Aneka Jansen 6: The Lowest Depths of Shame

by Niall Teasdale

  ‘The building’s unsafe,’ Dillon said. ‘They’ll let you in for brief periods, but the last I heard it’s going to have to be demolished and rebuilt.’

  ‘Quite a few buildings in Mid-town are the same,’ Katelyn added unhappily.

  Ella gave a sigh. ‘To be honest, I’m not sure there’s that much there that I want. It’s just that it was my home and I’d like to see it again before I move out for good.’

  ‘You’re moving to this Shadataga permanently then?’ Janna asked. Her tone was a little melancholy.

  ‘Yes, but if things go according to plan, that won’t be as much of a problem as you’d think. Come on, let’s get the tent up and then we can sit down and get caught up on everything.’

  Yorkbridge Mid-town, 17.9.530 FSC.

  There was a big crack in one of the wall screens in the lounge and it was dark, but now that Ella had the same sort of multi-spectral vision that Aneka had, neither of them were having much of a problem negotiating the room.

  ‘The kitchen’s a mess,’ Ella commented. It sounded a lot like it was something to say.

  ‘Uh-huh,’ Aneka responded. From a small cabinet against one wall, she picked up a crystal figure, blowing the dust off it. ‘This made it,’ she said. ‘I’m glad about that.’

  Ella headed for the bedroom and Aneka followed. There was no real damage. A chair was overturned and there was no power. Everything was covered in dust. Going to the wardrobe, Ella pulled it open and looked inside. Then she picked up a jewellery box from the floor and put it into the bag she was carrying. A dress was added, and then she turned and looked around the room.

  ‘It’s not much for the years I’ve lived here,’ the redhead said. ‘I’m taking these because they were presents. I hardly ever wear jewellery, aside from the ring you gave me. I can have anything else I need made on Shadataga… And Aggy’s collecting the data from the servers. A lot of my life is digital…’

  Aneka nodded. ‘I think the only other thing I want isn’t here. I hope it survived.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘We need to go out to the university,’ Aneka replied. ‘What’s left of it anyway.’

  The Islands.

  Large sections of the university were rubble. The quad where Aneka had bought coffee so often was half-filled with the remains of the taller structures that had surrounded it. The Administration building was significantly shorter than it had been, but there was a ground-level entrance that was fairly open, given that the doors had been blown off their hinges.

  They had had to take a transport out to the site. The monorail was a wreck, cutting off the islands off the coast from the mainland. As far as they knew, no one was living out in the rich homes that had dotted the little archipelago anyway, so there was no one to be inconvenienced by that. From the transport, the view of the crater where the starport had been told more about the Battle of New Earth than any report.

  ‘The vaults are underground,’ Aneka said as the couple made their way in, ‘so I’m hoping they’ve survived fairly intact.’

  ‘If we can get down there,’ Ella replied. ‘There’s an emergency stairwell. Uh… this is hard to figure out with no light and all the fallen masonry. There, in the corner.’

  The door was jammed, but it gave as ninety kilos of robot body slammed into it, opening onto a Plascrete stairwell. Up was more or less destroyed, and that had fallen into the down end of it leaving chunks of broken aggregate on the stairs.

  ‘Maybe I should go down alone,’ Aneka suggested.

  ‘And leave me in the creepy, dark corridors on my own? Nuh-huh. I’ve climbed worse, and it’s not like I’m in heels.’ Which was true: even Ella had decided that work boots were more appropriate for walking around unstable buildings. ‘Do we know where we’re going?’

  ‘Basement B, section twenty-seven.’

  ‘Hopefully it’ll be easier on the second set of stairs then.’

  Clambering over Plascrete chunks as much as walking down the stairs, they made their way to the second landing. There was less rubble there, mostly because the larger stuff had got wedged higher up, but the door was, once again, jammed and Aneka had to slam it open.

  ‘That’s a fire hazard, you know?’ Aneka commented as she pushed the door wider and stepped through into the corridor beyond.

  ‘I don’t think the building codes are designed to keep you safe in case of massive bombardment from space,’ Ella replied.

  ‘Just saying.’

  The walls here had been painted, but they lacked the gloss of the finish on the upper levels. Aneka had always thought the university looked like something out of Star Trek, all white and shiny with smooth curves. Now it looked like a white, shiny disaster movie. In Star Trek, even the crawlspaces looked like they were polished every other day, but in the real world someone had decided that slapping some paint on the walls would do for somewhere people visited only to store things.

  ‘Section twenty-six,’ Aneka said, stopping beside a door. ‘I don’t suppose you know the code?’

  ‘I don’t think there’s any power anyway. They’re maglocks, so if you can get the leverage you should be able to just slide it open.’

  There were no handles, and the metal door was smooth, but applying force to it and then pushing got enough of a crack for Aneka to get her fingers in. Then it was easy.

  Ella peered at the edge of the door. ‘Two centimetres of steel and you just… pushed,’ she commented.

  ‘Winter really pushed up the power on this body. I had to cut in some extra oomph for the first bit…’

  ‘I sort of noticed. You should have seen the way your muscles bulged. Monkey would have been standing there with his tongue hanging out.’

  Aneka gave her a grin. ‘What about you?’

  ‘I’ll save my tongue for later. Come on, I want to get out of this tomb.’

  ‘Not a tomb, you’re not in shorts.’ Aneka started hunting through the racks which were set in rows down the room.

  ‘Because the last time I wore shorts on a dig it worked out so well.’

  ‘What? A little poisoning’s going to put you off?’

  ‘Depends on the circumstances,’ Ella replied, which meant it had not put her off, not really.

  ‘Here,’ Aneka said, and she lifted something from a shelf. ‘It doesn’t look damaged.’

  ‘Good. Let’s get it upstairs where we can see it properly.’

  They emerged into the bright sunlight and Aneka lifted the plastic tube on its black base. As the light shone on it, two figures appeared within: alien, and yet somehow just like you might see in any posed family picture.

  ‘There was no way I was letting this rot down there,’ Aneka said. ‘It spent enough time on a dead ship. I kind of know how that feels.’

  ‘Yes,’ Ella agreed. ‘That was worth coming here for, but I want to leave. Even in the sunlight, this place feels like it has ghosts.’

  Aneka looked around at the ruined buildings and nodded. She had spent many hours in this place. It had been where she had come so that she could be declared safe to be on the streets, it had given her a job, and she had danced in stupid high-heels in the hall. ‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘I know what you mean.’

  High Yorkbridge, 19.9.530 FSC.

  Winter stood at the podium in the large room which housed the Representatives’ Council, flanked on her left by Aneka. The fact that the latter was armed with a pair of machine pistols had not gone down too well with the security people, but since they seemed convinced that there was a threat of Herosian assassins, they had been hard-pressed to come up with a reason to deny the Shadataga Ambassador her bodyguard.

  The Representatives did not seem especially happy, for the most part, either. A few were sitting back in their seats, looking relaxed about what was happening, but most were whispering to their neighbours and looking annoyed. It was not exactly a great sign.

  ‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ Winter said into the microphone in front of her. ‘Representatives of the Jenlay…’
The noise subsided to a murmur and she continued. ‘My name is Sleep Brings Renewal to All Things, but you know me better as Winter. I was the artificial intelligence the Xinti created to lead Humanity to the stars. In this form, that of Xenia Winter, I was one of the co-founders of the Federation. I have worked tirelessly for over a thousand years to advance Jenlay civilisation, and now I am here to offer you knowledge even the Xinti did not possess.’

  The noise level went up again and she waited for it to subside before continuing. Aneka decided that she would have waited about half as long before getting annoyed; Winter was, as ever, a patient woman.

  ‘The AIs from Negral escaped to found a new university on a world we’re calling Shadataga. It’s the Xinti word for education. There, people will be able to learn science as yet unheard of here. Anyone willing to meet our requirements will be free to learn there. The Humans of Old Earth are already considering who to send. We will be contacting the Torem in due course, and considering how best to approach the Herosians…’

  The room exploded into uproar. Winter took a step back and waited; she had been expecting this, of course.

  ‘I think they’re actually taking it better than I thought they would,’ she said to Aneka.

  ‘Well, no one’s tried to shoot you.’

  ‘Exactly.’ She stepped forward. ‘Representative Usher?’

  The woman looked a little surprised that Winter knew her name. ‘We are at war with the Herosians. You can’t expect us to calmly accept that they’re going to learn stratospherically high technology from you which they can use on us?’

  ‘All students and their respective governments will be required to sign an agreement. Knowledge of some technologies will be off limits. Use of high-technology weaponry will be strictly prohibited. Anyone breaking their agreement will be subject to sanctions…’

  ‘What? You’ll kick their students out? It’ll be too–’

  ‘No, we’ll destroy ten per cent of their star systems,’ Winter stated flatly. ‘Not the worlds, the entire systems. There will be nothing left but a stellar remnant. Do you consider that a sufficient sanction, Representative?’

  Usher sat down as silence fell over the room. Winter looked around the chamber once before continuing, and very few of the people there met her eyes.

  ‘Make no mistake, we are not taking this lightly. We will have peace if we are going to allow you access to our facilities. We were responsible for the disabling of the Herosian communications system and the destruction of their Xinti-derived technology. The woman standing behind me delivered the virus we used to do it. If you wish to fight the Herosians, who are currently at a severe disadvantage, we will shut down that virus and re-enable their tachyon network. And then we will step back and watch you destroy each other. I built the Jenlay up to be the best Humanity could be. Please, don’t make me think I should have let you die in the dark.’

  She turned quickly and started down the steps toward one of the exits. Aneka followed, unsure whether she had seen on the synthetic woman’s face the look of anguish she thought she had seen before Winter had managed to control herself. Her sibling, Summer, had been driven to insanity by the behaviour of the Herosians, whom he had been built to uplift. Was Winter worrying that the Jenlay might deliver her the same fate?

  ‘There’s still Old Earth if this lot decide to be idiots,’ Aneka said when they were out of the room.

  ‘Yes,’ Winter said softly. ‘The ones I neglected seem to have turned out better than the ones I nurtured.’

  ‘I don’t believe that. They can be turned around. We just need to find out who’s pushing their buttons.’

  Winter nodded. ‘When they reject our offer, and they will initially, I’d like you to stay here with Gwy to assist Elaine.’

  ‘Ella is going to want to stay too.’

  ‘She’s proven more than capable. I suspect that Cassandra will ask to remain with you. I suggest you agree. She has capabilities regarding computer systems which are easily a match for Al’s.’

  ‘She does,’ Al commented, sounding quite proud.

  ‘It’s not like she uses up resources. Neither do I for that matter. All right. When do you think they’ll say something?’

  ‘They’ll wait for the rest of the fleet to return. They’ll want news of all the badly wounded refugees to reach the public before they make their plans known.’

  ‘Plans?’

  ‘Yes. I don’t know what they are, though I could guess. I’m just absolutely sure that they already have them.’

  Tristar Township, 26.9.530 FSC.

  ‘Aggy, what do we have?’ Aneka asked as the golden-skinned avatar appeared on the wall screen.

  ‘My sensors have detected a number of ships exiting warp over the last few hours,’ Aggy replied. ‘All have been directed by New Earth Control to Corax. The Old Earth ships have been delivering their patients to the orbital hospital and then moving here, though Control has seemed reluctant to give them clearance. There is large-scale use of radio jamming around Corax which is making detection difficult. Communication is impossible currently.’

  ‘The Navy issued a statement saying the incoming ships were to be isolated for security reasons.’

  ‘I find that… unlikely,’ Aggy replied.

  ‘Have you seen the Admiral Banfry?’ Gillian asked.

  ‘The Banfry arrived forty-nine minutes ago. It is now in orbit over Corax.’

  ‘I’d really like to know that Dad’s okay,’ Monkey said. He sounded worried.

  ‘We could do with hearing what he has to say,’ Aneka agreed. ‘Aggy, I’m coming up. Tell Gwy to get ready for a short trip. Make sure her cloaking system is operational. Ella, I could use your help.’

  Ella got to her feet without comment.

  ‘A cloak takes care of your ship,’ Sharissa said, ‘but you’ll be seen going aboard…’

  ‘Oh no,’ Aneka replied, grinning. ‘No one’s going to see me until I want them to.’

  FNb Admiral Banfry.

  The urgent alarm tone from Ape’s console made him turn quickly from the book he was reading to find out what was going on. He stabbed at the comms button and there was an almost immediate response from the bridge officer.

  ‘Captain, we’ve got a breach. Airlock six just opened and closed for no reason. It’s re-pressurising.’

  ‘Get Leeforth and four Marines down there. I’m on my way.’

  ‘Marines are en route, Captain.’

  ‘Right. Tell them to hold position until I get there.’ He cut the connection and stood up, taking two paces toward the door before turning back and grabbing his pistol from the drawer in his desk.

  It was not a long walk. Airlock six was one of two secondary hatches on either side of the hull, beneath the main habitation area, on either side of the cargo bay. Certainly it made a suitable place to sneak in; the cargo bay was basically there for weapons stowage and was little used outside of active operations. But anyone trying had to know the attempt would be noticed, right?

  Four Marines in hastily donned armour were positioning themselves in front of the inner hatch when Ape marched up. Leeforth was standing nearby with a carbine settled into her shoulder, but pointed down. The door was still closed, which was odd given that the airlock did not need that long to gain one atmosphere.

  ‘What do we have?’ Ape asked.

  Leeforth handed him a tablet. ‘Probably a malfunction. Sensors are showing nothing in there. Cameras aren’t seeing anything.’

  Ape looked at the tablet and the interior camera view it was displaying. The airlock did, indeed, appear to be empty. Frowning, he flicked through the display to the remote access system. ‘I’m going to open the door. Stand ready.’ He flicked through the override codes, ignoring the fact that Leeforth was moving between him and the airlock. The door slid sideways and…

  ‘It’s empty, sir,’ one of the Marines stated.

  Ape moved up to stand beside Leeforth, peering in at the bare metal of the small room. Ther
e was nothing to be seen aside from a couple of control panels.

  ‘All right,’ Ape said, ‘stand down. Go back to your Fives, or whatever it was you were doing.’

  The Marines looked a bit like they were disappointed, but they trooped back toward the ladders to the upper level.

  ‘Malfunction?’ Leeforth asked.

  ‘Looks like it,’ Ape replied. ‘You’d better get a team down here to check it over. I don’t know, we go to war, come home, and then things start going wrong.’

  Leeforth’s eyes widened. ‘Maybe not,’ she said. ‘Something just grabbed my gun.’

  Ape was reaching for his own weapon when Aneka materialised beside him and whispered, ‘I really didn’t want to get shot appearing out of nowhere, and I didn’t know how much you trust your crew.’

  Leeforth grinned at her. ‘You been learning new tricks?’

  ‘Oh, I’m full of surprises me.’

  ‘Something of an understatement,’ Ape replied. He seemed to consider for a moment and then added, ‘I trust my crew, but there’s no point in them knowing things they don’t need to. Vanish again, and we’ll talk in my cabin.’

  ~~~

  Aneka looked around the single, if larger than average, room which was the Captain’s cabin and immediately said, ‘You two have finally decided to be less formal then?’

  Ape raised an eyebrow. ‘What makes you say that?’

  ‘Well… Judy’s blushing and…’ She bent down and pulled a small thong from under a corner of the bed. ‘I don’t see you in these, Ape.’

  The big man shrugged slightly. ‘The battle here changed my view of a few things. I chased off the mother of my son, and she’s happy with someone else now. And Judy… I wasn’t appreciating her in some respects.’

  Aneka smiled and nodded, and then sat on a corner of the bed. ‘So… how’re things on the Admiral Banfry? Your son wanted to know you were okay. At least I can give him some good news.’

  ‘Good is relative. We’ve been ordered to stand ready for departure. Destination to be identified twelve hours before warp. No shore leave and they’ve been bringing up supplies for heavy bombardment and ground fighting.’