Lunar 3097

by Gary Timbrell

  He reached the end of the ramp and called out over the mike set, but there was no reply. He stepped up onto the ramp and called out again. Still nothing. He looked down at the chip and continued into the Lander. All three AIs were standing as if frozen in time. 2 turned and closed the door.

  He walked to the back of the Lander to the bulk storage area and then back. As he was coming back, an orange cage grabbed his attention. Approaching it, he saw it was securely locked. He looked inside. It was a weapons storage locker … Something his Lander didn’t have. Before moving on, he did notice that there were two weapons there, but there were three cradles. He returned to the main area and studied the AIs for a while. He then set the tiny black chip from 3 down on the workbench next to where 1 was sitting.

  ISA Headquarters

  RAIDA Project Conference Room

  “The amount of total incompetency this project has demonstrated is indescribable!” shouted Addison.

  “What’s this? Addison’s showing us he’s the king of the twelve-letter words,” whispered Alex.

  “I have a good mind to fire everyone in this room and start again, but I can’t, so let’s please get this straightened out, and let’s get it done.” Addison sat down.

  “Where’s Red? Have they brought her up from detention yet?” asked Stryker.

  “She’ll be here in a minute,” replied a guard standing by the door and talking into his wrist comm.

  “So, am I right in assuming we will have to go along for a while longer with the so-called plan, letting 2 think it’s coming back?” asked Stryker.

  “I think that’s the best idea for right now. We thought that we could use 1 to find the mineral, but 2 got to him before we did,” said Abbey. “We still need 2 to help us locate the AZURE239. He’s not going to give it up for nothing; we all know that.”

  The door opened and in walked Red. You could have heard a pin drop in the room. Red hesitated, and then made her way to an empty chair next to Stryker.

  “What’s happened now?” she asked.

  “Did you requisition the IC 2054 chip that went on the Trident for use in RAIDA1?” asked Stryker.

  Red’s brow furrowed, and she looked from under hooded eyes. “Yes, well, I didn’t personally, but I had one of my techs do so. Yes, why? Oh my God, we never removed the neural transmitter from the chip!” Red’s expression said it all. It was an honest mistake.

  “I have repeatedly said that we were moving way too fast with this project. We took a mission that should have taken two years to plan and organize and pushed it into less than six months. That’s a recipe for disaster.”

  “Well, that’s a good word for it,” said Stryker.

  “Please tell me 1 didn’t go rogue,” pleaded Red.

  “Not yet. We have them all frozen until we work out what to do,” answered Alex.

  “Did I just hear you right? You have them ‘all’ frozen?” said Red. “How did you do that with 2?”

  “Well, when I say ‘all,’ I meant 4, 5, 6, and 1,” said Alex.

  “So, you’ve sent a new batch of AIs to the surface, and then you shut them down and left them for 2 to do as he pleases with? What’s the matter with you people?”

  The room fell silent. Everyone was looking at Abbey and Alex, and they were looking at each other.

  “Hey, I said it was a bad idea,” objected Abbey.

  “I would suggest you unfreeze them immediately and watch what’s going on up there constantly. We can’t afford any more rogue AIs.”

  LUNAR 3097

  The Lander door slowly opened until it was at full extension. 2 walked out from the Lander and returned to the shell of his Lander and began clearing away debris from his flight restraint seat. After it was clear, he lowered himself into the seat. There was nothing he could do but wait for the AIs to remobilize.

  CHAPTER 30

  ISA Headquarters

  After Red’s comments, there was an exodus from the conference room into the hallway. Everyone headed back to their respective stations. This created a logjam of sorts at the turbo lift and the stairwell. There was a definite odious scent in the air. It was body odor. Personal hygiene was proven to be one of the first things to go when someone was overworked and overstressed.

  Alex looked over at Abbey. She was staring at him while they waited for their turn on the lift. “Hey, I just did what I was told to do!”

  Abbey continued to stare at him. “Did I say anything?”

  “Stop looking at me that way then.”

  “How am I looking at you?” she asked, now with a slight smirk of amusement. Alex finally unlocked his stare with hers and looked at the lift door as it opened.

  “She said freeze them. I froze them,” he muttered under his breath. Now Abbey’s smirk turned into a full-blown grin. She was still wearing it when she exited the lift on the flight control level.

  “OK, you go and ‘UNFREEZE’ the AIs, and I’ll check in with 2 to see what he’s up to,” ordered Abbey on her way to her station. Alex just shook his head and sat down almost in a gesture of defeat.

  LUNAR 3097

  Lunar Surface, Lander 1 Site

  2, at a glance, looked at ease in his flight restraint seat like a sunbather on a lounge chair on a sandy beach, but he was far from relaxed.

  “RAIDA2, this is Flight One. Do you copy?”

  “Yes, Flight One.”

  “We have the problem worked out. It was a programming issue with the motor controls.” As she said this, she’s thinking, why did I feel I needed to tell him that?

  There was a pause, and then 2 responded. “Logic dictates that a programming error like that happening to that many AIs at precisely the same time is highly unlikely.” He went on. “I visited them in the Lander, and they looked like they were in a form of stasis, similar to storing them for a long trip.” Another pause, then, “I hope this information is helpful to you.”

  Abbey looked over at Alex. He pressed his wrist comm. and whispered, “He’s got your number.” Now it was Alex who had the grin.

  “Thank you for that information, 2. We will definitely consider it going forward,” replied Abbey. “So, the plan is to load the violet239 on the Lander and send it to the cruiser. Then we will send down the second Lander that’s equipped with the speed of light engine, and it will be loaded with the AZURE239. This Lander will also have enough violet239 for the trip back to Earth and the amount required for the Excelsior to complete its mission. The Trident will carry the bulk of the violet back to Earth at half the speed of light. This will keep the two minerals separate, and the Trident safe. Copy so far?” asked Abbey.

  “Yes, the AIs take all the risk. I understand,” replied 2.

  Abbey ignored his comment. “There is a lab on board the second Lander, and there will be a secure storage tank of H2O. 4 and 5 are equipped to mix the required amount of the minerals to produce enough fuel for your trip back.

  “Any H2O not used will be left on the moon to lower any risk of accidents.” Abbey paused and then, “Have you any questions?”

  There was yet another pause. “How many AIs are going home?”

  Now Abbey paused. She looked over at Alex. He raised his eyebrows but said nothing. “All of them. We are bringing you all home. There is a new ISA directive. No intelligent being is to be discarded after a mission. All attempts to bring them home must be made. All future missions will be round-trips.”

  After yet another even longer pause. “Your plan is acceptable. I will assist in every way I can.”

  “Thank you. I’m glad the mission meets with your approval. Please proceed to the other Lander and commence loading procedures. I’ll be handing you over to Flight Control Two for this part of the mission. Flight One out.”

  “So, do we have 6 take out 2 as soon as we get the location?” asked Alex.

  “If I didn’t know better, I would say you can’t wait for the fighting to begin,” replied Abbey.

  “That’s not it at all. I just think as we all do, tha
t this mission is in jeopardy the entire time 2 is functional,” was Alex’s retort.

  “2 will remain ‘functional’ until we have secured the mineral.” She hesitated. “Now we know 2 and 1 are in communication, so 1 will have to be destroyed also. We can’t take the chance.”

  “I do not see any difference in 1’s reading or actions. He seems to be working the same logic patterns as 4 and 5. Are you sure that’s necessary?” asked Alex.

  “Oh, now, look who’s pleading for an AI’s life!” laughed Abbey.

  “I wouldn’t say I was pleading for anything. I was just making an observation,” he replied indignantly.

  “We know 2 has corrupted 1. It’s just a matter of time before it shows. What is 1 doing right now?” she asked.

  “He’s in the lab repairing the damage to his arm and installing a new upper limb. 4 is helping him with the procedure. 2 and 5 are loading the violet239 on the Lander and securing it for the trip to Trident,” replied Alex as he scanned the various monitors at his station.

  “There is something that bothers me, though.”

  “What’s that?” inquired Abbey with a worried look on her face.

  “I went back through the vid tapes from the Lander during the time the AIs were frozen. I can see glimpses of 2 wandering about, but no actual clear images of what he did while he was there. It’s as if he knew where the cameras were and avoided them just enough so we don’t know what he was doing.”

  Abbey turned and looked at Alex. He was still scanning the screens, so he didn’t notice she was staring at him. “Great! That makes me feel so confident that all is well in LUNAR land.”

  Alex pushed the comm. button and made a general announcement. “Now that we have Trident in orbit, and we have continuous comm. with the Lunar surface and Trident, so we can scale down to our beta team for the next seven hours. Please, those of you that are going home keep your comms. open in case of an emergency.”

  The room started to darken as stations not needed began to shut down and the light from the screens disappeared one by one. Even the large vid screen on the wall dimmed down as a result of the ambient light reduction. The most dominant light in the room now was the glaring red of the three exit signs at the doors.

  “I’m going home!” said Alex to nobody in particular.

  Abbey was standing by her station, waiting for something; then she bent down and tapped out of her computer.

  “Trident will be keeping a watch over the mission and the loading of the violet239,” she said to whoever wanted to hear. Just by her manner, anyone would know she was exhausted. Once she started walking to the door, it was even more evident. Her shoulders hunched over, and her stride shortened. She stared at the floor, a classic case of: “If I don’t make eye contact with you, I don’t have to talk to you.”

  She made her way to the skipper pad, ignoring everyone she passed. She ordered the skipper to take her home. Arriving there, she sat in the vid room and drank red Bordeaux from a tall glass. The vid screen was showing old television shows. She settled into a comfortable chair and fell into a deep sleep.

  The following day, Abbey was making coffee and noticed that her plants were all dead. All that was left was unrecognizable brown lumps.

  She didn’t use auto-watering with her plants because she liked to feel like she was in control of these living things.

  She gathered them all and threw them into the recycler. “I’ll try again when I’m here every day,” she said as she threw them down the chute.

  “One day soon, I’ll have a new start—if this mission ever ends.” She walked into the bedroom and then the bathroom to shower and get ready for another long and stressful day at ISA.

  While in the shower, her wrist comm. sounded. She had left it on the bathroom counter. It was facing her. She wiped the condensation off the glass door and tried to read the message, but it was too small. She decided it could wait until she was finished. She rinsed her hair and wrapped a towel around her head and another around her body and stepped from the shower.

  She resisted the temptation to read the wrist comm. and walked into the bedroom to dress. As she dressed, her mind was racing, thinking of all the things that could have gone wrong while she was asleep. Still in a state of undress, she couldn’t stand it anymore and quickly returned to the bathroom and picked up the wrist comm.

  It read: Hey, you want to meet for coffee in the cafeteria before we start today? Alex.

  Abbey let out a long, slow breath and smiled. Always thinking the worst, she thought to herself as she finished dressing and walked to the lift. “Maybe today is the day we end this part of the mission, and everyone can have their lives back,” she said to herself as she entered the lift.

  CHAPTER 31

  Abbey sat at her station. All had gone well, the violet239 loaded, and the Lander was ready to return to ISA Trident.

  “Wow, an entire segment of the mission went without a single problem. That’s hard to believe,” she said into her wrist comm.

  Alex looked over and slowly nodded. He was too preoccupied with his duties to answer her. He had a worried look on his face. Abbey picked up on it. “Something wrong?”

  Alex snapped out of his concentration mode and looked her way. “No, I just keep seeing anomalies in some of the readings, but then they’re gone. Probably me just thinking the worst,” he said.

  “Ha! I know how that is!”

  “RAIDA2 to Flight Control Two, the Lander is secure and ready for departure. I am at a safe distance. You may proceed.”

  Alex couldn’t help thinking, 2, you’re worrying me. You’re just way too helpful. He turned to his station and pushed the comm. button, “Thank you, 2. We’ll commence countdown momentarily.”

  LUNAR 3097

  Lander Site

  2 was standing inside of the hull of his Lander, looking through the only remaining window on that side of the ship. There was a sudden blast from the bottom of the other Lander, and it started to rise from the Lunar surface, creating a large cloud of surface material. There was no sound just dust.

  He watched as the craft got smaller and smaller, and the dust particles started to return to the Lunar surface. When he could see it no more, he exited the hull and started to walk toward the location of the Azure239 at a brisk pace. 1 had returned on the Lander to Trident. Abbey wanted to turn off his neural transmitter and remove it from his system. She still couldn’t trust him, but this way, there would be no more secretive AI communication. All communications would be done through audio mikes.

  She thought seriously about dismantling 1 on board Trident, but that might make 2 suspicious. Not to mention the captain of the Trident didn’t want anything more to do with AIs on his ship. The best solution was to have them all on the moon, and then 6 can destroy 1 and 2 before leaving for Earth.

  The only problem would be that 2 insists on being in the Lander and remaining there after he has advised 4 and 5 the location of the AZURE239. The weapon 6 has will not work in the confines of the Lander. 2 must leave the ship in order for the plan to work.

  What would lure 2 from the ship?

  ISA Trident

  “This is the captain speaking. All armed security to the loading dock area. Take your preassigned positions and lock down all access points to the loading area after security is deployed. Captain out.”

  The loading bay access doors flew open, and a constant stream of guards poured into the dock. They positioned themselves around the area that the Lander would settle and presented their arms; then stood stoic, all of them wearing space suits as they were about to be subjected to the vacuum of space.

  There was a red flashing light overhead and a siren warning them of the imminent loss of atmosphere. The dock was about to be brought down to a vacuum to allow the doors to be opened for the approaching lander. No one moved the artificial gravity kept them all in place as the gigantic doors began to open like a massive maw.

  The lander could be seen quite clearly growing in size as it
made its approach, firing tiny thrusters to maneuver it into the right attitude for its final approach into the loading bay. It was at almost a full stop by the time it reached the doors and gently glided into the ship effortlessly and the giant clamps snapped shut to secure it.

  The red lights started flashing but no one could hear the siren due to the vacuum, the doors closed very slowly, and a vibration could be felt throughout the ship as they sealed shut.

  “This is the captain speaking. All security are to remain alert until the AIs are off the ship.”

  As soon as the doors were fully closed, the armed guards formed a ring around the Lander. Every other one turned to look away from the Lander to watch for any AI sympathizers that might want to take some action.

  The Lander door opened. 4, 5, and 1 exited down the ramp. They walked over to the tech lab set up in the next bay, and 4 started to plug 1 into the main frame and start the procedure to shut down the neural transmitter, then remove it.

  6 walked out of the Lander after he put the weapon back in the cage that he had held throughout the entire mission. He then proceeded to the second Lander out of sight of 1.

  6 walked up to the weapons cage in the new Lander and removed a new weapon, and then opened the false panel, backed in, and closed the panel.

  5 reentered the Lander with two stainless steel canisters, one that looked like it could hold a gallon and another that would hold a pint. He made his way to the rear of the craft and filled both of the canisters with violet239. The large one had a locking snap ring top and a very complicated-looking lock that 5 secured.

  The smaller one had a similar snap ring but no locking device. He then exited the Lander and proceeded to the second, where he secured the canisters on a shelf especially designed for them, complete with a locking devise to hold them in place. On the opposite side of the storage area was another canister marked H2O in large red letters. 5 checked to make sure it was secure and then closed the storage room door and locked it electronically.