You’d think your day couldn’t get any worse when you wake up surrounded by dead bodies on a prison ship crashing into a star. Wrong. Now I was flying into a star and no amount of screaming at the ship's computer changed that. It simply refused to give me back control.
Eventually, I broke out of my panic and realized that instead of growing hotter, the air inside the shuttle was cooling. Even as the sun filled my entire view, cool air blew around me. What is this?
I popped the helmet off my emergency suit and the cool air sent a shiver down my spine. I was drenched in sweat and the air felt cold on my face.
“How are we not burning up?” I asked.
“The ship's cooling systems are operating at 38% capacity.”
“That doesn’t tell me anything. We’re in the corona of a star! How is the ship not melting?” I demanded.
“Heat shielding operating at 75% capacity.”
“Great. You know, that was almost a helpful answer,” I said sarcastically even as I deduced what was going on for myself.
The ship's viewscreen automatically adjusted to compensate for the blazing sun so I could see the rolling mass of burning gasses quite clearly. It was mesmerizing. I thought for a moment that I was the only human to have even been inside a star. The only one alive anyway. As I was staring I noticed an object inside the star. No, a ship. I gawked at it.
“What the heck is a ship doing in a star?” I demanded.
“Authorization denied as per mission parameters,” the computer said.
“Is it active?”
“Access denied.”
I was heading straight for it. With a deep breath, I braced myself. “Here we go again,” I muttered.
I took a closer look at the weapon I’d taken from the killer war bot. I’d shot firearms before at a range but had no military training. Still, I recognized the basic parts. It was a rifle and had an odd thumb trigger but that’s about all I could tell you. Whatever it fired wasn’t lead. It smashed the warbot's head apart with some kind of glowing blue energy pulse.
With my inspection finished I looked at the ship we were heading for. From what I could see, it looked like it was larger than a Radon patrol craft, but not as big as one of their destroyers. A patrol craft was 60-85 meters in length with their destroyers being 120-140 meters in length.
A hanger opened as we neared it and we slipped through the shield and into the bay.
“Will the ship recognize me as a member of the crew?” I asked.
“You are a member of the shuttle crew. Submit DNA for a scan to confirm.”
I bit my lip as the computer spoke. The blue circle lit up again and I let it poke my finger once more.
“Crew status confirmed. Welcome, Gypsy Peligro.”
Clinging possessively to my weapon I headed for the back ramp. If there was another group of those war bots I was so dead. Maybe. If they recognized me as part of the crew then I just might survive. I opened the back hatch and braced myself for battle.
The ramp lowered quickly and I waited. I heard nothing but the sound of cooling metal so I cautiously walked down the ramp. I looked around at the sizable bay. It was far from empty but no killer machines greeted me.
Aside from my ride there was a dangerous-looking fighter, a heavy gunship or dropship, what looked like a salvage ship with at least one crane arm tucked in against the hull, and a hyper-capable shuttle like the one I’d hitched a ride on. None of them looked familiar and my assumptions about their purpose could be wrong, but they fit the bill in general appearance.
Since nothing attacked me, I ventured forth to investigate. Just like with the shuttle, there was a layer of dust on everything. The only clear spot was around the shuttle where its take-off and landing had disturbed the dust.
Tracks from the war bots were also present. I decided if there was anyone else aboard, they would probably be where the bots had come from. I desperately did not want to meet another one of those suckers but I was already growing tired. The exhilarating thrill of near-death experiences was draining and I was still keyed up. If I was going to have any hope of surviving, I needed to secure the ship and get it out of the sun. That meant taking out any remaining bots. Of finding whoever is in charge around here.
“Buck up, Ginny,” I told myself.
Time was the enemy so despite my fears, I followed the tracks.
The lighting was minimal. That together with the dust told me there wasn’t much activity. Almost like it was abandoned or in low-power mode for some reason. The quiet hum of machinery was the only indication of life. Otherwise, it was as quiet as a tomb. Not a reassuring thought. There was a reason I hated horror movies and the dim lighting wasn’t helping matters.
I eventually found a bank of charging stations. Two dozen rows of inactive war bots stood there motionless. I just about freaked out upon seeing them, but after I got ahold of myself I realized most of them were missing pieces and covered in dust.
I stepped into the room.
“Unauthorized personnel, detected.” The sudden voice in the otherwise silent ship freaked me out. I screamed.
Two of the bots came to life. One of them toppled to the side with a crash. The other clomped toward me. Its shoulder-mounted weapon rose out of its housing and turned to target me but the weapon locked up while still pointing at the ceiling. I aimed and fired two shots at its chest. It was sent stumbling backward from the first hit and was knocked off its feet with the second. I cursed and stepped closer. This time I targeted its face and took its head off. Adrenaline sent my hands shaking and I fled from the room without a backward glance.
“Calm down, Ginny,” I said. Ten minutes later, my hands were still shaking. Nothing ventured forth to kill me. An adventure like this was almost enough to make me think about going straight and giving up my thieving ways. Almost.
After calming down I returned and put the other defective bot out of its misery. I then searched the ship looking for computer access. I headed for the center of the ship, the ship's computer would be somewhere protected so I started there. It didn’t take long. Most of the time was spent pausing to listen before rushing forward to check another corner. The dust caused me to sneeze but nothing came to investigate and I soon found the ship's main computer.
A very old maintenance bot stood in front of the console which offered direct access. It twitched as I walked into the room and I froze. It woke up and looked at me.
“Crewman Gypsy Peligro?”
“Y-Yes?” I stammered still jittery.
“This area is restricted, please head to your quarters and await disciplinary action.”
“I-I’m supposed to be here. The main computer’s receiving link is damaged and I’m supposed to repair it.” I held my breath as its unreadable metal face stared back at me.
“The receiving link is operational as it’s a mission-critical system. Return to your quarters immediately or you will be escorted out.”
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“Are you sure it's working? Run a diagnostic. I think you’re malfunctioning.”
It froze. “Running diagnostic. Nine errors were found. Reporting to maintenance. Error. Maintenance is unavailable. Resuming current task.”
“Why is maintenance unavailable?” I asked, hoping to keep it talking. Every little bit of information I could get might help.
“Material shortages. Parts unavailable.”
“Does the Captain know about this?” I asked. It was an insane question and never would have worked with an organic but computers were stupid.
“Captain deceased.”
Poor guy. Though I was sure he’d been dead a long time. The response gave me some hope.
“What about his replacement or his officers?”
“Deceased. All crew members are deceased.”
“Not all. I’m alive.”
“Negative. All crew have perished.”
“Check again,” I ordered.
“Checking. Error. Memory systems are defective. Welcome, Crewman Gypsy Peligro.” It paused. “This area is restricted. Return to quarters for disciplinary action.”
“As acting captain of this ship, I’m ordering you to stand down and report to maintenance. What’s your designation?”
“You lack the authority to issue such orders.”
“Who is the ranking officer aboard?”
“No officers detected.”
“Who’s the ranking crew then?” I asked triumphantly.
“Crewman Gypsy Peligro.”
“Then by default, I am the acting Captain. Carry out my orders.”
The bot paused again. “Acknowledged. RB-17 reporting to maintenance.”
“Very good Arby, get yourself recharged. I’ll see what I can do in the way of parts for you later.”
“Thank you… Captain.”
“Update the log to show my status as acting Captain before you go.”
The maintenance bot turned back to the main computer’s console and logged in. It logged the change to my status and I pushed it aside before it could log out.
“Acting Captain Peligro, I must log out.”
“Report to maintenance and standby for further orders.”
“Standing orders require all crewmembers to log out before leaving their stations.”
“New standing order, don’t argue with me and do as you’re told. That’s an order.”
“Affirmative, Captain.”
The bot finally left, leaving me with access to the system. The maintenance bot had a high level of access, which was odd but given it was responsible for keeping everything working it made sense. It needed to be able to access everything to make repairs.
I tapped at the keys and found my status acting caption in the log. I quickly wrote another update for the log using the same format.
“Bingo!” I said in triumph. I smiled as I looked at the screen, it now showed me as Captain Peligro with full access. I used the bot's access to look up and change some of the low-level security codes. That gave me a starting place to slice into the rest of the system. Everything was going smoothly until the console died.
AI core aboard the derelict vessel:
The intruder slew the second bot and headed for the main computer. Mission failure. It had been discovered. The ship had been diverted but this human had somehow gotten ahold of one of its security droid’s weapons and boarded the ship. Now it was listed as a crewman. She violated several standing orders, including damaging multiple security droids. Instead of reporting the violation and confining herself to her quarters, which the AI happily assigned, she headed deeper into the ship.
She soon arrived at the main computer and dismissed the AI’s single remaining repair bot. Perhaps the mission wasn’t a failure after all? If its external communications link was damaged as she claimed, then it couldn’t receive new orders. This could be a replacement for the deceased Captain.
The acting captain accessed the system but failed to check the external link. Probabilities and simulations were run. Facts checked and rechecked. Then a simple check on the shuttle’s logs revealed everything. This new captain wasn’t on the crew manifest when the shuttle launched. Only on the return trip did her name show up. The limited AI quickly deduced she was an imposter and cut power to the console she was using.
An automatic report was filed for the intrusion, tagging the maintenance bot. A fact the AI missed as it ran thousands of simulations each second to determine what it should do next. Its external communications link was still working which meant she’d lied about that to gain access, and the vessel had indeed been discovered. It couldn’t remove her from the crew even though it knew she wasn’t supposed to be there. Indeed she was the Captain. Stuck in a conundrum for nearly a full two minutes, it finally decided on a course of action.
“Greetings, Gypsy Peligro,” the AI said through the ship's communication system. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
Ginny aboard the derelict:
I nearly jumped out of my skin when the deep male voice sounded through the room. I’d been examining the console and trying to figure out why it stopped working when it spoke.
“That’s Captain Peligro,” I shot back, then swallowed hard.
“Captain Peligro. Your presence violates mission parameters.”
“Can you explain those to me?”
“No.”
“But I’m the Captain, right?”
“Yes. But no.”
“It can’t be both,” I said, some of my fear fading as I realized I was conversing with yet another computer.
“It is. You are both the Captain and not.”
“Explain.” I crossed my arms beneath my breast and frowned.
“You were added to the crew by hacking a shuttle’s crew manifest. By default, this elevated you to acting captain as the last remaining crew member aboard. You tricked repair bot seventeen into granting yourself access to my terminal and updated the log to state you’re now the captain, thus making it official, however, you’re an intruder. It’s all a lie.”
“You don’t miss much, do you? Take it easy on Arby. He’s old.”
There was a long silence.
“So what now?” I asked. “Can you turn this terminal back on?”
“Negative. You shouldn’t be here.”
“Ah, but aren’t I the Captain? As the Captain, I need this terminal working.”
“You’re an enigma for which I don’t have a solution.”
I smiled. It must be having fits with areas of its programming clashing. “When was the last time a living crewman was aboard this ship?”
“Why?”
I blinked. “Why? What do you mean why? What are you?”
“I am a limited Artificial Intelligence programmed to support the crew of this vessel.”
“Wow. Well, that’s neat. How did you end up inside a star?”
“Mission parameters prevent me from telling you.”
“And what are those parameters?”
There was a long pause. “To remain hidden and wait for further orders. Have I failed my mission? You shouldn’t be here, yet you are. You shouldn’t have access but you do. You are an intruder but have full access… Captain.”
“Ah, I see your dilemma. When you set out on your mission were you given codes to verify any new orders you might receive?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“That explains it then. Those are all outdated. That’s why I needed to sneak in, and I need access to this console so I can input the new codes. You’ll never be able to receive new orders without an update. I was… sent here to make a few changes.”
Minutes passed in silence. The tension rose as I scarcely dared to breathe. Finally, it spoke again. “Available data suggests a 93% chance you’re lying.”
I wasn’t sure what to say to that so I waited.
“Probability of anyone unaffiliated with my creators knowing the precise location of the vessel inside the sun, zero. The odds of laying in a collision course with the vessel without precise knowledge of the vessel's location is more than three hundred billion to one. Deduction, prior knowledge of the vessel's location is 99% probability. Granting access to the main terminal.”
“Thank you,” I said. I held my breath as the terminal powered up. “AI, bring up all old codes for updating.”
“Acknowledged.”
A long list of codes for everything related to the ship appeared on the display. The tension drained out of me. This was better than I could have dreamed. For an AI it wasn’t very bright. Maybe that had to do with the ‘limited’ part of its description.
I quickly changed all the codes and saved them to the wrist comm I’d taken from the dead border on the Triv Prison ship. It took over an hour to make the changes.
“AI, do you have a name?” I asked.
“Unit A7-808.”
“Eight oh Eight huh, I’m calling you BOB. Bob, do you recognize me as this vessel's new captain?”
“Yes.”
“Will you follow all orders I issue?” I asked.
“Yes, Captain. I recognize your authority.”
“Very good. Clear all standing orders from your previous Captain, and remove all past or present missions in the log. From now on your mission is to keep me alive and assist me however you can.”
There was another delay as it processed that. “Acknowledged, Captain. Standing by to assist you.”
“Guide me to the bridge and give me a status update on the way,” I said.
I started giggling as the stress wore off and the adrenaline high made me giddy. The sound echoed off the walls as I headed for the bridge of my new, yet very old, starship.