“That explains why the power packs we got were barely workable. It was a close thing,” Magnus said. “Their insides were very primitive. Just enough to work one time.”
“So the Trilisk technology supports prayer,” Telisa summarized aloud, still absorbing what she had learned.
“Affirmative, correct, accurate statement.”
“They must have reached a level of technology where they realized they could finally answer their own prayers. Fulfill the mystical dreams of their own ancestors.”
“Shiny believes Telisa has reversed cause and effect. Unlikely Trilisk ancestors employed prayer. Prayer was developed as request format for advanced technology.”
“Really? In my race it was very common in many primitive cultures and still persists in places even to this day.”
“Your ancestors employed prayer to obtain items from Trilisk device operating on Earth. However, apparently unable to stop even after device stopped functioning.”
“On Earth? On Earth, how could it be? We prayed for—but my ancestors didn’t have whatever they wanted, did they?”
“Likely limitations: primitive understanding unable to provide specifics for advanced constructs, power requirements of Trilisk device, possibly limited range.”
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around this. Primitive understanding. You mean, a witch doctor wouldn’t know to ask for a flying car?”
“Must understand object intimately to obtain useful, usable, operational item.”
“Oh. That’s why I can’t get a new pair of legs for my father.”
“Affirmative, correct, accurate statement.”
“Wait. Why did the Trilisks do that? Were they trying to turn us into an advanced race at an accelerated pace?”
“Motivations unknown. Competing theory: Trilisks occupied Earth, required basic infrastructure.”
“I see. We don’t know if they were helping us or helping themselves.”
“Other possibilities exist. Shiny terminate conversation. Seed requires attention.”
“It requires your attention? Doesn’t it pay attention to you?”
“Shiny in process of very complex wishes, desires, prayers. Requires full attention.”
Telisa started to ask Shiny more questions, but she also felt a need to contemplate what she had learned. “Where is my father’s friend? Is she dangerous?”
“I don’t think so,” Magnus said. “Iridar says she’s in the mess.”
Telisa walked off to think. As Magnus suggested, Telisa found her father’s surviving shipmate in the mess. The woman wasn’t eating but just sitting there, as if seeking company.
“I guess you know who I am,” Telisa started.
“I’m Cilreth,” the woman said, standing. She extended her hand and Telisa shook it. “How is your father?”
“He needs a real medical facility,” she said. “But he’s in a good mood.”
“Of course. We came a long way to find you. Were you a prisoner or a willing participant in the smuggling?”
“Willing, though I have, at times, been at the mercy of our alien friend, Shiny.”
Cilreth made a face.
She doesn’t like Shiny and how can I blame her?
“Shiny is mostly a cooperative creature. Remember, you busted into his home. The only home he has left, really.”
Cilreth nodded.
“Magnus and I just got back from an expedition. It was quite a surprise to come back to all this. But I want to thank you for finding my father and helping us get him patched up.”
Cilreth’s lips compressed a bit. “About Magnus. I’ve spent some time looking into the men of Parker Interstellar Travels. They’re not all squeaky clean, you know.”
“What about Magnus? Just come out and tell me anything about him. I know him, he’s a good man.”
“Well, what do you know about him? Did you know he’s a murderer?”
“Ridiculous.”
“He killed a man in the war against the UED. A man on his own side.”
“Then he had a good reason for it. Why isn’t he incarcerated if this is public knowledge? I know he hasn’t been FBMed.”
Telisa referred to forced behavior modification, usually applied as a form of severe rehabilitation. Cilreth remained calm, but she didn’t back down. She looked Telisa in the eyes.
“The Space Force didn’t try him because his actions were supposedly affected by a toxic agent he’d received in an attack. In fact, the action wasn’t ever admitted by the Space Force. But two veterans who made it out of there reported he’d done it before they got shut down by the force.”
“If anything, he’s more ethical than I am,” Telisa said. “And we’re close.”
“Then why hasn’t he told you?”
“Undoubtedly because it’s an unpleasant memory from his past. And I’ve hardly been receptive. Believe me. Magnus and I accept each other as-is.”
“Then I envy your relationship. As long as he’s not playing you. Were you a prisoner, at first?”
“No, I’m not suffering from brainwashing or any captive syndrome.”
Cilreth held up her hands. “Okay. I just wanted to know if you’re all right. Your father was very worried of course, and we went through a lot of scenarios about what might have happened.”
Telisa nodded. “Excuse me then, I need to figure out what happens next.”
Cilreth smiled weakly. “Good luck with that.”
Chapter 24
Magnus walked into the room set up to care for Leonard Relachik. Relachik was awake. Magnus felt a bit awkward, but he faced the ex-captain squarely.
“Magnus Garrison,” Relachik said.
Magnus tried to hide his surprise. Of course he would know my name.
“Captain,” he said.
“No more. Just call me Relachik. Has my daughter been working with you of her own free will?” demanded Relachik.
“Yes sir. She joined us as a specialist.”
“What have you been doing? I assume you collected artifacts to sell.”
“We went to a new Trilisk site on Thespera Narres. We fell into some kind of closed environment made for aliens; it became a kind of trap for us. We worked with the golden alien to escape. We did manage to sell some alien items to generate a lot of money.”
“And this last trip?”
“We retrieved an amazing artifact for Shiny. The alien. It’s a Trilisk artificial intelligence which apparently provides almost anything the owner can envision in enough detail. Or anyone whose thoughts it can perceive. Our part of the deal was a lot of other artifacts from the planet. Vovok, Telisa calls it.”
“That’s pretty amazing stuff. About this alien. It blew my man away. And took my legs. I take it we pressed it a bit too hard. My fault. But apparently you’ve befriended it?”
“Not exactly,” Magnus said. “That’s something I wanted to talk to you about. I think Telisa is in danger. All of us, in fact.”
“You care about Telisa?”
“Yes. I care about her a lot. We became close. Went through some hard times on Thespera.”
“What’s the threat?”
“The alien. It has a history—a racial or cultural tendency, actually—of alternating between cooperative modes and a competitive mode. If it flips to competitive mode, then I believe it may at best enslave us, at worst, dispose of us. Telisa treats it with too much trust, handles it like a human, even though she of all people is actually the best equipped to understand it is very much not human.”
Relachik listened carefully. “She doesn’t think she’s in danger?”
“Telisa is smart. But young and naïve. Trustful of everyone except the government, whom she opposes fiercely, as I’m sure you know. What I mean is, though she hates the government as a nebulous entity, she trusts in individuals. She trusted us, her new employers, very quickly. Her loyalty is laudable, and I hope to return that loyalty to her, but I think in this case it’s actually a dangerous flaw.”
“So this creature may flip, you say? Has it flipped before?”
“Not on us. Not totally. He did take over our ship once. But by his own admission, he does whatever is optimal for himself at the time. There appears to be little capacity for lingering loyalty just for old time’s sake, or whatever you might call it. He said in so many words he was happy about most of his race being wiped out because of ‘reduced competition.’ Telisa and I hedged our bets by telling him if we died, we’d report as much as we could to the Space Force. I don’t know if it bought us much safety.”
“Magnus, I want you to save her. If this alien is really like you say, we need to kill it before it kills us. We know it has the power to kill us easily if it decides it wants to. Obviously it has no compunction against killing other sentient beings.”
“Killing Shiny is easier said than done.”
“What choice do we have? Sounds to me like it’s a time bomb. We need to catch it by surprise. At least we need to somehow disarm it, cripple it.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
“I’m going to be slow getting back into action. Don’t wait for me. Kill it or run away if you don’t think you can. Take Telisa away from it. Do you need money?”
Magnus shook his head. “We have a rich haul from Shiny’s homeworld.”
“Your finances may have been complicated by a thing or two I did to get here,” Relachik said. “I’ll send Telisa details of my finances. Kill the thing, or get out of here.”
Magnus nodded. “She won’t abandon you.”
“Her life is in your hands. If you really care about her, you’ll take action. I’m counting on you.”
He’s right. Yet if I do as he says, Telisa may never forgive me. “I’ll see what preparations I can make. I’ll try and estimate the odds of success.”
Magnus left Relachik with more on his mind than he already had. He had been willing to let things slide because of the way Telisa seemed unwilling to fear Shiny. Now, he was not so sure. Am I letting her put herself in too much danger through my inaction?
Magnus wandered back to the Iridar and packed up his Scout parts. He was tempted to move everything into the workshop on the asteroid, but that would mean leaving it behind if he convinced Telisa to run away. Or if Relachik recovered and forced Telisa to leave.
If Relachik tries to make her leave whose side am I going to be on? I think we should leave, but I can hardly force her to leave can I? I think I would have to side with her. Even though I don’t agree with staying.
Magnus went to Telisa in her quarters. He felt a bit weary, though he doubted he could find sleep with so much on his mind. Telisa lay in her web, her eyes staring at the ceiling.
Obviously in the same boat: heavy thoughts.
“Hey,” he said. “Are you thinking about the AI?”
“Of course. Well, that and my father.”
“I want you to reconsider about sticking around. We should take the cache of items and leave.”
“I need to learn more about the Trilisks. I’m not going to try and steal the seed from Shiny, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“Shiny is still dangerous, even if you leave him the seed. Your father doesn’t want you in danger, either.”
“Too late. My life has been in serious risk quite often lately.”
Magnus slipped into the web and held her. Something felt different. Telisa was tense.
Something more is bothering her. Just wait. She’ll mention it.
“How many people have you killed?” she blurted out.
Wow. Didn’t see that one coming.
“Three.”
“In the war? Were they UED?” she asked.
“Two of them were. Saboteurs, sent in by the UED to destroy critical installations.”
Oh, I see. Her father must have told her about my incident.
“And the other?”
Magnus hesitated. He gathered his thoughts.
“I told you a bit about the fear. In the war,” he said. “The other one I killed was a soldier in my unit. He got messed up on drugs to escape the pressure. During an attack by UED cruisers, we were in a bunker. He was high, totally out of it. He said he wanted to call home and get them to come pick us up. It was a radio silence situation, so the UED couldn’t pinpoint us. They didn’t know if we were there, in what bunkers; they wouldn’t know where to strike unless he made that call. I stopped him. I should have done it some other way, but there wasn’t time. He almost gave us away. The Space Force acknowledged my actions as those of a hero, rather than a murderer, because they judged I had saved more lives than I took. I was backed up by the officer there.”
Telisa relaxed a bit in his arms.
I think she believes me.
“I should have told you,” he offered.
“No, I understand. It’s all right. I love you.”
Magnus started to reply but his link gave him an alert. The Iridar had gone into an intercept trajectory with a large object. As Magnus investigated, he saw that the other ship, the Vandivier, as well as Shiny’s starship, were all closing on the same target.
“Where are we going?” Telisa asked.
“A large asteroid,” Magnus said. “Though there are hints of some kind of installation there. I assume it’s Vovokan.”
Suddenly Magnus felt dead tired. He’d only slept in short bits under the Vovokan surface.
“Maybe catch a bit of sleep before the rendezvous...” he murmured, already drifting away.
“Yes. Yes, sleep,” Telisa said.
Chapter 25
Telisa woke up alone. Her link told her the time. She’d overslept by hours.
“Wow. I need to go see what’s up,” she mumbled. Telisa felt her way around the quarters to the shower tube and revived herself.
As she returned to alertness, she opened a channel to Magnus. “Magnus? What’s up?”
“We’re at the asteroid. I’ve only seen the main entrance and I’m already impressed. Can you come out?”
“Yes. What’s out there?”
“You have to see it. I guess it’s the result of Shiny’s prayers.”
“Wow. Okay, I’m out there in two minutes.”
Telisa finished up her shower, straightened up and donned her Veer suit.
I’ve turned into the female version of Magnus, she thought, feeling how at home she was in the military skinsuit.
Telisa went to the cargo bay and walked down the ramp. Her eyes had to adjust to bright white light.
A huge atrium spread before her. Its walls were irregular, like a giant cavern, though white support struts ran along the perimeter. The Iridar was parked inside like a car on a street. Telisa couldn’t see how the ship got into the space. Fine white sand covered the floor.
“A large asteroid huh? Very large, I’d say.”
“Many kilometers long anyway,” Cilreth said. “It’s beautiful. Sandy, though,” she grimaced.
Telisa laughed. “That’s Vovokan for you. The sand is like their carpet, and their toilet, apparently. Or at least their wastebasket.”
“Oh. That explains why my footprints sift away within a minute.”
“How’s my father doing?”
“Well,” Magnus said. “But not well enough to come look. His body took a lot of damage, and we have only basic medical support. He should stay put for a week or maybe more.”
They walked toward a set of tunnels leading out of the atrium. A bank of windows looked out into space.
“I assume the gravity is artificial, or else there’s a singularity involved.”
Telisa found link services and looked the maps over. She got a rough idea of a huge factory in space very quickly. It was an advanced base. I wonder how much was already here, and how much Shiny got from the AI?
“Couldn’t rule out the possibility of a singularity in a place this advanced,” Magnus said. “I just assumed it was a gravity spinner. It’s amazing.”
“More than amazing. It’s ours now. Our sanctuary,” Telisa said
.
Magnus blinked. “You mean we should live here?”
“Why not? From what I can see of the overall design, it’s camouflaged, provides plenty of power, and even has defenses. It’s a perfect base of operations. Shiny can make ships that are way more advanced than the Iridar. With them, we could go where we want, when we want. No need to fear getting caught by the UNSF.”
“Yes. I see what you mean. I wish it weren’t a bunch of caves, but I could get used to it. I don’t think we should stay, though. We have so many artifacts, and this time they aren’t just knick-knacks. We could own our own planetoid on the frontier.”
Telisa kept poring over the map. “It interfaces with my link, you know. And there’s a map service, and it shows human rooms!”
“Yes. This way. Let’s check them out.”
They walked down a straight but rough-surfaced cave tunnel toward the human section of the base. They came to a square corridor and stepped up a few inches onto a pristine white tile floor.
“If the walls shift around I’m going to scream and run,” Telisa said.
Magnus laughed and Cilreth shot her a curious look.
“Inside joke,” Magnus said.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the walls did shift according to your prayers,” Cilreth said. “I’m kind of opposed to praying on principle, but if I really get what I want then I imagine I’ll get over the discomfort pretty damn fast.”
They came to a wide circular platform, overlooking a series of spacious white rooms with glass ceilings.
“A kitchen, dining room, VR training room, and... a dance hall,” Telisa summarized at a glance.
“I see a workshop,” Magnus said. “And I see Scout parts in it! This is too crazy!”
“Are they the parts from the Iridar, or new ones?”
“I don’t know. It probably doesn’t matter.”
“It’s wonderful. White and clean. Not a grain of sand, hah,” Cilreth said.
“Yes. Beats sleeping in sandy tunnels. This is stylish. A five star resort.”
They walked down into the series of rooms and wondered at the luxury of it all. Each of them found a spacious bedroom filled with soft furniture. Telisa came into a room and one wall became a hologram of an alien forest filled with grazing alien creatures.
The Trilisk AI (Parker Interstellar Travels #2) Page 21