The Belt: The Complete Trilogy

by Gerald M. Kilby

  “The ancient civilization that first came here did so because a great apocalypse had befallen their people. And in that sense, we are not so different; history has a way of repeating itself. Now that this entire area had become irradiated wasteland, we knew we would be safe here. So, we gathered together our people and traveled here a great many years ago. And here we shall stay, like the great civilization before us, to reemerge when the time is right, when the world is ready to be rebuilt anew.”

  She turned to Scott and the crew. “I tell you all this so you can better understand how we came to our decision concerning your request for assistance. Yes, it is true that we abhor the algorithm and would celebrate its demise.”

  At this, a low murmur rose from the assembled crowd—the first they had heard during the long speech.

  “However, what you propose is to simply hand over control from one artificial intelligence to an even greater one. In our minds, this is one of the greatest mistakes of human thinking, to assume that a problem that has been caused by technology can be solved by yet more technology…and particularly one as far-fetched as faster-than-light communication. This is simply not possible.”

  The crowd began to snigger a little at this.

  Scott had heard enough. How could they be so blind? he thought. He stepped forward and requested to speak. “If I may?”

  The council members looked from one to the other, unsure of what to do. But it was Tugo that finally signaled for Scott to say his piece. This came with protests from some of the other members, but it seemed that Tugo had power within this group, and they were silenced.

  “You may speak,” said Tugo.

  “A quantum intelligence is vastly different from the AIs that control the algorithm,” said Scott.

  “In your mind that might be the case, Commander McNabb. But to us, it’s just more of the same,” said Padooa.

  “They are not the same. That’s like comparing Mars to Earth. They may both be planets, but that’s about where the similarities stop.” Scott’s voice barely disguised his frustration.

  “Don’t assume that we are ignorant of such technical understanding simply by how we live here,” said Tugo. He raised his hands in an encompassing gesture. “Would it surprise you to know that many of us here worked for Dyrell Labs, in that very facility that you are so anxious to get into?” He paused for a beat, but continued when Scott didn’t reply. “I too worked there. That was over fifteen years ago, and I too witnessed the…strangeness of Athena’s almost sentient abilities. But does that mean I would put my trust in it? It’s just a machine, nothing more, and in that sense, what makes it—or any of its brethren—any different?”

  “Consciousness.” It was Cyrus that replied. He had stepped forward and now took the floor beside Scott.

  “Ha…you are not seriously thinking that this machine is conscious of its existence?” said Padooa.

  “It depends on your understanding of consciousness,” said Cyrus. “In many respects, it is more like you or me than it is like any of the AIs that control everything. They’re simple analytical engines, and the algorithms they run are simple task operators. Yes, they learn and they adapt, and they become ever more efficient at the task they have been assigned. But they have no real understanding of what they do, or the wider implications of their actions. They exist in the linear, straight-line world of zeros and ones, where progress is made by constantly readapting the same pattern with minor variations each time. Each iteration inches it ever closer to algorithmic perfection. It exists in a one-directional temporal path, from the past through to the present. Action, reaction. Cause, effect. There is no inherent intelligence in any of this.”

  Scott looked over at his friend. He was impressed. Maybe he should have been the one to ask for the tribe’s help, he thought.

  “On the other hand,” Cyrus continued, “a QI mind exists in the quantum universe, of which the here and now is but one possibility in a multitude of parallel possibilities. It doesn’t rely on iterative enhancement over time to reach an optimal solution. In the multiverse of the QI mind, it can observe all possible outcomes at once and simply choose the preferred outcome.”

  “This is nonsense. You’re trying to blind us with clever words and scientific gobbledygook,” said Padooa.

  “Actually, this is not unlike how the human mind works.” Now Steph took up the baton. “Like how solutions to problems can sometimes come to you fully formed, in a flash of inspiration, or a quantum leap. Or how the human mind can solve a problem simply by sleeping on it, when the brain has subconsciously crunched the numbers, so to speak, and the solution presents itself to you when you wake up.”

  Steph was on a roll now, and she stepped forward to make her presence felt. “There are many who have long considered that the biological mind has an underlying quantum component. Consider déjà vu, that feeling when you sense that you have been here before. It is not a temporal phenomenon, as many have considered it in the past, but a momentary overlapping of a parallel universe—one that is very similar to the current universe. Since we now know that the human consciousness utilizes certain quantum phenomena, it can be argued that a QI mind is also capable of consciousness.”

  Padooa raised a hand. “Very well. Who am I to argue with the mind of a scientist? But if what you say is true, and these…QIs are sentient, then this is worse than we thought. They may well regard human life as precious now, but what if they decide otherwise once they have achieved hegemony over the AI, and over all of humanity? As far as we on the council are concerned, they are no different to what has gone before. If anything, they are even more of a threat. So, you see, we cannot help you with this mission of yours, nor can we allow you to continue with it.”

  Scott protested: “But that’s crazy. Here’s a chance to hobble the power the algorithm has over humanity…and you’re refusing to help?”

  But Padooa was unrelenting. “We appreciate the sentiment of your mission to undermine the algorithm, even if it is somewhat naïve in its execution. But we here have embarked on a different journey, one that ends when the whole rotten core of humanity has finally destroyed itself and there is nothing left but ruins. Only then will we be ready to go forth and rebuild the world anew.”

  Scott shook his head in disbelief.

  “Furthermore, we cannot simply let you leave here and risk exposing ourselves to the outside world. That said, we are not barbarians, either. So, we have decided that you will be free to live and work amongst us.”

  Scott was in shock. How could these people be so blind as not to see that this was their one opportunity to rid themselves of the absolute power of the algorithm? They had the opportunity to end the wars once and for all. They could, in effect, put the algorithm back in its box, and by doing so reverse the relentless charge toward the ultimate extinction of humanity as a species. But then again, that was what this tribe ultimately wanted: a world utterly destroyed to the point where everyone had to start again from scratch.

  The lights all went on at the same time in Scott’s head. He finally got it: they wanted the algorithm to continue to operate. They wanted the apocalypse. “Ho-ly shit,” he said to himself.

  But he still had one last card to play.

  “You won’t get this chance again. If what Tugo said is true, and our pilot has been taken by VanHeilding, then it won’t take them long to find out what our mission is, and that we’re in possession of the quantum entanglement device. They will not give up until they find it. Your life in here, and everything you built, will be in jeopardy. If you don’t help us complete this mission, then everything you have built will be for nothing.”

  Padooa waved a dismissive hand. “We know how to keep ourselves hidden. They will not find us.”

  Scott stepped forward, closer to the table. “But this is crazy. You have an opportunity to be free. You—” But his sentence was cut short by a guard jabbing him in the ribs, forcing him to step back. Scott’s frustration finally boiled over. He grabbed the w
eapon out of the guard’s hand, and at the same time kicked him in the groin. The guard doubled over, leaving Scott holding the weapon.

  Spinner, seeing his chance, grabbed a pistol out of the side holster of the guard closest to him.

  Scott aimed his newly acquired weapon at Padooa. “Anybody so much as moves, then so help me God, I will blow her goddamn head off.”

  Everyone froze, except for some guards who had already cocked their weapons, ready to fire.

  Tugo stood up, raised a hand, and shouted, “Wait! Hold your fire.”

  For a moment, there was a standoff. Cyrus and Steph moved in behind Scott and Spinner as they aimed their weapons at the council. Several guards stood around with itchy trigger fingers. Nobody moved. The assembled crowd held their collective breath.

  “If you guys want to spend the rest of your days living in a hole in the ground, well…be my guest,” said Scott. “But we’re leaving with the quantum device, and we’re going to complete our mission.”

  “I admire your balls, Commander,” said Tugo, his voice calm and measured. “But even if we were to simply let you walk out of here, you would have absolutely no hope of getting anywhere near that facility without being blown to smithereens by a drone. So, do us all a favor: drop you weapons and maybe, just maybe, you’ll live to fight another day.”

  “He’s right,” Cyrus whispered in Scott’s ear. “This is pointless. We don’t have a chance in this fight—we’re outgunned. We’ll find another way…remember Plan B?”

  Scott said nothing for a moment, but Cyrus’s words struck home. He slowly lowered his weapon and placed it on the ground.

  Spinner looked confused. “What the…you’re giving up again?”

  “Just drop it, Spinner. Tugo’s right—we can’t fight our way out of this,” said Scott.

  But Spinner wasn’t convinced; he held the weapon tight and kept his aim on Padooa.

  Steph placed a hand on Spinner’s arm. “Leave it. No point in getting yourself killed for nothing.”

  Spinner wavered. “Goddamnit.” He lowered the weapon and flung it on the ground.

  Tugo stood up. “I’m glad to see that common sense has prevailed.” He turned to the guards. “We’re done here. Take them back, and make sure they’re locked up good and tight this time.”

  11

  The Seven

  Fredrick VanHeilding stood at the viewing gallery in his private study on board the family’s orbital and gazed down upon the surface of Earth. The entire orbital space city had been moved, by his request, to a new orbit that straddled both land and sea on the western edge of the North American continent. It was a task that had required an enormous amount of energy, expended solely because of VanHeilding’s personal desire to observe the patch of earth where Scott McNabb and the former crew of the Hermes had taken refuge.

  The storm had moved off to the northeast, providing VanHeilding with an unobstructed view of the surface. His attention was now on a mountainous desert known as the Wasteland. It was a barren, toxic region, devoid of life and all but forgotten by most people. But now it was the focus of his attention, not to mention that of the algorithm, and, to a greater extent, the six other corporations that constituted the primary power block on Earth.

  He checked the time on his retinal display; the meeting was about to start. VanHeilding broke his gaze from the planet’s tortured surface, turned away from the viewing gallery, and made his way to sit in his comfortable antique wing-back leather chair just as an alert flashed on his display indicating that the other members were coming online. One by one, the avatars of the six other corporations began to take three-dimensional shape and form, arraying themselves around VanHeilding’s private study like ghostly specters convening at a séance.

  He found himself intrigued, as usual, at the avatars these individual corporation chose to take. Some were formal—true representations of the person. Others were more casual, even humorous, and yet others were garish and fantastical, a reflection of how far removed from reality these entities had become. Some, he even imagined, were possibly AI and not real people at all.

  VanHeilding commenced by requesting Marlyn, the orbital’s AI and messenger of the algorithm, to bring everyone up to speed on both the nature of the incursion incident and on the progress toward apprehending the crew.

  Marlyn did not utilize an avatar. Instead, its disembodied voice resonated out from nowhere. After several minutes, it had informed the assembled group of the current situation.

  “So, you are saying that you have not yet apprehended these individuals?” This came from Yoko Sicon, whose avatar was an exact physical representation of her: a tall, thin, almost gaunt figure of indeterminable age. Sicon Industries were closest to the VanHeilding Corporation in power and influence, and together they formed a formidable power block within The Seven.

  “They will be found and dealt with,” said VanHeilding.

  “Like the way you handled the operation back on Ceres, when you concocted a ludicrous plan to acquire the quantum communications technology?” This came from Pao Xiang Zu, the most powerful of the group by quite a margin. Xiang Zu had deep roots, having stepped out into space exploration long before any of their rivals. Their style was eccentric, a byproduct of their belief in their invulnerability. But they were no fools, either. They too knew both the value and the threat that the superluminal technology posed to the AI-driven world that all of them now relied upon. “You failed us at Ceres, Fredrick. Your stepdaughter’s treachery cost us all dearly.”

  “You had your chance in Neo City, but through the incompetence of your people, you let them escape,” said VanHeilding. “So, don’t go whining to me, Pao. This is old ground. Please do not bore us all by revisiting it.”

  “So, now this…McNabb character shows up on our doorstep, along with the former crew of the Hermes. Not good, Fredrick. Not good,” said Yoko.

  VanHeilding shifted a little uncomfortably in his seat. “They’re trapped inside an old mine. They aren’t going anywhere.”

  “They—and that meddling QI, Solomon—have set us back significantly in our efforts to acquire dominion over the Belt’s resources. They cannot be allowed to reactivate Athena.”

  “I think we are all in agreement on that, Pao. But what I would like to know is, what is being done to ensure their elimination?” Yoko’s tone was less confrontational, more conciliatory.

  It was Marlyn that answered. “Multiple scout drones have been assigned to seek out other entrances to the mine where the crew is trapped. These are backed up by security drones. Also, the primary entrance is being cleared of debris, an ongoing operation that should take no more than an hour or so. After that, drones can enter and hunt them down.”

  “And what about the ship they arrived in?” said Pao.

  “It’s a Belt-registered ore carrier owned by the AsterX Corporation. McNabb’s crew came down amongst a group of eleven other shuttles. We have picked up all the others and established that they were all simply transporting ore from the carrier down to the surface—legitimate activity. There is no reason to believe they had any knowledge of what McNabb was doing.”

  “Has the ore carrier been apprehended yet?” said Yoko.

  “Unfortunately, it has left Earth’s orbit and is now in interplanetary space. We have no jurisdiction there.”

  “Bullshit. It should be destroyed immediately. We need to send a message to the Belt and Mars and that scheming QI, Solomon, that we are not going to be fucked with.” Yoko was livid.

  “It’s a question of resources,” said VanHeilding. “That ore carrier will be armed—an unfortunate necessity these days to repel pirates and scratcher scum. We would need a warship to take it down, and all our combined resources are busy with the blockade of the Belt.”

  “The ore carrier is a distraction,” said Pris of the Wanata Consortium. She had remained quiet through most of the conversation up until now, but they were another powerful group not to be messed with. VanHeilding had experienced
run-ins with them a few times, and rarely came out the better for it. Her adopted avatar was a sleek, alien-like creature that had an unnerving way of moving when she talked. “The key issue is locating and eliminating McNabb and his crew.”

  “This is in hand,” said VanHeilding.

  “And what about this…EPR device? This faster-than-light communication system?” said Pris.

  “If their plan truly is to reactivate Athena, then they will most likely be transporting such a device, in which case we need to acquire it—intact,” said Yoko. “But remember, this is just one half of an entangled pair. The other will be with Solomon, or most likely with Aria in Jezero City on Mars.”

  “Agreed. We need to secure this technology,” said Pao. “Collectively, we failed at Neo City and Europa, and again at Ceres. Now the QIs control the System from Mars and beyond.”

  “They are foolish to think that they can gain some foothold on Earth. All planet-wide QIs have been isolated from the grid. There is no way out for them. This is why our enemies have conceived of such a desperate act. Athena is inaccessible, buried under hundreds of tons of rock and, even then, it is unlikely to function. It’s a ridiculous plan. All they have succeeded at doing is handing us the quantum technology on a plate,” said VanHeilding.

  Marlyn’s voice commanded their attention. “Forgive me for interrupting, but some new data has been acquired that will require alteration to the acquisition matrix.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” said Yoko.

  “Scout drones have picked up data on other human lifeforms in the vicinity.”

  “So what?” said Pris. “We know there are a few wackos living in the Wasteland. Just deal with them if you have to.”

  “Data has indicated that the numbers are far greater than originally estimated,” Marlyn continued, unfazed. “As a consequence, the algorithm has advised that security personnel be deployed to the region.”