CANAISIS ∞ Chronicle One ∞ 2: A Captain's Journey

61 ∞ The Response

A glance at his desk confirmed the sidearm resting on top, pointing to the back corner of the room.

"You're right. I suppose it isn't."

He walked over to his desk and picked up his sidearm, inspected it, and drove it into his holster.

"That's an interesting weapon. I've never seen its like before. I take it, you've had it a long time?"

"It was given to me with my commission as Captain. And yes, I've had it a long time."

"I see. Well, I assure you, I treated it with respect after Canaisis threatened to increase my local gravity to forty Gs. She's very protective of you and was graphic about my impending transformation into jelly paste. I assume she trusted me after I insisted on carrying you to your cabin... She let me do that. But, that's not enough, it seems."

Gareth looked back at Ahmid with chagrin on his face. "She's sometimes too protective, but she's seen Humans do stupid things too many times to be totally trusting. Myself included."

Ahmid leaned forward in his chair. "Please explain to her that I absolutely will never argue with her."

Gareth gave a small, straight-lipped smile. "It wouldn't do any good if she thinks she's right, and most times she is."

"You mean she can be wrong?"

"Absolutely. But she also learns extremely fast. Just be sure you got your facts straight before entering into a debate with her."

It was Ahmid's turn to give a tight-lipped smile. "It has always been thus with the women of Nilex, Captain. I shall keep your advice in mind. She's remarkable to talk to, I must say. Earth has tried to produce A.I.s with limited success, and those that were successful were quite foreign in their manner of thinking. Canaisis strikes me as being very Human, and I find that remarkable. Please, Captain, drink some water." He gestured at the G-bulb on Gareth's desk. "You're dehydrated after what you've been through. Canaisis told me where to get it."

Gareth had walked his way around his desk and sat down. As he drew measured sips of the water, his gaze landed on the monitor on the far wall. The image of the clipper ship was at full sail, leaning hard from the wind and making full speed. Behind it, the sun cast a beam of light through the clouds, causing the sails to glow pearl white. Ahead, there seemed to be a break in the storm, and the ship was making a run for it, waves splitting upon its bow in white foam.

He returned to Ahmid. "Canaisis is alive, the same as you and I. We built the program as the foundation, but she grew from that foundation, the same as any child grows into an adult."

Ahmid rested his elbows on his knees and loosely clasped his hands. "Did she experience the 'Terrible Two's' as Human children do?"

Gareth leaned back in his chair as his mind wandered back in time. "In a manner of speaking, I guess one could say yes."

«I did not!» Canaisis blurted in his mind.

"She was very literal and didn't understand the inconsistencies of Humanity. We spent many hours talking things through, especially after she started reading our historical database."

"I see... I would love to explore your database, Captain." Ahmid leaned back and lifted the book from his lap. "Take this book, for example—and I hope you don't mind my taking liberties with your library—I found it's the only one I can read. It's in an ancient form of my language, but I could read it with some effort. These others," he waved at the bookshelf beside him, "are completely unknown to me, and I thought I knew enough to recognize the origin of every language there is."

Gareth paused. Ahmid deserved an honest answer, not a glib one, even if it touched on things he'd rather not think about.

"Many things were lost to the past, Ahmid. Most of these books are written in my language."