Alicia Jones 4: Enigma

by D. L. Harrison

  “Al, these readings don’t look quite right. It’s almost like a shadow, or two objects in the same place which should be impossible. Have you got a scan of a Drenil ship in normal space?”

  Al replied, “No. The Drenil don’t drop out very often, and not since I’ve been recording data.”

  I tapped my lip thoughtfully.

  “Al, when we drop a ship out into normal space, or the Drenil do, what happens? I mean specifically, they’d lose their scanning and communication ability through subspace, wouldn’t they? So would we, should we choose to do something similar.”

  Al replied, “Affirmative.”

  “That seems terribly inefficient, and annoying to be blinded in normal space. It could be why the Drenil are mostly always in that other space, but let’s assume that’s not the answer. Maybe they just like to keep hidden.

  “Okay, what if they aren’t blinded in normal space. Suppose we build a device inside the ship, a small sphere, and point very small emitters inward, and create a spherical shield. In essence, we’d be moving that space inside the sphere into subspace, yet with the shield in place it wouldn’t hurt the ship that surrounds it, or even effect the ship at all.

  “If we did that, then it wouldn’t matter where the ship was, subspace or not, we could read subspace through the internal sphere which will always be in subspace, as well as use it to communicate. I’m wondering if that’s what the Drenil do. It might explain what the shadow we’re seeing is, or what gives the scan data the appearance of two things being in one place.”

  Al replied, “That seems likely, but we’d have to try it with two different ships to find out. I’ll also have to work out a program to translate the inverted data.”

  Right, because whatever the sphere read internally would be from the opposite direction in subspace.

  It was a simple design, double shielded for containment, if it ever failed outside of a nominal shut down the ship would be toast. I also included a full array of highly sensitive sensors that surrounded the globe to read the radiation. It would be more accurate than pointing the external sensors inward through the ship, with all the other devices and power systems in the way. It was small enough, just a yard in diameter, to build a handful at a time, more than that really, so I submitted it to the fabricator in the lab ship, and then stood up and stretched.

  It was way past lunchtime, and I really needed to get something to eat before Jason showed up so I walked over to the break room.

  Jason Matthews was twenty-nine, had two PhDs, and was on the cutting edge of robotics. He had blond hair, gray eyes, and looked about four years younger than he was. He also had a dog robot with him, something that had been around for a while, but his was uncannily hard to detect as not being alive.

  I might not have noticed it was a robot at all, if I hadn’t been really paying attention or suspected it wasn’t in the first place.

  “Please, take a seat, and tell me about what you’re doing and trying to accomplish.”

  Jason sat and seemed to gather his thoughts, I smiled when he absently petted his dog.

  “Robotics has been around decades of course. Every house has automation now to a certain extent, vacuuming, food ordering, washing clothes, and even cleaning. My goal is to build a robot that emulates animals, and even humans, more accurately. Right now the robots just get things done, you don’t even notice them.

  “Yet, they’re capable of so much more. A live in maid, or nanny, a cook, butler, chauffer, and massage therapist all rolled into one. The technology has reached a point we can create realistic skin, and even facial movements.”

  I nodded in agreement but had objections, “Yes, but there are studies that show humans find humanoid robots creepy, the more realistic they are, the more people feel a negative reaction. Something to do with the lack of soul in the eyes I believe. No matter how realistic you can make the skin feel, or the facial movements appear. That’s why home automation robotics are so impersonal.”

  I decided not to mention all the horror sci-fi stories about androids that start this way, but then I shouldn’t judge, Al hasn’t tried to take over the world either. Yet.

  He nodded, “That is a valid concern, but believe it or not it’s less the eyes, and more the way the past attempts at humanoid robots moved, either their lack of facial expression or incorrect facial expression, blinking, and other subtle cues which alarmed the hind brain in a human. Animals move in a certain way, and if those ways are not seen it sets off our instincts that something is wrong. Hence the creepy feeling.”

  Hence? Who uses that word?

  “Well I have to admit, your dog isn’t alarming at all, and he seems quite real, alive even, but a human shape is different, isn’t it?”

  Jason nodded, “It is the most challenging shape for human acceptance. Which is the ultimate goal of my research.”

  I shrugged, “To what end? Why do we need robots, or should I say androids, when other shapes get the job done just fine? My A.I. can drive my car just fine through the interface, and he doesn’t take up seating room.”

  He shrugged, “But can a med doc give a child a hug after taking care of his or her skinned knee? What can match a massage from a warm human hand? Humanoid robots would also be more versatile than robotics designed for a specific job. I understand it will create some waves and take time to catch on when I’m successful, but that could be said for any number of new technologies.”

  Even if he failed, I supposed it wouldn’t hurt my bottom line all that much, but I also didn’t want to throw money away. Still, the dog was amazingly realistic. If nothing else, that would be an avenue to recoup losses, robotic pets.

  “How far along are you?”

  He smiled a little ironically, “Close enough to be creepy, I’m still working on algorithms to mimic the thirty facial muscles, including micro-expressions and subtle things like breathing, which is one of the big tip offs. Just normal expression, even if accurate, isn’t good enough to fool human instincts. The body is pretty darn close already. The actual physical tech is already good enough.”

  “Alright, you’re pretty convincing, and we can give it a shot. I’m forwarding a contract to you for review. Let me know what you decide, it’s not a normal grant but more in the way of a job offer. There is also possibly something we have here that will help, although I can’t tell you about it until you agree, and sign non-disclosure forms.”

  I thought that maybe the new A.I. matrix Shelly made along with a quantum computer could probably help with his issues.

  He nodded slowly, “Thanks for contacting me, I’ll read this over and let you know in a day or two?”

  I replied, “That’s fine.”

  I was thoughtful as he walked out. He was right about one thing, if he pulled it off it would be controversial to say the least.

  Chapter 22

  It was late in the evening, and Kristi, Joe, and I were watching television when Al interrupted with more news.

  Al said, “The council bought the platforms, and also passed on that you shouldn’t build any military technology with your fabricators any longer, save for experimental. I believe they don’t want you to have stock, and they’ll make it when they order it.”

  I wasn’t sure who was ultimately behind pulling my teeth, but it was a polite fiction. I still had access, just not in ownership. After all, I needed that access to continue to support the fleet and any upgrades, so in reality I could seize and control platforms at will, not that I ever would. Al broke me out of my thoughts when he continued.

  “The lab ship and command ship are now capable of traversing subspace, though the latter is untested as it would have been seen. I’ve also installed the new subspace sensor and communicator, should I proceed with testing?”

  I thought about it. A part of me wanted to be there, but honestly it wouldn’t be all that exciting, and if the ship blew up it was better not to be there. That was a rather obvious thought, but it didn’t make it less true.

 
“Go ahead, anything else?”

  Al said, “Yes, the treaty worlds have voted for eradication of the bugs.”

  I closed my eyes and sighed. I really needed to teach Al priorities, that should have been the first thing he’d said.

  I subvocalized, “I see, and when will this happen?”

  Al said, “Unknown, I believe they bought the platforms at this time for defense of our worlds, and plan to send most of the fleet.”

  “Proof?”

  Al replied, “Nothing direct. Conjecture based on increased fleet activity and delivery of food supplies, along with deployment of some platforms to both our colony and the Knomen world, most likely to relieve ships currently there.”

  “Anything else?”

  Al was silent for a moment, “You may be interested to know fifteen of the thirty-nine treaty worlds, including Omara, Leira, Tressia, and the Knomen colonies declared that this is an aggression, and not mutual defense. They refused to take part in the eradication even if they won’t actively oppose it. Responses of the other worlds are pending.”

  For some reason that cheered me up, although Earth not being a part of that declaration saddened me. I wondered why, they weren’t a part of it that is. Politics no doubt.

  Al continued with his report, “We also located in the last few weeks, several more primitive humanoid races toward the rim through the stealth sensor net. As for what we know, there are four more space age but pre-FTL races for us to find, and several thousand worlds that will support humanoid life.”

  “Several thousand? How did you determine that?”

  Al replied, “Planetary signatures in subspace indicate oxygen rich worlds in the goldilocks zone, I can’t tell how many of them actually have humanoid life, only the ones that have ships in space around their solar system.”

  Based on what he’d just said, it appeared the stealth sensor net would still have its uses. I felt a little bad and dishonest not updating anyone on the latest breakthroughs. On the other hand, the Earth had gained a lot of power very quickly, and this latest invention would help them carry out their mission of so called eradication with one ship and very little time, something I wasn’t prepared to allow.

  So called eradication, because in truth it’s genocide.

  I did wonder however, just how the council and the leadership of Earth would take me keeping these secrets if they found out I had this technology. Most likely with mistrust and suspicion, but even so, I wasn’t prepared to change my mind anytime soon.

  I wasn’t giving serious thoughts to abandoning Earth or anything like that, but I considered maybe going to visit other worlds for a while. I had some in mind, the ones that refused to commit to the horrific plan for instance. I’d only been to Tressia and Leira, that left thirteen worlds to visit, two of which I was already a little familiar with the species. Namely the Knomen colonies, and the Omara.

  Either way, any new breakthroughs made or things I focused on for the next while wouldn’t be in regards to space, or have military applications. Not until I saw how this all shook out. I’d be keeping my latest invention to myself for now, I knew I could trust Kristi, and Al. No one else knew.

  I was about to ask Kristi and Joe if they wanted to do a tour of worlds, when Al interjected again.

  “You have a call from Bill Samson.”

  “Answer it,” I said as I stood and walked out of the room for privacy.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey Alicia, it’s Bill,” he drawled, I could hear his smile in his voice.

  I couldn’t help the smile that lit my face, or the accompanying surge of guilt, “What do I owe the pleasure? Everything okay down there with my family?”

  Bill replied, “Everything is fine, just got to thinking that it might be fun to get together for dinner and catch up, maybe talk about old times.”

  “Tomorrow night? Dinner?” I asked.

  Billy replied, “Sounds good, how about Mexican?”

  Hmm, that sounded good.

  “Mia’s Tex Mex at seven?”

  I heard the smile in his voice as he replied, “Sounds like a plan. See you then Alicia.”

  We said our goodbyes and hung up.

  Well, maybe my escape to other worlds would have to wait a bit. I had a date… Despite the guilt, I was going to go.

  Besides, it wasn’t over yet, there was still time for them to come to their senses. They’d found five of eighty-eight Bug worlds so far, it would take a long time for them to find the rest, especially in the arm of the galaxy we hadn’t even started to seed with sensors yet, and I sure as hell wasn’t sharing what I knew.

  I’d always believed we had to keep pushing, I was sure there was more to come, always more to learn, and we might one day need that to meet our enemies, especially the ones we don’t see coming. I firmly believed there was no pinnacle of technology.

  On the other side of the coin, I worried that growing too quickly was a danger in itself. I’d saved Earth from the Knomen, but had I doomed them to self-destruction and corruption? Maybe I was overreacting, but was it possible to overreact to genocide?

  Did I have the right to withhold the science because of my own personal worries about morality? Absolutely, it was my discovery. I just needed to be wary about trying to impress that morality on everyone else, or becoming corrupted myself. Still, there were plenty of other mysteries to plumb, I was sure I’d find something.

  Only time would tell how it all works out.

  Afterword:

  I hope you enjoyed this story, if you did please leave a review. Reviews are the lifeblood of independent authors, and I would appreciate greatly any constructive feedback or opinions.

  About the Author: If you have any comments or suggestions you can send me an email at dlharrisonauthor@gmail.com If you like my work, or even if you don’t, please consider leaving a review of this book. I can also be found at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7456808.D_L_Harrison

  Other books by D. L. Harrison:

  http://www.amazon.com/author/dlharrison

  The Formerly Dark Mage, by D. L. Harrison – This stand-alone fantasy book follows the life of Silvia and takes place in a world unique and separate to our own.

  Silvia is a dark mage. Unfortunately, she finds herself about to be sacrificed. Someone must have told her evil master about her plans to kill him and take over. After that, things just seem to go downhill. She has no choice but to escape the kingdom of Zual, something that to her knowledge has never been done before. She will need to deal with many issues she never had to face before.

  Among those issues, the white mages, and her conscience.

  Celia Winters Novel Series

  Witch’s Moon: A Celia Winters Novel Book 1

  Celia Winters was raised by her single mother, and her earliest memories are of the store her mother owns and the nearby coven, who have always been her family’s close allies and friends.

  She grew up believing her magic was weak, but she was satisfied with her life, and happy. She was a midwife, healer, and supplier of surrounding covens.

  Then her mother died, and she’s about to discover she isn’t who, or what, she believes herself to be, not completely. She will learn that her entire life up until now was a lie. She’ll need to figure out her place, who she is when she no longer recognizes herself, and try to hold on to her closest friends as she gathers enemies for the simple crime of her existence.

  She’s stronger than she believes, but will it be enough?

  Power of Air Series:

  Just a Psychic: The Power of Air Book One starts off this series.

  Ben has grown up with missing memories of his early childhood.

  He has known he was a psychic since his earliest memories, seeing the future and gaining knowledge with his gifts.

  Is it possible he isn't just a psychic?

  Ben's world is about to be turned upside down as he turns twenty-one, all is not as it seems.

  Alicia Jones novels is a series that follows a brig
ht young inventor and scientist named Alicia Jones. It is a space opera and light science fiction.

  The first book is titled First Contact:

  Alicia Jones is a genius, and a little odd. At just twenty-three years of age, she is close to finishing her doctoral dissertation. But when she tests her latest theory in the lab to generate a strong EM field, it has very unanticipated results. Results that lead to faster than light travel, and first contact with another race.

  Her life just gets more complicated after that, when she finds out who she really is, and that the universe may not be as nice a place as she’d been told. Her determination to help keep Earth safe takes her to places more dangerous and strange than she’d ever envisioned.

  Spirit Sorceress series, by D. L. Harrison is a new urban fantasy series. Miku is a spirit sorceress who spent the last one hundred years growing up and learning about her power in the forests near Seattle Washington. She’s about to make her debut in the big city, but not in a way she ever expected.

  The first book is titled Spirit Sorceress:

  Miku is a spirit sorceress who spent her unusually long childhood in the forest away from the city with her mother and father. After tragedy strikes, she finds herself alone and on her own. She knows that one day she’ll need to move to Seattle, and fully accept her birthright, and if necessary finish her training on her own.

  But before she’s ready, and still in grieving, a rogue vampire and his band come along and change everything. She’ll need to learn her new place in the world, and find some allies quick if she’s to survive.

  Book Description

  Alicia Jones is concerned about a few things. The bug threat, the quick rise in technological superiority for Earth, and what technology or scientific theory she’s going to focus on next.

  After a personal tragedy she starts going through the motions, almost directionless as the treaty worlds debate strongly about what to do with the Bug threat. That is until a team of scientists are put together to approach the Drenil, and try and work out a way to communicate with the very alien species, which uses technology that seems more like magic than science. It’s an Enigma which may prove impossible to discern.