USS Kepler Dawn

by Gerald Lane Summers

Thinking out loud, I volunteered: “Was it to allow someone to take over the monitoring system for their own use? Was it part of a plot? Has it really existed unused in this spot since the ship’s departure from Earth? Or, could it have been there all the time, allowing whoever designed it to alter images at will and spy on the entire ship without the captain’s knowledge.”

  Herman continued, “Those are very good questions. Is it possible Captain, if there is such a diverter in the system, it was in use back in the days of construction and embedded at that time? If so, what was the purpose? Who else would have been authorized to monitor the activities of the entire ship and control what was to be seen and what was not?

  At any rate, if someone wanted to tap into the video system without it collapsing it, they must have had access to a second independent video control system capable of taking advantage of the one already in place. And that knot-like structure is likely where it would have been connected.”

  Colonel Lipscomb looked closely at the knot-like photon flow, and asked if the captain had a magnifying glass.

  “No, that would be rather quaint. What I can do is blow this video up for you down to the atomic level to see the smallest details.”

  “Please do. I want to see where in this knot the flow exits.”

  As it grew on the screen, Lipscomb moved closer to the diagram, staring at a peculiarity. “Look here,” he said. “It seems to have a series of offshoots rather than just one. That could mean there are several entry portals from which a person could access the system in complete secrecy and even delete all records of what they had done.”

  I had a very disturbing thought. Again it just popped into my head.

  “Damn, Captain,” I said. “This has me worried. We may have stumbled upon part of a system to support a take-over of the ship. If that was the purpose of its installation, we could have a nascent mutiny on our hands. A mutiny planned for over ninety years. Who would have been that far sighted, that paranoid or that large a megalomaniac.”

  The captain stood, stepped back and looked at each of us individually. “This is to remain absolutely secret. No one is to talk of it at all. Whatever is going on here, while I think mutiny is a bit far-fetched, could represent an existential threat to the ship and its mission. We need to look into it further. If it is a small part of a larger plot, there would be many other things the people involved would need to support whatever their plan actually is. Weapons would be my first concern.

  Colonel, take your investigation step by step just as you would have done if you had never heard of this situation. The perpetrator of all of this must not get a hint that we suspect anything other than that there has been a mix-up or a hoax involved. When you complete your investigation, have cross checked every person and his location in the ship at the time of the shooting, let me know and I will re-convene this group. I have some thoughts on the set up of the system and it may be easier to solve than we think. From now on, however, you must all consider yourselves part of the working investigative group and for public consumption, you are nothing more than an advisory panel for the study of Kepler 186f’s new moon. I will log that assignment into the main computer.”

  We all responded in unison, “Yes sir.”

  As we walked out of the captain’s office, I asked Colonel Lipscomb if I could be of any help to him. He studied me for a moment and then nodded. “I’d like for you to snoop around among the teenagers and see if you can pick up any rumors. Sometimes kids give things away. And, you seem pretty smart for a new ensign, so if you come up with more good ideas, let me know immediately.”

  “I will, and in the meantime I’m supposed to be forward at the astronavigation station. Lieutenant Commander Herman and I work together studying the signals from the Kepler system.

  Chapter 14

  “Colonel Lipscomb,” I said loudly as I turned around. He had not quite reached the closest tube entrance before an idea popped into my mind. I double timed it to his location.

  “I think a logical first step would be to review the construction records to find out who was in charge of designing and building out the photonic video system. Those records would be either in the captain’s office or in the digital library system. The latter is more likely. I’m pretty good at accessing things in the library. Would you mind if I took a look there? I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes or screw up something you’ve already thought of.”

  Lipscomb nodded. “I was just thinking of how I would do that. And, I’m guessing the captain is already at it from his own station, so it would be better to do it from the library and then compare them.

  I suspect that you would fit in there better than I, so yes … take a look and let me know what you find. In the meantime I’m going to check on the status of the search and find out if they have located any DNA on the weapon.

  “And, where it came from?” I added. Was it checked out of the armory, a personal weapon, or what? I know the Marines do target shooting and am pretty sure no one else is allowed to do it. In fact, I doubt if anyone was even allowed to bring a weapon on board before departure. They would have been searched thoroughly, wouldn’t they?”

  “You’d think, though there is no certainty. It was a long time ago and if the person was of high rank, he or she might not have been searched.”

  The main library was located close to the center of the ship, half way down from the bow. I’d spent a great deal of time there over the years and had come to love the atmosphere. The place was huge, generally full of young people pouring through the massive data computers, scrambling to complete term papers or other projects, while adults were trying to better themselves or just enjoying the millions of digital books on every conceivable subject.

  Coffee and candy was available free at a carousel located at the center of the room. Unfortunately, you had to sit in special isolated cubicles if you wanted to take advantage of the perk. It was ostensibly to prevent accidental damage to the entry portals. Why the individuals who frequented those hideouts were not four hundred pounders rolling naked on special beds, I could not figure. I do know they tended to read love stories, because every time I went into one of them to browse, someone would have left their program running on the machine. The candy and coffee bunch was very casual and did not consider cleaning up after using the system. What would we do without the cleaning robots? We’d be hip deep in candy wrappers and cracker crumbs.

  I slipped into my favorite place, a cubicle located toward what I considered the rear of the facility. I felt more comfortable there knowing I was as far away from the other visitors as I could get. Someone once told me the forward cubicles were infested with cooties. If that was so, I’d never seen one. In fact, I did not know what one looked like. Nevertheless, every time I came in, I avoided those units. It’s hard to shake old tales.

  After adjusting the chair to fit my usual position while working, I turned on the keyboard and turned off the sound control. I could have asked the AI computer to do my searches verbally as usual, however with the classified nature of these events; I could take no chances of someone overhearing the conversation. And, since I could manipulate the touch screen and the old fashioned keyboard very fast and enjoyed the process, it was not a real problem. An added benefit was that it allowed me time to think my questions through.

  I switched the master control to internal search and typed: “Computer, pull up the ship’s construction index, please.”

  The computer immediately instructed me to enter my ID number. Only officers were allowed to search certain indexes, and the construction records were included. Once into the system, I asked the computer to identify the last person to search those records. Again, it instructed me that such records required an override code. I thought for a moment, and then picked up a com unit. They were attached to the wall to the right of the computer AI’s entry panel. “Connect me with the CID Chief, Colonel Lipscomb, please.”

  Lipscomb answered almost immediately.

  “Colonel, I
need an override code to access certain parts of the construction records. Do you have one?”

  “Yeah, hold on —

  Okay, it is a rotating number that changes every day. Today’s number is 745-284. It will work on any library program system until ten o’clock tonight. Call me again in the morning and I will update it for you.”

  “Thanks, Colonel. I’ll keep in touch.”

  I entered the key number into the AI and asked my question again. The index came up before I was finished typing the question. That’s how good the artificial intelligence systems were, and in recalling that fact I made a note to myself to ask the system to give me its opinion after I completed the individual tasks.

  I scanned the construction index and after locating the photonic monitoring system plans, I realized the number of entries was so massive that it might take all day to find what I was looking for. Finally, I typed in a request for the computer to simply locate the system. Once it was located, I requested a trace be brought up. In seconds, I had the same system in front of me that the captain had accessed in his office.

  “Computer, can you tell me who designed the photonic monitoring system?”

  “It was a team of engineers on Earth, at the JPL laboratories.”

  “Who led that team?”

  “Doctor Charles Boggs, now Commander Boggs.”

  “What was the purpose of the knotted complex in section 104Z.”

  “I do not have a record of that; however it would appear to have been designed as a method of allowing additional access to the monitoring portals without disrupting the flow of data subject to quantum security.”

  “How many portals does it serve?”

  “Five plus those in the captain’s and chief engineer’s offices.”

  ∆ ∆ ∆

  I leaned back and thought about it. It all seemed reasonable, so why didn’t the captain tell us about the additional portals? He must have known. My conclusion was that he had probably forgotten about them. After ninety years of not using them, if he had not used them, the captain could easily have forgotten the details of the photonic structure. The chief engineer, Commander Boggs, would have had to use them to monitor the ship’s functions from different locations. I considered this and realized it made perfect sense.

  “Who last accessed the ship’s construction index?

  “Captain Johan Hollenbeck.”

  “When was that?

  “One hour ago.”

  I thought back a bit and calculated that it corresponded to the meeting we’d had in his office.

  “Has Captain Hollenbeck ever used one of the other portals served by this complex at section 104Z.”

  “I have no record of the captain ever using one of the monitoring portals, other than the one in his office, during the course of this voyage.”

  “Has anyone else accessed the records for the ship’s photonic monitoring system in the past twenty four hours?”

  “Yes. Besides Captain Johan Hollenbeck, Commander Charles Boggs accessed the system from his personal office portal earlier today.”

  I pushed back my chair and pondered this information. Commander Boggs was Buryl’s father and without doubt authorized to access any aspect of the ship’s operation. He was the chief engineer and like the captain, was a plank owner involved in the ship’s construction.

  “Where is his personal portal located?”

  “The portal he uses the most is in his office. Is that the portal you are referring to?

  “How many are there?”

  “Besides the captain’s and that of Commander Boggs, there are five. I believe I reported that a few moments ago. Are you having memory problems? If so, you should report them to the medical department.”

  Sigh. “Thank you for your concern. That will not be necessary.”

  “Are all of those five considered Commander Boggs’s “personal portals?”

  “They are all assigned to him as the chief engineer. “The chief engineer has several different portals because he is frequently required to monitor systems in widely separated areas.”

  I had not asked the second part of that question and did not worry about it. In fact, I expected it to follow the obvious and provide me with whatever it thought I needed to know. The AI computer was intelligent and had anticipated it.

  “How often does he use the monitoring system?”

  “Almost every day.”

  “Relate the dates, times and locations from which he activated one of the monitoring portals.”

  “Do you wish to know for a specified period of time or since the voyage began?”

  “For the past two days, and print the answers out for me.”

  “On the screen or on paper?”

  “Paper.”

  Paper is rationed. Do you have a genuine need?”

  “Yes. I will return the paper when my task is complete.”

  “Very well. Bring it back here and note its return to the re-cycling system.”

  I took the document out of the printer and scanned it. “Oh, boy. This is interesting,” I thought.

  The print-out showed that Commander Boggs had used a portal for monitoring located near the Fusion compartment at 10:00 A.M., and again at 10:01 from his office in the next corridor over from the captain’s. Both offices were located toward the forward part of the ship. The distance between them and the fusion room would have precluded one person from accomplishing that feat.

  “Did the same person use both monitoring portals during these time periods?”

  “Which portals?”

  “The one near the Fusion room and Boggs’s office.”

  “Yes.”

  “How is that possible? They are too far separated.”

  The AI hesitated. I’d never seen it do that before.

  Finally, it replied. “Your calculations are correct. The average walking speed of the average human would preclude the Chief Engineer from using both systems within the time frame established. The records show, however, that both portals were accessed using the same code, although the monitoring system itself does not confirm this. No one can be seen operating the portal in the commander’s office. The commander himself is identified working in the Fusion lab until well past 10:30 A.M.”

  “Is there any record of the monitoring system’s quantum code being overridden?”

  “That is impossible.”

  “That’s not what I asked. Go back to yesterday and before 10:01 this morning and identify all personnel who entered Commander Boggs’s office.”

  “Commander Boggs entered yesterday morning, worked until 9:30 A.M. and then left to go to the Fusion room. Indications are that the portal was used by someone while the commander was gone, although there is no visual image of that person available. I believe now that person tampered with the system and breached the quantum code, removing all record of his presence. There is no other explanation and no further record available.”

  I got up from the desk and started walking back and forth.

  “Are you finished with this session, sir?”

  “No.”

  I returned to the portal and began typing again. “Is there a back-up system available showing everyone who has ever used one of Commander Boggs’s monitoring portals?”

  “Yes. How far back do you wish to go?”

  “Five days.”

  “During the past five days, both the commander and Cadet Buryl Boggs have used the portal in the commander’s office.”

  Ah, now we’re getting somewhere, I thought.

  “What did Buryl do while in the office?”

  “He monitored several individuals, noted where they were and what they were doing. He also kept a running screen on Commander Boggs’s activities. ”

  “Who were the individuals he monitored?”

  “One of them was Ensign Andy Kelso, one was Commander Boggs, one was Lieutenant Commander Anne Herman in her private residence, and the other was Miki Sakura.”

  I could feel the heat cre
eping up my neck. The bastard had been spying on people, including me and Miki, and probably trying to get something on me or just satisfying his own lust.

  “Do you wish to pursue this further, Ensign?”

  I thought for a moment. “Yes. Can you play back all of Buryl Boggs’s activities yesterday before 10:00 A.M.?”

  “Yes. Where do you wish me to start?”

  “From the time he left his family’s apartment in the morning. Also check to see if he was carrying a plasma pistol or picked one up during his trip to the commander’s office.”

  “Do you authorize an infrared heat scan for this search?”

  “Yes.”

  “There is no visual record of Buryl Boggs leaving his family’s apartment before 10:00 A.M. this morning or that he possessed a plasma pistol prior to any of his entries into the commander’s office. There is also no record of his going in there or of coming out this morning.”

  “Do you have any record of him anywhere on the ship before 10:00 A.M?”

  “He appears to have visited colonial headquarters and spoke with Director Marshal yesterday and again today. He stayed for several hours yesterday and is shown coming out the director’s office at 9:45 A.M. today. There is no visual of him going into commander Boggs’s office.”

  Can you tell me if there is a plasma pistol in his family’s apartment?”

  “There is no plasma pistol there now; however there was one in the commander’s office five days ago.”

  “When did it disappear?”

  “Two days ago.”

  “Do you know where it is now?”

  “It is in the possession of the CID Chief, Colonel Lipscomb. A Marine appears to have found it in a ship’s frame.”

  “Do you have any visual record of how it got there?”

  “No. It seems to have disappeared at the same time the quantum code was broken.”

  “Where was the commander when the pistol disappeared from his office?”

  “He was working on the reserve anti-gravity engines in anticipation of using them to increase the ship’s speed.”

  “So, the commander did not remove the plasma pistol from his office?”