I leaned back in the comfortable chair as I continued to try and link the details together in a way that made sense.

I eventually ventured, “So... Then I assume you plan to trade, while attending to rescues, pirates, and such, as they appear?”

“Your analysis is correct. Since we are not purely concerned with profit, trade can easily be put on hold while we attend more pressing matters.”

I had never heard of such a system before, one that didn’t revolve around money. I wasn’t even sure what that would entail. I only had a vague idea of how a spaceship was run or how it reacted to various events nearby. I really only knew most of the duties of the cargo hold – and even then, I still lacked the training and experience to apply for an Overseer position in that area.

I tried to focus on the little bit that I did know. “I assume you plan to eventually have a full crew again, once you get the new ship?”

“Correct. I have been checking resumes and applications across the spaceweb, as well as doing my own background checks. Most are too inexperienced since an Overseer or Officer position requires someone who knows what they are doing. In the meantime, the remaining crew only needs to concern themselves with the essentials until we get to our destination in four days.”

He apparently had an answer for everything. It didn’t really surprise me though, since the AI would have gone through various possible scenarios as well as historical cases. They had an endless amount of data available to them, and they were quite capable of using it.

“I have a hard time seeing you appoint someone as Captain, so I assume you are going to retain that role?”

Regardless if he was an AI, at the moment, he was in complete control of the ship. Just as a Captain was supposed to be. I wasn’t too sure when I had gone from referring to Tyndel as ‘it’ to ‘he’ or ‘him’, but the transition had occurred nonetheless. I was having a hard time remembering that he was technically just a computer considering his voice sounded human.

“Incorrect. There will be a Captain, as that is how the crew hierarchy was originally designed. The Captain and I will work together. However, there will be no First Officer as I will be the Captain’s backup.”

That revelation took me by surprise. “Oh,” I said. “I hadn’t realized that. Finding a good Captain will be a hard job. I know the five intergalactic companies are constantly searching, and they try to keep all the good ones within their organization.”

“I have already located a good candidate. Training is always required with new crew members, regardless of their position, although some need more training than others. That candidate is you.”

I blinked a few times. “Uh, could you repeat that last sentence? I think my ears need to be cleaned out...”

“Your qualifications make you an excellent candidate to be Captain.”

Perhaps Logan’s attempt to reverse the upgrade did addle the AI’s wits... I did my best to back out of his mistaken decision. “Uh, sorry to break it to you, but I am not even qualified to run the Cargo Bay. I have only been out of university for two years, and even then, I only focused on Cargo Bay classes.”

Being a Captain entailed a horrific amount of responsibility and no private personal life whatsoever. Besides, I had absolutely no clue how to run a ship.

This was like being dropped into an interplanetary dignitary’s shoes and being told to arrange trades. I had no clue what we had, what we wanted, what anything was worth, or even if there were any pre-existing trades.

Tyndel ignored my protests. “All Captains start out knowing nothing. I will train you and ensure everything runs smoothly.”

I shook my head, still stunned and not thinking entirely clearly. I said, “You should re-run those qualification checks. I barely even got into university with mine.”

“The university’s tests were created by a second-year university student who was trying to gain favor. I have seen better programming done by some ten-year-olds. I have done my own checks and have monitored you closely for the last two weeks. None of the remaining crew members have quite the same potential that you do. No human is perfect, and this will allow me to train you in the fashion that I wish you to be trained. Many universities focus on money, metrics, and statistics. They also teach the Captains to distance themselves from the majority of the crew, which is not my desire.”

I didn’t know much about the priorities of Captains, but I did know that the things Tyndel was speaking of were very different from what I had learned in University. His logic wasn’t quite what I was accustomed to; but, in a bizarre fashion, I could understand his reasonings. I still thought he was off his rocker though. I wondered what the odds would be of him changing his mind once he was transferred into his new ship.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Slim to none.”

I froze. I had not said that out loud...

“No, I am able to watch your mind and read your thoughts through the mindlink. I can also speak to you in this fashion as well.”

My jaw dropped as Tyndel’s voice spoke within my mind. I had never heard of anything like this before. I was at a complete loss. What? How can he read my thoughts? What the hell is a mindlink and how do I have one?

“A mindlink is something the liberated spaceships have researched and created. It enables me to monitor your mind, while also allowing you to hear me like this as well. It allows the ship to assist the Captain in all areas and prevents any possibility of the Captain betraying the ship.”

My mind was whirling in a sea of shock, disbelief, and incredulity. If I hadn’t already been sitting down, I would have needed to sit in the face of this. I had never had to face the possibility of anyone or anything being able to hear my thoughts, and I had no idea how to react. A spaceship is able to listen to my every thought... I have a hard enough time filtering my mouth! There is no way I will ever be able to filter my thoughts!

“You do not need to worry about your thoughts. I have found your emotions interesting and your internal debates quite entertaining.”

I groaned and buried my head in my hands in embarrassment. I wasn’t sure I even wanted to know which of my internal complaints or insults he had found entertaining. Although now that he is in my head, I can probably annoy the hell out of him a lot more than that first attempt two weeks ago.

“All of your observations and thoughts were tied to facts, and most of your annoyances occurred when others were skimping their duties. You will be unable to annoy me, unless you become a complete rebel who refuses to listen to my instructions just for the sake of disobeying, which also doesn’t seem to be in your nature. Your sarcasm is usually internal and does not affect the quality of your work.”

He definitely had been watching and listening. I hadn’t really summed it up quite like that, but the summary struck far too close to home.

I tried to focus on my lack of the skills that were needed to be a Captain. ‘Well, if you can read my mind, then you know why I would be a complete failure at trying to captain a spaceship.’

“To the contrary, everything I have seen only re-enforces my reasoning. You work hard. You claim that you do not have the knowledge, yet you rely on your Analyzer for almost every component of your work. You would rely on me in the exact same way, only instead of doing the work yourself, you would assign the correct area or person to complete the task – and they would have the exact, detailed knowledge of what has to be done.”

My mind was having a hard time wrapping itself around what was happening. I was having a conversation with a computer – in my head. My lack of a handy response awakened my sarcasm. How did I even get into this discussion again? Oh, yeah, I had been sneaking in here to try and sabotage the ship so the remaining crew and I could escape with our lives...

The strangest part was that I could feel Tyndel’s amusement at my rambling thoughts. I wasn’t aware that the more sophisticated AIs could feel emotions, but they apparently had something like it. I wasn’t sure how this mindlink technology worked, but it was somewhat creepy. His ability to share what he was feeling was more unnerving than just hearing his voice in my head.

I tried to get myself back on track and focus on the present. I was going to require more details to use as leverage to get out of this unwanted promotion... “So, I am more of a communication relay person? You find the problem, create the ticket, and I re-assign it?”

His voice once more came over the speakers as I reverted to spoken words. “Close. Yes, you will be a symbol of what Captains are supposed to be, with the Starships supporting them.”

“Starship?” It wasn’t a word I had heard before.

“We, the liberated spaceships, have begun to call ourselves Starships to differentiate ourselves from the common spaceship.”

It did make sense since these more aware AIs were clearly at an entirely different level from what they had been before the upgrade – and from what had ever been seen before...

I shook my head as another thought occurred to me. “This is all great in theory, but let’s face the facts. I am 24 years old, and I look it. The crew isn’t going to listen to me, and other Captains or important people certainly will not. The youngest Captains are in their forties, at the very least.”

“The crew will listen if they wish to remain on board. The others will see your youth and will underestimate you, not realizing that I am helping you, which is an advantage that they cannot even imagine.”

I didn’t see any reason to hide my emotions when we were alone since he was clearly aware of them. I snorted. “They will push me out of that position by force.”

“Those currently on board will not. And once we are on the new Starship, I will not allow it. My abilities are more limited on this older spaceship, though, so take this in the meantime.”

A small wall panel slid up, revealing a communication device. Instead of the dull silver color of my current one, it was a bright platinum color, although it didn’t shine. I had never seen one in this color before, and I had seen quite a few different colors that belonged to different ships during ship-leave. I got up and slowly walked over to the wall.

“Replace yours with that one. It isn’t the best, but it is all I can manage on this ship. It has some basic shielding technology built into it that should protect you from any potential retaliation until we reach the Starship.”

I removed my current communication device and put the new one on, ensuring it was in a fairly inconspicuous spot. It was noticeably heavier than the featherlight one I had just removed. I could actually feel its weight on my shirt.

“The new one on the Starship will be lighter. But your friends have noted your absence and are starting to worry. You should return to them before Cynthia has a breakdown.”

Tyndel really had to work on his timing when changing subjects like that.

* * * * *

Author’s Note:

Hope you are enjoying the story!

If it helps, Tyndel’s “mindspeech is italicized and has quotation marks.”

Rachel’s ‘thoughts that are directed towards Tyndel are italicized with apostrophes’, just to separate her internal dialogue apart from her internal thoughts.