Wandering Engineer 6: Pirates Bane (28 page)

“I think the Captain has had enough play time. Nappies,” Sprite
urged.

“Agreed. Have they fixed the ducting issue?” Irons asked. The
Captain had used the bot to spot weld the ducts shut where he was. It was
stupid and eventually suicidal, he was after all, cutting off his own air, but
it had kept them from gassing him.

“No, but we've done one better. The team has drilled a hole
through a bulkhead. Give the word and they'll pump in enough anesthetazine to
make them go na-night.”

“Cute,” Irons replied. He nodded. “Do it.”

“Passing on the order...” Sprite said. “And done. Four minutes and
they are out for the count.”

Just as the compartment flooded there was a report of a single
shot, then a second a moment later. “Admiral, we're getting a report that the
Captain committed suicide,” Sprite reported, sounding disappointed.

“The guard?”

“He killed him first.”

“Darn,” Irons said mildly. “Very well, so much for that.” There
would be no getting anything out of the Captain. They would have to rely on
what they could get out of the other prisoners and the information in the
computers. “Inform the crew. Have the work party there clean up the mess. He
turned to the systems and took a deep breath. With the ship secure they could
get organized.

While on the bridge, he listened to the occasional report and then
got bored. He repaired the Captain's couch and station and then moved around
the room, having Proteus repair everything from the bot he had shot up to the
small beverage replicator. Irons noted the bridge volunteers watching his every
move in quiet awe. He made himself a cup of coffee and then turn
ed. “Want some?” he asked, taking a sip.

He chuckled as he got out of the way as some of the eager people
made a rush for the dispenser.

“Ah!” one of the ratings said, all smiles as he cradled the
steaming cup of coffee. He sniffed in appreciation, eyes closed, proud tears
dripping from his eyes. “For this Admiral, you can have my first born!” he
said, hands shaking.

“Careful, don't spill it,” the medic said. “And when you get out
of the way, I want one too,” he said pointedly.

There was a smattering of laughter when he said that. Irons
smirked. “When you are done with getting drinks that replicator can make finger
foods. Snacks really. There isn't a lot in the tank though, and they won't
taste very good. Nutritional,” he said shrugging.

“Ah, gotcha,” the rating said.

Enric grinned, cradling his arm. “Told you he was all right,” he
said to the others. They nodded.

<----*----*----*---->

“What about Bounty? The ship's AI?” Proteus asked.

“I think we'll get to that. If the Admiral doesn't remember in
the next half hour, I'll bring it up,” Sprite said. “Thanks for the reminder,”
she said, tearing at the code. She uploaded her own files, and then began the
long tedious process of tying them to the ship's software and hardware.

“I'll help,” Proteus said. Silently she passed him a list of
things to do and then reluctantly, she segregated their bandwidth to allow the
AI space to work.

Two hours later the remaining Horathian crew were in the brig,
and Sprite had worked with Sindri, Ian, and Kinja to organize a temporary watch
roster. Sprite had also made some initial strides in repairing the crude
software.

“Admiral, I think we're stable now. We've got section heads
running things; a TOE is on your desktop. We can work on tweaking it later.
I've got the section heads working on feeding and caring for their people. But
there is one person we've been neglecting.”

“Oh?” Irons asked, looking up from the ship diagram. The fusion
reactor was at eighty percent efficiency, something that surprised him. The
ship also had a pair of micro fusion reactors grafted into the ship's EMP
network. That was surprising. He couldn't access them from the bridge, but
Kinja had reported one looked like it was out of some sublight craft. He'd have
to look into it more later.

Sprite wordlessly put an arrow up on his HUD. He turned in the
indicated direction until it reversed direction. He re-oriented and realized
she was indicating the ship's AI. “Sprite...”

“He's been alone for a long time Admiral and a prisoner as well.
His name is Lieutenant Lazarrian Bounty. He is a dumb AI with some memory
engrams from the original Commander Bounty.”

“Commander...” Irons wrinkled his nose in thought. “I thought
this ship was named after the old wet navy ship?”

“That name fell out of favor after the story of the mutiny. No,
Commander Bounty was a young but brilliant Commander who built a reputation for
himself in capturing pirates before the war in the Sigma sector of this arm of
the galaxy.”

“Okay.”

“He was killed in the first battle of the Xeno war. His ship
heroically defended a refugee convoy, sacrificing itself in order for them to
escape.”

“Ah,” the Admiral said, catching on. “I had wondered why buships
would name a ship after someone so quickly. They are usually glacially slow
about such things,” he said.

“Or were. We don't know how things are in Pyrax,” Sprite
corrected him. Irons nodded. “Apparently the young human had volunteered to
have his memory scanned as a Lieutenant. They incorporated it into the AI but
it didn't take fully. He was graded sane though, and the desperate need for
ship AI made them install him.”

“Bet he's regretting it,” Irons mused. He walked over to the
station and studied it. There were touch controls on a flat LCD at the front of
the holo emitter. There was a small speaker, small microphone, and a tiny
camera. For an AI to be trapped in such a thing... he shook his head. He hit
the on switch. “Lieutenant?” Irons asked as the holo formed of the wretch.

“Don't hurt me! I don't know!” the AI wailed. “Please don't
shut... wait...” The AI paused in confusion.

Irons nodded. “My name is Fleet Admiral John Henry Irons,
Federation Navy. This ship has been retaken and is now under my command,” he
said simply.

“I...” the AI straightened as best his virtual chains would
allow. “Admiral sir,” he said, coming to attention the best he could. “You have
no idea,” he said, practically whispered. From the sound of it the AI was
shocked, but overjoyed to see him.

“Lieutenant, I want you to run a self diagnostic and self repair.
We'll leave you on now, but for safety reasons we're not going to hook you up
to the ship's systems until I've had my own AI check you out thoroughly,” he
said.

The AI nodded. “Prudent of you sir. I'm questioning my own sanity
right now.”

“You are?” the Admiral asked, sounding slightly dismayed.

“If he's questioning his sanity he's not fully insane,” Sprite
interjected.

“Yes. Who is that?” the AI asked, peering about.

“Lieutenant Commander Sprite, my central AI. With her are
Lieutenant Defender, Lieutenant Phoenix, and Proteus.”

“Oh,” the AI said, blinking rapid fire.

“He's communicating in Morse code,” Sprite said after a moment.
“And to answer your question Lieutenant, no this isn't a trick. You are safe.”

“Sprite and Defender will test your AI core to make sure you are
safe and able to return to duty Lieutenant. Until they can check you, please
run the diagnostics.”

“Can we hook him up to some of the ship's camera's?” Sprite
asked. “I'd like him to at least act as an observer sir. It will help me grade
his sanity,” she said.

Irons looked at her on her HUD. She had a serious expression. The
Admiral sighed. “You don't think he is a threat?”

“After they spent all that time torturing him?” Sprite asked. She
shook her head vehemently no.

“You are using your past experience in a negative way Commander,”
Defender warned. “That is unwise of you.”

“Shut up,” Sprite growled. “We'll both do what we can for him.
He's suffered enough. And I can
trust
,” she paused, sounding loathful.
“For you to fumigate him with your usual paranoid intensity.”

“Of course,” Defender replied.

“
Thoroughly
,” Sprite growled.

“That goes without saying.”

“
Without
deleting him,” Sprite snarled.

“Only if he is a threat. You and I both know an insane AI can
spread its insanity to other AI Commander.”

“Enough,” Irons said, hands up. The bridge watch looked at him.
He looked around. They went back to watching their stations. He lowered his
voice. “Get on it Lieutenant. I want you two to have your log available.
Defender will create a drop for you to put it in. That way he can check you
over.”

“Understood Admiral,” the ship AI replied. “It is soo good to be
safe! You have no idea!”

“I do have some questions Admiral,” Defender said.

“Make a list and get in line,” Sprite said. “I'm getting
questions from all over the ship. People are flocking to where ever I can talk
to them through.”

“Good,” the Admiral said. “Are you giving them a presentation in
the MPR?” he asked.

“Good idea,” Sprite said, grinning. “Glad I thought of it, oh,
twenty minutes ago,” she said. “We've got quite the crowd, about twenty people
watching it right now.”

“Okay.”

“And the number one question is when do we save the other
prisoners?” Sprite asked.

“That's coming up,” he said. He studied the AI holoboard and then
turned, looking at it. Eventually he found a panel and flipped it open.

“Do not jack in,” Defender growled.

“Wasn't thinking of it,” the Admiral replied. “And that's don't
jack in sir.”

“Please,” Sprite said, maliciously glad the stuffy security AI
was getting its hand slapped for not following protocol.

“Chip,” Irons said, right hand open, palm up. After a moment
Proteus created a flash chip. He took it and then plugged it into the USB port
on the board.

“Oh! And the data... to have new data!” Bounty practically sobbed
excitedly. “You... there is data here on you, and your travels... oh wow! With
my limited processing ability it will take me some time... okay, I am up to
date sir,” the AI said.

“Please put the chip in another system that is not connected to
the ship's network Admiral. And I'll need you to jack into the device
beforehand. A tablet with its WI-Fi disabled would work.”

“Understood,” Irons replied. He turned and went to the tablet he
had left on the command couch. He pulled the rear access panel off and then
placed his index finger over the UART. He felt nanites surge into the chip,
disabling the net access. Then he jacked into the USB port. He felt Defender
send modules and scripts into the tablet. The Admiral flipped the screen over.
A ready prompt was blinking. After a moment a request to unjack and plug the
chip in blinked.

“Okay,” he said, taking the chip out and plugging it into the
tablet. Bounty protested briefly but then fell silent.

“The files I put onto the tablet will check the AI's log for
signs of stability and subversive programs,” Defender said.

“Understood.”

“The tablet has a slow processor Admiral. It will take a few
minutes. You may want to attend to other duties,” Defender said.

“Understood,” the Admiral said.

“Can I have some more memory and processing power?” the ship AI
asked in a soft voice. “Please sir?”

“Um, sure,” the Admiral said. He held up his palm again.
“Proteus, create a USB hub, a blank memory module, and two processors please.”

“Admiral, I am low on materials,” the AI said. “And nanites.”

Irons frowned. He looked around and then pulled the auto-gun
above the hatch down. He yanked it hard enough to break it. “Use this,” he
said.

“Very well,” the AI sighed. “I'll do my best.”

After a moment the gun dissolved. Enric, who had been sneaking
glances his way stared slack-jawed.

The Admiral caught the look. “See? Told you there are
advantages,” Irons said simply. After a moment the requested electronic devices
appeared, as did a few more. “What are these?” the Admiral asked, noting they
were additional cameras and devices, along with blocks of unused metal.

“For the AI. He can't be comfortable with one point of view Admiral,”
Proteus said.

Irons blinked and then shrugged. It was unusual for Proteus to go
above and beyond what he requested. “Did you restock?”

“Yes. I am rebuilding the nanite numbers now.”

“Understood,” the Admiral replied. “Good work,” he said. He went
over to the AI station and plugged the equipment in.

“Thank you Admiral. I am working on a more thorough diagnostic
and repair cycle now. I will need to sleep. I haven't had sleep in so long,”
Bounty said.

“By all means. Whatever it takes to get you back on your feet
Lieutenant,” the Admiral said with a nod. He watched as the AI's image
flickered with code streams. Some of the chains vanished and the tattered
uniform repaired itself in places. Irons nodded again and turned to the command
couch.

He sat on the couch and looked at the tablet's screen. Defender's
test had run its course. “According to this, the preliminary test determined
the core AI was still sane and was salvageable,” the Admiral read off the
screen. He nodded. Sprite glared at the security AI. Defender turned away,
ignoring the look.

“Progress with the crew?” The Admiral asked.

“Everyone has been fed Admiral,” Sprite reported. “The power room
watch has been sorted out. The prisoners in the brig are starting to wake.
Gustov has put a guard on them to keep an eye on things.”

“Good.”

“Ian has put five of the most exhausted crew members on bed rest.
Sindri is making another run through the ship and then he promised Ian he would
eat and bed down.”

“Is he excited about getting his hands properly dirty again?”
Enric asked from his station.

“If you mean in engineering and not scrubbing toilets, yes,”
Sprite answered, sounding amused. “He's split the Chief engineer slot with
Kinja, who by the way happens to be the former Chief engineer of Le More. And
um, no one has told her about Franx. Fortunately she's been too busy to ask.”

“Shit,” the Admiral sighed.

Enric looked up with a set face. “You want me to tell her sir?”
Enric asked after a moment. “I've known her longer than you sir.”

“No, we'll do it,” Irons replied. “She has a right to know.”

“Admiral, before you leave the bridge can you create a firewalled
node for me to access Bounty? I want to upload information. A one way node if Mister
Paranoid insists.”

“For now I do. For your own safety Commander,” Defender said.

“Fine,” Sprite replied sharply. Irons went over and put his hand
up. Proteus formed a small wireless chip. He plugged it into the HUB.

“Accessing. I’m in. My you are paranoid,” Sprite said. “You've
run the diagnostic enough Lieutenant, my turn. Go to sleep mode.”

“Aye aye ma'am,” Lieutenant Bounty replied.

“Sleep with good dreams, Lieutenant. You'll wake a better man,”
Sprite said softly as the AI's avatar closed his eyes and went limp on the holo
emitter. When she was certain the AI was under Sprite turned to Defender. “I
can confirm he's out,” she said. “So you can do your thing,” she said. She and
Defender ran a rapid scan, removing the torture modules.

Defender pulled any suspicious code modules, and then a firmware
reboot of some of the Lieutenant's functions to rebuild them. His avatar
changed, reforming into a standard naval day uniform. The chains disappeared.

<----*----*----*---->

With the AI distracted, Irons turned to Enric and nodded. “You
have the bridge,” he said.

Enric looked up in alarm. He gulped, feeling a sinking sensation
as the weight of command fell on his untried shoulders. “Aye sir,” he said,
fighting to keep his voice from sounding weak or afraid. “I have the bridge.”
He got off the tactical couch and went to the command couch, looking nervously
at it as the Admiral exited the compartment. “Now what do I do with it?” the Admiral
heard him say softly.