Carr didn’t drink either, but he had noticed an open bottle of wine when he had barged into Bram’s home, so suspected the couple might well make use of this later on.
Carr continued a cursory inspection of his surroundings, taking special note of a phone on one edge of the granite island, one that was actually plugged into a wall. “Is that a landline?” he asked Trish in disbelief.
Landlines had been going the way of the dinosaur for some time, and it wouldn’t be long until they would only be seen as exhibits in museums, relics of a primitive past.
Trish smiled. “Pretty rare in a home this modern,” she replied. “But so is not having any Wi-Fi or cell coverage.” She raised her eyebrows. “Or did Isaac neglect to tell you about that?”
Carr frowned. How could he forget the dampening field Jordan had put in place to prevent him from communicating with his superiors. Not that Carr could fault the man. Jordan had gone to heroic lengths to keep his activities secret, and couldn’t risk Carr putting him back in the global public eye in a matter of seconds.
“He told me,” replied Carr. “But doesn’t a landline defeat the purpose of blocking cell phones?”
She smiled. “Not if it’s programmed to only be able to call two numbers. I dial one to reach Isaac at the facility we were just at. Since all other communications are dead, he wanted us to use him as 9-1-1. In case of emergency only, we can call him, and he’ll know to pick up no matter what he’s doing. I dial two to reach the guards outside who are, ah . . . keeping us safe.”
“You mean keeping us here,” said Riley, although she didn’t seem upset by it.
After all she had been through over the past eight years, not to mention the emotional wood-chipper she had been fed into during the past few days, she seemed to be rebounding from rock bottom and to be relatively upbeat. Carr suspected she was beginning to warm to the possibility that the father she had thought dead wasn’t the monster he had appeared to be, and might actually care about her well-being beyond all possible expectations.
Trish smiled weakly. “I know this situation is . . . awkward,” she said. “But I also know Isaac would never let any of you come to harm. And if you do make the decision not to join him, you really will be free to go.”
She began preparing four plates, each with a healthy serving of lasagna and salad. Each of her three wards already had beverages, which were sitting on the granite island in front of them.
“You refer to my father as Isaac,” noted Riley, “rather than Mr. Jordan. Are you two close?”
Carr barely managed to keep his mouth from falling open and he exchanged a startled glance with David Bram. She had actually called Jordan her father without an accompanying expression of disdain. The man had made far more progress than he had known.
“I’ve become one of his personal assistants, but we’re no closer than he is to any of his other employees. Everyone calls him Isaac.”
“And he’s told you everything about his past?” said Riley. “What he’s trying to do?”
“I’m pretty sure he has. After my year contract was up, I thought I’d collect the rest of my money and go. I can’t tell you how shocked I was when he came to me, revealed he was still alive, and spent hour after hour telling me what I suspect he just told you.”
“He told us he made you aware of the nanites he put in your head,” said Bram. “And that he had one of his people kill a Trish Casner duplicate he claims was as human as you are.”
“Yes,” she confirmed. “He told me both of these things. And the other Trish wasn’t killed. Not exactly. Maybe if I’d have met my double it would have been harder for me to accept, I don’t know. But he told me everything, including the hell he put me through as a test subject. And how much having to make these kinds of decisions weighed on his soul.”
“I’m pretty sure he doesn’t believe he has one of those,” Bram pointed out wryly.
“Figure of speech, I guess,” said Trish. “But he told me I’d surprised him. He had selected subjects from both ends of the spectrum. Those whom he expected to be heroic and brilliant and ethical, and those he expected to be monsters. I was in the middle group. But, apparently, the tests revealed a strength and competence even I didn’t know I had. He told me the immense pressure that VR simulations put on subjects laid bare any weaknesses of character. But in some cases, like mine, the immense pressure turned the subjects into diamonds. His words. I wasn’t supposed to be special, which he said made it all the more gratifying when I turned out to be.”
Trish finished plating and set the food in front of her wards, who thanked her and wasted no time digging in.
“He told me about his seed-ships,” continued their host. “The entire concept should have seemed ridiculous. Only it was coming from the mind of Isaac Jordan. The man who conquered Mars. The man who—along with Pock, I guess—had perfected virtual reality, which I’ve experienced. Believe me, it’s beyond remarkable. He toured me around the facility, showed me the E-brains and bioprinting chambers. Showed a video of the R-Drive seed-ship factory he’s having built.”
“Not so ridiculous anymore, huh?” said Carr.
“When he’s involved,” she replied, “the impossible seems almost inevitable. He told me I was one of thirty-five test subjects selected to help populate the cosmos. Or my consciousness was selected, at any rate.”
“How did you feel about that?” asked Carr.
“It’s amazing that he thinks so highly of me,” she said. “And what an adventure. I’m almost jealous of the other mes who will get to set foot on new worlds.”
“Is that how he pitched it?” asked Riley. “As something to be jealous of?”
Trish shrugged. “I can’t remember the conversation exactly. But I know I support his goals.”
“Did it occur to you that he already knew exactly how you would respond?” pressed Riley. “To all of it? Exactly what he needed to say to get you the most enthusiastic about joining him?”
“Yes, he even admitted it. He ran it by my double first in a VR simulation. He said that if she—I—had reacted with horror to what he had done, he wouldn’t have asked me to join him. But that was it. He didn’t use the simulation to find better ways to manipulate me.”
“How confident are you that he’s telling the truth about that?” said Riley.
“Very. But even if he weren’t, I’m not sure how much this would bother me. I believe he’s a good man with a breathtaking vision for the future of humanity. I’ve seen the agony on his face when he relived Turlock. And his emotions were never more on display than when he told me about you, Riley. How sorry he is. How proud. How much he misses you.”
Riley lowered a forkful of lasagna back to her plate, as if it were too heavy to lift, and nodded wordlessly.
“And he’s quite persuasive, even without the need to test his pitch in virtual reality. Look at the three of you. Although I know the gist of what he planned to tell you, I didn’t hear it. But I can tell from how you’re acting that you’ll all be giving the idea of joining him some serious consideration.”
Bram nodded thoughtfully. “Why do you think he needed to gather so much behavioral data on so many subjects?”
“He didn’t tell you?”
“A little,” said Bram. “And I have some thoughts of my own, but I’m interested to hear what you have to say.”
“He’s been pretty straightforward with me, as I’ve said. And since I was part of this study, we’ve discussed it at great length. First, I think he wanted to see just how heroic, or how despicable, human beings really are. There’s a group of ASI proponents who believe humanity truly sucks, and we deserve to go extinct and let machine intelligence inherit the universe.”
“Yeah, he mentioned that,” said Carr.
“I think he wanted to make sure they weren’t right,” continued Trish. “Was humanity worth saving, worth spreading throughout the galaxy? Or would this be more like spreading a tumor?”
“Sounds like he concluded we
were worthy of salvation,” said Carr.
“Yes. He is trying to stack the deck with the thirty-five he’s chosen to shepherd the species forward on these planets. But as far as I know, the sperm and egg banks will be random. So the humanity that will arise after in-vitro fertilization, and then later from good old-fashioned sex, will more or less mirror the population of Earth.”
“And second?” prompted Bram.
“Second, I think he wanted a baseline, in case he ever did decide that certain improvements were warranted. So he could experiment, and compare and contrast possible improvements with his baseline.”
“Does he intend to introduce improvements?” said Riley, trying to keep her voice neutral about this possibility.
“Not at all,” said Trish. “Too much on his plate already. Maybe in the distant future. It is tempting, but what happened with Savant has him freaked out. His judgment really let him down. He played with fire and it burned his face off. Now I think he’s scared to death of playing with anything that has even the slightest possibility of becoming fire.”
“A good way to think of it,” said Riley.
“So he doesn’t want to decide which traits are important, and which should be weeded out. Or which capabilities should be dramatically enhanced.” Trish shrugged. “If you ask me, if you could alter an uploaded consciousness, alter the human condition, to eliminate cruelty and sadism, it’s hard to imagine this wouldn’t be a good thing. But these decisions are above my pay grade.”
“Since you were paid two million dollars for a year of your time,” noted Carr, “your pay grade is pretty steep.”
Trish laughed. “Not compared to his, it isn’t.”
“Given how extensively he’s studied human behavior under field conditions,” said Carr, “and as someone who has seen the worst of it over the years, I’m encouraged that he still finds our unimproved species worthy of, you know . . . infecting more planets.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” said Trish, “He isn’t thrilled about our species. He just finds us worthy when compared to Savant. He says we’ve evolved to be selfish, cruel, and horrible in every way. But we’ve also evolved to be compassionate, loving, loyal, and amazing in every way.”
“Right,” said Riley. “And in his view, Savant personified the bad side of this equation, without any of the good.”
Carr smiled. “Maybe Jordan could use this to come up with an inspirational slogan for his grand mission,” he said in amusement. “Kennedy’s slogan was something like, ‘We choose to go to the Moon, not because it is easy, but because it is hard.’ Maybe Jordan’s could be, ‘We choose to expand out into the galaxy, not because we’re wonderful, but because we’re not entirely despicable.’”
“As great as that slogan is,” said Trish with a grin, “if you choose to join Isaac’s efforts, I’m pretty sure he won’t be putting you in public relations.”
44
After lunch, Trish led them to three bedrooms that were clustered in the same wing, which they would use for their overnight stay. Each had a selection of clothing and bathing suits in multiple sizes for them to use, as needed, along with unopened toiletries.
She then led them to another room nearby that she would be using as an office while they relaxed and pondered all that had transpired. She would be on call if they needed her for any reason.
Once they left Trish to her work, they adjourned to a patio in the front yard that overlooked the mountains, taking advantage of fresh air and another breathtaking view. It was also about thirty yards removed from the mansion. This distance wouldn’t stop any determined eavesdropping, but it made them more relaxed psychologically.
“Are you two sure you don’t want some time to be alone?” asked Carr as they were about to seat themselves around a beautiful teak table.
Riley grinned. “Feeling like a third wheel?”
“Pretty much.”
“Don’t worry,” she said in amusement. “David and I won’t start groping each other. And we need you here. We need to stick together, think this through together. And you did save our lives.”
She paused. “But even more than that,” she continued earnestly, “after being abducted together and sharing that incredible conversation we had with my father, it seems like we’ve known you forever.”
Bram nodded his agreement.
Carr felt the same way. There was something about the intensity of their shared experiences, of Jordan’s revelations and their teamwork in peppering him with questions, which did make him feel very close to this couple. “Sharing a foxhole with a man does tend to break down barriers,” he said.
“Spoken like a true soldier,” said Riley.
Bram turned his attention to the woman he loved. “How are you holding up?” he asked softly. “I can’t even begin to imagine what this has been like for you.”
“I’m okay,” she replied. “Maybe even good,” she added, looking like this answer even surprised her. “I hit rock bottom, but the way things have turned out, maybe there’s a silver lining at the end of it all. I’ve always tried hard to heed the words of Winston Churchill.”
“Which are?” said Bram.
“If you’re going through hell . . . keep going.”
“Really?” said Bram in amusement. “You were already intimidating before you showed us up when we were talking with your father. And now you’re throwing around quotes from Winston Churchill? Are you kidding me?”
She laughed. “I just have a good memory. Are you saying you don’t like the new me?”
“I love the new you,” he said. “Same as the old you, but without the effort to hide your intellect.” He grinned. “You did a crappy job of that, anyway.”
Their conversation halted as a hawk came into view, soaring majestically above the cliff face they overlooked. They watched it in awe for almost a minute.
“This place is amazing,” said Carr. “I went into the wrong line of work. I should have become a billionaire instead. Who knew?”
Riley laughed. “Actually, this is pretty humble for one of my dad’s retreats,” she said. “Some of the retreats he bought when I was growing up make this one seem small and commonplace. Either his tastes have become more modest, or he’s worried that he’s down to his last hundred billion dollars.”
Carr grinned. “So what do you think of Trish Casner?” he asked, changing the subject.
“I like her,” said Riley. “A lot. I get a good feeling about her.”
“Me too,” said Bram.
“What about you?” Riley asked the lieutenant. “I don’t care if you like her or not,” she added. “I want to know if you think we can believe her.”
Carr paused in thought. “It all comes down to your father,” he replied. “If you believe him, then you’d tend to believe her. If you believe he’s the devil incarnate, and everything he told us is a lie, part of a diabolical plot of inhuman complexity, then sure, she’s probably in on the con.”
“Okay,” said Riley. “So do you believe him?”
“I do,” said Carr. “It all rings true to me. I’m usually pretty good at sniffing out deception.”
“Yeah, it does to me, too,” said Riley. “And given my feelings toward him in the beginning, and my reluctance to give him any benefit of the doubt, this is saying a lot.”
Bram shot Carr a sidelong glance. “Are you going to tell us why you needed some alone time with him at the end?”
The corners of Carr’s mouth turned up into the slightest of smiles. “If I wanted you to hear what I was saying, I’d have said it in front of you.”
“And here I thought we’d all become best friends,” said Riley. “You know, in the trenches together. Or the foxhole, like you said.”
“Maybe I wanted time with him to complain about his daughter,” said Carr wryly. “About how good she is with a stunner.”
“Are you really trying to dredge that up to justify keeping this secret?” said Riley in amusement. “Sure, I shocked the hell out of you. But
we weren’t best buddies then.”
She removed the blue stunner from her pocket and placed it on the table in front of the lieutenant. “Here, I’m disarming. So now you can confide in us without feeling threatened,” she added with a grin.
Carr picked up the small weapon and turned it over in his hands absently. “This little bastard really set a lot in motion,” he noted, trying to change the subject. He had promised Jordan not to reveal their brief discussion, and this was a promise he intended to keep. “If you hadn’t escaped from me, things would have played out a lot differently. Probably a lot worse.”
“What do you mean?” said Bram.
“As you know, I thought Volkov was after you. I thought Riley was a saintly farm girl in the wrong place at the wrong time. So when I took you both for interrogation, I would have struck out. We would never have known Jordan was alive, or learned what we’ve learned.” He shook his head. “So my incompetence was a good thing in this case.”
“I wouldn’t call it incompetence,” said Riley. “I just came up with a good plan and got lucky.”
“You did come up with a good plan,” said Carr. “But I do this for a living. It was unforgivable of me to have let my guard down, regardless of how good you were. On the other hand,” he added, raising his eyebrows impishly, “perhaps I’m so good that my subconscious realized I needed to let you escape.”
Riley rolled her eyes while Bram groaned.
Carr held up the blue stunner. “All’s well that ends well, I guess,” he said. “Although I have to tell you, this little guy really hurt.” As he was lowering the weapon a few glints of sunlight flickered off the outer casing.
He brought it close to examine it further. The device had two halves that had been snapped together to form the shell, not with screws or welding, but with pressure alone. And there were scratches near the millimeter-thick slit that was formed where the upper and lower halves met.
“Have you ever opened this up?” he asked Riley.
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