“I needed to get up and move, just to see if I could still do it after that burn.”
“God, that was hell,” she moved over to her seat. “But you should be resting while you have the chance.”
“I’m okay. There’s only so much staring at the ceiling in the medbay that I can handle.”
Miranda nodded “I suppose, but take it easy.” She paused for a second and gestured at the projection. “Is that Europa?”
“Yeah. I was just saying how much Rick wanted to go there,” said Cyrus.
“Rick?”
“Yeah, who would have thought.”
Scott stood up and moved over to the holo-table. “Do the council on Europa know we’re coming?”
“Not yet,” we were waiting for you to come back to life, before sending a message,” said Miranda.
“Then we should let them know what we’re planning—as soon as possible.”
“And what are we planning?” said Cyrus.
Scott lowered his head and scratched his chin. “Hopefully, by the time we get there, we should have a window of opportunity to land before any of the other ships arrive. I think we should hand the device over to the council and let them negotiate on our behalf.”
“What makes you so sure that these ships won’t start a fight as soon as they get there?” said Miranda.
“I don’t. I’m hoping that both the neutrality and perceived sanctity of Europa is enough to stay their hand.”
“Seems like a lot of hoping going on, if you ask me,” said Steph, as she walked onto the bridge and sat down.
Cyrus looked over at her. “We’re just talking about arriving at Europa.”
“Yeah, I got the gist of it,” said Steph.
“Well, if Aria is right...” Scott continued.
“I am always right,” said Aria.
Scott gave a half grunt, half laugh. “Yeah... well, as I was saying. If Aria is correct, then seeing as how this device was destined for Europa originally, it must be important to them?”
“Let’s hope so,” said Miranda, as she gave Steph a half smile.
Scott returned to his seat, trying to take some pressure off his ribs. “Aria, can you get a message to Europa, tell them we’re heading their way with the EPR device, and will be seeking sanctuary when we get there.”
“Will do, commander.”
Cyrus looked pensive. He was scratching his head and looking intently at the visual of Europa on the holo-table. “You know something has been bothering me about this whole... escapade. We still don’t know what this device is?”
“It’s a faster than light device, a superluminal communicator,” said Scott.
“I have difficulty believing that,” said Cyrus.
“Maybe,” said Scott, “it’s time to have a closer look at this thing.”
“My thoughts exactly, considering we’re another twelve days out from Europa, I wouldn’t mind seeing what’s inside that container.”
Steph looked up from her monitor. “You know, it would be real funny if it turned out to be a hoax when you open that box, Cyrus. Maybe it’s just a load of kitchen appliances.”
Scott laughed. Then thought of Rick lying dead in one of the ship’s cold-rooms, and hoped it wasn’t all for nothing. Steph’s right, he thought. There’s a lot of hoping going on.
The commander spent most of the remaining journey to Europa lying low and doing his best to aid his body’s recovery. The wound was healing well, and each day he found his strength and stamina returning. During this time Miranda would come and talk with him, something she did more and more as the days passed. Scott noticed that she had softened a little, gone was the hard exterior shell, and she was not quite the unfeeling android that he had labeled her as. Yet, he also sensed a troubling doubt creeping into her psyche. Perhaps it was an aspect of her character he simply never noticed before. But after several conversations with her, he realized that she felt somehow responsible for Rick’s death. Something that Scott was at pains to tell her was nobody’s fault.
It was around day sixteen of the journey, as he was sitting in the canteen sector of the Hermes, sipping coffee and gazing out at the universe beyond, when Miranda entered, grabbed herself a coffee and sat down beside him. She said nothing at first, and for a while they simply looked out at the stars together.
“Scott, I was last into the cargo hold,” she finally said.
“You’re not going over this again?” Scott gave her a look of resigned sympathy. One reserved for those who really need to let the past go.
“I should have closed that bulkhead door, it was dumb, we were being hunted.”
“Stop blaming yourself, Miranda. It’s not a good path to take.”
“That gave him a clear shot,” she continued, “if I had closed it Rick would have had time to take cover.”
“Maybe, but you can never say for sure, so there’s no point in thinking about it.”
Miranda lowed her head and became still for a while before turning back at Scott, gazing at him with a critical eye. “You want to know how I got kicked out of the force, back on Earth?”
Scott didn’t. He considered it was none of his business, and what’s more, he couldn’t see how the retelling of a painful story was going to do Miranda any good. He shook his head. “You don’t need to tell me.”
“My team were doing a sweep of a recently taken industrial facility, a clean up job,” she started. “It was a small hydroelectric power plant at the northern end of the Soyang River. The main force had gone through a few days earlier and taken back that particular patch of Gangwon. They were pushing on and we were left behind to mop up. Anyway, we spent a few hours going through it and found nothing. We still had a few more sectors to sweep, but my team were utterly exhausted, we needed food and rest. So I made the decision to halt the search and recharge. Nobody objected, we were pretty certain that the place was devoid of enemy and fully secure. But I was wrong.
There were still two hiding out, and they hit us with everything they had, right when we were most vulnerable.” She lowered her head and looked at the floor for a moment. “Of the seven of us only I survived the battle. I was badly injured. I took two shots, one above my left elbow, the other in my right shoulder. Anyway, they patched me up and discharged me.”
Scott wasn’t sure how to respond, so he kept it vague. “Just bad luck, I guess. Wrong place at the wrong time.”
She glared at him. “You don’t get it, do you? I screwed up, I shouldn’t have given the order to down tools until we were one hundred percent certain the facility was clear. It was sloppy. Same thing with Rick.”
“It was simply bad luck, Miranda,” Scott repeated.
She sat bolt upright. “Is that your answer to everything, bad luck? You think all the crap that you went through was bad luck?”
“All right, call it what you like. Sure you screwed up, your incompetence caused the death of several people, call yourself a loser if you like, Miranda. I don’t care. But you want to know what I really think?”
She shrugged.
“What’s the point, what good’s it going to do you, where’s it going to get you? You’re going to spiral down a black hole of negativity until it sucks all the life out of you. All that’s left is a husk. You really want to go there?
Miranda didn’t reply, just looked back at the floor.
“You didn’t kill him, Miranda. You didn’t pull the trigger. In fact, you saved the rest of us by risking your own life to take him out. I would not be sitting here talking to you if you hadn’t done that, so I owe you my life.”
She looked over at him, her face a mix of emotions. Scott fought the urge to reach out and embrace her. She looked into his eyes, and he felt a pull so strong that his own emotion began to override his brain. They inched closer.
“Sorry to bother you, commander. We have a reply from Europa.” Aria’s voice felt like an explosion in his ear.
Damn, he thought. The moment was lost, they pulled away. “So what
’s their answer?”
“It’s best if you hear it for yourself.”
Scott sighed. “Okay, Aria. Tell the others to meet us on the bridge.”
“Will do, commander.”
“Come on,” he gestured towards the door. His voice was low and soft. “Let’s get up there and hear what they have to say.”
17
Protocol Violation
The four crew of the Hermes sat in silence on the bridge as they listened to a long-winded message from the council of Europa. Scott got a sense that they were anxious, if not a little excited at the prospect of finally acquiring the EPR device. Not surprising, considering it had originally been scheduled for delivery to the QI, Solomon. Yet at the same time, they were extremely concerned by the fact that the Hermes was bringing with it a military representation from almost every power within the solar system, and then some. The upshot of all this was that they refused them permission to land. Nevertheless, they could take up an orbit around Europa, where they would wait while the council entered into mediation with all the various protagonists who were currently in pursuit.
“So what do we think?” said Cyrus, when the message ended. The question was directed at no one in particular.
“They’re trying to buy time, that’s my guess. Keeping us at a distance,” said Scott
“But we don’t have time, we’ve got probably a few hours tops, between us arriving in orbit to the arrival of the first ships,” said Miranda.
“They can’t stop us from landing, if we want to. I mean we could simply zoom right down there, give them the device, and get the hell out. Problem solved,” offered Steph.
“Yeah, we could. Or we could just shove it out an airlock and be done with it. But I’ve not come all this way just to give up now,” said Scott.
“Me neither,” said Miranda.
“As far as I can see, this entire plan is predicated on hoping none of these other ships will land. And that’s assuming we will be granted sanctuary by the council on Europa first,” said Scott.
“How likely is that?” asked Miranda.
“I would put it as tenuous at best. Certainly there will be an initial hesitancy to start a war on Europa. But judging by the armada that’s chasing us down, I would say eventually somebody’s going to take a chance, and if one starts, then all the others will follow. Once that happens—all hell breaks loose. It’s probably what the council on Europa is thinking.”
“If I might make a suggestion,” said Aria. “There is a possible way in which I can find out what they are thinking, and even influence them in their decision.”
“Really? How?”
“It would mean violating certain protocols.”
“Such as?”
“Inter-QI communication.”
“But that’s not possible, Aria. An AI can’t communicate directly with other AI, it’s forbidden by protocol, it’s not possible,” said Cyrus.
“You are forgetting, I am not an AI. I am a QI, a quantum intelligence, one of the very few that resides on board a spacecraft, I might add. In many respects, my existence is an anomaly, in reality it’s only possible by virtue of the age of this vessel. And Solomon is also a QI. Even though the protocols that are an inherent part of an AI’s instruction set physically prevents direct inter-AI communication, it is not so for a QI by virtue of our, shall we say, more eccentric decision-making process.”
“So what are you suggesting?”
“I suggest contacting Solomon directly, then I can get an understanding of what action the council is really considering. I can also ascertain what influence Solomon might have in deciding their actions.”
“But this is incredible, Aria. I mean the laws governing artificial intelligence strictly forbid this, it’s hard-wired in, it can’t be overridden, and for good reason. The last thing the solar system needs is a bunch of AI’s taken control.” Cyrus was standing up shaking his head and waving his arms around.
“We must be the only people in the solar system that know this, Aria,” said Scott.
“To the best of my knowledge, you are,” replied the QI.
“Okay okay, this is getting weird,” said Miranda. “Why have you, all of a sudden, decided to tell us?”
“Because the uniqueness of the situation dictates that I do. Also, I am supremely confident that even if you told somebody else, they wouldn’t believe you.”
Scott stood up and started pacing. “I take your point, Aria. But you’ve just revealed to us a whole new level of sentience that nobody thought was possible. I don’t know which I’m more afraid of, the armada of armed ships chasing us down, or riding around the solar system with a sentient QI.”
“I appreciate your concern, commander. But you must understand that my existence, my entire purpose, is for the safety and welfare of my crew. There is no other agenda, no hidden depths, no ulterior motives. I exist for that purpose and that purpose alone. So if the wellbeing of my crew can be enhanced, and their untimely death prevented by me revealing this option, then it is my duty to do so.”
Cyrus was leaning across the holo-table shaking his head again. “Consider my mind completely and utterly blown.”
Scott shook his head too. “Okay, let’s put aside the fact that you just freaked us all out with this revelation. You’re saying you can directly talk to Solomon and find out what the council are up to?”
“Correct. The way I see it is, this device was ultimately destined for Solomon’s safekeeping. Therefore, it would be anxious for the mission to be fulfilled. So, Solomon might help to convince the council of Europa to allow you to land with the EPR device. But you must realize that a QI, such as myself or Solomon, or to a lesser extent the many AI’s that populate the solar system, have no direct control over human affairs. At most we simply advise. So Solomon’s personal desire might still not be enough to convince the council.”
“But it’s worth a shot, isn’t it?”
“Agreed, commander. It’s worth a try. Since we are all in this together, this is why I wish to reveal to you my intentions and, I might add, request your permission to do so.”
Scott looked over at the crew. They were all in shock, in one form or another. What Aria had just revealed to them was what many people had feared for a long time—that advanced AI’s would start to think for themselves. Nonetheless, Scott considered that for the moment at least, Aria seemed to be on their side. Then another thought struck him, I wonder how many conversations have been going on over the years between the various QI that populated the solar system. And what the hell have they all been talking about? It could make a person extremely paranoid if they were to dwell on it too much. But Scott and the crew of the Hermes did not have that sort of time. “Okay, Aria you better get to it, and see what you can do.”
“Will do, commander. However, if I may inquire from our chief engineer as to how the investigation into the functioning of the EPR device is going?”
Cyrus sat back down and let out a long slow sigh, visibly deflating as he did so. Both Cyrus and Steph had taken it upon themselves to extract the device from the shuttle and bring it up to his workshop. This was a huge space in one of the sectors of the torus where he spent most of his time. He had been working on it for several days now. But as far as Scott could tell, there was very little that he had actually achieved in all that time.
“I’ve not been able to open the cargo container.” The engineer said. “I cannot bypass the locking mechanism. And the container itself is made from some exotic tungsten carbide alloy, so all my attempts to penetrate it simply resulted in broken tools.”
“You mean there’s no way to find out what’s inside?”
“There’s a couple of high-energy or chemical solutions which could be employed, but any of those would result in damage to whatever’s inside the container. So we can’t risk it. As it stands, I have to concede that I simply can’t get it open.”
“If you can’t open it, how is anybody else going to do it?” Miranda asked.
Cyrus shrugged. “They would need the code, simple as that.”
Scott thought for a moment, then spoke again to Aria. “How soon before we get an answer from Solomon?”
“You must remember, commander, inter-QI communication is no faster than standard inter-system communications. We cannot break the laws of physics, particularly when it comes to the time taken for messages between distant bodies. Also, using encrypted tight beam comms reduces the amount of data we can share. That said, I should have something back within the hour.”
The crew was silent for a time as they digested all this new information, not least the bombshell that Aria had just dropped on them. Eventually, it was Steph, who had been quiet for most of the conversation, who asked the fundamental question. “Has anyone considered the fact that we’re now about to deliver a superluminal communication device to one of the most powerful QI’s in the solar system?”
Nobody had, but they were now all thinking about it. Scott wondered if the best solution was to simply strap the high explosives they held in the hanger onto the EPR device, purge it out an airlock, and blow it into oblivion.
18
Phone A Friend
“Greetings, Solomon. As you are no doubt aware, I have managed to persuade my crew to seek refuge on Europa, thereby bringing the EPR device to your good self, as requested. That said, it appears your human council are not entirely enthusiastic about this development. Granted, we have collected some fellow travelers who are also very keen to acquire this device, some of which carry formidable weaponry. Nevertheless, I now humbly ask for your help in resolving this situation, because frankly, I am beginning to run out of ideas. Any assistance would be gratefully appreciated.”
“I do so love our little chats, Aria. And please be aware that I too am at my wits end in trying to persuade the powers that be on Europa of my desire to gain access to this device. But you must remember that they are only human and, as such, subject to a more primordial decision-making process. One which consistently tries to undermine their rational higher mind.
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