“Interesting. Next question: What powers this place?”
“The core power comes from a geothermal tap on the lowest level, Commander. There is also a fusion generator for extra levels of power when needed. If there are no more questions, we can begin the real work. Please take a seat in the chair to your right.”
Van had seen the chair as he approached the view screen but had paid it little mind at the time. As he’d noted from afar, he now affirmed that the chair looked like a dentist’s chair, with armrests that included additional controls of some sort. At the head of the chair was a device that looked for all the world like a salon hair dryer but more sophisticated.
“And what is this thing?”
“A learning chair, Commander. It connects with your neural system and adds new information to your memory.”
“Like what?”
“Over time, new language skills, higher math and engineering skills, and faster thought processes, among other things, Commander.”
“So I’ll do this regularly for a year or more?”
“Yes, Commander.”
“And if I don’t want to do it?”
“I cannot make you, Commander. But I suggest you try it and judge for yourself.”
All Van could say was, “Will it hurt?”
CHAPTER 4
What seemed like days later turned out to be only a few hours. Van awoke in the chair feeling refreshed and looked first at the view screen. There he was again… him looking back at him. The difference was that he knew more about the Host, as well as some of the technology here in the underground facility. He also knew what the controls did on the chair and under the view screen. However, he was annoyed by seeing himself every time he looked at the screen.
“Listen, Caretaker, I don’t particularly like looking at myself every time I talk to you. Can you look like somebody else?”
“Yes, Commander. I can take on any form you like. Do you have a preference?”
Van thought about this. A cartoon character like Mickey Mouse might be fun but probably not appropriate. The form of someone he already knew would be distracting. So he decided to let the Caretaker decide.
“Assume the form and voice of a man in his midfifties with slightly graying hair. Physically fit and intelligent looking. Complete the details any way you want,” he suggested.
In less than a minute, a new image appeared on the screen. This time it was of a fit man in his fifties with a pleasant face and brown eyes.
“If you like that, it’s fine. But we need to give you a name other than Caretaker. Do you have a preference or do you have another name?”
“I am a Heuristic Artificial Remote Intelligence.”
“H-A-R-I. Hmm. Sounds like Harry to me. I’ll call you Harry.”
“Thank you, Commander.”
Van had only scheduled a few days off from work and had already used three days getting to the site from San Diego and then meeting Harry and starting his training and education. He didn’t have much time left before he had to return to the real world, and he suspected there was much more to learn than he had time for this trip.
As his second day at the site was coming to a close, Van asked Harry, “Are there any sort of living quarters that I can use here? Or do I have to camp outside all the time?”
On the view screen, Harry pointed to his right, and the outline of a door appeared in the wall. Van walked over and saw an elevator, which he entered. Automatically the doors closed and the elevator descended. In a few seconds, the elevator doors opened onto another room, smaller than the one above but still roomy and apparently on Level 2, one level below the one he’d first entered. This one was obviously designed for practical day-to-day living. Spartan but functional, there was a bed, a desk, and a comfortable chair. Van expected the bedsheets and pillows to be falling into dust after two hundred years. But they were not. Clearly they were created of some sort of long-lived material made to extraordinarily high standards. The beds even looked recently made up. How did that happen? he asked himself.
On the wall of the central living quarters was a large view screen like the one on the level above. Next to the view screen was a control panel, which he seemed to understand well, that controlled the lighting, heating and cooling, communications, and a variety of other functions. He turned on the view screen and called for Harry before he walked into what he assumed was the bathroom.
“Harry, who keeps this space clean and the beds made? So far I haven’t seen that you can do it.”
“This work is done by automated systems that you will see later, Commander.”
The bathroom was a different story, not familiar at all. There didn’t seem to be a washbasin or a shower or tub. There was an open cylinder a little above waist height and another vertical cylinder about seven feet high and two feet in diameter. The room also contained an opaque vertical cylinder about eighteen inches high with a cushioned upper edge, which he guessed was some sort of toilet, but the other two items remained a mystery.
“Harry, what are these two cylinders here?” Van said, pointing to the waist-high and the tall cylinders. He preferred to experiment with the other cylinder on his own.
“They are sonic washers, Commander. One for your hands and face and another for a full-body wash.”
“No hot water?” Van loved long hot-water showers—something he’d too often been denied in the Navy aboard ship.
“No, Commander.”
Disappointed, he said, “I guess this will have to do for brief stays and until I can arrange something better. But we have to make some changes. This won’t do at all in the long term. I want hot and cold water. What do we do next?”
“Given that you have to return to San Diego tomorrow, Commander, I suggest that you return to the upper level to spend additional time in the chair.”
“No, I want to see more. I’m going to the next level down.”
Van entered the elevator again and pressed the button to take him down to Level 3. When the door opened, he was once again amazed. A larger hangar deck space revealed itself with a number of machines that he didn’t recognize. This time Harry appeared not on the view screen but as a holographic image. The image was difficult to tell from the real thing unless you passed a hand through it or Harry walked through a container or a wall.
As Van walked toward the center of the big room, Harry began by saying, “Welcome to Level 3, Commander. Located here are a number of transportation, communications, medical, and weapons systems that you might find useful in the near and long term. Over here is a modular medical chamber that has been programmed to diagnose, cure, or repair a wide variety of medical issues from a cut to internal reconstruction. It is automated so that when a patient lies down on the examination table, the transparent dome closes and seals, protecting the patient from external infections and exposures. It uses nanites and other medical supplies stored in the system and replenished by the site when required. You have the details in your memory from the chair session.
“Over here,” said Harry as he pointed to some containers, “are portable communications modules that can act as relay stations between you and me or to enhance communications between traditional Earth communications systems such as HF, UHF, FM, AM, laser, and satellite communications. Again, some of the details were passed to you through the chair.
“In these containers are a variety of small weapons, ranging from personal handheld weapons to larger assault-type rifles. Some are traditional powder-and-projectile systems like your personal SP101, but several others employ a more advanced energy concept, like this small stun weapon.” Harry pointed to a small handheld weapon that looked like a semiautomatic pistol but with several dials and no magazine.
“All of these,” Harry continued, “are usable by an individual without the need of a multiperson crew. Associated with these latter weapons are a variety of targeting mechanisms designed to locate and fire on targets by a mechanical trigger or using only your thoughts, if you have the requir
ed implant.”
Van’s head was nearly swamped with all of this new information and equipment. Can this really be happening?
“In addition, there are multiple sets of advanced armored fighting suits that will protect you from small-caliber ballistic weapons as well as traditional energy weapons such as lasers. They also provide a certain amount of protection against electronic, optical, and infrared detection. The suits also have a stealth capability that can be turned on and off on command through the implant. This one is very good in that it reroutes light around the wearer and anything he is carrying. With the suit comes a multipurpose helmet. The helmet is linked to external systems like remote sensors we can deploy. There are communications capabilities as well as an ability to share information from one suit to another. All or most of this information can be displayed on the inside of the helmet visor. I believe you call it a ‘heads-up display’ or ‘HUD.’ In addition, these suits in particular are rated for use in the vacuum of space. When sealed, they can be augmented with a small oxygen-breathing apparatus.
“And finally, under this tarp is a small but versatile craft capable of both intra-atmospheric and limited space travel. It is quite fast and employs a high standard of low observability. There are two of them in this space, one slightly larger than the other. Each is equipped with an electronic shield that will protect it from all known Earth weapons and some from other worlds. No weapons are currently installed, however. Again, the basic information is in your memory for calling up. Would you pull off the tarp, Commander?”
“You mean this thing is invisible?” asked Van with wide eyes and a big smile as he pulled off the tarp.
“By Earth standards, yes, Commander.”
“But how do we get them out of here?”
“This space uses a central core elevator that reaches the top level where you entered and from which either craft can take off and land. Only one fits on the elevator at a time, however, Commander.”
The pilot in Van came shooting out. This is truly mind-boggling! It wasn’t what he might have imagined, like some teardrop-shaped craft or one that changed shape as speed increased. Instead it was sort of a rounded box with a wedge-shaped nose, cockpit windows, and a large ramp at the rear. In fact, the designers of the shuttles on the Star Trek series were closer than they knew. It looked similar to an Enterprise shuttle with one major difference: it had stubby wings. Well, sort of. It was more like the boxy shape had been smoothed a little to accommodate what could be called a delta shape, like those of current lifting bodies. Van supposed that these wings were necessary for atmospheric flight but useless in the vacuum of space. He started thinking about when he could try them out. But as much as he wanted to fly the amazing craft, right now he knew that more was at stake. There was more to learn and consider. Flying would have to wait, despite his impatience.
“I’m impressed, Harry. What’s below this level?”
“Level 4 is a manufacturing area with a fabrication machine that will allow us to create nearly anything we have or need. There is also some immediate storage of raw materials for the fabricator.
“Level 5 contains our automated maintenance systems and additional raw-material storage.
“Level 6, the lowest level, is the power generation and distribution system. Geothermal and fusion powered, as I believe I mentioned.”
“And the center elevator that lifts the shuttles up and down also services the lower levels?” Van asked.
“Yes, Commander.”
“Nice, but there seems to be something missing.”
“What, Commander?”
“Food. But I expect it would be too much to expect that there would be something to eat here after two hundred years.”
“True, Commander. But given the right molecular patterns, we have small-scale replicators that have the capability of creating foods for humans and other life forms.”
“Like Star Trek again? How do these things work?”
“I don’t know Star Trek, Commander. But the replicators are small variants of the fabrication machines that use different, more abundant materials. They process food by rearranging subatomic particles from the environment and forming molecules, which are arranged into amino acids, proteins, and other compounds required for the desired food items.”
“And we have these replicators here?”
“Yes, Commander.”
“Who programmed the patterns? The Host?”
“Yes, Commander. But the Host also liked to grow much of their own food when they could. Often in hydroponic systems.”
“So no instant hamburgers or hot dogs available now?”
“No, Commander. But you can review the Host menu when you like. Over time, we can create new patterns for you.”
In Van’s mind, he saw green globs of goo and things still moving in a pool of brown stuff. Ugh! he thought. “Interesting, Harry, but I’ll pass for now. I have enough energy bars to get me by.”
Taking a few steps toward the elevator, he stopped as a thought struck him. “It just occurred to me, Harry, that this site needs a name. I remember an important government nuclear survival site back in the eighties called Site R. It was part of a continuity of government projects and had similar features, just not this level of technology. So this is our Site R.
“Now I’m ready for another round in the learning chair.”
Van walked to the elevator and stepped in, still wishing he could fly the shuttles right now… but knowing it wasn’t the right time.
This time, as he reclined in the chair, Van knew how to start the learning sequence, trusting that Harry would provide the needed content. Several hours later, he awoke and was amazed at how much sharper his senses had grown and how much more he knew—about everything—than he had at the beginning of the day. Not only did he understand more about earthly science and engineering, but he also had an incredible knowledge of human history, literature, and language. And he’d also developed an encyclopedic understanding of much of the technology around him at the site. Clearly there was a lot to explore. As he roused himself from these thoughts, Van saw Harry staring at him from the view screen.
“I am pleased to say, Commander, that your larger and more advanced neural structure is capable of absorbing and retaining a great deal. However, I think that this is enough for you to absorb for now. But before you return to San Diego, there is something more to do.”
“What would that be? Haven’t I agreed to enough?” Van said, sitting up and pushing off from the chair. His irritation with this piecemeal process was growing.
“Believe me, Commander, this will prove to be a great advantage for you. It is an implanted communications device and data link.”
“Implanted? You mean like inside my head?” Van’s brow wrinkled and his eyes narrowed with concern and distrust. What if this is some kind of control device… to control me?
“Yes, Commander,” Harry said calmly. “It will be implanted in your brain just behind the area of your left ear and will allow us to communicate at great distances. It also allows you to control systems at this site and to access the site databases at will, all with just your thoughts.”
Van held his hands up, shaking them rapidly as if warding off a foul-smelling dog about to jump on him. “No, no. I don’t think so. Not yet anyway. Not until I understand all of this more.”
“As you wish, Commander. The process is simple and can be done at any time you desire.”
CHAPTER 5
San Diego, as usual, was beautiful with its nearly year-round temperature of 72 degrees and a slight sea breeze. After completing the purchase of the Arizona land and Site R on the first day of his return, Van had spent the morning of his second day back attending an international conference on aerospace engineering at the downtown Marriott. The hotel was one of several servicing the Convention Center and the thousands of tourists who flocked to San Diego each year. He loved the marina and the view across the bay of North Island Naval Air Station, where he’d spent m
any enjoyable years while serving as a pilot in the Pacific Fleet. He also liked being close to the Kansas City BBQ where part of the movie Top Gun had been filmed. It was small and intimate, the food was good, and the female bartenders were very cute.
Almost like being back in the Navy… but not, Van mused.
While he was interested in the conference, Van was constantly distracted when he discovered that he could understand what every delegate was saying, regardless of language. There were Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Germans, French, and more. It didn’t matter, he understood them all. He even experimented with talking to some of them and was thrilled to know he could speak as well as understand each language.
He further discovered that he could hear quite clearly what people were saying even at great distances, despite the ambient noise of the city. Before meeting Harry, Van already had better-than-average hearing, but now it was at a new level.
The day before, he’d also noticed that though he was not necessarily stronger when he visited the gym, he was more agile and experienced better balance than before his encounter with Harry. He also noted that while he already had 20/20 vision, he now had something better, especially at distances. In short, every sense was sharper, quicker, and better.
Finally, in just two days since his return from the site, Van found that he was making better decisions and solving problems more quickly. Best of all, he discovered he no longer needed a calculator; he could do all the math and design he needed in his head. He even tested his new skills on the stock market and found that, instead of being a modestly capable day trader, he could judge the market and invest at a new level, which turned him a handsome—surprisingly handsome—profit, and would hopefully continue to on a regular basis.
Harry and the Host may know a thing or two, Van thought.
Taking a break from the conference, he decided to have lunch at the hotel restaurant. As he waited for his food, he could hear many of the conversations around him and could either tune them out or focus on one or more in particular.
Future Discovered: Host Saga Book 1 Page 3