Valterion: The Space/Arch? Mage

Chapter 46: Interlude 6 – Infiltration

Location: Estriduros Republic; Estriduros System; En route to Star Force Station; Small Yacht

Maja is alone. For the first time in her life, she is on her own. Sean, the last of her parents – or programmers – died months in the past, and Sara, who she sees as her big sister – not that she has told her that fact – is currently flying to planet Estriduros to get them some IDs.

Maja has her own mission. Currently, she is heading toward Star Force Station, or SFS as everyone calls it. The small yacht hums around her, while she sits in the captain’s chair just for the sake of it. Due to her nature as an AI, she doesn’t need to touch any controls with her robotic body, as everything can be controlled over a wireless connection.

Another benefit is her ability to multitask, as controlling a starship this small only takes a fraction of her computational capabilities. That’s why Maja is also working on fake credentials to get actual access to SFS once she reaches it. The enhanced wormhole leading there is still a few hours away, so she’s got plenty of time. Not that she needs it. The thought of the wormhole brings a smile to her face, her humanlike mannerisms are executed automatically at this point.

My first solo trip through a wormhole is the same one Sara did her first jump through.

An hour later, the credentials are done. Meet Major Maja Valtron of the Estriduros Republic’s Space Rangers. She’s heading for a secret mission to SFS, and can’t be disturbed during her stay as the mission is critical. The name Valtron is Maja’s creation, as she obviously doesn’t have a surname. The closest one is Valterion, Sara’s name, but she can’t use it. It would raise too many red flags, hence Valtron.

As for the rank, Maja chose Major after weighing the pros and cons of each rank. General was out immediately, as their numbers are too low. A sudden appearance of another General would be suspicious. The same goes with Colonel. The lower ranks have problems as well, as they are too low in the pecking order and could be ordered around by those higher up. That leaves the Major rank, not too far up in the ladder to raise suspicions, but still high enough to ensure that she isn’t stopped for questioning after every step she takes.

All that is only possible due to the fact, that this yacht belonged to a General once. The wardrobe is filled with Space Rangers uniforms and the best part is the fact that the rank insignia are very simple. Every rank has a specific number of stripes, starting with Private and one stripe. The General’s uniforms on the yacht have six stripes, so Maja just has to remove two of them to pose as a Major.

This is done pretty quickly and soon after, Maja wears her new uniform and views herself through the cameras in the room.

Ugh, it does not fit at all.

As the General was male and seemingly a big man, the uniform is a good bit too big. Thinking a bit, the solution comes quickly, and Maja walks over to the other room. Luckily, Sara hasn’t cleared out the whole wardrobe so there are still plenty of clothes in there. Grabbing a few of them, Maja starts putting them on until they don’t fit anymore. She has considerably bulked up with all those layers. Next, she returns to the uniform, she left on the bed of the other room and tries it on again.

Now it fits. Good thing I don’t sweat… So many layers must be hot as hell for a human.

Major Maja Valtron is ready. The four stripes are presented proudly on her shoulders and the Space Rangers emblem on her chest broadcasts her identity and the status of a classified mission if someone checks. Now she just has to wait till the yacht reaches the wormhole.

Maja’s body goes into power-saving mode and two hours later the ship reaches the wormhole. She reactivates her body and stretches a bit, then she hails the small space station next to the wormhole to get clearance for wormhole travel.

“This is Major Valtron speaking, I’ve got an urgent mission on SFS, sending clearance now.” She attaches her credentials and classified mission to the message and waits.

Soon after, an incoming communication flashes on the display, and with a mental nudge, she accepts the call. “Major Valtron, everything checks out and you are cleared to proceed. Have a good trip, wormhole control out.”

Nice, first hurdle check. So far so good. Now I just have to hope that it goes just as smoothly inside the station. At least there is no Sara to jinx it.

Maja heads toward the wormhole and slowly decelerates. Then she enters the ring and the windows darken. She’s entered hyperspace – the first time without a Space Mage.

That’s probably the only positive thing that came out of Utopia… Not that anyone knows that.

The trip through the wormhole is weird. While everything goes smoothly, there is still something missing when there is no magic being cast around the ship. It doesn’t matter though, as the journey only takes about 15 minutes. It’s a short one, Maja doesn’t even leave the star system. SFS is just at the very edge. It’s the main base of Star Force and a major base of the other two military branches as well. That’s the reason why it warrants a dedicated wormhole, even an enhanced one.

Maja emerges with the yacht and the first thing she sees after the windows clear back up, is a massive Battleship. The front of the hull has the name ERS Conqueror written on it. A glance at her database shows her that this is the newest and most advanced Battleship of Star Force. A loud signal alerts her to an incoming priority message and she quickly puts it on speaker.

“This is the ERS Conqueror, state your business and prepare to be scanned.”

Maja frowns deeply.

What’s the meaning of this? Why are they suddenly so paranoid? My cover is going to be put to the test immediately.

“I’m Major Valtron from the Rangers, here for a critical mission on the station. Time is of the essence, so please be quick.”

“You’re not on the list of incoming people today. I have to ask you to head to our hangar bay for a thorough inspection. I’m sending out fighters to escort you. Please confirm.”

Maja grimaces. That’s not going according to her plan.

Ugh, I didn’t want to use it, as it’s going to put me on a timer… Fuck, I have to. I can’t go through an inspection.

“Negative, Conqueror. My mission is of the utmost importance and can’t be delayed. Clearance code Victor Delta six two six eight Alpha.”

This is a Space Rangers security clearance code of the highest importance. It should open every door in the republic's military structure. The problem is the code is from the database of the station she was born on. The station has been destroyed for several months now. This doesn’t mean that the code isn’t valid anymore. It still is, and it shouldn’t even raise a flag at first glance. But if it passes through the system, it’s going to raise an alarm at some point, which means Maja is on the clock now. She has to hurry. Luckily, the communications officer on the Conqueror is immediately appeased by the code and finally gives her the go-ahead.

“Your code is valid, Major. I’m sorry for causing you such inconvenience, but there have been several incidents in the past months, so security is tight now. I wish you a comfortable stay at the station. Conqueror out.”

The connection cuts and Maja immediately hits the acceleration. No more wasting time! She circles the Battleship and finally, the station itself comes into view. It’s beyond huge and calling it station is a bit understated. It looks more like ten stations welded together. It’s a massive hub of activity with countless small shuttles flying around. To the right, several openings are big enough to swallow two complete Destroyers each. Most of the bays are currently empty, but there are also a few ships inside. The left and center of the station look more normal, but here and there are still a lot of smaller hangar bays.

The scanners come back with a reading and Maja is taken aback. The station is more than fifteen kilometers wide and half of that in height.

Finding the right server room is going to be harder than I thought.

Maja shakes her head and focuses on the matter ahead. A quick call with flight control gets her a route to an empty hangar bay and she immediately sets course. This time she didn’t have to use the clearance code and she sighs in relief. This buys her some more time, as the code would have been flagged way earlier inside the station.

She reaches the hangar bay half an hour later. It’s located slightly left of the middle and almost at the top level. The high traffic around the station forced her to go slow, but now she is finally able to enter the station. A quick check of her uniform later, she opens the airlock and the outer hatch and steps down on the station floor.

A middle-aged soldier with dark eyes and slightly greying black hair stands at attention and salutes her. “Major, I’m Sergeant Flush and your escort for the station.”

Maja who has already accessed the station net upon landing, quickly accesses some files on military behavior, then smiles while returning the salute. “At ease, Sergeant. Nice to meet you, I’m Major Valtron.”

The security on the net here is laughable… It feels like I can just slip in. Why were the Earth systems so much harder? Is it because they use another kind of code and I’m programmed with the same that’s used in the republic’s military?

The Sergeant nods and relaxes his posture. “Likewise Major. Now, how can I help you?”

Maja has already planned for a reception like this and stops saluting as well. “I need to check several storage rooms for physical backups of a critical top-secret project. We had a breach and some data got lost. I’m here to get the backups, so not everything is lost.”

“May I ask what project? The station is huge and if we can narrow it down, we can be faster.”

Maja shakes her head. “Unfortunately not. I was ordered to keep everything to my eyes only. The project is a bit of a delicate matter… But I can say, that it’s a joint Star Force and Space Rangers project, if this helps anything.”

He stares at empty air for a while, then his face visibly brightens.

Holographic interface? Looks like it.

“It does. There is a dedicated warehouse for joint forces projects. We have to take another shuttle if we don’t want to walk for hours though. It’s on the other side of the station.”

“Alright, lead the way.”

They both start walking and exit the hangar bay. Sergeant Flush sets a brisk pace, and they soon enter another hangar. This one is even smaller and has a badge saying “Shuttles” beside the door. Inside there is a shuttle waiting for them. It’s a small one and Maja looks at it curiously. “It’s a bit small. Are you going to fly it? I don’t think it fits a third person to pilot it.”

Sergeant Flush laughs. “Your first time on SFS, Major?”

Maja nods.

“Ahh, that explains it. The station’s AI pilots all shuttles around the station. There is too much traffic around here. Only arriving and leaving ships are flown manually. The AI takes care of the shuttles and avoids the other ships if necessary.”

That makes sense… The shuttles were flying too smoothly on my way here. I wonder how powerful this AI is. I’ve got to be careful.

Maja smirks. “Alright, then let’s put our lives in the hands of a computer.”

“Oh, not at all, the AI can fly the shuttles way better than any human ever can. It’s completely safe, don’t worry, Major.”

Don’t I know that Sergeant Flush.

Maja has to repress a snort, but amusement still glints in her eyes. They board the shuttle and exit the hangar. During their flight, Maja keeps a close eye on the station net, looking for any signs of her clearance code.

So far so good. Looks like the Conqueror relies on its own code database without double-checking with the station. At least not immediately.

Another process is scanning the personnel database for the whereabouts of Sara’s friends. So far, she was only able to locate Doctor Silver. She’s still working on the academy station, but her file has a note in it, that she is currently on leave, she should be down on planet Estriduros. Unfortunately, she isn’t able to locate either Thomas, Lucy, or Simon. All three are Mages. Strangely, Maja can’t find files for any Mage. She has an idea.

“Sergeant Flush, do you have a tablet with you? I was looking for Mage files on the station net but couldn’t find any. I thought I could look for an old friend who joined Star Force real quick while I was here.”

“You can’t, unfortunately. Mage files are protected with extra security. But we can make a detour to the personnel office if you want.”

“Sounds good, but let’s do it on our way back, the mission takes priority.”

The Sergeant nods and they continue their travel in silence. Meanwhile, Maja locates Shay’s file and after cracking an additional security level on the file, she almost raises her eyebrows in surprise.

Interesting, while it’s not so nice, we can use it.

Shay is listed as a witness in an ongoing case against her former superior officer. Maja muses, that they can approach her current ship under the pretext of needing Shay in another court hearing. She saves the current location and route of Shay’s ship together with the information about Doctor Silver.

Meanwhile, the shuttle has reached its destination and they both exit into another part of the station. Sergeant Flush quickly leads her to a massive warehouse and Maja starts to look for any information about the Mage replacement project, she was originally developed for.

After walking through the rows of shelves without finding anything, she walks over to the unconnected computer next to the door. It contains an offline list of the warehouse’s contents.

She still doesn’t find anything, and relief starts to overcome her. She suppresses any reaction though.

Pfew, it seems Sean was thorough enough. Thanks, Dad. The project is completely dead.

She puts on a deep frown and turns to the Sergeant. “Is that the only storage room? It’s nothing in here…”

Flush’s gaze goes distant again, then he shakes his head. “No, that’s it, unfortunately. I’m sorry.”

Maja swears a string of curse words, but inwardly she is smiling. Then she composes herself and addresses the Sergeant again. “Well shit, General’s not going to be happy… Let’s go to the personnel office so that I get at least one success for today…”

The Sergeant agrees, and another trip with the shuttle later, Maja finds herself in an office, full of activity. She immediately grabs onto a wireless connection to one of the computers and starts cracking the security. Meanwhile, she walks up to the counter, so she isn’t suspicious. A smiling blonde woman greets her.

“Good afternoon, Major, how can I help you today.”

She gets access to the personnel database in time and grabs the name of the first Mage between the age of twenty and thirty, she could find. Maja offers the woman at the counter a smile and reads the nametag on her chest. “Hello Miss Zerun, I’m looking for an old friend of mine, a Mage. I was told to ask here for her whereabouts.”

“Certainly, can you tell me their name?”

“Yes, it’s Kayla Puran, she’s from the Bon Delaaz System.”

Miss Zerun nods. “Alright, give me a minute to look. You can sit down over there if you want.”

Maja thanks the woman and sits down on the bench where she indicated while searching in the database for Thomas, Simon, and Lucy. She finds Lucy first. She’s currently aboard the Cruiser ERS Topal, doing patrols along the border to the Blueridge Alliance. A minute later she finds Thomas as well. He’s on Border Station 07 in the Olovis System, a frontline station right in the middle of the war with the Dakarti Federation. She smiles when she finally finds Simon’s file. He’s one of the Space Mages on a Destroyer, shipping new Mages to the Academy. His ship, the ERS Verdinum should arrive in the Estriduros System in two weeks.

That’s the ship Sara traveled with to the academy too. Ranger Captain Dolder’s ship… But getting Thomas is going to be interesting… Shit!!

Maja jumps up and hurries for the counter. She just got the notification, that the ERS Conqueror contacted the station and asked for confirmation of her clearance code. It immediately rang a bell, as the General belonging to the priority code is long dead. Maja hurries to delete her digital traces and manages to change the hangar bay recording of her yacht in time. Now, the dispatched search parties will look at the wrong place for her.

“Have you found her? I need to leave, something came up.”

“No, I’m sorry but I can send it to you once I find it. It’s Major Valtron, correct?”

“Yes, thank you.” Maja turns around and leaves the room. Outside Sergeant Flush is standing with his hand on his laser pistol.

“I need you to come with me, Major.”

Shit, I forgot about him… I could have intercepted the message to him.

“Sorry Sergeant, can’t do that.” Faster than the man can react, she swings a fist and hits him at the temple. He crumbles like his strings have been cut and Maja runs for the next shuttle hanger.

She jumps into the waiting shuttle, overwrites the AI controls, and shoots out into space around the station. Her shuttle keeps a steady pace, and she heads for the hangar, where her yacht waits. She notices that the Conqueror blocks the wormhole and curses again.

Damn it, I have to take the long route. Now I just have to get out unnoticed.

Maja changes ships and starts a distraction. Two currently empty shuttles collide right before the big hangars at the right side of the station. The collision ends in a massive explosion and Maja changes the yacht's transponder signature to that of a shuttle, then she slowly leaves the hangar and circles the station. Soon, the station is in between her yacht and the Conqueror. She lets out a sigh.

That’s that… now I just have to circle around and head for the planet again… This is going to take a bit. At least I got everything I needed.