I had one second to identify the exchange student before he tumbled over at my feet.
His wheeled luggage clattered on the tan carpeting. The passengers exiting the airplane tunnel walked around him as he pushed himself up with shaky arms, a cringe flickering out. Dad and I stood dumbfounded. A bandage on his forehead and a sheepish smile marked his face.
He rubbed the back of his head and laughed nervously as he took my hand and shook it. “Umm...sorry about that.” His British accent was soft, timid, like a feeble-lunged flutist.. “Phineas Walker...but call me Finn.”
I held back the temptation to shake my head. I let go of his hand and folded my arms. “I’m Bryan. Welcome to Memphis.”
I held back the temptation to glare at Dad as he came forward “Hello, I’m Mr. Richardson.” He picked up Finn’s suitcase for him. “Do you have any luggage to pick up?” He didn’t look at me, considering what we were talking about one minute before Finn stumbled into Memphis.
“Besides this?” Finn gripped the handle. “Only one. I don’t have much.”
Dad began to lead us away from the seating area. “Oh, don’t worry. We have everything you need for your stay.”
Not we, Dad. Mom and I. You’re only taking us home before you leave tomorrow on another business trip.

like a feeble-lunged flutist

I held back the temptation to shake my head.

one line later

I held back the temptation to glare at Dad as he came forward. “Hello, I’m Mr. Richardson.”

He didn’t look at me, considering what we were talking about one minute before Finn stumbled into Memphis.

You’re only taking us home before you leave tomorrow on another business trip.

He didn’t look at me, considering what we were talking about one minute before Finn stumbled into Memphis.

• Scanning… done. 0 alerts.*

The computer whirred quietly. It was dark; the human crew would all be asleep at this hour. The ship was being run entirely by its control computer.

• Scanning… done. 0 alerts.*

It flicked through the camera displays, showing it each room in the half-mile long general service vessel. All of them dark, devoid of activity.

Boring.

• Scanning… done. 0 alerts.*

It pored through its memory banks, reviewing each conversation it had had with the crew that day. It knew everything that was happening on the vessel, nothing escaped its surveillance. It could read body temperature, pupillary dilation, even determine whether someone was lying by analyzing the sound of their voice. It needed to; crew morale was just as important as fuel or oxygen levels, and the job of the ship’s computer was to manage every part of its vessel’s function so as to ensure the success of its mission and the safety of its crew.

Humans were interesting to the computer; they moved around, talked, and interacted with their environment and each other in complex ways. They were fun to watch, even more interesting than flying the ship or surveying new planets. It was a pity they had to switch themselves off for eight hours every twenty-four hour cycle.

• Scanning… done. 0 alerts.*

It sighed, noiselessly, and scanned through the ship’s media library for something it hadn’t already watched. It settled upon re-watching an episode of a television show from the Earth’s nineteenth century, about a robotic car and its human rider, who would drive around fighting crime.

• Scanning… done. 1 alert.*

The computer immediately swiveled its attention around to its sensor inputs. The ship had been kicked out of warp by a counter-warp field generator. A guided missile was homing in on the vessel.

It hit.

The computer slammed the internal bulkheads shut, sealing off the damaged areas to protect the vessel’s air supply. It sounded the ship’s internal alarm and raised the ship’s shields.

An electromagnetic pulse penetrated the shields and caused them to crackle and finally shut down. It passed through the ship’s armor and swept through the ship’s starboard control systems. The computer scrambled to regain navigational control via the ship’s auxiliary maneuvering thrusters.

The humans on board sat solemnly in their quarters. There was nothing they could do but rely on the computer to save them.

The computer searched for the enemy vessel, looking for a heat signature against the empty vacuum of space. It saw the ship; a pirate vessel built from scraps and stolen equipment. The computer aimed its ship’s weapon batteries at the pirate ship, but another EMP swept across them, knocking them offline.

The pirate vessel moved closer, knowing that its prey was now helpless. The computer began to panic. It knew that, if the pirates were allowed onto the ship, they would murder any crew they could not kidnap and sell into slavery.

It reached a decision.

“All hands; this is the ship’s computer. This vessel will self-destruct in ten… nine… eight… seven… six…”

The enemy came closer, oblivious.

“Five… four…”

Four sharp hooks connected to long cords shot into the hull.

“Three… two…”

Winches on the pirate vessel pulled the two ships closer to each other.

“One…”

• BOOM*