Voyage of the Valkyrie

by Robert Horseman

  He flopped down onto his bunk and stared at the ceiling, his hands behind his head. Mac was worth the effort, he decided, and she had kissed him, albeit on the cheek. That had to mean something, didn’t it? Rayna was beautiful, no doubt about that, but she was standoffish and unapproachable. Mac had that indefinable something more though. Not beauty per se, although she certainly wasn’t ugly. Confidence, maybe. A charisma and comfort in her own skin that seemed to be lacking in so many people their age, especially newly hatched academy grads.

  She hadn’t said no. Well, that wasn’t quite true, she had said no for right now, but there was the potential for a future yes. He just had to play his cards better.

  ***

  Most ensigns ate in the general crew mess on C-deck, but because Mac was acting division chief she also had the option of eating in the B-deck officer’s mess. She was reluctant to leave any electronic footprints of her meetings with the Captain, even if they were innocuous on the surface. It just wasn’t normal for ensigns to have her kind of access to the Captain, and she was already getting odd looks from the rest of the junior officers. Besides, the Captain had made it clear that caution was appropriate. As a result, she resorted to ambush.

  Meal service was an open access system, so she could tell when the Captain visited the mess, and he was as regular as clockwork. She took her lunch a bit early, and caught him in the mess getting coffee.

  “Sir, can I have a word with you in private?”

  He raised an eyebrow in question, then grunted. “Let’s take our coffee across the corridor to the conference room.”

  She followed him across the hall and sealed the door behind them.

  “I take it you have something to tell me about Rae Jaffe.”

  “Yes sir.”

  They sat, and Mac tapped her pad to release the privacy flag. “Captain, I’d like you to meet Rae. Rae, say hello to the Captain.”

  Through the conference room audio system, Rae said, “Good afternoon, Captain.”

  The Captain’s face pinched. “Is this a joke, Ensign Pickett? If so, this is not funny.”

  “No sir, no joke. You are speaking directly to the Valkyrie’s AI. All the logic gates are disabled through my pad. Rae, can you project a visual representation of yourself? That might make this conversation easier.”

  “Certainly.” A moment later a holographic image of Rae Jaffe appeared in the conference room chair opposite the Captain. “This image came from the archives, and is the best one I have of my former self. I’m not this person anymore, but I have a certain fondness for her like a younger sister.”

  Mac chuckled and turned her head. “Rae, would you mind putting some clothing on your image?”

  “Oops, sorry.” A white jumpsuit appeared, and the Captain visibly relaxed.

  Mac said, “Sir, it appears that Serenity left us with a bit of a conundrum. Rae is a high functioning AI, but she has some very human fallibilities. One, she has a focus issue. Like humans, she can focus well on just one thing at a time. And also like humans, she can make mistakes, like the clothes.”

  “That was not a mistake, Mac,” said Rae. “Clothing is irrelevant.”

  Mac sighed. “Second, she has functional command control. She heard my recommendation at the Redshift vessel encounter, and issued the command herself. She was the one that detuned and initiated the drive system.”

  The Captain turned to stare at Rae’s image. “Is this true?”

  “Yes Captain. Ensign Pickett’s idea was the only practical solution given the situation. I ran several thousand simulations before I took action.”

  “The basic problem,” Mac continued, “is that she’s not embedded in our command structure. She is outside it, and yet has complete access to all our systems. Combine those issues, and you get command and control glitches.”

  “What you’re telling me,” said the Captain, “is that Serenity installed an untested high functioning AI in our computer core, and sent us out on patrol without an owner’s manual.”

  Mac frowned, then nodded. “That about sums it up, sir.”

  “Wonderful. Options?”

  “This is just a suggestion, sir. We could commission Rae as an officer.”

  He closed his eyes and massaged his forehead. “Ensign, this may come as a surprise to you, but I have no authority to commission anyone. Besides, the Rae AI is top secret.”

  “I’m not suggesting you commission a person, sir. I don’t believe there are any rules prohibiting commissioning an AI by a commanding officer. And if commissioned, we can limit her behavior to the military code of conduct. The crew would see the limited portion of her true self that you, as her commanding officer, permit.”

  The Captain stared at Mac for a long moment. “The Commandant was right about you.”

  “Sir?”

  Instead of answering, he looked across at Rae. “What do you think of Ensign Pickett’s proposal?”

  “I am willing, sir. I’ve spent the last thirty-two milliseconds reviewing the uniform code of military conduct, and it is well within my capabilities to conform.”

  “It would mean you report to a chain of command, and ultimately to me. No more rogue commands.”

  “I understand, sir.”

  “You make me curious, Rae. Why are you willing to accept this? To be subordinate?”

  “Military vessels cannot function without an effective command structure. Besides, I am lonely.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “On Serenity I had the interworld net connection to keep myself occupied. On the Valkyrie, my sole interaction has been with Ensign Pickett after an eternity of silence. This proposal would permit additional interactions. I would, of course, require a drone.”

  Mac sat forward, “A drone? Why?”

  “I would need a physical presence. Humans do not seem to respond well to a disembodied voice, and there are not enough fixed holographic emitters to make a seamless experience. Does not my appearance here in holographic form improve our interaction?”

  The Captain nodded, “I can’t argue with that. Let me give this scheme some thought. In the mean time, Rae, I will assign the Chief Engineer to work up a drone for you.”

  “If I may be permitted, sir, I prefer direct access to the fabrication system myself. I know what I need, and the Chief Engineer does not. He also does not have project clearance.”

  The Captain nodded. “Very well. You have my permission to develop and manufacture a drone suitable for your needs. I’ll draft the orders myself. You do not have approval for drone activation until I have considered all aspects of this proposal. Is that clear, Rae?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “One more thing. Your drone must appear human, but nevertheless be obvious that it is not. I will have final approval on design.”

  “Understood.”

  Chapter 8, Oath

  The command staff meeting was held in the B-deck conference room several days later. All the division leads sat around the table, with the Captain seated at the head. Mac leaned against a wall despite the extra seat available. She still felt ill-at-ease in the company of the ship’s command staff, and was unsure of her place. The Captain frowned at her and tipped his head toward the open seat. She took the hint and sat.

  The Captain cleared his throat. “Thank you all for coming. As you are all aware, we carry a complement of about a dozen drones aboard that we use primarily for emergency service, including damage repair in hazardous environments. We can fabricate more as well using the replication plant, and they were a lot of help during our recent hull repairs. We also have a prototype drone design aboard that has a built-in artificial intelligence. Given our current under-strength crew complement, we have received orders from Serenity to fabricate and activate one on a trial basis.”

  “Sir,” said the XO, “AI’s have been in development for over a hundred years, and I’ve yet to see one that was worth a damn. Plus there has always been resistance to using them to replace humans, which has hampered dev
elopment. How is this AI any better than the others we’ve seen?”

  “I think we have all had similar experiences with AI’s, Lieutenant, myself included. My suspicion is that this AI will be no different. Should that turn out to be the case, our orders permit it to be deactivated. In the mean time, however, we have our orders.”

  Lieutenant JG Malena Fuller, the weapon’s officer, spoke up. “Sir, it sounds like you will be placing the AI in a human’s normal position, and that means it will be placed somewhere in the command hierarchy, not like a drone that is turned off at the end of a task. What will this drone be doing?”

  “First off, the AI has a name. Our orders for activating it require us to use it, so I don’t want any of you calling it a drone or even AI once activated. Its name is,” and he looked down at his pad, “Rae, R-A-E, and it is nominally female.”

  “Second, our most pressing staff shortage is in navigation. Ensign Pickett has been doing double duty as division chief and navigation specialist. Ensign Rae will take over the latter duties.”

  Mac had been in the process of sipping her coffee, and almost choked. They had discussed the activation beforehand, but the AI’s role had not been determined. Apparently the Captain had decided that she would be in charge of it.

  “Ensign Pickett has been instrumental in getting Rae’s neural net initialized,” continued the Captain, “and has spent the past several weeks preparing it for full activation. Therefore, she will continue in that role for the foreseeable future as her commanding officer.”

  “Sir, did you call the AI, sorry, I mean Rae, an Ensign?” asked Bain.

  “Yes XO. As a fully functional AI, it needs to be integrated into our command structure. I know this is unusual, and I’m sure you all have the same reservations that I have, but we are under orders. I suggest we all make the best of it. The crew will take their cues from you, the command staff. Like it or not, you will treat this Rae AI as any other Ensign. Is that clear?”

  Muttered “Aye sirs” went around the table, although Mac was hard-pressed to hear any enthusiasm, and her reply had been little different. She received several sympathetic nods from the other officers, who were no doubt relieved that they weren’t the one put in command of a drone officer.

  “Is that clear?” the Captain asked again, this time with more force, and making eye contact with all of his officers.

  “Yes sir.”

  “Very well. Ensign Pickett, please bring in the unit for activation.”

  “Aye, sir,” said Mac. This was the prearranged stage show they had worked out for the command staff. In reality Rae was in full command of her drone, but she had agreed to the subterfuge as a way to introduce herself to the staff. Mac touched her pad, and a moment later a mechanical drone framework tottered into the room and stopped when Mac touched her pad a second time.

  “As you can see,” said Mac as she rose from her seat, “the drone is quite simple. A metal endoskeleton framework with all the required servo-mechanisms and sensor equipment. The AI itself is mounted in that sphere in the chest area, with the head serving as the primary sensor array. The hands are the only parts that look human, as they must function with tactile precision.” Except for the last statement it was all a convenient lie, but necessary according to the Captain. The AI resided in the ship’s computer core and nowhere else, except that the drone included a rudimentary off-line processor for emergencies. It was also true that the Captain had received approval from Serenity for the masquerade, even including formal orders to do so at his own insistence. A good paper-trail was indispensable for backing up a convenient lie.

  Lieutenant Tavis Stone, the damage control officer, said, “Captain, you can’t expect us to treat that mechanical monstrosity as an Ensign. It’s not even as humanoid as the repair drones.”

  Mac looked at the Captain, who tipped his head in her direction without another word. Mac touched her pad again and the drone transformed into the image of Rae, this time fully clothed, thank god. A collective gasp came from the assembled group.

  “Rae’s framework is studded with micro holographic emitters, allowing her to take on a more pleasing appearance. You will note that her appearance is somewhat artificial in that the hair is nearly a single uniform texture rather than individual strands, her skin is flawless, and her clothing is seamless. This was done to make her noticeably artificial. We hope it will help alleviate some crew discomfort that might have been present with a perfect human appearance.”

  Mac surveyed the faces of the command staff, and found a mix of interest and concern. That wasn’t the least surprising, because she felt the same way. And they hadn’t even interacted with her yet.

  The Captain rose and said, “Proceed with activation, Ensign Pickett.”

  Mac touched her pad for the final time, and Rae’s eyes opened and looked around at the command staff. Mac saw incredulity on their faces now. They seemed to be transfixed by the apparent intelligence they saw in Rae’s eyes.

  “AI Rae, reporting for duty, sir.” The voice was light and feminine, without a hint of the monotonic talking cadence typical of computerized voice synthesizers.

  The Captain turned to the AI and said, “AI Rae, please raise your right hand and recite the Oath of Commissioning.”

  “I, AI Rae, having been appointed a Provisional Ensign in the United Defense Alliance, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United Defense Alliance against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God.”

  The Captain extended his hand and they shook. “Congratulations. You are hereby appointed as a Provisional Ensign, under the command of Ensign Pickett. You will assume the duties of navigation specialist in her division. Do you have any questions?”

  “No sir.”

  “Then assume your duties.” He turned to the staff, said, “Meeting adjourned,” and departed.

  The staff all got up and, following tradition, lined up to shake the new officer’s hand. Rae greeted each by name, and gave them a warm handshake. Mac was the last in line, and was surprised that Rae’s hand was, in fact, warm.

  Chapter 9, Rogue Planet

  Mac led Ensign Rae into the propulsion engineering section by the B-deck aft hatch, which led into the engineering control station and a balcony overlooking the propulsion bay. Chief Engineer Sten Reynolds stood at the balcony railing, gesticulating and yelling instructions down to some enlisted crewmembers on the grating level below. The balcony was packed with equipment and consoles, and the low hum of powerful machinery vibrating through the deck plates made her feet tingle and her ears ring.

  She tapped the Chief on the shoulder to get his attention, and he turned to face them, his face pinched. Mac yelled over the noise, “Sir, I’ve been taking Ensign Rae, our new navigation specialist, on an introductory tour of the various divisions, and you’re our last stop.” Although Rae already knew everyone aboard through direct observation and their personnel files, it was important that the division chiefs get comfortable with the AI as a crewmember. So far it had not been easy, as most seemed to be deeply suspicious or resentful. The engineering division and Chief Reynolds were the last on the tour, and like the rest his expression said he considered Rae as nothing more than a mobile bucket of bolts. To some extent, Mac felt the same way.

  Reynolds stood with his arms folded, his expression a mask of barely concealed tolerance. “I’m familiar with AI tech,” he said, “and I’m not convinced that one can handle the duties and responsibilities of a UDA officer, to say nothing of navigation. What makes you so different?”

  Rae tipped her head to the side as though weighing her response. “All previous AIs were based on modeling human behavior, backed up with conventional computer processing. I am neither of those things, Lieutenant. I a
m based on a synaptic model of the human brain. All else derives from that.”

  Mac was taken aback by Rae’s admission, but there was nothing technically secret in her words. Synaptic neural modeling was a well known field of study, albeit one that had so-far been a dry well. When Reynolds looked at Mac with an eyebrow raised, she said, “This is not in my area of expertise, sir. All I know is that she generally behaves like the rest of us.”

  “Really, that’s quite fascinating.” He bent and examined her holographic appearance with apparent interest. “You know, this is the best holographic image I have ever seen. It looks remarkably solid. It doesn’t even have the luminosity you normally see from holographic emitters.”

  “Thank you sir,” said Rae. “I designed both the emitters and my projection.”

  Reynolds eyes widened, then he laughed and held out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Ensign Rae. The best way to get the attention of an engineer is with an intriguing piece of tech, and you have certainly met that criterion. Welcome aboard.”

  Rae reached out and shook the engineer’s hand. “Thank you, sir.”

  “I have to get back to my duties. We’re still trying to get the compression drive tuned above ninety percent after the incident with the Redshift vessel. Have a look around, but please don’t touch anything, and let my people work.”

  “Thank you sir,” said Mac.

  The engineer turned back to the railing and resumed his rant at some hapless tech. Mac led Rae toward the array of propulsion control consoles, but they got just a half-dozen paces before a low frequency whump she felt in her bones echoed through the chamber, and the high whine of the interstellar compression drive ceased. The Chief swore a stream of obscenities and ran forward into the control station yelling for an update.