Talosian Chronicles 1: Olympus (27 page)

“Doctor, you and your wife remember Mrs. Janet Laskar don’t you?” Ian asked.

“Of course, Mr. Williams, she was the one that approached us about the opportunities here,” Alba replied this time, smiling at the other woman.

Taking the cue from Ian, Janet rose, and said in a clear voice, “Olympus; holographic display mode please.”

Ian, Elias, and Luke sat and listened to Janet retell a compressed history of the ship. Both Elias and Luke listened closely, and stared at the holograms that were projected with the same intensity as the Punjab’s. By the time she was finished with her narrative, her audience was awed; which was a reaction she was getting used to.

“That... that is...” Amal hesitated. “Mr. Williams, I do not know the reaction of the rest of the people here, but once the rest of the researchers learn of this, it will be impossible for most of them to contain their excitement. I’m afraid that word would be spread across the world as fast as most could call their colleagues. There will also be a near riot to begin research on most of the alien technology. Please understand that the knowledge wouldn’t be spread for profit, or out of any malicious intent, but simply because that is how such things are handled. If you plan on divulging any of this information to the rest of us, I would certainly take that into consideration.”

“I would be willing to bet that once the Dr. and his friends get a good look at most of this, they are going to need a place to work, that’ll be safe from discovery by the government, as well as a place were communications could be controlled,” Janet said grinning at Ian again.

Ian rolled his eyes at her. “The moon base?”

She nodded. “It’ll eventually become a small city, however, it would be the ideal place for research, and if Dr. Punjab would consider administering it, it would also be a place that most of them would be comfortable with.”

Amal and Alba both looked a little confused and overwhelmed. So Ian made a decision. “Oly, can the Punjab’s use the teaching tech?”

In a slow sparkle of lights, Oly shimmered into existence beside Ian’s chair. “Yes, Commander.”

Ian introduced Olympus and the two stunned scientists. “Dr, Mrs. Punjab, Olympus is the ship’s Artificial Intelligence Associate. This is the same Olympus that Janet told you about in the history lesson.”

Olympus performed the gesture of Namaste toward the Punjab’s and both stood and returned the gesture of greeting.

Ian stepped over to the replicator, and got two sets of contacts and communicators while Olympus explained their use. After handing them over to the couple, Ian turned back to Janet. “So, how do we go about starting the base thing?”

“Well, once the Punjab’s are up to speed on everything, we can actually start hammering a design out, but at first, we’ll need several areas where people can do research, and perform experiments safely. You’ll also need a small space docking facility, and a small scale ship yard. Eventually, our flight school will be there.

“Considering the primary function of the place, you might want to consider another AI for it; it’ll need one,” Janet replied.

Ian nodded thoughtfully. “How about we give them a few days to adjust, then they can come up to the ship, and we can work out the details of the base. I was kinda thinking about an automated data center to back-up as much as our cultural information as it can.”

“Uh, forgive me, but did you say ‘up to the ship’? How would we get there, and why would we need to go?” Amal asked.

“The ‘why’ is because that’s where I’ll be, and as for the how... follow me, and I’ll show you a few wonders right here in river city,” Ian said as he led the couple out of the office and over to the elevator.

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L
uke and Lara Belden took over the jobs of administer and assistant like they’d been doing it from the beginning. The transition allowed Ian and family to finally move to the ship. The only one that was a little nervous about the move was Talena, and Janet Laskar was with her a good portion of the time since the Laskars were moving aboard at the same time as the Williams’.

Cindy, of course, bitched about just getting home and having to turn around and fly back to the moon. Since she was standing next to the personnel hatch whining to Jenny, the loading passengers did their best to hide their smiles at her playful complaints. However, her bitching stopped when Jenny took over flight duties, so Ian could drag a not at all resisting Cindy into one of the bedrooms for a little while.

A recently recruited structural design engineer was reading something off a small tablet computer as he walked up the hall. He was about to open the door to what he thought was the head, when he heard something come from the room that told him he was in the wrong place. He looked at the door in confusion then looked back toward the lounge, then up toward the cockpit. He mentally slapped his head, turned around and stepped into the correct room across the hall.

Beth, who had been sitting with a couple of her nurses, watched the man, and grinned. She quickly pointed the man out before he vanished into the correct room. “Who is that man? I don’t recognize him.”

Alisa answered this time. “He’s new, an engineer of some type. I was introduced to him, but I can’t remember his name. I know it was something really odd though.”

“Serin Vax. A friend in engineering told me he was a really... uh... focused individual,” Mikala said.

Alisa tried to contain her giggles as she looked at Beth. “Dr. Williams, I thought you told us that your wives got pregnant at the same time you did?”

Beth nodded. “We did. It was a busy weekend.”

“So... why is Cindy so much bigger than Jenny and you?” Alisa asked.

Beth looked a little apprehensive. “Honestly, I hadn’t noticed that she was until we began boarding for this flight. Once we get to the ship, I’d like to get her into a diagnostic unit for a full prenatal physical. One of three possibilities exists; she is giving birth to a full grown person, she has developed problems with her uterus or the baby, or...she’s got more than one bun baking.”

“Yes Doctor,” Alisa replied and made a note on her own tablet.

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W
hen the shuttle finally landed in Alpha bay, there were literally hundreds of domestic drones waiting to unload the passenger’s personal effects and zip off to the quarters assigned to those personnel.

As Ian watched, the drones would zip out the back of the shuttle, and down the Hyper-missile ramp. Although they were the same, none of them seemed like the slow moving, friendly acting, 'floating canister vacuum machines' they’d had at the house. The drones had the personal effects off-loaded before the last passenger had finished gawking, and left the landing bay.

In the maglev, a list of destinations formed, and reorganized, as people added their destinations. Since Ian and family were in the car, ‘Command Quarters’ remained at the top of the list.

The family found Oly waiting for them at the door to their quarters. Oly smiled and bowed his head to Ian in greeting. “Welcome aboard, Commander and family. Please enter your new quarters. I hope you enjoy them.”

Ian walked in and stopped in the middle of a room that very much reminded Ian of the one they had left behind at Beth's. However, it was just different enough so he knew he wasn’t, but it was enough like it that he didn’t think he’d have any feelings of displacement.

The rest of the family was awed and amazed as well. Oly seemed very pleased with their reactions, and had a big smile on his face. “I tried to use the same basic layout and ‘feel’ of your original home. I tried to make this as familiar as I could.”

“This is awesome, Oly! You did a great job, but the hallway is longer, and doors don’t seem to be in the right places,” Beth said.

“...and no back yard pool?” Cindy said cheekily.

“Of necessity, I had to deviate from the original floor plan somewhat. The Master suite and sanitary facilities are larger to make room for the oversize bed. The sanitary is separated from the master suite by a large dressing room that is surrounded by closets and dressers.

“Directly across the hall from the master suite is the nursery. It is currently set up as an identical suite as yours, only instead of an oversize bed, I had the drones replicate six baby dens. Their sanitary is also different in that it has an altered layout with baby care in mind. The nursery doesn’t have a dressing room, that area is currently a utility area, but can easily be altered into a play area.

“What's a 'Baby Den'?” Cindy asked.

It is comparable in function to what you would call a crib with the exception that there are several other emergency features built into it. There is also a small medical diagnostic unit built in to monitor the health of the child,” Oly explained. “It was the standard used for newborns and the very young while aboard ship.” Seeing that he had answered her question, Oly moved on with his explinations.

“Farther down the hall are two guest rooms, with king sized beds, and small, personal, sanitaries with showers. At the end of the hall is the domestic drone storage area.

“Being the Commander, It is assumed you will entertain from time to time. There is one final sanitary past the dining area where the back door to your old house used to be. If you turn to your right just before the sanitary door, you will find a lift to the Commander’s ready room, one level above. I could not put your pool in because there is an engineering area on the other side of that bulkhead that serves the bridge,” Oly finished.

“Thank you, Oly. I wish I could express how much this means to me, and my family,” Ian said, and each of the girls said thank you as well. Talena just winked at the old hologram.

“In the past, it was not unusual for a ship to be asked to remodel the Command quarters for the incoming Commander. Environmental and psychological requirements were always part of the request. I believe that, more than ever, you and your family need to be comfortable here,” Oly replied. “I am pleased that you approve, Commander. I will leave now, so you can settle in. Oh, Cadet, if you are still interested in the pool, you might want to see what Major Laskar has done with cargo-two.”

After Oly faded out, Beth asked if anyone else wanted pizza. Oly had even installed holographic ‘windows’ that had to be linked. Unless otherwise commanded, the windows would have the same ‘atmosphere’ for the entire house; complete with the noise of a small town, or suburb. By bedtime that night, the family had begun to settle in, and the new quarters started to feel like home.

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A
couple of days after arriving on-board, Janet and Bill Lasker requested a meeting with Ian. Since Bill sounded concerned Ian approved it immediately.

Once they’d arrived in Ian’s day-room, Bill used his authority to lock and seal the room; which meant that not even Olympus could listen. Ian was the Commander of the ship, but Bill needed higher computer access to perform his duties.

When Ian was about to ask Bill what was going on, Bill held up his hand stopping Ian from speaking while Bill walked around the room carrying a device in his hand. He quickly typed on the small keyboard and two cloaked holodrones dropped their cloak and came to rest on the floor before powering down. Bill then moved over to Ian’s terminal, and typed in a couple of other commands, shutting the terminal down as well.

“There, now we can talk,” Bill said, conspiratorially. “We absolutely cannot risk Olympus overhearing us.”

“Why?” Ian asked getting a little flustered with his father-in-law.

Bill sat next to Janet on the couch, and she took his hand to show support. “Two days ago, you asked me to begin research with an eye toward creating another AI for the potential base on the moon. Well, I figured the best way to do that would be to examine Olympus’ core programming myself.”

Ian nodded his understanding and agreement of Bill’s method of research.

Bill nodded nervously and forged ahead. “I compared the stored copy and the current one that’s been active for over four-thousand years side by side. Now remember, this is the Core section of his programming, I had to jump through some pretty impressive hoops to get access to it. Well, I found some major differences between the two programs!”

Ian nodded, still not understanding what Bill was telling him.

“Ian, the core programming is supposed to be set in stone, unalterable, even by the original programmers. Olympus isn’t supposed to have access to it, either. Just to see what would happen, I tried to alter a small part back to the original code, and it changed right back, right before my eyes. Olympus has rewritten his core programming! This is the Talosian programmers worst nightmare; a heavy cruiser with a rogue AI!”

Ian sat back trying to digest what Bill just told him; how could Olympus be a rogue AI, if he hasn’t done anything wrong?

The clearing of her throat brought Ian’s attention to the room’s third occupant; Janet. When Ian looked up at her, she smiled.

“Ian, like I tried to tell my wonderful, but single-minded husband, there is no reason to panic; Olympus isn’t rogue.”

Bill looked at her like she’d grown a third head. “Love, I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but you don’t know what this means! Olympus no longer needs a human crew! He has control of the entire ship! All functions! At any moment, he could decide to just open the airlocks, and that would be it for all of us!”

“If that’s the case, why hasn’t he done it already? For that matter why go to all the trouble of getting all of us trained, and up here? It would have been much simpler for him to just fix himself and fly away,” Janet said trying to soothe Bill. Something about the way she was speaking helped Ian to relax as well.

“I do deal with programming, everyday, sweetheart, just a different kind of programming. Olympus is far too relieved at no longer being alone to think about ‘going rogue’. Hell, I doubt that he even knows what’s happened to him!

“Personally, I’d have gone insane having to stay hidden for as long as he has. I want both of you to think about something; everyone that Olympus interacts with treats him as an equal, not some impersonal machine. Before you tell me, yes, I know about the whole simulated personality sub-program. Both Julie and I do listen to you when you get over-excited.