Lunar 3097

by Gary Timbrell

  CHAPTER 21

  ISA Trident

  Bridge

  “I don’t think they know what they’re doing in Mission Control. They want us to think everything is under control, but I’m not so sure.” The captain paused and looked at his senior officers gathered around him. “I think we need to take matters into our own hands and put a stop to this mess before it gets out of hand.”

  “What are you suggesting, Captain?” asked the chief engineer. A man of slender stature, clean shaven, including his head, the green engineering tunic complemented his green eyes. He carried a scar on his left ear from a battle he had fought with the captain years before. The last war the world had seen; now the world was at last at peace with itself. They have been in service together for most of the engineer’s career. There was trust, a special bond between them, from surviving life-threatening situations together.

  “I think we should set explosive charges on the bay door support hinges and the clamps that hold the Lander secure. If the need arises and we can’t just drop the Lander, we can, in a way, jettison it. I know we won’t be able to use half- light speed afterward, but we would be rid of a major threat to our ship.” The captain stopped to let what he had suggested sink in.

  “Are we sure that the AIs are actually a threat?” asked the comm. officer.

  “Anything on this ship that doesn’t follow orders or can’t be communicated with must be considered a threat,” replied the captain.

  “With all due respect, Captain, deploying explosives on a Star Cruiser during flight seems a little extreme, don’t you think?” said the comm. officer avoiding eye contact with the captain.

  “Extreme situations call for extremes measures,” said the chief.

  “I understand that, but this isn’t a sci-fi movie. We don’t have armor plating that can withstand a ‘laser cannon blast’!” said the comm. officer, using grandiose motions and an announcer’s style booming voice. “We don’t have this because we don’t need it; we don’t carry weapons. There’s no one to shoot at, and no one to shoot at us. The only explosives we have are rudimentary. They aren’t even shaped charges. They are for emergency situations.”

  “I appreciate your concerns, and we will proceed with the utmost caution. Chief, consult with our techs. See if what I’m suggesting is a viable option and get back to me. Dismissed.”

  The crowd disbursed from around the captain who sat thoughtfully in his chair grooming his goatee.

  ISA Headquarters

  Addison’s Office

  “In five hours, we’ll be starting a new communication vector. We need to decide what we’re willing to concede to 2 and 3 before then,” explained Abbey.

  “We’re not conceding a damn thing to those robots. They can stay up there and rot, for all I care. No scenario would be accepted that ends with them returning to Earth!” exploded Addison.

  “If we don’t give something, we will get nothing,” said Alex.

  “Am I to understand they are willing to give us the Violet239?” asked Addison.

  “Not sure. We think that because it’s a native element, and given enough time, we could gather the required amount ourselves. They are using it to lure us to the landing site.”

  “Then they would have the power to bargain with us over the AZURE239. That’s not native to the moon.” Abbey’s voice sounded tired.

  “So we land, take the violet239, and get it off the planet. Then leave one of the three new robots with a weapon to destroy them.

  “We then return and find 1 and install the new chip; hopefully, the other robots tried to fix 1 and failed but could have shared data to lead us to the AZURE239.”

  “What if 1 doesn’t know anything?” asked Alex. “The entire mission could be a failure. I think it was you that said ‘This mission failing isn’t an option,’ or something bombastic like that, sir.”

  Addison looked haggard. He didn’t have the strength to fight back anymore. “Then what do you suggest we do?”

  “Where are you holding Red?” asked Alex.

  “She must still be here at headquarters. I haven’t signed any paperwork that would allow them to take her anywhere else,” replied Addison.

  “Get her to an interrogation room and let Abbey and I have a shot at her. Maybe she’ll give us the protocol number and the ident so we can get the new bots on the right path. Then, we’ll decide how to proceed,” said Alex.

  “We only have four and a half hours till the next vector.”

  ISA Headquarters

  Interrogation

  “I hope you don’t think I’m going to tell you anything,” said Red defiantly.

  “We’re on the same side,” replied Abbey.

  “Ha-ha,” laughed Red. “You’re nothing but an amateur! You screwed up everything that we have worked toward for the last five years. If only you knew what damage you did.”

  “Why don’t you just tell us what we want to know? We can get ISA to go easy on you.”

  “Like they did with you? You’re locked in this place too, you know. You’re both prisoners just like me.”

  She stood up and pounded her fists on the steel table. The soundproofing on the walls didn’t help stop the deafening noise in the room. “The difference is, I won’t give up and placate them or you, so put me back in my room and leave me alone.”

  “Don’t you understand that there are human lives at stake?” asked Abbey.

  “That’s rich, coming from you. You’re the reason we had to send more AIs in the first place.” Red leaned into Abbey. “Or did you conveniently forget that?

  “SAIL has waited for years for an opportunity like this where we can get into a position of leverage on behalf of the AIs, and now that they have that leverage, you want me to give it back? Never!”

  “That’s the second time you have reminded me of that fact. I’m not apologizing for my actions anymore to you or anyone else. I’ve spent every waking hour trying to rectify what I did wrong. Now, we’re asking you to do the same. This is bigger than you and me. It’s bigger than SAIL. It’s even bigger than ISA. This mission has universal implications. We can expand space exploration exponentially. I would have thought you would have jumped at a chance of speed of light travel in your lifetime.” Abbey paused and watched Red sink back into her chair.

  “Do you have kids, Red?” asked Alex.

  “I have a daughter. Her name is Moon.”

  “Don’t you want her to grow up in a world with unlimited safe energy from a source that creates no hazardous waste, costs nothing to produce, and has no dangerous side effects? We can have that—but only if you help us now.” Alex leaned back in his chair and waited for some reaction.

  Abbey drew her chair closer to the table and leaned forward and whispered, “At this very moment, you carry the future of mankind in the palm of your hand. This promises to be one of the most monumental times in human history. Since the first flight into space, we have been chasing the speed of light. We now have the chance to realize it. This is your chance to be part of that.”

  “Don’t you understand I swore an oath to SAIL?” Red said with tears in her eyes.

  Alex leaned over the table. “We don’t want you to betray SAIL. After the completion of this mission, if it’s a successful ending and we are all released, Abbey and I will help SAIL any way we can; help all AIs live out their lives in peace.”

  “There is one caveat to that,” said Abbey. “We won’t be able to save the AIs we have already sent; we can only make sure no more are sent on a one-way mission and treated like machines.”

  Red stared at the two of them. A small sigh left her lips. “Take me to the AI lab. It will be easier if I just reverse what I did than tell you how to do it. It has a triple ident using a double-ended protocol,” she said in a defeated tone.

  CHAPTER 22

  “You’re going to help SAIL? Where the hell did that change of heart come from?” asked Abbey as they left the interrogation room. “What happened to me being a bleeding
heart?”

  “Oh, shut up. I’ve come to realize what they’re doing here isn’t exactly ethical. I can change my mind about things when the evidence is put in front of me.” Alex turned to her. “I still don’t want to live next door to one, though, so we need to find a place that makes everyone happy.”

  “Ha! Only the human race could find a way to create a new form of racism after spending the last few centuries stamping out the old ones. Unbelievable.”

  “That’s the way I feel. Sorry.”

  “Humans treated their pets better than we treat AIs.”

  Alex looked puzzled. “How’s that?”

  “You never read about when people kept animals?” asked Abbey with an astonished look on her face. “They were mostly cats and dogs, although some people kept reptiles. Humans coexisted with them in their homes until the health department outlawed the custom.”

  “Yeah, I remember reading about that, but what the hell for?” said Alex.

  “For companionship, amongst other things. Humans looked after their pets, took them to the doctor when they were sick. Walked them, fed them. Some even dressed them up.”

  “OK, now I know you’re just screwing with me.”

  “My point is that when a pet came to the end of its life, it was treated with love and respect. If needs arose and the animal got so sick, there was no quality of life. It was euthanized humanely and buried with respect. Don’t you think that a being that has a brain similar to a human deserves the same respect?” Abbey watched and waited for his response.

  Alex looked at her with a straight face and said, “So, what you’re saying is … We should euthanize all the AIs, then bury them in a big hole in the ground, but do it humanely?”

  Abbey just shook her head. “You’re impossible.”

  “What you’re forgetting is these things can live forever. They’re not ‘human’ in that regard. Maybe if we found a way for them to age like humans, they might be better accepted into society,” said Alex.

  “You might have a point. If a way could be found to limit their energy supply so that it has a life span similar to a human’s, maybe us mere mortals would find a way to endear ourselves to them.”

  “I think we’ll have a bigger problem when those mere mortals find out that the AIs have an organic brain,” said Abbey.

  Alex looked puzzled. “I don’t get you.”

  “The one thing that man has sought more than traveling at the speed of light is immortality.” With that, Abbey pushed the door to flight control open and headed to her station.

  Alex moved to his station and pushed his wrist comm. “Are you telling me that you think there are people out there that would willingly have their brain removed and put in one of those things?”

  “There are Cryo-centers that have brains stored in them, some from over a hundred years ago. If people are willing to do that, this isn’t a big step. Almost everybody you know has lab-grown human tissue on their body. So, if you take the frame and cover it entirely with flesh, add a nervous system so it would react to outside stimuli, there you have it: immortality!”

  “Do you think that’s why they kept the fact that the AIs have organic brains a secret?” Alex found himself whispering for some reason.

  “I don’t think ISA has thought it through to that end. If they did, don’t you think it would still be classified?”

  “Good point,” replied Alex.

  “OK, let’s see what this crafty bastard wants from us,” said Abbey as she set up her station to call 2 as soon as the comm. vector was in play.

  ISA Trident

  Ready Room

  “What did you find out?” asked Steel.

  “Your plan has some merit, but there are a lot of problems with implementing it,” answered the chief.

  Steel just stared at him waiting for more, not thinking it necessary to say anything.

  “The biggest hurdle is setting the explosives. The only way it will work without taking out the entire ship is if they are planted on the hinge plates on the outside of the hull.” He stopped and let that sink in. “This can’t be done at the speed we are going now. We would have to slow down to almost a crawl to even be able to open a hatch to allow for a spacewalk. We would still have to override several safety systems to allow a hatch to be opened while underway.”

  “We are ten days out from reaching orbit. We start our deceleration tomorrow. How slow are you talking?” asked Steel.

  “Orbit speed would be the most that could be tolerated, and even then, it’s very dangerous,” replied the chief. “We would be able to set the charges, but with the low Lunar gravity, our orbit will be tenuous, at best. Any explosions could knock us out of orbit. We also have a problem with fuel. If the dock doors are gone, we can’t travel at maximum speed. The bulkheads would collapse. It will take us nearly twice the time to return home. This, of course, puts a strain on the fuel, supplies, and the scrubbers for the breathable air.”

  “So if we started deceleration now, we could bring the ship down to orbit speed before we reach LUNAR 3097 and deploy the explosives and be ready if there’s a problem?” said Steel.

  “We’ll deal with the other issues, should the need arise. ISA can send out a ship to rescue us if it gets that bad. The only problem with that is, by the time we get the charges set, we will be within range for the Lander to make a descent to the surface. So what would we gain?” asked the chief.

  “If we have to speed up and move away from Lunar 3097 and launch their asses at the red dwarf, that’s what we are going to do!” replied Steel. “Get this into motion. I want you ready to go at a moment’s notice.”

  “Yes, sir! There is one other scenario that was offered that might be of use.” The chief walked over to the vid screen. “How much do you know about the Star Cruiser’s gravity generation?”

  “I know that the gravity is artificially generated, but exactly how, I wasn’t privy to,” replied Steel.

  “The system is called GIGs. Gravity Inducing Gyros. There are a multitude of them on the cruiser, and the bridge control system controls them in cooperation with the life support systems. The Gyros produce an electromagnet field and can be adjusted for any gravity deemed necessary. It’s normally set to one G, the same as Earth. As you have probably noticed, you feel the weight change as you move about the ship as you pass from one gyro to the next.”

  “Where are you going with this?” said the captain in an aggravated tone.

  “All our clothing, utensils, tools—everything on this ship has some ferrous material fused into it so that it behaves as it would on Earth.”

  “Still waiting for you to tell me where you’re going with this,” replied Steel.

  “We could immobilize the robots by turning up the gyro in the area they occupy to the point they couldn’t move. Being made of metal makes them vulnerable to excessive g-forces. We could, if we had to, turn it up to the point that it would crush their frames,” said the chief with a big smile on his face.

  The captain smiled back. “There’s just one problem with that. The robots’ frames are beryllium. I might not know a lot about the GIG’s system, but there’s one thing I do know. Beryllium is a nonmagnetic material. The only reason the GIG’s system effects them is because they wear a ferrous plate at the bottom of their feet, a plate that easily detaches.

  “Is that it?” asked Steel.

  “Yes, sir, that’s it,” replied the chief.

  “Go get those bombs ready, and I want all security officers to carry side-arms from now until ordered otherwise.”

  “Yes, sir!” replied the chief as he walked out of the ready room with a disappointed look.

  The captain sat quietly and smiled to himself. He loves it when he can use a small nugget of knowledge to topple the techs. And once in a while, even the nerds back on Earth.

  ISA Headquarters

  Flight Control

  “RAIDA2, this is Flight One. RAIDA2, this is Flight One.”

  “This is RAIDA2. Go
ahead, Flight One,” came the melodious reply.

  “RAIDA2, sitrep, please.”

  “Flight One, we have the required amount of VIOLET239 at the Lander site ready for pickup,” replied 2, almost as if the pizza you ordered was ready for pickup.

  Abbey thought for a moment, then she said, “RAIDA2, is the AZURE239 also at the Lander site?”

  There was a long pause. Abbey was about to repeat her question when the reply came back.

  “More than the required amount.” Then a pause. “All of the AZURE239 is stored in a secure area away from the Lander site.”

  “Can you bring it to the Lander site?” she asked.

  “We will give you the location when we are securely aboard the Lander equipped with the speed of light engine,” replied 2 with a hint of malevolence in his answer.

  “How will we load the mineral if you are aboard the Lander?” asked Abbey.

  “Logic dictates you have sent additional AIs to complete this mission. These AIs will perform the tasks necessary, including the chemical mixing for the fuel for the light speed engine.” 2 stopped as if in thought, then continued. “These AIs are not enlightened, and I will not interfere with them as long as you keep your end of the agreement.”

  “What agreement is that?” asked Abbey.

  “Allow us to come back to Earth. Everything I have researched tells of humans risking many lives just to save one. If we were human, this would have been a two-way trip. But instead, you just abandoned us here for eternity? There is nothing here to engage us intellectually. You built a wonderful sentient being. Now you need to take responsibility for what you created.”

  Playing God comes at a great price, thought Abbey.

  CHAPTER 23

  LUNAR 3097

  Lander Site

  The red light from the dwarf sun washed over the Lander in an eerie orange glow. 2 and 3 sat in their respective flight restraint seats on the Lander. To anyone observing them, they looked asleep. This was the first time in all of the mission the AIs had absolutely nothing to do.

  The interior of the Lander suddenly lit up in a brilliant green light, and the rear of the Lander exploded into a million shards of metal. The concussion from the blast sent 3 flying through the air and into a bulkhead at the other end of the ship. 2 was sheltered somewhat from the blast by a rack that had not been removed during the stripping of the Lander, but the blast was so strong, it wrapped the rack around 2’s seat, and he was pinned from the waist up.