Wanderer's Escape (26 page)

“
One more bit of advice – if you're going to make a song and dance about something make sure you've tested it out on the quiet first.  You kinda set yourself up for a fall there.”

She squeezed his shoulder again, taking any sting out of her words.  Trying to ignore Sal and Ali's continuing laughter he focused on fusing the three shields together.  As Elizabeth had said it was possible to do it, though as the fields merged the resistance soon became too strong to push any further.  He fired the laser again, just a short pulse this time, and smiled as the vaporised components of the asteroid were channelled directly to the ship.  Soon the mining was coming along at a much faster rate.  Sal and Ali continued to make the occasional reference to his initial failure but were mostly busy working with him to prioritise repairs.

Soon another laser was operational and he built another three drones, channelling the raw materials back along another pipeline.  One unexpected result of the method was that the asteroid slowly started to move away and tumble – pressure from the superheated vapour shoving on it even as the gases rushed down the tunnels.  Jess had the Wanderer keep pace and tried to prevent the tumbling by mining on opposite sides.

A few hours, and three more sets of drones, later the asteroid was nearly gone. Jess used the final materials to create mount points on the hull to hold the various drones and they set off in search of another asteroid.

Jess probed the ship to see how many drones and other vehicles separate from the ship itself the Wanderer could control.  The first response was a warning – the range the drones could operate at was limited, though still quite considerable.  He queried why and received a very similar image to that explaining why the ship wouldn't create robots.  It made sense when he thought about it – once again the ship could make a single person massively powerful.  If the automated vehicles could operate far from the ship's control whole systems could be enslaved.

He queried the maximum number again and received a confusing answer.  Initially the answer seemed to be around twenty, he couldn't count all the images in time, then the number increased but something else was growing in step with it.  With a jolt he realised it was the Wanderer
– not the ship but the machine intelligence at its heart.  The number of drones could be increased greatly but the controlling intelligence would also have to grow. 

He got the impression that these were new ideas for the ship, areas it hadn't ever considered before.  He felt quite pleased at having surprised the ancient ship, at making it think in a new way.  The image showing the number of drones that could be controlled increased then suddenly stopped growing.  A new element was shown in the vision, a limiting element.  Jess himself.  The ship was warning him that he would become the bottleneck.  It made sense he thought.  Even with his mind accelerated there had been times in battle he'd felt nearly overwhelmed, with too many things happening at once or close together.  He didn't need to control each and every drone but he had to provide the overall guidance.  There had to be a limit.  Picturing an assault on a mining complex he knew they'd need more than he could control, especially while also flying the ship and handling the robots.  As well as shuttles he thought creating combat drones that were all engine, shield and weapon would be necessary.  The ship was making it clear that ultimate control for all the autonomous creations had to rest with him, that it would refuse to provide the overall guidance for them.  He added the problem to the ever-growing list of things to worry about that he couldn't think of a solution to yet.

Two days later the four of them gathered in the living area.  Jess thought the others looked tired, not surprising given the efforts to restore the ship and the limited sleeping space.  With only two cabins usable the sofas had been turned into temporary beds at night.

“So how are we doing?” asked Sal.

Jess glanced at the other three in turn.  Sal sat on the other sofa to him, Elizabeth perched on that sofa's arm and Ali sat beside him, not touching but close enough to be distracting in a very pleasant way.

“Very well,” he said.  “We're about halfway through mining the third asteroid.  Most of the damage to the ship is repaired now.  Shields are at full strength, weapons are all back online, sensors repaired and thrusters fully operational.  If we have to fight we're in the best shape we've been in for some time.  The ship is mostly just storing the materials we mine now, ready for the redesign – which we need to finish.”

He called up the designs showing the ship as it was and as they planned it to be, unfinished as that was.  The difference was startling.  The new design was much larger
– roughly ten times as long, seven times as wide and with five decks instead of one.  A significant proportion of the design was driven by the additional size.  Thrusters and manoeuvring jets had to be much larger to keep the ship as nimble as before.  The internal structure had to be able to withstand far higher stresses due to the size and weight they'd be throwing around.  Powerful inertial damper fields were added to reduce the strain on the ship, and to prevent the people on board from being crushed by those manoeuvres.  Far more shield generators were needed just to maintain the same level of protection, and Jess had actually chosen to significantly upgrade the shields power.  Point defence lasers were added across the hull to take out missiles or fighters that got too close.  The number and size of the engines were increased massively to cope with the additional power requirements.

That still left nearly two hundred times as much space free as they'd had before.  Some of it was taken by hangars for the drones and shuttles, and by storage of supplies for future repairs or production.  The remainder was turned over to areas to house up to a couple of thousand people comfortably, or up to around five thousand in only minor discomfort.  This included the cabin space, toilets, food dispensers, life support, medical areas and access corridors tying them all together.

“I want to add more drones and shuttles, a lot more, but I won't be able to control them.  Do you have any ideas?”

Ali raised her hand and patted the side of his cheek, her way of telling him he was trying to do everything himself again.  He much preferred it to the full on slap she'd first used.  This time he was confused though.

“I'm not trying to do it all myself!” he protested.  “I'm asking you for ideas.”

She rolled her eyes at him.

“Yes, but you aren't thinking still.  You can't control any more, why don't we?”

He stared at her for a moment then frowned.

“You'd need a full set of inserts like mine.  The ship won't do that.”

“
No.  The ship won't let us have the link with it that you've got, won't allow more than one captain.  Can it give us enough of a connection to control the shuttles, drones and robots though?”

Jess's frown grew deeper.

“I see what you mean.  That's a pretty hard question to ask, let me try... no.  The ship won't accept the idea.”

“
Are you sure?  You said it was tricky to put across.  Try changing the way you ask.”

He nodded then did as she asked.  Another two efforts met the same refusal.  Disheartened he tried once more.  This time he got a strange reaction, not a rejection but a blip of interest.  He pushed the idea again and the ship's mind seemed to shimmer against his for a moment.  When it finished he was aware of a difference to the connection, a whole area of information was available that hadn't been there before.  Accessing it felt like walking through a long forgotten museum.  In some strange way there was a sense of neglect and disuse, though that sense was fading quickly as the ship integrated the new knowledge.

“Something's happened!  I seem to have triggered some extra functions.  Yes, it's possible to do what you want.  In fact I think it's how the ship was first designed, or how it was configured long, long ago.  It feels like the ship hasn't accessed those areas for thousands of years.  Somehow it feels more complete now though, I'm getting a stronger sense of personality from the ship now.”

“
Are we safe?” asked Sal.  “How much has it changed?”

“
Completely safe.  It's still the same personality but more... complete.  It still requires a single person in overall charge, the captain, which is me.  There's much more knowledge here than just how to link others in to control drones and remote ships.  It's going to take days to work through it all.”

“
You've got the time,” said Elizabeth.  “We're gonna be stuck here mining for at least another couple of weeks.”

“
Right.  Well the process seems to be quite simple.  It is similar to what happened to me, but a little less complex and with much more restricted access to the ship.  You'll get the same ability to accelerate your thoughts and the ship assures me it is all one way – nothing will be able to control or influence you through the link.  Not even me.”

“
Great, when can we start?” Ali asked, eyes bright.  “I'm fed up of feeling useless every time we get into trouble.”

“
Straight away, if you're sure.  Having control of more drones will speed up the mining.  You're absolutely certain?”

“
Yep.  Absolutely.  Besides, I can get rid of it in the future can't I?”

Jess quickly checked with the ship.  He realised that in all the time since his own implants were inserted he hadn't once asked that question, hadn't once considered the possibility of being separated from the ship voluntarily.

“Yes.  Yes you can.  It takes a few days for the structure to dissolve and be flushed out but the process is painless.”

“
Right then – count me in.”

“
You can count me out!” Elizabeth said firmly.  “Sorry, but I don't want nothing messing with my head.  Don't care how safe it is, it's a no.  Not in a million years.”

Jess was surprised by the strength of her feelings but didn't feel he could argue.  The idea of the implants had become normal to Sal, Ali and him while to Elizabeth it was a new and shocking concept.

“Sal, how about you?” he asked.

She didn't seem to hear him, lost deep in thought.  He was about to speak again when she looked up, meeting his eyes.

“It's hard.  It reminds me of the control collar.  Something artificial intruding into every part of my life.  I know it's not the same at all but...” 

She trailed off helplessly, unable to put her thoughts into words.  Taking a deep breath she spoke again.

“Is it safe Jess?  Really?  Will I be free still?  Will I be me?”

Jess stood and walked over to her, kneeling on the floor and taking her hands in his.  Her obvious uncertainty stripped the years from her, made her seem much closer to his own age.

“Sal, I would never, ever do anything to hurt you.  You're like family to me now.  We've been through so much already and we share memories of life as prisoners.  I promise this is safe.  You will be completely free.  If anything more free than you are now, you'll have the power to control shuttles, drones and robots.”

She stared at him for a while, eyes roving his face, looking for something.  Whatever it was she must have found it.

“OK Jess.  I trust you.  Let's do it.”

“
Now?”

“
Yes, now.  Where do we need to be?”

“
You'll be stuck in place for ten to twelve hours, though you'll soon be able to start controlling drones so you won't be bored.  I think the medical bay would be best.”

“
Right, let's go.”

Once Sal and Ali were comfortable the ship started to build the interfaces to their minds.  It was strange watching the web building, not only on the outside but viewing the strands penetrating deep into their brains through the ships senses.  A shiver went down his spine at the thought that he'd been through the same process.

Once he was happy both were taking the implants without complications he left the room.  Elizabeth had begged off watching the process, saying the idea made her feel queasy.  She was sat on a sofa studying the plans to transform the ship.  Jess gave her a quick update on the situation then started working with the ship to create enough drones for Ali and Sal to control. 

Not long after he was surprised by a tickling feeling running through his mind.  Following the source he felt another presence alongside that of the Wanderer.  He reached out towards it pushing a sense of comfort and safety, the reply nearly sent his mind spinning.  It was Ali and a deluge of feelings from excitement to wonder to fear crashed over him.  After a few moments his experience dealing with the ship allowed him to filter out the worst extremes and send a message back asking her to calm down, stop sending so much.  The answering reply had a strong tinge of ruefulness but was much more controlled.  Then another presence appeared, broadcasting tension and worry, and Jess went through the same process with Sal.

With suggestions from the ship's mind they were soon communicating rapidly using a mixture of speech, images, sensations and ship built structures such as scans, charts, flight plans and more.  It wasn't telepathy but it was far more than simple conversation.  Emotional overtones tinged their communications.  Sal's often carried a protective feel, a desire to look after Ali and Jess.  Ali's messages to Jess varied
– sometimes amused, sometimes caring, often with a warm element he could only interpret as a hug.  Occasional flashes of something stronger and far more intimate, something he knew he was leaking the other way too.  Each time it happened Sal's messages gained a deep sense of amusement while Ali leaked embarrassment.