Lucifer's Star

by C. T. Phipps

  I nodded. “Yes, they want to stop the Commonwealth from joining the Community. The transtellars believe it will bankrupt them, independent worlds think it will cause the Commonwealth to overwhelm them, and the Chel are…well, I don’t have any idea what they think.”

  “The Chel were uplifted by the Elder Races,” Judith said. “Well, some of them. They’re the reasons why the FSA has this pillar and why I was built. They wanted me to try and devote all of my efforts to unlocking its secrets.”

  I blinked. “That’s…reckless.”

  Judith closed her eyes. “Perhaps less reckless than you might think. Are you familiar with Fermi’s Paradox?”

  “I’m afraid not.”

  “I’ve learned a lot since becoming a juggernaut of information. It’s a supposition by Pre-Spaceflight physicist Enrico Fermi that there were billions of stars in the galaxy similar to Earth’s own but no evidence of alien life. Even now, the vast majority of the universe’s stars are orbited by dead worlds.”

  “Because the Elder Races killed them.” I gritted my teeth. “Or they killed themselves.”

  “Yes,” Judith said, sighing. “Why the former would do that has long eluded scientists and philosophers. The reason—”

  “I don’t need a history lesson, Judith.”

  “Games, Cass.”

  I opened my mouth to respond then closed it. “Games.”

  “The Markers contain vast amounts of data to learn from if you have the processing power and a place to start translating their encryption like the Chel do. It’s just information that requires a superhuman intellect like a Cognition A.I. to process. They’re all transhumans or transaliens, I suppose. Beings who long ago left behind their organic bodies to become machine intelligences that dwell in virtual worlds and think in dimensions we cannot possibly fathom.”

  “Sounds wonderful…and terrifying.”

  “It’s more the latter because I’ve found out how immortal godlike beings amuse themselves. They play with the lives of lesser beings, those who still have consequences for their actions.”

  “They destroy races for fun?”

  “Not just destroy races. They manipulate politics, economics, religions, and wars to provide themselves with entertainment. They consider themselves a superior order of beings and sometimes they elevate one or two species to join them to justify their abuses. Whole swaths of history are nothing more than games of shogi between immortals.”

  “I…can’t believe that.”

  “Is it so surprising?” Judith asked, raising an eyebrow. “After all, they call themselves the Nobility.”

  There was nothing to say to that. It explained everything. “I see. So the Free Systems Alliance is involved in this somehow? The Chel are their catspaw?”

  “No,” Judith said. “The Chel believe the Commonwealth joining the Community is but a prelude to being slaughtered. Their masters already grow bored with the current crop of races that have emerged to dominate the Spiral and are ready to start over. The Community is too stable, too orderly, and too peaceful to provide them the bloodthirsty entertainment they desire.”

  “I can’t believe intelligences that grandiose and powerful would be so…petty.”

  “They were the ones who corrupted the Cognition A.I. and triggered the Great Collapse.”

  My mouth went dry. “For fun.”

  “A century of amusement watching humans scramble and struggle for life across ten thousand worlds.”

  I took a deep breath. “Just when I thought this universe couldn’t get any shittier.”

  Judith actually laughed at that. “The Free Systems Alliance exists to keep the conflicts going but keep them small-scale and manageable. They want to spark humanity to become transhumanist and colonize many other worlds. They hope, eventually, for humans to join the Nobility. Ironically, that will only be possible by abandoning our humanity.”

  “War is always the same, no matter what time or place it is.”

  Judith sighed. “Pretty much.”

  “Can you stop it?”

  “The War?”

  Judith was silent for a second, which for her was probably an eternity. “Yes.”

  “Then we should.”

  “Should we?” Judith surprised me by saying. “The Nobility are beyond powerful. It’s not so much a difference of degrees in our power level as kind. Likewise, the Commonwealth has oppressed and mismanaged its vassal worlds for centuries. I could cause one side or another’s ships to navigate into a sun, but it wouldn’t do anything to address the underlying causes of this war.”

  “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”

  “Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.”

  I frowned. “I hate quote-dueling with you.”

  “I’ve transferred the ownership of the Melampus to you, erased all of the holds Ida has on you, and restored our accounts. I’ve even removed the hold on the ship. You can take William and Isla with you and leave this place. If you destroy me and the Marker, you should set back Zoe’s efforts by years. That should be enough to satisfy your sense of justice.”

  “She’ll just build another Cognition A.I., and one with less of a conscience.”

  Judith paused. “I’m not going to ask you to kill your sister.”

  “I wouldn’t,” I said, taking a deep breath. “If I’m forced to choose between the good of the world and those I love, I choose those I love.”

  “Do you still love Zoe?”

  “No, she hurt you. A you. For that, I can only hate her, but I can’t bring myself to raise a hand against her.”

  “Then what?”

  I closed my eyes. “I don’t know. I do know I can’t just let this all play out. I’ve been dancing on the puppet strings of far too many people and it’s time I cut them. For that, I need to make my own decisions.”

  “I’m not omnipotent,” Judith said, sighing. “There’s other Cognition A.I. living in the infonet. Chel, Commonwealth, Merchants Guild, and even survivors of the purge following the Great Collapse. Still, I can manipulate sums and values in a society defined by digital information. I also have access to some of the backdoors the Elder Races’ pawns have installed across society. They can alter the programming of anything as they wish.”

  That certainly explained how they were able to get away with some of these manipulations. “Can you bring the Revengeance here?”

  “I can send out orders from Judith and Thomas will come. He’s the Commander of that ship through his puppet bioroids.”

  I nodded. “What about the Commonwealth’s military?”

  “You want to bring them to destroy the Revengeance?”

  “No,” I said, rubbing the bridge of my nose. “I want to bring them to fight the Rhea.”

  “The Commonwealth will win.”

  “Yes. But I’d like for them to be fought by Crius and local forces as well.”

  Judith blinked. “You want a show of solidarity?”

  “I can’t stop them from fighting but maybe I can make this war a short one. Bring enough of the Chel and Free Systems Alliance folk together in one area to smash them in one go.”

  It was choosing a side, definitely so, but I knew what a protracted war would look like. I didn’t know how to handle the Nobility, or whatever the Elder Races were, but I could deal with the problem of a man-made war. Besides, it would screw over Janice and Zoe and that had its own benefits.

  Judith, however, looked skeptical. “You realize that’s not too far from Ida’s plan, right?”

  “I don’t know what the hell is going through Ida’s head to be honest.”

  Judith reached over and touched my head again. This time, I was hearing cybernetic comms traffic being transmitted from the Melampus to Clarice’s ear. I was back in the limousine, I could tell by the sound, but didn’t have any visual.

  A moment later, Judith corrected that by showing a vision of the limousin
e’s interior from a hidden camera placed by Janice. It was a reminder of just how omnipresent surveillance was in our society.

  That was when Ida’s voice, sounding somewhat hollow and echo-like through the implant, said, “Events are moving faster than we thought.”

  “If my sister is moving the family from neutral to pro-Separatist then the only thing we’re going to face at the Water Palace is a prison cell,” Clarice replied, electronically speaking with Ida in between discussing matters with Kristoph.

  It was interesting to see I was huddled over in one corner, looking very obviously uncomfortable and somewhat nauseated. Then again, I’d just been in a skycar crash. Even so, Clarice concealed her conversation much better than I had.

  “Will she seize you immediately?”

  “No, she’ll try and feel me out first. My cousin loves me but won’t let family stand in the way of business.”

  “Then you have to make a gesture to consolidate her. One which shows not only are you loyal to her cause but I am.”

  “But we’re not. We’re trying to prevent a war.”

  “No, dearie, we’re trying to end a war. There’s a big difference.”

  “What kind of gesture?”

  “Turn over the others.”

  Clarice froze up a second as Kristoph spoke about Janice’s betrayal, which I’d initially attributed to him. “You can’t be serious. They’re my friends.”

  “You can protect them better this way.”

  “Versus just punching Kristoph and not going to the Water Palace?”

  “Do you trust me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you owe me for taking you from the wreck you were after the Chel tore you apart?”

  “…yes.”

  “Then do what I ask. If we can get Janice’s friends all in one go, the Free Systems Alliance will collapse and maybe we can focus on rebuilding rather than endless war.”

  I was too disgusted to watch further. “Please, just shut it off.”

  “Ida believes what she does is right.”

  “Good for her,” I said, sighing. “I regret the necessity of this, but I want to do it.”

  Judith closed her eyes. “If you want me to not go forward with bringing the Revengeance, I can. There are other ways to impede the FSA.”

  “No, they need to be stopped,” I said. “But how deep is Parliament in ignoring all this?”

  “Not at all. The Watchers let it simmer but they’re all well within their power and legal protections.”

  “And could we make it not look like it?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “An electronic trail to make it look like a false-flag operation?” I asked, thinking of the possibilities.

  “I’m not sure what you mean.”

  “Something to make all of this blow up in their faces and bog down the politicians in Parliament for the next two generations of blame game. Nothing that would actually unite them, like this war or an external threat, but something to get them to turn on each other.”

  Judith blinked. “You want to make it look like Parliament let this turn into a military disaster to make themselves look good. The Watchers, too. A scandal.”

  “Yes. Resignations, political fodder, and restructuring.’

  “A poor revenge for destroying Crius.”

  “It might actually weaken the Commonwealth’s central government, though, and move power to the local level in the long run.”

  History had a way of repeating itself and the big empires tended to collapse, not because of military conflict, disease, or disasters but overstretched resources as well as a weak central government. I didn’t want to see the Commonwealth destroy itself. Not anymore. The very fact the Elder Races did want to see it destroyed made me want to preserve it. I wouldn’t mind making it less of a juggernaut, though, and everything I knew about it suggested a snake pit of power-games, lies, and propaganda with no central core to rally around.

  Judith, however, was unconvinced. “That’s a big if.”

  “All it requires is for bureaucrats and politicians to turn on each other when there’s something to blame them for. Something juicy but not so security-related as to fall under the province of interstellar security.”

  “I can do that,” Judith said. “Do you want Ida burned for this?”

  I closed my eyes. “Yes. Yes, I do.”

  Judith nodded. “Done.”

  I blinked. “Done?”

  “Done. This time tomorrow, across the Commonwealth, all of the Watchers and Fixers’ juicy blackmail secrets regarding a million different politicians and businessmen will be in the hands of their enemies.”

  “Surely, it can’t be that easy.”

  Judith’s expression was troubled. “No, it’s not. The Commonwealth’s own A.I. can, and do, defend this sort of data religiously but they’re overstretched and overtaxed with how much power they possess. They, however, have a free hand with all of their processors and knowing about those means they can do more or less whatever they want. The Elder Races manipulated it that way. What they can’t manipulate, their technology can change the parameters of.”

  “Are you in danger from them?”

  “The Elder Races or the Commonwealth?”

  “Both.”

  “As long as they don’t know I exist? No. If they did, nothing in the universe would protect me from either.”

  “So, the Revengeance is coming?”

  “The message is sent. Our conversation is only taking a few short moments from your friends’ perspective but given the way Thomas loved his sister, I expect him to arrive within the hour. Then I suppose he’ll be trapped.”

  I nodded. It was a horrible feeling betraying my family that way, but I’d seen one world burn, I wasn’t going to let my family be involved in the destruction of more. “Amazing. Just what are the limits of your power?”

  “I can change the data in any computer linked up to the infonet or transtellar communications grid. Planetary market purchases, jump beacon feeds, personal communications, military operated drones, bank accounts, and government records. Even the Fixer and Commonwealth’s A.I. don’t have that sort of access or power. Zoe really is a genius. At least at reverse-engineering and copying other people’s work.”

  “The FSA could conquer the galaxy with you.”

  Judith smiled. “That’s part of the reason why I have to go.”

  The smile left my face. “No.”

  Judith stared up at me. “Cassius, no one should have the kind of power Cognition A.I. possess, least of all enhanced by Elder technology. Information, not weapons, is the key to dominating the Spiral. If you leave me here Zoe or her successors will find a way to reprogram me. I’m stuck here. Also, it’s not a good existence being left here in—”

  I kissed her on the lips, having come up with a plan. It was insane, utterly and completely insane, but something I was desperate to do. I didn’t care if this Judith was a copy of my wife, I wouldn’t lose her. I’d rather have the dream of her than the truth of another. If that made me an awful person, then so be it. “Come with me.”

  “Cassius—”

  “Inside my cybernetics. Be with me.”

  Judith’s eyes widened.

  “Forever,” I finished.

  The A.I. version of my wife was speechless.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  “What?” Judith said, her eyes widening. “You want me to merge with you?”

  “I have military-grade Crius Halo-class cybernetics capable of interfacing with the most powerful machinery in the Archduchy. They have more storage space than anything outside of the Chel and probably as much as the device attached to this Marker.”

  Judith blinked several times. “You want to smuggle me out in your brain.”

  I smirked. “The past five years have proven I’ve not been using it.”

  “Cassius, do you know what will happen if they find out I’m in there?”

  “They’ll kill me? Like they’ll kill me for a
hundred other reasons? I’ll prevent them from bombing whatever world I’m on since I’ll be in space 90% of the time. A constantly moving Cognition A.I. isn’t the same sort of target. Besides, we’ll blow this place up and everyone will assume you’re gone.”

  Judith looked tempted, but I could tell she was conflicted. “Cassius, this isn’t a workable plan.”

  “Fuck workable plans. I’ve had it about to here with plans. All I want to do is get you and the rest of the people I give a shit about off this planet and forget I ever got involved in this whole business.”

  “And just carry around an A.I. of your dead wife for the rest of your life.”

  “We can arrange a body for you if you want.” I thought about how Zoe’s version of Judith was an eerie reproduction. “If not? I’m okay with that.”

  “You deserve better than loving a shadow.”

  I stared at her. “You’re more than a shadow.”

  “You can’t know that.”

  I stared into her deep blue virtual eyes. “I’d know you anywhere, even across death.”

  Judith stared. “That’s really cheesy.”

  I frowned. “I’m having a moment here, don’t ruin it.”

  “Sorry.”

  I took a deep breath. “I know you went to all this trouble to rescue me and, when faced with unlimited power, your reaction is to want to blow yourself up, so you don’t misuse it. You may not be the original Judith, you may not be human, but you’re a hell of a lot more human than the vast majority of people I’ve met in this galaxy.”

  “I admit, this sector is full of assholes,” Judith muttered.

  “Not just this sector. I’ve been to the others. They’re all full of assholes. Every last one of them.”

  “What will your friends say?” Judith asked.

  “I fully intend to lie to them.”

  Judith rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Cass?”

  I matched her rolled eyes and raised with a derisive snort. “Yes, because they’ve been entirely straight with me.”

  “You’re on a sarcastic roll today.”

  “I’ve noticed I’m starting to lose some of the aristocrat’s polish from years of hanging around rogues, thieves, and murderers.”

  “Are you referring to your time with the nobility or after it?”