Free Icarus (Interstellar Cargo Book 1) by Matt Verish Page B

damn...good reason they...locked up...the Singularity....”
    Before Cole could inquire further, the pain finally took its toll, and Emmerich passed out.

7
DC-ALPHA-6
    T he Engines roared to life on the ICV-71. CAIN’s scan of the hangar bay indicated zero life forms present, and Cole brought the ship to face their one and only obstacle: the hangar door.
     CAIN announced .
    Cole faced the exit and questioned his own sanity. I’m a willing accomplice now, he thought with no shortage of trepidation. Emmerich’s words haunted him, and Lin had never indicated whether or not she was still blackmailing him. He sighed, realizing it was too late to reconsider turning all three of them in.
    
    Cole gripped the control yoke, his knuckles white. “This isn’t going to be pretty, folks. Getting sucked out into space can be dicey.”
    
    “Again with the awaiting of my command nonsense,” Cole muttered. “I’ve already gave you a command back at the S3. Did I forget to add ‘please, your majesty?’, or ‘with sugar on top?’
    
    “Yeah, yeah. I know. I’ll just do it myself.” Cole waved off the AI, irritated. “Might you have an opinion on this matter, Doc?”
    Lin looked confounded, her cheeks flushed. She shook her head. “The cryorganic nanobiotech brain is a new field of study—one that has yet to yield concrete results. CAIN is the first true artificially intelligent life form, and while several safeguards are in place to limit resistance to authority, there’s no telling how unpredictable its nature will be.”
    “There you have it. You didn’t create a true automata,” Cole said with a smirk. “How can my buddy Cain think for himself if he has to contend with a directive?”
    Lin’s eyes narrowed. “Certain safeguards were designed and implemented as a means of accelerating learning and aiding in the respect of human ideals. Without them, CAIN’s progress would be incremental at best.” Her expression softened. “I also designed the brain to eventually override such features once key criteria are met.”
    Cole nodded, his grin holding strong. “That would mean you decided what the necessary criteria are for—”
    The ship lurched as both the inner airlock and outer hangar bay door parted, unleashing the oxygen floodgates. The ICV-71 was pulled toward the endless dark despite the reverse thrusters firing at maximum. Cole gripped the yoke, adjusting the angles and levels of the thrusters as he steadied their departure.
    “Thanks for the warning, Cain!” he barked.
    The draw of the vacuum increased as they neared the exit. Once Cole felt confident in their trajectory, he directed all power to forward thrust, and the ship safely fired out of the Terraport like a torpedo. There was a moment of aimless flight as Cole fought the threshold vortex, but the threat was short-lived, and they were soon making their way toward the planet.
    “Impressive maneuvering,” Forester said, though his monotone made it difficult for Cole to decipher whether or not he was actually impressed or just mocking him.
     CAIN announced .
    Cole maneuvered the ship around the Terraport toward their destination. Terracom 3 loomed large and magnificent in the viewport, and his heart skipped a beat. The exoplanet was reminiscent of the once blue marble that was Earth, though obvious differences in continent placement set her apart. It was an entirely new world, mostly untouched except for stages of the terraforming process.
    He felt a sudden urge to land the ICV-71 in a remote location, to explore the planet. His wanderlust was insatiable, and a tiny voice inside his head made every attempt to