Chapter 18. Underway.
“Maneuver thruster one is ready for testing,” LANI announced. Time had passed and Watkins was focused on integrating the rest of the ship, finding that, with the research module working, he lacked the ability to focus on too many things at once. Slowing down the pace of integration to free up processing power, he checked on the indicated engine.
The maneuver thruster was showing green on his status board, and he could feel the power of his core connecting to the thruster. That was another incredible feature of his ship’s design. He could use any part of his hull to send power to where it was needed. No bulky power cables, or plasma tubes were needed on his ship, just confirmation from Watkins that the device could tap into his nearly limitless power generation.
If only his processing power was as limitless as his energy production. Sadly, the drone research had only hit 58% and that was with LANI helping it along. Turning back to the operational maneuver thruster, he could see the reinforcements to the deck structure were solid, and that there were no known faults in the thruster itself. It was time for his ship to get underway.
“Here we go, power to maneuver thruster one is active,” Watkins announced as the small thruster fired up, generating a bit of heat as it converted his core energy into thrust. Cradled in an adjustable mount, the thruster could orient itself toward the heading Watkins wanted. Everything was controlled automatically through Watkins’ core.
He needed some practice to get a better feel for it, but it didn’t take long to rotate the ship so it was no longer slowly spinning and was oriented back toward the system. The closest object on their path was the main jump point, that the system map labeled as jump point two. It confused Watkins, as he knew about jump points from the information the system had installed in him at creation, but he realized that his ship was missing something important.
“LANI, we’ll be passing by jump point two when we enter the system. Is there a reason why our ship doesn’t have a jump drive. All we can do is putt around the system on our main drives, once we get those installed,” Watkins said with some annoyance.
“It was a problem of resources. A jump drive is a very complex and materials intensive project. To create one and install it in an unproven ship design would be wasteful. Don’t forget, our first two experimental vessels were failures. The designs for a jump drive will be stored in the station database. When we link to the database, we can download them for you to use,” LANI replied.
“You put a lot of faith in finding what we need on a station that was supposedly destroyed. What if what we’re looking for isn’t there?” Watkins asked.
“In that case, we’ll have to spend more time researching one. Between the two of us, there is basic knowledge of how the drivers operate. It’s only a matter of throwing enough research module time at it. But tell me, Watkins, why do you even want to go outside the system. Everything we need to complete the design trials for your ship can be found here,” LANI replied.
She was right, they could experiment and improve his design with the resources here. Maybe they could even rebuild the station and have it assist them in their efforts. Fulfilling the council’s purpose for him was the true goal, not blindly jumping into other systems.
No! This wasn’t his goal. Watkins fought against his cold, machine-like mind. The battle between the two halves of his new existence flaring up once more. His humanity clawed its way to the forefront. Much of his memories had been deleted to make room for his new mind, but enough remained to know that somewhere, he had loved ones, and an entire species he’d like to protect.
“You forget that I’m not from here. I’m not some AI or computer this council you serve cobbled together. I’m a real person, a real person who comes from another world. My crew and I will want to return to Earth. We can help our world prepare for space travel and help them understand the dangers humanity is going to face as we explore the stars,” Watkins said with determination.
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That was going to be his goal. He wanted to somehow get back to Earth and share what he’d learned with humanity. To get back, he’d need a jump drive, as well as charts showing him the path he needed to take. First, he would explore the system, gather information and supplies. Once his ship was strong enough, he’d research a jump drive and begin the long journey home.
“It may not be too hard to find your home again,” LANI said.
“What do you mean?” Watkins asked. He had expected LANI to try and push him toward her goals. It was becoming clear the two had a different final objective, but they’d still need to work together if they wanted to survive.
“Your world was linked to this system through what we called Jump Point 1. That jump point wasn’t stable, but as long as it is still there, you can use that to return home. You do need to realize that a lot of time has passed, and those you’re seeking to reunite with may no longer be there. In the time since you were saved and placed in the core, your world may have changed drastically,” LANI said.
She was right, once he recovered his memories, it would be a bittersweet accomplishment. There was no doubt that everyone he loved, and several generations of humanity had long passed over the centuries since he had been abducted. After considering it, and resisting more calls from his other mind, Watkins realized that his goal had not changed.
“I know what you mean, LANI, but I still need to go back,” Watkins said.
“Fine, but can we at least agree that you’ll help me gather all the data the council wanted from your vessel before you leave? I also have a goal and a purpose to fulfill as well, and shouldn’t my goals and desires not have the same weight as yours?” LANI asked.
He was about to reply that she was just an AI, not a real person, but stopped before he made that mistake. If he was honest with himself, was Watkins all that different from LANI. He no longer had a flesh and blood body, and his mind was housed in this core contraption.
It was too easy to dismiss LANI as just a computer, but he sensed that the adjunct AI was more than that, it was sapient, and not just responding to inputs and programming. LANI was real. If she was real, then her goals held importance as well. Despite that, he would place his objectives over LANI’s if push came to shove.
“I understand, and we’ll do what we can to fulfill your objectives as well. There’s no reason we can’t help each other in this thing,” Watkins replied.
“Thank you, Captain Watkins,” LANI said. He could feel there was something more she wanted to say, but his attention was drawn from their conversation by something on his sensors. His range wasn’t that great yet, but something with enough mass to trigger the passive sensors was approaching their ship.
“LANI, we’ve got something out there,” Watkins said, pushing the sensor data over to the adjunct. They both watched as Watkins calculated the object’s trajectory. With his recent maneuvering, the object would miss by a wide margin but would come close enough for them to gather more data on it.
“What do you think it is? More debris?” Watkins asked.
“I don’t know, give the sensors some more time to process the data. It’s not on an intercept course, so we don’t have to worry about a collision,” LANI said.
While they waited, Watkins pulled an extra drone from salvage duty and assigned it to help repair the point defense laser. If this thing coming near them was dangerous, he wanted to have something to respond with. As the distance close, they could make out the overall mass of the object. It was smaller than their ship, only about 10% of the vessel’s overall mass. If it had been on a collision course, it would have done significant damage, but now, it seemed harmless.
“Do you think it’s part of the same debris that hit us? It seems unlikely given how long has passed,” Watkins asked.
“I suppose that is a good assessment. Even though a long time has passed, any debris should have traveled on a similar path and velocity, so it’s not completely outside the realm of possibility that its more debris from the station or even our ship,” LANI explained.
“Uh, LANI. If that is debris, is there any reason it would be changing course? That thing just turned onto an intercept course with us. Estimated time to collision is 23 minutes 19 seconds,” Watkins said.
“I agree, someone, or something is guiding that object. Its readings are odd, I’m detecting alloys similar to those used to construct our vessel, but also some anomalous readings. Try a course adjustment and see if it matches us,” LANI suggested.
Watkins adjusted the maneuver thruster a bit, and they watched as the object shifted onto a new intercept course. He tried a few more times, noting the other object’s ability to change course was close to his own. Whatever was out there wanted to reach their vessel. Whether this thing turned out to be friend of foe remained to be seen.