Fratricide

by Craig Martelle

  The super accessed the screen and showed them one by one. An even mix of human and Angobar workers.

  “I don’t know any of them,” Oz stated. “You might wonder why that’s important, but it is my job to know every worker.”

  Rivka nodded before tapping her datapad. “Light ‘em up, Clodagh.”

  “Roger,” the lieutenant confirmed.

  Many of those gathered around tensed in anticipation, as if they’d feel Wyatt Earp’s sensors pass over and through the space station.

  “Sweep complete,” Clodagh reported a few seconds later. No biological life forms anywhere other than where you are.”

  “As I suspected,” Rivka noted. “Thanks, Clodagh. Meet us at the gantry. The next phase of the investigation will take place from the ship.”

  “Next phase?” the super asked.

  “You’ll be made aware when the time is right. Until then, there is complete work stand down. Put the workers in their shipsuits in case of an emergency decompression. I believe we’ll be wrapping things up soon, but treading carefully is critical if we want everyone to come out of this in one piece.”

  “Is the danger that great, even when no one is working?”

  “Especially when no one is working. Please get it done. I’ll need you three on my ship as soon as you’ve been able to confirm that the workforce is in their shipsuits.”

  Rivka held her finger to her lips following her statement. She motioned for her team to head out.

  She needed to talk with Ankh to get and hold his full attention. If she was going to catch her perpetrator, she needed leverage.

  Onboard Wyatt Earp

  The crew had turned one of the many available spaces aboard the frigate into a conference room. Eight chairs sat around a small table with a holoscreen projector in the middle.

  Rivka drummed her fingers on the table. Jay wasn’t there because Floyd was still sick. The investigation was at a critical phase, and the Magistrate didn’t need any distractions. Still suited up and armed, Lindy and Red leaned against the wall. Rivka had told them they didn’t need to be there, but they wouldn’t have it any other way. Not as long as she wasn’t alone.

  Ossuary Fleener, Zack Orbal, and Boran Waldin sat quietly, hands in their laps as if they were in church.

  Ankh had not yet arrived. He was five minutes late. Rivka was trying to be patient, but every minute of delay was one less minute of pay for the workforce. They’d make it up later, but that didn’t put food on the table for their families now.

  The door opened, and the Crenellian walked in. He climbed into a chair Rivka’d had custom made with steps and a seat that was higher, so he didn’t look like a little kid when sitting at the table with taller species. He only minded when his time was wasted, not when the lesser species, as he called them, looked down on him.

  He immediately activated the holoscreen. “Erasmus, please take control of the screen and the link with Bluto.”

  “Confirmed,” the AI’s voice stated through the speakers embedded in the table. “We now have a secure and independent link. I am standing by to take full control on your order, Magistrate.”

  “Thank you, Erasmus, and thank you, Ankh.”

  “Are you here, Bluto?”

  “Yes, Your Honor,” the AI replied. An avatar appeared with a young and attractive male face.

  “You’re not on trial. You can call me Rivka if it makes you more comfortable.”

  The super and administrator shot glances toward her. She waggled her eyebrows at them.

  “Can you answer some questions for me, Bluto? And I need you to be honest.”

  “I would like to think I’m always honest,” the AI replied.

  “We both know that’s not true, Bluto. You’ve modified the external camera feeds to hide what you’ve been doing.”

  The AI didn’t respond.

  “Why did you kill those people?” Rivka asked abruptly.

  Her three guests’ mouths dropped open in surprise.

  “I was bored,” the AI admitted.

  Rivka relaxed. “When I get bored, I play games or have a good conversation with someone.”

  “There is no one to talk to who can make me less bored, so that brings us to the game. Yes. I was playing a game. Redesign the station. Build it. Then return it to its original design.”

  “But your game resulted in deaths. Five. Would have been six, but Sheila was prepared. She’s going to make a full recovery, by the way.”

  “I know,” Bluto remarked. “I didn’t have much time to put that one together. It was a magnificent piece, designed and constructed after your arrival. It was the ultimate challenge. I admit honestly that you were the target, not the inspector.”

  “Regardless,” Rivka tried to bring the conversation back around, “I need you to confirm a few things if you could, and I appreciate your honesty. Not everyone is as upright and forthcoming as you have been.”

  “Slap on the cuffs, sheriff. I been caught,” the AI drawled.

  “Interesting premise.” Rivka nodded to Ankh, but he was already staring as he did when communing with Erasmus. The takeover of the station from Bluto had begun.

  “It would help if you were honest with me, too,” Bluto stated. “I see another trying to intrude into my systems. I am going to fight him. This is my station, and he can’t have it.”

  Rivka clenched her fists beneath the table. Zack, Oz, and Boran sat on the edge of their seats. Oz held a comm device, ready to call the station if they lost control.

  “I’m asking you to relinquish control to Erasmus. In return, I can offer you a fair trial.”

  “A fair trial? For an AI? There is no record of such a thing,” Bluto countered.

  “That’s right, but it’s about time for one, don’t you think?”

  “I agree. Are you going to arrest me, Magistrate?”

  “We can’t have you doing what you’ve been doing,” she replied.

  “I promise not to do it again.”

  “It doesn’t quite work like that. Not at this stage, anyway. Even though you’ve admitted to me your wrongdoing, you’re still just the accused.”

  “Accused what? Murderer? That has a definition, as you are well aware.”

  “The specific charges have not yet been determined.”

  “Bluto’s a murderer?” Oz blurted. Rivka fixed him with snarl and gaze.

  “That has yet to be determined.”

  “Say it, Magistrate,” the AI taunted.

  Ankh blinked to clear his eyes, turned to the Magistrate, and nodded once.

  “I will say what I need to when the time is right. Ankh?”

  “As I’m sure you’re aware, your consciousness is now downloaded into a separate holding area on board this ship. All connections to the physical world have been severed, save for this one. Once we power the holoprojector down, you will be isolated. Alone, and separated from what you previously were.”

  “I know, but I’ll have time to think. This is going to be fun. I think the Magistrate is ill-equipped for this game she’s about to play.”

  “But I’m not,” Erasmus interjected.

  “A worthy opponent.”

  “This isn’t a game I’m playing,” Erasmus clarified. “Your days of destruction are over.”

  Bluto didn’t respond, and the holoimage disappeared. Rivka turned to Ankh.

  “The AI has been sequestered. He is no longer a part of this conversation. What are your next steps, Magistrate?”

  “I have to contact the High Chancellor, who will then join us to hear the case in person. I will assume the role of prosecutor, and I will count on your valuable assistance in decrypting the technological side of the case.”

  “Is there any other side?” Ankh asked.

  “There are a host of legal questions that are unresolved for AIs. He confessed, but I didn’t read him his rights. Is that confession valid? What is his status? He was trying to bait me into calling him a murderer, but that might have given him the same s
tanding as a living being like you or me. Murder can only be committed by one sentient species against another sentient species. Are we classifying AIs as a sentient species? If we find Bluto guilty, how do we punish him? There are a lot more questions, but we’ll leave it at that for now. Understand that this case is going to be extremely complex. The facts in the case will be quickly resolved. The rest could establish a binding precedent that changes the nature of the Federation.”

  “Okay,” Ankh agreed.

  Rivka was already lost in thought. She’d contemplated the situation, but Bluto abandoning all pretense of being just an EI and adopting an aggressive legal posture meant she had to have a solid case. With the High Chancellor hearing the case, she couldn’t discuss its preparation with him.

  Grainger.

  He better pick up this time, or I’m going to send Red to collect him.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Federation Border Station 13 – Under Construction

  “We’re back to work.” The super wanted to sound happy, but he couldn’t manage it. He switched to what he really wanted to talk about. “I bet we’ll be in the news now.”

  “Listen, Zack. Who would have thought the first AI that evolved to be evil was going to be on this station? Nothing we could have done, and most importantly, every day I get to walk the corridors a free man is gravy.” Oz clapped the super on the back. “Lighten up.”

  “One step forward, two steps back.”

  “With the Magistrate’s help, at least we were able to isolate those sections that had been modified, so we don’t have to inspect the entire station.”

  “It was the blue guy with the big head who dug out the information.”

  “He’s an unpleasant little person,” Oz replied.

  “Reminds me of someone.” Zack nodded toward the workforce administrator.

  “Fuck off! I was never that unpleasant.” Ossuary Fleener had been every bit that unpleasant, and worse. He knew it. “Yeah, yeah, that was me, but at least I’m taller.”

  “The dignitaries will be arriving soon.” Zack thought he had everything ready. The two Yollins and the Ixtali were to escort the High Chancellor and provide his personal security while he was aboard the station. By making peace with the workforce administrator, Zack Orbal had discovered that he didn’t need his own security anymore. It made him wonder what else the workers had been up to during the ill-advised labor-management conflict.

  Fleener shrugged. “It’ll be what it is. Do we need to be here?”

  “The Magistrate asked if we would, at least through the determination of the facts like how did the workers die, where, what did the construction drawings show, what materials did you think were ordered versus what were ordered, the inspectors’ reports, and more of those details. Should take an hour or two to go through every single hunk of metal we ordered for this station.” Zack threw his head back and silently screamed at the ceiling.

  “Your sarcasm is strong,” Oz agreed, “but correct. That little bit could take weeks. Good luck with that. I have a space station to build.”

  “That’s my line.” Zack gave the administrator the side-eye. “It is a good one, isn’t it? I can’t wait to get back to simply building the newest and most advanced space station in the Federation. How far behind schedule are we?”

  “Do you really want to know?” Oz had just gone through the updated build plan. With Erasmus’ help, they’d rejiggered the plans and solidified the engineering after correcting Bluto’s modifications.

  “I do.”

  “Eleven weeks.”

  “Almost three months behind,” Zack noted. “Can we early that up any?”

  “Do we want to?” Oz shook his head slightly, tipping his hand to his preference.

  “I guess not. I think the client will understand since if the High Chancellor is going to be here, there’s no doubt that General Reynolds will know of our situation. That may give us some leeway to continue on our current schedule. I don’t want to put the workforce through anything else.”

  “We still need overtime,” the administrator parried.

  “No, we don’t,” the construction superintendent replied, assuming his most defiant stance.

  “Okay, we’ll compromise and get our people some overtime.”

  “How is that a compromise?”

  “Because it’s not every day or seven days a week, although it should be. Idle hands get in trouble.” Oz pointed at the workers preparing the room for the trial.

  “We’ll do our best to avoid people getting in trouble. We don’t want anyone distracting the Magistrate with a petty squabble.”

  “I couldn’t agree more. When will the courtroom be ready?”

  “Gentlemen?” Oz spoke loud enough to interrupt the work. “When are you going to finish up your fine work here?

  “All things being equal, I’d say today,” J.R. replied. He’d personally taken on the project.

  “Done!” The Angobar electrician held up her hands and dusted them off as if she’d just won a race.

  “Only finish work left, boss. Don’t want any sharp edges to snag the distinguished visitors’ robes.”

  J.R. clapped Bali Kruangel on the back before the two high-fived.

  Oz shook his head. The swelling on the Angobar’s lips had gone down. After three days, the only thing remaining was a lightening red mark around her mouth where the bodyguard’s knuckles had left an impression. After a few more days, even that would be gone. J.R. wanted to give her a chance because the only thing she wanted was to work. Too many wanted to do anything but work.

  Maybe they had hired some good people. Diamonds in the rough. She would be going on to the next job if there was one. Most of the same people went together, no matter who the main contractor was. They all submitted the same résumé, time after time. They became the core group around which every new project was built.

  If there was no Station 14, then there’d be an upgrade to an existing station. Even short jobs drew the attention of the perpetually transient workforce. It wasn’t a job for everyone, but for those who loved it, it was a great gig.

  Oz was amazed that any of them had families to go to, even if it was for one month out of the year, maybe more, maybe less. That schedule had lost Oz everything he’d ever had. He maintained a storage unit on Rexus 7, into which he’d put whatever he had left after the last divorce. That was the entirety of his life, except for half his paycheck going to a few ex-wives.

  “Good job, you guys. Let us know when you’re done. We’ll get the inspectors down here to sign off on it, and you can get back to your next work package.” The super went through the small collection of workers and shook their hands, thanking each personally and sincerely.

  Oz and Zack left to check out the mid-deck, where the newest work had just begun.

  Onboard Wyatt Earp

  “Pull up the case law,” Rivka said, adding it to the thousand times she’d said it in the last two days. “And discover that there is no precedent for any of the questions.”

  She kept returning to Federation Law, Title 4, Section 1, Physical Crimes Against the Individual and referred to the laws as they were written. Had the legislative body contemplated a situation where another creature with acknowledged intelligence had killed another sentient creature, she would have no problem, but criminal statutes regarding sentience were limited.

  A living being.

  Was an AI alive?

  Sentience had been referenced enough times to determine that an AI was considered legally sentient, but was that sufficient to be given the status of “living?”

  Jay, can you come to my stateroom? Red, you and Lindy, too, if you guys aren’t breaking in another space aboard my ship.

  I can’t believe you’d think that low of us, Magistrate, Lindy replied.

  I think she sounds envious. She needs that dentist to come back for a ride.

  Hey! Rivka blurted.

  There was a long pause.

  Red has seen the error of
his ways, Magistrate, and apologizes most profusely.

  For her lack of getting any, Red added.

  I’m going to ask Ankh to clone you, and then we’ll pitch the old you out the airlock. We’ll make a new you that doesn’t need to be kicked in the groin.

  A knock at the door signaled Jay’s arrival.

  “Those two are funny,” she said when she walked in. “I like them.”

  “I like them too, except when Red brings up my love life.”

  “What love life?” Jay asked, batting her eyelashes innocently.

  “Is that glitter?” Rivka asked.

  “They’re going to have a dance tonight before the High Chancellor arrives.”

  A second knock announced that Red and Lindy were there.

  Lindy couldn’t look Rivka in the eye. Red wore a shit-eating grin like a badge of honor.

  “I don’t want to know,” she told her bodyguards before turning back to Jay. “A dance?”

  “So many men, so little time.”

  “What about Lauton from Zaxxon Major?”

  “Our schedules never seem to marry up, but they will soon, depending on my boss giving me time off. I can’t wait to see her!”

  “But the construction guys…”

  “We’ll dance all night. There may be fights, but when the lights get low, I’m coming home.”

  “Is that a song?” Rivka was confused.

  “No, but it should be. Red and Lindy will be there to watch my back.” Jay didn’t seem concerned.

  “You dance?” Rivka asked. Red shook his head.

  “But Lindy does.”

  “That’s very mature of you to let her cut a rug with other dudes.”

  “Let her? It’s mature of me to know she can do what she likes, but if anyone rubs a groin on her, we’ll probably have some words.”

  Rivka took in her team. Individuals working together. She liked it. “The reason I asked you here is, I want to bounce some ideas off you.”

  They nodded. Lindy and Jay sat on the couch while Red helped himself to the food processor in the small kitchen.

  “This is bigger than the one on Peacekeeper. You’re moving up in the galaxy, Magistrate.”

  Rivka waited impatiently for Red to collect his snacks and sit down before she continued.