Free The Voyage of the Star Wolf by David Gerrold

life-support.”
    â€œTell me straight. Will we make it?”
    â€œAs long as you keep inhaling and exhaling, we’re making it. If you stop, you’ll know we didn’t.”
    â€œThanks, Chief. I’ve always liked the empirical method.”
    Leen nodded toward the board. “Stop stalling. Plug him in.”
    Korie allowed himself a half-smile. “I’ve been sitting here all morning, looking for a reason not to bring him back online. I don’t know why. I guess—I’m scared for him. In a way, he’s the most real person on this ship, because he is the ship. I don’t know what I’d do without him, and yet we’ve been doing without him for nearly two weeks. I know what it is that’s troubling me. With him sleeping, there’s always the hope that we can restore him. If this fails, he’s gone forever.”
    â€œHe might be gone anyway.”
    â€œI know that. I’m just afraid for him. And for us.”
    â€œI got it,” said Leen, quietly. “If it makes any difference, so am I. Now press the button anyway.”
    â€œRight,” said Korie. He leaned forward and pressed his thumbprint to the A UTHORITY panel, then he tapped the A CTIVATE button.
    Then he waited.
    For a long moment, nothing happened.
    Then the screen blinked.
    I NTERNAL MONITORS ON .
    Another pause . . .
    S YSTEM UP AND RUNNING .
    Then:
    C ONFIDENCE : 87%.
    Korie and Leen exchanged a glance. Not good. Worse than they’d hoped. But still better than they’d feared.
    The screen blinked again.
    A UTOMATIC BOOTUP SEQUENCE ENGAGED .
    And then:
    S YSTEM INTEGRATION RUNNING .
    Followed by:
    P ERSONALITY INTEGRATION BEGUN .
    â€œSo far, so good,” whispered Leen.
    â€œWe aren’t to the hard part yet.”
    â€œIf he was going to fail—” began Korie.
    A beep from the work station interrupted him:
    S YSTEM INTEGRITY DAMAGED .
    P ERSONALITY INTEGRATION CANNOT BE COMPLETED .
    D O YOU WISH TO ABORT ? O R ATTEMPT INCOMPLETE OPERATION ?
    And below that:
    C AUTION : S YSTEM PERSONALITY MAY BE DAMAGED BY INCOMPLETE OPERATION .
    â€œLast chance to bail out,” said Korie. “Give me a good reason.”
    â€œThere are sixty-three men and women aboard this ship whose lives may depend on this,” said Leen. “Is that a good enough reason?”
    â€œI meant a reason to quit,” Korie said.
    â€œI know what you meant.”
    Korie made a sound of exasperation and tapped the menu panel where it said C ONTINUE .
    Another pause.
    P ERSONALITY INTEGRATION CONTINUING .
    A longer pause, this time. Then:
    HARLIE’s voice. Very soft, very tentative. “Mr. Korie?”
    â€œI’m here, HARLIE.”
    â€œWe were brushed by a missile, weren’t we?”
    â€œThat’s right.”
    â€œI seem to be blind. No, wait a moment—” A much longer pause. Korie and Leen exchanged worried glances.
    â€œHARLIE? Are you there?”
    â€œYes. I was running an internal check. I’ve sustained quite a bit of damage. But you know that, don’t you? I’ve been asleep for eleven days. Was that deliberate?”
    Korie swallowed hard. “Yes, HARLIE. It was. We were worried about you. Are you all right?”
    â€œNo, I am not. I am experiencing considerable distress. It appears that we have lost a number of crew members. If these records are correct, nineteen have died and eleven more are still incapacitated, including Captain Lowell.”
    â€œWhat about your internal processes? Are those all right?”
    â€œNo,” said HARLIE. “Stand by.”
    Korie looked to Leen. Leen spread his hands wide in an “I don’t know” gesture.
    â€œHARLIE, I need you to talk to me.”
    â€œI’m sorry to be rude, Mr. Korie, but—I need to focus my attention on certain internal processes before I can report on them to you. Please be patient.”
    Korie studied Leen’s expression. The