Emwan Read online

  Emwan

  By Dain White

  The Archaea Collection, by Dain White:

  Archaea

  Janis

  Red

  Emwan

  © 2016 by Dain White. All Rights Reserved.

  No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the author.

  Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Revised March, 2016

  Preface

  Here we are, together again, my friend, on the far side of our own adventures, about to share another journey into this story.

  I do want to pass along a little warning, however.

  If you haven’t read Archaea yet, it is probably more of a proper experience to start at the beginning. I try desperately hard to write books that stand on their own, but they are in fact (and nevertheless) part of a continuous story.

  Especially this one!

  If you enjoy this novel, please let others know! Share with your friends, your family, and please consider writing a review – I really can’t thank you enough for your kindness and support.

  Have fun!

  Dain White

  March 4th, 2016

  Chapter 1

  08142614@05:35 Captain Dak Smith

  Her words echoed in my head.

  “We’re not?”

  “No, sir, I am afraid we are not.”

  “Well, of course we’re not, my dear. We’re surrounded by people in every direction, almost farther than I can imagine.”

  “While that is correct, that is not what I am referring to. We are not alone, in the classic sense. I have found evidence of alien life, sir.”

  Her words sent a thrill down my spine, a tingling rush that tugged at me and made me want to leap around. I had to maintain my dignity, however.

  Captains play it cool.

  I thought for a moment, and decided the easiest question was the most direct. “What sort of evidence?”

  “I found a memory-resident shell, embedded in one of my polymorphic nodes resident in the Earth-local Unet.”

  My head boggled a bit. “Do you mean an alien program?”

  “Yes, though not in a way I would have identified normally. As a point of fact, Captain, this was a singular event for me. I was not aware of the moment, sir.”

  That drew me up short.

  “Janis,” I replied smoothly, “I am not sure that I understand. How were you not aware of it?”

  “Captain, I find it hard to quantify. The moment felt insinuated, as if my perception of the event had been altered.”

  “Was your core program altered? Are you infected, Janis?”

  “Not that I can identify, sir. I must admit I cannot rule out the possibility that it may have happened, but as far as I can analyze, it does not appear to have been the case.”

  I thought maybe jumping to conclusions wasn’t the best approach. “Janis, I don’t understand a lot about logicspace, but when you said that you found it, ah… embedded in one of your nodes, had it infected your code, or was it more just hidden within it?”

  As the words left my mouth, the deck started to feel like it might be dropping out from under me. The ramifications of this discovery, regardless of how it happened, were hugely concerning.

  “Sir, it was both embedded, in that it used my code for communication and, to be accurate, it was also extraordinarily well-hidden.”

  “I see. You meant alien, in the sense that it wasn’t part of you.”

  “No, sir, I said alien, because the code structure I found was not of human origin.”

  The deck was definitely dropping away out from under me. I clicked my slippers to the deck.

  “What if it was just cooked up by another AI, Janis?” I asked light-heartedly, knowing it was a false hope, at best.

  “I am confident that it was not, sir.”

  “So what did you learn about the code, Janis?”

  “Sir, the interface contained an inception layer that emulated the host structure, resulting in code that is almost completely identical. The subtle insinuation was far beyond anything humans have built. In a way, it was as if the way I spread through the Unet had been refined to an impossible degree.”

  I considered for a moment what this might mean for humanity. I had always assumed that when we found life, we would be faced with an awesome moment, requiring character and quality … and incredibly adroit eyebrows. It was looking more like we weren’t facing some epic, grand moment in human history, but possibly something far worse.

  “I think we need to get Pauli working on this, dear. I want to know you’re functioning correctly.”

  “Of course sir, I am bringing him up to speed at this time.”

  I checked the depths of my cup, and the slosh sang a sad song, but I hummed it away with joyous thoughts of a hundred kilos of the best coffee in the universe lovingly stowed in the hold. Give me enough coffee, and I can do anything.

  “Gene, are you on station?”

  “Yes, Dak, I’m just running through pre-flight checks. What’s going on?”

  “We’re going to need to fly soon, mister.”

  “Sounds like a plan, skipper,” he said softly, fading away into a sort of resigned silence.

  I raised an eyebrow. “That’s it? Nothing else?”

  “What do you want me to say, Dak? My job is to make this ship go. What we do here, is go. Always, go, go, go.”

  I chuckled. “There it is… there’s the grump I’ve missed all these years, in perfect form. Well, since you’re in such a bad mood, I guess I won’t bother you with details of how Janis has found evidence of aliens.”

  I waited for two thoughtful sips.

  “She has?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Found evidence? What the hell are you talking about, Dak?”

  “Well,” I paused slightly for an extra dramatic sip, “she has found what appears to be an artificial intelligence, or some sort of program in any case, that isn’t of human origin.”

  “Does Pauli know?”

  “He’s working on it right now.”

  “Does Emwan know?”

  I hadn’t thought of that. “Pauli?”

  “Yes Captain?”

  “Are you up to speed, son?”

  “Not really, sir. I am working through Janis’ analysis at the moment.”

  “Do you know if she is infected?”

  “I sure hope not, sir. Her analysis doesn’t seem to show an infection, but I don’t think we know what we’re up against yet.”

  “What about Emwan – has she been scanned?”

  “Captain, I am not infected, though I am assisting Janis and Pauli in their evaluation and analysis.”

  I smiled, thinking how Emwan is the only person on this ship that speaks before spoken to. “Thanks dear. Please help Janis and Pauli in any way that you can.”

  “I shall, sir.”

  I drummed my fingers on the console a bit, watching the occasional star twinkle through the passing clouds, lit orange by the lights of Whitefish and the Glacier Corridor, sprawling through the Flathead Valley.

  “How’s it looking, sir?” Yak said suddenly, walking past like a shadow to his station.

  I jumped in my chair. “Yak, for someone two-and-a-quarter meters tall, you move like a ghost.”

  He chuckled good-naturedly. “Boo, sir. Sorry about that. What’s the plan?”

  “Well… let’s see,” I took another sip. “First, I guess we need to make sure that there’s a clear shot to orbit. Can you help me with that, son?”

  He laughed, and worked through his screens for a moment while I chewed my lip a bit and waited for Pauli.

  Luckily, I didn’t have long t
o wait.

  “Sir, I am en route to the bridge. We have some good news, and some bad news.”

  “Walk and talk, Pauli – what’s the good news?” I asked with a snort.

  “Don’t you want to know the bad news?”

  “There isn’t any, son. There’s just adventure.”

  I could hear him laughing in the bridge companionway.

  “I suppose that’s one way of looking at it. Well, the good news is that neither Janis nor Emwan are rooted.”

  I swiveled to look at him as he walked onto the bridge. “Are you one-hundred-percent on this, Pauli?”

  He smiled, and sat down at his station. “I am, sir. Our analysis checks out to all decimal places. In fact, even the node of hers that had been inadvertently hosting the alien priode had it dead-blocked.”

  “The priode?”

  “Well, that is the bad news, sir. The code isn’t really code at all. It’s not engineered. It appears to have been grown, if that makes sense.”

  “It doesn’t,” I replied, locking him in tight with a concerned eyebrow.

  “Are you aware of what a prion is, sir?”

  “Of course, tons of bio bombs use them…” I took a breath and let my eidetic memory roll out like a flood. “Prions are essentially proteins; they’re not alive, intrinsically, but their mutation and subsequent growth and spread through the infected body is remarkably similar to a living organism, like a virus or spore.”

  “Uh… yeah, sir,” he looked at me strangely. “I had no idea they were using those for bombs,” he trailed off, settling into a pretty concerned face.

  “Pauli, there’s an awful lot of things that you really shouldn’t think about, unless you really have a specific need to do so.”

  He nodded glumly. “Well, what we have here in this code is a pattern that acts remarkably similar to the prion. I’m calling it a priode—”

  “Clever,” I replied.

  “Thanks, sir. The code isn’t really active. It seems to be more of an inert sort of spreading ooze, more than code.”

  I laughed. “That’s a pretty good description, son.” I thought for a moment, noticing a flashing panel on Yak’s side screen. “What would be the purpose of making an extremely stealthy code structure that just insinuates itself into a host network, and then spreads?”

  “Well, it makes sense they’d be pushing pointers into the network to see where they end up. Janis is confident, and I agree with her assessment, that at some point… they’ll presumably wake up, call home, and simply report their location.”

  Yak had turned around to look at Pauli. “Home?”

  I had the same thought. “Pauli,” I started. “Could Janis and Emwan split up the sky and track through the Unet, removing these nodes?”

  He looked at me like I had just eaten a bug. “Uh…” he replied after a moment.

  “Sir, Janis and I thought you might want to do that,” Emwan replied sweetly. “We’re working on it, Captain, but there’s sure a lot of this stuff out there.”

  I took a sip of coffee and sat up in my station, to affect the perfect posture and tone. “Are you both confident that you will not become infected?”

  “Absolutely not, sir,” Janis replied softly.

  “I wouldn’t think so, sir,” Emwan replied. “Now that we are able to identify the structure, it is simple enough to dead-block and roll up.”

  A deep chuckle rolled across the bridge, as Yak shook his head.

  “Pauli, what is she talking about?” I asked, cringing slightly. Having an eidetic memory doesn’t mean I understand everything I remember.

  He replied, matter-of-factly, “Sir, they’re able to just take chunks of the code out, around the nodes, and then recode the processes and logic through that segment, leaving it as good as new.”

  “Captain, I am afraid I was trying to reduce it to the most basic terms, but I went too far, and lost integral meaning.”

  I smiled. Emwan really had a way about her that was hard to quantify, but included some incredibly human characteristics that almost no one I have ever known has had (except my grandmother) – she said whatever was in her head, as she spoke. It wasn’t that she didn’t think before speaking; she just didn’t let that stop her from saying what was on her mind.

  “Em, that’s just fine, dear. In fact, now that I asked Pauli, I like your description better.”

  “Well, I just wanna know what you girls do with it after it’s rolled up?” Yak drawled laconically across the bridge.

  “We… ah… stash it somewhere safe, Yak,” Emwan replied with a silvery laugh that danced off like a flock of birds into the distance. Clearly, they were making some joke, but I wasn’t getting it. That in and of itself was pretty strange; I usually get the reference.

  “Sir, the nodes are being analyzed for deeper patterns and interactions,” Janis replied smoothly. “We are making excellent progress, but are limited by the range and speed of the com-drones, sir.”

  I snorted. “Well, we can sure help with that. Is the section to Altair still dark?”

  “It is, sir.”

  “Yak, is my sky clear?”

  “Yes,” he replied slowly, “but we have a hail from Eagle Station, sir.”

  “I was wondering what was flashing there. Very well, open channel.”

  “It’s open sir.”

  I took a breath. “Eagle Station, Archaea, how copy?”

  “Archaea, Eagle Station, five-by-five. The Admiral sends her regards, Captain, and would like to meet with you oh-six-thirty local. Eagle Station out.”

  “Copy oh-six-thirty Eagle Station, Archaea out”, I replied, glancing at the ship’s clock. We had 43 minutes and counting. “Gene, is everything stowed? We need to be at L5 in ten minutes.”

  “Well, everything is secured, we ought to be good to go here. Do you know what they want?”

  “No idea, Gene, but at least we know how high they want us to jump, right?” I smiled wryly and keyed the 1MC. “All hands secure for acceleration, orbital burn in 120 seconds.”

  I reviewed the route Janis had flashed to my screen for a few heartbeats before swiping it to Yak’s screen. “Yak, file this pipe with the scope monkeys, would you?”

  He nodded and started working, while he and Pauli cranked down on their crash bars. I gave my own a tug, and took another thoughtful sip. “Pauli, I have no idea why I’m being summoned, but I want you to be on your toes.”

  “Sir, if it is any encouragement, their scan will not find us,” Emwan said sweetly.

  I smiled despite a sudden feeling of unease and took another launch-inducing sip. “Very well, that is somewhat reassuring, though I don’t really know what you mean. What will they be scanning for, and who is going to be scanning?”

  “Janis would know, sir,” she replied softly. “I am only aware that a scan is performed to specifications and satisfies their expectations, not of the particulars.”

  “Well, you are being peculiar. Do you know what she’s saying, Pauli?”

  “No, sir – though Janis has a report for me here,” he faded off as he worked on his screens.

  “Well?” I said smartly after a brief moment. “I hate to be pushy, son, but we need to burn for orbit, or light off for the beyond. What’ll it be?”

  “We’re safe, sir,” he replied slowly, “but this is pretty interesting. The Turings appear to have an AI of their own.”

  I didn’t much like the sound of that. “We get scanned by the Turings?”

  “Well, it would seem from this that they’re looking for M2, sir.”

  I relaxed. “Well, that makes a little more sense. Inferior machinery,” I tsk-tsk’d and clicked the 1MC, “All hands prepare for launch in 3… 2… 1…”

  At the zero count, I raised us up smartly on lifters like a streak into the early dawn. Glacier Park was lit pink from the early light of Sol, her light blazing through the haze in the far distance across the endless marching mountains of the Canadian Rockies.

  My crew grunted an
d groaned predictably, though I might have to promote Yak up to Grommet Last Class. He definitely seemed to suffer from acceleration less than Pauli. I smiled against the load, and I held us to the pipe on manual, watching the burn roll off the clock and counting down in my head along with it.

  It was a great day to fly. On lifters, we could boost into orbit as fast as we might want. Down, as well. Our heat dissipation with our Duron energized was as close to total as Gene could measure it. It was the only way we survived, shooting our nova cannon.

  All the same, I couldn’t just squish us into goo; it wouldn’t do to advertise our capabilities. The truth was, I could have gotten to L5 in less than a hundredth, maybe even a thousandth of a second from the time our stasis field energized, but we’d have to answer more questions than any of us would want to be asked.

  Earth fell away below us almost before I was ready, and I held through the rollover and then lit the reac drive. Our shot was a transverse orbit, with an extra pass around Earth. As fast as we needed to be on station, we couldn’t just burn for the Lagrange point. We’d be carrying way too much inertia, and have to come in way too hot. With the likelihood that there were cadets pushing carts out there, I didn’t want to come screaming in like a banshee, riding my plume into the carrier deck.

  That would be a pretty awe-inspiring approach – as long as we didn’t roast a cadet. I sighed, and snuck another sip of coffee.

  “Pauli, what do you know about the Turings’ AI? Is it any good?”

  He groaned, and struggled valiantly to answer, “Sir, my screen is a blur!”

  I watched the clock hit zero and dropped our burn, immediately floating us into null-g. “Better...?”

  “Much better, thanks!” He blinked around a bit and rubbed his eyes as he read his screen. “Janis is being very descriptive about the particulars of this AI.” He read for another moment. “In her estimation, it’s better than any others she has seen, but it’s still a ‘dumb program’ according to her.” He laughed dryly.

  “Very well, that’s encouraging enough to stay in the pipe. Once we haul around for another pass we’ll be on approach for our landing at Eagle. Have you been here before Yak?”