VINDICATION

Chapter 72: A Sound Advisor

*****This chapter is dedicated to One Eyed Jester, a new and eloquent reviewy-peep of DOOM!!


Zim sat at a round table in the main lounge with his four Advisors, as they all partook of an enormous plate of hot, fresh nachos.

“So you’re saying that it might be best to wait for the Armada to catch up? Is that practical?” Zim tapped a gloved finger against the edge of the table, his expression somewhat anxious.

“It’s entirely up to you, Tallest.” The Advisor on his left, Kha, stated plainly. “An Ordination is such a monumental occasion, as you know…”

“Yes…” Zim sighed, running a gloved hand over his antennae. “I’ve just waited so long already…and I don’t want to risk interference. We can’t afford to have my control challenged before we reach Irk. It would be fatal for me, but all of you, as my crew, would suffer as well.”

The other Advisors were quiet, deep in thought.

“If I may…make a suggestion?” There was an almost devious smile on Kha’s face.

Zim turned to the Advisor, quirking an antenna. “Yes?”

“Why not perform a lockdown?”

Zim blinked at him. “A what?”

Advisor Kha grinned, rising to his feet. “Come with me, my Tallest, and I will show you.”


Following his Advisor down a series of corridors, Zim looked around. This was a part of The Massive he’d never seen, which vaguely surprised him, as he’d had plenty of time to explore. When they finally stopped, they were in an enormous chamber with two heavy doors at the far end. There was an Irken inscription on the right hand door.

DANGER: POWER CORE. AUTHORIZED TECHNICIANS ONLY

Zim looked at Kha, again quirking his antennae as the Advisor led him over to a large panel.

“This,” Kha opened the heavy door of the console, which was reinforced by Vortian lead, indicating the controls, “is essentially the nervous system of the entire ship. Only the Advisors, the highest-ranking Technicians, and the Tallests know of its existence.”

“What’s it for?” Zim’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Do you remember the traitor to the Empire that was publicly executed during Tallest Miyuki’s reign?”

Zim shuddered. “It’s not something I’ll ever forget.”

Kha nodded. “That Irken was bribed by the Vortians to program a viral code into the central mainframe of the ship. Techs were nullified at their stations, force fields slammed down out of nowhere, resulting in countless amputations and deaths…to put it plainly, the entire ship went haywire.” The Advisor shook his head. “What was worse, the viral code introduced inside The Massive was violently contagious; it passed through random transmissions to other ships in the Armada, infecting their systems as well, causing several to malfunction and even more to crash into nearby planets. It was as if we had gone to war to fight an invisible enemy, we were suffering so many losses.”

Kha was silent for a long moment, then continued. “Finally, a group of Technical Officers managed to deactivate the mainframe entirely, which effectively destroyed the virus, as it no longer had anything to house it. The traitor was found through surveillance records, and as a result was publicly executed.” The Advisor turned to Zim, gazing at him solemnly. “We lost over two hundred able-bodied soldiers and officers before the bug was found and neutralized. To prevent such a thing from ever happening in the future, the lockdown procedure was designed, implemented and tested.”

“And what exactly does the procedure involve?” Zim gazed thoughtfully at the controls.

Advisor Kha ran his fingertips along the edge of the heavy console door. “Essentially, the command is given and inputted into this console, and the entire ship shuts down. All transmissions, incoming and outgoing, are completely blocked in order to prevent any virus from spreading until it is located and neutralized.”

Zim nodded. “I see…and how do I use this to my advantage?”

Kha grinned. “It will buy you about four weeks’ time before the ship goes into a self-destruct sequence.”

“And you know how to prevent that, right?” Zim felt a twinge of anxiety at the whole ‘self-destruct’ thing.

“Of course, my Tallest. All of your Advisors know the procedure by heart, as do the Technicians.”

Zim nodded slowly, looking at the controls again. “Yes…this will work. When we are about four days off from Irk, I want to put the ship into lockdown. Before we do, I want our plans communicated to the fleet members, but tell them to proceed as previously instructed.” He looked down at Kha. “How far off is the rest of the Armada?”

“They located and used a wormhole in the Nhar-Gh'ok System yesterday, and they’re only about a week and a half behind us now.”

“Excellent.” Zim purred, rubbing his gloved hands together. He reached out and squeezed Kha’s shoulder firmly. “Good work, and my thanks, Advisor Kha.”

Kha nodded, raising a hand in salute. “My Tallest.”