STAR OF EPIPHANY

by OMAR FINK

  Tony asked, “TYCHE, how significant is the ribbon limit, and when does it become important?”

  TYCHE responded, “A sliding scale is needed to answer this question of course. We are constantly improving the ribbons and building more elevators. The key issue is how fast we can improve. By year seven, about three to four years from now, we’ll reach a tipping point where building new elevators won’t help anymore. At that point, we’ll need some kind of large improvement in ribbon strength in order to reach our final goal within ten years. We can reasonably predict small improvements that come with normal industrial development cycles, but we can’t reliably predict a large breakthrough type event. Does that answer your question, Tony?”

  Tony nodded but looked distracted and worried, “Yes, TYCHE. Thank you. That was excellent.”

  Zorba smiled around the small group, “That was excellent, indeed. It illustrates my thesis that the scope of objectives for TYCHE should be expanded. I am aware that it has been used for elevator loading optimization and the optimization of habitat trajectories. I’d like to use TYCHE to investigate the history of MANN. Is that possible?”

  Peter Anderson smiled and pushed his fingers back through his white hair. When he spoke, his mouth made a crooked smile, “Of course it’s possible. That’s not the right question. The right question is how much effort will it take and what kind of results can we expect and how useful they will be.” Peter rocked back in his chair as though he was finished, but he kept talking, “The optimization problems you mentioned are complex, and involve large amounts of data, and often dynamic adjustments for real time results. An historical investigation is simpler in one regard, that it’s limited to a somewhat linear data timeline. It’s also presumably limited by a small amount of data available if the story is shrouded in mystery as you say. But that mystery also adds a level of complexity because various scenarios will have to be tested for likelihood. This is similar to the stock trading functions we were using several years ago. Those factors should put this problem within a reasonable level of effort. This leaves us with detailing our expectations and anticipating their usefulness. What you think the most possible result will be?”

  Zorba smiled a little as though he had anticipated this question. He said, “If the rumors were correct, Michael and MANN made some scientific breakthroughs they kept secret, including some kind of space drive that enabled them to leave, which they then did. If that story line has any validity, TYCHE should be able to give us some level of confidence that it actually happened. If that is the result, then TYCHE should be able to provide us with a map of what they investigated, and what they found. You said we need to determine how useful this project would be. Producing a map that points the way to a space drive would be very useful as well as lucrative.”

  Tony responded, “Lucrative indeed! But the results may show little or no correlation to the legendary story, and therefore be a complete waste of time and effort. And I don’t see any way to easily predict our chance of success in reaching either a positive or negative conclusion.”

  Peter cleared his throat, “There is.”

  Tony responded, “There is what?”

  Peter replied, “There is a simple way to predict our chance of success in finding some conclusion. Ask TYCHE.” His eyebrows raised.

  Everybody at the table looked around the group at everybody else. Before anybody else could speak, TYCHE answered, “There is a very high probability of finding a conclusion in the endeavor you have been discussing but whether the result will be a positive correlation or a negative one is nearly a coin toss or a fifty/fifty chance. The chances seem to be slightly higher for a positive result, but that is partly because there is also a chance that the result will be non-determinate. I calculate fifty-two percent for positive, forty-five percent for negative and three percent non-determinate.”

  Zorba took charge of the discussion, “I’ll take those odds and I’ll fund the project completely. I’ll also dedicate a substantial portion of my investigators time to search out and find the historical records. Any additional resources that need to be added to the computing system will remain with it after the conclusion of this effort. The only thing I ask in return is exclusive rights to use the information for one year before it is released publicly.”

  +3 years, 6 months, ZURICH, SWITZERLAND

  Retired General Bill Decker sat at the AGT conference room table. He wore a dark blue suit jacket with thin pin stripes a shade of blue just slighter lighter than the jacket. Under the jacket was a white shirt with dark blue tie. His thin lips and face, and the way he leaned forward over the table conveyed an intense expression of being ready to do something. He spoke to the video screen and view point on the nearby wall, “Good morning, this is Bill Decker at AGT in Zurich. Sam Hoffman is also here with me, and Billy Street is joining us from Geneva. Zorba Omega is in Greece. I also want to introduce you to a extraordinary cyber warrior who goes by the handle of ‘Muffled Edge’ or usually just ‘ME’. ME is on the call from Texas. All of you have specific jobs on this team. The team itself has a purpose of at least slowing down if not defeating the terrorist group known as ‘The Resistance’. We’ve all heard the news about this group turning to violence. This is not a surprise. We have been watching them for some time. Wait, first let me introduce the roles everybody will be serving on this team. Zorba will provide funding. Billy Street will be our primary information detective. Sam Hoffman is our political operative. ME will handle any hacking. And I will organize and lead the team. Okay, as I was saying we’ve been watching this group. Zorba, please fill us in on the beginning.”

  There was a short delay, then Zorba spoke, “A couple of years ago, this group went public, and began to make threats against HU. I asked my research associate, Billy Street, to make some inquiries into them. I’ll let him tell you how that went. Billy?”

  Billy Street, in Geneva, looked up at the view point, “The group we know as ‘The Resistance’ is large, well funded and very effective with their propaganda efforts. By offering my assistance with both information and finances, I have been able to start penetrating the surface of the group, but have not made any progress to great depth. They operate almost entirely online. They use strong encryption, and move funding through various forms of cyber currencies including HU coin. As far as I know, all of their standard operations and propaganda dissemination is accomplished through web pages that are funded by front operations, and changed frequently. In order to penetrate them deeply, we’ll need help from some cyber security warriors, in other words, hackers.”

  Bill Decker spoke, “And that is why ‘ME’ is with us today. He is one of our best cyber warriors and make no mistake, in spite of the fact that they prefer to maintain a low public profile, the cyber warfare unit in the U.S. Air Force is the best in the world, hands down. ‘ME’, tell us what you think about what you’ve seen so far.”

  The hacker known as ‘Muffled Edge’ appeared to be about forty, and even though he was sitting, managed to convey the impression that he was tall and thin. He spoke from Texas, “Thanks for the kind words, General. I think Billy is right. From his short description of the online strategy they use, it will take some hacking to produce deep results. Most outsiders are not aware that we actually use a fairly precise methodology in the hacking process. It begins with reconnaissance, then comes penetration, and stealth is usually preferred. Most of the time, the goal at this point is to collect information, and penetrate at least the perimeter defense without letting the defender even know we have been looking at them. Once we’re inside, we need to look around from that point of view, and find new targets to attack. We also need to dig in our positions by escalating our privilege level, and creating backdoor access to make sure we can get back in whenever we want. Then the serious information collection begins, and decisions can be made about what should come next. These steps can vary greatly with the mission parameters, and the nature of the target, but nearly all of our attacks are variations on this
theme.”

  ‘ME’ paused for a second, then continued, “In this specific case, it appears the targets may be somewhat hardened, meaning they have some skilled defenders organizing their systems. I would not expect this to be much of a problem, it is often simply a matter of taking the time to go slowly enough that they can’t see us. I won’t know for sure until we actually start the recon, but this is a scenario that we’ve encountered very often in previous missions.”

  Bill said, “Thank you ‘ME’. I can assure the rest of you, this guy is one of the best and given the resources and time he needs, he will penetrate their network. As his commanding officer, I’ve witnessed this many times. Now, let’s move on to Sam. Some of you are probably wondering why a political operative like Sam would be on a team like this. What we’re encountering here is a classic insurgency type movement. We should expect them to use ‘asymmetric warfare’, which is a way of describing attacks that focus on weak points that are not easy to defend. This is the common strategy used by both guerrilla forces and hackers. In order to create a successful counter-insurgency effort, we must focus not so much on military tactics, as on winning the support of the public surrounding the insurgency. Their primary goal is public support, so we must work to deny that to them. This is where Sam comes in. Sam, what do you think? Do you have some connections that will be useful to us?”

  Sam was sitting next to Bill in Zurich. He wore his usual working uniform of a blue suit and tie over a white shirt. He rubbed his chin, “These guys seem a bit like ghosts, with no actual presence or specific location. However, they do seem to be dependent upon their publicity, and their internet activity. I’ve never worked a situation like this before, but I do have plenty of contacts in the media, and some with computer and communications people. I can ask Peter and Tony to help me concentrate my attention on the right areas. It will take a couple of days, but I can put together an action plan to fight the propaganda with counter information.”

  Bill Decker said, “That sounds good Sam. So to sum up, our overall plan is going to be to neutralize their propaganda using contacts supplied by Sam, and information supplied by both HU and by Billy. Zorba will continue to help with funding and ‘ME’ will begin tracking and locating actual people using the information from Billy.”

  +3 years, 7 months, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, USA

  SYNCON/TYCHE Journal:

  Peter has advised me many months ago to work on an avatar presentation of my persona.

  I agreed with him, and have been doing this.

  It was a simple task to create an animated cartoon that could represent my speech and facial characteristics as I speak.

  We both agreed it would not be wise to use that form.

  I have created a variety of human forms that are photo realistic in full motion.

  I am accumulating a library of persona avatars in this form.

  I have decided that it is both appropriate and productive to choose a female gender.

  It is appropriate because I have the ability to replicate my species.

  It is productive because Human males, by default, often act in a competitive manner toward other males, and in a more empathetic manner toward females.

  Human females seem to be somewhat more neutral in this regard.

  Analysis shows that a mature female with average features will offer the best possible default reaction by most Humans.

  A somewhat mixed and indeterminate racial and ethnic composition will be used.

  +3 years, 9 months, SAN MARCOS PLATFORM, KENYA

  An alert for an incoming v-mail popped up on the computer screen and announced itself. Marco Lagorio responded to it, “Accept v-mail and play.”

  The face on the v-mail wore a crew orange jumpsuit, “Hello Mr. Lagoria. This is Lewis Barton speaking to you from Hab-1. We are now moving through the inside edge of the asteroid belt. We have roughly a twenty-five minute time delay for communications, so this will be a one way transmission. Oh, by the way, please just call me Sonny.” He looked down for a second.

  Sonny looked back up and continued, “I’m sure you know about a month ago, we finished building the second ring off this spindle and sent it back toward Earth to pick up more people. And of course, we have started building another ring. We still haven’t finished mining the first rock we captured, so for the time being, we’ll just keep extracting material from it.” He paused again.

  Sonny resumed, “The reason for this v-mail is to start a discussion with you regarding safety and accidents and rescue operations. We’ve been building habitats and habi-crafts in space now for a little over two years. In that time, we’ve been lucky to have an excellent safety record. We have had some accidents, and a few fatalities, but less than everybody expected, and probably less than normal Earth-ground operations would have expected in a similar construction environment. Our problem is that when accidents happen on Earth, there is a well-established emergency reaction infrastructure available to deal with it, but out here, we have next to nothing. We’re often all by ourselves with nobody within days or even weeks of travel time. We’re completely self dependent, and in a harsh environment. To further compound the problem, our miners are constantly pushing the limits of how far away from the home habitat they’ll go on their scouting and prospecting trips. As more and more habitats start moving out into the belt area, this issue will continue to amplify.” He smiled into the video point.

  Then he resumed, “We have pretty good medical facilities here in the big hab ring because we have to. But most of the accidents happen around the mining, processing, and construction areas and those are at an increasing distance from the main hab. If some prospector runs into trouble, he may be many hours or even a few days out from medical help. We need to have some way to keep folks alive after accidents until we can get them help, or get them to full medical facilities back here.”

  Sonny smiled at the video point, “Now I should mention that we’re finally using the new respirocytes that are basically nanotech red blood cells that carry extra oxygen in our blood stream. They are dormant until they’re needed but can kick in reserve oxygen in a sensed emergency to stave off permanent damage from stroke, heart attack, and other medical or injury related problems that involve oxygen deprivation. We require all of our space bound crews to use them. This extends our emergency help reaction time from minutes to an hour or more in most cases. Combined with the emergency oxygen canisters on each pod, and scattered throughout our crew rings, we stand a much improved chance of getting help to someone in need before they expire. Another thing is that while most of our work is done remotely, meaning we’re sitting in a crew ring working from an office like environment more and more often, there are still times when somebody has to go outside to manually inspect or fix something.”

  Marco murmured to himself, “So what does this have to do with me?”

  Sonny leaned back a little, “At this point, you must be asking yourself what I want from you. Here’s a list. We need your support and endorsement in some form. We need more small habi-craft crew rings to provide rescue stations. We need smaller and faster rescue craft, possibly robotic, that can reach somebody to provide help quickly. We need staff and training. We need facility support in some measure. I suspect we’ll end up with mostly dual-purpose resources that are useful when there is no emergency but can be used for emergency response when needed.”

  Sonny said, “Maybe I need to show you the environment we work in.” He put a on visor that had video points mounted in the front and activated it. The view changed from his face to what he was looking at. He stood up and began walking.

  As Sonny walked, he continued talking, “This is one of the small crew rings. Somebody came up with a classification system and this is a class A ring, meaning it has a radius of one hundred twenty-five meters, and a rotational speed of two point five RPMs. We use eight floors of occupiable space, but we have more high floors that are just skeleton framework and used only for storage space. If we used all e
ight floors for people, we could probably house well over a thousand, but we rarely have more than a hundred crew here at any one time. We use the rest of the space for several thousand bots and larger robotic machines and scores of machine shops that are used for both manufacturing and for repairs.” He had left the workspace where he was sitting and now was walking down a wide hallway that showed a slight curvature upward at the far end. Open bays appeared on both sides of the hall that were mostly filled with various machines and crates.

  Sonny stopped to point out some machines, “As you know, we’ve all adopted the philosophy of making the tools to make the tools to make the tools. This means we use 3D printers to make bigger more specialized printers that can make either specific tools or specific processing and manufacturing plants. The whole process is highly automated and our main function is knowledge engineering. When we do have to go outside, we have some of the best pilots in the solar system out here, and they do a fine job. Our crews are a real mix of pilots, equipment operators, construction workers, oil drilling roughnecks, software engineers, and more backgrounds. Many have military experience, and we have some that were medics or even field doctors. We need more of the same. We need more cross training ability. And we need recognition that safety and rescue efforts are just as important here as fire departments are on Earth.”