“Listen up, you arrogant bitc . . . um, Bitcoin. That PhoG thingy followed you. It’s on your ship and it’s going to be knocking on this door in about a minute.”
“And you volunteered to stand there and let it get you first. Princess, you are just the best.”
“Open . . .” but she didn’t finish.
“Egg, look.”
The girl turned around and came face to face with a faceless PhoG . . .
“XARA” screamed Egg. The door slid opened and a hand pulled the girl through.
Then it slid shut . . . with Sylvia on the wrong side.
Egg had not expected to be pulled in - and she stumbled. It took her a moment to regain her feet and another few seconds to realize Sylvia – her best friend in the entire universe – wasn’t with her. “Where is she?”
Xara pointed at a video feed of the corridor outside the control room. To Egg’s relief, there was Syl – smiling like she always did. Egg pressed a button and asked “You okay? Where did it go?”
Sylvia didn’t respond – she just kept smiling.
Then Egg took notice of her eyes . . . and gasped.
“Now that’s a bit freaky,” observed Xara with way too much self-satisfaction.
Without thinking, Egg hauled back and punched the smirk right off of the girl’s face. It’s called a sucker punch when you hit someone who is not expecting it. Xara wasn’t – and she collapsed and hit the deck unconscious. Egg had to fight the urge not to kick the snot out of her nemesis.
*****
“EGG” came a cry over the comm link. “EGG – Syl’s heartbeat, she’s been infected.”
Almost inaudibly came the response, “I know.”
“Egg, there’s something else. What happened to Xara?”
“I knocked her out.”
There were a few moments of silence before Serenity continued. “Egg, she’s rigged a self-destruct mechanism. Not sure how it works but I’d guess that if she’s hurt, killed or forcibly removed from the ship, it will detonate unless she stops it. It’s been activated.”
“What?” The girl couldn’t concentrate – she was staring at the image of her friend and trying to force herself to breathe.
“I’m going to beam you out of there. We can’t do anything about Xara. If that ship blows, we and that Klat habitat might not survive.”
“I can’t leave Syl.”
“We don’t have to. K’ssss figured out what the Tree meant.”
“What?” She still couldn’t focus on anything but her friend.
“I’ll explain when you get here. Energizing,” and Flying Girl twinkled out of existence.
A moment later, Sylvia with her PhoG overlord did the same.
*****
Egg materialized in the control room of the Gracie. “Where is she? Where’s Syl?”
“She’s nowhere. K’ssss . . .”
The girl was in no mood for word games. “Sparky, where is she?”
“I’m trying to tell you. What the Tree said – if you’re nowhere you can’t be somewhere – K’ssss figured it out. Syl’s in the transporter beam. I have it on an infinite loop. That means every time she begins to materialize, the system re-energizes her and she dematerializes. Um, basically she’s nowhere – I’m keeping her in a state of disembodied energy.”
Egg almost understood. “But what good does that do her? She’s still infected.”
“The PhoG has no control of her while she’s in this state,” explained I’za. “If we can turn off the Klat computer that controls these demons, then your sister can be restored to her physical self.”
Egg gave that some thought. Her goosebumps told her that there was more to the story. “Is she safe inside the transporter beam?”
“For now.” Before Egg could interrupt, Serenity held up her hand. “Over time, the beam will begin to lose cohesion. Whoever is trapped in it will eventually be unable to rematerialize as a complete person.”
“She’s dying?”
“Egg, if we can unplug that computer in the next two or three days, she’ll be fine. If we had I’za’s containment field, this wouldn’t be an issue.”
“Then beam it off Xara’s ship.”
“I tried. She has it protected by some kind of force field. Besides, right after we transported Syl off, her ship powered up and took off. Xara is gone.”
“Then follow her.”
“Egg, the more time we spend chasing her, the less time Syl has. Her best chance is for us to find the Klat computer and kill it.”
“I’m ready, Egg,” declared Tee’ka. Losing Syl, one of her first friends, was too much for her to contemplate. “Please don’t try to stop me. Sylvia is my friend.” The girl was being more clever than the others would have given her credit for. By the way she phrased it, she was relieving Egg of the responsibility for sending her on this mission.
Jax’x, possessing great empathy for others, did understand. She walked up to Tee and gave her hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Well done, Sister.”
*****
Serenity brought the ship to within a few thousand miles of the Klat habitat and matched speeds. She handed flight responsibility to the A.I. and then joined the others in the lounge. They were all silent watching Egg pace back and forth – obviously in a state of agitation. No one had ever seen their leader display so much confused emotion.
“Egg, you’ve got to sit down,” begged Bl’azzz.
“If anything happens to Syl . . .”
Sparky interrupted her friend. As we all know, the girl was much more into logic than emotions. “Something already happened to her. Now we need to find a way to make it un-happen. That means you have to stop thinking about the past and start planning for the future.”
Egg’s nostrils flared in anger – but just for a nanosecond. “Thanks. I needed to hear that.” She went over to the couch closest to Serenity and sat down. “Okay, first things first. I’za, tell us as much about the Klat and their habitat that’s relevant to this discussion.”
The alien girl was terribly impressed for a number of reasons. First, even though Egg was the leader of this group, the others seemed to be very comfortable in giving her feedback even if it verged on insubordination. She noticed how Egg was about to object to Serenity’s comments but quickly realized the merit in what the girl had said. It was certainly the mark of a good leader to be able to compartmentalize her emotions in order to pursue a solution to a vexing problem. Lastly, the others were genuinely concerned for their leader. She had their unconditional love and loyalty.
Before she could begin, Sparky had a question. “I’za, how come these habitats have engines and can fly off on their own?” The others hadn’t even noticed that this was an anomaly.
“The habitats were built to collect the population by landing on the home worlds of those condemned to spend eternity on the Ark. Navigation was controlled by the ship’s computers. These soon to be exiles were allowed the time to design the habitat so that it resembled their planet . . . a way to increase the probability of survival for these prisoners. Once the habitat docked with the Ark, the temporary power units were disabled and the habitat was connected to the ship for its source of energy.”
“So the Klat found a way to produce power, release their habitat and control navigation. Pretty impressive.”
“Again, the computer system they were given must have played an integral part in all of that. The Klat are brutes not scientists.”
Egg was trying hard not to get impatient. “That’s all well and good but how does that help us formulate a plan?”
Jax’x beat Sparky to one obvious conclusion. “It was more than a computer system that they received. It was an A.I. Over time, it continued to develop – probably in ways the designers never imagined.”
“Meaning?”
Now it was Serenity’s turn. “Wouldn’t surprise me that the A.I. is no longer servant to the Klat. Given how I’za described them – brutes with limited intelligence – they probably serve the A.I.”
“We have never encountered such a scenario,” explained Serenity. “But, given the right situation, it’s more than possible – it’s highly probable.”
“What situation?” asked Bree.
“The A.I. was programmed to help the Klat. Given the long period of time involved with this Ark voyage, the computer came to realize that the only way to help them was to take complete charge since these people had a hard time walking and chewing gum at the same time.”
I’za continued with this line of reasoning (though she had no idea what gum was, she understood the gist of the argument). “So the computer created the PhoG to protect the Klat. It must have decided that the best course of action for its people was to free them from the endless voyage and find a permanent home. Not knowing what to expect in the way of danger, the PhoG would serve as guardians since the A.I. couldn’t physically be present . . . constrained to the hardware as it were.”
“So I’m guessing it was this A.I. that blew up the Ark?” asked Egg.
“Absolutely,” replied Serenity.
“Not so fast,” countered Jax’x. “I think an equally likely alternative was that the Ark was destroyed either by some accident or by the occupants of another habitat.”
The girl in the chair shook her head – not from disagreement but to acknowledge the fact that she had been out-logiced by the Librarian. “I can’t tell you how much you irritate me.”
“What’s the matter, Sparky – is the air getting a little thin high up there on your intellectual pedestal?”
“Egg, make them stop,” begged Bl’azzz.
“Come on you two; dumb it down for the rest of us mere mortals.”
“Assuming she can un-bunch her panties, I’ll let Sparky Spark-less explain.”
“That’s it. From this point forward, I’m keeping score.”
“Good. So far it’s one for me, a big fat nothing for you.”
“Please,” begged Egg.
“Sorry. What catnip is suggesting is that the reason the PhoG are being aggressive and are attacking indiscriminately is that the Klat’s AI didn’t blow up the ship. It either thinks someone else did or knows someone else did. It’s gone into full defensive mode to insure its people are safe from this threat.”
“I’za, what’s your opinion? Is there someone else on the Ark that’s a bigger threat than the Klat?”
The alien didn’t hesitate. “The Prime Hegemon Gan’gli of the Ephemeral”. Well, that certainly sounded weird and a bit intimidating.
“Geez. This Ark is worse than Pandora’s box,” moaned Egg.
The other girls looked from one to another in confusion. “Hang on,” said Bree and she went to a computer station and typed in the expression. “Here it is. Pandora's box is an artifact in earth mythology which contained all the evils of the world.”
“Good one,” complimented the dragon.
“Indeed. Very appropriate,” added I’za.
Chapter 9 – The Klat
“Egg, I know you want to formulate a plan and implement it as soon as possible, but this whole thing has gotten a lot more complicated.”
“How so, Bree?”
“If we kill the Klat computer, we may very well be killing the Klat. After so many years depending on – or taking orders from – the A.I., they may be unable to survive on their own.”
“I’za, what do you think?”
“BreeZee may very well be correct, Egg. It is a logical argument but I have no way to confirm or repudiate her hypothesis.” And again, I’za was so terribly impressed with these women. Their sister was in mortal danger, yet they stopped to consider the implications of their actions and to worry about the effect it may have on others.
If anyone thought Egg would put Sylvia’s well-being above that of the Klat – a people she had never met – they would be wrong. “Tee, what do you think about all this?”
It was rare that anyone ever asked the sweet, simple girl for her thoughts on any subject. After all, she was originally created to be hostess – a holographic escort and concierge to guests on Laff’Alott. When Serenity transferred her into the avatar, she did little to alter Tee’ka’s personality and intelligence.
“About what, Egg?”
“The Klat’s A.I.”
“What about it?”
Egg smiled reassuringly. “If the AI has taken over the Klat – for their benefit – we won’t be able to turn the computer off without hurting them.”
“That wouldn’t be good, would it?”
“No, it wouldn’t. Can you think of another way of destroying the PhoG without hurting the AI?” Serenity was about to answer but one look from Egg cut her off. I’za was following all of this with interest. Obviously their sister Tee’ka was not as intelligent as the rest. Yet, Egg was helping the girl contribute. Or, was it something else?
“The PhoG are bad, right? It’s hurting Sylvia.”
“Yes. Unless the PhoG are destroyed, Syl will die.”
“Hmmm,” and Tee’s eyes glazed over as she became lost in thought.
This time Jax’x tried to say something, but she received the same glare from Egg as Sparky had. She mouthed the word ‘sorry’ then broke eye contact.
“So, Tee, if you were on Laff’Alott and the central computer was doing something you didn’t agree with, what would you do?”
“That never happened.”
“Okay, that’s alright. But, what if it did? What could you do?”
“Well, I could ask him to stop.”
“Would he listen to you?”
“Yes. But unless I had a really good reason – one that he hadn’t thought of – he would just keep doing what he was doing.”
“But if you had information that proved what he was doing was wrong, he would listen? More importantly, he might very well stop what he was doing?”
“Sure.”
“Thanks Tee. That was very, very helpful.”
The other girls looked at one another and nodded – both from agreement with Tee’s assessment and with the fact that Egg had been able to get the girl to give them the perfect solution to an infinitely difficult problem.
As for I’za, she was now absolutely certain. She would ask to become a Sister . . . to become a part of this extraordinary group of diverse individuals. And that thought caused her pause. The strength of the Hameggattic Sisterhood did come from its diversity – young women of every shape, color and intellectual capacity. The only thing in common was their moral compass – the desire to help others regardless of the consequences to themselves. Then another shocking thought struck her. ‘What would the Ark have been like if all hundred habitats, beings as diverse as one could conceive, had joined forces and become one?’
*****
“I’za, who is in charge of the Klat – besides the AI, that is?”
“First Citizen Aurora of the Klat High Council.”
“Does he know who you are?”
The alien smiled. “We’ve met but he doesn’t know it. I’ve sat in on a number of his meetings – but I was invisible, of course.”
“I doubt that,” said Serenity. “My guess is that the AI knew you were there the whole time, every time.”
“That’s why you never knew about the PhoG,” suggested Jax’x. “Whenever you, or your kind, came a-spying, the AI would hide all evidence of its handiwork.”
“In retrospect, than makes perfect sense. Do you think the AI shared that information with the First Citizen?”
“I doubt it,” responded Egg. “This doesn’t sound like collaboration between man and machine. It sounds like Big Brother manipulating the people of Oceania.”
“On it,” called Bree. A moment later she said, “She’s referring to a story titled 1984 where the population of a country called Oceania is ruled by someone called Big Brother.”
“Egg-o, if you don’t get me one of those crystals, I’m going to go insane.”
“How would we kno
w?” came Sparky’s sarcastic reply.
“Be nice or I’m going to turn you into a Bitter Crispy Critter.”
“Shut up, you two. I’za, I was hoping to talk to this First Citizen just to get a feel for their mindset. ‘Know thy enemy’ and all that. But, that may not be useful, all things considered. Serenity, how do you get Tee’ka inside their habitat? For that matter, how do you get her inside the computer system?”
The other girl didn’t answer. She sat in her chair with a hand to her mouth – obviously lost in thought. No one chose to disturb her while that magnificent brain churned through a countless number of scenarios.
“Got it,” she finally announced.
“Virus,” called Jax’x. “Implanted on I’za. Now it’s two for me and still a big nothing for you.” She smiled like the Cheshire cat.
Sparky’s mouth dropped open – horrified that the Librarian had done it again. ”There is only one explanation – you can read minds, can’t you?”
“I started to read yours but half way through I fell asleep from boredom.”
“ARGGGGGGG”.
Despite the situation, Egg had to laugh. “I vote we change her nickname from Sparky to Clueless.”
“How about assistant Librarian,” offered Bl’azzz.
“May I suggest Jax’x Junior?” The girls turned to I’za who shrugged apologetically.
“I love it,” declared Bree. “But we can shorten it to just JJ” . . . and they all giggled.
“Enough. I need either J or JJ to tell me what you’re planning.”
“I never thought I say this . . . but please, please call me Sparky.”
“Our sister is calling for a vote. All in favor? It’s a tie – three for, three against. I suggest we have our honorary sister I’za cast the deciding vote.”
“Depends on how she’s going to vote,” mumbled Serenity.
“I thank you for the honor. If I were a wise woman, I would still abstain. However, I can assure myself of at least one friend by voting in favor of Sparky.”
That was greeted by three boo’s and one thank you.
“Alright, enough. Explain about the virus thing please.”
Graciously, Jax’x deferred to her sister. “Go head mini-me.”
Ark - Box Set #6, Part 1 of Ever After [an Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood novel] Page 17
