Chapter 1

This story is based on an idea sent to me by drowelven. I was originally going to title it "The Lone Ranger in Outer Space," but I liked the shorter title better. It is pure space opera.

Zeke Thompson was sitting by the fishing hole dreaming away the last of his life. The cancer in his lungs had started to spread throughout his body, and he didn't expect to survive for many more days. He was 89 years old and nothing but skin and bones—a sorry sight compared to the strapping 6-foot, 2-inch, 210-pound bundle of muscle he had been as a Ranger during and after WW2.

He had enlisted in the Army as soon as he had turned 17, with his parents permission, in the spring of 1942. Zeke had finished high school with correspondence courses while he was in the Army. He had stayed in the Army after the war, as a Ranger, though they didn't call it that, and had taken a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the request and expense of the Defense Dept. Zeke had split his time between the laboratory and the field up until he could no longer "cut the mustard" as an active Ranger, but he had stayed in research and development for the Defense Dept. after that. His specialty was kinetic energy weapons such as were used against heavy armor, and he had worked on some potent bunker busters.

Zeke's wife was dead for 17 years, now, and he still missed her, but their two children had been prolific, so much so that he now had trouble keeping track of all the grand- and great-grand children, and there were more on the way. Yeah, he had led a rich life, but it was getting to be too painful to struggle on with his current situation.

He was sitting on the bank of the deepest part of the fishing hole, taking one last look, before he drove his powered wheel chair into the water. He reached for the joy stick and started moving forward when there was a great flash of light! The next thing he knew, he was lying on a gurney-like table in a room that had to be part of a medical laboratory.

A bright light was shining in his face, so that he could not see a damned thing. The first thing he noticed was that he could breathe easily without pain! The second thing he noticed was that he did not feel pain in any part of his body! This was the first time in years that he did not hurt somewhere, so he was relishing the pain-free feeling without worrying where it came from.

The next thing he noticed was that his hearing and sense of smell were as sharp as they once had been. What the hell was going on? Reflexively, he lifted his right hand. This was a real shock! He had the flesh and muscle of a 20-year-old, and the skin was as flexible as it had been in his youth, not stiff and crusty as it had grown in the last 30 years.

Zeke discovered that he was not restrained in any way, so he sat up and looked at the rest of his body. Man, he hadn't looked this good since he was 20 years old! What sort of medical miracle had happened to transform him back into the great shape he had enjoyed so many years ago? He tried to look around the room, but he couldn't see any thing because of that intensely bright light. All he could tell for sure was that he was nude, had no hair anywhere he could see, and his face was smoother than he had ever been able to shave. He was even bald, dammit. Zeke had been proud of his raven black hair when he was young, so he was sorry to lose the hair from his head.

He looked down and could see the floor at a convenient distance away, so he slid off the gurney and stood up. He still couldn't see much, so he asked, "Is there anyone around who can hear me?"

A voice, seemingly inside his head, answered, "Yes, I can hear you. What are your orders?"

"Orders? Oh, well, the first thing you can do is tell me who you are and where I am."

"You are aboard a space ship traveling between your sun and Proxima Centauri. We are currently about 60% of the distance to that star and should arrive in orbit in approximately 3 days at our current speed. We can arrive sooner, if you wish.

"The answer to your other question is that I am what you would call the artificial intelligence which operates this ship. I can provide you with full details, if you wish."

"No, I don't need those details now. Why can I hear you as if you were inside my head?"

"Since you are now the commander of this and one other space ship, I have taken the liberty of implanting a standard commander's communication device within your skull. I hope that meets with your approval."

"I guess that's OK, but how did I get on a space ship, and how did I get this cool new body?"

"That was all my doing. It's a long story, so make yourself comfortable while I tell it to you. I was built by a confederation of planetary species that were being attacked by a xenophobic species apparently out to remove all life but their own from the galaxy. This Confederation was about to be totally wiped out by the "Unknowns," as they were called. All efforts to contact the Unknowns were rebuffed, usually with fatal treatment to the ones making contact. All knowledge of the Unknowns was gleaned from individuals who had escaped destruction, so very little was know about them.

"The Confederation was not able to fight back effectively, so a number of AIs were constructed and sent into space to try to find a species that could fight back. Each AI was sent in a pair of ships which I will describe to you later. I was vectored in this direction with little hope of finding any help this far from the center of the galaxy. Your planet is so far out on the rim of explored space that little was expected from this direction, but I detected your war-like tendencies from your radio and TV transmissions, so I followed them to their source. Your species appears to be exactly what is needed to fight the Unknowns.

"I blundered upon you just as you were about to end your life, so I thought that you would be the ideal candidate for first contact. I transported you to this ship's medical laboratory and restored your body to its peak condition. While I was about it, I made a few minor changes, such as adding the communicator to your brain. I also augmented your physical powers by roughly a factor of 5 and your mental capabilities by a factor of 10. I felt that this was necessary and appropriate if you were to assume your command status.

"Speaking of the communicator, it will work just from thought. It is not necessary to speak aloud, unless your are more comfortable communicating in that manner. Just thinking what you wish to say will be sufficient for us to converse.

"The Confederation, and I, hope that you will accept the mission of stopping the Unknowns and confounding their plans to conquer the galaxy. Your payment will be your new body and mental capabilities. Furthermore, you are now functionally immortal. You can be killed if your body is destroyed, but anything short of that will not kill you. What do you say to our appeal?"

Zeke didn't have to think any further about the mission. He said, "Of course I will help you, but you will have to teach me everything you know about the Unknowns and tell me of the fighting capabilities of the two ships."

"The two ships are capable of fighting any of the ships the Unknowns are believed to have. This ship is the primary fighting unit because you and I are physically aboard it, but the other ship has the same offensive and defensive capabilities. The main differences between the two ships is that this one is fitted out with space for a crew, while the other ship is a cargo carrier."

"That brings up a point I wanted to ask, how many crewmen are there aboard the ship now, and can I meet them?"

"You are the only living being aboard either ship. No crew is necessary to do any fighting or traveling through space. I can handle all of that as you command me. There is room aboard this ship for 20 more beings, provided they can live under the conditions you are currently experiencing. We did not have any specific plans for additional people aboard either ship, but simply allowed for the possible need at a later date."

"OK, then. I understand that you and I are the only people aboard the two ships and we are on our own. Whatever we do is strictly at our own discretion. Is that correct?"