Sitting in lab 31 of the Galacticum Special Projects Division
"Do you remember the "bait ship" proposal we floated a while back?" queried Stanav of his associate Harqun "The one where we'd bait pirates in and destroy them without a trace?"
Harqun responded "the one that the higher-ups shelved due to the uncertainty of the principle?"
Stanav walked to the center of the room and started writing on thin air "Let's go over it again" he said.
Get a retired heavy cruiser from the military. You know, a heavily armored bastard with dozens of missile/mine tubes and even more laser/kinetic emplacements. The kind of ship that'll shrug off almost anything but a direct hit with a fusion weapon.
Gut out its primary bridge. Install mission-specific modules there.
- Module one: A military grade holomodule. Havta wire holoemitters all throughout the ship to go with this.
- Module two: A military grade electronics warfare module; one that spoofs lifesigns
Install an enhanced AI with a dedicated power supply into the battle bridge and seal it up good & tight so - if - needed, the EAI has time to initiate the self destruct option. Plumb it in to the systems of the entire ship.
These heavy cruisers come with several dozen AutoMech drones. The ships also have multiple combat replicators, so replacing AutoMechs as needed won't be an issue. Between the EAI and AutoMechs, there should be nothing keeping the ship from functioning if something breaks down / gets damaged.
Mission goal: The EAI will pretend to be a passenger-filled cruise ship and when pirates attack, the EAI would destroy them.
Stanav: "The reason the higher ups shelved this was their uncertainty as to what would happen should an attacker get lucky and disable the EAI, but now that the humans are turning out to be so helpful, let's consider some things:"
"Have you ever seen a human get seriously hurt or killed interacting with our military or police?"
Harqun: "I've only seen humans killed in industrial accidents. You know - messing about with the industrial laser? Getting one's head caught in an industrial press? Stuff like that. Galacticum standard military/police personal weapons don't seem to bother them much at all. As a matter of fact" - he shuffles through a datapad - "there was one human who got in the way of an antipersonnel mine with a defective detonator. All it seems to've done was blown him a few meters downrange, destroyed his uniform and given him some minor cuts and abrasions."
Stanav: "Right! We know humans are some tough sumbitches. If we could get a human to live on our bait ship, we'd have all the bases covered short of total & immediate destruction."
"Sadly, we also know it's immoral to force a sentient being to kill another (or many), so what do we do?"
Hargun: "IDUNNO. What?"
Stanav says "For all the medical wonders the humans are capable of and the medical knowledge we've share with them, they still have "incurables". Those humans who - for whatever reason - have a condition that current medical science can't help with."
Hargun interjects "So what's the point, Stanav?"
Stanav points into the air "We get the crazy insane humans. The ones that have incurable mental conditions and are a definite threat to their society. You know - the serial killers / thrill killers and that sort. Out of the billions of humans, they've got to have a few like that locked away somewhere."
Hargun asks "What's in it for the humans?"
Stanav goes back to the center of the room and starts writing:
The crazy human isn't a threat to society any more, as they're locked inside a Galacticum warship that they have no way to operate.
The crazy human is left free to follow their insane whims when they get visitors (which will always be pirates, as the EAI will make sure non-pirate guests never come across the human)
We can find a few habitable planetoids somewhere to send any humans who undertake this duty after they've served for a few missions. We can leave a replicator (programmed not to allow the human ways to escape the planetoid) and a holomatrix so they'll have company during their retirement. It may not be much, but - again - it keeps them from living out their days in a small cell or drugged to the gills on Earth.
Mission set
We change the playbook for the EAI, so that it can pretend to be a fancy cruise liner full of fancy rich people. This entails using external holoemitters to change a ship bristling with weapons into a cruise liner.
The EAI generates a full holocrew and holopassengers. These projections look out portholes, respond to hails, you know "business as usual". The EW pod on the bridge will be used to spoof lifesigns to appear anywhere on the ship.
When pirates attack, it's a given that some ship damage is gonna occur. This isn't an issue because the AutoMechs can repair the ship after the pirates are taken care of, or the EAI will engage the self destruct and take care of the pirates that way.
When the pirates board the "cruise ship", the "security forces" (again, holograms) will engage them in a running gun battle (where they miss every pirate they shoot at, but holographic weapon fire impacts show up near the targets) that leads the pirates away from their entry point. Once they're out of sight, the human can board their ship and - with the help of the EAI - destroy it from within.
Any remaining pirates left on the "cruise ship" can be dealt with by the EAI or human (or both).
Hargun asks "Where's the morality in setting up a killboat like that?"
Stanav asks "Who's forcing the pirates to pirate? They make a choice. They live (or die) with their choice. Any human involved will undoubtedly be better off in our program than back on Earth. They will have the run of a ship-sized holosuite, when they're not in stasis."
Harqun: "Okay, I've submitted this to command."
A few weeks later, Galacticum military command responds: "Approved"
Fitting out
Stanav: "I've gotten a response from BuShips. They've got two old Cudgel class tubs and a Pernach class scow we can have. While these are ancient, they still have planet-cracking capability and have been in "minimal maintenance" mode in one of the storage shipyards. I'll get them spun up and moved to a secure shipyard for their upgrades."
To: Shipyard 732Z
From: BuShips Maintenance Office 31
Subject: Modifications to cruisers
Classification: Top Secret - Onyx Access
Regarding the following ships:
Cudgel class - BuShips #f413ab385b23ea1d
Cudgel class - BuShips #6008f39c880fc3e0
Pernach class - BuShips #1d11e68a09de7985
- Galacticum Science division plans to test some new technology in areas of space known for their gravitational anomalies. Terrans will be providing technology & staff for this project. The ships will need modifications to help them survive these stresses.
Stanav thought to himself: Our ships aren't set up for sustained Terran gravity, so will need buttressing.
- Ships will need to be structurally strengthened to be able to withstand gravity equal to Hades class 10.
Can't have those insane humans flying wherever they want, can we? Stanav mused
- Ships will need to be able to be completely operated by an Enhanced AI.
-- All manual command interfaces shall be removed from the bridge.
-- The EAI will need to have an array of nodes situated around the ship from where it can operate in case of unexpected damage to one (or more) nodes. It will also need redundant & dedicated power supplies & vessel control interfaces to accompany these nodes.
Gotta have extra manufacturing capability for this mission set, Stanav noted
- Shipboard replicators will need to be brought up to or surpass GALMILSTD 72T-A1.
Yes, this is space station grade holographic kit, but we'll need all of it to put on a good show, right? Stanav chuckled to himself
- A hologram generator no smaller than class 7 should be installed on the bridge and plumbed into ship's systems.
-- Existing bridge holoemitters should be checked for functionality
- Holoemitters shall be equipped throughout the interior common areas of the ship so that all common areas are covered.
- Combat holoemitters shall be equipped on the skin of the ship, so that the entire ship has external holographic coverage to at least 5km from hull.
Holoshow ain't no good if the pirates can see through it, Stanav mused, so we'll use some more space station grade kit to make sure the pirate's sensors see what we want them to see and their communications systems only communicate when we let them
- An electronic warfare pod of Type U/G or later shall be installed on the bridge and plumbed into ship's systems.
- An electronic countermeasures pod of type Z, class 4 or higher shall be installed on the bridge and plumbed into the ship's systems.
-- External EW antennas shall be checked for sustained functionality at max power of the installed EW/ECM pods.
-- Redundant & dedicated power supplies are authorized to provide sustained operation of EW/ECM pods at max power.
Gotta keep our humans happy, clean and fed, Stanav continued to write
- Holoprojectors, a stasis pod and a personal replicator shall be installed in the following areas:
-- Cudgel class - cargo bay 7
-- Pernach class - cargo bay 3
--- Stasis pod will be military grade and human compatible.
If shit gets sideways and main power goes out, we want our human up & about, Stanav thought
--- *!* IMPORTANT *!*
--- The stasis pod will not be connected to any redundant power supplies
- A "wet wall" will be installed in the above locations. This "wet wall" will be set up as far from the personal replicator as possible and produce temperature-adjustable h2^o @ 5 liters per minute from a height of 2m. Flow of h2^o will simulate the precipitation pattern a Terran tropical thunderstorm. Surrounding decking will have a fluid retention/reclamation system.
-- The "wet wall" will also have a human-compatible sanitary system.
These jobs will be priority one on your schedule.
Stanav @ Lab 31 sends
<STANAV@LAB31 IDENTITY KEY>
<GALMILCOM AUTH KEY>
Herding humans
To: TERMILCOM (Terran Military Command)
From: Galacticum Laboratory 31
ATTN: Office of Uniform Combat Heuristics
SUBJECT: Request for personnel
Classification: Top Secret - Onyx Access
Greetings, gentlebeings!
The Galacticum military command has authorized a project to slow down piracy in Galacticum space.
We will be operating special starships for this purpose & need humans of particular type to participate.
Specifically, we are looking for humans with - currently - incurable mental conditions that keep them in a constant antisocial state. Bluntly, we're looking for humans who - currently - live to kill and are likely kept in a drugged or restricted state.
We say "currently" as the participants will be provided the best of medical care while working on the project, and their medical condition(s) will be constantly appraised by Galacticum science. If a potential cure is found, they will be removed from the program and provided such.
Our program will give the participants full run of a large military vessel, with TriD and holodeck access.
Scope of action:
The humans will be helping us eradicate pirates who choose to ignore all Galacticum & associated treaties on civil spacefaring.
Participants will spend down time in stasis pods.
Prospective participants do not need combat training to be considered - just full mobility and the ability to follow simple instructions or prompts.
After each participant assists with the eradication of 10 (ten) pirate vessels, they will be given the options of
- Returning to Terra
- Retiring to a small planetoid somewhere in Galacticum space
- Staying in the program
We look forward to hearing from you!
Stanav @ GALMILCOM/Lab 31 sends
<STANAV@GALMILCOM.LAB31 IDENTITY KEY>
<GALMILCOM AUTH KEY>
Six months later
To: BuShips Maintenance Office 31
From: Shipyard 732Z
Subject: Modifications to cruisers
Classification: Top Secret - Onyx Access
Regarding the following ships:
Cudgel class - BuShips #f413ab385b23ea1d
Cudgel class - BuShips #6008f39c880fc3e0
Pernach class - BuShips #1d11e68a09de7985
Your modifications are complete.
Please advise as to delivery options.
Mutt
Chief Engineer - Shipyard 732Z
"Harqun, our ships are ready!" Stanav crowed.
Harqun replied "so where are our humans?"
Stanav pulled up his commo app. "We got a response from the Terrans weeks ago, but I didn't figure it was worth mentioning until the ships were ready."
"The Terrans sent us a list of potential candidates, and I've chosen what I consider the best three to start with", Stanav continued.
"Here's the skinny on these guys" Stanav walked over to the display area and began to write:
Human #1:
Name: George
Age: 26 (physically) 9 (mentally)
Gender: Male
George was abducted at age 9 by unknown extraterrestrials. He was experimented upon for a few days and returned to a field near his house.
While his kidnappers had him, they did such horrific things to George that his psyche split and created a(t least one) "protection personality". This personality is known as "Baxter" and from years of observation, the Terrans have theorized that Baxter's entire reason for existing is to protect George.
Sadly, George hasn't made any new memories since his abduction and so anyone he doesn't recognize from his first nine years triggers his "stranger danger" which subsequently brings out Baxter - who kills the strangers. A sad effect of this is that Baxter killed George's parents because as they'd aged, their appearance changed from what he remembered of them.
George currently lives in a facility that replicates his childhood home because attempts at moving him elsewhere trigger his "danger sense", too. Such a state brings Baxter out in a "kill everyone" mode.
Something the abductors did to him changed the way his brain is constructed, making his condition incurable under current medical science.
Harqun interupted: "So we're getting two humans in one?"
"Maybe more!" spouted Stanav "The Terrans don't actually know how many personalities are in George's mind."
". . and here I thought one human entity per corpus was bad enough . . ." Harqun groused.
"Oh, it gets better!" Stanav returned to writing.
As 9-year-old George was taught to take care of himself (eating, cleaning, etc) he currently is instructed by the voices of his mother and father (from inside their study or bathroom or somewhere else George wasn't able to get into prior to his experience) and since he wakes up every day like he's 9, he's never wondered why he never sees mom & dad.
The reason we want George is his alt: Baxter.
Baxter "sleeps" when George is awake, and vise versa. The Terrans have observed Baxter laying in bed, watching TriD programming on combat tactics, military hand-to-hand combat training, all kinds of martial arts, from ancient to modern, military holos on weapons operations and other content that the Terrans theorize Baxter feels will make him better able to protect George.
Since the Terrans officially became Galacticum members, Baxter has been doing the same with Galacticum content, although he's taken to learning about all the different species that make up the Galacticum & surrounding societies, too (as if he's looking for something).
"So this 'Baxter' is smart, then. Can he remember stuff?" Harqun asked.
"The Terrans who've been caretaking / monitoring George since his incident think that the Baxter identity is a polymath with an eidetic memory. While he may not have the physical training / muscle memory of a soldier, he has the knowledge of one, plus a whole lot more."
"Anyway, the Terrans are sending us the holoprograms of George's house and his parent's voices, so we can set up his "house" in one of the cargo bays. They're also sending the playlist of all the programming he was used to watching at age 9, so we can keep his TriD loaded with familiar content."
"It is so interesting to learn that not only are human bodies highly resilient to damage, but so are their minds" Stanav muttered to himself.
Human #2:
Name: Dieter Blutfalke
Rank: Sergeant First Class (Detached to Terran Medical Command)
Age: 36 (± 200 [due to stasis pod time])
Gender: Male
SFC Blutfalke is still considered to be on active Terran military duty. He has spend over 200 years assigned to TERMILSOCOM and is a highly trained special operations soldier having spent most of his active time with SOCOM Detachment Zeta ("their unit is called 'the wet boys', whatever that means" Stanav said).
Harqun asked "Well, if he's still on active duty, why is he on our list?"
"Oh, he's special, too" Stanav raised his writing quill . .
SFC Blutfalke is one of the few rare humans whose body rejects implants/artificialities. As you may imagine, those Special Operations guys get beat up pretty good sometimes, so Blutfalke has spent more time in a rejuve-tank than most any other human. When he loses body parts, they have to be regrown.
SFC Blutfalke's last trip through the rejuve-tank didn't work out so well. Something occurred in the healing process that caused his brain to grow into a new configuration. The military doctors missed it until Blutfalke started ripping open members of the medical staff "looking for himself" (he used his thumb, BTW).
The really exciting part (for our program) is that - aside from his deadly search for 'self' - he is still able to pass all his psyche quals & physicals. He is fully aware of his newfound compulsion, but is unable to help himself.
Basically, so long as he's kept away from corporeal entities, he's the same man he's always been.
The Terrans have been keeping him in a secure medical facility where he's able to provide remote VR planning/guidance/overwatch on various military missions, but that's not gonna be good for him over the long term. When he found out about this program, he volunteered for it and the Terran military has assigned him to us.
"So we get a superdupercommando who fits our requirements to a 'T'" Harqun ponders "have you been dating Lady Luck and treating her good?"
Human #3:
Lab designation: "BMF-187" (colloquially known as "Jacksonz Wallet")
Age: 10-ish?
Gender: Male
"Jack" is the sole surviving product of an illegal genetics lab.
About three years ago, a Terran patrol got a "Mayday" signal from a location out in an asteroid field. When they arrived, they had to force their way in to the facility because "Jack" had killed everyone before the Terrans could get there. Even then, the Terrans sent in their Marine detachment to investigate (who very shortly requested all Marines & any other combat-qualified Terran to come pitch in)
The Terrans ended up using nine StunHammers, two nanomolecular capture nets and a NullCap to subdue "Jack". Many Terrans were put into medical stasis afterwards.
After "Jack" had been secured in a self-hardening polymer foam, the Terrans started reviewing surveillance footage & facility records and found that "Jack" was a genetically-enhanced human (made with DNA from several different Terran animals [armadillo, honey badger, nudibranch, others]) designed to be some sort of "super soldier" for unknown customers.
The experiment failed because "Jack" was found to be limited to the cognitive level of a human 3-year-old.
One day, the lab handlers made a mistake in "Jack's" containment system and that's the last mistake anyone in that facility ever made.
Lab records show "Jack" is 10 years old. He stands 2.5m tall and weighs 300 kilos. His muscles & bones are denser & more powerful than are in any standard human. His skin is also much tougher and more resilient than the Terran standard.
The Terrans are keeping him physically restrained as well as keeping his voluntary nerve activity disabled with a NullCap.
He seems to be eternally angry.
"We will have to provide special handling instructions to his ship's EAI" said Stanav "as well as giving him a special comm implant"
"If this 'Jack' is as dangerous as you say, he's gonna live out his life on our ship" Harqun noted.
"And so he may" Stanav agreed "but he will live out his life being a benefit to society instead of a drain on it."
All roads converge
Stanav left his office and ambled down to the comms room at Lab 31. Today was the day that the ships & their crew would finally come together, and he would be present - after a fashion - to facilitate the meeting.
He stepped into the communication bubble, and donned a comms halo. This would allow him to securely interact with remote locations of the Galacticum without leaving his facility.
He'd ordered the three newly-upgraded ships to travel to Lab 31's Facility 7 and be docked no later than today. Simultaneously, the three humans were scheduled to arrive at Facility 7 by today, as well.
Stanav approached the control terminal and logged in & identified himself & his remote destination and then stepped into the center of the room.
In Facility 7's comms center, an AutoMech assumed a vertical stance and moved out into the staging area. It performed a self check & accepted the secure connection from Lab 31's central location.
A holographic representation of Stanav appeared over the top of the vertical AutoMech. Stanav performed a functions check from his end, moving his arms about and manipulating some test objects to insure the connection was fully functioning and then left Facility 7's comms center as Holo-Stanav.
Facility 7 was a hollowed-out planetoid in a remote asteroid field. It had room inside for a dozen cruisers to dock at one time, and for dozens more to be moored. It was used when meetings or personnel and cargo transfers needed to be performed without fear of outside observation.
Holo-Stanav entered the facility manager's office and received the location of his ships & his humans. Nobody in the office blinked an eye, as holo-presence was a common method of visitation.
Holo-Stanav moved out into the facility's warehouse and located the shipping container holding his humans. For safety & security, they'd been shipped in self-powered stasis pods.
He keyed his credentials into the shipping container's control node and enabled its antigrav system. Configuring it to follow him, he moved out to the docking area. His three ships had been assigned to pylon 3, berths "B", "C" and "D".
Holo-Stanav stopped at the root of pylon 3 and gestured for the shipping container to set down. He approached the control node and entered a different pass phrase and stepped back as the container unlocked & opened.
Putting George to bed
Inside were three stasis pods, each quietly humming away. Holo-Stanav located the pod with George inside, keyed yet another pass code into its control node and started leading it down the pylon surface.
Holo-Stanav guided the stasis pod on to one of the waiting ships and transferred George to the shipboard stasis pod. He then found the bridge and loaded the mission parameters & protocols into the EAI. In George's ship, the holodeck program of George's childhood home, parent's voice files and a day's worth of George's usual TriD content were loaded as well.
The Falcon's perch
Holo-Stanav led the empty transit pod back to the main dock and repeated the process for Sergeant Blutfalke's pod. This trip went more quickly, as Blutfalke didn't need any special handling instructions.
Playing with fire
For the installation of "Jack", Holo-Stanav did things a little differently. He guided "Jack's" transit pod into his ship's cargo bay, then keyed in the disable code for the pod's anti-tamper mechanism. Holo-Stanav then went to the bridge to load the mission data and then returned to the cargo bay.
He opened the transit pod & cut away the hardened organic restraints that enveloped "Jack". He maneuvered the pods together and rolled "Jack" from the transit pod to the shipboard pod.
Stanav then pushed the floating transit pod out of the way and positioned himself at the end of the stasis pod where "Jack's" head lay.
He lined up carefully so that he had leverage but was as close to the cargo bay door as he could get and unsnapped the NullCap that was keeping "Jack" immobile. Stanav yanked it off and hit "max speed" for the exit. "Max speed" was not enough to save the AutoMech as "Jack" blurred out of sight and then the connection to the AutoMech cut out.
"CSS Charon! Deploy all blast doors! Deploy blast shields!" Stanav ordered from Lab 31.
"Computer! Access Facility 7 command network!" Stanav exhorted "CSS Charon! Initiate emergency egress protocols! Your mission begins NOW!"
The CSS Charon ejected all mooring attachments and slowly disappeared as its stealth mode engaged.
"Facility 7! Emergency egress in progress! Stealthed vessel is moving to exit! Clear the way! Clear the way! I say again, emergency egress in progress! Clear the way!"
CHIRP CSS Charon to Director X. We have a problem.
"Charon, state status." Stanav responded
A crew member was caught by a set of closing blast doors
Stanav thought to himself: Well, SHEEEIT! All that trouble to get this show on the road, and one of my humans gets himself killed in the first five minutes of the operation.
"Charon, report crew member status"
Crew member is currently fighting blast door 11X2. Due to the double layered nature of the blast doors, he is unable to extricate himself
"Charon, please confirm: crew member is alive?"
Confirmed, Director X. Crew member is alive and doesn't appear happy at all
"Computer" Stanav prompted "display aft feed from CSS Charon's starboard airlock."
The holoprojection in the comms room showed an empty corridor and a closed blast door.
"Computer, next feed aft!"
The ID bug in the video changed, but the picture remained the same.
"Computer, next feed aft!"
This feed showed "Jack" stuck in the middle of two sets of irised blast doors. That he hadn't been cut in half was amazing. That he hadn't been crushed to death was unheard of.
That he was actively pushing one of the blast doors open was an impossibility hardly thought possible.
As "Jack" was caught by two sets of blast doors, he was only able to bring his immense strength to bear on the doors closest to his upper appendages (although his feet were scrabbling for purchase against the face of the other set of blast doors). His face was red & he appeared to be bellowing in rage.
"Charon, initiate crew containment procedures"
Confirmed. Reducing atmospheric pressure until crew become manageable
When safe conditions are reached, AutoMechs will secure crew in stasis pods & Charon will continue mission
"Acknowledged, Charon. Director X out."
"CSS Pride of Queen Mrk'tk'tk, CSS Kopi Luwak - you are both cleared for mission start. Coordinate with the facility dockmaster to schedule a departure window and initiate mission protocols. Good hunting!"
Both ship's Enhanced AIs replied with acknowledgement tones.
Harqun's surprise
Stanav removed his comms halo and walked back to his office. He found Harqun there and remarked "All the ships launched, but one of the humans accidentally got caught in an emergency blast door closure."
Harqun gushed "Oh no! What a shame that all that work that was put in would be one-third wasted in an accident at mission start!"
Stanav tossed him a datapad "Press play."
Harqun initiated playback and saw on the screen a recording from inside one of the cargo bays that'd been outfitted as living quarters.
The camera showed Holo-Stanav adjusting his position in relation to a large human in an open stasis pod, pulling a head covering off the human and then departing at high speed - apparently overspeeding the AutoMech's motivators - toward the exit.
Holo-Stanav made it to within a meter of the cargo bay exit when the large human blurred from view and Holo-Stanav simultaneously exploded in a shower of parts. At that point the cargo bay's blast doors irised shut.
Harqun's antenna bent over in perplexion 'how had the human disappeared? Where had the human gone?'
The recording flipped to a view of the corridor outside the cargo bay, showing the lower appendages of the large human sticking out of a double set of blast doors, trying to find purchase against the face of the blast doors.
Another camera change showed the other side of the blast doors, where the large human was actively pushing the blast doors on that side open with his upper appendages, only to have them attempt to close. The human's skin was also much redder than normal and it was bellowing like an animal.
Harqun's antenna went into chaotic spasms and his exoskeleton drained of color.
"What . . . How . . . How is this even possible? Is this the enhanced human? The unique specimen?"
Stanav confirmed "He's unique as far as anyone knows"
Harqun - having regained control of his antenna - muttered under his breath "Bless the hard-shelled Queen for small favors"
