[Unknown Sector... Danger: ionic anomaly detected...]
Gleaming in the impenetrable darkness, the guiding beacons led me through rivers of unstable matter and forests of deadly lightning bolts, until the horizon, once jade, turned crimson.
The assault fighter pierced the wall of clouds and found itself where all streams of energy converged – at the border of the elemental eye of the ionized storm, which was not merely a nebula, but a shield for something inconceivable, incomprehensible, and immense... a shield of the amaranthine supergiant star, which guarded three production spire-stations spewing ash and gloom – an illegal shipyard.
It was there, inside the cage of metallic bones, that the embodiment of primordial horror slumbered – a monster like none I had ever seen, but I knew they existed.
The flat hexagonal carapace, stretched three kilometers long and five hundred meters wide and tall, was marked with gray-yellow paints.
The matte rhombuses of its armor absorbed light, shimmering with golden energy like dragon scales, and along the ridge, as if completing the artist's picture, rose three artillery howitzers, whose power could suffice to bury an entire station.
Hidden in the shadows of distant space... warmed by a nameless star... the experimental imperial dreadnought dreamed.
When its flattened triangular bridge to the hull flashed a sensor strip to understand what annoying insect was flying here, I nearly steered into a spire from the splendor.
At this stage, around the dreadnought everything was built up with improvised "scaffolding," where spheres of worker drones swarmed. The main structure was almost ready, lacking only a few details on the bow and the casing around the stern.
"Buddy! You're right on schedule! Fly straight to the side shields, there are entrances to the hangar. There's plenty of free space in it right now!" Thomas contacted me on a closed frequency.
Without wasting time, the "Glimpse" flew through the veil of energy, landing on the specially allocated antigravity slot-platform for this.
Within seconds, I shut down the engines and opened the cockpit.
"What do you think of our fortress?" Thomas waited while I tumbled out of the cockpit.
"Our?.." grimacing, I surveyed the area.
The dreadnought's innards seemed overly minimalist, clearly lacking colors... black and gold...
"Yeah! Now this is your ship too! I'll handle the paperwork myself, as well as your buddies from V.A.N.G.U.A.R.D., so yes. In fact, you're already the full-fledged Captain of this "god of death from the world of machines"!" Thomas gave a thumbs up and grinned.
"Oh, captain... STOP, WHAT?!" if not for the "Glimpse" nearby, I would have collapsed to the floor.
"That's exactly the reaction I was waiting for! Come on, you'll take a look around, and I'll tell you what happens next." waiting until I overcame the shock, Thomas walked forward.
"Actually, I searched a long time for someone to entrust my darling to..." the scientist's casual tone echoed off the walls of the huge room, multiplying dozens of times.
"You see, finding people is easy, finding a shepherd is fucking hard. And a person like you is suitable for leading others. Not because you're a good strategist... no... Just something sets you apart from the herd... You're faithful to your ideas! You've killed for them! You've never betrayed them and won't... you won't let power pervert you... you won't lose your core, no matter what happens... You'll always choose correctly... This... is worthy of admiration!"
Goosebumps ran stronger across my skin.
"Yes... I know everything about you!" he said, smirking slyly.
"You wanted to become a captain, but they sent you to hell. The I.K.A. tests were fabricated because you're too "holy" for a place where you have to drown in blood. I consider those who screwed you over – idiots! To rule, you don't need the desire to achieve the goal by any means, but the ability to remain yourself in the process..." the scientist suddenly grimaced.
"The future belongs to those like you! Believe me... I won't let you become expendable material in this war... So don't slouch and accept your fate! You'll become the one the whole world will know about. I guarantee that." he adjusted his glasses, looking me in the eyes.
"And now, let's escort the Captain to his quarters!"
*
Having walked through many nooks of the dreadnought, we finally reached the supreme commander's cabin, whose vacuum airlock was brand new and gleamed with glossy metal coating.
Thomas patted me on the shoulder and stood in the doorway:
"From now on, everything here belongs to you unconditionally! The place is modest, but that's a solvable problem." Gabriel left the cabin, adding at the end...
"Oh, and I almost forgot! As you might have noticed, the crew is missing... the crew! I've taken the chief engineer's spot, but the other "slots" are empty, so I'm giving you time to choose trusted people. "Star Storm" is in crisis, so I'm sure you'll dig up a couple!"
Thomas's white coat, billowing in time with the echo of footsteps, was the last thing I saw before the armored doors closed, leaving me alone.
Trying to sort everything out in my head, I flopped onto the bed.
Gabriel had told the truth; the captain's abode needed "final touches," as the only furniture here was a cabinet and a coffee table with equipment for accessing the extranet. The main attraction was the huge screen with a view of the abyss.
"A couple of people, you say... Funny joke... and yet, one possible volunteer..."
Only one last... step remained...
Jumping up as if from a nightmare, I began pacing the cabin, counting the drops of sweat falling to the floor. Seconds gave way to others, thermoregulation went out of control, but the knight of the sad countenance managed to pull himself together and called the cherished number.
"Hi!.. Hope you're not busy? I have a problem here... that arose... and I... well... decided it's the right time to use that promise of yours... In short, it's urgent! Could we meet and discuss everything in person?"
"Huh? Why bring it up suddenly... Well, how about a coffee shop, or better go to the park... it's quiet there, we can sit calmly and..." Mako yawned drawlingly.
"NO!!!" I nearly fell onto the nearby table.
"Too crowded there!!! I'll come to you! We'll talk face to face!"
"…! Wait! This is so sudden!.. I… uh…"
"Already flying out, I'll be there in an hour!" I cut the connection and sprinted out of the cabin...
*
[Sector: "Alpha", Station: "Watchman-XVII" – residential district 3-11-312/12]
And here I was already wandering the station, passing narrow paths of the residential compartment near the force field.
Identical cubes of slot-apartments appeared as a hundred towers, and the bridges of deserted connectors seemed like the web of a huge creature, whose upper threads literally drowned in clouds of dense smog, finally getting lost closer to the edge of the sky dome.
The artificiality of these structures was confirmed only by the reflections of the light material from which all Imperial stations were built; otherwise, they seemed like a monumental sculpture of machine intelligence.
To disappear without a trace here would be like tearing off chevrons.
Peering at the runes on the walls, I stopped next to one of the hermo-doors and, checking the map, pressed the omni-panel near the airlock. For some reason, there was no response.
Hesitating a bit, I ran my hand over the panel again, but this attempt was also swallowed by silence.
"Maybe... came to the wrong place... No! Definitely here! Or she's... Agh, fuck!!!" biting my finger to calm down, I startled at the sharp crash behind the wall.
"Mako!!! Are you under attack?! I'm coming!!!" on instinct, I pressed my palm to the console.
We – Templars of Equistella, augmented our bodies almost from birth. The bionic bodies of Andjin could easily merge with the essence of mechanisms and subordinate their will to themselves, especially if they were primitive as an axe technologies of the Ordinatum.
The airlock fell under the hack, and the hero burst into the room like a whirlwind, almost drawing the omni-dagger, but it didn't come to a fight.
The disheveled girl, lying on the floor, tried to shake off the items that had fallen from the shelf: books, figurines, a couple of strange trophies, and much more. Apparently, one of the upper shelves had come off its hinges and collapsed down.
"Mako... Are you okay?! Didn't hurt anything?! Let me help you up!!!" and here the hero decided to roll the dice, hitting a critical failure.
Bending down, I slipped on water from some vase and crashed onto the girl from above.
"IDIOT!!! You nearly broke my ribs! Get off me!" Mako's gaze burned with rage, and I saw it perfectly, given the distance between us.
"Who asked you to break in here anyway?! You call after not giving a sign for so long! You demand to meet, and now... and... THIS!!! MORON!!!"
"Sorry... I heard a scream... and then... then..." literally lying on the girl, dressed only in a shirt and tiny shorts, I felt... tension.
The situation analysis also revealed a fact: Mako was not ready for guests.
The corridor smoothly transitioned into the living room, where dry rations and other debris littered everywhere, confirming that the ex-captain led a "bachelor" lifestyle.
Interestingly, Mako wasn't in a hurry to get up, so I had to do it first, catching an unexpectedly disappointed look on myself.
"And don't let this happen again…" Mako drawled, adjusting her half-unbuttoned shirt, making the cleavage even wider.
"It won't! Because my request implies... Ahem... cohabitation... Sorry it's sudden, but wouldn't you like to fly with me?" I extended my hand to the girl.
"Where? Why? Just like that?! WHAT?!" Mako staggered, nearly falling again.
"I need you to become my first officer!" I grabbed her pleasant-to-the-touch palm and helped her keep balance.
"Oh, first officer... Stop... What first officer?!"
"Mine, as I said... You see... I have no one else to turn to... After leaving the corporation, I lost all my connections... You're the only person I... talk to... and whom... I can trust…"
"First officer where?" the girl grimaced, putting the fallen items back on the shelves.
"Right... I should tell you everything and apologize again…" and I told, trying not to miss a single detail...
The station's domes had darkened, heralding the imminent curfew.
*
Upon finishing the knightly monologue, we moved from the corridor to the sofa.
The screen illuminating the dim room broadcast a news program, and the silence dragged on too long. Taking a breath, I finally mustered the courage to speak:
"So what do you say? Will you help me bear this unbearable burden? It'll be scary to be alone with that scientist... he wants too much from me..."
"Sigh... I'll answer your question... But first, you must answer mine..." Mako placed her hand over mine.
"Tell me... What do I mean to you?.." genuine interest read in her gaze.
"Obviously! You're my only friend… With you, I can be myself... and you're a first-class captain and a born leader... You could teach me so much… and... Sorry... for not contacting you, just... I really... had... doubts..."
"…" up to this moment, Mako had only blinked.
From such a reaction, my nerves went for a walk:
"Well, why are you silent?! Yes, I'm a coward!!! Yes, I ignore hints! Yes, I run from any risk... But understand, sometimes you look at the world and think: is all this for me?! Maybe I'm unworthy?! Maybe, if I believe it's real... it'll evaporate... like a dream..."
"Moron... And that's all you can say? Maybe you'll stop making up excuses for yourself already? It's just unbearable..." her gaze lost its human spark.
When Mako squeezed my hand harder and emotionlessly leaned back on the sofa.
"Fine... I know exactly what you want to hear... But first... I must... make sure... of the correctness of the decision... Well, I mean... my worldview... it's... different from... um... yes..."
"So you only need naked facts?" she sighed, watching one idiot prepare to drop dead, though sitting it was hard to do.
"How did I fall for such an idiot…"
"Actually, my intelligence level is above average…" the interlocutor forced the sad knight to shut up, sinking her lips into his.
Suddenly, all pressing problems, invincible fears, and ghostly experiences vanished, leaving only the beauty of a feeling impossible to describe.
"Enough proof now? Won't hide from me anymore?" Mako pulled away and licked her lips.
In the half-squinted eyes of the predator girl burned genuine excitement, and the grin baring her incisors resembled a shark's.
"I won't... I get you..." and while my logic tried to make my gaze look into her eyes, not at the breast spilling out of the cleavage... it punched it in the face on the spot and went about its business, jumping from one rounded shape to another.
"Good boy, and now you must say…" quietly and tenderly whispered Mako in my ear, letting me absorb her intoxicating scent.
"Say what?.."
"What-what?! That you're an idiot, I already know that!.. Speak, come on, you know!!" suddenly she gave me a chop to the back of the head and frowned.
Grimacing as if they started drowning me in a cistern of citrus juice, I tried to resume the dialogue, but the tongue fiercely resisted the owner's will, as if he wanted not to say a phrase, but to emit a death rattle and explode.
But feelings still conquered fear, changing my fate forever.
"I... love you... Mako... with all my synthetic heart..." literally every rune came with indescribable difficulty.
"See? Not so scary!" practically jubilant, Mako blurted out.
"And yes, I agree to be your first officer! I'll take discipline on the ship myself, Captain..." the taste of her lips eclipsed the universe again. By the way, this particular interval greatly exceeded the previous one in time, as far as I remember...
It wasn't hard to guess that the trip back to the ship had to be postponed... Circumstances insisted that we spend this time together...
*
1: I.K.A. (Intergalactic Knights Academy) – network of educational institutions.