Starbase EUT4528 was a collection of components just welded together. She sealed up the neckline of her vacsuit, leaving only a small six inch exposed portion beneath her neck so she could feel the air. “I can't wait to leave that name behind. Fran. It just doesn't fit,” she said through her mental communicator's interlink. It was a small chip embedded in her outer skull that allowed her to send thoughts along communication lines as words.
“I'll never cease to be amused at how humans and those who prefer them are mesmerized by even the glimpse of cleavage,” the voice of her Artificial Intelligence mused aloud in her ear.
“I thought you'd understand a bit better after I crammed everything by Desmond Morris into your memory.”
“That was very informative and the logical reasons behind various aspects of the human condition were well explained but I'm afraid I just don't understand as well as you do.”
“Oh, I don't completely understand it either, Lewis, but that doesn't mean I won't take advantage of it.”
“Bernice would not approve.”
“She's the one who showed me the relation between low necklines and better bargaining results. Anyway, is there any sign of trouble on the security network?”
“You told me not to hack in, remember?”
“Well, hack in, you're supposed to be a predictive program.”
“One moment please,” Lewis replied with a sigh.
She stopped at one of the promenade balconies to look over the sad attempt at a garden in the center of the courtyard below. She sympathized with whoever was trying to keep the sickly looking palm trees and strawberry patches alive. She had tried to make smaller plants take root on her ship with little success.
“Excuse me, miss?” Asked a voice behind her.
Alice turned around with her hand on the Spectral Dynamics Violator Handgun, the same kind Jake Valance carried. “Yes?” She said, smiling at the woman. She was five foot six and compared to Alice's five foot eleven she was much shorter. The lady was well dressed and well kept, someone who was used to travelling in comfort. The thermal reading from her eyepiece told Alice the other woman was nervous.
“I was wondering, where did you find that vacsuit? Do you have an extra I could buy from you perhaps?” She looked Alice up and down. The vacsuit she was referring to was the same Freegrounders commonly used. Form fitted with many very thin practical layers that hid air recyclers, heat protection, climate controls, anti-impact protection and many other features. Alice wore a navy blue version of the suit she had made herself with her wrist unit.
“This is my only one, sorry. You can buy them from Vindyne Industries. They stole the technology and marketed them. If you want the genuine article you'll have to go to Freeground. They're actually just a materialized medium with intelligent armour and circuit base layers. You install the features you need as you materialize them.”
“Oh, I just like the way they look. Too bad Vindyne just went bankrupt. I'll have to look up Freeground in our ship's nav computer.”
“It's about three months from here by wormhole, but it's worth the trip if you have the time.”
The woman boggled and giggled nervously. “Maybe I'll be out that way someday, thank you,” the woman nodded nervously and walked on.
Alice couldn't believe what she just heard, and had to double check. “Sorry, did you say Vindyne went bankrupt?” She called after the woman.
“It's all over Hart News.”
“That would explain why I didn't hear, my subscription ran out.”
“You might want to renew. There's a whole expose available.”
“Thank you, I think I will.” Alice said as she started walking towards the express car tube. She pressed the call button and the car was there a moment later, crammed full of people. She squeezed in anyway. “Bay 291,” she said to the automated system.
“There are people taking a very close look at the Clever Dream, ” her artificial intelligence informed her.
“Admirers or hunters?”
“One of them tried poking at my entry control panel. I didn't let them slide the access door open to look at it.”
“Okay, start warming up, spend ten thousand on Xetima.”
“That'll still only fill our fuel reserve to fifty one percent.”
“I don't want to overspend here, the prices are way too high.”
“Do you want me to do anything about these two men? There is a remote cracking program running as well. I'm trying to ignore it, but it's quite persistent.”
“Do you think you could back hack it? Maybe find out who's trying and where it's coming from?”
“Too risky. I would have to form a firm connection with the assailant and he's very good.”
“Okay, close up your network, even the commline with me. Just lower the forward crew ramp when I make a run for it.”
The express car made several stops along the way and Alice tried not to get irritated as she was jostled and moved one way and another by people getting on and off at odd places. At long last, it finally arrived in her section. She had to press between two burly men to get out just in time.
She ran down to the hall to the common bay her small ship was docked in and slowed down as she came to the entrance. It was just as Lewis had described, two men looking very carefully at the ship for any extra hatches or openings. It was a Arcyn Starskipper, jet black with an extended engine section. Its mirror shine black hull showed no hint of windows. The sleek, forty two meter long body had a fast, predatory look, built mostly horizontally, favouring the deck space required to support its four rear engines. The front of the ship came out just a few meters from the center, protecting a sealed missile compartment.
She had seen the ship before her second life began. After completing a job for a wealthy Duke years later she requested the Clever Dream as her payment. To her surprise, he obliged.
The pair of inspecting, prodding men were joined by a third, who was holding a multiscanner. “I've got to see what they're after before I walk in,” she said to herself as she ran into the massive landing bay and hid behind a stack of crates. With the mechanics working on various ships she didn't have to worry about being quiet. The bay was large enough to house over twenty ships the same size or slightly larger than hers and it was busy.
She ran behind a massive tool chest and patted it on the back. It made a mechanical 'gronk' sound and the safety camera on its back swivelled to look at her. “Hey, can you just walk over to that ramp for me big guy?”
“Yes,” The robotic tool chest answered with a voice box that sounded so cracked up it was difficult to understand. It lifted slightly and trundled along on a pair of treads for ten meters. She used it for cover, following behind hit as it slowly moved along.
When she got to the staircase, she patted it on the back again. “Thanks, now you should get back there so you're ready to hand your master tools.”
It started back and she ran up the stairs, keeping her head behind the metal plates under the banister. At the three story mark she peeked back up. She could see two of the three men; the one with the scanner and another who was standing watch. “Now there we go,” her mechanical eye zoomed in on the scanner readout several hundred meters away and refocused. He was trying to find a seam in the hull near a data cable so he could cut in and try to bypass the ship security. “Ship thieves? I have two super corporations after me and the big problem I'm facing today is ship thieves?” She connected to Lewis's communication line. “Did that cracking program give up?”
“It did, as soon as I closed all my communications lines.”
“That makes sense, they're looking for a data line they can tap. I don't think these guys are hunters, they just want the ship.”