by Ryk Brown
“We will require a demonstration of that variant as well. Particularly of its ability to conduct multiple jumps, changing its course in between them.”
Nathan looked annoyed. “You Tekkans are not exactly the trusting type, are you?”
“That’s the only thing I like about them,” Jessica quipped from the tactical console.
“Being from Earth, perhaps you are familiar with the old Earth axiom; ‘trust, but verify’.”
“An old Russian proverb mistakenly credited to a twentieth-century American president,” Nathan replied. After sighing, he added, “I take it we can use the same target?”
“Correct.”
“Any particular course you’d like the weapon to fly to get to the target?” Nathan wondered.
“As long as its departure course is at least one hundred degrees opposite to its final attack course, that should suffice,” the inspector replied.
“Helm, maintain our distance from the target,” Nathan instructed. “Tactical, load a multi-jump, shield-penetrating, missile, and program it to jump seven light years out, before coming about and jumping back to intercept the target; disarmed, of course.”
“Aye, sir,” Jessica replied, smiling.
“Perhaps it would be better if the weapon’s course change waypoint was located inside our defense perimeter, so that our sensors could witness the maneuver,” Inspector Wells suggested.
“And risk losing one of my best weapons, because of your trigger-happy AIs?” Nathan replied. “Not a chance.”
“Fair enough,” the inspector agreed.
“The weapon is programmed and ready to launch,” Jessica announced.
“Snap jump the weapon the moment it leaves the rails,” Nathan instructed. “Fire when ready.”
“Snap jump after launch,” Jessica acknowledged. “Launching the weapon now,” she added, pressing the launch button again. “Weapon away.”
The missile appeared briefly at the bottom corner of the view screen as it exited the starboard side of the ship, but disappeared a split-second later.
“Weapon has jumped,” Kaylah reported.
Inspector Wells looked confused. “There was no flash.”
“All our multi-jump variants are equipped with stealth jump emitters,” Nathan explained. “Eventually, we hope to retrofit all our jump missiles with the same capabilities.”
“Interesting,” the inspector commented.
“You didn’t see that in the specs?”
“I have not personally reviewed the collected data,” the inspector admitted, looking to one of his android assistants. “However, I am certain that our inspection AIs are aware of this feature.”
“Of course.”
The inspector watched the main view screen, his eyes focused on the target ring in orbit above his world. “Shouldn’t the weapon have arrived by now?” he wondered.
“The faster the rate-of-turn, the more propellant required,” Nathan explained. “So it takes a minute or two for the weapon to come completely about.”
“I see.”
“The weapon should complete its turn in twenty seconds,” Jessica reported.
“Keep your eyes on the target,” Nathan told the inspector. “Remember, you won’t see a jump flash.”
The inspector kept his eyes glued to the view screen, his brow furrowed.
Nathan noticed the inspector’s concentration, and exchanged a knowing smile with Jessica as he rotated his command chair to face forward again, knowing that the weapon would appear in a few seconds.
“There it is!” the inspector exclaimed, as the jump missile appeared only a few hundred meters on the other side of the target. Before the words had left his mouth, the weapon reached the target, passing through its shield, causing it to flash momentarily as the missile passed through the shielded target ring.
“Weapon has successfully passed through the target shield,” Jessica reported. “Jumping it clear of all defenses for retrieval.”
Nathan turned and looked at Inspector Wells. “Anything else we can demonstrate for you, Inspector?”
The inspector took a moment, straightening his suit jacket before responding. “That should suffice, Captain.” He turned to face Nathan. “Good luck in the contest.”
“Thank you,” Nathan replied. “Now, feel free to get off my ship at your earliest convenience,” he added with a touch of disdain.
Inspector Wells nodded, then turned and headed for the exit, his three android assistants in tow.
Nathan rotated slowly around in his command chair, watching them exit. Once they were gone, he looked at Jessica.
“How’d I do?” she asked, smiling.
“Perfect,” Nathan replied.
“Can I ask a stupid question?” Josh wondered from the helm.
Nathan turned back around to face his helmsman.
“How the hell did we just do that?” Josh asked. “I thought all the multi-jump variants were just dummies. I even helped Deliza and her team stick on the fake conduits.”
“Those two Reapers on covert assignment,” Jessica told him, a satisfied smile still on her face.
Josh wasn’t buying it. “Reapers can’t carry jump missiles. They’re too big to fit inside. Hell, they’re longer than an entire Reaper.”
“But they can be piggybacked on top,” Nathan explained with a grin. “Thanks to some quick thinking by our chief engineer.”
Josh looked over at Loki. “You can see why I’ve lost so many credits to this guy playing poker, right?”
“As soon as those inspectors depart, what say we go and retrieve that ‘multi-jump’ variant,” Nathan instructed Josh, “before SilTek finds it and examines it more closely.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Josh and Loki exchanged a concerned glance as Nathan took his seat at the head of the conference table in the command briefing room.
“Did we do something wrong?” Josh asked sheepishly.
Nathan looked at Josh and squinted in confusion.
“It’s just that you’ve never called us all into the briefing room before,” Josh explained.
“No one did anything wrong,” Nathan assured them. “In a few hours, the contest is scheduled to begin. Lieutenant Commander Nash and I will be heading down to the surface for the contest. However, I’d like each of you to be a part of this contest as well.”
“Sweet!” Josh exclaimed.
Nathan held up his hand. “Now, this is strictly voluntary,” he insisted. “I’m not going to order any of you to do this.”
“What’s the big deal?” Josh wondered. “It’s just a game.”
“It’s not a game, believe me,” Nathan told him. “It’s as real as it gets, without actually being real. If you get injured, or die, it hurts…just like in the real world.”
“He’s not kidding,” Jessica insisted. “It fucking sucked.” Jessica’s eyes widened. “Oops.”
“Won’t we be there anyway?” Loki asked. “I mean, our simulated selves?”
“Yes, but your simulated selves are not as good as each of you are,” Nathan explained. “The SilTek simulation reads the player’s mind and creates familiar characters for you to interact with based on what you’d expect them to do. So, in the simulation, your counterparts do what I would expect you to do. The problem is that each of you often do things before I even realize I need you to do them. That is something that the AI versions of you cannot do. I believe that to be one of our greatest tactical advantages, both in this simulation and in real battle. We have been through countless battles; all of us together, on the bridge of this ship. I don’t care how realistic their simulations are, no AI can match that.”
“I’m in,” Josh announced without hesitation.
“Of course you are,” Kaylah commented, rolling her eyes.
“Just how real is the dyin
g part?” Naralena asked.
“Like I said, it sucks,” Jessica reiterated. “If you die in the sim, pray it’s an instantaneous death.”
“Come on!” Josh exclaimed. “It’s a simulation. We’ll know that going in, right?”
“That doesn’t make the pain any less real,” Jessica insisted. “Trust me.”
“So we have a little pain. Big deal. If one of us gets badly injured, someone just pops us in the head so that we die quickly. Game over, pain over.”
“You really are heartless,” Kaylah exclaimed.
“I’m just making a suggestion to shorten anyone’s suffering,” Josh insisted.
Kaylah looked at Nathan. “Just promise me that if Josh gets badly injured, I’ll be the one who ‘pops him in the head.’”
“I said I was sorry,” Josh grumbled, half under his breath.
“I’m in,” Loki decided.
“Me too,” Naralena agreed.
“I’m in,” Kaylah added, “as long as I get to kill Josh.”
Loki leaned in to Josh. “What did you do?”
“I’ll tell you later,” Josh whispered.
“I assume I’ll be staying behind,” Cameron surmised.
“As much as I’d like you there as well, someone has to remain in command, and since I’m taking the starting line with me, we can’t afford to have a junior officer at the actual helm if a real crisis comes up.”
“You said this was voluntary, right?” Jessica asked.
“Correct,” Nathan replied.
“I’d like to volunteer to stay on board with Cam,” Jessica joked.
“Very well,” Nathan said, placing his hands on the table. “We depart in two hours. Everyone is dismissed…except for Josh and Loki.”
Josh’s face contorted as he shared another glance with Loki.
Once everyone had gone, Nathan took a breath, letting it out with a sigh. “I’m going to be asking you both to do some maneuvers with the Aurora that will seem—a bit unorthodox. Hell, they’re going to seem downright crazy, to be honest. However, I have discussed them with our AI, and she assures me that, while dangerous, they are physically possible.”
“Uh, it’s… a… simulation,” Josh reminded him.
“If the ship comes apart in the simulation and we all die, it will hurt,” Nathan reminded him back.
“Why are you telling us this ahead of time?” Loki wondered.
“The SilTek simulation AIs are not only able to read your minds; they can also sense your emotions. They’ll analyze the maneuver and come to the same conclusion as our AI did, that the maneuvers are possible. However, the more the two of you believe the maneuvers are possible, the more the simulation AIs will believe it, and the less simulated damage they’ll inflict on us.”
“No problem there,” Josh insisted. “I already believe I can do anything behind the stick.”
* * *
Nathan was the first to enter the simulation suite at SilTek’s headquarters, followed by his bridge staff. The room was large, with at least twenty comfortable-looking recliners positioned around the perimeter, each with a side table. The lighting was subdued, with focus on each recliner. Several people were gathered at the control desk at the center of the room, awaiting their arrival.
“Holy crap,” Josh exclaimed. “Talk about a sim-suite.”
“Captain,” Caitrin Bindi greeted as they approached the center of the room.
“Miss Bindi,” Nathan replied. “General,” he added, greeting General Pellot as well. “How’s the jaw?”
“Healing nicely, thank you,” the general replied.
“Is that the guy he punched?” Josh asked Jessica under his breath.
“Ssh,” she shushed.
“We don’t normally allow spectators during a simulated contest,” Miss Bindi informed Nathan. “After all, there isn’t really anything to see.”
“They’re not spectators,” Nathan replied. “They’re my bridge staff. They are integral to the operation of my ship, especially during combat.”
“They are not necessary for this simulation,” Miss Bindi argued. “The AI will simulate their behavior based on your expectations.”
“Which is precisely why I insist on their participation. These people perform tasks that I’m normally not even aware of. They frequently exceed my expectations; therefore, it would not be a fair assessment of the Aurora’s ability to overcome your defenses without their participation.”
“I’m not sure…”
“He can have as many people to help him as he wishes,” the general insisted. “It won’t make any difference.”
Miss Bindi looked to Inspector Wells and his android assistant. “Does the commission have any objections?”
“The rules do not limit the number of participants,” the inspector explained, “as long as both parties agree.”
“Very well,” Miss Bindi agreed.
“Then let’s get started,” Nathan said.
“There is one other thing,” Miss Bindi warned. “The wager.”
“What about it?” Nathan countered.
“After careful analysis by multiple AIs, we believe the wager to be unbalanced.”
“How so?”
“The amount of technology you will need to guarantee a victory against the Dusahn exceeds the profit potential of your long-range jump technology.”
“Considering the number of undiscovered, human-inhabited worlds still out there, I find that conclusion suspect,” Nathan argued.
“And you may be correct,” Miss Bindi agreed. “However, we have no way of knowing just how many colonies are out there. Analysis of departure records from twenty-fourth century Earth indicates that fewer than a thousand ships departed during the bio-digital plague. Of those, less than half were properly equipped and had no better than a fifty-percent chance of establishing a successful settlement. When you take into account that less than half of all known settlements ever grew into thriving societies that would be potential markets for our products, the profit margins shrink.”
“What about the worlds that spun off of colonies other than Earth?” Kaylah wondered.
“If you are referring to the core worlds of Earth, we have included them in our calculations,” Miss Bindi assured them.
“Volon was not settled by ships from Earth,” Naralena pointed out. “It was settled by a ship from Takara.”
“As was Corinair,” Jessica added.
“Even if you include such worlds, the wager is still unbalanced.”
“What if we put a cap on how much tech we get for free?” Jessica suggested.
“Assuming you win,” General Pellot reminded her.
“Assuming we win,” Jessica sneered back.
“That, of course, would balance the wager,” Miss Bindi agreed. “However, it would also greatly decrease your chances of achieving a victory over the Dusahn.”
“We could pay for some of it,” Jessica added.
“Again assuming you win,” the general sneered back at her.
“Don’t push me, pops,” Jessica warned.
“Lieutenant Commander,” Nathan scolded, holding up his hand to interrupt her. He turned his attention back to Miss Bindi. “You obviously have something in mind, or you would not have brought it up to begin with.”
“We do,” Miss Bindi confessed. “We know little about the current financial state of Earth, so we were forced to use a galactic average to assess your ship’s value.”
“No,” Jessica insisted.
“You want me to bet my ship,” Nathan concluded.
“No,” Jessica repeated. “Nathan…”
Again Nathan held up his hand to cut her off.
“The Aurora, against everything you need to defeat the Dusahn,” Miss Bindi stated, as if to dangle the bait in front of him.
“And we join your alliance, assuming you win.”
“This is bullshit,” Jessica insisted.
“Captain, a moment,” Kaylah asked.
“If you’ll excuse us a moment,” Nathan told Miss Bindi.
“Of course.”
Nathan and his bridge staff moved to the far side of the room to confer.
“They’re baiting you, Nathan,” Jessica insisted. “Just like Bacca did.”
“I’d have to agree with her, Cap’n,” Josh agreed. “This whole thing is probably rigged, anyway. You can’t bet the Aurora.”
Nathan was not listening to them. Instead, he was interested in what his sensor officer had to say.
“We’ve done detailed scans every time we’ve been in orbit over SilTek,” Kaylah began. “Most of them passive, of course, but we got very good active scans during the jump missile tests, when their automated defense systems mistook the test as an act of aggression.”
“Nathan…” Jessica tried to interrupt.
“Jess, please,” Nathan insisted.
“Captain, while their systems are quick to respond, probably quicker than anything we’ve yet seen, their missiles are slow at launch, taking nearly twenty seconds to reach their safe-jump altitude of about three hundred meters. That’s more than enough time to detect them, calculate their trajectory…”
“And take evasive action,” Nathan surmised. “I know, I read your scan reports.”
“But they come out of their jump less than a kilometer away,” Jessica warned, “which doesn’t give us much time to shoot them down.”
“Or to jump clear,” Loki added.
“But none of their missiles have shown any signs of being able to alter course after coming out of their attack jump,” Kaylah added. “In fact, they barely carry enough propellant to reach their jump altitude.”
“But they have a shit-ton of them,” Jessica argued.
“Yes they do,” Kaylah agreed.
Nathan thought for a moment. “She’s right, and they didn’t change course in the first simulation, either.”
“Probably because they wanted to look like they needed our help,” Jessica argued. “They were testing you, remember?”
