The Commander (38 page)

Luke stopped in the corridor and faced the remarkable young woman. “I promise you once again, we will do everything we can to save your planet, and all of the planets in this part of the galaxy.”

“Thank you, Commander.”

“What was that favor you wanted?” Luke asked.

“Could you show me one of the ‘gas giant’ planets? My father and I were always fascinated by them, even when I was a child.”

“Of course, Chancellor. George, let the crew know we are heading out.”

“No, stop. Please, Commander. I understand you don’t really need the crew for such a brief trip. Please let them enjoy a little break. I simply want to look at the planet up close and see the rings. My father would have loved that opportunity. I would do so for him, and then return.”

Luke took a deep breath. He didn’t like it, but agreed. “Of course, Chancellor. Whatever you wish.”

When they reached the Moonbase hangar George welcomed her aboard. “Chancellor,” he said. “I hope you enjoyed your tour.”

“I did. Thank you, George.”

“Your ministerial robes are in your stateroom if you wish to change.”

“I’ll be on the bridge,” Luke said, and headed toward the ship’s interior. As he walked away, the Chancellor was relating to George how interesting she found everything inside the moon base. Luke thought George was almost purring from her attention.

On the bridge, Luke told George to head toward the inner giant.

“Course set, Commander.”

As the moon fell out of view, the chancellor appeared, once again in her fashionable clothes.

“We’re on the way,” Luke told her. “You’ll be able to see it in just a moment. What do your people call this planet?”

“We call it Toseong. It’s the name of one of our butterflies. Their wings are the same color as its rings.”

“
Coming
into view, Commander,” George informed them.

The chancellor gasped and leaned against the grab rail. Her face reflected the excitement of a child.

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered. Then she gasped in terror and flinched away from the window as a rock the size of a bus smashed a glancing blow off the warship’s forward force field. She stood pale and trembling from the surprising impact although nothing of the shock had transferred to the ship.

Commander, the chancellor’s heart rate is twice normal.

Luke guided her to the first officer’s chair. It took her a minute to calm down.

“I’m so sorry,” she apologized when she was able to breath normally again. “My people have a fear of meteorites, as you know. I never imagined meeting one on such a personal level.”

“Take your time,” Luke said calmly. “It’s all the asteroids around here; there’s a lot of ice in them and they make a spectacular splash against our shields.”

“Where do they come from?” she asked.

Luke shrugged. “We don’t know. They could be fragments of ancient collisions or unformed planetary rings. Whatever caused them, there’s an abundance of debris throughout your system. Glad we didn’t hit a moon,” he added off-handedly.

The chancellor looked shocked anew. “Is that possible?” she whispered.

Luke wished he hadn’t been so casual. “George?”

“Please do not worry, Chancellor Bo’erm. I assure you we will not hit any of Toseong’s primary satellites. But this planet has tens of thousands of small objects in its orbit. Those present no more of a problem than the one that just glanced off.”

It did not appear that George’s words were all that reassuring.

“I had no idea this would be so dangerous,” she said. “Do our pilots go through this type of incident very often?”

“Several times a day,” George replied. “You did not see the others, but that was our third impact on this trip.”

“They get used to it,” Luke added. “Please don’t upset yourself. George, let’s stop here.”

“All stop, Commander.”

Tentatively, the Chancellor rose and approached the bridge window. The gas giant was a magnificent sight, its ring system immeasurably complex. Dozens of distinct ring layers glistened around the planet. The light from the local sun reflected brightly from the outermost bands.

“Look,” the chancellor cried, pointing above the rings at a distant light. “That’s one of Toseong’s moons, isn’t it?”

“Indeed it is, Chancellor,” George confirmed. “Here is another.”

The ship rotated slowly to the left until another moon, closer and much larger, came into view. Its surface was pockmarked with craters. Luke could see a plume of steam rising from a volcanic cone.

The chancellor gasped with delight at the beautiful scene.

“This moon is quite active, geologically,” George explained. “If you look closely you might notice a striation across the surface. It may be that in a few thousand years this moon could—”

George stopped talking and an unexpected silence filled the bridge.

“Could what?” the chancellor asked breathlessly.

“Warning, Commander. Unknown vessel detected by reconnaissance drones.” George’s voice had returned to monotone. “The intruder is on course for Jigu. Standby. Reports updating…”

“Take a seat, Miss,” Luke barked at the chancellor.

“Bakkui confirmed. The configuration of the craft is similar to prior engagements, but immensely larger. Patrol ships are moving to intercept. We are ready to engage upon your command.”

The view outside shifted slightly past the nearby moon.

“Hold it, George!” Luke ordered. “We can’t go into combat with the chancellor aboard. Hold your position.”

“What?” the chancellor jumped up in outrage. “Of course you can.”

“Quiet, I’m thinking,” Luke said.

“George, shoot it; or whatever you do.”

“I said, quiet!” Luke shoved her back into her seat. “Status?”

“Two patrol ships arriving dead ahead.”

“I see them,” Luke said.

The two ships were faintly discernable in the middle of the viewscreen. They were far past the nearby moon.

“Don’t you dare order me like that!” The chancellor stood up again, incredulous at Luke’s treatment.

Luke wrapped an arm around her and covered her mouth to silence her outburst so he could hear what George was saying.

“Our warships are establishing a—”

The chancellor wriggled free. “Stop it! I said
stop
!”

Gravity disappeared. The lights inside the ship went out, casting the bridge into darkness. The only illumination came from reflected sunlight from the ringed giant. Luke and the furious chancellor floated in the bridge.

“Our warships are shutting down as ordered,” George said. “Their engines and weapons systems are offline.”

Luke snagged his foot on the arm of the captain’s seat. “Belay that order George! Get ready to engage!”

“Unable, Commander.”

“Damn it! You answer to me, not this girl!”

Luke pulled himself into his chair. The chancellor was drifting toward the far wall, her arms and legs gyrating madly. He ignored her struggles.

“The order to shut down was not for me, Commander. It was for her warships.”

Luke felt his temper slipping away. “Those are my warships, you idiot! Tell them to come back online or they’ll be…”

In the center screen Luke saw two distant flashes.”

“George, was that…”

“Affirmative, Commander. Both patrol ships were destroyed.”

“George! What did you do? How could you let that happen?”

“Commander. The order did not come from me.”

“Well it sure as hell didn’t come from me, George. And if you transmitted her orders to them over my head, so help me God, I will take you apart with my bare hands!”

“Please calm yourself, Commander.”

“Turn the damn gravity back on George! What the hell are you playing at?”

“Commander, the order came from a higher authority.”

“I’m the highest authority in this system, George. Now turn the gravity back on!” Luke commanded again.

“
Going
offline,” George said.

Silence filled the bridge.

“George?” Luke called out. “George, are you there?”

There was no reply. The silence was almost total. Only the ruffling material of the chancellor’s clothing could be heard along with her frustrated gasps as she tried to grab onto something.

“George?” Luke said again.

The chancellor touched the far wall and tried to reorient herself. She only managed to propel herself back in Luke’s direction.

“George?”

As the chancellor drifted by, Luke grabbed her outstretched arm and pushed her into her chair. The young woman’s expression was no longer cross; it was now filled with fear. “What is....”

Luke cut her off by placing his index finger against her lips.

“Something’s really wrong here,” Luke said. There was no anger in his demeanor now. “I’ve never seen George shut down before.” Luke turned his full attention on the young woman. “Just sit there. Hold on to the arms of the seat, and would you please shut up!”

Luke launched himself expertly toward the front window, grabbing the handrail as he approached. He scanned the space in the general area of the two dead ships. Then he saw it.
Coming
from behind the gas giant, moving fast, was the Bakkui ship. It was huge, but impossible to say how big. Certainly, it was larger than a colony-class spacecraft.

It passed through the debris field of his two warships without slowing and in another instant was lost to view, obscured by the moon in front of his own warship.

“Hang on, Commander,” George said.

Gravity came back on and George zoomed toward the moon. He favored the side closest to the gas giant.

Unprepared for the resumption of gravity, Luke had to pick himself off the floor. “What’s going on?”

“Commander, the order for those ships to stand down came from a level-two-device. That is the higher authority I was referring to?”

That didn’t make any sense to Luke. “A level-two-device? Where did that come from? Is Sam back or something?”

“Commander, what I am trying to say is that the order came from the Bakkui ship. It is the level-two-device!”

Luke was stunned by the revelation.

“The order was directed to our two warships. It did not detect me. Had it done so, it would likely have given me the same order and I would have had no choice but to comply. I am positioning myself to stay hidden behind this moon. I cannot let it know we are here.”

The reality of the Bakkui menace came into focus. All of the Bakkui ships they had faced up until now were drones. That was why they had not found any living beings engaged in this war. The entire Bakkui invasion was being orchestrated by this level-two-device. A supercomputer even more powerful than George.

“It must be a rogue,” Luke suggested. “You said yourself there were instances of rogue devices; of AIs that had something wrong with their personality modules. Like
Toby
.”

“That’s true, Commander. But without my archives, I cannot verify such an event. It is possible that the defection of a high-level device would not even be recorded. The Nobility is known for suppressing embarrassing information.”

George reached the moon and established a position a few thousand feet above the surface. The warship moved slowly, counter to the direction of the enemy ship.

“So you’re telling me that if it sees us, we’re done. It can tell you to shut down.”

“Exactly, Commander,” George confirmed.

“Shut off your communications then. Don’t listen.”

“Impossible, Commander. Communication between AIs is built-in. It’s on a different band from all other frequencies. AIs are built so it is impossible to ignore one another.”

“And yet, you’re hiding from it.”

“Only because of my programming to serve the Nobility. Their goal to stop this menace is my highest priority at the moment. But it can be overridden by an order from a level-two-device.”

Chancellor Bo’erm interrupted their debate. “What about all our other warships? Do they have to obey this monster as well?”

“I’m afraid so, Madam Chancellor.”

“Well, we can’t just sit here,” she exclaimed. “Didn’t you say it’s on the way to my planet? It’s going to attack, isn’t it?”

“I surmise that is a logical objective,” George admitted.

“Surmise?” The Chancellor’s anger was rising. “Logical objective? What is wrong with you? Shoot it down! I order you to attack.”

“Lady,” Luke said without taking his eyes from the window’s view, “if you don’t shut up I’ll lock you in your room. Now let me think.”

He ignored the gasp from the outraged minister, but she kept quiet.

“The way I see it,” Luke whispered to himself. “We’ve got one shot. Maybe two if we’re lucky.”

“Agreed, Commander.”