Lucky Universe by Joshua James

Author:Joshua James [James, Joshua]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: down7media LLC
Published: 2018-02-24T22:00:00+00:00

28

In Charge

“You’re doing what?”

The shock must have registered on his face.

Vlad pointed at Lucky. “It’s you,” she said calmly.

All heads swiveled to look at him.

“I didn’t say anything about it back there because I didn’t see any point in alarming anyone. But when the original landing party got here, they couldn’t figure out how to get in. I knew there would be a way. There always is. But I didn’t know how fast we’d be able to find it.”

Lucky realized what she was saying.

“That ramp. It wasn’t there when the first landing party came here?”

She nodded. “And it wasn’t there when we first got dumped off those ridiculous drones,” she said, motioning skyward. “But it was there when you got here.”

Lucky said, “When we all got here.”

But it was true. He had arrived a full minute after the rest of the Marines.

“You two were nowhere to be found when I got here,” he shot back. “What’s to say you didn’t trigger it somehow? You know,”—he waved his arms—“lean on a lever or something.”

Orton rolled his eyes.

Lucky scowled at him. “Well, it’s either that, or I’m alien magic.”

The Marines looked at each, clearly now uncomfortable.

“Guys? Seriously? Alien magic?” He laughed, holding his hands up in a shrug.

No one else moved or spoke.

“So am I alien magic?” he asked Rocky. “Or are you?”

“A little of both, I think.”

This was the point where jumping with a totally different division on the opposite side of the galaxy was not working in his favor.

Finally, Dawson laughed. “This fucker is a lot of things, but he’s no ship driver. I mean, no offense, but has your AI ever run anything bigger than drones?”

Vlad walked toward him.

Lucky kept his face a mask. He was a decent poker player.

She stopped inches from his face. Her breath was warm on his lips. “As soon as you got here, you passed out and this ship came to life. That is a hell of a coincidence,” she said.

“We have a problem,” said Rocky.

“You mean, other than this bitch in my grill and my AI piloting an ancient alien starship?”

“Yes.” She hesitated. “My understanding is that we are exposed to the nukes as we ascend.”

“It’s your understanding?”

There was a pregnant pause. “The ship told me different.”

Lucky worked overtime on his poker face. Vlad wasn’t backing down.

He turned over Rocky’s statement. It was one thing to say she was flying the ship; it was another to be talking to it.

“So there is an AI on board.”

“Something like an AI.”

“And you’re talking to it.”

“Easily, yes.”

“You can’t even jack into Union AI traffic without a workaround, but you’re telling me you can just interact with the AI system on a ship that is, what, eight-billion-years-old? And why couldn’t Vlad and her team just jack in the same way?”

“I don’t know.”

Lucky exhaled. He hadn’t realized he was holding his breath. It probably smelled like shit because Vlad stepped back.

He looked around at the others. Despite Dawson’s words, he could tell the room wasn’t with him.

“I’m going to tell them.

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