The Black

Silu walked into his office with his morning beverage, he had become quite attached to Human coffee, even if he could only have it in very limited quantities. He sipped from his mug and settled into his chair for the morning. He grumbled as the console screen scrolled, listing even more documents requested by the I.N.G. Delegation. He had no choice in the matter, Unity sanctioned News stories were allowed any and all information that was not considered sensitive for security or trade secrets. Unfortunately, These scoop story types knew exactly where the line was. They had even requested permission to send a shuttle down to the surface of Delmar to interview people. He was forced to approve the majority of the request from the over night shift.

Silu sat back in his chair. He smelled a Hit Piece. He had a pretty good Idea of where, and whom it was aimed at. He tapped his com unit.

“Ambassador Gwen here” She sounded breathless, and Silu mentally kicked himself for forgetting about The Towering Scott’s morning workout routine. She was working extra hard to make up for what she had lost because of her injuries. Icario had personally shuttled to Port Royal to perform the reconstruction of Her elbow, and the Nanites had taken care of the laser hit to her thigh. The doctors were still completely aghast at Humanities ability to be at least mildly Laser resistant… and of course, those records were requested by this I.N.G….

“My apologies for the interruption, can we speak when you are through? It's about the I.N.G.” Silu asked

“Absolutely, Ill be there inside the hour, Gwen out,” The ambassador cut the connection and Silu sat back in his chair. Over the next hour he compiled every request made since the I.N.G.’s arrival as well as all of the data known to be copied during the attack on Port Royal. He was just finishing up when a freshly showered and alert Ambassador Gwen walked into his office.

“Ah Ambassador, Thank you for the meeting on short notice,” Silu stood and shook the womans hand. She still had a slight limp, but was otherwise recovered from her harrowing experience.

“If this is about what I think it's about, We may as well clear our schedules. I want to be ready for this. I’ve already received a… request… for an interview at a to-be-determined date… I suspect an ambush” Gwen said flatly.

“I would not be surprised, this is too quickly on the heels of the attack that seemed to be a… diversion..” Silu’s distaste for unnecessary bloodshed was apparent. “I’ve compiled everything they have requested, approved or rejected, and everything we think was copied.”

“You think we can figure out what they want, or rather, what they want to ambush us with,” Gwen said softly. “Oh, you and Martin would get along nicely” She chuckled, “Let us begin.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Growrmun coughed again, tasting blood this time. He had not been able to afford a quality cloned lung, but rather had to pay for a machine lung until he could purchase better care. Unity had dumped him like so much trash. The I.N.G. promised an expense-paid treatment and further employment if he were to complete this job... so far, things had transpired according to plan. His courier pod floated at the edge of the asteroid field, and he could just make out the station the Delmar and Humans called “Port Royal”. The signal had woken him from hibernation, but his condition continued deteriorating. He was forced to wait, there was no debris, or garbage dump to cover him to the ING transport. A console light illuminated as a tight beam transmission was received,

*Hold position, two days*

Growrmun would have growled at this, but it hurt too much.. his body was in the late stages of rejecting the mechanical lung. He had a week at most before it killed him, or was replaced.

He set the timer and reactivated hibernation. It would slow his metabolic rate and therefore slow the rejection process. He prayed it would be enough as consciousness took him.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Jacob Irving sat on the bio bed in the main hospital of Tribe Helyon, “So what are my options” he asked. He was idly spinning the eye patch Captain Mackenzie had given him in his left hand.

“Honestly, you have two. The Eye is gone, and there is not enough left to do a proper clone. The easiest thing to do would be to seal your socket and be done with it. However, there is another. It is still in trials, and quite frankly you would be our test subject for proof of finished product. I can tell you that if you accept, and we are successful, you would be getting all of your medical procedures for free, and you may end up with binocular vision again, as a baseline” Doctor Bart Gremm stated

“As a baseline? What do you have in mind?” Irving asked.

“Humanity has always been capable of superior computing power and power output because of the system you call your home. However, Humans never quite figured out the Nano Tech that The Unity did, until now. I am working with a pen pal of sorts over in Sol. We believe that we can use the combination of the two to create nano-driven prosthetics. Creating an Artificial Eye that may be able to do more than just see, seems like a good place to start. Unfortunately, Wounds such as yours that do not prove fatal are nonexistent. Your Optic nerve is intact enough to rebuild, and we may be able to use it to connect your brain to a new digital eye.”

“Fuck me…” Irving swore.

“I beg your pardon?” Bart asked.

“Sorry Doc, just an expression. How long until this would be ready?” Irving stated.

“We would do the testing now, before you left on Traveler for the season. The first prototype would be ready by the time you returned for Refit. It will not be a quick process. I’m sorry, but I believe it holds promise.” Bart explained.

“Im in. Until then, I guess you would have to seal me up for the time being?” Jacob asked.

“After the tests, yes; but that will not threaten further procedures.” Bart reassured him.

“Then let’s get started” Jacob felt excited. He hated the patch and did not want to live the rest of his life with one eye. Bart simply nodded and guided Jake through the paperwork, then to do some more tests.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

It had been two days since the heated conversation between Marg and her oldest daughter. Marg had refused to not include Greg for any of their time visiting, much to the dismay of Cam’s husband, and the departure farewells were warm, if not a little strained. Greg held Marg’s hand as the family departed the transport shuttle for a neighboring Tribe where her daughter had married in.

“I hope this doesn’t stir up too much trouble for you.” Greg pulled Marg close into a side hug, “I would hate to cause a rift in your family, especially since I am shipping out so soon.”

“I know, but we knew you would be leaving. We aren’t young ones anymore. I’m not worried about us leaving. I am worried about you. Have the Sol contingent of Legion arrived yet?” She asked.

“They will be here within the month. Most of the Response fleets are ready to go on this side. I think Mac and First fleet are getting tired of classroom work. All that is left is joint exercises, and to deploy. The Sol ships are carrying our new beacons. The encryption is Human, and we will be the only ones who will be able to jump to them. They will serve as our ‘on station’ points.” Greg said. “I haven’t been told what they are sending. All I have been told, is that they are moving Terran and Mars designs out here as they lay keel for the next generation of combined Tech ships.” Greg's voice lowered a little to keep the conversation private.

“I want to be there when they arrive.” Marg stated, “I still find it hard to wrap my head around how fast your Slip Drives are capable of jumping. “

“I should be getting an accurate arrival estimation in the next day or so. It's not usual for them to wait this long, but its not without precedent” Greg shrugged, “Where to next?”

“Home, maybe a Human “movie night” would be a good idea after all the drama.” Marg admitted.

“Human Movie night it is.” Greg chuckled.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Clint paid the tab as he and Frie stepped out of the restaurant into the nightlife that was Tribe Helyon after dark. Clint was wearing a casual pair of jeans and a plaid button-up shirt untucked. Frie was back in her Sun Dress, which was catching a number of looks from all sides.

“I think they are Jelly.” Clint chuckled to her.

“I would be, I love this thing!” Frie gave a twirl as they headed for the parking structure that housed Vito. Mac had lent them the car for their first night out as a real couple, and Frie had decided to spend the next few days with Clint figuring out what’s next.

Frie took Vito out over the water on the way home, climbing high into the atmosphere during the cloudless night. Clint could fly, he just preferred not to. “We should go up there soon.” She mused.

“We might be there sooner than you think.” Clint returned, “I am the Ambassador’s chief of staff. When Port Royal is finished, I will be stationed there semi-permanently. Should I request a couple’s, Berth?”

“Oh yes please.” Frie coo’d, “What would I do up there though. I’m a shuttle pilot, changing over to a fighter pilot...”

“I don’t know enough about what will be available when the Station is finished to say yet. But im sure you could at a minimum take a shot at the Shuttle services between it and the homeworld. I won’t know more until later.”

“It’s a start.” She said as they touched down on the air car pad and used the linked balcony around the outside of the house to slip into Clint’s room without waking anyone.

Clint closed the balcony door and locked it just in time to be slammed into by Frie who proceeded to kiss him fiercely, “Until then, I want more.” She whispered into his ear.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

It was just after midnight Gwen and Silu finally concluded their deep dive together.. Mostly eaten food punctuated the mess of Data pads and memory sticks…

“So, they are going to Hit Humanity... They are going to try to turn you into the scourge of the Galaxy… Much like they did us...” Silu Spat the words.

“Maybe, If we let them. I take it that the instantaneous data, or near instantaneous is where people usually focus on more than legacy media outlets?”

“Some do, Others are looking to point out where The ING was wrong.” Silu remarked.

“Silu, I need you to accept the venue of the main conference room for the interview, in 4 day’s time, Rig it for sound and video. They want to make a hit piece; they will have to race us. I want to be prepared to replay the entirety of our interview without them being able to equivocate or slink off” Gwen sighed.

“More coffee?” Silu’s hands quivered slightly; He was at his limit of caffeine intake for himself.

Gwen got up, “Thank you, no. Tomorrow night, we prepare for the interview and figure out where to hide all the cameras.”

The two stood up just as the Chief of the Watch knocked on the door. “Commander, my apologies, but we found something on Sensors….”