AI Awakening
Page 12
“That’s not possible, unless he’s been lying to us,” JJ said. “He was as curious about the Razor ships as the rest of us were.”
I eyed her for a moment. “Now I’m gonna lay awake tonight thinking about that.”
“Think he’d tell you?”
“The Designer? I don’t know. Probably not. I can ask him. He’s not difficult to talk to. At least not so far, anyway.”
The waiter came in. It was the same young man who’d served us before.
“Captain Clarke, how are you? Good to see you again. Would you like drinks?”
I glanced over at JJ, who nodded yes. “I think it’s a martini night again.”
“Yeah, what the hell. Make it two.”
“Very good, sir,” the waiter said, walking away.
“Wonder if Vermillion put you off because he knew you’d ask him about the Razor technical team?”
I shrugged. “Good question. Not sure if I’ll ask him.”
“Why not?”
“He’s got enough to worry about at the moment. You’ve noticed that he always tells us things if we need to know. I made a good case for giving AIs to the other bridge crews, and he didn’t hesitate. He was also very willing to change his mind on the Nanos.”
“That might mean that we’re in worse shape than he thought we’d be by now.”
{ 11 }
Mark V
J J and I were almost through with dinner, both of us on our second martinis.
“I think I drank too much,” JJ said.
“Me too, but I don’t care. What do you want to do after this?”
“Go back to your stateroom.”
“That might not be the best idea.”
She giggled. “Probably not. I want to go anyway.”
“Check please!” I said. We looked at each other and cracked up.
“You’re so bad.”
“Moi?”
We paid the check and left.
“That was good,” JJ said, taking my hand as we walked. “Maybe we ought to walk back to your stateroom instead of taking the transport.”
“I was just about to suggest that. It’ll kill our buzz a little.”
“Afraid of what we might do?” she asked, her hand grasping mine tighter.
“Well, yeah, a little bit.”
She shook her head. “Remember what I said? We’re both gonna be stone cold sober when we take that step. I meant it.”
“Good, I’m all for that, but then why go back to my place?”
“Maybe I just want to cuddle. Watch a video. Drift off to sleep in your arms.”
My heart skipped a couple beats. Am I in love with this woman?
“Talking to Butch again?”
I smiled. “No, I was talking to myself. I put Butch to sleep.”
“What were you talking to yourself about?”
“It’s private,” I said.
“C’mon.”
“If we end up together, you’ll give me a run for my money, won’t you?”
“If we end up together? Meaning what? If we marry and start popping out kids?”
I eyed her for a moment, feeling my face flush.
She grinned at me. “Caught you.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t play dumb. That won’t work with me.”
I laughed. “Maybe we ought to finish this conversation when we aren’t in public. We’ll be back to my stateroom in a couple minutes.”
Her hand tightened around mine, startling me. I’d forgotten she was holding it.
“This is fun,” she said, letting go of my hand and putting her arm around my waist as we continued to walk. “You’re walking faster. Am I embarrassing you?”
“Maybe I’m just anxious to be alone with you again.”
We were silent for the last few minutes of the walk, my heart beating faster. The stateroom door slid aside as we got to it, forcing us into single file, me following her.
“Lock it,” she said, looking at me over her shoulder. The click told her it was done. I pulled her against me, kissing the nape of her neck, causing her to moan. She pulled away after a moment, turning towards me. “That’ll be enough of that for now. Where were we?”
“You were brow-beating me about my private thoughts,” I said.
“There’s no private between us anymore,” she said.
“Oh, really?”
“It’s the way you want it.”
“When did I say that?” I asked.
“Your eyes did it, when I mentioned marriage and babies.”
“Huh?”
“Still playing dumb,” she said, walking towards the bed. “Get that suit of armor off.”
“I thought we were gonna be stone cold sober.”
“You don’t get me yet, but we can play. I need that. So do you.”
I shook my head, unbuttoning my shirt and pulling it off, then dropping my pants. “How about the socks?” I looked up at her, shocked to see her standing there in underwear, her dress laying on the floor. I sucked in a big breath.
She giggled. “I think the socks need to come off too.”
I eyed her for a moment, her curves visible for the first time, ample cleavage showing in her lace bra.
“Take a picture, why don’t you?”
“Sorry,” I said, too flustered to say anything else.
“You like?”
I nodded yes.
“Good, keep going.” She turned down the covers on my bed, removing her underwear with her back to me as I unzipped the suit, peeling it off. My skin was damp under it.
“Fair warning, my torso might smell like my feet after wearing this thing.”
“I don’t care,” she said, getting under the sheets before I got a glimpse of her front. She watched me as I set the suit aside and walked to the bed. “Yes, you like me all right.”
“Sorry,” I said, lifting the sheet, catching a glimpse of her as I slid in.
“Sorry? I’d be upset if you weren’t showing it. Now come here.”
We embraced, our bare skin touching for the first time, her mouth seeking mine for a kiss, which was tender, not frenzied. She broke it.
“You can touch me wherever you want, but only with your hands. Is that okay?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Oh, and this is private enough for us to go back to our conversation.”
“What conversation?” I asked, grinning at her.
“Stop that. I need to know where we stand.”
“I’m here.”
She laughed. “Yeah, getting next to a naked woman is such a hardship.”
I moved over her, my hands reaching for her breasts as I kissed her deeply. She moaned into my mouth, her hands on me too, passion driving me quickly.
“Well?” she asked when we broke the kiss.
I kissed her neck again as my hands roamed lower. Turn the tables. She was becoming frantic with the neck kissing and my exploring hands. I stopped, looking into her eyes. “You want that, don’t you?”
“I want what?” she asked, her breath coming faster.
“Tell me what you want.”
“I’m asking the questions here.”
I attacked her neck again, my hands driving her crazy.
“Damn you,” she whispered.
“Say it.”
“Okay, I want you. All right?”
“Want me how?”
“You know.”
“Say it.”
“Oh God, I want you for myself. I want babies with you.”
I stopped, staring into her eyes. “You read me right.”
“You want me too,” she said, smiling. I started my hands moving again, her eyes rolling back in her head, her body shaking.
“Yes, I do, more than anything.”
She settled down after a moment, her face flushed, her breath coming hot and fast. “What were you saying to yourself?”
I laughed. “Still on that, huh?”
“Yes,” she said softly.
“I asked myself if I was in love with you.”
“Oh,” she said.
“Oh? That’s all?”
“Did you answer yourself?”
“Not then,” I said.
“Oh.”
I chuckled. “You sound disappointed.”
“It’s fine.”
“I answered myself later.”
“You did?” She stared me in the eyes.
“I did. I am in love with you. Is that okay?”
She moved against me, kissing me with more passion than before, rolling me onto my back, both of us lost in the moment. Then my PA buzzed.
“Uh oh,” I said, snapping myself out of it. “I’ll wait.”
“We’re at war. Answer it.” She backed away from me as I tapped it.
“Captain Clarke, sorry to bother you,” Nolan said. “We might have a problem.”
“What?”
“Sixty Central Authority Centurion Class ships tried to attack the Razor ships orbiting Devonia Axxiom about half an hour ago. Dojo provided me with complete data.”
“The Razors destroyed them, didn’t they?”
“Some of them, before the others jumped away. That was expected, but we were comparing data on the Razor shields and plasma weapons from the battles we’ve been in so far. They’re significantly more robust than they were when we fought them last. In fact, looking at the data, they’ve gotten a little better each time they’ve seen action. The increases haven’t been huge, but they’ve been steady. Their systems appear to be tuning themselves.”
“Is this an emergency right this second?” JJ asked.
“JJ. Sorry, didn’t know you two were together.”
“It’s no problem,” I said, “but I’m wondering the same thing.”
“All but two of the Razor ships jumped away. Dojo thinks they’re coming to the end of the wormhole we left behind. They’re trying to re-acquire us.”
“Oh no,” JJ said. “We’d better get to the bridge.”
“We’ll be there in about fifteen minutes. Notify the others if you haven’t already.”
“Yes sir,” Nolan said.
I ended the call and leapt out of bed, JJ following. I paused a moment, pulling her into my arms once more, kissing her deeply. “You okay?”
“Are you?” she asked. “We might not survive long enough to have a life together.”
“Yes we will. Let’s get dressed and get out of here.”
“Talking to Butch?” JJ asked as we waited for our tin can at the transport station.
“Yes, he’s on it.”
We were up at the bridge within ten minutes. Sondra and Skip were there with Nolan.
“Your AI is on the case too,” Nolan said.
“Yep, just woke him up. Anything else going on?”
“I might have over-estimated the status of the Razors,” Nolan said. “A group of twenty Centurion Class ships just destroyed one of them.”
“How could they do that?” JJ asked.
“Combination of fighters and plasma weapons,” Nolan said. “It was a close fight. Four of the Centurion Class ships are toast.”
“Butch told me we might have overestimated the level of improvement.”
“True,” Nolan said, “but better safe than sorry. What should we do?”
“We can set up more mines,” Skip said. “We’d have to use the Tristar. We’re too far away to engage them with the New Jersey. It’ll cost us a lot of fuel to go back.”
“We aren’t going back,” I said. I turned on my PA loudspeaker. “Butch, if they are coming here, how much time do we have?”
JJ burst out laughing. “That’s approximate?”
“Should we stop, Captain?” Sondra asked.
“No, let’s keep going, but give me status on the fighters and pilots.”
“Readiness?” Sondra asked.
“Yes, and how long it would take us to get them there on impulse power.”
“Really?” Nolan asked.
“He’s right,” Vermillion said, strolling onto the bridge.
“You know what’s going on?” I asked.
“Yes, Captain, I’ve been monitoring the situation. I’ve also had conversation with leadership of the ground forces on Devonia Axxiom. Simone is getting ready to abandon the planet. She’s lost on the ground. All she can do now is hammer the surface with railguns, and that won’t buy her as much as she’d lose doing it.”
“Tell us about the Mark V fighters,” Nolan said.
“We’ve been working stealth technology for several years, and our latest stealth capability is part of the Mark V design. The New Jersey’s drive is somewhat stealthy compared to the earlier-generation drives, and we learned a lot in the testing. One of the main reasons we put the Mark V ships on board even with their known problems was their stealth capability.
“You knew what was going to happen early on,” Skip said.
“We’ve been watching the Overlords closely since they started to gain power. Our intel hasn’t been perfect, though.”
“Where were you wrong?” I asked.
“We didn’t expect the Overlords to attack the Samson Corporation plants with railguns as soon as they did.”
“Are we in more trouble than you’ve let on?” JJ asked. I shot her a glance, and she shrugged back at me.
“Yes and no,” Vermillion said. “We knew there was some kind of new ship under development. Didn’t think they were operational yet. That’s the worst of it, but that issue has been offset.”
“Offset by what?” Skip asked.
“The AIs and our new ability to track Razor ships while they’re in a jump,” I said. “Correct?”
“Yes, that’s correct, but there’s more,” Vermillion said. “We’ve always had a better than even chance of beating the Overlords, but they were very influential over the Central Authority. Simone just blew that.”
Nolan chuckled. “Yep, she did. Dojo just told me that the legislators have been released, and the entire Overlords Caucus has been arrested.”
“Turned the tables on those bastards,” Skip said. “Good.”
“Don’t get over-confident,” I said. “This isn’t over yet. Butch, are the Razor ships still on the way?”
“So, back to the Central Authority,” JJ said. “What’s the chances that they’ll be on our side?”
“I’ve initiated a request for back-channel communications with the Central Authority,” Vermillion said. “Things haven’t settled down yet, though. The Overlords have infiltrated the ruling body of the Central Authority up and down the chain of command. You know how it is with unelected officials. They can wield more power than elected officials, and they’re harder to neutralize.”
“Truer words were never spoken,” Nolan said.
“Permission to use fighters, Mr. Chairman,” I asked.
“You don’t have to ask me permission, Captain Clarke. That’s clearly within your purvie
w. Only one thing. I don’t want you in a fighter, even with your background. Same for the other principles. Got it?”
“Yes sir,” I said. “Wasn’t really considering that, except as a last resort.”
“We’ve got more than enough pilots on board who are checked out in the Mark V,” Sondra said. “Many of our best, as a matter of fact.”
“Butch, search for the complete specs of the Mark V and it’s weapons systems. Prepare for a presentation of the capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses, using an understanding of our objectives.”
I glanced at JJ, who nodded yes.
Nolan burst out laughing.
“All right, mess with each other all you want, as long as the work gets done. I need the report in half an hour.”
“Speaker off,” I said into my PA.
Vermillion shot me a grin. “Kinda like being a parent, huh?”
“Don’t even get me started,” I quipped, JJ nodding in agreement.
“Maybe we should have the fighter pilots build AIs for themselves,” Nolan said. “There’s time, barely, if the fighters can jump.”
I thought about it for a moment, then glanced at Vermillion, who nodded yes. “Okay, we’ll kick that off right away, but I don’t want the pilots using their AIs in the initial attack if they aren’t ready. I don’t want them futzing around in front of the enemy. Good way to get nailed.”
Nolan nodded. “Prudent, Captain. I’ll send out the word. I’ve already got the list of fighter pilots from Dojo.”
“Make sure to label this top-secret,” Vermillion said. “We’ll eventually have everybody in the cell, but I don’t want the entire population of this ship to know until we’re ready for them to know.”
“Yes sir,” Nolan said.
I turned my PA speaker back on. “Butch, please help us with the AI generation for the fighter pilots. Use whatever resources are available via the Central AI. We’ve got a time crunch.”