Stephen Berry - Final Assault

There was a faint chirp, repeated three times. Frowning, the K'Ronarin took the slim communicator from his shirt pocket. "S'Rel," he said.

"Alert condition one," said a flat voice in K'Ronarin. "An AI battleglobe has just entered the Terran system."

"Close the portal!" said S'Rel.

"It didn't come from the portal," said the voice. "It came from our space."

The battle klaxon brought Repulse's Captain P'Qal from bed to bridge in record time, pausing only for a quick commlink call.

"Status?" he said, taking the command chair, eyes on the big board. Behind him the armored doors slid shut with a faint hiss.

"Target appeared at jump point a few moments ago," said S'Jat in her usual low, soft voice. She nodded at the board. "As you can see, it's headed insystem at just below light speed, and on present course, will reach here in nineteen point five t'lars."

"And pass right through," said P'Qal brusqely. The emergency wasn't improving his notoriously short temper. "She's not decelerating."

"As the captain will note," said S'Jat, unruffled, "what little data we have on AI battleglobes indicates that they can decelerate almost instantaneously."

"Absurd," said the captain. "A violation of every principle of astrogation and related physics."

"Perhaps we don't know everything about astrogation and physics," suggested the first officer.

They stared at each other, the short, bald man and the tall, thin brunette. "I'm not going to debate epistemology with you," said P'Qal. "I always lose." His eyes shifted to the tacscan data threading across the board. "Almost the size of Terra's moon," he said. "Highly manueverable, fusion batteries half the size of this ship, first-class shielding." He looked up. "Suicide to take her on, Number One."

"Terra has no defenses," she said mildly. "You've alerted them?" She nodded. "Through our New York embassy."

"And FleetOps?"

"Knows nothing. The battleglobe took out our skipcomm relay the instant she entered the system."

"I see," he said, eyes going back to the board. The large red blip had passed Saturn. "Where in all the hells did it come from?"

S'Jat shrugged. "The implications aren't pleasant."

P'Qal touched the commlink in his chairarm. "Get me Dawn-Captain S'Yatan. Battle priority alpha." He glanced again at the tacscan-the battleglobe was almost at Mars and showed no sign of slowing.

"Captain S'Yatan, sir," said the comm officer.

"Close the portal," P'Qal ordered the man whose image appeared in his commscreen.

"Already done," said the younger man. "But where did it come from?"

"Let's go ask her," said P'Qal. "Man your battlestations and follow us."

1. Artificial intelligences (AIs) exist. We have fought and defeated one of their advance units. More are coming.

2. These AIs are, as suspected, from a parallel reality where organic, carbon-based life is subservient to silicon-based life.

3. In a revolt against the AI Empire -called the Revolt by all sides-humans, a few hundred AIs and members of at least one other species escaped to this reality, moving uptime 900,000 years. Arriving 100,000 of our years ago, these revolutionaries founded our civilization, their humans intermarrying with humans indigenous to our galaxy. We are their descendants.

4. The AIs who came here still live among us, in human guise.

5. The AI Empire still exists. In a million years it has forgotten nothing and learned nothing. And it has found the means to come after us-one million battleglobes strong. Nothing we have can stand against it.

6. The AI Empire has succeeded in planting a fifth column among us. It is one of our principal industrial arms, Combine T'Lan. As of this communique, we have beaten off one of Combine T'Lan's task forces.

7. As my and Commodore DTrelna's commands have been declared corsair by FleetOps-one may guess at whose instigation-we have decided to become corsairs, in a limited sense. I have agreed to a limited raid on Combine T'Lan's headquarters-my ships will protect Implacable as she sends in assault boats. It is unlikely that any of my command will survive the action.

Admiral Second S'Gan, loc. sit. (Final skipcomm received.)

"So, you slime have co-opted the Tower garrison," said D'Trelna, looking around the room.

It was a small room, built to inspire fear: thick-mortared walls of ancient, hand-dressed stone, set deep beneath the Tower-an old Imperial interrogation cell furnished only with the traditional scarred gray table and folding chair.

"The Commandant of the Tower is sensitive to political winds, Commodore," said the man behind the table. "A talent you lack."

"You're Councilor D'Assan," said D'Trelna. "Of the Imperial Party."

The younger man nodded. "Actually, I'm Council Chair this term."

"And you had me arrested-illegally,"

D'Trelna snapped, feeling himself flush with anger.

D'Assan waved a well-manicured hand. "As Council Chair, I can hold almost anyone, pending investigation. Fleet Security actually made the arrest-your ship is corsair-listed, Commodore. You didn't think you were just going to flit in, have a drink with the lads and muster out, did you?"

"I'm a Fleet officer," said D'Trelna. "That's for Fleet to decide."

D'Assan held up a hand. "Soon, Commodore, soon. But first, I wanted us to have a quiet talk, just us two, all alone in this rocky womb, safe from spy beams and snooper probes."

D'Trelna nodded curtly. "Fine. What did you want to say, Councilor?"

"That you are a fool," said D'Assan mildly. "That you've been deceived by a very charming fellow named R'Gal into believing that our society is infiltrated by AIs seeking to destroy us. In fact, it is the AIs who've made us what we are-literally."

"Scum…!" growled D'Trelna, stepping toward the table, hands raised. "You know!"

"Please don't make me use this," said D'Assan, a palm-sized needier suddenly appearing in his hand. "You've no idea the number of reports your great mound of a body would require."

The commodore paused in mid-stride, fists clenched at his side. "You're one of them-a machine, a combat droid from Combine T'Lan."

D'Assan shook his head, "No. Just a man, trying to do something right for his people in the brief time I have, as a councilor and a man."

"Pretty," said D'Trelna. "You should be a politician."

"Back up, please, Commodore," said D'Assan, flicking the needier. He set the weapon on the table top as D'Trelna complied.

"Let me tell you something, Councilor…" began the commodore.

"No, sir," interrupted D'Assan. "Let me tell you what you're going to tell me, then I'll tell you why it's wrong." He swept on before D'Trelna could speak.

"You're going to tell me that you took your ship into Blue Nine, the Ghost Quadrant, and there battled machines and monsters and ancient nightmares out of our past, and against terrifying odds, you fought free and have come to warn us all." He nodded. "You're a brave and resourceful commander. My compliments, sir."

"Go to hell."

"Hell is precisely where your warning would take us, D'Trelna," said D'Assan with a wry smile. "Artificial intelligences-AIs -built this civilization, working from within, guiding us through the long rise to the stars, helping us win the war against the S'Cotar…"

"Blood and steel won that war, D'Assan," said D'Trelna.

"… and now you'd expose the presence of this helping hand to mass hysteria and mob violence-undo a millennia-old friend who's given everything and asked nothing in return."

The commodore stared at D'Assan for a long moment. "You are speaking of our preeminent industrial combine, Combine T'Lan?" he said carefully.

D'Assan nodded.

"Do I understand?" continued D'Trelna. "You believe the T'Lan AIs to be responsible for all that is good and great, the noble benefactors of we small creatures?" "Well, that's a bit of an exaggera-" "I don't know what sweet crap you've been fed, Councilor, but the Combine T'Lan AIs are infiltrators from a parallel universe-a universe that has an AI empire ruling subjugated races such as ours. An empire against which a valiant few men and AIs revolted, lost, fled to this reality and founded this civilization, millennia ago. That Empire, Councillor, has sworn vengeance upon us. The T'Lan AIs are the vanguard of that vengeance that even now is sweeping down toward rift in the Ghost Quadrant-a rift guarded by a handful of mindslavers of dubious loyalty. The Fleet of the One is coming, Councilor D'Assan, and they won't leave until we're all dead." He paused, breathing hard.