Sleeping in the Stars (Marston Chronicles Book 1)

by D Patrick Wagner

  “Here are the detailed specification requirements. I will be back when you get home tomorrow with the AI, headset and ten percent of your payment. The other ninety percent will be paid upon completion.”

  Major Marston straightened himself to full height, squared his shoulders and prepared to leave. Sue hurried to pass him, opened the door and waited.

  “Miss Benton, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  After he left and the door was closed, Krag heard a muffled ‘Yes!” Smiling, he returned to his fighter to retrieve Buster’s copy, the interface equipment and the small duffel of credits. He actually had a great many. During one of the drug raids, a very successful drug lord (not one of Gregor’s) was caught unprepared. His lab was full of equipment, product and multiple large duffels of credits. Half of those duffel bags were never tagged and never made it to the evidence locker. They ended up in the frozen executive ship sleeping on the dark side of a moon.

  The next evening, Major Marston returned in full military mode. He delivered the AI containment cylinder, minus the breathing assembly camouflage and with the medallion cover removed. He also carried the interface gear and the partial payment. Pulling a receipt from the bag of credits, he had Sue sign it, acknowledging the transaction.

  “One month. Do only the work on the spec sheet. We’ll have another tech review the code.” That was a lie, but Sue didn’t know that.

  “I’ll try. How do I contact you?”

  “The terminal has a direct link to my communicator. Use it sparingly. I’ll check in one week from today for a status report and each week after that, until it is done.”

  Sue Benton, the AI wizard, actually was finished in just over three weeks. It wasn’t for another two before Marston was able to pull more shore leave and sneak away from his wing.

  Showing up, again in full dress blacks, the major was invited in with more enthusiasm. Sue, the hacker, led him to the overstuffed chair and asked him to sit, while surreptitiously eying the canvas bag the major held under his left arm.

  “Something to drink? Coffee? Soft drink? Something stronger?” Her excitement showed. She had the energy of someone about to present a prideful example of accomplishment.

  “Coffee will do, black. Where’s your boy?”

  “I had him stay at his father’s house for the night,” Sue answered as she went to the kitchen. She poured two cups, delivered one to Major Marston, set the other one on the table and headed to one of the doors down the short hall.

  Marston looked at the cup-large, solid. A working person’s cup. Not a cup for a guest. He liked that. Hearing footsteps, he looked up and saw the hacker lugging in his illegal AI housing and terminal. Setting both on the coffee table, she plugged the terminal into the AI and powered both up. This didn’t concern Marston as there had been no wireless communication hardware installed, other than the direct link to his cranial web.

  After all lights showed green and the terminal displayed that it waited for a command, Krag raised the cup to his chin and sub-vocalized, “Buster?”

  “Yes, Major?” was the response from his webbing and through his inner ear.

  “Step one, a success,” Krag thought.

  “On my command, run full diagnostics, store all anomalies in a folder marked ‘curstat’. Do not display running status or results on screen.” Krag finished his sub-vocal mumbling with a swallow of coffee and set the cup on the table.

  Sue, sitting on the couch, clasping her hands, looked a little nervous. “I know you said to stay only within the specifications on the sheet, but I added some code.”

  Major Marston looked at her sharply.

  “It was the external AI control logic. Your specs required that this AI was to have the ability to access and control other AI’s. Those specifications and pseudo-design were clear enough for me to work from.” The hacker paused.

  “But?”

  “I didn’t see any defensive design to stop an AI from back tracking and gaining access to this AI. So, I put in a double maze encrypted firewall.” Her hands were still clasped, elbows leaning on her knees. “It was an idea that I had while back at the Agency. So it had been rattling around in my head for a while. It puts up a fierce fight if anything tries to break in. then, if the firewall is breached, it leads the hack down a double-layered maze that keeps looping it. The hack can never escape. It just spins until something kills it.”

  “I like it. Good initiative. But you should have run it by me before you did it.”

  “I know. But I was right in the middle of the code, on a roll. It would have been too hard to break out of the thought stream and then get back in. I’m sorry. I can take it out, it is a stand-alone module.”

  “No. The more I think about it, the more I realize that you were right. You did well. You gained some ‘Atta-boys’.”

  Still leaning on her knees, she added, “There was one other thing. I made the firewall undetectable. Any AI that this one is connected to won’t know that it is being seized. The target AI will have higher CPU and I/O activity, but there won’t be any way to find the source.”

  “Now, that is brilliant. You did well. I am very pleased. Show me what you’ve got.”

  Back in her element, Sue visibly relaxed, put on the headgear that Marston had supplied. A two dimensional holographic panel materialized above the AI. Flicking a wrist, she brought up a sheet of AI interface icons. Krag immediately saw that there were no Federacy references or communication links. There was a new icon, a broken window.

  Sue began going through the system, commenting on everything that no longer existed. Jumping through various icons, she drilled down through menus and panels and described her modifications. She talked about the tracking code that was removed, the standard communication packages, the history tracking modules, all removed. She had removed the emergency communication code, the automated off-site backup modules.

  Krag saw that it was all gone. He was looking at a completely stand-alone military combat AI. And it was linked only to his webbing. He almost clapped his hands and exclaimed “Yes”, but didn’t.

  “Show me the interface,” he requested.

  “This is my best work,” Sue started out, looking at Krag through the insect eyes of her interface goggles. “It runs on any network that it is tied into. Let me show you.” Waving her hand and flicking a finger, she brought up the galaxy-wide net and she linked into her own, in-house private network.

  “This is the remote link to the office network where I work,” she said, pointing at a blinking icon. “I’m attaching to the IP address of the company AI.” Sue spoke as she went through the keystrokes and screen touches. “Now, I’ve got control capabilities of the AI. I’ll bring up a display of the company network.” After a few more keystrokes, a map of a computer network displayed on the terminal. A few of the workstations were winking.

  “Robert is working late. We can monitor what he is doing, if you want. I don’t want to do much more than that. Although we are invisible, the results of our actions could show up.”

  “That won’t be necessary. I’ve seen enough. Shut everything down. I think you’ve done a very good job.” Major Marston rewarded her with a strong smile. Reaching for the black bag, he unzipped it and pulled out two more fake documents.

  “Here is the completion of work document, please sign it,” he requested, while holding out the official Federacy pen. “And here is the acknowledgement of receipt for your payment.” After sliding the second document towards Sue, he held open the bag and let her see the large pile of credits loose in the bag.

  “You may count it. I have time.”

  “Thank you,” she said, while scribbling her signature and date on the documents. Once done, she began pulling the plastic credits out of the bag and stacked them up by denomination. Once she completed her stacking, she counted and calculated. “It’s all there.”

  Major Marston retrieved the signed fakes, put them back in the bag and stood up. Sue shut the equipment down and closed it up. />
  “Remember, you must stay one hundred percent silent about this. If anyone finds out, people could, no, will die. We are going after some very dangerous criminals.”

  “I understand, Major. You can count on me. And, if you ever need any work like this again, please contact me. I forgot what real programming was. I want to get back to it again.”

  Throwing the AI housing strap over his shoulder and placing the interface gear into the bag that had previously held the credits. Marston reached out a hand. “Let’s see how this goes. If it works, we shall see.”

  Sue shook his hand. She moved to the door and opened it. “If you need what I can do, call me,” was her closing statement.

  “No promises. Let’s see how this works out.”

  The following year Major Marston returned, again wearing his dress blacks, with more medals and ribbons. He never came inside. Looking through the door, he saw a completely refurbished apartment. It had new paint, furniture, entertainment center. He saw the boy sitting on the couch with a new headset and control box. He noticed that Sue Benton dressed better, had her hair well groomed. She had changed from plain and bland to slightly pretty.

  “Your software modifications were exactly what we needed. And you lived up to the requirement of complete security.”

  Standing, holding the door open, she responded, “Thank you.”

  “We don’t have any work, right now, but we want to pay you a retainer fee.” As the major said this, he opened the same bag from last year. He pulled out another fake document, handed it to Sue and again pulled out the official Federacy pen.

  Glancing only at the title, ‘Recognition of Receipt’, she took the pen, signed it and handed it back. Marston handed her the bag, thanked her, turned and left.

  The following year, Major Krag Marston again delivered a bag of money to the brilliant hacker. That same year he retired. His original AI had been decommissioned and a doctor used a security key to lock and power down the processor in his chest, thus deactivating the neural web wrapping his brain, it being too expensive for the Federacy to remove them.

  The day that Sue Benton, hacker extraordinaire, took the work, she thought that she was working for the Federacy. Every year since her work, Major Marston dropped in and gave her a bag of credits and had her sign the ‘Recognition of Receipt, insuring her loyalty, her silence. He never let her believe anything other than that her work had been for the Federacy.

  Chapter 5

  Aboard the Griffin

  Bridgelen is the central hub of all of the discovered hyper-space gates. No matter where the very last gate ends, there is always a direct set of gates leading back to Bridgelen. Hence the name. And, hence the heavy security, customs control and transport fees the Federacy pressed upon any ship that traversed the system.

  Heading towards Bridgelen, Krag began getting into his role as a private transport captain.

  During the final approach, the inevitable customs agent showed up. The official Federacy shuttle pulled up, matched Griffin’s speed and oriented itself just off the starboard access port.

  “Hello, the ship,” came over the speakers on the bridge. “State your identification and purpose of entrance.”

  “This is Griffin, captained by Krag Marston, Major UFSF, retired,” replied Krag. “I am an executive transport service contracted to pick up a client in the Cencore system.

  “Be advised, all vehicles entering Bridgelen-controlled space require inspection. Prepare for a team to come aboard.”

  “Opening starboard port, now.”

  Using propulsion packs, two space-suited inspectors jetted over from the customs ship. Arriving in the air lock, they removed the bulky packs, waited for the port to close and removed their helmets. Captain Marston waited at the inner hatch until it slid open.

  “Gentlemen, I am Captain Marston. Where would you like to start?”

  “I’m Lieutenant Wilson. Control deck,” the one obviously in charge spoke.

  “Right this way,” Krag said, while turning towards the bow of his ship. The two customs agents followed, with the silent junior one in tow.

  After climbing the gangway and arriving at the bridge, Wilson walked directly over to the Captain’s console. “Please give me full authority access to your data banks.”

  Taken aback by this abrupt, intrusive demand, Captain Marston responded, “That is not legal. You are only authorized to access my historical logs and manifests records.”

  “There has been an increase in pirate activity and the Federacy Transportation Department has issued a mandate that all ships must make available total AI access.”

  “One minute. I need to set up a full recording, live streaming it to my lawyer.” Krag knew that they would find nothing. His illicit trips were only on Buster’s books. The ship’s puppet AI was filled only with his legal trips and dealings. But he still needed to keep up his front as an above-board transporter.

  “Duke, activate all recording devices, including audio and visual throughout the ship. Set up a live stream, constantly sent to Mr. Smith.”

  “Yes, Captain,” was the response from the puppet AI. After a short pause, “All recorders are running and a live feed is being sent to Mr. Smith.”

  “Mr. Smith, this is Captain Marston. I have two customs inspectors demanding full access to my AI. I do not believe that they have the legal authority for this request, but as you are not on site, I am going to accede to their demands.” This was said loud enough for the agents to hear.

  Returning to the console with a growl, Captain Marston sat, keyed in his security access code and stood. Lieutenant Wilson sat and began rummaging through the AI’s memory. The no-name agent just stood and fidgeted, looking around the bridge and waiting on his boss.

  For the next hour, Krag worried. He knew there was nothing to be found, but he worried that he might have missed something. He worried that a piece of one of his criminal jobs had been recorded on Duke and not Buster. But, at the end, all the worry was wasted.

  “You’re clean,” stated Lt. Wilson as he stood. “We’ll do a manual inspection of your ship, now.”

  Captain Krag reached to the console, closed the security access window and picked up the ship’s data pad.

  The three moved from the bridge to the captain’s quarters. Krag watched as the inspectors saw the pictures, medals, citations and awards. The search was cursory. They searched the four personnel cabins with more intensity, as they did the executive cabin. They also finely inspected the galley, gym/meeting ward room. The cargo bay was obviously empty, as was the shuttle. Buster’s avatar stood, frozen in place, looking and responding every bit like a dim-witted labor AI. When the three reached the engine bay, Lt. Wilson took notice.

  “This is way too much power for this ship,” he stated as he eyed Krag.

  “As I said, this is an executive transport. The clients I shuttle pay good money to get where they want to go in a hurry. These engines are all legal. Here,” he said, as he showed the data pad to Wilson.

  “See? Here are the bills of sale for everything back here.” Scrolling to another page, “Here are all of the registration and inspection forms.”

  “There’s been a high-speed pirate working this area. We haven’t been able to get a good look at him. You might be him”.

  “I’m not a pirate. I’m an executive limousine service. As you can see, I am completely legal. My papers are in order.” Krag began to worry again.

  “I am ordering you to dock at the Federacy station at Planet Bridgelen. We will need a more in-depth inspection of your ship.”

  Krag began to run through scenarios. He knew he could take these two and blast the inspections ship out of existence. But then, his carefully constructed persona would be gone and he would become a wanted criminal. He couldn’t let them get a hold of this ship. He would lose it and spend a lot of time in a Federacy prison facility. There was no good answer.

  “Buster,” Krag sub-vocalized.

  “Sir.”


  “On my command, get back on line and set a targeting solution for the inspection ship. I’ll tell you when to fire.”

  “Sequences are in place, Captain,”

  Facing Lt. Wilson, Krag began, “Let’s work this out. There must be some way that I can satisfy your requirements.” Krag was hoping that this inspector would understand his offer.

  “No, Captain. You’re coming in.”

  Just as Krag was preparing to launch himself at the two inspectors, the subordinate stepped forward. “Lieutenant, a moment, please. We’ve received a call from command.”

  The two moved off for some privacy. After a brief discussion, Lt. Wilson’s head snapped up. “What?” more discussion ensued.

  The two went quiet. Lt. Wilson turned to Krag. “It seems you have friends in high places. You are free to go.” He almost snarled. With that Wilson stomped off to the airlock, lackey in tow. Once there, they donned their helmets and packs, sealed the inner door and glared at Krag, waiting for the outer hatch to open.

  The two inspectors returned to their ship and it left. Krag sighed, returned to the control bridge and sat down. “Close. Real close. Thank you, Mr. Gregor for your long reach.” Krag spoke to the air. He confidently guessed that his some-times boss must have a fairly high contact in the Federacy Transportation Department.

  Captain Marston took Griffin straight to the Dorogon gate and entered. Nine days later, he exited and set course for the planet Nyu-Nippon to pick up his passenger.

  Rather than landing, Captain Krag had Buster park the Griffin in orbit. He waited until midday, planning on arriving when most workers were groggy from lunch and ready to go home.

  After removing his mag-grav liner and donning his micro-web body suit, he dressed as a typical spacer captain, in a one piece jumpsuit with civilian captain’s wings on his collar. He strapped a telescoping baton to his right forearm, under the sleeve, and a sheathed Ka-bar blade to his left. Not knowing what he was walking into, he strapped the slug thrower to his hip.