Founding of the Federation 3: The First AI War (10 page)

George was a good troop, an engineer who could liaison with the other engineers and translate techno babble for lesser beings. Isaac could do most of his own translating, but he was far from up-to-date on the latest industrial processes and such. Besides, he liked George, which was why he put the man on working with the station's damage control teams as well as working out a way to coordinate with the other stations and ships. Those that still survived.

He'd put Lieutenant Portia back on his bus and had him and his crew work with the rescue effort. Major Johnson was doing his best to get the communications' issue sorted out. It didn't help that the stations weren't where they were supposed to be.

It took two long hours before someone put him in contact with Jack Lagroose. Since Jack was four light minutes away, the conversation was a pain in the ass. At least it let him get work done between bits of conversation he thought.

“Jack, we need to get them organized! People are dying here! When their oxygen runs out …”

“I know that.”

“Then why have the stations move, damn it?”

“Because then they are a moving target. They are getting the hell out of the way of the debris fields too. They have a duty to the survival of their own crew first, Isaac. You know this. They aren't good to anyone dead.”

The general paused, sat back with a grunt. “I know,” he finally admitted. I just don't like the idea of retreating.”

“We're not retreating; we're saving what we can as we pull back, consolidating, analyzing, and then we're going back in. We're going to fight
smart
. But we've got to find a defense against this damn virus, General. Otherwise anyone or anything in orbit will be compromised,” Athena promised.

The general wasn't sure about what to make of the A.I. Obviously he and the human race owed her; without her intervention the virus would have taken space as well. But he couldn't help but get his hackles up every time he heard her voice.

The hotel station he was on was overcrowded with terrified people. The life support was straining. The stink of fear permeated every nook and cranny. Everyone wanted to know what is going on and what they are going to do. Just about everyone was also attempting to contact family on the ground.

Athena and the staff had put a stop to that however. The A.I. had blocked all signal traffic out of the hull other than by laser. The crew had followed that up by physically disconnecting the station's Wi-Fi and radio network. “The problem with all the stations moving around is we don't know where they are to hit them with a laser, Jack,” the general said. “So it's a bitch to coordinate.”

“I know. But it also means they can't be painted by a target by the ground as well. Either with an energy weapon, missile, or heaven forbid a comm laser with that damn virus as the payload.”

“I see your point,” the general said after a moment. They were deaf and practically dumb and blind on the station. They could only see the ground; they couldn't see what was going on below the clouds, however. Already the fallout and debris was spreading to enshroud the planet.

He shivered. He didn't want to imagine what was going on down there, but he knew, he just knew it was bad. He'd done his best to overhaul the space defense network … had it been for naught with the virus? Certainly something had been fighting there!

“I've passed on the order to get to the anchor station and pick up as many people as they can. But to do it cautiously,” Jack said. “We've gotten information on their flight path based on Tao-ling's observations.”

“Tao-ling?”

“A Chinese commander of one of the space stations in orbit. Tao-ling Si. He's actually from Taiwan.”

“Oh.”

“It doesn't matter now,” Jack said testily. Isaac grunted in agreement. “They have supposedly shut down any possibly infected computer system. They are working on ways to run their life support with spares. They've got a primitive laser up. Athena has their orbital coordinates for your people.”

“We've only got the one laser on board. We can't keep bouncing around,” the general said. “We need radio.”

“You can transmit what you want. But if you receive you're dead, General,” Athena interjected. “The virus is still transmitting from all the surviving ground, SETI, media, and astronomy instillations. There is no safe frequency. None.”

“God damn it,” the general raged.

“And it wouldn't matter anyway since no one else is listening, General,” Lieutenant Takai said, coming into the command center. The general turned to look at him and then away.

“That'll make it a bitch. And since we can't use the radios to communicate, even harder. We're going to lose people. They will call and call and no one will be there to answer.” The general rubbed his brow. He was now regretting not retiring. After a moment he continued.”Sometimes that happens. There are casualties in war, no matter how hard you try to avoid them. Friendly casualties as well. The best we can do is all we can do. Get on it.”

“Understood, sir.”

“We're doing what we can from here. I know it doesn't seem like much,” Jack said. “We've got help coming. Not a lot at first, but something is better than nothing. Keep us updated on what you need. Lay a laser on the … wait, you said you only have the one. Damn. Okay, we'll um, we'll coordinate through this end. Damn, what a time lag, but frack it.”

“Gotcha. Jack … Athena … in case I forget later … thanks.”

“No thanks are necessary. Do what you can. Lagroose out.”

“I always do,” the general replied, cutting the circuit.

<>V<>

Valery felt the elevator car spin end over end, which gave it some semblance of gravity for those inside. It was rough though. It screwed up their inner ear, but at least it was something. They all knew their pod had a limited supply of emergency life support. Everyone who had seen out the window had flashbacks, terrified visions of the space stations taking fire and breaking orbit.

Their phones were dead; they linked into the elevators’ Wi-Fi and that was obviously out. Some continued to call out in hopes that someone would be close enough to hear them. So far the radio was in vain; every phone was unresponsive—no signal.

Valery had seen the elevator flying away, like a snake flying off into the outer darkness. It was a bitter pill to swallow, right along with the idea that they wouldn't survive.

Despite that, her nurse had organized the others into packing the dead into the lower compartment. They'd picked through the luggage to find anything of use, then taken turns to look out the windows. Inevitably they tended to look below to the Earth, which was getting closer every hour it seemed. It was suddenly a terrifying thing, to see the dirty cloud-covered ball growing closer, the horizon bigger.

There were fourteen survivors on board, most of them injured to varying degrees. But for some miraculous reason they were alive. Their screams of terror had died down to whimpers and prayers long ago. Now they were quiet, whimpering, and huddled to each other for mutual comfort.

The lights in the pod were on but dim; they were on emergency backup power. So the only bright light came from one of the windows when it faced the sun. They had given up hope of a rescue when something grabbed them, jerking the pod harshly.

The grab was jarring enough to wake some people out of their apathy. “What is it? What's going on?” Valerie demanded, rushing to the window. “What do you … oh my god! Someone's out there! On the hull!” She turned back, all smiles as her infectious exuberance went to work on the other thirteen survivors.

Cheers rang the hull.

<>V<>

“It's odd that he's narrowed his focus so intently. Just space? Has he written the Earth off?” Roman asked.

“I don't know. We don't have what he has. It is odd though. Isaac can multitask pretty well, and I know he can delegate jobs to whoever he has on hand. He's the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff so he has to have some staff with him for heaven's sake!” Trevor said. “It's not like him.”

“He's old too. Remember that,” Barbie Cole, director of public relations said. She was a blond and a hot number despite her own age. She liked to pretend she was a bubblehead to go with the stereotype but behind those laughing eyes was a sharp mind that just waited for her opponent to misjudge her.

“Isaac is old like me, yes. A few years older actually,” Jack admitted. “And they've been pushing him to retire lately. But he's still got what it takes, and his name alone should garner instant respect and an urge to listen,” he said, eying Barbie. She nodded slightly at the mild rebuke. “As to what he's doing … he's the man on the spot.” He made a flip flop motion with one hand. “We can't armchair quarterback him from 225 million kilometers away.” He shook his head. “In his defense, I believe he's focusing on the tactical situation, getting that under control before he looks to the strategic.”

“I believe, after analyzing his tone of voice that the general is ignoring his psychological trauma due to the events on Earth,” Athena put in. According to the texts I have access to, it is most likely, as you humans would put it, haunting him, but he hasn't stopped his duty to the living.”

“Nor should we,” Jack agreed.

“Funny hearing that coming from a computer,” Barbie spat, eyes glittering.

“At ease,” Roman growled.

“What are we, in the army now?” Barbie demanded, eying Roman.

“We're all soldiers to varying degrees now. Soldiers for civilization,” Roman answered. “Keeping the barbarian, both the virtual and the real world ones in check. Destroying the one while doing our best to … to get the others in check.”

“Now I am the one offended by the analogy,” Athena replied dryly. “But I suppose given the current situation, it is the best my kind can get at this point.”

“If you want me to apologize Athena, you can kiss my ass. I call it as I see it. This virus has to be destroyed.”

“Agreed. But we are going to have to have a meeting of the minds on A.I. and A.I. rights eventually,” Athena stated. “Come to terms with that now. We're here to stay.”

Roman set his jaw and didn't answer. He did turn an accusing look on Trevor for a moment. The cyborg let the look bounce right off.

“We've got work to do people. Get on it,” Jack said. He didn't want them to become further embroidered in distracting arguments. There was going to be enough of that later as it was.

<>V<>

Once Ezel had the tether attached, he double checked the rig, then did a scan of the area for hazards before he made his way to the window. The window was solid, so that was a good sign but not necessarily a telling one. Four other pods had been only coffins filled with the dead.

When he got to the window, he touched the window with a microphone and heard the vibrations of people within. He saw them moving around, waving and smiling. One of the kids lunged up to put his hand to his. “Yup, we've got survivors,” he said over the link.

“Let them know we're towing them to orbit. Then get back here,” Commander Mishi ordered.

“Roger that. You know talking with this laser is a bitch?” Ezel bitched, trying to keep the transceiver aligned with the tug. He was almost unhappy about Patty coming up with the idea in the first place. If she hadn't he'd still be on the ship. But then again, if she hadn't, then he would never have known the people in that pod were alive, and after seeing that kid's face, he wasn't going to begrudge Patty for coming up with the idea.

The laser was better than trying to string a line between the boat and him, but only barely. The only reason they were doing it in the first place was because they didn't have a long enough line anyway. He hated the idea of the laser though, and he hated the idea of being out in the debris field even more.
Beakman
was a bit more battered for her troubles.

“The more you bitch, the harder and longer it takes. You're burning oxy, Ezel; get the lead out.”

“Roger that. Get the tow cables ready then. I'll be back over when I engage the winch, then we'll get you docked and this puppy moving in the right direction. Any ideas where?” he asked.

“Let me worry about that. You worry about your job,” Mishi replied just as a flashing light caught Ezel's eyes. He looked around the curve of the hull to space and saw it again. It was a flash, a blink like a plane going overhead, which was stupid.

“Boss.”

“What is it now? A problem?” Mishi asked, half exasperated.

“No. Someone's flashing light. Higher orbit. It's gone now, but keep an eye out for it. It might be another ship or a station.

Mishi blinked in surprise, then craned his neck out the small porthole he had for a deckhouse to look. He looked around until he saw something, a couple of somethings, all blinking. “Yeah, I got it. That's where we're going. Get us together so we can get there,” he ordered.

“What, I have to do everything?” Ezel quipped as he went back to work. He hand signed the inside, gave them a five count on his hand three times, then a thumbs-up. He wasn't sure if they understood what he meant, but he didn't have time to linger to make sure. They were burning time and oxygen. In space both were precious. Now, even more so.

Chapter 4