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  “We need more robots with different capabilities, more shuttles, more med units, more comm units, more spaces for crew quarters, flight simulators, combat simulators, and, if we’re ever going to be able to construct some of our own spacecraft like Mary is designing, we’ll need more replicators and fabricators. I say we use half of the fabricators on board to build more fabricators. For every two new ones that come on line, we set one to constructing items we’ll need and the other to building more fabricators. That way, we’re attacking both sides of our needs.”

  Max’s eyebrows went up and he sighed, as he said, “Does anyone have a problem with that?”

  Mary told him, “That sounds good, but generally what happens is you’ll end up creating occasional periods of inactivity for some of them. At any one point in time, you’ll have fabricators not being used for more critical projects, as others are waiting for material that comes from a different set of machines.”

  Mike asked, “Bambi, can you coordinate the fabricators to operate at their most efficient and avoid overlapping periods of unuse?”

  “I believe I can minimize it, but Mary has a point. It would be best to know ahead of time when a certain construction cycle is approaching a need for a large volume of parts, or base material. I can have the fabricators make them just in time, so the parts are available. That way, it won’t hold up the assembly of something critical. Also, when a fabricator has some down time, we can have it manufacture parts that are going to be needed later.”

  Bambi cautioned, “No matter how we tweak it, there will be times when a fabricator is down. They have to be retooled, in order to make some parts or entire pieces of finished equipment. This suggests that Max’s idea has merit as well.

  “I’ll do the best I can at orchestrating the fabricators and replicators. As more come on line, I’m sure we’ll find that we need even more of them. I’ll bring another one thousand robots out of storage. They are the ones who will help to aid in the construction of the fabricators. Also, once the fabricators begin to pump out equipment, the robots will be needed to move those items around or place them into storage. Under the circumstances, we’ll be facing a shortage of parts and equipment, right up until the Saurans are at our doorstep.”

  Mike agreed, adding, “That’s an excellent point and a good way to put it. We’ll say just that, when next we talk with the men of Earth. Time is of the essence and no amount of political bickering or posturing is going to add to the effort to defend the Earth.”

  Wayne had his say. “We’ll lose to much time going back and forth from the Kuiper belt, to Earth and back. We need to be able to manufacture some things on Earth and some out here. Earth has the space for large projects and the manpower to be able to ramp up programs on a grand scale.

  “So, I suggest that we go about it in two ways. We ask the American government to begin construction of manufacturing facilities that will specialize in products that further the overall effort. Because I’m not a trusting soul, I think we should covertly obtain our own land, in a remote area and have our own people handle some of that without the knowledge or help of the American government. I’m guessing that our secret effort will move faster and be more productive than theirs, at least at first.”

  Max complimented him and asked, “Where do you suggest we look for a large parcel of land?”

  “Not in America. It could cause problems. I was thinking Mexico. We could get a long term lease, probably from any number of the wealthy landowners down there. We can pay in advance with cash or gold. Bambi can keep the trouble makers at bay and the local government can probably be bribed to leave us alone.”

  Mike chuckled, as he said, “Son, you’re a chip off the old block. A little larceny can go a long way. And if the Americans find us out, we tell them the truth, that we didn’t trust them to take the need seriously, so we did it on our own. Either way, we’re going to need everything we can get. And once the cat is out of the bag, we’ll let the Americans inspect the site, so that they can see we’re not planning a military coup.”

  “Wayne, work with Bambi and do some research on possible locations in Mexico. You’ll have to consider the pliability of the local government and the landowner. Also, be aware of the local criminal organization in the area. We can pay them to leave us alone, but if they get greedy, we’ll have to eliminate them.”

  Mary seemed upset about that. “Mike, do we always have to resort to violence?”

  “No, we don’t. The bad guys will be given a chance to make some money. As long as they leave us alone, they’ll be left alone. But if they won’t leave us alone, they become a hindrance to the human race. So, they’ll have to go.”

  She pleaded, “Can’t we use Bambi to get some evidence on them and have the Mexicans lock them up.”

  Mike gave her a cold glare. “Look, we only have so much time to prepare for the Saurans. So let me ask you this. Which innocent families do want to see killed by aliens first, because that’s what’s going to happen if we can’t stop them. So, some low life, drug dealing, piece of shit assholes that don’t give a flying fuck about anyone’s life but their own is going to get all of us killed. That’s the nasty reality we face.”

  She looked embarrassed and shocked by his outburst.

  He felt terrible about his tirade, but it was true and too late to retract.

  “I’m sorry I was so rough with you, Mary. It may have seemed uncalled for, but it is the situation we find ourselves in. We don’t have the time to pussyfoot around with a few criminals who would rape and murder you without shedding a tear.”

  She nodded, straightened her back and said, “OK. I understand. But you know what? My concern is going to be the concern of every scientist we get. What do we tell them?”

  “The truth…like I just did. There’s no use in sugar coating it. The human race is in a fight for their very survival. If these people don’t want to help, they are out of the program.”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “I hope we don’t lose anyone over this.”

  “Honey, these are smart people. They may balk at this at first. So, we give them a chance to consider the alternative. They might not like what must be done, but I imagine most of them will come around.”

  All of them filed out and Mike headed for the bridge. He intended to learn more about flying this big bird. Bambi gave him a familiarization program, which was quite extensive. It took forty one minutes. For a normal human, it would have been a three week course.

  “Bambi, I notice that there aren’t separate control stations for navigation, engineering or firecontrol…why not?”

  “The Saurans don’t need them and neither do you. One person, plus me, can run everything. That’s an enormous time saver in a battle that can be over in seconds. As I’ve told you, I’ve never been in combat. But, if this were a warship, I would have complete control of all areas within the ship and I’d handle all ship movement. The Senior Pilot would tell me what he wanted me to do and I would do it.

  She explained, “I’ve heard that space battles start out very slowly, due to the great distances and speeds. Both sides can see the other’s movements and are able to adjust for the coming action. The actual firing of weapons and the results are over very quickly as the opponents pass each other, at enormous speeds, frequently beyond the speed of light.”

  He had come to realize that Bambi assumed that whatever the Saurans did was the best way to do it. So, Mike challenged her on that.

  “What happens if something unforeseen happens? What if the enemy gets a lucky hit on a Sauran ship and it loses an engine or has a few of their weapons damaged?”

  “General that rarely happens. I suspect most successful hits result in complete failure for the ship.”

  “You mean that most hits are unsurvivable and the entire crew is lost.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “But if an engine is lost, don’t you need robots or some of the crew to fix it.”

  “Yes, but usually if the ship has been hit and the crew is still alive, there’s plenty of time for repairs. Most of the crew is still in stasis and it will take a few days to complete their rise to consciousness. The ship just keeps on moving in the last direction it was heading and it’s still going at a tremendous velocity. Usually, it drifts along in space, millions of miles away from the battle and the crew takes their time fixing it.”

  “Like how long?”

  “Anywhere from two weeks to two years.”

  “Good grief. Two years?”

  “Yes sir. There is no urgency to return to the battle, because there are always other ships available to deal with it. So, the surviving crew is in no hurry to make repairs. It is considered very good luck to be on a wounded ship, because they know they’ll have lots of free time. Saurans can be hell in battle, but there is a broad lazy streak that runs through all of them.

  “Even transports like this one can have the rare accident and become incapacitated. When it occurs, the crew first makes sure the ship is safe. Then they eat and play games. There is no great urgency to make repairs. It is like a…vacation.”

  “How in the hell did they ever get so successful?”

  Bambi coldly replied, “Superior numbers and technology, General.”

  “Hey, you said most of the crew would be in stasis. Certainly that wouldn’t be true if they were in a combat zone.”

  “Yet, that is the case, sir. The ships don’t need a large crew to handle them, even in combat. That’s the reason for computers like me. We direct a variety of robots to provide operational needs in every situation. We deal with all functions, from normal cruising to combat.

  “The only reason they have as many crewmembers as they do is to provide for rotation and training, which is minimal. Also, every crewmember is a potential combat warrior. They can be used for boarding operations and partake in planetary invasions.

  “There have been cases where the entire conscious crew was killed and the computer continued the fight. We are programmed for that.”

  Mike went silent for a moment, as he pondered the nature of combat in space. He knew he was way out of his element. He was a ground pounder. What they needed was someone who was familiar with large scale naval maneuvers.

  “Bambi, in the mix of old vets we rescued, are there any naval officers?”

  “Yes sir, there are five officers and eight enlisted men. Within the officer ranks there is one Captain, three Commanders and one Lieutenant Commander.”

  “I don’t suppose you know whether or not they were line officers?”

  “All of them.”

  “Excellent. Get me a copy of their records and send them to me.”

  “You will find those records in a file marked Human Resources under the sub file listed as Military Personnel and a sub-sub file listed as Navy. Those files are there now, sir.”

  “Oh good. I love it when you anticipate my needs.”

  “I didn’t. I just now created them for you as we were talking and sent the information to those files. I realize that seems impossibly fast to you, but it’s not. You really have to make an effort to use what you’ve got. When you do, you’ll make much better use of your time.”

  He disliked when Bambi admonished him. It reminded him of his old high school English teacher. That old bag had been quite shrill when she took him to task. The memory sent a shudder down his back.

  He weakly said, “I know and I will. It’s just that events have been moving quickly and I’m just beginning to catch up to them.”

  Again she scolded him. “And if you would spend a little time experimenting with your new mind, you would be handling ten times the duties you’re currently doing. When I took you through the upgrade, I reorganized your brain.”

  “Great!”

  “Damn it Mike.” She was obviously angry. That always surprised him, because she was a computer, albeit a sentient one.

  In an irritated tone, she took him to task. “You have a degree in computer science so let me explain it a different way. When a hard drive is reformatted, essentially it is wiped clean, and then you start all over. You were partially reformatted. Your brain was cleaned, but I saved the files you already had; those were your memories. When I reloaded them into your new cleaner brain, I put back everything in neatly organized files, not like they had been, which was a bunch of random memories.

  “I performed a clean disk function, before I gave you back your old files. So now, every memory is complete. All of the fragments have been joined together in order. When you seek a memory, it will be the entire memory of whatever event you wish to look at.

  “Not only did I reorganize what you had in there, I loaded a great deal of other information, with regard to all of your new capabilities. There is so much more available to you now. But, if you don’t poke around in there, you’ll be missing out on what you can do.”

  He should be thankful, but gratitude didn’t come easily for him. He began to try and look in his mind. He found nothing. It was plain to him that he was doing it wrong.

  “Bambi, are you sure this is going to work. Maybe the upgrade didn’t take properly. I don’t believe I think any differently, although I have noticed I tend to make decisions quicker.”

  Then he asked, “Do you know if the others are having a problem with this? Am I the only one that’s a flop?”

  Going back into comm mode, she responded, No sir. Everyone is having difficulty accessing their full mind power. I find it interesting really. All of you have demonstrated some ability to utilize the upgrade. But you each show it in a different way.

  Mary probably has progressed the furthest and fastest and I suspect that is due to the nature of her previous experience in thinking as an engineer. You know, very orderly and detailed, so it is opening up for her more quickly.

  I should remind you that upgrading was new to me, also. I had never done this on a human before. That’s one reason you had such a tough time of it and I’m truly sorry for not doing a better job for you. But I was learning as I worked through the process for humans. The people who go next will have it much easier, thanks to you Max, Wayne and Mary.

  An idea hit him. “Isn’t there some way you can aid us in our efforts to browse through our minds? I mean, can you join with me somehow and show me some pointers?”

  I would need your approval to enter your head, remember. I had made that commitment to you, once you realized I had seen all of your memories. So, for me to crawl through the shallow surface levels of your minds, each of you must give me your approval first. I hope that once you have begun to master that, you’ll be able to go deeper without me. It’s possible I may discover a few things you’d rather not have me be aware of. However, I promise to keep those things private and not mention them to anyone and that goes for anyone I’m helping.

  Thank you, Bambi. I officially give you access to my brain, for the purpose of helping me to learn how to use it. Now, pop my top, or whatever it is you have to do.

  He knew she was going in through his comm unit, which was the primary reason for upgrading, as far as he was concerned. Mike felt nothing physical; yet somehow, he knew she was in there.

  She commed, Mike, whenever I want to draw your attention to a certain file or sub-file, I’m going to create high lights in your thought process. It won’t be a blinking light, yet it should pull your mind to my bookmark.

  He became aware of Sherry, and then Wayne, remembering a day they had all spent together at the beach. Wayne was seven and played in the surf with his dad all morning. Sherry had looked sexy as hell in a new two-piece swimsuit, which resulted in a passionate evening, after Wayne had been put to bed. It was one of his fondest memories of them all together as a family. It was how life was meant to be enjoyed.

  Bambi, you sure picked a great file for me.

  Yes, I know how much that memory meant to you. I felt it would be easier for you to find a doorway to your potential, by drawing you in through a pleasant memory file. Now that you are in, let me highlight a few other files. As you look in them, you should begin to grasp how to browse without my help.

  As I’ve said before, you need to practice. The more you do, the better you’ll get.

  For the next two hours, she took him to files that offered him the opportunity to realize how extraordinary his mind’s capability really was.

  Suddenly he blurted out, “I’m starving to death. I need to eat.”

  Yes, that’s one of the drawbacks to using your upgrade. It drains your body’s resources and warns you of the need to replenish, before you begin to slow down. I can’t be sure, just yet, but I think the more you learn how to best use what you have, you will build stamina and last a lot longer, before you begin to fade.

  “Is this a problem for the Saurans, too?”

  Yes, but they’ve been dealing with their abilities for many generations. However, they do tire. From what I’ve observed in the mediocre crews on board the Mother Ship, they don’t seem to work at it, because they are never challenged. It’s been so long since they had to use everything they had, they don’t bother to maintain it at their full capability.

  While it may not give you the huge edge you need, it could play a small part in giving you some hope. Now go eat.

  Chapter 3

  Max, Wayne and Mike ate together in Max’s room. They chatted about their new abilities and each of them confessed that he felt intimidated by the volume of capabilities they had with a mere thought.

  His son admitted, “It’s not that I’m actually afraid of it. It’s just that it’s vast and there is so much to learn. But, I’ve got to tell you, I definitely learn faster and, depending what I’m working on, once I play with it, it sails along quickly.”

  Max looked at Wayne and added, “Yeah, me too. I’ve also noticed that after working with a new set of files, I can retrieve the info with ease and utilize the contents, without concern that I’m doing it wrong. I can see were this gives the user a distinct advantage over a non-user.”