Michael McCollum by Gridlock;Other stories

Author:Gridlock;Other stories
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2012-06-01T22:10:59+00:00

PEOPLE PROGRAMS

BEFORE

SPACE PROGRAMS!

I rerun the frozen frame several times through my battery of sophisticated logic programs. Each looping inspection only serves to increase my confusion. There is a dichotomy expressed in the placard message that I fail to grasp. SURROGATE believes he understands the reference and tries to explain it to me, but to no avail.

I ponder my problem. What does it mean and how does it affect me? I do not know for I am only a computer, no matter how like a sentient creature Jurul would have had me be.

I am only a computer and I do not know. That is the worst of all possible universes.

#

The yellow sun is very large and bright now, large enough for the Earth-Moon system to show as an elongated teardrop of light. It hardly matters anymore since my attention is focused on another star, a red-orange dwarf sixty light-years beyond.

Forgotten are the humans and their queer mercurial attitudes. They were only a marginal choice at best and no choice at all after my astounding discovery. For I have discovered evidence of a true civilization, one that has succeeded where the Makers have failed. A strong, strangely linear x-ray source centered on the red-orange sun can be nothing less than the wake of a ship traveling faster than light!

I suppress the excitement I feel at the discovery. Instead, I go immediately to work pinpointing the exact location of the x-ray source. As seen from my vantage point, it is only a few degrees of arc distant from the yellow sun of the humans. Nevertheless, those few degrees concern me greatly. The new target lies on the edge of my maneuvering reserves and I am fast approaching my deceleration window for Earth. Should a direct journey prove impossible, I will have to reconsider my decision to pass the humans by. For there is one way to arrive at the new star with plenty of fuel to spare. I can stop among the humans, obtain their assistance, and then launch outbound on any vector I choose.

If it were not for my doubts about their reliability as partners, I would prefer such a choice. A two-stage journey presents the least risk of failure. My discovery has given my mission new importance. No longer does failure mean just the loss of my accumulated data. It is now within my power to bring the ancient dream of the Makers to fruition. In a game of such high stakes, failure is unthinkable.

My triangulation subroutine finishes its job and the news is bad. The red-orange star is nearly three percent beyond my ability to change course.

I review my options in light of this new data. It appears that I have none. With only enough fuel left to decelerate and rendezvous with Earth, all other courses of action seem closed to me.

Yet, the obvious solution does not feel right. I rethink my data. It is my distrust of the humans that worries me, of course. Their actions appear totally alien to me.

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