Tramp Wars: The Enemy

by Larry Roberts

  Mark looked dumbfounded at the Captain. “Aaa. What surprises?”

  “Now that depends on whether you get rid of that hulk in the other lock or not.” Slapping Mark on the shoulder the Captain smiled. “I will have a crew here and ready to work by 0900.” Then turned and headed for his fighter sitting just outside the lock on the side rollout panel decking that had not needed to be checked for remains.

  Mark watched the Captain climb up into his cockpit and take off as the rest of the APC’s with big red crosses on their sides took to the air as well, sliding down the middle in formation, leaving the lock suddenly empty. The perfect formation with the APC’s seeming close enough to touch, pivoted as one and headed out of the port weaving between ships still in perfect formation. Making Mark shake his head in admiration.

  "Mark." Mickey said in his ears. "The lock is empty enough of bio signs now that I can run a complete scan of the lock and make sure nothing was missed. I need you to walk slowly down the center of the lock without moving your head around to much please."

  "Ok, where do you want me to start?"

  In the center against the end bulkhead would be fine and face the bulkhead to begin with for a few seconds. Take out your torch please, you can use it to mark any remains I find." Mark did as she asked, took out his torch and held it across his chest in both hands and stood there for a good minute. "Ok Mark, except for blood splatter, the bulkhead is clean, all the remains have been removed. Please turn around."

  Mark felt like he was at attention so he placed his toe behind his heel and smartly whipped around 180 degrees to face the hatch end of the lock and stood their happy with himself for still being able to make the turn at attention smartly without falling on his butt. He did not notice the marine behind an empty cart at the entry hatch watching him wondering what the heck he was doing.

  "Mark you can start a slow walk please." Mark started slowly walking down the middle of the lock past the fighter that had stopped at an angle just off the center line of the lock. Walking through where the fighter’s outer wing panel would have been if it had not been blown off.

  Captain Summers watched him as well, baffled as she discreetly fallowed behind Mark. Wondering what he was doing. Wondering if he had suddenly gone bonkers.

  A cart with a couple of boxes on it was being pushed slowly back down the lock towered the ramp behind Mark. The Marine having made to many trips was in no hurry anymore as he followed Mark after he had tried to get his attention to find out if the boxes were needed or not but Mark had refused to even look at him (Mark’s tired mind was still reeling and had not even noticed let alone heard the marine), as he slowly walked down the middle of the lock staring straight ahead. His torch held like a weapon. Baffling the marine even more until he remembered that Mark had converted his torch into a lethal weapon in the Cargo Hold battle. (Not knowing this was a different torch.

  The priest walked along beside the cart reading from the book, his hand on top of the long narrow boxes on the cart shaking holy water on each one at a time. Purifying each of them before putting them to use. The marine walked around a crater cut out of the deck with a number written beside it. As the cart turned the Priest bumped into the cart. Looking up he too noticed Mark at attention slowly walking down the lock. Baffled he watched for a few moments and having finished purifying the boxes, walked up behind Mark and said a few words and sprinkled holy water over him falling into step behind him as he prayed. Crewmen around the lock were busy putting away equipment turning out the little work light poles while leaving some magged to the deck around some of the larger deeper holes with their lights still on to keep anyone from falling into them and then headed for the exit hatch. Giving Mark some strange looks on their way out. The lock slowly becoming mostly quiet and deserted.

  Beyond, out on the far end of the ramp a white hot loop of hair fine wire lit up the sky as it slowly did its work. Outlining the smaller vehicles s as they one at a time lifted off the ramp until only one was left.

  Mark finely reached the end of the lock, stopping at the hatch opening onto the ramp gazing out into the night watching the last of the work crews over a hundred and fifty feet away finishing up the grizzly work before daring or wanting to stop. Knowing he still had the ramp to check. He slipped the torches barrel into the belt on his side just so he would not have to dig it out of his pocket again and waited. The Priest went around him and started on out onto the ramp but suddenly stopped. Turning the Priest looked up from his book and stepping up to Mark. He knelt down on one knee taking Mark’s hand into his, touching it to his forehead before kissing it. The marine stopped and watched in amazement as Mark’s mouth dropped open in shock. "Thank you Commander. You have done the lords work tonight. I pray that the lord will continue to watch over and protect you. A great shame has been lifted from the ship by you. May your devotion to guard these pour soles that have leached into this hallowed deck serve to remind all never to let it happen again."

  Mark watched the priest turn and slowly continue out onto the ramp reading from the good book followed by the marine. They continued out in no apparent hurry as Mark took a breath shaking his head too tired to even try to figure out what had just happened as his attention turned to the bright cutter zinging out at the end of the ramp. "Ya Mickey; hopefully they won't be long. I am beat." His attention turned to the huge gas giant to one side and the stars with a narrow asteroid belt running across them on the other. Another narrow belt of satellite factories, habitats and stations crossed at an angle across the planets ecliptic. The occasional plume of a ship leaving or arriving along the Sat ring adding to the beauty.

  Captain Summers stopped a good 20 feet back next to one of the maintenance carts and leaned against the gear. Mark shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes and bowed his head for a few seconds with a sad slow shake. “Ok Captain Summers, we may as well get it over with. Ask your questions that have nothing to do with the fighter.” Without looking back. The star port with half a hundred ships with their marker beacons lit stretched out before him with a few lit up still transferring cargo, a few party stragglers still down in the pit at that late hour. Most had become disappointed when they did not even get a chance to see the hero Collins. Though the news shows the next day would go into hours of analysis about both the battle that long range sensors had recorded from orbit and the wreck that finally landed inside the Star Queen and then the mass of rumors about hundreds of bodies in the Star Queen’s lock and a critically wounded Ensign that had made everyone that had seen her on the news casts fall in love with. The fact that pirates had managed to get a whole squadron of fighters onto England’s Crown planet more than upset a good portion of the populace.

  Frowning, she bit her lip as she started to step forward and then stopped before stepping into a small pit shaped like a baby. She looked around at the little craters scattered around her in the now mostly darkened lock and then carefully stepped around between them.

  "I thought you would be used to that after years in the English Navy." Mark said without turning around.

  "No; you never get quite used to it. Especially when they are so young."

  Walking up next to Mark, he looked over at her. “Just for your information I have been told that once the AI has bonded, it cannot be transferred to a new host so if you decide to take her, all she will be is a dumb ass computer that will be dead in a few hours when her power runs out. Something about my DNA Ingram’s making up part of her power matrix.”

  “Don’t sweat it. I am not here after your ah AI, Mickey is what you named it?”

  “Ya well that is what is embossed on the case so technically I didn’t name her anything.”

  “How long have you had your AI? Your Mickey is a female?”

  “Ya so what?" Mark looked at the Captain and then back out at the cutters. "God! I feel like I have had her for months, years even.” Shaking his head. “Everything has been so jumbled up and busy but I have ah…No she is not interested in hours minutes and t
he seconds for crying out loud. Sometimes you are so machine stupid.” Turning to the Captain, Mark smiled. “Tell you what, why don’t you meet her yourself and she can answer all your questions. Mickey introduce yourself.”

  Footsteps approached from behind them as Mickey walked up to stand in front of Mark a few feet in front of the Captain. “Excuse me for not shaking your hand Captain but I am glad to meet you. I have found that talking to people is very stimulating. Oh and I have been reading your bio signs every time you have been around Mark and just remember he is mine bitch so switch it off. It was bad enough having to share him with Dian. At least I liked her. Now how can I help you dear?”

  It took several minutes for Mark to close his mouth at the way Mickey had acted. Half in shock as he listened intently. Suddenly expecting a cat fight or ground breaking change to his universe conversation. But the two girls after a few minutes had everything straightened out and immediately settled down to having a nice conversation that he got bored rather quickly of as the girls were suddenly best friends forever. Then went on to talk about cloths and what Mickey should wear. With the Captain even asking her what she liked to wear before the bombs hit a thousand years ago. Shaking his head for woman being women; even AI women. He heard his name mentioned a few times after he went back to trying to figure out how to get rid of the damn cars and a junk shuttle hulk, not even hearing the rest. Every idea that came to mind he rejected. Then tired, he started trying to figure out what to buy with the credits he already had and again stated rejecting ideas as being juvenile and or junk or of no use to retarded industry cultures he had heard was common in the outback.

  Shaking his head as the Captain asked Mickey. "Did you have something to do with the Navel supply computers classifying the Star Queen as a reserve combat ship?"

  Still in shock from the Priest's actions and Mickey's initial greeting to the Captain, Mark held his breath as he swallowed and waited for the answer that would drop a shit load of crap down his neck.

  "Your supply AI Computer Tower Controller died 500 years ago during a time of stressful relations with a neighboring planet and they were arming anything that could make it between the two star systems. I simply may have greased a path for some of the old subroutines that had not been deleted to surface when the AI was trying to do its job. Mainly, replace a combat loss. The responsibility lays completely with your supply AI Tower. It also helped that the name Star Queen is very common and in this case 500 years ago a ship named the Star Queen was very important in the English Naval Reserve. It seems a glitch somehow added the 52 to the name of record that may have been blank. After all who ever heard of a name that good without a qualifying number."

  Mark shook his head wondering if the Captain would by that shit. “Mickey, I though you could not lie?”

  “I did not lie Mark. (Somehow), covers a lot of ground and possibilities. Not being specific is not lying.

  He smiled to himself and asked Mickey under his breath for a list of trade goods the ship had for the outback and then a list of what condition or industrial stage the planets on their route was as well as their exports and then what had been reported was traded with them in the past by ships that had been their recently.

  As Dian went on to other subjects with the Captain, Mark was flooded with information about cargo’s and systems. It all just seemed to be a big jumbled mass of pictures and facts that was just giving him a headache. Then it downed on him what help he needed. And without thinking he practically yelled. “Mickey! How is the ships AI! The Admiral? How is the Admiral Mickey?” Interrupting the Captain who’s mouth dropped open in mid-sentence. "Damn I forgot all about him."

  Seeing the Captain’s questioning look. “The ship’s AI Controller we call the Admiral is having a few problems.”

  “Yes. You have another Controlled AI? The Ship’s AI? The Admiral?” Controller aided AI’s were rare in this day and age and were prized and guarded because they could not be replaced. She knew of only 4 on the entire planet and most of them had been taken from other planets that had died in the outback. With the military Controller AI being credited with going a long way to winning the war. While the English military ships all had low class AI’s none controlled. Most AI Towers in the universe no longer had the dedicated mind linked controllers assigned to them that trained for years and would stay with that AI for their lives lasting thousands of years. The technology simply no longer existed. Only one in hundreds of civilian ships had dedicated controller A.I.’s. Only the very richest ships had such AI's and took full advantage of them to reduce their crews to a minimum. And. The Star Queen seemed to have had two of them. She almost fainted and grabbed a hold of Mark’s arm to steady herself making him turn to look at her. And then she heard the words from Mickey that made her want to cry.

  A marine was pushing a cart with a Padre reading over boxes in toward the lock.

  “The Admiral is still in a coma Mark but if you will excuse me for a minute I will check on him in more detail as a lot of work has been done on him during our absence.” Mickey disappeared from in front of them making the Marine pushing one of the last carts back into the lock stop in mid stride. The padre walking next to him took another two steps before stopping and turning back to face the cart as he read from the book not missing a word.

  Turning to Mark she tried to control her voice. “What happened to your ship’s AI Controller Mr. Collins?”

  Mark frowned as he saw the corporal standing there mouth open wide eyed. “Early, a few mornings ago, someone cut the alarms and locked off the AI controller’s backup generator and then locked off both his primary and secondary power supplies. And by the time Mickey broke through the AI’s self-diagnostics to find everything was off; the AI’s Controller’s life support batteries where almost exhausted. I got the power back on but the Admiral was already in a coma. The Doctors spent most of the last few days working on him but with him still in a coma it may be too late.”

  “Come on now. Didn’t people get suspicious when things around the ship stopped working because the AI was off?”

  “What things? All the Admiral does is check navigation, some trade statistics and trends and cargo decisions and crew assignments. Which was how I was put in Command of MP-3. There was nothing to notice while the computer Chief who isn’t that good of a programmer and rather boring according to the Admiral, doesn’t even go into the core most days. I am ashamed but I just remembered about the Admiral now because I was hoping he could help me figure out what to get for trade goods tomorrow. My father says he is good at it.”

  “My God! Talking about Tramp Hicks. You had a working Dedicated Human Controlled AI worth Billions of Credits that you pretty much wasted on a few moronic chores including helping with your homework deciding on trinkets; that you could have sold for enough to buy you three fucking Stellar Queens. Instead you let someone kill it. I hope you are planning on shooting the Guards?”

  “What Guards?”

  Her hands flew to her face as he turned around. “And I thought you people could save England? Godstar talking about stupid. What a waste of fucking time.” Looking at Mark. "You are the biggest moron of them all and your AI is a crazy bitch trying to masquerade as a human!” Shaking her head her eyes opened wide. “No, you can’t have an AI this small. I was wrong. I think your so called AI is justa fricking teen ager that is in love with you, sitting someplace on the ship hacking into your comm.” Beating on her head with her fists. “How Could I be so stupid. Your Captain lets hundreds of tons of junk pile up in a hold, and a 100 ton junk boat sit in one lock while a massacre sits in another lock for decades. Not to mention the thousand tons of water the ship carried because you didn’t feel like upgrading you recycling systems while the ship goes around scraping by almost bankrupt when a thousand tons of paying cargo could have made the difference. Not to mention you people are turning out babies like rabbits on an already overcrowded ship."

  Turning as she started walking across the center of the ramp prac
tically stomping in disgust when Mickey materialized in front of Mark. As she continued raising her arms up grabbing big hunks of her hair and pulling on them she continued. “Admiral Ridgeway was wright. You yokels are not worth my…" Not paying attention she stomped into one of the potholes across the center of the ramp from people trying to hide under the shuttle during the massacre and fell to the deck with a screaming thump as she twisted her ankle. Looking down she saw that the pit was in the shape of a little girl. Jumping up like a snake was after her, she quickly hoped toward her scout car cursing. “And I thought you could save England!” Tears streaming down her cheeks as she fell into another one.

  Mark smiling, having seen her fall while trying to figure out what her problem was. Took a couple of steps towered her. She picked herself up again. "Need some help Captain?" Before stopping as she limped away only to fall again. "I have a seeing eye bot back in my clubhouse you can use to avoid those holes. They have not been their long making them easy to miss seeing."

  Picking herself up she turned to Mark. "Shut up. I can't believe I thought you could beat the pirates and save billions of people from starving to death when you can't even save yourselves." She tried to run to her scout ship but her ankle got in the way as she fell forward and grabbed onto the winglet at the back. Not able to make up her mind to scream with rage or cry so she did both.

  Mark had walked out a way’s onto the ramp before stopping as the Captain finally started hopping on one foot while grabbing onto the side of the aircar toward the cockpit. Looking around the hull of the Queen at the ship next to them and then surveying the sky around him. Mickey appeared following Mark walking towered the Captain past the Marine.