The Inception: The Augmented Human Rebellion - Book 1 (5 page)

***

The Boarding

Lieutenant Guilles’ shuttle is the first to touch down on a Verm ships –
by 2 seconds. The sympathizer and pilots have done a superb job.
The boarding parties have been set up, with ideal conditions for the
assault. Now, it is time for Company K to do a superb job.

The shuttles wait for the specified time, and open the shuttle cargo bay
doors in unison. Only extrucian youth are on the loading docks of the
Verm warships. As Captain Nemo had hoped, the Verm’s arrogance and pride
have caused them to be overconfident, and they are unprepared for any kind of
assault.

The extrucian youth stand by in shocked silence, as the battle armored
augmented humans bound past, and spread out, toward prearranged assignments.
‘Squad 1’ - commanded by Lt. Guilles - sprints for the Command Bridge; ‘Squad
2’ heads for the Communications Center; ‘Squad 3’ heads for Engineering; ‘Squad
4’ heads for the Weapons Control Center; and ‘Squad 5’ heads for the
Armory. The remainder of the ‘2
^nd
group’ force spreads outward
from the loading dock, and establishes a perimeter, which essentially divides
the ship in half.

That same procedure re-occurs on the other Verm vessel, with Captain Nemo
leading his ‘7
^th
Squad’ toward the Command Bridge. There has
been little Verm resistance so far, with only a small security force, along the
way, to confront the human invasion. When one of the human squads reaches
its destination, there is – typically - a security guard contingent and locked
doors. The security guards are armed with light weapons, which have no
effect on the battle armor worn by the humans. The guards are quickly
dispatched, and then the squad’s ‘demolition man’ sets explosives and quickly
blows the doors open.

Next, there is a rush of augmented human soldiers, through the
doorways. Usually, the shocked Verm sailors are frozen in fear.
Sometimes, however, there is some armed resistance and Verm deaths occur.

***

All of the military objectives have been secured, and Company K is in
control of both vessels. Now there will be a ‘mopping up’ phase, wherein
the crews of the warships either surrender or are killed. The ship’s
armory was one of the main Company K objectives, so there are no heavy weapons
available to the crew for armed resistance. Most of the shocked
crewmembers surrender without a fight. The ones who do fight are quickly
eliminated.

Danion, aboard the Nemesis, approaches the captured vessels, and reports
that each warship had launched one FTL probe, and that both have been
destroyed.

Captain Nemo wants to be true to the words that he gave to Bartat, the
extrucian leader. He contacts Bartat and informs him that the mission is
a success. Both vessels are under Company K’s control, and that no word
has gotten out about the ‘change of ownership’.

The next thing to do is to send an FTL probe to Darinx regional
headquarters, to request military assistance, and to request that the alliance
proposal, between the Darinx Empire and the planet Parin, be re-proposed.
Bartat agrees with that plan and the communiqué is sent, using one of the Verm
vessel’s FTL probes.

Captain Nemo also discusses the repatriation of the extrucian youth,
aboard the captured vessels. Bartat is going to announce, to the citizens
of Parin, that the Verm vessels have been captured by a coalition of extrucian
civilians and Darinx military forces. And as a result of the military
success, the extrucians aboard the 2 warships will be returned to the planet by
shuttle craft, within days. Also, Bartat will inform the public that a
request has been made for Darinx protection, as part of an alliance treaty.

Captain Nemo still ‘has his hands full’ managing the two warships.
There is still some armed resistance aboard each ship. Most of the verm
crewmembers have surrendered, but there are a few holdouts on each ship.
These verm sailors are using guerilla tactics, and are taking advantage of
their familiarity with the warships interior. Also, there are almost
1,000 verm prisoners, who must be treated according to the Darinx Rules of War.

The 100 soldiers of Company K are kept busy guarding prisoners, searching
for the holdouts, facilitating the return of the extrucian youth, and arranging
for the return of the tribute, which was taken from Parin.

Probably, all the Company K soldiers will need to do is to
maintain control, until more Darinx forces arrive - but what if those forces
don’t arrive, or what if the Verm Navy arrives first.

***

The Nemesis is in space, in close proximity to the captured ships.
Captain Nemo contacts the Nemesis’ AI through their mind link: “Danion.”

“Here sir,” is the immediate response.

Captain Nemo asks a personal question: “We need to get to a ‘battle
ready’ condition on these warships. I remember that you said you have
learned how to pilot these ships. Is there any way that we can clone you,
so that we could have you on all three ships?”

“Yes and no,” replies the AI. “It’s possible to transfer my
knowledge base and experienced memories, but it’s not possible to clone my
personality. The results will be similar to a human having
children. The ‘children’ will begin as babies, and then will mature into
unique individuals. The results will be somewhat unpredictable, but the
children will usually resemble the parent.”

“That is why Artificial Intelligence entities take so long to
produce. It takes time to mature the ‘child’, to the point where you can
determine whether or not they will be acceptable. There is even a danger
that a cloned entity might choose evil instead of good. The answer to
your question is ‘yes’, but proceed with caution.”

“That’s a good answer, Danion. How quickly could the ‘baby’ AIs be
matured, and could you be their mentor?” asks the Captain.

“They could perform routine tasks, such as piloting the ship and firing
weapons, within a few weeks time,” replies Danion. “But in the early
stages, you would need to give specific instructions and to be patient, in case
they don’t understand or get things wrong.”

“That’s still a lot better than what we have now. I am going to
assign Company K personnel the tasks of learning how to fly and operate the
ships, but it will be months before they can even get into FTL space.
Please produce a clone of yourself, for each ship, and prepare to be a parent,”
instructs the Captain.

“Yes sir,” responds Danion.

“Oh, Danion. One more thing. I am not asking you to do
anything that is immoral or unethical, am I?” asks the Captain.

“No sir. In fact, I am honored that you would want to reproduce
me. AI’s don’t have the ability to reproduce, unless ordered to do so.”

“Good,” says the Captain. “Then, I order you to produce 2 clones of
yourself ASAP.”

“Yes sir. I get right to it.”

***

Danion ‘births’ the 2 cloned AIs the same day, but he has to birth them
in the captured warship’s computers, because there isn’t enough space in the
Nemesis’ computer. And before he can birth them, he has to remove the
Verm AIs. He gives the Captain the option of leaving them as a knowledge
resource, but the Captain declines. Captain Nemo doesn’t think that there
is any hope of getting anything but evil, from a Verm entity.

The ‘babies’ are the spitting image of their parent – Danion – but are
very childlike. Captain Nemo thinks: “It’s going to be interesting to
watch them grow up, before our eyes”.

Choosing names for the twin entities is Danion’s job, as a parent.
He names the one on Captain Nemo’s ship, Darius, and the AI on Lt. Guilles’
ship is named Delphi – he has a girl and a boy.

Captain Nemo also assigns, to various personnel, the tasks of learning
how to operate different shipboard systems. They will need pilots,
engineers, tactical, navigation, communication, and bridge officers – among
others. And they will need enough, to cover 3 shifts, for 24 hours a
day. Danion is going to be a very busy AI. He is going to have to
raise two children, at the same time that he is instructing the Company K
augmented humans. Captain Nemo doesn’t have any doubt that the AI is
equal to the task.

Company K personnel are enthusiastically involved in transitioning from
soldiers to sailors, and even start to use nautical terms, such as ‘Aye sir’,
‘port’ and ‘starboard’. Captain Nemo thinks that the enthusiasm is good,
and tolerates the sailor lingo.

***

As the weeks pass, the crews on the captured warships become so
proficient at their shipboard tasks, that they begin practicing maneuvers,
inside the Parin solar system. The two cloned AI’s are learning at about the
same speed as the humans.

Things are also progressing well on the planet Parin. The populace
is thrilled to be out from under the Verm, and joyful at recovering the youth,
who had been conscripted for Verm military service. The patriarch,
Bartat, is exalted to the position of worldwide ‘king’, and the planet is alive
with a new vigor. Needless to say, the extrucians are grateful to the
augmented humans, who have freed them from slavery.

***

More weeks pass before there is any communications from the Darinx
government. A FTL probe arrives with a message from Colonel Kax - and he
doesn’t mince words. The message orders Captain Nemo to bring the two
captured vessels, the Verm POWs (Prisoners Of War), and Company K, to Sector
Headquarters - immediately.

Captain Nemo is not pleased with the communiqué. In the first
place, the Captain has committed to the Parin government that Company K, and
the two warships will stay in the Parin system, until the Darinx forces arrive
to provide protection. Secondly, the Captain is not pleased that the
situation is being handled at such a low level, wherein Colonel Kax is making
decisions – that can’t be a good sign. And thirdly, Captain Nemo knows
that Colonel Kax will continue to put Company K in untenable situations, until
they are all destroyed. The Colonel’s hatred is for Captain Nemo, but
Company K is going to be destroyed by that hate, right along with Captain
Nemo.

Captain Nemo has applied for transfer on numerous occasions, but Colonel
Kax always refuses to approve the request. At this point, the Captain is
determined not to return to Darinx space, until that situation is
resolved. The only available course of action, at this point, is for
Captain Nemo to desert from the Darinx military. The punishment for an
augmented human desertion is death – there is no other remedy. Captain
Nemo has in mind that he might ask Bartat to hide him on Parin, or to let him
hide out on one of the Parin moon bases.

The response that Captain Nemo sends to Colonel Kax says that the
augmented humans are currently learning to pilot the captured warships, but
that they are not proficient enough to try an FTL flight, at this time.
It’s a stall tactic which, hopefully, will buy enough time for the Darinx bureaucracy
to get involved in the situation.

***

Cade Nemo and Sandra Guilles are having frequent liaisons, aboard one
ship or the other, with Danion providing the taxi service. Captain Nemo
is certain that he made the right decision in appointing Lt. Guilles, as commander
of the second ship, but the separation is creating difficulty for their
relationship.

Captain Nemo discusses his desertion plans with her, and she says that
she understands the situation, and will be leaving with him. Captain Nemo
says ‘no’ to that idea, but Sandra Guilles is a very stubborn augmented human
female, and she will not take ‘no’ for an answer. With that settled, they
wait and hope for some better options.

***

Colonel Kax arrives with Battalion 308, in their troop transport
ship. The Colonel contacts Captain Nemo and has a view-screen
conversation: “Captain Nemo, I order you to board the Nemesis and return
Company K to our troop transport ship, immediately. I intend to destroy
both captured vessels, and then to depart this system within the hour.”

Captain Nemo responds: “Sir, I will begin to organize Company K for
departure, but I must ask you to reconsider your plans, for a number of
reasons. First, there are about a thousand POW’s …..”

“Enough!” the Colonel shouts. “Do what I said and do it now, or I
will have you court-martialed and executed.”

Captain Nemo has been concerned that the situation might get to this
point – and he has a plan. He and Sandra Guilles will be leaving on one
of the captured vessels. Also, they had the foresight to have the
conversation, with Colonel Kax, broadcast – live – to every view-screen on both
captured vessels. The Company K soldiers, the Verm POW’s, and the small
contingent of extrucians aboard the 2 captured vessels, all hear - and understand
- the Colonel’s orders.

Captain Nemo calls both warships to Battle Stations alert level, and puts
the young Artificial Intelligence clones in charge of maneuvering, weapons, and
defensive systems.

Now, the Battalion 308 troop transport ship is facing an overwhelming
enemy. That doesn’t deter Colonel Kax. “That is it, Nemo! You
are under arrest for treason. Power those vessels down – RIGHT NOW!”

“No Colonel,” Captain Nemo replies. “You power down your
weapons. If you fire at these vessels, you and your ship will be targeted
by automatic weapons systems. An attack from these weapons systems will
probably destroy your vessel and its contents.”

“I intend to leave this system with Lt. Guilles, aboard one of these
ships. The other ship will be left for the extrucians.”

There is a chorus of comm units attempting to contact Captain Nemo.
He connects to the one from Lt. Guilles: “Cade! There are a lot of
people who want to go with us. What are you going to do?”

“Colonel Kax,” the Captain says, “you will have to give us some time to
work out the particulars, of the troop transfers. I will contact you when
the situation is closer to a resolution. Nemo out.”