Star Rising
By Paul Haedo
Chapter One — selected excerpt

Chapter One

“I have to say, Captain, the data that you have obtained and recovered from your previous mission is quite impressive,” admitted the admiral.

“Thank you, sir. It was quite the work getting it."

“The AI clearly does not disappoint in recording every little detail either. We have information here that we could use for years!” added another admiral.

“No, it does not. It can be quite annoying, but having the AI on board has proven very useful. Just the effect on crew morale alone is worth it in my eyes, and that is not including all the little extra benefits."

“That reminds me, the AI has mentioned in the report that ship discipline regarding protocol and tradition is abysmal. Care to explain what it could mean by that?”

“Well, it seems that we can add full honesty as another one of its positive attributes,” quipped the captain, which caused the admirals to crack a brief smile as he continued with his response.

“Indeed, it’ll make post-mission debriefings more accurate from the looks of it."

© Paul Haedo. All rights reserved.
Author-supplied manuscript; opening selection beginning at paragraph 1. Paragraph numbering follows non-empty body paragraphs in the supplied file. Authorized short excerpt; full manuscript is not exposed.