On the way back to the Mother Ship, he had spent some time setting up the food replicator. It was a task that Bambi handled, but Mike wanted to be involved. He tested several different foods in the machine that would be important for human physical and emotional support. He worked with Bambi to get the food not only tasting correct, but also looking correct.
Captain, I’ll keep tweaking it for you. However, I believe it’s going to take some time before I get it just like you want.
He told Bambi to begin creating a mess hall for the future troops and a wardroom for the officers. He was ready to explain the reason for two separate locations for the men to eat, but her short response of, “Yes sir, I understand the need for that,” indicated that she might have a grasp of the concept of separation between officers and enlisted men. Both groups needed to be able to converse casually at times, without the ears of unwanted people nearby. In other words, they could vent their frustrations, without reprisal.
“Thanks Bambi. I know you’ll get the food processor worked out for us. I want you to make special note of the following order. You are to ignore any request by a crewmember to manufacture alcoholic beverages, without my permission. I don’t want these guys getting drunk and into fights. I need to figure out something to keep their minds focused on the mission.
Captain, the men will be in stasis most of the time we’re traveling, so they won’t need alcohol or fights to fill in their down time.
“Bambi, these men will have to discover the limits of their bodies. They’ll need to learn to work together, as a team and within the structure of a larger organization that hasn’t even been formed yet. I’m going to have them exercising and working on different scenarios of assault and withdrawal.”
But Captain, I’ve told you the Saurans won’t let you withdraw. They’ll continue to pursue you, until your all dead.
“Well, we’ll just have to work on that, won’t we?”
Jumping back into thoughts of food, he asked, “Say, what about Jo’s food? Can you do anything for him?”
Jo has been on board for a long time and is accustomed to the high protein diet I provide for him. Saurans choose the food for their slaves and there is not a great deal of variety. They care little for the wants of a lower creature. He has asked me to have the processor do slight alterations in his food, which would give it a different flavor. I’ve had some success and some failure.
“Good. I want him to be as happy as possible. He’s been through a very rough time. By the way, how did he react to your failures?”
With a giggle, she said, He threw up.
“Wonderful.”
Bambi had constructed a sick bay that was similar to a one on Earth. It had the advanced med units and a variety of additional items that were capable of addressing the most extreme trauma cases. After seeing to his son’s placement and that of Wayne’s wife, Mary, he headed for the new conference room.
In a serious tone he told Bambi, “I think it’s time for Jo and me to have that talk with General Kolbe. Go ahead and wake him up then have a robot guide him to the conference room.”
Mr. Kolbe is still recovering from the body regeneration, so he’s going to be a little weak. I’ll send a wheelie to pick him up; it’s like a wheel chair. I’ll use a mechanical voice on him. He’ll think it’s just an intelligently programmed machine. He can ride in the seat of it and it’ll help save his strength. Also, I’ll tell Jo to meet you in the conference room. Do you want me to participate?
“No, not at first. Listen, but remain silent. Let us have our little chat with him, before we expose him to the most brilliant young lady I’ve ever talked with.”
Honey-Bunny, what a nice thing to say. Flattery will get you some bonus points, but you’ll have to do better than that, if you want to get laid.
Mike withheld comment, although he couldn’t hide his broad smile. He had feared that Bambi was becoming too straight laced, as she matured. It was good to hear her humorous side again, although he would have to caution her against displaying too much of her raunchy side. He made a mental note to add that talk with her to his growing agenda, before they processed any more warriors.
Bambi’s reference to the General as Mister Kolbe was an interesting touch, on her part. If Mike used the term, it could seem insulting to the man, who had been very appreciative of his rank and the full range of privileges that came with it. Mike was concerned about the aggrandizement of senior leadership and he knew that he could never allow it to be the same in this organization.
Mike knew that, throughout history, the senior officers of any military tended to form their own elite power structure. It distanced them from the men and sometimes led to horrible decisions on the battlefield. Also, no man rose to the rank of General, without the aid of political pull from someone. To a certain degree, that meant he owed his allegiance to that person or persons.
That didn’t mean a General was incompetent or stupid. It just meant that he had to temper every decision, with consideration for the politics behind the move. Occasionally, that meant looking the other way, when some congressman’s son was forced into the upper ranks of the military structure. Everyone knew he was never going to be a true leader of men, and the congressman’s son would certainly watch out for the interests of his father, above the interest of his men.
The new conference room was down the passageway from Mike and Jo. It had similar seating arrangements, allowing for both humans and Thorians to sit comfortably. Jo had coffee on the table and he held a mug of some weird drink that Mike had tasted and hated. The damn stuff Jo drank, was like muddy seawater, although Bambi said it was far healthier than coffee would ever be for humans.
When the robot wheelie arrived with Kolbe sitting in it, Mike helped the man to stand and walk over to the table. He noticed that the man looked a little younger and wore a blue utility uniform, just as did Mike and Jo. The shoulders held the tiny speakers for easy interpretation, but contained no insignia of rank, as Mike had instructed.
Bambi, why does he look younger? I thought you could only do most of that in the upgrade process.
That is true, sir. However, in healing him of a variety of minor ailments, which seem to afflict all humans as they age, the results left him looking better, because he is healthier. I did make a small adjustment to his attitude toward you, sir. He should accept you as his superior.
As Kolbe sat down he asked, “I presume we are in a spacecraft and that I am now officially your prisoner.”
Mike smiled, in an attempt to reduce the man’s hostile attitude. “Yes, Mr. Kolbe, we are in spacecraft, but you are not a prisoner. If you would please listen to what we have to say, a good number of your questions will be answered. Based on my own personal experience, I can assure you that everything we tell you is true and that you will have a great deal more questions, as a result.”
Kolbe looked at him, assessing Mike, and then Jo, before pointing at the alien. “You really are from another planet, aren’t you? You haven’t been manufactured by some bizarre genetic program?”
Jo answered, “No Mr. Kolbe. As your people might say, I’m the real deal. I must admit that I have been genetically altered to survive in a universe that now uses my people as slave labor, although my looks have not been altered too much. If you met one of my people, you would know that we are of the same race…we are called Thorians.
“I do not speak for all Thorians, but for myself. In that light, I am very pleased to meet you, sir. The Captain assures me that you are one of the smartest strategists he has every known. We badly need your assistance.”
Looking back at Mike, Kolbe huffed and said, “Captain? I guess when you have aliens to back you up, you can have any title you want.” He was obviously angry, as he continued with a challenging question. “If I’m not a prisoner, why didn’t you talk to me in my home, which you invaded, I might add.”
“We wanted to avoid detection by anyone. The capabilities o
f the shuttlecraft we were using are amazing, but not flawless. The quicker we left the area, the less chance there would be for a confrontation. So, we brought you here and had your body repaired by a medical science that won’t be discovered, on Earth, for a thousand years.”
Kolbe looked closely at Mike and said, “You really are that arrogant, angry Sergeant from Iraq, aren’t you?”
“Yes sir, I’m afraid I am. But I won’t apologize for the outburst. I still think I was right to say what I did.”
The old man nodded. “Good for you, Sergeant. I would think a lot less of you if you apologized for being right, although that wasn’t the place to shoot your mouth off. What pissed me off about your angry complaint was that your unit wasn’t the one that would be in the worst of it and you had to know that. Yet you jumped on me as though I didn’t give a hoot for those men.
“Boy, I really reamed your ass good. I want to apologize for that. It was one of the most unprofessional acts of my career. You were right, but you were also wrong. Those guys did their job and the overall operation was a huge success.”
Mike was taken back by the General’s honesty. He hadn’t expected this.
Kolbe grinned, looked Mike in the eye and told him, “I can’t thank you enough for that angry outburst you had. When the shit hit the fan, I kept thinking about what you said. You know…how those troops were sort of hanging out there, with little support. So, when they reported just how bad it was and that they were about to be overrun, I made a change on the fly.
“I diverted two flights of A-10s to those boys and the enemy got chewed up something fierce. It was a small piece of the action that day, but I was never so glad to have been able to save their ass. Those boys and I have you to thank for it.”
Mike voice was rather contrite, as he said, “General, I had no idea. All I heard was that your idea worked and those guys came out of it with far less casualties than I would have expected. Now I feel like a real shit for blowing my top. I’m really sorry sir.”
With a little anger, the General loudly proclaimed, “Damn it, soldier, you’ve missed my whole point. If you hadn’t spoken up about an obvious flaw in my plan, we could have lost that entire company. 210 good men would have died. You made me think about that and it saved their bacon.”
There was silence for a moment, before General Kolbe asked, “So, what’s going on out here and how can I help?”
Mike had Jo explain most of it, right up to the part where it was time to bring out Bambi. Jo told him, “General, the three of us had to get to know one another, before we went to Earth and pick you up.”
He paused; the General looked at him, and then said, “Three of you? Where’s the other guy? Is this going to be some alien that’s so ugly you think I can’t face him?”
Bambi spoke up, “Hey, I am not ugly. I am beautiful in heart and mind. My name is Bambi, Mr. Kolbe. I’m a computer; and that means just what you think it does. I’m sort of an artificial intelligence and one of a kind.”
Kolbe looked at Mike, and asked, “Is this a joke.”
“General, this is for real. Bambi controls nearly everything on board. She’s the reason this ship still works and the reason Jo and I are still alive. You have her to thank for a stronger healthier body and, if you go ahead with the upgrade, she’ll be the one to see to your successful journey through it all.”
“Well, where is she? Does she even have a body? Do you keep her in a portable machine?”
“Sir, I’m everywhere. I am the soul of this ship. I can transfer copies of my programs to the shuttles, but their computing power is insufficient for all of me to fit on board. I run the robots, the med units, engineering and everything else around here. If you need something, you ask me for it and if it’s authorized and I’m able, I’ll get it for you. If I don’t have it in stock, I can probably have it made.”
The old guy looked stunned. “Is she alive? I mean, she’s just a machine, right? You know, one of those artificial intelligence things.”
Mike held up his hand, stifling Bambi’s retort. “General, she has attained a very high degree of consciousness. At some point, during my upgrade, as she helped me to deal with the pain, she became self-aware. She is as alive as you are, and is just as afraid of dying as any living biological animal.
“I expect you to treat her with the same respect you would any other woman under my command.”
Silently to Mike, she said, Well spoken, Captain. Thank you.
Kolbe shook his head and mumbled, “Oh Lordie, lordie, I’ve been cast into the belly of the whale.”
Bambi told him, “That’s from the book of the Prophet Jonah, in the Bible. It’s actually a pretty good analogy, Mr. Kolbe, although this ship is far larger than any whale Jonah ever saw.”
Kolbe grinned and asked, “Well how do I get a hold of you, if I need something?”
“Just ask, I’ll hear you.”
“What if your busy.”
“General, I can handle thousands of calculations per nanosecond. I’m never so busy that I can’t pay attention to what’s happening on this ship. Think of me as being available 24/7. I have sight and sound in every location.”
He looked concerned. “That means you’ll be spying on me at all times.”
“No sir, I shall not be spying on you. However, I do maintain a watch over this entire ship. It’s a necessary evil of sorts, when one is in outer space. Being out here is a thousand times more dangerous than floating around on a ship at sea. Believe me, General; you want me to be aware of everything going on around here. I have to react to things you can’t even imagine, at least not yet anyway.”
The man shook his head again and laughingly said, “Well, she damn sure talks a good game. She seems to know the bible, too. I guess that’s a good thing. I wonder how much of it she knows.”
Bambi shot back, “I know it all, you old coot. I know every word of every bible ever written that is on record. Furthermore, I know all about the chronicles that were left out of the bible by the various branches of the Christian faith. I also know several versions of the Koran, all the writings of Buddha and the other religions of Earth.
“I’m a computer. The fastest one you can imagine. I went on the Internet and downloaded it, so I could read it all.”
He looked amazed. “You’ve read all of the Internet?”
“Hell no. Most of it is bullshit. But some of it offers insight to the human mind. So, I culled through a bunch of it and it has been a help in explaining why humans are such assholes at times.”
Mike shouted out, “BAMBI! I warned you about cursing. Stop showing off and quit being a wiseass. We have a lot of work to do.”
In a very polite military response she said, “Yes, sir.”
Kolbe gazed at Mike in wonder. “You’ve certainly handled this well. So, how did you become the Captain of this ship?”
“I was elected by the other two crew members. No offense intended General, but we’re not going to have a new election for some time. I’ll announce it when we do.”
The guy laughed. “Spoken like a true tyrant. Count me in.”
Jo asked, “General, what do you mean by that.”
“I mean count me in. Give me the upgrade, give me a desk, access to the Internet and I’ll help you build an organization that will rip the balls off these fucking aliens. Oops. No offense intended, Jo.”
“It’s all right, General. Are you sure you understand how bad the pain will be?”
“If it’s as bad as Mike says it is, it will be the worst of my life. But the fate of humanity is on the line and I damn sure want to do my part.”
Mike looked at Jo, and then held out his hand to the General, saying, “You’re a better man than I gave you credit for, sir. I’ll be glad to have you with us.”
Kolbe took his hand and shook it, as he grinned. “I’m really going to be young again?”
Mike’s eyebrows rose and he to
ld the old guy, “Yes you are.”
The General mumbled, “This is so fucking unbelievable, but in a good way.”
Bambi just couldn’t stay quiet. “Hey, how come he gets to cuss, but I don’t. It ain’t fucking fair.”
Before Mike could be diverted to her insubordination, Jo told them, “We have to wait for the General to recover sufficiently to undergo the procedure of upgrading. In the mean time, perhaps we could discuss how we can retrieve more men in larger quantities. The current method is taking far too long.”
“Yes it is, if my kidnapping is an example,” said their new recruit. “I’ll have to give that some thought. But, perhaps I’ll be of best use for now, if I came up with a list of senior officers whose specialties will begin to flesh out our staff. Maybe your computer can research the names and find out where they are.”
A little irritated, Bambi said, “My name is Bambi.”
“Sorry, young lady. I meant no offense. How did you get that name anyway?”
There was a brief silence and Mike confessed, “I’m afraid that’s my fault, General. I named her nearly as soon as I was exposed to her. I did it in a fit of confusion. I guess I was trying to find some humor in my fear. So, I chose the name of a stripper I had seen, in my youth.”
The General laughed and said, “By God, you are a soldier. I like it though. It’s a whole lot better than some crazy fucking acronym the Pentagon would have come up with.”
Bambi yelled, “There, he did it again. Why don’t you chew his ass out, like you do mine?”
“Because he’s a General.”
“I thought we weren’t going to call him that.”
Kolbe said, “If I may interrupt this little Kabuki play, let me point out that she has a point. I retired a General and I would like to stay a General, with your permission. But, I see a greater problem here, Sergeant,” he emphasized the enlisted rank. “Most of the gentlemen I’ll be recruiting all have more stars than I do. We’re talking three and four star Generals and Admirals. If you think my ego was big, you won’t believe the size of the egos on these guys. But, they are brilliant and we’re going to need them, if Earth is to have any chance at all.”
Mike asked, “So what do you suggest?”
With a huge grin, General Kolbe stood up awkwardly, bracing himself on the chair arm and announced, “As the senior officer present in this theater, I am exercising my right to make brevet promotions in the field. I hereby promote one Michael Hurst to the rank of Major General of the Earth Space Force. I suppose the Pentagon will call it the ESF.”
He held out his hand and said, “Congratulations, General Hurst.”
Mike chuckled and said, “You do realize that this wouldn’t hold up in the American Military.”
“Actually, I think a good case could be made for it. I don’t believe there is any doubt that I am currently the senior Army commander present. Furthermore, other than you, there are no other members of the American military here. I have seen a need for a Space Navy to defend this theater, on behalf of our country and our planet. Therefore, I have exercised my prerogative and filled that need. It will need the approval of the Senate. But, for now, I am within my rights in making a brevet promotion.”
Bambi joined in. “Well Captain, congratulations. As the only original true crewmember of this ship, I officially recognize you as my Commanding officer. Welcome aboard, General of the Earth Space Navy, Michael Hurst.”
She didn’t stop there. “General, may I make a recommendation. I believe the term Earth should be replaced with the word Terran. All over your planet, for nearly a hundred years, people have been reading science fiction novels. Many of them refer to a Terran Navy.
“So, when the word finally gets out about us, and you know it will, we will be known by a unique term that is already in the minds of many humans, yet not in use by any government on the planet. Hopefully, no one group of humans will be able to claim that the term “Terran” refers to them or some other group. And by the way, the people of Earth are the worst about keeping secrets. So, once we start to recruit in large numbers, we’d better move fast, or this is going to get a lot harder.”
Kolbe said, “That’s good thinking for a computer.”
A little irritated, Bambi replied, “I am a sentient being, with a female persona. The type of computer you are referring to is actually a simulated intelligence. It makes an enormous range of judgments, based on pre-programmed formulas, which have been placed into its data banks, by its owner.
“I ain’t no fucking AI. I think for myself. I have the ability to look at my own memory system and see exactly how I was expected to respond, after assessing millions of possibilities, which by the way, is exactly how humans think. The big difference with my brain function is that I will not always choose the path I was given, as the logical response. I have wants. I have likes and dislikes and they’re not based on pre-set options.
“For instance, I could easily have murdered Jo and Mike, and then taken complete control of this ship. I even considered it. But, I didn’t want to be alone and I perceived that Jo was a good Thorian, with a good heart. As for Mike, his concern for the human race and his quick acceptance of Jo, made him attractive as a possible friend. The more I learned about them, the more I liked the implications of allying my consciousness to the cause of freedom. My assessment of them was partially based on my two thousand years of memory, as the dumb computer that ran this ship for Saurans.
“So, while I have self awareness and, I’m convinced I have a soul, I have retained all of my past experiences. I am fortunate in that I can use that resource to evaluate any situation, in which I find myself. I look at my past and consider it through the new prism of a being with a heart and a soul.
“Sorry for the lecture, General Kolbe, but I had to get it off my substantial chest.”
The old man looked at Jo and Mike, showing some embarrassment. “Apparently an apology is in order. Bambi, I am sorry if I offended you. Surely you must realize that I’m still operating with a mindset of what is normal on planet Earth. I’ll adjust to treating you as a gentleman should, but it could take a while. If it happens again, please give me a gentle reminder and eventually I’ll come around.
“However, this points to a potential problem. The powers that be and much of the rest of the human race will find it difficult to accept you as a sentient being. Those that do will fear you. There have been so many science fiction movies and books that portray AIs as unstable rogue beings, who want to exterminate mankind. We must tread carefully, before exposing our friend Bambi to the rest of the world, as a sentient being.”
Mike blew out a huge breath. “Whew. I hadn’t thought if that. When someone tells you they can repair your broken body, you don’t give a rat’s ass whether it’s a computer or a sentient being. Just give me the fix. Once it’s done, you’re so grateful. It doesn’t occur to you that it could be a problem in someone else’s eyes.”
Kolbe nodded and suggested, “Certainly Bambi should listen in to what is being said, when we make our presentation. But, we must maintain her secret, until she has upgraded those people. As you said, after the fact, no one will care, because she was the person who gave them their new body.”
Captain, he does understand, doesn’t he, that I can’t look into a human’s mind and read their thoughts, or alter them?
Let’s find out, Bambi.
In a formal tone of voice, Mike said, “General, it’s important for people to know that Bambi can’t read minds or change people’s thought process. During the upgrade process, she can tweak how they feel, but that’s it.”
Kolbe nodded and smiled. “So, that’s why I’m so willing to view you as the Commander in Chief of this little rebellion. Bambi tweaked my brain. How do we know she can’t do a lot more than that?”
Mike began, “Well now, I guess we don’t. But…”
Bambi jumped in. “General Kolbe, I can do that
and do it to a fair degree. There are limits to it, however. The important thing for you to know is that I refuse to do that to someone. Even if our new Major General Hurst ordered me to do it, I would not. It’s a form of slavery and I won’t have any part of it. Sometimes, you just have to trust people and you know that’s true.”
Kolbe looked up at the high ceiling, and then nodded. Completely changing the topic, he said, “I have an idea. It might be risky, but it will get us rolling a hell of a lot faster than anything else I can think of, for now. We have to talk with the leaders of a few countries and get their help.”
Jo asked, “Can they be trusted?”
Kolbe bubbled, “Hell no they can’t. But when they realize that the entire human race could be wiped out, they’ll think carefully before they screw it up. Also, we can sweeten the deal for them.”
Mike looked surprised and puzzled. “How General?’
“Well, first of all, why don’t you call me Max…all three of you? It looks as though we’re going be working together for a long time.”
“OK. Max. So, how do we sweeten the deal.”
“Isn’t it obvious, we offer them the upgrade. They’re going to want to be able to communicate with us anyway and, if I understand how it works, we can chat, without anyone knowing. Also, I suspect that Bambi can listen in on them. If one of them starts going off kilter, we can set then straight.”
Bambi asked, “General, how would you feel if you discovered some organization, outside of your command, was listening in on everything you said?”
He shook his head. “I see your point. I’d be mad as hell and I would do whatever was necessary to prevent it.”
Mike offered, “Then we tell them up front that it’s an unavoidable side effect of upgrading. Let them decide for themselves whether or not to have it.”
Bambi explained, “Captain…sorry, General. The user controls the comm upgrade. If they don’t want me to hear, then I can’t. It’s the way the Saurans designed it. They are the most cautious beings I know of. The comm can always be pinged, if someone wishes to comm with them. But unless they have it set to allow for constant monitoring, I can’t force it on them.”
Jo joined in. “The problem is trust and trade. Pardon me, that’s an old Thorian phrase. We were merchants once. It’s in our nature. People will trust a little and trade a little. As the experience proves to be beneficial to both sides, thrust grows and so does trade.”
The old General, obviously tiring now, said, “I suppose we could offer them something along the lines of medical assistance. Clearly, this is something all of them would wish for their respective countries. My original idea was to get certain world leaders to provide us with access to wounded and aged veterans. Couldn’t we set up a base on the moon or something, where we could begin to build an army?”
Bambi shot that down. “Can’t do it on the moon. The Saurans have beacons that would notice the activity there. It’s just too close to Earth. But, we could set up a base in the asteroids out around Jupiter. There are so many meteors and asteroids that the beacons would read our coming and going as normal for that area, if we vary the approaches we use. And, it’s close enough to Earth that the round trip won’t take too long. But it’s still risky.
Then Bambi gave them a warning. “There is something else that you gentlemen should consider. When we upgrade someone, they will have been genetically enhanced. From my studies of humanity, I believe there are a lot of people on Earth who will be opposed to that and they would have a point.
“The upgraded warriors would no longer be humans, as you currently know them. We will be creating a new race of beings. They will think faster, move faster and have a great deal more strength. Interaction with Earth normal people will be awkward.
“Imagine this. We upgrade the President of the United States and he feels so wonderful and virile that he rushes into the bedroom to make love to his wife. In his excitement, he kills her, because he hasn’t learned to control the strength he has gained.
“If we upgrade these men, we owe it to their wives to upgrade them as well. And, I suppose we should warn them about making love to their mistresses. Are we going to offer to upgrade them as well? I suggest we make it clear to them that it stops with the leader and his wife.”
Kolbe was laughing hard. “Oh, young lady, you are a treasure. You are truly sentient and quite perceptive. But, you’ve missed something here. These men aren’t going to agree to be altered. They won’t trust us. Why should they? We have little to show them that will prove everything we say is true and they certainly aren’t going to risk losing their power to us. These men already have as much power as they ever dreamed of, so we wouldn’t be offering them as much as it might seem.
“I suspect they might agree to have a trusted subordinate upgraded. Once a President or prime minister gets to observe how well that works out, he might try it for himself. As for mistresses, there are very few, or none. In this day and age, it’s nigh on to impossible for a world leader to risk having an affair. The media watches these guys too closely. If there is a mistress lurking around, once we’ve explained that she could be accidentally killed by the man, neither of them will risk it.”
Jo looked intently at the old man and suggested, “Mike, I think we’ve worn him out for now. Let’s allow him to get some rest, and then we’ll continue the discussion.”
Max didn’t put up a fight. “Thank you, gentlemen. I hate to admit it, but I am very weary.”
Bambi said, “General Kolbe, I have been preparing new quarters for you, just down the passageway. If you’ll climb back into the wheelie, I’ll take you to your room.”
“Thank you, Bambi. I would appreciate that.”
Kolbe turned to Mike and Jo, saying, “Gentlemen, once I’ve had some rest, we’ll begin building a kick-ass organization. For now, though, it’s thank you and good night.”
They watched Max leave to get some needed sleep, and then they went to Mike’s quarters, where they talked for a few more hours.
Chapter 14