“You will ask Tryn and Schayressa about it, though?”
“As soon as this is over,” Valthyrra promised, then turned to look at Velmeran, who sat with his arms crossed, staring at the ceiling. “Well, what are you waiting for?”
“I am going inside the Challenger and reprogram her so that she cannot shield effectively,” he said quickly, and waited. This time there was no question that he had everyone’s complete attention — everyone except Lenna, who was so impressed that she again propped up her head and closed her eyes. Valthyrra was speechless, and Consherra appeared likely to explode as soon as she could collect her wits and find her tongue. And yet Mayelna, the source of many past arguments, was not in the least bit surprised.
“There is no way to destroy the Challenger from the outside,” he continued. “We have proven that. The only solution is to do something from the inside so that she can no longer assemble her complete power grid. Consherra, that is your department. What would you do if you had access to the Challenger’s primary programming?”
Consherra was caught off guard by that question; whether he intended that particular result, it had the effect of putting out her fuse before she reached an explosive level. She was about the most gifted programmer in the fleet, with access to the secrets of Valthyrra’s construction. Certainly no one in the Union knew as much about advanced sentient systems.
“Well, there are any number of bugs you can throw into the system,” she answered uncertainly. “Under the circumstances, the best would be to insert a loop that throws power sources back out of the grid as others come on line.”
“But to do anything effective, you have to get free access to the Challenger’s basic programming,” Valthyrra protested. “You know yourself the types of safeguards they are going to have on that system. It probably takes hours to get inside even when you know the codes and passes.”
“True,” Velmeran agreed. “But what if you could bypass the guards and go directly into the system? I can get instant control of the Challenger.”
“Nice trick! How do you think…” Valthyrra’s voice faded suddenly, and her lenses assumed a distant stare. Then, as everyone watched expectantly, she began to recite.
“There once was an entrepreneur
Auditioning girls for his tour.
One girl showed her stuff
But it wasn’t enough.
So he promptly proceeded to… to…”
She seemed almost to blink, then turned her camera pod to look at Velmeran. “And so you get control of the Challenger. What then?”
“Then I order her to open her programming from the inside,” he explained.
“Simple enough,” Valthyrra agreed. “I should be ashamed of myself for always underestimating you.”
“So you should.”
“Where did you come up with that, anyway?”
“Lenna.”
“Yes, I recognize the material.” She turned to Mayelna. “Yes, he really can do it.”
“I have already learned from experience that he can and will do what he says,” Mayelna replied. “So, you create a diversion, land on the Challenger’s hull, and enter through a convenient airlock. I suppose that you can force one without being detected?”
“Easily,” he assured her.
“Then you juggle her programming and get back out again?”
“Preferably in a hurry,” Velmeran added. “We will have to arrange our timing so that Valthyrra will attack as soon as possible after the tampering. That way, even if they know what we did, they would not have time to correct the damage.”
“Wait a moment,” Consherra interrupted. “You can bet that Marenna Challenger has the ability to review her own programming. That is how our own ships develop personalities; they are continually altering and expanding their personalities.”
“Yes, but there must be a way to hide the alteration,” Velmeran insisted.
“Of course. You can insert the alteration in an invisible loop. The information inside such a loop instructs her to be blind to the loop itself while incorporating the alterations into the master program. It is by no means foolproof. Once she realizes that she cannot raise the grid as she should, she will go back in to look for the problem. Still, there will be an interval between the time she recognizes the trouble and is able to correct it. That will be Valthyrra’s one chance to destroy her.”
Velmeran nodded. “I knew that. I was hoping that you would be able to insert an invisible loop that she would find particularly difficult to detect and delete.”
“Well, yes, I could,” Consherra agreed. Then she realized what he had in mind. “Now, wait a minute! That is not my line of work.”
“We all have to start somewhere,” Velmeran said.
“But how do you plan to get me there?” she protested weakly.
“You can fly yourself there, like the rest of us. You keep a fighter of your own, and you have practiced with me often enough for me to know that you happen to be a very good pilot. I also know that you flew with the packs for several years before you transferred to helm.”
“Yes, but I am needed here.” Consherra seized upon that thought as an excuse.
Valthyrra regarded her closely. “Just who do you think is flying this ship right now? Your value is as second-in-command, not as an emergency flight computer, and just now your knowledge of sentient computer systems makes you invaluable to this mission.”
There was a long moment of silence, during which there was an abrupt shift in viewpoints in this argument. Velmeran, who had been considering the requirements of this expedition only as its leader, suddenly remembered his earlier prophecy was likely to be the cause of his own death. He had forgotten that prediction mostly because it had ceased to be valid. But now it was back. Someone in this room, himself included, would not survive the assault on the Challenger, but he had no idea who. At least he could be certain of Consherra’s safety.
“Actually, Consherra is right,” he said quickly. “There is no reason for her to go. I can modify the Challenger’s programming as easily as she could.”
“Oh, of course,” Valthyrra agreed, supporting him enthusiastically for some reason of her own. “I doubt that her abilities would make that much difference.”
Consherra, however, had been considering the matter herself, and she had realized that this might be her only opportunity to accompany Velmeran on one of his special tactics missions. “Now wait just a moment. No one can hide that loop as well as I can, and the success of the mission depends on it.”
That was followed by a moment of complete silence. This abrupt and complete reversal of positions left everyone speechless with confusion and surprise. Even Lenna appeared to be fully awake for the first time.
“Meran, I have to share the risks like everyone else on this ship,” she continued. “It happens that there is a task to be done that I can do better than anyone else.”
Velmeran frowned and looked up at Valthyrra. Her camera pod made a helpless shrugging motion. “She is right, as much as I hate to admit it.”
Velmeran knew that himself, although he found it almost impossible to agree. He shivered imperceptively at the memory, more vivid than it had been these past two years, of the horror of waiting for Dveyella to die while he had been unable to help her. At last he nodded slowly, then looked over at Baress. “Will you come with us?”
“I would be delighted.”
“What about me, Captain?” Tregloran asked anxiously.
“Oh, I had something in mind when I asked you here,” Velmeran said, smiling. “I need for you, Trel, and Marlena to stay with the ships and guard our way out. Our suit communication will not penetrate the quartzite shielding on the hull, so I need a good telepath on the outside to relay any messages.”
“And me,” Lenna added with determination.
“You?” Velmeran looked at her questioningly. “Just what do you think you can do for us?”
“Any number of things,” she declared. “For one thing, I can put on a Union junior officer’s uniform and walk around that big ship just about anywhere I want to go. That’s why you hired me, remember. I’m your spy. And saboteur.”