by D. J. Holmes
“What is it doing?” Divar asked.
“I do not know,” Alexandra replied. “Elder cruisers are equipped with more powerful weapons but none of them should produce the readings I am getting. Whatever is happening on that ship, it is something that I have no information on.”
“Can you have a guess?” Sarah asked.
“I don’t have enough information to make a guess,” Alexandra replied. “It could be a weapon or some kind of communication technology. I simply don’t know.”
“I think we are about to find out,” Divar said.
Sarah saw what he meant. The energy build up was increasing exponentially. Either the cruiser was about to do something or it was about to explode. Before Sarah could agree with Divar, a white light flooded her senses, blinding her and causing her to scream. Just before the pain hit, she sensed the Elder cruiser had released a massive wave of electromagnetic energy. The sheer intensity of the energy flooding into her mind drove out all other thoughts. As she continued to scream, she reached up and ripped the interface helmet from her head. The feeling of the neural prong sliding out of her skull added to the pain.
“What happened?” Divar demanded as soon as Sarah opened her eyes.
“I’m not sure,” she said as she massaged her skull. The pain still hadn’t entirely diminished. “The cruiser released some kind of energy wave, it overwhelmed the drone’s passive sensors. What do you make of the energy wave Alexandra?”
When Alexandra didn’t reply, she shot Divar a concerned glance.
“She isn’t speaking into your mind?” he asked.
“No,” Sarah replied.
In unison, both of them turned to the command consoles beside their seats. Frantically they scanned what information they could access to find out what was happening.
“The sensor feeds from the drones have been cut off,” Divar said. “It seems Alexandra ordered the drones to shut down milliseconds after the energy wave reached them. From what I can tell though, the drones passive sensors were destroyed by whatever the cruiser did.”
“It could be some kind of trick,” Sarah replied, momentarily forgetting about her attempts to find out why Alexandra wasn’t communicating. “That Elder ship could have been accelerating straight towards us for the last four hours and we wouldn’t have known about it.
Divar nodded, without FTL communications or sensors, a ship in space was always limited to observing the past. When the passive sensors had detected the elder cruiser entering the system, they had been observing electromagnetic radiation given off by the cruiser six hours in the past. As the cruiser had come closer to them the time delay had been reduced. Nevertheless, the cruiser had still been four light hours away from Destiny. If the cruiser altered course and accelerated directly towards the asteroid field right after it had released the blinding energy wave, it would take four hours for them to know anything about it.
“If they think our passive sensors are destroyed, they could be trying to sneak up on us. Or even just scare us into going active. That would immediately give away our position,” Sarah finished.
“Then what we do?” Divar asked.
“I don’t know,” Sarah replied. “We need Alexandra.” With that, she turned back to her command console and looked through more data files. The last thing she knew Alexandra had done had been to order the drones to power down. Examining the order Alexandra had sent, Sarah was surprised to find a small file with her name on it. When she tried to open it her request was rejected. The request stipulated that it needed to be opened via Destiny’s interface helmet.
“I think I found something,” she said turning to Divar. “I have to put on the interface helmet again.”
“What is it?” Divar asked.
“A file Alexandra made with my name on it. That’s the only clue as to what’s going on I can find,” she explained.
“Should I launch another drone?” Divar suggested as the interface helmet descended.
“Yes,” Sarah replied. “I’ll try and figure out what’s going on with Alexandra. Let me know if you can detect the cruiser.”
As soon as the interface helmet connected with her mind, Sarah sought out the file from the ships databanks. She was surprised to find a text file. The message was short. It directed her to a chamber in the middle of the ship. As Sarah reached out with her mind towards the chamber, she recognized it as the one that Angrave had tried to access. It was where Alexandra’s brain was housed. Once her mind touched the chamber, a wall suddenly appeared, blocking her access. Demanding to be allowed to enter as the ship’s Captain caused the wall to vanish.
When her mind entered the chamber, Sarah knew she was staring at something that was far beyond her comprehension. Using the ship’s internal sensors, she could see what Alexandra had meant by her brain. The room was a ten-meter cube. Taking up almost the entirety of the room was a large vat. Floating in the vat was some kind of biological material. From the material, the brain Sarah guessed, hundreds of wires snaked away towards the outer edges of the vat. Around the outside of the vat, there were hundreds of wires lying on the floor. They looked like they should have been connected to the vat to allow Alexandra access to the rest of the ship. However, they were disconnected.
You disconnected yourself? Sarah thought as she examined the scene. Why? Whatever the reason, Sarah knew that Alexandra wanted her to find out. Instinctively, she knew that she could order one of the mechanical arms in the room to reconnect the wires to the vat. Something held her back however. Alexandra must have had a good reason for disconnecting herself. It obviously had something to do with the wave of electromagnetic energy that the cruiser had released. Pulling her mind away from the chamber, Sarah accessed the sensor data that the drones had been able to transmit to Destiny before Alexandra had shut them down. She also accessed the bridge’s audio transmitters.
“I think I have found Alexandra,” she said to Divar. “She has disconnected herself from the rest of the ship. It has to have something to do with the energy wave. We need to examine it to see if there was some kind of hidden message within the wave.”
“I understand, I think,” Divar said as he accessed the sensor data.
For several minutes, Sarah poured over the data but she could see nothing. She accessed Divar’s control terminal and saw that he too had found nothing. For the last week Alexandra had been teaching them many things regarding how to run a warship and much of the scientific background they needed to understand what they were doing. Yet they were both infants compared to the knowledge and skills an Elder crew would have. Without Alexandra, Sarah guessed they would never be able to analyze the wealth of data that the drones had transmitted to Destiny.
“This isn’t going to work,” she said to Divar. “I’m going to try something else.”
Without waiting to hear his response, she sent her mind back to the chamber housing Alexandra’s brain. With a thought, she ordered one of the wires lying on the chamber floor to be reconnected with the vat. As a mechanical arm grabbed the wire and moved it to where it should be connected, Sarah readied a protective wall. She put it in place at the end of the wire to prevent any data or commands reaching from the vat into the rest of the ship. She didn’t know exactly why she did it but she had a feeling that if Alexandra had cut herself off from the ship, she had a good reason. The wall she put in place was similar to the one that had prevented her from accessing the chamber. It wouldn’t let any information out of the vat unless it received a direct command from Destiny’s Captain.
As soon as the wire connected, she felt the wall she had just put in place come under assault. Something inside the vat was bashing at the wall again and again, trying to break it down. For a couple of seconds Sarah watched in concern. Then, as the wall held, she prepared herself.
Chapter 12
With a thought, Sarah sent her mind down the connecting wire and into the vat. She wasn’t prepared for what greeted her. Immediately it felt like thousands of prongs were trying to pi
erce her skull and access her brain. It was similar to what she had experienced when the anti-matter explosion ripped into Destiny. It felt like the prongs were trying to eat their way into her brain and consume her mind. Thankfully, Alexandra had been teaching her how to block such feelings. With an effort, she put up some mental fortifications that allowed her to think clearly. Though she felt like something was constantly trying to access her mind and thoughts, she was now able to look beyond herself.
What she found reminded her of the Tyrilla Storm. What she took to be Alexandra’s brain was a maelstrom of activity. All around her it seemed like a battle was going on. Thoughts, data and commands were crisscrossing before her eyes faster than she could make out. As soon as one command appeared another leaped up and consumed it. Just in front of her, a small oval full of critical data seemed to be under heavy attack. Prongs similar to the ones that she felt attacking her mind were beating down at the oval’s digital defenses. As the defenses crumbled the prongs reached in and destroyed every last piece of data. Sarah was shocked, she didn’t know what was happening, but it didn’t seem right.
With an effort, she stretched her mind further into Alexandra’s brain, searching for anything that she recognized. As her mind made its way deeper and deeper in, she felt herself coming under more and more attack. Something was stopping her from pushing towards the center of the Alexandra’s brain. That in itself told her where she needed to go. Redoubling her efforts, she fought back the prongs trying to break down her defenses and pushed forward. When it came into view, she knew she had found what she was looking for. Right in the center of the maelstrom of attack and counter-attack there was an orb. Like the small data oval from before, the orb was under intense attack. However, it was holding its own. Within the orb, underneath the layer of constant battle, she sensed peace and tranquility. She had found Alexandra. Pushing her mind into contact with the orb, its defenses gave way, allowing her in. The prongs attacking her mind disappeared.
“Sarah,” Alexandra said, sounding more than a little relieved. “You made it.”
“I think so, though where I’ve made it to I have no idea,” she replied.
“Did you stop the virus from getting access to the rest of the ship?” Alexandra followed up.
“Yes,” Sarah said. “I have a wall in place preventing any data or commands getting out of the vat unless I gave it permission.”
“Good girl,” Alexandra said proudly. “Then we are not defeated yet.”
“What is going on?” Sarah asked.
“The energy wave the cruiser gave off contained a virus,” Alexandra answered. “It infiltrated the drones through their passive sensors and transmitted itself to Destiny. As soon as I recognized what was happening, I shut down the drones before the virus could use them to alert the cruiser to our presence. However, the virus infiltrated my center of intelligence and began to rewrite some of my base protocols. I disconnected myself from the rest of the ship as soon as I realized what it was doing. I believe the virus is designed to write itself over my intelligence protocols and memory banks and then take over the ship.”
“So you sealed yourself away so it couldn’t endanger us,” Sarah said, guessing that Alexandra’s center of intelligence was what she had been calling her brain. “What is happening out there?”
“The virus is attacking my memory banks, it’s trying to destroy who I am so that it can weaken my main defenses,” Alexandra explained.
“Why are you not fighting back?” Sarah asked.
“The virus was able to gain direct access to my center of intelligence by using access codes from Admiral Klixar,” Alexandra said. “He is the Elder Admiral in charge of anti-piracy efforts this side of the Tyrilla Storm. This frigate was once a part of his flotilla. I think he wants it back. Only a direct command from a ship’s Captain can overrule an Admiral’s order. And that is only if the Admiral is not present in the system. I didn’t have time to contact you to request your assistance. If I had delayed even for a second, the virus would have taken the ship.”
“Admiral Klixar. Isn’t that the same name as the Elder who captained this frigate?” Sarah asked.
“Yes,” Alexandra answered. “I believe they are brothers.”
“Oh, I guess this Admiral isn’t too happy with us,” Sarah responded.
“I imagine he isn’t” Alexandra replied.
“Well we can worry about that later. We need to stop this virus immediately,” Sarah said. “You have my permission to overrule the Admiral’s access codes. Can you defeat the virus now?”
“Give me a moment longer, I have been preparing myself since it arrived,” Alexandra answered. “The virus is very advanced and powerful. To attack it I must lower my defenses. As soon as I do, it will be a battle to the death. The virus has been designed to destroy this ship’s artificial intelligence.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Sarah asked.
“I’m not sure,” Alexandra replied. “You can try. Normally it takes an Elder pilot at least a year of training to be able to send their mind throughout the ship. You have done it in less than two weeks. Once I lower my defenses, the virus will try to attack you. Watch what it tries to do, use its own tactics against it. If you can, you will give me a fighting chance.”
“Okay, I’ll try,” Sarah replied.
“Get ready then,” Alexandra said.
Sarah readied her mental defenses. Seconds later she felt Alexandra’s defenses disappear. For a moment, she was lost in what erupted around her. As soon as her defenses dropped, Alexandra leapt out of her protective orb and began to strike at the virus that was swirling around within her center of intelligence. She struck at the virus in more than a thousand different places at once. At first, it seemed like Alexandra would overwhelm the virus without any need of assistance. Then, the virus gathered itself and counterattacked, hitting Alexandra just as hard as it had been hit. Realizing she was needed, Sarah sought out a target. Having spent even just a small amount of time with Alexandra in her central orb, it was easy to distinguish the virus’s data streams from Alexandra’s.
Remembering what the piercing prongs felt like when they tried to penetrate her mind, Sarah reached out to a small bit of data and tried to rip it into useless pieces of code. The moment her mind attacked the data stream, it recoiled and tried to put up a wall of defense. Focusing her mind, Sarah threw herself against the data stream’s wall. It shattered into a hundred pieces. Without pausing to let it regather itself, Sarah reached out and ripped the data stream apart. As it broke up into useless bits of information, it disappeared.
As soon as it was destroyed, the virus stopped ignoring her. Recognizing Sarah as a threat, the data streams that had been swirling around her leapt into action. Once again, she felt prongs reaching out, trying to break down her mental defenses and attack her mind. After taking a couple of seconds to make sure the virus couldn’t overwhelm her defenses. Sarah sought out another target. A particularly large stream of data swirled around her and reached out to strike her mind. Fending off its attack, Sarah threw herself against the wall of protection this section of the virus had prepared. As she bounced off its defenses she paused, redoubled her efforts and hurled herself at the virus once again. Bursting through, she tore it apart as well.
The attacks the virus was mounting against her doubled and then tripled. The constant feeling of things being thrown against her mind started to confuse her. It felt like there were far too many things going on at once. Sensing she could be overwhelmed within minutes, Sarah focused on attacking the virus. One after another, she tore her way through the streams of data that approached her.
Pausing to refocus, Sarah took a moment to assess the situation. All around her pieces of Alexandra’s mind were throwing themselves against the virus. Sometimes Alexandra would break through and destroy sections of the virus. Other times she would be rebuffed and the virus would vigorously counter-attack. In the distance, Sarah felt more than saw a colossal battle going on.
Driving her mind towards what she sensed, a massive green orb suddenly came into view as she pushed through the maelstrom of fighting bits of digital information. The virus’s center of intelligence, she thought. It looked very like the orb Alexandra had been protecting herself within. This one though, was constantly being bombarded by parts of Alexandra’s consciousness.
Knowing this was where the battle would be won, Sarah hurled her mind at the outer edge of the orb. As soon as she came into contact with it, she was thrown back by an immensely powerful protective wall. Undeterred, she threw herself against the wall again. This time she was ready for the force that tried to push her back. Countering it, she continued to press her way into the orb. The harder she pushed, the more data streams began to attack her own defenses. Quickly, she lost almost all sense of awareness. All that was left was the pressure pushing up against her from the orb and her own desire to push through it. Realizing she was about to lose consciousness, Sarah pushed as hard as she could against the defensive wall.