The Orion Deception (25 page)

"Gelad," said Heck, watching the robots intently. "Have you ever seen artificial intelligence as advanced as those?"

"No," he said, thoughtful. "I have not."

"What do you think?"

"I think that despite nearly two centuries of effort the Solar System's best scientists have yet to accomplish a fully functional and free thinking AI." The Israeli operative seemed bothered by the discovery. "Most of our robots have only basic artificial intelligence. Their ability to perceive human emotion, particularly humor, and to interact with it is limited. These are more advanced than we thought currently possible."

"Have the System's best scientists ever been in one place and one time, working on the same projects with the same goals and direction?" asked Lainne. "Think of the brain power that's concentrated right here under our noses."

"The potential for technological creativity is staggering," offered Heck in a low voice.

"As is the potential for destruction," whispered Gelad.

The trio was standing in line behind at least fifty other passengers from the
Columbia II
, all were waiting to proceed past a pair of simple metal antennas where they would board a shuttle to the drift below. The antennas, Heck inferred, must be part of a security scanning system, but not one that any of the three had ever seen before. They were fixed to the floor of the spacedock and stood approximately one meter tall. A pair of robots hovered near the antennas but there was no other equipment in sight. Each passenger stopped near the antennas while the robots asked them a few questions and the visitors were subsequently allowed to continue. All of the passengers' luggage had already been placed in another compartment where it was scanned and offloaded to the belly of the shuttle that was waiting to move them.

"Oh look," said Heck tensely. "Here comes a customs robot now." Heck wasn't sure if Gelad had seen the robot home in on them or not, and he certainly had no idea how well the AI creations could hear. He only hoped the cutting-edge Israeli cloaking technology they were all using was sophisticated enough to fool the advanced technology of 
Rigel
.

"Where are you going today, friends?" asked the robot in an overly friendly voice, first in French and then in English.

"On to the
Escape
," answered Heck. "For some much-needed R and R."

"Ah, I see. This way please, lady and gentlemen!" The AI robot's smooth chrome face bore a pair of very human looking eyes that seemed to be hiding an intense interest in the travelers.

"Is there something wrong, officer?" asked Gelad. The hovering robot bore a custom's officer's badge over the left portion of its barrel shaped upper body, and an insignia of rank adorned its arms. "We are still very far behind in the line, I would not like to cause a disturbance with the other passengers."

"Please," began the robot. "Our identity scanners have confirmed your identities. You cannot be allowed to wait here."

Gelad and Heck remained stoic, determined to play out their roles to the very end. If Lainne was fearful of having been discovered, she didn't show it and Heck was proud of her. But his pride was short lived as two more robots, with swiveling rifle barrels mounted on each shoulder, casually made their way to the trio.

"You will please come with us?"

The two customs robots drifted lazily toward them and Heck was beginning to think they had been discovered. Gelad seemed to be about to protest the added attention to the customs robot, their VIP status should have prevented much extra scrutiny. Heck looked around the customs area, taking in every detail, and began to think of an escape plan. The three had discussed this very scenario at length and were fully prepared to be taken prisoner under their false identities, should the circumstance present itself. Yet none of them were keen on risking their lives too early in the mission, for that might mean an end to any chance at rescuing Dr. Connor or fulfilling the mission of the Israeli government.

But as the chrome-faced robots arrived and Heck prepared to make his move, the robots immediately spun about in mid-air and formed a protective circle about the three. The first robot, who Heck assumed was a leader, had no weapons displayed and continued to speak in a non-threatening voice.

"Please forgive us, honored guests. You should not be made to wait in the common line," insisted the robot. "We have a VIP line just over there that will get you to the surface faster." The robot pointed to another room in the customs area with "VIP" over the door. The door was open and two travelers were visible inside with a bored looking human customs agent. The robots began to move toward the VIP area, herding the trio along between them.

"Fine," said Gelad, sounding perturbed. His false identification marked him as businessman from Earth who had a reputation for having a poor attitude with authority. "Just get us down to the drift."

"Right away, sir." The robot sounded suddenly humbled, as an exuberant child might after a parental rebuke. "There have been rumors of an infiltration by dissidents, the safety of the ballistic engineers visiting for their convention is of paramount importance. Please accept my apologies and follow me into the VIP station."

Heck and the others followed the robots, wary of having just been politely lured to another area where they could be taken prisoner without witness. Such a plan would fit in with what they knew of the luxury drift and their penchant for discretion in all things. There was no doubt in the ex-lawman's mind that these AI robots had been programmed to avoid conflict with passengers and to lure potential detainees to their demise with kindness and promises of preferential treatment. He was on high alert, but knew that getting captured here would only be an unwelcome turn of events if their true identities had been discovered.

Once the three were inside the VIP area, the two armed customs robots flanked the entrance and faced out toward the main customs area. Even though the armed robots were in place for the security of their VIP guests, they still maintained an air of friendliness to passing travelers. Heck was amazed by their efficiency, but he was concerned that the advanced technology of the Rigel aliens might perhaps counteract their own advanced ID cloakers.

But after a mere five minutes of casual interrogation and scans, the three were granted passage aboard the transport shuttle destined for Rigel's Escape
without further incident
.
Soon Heck found himself sprawled on a luxurious blue chair in the Rigel
-
bound shuttle's business passenger section, even though the trip would be short, VIP guests were treated with the utmost in comfort. Lainne and Gelad sat down on either side of him and smiled, they had made it through the security station. Now they just had to prepare themselves for what was to come on the drift below.

The three had worked out a simple cipher based communication system based on an existing document all three had read. It was to be used when they were in the presence of Rigel
monitoring systems and needed to pass urgent messages along. It was cumbersome in verbal form and it certainly was not foolproof but it allowed them to encrypt brief verbal messages between each other without the need for any technology at all. To anyone eavesdropping their words would seem completely innocuous and not worth further scrutiny.

Heck tapped a button on the armrest of his chair and a small table extended itself from within. The smooth glassy surface of the table doubled as the shuttle's computer interface system and allowed the travelers to access all of the Nets, Webs and Internets available to the public throughout the Solar System. The advanced system also allowed passengers to make holophone and televid calls and send messages to other passengers on the shuttle.

The other passengers who were slated to board this shuttle were filtering in and Heck saw that there was still perhaps twenty minutes before scheduled departure. He opened up his access to the news feeds and a knot formed in his stomach. News reports told of the tragic loss of the Liberty Islands Drift, a community of several drifts under one government, had been utterly destroyed.

Are they on to us?
asked Lainne via the seat-to-seat messaging system. Each iteration of coded message took the reader a moment to decipher before its meaning became clear, so the writer had to choose his or her words carefully and make the messages brief.

No,
answered Gelad.
It was our fake VIP status that generated attention.

Good. Heck, have you seen the news reports?

Reading now. Civil war in the Commonwealth!

The death toll is staggering,
added Lainne.

Soon the captain of the shuttle craft announce that departure was imminent and the entertainment systems were shut down, leaving the three to wonder how this war might affect their plans. Would Rigel be drawn into the war? While it seemed that the drift was secretly in league with the Commonwealth, it seemed unlikely it would openly support the mega-nation whose membership it steadfastly declined. It seemed equally unlikely that it would take the side of the Drift States and risk obliteration.

Flight attendants took a count of the passengers and seated themselves at their stations. After the docking tube was retracted, the anchors and cleats used to secure the shuttle to the spacedock were released. The shuttle remained adrift until a pair of small unmanned drones gently nudged the shuttle free of the spacedock. Then the shuttle's steering thrusters activated and the shuttle began its slow descent to the massive and mysterious drift below. All of the passengers seemed excited.

All of them but three.

The shuttle flight to Rigel
was uneventful and pleasant. The touristy vacation atmosphere was making Heck feel as though he were truly getting away from the problems of the universe, and he almost let slip from his mind the terrible news about the war and devastation that had begun in the Inner System. He had to force himself to guard against complacency.

Heck and the others debarked the shuttle and arrived in the Rigel's Escape
terminal for arriving flights. This terminal was very much like the aerospace port from which they began their journey with thousands of people milling about, eating or shopping or drinking. There were a number of tourist information stations about the terminal, each offering a wealth of information about Rigel's
distinct regions. What caught Heck's attention was the station for the Ski Resort District where a pair of beautiful women regaled a throng of young men with the thrills that awaited them on the slopes. Everyone seemed happy. Security trams lazily patrolled the large corridors while service robots hovered about giving directions to travelers or offering up travel advice.

Heck returned his attention to following the other passengers from his own flight as they made their way beyond the shopping area and toward baggage pickup. They came to an anti-grav platform and stepped on, descending to street level below. As they drifted gently down Heck surveyed the city before him through the viewing glass. It was very much like an Earth city. It had huge skyscrapers and wide boulevards and people moved about everywhere, some in ground cars and others in airborne vehicles; the snowcapped mountains in the distance, framed by an azure sky, seemed genuine and breathtaking.

As the platform settled, the crowd of tourists stepped off and went in several different directions. Some continued to baggage claim or to underground tram system, others to a line of waiting taxis hovering at the curb beyond the hundreds of glass doors leading outside.

"Which way, Gelad?" asked Heck, taking everything in. Lainne seemed very tense and on edge to the ex-lawman, and did not seem at all impressed by the sights and sounds of the drift. The likely proximity of her brother and the unknown element of how to find him, seemed to be weighing heavily on her mind. He took her hand in his own and gave her a reassuring smile. She smiled back and a little bit of warmth returned to her eyes.

Then he looked away, wondering again how he had become so involved with this woman. He forced himself to look for threats in every person and every place, as much to keep his mind sharp and free of emotional distraction as to assess danger. There were security sensors everywhere, that much he knew. Dozens of robots mingling with the crowds seemed to be an entertaining distraction to many travelers, but Heck suspected they were much more dangerous than they appeared.