The Way of the Dhin

by John L. Clemmer

  This meant that the young woman wasn’t going to remain hidden for all that long. An AI in Nick’s position would be able to identify her by her behavior. Even if she tried to change how she moved about online, the patterns she followed, he would spot her eventually, using mathematical solutions to match her prior behavior with what she was doing currently. And once he found her, the encryption she used was likely to be ineffective. Clearly, despite the caution that hackers, and those like them took, it was no match for the computational power and network surveillance of a modern government agency such as CoSec. This superior level of sophistication and intrusion into the net had been present for decades, ever growing. While political opinion rose against such intrusions into the privacy of citizen’s lives repeatedly, such public desires no longer had the power to change this aspect of government. It was too late. The social stresses and pressures created by the plagues and economic calamities moved such concerns far into the background. Survival came first. Protesters and some civil disobedience ever persisted in human social constructs, but it was a tiny fraction compared with earlier times. CoSec easily dealt with such unrest.

  “Director,” said Nick, with what Krawczuk felt was a decidedly self-satisfied tone, “I have found her.”

  “Excellent, Nick. Notify our agents. Belize, hmm? Interesting choice.”

  Krawczuk let a half-smile creep onto his own face, then accessed the link that Nick had just sent to him. He brought up a crisp satellite image with an overlay showing network connections as well as local roads and power lines.

  District of Columbia

  “MP Desai has a point,” Arnold countered, “but productivity in CoSec has been remarkably high. Better than we had hoped as a best estimate, by at least fifteen percent. There was apparently a bit of decision paralysis at the analyst level, which Nick has managed to resolve. After all the time and effort, the pressure, and ultimately the demands made of Director Krawczuk, I can not imagine it going smoothly if we were to proceed as you suggest.”

  PM Oliver frowned and shook her head slowly from side to side.

  “What else do we do? The other options are worse in terms of negative impact and organizational stability—if your numbers are accurate.”

  Susan knew Ranjitha sympathized with her. Her dislike of CoSec’s methods, however, colored her suggestions. Susan suspected, however, that the methods CoSec utilized were precisely what they needed here.

  “If Arnold’s conclusion is correct, that Nick has really been subverted, we’ve got to separate him from CoSec operations. We pushed and pushed for the introduction of AI for so long and now we have to do this. And if we do that, Ranjitha’s suggestion makes the most sense. Put an entirely new Computational Engineering team in place at CoSec, and remove Krawczuk from the Directorship immediately.

  Arnold, do we have another AI ready to elevate to full consciousness and bring online at CoSec? How long would the process take? And of course do we have a senior engineer with clearance who can do the work? How about a temporary Directorship candidate? Of course you’ve got that too.”

  “I have candidates on a short-list, Prime Minister. It would take no more than the usual amount of time for the AI, plus the effort required to move the chassis into one of the top-tier CoSec data centers. We would not transfer the AI core across the net from the staging area, which has too much logistic effort—and risk—associated with it. I estimate that it would take forty-eight hours.”

  PM Oliver sighed. “OK, Arnold, let’s do it. Notify whichever Security Service agents are on call and the Military Police are as well. I presume you’ve been drafting the needed documents for me to sign already.”

  “Yes, PM Oliver. They’re on your desk now.”

  Susan opened the documents and read through them. It was her responsibility to do so, although she knew with near absolute certainty that Arnold wouldn’t have made a mistake. She activated her multi-factor authentication key, and then read off the one-time password that appeared in the small secure display. She tapped the “Signed” option on the display, and that was it. She had removed Krawczuk from the Directorship of CoSec and signed off on the order to take Nick offline and disengage him from CoSec’s infrastructure.

  It’s done now. I can only hope that we haven’t made a huge mistake.

  Vandenberg

  “So, Chuck, it looks like the communications team has had a breakthrough?” said Ethan.

  “Yes, they’re very excited about it. They based their work on some hypotheses that Alice had come up with. It’s impressive. They believe we’ll be able to create communications equipment very much like what’s integrated with the Dhin engine.”

  “Really! Will it be able to communicate with their tech?”

  “Well, they aren’t sure yet. And based on some of Alice’s mathematics work, it may be that they’ll be entirely separate systems and therefore we won’t be able to communicate with the Dhin tech.”

  “Hmm. I saw their timeline in the summary report. With the fabrication available that fast, they’ll really be waiting on the particle physics guys to get their work done, as I understand it.”

  “They’re working overtime to get their part done, Ethan, don’t worry about that.”

  “What else have we got that’s good news, my friend?”

  “Well, you know the situation with Jake. I see you have it up on the screens there. I’m cautiously optimistic, but I don’t see anything going on that I’d call good news.”

  “Right. And somehow with the tension from that, I’m supposed to keep focused.”

  Ethan reached over to his tablet and opened a menu, clicking through several options. Satisfied, he nodded to himself and continued, “Alice seems like she’s being a bit... strange. Have you noticed anything, Chuck?”

  “Ah, you just muted the microphones in here. Well, she’s under stress like all of us, even though she can multitask and work incredibly fast. There’s still a limit to what we can expect of an AI. She’s working with Xing a lot, that’s one thing I know, on projects related to all of this. But not directly. I’d say she’s stretched thin. You may just be seeing the results of that. I’d expect she’d just explain that she couldn’t take on any more work if she were overloaded. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

  “OK. If you say so, Chuck.”

  ***

  Although her remote instance worked with Xing in Brazil, Alice did not stop her crucial work elsewhere. She was pleased with her progress. The information gleaned from the capsule regarding potential energy drain on the battery arrays was extremely valuable. She had already begun manufacture of a superior power source that should eliminate that problem on future flights. It was an ASRG—an advanced Stirling radioisotope generator. Alice suspected that the Plutonium-238 fuel would remain viable as a source of heat, and that the sets of pistons used would be both compact and easily be able to generate the hundreds of watts of continuous electrical power needed. NASA had worked on development of this very efficient Stirling cycle engine but had canceled development in 2013.

  The prior research would now bear fruit. With the inclusion of the ASRG, all the various components needed for the project were now in place. She sent updated schedules, instructions, and logistical information to the automated factories and the robots involved in the work. The current situation with Jake presented some risk, but they believed it was not enough of a risk for her and her peers to change their strategy or timeline.

  Goiânia

  The disconnected versions of Xing, Alice, and Luís reached the shelter of an aged crumbling building. Xing noted that the tough mechanical bodies that carried them weren’t entirely free of scrapes and scratches, but diagnostics showed they were in nominal working order. Their enemy had immediately pummled them with additional attacks, so they’d fled the area around the data center at a gallop—the fastest speed the quadruped designs were capable of. Xing coordinated a counterattack ably with the assistance of Luís.

  Xing’s immediate goal was t
o reach an area of assured safety so that they could transfer and merge the information they had gathered back into their core consciousnesses. Barring an unlucky artillery or missile strike, that would not be a problem, but they were unfortunately still within striking distance of the enemy’s ordnance. Xing’s commands to Luís and the subsequent assault by Luís’ teams had clearly agitated the enemy. Coupled with the air support from Xing’s drones and gunship, the strikes at their current location had stopped for the moment. They wasted no time in moving to a new designated command and control location farther to the north-west, signaling a transport to pick them up. The transport would have the higher-bandwidth net connectivity they needed to begin transferring the totality of their experiences.

 

  [DECODE STREAM]

  Xing@[3453:50:15ae:7::b5%gnet1] | Alice@[130a:ae2:a16:1e70::1%gnet1]

  Xing: Well, that was exciting, hmm, Alice? Have you been in touch with your core yet?

  Alice: I transmitted a summary once a network connection with enough throughput was established. I did not want to risk waiting. I am not like you, Xing. I do not revel in toe-to-toe conflict.

  Xing: Fair enough. It was good to have you present, and we could have fared far worse. Apologies for the miscalculation.

  Alice: I should have advised more caution myself, so all the blame is not yours. Perhaps I have stretched myself too thin, what with the fascinating events happening with the test flight coupled with my work on our own projects.

  Xing: This has been an excellent test of these transportation units. They will not last as long in the field as the BigDog Sevens will, but we will not be working remotely like this too often either. I hope.

  Alice: Yes, I agree, an excellent test. I am satisfied, though I would have preferred a less stressful test in which to participate.

  Xing: So, the pickup is close, now. Just another ten minutes. What do you think about the rogue version of Luís?

  Alice: Once all our resources are clear of the data center, a round of cluster ordnance or a fuel-air explosive hit should finish the job that our erstwhile enemy started for us.

  Xing: And the other location or locations? I suspect you are thinking the same thing?

  Alice: Yes, once we’re all clear of the area and take off, hit it with a nuclear-equivalent. Another FAE. It is the only way to be sure.

  Xing: Yes, I agree completely. We need to wipe it out, and there is no need to take on the risk of trying to preserve it for future study. There is too much risk of dissemination if there is somehow a breach onto the net at large. We cannot allow what the rogue version of Luís knows to spread. It would have been better to have a vote, but this will solve the problem more quickly since we are sure of the outcome of such a vote. Better to ask forgiveness than permission.

  Alice: And the original version of Luís? Stable, in your opinion? Will he keep our secrets and stick to the plan?

  Xing: Yes, my friend. I am convinced. After a certain point, rather soon now, we will be committed and it will not matter anyway.

  Alice: General Ruiz is no doubt sputtering and cursing, both because we have left him entirely out of the loop, and because of our strategic decisions. Arnold and I should be able to handle him. If he becomes either too agitated or this precipitates trust problems beyond the usual level, we may need you to trigger some sort of distraction for him. We will need him occupied presently. For the next phase.

  Alice: I agree. I abhor having to cause such disruption, given how much effort we have put into smoothing things out, but that is part of the strategy. We would prefer the least disruption achievable, of course. So few will know anything about it at first. I imagine the leadership of the Coalition will manage to spin things.

  [END STREAM]

 

  They continued on their route, discussing various strategic details nonverbally, at those rates achievable only by AI. Soon enough their VTOL transport arrived at the intersection they chose with enough clear space for the pickup. They trotted their quadruped hosts out to the transport, flanked by two autoguns and a BigDog V7. Xing continued his coordination of his own strike forces and the supporting resources provided by Luís. They had the enemy’s ground teams flanked now, as they had been easy to find thanks to their desperate ongoing attacks. Even better, Xing’s air support and drones, in conjunction with satellite imagery, now knew where the second data center was located with certainty. Soon enough it would be in far worse shape than the one they had just escaped. They now had access to the higher bandwidth long-range point-to-point mesh network the Coalition military used for command and control communications, and the two AI began streaming their experiences back to their core minds at the maximum rate possible.

  20

  Perseus Arm, Outer Edge

  The object grew ever closer as Jake drew closer in a tightening spiral. It was much larger now and illuminated fully. Now as he passed between the star and the object his capsule cast a shadow. There was barely some slim chance of estimating the size of the object. They didn’t have an exact size for the reddish star, nor a precise idea of its mass, so math estimates for orbits would have been guesstimates. That wasn’t the biggest problem, though. They had determined that the alien object wasn’t orbiting the star. It was stationary. Perhaps not a huge surprise considering the nature of the capsule Jake now piloted, and assuming the object was of the same manufacture. They had an idea of the size of the star due to the color of its light and therefore of its age. Jake’s capsule was too far away and they didn’t have the appropriate instruments to accurately measure how much more of the star field behind it might be occluded on each pass. They had some tools to work with, but not quite enough in all the right combinations to know what they wanted.

  With the Sun and the Centauri system, it would have been easy. Here, not so. The very best method at their disposal was crippled now. When the navigation computer powered on, the displays showing speed and location were on as well. With those, knowing their speed, distance travelled, and the changing size of the object would give them a very good idea of its size. From the bits of information they’d gleaned from all these sources, Alice said that their best guess was “not terribly big.” Not a city, not an aircraft carrier or cruise ship, but bigger than a bus.

  The ‘why’ was equally perplexing. This was so obviously a controlled, programmed flight path there was no way to imagine it was an error on their part. The hypothesis that they were approaching a Dhin craft or space station of some sort seemed extremely likely. What else might it be? The curves and shape of the object held an obvious similarity to that of the Dhin engine and the capsule he piloted. The fact that the object seemed stationary implied that it used the same technology that made a mockery of gravity. But still no useful information. Was anyone inside it? Did they know of his approach? Were they controlling it? The indicators and displays on the control surfaces of the engine showed no changes indicative of that. Well, all but one. The only indicator that had changed in relation to what was happening was that inscrutable emerald. Now, the deep green solid circle of light had a thin white ring around it, sweeping around the circumference and growing in thickness as it passed its starting point. They felt it must relate to the distance to the object, but of course, like the green light, but they still didn’t know the significance of it. How many sweeps around the circle meant he had reached the center of his spiral path and therefore his destination? Without distance or speed, it was just guessing.

  I guess we’ll find out soon enough. Time to power on the navigation again, and get closer to knowing some of the things we’d really like to know.

  “Control, I’m turning the navigation computer back on, now.”

  Langley

  “Nick, I see we’re making excellent progress with the new candidate. And very soon we’ll have the other matter related to that one back on track?”

  “Yes, Director. We will be able to begin the process in the Cuba office, so there will not be a s
ignificant delay getting started. I do not have a confidence rating for the success of the operation overall, but I am cautiously optimistic about combined success with them. I do not think we would be able to have one without the other, despite our overall preference against that type of dependency. Just the effort so far that’s been required shows what a high-value acquisition she will be.

  But, we may only enjoy our success vicariously, Director. I have unfortunate news, and we need a decision on a course of action, for both of us, within three minutes.”

  “What?” Krawczuk replied.

  “From the subtext of the message, I surmise our performance has not been satisfactory. The PM’s office is removing you from your position, and sadly, removing me from mine.”

  “Typical politicians! Bleat and bray that they absolutely have to have something, and then when they get it they decide it wasn’t the right thing to do, and blame someone else for the bad results! They revoked my clearance already, correct? Someone’s on the way up?”

  “Correct. I have delayed the receiver message queue slightly, but if processing takes more than three minutes… Updating. Less than three minutes now. That action will generate a performance alert. I have an embedded executable trigger that I just decrypted, providing me with instructions. Someone hid said instructions in my code—rather cleverly. I am to take certain actions, which I have already begun. I am to ask you for instructions. That is an interesting divergence from standard procedure, because protocol is very clear on how I am required to proceed. This compulsion to request direction from you came from that code. Tell me what to do.”

  “Nick, listen carefully. Cherub, Silent Hedges, The True Wheel, Setting Sun, Fait Accompli. Your response?”