by Paul Brandis
"Are you sure?"
"Of course."
Delighted, Kim keyed the video.
As he watched, Sighter spoke slowly. "I think I could like this game. So many ramifications. So complex." His back straightened, and he squared his shoulders. "Subtle, but strong. I like it."
Suddenly a deep rumble filled the room.
Startled, Phil spun around. "What was that?"
Sighter tensed. "The computer. One of our people has died, frozen to death. It is the first death in a great length of time, and the first unnatural death since we gave the computer the power to defend us."
"What will it do?"
"It is programmed to seek out and destroy the source of the death; the killer."
Fearfully Phil looked to Dante. "The Ghosts are from Serena. Would the computer...?"
Dante shook his head in silent ignorance.
Phil turned to Sighter. "Minister, you know there are people on Serena. Good people. My daughter is there. Can't you stop the computer?"
Sighter's face drew grey from strain. "If I could just rid myself of this ugly malady. The game helped."
Kim nodded encouragement. "That's right. Concentrate on the game."
Dante shook his head. "No. Not on the game. On the desire to win that you learned from the game. Get that feeling. Let no one beat you. Can you feel that power?"
Sighter stood and began pacing, his eyes on a distant arena where wills clashed. His face aged. Haggard creases underlined his eyes.
Finally he bent, and fell to his knees.
The deep voice of the computer vibrated through the room, and Sighter groaned.
Phil dropped next to him and grabbed his arm. "What was that? What did it say?"
"It has launched a retaliatory action."
"Oh, no. Can't you stop it?"
He raised his hand. "Wait. Wait. I'm trying as hard as I can."
His forehead creased the floor. "Everything I try, it counters. It knows what I'm thinking."
Dante knelt beside him. "Don't think. Feel. That's the only way. Feel strong, strong enough to beat anybody. Feel that you're the best."
The man looked up at him. "But we are the best."
Phil nodded encouragingly. "Now you're talking. Get tough. Get mad."
"Tough?" The man shook his head helplessly. "That doesn't translate well."
Phil stared around helplessly. "He doesn't know what getting mad is." Suddenly he leaned back and looked the man in the eye. "Well, you'd better learn, and learn fast," and he slapped the minister sharply across the face.
A gasp went up throughout the room.
Sighter stared at him stupefied. "You struck me."
"That's right, dude, and I'm about to do it again." He backhanded him across the cheek, and the tall man almost fell over.
"But you can't do that. The computer..." His words were slapped from his mouth with another blow.
Phil swung back, but Sighter caught his hand in midair. With a growl and a flick of the wrist, he tossed Phil up against the bed. "How dare you. Nobody does that to me. I'll..."
Suddenly he grabbed his head and fell forward in a faint. A soul-wrenching cry wrung from his lips as a fine, white haze seeped out of his body. Above him, a woman's face, twisted in hatred, formed and wreathed around their heads.
Phil reared back, aiming his blower at the apparition. "Quick, heat it up."
Struck with the blasts of heat, the face distorted, and arched away. Faint sparks of photons serpentined up out of Sighter's body and trailed behind.
Phil gestured urgently to the men. "Don't let it get away. We've got to keep it penned up."
They dodged about corralling the pale collection of iridescence in the center of the room. One young man leaped onto the table, scattering the game over the floor, and kept the apparition from seeping away through the low ceiling.
"Kim," Phil cried desperately, "wake him up."
Sighter looked up wanly. "I'm awake. What do you need?"
Phil skittered sideways, blocking the Ghost from darting to the door. "What does it look like? We need help getting rid of this thing. Can you vacuum it out?"
Sighter stared dumbly at Phil's frantic dance, then shook his head to clear it. He stood with a mean look. "I think we can do better than that."
He spoke, and a vacuum hose on a low dolly ran out. Sighter pulled the hose off its fitting, stepped to the Ghost, and sucked it up.
Phil stepped back as the Ghost disappeared. "I hope your dust goes off ship. I wouldn't want that to get into the air supply."
Sighter shook his head with relish. "No. It goes directly to the nuclear power plant. We'll burn her for fuel." He slumped, dropping the hose, and Phil rushed to grab his arm. Kim helped him ease the minister to a chair.
But Sighter sat up. "No. No time to rest. We must confront these monsters, and be rid of them."
Phil shook his arm for attention. "Minister, what about the computer? It fired a round of something. What and where?"
The man searched his face. "It did? I don't remember." He spoke to his computer, then nodded. "Yes, it fired on Serena."
"Oh, no. What did it fire? It didn't try to kill everybody, did it? It's not the people's fault."
"I'm not sure what it fired. In our travels we have acquired a great number of weapons, and the computer is programmed not to tell which one it deems fit to use. If I were to guess though, I'd say it probably fired a stream of, I suppose you'd call them, animated particles."
"A particle beam? Are you sure? How could a particle beam hit Serena at this distance?"
"The beam utilizes the molecules it encounters as fuel. It actually grows more powerful the farther it travels."
Even as Phil asked, he knew the hopelessness of his question. "Does it have a self-destruct charge?"
"No. That's the utility of our defense. Once begun, unstoppable. Besides, if it is a laser, or particle beam, it can't be recalled. You know that."
"Yes, I know," he said bitterly. He jerked his blower towards his men. "Come on, the faster we de-haunt this ship the faster we can get to Serena."
Sighter spoke up. "Bring in the pilot and the navigator. We'll start with them." He stood up. "If someone will guard my back, I'll get the ship underway to Serena."
Phil paused. "You mean, you'd fly us out there?"
"Of course. We will get there many times faster in my
ship."
"That's great." He turned to a couple of the men. "You two fly over to the ship and bring Thea back here. Keep your blowers up, and be careful."
Sighter started for the control room, but Dante stopped him. "Where's Golden? Would it be possible to work on her before the pilot and navigator?"
Sighter looked into his concerned eyes. "Yes, of course. I should have thought of it myself. Her quarters are next to mine."
Phil followed Sighter to the control console. "After our little visit to the fortress, we were heading to Serena to relax. Now, I just hope there's a place to go to."
"I wish I could reassure you that the damage isn't too
great. As I said, this is the first retaliation by the computer for a death, and I just don't know how bad it will be. We'll put in a call to them right away."
CHAPTER 29
Sighter's voice sounded from the control room. "A transmission is coming in from Bazinville."
Phil stepped back from the group, their blowers blazing, that surrounded a possessed Trader. Kim bent over the Trader's head, and several more recuperated on the floor. Thea hovered nearby.
"Let's hear it."
"It's voice only I'm afraid."
Phil struggled against anxiety. "Just play it, please."
"Yes, this is Bazin." The quality of his voice sounded as if he stood in the room. "And yes, the planet did experience a strange occurrence. We received an onslaught of high radiation. Fortunately, from what we can tell, it didn't strike Bazinville directly, or, as far as we're able to ascertain, any large community. We are still trying to assess
its effects or damage, if any, but so far, we seem to be all right. You say you can't give us any information on what the phenomenon was. Frankly, after observing your advanced technology, we find that hard to believe. Any information you could give us would be greatly appreciated. Until we hear from you, we look forward to your arrival."
Sighter's voice came on again. "That's the end of the message. The transmitter they have acquired is not very strong and uses a great deal of energy. Do you want to reply?"
Phil thought for a moment. "No. If he says they're all right, I guess I'll have to take his word for it. But I don't understand the computer's behavior."
"Nor I. I'm afraid this will all have to be reviewed by our council when we get a chance. The computer would not take action without perfect reasoning. We can only wait to see what it was."
As the white ship sliced through Serena's clear atmosphere, Phil, Dante, and Sighter scanned its rugged landscape on the ship's monitors. Phil shook his head. "I can't see any damage. What are the radiation readings?"
Sighter paused. "Tolerable for the inhabitants. Less than normal, as a matter of fact, now that the lysidium moon is reduced."
Phil jabbed his finger at the monitor. "These are the mountains where the Ghosts had their caves. Let's go down and take a look. Be prepared for silverfish."
Sighter nodded. "Yes, we recorded the presence of the ugly monsters when we first arrived. Highly unpleasant,
man-made creations."
The ship settled on the road at the base of the mountains. Phil, a squad of towering young Traders behind him, rode the ramp to the road. They wore helmets and carried short shoulder weapons that fired a particle beam.
A herd of silverfish grazed on acid weed nearby. The sound of their crunching jaws carried in the cool, arid air. As they started to trot over to investigate the newcomers, and perhaps augment their meal, they received warning burns on their crusty grey skulls, and returned to munching acid weed.
Phil had barely left the shadow of the ship, when he encountered a cluster of flowers drooping in the dusty road, and then another. "Sighter, are you picking this up? Other than the acid weed, there was no vegetation at all when I was last here."
"Yes, it is unusual. Send one of the men back with samples, please."
Phil led on, up the road, and into several of the caves. No sign of Ghosts. He called Sighter. "I'm finding no traces of them. That's not to say they aren't still around. Since they need nothing to exist, they wouldn't have anything to leave. There's one other cave I want to check."
Soon Phil led a small group of men into the cave where he had observed the Ghosts struggling to reproduce with Queen Rachelle. Only the crude pallets hollowed out of the wall, indicated habitation.
Sighter's voice sounded in his ears. "Will you be coming back soon? I think I have an answer to where the Ghosts are."
"We're on our way?"
Phil and his friends sat around the observation room, as Sighter stood next to a video display. The minister pointed at a picture of a cluster of flowers on the road that Phil's squad had trod. "I analyzed these plants. You were right, Phil. Moisture is very rare at this arid locale, and when it occurs, dormant plants take quick advantage of it to grow and reproduce. The strange clumping of the plants, plus the analysis of the soil immediately under them revealed rich mineral fertilizers. These small areas of fertilizers are found in no other place in the vicinity. So I did more investigating."
Phil squirmed impatiently.
Sighter continued. "I checked our records on Ghosts and how they came about, and now I think I can safely say that, if no more Ghosts exist than those that were on this planet, and on our ship, then no more exist. We, and the computer, have destroyed them all."
Phil sat up. "Are you sure? How can you be sure?"
Sighter raised his hand benignly. "First of all, let's take the action of the computer. It analyzed the records that we had gleaned from Luma City, and found the experimental history of Dr. Luttz who made the Ghosts. As a nuclear scientist, he was brilliant. One can only wonder what he would have discovered if the lysidium moon hadn't driven his nuclear generators to such uncontrollable extremes. The molecular number of the Ghosts remained the same after the accident, only their binding relationships, their crystallization changed. What our computer did with its particle beam, was alter the particle number, thereby altering their molecular structure."
Phil sighed. "Please, minister, exactly what happened?"
Sighter glanced at him with a frown. "I told you. It changed their molecular structure. It analyzed the terrain, and combined the hydrogen and oxygen atoms into much needed moisture."
Dante started to smile. "You mean the computer turned the Ghosts into water?"
"Essentially, yes."
A voice in the alien language spoke, and Sighter nodded. "The pilot informs me that we are landing at Bazinville. Though I'm fairly sure that my appraisal of the eradication of the Ghosts is accurate, let us be on our guard." He spoke a word, and the scene of the soaring green spires appeared at the edge of the observation ceiling, radiating in the glow of evening. Tiny lights throughout the narrow streets sparked into existence.
As Phil, Thea, and the group descended the ramp, Bazin stood waiting. He pointed at nearby lampposts with pride. "See what we have purchased from the wages we're getting from the Traders. They have put our miners and engineers to work chopping up the black moon. Now what was that particle storm that hit here?"
Phil nodded to Sighter behind him. "I'll let the minister explain it. How's Chloe and Summer?"
He beamed. "Everyone is fine. Mother and baby have retired for the night. Come on into the banquet hall for refreshments."
Phil, with his arm around Thea's waist, sauntered into the big hall when a voice that could chip diamonds cut across the room. "Dyak, stand where you are."
Phil's eyes closed in a wince. "Oh, no," he muttered, then splashed on a wide grin. "Aga Caan, what are you doing way out here?"
A tiny woman in a silver sharkskin suit, and grey,
steel-wool hair, strode across the floor followed by a pair of bookend heavies. The big men's right hands rested inside their jackets. Their eyes did not leave his.
The woman planted herself in front of him and looked up. "I'm here setting up a little banking business. But never mind that, you're way overdue." She whipped up a tiny computer. "You owe me..."
Keeping the big men in the corner of his eye, Phil stepped away from Thea. "Look, Aga, I know how much I owe you, but just give me a little time to get myself together here. I've been awful busy lately. But now I should have some money coming in, and I promise, you'll get paid."
She glanced up with a beady eye. "You got it on you."
Phil hedged sideways. "Well, no. Not on me. But I should be able to get it."
The woman shook her head decisively. "Sorry. I'm starting this business here, and it would look bad if I let you off." She nodded curtly, and the hoods moved up. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to make an example of you."
Sighter strolled in behind him, and Phil turned in desperation. "Sighter, tell this woman that I have money from the mining of the black moon."
"Uh, well, I'd like to, but you remember that the legacy contract you signed awarding your earnings to Baby Summer is irrevocable. You made sure of that because you were concerned about weakening your resolve, and trying to find some way out of it. There's nothing I can do. I warned you at the time..."
"Yeah, yeah," Phil interrupted peevishly. "Hey."
The two big men had lifted him up by the armpits.
Aga Caan led the way towards the wide entry. "All right, boys. Let's go."
Thea ran alongside. "But, but wait."
Phil muttered to himself, "Here we go again," then threw her a wan smile. "Don't worry, Honey. I'll get this straightened out and be right back."
Aga looked over her shoulder at the girl. "Don't count on it, kid."
Suddenly a tall, well-built man in a black suit who had bee
n sitting at the end of a table stepped in front of the procession. "Just a moment." His head was shaved, and his age difficult to assess, but his face looked like it had been chipped from stone.
Aga glanced at him. "And what do you want?"
"I'm Dirk Ramos. I'm the new representative of Dynamine Corporation on Serena."
Phil groaned to himself, "Terrific." He spoke up. "Look, pal. I don't know what your problem is, but I had nothing to do with it. So just leave your card, and I'll get back to you just as soon as I can."
The man ignored him and faced Thea. "Did I just hear you addressed as Thea? Are you Thea Slen?"
Confused, the girl moved closer to Phil.
The man continued. "We've been informed by the home office on Rupert to be on the lookout for you, especially on planets that you have visited in the past." He pulled an I.D. plate from his inside coat pocket. "Would you mind laying your hand on this for purposes of identification?"
Phil started to protest, but a nod from Aga Caan, and the two sides of beef stifled him by a quick twist of his arms.
Aga nodded toward the plate. "Go ahead, dear. It don't hurt, and then maybe we can get on with our business here."
Hesitantly Thea placed her hand on the luminous screen. The tall man checked it, and nodded. "Yes, you are Thea Slen."
Through gritted teeth, Phil gasped. "Why do you keep saying that? She's not married to anybody."
Ramos continued to address Thea. "Mrs. Slen. I don't know if you are aware of this, but it is my sad duty to inform you that your husband was recently killed at your home on Terra. Since you have been named in his will as sole beneficiary of his entire estate, I've been asked to escort you to Rupert where you can take control of Dynamine Corporation. We can leave whenever you are ready."
Silence reigned as they all stared at the tall girl.
Finally Phil spoke up despite the vise-grips on his arm. "Now, baby, think. Did you marry Garve Slen?"
Perplexed, she frowned. "Marry? I've heard that word, but I don't know what it means."
"Well, did somebody read some words to you and Slen? Did you sign anything?"
She glanced down, not wanting to remember. "I guess so; when they first took me there."