“I’m hoping the ship has already been recovered. Commander Kowalczy sent the other Egleesius ship we have, Arion, to run it down. Bert’s Bees is going to board it and stop it, if possible. If so, they will try to bring it back to New Warsaw. If they can’t, they have orders to destroy it. Lieutenant Colonel Walker is in charge of the mission. He also brought two Avenger bombers and some of the SalSha to help get the Bees over to the rogue ship.”
“I have a question,” Jim said. “Do they really think that’s going to work? Assuming for a second that the ship really has an operational AI onboard, has anyone given any serious thought to the fact that the AI may not want to be stopped?”
“What do you mean?” Nigel asked.
“Well, by definition, the AI is an autonomous life form,” Jim said. “Depending on its programming, or how it has reprogrammed itself, it may not want to be stopped. Whatever its goals are at Capital Planet, it is going to want to complete them…and it might react badly to anyone who tries to stop it from completing them.” He looked over to Alexis. “Do we know what those goals are?”
“We believe it’s going to destroy Capital Planet.”
There was a collective intake of breath. “Do you mean it will attack Capital Planet?” Nigel asked. “With the Merc Guild there, especially after what we did to them, there are bound to be fleet units there which will stop the ship.”
“No, they won’t be able to stop it…and when I say it will destroy the planet, that is exactly what I mean. That class of ship was built with only one function—to destroy worlds. While they are on their way to their targets, they generate antimatter, which they use on arrival to crack open the planet’s crust. The ship Sato’s on will dive into the planet, and the antimatter will detonate upon impact. The planet will be destroyed. That says nothing about the ship’s velocity when it hits. With no crew onboard, it has over 100 Gs available. It can accelerate to a tremendous velocity in no time at all. And, just as Pegasus was able to enter this system at a point other than the emergence zone, the Keesius can emerge near the planet. Any fleet there will probably be in a highguard position…they won’t have a chance of stopping it.”
“I’ve had dreams for the last week of a ship jumping into a system near a planet,” Sansar said. “In the dreams, I knew we had to stop it, but I didn’t know why. I thought the ship was the Pegasus, but now I see it was this rogue ship.” She smiled. “As much as I’d love to let the rogue ship impact squarely on the Merc Guild, there are too many innocents on the planet; we have to stop it. If it gets out to the galaxy at large that we—and that’s how it will be seen, that Humans were responsible for doing this—that we were the ones who blew up Capital Planet, using antimatter, no less, we can throw away any hope of aid from the other races. We must stop it.”
Sansar shook her head, then added, “There is, however, one thing I don’t understand, which is key to both how the rogue ship attacks and how Pegasus operates.” Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Alexis. “How is it that you are able to enter a system at other than an emergence point?”
“Pegasus is able to jump into a system the same way the Keesius does, because it has an AI aboard, just like the rogue ship.”
“Well, today is quite the day for revelations,” Nigel said, pushing back from the table. “First antimatter and now AIs. What’s next—antigravity?”
“When were you going to tell us?” Jim asked. Where Nigel’s expression was more of surprise and amusement, Jim looked angry. “The Merc Guild wasn’t lying about that! You have an AI!”
“Blue Sky above!” Sansar exclaimed as her own temper rose. “You had the unmitigated gall to give me shit about uplifting the SalSha, which I needed to do in order to save Earth’s mercenary forces; meanwhile, all the time you had an AI—the most forbidden of Galactic Union technology—onboard your own flagship? How long have you had an AI?”
A flush crept up from Alexis’ collar, and she looked at the table, unable to meet anyone’s eyes. “We have had Ghost for as long as we’ve had Pegasus,” Sansar admitted. “But Ghost is a one-off. She came with the ship; she wasn’t something we created. That was who I was talking to in the other room earlier—I was trying to get some answers from her. She gave me some information, but refused to tell me everything.”
Alexis looked up at Sansar finally, her eyes burning. “Besides,” she added, “I know you’ve been trying to figure out how to make an AI of your own. I don’t see why you think you have the right to be so high and mighty!”
“And if you’d shared that you actually had one, we might have made a breakthrough sooner!” Sansar found she couldn’t control her voice; it continued to rise—Alexis had known they were working on one, and still hadn’t shared? “The Four Horsemen for Earth, indeed!”
“All right, ladies,” Nigel said, holding up his hands. “Let’s try to remember who the hothead at the table is supposed to be.” He gave them both his best smile. “That’s my job.” When neither of the women said anything else, he added, “Perhaps we can focus our attention to how we stop the rogue AI, and then we can learn more about Alexis’ ally.” He cocked his head at Alexis. “This ‘Ghost’ is an ally, I hope?”
“She always has been in the past,” Alexis said.
“But she isn’t now?” Sansar asked.
“She…I don’t know.” Alexis sighed, then met Sansar’s eyes. “Look, I’m sorry for not telling you. I figured we had enough problems without telling the world we had an AI, too, because as soon as I told you, the secret was bound to get out. Only a few of my most trusted people know about Ghost. They just think I’m weird or distant or catatonic sometimes when I speak to Ghost mind to mind.”
Sansar sat back in her chair and sighed, as well. “I’m sorry, too,” she said. “Yelling at each other doesn’t help us, and we have a lot of issues to deal with.” She smiled at Alexis. “No more secrets?”
“No more secrets.”
“Okay. So you said your Ghost was an ally, ‘in the past?’ What changed?”
“Ghost has always helped the Hussars and myself, and I always looked at her as one of the Hussars, although I guess she never was. Recently, though, as we’ve gone further along the path to war, she has become more reticent to share information. She still helps with fighting battles—if you wonder why Pegasus’ drones are so good, she’s why—but she has been less and less forthcoming over things that happened in the Great War.”
“Wait,” Jim said, a touch of wonder in his voice. “Ghost was alive during the Great War?”
“Yes,” Alexis replied. “Ghost experienced it, but won’t talk about it. And I don’t know why; don’t ask. But she’s also the reason I know what the Keesius-class of ships are—she was around when they were built, and she says they are built to be planet killers.”
“Any chance that isn’t the truth?” Sansar asked.
“I guess it’s possible,” Alexis replied, “but I doubt it. The fact that she is only telling us part of the story probably means what she’s said is true.”
“How do you know, though?” Jim asked. “What if she is programmed to lie?”
“It’s possible,” Alexis repeated with a shrug. “As I’ve come to find out recently, I really don’t know her as well as I had always assumed.”
“Okay, so what do we do to stop the Keesius?” Nigel asked. “I think we’re all in agreement that it must be done, yes?” He looked around the table and got nods. “If Ghost says the rogue is going to blow up Capital Planet—and we believe her—will she take us to Capital Planet? I know there won’t be much of a chance to stop the ship, based on the attack profile you described, but a small chance is better than no chance, and at least we could make it look like we tried?”
“No,” Alexis replied. “Even if Ghost would take us to Capital Planet, we don’t know when the attack is coming or what direction it will come from. Can you imagine us showing up and saying to the fleet guarding the planet, ‘Don’t mind us. We’re just here to stop something bad from hap
pening.’” She chuckled softly. “I think they’d probably take exception to our presence and try to do something about it.”
“But Ghost won’t?” Sansar asked. She was beginning to realize what Alexis left unsaid was as important as what she related…if not more so.
“No, she won’t. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about the Keesius that scares her.”
“Maybe it’s because the rogue ship has the first AI Ghost has seen in thousands of years?” Jim asked.
“Maybe…” Alexis said. Sansar could see she wasn’t convinced. “I don’t know what it is. She said she ‘can’t go to the ship’ now that it’s activated but wouldn’t tell me whether that meant she couldn’t go or wouldn’t. Regardless, we’re on our own to stop it; we can’t expect any help from Ghost.”
Sansar shook her head. “Even if we could get to Capital Planet before the Keesius arrives, and we defeated whatever fleet is there now, we have no chance of stopping the ship. We don’t know where it’s coming from, nor when. I think we have to forget about that and hope that Walker and the Bees stop it.”
“What do we do, then?” Jim asked. “Go warn Capital Planet to evacuate?”
“Going to Capital Planet and warning them is a wasted effort,” Sansar said with a shrug. “It might save a few folks—mostly the mercenaries, at a guess, since they have more ships than anyone else to evacuate with—but who is going to believe us? We’re most likely to be attacked on sight. Besides, we might get there and find out the planet was already destroyed.” She smiled. “No, I think it would be better to go and talk to Peepo and let her deal with it.”
“What?” Jim asked.
“Yes,” Alexis agreed, nodding. “If we tell Peepo, then it becomes her problem. If she does nothing, we can say, ‘We warned her.’ If she moves forces to Capital Planet to stop it, then there are fewer for us to fight.” She smiled at Nigel. “We could do the assault on Earth you’ve been wanting that much sooner.” She looked back to Sansar. “Yes, I think that would be the perfect thing to do—pop into Earth’s system, somewhere away from the emergence point, and ask for a meeting. Even if we just do it by Tri-V, we’ve made the attempt.”
“And we can get some intel on what’s currently going on in the system,” Sansar said. “I still have people on the planet; we could try to contact them.”
“I just want to see Peepo’s face when we show up with her yacht,” Nigel said.
“Her what?” Alexis asked.
“Her yacht,” Nigel said. “It was in one of the docks, and I took the opportunity to liberate it. I thought it was the one thing missing from your fleet, a nice yacht you could use to do inspections…or maybe take a little time off. It’s a converted corvette, so it is plenty large.”
“Something I could use?” Alexis said. Sansar half-smiled. She could see where this was going, even if the Hussars’ commander couldn’t.
“Of course you can,” Nigel said, his arms opening wide. “It is my present to you. I don’t have the staff to man it effectively, and you do. Perhaps you’ll take me on a cruise somewhere, once this is all over.” He winked.
“But, but I—,” Alexis stammered.
“Oh, take the yacht,” Sansar scolded. “That way, we can get back to important things.”
Alexis looked at Nigel, who was smiling broadly, then down at the table. “Thanks,” she said weakly, so softly it was hard to hear. The flush was creeping up from her collar again.
“You are welcome,” Nigel said with a laugh. “Please use it to piss off Peepo at every opportunity.”
“So we’re agreed?” Sansar asked. “The four of us will go to Earth to talk to Peepo?”
Everyone nodded, but Jim pursed his lips. “I still think we owe it to the civilians on Capital Planet to try to warn them.”
“It is cute the way you always try to do the right thing,” Nigel said. “Just like some superhero, you have to save all the damsels in distress, even if many of them would just as soon eat you as look at you.”
“There are women and children on the planet we could save,” Jim replied, coloring. “I think we owe it to them to try. Can’t we send the Phaeton and have it jump into the system somewhere?”
“I’m sorry,” Alexis said, “but I can’t do that. You need an AI to do that, and the only one we have is on Pegasus, who won’t go there. I would be willing to discuss sending the Phaeton if I could…but I can’t. The people on Capital Planet will have to fend for themselves. Perhaps if we go to Earth via 2nd Level Hyperspace, and Peepo sends a force to Capital Planet that way, as well, she can get a force there in time to warn them. It’s the best we can do.”
* * * * *
Chapter Sixteen
EMS Bucephalus, Golara System
Jim floated into his quarters on Bucephalus with his mind full of questions and doubts. He’d gone along with the plan of traveling to Earth and confronting Peepo. The problem was, he didn’t agree with just throwing their hands up in surrender and leaving Capital to its fate. He was so preoccupied, he didn’t see the look on Splunk’s face for some time.
“What’s wrong?” he asked when he finally noticed her angry glare.
“AI bad,
“Sounds more like this one is neutral, or trying to be,” Jim said. “We’ve been trying to make AI on Earth all the way back to the days of transistor computers.”
“You not understand, Jim,
“There’s no reason to get mad at me. Why don’t you explain why they’re bad?”
“They are bad, Jim.” She looked him in the eye steadily; her gaze was hard. “
“We need it,” Jim said. “Alexis said without the AI we couldn’t get to 2nd Level Hyperspace or arrive in a system away from its emergence point. That’s a huge tactical advantage.”
“Help me kill it,
Jim was too surprised to respond immediately. He stared at her huge blue-on-blue eyes. The cabin light was dim enough she could take off the goggles she wore everywhere else. “Splunk!” he exclaimed. “How could you suggest that?” She stared at him. “How do you kill an AI?”
“I can,
Jim was surprised to hear his own answer. “Explain to me why it has to die?”
“I can’t. Not yet,
“Then I can’t help you yet, froo.” He’d never tried to say one of her special wordless words. It sounded funny and a little silly coming out of his mouth. Still, she understood, and bowed her head. “I want to understand.”
“You won’t,” she said. “I hope you will not hate,
“You’re my friend, Splunk, I can’t hate you.”
She wouldn’t meet his gaze.
* * *
EMS Pegasus, Golara System
“I had little choice. You put me in that situation. All the years of lies, deceit, and half-truths I’m only now beginning to understand.”
“How, with more lies?”
“Don’t bring up Katrina, damn you!” she snapped, tears coming to her eyes, despite her powerful self-will. “You should be dead, not her!”
“No! No! What you are is not Katrina Cromwell! You are a fucking abomination. I should have had Nemo take you apart when I realized you’d taken her body!” Alexis screamed the last, tears pouring down her face. “She was my sister! My twin sister!”
“What would a machine know of emotions?”
“Welcome to the Human condition.”
Alexis lay on the bed in her temporary quarters aboard the command center and cried. She couldn’t remember the last time she cried like that. Tears, sure, some small release of the water behind the dam. Enough to keep the structure from failing, but no more. Her sister had been dead many years, yet she’d never shed more than those few tears. She couldn’t afford it. They’d been in mortal peril when the EMP had fried her brain, and Ghost had moved in. Pegasus was critically damaged; dozens of Hussars were dead or dying. There was no time for tears.
And that had been her life since then. Work, fight, plan, strive, survive. Like the Winged Hussars’ motto—Plan, prepare, strike. No time for tears. But tears found time for her. Surrender was not part of her nature, and still, this time, she did. Eventually, she slept. When she woke, she felt empty. Not of everything, but at least of the pain. Especially the old pain.
Her pinplants said it had only been two hours. Still, it was enough.
“I’m better,” she replied.
“The Horsemen don’t tell our secrets. I kept yours for a long time.”
“None of our aides will say anything, if that’s what you are worried about.” Ghost didn’t reply.
“Commander?”
Alexis sat up in the too-small bed at Paka’s call and knock on her door. She climbed out of bed and stretched. “Yes?” she asked.
“Five ships just emerged from hyperspace; a destroyer and four transports.”
Alexis moved to the little kitchen unit, bending over to take a drink and look in the mirror, which was about waist-high. The room had been the Maki commodore’s quarters. She looked presentable and doubted the Veetanho would realize her commander had been crying.
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