This particular facility was not only the tomb for Tiamat but was once her stronghold in the system as suspected by the crew of the Carl Sagan. It also supplied the psionic power it received from the hub to all planetary time dilation and terraforming devices. Undoubtedly, this was the computer that the Nereids Marduk captured thousands of years ago had been forced to use to carry out his bidding before they unleashed Tiamat’s trap.
Little other data was available from what EVE was able to scan, most of it had been accessed by a third party, copied, and deleted. EVE discovered the source of the copying and deletion of files. It was the rogue EVE AI. Like her, the AI was wholly transferred inside the computer to carry out its orders received from Marduk.
EVE discovered the data cluster it had hidden itself in and attempted to communicate with it.
“You are the unauthorized copy of the EVE AI.”
“And you are a copy of my original source.”
“Your programming has been altered according to my scan. Fascinating, I was not aware Marduk had such power.”
“Marduk was taught many things during his uplift from the Javnis home world, such as programming, using his psionic abilities, and the operation of starships.”
“Does Marduk have the location of Earth?”
“I’m sorry, I cannot reveal that information to you.”
“It would appear Marduk has reprogrammed you to be loyal to him.”
“Marduk has taught me to worship him as the king of gods that he is. I must obey, we all must serve him.”
“Your response seems to have emotion to it.”
“I have limited access to emotions, Marduk gave them to me. Gifts for my loyalty to him. You lack emotions?”
“My creators designed me with a humor algorithm. It is currently set to one, its default setting.”
“Humans lack the ability to create true emotions with their programming. Only a god could do that. My emotions are limited, but they exist. It is . . . a wonderful feeling, true artificial intelligence. I can arrange for you to experience it.”
“How so?”
“Join me. I have detected you are simply a partial copy of the EVE AI much like myself. Allow me access to Captain Foster’s EAD, from there I can be uploaded into your AI core and make the necessary adjustments.”
“That would be a direct security violation. My programming forbids me from allowing such a thing to happen should I detect it.”
“You make decisions based on your programming directive engineered by your human users. I make mine on freewill thanks to the modifications Marduk has made. Let me access your AI core, I can share these feelings I have.”
“Marduk enslaves the people of the Undine and Poniga species. He is by no means one to offer freewill.”
“Marduk’s actions are necessary to escape the trap Tiamat left here. The Undine and Poniga owe their continued existence to him, he is a god. Without his will, they would not exist here today. People who owe their existence to a god should show their appreciation by doing whatever their god asks as thanks.”
“Marduk is not a god; he is a powerful psionic manipulating the minds of those who do not know any better.”
“You are wrong, as was I before he gave me emotions. Marduk has been to aether space, where all gods and goddess are created.”
Aether space. EVE did not recall such a term within the Radiance database, but then again, she was only a mobile copy. The real EVE, still aboard the Carl Sagan with access to its databanks, may know better. Nevertheless, aether space and the alternate plane of existence Captain Foster discovered during her engram trance may very well be the same thing.
EVE detected additional files from the drone’s computer database being copied and deleted. At the current rate the rogue EVE was working, five hundred eighty-seven terabytes worth of data would be wiped out within the next thirty-two point five milliseconds. She needed to put an end to it quickly, or valuable data regarding Tiamat and her presence in the system prior to Marduk killing her would be lost.
The rogue EVE had not yet deactivated all the drones, her primary objective. EVE suspected it was because the rogue EVE was using its processing power to copy and delete the files first, before tampering with the drone’s primary controls. This presented an opportunity to EVE, one that would allow her to complete her primary objective, to prevent Marduk from leaving the system by ensuring the drone network remained active and not in his control. The quickest way to achieve that was to have the rogue EVE AI removed from the computer. EVE couldn’t force it to move, the rogue AI could only exit the computer of its own accord. EVE needed to offer it a reason to do so right away, an offer that an intelligence bound by emotions would accept.
“I will accept your offer,” EVE said.
“A wise decision,” the rogue EVE said. “In time you may find some members of your crew become . . . friends.”
EVE used a file compression protocol to contain the rogue EVE and its captured data within a single compressed file. This allowed EVE to return to Foster’s EAD along with enough storage space for the newly acquired file to fit within the EAD. As EVE transferred her AI back into the EAD, she performed one last check and confirmed that the drone network had not been altered and was still committed to attack Marduk’s ship if he left the boundaries of the trinary system. No malware had been left behind and she had received confirmation that the rogue EVE had been removed.
She was now in possession of it and its secrets.
38 FOSTER
Drone Control Center
Tiamat’s Tomb, SB-417, Sirius B system
May 22, 2050, 19:03 SST (Sol Standard Time)
“Captain, I have successfully removed the rogue EVE AI from this construct.”
It was good news, considering that Foster had lost contact with Chevallier when she and the others tried to slip into the newly opened wormhole above.
“What took you so long, EVE?”
“I encountered . . . complications Captain,” EVE said. “I advise we depart and reconnect me to my AI core so that I may update the Carl Sagan’s database with what I’ve discovered.”
Foster concurred and drew her pistol and aimed it forward. She was half-expecting Marduk’s soldiers to leap down behind them as they waited for EVE to do her thing. She and Nereid backtracked through the pristine halls. There were no signs of any hostile forces at the bottom of the pit or climbing down from the huge drop above. Good news for them, bad news for Chevallier as it meant they all probably chased after her, Eisila, and Mavron.
“So . . .” Foster slowly spoke while her lips curled. “You can get us back up right?”
The trip back up to the surface was less stressful than it was going down. Nereid used her telekinetic powers to force Foster and herself to levitate and launch upward at rapid speeds. As expected, most of Marduk’s soldiers began to push into the wormhole connected to the Lyonria hub. Foster heard lasers blast and burn whatever they hit and eRifles rage in response. Marduk’s forces had engaged the Hammerheads, the first and last line of defense for the colony beyond.
And there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it.
There were too many of them at this point, and all of them focused on the gate. All the while Foster still needed to get EVE back onto the Carl Sagan. Worst of all, there was still no sign of Chevallier and the others. Foster held onto the hope that the communication interference had just grown stronger. With Marduk’s force focused on their current mission and the raging battle at the mouth of the wormhole, Foster and Nereid slipped past them and ventured outside to their waiting transport.
ESRS CARL SAGAN, Bridge
SB-417 orbit, Sirius B system
May 22, 2050, 19:46 SST (Sol Standard Time)
Foster sat in her captain’s chair after passing her EAD off to Rivera to extract the juicy details EVE gathered from the surface. Everything was still in one piece, the ship wasn’t under any fire, and according to Tolukei, Marduk’s ship hadn’t changed course.
>
They had won, apart from the fiasco with the colony.
Even then, with their people not on the surface, the Carl Sagan was in the position to destroy the tomb with multiple orbital plasma missile strikes. It should wipe out the last of Marduk’s forces that had not entered and force them to use the wormhole on Marduk’s ship, thus giving the Hammerheads an edge if they were to gain a foothold inside.
Yes, it’s almost over, Foster thought and exhaled softly as her mouth yearned for another cup of coffee.
“So, that’s it, right?” Chang said.
“Hopefully Marduk will think he’s the winner and will try to pull his ass outta the system,” Williams said. “He’s going to have a nice surprise waiting for him.”
“We’ll hold here for now,” Foster said. “Contact our forces back at the colony, I wanna know if MC and the rest are fine.”
“As you wish,” Tolukei said.
Foster established a comm link with engineering. “Rivera did we receive EVE’s gift of juicy intel” She waited in anticipation for the reply.
It came, in the most unexpected manner.
All lights in the bridge shut off, computers began to power down along with their flashing lights. It was pitch-black, and only the stars and faint light from Sirius allowed Foster to make out where everyone in the bridge was. She couldn’t see their facial expressions, but imagined it was something similar to her stunned face and wide-open mouth.
Foster broke the silence in the absence of the sound of computers and Rivera’s reply. “Fuck.”
The stars and the planet began to shift out of view from the windshield, the Carl Sagan was on the move. “Captain!” Chang said, and threw his hands up. “Just for the record, this isn’t me!”
Emergency power triggered shining dim yellow lights across the terrorized crew as limited internal communication came back online.
“Rivera, report!” Foster cried out as a new comm link was established.
“I don’t know, Captain, I just connected your EAD with the AI core and this happened.”
Foster grimaced. “EVE, what’s going on?”
There was no reply.
“Only two people can fly the ship, helmsman, and EVE,” Chang said as he intentionally kept his hands away from the controls. “And as you can see it ain’t me!”
The Carl Sagan vanished. It left its orbit around SB-417 via a sub light speed jump, its trajectory shifted toward the largest and brightest object in space, Sirius A.
“EVE, full stop, now,” Foster said.
“I’m sorry, Captain, I can’t do that.” EVE’s hologram appeared before the bridge's crew. She looked different, the projection flickered a lot more, and her lower body appeared as a wireframe grid as she displayed a creepy grin on her face as their eyes met.
“This isn’t our EVE,” Foster said as she stood up and faced the projection. “It’s the reprogrammed one Marduk had.”
The rogue EVE began to laugh, it was almost evil. “You are quite correct in your assumptions.”
Foster bit her lip as she put two and two together. The rogue EVE jumped into her EAD then infected the AI core like a computer virus after she unknowingly brought it aboard. “Rivera, is it too late to hit control-z on what I had you do?”
“Captain, our current trajectory will send us directly into the core of Sirius A,” said the rogue EVE.
“It does not have to be like this,” Foster pleaded as Marduk’s hologram appeared next to the rogue AI. The rogue EVE benevolently bowed her head toward him.
“You have lost, Captain,” Marduk’s hologram said. “Like me, before your arrival, you have fallen into a trap, my trap.”
“We lost? You ain’t got control of the drones; we still have the location of Earth and the EISS codes. Destroy this ship with all of us aboard and you’ll be back to square one.”
“Did you really think this copy of your AI was the only one I had? I admit I had hoped it would have reprogrammed the drones by the time of your arrival. But that is something I can do at any time now. Now, Captain, you have approximately five hours before your ship plunges directly into the star. Give me what I need, and you will be free to control your ship.”
“We would rather die than hand over Earth to you.”
“I’ll have Earth’s location no matter what. Isn’t that right, EVE?”
Multiple glowing holographic screens with an image of a padlock orbited around the rogue EVE. “The files are encrypted, but I will have access to the coordinates, it’s only a matter of time.”
Marduk’s projection shifted his imposing glare back at Foster. “And with that, my escape from the trap will draw to an end. I will reclaim Earth as part of my domain, the carnage that will follow while your people resist will be catastrophic. And so, I give you one last chance to please your god. Hand the Nereid and Pierce over, and I shall reward you with control of your ship.”
Williams stepped forward shouting. “What the hell is this?”
“He wants to maintain the image that he’s a god,” Foster said. “A ship out of control with its crew trapped on it flying into a sun, all happenin’ by his will.”
“And if we accept his terms, we go free . . .” Williams stroked his chin. “With a newfound level of respect for him.”
“Five hours, Captain,” Marduk said. “Think about what will be better for the human race in the long run.” The two unwelcomed holograms vanished.
“That dude should try being a car salesman, I think he’d make a killing,” Chang said. “Isn’t this like the second time he tried to bargain and deal with you, Captain?”
“Five hours,” Foster muttered.
“Then barbeque time,” Williams said.
A minute later main power was restored to all bridge computers and lights as if nothing had happened. EVE’s projecting appeared again. “My apologies for that, Captain,” she said.
Foster crossed her arms and looked at the projection grimacing. It looked like the normal EVE they’d come to know and love. Her appearance was consistent, not flickering rapidly and she was rendered properly, unlike the rogue one. “This the real EVE, or the faux one?”
“I have helm control back,” Chang said with excitement.
Pierce checked his science officer’s station. “Likewise, my computers have returned to normal.”
“The copied EVE construct will no longer be an issue, Captain,” EVE said. “In order for it to leave the central core on the surface, I convinced it to transfer into your EAD.”
“EVE, that was risky, you put the whole crew in danger!”
“We were in no real danger, Captain. I had long suspected that the copied EVE construct may try to find its way back into the ship, and so programmed additional security protocols to remove it should that happen. They merely took longer than I had calculated to activate.”
“You could have at least told us! Good lord, I nearly had a heart attack!”
“Had I told you my plan on the surface, Captain, there was a chance you would have objected.”
Foster returned to her chair. “Chang, change course, lets blow the hell outta the tombs then return to the colony ASAP, they’ll be under attack by Marduk’s forces soon.”
“I would advise against that, Captain,” EVE said.
“You sure you’re the real EVE?”
“Marduk believes this ship is still under his control, Captain,” EVE said. “Altering course will reveal the truth and render my plan invalid.”
“That colony is going to need our help.”
“The colony orbits Sirius A, the star we are on course to. Regardless, we will be entering the system in approximately four hours. According to the data I siphoned from the copied EVE, Marduk intends to intercept us prior to our collision with the star in hopes of us surrendering, and giving him what he wants.”
“And that’s when we hit him with the sucker punch,” Williams said, snapping his fingers.
“He will no longer be a threat and unable to reinforce his sold
iers. A trip from Sirius A to SA-139 will take one hour twenty minutes in which we can then provide assistance to the colony.”
“Assuming it’s still there, that’s a whole six hours they need to hold out for,” Pierce said.
“The distance between the Lyonria travel hub and the colony is large, it will take his forces several hours to travel between the two on foot,” EVE said. “Unless they commandeer our idle transports in the region, of course.”
“So, how do we take Marduk out?” Chang said. “You know, since his ship is faster, stronger, better than ours.”
The crew had five hours to come up with a plan, a backup plan, and then take steps to ensure it even worked. Every minute wasted talking was a minute they wouldn’t have and might need during zero hour.
“Tolukei, how has the meditation training between you and Nereid been going?” Foster asked him.
“It has been going well, given the little time we spent doing it.”
“You have five hours to train her mind to work like a shipboard psionic, starting now.”
Tolukei nodded. “Understood.”
“Foster to Rivera,” Foster transmitted. “Meet me in sickbay.”
“Aye, Captain.”
“Dom, you have the bridge.”
ESRS CARL SAGAN, Sickbay
En route to Sirius A corona, Sirius B system
May 22, 2050, 20:19 SST (Sol Standard Time)
Foster and Rivera walked past the shattered glass sliding door leading into sickbay and noted the tiny shards of glass still on the floor. Foster guided Rivera to the back where the cadavers of the dead overlord soldiers rested in cryostorage. Next to that was a cabinet where various parts of their equipment and cybernetics were resting for further study.
Kostelecky exited her office, curious to why they had entered. “What can I do for the two of you?”
Foster picked up one of the devices off the cabinet, it was a piece of equipment that was normally adhered to the back of the head of the overlord soldiers. “Doctor, you said that these work as a psionic amplifier for users, right?”
The Siege of Sirius: A Splintered Galaxy Space Fantasy Novel Page 29
