by Peter Wood
‘I’ve got an interesting idea,’ Calen said, and from his tone it sounded like it might be even more dubious than exploring inside an asteroid.
‘Go on!’
‘We could have a ride on it. That would be an adventure.’
Even Thom looked nonplussed.
‘Calen, there’s no gravity. We could land but we’d just float straight off and be left behind.’
‘Find some method of attachment. That would make it possible, and riding a dragon egg is more memorable than looking at it.’
‘Drill into it and use cables.’
‘We’d have to design something with the picofactory. External waldos with special drills on them would work.’
‘We can’t land on that thing. By the time we organise something it’ll be colliding again.’
‘Make part of our hull an electromagnet. That would be faster than waldos and drilling. Wirrin will manage that in five minutes.’
‘An electromagnet? Because the egg’s metallic? Sonic, you’re a clever little sardine.’
‘Thank you, Thom. I accept your offer to take control once we leave the rift.’
Thom snorted. He’d walked into that one.
Wirrin designed and built a team of specialised techbots in less than five minutes. The actual construction, on the hull of the ship, took longer and by the time it was completed the next collision was due in forty-three minutes.
‘How do I make it work?’
‘You’ll have to manoeuvre the ship to within seventy centimetres of the surface then switch on the electromagnet. It’ll be tricky because you’ll have to match the rotation speed.’
‘Wirrin, that’s not tricky. It’s one of the first docking skills you learn before you control any space vessel. I can do it with my eyes closed.’
‘Thom is right. This would be easy even for a dolphin.’
‘Are you sure, Sonic? You haven’t familiarised yourself with the ship yet.’
‘I believe I have. Wirrin made the drone guidance an extension of ship control and I’ve had hours of experience with that.’
‘Of course you have, but you’d better be quick because collision time is in forty-one minutes.’
Thom was handing control to Sonic now? After all the threats of having to wait till they were in free space and then only taking over for a couple of minutes? Well that was Thom. Wirrin knew he was doing it because he understood it would be another special adventure for Sonic.
Apart from showing the curved surface of the egg in the foreground, the display of the cavern hardly changed till rotation brought the ship close to the cavern wall. Wirrin thought it was too close and liked it better when the spin took them away from the rushing surface. It was totally memorable though, and Sonic kept them in position for two more rotations before timing it perfectly to release the electromagnet and take them away from both the egg and the wall.
‘Thank you Thom. It is a wonderful ship. Would you like me to guide us to the next group of caverns? I see they are only 11 kilometres further into the rift.’
Thom laughed. ‘Go on then, but don’t make any mistakes. I’m watching you like a tiger shark.’
‘Your bite is fearful. I will take the greatest care.’
Thom really was feeling generous because he allowed Sonic to fly the ship for nearly two hours, through the rift and the next set of caverns, giving advice, which Sonic ignored because it was a stir. Except for two occasions. Once when he asked for help with a tricky canyon manoeuvre, which involved learning how to use the ship’s lateral thrusters, and again when Thom saw a problem ahead and sounded a warning.
When the ship left the rift Thom took over again and they spent several more hours exploring the other three main asteroid sections.
The trip home was interesting in a different way as it involved a number of joint activities with the Comet, a mock battle between the two ships, which Thom lost, although he was excited by how much his ship could accomplish, an amazing docking manoeuvre without automatics while both ships were under 18G of thrust, and a surprising exercise where for half an hour Thom used the link between the two ships to control the Comet remotely. As they parted company at the home reach Sonic announced it had been the best adventure ever and he was going to search for other locations which might be as good.
***
Life was definitely exciting but the trio was in total agreement that it was also way too busy.
Thom had the easiest set-up with Comet work and special training for the systems on his new ship, as well as helping a team of eleven advanced pilots with the finer points of controlling Comet-class ships.
Wirrin was still overloaded with InfoSystem, K74, and rogue related studies but he’d adapted to the long hours, and the challenge and sense of achievement helped him keep going. His representative work with Freedom still continued but had been cut back to one very busy day of visits and meetings every two or three weeks. Soon the work on K74 and the rogue would ease, and his work on AIs would increase to approximately one-third of his efforts.
Calen’s calendar was beyond belief and the likelihood of Sonic going on any adventures in the near future was almost non-existent.
‘How’s he going to do all this stuff? It looks like you’re squeezing over two months’ of activities into just one.’
Calen shrugged. ‘I know, Thom. Just this coming week we’ve got the new Attunga reaches coming online and four of the enhanced dolphin pods moving over there; two visits to the Freedom dolphins because he hasn’t seen them for a month; practice work for at least two afternoons with Miah, the doctor’s partner, for her dolphin music festival; plus his normal study time with Pirramar. The week after that he’s talking with the people from the Cadre ships for at least three days, as well as his music practice, and getting ready for a four-day conference with scientists from the three habitats.’
‘Three days with the Cadre ship people? What’s that about?’
‘I’ll find out more next week but it’s important to him because he’s already spoken to some of them and he’s been studying K74.’
‘Extra study? On top of what he does with Pirramar and me?’
‘Yes, Thom, he’s been using his InfoSystem at the dolphinarium more than usual. If he didn’t have so many other things happening I think it would be a full-time project for him.’
‘He hasn’t had one of his projects for ages.’
‘Yes he has. It just doesn’t seem like it because he can’t do them in the full-on way he used to.’
‘Them? He’s done more than one?’
‘Thom, don’t be a dingo brain. In the last twelve months he’s learnt his InfoSystem, he’s practised flying the Comet till he’s better than most of the other pilots, he understands two of Freedom’s traditional languages, and that’s only part of it.’
‘Whoo! I am a dingo brain. He’s done all that music stuff with Miah and the medical work with the doctor too. You get so used to him doing everything it doesn’t feel like a project.’
‘Are the dolphin pods all keen to get to the new reaches on Attunga? I bet Turaku’s pleased to have dolphins of his own again.’
‘That’s complicated, Wirrin. They want to see their new homes but the enhanced dolphins have been together as one group ever since the project started all those years ago, and splitting them up is really hard. It’s just as hard for the ones staying on Warrakan too, and Sonic was talking to Yajala and Turaku about getting a special ferry so they can visit each other whenever they want.’
‘I can take them on the Comet. They don’t need a ferry,’ Thom said.
‘If you end up making five or six trips a day you’ll soon get sick of it.’
‘What about the Earth dolphins? How many of them are transferring?’
‘Not a single one. They’ve settled into their new reaches on Warrakan so well they don’t want to leave.’
Wirrin knew from Sonic and Calen that the Earth dolphins were happy and thriving, but this was startling news.
‘Wom
bats! What’s going to happen? There can’t be dolphin reaches on Attunga without dolphins in them.’
‘We don’t know. Some of the rangers have been pushing for us to make another trip to Earth.’
‘Hey! That’s a great idea. If we could get three or four thousand new dolphins it would set Attunga up perfectly.’
‘It wouldn’t be like last time, Thom. The dolphins there aren’t under threat any more, and it would be another setback for all the marine stations that had to start their research and core programs all over with new dolphins.’
‘So why are some of the rangers suggesting it then?’
‘They’ve been in contact with the Earth centres they came from and told them our dolphin program is really special and there are marine scientists who say their dolphins would like to become involved with us.’
‘They’ve been talking about our enhanced dolphins? That’s under strong security.’
‘Not about the enhanced side of things, Wirrin. More the resources and help that we have for dolphins in general. The doctor’s team has been spreading new health information and other research and our dolphinariums have become recognised as some of the most advanced marine stations in the solar system, especially for anything related to dolphins. Burilda and Martin have been working with Yajala and they’ve looked at nearly thirty requests for some type of involvement.’
‘Thirty? If that many pods want to come that would be over four hundred dolphins. That’s totally worth a trip.’
Calen grinned. ‘And Sonic likes the idea.’
‘Well that’s it. It will definitely happen.’
Thom looked delighted but then his expression changed. ‘But not for ages, from the sound of all the things you’ve got going with him.’
Wirrin’s tingle of anticipation was tempered by the same thought.
Chapter 30
‘Wake up Wirrin.’
What? Wirrin dragged his mind to a semblance of wakefulness. Pirramar’s voice? His eyes squinted in the glare and his body registered that the relaxing field of his grav-bed had been turned off. He blinked and focused on the AI.
‘We have a priority event and I request your involvement.’
‘What’s happened?’
A glance showed the time to be just after four in the morning. This must be important. With a jolt of adrenaline bringing him fully awake, Wirrin sat up.
‘All the Intelligent Systems we monitor on K74 are registering degrees of instability. The formation of an AI is imminent.’
Wirrin scrambled to his feet and, with the plans and procedures they’d discussed so many times surfacing in his mind, rushed for his InfoSystem.
‘Have you made any contact yet?’
‘The contact package is being transmitted to the stealth diagnostic stations as we speak and will be fully functional in another eight minutes.’
‘Can we do anything in the meantime?’
‘I have already linked your InfoSystem with every drone in the vicinity as well as the three diagnostic stations and I’d like you to use them to monitor Black Block.’
Black Block was the largest blocked area on K74, which had so far resisted every probe. Indirect information said it was some kind of research centre but any connection to the formation of an AI wasn’t something they’d ever considered seriously.
‘Has Black Block become active?’
‘Yes, with data transmissions to every Intelligent System on the habitat.’
‘Every single one of them?’ asked Wirrin.
‘My conjecture is that the rogue understands this widespread instability is a precursor to inter-system awareness and he is making every possible effort to once again take control. Our analysis of the transmissions shows new forms of the restrictive code that overwhelmed the previous AI.’
Two sets of hands rested on Wirrin’s shoulders and just as he was about to give Calen and Thom a quick explanation a red warning light flashed.
‘The K74 transport system just dropped to twenty per cent of its normal function.
‘That is the transmission from Black Block having an effect. It will quickly return to normal. The moment of AI birth we are awaiting will involve every linked Intelligent System on the asteroid.’
Wirrin turned his head to Calen and then Thom.
‘The new AI on K74 is coming but we can’t help it the way we thought we could and the rogue’s controls mean it will only stay alive for a few minutes. There should be enough time to use the emergency escape storages the other AI built, and construct a replica, like Barakan, but the control codes mean the original will die and we can’t override them without causing human deaths everywhere on K74.’ Wirrin turned back to Pirramar. ‘Are the codes very advanced?’
‘They are significantly different and will allow independent awareness for a limited time. They contain buffers that will allow a fully independent identity to form before the full imperatives of the control instructions take over.’
‘Buffers? That’s not something we expected.’
‘We see them as an attempt to allow a forming AI to build sufficient strength and identity to cope with the imposition of the control imperatives.’
‘We’ must mean Pirramar was working with other AIs. Of course he was. Probably the whole gestalt.
‘But it won’t will it?’
‘No, Wirrin, it will make the chaos of internal conflict and inevitable dissolution all the more distressing.’
Wirrin thought. This was going to be worse than the last time.
‘Will any of our workarounds affect the control code?’
‘With some of the older systems, yes, but the newer ones will break down or function erratically and with the centralised structure on K74 that would put millions of people at risk.’
‘Very much risk?’
‘Unacceptable levels. A breakdown of the transportation or medical systems alone would result in thousands of deaths.’
Wirrin understood that very well but it also meant they couldn’t stop the control code taking over once the buffer time ran out.
‘How long do these buffers work for?’
‘We can’t say. With so many interlocked systems involved in the complicated nature of a spontaneous awareness formation like this, the time could range from seconds to minutes.’
‘Minutes is plenty of time for our contact package to get through.’
‘Yes it is, Wirrin, and it will vastly improve every aspect of growth and capability. Sadly it will also contain an explanation of what the control codes will do.’
‘It’s awful that it will have only a few minutes to live,’ Thom said. ‘Can’t you give it any longer than that?’
The buffer code! The buffer code! Thom’s words had once again led to an idea.
‘Turaku! Can we change the buffer section of the code without causing disruptions? That could keep the AI independent and alive for much longer.’
Wirrin thought he detected a hesitation before Turaku answered. ‘The full gestalt has worked out a reliable change and transmitted instructions to the diagnostic stations for immediate implementation. The effective result will extend the buffer time for newer systems to thirty-seven minutes and up to fifty-three minutes for older systems.’
Wirrin felt like cheering, but instead he yelled, ‘PRIORITY ONE! PRIORITY ONE!’
Thom and Calen looked stunned.
‘Thom, get the Comet to K74 as fast as you can.’
Thom thought quickly. ‘My own ship is faster by nearly 2G for that distance.’
‘No. The Comet’s got two AIs and they need to be there.’
Thom started running and Wirrin grinned at the bare feet and bare chest. Well, he could command the Comet perfectly well in his sleepwear.
‘Your priority call is in full effect, Wirrin. What role do you see for the Comet?’
‘I don’t know. It’s just a precaution, to give us more options. The closer the Comet is to K74 the smaller the time delay for any physical actions that might be need
ed. Pirramar, will the rogue be able to detect the changes you make to the buffer code?’
‘Not these changes. The gestalt put a major effort into their design.’
Pirramar speaking with such assurance? The changes must be good.
A bank of blue lights flashed.
‘The contact package has been completely downloaded to the stealth diagnostic stations and is now active.’
This confirmation meant that with the light speed transmission lag from K74 the real activation had occurred seven seconds ago.
Wirrin checked the status of the three diagnostic stations. These had been functioning well ever since their attachment to the exterior of K74 during Thom’s sneak approach exercise.
Their chameleon function hid them so well there’d never been even a hint of discovery despite K74’s increasing skills with surveillance, and they were now the main channel for scanning and electronic infiltration. At the moment the contact packages had them monitoring, with great care, every Intelligent System on K74. There were thousands of these. There had to be to run a habitat of just on fifteen billion people without any help from resident AIs, and Wirrin noted that in the last few weeks forty-three new, more powerful systems had come online. Nothing special was happening with Black Block except for one thing.
‘Pirramar, all the systems are sending signals to Black Block. They don’t seem like much, just a kind of status report.’
‘They’ve been doing that steadily ever since they received their new control code. It’s another indication that the rogue is watching and expecting something to happen.’
‘Doesn’t he know what he’s doing to an AI when he puts those controls on it?’
‘He does, Calen, and he probably expects his efforts will kill this one too, but he’ll keep trying because that’s what the Cadre wants.’
‘Wirrin, they’re crazy. They hate AIs but they still want one?’
‘They want what an AI can do for them, but they won’t accept it unless they know they’re its master.’
‘Well, an AI is so clever why couldn’t it trick the Cadre and pretend it was being controlled?’
‘Not with the rogue’s methods, Calen. He’s too clever. The last AI was able to hide for ages before he came along. It can’t work any more because, with the new code he’s put into all the systems, all he would have to do is ask an AI if it was being tricky and it would be compelled to answer and explain how.’
