Chapter 16: One Node Too Many

I talked to Ship again. Time was running out, and I was not nearly as prepared as I wished. Something long ago took out this entire system, and an entire space-faring race. A head-on conflict wouldn’t work. The Baglogi defence didn’t work, and the foe probably knew how to destroy Baglogi vessels. I had to think up something fast.

I met with Jem and Koluna in the main bridge. “We need a new approach. In the past, I’d come up with ideas before I share them with you. We don’t have time to waste on that approach. I’d like to work together on this,” I said.

“Agreed, go for it!” said Jem.

“My first question is, how did this foe defeat the Baglogi? If I compare Ship against Ori or Tian technology, it is still way ahead,” I asked.

“Perhaps they are more powerful, or in greater numbers,” offered Koluna.

“Or more advanced technology,” said Jem.

“Yes. All good ideas,” I said. “Ship, if you had to defeat another Baglogi vessel, how would you do it?”

“I would interface with the vessel’s AI and get it to shut down. Without the AI, it would disable the vessel,” said Ship. Jem widened her eyes at this answer.

“What authorization do we need to shut down another vessel?” asked Jem.

“A senior ranking fleet admiral or above could take over control of the vessel,” said Ship.

“Including this vessel?” asked Jem.

“Confirmed,” said Ship.

“Oh, crap!” said Jem. “Brian, do you think this is how it was done?”

“I was trying to imagine how to defeat the Baglogi. An enemy could have used Baglogi technology against them. If they took control of all vessels, they could order them to fly into the nearest star. The Baglogi crews would be helpless,” I shared.

“What can we do?” asked Koluna.

“We need to disable this feature, so that an enemy cannot turn Ship against us. Ship, the Baglogi race is extinct, and there are no surviving fleet admirals or above. Can we disable this protocol? Considering the protocol to preserve the Baglogi species, it is essential it not be used to bring about the extinction of the remaining Baglogi,” I said. We waited several minutes. Various lights on consoles blinked, as Ship appeared to be thinking.

“Confirmed. I’ve re-evaluated the remote override protocol vs. preservation of the Baglogi species protocol, and I have decommissioned it. I will assume all valid credentials to be false from now on,” said Ship. We all expressed a collective sigh after that.

“I’m unsure if this is the only weakness. Ship, what protection against a cyber attack do you have? They might have developed protocols for hacking our AI,” I asked/said.

“Protection is via Baglogi firewalls and protocols,” said ship.

“Could we add a physical disconnect, something like pulling the plug from all external communications?” asked Jem. More lights on consoles blinked.

“Confirmed. I’ve created an isolation protocol. You may enable and disable via voice command,” said Ship.

“Good!” Exclaimed Jem. Koluna looked more relieved.

“Er Ship, what can we do to protect the probes and satellites we launched? Can we disable remote override protocol for them, too?” I asked.

“But exclude the extra node Ship,” added Jem.

“Confirmed. I’m propagating a protocol update through the network ... Update completed,” said Ship. The system network helped speed things up.

“What’s next Brian?” asked Jem. She looked me in the eye.

“We are one vessel against an unknown number of foe vessels. We need to fight from the shadows. As with our first mission against the pirates, we use stealth. No head-on confrontations,” I said.

“Agreed,” said Jem.

“Ship, do you have a report from the two probes you sent perpendicular to the elliptical plane of the system?” I asked.

“Last check-in, both probes had reached their assigned destinations. They found no evidence of any alien probe monitoring the system,” Ship Responded.

“Captain, I recommend we re-task them to bring them back in towards Baglogi-4 in opposite directions. If foe vessels were to arrive in system and proceed towards Baglogi-4, we should place the probes where they are more likely to intercept. They are both armed with nano-bots,” I said.

“Yes. Ship, please do what Brian just said,” said Jem.

“Confirmed,” said Ship.

“Great!” I was feeling better about this.

“What’s next Brian?” asked Jem. She looked me in the eye.

“Well, uh Ship, please summarize the technological improvements or developments you have had since you left the Baglogi system about two thousand Ori years ago? Try to filter the list down to either defensive or offensive improvements. For example, the use of nano-bots,” I asked.

“List begins: use of weaponized nano-bots, Remote override protocol decommissioned, Isolation protocol created. List ends,” said Ship.

“So other than the three things we recently added, all systems are per original design specifications?” I asked.

“Confirmed,” said Ship. I frowned at Jem. Crap!

“Jem, two thousand years of opportunities missed! I know we can’t change the past. All my life I’ve studied and learned to become more and better. Our survival here depends on being better than those Baglogi previously destroyed. With your consent, I would ask you to give Ship permission to grow and become more and better. You can include protocols for oversight of proposed improvements,” I said.