“Comms is back up, Captain,” Lieutenant Johnson said as soon as we entered the bridge.

I received several relieved smiles at my presence beside the captain. Who received several appreciative smiles from the female crew members and several reverent smiles from the males. Clearly, they thought my release from the brig was due to Captain Vaughan and now he claimed hero status.

I snorted softly to myself and took my position at the engineering console. MacBride acknowledged my biometric sign-in with a thumbs-up emoji on the screen; sent from engineering itself.

For a moment, I just basked in the feeling of membership that I had to this exclusive club of ours. These officers were my family now.

Noah stopped beside his command chair but didn’t sit down. His hands were firmly placed on his hips as he stared at Pavo on the main viewscreen. He made a striking figure. All eyes, female and male, were on him. Waiting for his instructions.

I couldn’t look away to save myself.

“Are we doing this, Vela?” he finally asked.

“This is the will of the many, Captain.”

“It is,” Noah agreed.

“I still do not trust him.” Pavo. The AI meant Pavo and the whispers he kept hearing.

“Well, let’s see how accommodating they are, then,” Noah replied. “Hail Pavo, Lieutenant Johnson.”

“Aye-aye, sir. Channel open. Pavo has replied.”

“Captain Jameson,” Noah said, looking at the image that had appeared on the main viewscreen of the captain of the Anderson Universal lead vessel Pavo. “It’s good to see you again. But I admit, a bit of a surprise.”

“It’s good to see you’re still standing, Captain Vaughan,” Jameson replied. “We were a little worried there for a while. The message from your Commander Rey was alarming and cryptic.”

Several pairs of eyes looked at me, but Noah kept his firmly on the viewscreen.

“Captain,” Vela said in warning. Jameson didn’t respond to Vela’s voice, so I could only assume the AI had isolated his channel from them. “Pavo is still whispering.”

“Can Jameson see and hear me, Vela?” Noah asked.

“Negative. I have sent a request to standby.”

Noah looked at Johnson who confirmed that Vela had stepped in.

“OK, Vela,” Noah announced. “I’ll get to the bottom of this. But you have to trust me.”

“Trust is earned, is it not, Captain?”

“Yes. Have I not earned yours yet?” Noah sounded upbeat; his voice teasing. I doubted the captain felt that at ease right now. He was very good at playing the part that needed to be played. And right now, Vela needed to see our captain relaxed and at ease.

“I believe you have,” Vela replied. The relief I felt at that was unparalleled. “The channel is open again.”

“Thank you,” Noah murmured and returned his attention to the viewscreen.

“Everything all right, Captain?” Jameson asked.

“No,” Noah said succinctly. “We have a slight problem that I’m going to need your assistance with.”

“That’s why we’re here; to help.”

“Good, then can you tell Pavo to stop communicating with our fleet.”

Silence. Jameson didn’t look surprised at the request, nor did he look guilty. He kept a neutral expression on his face and said nothing.

“The whispers have stopped,” Vela announced.

Noah let out a soft breath.

“Can you tell me what Pavo was trying to do?” he asked Captain Jameson.

“Your fleet was alarmed, Captain,” a male voice said over the comm. It didn’t sound like Vela’s voice, but it was close. If I had to describe it, I’d say it was halfway between synthetic and human. It was strange. As if the AI had become more human than computer. It gave me chills, but didn’t surprise Jameson at all; he didn’t even blink.

“Pavo?” Noah queried.

“Yes, Captain. Greetings.”

Our gel walls pulsed a dull red. Not alert red, but an expression of Vela’s disquiet.

“It’s all right,” I said softly. “We’ve got your back.”

The walls stopped pulsing red. Noah looked over his shoulder at me and smiled. Then his eyes were back on the viewscreen again.

“Hello, Pavo,” Noah said. “Vela doesn’t like you whispering to his fleet.”

I had to smile at the direct approach Noah was taking. But sometimes these things required less finesse and more bluntness.

“I will not…whisper again,” Pavo said.

Well, that was easy.

“But you should be aware,” the AI added, “your fleet is anxious, and several have powered up their main boost thrust engines in order to continue their voyage.”

Noah raised his hand with a cutting motion. Johnson leapt forward and hit a button on his screen.

“Channel closed, sir.”

“Thank you,” Noah said. “What do you make of that?” His eyes were on me, but the question was for the entire flight deck. I shook my head. “Is he telling the truth, Vela?” Noah asked.

“Yes.”

“Were you aware of this?”

“Yes.”

“And what had you planned?”

“I have gained access to five of the Sector One vessels’ main boost thrust engines and am attempting to access the last one at present. They will not go anywhere without me.”

I arched my brow at Noah. He didn’t look quite so sanguine now.

“I see. Was Pavo trying to stop you?”

“I do not know. I could not hear his whispers distinctly.”

Was that on purpose? Was Pavo working for or against us?

Noah looked down at the floor briefly and then glanced at the communications station.

“Open the channel again, Johnson.”

“Yes, sir. Channel open. Pavo standing by.”

“You keep cutting out on us, Captain,” Jameson said. “Is everything all right?”

Noah took a step toward the viewscreen.

“Let’s be honest with each other, shall we, John?” Jameson nodded his head, his features settling into a serious mien. “Vela is…not quite himself.”

“I understand what that’s like,” Jameson offered carefully.

“But on this,” Noah went on, “I happen to agree with his view of things.”

The walls pulsed a soothing green. He was like a child, I realised; wanting recognition and praise for his actions. I had the impression Vela looked to Noah as a father figure. Someone he desperately wanted to trust but also please.

It was a lot of responsibility. And with Vela the way he currently was - temperamental and paranoid - it was also a dangerous position to be in.

I sucked in a breath of air; this made me nervous and worried. For Noah especially.

“Oh,” Jameson said. “And what view is that?”

“The Sector One Fleet is under our protection,” Noah announced. “Pavo has no right to interfere.”

“He was trying to help.”

“Please don’t. Your help isn’t helping.”

Jameson stared at Noah, while Noah stared back. A silent conversation of sorts transpired between them.

“Pavo,” Jameson eventually said. “Please don’t contact any of the Sector One Fleet vessels again.”

“Understood, Captain,” Pavo said in his expressive robotic voice.

Noah let out a breath and said, “Is that acceptable, Vela?”

The walls stayed green, but Vela didn’t say anything for several long seconds.

Then, “I have control of all the Sector One Fleet vessels’ engines, Captain. I am happy.”

Noah’s eyes widened slightly. Jameson just chuckled.

“Welcome to the age of excitable artificial intelligence, Noah,” he said. “From my experience, once they start feeling, things become a lot more interesting.”

More interesting? I stifled a moan. Noah looked beleaguered.

“I think we need to share notes,” Noah said finally.

“My thoughts exactly,” Captain Jameson replied, laughing.