Installment #13

Chapter 21

The video was split screen with four separate images of the entry hall. There was no sound. It began with the hall empty. The furniture and equipment were in perfect order and there were no signs of the destruction that was all around him.

After a few seconds, the airlock door opened and six figures in enviro-suits entered. The lead figure stopped, produced an instrument of some sort and read the screen. He then put it down and removed his helmet. While the video was not crystal clear, it appeared to be Timothy Lymon, who had been identified in the files as the leader of the restart team.

One by one the other figures removed their helmets. There were two women and the rest men. The brunette was obviously Carla Campbell. They all huddled for a few minutes, and then the group split up into three teams and went in different directions. Carla Campbell and one of the men headed through the right exit from the entry hall and disappeared from view. Within in a few seconds, everyone had left and the hall was again empty.

"JENNI," Adrian interrupted. "Could you please move to the video of the team leaving the station?"

"Of course, Mr. Masters." A few seconds later the video started. It showed six people entering the hall, donning their enviro-suits, and entering the airlock. Again, the furniture and equipment was in perfect order; there were no signs of a struggle of any kind. Once the video ended Adrian asked JENNI to replay it. She obliged. This time he focused on the details. There was something about this video that didn't look right. He couldn't decide what the problem was, but there was clearly something wrong with the video.

If, as the video showed, the restart team had left the station as shown, then why did they disappear? And when did all of the damages occur? It just didn’t make any sense. He plugged his video unit into the comlink and requested that JENNI download the two videos. She obliged. He planned to review the videos later while JENNI wasn't "looking over his shoulder" – so to speak.

He then asked JENNI to put him in touch with Lt. Col. Snyder. Again, there was a long pause. She then responded: "I'm sorry, Mr. Masters, I don't know who you are speaking of."

The soldier standing near him burst out. "What!? What!? What do you mean you don't know who he is. He just left here a couple of minutes ago with Mr. Strong. They were heading for your location."

"I'm sorry, I don't recognize the voice. Who is speaking?", JENNI asked calmly.

"This is Sergeant Holden. I am second in command on this mission. Please scan for life forms outside of the entry hall."

"I don’t detect any life forms. I am sorry."

Adrian felt a cold chill going down his spine. He put his finger to his lips, took the soldier's arm and moved away from the comlink. Adrian whispered, "There is obviously something wrong with JENNI. It probably occurred during the storm. My concern is that we not do anything to cause her to react. Like all the JENNI's she is programmed for self-preservation as a last resort. If she feels that her survival is threatened by us, who knows what she might do."

The soldier leaned even closer and whispered: "So what do you expect me to do?"

"Nothing. Act as if everything is just fine. I am assuming that at least Strong is still alive. Perhaps I'm wrong, but since Strong was one of the two men who created JENNI, I can't imagine that she would do anything to him. Unless, as I just said, she felt that her survival was being threatened. And frankly, I don’t see Strong as being a threat to anyone. So just play along."

Adrian walked calmly back to the comlink. "JENNI," he said calmly, "Do you have a record of Michael Strong coming into the station an hour or so ago?"

"Oh, yes, Mr. Masters. I was so happy to see him and hear his voice again. It had been so long. He was one of my creators. I owe so much to him."

"Exactly, JENNI. You do owe a lot to him. Can you tell me what happened to Mr. Strong after he arrived."

"Of course, he talked to me for a while and then he left and returned to the transport."

"Thank you, JENNI." Adrian walked back to the soldier and said in a whisper: "Did Mr. Strong go back to the transport?"

"No way," the soldier responded. "I have been here the entire time. He left with Lt. Col. Snyder about 30 minutes ago. He has not returned."

"Is there any other exit that he could have used to get back to the transport?"

"None. There is only one way into and one way out of this facility. For security reasons."

Adrian didn't quite know what to do. He wasn't that familiar with computer science. He was working with people. And people were relatively simple creatures. They responded in predictable ways to particular stimuli. Computer systems were much more complicated. And if they suffered some injury or got a virus or other malicious software, no one could even guess what the computer would do. After thinking about it for several minutes, Adrian walked back to the comlink.

"JENNI?"

"Yes, Mr. Masters."

"Could you play back the video of Michael Strong leaving the facility and returning to the transport?"

There was silence; then the familiar four screen video appeared on the screen. It showed Michael Strong walking into the entry hall and walking into the airlock. Adrian felt a strong tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see the Sergeant staring at the screen. Once the video ended, the Sergeant motioned for Adrian to follow him over to the corner.

"Mr. Masters. Did you see that video?"

"Yes. And . . ."

"What do you mean, 'and'. That video was obviously phony. It showed the entry hall empty. The entry hall hasn't be empty since we arrived. There have been at least five grunts here the entire time. JENNI created that video somehow. But why?"

"I have no clue. Obviously, if she could create that video, she could create the prior videos about the restart team. But why?"

"I know why. To cover her tracks. Somehow she's responsible for whatever happened to the restart team. I'm trained to fight enemy soldiers, not a wacko computer system. I have no idea what to do." The sergeant was clearly out of his realm. But so was Adrian.

[Words in this installment = 1,113]
[Total words to date = 21,229]