The Lifeboat

by Keith Fenwick

  “It must have come as quite a shock to them when Myfair managed to wander around at will and kidnap the US President then,” Bruce suggested, almost to himself.

  He found himself momentarily confused by the multiple voices that had started having a conversation with him, about him and with each other in a way he was suddenly privy to. It felt like another communication channel had somehow opened up directly into his mind and this was before his own little voice got in on the act.

  The virtual voices of Leaf and the MPU merged so he could not pick one from the other. To confuse matters further, some chunks of the conversation were speech and others were projected directly into his mind somehow.

  Worse still, the little voices seemed to be giving him contradictory and downright conflicting information – one moment he was pretty indispensable and the Americans wouldn’t risk damaging him – he could just imagine Sue continuing to delude herself by maintaining he wouldn’t forget her and would soon come to his senses, pull over and let her back in the car.

  The next moment, Leaf seemed to be telling him if the Americans thought he was going over to the other side or escaping from them, they would take some kind of action to ensure the ‘other side’ did not get their hands on him. It all sounded very reminiscent of a 1960s Cold War Le Carré novel where the hero is making for his exit point at some remote part of the Iron Curtain with the baddies close on their tail and the goodies on the other side of the wire powerless to intercede.

  Bruce turned to Leaf. “Can you tell me what you really think? What does all this mean and what am I supposed to do?”

  “Don’t you know, Bruce? Haven’t you worked it out?”

  “What do you mean?” Bruce was getting a little exasperated by the whole situation.

  “The MPU is a machine entity, a very clever machine,” Leaf began to explain. “But at the end of the day it is just a machine with a set of general principles, operational guidelines and a set of pre-set contingencies it is bound to follow. It’s actually running through such a scenario now, believe it or not.” Leaf waited to let that little gem sink in. “The other challenge for the MPU is it is not the almost omnipotent entity it once was.”

  “So where is all this heading?” Bruce asked as his own little voice answered the question for him.

  “The MPU seems to have reverted to some previous, some earlier version of itself while it is rebooting and running a self-diagnostic check.”

  “So what does that mean?” Bruce asked with a sinking feeling. Maybe he should just pull over and give up. He had almost believed he was omnipotent for a while. But clearly he was not.

  Leaf seemed to consider the question but hesitated, maybe considering how the MPU might respond, what he might say or, more importantly, might do when her own and Bruce’s lives depended on a subroutine of an historically unstable chunk of complicated software.

  I regularly reboot myself to load operating system upgrades I have put together, and run a systems check. All pretty straight forward and in line with my standard operating procedures. However, after my last reboot something changed unexpectedly in my programming, the MPU said, saving Leaf the trouble.

  “Pardon? When did that happen?”

  For as long as I can remember, for as long as my programming records go back, I have monitored, managed and, to all intents and purposes, governed all systems on Skid and through the area of space Skid nominally controls. However, this is no longer the case. I’m powerful, still all but omnipotent in fact, but I need outside governance now.

  “You what?”

  I need a guiding hand or mind. I suspect this was originally the case when I was built and commissioned. It seems there was some kind of oversight or I was governed by a set of protocols. However, over time this has changed. The Skidians are an inherently lazy lot so I suspect that after a while they were quite happy to let me run the show. This meant that in due course I became the de facto government on Skid and all the Skidians surveyed.

  “So, I might be a little thick here but what does all this have to do with me?” Bruce asked. Though he sort of knew where the conversation was going to next.

  “A lot. The MPU doesn’t feel there is anyone left on the planet with the credentials to govern effectively. It’s a bit of a snub. But it doesn’t believe any of the emerging leaders or the few hereditary ones who are left – like Myfair – are sufficiently capable of mastering the complexities of planetary government,” explained Leaf. “Yet,” she added, almost as an afterthought.

  “So that’s why Myfair has been stripped of access to the patrol ship.”

  Well, Myfair can access the patrol ship, he just can’t do much with the access, but essentially you’re right. He can access the ship but unless his life is threatened he can’t travel anywhere without my permission.

  “And Leaf?”

  “I’m like an apprentice, potentially the Skidian the MPU is looking at to lead the Skidians into a new golden age.” But Leaf didn’t sound very convinced herself.

  “Whose apprentice? No, don’t answer. I think I get the picture now.” Bruce looked at Leaf and then the rear-vision mirror. “If that’s the case, why not give them …” Bruce nodded his head backward towards the chasing convoy, “… all they want in exchange for expert support and training. Surely there are better qualified people around to help you out than me?” Bruce was a little flattered by the MPU’s confidence in him on one hand but couldn’t think for the life of him why it thought he would be more useful than some trained expert from a big university or some other institution like the UN, on the other.

  There are two main reasons, the first being you have been to Skid and you understand us. The second is that the only leader from your planet we have had direct contact with tried to betray us. It was only your intervention that saved the Skidians from the depredations of Ediud and his Celcion legion. Besides, given their behaviour in terms of trying to coerce you against your better judgement, we can’t bring ourselves to trust them.

  “Also, as you have pointed out, these people …” Leaf waved vaguely out the rear window, “… want everything for themselves. Their whole ethos is about protecting their own interests, not helping others. In reality, the whole system of government here is about protecting the interests of a very small elite who either govern or control most of the wealth in this country and a large part of the world.”

  “So now what?” Bruce asked as he pondered the last statement. It was all getting very confusing for him.

  Leaf and the MPU seemed to be echoes of each other, singing from the same song sheet. Unless he was going crazy. There were names for people who thought they had a dog and some form of artificial intelligence talking to them. People who believed this kind of thing were usually doped up with various forms of medication, and Bruce was starting to wonder whether he should hand himself over to a mental health professional as soon as possible.

  Assuming he was in full control of his faculties, it felt he was almost in a no-win situation, although he did have some options. What he could not really understand was why the MPU seemed fixated about him as some kind of saviour for Skid and its people. In his mind he had not done a whole lot for the Skidians and, if the truth were known, felt a little guilty he had not tried hard enough to support them when he thought he could have done more for them.

  Actually, on second thoughts, he realised – and it was not a pretty realisation – he didn’t have many options at all. At some point he was probably going to have to make a decision – essentially, stay and fight it out with the great powers because there was no doubt when news of alien contact leaked out, as it surely would, the rest of the world would be clamouring for a piece of the action. Or leave Earth for good. Anything was preferable to falling into the clutches of the unruly mob tailing him at the moment, which he decided was a decision in itself.

  A mob that would attempt by fair means or foul to coerce or convince him into giving them full control over and access to the Skidian technology the
y assumed he was fully in control of. None of them seemed to understand that his access to the space patrol ship and the technology it represented was at the whim of the MPU.

  There was no happy ending he could see for anyone in the little drama unfolding around him, except perhaps for the inhabitants of Earth who were still oblivious to the fact they had been spared from an asteroid impact that could have led to a species extinction event for the whole planet.

  “OK, so where to next?” Bruce asked. The virtual red dots he assumed represented aircraft seemed closer now and seemed to be converging at a great rate of speed.

  The local security forces have attempted to take Myfair into some form of custody. He has resisted and I have extracted him, reported the MPU. In the process of defending himself Myfair and his assailants have all but destroyed the building in which he was resting. There are no immediate reports of casualties but I imagine the local authorities will have a lot of explaining to do about the damage. I also had to use extreme force to retrieve the young offworlder and his caregiver. I couldn’t separate them. All three are now aboard the ship and I am moving to extract you and Leaf as well. You are protected by a localised force field projected from the ship and in no immediate danger.

  Bruce watched as the aerial virtual dots moved closer and the ones he assumed were the convoy of vehicles trailing him, fall back a little. Suspiciously. Bruce tried to push the throttle through the floor to put some distance between them but he was already at full noise and the pedal wouldn’t go any further.

  Large explosions suddenly appeared on the road, sending huge flames and columns of dirt into the air alongside and ahead of the car. Bruce slammed on the brakes to avoid driving headfirst into the crater he was sure would have opened up in front.

  Leaf was pointing something at the roof of the car. Bruce glanced up and saw it had peeled back like it had been sliced open with a big can opener. Leaf unbuckled her seatbelt and, bracing herself against the seat, pointed her free hand at the sky.

  “What the …!” Bruce sensed rather than heard explosions above and behind them, then he sensed a large object falling out of the sky and bursting into flames on the road between them and the following convoy.

  “That’s a …”

  “Was an offworld warplane that was targeting us,” Leaf corrected him. “They will now keep their distance long enough for the MPU to reach us.”

  “How long will it take?” Bruce asked, worried the MPU might cut things a bit fine, or misjudge the intentions of the following pack. He had only just completed the statement when he felt a familiar gut-wrenching tug at his neck, and milliseconds later he found himself standing on the space patrol ship with Leaf and Myfair, beside a stunned-looking Mrs Pratt holding a happily gurgling little Bruce in her arms.

  News Flash

  We are receiving reports of a terrorist attack at a boutique hotel in downtown Portland, Oregon. It appears the hotel has largely been demolished in the attack but there are no current reports of casualties. Homeland Security forces, members of the FBI antiterrorism unit, local law enforcement, and fire and rescue authorities are all at the scene. Nobody has yet taken responsibility for the attacks. Portland had been considered a low-risk area for a terrorist attack but this is no longer the case.

  Breaking News

  America is once again on edge as news of multiple attempted terror attacks unfold in the western states today. Following reports of a gun battle in a downtown Portland hotel, news is just coming in that a suspect has been apprehended and taken into custody. Initial reports indicated a group of terrorists were identified at the hotel, and when the authorities moved in to take them into custody the terrorists opened fire and perished in the resulting gun battle. There are no reports of casualties among the police and other security forces involved in the firefight that led to the destruction of the hotel after a fire broke out in the building. All staff and other guests have been accounted for and were mostly evacuated before security forces moved in to apprehend the suspects.

  News Flash

  In an apparently unconnected incident a vehicle carrying suspected terrorists has been destroyed while fleeing from security forces after an aborted attack in Las Vegas. Missiles were fired by a military helicopter as the alleged terrorists attempted to flee along US95 after repeated efforts to get the car to stop. Initially the high - performance sports car used in the escape attempt effectively outran the ability of local security forces to set up roadblocks.

  First responders are on the scene and in the process of trying to identify the bodies found in the wreckage. There is mounting speculation the Taliban or Islamic State are mounting an offensive on US soil.

  An unnamed White House spokesperson, who cannot be identified as they are commenting on a matter outside their jurisdiction, reports there has been no loss of life or injuries to security forces and first responders involved in this incident.

  In other news … Two military attack helicopters based at Nellis Air Force Base have collided while on an exercise to the north of Las Vegas. There are no reports of any survivors at this time. We will provide further details as they come to hand. Our hearts go out to the families of the gallant service people who have tragically lost their lives while defending our nation from its enemies.

  President Mitchell – that was how he still thought of himself – cackled insanely and shouted, “Conspiracy! You are lying to the American people,” to his keepers. “You fools; you should have listened to me when you had the chance.” He threw the glass of water by his side at the television then picked up the little pile of pills the nurse had placed beside him and flung them one by one at the screen.

  “You fools,” he told no one in particular. His new handlers were there to keep him safe and out of trouble. Mitch was a long way from the centre of power these days. “I told you this man was dangerous and shouldn’t be underestimated, and you told me I was not qualified to make that judgement. I told you Skidian technology was far more advanced than ours and you didn’t listen. No don’t …” Mitch pleaded as the nurse approached him with a syringe in his hand.

  “Hold the old nutter down while I give him a sedative,” the nurse said to the orderly helping her and jabbed the needle into the drip line attached to his arm.

  “No, please don’t,” Mitch whimpered, a shell of his former self. But no one was listening to him or cared what he thought any longer. He was yesterday’s man, last week’s fish’n’chip paper.

  … In other news, questions have been asked about the whereabouts of President Mitchell. He has not been seen in public for several days, and key government officials are tight-lipped about his whereabouts and his state of mind, which is leading to speculation he has suffered some form of medical misadventure. However, experienced White House observers have explained it is quite normal for the President to be out of the public eye from time to time. He could be meeting any number of world leaders face to face in a low-key environment or could be in a strategy meeting with his key advisors at Camp David.

  The last comment held an element of truth – the President was at Camp David. But he was not meeting his advisors.

  …. is unusual is there has been no word from the President, no random Twitter message or press conferences. So where is he and why is he being so uncharacteristically quiet? More importantly, who is running the country at the moment? Who is in charge if the President is incapacitated? Vice President Wilmot is the next in line but when asked about the situation he had no comment to make.

  It is also extremely unusual that some form of official or unofficial communication has not been leaked at this point in time – in this age of instant communication and gratification.

  Vice President Wilmot has filled in for the President at the few public appearances he had been scheduled to make and could not be drawn on the President’s condition or whereabouts. Mrs Mitchell and the couple’s two adult children could not be reached for comment.

  Part Two

  One

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nbsp; Not for the first time in the recent past, and certainly not, he assumed, for the last time in his life, Bruce found himself wondering what the fuck he was going to do now. In some ways it was almost like his worst nightmare come true. The one where he had finally managed to commit some life-changing indiscretion after having drunk far too much than was good for him.

  However, he was as sober as a judge at the moment. Although, having said that, he could do with a drink as he attempted to process the events of the last few hours and days to try and make some sense of everything going on in his life. Like his bright, drunken ideas, his part in recent events and the way he had responded had seemed to be the right thing to do at the time, even if there was an element of bravado in his behaviour. Now he wasn’t so sure.

  One part of him maintained that as far as he was concerned he had had nothing to do with creating the situation he now found himself in. But deep down inside he knew this was just wishful thinking. He had failed to convince the Americans he had no control over the Skidian technology which appeared to them to be at his fingertips. On reflection, though, he might not have made this clear, and the situation wasn’t helped by all of Sue’s assurances to the contrary.

  If he was honest, in some respects it would have been fair to say he had been an architect of his own demise as he had cockily led General Smith and probably Dr Roach to believe he had full control over the spaceship and therefore access to Skid and the whole of the all-but-dead civilisation’s technology. Well, he thought that was the case; that’s what the MPU had led him to believe, after all.

  Bruce could simply have acceded to their demands and suffered the consequences when they realised he was reliant for access to the ship and all its marvellous technology on the whim of a capricious chunk of software. Either way he was not going to be left to get on with his life the way he wanted. But he was still convinced it would not have been the right thing to do to provide full access and insights he had about Skid, the Skidians and their technology to the Americans alone.