Evolutionary Liberator

"There's a way to track sh.i.p.s, when they warp, I've seen people do it. I just don't know how," complained Olivia as they watched the bounty hunters pillage the station.

"I know a way, if the ship's computer will let me," said Granny, tentatively.

"By all means," said the computer. "Dustin set you as one of the few people allowed to access my main programs."

"What?" cried Olivia in outrage. "And not me?"

"Olivia, you left him heartbroken. He almost didn't allow you to come along, when he discovered you were on board," said the computer.

Granny wasn't paying any attention to them as they argued back and forth, and dived into the programming, typing furiously.

"Ah, so that's how you do it," said the computer, breaking off on the argument, mid sentence.

Olivia sat back in her chair and crossed her arms, pouting. "This is just like that time he wouldn't let me help by killing the guards around that robot graveyard, when we were kids."

"What kind of guards?" asked Old Motha curiously.

"They were those big blue aliens, with tentacles hanging down from where their mouths should have been. He said I wouldn't like it if they caught me, and I laughed, as if that would happen. I remember…" She stopped as she realized what she was saying, and looked over to see a wide grin on both Granny's and Old Motha's face.

"It seems you are starting to get some of those memories back," said Granny, hitting one final key on the keyboard.

"This is kind of weird, remembering something that I know, being a clone, I shouldn't remember."

"That's only the half of it. I have memories of every Gooblen I've ever been with, when they died," said Old Motha.

"You do?" asked Granny.

"Of course! It's the responsibility of the matriarch to consume the crystals of those who die, to make sure that the line continues. I fear that so many have died away from me, and I haven't been able to get the crystals, that, that's the reason why the younglings have been born without crystals."

Granny looked horrified. "I didn't know that you were supposed to eat them!"

"It's a secret known only to the matriarch dear. I was planning to step down and let you take over, once we got settled, but that hive mind has decided that we can't live on that planet with the Uz'En, so I don't know where we're going to go."

"I'm sure that once we get Dustin back, he'll jump in another planet or something, for you," said Olivia, watching as the computer started pulling up the faint warp trails on the screen above them.

"We'll see," said Old Motha, turning to look at the screen as well.

"Looks like that one's the one we want to follow," said Granny, typing in a few things on her monitor. "Make sure you stop before you reach where they stopped."

"The guidelines you gave me are quite complete. It's remarkable to say the least."

"I was the one who came up with this method of following people, ages ago. It's become pretty standard by now, I imagine."

They prepared for warp, leaving the bounty hunters behind. This ship wasn't really designed for warp, but Dustin had left it as an emergency option. They waited with bated breath as they left the warp field and everyone gasped when the scene opened up around them.

"Emergency jump initiated!" cried the ship's computer as they saw the huge vessel in front of them.

Olivia's pulse sped up and adrenaline coursed through her veins as she saw the nanobots streaming off the thing, towards them. This was a ship of the AI! It had already successfully made its own nanobots!

They disappeared just as the nanobots reached them. Reappearing in empty space a light year away.

"Emergency purge activated!" said the computer, as a silent alarm sent red flashing lights spinning in the corner.

"What's going on?" asked Granny.

"Some of the enemy nanobots were successful in making contact before the jump was complete. They have been purged, but our location may be compromised. I am preparing to jump again!"

They jumped three more times, before the computer felt safe enough to stop.

"From what I can determine, based on the minimal information provided, that was a mother ship of the AI. Its design was intended to swallow smaller sh.i.p.s whole. I can only speculate, that Dustin was captured by the AI."

"No, I refuse to believe that!" cried Olivia, slamming her hand down on the console.

"Olivia, we're not giving up on him, we just need to take the time to figure out what our next step is," said Granny. "Look, there's an asteroid belt here that has some fuel in it. Let's refuel the ship and take a moment to think."

Olivia nodded after a moment, and watched as the asteroids grew in size as they approached them.

XxxxX

"I just wish I could get a message to Olivia," said Dustin, crossing his arms in thought.

"You might just get your wish," said his dad, turning as an alarm sounded and he pulled up a picture of the ship approaching.

"How did she find me here?" he wondered, heading towards the airlock they had used earlier. His dad hesitated for a moment, before following him.

They flew out of the ship, through the crack of the asteroid the ship was hiding in, and out towards the incoming ship, which paused its mining.

The airlock opened to let them on board, and Dustin paused for only a moment as several Gooblens almost flew out into space. They hurried and boarded, to close the airlock.

"Why are there so many Gooblens on my ship?" he asked, once he had changed back to his normal form.

"We not allowed to stay on Uz'En world, like we told we could, so we stuck here until we find a new home," said one of the Gooblens with a yawn.

"Old Motha wants new people brought to her," g.r.o.a.n.e.d one Gooblen, further in the hall, and all of the Gooblens next to them g.r.o.a.n.e.d.

Before Dustin, or his dad, could do anything else, they were grabbed and dragged across the sea of Gooblens towards the bridge.