Singularity: Book Two of the StarCruiser Brilliant Series

by Rick Lakin

  Kalinda assumed a fighting stance. “This is my friend, Jeff Rodriguez. And that thing I told you is only on the Qarmac Islands in the southern waters.”

  Jennifer held a straight face knowing her sister’s sense of humor. Riley and Tayla froze.

  The red-faced Jeff snapped his head back to Kalinda. He was facing sensory overload.

  “Just kidding,” Kalinda said.

  Everyone laughed

  She turned to Jeff. “We usually wait until we’re twelve.”

  Jennifer stuck her hand out to Jeff. “I'm Jennifer, and this is David,” Jennifer said. “If you're going to hang with us, you need to learn to handle irony.”

  Jeff realized he was shaking hands with David Masing, the pilot of StarCruiser Brilliant.

  “You took a blaster to the chest to save Jennifer near Proxima Centauri?”

  That information only appeared on the underground brillian websites.

  “You are a real fanboi, aren’t you?” David said. “Call me David.”

  Riley patted David on the back. “You two had a good day. One of you even came back in one piece.”

  Jennifer showed her pride. “Yep, David blew up Artoo, and then…”

  “Yeah, Yeah, Munchkin got a lucky shot on me. Then you splashed him.”

  “It was a fun day.” Jennifer and Tayla high-fived.

  “Not over yet,” Riley said. “We’re giving the Blue Angels a hop after lunch.”

  “It’s just another milk run.”

  “You heard it,” Tayla said. “Somebody’s gonna die.”

  “I’m hungry,” Kalinda said.

  “You eat like a pig, K’da,” Tayla said.

  “I thought pigs were something that humans ate.”

  “Only after they’re as fat as you would be if you had a normal metabolism.”

  “It’s the gravity,” Kalinda said.

  Jennifer shoved her best friend. “Yeah, it’s the gravity.”

  Kalinda changed the subject. “Dandy talked to me today.”

  Jennifer stopped and looked at Kalinda. “He did?” She had doubts. Kalinda had a sense of humor. “What did he say?”

  “He stopped our tour of Brilliant,” Kalinda said. “He wouldn’t let us continue until I told the story about how he saved you from the meteor.”

  She smiled. “That’s Dandy,” Jennifer said. “Did the other kids bug you about talking to a cat?”

  “Didn't have to. I read his thoughts, and he read mine.”

  “I guess we have a talking cat,” Jennifer said. Can she think back to him?

  “A talking cat with a nasty attitude,” Kalinda said.

  They walked toward the hangar for lunch.

  23

  The huge grey hangar had been built to store and maintain the F-52s just coming to the fleet. The hangar doors opened only at night to move aircraft in and out and maintain habitable temperatures. The group headed for a small door to the left of the hangar doors.

  About fifty yards away Kalinda asked, “What are you doing this afternoon, Jeff?”

  “I guess we’re going to take my grandmother home. She's spending the night before flying back to South Dakota. Then I’ve got homework for school tomorrow. Why?”

  “Let me ask Jack if you can ride with us on Brilliant this afternoon.”

  “Jack…as in Captain Jack Masing?” Am I dreaming?

  Kalinda nodded.

  “Omigod, that would be so amazingly way cool. Thanks, Kay!”

  Kalinda looked stern. “No one calls me that.” Why's my heart beating so fast? “But you can. We need to run to get permission.”

  “Let me ask my dad,” Jeff said. “Darth, are you up?” The black helmeted figure popped up.

  “Yes, Dark Master,” the helmet said.

  “Message my dad and ask him if I can take a ride on Brilliant.”

  “Yes, my lord.”

  “Let’s run.”

  They got in line for security. The dark helmet popped up. “Dark master, your father says yes but be back on the flight line by five. You’re having dinner at the hotel in La Jolla with your grandmother.”

  “Thank him for me.” The dark helmet disappeared.

  The two caught up with Jack as he was entering the hangar. Kalinda tapped him on the arm.

  Jack turned and looked at the pair. “Who’s your friend, Kalinda?” Jack said.

  “Captain, this is my friend, Jeff Rodriguez.”

  “Nice to meet you, young man.” They shook hands as Jeff stood at attention.

  “I'm honored, sir,” Jeff said. “I've always wanted to meet you, sir. Did you save Anthen from the Hoclarth, sir?”

  “I had a lot of help. Why don’t you call me Jack?” he said. “What do you two need?”

  “May I bring Jeff on the ride?” Kalinda asked.

  “Son, do you have permission?”

  “Yes, sir…I mean Jack.”

  “We're crowded on this flight…we only have room in the hold where we keep alien animals.”

  “That would be totally fine, sir.”

  Jack was doing his best to keep a straight face. “When you’re on Brilliant, you will address me as Captain, understand?”

  “Yes, sir…sorry...Wait…I can go?”

  “Listen to Kalinda and don’t press the Red Button marked Self-Destruct.”

  “Yes, Captain. Thank you” Jeff said. He sent a confused look at Kalinda. “Irony?”

  Kalinda nodded.

  “Did you two see the two Blue Angels do the high-speed pass?” Jack said. “Was it any of ours?”

  “It was Jennifer,” Kalinda said. “Tayla said she was being mavericky.”

  “Oh, that explains a lot. You two be at the ramp at 1400.”

  “Yes, Captain,” they said in unison.

  The captain walked toward the head table. The two followed, and Jeff said, “Mavericky?”

  “When we were on long patrols, my dad and I watched Earth movies. The Hoclarth Alliance has had a satellite cloaked in Earth orbit for many years. It's supposed to gather intelligence and re-transmit it by StarWave back to our home planet. But mostly it sends back TV, Movies, and the Internet.”

  “Irony?”

  “Nope, just facts. It’s how I learned English,” Kalinda said. “We watched Top Gun seven times.”

  “Oh, I remember. Tom Cruise was Maverick,” Jeff said.

  “Yeah,” Kalinda said. “That guy was cute.”

  They entered the massive hangar through a small door. The huge hangar doors were shut to keep out the noon San Diego heat which averaged in the low three digits in September. There were lunch tables decorated with Marine scarlet and gold for three hundred guests including San Diego politicians, defense contractors, military and dependents, the Blue Angels Pilots and the crew of Brilliant. On each side, there were folding chairs for the sailors, marines, and their dependents who would come in afterward for the speeches.

  To the left of the elevated head table was an F-18 in Blue Angels livery. To the right was an F-52U Fighter from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 232.

  “I’m sitting with the crew,” Kalinda said. “Are you in the next hangar with dependents?”

  “Nope, my dad said we’re in the front someplace.”

  Kalinda sent Jeff a questioning look.

  “My grandmother is giving a speech.”

  “Okay, see ya after.”

  Navvy was seated near the base commanding general with Maiara to his left next to the General and Jack to his right.

  General Lindstrom turned to Maiara and made small talk. “What are your duties aboard the starship?” the General said.

  “I'm First Lieutenant, but my most important job is to prepare meals on long voyages,” Maiara said.

  “Do you serve anything stronger than Tang when you are in space?”

  Maiara clenched her jaw. “The Captain likes a blue concoction he likes to call Romulan Ale.”

  “Where did you learn to cook?”

  “After I left the Royal New
Zealand Navy, I spent a year in Paris at Le Cordon Bleu.”

  “Oh,” said the general, taken aback. “I hope that our Marine chow meets your standards.”

  “I’m sure it will. I suspect that since it’s a special occasion, the chef will put an extra helping of sand in the instant mashed potatoes.”

  “Touché,” the general said.

  The waiter served Navvy a proper slice of rare prime rib and then spoke to Navvy, “Admiral, the chef sends her respects and lets the Admiral know that the Marines try to limit the blood to the battlefield.”

  Navvy laughed. “Tell her this looks wonderful.”

  He looked over to Jack. “I hear that our pilots distinguished themselves today.”

  “David got shot down but not before he disabled Blue Angels Six,” Jack said. “Jennifer took out the leader, but I caught hell when she rattled the windows coming back.”

  “Pretty Brilliant,” Navvy said. “It’s all over social media. The Attack trailer got ten million hits the last hour.”

  Kalinda finished her chocolate cherry cheesecake. “Te’pa, may I be excused?”

  “You don’t want to stay for the exciting speeches?”

  “I’m going to work out with Jeff in zero gravity on Brilliant.”

  “Check in with Ani and be safe.”

  She walked over to the table where Jeff was sitting. “Mr. Rodriguez, would it be alright for Jeff to come back to Brilliant and work out with me before the flight?”

  “Is there an adult aboard?”

  “Ani is on Brilliant doing security.”

  “Very well,” Mr. Rodriguez said. “Don’t break the pretty starship.”

  “Yes, sir and thanks.”

  “Remember, I’ll pick you up here at five p.m.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  They departed the hangar as plates were cleared and the speeches began.

  24

  The Commanding General completed his introductory remarks quickly. All present wanted to hear from the chief designer of StarCruiser Brilliant.

  “For the last forty years,” General Lindstrom said. “StarCruiser Brilliant has been a member of a highly classified Navy reserve command. This command is available for specialized missions at the request of fleet commanders. Brilliant has answered that call in a distinguished manner seven times.”

  Tayla asked Riley, “I’m in the Navy?”

  “Only if they call us up,” Riley said. “It’s been about ten years since the last time.”

  “Ladies and Gentlemen, Please welcome Rear Admiral Navvy Kelrithian, United States Naval Reserve, Commander, Star Patrol Wing One.”

  Military members stood at attention and applauded. Civilians stood as well.

  Navvy made his way to the microphone. He shook hands with a smiling Ramona Curtwell.

  He saluted General Lindstrom then approached the microphone.

  “Take seats, everyone.”

  The three hundred military and civilians sat in unison in silence.

  “This morning I asked my wife, Hanna, what I should talk about. She said, 'About ten minutes.'“

  The attendees laughed.

  “Jack, Hanna, and I came from two hundred years in the future. Fortunately, it was not your future because our timeline faced a nuclear war that devastated the planet, killed eighty percent of the world's population, and started one hundred years of darkness and cold. But humanity recovered and I had the opportunity to build StarCruiser Brilliant.

  “On a shakedown flight, we had an engineering casualty and traveled back two hundred years. We came to a different Earth where, so far, you have avoided nuclear annihilation. John Mitchell Scott solved the energy problem that caused my Earth to almost destroy itself. I learned something.

  “A smart person never makes the same mistake twice,” Navvy said. “A wise person never makes the same mistake once.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen, the nuclear mistake will always be on the horizon. Are we smart or are we wise?”

  There was loud applause.

  “In the forty years since Brilliant came to this timeline, Earth's technology has caught up with the technologies from our timeline. When we look at the stars today, we're not alone. It's time for humans again to look outward. It's time for the scientists, engineers, and builders to leapfrog Brilliant and build the starships that will take humans to other worlds.”

  “Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines, you are the best and the brightest. As poet John Magee said, it is time for you to 'slip the surly bonds of earth,' and take humanity to the distant stars.”

  The crowd rose and cheered.

  “I want to thank our military members for their service, thanks to our families for their invaluable support and thanks to everyone for your San Diego Hospitality.”

  The diners congratulated Navvy as he made his way back to his seat. Senator Curtwell offered her hand but did not look Navvy in the eye.

  General Lindstrom returned to the microphone. “The daughter of our keynote speaker is serving as a helo pilot on the USS Oprah Winfrey. Please welcome the junior senator from South Dakota, Ramona Curtwell.”

  She received polite applause as she approached the microphone.

  “Members of our armed forces, you are the best and brightest. Just like the speaker before me said. What he didn’t tell you is that he wants to eliminate your jobs. He wants to replace those of you willing to explore, to lead, to serve, and to sacrifice for our country.”

  There was a nervous murmur going through the crowd.

  “Navvy Kelrithian wants to replace our best and brightest with artificial intelligence and dull metal. Pilots, your place in the cockpit will be taken by an android. Sailors, you will be replaced by robots. Doctors and nurses, virtuals can care for the patients as well as you can. Everyone, you will follow the orders of a yellow-eyed automaton who will eventually take orders from no one.”

  A marine stood up and said, “No way, lady.”

  “Navvy Kelrithian and HumanAI Corp want to replace humanity with virtuals from the menial maintenance job to the top of the corporate ladder,” the senator said. “Not only that, he won’t get his hands dirty doing it. He has placed his puppet granddaughter in charge of the company that will produce the androids.”

  Jennifer’s face went white.

  “This is fake news, right?” Tayla said. She saw the fear on Jennifer’s face.

  “We must stop the scourge of the Singularity. We must all gather together and save our jobs and our humanity. Tell me what we must do.”

  There was silence. Then a single voice, a member of the senator’s staff shouted, “Turn them off!”

  The uniformed military members surrounding her turned and just looked at her.

  The senator was deflated but pressed on, “We must make laws to stop these androids and protect your jobs. Again, what must we do?”

  Another staffer planted in the crowd shouted, “Turn them off!”

  Again, those around him just stared.

  Senator Curtwell got the message. “The time will come when you understand this technological threat. In the meantime, I'll fight for your jobs. I'll fight for my daughter's job. I'm Senator Ramona Curtwell, and I'm running for President.”

  The military members slowly stood, as was tradition, but the applause was sparse.

  A Marine Captain came to the microphone. “Please remain standing as the head table departs.”

  Senator Curtwell exited to the left and passed by the F-18. On the way to the exit, she received obligatory handshakes and thank you’s but was otherwise ignored.

  Her son-in-law met her at the black SUV. “Good Speech, Senator,” Chuck said.

  Senator Curtwell looked around. “Where is my grandson?”

  “He found a friend to hang with,” Chuck said. He knew that his mother-in-law would not approve of his trip on Brilliant. “He’ll join us for dinner.”

  “I’ll see you two at dinner,” the senator said. “Those people in there were rude.”

  “The
military are required to be apolitical when in uniform,” Chuck said.

  “We’ve got reservations at six. Please be there with my grandson.”

  “Yes, Senator.”

  Chuck stood by as she got in the SUV and it drove away. I'm one of the most successful attorneys in San Diego, and she still thinks her daughter married down.

  The driver pulled out of the base. “Senator, there are some drinks in the cooler,” the driver said.

  She reached down and pulled one out. Then she reached to her hip and pulled out her HoloPad. The head and shoulders of her virtual assistant popped up before her.

  “Harold, what the hell just happened?”

  “Senator, I advised that the military would, at best, be polite,” Harold said. “They don't like long deployments, and they don't like getting shot at. Polls show that they would be receptive to more robots.”

  “My father was a film actor,” Senator Curtwell said. “He drank himself to death when he could no longer get work because virtual actors replaced him.”

  “I know, Senator,” Harold said.

  “And Navvy Kelrithian is responsible,” she said. “And now his granddaughter is taking it a step further.”

  “Maybe you chose the wrong venue to pick a fight.”

  “A great president once said, 'When somebody challenges you, fight back.'“

  “He didn’t even make it through one term, Senator,” Harold said.

  “He was still great,” the senator said. “What do I have, this afternoon, Harold?”

  “A grip and grin with donors in La Costa, Senator.”

  “At least people with money like me.”

  “Of course, Senator,” Harold said. He programmed his smile to look sincere.

  The crew of the Brilliant met Navvy as he signed autographs and traded challenge coins with those in attendance.

  “Why does that senator hate you so much, Navvy?” David asked.

  “It's a long story, but I knew her father several years ago.”

  “What was she saying about you making Jennifer build robots?” Tayla asked.

  “I’ve learned that you cannot make Jennifer do anything,” Navvy said. “You’ll have to ask Jennifer about the rest.”