Starswarm

by Jerry Pournelle

"You don't have to," Michelle said. "You must know who I am."

  "Yeah. Right. But tell me this, how do I know Kip is real and not some AI program you—Michelle—cooked up?"

  "I'm real," Kip said. "You've met me."

  "Sure. All right, let's take that as a working hypothesis. What do we do now?"

  "You must authorize me to negotiate with the Starswarm. Immediately," Michelle said. "And we have to call off the security forces."

  "It may be too late," Henderson shouted. "I hear helicopters coming in from Cisco."

  "You have to stop them," Kip said. "Gwen, can't you do something?"

  "Who's Gwen?"

  "THE SECURITY FORCES ARE CONTROLLED THROUGH SYSTEMS I CANNOT ACCESS. I NEED THE SECURITY CODES."

  "We've got to have the ID codes for Security," Kip said. "Before they attack."

  "How do I know any of this is real?" Bernard Trent demanded. "Damn it, this is all voices on a telephone."

  "I BELIEVE IT WOULD BE ADVISABLE FOR YOU TO GO TO MR. TRENT'S OFFICE, I WILL DIRECT YOU."

  "Sounds good to me." Kip spoke into the telephone. "I'll be offline for a few minutes, but I'll be back, and Gwen can talk for me. Now I'll put Lara on." He handed the phone to Lara. "Don't even try to make sense of what's going on," he said. "Just listen."

  "Dad—"

  "Where are you going?" Goldie demanded.

  "Up to the fiftieth floor," Kip said. "To see Uncle Bernie. Stay, Silver."

  "Uncle Mike, Uncle Bernie. All right, Mr. Trent. Joe—"

  "No," Kip said. "He's more useful here. I've got plenty of help. Right now the most important thing in the world is that you keep control of this console."

  "Until when?"

  "Until it's over," Kip said. "I don't know how long that will be—"

  "Well." She looked at the pizza boxes. "At least we won't starve."

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Final Agreement

  IT IS SAFER TO TAKE THE STAIRS. USE THOSE AT THE END OF THE CORRIDOR TO YOUR LEFT."

  "What's going on?"

  "LISTEN CAREFULLY."

  At first there was a babble of voices in his head, but then they sorted themselves out. It wasn't quite like listening on the telephone, because he wasn't hearing it as sound. The tones were different. He could hear the sounds of his shoes as he climbed the stairway, and that sounded quite different from the voices in his head.

  "You want me to negotiate with a plant."

  "They're not plants. They may be smarter than we are."

  "How do you know all this, Doc?"

  "Bronze plates. Mono-isotopic copper bronze plates, with diagrams of a fission bomb, complete with a sample of enriched uranium. I have them. Here."

  "Why the hell didn't you tell me when you got them?"

  "I tried to. Your security system wouldn't let me through."

  "Oh. All right, Gwen, you say your name is? Gwen. All right, Gwen, what are we negotiating about?"

  "For the right to stay on this planet," Gwen said. She was still using Kip's mother's voice.

  "We're here. Damn, you sound like Mickey. Why do I need to negotiate about that?"

  "Mr. Trent, I've heard Kip's mother's will," Henderson said. "Actually Gwen doesn't need your permission to do anything. Kip owns more of the company than you do."

  "Owns, yes. Controls, no," Trent said. "He's a minor, and I'm his closest relative. I'm also Acting Governor. But leave that, I'm not trying to skin my brother's kid out of anything. Assuming he exists, it sure solves the takeover problem."

  "He exists. There are other advantages to be gained in prompt negotiations," Gwen said. "The Starswarms are capable of manufacturing almost anything we know how to make. Dr. Henderson has seen examples."

  "Well, those plates, and the centaur spears."

  "I refer to the Seiko digital watches," Gwen said.

  "I still have mine," Lara said. "Dad, they're all identical."

  "Digital watches," Trent said.

  "Complete with calculator functions," Gwen said.

  "Those things are one big chip, display and all."

  "Precisely. In fact, there is no computer chip so complex that the Starswarm cannot duplicate it in industrial quantities."

  "I'm at the fiftieth floor."

  "STAND BY."

  "Mr. Trent, please call the guard you have stationed at the stairway," Gwen said.

  "What? What for?"

  "It will all be clear shortly. Please call him into the room with you."

  "Armando, come in here a minute, please."

  "GO. I HAVE UNLOCKED THE STAIRWAY AND OFFICE DOORS DOOR ON YOUR LEFT. MOVE QUICKLY."

  Bernard Trent was seated at a large desk in the corner office. Windows looked out onto the sea behind him. He looked up as Kip came in.

  "Who are you?" a burly man demanded.

  Trent looked Kip over carefully, then nodded. "It's all right, Armando. You can go back to your post. I know him."

  "Yes, sir."

  "And be careful," Trent said. "There's weird things happening, and most of the security staff didn't report in. Be real careful."

  "Yes, sir."

  Trent studied Kip again. "Amazing. I don't know why I didn't recognize you the first time I ever saw you. Come on in, join the party. Do I need to tell you what's been happening?" He indicated the speaker phone on his desk.

  "No, sir. I know."

  "I expect you do." Trent grinned mirthlessly. "Under the circumstances, you might dispense with the 'sir.' "

  "Uncle Mike says it never hurts to be polite."

  "Who's Uncle Mike? Never mind, I can guess that one. So Gallegher's alive after all."

  "I am still waiting for authorization to negotiate with the Starswarm," Michelle's voice said from the phone.

  Trent looked up at Kip. "You've known this—I presume it's your mother's computer program?"

  Kip nodded.

  "You've known Gwen a long time. What should we do?"

  We. The word made Kip feel very good. Bernard Trent was asking Kip what to do! It felt wonderful. "I don't think we have any choice," Kip said. "I can talk to the Starswarm, but not as well as Gwen. And someone has to."

  "You can talk to the Starswarm. I see. Same way you talk to your mother's AI program?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "Your mother offered me one of those implants," Bernard Trent said. "But I was scared even if she was going to program it, and I sure wasn't going to let anyone else do it after her accident.

  I thought it was an accident. I really did, you know. All right, Gwen, what kind of deal are we being offered?"

  "Details are to be settled later, but in outline, the Starswarm will permit humans to remain on this planet provided that the population will never again exceed ninety percent of the number present now. You will have ten years to reduce the population to the acceptable level. All dredging operations will cease immediately, and humans will confine themselves to the areas they already occupy. Cities and farmlands will never grow larger. The entire planet will be parkland except for the areas now in use by humans. No new Earth species to be released into the wild without permission from the lake Starswarm. Centaurs and all other native life forms will be protected. There are a few other details having to do with transfer of knowledge data bases, but those are the important demands."

  "They don't want much, do they?" Trent said.

  "It's their planet," Kip said. "Not ours. I think they're being generous."

  "Not to mention saving themselves a war," Bernard Trent said. "They may have atom bombs, but so does the U.N."

  "They understand this," Gwen said. "In exchange for the human concessions, the Starswarm will deliver copies of any artifact including computer chips. Numbers are negotiable, but they can deliver industrial quantities."

  "What's an industrial quantity?"

  "Ten million chips. More by negotiation. Note that the cost of these chips is essentially nil, so there will be resources available to induce people to leave the planet voluntarily." />
  "How the devil is a plant going to make ten million chips?" Bernard Trent demanded.

  "The same way it made one," Gwen said. "The Starswarm builds products one molecule at a time. Once it knows the pattern, the process can be extremely rapid, and there are square kilometers of sea Starswarms."

  "What about food? What are we going to eat?"

  "You may keep the present farm areas provided that no more mud is washed into lakes. That should be sufficient to feed ninety percent of the number of people here now."

  "Yeah, I expect so," Trent said. "Maybe we do some crop shifts. So what we get is manufacturing without labor costs. They get left alone. Anything else?"

  "I am certain that trade will develop. The Starswarm needs critical raw materials available in the asteroid belt, and can pay with more manufactured goods. Mr. Trent, this will certainly be GWE's most profitable activity, and could easily become the most profitable venture in history."

  "I can see that. It could also be a mess. The legal situation alone. The U.N. will want something out of the deal. Crap. Rottenberg can't handle this."

  "No, but you can," Gwen said.

  "What does that mean?"

  "You and your brother had worked out an arrangement," Gwen said. "You would return to Earth and manage the company operations, voting Harold and Michelle's shares. They would remain here to pursue their own research activities."

  "Yeah—"

  "I believe that arrangement will be acceptable to Kip," Gwen said.

  "Sure—"

  "ONE MOMENT."

  "Whatever you do, you'd better hurry," Dr. Henderson said. "There's a fleet of helicopters landing in the schoolyard."

  "Who's in charge?"

  "A Colonel Baskins," Henderson said.

  "Oh, crap."

  "Doesn't he work for the company?" Henderson demanded.

  "Sure, but he takes orders from Tarleton. And it's pretty clear Henry Tarleton is working his own agenda, not mine," Trent said.

  "You can say that again."

  "Who the hell is that?" Trent demanded.

  "Uncle Mike!"

  "Gallegher? How long have you been on?"

  "Long enough," Mike said.

  "Is Marty all right?" Kip asked.

  "Yeah, he's with me. Good lad. Bernie, we got problems. You've got to call off your dogs. By the way, Michelle named me executor of Kip's estate. I figure he's old enough to make up his own mind, but anything he agrees to is OK by me. You want to stay here, boy?"

  "He has to," Bernard Trent said. "Here he can be of age. I'll decree it, as Governor. Here, he's the head of the family, at least in voting stock. But if he leaves here, he's just a fifteen-year-old kid again."

  "Be damned," Gallegher said. "Kip, he's got a point. Anyway, you won't know much about Earth politics."

  But I do, Kip thought. All those years Gwen made me study the Trent family and GWE operations and the U.N. I may know more about all that than anyone. But it's all from books. "Uncle Bernard, Gwen says you had an agreement with my father. It's all right with me. I want to stay here, at least until we see what will happen."

  "You have little choice," Gwen said. "One condition the Starswarm insists on is that you will personally talk to it about any problems. Another is that Kip and Lara and Marty remain at Starswarm Station for at least three more years. The Starswarm says it is not finished with its studies of human development."

  "Well," Lara said. "Dad—"

  "Yeah," Dr. Henderson said. "All those years we thought we were studying the Starswarm. Mr. Trent, we still have the problem of those helicopters."

  "Is it clear their intent is hostile?" Gwen asked.

  "Yes," Dr. Henderson said. "They're loading them with bombs—"

  "Can you put me on a loudspeaker?" Trent asked.

  "Yes."

  "Do it."

  "All right. You're on."

  "THIS IS GOVERNOR BERNARD TRENT. I SPEAK AS BOTH GOVERNOR AND GENERAL MANAGER. IF YOU DOUBT MY IDENTITY, CONSULT WITH STATION DIRECTOR HENDERSON. DOC, ARE THEY LISTENING?"

  "Yes. They've stopped loading the chopper. Except Baskins is trying to use his radio."

  "Get me back on that speaker.

  "I ORDER YOU TO CEASE ALL OPERATIONS. REMAIN AT THE STATION UNTIL MY PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE ARRIVES TO TAKE COMMAND. THIS IS BOTH A COMPANY AND A GOVERNMENT ORDER. ALL OPERATIONS ARE TO CEASE IMMEDIATELY. CONTROL OF STARSWARM STATION IS TO BE RESTORED TO DR. HENDERSON. ANYONE VIOLATING THIS ORDER WILL BE SUMMARILY DISMISSED FROM COMPANY EMPLOYMENT. ANY ACTION HARMING ANY CITIZEN WILL BE PROSECUTED.

  "I HEREBY DECLARE THE LAKE ADJACENT TO STARSWARM STATION TO BE A NATIONAL MONUMENT. ANY PERSON HARMING THAT LAKE WILL BE SUBJECT TO PROSECUTION. YOU WILL SIGNIFY ACCEPTANCE OF THESE INSTRUCTIONS BY HOLSTERING YOUR WEAPONS, TURNING OFF THE MOTORS OF YOUR HELICOPTERS, AND WAITING FOR THE ARRIVAL OF MY REPRESENTATIVE. YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES TO COMPLY AFTER WHICH YOU ARE SUBJECT TO SUMMARY DISMISSAL FROM COMPANY EMPLOYMENT. OK, DOC, YOU CAN TAKE ME OFF THE AIR NOW. START COUNTING MINUTES."

  "That do it?" Mike Gallegher asked.

  "All but Baskins. He's still on the phone," Dr. Henderson said.

  "Right," Trent said. "Gallegher, when you can get back to that station, take charge of all the company people." He raised his voice. "Armando."

  The door opened, but three men came in, none of them Armando. They all had guns.

  "Colonel Baskins says you've been giving some bad orders, Mr. Trent," one of them said. "Please cancel them immediately."

  "Aw, put the damn gun down, Henry, it's over," Trent said.

  "No, I don't think so." He reached over to turn off the telephone. "So. This is the young Trent heir. We may not have enough voting stock in this room to control the company outright, but there is certainly enough to assure the success of the Hilliard takeover."

  "That's silly."

  "No, not really," Tarleton said. "Actually, I don't need your votes, just to be certain you won't cast them against us. And from what I just heard, that will be arranged without my having to do a thing." He took a phone from his pocket. "Interesting conversations you were having."

  "You heard all that?"

  "Why, yes, indeed." Tarleton put his pistol in his pocket. The other two men held theirs steady, one aiming at Bernard, the other at Kip. Tarleton punched in numbers on his phone. "Baskins. Tarleton here. Yes. Finish it. Take out that damned lake."

  "You can't do that!" Kip said.

  "Ah, but I can. George, best you go up to the roof and be sure the helicopter is ready. It's going to be a bit tricky getting out of here in this storm, but I don't think we will have much time after Colonel Baskins does his work. Mr. Benson, if either of these people does anything the least bit suspicious, kill them both. Don't wait to ask, just shoot."

  "Yes, sir."

  "Thank you." Tarleton smiled. "Now, Bernard, we can do this easy or hard. Easy is you two sign over your voting stock to me. Irrevocable sale. You do that, and I'll let you come with us in the helicopter."

  "Otherwise?" Trent demanded.

  "Otherwise, what better way to cover a murder than a nuclear explosion?"

  "You're crazy."

  "Well, that's debatable," Tarleton said. "Excuse me. What's your progress, Colonel Baskins?" he said to the phone. "Excellent. Well, carry on."

  "He's ordered them to attack the lake!"

  "I HEARD. I HAVE INFORMED GOLDIE OF THE SITUATION HERE. UNFORTUNATELY THEY HAVE JAMMED THE ELEVATORS."

  "But they'll attack the lake!"

  "I CANNOT PREVENT THAT."

  "Sure you can! Tell Dr. Henderson—"

  "I HAVE DONE THAT BUT HE IS UNABLE TO STOP BASKINS. BASKINS HAS A SINGLE HELICOPTER, AND THE STARSWARM HAS MORE RESOURCES THAN BASKINS SUSPECTS. I AM MUCH MORE CONCERNED ABOUT YOU."

  "Tell you what, Henry," Trent was saying. "You have to give us something for all that stock. Say a billion each? It's worth a lot more."

  "I don't have two billion francs."

  "The Hilliards do," Bernar
d Trent said. "Look, you pay less than that and nobody will believe the sale is legit. A billion each, and you're home free."

  "Sure," Tarleton said. "I can write a Hilliard sight draft specifying what is being bought. You and Kip sign it, you for yourself and also as Kip's closest relative."