Even though they were assigned to the room with the rest of Team Tough Guys, Butler and Maurer, by benefit of not actually needing sleep, went to the command deck. Mother allowed this.
Stryker pulled me and Chuckie aside before we got into our rooms. Jeff grunted, but he went on inside with the kids while Nathalie went with the others into the couples’ suite.
“You guys know we didn’t tamper, right?” Stryker asked quietly.
“Dude, seriously, that’s like so five minutes ago.”
“No, it’s not.” Stryker looked around, appeared to feel the coast was clear, then went on. “Okay, per Drax, he had us change things so that Mother can’t eavesdrop on any of us anymore. It was a complex program, but as long as she doesn’t hear words that would indicate mutiny, sabotage, or other traitorous activities, she now can’t listen unless one of us is asking her a question, and she can’t eavesdrop unless one of the command crew asks it of her.”
“Sound,” Chuckie said. “What has you worried about this?”
“About that? Nothing. About the fact that there was nothing any of us could do to reprogram her to accept a different command crew? A lot. The positions are set. The only backups allowed are the rest of Airborne, Commander Reader, Drax, and you, Chuck. No one else will have control of the ship even if they’re sitting in the chairs.”
“That should be impossible,” Chuckie said slowly. “Especially considering that Drax was also trying to do the reprogramming.”
“Brian isn’t okayed to be in the seat?”
“No. It doesn’t make sense, Kitty. Right now, the person we want as the commander of the ship is Brian—he’s the only one with any real experience and he’s trained for this for years. But programming-wise, we couldn’t even insert him as an option.”
“Did you try to insert others?” Chuckie asked.
Stryker nodded. “We did. That’s how we got the rest of you in as alternates. We tried everyone on board, by the way, other than the kids. You all are it.”
“Wow. That seems . . . really freaking weird.”
“Yeah, Kitty, it’s Kitty Weird for sure. So be sure that you guys all stay safe. Because if you’re hurt or worse, this ship isn’t going anywhere.”
“Other than where it’s being forced to go by outside elements, you mean.”
Stryker nodded. “About that—can we try to reach Chernobog?”
“We can, but Mother said there was no way for her to keep that kind of communication private and secured.”
“Oh, we don’t need it secured. She gave us all a variety of codes we can use to relay information. They all seem innocuous and you have to have the key.”
“Who has the key?” Chuckie asked.
“Chernobog.” Stryker grinned. “Olga figured it out, because you know those two are competitive, so Adriana knows it, too. But those are the only three. Adrianna hasn’t told Malcolm, by the way, and I know this because Olga made her swear not to. I think more as a test than out of any real desire to keep Malcolm from knowing the codes.”
“Olga always has her reasons, and she’s almost never wrong. And they’re among our closest allies, so, yeah, sounds good. Chuckie?”
“What is it you want to ask Chernobog?”
“I want to tell her what’s going on and see if she can figure out how we override the locked programming. Not because I don’t think you guys can do the jobs,” Stryker added quickly. “But because, frankly, most of you are the ones leading every charge. It would have been bad enough if you and Jeff had died on the planet, Kitty. But it would have been worse because we’d all be living there now.”
“You have a good point, Eddy. But do we have a risk of giving away our position to enemies?”
“Frankly,” Chuckie answered, “yes. But we’re literally flying blind. If you want Jeff to okay it, then ask him. Otherwise, I think it’s worth trying.”
“Run it by Serene, not Jeff. This is her bailiwick, and yours, Secret Agent Man, not his.”
“Will do. Anything else?” he asked Stryker.
“Yeah. We heard you got a distress call?”
“We did.” Filled him in on what had transpired. “Who told you about it?”
“Mother did.”
Chuckie and I looked at each other. “Interestinger and more interestinger. Did she say why she told you?”
“Yes. She wants us to help determine where the distress call came from. She seems really stressed about us helping. Like, I didn’t know an AI could get that stressed kind of stressed. Butler and Maurer don’t freak out.”
“Anymore. They did before we were able to save them from the self-destructs. But, yeah, I do agree that Mother seems more human than AI.”
“I’ll talk to Camilla about it,” Chuckie said. “And then, she, Serene, and I will talk to Drax about it. So far, Mother doesn’t appear to be our enemy.”
“No,” Stryker agreed. “But the other programming of hers that we couldn’t override in any way is her need to protect and save sentient life.”
“Well, that’s not a bad thing.”
“It can be, because it’s her prime directive.”
“Again, why is this bad?”
Chuckie looked thoughtful. “Anything taken to an extreme . . .”
“Exactly,” Stryker said. “Guys, seriously, if we can’t find whoever called and asked for help, I think Mother may be so distressed by it that she slags. And if she does, then we are up the creek without any hope of a paddle, because she’s tied into every system, meaning we’ll be without life support, power, the ability to go anywhere, or even call for help.”
CHAPTER 50
PROPHECIES OF DOOM HANDED OUT, Chuckie went to get Serene and Camilla, and I went in to my family in the now-unlikely hope of getting some sleep.
However, I had kids to both entertain and distract me, so that was good. Even though it had been a really long day, the kids had enjoyed that excellent nap, so they weren’t as tired as one could have hoped.
We decided to forego baths and such, since we had no idea how long we were going to get to rest. So, faces washed and teeth brushed, we all got into nightclothes—the standard A-C issue blue pajama bottoms and white t-shirts with fluffy white robes to snuggle into. “Wow, even in space the Elves deliver.”
Jeff laughed. “I’d assume it’s Mother’s doing, baby.”
Totally knew it wasn’t, but there was no time like the present to not mention it.
Despite being ready for bed, though, the kids were wide awake and they were also restless. Not a really great combination for sleep or relaxation.
Each of the rooms had a large window. Every window had a retractable metal cover, so asteroid showers would not, hopefully, end up as death sentences. Plus, there were patch kits. Jeff spent some time teaching the kids how to use said kits, which was both important and also, under the circumstances, entertaining. Then, in an attempt to keep things interesting, we all looked out the window.