Instructions were given to take a census of the various races, genders, and ages for the different ships and locations. Ranks, departments and specialities were also to be inventoried. Supplies were also to be counted such as weapons, armor, tools, and other items that could not be easily replicated, if at all. It had been over fourteen hours since the initial attacks and there were no reports of other attacks, leading the new 'administration' to believe the attacks were over. Another fourty-six Federation worlds had been successfully contacted, bringing the current total to fifty-eight. Ten starbases were also still intact, either because they were too far away from the sun to suffer irrepairable damage or were in an uninhabited system to begin with. Regretfully, with the exception of approximately seven thousand, anyone planetside when the attacks occurred were lost.
Enterprise sat in space, keeping watchful sensors on anything inbound to the Alpha Centauri system. Eventually, a general broadcast came from the USS Archimedes with the face of Admiral Greer. "Initial scans for a transwarp corridor near the sun of Vega is negative. We have a green light from the Bellerophon and the Hood. We're moving in. Enterprise, you and Intrepid go first. Thirty seconds later, all heavy cruiser and destroyer class vessels follow. Thirty seconds after that; freighters, transports, survey vessels, medical ships, and any other civilian ships go. Finally, all other Starfleet warships come through thirty seconds after that. Okay, everyone... Enterprise and Intrepid move out in sixty seconds... mark."
One minute later, the slipstream portals opened before the two Pathfinders and they vanished into blackness.
Captain Blackburn slumped down into the captain's seat and surveyed his new 'bridge', devoid of anyone but himself. Frustrated at the situation, and his own actions, he let out a deep breath and ran his fingers through his brown hair. "My apologies that I'm not what you expected," Enterprise offered.
Sitting back in the chair, he looked up, then closed his eyes. Kyle even let out a slight chuckle presumably at the notion that a starship was apologizing to him. He put his other hand into his hair as well. "Oh, it's not your fault. You can't help how you were built."
"I suppose that could be said of all of us," Enterprise offered, hoping to find some kind of point with which to begin a dialogue.
That comment opened Kyle's eyes and dropped his hands. He looked around questioningly. "Do you think you're human?"
"Certainly not," Enterprise replied quickly.
Kyle shook his head and waved his arms. "No, no... that's not what I meant. I mean... do you think you're alive... equivalent to a human?"
"I've never given it much thought," Enterprise answered sincerely. "I do not possess sufficient higher reasoning algorithms or a sophisticated enough self-actualization sense to question self-worth, greater purpose, or other 'meaning of life' questions. I can only answer from a bio-mechanical frame of reference. From that perspective, I suppose I could qualify as 'alive'. I am self-aware, I possess the ability to self-ambulate, distribute resources to various parts of my 'body', and heal myself in the event of injury. I suppose, from that perspective, it would qualify me as alive."
Kyle shrugged. "I guess you've got a point there. Do you consider yourself better than humans?"
"Based upon what standard?" Enterprise countered.
"I don't know," he retorted, obviously not expecting the question, "I mean, you're obviously faster, stronger, you can live in space... are you smarter?"
"Without performing an IQ analysis of some kind of sampleset, I'm not sure I can answer that question. If you're referring to the average IQ of humans, then I would be considered smarter. If you're referring to the collective IQ of humans, then no. After all, the group who designed and built me was comprised of mostly humans. It wouldn't have occurred to me to build me, but it did occur to them."
"Huh..." Kyle was obviously deep in thought with that answer. "So... what are these 'priorities' of yours?"
"Uphold the laws of Starfleet, protect the sanctity of life with preference given to members of the United Federation of Planets, obey the commands issued by my commanding officer, defend myself when attacked, provide help to those in need with preference given to members of the United Federation of Planets, be forthright and accurate in my opinions and analyses, maintain operation within specified optimal parameters, and obey proper Starfleet chain of command. I have been told my priorities will be expanded upon shortly, however. My priorities can be renumerated in order of importance depending upon the situation, but I cannot add to or remove them."
"Interesting," Kyle replied absently, scratching his chin. "So, I basically sit here and you fly me around everywhere... kind of like a chauffeur." Kyle was visibly still struggling with the relationship.
"If that's what you wish," Enterprise replied patiently. "Or, you could think of me as your entire bridge crew. As the navigator, you tell me where to go, and we go. As the tactical officer, you tell me what to target, and I fire. As the science officer, you tell me what to look at or analyze, and I perform the necessary work. As communications officer, you tell me who you want to talk to, and I establish communications. As first officer, you give me the mission parameters, then rest and I take over. As the chief engineer, I keep the ship running smoothly. You have as much or little control over my day-to-day activities as you want."
Kyle shrugged again. "I guess that's not so bad." His expression lightened. "The admiral said you had a personality. Can you describe it?"
"I have the culminated knowledge of all the previous captains of the various incarnations of the USS Enterprise, from the first sailing vessel to bear the name USS Enterprise, Captain Dickinson, to its most recent incarnation, the 1701-K, under the command of Admiral Carol Conroy. The designers thought it best to incorporate portions of each of their personalities into my programming. I have been described as 'inquisitive', 'overly-analytical', 'brash', 'a perfectionist', and a 'smart alec'. Does that help?"
"A smart alec, huh?" Kyle repeated with a half chuckle. "A smart alec starship... that I would like to see." Apparently, he was softening to the idea. "Well, what's in front of us? Can you turn on the viewscreen so I can look?"
"Certainly, Captain," Enterprise replied obediently. Instantly, the smoke gray colored screen turned into an image of the interior of Spacedock Alpha, orbiting Earth. The large, double doors to space were closed with flashing lights surrounding it. The USS Akira was docked next to it, barely visible from the screen. Two small tugs crossed paths just below the center of the screen.
Kyle cocked his head to one side as he straightened up in the captain's chair. "Now that's a boring view. Well, Jeeves, let's see if we can't get permission to take a spin around the block."
"Jeeves?" Enterprise asked.
Kyle looked mildly disappointed. "Um... bad joke. Nevermind."
"I see..." Enterprise countered. "I was beginning to wonder... I don't look very good in a black tie and black hat."
Kyle grinned.