Page 13 of Agrippa's Acceptance

“The clone ships disappeared into a black hole and we thought they’d reappeared from another one much closer to earth. But they emerged from the same black hole and there are signs that the ships were in a war. They had fifty ships, now they have thirty-two.”

John held up his hand. “Come again.”

Balthazar blinked, that nictitating action that looked cute on Anatu and creepy on Balthazar. John sighed, and said, “the ships can enter a black hole and come out of it without being crushed into small pieces?”

“Yes.”

“Jesus.”

For now, he would ignore that disturbing little detail. “That is good news for us.” He didn’t like the look on Balthazar’s face. “That’s good news for us, right?”

“The Tunrians don’t just clone themselves,” Balthazar said with a pointed look.

John stared at him. Slowly, agonisingly slow, icicles formed in his veins. “Fuck, they clone their ships. How long until replacements reach them?” How do you win a war with an enemy that returned from the dead?

“The ships must be done on Tunria. Cloning the ship and doing the final adjustments take less than a human month. They will reach earth after the other ships.”

“Meaning we will get wave after wave of ships coming at us. Thus, the need for the mission,” John said softly. With fresh ships and clones coming at them wave after wave, they wouldn’t stand a chance.

“We need ten of the human pilots we’ve trained to go with Amelagar and the natural.”

John frowned at him. “I thought Amelagar was regenerating after his severe injuries?” It greatly disturbed him that they could recover from such a serious injury. It begged the question, what would kill them. Were they regenerating the cyborg whose bones those idiots had used to make a wind charm? And could earth technology catch up to do the same with trained soldiers?

“He is almost healed. By the time we have the team together he will be ready.”

If they won this war with the clones, they’d either have to get a firm friendship in place with the cyborgs, or he’d have to find a way to kill all of them and keep them dead. That was his original plan. But that would break Anatu’s heart. “The small hybrid ship we have been working on will work well for this, if our engineers can get that cloak to work.”

“Agrippa can make it work with Anatu’s help,” Balthazar said.

“We cannot test it in space. Not without alerting the clones.” They had to find a way to launch it without alerting the clones to what they had in their arsenal. “If we take up the ship in parts, do you have space for it to be rebuilt on the Rising Sun?”

Balthazar’s eyes gleamed. “There is a hangar on the Rising Sun that is big enough to take the ship.”

“The team we will send on the mission should help assemble the ship. The more they know about the ship, the better their chances are of success.”

“That is a good idea, human.”

John thought about the marines he’d send. The cyborgs that will have to work with them. “I will choose the marines that will go and send them to you. It will be better if you isolate the group going on the mission, together.”

“Why?” Yes, Balthazar showed signs of brilliance. But his lack of experience was also showing.

“They will have to work together. The sooner they become a team the better their chances of success.”

“I see.” Balthazar stood and without a word left through the triangle that suddenly glowed behind him.

“Good day to you to,” John said to the empty office.

Chapter Twelve

Two months later, Agrippa got off the bed and slowly walked over to the glass tube. That one perfect eye stared at her unblinking. His regeneration was going well after she had adjusted the program. It had taken a lot of arguing to get the cyborg to trust her with Amelagar’s health. She clenched her fists. How could those humans do this to him? They were no better than the clones.

She put her hand on the glass, leaned closer. He could hear her, but to ensure no infection got into his biological systems he was kept in the sealed unit. “I’m sorry they did this to you Amelagar.”

That one eye stared at her and it was horrific to see, but she forced herself to look him in the eye. Not to flinch at how little of him was left. Most of his skull had regenerated and the beginnings of a hipbone was showing. For the last two days she though she saw recognition in that eye. But she knew it was wishful thinking. She leaned closer. “I will help you.”

He couldn’t understand her and it was better if he was out of it. But it comforted her to talk to him. Maybe he heard on some level. Already he’d made big strides. She worked on an improved regeneration program every night when Hamurabi went to bed. When she implemented it, it will bring down his recovering time significantly.

“You’ll see.”

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