by C M Benamati
“Not for two weeks,” said Yin.
“What do you say then, want to go take a look?”
“Sure,” said Yin. “We’re game. Your rider up for it?”
“Sure,” said Morgan. “Although I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Only the first in a new class of long range cruisers,” said Jack. “She got christened a few weeks ago. Don’t you watch the news?”
“Not often.”
Jack threw his hands up in the air. “Well she’s a treat, take my word for it. A prototype deep space explorer. Newest tech. Most of it is classified, but we can do a fly-by. You’ll see.”
Jack eased into the throttle, following Yin into a higher orbit. He built up some speed, then cut the engines. Morgan looked all around, but there was no sign of Victor. He highly doubted Victor’s absence would be permanent. I’m going to have to talk to Liz about him. Can’t have him following her around like this. It creeps me out.
After some time Morgan noticed a dark object on the horizon, just above the haze of the Earth’s atmosphere. The Sagitta was hard to see because its hull was matte gray and reflected little light at this angle.
The cruiser had a rectangular I-beam profile similar to that of many ISF capital ships. It was a shape that suggested a high degree of utility and strength. A small bridge tower extended up from the top of the ship near the bow. Towards the aft of the vessel were two smaller rounded enclosures attached to each side of the primary hull.
Jack matched Yin’s reverse thrust as they approached. “Weird. There’s no sign of Andy’s ship. Anything on your scanners Yin?”
“Negative, Jumper,” she replied.
Morgan was just about to comment on how large the Sagitta was when there was a brilliant blue flash. He yelped and closed his eyes.
“What the—?” said Jack, as a shrill alarm pierced the cockpit.
Ghost outlines danced in Morgan’s vision. He rubbed his eyes but the phantoms wouldn’t go away. Outside, streaks of starlight broke into shattered color, bending around the three ships like rainbows on a soap bubble.
“We’ve lost all power,” said Jack. He flipped a mechanical switch on the dash. “Yin, do you copy?”
Morgan held his breath, listening, but there was no response. “Jack, what’s going on?
“Don’t know kid, sit tight. I’m going to reboot everything.”
Jack flipped more switches and the displays flickered back, displaying various boot sequence text and vendor logos as the multitude of computers that orchestrated the Firefly’s control suite came back up.
There was the faintest jostle, and everything snapped back to the way it should have been. The stars were fixed points of light. The Sagitta hung lazily before them, as if nothing had happened. And there’s the other fighter, thought Morgan, relief gushing through him.
The com crackled to life. “Hey JJ, you guys alive?” said Yin. The transmission was faint and ridden with static.
“We’re fine,” said Jack. “But the fusion reactor’s dead cold and we’re on backups.”
“Same here,” said Yin.
“Liz, are you there?” Morgan winced at the tinny, frightened sound of his own voice.
“I’m here,” she said. “I’m ok. You?”
“Yeah, I’m alright.”
Jack slammed a fist into the control board. “I can’t restart the reactor. It’s like all the power’s been sucked out.”
“I think someone on the Sagitta owes us an explanation,” said Yin.
The communications panel began beeping.
“They’d better have something good,” said Jack. A moment later, a woman’s voice came through on the speakers.
“This is Captain Stone to Firefly spacecraft. Report your status.”
“Lieutenant Jones here. We’re fine, but the tank’s empty ma’am. We’ve got civilian riders from the space show on Starlight. They should probably be checked out. Also if you don’t mind me asking, what the hell was that? Over.”
There was a pause before Captain Stone spoke. “Careful, Lieutenant. You’ll be the one explaining to me why you’re here. This is restricted space. As to your question, we were running engine tests. Your ship’s power circuits aren’t shielded against our drive. Now sit tight, shut up, and wait for our tugs. We’re bringing you in. Stone out.”
Jack killed the com circuit. “Alright then, nice to talk to you too.”
“What kind of engines put out interference like that?” said Morgan.
Jack didn’t answer. The cockpit was dead quiet. Morgan hadn’t realized just how silent it could be in space until the power went off. He could hear his own ragged breathing and he fought to calm himself.
“Well,” he said finally, breaking the silence. “Do you think they’ll tell us what really happened?”
Jack snorted. “They’d better tell me. But as for you, I’m guessing you’re out of luck.”
Chapter 23
Captain Eliza Stone pulled herself into main engineering. Hovering in the entranceway, her eyes flicked left, then right, taking in the circus act that was her engine room.
Crewmembers flew this way and that, shouting commands and arguing with each other. Others clung to the walls, scrolling through event logs and juggling holographic diagrams with puzzled expressions. In the middle of the engine room, the dormant tokamak fusion core was the main attraction. Diagnostic computers were jacked into access ports, interconnected by temporary cabling that snaked every which way in all three dimensions.
It’s a spaghetti mess, thought Stone. She cleared her throat. “Where is Roland?” She enunciated each word carefully, and punctuated the question with her mag boots, which made a resounding clang as she slammed them into the deck.
Heads turned, and the clamor died instantly. A junior lieutenant nearest to the entryway met Stone’s eyes and promptly fumbled her data tablet, which spiraled away and bounced off a stowage locker. “Up there ma’am,” she said, pointing at the upper level.
“As you were,” said Stone. Disengaging her boots, she pushed off from the deck with practiced ease and shot diagonally across the compartment, snagging one of the two handholds and pulling herself up to the second level. She adjusted herself to face the towering computer racks. A pair of boots protruded above the back of one of the racks.
Chief Roland was shouting. “This system cannot magically engage itself, and there’s no trace of a command call. Either someone threw the manual interconnect or the blasted AI did it on purpose.”
The rest of his words were drowned out by the whine of an electric ratchet. A moment later, a sheet metal access cover flew up from behind one of the computer racks, ricocheted off the ceiling, and came spiraling towards her. She caught it and set it gently down on the deck.
“Jones, go fetch me my TX-57 scan tool would you? I don’t trust this thing’s built-in diagnostics.”
“That is an uneducated statement,” replied a sterile synthetic voice. “My onboard diagnostic routines are more sophisticated than those of your scanner.”
“Shut it,” said Roland.
“Command unrecognized, please elaborate.”
“Computer, deactivate AI interface.”
There was a series of beeps, then silence.
“That’s better,” said Roland. “I’ll never get used to a ship that talks back at you. I swear letting a class one AI out of the box was a huge mistake. Damn thing is probably still listening to me. Jones, get me that scan tool.”
Crewman Jones, a large man with a ruddy complexion, came bumbling around the computer core. He straightened when he saw Stone.
“As you were, sailor.” she said.
“Yes Captain,” said Jones, lowering his salute. He turned sideways to glide past her, grabbing onto the railing and somersaulting head-first down towards the lower level.
“That you skipper?” The pair of boots sticking out from behind the computer rack disappeared. A moment later, Roland Hanselman’s head popped up.
“Ah, of course it’s you,” he said, looking displeased. He pushed off from the ceiling and disappeared behind the computer once more. Stone slid between the isles of humming machines until she rounded the one Roland was working on. His large form was hunched over the mess of patch cables and blinking lights.
“Report.”
“Sorry Skipper, no time to talk.” He probed a circuit, which beeped twice and flashed an error code.
“Make the time,” she snapped. She had been calling for a report from the bridge for the last ten minutes and had thus far received only useless speculation from Roland’s junior staff.
The engineer glared sideways at her. His beady eyes flicked across her face. He scowled, then turned back to the control panel.
“Don’t know what happened,” he grunted, as he pressed buttons. “We were running a simulation when the system engaged. The nacelles drew too much power and tripped off the fusion core. We’ve had a few emissive blasts as the field coils dumped their energy into normal space.”
“You think the AI did it?”
He shrugged. “I’ve got to blame something. Look, I’m working it. I’ll get you a real report as soon as I can.”
“That’s not go—”
“Decker to Captain Stone,” chirped the com.
“Stone here.”
“Captain, we’re bringing the other two fighters in now. Shall I send security back down to the hangar?”
“Affirmative,” she said. “Put the riders in the brig with the other civilian, but have your men hold those pilots. I’m on my way down to have a little chat with them myself.” I am going to smack those idiot flyboys. “Stone out.”
“Civilians?” said Roland. “What are you talking about?”
“We’ve got some visitors from the station. Some sort of demonstration. One ship is already onboard, and now there’s two more. Our engine trouble keeps knocking out their ships.”
Roland’s brow raised. “How so?”
“Never mind that,” said Stone. “You have one minute to button that up and meet me in your office before I go to the hangar bay. I will have your report on the matter, and I don’t care if it’s incomplete.”
“Alright, cool it skipper. I’ll be right there.”
∆∆∆
Four magnetic thruster pods locked onto the Firefly. Gentle acceleration ensued as the pods fired, tugging them along.
“This wasn’t what I had in mind,” said Jack.
The Sagitta loomed before them. Morgan noted the multitude of rail guns, laser turrets, and deflector emitters. It had more guns than any ship he’d ever seen.
“How many guns does this thing have?”
“More than enough,” Jack grumbled.
“I thought you said it was a deep space explorer.”
Jack swore under his breath. “I shouldn’t have brought you out here. This is no good.”
“What?”
“Radio’s not working. I’ve been trying to contact the station. There’s loads of interference on all channels. It’s coming from the Sagitta.”
“Why would they jam us?”
“Be quiet, let me think.”
Morgan shut his mouth and gripped the harness, dread filling him as he watched Yin’s fighter enter a rectangular opening in the side of the Sagitta. Two crewmen were visible through the blue haze of the bay’s force field. Yin’s fighter touched down next to another Firefly. The crewmen helped Liz and Yin out of their fighter and pushed off, herding them out of sight.
Of course there would be no gravity. He’d forgotten. He looked at Earth, which was currently blocking the sun. Lights twinkled through the atmosphere. His parents were completely oblivious to his predicament. Who’s going to tell them what happened?
He clenched his fists. Things couldn’t have gone more wrong. What was Liz thinking right now? Is she mad at me?
They passed through the hangar’s force field and set down next to Yin’s fighter. There was a clunk as magnetic interlocks secured the ship. There were twelve other Fireflies on the deck, arranged in two rows of six, plus the other ship next to Yin’s fighter.
Following Jack’s lead, Morgan unclipped his harness.
“Now what do I do?”
“Keep quiet,” said Jack. “You’re not even supposed to be here. The inside of this ship is classified. Don’t touch anything, don’t look at anything, and comply with any orders you are given.”
Morgan nodded.
A crewman locked his magnetic boots to the outer hull of the Firefly as the canopy withdrew. Morgan grabbed his backpack from under the seat and pushed off unsteadily. He rose a few feet above the fighter before the crewman grabbed his leg and pulled him back down.
“Get over here,” said the man.
“Sorry!” said Morgan. He let go of the hull as the crewman passed him down into the arms of two others. From the pistols on their hips, these were security forces.
His feet hit the deck, but he found his legs misaligned. He couldn’t stand, and the momentum of his body carried his torso over into the floor. Before he could push off, a pair of heavy hands pressed into his back.
“Hey!” he shouted, as a pair of magnetic cuffs clamped around his wrists.
“Whoa there,” said Jack, floating down to the deck under his own power. When his feet touched the floor they stuck. “Take it easy on the kid.”
The crewman and the two guards glared at the pilot. “What the blazes were you thinking?” said the crewman. “Bringing a civilian here? Are you jacked in the head?”
Jack laughed. “Well my name’s Jack so, er, yeah.”
The guards looked at each other, and their frowns deepened. “Answer the question,” said the crewman.
“I didn’t bring them in here,” said Jack slyly, pointing at the hangar. “You did. We were just flying past for a quick look, and something hit us. The next thing we know, we’re powerless. What would you say happened?”
“I’m not authorized to speculate on that,” said the crewman. He turned to the guards and gestured at the other end of the bay. “Take the civvie to the brig. You, pilot, come with me.”
∆∆∆
Stone looked up from the holographic display of Sagitta’s space frame as Chief Hanselman entered the engineering office. The chief scowled when he noticed her floating behind his desk.
“Captain—”
“I killed the com circuit in this room,” said Stone. “The computer can’t hear us.” She pointed at Roland’s collar. “Come on Roland, I know you have something. What is it?”
Roland fumbled with his collar. A short beep sounded when his personal com powered down. “A computer glitch. A bug in the AI. I don’t know how or why, but it did this. I need to isolate it. If you let me get back to work—”
Stone slammed her palm down on the desk. The motion sent her drifting upward. “One moment. If what you’re saying is true, then we are all potentially at the mercy of Sagitta’s computer.”
Roland looked up at her. “Yes.”
“God help us. If it gets out…Roland, we have three Fireflies on board from Starlight Station. They’re from the space show. The pilots were probably showing off for their civilian riders. The bubble pulse from the engines knocked their fusion cores out of alignment.”
“I see.”
“Just what am I supposed to tell them? That we lost control of our—of our what, exactly? Those pilots don’t have the clearance to know. If they figure it out, if they talk, it will jeopardize everything. And then there’s the civilians. We need them off this ship before they’re missed.”
Roland nodded dumbly.
“Roland, are you sure it’s the computer? It was supposed to be a completely restrained AI. Class one yes, but restrained. Lobotomized. No personality. Harmless!”
Roland ran his hands through his thinning hair. “We were running the simulations. The AI was there—it’s the only thing capable of modulating the field in real-time. We had to test it. We brought the fusion reactor online
in test mode—it’s like putting a car in neutral with the parking brake on. However, as soon as the reactor reached criticality the computer aligned the engine relays. There was no command logged from the bridge, but I found a trace of one in the secondary system. It came from data cluster 28.”
Stone paled. DC-28 was the top-secret processing rack that contained Sagitta’s artificial intelligence. Normal helm command inputs would be routed through DC-5.
“The command came from the AI node,” said Roland. “I couldn’t trace the instruction set due to the encryption on cluster 28. Either way, it all happened by the books, just like Dr. Fowler’s theory said it would. The capacitors, the driver coils, the engines…it’s a good thing the field wasn’t modulated, because who knows where we would have ended up.”
“Why wasn’t it modulated? I thought the AI’s job was to do that.”
“Yes, that’s right. For the test I had it tied into a stand-alone simulation network. I don’t think it knew it wasn’t adjusting the actual field parameters.”
“You didn’t trust it.”
“No, I don’t trust it.”
Stone granted him a small smile. That’s my Roland. “What do you need?”
“An hour, maybe two. It could still be something else, something I haven’t thought of. These systems are all untested. There might be a ghost in the machine or a legitimate bug in the code. Perhaps a saboteur. Either way, wiping the computer core would set us back months, maybe years. Everyone’s stumped. If only Dr. Fowler hadn’t been on the Starfire. I bet she’d know what to do.”
Stone scowled. She hadn’t known Dr. Fowler, but knew that the physicist had viewed her work as humanity’s only hope at continued survival. If it had been up to Dr. Fowler, the Starfire’s design would have been public knowledge ten years ago. But look what we’ve done. We’ve kept it for ourselves, and now there’s no one to turn to for help. Yet, it was necessary!
Stone realized that Roland was still going on. “It doesn’t help that Howard’s rushing us,” he said. “Sure we had latency issues, but we could have solved it without needing some illegal AI to do the math for us.”