“What the hell are they up to?” said Steel.
“I don’t know, sir.”
“It was a rhetorical question,” snapped Steel. “Get me that Abbey Skyler now!”
CHAPTER 19
LUNAR 3097
Lander Site
A third Lunar orbit was coming to an end when the AIs arrived back at the Lander with their trams in tow, loaded with the black mineral they had removed from the crevice.
They did not attempt to unload the mineral. Both AIs proceeded into the Lander, and for the first time since they had arrived, they lowered themselves into the large chair-like apparatus that they had been strapped into for the journey to Lunar 3097.
They had, in fact, been in these chairs from the start of the RAIDA mission. They sat in the Lander, and the Lander sat in a dock on an unmanned Star Cruiser along with eleven others.
The mission, to deliver Landers throughout the cruiser’s flight plan, then return home empty after a trip of three years, following a course set by ISA to twelve planets or moons found to be of interest by the techs at ISA through data received from telescopes and earlier missions.
The other eleven Landers carried small rover-like vehicles reminiscent of the ones used in the early twenty-first century to explore planets and moons like Mars and the moon Titan.
Limited in their capabilities but very economical, after they had surveyed the surface, there was a determination made by ISA if further exploration was warranted. Lunar 3097 had already gone through the rover stage ten years previously, leading up to the RAIDA project.
ISA Flight Control
Abbey sat quietly at her station, waiting for Stryker or Red to contact her. She hadn’t been able to raise either of them on any comm. or find them in any office. The only office she hadn’t tried was Addison’s.
The last thing she needed was to meet up with him ahead of Stryker, and he asks her for an update, which would put her in an impossible situation. She needed Stryker as an ally, not an enemy.
Suddenly, the blue Condition One line indicator light started flashing on her console. She stared at it, wishing it would stop, knowing that it was flashing at other stations and that someone would answer it. She knew exactly who was on the other end.
“Flight Control. No, Miss Skyler is not available at this time. She’s in a meeting and can’t be disturbed. I will have her contact you as soon as she returns to Flight.”
Abbey realized it was Alex’s voice, saving her ass again. She looked over at his station and silently said, “Thank you.”
Stryker came busting through the door of the flight control center straight to Abbey’s station. “We need to talk. Grab LaGrange and meet me in my office in five minutes.”
Then she was gone as fast as she came, like a tornado, swept in and out leaving confusion in her wake.
“What’s this about?” asked Alex as they made their way down to Stryker’s office.
“I don’t have any idea. She just said for us to meet her in her office,” replied Abbey. Looking ahead, she could see Addison through the glass door of Stryker’s office.
“Oh crap, here we go.” She turned to Alex. “It was nice knowing you.”
Alex pushed the door open cautiously. They both entered almost catlike in their movements when approaching something unknown.
“Come and sit down,” said Addison pointing to the exact chairs he wanted them to sit in. Abbey caught herself looking under the chair for a trap door or something similar, then realizing she had watched too many old movies, she dismissed her fears and took the seat offered.
Addison had piercing blue eyes, almost mesmerizing if you stared into them for too long. A long, thin scar ran down the left side of his face from an accident on a Star Cruiser mission twenty years previously. The flowing air from a vent over the desk they were sitting around moved his thin, silvery hair. Despite his age, he was a formidable-looking man. When he spoke, you listened.
“I’d like to start by saying that ISA and I appreciate what the two of you have done to try to rectify the situation with the RAIDA project.”
He turned his attention to Abbey. “Although you were the cause of a great deal of the problems in the beginning, you helped to get us back on track.” He hesitated and looked down at the open folder on the desk; then he took a deep breath. It was as if he was almost afraid to say what he was about to say.
“I’m afraid to have to tell you that it seems that the RAIDA project has been totally derailed.”
ISA Trident
Bridge
“If you don’t hear back from Flight in the next thirty minutes, find out who Miss Skyler’s supervisor is and get them on the Condition One line,” said Steel.
“Yes, sir!” replied the comms. officer.
“Contact the AI department. Let’s see if they can throw any light on what’s happening with those infernal machines,” Commanded Steel, now sitting at his station. His decades of space travel and five years as a captain had taught him that any real signs of emotion outwardly expressed is mirrored by your crew and will eventually undermine the morale of the entire ship, so he was keeping his feelings masked, but anyone who knew him would know he wasn’t happy.
“Captain, I have a Peggy Dawn on the Condition One line. She is Star Light’s assistant.”
“Thank you, comm. This is Captain Steel of the ISA Trident. How much do you know about the RAIDA project, Miss Dawn?”
There was a pause, and then a timid voice replied, “I have been involved in the design and build phases of the AIs, but as for the RAIDA project itself, I have very little knowledge.”
“Well, maybe you can still help me. I want to know where we stand with the AIs aboard my ship. Do you have control of them or not?”
“That would be something you would need to ask flight control. Once we turn over the AIs to the mission, they are assigned. We have no further contact or control from here. That would be dangerous,” answered Peggy.
“How so?” asked Steel, rubbing his goatee thoughtfully as he stared off into the distance.
“If during a mission some tech in AI inadvertently sent out a command, it could create havoc with the software programming, and you could lose control of the AIs altogether,” replied Peggy. It was evident that she was nervous sharing this information with the captain, but she hadn’t been told not to, and he outranked her by a mile.
“Thank you, Miss Dawn. Please have your supervisor contact me as soon as you see her. Steel out.” He tapped his wrist comm. “Do we have the Lander secured in the docking area?”
“Yes, Captain, we are in the process of overlocking all the doors and hatches into that area as we speak,” replied the tech.
“I’m not sure I know what that is,” Steel replied.
“We have three individuals set up a lock code to prevent any one crew member from opening the doors, sir.”
“Good idea. Let me know when we have the entire ship secure. Steel out.”
“Comm., give me general access to all comms. except those in the Lander.”
“Yes, Captain. Go ahead.”
“This is the captain speaking. We have a situation aboard our ship that could be dangerous. We are doing our best to get it under control. Please limit your travel to a minimum. Any deck-to-deck movement must first be authorized through the Bridge. There is no actual danger at this time, and with the restraints we are enforcing, we don’t foresee any in the immediate future. Keep a level head and be patient. Captain out.”
“Why the hell has Flight not got back to me? Did you find out who Skyler’s supervisor is yet?”
“Yes, sir, but no one can find her either,” said the comm. officer nervously.
“Keep going up the chain until you find me someone who can tell me what the hell is going on!” Steel left the bridge.
“First Officer, you have the conn.”
“Sir.” The first officer who had been hovering behind the captain during his ship-wide broadcast walked stiffly to the command stat
ion and took the captain’s chair. He had a haunted look on his face. This was the first time he had been in command of the entire ship. It didn’t help that there was uncertainty about what was going to happen next. The trepidation showed in his eyes.
ISA Headquarters
Stryker’s Office
“Derailed. What does that mean exactly?” asked Abbey.
“It seems that although you didn’t know it, there was someone else that feels the way you do about the AIs,” said Addison. “Star Light, or Red as you know her, is a member of SAIL” (Save AI Lives).
“Somehow, she slipped through the vetting system and found her way to the top of our AI department. We have her under arrest for espionage.”
Stunned, Alex and Abbey looked at each other, then back at Addison.
“Espionage? Really? What the hell did she do?” asked Alex with a complete look of disbelief.
“After the AIs left on the mission, she reprogrammed them to follow a ‘rogue protocol’ and be complicit with the Lunar-based AIs.”
“What the hell would she do that for?” asked Abbey. “What do they stand to gain from doing that? It doesn’t make any sense.”
Just then, the door flew open. “Sorry to interrupt you. We tried calling, but none of you answered,” said the tech, panting from running.
“Well?” inquired Addison. “What is it?”
“RAIDA2 has contacted flight control!” said the tech, her eyes as big as saucers.
CHAPTER 20
“What does it want?” asked Addison.
“It wants to talk to Abbey,” replied the tech, still breathing heavily after the run she had from Flight to Stryker’s office.
“About?” asked Abbey.
“All it keeps saying is, ‘RAIDA2 to Flight Control One. I tried to scam it by saying I was Flight Control One, but it just keeps repeating itself, as if it didn’t even hear me.”
She took a breath; her breathing was getting much slower now. “So I had Ensign Porter try to persuade it that she was Flight Control One, but we got the same response—nothing.”
“I’ll be right there,” said Abbey as she grabbed her files from the table.
“Wait a minute!” exclaimed Addison. “Don’t you think we need a game plan before you answer that damn robot?”
Abbey stopped and stared into those blue eyes of his and said, “How are we going to plan a play? We don’t even know what ‘game’ we’re playing. Let’s find out what he wants first, then proceed from there.”
Addison was visibly taken aback by Abbey’s assertive response and hesitated for a moment. “You’re probably right. Let’s stop the knee-jerk reactions and start acting like we are in control of our own mission. Let’s find out what that thing wants.”
With her newfound confidence, Abbey said, “Just so we’re straight, I’d like to know, do you know that the AIs have an organic brain, so similar to the human brain it can only be determined which is which with special equipment?”
Addison leaned back in his chair, taking the measure of Abbey. “What difference does it make?”
“Just answer the question, please.” Abbey placed the files back on the desk and found herself leaning forward into his space. “Did you know?”
“Of course, I did! I am the head of this project. I know everything about the RAIDA project, and I’m just not a bleeding heart like you, Miss Skyler. Now go find out what that thing wants and do nothing until you inform me, and then I will make the decisions!”
Abbey stood and stared at him for what felt like an entire minute. Addison stared right back at her. They were like a couple of kids trying not to be the first one to blink.
Eventually, she picked up the files, turned, and walked from his office, with Alex right behind her.
“Wow, that was intense,” whispered Alex.
“Yeah, you could say that,” said Abbey as she let out a long breath. “I thought I might have gone too far there for a minute.”
Alex was grinning. He looked over at Abbey. “Nah. You did that months ago.”
“Shut up,” Abbey said with a toss of her head. “Oh crap! I just realized we never did address the Trident situation with Addison. What the hell are we going to tell Captain Steel?”
“Let me see if I can get him calmed down a little. I’ll tell him we are reprogramming them right now, and it will take several days for us to complete our work. We will let him know when it is completed,” he said, lowering his voice as they entered the flight control area.
“OK, good. That leaves me with RAIDA2 to deal with. I wonder what’s going on in that almost human brain of his.”
She slipped into her seat at her station and collected herself, took a deep breath, and hit the comm. button. “This is Flight Control One, RAIDA2. Do you copy?”
“Flight One, this is Comm. Be aware that we are approaching the end of the vector angle for communication with Lunar3097 in approximately four minutes.”
“How long till the next vector, Comm.?” asked Abbey.
“Five hours thirty-five minutes.”
“We don’t have time for this. Flight One to RAIDA2, do you copy?” Abbey looked up at the mission clock and made a note of the time: four minutes. Four minutes, as if this isn’t hard enough, she thought.
“This is RAIDA2, hello, Flight One.” The melodious voice traveled throughout the flight deck on the PA.
“RAIDA2, this is Flight. Sitrep, please.”
ISA Trident
“Captain, we have a call from Flight Control Two coming in.”
“Steel here, who is this?”
“This is Alex LaGrange, sir. I work closely with Flight One on this mission. How can I help you, sir?”
“I have another problem with these robots of yours. Now they have locked themselves in a Lander, and we can’t get in or communicate with them at all,” said Steel in a frustrated voice. “This can’t be tolerated. I need complete control over my ship, the crew, and for want of a better term, my ‘cargo.’”
“Yes, sir, we understand completely. We are in the process of reprogramming the AIs as we speak. That’s why you can’t communicate with them. I’ll let you know when we have completed the upload. Flight Two out.” Alex let out a long breath and touched his wrist comm. “Nothing like lying to a starship captain to shorten your career.”
Abbey laughed hesitantly. “It’ll all come out OK in the end. I got to go. I’ve made contact with RAIDA2, but I only have two and a half minutes left in this vector.”
“OK, good luck.”
“RAIDA2, sitrep, please.”
No reply, then suddenly, a scratchy message started to come through … “Violet … min … ander loca. ousand earth pounds …” Then nothing.
“RAIDA2, come in … RAIDA2, come in …” repeated Abbey over and over but no reply. “I thought you said I had four minutes.”
“I said roughly four minutes. It will deviate depending on where the AI is during transmission,” the comm. tech said defensively.
“Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry. Just a little jittery today,” said Abbey apologetically. “Send me the tape on that last communication and loop it for me, please. I’d like to try to see what 2 was saying.”
“I think I might have what you want,” said the comm. tech. “I was running all communication through the comm. analyzer database just as a precaution if we needed it later. Give me a minute, and I’ll get the results over to you.”
“Is that standard protocol?” asked Abbey suspiciously.
“No, but with things the way they are now, I thought it might help.”
“But don’t we record everything anyway?”
“Yes, we do,” said the comm. tech now visibly agitated.
“So, this was your decision to run everything through the data analyzer?” persisted Abbey.
“Yes. What’s wrong with that?” the tech inquired.
“Nothing, I guess. Sorry. I’m a little oversensitive right now,” replied Abbey. “Send me that data. Thanks.”
The system booted up on her screen and said, “Ready to play enhanced transmission” with a play bar under it. Abbey pushed the button.
“VIOLET239 mineral is at the Lander location. Total of 2,000 earth pounds.”
Alex had walked up behind her at some point. “What the hell is he up to? Why bring the mineral to the Lander?”
“Something’s wrong with the translation of that last message. It doesn’t make sense that 2 would make it easier for us to get the mineral, would it?”
“I think 2 knows exactly what he’s doing. He knows the exact amount we are looking for, and now, he has taken the largest deposit of that mineral on the moon and put it right where we know where it is, knowing we don’t have time to scour the surface to collect the smaller traces to get up to 2,000 pounds,” Abbey smiled wryly. “Yep! He knows exactly what’s he doing, the crafty bastard.”
An expression of realization came over Alex’s face. “He’s guaranteeing we will come to the Lander!”
“So, does that mean the AZURE239 is there also? I wonder,” said Abbey almost to herself.
“2’s not that stupid,” said Alex. “I bet that’s buried so deep we would never find it. That’s all they have to bargain with.” He thought for a minute. “He’s trying to set this up, so we have no choice.”
“We have eleven days left before Trident reaches Lunar orbit. We had better have a plan before then.” She shut down her terminal. “Let’s go tell Addison and Stryker what’s happening.”
“What … That 2’s smarter than all of us put together and has us by the balls?” said Alex.
“Yeah, two AIs on the surface running amok, three on a starship doing whatever they want, and the head of the AI department locked up for espionage. You couldn’t make this crap up if you tried!”
“We have five hours to come up with a response for 2. A game plan for the landing party … Oh yeah, they aren’t talking to us right now. How the hell did we get into this mess?” said Alex as they walked.
“Let’s not go there right now,” replied Abbey. “I’m not in the mood.”
Lunar 3097 Page 12
