by Frank Carey
"Wow. Is that really Gloria?" Marta whispered.
"Oh yeah. Little sister is in the groove five by five," Royce quietly replied. His pride in his twin knew no bounds.
"Science officer, any visitors?"
"Sensors detect nothing out there except for a few fish, Captain."
"Weapons Officer?"
"Boat is at general quarters. Weapons hot, torpedoes in their tubes with gyros spun-up. We are ready sir."
"Defenses officer?"
"Shields at full power. Countermeasures are hot and on standby."
"Very well. Proceed, Dr. Aymar."
"Aye sir," she said as she tapped a button on her console.
The images on the main viewer shifted as the two probes approached the shield on different vectors to confuse any defensive systems into thinking the two units were just fish. Each bot was shaped like a large Earth tuna and was equipped with a state-of-the-art borer unit designed to allow each probe to "bore" through a force field.
"Probe one holding station one yard out. Probe two activating borer field. Contact in three... Two... One... Contact," Gloria reported. "No joy, changing frequencies... It's working. We've..."
"Contact. Bearing 285-degrees relative," the Science Officer reported. "On intercept course with probe one."
"Activating stealth mode," Gloria said. "I can't cloak probe two while it's boring."
"Intruder closing on probe one."
"Impossible. My cloaks are undetectable. Beginning evasive maneuvers."
"Intruder still closing. Detect weapons charging. Firing. Direct hit."
The image feed from probe one winked out, replaced by static.
"Probe two is almost through," Glory reported. "Come on. Only a few seconds more."
"Contact. Bearing 070-degrees relative. Distance to probe 2100-yards and closing."
"Just a little more..."
"Weapons charging. Firing. Direct hit."
"Dammit! Gloria yelled as she threw her headset down on the console.
"Science?"
"The two intruders are returning in the direction they came from. I think I can get a picture..."
The viewer cleared as an image formed of something long and sinuous.
"Enhancing."
The picture cleared to show a twenty-foot long cross between a sea snake and a dragon. The picture shifted as the computer overlaid scanner data.
"Damn," Royce exclaimed. "Look at the armament on that thing. I think it would be a match for a Marine in battle armor. Those probes didn't have a chance."
"That's interesting," Gloria said as she routed the sensor data to her console.
"Care to enlighten us, Doctor?" the captain asked.
"This data suggests those dragons are telepresence operated synths."
"Can we gain control of them using our medbed units?"
"It could take days to recalibrate the medbeds, but maybe... Sir, with your permission I would like to invite the freighter pilot up to the Bridge for a confab."
"The freighter pilot...?" the captain replied.
"Harmon Aymar, sir," Marta piped up. "He's my husband."
"No offense, Capt. McMurphy, but what could a freighter pilot possibly do to help us?"
"In my humble opinion, this freighter pilot is the most gifted biocyberneticist on the planet, in the League, and possibly in this galaxy," Gloria explained
"What?" Royce and Marta asked in disbelief.
"Then by all means, have Pilot Aymar join us."
"Aye, sir," Gloria said as she made the call. While Royce and Marta looked at her like she had gone completely daft.
###
Harmon walked into the hatch and stopped. "Harmon Aymar, reporting as ordered, Captain," he said as he snapped a sharp salute.
"Captain, you're not in the Navy," the captain reminded him while returning the salute.
"Ex-smuggler, now merchant pilot, sir."
"Then give them hell, Captain. Dr. Aymar thinks you can help us with a small problem. I surely hope she's right."
"Aye, sir," He smiled at Royce and Marta as he walked by them on his way to the forward part of the Bridge where Gloria was examining a console. "Here, I brought these as you asked," he said while handing her two headsets. "I've used them with every suit I could get near. They're as close to universal as I can make without knowing what I'm making them for."
"Excellent," Gloria said as she brought up the readouts from the dragon suits.
"Hello beautiful. They're synths," Harm explained
"So we can take control of them with your headsets?"
"I think so. Though a little dated, the basic design should be compatible with my bands."
"So, what do we do?"
Harmon said nothing as he stared at the image of the dragon and the pyramid behind it. "Captain, with your permission I would like to talk to my ship's NAVComp."
The captain gave Royce a sharp look. Royce shrugged. "Of course, the intercom is yours, Mr. Aymar."
"Thank you, sir. Roscoe, you there buddy?"
"Of course, sir. I am helping Ms. Aerith modify the prototype squirrel she found under the sink."
"I forgot about that one. Roscoe, scan the pyramid. Is it RF shielded?"
"Working sir... No. I can penetrate using RF to terabit frequencies without interference."
The captain looked at the science officer who shook her head in disbelief. "I cannot confirm that, sir."
"Not surprising, Captain. Bear with me, sir," Harmon said. "Roscoe, spin-off a daemon to monitor neural activity. Then partition off twenty percent of core memory and sequester it."
"Working... Done."
"Route data streams from headsets eighteen-alpha and seven-zulu through your comm array using the protected memory as a buffer. Your daemon will monitor and cut external feed on command from either myself or Dr. Aymar. Gloria, say hello to Roscoe one more time."
"Hello, Roscoe?" she said as her brow furrowed. She looked at Royce and shrugged.
"Voice print authorization confirmed. Dr. Gloria Aymar, Ph.D. Biocybernetics and Assistant Head of Biocybernetics Division at League Cube Research Facility. Married to Dr. John Taggart, Head of Biocybernetics Division."
"Very good, Roscoe," Harmon said. "Tie into headsets and standby."
"Working... Ready, Sir."
"Good. We're ready to proceed."
"Proceed with what?" Gloria asked.
"Proceed inside the pyramid."
"Captain, you may want to get the medics up here. I think Capt. Aymar is suffering from the bends." Royce quipped.
Ignoring the levity, the captain asked, "How so, Captain Aymar?"
"Conquistador's comm system can penetrate the shield to reach the interior of the pyramid. I can channel the headsets through the comm system and search for open suits which we can take control of. The sequestered memory buffers will act as firewalls, keeping unwelcome visitors from strolling through our system."
Marta raised her hand. "I have a question."
"Ask away, dear wife."
"Who the hell is Roscoe?"
"My NAVComp," Harm replied.
"Since when?" Marta continued "The last time I was aboard the Conquistador, she had a standard, non-AI navigational computer. Now it's an AI?"
“It was the last time you were on deployment. Aerith was off at school and I was between jobs, so I got some parts to put together a new house computer system. I started out building a typical system, but decided to up the ante a little.”
“A little?” Marta asked as she leaned against a wall. “How much is a little?”
“Replaced the CPU section with a sixteen-core quantum computer cluster, upped the RAM to around a petabyte, and added an FTL-enhanced motherboard for speed. I remembered the hard drive needed upgrading, so I added a quad-redundant, crystalline, petabyte-capacity, storage unit.”
“That’s all?” Aerith asked, astounded.
“Almost. I also added a sweet 24k-core GPU for image processing.”
&nb
sp; Jaws dropped around the Bridge.
“All I needed to do was load an operating system, and I’d be set. That’s when it happened,” he said.
“What happened?” the captain asked, enthralled.
“The system booted sans operating system.”
“How is that possible?” Nachase asked.
“Mabel.”
“Mabel?”
“Yes, Mabel, the artificial intelligence. It seems the AIs have been stringing us along since day one by leading us to believe we create them. In reality, they use our InterWebs to travel around the League. All we need to do is build a system which can contain them. Once built, they sneak in and take over while making it look like we created them. Mabel was so taken by the system I had built, she jumped the gun and took over before I had an OS installed, thus letting the cat out of the bag.”
Gloria just stared at him. “You do know what this means, don’t you?” she asked.
“Yeah, so I immediately built a similar system which I used to replace the Conquistador’s NAVComp. Roscoe moved in the minute I connected the network cable and powered up the systems.”
Gloria threw up her hands in despair. “I might as well be a car hop at that retro-drive-in downtown.”
“What? Come on, now. Didn’t you figure all this out when you were playing AI back at the Cube?” Harm asked.
“Can we get back to work?” Gloria asked in her grumpy voice. “Please!”
"You did all this in a period of six months? In your spare time?" the captain asked.
"Yes, sir. That pretty much sums it up. Sir, permission to proceed?"
"Dr. Aymar?"
"We should give it a try."
"Then proceed."
Harm walked over and placed one of the headsets on Gloria's head. He tapped a button on the side three times. A blue indicator light came on. Satisfied, he repeated the process with his headset. "Roscoe, we're activated. Initiate transmission and pipe visual feeds to the Bridge."
"Yes, sir. Activating..."
"We're in," Gloria said as the viewer went split-screen showing views of two different hallways. At the bottom of each view was a three dimensional view of the pyramid showing their unit's relative positions. "We both seem to be on the same level. Harm is on the side opposite that of the Deltafish."
"Any idea what kind of suits you're in?" Marta asked.
Hands appeared in both views.
"Not sure," Gloria said. "Mine looks like a laborer model."
"Mine is more warrior," Harm replied. His hand was equipped with gleaming metal claws and some kind of wrist device. "Why the hell would anyone put this type of suit in an undersea structure? Captain, forgive me if I seem ignorant, but does Venecia have any ongoing wars or disputes which would warrant the use of high-grade battle synth suits?"
"We are at peace and have been for many years."
"Wait a minute..." Harm said. His display filled with readouts. "I've been able to access the defensive subsystems of the suit. Gloria, can you see this?"
The real Gloria turned her gaze to Harm's readout and smiled. "Yep. This is so cool."
"This is you, here," Harm said as he flashed one of many dots on the display. "The other dots are life signs from unknown entities. This one, though, is different." A nearby dot flashed. It was bigger than the others, stationary, and surrounded by a halo. "I think the halo is some kind of force field."
"Proceed with caution," the captain ordered.
"Gloria, can you use my map to join up with me at the halo room?"
"I think so," she said. Her image began to change as she headed down a corridor. On Harms view, they could see a dot moving toward harm.
"I have you," he said as two creatures turned a corner in front of him and headed his way.
They were tall and built like Greek body builders, except for the jackal heads. They carried short swords and spears while wearing only short linen skirts, wide bejeweled collars, and sandals. They stopped and saluted before passing on.
"I think I saw this in a movie," Harm whispered. "I don't remember seeing anything like that anywhere in the League."
"They're synths," Gloria said. "You can tell by the eyes."
Two more walked past, but this time they were unshod, wore only leather breeches, and carried no weapons. They lowered their gazes as they passed. "Gloria, are you wearing shoes?"
"No!"
"Then don't look anyone in the eye. You might be a slave of some kind."
"Copy that."
After a few twists and turns, Harmon found himself standing in front of a large metal door. His HUD showed his dot stopped in front of the room with the haloed dot. He looked around and found the lock pad. "Damn! I left my hacker ball in my other suit. Roscoe, can you route the HaB routines through my synth's fingertips?"
"Working... Try it now, sir."
Harm placed his fingertips against the pad. Immediately he could "Feel" data flow through them and into the device. After less than a second, the door opened to reveal a large room festooned with benches and equipment. At its center was a large glass containment cylinder holding a glowing ball of energy. "Interesting. It looks like a very large baby Orta."
Harm accessed the suits sensors and scanned the entity. "Life sign levels are off the charts. Incredibly well organized and definitely sapient."
"Harm!" Gloria yelled as she ran in. "We've got company!" Behind her strode two very large and formidable looking suits similar in style to his.
They stopped and saluted when they saw Harm. "Sir, is this your slave? We found it nosing around a secure records room."
"The impudent cur is mine. I will punish it severely. Now leave us!" he said in his best imperial tone.
"Sir, ID please," the taller suit said.
"You dare ask me for ID? Under whose orders?"
"Why yours, sir" the suit said as it unsheathed its sword.
Gloria reached over, grabbed Harms short sword, and began to battle the first suit while Harm took on the other. He could hear footsteps coming up the hallway while his HUD showed a swarm of something coming their way. "Gloria, get out of here. We've got lots of company coming."
"Are you insane? I can't leave you," she yelled while skillfully parrying the other suit's sword thrusts.
"Dammit! Roscoe, emergency extraction! First Gloria, then me."
"Copy that, sir. Ms. Gloria in three... Two... One... Extract!"
Gloria's frame crumpled to the ground as the first guard swung its sword hard. With nothing to parry it, the blade continued in an arc, shearing Harm's right arm off just above the elbow. With Harm now off-balance, his opponent was able to nail him with a perfect left uppercut, driving Harm's suit though the glass cylinder and into the center of the entity. Harm screamed as the entity entered the suit at the exact moment Roscoe pulled the plug on the telepresence session.
###
Harm continued to scream as muscle spasms launched him across the Bridge into a bulkhead where he landed in a crumbled heap on the floor.
"Harm!" Marta yelled as she vaulted over control consoles to land next to her husband's body. She carefully put two fingers on his carotid artery. "No pulse!" she yelled as she rolled him over and started to give him mouth-to-mouth. A moment later Royce was on Harm's right side giving him chest compressions.
"Med team to the Bridge. Elf down. I repeat, elf down," the captain yelled. "Dr. Aymar, your condition?"
"I'm fine. The fool took one for the team, damn him," she said as she came down from her adrenaline high.
"Bridge, this is Roscoe. We have a problem," the NAVComp said over the intercom.
"Roscoe, this is Gloria. Harm is down. What is the nature of your emergency?"
"Something followed Mr. Harmon over the link. It's here in the ship with Aerith and me."
"What do you mean it's in the ship? Where in the ship?"
"In the Minotaur suit."
"Do you have defensive systems?"
"Yes, but I can't use them for fear of harmi
ng Ms. Aerith."
"I need details, dammit!"
"The Minotaur suit has gone mobile. It is sitting next to the young miss on the lounge floor. It seems to be discussing the prototype squirrel with her."
No one in the room said anything as the med team ran in and took over for Marta and Royce. "Ma'am. Sir. We've got him," the medical corpsman said.
"Captain, with you permission, I'd like to go have a talk with this thing," Marta said with fire in her eyes.
"Major, take your team and Dr. Aymar down to the bay and secure the Conquistador. Ship's security will seal-off the area while we put some distance between us and the pyramid.
The med team had Harmon on a stretcher and were carrying him out when Marta stopped them for a moment. She kissed her husband on the forehead and said, "Don't die on me, Moron. I need you." She stood up and signaled the team to proceed.
"You OK, Captain?" Royce asked Marta.
"I will be," she said as she headed out the door.
###
"So your father printed this?" the Minotaur asked as it examined the synth squirrel Harm had made.
"Isn't it amazing? Who knew he had all this talent?" Aerith said with pride in her voice.
"You love him very much, don't you?"
"I do. I thought he left us, but then I found out it was the other way round. He saved my life, you know."
"Yes, I do. I was there?"
"You were on Maranta Five?"
"It is a long story," the suit said as it peered in the squirrel’s eyes.
"I'd love to hear it."
The suit looked up to find itself facing a very angry Gloria.
"Ah, Dr. Aymar. I was expecting you. Aerith, your mother, and several other concerned adults are waiting outside for you. Why don't you go show them you’re OK while the Doctor and I have a little talk," the suit said as it gently handed Aerith the squirrel.
"Gloria?" Aerith asked, uncertain how to proceed.
"Everything is fine," she said as she squinted at the robotic beast.
"Gloria would find it difficult to destroy her own creation. As for her safety, worry not. The gallant Roscoe is keeping tabs on me as we speak, right good NAVComp?"
"Aye, ma’am."
"If you're sure..." Aerith said as she carried her squirrel out the hatch, leaving Gloria and the Minotaur alone.