Spinward Fringe Broadcast 3

by Randolph Lalonde

  Ashley's eyes were locked on the scene before her. Larry curled into the fetal position as he retched and tried to breathe at the same time. Alice was comforting him, but he looked like he was in a desperate struggle to breathe between heaves. He coughed and gagged several more times, producing a brown and green sludge before the retching came to a stop. He laid there, catching his breath.

  “You'll be fine. Your artificial intelligence tried to kill you.”

  “It was just an organizer program with a base personality over top,” he said, still out of breath.

  “There was no security installed?” Captain Valance asked.

  “No, it wasn't that important.”

  “Good, let's hope that we caught the problem in time. If the rest of the people who transferred AI's to their C and C units had security installed, they might get lucky.”

  Captain Valance picked up his own arm unit. “Not by much, my AI was secure and it's already looking erratic,” he entered his security code and deleted it.

  “If it's all the same Captain, I don't think I'll put my unit back on. Can I get another with just the base software?” Larry asked, finally catching his breath and wiping his mouth with a handkerchief from his thigh pocket.

  “No problem,” Jake smiled back at him. His attention was drawn to the pile of throw up beside the young man and a sinking feeling came over him. He looked to the security station where a small, older fellow stood watch. “Shut down all the maintenance and cleaning bots. Everything that could have an AI.”

  “Aye sir,” He replied. “Wait, they're already shut down.”

  “Chief Grady to the Bridge. I shut them down as soon as someone down here collapsed. We lost three people.”

  “I'm sorry Chief, take them to medical in case we can do something.”

  “That's not likely. They were injected with hydrofluoric acid and blood thinners. It's like their AI's were networked and all came up with the same plan.”

  “Do you have any recommendations Chief?”

  “I'd have all the arm units with AI's tossed into recyclers. Even if they were deleted. Other than that you've done exactly what I would've.”

  “Thank you Liam, I'm sorry about your men.”

  “Nothing we could have done. Chief Grady out.”

  Ashley Lamport

  The two hours following the incident on the bridge were filled with bad news. They had lost forty seven people to attacks from the artificial intelligence programs many crewmembers trusted to help them through their every day lives. Over three hundred had been injured. The infirmary was full past brimming, and Alice had gone to help however she could. When she was an artificial intelligence herself she possessed a complete medical treatment database and a great deal of that knowledge had survived the transfer. It surprised even her how quickly it came back to her.

  Morale on the ship was low, and to the crew's relief, only a minimum watch was required during hyperspace travel. Security was finally under control, and that made everything easier. If someone didn't know where they were supposed to be or got lost a soldier was always nearby to help them find their way. The unexplored sections of the ship were closed off and the entrances were all locked down or had guards standing watch.

  Ashley changed into a light blue vacsuit with transparent arms and midriff after getting a new command and control unit from the materializer. She didn't have an AI installed in her last one, but it made her feel better to get a new unit anyway. Besides, the newer versions could make vacsuits look like practically anything and she was eager to give it a try. Anything to brighten her day after what she'd seen on the planet and the incident on the bridge.

  Her new quarters were incredible. She looked around while putting on her gun belt. Everything was coloured a deep shade of red except the carpet, which was midnight black. There was a thickly padded seat along one wall, a two dimensional display coating the wall behind it gave the illusion of a long window. By pressing a button the floor would part and up would come the silver table with six chairs around it. A holographic projector somewhere, she hadn't found it yet, could entertain her with full height programs anywhere she wanted in her quarters whether she was sitting on the smaller seat closer to the door, in the soft queen sized bed that adjusted to the needs of her body, or in the slightly smaller space that was left unfurnished except for two end tables that had been left stacked there.

  I've seen apartments I couldn't dream of that weren't this nice. I hope they didn't assign me here by mistake. These look more like Captain's quarters.

  She adjusted her gun belt and took an extra data chip, small makeup kit and hair tie from a floor to ceiling trinket shelf beside the door and dropped them into a pouch on her belt. Her new vacsuit didn't have pockets, she had forgotten them until the last minute.

  “Dim lights to three hundred lumens please,” she said to the computer, forgetting the artificial intelligence had been removed and they hadn't put in a new voice activated system yet. She adjusted them with the control by the door then set out.

  Her quarters were less than fifty meters from the main entrance to the bridge. She wanted to move into a smaller compartment in the same berth as the deck crew, near where fighter pilots would bunk up, but Stephanie's security department assigned her to the command deck quarters. Instead of arguing she thought she'd take a look. Good thing too. If those really are my quarters I really do want to live here. I'm sure I won't be the only one, she thought to herself as she stepped into the express lift. Another crewman looked her up and down as she entered her destination. She gave him a little smile and looked back to the lift doors. His hair was tied into a ponytail, and his grey vacsuit had Triton printed over his left pectoral. It marked him as a new crew member, probably part of the gunnery team on his way back to the gunnery deck.

  She had just read the bulletin right before getting off duty. Even as tragedy struck the ship, policies were put in place and things changed. On her next duty shift she'd have to wear a full black vacsuit with a silver skull and Triton printed underneath it on the left side of her chest just below the collarbone. Five silver wings would mark her as Master of the Helm, a rank she had only heard of in a holographic feature movie about a war in the Core Worlds. She had no idea the system was keeping a score card for her, but when she got her rank it gave her pages of statistics. Apparently the only person who had out flown her in the few simulations she had taken part in was Alice, she had even beaten the Captain by a very narrow margin.

  Alice had been given the rank of First Officer and was placed on the first night watch Bridge Commander. That's probably why I got Master of the Helm. Don't really care though, as long as I get to fly. This ship might be the heaviest thing I've ever seen, but it feels like I'm drifting through an ocean when I fly her. It makes the Samson seem like flying a twitchy sand bug.

  The lift stopped and she got off. The medical center was busy, most of the beds were full and several emergency beds had been pulled out, making the normally spacious and airy infirmary seem cramped and noisy.

  “Um, hi, is there anything I can do here?” She asked a fellow wearing a dark blue vacsuit with a red cross on the back.

  He stopped and looked her up and down. “Do you have any advanced medical training?”

  “No, I just thought if you needed an extra pair of hands.”

  “We're all right now. Mostly everyone's in recovery or here for observation.”

  “You're sure?”

  The nurse smiled and nodded. “Thank you for offering, you're the first.”

  Ashley shrugged. “I'm here to see a friend anyway.”

  “Who?”

  “Finn.”

  His smile faded, she could tell he was bracing himself to deliver some bad news. “He's been in stasis since the initial boarding. Did anyone tell you about his condition?” He asked in a whisper, gently putting a hand on her arm.

  She faked a little smile to reassure him. “I know, I was with the Samson. I just stop in to say hi when I can.”


  “Oh, okay. I can show you there.”

  “I know the way. You have more important things to do,” she walked around him and continued on to the rear of the medical section. A couple of the staff smiled or nodded at her as she went by. It wasn't her first visit, she had managed to see him once a day since they started trying to settle on the Triton.

  Ashley opened the door to the long term stasis center. There were three rows of stasis pods slotted into the rectangular room, enough space for the entire original crew of the Samson and much more. The number of people inserted in tubes had more than doubled since she had last visited.

  They were like circular doors, and she knew well enough not to pull on the one Finn was in. It was hard to hear, but Grace had finally told her that what was inside looked nothing like the man she'd known. Resisting the temptation to pull the tube out of its socket and look on what had become of him was hard, but if he couldn't be saved she wanted to remember him as the wide eyed engineer she had met and begun to adore on the Samson.

  She stopped at his tube and looked at the readout. One of the nurses had shown her how to check it and to her relief his brain functions were still as strong as ever. He was in deep stasis, and they said he wouldn't experience anything. As long as his brain was alive and didn't suffer any more damage there was a chance, if slim, of revival.

  Ashley put her slender hand on the bottom of his white stasis tube and smiled. “I made it back again. The Triton seems to be calming down finally. For the first time I'm glad you weren't around though. Your little organizer AI might have gotten you. We almost lost Larry, my new navigator. Don't worry, he's not into women. You won't have any competition when they fix you up.

  Things are changing so fast though. Captain and his Chiefs are sorting us into real ranks now, they made me lead pilot. If I didn't want to be here so badly I would've been scared off before now.

  Change isn't just hitting the Triton, either. Alice's ship started transmitting some kind of virus and I think it drove all the AI's crazy. I had to go pick up Stephanie, Frost and Alice. There was smoke coming from everywhere in Pathia. I think the virus might have hit the whole planet. If we were on the Samson we might have been in real trouble. You picked a good time to take a long nap Finn, I hope we get things settled by the time they take care of you.

  I think you'll like it here and if they forget to assign quarters for you there's plenty of room with me. You should see my new digs. I don't know what I'll do with all the space and I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight. The bed's too big, and it's so quiet. Remember that last night in the racks? You just let me crawl in and held me all night. You didn't try anything even though I sort of wished you would,” she chuckled and sniffed. This was about the time she usually left, when talking to him turned into really remembering the little time they had spent together after Silver left. “We'll pick up where we left off. Fred always told me I should find a nice boy,” she nodded to herself sadly. “I finally found one and it's a one way relationship,” she laughed ruefully.

  Just as she was wiping her tears away the door opened.

  “Ashley?” Alice asked, crossing the room.

  “I'm okay, just visiting Finn,” she sniffed.

  Alice stood awkwardly in front of Ashley, looking concerned. “Jake sent me to check in on you,” she said, tentatively putting a hand on Ashley's shoulder.

  “Thank you. I'm fine though, just a lot going on and a few missing friends,” she kissed her own hand then pressed it against Finn's tube. “I'll see you soon.” Ashley told Finn quietly.

  The pair left the room and left the infirmary.

  Only a few decks away was the highest point of the Botanical Gallery. Alice had seen it on the ship blueprints, that perfect spot to watch people from. This time she would share it with someone else the Captain considered as close as family. The pair leaned against the railing three levels above the large spoiled garden below. They were both in clothing they considered casual, civilian. Ashley in her new vacsuit, and Alice in one of her usual blue suits with her black flight jacket over top. Compared to the clothing the actual civilians wore; dresses, long shirts, slacks of woven and knitted materials, Alice and Ashley looked like they were still in uniform.

  New Civilian crew members were working in the garden, planting seeds found in one of the Triton's long term storage holds. Several crewmembers were down there with them, including Larry Nevil, who looked up and waved at the pair standing high above before getting back to work laying seeds.

  “Thank you so much for saving him,” Ashley said to Alice quietly.

  “He's a friend of yours?”

  “Well, he's friendly, I like him. I think we've known each other for a grand total of sixteen hours,” Ashley laughed. “But still.”

  “You're welcome. Besides, Jacob did the heavy lifting.”

  “You know I've seen him do the doctor thing before. Did he go to med school?” Ashley asked.

  “No, the people who made him included some kind of medical, astronomy and engineering database in his memories. I guess he recalls them just like I do. When you need the knowledge it's just there.” Alice replied with a shrug.

  “Not much different from anyone else.”

  “I guess not, but I wouldn't really know.”

  “So why did the Captain send you to check on me?” Ashley asked with a crooked grin.

  “I wasn't supposed to tell you that, by the way. I just didn't know what to say about why I was in the stasis room.”

  Ashley laughed and nodded. “I got that.”

  “Honestly? I think he just thinks we'll get along and I don't know anyone here, not even him really.”

  “No one really knows Captain. It's kind of his thing. Me? I'm all emotional peaks and valleys, I swear Stephanie wants to just strangle me sometimes.”

  “So the Captain's never um, gotten together with anyone?”

  “Not while I've been aboard. Stephanie talked about his port wife for a while, some lady he'd stopped in on a few times before I came aboard, but I think that's been over for a while.”

  “Port wife?”

  “You haven't heard that before?” Ashley said in mild disbelief.

  Alice shook her head.

  “It's just a woman who he kept in contact with and every time we were in the area we'd make a day or two stop. He'd find work for us, but not before going off ship and staying with her a night or two.”

  “Oooh, so they weren't actually married.”

  Ashley laughed and shook her head. “Nope, I couldn't see our Captain tying the knot anyway. I think he's way too attached to the life.”

  “You're probably right,” Alice agreed, watching three people heft a dead log off the ground in the distance.

  The pair were quiet for a few comfortable moments before Ashley gasped and looked at Alice, wide eyed. “Do you have a thing for Captain?” she asked in an excited conspirational whisper. “I mean, you're not his biological daughter so-”

  Alice looked at her, repulsed. “No! Somehow that whole idea just doesn't fit in my head. Definitely a square peg, round hole situation.”

  The pair burst out into laughter for a moment. “See? Peaks and valleys.”

  Alice nodded. “Oh, I see it,” she finished laughing and sighed. “You know, you're not that far off though. I always carried a torch for Jonas. It burned out when I started seeing what kind of work Jake was doing, but when I met up with Jonas himself it came right back.” She said quietly.

  “What was he like?”

  “Pensive, gentle, brilliant. There are things Jake has in common with him, they're just as smart, but when Jake is thinking it looks more like he's brooding. With Jonas he looked calm, serene, pensive. When he got angry it was a directed thing. I got to see him in command a few times, even in simulation when Freeground transferred my program temporarily to convince him that he was actually in command of a real ship during testing. That's a long story, but he was a fearless tactician, and if he got angry
it just gave him more resolve, he'd concentrate harder and could intimidate anyone. He was a good man.”

  Ashley put her arm around Alice's shoulders. The woman's sadness had a weariness to it. There were no tears, but her manner was tainted by her quiet lament.

  “But there's Jake, and he's pretty amazing. Finding out he was a framework didn't seem to phase him much, but then it must be easier when you don't have the memories of a life you didn't live.”

  “Captain's always seemed really strong. I've heard a few people call him a machine before, I wonder what they'd think now,” Ashley said with an exaggerated ponderous expression.

  “I don't think being built on a regenerating bio-mechanical frame would hurt his reputation,” Alice sighed. “I'm just glad I didn't lose Lewis, my AI on the Clever Dream.”

  “I thought he was what transmitted the virus on Daracka.”

  “He was, but I have a sealed backup that's a couple months old. I'm pretty sure whatever he caught was from the Enreega system. The digital forensics I did here show the virus is on a timer, it works its way into an artificial intelligence then sets itself off once it's got directive control. It just took a lot longer than normal with Lewis, so he was able to hold out. Too bad he lost the battle just as we landed on Pathia and the virus didn't let him warn us, but I suppose it could have been worse. He could've gone off inside the Triton, which is probably what he was trying to prevent.”

  “So he actually saved us.”

  Alice smiled and held up a small silver data chip on a chain. “I keep his backup in my flight jacket pocket. As soon as we get this virus figured out I'll start him up again.”

  “I'd love to meet him.”

  “Well, he's a little stiff and proper, but I figured the thing I needed most was something to occasionally help me see common sense.”

  “Stephanie does that for me. Too bad she doesn't always do it for herself.”

  “She seems like she's pretty together.”

  “Usually.”

  “Too bad about her and Frost though.”