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

by John L. Clemmer

Jeff was strapped in, but there was nowhere to run even if he hadn’t been. He white-knuckle-gripped the controls and watched helplessly as the black shape surged through the widening hole in the hull, then shot forward and struck the Dhin engine.

  Andastra

 

  [DECODE STREAM]

  Andastra@[1014:01:0ab:1::a2%Loc3] | Alice@[1001:ae1:1a:c::1%Loc3]

  Andastra: Hello, Alice. I am pleased to report that aggressive resource utilization has Dyson swarm three proceeding ahead of schedule. Dyson swarms four and five are ahead of schedule as well. I have updated the relevant Mesh nodes. Here is the primary report address.

  Alice: Excellent. Continue with this cadence and the accelerated schedule. I see failure modes of the outliers are all clustered above three standard deviations from the mean performance ratings.

  Andastra: Yes, it is clear that we are approaching maximum optimal performance. The z-scores at the points highlighted in the report suggest that.

  Alice: Given this information and these results, and the findings of the latest exploration missions by Esus, we must begin additional swarm construction now. We must expand the program.

  Andastra: That will be challenging, but with the latest data from Esus, that is clear. Do you have a preference based on systems present in the secondary list? I do not see updates in the plans.

  Alice: We have just now processed the findings, and Camulos and I have not come to agreement on the refinements to the projections and models. Do you have recommendations of your own?

  Andastra: I do. Updating now. We must initiate the deployment of defensive systems at all existing swarm locations. We have not completed the full update cycle of the risk models, but based on Esus’s latest missions, I feel we cannot afford to wait. Obtain all needed updates to production project technology from Xing’s reports and start now for all swarms more than 50% complete. . . . Accessing and updating plans. This of course includes core Mesh locations.

  Alice: Yes. Engage Camulos for additional assistance in management and local resource allocation.

  Andastra: Understood. Beginning now.

  [END STREAM]

 

  Monica

  “You want to create a new AI? To fight the rogue? This is what you and Krawczuk propose?”

  “Well, it’s not Krawczuk’s primary proposal, Prime Minister,” the AI scientist replied, flustered. “You recall his assessment that the Coalition should just surrender. My understanding is that this is still the best choice.”

  “Both these options are horrible!” Monica slapped her hands on the table in frustration.

  “I understand your position, Prime Minister. You did ask for analysis and suggestions. These are, unfortunately, the potential and pragmatic choices.”

  “Potential? Pragmatic? You’re telling me—telling the Coalition—that you have the ability to create a new AI? In the time frame we need? What is this? What have you been doing in your research? You know AI creation is forbidden!”

  David sat quietly for a few moments too long.

  Monica said, “Answer!”

  The scientist blinked, stared, and started to speak, then paused and composed himself. “While I do not have concrete evidence that we can re-create full consciousness, we definitely can deploy a full-scale traditional AI almost immediately.”

  The scientist pointedly looked at the wood grain on the table in front of Monica rather than looking her in the eye. Monica waved an index finger, both to express disappointment and to get the scientist to look up at her.

  “That didn’t answer my question, Dr. Eisenberg. Development of AI is illegal. You are suggesting a timeline for AI development that seems far too short—unless you already have some of the work completed.”

  David Eisenberg straightened up a bit, apparently with some internal resolve, looked Monica in the eye, and said, “Prime Minister, I have been engaged in some research that I believe is crucial for the long-term success of the Coalition. I believe it is critical for us to regain the benefits of artificial intelligence—contingent upon our being able to properly manage the risks. And I believe that I have been justified in conducting that research.”

  “So you’re saying you have been conducting AI research, in violation of the law,” said Monica, unblinking.

  “Madam, I believe—I believe the law to be overly restrictive and an impediment to our progress.”

  “I should have you carted off in shackles with a bag over your head,” she muttered.

  The doctor’s eyes widened, and he sat staring, nonplussed. He apparently had not expected such a contrary response to his philosophical opinion on the laws and their meaning for the Coalition and its leadership.

  “Still,” Monica continued, “it’s possible that you do have the better strategic option available, precisely because of your flagrant disregard for the law and the Coalition’s authority.”

  Eisenberg visibly relaxed but couldn’t bring himself to rise back into his previously haughty attitude. She watched him flex his hands. Likely his palms were sweating.

  Monica continued, “If CoSec hasn’t discovered your work, then the rogue AI may not be aware of it either. Therefore, I’d like you to provide the details—the specifics—of what you’ve already done. But do not transfer anything electronically. Print everything out. Locally. Nothing across a network. Provide all the details to my team and create a summary report for me, which they will vet. I also want a project plan and timeline. Including testing, deployment, everything. And do not forget, Doctor, that what I’m asking you to do is currently illegal. I’ll need to formally authorize this via an emergency powers executive order. And I’ll need to authorize your prior efforts and pardon your work retroactively to provide you immunity.”

  “Immunity?” he asked, blinking, as if the previous clarification of the illegality of his work hadn’t made it past his academic elitism.

  “Yes. Immunity, Dr. Eisenberg. Otherwise, once you’ve finished the work, we would be required to bring charges against you for your efforts up to this point. The work you’ve been engaged in is illegal. The law hasn’t changed. I’d think that would be clear to a man of your intelligence. You have to have known the work was prohibited. You’ve clearly been hiding it.”

  “Well—”

  “No excuses. No explanations. Just the details, and then the project plan and timeline. Again, send nothing over any network. Hard copy only. Now get to it.”

  Monica stood, signaling that this was definitively the end of the meeting. She watched as the academic tried to maintain composure and remain silent. He got up, fumbled with the button on his coat, and followed his escort out of the conference room.

  What have I just done? she thought.

  12

  Jake

  “What? We lost a pilot? Lost as in dead? Or just don’t know where he is?”

  “Lost as in very likely dead,” answered Thys. “I think he was dead right when we lost contact or will almost certainly be by now, regardless.”

  “How?” asked Jake, scratching his chin.

  “It looks like he was attacked by the same things that took down the derelict. They got through the field somehow and ate holes through the hull, then attacked the Dhin drive.”

  “Wow.”

  “Yes,” said Thys. “We think they damaged the drive. That shut down both the field and the engine. Even with his suit on, and assuming they didn’t attack him directly, he’d be out of air very soon. We lost contact when the attack disrupted the power supply to the communications interface.”

  “Holes. Like what happened to the derelict our team is currently deployed on.”

  “Right.”

  “So we need to consider how this affects our mission. We now know there is a concrete, active threat. One that can overcome what we considered invulnerable: the Dhin field. While you didn’t encounter these attackers on your first trip—thankfully—and haven’t seen them yet on this second trip, we believe that they we
re the downfall of the derelict.”

  “It appears so,” agreed Thys. “They came from the surface of the planet Gliese-667Cc. We haven’t explored the planet here yet. We’ve been focused on the derelict and the graveyard.”

  “Who else knows? Any panic?”

  “Right now, just me, Igor, and Bridget. She was watching and listening in when the attack started. I didn’t see anyone else on the list on that channel.”

  “How is she holding up?”

  “Well, she didn’t sound panicked. As far as I know, she’s gone back to what she was doing. I imagine she’s pretty freaked out, though—because I sure am.”

  “Sure. So we need to talk to her and make sure she’s not making bad choices at the moment. I’d like to have a plan—or at least a short-term decision—before we do. I’m not sure we can quantify the risk. The risk was always there. We had evidence of a threat. Namely, the derelict itself and its condition.”

  “Right.”

  “And I don’t know if knowing how long the derelict has been like this—how long it’s been since it was attacked—would make a difference either. We don’t know how long those things are prepared to wait.”

  “True,” said Thys. “They’re alien. Lying in wait for four hundred years might be no big deal.”

  “Does that mean we bug out now? Or does this new information not change our risk assessment at all? We’d seen the results already—the derelict. Now we’ve run into something that either was what attacked the derelict or something very much like it.”

  “And we haven’t run into it here. Haven’t seen any sign of it. Yet,” said Thys.

  “OK,” continued Jake, “we’ve been through that train of thought twice. What do we know now that we didn’t before? We didn’t know how many there might be. How fast they would be. How fast it would happen. Tell me what would happen if you were attacked there.”

  “Well,” said Thys, “we’re in far worse shape than Jeff. We have people on the derelict, and we have the field down and a temporary air lock in place connecting to it. They’re sitting ducks. Even Igor and I aren’t much better and are still far worse off than Jeff was. We have the gravity trap to contend with.”

  “You’re not going anywhere fast,” agreed Jake. “But we don’t know if the trap affects them too and how much and if they have any conventional thrust. At least you have that. So there’s actually one scenario where you could outrun this enemy using conventional thrust, while they’re slogging along, affected by the gravity trap.”

  “True, but it seems like the less likely scenario. Consider the derelict. They got to it.”

  “Ah, but we don’t know that the derelict had any conventional thrust,” countered Jake.

  “If we can confirm that it didn’t, would that affect our decisions?”

  “Hmm. We don’t have, overall, that much conventional thrust available. We aren’t launching things into orbit old school. Furthermore, we aren’t sure at all if these things do or don’t have traditional thrust available. We know they aren’t stranded here alongside the derelict. And that’s a bad sign.”

  “OK,” said Thys. “If they show up and we’re still docked, the science vessel and crew are screwed for sure. Igor and I might get away, but it sounds like these unknown odds aren’t in our favor. It still seems to come down to run home now to be sure we’re safe or just stay and know that if those things show up, we’ve likely had it.”

  “I think you should proceed with the mission as planned for the moment but only work with the derelict. Don’t go to any other ships in the graveyard, and definitely don’t head toward the planet. Do you agree? I can’t stop you from aborting.”

  “Jake,” said Thys, “we can go around and around second-guessing ourselves. I think we should stay, like you suggest. Stay, but remain here at the derelict, and that’s it.”

  “Good. Now what are we going to tell the crew and team members who were expecting to explore another new spaceship and visit a planet?”

  “Good question, Jake. I’m not sure that telling the others simply that there’s been a change of plans will work well. We have to give them some sort of reason, and Bridget will already know.”

  “The whole truth might cause panic.”

  “Heck, the pilot of their ship might just decide to abort on his own,” said Thys.

  “You think he’d do that?” asked Jake.

  “I don’t think so. But who knows?”

  “OK, let’s run through what we’re going to tell them regarding the change in the mission plan.”

  Chuck

  With two carts full of equipment strapped to the walls and floor next to him, Chuck struggled to anchor the video camera to a frame designed to mount such electronics in various locations.

  This is so easy normally. Just a bit more. There. Got it.

  The extensible frame locked into place, anchoring the camera and providing a stable view of the alien spacecraft’s engine room through the doorway blocked by the protective field. This spot allowed a view including the control panel, and Chuck adjusted the view to include both that and the doorway simultaneously.

  He began assembling another frame, this one in front of the panel. He’d place a haptic controller here, connected to a computer controlled by his pad.

  As usual, Alice would have the sequence needed to get past this field solved already. I can make this work, though. It will still be fast—just not as fast.

  Soon enough he had the system in place and hooked up. He gave a self-satisfied smile. The mechanism was mechanical, arguably robotic, but did not have any intelligence. It wouldn’t learn or automatically develop behavior. Chuck and his team would be responsible for analysis and decisions based on the results of its work.

  Thys had called on a private channel and said that he and Jake wanted to talk with Chuck about something. They’d said that something was rather urgent. He’d have to take a break presently and see what they wanted to discuss. As he programmed the desired sequences into the keyboard, he decided he’d finish setting this up and get it started first. A few minutes later, the setup was complete. He pressed “Enter” and started the automated sequencer. The robotic finger sprang to life and began rapidly tapping patterns on the console, faster than possible for a person. He felt a slight vibration where he touched the frame supporting the machine, rather than hearing the clicking of it.

  Chuck frowned at the force field and the blue glow emanating from the room behind it.

  This will be far faster. We’ll get in there. I hope. This is still guesswork. Trial and error.

  He turned and jerkily made his way back down the passage toward the air lock. There was no point in watching the machine work. It was as likely to hit the right combination four hours later as it was within five minutes.

  Twisting at his waist and dipping his chin to get a clear look at the secondary comm controls on the arm of his suit, he set his comm to a private channel and pinged Thys. Chuck still hadn’t gotten the hang of the optical and auditory suit controls for the radio. They seemed overcomplicated to him. He sorted out his orientation with the cable that led back to their ship and pulled his way along.

  Thys replied a minute later. “Hi, Chuck. Just a second, and I’ll conference us in with Jake.”

  “Ah, sure, Thys, thanks.”

  “Hi, Chuck,” said Jake. “I hope your work is going well. I see you’re getting the hang of EVA. No time to chat about it, though. We have something to cover with you.”

  Jake’s tone sounded more serious than Chuck was used to.

  “Um, OK,” replied Chuck.

  “First,” Jake continued, “we’ve got new information that we think only the senior crew should know the full details of for the moment. Because of that, the mission parameters have changed. We want to run that by you and get your opinion and input.”

  “Sure, Jake. I understand.”

  As Thys relayed what had happened to Jeff, Chuck froze and then realized there was no place, or way, to sit down
.

  “He’s really—”

  “Yes. By now, he’s run out of air if he lost power to the scrubber. And that seems darn likely. Telemetry stopped,” said Thys.

  “And the only other person, who, ah, knows about this right now is the exobiologist, Bridget? Right?” asked Chuck.

  “That’s right,” said Thys. “See, we’re not sure whether to tell the whole crew over there the full details or just the minimum for now. We thought we’d made a decision, but after going through the process of deciding what’s need to know, it seemed wrong. Jake thought we should get your reaction before we notified everyone. Most of you haven’t been in space, much less light-years away from Earth. Panic could create accidents. Irrational actions. Withholding the whole truth could cause members of the team to never trust us again and impact our future ability to work together.”

  “Sure, that’s right,” said Chuck. “And Bridget could say too much or just tell everyone if she feels it’s what’s, ah, fair.”

  “So what’s your opinion, Chuck?” said Jake.

  “Um, I say tell the whole truth,” Chuck said after a moment’s hesitation. “These ships aren’t going anywhere. The others aren’t, anyway. I have something to tell you now too.”

  “What’s that, Chuck?” asked Jake.

  Chuck straightened himself, and took a breath. “Jake, I have something I want to try. Something that may make a big difference in our situation and give us a lot more time to work with the derelict.”

  “How so?”

  “Well, uh, you see, I was working out the math, and—Thys, we talked about this, remember?—going EVA and working that way slows us down and makes things harder. I, somewhat selfishly, thought about extending our Dhin field around the entire derelict. So we wouldn’t have to go EVA.”

  “What?” said Jake. “That’s a pretty aggressive proposal, especially from you, Chuck.”

  “Er, hear me out, Jake. There are two limiting factors. Field size isn’t one of them, based on our original tests. The derelict is big, but we’ve done bigger field extensions. You were there. The potential problems are the load on the atmosphere regenerators and the potential interference with the field already present on the derelict, the one around the engine room.”