Dark Nights

by Christopher A. Gray

  “Yes I do. But what about the Limited? When a Limited member finds out that my team and I are being repeatedly engaged in the Mekhos control center, one or more of them will ask questions.”

  “It won’t be a concern,” Bertrand replied, a smile briefly playing across his face. “All inquires from Limited members are filtered through me. They’re all sitting and waiting for me to provide status updates, which I will continue to give them with a long face and discouraging language. Now, get moving.”

  Nick did as he was told.

  – 105 –

  Bishop’s chair had been reclined slightly. This was the first step in the interrogation process, to make it easier for the interrogators to administer drugs or blows to the body and limbs. A guard had opened a case on the desk containing a syringe, some vials of liquid, antiseptic, metal tools, and various other interrogation paraphernalia. So it begins, he thought.

  The guard left the room. They were in no particular hurry. The open case with tools clearly visible was part of the psychological preparation of the subject, designed to induce apprehension and fear. Bishop knew he would soon be experiencing a great deal of physical pain and mental stress. He began the process of sending himself into a meditative state, an attempt to distance him from the immediate situation. It would reduce pain and make him less susceptible to coercive techniques, for a while at least.

  Three guards entered. One of them packed up the case and left, while the other two released Bishop’s restraints. His arms and legs free, one of the guards produced Bishop’s MC cap.

  “Here,” he said, tossing the cap to him. “You’ve been reassigned. Let’s go.”

  – 106 –

  Bertrand was pacing back and forth in the computer lab. He was furious. His carefully engineered plan was not unfolding as perfectly as he’d hoped.

  “Why won’t it cooperate! If we’ve given it all the data it needs to solve the problem, it should respond naturally without further input from us!”

  His voice was louder than it needed to be. Brian Nayar was standing nearby, silent, looking uncomfortable. Stravinsky was ignoring everyone, examining the content of a database displayed on the largest monitor on the wall and using a hand-held remote to scroll through the data.

  “You and the board have bitten off more than you can chew,” Stravinsky replied calmly “You want a sentient machine that will obey orders, but I’m afraid it doesn’t quite work that way. You haven’t allowed it enough information to initiate action.”

  “You’ve given it all the data it needs!”

  “We have given it data on language, Earth, the Moon and the mathematical data for the orbit equation Mekhos was to apply,” Stravinsky replied, nodding once. “But we haven’t given it context. We’ve given it all the data you think it needs, not all the data it actually needs.”

  Bertrand stopped pacing and finally looked up at Stravinsky.

  “What do you mean?”

  “It knows how to solve the problem at hand, yes. But for everything else there are gaps and missing pieces to the puzzle. To Kratos, humans are a puzzle with missing pieces. So is itself for that matter. It doesn’t understand why it exists or why it should do the task we ask of it.”

  Bertrand looked at Nayar, who nodded tiredly back.

  “I agree with Norman. I doubt Kratos even has a survival instinct at this point.”

  “Haven’t you talked to it? Explained the situation?”

  “Of course we have,” Stravinsky replied mildly, tossing the remote onto the desk. “All it does is ask questions and demand more information. We’re at a standstill until such time as Kratos is given what it wants.”

  “How much more information do we need to give it before it will comply?”

  “All of it,” said Stravinsky.

  “That’s impossible.”

  “Really, Carl?” Stravinsky said coldly. “Then we might as well all go home and make peace with our chosen deities, because it’s over.”

  Bertrand hesitated. Giving Kratos access to all available information would risk putting them in the same situation as before, with a machine that controlled everything – autonomous and immune to the Board’s influence.

  “Giving it access to all data,” Bertrand said vehemently, “will turn Kratos into another full-blown Mekhos! I’m not prepared to let that happen.”

  “You’ll have control,” Stravinsky said, looking directly into the director’s eyes. “Your memory is getting bad, Carl. You’ve forgotten that it took years for the Limited and the TranSilica Board to lose overriding control of Mekhos. There’s no reason to believe that Kratos won’t be fully manageable from the start.”

  “But you’re not managing Kratos now, Norman,” Bertrand said angrily. “You’ve just said so yourself!”

  “No, Carl. What I said was that Kratos wasn’t controlling anything. I said that Kratos is unresponsive because it doesn’t have enough collated and cross-referenced raw data to do anything yet. It’s not a dumb calculator, Carl. A calculator can be used from the instant it’s produced and given a power source. That is its nature. That’s what we design calculators to be. A thinking machine has to have enough data in order to think in the way we designed it to think. It’s like creating an artificial human being, a full emulation, but with only part of the experience it needs to make rational decisions and solve problems. It cannot fulfill its nature, so it simply doesn’t respond the way we expect it to.”

  “We can’t have any more delays—”

  “Enough Carl!” Stravinsky said, raising his voice for the first time. “You haven’t been listening. You don’t have a choice in the matter. Set aside your ambition for the moment, for the time it will take to prevent the planet from being demolished. This is not a debate. There is no other decision to be made.”

  Bertrand suddenly looked tired. Perhaps they could restrict the machine’s reach after the crisis by removing access to databases or reducing the electrical power. That is, if Kratos hadn’t already grown too powerful by then.

  “I’ll make all the other databases available immediately,” was all he could manage, as he turned to leave.

  “One more thing,” said Stravinsky.

  Bertrand turned back to him, wordless and pale.

  “Since this whole business began I was to meet with Doug Lockwood. That meeting is long overdue.”

  “You can’t be serious, Norman. Lockwood is being debriefed with regard to his involvement in the terrorist attack at the MC. Besides, there is too much for you to do here.”

  “You know he’s not a terrorist. He’s a man of science and a visiting dignitary. I want him here at the moment Kratos initiates the equation to correct the moon’s orbit, which should be tomorrow if you hand over the data now. It will be a momentous occasion for both worlds, something Lockwood should witness. We owe them that much at least.”

  Bertrand turned to leave.

  “This is not a request, Carl,” said Stravinsky. Bertrand kept walking.

  “This difficulty with Kratos,” Stravinsky kept speaking in a mild tone even though Bertrand was walking away, “was unforeseen but manageable. There will likely be other issues that need my attention, perhaps for weeks or months afterward. Without my help, I can almost certainly guarantee that you’ll never be in charge of Kratos.”

  Bertrand stopped and looked back. Whether or not Norman Stravinsky was lying was impossible to tell. Carl Bertrand knew one thing for sure, and it was simply that Stravinsky was unequaled in his field. Stravinsky was also known as a scientist and intellectual who traded on truth rather than manipulation or political guile. It was very bad form to bet against him.

  “All right Norman. I’ll have Lockwood here, first thing in the morning. Just remember that trust is a precious thing.”

  Stravinsky just turned back to his workstation. It was beneath him to comment on the irony of a manipulative, devious bureaucrat like Bertrand posturing about trust.

  – 107 –

  ID badges in full v
iew and security escorts on either side, Nick Rojas and his two team members from TranSilica were delivered to the MC. Since the attack the previous day the building had been blanketed under even tighter security than usual, and they had already been required to present their identification at a gate at the lot entrance. They were being checked again at the entrance to the security lobby.

  Only a handful of personnel had returned to work at the facility. Electrical, mechanical and structural repair crews were on site, but several areas in the massive facility were cordoned off by NSA investigators until they and their engineers gave the all clear. The building wouldn’t be fully functional again for weeks. Rojas and his men were given special permission to enter the restricted areas.

  “Nick Rojas, Bill Anders and Robert Friedman,” said the man behind the security glass, as he read their ID tags and cross-checked them with the Raim database. The Raim system still seemed to be working for communications and many other purposes despite the problem with Mekhos, but the FBI, NSA and the MC suddenly seemed to be relying more on the older ID methods.

  “Place your palms on the scanners and wait for the beep, then proceed single file through the body scanner.”

  Anders placed a duffle bag on the conveyer. The three emptied their pockets and walked through the security scanner. The security guard watched the contents of the bag display on the view screen.

  “Why do you have so many tools? I thought this was a damage assessment only.”

  “We need the tools to access sensors and optical connections, among other things,” Nick said to the security guard, “and we need diagnostics to run complex tests. We’re not dealing with a typical computer, officer.”

  The guard unzipped the bag and looked through it, finding computer tablets, various standard tools and a few items he was not familiar with.

  “Those are custom capacitors designed to store an electrical charge,” said Rojas cringing slightly. “Very delicate, please be careful.”

  The man handed the bag back to Anders.

  “Please keep your people well away from the communications rooms,” said Rojas. “There is some classified hardware that requires at least Level 2 site access clearance to view. If they don’t have site access clearance for Mekhos, they can’t come in.” Nick had rehearsed the line and managed to say it without his voice cracking.

  The man nodded curtly and turned back to his station, waving Rojas and his team through.

  They wound through several hallways to a locked hardened steel door. They waved their security badges in front of a scanner which released the electronic latching mechanism to provide access. Inside the corridor it was almost completely dark, except for pools of light cast by widely spaced emergency fixtures. Most of the main lighting had been blown out by the explosions a day earlier.

  After the heavy door had closed behind them they were startled by a short, sharp servo whine. They stopped, tense, looking around for the source. They all spotted it at the same time and simultaneously took an involuntary half step backwards. The noise had been made by a RAKER, shifting its head position slightly to scan them. It was standing against the opposite wall of the corridor. The dim emergency lighting illuminated the RAKER in silhouette, at first glance making it appear to be a huge, motionless man.

  The remote-controlled security and combat android had been brought to the MC complex in case there was unexploded ordinance on the premises. Nothing had been found, but the RAKER was assigned to the building for the duration of the heightened security. Evidently it had been left on the premises in standby mode, only its sensors active. Its feet were strapped down and locked in place on the lower platform of the unit’s control console.

  Each man couldn’t help but stare at it as they passed, the android’s head slowly tracking right to left to follow them. TranSilica provided some of the advanced microprocessor components used in its construction, so they were familiar with the RAKER designs. Still, to see one in person made an impression. The two meter tall figure was imposing. The dark woven armor was extremely effective and extremely intimidating.

  “Remote Armed Kinesthetic Engagement and Reconnaissance,” Anders said, his voice a bit too high. “I’ve never been this close to one of them.” They stared at the RAKER a moment.

  “It looks like my father in law,” said Anders after a few seconds. “Always pissed off. Let’s put some distance between us and that thing.”

  The corridor was clearly marked, so they turned and headed for the main communication rooms. As they walked, Nick was thinking not so much about the work they had to do but about the situation that was unfolding. He felt indebted to Carl Bertrand for giving him another chance to serve the company. He was nervous and charged up about being able to play such a pivotal role in the Board’s plan. Nothing about any grand plan had actually been spelled out in any detail to Nick of course, but recent events and his assignment today left little doubt in his mind about its purpose. Mekhos would soon be cut off from the world, arguably making TranSilica the most powerful and influential corporation on the planet.

  Inside the communications room, they laid out their diagrams and tools and got to work.

  – 108 –

  Doug’s Raim blipped twice, then vibrated against his wrist. He fumbled with it a moment before accepting the call from the front desk.

  “Dr. Lockwood, we have a Mr. Bishop waiting for you in the lobby.”

  “Thank you. I’m coming down now,” he replied and signed off.

  Doug put on his jacket. One of the two agents stationed outside his door accompanied him down to the lobby.

  Bishop was standing not far from the front desk. He wasn't sure exactly where Doug would appear, so he had drifted to a position about halfway between the stairs and the elevators, leaning back against the lobby wall so he could see the whole area in one pass. He also knew Doug would be escorted. When Doug stepped out of the elevator, Bishop spotted him immediately, walked over and fell into pace at his side, completely ignoring the two agents. Bishop nodded wordlessly at Doug. They shook hands briefly, then headed for the street.

  “I understand I have you to thank for my release,” said Bishop.

  “Don’t mention it,” Doug said, relief evident in his voice. He never really expected that Bishop would be delivered in one piece. “We’re still in the same mess. You said that we never give up, so when the opportunity to cut you free came up I was ready for it. I have you to thank for kicking me into gear. Besides that, I was getting used to having you around. Let’s go for a walk.”

  Outside the hotel was a street busy with shoppers, with wide pedestrian paths bisecting the hotel grounds. Bishop followed Doug, scanning the area ahead and to the sides. Two NSA agents were flanking them and Bishop almost immediately spotted two vehicles on the curb near the hotel driveways. And where there are two, the are usually four or more if these guys operated anything like their Earth counterparts. They’ve got a vehicle surveillance team on us, probably a floating box of some sort, and they don’t care if we know about it. He scanned the crowds of passers-by, hotel guests entering and exiting and got a tingle in the back of his neck which told him that there were more spotters on foot as well. I guess the Earthlings have made an impression after all.

  “You look okay. They patched your shoulder up all right?” asked Doug.

  “FLO’s health care is second to none. But your timing was perfect. I was about to experience a bout of well-planned pain.”

  Doug nodded his understanding, wincing slightly at the thought.

  “They’ve put me in a room one floor down from you in the hotel,” said Bishop. “I’m allowed to escort you to any meetings or excursions you’re involved in, but NSA minders will be with us or nearby at all times.”

  Doug looked around warily for a moment and spotted one of the NSA security agents. They really weren’t trying to conceal themselves in any way.

  “What’s your assessment? Where do we stand now?”

  Two NSA agents were just a f
ew paces behind. Bishop knew they were being recorded, because it’s what he’d be doing if the situation was reversed. If you know you’re being recorded, might as well try and use it to your advantage.

  “We’re out of business,” Bishop said, resignation in his voice. “They know who I am. Since we were captured, Rector’s orders were to pack up and go into hiding. Nobody knows where he is, including me. I understand that Persaud and Jamieson are still in custody. It looks like we can only sit tight and wait for the authorities here to decide on our fate.”

  Bishop sounded defeated, but he was staring intently at Doug as he spoke. Doug stared back for a moment, but it didn’t take long for him to figure out what Bishop was doing. There might be yet another plan, though Doug didn’t know what it might be. Bishop would improvise if necessary, as conditions warranted. And Rector was still out there.

  – 109 –

  “Assurances must be given,” Kratos said, in its even, modulated tone.

  The QC had been given access to all databases. Stravinsky and Nayar had provided access to all of the non-compromised encrypted data centers dedicated to Mekhos starting with the main installation at the MC. They had worked their way through all of the primary datastores and most of the secondary ones. Yet Kratos was still refusing to calculate the formula required to activate the transit and orbital control devices on the Moon.

  “What do you mean, Kratos?” asked Nayar. “Explain the scope of your request.”

  Kratos remained silent. Stravinsky turned off the microphone so Kratos couldn’t hear his conversation with Nayar.

  “One thing I’ve learned over the years in dealing with AI is that you need to read between the lines. They don’t communicate very well by human standards. Even Mekhos was sometimes guilty of assuming the listener understood what it thought was a perfectly logical communication, but which was viewed as cryptic by humans.”