Page 43 of Ava Stargazer

Fijjak’s antennas brushed against her as he pointed to the panel and the new labels. He said in his stilted voice, “Yes. The ship has offensive capabilities now, and cloaking. It should be completely unrecognizable as once belonging to the Phor, especially with the outside being altered to mimic one of our designs. It is not yet done, though. A few more days.”

Zeed and the others fell into the background as they moved around, continuing their work. Fijjak eyed the biologics around Ava’s chest as she stood close, looking at the new mechanics. His antennas followed his interest and leaned toward her.

Ava read the new labels in Common. She squinted at the new programming that overlaid over the familiar controls. “Is that . . . an AI?”

“Yes. It is surprising there was none before.”

She tapped on the screen, at the new and unfamiliar interface. “Well, you don’t know the Phor. They were afraid of being hacked by raiders after easy cargo. That’s why there were so many contractors and crew on the ship before. Especially with the biologics; they felt it was too big a risk to rely on AI.” Ava looked at him.Is it now?

Fijjak shook his head and answered her unspoken question. “This AI is of our making; the coding is not public knowledge. It’s a standard Class 2 AI and, like all of them, is not self-aware but it is . . . well, as loyal as a machine can be.”

Ava glanced down to her container, judging their reaction.Are you okay with this?The container was stiller than usual, but she didn’t sense any panic. “Oh. Well, as long as the biologics accept it, that will make it easier to keep going without having a full crew.”

Fijjak chuckled, clicking on a screen showing the energy output. “There has been no change. Rhutg requested this upgrade as a priority after having to monitor so much himself on the way back.”

Zeed cleared his throat and said in a tone almost as low as Vox’s, “It makes this ship versatile.”

She looked up and was surprised to see Zeed standing so close to her. She took an involuntary step backward. “Yes, there’s so much it can do. Beyond just helping me,” Ava said wistfully as she patted on a familiar, untouched part of the navigation panel.It will always be justCelestialto me though.

Zeed spoke from her side. “Once you are done going to Cipra, we can use the ship for other purposes as well. It would speed up our trades immensely to have this helping.” He looked at the container on her chest closely and then up to her eyes. “The biologics have a high opinion of you. I doubt they would work so hard to power everything for anyone else.”

Ava took another step back, putting a bit more distance between herself and Zeed. She kept her mind blank as he glowed mutely, forcing herself to not think about how uncomfortable she felt, but about the biologics instead and her fondness of them. Her hand touched them, seeking their reassurance and got a pulse back.

Zeed tilted his head, his eyes lighting up. “The others are right. You Humans are fascinating.”

Ava forced a laugh. Zeed tilted his head, listening to it, an intense look on his face. She walked toward Fijjak to put even more distance between them. “I find all of you to be too.” Ava looked at the panel one last time before bowing to exit, feet pointed to the door. “Thank you for letting me see.”

Zeed nodded, and she felt his eyes follow her as she walked away.

Vox was anxious to get back home, but their shuttle was not scheduled to leave until the next day. Things like departure times were regimented here, instead of just coming and going whenever they wanted to like on Xai.

Iryl took them through the main halls, to a gathering area of sorts where others were eating. “Here, now that the meeting is done, I’ll show you around.”

The board sprawled, with multiple lounges and gathering places open for business. Vox had a moment where his hearts pounded, feeling the pressure of so many different smells from food vendors, and so many different species pressed in around them.I don't give Ava enough credit. Anything new like this is overwhelming.

Vox stepped to the side where he could, grateful for having Iryl’s framework, but still silent as he absorbed what he could. Under the pretext of getting a drink, the team stopped andlingered in a common area. They took a seat in a corner of the communal hall, in an area where they could easily observe the other species coming and going. His eyes flitted up to the sign.“Is this the one where Iryl’s memories had the bartender being bribed by the Tuxa? To poison his drinks? Some of the scenes run together.”

Lirell answered as Iryl went to go get the drinks,“No. We haven't been back there. But that bartender left anyway, probably got paid for nothing.”

Iryl came back, his hands full. He put them down in front of the others.“Right, the Tuxa are so obvious. Poisoned drinks. Even if I couldn’t read thoughts I would have known something was off from the way he was acting.”

Vox resisted the urge to close his eyes to focus, instead sipping the drink and opening his mind.So many species.The sharing that Iryl did earlier helped immensely for being able to place everyone. He fit more pieces into his mental map.

Iryl, for his part, was fascinated by their reach.“You can all pick up so much more than I ever could.”

“With practice comes more depth.”

“I can tell.”Iryl’s mental tone was laced with undertones of respect.“Let’ssit awhile, and let me see what you find.”

Vox sampled the aliens that came in and out.“And to think that there are other species like Ava out there that aren’t at this table at all. Maybe still left undiscovered.”

Iryl pointed out several important races as they came in.“The Galactic Board has several species that are more powerful than others. The original founders. Most contracts go through them, and since they were the first, the majority of technology goes to them first as well.”

He pointed them out.“The Decata is one such species, as tiny as they are. The Riolie. The Fira. The Phor are becoming more powerful, too.”

Rhutg frowned, drinking.“As long as they’re all breakable, it doesn’t matter who they are.”

“That I cannot tell you.” Iryl gestured to the side, where two Haroo were gathered, their mop heads looking down.“There's different degrees I can get on all of them. The Tuxa are easy. Most of the plant-based ones are harder, same as others that have more minerals in their bodies. None are as difficult as the Haroo, however; I can get nothing there. Which is so odd, as nothing seems special about them biologically.”

---