“Ariel,” said Katie in a serious tone. “Be very careful with your snooping. Kazak was designed by the Originators, and we have no way to know what the true capability of an Originator AI might be.”
Kevin speared a couple of french fries and after eating them, looked over at Jeremy and Ariel. “Any idea who Kazak wants as commander of the Dominator?”
“No,” Jeremy said. “I asked him if he wanted any recommendations but he said he had already narrowed the choices down to half a dozen candidates. “He’s supposed to check with Ariel if he wants further information on any of them.”
A strange look passed over Ariel’s face at hearing those words. “There might be a problem,” she said slowly, looking worriedly at Jeremy.
“Why’s that?”
“Kazak has only asked for information on one name.”
“Whose?” Jeremy was certain that Kazak would choose one of the fleet’s admirals. He was curious to know who the ship’s commander was going to be.
Ariel’s dark eyes narrowed sharply. “Kelsey.”
“What?” stammered Kelsey, her eyes bulging. “Why would he want information about me?”
“Ariel?” asked Jeremy, feeling blindsided. “I don’t understand. Why Kelsey?” He never expected anything like this. He felt numb from hearing Ariel’s pronouncement.
Ariel was silent for a long moment as she studied additional information available to her in the Avenger’s computer system. She was also running several algorithms to determine why Kazak would even consider Kelsey.
“It’s very logical in a way,” Ariel finally replied. “Clarissa implicitly trusted all five of you, and we know Kazak had become fond of her. Also, with Kelsey being Jeremy’s wife, it would add a layer of protection to the Dominator and ensure the ship wasn’t sacrificed in a perilous situation. I would say Kazak is ensuring his survival as well as his ship’s.”
Jeremy leaned back with a deep and worried frown. He had suddenly lost his appetite.
“What are we going to do if Kazak picks Kelsey?” asked Kevin, looking over at Jeremy.
“I don’t want command of the Dominator,” Kelsey said, shaking her head defiantly. “I’d rather stay on the Avenger.”
“I told Kazak he could choose the ship’s commander,” Jeremy finally said. “However, I can appoint other crewmembers. I’ll make sure you have people you can trust with you.” He knew if Kazak choose Kelsey, there was no way he could say no without running the risk of alienating the Originator AI.
“I’ll go,” Katie said suddenly. “I know enough about computers that I can keep an eye on Kazak.”
“Crap,” muttered Kevin, seeing both his and Jeremy’s wives running off into space once more. “Here we go again.”
“Don’t worry, Kevin,” Jeremy responded. “Anywhere the Dominator goes there will be a powerful escort. It might also be a good idea to assign Mikow and Andram to the ship as well. That would help ensure the AI isn’t trying to pull a fast one on us.”
The group was silent as they mulled over Jeremy’s words.
Angela looked over at Ariel. “I don’t think Kazak is trying to pull anything over on us unless it’s in the unknown section of the ship. We need to know what’s in that secret compartment.”
“Angela’s right,” Kelsey said, nodding her head. “Whatever’s in there may be driving Kazak’s motives.”
Ariel looked around at the five and nodded. “I’ll find out.” With those final words, the AI vanished.
“Well, so much for an uneventful meal,” Kevin said as he picked up his hamburger and took a bite.
Angela looked around at her friends. “I’m going to hate being stuck on the Clan Protector with the four of you flying all over this galaxy from one adventure to another.”
“More than likely from one battle to the next,” commented Kevin with a grimace.
“You have a baby to think about now,” Kelsey said, her eyes brightening with a sudden thought. “We need to throw you a baby shower!”
“Oh, no,” said Kevin, rolling his eyes. “Why do I suspect this is going to be expensive?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Katie said grinning. “This is going to be fun!”
Jeremy listened to his wife and friends discuss the shower. Even as they talked, his mind was on Kazak as he tried to figure out the Originator AI’s motives. If his wife was going to be on board the Dominator, he wanted to ensure she was safe. The idea of Kelsey being the commander of the Dominator made Jeremy feel extremely uneasy. While he didn’t want to worry the others, he was certain the Originator AI was up to something.
-
Several days passed and the Avenger was in orbit around Borton. Borton was the fourth planet of the Gaia System. The icy planet was twenty-six thousand kilometers in diameter with a rotation period of forty-six hours. The AIs had a large number of mining operations on the planet as well as four massive shipyards in orbit. The master Codex, used to program all AIs, was also on the planet. Jeremy had gone over to the one-thousand-meter in diameter AI Command Station, which controlled all the operations around Borton and upon the planet to visit with the Command AI.
“Welcome, Fleet Admiral Strong,” the Command AI spoke in a voice that sounded nearly Human. “I am pleased to see you have taken time from your busy schedule to come to Borton.”
“I am pleased to be here,” Jeremy replied. They were in the Command Center of the station. Looking around, Jeremy saw most of the control consoles were being operated by AIs though three Altons and two Human officers were also present.
It took a person time to get used to the presence of the AIs. Their bodies were cubicle for the most part, though Jeremy had seen some shaped much differently. They moved about on antigravity repellers and normally hovered about six inches off the floor. They had four tentacles to manipulate objects, but Jeremy had seen some AIs with just two tentacles and as many as six. Above their cubicle body hovered a ball of glowing energy about the size of a basketball.
“We have increased ship construction to three warspheres every five days,” the Command AI said with the ball of energy glowing slightly brighter as it said those words.
Jeremy suspected the variation in light intensity from the energy ball was due to emotions felt by the AIs. “What’s our current status on warspheres?”
“Sixty spheres left with Admiral Jackson,” the Command AI responded. It turned and pressed several icons on a computer screen. Instantly, on one of the large viewscreens a warsphere appeared.
“We have one hundred and eighteen available for combat missions. At our current production rate, we are building eighteen new warspheres each month.”
“What about your facilities on Borton?” Jeremy knew the AIs had established some massive mining and processing operations on the large icy planet.
The AI reached forward with another tentacle and on one of the other viewscreens a massive mining operation appeared. This particular mine was one Jeremy was familiar with. It was on the side of a mountain and producing enough copper to meet the needs of the entire fleet as well as civilian use on Gaia.
“What about the production of new AIs?”
The AI turned its cube to face Jeremy. “The Alton scientist Kurene is currently on board. We are producing forty new AIs daily. You will be pleased to know each new AI is interviewed and examined by an Alton computer specialist before it is released for duty.”
Jeremy nodded. “I would like to meet with Kurene, you, and ZED as soon as possible.”
“It will be arranged,” the Command AI responded.
-
A few hours later, Jeremy was on one of the new shipyards inspecting the construction process for the new AI warspheres. Nearly the entire process was automated with a few AIs constantly monitoring the operation. It still amazed Jeremy to see warships being constructed so quickly. Daelthon had even adopted a few of the AI construction methods for the new Gaia class battlecruisers he was building. Jeremy allowed himself to smile over this. Daelthon pref
erred the programmable spider robots used so prominently in the Federation for most construction projects. Daelthon and his engineering team had become very adept at using the robots for nearly every type of construction job imaginable.
As he watched a huge sheet of hull armor was lowered down and placed into its designated spot on the warsphere being constructed in the bay. Instantly, brilliant white welding arcs appeared as the armor was secured permanently in place.
“Impressive, isn’t it?” commented Arnil Sheel, one of the Alton construction engineers assigned to the shipyard. Arnil was a female Alton slightly taller than Jeremy with longer than normal white hair, which nearly touched her shoulders.
“A new warship every forty hours,” Jeremy said softly. They were standing in an observation bay, as the construction area was open to space.
Arnil nodded. “The AIs are very efficient with their operations.”
Jeremy was aware that even with the changes Daelthon had made to his construction bays, it still took over six weeks to build a Gaia class battlecruiser. Fortunately, Daelthon had three construction bays assigned to building the new ships. Eventually, the warspheres and the new battlecruisers would be the backbone of Gaia’s space fleet.
“You seem to know a lot about ship construction,” commented Jeremy, looking over at the Alton. It was hard to determine an Alton’s age since they had enhanced life spans. He guessed Arnil was well over fifty though she looked much younger.
“I worked in ship construction back home,” admitted Arnil. “I was even involved in the construction of the Distant Horizon.”
Jeremy looked thoughtful and then spoke again. “I’m having a meeting with the Command AI and a few others shortly. I would like you to attend. You may be able to answer some questions I have about the Originator ship, Dominator.”
Arnil looked surprised but nodded her head. “I’ll be there if you wish.”
Looking back out the large observation window, Jeremy saw several energy projectors being emplaced on the warsphere. It was hard to believe that in another day or two the massive one-thousand-meter sphere would be ready for combat. Drawing in a sharp breath, he turned and headed back toward the shipyard’s flight bay where his shuttle was waiting. He had a few preparations to make before the meeting. He would also send a message to the Command AI to have Arnil present.
-
Jeremy returned to the Avenger and spent some time speaking with Ariel. What he was about to do was a little risky but he felt it needed to be done. Katie and Mikow were both on board the ship and would be going with him to the meeting. Once he was satisfied he was ready, they boarded one of the Avenger’s small shuttles and flew over to the AI Command Station.
-
As they entered the conference room where the meeting was going to be held, Katie looked over at Jeremy. “Are you certain you want to do this? There’s a chance Kazak might find out.”
“He won’t,” Jeremy said as he opened the hatch and stepped inside.
Inside the room, the Command AI, Kurene, ZED, and Arnil were waiting. Jeremy saw there was a chair at the front of the table and he walked over to it and sat down, gesturing for the others to do the same. The Command AI was at the other end of the table waiting on Jeremy to speak. Nodding at Mikow, Jeremy watched as she placed a small device on the table and activated it. Almost instantly Ariel appeared and she quickly walked over to her customary spot to Jeremy’s left and slightly behind him.
“Let’s get this meeting started,” Jeremy began. “We’re here to discuss the Originator ship Dominator as well as its AI, Kazak.”
“I sense a problem,” commented Kurene. She had known Jeremy long enough to know when something was wrong. “What has he done?”
“Nothing yet,” Jeremy answered. “He’s allowing us to put a crew on board the ship and agreed to put it under my command.”
“That seems reasonable,” Kurene commented. “I would think you would be overjoyed at that. I don’t see a problem.”
Jeremy drew in a sharp breath. “One of the conditions for placing the Dominator under my command was if Kazak could choose his own commanding officer as well as the science officer. From what we’ve been able to determine, he’s going to choose my wife, Kelsey Strong, as the commander of the ship.”
“An interesting choice,” commented the Command AI. “It is obvious the Originator AI is ensuring its self-preservation as well as that of the ship.”
“There’s something else,” Jeremy said. “Ever since the arrival of Kazak and the Dominator, I’ve felt as if the AI has been keeping something back from us. Ariel, will you please show everyone what you’ve discovered?”
Ariel stepped forward and activated a viewscreen on the wall. “These are the schematics of the Dominator.” Ariel carefully went through each level pointing out many of the systems and subsystems of the powerful ship. When she was finished, she paused and looked expectantly at Jeremy.
“Did anyone notice anything?”
Arnil seemed to hesitate and then she nodded her head. “There’s a compartment in the center of the ship that’s not showing up on the schematics.”
“We’ve run some studies and the area comprises approximately twelve hundred cubic meters,” confirmed Jeremy. “The schematics we have are designed to mask the presence of that compartment.”
“Is there any possibility it was just accidently left out?” asked Kurene. “Maybe it was added at a later date and these schematics haven’t been updated.”
“No,” answered Ariel, shaking her head. “The schematics have been carefully manipulated to make it seem as if the compartment isn’t there.”
Arnil pursed her lips and then spoke again. “That compartment, if it exists, would be in the most heavily protected part of the ship. It wouldn’t be there if it didn’t contain something extremely valuable. From the design of the vessel, even if the ship was to be destroyed that compartment might very well survive.”
Jeremy looked over at Mikow and Kurene. The two Altons were the most brilliant computer and AI specialists he knew, even better than Katie. “If Kazak is hiding this from us, what does it tell us about him?”
“It’s hard to say without knowing the purpose of that compartment,” Kurene said after a moment. “Whatever is in there is highly important to the AI. His very programming may be forcing him to protect that compartment and keep it secret.”
“Is Kazak a threat?”
“No,” Mikow said, her eyes narrowing. “At least not as long as we don’t interfere with that compartment. If we do, then all bets are off.”
“Does anyone else have any ideas?” One of the reasons Jeremy was holding this meeting was because if anyone could figure out what was going on with Kazak, it would be this group. Out here at Borton, there was no way the Originator AI would suspect what was going on.
The energy ball above ZED’s head suddenly swelled up and a crackling noise was discernible. “I may know what’s in the compartment,” ZED announced in his mechanical voice.
“What?” Jeremy said, his eyes focusing intently on ZED. ZED was a science AI and normally accompanied Kurene wherever she went. “What’s in there?”
“I don’t believe all of the Originators are dead. I believe that compartment may be a deep sleep or stasis chamber, and that’s where the missing crew from the Dominator is, at or at least part of the crew.”
Jeremy felt a sudden cold chill run over him. He could feel his pulse racing. As he thought over what ZED had just said, everything pointed to the AI being correct. There were Originators still on the Dominator and Kazak was keeping them hidden! The question was how had they survived the pathogen that had wiped out their race?
“Jeremy, what are we going to do?” asked Katie, her green eyes showing fear. “Kelsey is going to be on board that ship and so am I!”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “I think for the time being we don’t say anything to anyone outside of this room. We don’t know for sure there are Originators in that compartm
ent.”
“It explains a lot if there are,” Kurene said, her eyes looking over at ZED. “It also means we have to be very careful not to let Kazak know we suspect.”
“Kurene is correct,” added ZED. “Kazak may be programmed to protect that compartment at all costs.”
Jeremy felt as if the world had just closed in on him. How was he going to deal with living Originators? The weight on his shoulders had just gotten much heavier. The other thing bothering him was why hadn’t Kazak already revived the crew? There was something still missing, some aspect of the situation he was overlooking. With a deep sigh, Jeremy knew he had to find out. The continued existence of Gaia and possibly this entire galaxy depended on it.
Chapter Eight
Admiral Jackson waited expectantly as the Dauntless dropped out of hyperspace into the Ornellian home system. He didn’t know what to expect but he was prepared for anything.
“All systems are powering up,” reported Commander Sharon Blanton.
Jackson saw the viewscreen clear of static and begin showing views of space around the battleship. Most of the screens showed stars but on a few screens, other ships of the fleet were visible. Jackson was anxious to find out what had transpired on Ornellia since the Distant Horizon had been here. He was hopeful many of the deep underground bunkers had survived.
Suddenly alarms began sounding on the sensor console as hostile red threat contacts began to appear in the tactical display.
Activating his ship-to-ship comm Jackson spoke. “All hands set Condition One throughout the fleet. Stand by to fire weapons. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill. Hostile forces have been detected.”
Immediately alarm klaxons began to sound and red lights began to flash.
“Energy screen is online and weapons are powering up,” reported Captain Dwight Lance from Tactical.
Admiral Jackson watched with calm nerves as the Command Center around him buzzed with increased activity. “Lieutenant Ortega, give me a status on those contacts. Also, turn off those alarms and flashing lights.”
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