The Edge of Space - chapter 1

The Edge of Space

Chapter 1

"Captain! Captain! We have arrived at the Regalis system," echoed a piercing feminine voice from somewhere in the room as the lights brightened revealing the clutter of last night’s activity.

"Stop, Damn it! Turn those lights back down," I grumbled as I stumbled out of my rack, hitting the deck with a thud, and hazily headed for the portal.

"As you wish Captain," came a resigned reply, and the room went black.

I promptly banged my shin into something hard and sharp and tumbled to the floor striking my head on something even sharper. I lay sprawled on the floor in the dark, my shin in pain, and my head now throbbing in double-time. The growing knot on my forehead pounding almost as fast as the pulsating throbs from the Seigen randy I drank last night.

I composed my anger and spoke slowly in a calm voice: well, as calm as I could manage. "Sorry Luna, could you please bring room lumens up to 25 percent."

As the cabin came into focus, it became apparent that I had been lucky to make it as far as I had without breaking my neck. Broken artifacts, souvenirs, weapons, clothing, and food were scattered about the floor. To the right of the portal in front of me, my display shelves were empty. On the opposite wall, my desk was wiped clean and the chair upturned. I must have had a great night. Too bad I couldn't remember any of it.

I slowly got to my feet, my shinbone screaming in pain, a trickle of blood running down my cheek from the cut on my forehead. I felt like crap. Finally, my brain began to process what Luna had said.

"The Regalis system? We're there already?"

"Yes Captain," replied Luna. "We have reached the outer planet, Sepho's orbit, and are holding there as per your orders. In fact," she went on, an irritated tone in her voice, "we have been here for twenty seven hours, and I have been attempting to alert you ever since we arrived. I warned you about drinking Seigen randy. Human brain synapses are not electrically compatible with the neuron stimulants it contains."

"Fine," I replied sharply, my head still pounding as I slowly made my way to the portal once again. "Have the system charts on the inner planets loaded in the nav com, and do a two sector scanner sweep of the area. I'll be up to command section in half an hour."

I knew now why the previous owner of the Wraith had been so eager to sell the ship. At the time, I thought I got such a great deal because of my superior bargaining skills or that the ship had come from the black market and needed to be moved before system authorities moved in. Wishful thinking on my part. The real reason was the ship's AI, Luna. Luna was a Series 7 T531 cruiser class ship artificial intelligence. The latest, most powerful starship AI yet developed for small to medium cruisers. Unfortunately, due to some unknown reason a few of the Series 7 T531 AI's had developed sentience.

A starship AI instantaneously monitors and adjusts all Flux Drive, life support, communication, and a thousand other ship functions that if left unattended for a millisecond could cause several catastrophic failures. And most importantly, a starship's AI needs to be immediately responsive to a captain's queries and orders; anything less, could put the ship and it's crew at risk. In other words, a starship's AI needs to be a cold, calculating supercomputer.

Sentience, self-awareness, life, with all its wonders and advantages has its drawbacks as well: love, hate, longing, doubt. Emotions, while treasured and revered in sentient species across the galaxy, had no place in a starship's AI. No captain wanted to deal with a ship's AI whose performance could be emotionally compromised at any given moment. Worse than that, Luna kind of reminded me of my ex-wife. Now my head really started throbbing.