A Forest of Stars - Kevin J. Anderson [212]
The compy-crewed Golgen recon expedition vanished entirely. No transmissions had been received from the comet-scarred gas giant, no wreckage found in the system by spy drones. The surveillance fleet was considered lost.
Peter wasn’t surprised.
OX said, “After analyzing spy-drone scans of the system, the EDF concluded that the loss was obviously the work of hydrogues.”
Peter joined the Teacher compy in an anteroom, where a medieval king might have met with his counselors. Whenever he discussed troubling matters with OX, he used the little robot as a sounding board.
“Maybe it was obvious to someone else,” Peter said. “I considered it a bad idea to dispatch them in the first place. An unnecessary risk. And now, I have to announce another set of martyrs who sacrificed their lives, six people—and a great many EDF resources—lost, for absolutely no benefit.”
He hung his head, pondering for a moment. “And I can’t shake this nagging suspicion. Five Mantas and one Juggernaut have mysteriously vanished. OX, what if the new Soldier compies were the cause of the failure at Golgen, not the hydrogues?”
“On that subject, King Peter, I have acquired troubling new data,” OX said. “In the past, approximately a dozen Klikiss robots have stayed on Earth at any given time, calling little attention to themselves. They occasionally serve in our industries and orbital facilities, performing useful services.”
“Yes, I know that.”
“However, since the dismantling of Jorax, the number of Klikiss robots has increased dramatically. I have run a full inspection of the individual robots detected on our observation cameras. Though the machines all have identical configurations, there are enough subtle differences and location markers that I have been able to make a credible approximation. There are now several hundred Klikiss robots on Earth, instead of a dozen.”
King Peter was surprised. “How can that be?”
“Distributed across the world, the number is not so great that a casual observer would notice a sudden invasion. However, the increase is striking. They remain separate, not in groups. They appear in widely distant locations.”
“I noticed earlier that three Klikiss robots have stationed themselves at our compy production facilities,” Peter said.
“There are many more, King Peter. I cannot speculate as to what this means. The Klikiss robots are monitoring our manufacturing systems, but they have offered no further advice, allowing us to make our own decisions about what we have learned. They are simply watching.”
“Or waiting for something. The original compies were programmed to serve as aides and mentors, to help humans. Can we say the same about these new Soldier models with Klikiss modifications?” He felt a flush burning on his cheeks. “What if there are buried subroutines, hidden traps? The engineers are so excited that they see exactly what they want to see, and so does Basil. He knows the questions, but he doesn’t bother to answer them.”
“The Chairman has made a conscious decision not to answer those questions at this time,” OX said. “I do not have sufficient data to speculate on how the modified programming might affect variables such as the fundamental compy restrictions. Too much is unknown in this situation.”
Peter hung his head, feeling intensely tired. “OX, sometimes I wish there were just clear-cut answers so I would know what to do.”
Even if he showed the evidence to Basil, the Chairman would scorn Peter’s input. However, after hearing about the destruction of Corvus Landing, Basil had rushed off to the EDF moonbase to consult with his military advisers. And now King Peter seized his chance.
Left alone to pretend to run the daily business of the Hansa, he could make decisions without the Chairman countermanding every step.