carefully. “I’ve been back through every engagement this ship has ever been in, real and simulated. I’ve found only a handful where having hundreds of spacers around made a significant difference to the outcome. I hate to say this, Michael, but apart from fixing defects or repairing battle damage, all those spacers mostly just get in the way, not to mention the mass of all the systems needed to keep them alive. No, there’s no reason why they won’t work.”
Michael nodded. Admiral Jaruzelska had made the same points to him more than a few times.
“There is one caveat, though,” Mother continued. “I agree with the admiral. I’ve studied every operation since the
“Even with a warfare AI as good as ours?”
“Yes. Warfare is not there to provide advice. It is there to manage close-quarters combat, to execute command-approved plans, to do what it’s told basically. Expecting any more of it is a waste of time.”
“Don’t I know it,” Michael said. “So you think it’s a good idea, sitting two AIs alongside me?”
“Yes, I do. And you’re getting two good ones.”
Michael’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh? You know who they are?”
“I do,” Mother said a touch smugly. “Us AI’s have our ways of finding things out. Seems we are getting the operations AIs from
Michael’s eyebrows lifted even farther.
“Up to it?”
“Well, yes, that, too, though I was going to say up to date. A lot has changed since they went through the Third Hammer War.”
“Not as much as you think, Michael. Space warfare is space warfare, and they’ve spent thousands of hours in Fleet’s StratSim simulator since the
“I know,” Michael conceded, “and if Admiral Jaruzelska had a hand in their selection, I’m sure you’re right.”
“We’ll see. Oh, yes, one more thing. They both know your parents.”
Michael groaned out loud. Was there anyone-human or AI-in the Federated Worlds Space Fleet who did not know his parents?
“Get me another beer before I have you turned off,” he said to Mother even though it was not her job to summon the drinkbot.
“Yes, Michael,” Mother said meekly.
Tuesday, October 3, 2400, UD
Cruelly lit by the glare from banks of overhead lights, the interrogation room was a bleak and unforgiving place, its fittings limited to three chairs and a simple metal table, all bolted to a stained plascrete floor pierced by a small drain.
The sole occupant of the room sat facing the door, her hands cuffed to the metal table. Professor Saadak was a pitiful sight: dirty blond hair hanging in matted strands, forehead slashed by an angry cut, its crust of dried blood black in the harsh light, eyelids puffy over half-closed eyes, skin gray and stretched tight. Unmoving, she stared into the distance.
The woman started in shock when the door crashed open, head snapping back, hands twisting in a desperate, futile attempt to push her body away from the table. A man in dark gray coveralls came in and sat down; he ignored her. The woman gave up her struggle; without a word she watched the man arrange his data pad on the table.
The silence dragged on and on; still the man just sat.
Without warning, he stood and reached across the table. Working quickly, he pulled her sleeve back, ignoring her frantic efforts to stop him. He pulled a small gas-powered hypo gun from a coverall pocket; Saadak flinched when he fired it into her arm.
“You bastard, Balluci,” she said, her voice a harsh croak, “bastard, bastard, bastard …” Her voice trailed off. For a minute she sat motionless. She sat up with a start, her pupils closing to pinpoints and her hands steadying as the drug seeped into her system. She whimpered, soft moans of agony, eyes casting left and right in a frantic search for a way out of her suffering.
“All right, Professor Saadak, I think we’re ready to talk,” Interrogator First Class Balluci said, “so let’s get started. Remember, you can finish this by telling me the truth, first time, every time. I can give you something to ease the pain. I know that drug’s a real bitch.”
“I’ve told you everything,” Saadak said, trembling, “everything I know.”
“Not true, Professor. You still refuse to give me access to your neuronics.”
“I can’t,” she cried, “I can’t. I’ve told you over and over. I can’t give you access. My neuronics are blocked, and you aren’t authorized to-”
Balluci moved so fast that Saadak had no time to react. He lunged across the table, and his open hand smacked her head savagely to one side, a scream of drug-enhanced agony racketing off the wall of the room. She slumped forward, head shaking from side to side, tears dripping onto her jumpsuit, hands clawing uselessly at the metal tabletop.
Balluci waited until she lifted her head, peering at him from pain-filled eyes. “You know what, Professor?” he said.
“No,” Saadak croaked, “what?”
“I think we believe you on the neuronics thing. So let’s move on. Tell me about your defense research and development programs. Did you have oversight of their budgets?”
“Yes, I did,” Saadak said, utterly beaten.
“Okay. Let me ask you …”
Four hours later, the man behind the one-way mirror allowed himself to be convinced. The woman had nothing more to tell them. If it was in her brain-pity they had not cracked her neuronics-Balluci would have dug it out. He was one of the best, even if he was beginning to get too fond of the physical side of the business; the woman was a mess. Everything Saadak said confirmed that the Feds were conducting the basic research; she knew of no funding for antimatter warhead production. All of that meant the Feds had a long way to go before they managed to weaponize antimatter. It would be even longer before any antimatter weapons made it into frontline service in useful numbers.
He put a holovid call through to his boss. His masters would be happy to hear what he had to say.
Thursday, October 12, 2400, UD
Tufayl,
With a lurch, the universe turned itself inside out and
