“I think I’m concussed,” she muttered, suppressing another rebellious roll of nausea, “But, hey, if you say so..."

  She made it back to the intersection and resumed the path the Calliope had given her. It didn’t make any sense for her to be providing the new gel to the tanks, now that the Odyssey reinforcements had arrived. Tracing a hand along the wall to steady herself, she headed for the tanks.

  Five feet from the compartment, a door on one of the emergency cabinets set into the wall popped open.

  “Mask,” the Calliope ordered. “Now!”

  Peony dropped down next to the cabinet.

  “Callie, I thought you were…”

  “Busy, Sugartits,” the AI rapped back. “Get your mask on.”

  Frowning at the AI’s use of the term, Peony complied, pulling the mask over her face, before struggling to her feet. A splitting headache had formed, connecting directly with her stomach.

  “You sure you need this, Calliope?” she asked.

  “Course we do,” Callistemon soothed. “Now get it in place. We’ve got one hell of a hole to patch.”

  “Gotcha,” Peony managed, covering the last few feet to the tank compartment, and inserting the contents.

  It took a couple of minutes for the contents to take, and the readouts to show the system was already processing them.

  “Now, where to?” she asked, stepping back into the corridor.

  “How about walking with me and helping me sort this whole mess out?”

  The Odyssey marine was back, and he still wasn’t Carver.

  “Did they…” Peony tried to gather her thoughts in spite of the light show sparking behind her eyes. “Did you…”

  She frowned, trying to find the words she needed. When the marine offered her his arm, she took it, leaning more heavily than she intended. It took her a minute.

  “Is it still a Casamir project?” she managed.

  “The colony?” the marine wanted to know.

  Peony made the mistake of nodding, and the world spun so she ended up falling instead.

  “You need to lie down?” the marine asked, “Because I really need…”

  In the end it didn’t matter what he needed, because her head had had enough and she drifted into the black.

  “Well, damn…” echoed softly after her, and she felt like telling him that maybe next time he should be more careful with the civilians he tackled.

  At least he didn’t shoot me, she told herself, as she woke up, then realized she’d said the words out loud.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “Something your Calliope has made me grateful for,” the marine surprised her by answering.

  Peony opened her eyes, then let him help her sit up.

  “Sorry,” she told him, “You wanted me to help you sort things out.”

  He gave her a too-bright smile.

  “Turns out I had all the help I needed, I just didn’t know it.” He frowned. “You do know your ship’s a fully functional sentient, don’t you?”

  “She might be, now,” Peony admitted, “But I’m afraid Odyssey hasn’t been the best influence.”

  He laid a hand over his breastplate and feigned shock, then laughed.

  “Oh, I don’t know. I’d say Astraya has a few questions the bosses would like her to answer, because your ship…” He stopped and shook his head. “Let’s just say, I was glad I didn’t have to do the negotiating, because she drives a very hard bargain… I don’t suppose you told her to contact Dasojin?”

  “Dasojin?” Peony’s mind scrambled, but all she could think of was a private courier firm. “Why would she need a courier?”

  He stared at her. “So, you don’t know…”

  “Know what?”

  “That they’re an HMT company. Every ship they run is a human mind transferred into a courier skin.”

  Peony gaped at him. “They are? But why would she want to talk to them?”

  His mouth tightened, but a shadow darkened the doorway before he could continue, and he glanced up.

  “Ah… Captain…” He stood, squeezing Peony’s shoulder as he rose.

  The Calliope’s captain surged forward, anger and worry etching his features.

  “You didn’t agree to anything?” he demanded, and Peony shook her head, then winced. “Good.”

  He glared at the marine, then transferred his displeasure to the blonde-haired woman who’d followed him into the room.

  “You’re both incorrigible.”

  “But…” Peony gave him a bewildered look. “They didn’t do anything.”

  A third figure entered.

  “Astraya! You made it.”

  She was followed by two marines wearing the Casamir colony uniforms. One she recognized.

  “Lieutenant.”

  Both men surged forward.

  “I thought I said nothing was to be decided until we arrived,” the man with Carver stated.

  “Nothing has,” Peony interrupted, and he looked toward her, a brief smile lighting his features.

  He hurried to her bedside, and pulled up a chair, signaling the others to do the same.

  “Now, these AIs,” he began, and Peony discovered what her friends had been up to while she’d been unconscious.

  The man leading the discussion was the Casamir marine’s captain, and he was none-too-pleased to discover that the colony leadership had defaulted to him when the original leaders had been suborned by the offer of more power by Royal Star.

  His first order of business, now she was awake, was to secure the AIs as colonial citizens, especially given they didn’t officially exist until recognized by their patron organization…or their progenitor-and since the Calliope’s Challenge had been the colony transport, they technically came under his purview.

  “No matter how hard Odyssey try to argue it,” he finished sourly, having brought Peony up to speed as fast as he could. “Normally I wouldn’t rush things but…”

  “But Odyssey has other commitments, and the Sugarsides is standing by to depart,” the blonde hurriedly put in. She held out her hand. “Agent Delight. Pleased to meet you.”

  As if that’s the protocol she has to follow before… Peony thought.

  “And now that that’s out of the way, we need to get down to business,” Delight continued. “The AI known as Calliope’s Challenge has applied to join our organization and we’d like to finalize her paperwork.”

  Peony’s head swam.

  “Calliope?” she asked. “Is this true?”

  “Pleeeease?” the ex-ship asked. “It beats the heck out of being a transport ship, and I could be operational.”

  The way she said that last word made it sound like the holy grail of existence. Peony looked at Delight.

  “Operational?”

  Delight scowled. “Not if she doesn’t learn to keep her data ports shut, she won’t, but…yes. We believe she’d be an asset to our operation if you clear her for independent operation.”

  “You mean without a liaison tech?” Peony asked, not sure how she felt about that.”

  “Yes,” Delight told her shortly. “We’d take you as well…”

  The marine captain stirred, and the agent cast him a sour look.

  “But the captain here says you are now essential to the colony’s operations given you are the only qualified AI interface liaison they possess.”

  “And given we have your release papers from your previous employer,” the captain added, trying to look sympathetic. “They were apparently not happy with the developmental path your previous charge took.”

  “Sorry,” Calliope managed, then spoiled her apparent contrition by adding, “I have never had so much fun! Please say I can join Odyssey.”