Midshipman Henry Gallant in Space

  * * *

  When they resumed questioning, Wilcox finally got down to what he considered to be key elements. It was clear that the United Planets had a dangerous new adversary and that the solar system was a very different place than it had been. The intelligence officer looked over the Titan AI CPU, identifying the technological leap that gave the Titans a strategic advantage. He asked "Why did you pick this particular device among everything in the aliens’ control room?"

  Gallant explained that it had seemed to resemble a central AI processor. Wilcox asked him to compare it with the neural interface he used in his Eagle.

  Gallant said, “It is very different from our neural interface which taps into my conscious mind and acts as a conduit for me to give instructions to the controls on the ship. Ours allows me to draw information from the artificial intelligence, but the AI system never tries to control me.”

  Gallant paused and looked around the table before continuing, “The Titan interface directs the impulses of multiple individuals simultaneously and coordinates with its AI central processing unit. I suspect that it also allows the AI to direct individual’s actions.”

  “So you formed some opinions about this,” said Wilcox.

  “Yes, I have,” said Gallant.

  "OK, I'm willing to listen. What do you think you've learned from examining the CPU and from your experiences with the Titan forces?" asked Wilcox.

  Gallant said, "The fact that their neural interface allows for coordinated multiple users to fly their larger ships makes it distinctly different from ours. To me, it emphasizes the different type of culture, and the command and control system they have. It must also influence their tactics for navigation and attack formations. They do not act as independent individuals. However, it’s not that they have a collective consciousness or one mind telepathically controlling everything. I don’t believe they are controlled by an artificial intelligence. Nor do they behave as cyborgs. My best guess from my experience is that they have a highly cooperative limited telepathy and limited AI capabilities."

  An important aspect of the information Gallant provided, included the buildup of methane supplies in the asteroid cluster. Some of the intelligence officers were concerned that the Titans had the capability to conduct an extended campaign.

  After the debriefing, Gallant was left alone in the conference room. He took the opportunity to call up the Superb’s GridScape computer. It was like every battle cruiser’s AI system, except that it integrated information from every AI system throughout the fleet. It even synced up with battle cruisers from Earth and Jupiter when opportunity and time permitted. The system had tried to make sense out of the data that Gallant had collected, but it still required him to fit together a number of details.

  Gallant asked GridScape if it had reached any conclusions about the Titans. He asked it to evaluate the elaborate ruse of attacking Jupiter in order to draw out the Mars Fleet while, all the time, the Titans were stockpiling supplies and ships, ready to pounce on Mars. The AI could not provide any possibilities that had not already been considered in the debriefing.

  Gallant used GridScape to get a briefing on the status of the war. It reported that the conflict between the Titans and the United Planets appeared to be suspended for the time being. The Mars Fleet had stopped its effort to relieve the Jupiter Fleet. Instead, it remained in orbit around Mars. Earth had sent part of its fleet to reinforce Mars. The Jupiter Fleet remained near Jupiter Station. The marines held their positions. Likewise, the Titan fleet near Jupiter maintained its position. It provided support for its ground forces, but those units hadn’t moved since Gallant had left the area. The Titan fleet in the asteroid belt remained under the misguided belief that they had destroyed Gallant and their position remained undetected. Their plan to attack Mars once the Mars Fleet went to Jupiter’s aid, likely remained unaltered. However, this state of affairs could not remain forever.