To The Stars (The Harry Irons Trilogy) by Stone Thomas

Author:Stone, Thomas [Stone, Thomas]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Publisher: Cooper's Press
Published: 2011-07-03T17:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

"The alien shuttle is returning to the surface," said Bonner.

"Keep a track on it," said Fagen, "see if you can determine where it lands." Fagen turned to Blane. "How are you doing, Bart?"

"I'm okay."

"Not going to go crazy on us again, are you?"

"I said I'm alright."

"Okay, okay. Are you ready with your analysis of the alien probe?"

"I suppose. There's not much to tell. It was a two-way pulse that sought out our computer circuitry and strolled through. It bypassed our software security without a pause. I don't understand how it did it, but it was able to access any file it wanted. The transfer of data was done at an amazing rate. The good news is I was able to access the alien computer, if that's what it was."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the data pathways are unlike anything we have. They seem to be based on a neural network, which is no surprise, but it's certainly not a human neural network. It's not that it's just extraordinarily fast, the connections allow for simultaneous transactions. That's where it differs from our own neural-based networks. Understand, I only got a glimpse of the processing power. What I saw, what I felt, well, it was weird. It was as if I was hooked up to something alive. And it was aware of me."

"Are you saying the alien computer is alive?"

"Uh, well, it sure seemed to have those characteristics. There was definitely some sort of embedded consciousness."

"What is its purpose? Curiosity? Exploration?"

"No, definitely not that. I think it was assessing any threat we might offer."

"Were you able to discern its conclusions?"

"Yeah, sure. It doesn't believe we offer any kind of threat."

"So what is it going to do?"

"About us?" Blane asked.

Fagen nodded.

"Nothing. Ignore us."

Fagen stared, unblinking, as if he was having trouble hearing what Blane said. "Ignore... us?"

"We're no threat, therefore of no interest."

*

While Blane continued to discuss the alien computer with Fagen, in the ship's galley, Nadine and Harry talked over a lunch of dried fruits and juice. Nadine was angry.

"What are we doing here? We've got the data. Why don't we just leave? I mean, what's it going to take? Two people are dead already..."

Harry interrupted. "We don't know if Kathleen is dead."

"Well, she might as well be. Bonner says using the shuttle again is risky."

"But not impossible."

"Yes, well, I think we should cut our losses and get out of here."

"But Nadine," Harry protested, "there's an advanced species out there. Something we've never seen before. This is a golden opportunity."

"Yeah. A golden opportunity to get us all killed."

"We don't know that."

"I thought we did. Wasn't Doris attacked?"

"Yes, that's true. But I was there and I'm not willing to pass judgment until I can at least review the video record."

"Well, you can forget about that."

"What do you mean?"

"Fagen told me the diskette was damaged. It was useless."

Harry was shocked. "He didn't tell me."

"That's what he said, Harry."

Harry sat back in his chair. As far as he knew there had been no damage to the diskette.

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