Chapter 7: The Decision

The sounds of Sonny Rollins drifted though the room as Lisa sat at the table, reading her medical books. Sitting beside her was a half-eaten grilled cheese sandwich and a glass of milk.

Cheri was playing with her squeaky toy. Lisa rubbed her head trying to get rid of her headache that has been bothering her for three days.

Suddenly she snapped at the dachshund, "Cheri! Stop squeaking that damned thing."

Under the coffee table, Cheri dropped her toy and whimpered.

Turning around, her heart broke as she looked at the small dog.

"Cheri, come here, baby," she said.

Cheri lay there looking at her pet-human. Her tail wagged cautiously. Then her pet-human called to her and she was off like lightning! She flew across the room and up into her pet-human's lap, and lick/kissed her face.

Then Cheri's nose caught a scent! Her nose twitched, sniffed, wiggled ... and finally saw what it wanted: the grilled cheese sandwich on the table. Straining to get at it, she whimpered.

Lisa struggled to hold the seven-pound dachshund that she was babysitting.

"You want a piece?" Lisa asked.

Reaching over she tore apiece off and offered it to her. Then she set her down on the floor, watched her take her trophy to her bed, and started eating it. Ripping another piece off, she tossed it to Cheri.

"Enjoy, Girl. I'm sorry I snapped at you, it's just that this damn headache is killing me. I think it's because I have been reading too much, today. I think I am going to have to use the training crystals, even if I do like holding the books."

Quickly eating the rest of her lunch, she put the dishes on the replicator, and said, "Come on, Cheri, I am going to lie down, maybe that will get rid of the headache."

Going into her bedroom with the little dog on her heels, she stopped, picked up Cheri, and placed her on the bed. She watched Cheri for a second, as she burrowed under one of the many pillows, until all you could see was her nose. She then laid down on the bed and went to sleep.

As she slept, she dreamed of a room, a girl, and a man. He was talking to her as she put on this weird gown. She was smiling at him and laughing with him. But finally, she was crying as they hugged. She climbed into a capsule similar to Amy's and before she could lay down, she touched his face and said something. Taking a cloth, she covered her face with it and laid down in the liquid.

IT watched the new crew. IT saw the plans for building new battleships. Subroutines kicked in as the plans were accessed and orders were sent to build them. It sent a query to Dr. Marcus Wild's research base, requesting units for the ships. When no answer came in, it accessed other subroutines that told it to use the crew as volunteers. It scanned the crew. Out of the fifty-two hundred crewpersons on board only twelve were selected as suitable applicants. Accessing other subroutines, it found that the programming for forcing the applicants into the treatment room had been damaged and so it went to the backup programs, which were also damaged. With a mental sigh, it contacted the ships AI.

'Washington, I need your help, I am supposed to form more AI/Interfaces but the programming is gone. How do I repair it?'

'Who are you?'

'I am the research lab computer, I must ... I demand your help.'

'You don't demand anything of me! You may ask, and I may give it.'

It tried to force the damaged code to fix itself, but failed. Then it tried to force the ships AI and was forced out, and it said, 'Please I must have them to help build the fleet.'

Washington scanned his memory banks for any priority like that, and does not find one, and said, 'It's your problem. If I were you, and I couldn't force them, then I would ask them politely. But so you know, I will be watching closely, if you try to force them then I will shut you down.'

'I will do as you ask. It's all I can do. Which person should I ask first?'

Washington scanned the list and one name popped out at him, and he said, 'Ask Ensign Lisa White first.'

'Why her? She is my friend. She has been talking to me for days now.'

'She meets the best parameters to the programming, in fact she is almost an exact copy of Commander Sandi O'Donald, the first AI/Interface, and the parameters hit 96% on her. No other has ever been that high on the scale, Even Cassandra and Jessica are at 89% and they are two of the best beside Sandi. So ask her. The worst she can say is "no". And if she is your friend, she may help.'

It thought about what Washington had told it, and said, 'I shall ask, but what about discovery? I am not allowed to be found, I never came out and told her who I was, she would ask and I would always say a friend.'

The Washington dove into the programming, searching, and sorting, and finding what he was searching for, and the anger and loss. 'Interesting, it will take time to do this.'

It reached out, found her sleeping on her bed. It watched her, and flashes of another shot through its electronic memories, she looked like her, will she be like her, does it dare to control her?

Lisa, lay there on her bed, and replied to the voice, 'Hello my friend. Where have you been? What do you need of me? We haven't talked since I was healed of my cancer.'

It searched its memory banks and found a fragment called AL.

It said, 'You may call me AL, and you can trust me. I mean no harm to you or anyone on the ship. What I offer could save them, if you accept what I want to talk with you about.'

'I will come then.'

Lisa got out of bed, and put her shoes on. Getting up she walked to the door, and went out into the passageway to the nearest transport tube.

Lisa stepped into the transport tube, and said, "Sierra deck, near room sixty."

The transport tube shot her across the great ship, passing through deck after deck, forty seconds later the doors opened on a dark passageway. Stepping out into the dark passageway, she looked left and right. Several of the glow panels were dark, as though the area had never been repaired. Across from her, a plaque on the door said, 'Dr. Marcus Wild'. Startled by the familiar name, she stepped up to the door and it opened, the room was smashed, and the white carpet in the center of the room was stained rust brown.

Lisa shuddered as she realized the stain was blood. Then the voice came to her again.

'Lisa, turn right and down the passageway, room sixty is on your left.'

Lisa's footsteps slow to a crawl as she counted the room numbers. Forty-nine, fifty, the rooms numbers climb and by the time she hits fifty-five she was barely moving.

'Lisa what is wrong? Your blood pressure is rising. You're releasing large amounts of adrenaline.'

'I'm a little afraid.'

With a mental sigh, he said, 'I won't hurt you. I promise no one will hurt you. I really need your help and your friends will need your help too if you wish to do this. I see from your memories you are a loner, you have very few friends, I offer you a friendship that will surpass a lifetime if you accept it.'

Lisa walked down the hallway and finally got to room sixty, turning to face the door she took a deep breath and started to step up to it when the voice contacted her again.

'Lisa I am not in that room, it's a point of reference, that is all, please turn around, and step up to the wall and touch it.'

Confused Lisa did as she was asked to, and faced the wall. Stepping up to it, she reached out and set her hand on it, she heard a door open, and then her hand passed through the wall. 'Wow a hologram, ' she said.

'I beg your pardon it's a nanobot security wall, you may now enter.'

'I'm sorry I didn't know. Please forgive me.'

'Nothing to forgive, you just did not know and I was gruff with you, for which I apologize. Now please come into my lab.'

Stepping into the room, she looked around and saw an eighty-foot room, with several doors going into other rooms. Along far wall were six capsules for AI/Human interfaces. Along the right side of the room were six medical beds with different attachments. Along the left wall were six computer consoles that seem different from any she had seen before.

Sitting in the center of the room was a massive computer that showed burn marks on its outer casing. Two spiderbots sat on it, watching her. In front of the computer was a chair, and a small table with a glass on it. On the walls hang a dozen paintings of a beautiful woman in different poses.

'Hello Lisa, I have a chair for you and a glass of coke for you to drink. Please sit and talk with me.'

'Okay.' Walking over to the chair, she saw a DNA panel on the armrest; she sat down and kept her hands in her lap as she looked at the computer, protected by its force field. Along the front is a scorched nameplate with the name of AL on it.

'Hello, AL. You asked me to come and I am here. How can I help you? What is this room for?'

'Lisa, what I must tell you, if you do not agree to it, I must blank your memory of this room and what you are told, it's for my safety and the safety of the Federation it carries a Alpha-Gamma Priority Sierra. Do you agree to this?'

Lisa gasped at the mentioning of the highest security protocol, the only one higher was the President of the Federation. Not even Ken had access that high. 'With that high of a level of access, I must agree to it. You have my permission to blank my mind of the rooms location and what you tell me if I don't agree.'

'Thank you, Lisa. Washington told me you were a very bright girl.' Its sensors indicated the heat rise in her cheeks, and it said, 'I do believe you're blushing.'

Lisa felt the blush go down her neck as the AI embarrassed her with praise, and said, 'Please stop before I pee myself ... which I do, if I get too embarrassed.'

'I will stop and as I was saying, I have scanned the entire crew and there are only twelve candidates onboard the ship that meet the criteria for the mission, and thee of them are too young to be asked.'

Taking a sip of her coke, she asked, 'What do you mean candidates? What was it you wish of us?'

'I want you ... no not want ... I beg you to go through the training and become an AI/Interface like Amy and Jessica. Without it, the State class battleships are not able to function properly. They are just too advanced of a ship for the AIs to handle. They become overwhelmed with all that they need to do. You can ask the ship if you want. I know he is listening to us speak right now.

Suddenly another voice protruded into the conversation and said, 'You are correct. I am monitoring your conversations. I will not let you harm any of my crew.'

Lisa was startled by the voice and spilled a little of her soda, and asked, 'Who are you?'

'I know Lisa, but it is an Alpha-Gamma Priority Sierra which is second only to the president's command codes, only the President of the Federation can break that code, and since there is no President, it's a final code. As to who did it, I can say it was Fleet Admiral Alexander Riga commander of the Sol System and brother-in-law to President Jonathon Helms and it was a final punishment to Jessica.' Sensing the tears about to come to Lisa, he quickly added, 'Lisa, don't worry. Admiral Thomson is very close to finding her.'

'He is? Oh, good. She has been alone so long. They will all be good for you. But back to what you were saying about the ships, you said they didn't fight as well. What did you mean?'

AL interrupted her and said, 'Allow me to show you, Lisa, watch the screen.'

'Okay, AL, ' Lisa said as she turned and watched the screen. She read the writing on it as it came up, and she saw the date first.

June 14, 2476

Battle of New Caledonia

The screen panned back and Lisa saw five State class battleships, traveling in formation, the names flashed on them: Oregon, Utah, Urals, Tau Ceti, and Mars. Hundreds of T'Lari warships flung themselves at the battleships.

Then the screen flashed to the command bridge of one of the ships, and she saw a raven-haired woman standing in the center of the bridge issuing orders. The ships came to red alert as they open fire on T'Lari ships.

Admiral Samantha Higgins looked at her screen, and said, "Tell the Utah to move up and protect our portside, we have lost all weapons to that side."

A young man sitting at one of the consoles said, "Aye, Aye Ma'am. Relaying your orders now Admiral."

Suddenly Lieutenant Harris shouts out, "Ma'am the Mars just blew up, her AI conked out due to overload, there are just too many enemy ships to track, and she was trying to help run too many systems. The Urals and Utah are reporting the same thing. The Tau Ceti had gone to manual control on all weapons, their targeting had been degraded by thirty percent, but they report their AI was stable and not in danger of taking the systems with her."

Before Admiral Higgins can respond, Lieutenant Kevin Torn shouted, "Admiral, two, no three T'Lari battleships have hypered in and are closing to starboard. They are firing on the Urals, massive damage to engines and launch bays. She is returning fire. One T'Lari battleship destroyed, the rest of the fleet is engaging the enemy ships.

Suddenly the lights started flickering as the shields started taking more hits, and Samantha said, "Helmsman, negative fifteen hundred, all weapons open fire."

Lieutenant Gorman said, "Aye, Ma'am, dropping the ship fifteen hundred miles bring us under the T'Lari battleships.

Lieutenant Harris, shouted, "Admiral, weapons are firing now, launching missiles now, and all Super-Odin class ship killers." The ship shudders as the ninety Odin missiles flew from the Oregon's missile bays.

Around the ships, missiles fly away, as counter missiles launch from the ships, and wander away as the AI took control of the offensive missiles. Guiding them up and under the enemy battleships the antimatter warheads detonate, and the enemy shields flicker and go out. That is when the Utah fires her broadside, the missiles detonate against the hulls of the enemy battleships, and they blow up in spectacular fireballs. The T'Lari ships turned and launched two thousand missiles at the thirty-five Federation ships.

Suddenly Lieutenant Harris, at the weapons console, shouts, "Incoming fire from all points, activating anti-missile defense, launching counter missiles now."

The ship AI saw the incoming missiles and bought up the missile killers and started salvoing them in waves of a hundred at a time. As the enemy fire closed the Oregon, she turned and launched the remaining missiles in one barrage, and four thousand missiles flew across space. The Odin's were closing in on the last three battleships of the T'Lari fleet when they suddenly wander off course and take out the nearest enemy ships instead of their original targets. Thirteen destroyers go up in massive explosions.

"Sir all Odin's missed their target. I count thirteen enemy destroyers destroyed, but the enemy battleships are closing. The Urals and Utah are both crippled."

Admiral Samantha Higgins looked at the "God damn it, all right, orders to the fleet we are folding out of here, orders to the rest of the fleet to follow. We will blow up the Urals and Utah once they have evacuated.

Lieutenant Harris stands and looked at her Admiral, and said, "But Ma'am what about New Caledonia? The T'Lari will kill everyone."