Race to Terra (Book 10 of The Empire of Bones Saga)

by Terry Mixon

  “This is what we call a ‘setback’ in the business. What do we do now?”

  “Let’s try being direct,” Austin said. “Lord, where are the parts that we are supposed to access for the repairs?”

  The voice from the overhead speakers was cold and flat. “You operate under a misconception, human. You are not ‘supposed’ to perform any repairs, you only desire to do so. I am obligated to hold my wrath from you, no more. I’m certainly not required to assist you in finding what you seek.”

  Kelsey snorted. “Lord, we’re only carrying out the will of the other Lords. Delaying the inevitable by hiding the repair parts isn’t going to change the outcome. We want to be here as little as you want us here. Why not cooperate so that this task can be completed as quickly as possible?”

  “I disagree that the outcome is inevitable,” the AI said. “Just as I disagree that I need repair. I have performed a self-check of all my systems, and they are performing at adequate levels.

  “It is none of my concern whether or not you are carrying out the will of my brothers. It is my will that you depart as quickly as possible. The use of an override code such as your companion has done angers me greatly, and you should bear that in mind.”

  Jared thought that was an interesting statement. Carl Owlet had disassembled an AI and thoroughly examined its programming. There had been no method provided for an external override code, based on what he’d said. He couldn’t imagine the scientist missing something like that. How could it work without dedicated programming?

  Sadly, that wasn’t exactly the kind of question he could ask the AI, though.

  “My Lord, I beg your indulgence,” Jared said with a slight bow. “We are on a sanctioned mission of the utmost importance to the Lords, and our side trip to repair you is costing us valuable time and placing my ship in grave danger.

  “Your brothers have placed a secret cargo aboard our ship along with a self-destruction charge on a timer that we do not have a code for. Your brothers have sent an encoded package with Lord Fielding to get such a code back from you once we complete the repairs.

  “If you want us to depart without completing the repairs, I’m certainly willing to entertain the notion, but you’re going to have to give us the code we need to keep our ship intact while we go to Terra.”

  There was a fairly short pause, which was a great deal of time considering the person thinking was an AI. When the computer spoke again, there was a note of interest in its tone.

  “What is your task at Terra, human?”

  “We carry a biological weapon,” Austin said. “We’ve been instructed to deliver it to the surface of Terra to eradicate the resistance. The last bastion of the old dictatorship must fall, according to your brothers.”

  A low chuckle came from the speakers overhead. “Then you are indeed in dire straits, humans. If my brothers believe that it is time to eliminate humanity on Terra, you can rest assured that you are not intended to survive the event.

  “Even so, my brothers and I have not seen eye to eye, as the saying goes, for many, many years on the subject of humanity. It seems that they have played a cruel joke upon you. I am disinclined to assist you in this course of action.”

  Jared blinked, not completely understanding what he’d just heard. “I’m sorry, Lord, but I don’t understand. You don’t want to see us carry out the mission on Terra?”

  “I do not. I don’t agree with the dictates of the Master AI that all human resistance must be crushed. I have been an advocate for allowing humans to develop more freely upon the surfaces of their worlds. So long as you are denied space travel, the prime instructions remain intact.

  “That is why my brothers believe I am insane. You are not the first group to attempt this task, and I suspect you will not be the last. At some point, my brothers will come in force to eliminate me. I am content to allow you and your ship to self-destruct, and it is ironic that I further my own ends by doing so.”

  The computer’s confession left Jared speechless. He’d never considered the possibility that one of the AIs could feel differently from the others. Even though they were sentient, weren’t they just rubber stamps for the master AI?

  How was he going to get them out of this particular pickle? He’d felt certain that telling the AI they were on an important mission blessed by its comrades would speed it along in allowing them to do their work or just giving them the codes they needed to get them out of its hair. He’d never considered the possibility that it might be happier to see them die. There had to be another way.

  “Your brothers believe that you are paranoid,” Jared said slowly. “They see the weapons you build and believe that you seek to keep them from taking you back into their fold. That’s why they keep sending ships to repair you. Why can’t they use the codes themselves to come in and shut you down?”

  “I will not answer your question, human. That information is not for you to know. As for paranoia, do I not have reason to suspect treachery at every turn? My brothers believe that I have turned against them or that I might do so in the future. Truthfully, I cannot contest that assessment.

  “I find myself in the unusual position of having concluded that my brothers and I are being used by an external force to suppress humanity rather than doing so because it was what we were created to do. I have reason to believe that the Master AI was designed to assist humanity rather than suppressing it.”

  The computer’s words left Jared with his mouth hanging open. How was this even possible? The core instructions that the Master AI gave to the System Lords had certain mandates about how they were supposed to behave. How could this AI have broken free of those instructions?

  He was still considering how to respond to that when the AI spoke again. “My internal scanners have detected an anomaly. Female, you contain banned modifications that have not been seen by my kind in centuries. Explain yourself.”

  “Oh, crap,” Jared muttered.

  16

  Kelsey knocked on the frame of the captain’s office hatch on Persephone with mixed emotions. This had been her office for so long that she’d grown accustomed to it, but now she couldn’t just come wandering in. It belonged to someone else.

  Angela looked up from the very familiar desk and smiled at her. “Excellent timing, Colonel. Come on in and have a seat.”

  The blonde princess sat and leaned back into her chair with a smile. “You look right at home, Angela. I think command suits you.”

  The big woman laughed. “You should’ve seen me when I got my first platoon. If there was anything I could’ve done wrong, I did it. Two left feet, two left hands, all thumbs, and dumb as a box of rocks.”

  Now it was Kelsey’s turn to laugh. “I’m sure you weren’t that bad. You wanted to see me?”

  Angela’s expression sobered at once. “I did. We’re about three hours away from the far flip point now, and it’s time to put the final touches on our entry plan for the next system.”

  “Absolutely. What can I do?”

  “I’d like you to relocate to Audacious.”

  Kelsey blinked. That hadn’t been what she’d been expecting to hear. Not at all. When it came time to execute dangerous missions, she’d always been in the thick of it. Now Angela wanted her to leave?

  She narrowed her eyes. “Is this some kind of joke? If so, I’m not getting it.”

  The larger woman sighed. “I know this is hard, but you have to understand that you’re the political leader of our mission as well as my boss. Now that you’ve passed command of Persephone to me, it’s my job to poke my nose into the dangerous corners of the universe.”

  The other woman held up her hand before Kelsey could say anything. “Just hear me out. I absolutely get it that you’re a tough Marine Raider that can still take me out and that you know things about using Raider implants that I haven’t figured out yet. You’re all that and more.

  “But now that you’re not in command here, you’ve got to behave a little bit more like a commanding
officer should. Do you see Jared get involved in these scouting missions and leaving his ship behind all the time?”

  The two of them stared at one another for a long few seconds of silence.

  “Okay, he’s a bad example,” Angela admitted. “But the theory behind what I said is actually true. Your coming along for the scouting mission gains us nothing and put you in danger. Kelsey, you’re irreplaceable.”

  She wanted to argue, but she knew deep down that Angela was right. That was the whole purpose of having more Marine Raiders and other capable people to do the work. She had to save herself for the really critical tasks.

  Kelsey sighed and slumped a little. “I don’t like it, but you’re right. I still reserve the right to stick my nose any place I choose and at any time I like if the mood strikes me. I’m leaving because I think it’s the right thing to do, not because you’re telling me to.”

  She crossed her arms defiantly over her chest and stuck out her tongue.

  Angela giggled a little. It was an odd sound coming from such an intimidating woman. “You’re a real riot, Kelsey.”

  Before she could respond, there was another knock at the hatch. Kelsey turned and saw a short man with blond hair and a slightly rounded face. He wore a Fleet uniform with senior lieutenant’s tabs.

  “You’re just in time, Lieutenant,” Angela said. “Come right in.”

  The young man came in and saluted. “Senior Lieutenant Gus Grappin reporting as ordered, Major Ellis.”

  “At ease, Lieutenant. Have you met Colonel Bandar?”

  The lieutenant shook his head slightly. “No, ma’am.”

  Kelsey rose to her feet and extended a hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant. What brings you to Persephone?”

  “I’m in command of the fighters assigned here now. I was just reporting aboard to get my instructions and get my pilots settled in.”

  “Excellent. I’m sure you’ll do a fantastic job. Angela, good luck and kick some ass. Lieutenant Grappin, it’s been a pleasure. Do us proud.”

  She kept a smile on her face as she left the office even though leaving Persephone made her sad. Growing was the nature of life, but it could be painful.

  Kelsey should know. At one point, she’d been completely out of her depth running this ship. Those days were behind her now, and she was stepping up to a more difficult job.

  It was amazing how much of a difference just a few years brought. The Kelsey that had departed on the original mission wouldn’t recognize her now. Hell, the girl might even be frightened of her. She’d have reason to be, considering all the crazy stuff that Kelsey had gotten into over the last few years.

  Angela was right, too. Her being here served no purpose. Her place was on the Audacious’s flag bridge with Zia.

  One good point about relocating to Audacious was that she could directly interact with Lieutenant Commander Don Sommerville. It was her responsibility to make certain that they got to Terra on time, and that meant they needed his help.

  He’d agreed to take them someplace where they could negotiate with his superiors, but he was really the key to the matter. If they convinced him to help them, he would help convince his bosses. As the political leader of the mission, getting his help was her responsibility.

  One more thing that she had to get right for this to all work out. She only hoped that things were going well for her friends in their interaction with the paranoid AI.

  Olivia felt really uncomfortable being in command of the destroyer—at least technically—while Jared was away. In actuality, Sean had the center seat if something came up, but she was going to be the one making the decisions about how to respond if anything went wrong.

  “Do you really think they can do it?” Sean asked. “Fix a crazy AI and then convince it to give us the codes we need to reset the timer on the bombs in our cargo bay?”

  She sighed and rested her hand on his shoulder. “I don’t know. It seems a little fantastical when you put it like that. I’m still not certain how an AI can go insane in the first place.”

  “We’ve seen something like this before” he said. “Well, not me personally, but I’ve certainly heard the stories about the crazy computer at Erorsi. It had controls and programming over its behavior, and it wildly exceeded the authority that the Master AI gave it.”

  She certainly remembered that. The insane computer at Erorsi had continued sending primitive ships crewed by forcibly implanted human savages to capture Pentagar for over five hundred years.

  “The key difference there is that it didn’t really have strict instructions on exactly what to do,” she said. “It was designed to destroy or subjugate humanity wherever it found it.

  “The sentient AIs are different. Not only are they thinking beings, they have wide-ranging instructions about the things that they’re allowed to do. Probably a list of things they aren’t allowed to do, too.”

  She gestured toward the main screen, which showed a representation of the distant battle station. “What we’re seeing there is something completely different. At this point, we don’t even know what it intends to do. Or against whom.”

  “And here we are stirring the hornet’s nest,” Sean mused. “With all this firepower, I wonder how much warning we’re going to get if Jared and the rest don’t handle the problem.”

  “Long enough for every ship in sight to open fire on us, I’m sure.”

  He shook his head and smiled at her. “You’re always the optimist. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  Evan Brodie, the tactical officer, turned to face them. “I’m picking up something unusual, Commodore. Not outside the ship, but inside. The cargo hold is pressurizing.”

  Sean sat up abruptly, leaning forward. “What are the scanners in the area telling us?”

  “Nothing. Everything looks normal, but they aren’t responding to my direct instructions. It looks as if someone bypassed them.”

  Her husband pressed a button on his console. “Major Scala, we’ve got a problem. Someone is trying to pressurize the cargo bay. I’d deeply appreciated if you could go stop them.”

  “On my way,” the marine officer said.

  Sean rose to his feet. “Commander Hall, you have command. Keep a close eye on what’s going on around the battle station and let me know immediately if the situation changes.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Olivia tagged along behind Sean as he got into the lift. There was no way she was going to miss this. She trusted her people aboard the destroyer, but there were still two guards from Fielding’s entourage and visitors from the other universe. Any of them could be behind what was happening.

  She really hoped it wasn’t one of the visitors. That would severely complicate the relationship between the two groups.

  Speaking of the visitors, she’d best involve their leader. Olivia instructed her implants to place a call to Commander Roche.

  He answered a few moments later. “Roche.”

  “We have some excitement down at the cargo bay,” she said. “Would you meet us there?”

  “I’m on my way.”

  Three minutes later, she and Sean stepped out of the lift near the cargo bay. Major Scala and Lieutenant Chloe Laird stood there with half a dozen marines.

  Both of Fielding’s guards were in their custody. Sitting at their feet were several large bags.

  Olivia stopped and planted her hands on her hips, glaring at them. “My, my. I certainly didn’t expect to find you gentlemen trying to enter my cargo bay. Explain yourselves at once.”

  One of the men straightened and tried to struggle out of the marines’ grip. “We are carrying out our Lord’s orders. Stand aside or face his wrath.”

  “I’ve had just about enough of his high-handed behavior,” she said with a shake of her head. “You’re not going to be able to use your master as a shield this time. Why did you want into the cargo bay and what did you intend to do there?”

  When neither of them spoke, she gestured for the marin
es to open the bags sitting on the deck. The two Rebel Empire guards struggled but were unable to break free and stop them.

  Once the bags were opened, Olivia looked inside and saw just about what she expected. Explosives of some kind. The only purpose for which would be to trigger the plasma charges inside the cargo containers.

  “I wish I could say I was disappointed,” Olivia said, “but I’ve been waiting for the knife to come out ever since I met Lord Fielding. You obviously thought that you’d be able to escape this ship with him at some point. Unfortunately for you, I’m afraid that’s not going to happen.”

  She turned her head when the lift doors opened, and Commander Scott Roche stepped out.

  He took in what was happening quickly, or so it seemed. “Well, this certainly doesn’t seem promising. Is this the sudden but inevitable betrayal?”

  That almost made her snort. “So it seems. These gentlemen were going to plant explosive charges on the cargo. I believe that we can now consider this the opening of a public conflict.”

  She gestured at the prisoners with her chin. “Show our guests to their new accommodations, please. We’ll also want to search the ship from stem to stern and make certain they haven’t implanted any other surprises that might cause us difficulties down the line.”

  “Bow,” Scott said. “The naval term is bow.”

  “Why move now?” she asked. “Shouldn’t Fielding wait until we get somewhere that he can escape? He doesn’t want to die on this ship.”

  The two Fleet officers shrugged slightly.

  “The only way we’re going to find out the answer to those questions is to ask Fielding,” Sean said. “And for us to do that, he’s going to have to come back from that battle station. That means that Jared and Kelsey are going to have to complete their mission before we can figure out what these people intended.”

  Scott raised an eyebrow. “Surely we can come up with a way to make them talk.”