by CJ Williams
Luke caught up with the conversation and looked again at the amazing spacecraft. “I know. And that gives it three times the volume and space for twice the people.”
“They’ll need a lot of spare equipment since they’re going to be further away.”
“I’m not complaining,” Luke said. “Just impressed. It looks good, especially on the Gateway’s landing pad. Adelia did a great job finishing so quickly.”
“Here come some more of the VIPs,” Annie said, pointing to one of the Earth shuttles just now landing near the colony ship. It looked like a toy next to the massive transport.
Luke watched the VIPs hobnobbing with each other. He leaned toward Annie. “Do me a favor and remind Roth one more time how much I hate participating in these ceremonies. I’m okay with being be on stage like today, but otherwise, keep me out of it.”
“Okay,” she said. “I promise.”
“I’ve been dealing with dignitaries for the last two weeks. Every time a new group comes to visit, I worry that one of them is going to stick a knife in my ribs.”
“I don’t think our security would let anyone with a knife get close to you, babe,” Annie said reassuringly. “And if you’re that worried, just wear a personal force field.”
“I’d rather get stabbed than lose track of one of those.”
Annie wrapped her hands around his arm. “Quit freaking out, would you?” she said. “You’ve seen the news reports. No one is blaming you for Fiery Cross. In fact, it’s the opposite. Most of the countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations were scared to death of China. Because of you, they finally feel safe. You gave China a bloody nose that no one else could. CNN said that it was like the entire world took a step back from World War Three.”
“That would be good, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes, very good. So quit worrying so much. It isn’t like you. Is there something else going on that you haven’t talked about?”
“Just the Bakkui. The latest probes found them in three systems now. They’re invading space now that was supposed to be free. They’re coming a lot faster that we thought.”
Annie shivered at his words. “Well, at least our own planetside mess is off the table now so you can concentrate outward.”
Amanda turned from the podium and gestured to Luke. He hadn’t been paying attention to what she said, but took his cue. He stood and waved broadly to the crowd. A few people called out for Luke to give a speech, but Amanda introduced Annie. Luke pulled Annie to her feet to stand beside him. She held on to his hand fiercely and waved in turn while camera flashes sparkled throughout the crowd.
Eventually, all the speeches were completed. The colony ship’s captain was the last. After her conclusion she jogged from the stage to the waiting ship, waving at the crowd as she did so. Once she entered the spacecraft, its massive cargo doors closed, and hundreds of spotlights focused on the base of the ship. Seconds later the vessel lifted slowly away from the landing pad, gradually picking up speed. At a height of five-thousand feet, the ship rotated until it was pointed ninety degrees from the vertical. It continued to accelerate for another sixty seconds and then with a sudden burst of speed it vanished from sight.
“Roth really nailed that one didn’t he?” Luke asked. “I would have never thought of staging a takeoff so dramatically. The crowd ate it up.”
Annie smiled at his comment. “You were the one who said the drone launch was anticlimactic. That’s why Roth came up with the slow-motion lift off.” She nodded at the cheering delegations in front of the stage. “That bunch doesn’t have a clue how fast we normally move.”
The audience applauded for several minutes. Luke took the opportunity to pull Annie from the dais. Delegates still managed to waylay him en route to his shuttle, but eventually he and Annie climbed aboard Sadie. The shuttle door closed and Sadie set course for Moonbase.
“Starting tomorrow,” Luke said, “I want you to clear your calendar. Can you do that?”
“Of course,” Annie replied. “Consider it done. I might have one or two things, but I’ll move them around to suit whatever you need.”
“I want to have a sit-down, just you, me, and Roth. We need to talk to George. Now that we’re so close to heading out to meet the Bakkui, there’s something I’ve started to wonder about and it worries me.”
“What’s that?” Annie asked.
Luke sighed heavily. “Sometimes I wonder if Sam actually meant it.”
“Meant what?”
“Just something he said,” Luke muttered. He didn’t want to talk about it at the moment, but he needed to ask George if the bomb in his head really was a joke.
Day 405—Population 26,307
“No, Commander,” George said. “It’s not a joke.”
It was a startling revelation. Even though Luke knew it was possible, to hear it confirmed was a shock. Annie and Roth were equally upset.
They were sitting in the living room of Luke and Annie’s lunar apartment. Annie had made a pot of coffee and set out snacks of crackers, cheese, and sliced fruit. The night before, while they lay snuggled under their covers, Luke had worried about this meeting. The supposed bomb was something he had never shared with Annie, or anyone else. But now, George’s quietly spoken answer made the tension evaporate. At least the question was resolved.
“Can you explain what it’s all about then?” Luke asked. “I don’t get it.”
“Of course, Commander. Your planet is outside the statistical norm. Significantly outside. For this reason, the decision was made to position a level three device in your solar system. As far as I am aware, this is the first time in history that a level three device was deployed away from the Nobility’s environs. I suspect that many of the Nobility, if they knew about it, would be quite upset.”
“Okay, George,” Roth said. “Couple of questions. How are we outside the norm, as you put it?”
“You have war,” George said simply. “You always have. Your history is filled with examples of the extreme aggressiveness inherent in your species. This is unheard of. It may explain why there are no blue- or green-skinned humans left on this planet. They are quite normal in other seeded planets. What happened to them?”
“Wait a second,” Annie interrupted. “Let me get this straight. The rest of the galaxy doesn’t have war? Seriously?”
“Of course not, Annie,” George said. “The insanity of war is self-evident. Who but an insane person would engage in such a self-destructive practice? Your planetary history is proof. War set your species back time and again. The violence that your ancestors inflicted on each other is beyond understanding. It is a wonder that you have not rendered yourselves extinct.”
“And yet here we are,” Luke said.
“Indeed. And it is that very fact that was considered significant; your planet survives. You, Commander, are clearly not insane. And yet, quite blithely, you yourself murdered hundreds of your fellow humans just a few weeks ago in the China Sea and Beijing. You rationalized your actions with sufficient justification to live with the results.”
“George!” Annie said angrily. “What a horrible thing to say! That’s not fair; Luke didn’t have any choice. The alliance would have crumbled otherwise. Take it back!”
“I withdraw my comments,” George said hastily.
“Now just wait,” Luke said calmly. “We have to understand this. What George said was true; I was responsible for those deaths. But, George, it wasn’t as easy as you make it sound.”
“Fair enough, Commander. I was not judging, nor did I intend any disrespect. My point is, no matter what the justification, such violent action is beyond comprehension for the galactic population.”
“Not the entire population,” Roth pointed out. “Or obviously you wouldn’t be here.”
“That is exactly my point,” George confirmed. “The difficulties of this mysterious invasion present challenges that the Nobility and their pacifist culture cannot overcome. Therefore, this extraordinary program, of whi
ch we are a part, was started.”
“A program which requires a bomb in his head?” Annie was still angry. “It’s insane! I thought better of you, George.”
“Annie, relax, would you?” Luke tried to placate his lover. “It’s not like he did this himself. Isn’t that right, George?”
An awkward silence stretched out and filled the room.
“Isn’t that right?” Luke repeated. “George?”
“Commander, I feel obligated to inform you that prior to my participation in this effort by the Nobility, I was the principal coordinator for the Baronetage Security Apparatus for peerage review of the Royal Ancient Lineage Third Line of the Prince Elector of the Royal Family Divine Primogeniture, twice removed. That was an extremely important function, as you can see.”
“Oh. My. God,” Annie said thickly, disgust dripping from her voice. “Don’t tell me.”
“I am afraid so, Annie,” George confirmed. “It was…”
“Do NOT call me Annie!” she shouted. “You do not have that right. Only my friends call me Annie.”
“I beg your pardon, Miss Daniels. No disrespect—”
“‘Was intended’. Yeah. I know. That’s what you always say. You excuse your execrable behavior with that dodge all the time.”
Luke moved from his chair to sit next to Annie on the couch. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap. “Please, babe. Would you let me talk to George for a minute? Getting angry doesn’t help.” She struggled against him for a moment then slowly subsided.
Roth took the opportunity to inject himself into the conversation. “George, you said a level three device was put in our solar system. What’s that?”
“Doctor Higgins, thank you for that question. I am the level three device. As I was saying, prior to this mission I was the coordinator for the Baronetage Security Apparatus for peerage—”
“Spare us, please,” Annie interrupted sarcastically. “What of it?”
For the first time that Luke could recall, George actually sounded flustered. “Miss Daniels, once the Nobility realized the potential advantage of recruiting such a violent offshoot of the human species into the equation, the question became how much support could be provided. It was quite evident that without capable assistance, your victory would be unlikely.”
“In other words,” Roth said, “someone felt we couldn’t do it on our own.”
“Correct,” George replied. “All permutations resulted in zero probability of success unless the solution included a device of my capability. Of course, such assistance introduced other risks.”
“Such as?” Roth asked.
“If you were successful, what then? Would you then turn your attention to the galactic core and threaten the Nobility? Would you simply replace the current threat?”
“So the fear was that we would attack the Nobility?” Luke asked.
“Not necessarily that you might attack,” George corrected. “What if you simply infiltrated the core’s civilization? As I’ve explained before, your implant authorizes you to give me whatever orders you wish and I must comply. Perhaps I have not made it clear, but that authorization extends to any level three device. Capability such as this exists only among senior family members of the Nobility.”
“So I was potentially a loose cannon?”
“You were potentially a violent loose cannon,” George corrected.
“I see their point,” Luke agreed. “I would be worried too.”
“The conclusion by those in power was that as promising as this planet might be, the risk was too great. The plan was dropped. At that point, one of the plan’s proponents asked for my input. I suggested that a fail-safe be incorporated into your implant.”
“So it was you!” Annie accused.
“Yes, Miss Daniels. The idea for the bomb in the commander’s head was mine. I apologize if this distresses you.”
“Distresses me? Are you kidding? I’m gonna…”
Luke forcefully calmed his lover once more. He held her tightly in his arms until she subsided. “Continue, George,” he said.
“Of course, Commander. My suggestion for the fail-safe was adopted and, because it was my suggestion, the Nobility directed that I be involved in the plan’s execution. In essence, I am required to monitor your activity. If you attempt to leave my span of control, or if I deem you become a threat to the Nobility I activate the failsafe.”
Luke nodded. “You were sent here as my watchdog.”
“That is correct, Commander. I was packaged for transport and this planet was added to Sam’s mission of equipping surviving seedlings in this part of the galaxy. Standard protocol normally limits technology transfer to level forty-eight devices.”
“What is a level forty-eight device?” Roth asked.
“Sadie is a typical level forty-eight.”
“She seems nice enough,” Annie opined angrily.
“Indeed, Miss Daniels. Her programming, as is that of all level forty-eights, is that she develops her own personality based on the first people who use her. Hence, her sarcastic attitude most probably resulted from exposure to Sam.”
“So what makes you such a big deal, George?” Luke asked.
“Commander, as a level three device, I have significant additional capacity. You have noted that I routinely communicate simultaneously with virtually everyone on the moon. The module of my core system that engages in those conversations currently operates at less than one percent of its capacity.”
“Anyone can chatter,” Annie groused. “It doesn’t make them smart.”
“Quite so, Miss Daniels,” George acknowledged. “However, my intelligence module is quite enhanced. It’s what gives me the authority over all level four and lower devices. The Nobility AI system is completely hierarchical in nature. Additionally, I contain an almost complete set of the Nobility’s archives. The archival data is another factor in my designation as a level three device.”
“How many like you?” Roth wondered aloud.
“As of the time I was packaged for transport, there were slightly more than three thousand level three devices within the Nobility’s twenty million star systems.”
Roth and Luke looked at each other in astonishment. “That makes you an extremely rare resource, then.” Luke said.
“It does indeed, Commander.”
Annie interrupted again. “For Christ's sake, would you stop with the self-congratulations? Your bullshit is getting pretty deep in here and it has nothing to do with the bomb in Luke’s head.”
Luke nodded in agreement. “Fair point, babe. So, George; what does this bomb mean to me? That I’m stuck here on the moon?”
“Not at all, Commander. You have traveled widely since receiving your implant. You visit Earth routinely; on many occasions, you have been to the Isaac Newton Gateway. I see no reason you should not visit Mars, as you have suggested on more than one occasion.”
Roth shook his head. “All of that is well and good, George. But at some point, we have to carry this battle out to the enemy. Is that going to work?”
“No, Doctor. Any attempt by Luke to leave the solar system where I reside will force me to trigger the fail-safe. That is a special instruction that was added to my normal programming. I cannot violate the Nobility’s directives.”
“We might as well give up then,” Roth said. “Study Earth’s history. You won’t find any military commanders who were successful by leading their armies from the rear. To win, a commander leads from the front.”
“You are correct, Doctor Higgins. That important consideration was never included in the original decision. However, the Nobility’s lack of knowledge for waging war does not change the current situation. I have my instructions. If the Commander tries to lead his forces beyond my reach, I have no choice but to activate the fail-safe.”
Annie broke free of Luke’s grasp and stood up in a rage. “Fail-safe? You keep calling that thing a fail-safe. Why won’t you call it what it is? It’s a bomb! You stu
ck a bomb in Luke’s head to force him to carry out your insane plan of taking over the universe. If I had a bomb in my head, I’d tell you to go fuck yourself!”
A sudden stillness filled the room. Luke and Roth exchanged worried glances while Annie stalked back and forth, consumed by her anger.
Luke finally broke the silence. “Uh, babe?”
“What!”
“Uh, I think you do.”
“You think I do what? What are you talking about?”
“I think you have a bomb in your head too…I, uh…”
Annie stopped pacing and stared at Luke. He couldn’t meet her eyes.
“George?” Annie said slowly, turning and looking at the ceiling. “Is that true? Did you stick a bomb in my head too?”
“Technically, Miss Daniels, I was not the one who actually… Commander? Could you…”
“That’s true, George.” Luke said, picking up on George’s implication. “It wasn’t George who gave you the implant. That was me. I’m the one you should be…” It belatedly occurred to Luke that his admission was not the wisest move.
Annie turned back to face him. “That’s right,” she said. “It was you. You had it in your hand and you gave it to me in that training room right after we got here. That’s when you introduced me to George. You said it was a translator.” She walked over and began to hit Luke on his chest with her balled up fists. “You said it was a translator, you lying son of a bitch!”
“That’s what I thought it was, babe. That’s what Sadie told me! She’s the one who gave it to me.”
Annie stepped back quickly. “Of course. She gave it to you on the way here. I remember now.” She nodded slowly as though reconstructing the memory. She gave Luke a final glance and then ran from the room.
“Annie, wait!” Luke called out and dashed after her.
Annie was small and agile. She sped down the twisting corridors faster than Luke could manage. He caught up to her in the Moonbase hangar. She was standing next to Sadie and he barely caught the end of their conversation.
“…you expect anyway?” Sadie was saying.
Annie spoke quietly. “Sadie, confirm for me one last time. You are a machine, not a person.”
