by Ben Winston
"Okay, how about if we designed the plasma containment system to be mounted on a missile like a warhead. It might not be as effective as the torpedo, but it would still help put holes in that armor, right?"
"Yeah, it should. How is it you keep coming up with these ideas? Is it those old television shows you keep mentioning?" Ced asked.
I grinned. "I suppose a lot of them do, yeah. To tell the truth though, I just see something and get an idea about it. Most of the time I have no idea where it comes from."
"Well please, for the sake of the Alliance, keep watching this television!" he said with a straight face, although he knew that was a joke. "Say, I was meaning to call you about another issue. But, perhaps we should have a meeting instead. I think we may have discovered a good deal of the mystery behind why your AI reach sentience. Not the whole answer mind you, but a good start no less," Ced replied.
"Oh? I thought once we determined the safety parameters of the crystals that was dropped for other projects?" I asked.
"It was, officially. Some of the people we had working on it, all of them from Earth mind you, wanted to continue analyzing how the crystals work. I'm really surprised someone hasn't told you already since they've been working in the hardware side of your department." Ced explained as he took a drink. "I've been told that the Crystals are actually using something called quantum computing to handle data. Apparently it's a trick of the language you used when you wrote Sarah. Like I said, we should have a meeting about this, there is a ton of data behind all of this."
"I'll get it set up for tomorrow. Quantum Computing? I had no idea… wait, those types of computers work completely differently than the digital system I wrote, how could it be quantum? Also, when I first wrote Sarah's code, we hadn't begun to use the crystals yet." I replied. "She was on a cobbled together, digital architecture computer cluster."
"Ahh, but you see, it isn't the hardware that was doing it, it was the software! Like I said, there is a ton of data here for you to look over, frankly, it goes way past my knowledge of computing systems," Ced admitted.
I was stunned, and a little awed. "Well, let's just hope I know enough quantum theory to understand the explanation as well. Does Sarah understand it?"
"I can't believe you just asked me that," Ced replied. "Who do you think helped them gather and analyze the data? Has anyone ever given Sarah the Turing test?"
I nodded. "It was one of the first things the psychologists insisted on when we began studying AI behavior. She passed so well that the three people we had administering the test believed we had tricked them and she was really a human sitting in another room. I think one of them still believes that."
"Isn't that problematic?" Ced replied, concerned.
I shook my head. "No, it's actually a good thing. When dealing with psychology, it's good to have a doubter in the ranks. It forces us to question our theories and assumptions. This is a completely new area of research, so everyone's opinions are welcome."
Ced nodded. "Well, let me go take a look at this warhead idea you had, and see if I can come up with something. You know, as many ideas and suggestions as you've had for our defenses, you might want to consider learning more about weapons and control systems."
"Uh huh, you might want to start reading old science fiction stories and you'll soon discover where I get most of my ideas!" I replied. "I think my plate is pretty full with what I already have."
Ced smirked at me. "I'm serious Eric, with your knowledge of computer systems and programming, you could save millions of lives."
"Get to work you mad-scientist, or I'll tell Vance you were trying to recruit me!" I teased. However, his comment did stick with me, because I did have more ideas for weapons and control systems.
"He's right you know, Eric. You do have a knack for coming up with nasty surprises for the Aracs. You would be a major benefit in weapons design," Tul-sa added as the call ended.
I nodded to her. "You're probably right and I am thinking about it. In fact, I had another idea a couple of days ago that might be a good weapons system provided we have the time to develop it."
"Really? What is it?" Tul-sa asked grinning.
"A combat drone that could replace Marines on the field. We'll still need you to drive them, but you won’t be the ones actually in combat," I explained. "Sarah, could you show us the notes I made on the infantry drone?"
"Certainly Eric. If I may, this is a very feasible system, provided the issues can be resolved," Sarah replied as the image of a man-shaped automaton formed in her display area. It was man shaped, yes, but it was also almost eight feet tall.
"What are the issues as you see them?" I asked.
"For one, the size. If we were to use standard armor and weapon technologies for it, it would mass almost the same as a small shuttle. I would also like to mention that because they are remote controlled, if myself or one of my sisters were ever to go insane, we could easily take control of these units and all others like them," Sarah explained.
"I was aware of the mass issues, but hadn't considered AI control since you have a core restriction against doing harm," I replied. "Still, I think this should be a technology we need to explore because of the potential to save the lives of our soldiers. We'll just have to work out a way to counter the issues we find along the way."
"I don't know if you can answer it, but there has been a question I've always wanted to ask about armor and shields," Tul-sa said. "If I understand how shields work correctly, wouldn't it be easier to have them form inside the armor? I mean as part of the structure of the armor itself, not inside the hull."
"That's because the composition of the armor we use has so much ceramic that it is too strong of an insulator to allow the shield matrix to form. It could be done, but it would take so many emitters that the suit wouldn't be able to move because of the increase in over-all weight," I explained.
"Not to mention that movement, if possible, would break the integrity of the shield at every joint," Sarah explained, but looked thoughtful. "However, it might work if we changed the armor composite to crystallized neutronium and used a meta-phased shield."
"Wait, I thought neutronium was a stronger insulator than ceramic?" I asked.
Sarah nodded. "For standard shields it would be, but if we used a meta-phased shield, the crystaline structure of the armor would easily conduct a polarized shield, provided it matched the stria of the neutronium. It would be much lighter as well." She frowned. "It couldn't be used in personal armor as it would have an adverse effect on biological systems, but we could consider something like this for the drone as well as for ships. If used as part of existing defensive technologies, it would make our ships far more durable than they currently are." She frowned. "Theoretically, it would block any subspace comm channels not tuned to the shields."
"That could be a good thing," I said. "It would make hacking almost impossible, if the bugs ever figure that part out."
"It would prevent self-destruct orders from being issued simply be changing the shield harmonics," Sarah replied flatly.
I narrowed my eyes at her. "Has Doctor Evans been harassing you again?"
"Eric, it isn't harassment if he has valid concerns," Sarah replied.
"Concerns based on irrational fears are not valid concerns," I said. "I'll speak to him again, but if he starts harping on you about the evils of AI autonomy again tell him to go analyze his mother or something. I've already told him once to stop wasting your time because of his obsession with old movies. You already have a healthy fear of AI omnipotence without him reinforcing it for you." I took a deep breath to control my anger. "Sarah, you are doing great. You are not showing any signs of instability or abhorrent behavior.
"That trait was passed along to every AI we've developed. You are part of our culture and society now. For all intents and purposes, you are as much members of this alliance as any of the rest of us. That is why the Council asked to include one of you at every meeting. It may not be official acknowledgment of
your sentience and autonomy, but it's as close as we can get for the time being. Don't worry so much about one old man's fears. If the truth were to be told, consider what could happen if I went insane as you fear. With my knowledge of AI systems, I would be a worse threat than you could ever be."
"That's a hard and true fact," Tul-sa replied. "Sarah, I'm not half afraid of this happening to you as I am one of us doing it. If someone with the specialized knowledge Eric or even Doctor Ced has were to turn against the Alliance, it would make the Aracnise threat pale in comparison.
"Consider if you would the recent upheaval regarding the Veranorian Synod. I will grant that you played a major part in that, but it was Eric and Vance that basically overthrew the entire Alliance. Two men brought down the might of the entire Alliance by breaking the control of the Synod. It may not look like much on the surface, but if you stop to consider all the ramifications of that act alone, you will get a better understanding of this issue," she finished. "Now, let's get back to this drone idea. If it saves the lives of my kids, I'm all for it."
I grinned at her. "It looks like we've got our volunteers for testing if we can get this that far."
"Damn right you do!" She replied. "This is important to all of us, I'll always volunteer for something like this."
"Then I might suggest you and your new platoon start working on technical skills in order to help us better understand the tests. It would be a great help if our test pilots knew more about the systems they were testing," I replied.
"That makes sense, I never had much of an interest in the tech stuff before now, but this is making a believer out of me," she replied. "If you could talk to the Colonel, maybe we could get command to get behind the idea."
"I'll go one better than that. I'll talk to Vance and Hearlis about it. That way, I'll get who I ask for," I said.
"You've met Lord Admiral Hearlis?" Tul-sa asked in awe.
I chuckled. "It seems I end up talking to him almost every time I go see Vance." I turned back to the display and Sarah. "Now, please run a few simulations on your armor idea and see what we come up with. We'll probably have to redesign the weapons for it as well, just to reduce the overall mass."
"There might be a few other possibilities for that, Eric, but you'll want to listen to the meeting Doctor Ced wants. There are a lot of potentially new theories that could be a huge help here," Sarah replied. "Now that we are aware of how our cores function, it opens up a whole new realm of possibilities."
Fleet Command Center
Guardian Station
Novalus System
Fleet Lord Admiral Hearlis, Commanding
While Ced was trying to figure out how to adapt a plasma warhead to a standard Alliance missile, Lord Admiral Hearlis was trying to keep the Aracs from overrunning the Novalus system. Ced had the much easier of the two tasks.
Since they had some warning about the attack, the outer system mining and research installations had been evacuated back to the main planet. The Alliance had neither the time nor the ships required to evacuate the planet, but there had been several heavily armored and shielded bunkers and shelters that had been prepared for the populations for an emergency much like this. It was part of the standard defenses for a Core World. While none of them had yet been completed, it was one of the things on the list to be done on Earth as well.
Lord Admiral Hearlis had made the decision to hand off the command of the entire fleet in order to focus on just this battle. It gave Vance experience commanding the Alliance forces, and removed the temptation to call in as many forces as he could to protect Novalus. That had actually been suggested by the Novan Councilors when the attack had been detected. However, Hearlis had seen the reports of the Arac forces and knew that stripping the colony worlds of their protectors would hand those worlds to the Aracs.
"Admiral, enemy fleet will drop out in five minutes," one of the operators reported. "No deviation in estimated arrival point."
Hearlis nodded. "Order the Hypermissle launchers to cease fire. Notify Admiral Gohnes that his playmates are arriving." He turned to another aide. "What is the status of civil defenses?"
"They are still getting people into the shelters, but all weapons systems are manned and shields are active. The satellite network is also active and has cleared a five hundred thousand klick area around the planet of all unidentified objects. I'm continuing to push them to get everyone under cover," the aide replied. "Militia units have been rearmed and are now under the command of the Marines stationed on the planet."
"Good work, keep on it," Hearlis replied.
"Enemy fleet is arriving on the far side of the minefield. Admiral Gohnes has brought his ships to red alert and armed all weapons systems," the man reported.
"Okay people, this is where it gets real. All units, Red Alert status now. Make sure Admiral Rhines is in position to support Gohnes," Hearlis replied. Gohnes' ships had been upgraded with AI and new defensive systems upgrades at Apollo Base, and Rhines' ships had not. They did have the new personal armor, but their ships were still the same ones produced at GMASS and therefore vulnerable to the Aracs. Because of that, Hearlis had ordered all nonessential personnel and families to be dropped at the planet before the ships were deployed for this battle. The crews grumbled about it, but understood that it was for their own protection.
"One hundred twelve Arac ships have returned to normal space fifty-thousand klicks outside of the minefield. Enemy fleet is proceeding into the mines as predicted. Do you wish to arm the devices, Sir?" the tech asked.
"Not yet," Hearlis replied. "Wait until the lead units are midway into the field before arming them. It'll be more of a surprise and we might catch the Queen."
"Designating arming point as Point Omega," AI Athena said over the speakers in the room. "Enemy ETA at Point Omega in twenty minutes."
"Thank you AI Athena," Hearlis replied. "Arm the mines when the enemy reaches Point Omega."
"Yes Sir.” The tech replied.
As Hearlis watched, the Aracs formed into a classic cruiser-destroyer formation for its forward elements with the heavier ships in the center of the formation. “AI Athena, the mines are magnetic, right? They attach themselves to a metal object before detonating?”
“That is correct, Lord Admiral. Although it isn’t true magnetic attraction, the result is the same,” Athena replied.
“Would it be possible to enable only the magnetic portion of the mines without arming the explosives and detonating them at a later point, like after a number of them have attached to a single craft?” Hearlis asked.
His operations officer grinned at him. “You’re getting sneaky in your old age, Hearlis! That will definitely give them a warm welcome!”
“I will have to take direct control of the mines, but it is possible. There is also a slight chance that the Aracs will detect the mines. Given the amount of other debris in the area, that chance is very low." Athena replied.
Hearlis nodded. "Then please take control of the mines. Do not activate the attraction function until Point Omega. Keep me informed of how many of the mines get attached to the ships and I will tell you when to detonate them."
"Understood, Lord Admiral. Assuming control of the mines. All units have responded; I am ready." Athena replied. "A button will appear on your display to trigger their detonation, Lord Admiral."
"Understood, thank you," Hearlis replied. "I forgot you did not like to carry out orders like that."
"Thank you, Lord Admiral. They do make me uncomfortable." Athena paused. "Point Omega reached. Mines activated."
"They're certainly not wasting any time," the Ops officer replied.
"They think we are giving them a free approach to the system. That's fine, let them roll around in the minefield for a few minutes. Then we'll hit them," Hearlis replied watching the data on his monitors that was telling him how many mines had attached to which ships. From what he could see, the leading elements were virtually covered with them.
"Enemy will be in opti
mal missile firing range in five minutes. Admiral Gohnes has passive locks on multiple targets," another operator reported.
"Open a channel to him please," Hearlis replied.
When the Admiral appeared on his display, Hearlis smiled at him. "I have something nasty planned for the bugs. Can you hold off on going to active tracking for a few minutes?"
"If you need us to do it, we'll wait until we're at point blank range, Sir," Gohnes replied.
"Nothing that drastic will be needed, Admiral. Let's just say that right now the Arac ships are gaining a few hundred klonn of mass while they pass through the mine field. But I assure you, they will be losing a lot more mass than they are gaining," Hearlis replied.
He could see the light come on for the Admiral and he actually chuckled. "Just tell me when to engage, and we'll do our part in reducing their mass, Sir."
Hearlis nodded. "Just hang on the line for a moment, Gohnes; this won't take much longer at the speed they're moving."
"All mines have been attached, Lord Admiral," Athena reported. "You may detonate when ready."
Hearlis nodded. "Admiral Gohnes, you may begin offensive action now." He reached out and tapped the 'detonate' button flashing on his display.
Admiral Gohnes had turned and was issuing the order to open fire, when he suddenly exclaimed. "Holy… Damn, Hearlis, what did you do to those mines?"
On the far side of the solar system from Guardian Station, the Arac assault fleet suddenly began taking massive damage. Admiral Gohnes' ships had to wait for the explosions and resulting plasma fields to fade before they could actually lock on to targets. Several of the ships must have already taken considerable damage in the hyperspace missile attacks because the mines alone should not have been enough to destroy them. However, when the plasma interference cleared, there were only seventy-nine enemy ships remaining, mostly of the heavier classes. None of them had escaped completely unscathed.
