by S. H. Jucha
“There’s no one aboard, Captain,” Maria replied. “The entire process is automated, thanks to the Omnians.”
“Most ingenious of them,” Oliver added.
“It was much cleverer to devise the idea to repurpose two ships about to be stripped so they could serve useful purposes once again,” Maria commented.
“Yes, the thinking of Alex and Julien in concert,” Oliver acknowledged. “It’s an enviable symbiosis.”
Maria glanced at the wistful expression on Oliver’s face. It was the first time she’d ever heard him lament the shortcomings between him and her. Despite the circumstances of Oliver’s early existence, serving one of the more disagreeable Leaders of the Confederation, he’d always been able to communicate swiftly and succinctly with humans, the Méridiens, via their implants. After meeting Maria, Oliver had decided to lend his support exclusively to her, a human who was effectively mind-blind.
“Minister, you’ve a comm from Captain Jagielski,” Bertram announced.
“On speakers,” Maria replied gruffly.
“Captain, we’re on the bridge,” Maria warned Alphons, in case he needed privacy for his call.
“The Omnians surely have us on their telemetry, Minister, and I was wondering if you felt well enough to announce us or if you’d rather I did it?” Alphons asked.
“Kind of you to ask after my well-being, Captain. I’ll take care of it,” Maria replied.
“Certainly, Minister. Feel better. The McMorris out,” Alphons said.
“Oliver,” Maria requested. Like Alex, she understood the shorthand speech that was capable with a SADE, who could anticipate her needs. However, unlike Alex, she had to speak her thoughts.
Oliver connected with the Rover’s controller and placed a comm to the Freedom. A brief request to Cordelia was transferred to Alex via Julien, as the pair was on the Sardi-Tallen Orbital Platform.
The once utilitarian construction station no longer resembled its initial iteration. It had morphed into a dumbbell shape, one end handling passengers from liners and the other end constructing ships and handling freight. The station’s interconnector held small bays to accommodate the frequent visits of travelers. Movers embedded along the length of the interconnector transported pedestrians in both directions.
“The usual, Alex,” Maria replied. “When are your superlative individuals going to invent a cure for those few of us who suffer from transits?”
“I’m looking forward to that time. How many transits does it take?” Maria asked.
Alex and Julien shared grins, and Alex’s humor leaked through his sending, as he replied,
“Alex, did anyone tell you that you have a sick sense of humor?” Maria shot back.
“I wish we could have provided more, Alex, but the Assembly was adamant about sticking to the agreement. You got four of the nine warships we constructed,” Maria announced.
Despite her body’s protestations, Maria smiled to herself. She could have brought Alex just one Trident. As long as Alphons Jagielski was captain, he’d be happy. People first; things second. That’s my Alex, she thought.
“I considered it best that Captain Jagielski should stay at New Terra, Alex,” Maria said. She waited several heartbeats before she added, “But Senior Captain Jagielski insisted on leading these four ships in your expedition, and I gave up arguing with him.”
Maria flushed with pride at the thought that one of her favorite officers in New Terran Security had risen to the lofty rank of fleet admiral.
“Will do, Alex,” Maria replied. She was feeling better by the moment. Talking to Alex always did that for her. “By the way, we caught the transit of one of the carriers. Are you hopeful for their missions?”
“There’s always the possibility that the entities you meet at the wall will acquiesce, and you won’t have to worry about the probes,” Maria replied. She briefly eyed Oliver, who frowned, and she listened closely for Alex’s response.
“Fortune to us all, Alex. Maria out,” the minister said, and Oliver closed the call.
Julien regarded Alex.
Alex smiled good-naturedly. He received the image of a giant lagomorph-like creature bounding up to him. It threw its arms around Alex in an embrace, and its weight knocked him to the deck. Buried under the huge pile of fuzzy, long-eared animal, Alex produced a thought bubble over his head, a concept he borrowed from one of Renée’s vids.
The lagomorph’s eyes flew open, as it regarded the scene in the bubble. In the dark of night, four men sat around a campfire, roasting the carcass of an animal over flames. The creature shrieked and ran off, only to return with a fire extinguisher, which it sprayed over the thought bubble and Alex, who was inundated by the foam. The two friends reveled in their image war until they reached their destination.
-3-
The Freedom
Mickey rode in the traveler’s copilot seat. The fighter floated outside a row of bays of the Freedom. He was ready to test the final three, rail-mounted, beam weapons of the city-ship.
The bay doors swept aside, and the twin barrels of the beam weapons rolled forward, narrowly clearing the doors. The traveler pilot, an old hand at the tests, spun the fighter in a set of lazy loops, while the engineering team recorded the weapons’ abilities to target the traveler.
The first time the pilot had heard the actions that Mickey required him to take for the test, he said, “Your people do know this is only a test, as in hands off of the firing application.”
“I hope so,” Mickey had rejoined, laughing heartedly. “I intend to be aboard your traveler to observe the action.”
“That would make me feel better, if I knew there was no one on your team harboring bad feelings about you,” the pilot had shot back.
“If we get turned into space dust, we’ll have the last laugh,” Mickey replied.
“How’s that?” the pilot asked.
Mickey’s eyebrows bounced up and down several times, as if he was sharing a great secret with the pilot. Then he said, “Because Alex will have someone’s rear end for taking out his chief engineer.”
“Yeah, but we’ll still be dead,” the pilot had mumbled to himself, as he entered the front cabin.
Mickey watched the relay of the engineering feedback from the bays to the traveler’s controller and then to his helmet. The beam weapons were tracking within parameters. Even when the traveler crossed the weapons’ fields, the targeting a
pplications handed off the priority from one beam emplacement to the other.
Mickey contacted the Freedom to speak with Cordelia.
Mickey signaled his pilot to drop him at a bay near one of his labs. He was running late for a meeting with Luther and Miriam. The two SADEs were in charge of developing the communication techniques that would prevent the Nua’ll from commandeering their electronics.
During the encounter with the comm sphere at the wall, Alex and Julien had taken precautions to protect the Trident from a comm intrusion by eliminating the connection between their ship’s hull-embedded antenna and the controller. Subsequent analysis by Mickey’s engineers and the SADEs revealed a data crystal had recorded the sphere’s highly compressed broadcast of multiple languages, interspersed with malevolent code designed to cripple the ship’s systems controls.
Mickey’s traveler dropped into a bay. The moment the hatch indicated pressure in the bay, he launched through the opening and hurried to the nearby lab.
“Sorry to be late,” Mickey apologized a little breathlessly to the SADEs when he entered.
Miriam and Luther exchanged brief thoughts. They found humans’ urgency to be on time for meetings with SADEs to be a little comical. Then again, time was held in opposing extremes by the two species. Every tick of time was utilized in multiple ways by the SADEs, and yet they had hundreds of years, if not thousands, to expend over the lifespan of humans. Still, Miriam and Luther appreciated Mickey’s considerate gesture.
“Congratulations, Mickey, in the successful deployment of this ship’s beam weapons,” Luther announced.
“Thank you, Luther,” Mickey replied.
“According to Killian,” Miriam said, referring to another SADE, “the orbital platform will soon lay up the shells of the final travelers, completing the Freedom’s contingent of fighters.”
“And the autopilot programs?” Mickey asked. It was an indication of the times. Mickey, who once knew every engineering aspect that was underway, couldn’t keep up with the extensive preparations for the expedition.
“The SADEs are installing them into every traveler,” Miriam replied.
“Every fighter aboard the city-ship or every fighter?” Mickey asked. When Miriam gazed evenly at Mickey, he said, “Every traveler. If it’s a good idea for one, it’s a good idea for all.”
“Consider, Mickey, the circumstances of a human pilot fatally injured, but the fighter is still with power and flight controls,” Miriam proposed.
“The ship could still fight or even be used as a flying missile,” Mickey agreed.
“Just so,” Miriam said sadly.
“It’s a shame we can’t automate the entire fleet’s fighter-attack scenarios,” Mickey said.
“We tried,” Luther admitted. “A great deal of kernel time was applied, but the probabilities known and unknown taxed even our capabilities.”
“It’s as Alex often says: ‘We’ll just have to wait and see what happens,’” Miriam added.
“Well, Luther, show me what we’ll be installing to protect the Freedom’s comm system,” Mickey said, switching subjects.
In the analysis of the data, which was collected from the comm sphere at the wall, the Omnians had discovered more than malicious algorithms buried in the various language greetings. The data’s decoding resulted in the discovery of two critical items: The Nua’ll greetings spoke of a master race, and their code was so dangerous as to be capable of subverting a SADE’s kernel.
“Our operation will be similar to the one chanced on by Alex and Julien,” Luther replied. “All comm reception by a ship’s antenna will be handled by our routing box, which offers the Nua’ll transmissions two signal paths, the ship’s controller or the temptation of a SADE. We know the malicious code is attracted to the more complex structure of a SADE.”
“Will you still use the delay box between the router and the kernel copy?” Mickey asked.
“Undoubtedly,” Miriam replied, “It’s central to our process.”
“After routing through the delay box, the attack signal enters a controller containing multiple kernel copies of Miriam,” Luther continued. “To be specific, the copies will contain knowledge of the malicious code.”
“As the receiving copy succumbs, another is made available,” Miriam explained. “The infected version is deleted and replaced with a clean copy. The process is kept up in a never-ending loop.”
“Then the delay isn’t always in use,” Mickey said, understanding the concept. “Miriam’s primary copy monitors the Nua’ll broadcast’s onslaught. When the confronted copy is about to succumb, the delay trap is inserted, which gains the time necessary to delete the infected copy and replace it. Then the delay trap can be bypassed until the next time to swap copies.”
Mickey studied the idea, his hand rubbing his chin. “How long will single copies last?” he asked.
“Initially, we expect hours, especially with the increased awareness of what we face,” Miriam replied. “As the copies communicate the nature of the onslaught, more time will be gained.”
“Mickey, I’ve prepared the specifications for your production line,” Luther added.
“What production line?” Mickey asked. “What am I missing?”
“It’s our premise that the comm sphere will inevitably attack all controllers,” Luther replied. “The Nua’ll communication might not be directed only at the Freedom.”
“Black space,” Mickey muttered. “You’re talking about the city-ship, every Trident, every freighter … even the travelers.” He stared at Luther and Miriam, hoping to be corrected.
“There is no other way, Mickey,” Miriam said. “I can duplicate my kernel to make copies as many times as necessary to enable production.”
“Every ship,” Mickey muttered, the scope of the problem dawning on him. “Wait, we launched the carriers without this technology. How did that escape us?”
“It didn’t, Mickey,” Miriam said patiently. “Julien, Cordelia, Z, and Miranda determined that the best course of action in the event the carriers crossed the path of a Nua’ll sphere was to leave the fighters unprotected. Under normal conditions, the carriers’ programs direct them to remain outside a system and launch a banisher from there. If a carrier encounters a Nua’ll sphere, our ship could quickly transit away. In the event that action became difficult, two travelers would be launched at the sphere. While the Nua’ll sphere sought to subsume the fighters’ controllers, the carrier could escape.”
“But then the Nua’ll would have our fighters,” Mickey objected.
“Perhaps not, Mickey,” Miriam replied, with a sly smile.
“Do tell?” Mickey replied, expecting a good piece of news.
“A failsafe mechanism has been laid into a separate controller, within the carriers’ travelers. If normal communication is lost between the secondary and primary controllers, the secondary controller initiates a sequence. The moment the fighter lands, its beams are activated and fire continuously until the crystals are drained.”
Mickey chuckled at the thought that the travelers, initially used by the Nua’ll, could be their undoing if they sought to capture the Omnians’ version of the fighters.
“And, Mickey, in case the extent of this problem has escaped you,” Miriam said gently. “All communication between our ships and any foreign vessels must go through my copies. My copies will be linked to the ship’s controller, which will make it seamless for personnel.”
“What’s the failsafe mechanism?” Mickey asked.
“If my primary copy senses imminent fai
lure, the connection to the ship’s controller is severed. Connections between the controller and a ship’s antennas must be manually restored,” Luther replied. “It’s the only way to ensure the protection of our ships and crews.”
Mickey cogitated on what Miriam and Luther were saying. It was a mark of the influence of Alex’s personality on him that he asked, “What will Alex think about these Miriam copies?”
“He’s already inquired, Mickey,” Miriam replied. “I told him that I intend to reorder my hierarchy principles for the copies. They’ll operate with the intention of protecting their vessels at all costs.”
“But isn’t that what you do now?” Mickey asked.
“It’s relative, Mickey,” Luther added. “We work to protect the ships, humans, and ourselves. These copies will choose to sacrifice themselves to protect their vessels.”
Mickey was stunned and unable to find the words to continue. Finally, he muttered, “That seems unfair.”
“No, Mickey, unfair was incarceration in bridge containment structures for decades, if not for a century or more,” Miriam replied. “We are free now and will do whatever it takes to support Alex, while he lives.”
“And when he’s gone?” Mickey asked. Miriam and Luther stared silently back at him. “I see,” Mickey said, “it will be up to others of us to prove that we’re worthy of your support.”
“Just so, Mickey,” Miriam replied.
“Understood,” Mickey replied, humbled by the exchange. “Work the production of your comm diverters into the labs’ schedules at Omnia City and the platform. We’ll need to outfit every vessel and take some extras with us. Let me know if you have any problems.”
As Mickey left the lab, Luther asked Miriam, “Were we too blunt?”
“If we lose Alex in this contest against the alien entities, who appear to be overwhelming in number and strength, what is the future for humans and SADEs?” Miriam replied. “It’s best that humans discover now that the SADEs expect them to carry on as Alex would want them to do.”
“Still, Mickey is our friend,” Luther argued.