Broken Soldier (Book One) (11 page)

Jo suggested, “We could name it after your late
wife.”

“No. That would be too emotionally painful for me. I
don’t like the idea of all those guys talking to my wife.”

“Ah yes, of course. I understand and I
apologize.”

“It’s all right. I know you meant well. Perhaps we
should give her a name that they can relate to.”

Mike began laughing and Jo asked, “What?”

“Well, for some strange reason, I remembered being
in a strip joint in Baltimore. There was this one girl there, with
huge boobs, named Bambi. Most guys would get a kick out of that,
although the brass would probably object.”

Jo told him, “I don’t know what a strip joint is,
but if you feel that is a good choice for a name, than we will call
the computer Bambi. You are the Grand Leader of the rebellion and
as such, your decisions must prevail. Once the others arrive, they
will not know that she was only recently named. They should accept
it, I would think.”

Mike grinned and said, “Ok then. The computer is now
Bambi. I assume you will make the necessary change?”

“Yes. It’s already done. Bambi, say hello to the
Grand Leader.”

A voice came from nowhere. “Hello, Grand Leader. I
hope that my name is pleasing to you.”

Mike cried out, “OK, next change. We will not be
calling anyone Grand Leader. It’s too…North Korean. I’ll explain
that later. For now, I guess I’m like the Captain and these are the
Captain’s quarters.”

Jo closed his eyes and Mike knew he was implementing
the change.

Bambi said, “Captain, I’ll have new uniforms ready
for you in a few minutes.”

“Thank you, Bambi.”

Jo told him, “It’s unusual to thank a computer.
Saurans would see that as a sign of weakness.”

“Nonsense. Being polite is never weakness, although
it could be misinterpreted that way. Say, how do I get her to
change her voice?”

“Just talk to her and explain to her the subtleties
as best you can. When she is wrong, tell her so and she’ll make
adjustments. Eventually she will be speaking as a human, if that is
what you wish. Saurans would never allow a computer to speak as a
sentient being. It would be an insult to them.”

Mike got an evil grin on his face and said, “Well,
it looks as though humans are going to be shaking things up out
here.”

Jo looked concerned and told him, “Sometimes, you
frighten me, Mike. You seem to relish turning things inside out,
even though there could be negative results. You must be very
cautious about altering the balance of conventional wisdom. Most
beings will not appreciate it.”

Mike reached up and patted the tall alien on the
shoulder. I know that, Jo. I just get like that when I’m with
someone I trust. And now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to wash and
get some sleep.”

“Yes, of course Captain Hurst. We will speak again
after an adequate rest period.”

Mike knew that Jo was more astute about human
terminology than he let on. Jo seemed to enjoy prodding Mike by
deliberately using alternative phrases for various functions. Sleep
for instance, was rest period. The thing was, Mike felt more
comfortable with Jo, because he displayed a sense of humor.

When he entered his bedroom, he was amazed again at
the amount of space devoted to it. And the bed, it was enormous. Jo
had not bothered to have it sized for human use. It must have been
ten feet square. There were murals on the wall of Saurans chasing
odd looking animals. The one over the bed showed one of the evil
bastards ripping the throat out of some poor creature, while it was
still alive.

“Bambi, can you change the pictures on the walls
please. Just leave them blank for now.”

“I can do that Captain, but a robot will have to
remove then. They are not projections and must have the proper
chemicals to eliminate those images. I shall have a robot sent to
your quarters immediately.”

“No, hold off on that. Wait until I get some sleep.
Once I’m out of the bedroom, you can send in the robot. By the way,
how many robots are there on board?”

“There are currently one hundred and twelve robots
actively working, another five hundred on standby and two thousand
three hundred eighty eight robots in storage, for a total of three
thousand robots, which is the standard number issued to this design
of transport.

“If you would like, I can give you the complete list
of which type robots there are on board, by task assignment, or
peculiar specialty.”

Mike told her, “I’m sure I’ll want to review that,
but not now. Remind me later.”

“Yes sir.”

“Bambi, also remind me to work with you on your
voice inflection. I think it needs some improvement.”

“Yes sir.”

He removed his clothes and looked into the bathroom.
He saw what looked to be a huge shower stall, but there was no
showerhead or spigots to turn on the water.

With a sigh of exasperation, he said, “Bambi, how do
I turn on the shower?”

“Just ask, Captain.”

“Do it and don’t make it too hot, about one hundred
degrees Fahrenheit should be good.”

There was a brief pause, and then water began
falling from the ceiling of the stall. He looked around for soap,
but saw none. This was getting frustrating.

“Bambi, could you get me some soap.”

“Sir, the cleansing material is in the liquid. When
you are clean, say so and I will change it to pure H2O for you to
rinse. Also, as you exit the stall, warm air will remove the excess
water and your new clothes will be on your bed.”

“Thank you Bambi. You are very efficient.”

“I know, sir. I was designed that way.”

The computer’s responses seemed to possess boarder
line sentient intelligence; although Jo had assured him that she
was merely a programmed computer. Still, Mike liked speaking with
her. It had a calming effect on him and he knew that would be the
general response of the men he intended to recruit.

He stopped for a moment, because he realized that he
was thinking seriously about accepting Jo’s offer. He was
considering men he would recruit and how they should be brought on
board. He mentally scolded himself, because he was falling prey to
Jo’s cleverness. He must be wary, as things progressed, and be
aware of anything that might suggest Jo was not what he claimed to
be.

After a long shower and dry off, he walked back into
the bedroom to see a platform disappearing into the ceiling, above
the bed. A new uniform was waiting for him beneath it, neatly
folded in the center of the huge sleeping area.

He placed the uniform on the far side of the bed.
Then, naked, he slipped under the sheet-like material, placed his
head on an oversized pillow and thought, ‘Damn pillows were meant
for a blasted Sauran. I’ll have Bambi change them later.’ Then he
quickly dozed off.

Chapter
7

When Mike awoke, he had Bambi send in some food. She
asked if he had a preference, but not knowing how to describe the
taste, he told her, “Just send something that Jo would like. If I
don’t like it, we’ll scratch it off the list and move on to
something else.”

The first two items were quickly removed.
Fortunately, the third tasted a little like black beans, which he
could live with.

After eating and dressing, he asked to speak with
Jo. One minute later, Bambi announced that the Thorian was seeking
entry.

“Let him in, Bambi.”

Jo walked into the room and greeted him, “Mike, you
look much refreshed, I’m happy to see. Shall we get to work.”

“I haven’t made my decision yet.”

“Oh. I wasn’t referring to that. I want to make you
aware of the current situation. I have been checking the beacons
for evidence of other Sauran ships.”

Mike’s heartbeat picked up immediately.

“There have been none.”

“That’s good news. Tell me about these beacons.”

“When the first Saurans arrived here, they placed
six beacons around your solar system. A beacon can track
transmissions of various sorts, most types of radiation that would
be produced by a spaceship and large gravity variations, which
would indicate the unfolding of a ship.”

Before Mike could ask what unfolding meant, Jo held
up his hands and said, “I mean no offense, but the archaic fossil
fuel transports that are used to put satellites in orbit around
your planet and other close in celestial bodies, are easily tracked
and not worth worrying about.”

Mike wasn’t thinking of Earth satellites. Jo had
misjudged what Mike was going to ask about. He wanted to know what
it meant when a ship unfolded. But, he didn’t wish to seem
ungrateful for Jo’s concern about other matters. So, he remained
silent, as Jo continued, although he intended to bring up the
subject of unfolding later.

“If a Sauran vessel or any other interstellar
spacecraft were to appear within a hundred million kilometers of a
beacon, it would probably be noticed. The beacons retain all such
information, until they have been queried by the Mother Ship. Then
they download the information and Bambi analyzes it. If anything of
interest were discovered, she would notify the Captain. Because you
have not officially accepted the job, I had her report to me. I
hope that was acceptable.”

Mike pandered to Jo for the moment. “No, that’s
perfect, Jo. Technically, you are the Senior Pilot and the
Executive Officer of the rebellion and as second in command, you
need to be privy to the same info that I have. If something happens
to the Captain, the XO must be prepared to take over
immediately.”

He could have kicked himself. He kept talking as
though it was a foregone conclusion that he would accept Jo’s offer
and become the leader of this cluster fuck operation. Why he did so
was merely his life long habit of interjecting his thoughts about
the best way for a military organization to function.

He told the tall alien, “Jo, I don’t want you to get
the wrong idea. I’m not going to take the job. However, I do want
you to be successful, in your fight against the Saurans. You have
already given a great deal of thought to what must be done. I’ll
help you find someone to guide you; but you are the one to direct
this group of warriors you wish to build.”

Jo twisted his hand, indicating dissatisfaction and
disagreement. “I am not a leader like you, Mike. I have never led
and have no wish to. As soon as you have your upgrade and select my
replacement, I will be greatly relieved.”

“Jo, have you ever seen a Sauran make a
mistake?”

“Of course, many times.”

“How did you know it was wrong.”

“Well, I just knew. The obvious choice was not made
properly and when it was not, I was always surprised, because the
correct choice was so simple to see. Of course, I should note that
the Saurans who staff transports and retrieval ships are not the
best of their race. If anything, they are the worst and most
foolish. Naturally, I kept my opinions to myself.”

Mike smiled and told him, “You have learned much, my
friend. You know a mistake when you see it. That’s more than some
commanders I’ve known.”

“Nonsense! I am an old slave and should not be the
one to make important decisions.”

Somewhat angrily, Mike told him, “Nonsense, right
back at you. In this solar system, no one knows the Saurans as you
do. As a commander, you will seek out the opinions of others, but
you must use your knowledge to avoid having a person of lesser
knowledge take us in the wrong direction.”

Jo sighed, which was another humanism he had picked
up. “Very well, Mike; we disagree. Shall we proceed?”

“By all means. What’s next?”

Jo told him that he ordered Bambi to send four more
beacons, far out from their current location. This would provide
them with an early warning capability. If anything showed up, the
detecting beacon would contact the Mother ship by a tight beam
transmission, so as not to give away the presence of these early
warning beacons.

The gray alien felt it would be wise to have better
early warning coverage on their side of the solar system, as the
Mother Ship was listed as being in this area and any other Saurans
who passed near by, would expect to make contact with them.

It was unlikely that they would need to talk with
the Senior Pilot, but they might. Otherwise, Bambi could handle an
exchange of information between computers. That could avoid
revealing the truth about the ships change of command and keep the
other Senior Pilot satisfied. They could attempt to bluff their way
through a communication between Senior Pilots, but Jo felt it would
be unsuccessful.

He explained, “Saurans have an odd way of talking
with each other. It would be nearly impossible for us to duplicate,
as we couldn’t anticipate the nature of the topics that might arise
between them. I fear our ruse would quickly be discovered. If that
happened, the other ship’s Senior Pilot would certainly wake the
rest of his crew and proceed to track down this ship and destroy
it.”

Jo emphasized, “They don’t take chances.”

“Something you just said intrigues me. The other
Captain would wake his crew. Does that mean that he is the only one
awake?”

“No. There are never less than two crewmembers on
duty. On long journeys, most of the crew is placed in stasis. They
are awakened if needed. The Senior Pilot will alternate with the
Junior Pilot and each will have an additional Sauran with them. It
saves on supplies. When they arrive at their final destination, the
entire crew is awakened and their work begun.”

Mike uttered to himself, “It would sure come in
handy if we have to face another ship and most of their crew is in
stasis. I imagine we could exploit that somehow. We don’t have to
worry about it right now, but that knowledge will be helpful, if
one of these clowns show up.”