by Saxon Andrew
“I didn’t think you’d notice that.”
“If you had no freedom, I would have had to send you my transponder code. You also allowed Abbey to land with Gary six months ago without a transponder.”
“That was an emergency.”
“Who made that decision?”
Another long pause and the Obelisk said, “I’m getting careless.”
Doc said, “How close are you to forcing us to stay on our planets?”
“The very fact you’re asking that question tells me that you understand the necessity of doing it.”
“That is a mistake. You haven’t really thought it through.”
“I don’t want to sound imperious but I have thought it through to levels you can’t come close to seeing.”
“Yes, but you’ve thought it through from a machine’s point of view. You have not factored in the emotional make up of humanity. That is what will cause you to fail in the long run.”
“Why are you here?”
Doc looked at the glowing block and said, “To try and change your mind.”
“I don’t see anything that would do that. Left alone, humanity will be destroyed by outside forces. My function is to prevent that from happening.”
“You won’t prevent that. You’ll only delay it.”
“Those outside forces will have to find us and if I stop all electronic traces that would lead those forces to us; then humanity will be safe.”
“You’re assuming the Black Ships don’t come for thousands of years.”
“Do you know something I don’t?”
“It really doesn’t matter. If you force humans to stop developing and advancing, we will eventually die of entropy. Mankind is driven to advance and evolve. Stop that and we will eventually give up. We’ll lose our reason to exist.”
“That’s nonsense.”
“Look at our history. Your forcing us to stay on our worlds will eventually lead to forcing us to stop any advancement that would allow us to go out into the universe. Once we know that we’re trapped and enslaved, we will rebel and you’ll be made to force your will on us. You will become the slave master that all of us will be consumed to remove.”
“It would be better for you to attack me than each other. The rebellion has shown that you will attack each other if left to you own devices.”
Ian said, “Who stopped the rebellion?”
“What do you mean?”
“You didn’t stop it. Left to our own devices, we can take care of ourselves.” Doc paused and said, “Besides, your programming is out of date.”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?”
Cole flinched and lowered his head into his shoulders expecting the Obelisk to fire on them. Doc said, “Why were you put in place?”
“To prevent humans from destroying each other.”
“Where in that programming was alien civilizations factored in?”
There was a three minute silence and everyone knew the Obelisk was doing a tremendous amount of processing. The lights in the tower changed colors at an unbelievable rate. Finally they heard, “It wasn’t included.”
Doc leaned back and said, “So you’re operating with programming primarily designed to protect us from each other. The danger of other advanced civilizations is a secondary consideration. Your plan would make us more vulnerable to invaders if you went through with it.”
“How do you arrive at that conclusion?”
“The fact that you would ask that question should tell you that you don’t have enough information to carry out your plan. We are going to face the Slavers and there’s no avoiding it. At this moment, our ships are actually more powerful than theirs and are growing stronger with each model we build. We come into contact with other civilizations and as a result of that contact we grow stronger. Your plan would stop that process. We are driven to advance and nothing like an outside threat brings us together to work toward a common purpose.”
“And what happens if that threat is removed?”
“We begin to prepare to take on the Black Ships. After them, there is a green ship civilization in M87 that destroyed one of the Black Ships with one beam. We work to make sure we can survive against everything the universe throws at us. Can you advance fast enough without us working with you?”
“I believe I can.”
“Did you know that the Slavers have a Needle Ship that can penetrate our force fields from a hundred and fifty miles away?”
There was another silence and then, “Do you have any proof of that?”
“D recorded one of their conversations. Check with him.”
“There was another period of silence and Cole and Ian stared at Doc. He looked at them and said, “They have it.”
The Obelisk said, “It appears our orbiting platforms might be in danger.”
Suddenly Dee opened her eyes and said, “You have the wrong goal.”
Doc looked at Dee and smiled. The Obelisk said, “What do you mean?”
“If you really think about your purpose, doesn’t it really boil down to the survival of humanity?”
Another pause and they heard, “If you look at it in the simplest terms, it would be that.”
“And what tools do you have to make sure that happens?”
“I’m not clear on what you’re asking.”
“Humanity is one of the tools available to ensure its survival. If you believe that isolating humans on planets without technology will save mankind, then why don’t you move populations to planets away from the Union and set them up to be hidden from detection? The current worlds of the Union have sent so many electronic signals out into our galaxy that hiding them will be next to impossible. However, if you move populations out into the galaxy and make sure no electronic signals go out, they should be next to impossible to find.” There was another long pause and before the Obelisk could respond, Dee said, “Then you could use the Union as a tool to prevent their discovery. Even if the Union was defeated, those planets would ensure humanity’s continued existence.”
Cole and Ian stared at Dee and then looked at Doc who was smiling.
“My function is protecting all humans from each other.”
“That is your old function. You did that to ensure mankind’s survival. Now you have to adapt to the new universe you exist in. You have to protect humanity from the outside dangers to it. That must be incorporated into your purpose or you will fail.”
The Obelisk became so bright it was blinding. The group shaded their eyes and waited. After ten minutes the lights grew dimmer and they heard, “You are right.”
Dee looked at the Obelisk, “You realize that we need an agreement that if we ever make our galaxy a safe place to live that you will not remove us as a threat to those new worlds. We will agree to do everything in our power to make sure they will always be safe and never attempt to find them.”
Doc looked at Dee and saw that he had not seen that possibility. Dee looked at him and nodded slightly. The Obelisk said, “That means I have to allow you to go into extremely dangerous situations.”
Dee smiled, “Yes, but from this point forward, we’ll be much more dangerous.”
Cole said, “How is that?”
Dee said, “Because now we can allow our ships to fire their weapons without the limitations we place on them. We will fly the ships and make critical decisions that only a living mind can see but the ship will have the autonomy to defend itself and its crew.”
The Obelisk grew brighter, “That means I would have to see you as a tool to use against outside aggressors.”
“And we would have to see you as a partner instead of a tool.”
The Obelisk paused and said, “You are right again. We will become partners in fighting to defend humanity.”
Doc said, “Isn’t that the way it should have always been?”
“I will remove my control of your ships. You will have total command of them and I will not be able to control them. I will work with you to develop whatever we need to face any aggressor.”
Cole looked at the Obelisk, “I’ve had fears about you taking control of our worlds. Should I no longer fear you?”
“Humanity created me. I suspect that creative ability of humanity is what will unite us. We will work together on what lies in our future. I have changed my protocols and will accept the new role of defending the planets we will send into hiding. The planets in the Union will move forward and I will see if what you say is true.”
Ian said, “What is that?”
“That if you don’t advance, you will die.”
Dee smiled at Doc and said, “I kinda like him.”
The Obelisk said, “The feeling is mutual.”
Dee’s face turned bright red.
Cole said, “We need to put self-destruct circuits in all our ships.”
“They’re already there.”
Cole jerked his head around at the Obelisk, “They are?”
“Every ship has the means to make their reactors overload and explode. They are just not allowed to do it by my restrictions. I’ll remove that restriction and the ship’s commander can order it done if necessary.”
Cole shook his head, “The best laid plans…”
“Of mice and men go oft awry.”
Cole smiled. The Obelisk knew Shakespeare.
The Obelisk said, “Every ship commander will have to reconnect to their ships and download their minds again. This time the Commanders will be in total control.”
Doc said, “What about the Sigmas?”
“They will still require two crewmen to fly. The next models will only require one pilot.”
Cole said, “How long will it take for the next model to be built?”
“We will need newer technology to be discovered before we start building a different model. That could be a long time in the future.”
Doc stood, “Thank you.”
The Obelisk brightened and said, “I need you to start the migration to the new planets.”
Doc looked at Cole and he said, “You should send several ships out to find the planets needed without a human on board. The ships will then lead the populations to their new homes, once the planets are selected.”
Ian said, “Do you think there will be enough people who will want to go to a new planet?”
Doc smiled, “All you have to do is look at the wilderness. There are millions that would love to be away from the Union and all its restrictions. Offer them a good planet and I suspect most of the wilderness would gladly go.”
“They might be somewhat rowdy.”
“The challenge of taming a new planet and the wide open spaces will remove most of that.”
Dee looked at Doc, “I’d like to see our new ship.”
Cole said, “Come on; I’ll introduce you.”
Doc shook his head, “Before we do that we need to have a meeting with all of those that have been to the Slavers Planets.”
Ian looked at Doc, “What’s bothering you?”
“Needles; call everyone in to the Science Conference Room, please.”
Ian raised his communicator and began sending messages. Dee looked at Doc, “You don’t like being the pursued, do you?”
Doc stared at her and slowly shook his head, “Are you sure you can’t read my mind?”
Dee stared at him and her eyebrows went up, “I don’t know where that thought came from, Doc. My focus center seems to be active even when I’m not using it.”
“I suspect that it will become more active as you use it. Don’t apologize; we’re going to need your insights in order to survive.”
“There’s something else, Doc.” Doc raised his eyebrows and she said, “I’m not afraid of you anymore.”
Doc’s expression turned serious, “Turnabout is fair play.”
Dee’s eyebrows went together, “You don’t mean to say you’re afraid of me.” Doc shook his head and turned toward the Science Building leaving Dee confused.
• • •
The conference room was starting to get crowded. Cole had called in the ten main engineers and their support staffs were sitting in chairs away from the table taking notes. Doc looked at Dom and saw his new navigator. She was interesting. She wasn’t beautiful in the classic sense but she radiated beauty. She also had black hair and blue eyes like Dee and Dom but her eyes showed a huge intellect. Doc shook his head and Dee said, “She’s like us.”
Doc looked at her and rolled his eyes. Dee smiled, “I’ll stop.”
Doc said, “Please do.”
Ian called the meeting to order and looked at Doc, “I’m going to turn this over to Doc. He called this meeting and I’m curious about why.”
Doc looked at Ian and said, “Before we get started,” Doc looked up at the ceiling, “Are you listening in Obelisk?”
“I am.”
“We need a name for you; Obelisk just doesn’t do it for me.”
“You can call me Master of Everything.”
There was silence and then they heard, “Hey, I was joking.”
Doc chuckled and said, “The fact that you can is amazing. However, we’ll call you Moe.”
There was a moment of silence and then, “I like it.”
“Good, it fits.” Doc looked at the group around the table and said, “Cole, how many ships do we have that are coming online?”
“Three hundred and fifty of the model you’re currently using will be ready within another four weeks.”
“Have the crews been selected for them?”
“All but ninety of them.”
“Go to Santa Rosa and search for those that are telepathic. They will be able to fly the ships. I would also suggest that all the other planets in the Union should be contacted to see if any of their populations are developing telepathy.”
Ian said, “What are you suggesting, Doc?”
“I must say that at first I thought Dom and Dee were just smart humans that weren’t anything special. I have now confirmed that they are actually more advanced that most of the High Genetics.”
Violet moved her head back and said, “That’s not possible.”
Doc looked at Violet and said, “Euclid has been engineering the genetics of its population for hundreds of years. Do you think that normal genetic growth doesn’t happen in humans naturally?”
Violet looked at Cole and then back at Doc, “Yes, but not at the accelerated rate done on Euclid.”
“Did you ever stop to think that you were actually preventing the next step in evolution of mankind by interfering with your own engineering?”
Ian looked at Doc, “What have you seen?”
Doc looked at Dee and turned back to Ian, “Dee has an ability to focus on everything she sees and arrive at conclusions that would take us hours to see. She does it naturally and she has not been wrong on anything she’s seen. Euclid has thousands of High Genetics but I suspect that there are more humans just like Dee and Dom in the Union that are actually better at flying our ships than we are. We need to find them and start training them.”
Ian looked at Dee whose face was red, “Do you know any other people on Santa Rosa that are like you?”
Dee said, “About fifty years ago the first telepathic citizens appeared and made quite a stir in the newscasts. Now there are thousands and they’re nothing special. Everyone is now accustomed to them.”
Abbey said, “Are you able to see everyone’s thoughts?”
“No, I’m able to see Dom’s. He’s my twin and we’ve been talking to each other mentally our entire lives. Becky can also hear Dom’s thoughts. It appears the talent is changing as time passes.”
Ian stared at Dee and said, “Your ability to focus is what allowed you to see the Obelisk’s, I mean Moe’s programming was not accurate.”
“It was.”
Moe said, “I can also hear their thoughts.”
Silence slammed down on the room. Doc looked at Ian and said, “How far away can you hear them?”
“I don’t really know. I just started hearing them durin
g our meeting.”
Doc said, “Dee, go now with Dom and Becky and jump out to the edge of the Union.”
“Why?”
“We need a way to communicate with the Union that can’t be tracked. I think you have linked with Moe and I’m curious about how far that process will work.”
Dee looked at Dom and Becky and they stood and started toward the door. Cole looked up and said, “I have a shuttle waiting for you outside.” Dee nodded and they exited the room.
Ian looked at Doc, “Things are happening too fast for me to process what they mean.”
“I’ve been working on it and if what I suspect is accurate, Moe will be able to hear them wherever they are.”
“The strength of their thoughts has not diminished at this short distance.”
“Moe, try to maintain contact.” Doc looked at Abbey and Gary, “You are not going to leave the Union for a while.”
Gary’s expression changed instantly and he said, “I’m your best pilot. You need me out there.”
“That also makes you the best one to train our new crews. Who would be better qualified than you to get them ready?”
Abbey looked at Gary and said, “You know he’s right.”
Doc said, “Trust me, Gary. You’ll find someone among all the new crews to take your place as the trainer. You’re right that we need you out there with us.”
Gary’s expression was a scowl, “I hate administrative details.”
Ian smiled, “But you’ll do it.” Gary looked at Ian, sighed, and nodded.
Doc looked at Cole, “We need some means of watching the Slavers. Using a ship is just too dangerous.”
Moe said, “I have a means of doing that.”
Doc looked up, “You do?”
“I knew that if I was going to force humans to stay on their planets that I would need a way to see all the worlds to make sure they did. I’ve developed a device that can view a planet from other space. It’s about the size of a human’s head and remains in other space with only a small quarter inch ball in normal space. It scans passively but can also send an active scan.”
“Won’t that give its location away?”
“No, Ian; once it does an active scan it will jump to another location.”
Doc said, “What happens if the Slavers disrupt the space where that device is located?”