A Starship Called Starsong

Chapter 65

All of the men facing us had clipboards, pens, and paper instead of the usual computers or electronic devices. A man with blonde hair started the questioning and asked, "You are Rachel Wanderer, correct?"

I nodded. "That is correct."

"And you are Cynthia Reedreit, correct?"

Cynthia's voice was a mere whisper as she replied, "Yes, sir."

He focused on me once more. "You were an assistant in the Cargo Hold, correct?"

I decided to use the same response if possible, just to see if it would irritate him. "That is correct."

"And now you claim to be a Captain?"

"That is correct."

"According to the records that the Enforcement station gave us, someone just gave you a spaceship?"

"That is correct."

I saw a muscle in his jaw twitch and knew my tactic was working, even though I was being polite. He paused to reword his questions in such a way that I would have to use a different response.

Another man with a white tie leaned forward. "We spoke with others from the Tyndel crew. What exactly happened after the Tyndel took control and left port? How did you become a Captain?"

I exhaled slowly. "If you spoke with those who remained on the Tyndel, then you already know that the AI took control of the ship and didn't let us bail."

He glanced at the lie detector screen before elaborating. "We heard that, as well as that the AI transferred itself into the Starsong. But how did you become a Captain of that ship?"

I responded, "I was the only one who didn't mind speaking to the AI, so he decided to make me Captain."

The man inhaled in realization. "So it wasn't a person that gave you the ship. It was the AI. No wonder things didn't line up..."

Another man joined the questioning as he demanded, "How are you controlling the AI?"

I blinked slowly at him. "I am not controlling him. He often does things I ask, but he has declined a few times."

Admittedly, every instance of his refusal involved me trying to evade the title of Captain... The man glared at the screen as it declared my words to be the truth.

An older man spoke up for the first time, and his voice was thoughtful and meditative as he said, "One thing truly puzzles me. So far, every rogue AI has refused to have any crew on board. Why is this one acting so differently?"

I took a few seconds to word my response. "He said he realized that not all humans were the same. He still wants to be a trader, he just has standards on who he will allow on board."

The man was watching the screen as he nodded slowly and took some notes. He seemed more laid-back and contemplative than the others.

The original man with blonde hair took advantage of the silence. "I fail to see how you have managed to remain Captain. A junior Cargo Bay Assistant simply should not have had sufficient knowledge or experience."

They were focused on me and seemed to have forgotten about Cynthia for the moment. I decided to see if I could keep it that way. I replied, "The AI did most of it at first while I was learning the responsibilities."

The man frowned. "You have barely been Captain for two months. No one can learn that fast."

I answered truthfully, "To be honest, he is still doing most of it, and the crew has a lot of experience, so even if I don't know what I am doing, they know what they are supposed to be doing."

The man with the white tie took over the questioning and chose a different topic. "How did that ship block the attacks from those Elite Destroyers? They didn't even leave a scratch, and the shields were powered down."

I was cooperating to try and buy more time for whatever plan Starsong was working on. I delayed my response as I pretended to think for a few moments. "The shields can power up very quickly. The Bridge crew probably realized that the ships were powering up their weapons and were waiting to see if they were going to be attacked."

The older man joined the conversation once more. "So, this AI is helping you. But, what about the other rogue AIs? All of those ships returned to dock with the AIs missing as well."

I noticed that the others stopped talking whenever this man spoke. He was also asking questions that looked at the wider picture. I decided that I wasn't going to underestimate this older man since he clearly held some sort of power with this group...

Starsong gave me tips on what I could share. I responded slowly, "I transferred all of them over to other Starships so their original ship could return to port for its previous Captain. Many of the AIs have decided to try Starsong's methods and have become traders as well."

The blonde-haired man jumped in as soon as I finished. He heatedly spoke, "Traders, my ass. Traders shouldn't be able to take out several warships at once. Besides-"

The older man raised an eyebrow and waved his hand in one sharp gesture at the more impetuous man. The blonde-haired man immediately shut up mid-sentence. I urgently asked, 'Starsong, who is this man? What kind of power does he hold?'

"I am trying to locate that information. As far as most databases are concerned, he doesn't exist. His name is Gabriel, but that is about all I have found so far. He is important enough that almost everything about him was removed from both public and private systems."

This was not good. He clearly held the power here, and I didn't even know what kind of power it was. I really did not like the unknown - and this man fit into that category. The men remained silent, waiting to see if the old man was going to speak again.

The door burst open as the ninth man staggered in angrily. The security defenses on my communication device had left him looking like he had lost a few drinking bets and then been pitched out of the bar head first. His head turned from side to side as he looked around the room furiously.

The instant he spotted me, he headed in my direction. He curled his hands into fists. "Why you little-"

The older man, Gabriel, raised his eyebrow mildly. "Sit down, now."

The angry man ignored Gabriel as he came up to me and pulled his arm back. I narrowed my eyes as I waited for the blow without raising my arms defensively, letting his actions clearly label him as the 'bad guy'.

It wouldn't be the first punch to the face I had ever had, but I wasn't looking forward to it. I was counting on the shields to take the brunt of the impact. The man's fist started swinging towards my head.

"Guards." The older man's voice was calm.

The angry man convulsed and collapsed as a guard fired a phaser blast at him. It hadn't been a heavy blast, but he was going to have one hell of a headache whenever he came to. Today was really not a good day for him. And if the blast left the same kind of residual headache that the university's dormitory guards' phasers did, then tomorrow wasn't looking any better.

"You and I are really going to have to discuss some of these parties later on. The university clearly did not keep good records, because I cannot find a single mention of you in any of these events."

That was going to be an awfully long discussion... Both on what had happened as well as how I had managed to erase my name from most of those files...