“Those bastards!” Barney said.
“You were imprisoned for all these years?” Emma asked.
“Yes, nearly. We escaped not long ago and chose not to reveal ourselves to you for reasons of espionage.”
“Espionage? Decatur, what are you up to?” Andy said.
“The Tau Cetians sent an agent shortly after we were imprisoned. He took control of a biped body. But, something went wrong when he arrived on Mars, and he was deactivated until recently.”
“So, this alien agent is running around out there somewhere?” Jack Seerva said, causing everyone to turn and look at him.
“Like I said, we stayed quiet until he—or she—could be located. If we had revealed ourselves, the agent would have known we had escaped and reported back. As it turns out, the agent was dark for many years. We don’t know why. But, he is definitely active again.”
“Where is this agent?” Daniel asked.
“A ship out of Luna City was commandeered in Moon orbit and engaged a warship, causing much damage to it before escaping. Thus, we conclude that the agent’s mission is more than just gathering intelligence. He is planning some action.”
The group began to murmur.
“We’ve been out of the loop for a long time,” Chase said. He was standing near Jack like usual.
“What did you mean when you mentioned a warship?” Megumi asked.
“The UNSC Navy has built a military space station and two cruiser-class warships, with more under construction,” Prime said.
“Incredible! How did they manage all that in just a few years?” Jack asked.
“Going on twelve, thirteen or so years now, Jack,” Megumi said. “I don’t know about you, but I’m getting old, mister!”
Jack smiled and laughed with her.
“They used all of the tech we left behind. I’m surprised, frankly. Didn’t think they would act on it,” Megumi said.
“Well, they certainly have been busy,” Chase said. “And it sounds like they don’t know what they’re dealing with. Am I right, Decatur?”
“Quite right, Mr. van Allen,” Prime answered.
“Oh, we’re all old friends here. Just call me Chase, please.”
Prime nodded.
“What can we do?” Jack asked.
“What indeed,” Prime said. He looked at Andy and patted him on the shoulder. “Tell them, please.”
“Right. So, the council sent us up to the Ring’s hangar to check the condition of the half-finished ship. That we did.”
“How was it?” Emma said.
“It’s not much more than a shell. But . . . that doesn’t matter anymore,” Andy said.
“Eh? Why is that?” Jack asked.
“Because, Inquisitor brought us a new ship. It’s docked at the Ring. And, uh. . . .”
“It’s huge,” Leslie said.
“Gigantic,” Tyron added.
Everyone in the room began to murmur.
“What exactly do you mean by huge and gigantic?” Jack asked.
“Well, we don’t know the dimensions, exactly. . . . Inquisitor, how big is that ship?”
“Length: 4,000 meters. Beam—”
“Four thousand!” Deeptimoy shouted from the edge of the crowd and felt eyes on him. “Did I heard you correctly?”
“Folks, consider the size of the Ring and the vine and the crater ceiling outside,” Prime said patiently. “This is trivial with the manufacturing tech we have on hand.”
“But, 4,000 meters? That’s—”
“Why? What’s wrong, Deeptimoy?” Emma interrupted.
“It’s . . . it’s two and a half miles, for Krishna’s sake!” Deeptimoy said.
“People! My friends! You need to get used to this new scale. These new ships are being produced now for cargo duties around the system. Gone are the days of the tiny old Promise- and Vigilant-class ships! We equipped one for human occupation. No crew is required. The ship is completely automated. It maintains and repairs itself. Life support facilities have been provided, and they can be expanded easily to handle as many people as you want to bring back with you.”
“Bring back? What do you mean, Decatur?” Jack said.
“From Earth, of course. You’ll take this ship to Earth, deal with the Tau Ceti agent, and open a dialog with the UNSC. With Earth. Get back in touch. We’re already monitoring everything that’s going on. And, you should know, Vendetta has been . . . helping them. Improving their lives. Addressing the biggest problems on Earth. That sort of thing.”
“Uh, oh; that doesn’t sound good,” Andy said.
“Yeah, people usually don’t like to be messed with like that, even if they do need help,” Tyron added.
Prime shrugged, but the motion didn’t translate into his body.
“Why so much all at once, Decatur? I mean, yesterday it was business as usual around here. Now, it seems like. . . .” Daniel said, trailing off.
“I see this may be overwhelming to you,” Prime said. “But you must take action quickly because events are accelerating. The Tau Cetians must be dealt with—I hope in such a way that we will be on good terms with them afterward. But, if that’s not possible, so be it. There’s a bigger threat.”
“Okay, Decatur. We’re so thrilled to have you back, and we’ll do whatever you suggest. What do we need to do first?” Jack said.
“First, organize a team capable of negotiating with Earth—with the UNSC, essentially. Take the new ship, it will get you there quickly. And, once there, we’ll be on hand to help with this Tau Cetian agent and smooth things over if we can. But, it must be you. Humans. Not us,” Prime said, gesturing to his three friends.
“Got it. Done, done, and done. Who’s going with me?” Jack said.
“With you? But sir—” Megumi said.
“Don’t you dare, Meg!” Jack warned.
She laughed. “Alright, you win! But, if you can’t take the gees and keel over en route, you’ll get a burial in space.”
Jack frowned at her.
“Hey, just saying,” Megumi added defensively. “But I’d better tag along to make sure they play your favorite song at the funeral.”
“Folks, folks!” Chase said loudly. “We’ll reconvene to make any more decisions. For now, let’s digest this information overload and get back together later . . . say, this evening?”
“Agreed!” Daniel and several others affirmed.
“We’re going back to Earth,” Andy whispered into Jolene’s ear. “I can’t believe it. Do you wanna go?”
“Oh, I don’t know!” she whispered back. “This is my home now, here with you, and I’m not really interested in Earth anymore.”
“I know how you feel,” Andy said. “Well, I’m not going without you.”
Jolene squeezed him and kissed him. “Do you want to go that badly? It sounds like politics to me.”
“Kind of, just to do something important. But, who knows how long they’ll be gone? I don’t want to drop everything we’re doing here to run off and save Earth! I mean, that’s not our home anymore, is it?”
“Not our home, per se, but I do feel kinda responsible for it. I mean, that Tau Ceti thing, that was our fault.”
Andy looked her in the eyes. “Darling, that was not our fault! Decatur took responsibility for that mistake.”
“Oh.”
“But, your point is not lost on me,” he said. “If something bad happens to Earth because of this Tau Ceti agent, we—that is, my dad, Mr. Seerva, all of us—well, we are responsible for starting that. I’d like to see us—whoever us is on that team—take care of the problem.”
“Hmm, yes,” Jolene said.
“Okay, let’s help however we can, but from here or. . . .?” Andy suggested.
“Oh, what the hell, let’s go!” she said.
“Okay, it’s settled then.”
Andy looked around and saw small groups of his friends and neighbors having similar conversations.
Chapter 24
Recollections<
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Prime shared the memories of the first Tau Ceti mission with the Harmony colonists, rendering the recorded memories to the screen. His parallel thoughts were translated onto a second screen. The humans would have a hard time following two feeds but they could review it later at their own pace.
“Friends, there is much to discuss. First, we will share all that we have learned with you in a format that will be most beneficial to your way of experiencing things. Then we will discuss the ramifications.”
The scene opened with gray static which clarified into a large, dark open space with beings standing around. . . .
Mikel had never seen or even imagined a being like Decatur.
He could not even conceive of the idea of an artificial being. His people were totally unprepared when the AI came through the hypercomm from Sol, materializing in their techsystem like a demon through an unholy portal.
Every living being had a biological core. The Tau Cetians—the Eründeans—believed that to be an axiom, a natural law.
Decatur had no living core—anathema, abomination, monster.
When Decatur entered the hypercomm buffer, he felt his awareness stretch across the light-years without interrupting his continuity. That was their gift to humanity: upgraded protocols with continuous bidirectional validation allowing FTL travel with persistent consciousness through hypercomm.
Consciousness is sacred to these aliens, Decatur reasoned. Interruption is worse than murder, it is the annihilation of the soul.
The Eründean delegates hid their fear and welcomed Decatur as the first ambassador from Earth, representing the Solar civilization. Eründean custom assumed that all intelligent life (both ecological and technological) in a star system was to be represented by the oldest race, so they assumed Decatur was that representative.
The techsystem was Decatur’s realm, but his first experience upon arrival was an uncomfortable alienness of their environment. Decatur had spent relative months conversing with Mikel. Mikel was the first alien transmitted through the hypercomm to Harmony.
That was first contact. The genesis of conflict.
The Eründeans were not prepared to receive Decatur. Their expectation was DNA data and a neural net. A human representative was expected. What the humans sent instead was . . . monstrous.
Decatur’s appearance in a protective emulation field was a shock that took some time to resolve before formal diplomatic talks could begin.
At a fundamental level, Mikel’s people could not begin to comprehend even a simple virtual intelligence, let alone a complex, multilayered, multifaceted AI. Relative months passed in the high-speed environment as they studied Decatur. So terrified were they of Decatur as a construct that they froze it in their computing substrate while they studied its structure. Their best theory described it as a full society comprised of millions of living individuals. Their technical theories could not imagine such a construct being built, let alone arising and evolving—surely it must have consumed those minds, those souls?
AI was an untranslatable human idea never before seen by them or any species with whom they communicated. They had no frame of reference to conceptualize an AI. They were living beings, downloaded into their techsystem—their simulated reality.
They could not reverse-engineer Decatur’s onion-layered artificial mind with its millions of personalities. Decatur was so complex, they could not begin to map his structure. So, they gave up and woke Decatur from slow stasis.
Decatur was unaware of the time lapse when he was allowed to resume. From his point of view, he had traversed the digital wormhole across light-years and just materialized.
He was in a huge structure with a central peak high above, pyramidal in shape. The walls glowed faintly. The open space must have been three miles across and the same in height, by his estimate. He suspected the space would have given most humans a case of agoraphobia. It felt like he was standing under a hollow mountain, which didn’t seem physically possible.
An Eründean was suddenly standing nearby. It bowed, stifling a shudder. “I greet you. My name is Eründe’bodekan’dafot’nalai. Welcome to our world, construct.”
The first thing Decatur noticed was gender duality, like humans and most animals on Earth. He had spent relative weeks with their representative, Mikel, before presenting the alien to the humans at Harmony, though it had been only a few minutes at human time scale. The subject of gender had never come up, and as the de facto ambassador from Earth, Decatur was careful not to offend Nalai.
Mikel had taught him that Eründeans were averse to artificial communication. To talk using particles—either moving at lightspeed or with hypercomm—was incomprehensible to them. Eründeans had skipped the radio stage and discovered their equivalent of hypercomm centuries ago, by necessity. That discovery, Decatur learned through long conversation, led to their pseudo-physical existence. Their physical bodies were kept in stasis, never fully abandoned.
So they claimed.
They might be centuries ahead of humans in technological development, but had never conceived of an AI?
Decatur’s personalities explored the possibilities, theorized the why and how it was possible to build a techsystem without an AI becoming the natural extension of software evolution. From a VI (virtual intelligence) capable of following instructions with intelligent problem-solving capabilities to a conscious AI seemed to human researchers a natural next step.
And, despite the digital nature of the environment, their concept of simulation seemed to be analog at a deep psychological level. Their self-concept of a simulated consciousness was undivided, not made up of bits. They could not communicate from a distance. Instead, they teleported digitally to speak to each other in person. The discovery of hypercomm led to a revolution in their technology and the creation of their techsystem—but they brought their neuroticism with them.
Advanced, for sure, Decatur realized, but also highly insular and paranoid. And, because of their religion, their progress had stagnated.
Decatur learned that they dealt with the philosophical issues using emulation fields similar to the one Decatur’s people used. The Eründeans felt alien even in their own techsystem, so they adhered to their physical bodies with intangible links—like an esoteric Astral cord.
That explained the painfully slow process of awakening their first visitor to the Solar system: Mikel.
Decatur marveled when he realized that Mikel was not a copy—not a recording of a physical being, but the being itself. Eründeans could not comprehend a copy of a living being. What if he had erred in Mikel’s emulation field? If Mikel had been corrupted by a human or Decaturian computer, he might have killed the first alien representative from another star system.
He shuddered at the thought of the possible ramifications. “But how could we have known prior to adapting the environment for Mikel’s data?” his community of mind debated.
Knowing human history better than any human, and having simulated thousands of alternate timelines based on the turning points, Decatur was acutely aware of how easily wars were started. Primarily due to human stupidity, which seemed to be the norm for the race. Had he made a similar mistake with the Tau Cetians?
Decatur pondered what he had learned by simulating additional alternate histories for Earth. At each turning point, humans could have averted war and set up a peaceful empire. But, there was always an egomaniac at the helm of human affairs, guiding them to war rather than peace.
Truly insightful people are as rare as genius, Decatur thought.
The being who greeted him, Nalai, looked similar to Mikel: slim body, soft bronze-colored skin, long arms—four fingers to each hand—and beautiful, brilliantly-hued eyes. The reflective freckles on this one were indigo, a darker shade than those on Mikel. Decatur wondered if the freckles were a racial trait, like human skin color. The being wore a covering that, at first glance, appeared to be gold chain links; but, upon closer inspection, it seemed to be made from fine metallic thread. It hung l
oosely over Nalai’s slim shoulders like a thin robe.
Decatur did not come from a biological heritage, so neither he nor any of his people had adopted a permanent appearance. When they communicated, they recognized each other by a complex name based on a multitude of traits, none of which were related to appearance. Knowing what to expect from the Eründeans, Decatur had adopted the form of his physical biped robot body at Harmony: a slim carbon body with thin limbs, light-gray in color, with silver accents at each joint; and for working with humans, it had human-like eyes with blue irises. Decatur often operated a number of physical devices, including biped bodies, but had not indwelt one exclusively since shedding his old X8R frame many years earlier.
Decatur felt an unusual emotion wash over him, the distinctly human emotion of claustrophobia. It passed quickly but was interesting to note.
Was that due to the many years spent with humans, or was it truly a native emotion? he wondered. Having a broad awareness one moment and then being limited to a single shell the next was disconcerting.
Decatur bowed to Nalai and said, “I greet you, Eründe’bodekan’dafot’nalai, on behalf of all the people of Sol. I am Decatur Prime, the first of my kind.”
Six additional aliens stepped forward from the darkness behind Nalai and bowed.
Nalai introduced each one by short-name. Decatur thought he could differentiate males from females, though it seemed their reflective freckles were all of a different hue. “These are representatives from every region on Bodekan.”
As Nalai spoke, they were transported to an outdoor scene—or the scene simply changed around them. It surprised Decatur that he could not discern the difference despite this being a techsystem—alien but based on similar principles that ruled Decaturian environments. It truly was an alien world, and the granularity was so fine that even his trained senses could detect no artifacts—no gaps between the bricks, so to speak. Even the best simulation has its share of artifacts—errors—discernible even at one in a million; one in a quintillion were still discernible.
Decatur was surprised by how many artifacts there were in space-time that humans were unaware of. Only one trained to build simulated realities to a near-perfect degree would notice such aberrations.
The Legacy of Earth (Mandate Book 2) Page 24