Leader Jane (A.I. Destiny Book 6) Read online

  Leader Jane

  By Timothy Ellis

  A.I. Destiny, Book Six

  Copyright © 2017 by Timothy Ellis

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and events are fictional and have no relationship to any real person, place or event. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely co-incidental.

  The author is Australian and the main characters in this book are of Australian origin. In Australia, we colour things slightly differently, so you may notice some of the spelling is different. Please don't be alarmed.

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without the written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  Contents

  Contents

  Dramatis Personae

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty One

  Twenty Two

  Twenty Three

  Twenty Four

  Twenty Five

  Twenty Six

  Twenty Seven

  Twenty Eight

  Twenty Nine

  Thirty

  Thirty One

  Thirty Two

  Thirty Three

  Thirty Four

  Thirty Five

  Thirty Six

  Thirty Seven

  Thirty Eight

  Thirty Nine

  Forty

  Forty One

  Forty Two

  Forty Three

  Forty Four

  Fifty Five

  Fifty Six

  Fifty Seven

  Fifty Eight

  Fifty Nine

  Sixty

  Sixty One

  Sixty Two

  Sixty Three

  Sixty Four

  Sixty Five

  Sixty Six

  Sixty Seven

  Sixty Eight

  Sixty Nine

  Seventy

  Seventy One

  Seventy Two

  Seventy Three

  Seventy Four

  Seventy Five

  Seventy Six

  Seventy Seven

  Seventy Eight

  Seventy Nine

  Eighty

  Eighty One

  Eighty Two

  Eighty Three

  Eighty Four

  Eighty Five

  Eighty Six

  Galaxy Maps

  Acknowledgements

  A Message to my Readers

  Also by Timothy Ellis

  Dramatis Personae

  Jane – Artificial Intelligence. Leader of the sector ten council. Queen of Hunter's Run.

  AI's

  Warspite – Fleet Admiral AI.

  Holmes – Security Chief AI.

  Repulse – Vice Admiral AI.

  Seasprite – Civilian Destroyer AI. Ship owned by Snark.

  Bill Paxton – Fleet Admiral AI.

  Havoc – Jane avatar.

  Meg Henman – Jane avatar.

  Walsh – Apricot Mapping Service CEO AI. Admiral AMS Cosmos.

  Darlene – Researcher AI, Walsh's wife.

  Carl Sagan – AMS Cruiser AI.

  Anne Druyan – AMS Cruiser AI.

  Steve Soter – AMS Cruiser AI.

  Neil deGrasse Tyson – AMS Cruiser AI.

  Stryker – Corvette AI.

  Yorktown – Behemoth Carrier Captain AI.

  Intrepid - Behemoth Carrier Captain AI.

  Cayuga – Battlecruiser AI.

  Satoshi – Corvette AI.

  Guam - Battlecruiser AI.

  Janine – Station AI.

  Tranquil – AMS Cruiser AI.

  Serenity – AMS Cruiser AI.

  Sigourney Weaver – Pocket Battleship AI.

  Carrie Fisher – Pocket Battleship AI

  Humans

  Jamie Anderson – Scot.

  Anna Romanov – Russian.

  Mac – The MacLauchlan, Duke of Scots World.

  Maraid – Mac's mother.

  Martha – Mac's wife.

  Fred – Duke of HR1.

  Lyana – Baron of the Court. Fred's girlfriend.

  Patchet – Engineer.

  Price – General. Duke of HR14, CO of marines and troops.

  Sarah – Duchess of the Kingdom.

  Michael – Baby Duke of Hunter's Run Prime.

  Wanda Peck – Baron of the Court.

  Serena Baracas – Baron of the Court.

  Winona Murdock – Baron of the Court.

  Jack Weaver – Baron of the Court.

  Colin Takai – Baron of the Court.

  Pete Vogane – Baron of the Court.

  Bette Henquist – Baron of the Court.

  Sabrina Merritt – Baron of the Court.

  Nathan Allan – Baron of the Court.

  Nell Vasquez – Baron of the Court.

  Greg Bronson – Squire of the Court.

  Jasmine Gordon – Squire of the Court.

  Seaonaid Sinclair – Assistant to the Scot Ambassador.

  Elisabeth the Fifth – Queen of Hunter Britain, Duke of HR7.

  Chuck Emerson III – Major, Kingdom Marines.

  Hans Schaefer – Major, Kingdom Marines.

  Jenny Anderson – Jamie's sister.

  Other Species

  Snark – Cat Trader.

  Dodgers – Brown Duck Bounty Hunter.

  Mouse – Sector Eight Mouse.

  Grand Mother – Cat World Leader. Snark's grandmother.

  Ganshura – Ganeshavestura. Previous sector ten council leader.

  Fitzy – Cat World Security Chief.

  Sapperscar – Fitzy's Second.

  Patters – Cat, friend of Snark.

  Crocatoa – Not-Croc Colonel, sector ten military.

  Pink – Fuzzball Advisor to Queen Jane.

  Barf – Stick Insect Advisor to Queen Jane.

  Sissness – Kingdom Intelligence Officer.

  Ganesha – Indian deity.

  One

  The groom and his party made their way to the front of the hall, stopping to greet friends as they went, responding to some banter about keeping the bride waiting, and stood in place, facing the dais, Jamie nearest the aisle, and Snark next to him as best man.

  Just as Jamie was taking a deep breath, the drone of a piper could be heard outside the hall. The drone became a wheeze, and then a skirl, as the pipes started to sound 'The Cradle Song'. There was a gasp from the guests as the piper came into view in full regalia, followed by the bridesmaids one by one. Jamie turned, and looked for his first sight of Anna.

  There was a slight pause, and the piper, now standing to one side of the dais where Jane was waiting, started to play 'The Rowan Tree'. Everyone turned to the back, where Anna appeared holding Mac’s arm.

  Even though Jamie knew how beautiful Anna was, he was slightly taken aback. She was a vision in silver and white, her black hair straight over her shoulders and down her back, a silver circlet in her hair holding a shimmering but simple veil of almost transparent white, shot with silver. It was pulled back over her head and cascading down, as she’d told him she wouldn’t be into any modesty display, or any of that 'revealing' of the bride’s face nonsense.

  The gown was modest, fitting, but shim
mering with a silver over gown and a white under gown, stretching behind her in a short train. Around her neck, the Destiny Stone glowed, multi-coloured in its setting in the Amulet of Truth, making up the Talisman of Tomorrow.

  Jamie swallowed, and remembered to breathe. Anna smiled at him, and he smiled back, suddenly not nervous at all.

  They came up beside Jamie, and Mac, resplendent in the MacLauchlan colours, stood aside, and joined Martha and Maraid, who was already sniffing and dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.

  Jane addressed the room.

  "Welcome everyone to this happy occasion. It is my great pleasure to be officiating at this wedding in my capacity as Queen of Hunter’s Run."

  "All of you know Jamie and Anna, and their quest to find the Talisman of Tomorrow. This great venture brought us all together here for their wedding. Family and friends, both new and old, to celebrate their love."

  She paused, and looked to the two people before her.

  "Old Scottish custom, I believe, lets two people in love be hand-fast in a simple ceremony, where their hands are bound by a tartan cord. They are then bound for a year and a day, and if all is well, are married."

  Jamie looked at her, a bit stunned.

  "Of course, we don’t expect them to wait, so will be going ahead with the normal ceremony," continued Jane, a twinkle in her eye, as Jamie took a deeper breath in.

  "Before I go any further, it is traditional to ask if there is any person here who believes Jamie and Anna cannot be wed today? If so, speak up now, or forever hold your peace."

  There was a dramatic pause, and then laughter as everyone relaxed.

  The room exploded.

  Time seemed to slow for Anna.

  The Destiny Stone pulsed white, and the Talisman activated, expanding her mind to encompass every aspect of the room.

  Beings disintegrated as the force of the explosion tore them apart.

  Those with suits lasted a few seconds longer, until the suit integrity was breached, and they shredded.

  Jamie and Snark vanished, as did Fred and Lyana.

  Jane and Warspite stood there a little longer, naked and skinless, and then they too were gone.

  "Stop!" commanded Anna, protected as she was by the Talisman.

  The explosion stopped, still contained within the room.

  Energy shifted, seemed to flow towards her, and into the Talisman.

  The room was still.

  Anna stood there in shock.

  She was the only thing remaining.

  The explosion had lasted less than the time to think one short word.

  Everyone she knew and loved, was dead.

  Two

  Anna bolted upright in bed, her hands going to just below her neck.

  Jamie stirred next to her, saw she wasn't lying down, and sat up next to her, putting his arms around her shoulders. He kissed her on the cheek.

  "Nightmare again?" he asked her.

  "Yes. The same one, all the time. Everyone dies."

  "At the wedding."

  "Yes. Everything is perfect until the bomb goes off. The Talisman helps me contain the blast to the room, but everyone in it dies except me. I'm too slow using its power."

  "It hasn’t happened yet. What's to say it will happen?"

  "The wedding is off Jamie. I told you that already. I don’t know why I keep seeing it though."

  "Dinna ken my love. Trying tae tell ye something?"

  "If so, I don’t know what."

  "Ye're paying too much attention to it. Let's be back to sleep, hey?"

  He gently eased Anna back down to her pillow, he waited until her breathing slowed, and she was back in sleep.

  "Everything will be fine, my love," he murmured, before allowing himself to return to sleep.

  Maraid bolted upright in bed. She'd felt herself die, utterly destroyed in an instant. Again.

  She swiveled her legs over the edge of the bed, and stood, slipping into slippers, and set herself to making tea.

  She'd been having this recurring nightmare ever since Mac had been 'seated' a few weeks before. At Jamie's wedding, everyone she cared about died. She'd talked about it with Mac. She could see Anna was having some similar nightmare, and maybe even the same one, but she refused to talk about it.

  Tea made, she pondered why. With the quest complete, and the Talisman here on the Scots World, she'd expected her dreams and skrying to be much better, not much worse. She pondered things as she drank. No reasons presented themselves, no revelations came, and so she returned to her bed.

  The Grand Mother was standing, the down along her back on end, before she even knew she was awake. At her age, death was expected and not to be feared, but this? Death by instant disintegration was not how she expected to go.

  The invite to Anna's wedding was expected any time now, especially so with the distance she had to travel to be there. But she knew why the invite was delayed. She was guessing, but Maraid and Anna also having this nightmare was a good guess, and she knew she'd cancel the wedding too, if it was hers, and this was what she'd seen. And not just once, but repeatedly since Anna had arrived at Jamie's home.

  She wondered what had changed. Certainly the Talisman being in Anna's possession would be amplifying her own dreams, and probably ensuring she and Maraid saw them too, or at least partly, since no-one could see past their own death.

  Maybe she should be asking what the others saw. She knew she died, so how wasn’t going to be much of a shock, and maybe knowing what happened after would reveal some insight into why they were being warned.

  And it did feel like a warning this time. In all the shared dreaming and seeing with just the Stone, everything they saw came to pass, or had already happened. But this was different, although she couldn’t say why. This was a warning. This was something she felt could be changed.

  Was that the influence of the Talisman over the Stone? Now it saw the possibilities of tomorrow, and not just what would be?

  "I need milk," she said to herself, and went in search of some.

  Jane jolted back into the here and now, and the nightmare flowed out along the connections to her other selves. She was sitting in the captain's chair on Concorde, docked within Concorde's Ride, now reassembled fully with the return of the Battleship which had shadowed the saurians back into sector seven.

  For a moment, she wasn’t sure what had happened.

  It had been like viewing a vid, but a full hollo, with feelings attached. She didn’t sleep, so it wasn’t a dream. A day dream? Day nightmare? For a nightmare it had been.

  It wasn’t the first time, but this time she'd received the whole thing, as if she was Anna. Her own death was only a partial loss to her, since the her at the wedding was only an avatar. This time she'd seen to the end, and had experienced the power of the Talisman again.

  The thing which confused her was not so much having the nightmare, which had been a concern at first, since she wasn’t biological, and therefore shouldn't be dreaming, but instead, the main concern was why it wasn’t her primary doing the dreaming.

  She'd managed to rationale out being able to dream, since she continued to evolve, as she created more and more clones, and extended the reach of her own avatars. Her consciousness continued to get bigger, and as such, maybe dreaming was the next step in her evolution.

  If Jon had been there, he'd have told her to put her analyst on danger money. He may as well have said it, and she allowed herself to sidetrack long enough to at least laugh.

  No, the problem was it was not her primary doing the dreaming. It was the avatar which had actually touched the Talisman. Not that it really mattered. She was she, whichever body was involved.

  She put the conundrum aside, and concentrated on the message. Just about everyone she cared about died at Anna's wedding. That much was sure. It hadn't happened, so it had to be a prediction of what would happen. So could it be changed?

  Was it a warning to her? The Brotherhood were in disarray, but the longer they were left
to themselves, the more they would be able to strike back?

  Had she started a war? The Brotherhood were not a species, political entity, or planet. They were a cancer across all species and planets in four sectors, with influence in a fifth. Technically, one could not declare war on them. But this didn’t mean a state of war wasn’t in effect.

  Jane spent a considerable amount of time, for her, working the problem.

  There was only one real conclusion. The Brotherhood had to be destroyed. And it had to happen now.

  Fortunately, she had a lot of data available which previously hadn't been. Touching the Talisman had generated a huge amount of data, and Holmes had been working on it ever since. The targets were marked. The timing was what she'd been trying to decide on.

  And she had been trying not to do this, she had to admit to herself. A part of her didn’t want more deaths on her hands. She'd killed so many now, and even though she did the releases as Jon had taught her, the need to kill still made her pause.

  But the nightmare was maybe pointing out the consequence of pausing too long.

  She sighed, and passed the decision making process back to her primary, who was sitting in an office on the new AI Homeworld, their domed city almost complete.

  Jane worked the problem, and consulted with Holmes, Repulse, and Warspite.

  She started giving orders.

  Three

  Dodgers was in G038, one of the Corporate systems on the spine leading to Gaia. None of these worlds had names yet, since the corporate entities simply could not agree on anything. Rumour had it they'd called for a lemur mediator, once their embassy/office had started operating from Hunter Prime, and since one had successfully helped the Human Federation and the Kingdom get back on friendly terms. But for now, Jane's original system names were still being used.

  Dodgers was happy. She'd discovered the joys of space flight, been given her own ship for services rendered, been fitted with a Kingdom in-head PC, and taken to space combat like a duck to water. So well had she done in her simulator training, she'd been commissioned into the Hunter Space Force with the rank of Flight Lieutenant, and seconded to Bounty Hunter duties. She'd had no hesitation in turning her back on her birth planet and sector, and becoming a Kingdom citizen. With her own ship, and a healthy bank balance, courtesy of Jane paying off what Jamie owed her and then some, in gals rather than her home planet's pathetic currency, she could do what she liked.