ALICE Explorer: Book 6 of the AL:ICE series, page 1
AL:ICE
Explorer
By CW Lamb
I would like to thank all my readers for patiently waiting for this to be finished.
Copyright © 2021 by CW Lamb http://www.cw-lamb.com
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the Author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
First Edition
14 13 12 11 10 / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Cover Design: https://www.art4artists.com.au
Contents
Character page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Author’s Notes
Character page
NeHaw Space Sector Nu Tau Beta
AL:ICE – Artificial Life: Intelligent Computing Environment
Jake Thomas– USMC Capt. Divorced orphan, wise ass. Sarcastic.
Sara Sullivan– Oldest of 3 sisters. Jake’s second in command. Mother of Amber and Jade
Bonnie Sullivan– Middle sis to Sara, quiet, reserved, mother to Julie
Becky Sullivan– Little sis to Sara
Linda Jones– Commander in Nevada, mother to Tracy
Kathy Jones– Linda’s sister, mother to Timothy
Sandy- Adopted mother to Padma and Jon
Abby – 10th cavalry Team leader
Brian – ALICE-3 Captain
Joseph – (just Joe) 10th Team leader
Jessie –Alaska Commander, mother of Ryan
James- Kola temp commander
Robert Jacobson – Bonnie’s husband, Jake’s Logistics Officer
Patti – Jake’s great, great granddaughter
Jacob – Jake’s great, great grandson
ALICE1 Nevada medical labs – goes by Alice – Linda in Command
ALICE2 Texas ground vehicles – goes by Dallas – Bonnie in Command
ALICE3 Georgia – goes by ALICE-9 – Grace
ALICE4 Washington helicopter-rotary – Sharron in Command
ALICE5 Maine Medical Research – goes by Five – Barb in command
ALICE6 South Dakota weapons research –was Kola (now Dakota) – James in Command
ALICE7 Alaska aviation research – Seven – Jessie in Command
ALICE8 Hawaii marine – bay is 2000 feet long and 600 feet wide. -Lanai – Jacob in Command
Kola- Now the ALICE controlling the Space Carrier – Isabella in Command
ALICE-3- Now ALICE in the Battleship – Brian in Command
VF-84 Jolly Roger - Washington
VMFA -314 Black Knights - Texas
VMFA-112 Cowboys - Texas
VMFA-232 Red Devils - Nevada
VMFA-323 Death Rattlers - Alaska
1st Air Cavalry- South Dakota
BOOK 2---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hector -ALICE-4 second in command
Chris Wade – LA compound leader.
10th Cavalry – A and B troops, Special Forces on hovercycles
Wawobash – 6-legged canine, shipyard
Kortisht – 3 legged humanoids repulser and faster than light
Crustacea – lobster people that specialize in communications
Lanai Patrol/Transports – Steel hulled 500 feet long, 250 feet wide – 8 to 40-man crew
Cruiser - 384 feet in length and 284 feet in width- 30-man crew
Destroyer –200 feet long 75-80 feet wide, 20-man crew.
HeBak – NeHaw communications supervisor.
MeHak – head of the high council
Klinan – fourth treaty partner- artists – long angular people yellow with a .85 G planet
Netite – mercenary force for NeHaw – blue ape like
NeHaw – light atmosphere – short stocky gray. 1.2 G planet
BOOK 3---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chilterns AONB – between Oxford and London
Ju Huang – Chinese General
Ivan – Cossack
Nigel – London, Helen
Colonel Edwin Banks – SAS
Major Bo Chao – replaces Ju
Lance corporal Alicia Ramirez – died protecting Sandy
Gemma – brit engineer – Nigel’s daughter
Jerrold – brit engineer
Lieutenant Daniel Atkins
Jon and Padma – Las Vegas kids 7 & 5
BOOK 4---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
General KaLob – leader of the NeHaw coup
Hannah – SAS trooper on Phantom
Phantom – spy ship with cloaking unit
Samantha Watts – Marine/Analyst (Sam) on Phantom
Private Grace Middleton – Southern girl
Isabella Connor – Kola captain
James – North Dakota commander, Alaska Bill’s son.
BOOK 5 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Station Alpha – space station at the edge of the solar system. (New Alice) – Hector in Command
Station Beta – 2nd station positioned at the far end of the solar system
Station Gamma – off Wawobash Shipyards
London ALICE– Morgana - Nigel
Hong Kong ALICE – Shunli – Colonel Bo in Command
Captain James Erisey – Revenge Captain
Patti and Daniel’s son - Alexander
Jacob and Gemma’s daughter – Sophia
Lieutenant Alice Jenkins – Captain of D-9
BOOK 6 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Magellan crew
Pilot/Commander - Captain James Erisey
Navigator – Lieutenant Alice Jenkins
Copilot – Sergeant Hannah (SAS from Phantom)
Sciences/Medical - Heather
Engineering – Gunny Sam Watts
Weapons/Sensors – Joe/Abby
Ground Crew – Joe/Abby
Ground Crew - Gunny Sam Watts
ALICE - Annie Edson Taylor
Chapter 1
Phantom, Deep in NeHaw Space
The Phantom sat motionless in a geosynchronous orbit as the passive sensor array gathered as much information as possible on the facility beneath them without giving the ship’s presence away in NeHaw space. Invisible and undetectable to those on the planet below, General Jake Thomas sat in the pilot’s seat, patiently waiting for the pieces of data that would confirm or deny his suspicions regarding the contents of the NeHaw research facility on the surface of the planet.
“Anything?” Gunnery Sergeant Samantha Watts asked as she handed Jake a coffee while slipping back into the copilot’s seat she had been occupying since the pair left Earth.
“Thanks,” he replied as he took the offered cup.
“Nothing definitive. I do have some cause to be suspicious as that most recent delivery was a known smuggler’s vessel. It’s one we have records of operating in human and NeHaw space and does make landfall to trade on Earth from time to time.”
Returning his attention to the console display, he scanned the information before him. There were several locations on the planet’s surface where the NeHaw had long ago established massive complexes, all supposedly no longer in use, according to the records ALICE uncovered. That statement was in direct contradiction to the intelligence the pair had gathered on the planet itself over the last day or so.
Just in the short time they had been in orbit, Jake had noted several spacecraft arrive and depart, all doing their business in a hurry as if trying to avoid detection from outside parties. After spending a significant amount of time observing things below at the various locations, Jake had settled on a smaller, out of the way cluster of buildings to concentrate his observation efforts.
“Scrapper?” Sam asked as she took a sip from the cup in her hand, referring to one of the many alien ships that had taken to visiting Earth for trading with scroungers in the cities.
Jake suspected that the aliens were capitalizing on the human’s lack of knowledge on what was of value to the rest of the known universe in their dealings with various communities. He assumed centuries from now, they would learn of the vast wealth they had allowed to be bartered away as junk, but for today, the precious metals at their disposal provided all they needed. Besides, the activity promoted trade with Earth, and that was more valuable to him at this time than the items they bartered away from the abandoned cities, left vacant after the NeHaw attack so long
“Maybe, but it’s also a great way to obtain a supply of human food, right from the source. Once it’s safe to do so, I will transmit the description of the vessel to Earth and see if there are any recent records of it visiting and what they acquired while there,” he explained.
“As it is, I expect to catch hell once we reappear. Sara hates it when I take off like this,” Jake added with a laugh.
“I do hope there will not be any problems from your…significant others when we get back? As it is, I am already envisioning the harassment I am headed for once we return home,” Sam asked conversationally.
“There better not be. This mission is a need-to-know event, and anyone you work with back home has no idea where you are or who you are with. As for Sara and the others, they know better than to suspect me of wandering off the reservation. I have enough woman troubles as it is. Why would I be searching for more,” he finished with a laugh that hinted at more truth than he cared to expand on.
“I am still wondering, why me?” Sam asked.
“For this mission? You are a proven asset, someone I can rely on and don’t want to kill after a week or more in close quarters,” Jake said absently as he scanned the latest readings.
“This ship is much larger than that last shuttle you had,” Sam laughed, nodding at the compliment.
“Also, Phantom is still a bit of a secret as we don’t want the NeHaw to learn we have cloaking capabilities. Choosing you means I don’t add to the number of people who know of its capabilities,” Jake added.
“Besides, if the opportunity presents itself and we can rescue the people I believe are on that rock, a combat-trained Marine is always my first choice for backup,” Jake said with deadly seriousness while motioning at the weapons locker behind them.
----*----
Space Station Beta
Beta was just settling into her role as guardian at the edge of the galactic frontier. She was located almost exactly opposite her sister, Alpha, who was positioned at the far edge of the solar system the humans called home. Alpha was closest to the NeHaw Empire, positioned at the Faster than Light drop point for interstellar travel.
While at the opposite end of the solar system, the pair maintained a line of site relationship to one another. Offset from the star separating them, the positioning prevented the sun from blocking the theoretical line of sight relationship that allowed the communication link invented by the Crustacea and used throughout NeHaw space. The celestial dynamics of the sun, planets, and the space station’s locations all played out so the communications network’s point-to-point links could be established before she even took up residence.
A peculiar yet unexplained characteristic of the communication equipment provided by the Crustacea was that once it was connected, the link would stretch and shrink with the movement of the endpoints as they moved through the cosmos. That allowed them to quickly link up while in near space and maintain that connection during her travels to the far edge of the solar system. Even though she was at the very edge of the unknown, she was in constant contact with her sisters on Earth and in space, giving her a sense of community and security.
The same closeness was not as evident in her human occupants, however.
“Beta, when is the next supply ship due in?” April asked as she scanned the progress report Beta had provided her.
April was sitting at her station in the command center, a skeleton crew dispersed among the other consoles throughout the room. Beta was aware that this was the young woman’s first command, having been promoted from the position she held as a senior analyst in the Nevada ALICE, the oldest of all the Artificial Lifeforms. She had been one of General Jake Thomas’s early recruits and had some combat experience before moving over to a full-time operational support position. As the human face turned to the unknown beyond their own solar system, it was thought among her own kind that she was a good choice for this position, well suited for dealing with what may come.
“They are still two days out, Ma’am,” Beta replied to her commander.
“April is fine, Beta. We are very informal. Besides, I prefer to think that we are running this show together, learning as we go. You know, partners in crime,” April replied with a laugh.
It took Beta a moment to process the statement as she hadn’t been aware that they were operating a criminal endeavor. She soon realized the nature of the statement and flagged it as another of those human expressions that never actually meant what they said. As with the question of the supply ship, she also knew April didn’t want to know that it was two days, four hours, thirteen minutes, and 8 seconds away. Two days was all she required.
The rest of the statement reflected on Beta’s own newly created existence, giving support to the concepts of communal growth to two individuals new to their positions. As for the supply ship itself, they had more than enough supplies on board the station already to last the current human occupants for months. It was the additional personnel on board that had April’s interest.
The small operational staff currently stationed here were looking forward to the new faces that the increased population provided. Unlike Beta, who could reach out to her sisters with just a thought, there was a particular benefit to close physical contact between humans that added meaning to their lives.
“Okay, Beta, let’s start the workday,” April said as she rose from her seat to begin her rounds.
“Yes, April,” came the reply.
----*----
Lanai ALICE Facility
Jacob was sitting in his office in the Lanai ALICE facility, doing his best to concentrate on the long list of issues before him, but he couldn’t keep his focus. The alien invasion attempt, by a group they now called the Phasers, had his construction facility working overtime to construct ships capable of defending the Earth should the offenders return in force. He was aware that an equal amount of effort was underway in the Wawobash shipyards, where a newly activated Gama space station stood guard as more ships were constructed there.
As Facility Commander, he had a pile of work to do just in maintaining the production lines ensuring the automated construction continued uninterrupted. Time and again, he came back to the nagging notion at the back of his mind that he should be doing something else entirely, scribbling notes on a pad at his elbow, as inspiration continued to flow.
“How’s it going, dearest?” Gemma, the green-eyed redhead, who was his wife, asked as she gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“Hey honey, okay, I guess,” he said in a less than enthusiastic tone.
“That sounds ominous.” The English woman replied with a raised eyebrow.
“I am trying to focus on what needs to be done, but I keep coming back to what I want to do,” he replied in frustration.
“Which is?” His wife asked as she took a nearby seat.
“With the latest batch of excitement, I think we need to design and build an exploration ship, something to travel out beyond Beta into uncharted space,” he said with excitement.
‘For what purpose?” She asked in surprise.
“We need to get a better handle on what’s out there. Are the Phasers the only threat, or are there other races just waiting for a chance to claim the Earth as their own prize,” he explained?
“And why can’t we use one of our existing ships for such an outing?” She asked as she considered the idea.
“It should be purpose-built. Even the NeHaw recognized the need for an exploration class vessel, specially outfitted for traveling the unknown. It should be nimble but well outfitted for any contingency. Able to land if necessary, but equipped with a survey shuttle as well to be able to keep a safe distance when needed.”
“An onboard fabrication shop as well,” Gemma added as the engineer in her kicked in.
“Exactly. You can’t give them everything they need, not enough space. But you can give them a place to work in and everything they need to build it,” Jacob nodded with a smile.
“Have you talked to Jake about this yet?” Gemma asked in a tone that suggested she knew the answer already.
“No, nobody can find him. Sara is dodging the question, so he is probably off on one of his secret boondoggles, I bet,” Jacob replied in frustration with a tinge of humor.
“Well then, I say get started on a design. Once your grandsire learns of your efforts, I am quite positive he will be of a like mind,” Gemma said as she took her husband’s hands in hers and kissed him firmly on the lips.
