by Dietmar Wehr
L. M. E. Fontaine.
Hoch tried on the headband. It looked similar to the devices that many people wore. While in Space Force, he’d had one that was optimized for use on board military starships, but he’d had to give it up when he was discharged. He made adjustments to the fit so that part of the headband was in contact with the bone behind each ear. That would allow him to hear the voice of the unit via bone conductivity. He wondered if this unit had the ability to interpret his brain patterns so that he could communicate with it just by thinking, as some of the more expensive versions were capable of doing.
[I do have that capability. My previous owner wanted to call me Keko but you may call me whatever you wish.]
Hoch was impressed by the clarity of the distinctly feminine voice though the bone connection. His Space Force version had had a strictly electronic voice that was sometimes difficult to clearly understand.
Keko is an acceptable name, he thought. Tell me what capabilities you can make available to me?
[I possess sophisticated communication/encryption/decryption modes of operation. You can use me to transmit commands to your ship’s auto-pilot even when you’re not on the ship; however, there is a range limitation. I can access data networks remotely, and I’m capable of penetrating most secure systems. I have the capability to analyze voice stress patterns to determine, with a 98% degree of accuracy, if someone you are talking to is lying. I can imitate the voices of other individuals when communicating electronically and can carry on multiple such conversations at the same time. I can scan the surrounding environment in a broad range of light and auditory frequencies. Naturally, I can and will record everything you see, hear and say or think for future reference, unless you tell me otherwise.]
Hoch was stunned. Penetration of secure data networks and imitating someone else’s voice over electronic communication were capabilities his Space Force version didn’t have, and determining if someone was lying was something that could make his search for Sara’s killers a lot easier.
Wow. Now I understand why Mistress Fontaine warned me to keep your abilities secret. Continue to record everything. Do you have the flight plan for Sara’s ship after it left Thule Station?
[Affirmative. All data relating to Sara Fontaine’s ship and death has been downloaded into my memory. I also have instructions on how and when to transmit progress reports to Mistress Fontaine. Shall I power up White Rose?]
That’s the name of this ship?
[That is correct. The name can be changed before we leave Earth.]
Hoch pondered this for a few seconds before saying out loud, “Change the name of the ship to Whirlwind, Keko, and yes, go ahead and power her up. Can you relay my verbal responses to the tower when we lift off?”
[Affirmative. Power-up sequence has commenced. Shall I contact the tower now?]
“Yes, do that. I’m sure there’s a queue waiting ahead of us.”
“Flight Control Tower, this is URS XSF1001 codename Whirlwind requesting lift off clearance.”
The voice Hoch heard was not the feminine voice of Keko but rather that of a male. It suddenly dawned on him that Keko was imitating his voice. Do I really sound like that?
[You do. Should I not have done that?]
Before he could answer, he heard the tower’s response. “Tower to Whirlwind. You are number eight in line for lift-off clearance. You may exit your hangar, but stay within 500 meters of it until told otherwise.”
“Whirlwind to tower. I copy your instructions,” said Hoch. He closed the container, got up and headed for the cockpit.
“Keko, tie me into the tower’s com channel and open the hangar doors, please.” He listened to the routine tower communications with other ships as he settled into the pilot’s seat and strapped himself in. With the ship now powered-up, he applied minimal thrust and the ship began to roll forward.
[I can instruct the auto-pilot how to do simple maneuvers like this.]
Hoch smiled. “I’m sure you can, Keko, but it’s been a while since I piloted a starship, and I want to remind myself how it feels.”
When the tower notified him that Whirlwind was at the front of the queue, he willed himself to relax. The tower would control the auto-pilot until the ship was above 161 kilometers altitude. They would then hand off control to him, and in turn, he would hand off control to the auto-pilot, which Keko would have programmed for the flight to Thule Station by then. He told Keko what he wanted her to do.
Lift off went smoothly, and 13 minutes later, Whirlwind was accelerating out of Earth’s gravity well at a pace that was typical of Whirlwind’s class of starfreighters but which was only a third of what she could have done. No sense in showing off when it wasn’t necessary.
During the six day trip to Thule Station, Hoch learned that Keko could do a few other things, such as play chess and discuss politics, history and poetry. He asked her if she was a sentient, self-aware artificial intelligence. Her answer surprised him.
[My understanding of what self-awareness means is problematic. I can define the meaning of the term, but I’m unable to determine if I meet that definition, and therefore I suspect that I am not self-aware.]
While Hoch understood the logic that stated if an artificial device is unable to determine if it’s self-aware, then it isn’t, he had been hoping that Keko was because he was beginning to think of her as a real person.
When Whirlwind arrived at the star system containing the Thule Station, Hoch allowed the station control center to manage the ship’s approach and docking. While that was happening, Keko had already downloaded the station’s trade data and identified several trades that had a high probability of eventually being profitable. A modest balance of station credits was established in the ship’s name. The normal procedure was for the captains of arriving ships to report to Station Administration in person to verify their identity. Hoch remembered that Sara would have needed to do that too.
By the time the ship was docked, Hoch had put on the arm stunner and the tailored flight suit. He had practiced with the stunner during the trip and was now familiar with its use. Upon exiting the ship, he had a momentary flashback to the last time he had been on the station. The access corridor looked and smelled the same and was the same temperature: cold. The corridor curved at the far end, and as he went around the bend, he almost stumbled over a body. It turned over and struggled to sit up, and Hoch realized it was one of the female members of the mercenary crew that had dumped him on this station.
“My God, Kasia, what are you doing here like this?”
She slowly stood up, pulling her thin jacket more tightly around her to fend off the cold.
“I, ah…left the Wolfbane, Hoch. That bastard, Honniger? You remember how aggressive he was to both men and women?” Hoch nodded. “Well, he used to come to my quarters on a regular basis for some recreational sex, and he liked to get rough. I’m no saint, Hoch. I like my sex a little on the rough side too, so I was fine with it. But a few weeks back, he left the ship temporarily and came back on board at the last stop before the ship came here.” She shook her head and shivered. Hoch had a feeling it wasn’t from the cold. “When he came back on board, he acted different. There was this crazy look in his eyes, and when he came to my quarters, he got real violent, way more than usual and way more than I liked. I swear there were a couple of moments there when I thought he was actually going to kill me. That scared the crap outta me, and I decided I wasn’t going to stay on the ship any longer than I absolutely had to. That’s how I ended up here. The Skipper paid me off in station credits, but when I refused to let the Operations Manager fuck me, my credit balance suddenly disappeared. Can you spare some credits, Hoch? I haven’t eaten in 24 hours.”
Is she telling the truth, Keko?
[She is.]
Hoch was tempted to bring Kasia back inside his ship but remembered Fontaine’s warning not to trust anyone. Just because she was telling the truth didn’t mean that she wasn’t capable of trying to steal his sh
ip while he was at station admin. His impression of the rest of the crew of that mercenary ship was that most of them would not hesitate to screw over a friend if they thought they could get away with it.
“I’ll give you some credits, but first I need to check in with Admin. Wait for me by the Cantina on the promenade deck, okay?”
She gave him a smile that tugged at his heart. “Okay, Hoch. Please hurry. I’m so hungry I think I’ll faint soon.” She seemed a little unsteady on her feet, so he took her arm while they walked to the far end where the corridor merged with the rest of the station. That was the point where he had to go in one direction while she went in another. He watched her walk slowly away.
Do we have enough station credits to pay for a passage back to Earth?
[Negative. The shortfall would be 987 credits. I can sell more cargo if you wish. What has already been sold is being off-loaded by robots as we speak. It’s not too late to sell more, or I could hack into the station network and simply have the station issue more credits.]
Hoch grinned. He had had his own confrontations with the Operations Manager. Whenever that asshole had had the opportunity, he’d kicked Hoch in the gut while he was sleeping in a corner somewhere. He had an idea.
The Ops Manager’s name is Frank Corvosier. Does he have a station credit balance?”
[Affirmative.]
Can you transfer, let’s see…ah, 1,131 credits from his account to Kasia’s, and then transfer all of my balance to her as well?
[Done.]
Fine. Now buy a one-way ticket in Kasia’s name with her credits. That will leave her enough to buy food and a place to sleep until she boards the ship.
[Also done.]
Very good. I wonder if Frank will be in the Admin offices when I’m there. Let’s find out.
As it turned out, he wasn’t there when Hoch arrived, but after confirming his identity, as well as his ship’s, he turned to leave and found himself face to face with the Operations Manager.
“My God, it IS you,” said Corvosier. “I heard that Hoch Racheengel was back, but I thought someone was playing a joke on me. Going to be sleeping on our decks again, Racheengel?”
Hoch slowly shook his head. “I’m captain of a freighter now, Frank. You going to try kicking me in the gut again now that I’m standing up, or do you only pick on people who are already laying down?” Corvosier didn’t respond right away.
[He’s listening to an update on Whirlwind’s registry info.]
“No kicking today, Racheengel, but since I don’t like your attitude, I’ve decided that your ship has fifteen minutes to undock. If you miss the deadline, you’ll be assessed punitive docking penalties, and if you can’t pay them, we’ll seize your ship. I’d start heading back to your ship now if I was you.”
Hoch stared at him for a couple of seconds before responding. “You can try to seize Whirlwind, and you might even manage to do it somehow, but I don’t think Universal Red Shift—I’m sure you’ve heard of them—would be too happy about it if you did. They could make life on this station pretty miserable if they wanted to, don’t ya think? But since I have no further business on this station, I don’t mind leaving. It’s the smell of the place. I noticed it when I was here last. Funny how the smell is always stronger when you’re nearby, Frank.” Without waiting for a reply, Hoch turned and walked out.
[He’s ordering two security people to ambush you down on deck two, section green. He told them to inflict maximum non-lethal force.]
Hoch couldn’t help smiling. Corvosier hadn’t been the only one to harass him when he was trying to survive here. He owed all of the station’s security people some payback. “Power up the stunner, Keko. Can you detect them before I spring the ambush?”
[Stunner is powered up. I will tap into the station’s own surveillance system. If that doesn’t find them, my auditory scanning should pick up their breathing and heartbeats in time to warn you.]
When Hoch arrived at the green section of deck two, he saw that the path to Whirlwind lay straight ahead and passed a corridor leading off to the right.
[I see them on the surveillance system. They’re hiding around the corner of that side corridor. They’re watching you on the same system. I can cut their video feed whenever you give the word.]
Hoch shook his head in amazement. This was going to be too easy. Cut their feed to Ops. As he heard Keko confirm his request, he very slowly and quietly moved to a point just around the corner from the two ambushers and waited with his stunner arm raised. One of the ambushers made the mistake of taking a quick look around the corner, but not quickly enough to avoid a stun blast to his face. As he fell to the deck, Hoch whipped around the corner, aimed his stunner at the other man, who was too surprised to react in time, and stunned him too. Both men had fallen face down, and Hoch wanted to see who they were. He turned over the first one and saw that the fall had broken the man’s nose, which was now bleeding. Hoch recognized the face as belonging to a guard named Sanchez, who had also liked to kick him. Since he’d never broken any of Hoch’s bones, a broken nose seemed an adequate payback. Sanchez had dropped his weapon when he fell, and as Hoch picked it up, he saw that it was a small handgun of the type that fired tranquilizer-type darts. Thinking it would come in handy in situations where he shouldn’t use the stunner, he picked it up. He pocketed the gun, as well as the extra clips for it from Sanchez’ belt. The other man he also recognized, but Stillmen had only abused him verbally, never physically. As he took Stillmen’s gun and extra clips, he pondered what, payback would be appropriate for him.
[Corvosier has ordered a dozen security personnel to converge on this intersection. They’ll be here in seconds, Hoch.]
Cursing the lack of time, Hoch gave Stillmen a slap to the face. He wouldn’t feel it while unconscious from the stunner, but it made Hoch feel better. Then he got up and began running toward Whirlwind. Power up the ship, Keko!
[Already in the works, Hoch. Run faster. This will be close.]
Hoch rounded the corner and flung himself through the open hatch, which immediately closed behind him.
“Start undocking procedures,” said Hoch as he walked quickly to the cockpit.
[What about Kasia? You said you’d meet her at the cantina.]
“Damn! I forgot about her. Is there some way you can let her know about her ticket home and the remaining credit balance?”
[I can. She’s watching a video screen at the moment. I can override the channel and display a message to her. Message has been displayed and she’s reading it. She seems to be overcome with emotion and is heading for the food dispensers.]
“Good job, Keko. How’s the undocking coming?”
[It’s not, Hoch. The station won’t release their docking clamps. Corvosier is attempting to communicate with you. Shall I open the channel?]
“Yes, do that,” said Hoch as he settled into the Pilot’s seat and began to buckle up. Corvosier’s image appeared on one of the screens in front of him.
“Don’t bother buckling up, Racheengel. Your ship’s not going anywhere. Assaulting two security personnel is a serious offense. I am now justified in using whatever force I need to in order to take you into custody, and before you tell me again about how URS would not like their ship being seized, that’s not a problem, because they can have their ship back any time they want. It’s you I want, Racheengel. The station is going to hold that ship tight until you run out of food and come stumbling out the hatch half dead from starvation.”
Can this ship force its way free without suffering serious damage, Keko?
[Serious is a subjective term, Hoch. If you’re asking whether the ship can continue to operate normally, the answer is yes, but the hull would be weakened enough that it would be inadvisable to try this same maneuver again somewhere else.]
Fine. Engage reverse thrust, starting at a very low level and increasing gradually.
Out loud, he said, “Your station can monitor stress forces on your docking clamps, right, Frank? I s
uggest you check your clamps. My ship is using reverse thrust, and I assure you, she can take the stresses better than your docking clamps can.” He heard a thump from the direction of the closed hatch. “Have you got men outside my ship, Frank? Not a good idea. If and when this ship rips her way free, that access corridor out there might suffer explosive decompression.”
He saw Corvosier look off to the side and then scowl. “I think you’re bluffing, Racheengel. We have the specs on that class of freighter, and our computers say its hull will buckle before the clamps give way.”
Hoch shrugged. “Well, if you’re right, I’ll die from decompression. And if URS feels like seeking compensation for a wrecked ship, they’re not going to get it from me, so who does that leave, Frank? And if I’m right, you’re going to lose most of your security force. I imagine the rest of them aren’t going to be too happy with you for taking that risk. But it’s your call, Frank. How’s the stress now?”