by T S Paul
The school training squadron launched fighters to assist the CAP (constant air patrol), that was always out there.
Lots of dog-fighting, I was worried about my fellow students some of them were very young to be in combat.
A pair of Stuka IV fighters came into view, alarms filled the air, I had been spotted! I quickly turned on the ships power. My hand came down of the controls and the shuttle lurched into full speed. My ship careened from side to side barely in control. I zigzagged, trying to confuse them and gain some time. My ship was one big unarmed target!
Or was it? I have a tractor beam and two escape pods on board. Time to use some engineering skill.
I engaged the autopilot, telling Wilson to take over flying and keep the ship moving. If we survived this, I may have to admit to his presence at the school.
Making my way to the rear of the shuttle, I adjusted the tractor controls. Changing the beam to a wide spread, I maxed out the power.
This had better work or we were dead!
Returning to the controls I ejected an empty escape pod. Grabbing the pod with the tractor beam. I yelled at Wilson, “draw one of those fighters in closer”.
The Stuka IV had shielding on the its sides, the top and the bottom of the fighter. The only unshielded place on the fighters hull was the cockpit. To kill it with one shot, I needed to hit it dead center in the front.
Lining up the ships and crossing my fingers, I reversed the tractor beam and 'threw' the pod at the fighter. It struck dead on the Stuka exploded in a ball of fire. Now if I could get that to work twice.
The other pirate seeing the explosion turned tail and ran for it. I guess he thought this shuttle was armed. Communications had returned as the student fighters gained the upper hand over the pirates. Flight control noticed that I was still out here, ordering me back in.
Explanation time was at hand.
Chapter 8
Lots of work to be done, in the aftermath of a battle.
Prisoners to take control of, damage to assess, and the wounded to care for.
Battle (AAR's) after action reports are a part of this too. Mine was almost not seen in all of this turmoil, notice I said almost.
My arms and most of my upper body were inside one of the fighter engines trying to repair the exhaust manifold, when one of the captains aides came looking for me.
“Lieutenant, your presence is requested in conference room 10.”
“OK, let me get changed and...”
“The captain said now, go as you are.”
Oh, boy here it comes.
Work coveralls covered in propulsion fluid and grease, I made my way to the conference room. It was a full house, standing room only.
With a pensive look upon my face I saluted and came to attention when Captain Michaels saw me come in.
He spoke to me. “Have a seat lieutenant,” eying my clothing “better yet, remain standing. Do you have any idea why you are here today?”
“Would it involve my after action report, Captain?”
Calmly the captain answered me. “Yes, your report. We almost missed it, it was lumped in with the other pilots reports. I had assumed that when the alert sounded your ship had returned to the hanger bay. Imagine my surprise to learn that an unarmed shuttle destroyed a fighter using a escape pod as a cannon. In watching the record of your flight I understand why you did it. What you did was amazing. The problem that we, the command staff has is, HOW did you do it? You are of course, an engineer. The tractor beam adjustment should have been extremely easy for you. The autopilot however, does not have an evade and elude configuration. None of the shuttles do. Explain yourself please.”
The whole room full of officers seemed to be peering at me. It made be extremely nervous.
“Is the Captain familiar with my previous record, sir?”
Looking down at his tablet the Captain replied “I have the record here, Admiral Kane sent it along.”
“Did you read the part about the station that I built?”
Cocking his head the captain said, “Yes, that was why he sent you to us.”
Bracing myself I continued. “In the wreckage of one of the frigates was a prototype AI named Wilson.”
“What! Hold on lieutenant! Do you mean to tell me that there is a rogue AI loose on MY SHIP!”
“No SIR! Not your ship. He has embedded himself into my link and well, I guess, he could be in your ship. But I'm pretty sure he's here in my head.” I pointed at my head.
“Lieutenant, you told the Admiral that this AI stayed behind and was running Firefly station. That is what this report says.” He gestured to the screen in front of him.
“Oh, he did, sir. He left a clone of himself there and tagged along with me. You have to remember, at the time I was not under anyone's orders. I was considered a P.O.W.” I paused. “He saved my life sir. It was him that sent all of those incriminating records to the Senate and to the ESS. As far as I can tell, he has been keeping out of trouble so far on your ship. I will say that if you attempt to purge him he might cause a great deal of trouble.”
“So you are saying that we are stuck with him? Is that it lieutenant?”
“I think so Captain. He can be pretty annoying sometimes but he is very helpful. It was him who piloted the ship, so I could take care of using the pods as a weapon.”
“Can you explain some more? He does not sound like any of the AI's that we use today.”
I looked at the command team, they were all listening to me. “From what he has said, he was THE prototype. The first autonomous AI in the PPL. It was a test, to see if he and those like him could be used for warships. He says that his personality matrix is based on a 20th century vid-star. He likes to tell strange jokes. He also says a lot of very unusual things like quotes or sayings. From studying the records that I could find with my access, his creators never made any more like him. They moved on to less autonomous, more as Wilson says, boring AI's. He's unique, sir.”
Glancing at the security chief, the Captain asked “have any of your techs noticed him in the system?”
“We didn't know to look. The security AI's are suppose to alert us to intrusions like this. I will put some extra people on it.”
The Captain turned his gaze back to me. “Be advised, lieutenant, I will be reporting this to higher. You yourself may have to deal with fleet HQ, again.”
“Yes, sir, I understand sir.”
“Now you can go back to your engine. Oh and Lee? Just so you know. Those pirates were bounty hunters. The bounty on you is now over $100 million credits, watch your back please.”
As I left the room I overheard the security chief speaking. “Captain? Why did you allow her to keep that AI?”
Pensive, the Captain looked at his head of security. “If that AI could pilot a shuttle, what about a cruiser? Or all our weapon systems? Environmental? Life support? She can keep him.”
White faced, the security chief nodded
At least Wilson was given a reprieve and his secret was out in the open. Two days after my meeting with the captain, new orders came in for me from fleet HQ. It was too dangerous for me out here, my orders were changed, they were sending me to planet Texas, the capital of the Empire.
Chapter 9
Fleet had sent a cruiser with an escort destroyer to pick me up.
For the record, they were 'just passing through' and were able to give me a ride. Secretly, they were here for me. Military intelligence really wanted someones head on a plate for these attacks. Anyone who can arrange both an explosion on a navy ship and two attacks by pirates is a person of great interest to them. Agents from MI planned to use me as bait to draw out the bad guys.
Reluctant as I was about the idea, I decided to go along, it was better than looking over my shoulder the rest of my life.
On-board the EOH Wang Chung I spend my time in discussion with engineers and intelligence. The engineers wanted to hear about my lost fifteen years and all about constructing the station, again.
I even got to help work on the engines. Go engineers!
Arriving in the America sector (sector 5) and the planet Texas, signaled that the party was over. Time to go back to work.
This was to be an attempt to draw my assailant out. The navy wanted me to speak to Senate committees on piracy, prisoner of war rights, and naval forces integration. I was not the expert, just a witness to these meetings. I was asked to comment and give personal experiences. Basically a boring day filled with useless talk. I really hate politics.
The first attack came on the second day and it was very very public. My security team and I had just sat down at a local cafe for lunch. There was an explosion in the kitchen. A bluish white mist began it fill the room. The diners that were closest to the kitchen began grabbed their throats and crying out in strangled pain. Blisters began being formed wherever the mist touched exposed skin. My escorts grabbed me and almost literally tossed me out into the street.
Someone had used a form of weaponized chlorine gas on the cafe. Fatalities included the kitchen staff, twenty civilians, and one agent from my detail. Things just got really personal.
The attack proved one thing, we seemed to have a security leak. No one had our schedule, it was not written down. We had picked our dining location at random. NCIS was brought aboard the investigation. Their agents sprung into action, investigating everyone. Not one person was left to chance.
A break in the case came when checking government bank accounts. One of the security public surveillance monitors had received an unusually large amount of credits the day of the attack. Interrogation led to a PAC (Political Action Committee). Staffers had been instructed to be kept aware of my location 24/7. The orders had come from one of the owners. Finding the owners got kind of murky after that.
NCIS was still investigating when the second attack occurred.
My team and I had just entered the reception hall when shots rang out.
“Down, down” screamed my bodyguards.
“Shooter on your left, check right!” one of the other guards yelled, as we took cover behind a fallen table.
The other guests were scattering in all directions. Gunshots rang out as personal security teams and gunman battled it out across the room. The security forces were not as professional as mine was. Random guests were getting shot!
My face was pressed flat to the floor. I had an agent covering me.
So I didn't see it when a trio of gunman, using human shields, rushed our position. I heard the screams, as my team shot them down.
“Alive, we need them them ALIVE!” my team had switched to stunners but some of the contract security had opened fire, within seconds the gunman were all killed. Unfortunately, so were the hostages.
The noise in the hall dropped as the cries of the wounded took over.
My team finally, allowed me to sit up. All that I could see was the piles of the wounded and of the dead. The charging gunman after being stunned had been shot numerous times. Paramedics were torn from saving the wounded guests. To trying to save at least one of the gunman. In the end none of the assailants survived.
Needless to say I wasn't invited to anymore events.
NCIS saved the investigation.
Communications between the latest bounty hunters and a local law firm were revealed. Records, taken from the firm, liked it to the PAC group and ultimately the Buckley family.
The evidence was still circumstantial however. The investigation ground to a halt.
Then it happened. Computer records from the NCIS investigation, somehow, were leaked to the press identifying the Buckleys as persons-of-interest.
Because of all the innocent lives that had been lost, even the Buckley’s allies were screaming at them. The political tide had finally turned.
Right or wrong, it became a trial in the public eye.
NCIS and other government agencies were tearing into the Buckley families lives. Family skeletons and scandals were being exposed.
Something had to give.
We left for my new post on the regular shuttle, no task force this time.
The navy publicized my interview with some of the local newsies, where I emphasized that I trusted my fellow crew members in the navy. The Navy, hoped to guilt anyone who would take credits to help kill me.
Here I was, right in the middle of it all.
The Admiralty was at a loss for what to do with me now. After much discussion and turmoil, I was given two options.
Remarkably, they let me choose rather than ordering me.
Go to ground. Allow my family in Hong Kong to protect me was one option. Or I could travel to my next assignment and trust the navy to keep me safe.
Both really hard decisions. My father was a high ranking planetary militia officer. His troops would help, but did I really want to put their lives in front of mine?
I chose to move on with my next assignment. The navy was my life. I trusted the people that I work with. You have to trust someone to survive in space. I got lucky. The new assignment was my dream job. The New Madrid shipyard and repair facility.
Chapter 10
Naval intelligence sent two bodyguards with me. We left on the regular commuter shuttle.
In a morbid way it was funny. When other crew members saw me standing in line, they postponed or just flat-out-refused to board the shuttle.
So much for trust. I almost had to pilot it myself.
Command had to ask for a volunteer pilot. I had heard that the bounty on me was over $150 million credits. It would almost make me want to kill myself, to collect the money!
Flight time was pretty short, less than a day.
No one died.
Never having been here before, it was a real treat.
The New Madrid shipyard was simply HUGE. It covered all of the orbitals surrounding a small moonlike asteroid. That chunk of rock was used for all of the shipyards raw material and was one the largest mining operations of its kind in the galaxy. This was an engineering dream.
The shuttle was approaching what looked like an asteroid.
One of my guards was like, “that's not an asteroid, that's a battle station.”
I had to punch him for that one, those old vids are still very popular. No storm troopers were waiting for us when we exited the shuttle.
New station equals a new job.
Old business came first though. On the trip, Wilson and I had prepared a short vid, more of a show and tell about Firefly station. All of the how's and why's went into this. Construction details, as well as my impressions and of course, my mistakes. We had left out the really embarrassing ones. No need to make myself look that bad. This made my introduction a whole lot easier. After a couple of showings most everyone's questions had been answered.
My new assignment was to work with developers of new space station features, predominantly hydroponics and life support areas. When I had built my station, those areas were vital in keeping me alive.
I knew a little about this subject. The overall project commander was Chief engineer Ronald Eversole. He had been a civilian designer of mining stations recruited by the navy just for this project.
So far, the project had successfully developed stronger and more pressure resistant bulkhead doors and hatches.
A good hydroponic room can keep a station alive. It provides both food and air helping to reduce carbon dioxide in the air. Necessary space is at a premium on a station. Having enough room for your plants is always an issue. That was my job on this project, finding room. Most current designs went for a standard room or series of rooms interconnected for redundancy. The idea that I had was a spiral of hydroponic pods circling around the station core. The heat from the exhaust ports would help heat the plants, putting less strain on the HVAC system. Access tubes and lifts would interconnect the pods for maintenance and harvesting. This design hopefully would reduce the power drain and aid life sup
port for a station.
It took me several weeks to build the pods and interconnect the lift system on our mini-station. The navy had built a scaled down version of Eversole's design as a test bed. I, personally, rarely saw the man. He left orders in my project in-box if he needed something changed.
I was very busy. I rarely saw anyone other than techs. My security team had changed gears, two weeks into the project. They had integrated with station security and were rarely here as a physical presence. The station as a whole, was about a week from completion when a small accident happen.
