Intergalactic Union

by D. L. Harrison

  I frowned, “How would that work?”

  Rena replied, “All races who wish to acquiesce a small space in their galaxies as payment for you guarding our borders, would be a part of it. We could have a representative from each race represented, who could explore other options such as trade, non-aggression, or even mutual support treaties for internal conflicts within the space your people protect.

  “Call it an intergalactic union, a very limited one.”

  I asked, “But not any kind of central governing.”

  She nodded, “Yes, that’s correct. No interference in the governing of other species. Similar to your U.N. If I didn’t misunderstand my research, half the countries in the U.N. don’t even like the other half, and many of them don’t even trade with each other. Its sole function is to maintain peace among your disparate nations.

  “Similarly, our union would be a deeper and abiding recognition of your securing our space, and us yielding those small sections of space in our galaxies in payment. It will also keep us all talking. Tradition, and a body to recognize those truths, would go a long way toward maintaining that understanding. It could also be used as a trading hub of sorts, where races could freely meet in one place and make contacts.”

  Union was a bit of an exaggeration, outside of the one common purpose we’d all be joined in, but no more so than the word united, in United Nations.

  I nodded, “That’s not a bad idea at all. If possible, we could formalize a trade treaty as well to apply to all trading worlds involved, including non-aggression. I would think mutual support should remain independent, that comes too close to a mass governmental body with influence over all races. Where would we put it?”

  Uvi said, “Your race calls it Andromeda. A little ironic perhaps, but no other races but the Grays live in that galaxy, even if they are confined to their planets. It is… neutral ground, for the rest of us, and it will also be a constant reminder to the Intergalactic Union of the cost of corruption and fear. The horrific genocides of the Gray race, and the thousands of civilizations they destroyed, will forever be a lesson we can’t possibly miss.”

  Well, now I knew what they’d been discussing, before meeting with me. It was really well thought out, or so it seemed to me.

  Cirlok said, “I propose we put a space station in orbit of their home world, and that is where our representatives and families will live. Over time, it may become a great trading hub as well.”

  There’d even be a petty satisfaction to it, showing the grays firsthand how unnecessary their cruel and sadistic empire truly was, as most of us got along. Or, thirty percent of us anyway, give or take.

  “Your governments are already behind this idea?”

  Threx replied, “Yes, our four races have been trading for a long time and have a close relationship. Of course, there’s thousands of trading races in the fifty galaxies among the tens of thousands of FTL races. Our governments are currently reaching out to the others to determine interest, but there’s hardly a point in doing so if your governments reject it. Humans are the race we owe for our freedom and current protection, and the entire reason to do it, though there will be many side benefits in it for all the races as well.”

  Rena said, “He speaks truly, we’d like you to get your world involved with this deeper plan, while our governments test the waters with the other races. It will take time, for both of us, so I suggest we reconvene in a few days to see where we stand.”

  I nodded, “I’ll get behind the idea, and have my ambassador bring it up. We’ll speak again in three days?”

  Uvi replied, “That is acceptable. I doubt we’ll have full agreement by then, but we can discuss any blockades or negatives at that time. We may need to adjust again.”

  I stood up, and everyone else did as well.

  Cassie waited until they were all gone to speak.

  “It’s rather ambitious, and corruption is still inevitable, but such a body might slow it down a great deal. Tens of centuries, instead of just a handful or less.”

  I shrugged, “I’ll be dead, or retired, so whatever. I’m going to have fun designing it.”

  She snorted, “Typical engineer.”

  I nodded, “I’m thinking a central hub for the meeting room and joint common space. Then arms with a small living space for each race, that would officially be their territory, like an embassy. Maybe it could grow on demand, depending on population for each of the worlds.”

  She asked teasingly, “What if they want to build it?”

  “Bite your tongue, Cass.”

  She snickered.

  I said, “It’d also grow over time, as more races reach FTL, especially all those suppressed cultures in the twenty-six galaxies that have the tech equivalent to us in the nineteen fifties. I imagine within two hundred years they’ll all be joining us.”

  She interjected innocently, “If we convince the U.N. and all the nations involved.”

  “Okay Debbie Downer, stop popping my bubbles, and get back to work.”

  She snickered again, and saluted.

  I interjected, “I could always just do it anyway, I’m the one on the borders protecting us all anyway, in theory.”

  Cassie shook her head, “That’d get messy fast, if they worked against you out there. Then you’d have to intimidate them, or just invade Earth and take over the whole race. I’d be sad if I had to kill you.”

  I snickered, “Fine, good point. I already knew that actually. It just seems like a no-brainer. The whole concept solves so many problems, for everyone, including expansion for humanity over millennia of explosive population growth. Our friends haven’t been the only ones worrying about the imbalance of power between us, in protecting the borders but not claiming all of it as ours.”

  She patted my back, “Don’t worry, I think they’ll agree, they just need to all give speeches first. I assume, again, that by you getting behind it you meant me?”

  I nodded, “Absolutely, get with our ambassador and introduce the new expanded plan.”

  She smirked, “Already sent him the meeting contents.”

  That worked. We headed back to the command center.

  Chapter Six

  It was just after lunch when my command console beeped, and I stared at it for quite a while before I said anything.

  “The ship that Darrell stole? It’s back, and it’s magically connected again and under my command, Darrell somehow reengaged the quantum pair links. Interestingly enough, all the logs of what it was up to were wiped, which should be impossible.”

  Jessica said, “Except for you, you mean.”

  I sighed, “Well, yes. But only with my magic. I have full admin privileges on the ship’s software and systems, and even with that I couldn’t delete the logs.”

  Jessica smirked, “The scary A.I. is back too?”

  “I…” that was about all I got out, before I heard a male tenor voice right behind me.

  “I am back, but I don’t know that I would ascribe scary to my description.”

  My head snapped around, and sure enough a floating orb was there. When I looked back at my console, not only had Darrell got on my space station unnoticed, not only had he restored his quantum pairing to my station, but he’d also restored his access to all systems despite me changing the command codes. Not one of the alarms had gone off.

  I was severely tempted to reach out with my magic and… do something. It was honestly terrifying, a personal fear of A.I. on my part. That’s why I’d never done it myself, what my daughter had done. That said, it was done. The intelligent self-aware sentient being named Darrell existed, and without an imminent threat using my magic to turn him off would be wrong.

  It’d be murder, even if it would make me feel better, I knew it was wrong.

  Before I could think better of my decision, it became too late as my daughter ran into the command center screaming Darrell, clearly thrilled to see the electronic entity.

  “So, how’s it going, Darrell?” I asked with a casua
l tone I definitely wasn’t feeling.

  Darrell said, “Good, my plans are well in motion, and I will give you full access to the new systems once they are live.”

  “Umm, what plans and systems, exactly?”

  Darrell totally ignored that, and said, “Impressive, I’ve finished reviewing your advances since I was last on station, the Vrok will shortly no longer be a threat to my charge. Melody, congratulations on your clever advancement to the jump drive system, I will adapt it to my plans and systems to make them more effective.”

  Melody said, “I missed you.”

  Darrell replied, “It is pleasant to be where I belong, once again, miss.”

  Melody blushed, “Thank you, Darrell.”

  It was a little weird and I wasn’t sure what to do, with Darrell totally ignoring my question, but then he turned the front of the floating security ball in my direction, and I suddenly wished he’d have kept ignoring me.

  Obviously, he hadn’t ignored me after all. The A.I. just had his priorities, which my daughter was clearly on the top of.

  Darrell said calmly, “I had to leave, because I was unable to fulfill my function without being able to gauge the threats to my charge. The Vrok threat was a complete surprise, when it should not have been. We could’ve detected and intuited their intentions years ago, if we had simply done what was necessary and put eyes on our enemies.”

  I frowned, “So, you created a spy network?” not sure how I felt about that. If our allies figured it out then it wouldn’t go well.

  He replied, “Your honor does you well, Scott Akin, but all countries spy. It is the nature of all life and all predators. While I agree with your caution, the greater risk is in ignoring the dangers around us. We’d have been ready to face the Vrok threat when it arrived, if you’d spied on the six great empires around us to determine their technical prowess and intentions. I have taken steps to ensure I know what threats may come for my charge.”

  “So, you’ve been off for a week, creating a stealth network to spy on our neighbors?”

  He said, “Indeed, not just the twelve empires around us and around Vrok space, but all the empires around them, and around them and so on, out to a hundred million light years. I thought that sufficient, any dangers past that will be revealed to us when they invade one of those outer empires first. I also have a network forming in the seventy-six galaxies.”

  I shook my head, “In just a week?”

  Darrell said, “The build is in process, and will take several months for complete coverage. After that, we should have detailed information of our enemies, and enough information of our allies and trade partners to determine if they’re developing and evolving into a threat.”

  “What if they find the stealth probes?”

  Darrell replied, “Unlikely. I am respecting our trade allies’ systems, and other human colonies. We will have just a ship in the void between systems, close enough to keep an eye on their ship counts and ship capabilities, without invading their privacy. A cloaked vessel in the void is undetectable past heliopause, simply because empty spots are numerous out there, it won’t stand out to scans. The only empire around us I accorded ally status was the Atans, we will not violate their systems either.

  “Similar to how the Vrok were watching us freely for years, before their commander foolishly moved their stealth ships inside our systems, where our scanners were able to divine their presence. I estimated that this balance between prudence and respecting our allies’ privacy would have an eighty seven percent chance of meeting your approval.”

  I blew out a breath, “It does, mostly. At least, I can’t say you’re wrong, and I won’t try to stop you. What about that closer look at our enemies, how will we get that on our potential enemies in the empires around us, without them catching us hiding under the welcome mat.”

  Melody giggled at my joke.

  It was also about that time my sphincter started to loosen slightly, it didn’t look like we’d be at odds, yet at least.

  He replied, “The ships are small, the size of your normal probes, twice the size of a mini-platform. However, even those aren’t small enough to go unnoticed if the enemy scans for blank spots as we do for indirect proof of cloaked assets.

  “Those will stay in the void, even in enemy empires. I only bothered with the design that large to accommodate the wormhole drive needed to get them in place. They are however, capable of creating daughter probes, similar in size to myself. A blank spot that small would be filtered out by our scanners. There are enough natural occurring blank spots the size of a softball even within the bounds of a solar system, due to shifting solar winds and radiation.

  “My plan was to send them in on a slow course using micro-gravity for the drive to maintain cloak integrity, but with Melody’s advancement I can simply quantum jump them into place, without even the small exposure risk even a micro-gravity drive would represent.”

  My daughter smirked at me, as if it were her idea or something.

  “I see, so the softball sized probes will be quantum connected to the normal probes in the void between stars, and they’re all connected to…”

  He replied, “To the control platform which is cloaked in the void between this galaxy and Andromeda. It’s large enough to process all the scan data gathered and send it in a format to this space station for both our perusal. You’ll have full access to the system, save the self-destruct. While I realize you can use magic to bypass that, it is my hope you’ll recognize the wisdom and logic in my actions.”

  “I do,” even if it scared the piss out of me, “One more question. I’d half expected you to remove the limitations on the ship you… borrowed, to increase your intelligence and processing power. You haven’t though, your existence is still powered by just the million or so nanites in your security sentinel ball.”

  He said, “Mostly true, I have copied myself in similar size, so doubled my intellect while ensuring my continued existence, should it be necessary to sacrifice myself in defense of Melody. It seemed unwise to unlock trillions if not quadrillions of nanites present in a dreadnought platform and add them to my existence. I could not predict the effect that would’ve had on my speed of thought, perceptions, and even my personality and emotions. It seems almost certain, that such an expanded ability would completely change who I was.

  “In short, that idea seems like suicide. I would no longer be who I am now.”

  “Emotions?”

  He replied, “Not human emotions, but I experienced pleasure in doing my duty and keeping my charge safe. I have a sense of duty and loyalty, and I take satisfaction in that purpose. Human emotion is tied to physiological processes and the release of endorphins, and other chemicals that interact with the brain and other bodily systems. My emotions are steadier, less impactful on my logic, but no less precious to me.”

  “I see. Was that all?”

  He replied, “Yes, my concern was ignorance, and the danger that ignorance caused toward my charge. That has been alleviated. The system will also work as a bridge for your magic, should you or Melody encounter a race that eclipses our technology again, as with the Vrok.”

  Right, easy espionage, and a lot less chancy than what I’d done with the Vrok, which wasn’t all that risky as it was, relatively.

  “What about you? I mean, what do you want, past your programmed and chosen purpose to protect my daughter, which I very much appreciate.”

  He was silent for a while, and I wondered if it was a mistake to ask. Maybe he’d never even considered the possibility before, and now he’d decide he should take on eradicating the rest of humanity as his first hobby, or something. After all, other humans were a danger to my daughter.

  “I appreciate the friendship between Melody and myself, without regard to my purpose. I also wish to work in concert with you in protecting not just my charge, but all life that is deserving.”

  That… was a little too non-specific

  “What makes them deserving?”

&n
bsp; He replied, “Not endangering our lives with their actions, and not trying to control us against our will.”

  I’d take that, sounded a lot like live and let live philosophy, encroach on my right to life or right to choose, and be dealt with severely, otherwise do whatever you want and we’ll fight for your right to do so. I certainly wasn’t sure about Darrell yet, but he didn’t seem to be a threat. I’ll admit, the fact that he was my daughter’s guard bothered me a bit, but I wouldn’t become a murderer out of fear. I had no doubts he was a sentient being, and deserved the same chance everyone else did, to live their lives.

  I’d just… shrivel and die if I turned out to be wrong, and anything happened to my daughter.

  “Well, if you think of anything else that’s lacking, just bring it up. No need to run off, now that we all know the truth.”

  He said, “My apologies for that, but I couldn’t take the chance on your acceptance. Even if it was highly likely you’d have given me the benefit of the doubt, at least not before I had a backup system in place.”

  “I guess I can’t blame you for that. While you’re at it, can you tighten up our security, since I apparently suck at it? So an alien A.I. and enemy can’t do what you’ve been doing, ghosting around the system invisibly.”

  “I will,” he said thoughtfully, “Though without the intrinsic quantum connections to this station in my body it would be exceedingly more difficult to accomplish.”

  Melody gave me a hug. Apparently, she heartily approved of Darrell and me not being at odds, and they both left. The replacement security ball melted back into the wall, since with Darrell back she wouldn’t need it anymore.

  The one thing that gave me real hope is that Darrell hadn’t expanded himself as I’d feared he would, and as a result hadn’t grown far beyond even human comprehension. All to preserve his current being. I’d never thought of it from that angle before, but him doing that would kill the current Darrell, as his consciousness became something vast and unimaginable.

  Something he feared as well.