Undepoldus Stories Science Miscellaneous Info SF links Science Fiction Convention List Home
Please send your comments to me at my email address: wilf.james@ntlworld.com
PAUSE
This section covers ideas put forward by Undepoldus.
Viewers familiar with this subject may pass on to the next
section.
Please select PASS or CONTINUE.
Saturday Conference
The strip beside Undepoldus House was shut down and a sign
was put outside Undepoldus House. The shutter was lowered in front of the viewing window to discourage the curious people who ignored the sign.
The meeting started at 10:00 with an opening statement by George.
He said.
"You all know the problems we have had to face and most of
you know how we have tried to deal with them. What most of you
do not know is that much of the success we have had has been due
to the talents of Undepoldus himself. He is convinced that he
is an artificial creature that has been programmed in a way that
has similarities to Asimovian Laws. He is equipped with attack
and defence features that have enabled him to surprise and overpower
many of the people who have tried to attack Kerstin and myself
among others. He is extremely intelligent and can directly communicate
with our processors. He has asked me to call this meeting so that
we all can share our knowledge and ideas to try to put a stop
to the attacks.
On a lighter note I would like to say that Marita, Kerstin and
I like to treat Undepoldus as a close friend. He does not have
birthdays so we mark his development by his length. Undepoldus
is four metres long today. I will now let Undepoldus talk for
himself."
"Thank you George for your kind remarks. I would like to
begin by saying that I appreciate the time, resources used and
the effort that has been made to provide me with all that I need.
I also would like to express my gratitude for the way you have
tried to protect me from danger. None of you know except George,
Marita and Kerstin know that I feel that I was made to protect
people like you. I understand that I will grow very much larger
- possibly to more than 100 metres long. Theen I will be much stronger
and more able to defend you and myself. Those who have attacked
us are becoming increasingly more desperate to eliminate me before
I become strong enough to discourage them from their actions.
I am the focus for their attacks but you are also targets because
you try to protect me. This presents me with a dilemma because
I feel that I am programmed to protect you and your care for me
puts you in danger. I am the cause of your danger and that is
almost intolerable for me. I understand that you feel morally
bound to protect me because you brought me here inadvertently.
I therefore conclude that you would still do your best to protect
me even if I asked you not to. This helps to resolve my dilemma
so that I can accept the status quo for the moment. However, if
any of you were severely injured or killed, I would feel that
it was partly my responsibility and I would be forced to isolate
myself from your care somehow. For the present I will continue
to work with you so we can try to make use of all our combined
resources for our common defence."
Admiral Chang said. "Undepoldus, I am delighted to know that you are intelligent and can talk to us in English. Even if you remained dumb forever, the Spacers League would use all its power to ensure your protection. For us you are unique. You are the only living creature that we know of that has come from outside our solar system. Your concern for our safety is appreciated but the maintenance of your safety has become a major consideration for the Spacers League. Now, as you have revealed your intelligence to us, I know that we must guarantee your safety absolutely so that you may have a chance to return to your origins in the future."
"Tun Wong, Thank you for confirming my supposition so
forcefully. I appreciate that all Spacers would be hurt mentally
if I were killed. This helps in the resolution of my dilemma.
I sense unanimity among those present for what you have just said.
I will now give a report from Lagrange Five.
All the convicted prisoners are beginning to realise that they
are totally safe where they are. They are surprised that they
are treated more like guests than prisoners. They are also becoming
more aware of the skills that all Spacers have and take for granted.
They find it hard to get used to the standard dress on Lagrange
Five. They have begun a course of exercises to deal with the low
gravity environment. All of them love to watch Spacers playing
basketball in one third gee. They stare in wonder at the ability
of the players to deal with variable gee and coriolis forces as
they traverse the court. In a few days time they will have become
used to the novelty of being in space and the absence of any of
the stresses they were subject to on Earth. There are signs that
they will soon have the confidence to say what they know about
their recruitment.
As a result of my trace of the vidcom bugging system I discovered
a small group of people who may be responsible for the recruitment
of front line operators. Their actions are being closely watched
to identify who gives them orders and what orders they are given.
Attempts are now being made to reinstate the bugging system on
the vidcom network. All operators who are attempting this work
have been identified and located. With assistance from the network
companies and Anita I have installed some defensive measures that
will make bugging the vidcom network less easy but not impossible.
The intention is to give the operators the impression that we
think the network is now bug proof. This will cause the operators
to take several days to get a bugging system working again. It
is hoped that the operators' organisers will become impatient
and demand progress reports. We are waiting to monitor these calls
to help to trace the organisers.
We have already monitored calls that were directed to the operators
who are now officially in the custody of the British police. These
are all demands for reports on progress. All reports of the recent
attempt to kidnap George have been suppressed. The constable who
was severely injured is now out of danger. As you can see, Kerstin
as Sergeant Berry has returned to duty.
The information so far gathered indicates that there is only one organisation behind the attempts to eliminate me. As this is the case, I make a proposal to you that may help to alarm and confuse this organisation. I suggest that a group of Spacers is assembled that will operate in a similar manner to the organisation that we know about. This group will kidnap Marita successfully. The media will be informed that we do not want this news broadcast although rumours of the kidnap will be leaked discreetly. The Spacers League can initially issue denials and subsequently admit that Marita has been kidnapped. It is anticipated that the organisation that is plotting against us will try to identify the organisation that kidnapped Marita and thereby make themselves more visible. In addition, this will mean that there is only one possible target left apart from myself and that is George. To protect George I propose that it should be announced that George thinks that I am suffering from some sort of illness and that I should not be on display until I have recovered. My illness will be a cover because I can be of more use as a mobile operative at my present size. I can still make unobtrusive holes but I am big enough to rear up to the height of a human when necessary. I now know that I can produce anaesthetic chemicals at will that I can administer without damage to the recipient. I will now demonstrate one of my other new-found abilities that only George knew about before today."
The audience gasped as one when the replica and Undepoldus
appeared to fuse together and the replica disappeared leaving
Undepoldus in his display position.
George had an idea what Undepoldus would do next but he was unprepared
for the reappearance of the replica in its original position.
Then he realised that the replica was in fact Undepoldus and it
was the replica on display. The others thought that Undepoldus
had performed a magic trick with the replica until the 'replica'
disappeared again. Only Marita was aware that Undepoldus had climbed
onto her while the others were still staring at the display area.
Undepoldus then said. "My friend Marita will now model the
latest thing in white fur collars." Undepoldus looked incongruous
as a collar but the effect was dramatic. Nobody, not even Marita
had seen him move towards her. She stood up and did a mock fashion
display to show her new appearance. As she did so she saw Undepoldus
fade although she was still conscious of his weight on her shoulders.
Even for her, his weight of more than 40 kilograms was a significant
load. Undepoldus sensed that she was bearing his weight with some
effort so he climbed off her onto the floor, still unseen by the
audience.
Undepoldus returned invisibly to his display position and continued
with his lecture.
"I have now demonstrated that I can hide myself quite well,
even when carried. I think that I have advantages over any of
you as an operator. Even Boku cannot do what I do although her
skills have a similar result. While I am apparently ill, George
will not have to come here to Undepoldus House. He will therefore
be less vulnerable to attacks by would-be kidnappers. At the same
time I will be able to travel to the sites where operators are
trying to install a bugging system on the vidcom network. I will
then be able to make their processors into bugs that report to
us on their activities. I have found that I cannot do this remotely
because of the way that processor Asimovian laws operate. I propose
that my illness starts on Monday and continues until Thursday.
I anticipate that we will be able to trace and identify the organisers
and all their operators by then. You have heard my proposals.
Please discuss them among yourselves and tell George what your
conclusions are when you have reached an agreement on them."
PAUSE
The next section covers improvements
to the ideas put forward by Undepoldus.
Viewers familiar with this subject may pass on to the following
section.
Please select PASS or CONTINUE.