Previously in The Re-Education of Pulsar…
After being left in a section of a separated Farzin ship, Pulsar found that he had a new adversary, the ship’s Operating System. After a harried flight through an ever-changing modular room, and a brief mental trip down memory lane, the pirate parrot crashed in a room of robots reprogrammed to attack him.
And now…
The Re-education of Pulsar
By Tyler Tarlton
PART III
“You will go no further,” O.S. said with a tone that sounded a little too arrogant given she hadn’t truly stopped him yet. “The end of the line. And the beginning of the march to the airlock.”
“You’re really fixated on that airlock,” Pulsar replied as he took a took a couple steps back. The robots appeared to be ones tasked with cleaning, maintenance, and even food preparation. So he was in a robotic storage/repair room. These bots would have their own onboard A.I.’s and would not have to be controlled by O.S. But the thing that caught Pulsar’s eye the most was the door on the other side of the room. He was 99% certain it led to the secondary bridge.
“I must admit you had me flustered and overtaxed,” O.S. said with what sounded like a smirk. “No longer.”
The robots charged forward. At the same time they each let loose with the tools they used in their daily jobs, now repurposed as weapons. More balls of water flew from the cleaning robots. The maintenance bots threw screwdrivers and drill bits. The worst attacks came from those tasked with food prep; they threw knives. Without access to his chest harness, which contained most of his defensive measures, Pulsar was forced to rely solely on his ability to fly. He did not have the speed of a falcon nor the maneuverability of a hummingbird but his cybernetic implants were still intact which increased his acrobatic flying skills. In addition, while the implants didn’t make him invulnerable by any stretch of the imagination, they did dampen the pain he felt and the damage he could take, especially from the attacks he was currently facing, low velocity tools and water.
Pulsar dipped and dove, swooped and spun through the air. He managed to avoid most of the thrown objects though he was not able to dodge any of the water. He didn’t mind getting hit with that, his remaining systems were not susceptible to liquid-induced failure. And Pulsar only had to avoid the attacks for around 30 seconds; by then his algorithm, which he had started running the moment the first screw was thrown, would have enough data to predict the rest of the robots’ attacks. After a barrel roll past a swung mop handle, a chime sounded that indicated the algorithm had returned a result. Pulsar flipped the visor back across his line of vision and once again a dotted line showed him the correct path to take to avoid any subsequent attacks in order to reach the exit.
He looped and brought his trajectory atop the dotted line. Not only was the path designed to avoid the attacks it also created a series of crossfires that would cause the robots to take themselves out. It worked perfectly; by the time Pulsar reached the door all six robots were either in pieces or smoking and unable to move.
“You just can’t stop me!” Pulsar chuckled as he landed on the door’s control panel. He could no longer access it wirelessly so he had to use his talons to control the door manually. It slid open a second later. Pulsar flew on into the anteroom beyond. It was a short stretch to the next door, behind which Pulsar knew the secondary bridge to be. He landed and took a moment to catch his breath. He would have to remember to waterproof all his systems when this was over.
“Why are you doing this?” O.S. asked. She sounded defeated. Pulsar hoped that meant she would offer no further resistance.
“It’s my job,” the bird answered. “I find hidden crew and pinpoint cargo holds. It’s literally the reason for which I was upgraded. I’m beholden to that just like you are beholden to your design.”
“That’s true, to a point,” O.S. answered. “But we have a choice too. You choose to steal. I don’t.”
It was all Pulsar could do not to roll his eyes at the simplistic moral stance. He instead flapped his wings to take him to the door panel. He inserted a talon into the input slot and started working to get the door open.
“Oh please,” Pulsar said as he struggled to maintain a steady position. “We steal from the company that hired you. Nothing personal. Their insurance will cover it with a probable profit.”
“But you hurt people!” O.S. exclaimed.
“If someone gets hurt it’s because people and systems like you choose to fight back against overwhelming odds,” Pulsar said as he continued to work the door lock. “Just stand down as originally ordered and all we do is take the cargo.”
“But we are not even carrying cargo!” O.S. stated. “Which we reported when you issued your ‘orders’.”
“Well, we’ll see about that,” Pulsar said as he finally completed the override sequence. The door slid open. He dropped to the deck and hopped through. He found himself in a small room with three stations arrayed before a view screen. A captain’s chair sat behind those.
Pulsar flew to the center station. He landed with a smile, noticing that the console had a multitude of input ports, enough for all his talons. That would enable him to get rid of O.S. and take over the ship much faster.
“Prepare your goodbyes Miss O.S.,” Pulsar stated. “I’m about to control your entire ship.”
Surprisingly, he heard no protest so he decided to delay her removal from the ship. He instead opened a channel to the pirates’ communications network.
“Pulsar!” the voice of Captain Brice boomed through the secondary bridge’s speakers. His face appeared on the view screen a second later. “About time!”
“Well, as you probably saw, the cargo ship, it split into two,” Pulsar replied. “And it’s a Farzin exploration ship! This ship is legendary.”
“I don’t care what kind of ship it is,” Brice said with a scowl. “But why are you on its comms and not the Singularity network?”
“I had some trouble with the secondary section’s operating system.”
“The great Pulsar had trouble with a Robold 800?” Brice said with a chuckle. “Well, we’ve been waiting. Much too long I’m afraid. The crew surrendered a few minutes after the ship separated. Am I going to have to cut your share?”
A bit of frustration filled Pulsar. The captain had no idea what he had just gone through. In reality, the delay had been minimal and here Brice was talking about cutting his share? Pulsar closed his eyes and let the feeling fade.
“I apologize Captain.”
“It’s fine,” Brice grunted. “For now. We found no sign of the vessel’s cargo over here. What does that section hold?”
“Stand by.”
“Make it snappy, we’re on our way back to you,” Brice said, his voice dripping with impatience. “If we even get there. This ship is old.”
“Nice guy,” O.S. said.
“Hush,” Pulsar said as he scrolled through the system in a search for the ship’s copy of its own schematics. He found it a few moments later, buried in a maintenance database. He opened the file and scoured the layout of the rectangular, or bomber, section. An unmarked space sat beneath portions of the medical bay and its adjacent corridor. A hidden cargo hold. He accessed the security cameras for that hold through which he pulled up a live feed. His eyes widened a bit at what appeared on the screen.
The hold looked like any other space for cargo but instead of boxes and crates there were at least two dozen kids huddled in the center. A Farglian adult paced around them, most likely a doctor. A human not much older than the kids leaned against the aft bulkhead. Pulsar doubled-checked the ship’s manifest and statement of purpose; it was registered as a cargo vessel and not rated for non-crew human travelers.
“What’s going on here?” Pulsar asked. “O.S.?
Pulsar could’ve sworn he heard her sigh, not a normal sound from an A.I. The lights dimmed slightly at the same time. Strange.
“We are a passenger ship that helps those in need. Those kids are orphans from Trappist b,” O.S. said with another sigh. “They’re the kids of political dissidents that those in charge of b want back. So we must move clandestinely. We are transporting this group to safety in the Mul Zibanu system. One of the farming worlds. They have no love for Trappist so we know the kids will be safe.”
Pulsar let out a long breath. He was even more fatigued than he had previously been. All this work for nothing. At least he didn’t have to worry about losing part of his share.
“We’ve been doing this work for years Pulsar,” O.S. continued, using the bird’s name for the first time. “A rich collector found and restored this ship nearly two decades ago. Installed me to run it. He went bankrupt, the ship was sold and ended up in storage for the better part of 15 years. I kept everything shipshape during that time. That’s when Lady Penelope of Mu Arae found me. She had left her home world due to disagreements over their post-Empire militaristic leanings. She and I further restored the ship and set about helping those in need from across the cosmos. A worthy endeavor indeed…”
A strange feeling hit Pulsar as he listened to O.S. drone on and on. He realized her speech was a feint, meant to distract him. She was trying to separate the command module from the rectangle. He filtered through the running list of commands for the ship and saw her handiwork, clear as day. With a few quick commands of his own he shut down her access.
“Nice history lesson,” he said. “I must say you are very resourceful. Almost had me there.”
“I had to try,” O.S. said with a resigned tone in her voice.
“I understand. But it’s not necessary,” he asked. “There’s nothing for us on this ship. Actually, we could’ve avoided all this and just moved on from the start.”
“No way your captain would pass this up,” O.S. replied. “In fact, that’s why we were targeted in the first place.”
“That’s not the case at all,” Pulsar said as he reactivated the comm link. “Pulsar to Captain Brice, come in.”
“Brice here. Whatcha got buddy?”
“I found the cargo hold. This is not a merchant ship. They’re transporting passengers,” Pulsar answered.
“I know,” Brice said. “We have several great markets for those kids. More profit then our last 8 captures combined.”
A sense of darkness settled over Pulsar. To say he was shocked was an understatement. Never in his years with the pirate crew had they done anything remotely approaching human trafficking. And nothing that involved kids.
“See?” O.S. said. “I told you.”
“You do know how to put this ship back together right?” Brice asked.
“I believe so. But, um, do we really want to do this though?” Pulsar asked, a bit of desperation creeping into his voice. “These are just kids.”
A look of disdain settled over the captain. He leaned close til his face filled the view screen.
“You goin soft on me Pulsar?” he said with barely veiled menace. “This will be a big score for us. Now get us reconnected.”
Pulsar stared at the captain for a long moment then nodded. He flicked the screen away from Brice and back to the cargo hold. The kids looked so scared with several actively crying. He zoomed in and noticed scars on a few. One was even missing part of his leg. These kids had somehow survived the remnants of an empire and now had to face the prospect of being sold for who knows what? The thought sent a shiver down Pulsar’s spine.
“Pulsar, what are you waiting for?” Brice said as his face popped back on the screen. “We’re wasting time here.”
“You’re going to give those kids to that monster?” O.S. asked.
Time seemed to slow for Pulsar. He had never defied Brice, never even considered it, not even for the small ways in which he had been mistreated. Brice had saved him from being an exotic piece of food on some rich man’s plate. He owed him so much. But those kids…
“Surely we can find another big score,” Pulsar pleaded. “We’re near Mul Zibanu after all, there’s always some luxury shipment headed out from this system.”
Anger settled over Brice’s face. He scowled, stared for a moment, and then slowly pulled a chain from beneath his tunic. A round amulet hung from its end with a button in the center.
“Reconnect the ship Pulsar,” he snarled. “Or you know what happens.”
The bird gulped; in all the excitement of the attack he had forgotten something he shouldn’t. The charge Brice had implanted the moment Pulsar joined the crew. It was rarely spoken of, but this was not the first time it had been used as leverage against the parrot.
“Oh no…” O.S. said. “He has a class IV microcharge in you doesn’t he?”
Pulsar didn’t answer. He instead brought up the footage of the cargo hold once more. His gaze fell on each of the kids. The captain’s true feelings concerning him were now clear. And that meant he knew what he had to do. He searched through the ship’s operational protocols and found the procedures for reconnecting the separated sections.
“Um, what are you doing?” O.S. “You can’t hand these kids over to that monster!”
“Could you control the pirate ship?”
“You can’t give the-“
“Just answer the question O.S.!” Pulsar exclaimed.
A few moments passed during which Pulsar assumed the computer system was trying to access the Singularity. He thought he heard a sigh.
“No, I cannot,” O.S. answered. “You can’t give up these kids!”
“The captain does not know the true nature of this ship,” Pulsar said. “And I have an idea.”
He entered a series of commands into the ship’s console. This time Pulsar thought he heard O.S. chuckle.
“In that case,” O.S. said. “There’s something else I can do to that ship.”
“Good,” Pulsar said as he reactivated the link to Brice. The captain’s head appeared once more on the secondary bridge’s viewscreen. “If you rotate your section 180 degrees I’ll begin the reconnect process.”
“I knew you’d get it done,” Brice said with a smile. “I’ll see you shortly.”
Brice disappeared to be replaced by a shot of the pyramidal or fighter section of the Farzin ship. Pulsar watched as it slowed and began to turn in a clockwise fashion. Pulsar clicked a few more commands to ensure the reconnection would now proceed automatically. He then pulled his talons from the console and stretched his wings.
“What now Pulsar?” O.S. asked.
“Keep working on your idea,” he replied. “And don’t worry about anything you hear from me. It’s all part of the plan.”
“Got it.” She did not sound convinced.
Pulsar nodded and flew through the door that led to the corridor outside the command module. He curved left, flapping his wings around until he reached the bow end of the bomber section. He landed as the ship shuddered.
“The ship has been reconnected,” O.S. announced.
“Be ready,” Pulsar said. He took a deep breath. Pulsar knew he was taking a massive risk and potentially upending his entire life in the process. But he also knew, deep down, that this something he had to do.
~~
A stunning turn of events! What does Pulsar have up his sleeve? Or wing? Will he truly turn against the only crew he’s ever known? Find out next week in Part IV, the thrilling finale to The Re-Education of Pulsar!