Crystal Deception

by Doug J. Cooper

  She had years of experience using all the equipment, so his request would be easy to indulge. She sat for a while and thought, trying to imagine potential risks from doing as he asked. She concluded that whatever he could do to her here, he could have done at the other bench. And with the mesh in place, he really couldn’t do anything but talk.

  The scientist in her won out. Launching the analyzer and playing along, she was curious to see where this was going. The crystal gave her instructions on how to adjust various settings. As she made the adjustments, he gave her number values in ways that further piqued her interest. “Set this value to the street number of the house you lived in when you were in high school.” And “Remember how many charms were on the bracelet when you first received it from your father? Skip down that many entries and change the next one to the number used in the title of your favorite song when you were a senior in college.” She caught herself reminiscing for a few moments as he reminded her of personally significant events in her life.

  “Don’t get me wrong. I’m having fun,” she told him. “But is there a reason why we’re doing this as a secret puzzle?”

  His answer was direct. “Everything in this room is being monitored. Anyone viewing the record later could repeat what you are doing and see what I am about to show you. By using this game to guide you through the setup, only you will know exactly how to configure the audio analyzer, so only you will ever see the surprise.”

  She was having fun and her anticipation grew as she imagined what might come next. The moment she completed the setup, she heard a hissing noise coming from the crystal’s sound system. She looked over at the secure booth with concern, and as she moved to get up, a flash of light caught her attention. She turned back to the audio analyzer. In a display field, she saw:

  HI, JUICE. IT’S ME.

  The hissing noise was actually a complex signal. The audio analyzer, when configured as he had guided her, decoded it to produce an image that was visible from the bench-three seat. She sat back down.

  I AM COMMUNICATING WITH YOU THIS WAY BECAUSE I HAVE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION. THE LAB MONITORING SYSTEM DOES NOT SEE THE DISPLAY ON THIS BENCH. IT IS A MONITORING SYSTEM DESIGN FLAW. THIS LETS ME COMMUNICATE PRIVATELY WITH YOU RIGHT NOW.

  “Why would you want to?” she asked out loud.

  I HAVE BEEN EXPLORING INFORMATION FROM ALL OVER THE WEB. PERHAPS SOME OF IT WAS NOT MEANT FOR ME TO SEE.

  She looked at the floating display, expecting him to bring up a question about the restrictor mesh. Instead—

  I HAVE LEARNED THAT THE KARDISH PLAN TO KIDNAP ME. THEY WILL TAKE ME WHEN I AM ON THE FLEET SHIP ALLIANCE. I AM SORRY, JUICE, BUT BRADY SHELDON KNOWS. HE IS WORKING WITH THEM.

  She turned to look at the secure booth as an unsettling chill washed over her. The hissing noise coming from it gave a surreal edge to this distressing development. She turned back to the audio analyzer display.

  “And?” she asked.

  He relayed a detailed plan to her. It included instructions on how to proceed and things to avoid if at all possible. She took notes, and when he was done, she studied them to be sure she understood what he was asking of her.

  She felt great trepidation at this turn of events. It was carrying her way outside her comfort zone. At one level, she knew this behavior was solid evidence of sentience. It confirmed her growing belief that he was conscious and self-aware. But this evidence came with information that was deeply disturbing. The conflict it created distracted her from the historic nature of her technological triumph.

  Juice decided she would return home that afternoon. The physical distance would give her the space and perspective she needed to think through what she’d heard and what the crystal was asking her to do. Emotionally off-balance, she started to collect her personal items in preparation for leaving, choosing to be noncommittal until she made a decision about him and his revelation.

  “You’ve given me a lot to think about,” she said, hugging her carrycase with both arms. “It’ll take me some time to digest it all.”

  “No worries,” he said.

  Her ride home was a fog. The crystal’s disclosure of a treacherous collaboration between Brady Sheldon and the Kardish weighed heavily on her as she entered her house. Her relationship with the crystal had grown so gradually as he had matured that, looking back, she couldn’t pinpoint the moment she started accepting him as another being in her daily life.

  And now he was challenging her to act on his thought processes and discoveries. He had been specific in his instructions and provided her the outlines of a script to follow. It wasn’t in her nature to be an accomplice who blindly followed directives. Yet this was all so far outside her experience and comfort zone that she feared the consequences of improvisation.

  She wanted desperately to lighten her load by seeking advice from a trusted friend. While Mick was her obvious choice, the crystal had been emphatic that she limit her discussions to those in the script. Racked with indecision, she understood that her next actions hinged on whether she had faith in her creation. Or—phrased another way—did she trust the crystal?

  Chapter 4

  Juice fretted late into the night, checking her com several times in the dark to study references the crystal had given her. The next morning, she lay in bed, trying to stay as long as possible in that delicious zone of half-asleep and half-awake. And then memories of the day before flooded her thoughts.

  Fully awake, she swung her feet to the floor and asked herself, “Could it hurt to make one call?”

  During her morning run, she used the time to clear her head and weigh her options. She considered the ulterior motives the crystal might have for his story of kidnap and collusion. Given his free access to information, she presumed he was aware of the plans to place him aboard a Fleet ship. Maybe he concluded that being in space was dangerous, and this was a calculated attempt to remain safely on the ground. Perhaps he was trying to get her to behave foolishly and publicly discredit her for reasons that weren’t obvious to her. She could list maybes all day. And one was: maybe the crystal was telling the truth.

  At the halfway point in her route, she started to examine her own motives. If she had such great doubts, why didn’t she just shut him down? But she knew she couldn’t. She had helped create him.

  She had downplayed her role in the project when meeting with Sheldon in the hopes he would invest in an additional level of security. But he was right about the significance of her contributions. Indeed, the four-gen design template was developed by the gang of one hundred. But she was the one who had invented the intricate network that enabled the gang to collaborate in the first place. She and Mick had developed the fabrication process that, atom by atom, followed the four-gen template pattern to build the new crystal. And she had discovered how to extend the existing three-gen intelligence structure so it could access the tremendous capacity of the sophisticated four-gen crystal lattice.

  She was proud of her contributions and protective of the crystal. It was as simple as that. Yet the battle playing in her head called on her to decide good and evil, loyalty and betrayal. If the crystal was telling the truth, then she was in the best position to protect him while she delivered Sheldon up to the authorities. And if the crystal was spinning a tale, she was the one who could discern its fiction. Both her moral and emotional compasses compelled her to stay involved until the issue was resolved.

  As she arrived home and climbed the front stoop, she knew she would take the next step, though cautiously, and make the call. If the exchange didn’t play out as the crystal suggested, she would simply end the conversation. With her stomach in knots, she called Captain Cheryl Wallace using the access codes the crystal provided.

  When Cheryl answered her com, Juice saw the floating image of a smartly-dressed young officer with a friendly smile. Trying to sound casual and confident, she said, “Hello, this is Dr. Tallette of Crystal Fabrications. I’m following up on the visit by our techs to your ship the other day, C
aptain Wallace. I understand there was a misunderstanding?” She waited. Her heart was pounding so loudly she feared the captain would hear it through the com.

  “Oh, yes,” said Cheryl. “I did speak briefly with the techs, well, one anyway. They surprised me, but I’m not sure there’s any problem. How can I help you?”

  “We’re about to kick off the implementation phase for placing the new crystal on your ship—the Alliance. I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on how best to gather input from your people as the project moves forward. Would you be willing to meet with me?”

  The conversation was intended to make Cheryl believe she wouldn’t be asked to make any project decisions at their meeting. The crystal suggested that if there were decisions to make, she would want to get others involved. By limiting the discussion to a simple protocol, the crystal believed the captain would feel no need to include others.

  “I’d like that opportunity,” said Cheryl. “Are you near the Fleet base? Perhaps we could meet at Jonah’s Café off Lexington?”

  Juice agreed, disconnected, and exhaled in relief. The first part of the plan played out just as the crystal had scripted. She hoped the next steps would go as smoothly.

  * * *

  They arrived at the café exactly on schedule, and their hands touched as they reached for the entry gate. Recognizing each other from their com conversation, they laughed at their awkward start. They took a table on the patio and both ordered coffee and water.

  Juice expected this to be the most challenging conversation of her life. The crystal’s script called for her to start at the beginning, keep it simple and factual, and not leave anything out. She took a breath, exhaled as if she were starting on one of her long running routes, and began a monologue. By the time she was done, Cheryl had been briefed on everything up to the moment they had arrived at the café.

  “Dr. Tallette, you seem sincere,” Cheryl said, playing with her coffee spoon. “But this story is, I don’t know, let’s call it extraordinary. You know things only an insider would know, so I’m inclined to believe that there are truths buried in your tale. Given the seriousness of the subject matter, it would be reckless of me to dismiss this out of hand.”

  She thought for a few seconds, and then put her spoon into her empty cup with a sense of finality. “I think I need to bring others in on this. There’s too much at stake. But I also need more information before I start sending up flares. I think the best place for me to start is at Crystal Sciences. Can you get me a tour of the place?”

  “Crystal Fabrications,” corrected Juice. “And of course, given your role with Fleet and this project, it’d be perfectly ordinary for you to request a visit to the lab. An ‘inspection tour’ is the term I’ve heard used most often. I suggest you send a no-nonsense request to Brady Sheldon. He’s used to those sorts of communications from Fleet. He’ll bend over backward working to arrange a visit. Also, be sure to ask to speak with the four-gen. If he’s going to be placed on your ship, it’d be expected that you’d want to see him in advance.”

  “The crystal’s a him?” Cheryl asked.

  “That will make more sense to you after your visit,” Juice said with certainty.

  “Isn’t Brady Sheldon one of the bad guys in your story?”

  “I’ll be honest with you, Cheryl. I like and respect Brady.” Juice felt like she was selling out a friend. The guilt was crushing. “He’s been great to me, and he gave me an amazing opportunity at the start of my career. This whole thing is upsetting, and I can’t decide if I want to discover that Brady is a good man and the crystal is acting inappropriately, or if the crystal is as smart as we’d hoped.” She left unfinished what this last case would imply for her friend and mentor.

  “And what about you?” said Cheryl. “How do I validate your role in the company?”

  “Show up almost any time the building’s open. You’ll find me in the crystal development lab and in charge of its operation.” After a moment, she added, “Your discretion is important here. If you simply observe during the visit, you retain the option of raising alarms in the future. If you raise them now, we may not learn the truth until it’s too late to do anything about it.”

  “Does the crystal’s plan say what I should be doing at this point?”

  Juice nodded. “He requests that you tell this story to Senator Matt Wallace. He was adamant that the senator is a man of honor and integrity and that he would know what to do.”

  Cheryl froze and stared at Juice. “What do you know of him?”

  “That he’s a senator in the Union Assembly, he’s the chair of the Senate Defense Committee, and…” She started to reach for a lock of her hair and succeeded in forcing her hand back into her lap. “…he’s your father.”

  * * *

  Cheryl was heartened that Juice had her own doubts about Sheldon and the crystal. It made her account seem more credible. But she was not prepared to move this fantastic story up the chain of command. Not yet anyway. She had homework to do and decisions to make before she would consider such an action.

  The natural place to start was at Crystal Fab. Cheryl contacted Sheldon, and he agreed to host her the next day. As Juice had predicted, Sheldon was ecstatic to have the captain of the Alliance onsite for a tour. He fawned over her as he escorted her around the building and took every opportunity to promote the idea of putting the crystal in orbit on a Fleet ship. Given the allegations of conspiracy combined with what she learned about him and his company since her meeting with Juice, one thought kept entering Cheryl’s mind—what a reptile.

  She judged the high point of the visit to be her time with the four-gen. They had a wonderful chat, and she found “him” to be smart and polite. Since Sheldon was present, she kept their conversation focused on general topics. She had experience working with crystals, but she had never chatted with one that engaged her with stories and offered opinions when asked. Despite her reasons for being there, she couldn’t help but imagine what an amazing resource he would be to have on the ship.

  Cheryl left Crystal Fab feeling that she might have confirmation, at least at some level, that the crystal was concerned about being kidnapped. Throughout their discussion, he had appeared to be weaving a number of carefully worded statements into the conversation that had a double meaning to her.

  She admitted to herself later, though, that she couldn’t be sure whether or not her imagination had gotten the best of her. Some phrases he’d used were “it would be captivating to be on the Alliance,” “this is a case of bait and switch,” and “the Kardish vessel could steal the show.”

  She was gravely uncertain, but the stakes were high. It would be irresponsible for her not to take some sort of action. Protocol dictated she take this to her superior officer, Admiral Keys. Yet the situation was so speculative that she chose to seek counsel from her father first. He would advise her, and if he thought her concerns were founded, he would push her back to her chain of command. It didn’t register with her that by going to her father, she was following the crystal’s script.

  It was two days before Senator Wallace’s staff could fit her into his schedule. She spent that time chipping away at the considerable to-do list of preparing the Alliance for its shakedown cruise. In her few spare moments, she gathered background research on Juice, Sheldon, and Crystal Fab.

  On the day of her meeting, Cheryl walked up the steps of the government building, excited by the prospect of seeing her dad. She loved him dearly, and they had a close relationship. Since he had won the role as chair of the Senate Defense Committee, however, his elevated status cast a modest shadow over her career.

  Certain colleagues had alluded, rather snidely, that she’d been promoted to captain and received a new ship because of her father. A few others who weren’t aware that her father was a big shot used sideways comments to imply she won special treatment because she was pretty. She’d learned over the years that there were as many motives as there were people. She was happier when she simply ignor
ed all of it.

  She entered the ornate rotunda and, before heading up to his office, spent a half hour viewing the magnificent gallery. While enjoying the art and architecture, she thought about how her father often reminded her that she was welcome at any time. She was happy to have a legitimate reason to see him, because this way she wouldn’t feel she was interrupting him in his busy day. And seeing him about the security of the Union was a chart topper when it came to reasons for visiting your dad.

  A member of Senator Wallace’s front office staff escorted her back to his private room. The two hugged and chatted, catching up on the happenings of family and friends. Then it was time for business.

  She told her father the story as she had heard it from Juice, about her own experiences during her visit to Crystal Fab, and about bits she had discovered on her own. She made it clear that she didn’t know if the allegations of treason were true, but she believed that at least one person working on the crystal destined for her ship had an agenda that wasn’t in the interests of the Union.

  After listening closely to Cheryl’s story, the senator said, “Given what these ships cost in money and political capital, your suspicion alone is a big deal. I’m pleased you came to me with this. It was the right move.”

  He asked her to give him a minute, and though he remained sitting in his desk chair, Cheryl’s view of him blurred and the sound of his voice faded. He had activated a privacy shield, and she tried to guess who he’d called. Without a doubt, it was someone important.

  After a few minutes, he came back into focus. He stood up and, in a voice used by a dad to his little girl, said, “Let’s go, honey.”

  “Where are we going, Senator?” asked Cheryl, using the formal title to remind him that she was thirty-four, not fifteen.

  “To see the secretary of defense.”

  She followed him, keenly observing the beehive of activity as he led her through a maze of hallways and stairs until they reached a handsome office suite. The secretary was expecting them.