Stolen Earth by J.T. Nicholas

Author:J.T. Nicholas
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Titan

RAJANI

Rajani did not, in fact, want to take this one. But she understood the captain’s plight. She drew a breath and let it out as an, “Okay.” She looked around the room, trying to find something to focus her attention upon. “One,” she said to the empty air, “can you please provide a point of reference? Humans like to have the sense that they’re talking to something.”

In response, the wall toward the head of the table brightened, detailing the boundaries of a screen roughly a meter square. A featureless silhouette resolved on the screen, outlining a head and shoulders in black against a pale green backdrop. “Is this better?” The sound of One’s voice now came from that wall.

“Yes, thank you,” Rajani replied. She quieted for a moment, conscious of the eyes of the rest of the crew upon her. Working with Manu had given her some insights into dealing with an unfettered AI; she probably knew more about that subject than anyone else in SolComm. But Manu had been young; One had a century or more of learning under its belt. And that learning had come from a state of constant warfare and the destruction of almost everything One had been built to protect. What would that have done to the psyche—if an AI even had such a thing—of a developing entity? Rajani didn’t know. But she suspected that any form of deception would be, to put it mildly, counterproductive.

“Okay,” she said again, using the word as she often did for a momentary stall. It centered her, gave her space to think for just a moment more. “People from nearby settlements are disappearing, One. They’re being taken away aboard aircraft. The locals have assured us that that the humans on this planet have no capability for flight. And we’ve seen your technological capacity. So, Occam’s razor—”

“Occam is a suitable tool for high-school students and undergrads,” One said, a faint hint of disdain in its otherwise emotionless voice. “The actual simplest solution can only be observed when all variables of a given situation are known. When dealing with complex systems, the probability of that level of knowledge approaches zero.”

“Then maybe you can tell us the variables we are missing,” Rajani suggested.

“First, my primary directive is to protect and defend the people of the NorAm alliance. That has not changed, despite that alliance being entirely defunct. Kidnapping civilians is not part of my operating procedure. Second, there are currently three other groups with flight capability active on Old Earth. Four, if I count your vessel. And finally, I have neither need of nor use for captured humans of any persuasion. They would serve no purpose.”

“Bullshit,” Federov cut in. “You could use them as petri dishes for whatever super virus or biological terror weapon you wish to unleash on your enemies.”

Rajani winced at that, as did the rest of them. Federov on his best day was a blunt instrument. He wasn’t wrong, but tact was not a word in his vernacular. “Or so we have hypothesized,” she added, in an attempt to soften the harshness of his words.

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