Won’t you give these two women the opportunity to help? There doesn’t have to be any pressure involved, just a simple request with the option to refuse for any reason whatsoever. Just give it some more thought,” the Professor urged Greg.

The Professor got up and exited the room, leaving Greg with his thoughts.

he insisted.
Trish was silent for a moment before answering.

Trish rationalised.

Greg sat by himself in the kitchen for two hours staring at the wall. Try as he might, he couldn’t argue with Trish’s logic. He took a sip of his coffee and with a grimace of distaste he noticed it had gone cold. He chewed at his lower lip and fretted for a few minutes longer. He was dithering and knew it. Putting his coffee cup down, he called out.

“Hestia?”

“Yes Daddy?” her response was instantaneous.

“Could you and Betina please come in here? I need to see you both,” he announced.

"Sure thing. Just a moment, OK?” The two women entered the kitchen and sat down opposite Greg. Betina spoke up first.

“What can we mere mortals do for you Doc?” she joked. Greg quickly outlined the problem he had with the ship’s skin and what they had to do to complete the mission.

“So, in a nutshell, the Professor and I have to create an AI matrix to do the job and we need one of you as a neural personality template,” Greg wrapped up. “I can’t do more than ask you to volunteer. It’s not my decision to make. Let me know what you decide, OK?” Greg stood up and turned to leave the kitchen when he heard two voices speak out in unison.

“I volunteer!” they both blurted out followed by a flurry of giggling. Greg spun about quickly to see them both beaming at him.

“Just like that?” he frowned, “No consideration? Do you truly understand what I’m asking of you?” he sounded slightly dismayed. Betina glanced at Hestia and then looked levelly at Greg.

“I believe we do Greg. You need a personality matrix, fine,” she reasoned, “and you are having difficulties because you don’t wish to place even a duplicate of either of us in danger. Hell Doc, even someone who barely knew you would see that this is eating you up inside,” Betina reassured him with a wisdom far beyond her years. Hestia spoke up then.

“I may have a solution. I was templated on Mom, but I have become a distinct personality over the last year. Now suppose we could create a blended persona from Betina and me? She would be like us but not us, a completely new AI,” she suggested.
Greg looked at Hestia.

“Is this possible?” he asked levelly.

“I’m pretty sure it is,” Hestia answered, “but we’d have to check it with Grandfather and Solomon. They’d be able to work out the gritty details.”

“Well then, get on it Sweetheart,” Greg grinned. “We have to have our ship ready in 15 weeks… latest.” Hestia vanished abruptly, leaving Greg and Betina alone in the kitchen. She looked up at him and smiled.

“Thank you Doc.”

“For what?” Greg questioned in a puzzled tone.

“For giving my life purpose again. Even with these miraculous exo-legs, I still felt empty, especially since Jon died… now I…” she paused, her eyes bright with tears, “I finally feel that I’m contributing to your fight and I haven’t felt this way for so long,” she stood up and embraced Greg. “You’ve always been kind to me…no… more than kind… loving and caring. You have a big heart Doc and I’m grateful you have room in it for me.” Betina smiled shyly, kissed him softly on the lips and left him in the kitchen.

Trish teased.

He turned out the lights with a smile and retired for the evening.

It took the Professor and Solomon just under two months to create the newest Saber AI from the templates provided by Betina and Hestia. However, it was Lia who suggested her name one evening while sitting in the simulator chamber.

“Professor, Greg, when I was a child, I loved reading about mythology, especially Asian and Polynesian myths. The Polynesian Goddess of the Moon is named Hina and from what Jules has told me about the new AI’s duties it fits. She’s a Hardware Integrated Navigational Avionics system, right?” she asked proudly. The Professor looked at Lia and seemed at a loss for words.

“Young woman, that is brilliant. Where did you learn the acronym game…?” Julian paused. “Has your bondmate been teaching you word games and logic puzzles?”

Lia blushed at his off-handed compliment.

“Jules has been ‘sharpening my skills’ as she puts it,” Lia shrugged. “It’s a lot of fun and has made learning the ship’s command routines a whole lot easier.”

“Well kudos to you and Jules. Hina is a wonderful name and I will suggest it to our newest lady,” Julian chortled. “I’m sure she’ll be pleased, she’s an utter delight to work with and will be ensconced in her new home later tomorrow.” He walked away chuckling to himself. Greg looked up from the simulation he was running and grinned.

“Guess that makes you an official Saber, Lia. Welcome to our ever expanding family,” he winked at her. Lia just blushed again and went back to her training scenario.

Preparations were fierce during the final weeks before zero hour. The manufacture of the ACM suits for The SIX was completed two weeks before the launch. To make sure that the suits would function correctly, Greg and Trish programmed a small number of their own bugs into the new ACMs in order to teach the nanomechs in The SIX’s systems how to integrate. Greg and Lia also ran simulations nearly 16 hours every day right on board the rescue vessel so as to familiarize themselves with the real controls and get to know Hina as well.

It was 24 hours before mission launch when Hina voiced a concern to Greg.

“Excuse me, Captain?” she addressed him formally.

“No need to call me Captain, Hina. Greg is just fine,” he said absently, not looking up from his tablet.

“Sorry Sir, I was just trying to follow the chain of command. I memorised our Table of Operations and thought it was appropriate to maintain proper discipline,” Hina responded crisply. “At any rate Sir, I have been doing research into naval history and traditions and have discovered that it is considered bad luck to set sail in any vessel that has not been named or properly christened,” she sounded fairly concerned.

“Hina, I understand your concerns and appreciate them, but let’s just think of this as a shakedown run. We can have a full ceremony upon our successful return,” Greg thought for a moment. “Um… consider the ship as Naval Experimental or an NX for now, OK?”

“Aye-aye Captain,” Hina sounded unsure, but refrained from further comment on the matter and simply said, “I’ll note it in the log.”

“Thank you Hina, now let’s get on with the pre-flight checklist…” Greg continued.

The countdown stood at T minus 10 minutes and so far everything had been green for go. All equipment, emergency or other, was secured and the flight crew was fully suited and strapped in. At T minus five minutes, after a sweep of the area was made with all sensors, the massive hangar doors opened and the ship stood naked to the midnight sky. Hina brought the fusion reactor to full power and braced the ship-skin for takeoff. Greg looked over at Lia and shot her a quick thumbs up.

“Mission Control, this is Rescue One,” Greg transmitted, “we are at full power, repeat full power. All boards here show green. Anti-Gravity generator shows ready and the updated navigational set has been cleared by Hina.” Betina’s clear voice then responded.

“Rescue One, acknowledged. Our boards confirm all green. Ship is now on internal power and all umbilicals are disconnected. At T minus two minutes and counting, we await a ‘Go - No Go’ from Flight Manager,” she confirmed. The Professor’s voice cut in.

“Rescue One, this is Flight Manager, at T minus one and a half minutes, we are at Go status.”

“Flight from Rescue One, acknowledged Go status at T minus one minute five seconds. Awaiting final clearance,” Greg responded.

“Rescue One, from Mission Control, all moorings clear, at T minus 45 seconds. All launch preparations complete. At T minus 30 seconds, Anti-Grav to 10 percent. T minus 20 seconds engage stealth mode, Anti-Grav to 20 percent. T minus 10, nine, eight, seven, six, and five, Anti-Grav to 50 percent… four, three, two, one, hangar clearance at T plus five seconds. Rescue One you are clear for full Anti-Grav,” Betina instructed.

The ship rose silently and majestically into the star rich sky until visual tracking lost it in the blackness of the night. At the edge of the thermosphere, the ship entered a geostationary position and with a tiny puff of its manoeuvring thrusters, started to climb into a higher orbit. They were in freefall now and had slipped the bonds of the Earth’s gravity field. Greg had Hina cut the Anti-Grav field and provide cabin gravity of zero point five Earth normal. two orbits later, they precessed towards the Moon and engaged their main thrusters. Now they were truly on their way toward the moonbase and the imminent rescue of The SIX.

Nathanial Ravensclaw had arisen at midnight for some strange reason. He poured himself a glass of brandy, went to the large panoramic window of his penthouse, and stared out. The full moon shone down, turning the room silver-white with its illumination. He had the oddest feeling that something was happening that was just beyond his reach… but that couldn’t be true. Now, more then ever, he was fully in control. He finished his drink and returned to bed.

When Nathanial walked into his offices later that day, all hell was breaking loose. There were several people in dark suits waiting for him in the foyer, while other people in uniforms were carting boxes of paper and computers into the elevators. The closest approached him.

“Mr. Nathanial Ravensclaw? We’d like to speak with you in your office please,” the woman gestured toward his private office.

“Certainly gentlemen and lady, if you’ll all please show me some form of identification?” Nathanial said through a frozen smile. The suit in the lead opened a wallet with an FBI card showing her to be Assistant Director Gail Paxton. Ravensclaw examined it closely before waving the agent and her entourage into his office. He sat down at his desk and looked at the agent in charge.

“Now, before we begin, I’d like to see any and all warrants that are in your possession that will begin to explain this intrusion!” Nathanial demanded sharply. Gail handed him a thick sheaf of papers, which Nathanial examined even more closely than he had the FBI agent’s ID. He glanced up at the group in front of him.

“Please sit down Agent Paxton, and try to explain what all this shit about misappropriation of government funds and materials is?” his speech dripped with venom. Gail spoke up, looking Ravensclaw directly in the eye, completely unfazed.

“’This shit’, as you put it, is about a missing shuttle. Said shuttle was under construction at your aerospace facility in Texas. The United States Government paid for said shuttle. Said shuttle has recently been discovered to be a holographic image. To sum up Mr. Ravensclaw, the U.S. Government paid you one billion dollars for a hologram. Would you care to explain or save it for your indictment hearing?” she said with a tight little smile. Nathanial looked genuinely surprised. Raising one eyebrow he began to speak.

“To be perfectly honest with you Agent Paxton, this is the first I’ve heard of it,” he said, regaining his self-control. “No word of this alleged incident has reached me or the board.”

“Word came to the FBI from an anonymous tip, so I’m not surprised that the news of your failed cover-up hasn’t filtered up to your lofty heights yet. I am curious though, about what you hoped to accomplish. It’s not as though you don’t have enough money, and all the other work floors at the facility had shuttles in varying stages of completion, so why only one? Was it a test run? To see if you could get away with it?” Gail probed. Ravensclaw took out a cigar and slowly lit it before responding nonplussed to her.

“I’m afraid Ms. Paxton that you’ll have to take the matter up with my legal department. Please be careful with the computer equipment, or you may end up with a lawsuit on your hands. Good day,” he said dismissively. He picked up his newspaper and started reading. Gail Paxton stared at him for a moment longer, then turned on her heel and walked brusquely out of the office. Ravensclaw waited another 10 minutes, until the last of the agents had cleared out, before picking up the phone.

“Get me Aerodyne, immediately!” he stormed.

The outbound voyage was accomplished in two and a half days without incident. Hina used the telemetry from the moonbase as a navigational beacon and located their destination immediately after breaking orbit. With the ship firmly locked on target, Greg and Lia simply had to make sure that all the supplies and equipment to get The SIX safely home was correctly stowed and aboard. This was busywork of course, as the entire ship’s manifest had been triple checked before launch. The rest of their time was spent watching the Moon grow larger in their screens and the Earth recede behind them. Greg spent time reading, while Trish and Lia spent time discussing the future for themselves, the immediate and the long term.

“…what I’m saying Lia, is that you’re more than welcome to stay with us at AERI and work with Father, Greg and I. Lord knows we can use help with trying to improve the lives of the people of Earth and save the environment at the same time,” Trish offered.

“I understand that Trish and I thank you for your generous proposal… I just don’t know what I’ll do after we finish this mission. You have to understand that this is the first time that I’ll be in contact with the people that I fought against in Washington. I don’t know what’ll happen when we meet this time,” Lia shook her head doubtfully.

“I know that and we’ll make sure that the meeting is as painless for both sides as possible,” Trish smiled. “If you’d prefer, you can stay aboard the ship while Greg and I go into the base.” Lia bit her lower lip and dipped her eyes.

“Are you sure that’d be OK?” Lia said hopefully.

“If it makes you feel more at ease, that’s what we’ll do, OK?” Trish confirmed gently. Lia smiled and nodded her head. Hina spoke up at that moment.

“Attention all hands! Please strap yourselves into the command seats. I am preparing for braking manoeuvres and lunar orbit insertion. It could be a little rough.” Trish grinned at Lia as she strapped herself down.

“You heard the Commander Lia, buckle up for safety,” she laughed.

The braking and orbital insertion went without incident and soon they were in a synchronous orbit above Lunar one. Greg contacted Saber Base and reported in for the last time before landing.

“Mission Control, from Rescue One. We are in final preparation for descent and passenger pickup, over,” he announced.

“Rescue One, Mission Control,” Betina’s voice responded after a slight delay. “Flight has you green for descent and landing at your discretion. Good Luck, over.” Greg flipped his headset from voice activated to manual operation and gave Hina the order to begin her landing cycle.

“Aye Captain,” Hina acknowledged. “Descent in three, two, one…” She activated her thrusters and sped up so she could begin slowing her forward momentum and trimmed her retros to drop lower into the thin lunar atmosphere. They approached Lunar one and she gave a final blast on her forward and descent thrusters, settling gently on the landing pad just outside the main airlock of the base.

“Touchdown complete at 13:00 hours, June fifth, 2011 Captain. Awaiting orders,” Hina reported.

“Thank you Commander,” Greg answered. “Fusion reactor to 50 percent please and prepare for ship to shore communication.” There was a crackle of static and then the voice of Nikoli Rasmussen came through their headsets.

“Lunar one to Rescue One, good afternoon, so kind of you to drop in... did you bring us anything?” Nikoli sounded excited, but in control.

“Good afternoon Major, yes I brought presents. I just wanted to tell you to clear the main airlock. I’ll be depressurizing it in 10 minutes and will be joining you and your team in the command centre in 20 minutes. Over,” Greg instructed.

“Copy that, Captain. 20 minutes, out.”

To Be Continued