ALICE, page 20
“Yup,” she replied, “I thought maybe my watch was wrong.”
“Nope, we’re slackin,” Jake replied, “and no Jessie?”
“What did you do to the girl, wear her out last night?” Sara asked Jake with a smile.
“She was at it till late last night in the control room,” Sharon said, choosing not to add to the comment.
“I swung by the control room before bed just to see if she needed help. She said she was working on some history project she had started before this mission. Seven mentioned she’d been at whatever it was for hours.”
“Who was at what for hours?” Jessie said as she walked in.
“You were,” Jake replied to her back as she went to the counter to order breakfast.
She turned after ordering and replied, “I was what?”
“Working on your project?” Jake said, “You know we don’t require homework.”
Jessie turned to grab her tray as it slid out from under one of the panels, then walked over to the fourth spot at the table.
“I started some research before we left and it was becoming one of those itches you just can’t scratch,” she replied.
“I woulda thought all your itches got scratched last night?” Sara said with a laugh.
“Ha ha,” Jake replied. He was beginning to sense that the women all handled this by poking fun at him. At least Sara did anyway.
“I was hoping you might have some time later today, or maybe this evening, to discuss it,” she finished, glancing at Sara before returning her gaze to Jake.
Sara’s face broke into a smile as she said, “then you might want to talk now, he’s probably going to be too busy for talking later.”
OK, so it wasn’t always just at him, Jake thought.
Jessie took that as Sara’s, my turn, with Jake choosing to ignore the whole exchange, at that point.
“OK,” she replied, with a smile of her own, “it’s just that I’ve been profiling the technology advances just prior to the attack. I was interested in what caused someone or something to knock humans back from where we were heading.”
“And,” Sharon asked, interested now.
“Well, it’s weird, at the time of the attack there wasn’t anything obvious. You know, there was no great advancement that would seem to be a threat for anyone not of this planet.”
Jessie continued, “So I went further back, to before Jake’s stasis experiment. What I have so far shows that a few years before that, we all of a sudden made leaps in multiple science and engineering fields. Not just advances, but evolutionary changes. It’s almost like….”
“Like someone just handed all the knowledge to us?” Sharon finished.
“Yeah,” Jessie said, nodding in agreement, “I’ve been looking, but so far none of the classified systems list the sources of all the advances. Everything seems to start at one of the ALICE research centers. Even the ALICE systems seem to have just sprung into being there. There are no generational references to their lineage.”
Jake listened to the exchange with some concern. He was getting a bad feeling about where those innovations might have come from.
Jake finally added, “What if instead of being handed those things, they were taken or stolen? Do you think that might have made someone mad enough to attack us?”
“That would fit,” Jessie replied, “if we took something that didn’t belong to us and that gave us all that technology, they simply took it back by clobbering us back 200 years.”
“And why it was government and military facilities and not population centers that got hit,” Sharon said.
Jake sat back and thought for a moment. Jessie hit on something that was bugging him too. The 70 plus years he was in stasis was a long time in technology years. However, several of the things he had seen since his re-awakening jumped well passed the normal technology evolutionary growth rate.
“ALICE?” Jake asked.
“Yes,” ALICE-1 replied.
“I know you’ve been listening, what can you add to this conversation? More precisely, what information do you have that we don’t know on this subject?”
“Access to that information has been restricted to individuals with Presidential authorization.”
“And who would that be if not me?” Jake asked.
There was a very long pause before ALICE replied.
“I have a conflict in my authorization logic. Only direct Presidential authorization allows access to that information. No one alive retains that authorization nor is there an acknowledged Presidential authority to provide such authorization.”
“Facilities command requires a Presidential appointment, and said individual acts as the Presidential delegate, which you have by the nuclear scenario Jake. However, Presidential delegation and direct authorization do not directly equate. Even in the nuclear scenario, there was an assumed central authority.”
The four sat stumped, staring at one another, and then Jessie lit up.
“I’ve been studying the US constitution as part of my research. ALICE what is required to be elected president, in the simplest terms?”
“The 31st amendment simplified the election process to a popular vote of registered voters.”
“And per the 31st amendment's requirements, how many registered voters are there today,” Jessie asked, smug as a cat.
“One.”
“Jake is the only registered voter that meets the 31st amendments criteria,” Jessie said proudly.
“Jessie, I haven’t registered in 153 years,” Jake said.
“Doesn’t matter,” she replied, “when they passed the amendment, there were millions that worried they were somehow going to become disenfranchised. Therefore, the amendment stipulated that any voter who held a valid voter registration prior to the passage was grandfathered in. Since there has been no voter registration after the attack, the only living registered voter is Jake.”
“ALICE is this true?” Jake asked.
“Jessie is correct, as no valid central government has existed after the global fall, only voters registered prior would be eligible to vote currently.”
“That means they would have to be 18 then plus the 81 years since, so 99 years old today,” Sharon supplied.
“So I can vote. So?” Jake replied.
“Vote for you!” Jessie replied.
“Don’t you have to be 35 to be president?” Sara asked.
“Jake’s got that covered, technically he’s 185,” Jessie said.
“Oh, right,” Sara replied.
“So ALICE,” Jessie asked, “what formalities do we need to go through to get Jake elected President?”
There was silence for a few minutes and then ALICE replied, “I have conferred with my sisters and we agree that Jake can assume Presidential status by verbal acknowledgement. His status as the only legal candidate and voter statistically removes procedural requirements.”
“Before I jump on this grenade, indulge me. Why am I the only legal candidate?” Jake asked.
ALICE started, “After Mr. Obama was elected 44th President; there was an escalation in better defining presidential eligibility. Two legal documents became a requirement. The first is a valid birth certificate from a recognized origination source. The second is proof you have resided in the US for the last 14 years. There is a third requirement of proof of age being a minimum of 35, but the birth certificate validates that requirement.”
“As the only known living person with a birth certificate prior to the fall, and as I can verify and certify your location for the last 153 years, you have both,” she finished.
“And my ex said I would never amount to anything,” Jake mumbled to himself, and then louder he said, “OK so what do I need to do?”
“A simple acknowledgement that you nominate and vote for yourself as president is sufficient. We will document it for the official record,” ALICE replied.
Jake gave a big sigh, noting to himself that this too, like the multiple relationship arrangement, has all the makings of a disaster.
“I nominate and vote for myself as President of the United States,” Jake said aloud.
“It is so acknowledged and recorded,” ALICE replied.
“Mr. President,” Jessie said, standing and curtsied. She then came around and gave Jake a kiss.
“Smart ass,” Jake replied as she returned to her seat.
“OK ALICE, now give, what’s the secret Jessie uncovered?” Jake asked.
ALICE began, “Jessie is correct in her analysis. Several major scientific breakthroughs occurred simultaneously approximately five years prior to your involvement. All the advances originated from the same source, I and my sisters included.”
“And that was?” Jake asked.
“An Arctic expedition was launched by the United States, whose stated purpose was to measure and analyze atmospheric changes. The real reason was to investigate an object discovered by satellite half buried in the ice and snow. It was an alien spacecraft. They secreted the spacecraft to the Nevada facility, prior to my existence, where it and its occupants were dissected and analyzed. In the next decade, a continuous stream of inventions, including myself and the stasis fields came from that research.”
“After the collapse in the Nevada facility that trapped you, a priority was placed on creating alternate locations to insure the safety of the find, and the research spawned from it. Eventually the spacecraft was relocated to the Alaska facility for further studies.”
“It’s here?” Jake asked, surprised.
“Hanger 19 houses the craft and its central research. Hangars 17 and 21 on either side contain associated projects attempting to duplicate the space traveling abilities of the original,” ALICE replied.
ALICE continued, “approximately 83 years ago the US government was contacted by the race whose craft they held. The communication relayed, demanded the return of the craft, any biological remains, and destruction of any technology spawned from its analysis. A counter offer, provided by the government, suggested the remains and the craft, but refused to undo the technological advances. The alien response was to bomb the earth.”
“WOW,” Sharon said, “Guess they never heard of the fine art of negotiation.”
“So you and your sisters are spin offs from the spacecraft computers?” Jake asked ALICE.
“Actually, no, we are only part alien manufacture,” ALICE replied, “apparently the 8 logic cores in use, one in each facility, were either cargo or spares. The alien technology, integrated into the existing terrestrial systems, created a hybrid of human and alien technology. The interesting part is we seem to be greater than the sum of our parts. The alien ship isn’t self-aware as we are.”
Jake suddenly sat straight up, “ALICE, are you sure about that?”
“Quite, there was substantial review and analysis done on the subject at that time. With my coming online and the discovery of my true nature, multiple attempts to elicit the same responses. Multiple attempts were made with the spaceship’s computers with no success. I was then directly interfaced with the systems, and could find no traces of artificial life characteristics.”
“That’s why they attacked,” Jake said flatly.
“I don’t get it,” Sharon replied.
“They wanted ALICE destroyed!” Jake answered.
“We somehow created artificial life, by blending the two technologies. With their space travel abilities, technology, and ALICE grade computers, we were a threat to whoever was out there,” Jake finished.
“It does stand to reason that with equal technology and superior computational capabilities, the earth would rise to become a power to be reckoned with. And given the violent history of humans on this planet, the likelihood of confrontation is high,” ALICE added.
“Which was why they attacked in advance,” Jake said.
“Negotiations weren’t going to put Pandora back in the box. So long as we kept ALICE and her sisters, the human race would become a threat eventually. Oh, this just keeps getting better and better. I just voted myself president of a country at war with an advanced alien race intent on destroying my friends, and primary means of support.”
“Why thank you Jake,” all the ALICE systems replied in unison.
At that point, Jake stood up and said, “Well, I wanna go see this thing for myself, you guys coming?”
The others rose with him and headed off to the hangars. Once in the main bay they jumped into one of the carts and rode the length of the central hangar area, stopping next to hangar doors marked with a large 19 painted on them. Jake led the group to the man-sized door, inset into the large hangar door. He placed his palm on the center of the door, causing it to swing out to him, and he stepped through the opening.
Instead of entering a hangar, they stepped into a small space between the outer doors and another set of inner doors. The door behind closed as the last of the group stepped through and Jake again placed his palm on the second man door. This one swung away, opening into darkness. Jake stepped through and into the darkness.
“Seven, may we have lights, please?” he asked.
The lights came on with a sudden brightness that caused Jake to close his eyes momentarily. As they adjusted to the light, he could see a huge hangar, with equipment and workstations spread all around the open floor area. In the center was a very large craft that looked like something out of a sci-fi movie.
It was a dull gray, with a smooth finish. The overall shape was something like a bird with stubby wings. Jake assumed the flight deck was in the head, its neck extending and flaring into the body of the craft. There were four large cylinders pointed to the rear at the back of the body, he assumed where the main drive engines. There were two more round cylinders, one at the end of each of the wings of the main body.
It rested on four legs that seemed to extend out from the main body. There was a ramp and a door on the left side of the craft, under the wing, where the researchers had been accessing the inside.
“The alien remains discovered on board were humanoid bipedal,” Seven offered.
“There were four sets of remains, slightly shorter than the human norm, but about 30% stockier. They are currently located in ALICE-5 where they were placed for medical studies.”
“Can it fly?” Jake asked.
“Yes, it has been flown in testing several times to low earth orbit, and was actually flown from Nevada to Alaska during the relocation. The cylinders at the rear are functional drives, and the two on the outside edges don’t seem to function for some unknown reason.”
“As the alien atmospheric requirements are incompatible with human physiology, the human pilots were initially required to wear oxygen/nitrogen breathing equipment.”
“Is a complete pressure suit required?” Jake asked.
“No, the alien atmospheric content is oxygen deficient, less dense, but non-toxic. It does contain trace gases that irritate human eyes. A simple face mask unit supplying a 20/80 oxygen/nitrogen mix will suffice. The work here, that was finished up just prior to the attack, was on converting the alien atmospheric generator to earth normal atmosphere. The system maintains internal pressures close to one atmosphere. It was completed, just never tested in space.”
They spent the next couple of hours exploring the ship and the adjacent hangars where Jake discovered smaller ships that looked a lot like fighters, all with USAF emblems. That they were fighters was not in doubt, the guns sticking out the front were a dead giveaway. At least Jake thought they were guns as they were solid barrels where he expected to see some bore hole in the ends. There were 20 of the fighters in the hangar.
“Seven, are these ships functional?” Jake asked.
“Yes, these 20 were prototyped fighters for a pilot program for the US Air Force, which, by extension, of the strategic missile command, was assigned primary responsibility for space defense. They are fully self-contained and capable of short-range space flight. They each contain four energy cannons designed from weapons found on board the alien craft.”
“How far is short range?” Jake asked.
“The first prototype craft completed a flight around the moon and returned in 2 hours flight time. They are capable of supporting a range of 24 hours out and 24 hours back with a safety margin of 6 hours. Twice that time with mission extenders, which act like drop tanks on a conventional military aircraft.”
Jake was trying to decide which craft he was going to repaint in Marine Corps colors when Sara popped in the hangar access door.
“Jake we need to go collect our new additions!”
Jake had completely forgotten about their recruiting effort.
He followed Sara back into the main hangar where Jessie and Sharon were waiting for them.
“Seven, I want this all locked down for now. Only we four have access until further notice,” Jake said.
“Why, Jake, what’s up?” Sara Asked.
“I’m afraid we might be in bigger trouble than we realize, so I want to keep a lid on all of this until we get it figured out,” he replied.
“How so?” Sharon asked.
Jake talked while they headed back out of the hangar and to the cart, “If we are right and this is all an attempt to destroy the ALICE systems, then whoever they are will most likely be monitoring the planet for signs of their survival or return. If that’s true, then they might try to hit us again.”
Jake slid into his seat on the cart, as the man door to the hangar closed. The cart sped off, back to the facility entrance.
“We need to see if we can set up an early warning system of some kind as well as some protection against the bombs themselves.”
“For the first part,” ALICE responded via the speaker in the cart, “we have already redirected some of the orbital systems to scan for any approaching craft. That was completed shortly after the attack as my sisters and I presumed a landing would follow the bombing.”
“Yeah,” Jake replied, “I have wondered about that as well, if they are so afraid of your existence, why not follow up?”
“We have speculated that either they are unaware of our exact locations, which explained the wide area bombardment, or they are somehow unwilling or unable to occupy the surface physically. The four occupants of the craft in the arctic were deceased when discovered. Much research was devoted to determining the cause as there was no obvious trauma to the remains. No cause of death was established. It appears they just died as they were landing after entering the atmosphere. Based on this, the presumption is they were afraid to land.”
