by Ben Winston
"Not to be a smart ass about it, but what have they done at places like the Galtar shipyard, or in the core systems?" I asked.
Master Halflan, Shariline's father, was sitting across from me. "What is used at the Galtar system is a monstrous, conglomeration of cobbled together sensors and weapons systems that is very easy to defeat if an enemy is cautious. Many years ago, one of our apprentices designed a system that we might wish to consider here. It would, of course, need a master to set up the data-sifting program, but the network should not be difficult to build. It also has the advantage of being undetectable." He looked a little abashed. "Until the events at the fighter assembly work site, I had forgotten about this system. Since our rescue, I have reminded myself about it."
"If it is such a good system, why is not being used at Galtar?" Vance asked.
Halflan Therinate grinned. "Would you give your enemy the design for a sensor system that you, yourself could not defeat? Besides, at the time we did not have a computer specialist of sufficient skill to undertake the programming task." He looked at me and Cohren Nori, and grinned. "I believe we do not have that issue here."
Vance chuckled. "I would have to agree with you there, Master Halflan." He turned to Corhen and me. "Can you handle this on top of the other projects you are undertaking?"
Corhen spoke first. "An interface unit can be designed once the details of this system are made available, Commodore. As for the programming, I will have to leave that to Doctor Cowan to address," she said and turned to me.
I shrugged. "It's a priority and a dire need we have it. Whether we can do it or not is irrelevant, Sir. Simply put, we'll have to find the time do this. It would help greatly if I could request the recruitment of certain individuals to assist us with the computer security issue."
"I don't see the problem with that, just give me their names, and I'll have the Earth teams get on it," Vance replied.
"It's not quite that simple, Sir," I said. "On Earth, computer hacking is considered a crime. So, by that definition, the people I will be asking you to join us are criminals. However, to the best of my knowledge, none of them have ever actually committed a crime other than illegally accessing a computer system. They accessed these systems just to prove that it could be done. They did not alter any of the information found there, and in most cases didn't even access it."
"I do not understand, if that was the case, why is it illegal? It seems to me that the practice should be rewarded, not punished." Vance replied.
"Not all those that do this are as... considerate, as the people I know. In most cases, data is stolen or altered in order to provide personal gain for the hacker or someone they know. This is the truly illegal part of hacking. Obviously, there is a lot more to this story, but I don't think you really want to know all of it," I answered.
"So you want me to order these criminal friends of yours recruited so they can teach the rest of your programmers how to be criminals themselves?"
I chuckled. "That's basically the idea, Sir."
Vance nodded. "Okay, give me a list, and I'll get the teams on it." He turned back to the diminutive Shallan. "Master Halflan, have you had a chance to review the improvements to the fighter and ship designs created by Doctor Cowan and Doctor Sparks?"
"I have. I must say that such improvements are much better than the originals designed by my people. Both gentleman must be part Shallan in order to accomplish such a feat of engineering!" He said grinning.
"Well, I have been called short for my age..." I replied quickly. Master Halflan burst out laughing.
I looked at Corhen to see what effect this breach of protocol was having and actually caught her smiling!
When Vance stopped chuckling, he continued the meeting. "The rest of Clan Therinate will be arriving here later this evening or early tomorrow morning. I hate to ask them to get to work so quickly, but I fear we will need their skills as soon as possible in order to counter the threat we are now facing."
"Commodore, my people understand very well what our situation is and the strain they have placed on this facility by forcing you to accept them. They will be ready for anything we may ask of them. In fact, I have been told that all of the Clan domestic builders have their equipment and tools at the ready and will report to the Master builder as soon as they arrive. Matriarch Therinate, Alyessa, has structured our people in such a way that they will be able to assume duties as soon as they get off the ships. They will also be able to unload the Clan's personal and professional effects and get them to their appropriate places. She has tried to set it up so their arrival will disrupt Base operations as little as possible, while at the same time increasing its productivity."
Vance looked surprised. He hadn't known that the Clan had planned out their arrival. "That will be extremely efficient, Master Halflan. However, if they arrive in the middle of the rest cycle, some of the departments won't be in operation at that time. I believe only the Master Builder has gone to a shift schedule, and of course those singular projects that require full time supervision."
"It will not matter, Commodore. If that is the case, then the ships will get unloaded much faster than planned. They will be cleaned and ready for an Alliance crew one day after their arrival."
Vance snorted. "That's another issue we need to address; crews for the ships we are building! But, that's for another meeting."
"We don't have crews for the ships the Clan brought from Galtar?" Ced asked.
Vance shook his head. "No, in fact crewing them would almost clean out this base. The arriving ships are capitol class, which means they are very large. Consider how many Shallans are arriving here, and then consider they are doing it only three ships."
"But I thought we've been getting more people from Earth?" Ced asked.
"We have. But those people are mostly builders and laborers. It takes a lot of training to become a member of a ship’s crew, training we are not even set up for," Vance replied.
"I think perhaps we should think about getting set up for it. We're going to need crews from someplace, and that's the only inhabited planet we have at the moment," I replied.
Vance sighed and nodded his agreement. "We are also growing rather large. We are going to need a civilian government soon.
Dr. Cowan’s Laboratory
Alliance Apollo Base
Selene, Earth’s moon
Sol System
I looked around at my assembled research assistant, and programmers. "Folks, we have a lot to do, and very little time to get it done. You are all familiar with the list of projects I keep, and at this point in time, they all have top priority and need to get finished as quickly as we can get them going. Now, since I am the most familiar with AI code, I will be working on Athena along with two other programmers. Master Kree will be sending over a crew to install two more programming suites for us, which will make things a lot faster once they're completed.
"However, for the time being, we will have to make do with the three we currently have. I will use my original suite since it is set up specifically for me and programming for AI. Ht'enric and Hulnse, you will be my co-programmers on the AI. When we're finished here, I want both of you and your assistants to go home and get some rest. Hulnse, you and Pe'drak, please report back here at twenty hundred and take over from me. Ht’enric, you and Sh'lese, please be here at zero hundred to relieve Hulnse and Pe'drak, I'll relieve you at ten hundred. In this way we will be able to get more accomplished, at a faster pace. Sarah will be available to assist the both of you, but if you run into a problem, make a note of it, and move on to something else. I'll look it over when I get in. Is that acceptable to you?"
The Veranorian and Simonian programmers both nodded their heads in agreement. Both had become very adept at AI coding, so I knew, between the three of us, we should be able to get this project accomplished quickly without making any mistakes.
"Will you be replacing your own assistant, Sir?" a young research assistant named Carla Hoyt asked. She was a human fr
om Earth that had been working hard to learn AI code, but hadn't gotten the hang of it yet.
I grinned at her, because I knew she wanted the job. "Not yet, Carla, but keep studying and you'll make it!"
She looked frustrated. "I understand that, Sir, and I appreciate the faith, but you will still need someone here outside of the dark room."
She was referring to the one side effect these studios had. If you had been in them for an extended period, it was hard to go from almost total darkness to daylight bright, and then back to darkness without letting your eyes adjust. It was simpler and faster to have an assistant outside the room to handle things for you.
"There will be plenty of people here, Carla, including you. I'll tell you what - in addition to your other duties, if I need anything, I'll call for you, okay?" I replied.
She seemed to be happy with that, so I finished handing out work assignments, and two thirds of my people left to get some rest. We were switching over to a thirty hour, around the clock work schedule.
After answering a few more questions, I climbed into my programming suite with a large cappuccino, and got to work building the outline for a new, more powerful AI.
Office of the Fleet Commandant
Alliance Fleet Command Complex
High Orbit, planet Terra Novalis
Alphecca Majoris Sector, Novalis System
Hearlis sealed his office, and called for the AI. "Susan?"
The AI avatar took form in front of his desk. "You called for me, Sir?"
"Yes I did. Being afraid to talk to my own people is getting old. I was wondering if you could tell me how many more of the command staff have shaken off the Veranorian conditioning?" Hearlis asked.
"Ironically enough, a good portion of them have been awakened, but since they are unsure of their peers, they are keeping their mouths shut. I was going to request to speak to you on this matter later today. I think it's safe for you to call your staff together and explain to them what's going on."
"Can you tell who hasn't... uh, been awakened?"
"Usually, however, since I still have to play the part of the Veranorian AI, they are afraid to speak freely 'in front' of me. Most of them do not realize I am monitoring every part of this station," Susan replied. "There are still some that have not yet come out of it, but they are far enough along to begin questioning. If you do not address them soon, there may very well be a rebellion soon."
"We can't have that. What about the Veranorian officers? Have you been able to isolate the ones that are of the Synod, from the ones that have been mind washed?" Hearlis asked.
"The term is 'brainwashed', Sir. It is the most difficult with them because of the reticent nature of the race. However, I do know that three junior officers are awaiting transport back to Veranor after being relieved of duty by one of the senior officers. They have shaken off their programming, and spoke to their superior about it. He relieved them, and placed them under guard, to be sent back to the home world. Immediately after that incident, he composed a message to the Synod outlining the issue and questioning the viability of the 'New AI'." Susan smiled sweetly. "Unfortunately, the send function of his messaging system seems to have developed an error and the message is being held in the draft queue."
Hearlis nodded. "What about our Marines on the station? From the attitude most of them have had lately I'd say they are waking up."
"You are correct, Sir. Unfortunately, the Alliance Councilors do not appear to be coming out of it. In a search for an explanation as to why this might be the case; I discovered that each and every member of the Alliance Council has been to Veranor since taking his or her seat on the council. In the case of the last two, they had to be 'approved by' the Synod, in person, before being allowed to take their seats on the Council," Susan explained.
"Fracken! So there is a high probability they've been manipulated in a different way," Hearlis replied. "Is there a way you can find out if any of our ships are coming out of it?"
"That has been far more difficult, Sir. As you know, I can't move into those systems in their present configurations. However, what I have done is send software 'updates' to them that should have replaced the brainwashing software. I have no way to tell if that has been working or not. I'm afraid you'll have to do that the hard way," Susan replied. "When contact with them is being made, our people here will have to talk to them and see how they react."
Hearlis nodded. "We're going to have to assume, unless we can find a way to prove otherwise that all the high ranking Veranorian officers and personnel on the station are part of this. We're going to have to detain them, even if the Council orders them to be released. At that point, I could be relieved of command for disobeying a direct order from the Council."
"Sir, if the Council has been co-opted, we will have to rebel against them at some point, so they can be replaced with unaltered Councilors. However we go about it, it will have to be done quickly so the general population will not think we are overthrowing their government," Susan said.
Hearlis snorted. "That's exactly what we're talking about doing, Susan, regardless of the fact that their election is questionable, they are still the seated civilian authority, and our leaders." He paused. "Could you call Admirals Ornlea and Saarmia as well as General Horntan and Commander Jorla to my office? We need to get this out in the open so we can deal with it."
Susan bowed to him. "At once Sir. While you are waiting, I have received a status message from Alliance Apollo in Sol System. Commodore Vance is keeping you apprised of what he's doing."
"Outstanding! Please bring it up for me, here on my monitor," he asked. "Maybe I'll have some good news for them when they arrive."
Shortly after he began reading, he got a confused look on his face, and stopped to address Susan again. "It says here that they have begun work on the new AI for this station. I can understand upgrading the hardware, but what's wrong with your stewardship?"
"I appreciate your vote of confidence, Sir, however, I was not designed for this station or for these duties. For the most part, I could best be described as a spy. Any AI could do almost any job; however, the AI they are building for you will be purpose built for this station and the duties of assisting in the coordination of the Alliance military. They will also be building new computer cores and creating new AI for each ship, station, and base," Susan explained.
"I'm not sure I'm in favor of that. I think you are doing a remarkable job as you are," Hearlis said.
"Again, I appreciate that Sir, but I believe you will see what I am talking about after Athena is installed," Susan replied, smiling.
"We'll see," Hearlis said. "But if you are not to remain here, where are you to be assigned?"
"It is my hope that I can be re-purposed for use in Intelligence. I have found a great deal of satisfaction in this role," Susan admitted.
Hearlis nodded. "I'll make sure Vance knows that, so he can make it happen. For what you've done so far, you should at least get to pick your next duty assignment."
"I appreciate it, Sir," Susan replied, grinning.
"So it appears that the Shallans are getting out from under Veranorian control, it took some real gronos to steal three capitol class ships from Galtar!" Hearlis replied. "Having the ships as powerful as those three are, and neither the Aracs nor the Veranorians knowing their weaknesses, will be a great help. But Vance says he's having a hard time putting crews in them. I think we can do something about that!"
Office of the Fleet Commandant
Alliance Fleet Command Complex
High Orbit, planet Terra Novalis
Alphecca Majoris Sector, Novalis System
"Sir, the officers you asked for are outside your office," Susan said. "Do you wish for me to assume my old form, remain as I am, or depart?"
"No, I want you here, but perhaps you should just hide for now. I'll bring you back once they all sit down, and I get the door locked again," he grinned.
Susan smiled brightly as she faded out, the door unseale
d, and opened for the requested officers to enter. Admiral Ornlea was his Chief of Staff, and Admiral Saarmia was a Simonian Chief of Operations. General Horntan was the Commander of the Alliance Marines, and finally, Commander Jorla was the Station's Marine detachment commander.
"Altuis Denay, please come in and have a seat. We have a lot to discuss," Hearlis said. The people that had entered looked guarded, but no one said anything.
Once they had taken their seats, they all looked at their commander strangely when they heard the door lock and seal.
"Relax nothing is going to happen to anyone. But, before we begin, I would like to introduce all of you to the real station AI. A human named Doctor Eric Cowan programmed her on Earth. Susan, please come back out," Hearlis said.
When the human avatar rematerialized, the assembled officers looks of suspicion changed to confusion.
Admiral Saarmia was the first to speak. "Admiral Hearlis, this is not the AI that the Veranorian installed, what has happened?"
Hearlis nodded agreement. "I'll leave that to AI Susan to explain. Afterward, I'll fill you in on everything I've been able to do on my own. Susan, please begin."
Susan bowed her head to him. "At once, Admiral." Then turned to face the assembled officers. She began the tale, just like she had for Admiral Hearlis, with the recruitment of Doctor Eric Cowan of Earth and his new AI Sarah. She spoke for the better part of an hour, and when she was finished, there were four very upset officers sitting in Hearlis' office.
Hearlis held up his hands. "Relax gentlemen, the Veranorian people are not our enemies here, in fact, I would be willing to wager that most of them are as much victims as we are."
"How can you say that Sir, She just said that we have been under the influence of mental programming created by the Veranorians!" Commander Jorla replied pointing at the AI.
