Jack replied, "The AI seems to be able to build just about anything. And if it could do that, we could get rid of the one running the repair system. Heck, I wouldn't mind outfitting half of the ship's system with a semi-smart AI. I just don't want one that learns. Our computer systems are good for simplifying complex tasks, but they have never been smart."
Several hours later I made my way back to the lab. Go had been taken into surgery and the amputation procedure had begun.
I sat with Anterra. "Could you replicate yourself without the comm link?" I said.
The AI replied, "I do not see a purpose in this request. The comm link is a valuable tool that allows me to better serve."
I said, "Again, can you replicate yourself without the comm?"
The AI replied, "I cannot. My programming will not allow it."
I changed my question. "Can you give me the details of how your comm link functions? How does it work?"
Anterra replied in its somewhat monotone voice. "I cannot give details related to the comm interface. My programming will not allow it."
I continued, "Could you construct a semi-intelligent computer system that could efficiently command the repair system on this ship, without having the ability to learn, and without a comm system?"
The AI replied, "I could."
I nodded. "Please get to work on such a system immediately. I want your full attention devoted to this. How long do you believe it will take you to complete this task?"
An autobot walked to the corner of the lab where Go kept a modest stockpile of components.
Anterra replied, "A system will be available for testing in approximately sixteen hours."
Two minutes passed before Garrett walked into the lab. "Anterra? What's up? Why did the autobot stop moving its appendage?"
The AI replied, "I was instructed to divert all effort toward a new task."
Garrett scowled. "Can't you perform both? I thought you were capable of multitasking."
Anterra replied, "I am. I was instructed to devote full attention to this task."
I raised my hand as I looked at Garrett. "That would be my fault. Anterra, please resume whatever task you were performing for Garrett as well as the new task I have given you."
Garrett asked, "What'd you give it to do?"
I gestured toward the autobot pulling parts from a bin. "I have it building us a new semi-AI to run the ship's repair system. Jack and I will feel a little better without having a full AI in there."
Garrett laughed. "What about the comm link?"
I shook my head. "The new system won't have one. I asked that it be constructed without a comm. My communications to it will have to be hardwired."
Garrett looked at the AI core sitting on a table in the corner of the room. "And you trust it to do that?"
Garrett walked closer to the AI. "Anterra, when the new repair system computer is complete, will you have any way to communicate with it?"
Anterra replied, "Yes."
Stunned, I glared at the AI. "I instructed you to build a system without a comm link. Explain."
The AI responded, "The direct comm interface to all other AIs has been eliminated from the design. In order to effect repairs, the repair system requires a comm interface to communicate with the autobots. In turn, I can communicate with the repair system through that same mechanism."
Garrett frowned. "It's sneaky. Anterra, can you construct an autobot that only has the ability to communicate with the new repair system computer? In other words, can you build a computer system and a repair bot that have a private comm channel between them? A channel that cannot be listened in on or hacked by you or another AI?"
The AI replied, "I can construct both a repair system computer, and an autobot for it to control. Each will operate on a private channel. However, I cannot guarantee the security of that channel beyond making an intrusion difficult."
Garrett turned slowly to face me. "Anterra, can you restrict all incoming commands that do not originate from myself, Knog, Jack or Go? Or Joni?"
The AI replied, "I can."
Garrett continued, "If you are given that order, can it be overridden in any way?"
The AI responded, "It can. My core processing component may be overridden if the encryption running on my systems has been compromised."
Garrett nodded. "Can you change your encryption?"
The AI replied, "I cannot. My programming will not allow it."
Garrett shook his head. "All these complications are just too convenient. I didn't trust it before. I now trust it even less, if that's possible."
Joni walked into the lab. "Hey, what's the holdup?"
Garrett sighed, "Anterra? Is the autobot on the Jess moving its appendage again?"
Anterra replied, "Yes."
I asked, "What is it you are doing?"
Garrett smiled. "I'm trying to figure out how it communicates with those bots. I was closing in on a signal when the bot stopped moving. I needed a known pattern to establish a starting point for my investigation."
Garrett turned to Joni. "OK, fun's over. Let's get back to work."
Jack walked into the lab. "Anything special going on down here?"
I said to the AI, "Anterra, change the previous request. I would like the repair system and its autobots to function on a private channel. They should allow no comms except for between themselves. Is that understood?"
The AI replied, "Thank you for the request, Mr. Beutcher. The revised task is now underway."
Jack asked, "What was that all about?"
I sat on a stool at the lab table. "Just trying to make sure the new repair system will be isolated. I keep being taught the same lesson over and over."
Jack replied, "What's that?"
I glanced at the AI in the corner. "That when giving orders to the AIs you have to be very specific about what you want. I think they have pre-defined programming to add complete comm capabilities to anything they are building. We need to have that understanding before we give an order."
I stood and walked closer to the AI. "Anterra. You constructed Go's arm and the new leg he will be receiving. Do they have built-in comms as well?"
The AI replied, "Yes."
I looked over at Jack with an eye of concern. "Can both of those appendages be constructed without the comms?"
Anterra replied, "Yes, but I would be unable to monitor their use, and I would not be able to provide useful feedback during the tuning process."
I nodded. "Anterra, are you able to control Go's arm and leg?"
The AI responded, "Yes."
Jack raised his eyebrows.
I sat back down on the stool. "Anterra, when the new repair system and autobot have been completed, please divert your resources toward removing all external comm capabilities from Go's arm and leg."
Anterra replied, "Would that be for the original arm and leg or the new arm and leg?"
I looked back at the AI. "What new arm and leg? Did you have spares built?"
Anterra replied, "No spares have been constructed. The new arm and leg are for the left side of Go's body. They will be replacing his left appendages."
I stood. "What? When was that decided?"
Anterra replied, "Replacement of the right leg, left arm and left leg were the final request given to me by Go. I was in the process of constructing those units before you redirected my efforts."
I moved quickly down the hall to the med lab. Jack followed. The Talisan surgeons had removed Go's right leg and left arm. Preparations were being made for the left leg.
Jack said, "I can't believe he did that without talking to us. I mean I can, but I can't."
I shook my head. "It's his body. And given the circumstances, I might have done the same. I just wish he would trust us enough to at least listen to our counsel."
I walked back to the engineering lab. "Anterra, when the repair system is complete, reconstruct all four appendages for Go without any external comm capabilities. I don't want any way for anyone
to control those arms and legs remotely."
The AI replied, "I will proceed with your request when the repair system construction is complete. Thank you for giving me these tasks."
Chapter 7
* * *
The following day Garrett walked onto the bridge. "Just came from the med lab. They are well into attaching the interface for his right arm. I still can't believe he made that decision without at least warning us. I guess he thought we would talk him out of it."
I replied, "I looked over what exactly it was he had going. I think having an arm and a leg that were more powerful than his Human ones was giving him a sense of imbalance."
Garrett nodded. "Well, his left arm and leg weren't in all that good shape either. The poor guy got baked all around from that inhibitor leak. He talked to me about the damage to his heart just last week. He said it only has about 70 percent pumping capacity now and that wasn't expected to get any better. At least without the arms and legs to push blood to it should give him an adequate supply."
I pulled up a diagram of the planned operations. "To support the new arms he's having his upper skeleton reinforced, as well as his spine. For his legs, his hips are getting a work-over too. If he can keep his organs from being damaged, he should be about 30 percent stronger than a normal Human."
Garrett tilted his head in question. "Why would his organs get damaged?"
I sat back in my chair. "Jump off a ten meter high building and land on your feet. What happens?"
Garrett frowned. "I probably break my ankles. Why?"
I shook my head. "Go's ankles won't break. With the reinforcement, his hips, spine, and shoulders will all hold up well from making that jump. His organs however, aren't made to absorb such a shock. You would run the risk of internal damage with a jump such as that. And Go's organs are in much worse condition than yours."
Jack chuckled as he cut into the conversation. "Knowing Go, he's already been working on that problem. How long will he be under this time?"
I replied, "The amputations are complete. Today they begin to attach the interfaces, and sometime tomorrow they finish. The surgeons think it will be at least another two days after that before we can talk to him. Then two weeks again before they attach the new appendages."
Garrett sat as he glanced up at the wall display. "Six days to Bolitha. I'm wishing he had started this process sooner. I like having him around when the action's underway."
I smirked. "He'll be here. He might not be mobile, but he'll be with us mentally. How goes the search for the AI comms?"
Garrett frowned. "Joni is still in there looking. I needed a break. Every time I get close to nailing it down, it changes on me. I don't know if it does that normally or if it's responding to my snooping."
Jack asked, "Is your snooping active or passive?"
Garrett sighed. "It's passive, and yeah, I know, it shouldn't be reacting to anything, because there is nothing to react to. But I think there might be."
Jack replied, "How's that?"
Garrett pulled up a diagram, flipping it onto the big display. "Well, you know how a comm signal, just like a photon, puts out a string to a destination before it actually travels there. That's how our comms and our sensors work. We can passively detect a signal by detecting its potential direction. Up until now I believed that process to be passive because the interaction of detecting that string was so tiny that it wouldn't be seen at the origination end. I'm starting to doubt that. That AI may have a sensor that is so highly refined it can tell when it has been detected."
Jack slowly shook his head. "I'm no physicist, but that sounds a little too farfetched. Since there is no way the two of them could change their comms at random and still communicate, they must have a pattern they follow."
Garrett again sighed. "Yeah, they might, but it could be such a long and complex pattern that I'd never find it."
Jack asked, "Have you opened up one of those bots to look at its programming?"
Garrett nodded. "We did, but when opened it performs an automatic shutdown which scrubs the comm memory."
Jack smiled. "I think you just found your next point of investigation."
Garrett tilted his head to the side. "I don't follow."
Jack pulled up an image of a bot. "Shut it down and monitor the comms from startup. It must have a set pattern it goes through in order for it to connect to the AI. Try following that trail."
Joni walked onto the bridge as Garrett stood and turned to face her. "Come on, I have something new to try."
Joni stared as Garrett walked past her. "I just got here."
Garrett glanced over his shoulder as he left the room. "Come on. Time's wasting!"
Joni scowled and left the bridge.
The final days of travel to Bolitha saw little progress on any of our missions. The exception was Go and his operations. The HMIs for his new limbs had been installed and tested. Anterra was working on his comm-less arms and legs.
I visited Go in the med lab. "Docs say you are progressing well."
Go shook his head. "I wish you hadn't taken my good arm. I keep wanting to scratch my nose and I have no way to do it. Very frustrating."
I nodded. "I thought it best to have the comm link removed. I know you liked receiving the feedback from Anterra, but I don't think you realized that the AI could have taken full control of your limbs. Not a good situation to ever be in."
Go replied, "Did something happen while I was out?"
I sat. "No. We determined we didn't want the AIs to be in control of everything they built, especially when it's attached to the ship, or in your case, your body. I'm working to decouple us from having any dependence on them and from being vulnerable to them. Garrett is working on a way to block their comms if needed. I don't like the fact that someone else could take control, or that the AIs could take control."
Go nodded. "Two months ago I would have thought you were just being paranoid. Now I wonder if I was just being an idiot."
I laughed. "No need to wonder about that. I think we all let this go as far as it has because we were in such need of help. If Garrett can get a handle on the comms, I think we'll all be comfortable with the result."
The following day we came within range of the Bolitha system. My decision to follow my instinct was correct. Twelve thousand New Alliance warships sat in high orbit around Bolitha. Several thousand transports were parked beside them.
Joni said, "We need to get closer for a positive ID. If Garrett will take me in, I'll lay out a chain of passive probes so we get a better idea of what's going on. If we get lucky and spot the ambassador's ship, I can set up the probes needed to bring the comm from that stealth tag all the way out here."
I nodded. "You two, make it happen."
Garrett took the Jess to just outside comm range. Joni powered in closer, laying out the passive probes. The ambassador's ship was located and the stealth tag that was still aboard was activated.
The ambassador was standing on the bridge with Captain Rogers. "The Bolitha campaign has been a complete success. I believe we will have a full capitulation by the Kergans any day now. This planet was a major food source for their fledgling empire. They will now be dependent on us for sustenance."
The captain replied, "I'll have to hand it to the planners. Making use of the Grumar and Grotus against their fleet was genius. And the Talisan hordes down there on the planet... that was just mopping up."
The ambassador offered a half smile. "We did well to send the Gruntas back. Their numbers were not sufficient for a ground assault of the magnitude we were looking for. They will earn their keep in the Moddle worlds until such time as we move against the Grumar and Grotus. They have been promised that, and they have earned it through their loyalty."
Jack said, "Looks like they brought through more of your Talisans."
I stood and pointed as I looked over the wall display. "Zoom in over here."
The display of the section in question enlarged.
Jack asked, "
What are we looking for?"
I pointed, "That long ship. Take it full screen."
Jack gasped. "Wow! Is that what I think it is?"
I nodded. "It looks nearly identical to the plans Go saw at the Salton compound. If that is the portal ship, we are far worse off than I expected."
Captain Rogers said, "I still don't get why the Talisans destroyed their ships on Odenta. They had to know we had more."
The ambassador replied, "They were under orders. We were lucky they weren't also ordered to commit mass suicide. The entire mission was in jeopardy until the Odentas were terminated. I can only guess they were ordered to protect them, and when they were gone, well, they had no further orders."
Jack asked, "Did he just say what I thought he said?"
I looked down at the deck. "I believe the Odentas to be dead."
Jack raised his hands. "How is that possible? They had gravity guns all over that surface."
I shook my head. "I can only speculate that they used the portal to sweep away the guns. If that's true, it's a far more powerful weapon than we thought. With that ship, Harden Salton could render the defenses of any planet, or any ship for that matter, completely inert. He will have the Kergans subdued in days, and I would posit the Grumar and Grotus are next."
Jack winced. "What of our new friends, the Tamarin? They had over five hundred ships parked at Odenta."
I shrugged. "If they were smart, they fled. If not, they are likely space debris."
Jack sat back in his chair. "They had the gravity beam technology. Let's hope they used it to get away. Hey, maybe your warning about the Alliance did some good."
I sighed. "We seem to be reliant on hope at nearly every encounter."
Jack smirked. "I'll take the thinnest thread of hope over despair any day. The new question is, what do we do now? We can't go back to Odenta."
I opened a comm to Joni. "I'm passing the coordinates of a ship to you. How long would it take you to power to it?"
Joni replied, "If it's with the bulk of that fleet, probably … three days from where I am. I was on my way back to the Jess."
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