Free Test of Mettle (A Captain's Crucible Book 2) by Isaac Hooke

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    If we were attacked now, how would I use those celestial bodies to our advantage?
    “Sir,” Ensign Lewis said. “Maxwell has completed a preliminary extrapolation of our position based on current sensor readings.”
    “So where are we?” Jonathan asked the AI.
    “She did say preliminary ,” Maxwell returned. “It’s going to take some time to pinpoint our precise location. I am devoting approximately ten percent of my processing power to the computation.”
    “So you don’t know where we are.” It was a statement of disappointment, not a question.
    “No,” Maxwell admitted. “But based on my initial analysis, I can tell with absolute certainty where we are not.”
    “Okay...”
    “This isn’t the Milky Way,” Maxwell said.
    Jonathan glanced at Robert. “Is the AI saying what I think it’s saying?”
    “We are in a completely different galaxy, Captain,” Maxwell said.

nine
     
    J onathan retired to his private office shortly after that revelation and collapsed on the couch.
    A completely different galaxy. They were farther away from Earth than anyone had ever gone.
    He felt a nearly overwhelming sense of unease. Fear of the unknown was a factor, certainly, but there was more to it. They were cut off from the rest of the universe. Marooned. There were no dry docks. No resupply depots. They had to be completely self-reliant.
    And despite all that, he also felt a strange sense of relief. He would not have to face the NAVCENT board, not yet. He was still in command.
    Still needed.
    The thought filled him with a sudden guilt.
    I wanted to remain in command, yes. But not like this. Never like this.
    Still, wasn’t the current scenario everything he had dreamed of? He was afraid of the unknown, but also excited. His intrepid spirit had yearned for such an opportunity. To explore places so far away that it boggled the mind; to encounter beauty no man or woman had ever seen, nor likely would see; to make incredible new discoveries about the subtle intricacies of the universe in which we resided.
    The guilt came flooding back when he realized how incredibly selfish those thoughts were. While the prospect of exploring a faraway galaxy might excite him , his crew hadn’t signed up for any of it. His two highest priorities at the moment were to survive the coming encounter and then to build a return Gate. He had no time for sightseeing.
    There was another reason why an expeditious return was important: he had to warn the fleet of the alien threat before it was too late.
    Jonathan sat up. He would have to make an announcement to the rest of the crew soon before the rumor mill spun out of control.
    He activated the dictation application on his aReal and began preparing a speech.

    A FEW HOURS later, still from the comfort and privacy of his office, Jonathan called on the AI to stand down from general quarters.
    When that was done, Jonathan said: “Maxwell, do you know where we are yet?”
    “Does it really matter?” the AI returned.
    “I suppose not,” Jonathan said. “We won’t be going home any time soon.”
    “But you’re not going to tell the crew that, are you?”
    “Actually I will,” Jonathan said. “But I’m going to gild it in a shiny wrapper of hope so as not to affect morale too badly.”
    “I’ll never understand the human need for hope,” Maxwell said. “Morale simply isn’t something a machine has to worry about.”
    “No, it isn’t,” Jonathan agreed. “Which is exactly why we don’t dispatch starships fully manned by AIs.”
    “I don’t understand the correlation,” Maxwell said. “An AI-only starship would never have any of the problems associated with low morale: reduced productivity; increased chance of mutiny...”
    “Nor would such a ship have the positives that come with a human crew who are in possession of good morale: increased output and eagerness to perform. Attention to detail.”
    “Which are balanced out by the negatives,” Maxwell insisted.