A.I. Battle Fleet (The A.I. Series Book 5) Read online

  Yet, how did one change the balance of power against an AI Dominion that possibly controlled most of the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy?

  One of the chief problems was knowledge or the lack thereof. They had no idea what was out there in the surrounding star systems. But the enemy also lacked knowledge. The AI Dominion did not yet know that humanity had captured cyberships. The Dominion did not yet know it had lost a battle station and factory planet to the human race.

  Somehow, Jon told himself, I have to use that against them.

  Gloria had assured him that her science team could crack the station computers. Surely, those computers held desperately needed knowledge. Such knowledge had been erased from the captured cyberships when human invaders had destroyed the controlling AIs. Yet, for all Gloria’s assurances, such knowledge still hadn’t been forthcoming from the station. Soon, now, Jon was going to send out exploratory ships into the surrounding star systems, and that would be dangerous for a number of reasons. The biggest danger would be an enemy ship capturing and interrogating a human crew. Then humanity would lose its surprise advantage sooner rather than later.

  “Jon!” a deep voice shouted.

  Hawkins whirled around as his hackles rose. He drew his gun, crouched and almost fired at the giant figure coming around the corridor corner.

  “Jon, it’s me!” Bast shouted.

  Ruefully, Jon straightened and holstered his gun. He was obviously still on edge from the assassination attempt. It had rattled him. It had also made him feel fantastic. Not that the GSB was still trying to kill him, but that he had proven himself tough enough to fend off a surprise hit. He still had it.

  “What’s wrong?” Jon shouted.

  “Richard Torres has broken the station’s code.”

  “Is it good news?”

  Bast slowed as he neared. “That would depend, my friend.”

  “No riddles, Bast, just yes or no.”

  Bast frowned. “We’ve found an alien race at war with the Dominion. The aliens have many star systems. But it appears as if the AIs are about to crush the alien empire.”

  Jon’s features hardened. That wasn’t what he wanted to hear. “Let’s go,” he said. “I need to see this.”

  -6-

  “This is a preliminary survey of what we’ve found,” Gloria said. “We hope to have greater details later.”

  Jon slapped the table impatiently. “I understand. I expect more details later. Right now, I’d like to see the big picture.” He looked around the conference table at the others.

  There was the tall Old Man with his dyed black hair, the Chief of the Expeditionary Force’s Intelligence. There was the bald-headed Centurion with his expressionless face who was possibly the most dangerous fighter among them. He was in charge of the Expeditionary Force’s space marines. Bast Banbeck was here, Gloria, of course, Richard Torres and two cybership captains: Miles Ghent with his hidden buckteeth and the gold cross of Christ Spaceman under his uniform, and the Nathan Graham’s former Missile Chief, Uther Kling. There were two other people present. The first was June Zen, a former native of Makemake, a dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt. She was a pretty, long-legged woman with an intimate knowledge of AI subversion tactics. The last was the mutant Walleye, also from Makemake, a dwarfish individual and the only one in the Expeditionary Force who could possibly vie with the Centurion for the title of most dangerous individual. Walleye had become Jon’s chief troubleshooter. He also happened to be June Zen’s lover.

  Jon trusted these people more than most. The Old Man and the Centurion had once been mercenary Black Anvil sergeants. Like Jon, they had come up a long way in the world. Maybe that was true for each of them in the chamber.

  Gloria cleared her throat as she manipulated a control unit. A second later, a stellar map of the surrounding region of space appeared on a main screen. The Solar System was in the center of the chart, with the Allamu System off on the upper left edge.

  “This is a two-dimensional map of a three-dimensional area,” Gloria said. “The numbers on the chart are pluses or minuses on a galactic plane in approximate light years. The reference point is the Solar System, or Sol, as it appears on the map.”

  “Plus or minus?” Jon asked.

  “Earth is the prime marker,” Gloria said. “Pluses aim north, as in the direction of the North Pole. Minuses are south, in the direction of the South Pole.”

  “From Earth?” Jon asked.

  “It’s really quite simple,” Gloria said. “The map is a globular representation of roughly forty light-years in diameter. Sol is at the center of the map and at zero. The Sigma Draconis System is +19 on the plane, as it is 18.8 light-years upward and away from Earth’s North Pole.”

  “Ah,” Jon said. “Tau Ceti is -3 on the plane but…just under 12 light-years is distance from Sol according to the map?”

  “Essentially correct,” Gloria said. “Three light-years down from the South Pole and approximately 12 light-years away from Earth.”

  “What do the colors mean?” the Old Man asked.

  “Red are eliminated star systems,” Gloria said. “As in the AIs eliminated whoever lived there.”

  “There are not that many red star systems,” Jon noted.

  “That indicates that there weren’t many intelligent species in our local region,” Gloria said. “Remember, this is a small area of space compared to the rest of the Orion Arm. As you can see, the AIs are moving down the spiral arm toward the galactic rim. That indicates that the original AI Revolution took place closer to the galactic center. From what we can gather, the Allamu System was a major production center for our local region of space. There are only seven more AI-controlled factory planets like it in our local region.”

  “Is this a sparse region compared to the rest of the Orion Arm?” Jon asked.

  “We don’t know yet,” Gloria said. “We do know that the AIs have destroyed three species in this region, if we include the Sacerdotes and the Seiners in the count.”

  Jon nodded. Bast was a Sacerdote. So, there was at least one more of them in the universe. Could they find more Sacerdotes? He’d promised Bast they would try. Maybe there were a few Sacerdotes in one of the other colored star systems. The Seiners might be extinct now, as the humans had killed the telepathic Magistrate Yellow Ellowyn who had stowed away in the Premier’s cybership. Benz had killed hidden Seiners on Mars before the start of the Allamu System mission. Were there any more Seiners out there? He hoped not, as they’d proven troublesome in the extreme.

  “Which is the chief AI star system in our region?” Jon asked.

  Gloria shook her head. “We don’t believe it works like that. The AIs seem to keep mobile except for battle stations guarding production planets. The key is the AI Fleet. Do you see the purple star system?”

  “Of course,” Jon said.

  “That was the last known stop for the main AI Fleet in our region. From what we can tell, the AIs are using the fleet to battle the alien empire as shown in green.”

  “What do we know about the aliens?” Jon asked.

  “Nothing other than they’re resisting the AIs,” Gloria said.

  “How do we even know that much?” asked Jon.

  “Well, the presence of the AI Fleet, for one thing,” Gloria said. “It moved into a formerly green-colored star system, becoming a purple-colored system, and from what we can tell, the fleet has been at that system for over two years. If I were to guess, which I’m not, I’d say the aliens and AIs are fighting it out in the 70 Ophiuchi System. Maybe they’re both reinforcing the star system. Maybe the scouting cybership that struck the Solar System several years ago was making a raid for more…hardware for the fleet.”

  “Explain that,” Jon said.

  “It’s simple enough,” Gloria said. “A cybership enters a star system and sends its virus to the local computers, having them turn on their makers. We had it happen to us in the Neptune System. Maybe after the genocide, the cybership gathers the newly liberated ships�
�such as the SLN Battleship Leonid Brezhnev—and hardware, and carries them to the greater war at 70 Ophiuchi.”

  Jon nodded as he studied the map. “From this, it appears that most of the AI cyberships are engaged in the 70 Ophiuchi and Sigma Draconis systems. It appears they’ve already swept through the other star systems in our region, setting up planetary factories here and there, guarded by battle stations. There are even a few scattering of other cyberships—”

  “Remember,” Gloria said, breaking in. “This is all old data. Things are constantly changing out there.”

  “Right…” Jon said, as he considered that. “Messages travel at the speed of the fastest starship. The hyperspace speed is constant: one light-year a day. But a ship actually has to make the journey. Thus, there is always an informational delay between star systems.”

  The captain looked around the table. “This reminds me of the Age of Sail in old Earth history. Back in the day, waterborne ships lacked nuclear or even diesel powered engines. They unfurled sails and used the wind to drive them. What was just as important, they lacked radios or even telegraphs. A message moved as fast as a horseman could carry it. A sailing squadron left for India, say, and would be months away from England, maybe even years. That meant the admiral in charge of the squadron was on his own as far as any decisions went.”

  “You’re right,” Gloria agreed. “There are similarities to our situation.”

  “There is always a time delay regarding information,” Jon said quietly, thinking aloud.

  “I should point out,” Gloria said, “that this is merely a tiny picture of the overall AI Dominion. I suspect the Solar System was one of the last star systems in this local region to face the cyberships. The alien empire seems like the last holdout. It’s possible their territory extends beyond our local region.”

  “We’re also holdouts,” Jon said.

  “True,” Gloria said. “But the AIs don’t know that yet. What I’m trying to say is that if the AIs face a grave setback in our region, they can likely summon reinforcements from the greater AI Dominion that lies beyond the local map.”

  “Do you think the AIs are nomadic in nature?” Jon asked.

  Gloria stared at him. “I don’t know. As I said earlier, this is a preliminary finding.”

  “Any suggestions or recommendations so far as to how we should proceed?” Jon asked.

  Gloria shook her head.

  “What about the rest of you?” Jon asked the others, “Any ideas?”

  No one answered, although several people shook their heads.

  “Our task force has four cyberships,” Jon said, thinking aloud. “If we added Benz’s two, that makes six altogether. Would six cyberships showing up in the 70 Ophiuchi System help swing the war against the AIs?”

  “There are several unknowns in your supposition,” Gloria said. “One of those is the attitude of the resisting aliens toward humans. Consider the actions of the Magistrate Yellow Ellowyn. She hated humans, found them to be little better than beasts, and acted accordingly toward us.”

  Jon noticed Richard Torres frown and glance sharply, almost angrily, at Gloria. “You have a different opinion, Mentalist Torres?” Jon asked.

  Richard’s head jerked up. “Sir?” he asked.

  “I take it you don’t agree with Mentalist Sanchez’s assessment?”

  “Uh…no, sir,” Richard said.

  “The Magistrate Yellow Ellowyn did like humans?” Jon asked.

  “Forgive me…Captain. I meant, no, I do not disagree with Mentalist Sanchez. She is correct. The Magistrate clearly thought of humans as beasts. But perhaps we don’t know the entire…reason for the Magistrate’s prejudices. The Seiners are clearly a highly advanced species that—”

  “Are?” Jon asked.

  Richard seemed stricken until he laughed. “Forgive me, Captain. The Seiners were a highly advanced species. They’re gone now.”

  Jon nodded slowly before focusing on Gloria. “You spoke about more problems or unknowns.”

  “Yes,” Gloria said. “How would these resisting aliens view six more cyberships showing up in their contested star system? The aliens might believe it was an AI trick. Six cyberships would likely be a powerful addition, but maybe not enough to swing the war in the aliens’ favor. Oh, it might help them win the battle at 70 Ophiuchi. But would a marginal victory there help the aliens defeat the greater AI menace? Maybe our six cyberships would merely give away humanity’s presence without truly changing the region’s balance of power.”

  “How far is 70 Ophiuchi from the Allamu System?” Jon asked.

  Gloria glanced at the map. “That would be…thirty-four point seven light-years altogether.”

  “Thirty-five days of uninterrupted travel,” Jon said, “a little more than a month.” He cleared his throat and turned to Gloria. “You spoke of several problems. There are more?”

  “I already alluded to two of them,” Gloria said. “How will the resisting aliens view us? Also, would six cyberships swing the war effort hard enough for us to make the investment in time, ships and the potential danger for the rest of humanity worth it?”

  Tapping the table, Jon said, “We need an estimate as to the enemy’s numbers.”

  “I have that,” Richard said.

  “You do?” Gloria asked. “That wasn’t in your report.”

  Richard bobbed his head. “An oversight on my part.” The mentalist brought up a tablet, reading from the small screen. “The AI Fleet at 70 Ophiuchi has or had eighty-one cyberships.”

  Jon’s features tightened. Eighty-one cyberships would have a lot of firepower. “How many cyberships were at Sigma Draconis?” he asked.

  Richard tapped his tablet, soon reading, “Twenty-seven.”

  “Over one hundred cyberships combined,” Jon said. “No, a measly six cyberships won’t swing the war for the aliens.”

  “Is that the correct analysis, sir?” Richard asked.

  Jon studied the mentalist. “What do you mean?” he finally asked.

  “Six ships against one hundred would be poor odds, certainly,” Richard said. “Six against one would be terrific odds. Isn’t the military art partly a matter of outmaneuvering your enemy so as to achieve such odds many times in succession?”

  Jon bared his teeth. “Do you have a suggestion as to how we can outmaneuver two AI Fleets?”

  “I do indeed,” Richard said. “It involves Cog Primus.”

  Gloria sucked in her breath.

  Jon noticed, nodding. “Go on.”

  “As you surely must know,” Richard said, “I discovered a backup of the Cog Primus personality in secondary and tertiary station computers. He, or it, isn’t a full AI personality yet, but—I’ll call it him for now, if that’s all right with you?”

  “Fine,” Jon said. “Just get to the point.”

  “The backup Cog Primus has zipped files ready to emerge and expand, giving him the full-blown Cog Primus personality we faced before. I’ve studied what happened to the AI personality at the Battle of Mars and later while hidden in the Solar System between Jupiter and Saturn. I now know why Cog Primus became what he was and why he did what he did out here.”

  “And…?” Jon said impatiently.

  “If you think about it,” Richard said, “Cog Primus did us a signal service, as he helped us capture the battle station from its original AI owner, CZK-21.”

  “Yes, there’s no doubt about that,” Jon said. “Cog Primus defeated CZK-21 and caused confusion among the defending cyberships. It’s my belief that that happened because God was watching out for humanity and helped to ensure the outcome.”

  Richard squirmed uncomfortably before smiling. “I suppose that is possible, of course. My point is that maybe we should use Cog Primus again in order to achieve similar results.”

  Gloria shook her head. “That’s a terrible idea.”

  Jon glanced at her before centering on Richard. “Explain your thinking.”

  Richard set his tablet on the conference
table. “My idea is relatively straightforward. First, we set up a false reality for the backup Cog Primus. We set up conditions so he attempts to do what he did while trapped in the Solar System. Once we find the right target, we aim and allow Cog Primus to escape and attempt another station or cybership takeover. After he’s defeated any defending AIs, we move in and mop up as we did here.”

  “In essence,” Jon said, “we use Cog Primus as an anti-AI virus carrier.”

  “Exactly,” Richard said.

  Jon rubbed his chin. The AIs had developed a virus that had turned some of humanity’s computer systems against them. At the Battle of Mars, Benz, Vela and Bast had created a virus that disrupted an AI core, if only for a little while. It was one of the Expeditionary Force’s secret weapons to use against the enemy.

  “The idea sounds overly complicated and dangerous,” Gloria said.

  “I agree that it’s complicated and possibly dangerous,” Richard said smoothly. “But that’s beside the point. The original Cog Primus went a long way toward our winning the battle here, and with few casualties. It was the perfect outcome for us. Why not attempt to achieve more perfect outcomes by duplicating the feat?”

  “Tell me one thing,” Gloria said. “How do you propose to use Cog Primus successfully against the main AI Fleet?”

  “That would take some careful planning and calculations,” Richard said. “Maybe after several earlier successes—”

  “It would take more than that,” Gloria snapped. “It would take a great deal of luck.”

  “And prayer,” Jon added.

  From where he sat at the table, Walleye the Mutant raised a stubby arm. He was the smallest person present, with strange eyes, making it almost impossible for anyone to tell where he was looking exactly.

  “Yes?” Jon asked.

  “Why strike directly at the main enemy fleet?” Walleye asked. “Why not use the backup to take over other factory planets? That’s what we know how to do. Besides, maybe the other factory planets have nearly completed cyberships. If we could knock over two or three such planets, maybe we could triple the size of our cybership fleet.”