CHAPTER 2

Derrick's mouth hung agape, the last crew member?

<What do you mean the last crew member?> Derrick asked, a little shaken.

<He,> the woman's eyes were now shedding tears, <was loyal to the emperor, but he was mostly loyal to me. He refused to leave me, we waited for recall after the last 2 ships were destroyed. I believe, had it not been for him, I might not have been able to function these last 150 years. I remember his last words, a poem of love and duty.>

Here Derrick started to recite a poem his grandfather had told him was known only to the family, from memory.

The whole time he didn't realize that the woman was staring at him with a look of joy growing on her face.

<I give my life to you, I dedicate my existence to your protection. Bringing joy my lifetime through, all our years entwined perfection.>

The woman stared at Derrick when he finished, both were actually staring at each other. The woman had spoken the exact same words behind Derrick, his mouth again agape, as was the woman's.

<My god!> Derrick breathed out in shock, <you really did know him, only my family knows that poem.>

The woman nodded a sad smile on her face, with that the woman was gone, Derrick awoke to every proximity alarm on his ship going off.

Looking out the nearest window, Derrick saw the sleek, black skinned, 3 mile long ship alongside.

He could see the massive amount of weapons lining almost the entire length of the ship. Holy shit! No wonder the ships had been so good at protecting the borders.

Derrick absently reached over and slapped off the alarms, his mouth agape, he could only stare at the miles of ship. A steady beeping tore his eyes away from the sight.

"Hello," Derrick almost whispered in awe to the com.

"Hello Derrick," came a feminine voice, I detected that you wished to see me. I apologize for taking so long to reach you, I was on the direct opposite side of the galaxy."

Derrick only nodded, then felt foolish knowing the ship couldn't see him.

"So why are you here?> Asked Derrick.

"You spoke most of the phrase, please speak the remainder to be accepted as primary commanding crew member." The female voice replied.

"What!!?" Derrick shouted, "Primary? What the hell are you talking about?"

"You are identified as a primary crew member, you and you alone, can command me now if you speak the last lines," she said.

Derrick took a deep breath, "A solemn pledge, to each other true, together always a single collection."

There was a long pause, the woman spoke, "Registering face recognition, registering voice pattern. Awaiting orders from Primary Derrick."

Again Derrick's mouth hung agape, unable to speak. The female voice spoke again, snapping Derrick out of his shock. "Awaiting orders, Primary Derrick, should I bring you on board?"

Derrick wasn't sure of anything right now, "give me some time EIG-0101F, please!" Derrick whispered.

"Yes, Primary Derrick, I shall stand down until orders are issued." The voice replied.

"Thank you for the time, oh and EIG-0101F?"Derrick asked.

"Yes, Primary Derrick," the voice answered,

"Please, call me Derrick," he said.

The com was quite a moment, then the voice answered, "Yes Derrick, I will await your orders."

Derrick sat, not quite sure what to do, he'd dreamed of a ship like this for years. What was he afraid of? Starting the engines, he moved forward, following a weak tech signal, trying to ignore the huge ship as it followed him.

3 hours later the salvage ship pulled alongside a blinking tech box, 150 meters by 200 meters.

"Derrick," came the female voice over the com, "what are you going to do with that?"

"I'm taking it in as salvage," Derrick said.

May I ask a favor?" it asked.

"Alright" answered Derrick.

"May I have it? I believe that is what is left of one of the 2 last ship's A.I.'s" It stated.

Derrick's face held a surprise, "one of the other A.I.'s?"

"Well, most of it, though I can't be sure until I analyze it," the voice replied.

"Alright, it's yours," Derrick breathed out none too happy.

"Thank you," she said, "they all deserve more than to die alone in space."

Derrick's temple was throbbing as he was still pondering the A.I.'s proposal from before.

"Got a question," Derrick suddenly asked. "What would it entail me becoming primary of you?"

Again the com was silent a few moments before the female voice answered. "You would have command capacity, in all decisions involving battle strategies, crew placement and approval, and all things concerned with me," then in a low whisper, "including our happiness."

"What was that?" asked Derrick, not sure he heard her right.

"Nothing of importance is just an afterthought," she lied.

Derrick just shook his head, what am I getting myself into? He thought.

"Alright," Derrick suddenly said, "Moving to dock then..."

There was a flash and Derrick was standing on an enormous bridge, in front of a huge view screen. "...I can. What the HELL!!!?"

"Welcome to the bridge," A hologram of the same woman (though this time clothed) smiling at him.

"What?! How!? shouted a surprised Derrick.

"That was the Imperial Matter Transfer," smiled the hologram.

"The what!?" holding up his hand to stop her from repeating what was just said, plus there was the fact that he had to check that he was all there. "You could have at least allowed me to finish before you did," waving his hands in the air, "you did whatever it was you did."

The smile disappeared from her face, "I am sorry Derrick, but I sensed a strong desire to be on board as soon as possible."

Derrick sighed, true he was anxious to get on board but he wanted it to be on his terms.

"Now then E..., how about I call you E for right now," he said.

"E will be fine Derrick, also I brought your salvage ship into hanger 1, it is secure now." E stated matter of factly.

"What? "But how? I need to shut down all the sys..." Derrick stated

"Compliance Derrick," E said, "all systems on board are all shut down, airlocks secured, reactors offline."

"How?" Derrick stated his eyes were huge.

"I merely overrode all command stations, with instructions to standby or power down." E smiled sweetly.

"Not that I am calling you a liar, but I need to see for myself," Derrick said with crossed arms.

A second later Derrick was standing in the command cockpit. Checking every system, it was as the ship had said, everything was shut down. Satisfied Derrick looked up and shook his head.

"Alright," Derrick said and was back on the bridge a second later.

"Satisfied?" The hologram asked with a smug look.

"Yes, Thank you." Derrick said smiling for the first time since the dream.

"Ah!" E said, "you should do that more often, it looks good on you."

Derrick couldn't believe he was blushing. E of course was laughing, maybe a little more than he thought she should.

"The problem is E," Derrick started as he sat in the chair, central to the room, "I have no idea what to do with you."

The hologram sat in mid-air next to him, "Neither do I. As I stated before, I am alive, I am independent, and I can think for myself. I had been made to protect and defend with a crew, but I still must have orders."

"You..., wait, you said you were on the other side of the galaxy? You said you were slow getting to me, but it took you less than a minute! Just how fucking fast are you?" Derrick asked with a look of amazement on his face.

"Normally, I can transfer in 10 seconds, but I was analyzing the phrase before I shifted," E answered.

"Wait, wait, wait, this galaxy is 200 light years across, you have faster than light speed?" Derrick asked, perplexed.

"No, it was the new trans-slip engines," E explained.

"Uh huh, never heard of them," answered a still perplexed Derrick.

"Really? Strange, I thought that all ships would have them by now," replied a shocked E.

"Can you explain them," Derrick asked.

"Oh yes Derrick! The basic theory is that after the point to reach is plotted, the trans-slip engines release a 1 millimeter stream of Cristela particles that enter hyperspace. There they absorb hyperspace energy, fold space for a 1 second to 10 minutes trip, depending on the distance. I am afraid that 10 minutes is the limit, though I've never been in trans-slip longer than a minute." E explained sweetly, as if Derrick understood even half of what she said.

Derrick was holding his head, hyper space he knew, but absorbing energy from there? Folding space? Critela particles? Damn, Derrick thought, my head is going to explode.

"Do you require medical assistance?" E asked, "to keep your head from exploding" she giggled.

Derrick stared at the hologram, "did you just read my thoughts?"

"I am sorry, while you are on board and primary," E explained, "all your thoughts, emotions, and actions are cerebrum-linked to me, in reality you need not even speak if you don't wish," E explained in her sweetest voice.

"Well, I guess that would be more convenient in a battleship," Derrick said.

"Derrick?" E asked a little hesitantly.

"Yes E, what is it? answered Derrick.

"Can you please tell me about the last 200 years? I have no information after the loss of the Imperial net," E said.

"Hmm, I'll show you rather than tell you," answered Derrick.

Popping in a micro info disk, Derrick looked over the rows and rows of controls. An hour later E had recorded all 240 discs of information.

"What became of the royal family?" E asked.

"From what was later found, the rebels executed all 32 family members, including the empress and her son a year later. There was a rumor though, that a distant cousin to the emperor survived and was never found. The royal city was abandoned, the Palace unreachable, after the family was killed," Derrick stated.

"That was a sad and tragic way for the empire to end," E said, sadly shaking her head.

"I agree, the rebellion was fueled by greed, assassins were on the inside when it all started. The emperor was a brilliant man, to this day almost 200 years later, no one has been able to claim the throne or reunite the empire." Derrick explained.

"Derrick, the shield around the palace sounds almost identical to mine!" E stated excitedly.

"E, I don't even begin to understand half your systems, let alone how to use them," Derrick dejectedly said.