The fact that the ship had malfunctioned both worried and delighted him. Thus far, Agent Styver had proven the Protection Bureau to be as powerful as it was far-reaching. Their technology was the latest and most cutting-edge, their access to information well beyond what should have been possible. Hell, Agent Styver had had a Presto Shuttle in the alley behind Spacer’s Paradise the moment Nolan called for a skimmer-cab.
A malfunction like this should have been impossible for a ship as well-maintained as anything utilized by the Protection Bureau would be. But he hadn’t imagined the last few minutes. The ship had nearly crashed, and only Taia’s quick actions had saved them. That, paired with Agent Styver’s ignorance to Bex’s presence in his apartment, hinted at a fallibility, a limitation on what the Protection Bureau could truly do. They might have the latest in technology and more power and money than he could possibly imagine, yet they were neither omniscient nor omnipotent. In his circumstances, torn between his need to work with the Protection Bureau to help his brother and his knowledge of Agent Styver’s connection to Wolfe, Nolan found that reassuring.
“All the same,” he said aloud, “I think I’d rather get out of this wheelchair just in case something else goes pear-shaped, yeah?”
“Of course,” Taia replied. “A combat suit and a full complement of weapons are waiting for you next to the starspeeder.”
Nolan wasted no time wheeling his chair across the cargo bay toward the starspeeder. Sure enough, just beneath the small craft, Nolan found three pallet-ready thermoplastic cases strapped to the cargo bay floor. Opening the nearest, Nolan smiled down at the metallic combat suit within. One last shuddering jolt from the spaceship as it broke Exodus VI’s atmosphere was all the convincing he needed to suit up.
The armor was heavier than his usual combat suit, and it proved more difficult to slip on. As usual, he donned the boots, leg bracers, and metallic belt first. Without Taia’s robotic arms to help him, he had to slide out of his wheelchair and perch on the edge of one of the weapons cases. It took him the better part of twenty minutes to get the lower body of the suit on, but the moment he clicked the belt into place, a hum of energy crackled through his nerves as Taia took control of the armor. With barely a whirring of metallic gears, Nolan was able to stand and take a few experimental steps around the cargo bay.
It felt marvelous to be back on his feet. He no longer resented the time he spent in his wheelchair, no longer felt trapped as he had in the months following his injury. But as a man of action, he always felt more like himself when armored up and back in control of his limbs, even if it was through Taia’s cybernetic relays.
“Run a diagnostic on the suit,” Nolan told Taia as he got to work on the combat suit’s upper body pieces. “Let’s see what we’re working with here.” Mobile once again, he made quick work of donning the backplate, combat pack, chestplate, pauldrons, and arm plates. By the time he clicked the helmet in place, Taia had finished her examination of the suit’s capabilities and displayed them on the screen of his HUD.
“Ion boot engines, anti-grav thrusters specially calibrated to Moabus’ electromagnetic field and mineral composition, glider wings, infrared and Omnistalker vision, digital camouflage, twin high-efficiency solar-charging power cells, and all the usual digital weapons interfaces,” Taia listed. “This, however, is new.”
The screen wavered, the image distorted. It was just for a moment, so brief Nolan dismissed it as nothing more than a HUD malfunction. A moment later, the readout for the suit’s singularly unique feature scrolled across his screen.
“Vibration dampeners?” Nolan’s brow furrowed. “You’re right, that is new.”
“It seems the mining operations under Moabus’ surface have led to low-grade tremors and occasional earthquakes. The suit has been specially customized to reduce any vibrations that could interfere with your ability to shoot straight.”
“That’s awfully considerate of our favorite Protection Bureau agent.” Nolan grinned. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he actually liked me.” But he did know better. Agent Styver simply armed him with the tools to make him the most efficient Imperial assassin he could be.
Nolan’s gaze fell on the only remaining object in the weapons case. “Oh look, Taia, he packed a little present for you, too!” He plucked the gunmetal black rectangular cuboid from its cushioned place in the thermoplastic chest.
“I made sure Agent Styver knew how imperative it was now that we’re going off-world,” Taia said.
“Good thinking.” Nolan connected the high-powered portable server and subspace faster-than-light comm relay to his combat pack, adding to the power of the built-in mobile operating system.
“Zettabytes of storage, high-speed RAM and CPU.” Taia’s voice switched to Jadis’ sultry purr. “Mmm, wonderful!”
Nolan half-snorted, half-laughed in surprise. “I’d say you two should get a room, but you’re stuck in my brain.”
“Which is why I need this extra computing power to work off-world,” Taia said, once more in her normal robotic voice. “Thanks to this, I’ll have full access to my servers on New Avalon. And I’ve taken precautions to lock down our transmissions so no one else—not even Agent Styver—can tap in.”
The microchip in Nolan’s brain had enough computing power to keep him mobile, but it could do little more than operate as the interface between Nolan’s organic matter—his brain—and Taia’s larger operating system. Initially, that system had been limited to a single portable server, which the Protection Bureau had given to Nolan when he signed up to play the role of their assassin. However, over the last four years, Taia had upgraded her capabilities exponentially. Her programming included directives to always be searching for the next improvement to her algorithms and expanding her capabilities.
Her mention of New Avalon brought back something that had lingered at the back of his mind.
“You know, I’ve been thinking about what happened with Wolfe and Gustav. Specifically, the incident with the stun baton.” His stomach clenched at the memory. More than a million volts of electricity coursing through his body had knocked Taia offline and nearly short-circuited her. He couldn’t have that again. “I know you’ve got a Faraday lattice of steel filaments shielding you from EMPs, but you’ve got no shielding against direct electrical currents, right?”
“That’s correct, and I believe I’ve come up with a solution for the problem.” An image popped up on Nolan’s HUD. “It is a similar Faraday lattice, with a few upgrades that will protect my neural matrix from electrical currents running through your body. Just in case you get captured and tased again.”
Nolan grimaced. “Yeah, not my favorite part of the last few days either.”
“I will implement the upgrade while you sleep. I’ve also taken the liberty of putting in an order for more servers on Exodus VI. They should be installed and operational within the next five days. I believe expanding my computing power is vital for the success of our future operations together.”
Nolan nodded. “Good. I’d hate to see anything happen to you.” Taia wasn’t just his legs and the system that controlled most aspects of his life; she was the closest thing he’d had to a friend since being medded out of the Silverguard. He couldn’t imagine living without her voice in his ears and her support on his missions. “Now, let’s see what other goodies Agent Styver packed for us.”