Excerpt



John Scherer sat on the bridge of the Reckless Faith, the first Earth spacecraft to venture beyond the solar system. He was sitting in the pilots chair, his feet propped up on the console. The lights were turned down, only the monitors and the stars illuminated the bridge. John was engaging in his favorite recreational activity: watching the universe go by.

They had passed out of the Milky Way galaxy yesterday. Their relative motion had been difficult to perceive while they were in the galaxy, but now their view had been replaced with the motionless panorama of the Large Magellanic Cloud. It would be another four weeks before they reached the outer edge. What was much more interesting to observe was the slow retreat of the Milky Way to the aft, but with no windows facing in that direction such a task required the zero-g room.

The Reckless Faith had a crew of seven, counting a stowaway named Byron. John was not the captain, in fact, there were no ranks aboard. Instead each crewmember had a role, and decisions were made by quorum. John was assigned as primary pilot, although his most useful role was with their on-board artificial intelligence computer, nicknamed Seth. John could communicate telepathically with Seth more efficiently than the others; indeed, Seth favored him for that function. John and the others preferred to communicate with Seth verbally, but some information was more effectively relayed by telepathic link. If Seth was having difficulty expressing a concept verbally, John would link with him and provide an abstract translation.

Seth, the highest level of AI yet created, was not capable of verbal communication alone. He needed an intermediate mind with which to link. Since it was physically exhausting for humans to link with him, and since all six crewmembers found sharing their minds psychologically disturbing, animals were used instead. A cat named Friday and a dog named Tycho took turns providing this link, freeing up the humans to perform other duties. The animals did not seem to be tired out by the task, so they traded twelve-hour shifts on the bridge. At the moment Friday was sitting in Johns lap, purring.

The animals had minds of their own, and when linked with Seth they were capable of verbal communication as well. They were remarkably simplistic, not unlike children, but seemed to be completely unconcerned with learning anything unrelated to their normal existences. They would listen well enough, but would change the subject to food, sleep, or play when asked to participate in the discussion. Friday finally said, Im not interested in that, in response to a mathematics question. Christie Tolliver, the ships resident astronomy expert, continued to try to make progress with Tycho. John didnt care; Christie could spend her personal time however she wished. Unfortunately for the animal behaviorists back on Earth, being able to have a conversation with a favored pet was a luxury limited to this spacecraft. Being able to use animals as an intermediary with the AI was discovered by accident.

Friday was Johns cat, and when she was able to verbally express her affection for his master, John found it both endearing and embarrassing. John had wondered if there was anything compromising he might have said or done in front of Friday over the years, but Friday and Tycho didnt seem to have any concept of time. Everything was either in the present or the immediate future. Trying to impress upon them anything more had the same results as the mathematics.

The concept of time was not lost on the crew, however. Being aboard the first spacecraft capable of faster-than-light travel was thrilling beyond anything they could possibly desire. Unfortunately, after only a week, even the groundbreaking technology and never before seen interstellar vistas had become commonplace. John couldnt help but acknowledge the human brains curious tendency to become accustomed to practically any circumstance, providing for certain comforts. The uncertainty of their mission also dampened any rampant enthusiasm, since it could very well result in the crews hideous demise.

One week into the trip, John was still excited and hopeful. That morning he had awoken in his quarters to the same sense of wonder and positive anticipation he had since the very first days of the space project. During the first few days John often awoke thinking he was still in his Woburn, Massachusetts home, and was elated to remember his actual situation. He toured the ship after breakfast, and loved every square inch of it. For all this amazement, things were nonetheless becoming routine and normal. Boredom began to creep into the daily retinue of emotions. Every day after lunch, the crew would meet for a situation report. The past six days had resulted in very short meetings. Five more weeks of nothing was a prospect that weighed heavily on Johns mind, if only for the sheer frustration of having to wait so long.

Using Seth as a recreational and instructional simulator was also the result of serendipity. When in direct physical contact with the AI unit, members of the crew could participate in whatever scenario they could imagine. Seth could create images perfectly from the minds of the crew, even if their own memory of such things was hazy or worse. For example, John was able to experience his first day of kindergarten again vicariously, despite the fact that he couldnt have consciously remembered a thing on his own. Revelations from other crewmembers pasts were either the subject of conversation during mealtimes or never spoken of again.

It was these fantasy worlds that were the most popular form of boredom relief for the crew, with the variable gravity zero-g room a distant second. A sheet of paper was taped to the wall inside the orb room for signing out blocks of time for use. Seth didnt seem to have any problem running simulations for them in addition to performing essential ship functions, except when five or more crewmembers participated simultaneously.