Chương 23

Hammond gone from the ship meant I had time to have a private conversation with my other crewmates. I gathered all the Crabbits onto the bridge and started the meeting.

"So Hammond is going to join us for at least a little while as part of the crew." I explained to the gaggle of Crabbits hovering and hanging around me.

"Hmm." The Crabbit said as she rubbed at her chin.

"Information needed." They finally responded in fits and spurts among them.

"I don't have all of it yet. So while we still want to keep him out of any red zones, he's allowed to enter and leave the ship. We should still keep an eye on him though. He's new, so we want to make sure he isn't doing something scary like… Planting a bomb or something."

"Oh scary!"

"Hehe. I like bombs!"

"Tactical." I grumbled at that particular Crabbit. But it only continued to giggle sinisterly.

"Alright. So he's going to be with us, but he isn't like Marie, or the others. We're going to figure out what working with someone is like, so mistakes might happen. So I want everyone to be careful about what they learn from him. If you are curious about something, ask me."

"Got it! We got it! New crewmate added!"

"Oh oh! Captain! Captain! I have a question!" One of the Crabbits called out bouncing among the floating horde.

"What is it?"

"Does he play hide and seek?" She asked and that caused an eruption as all of them started chattering about it as well, wondering if he was better at it than me, or worse. I just felt my shoulders relax as they chattered away to each other. In their minds this was no big change. Just something new, maybe something fun, but not something to be anxious about. They couldn't even feel anxiety. They were happy to find out what it would be like. So I would be happy to find out as well.

"Oh! Right, should get the lasers installed while we're here. So let's get that sorted! Back to work!"

"Aww, I wanted to play Hide and Seek."

"I promise we'll play later." —-- I was moving the laser arrays up from the hold to the two rooms one each side of the ship where they would be maintained, even as the Crabbits started the process of eating away at the armor with Nanopaste to create the slots the lasers would shoot from.

The rooms each had a forcefield set up at the door to keep the air from escaping once the hull was cut through, and I was just walking through the mess when a noise had me look up and see Hammond entering the mess with a large bag over his shoulder. There was a sudden shock in my hindbrain. The sense of someone being here in my private space was WRONG. I yelped, and jumped a bit as I flailed and almost ate shit as I was so surprised I fell backwards a bit. Hammond stopped, and stared, and I stopped and stared back.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine! You just surprised me!" I said instantly laughing it off even as I felt my face heat up. Jeez I knew he would be around!

"Lasers?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. If we're fighting pirates I need to get these installed." I said pointing at the floating array that the Crabbit were lifting through the ship. Three of them were working together on each one, front on top, and the back to make sure it didn't get damaged. Although I'm pretty sure the one on top was just giggling because she was enjoying the ride rather than doing anything helpful. He looked from me to the lasers, to the Crabbits and finally spoke.

"You sure got a lot of those drones." He muttered.

"Yeah. The Crabbits are… important. They handle a lot of things I can't do by myself." He looked them over just as they were looking him over and he shrugged.

"Need a hand? Not much of an engineer, but I know how to hold a Mag wrench." He asked, I hesitated at the surprise offer. I wobbled a bit on each foot as I considered it. I took a breath in and out, then nodded.

"Sure, if you want. I could use some help installing everything." I decided and he nodded his massive head and followed after me as I led the trail of Crabbits and Lasers to the room. I moved in and helped guide the Crabbits inside only to realize something just as Hammond was about to walk in.

"Wait!" I called out, but my voice didn't go anywhere, because the entire room was now in vacuum. I rushed forward and slammed into him just before he stepped through the door. My hand barely slowed him, and it was more surprise than any actual force that caused him to back up a few steps and I followed. My helm forcefield turned off as I stepped into the atmosphere, and I was able to speak again.

"Sorry! Sorry! You okay?" I asked a little frantic as I looked from his face to make sure he wasn't stuck in vacuum, to his chest to make sure my push hadn't hurt him.

"Fine. What was tha-? Ah, forcefield."

"Yes! Sorry I forgot, I had to cut through the hull to install the lasers, and that was already done, so the room is in vacuum. Do you have a forcefield? I should have asked first, but I wasn't thinking, and I almost just had you walk into a vacuum!"

"Hey. Relax kid. Err, I mean Captain." He corrected himself. His voice had shifted to very amused before realizing what he had said.

"I've got a forcefield emitter too." He confirmed and I felt myself relax. Good! Good. Sending my first crewmate into a vacuum on accident wouldn't be something I could ever live down. I pulled back and he followed me into the room, as the Crabbits were already positioning the lasers. I tapped my Tab on my wrist and I sent a comm request over as I settled in front of the first laser array position. I'll start here, you want to start on the other end?

Just guide the Crabbit in inserting it into the slot, they'll check to make sure it's positioned right, and help them secure it down. I asked, and I got a grunt in return, as I started working. Double checking the now revealed section cut out of the hull, I confirmed it was the right dimension by using the Crabbits scans on my Tab, and then started positioning the Laser into the slot.

I looked over and noticed that Hammond was sort of working, but mostly just seemingly trying to figure out what the Crabbit around him were doing. You can either ignore them, or just ask. They're smart enough to respond. These aren't VI. He finally said, poking one of the Crabbits which I could hear giggle through my comm, which meant it had purposefully transmitted its giggles. Silly thing. Yes and no. I admitted and that earned me his full attention, as I turned away and continued to work.

Okay so the clamps were in place, and then I would lock it down, and start hooking in all the equipment. Mostly the cables that would transfer weapon control systems to the bridge, and power of course. You have a horde of AI on your ship. He repeated and I hummed a bit. Clamps secured I turned to look at Hammond who wasn't working and was much more focused on the Crabbits floating around him as they chattered and worked on getting the lasers in place. I…

I could explain how they aren't entirely AI, but the fact you noticed it already means there isn't much point in trying to keep it hidden really. Yes, they're burgeoning AI. I'm honestly surprised you picked that up. I said as I looked back at the setup, more focused on the installation than the conversation. I assaulted a ship that had been taken over by an AI before. It was a memorable experience… He explained gruffly, but it was his judging look that told me that he wanted something from me. Enjoying this book?

Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. If you're worried about them going rogue or something. There are plenty of protections in place. I explained, turning away from him as I continued to plug in the laser arrays. I didn't want to look him in the eye, because to be honest, most of the protections were just the Song, and my own confidence in my little Crabbits. They were too cute to go rogue! I loved them so obviously it would be okay!

Hammond was quiet for a bit before I realized this might be more serious than I really cared to deal with. Deep breath, exhale. If it's an issue. I won't take it personally if you want to head off. Afraid to say, they aren't going anywhere though. They're too important for the running of my ship. How long you had them? He asked, sounding a little high strung. I noticed he was kneeling a little straight as he kept an eye on the Crabbit. Oh years. Let's see. The first time they really became aware… Two years maybe?

And they aren't… Off? Not unless you count cheating at hide and seek. I added bluntly, and my non-sequitur caught him off guard, and earned me a flood of denials on my comm channel. We don't cheat! I've never cheated! Not nice! Were we supposed to cheat? Is that how we're supposed to win? We never win. No cheating. I called out, to nip that in the bud, and earned a stream of whining in turn. Finally as the Comm line went quiet from complaining Crabbits I looked at Hammond. It's up to you whether you stay or not.

If you want, I can still go after the pirates if you give me the information- No. He cut me off instantly, and firmly. This is something I have to do. It's fine. He grumbled, and I nodded as I turned to my work. If they bother you, just explain it to them. They're capable of understanding things. I added which probably wasn't entirely helpful as it was a reminder they were AI, and not just little bots. I looked over and noticed he was back working.

Settling the array in place, and the Crabbits were helping, scanning the position to make sure it was settled as they started clamping it down. I finished the first one, at least most of it was installed and stood up. I need to install the exterior armor hatches. You want to finish this up? I asked, and he blinked at me, took a moment to look around at the Crabbits that were waiting for him to guide them and he hesitated. To see such a big man look so uncomfortable around my Crabbit was both a little funny.

And deeply uncomfortable myself. I knew AI went rogue sometimes. I knew it happened, and I knew it could get bad. It wasn't usually as bad as Skynet would have you believe, but if the AI was integrated into the ship strongly enough you might find a ship filled with nothing but people paste as it decided to turn off the Gravity Panels and just move around a bunch, squishing people. Or worse. But if he wanted to be on my ship, he'd have to get used to the Crabbits. I'd choose them over some random person any day.

I stepped out and down to the hold, where I needed to grab the armored covers. Always more work. —-- I was taking a break from installing the armored pop up panels. Sitting my ass against the hull as I looked out into space. The hatches were a lot of work to install. They covered over the top of the laser emitters, but did exactly what you would expect. When used. They would pop open and let the lasers fire without issue. I looked at the half globe sticking out of my ship.

Inside I could see the laser director that would turn and fire in different directions. Considering the lasers were on the side of the ship, they'd give me a lot of arc on each side to protect me from anyone trying to attack where my Thermal Lance couldn't. I still had the missiles I would need to install too, but that would take a long time. They weren't quite as plug and play as lasers. Sitting out on the hull as I looked out into the stars, I watched a ship slowly come in. Looks like a little freighter.

I took a drink from my canteen. Pushing the canteen through my forcefield to take a sip before putting it back down. I was getting hungry too. Maybe I should go inside and get lunch? The freighter passed close enough as it approached the dock I could see inside the bridge a little waving at the pilot as they passed by. I should definitely head inside. Check how Hammond was doing. Leaving the last few pop up panels where they were, I pushed off. Coming in through the hold.

Everything was quiet thankfully, and I headed up the ladder and into the mess room. Hammond was there, not a surprise, but what he was doing was. The man was standing in front of the counters and before him was the big bag he had brought in with him earlier. Only now it was revealed what was inside. Weapons. Lots of weapons.

"That's a lot of gun." I offered and he turned his head lightly to meet my eyes and nodded once.

"You end up needing a lot when you do bounty work." He replied simply. I wanted to say something, but… There weren't really any spaces set up in his room for what he was doing. He was pulling the weapons apart and going over them, cleaning and checking them out. This was the closest thing to a normal table in the whole ship. We didn't even have a real mess table either. Ahhh, I still needed a table! Maybe… A big wood one? That would feel nice. Better than just a plastic, or metal mess table.

Something large enough everyone could sit around?

"If you need anything for your guns let me know. We have some fabrication systems on the ship." I offered, and he turned to glance at me again before nodding once solemnly and going back to it. I turned to my own task. What sounded good today? Maybe something a bit more like a stew? I've been out of the ship for the last few hours, something warm sounded nice.

"If you're hungry the sequencer is free to use as you like."

"Hmm? You don't have any restrictions?" He asked, confused, and I blinked in surprise at the weird question.

"No? Why would I?"

"Usually food's rationed. Only during meal times and the like."

"That's weird." I muttered, before realizing that might make more sense on a military vessel.

"Well I don't have any specific chow times. You can help yourself. We have a good stock of protein, and some things in the freezer… Got some fruits from a world I stopped at. People sucked, but the fruits are nice."

"Huh. Haven't had real fruit in… Been a while." He offered gruffly, as he to my surprise, put his weapons back in his bag right then and zipped it up before walking towards the freezer. He popped it open and stepped in. Huh. He must be hungry… Oh. I've been out of the ship for hours. He must be hungry. He came out already crunching into a Vinefruit, and chewing it as he seemed to be figuring out if he liked it. A moment later he swallowed and started on another bite.

"We got a good Protein Resequencer too. It's got a good list of things it can make."

"I saw that. Expensive machine that. Didn't want to mess with it."

"Oh, well, it's pretty easy. Here, I'm going to prep a meal, if you want to see." I offered, and while he hesitated a moment the large man walked over, and soon I was showing him all the options happily. Maybe… Maybe having some crew wasn't such a bad thing? —-- Not long after we were both sitting around the room. Mostly on the furniture as there weren't enough chairs, but it worked.

"So you grew up on a planet?" I asked as I spooned a bit of stew into my mouth.

"Yep. I'm a dirthumper. Got used to space, but it's not quite as natural to me as you spacers. Don't like going out there." He added, and I had to blink in surprise as I put a spoon of brothy stew to my lips. I mean I had been a 'dirthumper' too, but I got used to space. I shrugged. It was whatever.

"What made you go into space?"

"Work. Homeworld's just a dustball. Grew up on a farm, nothing to see or do. Ship stopped off, and I walked up to the captain. Got a lift off world. Signed up with the Navy not long after. Got my mods, the rest is history." I nodded at that, as we both ate. We were sort of feeling eachother out. Offering bits of our backstory and just… Getting to know one another.

"Ever been back?"

"No. Not in a long time."

"I see. I plan on going home from time to time, but that's me I guess. Any family or anything?" I asked, and for the first time he didn't answer my question. Just continued tearing into his steak. Ah. That was obviously a sensitive topic. I dropped it, and instead changed the subject.

"Well if you stick around long enough, you'll get to see UNK-L at some point. I'll head back for a visit or something now and again."

"Hmm. Home being a station seems a bit weird to me."

"Well, it's not. The Phantom Star is my home." I offered, looking around the room fondly. I'd made this. It still struck me how amazing it was to be in a spaceship I had made with my own hands. A ship that would take me among the stars.

"Hmm." He offered back, Hammond was a man of few words at times.

"How long until we head out Captain?" He asked, and the pointed use of my title had my back straightening a bit in happiness.

"Oh we can head out soon. I just want to finish the laser installation. Once the panels are installed and hooked up we're good."

"Good. We'll need to land on Vel Kata. Got a contact there that's been keeping an eye out for the pirates. Should have some information for me."

"Vel Kata, got it." I offered, pulling up my Tab and double checking everything. Hmm. That was about a two day jump from here. Not bad at all. I dropped my Tab back into my pocket and grabbed my food and started inhaling.

"You alright?" Hammond asked, after a minute of me chugging down the rest of my stew.

"Yep! But I have work to do!" I said practically chirping. I was adding lasers onto my ship! How could I not be excited! I jumped off the counter and headed for the hold. Time to finish the panels! —-- The final panel installed, I stepped well back. Okay let's do a test on all of them. I called out to the Crabbits on the bridge. A moment later the hatches all popped open with a fast motion, the armored panel splitting open to reveal, well nothing yet. But each of the holes would have lasers in them soon.

Okay seal them. And then the panels slapped back shut securely. Try putting atmosphere into the rooms now. I want to see if they will hold. Roger roger! Adding air! Adding air! Ah! It's holding! No leak no leak! Alright. I said with a sigh of relief. That meant that the ship was once more good to go, we could jump to subspace right now while I finished installing the rest of the lasers. I walked over and grabbed my tools, before kicking off.

I delighted in the weightlessness for a moment as I basically super jumped over the back of the ship, until I came floating in upside down to the open hold. I flipped around and landed gently, as I pressed my Tab. Watching the large hold doors close.

"Where's Hammond?" I asked my shoulder Crabbit who hummed for a second.

"Ah! He's in his room." She chirped at me, and I nodded. I'll let him know we were ready to leave then. I climbed up the ladder, and then headed into the starboard section. He had picked a room on this side, and I found his door and knocked. It took a minute but he answered. He looked like he had been relaxing, the heavy jacket he had worn up till now was gone showing a lighter under shirt revealing his bare arms that looked like he could have torn Arnold Schwarzenegger in half.

"We're all bolted up. Gonna be undocking. As soon as we're ready. Do you need anything else from the station?"

"Got all my stuff already." He said a bit gruffly, and I nodded. Hesitating a moment because I wasn't quite sure what to say before I just nodded again and turned. Time to get to the bridge and then we'd be out of here. I relaxed as I left him behind climbing up onto my bridge and flopping into my chair with a long exhale. Okay. Time to go, time to find some pirates. Time to find some pirates? I was planning on going after pirates… What was I thinking?

But despite the insanity of it all, I didn't stop and tell Hammond to get off the ship and go flee looking for a more normal job. Instead I informed the station I was leaving, and pulled away. Slowly powering up the engines and feeling the acceleration kick in as we blasted off into space, and then in a surge of colors, dropping into subspace.