by Randal Sloan
“This lunch is our celebration and nothing is too much. Whatever we don’t eat, you can take home with you if you want to.” Looking at Allie, she told the two parents, “If you two don’t mind, I would like to speak with Allie in the ladies’ room for a couple of minutes.” Seeing the reaction that almost by reflex hit them, she told them, “I promise I won’t let anyone kidnap her while we’re in there.” They all laughed, but Julie could tell that for them it was still going to take time. Not that they would ever be entirely the same.
The restaurant had one of those old-fashioned women’s restrooms that included a lounge area. Directing Allie to one of the couches, Julie smiled at her. “Sorry if I’m coming across as mysterious. I just wanted to talk about what happened on the VR call we made while they had you captive. I really felt like we made a connection to each other. A strong connection where you somehow gave me a lot of information. It was absolutely astonishing to me to experience it. I wanted to know if you felt it too?” When Allie nodded, she went on. “Do you know if psychic ability runs in your family?”
Allie shook her head, but then she looked thoughtful. “I started to say no, but now in thinking about it, I wonder. I think I need to talk to my Mom.”
Julie nodded. “Sometimes a traumatic event can trigger it. Talk to her. If you think you might want some training, I may be able to recommend a teacher. I have had a very few training sessions, and they helped me a lot.” Thinking of Mama Kash, she smiled. She reached over to give Allie another hug. “I suspect that you and I will always have a little of that connection remain with us, although it will probably fade in time.”
Once again her tears flowing, Allie breathed, “Thank you for helping to get me out of there. I know I wouldn’t have made it past this morning if you hadn’t.”
Julie told her. “I had a lot of help, including a message from a very brave and intelligent girl.” Smiling, she went on, “Enough of those tears. Let’s go celebrate!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Finishing Some Things
Zeke had been working with the Space Tech teams to complete the production lines for the first version of the AI systems. The group consensus was to concentrate sales on the personal, home, and office AI systems first, since they did not have to get government approvals for any of those. The other applications were pending with all of the government agencies. Plus in special applications, such as the aircraft controllers, they were working with the local unions to minimize the transition effects. In other case, such as an automobile based AI to allow true self-driving cars, they really expected the market to drive the process, with developmental and regulatory hurdles to overcome.
The problem with the self-driving cars was that they had gotten a bad name in the past, when the efforts to build them had gotten a lot of publicity, only to find that they never really delivered on the promise. Of course, all of the automakers were clamoring to be the first to build one around the AI module Space Tech was developing, so the automakers would help to overcome those obstacles. To bridge the gap, a non-driving AI would be made available in the next model year vehicles and they expected aftermarket versions to sell like hot cakes.
For the first personal AI product release, the design team had decided to focus on a wearable version. It was intended to be worn as an armband if purchased with a VR interface, or could be worn on a belt or carried in a purse, if purchased without a VR interface. The AI would interface with the world net, the owner’s VR systems, and many of the electronic systems that were part of the modern day world. Zeke had already given the prototype version of the personal AI extensive testing and he intended to grab the first unit off the production line for Julie. Serial number 1.
They had designed the home version to sit on a desk or a kitchen counter. It also could be hung on a wall. It would connect in and manage all the home computing, communication, home automation, home security, and home entertainment devices. Although existing home automation systems did a lot of this already, using the home based AI improved the interface to the user and replaced all the rule based activities with the increased flexibility and power of the AI.
For the office, they had decided to initially produce only a desktop version, although plans were to work on a full office receptionist AI for a later release. The office AI concentrated more on the computational and communication needs found in an office environment.
Zeke was working with them to overcome the initial hurdles, making suggestions and then approving the hardware designs, and finally helping them to finalize the AI modules to come prepackaged with the units. They were already talking about add on modules and were planning to open up an AI Module Store to sell them. Home accounting and budget, educational modules, even a sports expert module were already in the works.
By the end of the week, Zeke had most of his part of the work done. The rest of it was up to the production teams to deliver. He was deliberately not getting directly involved with the details. Space Tech had a lot of talent that could handle those details much better and he needed to avoid getting bogged down with those same details.
The other reason Zeke was staying more hands-off than he might otherwise have been was that he knew that Julie was getting close with her work in the design of the prototype attack craft. She had been directing the work from Earth, but most of the actual work was now being completed on Space Tech Station. When Julie told him she was going to take the shuttle up to fine tune the ship herself, Zeke went along with her. Not his first trip on the shuttle, nevertheless, he enjoyed the thrill of the flight up.
Julie had commandeered an entire hangar in the station and locked the security down tightly. No one on the station really knew what she was building. Even the techs that installed components had only a limited idea of what they were working on. None of them had the full picture and wouldn’t have believed it if she had told them. Zeke, however, thought he had a pretty good idea of what he was about to see.
Once on board the space station, Julie hurried Zeke down to the hangar where her nearly completed ship rested. Like a proud mother showing off her baby, she took Zeke into the control room overlooking the hangar. When the lights came on, Zeke was amazed by what he saw below.
The ship was beautiful to see. Unlike most modern spaceships that never saw atmosphere, this ship was streamlined and looked more like a powerful jet fighter than a spaceship. He knew immediately that meant Julie intended it to be capable of an earth-based takeoff and landing. The swept-back wings were slightly more subtle than a traditional plane, but they would provide excellent lift in atmosphere. The wings bristled with missile and sensor ports. Along the main fuselage he noticed immediately the two bulges in the bow and stern that had to be the new propulsion system. Underneath the bow on either side, he saw more ports that he suspected would be for rail guns.
As he continued to look over the ship, Zeke noticed the ship’s name, Aspirations. That made him happy. Julie had reached beyond her desire for revenge and was looking to the future. It was the perfect name for the ship. Even though, he suspected, the function of the little ship would be more of an Avenger. Such was the role that had been thrust upon them.
“She’s beautiful,” he told Julie. “So beautiful but deadly! Like a fighter but much more powerful and destructive. I already know it will be the faster ship ever built before now.”
Julie smiled, a huge smile that seemed to explode from her face. “I’m calling her my attack corvette, both because of her speed and size. You’re right. She will be faster than anything else out there, much faster. Even with the light armor which is nearly as strong as what we have on the anti-pirate ships. But you’re right about the deadly. I know you saw the missile ports in the wings and the rail gun ports in the bow. When I close my eyes, I see one more weapon, one we haven’t built yet, but it will go underneath the bow. A plasma cannon, something I have no idea how to build, but it will be there one day.” She grasped Zeke’s hand. “Come on, let me take you inside. She’s something to s
ee from inside too.”
She didn’t have to ask him twice. They hurried from the control room back into the station and down to the level of the hangar floor. Julie led the way through a double set of doors that also functioned as an airlock and through an air-tight tunnel that connected the ship to the station. Climbing a stairway until he reached the open hatch to the ship, Zeke stepped inside. There he stopped in amazement as he looked around.
The size of the ship from above had been misleading. He was expecting something that looked like a plane on the inside, but as soon as he set foot in her, he realized that this was a real ship, much bigger than most fighter planes. He had seen the plans and thought he knew what to expect, but he was still surprised by the scale.
From where Zeke stood, he was on a stairway that led to two floors of the ship. Below him and forward were the weapons rooms with the rail guns and their supply of metal slugs. Below and behind him were hatches that led out into the wings where he would find the missile magazines, the bays for the landing gear, and the lines that fed the reaction guidance system, the little jets used for positioning the ship in space. Upstairs he knew he would find the main control room forward of where he was standing, and to the stern of the ship would be all the supporting rooms for the crew members of the ship, the galley, the head, and bunk rooms.
Zeke started up the stairwell, stopping to look in awe when he reached the top. The main control room was huge to him, with room for a least a half dozen crewmen, although he knew that the ship could still be flown by a single pilot. All of the weapons were autoloading so the ship could even fight with that single pilot.
It was also the most modern control room he had ever seen. He turned to look at Julie in amazement. “All I can say is wow! This is an tremendous ship. I can’t wait to see her fly.” Looking around he said, “And much bigger than what I expected to see.”
Julie smiled proudly. The mom was ready to show off the child. She happily showed him the ship. Leading him to the front of the control room, she opened a large closet that led behind the main console, pointing out what Zeke immediately recognized was one of their new power units. “I acquired two of our preproduction power units. The one you are looking at will operate the forward propulsion drive for the ship.”
Zeke’s eyes grew huge when he recognized what that meant. “Two! You are going to have a lot of power at your fingertips on this ship.” Julie just nodded.
She had him sit at the main control console, powering up the system. “I have acquired a preproduction AI to help with the operation of the ship. The AI will be the interface between the pilot and the ship’s systems, and will manage all the routine processes that it will take to run the ship.” Zeke could only nod. He should have known she would need an AI but she had beat him to it.
Julie touched a biometric scanner and the weapons section of the console powered up upon recognizing her. Immediately VR symbols for missiles and rail guns appeared in front of them. “I have also acquired the best designs in weapons and defensive systems that Space Tech has been building for my father’s anti-pirate ships. You saw the missiles, rail guns, and the defensive system. A few of them are also preproduction. This baby is going to pack a big punch.”
Zeke had begun to see a pattern. He laughed, “I’m quite impressed with your ability to ‘acquire’ whatever you want.”
Julie laughed too. Then she pointed out, “I have already ‘acquired’ the thing I want the most. You!”
Zeke laughed even harder. “I must admit, your logic is pretty well unquestionable.”
Zeke had begun to feel some of her excitement. He suddenly realized some of the significance of what she had shown him. “That was a brilliant change you made, when you added the second power unit. Instead of running primary power cables from one end of the ship to the other, you have the power units connected directly to the field generators. That means the only cable runs you have are the secondary power runs and the control runs. Wow! That has to be much more efficient and a lot safer too. You don’t have the risk of a primary power run getting hit by a meteor or in a battle.”
Julie had known he would see it. “I have included conventional thrusters for backup just in case, but such a failure is extremely unlikely. As you can tell from the wing design, I also want the ship to be able to land and take off within an atmosphere, so we really do need the thrusters for that. So far in our testing, we have determined that the thin atmosphere of near space close to the earth is ok, but with the current design, the drive can’t handle the thicker atmosphere that we would have to pass through to take off and land. I really think that there ought to be a solution, but I haven’t figured it out yet.”
Julie turned back to the VR controls for the missile and rail gun systems, explaining the firepower the ship would be able to bring to bear against any resistance. The missile systems would fire the new heavy duty missiles that Space Tech had developed and auto-load after firing. As Zeke already knew, she had included dual rail guns on either side of the bow of ship. Between the two attack systems, the little ship was going to be deadly. She had also added secondary missile systems for self-defense. Looking at Zeke, Julie stated flatly, “This ship will be able to outrun any existing missile out there. But you know me. I probably won’t be running away.”
Zeke nodded. He believed her on both accounts.
Everything was nearly completed. Julie went on to tell Zeke, “I think we are ready to send it out to R4 with another ship towing it so we can start testing next week. I assume you want to go along with me?”
Zeke tried to give her a nonchalant answer. “Yeah, I might go. It’ll probably be boring, but someone’s got to keep an eye on you.” Julie couldn’t help but laugh at Zeke’s response. She could feel the excitement running through him, the same excitement she felt.
#
Monday morning, the two of them caught the shuttle out to R4 to test the ship. Zeke had decided to watch and coordinate with her from the control room of the research ship. The little tour of her ship had convinced him she was just as safe on board her ship as he was where he was. By staying in the control center, he could provide another perspective on the test. He also intended to remain in constant communication with Julie over the com link.
Over the past week, Julie had arranged to have a number of space buoys and sensors placed along a long corridor she would use for testing. She had also set up drone targets in another area she would use for simulated attack and defense tests, although she didn’t expect to get to that area the first day. She excitedly brought her ship online, checking and double-checking everything before moving forward. Everything was still a go.
“R4, this is Aspirations. Preparing to undock.”
“Aspirations, R4 Control acknowledges undock. Safe journey and Godspeed.”
Julie tapped the undock icon on her control board, verified the disconnect, and carefully eased her ship away, using thrusters only until she had a little distance between the ships. Bringing the new drive up in standby mode, she sent out another message over the general com circuit, excitement evident in her voice. “Setting drive power levels to one percent. Initiating drive in five.”
Mentally counting down, she nervously tapped the Drive icon. The ship immediately started moving forward at a considerable speed, a speed that was comparable to that of many conventional ships operating at full thrust, and that was only one percent!
Leaving the speed at the set value, Julie checked all the readings on her board. Everything was reading exactly on spec, just what she expected to see. But she had the strangest feeling she was getting from the drive fields, almost like she was able to sense them. The feeling grew stronger as she processed through the test at various power levels, gradually increasing in a slow progression to the max for the day of eighty percent. The last she held only for a few moments, wanting to stay close enough to the station that someone could come get her if something went wrong. At that point she knew for certain that somehow, something to do with her
nanites she expected, she could feel the fields.
Julie did get far enough out that she was able to determine one more thing. She and Zeke were thrilled to find that they could still communicate using their mental connection, even when she had moved her ship a considerable distance away. Not only that, but they were both excited to verify the other part of it. Their communication was instantaneous, something they had speculated about, but it was still astonishing to them. Because their nanites used the subspace interface to communicate, the distance did not affect the connection or the time to send a message. Whereas by radio the time delay was a few seconds at her furtherest distance, the two of them could communicate as it they were in the same room. What they had was just downright amazing, more and more so as they found out more about it.
Finally, she headed back in, again using her thrusters for the final docking. The whole group involved was excited by the results so far. The test was a complete success, with the little ship moving at tremendous speed compared to anything else that mankind had ever flown. Julie was redefining space travel as far as their generation was concerned. The techs and scientists watching the test were caught up in the excitement at seeing history occur right before their eyes.
As soon as Julie made it back to the control room, everyone rushed to congratulate her. She let them have their moment, mentally sending to Zeke “You and I need to have our own celebration in a few minutes…”
As soon as everyone settled back down, Julie put the techs to their task of analyzing the data. “Everyone, please check your data to the infinite detail to be sure it matches specs. We need to do this right, but I can tell you right now, based on the feel of the ship, everything is working exactly right with the drive system. I still need your ok to take our testing further, but I am definitely proclaiming today a huge success. Thank you all for your help.”
