The Commander

by Kevin Groh

  Annie continued: »This is all correct. It’s a miracle how the Pintans pump their water from the depths of their world upwards and also the rich cave plants and animals are a fascinating subject. That’s what we’ll be doing in the next lesson. Today we will discuss the physiology of the Pintans.«

  They looked at holographic detail images of the species. They were thinner than humans and they were not overweight because their metabolism was much more efficient. Despite their narrow stature, muscle density was higher, which generally gave them a lot of strength. This was mainly due to the rougher living conditions on Pinta. They saw the typical blue Pintans, but also their green relatives. The internal organs were very similar to those of humans, but the arrangement was different. The heart, for example, was at stomach level.

  The group was fascinated by the differences between them. Most of them had had little contact with aliens and had hardly seen any apart from films. On Utopia, there was only a small population of other peoples.

  The recruits gradually noticed the effects of daily training and endurance runs. The sore muscles and aching limbs were getting better and better and they felt generally fitter. Urma and Roderick became even more athletic than they already were. Henry and Gina lost weight and even got smaller uniforms. Kelly’s already stunning appearance was further perfected through training, so that Carter had to think of fish, chairs or a Salvani several times a day to escape embarrassing situations. He himself also became faster and stronger. The T-shirts he put on at the weekends became tight at the sleeves. Even the rather skinny Leena got some slight curves. She enjoyed standing naked in front of the mirror in their room in the evening and wondered that she suddenly had a rounder butt. Carter always smiled when she was happy about it. »You know, I could well imagine you working in espionage. Since you have no problems with nudity and seduction, you can really achieve something there.«

  »Well, I’d probably need some implants first. Because even with all the sports in the world, I’ll never look like Kelly. And let’s face it, even the nicest guy with the best intentions is into Kelly.« She winked at him. He shrugged his shoulders.

  »What should I say? She’s totally pretty and a lovely person. I have never experienced such a pure and bright character before. Of course, I see it quite strongly through the pink glasses, but you have to agree with me that there is something about her.«

  Leena scratched her head: »Yes, I know what you mean. She seems as if she is never angry. Always friendly and gentle. You can’t be angry with her and she seems very innocent. Haha, I hope you won’t be disappointed if you really manage to end up with her. Then you get to see her body in all its glory, but you can’t really enjoy it because she’s a prude. Or she has funny preferences or just likes very boring stuff.«

  »That’s something I find out when it gets to that point. But I really don’t know if I have a chance with her ...«

  Leena lifted her eyebrows slightly. »Why shouldn’t you? She spends a lot of time with us and likes to chat with you. She comes into the room here or spends the weekends with us here on the premises. I don’t think she does it because of my company, because if you visit your father, she does the same. Of all the guys here, you’re the most popular with her. And oh yes, you’re not the only one who secretly watches his swarm when he doesn’t look. She stares at you just as often. I notice that at least five times a day.«

  Carter had to hold back the joy, but of course, Leena knew that this had given him a massive euphoria boost. She sometimes teased him with his crush, but in general, she liked how happy he was. »What about you and Roderick? Lately, he gets less rough as soon as you’re within earshot. He becomes more offensive towards me because he fears me as a competitor. I have noticed that you also become less and less rejecting when he talks to you.«

  Leena made ›Hm.‹ and added: »I only reward his efforts to act less like a wild boar. That may be a good method for training with Jazzir, but not for me. He sometimes talks about his home or something. I listen to this so that I have ammunition against him when he gets on my nerves again.«

  She said that in a casual tone, but with a bit too much indifference. Carter felt she was overplaying the fact that she might not have been reluctant after all. But he didn’t want to annoy her because she didn’t quite realize it yet.

  A few days later there were computer lessons again. However, there was nothing more to do with hardware and software, just ›interface training‹. They shuffled towards the computer room, but despite the prospect of the boring teacher, they were a bit curious about what to expect via video transmission. Instead, a Salvani came in. It was a bit smaller than the last one they had seen. It had a grayish body and one of its arms was missing. An antenna had folded and the back of the body was further out. As soon as they heard the synthetic voice, they realized it was a woman. »Good morning, recruits. I am Kova, your teacher of higher technology. I realize you haven’t had more intimate contact with my species yet, so some of me seems unfamiliar. But don’t worry, I won’t bite or eat any of you. At least not today.«, she laughed.

  She told a little about herself so that the group could get a picture. She had been a field researcher who had tested new technologies on military missions. The feedback from the troops was the best help you could have for developing. Unfortunately, their last deployment ended with the loss of an arm to a predator on a distant world. Since then she only developed in labs or passed on her comprehensive understanding. In the course of the training cooperation of the initiative, she was employed as a teacher. »Promoting knowledge has always been my greatest desire, and since the founding of the Allied Species Initiative, I have other ways to do that.«

  She walked up and down and talked.

  »You have certainly seen the theme of today’s teaching. Interface training. So the first question is: What is meant by interface?«

  Leena’s arm rocketed. After an encouraging nod, she said:

  »Interface in technology refers to an intermediate point. The most common use of the term is in the human-machine interface.«

  »In our case, from organic life form to a machine, because humans are not the only ones who work with technology. But otherwise absolutely correct. More precisely, science is concerned with the question of how to interact with machines in a meaningful way. In all forms of life, the brain is nothing more than an organic computer that carries out complex data processing using electrical impulses and synapses. However, it does not work with ones and zeros or the symbol-based methods of other peoples. Understanding the symbols of a computer takes a very long time. Interface technology is a branch of science that specializes in presenting and outputting machine data in a way that makes it as easy as possible for a brain to pick it up. Since a brain only reacts to external impulses, direct data transmission is impossible. There have been several attempts in different species to couple living beings to computers, but the results have all been unspeakable. So we go a different way. The most effective way of capturing information is visual. Feeling, tasting and smelling are much too limited or imprecise as a medium because your species does not have these senses sufficiently developed. Even the good noses of the T’zun are unsuitable for this. Audio models also existed, but then you can only receive information linearly. Lorgans, Salvani, and Vindurans can absorb several audio frequencies at the same time, but the efficiency is also too low with us. That’s why we use visual solutions.«

  She held up modern glasses and pointed to their tables. Before all of them, such devices came up. They were completely beside themselves.

  »These are HUD glasses!«, Billy exclaimed enthusiastically.

  »They are, Mr. Kennedy. These cyber glasses are for practice only. But do you also know why you should use them?«

  »I suppose a soldier in combat can’t always pay attention to every little detail in his environment without getting tired.«, Carter assumed.

  Kova bounced her head up and down and her jaws clicked together. »Very true! Most soldiers
use helmets, tactical hoods or other headgear with an interface. You humans have also been using synthium upgrades for the eyeballs and retina that perform this function. The basic function is the so-called operational HUD. This abbreviation stands for Head-Up Display. The advantage of this technology is that all information relevant to the soldier is permanently projected into his field of vision without having to change his viewing direction. This type of display was developed for pilots and originally the data was projected onto the windscreen. In the meantime, progress has been made in this area.«

  Kelly asked: »Why does this work better than acoustic signals? You absorb far too much information with your eyes.«

  »That’s exactly the reason. For humans, vision is the most strongly perceived sense. A focused person is usually concentrated on what he sees. It often happens that he simply fades out everything he hears. The brain can only process a limited amount of information at once and hearing often does not carry as much weight. The optics provide an overwhelming amount of input and the HUD systems help the brain to separate the relevant data from the rest. This works by capturing everything seen and searching for patterns. These are then highlighted for the eye to see. Put them on and see for yourselves.«

  Carter did what he was told and switched them on. After a short moment, he saw some lines of text on the left side of his field of vision. There were things like temperature, time, his exact location and the likes. The data changed depending on the viewing direction. He looked at Kova and the glasses loaded a passport photo and placed it next to her. Then there was her personal file, whose entries were sorted by importance. When Carter looked at the table in front of him, the HUD gave him the manufacturer, the material and several measurements.

  Kova explained: »The glasses interact with your brain through invisible impulses and recognize your thoughts. Up to a certain point at least. It cannot read exactly what you are thinking, but it can recognize active intentions and adjust its representation. The movement of your eyes helps to capture your goal. Depending on what it is, an object, a person or a place, it displays relevant data. What you are seeing right now is a bit chaotic. That’s because each HUD has to be adjusted individually by you, and it’s a question of practice. You will find that there are two kinds of thoughts. Some are more passive when you think about something, for example. At that moment the brain is busy with itself and the glasses can’t read it. As soon as you actively think, think out loud so to speak, the glasses can recognize and implement these intentions. That sounds a bit strange now, I know, but in time you will understand and be able to use it. In the same way, you practice separating the important from the unimportant when you see something. You learn to hide many details that you don’t need. Other details will catch your eye more clearly. That’s exactly what this training is for.«

  They walked around and took great pleasure in seeing the results of the glasses. The HUD seemed to know exactly what information they were looking at and highlighted it. Kova showed them the program they could use to configure the behavior of the interface. It was so complex that it took weeks to use it all. She also explained that many of the settings were not immediately available because you had to develop your personal preferences.

  They had a lunch break and their heads processed the new impressions. They hardly noticed the tasteless flavor of today’s soup. Kelly said: »The amount of data is unimaginable! I was completely overloaded ... My eyes still twitch.«

  In fact, her eyes seemed to be constantly looking back and forth at lightning speed. Roderick sat next to her and said: »Very cool tech. I’ve always wanted something like this for my car, but nobody can afford it. Except for Sanders maybe.«

  He kept teasing, although nobody reacted to it. Billy, who usually helped to annoy Carter, was at the next table in a lively conversation with Urma and Nambur. »What do you think: Is it possible to switch off such a modified eyeball? If you have it day and night, then you get a hell of a headache ...«, Jimbo thought.

  »I’m much more worried about who will get to see the images. Imagine you have this tech in your eye and go shopping. Or you shower and then look at yourself in the mirror. Or you have sex. Your superiors could comfortably follow all of it.«, Leena criticized.

  Gina commented: »I don’t think they put people on duty for so many soldiers just to follow everything. This is probably done by VIs. They don’t care if you lay naked somewhere or shoplift. They only become aware when your working hours start.«

  Leena stroked her forehead: »In any case, I wouldn’t like the fact that someone is constantly watching. Especially not some corrupt official.«

  Although Carter didn’t always share her paranoia, he agreed with her on this point. The freedom of the individual was in danger here.

  The next day they shared their fears with Kova and she responded with a knowing nod:

  »Such worries are not new to me, but I can reassure you. These glasses and upgrades only record a few minutes at a time. Only combat missions are saved for analysis. Everything else is overwritten immediately after a short time. There is no traceable storage. In addition, the HUD is programmed to process everything rationally. For example, it cannot distinguish right from wrong. If you would kill an innocent person while the glasses are active, they would only judge the angle of entry, the condition of the person and possible wounds.«

  Leena seemed reassured, but she remained skeptical. It was in her nature to doubt and question everything that had been said. Kova continued: »An HUD device of any kind processes data and receives information via a connection to a server. Typically, soldiers are part of the crew of a spaceship. Most military ships have copies of their military’s databases on board, which are then forwarded individually to a unit’s query from a VI. If the connection is interrupted for any reason, the HUD needs a different source. In that case, it uses the ZigNet, which of course is much slower.«

  »Don’t you mean the ComNet?«, Jane asked.

  Kova laughed which sounded like a metallic noise from a loudspeaker, while her actual laughter sounded more like a distant squeak and click.

  »The ComNet is the human version of the ZigNet. When your people first met the Salvani, we gave you a lot of knowledge. But our state of the art technology could not be easily transferred to your hardware. So they upgraded your planetary ›Internet‹ for interstellar communication and called it ComNet. But it is only a weak variant of what is possible. Since the foundation of the Initiative, we have been supplying your military with modern transponders and receivers for our ZigNet. It’s like the Internet of humans, only it stretches across the entire galaxy. The range limit has not been defined until today, because nobody has traveled so far. The Salvani developed the transmission technology together with the T’zun.«

  Carter knew about the ZigNet, but for private purposes, the ComNet was mostly used. All the new technologies were impressive, but it was a lot to process. So they were all looking forward to the weekend. This week the group had agreed to go on a trip to New Denver.

  Leena had once again shown herself to be rebellious and Banes had been charging her with punishment, so she didn’t come. Carter said goodbye to her and felt guilty that he had to leave her behind. She, on the other hand, reminded him that he could use the weekend to intensify his efforts over Kelly. This statement helped him to leave quickly.

  Teambuilding

  Billy had taken care of the transport. It was an elongated shuttle without landing blades that took off like an old vertical jet fighter with thrusters. They all met at the landing site and Kelly was already waiting for Carter with her backpack. He had quickly put on some simple clothes, a pair of jeans and a simple white shirt. She also wore blue jeans, but a peach top and closed high-heeled shoes. She looked stunning as her rusty hair blew in the wind.

  The others were already there and Roderick again gave a poisonous comment on his quite obviously consciously normal clothing. Carter had hoped that he would not come. Billy also teased him about the cheap loo
k, but only casually and not really badly meant. He himself wore beige shorts, moccasins and a pink designer shirt with a gold chain.

  »Sanders, I really don’t know why you try so hard to look discreet. If you can afford brand clothes, you should wear them. It’s bad enough that good Kelly doesn’t wear designer clothes here. But unlike you, she can at least cover it up with her awesome tits.«, he laughed.

  She seemed annoyed, so Carter replied: »Oh Billy, don’t be jealous. You already have a boyfriend and he has a really presentable front as well.«

  By that, he meant the pectoral muscles of Roderick, who hadn’t noticed anything which Carter was quite happy about. Kelly laughed and seemed to be in a better mood. He winked at her and she stopped near him. Jane wasn’t far either but talked to Gina and Nambur. They all got into the vehicle, which turned out to be an expensive limousine Billy wanted to show off from the inside.

  »Does your father know what you’re spending his money on?«, Tom asked him.

  »Oh please! The old man has so many zeros in his account that he hardly notices a few smaller expenses. Besides, I’ve been forcibly recruited and he wants to make sure I feel comfortable.«

  Kelly whispered into Carter’s ear: »You shouldn’t show money so openly when you’re in a city like New Denver. That can be quite dangerous ...«

  He nodded to her and when he looked at her, her face was close to his. She smelled wonderful and he had to force himself to look forward again. The limousine lifted off and set course for the city. The day would be sunny and the skyscrapers shone in metallic gray. The traffic was divided in two. The working class drove the streets on the ground with vehicles on wheels, while the privileged used flying shuttles high above them. For safety reasons, these vehicles all flew at the same height to allow controllable ›road traffic‹. Occasionally, however, individual shuttles were seen breaking out of order.