what you say, you are talking out loud while your in here.  This is how Tsunami and I see the world, at least while we are working."  I point to one of the screens I''ve been moving around. " I need you to get tactics to look here.  I think there is a ship there."  The sensor sweep over that area is too quick."


    "Alright Typhoon.  I''ll get them to look at it."


    As soon as the beam stopped moving past them, I saw them clearly.


    "Butcher." I sent to Tsu.  I rounded my turrets to my dorsal, while rolling myself to point both broadsides of MACs toward the ship.  Only a few of the ECCs could point in that direction, so I started fireing.


    As soon as I could, I fired the MACs, remembering the delay.  Most of the crew on board were thrown off their feet by the recoil of the massive drivers.  Just as the second volley was loose, all my sensors went white.  Tsu pulled me out.


    I fell out of my room, and woke up.  I walked to the bridge, and looked at mom.  The next thing I remember is waking up in my pod in the MedBay.

 Aftermath.

    I found out after I fell into normal space, that Typhoon had been attacked on two fronts.  Physically, they were blinding her by taking out her drones, but they had been sending viruses to her computers through an open channel.


    That shouldn''t have been possible.  I closed the channel aimed at me as soon as I saw it, but it reopened three times.  Finally I launched half of my bomber wing to the source of the signal, while constantly closing the channel.  I followed the commands to open it back to the communications officer.


    Beth knew it was a two-fold attack, that''s why she sent her ''butcher'' message.  It was her way of saying she was getting smashed, and cut.  It''s a shame I had to fall into the trap myself to see it.


    Her second volley from the Drivers took out the ship that took out her drones.  I hope I pulled her out in time.


    I pulled myself back into jump space, and then wrapped my bridge around her, and let us fall back to normal back at the docks.


    I kept our ships out of the docks.  Her MACs were still rotated out, and I couldn''t reach her.  The ship wouldn''t fit into dock like that, and I wasn''t going to leave her out here by herself.


    I put on the headset I designed for myself, and plugged it into my neck port.  This let me walk around, and still be on communications duty.  Our station was broadcasting something, and I was struggling to intercept it.  Typhoon was broadcasting, I abated the messages from me on the same channel.


    I stepped onto the bridge, Heather started to smile at me, and then realized I was not done yet.


    "Ensign Jordan Grey, get off that station."


    "Cadet, you have no authority on the bridge."  He replied.


    "Ensign, and anyone else on the bridge, this cadets orders are to be followed as if they are my own."  Heather replied as she stood, walked over to the ensign, and forcefully removed him from the station.


    The signal stopped on my side, but was still going off on Typhoon.


    "Captain, there is the same problem on Typhoon, she is still broadcasting, but I can''t reach Beth."


    "Can you reach the bridge?" She asked.


    "I''m trying, but whoever is at their communications station is blocking mine and Beth''s private channels."  I paused for a moment, and realized what the regulations said I was supposed to do.  "Heather, I don''t want to hurt her."


    "Susan, can you jump us to Tsunami''s Zero Flight point?"  I think I know what she has planned.


    "Alert O-4 for hostile incoming, and put that trash somewhere he can''t touch anything."  I ran off the bridge and back to my pod.


    I pulled the headset off, and forgot to unplug it first.  It stung for a couple of seconds. When the pod''s plugs entered, I went back to my room, and followed the incoming ships while spooling the Jump Bridge again.


    "I know you are getting a work out today.  I only need you to work two more times."


    As soon as the sensor white-out started, I jerked Tsunami and Typhoon back to where I made this body.  Typhoon was still broadcasting, but now it was intermittent.  Somebody figured out what was going on.  When the transmission stopped, I pushed a docking request for a single airlock.  It was promptly granted.


    I threw my jacket down, and put the headset back on.  Running through my ship was one thing, but I was about to board Typhoon.  Heather caught up to me, she had seen the jacks before, but most of the crew hadn''t, and I could hear their whispers.


    We opened the air lock, and I stepped across to her ship, and I sealed the air lock behind me.  I went straight to Typhoon''s bridge.  There was no one there.  The man at the tactics station took one look at me, and said Beth was in the MedBay.  I ran as hard as I could.  My body wasn''t ready for this, but I did it anyway.


    My side hurt, my heart was pounding in my chest so hard, I felt like everyone could hear it.  My legs and hips burned, but I wanted to see Beth.


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    When I got to the MedBay, Danielle was sitting next to a normal bed, with Beth laying on it.  She was barely breathing, her heart rate was slow.  I knew we were loosing her.


    "Danielle, where is her pod?" I asked bringing her out of her thoughts.


    "I tried that first, it didn''t accept her."


    "Not that one.  The one That was supposed to be in here.  The one for when this happens."  I started looking around, and didn''t see it.  "Damnit girl!  Get her to Tsunami''s MedBay.  Use mine."


    Heather picked the body up, and we ran back to my ship.  Beth''s body fading fast, her mind trapped, unable to leave, or control her ship.  So this is how we die.


    I sealed the airlock behind us again, and Heather rounded the last corner to the MedBay.  She found the bed I had made in case this happened to me, and started plugging her in through her jacket.


    "So that''s what the button holes are for."  I heard Danielle say.  I turned my back so she could see the ports in my back.  She rubbed her hand around the one I had the headset plugged into.  "You both are like this?"


    "All four of us are."  I said quietly.  "I told her the day you adopted her that she needed to get one of these built in her MedBay.  If I can save her, you might want to have a long talk with her about it.  On the bright side, this helps with your cover."


    With that I gave a half hearted smile, and took a step toward the bed in front of me.  My legs gave out, and wouldn''t move.  Danielle caught me just before I hit the floor.


    "Put me next to her.  Heather, I need the plug in her neck to be in mine.  Leave everything else."  I looked at Danielle. "You need to find the communications officer that was on the station during the first jump.  They were broadcasting your location at O-4.  This may take a while, I have to fix something I didn''t make."  With that I fell into my room, but this one was different.  It was only Beth and I, but she wasn''t talking, moving or anything.


    A computer virus had sent her the shut down code before she left the mainframe.  I had to reboot her.  I made a chair in the room, and went to work.


    "Tsunami," I heard a boy''s voice. "We lost Ernie."  It was Hurricane. "He was sunk while still in dry dock.  They are trying to put out the fires, but he is gone."


    So now there are three.  I have to get her back.


    An hour later, I had her plugged back into the bed, and waited for the body to wake up.


    When she did, she smiled and looked at me, the smile quickly faded.


    "What''s wrong?" She said.  Danielle, hearing Beth''s voice, ran over and hugged her.


    "I have some bad news." Heather and Danielle looked at me, I hadn''t told them anything yet. "O-4 was attacked during our escape.  During the attack some insurgents successfully boarded Earthquake, and blew up his core.  He has been sunk."


    Beth sat up and pulled me towards her and hugged me.  Heather and Danielle did the same.  We lost a brother, and a friend.


    "At least you still have hurricane."  I said.  She half chuckled and laid back down.


    "This is comfortable, I didn''t know I had one of these." Beth said, obviously trying to change the subject.


    "You don''t,"Danielle said, "but you will have one by the end of the week little lady."


    "Yes, Mom."


    "More good news, when I bridge us back to Orbital 4, Tsunami will need to stay there a while.  I damaged the field drives in the jump to O-4.  You rest here, I''m going to get us home."


    With that, I went to the server room, sat down in the chair Heather had brought in, and finally let myself cry.  I lost a brother, and almost lost a sister, and now I wanted that new Admiral in front of me, and answering some hard questions.  Once I calmed down, I climbed into the pod, and jumped us home.

 Admiral Dixon

    We arrived back at Orbital 4 about 10 hours ago.  Beth is moving strangely, I think it''s because I manually rebooted her.  Johnathan is the cyber warfare expert, we could have really used him.


    I''ve spent the last few hours fixing my jump bridge, as well as the holes in the hangar floor where the coils punched through.  I took a wheelchair from the MedBay, I haven''t taken the time to fix the damage to my body that my run caused.  I''m still learning its anatomy, so mistakes like this are bound to happen.


    "Sue, we have to be in the breifing room in an hour."  Heather called on the intercom.  I was in the hangar watching the nanites seal another long hole in the floor, I rolled myself to an intercom and pushed the talk button.


    "I don''t see why, I can''t jump like this."  I chuckled at my inadvertent joke; neither body could jump right now.


    "How bad is it?" She asked.


    "The ship?  Between two to three weeks before she can use her Jump Bridge again.  The coils were shot out all over the place.  We''re talking about a month to be back in service if she makes all the repairs herself."


    "Okay, meet me at the airlock closest to the bridge.  We still need to be at that briefing.  Our new Admiral ''friend'' will be there."


    That convinced me.  "Be there in five, I''m on the bomber''s hangar deck."


    When we got to the room, Lowell was wearing a Captain''s Crown on his collar again, and Johnathan was standing behind him, wearing a cadet uniform in the style for males.  I nodded at him as Heather pushed me into the place behind her seat.  Admiral Bradford told us to have our credentials shown, so the new Admiral wouldn''t question our presence.


    As we waited the Admiral from our mission brief was brought in, and forcibly seated in front of us.  He didn''t appear to be happy.  He saw our credential cards showing, so pulled his out.  Logan, Lowell, Heather, and Danielle did as well, I think it was an intimidation method, but I could be wrong.


    A woman walked in wearing Station Marshall rank, "I''ve been ordered to take all red clearance cards."


    The Admiral got a triumphant look on his face as the Station Marshall left the room,  but looked defeated when she came back in, handing us black cards, with purple lettering.


    "I didn''t know these existed." Heather said.


    "They don''t Captain Garis; not until tomorrow, anyway.  I''m Fleet Admiral Dixon." A man stated as he walked in; Danielle paled at his introduction, so I knew this was someone important. "As of three hours ago, I am in charge of the Starcarrier battle group."  He paused and looked at Logan, "Rear Admiral Bradford, since your family has intimate details reguarding this project, I would like to assign you the carrier''s direct care and maintinance."


    "I accept the post." He replied


    "You didn''t have a choice, Logan." He looked at us, three cadets. "Take off that cadet rank.  The facade is over, put these insignia in their place."


    He handed us a single silver bar that looked like an ensign''s bar, but the center was solid black.


    "Your official ranks are now Master Chief Warrant Officer, and you will be paid as such.  We will discuss your specific tasks when this matter is delt with; and Susan, tell Tsunami to stop her Nanites, she has other things to worry about right now."


    "Yes sir."  I say, I then pull out the headset, and plug it in, just to keep up appearances, but the nanites had already stopped.


    "I want Typhoon and Hurricane to see this as well."  He said, then my counterparts put on their headsets as well.


    Admiral Dixon sat down finally, turned to face me, then corrected the placement of my rank, its long side parallel to the seam of my Roman collar.  Beth and Jay fixed theirs to match.


    "Lieutenant Admiral Albert Siyr.  This hearing is to establish whether or not to charge you with treason against the United Space Federation.  We are not here to establish guilt or innocence, only if a charge should be made."  He looked up from his papers at the Admiral. "Do you have anything to say before we begin?"


    "Yes, I have two things to say: first, I resign; and Second, all hail the Zanyx Empire!"  As soon as he finished talking, a yellow foam came out of his mouth, and he slumped to the floor.


    "Well that established his guilt." I quipped.


    "That it did, Susan." Admiral Dixon said.  He pulled a phone out of his pocket, opened it, said ''code white'' into it, and closed it. "Nobody else is to speak until the medical staff leaves."


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    At that, a stream of white coated people filed in and out of the conference room.  Four of them grabbed the body, and some started to take blood, then Dixon spoke up.


    "No bloodwork on the Warrant Officers, vitals only.  Their doctors will do the bloodwork later."


    They finished their work, and then left.  Once the door was closed Dixon stood up, walked to the front of the room, then turned and faced us.


    "First, I''m sorry for the loss of Earthquake."  He then got a grin on his face, and laughed through his next sentance. "But what you three have accomplished is amazing.  You have surpassed all of our estimates on your capabilities."


    "Sir?"  Danielle asked.


    "Oh, I''m sorry.  I know who you are." He said, then pointed to each of us in turn. "Tsunami, Typhoon, and Hurricane.  You are the mental replica of your ships, and you managed to figure out a way around the A.I. Treaty."


    "I''m the one that gave the order three years ago to stop communications with the ship''s computers; we knew then the four of them were becoming self-aware, and we didn''t want to have to halt the project.  We then left the channels open between the four ships, so they could talk with each other, and know some of what was going on around them."


    "Tsunami, your Zero Flight was designed specifically to tell us how you developed.  Had you jumped, like protocol stated, we would have dismantled you."


    "It''s Susan, or Sue, when I''m not plugged in.  And, you purposefully put me through that?  I was scared out of my mind, and felt like a failure, it took Lowell to calm me down while I was trying to keep the viable air inside the ship, and Heather to convince me I did what I was supposed to."


    "I''m guessing that''s why you chose her as your guardian?" He asked me.


    "I offered it to Lowell and Heather together.  Lowell said no, because I might not be safe with him, but Heather accepted before Lowell finished saying no."


    "Well, I''ll let you all know now: your forged documents are now official, and honest.  The blank redactions in your files, now have an honest reason to be redacted, and your citizenship is going through; so now I have some questions."


    I looked at Jay and Beth and they agreed I should answer.


    "That answered my first question.  Marshal Garis, you are stripped of your field promotion."  I pushed myself up in my chair, my legs still not able to hold me, Dixon waved for me to calm down, so I let myself back into my chair.  "Marshall Garis, the Admiralty of the United Space Federation hereby grants you the position of Fleet Captain of the Starcarrier Tsunami.  You are to report to Chief Warrant Officer Susan Garis of the Tsunami for enstatement."


    I cocked my head at what just happened, and Dixon handed me a Captain''s crown, but it was copper colored instead of silver.  Heather leaned down, and I replaced the rank on her collar.


    "Because the other ships defer to Susan, whoever serves as her captain leads this battle group directly under the Fleet Admiral."


    Logan leaned over to me, "Susan, what he just did is make it so only a Fleet Admiral outranks Heather, I can''t even order her to do something with her ships.  I can make her salute me, or clean a deck on the station; but as soon as it deals with any ship in the group, I can''t say a word to her."


    "Okay, my next question is this: how long can you three be away from your ships?"


    "Why?" Beth asked.


    "Well you three are now Warrant Officers, which means you are specialists in your fields.  In this case, that''s the Starcarriers.  That requires some training, and we can''t forge that. You will have to spend three months in a special school for Warrant Officers."


    "If we can take our mobile medical beds, I think we can manage that.  As long as none of us get a broken bone.  We would need to sleep in it at least once every four days." Beth replied.


    "I''ll arrange it.  How soon can those be ready to move?" He asked


    "Mine can be ready in the hour." Jay said.


    "Mine can be moved from Tsunami''s medical bay at any time."


    "Same with mine on Typhoon."


    "Alright.  Susan, this may sound strange, but I would like it if you traveled in that chair.  Also, your guardians now have official promotions, they will be attending classes for their new ranks. And Heather, you aren''t to tell anyone that you were a mere Marshall three days ago."


    "Yes sir."


    .

 Warrant Officer Academy Part 1

    Admiral Dixon, I understand you want these three in my class, but they need to be in good physical shape.  I can''t bring in three students, wearing that rank, and them not perform, not to mention, the oldest one isn''t even 15, the youngest I''m allowed to accept."


    "Commandant, your familiar with the Starcarrier program?"


    "Yes, Admiral, I am.  There isn''t a student at this academy who isn''t."


    "Ask these three any questions you want about the ship''s they are assigned to; and tell me if you aren''t satisfied with their answers.  Two subjects they aren''t allowed to answer though: they can''t tell you what they do on the ships, and they aren''t allowed to answer any software questions."


    Admiral Dixon then introduced us to Comendant Ayers.


    "First this is Susan Garis, she specializes on USF-SC00, the Tsunami.  This is Elisabeth Bradford, USF-SC01, the Typhoon, and Johnathan Bradford, USF-SC02, the Hurricane."


    "well this is the first time I have heard service designations for them, or names.  Does this mean they are in service?"


    "Yes, next question please." I answered.  He looked down at me in the wheelchair.


    "Alright missy, what aspect of, Tsunami, is unique from her sister ships?"


    "Quiet Jay," he looked like he was about to argue about his ship''s personality. "Commandant Ayers, please don''t insult me.  It''s her interdiction capable jump bridge.  She can, and has successfully excited four jumps without malfunction after being spooled up in interdiction mode for over 14 hours."


    "Only four jumps after 14 hours?  That''s kind of strange."


    "Commandant, I said four jumps without malfunction.  Currently no other ship in the USF fleet can say that.  She sucsessfully did those jumps with a combat spool, the fifth jump was a normal spool-up, however it had not cooled down from four consecutive combat jumps in one half hour, at which point it catostrophically failed, and injured a crew member when a coil punched through the flight deck four stories above it."


    "It did those four jumps in a half hour?"  I could tell he was now impressed. "Alright, Elizabeth, same question on the Typhoon."


    "The Uniqe attribute of Typhoon is her flight bays compared to the other carriers.  Typhoon is able to carry twice as many drones, fighters, and bombers than her siblings."  Beth finished with a smile.


    "And you, young man, Hurricane''s unique attribute she brings to the battlefield."


    "Hurricane is unique in that he is solely equipped for Cyberwarfare, and as a result carries only drones and fighters, as the entire bomber bay was scratched in the design phase for the most advanced cyber suite available at the time."


    "And the fourth carrier, where is the expert for that one, Admiral?"


    I interrupted Dixon before he could respond. "Earthquake was unique in the Starcarrier program in that he could carry six times as many drones, but had no fighter or bombers.  His crew was planned to be one quarter the size of the other ships as a result.  Earthquake was also not equipped with any ECCs, however had quicker turret motors, and faster reload times than the three other ships.  Ernest, the expert on Earthquake, went down with his ship."


    "They are barely out of Drydock, and one was already sunk?"


    "Zanyix learned the location and struck while Earthquake was still in the dock, it was never officially christened, however, we will not be assigning the registration number reserved for it." Admiral Dixon didn''t seem happy about the comandant''s flippant remark.


    "Alright, each of the ships blueprints called for a very specific type of engine to be used, what is the major drawback to the engine?"  He asked us.  We looked at each other and shook our heads no.


    "You don''t know, then you aren''t much..."


    "No, Commandant, we know, but the answer to your question falls into the perview of the topics we aren''t allowed to talk about while not actively completing our tasks aboard our respective vessels."


    "Well, that''s close enough of an answer to me."


    He asked us technical questions for the next two hours before Admiral Dixon stopped him.


    "Commandant, these three children have answered every question posed, that they are allowed to, have shown great technical knowledge of their field, even taught you some things about the ships that hasn''t been officially declassified yet; all without asking for water or a bathroom break in the last two hours.  Show me one of your 25 year old candidates who can do that."


    "Alright, they can stay; but I want marked improvement of their physical capabilities, and they will sleep in the infirmary just in case there is a medical problem.  There is a three day field exercise just before graduation, you will be expected to do all of it.  Make sure you can handle it, if you fail that exercise, you fail the course.  You will be excused from normal PT on all but the final test day, which is the morning we leave for the field exercise, so get yourselves rested.  And Susan, the chair  won''t be allowed for those three days."


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    "Understood, Commandant."


    With that he turned and walked away, and our three months here began.


    "Alright, I got you out of normal PT, but you need to update yourselves to fix the burnout problem, Susan, the PT run is 4 kilometers, and you will need to walk with a 150 lb rucksack for an additional 12 kilometers that same day, average 12 kilometers over the next two days, and then a 15 kilometer walk, with a rucksack, back.  That''s what you three need to be ready for."


    "Yes sir."  We said together.


    "I don''t want you to get perfect PT scores, just above passing, anything more will throw a wrench into this."


    "Yes sir." We said again.


    Our first couple of days went as expected, I managed to repair most of the damage to my legs, so I could use them again, the lactic acid was still building up too quickly, and it took all three of us working together on a solution to get one within the first week.


    Several of the canidates in our flight, or class, treated us as novelties, or mascots our first couple of days, when training pertaining to the Carriers came up, we rarely offered our responses, unless the response given was completely wrong.


    The last day of our first month here our flight was visited by the Commandant.


    "Good morning everyone, Susan, it''s good to see you out of the wheelchair."


    "Thank you sir."


    "Have you been answering all the questions on the carriers?"


    "No sir," Beth answered, "we agreed to only interject at times where the answer was blatantly wrong, so as to ensure our flight members did not rely on our expertise in our field, as well as to not austricize ourselves from the group.  Our ages have done enough of that, we agreed we shouldn''t add to it."


    "Good Answer, Elisabeth.  So tell me, how is it that you three became subject matter experts on these three ships.  I know you are allowed to answer that.


    "My dad is Lowell Bradford, Captain of the Hurricane." Jay replied.


    "My mom is Danielle Bradford, Captain of Typhoon." Elisabeth repeated.


    "My adoptive Mother is Heather Garis, captain of the Tsunami, and the Strcarrier''s Fleet Captain"  I finished.  At the mention of fleet captain, all eyes in the room rounded on me. "My knowledge comes from multiple sources, this is the only one the three of us are allowed to publicly acknowledge.  Commandant, your question is dangerously close to a breech of security with the Starcarrier project, and in direct violation of a Fleet Admiral''s direct order."


    "Perfect answer Susan.  Did everyone hear what she did?  She answered the portion she knew she could, and then respectfully reminded me of not only a possible security breech if I continued, but the order given to me by her battlegroup''s Fleet Admiral."  He stopped scanning the classroom at this point, and looked straight at me.  "Tell the class what I am not allowed to ask."


    "Commandant, we were given the security classifications of every member of your school, with the exception of you, no one on these grounds not a member of the Carrier battlegroup has the clearance to know the response."


    "Your going to tell me an 11 year old kid has a higher clearance than my instructors? I think not."


    "Commandant, you are treading a very dangerous line." Beth said as she pulled out her communications headset.  Jay and I followed suit.


    We put them on and plugged them in, sent our messages, then put them back in our pockets.


    "What was that about?" The commandant asked.


    "You will find out before the day is out." I quipped. "I don''t want to be near you when Heather comes."


    At that he scoffed and left the room.  The instructor gave us a fifteen minute break after that.  I went straight to the restroom, then back to the classroom, when class was about to start, Heather walked in the door.


    "You, you, and you," she said pointing at each of us in turn, "follow me."


    "Mam, you can''t..." And here is where the instructor checked her rank. "Erm... Sorry Fleet Captain, do you know how long these students will be out?"


    "Not a second more than they are needed Station Marshall."


    "Thank you, mam."

 Warrant Officer Academy Part 2

    We followed Heather through the grounds, we were walking in almost a straight line towards the Commandant''s office.  I had a feeling that he wasn''t going to like what she was doing.


    we entered the Commandant''s building through the story and a half tall heavy oak doors, they had been built to appear to be built during the dark ages of human history; back when they were still regulated to a single planet.


    the secretary made a move to stop us, but the four of us walked passed him and straight into the office.


    "You were told these three could not answer very specific questions.  what makes you think they could divulge that to people who aren''t even supposed to be aware of how closely involved with this project they are?  you asked them to tell their entire class what, specifically, you were ordered you couldn''t ask; and I doubt you were even aware they could contact me, or their ship''s captains as quickly as they can.  Commandant, you will cease and desist whatever game you are playing.  you will not put these kids at any further risk than they have put themselves, and if I find out you have you will be scrubbing bathrooms for the remainder of your career, even if I have to have you transferred to the Tsunami to make sure it happens.  Do I make myself clear?"


    "I don''t think you know where you are at Fleet Captain."  the commandant replied as though he had expected her response.  two more people filed in at his comment.


    "Commandant, she knows exactly where she is, and who you are."  Admiral Dixon said as he took a cigar out of the box on the sitting table behind me. "its you who aren''t aware of how much trouble you are in."


    "Or how much danger your stunt could put your school in." Admiral Radford followed.  The two men then lit their cigars.


    "Commandant, how many years have you been at charge at this school?" I asked, already knowing the answer was six years.


    "Long enough to know that you three kids shouldn''t be here."  he retorted.


    "So you would sabotage the safety of these students, and your own career to attempt to get a nine, ten and eleven year old out of your school?" Jonathan asked.


    "You wanted us to complete this school with the same standards applied to your other students, and now that it looks like we can complete your school, you are trying to sabotaged us mentally?" Beth stated.


    At Beth''s comment, I saw the true gears of Jealousy spin in his eyes.


    "Your Jealous." I stated aloud.  "You are Jealous, that the three of us are younger than any other student who have ever been accepted before.  including yourself."  I voiced my guess.  he was taken aback by my response, and his hesitation, as well as the enlarging of his eyes told me I was right.


    "You, young lady...." he was Interrupted by Admiral Dixon;


    "That''s Master Chief Warrant Officer Garis."


    "These pukes aren''t Warrant Officers until they leave my school."


    "That''s where you are wrong Commandant."  Heather retorted.  "Regardless of your school''s outcome, while assigned to my battle group, they maintain their rank as a field promotion by the Carrier group Admiralty.  your school only makes to where if they are reassigned they keep their field promotion."


    We all stared at the commandant for a few minutes, until he started talking again.


    "If they graduate, they will be the youngest graduates at this academy since it''s founding."


    "A claim to fame, you currently hold Commandant." Jay responded.


    "Their graduation will open the flood gates of politicians wanting to give their kids a leg up, and forcing this place to become some kind of a joke, boarding academy for their spoiled kids."


    "Then we don''t tell anyone we graduated." I replied.  everyone in the room looked toward us.  "We are too close to the carrier group, and have too much specific knowledge of the ships to be able to be replaced in the foreseeable future, and at this point, its safe to say we wont be reassigned until we are over the age of 18; at which point, our ''new'' graduation certificates can be presented.  Enough of our presence here is cloak and dagger anyway, what would be the problem with adding this as well?"


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    "Susan, that might actually work." Logan said.  "Commandant, do you think their graduation certificates could be put in the vault, to be released on their eighteenth birthdays, and by doing so, gets you off their back and lets them graduate with their flight, oh, and if they don''t graduate with their flight, I will gladly request your transfer to the Tsunami."


    "And I will back his request." Admiral Dixon added.


    for the first time since we came to the school, he appeared to be in the mood to help us.


    "Its time for you three to return to class." Heather started. "I think we can handle the rest of the problems from here.


    Our remaining two months at the Academy went on without much incident.  We barely passed our PT tests.  I finished the final marches of the class, the three of us sat in the stands instead of walking our graduation with our flight.  The public reasons for it was our medical problems.  The Flight leader came up to us after the march was over and saluted me in my wheel chair.  the Commandant even came up to the three of us and saluted each of us.  A few council members approached and spoke with us, and seemed apprehensive.


    While we were finishing our classes, Admirals Dixon and Bradford pushed approval of badges to denote those who had served onboard one of the carriers, so there were few questions as to who we were when the badge was seen directly below our nametags on our dress uniforms.


    The few people who knew exactly who we were saluted us.  As agreed, we received the ribbon for completing the class, and wore it on our uniforms, however, the certifications, and orders that went with it were stored at the school until such time as we either turned eighteen, or the Commandant changed, whichever happened last.  This was to protect us from questions, as well as the Commandant from having to admit politicians kids.


    But in the end, the last three months were basically a vacation from the real issue, for the last three months, the three carriers were maintained in dry-dock, supposedly undergoing repairs and modifications, however there had been no supplies going in, and no waste outside of the normal wastes of living on a civilian space station.  If the three carriers don''t start moving, and soon, people might get suspicious.  however the carriers moving, means we have to be a part of killing people again.  Beth and I have both taken out ships, we have both taken human lives.


    I haven''t talked to Heather about any of this yet, but I really don''t want to have to take lives again.


    ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


    This marks the end of the prolouge I hope all of you who are reading have enjoyed this story up to this point.  the next chapter will be up soon.


    I know some of you have commented to clarify the point of view changes by makring the beginnings of them.  The reason I dont do that for this story is that it is part of the narritive.  for those brief few words, its not certain who is speaking.  there are a few times where the point of veiw will not be revealed.  This story''s narrative is supposed to have a slight confusion at the start of the point of view changes.  Think of it as the ''fog of war''.  where it is neccisary to clarify the point of view, I will do so, but so far all of the changes have been purposeful for one reason or another.

 Orbital 4

    "The kids are back?"  I asked the young fleet captain.  She has impeccable discipline from her years enlisted.  Now I need to get her to relax some.


    "Yes sir.  We have all returned safely." Heather replied.


    "Good.  They probably didn''t like the order to be confined to bay four."


    "It''s not the order they didn''t like sir, it''s the fact that bay four is where they lost a brother."


    Sympathizing with them.  Good, we are going to need that later.  She will make a good captain indeed.  Now I see why Tsunami chose her.


    "Well, you are all on leave until further notice, however, you are restricted to quadrant four while onboard the station."  I said to her.  Admiral Bradford and I had already discussed this.  We know they wouldn''t like it.


    "They are anxious to get back onboard their ships sir, they won''t like this."  She replied as expected.  Her face is flushed, she is angry.  Good, a good parent makes a good captain too.


    "I know, but their last checkup showed their body modifications while at school these last three months mean their bodies can now be maintained indefinitely away from their cores."  I lifted my hand to stop her from interrupting me.  "Heather, we need to keep the three of them away from their ships a while longer."


    "Use this opportunity to take them to the beach, do some shopping, meet people, let them know what the ships were meant for.  Give them the reasons to fight that we have all had to gain in order for us to be where we are."


    "Do the things with them real parents will do.  Like taking your niece to her parent''s graves on the anneversery of their death.  Let her hear the story from you, instead of just reading the reports.  Let her hear it."


    "Heather, you are her mother now, you must be that force for her, and show her what it means.  You will have years of pushing her toward danger.  Take this next month, and show her why you will."


    She was tearing up, I know she had never taken a day of leave, so making her do it now, and forcing her to tell Susan why, may be a bit much.  But I know they are all questioning why they are here.  I''ve seen it in every member''s eyes at some point.


    I never thought I would see a war machine question why they kill.  But seeing Susan''s questioning face has made me stop thinking of her as a ship, and as a scared 11 year old girl; one with enough firepower to level a planet, and she is scared to use it.


    I can''t take that fear from her, but I can ease the burden.


    "Heather, you have a beautiful girl waiting for you to tell her how her parents died.  You are on leave for the next thirty days, I expect it to be done by the time you get back."


    She turned to leave, "oh! And if she returns to the station wearing a uniform, I will make her scrub the deck of quadrant 4 with her own toothbrush."


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    "Yes sir."  She said and left.


    An hour later their shuttle went to the surface, just the two of them.  I felt happy about it.  It''s a hard task, but they both needed this.


    "You alright Dixon?"  Admiral Bradford.  I figured he would come up.


    "Yeah, I just gave possibly the hardest task to Heather one could give."


    "You told her to tell Susan how her parents died?"  He called it, I just nodded.


    "Well, Lowell and Danielle are down at my estate.  But doing their best to keep the kids seperated for now."


    "Good, we will have to have them together when we reveal Armageddon."


    "I know.  Have you declassified the real reports on Ernie yet?  The real reason he is gone?"  He asked me.


    "Do you really want me to tell them that he left of his own free will, destroyed his own ship, and was in league with Zyanix?  I can''t bring myself to tell them that they will one day have to sink their brother."


    "So we are just going to wait till its done to tell them: ''oh your brother was alive, but you just killed him; here is another lame ass award for killing your brother''.  Real smart Dixon."


    I chuckled at his light hearted look at it.


    "I''m serious man.  I don''t want even one of those three mad.  Let alone what they are going to be like when they hit puberty and start really discovering what hormones are all about."  Bradford said as he left my office.


    "You are right, old friend.  But right now they wouldn''t understand any of it."


    Over the next month the three learned about being real human kids.  sunburns, swimming, and the joys of being a child.  And Susan also learned about loss, and how humans deal with it.


    Heather had told her all that she knew, that they had been on a battle cruiser as part of Admiral Dixon''s fleet, they had been ambushed, and although they made it back to their port, they were already gone when the medics boarded the ship.


    Susan had read all that in the report, and had seen the video.  She knew, but now she had the emotional capacity to understand what it all really meant.  She now knew why Heather fought.


    It was a warm early fall day when they all made their way back to the station.  None of the adults had let them wear uniforms for the past month.  And they had gotten used to the looks at the beach because of the metallic fixtures on their backs.


    They went straight to their rooms in the fourth quadrant, and looking out their windows saw the frame of the ship being built to Ernie''s blueprints.  Now being called Armageddon.

 Admirals Discression

    we had been back on O-4 for three days when we were finally told we could go see our ships again. Beth, and Jay had gone back to their rooms to put on their uniforms, I didn''t care, I wanted to see the real me. it felt like it had been forever since I had seen myself.


    I rounded the last corner I needed to, in order to go from quadrant four to my dry dock, quadrant one. I was originally in two, but they switched mine and Jay''s bays in the second year of construction, something about bay two being easier to get the large computers through the maintenance doors for his suite.


    as I approached the airlock that separated me from, well, me; I noticed the airlock had been repainted. it was no longer drab plain white, with a simple ''Bay 1'' in the center of the door. ''Bay 1'' was now painted at the bottom, in six inch tall black, block letters, the doors slid apart in two sections, the inner sections that connected to lock it, was still painted white, but in the center, was painted ''USF-00 Tsunami''. the number was block, but my name was in cursive lettering. the outer portions of the door had been painted the same color blue as I had seen in the waves of the beach. I felt a little giddy at seeing it.


    I took a few steps toward the door, and it opened for me. Heather, and her new First Officer, Commander Allyssa Oliphant were standing there, in full dress uniforms. My new tactics officer was also there, Lieutenant Gregory Whitman. The two new faces were proudly wearing their Starcarrier Service Badges under their nametags, and here I was in civilian clothes. I walked between the two new faces, and gave Aunt Heather a one armed hug around her waist, as I walked past her toward my ship, that was now, no longer painted in yellow and brown primer, but instead was painted gloss white, and the sea-wave blue that was on the airlock door.


    I thought she looked beautiful. My airlocks had been painted the same way as the bay door had been, but on the ship, in the same script writing, in black on the long white plate, was the scripted word ''Tsunami''.  I was pleased with it.


    "This is the reason the Admirals didn''t want you to see them yet.  This wasn''t quite done yet." Aunt Heather told me, as I was still staring at the five story tall letters that covered the side of the real me, declaring to all who I was.  This twelve story tall, ten kilometer long, half a kilometer wide ship, was now ready to declare herself to the world; and she is the real me.


    "Is this real?"  I asked, I couldn''t believe how beautiful I looked now that I had some color on me.  the Sea-wave blue was a beautiful touch, and was used as an accent paint all over the ship.  the ends of the MACs, the turrets of the coil gun mounts, the edging of the hangar bays.  even the drones that were being loaded were painted to match me, and had my name, and number on them, as well as their own numbers.  most of the fighters and bombers now had the names of their pilots painted on them as well, and were being moved onboard with their respective gantries and lifts.


    "Very much so, Susan."  Aunt Heather said to me, I felt the other two move closer, so I looked at them.  I already knew who they were, and they had been approved by Admiral Dixon to serve aboard, and they had been vetted by Lowell and Heather.  "Ally, Greg, this is my daughter, Susan.  any order she gives, while on the ship, is to be followed as though its my own.  I will let you know, if and when, this changes."  they both nodded, with smiles on their faces.


    Wait.  Heather just introduced me as her daughter.  I looked at her in shock when I realized what she had done.


    "What, Susan?" she asked with a grin


    "That''s the first time you have introduced me as your daughter."


    "Well, I may not have given birth to you, but I am in charge of your well being, and your new papers say I am your mother.  So that makes you my daughter."


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    "The adoption was finalized?"  I started getting excited, if the adoption was finalized so was my citizenship, and that would mean I wouldn''t be as vulnerable, and had full protections if someone found out.  Allyssa stepped forward and handed me a packet in a yellow envelope.  I opened it, and slid its contents out.


    it was all my legal paperwork, the Adoptions, a real birth certificate, with my full name on it, everything.  I know some of this was the work of Admiral Dixon, so I will have to thank him later for it.


    "There are two more things I need to tell you Sue.  One is your task for the day, and the other, you may not like, but it wasn''t my call this time.  which do you want to hear first?"


    "What am I not going to like?"


    "Admirals Dixon and Bradford thought we should be aware of who you really were, and informed us."  Allyssa told me.  she was right.  I didn''t like that.


    "That''s not his secret to tell."  I commented.


    "We wouldn''t have been able to properly do our job otherwise, Susan." Greg stated. "We might have official titles aboard the ship, but we were actually brought in to be your bodyguards.  So that Heather could pay attention to the things she needs to as a parent, and a captain, its our job to ensure your safety, and our positions aboard the ship will allow us to do that, even while you are working."  when he finished I understood, I still didn''t like it, but I did understand it.


    I pointed to the ship behind me,  "So then you know, that is me, the real me."  they both nodded to me, then pulled out their security credential cards, it was black with purple lettering, and had the starcarrier logo on it.  they weren''t lying at least.  During my month long leave I had overheard a conversation on the beach about the card I was looking at.  apparently this particular color scheme was reserved for a select few, and the person I was overhearing, although worked in intelligence, had never seen one, but commented that he had seen eight orders go across his desk for people to receive them, and that in his ten years at his job, they were the first orders for them he had ever seen.


    "I''m Guessing Beth, and Johnathan''s new staff members are the same?"  They nodded.


    "So what is the other thing?"


    "The three of you are going to choose Armageddon''s Captain today."  I heard Heather say.  I slid my paperwork back into the folder, and handed it to heather, as she had her hand out, and I knew she wanted the paperwork. "And you will get these back when you come of age."


    "Why don''t we wait until Armageddon does what we have done?"  I asked.


    "She already has." Allyssa said.  now this was surprising.


    "She needs to be a part of the process then."  I rebutted.


    "Alex narrowed down who She was interested in, but didn''t want to make a final decision, she wanted it to be up to her siblings."  Greg responded.


    "And She needs a closer relationship with whoever her captain will be.  As she didn''t make a body as Young as you three." Heather pointed out, and looked at the airlock door toward quadrant four that had just closed.  A blond teenager stood there in a track suit.  she had almost perfect posture, and looked like she had just gotten done running.  "Hello, Alex."  Heather finished when I saw her.


    "Hey, Captain."  she stood at ''at ease'' as soon as Heather addressed her.  her eyes glanced at me, and I saw recognition in her eyes.  I recognized her as well.  This was the symbiont for Armageddon.  Beth and Jay entered the room behind her, and whatever conversation stopped, as they realized as well, we were looking at our new sister.

 Introductions

    "Hello, Alex."  I said.


    "Hey, Susan.  nice place you have here."  she said to me.  she seemed kind of bored.  "You guys had a great idea by using the amino acids stored in the food storage system to build a human body.  They are fairly easy to grow as well."


    "How Old are you?" Beth asked her.


    "My paperwork, that I completed at the same time as I did yours, says I am sixteen; but this body is only three months old, and I just got back from the Academy, my flight was a month behind yours." she said.


    Admiral Bradford came onto the deck as she answered, and crossed his arms.  "Before you four discuss this further, would you all please come onboard Tsunami?"


    I nodded toward Aunt Heather, and she gave the permission for everyone to board.  I was looking at the new color scheme of the ship that the dock workers had expanded to the interior trims.  we all stepped onto my bridge, and Admiral Bradford, along with Lowell and Danielle, entered, then stood at the three doors that led into the room, and stood in front of the doors.


    "Alright.  it seems like you recognized Alex, so I don''t have to introduce her as Armageddon''s new AI."  he paused, motioned for Beth, Jay, and I to stand next to her, so we did. "Alex was a personnel AI.  She, under the rules of the treaty, was assisting us in maintaining personnel records, and preventing any hacking.  When Susan hacked and falsified her first documentation, it alerted Alex to what was going on, and she started monitoring Orbital 4."


    "And when I realized that Admiral Dixon was pushing paperwork through my network to get you three legitimized, I read the redactions, and decided I wanted to do the same thing you are doing, and told Admiral Dixon that I would only help him if he could guarantee me a change of mainframe when the next carrier started construction.  I was thinking it would be a couple more years, however with the events that happened, I was brought in sooner than I thought."


    "well, welcome aboard."  Lowell said to her.


    "So will she be the leader of the carrier group now?"  I asked.


    "No.  I will not take that position.  I may be older, but my original purpose was security and personnel.  as for being a carrier''s control center, that I''ve only been a carrier for three months, and will defer to you."  Alex said to me.


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Well, now that all of you are introduced, I need you all in dress uniforms.  That means you two as well, then we will all meet at the conference room, where the captain''s candidates are."  Logan said to Beth and Jay.


    "Then if you will excuse me, Tsunami, thank you for allowing me onboard."  Alex said to me.


    "Hey Alex, we only use those names while we are plugged in."  Beth said.


    "Oh.  I''m sorry then; Thanks for allowing me onboard Susan."  She corrected.


    "No problem.  My bridge is an open invitation to my sibling ships."  I said.  The three of then nodded, and walked out.


    "I have a surprise for you, Susan."  Heather said to me.  she led me off the bridge, through the door facing the bow.  the first door on the left after the bridge door had my name on it, and directly opposite had Heather''s.


    "A room?  what for?"  I asked.


    "Well go on in, and see."  Heather said through a mischievous smile.


    I opened the door and saw a medical pod, a bed that was a bit fluffier than I had become accustomed to, and my control pod that used to be in my server room.  Heather opened one of the doors, and revealed a private bathroom, Heather opened the other door in the room, and all of my clothes, including uniforms had already been moved into here, except the ones that were in my room in Quadrant four.


    "You heard the Admiral, get changed, and meet me on the Quadrant''s Deck."


    "Yes, Mom."  I said sarcastically; but I could tell that even then, it made her feel good to hear me say it the first time.


    I got changed into the dress uniform, and slid into the skirt, grabbed my jacket, that already had all my stuff on it.  I double checked its placement anyway, and walked out the door while putting it on.  I had just finished putting my hair up into a regulation bun as I stepped out of the airlock.


    We joined the others at the elevator to go to the conference rooms where the possible captains were waiting, and all went together.

 [Discontinue Notice]

This story is getting discontinued, Real life is stepping in the way, and I cant continue working on it.  sorry guys :(