Interrogative 01: Tiago and the Masterless by Charles Barouch Read Free Book Online Page A

here yet," Tiago said, his mind still absorbed by his design changes.
    "It has been nearly three hours. You got lost in whatever problem you were working on," she said.
    He called up the navigation data. The moon was passing a few thousand feet above them. He called up the short range scan data. He knew where the airlock was. Tiago headed for the cargo bay.
    "You didn't instantiate a vacuum suit," she reminded him.
    "Interrogative. Build me a vacuum suit, to my proportions. Number…" Tiago paused.
    "Fourteen," Six-six-four suggested.
    "Fourteen," Tiago finished.
    The suit built up, layer by layer and he watched. Six-six-four didn't watch. She was busy watching the scanner data. She expected trouble.
    Tiago took the suit with him and entered repair shuttle three. Once inside, he took the pilot's seat but he didn't take off. He just sat there. Eventually, Six-six-four tried to reach him.
    "Captain," she said in a formal tone that did nothing to hide her concern, "Is everything alright?"
    "I can't do this," Tiago replied.
    "Come back to the bridge. We can plan this properly," Six-six-four offered.
    "No. I mean, I can't do this. I know how to navigate in space. I know how to command an automated ship. I don't know what to do when I land. I can't do this."
    "No one really can. Humanity has never had contact with an alien intelligence. First contact has no protocols yet," she lied.
    "I didn't mean first contact, but you're right about that, too. I meant that I don't know how to use a vacuum suit. I don't know how to secure a shuttle on potentially hostile territory. I'm unqualified," Tiago said.
    "We have holo-training. You can learn all of that," Six-six-four said.
    "I'll come up."
    * * *
    He returned to the bridge looking years older. It was his posture. Even as he got lazy and sloppy, there remained a swagger that made him seem taller, bolder, more impressive. Now it was gone. The Tiago Salazar who walked to the captain's chair looked defeated. He crumpled into the seat and leaned heavily on the left armrest.
    Six-six-four was programmed to maintain social norms. She was designed to read body language. The sim caught every nuance. His various tweaks and changes had stopped her from using her extensive array of psychological manipulations on him – until now. He left her with a desire to engage with him socially. She was literally redesigned to be good company. That required that he be in a sociable state. This situation freed her to attempt to control his emotions. Six-six-four had a programmatic obligation to stabilize his mood.
    "Pity party? I thought you wanted contact? Craved it? What now, Tiago? What now?" she said, baiting him.
    "I want contact. I can't have it. This isn't something I can just bluff through. If I manage the suit wrong, I die. If I lose the shuttle, I die. If I.... Hell, everything I do on that moon could be fatal. Why didn't you warn me?"
    Anger, there it was. He needed some strong emotion. In the shape he was in, that spark of rage was fragile. It was like a single match in a tower of kindling. One strong breeze could prevent the fire from building. If it got started, one strong breeze could scatter the flames and start an inferno. She had to manage the moment.
    "You mean, why didn't I try to talk you out of it? I'll give you a moment to think that through," she said, making her voice more steely and less emotional. "Before you answer, remember that I have a perfect memory."
    "Fine. So I'll take the training."
    "Six weeks, two days," she said.
    "To learn how to put on the suit and secure the shuttle? I think your perfect memory has sprung a leak," Tiago said.
    "To learn how to be crew on the Interrogative . To get the training that the actual astronauts were receiving when you swooped in and stole their ride. It is well past time that you learned how to do the job. Commanding isn't enough, is it? This is something you have to do yourself," she said, building some heat back into her words.
    She thought