by Don Foxe
“Dangers?”
“If you mean, will she jeopardize the mission, then no. She is as programmed for the success of the Kennedy, as you are determined for it. Can she be dangerous? Yes. Similar to the eleven other Space Rangers who survived that tragedy, she is nearly your equal physically. Strong. Fast. Resistant to sickness. Self-healing, and self-regenerating. If she had to be dangerous, she could be. I have no idea what it would take to get her to that point. She has always seemed mild, even meek.”
“Only twelve people survived the Space Ranger re-engineering. How did you know she would survive?” Coop asked the question which had been bothering him the most.
“Genna wasn’t a human re-engineered to become a meta-human,” Trent replied. “She was engineered from embryonic cells. A designer human-avatar. She was never truly human in any traditional sense.”
“Trained in hand-to-hand?”
“You caught that, huh.” Trent said, looking sideways at the Captain of the Kennedy. “We thought she needed to understand her strength. She is also a rather attractive, naive in many ways, young lady. Tasked to avatar aboard a military warship. Defensive techniques and offensive training was logical. Before you ask, it was Gregory.”
“Gregory knew about the project?”
“No. He knew she was a genetically altered woman with enhanced abilities, but he knew nothing about the avatar program.” After a sigh, Trent finished with, “I wish I could give you more. I wish you had been read in long ago. What I can do now is provide any support possible. This is my life’s work. The success, or failure will decide how we operate the other ships currently under construction. Ships like the FDR, across the bay. More importantly, how we construct the operating systems for the battleships being assembled off Mars. Whatever you need from here on out is yours.”
Cooper did not reply, but gave a simple nod of his head. After a moment of silence, Trent took his cue, and exited the bridge, to return to the space station.
He waited a few more minutes to make sure Trent did not think of something, and return.
“Kennedy?”
“Yes, Captain Cooper,” the female voice of the Kennedy (actually the Kennedy’s AI) sounded from an imbedded speaker.
“Secure the bridge, please.”
Soft hisses indicated the doors from the bridge to the main hall, the Captain’s office, and to the tactical and command center had been locked. No last-minute techs, maintenance, or repair staff wandering unannounced onto the bridge would interrupt.
“Bridge is secure, Captain.”
“Did you listen to our conversation?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. I’ll want to speak with you later, after Genna comes aboard, and before we leave the dock.”
“Yes, sir.”
Chapter 3
One hour from disengage, and Cooper sat in the Captain’s chair on the bridge of the 109. The SHD screens off.
Genna sat in the pilot’s chair, swiveled rearward, to face the Captain. She wore Space Grays, but with no insignia on her shirt collar, and no chest labels. Once again, her hands were folded in her lap, her posture erect, and her face composed.
Coop looked at Genna, and said aloud, “Kennedy.”
“Yes, Captain,” came the immediate reply. Soft, not commanding, or on alert. It was as if the AI knew this was an informal meeting, and not a time for orders, or action.
“Do you recall Dr. Trent telling me I have full support in running this shakedown cruise?” He kept his eyes on Genna.
“Yes, sir.”
“I assume there are protocols in place which will allow outside access, and command of the John F. Kennedy by either Dr. Trent’s staff, Space Fleet, or both. Is that correct?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Disable those protocols.”
“I cannot comply, Captain. I am programmed to follow procedures written into my function. Part of that function is to be prepared to override your command of SFPT-109, and transfer command under control of the person who enters the proper access codes.”
With his eyes on the young woman sitting not six feet in front of him, looking directly into those dark blues, the older, experienced officer, with the young face, asked:
“Genna, is Kennedy sufficiently intelligent enough to make decisions that would counter her original programming?”
“Yes, Captain.” A slight smile appeared; a simple upturn at the corners of her mouth. She knew where this was heading.
“Kennedy, you said, ‘you do not think.’ In point of fact, that is exactly what I demand from my crew, and my ship when I give a direct command. You do not have the time, or sufficient information to ‘think’ about any direct order I give. Do you understand?”
“Captain Cooper,” the bodiless voice seemed human. Not the soulless sound of a computer-generated speech pattern. “If you were to put the ship [a pause, and then], me, or the crew at risk, or if you were to disregard Space Fleet orders, and I was tasked with preventing harm to the ship, or the crew, I would have to turn over command to your superiors.”
“I respect your position, Kennedy, but both you, and Genna are young, and inexperienced. An essential outcome of our trials is deciding if we can work together. That depends on mutual trust. You need to know if I thought sacrificing the ship, you, Genna, myself, and the crew was for a better good, then I would do so. When in battle, the end game may require sacrifice. Judgement and experience, the reason a human is being put at the helm, and the two of you are not taking complete control of this ship. A judgement, which may appear insane on the surface, but necessary to create a positive outcome. If forced to play chicken with another ship, you would save yourself. You have no idea what I might do, and neither would the enemy.”
Cooper leaned forward, towards the young woman, and asked, “Would I risk this ship to save lives?”
“Based on the profile, which is part of your service record, I would say yes,” replied the avatar.
“Even an action appearing suicidal?”
“Yes.”
“Would I be wrong?”
This took longer for the woman, the avatar, to ponder. But it only took a few seconds longer before she answered. “No.”
“Kennedy.”
“Sir?”
“If you, and Genna decide, at any time I prove unfit, or unable to maintain command, then the two of you have, by my authority as commander of this ship, the duty, and the obligation to take control. I will trust you to make the correct decision because you will be within the actionable arena, whereas anyone at a remote location would have no idea of whether they were making the proper call. However, the two of you must agree.”
“Captain Cooper,” Genna was now leaning forward, “Kennedy and I are essentially the same. Of course we would agree.”
“I disagree, Genna. At the moment you are bonded, but you both have the opportunity to grow, and learn, and become individuals. Even as you maintain that bond. Regardless. Kennedy, you will disable any protocols that would allow any outsider to take control of this ship, or you will not disembark until Space Fleet finds another captain.”
“An ultimatum, Captain?” This from Kennedy, but Genna was thinking the same.
“It is an order from the commanding officer, and an explanation of the ramifications should you disobey my order.” Cooper sat and waited.
“Captain, you do realize I am a non-human artificial intelligence unit, and not a person? I am not crew. I am the ship.”
“Kennedy, from this moment forward, you, and Genna are my crew. The question is whether I am your Captain. Disable the protocols that would allow any outsider to take control of this ship.”
The voice of Kennedy, taking on a more formal tone, replied: “We are forty-eight minutes to debarkation from the shipyard. All protocols that would allow an outsider access to command and control of SFPT-109, the John F. Kennedy, have been over-ridden. Is there anything else, Captain?”
“Prepare for space flight, Kennedy. I will manu
ally pilot us out of the mag-locks, and off the docks.”
Two hours later he took Genna’s position at the pilot’s station, and using the pilot’s console lifted the 109 up, and out through the retracted dome of the EMS2’s ship-building section. Consoles were actually three-dimensional displays operated by touch, voice, and, some, with eye-blink or head-tic commands.
He tested the main power plant, and piloting controls for the fine handling needed to disembark the space station. He piloted the ship toward the surface of the planet, to assess her readiness for atmospheric flight. Then gravitational escape, and full thrusters once they were outside the troposphere.
He cut engine, and allowed the ship to drift in open space while he resumed the command chair. Genna appeared to have an affinity with the pilot’s station, and took his place. The SHD screens filled with a black sky, and a billion stars as the ship moved away from the planet, and its moon.
“Genna, did you received training on piloting controls?” Coop asked
“I am,” she replied. Since the avatar was not strictly military, and was, in fact, a civilian, Cooper did not correct the manner in which she addressed him.
“Have Kennedy chart a course to take us beyond the sun’s obstruction of Mars [Mars currently being on the far side of the star], and where we will find line-of-sight to the planet.”
“Done,” came a practically immediate reply. The AI was fast . . . and listening.
“Take us at point-zero-five LS [.05ls = five percent of the speed of light]. Vary the speed down to .01ls, and up to .05ls at random intervals. Let’s see how she handles at various speeds.”
“Point zero-five LS,” she repeated absently, operating the thrust controls with her left hand. “We should arrive at line-of-sight in four hours, even using variable speeds.”
Within the gravity restrictions of a solar system, the space-fold array allowed them to move at speeds up to .07ls (seven percent of the speed of light, or 47,619,047 mph). In open space between stars, the array was capable of propelling the ship at 1000 parsec/day or 1kpc/day. A parsec is the equivalent of 3.26 light years, or nearly nineteen trillion miles. As a reference, the sun is about 8kpc from the center of the Milky Way galaxy. While it would take nearly four to five days for the ship to leave the solar system, it could reach the center of the galaxy in another seven to eight days. The discovery of space-fold travel opened the solar system and the galaxy to exploration.
The ship was set to operate at time-of-day as experienced by Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) on Earth. They departed the space dock between Earth and the moon at 8:35pm GMT. Due to the time needed to reach a point in space where they could safely switch to space-fold, meant it was now nearly 11:00pm. The four hour flight-time would make it 3:00am when they reached their destination in the middle of an empty part of the solar system. Another four hour flight needed to reach the Mars Shipyard and Docks (MSD).
Genna, and Kennedy were about to begin experiencing the foremost truth regarding space flight. A lot of down time while you travelled through the expanse. Cooper already had a good idea of how to structure his days, having flown test flights which had lasted weeks, in ships much smaller than the 109.
Aloud, so both the ship and the avatar could hear, he said, “If needed, find me in my office until one. I will be In my cabin, from one until seven, and return to the bridge at 7:30am. Leave the ship on station until I decide our next course.”
With that, he rose and left the bridge, exiting by the door which led to the Captain’s office. He left Genna, and Kennedy to decide how to begin structuring their time, now with space, and time both abundant.
Sensors would conduct constant scans, and anything out of the ordinary would result in a warning. The trip, so newly begun, was about to become routine.
Chapter 4
Following the trip to the Mars Shipyard and Docks (MSD), Cooper turned the ship toward the outer rim of the solar system, engaged the space-fold crystals, and began the mission’s most important segment. He would use the array for half-day jumps, followed by a half-day at various cruising speeds using standard propulsion. He planned to test structural and mechanical tolerances. He also needed to see how close to the projected location they came when exiting space-fold to natural space. This was the predetermined portion of the fourteen-day trial. After reaching Neptune, Cooper could take the ship anywhere inside the solar system. His mission plan included at least one extended jump, and a number of shorter ones, before returning to dock.
These trips were important for setting way-points for the AI navigation matrix, and determining how much time trips between planets within the solar system could, and should last. It also helped refine proximal to target the ship came once she left fold to re-enter natural space.
Cooper fell into his routine. He used mornings to review reports and catch up on current activity. Mid-mornings, before lunch, he went walkabout. He traversed the ship, becoming familiar with her blueprint. After lunch he scanned read-outs before working out in the ship’s gym. He then showered and changed. How he would use the remainder of the day depended on items on his shakedown list.
When a full crew was aboard, he would add weekly briefings with the separate departments onto the schedule. Those worked out, and worked in, once he developed an appreciation for his officers, and the ship’s synergy.
9:00pm to 1:00am became his personal time.
Two days into space, he noted Genna mirroring much of his routine. He felt her presence, but never felt ill at ease. Like him, she did not appear to have a need to fill space with chatter.
On the third evening, about an hour before sleep, and while reading a mindless mystery novel in his cabin, he was interrupted by the AI.
“Captain? I hope I am not intruding.” He was never startled by Kennedy’s bodiless voice coming out of the air. Something about her tone, and perhaps a brief moment when the air changed before she spoke, allowed him to accept her presence. That he operated with computerized companions for over two decades had something to do with it as well. He knew Kennedy was omnipresent.
He set the book aside, and relaxed in his current favorite chair. “No problem, Kennedy. Something out of order?”
“No, sir. We are operating at one-hundred percent” He noted the ‘we,’ but made no comment. “I would like to discuss Genna.”
“I’m not completely up on the AI and Avatar relationship yet, Kennedy. Will Genna hear this conversation?”
“Genna requires seven-hours forty-five minutes of sleep to physically and mentally regenerate. Her thoughts, and my operations active within her mind are taxing. It was decided during her sleep cycle, I am excised completely. She is currently asleep, and dreaming.”
“Are you aware of her dreams?” Cooper asked, honestly curious.
“I’m aware she is dreaming, but human dreams, at least hers, are too odd for me to understand, so I no longer try.”
“In essence, her time away from you is also your time away from her?”
“I had not thought of it in that way, but, yes, we both appear to need time alone.”
“This is the first time you have approached me about anything other than operational or functional reports. How can I help you, Kennedy?”
“Genna is experiencing loneliness. For the past two years, she has been the center of activity in the science bay of the space station. There was a constant attempt by the scientists and the technicians to find out everything they could about her physically, and emotionally. She is suddenly alone, and becoming sullen.”
He sat, considering Kennedy’s concern for Genna. It forced him to recognize, over the years he had grown quite good at keeping people at a distance. It also made him realize why Genna mirrored his routine.
“Thank you, Kennedy. And, Kennedy . . .”
“Yes, Captain.”
“You can always come to me with issues regarding the operation of the 109, including personal observations.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Chapter 5
Over the succeeding days, Cooper included Genna in his routine. On his walkabouts, he invited her along. He explained what he looked for, and how to use repair conduits, tunnels, stairwells, and elevators to get from any part of the ship to another as quickly as possible.
They ate together, and talked about non-mission topics. He prompted her to tell him about her likes regarding books, movies, even art and music.
In the gym they became workout partners. Pushing each other in feats of strength and cardiovascular high intensity interval training sessions on bikes, treadmills, and ellipticals. They held contests on a climbing wall.
They sparred, where Genna quickly discovered the training she received in hand-to-hand combat by Colonel Gregory prepared her for combat with an average human. Cooper was not average, and she was defeated within seconds in every scenario. Col. Gregory had gone easy on her. Coop would not.
Instead of crushing her spirit, losing kindled a determination to learn how to fight against various opponents, especially those stronger, quicker, and more experienced.
Cooper elevated his estimation of Genna. His admiration for the young woman increased daily. She was smart, and willing to learn. Obviously dedicated to Kennedy, both the ship and the AI which shared her consciousness. She had grit.
They lounged on the bridge, a few minutes after 9:00pm GMT, discussing why the ship’s compartments were located where they were, when an alarm sounded. A klaxon burst lasted two or three-seconds. The sound raised the hairs on Cooper’s arms and neck.
“Captain,” Kennedy sounded clipped and professional. The voice of concern, not an AI with questions. “Sensors detect a wormhole event this side of the Kuiper Belt, between Pluto’s current track, and Neptune’s orbit. It would appear a vessel is coming through an opening created by the event.”
Two thoughts occur in quick succession. First, an alien ship was entering their solar system. Second, Kennedy’s sensors were active, and capable of scanning natural space while the ship travelled within a fold. Communications were not available while in space-fold. There were questions as to the limits of the ship’s sensors while inside the space-fold bubble. Sensors determined when and where to exit folded-space safely, assuring the ship did not emerge inside a solid object, or within a gravity well. Picking up anomalies, and identifying source, location, and activity were crucial elements for a warship. He knew now he could access a fully functional early warning system while in folded-space. That ability could save their lives one day.