by Rashid Ahmed
The AI had been receiving a barrage of information from the armada of framandi vessels. They were continuously sharing their asteroid lobbing experience, with other vessels. The manoeuvre was down to a pat.
As Átt approached the plotted asteroid, gentle points of focussed gravity were placed ahead of it. This got the designated asteroid moving. By the time Átt was close to it, the asteroid had picked up enough speed to keep pace with the spacecraft. Then additional gravity points were introduced to get it spinning. This was to reduce the amount of surface-contact, any beam weapons would have, on the asteroid. It was also hoped that the spin would help the asteroid shoulder away smaller pieces of debris or projectiles, in an already littered space battlefield.
The manoeuvre went off as planned. The asteroid allocated to Átt, was on its way towards a gigil carrier-ship. The system-wide situational awareness projection was getting sharper and more detailed, as a greater number of framandi vessels swapped their data.
The three gigil command-ships in the lofi system were utilizing their heavy particle beam weapons to great effect; neatly taking out large swathes of inbound armed and passive asteroids. But the intense chaos caused by the asteroid barrage, was beginning to take a toll on the smaller vessels. These were beginning to get pummelled by debris from exploding asteroids. A large cloud of fast-moving space-boulders was converging in on the three prongs of the gigil fleet. Things seemed to be going well.
Having completed its task with the first asteroid designated to them, the Átt moved on to the second. This was a larger asteroid, similar in size to the one the spacecraft had towed into the lofi system. A pair of the crew were to undertake an EVA to oversee and assist three pairs of drones. They needed to plant explosives at specific points on the asteroid. The drones aboard Átt had already successfully completed this task once, before entering the lofi system, so the crew were confident about undertaking the exercise again. Ásta and Stefán were the freshest of the crew, so they were tasked to oversee the drones.
Áox thought to them, “I would like to accompany you. I am an ‘Explorer’. Every experience adds to my ability.”
Sven agreed, “Perhaps we could learn from you too.”
Ásta and Stefán quickly went over to Vestur where their HSEVA suits were. Áox went to Norður to don a framandi space suit. A few minutes later, Áox thought to all of them, “I’m at the forward airlock of your bio-module, ready to exit. I’ve initiated outer material reformation to allow your universal docking port hatches to open on Norður and Vestur.” Áox had picked up names quite well and had even learnt to refrain from sending along reams of data, to support what was being spoken about. Unless data was asked for, of course. Áox, Advisor of the Explorers, had previously expressed that humans seemed to do well even with tiny amounts of information. Their capacity to extrapolate seemed boundless.
“We’ll be ready in our forward airlock in a minute,” Ásta thought back to the framandi, and to Stefán. She had begun to have regular thought conversations with Stefán, her shift partner, through their diadems. He in turn, had become just as fluent in holding these kinds of conversations, with the framandi aboard. She had once commented to the AI in a report, that thought conversations via diadem, may depend a lot on the number of previous conversations the participating individuals may have had. The better the minds understood each other, the easier the conversations were.
“We’re at the airlock,” Ásta announced to the crew and to Áox. It was time to begin their extravehicular activity. The airlock on Vestur opened into a tunnel, formed by the smart framandi exterior hull material. They carefully exited. Drones from Vestur and Suður used rear airlocks and joined them. Áox was already at the asteroid and was observing them approach. He held out one arm towards the fifth planet, pointing to it.
Áox thought to them, “There is a lot of activity on the habitable planet. Shuttles are continuously moving between the planet and the fleet. Many of these seem to be going to the largest gigil vessels.” Ásta thought to the framandi, “Clarify, please.” Immediately imagery gleaned and combined from the large swarm of framandi vessels appeared to her and the rest of the crew.
“We’ll take a look at what’s going on,” Sven said. “You focus on the asteroid. It has a high metallic composition so it could get tricky. Be careful.”
The outer scan of the asteroid had provided them with suitable spots to drill and place explosives. Closer and deeper scans revealed that the asteroid would be tough to crack apart with gravity alone. Ásta replied to him, “Yes, tricky indeed. This is going to be mind-numbing.”
The framandi had a solution. Áox suggested, “Some of the hull’s smart material covering Átt can be instructed to travel in thin lines, over the sections of the asteroid which we require weakened. The smart material will gather up dust-sized portions of the asteroid surface and deposit it on Átt. The metallic asteroid dust could be useful raw material.”
Stefán who was observing Áox, as he tended to do whenever either of the framandi were around, remarked, “Conceptually that would be just like how strong wire is used to cut through rock or marble, using abrasion. Understood.”
Sven said, “I’ll bring Átt in close, so the vessel touches the asteroid. It’ll be easier for the material to move to and from the asteroid.”
Crystal added, “I’ll begin tasking the material through our AI interface. We’ve got a steep learning curve ahead of us, on programming the material. Nothing like a little practice in a high-stress situation.”
Áox expressed happy thoughts to all of them. The framandi was very pleased that the humans were taking the initiative and becoming involved. They had a shared past, however distant; and, it seemed increasingly likely they would share an allied future.
The drones had begun drilling into the asteroid at their designated positions. Ásta, Stefán and Áox; each took up positions near them to assist or instruct if required. Stefán immediately noticed an issue. The drone he was with was vibrating and rocking about. Something didn’t seem right. He instructed the drone to turn its drill off. Stefán went over and peered into the shallow hole the drill had made, shining suit-mounted lights into it. He thought out to Áox, “The material inside this asteroid appears to be tough gleaming metal. The drill’s unable to penetrate.” Ásta indicated that the drone she was supervising was facing a similar issue.
Áox bent down next to Stefán. He shared worried emotions with them, while conveying, “This may be a disguised spacecraft from your galaxy. Leftover from an ancient battle in our system. Somehow it has found its way here. It seems to be inert. Be very vigilant. They can remain dormant for long periods.”
By now, Ásta had come over. She said, “Your people recovered artefacts, remnants from space battles in your system and ours. Surely you know how to salvage this.”
“I do not have it in my own memory. I can retrieve it,” Áox thought back.
Stefán enquired, “How’s it covered in hardened rock? It wasn’t even identifiable as a spacecraft.”
Áox answered, “It is from some of these that we discovered and learnt to be hidden or masked, to be disguised, to go unnoticed.” Imagery of framandi vessels hiding their hulls, living inside asteroids and other space bodies, appeared in their minds.
The framandi continued, “The owners of these vessels, moulded molten rock to the exterior of their spacecraft. Layer upon compacted layer. They were supposedly adept at infiltrating deep into the gigil fleets.”
Ásta thought to them, “I’d be very interested in knowing what they did after they infiltrated.”
Áox responded, “I’ve been able to retrieve the information on dormant vessel recovery. The size of this one indicates it may be what you could refer to as an ‘intelligence’ signals hacking vessel. It can be used to take over portions of gigil automated technology. The gigil rely heavily on automation. It’s also capable of taking over some species’ wetware, the nervous systems and brains, subjugating them.”
Sven who
had his diadem linked to the EVA team’s; thought to them from Átt, “Would this vessel give us an advantage?”
Áox replied, “It could. If we can get into it, replace certain components, power it up and take over its programming. This will be highly dangerous. If we’re unsuccessful in the first attempt, this vessel could take over the Átt, and other vessels in the vicinity.”
Sven asked, “But your people have done this before right?”
“Eons ago. Last, after the conflict in your system. Not recently,” Áox responded.
A hasty discussion ensued between Max and other key observers patched in from the solar system. Sven thought to them, “We should attempt recovery. This could help us immensely.” After receiving a go-ahead from participating Lýsi observers, Sven asked Áox, “Will you help us salvage this spacecraft?”
Áox thought back, “Áom and I will gather the required enlightenment to achieve this.” The team temporarily halted their EVA, while the encounter with the gigils raged on. Their discovery could give them an advantage against the gigils, an edge they sorely needed.
Discoveries
Álfhól Space Platform.
Max was had just come off a video call with Gogh and Rafael who were on Marion Island. The SSEV Nál, operated by the AI Kei, had successfully recovered the data and processing units, initially presented by AL-I. The SSEV was approaching Lýsi’s deep-space platform Sólríka, which occupied the Sun-Earth L1 Lagrange point. The platform had just been commissioned and brought online. Jón and Ásta’s parents were given the honour of naming the platform. They’d called it ‘sunny’ in Icelandic.
Similar platforms were rapidly being constructed by Asteroid Mining and Construction Autonomous Robots or AMCARs. These were to occupy the L1 Lagrange points of each of the first five planets in the solar system. All platforms close to the Sun, were to be automated and robotically managed. Operations on these were to be completely controlled by the two AIs, Shun and Kei. This would let people aboard accelerate their research and development work.
Sólríka was important. It contained multiple quantum computing cores distributed between the two AIs. It was also the largest space vessel manufacturing centre. However, it would soon be overtaken in capacity by the platform located at the Sun-Mars L2 Lagrange point, which was close to the solar system’s main asteroid belt. Presently, Sólríka was to house the first artefacts directly handed over by extra-terrestrials.
Soon after the SSEV Nál had taken aboard the data and processing units provided by AL-I, Gylfi Hallgrímsson and Katrín Magnusdóttir, the transhuman twins’ parents, had solved the problem of redesigning all known Earth DNA, to be compatible with the framandi’s.
The bio-technicians had productively queried AL-I’s data module, using Kei’s upgraded natural language interface. The information required by them was already available on the framandi data unit, including how to introduce the DNA modifications, across species, worldwide. They just needed to find suitably updated vectors to carry and introduce the DNA modifications, into global populations.
There was also the moral decision of conducting such an operation. Given the speed with which they needed to introduce the modifications, it wouldn’t be possible to take permission from every individual on Earth. Completing the action would take time. Possibly a year for deep marine life. For life on the surface of the planet though, changes would be immediate.
The twins’ parents were grappling with this. Lýsi’s leadership had consulted with some of the best and brightest minds and concluded that the group would need to act on behalf of the planet. Failure to do so could expose the entire planet to catastrophic risk. That was unacceptable.
Gogh had given instructions to begin genetic modifications, which were to be carried on a series of viruses. Viruses were known to swap genes with nearly all known life. The changes to be introduced would impact archaea, bacteria, and eukaryotes. Effectually all life on Earth would be covered.
The manner of deployment was debated. Finally, Max had provided the solution. He’d observed that asteroids were continuously processed for resources, out at the Sun-Mars L2 Lagrange point platform. The mined processed minerals were hurled out to Sólríka and other platforms, in woven carbon containers. Viral vectors produced at scale at Sólríka, could be placed within protected vials. The viral payload could then be placed into the used woven carbon containers after the transported minerals were removed.
Max suggested that the containers with vials, could then be catapulted towards Earth, using carefully calculated trajectories. The container outer material would burn up in the atmosphere, allowing the protected vials to burst open in the lower atmosphere, releasing their viral packages. No container particles would remain, which could cause injury to people or wildlife. The plan was minutely studied for flaws and then initiated.
Rafael had called Max shortly after the debate. Max’s screen lit up with the boy’s face on it. Max said, “I had a feeling you’d call. How’s your training progressing?”
Rafael replied, “I’m being put through advanced combat training. Next up, space defence strategy. By the way, I was going through the scenarios you had shared with me; the ones the AIs had pulled together for solar system defence. The final one, which relies on using concentrated solar light, like laser; would take too long to arrive at the intended destination, if it’s directed from close to the Sun. I have a solution.”
Max perked up and asked, “What would that be?”
Rafael said, “Since we already have deep-space platforms parked at various places around the solar system, why not begin the process of reflecting and concentrating solar radiation, from near the Sun and send it deep into our solar system, where it’s bounced between platforms and satellites. We’ll need a web of satellites placed throughout the solar system which would continuously receive concentrated solar radiation. As one ring of the satellite-web is completed, another layer can be constructed. The problem of getting concentrated radiation, to the far reaches of the solar system would be solved. Concentrated radiation would already be available close to where it’s needed, if we’re already collecting it within the web of networked defence satellites.”
“Interesting,” Said Max. “We’ll need to work on occupying few key positions initially, and then add to these,” he said. Then he asked, “Where would you suggest we place the solar-beam reflecting satellites?”
“I’m suggesting a pair of geo-stationary satellites near all planets in the solar system, and each of their L3 Lagrange points,” Rafael replied.
Max said, “I see. This would give us two of these satellites at each planet, and a third on the opposite side of the Sun, on the planet’s orbit.”
Rafael confirmed, “Yes, that’s right.”
“Thank you for bringing this to me,” Max said. “I’ll provide your input to the AIs, so that it can be implemented along with the overall defense strategy,” he added.
Rafael waved and said, “I’ll call if I have anything more.” He signed off.
Max’s screen switched back to the situational awareness feed from the lofi system, which was compiled and pushed to all participating Lýsi members. He was pleased to see that Átt’s crew had made progress with the recently discovered dormant alien vessel. He asked Kei to prioritise updates about the discovery, while making his way to the newly assigned brig section of Álfhól platform. He was to meet Maji, who had an update for him.
“You’re here earlier than I expected,” Maji said, as Max entered an operations area beside the brig. The area had been equipped to function as Lýsi’s space defence command post and communications centre.
Max was impressed with what he saw. He smiled and replied, “You got this place organized quickly. Where’s my workspace?”
Maji pointed to the rear and said, “A wardroom with a conference table. It has a fantastic view into outer space.”
“Do you have an office?” Max asked.
“The wardroom to the left of yours.” Maji replied. �
�We’ll use the operations area here for briefings. It’ll be efficient enough.” He added.
Max settled himself into a grav-chair, the standard seating in space. He expected an update on the hijackers they had captured. He wasn’t disappointed.
Maji said, “Our ‘guests’ haven’t been very cooperative. We haven’t used any coercive techniques during our investigative interrogations. They’re not going to be a problem for now, but we need to figure out what we’re going to do with them.”
“Yes, we shouldn’t encounter a situation like this again.” Max said. He continued, “Lýsi is implementing enhanced security controls and measures. This will limit access and exposure. Our space operations and access to AI hubs, were prioritised.”
“We can’t let the hijackers back onto Earth for the time being. We’ll either have to hold or absorb them, till we can control information.” Max added.
Maji said, “How’s that going to happen?”
Max answered, “Lýsi is working on it. The plan requires a bit of time. But it’ll be done. Give our ‘guests’ access to general information. Nothing that provides insights into our research and development. If any are willing, they could participate in space combat scenario analysis.”