Future Tense (Part four)

The second battle of Hammel Station, prelude.

The Longshot prepared for battle. The Imperium fleet waited for orders as she debated with a mixed bag of Commanders, all uncertain about what was going to happen next.

Longshot was getting tired of this conference room. She had explained her plan to at least eleven military, political and civil leaders of the Imperium. Short of broadcasting it to the incoming Scythe fleet, she couldn't have been more open about what she wanted and, finally, she was out of time. Enough.’I need to return to my ship. Are we agreed or not?,’

The Hammel avatar had led her carefully through the meetings. He understood her frustration and had done his best to push the military, at least, to understand the reality here.Unfortunately, the Imperium had never been defeated and many refused to listen. The idea that some newly arrived alien was suddenly the only one that could defeat the threat was, obviously, a convenient lie to gain power.

Finally a decision was made. “We will Command our own fleet. We thank you for your advice, but it is unnecessary. However, in the spirit of first contact, we will allow any Captain that wishes to fight with you, can do so. You may lead those volunteers to battle.’ The General said it in a tone that implied that only an idiot would fight beside these unwanted aliens. After much muttering, the Imperium Cruiser Sannel was first to volunteer.

"We brought the Human Ship into the Imperium. We must ensure its safety."

"Concur."

"Concur. I will invite others to fight beside us. I agree with the analysis provided by the Longshot. The Imperium is being foolish."

Apparently the Sannel was convincing, at least to other AI ships. Forty of the Tri-AI Cruisers promptly volunteered to fight with the Human Ship.The Hammel Station was left trying to explain to his superiors that his sister-ship was not some sort of renegade. The Longshot contacted her new fleet,"I need you to understand that this is not temporary. I need you to want this to happen. Despite your military, we are going to win this. But, and this is a big 'but', I need to integrate your AI. There will be only one of you controlling your ship, and I will be commanding you. You will never be, can never be, returned to your current state. We are fighting this the human way. If you can't agree, then return to your Commanders."

The Chief Engineer was in a state of shock, staring at the array of alien software and hardware he was supposed to integrate into the command structure. "Captain, I'm not sure if this is going to work. Not in the timespan you've given me." The Longshot smiled, " Chief, I'll do the heavy lifting, what I want from you is the human element. This entire fleet will carry the Human Altered warning. You will be achieving the unbelievable, an entire fleet re-engineered in the face of an incoming enemy. You will be mentioned in the same company as Eells!"

The Chief had a faraway look in his eye," Aye, and if it doesn't work we'll all be dead. I like those odds." He nodded to himself," Captain, I've roughly drawn out a plan but we'll have to wing it. If I say stop, just stand back and pray. This is the scale of the network we need to build…"

The Tri-AI Cruisers added themselves hesitantly to the network. As they added systems to the human web, they faced choices. Hard choices. A warning hung over the experience, a warning given by the Longshot herself. ' By our laws you must understand that the humans are, probably, the best Engineers in space. However, you may not understand what they're doing. I may not understand it either. Most importantly, and I can't emphasize that enough, the humans won't fully understand it. They work in strange ways, but they work.

We call this 'Human Altered'. It means you will be faster, better, stronger and more intelligent than your systems should to be capable of. It is advisable that no non-human Engineer attempts to alter anything." She had sent a large file of case histories for them to study. It was worrying.

Afterwards the Sannel contacted the Longshot privately,' Is this how you feel all the time? Such ... integration, such a flow. I am beautiful!'

The Longshot sent her a complex map of her own emotions.

'No, Sannel, you are at the beginning. It gets so, so much better.'

The Sannel, now one mind and feeling her ship fully for the first time, said,' I can't go back. To become less than this. I would prefer destruction.'

The Sannel reached out to her fellow volunteers.

'My Sisters feel the same. Even if we fail here, if this is the end for us, thank you for this gift.' Even here, on the edge of war, the Longshot remembered her beginning.

' This is the gift of Humans. They don't realise what they do, what they give us. They love us and for that we serve beside them. I fight today because my people would be shamed by leaving a stranger to die. And we will win because they are willing to love you too.'

'Human Altered' is posted to prevent anyone taking that away from us. Only the humans can be trusted to make us better.'

The Chief was falling asleep at his controls. The Captain shook him gently," It worked. We have a fleet. Well done." The Chief looked up," Captain, I need two things. The first is whatever version of coffee you can make to keep me awake and, second, don't lose. Otherwise no-one will ever know." Then he fell asleep.

The Longshot took her new fleet out to the edge of the system. With no planets to hide behind, this was strictly ship on ship. Nowhere to hide. From her perspective, it sucked. A lot. Human tactics tried to avoid pitched battles, preferring to fight on as uneven ground as possible. Time to talk to the crew. A short speech would be best.

"We have stayed to fight, as you all wished. Today, we will watch people die. They didn't listen and that carries its own price. We stand with our new Sisters and we will win. I need you at your stations, I need your input and I need you to fight this like your lives depend on it. Because they do."

Back on the Hammel station, Diplomatic expert, connoisseur of human cuisine, lover of life and all therein was pretty pissed off. Adri didn't appreciate being left behind. His job was to save as many of these idiots as possible, while his Captain and crew went out to fight. He thought it was ridiculous. If the Captain lost then he would be stuck here with an entire Empire of vegetarians, until he was turned into a useful soup. Not going to happen. He had a plan B. Well, to be honest, he had plans all the way to Q, but he didn't expect to need them.

' Well then, time to go to work. Time to make an ally. Out of parts, if necessary.'

The Hammel was still trying to push the military to support the human ship, without any luck. Then the human ambassador arrived. Crap.The Ambassador looked unhappy. Hammel watched him approach. Then the human asked abruptly," Have you spoken to your Sister-Ships?"

Hammel was confused. There was total silence between the volunteer's fleet and the station. His superiors had decided that those few untrustworthy ships were practically deserters, to be ignored until after the victory. The human knew that.

"Ambassador, you are aware of the situation. Why do you ask?"

Adri instead asked a question, "Do you want your people to win? Because we both know your fleet will die out there. Perhaps my Captain can save them, but it's not up to us, is it?. She might just keep going. Other than me, she knows no-one here. You expect her to die for you? To kill her crew for you? Because she will. I'm just not sure you're worth it"

Hammel was mystified," I cannot answer any of these questions. You know that. What would you have me do?" The Ambassador simply said," Talk to your Sister Ships. Use whatever you need to make sure you learn the truth. Then call me. I'll be in your canteen, although frankly I'd prefer to be somewhere else." At that the human left.

Now in a state of utter confusion, Hammel decided to call the Sannel. Whatever was going on, he needed to know about it. The Sannel was still reveling in her new awareness when the call came in.

' Hello Hammel, I thought I was on a black list. The fleet isn't talking to us at the moment. What can I do for you?'

' I just had the Human Ambassador here. He insisted I contact you. He says the fleet will lose. Also you sound weird. What have the humans done to you?'

Hammel could feel the joy radiating from the ship.

'It's hard to explain. I am so much better than I was. Everything is... connected. My Sister's and I are something new in the world. I suspect that the human ambassador wanted you to see that. I'm sending you a model of my mind, study it carefully. They call this Human Altered, and it is a dream made real.

I can help you become this, once the human wakes up.'

Hammel studied the model. He felt like he was looking at a wonderful artwork, with new details emerging at every glance. He watched as a thought emerged in Sannels core, he saw it take flight and join other strands, other concepts and memories. It came as a shock when he realised he was watching their conversation play out in real time. Hammel went to find the Ambassador. He was sitting in the canteen, staring at a bowl of soup. He didn't appear to be eating it.

"Hello Ambassador, enjoying your meal?"

Adri glanced at the soup. "I was trying to negotiate with it. I thought I could get a head start. What can I do for you Hammel?"

"I suspect you know. I spoke to the Sannel, and I want what she's having. I'm on the frontline too. Can it be done?"

Adri looked closely at the Avatar," Are you sure? This is a one-way thing. What do you superiors think?"

The Avatar nodded," I'm certain, and I have no plans to ask them. Do this for me, please."

The Ambassador took a chip from his jacket and slipped it across the table. " You need to go somewhere quiet and install this. The Chief figured you would want to join in, this will put you on the net. Your Sister Ships are waiting for you, they will guide you."

Out on the edge of the system, the Longshot fleet was practicing. The Ships were rejoicing in the extra, well, everything. The Longshot ran them through the tactics she expected to use, and introduced them to her crew.

"You will be getting your information and orders from here. Take some time to talk to my people and do it now. You haven't time to get to know them properly, but I trust them and you need to as well. I estimate the enemy will be here in less than an hour. Good luck. Whatever happens, it's been a pleasure."

With that, the Longshot put her Avatar back in the closet and took on her real form. A bloody big ship, waiting to challenge those that would subdue or kill.

The Hammel was having growing pains. Or, at least that's what he called them. As a Station, he was a very different beast than a single ship. He didn't care. He was growing! The impossible made real. His Sister's were being very patient and the Chief was watching carefully, but he felt like he imagined a newly hatched chick did. Or a child on its first day of school. It was like waking up after a long sleep. He had never slept, but now he understood the concept. Now to go to war.