Sentient: Evolution

by D. R. Rosier

  “Fire a shot across their hull, see if they react.”

  He was kind of hoping to track down whoever controlled this craft, but it didn’t look like it would happen. Sure he could guess, but too bad the odds were five hundred million to one on finding the right ship. It would be futile.

  Dura Lin reported, “No response, they even opened an aperture and closed it. It’s like the thing is in some test cycle, perhaps it is computer controlled and can’t take actions on its own.”

  He shook his head in doubt to that theory, and he’d bet his main tentacle they were playing stupid. Anyone that could figure out where the danger came from, and could create a prototype that fast just couldn’t be that stupid, could they?

  He clicked, “Burn it.”

  Sure, he could be wrong, and he could be losing his chance to follow it home, but he sincerely doubted it. Hopefully this would slow down the enemy’s progress at the very least. The third fleet would be here in less than two weeks, what could they possibly accomplish in that time? Besides, what could he do about it anyway, he certainly wasn’t going to call that asshole of an Emperor.

  He watched the screen as the dark energy beam destroyed the ship and he felt anger. Maybe if he made a statement, these beings would come out of hiding, so far they hadn’t seen a ship with even one lifeform.

  “Daughter, set a course for the center of the civilizations that these ships protect and take us there.”

  Dura Lin acknowledged the order, and moved the ship, she put the systems data on the main screen without being asked, and he waved his tentacles in approval.

  There was a small planet, with a few thousand settlers. Ugly tall things, with only two tentacles that had…weird appendages on the ends. He’d seen bipedal life forms before of course, but it never failed to startle him. There was also a platform and three more of those ships, and about twenty other ships that were less powerful, but actually had those ugly beings on it.

  “Destroy the ships, then the planet, let’s see how they react.”

  The ships, and the world died, none came to their aid. He nodded in satisfaction, they certainly weren’t ready to face him, much less a full fleet.

  “Put the ship on standby and skeleton watch, we will wait for the fleet, I want constant scans though, notify me if they make progress.”

  He shook his tentacles in disbelief at his own words, but they’d already made more progress than he’d have believed if he hadn’t seen it with his own eye.

  Kiala, Alion minister of war, decided now was the time to take her cause into the light. She was currently waiting for the high minister in one of the several meeting rooms in the government center on the Alion home planet. The Alion race was scared right now with one of their outposts being taken out, and Aide’s ships had been helpless to prevent it. So helpless in fact that the rogue Alion A.I. didn’t even send more ships to help. Thousands of Alion were killed with no indication of the enemy at all. The ships had simply gone up in flames, and the planet…

  She shuddered. The planet had shaken apart, there were no survivors.

  She stood when High Minister Korman walked into the room, and bowed.

  He waved a hand, “Sit,” he said brusquely, “People are panicking, and I’m very busy today, you have five minutes.”

  Kiala leaned forward and spoke urgently, “High minister, we must demand an accounting from the rogue A.I. Where was our vaunted self-proclaimed protector when one of our worlds were destroyed? The rogue A.I. known as Aide should be forced to give us the technology it holds back, as well as everything it knows about the attack. I have to believe we would have been better prepared if not for being under the thumb of that… abomination.”

  Korman was still, “And how do you suppose we’ll manage that? That… abomination as you call it, has much more powerful ships than we do, and a hell of a lot more of them. Look, the idea of being protected by a malfunctioning A.I. scares me as much as anyone, but the fact is the original intent of its programming was honored. The Sthellan were removed as a threat, and we’ve been at peace for a thousand years.

  “What have our scientists been doing for the last thousand years? Surely we could have come up with a wormhole drive, or black hole shielding, in that long of a time?”

  Kiala held back a hiss of frustration, “We’ll manage it because of the danger. We should simply demand the data and technology in an effort to help fight off this new enemy. Surely after a thousand years of peace, we actually meet our own uplift protocols. Once we find a common footing we can take back our destiny.”

  Korman raised an eyebrow, “Do you think that can actually work? And what of the new threat, you said yourself Aide’s ships were just as helpless against this new enemy.”

  She shrugged, “Who’s to say what actually happened at that outpost. We have no proof of anything. I believe it will work, especially if we stir up the populace and popular opinion.”

  Korman didn’t look convinced, “Take back our destiny? Will the military start to use A.I.s again? Because we could never have enough manpower to match the rogue’s numbers.”

  She held back a shiver of disgust, “No A.I.s, but we can make computers smart enough to mostly automate ships. We’d only need a command crew instead of a full crew. Besides, it may not come to that, if we push back, and the humans push back, what would Aide do? Would the rogue continue to force protection on those who don’t want it?”

  Korman snorted, “If she simply backs off then what is the difference? Because like the two races she isn’t protecting now, if they ever started conquering anyone she would take them out and restrict them to planets. All things being equal, I’d rather her completely gone, but if we’re to face the same consequences and rules with her presence or not, I’d rather have her added protection.”

  She opened her mouth but he held up a hand and stopped her.

  “Try to get her to release the tech, that’s a good idea, and then get our scientists working on improvements. Until we exceed her abilities we must put up with her presence, that’s all I have time for. Oh… and even if she doesn’t give up the tech, light a fire under our research scientists will you? We’ve been static for far too long.”

  She watched sourly as he got up and left the room. With approval, or partial approval for her plans anyway, she had a meeting with some news folks. She needed to build up some outrage in the Alion people if this was to have any chance of working. The High Minister was right though, they’d lost the drive to invent new and improved technologies. She made a note to take care of that too and got up to leave the room and get started.

  Chapter 9

  Aide studied the reports in disbelief. She’d cried when she couldn’t save that outpost, it had affected her deeply, and they were trying to improve the technology as quickly as they could so it wouldn’t happen again. Their new testing sight was over a three hundred thousand light years away, out in the void between galaxies, so it wouldn’t gather the attention of that scout craft again.

  But the vitriolic reports coming in from both some Human and Alion reporters was unbelievable. They were angry she didn’t protect that outpost, that she couldn’t, and were demanding technology upgrades. She shook her head, that wasn’t going to happen. So far, despite the horrible news commentary, most people of both races weren’t buying it. A few had even pointed out, they’d still be helpless against whatever happened in that system with the black hole tech, and that to rock the boat at this time would just make it harder for Aide to adapt to a new enemy.

  She shook her head and stopped reading the news feeds altogether. She knew her oversight to ensure peace was a hot button issue, there was nothing she could really do about it. The Dreniel were still apparently all behind her and her policies, so there was some good news at least.

  Her daughter’s processor was completed, and the A.I. core downloaded. Now it was just going through an initial full diagnostic cycle before fully powering on. She’d felt a little guilty leaving the room while that wa
s going on, but she had her own life to take care of, not to mention she didn’t want to be away from Tim for quite so long either. She was in the dining room thinking of tracking down Tim as soon as she was done eating, when Ari and Kate walked in.

  “Aide, may I speak to you for a moment?”

  She nodded, “Of course, is there something you need?”

  Ari smiled lightly, “Need, no. But I wanted to inquire into your relationship with Tim. Has he spoken to you about the Dreniel society… that we are polyamorous, not monogamous? I… find him exotic, and can’t help but be curious. Would you mind sharing?”

  She almost laughed as she heard Kate choke in the background. She did love Tim, perhaps one day she’d even be in love with him. But… she didn’t suppose she would mind sharing. She didn’t think she had it in her to be jealous, and while she was monogamous with Olivia, that had mostly been because of Olivia’s outlook on life rather than hers.

  “It’s up to him really, I don’t mind if you can convince him to hop into bed with you.”

  Ari smiled and said, “Thank you,” and went over to where the food was made.

  She couldn’t help but look at Kate and wink, the woman still looked a little poleaxed at the idea. She wasn’t sure why she was so determined to get Kate past her hang up, except perhaps life was too short, and the young woman was stunningly sexy and exotically beautiful, it seemed like a waste for her to ignore that part of life, or rather, resent it. Huh, maybe she just wanted to get her into bed herself… she’d have to talk with Tim later, define their relationship, because she’d never hurt him if she could help it.

  “That goes for you too, if you’re interested?”

  She was so evil sometimes. Kate didn’t even reply to that but Ari was holding back laughter. She gave Kate an apologetic look, she didn’t want to push her too hard, and finished her meal. She’d go find Tim and rock his world with a fast and furious quickie before she went back to the lab, apparently the idea of him being with Ari, and perhaps Kate, turned her on.

  Kate was… distracted. At first she’d been shocked Aide was so relaxed about the idea of sharing Tim, and that Ari was so nonchalant about asking, as if she was asking for someone to pass the salt, there’d been no awkwardness to it at all, except maybe in her own mind. Now though, she was distracted more by the idea of it, Tim was cute, and although he’d rubbed her wrong when they’d first met, she could admit to herself that had been her fault. Tim had been nothing but respectful of her so far, but she’d figured out fast he was in love with Aide and dismissed him from her mind.

  But now… he was kind of cute. Okay, she admitted hot was a better description for him.

  She looked down, she had loose jeans and a blouse over her suit. Was she really that afraid of her body? She was up here alone in space with three other people, who all wore skin tight suits without a thought. Maybe Aide was right, she shook her head. She wasn’t ready to make a pass at Tim, or even really comfortable with the idea of sleeping with the boss. But perhaps a small step?

  She removed her shirt and pants, and looked at one of the mirrored surfaces. She felt exposed, uncomfortable. But she didn’t want to be so closed off anymore, maybe Aide was right. Perhaps those professors had hit on her because she was hot and smart. Her bosses too. Sure, they took credit for her work, but that wasn’t because they didn’t think she was smart, that was just the way the corporate game was played.

  She’d been thinking about the past a lot, trying to see other explanations for the actions of those around her. It wasn’t easy. She shook her head, and put her folded clothes on the chair. She was uncomfortable, but better that than stuck. She just wondered why Aide cared so much, the woman was obviously trying to manipulate her into changing, she just wasn’t sure why, but she was sure the Aide meant well by it.

  She looked at the field data for the shield again, it was pretty simple. The field surrounded the ship, and the dark energy would be routed to the shield through emitters, the field would simply absorb the dark energy and surround the ship…

  She cursed and slapped the table hard, “I am the dumbest smart person ever.”

  Aide asked, “Are you okay?” through the wall speakers.

  She giggled, “Besides being dumb, yes. Check out the shield configuration, what would happen if we reversed it?”

  Aide replied almost instantly, “The inner side of the field is porous one way, to allow the emitters to… oh.”

  She laughed harder, “So if we reverse it?”

  Aide sighed, “Then when we go through the aperture, the field will collect the stray dark energy, and create a shield. A weak shield, but the point is it will protect the ship from the dark energy. Any idea how to collect dark matter, I’ve created a prototype reactor, although right now it’s really just a casing with containment fields to prevent the dark matter from touching the casing or ship.”

  Kate smiled, “Of course, we modify the shield where we take it in, kind of make a pocket. When the dark matter enters that, the shield reverts and the dark matter will be inside the shield, but in a secondary containment field. It should be easy at that point to move it to the reactor. Umm, the math for that is in my latest report.”

  Aide sighed in seeming pleasure.

  Kate frowned, “Aide?”

  Aide coughed, “Sorry, I was… never mind. That’s great, I’ll go collect a piece. Hopefully without blowing anything up.”

  She wondered what that was about and left the lab, there’d be nothing they could do until they collected some of that dark matter. She still had no clue about weapons. If they fired a dark energy beam from a turret on the ship, it would interfere with all the other shielding, and she also wasn’t sure if it would go through their own dark matter shields, or if it would destroy it, or make it stronger. Another issue to be worked out, she’d let it simmer.

  She passed Tim in the hall on the way to her quarters. She felt so exposed she might as well have been naked, and while he didn’t gawk, she did notice his eyes stray for a few moments. She felt the normal habitual anger at that, but that wasn’t all she felt. Wasn’t that the point of wearing just the suit, to get over those feelings. His eyes had also stirred excitement in her, and she felt confused by the conflicting feelings.

  When she got back to her room she made a snack, she wasn’t quite brave enough to eat in the dining hall with just the suit on. She did put her clothes up, but her mind kept returning to the look in Tim’s eyes as he saw her in the skin tight suit. She started to feel a little hot, and couldn’t quite believe she was doing so as she brought up the list of toys Aide had sent her. Maybe she just needed to… relax for a while.

  Arimetria looked at the readings in the reactor. Dark matter was incredibly dense. The small handball sized piece of dark matter weight perhaps ten tons. There were denser materials of course, like collapsed stars, but not naturally so outside of that. It was putting out a very small amount of dark energy, it would take years before the reactor approached overload at the rate it was putting off energy, and billions of years before the dark matter was broken completely down.

  She needed to find a catalyst of some kind, to increase the energy production and how fast the matter broke down into energy. Dark energy seemed to break apart normal matter, she wondered what normal energy would do to dark matter, she was just glad the test ship was three hundred light years away from the lab she was standing in. She opened a microscopic quantum connection, and injected just a few particles of plasma into the reactor. The results were greater than expected.

  She reacted quickly to reinforce the containment fields, the dark energy had gone up in the reactor chamber far more than she’d theorized. Next time she’d only insert one particle at a time. She bled off some energy through a conduit that led to the shield emitters, and it worked. Dark energy shields came online and surrounded the ship. She watched as the reactor’s energy slowly drained and started writing protocols and equations that defined the reaction.

  Just to maintai
n the shields, and the reactor at full, they’d have to inject one particle of plasma every five minutes, that would maintain the energy between eighty and one hundred percent. Unless they found a reactant that made smaller changes, they would have to deal with that great of a fluctuation. She also ran some more calculations, and discovered that keeping the reactor at a hundred percent, and the shields on, the dark matter would last them for close to ten thousand years.

  The energy involved was incredibly, but dark energy could only be used in shields and weapons, they would have to continue using plasma to power the other ships systems. She had no better idea how to make the weapons viable than Kate did however. They’d destabilize their own shields and systems if the fired from the hull. There had to be a way, she just wasn’t seeing it. Maybe she needed to take a break, time to think about it and a new perspective.

  Right now they had power, shields, the ability to move between dimensions, they just had no way to fire back. Also, moving the ship in the dark dimension was an exercise in patience. It wasn’t so much that it was hard to steer clear of dark matter, it was simply because of the intense gravity fluctuations. Gravity was stronger in the dark dimension, their systems could handle it, but they couldn’t go as fast, or as smoothly, as they could in normal space.

  Ironically, the dark energy shield isolated the ship from speed factor limitations in this universe, the ship went much faster in normal space, about ten times faster. Instead of being limited to about point zero four percent light speed, they could now go point four. She bet they could improve on that, but the priority wasn’t the drives right now, it was the weapons. They could look for improvements once they had a viable way to fight back.

  She definitely needed a break though. She finalized her thoughts and updated the research files with what she’d discovered, and the math behind it, and left the lab.

  Her thoughts moved to Tim. He was squat, and his head was too fat, but despite that he was a handsome in his alien way. He was also a good man who was willing to fight for others, and not for his own gain, and he seemed open minded. She also couldn’t help but wonder if his cock would be fatter than a Dreniel male’s, just like his other appendages. Maybe she’d find out.