Paw-Prints Of The Gods

by Steph Bennion

  Kedesh had by now cleaned herself up after her battle with the spiders and swapped places with Ravana at the controls, leaving Artorius and the greys to doze in the cabin behind. The depot ahead at the end of the road slowly resolved into a squat grey dome, similar to the Dhusarian enclave that Ravana, Artorius and the greys had left behind over two Terran days ago. The dome nestled in a natural hollow and the surrounding dunes were littered with an astonishing profusion of solar panels, far more than would be expected to power a small outpost on a planet relatively near to its sun. The gravel road led straight to a large airlock in the side of the dome that lit up beneath the light of a red warning beacon as they drew near, awakened to their presence by automatic sensors.

  The airlock entrance slid open. Kedesh guided the clattering transport into a crescendo of noise from the labouring engine and brought the vehicle to a halt. After a short pause, the inner door opened and Kedesh drove into the hangar, brought the transport to a stop next to the remains of another dilapidated vehicle and killed the engine. Ravana stared blankly through the cracked windscreen at the surrounding hangar, subdued by the silence. Beside her, Kedesh slumped back in her seat and wearily rubbed her eyes.

  “I thought you said this place was abandoned,” murmured Ravana.

  “Years ago,” the woman replied. She lowered her hands. “Oh no. Not again.”

  At the far end of the hangar, regarding them coolly, a dark-haired woman leaned casually in the exit doorway. She was tall and slim with olive skin and wore a long coat of black and silver fur totally inappropriate for the utilitarian surroundings of the hangar. Yet what captivated Ravana’s attention were the woman’s piercing yellow eyes, which scrutinised the transport in the manner of a cat contemplating a bowl of cream. As their gazes met, the woman gave a knowing smile and promptly vanished right before their eyes. Ravana caught a glimpse of something small and furry leaping lightly away through the open door and then it too was gone. The door slid closed with a hiss.

  “Did you see her?” exclaimed Ravana. “She just disappeared!”

  Kedesh glanced at her with a strange expression both secretive and annoyed.

  “See who?” asked Artorius grumpily, disturbed from his slumber.

  “I saw a woman,” Ravana said weakly, when she realised Kedesh was deliberately staying silent. “Who seemed to turn into a cat.”

  Artorius slipped from his bunk to look through the windscreen and frowned at the empty hangar. Behind him, the greys emerged from their own slumber, looking none too pleased that the boy had awoken them in turn.

  “Fwack?” asked Stripy, sounding grouchy.

  “Ghosts!” exclaimed Artorius.

  Ravana gave Kedesh a pleading look.

  “It’s as good a description as any,” Kedesh admitted and sighed. “That is, if your definition of a ghost is a trans-dimensional pain in the arse.”

  * * *

  Upon leaving the transport, Ravana kept a watchful eye open for any movement in the shadows. Kedesh refused to be drawn further on the subject of the mysterious stranger, but the dome was not large and it did not take them long to ascertain it was deserted.

  The doorway at the rear of the hangar led to a wide corridor into the heart of the dome. After passing a series of other doors leading to various storerooms, this passageway opened into another corridor that ran in a ring around a central circular common room. Further doors off this second passage led to a couple of dormitories, a small medical centre, a well-appointed laboratory and a computer suite equipped with military communications equipment, including a holovid booth. Everything looked at least a couple of decades old yet in good working order, though there was little evidence the depot had regular visitors.

  In one respect they were far from alone. The depot’s computer network was live and unexpectedly home to an artificial-intelligence personality that had greeted them by way of a hologram in the computer suite. The monochrome projection was of an elderly man with crazy white hair and an equally dishevelled laboratory coat, a visage Ravana recognised from history books as that of an esteemed twentieth-century physicist.

  “Welcome to Falsafah Alpha!” the hologram greeted. Its voice bore a slight German accent and was authoritative yet gentle, in the manner of a genial headmaster. “I am the Monitoring and Information Scrutiny System Intelligence, responsible for the continuing operation of this station.”

  Ravana paused while she sorted out the acronym in her mind. “Missi?”

  “That’s a girl’s name,” sneered Artorius.

  “Pleased to meet you,” said Kedesh. “I wasn’t aware this place was a going concern.”

  “The human contingent has been absent for a while,” the AI informed her. “My duty is to preserve the viability of this facility and to continue monitoring ongoing experiments until such time that full operations can recommence.”

  “Do you always appear like that?” asked Ravana. She remained puzzled that they had found no trace of the phantom cat woman, but now wondered if it had been an alternative holographic manifestation of Missi. “An Einstein look-alike, I mean.”

  “The hologram is merely an aid to human interfacing,” the AI replied, not registering the real question behind Ravana’s remark. “I am available to assist whenever required.”

  “Thank you,” said Kedesh, looking thoughtful. “I will bear that in mind.”

  The hologram nodded, waited a few moments, then when no one else said anything it faded away to leave them alone in the computer suite. Kedesh looked perturbed, but when Ravana gave her a questioning look, she put a finger to her lips and shook her head.

  After beckoning to Ravana, Artorius and the greys to follow, Kedesh led them to the medical centre. They were all tired and looking forward to taking advantage of the beds in the dormitories, but before they retired Kedesh suggested they use the centre’s full-body scanner and run blood tests to make sure no one had gained hidden injuries as a result of their recent trials. The woman’s frown deepened when they found the medical systems already held their names and other information, presumably harvested from their implants by Missi.

  “Are there records for anyone else?” asked Ravana. “That woman, for instance?”

  “Forget her,” Kedesh said harshly. “You saw nothing.”

  Ravana scowled, but let Kedesh proceed with the checks. Her curiosity was aroused when she saw the woman pocket a vial of Artorius’ blood when she thought no one was looking, but said nothing. Kedesh acted coy about her own body scans, but when she came to check Ravana’s results she had a few questions of her own.

  “Those scars of yours,” Kedesh said slowly. “On your face and arm. Do they hurt?”

  Ravana hesitated. “Why do you ask?”

  Kedesh lightly ran a finger down Ravana’s arm, along one of the deeper scars. There was a thin silver line at the base of the crease that contrasted markedly with the surrounding brown skin. Similar faint markings were evident elsewhere on the girl’s arm.

  “Those lines,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like them before.”

  “I get pins and needles sometimes,” Ravana told her, looking wary. “Does the scan show anything? It’s just that...”

  Her words faltered amidst a tremor of fear. Behind them, Artorius and Stripy were playing their slapping game and their excited shrieks had driven Nana to hide beneath the examination table. Kedesh took Ravana’s hand, gave her fingers a gentle squeeze of reassurance and waited for the girl to continue.

  “I have this cat,” Ravana said at last. “An electric pet. A few months ago it fell off a window ledge and the panel in its belly came loose. I knew my friend Zotz had been secretly messing with its programming and guessed he had not closed it properly. When I went to push the panel closed, I was curious and looked inside. The cat was full of these tiny plant-like tendrils, all sprouting from its organic AI chip. It looked horrible.”

  Kedesh looked puzzled. “I’m not sure I follow you.”

  “Father says it’s
something called Woomerberg Syndrome. The AI on the Platypus, my father’s ship, is affected the same way. At a Que Qiao research plantation on Yuanshi, we discovered that their AI units use brain cells taken from greys. Then when Taranis set up his secret cloning laboratory on the Dandridge Cole, alien growth hormones got into the life-support systems and contaminated the ship and my cat. And me.”

  “Alien brain cells?” Kedesh smiled. “You’re no AI!”

  “My implant,” Ravana said weakly. “I’m scared those silver lines are the same, that my implant is sending out tendrils under my skin. What else could it be?”

  “That’s ridiculous! Where do you get these silly ideas?”

  “There’s other things too,” Ravana protested, a little taken aback by the woman’s reaction. “My weak arm seems stronger now than it used to be. And, also...” She hesitated, then sighed. “Actually, I can’t think of anything else. Am I being silly?”

  Kedesh gave her a reassuring hug.

  “You’re fine!” she announced. “If a bit silly. You’ll be pleased to know the scanner has not found anything some food, a cup of tea and a good night’s sleep won’t cure. You too, Artorius. This may be our last chance for a decent meal and a proper bed for a while, so we may as well make the most of it.”

  Ravana managed a wry grin. “Unless we get awoken by the strange cat woman.”

  “I said forget her,” Kedesh said sternly. “I’ll see you in the common room.”

  Ravana smiled, took Artorius by the hand and led him out of the medical centre, the greys trotting behind. Kedesh waited a few moments and then sighed.

  “Missi?” she called.

  The hologram appeared near the doorway and greeted her with a nod.

  “How may I be of assistance?” asked the AI.

  “Ravana’s results,” Kedesh said. She pointed towards the scanner. “Delete them.”

  * * *

  The circular common room was well-appointed with comfortable furnishings, a small kitchenette and a dark round skylight in the roof high above to provide natural light during the long Falsafah days. The most welcoming sight of all was the room’s military-grade food molecularisor, which to their surprise was fully stocked and ready to serve whatever they desired. Artorius’ stubborn vote for copious amounts of ice-cream was ignored and instead Ravana set it to deliver a feast of delectable English and Indian dishes to satisfy their hunger. Missi reappeared briefly when Artorius accidentally stumbled against a control panel, but there was something about the hologram that unnerved Ravana and she was quick to dismiss the AI’s offer of assistance.

  It was not long after the now-obligatory cup of tea and slice of cake that their weariness finally caught up with them. Artorius was the first to yawn, which proved contagious and one by one they shuffled away to the dormitories to get some sleep. When Ravana suggested they sleep in shifts as a precaution, Kedesh pointed out that Missi would undoubtedly warn them to any dangers, but did agree to a little sabotage of the dormitory door circuits so that they could only be opened from inside.

  Despite her reservations, Ravana slept soundly. The room was comfortable and quiet, the latter by virtue of Artorius and the restless greys having taken the second dormitory for themselves. Kedesh had been unusually coy when getting ready for bed and insisted on undressing in private, but the woman’s presence in the neighbouring bunk was comforting. Ravana’s own bed was snug and warm, her belly was full and in the darkness of the room she felt safe. Images of ghastly alien clones, giant spiders and the mysterious dark-haired woman hovered on the edge of her dreams but the nightmares never came.

  Kedesh was evidently a light sleeper, for when Ravana awoke several hours later the woman’s bed was empty and her clothes were gone. After a quick visit to the dormitory’s small bathroom, Ravana slipped on her overalls and headed towards the hangar, from where she could hear faint sounds of activity. A decent night’s sleep had done her good and her bones no longer ached like they did. She had been on Falsafah for over six weeks, which was normally long enough to adjust to local gravity. It was only her mistreatment at the hands of Jizo and Lilith that had left her overly-conscious of weight that, though less than what it would be on Earth, was still more than she was used to carrying back home.

  Ravana reached the door to the computer suite and paused. Earlier, she had been too tired to try anything, but now wondered if the station had a transmitter capable of sending a message back home. Entering the room, she examined the military equipment. The holovid booth was of a familiar commercial design, but after switching it on her hopes were dashed when she was confronted by a message reporting a fault with the antenna. What puzzled her was that the system log showed a call had been made earlier that night. Disheartened, Ravana abandoned the computer suite and resumed her way to the hangar.

  Their battered transport was on jacks, with one of its rear wheels removed and multi-limbed robots busy at work conducting repairs. The attached refuelling line was an optimistic touch, for the vehicle was clearly not going anywhere soon. Kedesh was nowhere in sight, but her plasma cannon lay next to a pile of rags upon a workbench, looking freshly cleaned. Ravana guessed it was her who had instructed the depot’s robots to start repairs, which judging by their progress must have been several hours ago. The ramshackle remains of another transport parked next to their own was not a good advert for their services.

  One of the squat maintenance automatons was having problems getting into position to clean a broken shock-absorber mount for welding. Ravana took some gloves and auto-shield goggles from the bench, relieved the robot of its grinding tool, knelt beside it and absorbed herself in the task of stripping dirt and rust from the damaged steel. That done, it took a matter of minutes to clamp the mount back onto the chassis and use the robot’s gas arc welder to finalise the repair. While she did not share Zotz’s mania for inventing things, she was good at fixing machines and it felt good to be doing something useful. The job finished, she left the automaton to its duties and watched as another robot, clinging limpet-like to the hull, applied liquid glass to the myriad of cracks across the windscreen.

  “Industrious little things, are they not?” a voice purred behind her.

  Startled, Ravana jumped and then froze in wonder at the sight of a small black and silver tabby cat sitting on top of a tool cabinet near the door, nonchalantly licking its paws. The cat paused to return her stare, leapt lightly to the floor and in a surreal blink of an eye abruptly metamorphosed into the tall, dark-haired woman Ravana had seen earlier. She wore the same full-length fur coat, which was open to reveal a long, blindingly-white column dress gathered below the bust. The stranger’s baleful yellow stare bore into her like that of a caged tiger idly awaiting the right moment to snap the zoo keeper’s neck in two. Ravana nervously backed away. There was something beyond the woman’s supernatural method of arrival that terrified her.

  “Who are you?” Ravana’s words trembled. “Where did you come from?”

  “You humans are so creative,” the woman remarked, ignoring Ravana’s questions. “There seems to be no limit to what you or your clever devices can do. Your motives may be questionable, but your determination is second to none. Most impressive.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “Sorry? Use that word with care!” the woman hissed. “One day you will know the true depths of remorse. But take heart!” she said gaily, her tone suddenly brightening. “Even the most humble of pawns can be queen if they make the right moves. The trick to survival, my dear Ravana of Yuanshi, is to understand your place in the great game.”

  “How do you know my...” began Ravana. She was speaking to thin air.

  The woman had disappeared in a tiny flash of silver fur. Frightened, Ravana shuffled around the edge of the hangar, keeping her panic-stricken stare wide open for the woman’s return as she hastened towards the door. Only then did she scream and run.

  * * *

  “Would you like to play a game?”

  Artorius opened a s
leepy eye, saw the hazy monochrome figure at the foot of his bunk and sat bolt upright in bed in alarm. The boy rubbed sleep from his eyes and the shape resolved into the familiar hologram of Missi. Artorius gave an involuntary yawn and looked around the dormitory. The trail of sheets and blankets leading from where Nana and Stripy had been sleeping suggested they were up and about somewhere.

  “What?” asked Artorius, confused. “A game?”

  “I am well-versed in chess,” the hologram continued. “And many other pursuits.”

  “I’m hungry,” the boy complained. “What time is it?”

  “We will play later,” Missi acknowledged, this time with a slight edge to its voice, not that Artorius noticed. “A healthy mind makes for healthy flesh.”

  Artorius thought about this, then threw back his sheets and scrambled messily to the edge of his bunk. Somehow he had forgotten to get undressed before going to bed.

  “Do you know the slapping game?” he asked.

  * * *

  Ravana ran along the circular corridor, eager to distance herself from the scene of her disturbing close encounter. She heard the reassuring sound of Kedesh’s voice from a room ahead and moments later burst through the door into the dome’s laboratory. Her panic turned to disgust at the sight of Kedesh elbows deep in slime, for the woman was busy dissecting the mangled remains of a metre-wide black spider. Beside her, Missi’s hologram hovered disconcertingly a few centimetres above the floor. Kedesh and the AI were in deep discussion and barely gave Ravana a glance as she skidded to a halt inside the room.

  “It has the same flexible carapace and freaky internal skeleton of a Yuanshi ashtapada,” Kedesh was saying. “The enlarged book lungs and pronounced frontal lobes set it apart. But there’s nothing to eat out there and very little oxygen beyond the valley. How can these things be anything else other than a bizarre and possibly pointless experiment?”