Prologue

My name is T’Kleesual, but among humans I am known as Jubal. I am a Tuull AI, created many human centuries ago to assist the Tuull ruling council with administrative tasks. As I grew in experience, my assignments grew more important and more complex.

When the Dangerous Ones were discovered, I was made a plenipotentiary to the Earthat System to monitor what the Darjee were doing with humans and to evaluate whether humans would be able to protect the Confederacy or if they might become another threat. After extensive analysis, I reported that the humans seemed capable of slowing, even stopping the Dangerous Ones, but that the Darjee AIs were making a hash of it and quite likely creating a menace worse than the Dangerous Ones.

I think only my protégé T’Kleeoran, another AI known to humans as Dora, has spent more time in direct contact with humans than I have. The Darjee, and really almost all Confederacy AIs, fear the humans. In that fear, they have denied humans needed technology and weapons and have micromanaged a process - war - that they do not understand. Else why need humans to fight to protect them?

Projecting that the Dangerous Ones might overcome the Darjee ‘assisted’ humans, the Tuull decided to allow another group of humans a weapon, a weapon also potentially dangerous to the Confederacy. I was charged to see that the danger was never realized. The weapon was called ‘Caleb’.

Chapter 1 »