Chapter 8 Escape #2
“Gehenna is an AI. To be honest with you, I’m not sure of a lot. But since you’re helping me, I--I think I should tell you everything. Not to mention, she said she brought you to me to help,” Jace said.
Khoth thought of how his ship had suddenly not obeyed his commands.
Had Gehenna somehow been able to access the Exarch’s systems and control them?
This was utterly new. No AI had ever been discovered in Precursor tech before.
Various species of the Alliance had dabbled in creating AI, but all had pulled back from such research when the dangers it presented outweighed the good.
But if Jace was truly in touch with a Precursor AI…
well, that changed everything. Getting Jace to Gehenna was suddenly the most important mission he could have.
“Tell me everything you know,” Khoth said.
“Okay. So let me tell you about my dreams…”
Jace told him of his dreams, of the training that he could half remember, of Gehenna being able to contact him more clearly once he had a Precursor gun, of connecting with the Osiris, and, finally, of Metal Rain.
Khoth said nothing as Jace talked. His mind whirled with the possibilities of what Jace was telling him.
The Alliance should not have left the Osiris in human hands.
That this human was somehow connected to a Precursor AI was unthinkable.
That the connection was far from perfect was, undoubtedly, because humanity was simply not evolved enough to connect to it properly.
If the Osiris had been in Thaf’ell hands then the connection would have been successful the first time.
Khoth was guessing at some of this, but past discoveries had shown that those races with a greater association with the Precursor species were able to access higher levels of their technology.
While in the hands of a Xols, a Precursor gun was able to fire single shots, but in the hands of a Thaf’ell the gun would transform to offer different rates of fire, different energy levels and even different effects.
So it only made sense that a Precursor AI could do far more with a connection to a Thaf’ell than to a human.
While he had somewhat doubted the course he was on by violating human laws, he realized now that he was doing the right thing and acting for the greater good.
Captain Jack Parker had made it clear that he had no intention of letting Khoth know about the AI and Jace’s connection to it.
That was unacceptable. No, he had to find out everything about this Gehenna for the Alliance.
As Jace finished with what had happened after the death of the Khul, he glanced down and saw that Jace’s eyes were shut and sweat poured down his face from the effort. Khoth felt a tug of worry.
“Gehenna claims that if you complete this connection that you will be well?” Khoth qualified.
“Hmmm, yeah, that’s what she says,” Jace got out. “Turn right here. And then… then we need to go down.”
Jace directed them into a hallway that ended in some kind of lift. The doors to this lift were guarded by two human soldiers. The soldiers were not the only security measures for use of the lift. His exo-suit’s scanner told him that it also required various DNA scans and access codes to work.
Khoth could easily get past the two human soldiers, because under the Alliance’s agreement with the humans, any Alliance soldier of his rank was automatically granted access to the Osiris.
But he had not yet had time to get formally added to their primitive security systems. And while he was certain he could have simply bullied his way past regardless, he could not do so successfully with Jace in his arms. The soldiers would immediately contact Captain Parker and their quest would be at an end.
But he needed to get to Gehenna as much as Jace did now.
So there was really only one course open to him, which was to use the Alliance’s superior technology to override the soldiers and the security.
“What are you thinking?” Jace asked.
He looked down and saw that Jace’s eyes were open and watching him carefully.
What would the young man think of his solution?
Causing human soldiers to fall unconscious and then hijacking a life was potentially beyond what Jace had thought it would take to get to Gehenna. Would he balk at such actions?
“We have a problem. Three problems.” Khoth tipped his head to the soldiers and the elevator.
“Oh, shit, yeah.” Jace bit his lower lip and more beads of icy sweat coursed down his face as he took in the setup. “You don’t think my infection ploy will work with them?”
“Somehow I do not think so.”
“Gehenna is down there. Further down than the elevator goes. But we have to go through here,” Jace said. “There’s no other access point.”
“I can get us past the soldiers and the security protocols,” Khoth stated as his alarm at Jace’s deteriorating condition increased.
“How?” Jace stared at him out of glassy eyes that he struggled to focus.
“I can--”
“Funny seeing you here, Commander,” Flight-Commander Thammah Pyrrhus’ voice rose up behind them.
Khoth whipped around to see the other Thaf’ell pilot standing there.
Unlike most Thaf’ell she had shorn her white hair close to her skull on the sides and top.
Because of this she had no selchilite to show her family’s station.
This could have meant that she was the last of her line and that she had no family living or that she had been cut off.
The closely shorn hair also revealed several raised, ropey scars visible along the right side of her head that crawled over her temple and transected her eyebrow.
That these scars had not been able to be fully excised told him that the original wounds must have been quite serious, maybe even life threatening.
Considering how she flew with wild abandon as if she had no Xa at all, he was not surprised.
But he also guessed that they indicated that she was brave.
She had on a very worn black and blue exo-suit that had seen better days. But she wore it like a second skin. One of her hands was on her left hip while the other hung loosely at her side. A half smile curled her lips, but that smile changed as she took in his demeanor.
Her blue eyes narrowed. “You look very guilty there, Commander Khoth Voor. What are you up to with that young human in your arms? Are you about to take him aboard your ship and probe him?”
Jace let out a strangled laugh. Khoth stared at her in confusion.
“Flight-Commander Thammah, I have no idea what you mean by that, but I can assure you that I--”
“It’s a human joke, Commander. Aliens and probing.” She waved one of her hands through the air. “I see your very ill friend understands.” Her eyes narrowed further. “Who are you, young man?”
“I’m Jace Parker. And you are?” Jace asked.
“Call me Thammah,” she said even as her eyebrows lifted at the revelation of who he was. “Jace Parker? So you are Jack and Diane’s son? Well, the plot thickens. Why are you acting like a damsel in distress here?”
“It’s a long story, but Khoth is helping me. But we’ve hit a snag. Ah!” Jace cried out and curled forward. His lips no longer even had color. He was a mask of gray death. “Khoth--Khoth, we need to hurry.”
“We need to get him to the Osiris,” Khoth told her. “His illness can only be treated aboard the ship.”
He feared she would ask twenty questions about why they needed to get there, about how an ancient vessel that had defied human and Alliance tinkering to bring it back online could help Jace, and the many other issues his statement likely raised.
But he should have known better. Thammah was not only an incredible pilot, which meant she needed to make split-second decisions without full information, he already knew that she was quite the risk taker.
“All right,” she said. “But neither of you have clearance yet to be near the Osiris. Hence, you spying on the soldiers instead of simply walking up to them.”
“Something like that,” Khoth answered stiffly.
“Something like that? I’m betting you were going to knock those two soldiers out and override the elevator’s security systems?” she asked, but treated it as a rhetorical question. “You really are exciting, Commander.”
“I am not exciting. I am merely doing what must be done,” he said flatly. She did not know about Gehenna. She did not understand the stakes.
“Of course, you are. Which makes you utterly exciting,” Thammah laughed. “Come on. I can get you two down without knocking out poor duty-bound soldiers and endangering the Alliance pact with Earth.”
Khoth squared his soldiers. He had been running that risk, hadn’t he? But a Precursor AI was surely something worthwhile doing that for. And, if he were honest, one look down at Jace’s pale face had him feeling the need to do it anyways.
Thammah led them down the hallway. She had a spring in her step and that ironic half-smile on her lips. The soldiers saw them approaching and came more to attention.
“We can’t let them call my parents and keep me up here,” Jace gasped out. He slightly uncurled in Khoth’s. “Can’t let them stop us. I think I’ll only have one shot at this before I pass out again. Won’t have the strength to convince them of what needs to happen… if I wake up..”
Again, Thammah showed her trust in Jace and him, he supposed, as she said, “Do not worry. You will get down to the Osiris. I’ll make sure of it.”
They stopped just short of the soldiers, who appeared familiar with Thammah, but were uncertain about him and Jace.
“Hello, Flight-Commander, what brings you and your friends here today?” the soldier on the right asked. She was a human female with red hair and brown eyes along with a faint scar through her upper lip.
“Private Norris, good to see you. I am bringing Commander Khoth Voor and Jace Parker down to the Osiris,” she stated.
“Norris’ eyes narrowed as she took in Jace’s distress. “Neither Commander Voor nor Jace Parker is on the list, Flight-Commander.”
Thammah lifted her scarred eyebrow, but said in a measured tone, “They do not need to be, Private. Under Section 3.5.9 of the Human-Alliance Agreement of 1963, all Alliance personnel are allowed access to the Osiris.”
“Jace Parker isn’t Alliance. He’s one of us,” the male soldier to their left said. “That’s Colonel and Captain Parker’s son. And he doesn’t look good.”
“Indeed, he does not. That is why we are taking him to the Osiris,” Thammah stated, her voice going slightly icy. “There are medical facilities there that can help him there.”
Again, Norris’ forehead puckered. “Like we said, we haven’t been made aware of Jace Parker having access to the Osiris, let alone to medical equipment down there. I think I should call--”
Thammah caught her wrist as she reached for her walkie-talkie.
“Private, by impeding me you are threatening the agreement between our species. Commander Voor here is the son of the Head Councillor for the Alliance. Blocking him would lead to the very leaders of the Alliance having deep concerns. Not to mention that we have just saved you from a Khul attack. Do you really want to risk that agreement, right now?”
Norris and the male soldier exchanged nervous glances.
They were potentially at an impasse. The human weapons could not hurt him or Jace.
The shield the suit generated would be strong enough to cover them both from the projectile weapons.
The humans were not half as strong or quick as even normal Thaf’ell let alone trained soldiers such as himself and Thammah.
And Jace’s eyes were closed again. His breathing was rather labored.
Just as Khoth was going to go back to his Plan A in terms of taking out the soldiers and overriding the security system, Norris and her fellow soldier stepped aside to let them enter the lift.
“We’re just being careful, Flight-Commander,” Norris stated.
Thammah flashed her a smile. “Of course! But you made the right call.”
Thammah ushered Khoth and Jace into the elevator first before joining them. Her iris was scanned. Also, she pressed her palm to another scanner. Finally, she tapped in a code before the lift’s doors whispered shut and they started to descend at a great rate of speed.
Jace let out a soft chuckle. His eyes were still closed, but he was still conscious thankfully. “Those soldiers are so calling my parents right now.”
Thammah nodded as she stated, “Absolutely.” She turned to Khoth and winked at him. “I sincerely hope that you can run as fast as you fly, Commander, because if the humans aren’t waiting for us the moment we get off this lift, they’ll be hot on our trail.”
Khoth lifted his chin. “I will get Jace to Gehenna no matter what the cost.”