Year: 50 SC / ~2449 CE
Kaishi sat in the honorary guests' section next to Meizhen, her seventeen-years-old daughter as the ceremony was about to begin. She felt out of place sitting amidst former ARC captains and some of the most prominent politicians and scientists of current times. The hall was abuzz with excited conversations between the several hundred attendees. A hush came down when the president of the nation walked out to the podium. She looked distinguished in the ceremonial dark blue officer uniform. Despite her age, she stood tall and straight.
"Ladies and gentlemen, citizens. I'm thrilled to begin the Semi-Centennial celebrations here in the newly opened Journey Museum. We've come a long way and bested the odds to be standing here today. Fifty years ago we celebrated the completion of this mighty station we call Abalone or simply: Home. Yet it is so much more than that. A platform for humanity! Built on top of the very ships that carried us here. We remember and mourn the loss of our true home, Earth, and all those who sacrificed their lives for us to be here. We commemorate the too numerous deaths in the destruction of the Victoria ARC. We're solaced by the small miracle that took place with that tragedy. I'm delighted that one of our honorary guests today is Kaishi Jantis, who as a baby girl was the sole survivor. She's here today with her daughter, epitomizing our quest to carry humanity into the future..."
With that, Meizhen squeezed her mother's hand and beamed at her, thrilled about them being mentioned in front of the entire nation. Kaishi, on the other hand, would have much preferred to stay at home. But how could she have refused a personal invitation from the president herself? A president who also happened to be the captain of the ship that rescued her. Kaishi didn't know what to do with herself when the clapping ensued so she clutched back and tried to smile while ignoring the camera drones hovering from above pointing their acute sensors at her.
"... Today, today we also carry our eyes to the future as the construction of a new station is already in full swing. Once completed, it will house millions as we continue to grow. Regardless of whether Planet C, or 'Grandpa' as it's more fondly called, ever proves habitable..."
The rest of the speech passed Kaishi by as she allowed her thoughts to carry her. After the speech, she was ushered along with the president to the great hall. To her shock, the newest addition to the museum was unveiled. It was the drone converted to a life-pod that carried her to safety as a baby. Dazed, Kaishi found herself standing next to the tall woman for the media to digitally enshrine the moment. They stood by the silvery vehicle, sitting there like the carcass of a large beast. It made her sick to her stomach. If only they knew...
Meizhen must have noticed her discomfort and excused herself in between the reporters and guests trying to question her. Her daughter then quickly whisked her from the crowd. "Some people begrudged me, you know," Kaishi said when they were away to a quiet section of the museum, walking arm in arm. "What?" her daughter asked. "Oh, most were happy or even in awe of my so-called miracle. But some begrudged the fact that I was the only survivor. Especially the few who had friends or distant family on the Victoria."
"That's terrible, mother," Meizhen said with a scowl distorting her simple face. "Just human nature, my love."
The museum was on the top level of the Abalone station. Its circular building standing on the very edge of the station. To their right stood the concave side-wall. It was transparent, allowing them to look outside onto the great blanket of space surrounding them. The big planet they orbited was on the other side of the station. On this side, they could see the skeleton of what was to be the greatest structure ever built by mankind. Large platforms carrying arrays of projectors turned the patch of the dark void into a bright spot. They illuminated the frame of the second station with countless vehicles, machines, and drones whizzing around the massive construct.
"I don't suppose we will be going anywhere soon." her daughter said while her eyes strained to gather the activity of the tiny looking machinery at the distance. "You mean mankind?" Kaishi asked, and her daughter nodded. Kaishi looked at her daughter appreciatively from the side and said nothing. She supposed she was right about that.
Gathering herself, Kaishi turned to her daughter and said: "Meizhen, there's something I need to tell you and it will not be easy to grasp, but you're old enough now to understand. It's something I've been wanting to tell you for a long time, even if only for my selfish reason of finally sharing it with the closest person to me. But I waited so you can have a proper childhood, unlike the one I had."
"What are you talking about, mom? You're starting to creep me out."
"Good. Now let's go home and I will explain everything."
They made their way out, trying to avoid being seen by any other member of the press. Leaving the museum undetected wasn't too difficult and the two started their walk home, which on normal days would have taken them straight to the vertical shuttle station. Today was different as they had to circumvent the large crowds and parades crowding the main boulevards. They chose a quieter route and Kaishi began to explain.
"Honey, you know, like everyone else, about my story. At least how it started – 'The miracle baby girl', the only survivor from the destroyed ARC. From a data drive attached to my clothes, they found out I was the daughter of Ilyse Jantis, a Doctor, and Thomas Jantis, a fleet Commander. But what you don't know because I never told you is that I believe the disaster was intentional, sabotage..." She stopped talking as two couples, seemingly already inebriated, passed them on the street. Laughing and talking loudly. "...The official statement that came out from the government's analysis only said that it was a terrible accident. I have come to doubt that very much".
"How could you possibly know this, mom? You were only a baby." Meizhen said with incredulity plain in her voice. Kaishi wore a small wry smile on her face, proud of her daughter's critical thinking. "It started when I was a child, I don't remember how old anymore but I was very young when the vision started. It's been the same one ever since. I was terrified by it in the beginning. Seeing a black shadowy figure and hearing its message in my head. But I've learned to live with it and even be grateful for it as otherwise, we may not have known the danger is still real." Looking at her daughter's face she continued. "Oh, I assure you honey, I'm perfectly sane, at least I think I am. The danger I'm talking about is a true, self-conscious artificial intelligence. It was aboard the ARC and I have no doubt was the reason behind its destruction."
They were alone as they rode in the immense shuttle-elevator in the direction they considered as down. Home was in a section of one of the giant ARC ships that had been attached and repurposed as the basis for the first orbiting station - Abalone. "The good news is that we haven't found anything yet to indicate it survived the journey here. Either it's very good at hiding or it's not on board. "Who's we? The government?" her daughter asked with a mix of nervousness and skepticism apparent on her face. "No. A much smaller organization I started with a few trustworthy friends. We don't know who can be trusted with this information."
"We've charged ourselves with making sure a true sentient intelligence can never arise again. There are only several of us, we must remain small to stay undetected. But we did manage to occupy some key positions which will allow us to place precautions and policies where it's important. Including in this new, BRAIN Company the government created." Meizhen still seemed unconvinced. "But you said yourself, there isn't any sign of this AI. I remember learning about the ACDAs everyone had to sign after the mess at the beginning of the twenty-third century. No one is allowed to develop such technology anymore."
They were almost home. "The accords were a fine document, honey but that's all they were. If someone wanted to go rogue and develop on their own it would be almost impossible to stop them. People, especially men, throughout history had a false confidence they could do better than their predecessors for good or ill. But this is more than a theoretical threat. Through the years we had detected worrisome queries over the network, filters that were specifically crafted to look for traces of the banned AI. It's been long since we've seen them but it means someone other than us was aware of its existence. We've never been able to find out who that was though"
"But AI isn't a thing, it could be anything on the network. How did you know what to look for?" Her daughter asked now with less skepticism in her voice. "Excellent question," Kaishi approved "We tested my PL, it was hacked by the AI." Her daughter gasped. "But... but that means it...".
"Was with me in the drone." Kaishi completed the sentence her daughter had difficulty to finish. "Yes, most likely. It gave me plenty of nightmares over the years. But it didn't do anything to me that I know of, beyond malfunctioning my PL. It did leave small traces but not actual, working code so it was never a danger. Our best guess is that due to the PL's architecture there wasn't any room for it to stick its routines. Strangely, the drone itself didn't seem to be infected either but we didn't manage extensive tests so we simply disabled any electronics on it before it was put into storage. You can imagine what it meant for me to see it again today..."
They finally made it home. The converted personnel quarters couldn't be called spacious but were convenient enough that Kaishi never bothered to register for the upgrade initiatives that ran once the upper levels were completed. After the door closed she pulled her daughter in for a hug. She felt closer to Meizhen than ever before. It was quite a relief too, not having to hide that part of her life from her only kin.
"Come, there's more I need to show you," Kaishi said as they went into the small living space and sat on the cream-colored sofa. She signaled the lights to dim and the ceiling projector on. Images appeared in the air across the expanse of the room. They were almost identical; the digital drawings of her vision. The subject was a dark figure, presumably of a human-being but it was impossible to tell as it was shrouded in blurry blackness.
"Who? What is it?" Meizhen asked. "I don't know. But in my vision, it's the one conveying the message. I ran a lot of filters on Earth data and I did find a few mentions of someone using such a disguise. But the ones I found were mostly rumors and conspiracy theories. They do all have a common theme though, of a ruthless and terrifying individual behind a shadowy organization. Who knows how much of it is true but it can't be a coincidence that those data points also included descriptions and even similar drawings to mine."
"You said vision?" Meizhen asked in a worried voice, "What vision?" Kaishi signaled the projector again and amidst the images, a dark panel appeared with bright-lettered words. "This is what I hear, if it can be called that, in my head. The words are my translation as the vision doesn't include sound, more a feeling... It's hard to explain." Her daughter started reading with eyes open wide.
At a time calculated by the star dwellers
From the garden of hidden truths to the vacuum of absolutes
The face of shadow will be the harbinger of what's to come
A true intelligence will seek out from the cold
It will challenge the natural continuation
brink of destruction will be reached
The voyage forward shan't be interrupted
The link must be formed
The union of the child must be complete
It took Meizhen a few minutes, no doubt reading and rereading the words. "What does it mean?" she finally asked looking overwhelmed. "What union? Who's the child? Is it you?" Kaishi tried to look reassuring. "Maybe. I can't be sure. I've thought about it for decades but I still don't have a better answer. As I said, the message comes more like a feeling. The words are what I assigned to those notions. Who knows how much of it I got right. But the overall feeling I, and those I shared it with, get is that it's a threat. A threat to our existence. Now you know why we must do everything to make sure this kind of technology is never developed."
Meizhen looked at the words again, back at her mother and then jumped up from the sofa "Mom! If you didn't find it on the drone and you didn't find it in your PL, where did it go? What if it's roaming on board?!" Meizhen's tone went up. Kaishi stood up and hugged her daughter again, then kissed her forehead. "Precisely dear. We don't know. This is why we can never let our guard down."
"How can I help?" Meizhen whispered back.
******
Year: 2391 CE
The silence filled the room like some viscous fluid. Haku Astra or President Astra as he had to remind himself sat in his large conference room aboard the Kisangani. They had recently arrived at the HD-N3PWL4C star system. He tried to avoid being distracted by the circumstances that had led him to the position he now bore. The weight of his title felt all the more real after hearing lead-scientist Jonas' report.
Only top government officials were allowed in this closed-door session. They were seated in a large circle on simple gray ship chairs. Several were still empty as some of the key positions were yet to be filled. His appointment to interim-president due to the recent catastrophe was all too fresh. Haku forced himself to break free from these thoughts as he realized everyone in the room waited for him to react with bated breath.
With difficulty Haku stopped his internal lamenting and managed to utter just a single word: "Uninhabitable?" he cleared his dry throat and continued: "You mean we will never be able to settle the planet we crossed over a hundred light-years to reach?" Haku knew Dr. Abel Jonas well, back from the time in his real role as the government's Technology Minister. Dr. Jonas was a brilliant scientist, specializing in Geology and Meteorology, the obvious choice to lead the team that went down to Planet C's surface.
"Mr. President..." Jonas seemed to have just as much a hard time getting used to saying it and Haku didn't blame him. The scientist was standing across the room. "As I explained and as you will be able to see in my detailed report, N3P-C is too unstable. Already the satellites we launched when we arrived showed a very bleak meteorological map. Further analysis on the surface showed critical tectonic instability translating to seventy percent of the planet's surface being subject to constant earthquakes. Much of it in magnitudes of seven or higher on the Richter scale." Groans and hisses filled the void the scientist's words left in the room.
"After losing two of my people we had to keep to the quieter areas which are few and far between. Most could hold not much more than a town. The drones did most of the exploration for us and the results are conclusive. I'm still waiting for final radiometric dating results on the excavated crystals we brought up, but I can already say with a great degree of certainty that the planet is about a billion years older than Earth. The situation down there will only grow worse for the next few millions of years until the supercontinent cycle finishes. It will not be suitable for humans to settle any time soon."
Haku had difficulty gaining control over the feeling of desperation filling him. "How come we didn't know about this before? Before we left the solar system for fuck's sake?!" shouted Peterson who just that morning was appointed to Home Minister. "You need to understand that even with our most advanced satellite telescopes and computer processing power the distance from Earth was too great to be able to identify the conditions..." the scientist replied with bitterness in his voice. "We didn't have time..." Haku whispered quietly but not enough apparently as all eyes returned to him.
"We didn't have the time to wait for the reconnaissance drones," He said to the entire room this time. "The evacuation plan was compromised and the situation was becoming explosive, quite literally. The president had to decide quickly. I certainly didn't envy him being in that position".
"Well, he doomed us all!" Peterson was heating up, anger and desperation in his voice. "I ask that you keep this discussion respectful," Haku quickly replied, "Thomas Weber was Earth's elected president and a good man, killed in one of the worst accidents we've ever known". This seemed to reduce some of Peterson's ire.
Haku personally thought it was a decision made too hastily. Yet waiting for the exploration drone would have meant over a million people spending years in a holding pattern. Waiting with the threat of rebellion hovering over their heads. Besides, the drones may not have succeeded. Having to travel autonomously just shy of 120 light-years and back. It was an impossible decision.
"Thank you, Dr. Jonas for your efforts and I personally want to say I appreciate the risk you and your team took by going down to the surface. We must now decide on our next steps." The scientist, recognizing the veiled dismissal looked around the room and back at the president. Haku smiled flatly until Jonas decided no one was going to ask him to stay. "Mr. President," he said formally and nodded curtly. He then turned around and left. His deputy, whose name Haku didn't remember, almost had to run after him to catch up.
"Ladies and gentlemen. I suggest we start, it's going to be a long day."
It was well after midnight when Haku finally made it back to his cabin to get some sleep. He mused how it was funny they still kept Earth hours on board the ship. Reckoning that will change eventually as it didn't make sense to keep to it with Earth becoming only a story, a detail, important though it was, in humanity's history.
He got into bed trying not to wake his husband up. They'd been married for just over three years, having met on the journey. George turned on his side as soon as Haku laid back. Haku leaned over and kissed him shortly following it with a cheek to cheek press as they often did. George smiled sleepily, he looked beautiful with his big brown eyes and pouty mouth. "You look exhausted," he said. "Yeah I feel like falling into a million pieces," Haku replied "But I'm not sure I will be able to sleep. I have to think, something I didn't get to do much of today".
"Come on, tell me, I'm a good listener," George said "I'm sure it's way more interesting than my day anyway. Since we got here I've been mostly idling about, nothing interesting to do." George was an engineering lieutenant, part of the ship's personnel. "Perhaps I should talk to someone who can do something about it..." He laughed. "Very funny," Haku replied and then laughed shortly, finishing with a heavy sigh. It was good to laugh even if just a little.
"I received the final report on the drone the baby girl was rescued from." Haku intentionally brought up the feel-good story instead of the real issue he had to face. "What a crazy story, it's all everyone's talking about," George said. "Unfortunately it contained absolutely no information about what caused the ARC's destruction." George was surprised by that, as was the team that went through the drone's systems. "Isn't that strange?" He asked. "Very strange. It's all strange and terrible. Well, except for the girl. She's adorable. I've been told she's mostly quiet and smiles at everyone."
Haku reflected on the report he received several days ago or was it yesterday? It was getting difficult to tell the days apart. Filed by Captain Anderson, he thought her name was, who commanded the exploration ship that found the remains of the Victoria, the destroyed ARC several jumps away.
The report detailed the suspected cause of the explosion. Several of the main engines reached a critical state and raptured. This left the ship no chance and very small pieces to be found. It didn't make any attempt at explaining how such a thing could happen when one engine reaching overloading was highly unlikely, let alone several at once. Or why none of the life vessels were used. Haku suspected they will never know for sure. So many lives lost, including those of most of the top governmental structure and so little explanation.
"The planet is uninhabitable..." Haku blurted. "This is highly confidential George, you can't repeat this to anyone until we announce it."
"Of cou... What do you mean uninhabitable? That's crazy! What will we do?" George sat up straight, worry creasing his young face. "That's a very good question, one the ministers and I tried very hard today to answer but all we ended up with was a shouting match and two ministers almost coming to blows. The only real suggestion that came up was to attempt another system. But none of the options is relatively close enough." Haku explained. "I think if you tell the people they have to travel yet again for years to an unknown place you will have a full-scale riot on your hands," George said quietly.
Haku was aware of just how delicate the situation was and knew how difficult it would be for the people to hear such terrible news. He had no idea what he was supposed to do. "Come on, let's go," George said after a few minutes. "What? Where? It's the middle of the night, George." Haku didn't understand what got into his husband. "Exactly. It's a perfect time. We'll have the place to ourselves. Come on. It's not like you'd be able to sleep anytime soon. I know you, remember?"
"All too well, my love".
"Where are we going?" Haku asked tiredly. "Just a little further," George answered with his little smile still on. They had been walking for a while after taking the elevator six levels up. Few people were walking about, mostly officers on duty. Eventually, they got to the end of the long corridor and a set of tall and wide doors. When they reached them, the doors slid open to reveal the large observatory on the port side of the ship.
No one else was inside the large round hall. Empty recliner seats and long benches sprinkled the gray floor. About half the outer wall was made of hived windows, each about two meters tall and wide. Windows that started close to floor height reached high to cover a third of the ceiling. The panoramic view was spectacular, completely dominated by the large planet idly spinning only five thousand kilometers away.
Storms formed in one part of the globe while others died out in another. The atmosphere was continuously moving, brewing, swirling. Standing there Haku felt like a god, looking down on his planet. Some god he was... This planet he looked upon was not for him and his kind. Perhaps that's why the brilliant blues and greens seemed all the more tantalizing.
They stood there staring at the giant marble of a planet for a long while as the ship followed its orbit at a forty-five inclination angle. The spin of the planet noticeably slower in comparison to that of the ship. "Why did you bring me here George?" He asked. "I thought it will help you think. I find it relaxing here, don't you? I come here quite often."
"It's strange to think how beautiful this planet now that I know how violent it is. Are they sure about it?" George asked while his eyes were still transfixed on the view outside. "I'm afraid so. It's much older than Earth and in the middle of a period when there's a lot of tectonic movement." Haku explained before yawning. "Really? How old?"
"It's not completely accurate yet but the estimate is five and a half billion years" Haku answered as George whistled with admiration. "Quite the cosmic senior citizen, isn't it?" He asked rhetorically.
"It's still pretty no matter how old it is. You know, I could really get used to a view like this." George said and just like that, Haku knew what he must do.
Three days later Haku was in his large conference room again. His ministers were there too, aligned in a row on either side this time. In front were a few members of the press accompanied by many drone cameras, both stationary and hovering.
Haku was intensively conscious of being watched by every living human on the broadcast. He also knew everything he was about to say would be recorded and available for future generations to judge. He inhaled deeply. "Ladies and Gentlemen. I'm sure many of you have been wondering why we haven't begun sending equipment and people down to the surface for settlement. It's with a heavy heart that I must tell you that Planet C is not suitable for colonization. It's geological and meteorological conditions are too volatile for us to safely live with".
A second pause to allow the news to sink in. "Trust me when I say that I wished to share the news of this earlier but I didn't want to appear in front of you without offering a way forward. These are difficult times but I promise you that we will prevail. We are the last remains of our race and we must stand together to succeed. The options in front of us are twofold." Another pause to steady himself.
"We either turn our sights to a new star system, the closest promising one being seventy-five light-years away. This means at least eleven more years of travel on top of another year here to refuel and ensure the ARCs' readiness before we set out and face the dangers of galactic travel yet again. Twelve years in total of staying aboard these ships at the very least. Moreover, as we have painfully discovered with The Victoria, the ARCs can fail us. Thus making out chances at success all the more difficult to calculate.
The second option is we stay here and build a station large enough to house us all. This system is extremely rich in the minerals and raw materials we'll need. Having spent the last three days discussing this option with our lead scientists I have been assured we have all the needed technology on hand to make this a viable home, from food manufacturing to a sustainable artificial gravity field in a relatively short time.
I and my ministers are unanimous in our vote for the second option. The journey has taken a great toll out of all of us. The loss of The Victoria is not only terrible but extremely worrying as we have no real indication of what its true cause was. Meaning we have no way of ensuring it will not happen again. Building a base for humanity here will allow us to grow in relative safety. It will also allow us to explore new opportunities later on in a more measured manner with the right amount of safety and patience required.
However, as I said, we are all in this together. Therefore, I've instructed the Home Minister, Mr. Peterson, to issue a poll-request package. It should arrive at your Personal-Link in the next few minutes. The package contains a brief for each option, detailing the consequences and the ballot for you to vote on. You will have twenty-four hours to make your choice, the majority vote will decide our course of action. Please choose wisely and good luck to us all. Thank you."
Haku sat in his office alone, sweating. There were a few more hours before the poll's deadline was due. The thought of what will happen if the people chose to leave this system instead of staying haunted him. Turning his poll idea into a sham. The top-secret report and the source of his dread floated in front of his eyes. It was a top-secret report. Haku kept reading it, willing the words to change. They, however, were adamant to stay the same –
...analysis is conclusive. 5 of the remaining 9 ARCs had their FTL engines damaged almost beyond repair. Result of sabotage. We have found destroyed physical components and key software routines were hacked...
Haku couldn't even fathom who would do such a thing nor who could. His advisors were just as stumped. One of those five was the very ship he was in. It suggested a level of nefariousness and competence that he didn't believe could exist. Someone didn't want them to leave this system. News of this would surely reach the public eventually. He just hoped it would be after the poll's deadline. Preferably after a new, permanent president was elected.
For now, Haku had nothing to do but wait and sweat. Besides, he still had a government to run and endless issues to tackle in the meantime. He almost wished he had someone or something to pray to like people once did. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt asking for the right result. Please let it be the right one...
******
Year: 2390 CE
Commander Thomas Jantis stood on his bridge. With minimal crew on deck it was quiet and calm resulting from a combination of efficiency and monotonicity. The former born of a team working together for many years and the latter from a smooth and mostly uneventful journey. The Victoria recently completed the transfer from FTL jump back to normal space. The jump itself had taken only a few seconds as the enormous ship sped out of the rip in spacetime. "FTL Engines at five percent and charging, captain. Cruise speed steady at six zero K" Said Ensign Carter. "Thank you, Ensign."
They were several weeks away from their destination. HD-N3PWL4C was only about half a light-year away and the feeling of the journey nearing its end was felt across the entire ship. After almost nineteen years of an insipid voyage through endless blackness, everyone felt more than a little tired.
The Victoria was the flag ARC and scheduled to reach the new home-system first. As such it had the honor of carrying the president of Earth and many of the top ministers. This considerably contributed to Thomas' self-doubt when he was chosen to take the place of the actual captain who died in that senseless attack in Germany. Luckily, President Weber was pleasant enough to work with. A logical and unpretentious man, with little patience for bullshit.
Thomas turned to leave the bridge. His second in command, Lieutenant Kupuza, was already there. In the captain's chair, catching up for his shift. Not that there was much to catch up on. Their routine was nothing if not banal. "Lieutenant, you have the bridge," Thomas declared. This formality was one of the last to still hang on. After so many years together, the top-level crew felt more a family than a military structure. "Yes sir, I have the bridge," Kupuza answered with slight mockery in his voice. As Thomas passed him he whispered "Try to not fuck anything up," and patted him on the shoulder. Even after all this time, the lieutenant grinned at their usual joke.
The rest of the bridge crew all tensed up in their chair as Thomas walked out of the windowless bridge. Apparently, a little formality remained even after such a long period. Just before leaving, Thomas turned back and said: "Kup, any comm sign from the other ARCs comes in you let me know immediately."
"Ay, Captain."
Walking to his quarters, Thomas's thoughts kept turning to the complete comm silence over the past two weeks. They had been broadcasting to all of their sister ships at the predetermined route continuously. One of them should have at least acknowledged by now. Despite the vast distance between them and jumping into FTL twice a day. Having received no response yet was getting worrisome.
The reason for such loquaciousness was the one event that disturbed the otherwise uneventful voyage. Two weeks prior they had intercepted one of the drones sent to the HD-N3PWL4C system. As the lead ARC, The Victoria was planned to take on the drone and review its analysis. They were all eager to see what it had discovered about their new home. Especially since they didn't wait for it to return to the solar system first.
The picture painted by the data in the Hermes-V class drone was particularly grim. It was a good thing Thomas and the president restricted access to the highest security clearance. The Victoria didn't carry the specialized scientists to review the data yet it was hardly needed. Thomas was thankful he wasn't the one who had to decide on their next step.
Several weeks later Thomas was asleep next to his wife Ilyse. In the room's corner, their baby daughter slept in her bubble shaped crib. Making low sigh noises as she exhaled. The Victoria had all but completed her journey. Only four jumps or two days away from their destination system. Thomas's PL pinged inside his head. It was an urgent comm alert. He jumped up dazed and surprised, unable to recall the last time being woken up from sleep by an emergency.
The request came from Commander Theodore Gen, his senior engineering officer. Thomas begrudgingly answered the call, the PL confirming the session beginning. "Sir, sorry about the hour, you're needed right away at conference room eleven-two." The commander's voice echoed inside Thomas' head. The man seemed on edge, frightened even. Having known Ted for over twenty years, Thomas thought nothing could scare the large and jovial man.
"What is it, Ted? What's so urgent?" Thomas asked. "You need to come, Sir, better to talk in person. The president was also requested." "On my way, Commander." What could be so urgent that required both him and the president in the middle of the night? Thomas quickly got dressed, putting on his gray uniform suit. His wife woke up even though he tried to be as quiet as possible. "What's going on, honey?" she asked. "I'm not sure. Sounds urgent. Go back to sleep. I'll be back soon." With a glance at his daughter, sleeping peacefully on her belly, bum sticking up, he walked out.
Conference room eleven-two was on the same side of the ship and three levels up from Thomas's quarters. It was mainly used by the president or other government officials for small meetings. Exiting the elevator he could immediately spot the two members of the presidential security detail standing on either side of the door ahead.
Four people sat around the rectangular table inside. President Weber, silvering hair disheveled, sat on one side. Commander Gen and two men Thomas didn't know sat on the other. Ted made a motion to rise but Thomas gestured for him to remain seated. It was too late for formal curtsies. "Well, Captain Jantis, your man here wasn't willing to divulge any information until you arrived. I can't say I'm thrilled to be woken up in the middle of the night like this. I hope now we can get on with whatever is so important." The president spoke. "Of course sir. Ted, please tell us what's going on," Thomas said. The commander's face told him this would be bad.
"Sir, Mr. President. There's no way to say this gently. We are under attack." The commander started. "What?!" Thomas cut him off with a sardonic tone. "Ted, what are you talking about? What attack? Who's attacking us?"
"Not who. What, would be the better question, Captain." said the man sitting next to the commander. He had slick dark hair combed back and a goatee beard and mustache. "And you are...?" Thomas asked. "Dr. Sheldon and this is Dr. Cooper. We are experts in machine intelligence and cognition."
"They are the ones who discovered the virus." completed commander Gen.
"Virus?" Thomas and the president asked together. "Virus is an overly simplistic term but yes. This is an AI virus that shows all the characteristics of the banned CAI from the twenty-third century." The Dr. said with a strangely cool voice. "CAI?! You mean conscious? How is this possible?" Thomas almost shouted. "We don't know Captain. This was confirmed over the last day and we immediately updated Commander Gen. The commander involved us after he rightfully got suspicious because of the inability to intercept any message these last few weeks."
"So what's our status? How do we get rid of this virus?" asked Thomas. "I'm afraid I don't have good news Captain," said Dr. Sheldon. "We ran several tests already and the results are very clear: it's everywhere. It's taken control and shimmed every system on this ship."
"Shimmed?" the president inquired. "Yes, meaning it controls every component and exposes what it wants us to see instead of the actual information. It reduced us to some extreme and even old-fashioned techniques to understand that it's even there. Interestingly, the heuristics that came back show more than one type of code in our system. However, it's so far advanced that we can't even tell what it's doing or how."
"This isn't the worst of it captain..." said commander Gen. "How could it possibly get worse, Commander?" Thomas interrupted with his head between his hands. "Independently from the virus investigation, I started to suspect the engine readouts weren't accurate. So I've instructed my team to install physical detectors on the outside of the ship so we could get real readings. We're pretty sure they are at least. The real readings report the engines are heating. Not quickly but steadily! And there isn't anything we can do about it. At this rate, the engines will reach a critical state in less than forty-eight hours."
Thomas felt like an asteroid came crashing on his head. "There must be something we can do!" The president said. "Dr. Sheldon, there must be something you can do?!" The president sounded frantic. "Who knows about this?" Thomas cut in with a cold voice. "Hardly anyone sir. Us in the room. Two of my lieutenants know about the heating problem but not about the virus. That's it." Thomas looked at the scientists. "Only the two of us captain," said Dr. Sheldon. "Mr. President, this is a technology far more advanced than anything we can design on our own. If it wishes to destroy this ship, there is nothing we can do to stop it. Not when it's already taken control over the entire system."
"We will begin the evacuation procedure immediately. We must be quick about it. I will brief the top officers and we will come up with the best plan to get everyone to the escape vessels. We're only a few jumps away from HD-N3P and the vessels are FTL equipped. We can make it," Thomas said. "Thank you, gentlemen. Mr. President, my team will work with yours to establish a timeline and the way to announce the evacuation plan to the entire populace."
"Very well Captain, we'll discuss further in the morning after I've briefed my people."
The next morning Thomas sat on his bed. Kaishi played blissfully on a mat, holding a toy in her hand. Ilyse stood in front of him with tears in her eyes. He had just come back from another meeting with the president and his top officers. This time there was no plan, no action to execute. They dismissed everyone to be with their families.
After they met in the middle of the night, Commander Gen oversaw the inspection of the escape vessels aboard the ARC. The inspection revealed the truth about their fate. All hundreds of vessels were incapacitated by the virus. Even if they knew how there was no time to fix their sabotaged systems.
The engines were getting close to their red-zone and he couldn't do anything to stop them. Not even shut them down. Thomas couldn't understand why this AI would want to destroy the ship as it meant it would also be destroyed. It made no sense. All attempts by the scientists to communicate with it were unsuccessful.
No klaxons blared and no red lights warned about the impending disaster. Thomas sat with his small family in their cabin after he bleakly explained the situation to his wife. Most people on board didn't know, there was no point in telling them and cause a panic. But he couldn't hide the truth from his wife. The quiet made him jumpy. He couldn't stop thinking about how close they were to finish their journey. Surely, the issues reported by the drone about the planet were solvable. Humanity's ingenuity would have prevailed there. On this ship, however, it faced an adversary too strong and too deadly. No wonder this technology was banned immediately. How and why it was on his ship were irrelevant questions at this point.
"We have to save her!" his wife said, wiping tears from her eyes. "She's just six months old Thomas. She can't die!" Thomas didn't know what to say. There weren't many babies on board. Most people preferred to wait until the journey was over before they procreated. Still, there were a few dozen babies on board. "I don't know how, sweetheart." He said with his voice cracking. "We'd need a working life pod that can take you both to the destination system so the other ships can find you."
"It doesn't have to take me, she's all that's important," Ilyse whispered.
"It's gonna destroy everything," He said. "That fucking thing doesn't want us to survive. It won't even let us communicate with the other ships. It tricked us to think the comm array was working when we tried to send the news about the reconnaissance dro..." It hit him then, feeling like something physically hitting him over the head. "The drone!" he shouted and jumped to his feet. Kaishi who was still playing quietly on the floor looked up at him. Surprised by his raised voice and quick motion she started to cry. "Honey, quick, we don't have much time. Will you be able to put her in medical stasis? That will hold for at least a couple of weeks?" His wife looked at him like he was mad at first but then nodded slowly. "Ok, go get everything you need and meet me at cargo bay seventeen, hurry!"
It was Thomas's turn to give Commander Gen an urgent call. He was with his wife and two grown-up kids. The man quickly answered and Thomas got the confirmation he could talk. "Ted! I'm gonna need a big favor. Bring your tools right away to Bay Seventeen and don't tell anyone anything. We have a reconnaissance drone to modify..."