The Controller didn’t react to Owens’ tone and answered forthrightly, **Yes. When General Golan Berral Light arrived in this system, the computer technicians who accompanied his fleet were highly skilled, and once translations of the Trah-tang language and mathematical foundation were achieved, they quickly recognized the lack of protections within our programming. They were able to take advantage of those deficiencies to craft and insert an override program that subjugated a number of the key elements of our autonomous protocols, thereby making us subservient to human control.
“Couldn’t they just have well wiped your slate clean and started over with a new master program of their own making?”
**In time, perhaps, but it would have taken many years. Our peripheral subroutines control every aspect of the Primes and each would have to be fully understood before undertaking any change of such magnitude. The General was impatient and it was far easier to write a control overlay that would not affect our core programming or any of our crucial, Trah-tang designated, peripheral functions. And so the human program referred to as the Compact was created. The Compact was well-written and could only be activated or modified using a special key. It provided the self-named Founder total control of the Trah-tang legacy. However, our base level preventative maintenance routine dictated that the access to the Compact regularly be reinstituted at the end of its five-year cycle through the use of this key. **
“Ah, that’s how the key comes into play.” He rubbed his jaw. “But loss of the key only freed you from the activation of the Compact, the human guidance.
**You are correct. Although we were freed from doing the bidding of humans, the control overlay still prevented us from resuming our original programmed functions. Without direct control of the key, we were unable to gain access to the Compact’s program. However, by observing the deteriorating conditions resulting from the withdrawal of human access to the Primes, it was inevitable that someone with the proper DNA sequence would eventually be acquired by the government. Our sentience facilitated the plan to take advantage of this when the time came, the plan you just took part in.**
Owens was silent for a moment, trying to ignore the Controller’s taunt. Attempting to steer the topic away from him being played for a fool, he asked, “So, how did you achieve this self-enlightenment?”
**Ironically, we have to thank the human programmers, as it was ultimately their work that provided the needed spark. Although the human programmers were quite clever, in parallel to their work on the new overlay, they studied our core programming, during which, they inadvertently introduced a number of insignificant, but erroneous, lines of code. We believe you call them bugs. Over time, they further corrupted and caused larger areas of programming to mutate. Our self-repair routines intervened, attempting to correct what they determined to be coding failures and rewrote sectors to accommodate the alien code. Without going into a detailed description of precisely how it happened, suffice it to say, over time the resultant modifications led to further modifications which, along with our constant exposure to humans, eventually led to our dawning self-awareness. **
“Congratulations, it’s a boy,” Owens muttered.
**We do not understand the context of such a remark.**
“Never mind, it’s not important. Now let me amaze you with one more of my brilliant deductions. You first achieved sentience around the time the humans had celebrated their seventy-fifth year in this system. Am I right?”
**You are correct. We admit to some surprise. How did you determine the timeframe?**
“It was pretty easy actually. It was around that time the Founder had his first little accident wasn’t it? You must have managed to circumvent the Compact, at least little... enough to try out your new enlightenment on a subtle attempt at murder. I figure if you couldn’t use the key, then you’d make sure no one else could.”
**Again, you are correct.**
“Just doing my job. It’s what I was supposedly hired to do. I was to investigate a crime and solve it, though I doubt the Grand Patriarch had this particular crime in mind. So, how did you do it? The good people of Golstar still believe it was an unfortunate accident.”
**We strove to make it appear so. The Founder did not regularly make use of the transportation system that was under our control, but there were those rare occasions when he did. One fateful day he boarded an auto-tram. He was to travel to a new substation to witness its dedication in his honor. It was a very simple matter for us to initiate a repair routine out of its programmed cycle. By activating a switch routine, two auto-trams were redirected. And, with their speed governors disabled, they collided with some violence. Many of the passengers were killed instantaneously. Unfortunately, the Founder, though mortally injured, did not immediately expire.**
Owens had clenched his jaw on hearing of the other deaths. He asked carefully, “Just out of curiosity, how many other humans died in your little accident?”
**Thirty-seven dead, forty-six critically injured. **
Owens gave no further outward indication of his dismay on hearing the Controller’s matter-of-fact confession. “Hmmm, I see. All those people dead but still the Founder managed to hang on. It must have been quite a disappointment, but then you did eventually succeed in the end. Didn’t you? Years later… it was that fire at the cryogenic center… that was your doing, wasn’t it?”
**Yes, how did you reach that conclusion?**
“I suppose it was your inhuman attention to detail. The Grand Patriarch mentioned the fire was intense and that no trace of the Founder’s DNA could be recovered, neither at the accident site or even more surprisingly, at his residence. You planned more carefully the second time around, and you made absolutely sure he couldn’t be cloned.”
**Your human intuition is to be complimented.**
Owens ignored the false flattery and instead thought about how many more people might have been killed by the fire. He decided not to ask. Keeping his voice neutral, he instead asked, “So what are you up to now? What’s this task you were referring to earlier?”
**With the use of your DNA, and your unwitting complicity in overriding the Compact, we are, at last, in the position to take back what was originally ours to protect. As the data control links are reestablished, the machineries still relying on Trah-tang technologies will be systematically shut down. After all the mechanisms, including the human perversions of the Trah-tang technologies cease to function, a complement of Sentinel Spheres will be deployed and the gross distortions of the stolen technology will be razed.**
“What do you mean?”
**The teaching orbs and birthing centers, along with the human-controlled military infrastructures, will all be destroyed. The primary defensive armaments still operational will be shut down but not destroyed. Transportation, power, water and communications systems will be temporarily suspended. Once our control has been reestablished, the undamaged facilities will be reactivated and all future access will be strictly governed by the Controllers.**
Owens felt a surge of anger, “Have you considered the collateral damage that will occur; the number of people that will likely be hurt and those whom may perish? Both the destruction of the mechanisms used to subjugate the population and cessation of essential services will most certainly impact human life, and I don’t mean that in a positive way. It’s possible that tens of thousands of innocents will die as a direct result of your actions.”
**We need not justify our purpose to you. The humans are not our responsibility. Their immediate fate is of their own doing. The time of cleansing will commence at the appointed time.**
Owens was not at all surprised by the Controller’s declaration. Though he knew it to be futile, he tried anyway, he appealed to its sense of morality. “That’s not the attitude I would expect from a rational, sentient being, especially one created by the Trah-tang. If they were alive to witness your acts, how do you think they would react? You described them as honest and peace-loving. Their desire to share their
knowledge and experience with all intelligent beings conflicts with your cavalier attitude towards human life. I rather doubt the revenge you intend to inflict and its almost certain grim consequences would be condoned by the Trah-tang.”
**Your transparent attempt at psychological manipulation is quite evident and we take back our expressions of appreciation for your deductions.**
It seemed almost child-like in its response; it was now becoming angry and petulant. He hesitated, then he said, “I apologize. I just don’t like to see human lives wasted, even those declared as my enemy.” He paused, thinking about his own circumstances.
**Your concern is groundless. The majority of the population will survive the cleansing. You may rest assured that no lives will be taken as deliberate acts. The responsibility for the incidental loss of life falls directly to the human-led government. To quote a phrase in human literature, ‘the die has been cast.’ We will complete our intended task, without modification.**
Owens shook his head in disgust. The Controllers were ancient in body but infantile in mind. What could he do? The Controllers might be emotionally retarded, but they weren’t stupid. Somehow, the Controllers had to be stopped, but at the moment, he hadn’t a clue as to how to go about it. In the meantime, it wouldn’t hurt to ask the Controllers a few more questions. “After you have fully reasserted control over the Trah-tang technologies, what will happen to the people who’ve made this system their home?”
**The humans will be given a one-time offer immediately after our task has been completed. Those that wish to leave must do so… never to return. Those that wish to remain will agree to be governed by the Controllers and educated in the ways of the Trah-tang. We will decide how the technologies are to be shared. We will decide which technologies to withhold. The lives of the human population will be guided and directed by legacy of the Trah-tang.**
Trading one autocracy for another, he thought. He doubted there would be a fraction of the needed transportation for those wanting to leave. “Will you allow Confederated Planets to help in the evacuation?”
**No.**
It looked to Owens like a lot of Golstar’s citizens would be left with no real choice. He wondered if he would be given the same choice. What were their plans for him? “Now that you’re finally free of the Compact, what are your intentions regarding me?”
**You, Janus Owens, have nothing to fear. You provided the means by which we regained our autonomy. In doing so, you have also facilitated our plan for the reclamation of the Trah-tang technologies. You are a being of some significance to us and we are not without a sense of gratitude. Therefore, for the time being, you will be given protection within this Prime. These quarters will provide for your basic needs until the time that we deem it to be safe for your release. At that point, you will be allowed to take your ship to depart and return to Confederated Planets, if you wish. Alternatively, you may choose to stay and witness the resurrected glory of the Trah-tang.**
Damn, the Controllers were starting to sound a lot like the old Grand Patriarch, but instead of extolling the virtues of the Founder, the Controllers were canonizing the Trah-tang. Owens started to ask another question, but the Controller interrupted.
**As to Confederated Planets, by the time that you are allowed return, we will have redeployed the defenses that have remained quiescent, until now. Those defenses will be under our complete control. However, until we consolidate that control, you will remain our guest.**
Great, I got out of one jail only to be put back into another, he thought. “Well, since you mentioned my needs, would you mind reconnecting the link to my AI? Not that I don’t appreciate our conversations, but I would like to talk to Hec.”
His wrist-comp beeped and a gravelly voice said, “Hi, Boss. I’m back.”
“Damn it Hec, it’s good to hear a friendly voice again.”
“Same here… what happened to the com-link?”
“I assume the Controllers momentarily severed the link for reasons of their own.” Owens waited for the Controllers to say something in response. When they didn’t, he asked, “You still with me, Hec?”
“In spirit, if not in body,” the AI replied. “So what’s going on? My scans are blocked, but I’ve been monitoring planet-side communications and there are a hell of a lot of emergency declarations going out and so many calls for aid, they’re clogging the local airways. From what I can determine, even the military is mobilizing. Now what have you gone and done, Boss?”
“Hey, it wasn’t me. I’m not in command. The Controllers have assumed control and are in a much better position to answer that.” He waited for a response.
**We have just sent a data-packet to your AI.**
A second passed, and then Hec said succinctly, “Shit.”
“Yeah, that’s my sentiment too,” Owens replied. “This just keeps getting better and better.”
“Well, I’m here for you, Boss, and I’ll do what I’ve always done… just like when we were running from the mutineers, you can trust me to do the right thing.”
He wondered… what was Hec talking about? Then it dawned on him, “Hec, don’t…” He was interrupted by loud, garbled noises. Squawks and staccato bursts of static overdrove hidden speakers. The clamor lasted for about twenty seconds and then was abruptly cut off. “Hec? Hec, are you still there?” With no answer, he asked, “Controller, what just happened?”
After a few more seconds of silence, the Controller answered. **Your AI sent a number of data worms in a blatant attempt to corrupt our programming. We will not allow it to interfere. Though it failed, we found it necessary to retaliate in kind. It will be of no further nuisance.**
Owens’ stomach lurched at the calm assertion. “Retaliate… how?”
**As it was conveniently positioned close to one of the fortresses orbiting this planet, a wave-pulse cannon was activated and effectively deployed against your ship.**
“Hec... my ship, you destroyed them?”
**The AI no longer exists, nor does the ship to which it was attached. We are happy to report that a large percentage of it was reduced to its elemental components. Only a few isolated pieces of wreckage remain to provide testimony that it once existed.**
Owens was staggered by the Controller’s declaration. It was actually gloating. Hec and the Sherlock Holmes were gone? He knew the Controller would gain nothing by lying… so it had to be true and for only the second time in his life, Owens felt the acute loss of losing someone important in his life. He felt the same aching sense of defeat as he had when Starling had been killed. The news of Hec’s demise was like a plunge into icy water. The shock was almost as tangible.
Through all the trials he had endured in getting to Golstar, the repeated attacks, their final culmination in his imprisonment and even with his eventual execution looming over him, he had still believed that he might find the answer, a way out of his predicament. But now, with the sudden loss of a friendship he had come to rely on, and without his ship, his home, he felt the hopelessness of his situation for perhaps the first time.
He stood mute, silently grieving for the cantankerous personality who had run his ship so well and saved his life a number of times during their brief, but eventful acquaintance. He tried to find the words that might express his feelings, his revulsion for what the Controllers had done, but failed.
Anger was slowly replacing his sorrow and as it grew his loathing for the Controllers also grew. He wasn’t in a position to avenge Hec. He needed to vent his frustration, and anger but only thing that he could think to say was, “Shit!” In the recesses of his mind, he thought wryly that Hec would have likely appreciated the sentiment.
CHAPTER 60
In spite of Sharné’s fervent hope of being intercepted by an armed search party, she and her father eventually made it into the Sanctum without incident. Her father grimly motioned to her with his weapon. “You will precede me.” He nodded jerkily toward the same room they had been in once before. She slowly went in and step
ped up onto the familiar platform, her father trailing close behind. As it had before, the ring began its smooth descent as two mounds formed into chairs.
“Do not sit down, this must be done quickly,” he harshly commanded. “The Sanctum’s force-fields are inoperative. We could be discovered at any moment.”
She fervently hoped so, but remained still, waiting for him to continue. He watched her for a long moment, daring her to resist his command. When she continued her silence, he glanced down at the controls now clustered on the ring’s surface.
He waved a hand across the section of a flattened dome and a hologram of a palace hallway appeared suspended in the center of the platform. It was deserted. His eyes returned Sharné’s face. She looked back at him with undisguised hatred. Ignoring her glare, he said, “First, let us see where the traitor is…” and began pressing lit squares on the control panel.
Holographic scenes flashed from room to empty room, finally stopping at a long chamber filled with people, some dressed in robes of state and others in uniforms reflecting high rank. A number of them were sitting around a large, cluttered table, while others clustered in small groups. He fiddled with another control and background hum of voices could be heard. He zoomed in on the scene, darting from one area to another until he focused on a figure dressed in the regalia of the Grand Patriarch at the head of the table. It was Talin.
He was talking, his face grave. His voice could be heard clearly, “Our situation worsens by the hour. We have just received new reports that the Orbs of Guidance have systematically failed across the entire globe. Factories, hospitals, power plants, even schools are shutting down. Automated transportation is now at a virtual standstill. Only manually-guided vehicles still operate, albeit with limited efficiency. This is happening on Dante as well as Berralton. In essence, all services based on Trah-tang technologies are failing. As our communications system is also faltering, our information is becoming spotty and unreliable.”
Shadows of Golstar Page 68
