Jon sat in his office staring at the door of his office. Lying on his desk was a slender handgun. He hadn't move from his office for two days, refusing anyone entry on pain of death. Deatra had recalled the Ge'daes and Admiral Breq from their mission. Jon reached up and touched a button on his holo screen. A picture of Atlantis popped up and slowly rotated, it was the last picture they had before he had ordered her destroyed. First Bill now Atlantis, he had been gaining strength but the current event once again let the wind out of his sails.
His last orders had been to ground Terri and her squadron; he didn't want to loose her. He had even ordered his guards to protect Deatra, Sam, and Terri at all costs. He threatened Carex that any failure of those duties would result in very unpleasant results. Oojoung hadn't even escaped his mood, he had been ordered to protect Sam and Kayla at all costs. Jon figured if they just held up here everyone would be ok. He wasn't sure he could take loosing anyone else that was close to him.
Tears fell from Jon's eyes as he watched the Atlantis get fired upon in the holo display. He reached up and touched the image, whispering, "Atlantis, I'm so sorry."
"Are you sure?" Quellis asked.
The image on the screen nodded, "Yes Sire, the ship Atlantis has been destroyed. They destroyed it as it left one of the station's berths. They were also able to target and destroy two cloaked ships in an earlier engagement."
"WHAT?!" Quellis was stunned. "They targeted cloaked ships? How did they manage this feat?"
The image shifted, "We don't know, Sire. The Atlantis was also reported to have been boarded but that ended up in failure."
"This new species is becoming more than just a nuisance. Listen to me closely, I want you to resume your position and report all activity once every week. Do not make yourself known, I need information and I need it fast."
"Yes Sire, I will do as you order," The image said as it faded.
Quellis sat back in his chair; this was becoming more of a problem than it should be. He would have to find a solution and find on fast. If it wasn't handled carefully it would soon grow to be unmanageable and that would be unacceptable. So far he had been able to send vague reports back to the council, but that wouldn't last for long. They would eventually want more information and better updates. He had to figure out how to get results and fast.
Admiral Geenis sat in the conference room waiting for someone to come in to talk to him. He was refused access to the station and under guard. His ship was docked in one of the main docking ports and was also under quarantine. He was still surprise that Deatra was still alive and that she had found a bond mate. The King and Queen wouldn't be happy with the bond mate. Being not of Eutharan decent would create complications for everyone.
He had been sent here to find out why they hadn't received word from Admiral Vors that the station was secured. Now it seemed that this Jon person had killed the Admiral for taking his sister hostage. Not to mention the amount of Invaru that roamed the station. He had to wonder whose side this Jon was on, the Invaru's or the Eutharan. His bonding with the Princess should have put his loyalties with the Eutharan people. The rag tag gathering of different species on the station said different. He would get his answers and he would get them soon. Supposedly, he was waiting for an Admiral Breq to speak to him as Fleet Admiral Jon was indisposed at the moment. He was getting tired of waiting it had been two days and he had not spoke to anyone but his guards.
The doors to the conference room opened as Admiral Breq entered, followed by four guards and Deatra. Terri stepped into the room last as she glared over at Admiral Geenis. She wasn't happy with the current turn of events and thoroughly pissed about being grounded. He brother had cut himself off from everyone because of the man seat at the table.
Geenis' face showed surprise when the large Invaru stepped into the room. He quickly looked at the Princess and then shuddered when he saw the last person walk in. The hatred on her face was unmistakable. Terri locked eyes, wrinkling her eyes in anger.
Admiral Breq was the first to speak, "Admiral Geenis, I'm Admiral Breq second in command of the Alliance Defense Force. I'm told you want to speak to Fleet Admiral Jonathan. I'm sorry to say that at this moment that's not possible. I'll answer any question you might have as best as I can."
"You're an Invaru," Geenis stated.
Breq smiled, "You noticed that did you?"
"I'm not talking to you. Princess Deatra, why have I been detained," Geenis said completely ignoring Breq.
Deatra's face showed surprise, this was extremely rude and not proper etiquette. Breq pulled out a chair and sat down as he watched Deatra's reaction. Deatra mimicked Breq as she took a place to his right and Terri took the place to his left. Deatra didn't respond as she looked back at Breq.
"Don't look at that Invaru, I asked you a question Princess. You will answer me right now. I'm tired of all these games and deceptions." Geenis stood part of the way up as he shouted.
Terri moved with lighting reflexes and used a maneuver that Oojoung had taught her. She launched herself up and caught Geenis in the throat with two fingers as she palmed him in the chest. Geenis suddenly started gasping for air as Terri hit him in the chest forcing the air from his lungs. The strike to the throat had it hard to regain his breath, which stopped him from talking.
"Now you listen here you self important piece of shit. How dare you talk to Princess Deatra like that? How dare you ignore the commander of this station, who has taken time from his busy schedule to answer your questions? You will change you attitude or I'll change it for you, do you understand me?"
Geenis nodded as he grasped his throat and fell back into his chair. He sat there, eyes wide, trying to regain his breath.
Terri sat back down, "Be rude one more time to anyone on this station, please make my day. I'll take all my frustration and anger out on you. You have no idea of the problems you have caused here. You treated my brother like he was dirt and then you treated the Princess with the same contempt. I'm also a Princess, I dare you to treat me with disrespect."
"That's enough Terri, I think the good Admiral gets the point," Breq said as he tried to hide the smile that was attempting to cross his face.
Deatra just stared at the gasping Admiral with contempt and hatred. They would have it out later in private; this little matter of disrespect wouldn't be passed over.
"Let me know when you can speak again Admiral," Breq said smiling.
Geenis almost glared at Breq but caught Terri staring at him, her arms crossed over her chest. He blanched at the stare as he worked to regain his breath. If it was the last thing he ever did he would make her pay for touching him.
Ellie stood at a holo terminal watching the read outs scrolling across the display. The code looked intact and her modifications should make it a lot more proficient. Mike walked up and looked over her shoulder, a smile crossed his face.
"I think we're ready," Ellie said as she tapped a couple buttons.
"Looks good let's reboot and see what we come up with," Mike replied. Mike walked back over to his console and started the process.
"In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1," Ellie counted down.
Mike hit the reset sequence as Ellie reached the end of the count down. The screen in front of him flashed signaling the reboot for the section of code they were working on. Numbers flashed across the screen counting down for the reboot process to begin.
"Purging AI memory core and secondary back up systems," Ellie said.
"Booting in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1," Mike counted.
"Secondary AI routines coming online, main AI program initializing. Back up systems started, secondary protocols established. Main AI online, linking control programs and all secondary nodes," Ellie said.
Ghost slowly faded into view in front of Mike, she was suspended in air, her head bowed and legs pulled up in a fetal position. Mike glance down from Ghost as he watched her establish connections to the station. Ellie glance over at Mike and smiled, who nodded and smiled back.
"Looks like everything is going as planned," Ellie said.
"Full system start up, she is running at 1000 times more proficiency. Your code changes worked a lot better than we could have guessed."
"There's still a few thing I need to do here and there but for the most part her primary code is complete."
Mike looked back at his display then looked up at Ghost, "Ghost..."
Ghost made no move.
"Ghost, can you hear me?"
Ghost extended her leg as she raised her head. She stared at Mike as she took a step forward. "Who are you?"
Mike glance down at his display. There was something wrong she should have access to most of the data records. It suddenly dawned on Mike what was wrong.
"Ghost, command access override baker-three-zero-one-alpha."
"Command accepted, Captain Anspach." Ghost said as she dropped her head.
"Access all data records, rebuild memory."
"Memory construction started, time to competition 10 hours 20 minutes," Ghost said in a trance like voice.
Mike nodded, stepping away from the display he motioned for Ellie to follow him. Once they were through the door Mike closed and sealed it. He then led Ellie to his office to wait for Ghost to rebuild her memory.
"That went better than I expected," Ellie said.
"Yeah, I almost forgot to have her rebuild her memory. I should have done that before waking her."
"It doesn't matter either way it will do the same thing. It's too bad that Atlanta took all of Ghost's memories when she locked her on board the Atlantis. I still don't understand completely what went on," Ellie said as she sat down across from Mike.
"Well, here's what we know. Atlanta was a lesser AI that controlled the functions of Atlantis while she was docked in her base. When we took Atlantis offline and cut off her connections to the ship it gave Atlanta the chance to take over. Ghost was caught up when she tried to contact Atlantis. Apparently, Atlanta pulled Ghost's AI program into the ships computer and sealed off her access to the station. The rest you know, Atlanta basically went rogue and tried to attack the Royal Admiral's ship."
"Well the way the routines are wrote the chance of something like that happening again is very slim. I didn't know about the secondary AI on Atlantis or I would have disconnected her too. I'm terribly sorry for having caused these problems."
"Bah, you did the same thing I would have done. You're just better and fast than I am," Mike said winking at her.
Ellie's face turned red, "Nah, you're pretty good and you're learning fast."
Admiral Geenis had finally caught his breath and was able to speak. He would deal with the child who struck him later. Right now he needed to find out what was going on and why he was almost attacked. He took a sip of water as he looked up at Breq.
"I have a question, why did you attempt to attack my ship?" Geenis asked.
Breq sighed, "We didn't Atlantis's AI went rogue. I should mention it was her secondary AI as the primary was disabled."
"You have a rogue ship?"
"No Admiral, Atlantis was destroyed. You saw it; Fleet Admiral Hunter ordered it even though Atlantis was one of his best friends. He ordered her destruction to save your ship and people. Now, having lost two things very close to him, he's distraught and refuses to see anyone. This is why I'm here in his place."
"How childis..."
Terri started to stand up as she glared at the Admiral.
"I mean, how sad to be distraught over the loss of a ship. You said two things, what else has he lost?"
Terri sat back down crossing her arms over her chest.
"Fleet Admiral Hunter lost one of his best friends in a battle here about two weeks ago. His friend and his crew sacrificed their lives for everyone you see on this station."
"It seems to me your Fleet Admiral is weak and shouldn't be in command. People die, it's a fact in war. You grieve and then move on, ships are lost; you don't morn a ship. You rebuild it and move on. If he lets his fee..."
Terri had moved so suddenly no one had time to react. She was sitting on the table before the Admiral, both hands around his throat. She thumbed a nerve Oojoung had taught her about paralyzing the Admiral as she strangled him. A look of calm washed over her face as she watched the Admiral's eyes bulge from the pressure.
"How dare you speak of my brother that way. Weak? He's one of the strongest men I know. Do you have any idea of what he's been through, what we have all been through? You and your people, hiding in your little star system, so you don't draw any attention to yourselves. Like a gopher, afraid to poke your head out because someone might see you."
Breq started to get up, but Deatra grabbed his arm pulling him back into his chair. "Admiral Geenis, I have had enough of you. Your condescending tones for the people here, your snide comments about the Invaru here on this station. Many of those Invaru lost loved ones trying to protect this station. You and my father have no idea what is going on here, you never will. If Terri doesn't kill you first I order you to report to me in my quarters. Good day."
Terri tightened her hands as she calmly watched as the Admiral's face start to turn colors. Deatra stood and walk out of the room, he guards falling into step behind her as she passed through the door. Geenis four guards, who were standing outside saw what was happening in the room and rushed in. Terri caught the motion out of the corner of her eye and released the Admiral as she spun on the guards. Before Carex could enter the room to protect Terri, the fight was over.
Terri caught the first guard into the room in the middle of the chest with her foot shoving him back against the wall. She quickly spun around on the table as another guard reached for her, grabbing the extended arm. She brought her hand up snapping the arm in a swift motion. The guard howled and fell back out of the way grabbing the broken arm.
Breq backed off as Terri hopped down from the table to confront the three remaining guard. Terri's calm face broke into a grin as she watch them slowly back off. "Come on boys, don't run now the fun has just started. Thought you were attacking just a Princess? Well sorry to disappoint you, but this Princess has a little training."
Terri lunged forward catching one of the guards in the throat. The guard started gagging as he fell to the ground unable to catch his breath. The other two paled when they heard the words Princess and paled even more when Terri dropped the guard in a swift motion.
"Terri to medical, we have a medical emergency in conference room 4a," Terri said in a nonchalant voice.
'Medical teams are dispatched," A female voice responded.
"Princess, we're sorry we didn't know..." one of the guards started.
Terri snapped her foot out catching him in the knee. The guard fell to the floor grabbing the broken leg as his howls filled the room. Breq was in awe, he was also slightly sick. He had never seen Terri go off like this, she had always been the calm but stubborn woman.
Terri stepped up to the last one as the doors finally opened and Carex stepped through. Terri snapped he hand out catching the last guard by the throat. She pulled him face to face as her cold eyes bored into him.
"You, I'll leave untouched. Go back and tell the people on your ship that if I see any disrespect for the people on this station, I'll put them in the hospital. Do you understand me?"
The guard paled as he croaked, "Yes, my Princess."
Terri let go of the guard and stepped past him and started for the door. "Good, come on Carex, the kids are waiting for us and I'm hungry," Terri said happily as she bounced out of the room.
Over the groans of the guards Breq whispered, "I need to make sure I never piss her off."
Jon sat still staring at the last footage of Atlantis before she had been destroyed. He had watched it dozens of time, it was always the same. No matter how much he wished it to change or how much he wanted it to be different, it never did. He knew eventually he would have to start interacting with the crew and resume his duties. Thousands of people depended on him and he couldn't let them down.
Jon suddenly stood up and started for the door, "Comm. I want all the command staff notified there is a meeting in 10 minutes. Conference room 2a, everyone is required to attend, no exceptions."