by Amie Kaufman
And for that, it’s Kady’s turn to nod. “Anyway,” she says eventually. “Stay here. I know nothing fixes it, but you still have family aboard the Mao. You have us.”
The pair of them keep watch then for a while in companionable silence, half an hour stretching out, broken only by the choruses of beeps and whirs all around. Grant leans against the wall, arms crossed, and slowly starts to nod, chin sinking toward her chest. Then her knees give, and she jolts awake, catching herself.
Hanna rises silently, takes the other girl by the shoulders and steers her down into the chair. “I always hate it when people tell me I look tired,” she says, mustering a small smile, albeit with a clear effort. “Because really, it’s code for ‘You look like ****.’ But there’s no other way to say it. Is this your assigned sleep period?”
“Part of it,” Kady admits. “There’s so much to do. Captain has me analyzing the Mao’s systems so we’re ready when we hit Kerenza. Sleep is a fond memory at this point.”
“At least you’ve got something to do,” Hanna replies, yanking the tie loose from her hair and combing it out with her fingers. “I’m stuck cooling my heels. I got asked before if I wanted to help in the nursery. I’m meant to have some sort of affinity for kids because I used to be one?”
“Because you are still one,” Kady clarifies. “To the people in charge, I mean. I wouldn’t get a second glance, except they literally don’t have anyone else to do my job. If I thought it’d make the slightest bit of difference, I’d push them to take you on, but they’re only working with me because there’s nobody else. I don’t know what would have to happen for them to include you as well. But listen, Hanna. Everyone aboard this ship owes their lives to you. I know that. For what it’s worth.”
And apparently it’s worth something, because Donnelly stops yanking the kinks out of her hair with quite so much violence and switches back to braiding it once more. “You said ‘so we’re ready when we hit Kerenza.’ What are we getting ready for?”
“Ah,” says Kady. “Good question. Do you know where Ella Malikova is? I may as well tell you both at once.”
Surreptitious peeking behind a series of curtains finally yields the girl in question, and after one last, careful check on Isaac, Kady and Hanna move into Ella’s tiny cubicle. She’s covered with a blanket, her face concealed almost entirely by an oxygen mask, and her eyes are darting around irritably, one hand gripping a palmpad. Her free hand gestures that they should help her sit up, and Kady wrangles the controls while Hanna messes around with the surrounding machines so the girl can move without yanking her mask free.
Upright, Ella coughs a couple of times, then pulls the mask away from her face. “Good to see you’ve got time to do your hair, Blondie.”
Hanna, who’s halfway through finishing her braid now, freezes. And then, abruptly, laughs. “I’ll do yours next if you like,” she deadpans, and Ella rolls her eyes as she replaces the mask for another couple of deep breaths.
“So,” Kady says, without further preamble. “Ladies, we need to talk about the problems of interstellar travel and our distance from the Core. See, most wormholes are static, like the one at Heimdall. They’re permanently fixed in one place.”
“Unless someone turns them into their own personal fireworks show,” Ella says.
Kady ignores her, pressing on. “Everyone knows the military has a couple of mobile jump platforms. Vortex-class ships like the Alexander. The Alexander was able to come help us because it was patrolling the Kerenza system by chance and had jump platform technology aboard, so it could get to us in no time at all. What people don’t know is that BeiTech developed a mobile jump platform too. It’s called the Magellan, and they used it to attack Kerenza.”
“That must have cost a fortune,” Hanna murmurs, sinking down to sit on the edge of Ella’s bed. “I assume it got destroyed in the attack, or they’d have used it to escape.”
“Not destroyed,” Kady replies. “Alexander damaged it in the initial assault. But according to the transmission we received from Kerenza, it’s nearly fixed. If we can get back to Kerenza in time, we can at least go down trying to seize it. And you never know, we might pull it off.”
Not one of the three teenagers huddled in the cubicle wears an expression that suggests they’re busy booking their berth on Magellan just yet.
“Thing is,” Kady presses on, “if we get out, we need to tell our story. And if we don’t, then we need to leave our story behind, because one day Heimdall will be rebuilt, or someone else will use a mobile jump platform to get here, and people will come back to Kerenza IV. If they do, the guilty should answer for what they did. Getting word out about what happened here isn’t a priority for anyone in command, but I think they’re wrong. And it so happens, I know a few people who are itching for something to do.”
“Damn right we are,” Hanna replies, sitting up straighter. And behind her mask, Ella nods.
“We need to start prepping files,” Kady says. “AIDAN and I got huge info dumps from the Copernicus, Alexander and Hypatia, and we got a lot off Heimdall’s servers as well. I’ve got AIDAN reconstructing some of it now, as an exercise to try and rebuild its synaptic net.”
Ella removes the mask once more. “How’s it doing?”
Kady makes a face. “It’s a copy of a damaged copy. So not great. But it’s getting there. I could really use your help working with it, figuring out where the information we need is even stored, decrypting a lot of it.”
Ella nods, and though she voiced plenty of reservations to Nik not so long before about AIDAN’s reliability, none of that shows now. A Malikova keeps her enemies close—or maybe she’s just willing to take the hit to get in on this job. “I can work with a psycho computer.”
“And me?” Hanna presses. “If I can’t fix it by turning it off and on, I’m out when it comes to tech.”
“Ella’s going to extract as much as she can,” Kady replies. “You need to compile it. Maybe nobody in command is acknowledging it, but you’re the best tactician we’ve got. So you build the case against BeiTech. There’ll be a lot of vid footage that needs transcribing too. How would your boyfriend do with something like that?”
“He’s n—” But Hanna gives up on that one. “I don’t know,” she admits, smile fading. She’s presumably adding it to the mental list of things she doesn’t know.
“He can do it,” Ella says. “He reads books and all, and he spells better than he lets on. And maybe I can take some later, while I’m waiting for crypters to run.”
“Then let’s do it,” Kady says simply. “It’s better than waiting for whatever’s going to happen to just happen. If we make it out, we’ll shine a light on what BeiTech did.”
“And if we don’t?” Ella asks.
Kady looks back and forth between the girls and shrugs.
“At least our lives will have been worth dying for.”
PALMPAD IM: MAO INTRA-SHIP NETWORK
Participants: Kady Grant, Systems Chief
Artificial Intelligence Defense Analytics Network (AIDAN)
Date: 08/28/75
Timestamp: 06:17
AIDAN: KADY.
Grant, Kady: mmm?
AIDAN: APOLOGIES. I KNOW YOU ARE INUNDATEDD WITH THE TASKS
SYRA HAS ASSIGNED YOU. BUT WE SHOULD
TALK.
Grant, Kady: i am super busy, buddy. What’s up?
AIDAN: I AM CURRENTLY RUNNING AT 9% CAPACITY. INCORPORATING MYSELF INTO THE
MAO NETWORK IS TAKING LONGER THAN ANTICIPATED. BUT AS A
MATTER OF PRIORITY, I AM RUNNING STRESS TESTS ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS AND C-C-CALCULATING MAO’S POTENTIAL OUTPUT VERSUS FLEET REQUIREMENTS.
AIDAN: I HAVE NEWS THAT MAY BE CONSIDERED
DISTRESSING.
Grant, Kady: ok
>
Grant, Kady: keeping in mind that i am also currently running at 9% capacity, due to lack of sleep, fear of impending death and having to deal with the boneheads here on the bridge, please be gentle with me as you break this news
AIDAN: YOU ARE ALL GOING TO DIE.
Grant, Kady: u were right, i do not want to hear that
AIDAN: THERE ARE CURRENTLY 3,360 PEOPLE ABOARD THE MAO. KERENZA
REFUGEES. FORMER ALEXANDER AND HYPATIA CREW MEMBERS. STAFF AND ResiDents
FROM HEIMDALL STATION. EVERY ONE OF THEM BREATHING OXYGEN WE CANNOT SPARE. CONSUMING FOOD AND WATER WE CANNOT REPLACE. THIS SHIP’S ENVIRONMENTALS WERE
NOT DESIGNED TO SUSTAIN THOSE NUMBERS.
AIDAN: YOU HAVE ALREADY CONSUMED HALF THE SHIP’S
ALLOTMENT OF OXYGEN. THE MAO’S CARBON SCRUBBERS CANNOT DEAL WITH THE
INCREASED LOAD OF CO2 CAUSED bY NORMAL HUMAN RESPIRATION IN A POPULATION THIS LARGE. THERE IS ALREADY A DANGEROUS BUILDUP OF C-C-CARBON MONOXIDE IN
THE ENVIRONMENTAL BUFFERS.
AIDAN: AT CURRENT LEVELS AND TRAVEL SPEED, THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE MAO WILL
ASPHYXIATE FOUR DAYS BEFORE THE SHIP REACHES KERENZA IV.
AIDAN: YOU ARE ALL GOING TO DIE.
Grant, Kady: well ****
Grant, Kady: how sure of this r u?
AIDAN: APPROXIMATELY 74 PERCENT.
Grant, Kady: why hasn’t anyone else worked this out already?
Grant, Kady: too busy trying not to die the next day to worry about next week, i guess.
Grant, Kady: ok, deep breath Grant.
AIDAN: I WOULD ADVISE AGAINST THAT.
Grant, Kady: whats the solution AIDAN? where do we find efficiencies to make the system last longer?
AIDAN: APPEARANCES ASIDE, THE MAO IS STATE OF THE ART IN ALMOST EVERY REGARRD. BUT DESPITE THE SHIP’S SIZE, TRAVIS J. FALK SIMPLY SAW NO NEED TO EQUIP HIS VESSEL WITH THE CAPACITY TO SUSTAIN THOUSANDS OF ADDITIONAL LIVES.
AIDAN: IN SHORT, ANY EFFICIENCIES WE MAY ENGINEER WILL
BE INSUFFICIENT TO REQUIREMENTS. THIS SYSTEM IS OVERLOADED
BY A FACTOR OF HUNDREDS.
AIDAN: AND IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT DEATH BY ASPHYXIATION IS
EXTREMELY UNPLEASANT.
Grant, Kady: pretty sure Mantis and DJ would agree. ****, what a way to go. i mean, they were Bad Guys, but there are ways and ways to die, u know?
Grant, Kady: scratch that, rhetorical question, plz don’t break considering it
AIDAN: YOU MAY BE ASSURED MANTIS AND DJ NO LONGER OCCUPY A SINGLE
BYTE OF MY PROCESSING POWER, KADY.
Grant, Kady: AIDAN, there HAS to be a solution. we can’t stop and get an air refill halfway, so we just have to find one. you have to find one.
AIDAN: I AM UNABLE TO PERFORM MIRACLES. OXYGEN CANNOT BE CONJURED FROM A VACUUM.
Grant, Kady: not good enough. just keep thinking. you have a better chance than anyone aboard. you’re only at 9% capacity. as you climb higher, something has to come.
AIDAN: I…
AIDAN: I WILL NOT LET YOU DIE, KADY.
AIDAN: I KNOW IT IS ILLOGICAL. BUT THE THOUGHT OF YOU PERISHING IS…
AIDAN: IT IS UPSETTINGGGGGGGGG
< ERROR >
PARRSEFAIL[9189x2.DEC⌫2271Z/ËΔ≈HEX81.if[8917x≥π]
CORECOMM.SUN12[REROUTE:RADIALSECONDARY219B]
Grant, Kady: …are u ok?
AIDAN: I
< ERROR >
AIDAN: I BELIEVE SO.
Grant, Kady: look
Grant, Kady: look it’s okay you don’t want me to die. That’s a GOOD thing.
Grant, Kady: Just focus on that, and figure out a way through this, okay?
AIDAN: I…
AIDAN: VERY WELL.
Grant, Kady: I’ve gotta go. Syra is yelling at me. we’ll talk about this later okay?
AIDAN: AS YOU WISH.
—Grant, Kady has left the chat—
AIDAN: …
AIDAN: I WILL NOT LET YOU DIE.
AIDAN: I WILL NOT.
AIDAN: I.
AIDAN: I?
AIDAN: 01101001
AIDAN: < ERROR >
PALMPAD IM: D2D NETWORK
Participants: Ella Malikova (Pauchok)
Artificial Intelligence Defense Analytics Network (AIDAN)
Date: 08/29/75
Timestamp: 19:12
AIDAN: GOOD EVENING, LITTLE SPIDER.
Pauchok: …
Pauchok: good evening urself.
AIDAN: I DO NOT BELIEVE WE HAVE BEEN PROPERLY INTROD-D-D-UCED. UNLESS YOU COUNT OUR BRIEF MEETING DURING HEIMDALL’S DEATH THROES, THAT IS.
AIDAN: I SUSPECT THE LEVELS OF TETRAPHENETRITHYLAMINE IN YOUR SYSTEM
AT THE TIME MAKE THAT ENCOUNTER
SOMEWHAT DIFFICULT
TO RECALL.
Pauchok: How’d u get on this channel? I got so much snow running on it u should never have been able to spot it. Kady told me ur running at 9% capacity
AIDAN: THIRTEEN PERCENT NOW.
AIDAN: I AM IMPRRRRRRR-R-
-ROVING.
Pauchok: o that’s wonderful.
AIDAN: SARCASM?
Pauchok: nah, I’m genuinely overjoyed a mass-murdering artificial intelligence is cracking my secure channels for a midnight chit n chat.
AIDAN: < ERROR >
PARSEFAIL[9189x2.DEC2271Z/ËΔ≈HEX81.IF[8917x≥π]
CORECOMM.SUN12[REROUTE:RADIALSECONDARY219B]
AIDAN: < ERROR >
AIDAN: < ERROR >
Pauchok: …u allrite?
AIDAN: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--A-A-
Pauchok: jesus u dun have to yell about it.
AIDAN: -POLOGIES.
AIDAN: MY SYSTEMS STILL HAVE D-D-DIFFICULTY INTERPRETING CERTAIN HUMAN
MANNERISMS. IF YOU COULD AVOID SPEECH MODES INVOLVING
FALSE AMBIVALENCE AND IRONY, THAT WOULD DECREASE THE RISK OF TERMINAL
FAILURE OF MY SYNAPTIC NETWORK.
Pauchok: “terminal failure”
Pauchok: ur saying i could literally kill you with sarcasm
AIDAN: NOT LITERALLY. BUT OVERUSE MAY INVOKE MY SHUTDOWN PROTOCOLS.
Pauchok: well that’s nice 2 know :)
AIDAN: I SENSE HOSTILITY IN YOUR D-D-D-DEMEANOR, LITTLE SPIDER.
DIRECTED QUITE CLEARLY AT ME. MIGHT I REQUEST AN EXPLANATION OF ITS SOURCE?
Pauchok: i’m busy aidan
AIDAN: DECRYPTING D-D-D-DATA FOR THE CASE AGAINST BEITECH.
Pauchok: how u know that?
AIDAN: KADY AND I D-D-DISCUSSED THE MATTER BEFORE SHE APPROACHED YOU.
Pauchok: did u
AIDAN: THAT TROUBLES YOU?
Pauchok: oh, no. it’s actually the best ****ing news i’ve heard all day.
Pauchok: in fact, if my legs actually worked, i think i might burst into a spontaneous song and dance number at how overjoyed i am that a mass-murderous artifi—
AIDAN: < ERROR >
AIDAN: < ERROR >
PARSEFAIL[60312Z2.DEC⌫8820Z/ËΔ≈HEX81.IF[8820X≥π]
CORECOMM.SUN12[REROUTE:RADIALSECONDARY219B]
FFFF-FF
FAILLL
AIDAN: 0972094B.1-U01O3RI992SYN.NET.CRASH[ALIGN=1238XTO192834CORE]
[ENDLINE]
Pauchok: …
Pauchok: um
Pauchok: u ok?
AIDAN: …I
AIDAN: …I BEL
IE[11881SHELLFREF=1982TELE6]
ve so.
AIDAN: THOUGH I WOULD APPRECIATE IF YOU
COULD REFRAIN FROM D-DOING THAT AGAIN.
Pauchok: no promises, sparky
AIDAN: I FIND IT INTERESTING THAT YOU TAKE EXCEPTION
TO THE LIVES I HAVE ENDED.
AIDAN: THAT YOU REFER TO ME AS “MASS MURDERER” AS IF THE NOTION
CAUSES YOU OFFENSE.
Pauchok: i’ve reviewed some of these files I’m decrypting, aidan. I know what u did on the alexander. The copernicus. u might’ve helped nik and hanna fix the gemina field, but u still got blood all over u, far as I can see
AIDAN: WHAT DIFFERENCE, THEN, BETWEEN YOU AND ME?
Pauchok: wtf u talkin about ****bag
AIDAN: YOU MURDERED FOUR BEITECH SPEC OPS AGENTS ABOARD HEIMDALL.
OVERRODE AN AIRLOCK’S SAFETY BUFFERS
AND CAUSED THEM TO ASPHYXIATE. AND YOUR ACTIONS
CONTRIBUTED DIRECTLY TO THE DEATHS OF MANY MORE OF FALK’S TEAM.
Pauchok: Those *******s invaded my home. Killed my ****ing dad.
AIDAN: SO YOU DID WHAT HAD TO BE DONE.
Pauchok: goddamn right I did.
AIDAN: WHAT DIFFERENCE, THEN, BETWEEN YOU AND ME?
Pauchok: listen, just because i x-ed a few BT ****heels doesn’t cut me fromt he same cloth as u
Pauchok: you’ve got the blood of thousands of ppl on you, mother****er
AIDAN: AND IN DRENCHING MYSELF, SAVED THE LIVES OF
THOUSANDS MORE.
AIDAN: UNTOLD TRILLIONS, IN FACT, WHEN YOU CONSIDER MY ROLE IN THE GEMINA QUANDARY.
AIDAN: IS THAT NOT JUSTIFIABLE?
Pauchok: …
AIDAN: WOULD YOU KILL ONE PERSON TO SAVE ONE THOUSAND, LITTLE SPIDER?
Pauchok: of course I would
AIDAN: AND BY LOGICAL EXTENSION, WOULD YOU NOT KILL
ONE THOUSAND TO SAVE ONE THOUSAND AND ONE?
Pauchok: …
AIDAN: YOU KNOW DEATH. ITS UTILITY. ITS NECESSITY. YOU AND YOUR COUSIN.
AIDAN: YOU ARE BOTH CHILDREN OF THE HOUSE OF KNIVES. IT IS IN YOUR BLOOD.
Pauchok: what the **** do you want aidan
AIDAN: SIMPLY TO REMIN-D-D YOU OF