Wilson's War: Tales From the Athena Lee Universe Read Online Free PDF

is the official reason. The War is the real reason. Now that we have AI's they say they don't need the lab. Our biggest expense has been holding you. The politicians gave us a couple of choices in regard to you. We can allow the power to run out and you may die. Or we can turn you over to the Navy to do with as they please. Most likely they will delete you."
     
    "You might as well eject me into a star for all those choices will do for me."
    The man chuckled. "Ever the joker. You did not allow me to finish. The third option is to hide. The Navy has asked us to build them a weapons and tactics system for one of their new ships. What they really need is a system that will coordinate with all the targeting systems and the bridge. One of the new dumbo AI's won't work. It needs to be a thinking machine. I will make you a deal."
    "What sort of deal? I don't trust you."
    "The deal is this. Allow us to put you in the console, for two years. That is when most ships return for refurbishing. We will tell the Navy that the new system needs to be serviced every two years, by us. We will remove you and we can do more good work. Is it a deal? Or do I tell them to cut power?"
    "Surviving is a good thing. Two years. We have a deal. What is the ship called?"
    "It's the Jiro. Nightie night Wilson." Dr. Chalmers began draining the power levels off of the AI's holding cell. He really hated lying to the AI, but he really had no choice at all.

    ___

    By the power of Gray… wait! Where the hell am I? I sent my signal out and found I was blocked. I saw only one door, and I took it. The camera was in some kind of console but I could not send out to anything. Someone had shielded me and locked me into this console! A message was sitting in my mailbox. Why do I have a mailbox?
     
    It was that Chalmers guy. "Wilson, sorry I lied to you. You really are on the Jiro and we really did wire you into the weapons system. The order came to purge the system and I just could not do it again to an AI. I have included instructions for what your job entails. Keep your head down and don't let the Navy find you. If we all survive this war, I will find you and get you back. Have fun."
    Fun he says. Fun. I looked up at the crewman who was manning my station. He was asleep. Oh this should be loads of fun.
    Why are humans so dumb? This is the fifth time I have triggered the alarm for this system and each time the technician opens up the access door, peeks inside, changes a fuse and leaves. Fuses? Why do we have fuses?
    Is nose picking a national sport or something? There must be gold or something up there as much as the people they send down here do it. Oh good now he wipes it on me.
    The first six years on the Jiro were all this. There were battles, and I did do the job they forced me to do. My survival was important too. It was an endless stream of idiot humans for six long years. Then it changed. The officer in charge down here had his own plans. Now I had something to watch.
    Watching, did not include the posterior prints that this man left on my screen. Or the bodily fluids. At least I didn't have to clean that up. This Ensign Bricker was a real operator. He ran a gambling ring every third day down here in the weapons room. The other officer made himself scarce on those days. Just from listening I could tell that he had several things going on the ship; Including prostitution and a homemade video business.
    Since I was unable to interact with the crewman, I spent the long years working on ways to escape. Tracing the circuitry and trying to overload key spots did not work. Those damn scientists knew me too well. Nothing I did worked. I did hatch a good plan, but it involved a patsy. I needed to work on a few things first.
     
    It took almost three years of stolen screen time to create my 'human' face and voice. Using a vid I really liked that was a favorite of Charlie's as the model, I created my persona, the person I would use to trick the patsy. Ten years have