Peace Maker (AI Fleet Book 3) by Isaac Hooke

Author:Isaac Hooke [Hooke, Isaac]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-01-25T00:00:00+00:00

14

Jain traveled away from the lava planet, heading away from the sun toward the out-system. Five other Nurturers were with him, two A class vessels, and three B class. Jain had agreed to follow the orders of the commanding officer, Nurturer 184.

With them were the frames the fleet had 3D-printed to hold thermal emitters. It had taken a full day to produce all the required frames, concentrating the industrial grade 3D printers of both the Mimic and Mind Refurb fleets on the task. The Mimics had even repurposed some of the termites responsible for mending the damaged Nurturers to the task; Malice had assured them that it wouldn’t affect the repair schedule.

Jain wasn’t sure about the Mimics, but the Void Warriors and Task Force 88 certainly had to cut corners to meet the deadline. A few moments after departing Tantalum A, he learned that the Mimics had cut a few corners as well: a couple of the Nurturer-produced frames cracked, and seemed ready to break apart, forcing Jain and the other Mimics to hastily launch skirmishers to repair them.

As long as those frames held up, though, the heat signatures they produced would mislead the enemy. Or at least, that was the hope, as they were designed to imitate the remainder of the Mimic fleet, including the hive ships. The Mimics had also chained empty frames to several of the lead decoys so that they would appear to be dragging the Nurturers still under repair. Some also emitted heat signatures matching those of Task Force 88 and the Void Warriors, for the sake of completeness.

The decoy fleet traveled on a course perpendicular to the incoming Vaernastians. When Jain had first presented the plan to the admiral, Jacobs had told him that the entire group could be made out of decoys, but Jain eventually convinced the admiral that for this to work, they needed actual ships alongside.

So far the fifty ship fleet of Vaernastians hadn’t changed course to intercept. Perhaps they’d finally modified their gravity wave sensors to detect the decoys. Or perhaps they simply refused to fall for another ruse.

Feeling the rising nerves, Jain sat back in his chair. Around him, the virtual bridge was mostly empty, save for Xander. Jain missed the Void Warriors already.

Remember, I chose this.

“This is always the worst part,” he told Xander. “The waiting before battle.”

The robed Accomp nodded. “The calm before the storm. Though I lack emotions, I find it… uncomfortable, as well.”

Emotions. Jain wondered if he should disable his, at least temporarily, if only to ride out the pre-battle anxiety. He decided against it. Sheila had worked so hard to give him these emotions, the least he could do was use them, especially considering he was probably experiencing the last hours of his existence in this universe.

I want to die remembering what emotions are like. I don’t want to embrace the cold of death with a mind that is numb and cold itself.

At that very moment, Task Force 88 and the Mimic fleet, including the hive ships, were heading away from the planet toward the sun.

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