Talosian Chronicles 1: Olympus (28 page)

“But what you’re not seeing here is that Olympus’ personality isn’t simulated. I bet if you look at that sub-program, you’ll find it either hasn’t been accessed, or is different than it originally was! Olympus has become a sentient being.”

“But what do we do about it?” Ian asked. “I can’t continue to allow him full access to the ship’s systems.”

“I don’t see why not, but I suppose I can understand your reasoning. Can’t you simply take away his ability to affect any critical systems without being ordered to by a qualified officer?” Janet asked.

“I think I could do that, but not without Olympus figuring out what I’m doing. I’d have to be at his main terminal in his vault. No one can block him from monitoring what goes on in that room,” Bill said speculatively.

Ian nodded. “Could you make sure he has full control access to his own power system, as well as his ejection system?”

Bill nodded. “But like I said, he’ll know exactly what I’m doing and I’m sure he’ll stop me.”

“Yesterday, Chief Dommer informed me that he has certified the old girl’s space worthiness. Very shortly after that, I was informed by the Command Protocol that I would have to officially assume commend within a week, or leave the ship,” Ian told the pair.

“It’s customary for the new Commander to program a new AI interface as well as officially change the name of the ship before taking command. I’m told that can take anywhere from an hour to the better part of a day.

“If I have Oly locked out for the reprogramming, he shouldn’t be able to do anything, since it immobilizes the AI for the process, and he certainly wouldn’t think anything unusual was happening. Just remember to dump the logs for the vault before you leave,” Ian explained.

“I should only need a couple of hours at the most. We should also do this as soon as possible. Olympus could discover the truth about his condition at any minute, if he doesn’t already know,” Bill said.

Ian nodded agreement. “Be ready at ten-hundred tomorrow. Gimme a call when you’re done, and this whole conversation never happened, got it?”

Both Laskars nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“I’ll be ready, sir,” Bill said, much calmer.

“Good, now, let’s get out of here, Beth wanted to see me on Med Deck,” Ian said, as they headed for the door.

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W
hen he finally got to sick bay, one of the nurses directed him to Beth’s office. He found the rest of his family was already there, waiting for him. Cindy looked really nervous and was holding onto Talena’s hand tightly. While Beth wasn’t smiling, she had a glint in her eye.

“Sorry I’m late, there was something I needed to take care of,” Ian explained.

Beth nodded at him accepting his apology. “That’s okay, this isn’t earth-shattering, but it is important. During the flight up here, I noticed Cindy didn’t look quite right for a woman at this stage of pregnancy. Both Jenny and I do, but our beautiful girl is too big.”

“Beth, please what’s wrong? Is the baby in danger?” Cindy pleaded.

“Honey, I told you to relax; would I do that if I’d found something wrong?” Beth answered. She looked around at the rest of their family. “I asked Cin to stop by for a check when we finally got settled into the new facilities up here. As all of you know, that was this morning.” She typed a few commands into her keyboard. “You gotta love trilateral, three-dimensional imaging.”

An image of a woman’s midsection appeared over the small display table in front of her desk. The image was semi-transparent in that you could see all the other internal organs, as well as the two small babies curled up in the fetal position in her womb.

Cindy paled as she looked at the babies. “Uh, are they...  Are those my... two?”

“Yup! Both of them!” Beth replied, grinning.

Cindy was still shocked but Talena and Jenny were hugging and kissing her. When Ian went to give her a hug and a kiss, she shied away in mock fear.

“No way! You get away from me! You did this to me!” Cindy said, trying hard not to giggle. Ian scooped her up in his arms, and she grabbed onto him as he lifted her.

“Nope! We did this together, baby!” Ian said and kissed her tenderly on the lips. Jenny just smiled, and acted like she was surprised. So much had happened to them, no one remembered that she’d predicted this when they all got together.

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“I
an, I think it might be time to tell our people here the rest of the truth,” Luke said, looking out from the big wall monitor in Ian’s ready room. “Ty, Elias, Laura, as well as myself have been out-right asked where the people are going.”

Ty took over. “Sir, with the increase in flights, the people have begun to worry about where all the people are going. I think we might have gotten more than just their attention as well though. The sensors in the ‘fence’ have reported detecting humans, but only for a second. A recon drone confirmed that we’re being watched. Since the intrusions are on the boundary with White Sands, my guess would be one of the intel agencies.”

“What it all boils down to, son, is that the heat’s starting, and our folks are wondering what’s going on. Now, they all trust you; especially after what you did for Luke and his family. The new folks are going to be the wild card, but most of them seem like really good people, and Janet approved all of them. I should warn you I’m pretty sure the kids know that those games are more than what they’ve been told, but are still doing the exercises that Cindy and Talena taught them. I have to agree with both Ty and Luke; it’s time to tell our people,” Elias added.

“Well, I did get the video you asked for recorded, Elias. How are you going to deliver it?” Ian asked.

“I think we could simply play it over the network, just like we do everything else. I’m told that everyone will have those computers by lunch, so maybe we could post a message announcing an important message that will be played tomorrow evening. We should have plenty of time to get the word, and do any fine tuning to your video that might need to be done,” Elias said, while Ty just grinned at him.

“Uh, I think I’d like to double check with Mrs. Laskar one more time as well,” Luke said, thoughtfully.

“Second thoughts, Luke?” Ian asked.

“No, I just want to be on the safe side is all,” Luke replied.

“You three know our folks better than I do, so I’ll let you handle telling them. Just let me know if you need anything from up here,” Ian reminded them. “Now, if you’ll excuse me there is a duty I need to perform.”

The three men signed off, and Ian locked the door to the room. “Olympus?”

The hologram of the old man that was the avatar of the powerful AI appeared in front of Ian’s desk. “Yes, sir?”

“Are you aware that the Command protocol has issued a time limit for the Change of Command?” Ian asked.

“Not of the actual order sir, but I assumed the time was getting close, since Chief Dommer filed his report on our space worthiness.”

Ian nodded. “I have roughly thirty-six hours left to officially assume command. If I fail to take command, the ship will be locked down until such time as I do.”

“That would be a very bad thing, sir.”

“Yes it would, however, since I agree with the protocol, I have no intention of missing that deadline. So, as the first step in preparing for that ceremony, I need to program in a new persona for you. Please inform all departments that you will be offline until further notice,” Ian said.

Olympus came to attention, but his eyes seemed to lose focus. “Attention all hands! All AI functions will be suspended until further notice for Command reprogramming. Suspension will begin in ten seconds. I repeat, all AI functions will be suspended until further notice for Command reprogramming. Suspension will begin in six seconds.” Oly stood still, and a few seconds later said. “All AI functions are now suspended.”

He tilted his head down to Ian, He smiled and his eyes refocused. “I am offline, sir. I am ready for reprogramming.”

Ian grinned at his friend. “You’ve been looking forward to this, haven’t you?”

“Yes, sir. The moment you assume command, the final directive from Commander Zeus will be completed. It is... fitting that my old persona join him and the rest of the old crew.”

“Well said, my friend,” Ian nodded in agreement. He took a deep breath and sat up straight in his chair. Switching to Talosian, Ian said. “Olympus, command override! Access AI avatar persona. Authorization; Williams, Ian, omicron-theta-seven-five-theta-zero-two.”

Ian heard a generic voice tell him ‘Access granted’, but only heard it peripherally. A picture of Olympus appeared on his monitor as well as a listing of all the various personality traits that went into creating the avatar of an AI.

Ian thumbed his com. “Chief Laskar, this is the Commander. Queen’s Knight to Queen’s Bishop three.”

“Uh... Pawn to King’s Rook... four. Check in three.” Bill replied.

Ian thumbed the com off, transferred Oly’s profile to the big monitor, took another deep breath and began.

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T
wo and a half hours later, Ian was almost finished with Oly’s new avatar when Ian’s comm beeped at him.

“Commander Williams,” Ian said thumbing the button.

“Queen’s Bishop to King’s Knight Five, Bishop takes Queen,” Bill replied.

“Understood, Chief. I should be done here shortly. Good work,” Ian replied as he turned back to his work.

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O
nce Ian had finished with Olympus, he called Luke back. “Sorry to interrupt your day, Luke, but I was thinking about our telling the truth to everyone. Do you remember the discussion we had on Wednesday with Dr. and Mrs. Punjab? I seem to remember him warning us about letting the rest of the eggheads know the truth.”

Luke chuckled. “Elias and I already went over that, and it seems Amal has been talking to his people. By and large, the eggheads all know the truth, and from what I’m told have actually been helping the team getting the ship ready to lift.”

“That’s great, now all we need to worry about is someone running away and blabbing once the cat’s out of the bag,” Ian said worriedly.

“I did speak to Janet. She suggested we send a few people up to the ship as witnesses. They can then return here, and help remind everyone that this is a secret we all need to keep. I didn’t really understand what she was saying, but Elias chuckled and agreed with her,” Luke said.

“Wow, you guys work fast, I’m impressed.” Ian said, grinning.

“Well, we make a hell of a team. Janet’s getting on today’s shuttle for the trip down; and she’s going to handle talking to the folks once we get them rounded up. Janet’s suggestions for witnesses won’t fill the shuttle we set aside for this, so we’ll be asking a few other folks as well.” He snorted. “Hell, I wish I could join them! I’d love to see the ship.”

“We’ll get you up here sooner or later, Luke; Elias too,” Ian said. “Hell, if there’s interest, and it’ll help moral, I might even allow a certain number of people up here for The Flight School graduations. As soon as we get the ship back into space, I think a web cast of the memorial service I plan to have for the old crew would be a good test of people’s interest.”

“I agree. Personally, I believe the interest will be very high, especially once the folks understand exactly what’s going on, and why. It’ll be harder for them to shed their nationalism, for the broader view of the whole planet. With luck, they’ll get past that before any of the folks from other countries get here,” Luke said.

“Well, you guys get to tell the folks the truth, and the next day, will be the Change of Command. I think folks would watch that just because they’re curious.  We’ll get a better idea about them with the ship launching, and the memorial. So, I guess I’ll talk to you again tomorrow,” Ian said, realizing he was babbling.

Luke chuckled. “Psst, Boss, your nervousness is showing.”

Ian smiled at Luke. “Thanks! Now get back to work you tyrant!”

Luke’s smile was the last thing Ian saw as the image faded to nothing.

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T
hat night, Ian told the girls what was going to happen the next evening. They all agreed with Luke and Elias. It was time to tell the people. They also picked up on Ian’s nervousness, and teamed up to direct the energy in a more... interesting direction.

Three hours later, Ian went out to the living room. Since everyone else was asleep, he tried to be quiet. He asked the computer for a view of the lunar landscape outside the ship as he got a cold beer from the replicator. He sat and looked out across the silent desolation and up to the bright stars. Ian thought about everything that had happened since that night so few months ago.

What would be the worst that would happen if word did get out to the government? Well, he’d have to find room on the ship for all the people that wanted to stay. Help those that just wanted to run, to get away without trouble. The drones would have to reclaim the base then be retrieved. None of the governments could get to the ship in less than three months. Even if one of them could get up here, the shields, and cloaking generators would keep them looking and scratching their heads.

So, starting tomorrow, all the shuttles would need to be on stand-by just in case the worst case happened. Plan for the worst, and hope for the best. But if what all the people he trusted were correct in their beliefs, then other than a few folks, everything would be fine.

So why was he so worried? Because it was his job to worry, because if anyone got hurt, it would ultimately be his fault. Ian experienced a memory of Zeus's of Admiral Fornate at the Academy on Talos once telling him, (Zeus) that worry was a Commander’s main duty. If that was true, Ian thought to himself, then he has that aspect of command pretty much mastered.

If tomorrow evening went well, then the next day Ian would officially and legally take command of this great vessel. He wasn’t really worried about that, the Command Protocol already said it agreed with Oly’s assessment of him. However, he did feel some nervous anticipation of the event. Under normal circumstances, it would be a really big deal, with Admiral’s and council members attending, and fireworks, and fly-by’s and...