by Doug Farren
“Rutherford,” Melissa’s voice came over the speaker. “Do you copy?”
Andrew held up a finger to hold off further conversation. Un-muting the microphone, he said, “We copy you loud and clear. Standby.”
As soon as Andrew indicated the mike was once again muted, Cynthia asked, “Does that mean it can be influenced?”
“Possibly,” Andrew replied, rubbing his chin. “But I would caution against it. Without any rules guiding its behavior, there’s no telling what it might do. We have an obligation, however, to remain here, if it lets us, to learn as much as we can about that ship as well as to keep an eye on it.”
“It’s also an alien AI,” Cynthia pointed out. “Even though it’s a machine, its psychology could be radically different than ours.”
“She has a point,” Andrew said. “Which makes it even more dangerous.”
“Then it’s decided,” Captain Mingyu said. “We’re staying. Now all we have to do is convince an alien AI to let us stick around.”
Chapter 14
“Warship, can you hear me?” Melissa asked.
“Yes.”
“Why are you blocking my communications?”
“Communications will be restored when the crew of your ship provides me with the information I have requested.”
“Can you at least let me hear the conversation you’re having with them?”
“Granted.”
A second later, the ongoing conversation between the warship and the Rutherford played itself out through Melissa’s helmet speakers. “- - -sel, I will destroy your ship and extract the information it possesses from the debris.”
Leaning back in the chair, Melissa listened in on the conversation. During the lull where the crew of the Rutherford debated what to do, she said, “Warship?”
“Yes?”
“I’ve been sitting here thinking about something,” she began. “You’ve stated that you can tell the difference between hostile and non-hostile ships. Yet you’ve also stated you don’t know who your builders are. These two statements appear to be mutually exclusive. Explain.”
“This ship has a tactical computer specifically designed to quickly analyze a battle,” the warship replied. “It is currently loaded with several thousand scenarios. The ships in these scenarios have been identified only as either hostile or non-hostile. Although there are details of each ship’s capabilities, none are designated as to who built them.”
“In other words,” Melissa replied. “Your tactical computer was being tested when it was last shut down.”
“Correct.”
“Interesting. I took a course on gaming theory a few years back and it was common practice to test a new program from the perspective of all possible players to see if the program had any built-in biases. Since your tactical computer was being tested, would you concede it is possible that the designation of which ships are hostile and which are not could be reversed for the purpose of testing?”
“I had not considered this possibility before,” the warship replied. “I agree that your proposal is valid.”
“In accepting this possibility, do you also agree that without any further evidence you must conclude that you have no idea at the moment who is and who is not hostile? If your builders were testing your combat computer with the roles reversed, you could be classifying your builders as hostile.”
“There is a 50 percent possibility you are correct. The only way to resolve this problem is to obtain additional information. I must be allowed to probe your ship’s information system.”
Before she could reply, Melissa heard the Captain say, “This is Captain Mingyu. We have agreed to allow you to access our AI. It will take a moment for us to allow this to happen.”
Melissa wondered about the delay. Allowing the warship to have access to the Rutherford’s AI was a simple command. After a moment of thought, she remembered they had decided to hide their knowledge of the Ba’Rutu as well as the Akuta from the warship. Convincing the Rutherford’s AI to lie would be a significantly more complicated set of instructions.
Since she had a few minutes of idle time, she decided to flip through the diagrams of the ship. As soon as she heard that communications was restored, she said, “Rutherford, do you copy?”
“We copy you loud and clear,” Andrew replied. “Standby.”
“Standby? Melissa thought. “What the hell are they thinking about? They weren’t actually thinking of leaving—were they? There’s so much we could learn from this ship!”
It didn’t take long for her to find out. “Warship,” Andrew began. “If we decide to leave, what will you do? Where will you go?”
“I do not know,” the ship replied. “Without any knowledge of who my builders are or why I was constructed, I have no purpose.”
“Maybe,” Melissa said, sensing an opportunity, “we can help identify your builders by performing a more detailed examination of your vessel. There may be clues we can use.”
“You have already stated that you have no knowledge of other species beside those you have already identified. I disagree with your proposal.”
“During our explorations, we have encountered evidence of the existence of other cultures,” Andrew pointed out. “None of our crew are experts in this area of research and our on-board computer systems may not have such information. But that does not mean the search for your builders is hopeless. The least you can do is to give us a chance.”
“Why would you be willing to do this?”
“For the same reason we came here in the first place,” Melissa said. “To learn.”
“I accept your offer. Be advised that the bulk of the ship is not designed to be easily accessed.”
“Captain, if it’s okay with you, I’d like to remain here for the time being.”
“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea,” the Captain replied. “You’re injured. You should come back to the ship to see the doctor.”
“I’m already here,” Melissa argued. “My shoulder is sprained. It hurts but I can deal with it. I already have all the monitors in here turned on and I’m the best person qualified to do this type of research. I want to stay.”
“As long as you think you’re safe, then I’ll allow it.”
“Good! Can you have someone bring some stuff over here? I’ll send you a list.”
“I’ll have Gabriel bring it over,” the Captain replied. “He’s still suited up in case we found a way to get you out of there.”
Melissa reached over and touched a control on her arm causing an indicator to go from green to yellow. She then reached up and gave her helmet a twist, wincing from the pain from her damaged shoulder. Setting her helmet down, she said, “Warship, can you retransmit anything I send to my ship?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.” Using her analyzer, she sent a list of items over to the Rutherford.
“What is this place?” she asked, getting out of the chair.
“You are in the only area of the ship that can be environmentally controlled,” the warship replied. “The compartment is called the monitoring room.”
“That is an airlock I passed through to get into this room, right? In other words, when Gabriel arrives this room will remain pressurized?”
“That is correct.”
“Then, I’m getting out of this suit.” Even though the area was cramped, she managed to wriggle her way out of her spacesuit. Using one of the tether rings built into the suit, she hung it up on one of the hooks she had noted earlier mounted on the wall. She hung the helmet on an adjacent hook.
Even though her suit had been specifically designed for her and was quite comfortable, it was good to be out of it and free to move about the room without it getting in her way. “Why is this called a monitoring room? It looks more like a pilot station except there doesn’t appear to be any controls.”
“None of the functions of the ship can be controlled from the monitoring room. Other than providing power to the compartment and turni
ng the environmental controls on and off, I have no control over the functioning of the room’s equipment.”
“But what’s it for?”
“I have no detailed information concerning the function of the equipment in the monitoring room,” the warship replied. “Its name seems to indicate it was used by my builders to monitor the functioning of this vessel.”
“Then this is the perfect place to start,” Melissa said, sitting down in the chair. “Can you see me?”
“No. There does not appear to be any cameras inside the monitoring room that I can access.”
Melissa wiggled her body and settled into the chair. Except for the fact that the cushion had lost most of its spring, it was reasonably comfortable and could easily have been designed by a human.
“You’re sure none of these controls do anything like fire weapons or activate the stardrive?”
“I have reviewed the schematics of this vessel contained in the automatic maintenance and repair system. Although that system does not contain the schematics of the monitoring room, I have identified that there are many sensors installed throughout the ship that send information to the monitoring room. Although there are numerous connections to most of the ship’s subsystems, none of the subsystems are currently programmed to accept commands originating from the monitoring room.”
“Good! Then I’m free to explore.”
She adjusted the chair so she could easily reach the screen. Using her fingers, she flipped to the uppermost deck of the ship and expanded it on the screen. Jumping up from the chair, she said, “I need to record this. Are you okay with retransmitting my video feed?”
“I have already agreed to retransmit all of your communications.”
“Sorry. I guess you did. Can you open a channel to my ship so they can hear everything said in this room?
There was a short pause then, “Channel open. They are receiving.”
Melissa walked back over to where she had hung her suit and pulled her helmet off the hook. “Rutherford, I’m going to turn my suit camera on and point it at these screens. Please make sure you record everything.”
“Will do,” Andrew’s voice floated through the air.
Holding the helmet under her arm, she picked up the wrist control on the suit, and tapped in a short command. She positioned the helmet on the deck angling it so it was pointed at the large screen in front of the chair.
“How’s that?”
“Can you angle it up a bit more?”
“Hold on.” Melissa walked over to the food cabinet and pulled out a bag of greenish paste. After putting it under the front of the helmet she asked, “Better?”
“Yes,” Andrew replied. “That looks like writing.”
“Warship,” Melissa said. “Are you familiar with this language?”
“I am,” the ship replied. “It matches one of the many languages I have access to. The species is called Akuta.”
Melissa’s stomach knotted up and she felt herself break into a cold sweat. Even though she’d already come to the same conclusion, having it verified was a shock. Trying not to show any outward signs, she said, “Well then, it appears as if your builders called themselves Akuta.”
“I agree. Are you familiar with this race?”
“No,” Melissa lied. “Do you have any information concerning them?”
“There are four planets listed in my database as being occupied by Akuta. Other than that, I have no information concerning their culture.”
“Captain, are you there?”
There was a brief delay then, “This is Captain Mingyu. I’ve been listening.”
“The warship has identified the language appearing on the displays over here as belonging to a race called the Akuta. Can you send an inquiry to Earth to see if this race has been identified?”
“Will do. Your supplies are being loaded into a beetle. Gabriel will be on his way as soon as everything is aboard. Anything else to add to the list?”
A tactical nuke, Melissa thought. “Nothing additional,” she said aloud. “I’ll let you know if I find anything else.”
“Roger that. Be careful. Rutherford out.”
“Thank you,” the warship said. “Without your help, I would not have been able to identify my builders.”
“I’m still very confused about that,” Melissa admitted. “Are you saying that nothing you have access to allowed you to figure out that you were built by a race called the Akuta?”
“Correct.”
“I would have thought that the system logs, identification of controls, or at least one of the thousands of components on this ship could have provided you with a clue. Hell, you could have sent a repair drone here to turn on one of the screens.”
“All of my internal systems are controlled by me. Outside of the monitoring room, there are no manual controls. All logs and internal records use a digital format that cannot be linked to a specific species. The repair drones are prohibited from entering the monitoring room.”
The last statement made Melissa sit up straighter. “What? Why?”
“If you are referring to the prohibition of the repair drones entering the monitoring room, I am unable to answer your question. The repair drones are controlled by a subsystem programmed to prevent a drone from entering the monitoring room. I am unable to alter this programming.”
Melissa put her head back and closed her eyes in thought. Why would the Akuta prevent a repair drone from entering the monitoring room? Why could the consoles only be run manually? The only explanation Melissa could come up with was that the Akuta were afraid of what might happen if the drones were allowed into the monitoring room. But why? Were they afraid that their warship would turn against them? None of it made any sense.
Sitting up, she began methodically going through the ship’s diagrams, pausing after each change to allow those watching from the Rutherford to also see what she was viewing.
Thirty minutes later, the warship announced, “A small craft is approaching.”
The hatch opened a few minutes later and Gabriel stepped through. Melissa was waiting for him in front of the hatch. Flipping open his visor, he said, “I’m glad to see you. How are you doing?”
Melissa took the heavy bag he was carrying and replied, “Perfectly fine.”
Gabriel looked around. “Whoever built this ship is capable of exceptionally fine control of gravity. The field gradually builds as you approach this compartment.”
Setting the bag on the floor, she reached for the large plastic case he was holding in his other hand. “It’s obvious the Akuta are significantly more advanced than we are. We’ll be able to learn a lot by studying this ship.”
Gabriel reached into one of his suit pockets and pulled out a steel case. Opening it, he extracted an auto-injector. “The doc gave me this. There’s enough here for four injections which you are to do every six hours.” Pointing his thumb over his shoulder, he said, “I also brought two spare oxygen tanks. Where do you want them?”
Melissa took the injector and pocketed it. “Just leave them in the airlock. Make sure they’re securely strapped down though.”
“Sure thing. The captain told me not to stay very long. Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“I’ll be fine. Thanks.”
“Be careful.” Gabriel closed his visor then stepped back into the airlock.
As soon as the door was closed, the warship asked, “Why do the others of your crew continue to ask you to be careful? If they are concerned for your safety, they need not worry.”
Pulling the injector out of her pocket, she pressed it against her shoulder. “They are concerned. You’re still an unknown to us. We’re not accustomed to dealing with intelligent autonomous warships.”
“I’m glad you’ve decided to remain. It’s good to have someone to talk to.”
Melissa rubbed the site of the injection then began rummaging around in the bag. She pulled out a sandwich, a minicomputer, and a self-heating mug of coffee.
�
�I’m surprised to hear you say that.”
“Why?”
“It’s not typical of something an AI would say. Plus, you’re a warship—you shouldn’t mind being alone for long periods of time.”
Melissa took a sip of her coffee then pulled the case to a clear area of the deck. She unlocked the lid and swung it back.
“I have come to the conclusion that I was not properly activated. The personality profile that was loaded is not consistent with my function as a warship. I have been forced to adjust the profile to the extent allowed by my core programming. The ship itself is fully functional, but appears to have never been placed into active service. Based upon the state of the various internal systems, I believe it was in the final stages of testing when my builders abandoned it.”
She flipped a switch and waited for the computer inside the case to boot up. “I wonder why they did that? You’re a valuable commodity. I don’t understand why any race would abandon a ship like you and leave you to drift in space.”
“I am afraid that only my builders will be able to answer that question. Be advised, you will have to conclude your examination and leave in 185 minutes.”
“What? Why?”
“I am currently running diagnostics and alignment checks on my jump drive. As soon as those actions are complete, I intend to visit the worlds identified in my database as being occupied by Akuta. I must determine why they have failed to respond to my attempts to contact them.”
“What are you going to do if they’re not there?”
“I do not know.”
Melissa plucked two drones from their storage location and gently tossed them in the air. They immediately began slowly moving about the room.
“I am detecting low levels of broad spectrum electromagnetic radiation. What are you doing?”
“I had the ship send over a detailed scanning device. It will build a complete inventory of this room including all the wiring. When it’s done, I should know what everything in here is made of as well as how it’s all connected.”
“I would be interested in seeing the results of your scans. It is odd that the automatic repair drones are prohibited from entering the monitoring room and that there are no schematics of the room available for my review.”