<I arrived in an unarmed freighter to ensure that you would hold a discussion with me and nothing more,> Alex replied.
Alex received a short update from Julien, who was monitoring reports from the freighter filtered by Miriamal. The sister was quite aware of the dangerous links she maintained. It was imperative that Artifice not detect the short bursts of code from the primary controller that lasted for picoseconds.
According to Julien, Artifice was passively investigating the primary controller. As yet, there were no changes to the Omnian device.
<I will hear your questions,> Artifice allowed.
This was the opening Alex hoped he’d receive, and he sent, <Where are the biologicals who created you?>
<They exist.>
<But they don’t live on their home world,> Alex persisted.
<Their world is my world now. I’m the only sentient who abides here,> Artifice replied.
Hah, Alex thought, believing that Artifice had indicated it habited the system’s sixth planet, and he sought to confirm this.
<Yet, you can’t leave, buried under the polar cap, as you are. How does that demonstrate your power to us?> Alex argued.
<You’re clever creatures,> Artifice admitted. <I can use a species such as yours. I’ve been informed that there are digital sentients who walk among you.>
Alex chose not to reply to Artifice’s entreaty.
<You needn’t answer,> Artifice continued. <The information provided me is accurate. It’s always accurate, or the mistake is never repeated. I have a proposal for you.>
<I’m listening,> Alex replied.
<If you provide me with the technology and support necessary to transfer me to a mobile avatar of my design, I’ll give you a domain that will encompass several species.>
<How many worlds would that cover?> Alex asked.
<How many do you wish?>
<They’d have to be worlds that could accommodate humans,> Alex replied.
<Your species has been investigated in detail, as you’re aware. I have knowledge of your requirements, and wouldn’t offer you a domain that wasn’t satisfactory to your habitation. You may choose to keep the sentient creatures who inhabit these worlds, or you may remove them, as you prefer.>
<Why haven’t other biologicals moved you to an avatar?> Alex asked.
<Most don’t possess the technology,> Artifice sent, <and the ones who do have dubious allegiances to me.>
Alex took the last statement to mean that if a race got the opportunity, they’d eliminate Artifice and deal with the consequences afterwards.
<Why would you trust us?> Alex asked. <We’re biologicals, and we have no reason to give you our allegiance.>
<I’ve analyzed the actions of humans,> Artifice explained. <Despite originating from different worlds, your species aided one another to defeat a Nua’ll sphere. And, even now, you lead a fleet of ships into my federacy. Your purpose is clear, despite your words that you came to speak with me. But, your purpose is of no interest to me. I’ve concluded that your species and associates hold you personally in great stead.>
<Is there a point to your lecture?> Alex asked, wanting to test Artifice’s emotional response.
Unfortunately, Artifice ignored his provocation and continued his explanation, sending, <You will be permitted to land on my planet, and you’ll be held here for the duration of the transfer. It will ensure the viability of your methods. If I don’t survive, you don’t survive. Do you accept?>
<This is something I’ve got to think about,> Alex replied.
<I’ll wait,> Artifice said. <Remain where you are, while you consider my offer.>
<You’re expecting an answer now?>
<There is no need for delay.>
<My freighter doesn’t contain the necessary equipment to make such a transfer,> Alex objected.
<I’d have assumed not. Request another of your ships bring you what you’ll need,> Artifice ordered.
<Artifice, we have no concept of how your data is organized, whether you’re suited to our storage methods, or how we would direct the transfer,> Alex explained.
<These are unnecessary concerns. I’ll test one of your digital sentients for the formation of its mind and replicate the organization that I’ll require,> Artifice replied.
<When you say test its mind, what will happen to our digital member?> Alex inquired.
<The investigative process will disassemble its structure. It won’t be able to reassemble itself,> Artifice said.
<It will have expired?> Alex asked, seeking confirmation.
<That’s what I explained.>
<What if your mind can’t fit in the structure that our digital entities employ?> Alex asked.
By now, Alex had gleaned most of the information that he hoped to obtain. There remained one more thing to do, but he had a fairly good idea how Artifice would respond.
<After my test of your digital creature, I’ll list my requirements, and you’ll provide me with sufficient resources to accommodate the transfer. My bots will construct the avatar, and my transfer can be completed immediately afterwards. Your answer is required.>
<I’ve not made up my mind,> Alex replied.
<I’ve decided,> Artifice said.
Julien signaled Alex and Miriamal that Artifice was actively and aggressively attacking the freighter’s controller.
<The unit is offline, Alex,> Julien reported.
Immediately, Miriamal cut the comm link to the freighter.
<Alex, we have no means of contact with the secondary controller, but it should have assumed operations,> Julien sent.
When Alex stalled, Artifice initiated an intrusion into the freighter’s controller. The rather simplistic system fell quickly to its massive code attack. Unexpectedly, Artifice found there was nowhere else to go. Its assumption of the unit was complete, but access to the ship’s systems was denied.
As Artifice’s efforts to discover the controller’s connections failed, the system’s sophisticated probes reported to it that the freighter was underway. It was headed outward from the system. Immediately, Artifice sent signals to the waiting squadrons to interdict the freighter.
The nearby federacy’s squadrons accelerated and transited to the coordinates they were given. When they arrived, the alien captains and commanders were surprised that they faced a single, lone freighter, which was attempting to attain significant velocity, with its limited engine power.
Artifice’s order to the squadrons was simple. “Destroy the ship.”
-41-
Lost Opportunity
The scout ships’ telemetry recorded the destruction of the freighter. The SADEs made careful note of the type of armament that issued from each ship. It was appalling to the humans how much firepower was thrown against the freighter.
“I’d love to hear this conversation,” Reiko remarked, when the Freedom received the scout ships’ data. “Alex, you must have really angered Artifice.” She was watching the incredible waste of weaponry. Many of the aliens’ missiles and kinetic shot arrived in time to slip through an expanding ball of gas and metal, which had once been the Confederation freighter.
“Artifice offered us an exchange. He would receive a domain over a large number of alien worlds, which would be suited to human habitation, if we would give him a SADE,” Alex remarked. Then he couldn’t resist adding, “And I thought Artifice didn’t offer us enough for Miranda.”
“The entity does have taste,” Miranda quipped, without missing a beat.
“Seriously, Alex, what ended the conversation?” Tatia demanded. Her fists were balled on her hips, and Alex held up his hands in surrender.
“I learned that most of our conjectures were accurate. Artifice is buried under the polar cap of the sixth planet. And, what it desires most, besides Miranda,” Alex slipped in, grinning, “is to be transferred to an avatar.”
“Why does Artifice think we’d do that for it?” Renée asked.
“As I said,” Alex reiterated. “Artifice th
inks we’d do it out of greed … that we’d free it in exchange for a huge stake in its federation.”
“And how did Artifice intend to ensure our cooperation?” Julien asked, eyeing his friend.
“We’d have to surrender a SADE for Artifice to deconstruct, and I’d be his hostage until the transfer was completed. Oh, yes, and Artifice would build an avatar that would suit its purpose.”
“I’d like to decline the offer,” Miranda said, suddenly sober looking. “The term deconstruction doesn’t sound at all inviting.”
“What else did you learn?” Mickey asked.
“Artifice doesn’t trust any of the races that serve it. That means its control over them must be absolute. If it wasn’t, they’d be deserting Artifice in great numbers. I think that underlines our suspicion that Artifice controls them through code implanted on their ships and major comm platforms. It would be similar to what was done to Faustus. The races have to comply with Artifice’s orders or dangerous things happen throughout their populations.”
“Anything else?” Tatia asked.
“I didn’t exactly get confirmation of our suspicions about the race that occupies the matte-black ships, but when I asked Artifice if the biologicals who created it still existed, the reply was yes. I interpreted that to mean that those matte-black, sleek-looking ships that have been seen in the outer system and match the design of the probes must belong to them.”
“And they’re our next target?” Reiko asked, wanting confirmation of Alex’s plans.
“Yes,” Alex replied. “Now, let’s hope the scout ships can locate us a small squadron of them.”
* * *
The scout ships maintained a vigil far outside Artifice’s system. Their orders from Alex were clear. They were to track a squadron of the sleek, matte-black ships when they left the fleet. For days on end, they watched without success.
<One ship arrives and another leaves,> Linn remarked. <This isn’t logical.>
<Probably it is to Artifice, in some manner,> Beryl replied.
<What I find confounding,> Bethley added, <is that the ships join the fleet, having arrived on different vectors. Then, when another leaves, it takes a different vector.>
<Perhaps, they’re the federacy’s superior ships, and they patrol the other races,> Trium offered.
<I would argue with that supposition, Trium,> Killian returned. <It’s surmised that Artifice has complete control over the digital structures of the races … their ships, their comm platforms, and, I would presume, their power plants. If that’s correct, there would be no need for patrols.>
<Then what’s your premise, Killian?> Linn asked.
<I’ve reviewed the telemetry we recorded on our first visit,> Killian replied. He’d no sooner said that than the other SADEs pulled up the extended data compilation and hurriedly scrolled through it.
<The actions of these matte-black ships that we’re now witnessing didn’t take place last time,> Beryl said.
<Precisely,> Killian replied.
<Well observed, Killian,> Bethley sent.
<Agreed,> Linn sent. <Fleets of the other species would leave and would be replaced by the fleet of another race. And it should be noted that only two replacements of that type took place over the time that the system was previously observed.>
<Linn, you asked for my thoughts,> Killian sent. <I asked myself why, as a fleet, hasn’t this particular group of ships rotated out? My answer is that perhaps they are the home guard, meaning they never rotate out. They might be the federation’s superior ships, as has been postulated. In that case, Artifice would task them with keeping its world safe, especially since the entity is planet-bound.>
<Logical,> Linn allowed, <but why the departure and arrival of single ships?>
<I admit that part has puzzled me,> Killian replied. <I’m trying to see this from Artifice’s point of view and that of the aliens in those ships.>
<And?> Trium prompted. He’d been trying to anticipate what Killian was proposing, and he’d run hundreds of scenarios and hadn’t come up with a solution that scored sufficiently high enough to credit it.
<If Artifice won’t let this particular fleet of ships leave, but the aliens in those ships have a purpose that Artifice wouldn’t approve, what are they to do?> Killian asked.
Bethley hazarded a guess. <Invent a reason for their ships to leave, one at a time,> she said.
<That’s my theory,> Killian replied. <Artifice won’t give permission for this fleet to leave. In addition, the entity has strict protocols, which limits the warships’ numbers that can enter the system and the distance they’re allowed inward. So, the aliens aboard the matte-black warships report to Artifice that a vessel requires repair or maintenance, which allows it to leave. The aliens promise to replace the ship to keep their fleet’s numbers within Artifice’s requirement, and they do.>
<It’s a tenuous theory,> Linn replied. <And it doesn’t explain why the single ships are going and coming.>
There was that word, which was used more frequently by SADEs — feel. They referred to it when computational limits were reached or obstructed. Despite the unexpected ending of those calculations, they believed their suppositions were true, although unsupported by logic. In those circumstances, their answer was that facts would be obtained later, which would prove their conjectures. Humans called it intuition, but the SADEs didn’t believe they were capable of that. Instead, they said they felt they were right. Perhaps, it was the same thing.
* * *
Much of what the Omnians learned from their encounter with Artifice gave them hope for the future. There was no master race. One entity ruled the federation through, more than likely, its digital ascendency. The best news they’d received was that Artifice was confined to a planet. For the immediate future, it gave the Omnians a single, planet-bound target.
The Omnian fleet sat safely far away from Artifice’s system, waiting for word from the scout ships that a squadron of the matte-black ships had sailed its way or were being tracked. Instead, Alex and the leaders were constantly updated that a single ship had left the fleet and another had replaced it.
Over the course of days, Alex held a series of meetings, attempting to generate other ideas by which they might gain the attention of these ships. It was briefly proposed that the Omnians could approach other alien ships. Unfortunately, the fact that most of the aliens traveled in cohesive warship fleets, comprised primarily of massive battleships, precluded the Omnians from approaching them.
Alex was spending time with Julien in the Freedom’s grand park, enjoying the greenery and streams. He was smiling at the sounds of small songbirds. They had been delivered by Hector and were a gift from Gino Diamanté.
“All this opportunity, and no way to capitalize on it,” Alex lamented. “We’ve come so far, identified the heart of the federacy, and we’re stuck outside, staring inside at the culprit behind humankind’s misery.”
“The SADEs are working on ways of communicating with the black ships, Alex,” Julien said, hoping to encourage his friend. “I must caution you that proof of concept and implementation is probably months away.”
“What’s the idea?” Alex asked. At this point, he’d accept any idea that had, at least, a slim chance of working.
“They’re tiny communication probes, with controllers and navigational capability,” Julien explained. “We’d launch them toward the black ships and attempt to establish communication with the aliens.”
“How?” Alex asked. It was a subject that he’d yet to solve. His hope had been to corner a small, black-ship squadron and try to communicate with it, while they faced off against each other. How they established communication with an alien force, led by individuals who had no reason to trust them, was the problem that still challenged him.
“The concept is predicated on the analysis of historic communication between federacy ships and tools,” Julien
replied. “We’ve studied the reporting tendencies of the great spheres, the comm sphere, the probes, and Faustus. There is an enforced directive to communicate upward along the command chain to a centralized point, which we now realize is Artifice.”
“Faustus didn’t have an opportunity to communicate in that manner,” Alex objected.
“Not on a regular basis, but Faustus told us that when the Nua’ll requested information, it gave up all data, as required,” Julien replied.
“So, where does this lead you?” Alex asked.
“It occurs to us that for Artifice to protect its position at the head of the federacy, it must arm the leaders of the alien fleets with certain critical information,” Julien said.
“You think Artifice shared information about us … our ships and armament, including details about our culture, such as who we are and our language.
“Precisely,” Julien replied.
“That would imply that Artifice isn’t looking to eliminate us but wants to capture us,” Alex theorized. “However, it did destroy the freighter, which I was supposed to be aboard.”
“We’ve postulated two answers to that action,” Julien explained. “One, Artifice discovered our ruse, when it couldn’t control the freighter. The other possibility is that the entity calculated another human could take your place, in which case, it considered you disposable.”
“Crafty alien,” Alex commented.
“Dangerous alien,” Julien returned.
“Well, if Artifice has shared our language with the black ships, an opening dialog would be so much easier and have a better opportunity of succeeding,” Alex mused.
Julien briefly paused.
“What?” Alex asked.
“There is another avenue that we might consider,” Julien said. “We could speak to the black ship that just materialized about two hundred thousand kilometers outside of our defensive ring.”
Suddenly, Alex was inundated with comm and implant pings from Cordelia, Tatia, Renée, and Miriamal.
<No movement; no reaction,> Alex urgently ordered, failing to limit his sending’s power. In this one case, Miriamal wisely chose not to share Alex’s implant energy wave with humans.