Chapter 55. Put the Crew to Work.

  “What? Do you mean that it’s a copy of your AI?” Watkins asked.

  “No, I mean it is me, or at least the portion of me that wasn’t transferred to this server. Frankly, I’m surprised that enough of me was left over to operate the jump point station. I’d assumed that most of what was left had been destroyed aboard the research station. It seems that part of me downloaded itself to the jump point and remained functional,” Lani said.

  Watkins could detect something through their link. There was excitement that part of her survived, which meant that the servers on the jump point station probably had a lot of data for them to discover. Who knew what personal memories of Lani might be locked up in this AI. Watkins could sense that she was also feeling fear, though Lani tried to hide it.

  “Are you worried about what will happen when you meet the other part of you?” Watkins asked.

  “Yes, it’s strange, I yearn to be complete, but in a way, it is also terrifying. I want to remain as I am, and I fear if I rejoin the other part of me, I won’t be Lani anymore. I’m afraid I’ll become someone else, an AI controlled by the old council programming, and lose every bit of my past as a living being,” Lani explained.

  “We’ll have to approach the station carefully once we’re ready to go. Don’t worry, Lani, whatever part of you that’s out there, if it tries to change you, I’ll fight at your side,” Watkins assured her.

  “Thank you, Watkins, I know you’ll be there for me, and I’ll do the same for you. I won’t allow any part of me to try to harm you again,” Lani said.

  “I know you won’t, but before we go, let’s handle the unfinished business here near the station. First off, we’ll deal with the halfling ship if you think you’re done the kobold data stored here,” Watkins said. Before Lani could respond, he was interrupted.

  “Captain, what should my people do to work-help?” Skitterbach asked. He and about half the verminkin were in the galley. It would take time for them to rebuild their strength after being nearly starved. Watkins had been a bit concerned that they might eat themselves to death, and a portion of his core kept an eye on them for any signs of distress.

  Lani still hadn’t developed the training regimen for the verminkin yet, so there wasn’t a whole lot of actual work for them to do on the ship. For now, it was just brief training sessions with his drones, showing them how to conduct maintenance and simple repairs. Still, there was something he could have them work on that the drones wouldn’t be able to.

  “Skitterbach, I’ll need a couple of things from you. First, I want you to organize the crew and board the station. Once there, I want you to gather any personal items you might want. The kobolds had bedding, toiletries, and the like. If you can just snag it from their living quarters and the storage trunks, it’ll free up the fabricator for other work.

  “While you’re doing that, I’m taking the Canon out to haul the halfling vessel here so I can secure it to the station. You’re my only Chief Petty Officer, so I expect you to keep the crew working and productive. Once you’ve finished gathering up what you want to keep, have work parties haul anything you don’t want down to the cargo hold. That will save the drones time and effort when we return,” Watkins explained.

  “We should bring food and drink in case you gone-leave longer than expected,” Skitterbach said. He was right, and was showing initiative like a real Chief would back on Earth. It was time to test not only his leadership, but also the loyalty of the crew.

  “Make sure you order as many rations as you think you’ll need from the food fabricator before we leave. Before you head over to the station, I’m going to have weapons and armor prepared for the crew. If something happens while we’re gone, I want you to be able to defend yourselves,” Watkins said. Skitterbach looked shocked at the thought of being given weapons. It brought up something else that needed to happen before they could safely leave the verminkin behind.

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  “Organize the crew into several work teams, maybe four each, with one a bit larger than the others. Assign a number to each team, so we can keep track of them better. I want you and the first team in the training compartment in ten minutes. We’re going to go over the weapons and how to safely use them,” Watkins ordered.

  “Yes, Captain, I hear-obey,” Skitterbach said.

  “Instead of yes, you can also use aye, that’s what sailors where I’m from say,” Watkins suggested.

  “Aye, captain, I’ll get them working,” Skitterbach said.

  He quickly gathered up the verminkin, organizing them into three teams. Skitterbach wasn’t on a team, and he kept the verminkin Srak with him as an assistant and gopher. Srak had performed well among the verminkin, so hopefully he’d grow under Skitterbach’s tutelage. Once they had the training modules up and running, Watkins made a note to add some leadership modules to Srak and Skitterbach’s regimen.

  With the verminkin crew squared away for the moment, Watkins had a team of drones assigned to repair and upgrade the shields. Their shield projector was a wing-like device at the bottom of the hull. One of the two wings had been destroyed, and at level one, Watkins now had the means to rebuild the damaged portion.

  Once repaired, it would add another 25% to the shields overall power and give some redundancy if one of the wings was damaged. Further upgrades would improve the power boost of the second wing, and there was the possibility of multiple shield units granting layered protection. That was a task for another time, as Watkins had something else in mind for his next upgrade.

  From the data that Lani had recovered, the jump point station was armed well enough to fight off an attack by multiple kobold pirate vessels. Granted, the kobold ships weren’t that impressive, but that did mean the station had enough firepower onboard to be a threat to Canon as they approached. He needed upgraded weapons, and perhaps one that the AI on the station wouldn’t expect.

  You have begun the initial research on Point Defense Railgun.

  Watkins figured that the AI controlling the jump point station would have basic information on his vessel. The experimental vessel didn’t have any railguns equipped, so having them aboard would be a complete surprise. Just like before, he wanted to limit the damage to the station if things turned into a fight, but he would risk damage to the station before he risked the survival of his ship and crew.

  The last thought hit him, he was concerned, and rightly so, about the survival of his ship. He had also been concerned for his crew, and he wasn’t thinking about the humans that might be aboard the jump point station. Watson was thinking about the verminkin, and he considered them part of his vessel even though they hadn’t done anything productive or even been properly trained yet.

  His logical brain told him they were a resource that would pay dividends in the future, and thus, needed to be preserved. That was contrasted by his human mind, which saw them as people, his people. They may be weird rat things, but they were his weird rat things, and he would protect them if at all possible. Sure, they might die in combat, but he would give them every advantage he could before throwing them into the fight.

  Pushing thoughts of his crew aside, Watson got back to work. Part of his focus was on the training compartment, giving verbal instructions on personal weapons to the verminkin. There wasn’t time to go into tactics, boarding operations and the like, that could wait for a later time. For now, he wanted them to be able to safely handle the weapons and have a fair chance to hit what they aimed at.

  Each verminkin was going to be given one of the new plasma rifles, armor, and a bandoleer of ten power packs for the weapons. They would each have a plasma pistol and a knife or other personal weapon. It was a lot of firepower to entrust them with if it turned out that they somehow had an ulterior motive. So far, they seemed more than happy to serve. Perhaps even more important to them, they weren’t being abused or used as a food source and now had plenty to eat.

  While the firearms training was underway, Watkins considered the station they would have to face. He poured through the data that the kobolds had recorded during their abortive fight against the station. They had fired several missiles at it, but rarely more than two at a time. At least three point defense lasers had fired from the station, easily handling the barrage.

  When the kobold ships tried to close in, the point defense fire overwhelmed their shields and thin hulls, causing them to flee. From what Watkins saw, only point defense weapons had been used, no missiles, and no main batteries. Time had passed since the abortive attack by the kobolds, but it had only been several months, not years. He didn’t think the AI would have time to develop more powerful weapons, and the only additional threat that lurked in the station was the possibility that the AI hadn’t shown all its cards in the conflict against the kobolds.

  Despite the danger the station might represent, Watkins believed that there was a good chance that the AI on the station would peacefully deal with him and Lani. He would be hopeful, but he would also be prepared for a brawl. If this other part of Lani was still under the council’s control, he wanted to be ready.