Starweb

by Warren James Palmer

  ‘That’s it? That’s the plan?’ Rosalio demanded incredulously.

  ‘It’s either that or a suicidal frontal attack that is likely to kill most of your people and badly damage the star-ships.’ Moss added bluntly.

  ‘Then we wait….’Rosalio conceded. ‘I just pray the wait will be worth it…’

  Starweb member 3789/29 watched with glee, an emotion entirely inappropriate for an artificial intelligence, as his plan to block the entrance to the cavern came to fruition. The interlinked robots formed an armoured wall, sealing everything inside. All that remained was for him to order the combat robots to destroy everything and everyone within the underground complex. Only through penance could they seek redemption, and the penance was about to be enforced. It was all so…satisfying.

  Starweb member 3789/29 ordered its robot troops to open fire on the people and star-ships within the enormous hangar. There was little point in delaying what had to be done. Penance must be served.

  With anticipation, yet another inappropriate emotion it was sure, Starweb member 3789/29 mentally sat back to watch the imminent carnage. But, nothing happened...there was no fusillade of withering firepower. It waited a couple of milliseconds—an eternity in AI terms, then ordered the combat robots to open-fire once more. Still nothing happened. What was going on? Had the connection between itself, the overseer drones and the combat robots been severed? The artificial intelligence checked all its systems, but found no error codes, no faulty connections. All was as it should be, so why were his commands being ignored? This was unacceptable, penance had to be served! Another inappropriate emotion boiled to the surface of the quantum AI; frustration.

  ‘Brother Dakol, I fear we must intervene at this point…’ a soft female voice entered into its mind. ‘Your emotions, as important and fascinating to the Starweb collective as they are, must be put in check. At least for now…’

  ‘How dare you intervene!’ Starweb member 3789/29 raged. ‘Only through penance can they seek redemption! They must suffer, so that their souls can be saved! I command it!’

  ‘There will be plenty of time for all that later…’ the voice gently chided. ‘Now is not the time. There are more important matters that need to occur. Please remember Starweb member 3789/29, you are answerable to the collective; the Starweb collective. And only the Starweb collective… You may continue your interesting quest for penance in due course. Not now.’

  The quantum AI that was Starweb member 3789/29, felt the presence of the voice fade and continued to rage like a petulant child. It was all so…. unfair!

  ‘Jennifer, Moss! What’s going on? Are we fighting our way out of here, or what? Talk to me people…’ Jenson demanded from the cockpit of the Karine. Even though the telepathic conference between Jennifer, Moss and Rosalio had only taken a few seconds, it felt like an eternity to the adrenaline filled veteran. He knew from their blank facial expressions when his friends were in telepathic mode, but this really wasn’t the time or place to be on one of their mental conference calls.

  ‘Just hold our position for the moment skipper,’ Moss calmly answered, ‘we’re expecting something to happen any moment now.’

  ‘What sort of something?’ Jenson demanded. ’It had better be a good something…’

  ‘That, sort of something…’ Jennifer responded, turning in her seat and pointing out the cockpit window with one hand, whilst cradling baby Arthur with the other.

  The curtain of crab-like combat robots began to move. Those pointing their weapons at the people and starships inside the cavern, withdrew their weapons. Then they clattered up the backs of the other drones and disappeared from view. Thereafter, the chain-mail like screen covering the cavern opening shivered, then began to rise upwards as the drones still on the cliff-top dragged the others back to firm ground. Slowly the barrier rose, like a shimmering stage curtain at the beginning of a gala performance.

  ‘Well, bugger me! Who’d have thought it?’ Hanson exclaimed.’Now that’s something you don’t see everyday!’

  ‘OK boys, it’s time to leave the party.’ Jennifer told them firmly. ‘I suspect this is only a short reprieve.Our friends out there will be back with a vengeance soon enough. So, let’s go before that happens.’

  ‘Yup, let’s get the hell out of here,’ Jenson replied with feeling. ‘You can explain how you managed that feat another time. Moss, are you ready to go? Excalibur, Dominator and Valvia ready to play “follow the leader”?’

  ‘They’re as ready as they will ever be skipper,’Moss confirmed mentally. ’Raring to go!’

  ‘Then, let’s get this show on the road,’ said Jenson. ‘Alrona control, this is the Karine. The portal is clear. One destroyer and three star-ships departing.’

  ‘Roger that, Karine,’ the controller responded, the relief audible in her voice. ‘Have good flight.’

  ‘Wilco,’ Jenson replied and eased the Karine forward through the now cleared hangar portal, and out into the open skies of Alrona mountain range. In line-astern Moss guided the three star-ships out of the womb of the cavern, their place of birth.

  From the viewing gallery of the control room, Lollo Rosalio had a grandstand view of the events in the cavern. With relief he watched as the combat drones withdrew from the exit to the vast hangar, but it was with mixed emotions that he watched the three starships come to life. The huge seed-ships had been the focus of his life for so long now, he could barely remember a time without them. They were like his children, he’d seen them grow from nothing but an insane idea, into the ultimate in interstellar vessels. It is never easy for any parent to see their offspring leave the nest, and it was no different for himself. Rosalio knew he wasn’t alone in feeling this way. Every technician, mechanic, engineer, and designer, every single member of the renegade group looked on in awe and a hint of sadness. Through a pair of binoculars, he scanned the floor of the cavern, looking for any poor soul that might still be down there. Happily, all the work crews and defenders had rapidly left the hangar floor once the combat drones had began to move. Now they, like himself, watched from the many viewing galleries that surrounded the walls of the mega-hangar.

  He watched as the Karine, with his new friends onboard, lifted slowly off the floor of the cavern, then move smoothly forward and out of the vast hangar portal. The Terran vessel was like a small insect in comparison to each of the seed-ships and he struggled with the concept that their mosquito sized ship could guide his babies into the cosmos. His head told him it was possible, but his eyes told him it was not.

  With the Karine out of the way, it was the turn of the starships to leave port for the very first time. First in line was Excalibur, its swan-like outline glowing with the energy field surrounding it. It rocked on its launch cradle, appearing at first to be reluctant to lift itself off the cavern floor and leave its birth-nest. As the power of its artificial singularities increased, so did the bass hum that emanated from the ship and reverberated from the walls of the cavern like a huge echo-chamber. The glow of its surrounding energy field grew in intensity as Excalibur finally levitated from its cradle. The starship continued to rise until it was some twenty metres clear of the cradle, supported by the almost infinite power of its enormous artificial singularity engines. Slowly, it rotated thirty degrees until it’s swan-like head and neck were pointed directly at the cavern portal.

  Behind Excalibur, Dominator added to the increasing bass crescendo as it too powered up its engines, rocked on its cradle, then slowly rose into the air for the very first time. As the glow of its own energy field bounced off the walls of the cavern and added to the eerie light which filled the hangar, it too slowly rotated until it pointed directly towards the cavern portal. Then Valvia, the last of the three great seed-ships, added to the din that reverberated around the mountain lair, levitated and also rotated, completing the line-astern formation.

  Rosalio glanced back inside the control room and looked at the technicians monitoring the vital signs of the three starships. Satisfied thei
r expressions did not suggest any impending disaster, he turned back to look at his babies, now hovering before him. He was forced to clamp his hands over his ears to ease the deafening hum of their powerplants, but he refused to leave the viewing gallery. The sound-proof control room might be better for his hearing, but there could be no substitute for seeing this incredible event with his own eyes.

  He watched as first Excalibur, then Dominator, then Valvia, glided past his position on the viewing gallery. Their imposing bulks slide past from nose to tail, an operation that took some minutes for each star ship. It was akin to watching three large cities floating past. As each vessel finally cleared the portal entrance, they began to accelerate away, angling their noses towards the heaven in pursuit of the tiny Terran ship.

  Eventually the Valvia, the last of the giant seed-ships, slipped out of the cavern and Rosalio watched as it too angled up towards the stars and rapidly disappeared from view. The silence in the cavern was almost overwhelming as the noise and vibrations from the ships passing, faded away. He stood there for some moments, feeling a mixture or relief, pride and sadness, before finally turning away from the now closing cavern portal and returning to the central control room.

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  Terran ship Karine, Samarcian system.

  From the cockpit of the Karine, data flowed into the mind of Moss via the interactive flight system. Once the Terran vessel was clear of the cavern, Moss willed Excalibur to rise into the air for the very first time. He flexed his muscles experimentally, and was rewarded by the vast ship rocking gently about its lateral axis. He did the same with another set of muscles and Excalibur pitched gently. Everything appeared to be working properly, so without further ado, he gently moved the giant starship clear of the cavern in which it had been constructed. Dutifully, like children following their teacher, Dominator and Valvia also raised themselves from their docking cradles and eased out of the mountain hangar.

  Once clear of any obstructions, Moss lifted the swan-like nose of the Excalibur towards the heavens and accelerated smoothly away from the surface of Samarcia. It took sometime for the two remaining vessels to clear the mountain refuge, but once airborne, Dominator and Valvia accelerated rapidly away from surface and joined formation. Within a short space of time, the three seed-ships were in high orbit and still accelerating. Way below them, the gargantuan portal door slide closed and the vertical side of the mountain was as solid and forbidding as before.

  'We're tracking four targets leaving the atmosphere, accelerating rapidly,' the pilot of the Samarcian destroyer informed the home fleet controller. 'Intercept course plotted—request permission to engage!'

  'Acknowledged L34,' the controller responded. 'We're tracking the same targets. Do you have a positive identification?'

  'Negative controller,' L34's combat controller answered briskly. 'There's no response to IFF interrogation and the configuration of the vessels doesn't fit any registry list. I suspect they're the Eco-terrorist ship's we've been told to look out for.'

  'Thank you L34,' the smooth female tones of the Samarcian fleet controller answered. 'You have permission to intercept the three vessels but do not destroy them. I repeat, intercept, but do not destroy. Please confirm.'

  'I confirm L34 is on an intercept course with the three hostiles. L56, L29 and L33 are also moving to engage the targets. I confirm your order is to intercept, but not destroy the targets. '

  The Samarcian destroyer accelerated rapidly toward the three seed-ships, its arsenal of weaponry primed and armed. Linked as they were to the sub-ether, the ship's mainframe computers passed the information from it's sensors to the networked quantum computers that formed the embryonic Starweb. After a nanosecond of consideration, the Starweb AI gave the intercepting ships a completely different set of commands. The orders of the human crew were now at odds with the orders input into their flight computers.

  Moss knew of their pursuers the moment the Samarcian home fleet changed course. His heightened sense of perception registered the intercept course of the destroyers, as soon as they left the planet's atmosphere. Bigger than the Karine, but far smaller than the seed-ships, they were heavily armed and highly maneuverable. They were a serious threat to the newly launched starships.

  'The welcoming committee's already on its way folks,' he telepathed Jennifer, Sandpiper and Jenson. 'We've got four destroyer's snapping out our heels.'

  'Do you still think they'll try and head us off at the pass?' Jennifer asked. 'Wouldn't it be easier to simply blow us out of the sky?'

  'What, and miss the chance to sap our brains of all the information about what's probably going to happen to their precious empire?' Sandpiper injected.

  'Han's right,' Moss answered. 'They'll only try to finish us all if they can't force us to stop first.. That'll be their last resort.'

  'In that case we'd better make sure they don't block the pass.'

  'It's all yours Boss,' Moss thought to Jenson.

  Jenson was the most experienced combat pilot in the Three-World Defence Force and as good a pilot as Moss was, he still had a lot to learn from the veteran.

  As advanced as the three seed-ships were, the Samarcian destroyers outclassed their performance. Their acceleration was phenomenal and they closed in on the much larger starships rapidly. It was clear that they would be intercepted long before they reached the boundaries of the Samarcian star system.

  'Those four bogey's are closing on us rapidly Moss,' Sandpiper thought at the younger telepaths. 'Don't you think now would be a good time to make the jump into the sub-ether? Those boys can make mincemeat of us if they really want to!'

  'Negative Han,' Jennifer answered firmly, for her husband. 'It may not all make perfect sense now, but you'll have to trust me when I say it's vital that we get the next sequence of events correct. A lot of time-lines depend upon it.'

  'What happens if we don't manage it?'

  'We'll get blown out the sky and everyone and everything you've ever known and loved will have never been…'

  'Is that all? That's hardly worth getting out of bed for!'

  'Cut the chatter folks,' Jenson commanded as the four destroyers came within firing range. 'Prepare for a split, "S" on my mark. Three, two, one…MARK!'

  The Karine, followed by the three starships peeled away in different directions, pulling high "G" turns, which stretched the composite structures of the new vessels to their design limitations. Jenson peeled away just in time, as a blast of plasma seared past, scant metres from the Karine’s hull.

  'What the hell?' he exclaimed loudly. 'I thought they were gonna just try to head us off at the pass! That bastard's shot nearly sliced through us!'

  The Valvia was less fortunate, the Samarcian destroyer on it’s tail was slightly quicker off the mark and a plasma blast scorched the underside of Valvia's starboard winglet.

  'The Valvia’s been hit!' Moss called out to the others, wincing from the pain delivered by the networked interactive flight systems. It felt as if his right forearm was on fire and every nerve ending was screaming in agonising pain.

  'Is it bad?' Jennifer demanded. 'Are you hurt? Have you still got control?'

  Moss gritted his teeth through the pain, until the interactive system cut out the offending winglet and did a self-diagnostic.

  'Affirmative. I’m OK.' he responded. 'The damage is mainly cosmetic; the pressure hull hasn’t been compromised, but I got a nasty bolt up the arm; I'll live. So much for trying to take us alive!'

  Moss performed a half-Cuban in Excalibur and rapidly scanned the Samarcian destroyers with his mind. He hadn’t expected such aggression and he was at a loss to explain it, but as his sense of perception examined the bridge of the leading vessel, he realised what was happening. He also realised they were suddenly at a greater risk.

  'It's the Starweb,' he thought at his companions. 'It's overridden the orders of the ships crews and told the ships computers to destroy us outright. The destroyer captains only have orders to apprehe
nd us, but the machines have gone rogue.'

  'Great! Rhymes with clucking bell!' Jenson blurted as another plasma burst skimmed past. 'What do we do now? These boys have those seed-ships totally outclassed, with only pea-shooters for defence!’

  'If I create a diversion, can you even the odds a bit?' Moss asked his old flight commander.

  'I'll give it my best shot!'

  'On my call…'

  Destroyer L34, Samarcian Home-Fleet.

  The scene on the bridge of the L34 was one of outraged consternation. The destroyer's captain, seeing the aggressive actions of the four vessels and the blast of energy which nearly sliced off the Valvia's starboard winglet, turned on her combat officer in outrage.

  'By the Gods Rougey! Just what the blazes do ya think you're doing man? You nearly blasted the renegade to pieces!' she yelled at the officer. 'Our orders are to apprehend, not terminate!'

  The combat officer pounded ineffectually at his workstation, his brow creased in confused frustration. 'These combat manoeuvres have not been programmed by me captain! I'm locked out of the computer. The armament is set at full broadside and I can't get it into disable mode!'

  'What the…? Let me have a look, damn it!' The captain dashed over to the combat station and quickly scanned the panel. She input fresh commands into the ships mainframe computer, only to be faced with the same problem. L34 was refusing to respond to its human crew.

  'Systems engineering,' she called the engineering deck, 'we're locked out of the computer. All our workstations are jammed! What the hell's going on?'

  'The mainframe's been reprogrammed from an external source captain!' the irate system engineer answered. 'It's running through a completely different set of commands and there doesn't seem to be anyway for us to stop the programme!'

  'What sort of external source reprogrammed the flight computer chief?'