Addalyne quickly walked back to her office. She pulled up the entire programming routine with her implant, sent it to her laptop computer and opened the document. She began switching the first and last letter of every instruction and soon had a line of code that made sense. She jumped up from her chair, knocking the chair over on its side a she went, and ran out into the hallway. She stood beside a workbench and screamed, “I have figured out how to do Predictive Programming. I can now duplicate my brother’s coding methods. I am rich; the IFTT will make a fortune selling their new and improved Time Travel Computers and I am going to take a monetary cut from every sale they make.”
The news spread quickly around IFTT Headquarters. Addalyne’s boss, Jack, scheduled a meeting with General Williams and some of the IFTT’s head engineers. As Addalyne walked into the meeting, the general sat her down at the end of a long conference table. He turned the meeting over to Jack who introduced Addalyne to those who had not met her before and then did a presentation on Predictive Programming. Then he explained how Addalyne had discovered the secrets to the coding and how Ronnie Yutaka had written a directive into his Time Travel Computers to allow the Time Travel Computer to decipher the coding he used. He was careful not to give away how Ronnie had switched the first and last letters of the instructions. That information would remain a secret between Addalyne, her boss Jack, and General Williams. Then he turned to Addalyne and said, “Addalyne has signed the paperwork to allow the IFTT to begin producing our Time Travel Computers with the Predictive Programming code installed. The IFTT has agreed to reward Addalyne with a monetary reward for the use of the coding from each Time Travel Computer we sell. The IFTT and Addalyne will share ownership of the patent for the Predictive Programming that her brother originally created, since she holds Ronnie Yutaka’s original diary and logbooks. Our legal team wrote the patent and the Patent Office just sent us the final documentation to insure Addalyne and the IFFT’s legal interests are properly protected. I am certain the owner of the Yutaka fleet, Jill Marie Yutaka, will file a legal complaint on behalf of the Yutaka family. They will try to acquire the patent as their own; however, since we have the supporting documentation, we can fight any legal battle she wishes to file.”
Jack walked into Addalyne’s office and sat down beside her. He placed a magazine on her desk in front of her. When she looked at the cover, she realized that the entire cosmos now knew of her ability to provide Predictive Programming on all IFTT built Time Travel Computers. Addalyne thought about Trish Wilson and Jill Yutaka as they read the magazine article and saw to whom the IFTT attributed the discovery. Addalyne looked up into Jack’s eyes and said, “I see trouble brewing. The Yutaka family will soon be pounding their fists on General William’s desk.” Jack laughed and said, “The legal battles will soon begin, but the IFTT has carefully done the legal paperwork with the Patent Office. There is little that Jill Yutaka can do except to threaten, scream foul, and stomp her feet in anger.”
When one of the engineering magazines that Trish Wilson subscribed to published the patent information and a short article about the Predictive Programming code, she cried foul to the IFTT. Her rage went unnoticed by the legal profession at IFTT Headquarters, since they now owned the patent.
Within two days, Trish Wilson and Jill Yutaka requested permission to teleport to IFTT Headquarters to pay Addalyne a visit. General Williams was notified of their request and denied them access to the facility. Trish threatened to find another supplier of Time Travel Computers in protest. The general knew that no other Time Travel Computer could interface with the existing computers aboard the starships in her fleet. Jill Yutaka filed a lawsuit, which named Addalyne as a traitor. Jill wanted Addalyne teleported to The Empress to face charges of treason. The IFTT attorneys quickly dismissed the lawsuit. They sighted the fact that Addalyne did not steal the coding from The Empress’s computer. They had a copy of Ronnie Yutaka’s programming logbook to prove that Addalyne did not need to steal the coding since she already held possession of the original designer’s documentation. The battle raged on for weeks, until one day, General Williams filed charges against Trish Wilson for slander and threats of violence against one of the IFTT’s staff members. The general also notified Trish and Jill that he would be sending two fighter squadrons to The Empress within the hour to impound her fleet and remove the Time Travel Computer from The Empress. He then filed a lawsuit against Jill Yutaka for the theft of patent restricted computer programming, stating that the use of Predictive Programming was an illegal act. That court battle finally settled the issue. Jill Yutaka and Trish Wilson finally admitted defeat and backed off their legal challenge. However, the IFTT was not so certain they had backed off completely. General Williams was quite certain that trying Addalyne Yutaka for the act of treason and hanging her from a gallows in the cargo bay of The Empress would please Trish Wilson beyond comprehension.
Chapter 9 – The Starship Galileo
Commissioned: 21,286 AD, (Stardate 18963482.3)
When Addalyne checked the work schedule board in the Robotic Systems Department, she recognized the name of a starship that was due to arrive in seventy-two hours. The Demords wanted their vessel, the Galileo, to be fitted with the latest Time Travel Computer available, and requested the installation of Predictive Programming as part of the upgrade.
As Addalyne sat down in her office with her morning cup of coffee, she began thinking about her childhood. When she was very young, the Demords linked her implant to a computer system, which they called an Elder. When she became of age and decided to work for the IFTT, she formally requested that the engineers disconnect her from the Elder. When they agreed to the disconnection and finally unhooked her, she traveled on a shuttle to the Regnieloc Asteroid to study under the IFTT engineers. Once there, she began training for her master’s degree in electrical engineering, which she obtained in less than three years. She had remained at IFTT Headquarters until General Williams thought she might need some hands on training on a starship. Jill Yutaka had need for an electrical engineer to work on her newly created starship, the Yutaka III, so General Williams assigned her to the vessel. She only lasted a few months on that vessel before Trish fired her.
Addalyne’s current boss, Jack, had scheduled her and two other IFTT engineers to work with two of the Demords systems engineers to update their Time Travel Computer. As she finished her second cup of coffee, she thought about the upgrade and realized how difficult the project truly would be. The Demords used a design concept for their computers based on Intelligent Design. The engineers grew their computer modules from a pool of genes created by introducing demordian DNA into the genetic structure of a specific fungus known as Pliable Blackstone. The Pliable Blackstone would then become an active fungus. The engineers would then mount the fungus in a mixture of lactic acid, which then formed a solid mass as the fungus matured. A laser would then carve out the shape of a computer memory chip from the mass and then etch the electronic circuitry onto the surface of the chip. The process was far different from the processes used by the IFTT. They created their computer memory chips from pure silicon wafers.
Addalyne had requested permission from her boss to sit in on a lecture scheduled to begin just after lunch. The lecture itinerary explained that the professor would address the proposed insertion of robotic implants in monkeys. The intent of the research was to test the plausibility of using such implants in humans to increase their productivity in the workplace. When Addalyne arrived at the lecture hall and sat down in her chair to wait the arrival of the professor, she thought back to how the Demords used the implants on their own planet.
The planet Rowkin, home of the Demords, had a mixed culture of residents. Many of its residents were immigrants from the planet Earth who over the centuries melded in with the original inhabitants of the planet, the Demords. At first, humans and Demords lived and worked together, but were unable to produce offspring. Only the mating between True Bloods’ produced offspring. The DNA structure of h
umans and Demords were so vastly different that interbreeding would not allow fertilization of a female’s egg, at least in the beginning. After a few years, some demordian females began producing healthy children after copulating with humans. The demordian True Bloods’ searched for an answer to the phenomena, but at the time were unable to determine the cause.
A few years later, the demordian biologists determined that the alterations had occurred from viral mutations that invaded the demordian DNA structure and caused damage. The Demords with the altered DNA could produce offspring when they mated with humans. It seemed that nature used beneficial genetic mutations to allow a species to adapt their genetic structure to advance the ability of the species to survive. It appeared to the genetics that the virus mutations to the True Blood Demords were part of that process.
The True Blood Demords genetic structure normally considered the damaged DNA as an alteration. Therefore, it would prevent the male’s sperm from impregnating a female’s eggs. Thankfully, the virus did not modify the DNA of all True Bloods’. The True Blood Demords with unmodified DNA could only produce children if they mated with another True Blood. Addalyne Yutaka was one of those True Bloods’.
Six humans and a crew of intelligent computers staff the Starship Galileo. It is custom on the planet Rowkin to pair a True Blood child to an assistant within a few weeks of their birth. The Demords implant each child with a memory module that resides between the left and right hemispheres of their brains. The modules grow in place and soon connect to the somatosensory cortex of the brain. This connection provides the child with a wireless interface connection to an intelligent computer system known as a Puissant, which most Demords refer to as an Elder. These Puissants work with each child to provide it with an advanced education and a ready source of knowledge and information storage.
Once a child turns twenty-one years old, they choose a career field, although most have decided upon a career many years in advance. Each child’s Puissant, resides within the central processing network, located inside of the Demordian Council Building in the capital city of Alliance. If a Demords moves to a different city, their puissant remains in the capital city, but remains linked through the eleventh dimension membrane. If a child chooses to disconnect from their puissant, the engineers place their puissant into storage. When a child acquires their legal age, they can mate and produce one child, through a ceremonial process called the Connubial.
You must understand that the intelligence that resides within each Puissants’ programming sequence originally came from a True Blood Demords that had completed its 2000 years life cycle: The demordian council makes the final determination if a True Blood is mature enough to guide a child through its life cycle. The system works well, but not all True Bloods’ survive a full life cycle. If the True Blood dies prematurely, their Puissant is decommissioned. The engineers would then place the Puissant in storage until the birth of a True Blood child that required their services.
***
There was great fanfare when the Starship Galileo slowly moved within ten kilometers of the Regnieloc Asteroid. Every resident of IFTT Headquarters gathered around the exterior hallways of the headquarters building to see the vessel. Addalyne stood beside Alex and held his hand as they looked out a small window. As the vessel stopped and remained stationary, an announcement came over the loudspeaker system. General Williams said, “I hope everyone enjoyed watching the Galileo as its commander moved it into position. This will be the first time a demordian vessel will receive a Time Travel Computer with Predictive Programming installed. As you all certainly realize, Ronnie Yutaka the designer and original skipper of The Empress, first coded Predictive Programming into his vessel. Just recently, Ronnie Yutaka’s Sister, Addalyne Yutaka discovered how to duplicate her brother’s coding methods. The engineers here at IFTT Headquarters will meld our Time Travel Computer system with that of the Demords system, which uses Intelligent Design. The Demords computers are actually a living entity that functions with the same high speed as the computers built here at IFTT Headquarters. The interface between the two systems is complicated; however, three of our finest engineers will work with two Demords engineers to complete the upgrade. I will keep you all informed as time passes. The Demords have scheduled the Galileo to be with us for six days. I have requested permission from the crew to give guided tours of the Galileo while they are with us. There is a sign up board outside of engineering if you wish to visit this incredible vessel. Now that everyone has seen the Galileo from the hundreds of viewing ports the communications department created for us, please return to your assigned work or study area. Have a great day.”
As Addalyne turned to walk away, her message pad began to vibrate. She opened the pad and read the message. She turned to Alex and said, “I am being teleported to the Galileo from here. Jack, my boss, is teleporting my backpack to the vessel ahead of me. I will see you in a few da….”
Alex began to laugh. Addalyne simply disappeared as she stood beside him. Four of five people around Alex also began to laugh. Alex shrugged his shoulders and said, “I am glad she was not in the shower just now.” One of the women beside him said, “Or in bed, underneath her lover.” Alex felt his face become warm as he considered the words the woman spoke, but he did not comment on the woman’s perspective.
When Addalyne stabilized in the ready room of the Galileo, the commander greeted her. He shook her hand and said, “Welcome to the Galileo, Addalyne Yutaka. I have heard many good things about you and your engineering skills. I have also heard some bad things about you from the skipper of The Empress. She seems quite pissed over the recent turn of events.”
Addalyne giggled and said, “They could have been part of my discoveries if Trish Wilson had not fired me simply because I was related to Ronnie Yutaka. Actually, Trish and Jill could have held the patent rights for Predictive Programming if they had not acted so rashly. As it stands now, IFTT’s customers will benefit from my brother’s work.”
Addalyne and the other engineers worked through the night to prepare the Galileo to operate from a temporary Time Travel Computer. They would need to keep the life support systems, Mass Weight Distiller, oxygen generator, Super 12 radio and teleportation systems functional while they powered down the old travel computer and began the installation of the new one.
Once the five engineers’ finished disconnecting the Galileo’s Time Travel Computer they teleported it to the engineering department. When they had the old Time Travel Computer and the new one lying on the bench beside each other, they connected a laptop computer to both computers and began transferring and verifying each file as they moved them. The process was slow and time consuming. If the IFTT had designed the Galileo’s travel computer, the file transfer would have taken an hour or less. The engineers soon discovered that transferring the files from an Intelligent Design system to the new Predictive Programming system would take over ten hours. The engineers knew that keeping the Intelligent Design features of the computer intact and functional was imperative if the new computer was to interface with the existing systems aboard the Galileo.
The engineers had not slept or had a good meal in over twenty-six hours. All of them were worn down and beginning to make errors. Addalyne finally said, “Gentlemen, it is time we walk down to the cafeteria and get some food. Then we all need six or so hours sleep before we can continue. We each have made stupid mistakes that we would not have made if our bodies were properly fed and rested.”
Once they stepped into the cafeteria, General Williams got up from his table and joined them in the serving line. When they all had the food and drinks they wanted, the general sat them down at a large table. There were only five or six other people in the cafeteria so the room was quieter than normal. Once they finished eating and discussing the work required to complete the project, Addalyne spoke to the two Demords and said, “The general has two guest rooms reserved for you. I will have our communications technicians wake all of us in six hours’ time. We should be
able to finish the installation in another five hours or so. Then we can all rest again before we take the Galileo out for a shakedown run.”
While the engineers slept, General Williams’s teleported three groups of people to the vessel for a tour. Most of the people who took the tours were engineers or engineering students, but some were from private corporations who were visiting the IFTT Headquarters for operational training on new equipment they had recently purchased. The consensus was that the Galileo was the largest and most high tech vessel they had ever seen.
Once the engineers completed the upgrade of the Time Travel Computer on the workbench, they teleported to the Galileo. As they worked to install the new computer, Timothy discussed the fact that he was a True Blood Demords. Addalyne moved around in her chair and faced him. She said, “I am certain you already know that I also am a True Blood.” Timothy looked up into Addalyne’s eyes and said, “I actually did know that fact. I did a little research on you before I left the planet Rowkin. I had heard from one of the other engineers that you were working at the IFTT Headquarters. I was told by an acquaintance that you were about to be married to a doctor from the Yutaka III. I hoped that once Jill and Trish fired you, your marriage to a human would be called off.”
Timothy looked down at his computer and did not say anymore. Addalyne did not understand why he would hope that she would not marry Joshua. She felt angry over Timothy’s selfish words. She finally decided to confront him over his words. She said, “The doctor you are referring to goes by the name of Joshua. He and I were lovers for a short time, but I broke off the relationship when I had DNA testing done on us and the results came back. He and I would never have been able to produce a child. He is human and I am a True Blood Demords. I did love the man, but my heart has healed and I am now unattached. I resent your dislike for the man when you never met him.”
The Chronicles of Addalyne Yutaka Page 11
