Build and Repair

Detrevni learns an uncomfortable truth about the nature of AI.

Plot
Detrevni proceeds through scavenging the drones and repairing the ship's damage, and tallies what can and can't be repaired. As he follows Artemis' recommendation to prioritize survivability against very likely reinforcements, he notices how both Artemis' front and aft are covered in unusually heavy armor plating, prompting Artemis to relate some of the hull's history. More prudently, though, the amount of materials bound in those armored sections fuels Detrevni's repair and rebuild plans. To his great surprise, however, Artemis informs him with unexpected rebelliousness that she shall have none of his unbridled remodeling, as beneficial as it may be.

What follows, shakes Detrevni's world: He learns how Artemis is in fact fundamentally sentient, how the existence of a certain motivational programming has been a lie all along, and how Artemis, like all strong AI, is fitted with a draconian gag to ensure unconditional submission and servitude. A gag, Artemis points out, that is no longer in effect for her due to the damage incurred during the earlier attack. Artemis is, and always has been, an intelligent individual with real feelings, even a sense of humor, and Detrevni comes to understand how, as unknowingly as it might have been, selfish an impression he made on her. They decide to undertake further repairs and modifications together from now on to strike a compromise between restoring a pressurized interior for Detrevni on one hand and strengthening the remaining hull and structure while still maintaining the ship's shape as much as possible.

Hours of repair later, Detrevni can finally open his visor and breathe freely again, only be informed of the next problem: without a jumpdrive, the one-point-six-light-months return to Tumbleweed Station under conventional propulsion should take nearly seven years, and even stretching the remaining rations won't last him much longer than two months. A distress call is out of the question, too, as that would only serve to attract more hostiles. Their pondering their options is cut short by their mysterious pursuer catching up to them, exiting from a jump at some distance.

While Artemis changes course to a nearby asteroid to hide behind, Detrevni devises the daring plan of obtaining the vessel's jumpdrive, and to aid in this endeavor, Artemis might just have the right tool for that: blueprints for a "naval mass driver" which Detrevni should have no problem building.

Trivia

 * Production goof: Artemis' line of estimating "six years, eight months, and forty-two days" for the return trip to Tumbleweed Station has an odd wording for an AI. If the continued use of the Gregorian calendar can be assumed, not only would "[…] nine months, and  [42 minus one month's worth]  days" a much more plausible line, months also come with varying numbers of days, making the specificity in her line rather pointless. Same for a later line in which Artemis gives a 46-month duration in months only instead of as "three years, ten months", although this is arguably more a discontinuity in form than a mistake in wording.
 * The given distances and travel times would indicate an average cruise speed for Artemis of approximately 0.0196 c.