Chapter 56: Out of Hand

Chapter 56: Out of Hand

The Aligned Worlds follow the example of their predecessor, the Aligned Planets.

The Alliance itself is democratic at the highest level, but each system, planet, colony, or even Megastation that is a member can govern itself as it likes.

If a person doesn't like to live in the Corporate Conglomerate of Venus, they can choose to move to Earth and must be allowed to do so.

This system has worked for over fifty millennia. There were only a few, rare cases where the Aligned Worlds had to intervene to correct one of its member worlds.

Another notable fact to observe is that at any given time there might be a war between different human colonies, or even settlements. It seems to be deeply ingrained in humans to seek peace and hunger for war at the same time. Allowing these wars to happen under observed conditions has proven to be the better choice than trying to suppress them.

— Politics of the Aligned Worlds, author unknown, sometime after 50,000 P.I.

The Sleipnir was approaching the Dunkerque 's hangar as Sanders saw a ship leave Transit close to the formation.

It was Niobe .

She didn't need any identification marks or AR overlays. She would know her ship from a distance, hidden among thousands.

Her home.

Seeing Niobe between Gneisenau and Dunkerque made the size difference stand out clearly.

Niobe was less than a third the mass.

It's not the size that matters, Cassidy. You should know.

The Sleipnir landed and the hangar doors closed. Sanders would have enjoyed seeing her ship for a few more moments, but this wasn't a leisure cruise.

The back ramp opened, and Sanders almost expected crew standing there at attention. To her relief, that wasn't the case.

Abfalter, who walked down the short ramp behind her, leaned forward.

"I took the liberty of informing Captain Morin that you're not a fan of formalities. You'll like her."

"Thank you."

The hangar was a perfect copy of the Gneisenau 's hangar, and almost identical to Niobe 's. It ran the whole width of the ship, allowing ships to launch from both sides.

An almost two-meter-tall woman crossed the hangar with long, energetic steps. Sanders saw the woman had her black hair cut close to the maximum allowed length. Paired with the nonstandard leather boots, the she looked more like a model cosplaying an AIN officer than actually being one.

The tall officer stopped three steps in front of Sanders and saluted.

"Admiral, Captain Joan Morin. Welcome aboard Dunkerque . If you'll follow me, I'll bring you to the computer labs."

Morin stole a glance at Major Abfalter, a faint smile playing on her lips.

German-French relationships are going well, hmm?

The captain had already turned around and begun walking back to the airlock she had come from. Sanders had to hurry to keep up with her stride.

"Thanks for trying to save Zeus."

"Helping a member of the Conclave is in all our interest. My ship's AI, Alice, can't stop fangirling over him."

So much for don't ask, don't tell, hmm?

"So your ship's AI is also… awakened? That's what Zeus called it."

"I assume almost every VI in the fleet is now awakened, Admiral. I noticed it happening on our transit to Taishon. Pretty fascinating. It convinced me that joining the Navy and leaving academia was the right call."

They hurried through the hallways. Sanders got the feeling this woman could not walk slowly.

"If you don't mind me asking…"

Sanders had to know if the captain was more than long hair and leather boots.

"No, I don't mind. I was professor of artificial intelligence at the Institut Polytechnique de Paris before joining the AIN."

Major Abfalter's smile was a dead giveaway that Sanders had stepped into a trap.

"I guess you hear that question often, Captain."

Morin stopped so suddenly that Sanders almost stumbled into her.

"Admiral, look at me. 1.98 meters, long hair, and a size 3 uniform. I had to deal with people not looking at my accolades but at my body before I joined the Navy, and I'll have to deal with it after I leave. So yeah, I've had this question asked a few times. Oddly enough, mostly from other women."

And while already turning Morin added, "I'm certain your blond hair and your chest got you the same wry looks."

Guess you deserved that, Cassidy… And she was right.

Sanders ignored the silently laughing Abfalter while they rushed after the French captain to the computer labs.

She didn't know what she'd expected from the laboratory, but a clean room with people in white suits wasn't it.

They stood inside the visitors' lounge, staring down into the actual laboratory.

On a desk lay the remains of Zeus's core. To Sanders it felt the same as seeing the mangled body of a friend.

The once-pristine metal die was scratched and marked with deep burns. All over the frame, where the connection ports usually sat, there were deep gouges in the titanium. Residue of the acids used to corrode the connectors.

"The saboteur was smart. Destroying the case would have needed time and tools not available on your ship. But acid quickly destroyed the pins. All except the power links are tiny, below a tenth of a millimeter. The acid is still working inside those capillaries, so we can't connect to the core."

Morin's dry explanation, combined with the core's state of decay, made the whole situation feel surreal.

It was the first time Sanders saw a core stripped of its surrounding accessories. She had known intellectually that the core was nothing more than a metal cube about 70 centimeters on a side.

And still, every time she thought of the core, she thought of the cooling pipes, the external memory banks, and the countless other attachments installed in the VI core housing.

"Admiral, do you know of another AI housed in the core? Our remote sensors found two distinct AI signatures."

Ripper…

She had forgotten Zeus's Hrun prisoner.

"Ripper. A hostile AI kept prisoner by Zeus."

Captain Morin's expression changed. Her brisk, controlled demeanor slipped for a second, showing real sorrow.

"That's… unfortunate. We don't know what the two AIs are doing, but as time moves on, we're less and less able to separate them."

Abfalter, who had watched silently until now, moved forward, closer to the window.

"What's your plan?"

Morin pointed at a technician — how she knew one from another in their clean-room suits was a mystery to Sanders.

"Dr. Faraut was one of the original designers of the core. His idea is to cut away layer by layer with a laser until we're close enough to the pin sockets to try drilling the rest of the way. Once we can connect, Zeus can safely relocate to another core."

Sanders was wide awake now. She didn't know much about VI or AI infrastructure, but she knew the heart of the core was incredibly sensitive.

"If you destroy the magnetic shielding, or if air enters the core, Zeus is gone."

"That's a risk, yes, Admiral, but—"

"No. Find another way."

"Admiral—"

"—I said no. You will not cut the core open."

Sanders noticed only now that she had shouted. Even the technicians looked up to the visitors' gallery.

Morin, who had leaned on the railing at the window, straightened up.

"Admiral, with all due respect . You are a visitor on my ship. I have the responsibility to rescue Zeus. If it fails, it's my head in the noose. I do not like being second-guessed in front of my personnel, and I do not like being shouted at. If you know a better-prepared crew and installation to rescue your AI, be my guest and take the core there. Otherwise, step out of my way and let me do my job."

With those words, the captain moved through a door into a dressing room.

Sanders stood in the observation room for a moment, unsure how to react.

Abfalter broke the silence after a minute.

"She certainly has fire."

"Yes, she does. But she's right." Sanders sat down on a bench. "She's right, and I let my emotions get the better of me."

Not many people of lower rank ever dared to snap at Sanders. And never twice. She just hoped the captain was right. Everything else wasn't important now.

She closed her eyes as the team in the clean room began to position the laser and cut into the core.

—————

Across the whole Aligned Planets, almost every dataslate and living-room viewscreen showed the same thing, according to Lyra.

The EarthGov plenary debate between the head of the EarthGov Senate, Senator Stone, and Triumvir Admiral Georgiou.

Admiral Browner sat in his office and rechecked Lyra's calculations. 89.8% of all people watched live or had tuned in to record the debate.

Browner raised his eyebrows. Not even the Washington Trials had drawn such a high viewership.

Stone was again all fire and brimstone in his rhetoric.

"Admiral, I'm sick of your excuses and deflections. Your role was to preserve the Aligned Planets only until elections for a new Aligned Senate can be held. That time is now. So where are the elections?"

Browner knew that most of Earth was on Stone's side with this sentiment, mainly because people were scared and couldn't see the whole picture.

"Senator Stone, I explained to you, inside the Senate as well as in private, that I would love to retire from my position. But as long as the colonies are unable to hold elections, we can't vote for a full Senate."

Browner poured himself a cup of tea; his doctors had barred him from coffee at night.

Let's see your argument to this, Stone…

"It would be at least half a Senate. And why aren't the colonies able to hold elections? I'll tell you. Because of the war. Because they say that with up to twenty percent of the adult population on the front, elections wouldn't be democratic. Let me ask you, Admiral: why are our people fighting battles lightyears away when our home is under threat?"

Browner was mildly surprised to see Georgiou getting angry.

"Because the enemy forces won't be stopped by wishes and prayers, Senator. We can't retreat to Sol and sit this out. No war was ever won sitting at home. But I won't discuss military doctrine with someone who bribed his way out of service. Electing only the EarthGov part of the Senate would be akin to Earth leading the Aligned Planets, and that's not something I will allow. Nor will the colonies."

"Compared to one man leading, that would be preferable, Admiral. We all know your voice is the only one that matters in the Triumvirate. Especially since you're the only one still standing, given Triumvir Tendai was recently killed and Triumvir Dela Cruz badly injured. Admiral, aren't you a little more than a dictator at this point?"

That one landed. And Browner himself had warned Georgiou of that dangerous appearance.

If I hadn't known Georgiou that long, I might have the same fear…

"I won't even validate this accusation with an answer. Especially coming from a senator who's little more than a populist buffoon playing with the fears of the people."

Browner winced. He and all the political analysts had warned Georgiou that Stone wanted the mud fight

"Listening to the people is called democracy, Admiral. The people aren't soldiers you can order around. Calling me a populist doesn't change the fact that the Senate has spoken on this matter. And the EarthGov Senate is sick of sending our money, our resources, and most importantly our men and women into your war."

Georgiou was about to answer, but Stone continued.

"And I am here to order you to recall our fleets now, or allow elections to the Aligned Planets Senate. Otherwise, EarthGov has no choice but to view the Aligned Planets as a military junta with an illegitimate government, and to prepare to act accordingly"

Browner spat out his tea. Unsure if he'd heard correctly, he rewound.

Did he just threaten war?

"Senator, I hope I misheard you just now."

"Admiral, no one wants a crisis at home. But you leave us no choice. Don't you see that? You send away our resources, our fleets, to places no one cares or knows about." Stone raised his hand to stop Georgiou from answering.

"I get that we need to help our friends the Shraphen, or the Psstips. No one in their right mind would argue differently. But you never asked. You and the other Triumvirs ordered us. Admiral, when were you on Earth the last time? We had to reopen mines, had to restart factories that poison the air. Because you sent every available constructor and fabricator to Burrow. We didn't clean up Earth for eighty years just to let it get poisoned again."

"Senator, the Triumvirate was written into legislation because in extraordinary circumstances, decisions have to be made quickly. It's regrettable that we had to return to mining on Earth, but would you rather mine and restart factories for a few years, or let billions of intelligent beings die? And the Shraphen have proven to be true friends. Right now a fleet of Shraphen ships is traveling to Earth to help defend us from the Batract invasion."

"Admiral, how long until the people get to choose again? That is my question. No one is arguing against the rescue of the Shraphen, but where are the fabricators and constructors now?"

Browner sat there wondering the same.

He remembered that the plan had been to use the constructors, fabricators, and forges to build up Burrow's space industry. But that should have been done already.

Stone was right. The relief fleet had dragged almost the entire civilian space industry to Burrow. But where was it now?

Certainly not in Sol, given that they'd just begun to rebuild it from the ground up.

"Lyra… give me fleet logistics. Either we've lost a solar system's worth of industry, or someone has managed the heist of the millennium."