Crystal Horizon: A Short Prequel to Crystal Deception Read Free Page A

teams total. We’re on
defense for runs one, two, and five,” she whispered to Sid. “We’re the last
team up to make our scoring run.”
    Jasmine watched the group with an impassive expression, and
Cheryl imagined her counting seconds in her head. After most of a minute, she
resumed her instruction.
    “There’s an extra twist to our exercise this morning. Last
week we upgraded the simulation capability inside the theater with a third
generation SmartCrystal. This model supposedly brings artificial intelligence to
a whole new level. The techs who installed it swear this AI crystal has a
reasoning ability like that of a human.”
     She looked up at the ceiling the way one might when
addressing a disembodied presence. “Three-gen, it’s your show.”
    The head and shoulders of a clean cut, forty year old man
appeared as a life-like three dimensional image floating above Jasmine’s
lecture panel. “Hello, everybody.” The three-gen smiled as it scanned the room
with its eyes.
    Jasmine looked at the group. “The crystal will manage the
competition today. You may ask it questions for the next twenty minutes.”
    Qi’s hand shot up and Jasmine acknowledged him. “The teams
who go later will know what works on offense. Doesn’t that give them an
advantage?”
    “I will be changing the ship’s layout after every
challenge,” replied the crystal. “Strategies that are successful for one team
may not be so for another, and may even prove detrimental to a winning outcome.”
    Hands raised across the room, and the next questions sought hints
and information useful in the upcoming challenge. Not bad , Cheryl
thought as the AI answered them all without divulging any secrets.
    The tempo of the questions slowed and she raised her hand. “You’ve
surely analyzed probabilities and know the likely winners. Won’t you be tempted
to tweak the competition so your prediction becomes prophecy?”
    “No,” said the crystal.
    A moment passed, and then Cheryl realized that was its
complete answer. Before she could follow up, Jasmine clapped her hands. “Time’s
up, people. Let’s move down the hall to staging.”
    Tables arrayed with munitions and gadgets lined the staging
area outside the theater. Jasmine had explained that the armaments were set to
dummy mode, but in the theater, the crystal would use projected image
enhancements to make everything seem real.
    Cheryl picked up two Fleet-issued firearms and slapped one
on each wrist, then hefted an energy cannon and returned it to the table. “What
are you bringing?”
    Sid slapped a firearm on each wrist, the distinctive snap punctuating his words. “My secret weapon.”
    She eyed him, waiting for him to expand on the cryptic
remark, but he acted like he didn’t notice. Moving to the end of the row of
tables, he sat on a packing crate near the wall. She selected several items,
distributed them among her pockets, and sat next to him. They watched their
competition sort through the weapons, and then they waited for the action to
begin.
    They were on defense in the first round, and Sid “killed”
both members of a top-ranked team in under a minute. They weren’t on the
schedule when the other top-ranked team took their turn, and one of them made it
across the engine room threshold in six minutes and eleven seconds.
    Teams rotated in and out of the theater as the morning
progressed, and Sid and Cheryl returned to their crate whenever they weren’t
part of the action. A s their time on offense
approached, C heryl’s nervous anticipation grew.
     “Want to hear something pathetic?”
she asked, picking an imagined piece of lint off her sleeve. “Two years ago, I
told my dad I wanted to be captain of a Fleet ship by the time I was thirty-five.
He said it was impossible. No one had ever done it.”
    She caught Sid’s eye. “I want to
win today to stay on track for that goal.”
    “You’re here to prove something to
your dad?”
    “There’s no deep psychology,