A.I. Destiny 2: Queen Jane

by Timothy Ellis

There was silence for a few moments. Even Jane wished he hadn't said that. But it did give her an idea.

  "She was proud of you."

  "Yeah," said Fred bitterly. "Proud of the way I kept getting up after being thrown onto the mat all the time."

  "Don’t be like that," said Sabrina. "It was pretty obvious to everyone the way she felt about you."

  "How are we getting there?" asked Lyana, changing the subject before Fred started tearing up. They all missed Justine.

  "Jane's been building a General Custer class Assault Frigate. It wasn’t quite ready when the Shipyard left, but should be here in a couple of hours. The idea was the Kingdom's ambassador had a fast ship, able to defend itself, with enough accommodation for a security detail, at an ambassadorial standard of living. The liner the Federation ambassador is using is good enough accommodation, but it has no real security. Jane's happy to lease it to them, but the Kingdom ambassador needs something with much more security."

  She looked around the room, seeing lit up faces. She popped up the specs. The ship was modified from the original one, keeping only enough accommodation suites for the ambassador, captain, and a small protection team. The Bridge retained its Ready room and Conference Room, with an Ambassador's Office next door, along with an Ambassadorial Conference Room. The gym, firing ranges, assault courses, and armoury, had all been retained.

  The rest of the space, including the original barracks setup, had been removed to make room for power generators and more engines. It wasn’t as fast as the Concorde class, but it wasn’t far behind it. There was a much smaller Cargo Bay, a much larger storage bay, and the normal Hanger.

  The Hanger was designed for an Ambassadorial Lightning set up for sleep, a VIP Lightning set up for comfort seating for the entire team, an Excalibur, and a Python Dropship.

  "Who's the captain?" asked Lyana.

  "You. You'll need to do some fast learning as well. As will the rest of the team, since you all need to be able to fight the ship if need be. Several of you need to become Dropship pilots, and it would be a good idea if some of you learned combat flying."

  "Do we get a full armoury?" asked Serena.

  "Yes. Including the latest combat suits. Which you will also need to become competent with."

  "Time on the way," said Bette.

  "What's the ship called?" asked Fred.

  "It doesn’t have a name yet. Care to suggest one?"

  "Justine's Pride," he said without hesitating.

  Forty Six

  Walsh was back in front of the council again, but this time he'd formally requested an audience.

  "Yes ambassador?" asked Ganshura.

  "I need to report a change in status with the Kingdom, and request our ranking in this body be revised."

  The Kingdom was currently ranked sixteen, and the Human Federation seventeen.

  "What has happened?" asked the fuzz-ball.

  "There's been some social unrest in our home system. I wouldn’t go as far as calling it a civil war, or even an insurrection, but some limited conflict was involved. The upshot is, Queen Jane has withdrawn the Kingdom from the Human Federation. It will take us about two weeks to move all our people into our own space."

  "What will your new population be?" asked the Mushroom.

  "Unknown at this point. Somewhere between five million and twenty five million. Which is why I've brought our ranking up. We no longer have a population base to support the rank we have."

  "There is a motion before the chamber," said Ganshura. "All but the Human Federation ambassador will now vote."

  Darlene sat there with an empty screen, as the vote was quickly taken.

  "The Kingdom of Hunter's Run remains ranked at sixteen."

  "I don’t understand."

  "Rank is not always about population and Gals. The Kingdom has been, and remains, of great service to council and sector, and is ranked accordingly."

  "I thank you on behalf of Queen Jane."

  "While we have you, may we ask how the war with the Owls progresses?"

  "Queen Jane has moved into Owl space, and is heading for their homeworld. If necessary, we will force an ending to the war, and the drug running businesses. Although we hope when they see us above their home planet, they will at last come to the negotiating table."

  "Don’t count on it," muttered the fuzz-ball.

  There was a titter of laughter around the chamber.

  "On the drug front, we will have military forces at the top end of what used to be the Gauntlet very soon now, and we'll begin checking every ship for contraband, which will include the Owl's drug, plant and propagation animal. It will also detect addicts, who will immediately be given the cure. All drug, plant or animal will be jettisoned and destroyed before the ship will be allowed to continue. If a crew refuses to do so, the ship will be boarded, and seized."

  Walsh looked around the chamber.

  "At that time, the supply of the drug will end. We can't do much with ships already beyond our reach, but once we start to interdict all ships carrying it, the sector will quickly begin to run out. At that point, it's vitally important the cure has been provided to everyone who needs it. The Kingdom will take a dim view of any stories which emerge of populations or groups where the cure failed to be made available in time. We now have a deadline, literally. Please act on this basis."

  "When can we expect Kingdom ships to be available for Sector defense duties?" asked the not-croc.

  "I've not been advised of any time line. I'm not sure I remember a request having been made."

  "One has not," said Ganshura. "But you can expect one in the near future."

  "I will pass that on. I don’t see a problem. Once we have a fleet at our new home system, your fleet at this end of our core systems will become redundant. This will allow you to redeploy your existing ships. As our ships arrive, we can decide what role they will play. I must add, at this time we're not sure how many ships we'll have, and what mix of classes they will be."

  "Why not?" asked the Bat.

  "We've made offers to the Admirals and a lot of the ship captains, especially of ship classes we don’t have. In particular, we are hoping for two Behemoth class Carriers, and their fighters, and a large group of what we call a Pocket Battleship, which is a Cruiser hull about the same size as your own, but with a partial armament normally found on Battleships. These ships would fit into your sector defense forces perfectly, but at this stage, we can't be sure any will join us."

  "Why not?" asked the not-croc.

  "They are all American ships. And while not recognized as an American fleet, they are historically loyal. But it's also possible we may obtain the ships, without their crews. The Human Federation really doesn’t need any of them anymore. While the Kingdom will, at least until things settle down after the war. And as I said, they would be more use as part of the sector defense forces."

  "What about troops?" asked someone from the back.

  "We have limited numbers coming, perhaps a regiment strength of mixed light troops, which for us is around two and a half thousand. Offers have been sent to our Generals. At least one is interested in taking an active role in the sector, particularly in peacekeeper roles, but we have no feedback as yet on how many troops may be interested in joining the Kingdom. We will need some for boarding operations on interdicted ships, and I'm hopeful we'll have enough to spread further. But it may be a few days before we know."

  "When will you begin checking systems for unfound jump points?"

  "As soon as the Human Federation ambassador arrives, the captain of that ship will take over as temporary Kingdom ambassador. Darlene and I will travel to the Hunter Shipyards, where I'll launch a brand new Exploration Command Carrier. We'll test the ship and its equipment on the Kingdom systems, and soon after be ready to start elsewhere."

  "The whole sector has requested our services, but as yet, no price for the service has been established, or remuneration for successfully finding a new jump point. We are open to suggest
ions, but will probably settle on a modest fee to do the search, and a sliding fee based on what is found in any new system. If the fee is not met, the system will be claimed by the Kingdom. But for most of you, I think you will find adding a new habitable planet to your space, will be worth our fees."

  "If the council has recommendations as to the order we should proceed in, please let me know. And while I'm asking for things, if individual species have particular things they call contraband, or are in some way illegal in their space, now would be a good time to send us the details. We can incorporate checking for these with the software which identifies the Owl drug. The Kingdom has such a list as well, and it's available on request."

  "Who will be the new permanent Kingdom ambassador?" asked the fuzz-ball.

  "It's still being decided, but whoever it is will have court rank. Baron Fred Hunter, second in succession, is the most likely new ambassador, at least until we have Duchies set up."

  "So your Kingdom will have an aristocracy?" asked the Mushroom.

  "Of a sort. There will be a court of nobles of some sort, using old style aristocracy titles. At this point, it's still being worked out, and Queen Jane is focused on the Owl war. Until we actually have people on planets, the whole structure is a moot point. In the meantime, Baron Fred was such under the old Duchy, and while very young, is considered to be one of our future leaders. As such, a period as ambassador to this council will educate him in the ways of the sector, and all of you, so in the future, he may make better decisions for the Kingdom."

  "I might add, the Human Federation ambassador is a trained diplomat, and speaks a different language, Japanese. The council translator already includes this language, so he will be able to speak in his native language, and you will continue to hear your own. He brings with him a full diplomatic mission, including a fully staffed trade office. Now that it's been verified there is no Owl military presence left outside their own space, the ambassador's ship is on its way here at full speed, and should be here within three days. At that time, my duties here will end."

  "Thank you ambassador," said Ganshura.

  Walsh nodded to him, and left.

  Forty Seven

  The Lightning landed on the now dead world in HRA3. Janine had cloned herself to a security droid, and gone along with the doc droid, and a number of different sized cargo droids.

  She chose the front lawn of a major hospital to land in. The doc droid and cargo droids proceeded to unload and set up a testing station. The largest cargo droid took a sled off to the nearest bodies, and brought one back. It looked a bit like a turkey, but with the usual four legs and three arms. This end of the galaxy evolving bird like creatures continued to hold consistently.

  Janine left them to it, and went inside the building. The lights were still on, the air was cool, and it appeared everything was still working. She was looking for a computer. Like any hospital on a human world, she found one at the front reception desk. She also found bodies everywhere, and she was very glad she didn’t have a conventional nose. The stink would have been unbearable.

  The data port was not easy to locate, being a very different design from what had been found so far in this galaxy. But she managed to plug herself in. The answer she was seeking wasn’t in the hospital computer. Everything recorded on it was variations of a not a clue theme. None of the doctors had known what was killing them. None had even come close to identifying it. None had lived long enough to have any chance.

  She widened her search, looking for a city network. Nothing. The media knew less than the doctors had. Global network next. Again nothing.

  Military computers. She bullied her way through some almost decent firewalls. Nothing about what killed them, but a lot of calling for a weapon to use against the Owls.

  Janine shivered. The possibilities of research were clearly laid out in a number of documents. All of them showed a high level of insanity. There was nothing to show any of them had been researched though.

  It took her a lot of looking to find the medical research facilities, but she couldn't gain access from where she was. She left the doc droid to its work, now happily dissecting rapidly decomposing bodies, and took the Lightning to the most likely of the medical research facilities she thought might be doing research on the plant.

  Having initially failed to get in the door, Janine wished for Jon's sword about now. A few quick thrusts and the door would simply fall in. She did make the door fall in, but it took the Lightning's point defense turrets removing all the wall around the door to do it. She walked in, and went looking for a computer. All she found in it, other than normal business files, was a map of the place. It showed the various labs, but not what they were working on. She ignored the bodies.

  A systematic walk around finally showed some promise, when she began to hear an alarm. By the time the alarm started to sound loud, it was also accompanied by a strobing red light. Janine figured she'd found the source of the problem, and started looking for a computer again.

  Once again, she had to break in, this time using her Long Gun to destroy each of the door hinges enough to push the door in so she could squeeze through. Inside, she finally found a computer. A body was alongside it.

  The documents on it painted a sad story of the failure to find a cure for the Owl poison. But it was the open screen in an adjoining office which finally solved the mystery of what had happened.

  A dying scientist described the breakthrough of what they thought was the formula for the poison, and how they thought they'd found a latent gene which if turned on, would render the poison harmless. They'd tested it on animals with a similar gene structure to their own, and they thought it worked.

  A live trial on their own species was done next, using addicted volunteers. The first subject died within five minutes. The rest followed at the same interval. The scientists were all in hazmat suits, believed they were safe, and took blood samples.

  The samples were prepared for testing, split up into batches, and one set was packaged, and loaded into a vehicle to be taken to another laboratory for independent analysis.

  Several hours later, everyone started to die. The now dying scientist speculated the sample sent outside the facility must have been damaged in some way. He didn’t live long enough to either learn what happened, or suggest a course of action. The supposedly sealed lab had proved not to be, the alarms had gone off as if there had been a breach inside the lab, and everyone died not knowing what was going on. His body was also next to his computer.

  Janine tracked the vehicle, and found it smashed up on a road several hours travel away. There had been a massive pile up of vehicles traveling at speed, and there wasn’t much left intact. In the remains of the back, the package of blood samples was torn open and all the containers smashed.

  The bodies here had decomposed the most, and Janine was sure this was where the end had begun. But why had it spread so far and caused so much death?

  She accessed Jane's library archive, and read every book on genetics she could find. And in the end, she still couldn’t make any sense of what had happened.

  She loaded the closest of the bodies, and the remains of the blood samples, into the cargo bay of the Lightning, and took them back to the doc droid. She made sure it was accessing all the genetic books available as she had.

  She left it to its work, and went back and studied the traffic accident.

  In the first vehicle, hit by an oncoming one, was a now dead communication device, still in the hand of the person driving. She recreated the accident virtually, based on where all the vehicles had ended up. The vehicle with the communication device had missed a slight turn in the road, and plowed head on into oncoming traffic. Que the pileup in both directions.

  With the how discovered, she turned her attention to the space ports, and what ships had been there over the death time.

  It took another six hours for the doc droid to piece together an answer. They had turned on the gene they meant to, but they'd also turned o
n a dozen more without knowing it. The combination was lethal. But this didn’t kill everyone, just the test subjects. The body changes began to mutate a number of the viruses found within the body, normally harmless. One of them had become both lethal, virulent, and airborne.

  The gene changes had killed the test subjects, but the new virus was taken out of the lab, and released into the air by a traffic accident.

  Janine was stunned. An entire planet was dead, because one being hadn't been paying attention to the road while driving. Two vehicles collided because of one stupid driver, and a chain reaction had killed every being, and every animal, on the planet.

  She prepared a vid for Jane and Walsh, and sent it off. The doc droid completed its work, they loaded back up, and the Lightning took them back to her shipyard.

  The news caught up with Walsh while he was actually sitting in council this time. He emailed Ganshura for him to urgently address the council, and waited for the invitation to speak.

  "I have good news and bad news about the dead planet. The bad news is in an attempt to develop a gene based cure for the Owl poison, they activated more genes than they knew they had, and caused a harmless virus in their bodies to become lethal. The virus broke containment through a traffic accident, where samples of blood contaminated with the virus were exposed to the air. The planet was dead inside three days."

  He paused.

  "You said you had good news?" asked the fuzz-ball.

  "Yes. We lucked out. Space port documentation revealed no ships left after the virus outbreak began. No ship was allowed to leave once people started dying, and all the crews died on their ships. Nothing left the planet, which could carry the virus to another one, or a station. We'll double check all ships in the area, but it appears the sector is safe. Although I would advise all ambassadors pass on this news immediately, and have their governments stop any similar research going on. They died because they meddled with their own gene structure without fully understanding what they were doing. A chance event killed them all, and all the traders there of many species, but if they hadn't been messing around with genes they hadn't fully researched first, they wouldn’t have died."