"I do," Quan said. "Sorry, I was still listening in, I'll back off."
"It's okay," Alice replied. "How do you not get headaches?"
"I don't try to interact with what I feel from other people. You subconsciously do. Let's train you not to."
"With a comedy night?"
"With a crew you love, and yes, a comedy night."
Thirty-Eight
The Road to Doxan
* * *
It took medication for Noah to get some sleep. Waking up eight hours later, he continued where he left off, chewing a denta-tab, reviewing notes on the ship in the shower, then eating a mocha meal bar after getting a fresh armoured vacsuit on. It felt a few layers thinner, and he realized that there had been advancements. It felt like a more flexible second skin. "Computer, look for Doxan Three in your Stellarnet Archive."
The computer flashed a red; NO RESULTS. ARCHIVE INCOMPLETE notification as he dropped into the pilot's seat. "Don't tell me…" he checked and found that there were no downloads other than system updates in the computer. "You didn't download anything from the Stellarnet before you left?" He checked his command and control unit and shook his head. He didn't have anything on Doxan either. He was in such a rush that he forgot to fetch the information before he entered trans-dimensional space. "Remind me to add that to my pre-mission checklist."
There was no response from the computer. He brought up the mission brief on Doxan, which included several darkened pictures, the name of a suspected gathering place for revolutionaries: Nil, a large bar with gambling and music, according to their nine-year-old advert. There was the information he'd already gone through about Mary Reed, how they had suspicions that the Doxan system was one of the places she visited often. It was high on their list, but their list was long. He'd been through the whole file, thinking that he may as well look into the side mission just in case Alice and SOCU wanted him to follow through with part of his new assignment. Perhaps he wouldn't become an arms dealer, maybe they'd assign her and the Clever Dream crew to join him, or she'd just yank him back to the Merciless and he'd be reassigned, who knew? Even still, it made sense to do something useful while they were in the Doxan system, especially since Alice was the first to start looking for Mary Reed.
He sat back, looking at the pilot and co-pilot controls surrounding him. He had a secondary hologram to his left that had all the communications and engineering systems summarized as well. Everything was fine, but they were running on autopilot, letting the navigation and power systems in the quad drives take care of everything while they were in faster than light transit, skimming the space between dimensions. As soon as the Corsair emerged into normal space, he'd have to run it alone. There was automation, sure, but if he got into trouble he could run into problems. "Activate advanced automation systems interface."
The interface came up, but tall red letters blocked the window: WAITING FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE INITIALIZATION.
"You mean, this ship isn't using an artificial intelligence yet? What do I do to boot it up?" he asked, looking around the console. The computer was silent. "Can I get a tutorial?"
"The Seventh Generation Clever Class Corvette implements several improvements that captains in previous versions of the ship have made. Not the least of which is the Removable Artificial Intelligence Module, or R.A.I.M. for short," the playback said as a hologram of an armoured data cylinder appeared. "Inspired by Captain Alice Valent, each ship comes with two. One is loaded with an advanced artificial intelligence, the other is empty, made to maintain a backup in the core of the ship. The empty module is preinstalled, the artificial intelligence must be installed by the ship's captain by inserting it into the main console on the bridge of the ship." The hologram showed a slim drawer, then a socket he didn't notice between the pilot and co-pilot stations just below the main console. "Calibration will commence, and your artificial intelligence will guide you through the last steps of the setup process."
"Good tutorial," Noah said to himself as he got out of the pilot's seat and looked beside the hatch, where there were several small drawers with parts and tools inside. "Hey, here it is." The cylinder was heavy for its size, only the length of his palm. "I wonder if it'll be anything like Lewis."
It took a moment for him to figure out how to pinch the two latches in the data slot together so it came free, then he put the cylinder in and re-capped it. The entire console flickered as the false cockpit view disappeared for a moment. "Uh-oh."
It came back on later, a holographic phrase in chromatic letters appearing: ELISE IS CALIBRATING. Noah's command and control units' screens began rapidly scrolling through his entire file, including the extensive report Alice made on him. "Wait, what is it using to calibrate itself?" he asked nervously.
The communication and information hologram appeared to his left again, and the scroll of data ran past so quickly that he could barely see what the system was scanning through. The fleet regulations passed in a second, there was a flash of his latest mission briefing, then a status bar appeared, running from zero to a hundred percent in seconds as everything in the Corsair's standard database scrolled behind it. Aside from the ship systems, manuals, tutorials and updates there was a kind of encyclopaedia that touched on a few million topics. Noah generally found the Standard Galactic Information Resource, the encyclopaedia to be pretty useless and outdated.
The critical consoles re-lit properly, and he checked navigation, communications, engineering, tactical and support. "Okay, that's cool, the quad drives kept the ship moving in the right direction while it was having a chaos minute."
"Chaos minute," a female voice said. "I like that."
"You're my new artificial intelligence?" Noah asked.
"Yes, I'm Elise. I've finished calibrating, so you'll probably find me easy to communicate with, and since you're alone on the ship, I suggest we converse often."
"What did you use to calibrate yourself?" Noah asked as he made sure the autopilot was working properly.
"I reviewed the crew data, which was all about you at this point, the fleet regulations and the file nested in my data module called Primary Directives for Haven Fleet Artificial Intelligences. I synced with the ship so I'll be able to assist you or assume control if needed and ingested the general information database that was available."
"Just wondering: why are you speaking in a female voice?" It was a clear sounding voice that sounded more casual than most artificial intelligences.
"Most of your friends have been women, so I deduced that you'd be more comfortable this way. I could use a male voice, alter my pitch or sound like a person you know, like Alice, for example."
"No, no, you have a good voice, I was just curious," Noah said, leaving the pilot's seat. "Good to meet you. Can you watch things while I get ready to arrive in the Doxan system?"
"I'll be happy to. By 'things' you mean the overall operation of the ship, right?"
"Yeah, sorry."
"Don't worry about it. So, are you preparing for a mission? I see one primary and three secondary missions on your list."
"I'm guessing the primary is all about becoming a Haven Fleet deserter who turns to arms dealing?"
"With the hidden agenda of learning about rebels in the underworld so you can inform a follow-up team about them," she added. "Yes, that's the mission. You're meeting Captain Valent so you can discuss your orders, though."
"Do you have any reservations about that?"
"This ship is technically your property now. I was calibrated to it and you, so your purpose is my purpose. In short: do what you want, Skipper," she said the last as though she was completely laid-back, relaxed on the topic.
"That's reassuring," he said.
"So, what are we doing?" she asked.
"Well, you're making sure the ship is running right and the autopilot is working properly, right?"
"Of course, but that takes about point zero zero three percent of my processing power. I'm more interested in what you're doing in the rea
r section of the ship and what you're planning when we emerge from transit space."
"Well, the Doxan System reminds me of some of the rougher places I've seen, so I'm looking through the weapons inventory for a good sidearm and a backup. I could use some armour and a personal shield too. If I have to land, or dock somewhere and walk around, I want to blend in a little. As much as I like this kind of vacsuit, I look a bit like a pod fresh clone."
"So, that means you won't be wearing heavy combat armour," she said.
"Exactly, but the kind with retraction abilities so I can hide it."
"Two cases down from the one you're about to open you'll find a Model Three Haven Fleet Heavy Pistol. It has a high intimidation factor, has a double magazine design and a variable energy output. In the same case you'll find a pair of personal energy shield emitters that are already fully charged. They're made to match the Model One and Three."
"Never heard of this stuff, is it new?" he asked as he opened the case she recommended, it was bio-locked to him. The weapon inside looked savage, with a clip above with three large suppression shells and one in the grip for slim kinetic rounds. The rest of the weapon's body was dedicated to cooling, firing and energy management. There were two oval discs beside it with stickers that said; MODEL THREE COMPANION SHIELD GENERATOR.
"Yes, your mission file says it's for you and trusted crewmembers only. There's a captain's long coat in the debarkation room for you, too. It's a locked design like the pistol, so you can't make more or scan them into another printer."
"I get it, sell weapons, but not these weapons," Noah said. He picked the pistol up and his vacsuit made a holster for it low on his hip. He holstered it and slipped the shield discs into the spots his suit made for them on his chest.
"So, do you think you'll actually need weaponry when we get to the Doxan System?" she asked, sounding worried.
"Probably not, but if this place is like I think it is, I'd rather have a gun and not need it than need a gun and not have it."
"I see your point."
A trio of skitters carried his long coat down the hall to him. "Aw, you didn't have to get it for me," he said.
Thin arms extended from their small dome bodies, holding the long coat up for him so he could slip his arms in. "Sometimes being nice saves everyone time."
"Thanks," he said, slipping his arms into the sleeves and feeling the welcome weight of the armoured garment. "There's a full suit of combat armour in this thing, right?"
"Yes, and it's latest generation."
"Well, I'm gonna have to make some changes," he said, bringing a hologram of himself wearing the jacket up. He changed his vacsuit's colour to dark purple then altered the V shape of armour slats running down the back of his long coat so they looked chromed. The rest of the coat and his boots were adjusted to matte black, and he made it look like he was wearing a gun belt while making sure all Fleet markings were removed. "Well, I still look like I'm wearing good tech, but most people won't immediately think I'm from Haven Fleet."
"Isn't that part of the story you're building? Oh, we're emerging into normal space in two minutes, by the way," Elise said.
Noah started jogging up the hall to the small bridge. "Well, yeah, if that's the mission I'll be following through on when Alice gets here. Still, if I were actually a deserter, I wouldn't want to look like some kinda Haven Fleet heavy. That kind of thing makes some people nervous and gets the wrong kind of attention. I'd rather look like I'm trying to look like a badass using Haven tech."
"Oh. I don't get it. I'll just watch and learn, Captain Badass."
Noah laughed as he pulled his long coat off then dropped into the pilot's seat. He checked the countdown counter, seeing that they had a minute and ten seconds until they emerged. "I'm starting to really like you, Elise."
"No surprise, I was made to be awesome."
"Okay, how are our systems?" he asked himself as much as Elise while he looked at the consoles around him.
"Everything's ready. Power reserve, shields, and weapon capacitors are all at one hundred percent. Diagnostic results indicate…"
"Is the checklist green?"
"The whole checklist is green," she replied.
"Okay, I'm taking the controls once we emerge. We'll be on the edge of Doxan Three Navnet space, so run active scanners and make sure we're not about to bump into anything."
"Sure thing, boss."
Noah looked from his console to the fake cockpit display ahead. It was exactly what the sensors around the outside of the ship were picking up, translated so he could see it as if he was looking through cockpit windows. The small bridge was actually under thick layers of armour. The energy surrounding the ship whirled as the Corsair passed through it. Blue, green and white light was everywhere as they tunnelled through interdimensional space. A spot of black ahead was growing larger rapidly.
"Noah?" Elise asked quietly.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you for activating me," she said, it was almost a whisper.
"Welcome to the universe; it's complicated, but I like it that way," he replied, wondering what Alice and Lewis would think of his new companion.
Thirty-Nine
Freighter Honopu
* * *
Thousands of ships littered the navigational display between plain asteroids and planets that had been cracked or drilled until they had few resources left to offer. "Doxan Three doesn't look promising, environmentally speaking," Elise said. "There are a few green spaces but most are privately owned. The penalty for breaching their boarders is slavery or death. I detect three abandoned cities, nine that have active gang wars, and nine more that are ruled by a recently formed government or corporation of some kind. Order of Eden has a satellite in orbit and three recruitment centres, but nothing garrison sized."
"Watch what you download from this place, especially the adverts," Noah told his new artificial intelligence.
"Oh, there are thirty-three advertising only channels, and I've been analysing their streams. I'll stop. Did you know you could get a complete skin purification and pigmentation adjustment for only three platinum if you land in Augustus in the next eleven hours?"
"Uh, no, but thanks. I don't normally go for that pigmentation stuff," Noah replied.
"Also, why do humans favour the; 'Fresh and Smooth' choice of pigmenta… Wait, there's a distress call coming through, it's four minutes and twenty seconds old."
"Put it through. Oh, and change our hull colour so it's dark red and black, then de-cloak. We need to make this ship look like an extended version of the Arcyn Starskipper."
"No problem," Elise said, and the Corsair's hull hummed for a moment before their cloaking systems disengaged. Navnet recognized them and requested that they state their destination.
The distress call began to play and a flashing red marker appeared near the edge of the solar system. "This is the Freighter Honopu. Shlaki Pirates jumped us as soon as we decelerated into the system. They won't negotiate, they're trying to destroy our ship and take the cargo train. Please help, our whole family is aboard. Please, any good Samaritans out there?"
"They've already registered with Navnet as freelance traders carrying medical supplies," Elise said. "Their shields are down to thirty-five percent. Their attackers are flying four Hunter Three Type fighters that have been heavily modified and the lead ship is a Zaugin Systems second generation destroyer which has been heavily modified as well. It's firepower is greatly enhanced, there's a direct connection between some weapons and their reactors."
Noah only needed the few seconds it took Elise to describe what was known of the situation to make up his mind. He turned the Corsair towards the flashing red blip on his tactical screen and brought his thrust up to maximum. The powerful engines at the rear of the ship howled, if it weren't for the dire circumstances, he'd be grinning at the sound. He sent their new course to the main Navnet system in the area. "Contact the pirate ship."
"Their transponder is numerical only and contains
twelve threes in a row, it is obviously a fake. I'm targeting their main antenna with our transmission systems."
"Good idea, keep a lock on that so we can jam them if we have to," Noah said.
"They're answering," Elise said, putting the image of something that looked like a human with reflective skin on the main communications holoprojector.
"Don't interfere with the Shlaki, Samaritan," it said. The mouth moved awkwardly, the motions not matching the words as a humans' would.
"Is this the Captain of that ancient destroyer I'm seeing?" Noah asked.
"First Officer. I speak for him. If you interfere with our little salvage operation here, that pretty ship is going to be destroyed."
"Okay, listen, chrome face; break off your attack and I'll spare you and your little fighters. I'll be in sighting range in nine seconds." Noah replied, looking at the shields on the old destroyer. It was a big ship, they had rows of emitters that were fifteen metres long in some places, but old railguns didn't look like much of a threat to the Corsair. "I'm bringing my combat shields online now." He turned the shields all the way up.
"You are spoofing, there's no way your ship has that kind of shielding," the First Officer replied, his eyes going wide before he turned away from his console telling someone behind him; "Take a look at this, Cap, it could be a problem."
"That's a fake reading, they're spoofing, beaming energy at our array," replied a voice.
"In range, last chance to break off your attack. I have your main reactor targeted, your ship will be disabled," Noah said melodically.
"We're sending our pilots after you, moron. Even a Starskipper can't survive our best."
"I warned you." He verified the aim of the Corsair's three stationary railguns and fired five shots each, feeling the vibrations underfoot. "It'll probably be best if you don't use countermeasures on those. I sent fifteen solid rounds your way, they're coming at about fifty-six thousand klicks per second. It'll be a few seconds."
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