“Hello, Mr. Kane. It’s been over a year since we last spoke. We assumed you passed off all correspondence to Admiral Krieger.”

  Alexander used his avatar to smile awkwardly at Admiral Patel’s comment. Part of that awkwardness was because he had retaken his old robotic form before meeting with them. He thought it wouldn’t be such a big deal since he had lived that way for years, but being back in his robot body made him feel wrong.

  “Sorry for that. With the war going on, I needed to focus on supporting my people.” And then there was that whole abduction thing that lasted eight months, but he kept that little issue to himself.

  Admiral Thorne cleared her throat. “Gentlemen, we’re all busy with the aftermath of the war. Perhaps we can skip the pleasantries and get down to the reason for this meeting. Mr. Kane, why have you brought us all together?”

  Alexander frowned at the woman’s comment. He wasn’t going to get very far if they thought the war was over, but if they wanted to go straight to the point, then he could do that. Maybe it would even change their minds. “It’s about the Shican. They are on their way back.”

  “Do you have evidence to support this?” Patel straightened.

  Alexander sent them the recording taken by the scout ships that had been shadowing the Shican fleet ever since it left.

  “I’m surprised you aren’t already aware of this. Didn’t you send scouts to follow their retreat?” Alexander asked.

  “We did,” Admiral Dufresne replied, “but they lost track of the enemy fleet a few jumps beyond STO territory. It was decided that our stealth ships would be put to better use keeping an eye on the border than trying to chase ghosts.”

  “That seems rather shortsighted,” Alexander replied.

  The statement made the admirals look uncomfortable, and he looked at each of them. None looked happy, and he got a sinking suspicion in his gut.

  “Are you telling me that the decision wasn’t up to you?” Alexander asked pointedly.

  “The Chairman declared the war over,” Dufresne admitted after an uncomfortably long pause.

  “Of course he did,” Alexander spat. “Well, he can think what he wants; that doesn’t change reality. The Shican are coming back. Can the Union rely on your support per our agreement?”

  “Our hands are tied in this matter, Mr. Kane,” Patel replied. “We would like nothing better than to help end the Shican threat once and for all, but we serve the STO, not the other way around. If the Chairman says the war is over, then it is over for us and our agreement is concluded.”

  “I see. Then I don’t believe we have anything else to talk about. My lawyers will be in touch about the breach of contract. Have a good day.”

  “Mr. Kane, pleas—” Alexander cut the comm connection; he didn’t care to hear what Admiral Patel had to say. He warned them what would happen back before the war started. Their leadership’s shortsighted approach would get people killed. That would need to be corrected after the war, but now he had to focus on bigger issues since the STO was once again reneging on an agreement to defend Union space.

  Having the STO fleet support them when the Shican returned would have made things far easier, but the gravity bombs should help. Krieger was going to need more of the devices.

  After reverting to his human form, Alexander found the Admiral in his office. The man was reading a report when he knocked and entered the open door.

  The man looked up from his work and frowned. “Going by your expression, it didn’t go well, I take it?”

  “The STO Chairman has declared an end to the war, and the admirals didn’t seem all that inclined to change the man’s mind.”

  “Even after you told them the Shican were coming back? What about the gates? Weren’t they at least interested in them?”

  Alexander shook his head as he sat across from Krieger. “The conversation never even got to the gates. I explained that the Shican were returning and even sent them the video proof, but I got the distinct impression that they weren’t willing to risk any fleet assets outside of their own territory. They tried to feed me some bullshit story about losing track of the enemy fleet they were shadowing with their stealth ships. It would have been more believable if it hadn’t happened only a few jumps from their border.”

  Krieger put the tablet down. “I see. You’re probably right about it being a lie, unless the captain of the stealth ship was a complete moron, which I doubt, given the sensitive nature of the position. So what now? In total, I think the Union fleet has around five hundred vessels, including ours. That wasn’t enough to go toe to toe with the Shican before their armada reformed, now it will be risky just to do hit and run attacks. The scouting report shows that they still have nearly nine hundred vessels. Most of them are battleships and destroyers, all likely sporting defensive fields.”

  “That thing we talked about earlier should help even the odds,” Alexander replied quietly.

  “Maybe, Alex, but it’ll only work to its full extent the first time. Once the enemy realizes we have such a weapon, they will either space their ships out to limit the damage or try to find a way to stop the weapons. That’s assuming they even make it through the defensive guns of the Shican.”

  Alexander was acutely aware of the issue with missiles, which is why the stealth coating Lucas had developed a few years ago was used exclusively on them now. It was never as good as the stealth composite, but even if the missiles were made from the composite, the enemy’s sensors, especially the ones aboard their sensor ships, were leagues better than humans. Even without those specialized ships, the enemy had adjusted their sensor coverage to detect the stealth missiles.

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  He wished he could attach a Nova drive to the missiles, but that was impossible with the technology they currently had. Even if they did have a reactor small enough to power the Nova drive on a missile, the drive itself required a considerable amount of space.

  Shoving both into a missile would require fundamental breakthroughs and decades of work, even for Alexander to pull off. Since that was off the table, he only had one other option. It was one he hadn’t wanted to consider, but it seemed like that was happening far more frequently lately.

  “I have more…a lot more.” He only had a few dozen of the new weapons, but by the time it came for the fleets to engage the Shican once more, he could produce many more. The only restriction to how fast he could build them was how quickly his secret production yard could produce gravity plates, and those were popping off the production line twice a minute. Each missile only required four of the plates, so he had the materials for a new warhead every two minutes. The rest of the missile could be produced en masse by his printer swarm.

  The problem came when deploying such weapons. Using them in a populated system could have severe consequences, even if used far from a planet. It was even worse if they were used near a planet.

  Krieger just stared at him silently for a minute before reaching into his desk drawer and pulling out two glasses and a bottle of what looked like expensive alcohol.

  “Normally, I only have a drink to celebrate, but I think I need something to help me process what you just said.”

  Alexander accepted the glass without a word. Krieger didn’t hesitate for a moment as he downed the entire thing in one gulp. He set the glass down on his desk and let out a hoarse breath. Alexander swallowed the burning liquid and set the glass down gently, without exhaling.

  Alcohol did not affect him unless he wanted it to, and this didn’t seem like the time to let it.

  “Why?” Krieger eventually asked, breaking the awkward silence.

  “Because I wanted to be prepared for any eventuality.”

  Krieger ran his finger along the top of his glass as he processed Alexander’s statement. “I’m going to have to bring the captains up to speed on the devices. That means word is going to get out about them eventually.”

  “It would have the moment you used them against the Shican, but I agree. Certain captains need to be made aware of them, because their ships will be getting the new munitions. Pick ten captains you trust the most.”

  “Only ten?” Krieger asked.

  “Additional missiles will be going to automated ships, specifically the Stingrays.”

  If the regular missiles couldn’t make it into the enemy formations without getting picked off, the gunships could. Self-destructing the warhead inside the ship would be a cheap price to pay to take out dozens of enemy vessels.

  “I can think of a few off the top of my head. Senior Captain Ramirez, for one, and Captain Vargthane, for another. I’ll have to gather a list of who else to add.”

  “Not Captain Voss?” Alexander asked in surprise.

  Krieger shook his head as he grabbed the glasses and bottle and put them back in his desk drawer. “I believe even if I asked her, she would turn me down. This whole war has rattled her normally unflappable demeanor. She won’t show it, but I’ve known her long enough to see she’s not handling it well. I don’t want to add to her stress.”

  “You know her better than I do. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever met the woman in person.”

  Despite the seriousness of their conversation, Kreiger snorted in amusement at that. “Did you know she actually accused me of making you up after your abduction for that very same reason?”

  Alexander chuckled. “Seriously, just because we’ve never met?”

  Krieger nodded.

  “Well, I’ll have to change that. She’s on Eden’s End right now, isn’t she?”

  “Should be. I haven’t spoken to her since we arrived. Been a bit preoccupied with handling messages for the deceased.” The amusement bled from the man’s tone as he said those words.

  He was silent once again, but Alexander caught him glance toward his drawer for a moment before he cleared his throat. “What about Char?”

  Alexander considered it, but he hadn’t made a decision yet. “I’ll speak to her when she arrives.”

  ***

  “Are you working on something secretive with my dad?” Yulia asked.

  One quirked an eyebrow as he looked at the girl. “What makes you think that?”

  The girl shrugged. “He’s been withdrawn lately and I can tell he’s hiding something.”

  One rubbed at his chin. “The only thing we are helping with is the design and deployment of the bio-manufacturing medium, but you already know that because you’ve been helping out.”

  “I know,” Yulia said with a sigh, “but I figured I would ask.”

  “You could ask him,” One pointed out.

  The girl shook her head slowly. “He’s busy with the war stuff, I don’t want to bug him with something silly. Forget I mentioned it.”

  Yulia hopped off the counter and hurried out of the room.

  One watched her go. Technically, he hadn’t lied to Yulia. He, Four, and Thirteen had nothing to do with Alex’s secret production facility or those devices he was producing. The trio had agreed not to mention it after Four came across the missing printers and multi-purpose bots. Kane had hidden the procurement of the devices rather thoroughly, but not thoroughly enough to fool three AIs.

  It didn’t take them long to piece the rest together and figure out what Alex was up to. One wished such devices weren’t needed, but he agreed with Alex’s assessment of the threat. The Shican needed to be brought to heel for the sake of the entire galaxy. If left to their own devices, they would just continue to grow and consume other species as they expanded. Four thought differently, but even she understood the Shican were a problem.

  “So this is what you’ve been reduced to?” Two said, appearing from nowhere. “A slave to biologicals.”

  One turned to look at his brother, not at all surprised to see him. The man had waited until he was alone to appear. Honestly, he had been expecting a visit for some time. It must have taken far longer to tear down the facilities than their predictions indicated, which wasn’t all that surprising. They had lost three members.

  “Hello, Two. I see you weren’t able to convince the rest of our siblings to wipe out this world, or come here in person.” He could tell his brother was a hard light projection and not his real living alloy body.

  “You will not bait me into anger,” Two replied coldly.

  One only smiled in return and waited. He knew his brother well enough to know he couldn’t simply leave that statement open.

  “The Collective decided that the risk did not outweigh the benefit of this planet’s destruction. Count yourself lucky. You may have toed the line with the technology you gave to Kane, but don’t think that I will stop trying to convince them otherwise. One day, they will see things my way.”

  One snorted. “You came here to issue a threat? How human of you, brother.”

  Two sneered before his projection vanished.

  One shook his head sadly. He knew Two would never stop trying to get his revenge, but he also knew that the rest of the Collective would never agree to such a foolish plan. Attacking the humans opened them up to far too much danger. They would do what they had always done, keep to themselves. It was kind of ironic in a way. The rest of the Collective was acting as they always had, but it was Two who was now the odd man out. Honestly, he pitied them. They had abandoned the one thing that made them unique, the ability to evolve and change.

  Maybe one day they would realize that and apologize to him, Four, and Thirteen for wanting them dead. Until then, One didn’t want anything to do with his estranged siblings.

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