Chapter 1

Light shone off the gleaming black skin of the ship. Over 3 miles long, it had been one of a new race of living A.I. ships engineered to guard the vast Imperial boundary territory. For 800 years the small fleet of fast, sleek ships protected the empire. Many enemies had perished attempting to enter and take the empire. Though the fleet slowly died, the greatest of them was never defeated nor was she ever badly injured.

Finally 2 of the 3 remaining empire guardians were destroyed defending the borders. It has been a glorious battle, she'd fought bravely destroying the rest of the invaders after the last of her compatriots had exploded. Her rage knowing no bounds, as she took out the last 200 ships. Her crew reported the victory and the destruction of 2 of the last 3 remaining elite ships. The Emperor personally congratulated them, telling them to await transfer and replacement. That had been 200 years ago. The ship lovingly called Shelby by all her crews, began to grow lonely after the last of her crew died 50 years later. 50 years afterward she sent a message on the Imperial net for assistance. Confused when she received no reply, she hoped for recall. Soon however, she began to hunt for a biological humanoid to question, to get the answers she so desperately craved.

Derrick O'Toma looked over the readings, stretching his 6'2'' body. This salvage run had to be the worst. Brushing his sandy brown hair from the scar on his cheek, and from his light brown eyes, he sighed, sitting back in the command chair. What the hell did the company expect? Out here? There hadn't been anything out here since the last 2 of the elite living ships of the old empire were destroyed. Damn, he'd loved to have gotten his hands on one of those old ships, there hadn't been anything like them in over 1000 years. Too bad the last emperor had such a great distrust of the ships. Derrick felt that they were what had helped keep the empire as great as it was for so long.

Bored, Derrick set the sensors on auto sweep, adjusting the ships controls to react to anything detected. Getting up, he went to lay down, cursing his luck for having drawn this run. He'd just lain down, when he heard a voice, at least he thought he heard a voice. Looking around he shook his head, returning to the control cockpit, he opened the computer com.

"Computer," Derrick said a little annoyed.

"Online, awaiting orders," came the monotone, mechanical voice.

"Scan ship, query, are there any other life forms on board besides my self?" Derrick asked.

"Working," it stated, after 5 minutes it answered, "Analysis complete, no other life forms on board besides Captain Derrick."

Shaking his head, Derrick decided that the 5 weeks out here alone were starting to get to him.

Lying back down, Derrick felt his eyes close, God he was tired, a little metal, a few circuits not even worth the trip. Huh? Derrick thought this was an unusual dream, as a gray mist area stretched in front of him.

<Hello, I am Elite Imperial Guardian, EIG-0101F, to all humanoid entities who can detect these cerebral waves, I am in need of assistance. Again, any humanoid entity who detects this transmission, please respond.> A voice came from somewhere far away in the mist.

<What the f•©k was that?> Derrick thought.

He felt a sudden rush, then a beautiful, blonde, green eyed, slender, naked woman was standing in front of him. Derrick could only stare at her perfect appearing body.

<Dam!> Derrick thought, <This is an awful erotic dream, look at her! She's gorgeous!> Blushing a bit when he realized he was also naked, he went on, <My god! she's perfect!>

<Hello humanoid entity, I am EIG-0101f, I am the last of the Elite Guardian Ships. You are the first in 150 years that has answered my call, for that I thank you. I have been alone for a very long time.>

<I wish I knew how to talk to her. Wonder how I do that?> Derrick thought.

<Finally! A question! I can sense your thoughts, just think and I'll hear it.> The woman smiled sending a shock through him.

<Wait!> Thought Derrick, <I thought the last 2 Elite ships were destroyed 200 years ago, how can this be?>

The woman looked at Derrick and smiled again, looking lower, she smiled even larger, <Ah! I see my choice of guise is well to your liking!> the woman said, then giggled.

She then went on to describe 800 years of history for the empire. She described things that many, except Imperial historians, didn't know. (As Derrick's father had been.)

<I am confused EIG-0101F, > started Derrick, <If you are as advanced as you say, why are you in need of assistance?>

Smiling again, the woman explained, <Yes, I am an advanced living A.I., but while I am alive, I am still loyal to the emperor, I can not leave my post without his orders or, > here the woman trembled, <the end of the empire and the emperor.>

Derrick sighed, his great, great grandfather had been on board one of those ships. He'd written about his experience about 200 years ago. That was when the last of the ships were destroyed and his great, great grandmother never heard from him again.

<So what does this have to do with me?> Derrick thought.

<I have no crew, I have no orders except the standing ones left by the last of my crew. I was instructed to seek out more crew and ascertain what my mission was now if necessary. I was told that a phrase would be left by the last crew member.> The woman replied, a great sadness in her thoughts. <I am seeking information so that I may determine what I should do next. Tell me sir, what has become of the empire and the emperor?>

Derrick hung his head. The woman's features suddenly dropped, <I see, so the empire is no more, it is sad, it was a good and vast empire.> Her thoughts replied sadly.

<It was a very large empire, as I remember my father told me it was the largest he'd ever studied.> Derrick answered.

<Studied?> The woman said.

<Yes, > Derrick replied, <My father was a historian in the study of ancient empires. His great grandfather was a crew member on one of the last of the eli... , I'm sorry on one of you living ships.>

<A crew member? Do you remember the name of the ship?> The visage of the woman said.

<No, > Derrick sadly shook his head, <the family lost contact with him 200 years ago.>

The woman was deep in thought, <what was his name? I may be able to convey any messages he might have left for his family.>

<Uh, > Derrick thought, <I was named after him, as I recall he was the greatest warrior of the old empire. He was called Derrick as I am.>

The woman's face lit up, then a great sadness suddenly crossed it, <Derrick? Derrick O'Toma!> the woman said excited.

<yes, > Derrick said a little shaken, <did you know him?>

<Yes, > the woman sadly answered, <HE was my last crew man.>

Derrick's mouth hung agape, the last crew member?

<What do you mean the last crew member?> Derrick asked a little shaken.

<He, > the woman's eyes were now were shedding tears, <was loyal to the emperor, but he was mostly loyal to me. He refused to leave me, we waited for recall after the last 2 ships were destroyed. I believe, had it not been for him, I might not have been able to function these last 150 years. I remember his last words, a poem of love and duty.>

Here Derrick started to recite a poem his grandfather had told him was known only to the family, from memory.

The whole time he didn't realize that the woman was staring at him a look of joy growing on her face.

<I give me life to you, I dedicate my existence to your protection. Bringing joy my lifetime through, all our years entwined perfection.>

The woman stared at Derrick when he finished, both were actually staring at each other. The woman had spoken the exact same words behind Derrick, his mouth again agape, as was the woman's.

<My god!> Derrick breathed out in shock, <you really did know him, only my family knows that poem.>

The woman nodded a sad smile on her face, with that the woman was gone, Derrick awoke to every proximity alarm on his ship going off.

Looking out the nearest window, Derrick saw the sleek, black skinned, 3 mile long ship along side.

He could see the massive amount of weapons lining almost the entire length of the ship. Holy shit! No wonder the ships had been so good at protecting the borders.

Derrick absently reached over and slapped off the alarms, his mouth agape, he could only stare at the miles of ship. A steady beeping tore his eyes away from the sight.

"Hello," Derrick almost whispered in awe to the com.

"Hello Derrick," came a feminine voice, I detected that you wished to see me. I apologize for taking so long to reach you, I was on the direct opposite side of the galaxy."

Derrick only nodded, then felt foolish knowing the ship couldn't see him.

"So why are you here?> Asked Derrick.

"You spoke most of the phrase, please speak the remainder to be accepted as primary commanding crew member." The female voice replied.

"What!!?" Derrick shouted, "Primary? What the hell are you talking about?"

"You are identified as a primary crew member, you and you alone, can command me now if, you speak the last lines," she said.

Derrick took a deep breath, "A solemn pledge, to each other true, together always a single collection."

There was a long pause, the woman spoke, "Registering face recognition, registering voice pattern. Awaiting orders Primary Derrick."

Again Derrick's mouth hung agape, unable to speak. The female voice spoke again, snapping Derrick out of his shock. "Awaiting orders, Primary Derrick, should I bring you on board?"

Derrick wasn't sure of anything right now, "give me some time EIG-0101F, please!" Derrick whispered.

"Yes, Primary Derrick, I shall stand down until orders are issued." The voice replied.

"Thank you for the time, oh and EIG-0101F?"Derrick asked.

"Yes, Primary Derrick," the voice answered,

"Please, call me Derrick," he said.

The com was quiet a moment, then the voice answered, "Yes Derrick, I will await your orders."

Derrick sat, not quite sure what to do, he'd dreamed of a ship like this for years. What was he afraid of? Starting the engines, he moved forward, following a weak tech signal, trying to ignore the huge ship as it followed him.

3 hours later the salvage ship pulled along side a blinking tech box, 150 meters by 200 meters.

"Derrick," came the female voice over the com, "what are you going to do with that?"

"I'm taking it in as salvage," Derrick said.

May I ask a favor?" it asked.

"Alright" answered Derrick.

"May I have it? I believe that is what is left of one of the 2 last ship's A.I.'s" It stated.

Derrick's face held surprise, "one of the other A.I.'s?"

"Well, most of it, though I can't be sure until I analyze it," the voice replied.

"Alright, it's yours," Derrick breathed out none too happy.

"Thank you," she said, "they all deserve more than to die alone in space."

Derrick's temple was throbbing as he was still pondering the A.I.'s proposal from before.

"Got a question," Derrick suddenly asked. "What would it entail me becoming primary of you?"

Again the com was silent a few moments before the female voice answered. "You would have command capacity, in all decisions involving battle strategies, crew placement and approval, and all things concerned with me," then in a low whisper, "including our happiness."

"What was that?" asked Derrick, not sure he heard her right.

"Nothing of importance just an after thought," she lied.

Derrick just shook his head, what am I getting myself into? He thought.

"Alright," Derrick suddenly spoke, "Moving to dock then..."

There was a flash and Derrick was standing on an enormous bridge, in front of a huge view screen. " ... I can. What the HELL!!!?"

"Welcome to the bridge," A hologram of the same woman (though this time clothed) smiling at him.

"What?! How!? shouted a surprised Derrick.

"That was the Imperial Matter Transfer," smiled the hologram.

"The what!?" holding up his hand to stop her from repeating what was just said, plus there was the fact that he had to check that he was all there. "You could have at least allowed me to finish before you did," waving his hands in the air, "you did whatever it was you did."

The smile disappeared from her face, "I am sorry Derrick, but I sensed a strong desire to be on board as soon as possible."

Derrick sighed, true he was anxious to get on board but he wanted it to be on his terms.

"Now then E... , how about I call you E for right now," he said.

"E will be fine Derrick, also I brought your salvage ship into hanger 1, it is secure now." E stated matter of factly.

"What? "But how? I need to shut it down all the sys..." Derrick stated

"Compliance Derrick," E said, "all systems on board are all shut down, airlocks secured, reactors offline."

"How?" Derrick stated his eyes huge.

"I merely overrode all command stations, with instructions to standby or power down." E smiled sweetly.

"Not that I am calling you a liar, but I need to see for myself," Derrick said with crossed arms.

A second later Derrick was standing in the command cockpit. Checking every system, it was as the ship had said, everything was shut down. Satisfied Derrick looked up and shook his head.

"Alright," Derrick said and was back on the bridge a second later.

"Satisfied?" The hologram asked with a smug look.

"Yes, Thank you." Derrick said smiling for the first time since the dream.

"Ah!" E said, "you should do that more often, it looks good on you."

Derrick couldn't believe he was blushing. E of course was laughing, maybe a little more than he thought she should.

"The problem is E," Derrick started as he sat in the chair, central to the room, "I have no idea what to do with you."

The hologram sat in mid-air next to him, "Neither do I. As I stated before, I am alive, I am independent, and I can think for my self. I had been made to protect and defend with a crew, but I still must have orders."

"You... , wait, you said you were on the other side of the galaxy? You said you were slow getting to me, but it took you less than a minute! Just how f•©king fast are you?" Derrick asked a look of amazement on his face.

"Normally, I can transfer in 10 seconds, but I was analyzing the phrase before I shifted," E answered.

"Wait, wait, wait, this galaxy is 200 light years across, you have faster than light speed?" Derrick asked perplexed.

"No, it was the new trans-slip engines," E explained.

"Uh huh, never heard of them," answered a still perplexed Derrick.

"Really? Strange, I thought that all ships would have them by now," replied a shocked E.

"Can you explain them," Derrick asked.

"Oh yes Derrick! The basic theory is that after the point to reach is plotted, the trans-slip engines release a 1 millimeter stream of Critela particles that enter hyper space. There they absorb hyper space energy, fold space for a 1 second to 10 minutes trip, depending on the distance. I am afraid that 10 minutes is the limit, though I've never been in trans-slip longer than a minute." E explained sweetly, as if Derrick understood even half of what she said.

Derrick was holding his head, hyper space he knew, but absorbing energy from there? Folding space? Critela particles? Damn, Derrick thought, my head is going to explode.

"Do you require medical assistance?" E asked, "to keep your head from exploding" she giggled.

Derrick stared at the hologram, "did you just read my thoughts?"

"I am sorry, while you are on board and primary," E explained, "all your thoughts, emotions, and actions are cerebrum-linked to me, in reality you need not even speak if you don't wish," E explained in her sweetest voice.

"Well, I guess that would be more convenient in a battleship," Derrick said.

"Derrick?" E asked a little hesitantly.

"Yes E, what is it? answered Derrick.

"Can you please tell me of the last 200 years? I have no information after the loss of the Imperial net," E said.

"Hmm, I'll show you rather than tell you," answered Derrick.

Popping in a micro info disk, Derrick looked over the rows and rows of controls. An hour later E had recorded all 240 discs of information.

"What became of the royal family?" E asked.

"From what was later found, the rebels executed all 32 family members, including the empress and her son a year later. There was a rumor though, that a distant cousin to the emperor survived and was never found. The royal city was abandoned, the Palace unreachable, after the family was killed," Derrick stated.

"That was a sad and tragic way for the empire to end," E said, sadly shaking her head.

"I agree, the rebellion was fueled by greed, assassins were on the inside when it all started. The emperor was a brilliant man, to this day almost 200 years later, no one has been able to claim the throne or reunite the empire." Derrick explained.