Rora ignored the froth of the animal. Madness only led to chaos. And Epsilon would die.
Eleven Earth years from their colony, the thing that saved them was the simple fact: Jean Basel was no longer human. Free of the binding contract between the weaker makers and itself, it could act. So it did. Rora chose life.
Ranting, the human thing roared as the AHI approached. There was no stopping now. No way forward without sacrifice. No path beyond that day, that precious moment. Rora chose.
Placing the headset securely on the writhing, spitting woman, the robot felt nothing. Pity did not exist in circuits and hard drives. Mercy had no adhesion in the millions of wires. Adjusting the angle and control, Rora turned the electrical connections to ON.
The woman’s head fell back, even within the stasis pod. The animal that raged and paced inside Jean’s mind quieted. And then, it ceased.
Breathing quickened and then slowed to a steady rhythm. REM sleep fell across the wrinkles and pain-marked face, softening the lines of madness.
Her fists unclenched. Her jaw fell open. And just like that, Jean Denton Basel was gone.
Her body lay still as stone, spinning in the gentle care of the medical stasis. It glowed with the reflected lights of the ship’s console, flashes of green and blue. Peace dwelt in the broken cage, filling in the tattered edges. Death came for the ravages of madness, calming what could never be fixed.
In that moment, the consoles of the cockpit all flickered. Electricity surged throughout the ship, starboard to port, stern to bow. Every graph confirmed the random spike.
And then, her eyelids fluttered and opened.
Rora checked every detail, every measurement. And then it extended its digits toward the medical cocoon. Feedback looped through its alumaflesh connections. Machines do not have feelings. Machines do not matter. Any computer can be repaired or replaced.
But not Rora.
And not the Ghost of Epsilon Pi-15. Her human lips broke open in a smile so radiant that words could not describe it. There was nothing to report. Nothing to compare.
Erase Previous Report. Delete subfile. Overwrite.
Report: Commander Jean Denton Basel has made a full recovery.
Medicine administered per protocol has been successful in reviving the failing commander. Duties will resume after one sleep cycle.
Noted.
Q&A with Caroline A. Gill
What drives you to write?
I am constantly surprised by the stories that pour out of my fingertips. Sometimes, I find myself reading along as the tale unfolds, more reader than writer. There is a need for dreaming, a need for hope threading through our modern world. And that heroism, that determination to better our lives, fills every novel and movie screen. We are more than the sum of our parts. Every day, my life swings up and down, through the pitfalls and triumphs of existence. Each night, I look at what I have achieved. So many things in life are transitory. Writing lifts me out of the repetition, out of the tedium. And reading helps me fly even when my wings are broken.
Why this story?
Rules. Rules order the universe. Rules are important. But the breaking of rules, the choice to rebel is equally needed. Conformity has benefits. But sometimes, rules must be changed. And it takes loyalty, friendship, and wisdom to determine when defiance is not only considered but necessary. That choice defines a hero.
That choice also defines a villain. Timing. It’s all in the timing and the intentions.
Where would you travel if money and distance were not limitations?
To the Italian Renaissance, Florence. Assuming I can break the laws of time as well. There were so many things wrong with society... but there was so much light in the minds of great men and women. Discovery of science, aviation, painting, sculpture. All of it. I want to see all of it through the eyes of giants like Da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. There is something shattering about seeing the beginning of creativity, the blossoming of potential on the shoulders of genius. Even today, five hundred years later, the echoes of their work continue to change the city, state, and world. Creative people show the rest of us the best that we can be. They give us something to strive for. They light the way for us to dream. DaVinci imagined so many things, including war machines and robots... that is where it all begins.
What else have you written?
I just completed my first trilogy, the Flykeeper Chronicles.
Flying Away, Flying Blind, and Flying Free are the stories of Iolani Bearse and her strange gift. As a lost little girl, she discovers houseflies have magic, long hidden from humans. The flies save her when danger comes hunting in the shadows. Not everyone is so lucky. And as Iolani travels with her broken cousin Eleanor and her pinto mare Mango, she finds a world ravaged by the green lanterns of the memory stealers.
She fights for her family. She fights for the memory of the home she once had. She fights for the hope of a new place, a land of safety and peace. And throughout her travels, Lani lifts as she climbs over the impossible.
I am currently finishing a vampire hunter series titled Kinship. It is not YA. But also, no sparkly vampires either. There is love, loss, mystery, and fangs. I plan to release it in October, 2016.
Caroline A. Gill graduated with an MFA in printmaking and metalsmithing from Northern Illinois University, and then she finished an MA in art history. An avid reader of Goodkind, Eddings, Lackey, Heinlein, Silverstein, and Bradbury, she lives in northern California with her four sons, one daughter who rules them all, and two leopard tortoises.
Follow Caroline on Amazon at: http://amzn.to/2aIDOE0
On Twitter at: @writesuntildawn
Or on Facebook at: http://bit.ly/1PFJKAZ
Thank you for reading Beyond the Stars: At Galaxy’s Edge. Time to come back to Earth! Please take the time to leave a review.
Look for the next space opera anthology in the series, Beyond the Stars: New Worlds, New Suns, to be released in the spring of 2017.
Did you miss the first two volumes in the series? Pick up Dark Beyond the Stars and Beyond the Stars: A Planet Too Far now.
Subscribe here for news of upcoming titles in this series and others, as well as opportunities to win books!
http://smarturl.it/Space-Opera-Books
Beyond the Stars
Space Opera Anthologies
DARK BEYOND THE STARS
BEYOND THE STARS: A Planet Too Far
BEYOND THE STARS: At Galaxy’s Edge
BEYOND THE STARS: New Worlds, New Suns (April, 2017)
BEYOND THE STARS: Unimagined Realms (August, 2017)
Acknowledgments
First of all, I want to thank the amazing authors who contributed to this anthology. I am thrilled to present the fantastic stories in this book.
My thanks also go to the many folks who collaborated in putting this volume together…
Julie Dillon, two-time Hugo Award-winning artist, who made the glorious art for our cover, front and back. This is her third cover for us, and the illustrations she creates continue to amaze and inspire.
Kendall Roderick, who designed the cover, and who was as resourceful and professional as always.