Blood Impulse

Part 35.1 - CRIMSON HOST

Mississippi Sector, Battleship Singularity

Admiral Gives was sitting behind the wooden desk in his quarters, drinking water out of a dented tin mug as he scowled at the papers Ensign Feather had brought him. Two thousand. It was a rough estimate, but considering the range and frequency of Crimson Heart's attacks, they had estimated that the pirate clan had nearly two thousand members. Not all the members would be present at the base. No, undoubtedly, some of those members had been sent to arrange buyers and procure supplies, but likely, the Singularity's crew would still be outnumbered two to one. Considering that only half of the crew could be engaged to fight Crimson Heart while the other half moved supplies, those odds got even worse.

But that wasn't the only problem. No, of course not. That would be too easy. "You're certain?" he asked the ghost.

"Yes." After the battle of the Wilkerson Sector, Manhattan had given her a week – seven days to surrender herself. Since then, nearly five days had passed. The ghost had tried to ignore it, but she was running out of time. "It can be assumed that the Olympia will reach the XA-01 System within the next 48 hours and free the remainder of Manhattan's memory. We cannot be anywhere near the fleet when that happens." If they were, the ghost would likely be ordered to slaughter those ships.

Admiral Gives set down his water and studied her expression. She had a brave face on, but he could see that the thought of receiving orders from Command absolutely terrified her. She didn't want to lose control. She didn't want to hurt anyone. "Manhattan does not have the authority to give you orders."

"No," the ghost agreed, "Not directly." Manhattan, while invasive and powerful, did not carry the authority of Command. "But if she tells Reeter my identity, then he can." And in some ways, that was worse. Manhattan was cruel and ambitious, but she wasn't an abuser.

In truth the ghost had only met Reeter in distant, fleeting passes. Directly, she barely knew him. Admiral Gives had not allowed him aboard ship or anywhere near it, but some of the ship's crew knew Reeter, so from the memories and stories they offered her, she had come to know Reeter well. He was a proud, violent man who inflicted serious injury for the slightest infraction. He became drunk on the power he held over others, so the ghost knew that if her entire existence – everything she was – ended up in his hands, there would be no saving her, and she knew how that story ended. She recognized the tainted shadow of a polluted mind that would never settle for being anything other than her master. Reeter would be just like Brent, and given his self-righteous ambition, perhaps even worse.

Her machine required orders to operate. At times, when her frail mind fractured, it even craved them, but there was a difference between that and becoming the incarnation of another's cruel intentions. "I don't want this, Admiral." I want to be free.

"I know." He reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose, exhausted. All those years he had spent trying to make Command forget her meant nothing now.

"I want you to break that promise, Admiral." Her voice came soft and sad, "If it comes down to it, I want you to, no, I am asking you to break that promise."

He tensed instinctively, wanting to turn from and reject this conversation.

...But he didn't, so the ghost lowered her gaze to where the shoes of this illusion stood atop a worn rug. "I am a tool. A weapon. I do not have the right to ask this of you." She had no rights. She understood that. She was a machine, built to be used. "But I don't want to hurt anyone, and you can stop that." If Reeter gave her an order, then he possessed the authority to countermand it. "You don't want to talk about it." She understood that too, just as she could feel the darkness seeping into their bond, not a poison, but a great sadness. "But, I trust you," she said. He had earned that through every moment of the last three decades, and she felt safe enough with him to make her desires heard. "If Reeter orders me to hurt people, I want you to stop me." She forced herself to look up and meet his stormy eyes. "No matter what you have to do, know that I forgive you as long as I don't end up alone."