by J. L. Curtis
Two days later, his simulacrum in Los San Diego held a secure vidcon with the GalPat representatives announcing the development and test completion of a Star Level 3 self-aware molycirc AI that could fly an attack shuttle with a higher success rate than historical data indicated was possible. He also passed along the analysis that Ace had done on the launch parameters as an example of the self-aware system’s capability and offered a demonstration to selected GalPat representatives.
Two weeks later, a comm was forwarded from the lab manager with a note attached: BOB, LOOKS LIKE THE HEAD OFFICE LIKES YOUR WORK. GALPAT REPS ARRIVING IN FOUR DAYS. REQUESTING SEVEN (7) DAYS OF TESTING WITH MULE 2 ON YOUR AUTOPILOT. PLEASE HOLD YOURSELF IN READINESS TO SUPPORT AS REQUIRED.
The attached com was from Roberto de Perez himself, advising that GalPat would do flight demonstration events for pre-acceptance testing of a classified new system. I think I worded that generically enough that nobody will catch on. I’m betting that Admiral that used to fly assault shuttles will be one of the ones that shows up. He was doing everything but salivating in the vidcon.
He’d requested Monique be the assigned pilot, based on both her prior experience, and the fact that she had gone through flight testing without a problem. He just didn’t know how big a problem the reveal would be to her.
He won his bet with himself as the GalPat reps strode grumpily into the meeting room, having divested themselves of comps and lapel cams. The admiral led the group of eight people into the room and took the chair at the head of the table. After the door was closed, Roberto cycled the lock and turned on the noise augmenter. “Good morning Admiral, gentle beings. I am Robert Garcia, I have been the test manager for the Joint Autonomous Control Element testing. This is Monique Stanescu, she is our test pilot and a former assault shuttle pilot. This room is now secure, Star Level 3. Liquids of your choice and light foods are available on the sideboard.”
He saw Monique’s eyes pop open at the mention of the star level, and she sat up nervously as the admiral scanned the two of them. “I’m Admiral Ingram. I’m in charge of ship procurement for the Fleet.” He introduced the rest of the team, who were a mix of pilots, engineers, and technicians. “We will be interested to see if this is real, or vaporware. We will require power and access to ship systems to input our test data into the flight and other systems on the test unit.”
Roberto nodded, “As long as you do not require access to the GalNet that is doable. We have test stations that will allow you to push any data at any bandwidth required.”
As he looked down, somebody asked quietly, “Why no GalNet?”
“The mules are test vehicles. As such, there are equipment and projects being tested that not only the general public doesn’t need to know about, but we also want to prevent spillage within De Perez Galactic. Even with secure comms, things might slip out. If there is no connectivity, there’s no chance of that. And the data cubes will only work on secure systems, so they cannot be migrated to a non-classified system. Which brings me to the point. If you introduce a data cube into our system, it will have to either remain in our control, or be destroyed. It will not be allowed to be removed.” He saw a frown on one of the female’s faces and saw the admiral make a quieting gesture.
Two divs later, he’d completed the brief and made it through the Q&A that followed without too many problems. As the GalPat team exited the conference room, Monique lagged behind and finally rounded on Roberto hissing, “How could you…not tell me what we were really doing? I’m cleared…I’m…so pissed at you and that…that… Arghhh!”
She turned and stomped out of the conference room as he stood there with a stunned expression on his face. Well, that didn’t go well, sport. Now the question is, will she show up at the Mule?
The PR people had the GalPat group in tow, and were taking them to the executive dining area, with instructions to have them at Mule 2 at 1300. Shaking his head, he headed toward the Slop Chute, reminding himself not to eat a big greasy lunch. He’d only made that mistake once, but that was enough!
***
Exactly at 1300, the PR person dropped the group at the aft ramp of Mule 2, and Admiral Ingram motioned the rest of them aboard as he stood at the bottom of the ramp, looking at the vehicle. Roberto looked around, saw Gunny Smith, the chief of ship standing at the top of the ramp, and motioned for him to take care of the others, as he walked over to the admiral. “Any questions, sir?”
Ingram said distractedly, “Just looking this thing over. It’s way too big for an assault shuttle.”
“Yes, sir. It’s been stretched to accommodate various testing programs and weapons systems tests. It’s also been reconfigured inside to provide actual drop chutes and various other reconfigurable compartments. But it is built to the thirty G spec an actual shuttle requires.”
The admiral looked up at the engines. “Those aren’t standard,” he said as he pointed. “Funny looking nozzles too.”
“They are Star Class engines, sir. But they do have the reduced nozzles normally seen on an assault shuttle. The upgrade gives the Mule the same accel and decel as the next generation shuttle De Perez is prototyping.”
They spent a half div doing a walk around, and it was obvious to Roberto that the admiral knew what he was looking at, and what upgrades and additions had been made to the Mule. Once they finally got to the bridge, Gunny and Monique had everyone situated and Gunny was satisfied with the installation of the GalPat team’s data comp at a spare station.
The admiral stopped short and snorted. “Lot more spacious than an actual cockpit. Hope you’re not proposing something like this for the new shuttle,” he said with a small smile.
“No, sir. Are we ready to begin?”
“Where do you want me?” he asked.
Roberto said, “Take the Captain’s chair, sir.” He reached over and activated Jace, bringing the AI out of the sleep mode. “Admiral, this is Jace, the Joint Autonomous Control Element. It has the capability to manage the entire ship, and all elements of the ship.”
The GalTech rep immediately asked aggressively, “Not including weapons, correct? That would be in violation of the SSIL protocols. This unit doesn’t have any weapons either available or loaded, correct?”
Roberto opened his mouth to answer when Jace spoke for the first time, “Admiral Ingram, welcome. Gentle beings, welcome. As Bob said, I am a self-aware Joint Autonomous Control Element, hence the name Jace. And, as such, I have no weapons control, as I am not at this time considered a sentient species, therefore I cannot have weapons access. My programming specifically locks me out of all weapons functions and I have no way to change that. Also, I would like to apologize to Ms. Stanescu for not telling her what I truly am, but I was, and still am, constrained by program limitations due to the clearance levels required.”
Monique blushed, stammered, and finally said softly, “I accept, Jace.” Glaring at Roberto she continued, “It’s not your fault.”
The GalTech rep butted in again, “Pilot, you can override this…thing for any reason, correct?”
She stiffened. “Of course. That’s part of testing.”
“So if I direct you to override it, you will?”
Monique looked at Roberto, and he said, “Not on your command in flight. If you want a demonstration on the ground, that’s fine. Once we’re airborne Ms. Stanescu has specific testing protocols to follow. You may not interfere with those protocols. Is that under—”
The admiral interrupted, “Yagel, stay in your lane. This isn’t one of your play toys. You’re here as a guest of GalPat, which is getting this demo of potentially lifesaving technology.”
The GalTech rep glared at Roberto, but said sullenly, “Yes, sir.”
After everyone was strapped in, Roberto looked at the admiral. “Are you ready, sir?”
He nodded, “Let’s get this done.”
“Jace, you have control. Take us to the perch over the test range, please.”
“Yes, Captain.”
&nb
sp; Jace did all the radio calls, taxied the shuttle out, took off and climbed just below supersonic to 50 miles high to the position known as the perch, seventy miles downrange from the spaceport. Once there, the GalTech rep started his automated scenario, beginning with the simulation of a drop sequence from a cruiser. Jace pitched Mule 2 down almost 90 degrees and immediately accelerated at 15 Gs, calling out each maneuver and the justification for it.
As the automated scenario indicated the first missile launches, Jace jinked the Mule, loading it at 22 Gs then changing direction by 70 degrees and shallowing the dive. Almost immediately, he rolled the Mule, dumped G, and changed direction again. Thirty seconds later, another set of missile launch cues, and he rolled the Mule inverted, loaded back up to 22 Gs, and dove vertically, going supersonic. He rolled the Mule out on a heading 90 degrees off the original course, dumped G again, then pulled 22 Gs to arrow the Mule toward the ground at a 60 degree angle.
At that point, the GalTech rep puked, and started screaming at Monique to disconnect, that the AI was going to kill them. Roberto raised his head enough to look at the admiral, and saw him grinning. The admiral said, “Belay that, Pilot. Let the AI run.”
Monique replied, “Letting him run, aye sir.”
Jace loaded the Mule again, pulling up, rolled inverted, and pulled down at 22 Gs, almost corkscrewing the ship toward the ground. Suddenly they heard the alert. “Hard deck in ten, nine, eight, seven,” Jace loaded the G on once more, and as the count reached zero, the Mule was straight and level 20,000 feet directly above the targeted landing position.
Jace called, “Position, mark. Two segs, forty-six seconds. Average speed one thousand knots. Run complete. Instructions?”
Roberto glanced at Monique and she was staring at him, eyes wide and obviously stunned. He turned to the admiral, “Sir? Your instructions?”
The admiral let out a belly laugh. “Oh Deity. That was a fucking blast! Under three segs? I’d be afraid to do that in an assault shuttle. I’ve never seen anything like that! Parsons, did we survive?”
Lieutenant Commander Parsons looked at his data screen in wonder. “According to this, there wouldn’t even be a scratch on the hull, sir. And that was not the scenario we were supposed to start with.”
The admiral nodded, and said silkily, “I know. That I’ll handle later.” He glared at the GalTech Rep. “I think Mr. Yagel would like to get off now. I’ve seen enough. Pilot, belay that. Mr…Jace, please take us back to the spaceport.”
Jace answered, “Yes, sir. Spaceport coming up.” A half hour later, they were back on deck, and Roberto asked, “Sir, we still have plenty of time, what would you like to see or do?”
“What do you have next, Mr. Garcia?”
Roberto pointed to his bag, “I have to go put these in the lab, sir. Other than that, I will do whatever you’d like, sir.”
“Parsons, you get enough for a report?”
Parsons snapped to attention. “Yes, sir. That was…unbelievable. I would have never thought…”
The admiral chuckled. “I made over a hundred combat landings, and I’ll tell you right now, I couldn’t have done that. Hell, I’d never have thought of doing that. Take Yagel with you and get him cleaned up. I think I’d like to visit Mr. Garcia’s lab. The rest of you are free for, let’s say three divs.” He glanced at his wrist comp. “Yes, three divs. Our transport should be here by then.”
Roberto nodded. “More than happy to do that sir. I know you’re cleared for the lab. Anyone else?”
“How about the pilot, Ms. Stanescu?”
“Yes, sir.”
***
A half div later, Admiral Ingram and Monique were comparing notes as Roberto activated the holo screen and brought Ace to life. When he looked up, Monique was laughing and the admiral was patting her arm, a smile on his face. Roberto asked, “Are you ready, sir?” He got up and motioned the admiral to sit behind the desk as he paced, described the year plus of development work, then bringing up the original pile of molycircs, and the days and weeks of running iterations of data.
The admiral asked, “Could this unit run the same test profile?” He pointed to the two data cubes sitting on the desk. “The one we just ran?”
“Yes, sir. I’m not sure what profile this AI would fly, since it’s never actually flown a ship, but we could try it.”
“I’d like to see that.” The admiral got up, and Roberto slipped into the chair, loaded the data cube, and activated the AI.
“Afternoon, Ace.”
The voice said, “Afternoon, Captain. What do we need to do today?”
“Well, Admiral Ingram is here, along with Test Pilot Monique Stanescu. They would like to see you run a profile in real time.”
“Admiral Ingram? Formerly Lieutenant Ingram? Former assault shuttle pilot?”
The admiral growled, “Not former. I can still fly one.”
The voice said, “My apologies, Admiral. I have studied your successful missions and they were very well executed.”
Roberto chuckled, “Okay, Ace. Stop sucking up.” He quickly typed in the start position and ending target position, pushed it across, and asked, “Got that?”
The voice replied, “Inputted. Standing by. What are my limitations?”
“Let’s limit to 22 G. That’s it.” He turned. “Admiral, Monique, if you want to stand behind me, you can see… Ace, display flight panel, vertical and horizontal tracks, please.” The holo screen changed, with the instrument panel filling the lower third of the screen, and the vertical and horizontal tracks the upper two thirds. He looked up and the admiral nodded, “Okay, here we go. You are dropping now, now, now.”
Three segs and eight seconds later, the shuttle hit the X that marked the spot designated and the admiral laughed out loud. “Amazing. Almost identical track.” He looked down at Roberto, “And you say this unit has never flown?”
“No, sir. This unit has to remain here. It cannot be removed. Neither can any of the data cubes or the documents.”
Curious, Monique asked, “Why not? I mean I’ve heard that nothing ever comes out. How does that work?”
Roberto turned off the AI and the holo, stood up, stretching his back, and walked over to the shelf. “All of these data cubes are, for lack of a better term, electronically locked to this location. If you attempted to leave with one, you would be warned, and if you stepped through the outer portal with it, it would melt down. Same with the paper. It’s impregnated with electronic strips. They go up in flames. That pile of molycircs will be destroyed at the end of the project. There is an incinerator at the end of the hall that burns at almost two thousand degrees. The lab rule, for both safety and security is once in, never out.”
The admiral nodded. “Makes sense. This is all battle steel, isn’t it? How many labs are down here?”
Roberto shrugged. “I don’t honestly know Admiral. I was assigned this one. And yes, it’s all battle steel. According to the brief I received, it can take a hit from a small KEW without damage. And in an emergency, there are rations and other emergency items available, but I don’t know where they are. Mechs clean it, and no one has access to any other lab than the one they are assigned to.”
Monique shook her head sadly. “So this unit, Ace you call him? Will never get out of here?”
“No, he, it will die here. And fairly soon. Once the protocols are completed, and there is no further need for multiple test iterations, I’ll be notified that my access will terminate on a given date. Prior to that, I’ll have to come down and destroy everything, then have the lab inspected. I call this unit Ace, for Autonomous Control Element since that was what I first came up with. It also lets me discriminate between the two in the reports I file on the secure side.”
“That makes sense,” the admiral said. “I’m going to recommend we include this capability in the updated assault shuttles, and we’ll figure out a way to allow weapons. SSIL is stupid. We sow autonomous mines all over the place, and they are dumber than mud balls.”
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“Will you want to do more flight testing tomorrow, Admiral?”
“No, I’ve seen enough. I’ll leave Parsons and one other to run the remaining scenarios, but I’m already convinced.”
***
Three more months went by, with continued and more advanced testing requirements from GalPat, until Septober of 2797. Roberto was deep into a convoluted test profile when the holo screen went red and an alert blared, “ROBERT GARCIA, REPORT TO MAIN SECURITY IMMEDITATELY. ROBERT GARCIA, REPORT TO MAIN SECURITY IMMEDIATELY. ACKNOWLEDGE.
Grumbling, he tapped the alert off. “Acknowledged. It will take me twenty segs to get there. I have to secure the lab first.” He got up, popped his back, and said, “Go ahead and run what I sent, Ace, I’ll be back as soon as I handle whatever this frikkin emergency is.”
The voice said laughingly, “Sure, sure. You just want more coffee. I’ll be here, and I’ll have at least twenty-one thousand five hundred thirty-one iterations done by the time you get back.”
He shook his head. “Is that all? Your precision is slipping.”
Eighteen segs later, he stepped into main security. “I’m Garcia. What do you need?”
The security supervisor pointed to three men in uniform standing in a corner of the room. “They want you for something. They’re GalTech and on the access list. That’s all I know.”
He walked over. “Can I help you gentlemen?”
The smallest one scowled and flipped out a credential holder. “What took you so long? I’m Major Arcabright; we are here to enforce GalTech regulations.”
Roberto’s immediate reaction was anger, but he smothered it. “Um, I’m not the lab director. That is the person you need to talk to. I’m just a lowly manager.”
Arcabright growled, “No, you are the problem. You and your little pet project.” He shoved a docufolder at Roberto, and tapped it maliciously. “You are violating GalTech regs. We are here to take possession of your crap and destroy it.”
He tried to yank the docufolder back, but Roberto held on, and Arcabright finally released it. The coversheet caused his heart to pound as he read it.