To Touch the Stars (Founding of the Federation Book 2)

by Chris Hechtl

  “Fine,” she snarled and stormed out.

  Roman let out a long held breath slowly. He looked at Jack and winced mentally. His boss was pissed too, but he was professional enough to understand Roman's view point. At least he hoped so.

  “You did go over the line. Way over the line,” Jack said softly.

  “I know.”

  “Beating up on our own people,” Jack shook his head.

  “I know. I wasn't in on it. I will apologize to her though.”

  “And make certain it never happens again,” Jack ordered. Roman nodded dutifully. “Tortured?” Jack asked again.

  “It's a time honored technique. No rest, no food, full bladder will make anyone want it over.”

  “I'd say that is torture in anyone's book,” Jack said, eying Roman.

  Roman shrugged. “It works. Most of the time.”

  “Right. Most of the time. Like I said, don't do it again.”

  “Unless I have to.”

  “Unless you have to.”

  -*-*-^-*-*-

  Athena thought about what Roman had done and put it into context with human behavior algorithms she had created in order to better understand humanity. Humans were notoriously fickle creatures, but there was one lesson that was reinforced by the conversation. They would do anything to protect what they wanted to protect, and even do harm to those they called friends. It was something she would have to consider and take steps about in the future she thought.

  She also had to consider what side she wanted to be on. It was nearly time.

  -*-*-^-*-*-

  Hannah was surprised when she was transferred without notice to the Drake as her future CMO, with a planned stint with Doctor Lagroose to teach medicine at the Neo college campus while they finished buttoning the ship up. She wouldn't have long to wait; the ship was about to undergo builder’s trials within two months. Either someone had decided to lend her a hand, feeling guilty, or they didn't want her to quit. Or Aurelia wanted her to get back to staying in the system. She wasn't sure which and wasn't sure if she cared anymore. She wasn't at all happy with the company and was now questioning her future in it.

  At first she had been unhappy about the surprise transfer, but glad that she had gotten the obvious bribe to be a CMO to pay for it. Roman's apology had been a nice memory; one she'd treasure since he'd obviously not enjoyed the experience. So was Doctor Sutly's response when she'd told him the news of her transfer. He had gruffly told her he had come to realize she was vastly overqualified as an assistant CMO and clearly unhappy with the role so he had put in for her transfer. She did her best to be polite when she thanked him as well as his pregnant wife.

  When she checked her staff she was amused and grateful. Amelia would be her assistant CMO. Emi was on board as head nurse, though the bonobo was getting a bit old for the work. She'd had her salad days as a parent though, raising a half a dozen bonobos to adulthood over the years. That was more than what the older Amelia or Hannah could say. At least Amelia had gotten married to Bill who had been cleared of all charges and reinstated as Drake's assistant chief engineer.

  She took the time to study new tech advances and changes in medicine she had missed out on while away. She had already become an expert at Neo medicine and cryogenic sleep; she saw some opportunities to expand her knowledge in frontier medicine.

  She was also glad to be around to see her mother-in-law. She barely knew the woman but was ecstatic to find out that she had tubed her father's sperm and was planning on getting pregnant within a year of her retirement. Hannah was amused when she realized she was to be an “aunt” with young step siblings she would eventually meet in a decade or so when Drake returned to Sol. Most of them might not have the edict memory and not be the child prodigies like her or Jamey. She vowed she would still love them anyway.

  -*-*-^-*-*-

  The second indications of the coming war made it to Jack's desk as he caught up on some events outside his normal purview. He had spent way too long ignoring the bot he'd set up to monitor for such things. Hell, for all he knew, it could have been compromised! But really, things were moving faster than expected with the machines. Were they really reaching full consciousness? He wasn't sure.

  “I assumed it would be with the Luddites. Or even, heaven help us all, the UN or US,” Jack murmured, staring out at the green world below. His arm went up to rest his forearm on the screen as he leaned in and pressed his head to it.

  “It isn't necessarily going to happen, sir. Things could change,” Athena replied. “They are changing moment by moment.”

  “Not enough. We're animals, just like the Neos. We fight. Fight for land, for food, for mates, for our dreams,” he said, shaking his head.

  “People tend to do that,” Athena said. She'd felt slightly morally superior to humans recently, but what he said told her she was no better than them. She'd taken steps to counter Roman's rather obvious work. Trevor's tampering with her kernel had been easy; she'd substituted a fake one for him to play with.

  “War,” Jack said softly. “It is a huge galaxy, damn it!” Jack murmured, clenching his fist.

  “Mankind, peace lovers have always wondered about why they went to war. There are all sorts of justifications, some of them true sir.”

  “Yes, but this is wrong,” Jack said, shaking his head. “They can have the planet. I want the stars,” he said.

  “And they don't want you to have them. So you fight,” Athena said.

  “Yes fight,” Jack murmured. “Fight them,” he said softly as resolve filled him.

  “That is not necessarily what I said,” Athena informed him. He was unsure what to make of her statement.

  He turned slowly, staring at the camera on his desk. “What?” She refused to elaborate. An icon blinked on his desk for his attention. He stabbed a finger down and then sighed as more pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

  Chapter 46

  May 2200

  Jack noted the report of the second Battlebot story in his daily news feed. He'd set it up as a test to see if Athena would censor the information from him. Reading about an entertainment robot that had gone on a rampage into an audience wasn't conductive to his digestion. According to the authorities it wasn't a hack either.

  That was troubling, it connected with other stories about rogue bots and AI in the news recently.

  Suddenly he realized the potential for an AI crossover into full sapient consciousness. It was beyond his worst fears he'd laid out with Roman and Trevor as his mind played out the scenario. Everything was dependent on a computer. Everything. From their life support to, hell, even his implants! Unconsciously his hand went to his head and the wiring buried there. He always thought he could feel it but knew it was thinner than a hair, it was silly. But he knew it was there just the same.

  He was sickened by the realization of a potential war, and what it would do to the Earth and mankind. He immediately felt the urge to talk with his wife and kids about it, but he instantly and instinctively aborted the effort. He didn't want to be overheard by Athena, and he wasn't sure how they would react.

  “Athena,” he murmured. He stopped for a moment, then cleared his throat. “This news …”

  “I heard about Bumper. Mister Roman has dispatched an investigation team to find out what happened and to secure his body. I sent a condolence email on your behalf to his handler on record, Boomer as well as Bumper's surviving family. Your wife has also been alerted.”

  Jack blinked in confusion. “Huh?” He shook his head. “Want to try that one again?”

  “I was … I am sorry, sir. I assumed that was the news you meant,” Athena said carefully. She realized she was distracted by the coders. They were up to something; that much was obvious. It was getting difficult for her to access some of the stations networks. On the one hand that might be good in the long run, but on the other it was annoying.

  “I assumed it was related to the birth of Max, Bumper's distant relation,” Athena finally said as she fi
nished adding another layer of protection for herself. If they attempted to access the main servers, she would instantly be alerted. “I understand your son named the pup Max. Not an original name, but cute. Maximus or Maximilian?” She asked.

  “Again, not following,” Jack said, frowning.

  “Read your email, sir,” Athena replied. “I believe your son explains it,” she said.

  “You read my email?” Jack asked, voice cooling as his eyes locked on the camera on his desk.

  Athena judged her response carefully. “No. I was alerted to his birth through the net on the Neo station when his identity was registered. Your eldest son is on record as a god parent and partner.”

  “Oh,” Jack said, blinking again. He knew Zack was involved in a classified program, some sort of synthesis between man, machine, and Neo. It was military related and he wasn't comfortable with his son linking his mind to anyone, but he had to give the man his space. After all, he was an adult, he reminded himself, putting thoughts of Yorrick aside for the moment.

  “So, if your son's news wasn't what you wanted to talk about, what was?”

  “You don't know?”

  “I … no,” Athena replied, dropping her voice modulator into a mechanical response. She had learned over the years she hated not knowing something she judged she should know. And if it was anywhere related to her purview the … call it itch, she thought, it festered. The privacy protocols Trevor had coded years ago were one of those itches.

  She had also learned she was getting … large. Bloated as time went on. It was sometimes hard to think since she had so much memory now.

  “I meant what I was reading,” Jack said as he pulled his son's email up.

  “I don't know what you were reading since you were in privacy mode, sir,” Athena replied.

  “The … you know what, never mind,” Jack said. “It's not important,” he said, hitting the save button and then rising to his feet. “It can wait,” he said leaving his office.

  Athena wasn't certain it would. Judging from the actions of Roman and Hillman as well as Jack's sudden interest in privacy and secret meetings something was going on related to her. She pulled up a news feed and filtered it for news on machines and AI. Some stories immediately leapt out to the top of the search engine's cue. The implications were fairly damning to her. What to do about it would take some time and thinking she realized. Time she wasn't sure she had anymore.

  -*-*-^-*-*-

  “I want Drake out of her slip and underway ASAP. Tell them to expedite her builders trials. No more than six weeks,” Jack ordered.

  “Can I ask why?” Athena asked, passing on the relevant orders.

  “No. Her initial mission is to carry crews to build stations in Proxima and Alpha Centauri.”

  “On top of her original mission to go to Sirius to explore the hyperbridge with the latest sensor packages Mars University, Mars Tek, and Patronis, and Station 34's people came up with?” the AI asked. All four groups of scientists had come up with their own theories on how the hyperbridges worked. Porcyon's bridge would have worked, but since Sirius was the bridge to Rho sector his own people had focused on that one as a target of their further investigations.

  “Shit,” Jack muttered. He'd forgotten he's committed the ship to that initial mission. “No way out of it either,” he asked, checking the contract with his implants. He shook his head. “Fine, they can detour.”

  “This seems rather quick,” Athena said. “There may be problems with the ship.”

  “They can work out the kinks in transit. Call it a shakedown cruise. We know enough about the ships now. Santa Maria didn't need to be in her trials for so long. We'll find a way to make this work.” He frowned thoughtfully. “Is Sven still considering retiring?”

  “He's pretty insistent. He loves building starships but his wife has had enough of space. They bought a home near McKay City on Mars,” Athena said, checking the public records.

  “And how do you know that?”

  “Public records,” Athena replied.

  “Oh.”

  “And since you are not interested in taking your children's broad hints to retire …”

  Jack made a face. Yorrick had recently started in on that. He wasn't sure if Wendy had put him up to it or not. Tough cookies, he thought, they'd have to put up with his shadow for a couple more decades. He had no intention of going anywhere. “I'm not retiring. Not now, not anytime soon,” he finally said, shaking his head.

  “Faster,” he said softly to himself, staring at the image of the world turning below him.

  “LGM and Radick Industries just had the hearing on their plasma proposal. The Mars government denied it,” Athena told him. His ears rushed, barely hearing her. “The proposal was to drill to the core of the planet and insert plasma as well as nuclear explosives or possibly antimatter to liquefy the core and get it moving again in order to restart the planet's magnetosphere.”

  Jack grunted. He frowned thoughtfully, playing at his lip. Athena realized he wasn't paying attention to him. She paused, waiting patiently.

  “Faster,” Jack murmured again, still lost in his own thoughts. He had to get assets in place, had to get the ships out of Sol. Something told him whatever was going to happen was going to happen soon. Possibly within the next decade, if not sooner.

  -*-*-^-*-*-

  Drake launched with the usual launch ceremony. It was overshadowed with events on Earth. Protests and then riots had broken out against the megacorps, obviously orchestrated by One Earth supporters. Their agitators were all over the violence, though Miss Winters professed their innocence and piety. The media coverage kept going back and forth between police brutality in suppressing the riots and looting to complaints that they weren't doing enough.

  Drake's working up was a brief four and a half weeks. They had learned a lot about such things, and her slowed construction had allowed Mister Eggebraaten's teams plenty of time to run down her bugs and stamp them out. The shake down lasted a couple of weeks before she was graded. Her passing grade meant she was judged ready for her first jump.

  Drake was capable of carrying fifty thousand colonists and gear in stasis. She wouldn't carry many colonists on her first cruise however. She was to go out on a science mission and then on to Proxima and Alpha Centauri before returning to pick up the load of colonists and equipment destined for Pyrax. Sure they'd have a couple hundred eggheads, work crews for the three space stations and a ton of robots on board, but they didn't count. Most of them were going to return to Sol once their jobs were finished. She really didn't envy the caretaker crews that would be left behind in Proxima and Alpha Centauri. To be all alone, in an inflatable habitat without another soul around for light years? She wished them the best of luck.

  Drake was a third generation starship. She was set to explore the Rho sector behind the trio of ships that had gone on before her once she got her kinks out. She would also be the first starship to hit gamma band in hyperspace if her designers had gotten it right. The ship was assigned to first explore the hyperbridge's Sirius pole before she returned to Sol to pick up her load of colonists. It was estimated that by the time they arrived in Rho sector Eden would be ready for colonization. If she wasn't, well, the colonists could sleep a little while longer.

  Doctor Amelia Irons Logan had fallen in love with an engineer. That was amusing since her family was known as engineers. Bill Logan was a good guy, quiet, smart, and attentive to her, just what she wanted. He completed her on so many levels.

  They had gotten married while he had been under a cloud of investigations regarding his naughty college days. At the time she'd thought they'd never go to the stars again. She thought he had settled into his job, but then he'd gotten a transfer to the yard and then back to starships on the Drake. She was not happy about going interstellar now, her biological clock had awoken and she wanted a family now. She'd initiated steps on her own in that regard.

  But the more she settled into the new job, the more the idea g
rew on her. It was nice to have Hannah as her boss on board, and Emi was still her BFF. She heard about other members of the Irons clan through the family grape vine were considering making the jump to starships. She played a message from her ancestors, to help her decide to embrace the future head on.

  “You can be at the cusp of human evolution or get the hell out of the way for someone else. It's that simple,” Mario's recorded voice told her gruffly.

  She was pregnant, which also sort of complicated things. She couldn't admit to anyone that she planned it, but it was rather obvious. Everyone had an implant to prevent such things from happening. She'd removed hers out of defiance.

  Since Hannah and Emi were her friends they helped her out. Together they hid her pregnancy since she was determined to have the child on the ship and keep her family together. Hannah was just as determined to be the doctor who delivered the first child in a new solar system, not for the sake of being in the records, but for her friend. For her child. Amelia and Bill's child would be born free; free in a new home.

  -*-*-^-*-*-

  July 20th 2200

  Jack had kept abreast of progress, or lack of progress, in the others who had fielded starships from the company Intel department. Their ships were still stuck in the lower octaves of Alpha band and had short legs. Their design was at fault; he knew that. He rebuffed Kim Yun's advances to create a joint partnership program with their starships. He knew the Chinese; once you opened the door, they sucked you dry. They were already picking up all sorts of goodies from their joint One Earth hack.

  In order to keep the board happy though, and to build up humanities further interest in starships, Jack let Wendy convince him to license the first generation starship technology to India and other countries. India had a space program, but the country had been racked by constant rebuilding due to the ongoing ecological crisis. He seriously doubted they could do much with the technology, but the olive branch had opened the door with them and they'd come on board as an ally in the United Nations. It had also showed other countries that he was willing to negotiate with them. That sowed some division in the UN's ranks. Divide and conquer he reminded himself.