As much as Jacob would have loved to spend the next few days working on the crystal growth issue, he needed to prep the ship.
Abyss Pearl looked the same on the outside, but internally things were much different. Most of the upgraded systems were internal, but the bridge was a different story. Everything else on the ship was left as is since Representative Chalto had already modified some of the rooms for eiraxin use.
Jacob stepped into the remodeled bridge. Gone were the motorbike-style seats and weird four-lever controls embedded into the floor. Now it looked like a normal human bridge with a flight stick and proper seats. There were still four stations, plus the commander’s seat. Jacob had upgraded all the controls and even the sensors to make use of Concord’s merging technology, meaning he could control the ship from anywhere onboard. The extensive integration of that system took the majority of the time, but it was well worth it in his opinion and gave the Abyss Pearl an edge that other ships in its class didn’t have.
He wasn’t going to be flying the ship, however. That would be up to Bob. Being able to fly a ship or become captain was sort of the whole point of his training after all, and a trip to Earth was about the safest way to learn.
Jacob suspected Bob would balk at the opportunity, just because it was real and not a simulator, but it wasn’t like his friend could damage anything. Jacob would be there, hand on the controls, so to speak, like a parent teaching their kid how to ride a bike for the first time.
He just needed to make sure everything was functional first. With so many changes, there were bound to be a few hiccups.
“AI, please sound the departure alarm. I’m going to take the ship out for a quick test.” Nobody should be in the hangar, but with so many people on the station, it was better to be safe than sorry.
“Hangar alert active, Captain.”
When he didn’t see anyone scurrying out from the few crates scattered about the massive hangar deck, he ordered the air to be pumped out. Once that was complete, the massive hangar doors slid open.
Jacob sent a message to Barry about buying environmental shields as he powered up Abyss Pearl and flew it smoothly from the hangar using just the merged controls. There wasn’t so much as a wobble as the ship departed, showing just how much better using merged controls was.
He did a slow lap around the station, ignoring the Astryx patrol as they ignored him. He was glad their patrol had shrunk to a single vessel over the last few months. Hopefully, they wouldn’t be around much longer.
Jacob wasn’t worried about them departing anymore. Six upgraded combat drone ships were stationed and ready to deploy. With them having shields and actual energy cannons, along with a single void cannon, they should be more than able to keep any rabble away. The station’s defenses would do the rest.
The ship lapped the station without issue, and Jacob pulled from the merged controls and took the vessel over manually. His piloting was rusty to say the least. The last time he had taken a vessel out using manual controls had been when he went after Franky. That was over four months ago. Time was flying past. A part of him wondered if time would become meaningless to him now that he was part AI.
He threw the ship into a few loops and dives to get a feeling for the vessel and the controls to help banish that depressing thought. The ship handled more like a commercial jet than a fighter, but it was still far more agile than the transport had been. The transport was more like a barge, slow and ponderous.
Jacob noted the slight control hesitations in his maneuvers and adjusted the endpoints inside the program. When he performed the maneuver the second time, the ship was far more responsive. He spent the next hour ensuring the controls were good, then he left the station’s shield and transitioned into FTL.
He didn’t go far, just a few light days from the station, so he could test the weapons. The ship still had the same energy cannon setup, but Jacob had been forced to link all the guns to the same axis for the manual controls. None of the humans who had used the combat simulator could get the hang of firing in four different directions at the same time. Borganians must have had better spatial sense to allow that sort of targeting.
Jacob would have just linked the guns to the targeting computer, but for whatever reason, the borganians had separated those two systems, and he hadn’t been able to build a replacement for them yet. So, manually aiming was all the weapon’s station had. With Jacob acting as backup, an actual targeting computer wasn’t necessary anyway. He was definitely overqualified for the position with the power of an entire AI behind him.
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There was a bit of input latency with the weapons control. He tried the same program tweaks, but that didn’t work. After a few minutes, he figured out what the problem was and fixed the loose connection.
“I guess I need to double-check any automated work,” he grumbled.
The station’s ability to automate was massive, but it wasn’t infallible. Jacob had learned that lesson time and time again. Honestly, that reassured him more than if AIs were. An infallible AI would be nearly impossible to stop if it ever went rogue, one that made occasional mistakes, much less so. It was a good thing to be aware of while his tests to build his own AI core continued.
He finished his tests and returned to the station.
Once the hangar was repressurized, Jacob got to work loading the crates aboard. Some were filled with food, others with small components for Earth to study. He even included a few phase coils and the power cores, curious to see what Earth’s scientists would make of those.
The last item had to be hauled aboard by two of the tracked maintenance drones as it was too large for him to move by himself.
The large comm relay would be placed around Jupiter. It was modified to pick up standard radio frequencies and convert them to the FTL signals. Hopefully, the massive planet would keep any asteroids from impacting the device, although even if it didn’t, it should be fine if they were small. The relay had been fitted with a shield, just not a very powerful one, because of the limited reactor size.
He was halfway through loading the device when Barry entered the hangar, which was a surprise. The man rarely used the drones unless he was communicating with the aliens or other humans aboard.
“Would it be possible to load my drone aboard so I can visit Earth?”
“Um, sure,” Jacob replied in surprise. “Is there someplace you wished to visit?”
“Not particularly. The Japanese government has likely cleared out my apartment and put everything into storage, so I will just reach out to them to get a few mementos.”
That was right, Barry had been abducted from Japan.
“Should I load up another combat drone to make retrieving your items easy?” Jacob chuckled.
When Barry paused to consider, Jacob wanted to say he was only joking. Thankfully, Barry shook his head. “I don’t think that will be necessary.”
With that, the man turned and walked back out of the hangar.
Jacob just shook his head and returned to his work.
***
“We had a deal!” Min-Jun yelled as he was led to the ship.
“We did,” Jacob replied tiredly, “But you have failed to uphold your end of that deal, so I’m cancelling the contract.”
“I’ll sue.”
“Please do,” Jacob said as he stepped aside and gestured to the ship’s cargo ramp.
The man looked like he would refuse, so Jacob gave him some extra encouragement. “You can either go willingly, or the combat drone will drag you aboard. Your choice.”
Min-Jun glared at him before striding up the ramp.
“This’ll be a fun trip,” Bob remarked before striding up the ramp behind the fuming Korean man.
Next up the ramp were two of General Roberts’ people. They decided that living in space and corralling a bunch of aliens wasn’t for them. Understandable.
Roberts had given Jacob the names of two dozen more people who might be interested. He would set up some interviews with them when he arrived at Earth.
The last to arrive was Barry… and Xing’che.
“Why is she here?” Jacob asked.
“Part of the deal,” Barry replied.
Jacob wished his drone had teeth so he could grind them together in frustration. “I don’t recall the deal saying anything about her visiting Earth.”
Xing’che responded in perfect English. “I am merely curious about your people, Captain Jacob. You won’t even know that I’m here.”
“I highly doubt that,” he muttered. “And don’t think for a moment that I believe that bullshit. You always have an agenda, and honestly, I don’t care. Earth can handle one manipulative alien. Just don’t come looking to me to save you if one of the governments of our planet decides to kidnap and experiment on you.”
She glanced over at Barry for confirmation.
“It is unlikely anyone would be bold enough to do that after Jacob’s little demonstration the last time he was there,” Barry responded.
That didn’t mean it couldn’t happen, which Xing’che seemed to understand, considering her heart rate had not gone back to normal. Jacob had to give the woman credit, however. She hid her feelings well and stepped aboard the ship without hesitation. Hopefully, knowing she could become an experiment would curtail her activities. Jacob doubted it would stop her, but if she got herself killed, that was her problem.
“Anyone else want to join this travelling circus?” he said under his breath before heading into the ship.
He caught up with Bob, who had already found a cabin and stowed his clothes. The man was chilling on the bed, hands behind his head, and staring at the ceiling. He turned as Jacob entered the cabin.
“You can’t be lazing about. Who’ll fly the ship?”
Bob frowned and sat up. “You’re not serious, are you?”
“Of course I am,” Jacob replied.
“What if I crash it?”
“You won’t,” Jacob said. “Now, come on.” He gestured to his friend to follow him without waiting for a reply.
Bob hesitantly joined him, and they made their way toward the bridge.
“It’s the same as the simulator,” Jacob said after allowing Bob time to look over everything. "You don’t have to worry about crashing, because I’ll be there to guide you.”
He could see his friend relax slightly at that news.
“I guess I need to step into the real world at some point.”
His friend slowly lowered himself into the flight couch and moved his hands across the familiar controls. “They really are all the same.”
“They are,” Jacob admitted. “Whenever you’re ready, let me know, and I’ll power everything up.”
“Give me a few minutes.”
Jacob nodded and gave Bob as much time as he needed. There was no hurry.