ALICE Space War

by Charles Lamb

  More than anything, he wanted to live what most would consider a normal life with her. However, Jake’s life would never be normal and before that thought was through his mind, he questioned if that was ok with Sara. The other women in his life would always be a source of chaos and confusion, but excluding them was not an option.

  His life was one of turmoil, and he desperately did not want that to be the case for his children and his grandchildren. That thought filled him with an unshakable resolve to secure a future for more than just he and Sara. Carefully, he slipped from the bed, leaving Sara asleep. Turning as he rose, he looked down at her and smiled again, but as he headed to the other room to change, he set his jaw for the tough road ahead.

  Dressed in his usual workout clothing, Jake had left a slumbering Sara to get a workout in before starting his day. The time aboard the Phantom had left him little opportunity to exercise as he liked, so he was motivated. Sometimes, he just needed to break a sweat to get his thoughts in order.

  He grabbed one of the elevators, dropping to the level that contained the gym as well as other recreational distractions for the staff. Entering the gym, he was greeted by a sea of unfamiliar faces, none who gave him more than a passing glance as he moved to the open mat to begin stretching.

  It was times like this that Jake appreciated the anonymity he enjoyed. As their operation had grown, he had felt no need to insure everyone knew who he was. It was quite the opposite, in fact, as he deemed the facility commanders should be the face of their authority. That was why he could enter the gym without throwing the place into disarray, appearing no more than any other staff member.

  While he stretched, he subtly observed those working out around him. He could see a good mix of men and women, and he detected several nationalities. He was happy to see there were as many mixed groups as there were clusters of like individuals. He could identify the combination of Chinese, Russian, American, Brits and Aussie’s, although with the last he was not sophisticated enough to pick the accents apart, they were just different.

  By now, he had warmed up and was ready to begin his cardio. Using the Exercycle before going on the treadmill, he utilized both devices extensively. Both devices had changed little in the eighty plus years between when he went into stasis and the bombing by the NeHaw. Both did now have a hologram mode where one could choose to be anywhere in the world while doing their workout. Jake, however, chose not to activate that option.

  It was as he started his strength training that he was approached.

  “Colonel, might I have a word? You are Colonel Thomas, right?” a young woman asked with a slight accent as she stepped up to the exercise machine Jake was using.

  “Yeah, that’s me, how can I help you,” Jake replied with a smile. While he hated interruptions when working out, he had a firm open door policy when it came to anyone who reported to him, and these days that was just about everyone. He continued to work the exercise machine as he waited for the young woman to reply.

  “Sir, my name is Private Grace Middleton and I am from Georgia,” she replied. Jake could now detect the distinct southern accent the young woman sported.

  “I have been told that anyone wishing to transfer to ALICE-9 in Georgia must have your specific approval to do so?” she added.

  The mention of ALICE-9 made Jake stop what he was doing and give Grace his undivided attention. Most had known that before the first NeHaw attack, ALICE-9, then ALICE -3, had been a weapons research facility. It had been chartered with trying to replicate alien advanced weapons, things translated from the crashed NeHaw exploration ship’s data stores.

  What only Jake and the ALICEs were aware of was, they had successfully replicated several weapons from the NeHaw forbidden weapons reference, due to a mistake in translation. There were things stored in the security vaults in Georgia that could obliterate the sun, thus destroying the entire solar system.

  With the scare over the system crash and eventual emergence of ALICE-9, Jake had taken personal control over anything involving ALICE-9 or her occupants.

  “Why are you interested in ALICE-9?” Jake asked calmly, his demeanor trying to hide his anxiety.

  “As I said, I am from that area. It is my impression that we are not doing much to improve the circumstances of the people there. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining, as I was recruited from there. It’s just that I have been told that we are not looking to sponsor any nearby communities nor are we increasing our presence there,” Grace replied.

  The last time Jake had been to Georgia, it was to secure one of the doomsday devices he had planned to use as a last resort in the attack of the alien armada. Thankfully, it had proved to be unnecessary and he quickly locked the weapon safely away. Since then, he had limited the staff to those ALICE-9 required to operate, plus a substantial security team made up of his most trusted personnel. There were a small number of people restoring damaged art as well, but they were restricted to the upper levels.

  It was for all these reasons that Jake had not promoted the idea of sponsoring or expanding into the local communities, to minimize the damage there. In part, he knew it was irrational, as any accidental discharge would destroy the entire planet, not just Georgia. However, he was not at all interested in increasing the number of people occupying the location. Just one mistake from a well-meaning staff member and all was lost.

  “I completely understand your interest in helping your friends and family. However, it is well known that the facility there was used in weapons research and we have not been able to insure everyone’s safety as of yet,” Jake replied, drawing upon the cover story he had created early on.

  “I am prepared to dedicate my life to making it a safe place to be. Since arriving here I have been studying hard to learn what is necessary to repair what was damaged. I must say, however, getting information on that has proven challenging,” she said with a shrug.

  “I have also worked for Miss Patti as an analyst, before transferring to go to boot camp,” she added, in an apparent hope to get on Jake’s good side.

  Jake knew a fanatic when he saw one, or to be fair, a woman passionate about helping her family. It would not be an easy thing to sway her focus. After a few minutes, he nodded.

  “Let me think on it. I will contact you by tomorrow and we can talk more,” he replied, and then went back to exercising. As Grace walked away, he stared at her back without really seeing her. ALICE-9 did deserve better than she had been getting as well as the people in the southeast. Jake just needed to find a safe way to do it.

  ----*----

  Patti was sitting in her office in the London facility, going over all the activity reports for the last few months. It was clear from all the engagements that they were now in a real space war with the NeHaw. All indications were that the NeHaw General who had seized power was rooting out the political commanders and replacing them with actual fighting men. Well, rather, fighting NeHaw.

  While neither side had scored a decisive victory against the other since the destruction of the armada that had attacked Earth, the number of overall actions of a serious nature was way up. Before, Patti could count on convoy harassment or the occasional planetary raid on an aligned world. These were usually short fought and the NeHaw would run at the first sign of reinforcements.

  Now they were seeing concentrated attacks, like the one on Wawobash, as well as devices designed to trap the Earth ship, blocking FTL capabilities. This prevented small groups of Earth aligned ships from running when ambushed by superior numbers.

  Also, in the past, the unexpected discovery of a capital ship like battleship ALICE-3 would have aborted an attack, sending the NeHaw home to regroup. Now they pressed on, adapting to the circumstances. Everything she had seen so far gave the NeHaw a plus one on that effort, as they had inflicted a measurable amount of damage and lived to fight another day.

  The problem was in all these activities, Patti was not seeing a clear objective giving Earth a path to victory. It was possibl
e that destroying the NeHaw home world would so devastate and demoralize them that they would give up. However, like the nuclear strategies of Earth’s 20th and 21st centuries, the ships at sea had the ability to retaliate. Destroying their home world might only give them a greater reason to fight.

  Another option was to destabilize the NeHaw aligned worlds, creating internal discord and forcing the NeHaw to focus inward. This was something they had already achieved, to a small extent, but it was far from enough to get them to leave Earth alone. If Earth chose to increase the internal disruptions, they would need to start considering attacks on the supporting planets, something they had hoped to avoid preferring to draw on them as allies.

  There had been a hope that in freeing the oppressed planets, they would take up arms and work to overthrow the NeHaw. Some had done just that, like the five treaty planets that had come to Earth and established relations. They came in hopes of deposing the NeHaw once and for all. Other worlds, however, had chosen to stay and support the NeHaw, whether out of fear or better the devil you know, Patti wasn’t exactly sure.

  Jake’s latest attack on a military installation on an abandoned world was how she hoped to see things continue. She felt they needed to keep the fighting away from the civilized worlds for fear of ostracizing Earth. Nothing in her research had led her to believe creating hardships on civilian populations, as the NeHaw had attempted to do on Klinan, would help in their efforts.

  Putting her thoughts in a memo, she shot the missive off to her team in Nevada, for more consideration. She knew the gang in “Patti’s Pit” would attack the problem with enthusiasm.

  ----*----

  Bonnie was used to Robert bringing back all kinds of odd things in his travels around the world. She had seen him arrive with everything from fine art, to piles of gold, silver and other precious metals and even cattle and other livestock. So it was with this in mind that she stood watching the line of Chinese combat vehicles being offloaded in the main hangar.

  “Hi, honey. You know Colonel Bo don’t you?” Robert asked, as he led the Chinese Colonel from the transport and over to where Bonnie was standing.

  The roof hangar doors in the Texas, Nevada and Alaska ALICE facilities had been modified to more easily accept the oversized Lanai transport ships. It had taken over a year to enlarge the openings sufficiently to accept the ships. Not originally designed for use inside the hangars, the ships had become invaluable in moving vast amounts of cargo and people around the world in record time.

  “Colonel, it is a pleasure,” Bonnie replied as she took the offered hand. As she was a Major to his superior rank, she should have displayed more deference, but neither seemed interested in standing on ceremony.

  “Major, the pleasure is mine,” Colonel Bo replied, accepting the offered hand and adding a slight bow of respect, one Bonnie returned.

  “Dear, why are you bringing me armor?” Bonnie asked while waving at the rows of existing American armor already lining the back walls of the hangar.

  “This is not for you. Colonel Bo and I are working on a project and we need the use of your facility in upgrading his equipment,” Robert replied with a smile, recognizing the trigger word every husband understood. When your wife uses “Dear,” it’s not in affection.

  “Your husband has proposed a solution to several of my problems, and I am very thankful for your support in this,” Colonel Bo offered.

  “We need to make his armor space worthy. Remember our conversation?” Robert added.

  Bonnie recalled a discussion she had with her husband regarding using the transport ships as landing craft. Considering that was in part why Jake had ordered the ships built in the first place, it was an easy thing to agree to. However, she was now beginning to see her husband had taken the concept and ran with it.

  “My equipment is already quite air tight, well mostly. It was designed to withstand chemical attacks and temperature variances of great magnitude. We feel conversion to alien environments won’t require a great deal of modification,” Chao explained as they continued to watch the tracked and wheeled vehicles roll out of the transport.

  Bonnie just nodded as she looked at the two men, both appearing anxious to hear her response.

  “I would upgrade the weapons systems as well. Not all planets will support your current firepower,” she said with a sigh. With that, she turned and headed back inside, leaving the two men smiling broadly.

  ----*----

  James had been doing his best to quietly keep the South Dakota ALICE facility on track and continuing to meet the manufacturing needs of the Earth’s armed forces while Dakota, the new ALICE system, matured. Early on, he had the help of several of the other ALICEs as Dakota was gently educated on who and what she was. Now, they would occasionally check in on the newborn’s progress.

  Unlike poor ALICE-9 who came to life after an unexpected reboot of the core computer systems that made them who they were, Dakota was a result of a brain transfer of sorts. Kola, the Artificial Life that controlled the massive space carrier currently at the edge of the solar system, was methodically transferred from her South Dakota home and into the ship.

  Once she was safely resurrected, Dakota was brought to life in her place. Since then, she had been groomed to become an independent member of the ALICE community. Where Kola had been anxious to escape her terrestrial confinement, Dakota was anxious to assume her role as master of the South Dakota location.

  So, it was with some concern that James began the conversation with Dakota regarding their latest request. Her enthusiasm had possibly allowed her to bite off more that she could chew.

  “I see you have accepted the order from Dallas,” he began as he seated himself at his desk in his quarters.

  “I assume you are referring to the combat suit request for the Chinese, the ones capable of extended use in space,” Dakota replied.

  James noted she still had an overly formal tone to her speech as they talked. Jake had promoted the concept of individuality for the ALICEs, but at heart, they were computers first. He wondered how much of the personality has been just for show.

  “Eighteen thousand five hundred units to start?” he asked.

  “I believe the five hundred are intended as spares,” Dakota answered, causing James to laugh aloud.

  “Regardless, you are not concerned about meeting their delivery requests?” James asked as he double checked the timeline.

  “My sisters have assured me that the materials required are in the existing inventory. The deliveries will be in lots of 3,000 so I should become faster as I progress. In addition, the necessary sizes only fall into three standard categories,” Dakota theorized.

  “And the weapons?” James asked, changing the subject.

  “We have a significant number of those on hand already. The larger weapons for the vehicles will be more challenging, but I have secured assistance from ALICE-4 in Washington State.”

  “And Dallas will handle the installation in Texas?” James asked, seeing the notation in the documentation.

  “Yes, she is better equipped to perform the installation than I. Besides, all the vehicles are currently under refit there as it is. While they are making them air tight, they can exchange the weapons systems,” Dakota replied confidently.

  As she was speaking, James brought up the plans for the armor refit on his display. While the alterations to each type of vehicle were extensive, the use of alien technology made the additions less intrusive. There were two large changes in the works, the first was the addition of environmental controls, providing a breathable atmosphere, even in the vacuum of space.

  The second was swapping out the power plant, removing the diesel engines and replacing them with the same electric powered systems that the US equipment used. Like the others, they could be operated for extended periods between charges and had hot swappable power packs for quick turnaround.

  The recovered space, where the large diesel engine once lived, plus the exchange of human electronics f
or alien controls gave the vehicles a much roomier interior. Even so, the thought of cramming four or five people into the small compartment of those vehicles for possibly days was not something James found enticing.

  Like everyone else, he was well acquainted with the Battle of Klinan. There the humans had defeated an alien force, in an environment unwelcoming to humans. That engagement was over quickly, and did not require days in the field for the troops. These, however, were being prepared to fight in locations unfit for any life forms at all, and for days at a time.

  “I’m glad I’m not going,” was all James could say before shutting his display off for the night.

  Chapter 9

  Jake had been buried in work all day, but the question of ALICE-9 had never left the back of his mind. Grace had forced him to acknowledge his neglect of that region of the US, solely because of the contents of that facility. While the secure weapons store, buried deep in the Earth, was inaccessible to anyone but Jake, he still had nightmares of someone accidentally wandering into the vaults.

  He had allowed Jessie and Helen to leverage the capabilities of ALICE-9 in their art recovery and restoration work, but that staff was limited to a select few and they were not permitted in the lower levels. His motivations for that concession had nothing to do with a love of Art.

  ALICE-9 desperately needed the human interactions and Jake was doing everything he could to swing Helen over to his side regarding Gemma and Jacob. The announcement of engagement of his grandson to Helen and Nigel’s daughter had not gone well with Helen.

  While Nigel was ecstatic, Helen’s more traditional attitudes had questioned if Jacob was of proper heritage. It was ALICE’s discovery of a forgotten knighthood, presented to Jake for services to the crown while he was in the Middle East, which had softened her opinion. Even so, she was still not overjoyed at the pending nuptials.