by S. H. Jucha
In the owner’s suite, Alex looked at Tatia, grinned and asked, “Exactly how many warships would you like, Admiral?”
Tatia, known in the inner circle as Alex’s weapons master, displayed her infamous lupine smile.
-31-
Killian
Alex visited with the six scout ship teams of SADEs he’d selected, after he informed the other thirteen that they weren’t chosen. He met with the thirteen, one at a time and face to face. They were uncomfortable meetings for Alex, despite being one of the human beings who best understood SADEs. He was careful to explain that his decisions were not to be taken as a reflection of their capabilities and often used the excuse that their work on Omnians’ projects was more important.
The thirteen SADEs walked away with their analysis of the meeting confusingly inconclusive, wondering why Alex couldn’t have sent a simple message announcing his choices. For them, humans’ concerns about the state of their emotional algorithms were still disconcerting.
“I have something to discuss with the eighteen of you,” Alex said to the selected teams. They were meeting in a conference room aboard the Freedom. “You have the capability and we have the technology to back you up before you take your first scouting trip.”
The SADEs’ fugues were evident, and Alex waited while they shared their thoughts.
“If humans flew the scout ships and were lost, they would be gone forever,” Bethley said. “Why should we be offered this advantage? Is it because we’re fewer in number and you need to preserve us?”
Alex had teamed Bethley with Killian, because of the dominance of her analytical protocols. They would complement Killian’s intense exposure to human emotions.
“I offer this opportunity because I can,” Alex said. “If I could back up humans, I would make the same offer. A sentient’s life is precious.”
“What would happen to the copy on our return?” a SADE asked.
“That wouldn’t be my decision,” Alex acknowledged. “That would be the decision of each one of you.”
“If we were to delete them, would we not be extinguishing a sentient’s life?” a SADE asked. “In which case, the copies are not our property. They would be our twins and have a right to their own existence. Given an avatar they would develop a different persona and find their own way.”
The questions continued and Alex felt out of his depth. In his attempt to protect the SADEs, he hadn’t taken the time to consider many of the future ramifications of the offer. The questions ended, and the SADEs communed.
“Dassata,” Killian said, “we understand and appreciate your intent to prevent our demise, but we respectfully decline your offer. Our decision rests on two prime observations. We’re newly freed SADEs, and our relationship with the humans of Omnia is still tentative. We don’t wish to foster a perception that we have inherent advantages over humans.”
Alex drew breath to speak, but Killian lifted his index finger to indicate he wished to continue. Alex had to give the SADE credit. It was a purely human gesture, and he was communicating with a human.
“Yes, we have many advantages when it comes to our avatars and the capabilities to extend our lives with new bodies, but we wish to be careful not to make this blatantly obvious. Second, Dassata, thanks to your efforts to free us and allow us to be part of building Omnia, we’ve come to feel a sense of individuality, and the thought of leaving a copy behind disturbs our sense of self.”
* * *
Killian, Bethley, and Trium were selected to crew the first scout ship. Killian had mixed feelings about leading the search. Those concerns weren’t about the Sardi-Tallen Orbital Platform, which required only about fifty more days to complete and was in the capable hands of Director Scullers. Nor were they about the terminal’s ship construction bays, which were being managed by Glenn. No, Killian was worried for Vivian.
Sitting down with Vivian and her mother, Killian sought to explain why he felt he had to go. Galania held her daughter’s hand, while the child struggled to understand.
“I must go look for the bad people, Vivian. Bad people who want to hurt us. It’s important we find them first.”
“But others can go. You don’t have to go,” Vivian said plaintively. She had grown considerably in the past years, but she’d never lost her attachment to Killian.
“Well, you know I’m special, right?”
“Yes,” Vivian reluctantly admitted.
“And why is that?”
“Because you’re the plaid man.”
“That’s right, and because plaid men are special, they have the best opportunity to find these bad people.”
“But you’ll come back?” asked Vivian, her eyes reflecting her fear.
“Oh, yes, I’ll come back often, and then we’ll spend time together.”
“But, if you’re far away, we can’t talk like we do now.”
“No, we can’t; but I still want to hear your voice every day.”
“You do?”
“Yes, and do you know how we can do that?”
“Unh-uh.”
“Starting today, if you touch your ear comm, you can record a message to me, any time you want and as many messages as you want. Before I leave, I’ll collect every message and listen to them each day aboard my scout ship. I’d like that very much. Would you do that for me?”
“Yes, plaid man,” Vivian said, hugging her multicolored SADE, who had kept the dark at bay ever since her family was rescued from the moon’s claustrophobic tunnels.
Forty-two days later, Killian, Bethley, and Trium crawled into their scout ship. The cramped quarters required Trium to back through the hatch and crawl down the length of the hull. Bethley was next and Killian last. The SADEs settled their avatars in place and then locked them. They wouldn’t be moving until they returned to Omnia.
The scout ships required only temperature-maintained, air for the avatars. Otherwise, human amenities were absent.
Following Alex and Julien’s narrow grid allotment for their first search, the scout ship Vivian flew from Celus to the nearest star, passing through the system and scanning for any signature of life. As they entered a system, a comm report was sent back to Omnia. They also sent a comm every thirty hours, by the Omnian clock, and made a final report when they exited the system, sending the coordinates for the next star.
On the first day out, Killian opened one of Vivian’s lengthy recorded messages to her plaid man. He kept his listening private, but Bethley and Trium were curious as to what occupied Killian’s attention. Killian obliged his compatriots, and it soon became a daily ritual. Killian would link with the other two SADEs, and the file, containing Vivian’s childish voice, would spool off the controller to them.
After several days of listening to Vivian, Bethley sent,
Killian related Vivian’s traumatized early years on Daelon and played for his companions Galania’s words, who said, “You’re her lifeline, Killian. As long as the plaid man is near her or, at least, in her thoughts, the dark is kept at bay.”
Trium would chat to his fellow SADEs about the Greeks, Romans, and even earlier, great civilizations that existed across the Middle East and Africa, before the industrial and technological revolutions.
When the Vivian returned to Omnia, completing its first and entirely fruitless search, which was as expected, Killian considered the ease with which he and his companions had bonded, and he offered a simple thanks to Alex for his efforts to ensure that would happen.
The Vivian sailed out from Omnia on four more search missions during the course of the next year and was joined by five other scout ships, each one of which scanned the stars in their assigned grids.
* * *
On the Vivian’s fifth mission, the ship exited its jump into a planet-rich system with a massive red star. Telemetry readings indicated heavy ship activity, a major industrial civilization on the fifth planet from the star, and myriad bases throughout the outer planets and moons.
The SADEs guided the Vivian into the system, and Killian prepared a lengthy message to send to Omnia. Nothing definitive identified the inhabitants of the system, but for all the SADEs knew, a sphere might await them on the far side of one of the planets or moons.
* * *
Omnian SADEs picked up the Vivian’s initial report of an active system, which they were investigating, and forwarded it to Alex. Word of the incredible discovery circulated among humans and SADEs, who anxiously awaited the next message. The anticipation built as the chronometer ran forward, and it was late in the evening, three days later, when Julien woke Alex.
When everyone was assembled, Alex nodded at Cordelia, who started the file streaming from the ship’s databanks over the bridge speakers.
“Greetings, Dassata, we send you mixed tidings from the Vivian,” Killian’s voice was heard to say. “We attempted to investigate a system that demonstrated dense sentient activity. You have the coordinates of our initial entry point into the system. Attached with this message are the coordinates when we made first contact.”
On hearing the word contact, the humans on the bridge, who weren’t fully awake before, were certainly alert now.
“The system presented a collection of ship types, moon bases, and a populous culture inhabiting the fifth planet from the sun. We considered the possibility that a sphere might be obscured from our telemetry by lying in orbit on a planet’s far side, and we made a decision to investigate what we considered would be the system’s home planet.”
There was a break in the recording, before Killian resumed. “Pardon, Dassata, events here are still fluid. It was our opinion that we held the greater velocity and could maneuver around any ships’ weapons targeting us. In this regard, we were in error. No weapons were ever fired at us. Instead, we found our ship boxed in by several alien ships, and, while attempting to slip past them, we were caught by a powerful tethering beam. At this moment, the Vivian is held fast.”
More silence ensued on the recording, and it was sufficiently long to give the audience concern.
Bethley was heard to say, “Don’t let them regain control, Trium.”
Killian wasn’t filtering the team’s comms, which demonstrated the pressure the crew was under.
“We can positively say, Dassata, that this system does not belong to the Nua’ll,” Killian continued. “None of the considerable number of ships, in evidence, exhibit the sophisticated technology of the sphere or even our ships. We have achieved an odd sort of equilibrium in our predicament. Bethley gained access to the low-level controller of the ship, which has trapped us, through its comm system. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to decipher their code language or language processes in the short time we’ve had.”
“Our orbit path will be clear, Killian,” Bethley was heard to send.
Killian was heard acknowledging Bethley’s statement and then his report continued. “The inhabitants of the alien ship have been fighting to regain control of their controller. We’d hoped to have time to locate the tethering controls, but time became critical. We chose to lock the ship’s personnel out of their controller, which Trium was able to accomplish. Unfortunately, the process locked us out of their controller too. The one positive aspect of this situation is that the alien ship was making a vector change at the time. Bethley has calculated we will be taking a long circle out by the system’s periphery.
The Freedom’s bridge personnel could hear a quick exchange between Killian and Trium, before Killian returned to his report. “In essence, Dassata, we and our captors are taking an extended journey, while locked in this embrace. Bethley’s calculations perceive that there are no impediments to our course, but, at some point, the sentients might choose to take drastic action to rescue their comrades. On an exciting note, Trium managed to gain an image from their bridge.”
Cordelia activated the holo-vid. The majority of the image was presented in shades of reds and blues. The fine details appeared white or black, reflecting all or no light. It was an extremely bizarre image for human eyes.
Alex and Julien raced to apply their image processing apps and ticks later exclaimed together, “UV light.”
“The twins are back,” Tatia commented drily to Renée.
“Just in time,” Renée whispered. “It seems that we’ll have need of them.”
Julien shifted the holo-vid’s image through a series of wavelengths, visible, infrared, and ultraviolet until the details improved. “The captors use a special mix of light wavelengths aboard their ships,” Julien commented. “It’s impossible to determine the exact combination from this single image, which was captured through their controller.”
“What is that?” asked Ellie, pointing to an object on the image’s left side. “Did someone put a big plant on a starship bridge?”
“If it is, it’s an odd one,” remarked Mickey, “Where’s the pot, and why is it bent over like that?”
“Is it me or does that single bloom at the top, which is bent over, look like it’s directed at the bridge panels?” asked Renée.
Alex peered closely at the holo-vid and commented, “Add in the multiple extensions that lead to the deck and the arrangements of leaves only on the upper side, I’d say we’re looking at —”
“Plant people,” Tatia finished for Alex. “We’re searching for a giant, planet-killing sphere, and we find plant people.”
Cordelia had halted the report, while the staff examined the image. Now, she let it continue.
“We’ll attempt more analysis of our captors and collect as much information as possible, while we await your reply, Dassata. Please send my regards to Vivian and Galania. Kindly don’t discuss our predicament with the child. Killian out.”
* * *
When Killian sent the report of their predicament, the SADEs had their first opportunity to examine their circumstances, while they waited out the days for a reply.
Killian reflected on Alex’s forethought, regarding his upgrades to the SADEs’ scout ship design. Originally, the SADEs considered the reporting protocols to be excessive, thinking it would only be necessary to comm Omnia when something of value was located.
The emergency beacon was considered to be another such ancillary upgrade. Typically, it was connected to a starship’s comm antenna and activated on orders from the captain. However, if the aliens chose to free their co
mrades by firing on the Vivian, then there was the distinct possibility they could be sent tumbling above or below the ecliptic with their engines destroyed. The automatically activated subspace beacon would give them a chance of being rescued.
Then there was the library — the Rêveur’s entire collection, plus Vivian’s recordings. In all, it spoke of thorough preparations by a human, who was saying, “Wait, my friends, be patient. We’ll come for you, and we’ll find you.”
As the Vivian shot through the dark, tethered to an alien ship, Killian believed that. He watched the glow of stars through the ship’s telemetry, deciding to play the day’s recording of his child friend, and Bethley and Trium linked to listen.
-32-
To the Rescue
Killian’s report finished, and the silence on the bridge was palpable, until Julien spoke.
“It would appear that riding to the rescue once again, as the ancients were fond of saying, is in order.”
Tatia’s head pulled up. Her eyes met those standing around her. Slowly, subtly, but then more overtly, people moved to stand beside or behind her.
When Alex ceased staring at the plant person in the holo-vid, he regarded the odd formation of his staff. Except for Renée and Julien, who stood beside him, and Perrin and Ophelia, who stood alone, every other individual was arrayed with Tatia and staring at him.
Renée kissed him on the cheek and walked across the intervening space. Individuals moved aside so that she could stand beside Tatia.
Ophelia and Perrin exchanged confused glances, after sizing up the opposing groups.
“Are we voting?” Ophelia asked.
“And, if we are, could someone tell us what’s the issue we’re considering,” Perrin added, but no one seemed willing to answer him.