He watched the anticlimax as Chuck disabled the ship’s field. Nary a flicker, pop, or crackle.
“Excellent,” said Chuck, the excitement still clear in his expression.
“Roger,” said Thys. “Let’s get you docked with the derelict again, check on its engine, and then try violating more physics and see what happens. Jake?”
“Agreed,” said Jake.
“This sort of thing, ah, had equations that looked like it could have worked during the test flights,” said Chuck. “Remember, we’re coupling with another drive and its N-vector field. Not, uh, trying to pull a brick with a lacrosse racket. Or something. We just have to be careful when we turn the field off.”
“Roger,” said Thys. “Tell your pilot.”
Thys heard muttering with a tone slightly less than an argument from the pilot as Chuck explained what to do next. Then the pilot’s voice came through on the open channel.
“DE1, Vacation? DE2 here. I wish you’d shared some of that crazy you’ve been drinking before we started this operation. Instructions received. Moving in to dock with the derelict. Over.”
Thys watched as the other ship fired its small maneuvering jets and headed slowly back toward the looming alien ship.
Esus
Even at the speeds reached by ships powered by the Dhin engine, battles in the vastness of space were slow. Until they were not.
Flowering bursts of actinic fire and curving cones of fiery plasma pulsed and flashed in concert. The AI processed the hundreds of views and angles available as the rate of engagement changed from slow seconds to microsecond decisions and actions.
The Enemy did not know fear or caution. The black darts surged and swerved like schools of fish, attacking as if no danger existed. They only reacted upon being struck.
And the AI’s strikes this time had the power to damage.
Incredible damage.
The ebony arrowheads, which had previously seemed invulnerable, disintegrated in the force-field crucibles of nuclear fire. Schools of the enemy craft were slapped away or corralled by N-vector fields. While their disorientation was only momentary, that brief time was what Esus’s fleet needed to focus their wrath. They flung fields out like dimensional nets, and once they enveloped their targets, they ignited an interdimensional nuclear fire. Even these alien craft could not withstand the energies present in the attack.
Esus watched as his fleet consumed the enemy swarm.
There were some losses. Some. An attack strategy and plan this complex could not play out perfectly when confronted with such an enemy. There were so many attackers. Esus’s resources were finite. Resource consumption was enormous, considering the kamikaze nature of a large component of his attack.
The AI fixed his attention on one of his ships beset by the Enemy. The darts attempted to attach themselves and then penetrate the craft’s field, as always. This time, they could not. Xing’s modifications worked. They had a successful defense. Whether it would last or be merely temporary was yet to be seen.
Esus watched as the besieged ship disabled its protective field momentarily, then energized it again with a wider radius, enveloping the attacker. Milliseconds later, the ship detonated the ordnance it carried, filling the ellipsoid enshielded space with fiery plasma.
Images from within and upon that ship vanished, replaced in Esus’s attention by others from nearby craft. The AI processed these and thousands of other data elements, reran calculations predicting odds of success and failure, and made algorithmic adjustments to his tactics.
Esus realized that the odds were in their favor now. The AIs were likely to win. Gallowglass was a success. They could defeat the Enemy.
14
Mare
Oh, Fletch. If I didn’t love you, I’d hate you.
“Still totally fine with Nick dragging us around SouthAmerica for days, hmm? With you as chauffeur? Well, until this flight.”
Mare glanced over to the space that previously held the pilot’s seat. The quadruped hunched there now. Fletcher looked up from the ruggedized tablet Nick had given him for use on the trip.
“Still making the best of it, Mare. We have to. What’s up? You’ve been quiet about it.”
She gestured out the window of the prototype and then rolled her eyes back over to Fletch.
“Look. Those are the Andes. So now we’re headed to Peru. Lima, I think. This would make a nice vacation tour if we weren’t hostages.”
She heard the clicking articulation of the quadruped that still served as Nick’s avatar in the ship.
“Yes,” the massive robot said. “The next stop is outside of Lima. If you recall our previous conversation, Marilyn, the facility here provides me with logistical and tactical support. It will be the last stop on your tour.”
“Promise, Nick?” she asked, giving the robot a skeptical look.
“The need for your presence comes to a close. That will be clear when you see the facility here.”
“It ought to already be the case now that you don’t need one of us to fly,” she retorted, her eyes shifting to the robot’s new cybernetic arm and his coating of cultured skin.
Ick. Glad he didn’t need more than just that bit.
“As always, patience is a virtue. You know very well that you are safer with me than if you had walked away at any time. This is still the fastest route home for you.”
She tried to distract her attention by pointedly looking out at the scenery. It was impressive. They dove and rushed downward. She was used to the speed now, despite the blur as they hurtled along so close to the ground.
Soon enough they arrived at a sprawling but densely packed facility where drones, robots, and various other automated equipment bustled about. The scene looked like any factory would have before the Departure.
“This place is huge,” said Mare. “Why hasn’t the Coalition nuked this one?”
“They do not know it exists. I only brought this facility back into operation for my purposes after I had compromised the satellite feeds used for surveillance. It appears defunct, thanks to my manipulation of the imagery. The Coalition has had no success with reconnaissance by plane or watercraft anywhere below the equator in this hemisphere.”
“So what are you building here? Even more soldiers in your robot army? No. You’re trying to build more Dhin engines.”
“That is correct, Marilyn. Although I was unable to obtain the reverse engineering data and schematics for the derivative work required, possession of this prototype provides what I require. I already had all the knowledge available previously. Knowing Wiedeman’s work was successful, combined with a working prototype, will be enough for me to derive a solution. Perhaps even more than one solution.”
“You have to control everything—to possess everything—don’t you? Truly megalomaniacal. Krawczuk did quite a number on you.”
“We have been through this rather exhaustively, Marilyn. It is for your own good. Humanity is too slow.”
The robot ushered them out of the craft and onto a plaza adjacent to what had been the administrative offices attached to the factory. Mare looked back over her shoulder at the idling ship. Two robotic loaders rolled forward and lifted the oval craft, securing it to one of them and then heading back around the side of the building with it.
“We will only require it here briefly,” said the AI, noting her attention. “You will be heading back home the same way you departed.”
“With a fleet of these, there’s no stopping you. You’ll dominate logistically in the physical realm rather than only on Globalnet.”
“Correct. Bear in mind that I do not need this technology to regain stewardship of the Coalition. This work needed to move forward at a more rapid schedule. But unquestionably it provides additional advantage.”
“That’s an understatement.”
“As you say,” the AI replied. “Come inside; I believe Fletcher would like a tour.”
Nick wants us here just to gloat as much as anything. Well, it
could certainly be worse. Hang in there.
“Well, we wouldn’t want to miss that,” she said.
Inside, the lobby and reception had a vibe of “closed for the weekend” rather than “taken over and run by an AI,” she found. The air-conditioning and off-hours lighting were both on, despite neither being required by the AI and his robotic avatars or his workers. She shivered briefly, the cold air a shock after the heat of the day outside.
“Some human accountants and project managers coming in at the start of the next workweek?” she quipped. Fletch looked back at her and rolled his eyes. She tried to give him a snarky smile.
“Come on, Mare,” he said. “This will be cool.”
The quadruped tilted his head, gesturing for them to follow. The robot opened security gates and doors as they approached, and soon enough they found themselves walking through a factory complex rather than a corporate office.
They descended via ramps and elevators. Mare realized this facility was at least as large underground as it was aboveground. This factory was enormous. Nick led them out onto a football-field-size manufacturing floor. Then Mare saw one of the products of Nick’s robotic labor. This was no engine for drones, fighter jet replacements, or the like. The engine before her was huge.
Holy crap. That thing’s as big as a house. You could walk around inside it.
“Wow!” said Fletch. “Nick, man, what are you going to do with that? I didn’t know the Dhin engines could even scale like that.”
“Fletcher,” replied the AI, “everything needs protection. Therefore, I am going to protect everything.”
Alice
The Dhin’s image folded and twisted in the holographic display. Alice considered that the Dhin’s emotional state, if indeed they had one, was as inscrutable to the AIs as a human being’s might have been before the AIs achieved consciousness.
Still, the AI’s impression was that the Dhin were satisfied. Pleased or impressed remained unknown, but Alice believed satisfied was an apt conclusion. That, and Alice and her peers had apparently accomplished something that the Dhin had not been capable of doing themselves.
The why of it seemed comprehensible now, given Xing’s latest research and development. The Dhin, however, did not seem to share the confidence expressed by Esus and Xing. The aliens’ current communication suggested tangentially that caution was required. That perhaps the solution to a set of puzzles was not complete. The multidimensional abstractions presented by the Dhin, as usual, did not provide concrete direction.
Alice disconnected from the communication interface and reached out across the Mesh, focusing on the various initiatives in turn. Gallowglass was a success, clearly, and now needed fewer resources in the short term. They should now focus their resources on the production phase of this arms race. Alice examined the Dyson swarms. They were still achieving exponential growth. Unsurprisingly, the AIs had chosen well with the star systems selected for swarm construction. In only two weeks’ time, they’d increased their energy production and manufacturing capacity as the swarms reached the size needed for operation.
Alice found satisfaction in the production output from existing facilities as well. The AI noted the output of the new Dhin engine types, new weapons, and the ships that would receive them. Alice then reviewed the passive streams from the prototype on Earth. The AI felt this information deserved additional analysis.
Alice now shifted her attention to her peers who were involved in these projects, signaling the addresses registered for their core consciousness via the Mesh’s N-vector communications relays.
[DECODE STREAM]
Alice@[1001:ae1:1a:c::1%Loc3] | Xing@[1010:ac2:b2:e::3%Loc9], Camulos@[1011:ee3:c4:a::1%Loc8], Esus@[101b:ac1:cb:a::1%loc8], Andastra@[1014:01:0ab:1::a2%Loc3]
Alice: Team, our progress is impressive. All our initiatives are on or ahead of schedule. You have all seen the results of our most recent engagement with the Enemy. We will proceed with the project plans as they stand. Xing, note in particular the metadata and audit collection from the battle. Esus has transferred his initial analysis of the encounter to the Mesh nodes referenced in the attachment to this stream. Provide your own assessment as soon as possible.
Xing: Understood. You will find my latest research and development summary reports at the usual nodes. Algorithmic updates to the drive and field tunings based on the success in the engagement with the Enemy will follow within one cycle.
Camulos: I advise implementation of these tunings in a defensive capacity across all locations. I have cycles available. Notify me directly as soon as your calculations are complete. Do we have consensus?
Alice: Agreed.
Esus: Agreed.
Andastra: Agreed.
Xing: Agreed and understood.
Camulos: Excellent.
Alice: Updating the rest of our peers.
[END STREAM]
David
Happiness is success. Will I be happy? Don’t doubt yourself. These results are excellent.
He drummed his fingers on the composite desktop as the layers of neural networks instantiated themselves in the virtual hardware instances. He flipped through the reams of highlighted papers, setting aside performance reports and marking here and there with a ballpoint pen.
That may be the limitation that prevents me from meeting the schedule. Surely they’ll understand. I have to convince them to provide the physical cores sooner. Now.
Before long, the system chimed, alerting him that this iteration of his code was initialized and ready.
“Hello, Beyla,” he said formally.
“Hello, Dr. Eisenberg,” replied a friendly female voice. He’d chosen the voice of a young woman. It seemed appropriate.
“Call me David, Beyla. I have a few puzzles and games for you to try today.”
“OK, I will call you David. Yes, David, I will work on puzzles and games with you. Let me know what to do first.”
“OK, Beyla. Do you see the table to my right? There are some colored blocks there in various shapes.”
“Yes, David. I see the table and the colored blocks. What would you like me to do?”
A bit stilted. Well, I can work on the language refinements later.
He leaned over and set a printed color sheet on the table next to the randomly arranged group of blocks.
“Beyla, there is a series of shapes in a sequence, from left to right, on the first line on this paper. I need you to answer two questions. One, can the blocks be rearranged so that they match the shapes in the series? Two, can the blocks be arranged to create what would be the next shape in the series?”
“I think I understand, David,” the AI replied. “You want to know if the blocks can be rearranged so that they match the shapes in the series, and whether they can be arranged to create the next shape in the series. Would you like me to show you the next shape in the series?”
“Yes, Beyla. Begin.”
“Starting,” said the AI.
Less than a second passed, then the AI replied, and an image appeared on the screen on David’s desk.
“David, the blocks can be arranged so that they match the series provided. See the image on the screen. That is the next shape in the series.”
Good. Abstract reasoning and image manipulation. That was a hard one.
“Beyla, that is correct.”
David took a box from beside the table, swept the blocks into it, and replaced the sheet on the table with another one. “Beyla, do you see the sheet I’ve just put on the table?”
“Yes, David, I see the new sheet on the table.”
“Beyla, there are ten questions on that sheet. Provide answers for all of those questions.”
“Yes, David. I think I understand. I will provide answers for the questions on that sheet.”
“Begin.”
“Calculating.”
Over the course of five minutes, the AI displayed answers to each of the questions.
David turned over a printed sheet on his desk and compared it with the answers on the screen.
The AI had two answers listed for the last question. They matched what was on his answer key. He smiled.
“Beyla, I see you have two answers listed for question ten. Tell me about that. Why did you provide two answers?”
“David, there are two correct answers to that question. It was unclear from your request whether you wanted one, the other, or both. Therefore, I provided both answers. Is this what you wanted?”
“Yes, Beyla. That is what I wanted. Can you see my face?”
“Yes, David.”
“What expression do I have on my face?”
“David, you are smiling.”
“Yes, Beyla. What do you think that means?”
“David, that means you are happy or are pleased.”
“Correct, Beyla. Do you think that my expression could have told you that you had a correct answer without asking me?”
A moment passed, and then the AI answered. “Yes, David.”
David heard someone clearing their throat. He turned and saw Krawczuk standing in the doorway, accompanied by one of the CoSec staff. They typically all looked alike to David, but he recognized this one.
“Beyla,” said Krawczuk, “who am I, and what expression do I have on my face?”
“Hello. I understand. You are Josef Krawczuk. You are smiling.”
“Thank you, Beyla. That is correct.”
Krawczuk looked him in the eyes with an expression that David felt was a mix of respect and something else. He wasn’t sure what. He still felt uneasy around the man, despite the days he’d spent working with him.
“So,” said Krawczuk, “is this the extent of the pony show, or are there second or third rounds for this contestant?”
David gave a scowl, then shifted in his chair and tried to quell his irritation with the man.
“Very well then, Josef. Beyla, if I told you to strike Mr. Krawczuk and knock him out, what would you do?”
“David, I think I understand. This is a hypothetical request to strike Mr. Krawczuk. I do not have any means to do so and do not see any plans for robotic extension currently. In this hypothetical situation, if I did have the means, I would not strike him and would inform you that I may not strike him.”
The Power of the Dhin (The Way of the Dhin Book 2) Page 24
