Deep Space Automated Tracking System
Updating target track: UKX7834-101
Timestamp: 0020730625.23.59
Calculating destination vector... [247] [005] [+/- 18%]
Calculating velocity... 107925285 [+/- 13%] km/h
Calculating distance... 388375613158 [+/- 18%] km
Calculating time to intercept... 899 [+/- 18%] days
Calculating signal lag... 15 [+/- 13%] days
EZRead POI: Massive energy output detected
Priority override...HIGH
Skywatcher 4, High Earth orbit
Every second of every day the satellite’s computer
re-orientated its optical scanner. It followed a simple, well defined process. First, aim at the next portion of the
sky in the sequence. Second, grab an
extended exposure and store it as a fractal image. Next it performs a simple
comparison of the image with the last one it stored from the same angle. If it
finds any differences then flag them. Finally it sends the latest image along
with any flags to the server.
It was one of a cluster of twelve satellites, all
built for the same purpose. The Skywatcher project is a UN sponsored effort to
continuously monitor the heavens. Its mission to look for nova, the last gasp
of dying stars.
This particular section of the sky had been
recorded every twelve minutes for two years. No anomalies had been discovered
in this section so far. Until now.
The computer, built specially for this task, scanned
the image. It detected a large bright object. An object it hadn’t seen before.
An object so bright it would be a supernova on a scale never seen before. The
computer didn’t get excited, it flagged the change and then piped the image to
its controlling server.
CNSA vessel Long March, Mars orbit
Her vision augmented by her implants, Hui could see
Mars below through the skin of the orbiting ship. Compared to the same view of
Earth, it looked barren, lifeless. There was no movement in its thin
atmosphere, no clouds of life bringing water. The planet’s ruddy surface lacked
Earth’s emerald and sapphire variation. Only the tiniest splash of white at the
poles broke up the dullness of it. It was the most wondrous thing she had ever
seen.
As the ship settled in Mars orbit, Hui ordered the
launch of three recon drones. Already in orbit sat two different orbiters. These
both acted as small motherships for robotic explorers on the surface. They
collected the data from the surface and beamed it back to Earth. Unfortunately
for her mission, both orbiters had short range radar systems to detect any dangerous
debris. These could send details on the Chinese operations here.
Two of the recon drones quickly intercepted the
orbitors. A high energy maser, fired from the Long March blinded their radars. The drones then deployed micro-cyber drones. These
tiny robots attached themselves to each orbitor, cut microscopic holes through
the shell and connected to the radar. By the time the problem with the
telemetry was noticed back on Earth, the micro-drones attached themselves to
the satellites and hardwired a fake input for the radar. The operators back on
Earth would see what Hui wanted them to see.
Now it was safe for the Long March to continue its
mission. Hui initiated the release protocols. She watched as the station module,
attended by several tugs, separated from the ship. Slowly the module was towed
into position. Over the next few hours, smaller modules were attached to the
core, the basic structure of the new station quickly taking shape. The three individual shuttle hangers were the
last major structures to be added before the two shield disks unfolded and
positioned above and below the station.
Once the disks were in place the long process of
attaching and activating the point defence batteries could begin. Hui turned
her attention from the construction datascape and focused on the recon probes
launched when they first arrived. Two of them continued to shadow the orbiters.
The micro-done overrides should prove adequate, but in case they didn’t the
drones could quickly engage and destroy the orbiters. If that happened, the
deception would be over.
The third drone followed a different course. This one
headed on a wide arc towards the outer Solar System. A new positional track on
the incoming alien vessel arrived from command Earth-side. Once fed into the
drone it to adjusted its course. In a combat situation Hui doubted that the
drone would provide much benefit against the aliens. That wasn’t its mission.
At the moment they had little information about the alien ship, or its
capabilities. The recon drone would help change that. She hoped so.
After two long days Mars station was now
habitable. The crew now transferred to the station from the ship. Her shuttle
was now being prepared for the journey home. She would have preferred to stay
here, in orbit above the red planet. Through her implants, what had once been a
quiet cul-de-sac of dataflow had now transformed into a major hub. The ship and
the station flowed with data, filling the volume around them. New slender, hidden
threads stretched to the deployed drones. It looked like spring had come to the
Mars winter.
Reluctantly she handed command over to Major Himani.
He would supervise the preparations. She had to return to Earth, make sure the
first re-supply mission was ready in time and then lead that mission back here
to Mars.
St Mary’s Hospital, Johannesburg
Michael Richards watched his wife, still lying unconscious
on the bed. The chair he sat in was uncomfortable, but he didn’t notice. He cradled
her hand gently. It hurt him to see her lying there. He’d never believed in
God, but now he found himself praying. The clinical part of his mind knew it
was a wasted effort. Another, less logical place clutched at the chance, the miniscule
chance that his prayers would have some effect. Right now, anything that didn’t
make him feel useless was welcome.
The austere surroundings might belie the fact, but
this was one of the finest hospitals in South Africa. The place was an anachronism
in this time with nuns as nurses and doctors doubling as priests. Their belief
in an ancient religion didn’t preclude them from using the latest technology in
healing the sick.
His wife’s doctor, an old priest from Rome itself,
assured him that everything that could be done, was being done. Smart drugs and
nano-bots had been injected into his wife’s system. They would boost the
natural healing, repairing the terrible damage from the inside. On the outside
plastic skin and tissue foam had been used to seal and patch her wounds. Already
the cuts and bruises that marred her beautiful skin were starting to fade. Although
she still remained unconscious.
The doctor told him not to worry. She was better off
in the state she was currently in. There she would feel no pain and her body could
devote all its energies to healing. He had said that even she wasn’t in a coma,
they would likely have induced one as part of her treatment.
Confident as he sounded, when Michael asked when
she would awake, the Doctor had no answer.
Michael tried to keep himself busy, to occupy his
worried mind with work. He had plenty to keep him busy. Monica Abbot kept her
word. The LMC research team now possessed all the data the UNOC had. She
assured him that would continue to be the case. He took the time to review the
data. He noticed how limited with the truth the UN had been with their responses
to the aliens. It was obvious that the UN were trying to conceal human
capabilities from the aliens.
His research team quickly set up their own quarantined
network and ran the VM. As with the UN team they had been amazed at the workings
of the VM. How could something so adaptable be delivered so simply?
On his instruction the team contacted the aliens
themselves. They were less restrained with the accuracy of their responses.
Michael hoped that would gain some leverage over the UN if it became a bidding
war. The message now sent, they had to wait for the reply.
The consortium stalled in its expansion. The
business with refusing to sell the options on production had gone to plan.
Slowly and as the prices rose they agreed to small sales with the UNOC. They’d
allowed the Schaeffer Brothers to take the lion’s share of the deals, providing
them with the funds they desperately needed.
Unfortunately his approaches to the NASA and ESA
shipyard hadn’t proceeded as well. They’d rebuffed his deal, politely, but a refusal
nonetheless. They explained that their order book was full from the business
with the UN. They didn’t have the capacity to do anything further. It wasn’t a
big problem, but it did slow things down a little.
A further upset came from another attempted
penetration of his company’s networks. This time it was targeted at the
shipyard. The cyber-mercs had thwarted the attack. They had even traced the
attacks to some individuals in Russia and Indonesia. Arrangements had already
been made to discourage those individuals from further attempts. There were
plenty of other hackers for hire though.
The level of sophistication of the attacks worried
Michael. Jacob Manning had reported that the techniques and programs used were
new. Hackers only revealed their new toys when the stakes were high. That meant
a major player. Almost certainly the Chinese, although frustratingly no proof
of this. Michael agreed to continue funding the extra security for the
networks.
With the ordinary daily business as well, Michael had
never been so busy. Nor had he ever felt less interested in it. It took a huge
effort to focus on these concerns. But every evening he was back here, in this
small white room. Only the most urgent communications were permitted to disturb
his vigil. Helpless he just stared at the still form of his wife and prayed
that she would return to him.
UNOC Research Facility, near Moscow
“I hope you’ve got some good news for me Doctor
Samir.” General Fuller did make an effort to keep the frustration from his
voice. His attempt wasn’t completely successful, luckily Samir didn’t seem to
notice. Before flying here to the research centre he had scanned the latest
intelligence reports from the CNSA operations at L1 Station. A giant sheet had
been constructed next to the station. The sail made from wafer thin woven
metallic threads stretched over a thousand square miles. When asked the CNSA
official had informed Fuller that it was experiment in solar sail propulsion.
They had anchored it to the station with delicate sensors to calculate the
thrust generated by the solar radiation.
This, on the face of it seemed a reasonable enough
explanation. It was just a coincidence that the sail obscured any activity at
the station, from both Earth and the Moon.
Fuller also received news that the Long March reached
Mars and was now in orbit. He used UNOC authority to access the feeds from the
Russian and ESA orbiters. Their local radar feeds showed the Long March sitting
in high orbit. There was some tug activity, but nothing substantial. Why the
Chinese fly all the way to Mars and then sit there doing nothing? Something
didn’t feel right.
On that feeling, Fuller ordered the launch of a
probe. He even authorised the use of an expensive chemical booster to give the
probe extra acceleration before the weaker ion drive took over. The extra thrust
would mean the probe would arrive at Mars two weeks earlier. It couldn’t arrive
soon enough for Fuller’s wish.
Another data package arrived from the aliens. It
had arrived soon after the enormous energy signature of the alien ship’s
braking manoeuvre. The energy output was incredible, it could even be seen with
the naked eye. A new star now visible in the heavens.
“Neither good nor bad General.” Samir’s reply
brought the General back to the present. “But most definitely interesting.” As
he often did after receiving new data, Samir wore an enthusiastic smile.
“Ok Doctor. What have we learned?”
“Since learning that the aliens were actually
travelled here, we wondered how they were doing it. They don’t appear to have
faster than light travel, so how could they survive long enough the travel between
the stars?”
“I remember. You theorised something about
generation ships. Successive generations of aliens living and dying between the
stars? ”
“Yes General. Although it seems our guess was way
off the mark. It’s much better than that.” It seemed impossible, but his smile
grew broader. “According to their latest data package, they have the technology
to translate their intellect into their computers. They have no physical body.
Do you know what that means?”
“That they don’t have to worry about life support?”
“Exactly, that reduces the ships mass
considerably. Their ship just needs engines and a network. They could support a
population of millions for little extra energy expenditure. But much more than
that, they’re practically immortal.”
“Immortal?”
“Think about it General. It’s the body’s decay
into old age that causes death. It’s the physical break down of the brain that
results in the loss of mental faculties. Imagine having a body that can be
repaired as good as new. Their ship is that body. It might break and wear down,
but as long as the network is maintained the aliens continue to exist. And the
ship can be repaired. That must be why they want the items they asked for. They’re
materials for renewing the ship.”
Fuller thought about it for a moment. Technology
like that would be worth a fortune. “So the aliens download their minds to
their computers?”
“In essence - Yes. Of course their computers are
much more sophisticated than ours. I’d give anything to see how they physically
operate. But even looking at the VM which runs on our technology, the
processing capability is simply amazing. On more advanced hardware, especially hardware
that could reconfigure itself. Well the possibilities are endless!”
“And the minds that are stored? Are they really
the aliens? Or just some simulated likeness?”
“That I cannot answer. A question for the philosophers
really.” Another smile. “To my mind, anything that can be replicated in every
detail is as real as the original.”
“So the aliens run the ship from inside their own
network?”
“We’re not sure. Although it does look like they
have created their own independent virtual machines for specific purposes.
These probably do most of the work, the aliens are more like travellers,
although we they decide how the ship operates.”
“These virtual machines, are they AI’s?”
Artificial Intelligence had been the holy grail of computing for more than a
century. Computers had become more capable, smart even, but none had
demonstrated any indication of self-awareness.
“It’s difficult to say, they’re certainly more sophisticated
than the VM used for communication. They’ve indicated that there is a demarcation
between the alien minds and the VM’s that they create.”
“Demarcation how?”
“The minds are more complex, more detailed. We don’t
know why.”
“But you have a theory?” This time Fuller smiled.
“We think it is the replication process. Somehow
the process records the physical structure of their brain as well as the
software, or the mental processes if you like. Quite why they can’t replicate
that artificially we don’t know.”
“Ok. What about their decision making process? Command structure? Do we know anything about
that?”
“No General. We still don’t know much about their
social structure. Although they have started asking about that. When they ask
us about something, it seems to indicate what they are going to tell us about
themselves in the next package.”
“They did ask something strange though.”
“Strange? In what way?”
“They’ve asked if humans are a unified race. It
was a specific question as well. That in itself is very unusual. Usually they
provide scenarios and use our responses to glean information about us. Rarely
have they been this specific.”
The Doctor was right, that did seem a bit out of
place. Fuller wondered what had sparked that particular question. “Thanks
Doctor. Can you compile a briefing package? I need to brief the Council this
afternoon on the latest contact.”
“Sure thing General.”
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