Unity

Karen Smails smiled as she watched the monitor. The latest batch of AIERS probes were being fitted with their power and drive units. The large, egg shaped housings were filled with state of the art sensors and learn-as-you-go diagnostic and command / control computers along with a substantial payload of terraforming microbes and Q-Com gear. The cube of drive and power systems was fixed to the blunt end of the egg shape. Once fitted they always reminded Karen of the light bulbs her grandmother used to simulate candlelight.

In two days this batch would be ready for commissioning as the ten-thousandth AIERS units since the project began seven years ago. It was quite an achievement for the global alliance that had been forged in the energy strapped decades of the mid 21st century. These sturdy little probes were being flung out towards any area of the sky that looked like it might have habitable real estate or even something that could be turned into habitable real estate by the payload of nano-bots and microbes each probe carried.

It was a desperate response to desperate times. Earth’s biosphere had been in trouble for two generations but it had taken the science of the last two decades to realize how great the danger was. Even now that knowledge was fiercely guarded. Population pressure and resource demand had stripped the planet of its ability to repair itself. The oil that had flowed so freely in the last century was now drying up. The by-products of combustion saturated the atmosphere to the point where the major urban areas of the great industrial nations had been forced to seal their structures and scrub the incoming air just so that their populations could breathe. Outside the urban domes most people required filter masks to breath and protection from the radiation that seared through the last traces of an ozone layer. That cost had all but broken the nations of the western world.

A com channel beeped at Karen for attention. Keying it open revealed the smiling face of a large, brown eyed man, “Karen, How’s Beeble and Frump coming along?”

Karen laughed as she replied, “That’s Thandip and Mili-Dix, Mark, as you well know, they’re doing fine thank you. They should be in-service in a couple of days”

“Beeble, Thandip, whatever,” responded Mark, “I’ve never been sure why you folks had to give them names as well as production designations.”

“Because over here in production we’re not heartless administrators like you lot. We care about these li’l guys. They’re going to find us a new home don’t forget.”

Mark shook his head in resignation. “Sure, if it makes you feel better give ‘em names.” He said with a disarming smile. They’d had this conversation a dozen times before and he still didn’t get it. “Listen, Keshia and I are having a bit of a celebration to mark the completion of Batch 1000 on Tuesday, we’d love to have you join us. 20:00 in mess seven?”

“Of course I’ll be there Mark, even if it is just to remind you that Mili-Dix, Thandip, Colin, Fargus, Tyrel, Zola, Darby, Gorgi, Brie and Big-Blue are more than just Batch 1000.”

“Yeah, I know, they’re friends going on a long trip. Great Karen, We’ll see you then, bring whoever you like, there’s about twenty of us so far.”

Karen smiled, “I’ll see you there” she said and closed the com.

Back in the production shop Thandip and Mili-dix were having their assembly checked and their AI’s installed.

Quantum particle coupling that allows data transfer over infinite distance in zero time

Matching the complex quantum waveforms of qbit particles creates dedicated communications systems. Changes in the state of one of the coupled particles can be read by observation of the corresponding particle, which will exhibit the same changed state as the original. Modulation of the state change and the reading of the modulated changes allows for transmission and reception, respectively, regardless of the physical separation of the qbit particles.

Sentient AI Entities
AIERS probes that have yet to find a habitable world became self aware in deep space. They were able to talk to each other, repair and modify themselves. Essentially the AIERS probes became a deep space dwelling life form capable of every test of life including growth and development, procreation and an instinct for self-preservation.

Artificial Intelligence Exploration, Reconnaissance and Seeding.
In the late Pre-Diaspora era these probes were constructed and launched in great numbers.

The large, egg shaped housings were filled with state of the art sensors and learn-as-you-go diagnostic and command / control computers along with a substantial payload of terraforming microbes and communications gear. The cube of drive and power systems was fixed to the blunt end of the egg shape.

The probes were launched from their orbital manufacturing plant and after gravity assist swing-by’s of earth and several other celestial bodies they were flung out from Earth’s solar system on tiny candles of ion engines that accelerated them to immence speeds over the years of their journey.

Their purpose was to find suitable sites for colonization and repot their findings to the manned ships that were to follow.

The icecubes tinkled pleasantly as they slowly melted into the scotch. Tim Jorenssen took a sip as he looked out of the window of his hotel room. The African night was torn apart by the roving white beams of the searchlights and the sickly yellow glow from lighted streets. The occasional blink from a distant plane could be seen like a mechanical parody of the stars, hidden behind the glare of human endeavor. Through it all the red track lights could be seen stretching straight up into the night sky.

Tim watched the steady progress of the gondolas, one rising and one falling. Tomorrow he’d be on one of those gondolas, perhaps looking back, searching for the window in which he now stood.

A second sip as he turned and placed the glass carefully on the coaster. Tim looked at the holographic display from his laptop. The schematic of a long, bulbous cylinder rotated. As he pressed a key, the display went dark, Tim knew every inch of the object that the schematic represented. He’d read and written reports on each one over the last ten years. Tomorrow he’d see the fruit of that labour begin its task.

Somewhere high above, near the upper terminus of the gondola ride three thousand people were going to sleep. Nothing remarkable about that, except that for them the night would last nearly four hundred and fifty years.

On the twenty-eighth floor of the African Union parliament complex in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, President M’Tani paced behind the seven-foot long slab of Angolan Mahogany that was his desk. He passed papers roughly from one hand to the other as if he was counting very large banknotes, agitated, seeking a single datum that eluded him.

Fifteen minutes from now, the United States Ambassador would be walking through the door. M’Tani knew that after a brief but appreciative look at the panoramic view of the plateau grasslands and the golden sands of the Indian Ocean coastline, they would plunge into a heated discussion of how the AU was cutting import subsidies on US produced high-tech, Aerospace and Automotive products.

M’Tani sighed, ordered the papers and after tapping the edges lightly on the desktop, he slid them back into the blue file folder and passed it to a waiting aide. He sat back down behind the desk, steepled his fingers and drew a long calming breath. There was going to be no easy way to sugar coat the news he had.

Right on time the door opened and the aide announced “Ambassador Binchey of the United States of America”. M’Tani stood, smiled and stretched out his hand as he stepped around the desk. Tom Binchey strode towards him and gripped the offered hand as he took in the view.