by Nick Cook
John handed me an expensive-looking rollerball pen and I started to scribble down a formula. I was certain I recognised it from university.
Graham peered at it. ‘That looks like part of an equation for dark energy.’
‘I knew it looked familiar,’ I replied. I peered again at the camera. ‘Is the threat something to do with dark energy?’
The formula vanished from my vision and was replaced by yellow symbols. A new memory began to surface…
I’d been sitting in a coffee shop when I’d hit send on my job application to work at Jodrell Bank, a decision that I’d known was utterly right for me. And once again that was what I was feeling now: certainty.
‘Yes – I’ve just had another memory that seems to confirm it’s something to do with dark energy.’
‘Interesting,’ John said to himself.
‘We should really plan a list of questions so we can do this in a structured way,’ Graham said.
Kiera nodded. ‘I agree. Lauren, it seems as though you have become our unofficial translator. Would you like to make that more official and continue with us as a consultant after tonight?’
‘I’d be happy to – at least if they can spare me from this place for a while.’
Steve sighed. ‘Do you know how hard it is to find a good post-doc person? And you are one of the best, Lauren.’
‘But we won’t stand in her way either, will we, Steve?’ Graham said.
He slowly shook his head. ‘Of course we won’t. Anyway, I could be wrong here, but based on the way the code is communicating and responding directly to Lauren’s questions, I think this could be some sort of true artificial intelligence. Could that be right, John?’
John drew his gaze back from the control-room window he’d been staring out of. ‘Going by everything we’ve seen so far, it’s certainly a strong possibility.’
‘So now we’re saying this is an alien AI from a parallel dimension?’ Graham asked.
‘Why not?’ Steve said. ‘After all, it’s a rather neat way for an alien race to send an ambassador to another world, even another dimension, and all at the speed of light of the signal. It also deals with the problem of trying to beam back a reply to god knows where, when you can ask their AI representative the question directly.’
Graham whistled. ‘An AI venturing between parallel worlds, now that really is an astounding thought.’
‘I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe,’ Steve said.
‘Pardon?’ Kiera said.
But I knew exactly what Steve was saying and it was actually a film quote. ‘It’s a speech by the replicant Batty from Blade Runner.’
Kiera shook her head. ‘Right, and your point being, Steve?’
‘That we need to start thinking of this code as something alive.’
‘I agree,’ I said. ‘And if so we should give it a name.’
‘Well, the only English word we’ve seen so far is Sentinel, so let’s run with that,’ Steve said.
Kiera shrugged. ‘Can we really be sure that this is an AI and not a virus?’
‘We can ask Sentinel a direct question to find out,’ I said. I focused on the webcam. ‘Sentinel, what are you exactly?’
Pink symbols appeared and another memory flooded through me…
I’d climbed Mount Fuji to watch the sun rise. I’d never felt so utterly alive in my life as I had at that moment as the first rays of the sun had bathed my face.
I laughed. ‘Yes, it seems that Sentinel is very much alive.’
‘This is seriously epic,’ Steve said.
Kiera nodded. ‘OK, now we know we have a dialogue with this Sentinel AI, we need to ask him about his reference to dark energy and whether it’s something to do with the danger he mentioned.’
I nodded. ‘So get me some fresh coffee and—’ The words died on my lips as red symbols appeared in my vision and a feeling of deep dread flooded me.
‘Lauren?’ Steve asked.
A bitter taste tanged the back of my mouth. ‘I—’
I stopped as a bright ball of light blossomed outside and bathed the room with orange. A split second later a deep rumble shook the walls and the control-room window cracked. In the distance the staccato beat of automatic gunfire started up, interspersed with single shots.
We rushed over to the crazed windows to stare out at dark plumes of smoke and flames rising from the helicopter into the night sky. Two of Kiera’s men were hunkered down behind a couple of cars, returning shots with shadowy figures lurking in the treeline further out, lit up by the flashes of their own weapon fire.
Kiera whirled round. ‘We’re under attack. We need to protect the—’
She was cut off as impossibly loud gunshots resounded around us. The two MI5 officers who’d remained at their terminals suddenly slumped on to their keyboards.
Disbelief and shock slammed into my mind as Kiera’s hand darted towards her own holster.
‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Kiera,’ John said, pointing his gun at her. ‘Your weapon please.’
I stared at him, hands clenched. ‘What are you doing, John?’
‘What I’m paid to do,’ he replied, his voice iron. ‘And in a moment I’m going to walk out of here with the computer containing Sentinel’s code, and with you, Lauren, coming with me to assist us, and the rest of you aren’t going to do anything to stop me.’ He gestured with his hand again and, with a scowl, Kiera handed her weapon over that he stashed in his belt.
I exchanged shocked glances with Steve and Graham. This couldn’t be happening.
‘I don’t know what you’ve got yourself into, but if you do this there’s no going back, John,’ Kiera said.
He gestured towards the dead bodies of the other agents. ‘That’s a bit of a moot point now, Kiera. Besides, there was no going back from the moment I was first inserted into MI5 as a sleeper agent.’
Kiera gasped and then slowly shook her head. ‘Who the hell are you working for? You owe me that at least.’
‘I owe you nothing.’
‘But you know you’ll be hunted down for the rest of your life.’
John laughed. ‘You still have no idea about what you’re dealing with here. Besides, it’s your own immediate future, Kiera, and those of the other civilians in this room, that I would be more concerned about if I were you. If anyone moves so much as a millimetre to help Lauren or to stop me, I warn you now, you will be executed.’ He gestured towards us with his gun up and everyone raised their hands, including me as my heart threatened to rip its way out of my chest.
Chapter Nine
Gunfire continued to crackle outside as John strode towards the crated rack computer that contained Sentinel’s code.
Something inside me hardened and, before my brain had a chance to stop me, I found myself standing between John and the MI5 computer, my hands planted on my hips. ‘You can’t do this, John.’
He raised his gun towards me. ‘You need to start thinking like a hostage, because that’s exactly what you are.’
I crossed my arms. ‘This is the second time today that someone has threatened me with a weapon. It didn’t impress me then and it doesn’t impress me now.’
Kiera, her arms still raised, gave me the slightest headshake, but I ignored her.
‘I’m not messing around here, Lauren,’ John said. ‘Shift your arse now or pay the consequences.’
I did my best to keep the tremor out of my voice as I said, ‘That’s a shame, because I’m not going anywhere.’ My gamble, my crazy stupid gamble, was that John was actually a decent guy at heart who could still be reasoned with.
‘Don’t be an idiot, Lauren – this isn’t worth throwing your life away for,’ Steve said from behind me.
John raised his eyebrows. ‘Listen to your boyfriend if I were you.’
‘He’s not my…’ I flapped my hand at him. ‘Oh, whatever.’
‘I haven’t got time for your pointless heroics.’
‘Just give me one good reason wh
y you’d do something like this and then maybe I’ll play along.’
The lines smoothed around John’s eyes. ‘This is all part of a much bigger plan to keep this world safe.’
‘Safe from what exactly?’ Steve asked.
‘Let’s just say this latest incident with Sentinel is just the tip of a very substantial threat to the world – a threat that we’ve been dealing with since the last century.’
‘You mean other previous alien encounters, don’t you?’ I said.
‘Yes, I do,’ John replied. ‘Our world has been under threat for years now – from enemies far more technologically advanced than our own.’
‘So you’re saying these aliens are hostile?’
‘Very much so, which is why we’re not going to take chances with this Sentinel AI, and we’re certainly not prepared for it to fall into the hands of this or any other governments.’ John waved the tip of his gun sideways. ‘Lauren, now please get out of my way before you make me do something I regret.’
I gestured with my head towards the two dead agents. ‘That didn’t seem to stop you when you murdered your colleagues just now.’
‘They were MI5 operatives who knew the risks of their career. You’re a civilian.’
I crossed my arms. ‘Still not moving.’
‘I’m sorry, but you can’t say I didn’t warn you.’
I stared defiantly back at him. Surely he wouldn’t? ‘But you need me to translate.’
John’s eyes became ice-cold. ‘Your synaesthesia isn’t a unique ability. You can be replaced if necessary.’
But then Steve was by my side, his arms crossed too, as if we were posing for our indie band photo.
‘If you’re going to shoot Lauren, you’re going to have to kill me too,’ he said.
I stared at Steve. ‘Seriously?’
‘Look, I’m doing my best here to convince you that I’m a decent guy and maybe even boyfriend material.’
Despite everything, I couldn’t help smiling. ‘You totally wonderful idiot.’
‘Enough already,’ John said. He aimed his gun at Steve and his finger started to squeeze the trigger.
It felt as if an ocean’s worth of adrenalin flooded my body in that microsecond.
I launched myself at John and knocked his gun hand upwards. A flash of light blazed from his pistol’s muzzle and, with a bang, a bullet punched a perfectly circular hole in the ceiling. Better there than Steve’s chest at least.
But John’s MI5 training had already kicked in and he chopped hard into the side of my neck with his other hand.
Numbing pain burst through me and I crumpled to the ground. I caught a blur of movement from the corner of my eye.
Kiera darted forward and scissor-kicked John in the chest. He hurtled backwards over a desk and she was on top of him instantly, grappling with him for his gun.
John twisted and struck out across her face. But Kiera hung on and together they tumbled off the desk.
Another shot echoed through the room.
I pulled myself back to my feet as Steve raced forward to help Kiera. But then John pushed himself up, gun in hand, and stared across towards the rack computer. A look of regret crossed his face and the gun tumbled to the ground. He gripped his chest and a stream of blood welled up between his fingers as he collapsed.
Kiera, grimacing, knelt upwards and lowered a pistol.
No one spoke, our shock filling the room, watching as Kiera took John’s pulse.
At last, she shook her head. ‘He’s gone.’
I stared at the blood spreading out in a glistening dark pool beneath his body and a sob broke from somewhere deep inside me.
Steve gently held my shoulders and guided me away as Kiera covered John’s head with her jacket. ‘It’ll be OK,’ he said.
I wish I could have believed that, but every fibre of my being told me that this situation was only going to get worse. After all, John wasn’t operating alone and, judging by the on-going firefight outside, we’d only delayed the inevitable.
Kiera withdrew extra ammo clips from John’s jacket pocket. Then her gaze narrowed on the side of his head and she leant in and withdrew a flesh-coloured earbud from his ear.
‘This isn’t MI5 issue,’ she said. Her gaze swivelled towards the control-room window. ‘This must have been how John has been keeping in contact with his friends out there. It also that means that they almost certainly know everything we do about Sentinel.’ She shook her head. ‘All these years, and we had no idea that he was a sleeper agent.’
‘So why blow his cover now?’ Graham asked.
‘Presumably because his employers believe Sentinel is a high enough value target to warrant it.’
‘And his employers are?’ I asked.
‘I have a reasonable idea, but it’s far safer for you all that you don’t know.’ Kiera crossed to one of the landline phones, picked it up and frowned. ‘And of course they’ve already cut the lines to the outside world. No wonder John was so keen to gather up all our mobiles. We have no way of calling for backup.’
‘So what are we going to do?’ Graham asked.
‘Try to stay alive somehow and that means we begin to negotiate. After all, we have something they want.’ She slipped John’s earbud device into her ear. ‘Hello, this is Kiera Roberts, MI5 field operations director, and I’d like to discuss a ceasefire.’
Her brow creased as she listened to the person on the other end.
‘And you should also be clear that if you attempt to storm the control room I will not hesitate to destroy the computer system that contains the Sentinel AI code,’ Kiera replied. She walked to the corner of the room and dropped her voice to a whisper as she continued to talk.
Static roared up again from the speakers.
‘I think Sentinel is trying to get your attention, Lauren,’ Steve said.
I turned, trying to slow the thumping of my heart, and gazed into the webcam. ‘Go ahead, Sentinel.’
Symbols unfolded in my vision like yellow flowers opening in time-lapse. A memory rose from the depths of my mind…
I’d been training for the London Marathon and it had been beyond intense. I’d pounded the pavements night after night and mile after mile. At the start the distance I’d set myself to conquer seemed like a hopeless fantasy. But I’d clung on to my dream and built my fitness until I knew I could nail the distance. And it had been that same stubbornness that had eventually carried me all the way across the finish line one wonderful cold sunny morning with thousands of other marathon runners. The memory faded away along with the symbols.
Graham peered at me. ‘And?’
‘Sentinel seems to have zeroed in on the time I was training for the London Marathon.’
‘So what do you think that means?’ Steve asked.
‘That Sentinel’s equally determined to do something.’
‘But what?’ Steve replied.
‘If only we had a simpler way of communicating with him than using Lauren’s memories to guess at his emotions and yes and no answers,’ Graham said.
Steve stared at him. ‘But that’s it! Lauren, why don’t we ask Sentinel the equivalent of twenty questions?’
‘You mean boil it down to just yes and no questions?’
‘Precisely. The fact that Sentinel seems to understand what we’re saying and can respond to you with symbols means that if we ask him the right questions we can create a more precise way to communicate with him.’
Hope started to bubble up inside me. ‘That could really work, Steve.’ I concentrated once more on the webcam. ‘Sentinel, if you can understand me, show me a green triangle.’
The static became a simple drumbeat. My heart caught as a single green triangle rippled into existence, overlaid on top of my view of the control room.
‘And?’ Graham asked.
‘So far so good, but let me check that wasn’t a fluke.’ I leant in again. ‘Sentinel, we’re trying to create a simple way to communicate with you. A green triangle means yes
and a red square means no. Do you understand?’
A green triangle shimmered into existence.
I whooped. ‘Steve, you utter genius.’
He beamed at me. ‘Fantastic.’
‘Now, let’s find out more about this dark energy whilst we still have time,’ Graham said.
I glanced across at Kiera – grim-faced as she continued her conversation with the person at the other of the line. How long did we have before the guys outside overpowered the last of Kiera’s people and stormed this place? For all we knew, how the next few minutes played out might just alter the entire path of human history. And if there was even a tiny thing that I could do to make sure this worked out as it should, I’d do it – whatever it took and whatever the cost.
Chapter Ten
Kiera pulled the earbud out and threw it across the room as fresh gunfire erupted outside.
‘I take it negotiations have gone sour?’ Graham asked.
Kiera glowered at him as she rushed to the door and began to heave a desk across it. ‘Less stating the bleeding obvious please, and I’d appreciate more help building a barricade if you don’t all want to die.’
‘On my way,’ Graham said. He turned to us. ‘You two concentrate on getting some answers from Sentinel.’
‘OK,’ I said.
Graham dipped his chin towards us and raced over to help Kiera drag another desk towards the door.
I focused on nothing else but the camera in front of me. ‘Sentinel, have you come to this world to help us?’
A single green triangle appeared in my vision. I nodded at Steve.
‘Good going, so next question,’ he said.
‘And does the dark energy source that you’re looking for represent some sort of threat to us?’
Green triangle.
‘So can you stop that threat?’
A green triangle and red square appeared side by side.
‘That was a yes/no reply,’ I said.
‘Then ask Sentinel if there is anything we can do to help him succeed,’ he said.
Before I could even frame the question, a green triangle was floating in my vision. ‘That’s a big fat yes to your question so it seems like he can hear you too.’