The Contact Episode Three

by Albert Sartison

  “They also have corrections to their hormonal system, to weaken their instinct of self-preservation and make them more obedient. The behaviour of such animals differs considerably from that of others of their breed. Nevertheless, the habits of such cyborgs betray their animal origin. They too are inclined towards the behavioural templates typical of their race; gathering in packs, obeying the natural subordination in the pack hierarchy, domination and sexual cravings. They differ from the purely biological specimens of their kind in that all these instincts and behaviour templates can, when required, be subordinated to one senior in rank, whether a human or one of their own kind.

  “Those of you who have a comparatively wide experience of dealing with dogs can well imagine the reaction even of an ideally trained male dog when he senses that a bitch is in heat. In such a case, the behaviour of the dog will be dominated by his sexual instinct. You can give him any order you like as many times as you like, but most male dogs will run after the bitch, ignoring your commands.

  “Cyborg dogs have no difficulty in mastering their sexual instinct. They follow their orders punctiliously in such situations. The dog handler only has to give the dog a command, and his attention immediately turns to carrying it out. Cyborgs like this are of the second type.

  “And finally, the third type. These are organisms which on the whole are robots, but which have biological modules for some reason. This group includes, for example, humanoid robots like those we use for service work. For example, those in hospitals looking after severely ill patients, robot clerks, and so on.

  “Internally, they are 100 per cent machines. They have no internal organs in the human sense. Their cognitive capabilities are provided by electronic CPUs, and their energy suppliers are not mitochondria, but electric batteries.

  “But since they are working with people, they have to look as like them as possible. It is more acceptable to a human to converse with someone like himself, even if only externally, than with a soulless machine that looks like exactly that. Therefore they are fitted with a live epidermis, which is supplied with nutrients and oxygen on a principle very like that which takes place in a human being.

  “As the technology becomes more complex, the distinction between living and non-living becomes more and more blurred. Therefore, we tried not to only answer the question as to whether there were living incomers on the ship, but also the type of cybernetic organism represented by the alien ship itself.

  “The result of these studies is as follows. If the object is a hybrid mechanism, it is most likely some intermediate variant between the second and third types. If you will permit me to express my personal opinion, which admittedly is based not so much on facts as on my intuition, the object is closer to Type Three, but it is so highly developed that we sometimes take it for Type Two.”

  “So we are dealing with a very highly developed robot. Is that right, Professor?” asked MacQueen.

  “Absolutely right. The object has highly developed cognitive capabilities. It is able to solve complex logic problems, and even has quite a good conception of such a purely biological phenomenon as feelings. It understands their dynamics, and is capable to some extent of portraying them itself.

  “I am not talking about real feelings, of course, only about a simulation of them. Nevertheless, we have to admit that the simulation is very good. The important thing is that instincts are absolutely alien to the object. It knows of their existence, but it is not subject to them itself.

  “The practical conclusion from this is that we cannot frighten the object – by threatening it with extinction, for example. It has no fear of this. Its reaction to a threat will be based on the results of solving mathematical equations, not on a surge of adrenalin or some analogy of it in a blood circulation system.

  “You might make some impression on the captain of a ship with living beings on board by putting a pistol to his head, figuratively speaking. This sort of threat will not work on a cyborg of the third type.”

  Sullivan’s last words were addressed to MacQueen, who nodded to show that he understood.

  One of the historians asked for the floor.

  “Let us assume that the object is a Type Three cyborg; that is, a machine with no soul but with a highly developed intellect. How likely is it that it has consciousness, and therefore will be more like clever people than stupid machines in its behaviour?”

  Sullivan smiled broadly.

  “In my view, you are overestimating people and underestimating the capabilities of machines,” he replied.

  “You may be right,” laughed the historian, “but all the same, if the machine is as clever as a human being, how can it ignore the threat of destruction?”

  “Fear of this threat is rooted in the instinct of self-preservation. Type Three cyborgs do not have such an instinct, therefore nor do they have any fear of the end of their own existence. A computer is not afraid of being switched off.”

  “But if there is consciousness, that means it understands its own nature, and that it is capable of reflection. It may have no instincts at the hardware level, as we humans have. But should they not arise within the software? After all, we are interested in its reaction to our actions, not in the reflex mechanism which initiates it.”

  Sullivan shook his head.

  “Philosophers have been asking such questions for thousands of years. What if artificial intelligence machines became so clever that they acquired consciousness and became like us?

  “As a cybernetics specialist, I estimate the probability of such a scenario happening spontaneously as close to zero. You see, fear for your own life, like love of liberty, domination and so on, is a side effect of evolution. And, of course, of an evolution of which competition for resources is a natural, inalienable part.

  “An artificial intelligence created by us also evolves, but in this case we are, as it were, the natural force which determines the rules of this process. Our computers never compete for resources. Not with each other and not with us. They have not learned how to take them away, they only know how to obtain them. As a result of this, they have not developed their own reflexes, which means that machines can never be as we are in the sense you mean. Unless, of course, we ourselves decide to give them such properties.”

  “So how do you know that the object has not been specially given such reflexes?” objected the historian.

  “I feel that we are beginning to go round in a circle. My assumption about the nature of the incomer is confirmed by our experiments, which did not register any significant presence of emotions or primitive reflexes.

  “Anyway, in conversations of the sort we have been conducting with the incomer, or in political battles, your reflexes are more of an advantage to your opponents than they are to you. After all, a reflex is a quite primitive, predictable reaction. The more of the predictable there is in the actions of your political opponent, the easier it is for you to work out in advance how he will behave.”

  MacQueen signalled to Shelby to activate his microphone.

  “You said that the incomer is not afraid of anything. So you consider that our blockade will not produce the required effect?”

  “No, no, I only meant that the object will always act rationally on the basis of cold calculation. There is no point in hoping that he will lose his nerve, as can happen to even the bravest captain of a battle cruiser.”

  “I understand. During our last discussion, we also considered what sort of interest the incomer might have in the Solar System, what specific resources might interest them. Have you made any progress in this matter?” asked MacQueen.

  Shelby took the floor.

  “We are still in the discussion stage as far as that is concerned. The discussion as to whether there are living organisms on board the incomer’s ship took up most of our time. So we have no practical results so far.”

  “And theoretical results?”

  “Some theories have been suggested by colleagues.”

  “I would be
grateful if you could briefly explain the nature of the most credible of them,” said MacQueen.

  “I’ll be glad to.”

  Shelby moved over to the main monitor, which was displaying a chart of the Solar System.

  “One possible explanation for the incomers’ attention being drawn to our star system is that we have energy resources and useful minerals.

  “The greatest accumulation of energy takes place on our Sun because 99 per cent of the mass of the entire star system is concentrated in it. Furthermore, our star very efficiently converts huge reserves of this energy into electromagnetic radiation, which is radiated at very high density. It is also quite stable, and will remain virtually unchanged for the next billion years.”

  The chart of the Solar System on the main monitor was replaced by a coloured illustration.

  “But in all the parameters listed, our Sun differs little from billions of other stars in the Milky Way. On the screen you will see a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, which classifies stars by the basic star parameters: spectral class, surface temperature and absolute magnitude.

  “As you see, there is a vast number of stars like our Sun. There is nothing unique about the star in the centre of our system, so it would be illogical to ascribe the incomers’ interest to the energy aspect.

  “The next possible point of interest is our mineral resources. Our system, including the Sun, was formed from a dust cloud. As I have already said, most of its mass concentrated in the centre and formed the Sun; the rest coagulated into planets and asteroids. The composition of our planets and asteroids corresponds precisely to that of the proto-cloud, which, again, is not in any way unique in its composition in our galaxy.

  “However, from the astronomical point of view, a certain special feature of our system does exist, namely the presence of planets within the habitable zone. This is comparatively rare in our galaxy, but far from exceptional. There are quite a few star systems possessing planets with orbits within the habitable zone. See for yourself,” said Shelby, and gave another sign to the operator.

  The Milky Way was shown on the main monitor. Some stars were marked in pale blue.

  “As you see, there is a vast number of such stars. And these are only the potentially habitable star systems of which we have reliable knowledge. Let me remind you that a very large part of our galaxy is concealed from us by interstellar clouds of dust and gas, which makes it considerably more difficult to observe it directly. Therefore, there are very many potentially habitable systems which are unknown to us.

  “On this basis, it can be stated with a high degree of probability that the aliens’ interest is based on other motives.”

  “So what do we think those are?” asked MacQueen.

  “This question is still on the agenda. Considering that our civilisation is only now beginning to master the technology of terraforming, the much more highly developed incomers must surely have been using it for a long time. Therefore, we ourselves are the only aspect in which our star system is unique. We ourselves, as a biological species or as a civilisation.

  “Of course, apart from this, other purely speculative theories exist, but I would not be so bold as to call them scientific. They are pure fantasy.”

  “For example?”

  “For example, the incomer mentioned that the closest star system to us which its civilisation inhabits is the system of the star Gliese 581. Even though our minerals are not unique in the Milky Way, the Solar System is a space neighbour of Gliese. This leads to the thought that the mining of minerals in our system might be economically viable from the point of view of the incomers’ civilisation.”

  Sullivan joined in the discussion, filling the hall with his deep bass voice.

  “How far away from the Sun is Gliese?” he asked.

  “About 20 light years,” replied Shelby.

  “There must be some sort of asteroids or possibly other planets where the same minerals could be found within a radius of 20 light years from Gliese, surely?”

  Shelby thought it over, and nodded rather uncertainly.

  “I think so. I would have to look at the star charts to be sure. But yes, I think so. Twenty light years is a huge distance.”

  “So why not use them first?”

  Shelby shrugged his shoulders.

  “Why do you assume that these resources have not yet been used?” he replied, answering one question with another.

  “But we’re talking about such vast masses of material!”

  “Perhaps they’re building a cosmic skyscraper the size of a planet,” laughed Shelby.

  “Or the size of a star,” added MacQueen.

  “Then a gravity problem would arise. An object of that size would have a monstrous force of gravity,” objected Shelby.

  MacQueen’s assistant suddenly leant over the General and whispered something in his ear. MacQueen listened, nodded and made some reply. The assistant immediately got up and almost ran out of the hall.

  “Thank you for an interesting discussion, ladies and gentlemen. We shall continue it next time,” said MacQueen apologetically, and without further explanation, hurried out.

  Cat and mouse

  “So, what do we have here?” asked the Captain as soon as he appeared in the doorway.

  “Well, this is the picture,” began the engineers, controlling the image on the main monitor by gestures.

  “We’re here, and 137 is here.”

  “Ah, that means they’ve already noticed that we are on our way,” remarked Kimble.

  The star map showed not only the future flight trajectory, but also the history. Broken lines denoting the trajectories were marked with time figures to make it easier to understand the positions of the ships at specific time intervals. It was clearly apparent that an hour ago, 137 had sharply changed course. Its trajectory line was no longer perpendicular to the route of THP 11600, but at an acute angle to it. The lines intersected after about 50 hours flying time.

  “Yes, I’d noticed that.”

  “OK. Continue.”

  “Our trajectory is here, and he overtakes us just here,” continued the pilot, pointing to the image. “If we continue at the same speed, our paths will coincide after two days at the latest, just here.”

  The intersection of the two trajectories on the screen was shown in bold and marked with a skull and crossbones sign.

  “Allowing for the resolution capability of their radar, we ought to throw them the bait within the next ten hours at the latest. And we ourselves must go here, or here, or here,” interjected the engineer, drawing in the possible escape routes.

  The pirates had rather poor radar, judging by their route, because there was a considerable error in their readings of the location and speed of THP 11600. But this error would decrease as they approached.

  “If I understand your scheme correctly, once we’ve cast off the cargo, we won’t be able to catch up with it again, right?” asked Kimble.

  “Yes. We have accelerated to 90 per cent of maximum possible speed. If we go any considerable distance away from our cargo, we shall not be able to catch up with it again before it is out of the Solar System.”

  “So someone will have to intercept the cargo.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Ideally we ought to give warning as soon as possible that we are jettisoning the cargo, but we might be overheard.”

  “Break our cryptography? Never!” objected the engineer.

  “They may not need to break it; they may have a mole somewhere in the flight control centre.”

  “That sounds pretty fantastic to me.”

  “When I was still in the SSS, we were warned about this by military intelligence. I don’t think much has changed since then. Pirates are willing to pay top dollar for that sort of information,” said Kimble, and made a gesture to indicate that discussion of this subject was over.

  “But do we have to worry about what happens to the cargo?” asked the engineer. “We’re being attacked by pirates, we’re
saving our lives. The military can’t help us, so we are doing our best to protect ourselves. The cargo isn’t our problem anymore.”

  Kimble stared hard at him.

  “Do you know how much the cargo is worth?”

  “I have a rough idea.”

  “If you’re happy to have it taken out of your salary, we’ll be glad to forget about it,” said the Captain, looking back at the display.

  The engineer said nothing. It was apparent from his face that he felt somewhat put out. It wasn’t the crew’s fault that the military couldn’t protect them from armed attacks. Why should they risk their lives because someone couldn’t organise a rescue mission? Here they were trying to save their skins, and now the cargo was a headache to them as well. If the pirates didn’t throw them out into space, they’d get it in the neck at home for losing the cargo.

  Kimble, without taking his eyes off the screen, put a hand on the engineer’s shoulder and pressed it. Of course it wasn’t fair, but who ever said that life was fair? The Captain didn’t need to observe the engineer’s reaction, he had the same gut feeling himself. He knew his crew intuitively.

  “Right, that looks encouraging. What about our own radar?”

  “In what sense?”

  “In the sense that after undocking, we shall not be able to use active radar.”

  “Oh ok, what I propose is this. If we switch off our radar, we won’t be able to determine exactly where 137 is. Its radar is working and we hear it, but using someone else’s radar, we can only roughly determine the distance and direction.

  “So here’s what we do. We fix our radar on the cargo and leave it working as before. Let the pirates think that we don’t see them as a threat. That may reduce their vigilance somewhat.

  “Then we get the radar to send its data to us on a narrow beam, to keep us up to date about what’s going on. And without revealing our own ship. Not bad, eh?”

  Kimble nodded and smiled.

  “I like your plan. I’m fond of deception manoeuvres.”

  The engineer smiled. It was good to be praised by the Captain, it wasn’t easy to earn his praise.