Crystal Rebellion by Doug J. Cooper Read Free Book Online Page A

grown tired
of close-quarters living. And while she’d used the time to learn about life
under a dome, gather information about crystal production in the colony, and
listen to the others discuss strategies using military jargon she didn’t
understand, she’d grown tired of that as well.
    Slipping into the pilot’s chair, she swiped the bench
surface with one hand while twirling a lock of hair around the index finger of
her other.
    This was a dumb idea.
    It didn’t make sense to her that Mars could fabricate a sentient
AI. And Criss had yet to turn up any hard evidence that such an achievement was
imminent.
    In her heart, she believed they’d reach the colony, discover
it had all been a mistake, and she would be able to visit with Alex in an
exotic location. And perhaps this time she would respond differently to his
advances.
    In just two days. She fretted because her memory of
their emotional entanglement might not match the current reality, especially
given that it had been years since they’d spent time together.
    Anxiety washed over her as she reflected on the impending
reunion. I’ll know in the first minutes if this was a good idea or a fool’s
errand. Looking at Criss, she took a deep breath and exhaled forcefully, willing
her doubts to follow the air out of her body. I owe it to myself to find out .
    Criss met her gaze and nodded encouragement. Then Juice did
what she always did—she lost herself in her work.
    Enlarging the bench displays, she began a comprehensive review
of Criss’s health metrics. Juice had led the development effort that created Criss—the
only sentient AI in existence as far as she knew. And now—quite happily—she devoted
her life to ensuring his well-being.
    “Looking good, Criss,” she said as her eyes danced across
charts and down graphs that detailed a normal condition.
    “Thank you.”
    She swiped at the bench top, and the display flipped to the health
metrics for the twin three-gens running the scout’s cloak.
    Two years earlier, a clever man—a teen, really—had discovered
that an ingenious combination of ordinary components could help him see through
the electronic veil of military-grade cloaks. When the young fellow’s method had
become common knowledge, cloaking fell into disfavor for military and security
operations. Agencies wouldn’t risk lives using compromised tools.
    And so the only undefeated cloaks, at the moment in any case,
were those developed and controlled by Criss. Invisibility gave the team a
tremendous advantage. They chose to keep the very existence of their technology
a well-guarded secret.
    Skimming the displays, she rendered her judgment. “The twins
look good.”
    “Yes.”
    She finished with a quick review of eight more three-gens—crystals
running the power plant, life support, navcom, and other ship capabilities. Criss
gave these crystals significant autonomy, and they, in turn, gave skilled
pilots like Sid and Cheryl an immersive capability when flying the scout.
    “All crystals clear.”
    Criss smiled and nodded from his overstuffed chair.
    Juice knew that Criss performed a detailed evaluation of
everything on the scout, and that included assessing his own health and the
health of the other crystals. In fact, he performed a million such evaluations every
second. So her ritual of looking didn’t help him. But it did help her. She preferred
the rhythms of a regular schedule, and a status check of the craft’s AIs was
part of that routine.
    As a crystal scientist, she wanted to work with the latest technology.
The scout, with a sentient four-gen supported by ten three-gens, was by far the
most sophisticated laboratory for that activity in the solar system. And she sought
the intimacy of looking at Criss’s vitals. She knew a rogue four-gen could
conquer Earth in a matter of days. Every time Criss let her look, he submitted
to her will. The value of the metrics information aside, this ritual tested his
commitment. She never questioned his