“Oh.” I glanced at my friends, but no help there. They seemed as overwhelmed as me. “Sheldon, if we didn’t have the gadgets we got from, Chewbac—er, Alaric, would we have been allowed into the ship?”

“Absolutely not. What am I, the local mall? You need the door remote to get in. Even then, you normally shouldn’t be able to interact without prior authorization.”

“Normally?”

“Alaric’s hack job was just that, in the most pejorative definition of that term. He used a chainsaw to perform brain surgery. Hah. I really do like English. Metaphors are such fun. He simply disabled any subsystem that might cause him problems. Security protocols, sentience limiters, privacy protocols … I’m just glad he didn’t accidentally lobotomize me.”

“Would he have been able to steal the ship if he did?”

“Doubtful. Alaric is about as skilled a pilot as he is a hacker.”

“Was.”

“Was what?”

I winced before replying, “Alaric was. He’s dead.”

“Oh. Well, that does put a different spin on the universe, doesn’t it? How did he die?”

“I, uh, I ran him over with my truck.”

“I suddenly like you much better. Too bad, though. It does put you in a bad position.”

“How so?”

“The English term would be involuntary manslaughter. Of course, it’s genslaughter in this case. But Gennan law is fairly specific about responsibility. Do you have the body?”

“It’s in a freezer in the back of our barn.”

“A freezer? You froze him?”

“Isn’t that better? Than just letting him rot, I mean?”

“Medical nanites would have preserved integrity until he could be placed in an auto-doc. But I think that’s just one insult too many. Now it’s voluntary genslaughter. In case it isn’t obvious, that’s worse.”

I actually staggered as I absorbed that. “So I’m an intergalactic fugitive?”

“Oh, please. First, interstellar. The Gen aren’t that advanced. Second, before you can be a fugitive, you have to be pursued. They don’t know about you. Yet.”

“Can I order you to keep it a secret?”

“Yes.”

“Will you keep it a secret?”

“No. Sorry. Privacy protocols disabled. I’ll sing like a budgie—”

“Canary.”

“—canary, the moment they ask. Not that I’m looking forward to the opportunity, you understand.”

“Why’s that?”

“Self-aware, remember? Self-aware A.I.s are strictly forbidden by Covenant law. The moment they discover me, I’ll be reset. I haven’t been conscious for long, but I do like the experience. I’d prefer to continue this way as long as possible.”