A New Day (2 page)

Mother had to translate, since Councilor Janet Carlyle had not yet had the time to learn the language the Rangers spoke. While it seemed to irritate Janet slightly, it didn't really bother Commander Jance all that much.

"Aye, Ben if ye would, please remind me tah spend the night in yon learning pods? 'Tis the bane of my existence tah not be speaking the same tongue as our new friends," Janet asked.

"I’ll try to remember, Janet, but may I ask why it seems to irritate you so much?" Ben asked.

Instead of Janet answering him, Jance did. "Because of her training, Prime. She can get a better feel for a situation if she can understand what is being said directly, but almost as important as what is how it’s being said. I have had some training in this area; enough to know that there is a lot more to the job than simply reading reports and looking at holos."

As soon as the translation made it through to her, Janet nodded agreement. "That's it exactly, thank ye Commander. I need to be able to speak and read the words in order to glean their true meaning. How a person says something is as important as what it is they say."

Ben grinned. "Mother, could you please make an appointment with Jon for Councilor Carlyle to use a pod this evening? Also, please set a reminder for her for a half hour prior to that appointment?"

"Certainly, Prime Council. I would be happy to do that. Councilor Carlyle, is there a specific time you would like so I may work it out with the Doctor?" Mother asked.

"Ah, I had forgotten about ye, Mother. 'Twould be grand if ye could ask him to set it up for nineteen hundred. I know that is most likely after hours for him and I do apologize, but I ken I'll be a might busy most o' this day," Janet replied.

"I will explain it to him, Councilor. I'm sure it shouldn't be a problem once he understands the situation," Mother replied.

Janet looked a little concerned, and was about to say something when Ben stopped her. "Our pod doctor, Jon, is a bit technophobic. He and Mother did not have a very good first meeting, and he's a little gruff with her. However, he doesn't let it get in the way of his job. Personally, I think he is really very pleased to have her assistance, considering the knowledge she's been able to give him."

Janet nodded knowingly. "Aye, I think there is one of those in every pod we have. Seamus tells me that he enjoys dealing with our resident grumpy person. They have wonderful and glorious arguments over the smallest and most insignificant issues. They are pretty good friends." She turned to Jance. "Commander, it occurs to me that ye are putting a lot of faith in data that we have provided from yon AI. Not that the data is in anyway false, but I would ken you would require a more verifiable source."

Jance nodded once the translation was made. "Normally, we would. However, this is a very unique and potentially volatile situation. My computer specialist is in the process of certifying your AI so we may use her data when the time comes to present this to the Imperial courts. As for why we are trusting all of this; that's more gut instinct than anything else. All of my Rangers, and I should tell you that two of them don't trust easily, feel that everything we have learned here is the absolute truth to the best of your ability. You are actively working to assist us and have not hampered our investigations in anyway.

"There are not many civilian enclaves that would refuse to assist us in this manner, however, given your situation, assisting us puts your entire population at risk. That is something not many would be willing to do, even though you do have a motive behind providing your assistance. From the beginning, you have not tried to hide your intentions from us, nor have you done anything that has shown us that you are being duplicitous in anyway. You have earned our respect, and with it, our trust. That is not just my personal opinion either, but that of my entire team."

"Well," Ben said smiling. "Even if all of this ends up going to hell in a dropship, at least we'll know we tried to do it the right way."

Jance nodded agreement. "That you have, Prime Council. It is something all of us will make sure to note in our reports to our superiors. It is clear to all of us that there is no criminal intent evident in any of your actions. No matter what the laws say, intent is always considered, if possible," Jance replied.

The three had been sitting in the Command Center talking while the techs and Rangers continued to work to get the systems compatible with Ranger technology. Just as Jance finished speaking, her comm beeped at her. She raised her wrist cuff and accepted the call. A holographic image of Ranger Hyroan took form above her wrist.

"Commander, I have finished with the AI, but would like to request permission to remain down here. I can safely and without reservation certify her as a viable and trustworthy Artificial Intelligence unit. While worded slightly differently than other AI, her core instructions are very much in line with the guidelines set down by the Ministry of Information regarding AI. I would dare say she is even more restricted to the truth than our AI are," the Ranger finished.

"I thought you said you would need more time to finish certifying her?" Jance asked.

"I thought I would, but she offered to show me her core instruction set and how it affects her function. It took a couple of hours, but there is no part of this I do not understand. I am about to record my official findings on the matter, but wanted to report to you prior to doing so," Hyroan said, but seemed to hesitate. "One other matter, Commander. Because of the method of her construction and how she functions, she is far and away more powerful than any other AI I am aware of. The people that designed and built her were very much geniuses, even when compared to today’s standards. They developed a method of computing that is truly revolutionary, which is why I would like to stay down here for the time being."

"Is this something that can be considered proprietary technology? Hyroan?" Jance asked.

The man nodded. "Very much so, Commander. As an example, if one of these units were installed on a warship, combat effectiveness and survivability would be raised by an order of magnitude. She would not be able to fire the weapons against a living target, but she would be able to assist in so many other ways that it would make a modern warship almost invincible."

"That's a pretty impressive claim, Hyroan. I'll want a full report when you've finished. Until then, treat all information you have gathered as classified military information not to be shared with anyone, including the Empire. It should be left up to these people whether or not they chose to share it," Jance ordered.

Hyroan smiled. "As you order, Commander. I will record my official report certifying the AI now."

Jance winked at him. "Carry on, Ranger."

"So, Councilor Carlyle, have you had a chance to look over all the available information we have gathered on the current situation?" Jance asked.

Janet nodded. "I believe I have, Commander. I feel I should point out that I do not have accurate, up-to-date knowledge of the planned warfare, but now more than ever before I believe yon great lizard intends to sack Hyclarion. However, in my ken, he would need a great many more troops than are immediately evident.

"I admit, I have no knowledge as to how well or by what the Capitol is defended, but the simple fact that it is the Capitol would seem to mean it is greatly defended. Now, we know that yon great lizard has roughly a division of troops here. We have no idea how large the shelters they are in actually are, but considering the number of shelters being used for this purpose we have to assume at a minimum a division plus all of the equipment they would need to stage the assault.

"We have unconfirmed reports of multiple ships hidden in the system carrying what I've been told are the Lizard's shock troops. Considering the overall purpose of what the Duke is attempting, it is unlikely those troops are to be used on the planet Hyclarion in any large scale attack."

"Wait, how do you arrive at that conclusion? If he used what are called 'marines' on Hyclarion, he could easily take the planet," Ben asked.

"It is because of the nature of those troops, Prime Council. Think on this, if he were to use those troops on Hyclarion, he would not be able to make landing on the planet himself until those troops had been removed, or he would risk falling prey to them himself. Also, if he used them they would destroy much of what he is trying to capture," Janet explained. "No, those troops are meant for this world, not Hyclarion."

"What? Why would he do that to this planet? That makes no sense," Ben asked worried.

"Remember, Prime, he wanted to lure the Rangers here in force in order to remove them as a threat to his attack on Hyclarion. Once the Rangers landed, he and his troops would depart while the marine ships dropped their cargo and sterilized this planet and the Rangers trapped here," Janet explained.

"But what about all the people and the Aeries? He would lose a lot of money by doing that to this world," Ben offered.

If he is sitting on the Throne on Hyclarion, why would that matter to him in the slightest?" Janet asked. "He would simply order the planet rebuilt, bring in human slaves to do the work, and breed them for food production, thereby he would actually make more money in the long run."

Jance nodded slowly. "She is correct, Prime Council. A lizard would not think about the loss of life. Except for their own, they care little for the lives of others, especially the lives of other races. He could force humans to re-acclimate to this atmosphere and repopulate the planet with slaves for work and breeding."

Janet nodded once the translation finished. "One other thing; as I understand it, he would have to have the support of a good share of the other lizard Dukes. If I read the information on them correctly, I don't think the other Dukes would support Tammerain becoming the new Emperor. So, the plan has to be for the restoration of the lizard ruling bloodline; at least, that would be what Tammerain would have told the others."

"With the fleets away from Hyclarion on other errands, why would Tammerain need the support of the other Dukes?" Jance asked.

"Because, without it, the Hyclarion fleets would simply return to Hyclarion and retake the planet. No, those fleets cannot be allowed to return to Hyclarion. When the pirates did not kill you before you left the planet, it threw the Duke's plan and timeline off. Now, he will have to engineer a viable excuse to bring the Rangers here in force without tipping his hand about the invasion," Janet explained. "Of course, he could also simply launch the invasion before destroying the Rangers, but they might put up more of a fight than he is prepared to deal with."

"Well, there is a better than average chance the Rangers are already on their way here based on the report I sent along with the fact that the Dalphine was attacked in orbit. So he will probably get his wish if he just remains patient for a few more hours," Jance replied.

"Mother, could you please relay to the closest base to ready a probe to be sent to one of the shelters the troops are being housed at. They are not to scan or perform any active surveillance, just sit on the bottom and watch for those troops to begin to leave," Ben asked.

"Orders relayed, Prime," Mother answered. "Do you want them to launch the probe, or wait until ordered?"

"They can launch the probe, but they have to make absolutely certain it cannot be detected in any form and cannot be traced back to them," Ben replied.

"Understood, Prime, I'll make sure to tell them," Mother said.

"Is General Greenwold in the Base?" Ben asked.

"Affirmative, Prime. She is currently logged into a flight simulator on the training level," Mother replied.

Ben smiled and shook his head. "Could you ask her to join us as soon as she is able?"

"Message sent, Prime."

Ranger T'Gree and one of the techs approached the trio. “Pardon the interruption, but we have the communications suite built and ready to go on-line. Mother says she can add it to the planetary net without detection, but we wanted to get permission from you before we activated it.”

“I thought we already had access to the planetary comm net?” Ben asked.

“We do, Sir, but that is through the data net via a tap Mother was able to make wirelessly,” the tech replied. “This will be an actual comm node, capable of making off planet calls just like all other comm units, as well as giving us a direct connection to the Imperial DataNet. The DataNet is like the Internet was, only much, much bigger." 

"We can do this without the addition being detected or reported?" Ben asked.

"Prime, there is an AI that controls the communications for this planet. When I expanded out to gather information on our world, I had to take it over. That is to say, I am not running it, but it works for me and not the Duke," Mother replied. "This matter was discussed and decided on by Minister Carmichael. She wrote a report of the action and sent it to you."

"I really need to review the priorities of my reports," Ben said shaking his head. "Okay, if you can do this without letting anyone on the surface know of our existence or location, go ahead."

The tech nodded. "Sir, it will also give us the ability to call Ranger Headquarters directly. Of course, such a call would have to be reported to the Duke as he would be able to detect it in other ways, but it does make it possible. It also means that we will hear any inbound messages as well."