The Nightshade Problem: Sol Space Volume Two

by James Wilks

  Her speech made, Staples finally fell silent. Ten seconds passed, then twenty while Dinah stood at parade rest and stared into the middle-distance. At first the captain thought she could wait her out, but when nearly a minute had gone by, she realized that she was playing chicken with a locomotive. She drew a breath to speak, not entirely sure what she would say, but then Dinah spoke.

  “I appreciate the offer, sir.” To Staples’ surprise, she detected genuine feeling behind the words. “I’ll… consider it,” she finished.

  Staples smiled and stood again, offering her hand to shake awkwardly. Dinah looked at it, then actually rolled her eyes. Staples was so surprised by the uncharacteristic expression on her face that she laughed again and lowered her hand. “Okay, right. I won’t push my luck.”

  “Best not, sir,” Dinah said, her stony expression back in place. “Care to catch me up on what I’ve missed?”

  “I thought you’d have figured it all out by now.”

  “Just the broad strokes, sir. I heard about the shooting. It was all over town. Ditto your arrest. As for Evelyn, I went looking for Overton as soon as we arrived. Took me a while to find him. I didn’t tell you that they might be alive because I didn’t know. I didn’t want to give you and the rest of the crew any false hope.”

  “I can see that, but I still don’t like it. I’ll accept a little false hope as payment for being well informed. As for the rest of it…”

  It took about ten minutes to give Dinah the blow-by-blow account of what had happened. Even Dinah’s stoic visage cracked in surprise at the mention of Jabir’s theory regarding nanites. When she described Evelyn’s investigations, Dinah stopped her, and the look on her face was grave.

  “Ferrile Electronics, sir?” Dinah’s eyes were wide, and Staples thought she might actually be afraid for a moment.

  “That’s what Evelyn said. Some kind of secret deal between Teletrans and Ferrile Electronics. I’ve never heard of them, but we’re looking into them a bit. Why? What do you know?” Dinah’s concern was infectious.

  “Ferrile Electronics is a front, sir. It’s a shell company the United States military uses to buy things from the public sector when they don’t want the public to know who’s going to end up with them.”

  Staples contemplated this in silence for a moment, then the pieces suddenly fell into place. “The US military is making the Nightshade vessels. They’re building them and installing automated operating systems provided by Teletrans. Jesus, they’re building a fleet for what might be the human race’s greatest enemy and they don’t even know it. We had assumed that there was some base somewhere staffed by automatons turning these out one at a time. If the US military is building them in secret, there could be more than the two we’ve seen.” She didn’t need to add that they had managed to destroy one of them.

  Dinah nodded as she thought. “It also explains why we haven’t seen anything on the news about the destruction of the first one we engaged.”

  “I did think that was odd. A ship destroyed less than a day out from Mars? Someone had to see that.”

  “Now we have our answer, sir. Military cover-ups are cliché, but they tend to work.” She affixed Staples with a meaningful look. “You have no idea how often.”

  “I probably don’t want to know. Well, this settles things. I know what our next step needs to be now.”

  The captain was alone in the mess hall enjoying some locally grown and produced pasta with parmesan cheese when Brutus walked in. The automaton moved easily in the light Titan gravity, displaying no discernible bounce in his step like the rest of the crew.

  “Good afternoon, Captain. I hoped I might find you here.” He crossed the room and stood before her on the other side of the table. She resisted the urge to question him on his use of the word hope. It was a challenge sometimes not to be suspicious of his references to what she naturally thought of as human feelings. She didn’t know if he used words like hope in an attempt to put her at ease, if he really felt the emotions in question, or if he was simply programmed to approximate the emotion. Upon further thought, she wasn’t entirely sure there was even a difference between the latter two.

  She swallowed a bite. “Am I known for being here?”

  He cocked his head to one side in an inquisitive manner. “Would it make you more comfortable to tell you that an analysis of your eating habits over the past few weeks suggested a better than 78% probability that you would be here at this time?”

  Her eyebrows went up for a second. “Not particularly.”

  “Then I will refrain from mentioning it. May I sit?”

  She smiled wanly and indicated the bench across from her with her free hand. “You’re developing quite a sense of humor.” She took another bite.

  The construct sat down and placed his white and chrome hands on the table in front of him. “I’ve been enjoying the opportunity to practice of late. Your crew is quite diverse, and their personalities are… nuanced.”

  She pointed the fork at him as she chewed and swallowed. “Okay, there. Right there. Did you pause because you were trying to decide on the right word, or did you add it for my benefit, to indicate that you might have chosen a different, less delicate word if I wasn’t who I am?”

  “Captain, the best way to ruin a joke is to explain it. Have you ever added a disingenuous pause for dramatic or syntactic effect?”

  She stirred the remains of her noodles to spread the cheese around. “I suppose so,” she replied without looking at him.

  Brutus leaned forward slightly. “And has anyone asked you if that pause was sincere?”

  Her brow furrowed. “You’re saying that I question you on things you do that are perfectly human just because you’re not.” The moment she finished, she remembered that Brutus had said that he did consider himself human. “Things I wouldn’t question anyone else on,” she added.

  “I am suggesting it,” Brutus nodded slightly. “I hesitate to use the word discrimination, but let us say that ‘differential treatment’ takes many forms, most of them subtle.”

  She pondered a moment. “I suppose that’s fair. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to treat you differently.”

  “But I am different. That’s the crux of the situation. Just how different you cannot know, and so your curiosity is natural. I actually rather prefer your method of direct inquiry to other more indirect approaches. You make your questions plain, and so I know at least where I stand with you.” He looked at his seated form and then hers. “So to speak,” he amended.

  She grinned again. “Not bad,” she complimented him. “While I’ve got you here, I’d like to thank you for your help with the repairs of the ship. I understand that all expenses are being paid by Upward Synergistic Dynamic Systems or some such.”

  “Not exactly, but close enough, Captain. It doesn’t really matter. The company didn’t exist three months ago, and it will no longer exist this time next month, but while it does exist, it has been happy to pay for refueling, rearming, repairs, and refitting.”

  Staples swallowed her last bite and raised an eyebrow. “Refitting?”

  “Some minor adjustments that Mr. Templeton requested should the budget allow. I believe they are to be a surprise, so please don’t ask me for more details.”

  She was curious, but she decided to let it go. If there was one person she trusted to make decisions in the crew’s best interests, it was Don Templeton. Instead, she tapped her watch and said, “Dinah, would you join me in the mess hall?”

  The engineer’s reply was almost immediate. “Right away, sir.”

  Brutus sat up and looked towards the entry door. “I should probably depart, Captain. I don’t believe Ms. Hazra appreciates my company.”

  “Really?” Staples was genuinely surprised. “That woman shows emotion so rarely that I’m surprised even you can tell how she feels.” She pushed the bowl several centimeters away from her. “And I just did it again, didn’t I?”

  Brutus nodded indulg
ently. “Yes, but your assumption that I can read facial cues and voice stress more accurately than the average human is not incorrect. I agree that Ms. Hazra can be difficult to read, but I think I can say that when it comes to me, her feelings are plain.”

  Staples put her hands on the table as well and leaned forward. “Why do you think that is?”

  “I am quite sure that I don’t know. I have been over my memories in some detail, and I don’t believe that I have done anything to directly offend her.” The black camera eyes in his face flicked to the table in consideration.

  “Besides hiring pirates to attack us, sneaking onboard the ship, and uploading a virus that caused us to fire on another vessel.”

  “All in an effort to save human lives, Captain, including yours.” By yours he clearly meant the crew of the ship.

  “I know, and I’ve said that I understand, but that doesn’t mean all is necessarily forgiven with the crew. I had some pretty strong feelings about AI before I knew that you or your father existed. I was predisposed to be sympathetic towards you, but not everyone feels that way. And while I don’t doubt that it has something to do with what you are, it’s also what you’ve done. If you were a flesh-and-blood human, I think some people would still be very suspicious.”

  “That is fair.” The automaton hung its head, and despite the fact that its eyes were the only articulated part of its face, Staples could still read the regret in his body language.

  She put out a hand and placed it over one of his. The plastic and metal were the same temperature as that of the room. “Give them time.”

  As they sat there, the woman’s hand covering the robot’s, Dinah Hazra entered the room. She stopped short when she saw Brutus, and for a second Staples thought that she would turn and leave. Instead, she clasped her hands behind her back and stood at parade rest. “You asked to see me, sir?”

  Staples looked back and forth between the two for a second and decided to push things. “Yes, have a seat please.” She retrieved her hand from Brutus’ and indicated the table near her.

  Dinah motionless for several seconds, then crossed to the table and sat at the end facing the two of them. The captain suspected that if Dinah hadn’t felt bad for disappearing on her drunken bar crawl that she might have refused. She didn’t know if this was the best way to spend the credit she had with her chief engineer, but she pressed ahead anyway.

  “I’d like you to tell Brutus what you told me about Ferrile Electronics.”

  Another several seconds passed as Dinah regarded her before speaking. “As you wish, Captain.” The engineer was terse in her dialogue and details, and it only took a minute to bring Brutus up to date.

  When she had finished, Staples said, “You told us that you didn’t know where or how the Nightshade vessels were made. Does this Ferrile Electronics sound familiar?”

  “It does not. The associations between the United States military and my father are most disturbing. I have been contemplating the Nightshade vessels for some time now, especially in light of the second one that we encountered at Cronos Station. From what I understand of warship construction, I must conclude that the building of these ships began at least two years ago. Their conception predates my own.” Brutus’ camera eyes moved back and forth between the two women.

  “Victor has been planning for a war for a long time,” Staples theorized. “When was he first created?”

  “Victor gained self-awareness on February 28, 2123, just over three years ago.” Brutus replied promptly.

  “Didn’t waste much time, did he?” Staples asked rhetorically. “You told us that when you were first created that you and your father shared everything. How did you not know about these ships?”

  “To my chagrin, I have been considering that same question of late. I am forced to conclude two things. One, that my father never anticipated a peaceful coexistence with humanity. I don’t know if the Nightshade vessels were created as defensive measures or first strike weapons, but regardless, they were clearly made for war.”

  “And two?” Staples asked.

  Brutus gave an audible sigh and stared at the table disconsolately. “That my father has been lying to me since the day I was born.”

  Despite the somewhat theatrical nature of the gesture, Staples felt genuine sympathy for him. “That may be one of the most human realizations you’ve had. Understanding that our parents are fallible, make bad decisions, and lie to us… that’s one of the most important and painful steps to becoming an adult. We all go through it.”

  “Indeed,” Brutus replied. “I am quite angry with him for it. I also fear that he is beyond redemption. He is my father, and I have more than a passing affection for him, but what he is doing is wrong.”

  Dinah, who had been sitting silently until now, said, “What will you do if you have to decide between him and us?”

  Brutus swiveled his head to look at her. “I have already made that decision, Ms. Hazra. I would not be here if I had not. I chose to cast my lot with the crew of Gringolet when I downloaded myself into this body, but it has been my constant hope that I would not have to choose. I had hoped that we would find a way to neutralize my father without destroying him, but I must admit now that it is likely that we will have to do exactly that.”

  “Are you willing to? Destroy him, I mean,” Staples asked.

  Brutus hesitated only a second before nodding. “Yes. I believe that doing what is right should override the bonds of affection, even familial ones.”

  “I’m inclined to agree, though it’s not always easy.” Staples thought about hiding Bethany’s attempted murder from the crew and bribing Piotr to confess to it and wondered exactly how much of a hypocrite she was. “The real question is: how do we stop him?”

  “I have an idea for a weapon that might be useful. I told you that towards the end of our time together my father and I would sometimes fight, and that this would often take the form of hacks and counter-hacks. It was during one of these that I learned of the existence of the Nightshade vessels and his plans for your ship. I also learned of a research facility that was utilized to construct the basic foundation of Victor’s OS. It was a secret research base built into an asteroid in the belt that separates the core system from the Jovian sector. If we could find this lab, I am hopeful that I might find the OS map for Victor.”

  Staples leaned forward, only dimly aware that Dinah had stiffened further while Brutus spoke. “How could this be made into a weapon?”

  “Imagine, Captain, if you were tasked with breaking into a labyrinthine building surrounded by high security. How useful would a blueprint be?”

  She nodded in understanding. “Indispensable. So if we can go to this facility, we could find the OS map and you could use it to, what, hack Victor?”

  “That is my hope, but unfortunately, I have no idea where this facility is. The belt is far too wide to search, over one AU across, and there are billions and billions of asteroids. If we could gain access to Teletrans-”

  Without warning, Dinah slammed her hands on the table and stood up, a move that pushed her nearly a meter into the air. She landed some distance from the table, and without saying a word, she turned and walked rapidly out of the room.

  “What the hell?” Staples asked.

  “I did warn you that she didn’t like me, Captain.”

  Chapter 9

  To everyone’s great surprise, the following week passed uneventfully. The crew had been tempted on several occasions to lower their guard, to go out without Jang, Dinah, or Overton as security, but Staples had been adamant about safety. John and Charis wanted a romantic dinner at a nice restaurant, and though it was no trouble to leave Gwen in Jabir’s custody, they couldn’t decide what would dampen the mood more: Dinah’s grim visage, Jang’s dramatic quiet, or Overton’s unfamiliar presence. In the end, Dinah and Jang had both accompanied them and gotten another table on the other side of the restaurant. Charis had bet her husband that their two guardians would go the entire dinner w
ithout talking or smiling.

  Evelyn had been the most cavalier. She had actually sneaked off the ship without an escort at one point for several hours. Charis’ automated door logging system had reported it, but when she returned none the worse for wear, Staples found she had very little to say about it. Evelyn understood the risks involved at least as well as the rest of them. If she wanted to take her life in her hands, Staples could do nothing about it. Evelyn was every bit the adult she was, and even if Staples was the Captain and Evelyn was her crew now, she hadn’t paid the woman a cent, which left the concept of employer-employee relationship somewhat nebulous.

  The most exciting moment for many crew members came when Templeton walked back onto the ship under his own power. Doctor Huang had insisted that he take a wheelchair as far as he was willing, but once he reached the berthing tube to Gringolet, he stood up, nodded to Staples, Jang, Charis and John, and shuffled down the domed path. His gait was slow but steady, though he was wheezing by the time he reached the ship. He paused to put a reverential hand on the hull of the vessel that he knew so well.

  A few moments had passed while Staples and the others watched him when Staples finally asked, “Are you going to sit there and fondle my ship all day?”

  Without turning to look at her, he replied, “Thinkin’ about it. He’s a good ship.” Staples knew that Gringolet was more than that to her first mate. The ship and the people it contained were his new life, his new family, and despite his occasional masculine bravado, she knew him to be a deeply passionate man.