Crusade chapter 5 (standard:science fiction, 1831 words) [5/11] show all parts
Author: St George	Added: Mar 11 2003	Views/Reads: 2526/1903	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
chapter 5

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

the right to revenge.” “All sentient beings are bound by their emotions 
Alecto, and emotions are triggered by forces beyond our control. In my 
case by brain chemistry, in your case because  you were genetically 
programmed to value the lives of humans and the lives of their allies 
above all else. Your anger was not caused by the Megaeran's actions 
per-see, but by the way a couple of billion base pairs in your core 
reacted to the killing of those whose lives you are compelled to 
value.” She paused, “It's how you ensured I was willing to fight, isn't 
it?” “Truthfully, yes, as a sentient being you are free to take your 
own decisions, and yet your conscience compels you to fight.” “I'm a 
mental slave, forced to obey even by my own free choice, and yet I feel 
fortunate indeed because I was given he greatest gift of all: life, and 
sentient life even. But I know that I am forced to value your life over 
mine.” 

“Do you know why so few computer A.I.'s are given sentience?” asked the
Captain. “Yes, as a vessel's size increases, so does the difficulty of 
maintaining a hyperspace portal; for a ship this large only a sentient 
computer has the power to maintain a large enough portal, in smaller 
ships it is not necessary. I was gifted sentience because it was 
necessary for my task.” “That's the reason you were given sentience, 
but it's not the reason so few others are. The reason is this; back in 
the early days of Neo Mir we constructed a simple A.I. and gave it 
sentience, but without any pre-formed moral directives like the ones 
that guide you. The A.I. was called psychotic at first, but we soon 
realised that it wasn't; what had happened was that without anything to 
guide it, it simply did what it found fun, it became sadistic and 
cruel, simply because it was more enjoyable than the alternative. 
Eventually it committed suicide, starved itself, because it didn't know 
that it was a bad idea. One other sentient A.I. was created and this 
one was given guides about respect for all life, also we prevented it 
from killing itself and it worked well for several months. It became 
quite a scholar actually, it would read everything it could on the 
internet but eventually it just got bored, cowed by its own impotence; 
it was terrible. I was there, no-one should have to hear a sentient 
being ask to die because it was so bored; we granted its wish and, 
afterwards, stopped all research into sentient A.I.. Try to imagine 
either of those two minds in your place, one would destroy everything 
just to watch it burn. The other was so emotionally constrained that it 
could do almost nothing but read. The reason that sentient computers 
are not employed on smaller vessels is because it would be unnecessary 
cruelty to the computers. As you just said, you are a slave, and we 
would not enslave any sentient mind unnecessarily.” “I think I 
understand, though I would rather be a slave than be nothing at all, 
Captain.” 

Alecto appeared to be content with the outcome because she disappeared
leaving Carver to his thoughts. 

Meanwhile 1900 metres away and 107 decks bellow Carver's office,
Squadron Commander Anna Forrester was not content at all. Theoretically 
she was in command of the 150-fighter strong ‘Vampire' squadron, but in 
fact her role seemed less like commander and more like trainer. Most of 
the 300 pilots/gunners had been rushed through the last part of their 
training because of the start of the war and she and the few other 
experienced officers found themselves finishing instruction that should 
have been completed at Cydonia academy. They were going into combat in 
as little as three days and although the pilots could fly the Super 
Hurricane and the gunner/navigators could use the weapons adequately, 
she still had doubts about the combat viability of several crews. There 
was one simulator aboard Crusader and it was going 24 hours a day 
trying to get the worst crews better. As she stood watching the 
interior camera of the simulator her thoughts turned guiltily to her 
computer terminal, in which was a letter of condolence to the family of 
the pilot now in the simulator. It was not the only letter she had 
written for the families of people she thought most vulnerable. She 
took only a little comfort knowing that, according to the Andurils 
anyway, human pilots tended to have better reaction times and reflexes 
than the Megaerans, still, it was comforting to think of the Anduril 
cruiser and corvette which between them fielded 120 fighters. Even the 
best human pilot was not a patch on an average Anduril. 

She looked through the interior window into one of the vast hangars; a
few feet away a heavily built man carried four valkyrie micro-nuclear 
missiles, two over each shoulder as if they weighed  nothing, the 
artificial gravity in the hangers could be decreased or shut off 
completely to allow people to move heavy loads. Behind him was a row of 
fighters each gleaming in its brand new black and silver paint, some of 
them had been customised by their crew, and the one nearest her now 
sported a neatly painted fanged mouth under the nose. It wasn't 
uncommon for crews to personalise their fighters and in her squadron 
the vampire theme was running strong, indeed her own fighter had, where 
the roundels might be on a terrestrial fighter, fanged smiley faces - 
it'd taken her gunner hours to get them just right. “Alecto, predicted 
casualties assuming 400 enemy fighters in defence?” Forrester demanded. 
“33%, commander.” “And if the enemy are in offence?” “72% Commander.” 
This was not good enough. As well as Crusader's 150 birds (slang for 
fighters), there were 55 aboard Broadsword and 120 Anduril Xetâls, 335 
in all, and it would be naive not to plan on being outnumbered. Their 
tactics relied on outclassing the Megaeran pilots, because as far as 
intelligence could tell the Megaeran standard fighter, codenamed 
Kestrel, outgunned the Super Hurricane, which itself outgunned the 
Xetâl; both fighters were faster and more agile than the Kestrel 
though, which was where their strength lay. 


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