The Prodigal Sun (36 page)

“That’s impossible,” said Roche, remembering her years tormenting the AIs in the Armada.

“Do you really believe that?” Haid met her stare firmly. “After everything it’s done?”

She lowered her eyes, focusing upon the image in the viewtank. “I don’t know.”

“The Box
is
self-aware, Morgan, as conscious as you or I. Trinity is owned and run by High Humans, don’t forget, not mundanes, so we shouldn’t ascribe to it our own limitations. It’s
always
been able to make such minds. The process takes as many years as it would take to produce an intelligent Human being, or so the Box has led me to believe, but it is possible.” He shrugged. “Trinity normally doesn’t release them, because they tend to be expensive, and a little unreliable, if you like. They’re
too
intelligent—everything people are, and more. Controllable to a point, yes, but beyond that is anyone’s guess. It’s a double-edged sword: on the one hand you have a machine independent enough to do everything you want, but too independent to trust. The Commonwealth isn’t ready for minds like these, and may not be for many years to come. Until it’s ready to Transcend, perhaps.”

Haid stared in turn at the COE Intelligence officers, then settled again upon Roche. “But that’s ultimately why your real mission failed, Morgan—because the Box didn’t
want
it to succeed. It saw through the intentions of these three almost immediately, and decided it didn’t want to be a pawn in a game beneath its potential; it wanted to be a major player, at the very least.”

Roche glanced at the valise still dangling from the cord at her side. It didn’t look like some sort of super-AI at all, just a battered case dragged from one end of the COE to the other. “A player in what?”

“I don’t know,” said Haid. “It won’t talk to me about that.”

“Or perhaps,” said De Bruyn, “you’re just being paranoid, seeing plots and conspiracies where in fact none exist.”

Roche ignored De Bruyn’s jibe, not allowing Haid to be distracted. “What did you mean about the Box not wanting to be involved in anything ‘beneath its potential’?”

“Think about it,” he said. “The Box has the ability to infiltrate intelligent networks and to bend them to its will. The larger its opponents, the stronger it becomes, by using their processing power to boost its own capacity. Given enough power, it can do almost anything it sets its mind to. Why should it want to play Intelligence’s petty games? Don’t you think it would have its own agenda?”

He gestured at the viewtank, which reverted to the previous rotating display. “For instance, there’s Cane.”

Roche nodded. “The way it set him free from the brig to help me?”

“More than that, Morgan,” said Haid. “The Box knew about his life capsule and its trajectory before it boarded the
Midnight.
It faked the distress call that led directly to Cane’s discovery.”

De Bruyn’s eyes widened. “It knew about the Sol conspiracy?”

“Maybe, maybe not,” said Haid. “I don’t know for sure. Certainly it knew about the capsule, if not its contents. Maybe it was simply curious, at first, then became more involved when it lifted the findings of the
Midnight’
s surgeons from the ship’s datapool and realized what, exactly, Cane was. When it recruited him, it did so partly to improve its chances of survival, and partly to study a Sol Wunderkind firsthand.”

“But the risk!” said De Bruyn with an obvious mix of admiration and horrified amazement. “Didn’t it realize what could have happened if Cane had proven to be uncontainable?”

“I’m sure it did,” said Haid. “I’m also sure that it did what it felt best. Remember—Trinity makes military AIs so tough they could weather a supernova with an even chance of surviving. The Box would have come to no harm, no matter what Cane did.”

Roche felt her fists clench involuntarily. “And what about me?” she asked. “All that stuff about saving me from the ambush, all the effort it spent to help us survive the crash—that was all an act?”

“No, Morgan.” Haid smiled at her through the hologram. “That I can tell you for certain. You see, Trinity knew what the Armada was up to as well, and they didn’t like it either. So they programmed one small bug into the Box to give you a reasonable chance: whatever you tell it to do, provided only that it falls within its powers and doesn’t conflict with its higher programming, it
will
do.”

It was Roche’s turn to snort derisively.

“I’m serious,” said Haid. “I also found it hard to believe at first, given what happened at the landing field. But it insists it’s telling the truth, and now I believe it.”

Roche regarded him carefully. “Why?”

“Well, for instance, ten days ago you told it to ‘do whatever it takes to get us out of here.’“

Roche nodded, remembering. “During the ambush.”

“That’s right,” said Haid. “And you attributed the
Midnight’
s self-destruction to Captain Klose. But you were wrong.”

Roche stared at him for what felt like eternity as the revelation unfolded in her mind. If Klose hadn’t scuttled the antimatter reserves, then—
the Box
had. To ensure her survival, it had sacrificed the entire crew of the
Midnight—
saving only Cane. And as an added bonus, the destruction of the ship had covered up its deception in that regard.

Roche felt nausea rising in her throat. She could hardly comprehend such a coldly calculated action. So much for no more surprises.

Haid went on. “Then, while you were preparing the plan to attack the landing field with Emmerik and Neva, you specifically instructed the Box to forget about taking over DAOC’s transmitter station. Although its idea might have been useful as a backup, it wasn’t able to consider the possibility after that point. That’s why we decided to go for the
Ana Vereine
instead, which we knew you’d approve even less—”

“Wait,
wait
,” said Roche, waving Haid to silence. “You’re going too fast. What’s the
Ana Vereine?”

“You’re standing in it,” said Haid. “The Dato Marauder that ambushed you.”

“And when you say ‘we,’“ said Roche, “you’re talking about the Box and yourself?”

“We talked over the datalink for some time after it ‘cracked’ me. The Box was in a real bind, because although your plan was good, it was also a little naive. There was no way we were going to hold the landing field indefinitely—especially considering the Box’s confirmation of what I’d already guessed, that the Armada probably wasn’t going to rescue you. That meant we had to have a backup plan, one the Box could play a role in. You’d frozen it out of the satellite, so the
Ana Vereine
was the only alternative. And to avoid you ordering the Box out again, we had to make sure you didn’t find out about it.”

Haid at least looked sheepish for a moment as he said, “The Box, Cane, and myself—I guess we betrayed you too, Morgan. Cane made sure you were unconscious when we boarded the shuttle; that way there was no chance you’d interfere. Then we took the shuttle to orbit and docked with its mother ship.”

“That easy, huh?” Chase, silent for so long, rolled his eyes.

“Haven’t you been listening to me?” snapped back Haid. “All we had to do was open a channel to the
Ana Vereine’
s main processors, let the Box do its thing, and we were practically home free. The Box changed the ship’s course from Szubetka Base to Intelligence HQ without anyone knowing. During the three-day journey out here, we stayed in the lower decks, with the Box covering for us—making sure security didn’t see us, and making it look like the crew of the shuttle were aboard upstairs. Maii helped, too; she smoothed the way with the captain and the senior crew as they began to suspect, giving us just enough time to reach Intelligence HQ, where we were finally safe to openly take over the ship.” Haid smiled. “Even that was fairly easy. Maii dampened their aggression to a manageable level, and the Box threatened to cut off their air if they didn’t do what it said. Anyone who tried to break free was dealt with by Cane.” He raised his hands. “And there you have it. I’ve never kidnapped a ship with so little loss of life before.”

“Risky, though,” mused Absenger. “Almost too complicated, in places.”

“It had to be, if we were going to keep Roche out of the way—which is how the Box wanted it. Just because it’s programmed to obey her, that doesn’t mean it has to like it.”

“Still, you were gambling a lot on the fact that the Box would be able to infiltrate the Marauder,” said Absenger. “The difference in scale and complexity alone—”

“Once the Box demonstrated that it was able to take over the MiCom installation on Sciacca’s World, I no longer had any doubts about its capabilities.”

“MiCom?” Absenger frowned. “But that’s a Commonwealth network, not Dato.”

“Intelligent systems differ only minutely throughout this region of the galaxy, except on Trinity. Which means that the Box can not only take over Dato networks, but
any
network at all. COE, Eckandar Trade Axis, Mbatan, MiCom, whatever—it’s all the same on the inside.”

Absenger was about to say something else, but stopped when he saw De Bruyn rise to her feet, her lips pursed with anger.

“You fool!” she spat at Haid. “Don’t you understand what you’ve done?”

“Come on, Page,” soothed Absenger, half rising to take her arm. “This isn’t helping matters—”

“Don’t patronize me, you idiot,” she growled, pulling free. “Can’t you see what they’re
doing
? Open your eyes, for God’s sake!”

Absenger’s brow knitted in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

“When you’ve finished squabbling—” started Haid.

“Shut up, Haid!” De Bruyn snapped viciously, suddenly producing a handgun from the folds of her free-flowing jacket. “I should execute you right now for what you’ve done.”

Haid sat frozen in position, staring down the barrel of the weapon. Clearly, he had thought she was unarmed.

“What’s she talking about?” asked Chase, just as obviously surprised by the sudden turn of events.

“I see it,” said Roche. The implication had been in Haid’s explanation of how easily the Box had taken control of the
Ana Vereine
, and of MiCom, the DAOC flyers over Houghton’s Cross, and.
Midnight’s
self-destruct systems, and now—

“HQ,” she said softly.

“
Now
the innocent begins to notice what’s going on around her,” said De Bruyn, although she kept her attention fixed upon Haid. “Or was the innocence just another act? Part of the distraction, perhaps?”

“I still don’t get it,” said Chase.

“Think about it, Auberon.” Holding the gun on Haid, she crossed the room until she was as far away from Roche’s escort as possible. “Why do you think we’re here? For an honest and open discussion? Forget it. We’re here to give that infernal machine time to complete its mission!”

Chase half rose as realization struck him. “Are you suggesting...?”

De Bruyn nodded. “I suspected they were up to something when we were asked over here, though I had no idea what that something would be. The only way to find out was to play their game.”

“You can’t be serious,” said Chase.

“Oh, I am,” said De Bruyn. “And I have no intention of just sitting back and letting it happen.”

Absenger shook his head slowly. “Now it’s
you
sounding paranoid.”

“Enough, Burne,” De Bruyn said. “The time for negotiation is past. If the Box hasn’t already infiltrated the Intelligence HQ command core, then we may still have a chance to do something to stop it.”

De Bruyn turned to cover the room with the pistol, her eyes filled with a self-confidence that Roche found strangely disquieting. Despite the head of strategy’s present advantage over them, she was still a long way from the security of Intelligence HQ. The situation could easily be reversed—especially with the presence of Cane and the Box—yet her eyes betrayed not the slightest suggestion of fear or uncertainty.

“JW111101000?” said De Bruyn, sounding out each of the numerals, and glancing unnecessarily to the ceiling. “Are you listening?”

The Box’s familiar voice suddenly issued from speakers in the base of the holographic tank. “I have been observing this conversation closely.”

“Good. Then pay attention. Silence between thoughts. I repeat: Silence between thoughts!”

“No!” Too late, Roche sprang from her seat, lunging for De Bruyn. She collided heavily with the woman before the head of Strategy could react, sending them both sprawling to the floor. The pistol skidded into a corner. Haid automatically jumped toward it, but he was quickly—and with surprising ease—knocked aside by Chase. As Roche fought to keep the head of Strategy pinned beneath her, a heavy arm wound around her throat, twisting her backward and cutting off her air supply. Gasping for breath, she was unable to avoid a vicious blow to her midriff from De Bruyn. Not far from her, unable to help, Haid struggled one-armed with the head of Intelligence for possession of the pistol.

Roche thrust backward with all her might. Absenger held on firmly. She kicked out at De Bruyn with her last remaining strength, but a savage twist from Absenger made the blow miss by an arm’s length. Through black spots spreading across her vision, Roche saw the woman move over to where Haid tussled with Chase.

De Bruyn collected the pistol from the floor and turned it on Roche in a single smooth action.

“Okay,” she gasped irritably. “Let them go.”

The pressure on Roche’s windpipe eased and she collapsed backward, sucking at air. She saw Haid rise slowly to his feet, his expression one of apology. She shook her head, silently cursing his carelessness: with another person to accompany him to the meeting, or at the very least a simple handgun, the attempt to disarm De Bruyn might well have worked.

“If either of you tries anything like that again,” De Bruyn scowled, “then you can forget about a trial.”

Roche glanced over to the Dato combat suits. Why hadn’t they intervened? she wondered. Why hadn’t they stepped in to
help
her? Then she remembered: they had been controlled by the Box.

“Box?” Haid called out, confusion gnawing at his words. “Box!”

De Bruyn laughed coldly. “It won’t do you any good.”