Chapter 9

Sue yelled, “What happened?”

Bonnie said, “Heat build-up at fifty percent.”

“Two more cycles ‘till Permethian intercept,” Annette said

Jenny reported, “Captain, sensors show the jump engines are gone. I calculate a ninety-eight percent probability of sabotage.”

“No way,” Bonnie said.

“Can it, everyone? Combat stations. We are outnumbered and outgunned.”

Sue said, “You can’t let the AI fall into their hands.”

“I don’t think that is their plan.”

Swinging the forward twin-type Tens to face the oncoming ships, we waited patiently.

“One cycle,” Jenny said.

Bonnie asked, “What about the Galactic Jump Unit?”

Talk about cold water hitting one in the face!

“Jenny, what’s its status?”

The warbling tone of a target lock sounded on the bridge. I toggled the twin-mounted lasers on reflex. The twin beams reached forth and hit the lead Permethian, knocking out his shields. The second volley was the only damage. The rightmost laser beam struck the bridge area, breaching the hall and opening it to space. The three-person crew was sucked out right after being flattened like pancakes by the laser blast.

The second beam missed the lead ship because of the evasive maneuver the Permethians had started before their deaths. It was, strangely, not wasted. The beam struck the seventh ship in the mini armada. It was devastating to this ship. For some reason, one blast turned its shields off, and it exploded violently.

The third volley of fire from My Love II’s lasers obliterated the lead ship, turning it into a plasma ball.

Seeing the explosion, I cycled the missile lock system again. I was rewarded with an instant lock.

That’s when all hell broke loose. Multiple laser bolts raced around the ship in a dazzling display of firepower. A few connected, making an eerie whining sound as the shields absorbed their impact.

“Fong fires a spread of two missiles,” I was shouting my orders.

I had a lock and sent three more volleys into the target craft.

“Shields down to 50 percent. We can’t take much more of this.”

Two anti-matter Hunters left the ship as I absorbed this news. There were still nineteen, minus those with dates with the hunters. It was far too much firepower.

“Heat level,” I barked.

“Currently, it’s back down to 50 percent and dropping.”

Damn, it had made it up to 62.

Annette said, “Plotting a galactic jump.”

“Plotted and lined in,” Jenny said.

“Execute,” I yelled.

Even as I did so, the shrill scream of a laser penetrating the shields and striking the ship’s armor could be heard.

“Ten seconds,” Annette replied.

At one second, we heard the laser penetrate the shield and remove our left-most laser unit mount.

The stars shifted around us. The ship had entered galactic hyperspace. Blessedly, the conflict that so obviously would have led to our deaths ceased.

Annette reported, “Transit time will be 1200 cycles.”

Great, I thought. And when we exit, we will be just as crippled as when we left.

The two Hunter missiles were talking to each other. Their AI guidance packages had the advantage of being launched by the Fong AI in full combat mode. They were also aware that all nineteen ships remaining were enemy vessels. This fact was confirmed by the ‘known hostile races’ list stored in their targeting units. As far as the missiles were concerned, they were at war. Fired in ‘spread mode,’ they had the luxury of selecting their targets.

They did so as the Permethian ships began a dispersal maneuver. This triggered the ‘herd’ sub-routine response in their AI brains. The missiles spread out as if going after the farthest apart ships. The Permethian ships responded by vectoring back the way they came. Without even realizing it, the Permethian ships were herded into closer proximity to each other.

By the time they realized their error, it was too late. Missile One selected a detonation point that would allow it to take out three ships. Missile 2 was less fortunate, as it could destroy only two boats.

Captain Ramie stared at his command board in utter disbelief. Not only had their prey escaped him twice, but he had lost more than half his command between the two engagements. Somehow, he was sure that if he didn’t stop them on the next attempt, the ‘powers that be’ would take what was left of his command away.

That process was known as: ‘execution for incompetence.’

Galactic Transit.

It’s the safest state in which to be. The galactic jump took time because of the distance involved. However, they were kept from intercepting them at the other end. They got there before messages could reach their destination. No ship could travel faster than any other ship while in galactic transit. Best of all, there was no way to be tracked.

However, during the long transit time, the ship could not dissipate heat build-up, nor could its shields recharge. The damaged left side of the WOS and engine were the only things that could be repaired in this state, and the repair drones were doing that now. The good news was that the hull breach would be fixed before they arrived. The bad news was that they had lost a type ten mini.

Annette said, “One thousand one hundred and twenty-three Cycles ‘till arrival in the Camian galaxy.”

I mumbled, “Half a day. Now, what do we do?”

I was shocked to hear Bonnie respond, “Well, there’s always sex!”

That thought brought a smile to my face for some strange reason. Then, to my absolute surprise, Fong spoke into my head.

‘Captain, perhaps it is time for you to discover why I am so special?’

I thought about it as I recovered from having the AI talk to my mind.

I said, “Fong and I have the first watch. You should go to the sleep chamber and get some rest.”

Sue was oblivious to what was going on, but Bonnie had a shocked look on her face. She had received the overspill from my chip. After taking a moment to recover, Bonnie said.

“That would be great, come on Sue, Annette, Jenny. I think we can find something to do as we rest.”

The young woman and the three AIs disappeared into the ship’s captain’s quarters.

I thought, ‘So, Fong, I take it that your ability to talk directly to my mind is what makes you so special?’

‘I speak through your interface chip. However, that is only a minor portion of what I can do.’

‘I am all ears,’ I thought, then after a short pause, I added, ‘Well, so to ‘think,’ anyway.’

Fong could have smiled at my reference.

Instead, she thought, ‘Through the interface, I not only speak to your mind, I become an extension of your mind.’

“I am not following you, Fong,” I said aloud.

“I am a ‘Compliant AI Extension.’ FONG stands for Future Operational Neural Guidance. In other words, my personality evolves from the experience of being linked to individuals. I become the sum of the individual’s experiences and abilities. Using the faster processing abilities of my artificial intelligence, I am able ... well, theoretically able ... to make the decisions faster than you can yourself.”

I sat in my chair with my mouth hanging open.

“Fong, are we supposed to meet up with the Ictheris?”

“No, that was the deceptive portion of the plan. The Ictheris does not need me. The simple truth is that the Ictheris project was scrubbed because it proved to be impractical. That ship is a dead-end prototype. It will never function as anything other than a decoy for the enemy races.”

“I am afraid you have me confused here.”

“Yes. Perhaps I should explain more deeply.”

“Please go on, then.”

“I am a super secret combat interface AI unit. The real mission is for me to gain experience from the hottest combat captains in the federation. You, Sir, are hot! You are so hot that the ‘powers that be’ decided to introduce me into your operational environment covertly so I could learn from you.”