Star One: Neutron Star

by Raymond L. Weil

  “What the hell is going on?” muttered Simpson, scanning his console for an indication of the problem.

  “Captain, I’m showing a failure in the shutdown program for the drive,” Karl spoke quickly with concern over the ship’s com from his engineering station. “The shutdown program has not activated, and the emergency back up program is not responding from my console either.”

  “Damn! I’m showing the same thing here,” Simpson replied with a trace of tension in his normally steady voice as he tried to locate the problem. His hands were flying rapidly over the controls, entering commands. “We may have to initiate a manual shutdown.”

  A sudden increase in vibration caused Ty to glance quickly at the thrust indicator. “Thrust is increasing, Captain. I show four percent and a steady increase. The Space Platform won’t be able to handle this thrust for long, and neither will the magnetic grapples!”

  On the forward screen, Ty could see that the Space Platform was beginning to sway. The star field was no longer steady. A loud metallic snapping noise came from the bowels of the ship as the ship began to vibrate from the increased thrust.

  “We just lost one of the magnetic grapples holding the ship to the station!” Archer yelled, nervously. “The others could go any second.”

  “Thrust is up to six percent,” Ty reported with growing concern in his voice. The thrust indicator continued to inch upward. “We can’t hold this thrust much longer, Captain, without losing the rest of the grapples.”

  “Ty, if this thrust continues the Space Platform will be pushed out of the LaGrange point,” Lieutenant Commander Williams broke in over the com from his position in the control room of the Space Platform. “Our station keeping thrusters are nearly maxed out!”

  “This is Star One Control,” Ty heard Steve’s worried voice come over the com. “We are monitoring your problem and recommend you use manual control to shut down the drive.”

  Ty felt the ship tilt suddenly. The nose struck the flat metal surface of the platform, jarring the ship slightly as another magnetic grapple snapped. Ty knew that if they lost another grapple or two, the ship would probably snap the rest and careen across the hull of the Space Platform. Both could be seriously damaged if that happened. Ty glanced over at Captain Simpson, who was rapidly entering commands into his computer controls for the drive. Nothing seemed to be working.

  “Drive’s not responding,” Simpson said frustratingly as he tried yet another series of commands. “We may have no option but to shut it down manually as Commander Larson suggested.”

  “Do it, then,” Ty ordered as he felt the ship shudder violently. “We can’t risk pushing the Space Platform out of the LaGrange point.”

  The Space Platform was swaying wildly as its thrusters fought to keep the platform steady. In a losing battle, brilliant white flashes were visible constantly as the platform’s computers fought to maintain the platform’s orbital position. In another few minutes, the platform would be pushed away from the LaGrange point and would be in danger of falling toward the Moon.

  “Manual controls are not responding,” Winston reported unbelievingly, trying repeatedly to activate them, his fingers flying rapidly over the controls on his console. “Karl, the system is not responding to manual. There must be a failure in the electronics.”

  “Copy, Winston,” Karl’s strained voice responded over the com. “I am working on the problem.”

  “We could cut the grapples and allow the ship to fly away from the platform,” Captain Simpson suggested, looking over at Ty. The drive refused to shut down from his console. Everything he had tried had failed. “That would give us time to find the problem and prevent any further damage to the ship or the platform!”

  “Ty,” Steve’s concerned voice came back over the com again. “If you can’t shut it down quickly, we need to release the magnetic grapples and free the Jupiter Probe as Captain Simpson has suggested. The Space Platform is already beginning to move.”

  “If we can’t solve the problem shortly, I agree,” Ty responded. “We can’t risk having the ship or the platform damaged!” Looking at the thrust indicator, Ty saw that it was nearing eight percent.

  “This is Karl,” a voice came over the com system. “I can shut it down from the emergency station in the ion chamber, but it’s going to take a few minutes for me to get there and activate the console.”

  “We don’t have a few minutes,” Ty said, thinking hard as the ship swayed further, rubbing against the surface of the platform. A loud grinding noise could be heard in the ship from the contact. Ty knew it would only be a matter of another minute or two at the most before the rest of the magnetic grapples snapped.

  If they released the magnetic grapples now, the ship would careen across the platform into space. It could damage the ship, but it would prevent the Space Platform from being knocked out of its orbit. A sudden memory from his study of the ship’s schematics the night before hit him. “Shut down the reactor, Winston! That will kill the power to the drive,” he ordered.

  “It could damage the reactor,” Winston said warningly, beginning the process from his station, “We will also be venting some argon gas and plasma into space from the emergency shutdown.”

  “We’ll have to take the risk,” Ty replied evenly, hoping this didn’t damage the reactor. He knew they couldn’t afford to delay the mission, and this might just do that.

  “Emergency shutdown of reactor initiated,” replied Winston, pressing two red buttons on his console simultaneously.

  “Fuel cells online,” Lieutenant Strett reported from her station as her fingers flew across her touch screen.

  Immediately, Ty saw the thrust indicator begin to drop, and the vibration in the ship began to subside.

  “It’s working,” Captain Simpson stated with obvious relief in his voice. After 40 seconds, the drive became silent.

  “We’re venting argon gas and some plasma into space,” Winston reported as he studied several data screens on his console.

  “It doesn’t look like a major problem from down here,” Karl reported from Engineering. “We’re not venting that much of either.”

  Several minutes later, the platform’s station keeping thrusters had stabilized the Space Platform, and the star field was once more steady on the main viewscreen.

  “Everything is shut down, and we are on internal power from our fuel cells,” Ty reported over the com to Christy.

  “That was close, Commander,” Christy’s relieved voice came back over the com system. “You had us all worried for a minute that we were going to lose both you and the Space Platform. Lieutenant Commander Williams reports that the platform suffered very minor damage. He will also be checking into the plasma discharge. You might as well disembark your crew. The techs will take over now. We obviously have some serious problems to work out. Dryson and Stoler are coming over with some of their fusion techs to check the reactor for damage.”

  “Confirmed,” replied Ty over the com. “We all just hope the ship’s okay.”

  “So do we,” Christy responded.

  Ty nodded to himself. The ship had some problems, but the crew had worked well together during the crises. He just hoped he had made the right decision and the reactor wasn’t seriously damaged. He let out a heavy sigh and nodded toward Captain Simpson.

  “Good job, everyone,” Ty spoke into the ship’s com. “We’ll meet in the briefing room in twelve hours to go over the test today and what our next steps need to be. Perhaps by then, we will know if the reactor suffered any damage. Get some rest. You deserve it.”

  Chapter Six

  Jennifer had spent a fascinating and enlightening day so far in Star One’s main Computer Center. Andre Matheson was the chief computer specialist and had been delighted to show Jennifer to her new office and around the computer complex. Andre was a small gray haired man in his early fifties, wearing the standard blue Star One uniform with the shirt tucked loosely into his baggy pants. A slight bulge around his midsection indic
ated a hefty appetite, and a constant smile adorned his plump, jovial face. Jennifer’s office was small but efficient with a large desk, several chairs, bookcase, and a computer console surrounded by a well laid out workstation.

  One of the first things Jennifer did once she was settled into her new office was have Andre explain to her what he knew about the current problem with Teela. Also, any insight he or his people might have into what might be causing it. The Teela problem perplexed her and tugged continuously at her curiosity. The AI was too valuable! She still felt astonished at how advanced the AI was. She had to find a way to help Teela. Jennifer wanted to see how far this wonderful AI would go. She wanted to discover what Teela would become in the future.

  “Well, Ms. Stone,” Andre said slowly, taking a seat and plopping himself down across the desk from her. “Teela is quite unique as you have probably already found out.”

  “I noticed,” replied Jennifer, nodding with a smile touching her face. “I’ve never encountered an AI like her. She almost seems human. Do you have any idea what caused this? She is so far ahead of any of the AIs that I have worked with down on Earth. I’m still finding it hard to believe that Teela is real, but I’ve been talking to her since I arrived on the station and I know that she is.”

  Taking a lemon drop out of his shirt pocket, Andre placed it in his mouth, offering Jennifer another, which she declined with a slight shake of her head. “Early in her programming we noticed signs of semi-quasi intelligence. This was the largest memory core ever assembled and by far the most complex. In many ways, the core operates very similar to a human brain. We wrote in several programs that were specially designed to stimulate self-awareness. We hoped that the AI computer would develop into an intelligent entity able to reason and communicate.” Pausing, he stood up. He began pacing back and forth in front of Jennifer’s desk, recalling the extraordinary events that led up to Teela coming into being.

  “I’ve seen reports on the computer core,” replied Jennifer, recalling what she had read previously about Star One’s computer system. She knew that it was extremely complex and highly advanced. “I want to learn more about it later, but what about Teela?”

  “We brought the system online and found that we had succeeded in making the system semi-intelligent,” Andre said, recalling that initial day when Teela was first activated. “For two days, little progress was made with the AI. Its intelligence seemed to be seriously limited and its reasoning ability extremely low. It didn’t seem to be much better than any of the other AIs built down on Earth. We were all extremely disappointed. We had hoped for so much more.”

  “So she did start out similar to the other AIs on Earth,” interjected Jennifer, relating to the ones she had worked with Earthside.

  This was interesting. She wondered what had brought about the big change. The Teela she had met had clearly demonstrated extremely high intelligence and remarkable reasoning ability. Nothing similar to the entity that Andre was describing. “What happened next? Something out of the ordinary must have occurred to stimulate Teela’s intelligence.”

  “Exactly,” replied Andre, nodding his head vigorously and coming to a stop in front of Jennifer’s desk. His eyes met hers and he continued. “We had almost given up hope of augmenting Teela’s intelligence when the accident occurred.”

  “What type of accident?” Jennifer asked, intrigued, leaning forward, and looking inquiringly at Andre. She hadn’t read or been told about any accident involving the station’s AI or computer system.

  “There was a meltdown in the station’s main power lead that supplies the computer core,” replied Andre, remembering that harrowing day. “Several power connections overheated and shorted out. There were numerous circuit breakers that blew and several key circuits were fried. We lost all power except for the emergency battery supply to the core itself.”

  “This was only a few days after Teela had been activated?” asked Jennifer, wondering if this might have caused Teela to metamorphose into the entity she was now. Had this incident somehow shocked Teela’s programming into becoming more humanlike?

  “Yes, it was all we could do to prevent major damage from occurring to the entire computer system,” answered Andre, nodding his head fervently. “This system cost over four billion dollars! We were frantic when we realized what was occurring. Several large power surges went through the system, knocking out electrical circuits and breakers before the main surge protectors slammed down. Much of the computer section was filled with smoke and electrical short circuits, even a few small fires, and we were forced to evacuate.”

  “Was the system damaged?” Jennifer asked, her tone betraying her concern.

  She knew that most computer systems were extremely susceptible to power surges. Major systems were heavily protected to prevent memory loss and circuit damage just because of this. Most big businesses backed up their systems several times per day just as a precaution.

  “When the power finally came back on we spent hours cleaning up the area, replacing all the burnt out circuits, and checking the different systems,” Andre replied vividly, recalling that momentous day. Everyone had been deeply concerned about the computer system.

  Commander Larson had even helped with the cleanup, showing his deep alarm for what had happened. Nothing this serious had occurred on the station since it had been completed. Three entire sections of the central hub had been evacuated because of the accident. The commander was just as concerned about the computer section as those directly involved and had told Andre that.

  “I can imagine what it must have been like,” Jennifer said, knowing how she would have felt in the same situation.

  “We were extremely concerned about the system, even though the core seemed to be undamaged,” Andre continued. “We were afraid the power surges may have caused irreparable damage. When we felt that everything was back to normal, we booted the system back up and got the shock of our lives. Teela was present in the core. She had full awareness, unbelievable reasoning power, and high intelligence. Everything we had dreamed of was there.”

  “I wonder if the electrical surges were the cause?” Jennifer asked, her curiosity aroused. Could the power surges going briefly through the core have caused this momentous change in the AI? It was the only logical explanation she could think of. “I have never heard of anything like this before.”

  “We almost fainted on the spot when she addressed us the first time,” continued Andre, recalling that first breath taking moment he had spoken to Teela. “After a lot of heated discussion and replaying the sequence of events, we think the power surges and the resulting loss of power shocked the core programs. It motivated the quasi-intelligence already there to rewrite some of the programs to protect itself, causing Teela to come into being.”

  “You think Teela rewrote some of her own programs?” Jennifer asked in disbelief, her eyes widening in surprise. “How would that be possible?”

  “We used more molecular circuits in the memory core than ever attempted anywhere else,” responded Andre, recalling all the hard work it had taken to install the core. “We have theorized that the molecular circuits, being subjugated to uncontrolled electrical surges, became even more stimulated than we believed possible, allowing Teela to rewrite several of her core programs for self-preservation. Remember, parts of the core system were still operating from the battery backup power system.”

  “What did she do? What did she change?” asked Jennifer, feeling intensely curious to know what Teela had done. If they knew what the changes were, then perhaps an entire new generation of AIs could be created. This could revolutionize the computer world!

  “We don’t know,” confessed Andre, looking down at the floor, returning to his chair, and sitting back down. “For some reason we have not been able to access those programs, and no matter how hard we have tried or how many times we have asked, Teela will not make them available to us.”

  “She is blocking you from accessing her core programming?” Jennifer excl
aimed in disbelief, her eyes narrowing.

  She had never heard of this before. She wondered how Teela could possibly do that. It showed an unbelievable level of self-preservation. This was certainly something she would have to discuss with Teela later.

  “Yes, and we haven’t been able to discover exactly how, or write a program to allow us access,” Andre spoke, shaking his head and then smiling. “She is very smart!”

  “How did the crew react to her when they realized what had happened?”

  Jennifer was writing down several notes on a thick note pad in front of her. This was remarkable. She also wondered if the process could be duplicated again to stimulate other AIs back on Earth. “Were they afraid? Did they accept her? How did they treat Teela?”

  “A number of the crew wanted the core wiped immediately,” Andre replied with a disgusted tone in his voice. “They didn’t want an intelligent AI running the station’s systems. It was something they had only read about in science fiction novels. They were afraid we wouldn’t be able to control her.”

  “I guess I can understand their fear,” replied Jennifer, shaking her head sadly. The unknown frightened people. It always had and probably always would.

  “Others were highly excited when they realized her potential and began asking Teela to help them with their research projects,” Andre said, recalling those first few uncertain weeks after Teela’s surprising appearance. “Others, unfortunately, chose to ignore her completely.”

  “I wonder how that made Teela feel?” Jennifer asked more to herself than to Andre. From her speaking with Teela, Jennifer had sensed that the AI could actually feel some human emotions.

  “She never speaks of it,” Andre replied with a frown creasing his forehead. “There are some things she does not like to discuss.”

  “The more I hear, the more amazed I am about all of this,” commented Jennifer, leaning back and folding her arms across her chest. “When did all these problems I have been hearing rumors about start?” Jennifer went on and told Andre about her experience at Jensens the night before.