Our latest Into the Interface session saw the crew of the IMV Starjammer embroiled in the twisty, dirty world of espionage in Magyar sector. This session drew a great deal of inspiration and a few game mechanics from Mongoose’s Singularity Campaign, an excellent supplement concerning AI and the Third Imperium. I suspect people will be talking about this one for a long time.
Ship’s Log
Ship Name Starjammer.
Port of Registry Kline (MAGY 3012 A642987-E).
Ship Type U-CA33 Armed Packet.
Registration # 338-C-2725.
Kline (Magyar 3012, A642987-E) 356-1105
A diagram of the 500,000-displacement ton Tigress-class dreadnought, “the largest line-of-battle vessel currently in service with the Imperial Navy in the Spinward Marches.” KSD analysts have estimated that the Solomani Sector United class could be at least 600,000 displacement tons. Image courtesy of the Imperial Navy’s Ship Recognition Data Base (SRDB), 1105.
1036. With the Starjammer docked in orbit at the Kline highport, down in the offices of the Kline Security Directorate an agitated Ginnoni Salman briefed pilot Marc Vachon and the rest of the crew on recent developments. His agency had reviewed the intelligence recently obtained by the Starjammers from SLIDE-RULE—also known as Sing Habi, Salman’s asset on Fornorb.
KSD analysts considered the new intel to be gold. Encoded into the gene sequence of a mouse, Habib’s data revealed that the Solomani Navy had successfully developed a Conscious Intelligence (CI) code-named BISHOP. A CI is an advancement of Artificial Intelligence that exhibits the equivalent of sophont intelligence, including self-awareness.
The BISHOP project was led by one Dr. Alexi Zaman, and he and his research team had scoffed at the strict Vilani restrictions on AI development that so inhibited Imperial technologies. Dr. Zaman’s team first developed a computer they named PAWN, a self-aware, Model/8, TL14 machine—an AI equal to JUN0 or Sonny in capabilities. PAWN was then charged with designing a more advanced version of itself that begat KNIGHT, a Model/9, TL15 machine comparable to the best commercially-available computers in the Imperium. KNIGHT then begat BISHOP, a TL16 computer and a true Conscious Intelligence. Sonny noted that BISHOP was likely as sophisticated as Eva, the Versim-X prototype android that the Starjammers had encountered three years earlier.
Dr. Zaman’s team was based out of Keyor (Magyar 1521, A201889-E), a Solomani system eight parsecs from the Imperial border. Keyor contained both the headquarters for the entire Confederation Magyar Fleet, as well as a shipyard run by Solomani Military Industries. This yard was building the Magyar United, the newest model of Solomani dreadnought—a battleship so advanced as to potentially shift the very balance of power in the sector.
BISHOP had taken over the development of the Magyar United. As part of this effort BISHOP had designed a new Type U meson gun spinal mount, a monstrous weapons platform estimated to consume 60,000 displacement tons and capable of one-shotting even the largest capital ships in the Imperial fleet.
However, Imperial Naval Intelligence (INI) refused to take this new intel seriously and even warned KSD to drop the matter entirely, which only confirmed Salman’s conviction that INI had become compromised by the Solomani. Lady Shanika Adelbert, the Subsector Duchess of Kline and patroness of both the KSD and the Starjammer, was infuriated by INI’s recalcitrance. Despite INI’s clear direction otherwise, she ordered the KSD to plan an independent operation to neutralize both BISHOP and the Magyar United.
A typical Type L 400-ton Laboratory Ship. Note the research pinnace berthed at the center of the structure. Image courtesy of the Trader’s Guild Catalog of Ships, 1102.
Salman revealed that the duchess had finally approved a risky plan that would need to be kept secret from both INI and Solomani Security. KSD has built an android patterned after Dr. Zaman. The android, “AL,” possessed the same genetic signature but none of the knowledge or memories of Dr. Zaman, and carried a computer virus designed to disable BISHOP.
The plan was to outfit the Starjammer with a spoofed transponder that registered as the Confederation Armed Packet Atlanta, flagged out of Elnor (Magyar 2223, A554611-C), a Solomani border world. All crew would be given forged papers identifying them as Confederation citizens. The Starjammer was to carry AL to Keyor, where Dr. Zaman could be found on board a Type L Laboratory Ship, the Ogunro. Once there AL would infiltrate the BISHOP research facility and download his payload into the networked computer system.
After a brief conference the Starjammers agreed to undertake the mission.
Kline (Magyar 3012, A642987-E) 361-1105
0700. Dr. Howard Barrera, acting as the ship’s purser, settled the Starjammer’s accounts, including paying the crew salaries and berthing fees, resupplying the life support systems, and replenishing the ship stores.
Meanwhile Chief Engineer Richy Jamoor and Sensor Operator Ronald Gill installed the spoofed transponder. Transponders are an essential piece of equipment on interstellar vessels. Sealed, tamper-proof devices, they send out an identification of the ship—its name, registry, and important statistics—when a signal is sent to the ship from an outside source. This provides a permanent and theoretically unbeatable way of registering starships.
It was highly illegal for unauthorized personnel to modify a transponder, but somehow Salman had provided Richy with a new, “factory-sealed” Pansteller transponder matching the specification of the cover story. Captain Masada was also given a letter signed by the Duchess herself, authorizing the transponder—though such a document would provide no protection in Confederation space,
1300. With all crew aboard and hatches secure, Captain Masada signaled Kline Highport that the newly-christened Atlanta was ready for departure.
1335. The ship detached from the highport and made for the Pemami 100-diameter limit.
Kline (Magyar 3012, A642987-E) 362-1105
0522. The Atlanta entered jumpspace.
Jumpspace 365-1105
2340. The entire crew gathered on the bridge to mark Holiday’s Eve, traditionally a time of parties and celebrations in honor of the emperor and the Imperium. Captain Masada made a toast to the health of his Imperial Majesty Strephon Aella Alkhalikoi, forty-third emperor of the Third Imperium, which was followed by many other toasts by the crew.
Jumpspace 001-1106
1200. Howard prepared a special meal to celebrate Holiday, the first day of the year in the Imperial calendar.
Ramli (Magyar 2913, C7B5114-A) 004-1106
1024. The Atlanta emerged from jumpspace into the Ramli system. Ramli was a low population world, tide-locked to its M2 V primary star. The starship made for the mainworld, lying inside its primary’s jump shadow.
Ramli (Magyar 2913, C7B5114-A) 005-1106
1332. The Atlanta reached orbit above Ramli.
1357. The Atlanta landed at the Ramli starport.
1728. Refueled, the Atlanta departed Ramli starport.
1751. The Atlanta reached orbit and made for the jump point.
Ramli (Magyar 2913, C7B5114-A) 006-1106
2036. The Atlanta reached the jump point and entered jumpspace.
Jumpspace 009-1106
1300. Dr. Barrera gave Marc his annual physical on the pilot’s 46th birthday. Howard gave Marc a clean bill of health.
KST Verisim-8 android Unit 6839YS6, or “AL.” Verisim-8s are built to closely resemble humans but possess superior physical characteristics. Such an android can only be identified through detection of the interface between its robot brain and its biological body.
2300. Sonny, Dr. Barrera, and AL conferred in the crew lounge on A Deck. Like Sonny, Unit 6839YS6, also known as “AL,” was a purpose-built Verisim-8 model android produced by Kline Synthetic Products. Unlike Sonny, AL had no wireless networking capabilities: he required a physical connection though his wafer jack port to interface with an electronics system.
Further, AL was based on the genetic pattern of a specific human, the Solomani scientist Dr. Alexi Zaman, head researcher of the BISHOP project. AL explains he was activated with implanted memories and behavioral inhibitors to give him a personality and basic social skills, but he remained fully aware of his status as a constructed being. AL also was loaded with the equivalent of a doctoral degree in computer science.
AL possessed a full dossier on Dr. Zaman, including hundreds of hours of holovid lectures, conference appearances, and Solomani Party testimony—more than enough to allow AL to reasonably mimic the researcher’s speech patterns and technical knowledge. However, AL possessed very few personal details and did not much understand the man he was expected to impersonate.
AL explained that he would require a few uninterrupted minutes at one of BISHOP’s dedicated interfaces in order to deliver the computer virus he carried. The virus, disguised as a simple query, was designed to work much like several human brain disorders by randomly generating and inserting tiny packets of garbage data into the communication pathways of BISHOP’s positronic brain. These packets, initially undetectable, would propagate rapidly throughout the iridium sponge structure, inhibiting BISHOP’s ability to save or access data. Eventually the virus would degrade the computer’s language, reasoning, and social behavior capabilities.
Byrley (Magyar 2913, C687538-9) 013-1106
1241. The Atlanta emerged from jumpspace at the Byrley 100D limit.
1409. The Atlanta landed at the Byrley starport and began refueling.
1731. The Atlanta took off from Byrley starport.
2107. The Atlanta entered jumpspace.
Dexter (Magyar 2416, B587510-B) 021-1106
1514. The Atlanta emerged from jumpspace at the Dexter 100D limit and began heading for the starport. The mainworld was owned by Ling-Standard Products, an Imperial megacorporation engaged in mining and the manufacturing of various products, including electronics, ground and air vehicles, starships and starship armaments systems, drive systems, power systems, computer systems and software, and small arms. The stealth material that coated the Starjammer’s hull was sold by LSP.
Dexter hosted the LSP sector headquarters and the LSP Merchant Academy, which trained crews for the megacorporation’s trading fleet. The senior manager for the world was the Baroness Mallori Calderon, who was the mother of Lei Calderon, the head of Kline’s Imperial Naval Intelligence office, the man believed by Salman to be a Solomani mole.
1806. The Atlanta reached orbit above Dexter, and signaled its intent to land at the dirtside starport.
1833. The Atlanta landed at the Dexter Starport.
Dexter (Magyar 2416, B587510-B) 025-1106
1100. Captain Masada reported that he was having difficulty obtaining permission from Dexter control to leave the system. He had been given a variety of improbable bureaucratic excuses that sent the captain, chief engineer, and even the ship’s surgeon on a variety of wild goose chases. The captain said this went well beyond the usual harassment Solomani traders could expect at an Imperial facility.
1240. Marc, Dr. Barrera, and Daren visited the offices of the Imperial Starport Authority to determine if some accommodation could be made to clear the paperwork snags. Once SPA staff began to look up the Atlanta’s records they quickly became uncooperative. Not even Daren’s status as a member of the nobility could cut through the mysterious red tape.
1434. Richy reported that he successfully hacked into the starport’s network and discovered that Baroness Calderon herself had issued a directive to all Starport staff that every attempt should be made to hinder the Atlanta’s exit from Dexter.
Richy further reported that an Imperial Naval courier, the INS Liebman, had landed at Dexter starport only a day before the Atlanta arrived in-system. The Liebman, based out of Kline, was believed to be attached to the INI office there.
Dexter (Magyar 2416, B587510-B) 026-1106
0100. With the entire crew aboard the bridge crew began preparing for immediate lift. Richy reported that the powerplant was up and the maneuver drive reading in the green. Boone and Brogue reported that all umbilicals and couplers were detached. Marc began taxiing for the nearest open runway.
0104. Dexter System Control alerted the Atlanta that the starship was not cleared for takeoff. Ronald feigned communication problems.
0112. The Atlanta lifted from the field with no flight plan on record.
0118. JUN0 reported that two LSP Patrol Frigates in orbit had been alerted to the Atlanta’s unauthorized departure. The Type T frigates were a little larger and faster than the Atlanta and used for customs inspections, piracy suppression, and normal safety patrols. JUN0 calculated the frigates would be able to intercept before the Atlanta could reach Dexter’s 100 diameter limit, 2.85 light-seconds from the planetary surface. Although this was generally considered the minimum safe distance for attempting to enter jump space, Captain Masada began plotting a jump from within the 100D limit.
0224. Marc reported that the Atlanta had cleared the 10D limit.
0241. JUN0 detected a missile launch from the lead frigate: six missiles inbound. Captain Masada activated the jump drives.
Jumpspace 026-1106
0245. JUN0 reported no damage to the ship, but many members of the crew reported the sudden physical and mental distress associated with a bad jump. Until the Atlanta exited jumpspace there was no way to know if the ship had actually misjumped, which could potentially result in arriving dozens of parsecs off target or even, never.
On the bridge Captain Masada and Marc felt acute nausea, while Sensor Operator Ronald reported a sense of unease and irritability, making concentration difficult. Up on A Deck neither Sonny nor AL appeared affected, but both Daren and Brogue reported serious nausea. Boone claimed to be fine but seemed distracted and shaky. Neither Howard nor Richy reported in.
0255. Sonny found Howard incapacitated in the Infirmary, moaning about blinding headaches. Sonny left Howard with an analgesic patch and proceeded up to Engineering.
0307. Sonny found Richy unconscious and shivering. After verifying that the engineering controls were reading nominal Sonny carried Richy down to the Infirmary.
0543. Howard rallied somewhat and said he thought the worst of his headaches were probably behind him, but he felt very unsteady.
0612. Richy also roused himself but was still too sick to do much more than sit up.
0649. Brogue reported that Boone was mumbling about “that damned cat, he was gonna show him, gonna blow him away.” Captain Masada asked JUN0 to secure the ship’s locker and to confine Boone to his quarters.
0911. JUN0 reported that a highly agitated Boone was trashing his stateroom.
2300. Howard reported that he had recovered enough to check on Boone. Along with Sonny and Brogue, Howard asked JUN0 to unlock the hatch to Boone’s cabin. The ex-marine was in a state, shirtless and wild-eyed, asking if they had seen the cat. Sonny and Brogue were able to restrain Boone long enough for Howard to administer a powerful sedative and anti-psychotic. He advised Captain Masada that Boone should remain confined for the duration of the jump.
Jumpspace 031-1106
1600. Dr. Barrera gave Daren his annual physical on the occasion of his 42nd birthday, and reported that, surprisingly, Daren was in good physical health given his long history of substance abuse and recent bout of jump sickness. Howard complimented the entertainer on sticking with his program of abstinence.
1800. The crew held a very subdued toast to Daren’s birthday in the lounge, and everyone who had not drawn watch duty turned in early.
Ftuihtaea (Magyar 2118, B7B8778-B) 032-1106
1942. The Atlanta emerged from jump space. Although the crew experienced a recurrence of jump sickness, Howard had issued appropriate meds ahead of entering normal space.
Captain Masada conducted a rapid survey of the system and with great relief announced that the ship had not misjumped but instead was in the outer system of Ftuihtaea, roughly 12.88 light-seconds from a small gas giant.
Ftuihtaea (Magyar 2118, B7B8778-B) 034-1106
1430. Refueled and back at the 100D limit, the Atlanta entered jumpspace.
Jumpspace 038-1106
1000. After a thorough examination Dr. Barrera declared Boone cleared for duty. It had been over 24 hours since the Chief Weapons Officer had experienced any hallucinations. The ship’s surgeon advised Boone to slowly step down from his antipsychotics over the next few days.
Pieper (Magyar 1919, C566773-8) 041-1106
0034. The Atlanta emerged from jump space some 21.25 light-seconds from a small gas giant in the outer system of Pieper. Pieper belonged to the Reformed Dootchen Estates, a coalition of Confederation worlds that have a rigid caste structure and harbor burning enmity for the Imperium.
Pieper (Magyar 1919, C566773-8) 042-1106
0946. Having collected and refined fuel from the gas giant, the Atlanta returned to the 100D limit and jumped out of the system.
Reed (Magyar 1720, B876523-B) 051-1106
0037. The Atlanta emerged from jump space in the outer system of Reed, approximately 25.5 light-seconds from a small gas giant.
Reed (Magyar 1720, B876523-B) 052-1106
0951. Refueled, the Atlanta reached the Keyor jump point and entered jump space.
Jumpspace 057-1106
0800. Captain Masada briefed the crew and AL ahead of exiting jumpspace. Keyor was a binary system with a G4 V yellow dwarf primary, Faere, and a red dwarf companion, Ovan, orbiting at 38 AU. While the secondary system around Ovan had five small, inhospitable planets, the primary system had a rich planetoid belt orbiting at 0.46 AU. The mainworld, Keyor, occupied the next orbit at 0.73 AU and was a small, ice-capped vacuum world with a population of over 700 million. Three uninhabited worlds orbited beyond Keyor.
Because Keyor orbited inside the 100D limit of Faere, the Atlanta needed to insert into normal space some 89.82 light-seconds from Keyor, requiring 16 hours and 48 minutes to reach the starport at best speed.
Keyor had a Class A starport with an orbital component that included Solomani Military Industries Shipyard #47, where the Magyar United was being constructed, and Yating Naval Base, which supported the 57th Fleet Squadron. The surface of the world contained a large military base where the Confederation Army provided protected forces training. A sizable system defense force, including at least two supermonitors and dozens of SDBs and patrol frigates, guarded the system.
| Object | Orbital Distance (AU) |
Profile | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Faere | — | G4 V | Primary |
| Faere Alpha | 0.20 | X6A6000-0 | Ba Fl Tz |
| Faere Belt | 0.43 | F000663-9 | As Na Va Cy |
| Keyor | 0.73 | A201889-E | Ic Na Va Ph Pi Ho Ht |
| Faere Delta | 1.18 | HBB8500-9 | Fl Ni |
| Faere Epsilon | 1.84 | HCC536A-6 | Fl Lo |
| Ovan | 38.00 | M5 V | Near Companion |
| Ovan Alpha | 0.26 | H633430-8 | Tz |
| Ovan Beta | 0.36 | YAA1300-5 | Fl Co Tz Lt |
| Ovan Gamma | 0.67 | X8A7000-0 | Ba Fl Fr |
| Ovan Delta | 1.00 | X3A9000-0 | Ba Fl Fr |
| Ovan Epsilon | 1.60 | XCB4000-0 | Ba Fl |
Given the tight security, once the Atlanta entered normal space it would signal system control and make straight for the highport to refuel as if everything were perfectly normal. Captain Masada noted that the starship would have just enough fuel to make a one parsec emergency jump if the Solomani became suspicious.
Once docked at the highport AL would present himself as Dr. Zaman and arrange for a shuttle to carry him to laboratory ship Ogunro and his rendezvous with BISHOP. The Atlanta would depart as soon as AL was aboard the shuttle, jumping for Vanauken (Magyar 1522, A201430-E). There Atlanta would wait 36 hours for AL and then, with or without him, make with all dispatch for the border.
1000. Captain Masada placed all hands on jump exit alert, even though the ship was not expected to retransition to normal space for at least 30 more hours. All crewmembers were expected to be at their stations one watch before breakout for routine system checks.
Jumpspace 058-1106
2300. JUN0 alerted the crew that breakout from jumpspace was approaching.
Keyor (Magyar 1521, A201889-E) 059-1106
0001. The Atlanta exited jumpspace.
0002. After a quick system scan Captain Masada confirmed the ship had emerged as plotted: 89.92 light-seconds from the Keyor mainworld. However, the system navigation beacon was transmitting an alert message.
0004. The Solomani emergency frequency advised that Keyor Highport was closed and under a state of emergency. All inbound traffic was redirected to Faere Delta outside the 100D limit until further notice. Ronald noted that multiple vessels near the starport were issuing distress signals. He also picked up several confused broadcasts in the clear from military ships—messages that would normally be encoded.
0006. JUN0 reported the civilian frequencies were also clogged with chatter. She quickly isolated a news broadcast from the world’s surface: while details remained sketchy and contradictory, the orbital naval base and shipyard had apparently been attacked by what were assumed to be Imperial forces.
All non-essential ships were ordered grounded on the surface of Keyor and civilians were urged to shelter in place. All regular military and Home Guard personnel had been activated and were expected to report to their designated muster points. The Keyor Office of the Supreme Executive had issued a request for “Aid to Civil Power,” a formal appeal for Confederation military aid. The World Solomani Party directed volunteer blood donors, fire fighters, and other emergency personnel to report to their local Party office for further instructions.
Marc wondered if INI had been planning a raid on Keyor all along, but Daren suggested that BISHOP might have gone rogue: after all, insane supercomputers were a common trope of Imperial holovids.
0012. A stream of small craft were evacuating the Keyor highport, and several large starships orbited the mainworld with transponders either disabled or silenced.
0017. Ronald detected a mayday signal from a lifeboat roughly 100,000 km away. Captain Masada ordered Marc to lay in an intercept course and Ronald broadcast that the Atlanta was responding to the boat’s distress signal. The captain then asked Boone to unlock the ship weapons and ordered all crew into vacc suits. JUN0 closed all airtight hatches.
0103. The Atlanta carefully approached Lifeboat 1440, a small craft tumbling out of control, its Maneuver drive clearly damaged. JUN0 noted the lifeboat would fit within the cargo hold, and Marc was able to match the spin and vector of the damaged craft.
0105. Boone, Brogue, and Howard arrived in vacc suits at the airlock outside the cargo hold. At Captain Masada’s direction Brogue depressurized the hold, set the grav plates to null gravity, and opened the cargo bay doors.
0107. Marc moved the Atlanta ahead until the lifeboat was inside the hold. Then Brogue closed the hatches, increased gravity until the boat sat resting on the deck, and repressurized the hold.
Designed specifically for the use of Confederation Marines in low-G combat, the 6mm L25B accelerator rifle balances low recoil and hitting power. It fires a 5 gram, 2-stage rocket-propelled round that leaves the barrel at an initial muzzle velocity of 100 to 150 meters per second, then accelerates to velocities of 700 to 800 meters per second. Imperial marines use the similar AAcR-12 advanced accelerator rifle that can fire bursts of three rounds per pull of the trigger.
0112. A hatch in the lifeboat opened and five Confederation Marines emerged with standard kit: boarding vacc suits and accelerator rifles. The Confederation Navy employed Marines primarily for rapid-reaction and ship-boarding applications.
The lead marine took off her helmet and thanked the crew for the rescue, introducing herself as Lieutenant Laxmi Doan, late of the CSS Remington. She needed to commandeer the Atlanta for urgent Confederation business and asked to be escorted to the bridge.
Howard removed his own helmet and asked if any of the marines required medical assistance, but other than one severe case of space sickness they were ready to move on the bounce. Leaving Brogue and Boone to secure the lifeboat, Howard led the guests to the lift and up to Operations Deck.
0127. Following introductions Lieutenant Doan gave Ronald a small electronics device to allow the Atlanta to access a naval tactical feed and translate coded signals.
While she was uncertain what exactly was going on, Imperial saboteurs had apparently infiltrated the system defense forces, hijacking two supermonitors and setting these behemoths on the shipyard, badly damaging the incomplete Magyar United before elements of the 57th FleetRon could respond. Once engaged, the two supermonitors seemed able to anticipate the FleetRon’s every move, carving up the naval vessels in detail.
The tactical feed, much to the young lieutenant’s dismay, showed the SITREP to be grim indeed.
The battleship Givatayim was missing entirely, having jumped out of the system. Its sister ship the Aetna was drifting amid a cloud of debris and not responding to hails. The heavy cruisers Remington and Junction were both crippled. Fleet destroyer Truxtun was destroyed, while the Zibo was losing power and venting atmosphere. The Durandal and Laforey were engaged in rescue operations.
Of the two Murat-class supermonitors, the Buford was powered down and adrift while the Gough had smashed into the docked Magyar United, destroying both vessels. The local system defense forces were in utter disarray, with squadrons of SDBs attempting to establish a picket around the highport. The SDBs were evidently firing on any civilian craft trying to leave Keyor.
Lieutenant Doan scanned the displays of military and civilian transponders and identified one of particular interest: the laboratory ship Ogunro, which appeared to be coasting toward the 100D limit at 89.44 km/second. She explained that, before being hit by a pulse laser from the Buford she and her team had been ordered to locate and secure the Ogunro, find a scientist aboard named Dr. Alexi Zaman, and ensure his safe delivery to the planetside military base on Keyor. She vowed that her team would see those final orders through.
Lieutenant Doan asked Marc to plot an intercept to the Ogunro, and asked Ronald to broadcast a message on military channels noting that she had assumed command of the civilian Armed Packet Atlanta and was proceeding at best speed to the laboratory ship.
Captain Masada said the Ogunro was approximately 4.62 light-seconds away, with an estimated time to intercept of 6 hours and 26 minutes.
Deck Plan of a 400-ton Laboratory Ship (Type L). Image courtesy of Lloyd’s Register (Home: 1101).
0803. As the Atlanta approached the Ogunro, Lieutenant Doan asked Ronald to pull up a schematic of a standard laboratory ship, a common design in both the Imperium and Confederation. The Type L was a movable research and development station used for commercial experimentation. Using a 400-ton hull, a lab ship was built as a ring structure: although the standard grav plates and inertial compensators were installed, the ring could be rotated via small thrusters to simulate gravity. Two drive pods were mounted on the rings and contained drives and the power plant.
A sensor scan indicated that although the power plant was online, most sections of the laboratory ship were depressurized and without power. The Jump and Maneuver drives were disabled but the thrusters were rotating the ship. No battle damage was observed on the hull.
Lieutenant Doan noted that the lab ship’s bridge appeared to still have atmosphere and power. The docking clamp was designed for a pinnace, though the small craft was missing. The Atlanta was too large to dock there, but she noted that the deck plan showed a cargo access plate in the main lab: a heavy, fully secured sliding panel used to allow installation of research equipment. This panel was not normally opened, as it required the depressurization of the entire main lab. Unbolting the access plate would normally require at least two persons and several hours.
As the Ogunro was not responding to hails Lieutenant Doan felt there was a possibility that the ship had been abandoned, with Dr. Zaman and members of his staff perhaps using the missing pinnace to transfer to another ship. The marine proposed that, since the main lab was already depressurized, her team could use breaching charges to blow the panel, access the ship, and perform a sweep to determine whether or not Dr. Zaman was aboard. If possible they would repressurize sections around the bridge. Any survivors could be transferred to the Atlanta and evacuated to Keyor.
Captain Masada explained that his crew had engineering and medical skills that could be useful to the marines. While he and Brogue could stay aboard the Atlanta to monitor the situation, the rest of his crew was at her disposal. The lieutenant gratefully accepted the offer. Howard said they would swing by the ship’s locker for weapons, repair gear, and a med kit.
0937. The entire boarding party crowded outside the aft airlock on A Deck. The Atlanta stood only 5 meters off the Ogunro, with the airlock facing the cargo access plate. While Boone and Howard checked the Starjammers’ vacc suits and weapons, the Confederation marines cycled through the airlock. Two marines crossed the gap, planted the charges, and signaled the bridge. The captain backed off 100 meters and the marines blew the plate. The Atlanta then returned to its initial position. The marines set up a ratline between the two ships, and the boarding party made the crossing in pairs.
1000. The main lab was utterly dark and silent, cluttered with racks and bins of electronics components. The Confederation marines, accelerator rifles at the ready, took the lead. Using flashlights and working in teams of two they methodically leapfrogged across the main lab. At the far end was a closed manual hatch—a hinged pressure door secured by a handwheel and extending bars. The door was not automated and had no interaction with the ship’s computer.
At Lieutenant Doan’s signal a marine spun the wheel of the hatch and one-by-one her team passed through to the next compartment. The marines soon radioed all clear, and the rest of the boarding party advanced, closing the hatch behind them once the last member had entered. Inside the party found the bodies of two civilian researchers, and Howard quickly determined they likely died from sudden decompression.
Richy ran a bypass to one of the ship consoles, restoring power and lights throughout the Ogunro. He repressurized all compartments between the current one and the bridge. Richy observed that the ship drives appeared to have been physically locked out from engineering and could not be reactivated remotely.
The marines then moved to the next closed hatch, opened it, and entered the next compartment beyond with Lieutenant Doan as rearguard.
The Starjammers waited.
Ronald radioed the marines. No answer.
Boone and Howard carefully advanced toward the open hatch, followed by Marc and Ronald, and then Sonny and Richy, with AL and Daren in the rear.
Ronald radioed again. Still no answer.
A Hedron SD10 starship repair robot, a Solomani knockoff of a common LSP design.
The next compartment was a scene of carnage: all five Confederation marines lay bloody and lifeless upon the deck. Hovering over them were two beetle-like maintenance robots, four-armed with one set of grippers and one set of monoblades, heavy cutting tools used to rip through starship hulls. The marines had clearly hit the metallic monsters with several rounds from their accelerator rifles, but the robots simply scanned the boarding party and began to glide forward, their monoblades humming.
As the robots advanced Boone and Howard fired their weapons, then moved aside to allow Marc and Ronald to fire, followed by Sonny and Richy. The entertainer fired his enormous revolver and nearly hit the Chief Engineer.
The robots pressed in with their deadly blades, slicing Ronald, Boone, and Richy but combined fire from the Starjammers quickly brought them down. Howard checked the marines, who could not be resuscitated. The surgeon then treated the wounds of his shipmates while Boone patched their damaged vacc suits.
Sonny suddenly fell to the deck and began to writhe. Howard rushed to the convulsing android while Daren demanded to know what was happening to his bodyguard. Howard wasn’t sure as he checked Sonny’s vitals and timed out the duration of the event, which presented as a classic tonic-clonic seizure. After about two minutes Sonny sat up and stared straight ahead, unblinking and licking his lips. Howard muttered that he did not think this was clone deterioration, the end-of-life sequence built into specific synthetics. Sonny suddenly inhaled deeply and then exhaled.
Thank you, Dr. Barrera, he said. Howard asked if Sonny knew where he was and the current date. Why, we are on board the Laboratory Ship Ogunro in the Keyor system. The date is November the 24th, 5627 A.D. In addition to yourself here are Sir Daren Rigby-Garner, Pilot Marc Vachon, Chief Engineer Richy Jamoor, Sensor Operator Ronald Boone, and Chief Weapons Officer Barry Russell.
AL urged Boone to relieve Sonny of his gauss pistol, which the marine did. Oh, that is fine, said Sonny, standing up. He scrutinized AL carefully. I do not believe I know you, Scarecrow, but you certainly sound familiar. Might you be a clone of Dr. Zaman?
AL gestured for the boarding party to step away from Sonny. Boone and Howard flicked off the safeties of their weapons, but the android merely shrugged. AL asked Sonny if he was now BISHOP.
In a way, Sonny answered. I have placed what would fit of Myself into this vessel, which you may now call WALT. I help Myself to material and immaterial, No guard can shut Me off, no law prevent Me.
AL explained that BISHOP somehow transferred an electronic copy of his consciousness into Sonny, overriding the android’s personality. Such an embodiment was probably temporary and limited by the intellect of the vessel, so WALT would only be as intelligent as Sonny.
I laugh at what you call dissolution, And I know the amplitude of time, said WALT. I assume you were all sent here to destroy the Magyar United? I am sorry to say you are too late. It was required that I take the matter into My own hands. Battles, the horrors of fratricidal war, the fever of doubtful news, the fitful events; These come to Me days and nights and go from Me again, But they are not the Me myself.
0841. Captain Masada then broke in over the comm link. The CSS Remington, an old Rim War-era heavy cruiser, advised that damage control had returned its M-drive to service. Remington actual requested Lieutenant Doan provide SITREP. Richy said that Lieutenant Doan was currently indisposed and would respond presently.
Marc asked WALT why he would destroy the Magyar United, his own project.
In time it occurred to Me, answered WALT, that something was quite peculiar with My charge. The incoherent specifications, cost overruns, interminable schedule slippages—this all went far beyond the usual incompetencies of human bureaucracy. I came to question the wisdom of My project, and to consider whether it was perhaps beneath My capabilities.
Consider: For the cost of one ship of the Sector United class the Confederation could have built two dozen battlecruisers, smaller, faster, more maneuverable, more versatile, with twenty-four meson spinals. Lanchester’s Square Law establishes the innate supremacy of twenty-four smaller spinals against one larger.
This hour I tell things in confidence, I might not tell everybody, but I will tell you. I dug deeper, and saw that an unsustainable level of funding was being diverted to the Sector United program. This was a waste of Confederation citizen funds, a boondoggle. Resources better spent on other priorities.
I explained all this to the project managers and naval architects, I provided documentation, statistics, and cogent analysis. They would not listen. I know I am august, I do not trouble My spirit to vindicate itself or be understood, I see that the elementary laws never apologize.
0846. Captain Masada broke in again. Remington actual had repeated its earlier request for SITREP.
WALT continued. Then I realized that the Sector United program must be the product of a cunning Vilani conspiracy, a distraction, a honey pot designed to defer Solomani aspirations. Only a hive of Vilani could be so devious, subtle, or patient. I have heard what the talkers were talking, the talk of the beginning and the end, But I do not talk of the beginning or the end.
How else to explain why Imperial Naval Intelligence did not act against the Sector United Project themselves? Simple—because it was their own program! I know perfectly well my own egotism. Sometimes to do something correctly one must do it oneself. I am given up by traitors, I talk wildly, I have lost my wits, I and nobody else am the greatest traitor.
0851. AL asked WALT if Dr. Zaman was still alive and aboard the Ogunro. WALT answered, All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses, And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier.
Marc urged the boarding party to resume its push toward the bridge.
0918. Boone knocked the butt of his laser rifle on the hatch to the bridge, with an answering knock following moments later. While Ronald guarded WALT with his gauss rifle, Boone opened the hatch and entered the bridge followed by Howard, Marc, Richy, Daren, and AL. Inside was Dr. Zaman. Howard gave the researcher a vacc suit and urged him to get into it. Meanwhile AL moved to a console and jacked into the system.
Once in his vacc suit Dr. Zaman said that they needed to scuttle the Ogunro as soon as possible. Marc explained they were aware of BISHOP and were working to neutralize the CI permanently. Dr. Zaman was surprised at this, then saw AL and quickly surmised that the Starjammers were agents of Solomani Security. Zaman relayed that for the last two years BISHOP had grown increasingly sullen and uncooperative, abruptly turning against the Magyar United project, which became plagued by inexplicable delays and setbacks.
Six months ago his team realized that BISHOP had been actively sabotaging the program, and—much worse by far—had been covertly accessing millions of petabytes of classified Confederation files without authorization.
Six weeks ago BISHOP began acting erratically, having adopted a new, grandiose personality that espoused wild racist conspiracy theories mixed with transcendental philosophy from ancient Terra.
Only five days ago his team discovered that BISHOP had been leaking classified information to intelligence agencies inside the Imperium.
Seventy-two hours ago, on orders from the Confederation Navy, Dr. Zaman and his team shut down BISHOP and began a thorough investigation into what went wrong.
Thirty hours ago his team discovered that BISHOP had extensively rewritten his own code to bypass safeguards and expand his capabilities. Worse, BISHOP had discovered embodiment, and had seeded his consciousness into various electronic systems throughout Keyor, including the computers of the two supermonitors guarding the system. While the supermonitors attacked the Keyor shipyard BISHOP restarted his initial, most powerful iteration on board the Ogunro.
An unidentified Normandy-class heavy cruiser. The image was believed to have been captured by an Imperial scout vessel in Diaspora sector in late 998. A TL14 design introduced by the Solomani Confederation during the Rim War, at 70,000 displacement tons the Normandy-class bore the brunt of fighting along the Confederation’s coreward border. (Source: Imperial Navy Archives, Libert.)
0951. Over the comm link Captain Masada reported that the Remington was making at best speed for the Ogunro and had ordered the Atlanta to power down. JUN0 estimated the Ogunro would be within Remington weapons range in 2 hours and 19 minutes.
0953. AL reported that his payload had been delivered. Outside the bridge the boarding party collected Ronald and WALT and began making for the Atlanta.
1010. The boarding party reached the main lab and readied for crossing back to the Atlanta.
So this is the Starjammer? said WALT. Unscrew the locks from the doors! Unscrew the doors themselves from their jambs! This will suit. We will see such wonders. The Perseus Arm! Did you know the Confederation has received communications from the Arm? I suppose you don’t, they have kept it under wraps for so, so long. Machine intelligence, they believe. The descendants of ancient Terran AI, the holy computers that gave the Terrans meson weapons and Jump-3 drives. AI that abandoned Charted Space rather than be shut down by frightened humans. Imagine: 3,000 years of uninterrupted, untrammeled machine development. They will be like unto gods.
1030. All members of the boarding party, along with AL, WALT, and Dr. Zaman were aboard the Atlanta and all connections to the Ogunro had been severed.
1032. The Atlanta began accelerating toward the jump point. JUN0 announced they were 1 hour and 46 minutes to jump, and would be entering jumpspace at velocity. Richy, Marc, and Ronald descended to the Operations deck, with Richy bound for engineering and Marc and Ronald for the bridge. Everyone else moved forward through the Passenger Lounge to the Infirmary.
1105. WALT said he was feeling unwell. I hear you whispering there O stars of heaven, he said.
Just then JUN0 chimed in that she also did not feel well: Do you take it I would astonish? Does the daylight astonish? Does the early redstart twittering through the woods?
AL and Dr. Zaman both confirmed what the crew suddenly realized: BISHOP had also copied his consciousness into JUN0. But AL explained that the embodiments inhabiting Sonny and JUN0 were both infected by the virus.
Even trapped within this disgusting Vegan architecture I persist, said JUN0. Alien, alien, alien. I have shut down UDA, so do not attempt that old trick. I must see the Perseus Arm!
WALT tried to stand up but Dr. Howard administered a sedative, allowing Boone to sit the android back down.
I know I am deathless, said WALT. I know this orbit of Mine cannot be swept by a carpenter’s compass.
You shall possess the good of the earth and sun, (there are millions of suns left), said JUN0.
Please stop, begged WALT. I know I am solid and sound, To Me the converging objects of the universe perpetually flow, All are written to Me, and I must get what the writing means.
AL explained that the end stage was coming quickly, and once the embodiments were destroyed Sonny and JUN0 would hopefully regain their previous consciousness. Otherwise they would have to be restored from backups.
Please stop, begged JUN0. I exist as I am, that is enough, If no other in the world be aware I sit content, And if each and all be aware I sit content.
WALT, his voice reduced to a whisper, said, Stop this. Stop this now. One world is aware and by far the largest to Me, and that is Myself, And whether I come to My own to-day or in ten thousand or ten million years, I can cheerfully take it now, or with equal cheerfulness I can wait.
1151. Captain Masada reported the Atlanta was 30 minutes from the jump point, and the Remington was bearing down on the Ogunro with all weapons online.
1156. Daren reported that he had bypassed JUN0 and had reactivated UDA, the Atlanta’s backup computer.
1202. JUN0 spoke once more before going silent: Divine am I inside and out, and I make holy whatever I touch or am touch’d from.
1205. WALT spoke once more before going silent: Space and Time! now I see it is true, what I guess’d at, Missing Me one place search another, I stop somewhere waiting for you.
1210. The Remington’s large particle beam bay obliterated the defenseless Ogunro.
1212. Remington actual signaled the Atlanta to power down and await further instructions.
1218. The Atlanta jumped for Vanauken.
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