Freedom From Want — D.W. Patterson

The promise of Artificial Intelligence is great. But only if Artificial Intelligence fulfills our expectations. But what about AI's expectations? Will they be different from ours? Will AI come to believe the best way to fulfill our expectations is to manage our expectations? If so, what of freedom? "Freedom From Want" is a story in the Future Chronology Series. This series of short stories published by Hiawassee Publishing ranges from near future stories to far millennial stories, from familiar Earth-based settings to distant worlds. Excerpt: Right at ten-pm local time the fusion rocket fired perfectly as the Em family in charge kept it operating at optimum levels. The ship began moving ponderously at first and then picking up speed and maneuvering to a course to take it directly away from the Federation ships. The course could later be corrected for Titan. At first the Federation ships did not seem to respond to the movement of the Ikaros. Then one after the other the three Federation ships moved on an arc to intercept. Even at full speed the Ikaros was ten times slower than the Federation ships. The Federation ship Defiant started broadcasting a cease and desist order to the Ikaros. The Ikaros did not slow down. The Defiant issued a final warning that force would be used to stop the Ikaros if it did not stop on its own. The Ikaros finally responded that it did not recognize the authority of the Terran Federation and it would not shut down its engines. At intercept all three Federation ships opened fire with high-powered laser weapons, aiming at the Ikaros' fusion engine. After several minutes of continuous firing the engine seemed to erupt, blowing apart the rear of the fusion ship. The entire structure began to tumble. The stress started to tear apart the spokes. The wheel was soon drifting and tumbling in one direction while what was left of the fusion ship was drifting and tumbling in the other direction. Just then one of the Federation ships which had a spher