Queen Zaria Trilogy

by Danny Dunn

  Steve's cell phone vibrates, and he looks at it. It's a message from JoAnn.

  JoAnn "They just flew by, you can forget about the 30 minutes, they are in a real hurry and will be there in more like 15 to 20.

  Steve shows Pong the message from Debbie.

  Pong, "I understand you have some puzzles for me to solve.

  Steve messages Debbie, " thanks, Debbie, you can go home now. Be sure to turn on your TV...lol

  CNN REPORTER

  Yes, we do.

  1. Space travel – How many miles will one travel at the speed of light if they travel for 4 years 6 months and 22 days.

  Pong “well, there are several factors to consider when calculating the answer to this question. Assuming we are departing from the earth, we need to know the exact day and time we are leaving. Depending on when you leave, there will be either one or two leap years involved. Second, are we traveling with or against or perpendicular to the direction your galaxy is traveling? There is a swing thereof up to 360 million miles.

  I will assume we leave tomorrow, which means there will be 2 leap years. I will also assume we measure from the original point in space to the point when the magical spaceship was at the end of the time. I will also assume we use the clock at the starting point as the clock on the spaceship will have a very different time.

  I will assume we are traveling perpendicular to the direction of the galaxy, in which case the answer is 27,367,891,200,000 miles based on the direction of travel relative to the travel of your galaxy. This assumes we avoid black holes, which changes everything. If we are traveling with the direction of the galaxy movement, then you can deduct up to 360 million miles, and you would add up to 360 million miles if we are traveling away from the galaxy.

  2. All the backup for E=MC2. On a screen next to Pong, there is tiny scribbling on the screen, drawing a picture of a tree.

  3. Gettysburg address and declaration of Independence, rotate documents every sentence and each line in a different language of earth.

  Pong replies, I will make this fun for you and will make sure no one thinks I looked up the answers on the internet.

  Pong starts with Gettysburg Address in French, some odd-sounding audio begins playing over the sound system that sounds like gibberish and is going so fast it is almost a buzzing sound. But the sound is changing pitches and has a rhythm to it. She giggles and tells them this is her puzzle for them.

  Steve "Well, ladies and gentlemen, it appears the Federal government is at our gate. Would you like to join me to see what they want?" Steve walks toward the gate. The press rushes to gather their equipment and follow Steve while filming. All networks break in to announce the new development.

  End Chapter 20

  Chapter 21 - Judge Us By Our Size Will You

  Steve arrives at the front gate, the entire press core following him to where the Fed S.U.V.s are lined up on the other side of the electric gate." As they are all arriving at the front gate, a helicopter arrives and lands off to the side. The Feds had sent the SUVs up, anticipating the signing of the warrant. An FBI agent hops out of the chopper and walks up to Tom.

  Federal Agent 1 "I have in my hand a warrant authorizing us to seize all files, computers, documents, and other materials related to the radio transmission message received from space over the last 24 hours."

  Tom and the FBI agent issuing the warrant are surrounded by the press with their cameras and microphones.

  Tom, "I understand, sir, our security guard has gone home for the day, and we think he has the only key. We are using the pedestrian gate for the rest of the day. If you told me you were coming early, I would have told him not to lock it up. They show Tom their warrant and Tom gestures they are welcome to enter through the walk-through pedestrian gate.

  F.E.D. Agent 1, "RAM the gate."

  The federal Agent tells the press they are to leave immediately or be arrested for obstruction of justice. Tom asks the Agent where the warrant states that he has the right to remove the press from private property.

  F.E.D. Agent 1 "You are under arrest for obstructing a federal agent from carrying out a federal warrant." They arrest Tom for obstruction of justice.

  Tom goes peacefully. Steve is reading the warrant. The charges against Pong include; hacking a secured federal website, downloading top-secret materials, treason, espionage, conspiracy to commit Terrorism.

  Steve reads the scope of the warrant. Steve says to himself, "Pong you are a little genius," The warrant specifies the items to be taken included are to be on-site AND in our possession.

  Steve is talking to Tom as the FEDs are cuffing him and giving him his rights. My attorneys are on it already. Steve tells Tom that Pong was right about the scope of the warrant, and Tom nods his head and grins back at Steve. The feds take every computer and document in the entire facility.

  Steve says, "Well, that was one hell of a day." They are all in the lab conference room, and they turn on the news. On the T.V. screen is the video of the feds blasting through the gates and arresting Steve

  MSNBC TV NEWSCASTER

  In a bizarre turn of events, the U.S. government busted through the gates of the privately-owned radio telescope that found the Alien Artificially Intelligent being calling herself "Pong."

  The charges on the warrant signed by a federal judge include; hacking a secured federal website, downloading top-secret materials, treason, espionage, conspiracy to commit terrorism. They took Pong away inside her computer, you might say, along with many other computers and documents.

  Meanwhile, take a look at these amazing video takes just minutes before Pong was seized. And they show pong solving their questions.

  The last question Pong was asked was by our own reporter on-site. The request was to recite the Gettysburg Address and the Declaration of Independence, alternating between the two documents after each sentence. While also changing to a different language of our planet on every sentence. Our question was secret to up to the moment it was asked by our reporter. There could be no way the Alien could have read and prepared in advance. Also, no one knew of this request other than the reporter and our producer. When Pong put it up on the board, the alien wrote it in a circle backward, starting at the outside of the document leaving breaks in the work until it finished the two documents at the center of the document. At the same time, there was a very fast soundtrack playing that sounded like a bee buzzing in various pitches. Ladies and gentlemen. You are not going to believe this. You can see at the end of this Pong smiles and tells us that this is her puzzle back to us.

  Our technicians spent an hour on this and at one point, decided to play it backward and slow it down, and this is what we discovered. The alien had given us the file backward and sped up so that it drew the image with the blanks forming the statue of liberty. The sound was her voice quoting the two documents alternating in every language of our planet while playing first Yankee Doodle, followed by America the Beautiful, followed by the Star-Spangled Banner.

  We can’t even begin to express what a high level of intelligence it took to pull that off what was literally less than a minute. We are dealing with a being that is so far ahead of our current technology we can’t really begin to imagine how smart it is.

  Tom's attorney's files for the immediate release of Steve and Pong along with all files, docs, and videos stating the charges are fictitious and pure fabrication. Tom's attorney's file for Pong's release in a local Superior Court since the assets were seized from a privately-owned civilian location.

  Tom gets released around 6:00 pm. Steve and Tom go on every talk show they can, telling what nonsense the government's case is. They say over and over that the government is doing this to hack Pong to turn this Ambassador of Peace and Equality for All into weapons. They state that then the government will divvy Pong out in pieces to their top campaign contributors in the AI, computer, compression companies, and anyone else like doggie treats. They say the government is in for the fight of their lives. They also add that the Que
en of England had made Pong a sentient being, citizen, and an Ambassador before they were issued the warrant and that the U.S. government has arrested a standing Ambassador of a foreign country. They say Pong is innocent of all charges, and Pong will make minced meat of the government in court if necessary. Tom gets an update from his legal team and tells GNN on live TV that he has just been updated, and there will be a hearing tomorrow morning at 9:00 and the Albuquerque Superior Court to free Pong and encourages everyone to be there.

  Tim call's his mom and says Hi Mom, now do you believe me? Tim's mom responds, "O.M.G. Tim, are you ok?”

  “Tim tells her, yes, I am fine, Tom just got out of jail. All I can say is wow, what a first day, right? Tell Dad I will be bringing Aliens home sooner than we expected. They both laugh. Tim says, "Bye, Mom, see you tonight whenever we are done here."

  At 9:00 am the next morning, the Judge enters the courtroom and all rise as he enters. The Judge is a long-time standing Judge of 25 years and doesn't take to the government's strong-arm tactics. Tom and Steve and his team are standing outside the closed courtroom, waiting for the Judge to open up the courtroom to the public. Tom tells his group that this was the Judge his lawyers wanted. The case starts in a closed courtroom.

  The Judge looks at the defense table and says he assumes they are representing our alien friend Pong. Tom's Lawyers reply yes, your honor. They add your honor, we do have a document digitally signed by Pong requesting that she be assigned the head of her defense. Pong has also filed a request for this case to be held in open court, and that this proceeding to be open for the press with live feeds.

  The prosecution "We respectfully move that this case be moved to a Federal Court since this is a Federal matter, your honor.

  Judge "Councilor, your client blasted through the gates of a cooperating U.S. Citizen on private property. Your client then knowingly seized a sentient being who was already declared a citizen of England and an Ambassador in that country. That in itself breaks a whole basket of international laws, treaties, and agreements. Then you arrested an individual that sure appeared to me to be cooperating with the government. I will hear this case whether you like it or not. Your motion for a change in venues is denied.

  "Your honor, we object to both requests of the defense because we have overwhelming evidence establishing that Pong hacked 75 top-secret pages with the intent to gather information to overthrow the U.S. government. To provide the accused with a public forum would be detrimental to the safety of our country and our planet quite frankly.

  The Judge rules "I will err on the side of national security for now. The prosecution will show what it has, then I will rule on the motion to self-defend and the request to let the press and public in."

  The prosecution "We present Exhibit A, your honor. This document, along with the 74 other documents establish that the extraterrestrial a.k.a. Pong intentionally and illegally hacked a top-secret Federal Government website and retrieved 75 top-secret documents, your honor."

  The Judge reviews the document.

  Judge, "And what you have in that stack is 74 more of this?

  The prosecution "Yes, your honor, each page is a separate and deliberate offense punishable by up to 20 years in prison per incident and required by law to be served sequentially."

  Judge "Really councilor, all this establishes so far, is that your client can afford a lot of felt pens for redacting evidence. Government, call your first witness."

  The prosecution "Your honor, this document is signed by an undercover agent with the F.B.I., with a Ph.D. in Computer Science and has been a witness in over 50 hacking cases over the last 25 years. Bringing him here would put his life in jeopardy and the country at risk.

  Judge "Councilor, you want me to lock away the most intelligent being on our planet and arguably in our universe based solely on this highly redacted set of documents."

  The prosecution "Yes, your honor. We agree that this being has a very high level of intelligence, but it has used that high level of intelligence to hack our military sites and to gather TOP SECRET information that puts the security of our nation at risk."

  Judge "You may have gotten a warrant based on this, but you sure as hell are not going to lock away the one being that represents, what is without question, the most significant moment in the history of our planet based on a stack of redacted documents.

  "So, this is your case, counselor?"

  The prosecution "Yes your honor and we have here a stack of evidence establishing that "Pong" is willfully and systematically hacking classified sites and retrieving classified information. There is the potential that Pong or whatever it's real name will send this information to alien base-stations to use in an attack on our country and our planet.

  Judge "Given that the government has not come even close to establishing the defendant has committed any crime. I am willing to accept that Pong is capable of defending herself without destroying the country or the planet.

  "And, since all the government seems to have as evidence is a stack of redacted documents, I see no potential harm in opening up the courtroom for the world to see. You can't have it both ways, councilor. You would need to either disclose evidence in a closed court that convinces me you have a solid case or submit this stack of black lines in open court. Since you choose not to disclose any information, there is no reason for us to close the doors to the public on this.

  Judge "Prosecution produce Pong forthwith and be prepared to bring your witnesses in to substantiate your charges and to go through cross-examination."

  The prosecution "Your honor that isn't going to happen. Bringing our witness here would endanger the witness as well as our country."

  Judge "Councilor, did you just tell me no?

  The prosecution "Your honor, this is a matter of National Security."

  Judge, "Well, we are in my court now, and your strong-arm, cloak-and-dagger tactics are not going to work here councilor.”

  The prosecution "Your honor, we cannot expose our witnesses to public cross-examination.

  Judge, "I see, and your people who command this are in very high places I take it?

  The prosecution "Yes, your honor, the very highest. So maybe you would like some time to reconsider."

  Judge, "I understand now. Yes, I think it would be good for all of us to have time to think about this. The Judge looks up at the clock on the wall and watches five seconds tick away.

  “The Judge says he is done thinking on the matter and tells the prosecution he wants Pong here intact at 9:00 am tomorrow. I want your witnesses here at 9:00 am tomorrow. And I want you three in my jail for contempt until tomorrow. That will give you time to think about this court's decision and your response to my decision. And gentleman, you will stay in my jail until you get this court what it wants."

  I am granting Pong's request to act as the lead counsel in her defense, and I am granting her request to allow the press in, we will allow two T.V. cameras and the feeds of those cameras will be pooled with the rest of the world. This court is adjourned until 9:00 am tomorrow."

  The bailiffs walk over to the attorneys, cuff them, and walk them through the back door to the jail.

  The court proceeding is being broadcast on every network around the world and is being compared to the O.J. Trial.

  Every TV talk show, every news channel, every radio news, and talk show are covering nothing but the Pong court case. Tom and Steve are on every talk show they can appear on.

  9:00 am the next morning, and the open court begins

  Judge "Well, I trust that everyone had a good night's sleep and had time to think about things.

  Government, have you delivered Pong to this courtroom?

  The prosecution "Yes, your honor."

  Judge "And is your expert witness here.

  The prosecution, "Yes, Your Honor."

  Judge "Excellent, defense, please plug the computer in, and let's get Pong on the big screen, please.

  Karen, Steve, and Tim plug Pong in a
nd connect her to the court big screen. The computer boots up to C:/. The big screen shows Karen frantically punching in commands hitting the enter key harder with each result. Karen checks for other drives, hidden folders, she goes to the DOS activity and sees that the files have been erased. Karen goes back to the drive summary page that displays the capacity, the drive’s used space, and the drive’s available space and puts it up on the big screen. Karen addresses the judge, "Your honor, the hard drive of this computer, has been wiped clean. There is nothing on it.

  The Judge is furious "Prosecution, this is outrageous. I am holding you for contempt, and everyone involved in this deliberate act of destroying evidence. This is unbelievable. Councilors, we will sort out who did this while you are in my jail. The perpetrators of this felony are going to feel my wrath."

  The Judge turns to Karen and asks if she can fix it. Karen replies I think so your honor, Pong warned me they might pull this. She asked me to download a file onto a thumb drive, which I have here in my hand. The computer needs to be plugged into the internet to retrieve other files to reconstruct her main file. But I do believe it is going to get Pong back to operational status.

  Prosecution objects claiming that the file was included in the warrant and that the defense is to hand the drive over to the F.B.I., immediately.

  Pongs Defense team objects. Your honor, the file in question, and many more files are not included in the scope of the warrant. The warrant addresses only files that were on-site AND in possession at the time of the search. This file and many other files were not on-site, nor were they in possession at the time of the search. The Judge reads the warrant, and his mouth makes the very slightest of smirks. “So, I see. And you can prove this, and other evidence were not on-site at the time of the search.”

  The defense submits documents showing that they were being stored off-site by a third-party storage facility.