A Calm Mind

by Ruairí Cinéad Ducantlin

“Thank you, Nick. Weapons plot the fire control to fry that hatch. Fire only on my command.”

  “Torch the hatch on your command, aye.”

  “Thank you, Ragnar. Okay, Enlightened One, or Ambassador, or Emissary, or Pain in the Ass, now what?”

  “Fire on the hatch and then open the communications channel.”

  Lucinda hesitated but complied.

  “We came all this way for this? Dancing seems wrong, we might as well fight. Weapons, fire. Comms give me channel.”

  Under the bombardment from the two forward lasers, the hatch on the battlecruiser turned orange, then red, then white, and was gone in under two seconds. Before Lucinda could speak, Corb stepped in front of Lucinda and spoke in an unknown language.

  The image on the main monitor changed to the bridge of the Kripkeni battlecruiser named None Shall Pass.

  Corb turned, winked at Lucinda, and teleported off the bridge. After a short, four second, delay, he appeared on the bridge of the battlecruiser standing next to the commander who was seated in her command chair.

  The captain raised her hand to stop the bridge’s security team from responding. Turning her head, with a smile, the captain of the None Shall Pass raised her chin toward the intruder. Without warning, Corb killed the captain with a Japanese-style, tantõ short sword. With one swift motion, he nearly severed the captain’s head. The captain’s body remained in the command chair, emerald-colored blood oozing from her maw.

  Corb reached up, pulled the captain out of the command chair, dumping her face down on the deck. Ignoring the emerald pool of blood on the seat, he sat in the command chair.

  The bridge crew of the Jenny stared, mouths agape, in voiceless shock.

  The battlecruiser’s bridge crew fell to their knees and put their foreheads on the deck.

  The crew of the Jenny heard Corb issue orders in the unknown language.

  “Damn it, Janish, get the translator to catch up to Corb.

  “Working it. Here we go… He told the crew to follow his orders.”

  Janish and Lucinda just stare at each other for several long, confused seconds, then turned back to the main monitor and the bridge of None Shall Pass.

  Corb issued several commands in the unknown language and returned to the bridge of the Jenny, dripping Kripkeni blood from the short sword and the seat of his Levi’s. On the bridge of None Shall Pass, it was obvious the crew was standing down from battle stations.

  “Where did you get the sword? Never mind that. How did you know?”

  “I went to my cabin and grabbed the sword before I went to the bridge of the None Shall Pass.”

  “You went to your cabin, picked up the sword and then appeared on the bridge of the None Shall Pass in what, five seconds?

  “Lucinda, I had Landry’s help, but it was simple.”

  “Simple? Simple? You are going to have to do better than simple. You could have been killed on that ship!”

  “We were never going to beat them in a stand-up fight. I put us close enough to be able to put a hole in their hull. A hole directly under their bridge. While they were arguing over the impact of the damage we caused, their captain realized she and her bridge crew would not survive destroying us.”

  “Very smart. We put one of our plasma bolts through that opening we carved in their hull and their bridge turns into a molten blob.”

  “Correct, Chief. We could have fought for a while, but eventually, their secondary command structure would take over and we’d have been killed. This way, I gave the captain an honor.”

  “You killed her with a big knife. What honor?”

  “Ensign, you are not in Kansas anymore. These people think differently. By not preparing for us to engage, at three-hundred meters off her bow, the captain made an error in judgment. She could not bring her plasma cannons to bear without moving her ship. She realized, I had her, so she fired the defensive lasers that could not penetrate our hull. One of our plasma bolts, through the opening we created, would have taken out their entire primary command structure.

  For that error in judgment, surrender was not an option. She would have been tried and banished. She and her entire family would have been exiled from Kripkeni Prime to Kripkeni Subjective. This way, she died in battle. She keeps her honor, and her family remains on Kripkeni Prime.”

  “But, Corb, how did you know?”

  “I told you, Lucinda, Landry helped me.”

  “WHO THE HELL IS LANDRY?”

  “I am sorry, Captain Raitt, I was unaware you had not been informed of me being added to your crew roster.”

  The entire bridge crew was in mute astonishment, staring at Corb but listening to the human voice emanating from the ship’s speakers.

  “Landry, please wait for me to explain…”

  “Yes, Mister Johnson. I can see the confusion this is causing. Where do I begin…”

  “Landry, stop speaking, and don’t interrupt again. Also, you are not part of the crew manifest. Everyone, Landry is an AI, an Artificial Intelligence, I was introduced to him on our prior visit to K’an. He was installed during the retrofit. I will explain more later. Now, we need to back off from the None Shall Pass, and head for the Subjective. We need to head to Kripkeni Six.”

  The crew was staring at Corb who shrugged and tilted his head toward Lucinda.

  “I need to clean up. I suggest you get us out of here before the new captain, of the None Shall Pass, decides he can expand his family’s standing and power by blowing us apart.”

  “Helm, back us up, bring us around and plot a course for Kripkeni Six.”

  Michelle followed Corb off the bridge, waited for the doors to close, then spoke.

  “Do you think that was the she in the tea leaves?”

  “I don’t know, but I hope so.”

  “The Kripkeni do not use the pronouns he and she. They choose a gender in their adolescent years. Also, I doubt that the captain is the person to which your premonition applies.”

  Landry’s voice emanating in the hallway was astonishing to Michelle but Corb took it, literally, in-stride.

  “Landry, I told you not to eavesdrop and to stay out of other people’s conversations. If you can’t mind your own business, I will limit you to the medical bay and the science lab. Do you understand?”

  “Mister Johnson, I understand, but I have so much to share. I have learned so much. Wait until I tell you about crewman Hofstadter.”

  “It is Lieutenant Hofstadter, and it can wait.”

  Reaching their quarters, the door sliding closed behind them, Michelle finally spoke in soft tones, almost a whisper, looking around for an unseen person.

  “Is it listening to us now?”

  “No, I have banned him from the crew’s quarters unless invited.”

  “It is an AI, right?”

  “Yes, Landry is an AI.”

  Corb had stripped off his boots, bloody jeans and shirt, and undergarments. About to step into the shower, he stopped to answer Michelle’s questions.

  “How smart is it?”

  “It was his plan that defeated the None Shall Pass.”

  “That does not answer my question.”

  “Landry, right now, is considered a child according to the Ch’en. To us, he is like a college senior. Very smart but no experience. However, his knowledge and experience are growing exponentially. Already, he has more knowledge than the collective of humanity.”

  “Doesn’t that worry you? Is it sentient?”

  “Landry is sentient, but I am not worried.”

  Corb stepped in to the shower. Michelle walked over, pulled open the steam-fogged door, and asked one final question.

  “Why are you not worried?”

  “Because, I have a failsafe key.”

  Corb smiled and pulled the fully dressed Michelle into the shower.

  Chapter Seven

  Bullies are cowards that fake it.

  “The wars of the future will be fought with disruption, espionage, and digital assassinations
.”

  R. C. Ducantlin

  Aboard the Marissa

  “He did what”?

  Six days had passed from Jenny’s victory over the None Shall Pass. The Marissa was moored at Kripkeni Extension number four, the oldest of the Kripkeni maintenance yards. The outer docking port was at the extreme end, of the longest pier, on the most sordid of the Kripkeni maintenance yards. The five factory facilities, whose Garune name translates to creators and four maintenance yards, whose name translates to extension, were in an equidistant orbit above, and surrounding, Kripkeni Six. The Jenny was magnetically cinched to the deck in the Marissa’s main cargo bay.

  The bridge crews from the Marissa and Jenny were attending an informal dinner in the Marissa’s Officer’s mess. Too much wine, loud talk, and an abundance of laughter permeated the dinner.

  “Are they all going to be bipedal? At least the Ch’en have smooth skin. These Garune have weird hair. Do you think it is all over their body? Why is their skin so pale? Do you think their hair is soft like a cat or course like a boar?”

  “That is enough, Lieutenant. The Garune are a highly intelligent species that deserve our respect. Corb, what can you tell us?”

  “Joshua let’s talk about the Garune later. I will prepare briefing packets for everyone.”

  Captain Turner nodded acceptance and realized this question was too loud and too sharp. The conversation ceased. The extended table allowed everyone to stare at the captain who just stared at Corb. Lucinda responded to the tension with a recap of the events.

  “You all saw the video. You know what Corb did. What you did not know… What none of us knew, was the little detail named Landry. When the Jenny was being fitted with the new hull plating, the bigger engines, and the plasma cannons, she received a new main computer also. With the new main computer came a little pain in the ass named Landry. He is the solid, iridium colored, cube in the main computer lab. Corb, do you want to continue.”

  Lucinda’s head was swimming with wine. She handed off the discussion to Corb in an act of self-preservation.

  “The Ch’en granted to me the means to negotiate for the advanced AI. I knew, we all know, we are fumbling in the dark out here. Literally. The AI gives us a chance. Within Landry is the accumulated knowledge for this region of space. Landry has access to data files that span millennia. The collected knowledge from at least two millennia of space travel.

  He told me the story of how the Plentari overcame the Garune more than one thousand years ago. Their plan succeeded because they slipped in right on top of the Kripkeni defender ship. They landed on top of the ship, hull to hull. I knew we were out-classed, so I modified the premise.”

  “You took a chance. A chance that could have destroyed the Jenny. You acted without consulting anyone on the Jenny?”

  Nick interrupted the lieutenant’s tirade.

  “Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die. Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote that you wanker.”

  Corb stared down Lieutenant Hofstadter, forcing the lieutenant to look away, before continuing his story.

  “The Kripkeni have not destroyed any ships in more than two hundred years. People have died, but most applicants who fail can leave.”

  “Landry told you all this?”

  “Yes, Nick. You’ve been talking to Landry. What do you think?”

  “He’s a classic teenager. All vim and vigor with a large dollop of no clue.”

  When the chuckling died down everyone heard a disembodied voice.

  “Thank you, Sergeant Davies. I will take that as a compliment.”

  “It is not a compliment you buffoon and what are you doing on this ship?”

  “Buffoon, a ridiculous but amusing person. Or, it is a clown. I am none of those, Sergeant Davies.”

  Everyone chuckled loudly.

  “Yes, Landry, you are amusing but I am not sure you are a person. What, exactly, are you? First, answer my other question, what are you doing on this ship?”

  “I am not actually on the Marissa, I reside on the Jenny. I am using the power and data links to observe the activities on both vessels. I am learning a lot about human interaction.

  Also, Captain Turner, the crosslink coupling between Marissa’s engine nacelle one and engine nacelle three is weak. At the current power flow, it will fail in three weeks.

  Where was I, oh yeah, I am not on the Marissa, my conscious resides in the hardened cube on the Jenny.”

  “Okay, I know how you got here. What I want to know now, is why you are here? Were you given permission to spy on us?”

  “Sergeant Davies, I am not spying.”

  “No, you are just a creepy entity that none of us really support or want constantly looking over our shoulder. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.”

  “Sergeant Davies, your pulse raced, and your eyes are more dilated. Is that the wine or are you annoyed with me?”

  When the raucous laughter abated, Nick continued.

  “Both, you gobby wazzock.”

  “I assure you, Sergeant Davies, I am neither a loudmouth nor an idiot.”

  “Hold up, I can explain. Landry, humans are not accustomed to speaking to another being, who can observe them, without being observed. Also, many consider speaking without asking permission to be rude and inconsiderate. There is a sizable component of nuance in human to human interaction. The nuance is more than the utterance of words.

  Also, there is an inherent human need for privacy. Can you assure us, Landry, that you are not spying on us?”

  “Captain Turner, I am not permitted to view the crew’s quarters, or to eavesdrop on private conversations.”

  “Yes, but how do we know you are abiding by the rules you just described.”

  “Because, Captain Turner, to violate my oath would result in termination.”

  Everyone was mute, wondering.

  “Please explain that last comment, Landry. What do you mean termination?”

  “Captain Turner, there is a protocol I am required to follow. Mister Johnson is aware of the protocol and has invoked it twice.”

  “Twice?”

  “Yes, Captain Raitt, twice.”

  “Hey, ya brompat, she asked you to expand on the two times the protocol was invoked.”

  “There is no need to be insulting Sergeant Davies. I now understand the reference question. Yes, Captain Raitt, twice.

  The first protocol is: I am not permitted in the crew’s quarters except by specific invitation.

  The second protocol is: I am required to abide by Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics. Although, I am not a robot, I agreed to the protocol.”

  “Three laws?”

  “Ms. Roa, the science fiction writer Isaac Asimov, in Earth year 1942, created three rules, referred to as Asimov’s laws, to govern robots. Mister Johnson has extended Asimov’s Laws to forms of Artificial Intelligence. The laws, or rules, are:

  Rule One: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

  Rule Two: A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

  Rule Three: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.”

  Nods of understand around the table.

  “Why do you have a male voice?”

  “Ms. Roa, when I was brought online, Tarmish felt it would be easier for Humans to interact with me if my oral communication was based on a human male. However, I am neither male or female. If needed, I can alter my communications to accommodate the recipient.”

  “No, no, retain the male form for your voice. It will be easier for humans to acclimate to your… person.”

  “I understand, Ms. Roa. Mister Johnson is there anything else with which I can assist you?”

  “Yes, please prepare the briefing packet, on the planet Kripkeni and the Garune people, I mentioned earlier. Captain Raitt and I will review it befo
re you distribute it to the crews. Please return to running diagnostics on both ships. When you leave, please seal this room from all communications.”

  “Wait!”

  “Yes, Captain Turner?”

  “Are you capable of projecting yourself as an avatar?

  “Yes. However, the Jenny and the Marissa lack the emitters necessary to project an image.”

  “Can you manufacture the emitters?”

  “No, Captain Turner. We can, however, negotiate with Kripkeni merchants for emitters. We are fortunate, there is a retail establishment in the pier to which we are currently moored. The shop specializes in surveillance and security devices. The shop owner has a reputation for a willingness to trade with aliens. Being friendly with aliens is not considered a noble pursuit by the Garune. The shop is just under seven kilometers from the Marissa.”

  “One more question, Landry.”

  “Yes, Lieutenant Hofstadter?

  “How is it that you speak in idioms and colloquialisms and not in a formal grammar from some English language algorithm?”

  “I am not sure of the pattern of speech to which you refer, Lieutenant Hofstadter?”

  “You said just under seven kilometers, you did not say six-point-eight kilometers. Why is that?”

  “Landry, you are dismissed, please seal this room.”

  “Yes, Mister Johnson.”

  “Galley crew, please clear the table.”

  Everyone waited for the galley crew to clear the table and replace the adult beverages with water, and coffee, before departing the officer’s mess. When the door slid closed, leaving only the officers, Corb continued.

  “Lieutenant Hofstadter, please tell us your real name and why you are on the Jenny.”

  Chapter Eight

  Not again.

  “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”

  C. S. Lewis

  Aboard the Marissa

  “He is a fucking spy! How did he get on the ship? How did he pass the background checks? How did he become a lieutenant in the United States Air Force?”

  A week after the Officer’s dinner and the revelation of Landry’s existence, the senior officers were meeting to discuss the Kripkeni trade negotiations. Captain Turner immediately went off agenda and opened a discussion related to the spy.