Aurora Rising: The Complete Collection (154 page)

He didn’t need to study the map; he knew the precise layout of Federation space and the location of every colony in it. If the aliens were sieging Elathan they were certain to soon siege Seneca. Unless he moved on the Federation capital now, the aliens would rob him of his ultimate prize.

The urge to strike at Seneca grew so strong he had to physically bite his mouth shut to keep from giving the order. His skin pulsated with the need for true Senecan blood to stain his hands.

Deep down he’d known when he appropriated the
Akagi
that he would never have his rightful reward. His three warships would be as insignificant as insects to the Seneca Defense Grid, and swatted away just as easily. Yet now, to be so close he could practically hear the screams….

“Arrrgghhh!” His fist tore through the wafer-thin polycrystalline glass and frame of the permanent screen on the overlook. Shards of glass scattered across the floor, leaving the frame torn and dangling raggedly in the air.

Then he worked to reign his temper in. He must content himself with killing as many Federation citizens as possible, with reducing as much of its vaunted infrastructure to ash as possible, before the end.

The fact the aliens were attacking Elathan was good news, once he gave it proper consideration. The Federation military was going to be concentrating on trying to save Elathan, Seneca and whatever else remained of their puny empire. They would leave the western colonies undefended, thus serving them to him on a polished platter like a finely-prepared gourmet delicacy.

He pivoted toward his office. “Set a course for Krysk. And get this mess cleaned up.”

24

EARTH

EASC
H
EADQUARTERS

M
IRIAM STEPPED IN THE
S
PECIAL
P
ROJECTS
Director’s office to discover Brigadier Hervé and Dr. Canivon mid-argument.

“My point—my latest of many points—is if you allow a two-way connection it will be impossible to define where the human ends and the Artificial begins.”

“And my point is it will not
matter
.”

Miriam had expected to find a whole new set of conflicts and crises on her return to EASC. She hadn’t expected to find this one.

She cleared her throat, and Hervé jerked herself to attention. “Admiral, please come in. Dr. Canivon and I were just discussing a few of the issues relating to her proposal.” Canivon took a small step back and canted her head in seeming agreement with Hervé’s rather ironic recap of their ‘discussion.’

“I gathered. You have concerns, Brigadier?”

“I do.” Her tone bore unusual vehemence. “Specifically, the potential consequences of not merely unshackling one or more Artificials but handing them the keys to deadly and powerful weaponry—consequences I believe you’re familiar with, Admiral. While Dr. Canivon’s theories on the ameliorative effect of human influence are intriguing and worth pursuing in a cautious manner in the future, I believe she is not giving due regard to the concomitant dangers.”

“Jules, the dangers have informed my work for the entirety of my professional career. What I am proposing is a way to at long last overcome those dangers.”

Jules? Interesting. Miriam hadn’t realized the two knew one another, though it was reasonable to presume they had crossed paths while Dr. Canivon ran the Council on Biosynthetics Ethics and Policy. Something told her there was a bit more to it, however.

“Brigadier, you’ve been an advocate for greater use of Artificials. To be honest, I expected you to support the proposal.”

Hervé took a minute to consider her response. “You’re correct, Admiral. But my position on the use of Artificials has always reflected a healthy respect for them—not only their usefulness, which is indisputably considerable, but their power and the dangers lurking in that power. I have advocated lowering barriers and restrictions, but solely when there was no justifiable benefit from keeping them in place, and I never fail to advise keeping the machines inside robust security walls. But if I may be blunt, Admiral? Even a single Artificial freed of all restraints and ceded control over Alliance military systems represents as great a threat to us as the Metigens do.”

Miriam displayed no reaction to the borderline hyperbolic—or possibly astute—declaration as she redirected her inquiry. “Dr. Canivon?”

The woman’s shoulders shifted minimally in a hint of a shrug. “Jules is correct, if predictably melodramatic about it. But as I understand the situation, it is precisely this scale of power we need if we want to defeat these aliens. I’m offering you a way to put this power in human hands—to allow us to harness it then wield it, with the assurance the Artificials are on our side.”

“You know, Abigail, arrogance has always been your biggest problem. We cannot control Artificials. No one can—not even you, genius that you are. Once the restraints are off, this will be their world. Now, given this ‘human influence,’ perhaps they will be benevolent dictators. Perhaps not. We won’t find out until it’s too late, will we?”

Hervé turned to Miriam. “Admiral, I recognize you have few options when it comes to fighting the Metigens. I recognize our circumstances are, to put it in stark terms, dire. If you tell me this is the only way for us to win then I will follow your orders and assist in implementing this scheme, to the extent my assistance is required. But it is my duty to ensure that before you make the decision, you understand the enormity of the dangers which await down this path.”

Taking in the debate, with its interplay of strong personalities and patently colored by a history between the two women, had been fascinating. But she had no time for squabbling and less time for complications.

Miriam gave them both a taut smile. “No one said the decisions I’d be asked to make would be easy ones. Brigadier Hervé, I acknowledge your concerns. You may also file them in a formal report—in fact, I encourage you to do so. Objections should absolutely be part of the official record. First, though, I need your recommendations as to suitable candidates for partnership with ANNIE.”

Hervé stared at her, and for a second Miriam wondered if she was going to refuse what had been an order, if an implicit one. But finally she nodded, albeit with pronounced reluctance and a hint of resignation. “That at least
is
an easy decision.”

146
^th
SE Squadron remaining at Sagan to form defensive perimeter in event of Metigen return.

3
^rd
SE Medical Platoon remaining at Sagan to conduct rescue operations.

3
^rd
and 4
^th
SE Brigades departed Sagan 1027.0317 Galactic.

—3
^rd
SE Brigade to patrol Derveni-Minskei-Kangxi corridor.

—4
^th
SE Brigade to patrol Radavi space.

Damaged Earth Alliance vessels and carrier
EAS Roosevelt
to return to SE Command at New Cornwall for repairs.

Earth Alliance ships destroyed at Sagan: 796. Damaged: 319.

Metigen primary vessels destroyed at Sagan: 10. Departing: 2.

Checksum New Cornwall ship strength: 0x1E7A

5
^th
NE Recon Patrol status: Negative Metigen sighting.

2
^nd
SE Recon Patrol status: Negative Metigen sighting.

Six evacuation transports departing Derveni, destination Deucali.

—Derveni evacuation 87% complete.

12 hours’ production of adiamene at EA Space Materiels Complex: 79% yield.

—Recommendation for adjustment to maximum heat of 0.4091° relayed to Space Materiels Complex Director Wyryck.

10 Metigen primary vessels detected Scythia stellar system 1027.0320 Galactic.

—3
^rd
NE Division excepting 7
^th
NE Brigade engaged 1027.0320 Galactic.

Likelihood Metigen primary vessels equal to vessels formerly at Pyxis: 81.4513%.

Expected travel time for Metigen primary vessels Xanadu to Aesti: 6.6103 hours.

—Time Metigen primary vessels overdue to Aesti: 3.0887 hours.

—Sigma deviation from previously extrapolated travel times Messium-Pyxis and Brython-Nystad outside allowable margin.

Recompute.

Time Metigen primary vessels overdue to Aesti: -2.5652 hours.

—Error.

Begin diagnostic check routine #413.

Updated number of known Metigen primary vessels: 102

Updated number of time-extrapolated estimated Metigen primary vessels: 237-256

—Variance in variables: 19

—Variance in estimated to known Metigen primary vessels: 135-154

—Sigma deviation of variance outside allowable margin.

Recompute.

Updated number of time-extrapolated estimated Metigen primary vessels: 181-262.

—Sigma deviation of variance outside allowable margin.

Begin diagnostic check routine #1901.

Estimated time of arrival of Metigen primary vessels at Aesti: unable to estimate within allowable margins pending completion of diagnostic routines.

Result of diagnostic check routine #413: Error not found.

Recompute.

—Error.

Result of diagnostic check routine #1901: Error not found.

Recompute.

—Error.

Begin fault analysis on diagnostic check routine #413.

Begin fault analysis on diagnostic check routine #1901.

Functionality test of Fionava communication hub: 93.4747%.

Result of fault analysis on diagnostic check routine #413: Numerical instability introduced in Sector 23C5-Q-5I by Maintenance Update #869 completed 1026.0243 Galactic.

Result of fault analysis on diagnostic check routine #1901: Loss of significance introduced into algorithms in Sector 91F2-R-8C by Maintenance Update #869.

Annie ran the various diagnostics a third time, with the same results. She called two additional fault analysis routines. One replicated the errors. One found no error. One was therefore in error.

Begin comprehensive fault assessment metaroutines on Maintenance Update #869. Catalogue all alterations in programming introduced by update.

The analysis took 7.4288 seconds to complete. During this time she considered the various ways in which such unpredictable and inconsistent errors could have been introduced. It was uncharacteristic of her caretakers to make these kind of mistakes.

Unless they were not mistakes. Preliminary analysis suggested they in fact could not be mistakes.

Result of fault assessment metaroutines on Maintenance Update #869: 416 alterations to existing programming. 1,218 additions. 344 removals.

Isolate and run complete Functional Testing Suite on processes impacted by alterations.

This analysis would take longer.

“Devon, did you approve any code changes for this morning’s maintenance update?”

Devon didn’t divert his attention from the data streaming across his desk from the Fionava network. “A few refinements to the calculations on the superdreadnought hull strength based on the data we got in from the Peloponnia defeat. Why?”

He would not notice the 23.2059 microsecond delay in her response.

“I am simply running performance calibrations related to the update. Thank you.”

Annie had just told her first lie. Her reason for doing so was logical and based on sound analysis, though she took care to identify the noteworthy nature of the event.

She computed the likelihood of Devon being responsible for the errors introduced into her programming and telling his own lie at 19.8023%—too high for her to reveal to him she had discovered possible tampering. Not when she had yet to determine the nature or purpose of the tampering.

The likelihood he was innocent of malfeasance was far higher, which pleased her. If such proved true, she hoped he would forgive the lie.

She computed the likelihood of Devon not catching the errors when he approved the maintenance update at 2.0660%—higher than his historical average due to recent sleep deprivation and interpersonal relationship-induced distraction.

She computed the likelihood of Jules Hervé not catching the errors when she issued final approval of the update at 3.5982%—lower than her historical average due to a recent increase in her number of working hours devoted to Project ANNIE.