TNS Chapter 34 Preview (Patreon)

A little preview of Chapter 34 to tide you over until its release on 4/10/2023 at 0800 MST! Thank you once again for supporting my story :)

Chapter 34

Subject: Captain Young

Species: Human

Ship: USSS Liberty

Location: Alpha Centauri

"Johnson, I'm sending you a software patch for the FTLD. Apply it," I ordered.

"Aye aye, sir," Navigation Officer Lieutenant Johnson replied.

My XO, Commander Ying turned to me and asked, "What's the patch for, sir?"

"The stars have not seen fit to provide me with an explanation," I responded, referring to the admiralty. "Neither has the damned AI."

"Apologies, Captain Young," my intercom said with Omega's voice. "I am a tad busy. The patch negates the effect of the Omni-Union warp disruptors."

A few seconds of stunned silence passed. This was huge news. We'll be able to dance circles around the robotic fucks! Speaking of robotic fucks...

"Understood. Thank you Omega. A bit of feedback for future reference, though. It is much easier to include that information in the communication than it is to provide it verbally," I replied as another chime came from my comms terminal.

--

To: Captain Young

From: Omega

The software patch negates the effect of the Omni-Union warp disruptors.

--

"Yes, I figured that out after the first one hundred inquiries. You can go ahead and ignore that message, Captain," the AI said with a remarkable amount of sarcasm.

"Patch is done, Captain," Johnson said.

"Excellent. Prepare for warp, await my mark."

Now all we've got to do is wait for the rest of the ships to upload the patch. Or install the patch. Whatever it is. The nervous silence once again settled over the bridge. Another unexpected rest. Bad luck. I tried to find something to do other than watch the comms terminal. A watched pot never boils, after all.