by Tori Harris
“Yeah, probably,” Rick agreed. “But let’s get back to Admiral Patterson’s questions. The Pelaran AI doesn’t see what it’s doing as a hostile act. They’ve been interested in us for some time because we’re a possible candidate for their biological progenitor species.”
“What they refer to as their ‘Makers,’” Sexton said.
“Yes, and, in a manner of speaking, we are who they’re looking for. Unfortunately, we’ll just end up being a disappointment to them anyway since we’re by no means the original Humans. We honestly have no idea how far back our ancestors go, but I can tell you our species is truly ancient. Once you start exploring the galaxy on a grand scale, you’ll start to run across some of the technological relics left behind by the earliest of our kind. And once you get a little better at translating some of the data encoded in our DNA … well, let’s just say you have a great many surprises in store. Strangely enough, our Pelaran friends have somehow never managed to capture one of our ships to confirm their suspicions, and their over-reliance on technology has prevented us from openly contacting them.”
“So if Tahiri isn’t necessarily hostile, why bring a pair of Guardians with him?” Sexton asked.
“He’s not hostile towards Miguel and I, but for the past couple of years, you Terrans have been walking the fence between what they consider an acceptable Alliance member and an obvious threat. It’s possible he sees our presence here as confirmation you’ve now officially crossed that line. At a minimum, I’m sure he’s very concerned we might be down here providing you with some sort of decisive technology boost.”
“I’m afraid it’s a little late for a technological solution to our current crisis, but if you have any information you believe might be helpful, now would be a great time to share it. Particularly since you got us into this mess to begin with.”
In response, Rick tilted his head to one side, closed his eyes, and lapsed into silence. Everyone watching seemed to implicitly understand the Grey was engaged in some sort of communication, perhaps with his partner back on their ship. Fearing they would interrupt something important if they spoke, the Terrans simply watched and waited, but after nearly three full minutes had passed, their collective patience had reached its limit.
“Rick … what exactly are you doing?” Sexton asked in a voice barely louder than a whisper.
“Providing a decisive technology boost, of course. One moment, please,” the alien said, emitting what sounded like a stifled chuckle, but still not opening his eyes. “There … done,” he concluded just a few seconds later. “Don’t get too excited, though, I haven’t given you anything that will allow you to somehow magically defeat the Pelaran AI, but if you can survive today’s encounter, I think you’ll find it pretty useful. I hope you don’t mind, I used the same data repository you set up for your Guardian’s data dump. It’ll take your people quite a little while to get through everything he’s provided, but I can tell you there’s some pretty useful stuff in there. I even grabbed a couple of things for myself. By the way, I think the fact that he’s turning over so much data is a very good sign he’s playing for the home team.”
“I see, and just what manner of ‘decisive technology’ did you provide?”
“Just two things for now. First, I’ve provided our complete stellar cartography database for your galaxy. Among other things, it includes a catalogue of all Human habitable planets as well as lexical data for every sentient species we have encountered. It’s not one hundred percent complete, but it’s probably a thousand years closer than you were when you got out of bed this morning, so not bad for a day’s work. The other set of files are the results of a set of simulations Miguel has been running since we arrived.”
“Humph,” Admiral Patterson groused. “I’m not sure either of those things is going to help much if the Pelaran Envoy and his GCS posse decide to start shooting.”
“The simulations in question,” Rick replied, actually sounding a little insulted for the first time, “model the effectiveness of every offensive and defensive system deployed aboard all classes of Terran Fleet Command warships against the shields and weapons carried by the Pelaran vessels. In summary, you’ll want to do everything within your power to avoid a confrontation today. Going forward, however, I think your engineers will discover several opportunities to improve your odds significantly. The most significant advantage you have today — and the one we must try to exploit — is Captain Prescott’s ship. As far as we know, the Pelaran AI has no sensors capable of detecting it … at least not reliably.”
“I’m afraid you might be mistaken on that point,” Prescott said. “We had our low-observable systems engaged when the Envoy’s ship arrived, but he was still able to transition right on top of us.”
“Unless, of course, it wasn’t our ship he detected,” Reynolds added, raising her eyebrows in realization.
“Very good, Commander. I have to say, you Terrans tend to be a little cynical about your own technology sometimes. Why would you immediately assume your LO systems were at fault when you knew you were carrying a Pelaran ship in your cargo hold? Tahiri pinpointed the location of your ship using the same transponder system your Guardian used to locate the Krayleck Guardian. And although you may not know it yet, your GCS has already provided you with the technical specifications for that particular system. With a few tweaks, you should eventually be able to set up your ships’ sensors to detect those signals for yourselves. It’s a shame you can’t do so already, since it would probably come in handy where we’re going.”
“We?” Sexton asked.
“Yes, we. Although we’re not permitted to engage in offensive combat operations —”
“Nor are we,” Sexton interrupted.
“Of course not, Admiral. So, if you will allow me to skip ahead to Admiral Patterson’s third question, Miguel and I propose to tag along with Captain Prescott’s ship on a quick humanitarian mission out to Pelara and back. I can assure you that remaining as inoffensive as possible while in Pelaran space will be high on our list of priorities … unless, of course, you change your mind about that for some reason.”
“And what do you propose we do to help the Humans on Pelara once we arrive?”
“I have no idea.”
“You what?”
“Like I said earlier, it’s very important for us to be honest with one another, and that’s what I’m doing right now. The truth is, I don’t know what we’ll need to do once we get there … not yet, at least. We do know of a group of people on Pelara who have been working on finding a means of smuggling valuable intelligence data off-world. I assume we’ll attempt to make contact with them at some point, or maybe we’ll take a run at infiltrating the Alliance AI at its source.”
“I’m just curious,” Chairwoman Kistler said, speaking up for the first time after a prolonged period of silence in the room. “Does it seem at all reasonable to you that we would allow ourselves to become involved in a potentially deadly confrontation with the Pelarans — synthetic or otherwise — based only on what you’ve told us thus far? You freely admit to having no clue how or even if we might be able to help the Humans on —”
“I don’t know exactly how we’ll do it, Madame Chairwoman,” Rick interrupted in a decidedly defensive tone. “Like I said, I do have a few ideas. Otherwise, we’ll improvise. You know, find a way to do … whatever we have to do. Look, the reason I don’t have a more specific plan in mind is that we have no idea how the AI will react when we arrive. Although the Envoys tell every prospective member they must somehow ‘find their way home’ to Pelara, no one has ever successfully done so.”
“Okay, now you’ve really lost me. If finding Pelara is a task required of all new Alliance members, then how is it possible that no one ever does?”
“It doesn’t make much sense, does it? That’s because it’s what you Terrans might refer to as a scam. Even after centuries of help from the local GCS unit, cultivated species generally do not possess the array of technological capab
ilities required to accomplish the task. For most of them, Pelara is simply too far away for the hyperdrive technology they’ve been provided. As to why the AI plays this little game, we assume it’s mostly a matter of security. But whatever its motivations, it obviously made the decision early on in the cultivation program to remain hidden from the Regional Partners in its happy little alliance. The Envoy issues the challenge, then, after a period of time, he shows up again to let the new member off the hook and welcome them to the Alliance. Generally, he tells them it was all a test to ensure Pelara’s security safeguards are up to snuff, and they were never really expected to determine Pelara’s location, let alone attempt the journey.”
“Wow, that’s … pretty dammed conceited, actually.”
“You bet it is. Like I said, arrogance is the AI’s chief weakness. We have reason to believe, however, that you Terrans might just be the first exception to the rule. It has, after all, already demonstrated an unusual level of, shall we say, ‘tolerance’ based on your close genetic ties to the Pelaran people it claims to protect.”
“You mean it thinks we might actually find the Pelaran homeworld and then successfully make the trip?” Sexton asked.
“Yes, but it probably also assumes it will take you much longer than it actually will — a few years at least. I suggest you say nothing to the Envoy to make him believe otherwise. Beyond that, I advise you to pay close attention to what he says. Over the years, I’m sure you’ve heard enough implied threats from your own Guardian to know one when you hear it. So rather than offering further arguments in favor of undertaking this mission with us, please ask yourselves a simple question. Is living under the constant threat of destruction at the hands of the Alliance AI worth any additional benefits your world is likely to receive? Bear in mind that the Pelaran Alliance you thought you were joining when you accepted your Guardian’s information no longer exists.”
Sexton found himself distracted once more as he stared into the Grey’s depthless eyes. Try as he might, he could not decide if the creature’s expression was one of sincerity, concern, or perhaps even pity.
“I’m sure we’re all having some difficulty coming to grips with all of this new information,” he replied, offering a halfhearted smile of his own. “But we will consider your proposal. Assuming we survive the remainder of the day, that is.”
“I have a few ideas on that subject that I’ll get to in just a moment, but I believe Admiral Patterson also asked why we brought Admiral Naftur back to Terra.”
“No, that’s not what I said,” Patterson snapped irritably. “I asked why you abducted the leader of our sole ally, or at least the closest thing we have to an ally thus far. With no warning whatsoever, you illegally detained the Wek Unified Fleet’s flagship. Then you took it upon yourselves to remove their Crown Prince from his private quarters against his will.”
“Illegally?” Rick replied with a shrug of his narrow shoulders. “Could be, I suppose. I’ll admit to knowing very little about the legality of such things. I know how our actions must look from your perspective, however.”
“Do you now? I’m not sure you do, Rick. But if I were an admiral in the Wek Unified Fleet, I’m pretty sure your actions would look a lot like an act of war. So, in an attempt to head off any potential hostilities, we’ve been forced to detail one of our frigates to attempt a potentially dangerous hyperspace intercept —”
“Oh, is that why you’re so upset? I wish you had told me that up front. I’m confident Miguel can find a way to contact them for you. He might need some details about the comm gear they have aboard, but unless they’re limited to smoke signals or something, I’m betting he can figure out a way to reach them. He’s pretty resourceful that way. In fact … yes, he says it’s not a problem, he just needs to know which of you will be handling the call.”
“That will be me,” Kistler said. “I assume he can patch it through to my office.”
“Sure, I’ll let him know.”
“Good, thank you. Now kindly answer Admiral Patterson’s question, please. Why Admiral Naftur and why resort to kidnapping?”
“I’m afraid you’re not going to like what I have to say on this subject. The bottom line is that I can’t tell you the specifics of why we did it, or at least not how we knew we should. Maybe someday, but it’s not something we believe you’re ready to handle just yet. What I will tell you is that you need one another — you and the Wek people. There are no other Human civilizations nearby who approach your level of technological achievement. The Wek civilization, on the other hand — with the exception of a few recent advances you Terrans have managed to, shall we say, acquire — is both technologically and culturally compatible with your own. Your relationship with them seems to have gotten off to a pretty good start, so we have brought Prince Naftur back here in hopes of accelerating that process.”
“I fail to see how bringing him back here against his will furthers that goal.” Sexton said.
“Really? I would think you of all people should understand what I’m driving at here, Admiral. Military organizations universally transform groups of individuals into cohesive teams by imposing stress, discomfort, and shared crises. The training environments and techniques vary widely, but the goals are remarkably similar. Your relationship with the Wek thus far was born largely of the crises created by the combination of your Guardian’s attack on their task force and the subsequent Resistance incursion into the Sol system. It was a good start, but both of your civilizations have lived in blissful isolation for far too long. Many more challenges are on the horizon, and your best chance is to face them together … as allies and as equals.”
“I think most of us agree that a true alliance is in the interests of both worlds,” Kistler replied, “and, as you alluded to earlier, we’re taking steps in that direction, but there’s still a great deal we don’t know about each other. Relationships of this type often take many years to develop, even between nation states on the same planet.” Here, the Chairwoman paused, clearly distracted by something happening off-screen. “Speaking of relationship-building, Miguel has apparently managed to contact the Gresav. So if you will excuse me, I need to drop off now and attempt to explain how we came to be once again in the company of their Crown Prince.”
“Good luck with that, Chairwoman Kistler. I recommend complete honesty. Blame the entire situation on Miguel and me, then tell the Wek you have absolutely no idea how it happened — which is certainly true. After that, I suggest changing the subject as quickly as possible.”
Having nothing nice to say at this point, the Chairwoman simply scowled as her image dropped from the vidcon.
“Now, where was I?” Rick continued absently. “Oh yes, solidifying your alliance with the Wek civilization. Based on our experience, we believe the most effective way to do so is to begin sharing your most useful technological advances with one another. Each of your civilizations would benefit greatly from doing so, and it would clearly be seen as a demonstration of trust and good will on both sides. When two civilizations achieve something akin to technological parity, it tends to clear a pathway towards better relations, since there is no longer an advantage to be gained from attacking one other.”
Predictably, Rick’s suggestion that Terran Fleet Command begin willingly trading away its hard-won technological advantages to another civilization, even a presumably friendly one, was not a popular one among the meeting’s participants. After waiting a few moments for the general uproar to subside, Admiral Sexton raised his hand to signal a return to order.
“Alright everyone, clearly this topic is going to generate quite a bit of discussion, but it’s not something we have time for at the moment. It’s also not something that’s likely to change how we’re going to handle the Envoy’s arrival, so let’s table the issue for now and move on. Rick, we would appreciate any suggestions you have regarding how we should handle the Pelaran Envoy when it arrives.”
“I’m glad you asked, Admiral Sexton. As it turns out, Mi
guel and I do have a couple of things in mind.”
Chapter 7
TFS Fugitive, Sol System
(1 hour later - 3.7x105 km from Earth)
“All hands, this is the captain. Hopefully, by now you’ve had a chance to review the mission briefing Commander Reynolds put together. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to provide much in the way of details, and that’s an indication of just how quickly the situation has been changing. According to our Grey visitors, the Pelaran Envoy we met yesterday was another synthetic lifeform much like our own Guardian spacecraft. The Greys further informed us that the Pelaran people are being held captive on their homeworld by the same AI that manages their own cultivation program. As if that weren’t enough, the Grey alien who calls himself ‘Rick’ has confirmed our genetic ties to the Pelarans, and he has asked for our help in finding a way to liberate them from the Alliance AI.
“At the moment, we have no way to confirm any of this. What we do know is that the Pelaran Envoy will arrive here shortly and may prove to be hostile — either towards us or the Greys. When the Pelaran ships arrive, our job is to shadow them and see if we can determine the effectiveness of the Fugitive’s low-observable systems against their sensors. We will remain at General Quarters for combat operations, Condition 1, until the Envoy’s ship leaves the system, but it is not our intention to engage in combat unless it becomes absolutely necessary.
“Department heads, keep in mind that everyone aboard is sleep-deprived to some extent, so keep a close eye on your people. The use of stims is authorized if deemed necessary, but not encouraged. With any luck, we’ll get everyone some rack time by the end of the day. That’s all I have for now. Prescott out.”
“Bridge, Engineering,” Commander Logan’s voice sounded from the overhead speakers.
“Prescott here. Go ahead, Commander.”
“We’ve just completed a couple of interim modifications to the main gun’s loading assembly. We didn’t have the opportunity to test fire it, of course, but it’s back online and the AI’s diagnostic routines all indicate a green status.”