AI Unbound: Two Stories of Artificial Intelligence by Kress Nancy
Author:Kress, Nancy [Kress, Nancy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Anthologies
ISBN: 9781612420677
Amazon: 1612420672
Goodreads: 13645284
Publisher: Phoenix Pick
Published: 2012-03-27T07:00:00+00:00
âAre you absolutely positive?â the president, who was given to superlatives, asked his military scientists. He had assembled them, along with the joint chiefs of staff, the cabinet, the Canadian lieutenant-governor, and a sprinkling of advisors, in the cabinet room of the White House. The same group had been meeting daily for a week, ever since the object had landed. Washington was warmer than Minnesota; outside, dahlias and chrysanthemums still bloomed on the manicured lawn. âNo signal of any type issued from the craft, at any time after you picked it up on the Hubble?â
The scientists looked uncomfortable. It was the kind of question only non-scientists asked. Before his political career, the president had been a financier.
âSir, we canât say for certain that we know all types of signals that could or do exist. Or that we had comprehensive, fixed-position monitoring of the craft at all times. As youââ
âAll right, all right. Since it landed, then, and you got your equipment trained on it. No radio signals emanating from it, at any wavelength whatsoever?â
âNo, sir. Thatâs definite.â
âNo light signals, even in infrared or ultraviolet?â
âNo, Mr. President.â
âNo gamma lengths, or other radioactivity?â
âNo, sir.â
âNo quantum effects?â the president said, surprising everyone. He was not noted for his wide reading.
âDo you mean things like quantum entanglement to transport information?â the head of Livermore National Laboratory said cautiously. âOf course, we donât know enough about that area of physics to predict for certain what may be discovered eventually, or what a race of beings more advanced than ours might have discovered already.â
âSo there might be quantum signals going out from the craft constantly, for all you know.â
The Livermore director spread his hands in helpless appeal. âSir, we can only monitor signals we already understand.â
The president addressed his chief military advisor, General Dayton. âThis shield covering the craftâyou donât understand that, either? What kind of field it is, why nothing at all gets through except light?â
âEverything except electromagnetic radiation in the visible-light wavelengths is simply reflected back at us,â Dayton said.
âSo you canât use sonar, X-rays, anything that could image the inside?â
This time Dayton didnât answer. The president already knew all this. The whole world knew it. The best scientific and military minds from several nations had been at work on the object all week.
âSo what is your recommendation to me?â the president said.
âSir, our only recommendation is that we continue full monitoring of the craft, with full preparation to meet any change in its behavior.â
âIn other words, âWait and see.â I could have decided that for myself, without all you high-priced talent!â the president said in disgust, and several people in the room reflected with satisfaction that this particular president had only a year and three months left in office. There was no way he would be re-elected. The economy had taken too sharp a downturn.
Unless, of course, a miracle happened to save him.
âWell, go back to your labs, then,â the president said, and even though he knew it was a mistake, the director of Livermore gave in to impulse.
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