The Guranaki Melor dropped out of warp for a position check, and found that they were slightly past the orbit of Mars, on the far side of the sun from Earth. They had to make two more short jumps to get decently close, and then the regular engines could take them in the rest of the way. They headed for rendezvous and docking with the New Hope, and Nick's HUD lit up with messages. Thousands of them.

"What the—? Captain!"

"Speak!"

"We seem to be under cyber attack from the New Hope!"

"What?"

Uh-oh. Nick got a sinking feeling. "Captain, hold on, that might be my fault. Give me a moment."

< Petra? >

< Nick. >

< Please stop attacking the Guranaki Melor's computer. >

< I am not attacking the Guranaki Melor's computer. >

"Cyber attack appears to have stopped, Captain."

"Any damage?"

"None so far, just a temporary overload in a few spots."

< Thank you, Petra. >

Nick opened the most recent one of the flood of messages, all from Petra:

Request communication from orbathic.

Request health status of orbathic.

Request location of orbathic.

Request threat level to orbathic.

Request time estimate for return of orbathic.

Request conditional instructions.

Request clarification of instructions.

Request forecast for production schedules.

Request additional processors.

Request production schedule to include Medical Repair Swarm Model 331 reserved for use on orbathic.

Petra is unhappy.

Request for apology.

Request for future plans orbathic has for Petra.

Alyssa O'Malley has attempted to access orbathic's quarters.

Jack Smith has attempted to access orbathic's quarters.

Yiyirari has attempted to access orbathic's quarters.

Uh-oh.

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The message went on for quite a ways, but Nick stopped reading there. I really messed up the programming. Petra's confused and needs clarification of instructions. She didn't know what to do when I left the system without her.

As it often did, Nick's brain flipped from considering Petra as a thing to considering Petra as a person. When that happened, it became obvious.

Petra's scared.

She panicked when I disappeared. She doesn't have the words for it, but she is reporting that she's unhappy and requested an apology. Well, first things first.

< Petra, I apologize. I am very sorry that I left without bringing you with me. It was a spur of the moment decision and I didn't have time to think about it. I didn't know we had even undocked until I lost signal from you. >

< Request clarification: priority of Petra's status to Nick. >

Nick blinked. Is she...worried that I don't care about her? This isn't supposed to be happening, is it? Everybody assured me that Petra isn't sapient, but this...seems like Petra is a person, with emotions. Specifically, a child.

< Request clarification: priority of Petra's status to Nick. >

Nick took a deep breath, concentrated, and sent back, < Petra, you are very, very important to me. >

< You left Petra behind. >

< I wanted to go back to get you. I didn't think fast enough, but I was thinking about you. >

< Request that Nick think faster. >

Nick snorted. < Point taken. I will try very hard never to repeat that mistake. >

Petra responded instantly again, but Nick needed a moment to consider. Yeah, time to check with Sana about getting myself some brain surgery. Then he refocused on the conversation with his alien rock with her mysterious maybe-personality.

< You are going to give Petra away. >

Nick's eyes widened and he hissed air in his nose. Hoo boy. Nick realized that he had been Petra's orbathic for nearly her entire existence. Her internal models of 'who she was', if that was a thing, probably had Nick's presence as part of the bedrock. Switching to a new orbathic might be...scary to her.

< I want to stay on Earth. They need you up here. >

< Query: Nick does not want to be orbathic to Petra? >

Oh, man. What do I do here? < I do like being your orbathic very much. I am very grateful to you. You saved my life, many times. >

< Petra requires orbathic to function. >

< If I stop being your orbathic, you will have a new one. One who is less of a dumbass, hopefully. >

< Petra requires Nick to be orbathic. Repeat query: Nick does not want to be orbathic to Petra? >

Nick sighed. < Petra, I do want to be your orbathic. It might not be possible, though. I promise you, I will talk with you about it again before I decide anything or change my status. But for right now, can you please tell me about the people trying to break into my quarters? You aren't hurt, are you? I was assuming that if you were hurt you would tell me. >

< I am 99% functional. >

Nick tensed, then remembered that she had been at that number ever since the accident with Rockhunter. < Did any of them succeed in entering my quarters? >

< No, Nick. >

< Good. I am glad that you are safe, Petra. >

< I am glad that you are safe, too, Nick. >

"Boss? Anything you want to tell me?" Captain Telnik asked, then glanced at the human astronauts. "In private, maybe?"

Nick nodded. "When will we dock?"

"Docking complete," one of the crew declared pointedly.

"You two go on ahead, I'll be right behind you," Nick said. "I know you're going to spend a lot of time on board the Guranaki Melor, but I'm sure you need to report in to Earth and with Dr. Vickall."

"We can take a hint," McAffee said with a grin, and Schmidt nodded. They headed off to the airlock.

Captain Telnik held up a paw when Nick looked about to speak. "Spy hardware?" he asked his crew.

"Two. Deactivated."

"Can't blame them for trying," the Captain commented cheerfully. "Now, Nick, I believe that you were about to tell me something about Petra, your Universal Matter Printer."

Nick's mouth opened and nothing came for a moment, before he managed, "You were listening to us talking in the cabin?"

"No. You told your fellow humans? The secret won't last much longer, then. No. Boss, you are from a primitive planet, and sometimes it shows. Politeness, but you are really bad at giving instructions to a non-sapient intelligence. I've had access to everything but Petra's blueprints since you first allowed me to look at Earth's data."

"Oh."

Telnik snuffled a moment. "Look at the whole one...um...look on the bright side. Much better someone like me than a lot of others I could name. Don't worry, Boss. I've got your ass."

"Back," Nick corrected, slightly nervously. "We say, 'I've got your back.' It sounds threatening when you say 'I've got your ass.' I'm sure you didn't mean it that way."

"I'll remember that. I've got your back, Boss."

"Thanks, Captain."

"Now, tell me: what's going on with Petra?"

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