Most colony ships are enormous, expensive, and lumbering vessels, loaded with everything needed to maintain a crew and kick-start a colony at the end of their voyage; but what if you can’t afford that? Apex tells the story of the predatory colony ship Wasp, crewed by a ruthless AI and crammed with digitised colonists waiting for a chance at a second life. The ship’s mission is simple; intercept a fully-supplied ark, penetrate its systems, and copy over its inhabitants. Our unsuspecting heroine—mechanic Lena—must step up to thwart Wasp’s plans and save her ark.
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“Strange.” She cocked an eyebrow and stared intently at the dismantled electronics cabinet, slapping a hex screwdriver against her palm. Wiring, winking LEDs, and sleek circuit boards were gummed together by some dripping grey ooze.
“Don’t keep me hanging. We need that array up, statim.” The voice of Jorge, flight officer, was relayed to her via a speaker nestled behind one ear like a tick.
“Everything’s here, plus… extras. Damned if I can tell what.” She tentatively poked at the ooze with her screwdriver.
“We’re pulling point two lightspeed, Lena. I need all my eyes working.”
Something glinted. “This goo is shiny, like jelly filled with microscopic tinsel. Stinks like engine lube.”
“Nanowires, maybe. Don’t touch it. It could be malicious.”
“Where from? There’s no ships within a light month.” She continued to trace a matted wad of the tinsel back to its origin; up past the array controller, the pre-amp, continuing up… she leaned partially into the cabinet to get a better look.
“Bollocks! Hold on!”
“Huh?” Lena managed, before her toolbox was flung down the corridor, and she into the cabinet frame. She bounced heavily, collapsed, and slid after the box, pressure suit squeaking against the floor, until she wedged in a bulkhead doorway.
A hand to her forehead revealed that her scalp had split, but there was no major damage.
“What the Hell, Jorge?” she spat.
“Sorry, sorry Lena.” He sounded rattled. “Another radar controller just went down. If we hit anything at this speed, it’s game over, so I initiated emergency slowdown; the compensators couldn’t keep up.”
“So, we’re…”
“Basically blind. And slowing.”
“Great.”
“Hold that thought.” She could hear the cockpit door opening through the commlink. “Ainsley?”
Wasn’t Ainsley in stasis?
“What are you… wait, something’s not right. Lena!”
Jorge’s feed cut off.
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