It would be so good to have someone on this team of Deke’s who understood her world. “Yes. Arthur C. Clarke. He was a science fiction writer. He’s also responsible for conceptualizing the geostationary satellite communication system we use today.”
“Smartie pants,” Kyle said under his breath. “All right, I’ll be the dummy of the group and ask the question. How is this different from what we do now? I mean I can’t believe we send a repairman up to space every time something goes wrong with a satellite.”
“Up until a few years ago if something went wrong with a satellite or it ran out of fuel, it was simply decommissioned. There were no repairs. If something went wrong the satellite was either flown toward the atmosphere where it would burn up or it was sent to what’s known as a graveyard orbit,” Maddie explained. “That’s an orbital path roughly 23,000 miles up. It’s far enough that the debris doesn’t impact spacecraft.”
“And they eat the cost?” Ian asked, a brow rising over his blue eyes.
“Yes. And the cost is sometimes billions of dollars. So a few years back DARPA began working with a private firm on a project known as RSGS. Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites,” she explained. “We believe in the next decade there will be a booming business concerning space, including satellite maintenance and repair. It would absolutely include human technicians along with robotics. Byrne wants to streamline the process by building satellites that do their own work.”
“You mean he wants to shut out DARPA and own the industry for himself,” Ian countered. “Why would anyone build a billion-dollar product they then have to pay to maintain when he can do it for you for free? Well, beyond the billion. And if he has proof of concept, I would bet he suddenly looks real good to any country thinking about, say, building a spaceport in the future.”
Maddie nodded. “Yes. What we’re working on could transform the space industry.”
“I have questions,” Deke said. “I get that an AI can make decisions, but how can it repair itself? Are you launching the satellite with extra parts?”
“Yes, in some cases, but obviously that could be cumbersome,” she replied. “Especially in the cases of large parts. For some smaller pieces, a 3D printer would be used. For larger parts, we’ve designed a scavenger drone.”
MaeBe whistled, obviously impressed. “It can get to the graveyard orbit?”
“That is the plan. There are more than 3,000 decommissioned satellites in orbit. Most of them are there because they ran out of fuel. The parts are still good. Clarke would search for a usable part and send the scavenger to do its thing.”
“Damn.” Deke put a hand on hers. “I knew you were smart and that you could change the world, but damn, baby.” He shook his head and sat back. “Sorry. Old habit. I’m just…I’m really proud of you.”
She had the sudden urge to lean into him, to get his hand back in hers. Maddie tried to shake it off. She was annoyingly emotional around him. “Thanks, but I’m a little worried that all my hard work is being used for something it wasn’t intended for. Not that I could tell you what that is.”
“When did you start to suspect something was wrong at Byrne?” Charlotte asked.
“A few months ago. I’ve had this project in my head for years.” She’d been a workaholic. “I thought up the concept of how the AI would work when I was in college, but Byrne gave me the chance to really test it out. I’ve worked sixty hours a week for years on this project, and I was hyperfocused on what I was doing. The satellite project is made up of twenty different teams and over three hundred people. On big projects like this, often one hand doesn’t know what the other is doing.”
“I’m sure Byrne likes it that way,” Ian added. “He gets to put everything together and take all the credit.”
“The base of the AI is a combination of his work from the self-driving cars and my own work.” She wouldn’t ever take credit where it wasn’t due. “I brought my ideas to the project and found a way to elevate the base AI. I streamlined Clarke’s processes and I believe what we have is the most well-developed AI on the planet. But I understand the industry, Mr. Taggart. At this point in my career I’m compensated with money, not prestige.”
“You were telling us how you became suspicious,” Deke prompted.
“A few months back a man on my team named Justin Garcia wrote me an email requesting a meeting. He said it was important and that he would rather talk to me off campus. I was busy that day but agreed to meet with him for coffee the following morning. He didn’t show. He didn’t come to work that day and after a week, we found out from his girlfriend that he was missing,” she explained. “A couple of days later, his body was found in an area of LA known for illegal drug buys and gang activity. But I knew Justin. He wasn’t the kind of guy to be so reckless. Still, the medical examiner found fentanyl and heroin in his system, so I have to assume that one of the nicest men I ever met ended his life in a flop house doing poorly cut drugs.”