“Supervision?” I said. “The last time I’d read everyone’s files, they were grown-ups. They didn’t need anyone to check that they weren’t eating any glue or crayons.”
I can’t help it; I swear. I see someone from my family and turn into an idiot. Aunt Eleanor wasn’t much nicer towards me most of the time.
“Keep your disrespect to yourself, Commander,” Aunt Eleanor said flatly.
Okay; I was overdoing it. It’s part of a family tradition, though. You should see how my father got along with her; they made genocides sound like pleasant tales for children.
Aunt Eleanor led the rest of the questioning, and my reactions and attitude might have encouraged the tone of her accusations. I told them about the sudden boarding, the armored soldiers, and the risks of facing an unknown enemy who hadn’t even identified itself. We didn’t know what nation had attacked us, and we didn’t know what their technological level was. We were unofficially at war, but we couldn’t make it official until we learned their identities. They could keep hitting us and running until they destroyed us completely.
I’d have expected some sympathy from the admirals, but they wanted someone to blame. With Graff wounded, I was the easiest target.
My aunt drilled me with questions about why I’d left the bridge to chase after the armored soldiers. She made it sound as if I’d arranged the attack myself. She demanded additional detailed reports about everything I’d seen, done, or thought during the action. To be honest, she made me feel just at home; she questioned everything that my father always questioned.
They were never satisfied.
“I can send the black boxes to you,” I offered sarcastically. “Your engineers and statisticians can analyze everything in case I’ve caused global warming too.”
“Thank you, Commander,” Aunt Eleanor cut me.
“You’re welcome,” I said. “Mind telling my father that I won’t visit him for Christmas? I’m rather busy right now. Constant and useless bureaucracy from the Navy takes up most of my time.”
Shepard smiled to himself, but quickly straightened up and acquired his serious stance. He was as scared of my aunt as I was.
My aunt nodded and ignored my remarks.
I hated going through a second examination to prove that I deserved my rank, and the admirals were getting the worst out of me. My aunt’s other option was to court-martial me, and it would’ve made her family reunions with my father somewhat awkward.
“We need you to return to Earth for urgent repairs,” Aunt Eleanor said. “We cannot afford to lose the Defender.”
Hadn’t they listened to any of my explanations or read my reports?
“They’ve taken our civilians captive and we can still chase them,” I said. “If we return to Earth, we’ll lose them forever. We can’t afford to lose the top scientists and engineers in the world.”
“Return to Earth. We can’t afford to lose the Defender after losing our best civilian contractors.” Aunt Eleanor wasn’t negotiating. As always. She wasn’t going to lose an argument.
“I respectfully disagree, ma’am,” I said.
“And I don’t care, Commander,” she said. “Come back to Earth before you’re attacked again. I don’t want to tell your mother that you’ve gotten yourself killed.” She ended the communication.
“Hey,” Harry said, “they didn’t say anything about me. How about you return to Earth for the repairs and I leave to save the girl?”
I was leaving no rescue mission in his hands. Though perhaps he was right and we needed to do something about our scientists. We couldn’t lose their trail.
I was about to do the stupidest thing I’d ever done.
Chapter 18
I headed to the Defender’s main systems without thinking twice about my actions. Saving the captives wasn’t only a matter of mercy; it was about proving that we weren’t going to leave our men behind. That had once been a motto both in the Army and the Navy, but we’d forgotten about it. With Admiral Graff wounded, the crew had become my responsibility. Saving them was a matter of honor.
If I stopped to consider my options, I’d end up going back and following orders. If I returned the Defender to Earth, the hostages were as good as dead.
“Hey Decaf.” Harry trotted after me. “What are you doing? Your vitals are out of the roof. Planning to have a heart attack? Should I call some medics?”
I ignored Harry and entered the main systems room. A few engineers, hunched before their screens and displays, looked up and saw me. They ignored me and returned to their work as if nobody were there. Techies aren’t the most sociable people on Earth, at least towards me.
Aside from the engineers, the captain of marines stood guard by the door. She observed the engineers with a serious expression. One hand rested on the handle of her gun and the other leaned on her hip. A couple of her men stood guard around the room in case we had any other surprises. The Defender’s systems were one of the key regions of the ship, and losing them to an enemy attack would leave us defenseless.
I told them to head to the bridge. I was about to steal a Navy ship and her crew against Fleet Command’s wishes. I didn’t want any heroes to stop me.
Hooke, the captain of marines, stepped closer to me, gripping her gun harder. “Anything wrong, sir?” she said. She actually shouted it to my naval ears, but it was the usual tone amongst marines.
“Everything’s fine,” I said. “I want to test a couple of things and need everyone on the bridge.”
She raised an eyebrow at me. “And what if there’s danger?”
The biggest risk was for her to point her gun at me once she realized what I was doing.
I tried not to let her smell my fear. Marines can smell it.
“I’m acting captain,” I said calmly. “I need everyone on the bridge.”
She stared at me through those fiery eyes of hers, and looked down at my neck as if she could measure my pulse just by looking. She hadn’t believed a word I’d said.
Instead of seizing command from me and incapacitating me, she nodded, wished me luck, and said that she’d be on the bridge if I needed something. It’s awesome to have marines working for me whenever I’m about to do something illegal. Like Admiral Graff always said, they were like toy soldiers and they’d been conditioned not to question their officers. Give an order to ordinary seamen, and you’re likely to get a dozen questions and complaints. The Navy should put our men through boot camp just like the marines.
Right; back to my becoming an outlaw. I closed the sliding door to the computer room and locked it using the highest authorization I had. Only the subcommander could open the door if there was an emergency.
Around me, computers, cables, and communications devices rested on tables and hung from walls. The entire room was a giant cobweb of cables, and the computers and screens only made the whole thing more intimidating.
I’d seen scientists and engineers go into the room, pull cables here and there, and disconnect whatever they were after. I had no idea of what cables to pull and which ones to leave intact. I should’ve paid more attention in science classes.
Harry’s hologram crossed the closed door and stopped beside me. His eyes went from me to the computers, then to me again. He raised an eyebrow at me. “Fleet Command won’t like whatever you’re about to do,” he said. “Humans have unexpected thought patterns, but you look like a thief. A Defender thief, perhaps?”
“I need to disconnect our external communications systems,” I told him. “I need Fleet Command not to be able to contact me or override my commands on the ship. They should only contact me through the Great Cabin.”
“So the honorable and decaffeinated Commander Edward James O’Donnell wants me to join the dark side and help him steal a ship.” Harry walked around the room and sat on an empty region on one of the desks. “You do realize that I’m an AI and that I’m coded to follow Fleet Command’s orders, don’t you? I should lock you up somewhere and send you to jail.”
&nb
sp; I was guessing that he was independent-minded enough to ignore his orders. I’d never seen an AI do so, but I’d never seen an AI drink himself to unconsciousness either.
“What do I disconnect, Harry?” I insisted. I didn’t want to negotiate or to make things longer than they needed to be. If he was planning to help me, I needed him now before Fleet Command sent some ships after us. I wasn’t going to shoot down our own ships.
“I still don’t see what’s in this for me,” he said. “Fleet Command will claim that I’m defective if they see me ignoring orders.”
He was right, but he didn’t sound like Harry. In fact, I was sounding like Harry and he was sounding like me. I was always the honorable idiot who followed rules at everyone’s expense.
This hadn’t been an accidental attack. If the enemy fled, they were likely to bring reinforcements and destroy us, then go for our main cities. This was the start of a war, and I was going to stop it.
I had a hero’s complex and I’d probably end up in a sanatorium until someone cured me of it, but I didn’t care. For once, I wanted an adventure.
“Will this affect my survival as an AI?” Harry said sarcastically.
“Do you think anyone’s going to stand you if our nation falls?” I said. “There’s a million sexy female AI avatars aboard both ally and enemy ships. Nobody wants a rough guy as a companion.”
“That was low,” he said. “I’m the best voyage buddy anyone can wish for. And female captains are going to order copies of me as soon as they get to know about me.”
With or without his help, I got ready to disconnect the ship’s communications.
Before I broke anything, he stood up and told me to unplug a set of cables.
“You’ll block the communications systems like this,” he said. “It’ll look like an error, and Fleet Command won’t go after you for a while. Gives you time to steal the rest of the ship.”
Was he going to help me? That was awesome. A rogue AI that defied its creators.
“I’m designed to obey my duty,” he said, “and our duty is to keep the country safe. The attackers are a bigger threat than losing the Defender. And now, let’s talk numbers…”
Instead of talking me about the odds, he demanded half of my share of the loot as acting captain. I don’t know where AIs are taught to negotiate, but he was tough.
We weren’t going to get any loot or capture any ships for the time being, so I agreed.
Chapter 19
Harry told me to pull some cables, then others, then substitute some with others. It was all very confusing, but he controlled these kinds of circuits and knew what he was doing.
I should’ve delegated the task on some of our remaining engineers. They would’ve obliged, but I didn’t want to make any of them face a trial for high treason. If I disconnected everything myself, I’d get the blame for it if we were caught before saving the day. Once we saved the civilian contractors, I didn’t care what happened to me.
“You’re awful at this,” Harry said. “You don’t even pick the right colored cables half of the time. Do you even know what a capacitor is?”
“Piece of tech,” I said. “And I don’t care what it does; I’m not an engineer. I want to disconnect the communications and that’s all. Save the science class for someone else.”
Harry rolled his eyes and murmured, “Officers.” He was making a drama out of stealing the ship. He wanted everyone to acknowledge that he was one of the most important AIs in the world because he had contradicted Fleet Command and supported his captain instead.
Harry waved a hand in the air and showed a holographic screen. Aunt Eleanor was waiting for me to answer a message from her.
“We’re in trouble,” Harry sang. “Want me to say that you’re having a shower? Might give us some extra time.”
He’d promised silence from Fleet Command if I disabled one of the devices, but here they were. I don’t care how or why she’d managed to contact me. I needed her out of this. This was the first time I did something as stupid as stealing a ship and ignoring my career. Getting executed for treason was going to make things much harder for me.
“Ignore the call,” I said. “And disconnect the communications.”
Harry scanned the room for several cables. “They’re off. At least the comm systems I know of. Do you think that Fleet Command has placed secret communications systems in case I went rogue? Where’s trust gone? They’re supposed to rely on artificial intelligences, not override their impulses by creating secondary systems.”
“Stop complaining and tell me how to disable her messages,” I said. I didn’t want my aunt to contact the crew or to tell the marines to start a war against me. I was likely to lose against a bunch of fit marines.
Harry tried to disable the communication, but the Defender didn’t obey his orders. The system was designed to override everyone, even him.
“They’ve left a backdoor,” Harry said. “These bastards expected me to ignore them at some point.”
“Can you disable it?” I said.
“It’ll take time,” he said. “The programs are encrypted.”
My aunt overrode Harry’s controls and started speaking to me.
“This is Admiral O’Donnell speaking,” she said with a firm tone. “Acting Captain O’Donnell, surrender the Defender to Fleet Command and don’t make things harder for you. You’ve already stolen property from the Navy. Don’t make us increase the accusations against you.”
“I’m sorry, Auntie.” I sounded less convincing that I’d have liked, but you’re likely to end up killed if you defy everyone in Fleet Command. “I need to do this. I promise to keep the ship safe from scratches and return it as soon as I’m done.”
“Commander,” she insisted, “you’ll face severe charges once you return. I don’t care if you’re eager to become a hero or not; you won’t. You’re lucky that I’m leading this communication. Others would’ve shot you down first, and asked later. Cease this treacherous behavior at once―” The image froze.
Harry shrugged. “Disconnected,” he said. “Sorry if you were having a nice family reunion, but I didn’t want you to back down. I’m already screwed if we’re caught, and I’d rather not end up as a front desk clerk at a hotel.”
I gulped. My aunt never allowed anyone to leave before she finished reprimanding them. But I was no longer a kid. I was old enough to make my own mistakes.
“Let’s keep disconnecting things,” I told Harry. Knowing my aunt, we didn’t have much time.
Harry noticed several nearby marine ships orbiting around us. They’d been cloaked all along, and they’d finally shown their faces.
“This is outraging!” Harry complained. “Where’s trust? Where are loyalty and honor? How can they expect us to take a trillion-dollar ship and run?” His face turned more serious, and he showed a view of the hangar doors on one of the screens. The ships were shooting at it to force it open. “They won’t take long to get in,” he said. “We should do something.”
“Can you turn on the faster-than-light engines?” I said.
“They’ll stick to us and use the Defender’s drag,” Harry said. “They’ll end up in the middle of space with no way to return to Earth.”
I wasn’t going to kill our own men if I could help it. I only needed them to get off the Defender, and they wouldn’t join us once we jumped. I was an outlaw, but I was no murderer. Killing our own people was only going to make things worse for me once I returned.
“Harry,” I said. “Call the men to battle stations. I want them to cripple the marine ships without destroying them. I don’t want any lethal force used on our own men.”
Harry gave me a perfect salute. “Your orders, Commander.”
“So I’m Commander now?” I said. “What about Decaf?”
“You’re stealing a ship,” Harry said. “Need blood in your veins to do so.” He waved in the air to track our men’s locations and open channels to each of their rooms.
My aunt’s fac
e appeared on the room’s screens again. This hadn’t been Harry’s doing; she’d done it herself to make her points clear.
Too late to disconnect anything else.
I opened the sliding doors. She appeared on the corridors too. I was guessing that she’d appeared everywhere on the ship.
Aunt Eleanor liked grandiosity. I was starting to understand why her husband had left Earth the day they broke up. She was rather dangerous when angry.
“Are you sure that she’s your aunt?” Harry asked. “Because she doesn’t act too tender towards you.”
“You should see her treat her own kids,” I said. “Now help me cut her out.”
We didn’t disconnect her on time.
She began her speech to the crew, told the marines that I was a traitor and that my mind wasn’t working properly. She accused Harry of being broken, and ordered the marines aboard the Defender to help her capture me and surrender me to justice.
I was royally screwed.
Harry flinched, brought out a map of the Defender, and shut all the rooms with marines in them. They were locked up for the time being.
“Nice reflexes,” I said.
“I’m not broken,” he mumbled. “Tell your aunt that I’m nowhere near broken. I just have more common sense than she does.” He disabled my aunt’s communications channel and opened a new one to contact one of my most loyal squads aboard the ship.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” I said. “We’re about to be shot down by Fleet Command. I’d rather keep the ship and her crew safe from harm, but I need some help for an illegal and potentially treacherous mission.”
The men laughed and agreed to kick marine asses. Marines think that they’re better than the rest of us, and most of us are jealous because they make more money. Makes fighting them an awesome incentive. Even if it entails breaking the law.
An officer isn’t supposed to leave the bridge during action, but someone needed to get rid of the marines. It was a task fit for a former exhibition pilot, wasn’t it?
I didn’t care if it was risky; I hated hiding aboard the Defender while others had all the fun.
Starship Defender: Beyond Human Space Page 10
