by Robert Boren
“You okay?” she asked.
“I enjoyed it, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Good,” she said, starting another kiss, but then acting startled, jerking. She turned her PA towards her face, looking at it. “It’s prompting me.”
“The AI program?”
“Yes. Should I do this now?”
I thought about it for a moment. “Maybe you should wait until the martini has worn off.”
“I told you I was feeling better.”
“Well, yeah, but you’re just an inch away from peeling that nice little uniform off.”
“I am not,” she said. “Can I put this on hold until later?”
I laughed. “Didn’t see anything about putting it off when I finished mine.”
“Ask Butch.”
“Do we really need to bring him into this?” I quipped.
“Come on, he’ll know if I can pause this till later.”
“Oh, all right.” I used brain dictation to tell Butch to wake up.
I chuckled, looking at JJ, who was staring at me.
“You just had a conversation, didn’t you? It’s so strange to watch.”
“Sorry.”
“Did he say how to pause the program?”
I nodded. “Use brain dictation to say pause. Use it again to say continue when you’re ready to answer the prompts.”
She focused for a moment, looking into space, then turned back to me. “Done. What else did Butch have to say? Is he still awake?”
“He was getting too personal, so I put him back to sleep.”
“Personal?”
“Yes, personal.” I got off the bed and went to my food storage unit, filling a glass of water. I took a sip, then held it out to JJ, who took a large gulp.
“Trey, I really am feeling better,” she said. “Are you going to tell me what you mean by personal?”
“No, I think I’ll just leave it at that.”
“You aren’t getting off that easy. Spill it.”
I laughed. “Okay, you asked for it. He asked me if you were drunk enough to copulate with me.”
JJ burst out laughing. “Oh, these things are gonna be fun.”
“That’s one way to look at it.”
“Did you answer him?” JJ asked.
“No, I told him to go to sleep.”
JJ looked me in the eye. “I was, by the way, but that’s not how it’s gonna happen.”
“Meaning what?” I could feel my heart beating faster.
She moved towards me, her arms going around my neck as she came in for a kiss. It wasn’t the hard passion of the first. It was light and tender. “Your heart is pounding in your chest. I can feel it.”
“That’s a natural reaction,” I said, not letting go of her, my hands tightening around her waist. “Two can play this game, you know.”
“I think it’s time for me to go back to my stateroom,” JJ said. “And you can tell Butch that if and when it happens, I’ll be stone cold sober, and so will you. We’re taking that step with our eyes open and our heads clear.”
I released her, my hand going to her chin, raising it so she was looking into my face. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Good, then I’ll be going,” she said, turning to head for the door. “See you soon. Get some sleep.”
I looked at the door for a moment after she was gone, then sprawled on my bed, not bothering with the covers, asleep right after my head hit the pillow.
Several hours later my PA buzzed. I jerked out of sleep, looking at it. There was a page from Nolan. I answered it.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“Yes, Captain, but we need to chat about something. Do you have time? Maybe we could chat in the Zephyrus. I’ve got something to take care of there anyway.”
“Yeah, sure, just give me a few minutes,” I said. “Meet you in my stateroom there.”
“Alone, okay?”
“No problem.” I got off the bed, splashed some warm water into my face, had a big drink of water, and left for the tin can, taking it down to the main bay. Nolan was by the ramp of the Zephyrus when I got there. His brow was furrowed.
“Something wrong?” I asked as the ramp lowered for us.
“Not wrong, exactly. Let’s wait until we get inside.”
We walked up the ramp and hurried to my stateroom, going to the table.
“This stateroom feels so small now,” I said.
“I prefer this, to be honest,” Nolan said.
“What’s on your mind? Is your AI finished yet?”
“I paused it. There’s some things you need to know.”
“Why do I get the feeling I’m not gonna like this?”
He eyed me for a moment, then went on. “We need to be very careful how we set up these AI assistants.”
“Why?”
“It’s buried in the documentation. Something called resource pooling and coordination.”
“Go on,” I said.
“Even though this system is connected to the New Jersey, the programming doesn’t reside with the ship’s code. It’s an enhancement of the local PA system. The functionality allows individual humans to interact with the ship in an enhanced manner. It gives us powers over the systems of this ship that we wouldn’t normally have.”
“Your expression isn’t one I’d expect, given this new toy. You look scared to death.”
“Once these AIs are attached to our brains, we can be controlled by a Central AI unit.”
“Controlled? What does that mean?”
“I’m not sure what the boundaries are. Might just be a way to get communication out to troops in a hurry, but it looks a little more onerous than that.”
“So we’ve opened pandora’s box?”
Nolan shrugged. “Perhaps. This is a military system, first and foremost. Nearly a third of its code has to do with command and control of those who have their personal AIs pooled with the Central AI. If it were just a fancy radio, there wouldn’t be so much code involved.”
My heart was in my throat. “I was right. I’m not liking this. Should we uninstall it?”
“No, but we need to understand fully what its command and control capabilities and limitation settings are. I also suggest that you designate yourself as a Central AI unit, just in case.”
“Shouldn’t that be the Chairman?”
Nolan shook his head. “Absolutely not. He said he’s not creating an AI, and that was the right choice in his case. The Central AI is for military leadership. In this case, that would be you, Captain Clarke.”
“I think I can see why Vermillion is controlling this so tightly.”
“Yes, I’m afraid if we use all of the command and control functionality, it could turn our crew into a bee hive with whoever controls the Central AI as the queen,” Nolan said.
“Then why would you suggest that I designate myself the Central AI? Maybe we just don’t turn that function on.”
“It’s not that simple,” Nolan said. “If you don’t claim that designation, somebody else might, and there can only be one per cell. We need to find out if you’re eligible, and if you are, we need to do this before somebody with bad motives finds out.”
“It’s top secret. Nobody else knows.”
“Are you a hacker?” Nolan asked.
I sighed. “No. Not a good one, anyway.”
“And yet you found out about this system and were able to kick off creation of your AI assistant. Others
might figure that out. We have a lot of people on board. Many of them are very sophisticated.”
“What if somebody else already claimed the Central AI?”
“Then we delete all AI assistants until we can solve that problem,” Nolan said.
“We need to find out if anybody else has built themselves an AI.”
“Yes, Captain, I’d do that first. Could you check this stuff out and let me know? I’m going to pause the rest of my AI creation until we know what’s what.”
“Stick around and we’ll have a conversation with Butch about it right now.”
Nolan got up, shaking his head no. “Vermillion gave a direct order not to use this system with the PA audio on. I’m not breaking any rules, because there’s a good chance this system is watching us and recording our every action.”
“Crap. JJ,” I said, tapping my PA to buzz her. Her sleepy face showed up on my screen.
“You up already?” she asked.
“Yes. Do not activate your AI yet. Understand?”
“Okay,” she said, pushing off the sleepiness. “Something wrong?”
“Maybe. Just hold off. I’ll let you know when you can go ahead, okay?”
“Sure, no problem,” she said. “I was a little queasy about using this functionality anyway.”
“Thanks. Talk to you later.” Her face left my PA screen.
“I’m going back to work,” Nolan said. “If you run into problems, let me know.”
He left my stateroom. I left after a moment as well, heading back to the New Jersey.
{ 4 }
Infantry Assault Mode
I was in the tin can, riding back to my stateroom, trying to think through the ramifications of what Nolan had just told me. Is Butch listening to me now, even though he’s sleeping? We were still on the way to the Leo Supercluster. Another sixteen hours in the jump, then two days to get to the natural worm hole. That will get us to the back door of the Virgo Supercluster. After that it’s three weeks on impulse power to get us to Boroclize.
There was lots of hustle and bustle outside the tin can when I got off. A long line was formed along one side of the corridor. I walked up to a young woman who was at the end of the line.
“What’s going on here?” I asked.
She looked up, taking a second to recognize me.
“Captain Clarke. Hi. I’m Morgan.”
“Good to meet you,” I said, shaking her hand. “Why the line?”
“Taco Tuesday,” she said, her eyes twinkling under short red hair. “They’re not the best tacos, but they are a reminder of home to us Earthlings.”
I chuckled. “Oh, really? They do this every Tuesday?”
“First Tuesday of every month. Didn’t you see it on the calendar?”
“I’ve been on the other ship for the last few months.”
“That’s right, the Zephyrus. Sorry.”
I smiled, looking at her pretty twenty-something face. “Well, enjoy.”
“Thank you, Captain. I could get some for you and bring them to your stateroom if you’d like.”
“No thanks,” I said, turning to walk away, getting to my stateroom in minutes. I gave the wake-up command to Butch as I went through the door.
testing.
I laughed. “So I stumbled onto something that isn’t ready for prime time.”
I laughed. “You’ve got a way with words, Butch.”
