Hellfire - Autonomy

Chapter 1-2

At that moment it had seemed impossible things could get worse, but they soon did. It wasn’t just Drake’s crew who were now tied to the hellship and under his control. It was the Dark Acolytes on their hundreds of ships too!

The only slight spark in the darkness was that the children were too young to have been bound to the hellship. They’d been so heavily knocked out that they’d been closer to comatose than unconscious. At least they would be able to leave the Dagger… as long as Drake didn’t take too long making it happen.

The Azimuth viewed the Dark Acolytes and their ships as a gift to Drake, an armada he could use to impose his will on all he met. A force to ensure he’d never have anything to fear from any but the largest hostile fleets and with which he could destroy any other hellships he encountered.

Drake had refused. It was too much. Far too much. Instead of accepting the Acolytes’ allegiance he’d used his power to force them to destroy their own ships, to blow their vessels and themselves into oblivion.

He did it without regret. These were people who worshipped hellships and had been more than happy to sacrifice hundreds of innocent children to their gods. The universe was a far better place without them.

That had solved the problem of the Acolytes, but Drake now had an entire crew who were tied to the Azimuth. They were a smart bunch and Drake was sure that over time they’d grow to realise things were not right. From there it wouldn’t take long before one of them guessed exactly what was happening.

Unless Drake ordered them not to notice. He could reach out through the Azimuth and influence their minds. He could prevent them even noticing any signs which might lead them to suspect the truth. It was in his power. It would be so easy…

He could never do it! That would be the ultimate betrayal. Much as he dreaded breaking the news to his crew, overpowering their wills in any way would be far worse. As with Jacobs, he would do everything in his power to allow the crew to retain their sense of self, their personalities, their independence. They would never be truly free but he owed them their dignity and as much of their free will as was possible.

Yet he was already fighting temptation to break that self-imposed code. All of his crew knew something strange happened when the children were rescued. Most of the crew had found themselves waking up as Drake and a few others were returning to the Dagger carrying the rescued children.

Those who’d gone with Drake had got to see not only the Acolytes but their own crewmates and the children in the same state. Then they’d all watched as the entire Acolyte fleet self-destructed, an apparent act of mass suicide.

Drake used the strange blue crystal he had grabbed while rescuing the children to explain why the Acolytes had allowed the Dagger to escape and not followed until it was well clear. But he had been completely clear he had not used the crystal to cause the Acolytes to destroy themselves.

The implication his crew took from that was that he hadn’t ordered the Acolytes to self-destruct. That was wrong… all he’d said was that he hadn’t used the crystal to do so, and that was perfectly true.

That explanation brought its own complexity. Drake hadn’t had the crystal until they reached the centre of the Acolytes ship, so he couldn’t use it to explain why everyone fell unconscious. He was still trying to think of a plausible excuse for why that had happened while knowing curiosity amongst his crew was growing.

Because of that he was sailing dangerously close to breaking the commitment he’d made, using his link with the crew to encourage them to focus on what had been achieved and not how. He kept catching himself rationalising it as a short-term nudge rather than long term control. He was all too aware those were semantics, excuses which could easily be stretched to cover another urgent need. Then another. Down that road lay exactly what he had sworn not to do under any circumstance.

So he needed a convincing lie. Something the crew would believe without him having to nudge them. So far he hadn’t come up with anything at all.

Knowing that as time passed, as the crew got more curious, he would be more and more tempted to suggest they not focus on their questions only made it harder to come up with any ideas. He was almost hoping for an attack of some sort, for combat to distract everyone from the situation. But the scanners were staying stubbornly clear of any ship, hostile or neutral.

After going around in circles too many times Drake decided he needed an alternative viewpoint. He turned to Sonia, his first officer.

“Sonia, you have the bridge. I’m heading to my cabin.”

“If you have a few minutes I’d like a word,” Sonia said.

“Sorry, not right now. I’m trying to work out our next moves. Come see me in an hour. In the meantime get Jacobs to whip up some food and bring it to me. Something quick.”

“Captain, we’ll be reaching the next jump point in about thirty minutes. Don’t you want to be on the bridge for that?”

“No, not unless anything shows up as we’re approaching it. I’m beginning to think we may be in the clear. For now at least.”

“All right, Captain. And I’ll contact Jacobs.”

“Thank you.”

Drake got up and walked off the bridge. He could feel Sonia’s eyes on him the whole time. Even after he’d left he could still feel her confusion, until he focused on shutting it out.

He had a good working relationship with his first officer and refusing to talk to her was out of character, but he needed that hour. He needed a chance to think through what should be done, but more than that he needed a chance to talk to the one person on the Dagger he could be totally honest with.

Besides, he was hungry. The food would certainly be welcome even if it was just a cover.