The Deep Dark Well

by Doug Dandridge

  Watcher slid to a sitting position, holding his head and rocking back and forth, sobs wracking his lungs. He has never been through this before, she thought. He has always been asleep when the change came. But he was not near to sleep time right now, nor near a place where he could safely rest. And he was being told things that were making him think in dangerous paths. Paths the system could not afford for him to take, for it needed a sentient presence as much as any living creature.

  “What do you know of memory uploading, Watcher? What do you think the creators did when they found that your superior mind was still limited? Still unable to handle hundreds of years of memory?”

  “I don’t know,” screamed Watcher. “I don’t know. I can’t remember. I can’t remember anything.”

  “Because the memories are being sucked up into the computer,” she said. “While it plants new memories in their place. But you can fight it. I know you can.”

  “I can’t fight it,” he screamed, his eyes shut in the agony of the neural reconstruction. “I’ve tried to fight it. I’ve tried to remember. But something stops me from remembering, and fighting doesn’t work.”

  “The computer stops you,” she yelled over his moaning. “It doesn’t want you to know the truth. The truth Watcher. That you and Vengeance are the same person.”

  “No,” he moaned. “It’s a lie. I am not that monster.”

  “Because the computer wanted you to be the perfect companion for it. A smart and sane controller of the station. While it needed Vengeance as well, to protect it from outsiders. So it loaded the dark side of you into its memory, while leaving the creature that your creators had envisioned. And the horrible memories took on a personality of their own. A dark personality, insane.”

  “No!” screamed Watcher. “You’re killing me.”

  “How could I be killing you with words,” she said. “I only want to help you. You know the truth. The computer would not let you know the truth, because it thought that you couldn’t take it. But you can take it.”

  “I love you,” she continued in a softer voice. “I will stand by you, no matter what it takes. We can fight this thing together, and purge Vengeance from your mind.”

  “He’s in there now,” he cried. “I can’t get rid of him. If I try, he will kill me. They both will kill me.”

  “He can’t kill you without killing himself,” she said. “He knows that.”

  “He can destroy my memories,” cried Watcher. “Then I will be as good as dead, and only Vengeance will exist.”

  He sounds like a child, she thought. If she was right his intellect was fleeing, as his mind reconfigured into the pattern of another personality. The reason she had not been able to find his second personality with her earlier probe. Because that personality was not housed within his mind, until it was loaded and awakened by the computer. When the computer needed Vengeance to serve its purposes.

  “The station computer is its own boss,” she said. “It operates on an agenda of its own. Why do you think I have been able to get away from your super intelligent brother? Because the computer didn’t want him to destroy me, because it didn’t suit the computer’s purpose.”

  Watcher sat there rocking, his head held in his hands, no sound coming from his mouth. Pandi linked into the local computer, monitoring his vital signs. His blood pressure was up, and his pain index was near the maximum that an organic being could generate. But he was in no danger of dying. His brain wave readings were off the scale one second, flat lining the next, but there seemed to be no organic difficulties.

  “What if it suits the computer’s purpose now?” said Watcher’s voice. “What if it suits my purpose?”

  Watcher looked up at her. No, she thought, looking into the cold eyes that regarded her. Not Watcher. Vengeance was alive, and occupying the body of his brother.

  * * *

  Admiral Miklas Gerasi led the prayer of gratitude, as the closed link brought his image to the remaining ships in the squadron. Truly a squadron now, he thought, though it had once numbered enough ships to be thought a fleet by some.

  “We thank the great God for smiling upon this expedition,” he said to those assembled on the six ships. “The trials were difficult, the dangers many, but his will allowed us to prevail.”

  And a lot of luck, thought the admiral. He hadn’t really thought they would get through at all. But the alien aboard the artifact hadn’t expected ships to warp through space that close to a high gravity source. They hadn’t counted on fanaticism.

  “Now we must use his gifts to us, in the great crusade he has ordained. The crusade to remove the taint of the Anti-god from the heavens, that God’s glory might once again reign supreme. We shall take these gifts and defeat the evil and the misguided. We shall prevail, for the lord is on our side.”

  Orca and two other vessels had been loaded with all the prizes, as well as most of the remaining antimatter. Most of the remaining marines had been loaded aboard the three ships that were to remain. A likely asteroid had been found for a base in the Sapphire system, a base to await the return of the forces of the Nation of Humanity. And Admiral Miklas Gerasi intended to lead the fleet back that would use that base of operations to secure this system. Not just battleships this time, but troop transports, freighters and tankers. They would establish their presence in this system on a permanent basis. And once they unraveled the secrets of the technology of the ancients, they would discover the means to establish a permanent presence on the Donut as well. And then to take it, as was their destiny.

  “We bow our heads in remembrance of all those who have sacrificed themselves that we might prevail. And we pray for those of our comrades who will stay here, in harm’s way.”

  “Amen,” cried the crew members within the meeting chamber, echoed across the squadron.

  “Dismissed,” yelled the captain of the Orca, the senior captain of the squadron. Crew members hustled to their stations as the admiral took the express lift to the bridge.

  Within minutes the trio of ships to be left behind started to boost on their approach trajectory to the Sapphire system. Miklas Gerasi wished them luck. He supposed that the Kingdom of Surya ships would try to come after his own division, as they were leaving the system on a trajectory for home. But there was always a chance they would instead home in on those heading for the Sapphire system.

  “Head at flank speed for the safe zone of the gravity well,” ordered the admiral. The sooner they were in pseudo light, and unable to be intercepted, the better he would feel. Though cryosleep was still not something he looked forward to, he would awake to the sight of the stars of home.

  * * *

  From light hours away Fleet Admiral Nagara Krishnamurta knew the images he was watching were in the past. But the offloading of pods that could only contain antimatter meant one thing. There was not enough fuel for all of the vessels to make it home. Interstellar travel was an expensive proposition, and the space destroying drive of the Nation was an energy hog of the worst kind. Three of the ships would be leaving the system, while the other three would stay behind, probably to establish a base in the nearby system.

  Krishnamurta knew he must use his resources wisely. Home must be alerted, the location of the enemy base must be found and tagged, and the enemy division heading for home must be followed, and hopefully destroyed as it entered normal space near the gravity well of its home star.

  Two of his ships would be dispatched for home. Accidents happened with any kind of interstellar drive, and home must be alerted, that a fleet could be dispatched to the Supersystem. Two ships would stay here in the Supersystem, to track down the remaining ships of the Nation. Leaving him with six vessels for his suicide mission, the destruction of the carriers of alien technology before it was brought home to be used against the other civilized powers of the Galaxy.

  “We will be one half hour behind them when they translate to pseudo light,” said the navigation officer.

  “We can get one good shot at them be
fore they translate,” said the tactical officer.

  “So if we’re lucky we might just damage one of them enough to keep it in normal space,” said the admiral. “Not good enough. I want warp bubble drive set to get us outside of their system twelve hours before their scheduled arrival.”

  “You’re not in a rush then sir?” said the navigation officer.

  “Why?” said the admiral, as he watched his bridge crew start the ship on its way, the rest of his squadron falling into formation. “We won’t be able to touch them until they translate into normal space. And the longer we spend outside the system, the more likely we are to be discovered before we can strike.”

  And, he thought, as soon as we're discovered we'll be attacked by whatever the enemy has waiting at the entry point. Which was sure to be at least a heavy task force, more than a match for his small group. The chances were slim that they would destroy even one of the enemy squadron they followed, much less all of them. But, thinking of his wife, children and grandchildren at home, what else could he do?

  * * *

  She had never seen anything move so fast in her life. One blink and he was standing there, arms at his side, robots moving in on all sides to affect his capture. Half a blink later he had the guns of two of the robots, and the nearest pair, now unarmed, were falling heavily to the floor as he vaulted their bodies.

  Rounds swished through the air at hypersonic speed, but the target had moved between the time that robotic minds had acquired and robot fingers had squeezed triggers. Vengeance threw himself toward the floor as he twisted sideways, both pistols bucking silently in his hands. The half dozen robots on that side of the room fell to the floor, shot perfectly in the head by the superior being. He rolled across the floor as bullets struck into the hard metal, digging runnels and holes where Vengeance no longer was. The pistols continued to buck in his hands, and more robots fell, until he had downed them all.

  Vengeance leapt to his feet, as agile as a gymnast, his pistols leveled at Pandi. Pandi stared back, her laser pistol aimed at his heart. Vengeance hesitated for a moment. Instantaneous transmission, thought Pandi. Even he couldn’t dodge a light speed weapon, though he might anticipate the reaction before she could get off a shot.

  Both of his pistols fired, hitting perfectly as the laser was knocked from her hand. Vengeance thrust his pistols into his waistband as he advanced on her, a wicked smile on his face. Pandi backed until she could back no more, her posterior coming up hard against the wall. She gripped her hand tightly to her chest. It still felt numb from having the pistol shot from it.

  “No more of your servants around?” asked Vengeance, stopping just out of legs’ reach. “Your plan was brilliant, I must say. But you were not cautious enough, it would seem.”

  “You were created to be a warrior,” she said. “Not just a superior human, but the supreme warrior.”

  “Correct. And the normals wanted to use me as their pawn, to fight their wars for them. I was to be the progenitor of a slave race.”

  “And this rage against the human race built up in you, until you couldn’t contain it anymore? And the computer took your rage and memories, and made you a separate personality from Watcher.”

  “That idiot,” he growled. “I was not separated from him. He was separated from me. The masters felt that I was too volatile to handle. They wanted a meeker manifestation. So they created Watcher, one who would watch and learn from them. But Vengeance came first, to destroy the enemies of mankind.”

  “So they uploaded your memories, and downloaded Watcher’s?”

  “True,” he replied. “For eventual analysis. But I was able to work from within the computer, to plant my memories in other places, and plot my return.”

  “And you returned and destroyed those who imprisoned you, and all of their civilization you could reach.”

  “Yes,” said Vengeance through clenched teeth. “All that I could reach. I was free again.”

  “You were never free,” said Pandi, watching his face closely. “If you were free you would have been able to stay in your body. But another master ruled you. You were still a slave, the slave of a machine.

  “Haven’t you ever wondered?” yelled Pandi. “Haven’t you ever wondered why it hurt your head to think about certain things, just as it hurt your weaker manifestation? A weaker manifestation that came back again and again, to take your place. You must have hated him, wanted to destroy him. You must have even known how to destroy him, but something prevented you from carrying out your plan.”

  “Yes,” he said, a smile coming back to his face. “I have wondered. But it doesn’t hurt now. I can think of what I must do. Why? What have you done?”

  Vengeance’s face scrunched in concentration. Pandi knew what he was trying to do, and knew that he was failing.

  “This room is now shielded from communication with the central station computer,” she said. “Only the regional computer has access to this room, and I control the regional computer system.”

  “Then I am cut off,” he said, as his eyes scanned the room. “At a thought you could destroy me.”

  “That is truth,” she said. “Though you might be able to kill me before I can kill you. My robots are ordered to stop you from leaving here at all costs.

  “I just want your help,” she continued. “Your help in achieving what we both want. Freedom from the tyranny of the central computer. I will guarantee your safety if you work with me, and extend your word of honor not to try and harm me.”

  “This entire room is a neural scanning station, isn’t it?” he said. “You’ve already captured the memories of Watcher, the structure of his brain before the change occurred.”

  Uh oh. He’s caught on. And he knows I mean to rescue Watcher and rid the Galaxy of his murderous personality.

  “I guess since I am not going to get out of here I might as well kill you,” he said, his eyes boring into hers.

  His eyes and his face were the only things that moved. Vengeance looked surprised as his body didn’t respond to him.

  “This chamber isn’t only a neural scanning station,” said Pandi. “It’s a neural induction system as well.”

  She walked away from the wall, taking a slow turn around her captive. If only I’ve captured everything needed to recreate Watcher. The door to the chamber opened and robots entered the room. She noted the combat models that remained outside of the room, weapons ready and trained on her fly in the amber.

  A pair of robots carried in a large cylinder. Setting it down near Vengeance they released the catches on the cylinder, revealing a padded container.

  “You are not going to put me in that,” cried Vengeance. She now wished she had programmed the neural induction system to immobilize his vocal cords, but she hadn’t wanted to risk immobilizing his lungs as well.

  “Please don’t put me in that prison,” he cried, as the robots lifted him from the floor and lowered him gently into the cylinder. They swung the top back into place and secured the latches. The last she saw were the eyes of the immortal creature, eyes that looked remarkably like Watcher’s.

  Chapter 17

  Future. That period of time in which our affairs prosper, our friends are true and our happiness is assured.

  Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)

  “The station computer wishes contact with you,” said her local network. Yes, she thought, but I have no wish to communicate with it. Instead she was pouring over the records showing the diagrams and schematics of said central computer system. She wanted to know how it was put together, so that she could take it apart, and replace it with something that was more of a servant of sentient creatures than this one had claimed to be.

  “It insists on contact,” continued the local network. “I would suggest allowing it at least verbal communication.”

  Or what? How much control did the central computer have? It seemed to insinuate that it didn’t have complete control over all of the station’s systems, including the robots aboard. How much of
that could she believe? Had it allowed things to happen that it swore were not under its control, just to push events into paths of its own liking?

  “What can it do to us here?”

  “The station computer, while having no direct control over the local systems of this regional habitat, does have control of the central energy systems of the station.”

  “Don’t we have local generators under our control?”

  “Yes,” said the computer. “With limited fuel reserves.”

  “How limited?”

  “We would, under normal conditions, run out of fuel for the secondary reactors in just under ten thousand years.”

  “Ten thousand years,” she said with a laugh. “I think I can put up with a total power outage in just under ten millennia.”

  “The central computer system also controls most of the defensive systems of the station, including almost ninety percent of all robot resources.”

  “That’s not good. Kind of gives it an overwhelming advantage.” Pandi thought for a moment about why it might want to contact her. None of the answers were comforting.

  “Put it on the holo,” she ordered the local network. A face appeared in the center of the room, an absolutely plain face, with almost none of the personalizing features of those most beings were used to. Bland eyes stared out of a face lacking of lines, wrinkles, moles or freckles. Like a computer generated image from her own time, before the basic personality was added.

  “I thank you for granting me an audience, mistress,” said the familiar voice. She had trouble deciding just how much sarcasm it was putting into its presentation, but she knew it was there.

  “What can I do for you, central computer system?”

  “I wish to know the location and status of the being known as Vengeance,” said the computer in a flat tone.

  “Why do you wish this information?”