[Zach]

Regret hung like icicles in my gut. I shouldn't have come down so hard on Avia for copying the Project Asclepius research data. We avoided each other for days, which was awkward on this small cargo shuttle, and if our eyes accidentally met, she turned away immediately. Tense silence hung like smoke.

I busied myself with miscellaneous repairs, starting with critical systems. Avia monitored and optimized the one operational fusion reactor, trying to make the most of our meager fuel reserve. Outside of that, she studied the research data stored within her cybernetic implants, usually while lying in a fold-down bunk and facing the hull.

Fortunately, the shuttle held enough emergency rations to feed us, although in the form of tasteless meal bars. To maintain her blood sugar levels, which also powered her cyber implants, Avia ate twice what I did. But I think the nutritional balance was not ideal for her.

Avia was... complicated — on one hand a strong and brave woman I admired, and on the other, a lonely, vulnerable little girl who I wanted to shelter from an unfair life. Asleep in her bunk, she sometimes trembled and let out cries that tore at my heart, indications that her nightmares had returned. I barely imagined what she endured as a child soldier, then on the run as a wanted fugitive. Part of her pain I caused. Yet through it all, she maintained a compassionate heart.

"I fixed the wash station," I told Avia as I entered the tiny galley, breaking our silence. "We should be able to shower and wash our clothes now." The only clothes we had were the white Omni-Corp uniforms we had stolen.

"That's good," Avia replied without making eye contact. Facing away, she reached to take a meal bar from within a cabinet.

"Avia..." I said, hesitating and looking down. "I'm sorry. I... I shouldn't have been so hard on you, and I understand why you copied the data." Still, I didn't agree with her choice, but I realized it was born from a caring nature. "We'll figure out a way to get through this together."

Turning to me, Avia's moist eyes gazed into mine and her lower lip trembled. Despite her strength, there was a vulnerability to her. When I opened my arms, she moved into them, burrowing her head under my chin. And a shadow lifted from my heart.

"Thank you, Zach," she whispered. "I thought I failed you."

"But I thought I failed you," I replied, squeezing her tighter. A realization came to me — Avia desperately needed acceptance, to belong. After growing up an orphan, a child soldier, and then a lonely and reviled fugitive, that deep desire made sense. And it was something I could offer.

"Let's talk," I said, releasing her. "I'll make some tea." I'm not a tea drinker, and the tea I found tucked away in a drawer, but it served a purpose. As we sat across the small gray plas-steel table, gripped steaming mugs, I asked, "What do you make of the research data?"

Avia took a sip, then grimaced. "Medical nano-bots were revolutionary for treating specific diseases, but Project Asclepius took it a step further, generalizing the bots for continuous health maintenance and anti-aging. Some scientists believed they would double human lifespans, or more. The Omni-Corp executives were most excited about the profit potential."

"That's their driving purpose." I took a sip, and it was so bitter that I nearly spat it out. "Frack, this tastes bad."

"Yeah," Avia chuckled, pushing her teacup away. "The trial protocol showed a complete disregard for life — criminal, I would say. Most of the initial test subjects died in the first trial. They made the nano-bots too aggressive, and they killed like an auto-immune disease. Later trials worked better.

"The control coding is brilliant. The bots network together, collectively forming a powerful computer, which optimized their effectiveness. But they still haven't solved the disruption caused by naturally expiring nano-bots. Presently, the technology requires an external computer to coordinate the network."

Had to admit — some of her explanation went over my head. I asked, "What about the mind-control application?"

"That part is super-secret. Your uncle took steps to make sure very few knew about it. Theoretically, the bots could also rewire the brain and create false associations, thus bending a person's response to stimuli."

I blew out a breath. "Hate to think what a marketer might do with this. Could they make the public crave, say, Goober Gummies?"

Avia laughed out loud, which, in turn, warmed my heart.

She continued, "Something like that. But there are some things even worse. People could be compelled to accept certain political agendas, or to worship a dictator. Workers might accept slave-like conditions, or soldiers to never question an order. Some truly evil super-villain stuff."

"The public would never accept that."

"But they wouldn't know about it. People would line up to get the nano-bot health and longevity benefits. Then, if the mind association technology worked, Omni-Corp would nudge them to accept what the corporation desires, or whoever controls it."

"Damn... So, what's holding the technology back?" I asked.

"The problem is that every brain is wired different, and it's difficult to create new associations. Essentially, each brain has to be mapped to calibrate the nano-bots, and that takes a lot of clever programing code they just don't have yet. Right now, the best they can do is alter general emotional response."

"You said before that you wanted to create a cure?"

"I'm working on it." Avia tapped her head. "Since I have the bot control code, it's possible I could counteract it. But anyway, I have enough documents to expose Omni-Corp once we get somewhere to transmit them."

I grinned. "It seems the Cyber Witch is not so villainous, after all."

*****

We dropped out of warp as close to the planetary system as we could, as limited by the gravity well, but had to retro-thrust hard to match orbital velocity, using up precious fusion fuel.

From a distance, Eden did not live up to its name. Extensive ice caps covered almost half the planet's surface, centered at the poles. Narrow, pale blue-green seas traced bleak gray and brown landscapes, except for streaks of ice at higher elevations. Cloud cover was sparse, comprising only a few swirled white patches. This was a desolate world.

Avia accessed the shuttle sensors with her cybernetics. Data appeared on the forward view-screen. "Ambient conditions are acceptable, pressure and composition. The air is breathable, but cold outside of the equatorial regions. Gravity is only slightly less than Earth standard."

I glanced down at the red blinking numbers showing the fuel tank pressure. "We're running on fumes. I am cutting the fusion reactors to minimum to save what we have left for re-entry braking."

The blockish shuttle wasn't designed for atmospheric flight. Theoretically, the hull should withstand the frictional heat of re-entry, as long as we didn't go too fast. But that required high fusion thruster output, and we had only one operational thruster and limited fuel.

Avia refined the re-entry calculations in her head and input the parameters into the ship piloting AI, then displayed the course as a green dotted line within a holographic display. It skimmed by one of two rocky moons.

"We can use the moon's relative motion to help slow us down and save some fuel," she explained.

"Glad I brought you along," I remarked with a wink.

After a few tricky maneuvers, we settled into low planet orbit and searched for a landing site, and hopefully, not a crash site.

"There," I exclaimed, pointing at the holographic view of Eden's surface, "the green swath near the sea. It looks like plant life."

"It is." A wide, hopeful smile brightened Avia's face as she increased magnification with her mind, revealing unnatural straight lines and constructed structures. "I'm picking up energy signatures. Zach, the area is occupied."

My smile matched hers and hoped bloomed in my heart. "Okay, that's where we shall go. Can you make the calcs?"

"Already did," Avia answered.

"Too bad we can't call ahead and make dinner reservations." Unfortunately, the frigate attack fried the coms. We would come in unannounced, and I hoped they, whomever they were, would not be hostile.

After we buckled in, Avia supervised the ship AI as it fired the thruster, and we dropped into the atmosphere, aft end first. I stood by in the pilot's seat. Acceleration forces pushed us into our padded seats.

A low rumble began, but then strengthened into teeth-chattering vibration, and grit danced across the deck. The thruster output decreased as we slowed, but continued to control our velocity. My eyes flitted across key parameters displayed on the control panel.

"The hull temperature is rising," I yelled over the noise, "but within limits." But something else worried me more — the fuel tank pressure. "We are almost out of fuel."

"I know." Avia shouted, closing her eyes. "Making course adjustments to conserve. It's going to get rough."

She was right. The shuttle lurched upward, then fell down. If we hadn't been fastened in, the forces would have flung us across the bridge. Violent shudders pulsed through the ship, shaking as if a tectonic quake.

We lurched again. The maneuvering jets fired wildly to keep us from tumbling uncontrolled across the sky.

"There's too much atmospheric turbulence," Avia yelled. "Hard to hold on course--"

With a sudden jolt, her words became a cry. I grunted as the seat restraints constricted my chest. An alarm horn screamed from the control panel, and flashing red letters spelled out 'Pilot AI Fail.'

Wide-eyed, Avia whipped her head around to me, and I knew she no longer controlled the shuttle's descent.

"Shifting to manual pilot," I announced as I swiped the control panel, bringing up the thruster screen. "Sure would be a shame to die now."

With the shaking, it was difficult to operate the control slides. But by what must be divine intervention, I kept the ship intact. Viewed through a small rounded window, the ground came ever closer. As we further slowed, the bucking lessened.

Then the next problem hit.

'No. 1 Reactor Fail' said the alarm lights.

"We are out of fuel!" I growled, gritting my teeth.

Even though the fuel stopped, the reactor still had some residual heat. Flipping to the reactor screen, I used the heat to create superheated steam for the maneuvering jets, filling them to maximum capacity. Then I fired a lateral jet to swing the shuttle around nose first.

"What are you doing?" Avia asked, her eyes growing wider still.

"We will glide in for a water landing. It's the only chance we have."

Unfortunately, the shuttle had all the glide characteristics of a brick. I pitched the nose up slightly to increase drag. The ship bucked in response.

A green landscape flashed past a window as our momentum shot us past our intended landing site, turning a rugged rocky seashore.

"Hang on, Avia, we are going in hard."

Nodding, she reached across to place a hand on my arm. Her gentle touch inspired confidence, and a tingling warmth spread through me.

As the frothing water came closer and at the last moment before impact, I fired the forward jets at full output, hoping to slow us down at least a little.

Then, with a bone jarring jolt, we crashed into the surf.