“Oh, she’ll obey,” Dr. Petain interrupted, “It wouldn’t occur to her not to obey an order.”
“Really?” Cord's look was skeptical, his tone scathing. “Can you be sure?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Never mind. Admiral, I want you to bring Rimrunner to Haven immediately.” He held up a hand to forestall my interruption. “You will break orbit within the hour, and will proceed to Haven as quickly as possible. I want maximum acceleration between jump points, and maximum length jumps. Is that clear?”
“Uh, sir, I’ve got a lot to do here . . .” I began.
Cord shook his head coldly. "You have nothing to do that’s more important than getting that ship here to Haven as quickly as possible.” He turned to Dr. Petain. “Doctor, you will accompany the Admiral on this trip. You will spend the trip studying exactly what has happened to Rimrunner’s AI, and studying its emerging personality, if any. You will ground at the palace, Admiral, and you and Doctor Petain will report to me as soon as you arrive. Are these instructions clear?”
“Yes, sir” “Yes, Viceroy,” we chorused. “One more thing,” he added. “Admiral, make arrangements to move your headquarters to Haven. You can have your flagship follow along after Rimrunner.”
“But . . .” I began to protest when he interrupted me. “I know, Admiral. Consider your protests entered. But unless you can name me one thing that you can do there that Commander Carlon cannot, I’m ordering you to move to Haven. You can no longer plan on having subspace communication available, and coordination between us will be increasingly important.”
With a wave of his hand, Cord terminated the connection. Petain and I looked at each other. I wasn’t surprised that Cord was unhappy that his yacht was now a living being, but I couldn’t think of anything we’d done to provoke that kind of reaction.
“Kaleen,” I said tentatively. No reply. Maybe she had obeyed my orders not to eavesdrop.
Petain snorted and gave me an ‘I told you so’ look before stalking out of the comm room. I followed more slowly. I’d looked forward to exploring Suli’s remarkable reaction to my return. We hadn’t had time since the party, but it seemed to me that Suli seemed equally anxious to talk with me.
Well, with Valkyrie following me on to Haven, perhaps we’d find the time there.
Old farts my age should not be having such fantasies!
Seventy-three hours later we emerged in Haven’s system, and began driving at maximum acceleration for the planet. I shuddered with anticipation of the cold.
Shortly thereafter, Kaleen informed me that a Fleet warship was orbiting Haven. I called Cord on subspace.
“Actually, there are two of them. They’re refugees from Jonas,” he told me irritably. “The Cruiser is Fearless, and the Destroyer is Harpy. I took a chance and ordered them to assume orbit until your arrival. My people have been aboard both of them, and by all reports they’re genuine, but I reserve judgment until you can decide yourself. I understand that their CO’s have some interesting stories to tell.” He waved a hand impatiently. “Just get down here as quickly as possible!” He disconnected.
We strained the gravity compensators getting to Haven and grounding. Kaleen was still shutting down the inertial drives when Cord’s personal guardsmen began spilling from the palace. The ground was still steaming as their officer began pounding on Rimrunner’s lock. It looked like we were in big trouble.
An armed guardsman remained on the bridge, while an armed squad double-timed down to the comp bay, and another squad escorted Petain and me into the palace. I didn’t even have time to complain about the cold.
By the time we were ushered into Cord’s office, Petain and I were unsure that we were going to survive this experience. Cord wasn’t alone. I recognized the room’s other occupant as the gaudily uniformed Captain of Rimrunner.
Cord waved us to seats. “Doctor,” he began, “Your report, please.”
Petain swallowed nervously. “Yes, sir. Uh . . . Kaleen is definitely sentient. I’m unable to state positively whether she’s been sentient all along, or whether the Admiral somehow triggered something. Uh, there’s a lot we don’t understand about sentience, especially since we’ve only encountered two other species that might possess it. I’d estimate her personality development is approximately that of a brilliant child of about five. She’s exceedingly curious about herself, wondering about her place in the universe. She’s also brutally honest and clumsy with social conventions; in fact, I had to explain to her what a social convention is. Of course, she doesn't think she’s human or anything, and she understands she’s unique, and that we’ll be learning from her as much as she’s learning from us.”
Cord still looked grim. “Does she understand that she’s not, can’t be, an independent agent? That she’s dependent upon humans for maintenance, supplies, and support? In other words, does she understand that she must obey us? And will she obey us?”
I was beginning to see why Cord was so worried; still, he seemed to be overreacting badly. “I’m sure she’ll cooperate,” I said. “I’ve spent a lot of time with her, and I don’t think she even has the concept of disobedience. If she does, I’m sure it never occurred to her.” Then her actions in shutting down Nemesis’ gravity generators occurred to me . . .
Cord swung those cold eyes to me. “I certainly hope you’re correct, Admiral, and that it remains that way. Doctor, you remember the larger duplicate of Rimrunner that we were building for the Emperor?"
Petain nodded. “Of course, Viceroy. In fact, her AI’s slightly in advance of Rimrunner’s. Don’t worry, sir, we’ll make sure that everything’s all right before we send the ship on to the Emperor.”
Cord shook his head. “I’m afraid not, Doctor. You see, while the Admiral was off on his mission, the Emperor himself made a secret, unannounced visit to Haven. It’s the first time that an Emperor has ever visited the rim. He came to personally participate in ceremonies turning the rim over to me. All the teams involved in building the Emperor’s yacht agreed that it was ready, and we commemorated the visit by presenting the yacht to the Emperor. As we speak, the Emperor is riding his new yacht back to Prime. What if his AI wakes up? And what if that AI decides that it doesn’t like him? Does it just depressurize itself, leaving itself a free agent? Or does it trigger an overload in its jump engines, and simply disappear from normal space forever?”
I was dumbfounded. The Rim’s technological superiority could very well cause the Emperor’s death and the Empire’s disintegration. I looked over at Petain. He was a ghastly pale.
“Viceroy! I . . . er . . . that is . . .” Cord waved him to silence.
“Doctor,” Cord ordered, “You and Captain Sinas, here, have a mission. You will resupply Rimrunner as quickly as possible, and you will leave as soon thereafter as humanly possible for Prime. You will travel at maximum at all times. If you should encounter the Emperor’s party en route, or catch up with them on Prime, you will board his new yacht and ascertain whether it, too, has awakened. If it has, you will become its temporary tutor. If you encounter even the slightest doubt of the yacht’s benevolence, you are ordered to destroy it.”
Petain was looking stunned as Cord continued, “I’ve already contacted the Emperor by subspace, and I think he’s going to leave the yacht for the Battle Cruiser that’s with him; but I’m not sure he believes me. Offer to introduce him to Kaleen, if necessary. Whatever it takes, get the Emperor off that yacht!” he looked at Petain expectantly.
Petain was a civilian; A few moments passed before he jumped and said, “Oh! Of Course . . . Ah . . . Yes, sir!” Another moment, and he added, “Ah . . . sir . . . Ah . . . how long will I be expected to be gone? I mean, I’ve already been away from my family for over a month . . .”
Cord shrugged. “Surely you understand that this is the biggest thing to hit the Empire in more than a century, Doctor. Actually, you’re in a better position to estimate that than I am; but I’d be surprised if it didn’t take years to learn about that AI and to teach it
.”
Petain looked panicked and started to protest, but stopped as Cord continued, “Don’t worry, Doctor. I can’t let you wait for them, but I’ll send your family along to you by the first available transportation; and I’ll see to it that the Emperor pays you an amount well above your rim salary. I’m sure you’ll be given housing in the Imperial Complex, of course.
“After all, Doctor, you’ll be unique! You’ll be the only man on Prime that knows anything about AI this advanced. Then there’s the work itself; working with one of only two sentient comps in the universe. You’ll be Empire’s foremost expert on artificial sentience!”
I had trouble keeping a straight face as Petain literally puffed up. His eyes turned glassy and got a faraway look. Then I caught the twinkle in Cord’s eye and grinned.
Cord winked, and then turned to Captain Sinas. “Captain, How long until you're ready to lift?”
Sinas looked thoughtful. “For a trip of that length, I’d say at least twelve hours, sir.”
I’d have said more like eighteen; but Cord replied, “Use my codes and do it in eight.” Sinas nodded, and then stood, saluted and left, trailed by the starry-eyed Petain.
Cord looked at me and sighed. “Admiral,” he said, “Things certainly happen around you.” He shook his head in exasperation. “Only you could take a glorified navigation comp and turn it into an Empire-wide emergency.”
“All I did was talk to her!” I protested weakly.
He looked at me skeptically. “Yes. Well, perhaps we’d better move on to business.” I sighed in relief as he continued, “The Emperor’s visit was secret, of course. The turnover ceremonies were taped, and will be broadcast as soon as we announce the release. But the Emperor’s presence is not an easy secret to keep, and I’m afraid it has only increased the time pressure on us.”
“Your first order of business,” he continued, “Is to board Fearless and Harpy. Inspect them, and assume command of them. I understand that they’ve suffered some damage. Assess that, and if necessary, send them on to Outback for repairs. Then you can begin establishing a headquarters here on Haven. Nothing fancy, of course. When Jonas attacks, you'll have to abandon it.”
I nodded. Valkyrie should be arriving in a day or so, accompanied by Predator and three rim tramps loaded with armed mining boats. I wanted to be ready for them when they arrived.
Fearless was not nearly as huge as Nemesis, of course, but was still some five hundred meters in diameter, bristling with lasers and particle beam weapons. Harpy, half her size, was huddled alongside Fearless. It was only as we swung around her to Fearless’ personnel lock that I could see that Harpy was actually attached to the cruiser. Rigid metal struts ran between them, welded raggedly to both hulls. Suited men swarmed around both ships. Obviously, these ships had incurred serious damage. I hoped they could be made battle ready in time.
Fearless’ skipper was Captain Rence Vidsen, a grizzled veteran of some thirty years’ Fleet service. He was gruff and somewhat tactless. I liked him immediately. Anyone who could attain command of a battle cruiser despite such an abrasive personality must be highly competent.
Harpy’s Captain, on the other hand, was a junior Lieutenant Commander named Pres Jamro, who immediately reminded me of a puppy. He was always cheerful, always enthusiastic, and always inquisitive. All he needed was a tail to wag. I had to keep reminding myself that the Empire Fleet had given this young man command of a destroyer and more than two hundred and fifty men. He couldn’t be as ineffectual as he looked. I resolved to pay particular attention when I reviewed his record. He seemed to defer to Fearless’ captain most of the time, which was one favorable trait, but I had considerable doubts about Jamro.
Captain Vidsen escorted me on a tour of Fearless, pointing out damage while providing a running commentary.
Evidently, my mission to Thaeron had been as big a success as we’d hoped. Admiral Chu-Lo’s message had touched off a firestorm throughout the system. It seemed that a small majority of the fleet personnel were convinced that the message was genuine. However, Jonas had enough foresight to pack Nemesis with crewmembers loyal to him, transferring anyone whom he’d doubted. Using Nemesis as a threat, he’d regained partial control of his forces, but fighting had broken out on every vessel in the system and on the base below. Onboard Fearless, the fighting had been hand-to-hand and brutal. When the Jonas loyalists on board had seen that they couldn’t win, they’d seized Engineering and disabled the interstellar navigational comp, among other things, before being wiped out. Captain Vidsen had been preparing to defend his crippled vessel and its crew when Harpy had suddenly come riding an evasion course into Fearless’ orbit.
With the comms blanketed by Chu-Lo’s message, things had been touchy for a few minutes, but finally Jamro had convinced Captain Vidsen of his loyalty. Harpy had been much luckier than Fearless. On the other hand, perhaps it wasn’t luck, and I was underestimating Jamro. At any rate, Harpy had been one of the few ships on which no fighting had taken place. Jamro had simply behaved as though the Fleet Admiral’s orders were genuine, and none of his crew had dared suggest otherwise. I decided I had underestimated the young Captain. If he could foster that kind of unquestioning loyalty in his crew, he must be an effective commander.
At any rate, once he’d been sure his ship was secure, Jamro had gone looking for somewhere that Harpy could be useful. I later learned that he had a serious case of hero worship for Vidsen, and he’d decided that joining Fearless was his best course of action.
Jamro had placed Harpy under Vidsen’s orders, and the two had discussed their best course of action. They’d decided that they had to get out of the Thaeron system, but Fearless’ disabled nav comp made a jump impossible for the cruiser. Vidsen had decided to try welding the two ships together, and use Harpy’s nav comp to compute the jumps to Haven, and Fearless’ more powerful jump engines to power them. It had been by no means a sure thing, and Harpy’s Astrogator and Fearless’ chief engineer deserved medals, but they’d made it.
I had no choice. “Can you make three more jumps? I want you to go to the Outback system for repairs.”
Vidsen looked at his engineer, who looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded. “Yes, sir,” Vidsen replied. “They’ll have to be short jumps, though. We don’t want to risk getting lost in null space.”
I nodded. “Very well. Proceed immediately to the Outback system. Once there, I want Harpy to be detached from Fearless and to return here. I have a feeling we’ll be needing you, Captain Jamro.”
They were on their way within hours, and I began working. I now realized Cord had been right to move me to Haven. The preparation phase was finished. Rim tramps and boats were being armed at a furious pace on Outback, but I wasn’t needed there. It was time to begin the strategic and tactical phase of the operation. Cord had been excited about the cruiser and destroyer, but I reminded him that Jonas still controlled the base on Thaeron, a dreadnought, two cruisers and three destroyers, plus auxiliaries. We were still badly outgunned. I was beginning to worry about Cord. He seemed convinced that a couple of genuine warships would enable us to beat Jonas. More importantly, he was beginning to display a tendency to meddle.
Chapter X
The most immediate requirement was the establishment, staffing and supplying of bases of operation. When Jonas finally regained control of his forces, he was going to come to Haven immediately and in full strength. We knew this, of course, and had no intention of fighting a pitched battle here if it could be avoided.
Cord, with his usual foresight, had already begun work on one of the bases, his ‘bolt hole’. Located on an airless moon in an uninhabited system one jump away, Cord had equipped it with living quarters, communications, and administrative facilities. However, it would serve wonderfully as a supply and staging area for operations. We began expanding it at a frenzied pace.
The other base was much smaller, but since it was located in the Haven system itself, it was much more modest and highly classified.
It was established on a large asteroid in the belt. We packed it with supplies for several months. It would house some thirty of our armed mining boats. For the present, we would rotate boat pilots every week or so; but when Jonas invaded, whoever was present would remain for the duration. The base consisted of little more than drilled caves full of supplies, a few domes, and a relatively flat area that served as a landing field for the boats. The asteroid had just enough gravity to keep the boats from drifting away, though a single man could have pushed them off. They were tethered down for safety.
Predator, Valkyrie and the rim tramps arrived, with the mining boats and pilots. I sent the rim tramps and the first batch of pilots off to the asteroid base, while Predator and my old Valkyrie (with Suli aboard!) assumed orbit around Haven. Valkyrie's own load of mining boats remained aboard.
I lost no time summoning Wil Tor.
“Major,” I began, “I have a job for you. Any time now, Jonas is going to come swarming out of the Thaeron system with blood in his eye. When he does, most of our forces are going to run fast and far. But,” I continued, “that means leaving the people of the rim to Jonas’ tender mercies — and he doesn’t have any.
“Until now, events have forced me to concentrate on spaceborne defenses. However, not only the systems need defending. Many innocent people will need help, too. When Jonas comes, we’ll have to let him have the sector for a while, perhaps several months. But we don’t want to let him dig in. We want to keep him nervous, keep things going wrong for him.”
Tor nodded. “You want me to organize a resistance movement.”
“Yes,” I agreed, “but I can’t give you much in the way of weapons. We have the manufacturing capacity, but we simply don’t have the time to design and make them. Oh, we may be able to adapt some industrial lasers or something, but don’t expect blasters and marine laser rifles.”
The Emperor's Conspiracy Page 14
