Pursue the Past: Samair in Argos: Book 1 (37 page)

              “So how are we to meet up again, partner?” Vosteros asked, with a huge grin on his face.  He was exceptionally pleased with how things turned out.  They were meeting in the wardroom of the
Grania Estelle
and one of Cookie’s mess attendants had delivered a tray of beers for the illustrious company.

              This was a good question.  Since faster than light communications were not available (in fact, not possible in this day and age) ships had to be sent out to other star systems in order for different worlds to talk with each other.  So unless by some happy accident they arrived in the same system, they would need to set up some sort of rendezvous in order to compare notes and compile profits.

              Eamonn smiled, taking a sip of the beer in front of him.  “Well, partner,” he said with a chuckle, “you are a lot faster than I am.  I’m also going to be making a stop in the void to tear down and replace my ship’s main reactor.  So that’s going to be a few days longer.  I imagine by that point you’ll get four or five systems ahead of me.  How about we meet in Ullu-tran in six months?  That’ll be four stops on my route and should give you the chance to make, what?  Ten?”

              Vosteros squinted in thought.  “Possibly.  I’m going to shoot for eight, but we might be able to make ten before we loop back to Ullu-tran.  I’m not used to having such a fast ship.  It’s going to take a serious shift in thinking.”

              “That’s great.  Ullu-tran has enough of an industrial base that I think it will work out for us.”  He nodded slowly.  “Well, Captain, I think all I have to say is good luck and I’ll see you in six months.”  Eamonn stood, setting the beer down on the table.  He extended his hand.

              Vosteros reached out his own and took it, shaking it firmly before releasing it.  “And to you, Captain.  May the stars’ light shine on you.”  Taking his glass of beer, he chugged the rest down, slammed the glass down hard in salute, turned and left.

              Eamonn picked up his own glass and downed the rest.  It was time to get moving.

              An hour later, the
Emilia Walker
broke orbit, heading toward the hyper limit in the direction of Yoka-Hana.  The ship raced across the system at amazing speed, as though it was moving at combat velocity.  The Captain sighed as he watched the light freighter moving away from the planet at great velocity. 

              “So, what do we think?” he asked the bridge at large.  “Do we think they’re actually going to be at Ulla-tran in six months?  Or did we just fix them up to let them skate off?”

              “I want to believe them,” Serinda commented.  “From the conversations I fielded and the ones I heard you with, Captain, I think Captain Vosteros wants to be there.  To work with us.”

              “I agree with Serinda, Captain,” George put in.  “But I talked with the engineering teams who worked on the other ship.  The crew of that ship isn’t too keen on us helping them out.”

              The Captain raised an eyebrow.  “You think they might mutiny?”

              George shrugged.  “Not so much mutiny, Captain.  They like and respect Captain Vosteros, but I think it more likely they might talk him out of the deal.”

              He twisted his mouth in concern.  “I don’t like the sound of that.  With a shiny new ship and some distance from us, he might let himself get convinced.”  He sighed.  “Well, there’s nothing for it now.  Helm, are we ready to leave?  I think we have a cargo that needs to get to Hecate.”  The day before, Taja had snagged a load of gadolinium, a mineral essential in hyperdrive construction.  The load had been scheduled to go to Hecate on another vessel eight months before, but that ship had dropped the consignment and left.  So the shipment of gadolinium had sat in a warehouse on the planet ever since.  Taja only found it after overhearing some gossip between workers in a local pub.  But that grab and others like it was only one big reason he kept her around.  He smiled at the thought.

              Sadly, since they were picking up the shipment, the receivers on the other end weren’t going to be happy about the delay.  They might even try to stiff on the payment; it had happened before.  He and Taja were good hagglers and negotiators, but if the receivers blamed them for the late arrival of the shipment it would take some fast talking to get them to pay for it.  But there was an upside.  If the receivers refused to pay, they would keep the gadolinium and use it for any hyperdrive repairs that might crop up.

              “Astrogation, plot us a course for the hyper limit, course for Hecate.  Helm, take us out of orbit.  Make sure we stop at the collector before we go.”

              “Aye, Captain,” the pilot answered.  The ship answered immediately under his hands, easing out of the parking orbit and turning to head out into deep space. 

              “I think you’ve finally reached the point where I can start introducing you to the crew,” Tamara said. 

              [I would like that very much.]

              “I think it might be best if we did this slowly.  At least at first, while you get used to them and they get used to you.  Once you’ve got a group of people that know you, and we can get the ship’s computer core up to snuff, I’ll introduce you to the crew as a whole.”

              [I understand.]  The AI paused.  [Tamara, may I ask you a question?]

              “Of course.”

              [Do I have a name?]

              “Not at the moment, no, you don’t.”  She considered this.  “Would you like one?”

              [All sentient beings have names.  You have a name.  Did you name yourself?]

              She shook her head.  “No, my dear, I didn’t.  My parents, my creators gave it to me.”

              The AI paused to mull this over for a few moments.  [You are my creator, Tamara.  Would you give me a name?]

              Tamara nodded.  “I will.  I’ve been intending to make you the primary AI for the ship we are on, the
Grania Estelle
.  So I think that you should be named for the ship.  Does that make sense?”

              [You are choosing the name, Tamara, not I.]

              She laughed.  “Well, my dear, I don’t want to give you a name you will hate.”

              [Why would I hate it?  You are giving it to me.]

              “Thank you, dear one.  You are far more forgiving and loving than I would be.  But I am going to name you for the ship.”

              [Very well.  I am the Grania Estelle?]

              She pursed her lips.  “That is a bit cumbersome for a person.”

              [I am an AI, not a person.]

              “No,” she disagreed firmly.  “You are an AI, yes, but you are a
person
.  You’re not an organic one, you’re synthetic.  But you are still a person.”

              The AI pondered this further.  [I understand.  And thank you, Tamara.]

              “You’re welcome, my dear.  I think if we are introducing you formally to someone, we will call you Grania Estelle.  Would you mind if otherwise we called you Stella?  It’s a nickname.”

              [I would like that very much.  I am the Grania Estelle… but my friends call me Stella.]

              Tamara laughed joyously.  “You have been paying attention!”

              Ka’Xarian was exhausted.  He’d just gotten off a twelve hour shift, working to get engine four operational.  With all the other building and repairs that had been done, the ship’s main propulsion had remained untouched.   They were still operating on three of the ship’s six engines, though he was confident that after another shift, number four would be online and operating.  He nodded to himself, antennae twitching in pleasure. 

              They were really doing it.  The ship, which had been their home and their lives for so long had been dying.  He and Quesh and the Captain had been doing everything they could to keep
Grania Estelle
alive for years, but it had been a losing battle.  For those same years, they had presided over the downward spiral of their home.  Then that fateful day came when they picked up an escape pod with an unlikely passenger.  She had given them the codes to the replicators, she had given them some skills that they needed and ideas to solve problems.  More importantly, she had given them hope.  And now that hope, and an
awful
lot of sweat and hard work, was breathing new life and new youth into the ship, into their home.

              But, that new life was exhausting.  He clacked his mandibles in a zheen chuckle.  A cleaning in the sonic shower and a long sleep would do wonders.  He could eat, he probably
should
eat, he knew, but he was simply too tired.  He placed his hand on the door control to his quarters to open it when his communicator beeped.  His antennae flared in annoyance. 

              “I need to sleep!” he hissed.  Pulling the communicator from his belt, he flipped it open.  “This is Ka’Xarian.”

              “Xar, it’s Tamara.  I know you just got off shift.  Would you mind stopping by my quarters?  I have something to show you.”

              He sighed.  “Tamara, it’s been a very long day.  Can this wait until tomorrow?  I really need rest.”

              “I know you’re tired.  But I have snacks!” she said in a wheedling voice.

              He stood there, thinking, or rather, trying to get his sleep-addled brain to think.  “All right.  But whatever this is had better be good and it can’t take long.”

              “Thanks, Xar.  I’ll have the ku-resh waiting for you.”

              “Oh, you have ku-resh?”  Candied pill bugs, which were a considered a zheen sweet treat.  “You know its bad form to bribe an officer of the ship.”

              She laughed.  “See you in a few.”  The call ended.

              He was in her quarters a few minutes later.  They sat and chatted for a few minutes, he ate a few bites of ku-resh, which was succulent, while she had a small plate of cookies and sipped a glass of fruit juice.

              After finishing a particularly tasty bite, he finally addressed the reason he was here.  “All right, Tamara.  Spill it.  Not that I don’t appreciate the snacks – they’re delicious, by the way – but why did you call me here?”

              Tamara set down her glass.  “You know I’ve been working on a special project for the last few months.”

              “Yes.”  He set down the bowl and sat up straighter on the chair.  “The AI.”

              She nodded.  “Yes.  And she’s finally ready to be shown off.  But I’m going to be doing this slowly.  I don’t want anyone freaking out over this.”

              “She?” he asked.

              “Yes, she.  She’s a person, Xar, not just a computer construct.”

              He cocked his head to one side briefly.  “We’ll see about that.”

              Picking up her datapad, she pressed a command.  The holo projector on the tiny table in the middle of the room, separating the two of them activated and an image appeared.  It was a pretty young human woman, a teenager, dressed in a ship suit.  She had dark hair which was pulled back in a ponytail.  Her rather serious façade was marred by slashes of color across her cheekbones, a dash of purple.  Also, upon further inspection, Ka’Xarian noted that her dark hair, which was a dark shade of brown, was highlighted with a trio of purple stripes starting at her forehead and going back to the end of the pony tail.

              “And
this
is the AI?” he asked incredulously.

              “Yes, I am, Assistant Chief Engineer Ka’Xarian,” the projection of the woman replied.  “I am Grania Estelle, but my friends call me Stella.”

              He was taken aback.  Looking at Tamara, “Did you program it to respond that way?”

              Tamara chuckled.  “I programmed her, yes, but you can talk to her directly.  Don’t be rude.”

              He looked back to the AI.  “Forgive me… Stella.  May I call you Stella?”

              She considered him for a moment.  “You were a bit rude just then, Assistant Chief.  But I can tell you are excited about seeing me.”

              “The Captain is the only one you need to address by rank, Grania Estelle,” Xar replied, shaking his head.  “Everyone else, you just call by name.  Except for the Chief Engineer.  Most people call him Chief.  My friends call me Xar.  I’d like it if we were friends.”

              She smiled.  “I would like that too, Xar.  Call me Stella.”

              “Hello, Stella.”  He looked over to Tamara.  “We have
got
to get the computer core rebuilt for her.”  The zheen was really excited now.

              Both of the women laughed.  “Yes, I think we do,” Tamara replied.  “Though I think perhaps Stella would need to meet the Captain and Chief Trrgoth first.”  Her face darkened.  “Not sure the Chief will like her.”

              Stella looked concerned.  “He is a tough male and is in charge of his department.  Having me in the computer core and running a great deal of the autonomous functions could only ease his workload and make the ship run more smoothly.  Why wouldn’t he like that?”