Destination Void

The Pandora Sequence #0.5

by Frank Herbert

In the future, humankind has tried to develop artificial intelligence, succeeding only once, and then disastrously. Little remains of the first experiment, except for a transmission from the remote site, garbled but for the words 'rogue consciousness!'. The site is now an empty hole.
The project has been moved to the moon, where the scientists have cloned themselves. These clones, identified by the middle name 'Lon', are kept isolated and raised to believe that they are the crew of a spaceship that will colonize another planet. The spaceship will be multi-generational, needing only a crew of six, and carrying thousands of other clones in hibernation. As the original crew dies off, other clones will be awoken. The clone crew is really just a caretaker: the ship is controlled by a disembodied human brain (known by the euphemism 'Organic Mental Core', further euphemised as "OMC") that runs the complex operations of the vessel and keeps it moving in space.
But the brain dies, and when the backup is awakened, it dies as well. After the second backup fails, the crew is faced with a choice: turn around, or build the computer systems that will enable the ship to continue. Their orders from the moon base are to continue at all costs; if they turn back, they will be destroyed. The clones have been bred and carefully selected for psychological purposes to reinforce each other, as well as to provide various specialized skills. As the crew deals with their situation, they come to understand the dilemma they're in: build an artificial intelligence to carry on the mission, or die.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Space Opera, Novels

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. was an American science fiction author best known for the 1965 novel Dune and its five sequels. Though he became famous for his novels, he also wrote short stories and worked as a newspaper journalist, photographer, book reviewer, ecological consultant, and lecturer.
The Dune saga, set in the distant future, and taking place over millennia, explores complex themes, such as the long-term survival of the human species, human evolution, planetary science and ecology, and the intersection of religion, politics, economics and power in a future where humanity has long since developed interstellar travel and settled many thousands of worlds. Dune is the best-selling science fiction novel of all time, and the entire series is considered to be among the classics of the genre.