by S A Pavli
I stood and looked at Hamolatonen for permission to speak and he nodded.
“What Captain Hamolatonen said is quite correct. Earth does not, for the present, want to proceed with contact. I was sent on an exploration mission to keep me out of the way because I disagreed with that. My ship was tracked and I was picked up by the Ensadis. I am certainly not here as an agent of Earth. I am here because there is a certain person who I want to be with. If the expedition wants, Alfred and myself will withdraw from any active role in the expedition.” I looked around the room and gave them my best firm jawed, starship Captain look and sat down. I felt Manera’s hand in mine and turned to give her a smile. Jansec jumped up quickly.
“I accept the Captain’s offer to stand down. I also demand that Captain Hamolatonen also stands down. I will take command of this expedition.” Hamolatonen scowled angrily.
“You have no authority to take over the Captaincy,” he growled.
“There are three Guardians on this ship, and you are outvoted,” said Jansec. Hamolatonen seemed thrown for a second
“This is outside the Guardian’s responsibility. The crew should decide,” he said.
“This expedition is authorised by, and under the auspices of, the Guardian Council,” said Jansec firmly. Hamolatonen seemed at a loss and I decided he needed some support, although I wasn’t sure if I was the one to give it, no one else seemed to have any ideas. I stood and caught Hamolatonen’s eye and he nodded his assent. I turned to Jansec.
“Would you take over without the agreement of the crew?” I asked. This seemed to set Jansec back and he paused before answering. “You are not a qualified ship’s Captain,” I pointed out. “You will need the crew’s full cooperation to run the ship.” I sat down and allowed him to stew that over. In other words, if the crew don’t want you they don’t have to cooperate.
“All right,” he said eventually. “I have the authority to take over, but in the interest of unity, I ask the crew to signify their agreement. Those who support me, raise your hands.” The expedition numbered thirteen and seven people raised their hands. The three engineers, two of Colrania’s team, one of the crew and Lanatra. Colrania scowled at her two dissidents. One of them avoided her eyes, looking guilty, while the other shrugged as if to apologise. I was shocked by what I considered to be their traitorous behaviour, but then I realised that the Guardians were the authority on the ship and Hamolatonen was outvoted two to one.
“Carried by seven to six,” said Jansec triumphantly. “Hamolatonen, you are a Guardian and still a member of this expedition and I expect your cooperation. You may remain technically the Captain of the ship, but under my overall authority.” Hamolatonen nodded with as much good grace as he could muster.
“I think you are a self serving autocrat,” said Hamolatonen. “But the success of this expedition is more important than personalities and you will have my cooperation.” Jansec snorted his disapproval but then turned to Colrania.
“Colrania, I want you and your team to ensure that the alien AI Alfred has no operational facilities. He may observe proceedings only. Captain Constantine, you have the run of the ship, but like your AI, you are just an observer. Is that clear?”
“I always was just an observer,” I pointed out.
“So you say,” he said with an ironic smile. “Manera, you are the scientific team of one and that remains your responsibility.”
“Thank you for reminding me,” she said sweetly.
“This meeting is over,” he said. He turned to Hamolatonen. “Captain, I would like us to consider our strategy when we arrive at the Peacekeepers planet.” Hamolatonen nodded and followed Jansec. Lanatra followed them, but turned and gave myself and Manera a long and , I thought, rather intimate, look before leaving the room. I turned to Manera with a questioning look. She smiled back at me.
“Girl’s secret,” she whispered.
Later that evening we had a get together with Hamo and Colrania. Hamo was bruised and a little embarrassed. He was not someone who was used to losing at anything. Colrania was furious that two of her colleagues voted with the opposition, and was suspicious that they may have been bought off.
“Someone has given Jansec technical information that only my team has,” she said. We were seated around the table in Hamolatonen’s apartment. We were consoling ourselves with a bottle of Hianja bubbly, nicely chilled of course. “I am very disappointed in my colleagues.”
“Everyone has their price I’m afraid,” I said.
“That’s not true,” said Colrania. “I would never sell out my friends.” She seemed miffed by my casual comment.
“Sorry, of course not,” I said quickly. “I was being cynical. But are they friends of yours or just work colleagues?”
“I guess they are just work colleagues,” she admitted reluctantly.
“Jansec is very rich,” said Hamolatonen. “Who knows what he offered them.”
“At least Jansec had the common sense not to try and lock us out altogether,” I pointed out.
“I think Lanatra may have had something to say about that,” said Manera.
“Yes, what is it with Lanatra?” I asked, turning to Manera. “She seemed to be trying to tell us something.” Hamo and Colrania also turned to Manera questioningly.
“Well, it may be that Lanatra is more ‘her own person’ then we may have thought,” said Manera. “We had a little chat, girl to girl. She came to see me at my science station.”
“Go on. The female mafia at work,” I remarked. They all gave me a puzzled look.
“Mafia?” asked Manera.
“Ah, sorry. Explain to you later,” I said with a grin.
“Another Human joke,” said Manera.
“No laughing matter,” muttered Hamo, then realising what he had just said broke out into a broad grin. We all joined him in a chuckle and suddenly things did not seem so black.
“She, shall we say, indicated to me,” continued Manera, “that she was not Jansec’s zombie. She understands the importance of the expedition and will not allow him to jeopardise it.”
“Then she should have supported me,” said Hamolatonen.
“I think for now she wants to keep her options open,” said Manera. “If she had come out for us now that may have forced Jansec into more extreme action.”
“Like?” I asked. “What could he do?”
“Send a sub Space message back home, telling them what we have done. The Council would have either recalled us, or put him in charge.”
“Damn, would they do that?” I asked. Hamo nodded.
“Yes, that is almost certainly what they would have done.”
“Well, if we have a possible ally in Lanatra then that puts a different complexion on things,” I said.
“I will have to talk to her further,” said Manera. “She may not have known at that time that we had subverted the Settang. I think that also, she has taken a liking to our brave Human explorer.” Manera turned and gave me a dimpled smile. “For some inexplicable reason. So you must use all your charm Captain. Up to a point of course.” Her smile changed to a warning look which elicited smiles from the others.
“You do the lady an injustice Manera,” I protested. “I’m sure her interest in me is not personal but more about fostering Human Hianja relations.”
“I know what kind of relations she has in mind,” said Manera to snorts of amusement from Hamo and Colrania.
“Let’s give Lanatra the benefit of the doubt,” laughed Hamolatonen. “At least we know that if the expedition is under threat and Jansec is uncooperative we may have her support.”
“And don’t forget, Jansec is reliant on us, particularly you two,” I said, indicating Hamo and Colrania. “He needs you to Captain the ship and he needs you to do the computer stuff.”
“But we also need Alfred,” pointed out Colrania. “If things turn nasty, only Alfred can protect us from the Peacekeepers.”
“Yes, that’s a good point,” I agreed. “Can you think
of any way around that?” Colrania looked thoughtful for a few moments.
“The problem is that anything I do may be reported to Jansec by my colleagues. They will be told to check that Alfred is fully isolated I am sure.”
“They, your colleagues, only know about existing comms links to Alfred,” I pointed out. “Is there any way we can set up a new, secret connection?”
“Mmm, it’s possible,” said Colrania thoughtfully. “The Settang AI has hundreds of ports connecting it to all the ships sub processors and controllers. There are quite a few spare, but I have to disguise it in some way. And Alfred must not use it in send mode until there is an emergency, otherwise it will be detected.” Hamolatonen nodded his agreement.
“That seems a good plan. Let’s do that.”
“Well, tomorrow we arrive,” I said. “Let’s drink to success. Friendly accommodating Peacekeeper robots, welcoming us to their home.” I gave a beatific smile and we clinked glasses to ironic chuckles.
Chapter 23
It was evening of the next day and we readied ourselves to drop out of Hyperspace. Manera and I were allowed to keep our observers seats in the control room. Jansec had a new seat bolted next to the Captains and was pretending to understand what was happening. Hamolatonen and his crew double checked the ship’s AI as it prepared for exit.
“Capacitors fully charged and ship systems blue,” announced Hamolatonen. In Hianja technical terminology, blue replaced green.
“Computing systems on line, navigation coordinates blue line zero,” said Colrania, meaning we had achieved our Hyperspace exit point. I braced myself for the nauseous shock of exiting Hyperspace. The ship’s AI began countdown and on zero I felt the giant ship throb with the power that coursed through the capacitors. I unconsciously tensed against the seat as the feeling of disorientation pulsed through me and my guts wrenched. It never got any better however many times one went through it.
The screen lit up with a shimmering display of stars. I was holding Manera’s hand and I felt her squeeze. I squeezed back.
“You will leave all the dangerous stuff to other people darling, won‘t you?” she asked.
“Dangerous stuff? Piece of cake,” I said.
“What is the relevance of cake?” she asked.
“There is nothing dangerous about cake,” I pointed out. “But it’s an ancient expression which originated in a place called the United States of America and means something that is easy to do.”
“Why is cake easy to do?” she asked.
“No, I think cake was given out as a prize for doing something or other, which I guess was easy.”
“Ah, how quaint,” she said. “But seriously….?” she gave me a questioning look.
“Baby, if there is trouble, we are all in it,” I pointed out.
“Well, don’t go looking for it.”
“I think it’s going to come looking for us. But let’s see shall we?” I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and we turned our attention back to the screens. The crew were carrying out the post-Hyperspace checks and the screen showed a blue and white dot in the centre.
“The Peacekeeper planet?” I speculated. The image of the planet expanded and another image appeared close to it. “It has a moon,” I said. The moon was peculiarly fuzzy, its edges moving and fluctuating in size.
“There is something wrong about that moon,” observed Manera. The voice of our ship’s AI cut across the room, shocking us all.
“I have been contacted by the Peacekeeper master AI.” Hamolatonen responded immediately.
“Transmit standard identity codes,” he said. There was a pause and then the AI spoke again.
“Codes transmitted.” We all waited, holding our breaths with anxiety. This was the crucial bit we had to get right. The Peacekeeper master AI must believe that the Settang Despass was in perfect health.
“Identity codes accepted,” said the ship’s AI, to our relief. “They are asking why I have returned.” It was Jansec who spoke up this time.
“Inform them that you have a Hianja Guardian delegation on board and they wish to converse with the Master AI.” There was a pause.
“They require us to dock at the moon orbital station.” We all relaxed with sighs of releif.
“First step over,” whispered Manera.
“Yeah, if it has accepted the Settang then we are in with a chance,” I said. “Well done to Colrania and her crew.” She nodded, and added, “And Alfred. I don’t think Colrania and her crew could have done it without him.”
We remained in our seats until the ship had re-oriented itself and initiated the acceleration phase for our brief journey to the planet’s moon. Once we had the all clear, we all adjourned to the mess for lunch and even Jansec looked well disposed, smiling and making conversation. Only Hamolatonen looked peeved. He was clearly finding his new position hard to take. Either that or, more likely, he was unable to contain his dislike of Jansec!
After lunch we all gathered in the Control room to look at the screens. The moon was now much clearer and we could now see why it had looked odd. It was orbited by a number of rocky asteroids in a lattice. It was obviously artificial but we did not have the resolution at this point to see details.
“It’s almost certainly some kind of defence network,” I said to Manera. “Probably active.”
“Active?” asked Manera.
“As opposed to inert. The asteroids are armed. Probably missile batteries.”
“Seems a bit paranoid,” observed Manera. “Why would they want such an extensive defensive network? Who are they defending against?”
“Obsessive defence against a non-existent enemy. What does that tell you?” I asked.
“I don’t know. What does it tell you?”
“Don’t know.” I shrugged. She made a face and growled. I laughed and held up a restraining hand. “Okay, okay. It tells you they are obsessively defensive.”
“Idiot!” she said, but there was a smile on her face. “Can computers be obsessive?”
“They often are very obsessive,” I said. “Remember they have no common sense. No way of looking at anything in a different way. I would be surprised if, left to their own devices for five thousand years, they don’t take everything to its logical and totally obsessive conclusion.”
“Mmm. Never thought of computers in that way,” she said.
“Try living with Alfred for a bit,” I said.
“Don’t you go saying anything bad about my friend Alfred,” she said severely.
“Talking about Alfred, what are your thoughts on this mate?” We still had our connection to Alfred, although he was barred from interfacing with the ship’s AI. Officially that is. Colrania had rigged up a secret interface which was, for now, read only.
“You are right about the asteroid screen Paul. I have enhanced the images and there does appear to be missile batteries and other armaments on the asteroids. They obviously form a defensive screen for the asteroid.”
“Which means that the master AI is somewhere on the moon,” said Manera.
“Unless it is a bluff and the Master AI is somewhere else,” I suggested.
“That is a lot of work if it’s a bluff,” said Manera. “The only other place is on planet and that would not make sense.” I saw what Manera was getting at; for robots, the airless environment of Space was much more agreeable than a planet, with rain, damp, bad weather, bugs and other irritations that could get into electronics.
“I’m sure you are right,” I said.
“There is another problem Paul,” said Alfred. I had learnt to be worried when Alfred mentioned the word ‘problem’.
“Another problem?” I asked nervously.
“I have detected a number of starships orbiting the planet. They are not Peacekeeper.”
“Er, not Peacekeeper?” I asked. Alfred understood my implied question.
“They are standard Hianja starships.”
“Why hasn’t the Settang AI brought them to our attention?” I
asked.
“It has no reason to do so,” said Alfred. “I am programmed to recognise any unexpected anomalies in a situation. For the Settang AI, which is a standard starship AI, other starships in orbit around a planet are not an anomaly.”
“Damn,” I was perplexed. “Other Hianja starships. What are they doing here? In orbits around the planet you say? All together? Separate?”
“All together in a synchronous orbit.”
“Do you think we should bring it to everyone’s attention?” I asked.
“That is your decision Paul,” said Alfred.
“I think we must,” said Manera. “Coup for Alfred.” She nodded to me and gave me an assertive look.
“Right.” I cleared my throat loudly. “Captain, I have something for you.” All faces turned in my direction. “I’ve just been talking to Alfred and he has spotted something anomalous. There are a number of Hianja starships in orbit around the planet.” There was a shocked silence for a few seconds as they stared at me, then in puzzlement at each other, then at the screens. It was Jansec who spoke first.
“How has Alfred spotted these?” he asked angrily.
“By examining the same data as we are,” I said.
“What! There is no sign of starships around the planet,” he exclaimed. “What is this nonsense?”
“Alfred has software that allows him to enhance and analyse pictures.” I explained.
“Why has the Settang AI not informed us of this?” said Jansec. “Captain, please interrogate the ship’s AI.” He spoke loudly, his face flushed. Hamolatonen complied, with a look of pleasant surprise on his craggy features. The pictures shifted to show an expanded view of the planet. We could see some vague smudges in orbit around it and as the picture zoomed in they were just about discernable as starship shaped smudges.
