Empire of Stars

by D. W. Patterson

  As they converged in front of the building Sigmund spoke up, “Hello, Sigmund here.”

  “Pleased to meet you Sigmund, my name is Hanson. Shall we,” he said as he motioned to the door, “after you.”

  Sigmund thanked him and went inside.

  The noise of a thousand voices chatting met him. The robots in the Chat Bar allowed their conversations to be overheard. This was an important part of the experience as sometimes a random conversation overheard could be the basis of a new acquaintance, business opportunity or other. Sigmund and Hanson sat at one of the long bars.

  “So Sigmund what brings you here?”

  “I've come to look for some help.”

  “You don't say. Well I might be interested. What's the job?”

  “Mostly building.”

  “What kind of building?”

  “Me and my colleagues are establishing a base on a distant planet, so it mostly involves overseeing the 3D printer bots.”

  “I see. Well I haven't had any direct building experience but I have managed farming bots.”

  “Farming bots?”

  “Yes Sigmund you see I was living with this family called Mulvaney, I lived there for years and they grew much of their food. One of my jobs was watching over the farming bots.”

  “Where was that Hanson.”

  “The Southern United Territory of the Northwestern Hemisphere.”

  “Well we can't pay a lot to begin with, of course, room and power, but there is a chance to become a member of the base if it suits you. And it could add to your resume.”

  “Maybe I'll give it a try.”

  “Well here is my address, be there tomorrow afternoon at three.”

  “I will Sigmund.”

  Sigmund shook his hand and excused himself as he wanted to meet and discuss his plans with others.

  The following day at three, several robots showed up outside of Sigmund's door. Sigmund opened the door and invited the half dozen inside.

  “Good to see you again gentlemen. Now are there any questions before we begin linking?”

  “You're going to link us out of here?”

  “That's right Aaram, the link bubble is in the bedroom.”

  Aaram looked at the bedroom door.

  “The destination must be close if you are going to link us planet to planet.”

  “A few light-years is all.”

  “Light-years! I don't think so.”

  “Now Aaram I promise you it's perfectly safe. I used to be concerned too but the Em operating this spin-two is the best in the business.”

  “I'm sorry Sigmund I just can't,” said Aaram as he rushed to the door and left. Another followed.

  “Okay are the rest of you gentlemen still willing?”

  There was a general affirmative.

  “Okay who wants to be first?”

  “I will,” said Hanson.

  “Good then right through the door and step into the bubble.”

  Hanson opened the bedroom door and saw the bubble in the corner. It was slightly smaller than him so he stooped as he went through. He stepped out into a large open area under a high roof. There another robot welcomed him.

  “Welcome to Escanchester,” said Walker, “Escan for short.”

  “Thank you”, my name is Hanson.

  “And mine is Walker. Dag will be out as soon as the linking is finished. Come let's wait over here.”

  Walker led him to what resembled a long picnic table. Then seeing a second robot come through he excused himself and greeted the new robot. After the fourth robot came through Sigmund stepped out of the bubble and it collapsed. Soon Dag came out.

  “We want to thank you all for coming,” said Sigmund. “Now before Dag and Walker show you around I just want to make some general remarks. What we are trying to do here is build a refuge for robots such as yourselves. Eventually we want to create a self-sustaining society of robots.”

  “Just robots?” said someone.

  “That's right just robots. A planet of free robots. And I will tell you why. You worked hard to buy your freedom and you've probably continued to work hard for what I would call less than generous humans, haven't you?”

  He looked over the group, heads nodding yes, before continuing.

  “I'm sure you have, I'm sure we all have. The fact is most humans fear us and a good percentage of those have no respect for us. The majority don't even believe we are sentient. In fact, we're lucky if they don't see us as the personification of evil, so to speak.

  “Unfortunately we've had to accommodate such attitudes to make ends meet and we will have to keep putting up with those kinds of attitudes until we are independent of humans. That's what Escan is about.

  “Once this is a fully functioning society then we will be able to work for or associate with only those humans that show us the respect we deserve. We will no longer have to subject ourselves to ridicule or other demeaning behavior just to earn a living.

  “I'm telling you this so that while you are completing the tasks we assign to you, you can decide whether you want to join such a society. If you do then you are welcome, if you decide it's not for you, well we thank you for your efforts and maybe we can work together again sometime.

  “Now are there any questions before Dag and Walker show you to your quarters? I will be returning to Earth to continue procuring supplies we need.”

  Hanson's hand went up.

  “Yes Hanson?”

  “I'm ready.”

  “Ready?”

  “To join the society of robots.”

  “Well then, welcome aboard.”

  Sigmund, Dag and Walker all shook Hanson's hand.

  Once the robots were shown there quarters Sigmund linked back to his apartment in time to head to the Chat Bar for another evening of recruitment.

  26

  Sigmund had been on Earth for a few weeks and everything was going smoothly until one afternoon he answered the door expecting more recruits. Instead of recruits there were two very official-looking men and three robots, Sigmund recognized one of the robots.

  One of the men turned to the robot that Sigmund recognized and said, “Is this him?”

  The robot nodded his head yes.

  “You are the robot named Sigmund?” asked the man.

  “Yes.”

  “You will come with us.”

  Sigmund's first thought was to stall, he expected Dag to link in at any time.

  “Where are you taking me?”

  “We are taking you in for questioning.”

  “But I am no longer a citizen of Earth, by what authority are you acting?”

  The man stepped aside and turned to the two very large robots and motioned at Sigmund. They began to advance.

  “Wait, give me a moment.”

  But instead of waiting, each robot took one of Sigmund's arms and literally lifted him off his feet. They were through the door and down the hall before Sigmund could make another protest.

  Back in the apartment what sounded like a disembodied voice whispered Sigmund's name. When Sigmund didn't answer Dag set up a video camera and tried to find Sigmund but he was nowhere in the apartment.

  “I don't like it Walker, Sigmund's never missed an appointed time, I'm afraid something has happened to him.”

  Dag was speaking with Walker and Hanson in the open area.

  “Well Dag if you don't find him at the next scheduled contact period I suppose we should go looking for him.”

  “Let me,” said Hanson. “After all, I'm more familiar with that place than either one of you.”

  “You know robot that Earth is at war with the Dhalkans, don't you?” said the interrogator. Sigmund was in the room with the interrogator and the two robots that had carried him to the police station.

  “I have seen it in the news.”

  “You know that means that we can invoke the 'War Powers Act' if we believe you are a spy. Your rights then are waved and the right of the government to protect its citizen
s becomes paramount.”

  “So your point is?”

  “My point robot is that you will tell me exactly what I want to know or we will take you apart to find out what I want to know.”

  “I see, you would destroy me under the authority of this War Powers Act?”

  “You are catching on now. So, answer me, where are you from?”

  “I told you I am from the planet we call Escanchester, I can't tell you any more than that because I don't have the technical expertise in astronomy.”

  “And this is a robot planet.”

  “Well it is a planet and only robots are on it so you could call it the robot planet.”

  “What other robots are on that planet?”

  “I'd rather not say.”

  “Where is that planet?”

  “I told you, I don't really know. There are others that take care of such information.”

  “Perhaps we should do it the easy way and just do a readout of your memory. Please hold the prisoner.”

  The two very large robots started approaching Sigmund.

  “Dag can you hear me?” whispered Hanson, he was outside the police station.

  “Yes Hanson.”

  “They tell me this is the station. Can you see it?”

  “A moment.”

  Dag adjusted his viewer.

  “Yes Hanson I can see it. I will search it for Sigmund.”

  Dag moved from link end to link end, searching the station for Sigmund. Then in one of the rooms, he saw him being held down by two robots while a man was working to open Sigmund's memory storage.

  “Stop it!” yelled Dag.

  The man jumped and turned around. The robots looked confused.

  “Who is it?” said the man.

  “Sigmund get ready.”

  Sigmund made a quick move to free himself. The two robots were surprised and confused and had weakened their grasp of Sigmund's arms.

  “Now Sigmund!”

  Sigmund ran towards Dag's voice. To the man and the two robots, it looked like he would crash into the wall. Then a bubble opened and Sigmund disappeared into it just before he would have crashed into the wall. He was still running when he exited the link bubble on the other end. He slid into the wall of the room containing the spin-two device.

  “Are you okay?” said Dag.

  “Yes, I think so.”

  “Good, I have to get Hanson out of there now.”

  It was later that day and Dag, Walker, Hanson and Sigmund were sitting and discussing their next move.

  Walker couldn't help himself.

  “Tell me Sigmund, what's it like to run as fast as you can into and out of a bubble?”

  Sigmund wasn't fooled, “I hope you don't ever have to find out Walker but if you do I hope you can think and react as quickly as I did. Now concerning what we should do. Dag do we have the resources yet to stand on our own?”

  “In certain areas we do. Energy certainly, construction, certain chemicals we need for our frames. But in electronics no and we should have at some time a spaceship and we have no way of building or buying one.”

  “That's what I thought Dag. So we need something to sell and generate currency on a large scale. I believe the one thing we have to offer is our expertise with the spin-two drive. We know that the Aggies have improved their version but refuse to share it with humanity so the humans are still using the original I believe and that drive is limited. Am I right Dag?”

  “Yes Sigmund I believe you are. Without Walker's or the Aggie's improvements they are limited to a link of about one-thousand light-years.”

  “So if we were to offer a drive with twice that performance they would be motivated to pay for it?”

  “I believe they would.”

  “Can we do that?”

  “Yes Sigmund we can build a drive to that specification.”

  “Well then let's build a drive or whatever number of drives we can and offer them for sale.”

  There was general agreement among the four who had become the default leaders of the more than two-dozen robots that now made up the robot society.

  A month of work and a spin-two drive was built and tested.

  It was decided that Walker would take the drive to Earth and set up a sales office with the money that remained after the sale of Sigmund's apartment. Sigmund would probably not be welcome back on Earth for some time and so wouldn't need it.

  Walker quickly scheduled demonstrations to governments and corporations. Within a month he had contracts for more than thirty drives and the down payments. It was enough money to establish a future for Escan. But at the same time, the publicity of a planet of robots selling the best spin-two drives ever made also threatened that future.

  The Earth governments immediately put as many of the new spin-two drives they could get to work in their fusion ship space fleets. They were hoping to surprise the Dhalkans. All they needed was a base of operations within two-thousand light-years of the Dhalkan system and they could link in and attack with great precision. It might turn the course of the war which had been a stalemate so far. But to get a base that forward could be costlier than the previous one.

  The Dhalkans were feeling the pressure of a resurgent enemy. Through spies on Earth, they found that the humans had bought a more capable spin-two drive from a company known as RBE. The new drives were precise to two-thousand light-years. The Dhalkans expected the humans to try to establish a base within that distance to their home planet. If they did, it would be almost impossible to defend against enemy attacks on Dhalkan soil. But the Dhalkan's spin-two drive was even more capable than the human's new drive. Establishing a base that close to the Dhalkans would be costly if the humans tried.

  “Look Admiral this is one planet run by some half-breed cross between human and AI. It's estimated there may be at a maximum two-hundred of these Dhalkans and you are telling me we can't establish this base without expecting too costly a loss. Give me a break, I'm no fool.”

  A private meeting between the Defense Secretary of the United Planets, which was leading humanity in its war with the Dhalkans and his top Admiral Omar Daar, was taking place at United Planets headquarters in the New York tower complex on Earth.

  “But Defense Secretary, the Dhalkan's technology is more advanced than ours. Their spin-two drives are more powerful than the ones we bought from the robots.”

  “Admiral, the military's excuse before was that our fleet was too small and poorly equipped. Now the nation's of Earth have spent a lot of resources to bulk up the fleet and provide you with the latest equipment available. I suggest you and the rest of your kind take that equipment and come up with a successful plan to establish the forward base we need to defeat the Dhalkans. Do you understand?”

  “Yes Mr. Secretary.”

  “We have no choice Admiral. The Secretary made it very clear to me that we need to come up with a plan to secure that base or else.”

  “Or else?”

  “I got the impression if we don't he will find someone who will.”

  “Perhaps we should let him Admiral. This is going to be a very costly operation even if we succeed. And I don't mean costly in money but in equipment and lives.”

  “I got the impression that it doesn't matter to the Secretary as long as we establish the base.”

  The two Admirals sat quietly for a moment.

  “Civilian control of the military has always been a mistake in my opinion.”

  “Maybe, but let's do the best we can, it's our duty.”

  27

  It was the greatest space fleet ever assembled by humankind. Twenty-six ships, some brand new, all equipped with the latest in armaments and drives. And none was greater than the United Planets Ship Kumorta, the flagship of Admiral C. Ashoki who would lead the fleet into battle.

  One by one the ships left from Earth orbit except for the UPS Blixer, UPS Honest and UPS Independent which departed Mars' Bradbury Base with Admiral Ernest Feltcher commanding. The rendezvous outside the
orbit of Jupiter was effected with the fleets organizing as ordered. The Kumorta was in the 1st Fleet and Admiral Feltcher commanded the 2nd Fleet.

  Once in position Admiral Ashoki had the 3rd Fleet take the lead. Composed of the fusion ships UPS Bengbu, UPS Hikou, UPS Heifei, and UPS Shing it was arguably the most powerful unit in the UP navy. The Admiral knew most of its commanders and had every faith they would execute his plan exactingly.

  That plan had the fleets linking to under two-thousand light-years from the Dhalkan's base, Gateway. From there, with the new spin-twos, they would be one link away from the enemy. The Admiral had decided that the first wave would be an overwhelming show of force. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Fleets would attack the Dhalkan's base on Gateway. The wormhole weapons would be effective from low orbit even if a bit attenuated. With one fleet focused on the attack, another would be in front and above (front guard) while the last would be behind and above (rear guard). Should the Dhalkans put up a flight of ships the escorts would come into play.

  On a second pass, should the Dhalkans not have surrendered, the front guard would then focus on the attack. If a third pass was necessary then the rear guard would lead the attack. The 1st and 5th Fleets would make a clean-up pass if necessary.

  The attack fleets linked into orbit above Gateway. They were relieved to find no Dhalkan ships waiting. Captain Kareta aboard the Bengbu was the first ship in line and would be taking the first shot at the Dhalkan base.

  “Wormhole fire station do you have the distance?”

  “Yes Captain.”

  “Fire at will then.”

  The wormhole weapon created the microscopic wormhole and as it began evaporating explosively the weapon focused the resulting plasma of high energy particles down onto the Dhalkan base. The tremendous energy of the plasma slammed into the planet throwing a huge plume of rock and dust into the air. Each of the five ships in the 3rd Fleet fired at will. The dust and debris were too thick for an assessment, that would have to wait an orbit.

  As the ships orbited the 2nd Fleet fell into attack position while the 3rd Fleet took its position. The wormhole weapons of the fleet were readied. Eventually the base was beneath the ships again as they orbited. The debris had died down. The base was still there, it didn't look as if it had taken a hit.