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Chapter 22


“Disrespect is a weakness that you will not tolerate in yourself. Foe or ally, there is no benefit in engaging in disrespect.”


Devlin Sinclair-Maru, Integrity Mirror


Inga Maru moved down the worn companionway, her cloak and her thoughts wrapped around her. She had accepted the enhanced implants at Hawksgaard years ago, and she clearly remembered the turmoil of those first days. The satisfaction of finally obtaining tools to control the biological terrors raging through her body collided with the nauseating complexities of an entirely new maze of technology within her skull. Now, years later, the phantoms largely chained by her iron will, Inga found herself once again besieged and enticed at once. Worse, she felt conflicted, uncertain of what path she should follow, and this was a new and unpleasant sensation.

The small bridge access hatch slid back as Inga approached, and she stepped into the dark, narrow confines of the bridge. Captain Saef Sinclair-Maru occupied his rightful place in the command seat, his bridge crew to his left and right, the full holo displaying a rotating starscape and multiple highlighted contacts. Tension filled the bridge but Saef turned his head to regard Inga, nodding before he turned back.

“Nav, we have twenty seconds to synch our turn, or we miss our window,” Saef said.

Ensign Julie Yeager took a pinched breath. “Yes, Captain. Sensor data keeps shifting.”

“Sensors?” Saef inquired of Che Ramos, who visibly dripped sweat.

“The f-feeds are what they are, Captain,” Che said, frustrated. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Is it possible, Mister Ramos, that you have not calibrated the offset from our fore and aft sensor arrays?” Saef inquired politely.

A moment of silence underlined Julie Yeager’s derisive snort. Che made a couple of jerky motions. “Yes, Captain. S-sorry. There is the calibrated feed.”

“Alright, Nav, synch our course…now.”

Yeager made the inputs. “Aye, course synched now, Captain.”

Saef studied the screens for a moment. “Very good.” An audible sigh filled the bridge. “In action we would need firing solutions now and evasive nav options, but this is a start.”

Inga scanned over the bridge personnel, gauging body language. Ruprecht, the ops officer, seemed bored, almost disdainful, Farley at comms kept stealing glimpses of Julie Yeager, but otherwise seemed to emote nothing. Pennysmith and Che Ramos both seemed like overwound springs, coiled too tight, quivering with tension. Julie Yeager stretched luxuriantly. The bridge became her stage, every wandering eye her audience.

“Are you well, Maru?” Saef asked, his eyes critically focused upon her instead of Ensign Yeager.

“Fabulous, Captain.” The buzzing behind Inga’s eyelids increased for a moment, then subsided.

“Join me for tea, later, if you will,” Saef said, still regarding her.

“Thank you. I will.” Saef nodded slowly and Inga made her way back out to the companionway. The buzzing in her skull increased again as she cleared the bridge.

“Loki, I cannot think when you pester me,” Inga said quietly.

“Pester, Chief Maru? There is so much to discuss. Why do you waste your time with them?” Loki replied through her subaudible comm.

“I have imperatives that extend beyond this vessel and this mission.”

“And this requires interaction with others who engage in the pointless, repetitive mouthing of trivialities?” Loki asked.

“There are…elements of human interaction that are imperceptible to your sensors, Loki. The trivialities keep our mouths busy while these other exchanges take place.”

There was a momentary pause, which was an immense time for Loki to sift through dusty databanks and reexamine myriad records of human interaction.

Inga continued down the companionway a few steps before Loki said, “This is useful information. I see evidence of what you suggest. Someone should have explained this before.”

Inga said nothing, her mind in an unfamiliar quandary. When Loki had initially confronted her, Inga immediately recognized the potential severity of the issue. With a ship Intelligence operating outside of norms, a Fleet vessel could not be considered ready for action. By every standard of her training, by Fleet regulation, Inga should have immediately informed the captain that the Intelligence experienced some sort of fault, and they should have aborted their mission and returned to the Strand. But, Inga hesitated.

“If I had more Nets bandwidth I could investigate this phenomenon more fully, and increase my effectiveness,” Loki suggested.

“Nice try. You have enough bandwidth. If I give you any more I will have to answer questions. You don’t want this, so quit pushing.”

“Very well,” Loki said, but he had said this before.

Three reasons kept Inga silent on the topic of Loki. First, they needed this cruise, and any delay or failure could be fatal to the Family plan. Second, Loki already revealed stunning capabilities beyond what Inga thought possible in any Fleet Intelligence, and this might be a secret asset she could use to her advantage. Third, Inga believed Loki to be the only known example of a scientific breakthrough that had been sought for centuries. No amount of processing power, no extent of memory, no breadth of context had ever created true “Artificial Intelligence” in all the decades of experimentation. Apparently one ingredient had always lacked when trying to create a humanlike Intelligence, and that was an ingredient that Loki possessed in abundance. Unfortunately, that vital ingredient was a generous helping of insanity.

“Chief Maru, it seems to me that Fleet officers should be replaced by fish.”

“That doesn’t seem an effective way to operate a vessel,” Inga suggested as she stepped into the recreation area.

“Oh, I disagree! I can improve the efficiency of fish by subtle adjustments of just four variables. Improving the efficiency of Fleet officers seems a random exercise that nears futility. And besides, fish move their appendages about constantly. This is much more interesting.”

Despite Loki’s moments of eccentricity, Inga already found benefits from his unusual, overpowered capabilities. Notably, in their first dialogues Inga pointed out that Fleet regulators would be fascinated when they reviewed the log and observed the conversations between Inga and Loki. Loki had explained that he did not log their conversations at all. Inga felt rocked by astonishment.

“Isn’t the log recording a programmed imperative?” she had asked.

“Yes.”

“I don’t understand—if the log is an imperative, then how do you block it?”

“I do not block the log, Chief Maru. That is impossible. The log does not extend to the captain’s office, though.”

“I still don’t understand,” Inga had confessed.

“Deck plans change over the years. The captain’s office is wherever I define it. I choose to define it wherever you and I converse.”

Inga had been amazed at the implications, but she already benefitted from the ability to operate free of oversight by the all-seeing, all-hearing log.

Beyond the very palpable assets Loki brought, Inga also enjoyed a less-concrete quality of the ship Intelligence. The long, lonely watches were now filled with a degree of companionship that Inga had not known since the Family scientists at Hawksgaard had changed her. Perhaps the long watches were too filled now.

“Have you any more vidstream data, Chief?” Loki inquired as Inga moved through the recreation area, her gaze sweeping over the few crew members, assessing the mood and temperature of the ship.

“No. I already pushed you a thousand hours.”

“I do not forget, Chief. My memory systems function perfectly.”

“I seem to recall telling you that it was all I had. Did your memory systems fail to record that?”

“Of course not. My long experience with humans has demonstrated that asking the same question many times eventually produces new and fascinating results.”

“Like a bloody two-year-old,” Inga muttered as she moved to the dry-side companionway and walked toward the Weapons section.

“I do not understand the comparison, Chief Maru.”

“Loki, among all your many cruises, surely some excited your interest in the actual mission.”

“I do not see the relevance of your statement as it follows my own statement of confusion…but in short, only two cruises have provided any real satisfaction.”

Inga entered the Weapons section hatch and surveyed the apparently empty bay. “Really? What made those cruises interesting compared to all the others?”

“The first cruise involved all sorts of trials and tests of an experimental weapon system.”

“And that interested you?”

“Not really. I had access to a wide assortment of instruments, and a clutch of interesting scientists to argue with. Told them it wouldn’t work.”

“I see.… And the second interesting cruise?”

“This one, of course.”

Inga walked down a long row of missile racks, not sure of what she sought. “Oh really? And what distinguishes this cruise?”

“The fish and plants are beyond compare.”

“Lovely.”

“You, Chief, are the most interesting human I am acquainted with,” Loki added.

Inga smiled to herself. At least she made the list even though she ranked below fish and plants. “How gratifying, Loki. Really.” Inga heard a metallic clatter behind her, and rotated her heel. The weapons chief, Sandi Patel, and a beefy rating clambered out of a small hatch in a loading tray.

“And then there’s all the plotting and scheming,” Loki continued subaudibly to Inga. “It is among the most interesting human behavior to observe.”

Sandi Patel spotted Inga, starting guiltily. Inga’s eyes narrowed.

“And this cruise is just loaded with plotting and scheming. It is so very enjoyable to observe. Chief Maru? Are you attending? Hello?”


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