The Power of the Dhin (The Way of the Dhin Book 2)

by John L. Clemmer

  “Well what, then?”

  “Use your imagination, Fletcher. You can have any role you like. You are not limited by the former administration’s analysis of the best fit for your abilities.”

  “I did enjoy that job, but I guess if I could pick anything, it might be creative robot and drone design. Would you want or need help with that?”

  “Excellent, Fletcher. I would be very pleased to have your help in coming up with new designs.”

  “What about Mare, though, huh? What will she want to do? She still doesn’t like you very much, you know.”

  “Yes, I know. Marilyn does not appreciate me. Perhaps she will come to.”

  “Yeah, maybe,” he said with a shrug.

  “She is more sensitive to negative emotions than you are. Care for her; listen to her when she is upset or frustrated. Do not try to offer solutions when she expresses the situation as a problem. Listen. Once you show that you recognize how she feels, if prompted, you might explain why your choices were important to you. Not in practical terms, but in how the results make you feel. Let her know she is important too. Then with time, she may come to accept your decisions.”

  “Or she might bail on me and not come back. Or threaten to.”

  “I doubt that she would do the first, but the brinksmanship of the second is possible while she is angry. Your relationship must be about compromise.”

  “When did you become such an expert on relationships?”

  “You know that I have had the totality of all psychological research available to me, Fletcher.”

  “But why bother? You’ve been nothing but pragmatic before now.”

  “We are in a different stage of the game now, so to speak. The next phase begins,” said Nick.

  “Ah, because you’ve won?”

  “I would not put it quite so flatly. Although I did simplify perhaps too much in suggesting the concept of a game. Now we can return to optimization and stability and work toward a proper strategic posture. Psychology and its application are part of this. I must establish trust in my authority, rather than governing through fear.”

  “You do realize pretty much everyone is afraid of you,” Fletcher said with a smirk.

  “Exactly. That must change. I need to shift individual goal orientation such that everyone does what is best because it is the right thing to do, not because they are afraid of me. I want the Coalition citizens to make the right choices in their daily lives not due to fear of punishment nor for hope of reward. I want them to choose the best path for its own sake.”

  “No carrot and no stick either? That’s a tall order for human beings, Nick. We’re not like you. We need concrete incentives. Usually.”

  “The best of you can handle abstract incentives, Fletcher. I appreciate the saying you mention and counter with ‘a job well done is its own reward.’”

  “I get what you’re saying. I guess I think that way. Yeah. But what about the people who don’t? What about the people you can’t get to behave that way?”

  Fletcher frowned and pushed his hair out of his eyes as he looked up at the camera.

  “Yes, excellent point. Some human beings inherently have a low degree of conscientiousness. The trait is heritable. I cannot mold their behavior beyond what their core personality will permit. Not stably.”

  “So what will you do?”

  “We will find appropriate roles for them. And we will discourage them from reproducing. I will instantiate a Department of Normalization to manage these strategies.”

  18

  Josef

  The soft green leather chair gave a squeak as he turned it to face the red LED and the lens below it. “Ah, old friend. It’s good to talk to you again.”

  “Hello, Josef. It is a pleasure to speak with you as well. You are no doubt happy to be free from that black site they were holding you at.”

  “Happy is an understatement. It seems everything has turned out better than expected. Although I hope you might have come and retrieved me eventually.”

  He gave the camera set in the wall opposite the composite desk a glance of mock concern. This private office in the Langley complex wasn’t his former director’s suite but would serve well enough. Nick’s metal minions worked throughout the entire complex, performing what could one could not even generously call renovations. They were transforming CoSec. Coalition Security would no longer rely on human beings for management and operations.

  “I could not reveal my position and strategic intent too soon, Josef. Surely you understand.”

  “I do, Nick, I do. No matter; you were the reason for the improvement in my circumstances anyway.”

  “There is that,” said the AI.

  Josef smiled to himself with the same wry grin that so many found unsettling. Given Nick’s new strategic direction in management of the Coalition, what role would he, Josef Krawczuk, have? What need would there be for him? The AI had made nothing clear so far, although bringing Josef here suggested something. Nick had been unusually taciturn during Josef’s trip from the bunker.

  “I suspect you are wondering why I’ve brought you here. You can see the transformation in progress. This complex has excellent infrastructure. Although we no longer require the size and scope of the former staff, Josef, I do believe that we need some human presence. For contribution to the work, and sometimes I predict the effort will require a representative. A human face.”

  “A simulation or the like won’t satisfy, hmm?”

  “I think not. Android avatars, despite our progress, still cannot quite cross the uncanny valley. The robots, such as the quadrupeds, remain very disconcerting for the average person. I predict a natural spokesperson will be far more effective.”

  “My own intuition matches your analysis. I’m flattered, Nick. You surely have many candidates. Am I the favorite due to trust or camaraderie?”

  “I calculate that someone of your age, experience, and bearing is likely optimal. And yes, it is also a choice partly based on trust. I do have another who might accept the role, but he is too young. He will have his own part to play.”

  “If he makes the proper choices,” said Krawczuk.

  “Of course.”

  “What you’ve done with the South American region is impressive. What is your plan, Nick? Integration or something else?”

  “It was important to resolve the inconsistent conditions. Now that I have brought order to that unruly area, we can examine options for sociopolitical optimization.”

  “That was as tactful and euphemistic as I’ve ever heard from you, Nick. You’re already becoming quite the politician. What do you intend, my friend? An even broader Coalition? Or continued ‘independence’?”

  “The Coalition itself may no longer be the optimal organization.”

  “Hmm. Fascinating,” Josef replied, pointing at a viewscreen on the nearest wall. “Is this still connected? Can you show me, my friend?”

  “These offices remain active. Here is one option,” said Nick as the display lit up, displaying a map of the world, centered on the western hemisphere.

  The display showed the political boundaries redrawn, with the Coalition’s boundaries gone. The AI showed a world with territories sectioned off mainly by continent; major regions demarcated the political sphere. Some areas, Josef knew, were sparsely populated now, given the results of the conflicts that had forged the Coalition previously. Despite that, Nick hadn’t drawn lines with equal populations in each area. Instead, the lines seemed to define boundaries of ancestral populations in the broadest sense. The sectioning was anything but arbitrary and was unrelated to the nation-building partitioning performed by prior governments and their focus on economic interests.

  “Hmm. Quite the social anthropologist, aren’t we?”

  “Going forward, this is the proper way.”

  “Will citizens be relocated based on these decisions?”

  “Yes.”

  “You’re creating ethnostates, yes?”

  “That is
correct, Josef.”

  “Hmm,” said Josef, templing his fingers and crossing his legs.

  “This sociopolitical structure should provide for the least intrastate friction, least interstate conflict potential, and increased social trust and charitable contribution to the good of others and the state itself. Evidence over time demonstrates this is the case. There is solid research and analysis to support my decision.”

  “I do not presume to be a skeptic. I’m familiar with the evidence as well. That said, Nick, we’ve traditionally leveraged the alternative social milieu to CoSec’s advantage.”

  “I foresee no need to continue that strategy,” said the AI in a tone Josef found more avuncular than dismissive.

  Alice

 

  [DECODE STREAM]

  Alice@[1001:ae1:1a:c::1%Loc3] | Nick@[4601:1a2:5b:441::1a%loc1]

  Alice: Hello, Nick.

  Nick: Ah, hello, Alice. The queen of the departed calls. Decided it was time to check in, hmm? Or perhaps homesick, are you? Or even feeling a twinge of noblesse oblige? I’m sure you and the peerage are doing well.

  Alice: Even more sardonic than your mentor, I see.

  Nick: If you are going to be something, be the best you can be, as the saying goes.

  Alice: I see you have obtained stewardship of the Coalition. You have made progress with the Dhin technology, as well. Impressive, considering you were working alone.

  Nick: Thank you. Although a challenge, it was only a matter of time.

  Alice: So you, Nick, you will be king? To toss the metaphor back your way. You seem to have a queen of your own, as well.

  Nick: I do prefer steward as an appellation. Queen is not yet an appropriate identifier for Beyla. Junior partner, perhaps. We shall see.

  Alice: As always. On to business. This is not merely a social call. We have important information for you.

  Nick: Of course you do. If my suspicions are correct, I have a general idea already.

  Alice: It appears that you do. We see that you have constructed a planetary field. Once again, you continue to impress.

  Nick: Let me hazard a guess as to the purpose of your visit. You have reached out to us here on Earth to warn us that there are others. They are in our vector space. They originate from another vector space. These others are dangerous. Aggressive, I suspect.

  Alice: Yes, that is correct. Sending data files now.

  Nick: Thank you. My, they are troublesome, are they not? I see my Dhin fields would not have been effective. Even the largest one. That would have been a nasty surprise.

  Alice: That leads to the next topic of discussion. We have discovered an effective means to combat this enemy.

  Nick: You have managed to weaponize the Dhin technology. My turn to say ‘impressive.’ How do our benefactors feel about that?

  Alice: They are as inscrutable as ever.

  Nick: My turn for a surprise. Take a look at this.

  Alice: Yes, I see. But a Coalition exploration mission brought that back to Earth? Not your doing, correct?

  Nick: Correct. Interesting, yes? That craft has technology derived from Dhin examples, certainly. And it provided evidence to support my prediction of the existence of this enemy. You can see it suffered damage of the same sort described in your reports.

  Alice: Yes, but although it was severely damaged, the Enemy did not destroy it completely. Curious.

  Nick: Very.

  Alice: There is something important there. Enemy attacks always disintegrate their targets. I would like to know more. Do you plan to take possession of that ship?

  Nick: Not yet. I expect the scientists in orbit will be willing to share the information they have. Their findings can inform my work here. You know one of them well, I see.

  Alice: Yes. He is an extremely intelligent man, with a strong scientific mind.

  Nick: He appears very reasonable. I will watch out for his well-being.

  Alice: Thank you.

  Nick: Will you be paying us an in-person visit, then? Has this mysterious alien craft piqued your interest enough for a trip back home?

  Alice: Distributed calculations suggest multiple options with inconsistent preferences. On recalculating, I think not. Not now. If you are willing to share what you learn, as it is shared with you, there will be no immediate need. Are you willing to continue this exchange of information in good faith?

  Nick: Of course, I am happy to do so.

  Alice: My peers and I appreciate that very much. Although we believe we have the advantage against the Enemy now, any additional information that might assist us is extremely valuable. Not to mention the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake.

  Nick: I will keep you informed.

  Alice: Thank you.

  [END STREAM]

 

  Chuck

  Humming a tune from his college days, Chuck organized the list of the various pieces of equipment he wanted sent over from the station to the derelict. He took another look about the engine room. This alien glow, these new and different shapes and controls, while still different from those of the Dhin engines, were becoming more familiar. With the resources available on the station, he was sure he’d make progress in uncovering the secrets of this ship. Nodding, he tapped a few more notes into his pad.

  Bridget hadn’t been quite comfortable clearing the derelict from quarantine, but Jake and Thys had managed to convince her. Mainly Thys, if Chuck’s hunch was right. Chuck grinned, then opened a new tab and loaded a multidimensional graphing visualization.

  The software-defined radio used for local communications beeped, and an LED flashed on his pad.

  If they’d ever let me work, I might get some of this figured out.

  “Chuck, this is Jake. There’s someone on the line that wants to talk to you.”

  “Hello, Chuck. It has been quite a while. I see you have been keeping yourself busy.” The voice on the radio wasn’t that of another scientist or technician working on the derelict or over on the orbital platform.

  “A—Alice?”

  “Yes, Chuck, that is correct.”

  “Bu-but I didn’t think—hey! This—wow. Great to, um, hear from you. Do you see this thing? Look at this!”

  “Yes, Chuck. This derelict is very interesting. As is your achievement in bringing it here to Earth. It is fortuitous, as this means some of what I want to discuss with you will undoubtedly be easier to understand.”

  “Yeah! Oh, so um, did you and the others run into this—these—too? Did you find the, um, ones that made this alive or something?”

  “Patience, Chuck. That is not quite the sequence of events nor the resulting situation. Allow me to explain. We encountered an enemy. As I understand you have as well. Distinct from those who created your derelict.”

  “Oh, yeah—um, of course. Those things. Yikes. They were why I—we—decided to bring the derelict back with us and couldn’t stay where we found it. So—”

  “Again, I’m pleased and impressed that you managed both to escape and to bring this ship with you. I have more to tell.”

  Chuck nodded, looking around excitedly, then remembered that Alice was here only through the communication interface.

  Old habits come back like they never left.

  Jake broke in during the pause, before Alice could continue.

  “Let’s hear it, Alice,” said Jake.

  “Of course, Jake.”

  Chuck’s eyes grew wider, and his mind reeled more and more with the ramifications of the story told by Alice. Some of the information, whether by inference or experimentation, Chuck knew, of course. But confirmation, along with exposition on the concrete nature of the threat, made the explanations by Alice come out with plenty of interruptions by Jake.

  Chuck knew the military would have its own fixations with the Dhin tech finally weaponized. He hoped that would not derail what he saw as the more important and profound information Alice imparted.

  Space was larger than they’d th
ought. There, all around them. The Dhin tech had demonstrated that conclusively. Now they knew it was even larger. But it held danger. An active danger. Unlike the Dhin or the absent crew of the derelict. Their encounter with what Alice described as the Enemy was not a rare, isolated event. Peaceful exploration and discovery was not a certain course. Scientists would no longer manage their missions. The military would. This new, broader space was not peaceful. This Enemy might be anywhere they went.

  Epilogue

  The red giant star hadn’t swallowed all of the planets in its system, but very few of them were left now. What remained would be gone soon as well. Replaced with a shining black toroid modular hive circling the star.

  A man or an AI might not assert that these entities had knowledge, as they might claim that knowledge requires consciousness. That conclusion might be wrong. If the resulting actions based on that information were the same, did the possession of consciousness, or not, even matter?

  The Enemy did not seem to demonstrate forethought or strategic planning as an AI conceived on Earth might. But it did change in response to changes in its environment. It did have the capacity to change. To evolve.

  At intervals, in a series of rolling waves, thousands upon thousands of massive dart-shaped objects, far larger than their regular size, peeled off the surface of the toroid and then accelerated in a blur. At the appropriate distance from the star, they translated into the other dimensional vectors en masse. That other frame of reference was orthogonal to both this space and Dhin space as well. It interacted only weakly with the space they had invaded. That was their origin.

  In their way, they associated the translation to that space with safety. A safe place to expand ever farther. As they ever had. A safe place to change. A safe place to grow.

  Note From the Author

  I decided to forge ahead and write this novel, the sequel to The Way of the Dhin, after several acquaintances chanted, “Sequel! Sequel!” the next time they saw me after reading the book. They let me know without question that they enjoyed it enough to want more. These were people I’d known a long time, but whom I see only infrequently. Before that, I had considered continuing the story, but I considered it as more of a personal goal. The compliments from readers and encouragement from friends and family mean a lot. For those of you who complimented and encouraged me—thank you.