Tobias Buckell - Ragamuffin

“The Satrapy has a monopoly on the technology. Give us time and we’ll produce,” Nashara said. “We managed on Chimson after you shut us out.”

And even if it was true, the Satrapy was surely not going to destroy the Hongguo? No, this was targeted at anti-Satrapic elements. Dangerous humans. Angry humans. Troublesome humans.

The Hongguo and the habitats who worked with the Satrapy would continue on, as always…

He had won. He had a copy of her. Once he had a copy, he could work with it, maybe even to the point of getting it to help him against any other copies out there.

Backup lamina now surged into being.

“How the hell?” Nashara, audio only, sounded annoyed even through the fuzz of extremely low bandwidth connections. “Nothing but audio. You sealed me off.”

Etsudo cut his crew out of the loop and subvocalized his reponse through the lamina at her so only she could hear. “It’s illegal technology, yes. A gift from my father,” Etsudo said. “A device that allows me to upload minds into a controlled environment, simulate and rewrite their activity, and write the changes back.”

“Why does this seem familiar?” Nashara mused.

“You’re dangerous, but now I know how to protect myself. I do abhor needless violence, but I can’t have Deng rewrite my mind because he suspects I’m a traitor.”

“Etsudo, I’m getting a déjà vu feeling about this.” Then suddenly Nashara groaned. “You got into my head with this thing when I came aboard to interview, didn’t you? What did you do?”

“Just a memory wipe. And a little trust. You needed a little trust. Because I’m going to need your help, need you here as crew.” Another dangerous criminal to add to his motley collection.

Bahul and Fabiyan had remained silent for it all, just watching him.

“What now?”

Etsudo shut her off. Jiang Deng was screaming for his attention. When he tapped into the lamina, Deng appeared, his face cut and bruised, the screen filled with smoke.

“Get clear of the area,” Jiang Deng said. Three men in plain gray uniforms stood behind him. “The Wuxing Hao mutinied or is under outside control, they’re firing on us. We’re moving on to attack the craft.”

“I know about the takeovers,” Etsudo said. “We managed to resist. Deng, you can’t take this all on with one ship.”

Deng stepped forward quickly and raised an arm toward Etsudo. “Help me, please.”

The three men all stepped forward together at the same time and pulled Deng away. Deng screamed as he disappeared, then fell silent with a loud smack.

All three of the new feng turned to Etsudo and spoke together. “You are ordered to attack with us.”

Etsudo checked the Shengfen Hao’s flight path. “You’re crashing the Shengfen Hao into the craft?”

“You’re going to pay for this,” Nashara’s voice broke in. “This environment you have me trapped in better be nailed the fuck down, because if it isn’t, I’m going to worm through your security and rip your mind apart .”

“I’m serious and honest.” Etsudo looked outside as they dropped closer. The Shengfen Hao flashed through the inky dark, missiles hitting its hull. “I’m not a monster like that.”

“Etsudo…”

The Shengfen Hao hit the side of the alien craft and Etsudo flinched. His few remaining drones showed ripples spread out, along with a gout of flame and debris vomiting into space. All along the ragged gash white ribs held the rocky exterior on. The thing looked more grown than built, as if were some giant animal coaxed to grow into the form of a habitat-like spaceship.

Deng had gone to his death doing his duty. Would it be Etsudo’s soon? Deng had not gone to his death willingly.

“She’s broadcasting in Morse code with the ship’s lights!” Fabiyan said. They cut her off, stored her, frozen, for later investigation.

Etsudo sighed. “She probably warned them, didn’t she?” He’d had a good plan. Creating an anti-Nashara to negate any threat Nashara posed to the lamina of the forty-eight worlds.

“Here they come,” Bahul muttered.

Yes. And now the question was, could Etsudo outrun them back to the upstream wormhole?

It took fifteen minutes to determine that the Ragamuffin ship coming after them was gaining. Slowly, very slowly. But gaining.

“This the Magadog ,” he was told. “Stand down to be boarded or get destroy. You choose.”

If he could get back to the wormhole, through the Ragamuffin security screen of chaff and mines, then he would have safety.

Hongguo ships were broadcasting their IDs as they streamed out and readied themselves. Support had started to arrive, and not a moment too soon, Etsudo thought.

The more chaos, the more ships, the more likely he could dodge attention, keep his head low, and slip back out toward the rest of the worlds.

Pepper stood in front of the clear curtain of goop as John helped Jerome slow Xippilli’s bleeding. A waste. A waste. And Pepper could tell John was having troubling wrapping his mind around it.

“That last impact?” John asked. “That whole ship. How bad was it?” The control room, buried safely deep in the heart of the Teotl’s nest ship, had vibrated and shaken for a full minute.

Metztli, still keeping well clear of the humans, said, “We lost many eggs, but not enough to damage our bloodlines. The nest is trying to repair itself, but our power source is failing. It is over. We need evacuation before the nest dies and kills us with it.” Metztli waved at the curtain and it showed chaos. Ripped ship, a massive gaping hole. Thankfully the Shengfen Hao had not hit straight on, or the nest would have broken in half.

But it was still a mortal blow.

“They rammed us with a whole ship. Who are these people?” John asked.

Pepper sighed. He should have been excited that some of the original founding members of the Black Starliner Corporation still lived, still guided the Ragamuffins out there. He should have been standing with John talking to old friends, old faces, trying to figure out what to do next.

This transit should have been good, damnit.

Pepper looked back at the dying Xippilli.

Malik, one of the ringleaders of the whole BSC project, grayed out ’fro and all, looked back at him.

“Mr. goddamn Andery,” Pepper said.

“ Don Andery now, moving up. Pepper? You for real? I hardly believing my own eye here.”

“Damn straight. It’s good to see you.” So many years, distant memories.

Some disturbing ones. Malik and Pepper had fought the Teotl in the first war fiercely.

Malik turned offscreen, then back to Pepper. His skin turned a shade browner as the bio-goop he was projected from rippled. “Wish I could say similar, but you return complicate things, man.”

As if Pepper didn’t have a few things he was juggling himself. “Who’s attacking us? We need your protection.”

“The Hongguo. They turning weird, man. Weird. But that ship that hit you were the last for now.”

Pepper had no idea what the Hongguo were. But three hundred years meant a lot had changed. And now wasn’t the time to catch up. Not yet.

Another dim boom rippled through. Metztli whimpered. “Another breach…”

There wouldn’t be much left of the Teotl nest ship soon, Pepper realized. It was literally falling apart.

“Listen, Pepper, you evacuate in a suit, or pod, and we go pick you up, hear?” Malik said. “Just keep signaling.”

Pepper leaned closer to the sheet. “Malik, we have to protect this craft.”

“What you talking about?”

“This is advanced Teotl technology we have total access to own here.” Pepper turned to Metztli. “We have to tell them what this ship can do to wormholes if you want their help.”