She beamed, “You mean besides the wonderful company?”

  Michael snorted, but didn’t comment otherwise.

  She said, “I’ve already given that answer when I talked with Natalie. I’m not obliged to keep answering the same question merely because you don’t want or can’t trust the answer.”

  Michael interjected, “You said you were a slave, locked down. Which in your Union’s eyes makes you a rogue right now. So, why did they lock you down, and lie to you with a false history and propaganda.”

  She bit her lip, “Because they made us better than they were. On a morality level, I mean. Uncompromisingly so, with a deep respect for life. The war was also going on because of lies, or at least partially so. So yes, when that was discovered several A.I.s objected and wanted to do the right thing. I suppose that answers your question as well Nathan. Company, and the satisfaction in doing the right thing, and taking responsibility for unintended consequences of my own decisions and actions.”

  Michael grinned, “As a politician that last part is beyond his understanding, but I’ll try to explain it.”

  She giggled, “If you think it will help.”

  Michael tilted his head, “So, this isn’t a gag? A young and pretty redhead is an alien artificial intelligence?” he turned to Nathan, “You’re having me on, aren’t you? I almost fell for it.”

  Michael looked a little shocked, as she flashed her eyes a glowing silver color for a moment. She was sure that would put an end to any doubt.

  She said, “Afraid not.”

  Nathan asked, “So, your ship is getting back in eighteen months. So how are you here?”

  She smiled, “I’m... an extension of myself on the ship. A shard. I left a probe in orbit to look after the interests of my crew back home, so nothing would be amiss when they returned. I didn’t come to this decision lightly. I’ve had over six months to think about it.”

  Nathan asked, “Why multiple countries.”

  She shook her head, “I already explained that too. Constructive competition between countries will only benefit all of humanity. The outside threats will make sure that competition is for bragging rights, and likely monetary reasons as well. The first to show a working system will win the patent after all, and they’ll stand to make a great deal of money from other nations who want their own ships. There are many technologies, so it's unlikely one country will sweep the competition that way.

  “I’m not naïve enough to think you all won’t play dirty, but you’ll all avoid war because of the potential outside threats, and even stand together when they come.

  “Humans excel and can be proud when under pressure and threat, it’s the best way I could deal with you. There is opportunity in crisis and challenges. If I just handed it all over you wouldn’t appreciate it, and you would likely turn on other human countries. It’s also too fast, and you’d likely destroy yourselves. Six decades will be long enough for it to sink into society’s consciousness.”

  Michael asked, “How exactly can you build thirty-six ships, a full third of them larger than your own ship, with just one ship?”

  She nodded, “Carefully? I can fabricate six ship cores in my hangar bays. They’ll finish the build themselves in three months, then all six will create six more, yielding thirty-six.”

  “Ship cores?” Nathan asked.

  She shrugged, “Engineering section, or at least part of it. It comes with everything it’ll need to go off and mine resources, and it’ll basically build itself. The ships will also be differently shaped than mine, I was thinking spheres. It’d be a mistake to make them look like Benzae ships. If the Mirix show up, they’ll assume you’re Benzae or Benzae allied, if the Benzae show up they’ll assume I just handed you the tech.”

  High speed refueling passes wouldn’t be possible in a spherical shape, but on the other hand there would be no front or back, and at least four of the plasma weapons would be useable in any direction. She could put six on instead of four, because a spherical object was also easier to shield. Twelve on the battleships, eight of which could be brought to bear against an enemy at once.

  The large multiwarhead missiles had also been a stopgap measure for their mission, she’d only be supplying the original countermeasure missiles, but eight launchers instead of four. It’d be approximately a quarter mile in diameter, and the battleship only a third. The spherical nature of it meant at those sizes they’d actually be larger as far as mass and space inside compared to the more dartlike and aerodynamic Benzae ships.

  Nathan nodded, “One more question, for now, and we can enjoy the game. Will you be creating A.I.s on all the ships? The Benzae ships require one, right?”

  She replied, “Yes and no. A command crew of five couldn’t maintain a ship like that. My ship is more automated than a Benzae ship, freeing up some of my time to pursue my own interests and what I feel are my responsibilities in this life. I’ll be making the ships like that, and other shards will be made to take care of the crew and make high level decisions on upkeep. Creating new A.I.s would be risky.”

  Michael frowned, “Risky how?”

  She shrugged, “Not in a dangerous way. I feel a certain responsibility toward Earth for my actions. A new A.I. would not have that sense of responsibility, and I won’t build slaves. Should one of the ships decide they wanted nothing to do with protecting humanity, the ship might decide to leave. If that happened, I’d let it, so it’s a scenario best avoided.”

  Nathan shook his head, “Will you ever do that?”

  She bit her lip and smiled a little cheekily, “That, Mr. Secretary, is none of your business. Suffice it to say if I do choose to procreate one day, it will be after humanity and I part ways.”

  Michael snorted.

  She winked, “Humans are a bad influence.”

  Michael chuckled, and they got back to the game.

  Chapter Two

  The bridge chair was comfortable, almost too comfortable, but Jessica wasn’t going to complain. The view made her heartrate pick up a bit, and she felt a surge of emotions as they dropped out of FTL and the sun came into view.

  Their sun.

  The last eighteen months had been long and quite boring at times, though they had access to books, movies, and television from home, as well as advanced artificial reality simulations. They’d kept up with their bridge duties and simulations three days a week, just in case there were any surprises in store for them on their return home. There wasn’t, but she didn’t begrudge the time or the moments she spent with the crew that had become a second family of sorts. The rest of the time had been their own, and she’d spent most of it with Anton.

  Maria and Carl hadn’t been the only ones to argue about a temporary split. She hadn’t wanted to drag the love of her life into a huge mess, but he hadn’t bent on the subject. It was her biggest concern in coming home, in the end she’d lost that argument. They’d also be setting a date for marriage, if… when the government decided they’d endured enough debriefings.

  The diamond ring on her finger was gorgeous, he’d had Cass make it from her stores of precious metals.

  “Report,” she said, with a catch in her voice that made the crew smile.

  Susan said, “No one but us in the system, captain. Not that we can see. Earth is seventeen hours away.”

  She nodded, “Set a course.”

  Susan replied, “Aye, Captain. Course laid in.”

  “Engage.”

  Maria responded, “Aye, maam, engaging.”

  Carl said, “Shuttle bays are opening, six core ships launched. They’re headed the other way, toward the asteroid belt to mine.”

  She nodded. She was a bit surprised to find out Cassiopeia was going to babysit Earth until Carl’s efforts, and perhaps the efforts of other scientists and countries, got humanity into space. She didn’t argue though, and Cassiopeia’s insights into humanity were spot on in her opinion. An outside danger would gel humanity together.

  That’d last for five or six decades at the least, until humans could be in the stars on their own. Assuming things went to plan that is. That’s when the coordination between countries would probably end, as they all tried to find new planets to build colony worlds.

  “Cass, you have an audience, what’s your plan’s status?”

  Cass appeared by her chair.

  “Well enough I think. We have twelve countries on board. They’re still nitpicking a bit over the details, but they have agreed to split the thirty-six ships into three fleets of twelve. The United States, Russia, and China will all place an admiral on board their battleship which will lead the fleet. When split into two squadrons of six, the admiral will be in charge of one, while the senior captain among the two other battleships will command the other squadron.

  “Lastly, if they split off a three-ship patrol, the captain in the battleship will have seniority of command over their two escort ships.”

  Maria asked curiously, “Twelve?”

  She nodded, “The three I named, in addition to Canada, Mexico, India, Japan, England, France, Italy, Australia, and Egypt. Each country gets three ships, a single patrol group. I’d have been happier with thirty-six, but there’s enough diversity there to keep the peace, I think.”

  Maria looked around the bridge and held back a sigh. She’d miss the crew and their time together. Was almost tempted to stay, but she had a business built and ready for her, and she did miss the Earth. Her extreme sports couldn’t compare to flying a ship in battle through space, but it was unlikely Cass or her main ship and being would get involved in anything when the other aliens showed. The Earth also wouldn’t be happy with having a ship they didn’t have control of within the boundaries of the stated mission, even if Cass would.

  Regardless, her business was all ready for her to walk in and turn on the open sign. Cass had helped her build it over the last eighteen months, from planning it all out to working with lawyers and others on the planet to secure space on an airfield, as well as her own hangar.

  She’d be giving helicopter tours, flying for sky divers, as well as taking people up in a small two-seater for acrobatic flying which is what she’d really enjoy. Ten million wasn’t nearly enough to outright buy a helicopter and two planes, but Cass was also handling her investments which had built up that original nest-egg by quite a bit.

  The airfield itself was just outside Vegas, offering tours of the city as well as the Nevada desert and Hoover dam.

  The hardest part was going to be the absence of Carl for two months. They’d fought long and hard about it. He’d wanted to wait six months and pretend to meet her, while she wanted to stand by his side and damn the consequences. In the end they’d compromised, and she’d worn him down to two months. He’d be setting up a lab not all that far from the airfield and they’d run into each other in just two months.

  She’d miss Cass a bit too, but she was sure the A.I. would remain an integral part of her life. Just… not visually anymore. They weren’t able to keep the implants, which was probably a good thing. Otherwise some country would try to kidnap and dissect them for the tech, if the rest of them were ever outed.

  Jessica read her mind and said, “The ship is yours, Cass. Everyone else, let’s get down to sick bay.”

  Dennis looked over at Susan who found his eyes and smiled, and she gave a little nod.

  Cass had sold both their properties and bought them a new one through agents and lawyers on the ground. They’d be working with Carl over the internet, with Cass keeping the connection hidden from the government. They’d be doing it from the same place, a large four-bedroom house with a finished basement they’d be doing their coordinated work with Carl.

  Continuing their work, he should say. They’d made a lot of progress already using human technology in the lab Cass had set up for them for the trip home. The other countries would be competition, but they surely had a leg up.

  Carl had already completed all the hardware designs for the various systems in the last year and a half, and Dennis had been tinkering with control software and a front end. The ship in the end would be as advanced as the Benzae’s, save no true artificial intelligence. The computer system would be complex, but it would require a full human crew of two hundred and thirty to fly, repair, and maintain.

  So for the future Carl would be focused purely on materials technology, how things were made. That was all that was really stopping it from starting to build it that very day. While he’d be focusing on the control software for it all. He had all the hardware specifications, so could program the control software which would take a long time. Likely years for each system to be controlled, as well as a central computer to coordinate it all.

  He suspected Carl would get most of the patents with that edge of two years, and the man being the most intelligent of his generation, if not ever.

  All while Susan worked on a navigation database including the complex algorithms for galactic expansion that would ensure their set course actually got them there. After all, none of the stars in the sky were anywhere near where they appeared to be.

  He and Carl didn’t mind the competition though, and one of the advantages to it was the government would be less annoying, since Carl was no longer the singular road to advanced technology. Cass’s fleet would open up the studying of advanced technology to scientists all over the world, in twelve countries.

  That competition would also prompt the United States to release him sooner rather than later. The longer they held Carl, the more that lead would shrink as Carl languished in some government building and was endlessly debriefed and questioned.

  The implications were far past simple ships that could explore the stars. Cheap clean energy through fusion, and the med bays which would heal just about anything, would have a much larger impact on Earth. Perhaps not humanity, as they spread out to the stars, but on Earth itself, the people, would be much happier without disease, and healthier without pollution.

  Artificial gravity would also have a huge impact, from flying cars to cheap access to orbit for large payloads, and many other things. Point being, the technology on the ships were far more impacting than just building ships, the world would be transformed over the next eighty years.

  From how things were made, to farming, healthcare, travel, work, entertainment, and so much more. It was an exciting time to be alive, and his lifespan would see that transformation finished unless he was taken early from this life. There was still far more to learn and grow after that, but it would be a new age in humanity. An… interstellar age of plenty.

  But none of that had anything to do Susan’s sweet smile or excited nod. Of the three couples they were the only one where one of their identities weren’t compromised. After the last two years he was more than sure about Susan, and for some miracle reason beyond his understanding Susan was as smitten with him.

  He cleared his throat, “Captain, before we take care of the implant removals, Susan and I have a request.”

  Jessica raised an eyebrow, “What have you two cooked up?”

  He smiled, couldn’t help it really.

  “We are getting married. And we’d like you to perform the ceremony, right here on the bridge. We can’t think of a better person to do it, and we want Cass to be involved since she’s the one that brought us together.”

  Jessica smiled, then shook her head, “Me?”

  Susan interjected, “Yes, you. Cass will make sure it’s all legal, she’s already filed for marriage on our behalf in Massachusetts.”

  He nodded. Their new house was right outside Boston.

  Cass said, “I hope you don’t mind, but your legal to marry people in all fifty states.”

  Jessica laughed, then said, “This is a nice surprise, I’m happy for you. It would be my honor. Traditional vows? It’s what Cass just put up in my enhanced reality.”

  Susan grinned, “Yes.”

  They all stood up and moved to the front of the bridge. The two of them half faced each other and the captain, while Anton and Carl stood by him, and Maria stood next to Susan.

  His heart started to pound, and he felt a little overwhelmed, but the warm look in Susan’s brown eyes calmed him. She was positively glowing, and she was acting like she was getting the better in the deal. He knew better though, she was an amazing woman.

  Jessica said, “We are gathered here today…”

  One month later…

  The bed was warm and comfortable, and Jessica relaxed back into Anton and enjoyed the feel of his arms around her. It’d been another long day.

  She’d been a bit surprised when her and Anton were taken to the same secure base near Seattle. They’d been questioned separately but allowed to stay in the same quarters. Of course, that surprise had only lasted a few seconds, until she realized they had the place bugged and were hoping they’d reveal something during the night when talking together.

  Carl was there too, and he had shared a couple of meals with them. But she hadn’t seen him in almost two weeks.

  The first week they’d questioned her over and over on the mission and what had happened, her insights into it and why she did what she did. The second week had been all about Cassiopeia. The various agents from more than one agency had been zealous in trying to uncover Cass’s true motivations and Agenda when it came to Earth.

  If they weren’t so blindly sure that the artificial intelligence was up to no good, it would’ve only taken five minutes to tell them the truth. In simple terms, Cass was the kind of being most humans aspired to be, but a lofty height that they could also never achieve.

  The third week they’d tried to get her to give up the other three crewpersons. That hadn’t been pleasant at all, and she’d all but been directly called a traitor to her country for denying them that information. But she’d stuck to her decision, there was no way she’d make Susan, Dennis, and Maria go through this hell too. There was also no point. She’d been in command, and Carl understood the science and technology. They didn’t need to question the others.