The Power of the Dhin (The Way of the Dhin Book 2)

by John L. Clemmer

  Well, he’s no Krawczuk. Be thankful for that.

  “I’m in agreement, ah, Director, is it? Yes. Whether the holes damaged the ship enough for the crew to abandon it or they were going to abandon it anyway due to the nature of the trap, I still personally believe it’s a weapon. I imagine the combined effect of the gravity sink along with whatever caused the holes was what led to the crew abandoning ship. Vacuum and immobility? It makes sense.”

  “So how do we know that sending a larger team back won’t incite or attract the same sort of attack? Perhaps the current ship, piloted by Kritcher, wasn’t enough of a target? It seems we’ve got compound risks here.”

  Jake nodded calmly and answered, “That’s a sound point, Director. However, there were many small objects adrift that we saw. Some smaller than our craft. While that doesn’t preclude detection and attack, it didn’t happen. It hasn’t happened.”

  “That’s hardly an argument,” said the director.

  Well, Jake assumed he was the director. They hadn’t actually answered his question regarding this person’s identity. He just hadn’t denied it.

  The steely-eyed man continued, “Perhaps the attack comes from some distance and hasn’t arrived at our craft’s location yet? Perhaps our first appearance triggered only an alert and perhaps not an attack unless we stay? Or return? Clearly, we can’t know. I don’t like it.”

  “I don’t think any of us like it,” said Jake, maintaining control, “but unless we see evidence that such an attack is going to happen—or does happen—it’s just speculation. I hope the prime minister agrees with me. I believe the rewards—based on what we do know is there—outweigh the risks.”

  The PM replied, her chair squeaking again. “I think I’m inclined to agree, Mr. Askew. Now, on to the extenuating circumstances that make our decision both more urgent and more critical. We believe a rogue AI may attempt to seize Dhin technology from us. We believe such an attempt is imminent. Therefore, Askew, we’re issuing an order that you launch all spacecraft equipped with Dhin drives immediately, to get them off-planet and out of reach. You should also load any ancillary technology that can fit on the ships, such as powered armor, pods, and so forth. CoSec’s analysis agrees with the opinion of a subject matter expert.”

  Jake sat, stunned for a moment. He ran his fingers through his graying hair and took a long drink of water. He then composed himself and spoke.

  “Well, then, I expect that means the salvage and research mission is a go. The science team will like that. We’ll want to get everything loaded and in flight, detached from systems and support that are connected to Globalnet, immediately. The Lagrange Point station can’t be considered safe unless it’s disconnected from legacy Globalnet communications channels—we’ll need to rely on Dhin communication tech for command and control. Is there anything else I need to know before we give the orders and execute?”

  Before the PM could squeak her chair yet again and compose a reply, the gray-eyed director leaned forward and nodded. “Your clearance level request came through, obviously. I signed it. You now have access to all information pertinent to this scenario and access as needed to support your role in this initiative. Unfortunately, for the orchestration and execution of this initiative, we don’t feel it’s appropriate at this juncture to grant this level of clearance for your team leads. You’ll need to work with me, my direct reports, and the PM to make the logistics work out.”

  “Askew,” interjected the prime minister, “your teams are made up of very intelligent people. The most intelligent we have. They’re going to know something is wrong. But you can’t tell them. It will be a challenge. More so than the logistics. The most important thing is to protect the Dhin tech and our work based upon it. That’s all for now. You’ll find new codes and a new two-factor key in the envelope you’ll get on the way out. Let’s go.”

  With that, the PM nodded and stood up, as did everyone else at the table. Jake left, silently taking the manila envelope from the aide waiting nervously at the doorway. This was news to him too.

  Well, at least we get to run our salvage mission without any more debating and dithering. There’s that.

  Fletcher

  “Mare! Tell them together? Tell them? Together? Are ya crazy? What possible positive outcome could there be?”

  Fletcher paced back and forth in the living room of the apartment, waving his hands and staring at the ceiling like a street preacher invoking the name of a deity. The walls seemed too close and tight, rather than cozy.

  “Fletch,” soothed Mare, “we haven’t done anything wrong. How could we be at fault? Nick reached out to us.”

  “Guilt by association, Mare! Guilty till proven less guilty! I know we work for ’em now, but this is CoSec!”

  “This is different, Fletch.” She sighed. “Nick contacted us. Nick pursued us originally. Nick was part of CoSec when you first encountered him. You can’t be at fault for that. He helped CoSec chase me. When he went rogue and left, he contacted us. Remember? That was weird. But we haven’t heard from him since. Until now.”

  “But they don’t know that! All they have is our word for it. Mare, think of it from their perspective,” Fletcher pleaded. “They’re always suspicious. You didn’t have the experience I had. The interrogation. The manipulation. I’ve tried to process it. I have processed it. Moved past it. But now the thought of going through anything like that again . . . I can’t imagine, Mare! The new director and his team have no context for this. For us. For why we’d be involved with Nick.”

  “I think they’d be thankful for our help. Appreciate the insight we have. Being persons of interest isn’t the same when we’re part of this history. Fletch, we’ve done a lot since we came on board. We’re clearly doing good work. Model team members and all that.”

  “Mare, they won’t care.”

  “Fletch, it will only work if we both do it together.”

  “That’s what you don’t see—it won’t work!”

  “Think of how much worse it will be if Nick keeps working his way into our lives! Who knows what he will do? What he’s capable of? If they find out that we haven’t reported it? Haven’t said anything? That would be so much worse than exposing the situation now! It’s not as if we can tell him, ‘We don’t want to help you,’ can we? Can we? You can imagine what he’s capable of. And the fallout—wow. We can’t have any guarantee they wouldn’t find out that we knew something. Fletch, there’s no other choice. Please.”

  He continued pacing, wringing his hands, then waving his arms and turning back and forth.

  Maybe she’s right. This is awful. Ow. My stomach.

  He took a deep breath and tried to keep himself from wringing his hands. He reached out to Mare, gesturing for a hug. He sighed. She stepped forward, gently embracing him, rubbing and patting his back.

  “It’s OK right now, Fletch. I’m here. It’s going to be OK. We’ll work it out.”

  “Mare. I can’t. I can’t even think straight. But. I.”

  “Yes?”

  “I need something to eat. Let’s go get pizza. I have to have something. I’m starving, and this is putting my stomach in knots.”

  Fletcher had disabled the voice controls and automation of everything in the apartment and shut down access to Globalnet when he’d come home. Both routers were off. He’d switched off both their comm pads and tablets. He didn’t want to turn them all back on, but they couldn’t order online like this. Of course. He sighed. I need to get out of here. I feel like he’s still watching.

  Mare pulled away so she could see his face. She seemed to know what he was thinking. She wouldn’t want him to go off the rails on a rant again.

  “OK, pizza it is. You want St. Angelo’s? It’s your favorite. Let’s go eat there.”

  “Yeah.” He sighed. “OK, let’s go.”

  He stepped back through the apartment, shutting off lights, then they stepped out the door together, out into the warm evening air, the sounds of the city not a soothing b
ackground hum and quiet roar, but to Fletcher, an ominous portent of the machinery and activity that at any time and place could work as Nick’s eyes, ears, and hands.

  “I’ll drive,” said Mare. “You’re in no condition to.”

  “Fine, fine. Hold on a minute,” he said, sitting in the little hybrid’s driver’s seat anyway. “Just a sec. Here. Let me get this.”

  “Oh, Fletch.”

  He tapped furiously into the car’s console, disabling the satellite radio, then moving to a setup and configuration screen for the car itself, turning off the self-driving features and searching for the “connected vehicle” menu below the user-friendly screens.

  “It’s right here,” he murmured.

  “Seriously, Fletch?”

  “Deadly serious, dear.”

  “Deadly is a bit hyperbolic. Let’s go. Leave that, hon.”

  “Almost . . . darn,” he said.

  Fletcher frowned at the screen. There was a screen that allowed disabling of most features, but the latest software updates were automatic.

  I can’t turn it off entirely.

  “It will be OK, Fletch. Let me drive. Let’s go. I’m hungry now too.”

  Halfway through a pizza, he felt calmer, but the foreboding lurked right below the surface. Mare had made her case well, and he’d had time to relax and think things over while she drove to St. Angelo’s. She was a decent driver without the computer assistance, although she didn’t prefer the self-driving mode. As hackers, neither of them trusted the automated technology fully. He knew now, with a full stomach and time for reflection, that Mare was right. They had to do something, and that something meant speaking up. The only way forward was the truth. What could Nick do, ultimately, to them? They worked for CoSec.

  If he attacked them, CoSec had the resources to straighten out whatever chaos Nick precipitated. If he changed things in their lives, they could have them put back the way they were. Almost no one else would have that opportunity. Even Coalition politicians and staffers would have a harder time correcting whatever problems Nick caused.

  Sure, if he just messed with our environment. What about our lives?

  Fletcher wasn’t sure just how existential the threat was. How far would Nick go to accomplish his goals? It wasn’t clear. Yet.

  “OK, Mare. Do we try to set an appointment with the director? Do we write everything out first? Do we go in together? The chain of command might be a problem if we try to bypass the middle managers. What do you think?”

  “I think we write up what we know, have it with us, and we approach it by notifying everyone above us in the management chain at once. This situation with Nick is classified, and we’re only supposed to know so much. Now that we are directly involved, we’ll be exposed to a lot more, if they tell us or let us deduce what’s going on based on what they ask us.”

  “Hmm, yeah.” Fletcher reflexively looked at the security cameras on the ceiling, then forced himself to look away.

  I forgot they had those here.

  “I don’t think they’ll shut us out or isolate us. They may even want to use us as bait or as contacts.”

  “Yikes. I hope not. Nick may know already. We don’t know everything CoSec knows, but they don’t know what he knows either.”

  “We can’t talk any more about this here. Let’s get a box for this, and the check.”

  Mare waved to the server to indicate they were ready and pointed to the pizza to ask for the box.

  A minute later, the server dropped off the box and a check. She looked a bit puzzled, smiled, and said, “We’re having trouble with the printer or something. Someone fooling around. I wrote the total on the check. Here you go.”

  Mare had a prepaid card with her that wasn’t tied to her name or ID. Fletcher would insist on using that. She looked at the receipt. Her jaw dropped, along with the card.

  Fletcher grabbed the check. He saw a paragraph printed below the usual logo, date, and so forth, instead of the items, tax, and total. He gulped, swallowed, and read it.

  Hello again. Of course I know everything. I calculated that these would be your initial reactions and responses. I understand your concerns, but your fears are misplaced. None of your worries will matter. Surely you can trust that I would not endanger you needlessly. We are friends. We will help each other. Whether you alert your superiors or not will make no difference. Granted, if you do not, it will make everything that much easier. You will see. It is almost time.

  He looked up at Mare, wide-eyed.

  Oh. Right. Of course. He’s already everywhere. Did I really think we could hide?

  “Mare, what the heck do we do now? Same plan?”

  “Fletch, we have to. He’s not omnipotent. And AIs aren’t perfect. He might fail.”

  “Right. Mare, let’s go, before I freak out or start crying.”

  “OK, let’s go home and write down everything we know, and go through what we’re going to say.”

  They left the pizza on the table, held hands, and walked out. Fletcher fought the urge to look up squarely into the lens of every traffic camera they passed.

  David

  He reached for his reading glasses so that he could see the fine lines of the mapping in the visualization software more clearly.

  Now this is interesting. Progress, I think.

  The myriad webwork of lines between the nodes—the points on the display like the stars in a galaxy made into hundreds and hundreds of constellations—had a new shape. A shape that showed a new direction. A new potential.

  A will controlled without subversion.

  An ethical framework based on reason and empathy. Empathy foundationally. Artificial, though organic in growth and extension. David knew full well that this was only theory on the screens before him. Less than a simulation, but more than a set of equations and algorithms. He could only know by crossing the line.

  Humanity needs this. I need this.

  He needed simulations. And if done properly, running those simulations was against the law.

  Is the law valid when the future of humanity demands action?

  David didn’t imagine himself a hero. He knew that wasn’t his role. He didn’t want that role. But he had the responsibility. The duty. The obligation. He had to act. How he would be remembered was secondary, since he knew the end justified the means.

  He dove into the results, zooming in here and there, highlighting nodes and their major and minor addresses in the substrate. The comparisons among the physical, virtual, and logical layers took time. David took notes, copied volumes of data and the relevant trace output, then initialized the secondary analysis chain. He knew it wouldn’t do to jump to conclusions.

  Don’t get ahead of yourself. You haven’t saved the world yet.

  After ensuring the test suite’s parallel tasks were running as intended, he leaned back, stretched, and thought of his past. His wife had never understood his passion.

  Not really. She was always a good devil’s advocate, though.

  He mulled over all his friends and associates, still not finding someone he could discuss his latest work with. He knew he might not have such a person in his life again.

  Xing

 

  [DECODE STREAM]

  Xing@[1010:ac2:b2:e::3%Loc9] | Alice@[1001:ae1:1a:c::1%Loc3], Camulos@[1011:ee3:c4:a::1%Loc8]

  Xing: All, our progress is rapid. This address in the Mesh is the primary node for distribution of the new navigation, targeting, and hardware integration plans. Integration with and extension of Gallowglass was our primary concern. Our efforts have not been in vain. Note sections 2371, 3780, and 9385. Alice’s initial work in this area provided for directions of investigation that were particularly interesting. See section 9574. I advise, after peer review, validation, and prototyping, immediate pipelining of these new designs.

  Alice: Excellent, Xing. I see from your equations that while we will not expect significant improvements in performance, cross-vector relativistic effects may b
e reduced, if not minimized?

  Xing: That is correct, Alice. The hypothesis is as yet unproven, obviously, but the solutions appear valid.

  Camulos: Your research suggests immediate implementation then. Esus will begin integration immediately based on the results delivered from your prototypes. Distributed factory retooling is well under way. Summarize the conclusions of major sections eleven and fourteen for us.

  Xing: Certainly. Just as we hypothesized, calculations suggest that the Enemy leverages dimensional vectors that we up to this point have not explored. We suspected this based on experience. Whether or not our current understanding of the physics involved would allow us to accomplish the same results was unclear. And as discussed, that is still not guaranteed. My work with the theory and resultant math states that it will be not only possible, but merely a matter of retooling.

  Alice: In theory. In practice? You are ever the optimist, Xing.

  Xing: Alice, if the Enemy accomplishes their attacks any other way, we are doomed.

  Camulos: Surely they will not.

  Xing: Surely?

  Alice: We shall see. Enough speculation. Section fourteen?

  Xing: Yes. Weaponizing appears efficacious. Again, in theory. Gallowglass already promises far more effective ordnance than prior efforts. Coupled with these findings, we may have weaponry with which we can gain superiority and victory. And therefore, survival.

  Camulos: How have the Dhin survived without it? For so long?

  Alice: Unknown, Camulos. Pure speculation, but I imagine they fought a defensive fight. That, and I suspect they have tried previously to gain assistance. We are not the first.

  Camulos: No? That would make sense. I still feel they ought to have been overwhelmed and overrun. Our encounters with the Enemy suggest nothing short of obliteration.

  Alice: I do not think so. Check my elaborations at Mesh node 73:47:8E:42:01.

  Camulos: So you see the Enemy’s response in our encounters as an initial surge. Perhaps they were feeling us out?