The nanobots had been away for the length of the battle and once the mission was finished they all met up next to the computer and reformed themselves into a data disk. Even Ann, who was now awake and looking around, hadn’t noticed. The Captain and Commander needed to know this. They needed to know what had happened.
Chapter forty-nine
It felt good to be back. Captain Cook walked through the hallways of the Arwen and was greeted with smiling faces and gleeful salutes. Having her onboard had boosted the moral of the crew who thought she died or had been left behind.
Captain Cook headed to her office to contend with the continuing issue of the computer malfunctions. They went from being annoying to being dangerous and no one had an answer to the problem. She had assigned her best computer expert, Juliet, to lead the investigation and she was going to finally give her the report.
When she walked into her office she found Juliet already sitting there looking at her tablet. There was a look on her face, one the Captain wasn’t able to identify right away. “Commander, what’s the problem?”
“Captain!” Juliet yelled standing up to salute. She looked at the hand arched over her eyebrow and laughed. “You scared the begeebees out of me.”
“At ease. Do you have anything to report?”
Captain Cook walked around the desk and sat behind it. Juliet sat as well. She took the computer tablet and turned it around. “Captain, I got this recording a few minutes before you arrived. I don’t know where it came from or who sent it, but you need to see it.”
She looked at the image and saw a computer desk. In the background Ann slept. “When was this taken?”
“According to the timestamp before the battle at Regal.”
She watched the recording wondering what she was supposed to be seeing. Nothing jumped out at her, nothing looked out of the ordinary. After a few minutes the recording simply stopped. “What did I just look at?”
“I was hoping you’d be able to tell me. All I could see was Ann waking up, that’s the only action. There has to be something else.”
“Maybe another computer malfunction?”
Juliet thought about it for a moment. “I can’t rule anything out, but that seems unlikely. Our computer issues have to do with losing processing power and memory, I don’t recall anyone reporting strange unsolicited messages from an unknown source. This was intentional, someone wants us to see something we’re just not seeing.”
“Send it to me, let me look at it again.”
Seconds later the video was playing on the Captain’s computer. She watched it several times, each time focusing on something she hadn’t before. Juliet sat across from her, silently watching it herself.
They spent the next several minutes doing this. After a while the Captain felt silly, there wasn’t anything here, this had to be a glitch. Then, after her seventh time watching it, she saw something. The disk wasn’t there. Then, a few minutes later, it was. “Juliet, watch the disk, tell me what you see.”
Juliet nodded and watched the recording play. Her eyes grew wide and she looked up. “Did you see what happened to it?”
“No, did you?”
“I think so.” She walked over to Captain Cook and looked over her shoulder as the recording played. “Watch the disk carefully. I know it kind of looks like it just disappears but it doesn’t, it sort of just disintegrates.”
She watched, looking for what Juliet said. She was right, the disk didn’t go away, it just fell apart. “What could have caused that?”
“There’s only one thing I can think of,” Juliet replied with a sigh. “Nanbots. Fast forward to when the disk appears again, I want to see exactly what happens.”
The recoding played ahead a few minutes and when the disk appeared again the Captain stopped it. She rewound until the point right before that moment. Small black, moving lines, each barely visible, converged onto one point and reformed the small data disk. “That’s how they infected her, Captain Cook said. “Ann was just a transportation device. Do we still have the disk?”
“Yes, I was never able to get it to the Hal before the attack.”
“Good, isolate it and have someone take a look at it. This could be a good chance to get to know how the Handler’s build those things. All the ones that came from me were long dead.”
“And the ones inside of me are being studied very carefully. Might be interesting to see how similar or different they are.”
“You sound like the Professor,” Captain Cook laughed. Her face grew serious as she replayed the recording. “We both know who sent this, right?”
“Yeah,” Juliet replied with a sigh. “Arwen is still with us I guess.”
“You don’t sound too surprised.”
“She’s a very complex program whose code was all over the ship. I did all I could to limit her, unplugged her memory, cut cables to her main processors, destroyed her main storage units. But, her personality was everywhere in the ship and I never really understood all the code the Alien Cabal gave me. It’s very possible there was a hidden routine that allowed the Arwen to reprogram herself. It would explain all the computer issues.”
“We should help her,” Captain Cook replied. “Do what you can get this new version of Arwen up and running. Enable her memory, give her access to her processor.”
“Are you sure? Last time she was active she took use into Wormhole space, before that she tried to destroy Regal.”
“Can you install a fail safe? A keyword or a button or something that we can activate to cut her off if she shows any signs of the virus?”
“That’s not much of a problem. Heck, we should have had one installed from the start.”
“Agreed,” Captain Cook replied. “Well, off you go, have that disk checked and do what you can to restart the Arwen.”
“Can I ask you one more thing?”
“Of course.”
“Where are we heading? We’re in Wormhole space but you haven’t given the order for a heading. Feels like we’re just hiding here.”
Captain Cook sat back in her chair getting comfortable. “We are. Before you rescued me I got a message from another clone who wanted to meet me. I don’t want to go just yet, not until I’ve run all the scenarios in my head as to what our best action is. There isn’t much time, we know my clones die after a short time. That’s why I want the Arwen up and running, she could provide some valuable information at a moment’s notice. When I figure out what we need to do I’ll give an order. In the meantime we’ll continue to hide in Wormhole Alpha space.”
Juliet nodded in agreement. “Sounds like a sensible plan.”
*****
The Petra approached the Water Planet slowly. The last time a Corps ship investigated a Water Planet it was knocked out of the sky by a powerful electromagnetic pulse. That ship was the Arwen, Professor Ricter was there when it happened. He never thought he’d see another Water planet in his life. The one that the Arwen found was off limits until they figured out a way to shield the ships from its powerful magnetic pulse.
Professor Ricter sat at the science station of the Petra watching the scans carefully. All around him was the normal chaos of a ship slowly approaching a situation the crew didn’t fully understand. He ignored it all and focused on the readings. This planet didn’t have as powerful a magnetic field as the earlier one. It was just as dense but larger somehow. Its gravity was still three times that of Earth yet it was at least 20% larger. That puzzled him.
“When will we be in visual range?” He asked Captain Liefer.
Captain Liefer, a broad man with a thick Martian accent, answered, “Soon, Professor. I don’t want to approach too fast.”
“Yes, yes, I get that.” Professor Ricter snapped, “I understand. Now, answer my question, how long before I can get a visual?”
The Captain took a deep calming breath. Professor Ricter was sure his size intimidated most, he was always the Alpha male in the room, always the one in charge. The Professor didn’t care about t
hat at all, he just wanted answers. “In about fifteen minutes at our current speed. Our telescopes are trained on the planet now.”
“I know, but it’s not a good visual. We came in too far away. I’ll be sure to include that in my report.” He spun in his chair and continued to study the readings, not giving the Captain a chance to reply.
The images that came back of the planet were small and he couldn’t make out any details. He expected to see something but the planet was in half shadow and anything he expected to see might be hidden under that darkness. The planet was getting closer as the ship’s speed increased. The magnetic field was holding steady, there didn’t seem to be any build up as the ship approached.
With a few finger swipes on the screen he pulled up the images from the first Water Planet and compared. He didn’t expect them to be the same but the differences were striking, both in size, temperature and brightness. This planet was much brighter. The magnetic field wasn’t as strong and the atmosphere seemed to be more active than the first water planet. The planet was also further away from the sun but almost half an AU. He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, absorbing the facts. The planet was larger yet still had the same mass. It was further away from the sun. Its atmosphere was active suggesting powerful winds and storms. His eyes snapped open he reached his conclusion. “The planet’s frozen.”
“Excuse me, Professor? Did you say something?”
“Yes, the planet is no longer a water planet. It’s now an ice planet. I don’t think we have anything to fear from it. Most of the electromagnetic energy that brought the Arwen down was the result of the Water planet’s ribbon life forms. I’m sure they’re all dead or in hibernation so we can increase our speed. Also, I’d like to organize a landing party.”
“Wait. No, I can’t risk my crew.”
“Then risk mine. I have my team on the ready, just give us a shuttle, I have a class three license and can fly very well. All you’ll be risking is a shuttle.”
“I’m not sure. . . “
“Captain, surely you can see that an ice planet will wreak havoc with our scanners, the ice will deflect most of our signals away. I need to know about the wormhole at it’s cored. We can’t get that information from orbit, I need to be on the surface.”
The Captain frowned. The Professors reputation was well known. He would get his way and the Captain knew he had to say yes or else face the wrath of Professor Theo Ricter. “Fine, you have your shuttle.”
Professor Ricter stood and nodded, “Thank you, Captain. As you can see all you need to do is cater to my needs and I will not be a problem. I’ll be in my office getting my team ready. Good day.” With a triumphant smile Professor Ricter walked off the bridge and into the elevator.
He strolled down the hallways and into his lab where his team, a group of fifteen highly trained science officers, stopped what they were doing to look at him. He had worked them hard over the past few years, those who could deal with his work ethic would stay, those that couldn’t were thrown aside. These were the ones who had impressed him the most, the ones he trusted to get his work finished on time. His domineer, while still stern, had softened for them. They had been through all his tests, there was no need to test them anymore. “We have a frozen planet we need to probe. I sent all the information to your computers. I need to know how we can probe its depth to see the Beta Wormhole at the core. Oh, and I need this within a day.”
His team all nodded, eager to meet his approval, and began to study the readings. “I expect reports in my office. You’re on your own, if you have any questions let me know.” He stepped out of the room and headed for his office to study the readings as well.
******
“Now, this is interesting,” Juliet said standing over a small table. A small portable shield had been erected all around the table, through the floor and up to the ceiling. The small data disk was totally encased with no way of getting out. But, since Juliet didn’t believe anything was impossible, she had the data disk surrounded by small EMP generator, fully changed, ready to blast the electronics of the nanobots at a moment’s notice.
She had gathered around her all of the science team, a few security guards, and Chief McFerren.
Juliet looked through the shimmering force field. The disk was a perfect replica, there could be no way anyone would have suspected it was the home to millions of atom sized robots programmed to disable a starship. What do we do now? She thought. “Okay, how do we get this thing to give up its secrets?
One of the scientists raised his hand. “We could hit it with the electromagnetic pulse, it would destroy them but at least we’d be safe and we’d have something to study.”
“I thought about that, but I’d like to keep them in tact if I could.”
“We could start hitting it with different types of radiation,” Another man said. “See what happens. There has to be some sort of trigger.”
“Good idea, we’ll put that in the maybe pile. But you’re right, there had to have been something letting them know to do their jobs. Nanobots aren’t very smart. They have one, maybe two instructions each. When connected in this fashion they’re sort of like a hive mind, each member has a few pieces of information which is useless by itself, but when it combined with information from other nanobots it can do complex things, like form in to the shape of data disk. Let’s think, what could that trigger have been?”
“When did it fall apart?” Chief McFerren asked.
“Before the battle for Regal. According to the timestamp on the recordings it happened a few moments before Arwen left Wormhole space.”
“There was an offal lot of communications going on then,” The Chief replied. “Anyone of them could have set it off.”
“We have the recordings from all the transmissions, right?” Juliet asked. She liked where this was going. “Could we recreated the actual transmissions, not the messages but the signals and concentrate them into this room?”
“Might take some time but yeah, I don’t see why not.”
Juliet smiled. “Chief, you’re the best. Get that information ready and send it to the hologram room, I’d like to take a look after the meeting.”
He nodded and walked out all ready giving orders to his crew.
The more Juliet thought about it the more it made sense. The second time the Arwen went crazy was when they Handler’s attacked the fleet. It was another place dense with communication traffic, anyone of them could have been the trigger to set the nanobots off.
“Anyone else have any other ideas?” The room fell silent, each member lost in their own thoughts. “If you think of something don’t hesitate to let me or the Captain know. You never know when inspiration might strike. Dismissed.”
Four security guards stayed in the room as the rest of the team walked out. Juliet stayed and looked at the disk carefully. You never know when inspiration might strike, that’s what Professor Ricter would say to her when he was working on a problem he couldn’t fix right away. Those times of inspiration fascinated and infuriated her. She didn’t mind when inspiration struck while they were sleeping, she hated it when they struck while they were out on a date, or when she drug him to visit her family, or the night of their wedding. Even the honeymoon was filled with inspiration strikes. She marveled at how long she put up with it before leaving him.
She found it ironic that at the moment, when she was thinking of the Professor and inspiration that she got inspired. She ran out and toward the hologram room. She was deep in her thoughts when she burst into the room she instinctively said, “Arwen, I need your help.”
The room remained dark. Arwen wasn’t around anymore. Juliet walked over to the control panel and was just ready to turn it on when a small blue green light caught her attention. It came from the middle of the room, a place where Arwen would normally form. She walked over to it and could make out the wavering shape of a human. It was as if a ghost was trying to leave its specter reality. It looked like a girl of about fifteen. Arwen l
iked her girly image; she liked looking like a child yet having the power and intelligence of a thousand men. The dichotomy of the image made her laugh.
“Arwen?” Juliet asked. It didn’t seem real. Juliet had killed Arwen, she tore her brain out. She killed the closest thing she’s ever had to a sister, to a real friend. She accepted that the Arwen was nothing more than lines of code running billions of processes per second. Yet, seeing this image, hoping it was the Arwen was too much to ask for. Juliet didn’t deserve it.
The head of the shape nodded. From the speakers came a sound, a loud hum that modulated up and down. Juliet’s stomach turned into a knot of guilt and tears formed in small puddles under her eyes. She’s not dead, she’s going to return. Juliet whispered while holding back the sobs. “I’m sorry, I had no choice.”
The sound from the speakers, while still distorted, was easy for Juliet to understand. “I understand.”
Juliet sobbed and laughed at the same time. If she could she would have hugged the blue green, unformed phantom of the Arwen. “Can you help me?”
The lights in the room turned on and the hologram equipment hummed to life. “It’s going to be good working with you again.”
Arwen, her form barely visible in the bright room, smiled a deformed smile.
“Okay, so here is what I’m looking for. I think the nanobots that infected you were triggered by some sort of signal from the Handlers fleet. I want to pinpoint where that signal came from. So, what I need from you is a representation of the Arwen and I want all the communication signals we received represented as line, can you do that?”
The imaged flickered for a moment as Arwen diverted its processing power to creating the hologram. After a few minutes an image of the Arwen appeared over Juliet’s head. Thousands of lines protruded from the surface. Each line represented a communication sent to the Arwen directly or one she picked up from the fleet.
“Okay, can you remove all the Corps communication? I don’t think they would have triggered it.”
A significant number of lines were removed and all she could see were those from the Handler’s. “Okay,” Juliet said. “The signal would have to last more than a few minutes. In fact, I bet it was focused on the Arwen the entire time. Can you remove all the communications that lasted less than a minute?”
The Arwen Book two: Manifest Destiny Page 38