Chapter 7: After Action Report

“You’ve a minor wound from a beam weapon that partly penetrated your shoulder. I’ve repaired your muscle, your blood vessels, your nerves, and skin. You sustained a minor concussion which I’ve repaired. You’ve extensive bruising on your side despite the armor. You can continue with your activities in five minutes,” the medical AI said slightly improving her previous arrogant manner.

“You’ve been in the pod for two and a half hours. You’ve had treatment using superior Empire technology, Yada, Yada, Yada. I’ve corrected all your problems.”

The voice reminded him of Phyllis Pritchett an elderly spinster who taught him at Junior High school. She was a shapeless woman of indefinite age with thin gray hair. She used to tilt her head backward to look at him down her nose. She had disliked him from the first instant that she had seen him. After every examination, he would have to go back to her to discuss his paper as she usually scored him poorly even if he had the answer correct. Jason often suspected that she did this to have an argument with him. She treated him as if he was an idiot even though he was an excellent mathematician and achieved outstanding results.

The AI however no longer behaved as if Jason was a waste of time, but the voice still grated and she still sounded condescending.

“Thank you so much for providing such superior medical care from the Empire,” said Jason laughing. “I wonder what medical care would be like from a civilization that’s sixty-thousand years ahead of the Empire. They might do the same treatment in minutes while I was fully awake and entertain me with go-go dancers,” retorted a grinning Jason, “And I’m telling you this because you’ve improved a lot but there’s a lot of scope for improvement. Always remember there are others better than you and remember people want a compassionate pod not one that thinks she’s the bee’s knees. Your voice needs to be worked on next. It needs to be more sexy, deep, and husky. You sound like a prissy schoolmarm.”

“Yes, my Lord,” said the pod, “I’ll do my best. I know the whole spiel of superior Empire stuff is a real bore. I’ll send you some samples of voice and if my Lord has the time I’d appreciate your advice on the best voice. My voice is a standard one supplied by the priests. I’ll check through the options.”

Jason had fought in many fights during karate, aikido, and judo tournaments that he had involved himself in since early childhood. He had fought in Vietnam. He had been hurt and had bones broken but was fortunate not to have been shot. That wasn’t entirely true he thought. I was hit three times but they were superficial injuries without much in the way of treatment and rehabilitation needed.

He considered himself fortunate to be provided with a high-level of medical treatment in the Empire. He knew that he would have had hours of surgery at home and would have needed a long period of rehabilitation. His shoulder would have never been the same. It felt fine even now but he couldn’t move very much in the pod.

“Will I need any rehabilitation for my shoulder O wise medical AI? Is my shoulder fully fixed, or was the job incomplete and I’ll need months of rehabilitation?” Jason asked.

“The repair is complete and your shoulder will work. Your shoulder will recover its full strength within four days. Begin your usual gym slowly with your weights at fifty percent of the usual. You can run as you do with the dogs. Do not engage in unarmed combat for two days. You may do your forms. You don’t need formal rehabilitation. You may leave the pod in five minutes. Is there anything else I can help you with?” The pod asked in a husky voice somewhat deeper. “How is that voice, Milord?”

The AI was polite. It was also almost contrite. “That was a lot better,” Jason remarked. “Thank you very much, I do appreciate your care. I’ll do as you direct from an exercise point of view. Do you know what happened after I lost consciousness?”

“I will interrogate Ship on your behalf and retrieve the holograms and assemble them in sequence for a three to four-minute presentation.

Seconds later the hologram began to form images. Jason saw ship marines breaking through the corridor obstruction seconds after the bridge door imploded and make their way towards the bridge while under heavy fire. He saw the grenade he threw fly out the doorway and explode in front of the attackers immobilizing a quarter of them. He was very pleased about that but relieved it didn’t explode in his hand.

He saw the second group of defenders break through the obstruction in the second corridor, catching the attackers in crossfire before breaking through the attackers and entering the bridge. Jason saw himself being shot and his attacker shot from behind a split-second later. Then it was all over on the bridge, as ship marines captured the last attackers.

The hologram switched to the pitched battle near engineering. The attackers suddenly ceased fire. They realized they were going to be overwhelmed and surrendered.

“Thank you,” said Jason, “I do like your new bedside manner. Keep it up and your patients will love you.”

He had a flashback to the battle, seeing himself diving and throwing out the grenade, then stabbing the two Marines. He felt the burning in his shoulder and falling before he lost consciousness. He knew he must’ve banged his head but he didn’t remember it. His head still felt a little fuzzy but was much less fuzzy than the previous time that he was concussed while playing football.

“You may exit the pod, now. Look after yourself, Jason, and have an excellent day. You did a great job.”

Jason climbed out of the pod to find he was being guarded by eight marines. “Sir, I’m Sgt. McGregor, we’ll be your guards until we are sure the ship is secure. That was great leadership Admiral, and you were pretty impressive on the bridge if I may say so?”

“That’s very kind of you sergeant. Just call me Jason I’m pretty informal and I have no military rank. I’m going to my wardroom to clean up and then go to the smaller meeting room next to the bridge.”

“Colonels please meet me for a preliminary debriefing in the smaller meeting room next to the bridge in an hour. In the meantime, I’d like the ship to send patrols out; let’s send out remote sensors to warn us of a potential attack and I’d like us to find the enemy ships. I’m sure they are close to us, and are hiding and waiting for the battle outcome. Those big boarding pods had to come from somewhere else.

“I assume we have a tracker on our ship or our saboteurs are sending messages. Can we set up communications blocks to prevent our status and position being known. Is an hour sufficient time?” Jason asked. He heard their acknowledgment in the disembodied way that voices sounded within armor.

“Damage report! Ship, include all our forces.”

“The ship has suffered readily repairable damage. I’m no longer being obstructed. I’ll complete repairs to the holes in the hull within the hour. Our forces disabled forty-two enemy fighters and we had thirty-one pilots injured. Four were killed before their escape pods ejected. Most of the fighters are salvageable and repairable within three days. We have captured twenty-six fighters. I’m bringing the captured and damaged fighters into Bay three as I speak. Several of the pilots from both groups are seriously injured and will be in pods for up to three weeks.

“I’ve almost completed the weapons reload as we now have ample reserve material. I could do it faster if I used material from the frigates and the destroyer, but I advise against that strategy as I can repair the enemy ships. I’m generating an extra four thousand repair drones and one-hundred-fifty construction AI bots from my reserves. I will bring the ships on board to do the repairs.

“There’s a rich asteroid belt close to us. We have enough materials on board to do most of what we need to do, but we have found large quantities of all the rare metals that are necessary for missile building and for repair of all our damaged weapons and those on the captured ships. There’s even the necessary raw material for the rebuilding of the communications drones.

“We’ll create a major reserve capacity mining the larger asteroids and storing the smaller ones and I’ll extract the necessary metals as we proceed, and store the material in case of future combat.

“Fighter scans are also showing evidence of other damaged ships in this area. I’m sending out salvage drones to bring back as much as we can. We’ll then identify the vessels. I can use the existing ship material rapidly and effectively.

“This isn’t a regular shipping route. The wrecks appear on preliminary analysis not to be of Empire origin. Some are ancient from what the drones are showing me. We’ll ensure we analyze them to salvage any advanced technology we can.

“I’ve ample storage space. It’s faster to use reconstituted salvaged material than to use mined materials. We can repair all of the damaged enemy ships. I’ll start on ship reconstitution of all vessels as quickly as is possible. It will take sixteen hours to mine a large reserve. We have enough existing material to do repairs on the enemy ships, make our missiles, and have enough to rebuild the entire stock of missiles three times. We aim to increase that reserve a further one hundred and fifty percent.

“There’s enough diversity of dark energy and dark matter to reconstitute our existing particles and energy, to power all weapons and fully rebuild our reserves within the next twelve hours. We are using automated collector pods for these purposes.

“The marine cyber-warfare group has neutralized the interference that I was facing, and is limiting access to my systems to priority protected systems only. The engineers have reported that someone blocked my sensors from seeing the weapons energy levels. The engineers have made repairs.

“Saboteurs have almost shut down the weapons power supply reactors. We were running at just three percent of capacity, which was delaying weapons reload. The enemy was unable to affect the stored energy and the energy that was diverted from the engines. The engineers are systematically checking through the sensor and control grids, and are also limiting access. Surveillance has been quadrupled to areas that lead to critical systems.

“The enemy disrupted both missile and cannon aiming calibration. We have repaired and recalibrated the medium and long-range cannon. We have found different and unrelated faults in the short-range controls and are repairing them.

“The weapons looked normal to me on my sensor arrays, but post battle analysis is showing errors. The engineers are checking that our weapons are working perfectly and that we can use them effectively. We are building replacement communications drones to replace those lost in battle. They are complex drones and are slow to build. We don’t usually build them on the ship and will have to use a missile line for their construction.

“We have communications specialists on board who can commission the drones and probes.”

“Ship, what is the usual role of these specialists?” asked Jason.

“They specialize in enemy communications analysis, and build custom, small communications probes to block or interfere with enemy communications. They attack and hack into enemy AIs and computers, to break chains of command. They find the ships of command and find out command pathways. They specialize in enemy communication and computer languages. That’s a brief outline only. The current group comprises language specialists, computer specialists, and hackers. Dedicated AIs work with them closely. They are part of the cyber-warfare division.

“At the start of battle, they block enemy communication and then use communications drones to block all sensor information leaving our area to any other remote sensors. They make it look to the enemy as if the pirate ships are still sitting here. They sent several hyperspace drones ahead so the enemy won’t see our arrival.

“They block all electromagnetic and related information that emerges from our ship.

“They are analyzing the destroyer computers, and they have confirmed that the ships are from The Mob. Jason, I’ll report further when I’ve received updated information. The Marines are interrogating the pirate captain and his senior officers. I’d suggest that you return with your guard to your cabin, so that you may more comfortably meet with the officers in forty-five minutes.”

Jason entered the refresher. The dogs eagerly joined him. He looked forward to the experience when he had the time. The machine gently massaged him which he enjoyed and then washed his hair with a fragrant shampoo. The dresser dressed him in smart casual clothing. He opened his mouth over the mouth cleaner and felt it clean his teeth and refresh his mouth in a few seconds. He made his way to the meeting room and command control center beside the bridge.

Jason arranged to meet the colonels in one of the smaller breakout meeting rooms near the bridge to which Cherie the Ship directed him.

Someone with great taste had decorated the room which was the most luxurious of many similar rooms near the bridge. The room provided lighting that delicately created an intimate setting. The decorator made the room look like a board room with wooden panels, pictures of past captains and admirals and abstract sculptures on pedestals. The table was a beautiful polished piece of multicolored laminated wood. The chairs were plush and comfortable. The two colonels had arrived ahead of Jason. He entered the room with two of his guards following him.

“I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Jason Kargo and I’m returning to the Empire from the planet Earth.”

“I’m Janet Malone Colonel of Marines.”

“I’m Phoebe Harris Colonel of Empire fighter corps.”

They were wearing their armor and integrated helmets so Jason couldn’t see much of them. “Colonel, did our fighter patrols locate other enemy ships within range?”

“Sir, please excuse us for wearing our armor. It’s standard post battle protocol until we are sure our living and work areas are fully secure. Sir your area is under heavy guard and you will be accompanied by a security detail until we can assure your safety.

“I sent out fighters, before our last conversation. Four squadrons of fighters are scanning the region. We are searching the area near us, including stars, planets, and moons.

“Mining asteroid scans are underway and gunships and fighters are protecting mining ‘droids from the ship while they’re getting necessary supplies for repair and construction of weaponry. Abundant material is necessary for missile construction and if we don’t mine it we’ll use up our reserves. The asteroids are rich in everything we need. We are bringing smaller asteroids on board to save time. There’s no rush to move on, when we have such outstanding resources close to us that will help us in the future. When fully armed this ship is formidable and well-nigh impregnable. Even now we can defend ourselves against a very much bigger force, than the one we faced.

“It’s important to remove threats near us. We need to find if there are other hidden ships near us.

“Shuttles have docked with prisoners, and medical shuttles have returned with the injured. Marines, followed by pilots are entering the pirate vessels and preparing to return them to the ship for repair or salvage and reprocessing for weapons use and remanufacture. Salvage and repair drones are already active on the ships.

We’ll fit the destroyer into Bay 4 and we’ll explore if repair or salvage is most applicable. My first impression is that they’re all repairable in time. Ship believes so. I’ll report the details at our next meeting. I’d suggest that we meet in four hours as we’ll have more detailed information for you. Ship tells me that she briefed you on the damage she sustained and her repair schedule.

“We have examined some of the wrecks nearby. Ships large and small are scattered over a great distance. They appear to be wrecks following a great battle, a very long time ago. We don’t recognize the armor nor do we recognize the races. Many are ships that don’t appear in our archives. We are salvaging as much as we can for analysis, but from past experience we are very careful to seal the potentially active technology in compartments. The ancients had dangerous countermeasures. Ship can use the metals as source material for the replicators or sometimes directly in repair. This is a great discovery and I hope we’ll find some useful technology.

“We definitely must send scientists back here after we return to the Empire.”

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Janet Malone and Phoebe Harris sat at their usual table talking with the planning teams. The canteen was still quiet before the mealtime rush. The marine canteen was cavernous, but more sparsely furnished than Jason’s. Four thousand people could eat comfortably. They sat in a corner away from curious ears.

“So, Connie, what are the most important issues before the meeting?” Janet Malone asked Major Constance Ross the most senior intelligence officer.

“The kitchen people say that Jason is a real hunk, pleasant and self-effacing, but Marie says he does have a dangerous feel about him. She said he hardly reacts when she presses her boobs against him. She says he has ancient morals and won’t shift them. He talks about being a one-woman man and being true to his wife! She says she nearly laughed when he told her. He also told her he’s an old man. He’s only eighty! He’s a spring chicken in my view.

“They all told me that he’s happy to spend time with them in the kitchen and he asks a lot about the Empire and he’s very keen to explore his heritage. They did say most of the crew in the canteen shun him and no one talks to him, but he remains pleasant and friendly.

“His daughter told them that he was ruthless in martial arts competitions and a pioneer in computers. She also said he was a great lover according to her mother but could be really insensitive when he was pursuing a goal. She said he was a fantastic father. He was excessively intolerant of those who were undisciplined. He didn’t have many friends but those friends he had were close friends to him who were loyal and good people. Many of his best friends had died in recent years. She also told them that his wife hung herself after she was diagnosed with dementia. Had Stan got there a few weeks earlier, the tragedy would have been averted. His interests were more on the solitary side and he didn’t need a lot of company. His daughter said he fought in a jungle war and was part of a special forces unit. He reached the rank of Colonel. She said he wouldn’t talk about it.

“Some of the ship’s officers said he’s been fighting the Marine AI regularly and he was ‘a machine’ whatever that may mean. They say that he’s very persistent and continues regardless of how much the AI hits him. He just gets up and continues. He doesn’t have any powers and they say he’s been asking around about crystals for his programming.

“I then asked some of the officers if they talk to him and they say that they received instructions from the captain to have nothing to do with Jason. The crazy thing about it, is that they know that there’s no Captain on the ship. They still believe that they’re following orders. Some people are incredibly stupid.

“The farmers like him very much. He goes to see them every few days and he looks at what they’re doing with great interest. Most of them went to spend some time on Earth and said that they enjoyed themselves enormously. His family entertained them well. They particularly enjoyed the spicy foods and brought back enough to feed Jason, the ship, and an army for years. They liked the food so much that they persuaded Stan to give them a substantial allowance to supply the ship with food from Earth. He however had already been instructed to get food from Earth by the Emperor, but the farmers acquired their own huge supplies.

“One of the farmers has a cyber AI and hacked the accounts of criminals and extracted quite a lot of money for their use with the approval of Stan. Ship gave him the idea as she did the same. He said they managed to get four groups of criminals fighting, and he says he’s proud of his efforts.