Chapter Twenty-Five
It was odd for Commander Jack Mustove to receive a summons that didn't com with any information. The message simply asked for his presence in the Grand Commander's office, at his earliest convenience. Why Shaw hadn't included the reason that he had summoned him was a mystery to Mustove. Then again, a lot of what Shaw had been up to since the last time they talked, and Shaw decided to expand project Yeagher, was a mystery.
From what Mustove had gathered Shaw had been spending nearly all of his waking hours tweaking the three Artificial Intelligences. He was planing on making them the new Masters for the three new additions to project Yeagher, even though the next generation of subjects wouldn't be ready for years. For the time being though it seemed like Shaw was content tinkering with the three AI's personalities. All the while learning about the abilities that the first Masters had taught the first subject. On the other hand, Mustove had, for the most part, tried to distance himself as much as possible from the continuation of project Yeagher. Because of this, he only knew partial broad plans for the distant future of the program. However, he suspected that the truth of the present was much more disturbing.
The truth was that Grand commander Shaw had been using the three AI's to analyze the training of the first subject. He was looking for the reason that the subject lost his stability and destroyed himself, the lunar base, and everyone and everything inside it. Unfortunately Lunar base bravo's main computer system only sent system back-ups of all it's files every twelve hours. There was roughly four hours between the last update and when the base when dark. That amount of time was a drop in the bucket in comparison to the total length of the first subject. For a little over sixteen years the subject was completely stable. In fact he was more than stable. He'd surpassed every expectation and was continuing to grow as the most powerful, and most reliable, warrior that the GPF had. Now all of that time was wasted and Shaw was going to find out why, if for no other reason than to prevent it from happening again. However, the more he looked the more he saw that nothing was out of place leading up to the incident. There was no indication that anything was wrong with the subject or anything else. The subject was fine and then all of a sudden, boom, and there was nothing left. Shaw was stuck at a loss and was getting nowhere.
Shaw's concentration was broken when the alert of his office door rang out. before he could reach for the controls, one of the AIs projected itself on to his desk. This particular AI's personality was a combination of Master Samantha and Master Jason. It went by the name of Samson and it's projection was neither a man or a woman, but a blend of the two. "I took the liberty of calling Commander Mustove." Samson began, in a voice that could've been mistaken for either a young man or a woman. "I went outside the prescribed parameters of the investigation and found something both, very interesting and very relevant that I thought I should bring to your attention."
Great, Shaw thought to himself. Not only was the AI disobedient, it was now calling his subordinates in his stead. "Thank you." he said to Samson before opening the coms channel to his door.
"Commander Mustove reporting as ordered Sir." Mustove said into the intercom. The door opened and Mustove marched in, coming to stop five paces from Commander Shaw's desk and saluted.
"Relax Commander." Shaw said, after standing and returning the salute. "You're not here on my orders, so have a seat." he said, motioning to the chairs in front of his desk. Shaw was still very upset that the AI had over stepped its bounds, but it was possible that it had good reason. So he decided to wait and see. Besides it was rude to correct a junior officer in front of an audience, and where as, officially the rank of an AI didn't exist beyond its station, unofficially the three AIs that Shaw had created carried the rank of the Masters they were modeled after.
Mustove was confused, but was never one to question a command. He took a seat all to aware of the foot tall hologram standing on the Grand Commanders desk. "I'm not sure I'm tracking Sir." Mustove began, "The message came from your system, so then was it a mistake?" Mustove asked trying not to imply fault. It was rare that there were problems within the system that they used, but more often than not they were the fault of the user not the system itself.
At that point Samson spoke up. "I took the liberty of sending the message through the Grand Commander's system since I have no point of origin in the system of my own that has the clearance to do anything other than direct communication or research."
"So I'm here under your orders then." Mustove said and the AI nodded.
"Think of it as more of a request really." Samson began. "Given that I have no rank technically, and even if I did I doubt that I would out rank you, so this was a request."
Shaw cleared his throat. "Rather than debate semantics why don't you get to the point of why we're all here." he said.
"Yes sir." Samson said and motioned to the wall monitor on Shaw's right, Mustove’s left. Since Samson was part of the system he was able to dim the lights, pull up the image and the video that he wanted to show. He began with a still image.
The monitor came to life and Shaw and Mustove took a moment to take it all in. The image was of Lunar Base bravo from somewhere in the outer range of the moon's orbit. The portion of the moon that was shown was nearly completely covered by a bright red dome with a thin red line, coming out and away, at the center of the dome. Shaw was the first to speak up. "What exactly are we looking at here?" he asked.
"As I said before Commander Mustove arrived, I went outside the parameters of our search when no new evidence was found. I expanded my search of all of our data to include any satellite with image recon attachments aimed at or around Lunar Base bravo at the time of the suspected soul explosion of subject Eathen Yeagher." Samson said in a matter-of-fact tone that was somewhere between a bossy woman and a confident man.
"So you're telling me that we have video of the subjects soul explosion?" Shaw said, with a new found vigor. This would be enough information to fill in many of the blanks as to what actually happened.
"Of the suspected soul explosion, yes." Samson said.
Shaw began to suspect that being overly particular with words was going to be one of Samson's character flaws that he was going to have to fix later. For the time being however, he remained silent as the video began, as did Mustove. From the distance of the satellite the moon itself looked like a brownish gray ball, wit a large darker gray spot that marked the base. Samson had done what he could to enhance the image as much as possible, but at some point the ability to enlarge the image over shot the ability to enhance it, and maintain any sharpness. Everything in the video was still for a moment, then four vertical arks of red began moving outward from somewhere inside the base. They looked like shark fins on top of the water moving out and away from each other with an equal distance away from one another. Then four more arches, bigger than the first, bisected the four wedges that were cut into the moon's surface by the first. Then the arches stopped being symmetrical and a red dome began to grow from their center. The dome slowly began to overtake the gray mass that was the lunar base. The room was silent as they watched the destruction and death. Finally a thin red line shot out of the center of the dome out into space and out of view. Then the dome slowly faded, giving a clear view of the crater that was left behind.
The video ended and Samson brought the lights back to a normal level. Shaw was speechless and could only begin to contemplate new ideas for what he saw. Mustove was far less impressed and far more terrified He had seen the after images of the destruction, but to see it actually happening was another matter Mustove had believed in order and discipline. He believed in the Galaxy Police Force and their ability to keep that order throughout the galaxy. He had seen things in his service to that order that shook his faith. This was one of them, and being that Samson had all the knowledge of both, Master Jason and Master Samantha, he saw Commander Mustove's horror and all that it meant.
"Is all of that red light shockhaven energy?" Mustove asked.
<
br /> "It's a combination of both shockhaven energy and soul energy." Samson answered.
"I thought that using soul energy was a lost art, that soul energy itself was uncontrollable." Mustove continued, while Shaw remained silent still deep in thought.
"What you saw wasn't control at all. However the art of controlling soul energy isn't lost. All four of the Masters were capable of controlling their soul energy in some form or another. I currently have the knowledge, but am lacking in the soul and body aspect." Samson said in the same matter-of-fact tone, that made the AI seem oddly sexless, but at the same time human.
Before Mustove could say anything more, Shaw jumped to his feet and moved to the wall monitor with a sudden burst of speed that was completely unexpected. "The line." he began, out of nowhere. 'What was that line?" he said pointing at the screen.
Mustove could've sworn that he saw the AI smile as it rewound the footage until here was a clearly a red line coming from the dome of destruction. He wondered what could be going on in the vast mind of the AI at this moment that it found amusing.
"That line would be the reason that I called you both here." Samson said. "That line is an anomaly It doesn't act like any of the other energy released at that time. Upon further investigation it doesn't even move like energy either. It's at its fastest leaving the dome and loses speed until it leaves the gravity well of the moon." Samson said, zooming out, away from the lunar base until the line was barely visible.
"Like matter..." Shaw muttered to himself more than anyone else. "I trust that you've checked the trajectory of this anomaly against the rest of our satellites to see if we have anymore footage of it, and to find out where it's going." Shaw said, more as an order than a question.
"I was able to get it's trajectory from the original feed. It passed within view of two more recon units before it was lost due to impact or it simply dissipated. One of the views is worse than the original and doesn't show us anything that we don't already know. However the second recon unit was much closer . The result is this." Samson said and the image changed. they were no longer looking at a thin line. Now they were looking at an elongated oval that was trailing red energy. However, within the oval was a darkened shadow and it had a strangely familiar silhouette.
"Is that what I think it is?" Shaw asked, squinting at the still frame.
"I can't be entirely sure, but..." Samson said, and two lines appeared on the shadow. One line was from head to tail and the other was across its with. The numbers next to each line said that the anomaly was almost six feet long and two feet wide.
"That's not possible." Mustove said, as he stood up and marched towards the holographic projection of Samson. "It's just not possible."
"I would normally be inclined to agree with you, but no other explanation makes any sense. I've gone over the analysis of every piece of carbonized slag that was left over from Lunar Base Bravo and nothing even remotely organic was left. The only thing that I was even able to identify at all was some melted reenforced steal that had come from the outer edge of the base and not a one of them was more than three feet long. And even if the one largest piece did manage to shoot straight from the center, it wouldn't have shielded itself in a shockhaven bubble." Samson said.
Mustove gave up on trying to argue with the AI and turned to face the Grand Commander. "Sir, with all due respect you can't possibly believe this. Nothing could've survived that." he said.
"That is a fair point Commander." Shaw said and reluctantly went back to sit at his desk. "Samson, to my understanding, a person, even an immortal, ends their life with a soul explosion. So does that mean that we're looking at possibly one of the Masters escaping the devastation?" Shaw said, knowing that was even less of a realistic possibility.
"From my understanding of the Masters, none of their bodies could have withstood a blast of that power. Additionally, the shockhaven that is surrounding the anomaly matches the shockhaven of the blast itself. Although you are correct in saying that a soul explosion ends the life by way of complete destruction of the soul." Samson said.
"So then if he's dead that can't be him." Mustove said, almost thankfully. He was terrified of anything that could survive the total destruction that he had just seen.
"That would be true if what we saw was an actual soul explosion. With all the new evidence I'm inclined to believe that is not the case." Samson said.
This time it was Grand Commander Shaw who spoke out. "Then what happened?"
"I can make no guarantees, but I believe that what we've seen was a partial soul explosion. I believe that our subject is alive, or at least he was when he left the remainder of Lunar Base Bravo. He very well could have died from any number of causes since then. Exposure to the vacuum of space, burning up re-entering the atmosphere of a planet. Not to mention he would've impacted moving at more than a thousand miles per hour unless he was able to stop himself. A normal human body wouldn't be much more than a splatter mark after an impact of a fraction of that speed, but he isn't a normal human at all." Samson said. The AI understood the subject more than either of the two Commanders being that it was made up of the boy's teachers. Samson didn't feel any attachment to the subject, but he had to acknowledge that Eathen Yeagher was an extraordinary individual.
Both men sat silent and Mustove shifted his gaze from Samson to Grand Commander Shaw. He was at a loss and was hoping that this lack of certainty would be a deterrent for the Grand Commander and make him give up, or at least rethinking, restarting project Yeagher.
Shaw broke the silence. "What planet did he crash on?" he asked.
"Bifoil Sir." Samson said. "It's a small farming world with a population just under a billion. Given the gravitational pull of the planets that he passed on his flight, different directional winds, and not knowing the exact weight of the subject, I was only able to limit the impact zone to fifteen hundred square kilometers, nearly all of which is inhabited farmland."
"Have there been any reports that would indicate that our subject has been found?" Shaw asked. Samson's hologram flickered as he searched through the random reports from the various agencies. "I want anything that has no obvious cause, anything remotely abnormal." Shaw said, in the gap of the AI's silence.
Samson image became solid again. "There is nothing out of the ordinary Sir." he said.
"Alert me the second that changes." he said. Then as if to put an end to the conversation, he added. "As interesting as all this is, it changes nothing. Proceed with project Yeagher as planned."
Hoping that he might delay the ungodly project, Mustove spoke up. "Should we send a search team to comb the impact zone. I know it's unlikely, but we might be able to recover the initial subject and forgo attempting to recreating entirely"
Shaw chuckled. "There was never meant to be only one subject of project Yeagher. He was suppose to be the first of many in our new line of super soldiers. Besides we have no idea what condition the subject is in. He could have no idea of who or what he is, not remember any of his training and be completely useless to us. Or ,in the worst case scenario, he could still be unstable. In which case transferring him or any added stress and we could wind up turning where ever we put him into another Lunar Base Bravo. In the event that he doesn't want to be brought in, any and all forces that attempt to do so will wind up lost and then the news of the project will be made public. No, I think our best position is to stay uninvolved until we have more information." he said.
Mustove couldn't be sure what was more disturbing. The idea that a ticking time bomb of planet killing proportions might be on a civilian world and they were going to ignore it. Or that they were planning on making more. There was nothing left to say and he wanted to be even further away from project Yeagher if that was even possible. He stood. "Well it appears that you have everything under control Sir. I appreciate the update, but since you've agreed on a plan of action I must attend to other matters as I'm sure you understand. If there's nothing further I'll take my leave." he said, with as much re
spect as he could muster for a man the he was beginning to think was losing touch with reality and maybe his mind.
"Of course Commander," Shaw said, standing. "Have an enjoyable evening."
Shaw gave him a polite bow that Mustove returned. "You as well sir." Mustove added, before leaving. As the door closed behind him Mustove let out a sigh that he had been holding since he asked to leave. He hoped that this was the last time that he would have to hear about his dark project. He went back to his office, pulled off his jacket that was a part of his dress uniform, threw it towards the coat rack that he had in he corner, dropped into his chair and reached into his bottom drawer. He pulled out the bottle that he kept there for gentlemanly meetings, but he didn't bother with the glasses that he kept next to it. He decided that if drinking himself into a stupor was the only way to deal with this situation, then it was the most productive thing he could do. He unscrewed the lid from the bottle and began his mission.
Shaw stared at the small hologram that was still sitting contently on his desk. "Is there anything else, or have you just decided to take up residency?" he asked. All in all he was very pleased with this new information. It still hadn't explained what it was that had caused the subject to malfunction, but it did open several new possibilities. Even if he wasn't thrilled with the AI's personality, he couldn't deny that it was effective.
Samson straightened up. "I had something else that I wanted to discus. The main issue that you have with an attempt of recovering the subject, is if the subject resists there's nothing that can be done at that point correct?" he asked.
Shaw regarded Samson with a clever grin. "So then, I take it that you have a solution for that little problem." he said.
"I have the knowledge of the skills needed to take down the subject, but I need a body." Samson said, without hesitation.
"Do you have one in mind?" Shaw asked, not sure if this was a joke or the opening of something much more sinister.
"If I modify one of the holding tanks for the next generation's subjects to fit within a suit of modified reploid armor with enough room left over to house some of my core components, I would have the subject's shockhaven well to draw from. With my haven awareness I could find the subject much faster than a team blindly searching. Chances are that he's nowhere near fully recover, so I could offer to bring him back for testing and recovery. If he declines, I should be more than ably to handle him in his weakened state. He's unarmed, unarmored and weak. I kill him then we study his brain and see what we can figure out about the partial soul explosion" Samson said, outlining the plan that he had come up with before calling in Commander Mustove.
"I'm not an expert on shockhaven control, but would one of the next gen. subjects have enough shockhaven to meet your needs." Shaw asked, seriously considering this plan.
"They are clones of the original and their growth has been accelerated almost ten fold. I can have a suit ready within days. Besides, let's say that I'm beaten. We lose one suit and one subject that can be replaced within days not years. That's it, and we gain all the knowledge of how he fights now, what condition his mind is in, and what he plans to do. And with all of that knowledge we can regain some control over the project." Samson said.
"This was your plan from the beginning wasn't it?" Shaw said. The cleverness of the AI was truly remarkable, terrifyingly so.
"It was, yes sir, but before I made the suggestion I wanted you to have all of the information to fully understand the situation." Samson said.
"Why include Mustove?" Shaw asked. Commander Mustove had no direct authority over Project Yeagher. On top of that he had never had any involvement with the project at all before bringing in the report about Lunar Base Bravo.
"I was curious.” Samson confessed. "As your second in command he should be involved with all of the secret projects, but he purposely distanced himself from project Yeagher and I wanted to know why."
"And?" Shaw said, wanting to know Samson's opinion on the matter. He too had noticed Mustove's recent distance, and he had his own ideas as to why.
"It seems to me that he has a moral objection to child soldiers, human weapons and soul manipulation. The whole project seems to make him very uncomfortable." Samson said.
"And what about you?" Shaw began, and Samson raised an eyebrow in his direction. "Do you have any moral objections?" he said, making his point clearer.
Samson laughed and it sounded like something far darker and far more sinister than a tiny projection. "There's more than one reason that my predecessors remained mortal, and it wasn't due to a lack of knowledge. If you're looking for wholesome guidance I suggest you find a different moral compass. However, I will say that you've already started a fire and been burned. A lesser man would've given up, but you didn't hesitate going right back to the matches."
"True," he began, "But the goal is worth the risk." he said, with conviction. "Have the suit made and begin the rest of your investigation as soon as you're able. That is all." he added, and with that the conversation was over.
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About the Author
J. S. Bendle is the creator of the Project Yeagher series. This is the first book in what he hopes to be a ever growing saga that evolves over time. He is an army veteran who was deployed to Iraq in support of OIF 07, OIF 08 and OIF 09. He is a father of two wonderful boys who love to beat up their dad every chance they get. When he isn't writing, or being beat up by his kids, he spends his time with small projects.
Other Books by This Author
This is the first book by J. S. Bendle, who plans on continuing the series. Please visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/projectyeagher for the most up to date information on future books.
Book Two The Short Lived Dream will be available August 2014
Book Three An Unlikely To Form An Order will be available December 2014
Book Four The Golden Witch will be available summer 2015
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Connect with J Bendle
I really appreciate you reading my book! I would love to hear what you think of the book. Again Thanks for your support and I hope you enjoyed the book.
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