by F Stephan
“What are our next steps?” asked Nillaz.
“We rest, gain some strength, and work on our exit strategy, now that we have a plan.” Rendor was again in command.
In the course of the next days, Rendor analyzed the map of the complex and looked for path uncontrolled by the central AI. Sonter found that the console was isolated from connection by the IA but could update in real time the location of all robots.
Brian and Sonter worked on the shutdown plan for the AI. Zertal found weapons in a sealed room, and Lanakar busied himself checking each of them. Reshu, Azol, and Venrom worked on food and drinks and kept them alive during that time. They rested, which helped Lanakar and Nillaz regain some of their vitality.
After two weeks of arduous work, they were equipped and ready. They had trained on the rifles, which projected directional electromagnetic waves, jamming all electronics, or lightning pulses. Lanakar had also helped Brian redirect the communications from the console to their bracelets. He would stay in the sealed village with Reshu, Venrom, Azol, and Nillaz.
On one evening, they decided they were as ready as could be and went, injecting their last syringes of antinanites.
82 Brian
Pat had placed guards outside the doors, but Rendor and Zertal blasted them away. As soon as they were out, they split into two teams. Brian and Rendor sprinted north toward one access to the Core, while Sonter and Zertal ran west to the other.
Lanakar had reactivated their link, since Pat would guess their position rapidly no matter what.
“Brian, Rendor, right at the next corridor. Five robots in front.”
“Sonter, Zertal, three robots are closing on you.”
They zigzagged through the corridors under the guidance, progressing steadily.
“Warning—nanites concentration is increasing in front of you.”
Suddenly, their bodies seemed consumed with fire as the nanites attacked. Brian recognized the attack and directed his antinanites to counter it. His blood was now fully contaminated, and the invading nanites burned wildly. Brian had lived through it now a few times. He clenched his teeth and moved on with Rendor.
“You have new incoming robots in front of you. Four at the next corner.” Lanakar’s voice was steady. They fired on the robots, leaving a trail of explosion and broken parts behind them.
In every room they crossed now, they lighted a small can of lichen, creating a thick mass of smoke. “Is it working?” Azol asked Nillaz in a subdued voice. She had no capacity to read the nanites console.
“Yes, your cocktails are drawing Pat’s attention. The maintainer has to repair the complex. He is probably in an internal priority conflict. It helps. More robots are moving out to clear the smoke.”
They went down and down. Pat tried to talk to them soothingly at first and then angrily and at last pleadingly. He shut down lights in the corridor or blinded them, deformed walls and floor. The labyrinth changed as they ran. It was now a shapeless form. Their only focus was on the sprint, and they crossed the landscape as they could. Brian again had increased his nanites at the maximum he dared use and his body blurred, adapting to each attack to help move forward.
Behind a corner, Rendor fell, and they continued to run without looking back. At the bottom of a staircase, Sonter broke his ankle, and still they ran. At last, the two teams joined again as the corridors merged into a new cave. A giant robot was on guard there. Zertal attacked him while Brian, in an agonizing last run, reached the central fusion plant. As soon as he entered the sanctum, he was hailed by the Core in Ancient Federation Standard.
“Welcome to the Core Central Maintenance Program. What can I do for you now?”
“Emergency shut down,” he sent over his link the detailed code he had found in the village.
“Emergency shut down engaged. Human confirmation required.” He heard the old machine.
He felt his back burn and swell before collapsing on the ground.
“Confirm. I, Brian, Starpilot, confirm.” He had the time to send his last message before fainting. He felt the Program checking his nanites and acknowledging his status.
While he collapsed, he heard “Disengage Core fusion reactor. All energy shutdowns acknowledged.” Over his link, he could faintly hear Lanakar cheering.
83 Derantor
“Launch, launch, launch.” Derantor awoke with a start under red lights and loud sirens. “Bridge, more details, please!” she snapped, grabbing a jacket.
“We have a launch signature from the jungle close to the settlement,” said Taolel.
“Type?”
“Atmospheric Shuttle. Space outbound. Vertical launch with boosters.”
“Radio contact”
“Not yet. I have radio block from magneto sphere. Another five minutes at least.”
By that time, Derantor was on the bridge.
“ETA?”
“Twenty minutes.”
“Sound evacuation. We leave the station in fifteen minutes. I want room to maneuver.”
The siren sounded again and Taolel called individually each crew member and passenger while Derantor tracked the incoming craft. Ten minutes later, the last passengers embarked and Taolel was back on communications while Droum and Derantor prepared to fly away.
“At last,” sighed Taolel, “I have an incoming transmission. Our receiving is set up on a loop against cyberattack. I’ve launched the decryption program. It will be text only for now.”
“We have the last passengers on board. Five minutes before disengage. What does it say?”
Letters appeared slowly on the console as the program converted the signals in the secure loop, isolated from the main ship consoles.
“W.E..H.A.V.E..E.S.C.A.P.E.D.” Taolel reading the text aloud for her mates.
“How do we confirm their identity?” asked Taolel, “and that this isn’t a setup by whoever shot them?”
“We have very few options,” decided Derantor. “First, we move out.” The ship disengaged the magnetic locks, and its ion jets moved it farther away from the station. Derantor’s decision was fast. The protocol had been prepared in the Federation Archive, and the captain knew it well.
An hour later, Tiel and Shaz’al’nak waited, fully suited, in the main lounge of the space station. They had spent all their time setting up their equipment. In the meantime, Theoldcow had left the station by half a kilometer.
“Connection check. Please answer.” Taolel was strained on the audio link.
Tiel confirmed his laser orientation and answered, “Good for us.” They were linked by an isolated communication laser network that could not be intercepted from ground operations.
“Good. We have had confirmation from them. They will dock at the quarantine area and will be wearing no suits when they cross into the station.”
“Perfect. I will stand by the monitoring station and confirm on their vitals.” Under the frailty of the aged doctor, they could hear steel. “And in case of trouble, I evacuate the doctor,” Tiel concluded.
They waited for another hour until the team arrived. They disembarked one at a time while Shaz’al’nak checked all her instruments. Her breathing eased audibly when the nanites level remained normal.
She requested blood samples and checked again. DNA matching was good. Nanites were normal in the bloodstream and controlled by an excessive level of antinanites, but she had expected it. In the meantime, Tiel kept them under constant watch.
An hour later, Shaz’al’nak connected directly to the dish.
“Captain, the levels are as normal as they can be under the circumstances. What now?”
“Tiel, please blast the connection tube.” Tiel had already prepared his bench for action. He checked the status of the station door and ignited the explosive tunnel. The blast severed the connection and pushed the shuttle away from the station.
“Good. You continue monitoring the team.” Droum left the ship on a vacuum lifter. The crossing was slow, and the space was completely empty around her. Sh
e was at ease in these surroundings. After a long time, she reached the shuttle.
“Captain, I am in position.”
“Good. Now, prepare for the push.”
She used the magnetic locks to attach the lifter to the shuttle. When they were firmly attached, she engaged the preprogrammed sequence. The lifter slowly pushed the shuttle.
“Captain, the shuttle is now flying toward the third planet.”
“Perfect. I will assume its orbit within a year. Hopefully, we will get it back before. Taolel, the tracker?”
“Is active and giving us a good signal. If the shuttle deviates or leaves the lifter, we’ll know within five minutes.”
Derantor reclined in her chair. Now was the last part. She activated the secure link they had set up with the quarantine area a month ago.
“Hello, landing crew, please answer.”
The bridge lighted with the central hologram of her crew. They had been waiting, as agreed, in the central room. Most of them were hurt. Brian was stretched on a litter, Sonter was limping, Zertal had multiple bruises, and Lanakar’s arm was in a sling. She looked at Nillaz with a tight throat. He had suffered a nanites attack and would need time to recover from the blur. She didn’t see Rendor. She closed her eyes. He had flown with her for the last ten years. There were also three foreigners from Fizhert. From the description of the other survivors, she knew their names Azol, Quilm, and Venrom. All their clothes were now rags, and they looked gaunt but happy.
Zertal came forward. “Landing crew reporting, Madam.”
“Welcome back, Zertal. You’ll find food and clothes in the next section. Why don’t you take an hour or two to eat, bathe, and change attire before the report?”
“Madam, I’m sorry, but we are going to need medical support. Having our report immediately would allow you to clear some help.”
Shaz’al’nak cut into the conversation. “I’ll get inside. There’s not much that can attack me here.”
Derantor wanted to intervene, but the old doctor had seen so many things in her past she was the only person in her crew who could truly handle the situation if it went wrong. She sighed. “Doctor, you are clear to go when the report is finished. Zertal, please provide your report.”
All in all, it took a good hour to recount everything that had happened. With every word recorded, Zertal spoke in a slow, clear voice. Derantor asked only limited questions to clarify what had happened for the auditors. She checked the time sequence. What had been identified by Pat as a meteor burning through the atmosphere, had been the robot she had sent for exploration. Somehow, she felt relieved that at least one of the only action she could take had helped them. Behind Zertal, the others sagged progressively along the walls.
“Thank you, Zertal. The doctor will join you in a minute.”
“How long, captain?”
“We hope it will be now less than a month before the rescue team arrives. The observer should be along, and we will collect all parameters until then. Now, go and eat something before all of you collapse.”
When she closed the connection, she turned to Taolel.
“Your opinion?”
“They look genuine enough. And the story rings true.”
“Let’s hope so. We have seen other ploys. I want twenty-four hours tracking of the doctor. She is our control human for the benchmark.”
“Understood. We’ll focus on her. And I have set up the surface controls.”
“Can you detect that energy source or its shutdown?”
“No, no way. I guess this is a physical shield. So nothing has changed from space.” She paused for a while before daring to ask her next question. “What will you tell the kids?”
“The truth. They deserve it.” The captain was bleak. AI had been known to try to escape and invade other places with very convoluted schema. They had to be sure now. No survivors would be cleared until they could be sure. This included now the whole crew of Theoldcow.
84 Brian
For the first time in a month, the door opened. They were all seated in the central lounge, hands in evidence. All their links were deactivated. Four marines, all suited up, went in and took position around the lounge, training their tasers on them. A corporal saluted them. “This is Strike Force Green from the Doublekick carrier. This is a Federation intervention under code Red. You will remain still until we have checked the whole installation.”
Then another group of four, still suited up, moved into the area with detectors. It took hours. Brian couldn’t move. After a while, he felt his back itching, but he wasn’t allowed to scratch. It reached the point where it burned entirely before a marine corporal told them gruffly, “You can now move. Please remain in the central lounge for now. We would appreciate if you moved slowly.”
They all nodded. The marines were armed, and they had been told they were primed for fire.
“Thank you for your patience. We will go as fast as we can,” the marine said. Brian knew two other teams were checking Theoldcow at the same time.
“How long will it take, Corporal?”
“As long as we need, young pilot. As long as we need.”
Brian scratched his back and seated himself again. No need to remain standing for now. At his side, the doctor sat, eyes closed, dosing quietly through the procedure.
In the end, it took only ten hours to clear the compartment and allow freedom of movement within the area. The marines had also brought different foods from Adheek, and this was an improvement, even if small. They had only tasted bland hydroponics food for the last two months. Some of the tension was released from them and most slept that night. Brian woke as usual three times with the same nightmare, an endless hunt in metal corridors.
On the next day, they had a surprise. Althal came from Adheek with Willfried in tow. Another uniformed marine, with ebony skin and strikingly blond hair, walked in with them. He faced them and began a formal speech.
“Good morning, everyone. Please be informed that we are observers from the Federation, and we are here to evaluate you and a potential psychic contamination from the artificial intelligence below. You can call me Observer Lieken; I come from Pelor. Next to me are Observer Althal from Adheek and Junior Observer Willfried from Earth. We are here also to gather all the information required for the intervention that will cleanse the planet below.” They all nodded gravely. This was the closest form to a court inquiry that existed in the Federation.
The two observers went into different rooms for the interviews, while the marines continued to watch over them. Willfried followed Althal somberly. Brian was soon invited by a marine to the meet Observer Lieken.
In the room, Lieken had set up a recording console on a central desk, two glasses of water, and a jug.
“Please, sit down, Brian.”
“Thank you, sir. Could you explain the procedure? Am I guilty?”
“Guilty? Of what? No, you are not guilty. You may not be human anymore, and I will have to observe you on this.”
Brian gulped. “How will you do that?”
“This is my business. Let’s start young man.”
For the next hour, Lieken asked rapidly question after question to a student completely lost.
“What’s your name? How many elephants can you put on board a landing shuttle? How do you build a water pump? Tell us a joke that makes you laugh. What is the latest news of your sister?”
Some were absurd, some were philosophical or technical. A few required him to activate his nanites and answer with them. Sweat ran on Brian’s palms; he was completely destabilized by the strangeness of the procedure. Then, after a long while, Lieken smiled.
“Well, it seems you have normal reactions. This is positive. But it doesn’t mean another of your mates has not been contaminated. I will continue.”
“What do I do now?”
“You will move next door and meet Major Ken Nekat, who will be in charge of ground operations. You will describe to him everything you can remember about the complex to g
uide our marines.”
“But we deactivated the Core fusion reactor.”
“Young man. What if this was only a ploy from this Pat? What if he had organized all this to have us believe he is dead so that he can contaminate a new ship?”
Brian had never thought about this. He took time to consider the implications and then moved to the next room. He met a tall, muscular woman with short-cropped hair, gray eyes, and the same copper skin Shanak had.
“Welcome, Brian. Observer Lieken explained what we will do?”
“Yes, Major. I understand.”
The eyes of the major pierced Brian and she nodded. “Good. Then, please give all the details you remember about the complex.” Brian complied for another long hour.
When he left, he was nervously exhausted. He walked slowly to the main cafeteria to grab a small meal. After a while, Zertal joined him. She sat in silence next to him and began her meal. When he had eaten his meal, Brian looked at the marine next to him.
“What will they do?”
“Standard procedure. They’ll blast the jungle with a combined ECM pulse and ultrasonic wave. The nanites can’t sustain such attack and will be destroyed.”
“Won’t it damage the jungle?”
The marine laughed. “There will be nothing but plain rock for a radius of one hundred kilometers.” Her eyes were downcast.
“Then, they will drop to the tunnel entry and to the shuttle exit port and invade the complex. They’ll check each room, each console, and each cable for a remote replica. They’ll eradicate all free nanites and blast all robots to ashes.”
At that time, the doctor joined them. Her interview had been quick since she had no information on the planet. She sat quietly beside them as usual.
“Isn’t it extreme?”
“Do you want to have Pat care for the well-being of a planet?” Brian swallowed hard. At this, Shaz’al’nak laughed a clear, quiet laugh.
