“Your conjecture strikes me as a fair assessment, My Lord.”
Dima looked back at the projection, spread his hands on the railing in front of him, and smiled in appreciation of the concept. “Sidle right up to an unsuspecting victim and…” He made a cutting motion across his throat. “All rumors, Shu, but as far as we know those marauders haven’t left a living eyewitness to confirm it.”
“As you have recounted to me six times prior, My Lord.”
Dima either ignored or didn’t hear the insolence. Instead, he stared at The Island. “It’s perfect. We were right to reach out to these people.”
His assistant stood by without comment. It was one thing to point out that his owner was being repetitive—a programmed request from Dima himself—it was another to speak when not required. Dima listened for the telltale shuffle of feet he had programmed into the machine. Robots in their stillness were unnerving to him. A shuffle now again was like having a human nearby, moving slightly for the sake of comfort or to break boredom. When he heard it, he said, “Been more than three months now we’ve been together, Shu.”
“Three Earth-months, thirteen days and fifteen-hours to be more precise, My Lord.”
“You’ve adopted the old Shu well.”
“Thank you, My Lord. You have my apologies once again for not being able to emulate all aspects of your original Shu. The overwrite has left me with the memories, er, records, but I am of course without that Shu’s full personality programming.”
“Not your fault. We both suffered, or I should say, gained from being… overwritten as you say. I can say that I don’t actually feel that different.”
The android paused as if in thought. “Whereas you may no longer retain your capacity for self-guidance, My Lord, when I scan my records, your ability to retain your original personality is quite evident.”
Dima nodded appreciation for the point. “Your effort to comfort me, Shu, is not necessary. I am at peace with my transition.”
“Very well, My Lord. As the first in this experiment, your resoluteness is deeply pleasing to all who hoped it would be so. May I however suggest, My Lord, that in future, you not refer to decisions that only Philipe Dimasalang would make, as ones that we, as in you and I, would make.”
Dima nodded. "Of course. Silly of me." He turned his gaze back at the projection. “I shall have to take great care, Shu. Voluntarily stepping into a rather nasty spider’s lair, I am.” He rubbed suddenly sweaty palms on his tunic. “Speaking of nasty spiders, fetch me Captain Gee. It’s time to go over our plan one last time.”
“Of course, sir. Would you like me to personally retrieve him or arrange for him to be paged?”
Dima sighed. “I find it quite curious, Shu, that on the one hand you retain the rank of End Point and on the other, you are a humble servant. The humble servant is no longer relevant, wouldn’t you agree?”
The robot nodded concurrence. "Nevertheless, the ruse is necessary, My Lord. Questions would arise should we fall out of the habit."
Dima continued, “Perhaps so. Let me say this then; it would be nice, Shu, not to have to instruct you in every decision. In this instance, and for all matters of this trivial nature in the future, I would like you to take command of the mundane and choose yourself which is the most appropriate action to take.”
The robot stood there smiling pleasantly. “That's the spirit, My Lord. My choice, My Lord. I shall fetch him personally.”
“There, was that so hard?”
“It was not difficult at all, My Lord.”
“And have lunch sent in, with a setting for the captain.”
“Yes, My Lord.” Shu turned on his heel and marched out of Dima’s personal rooms.
Captain Gee was a man Teddy Roosevelt would have enjoyed having lunch with. He entered the room with a posture that defied what was otherwise an average stature. He sported a thick brush mustache and wore actual spectacles, round with thin wire frames. His military-cut thick dark hair was oiled and brushed back. He had a wide jaw and blocky brow that looked like it could break bricks. His jumper had a military cut to it as well, and he sported a dark polka-dot cravat around his neck. His accent was from Pakistan, but betrayed nothing of his rare Hindu origin.
“Welcome Captain,” said Dima as the man entered.
“My Lord.”
“Have a seat. Lunch will arrive shortly.”
Gee looked at the projection. The rock was closer now. He said, “They have kept to the agreement so far. Their fleet remaining at harbor.”
“Yes, so far so good.”
“And you still think placing yourself on board is a rational option?”
“If they kidnap me, Gee, who will they negotiate with for my release?”
“And just you and Mr. Shu. No other show of force? I only ask in the event that upon seeing them up close, that you haven’t changed your thinking.”
“The point is to bring them into the fold, Captain. Do we bring arms to the negotiating table?”
“Traditionally, My Lord, one brings a significant arsenal along to such a negotiation.”
Dima smiled appreciatively. “That would be between enemies. Friends leave the guns locked up, or at least out of arm's reach.”
Like his lodgings on Soul, Dima decorated his private shipboard quarters with images of ancient conquest—in this case projections stood in for priceless paintings and tapestries. The current lot were of various peace treaties and the bearing of gifts through time; all of them scrupulously curated to be depictions without weapons—other than those used for dress. Dima pointed to one image showing Giovani Domenico’s Pulling of the Trojan Horse into Troy, then pointed to The Island on the display. “Our friends live in a Trojan Horse. We need a Trojan Horse.”
An hour later, Pablo stood at the airlock entrance to Dima’s assigned landing dock with Carl Schafer standing at his shoulder. As they watched the ship touch down, Pablo said, “We’ve never hosted a guest like this one.”
“No we have not,” responded Schafer, his voice conveying the obviousness of the point.
Bruno, the male domestic robot that had offered Pat487 the friendly handshake in the ring, stood still, holding a tray with three glasses of what looked like champagne. The glasses had magnets in their stems so as to secure them in the 1/8G environment of the inner ring that was the honeycomb.
A blast of exhaust shot past the observation window as Dima’s ship landed with a soft concussion that was felt more than heard. Moments later, the hiss of gasses being transferred happened inside the airlock, then a green light. The door opened to reveal Philipe Dimasalang dressed in a perfectly tailored dark blue suit. His robot, Shu, was wearing his standard robe and stood behind him. Shu held a small gold-colored box.
As he stepped through the door. Dima said, “Mr. Chicharron I presume.”
Pablo offered a slight bow and spoke with his Mid-Western accent. “Mr. Dimasalang, welcome aboard. It’s an honor to meet you. I understand that you’ve already met my colleague, Mr. Schafer.”
“Indeed, I have. A pleasure to see you again, Mr. Schafer.”
“The pleasure’s all mine, sir.”
Pablo nodded at the champagne. “Refreshment?”
“Why thank you, but if it’s of an intoxicating nature, I don’t partake.”
Pablo slightly stiffened. “Is there something else we might offer?”
“Thank you, but I’ve only just finished lunch before coming over. I’m fine.” He indicated for Shu to pass him the box. “I’ve brought you a small gift as a token of my appreciation for you meeting me and allowing me to address your people.”
Pablo said, “No need for that,” as he accepted the box. He lifted the lid to expose a dozen gold American Eagle dollars. He glanced up with raised eyebrows and turned to Schafer.
Schafer said, “Very generous.”
Pablo responded, “Enter it into the bank log, but not the usual share breakdown. Jada and yourself get the bonus.”
“Just Jada. I
was only an ear after she made first contact and agreed to proceed.”
“OK then, just Jada.” Pablo turned back to Dima. “We accept your generous gesture. In advance of your speech, we’ve arranged for some entertainment.” He paused. “It will give you a chance to see how we operate.”
“Sounds splendid.”
Caleb had to shuffle during the slow procession in order to not bump into one of his guards. Holding his hand, Jennifer did the same. Caleb’s mind was firing through every scenario he could think of how to get out of this situation, but he was drawing a blank. Armed people surrounded them who would no doubt be happy to wound rather than kill him if he ran—not that he could. Though they were walking at a snail’s pace the pirates were moving with a spring in their step. There was some whistling and humming as though they were really looking forward to the next hour or so. It was both demoralizing and insulting as others chit-chatted about previous executions. One woman kept repeating, “Naw, the way Kiddo was writhing out there, like he was fighting a snake or something, that was the best.”
Boyce shook his head.”Nah, the best was that guy Pablo sent out naked. Remember his piss floating all over. He looked like a broken lawn sprinkler.”
Boyce’s sidekick Jyme laughed. “That’s right! Jada, let’s throw these two out naked.” He leered at Jennifer, clearly wishing to see her with her clothes off.
She spat at him, landing a thick gob on his cheek and across his lips. Some of the pirates laughed at this.
Jyme’s leer turned to fierce anger as he wiped it away. He nodded, “Yes, naked you go.”
Jada said, “Nobody goin' naked. These folks is gonna walk, but it gonna be respectful. We gots an important guest to be impressin'.”
Hee Sook marched solemnly and thought about how she’d saved Jennifer from certain death in the void, then her own shutting down as the cold sapped her power away. She considered the brief delay of what appeared to be both of their inevitable fates. It caused an unexpected philosophical moment. Is there some pre-written destiny in this universe? Does defying one moment of death mean that that same death merely awaits its next opportunity? The notion was absurd, but she felt proud of herself for entertaining it.
The Plank Room as it was labeled on the door, was a space large enough to hold at least a hundred people comfortably, and it was full. Like a Middle Eastern bazaar, the occupants were a mish-mash of types; most dressed in a variety of colorful splendor, though many were content to wear boring old elastoware. Also, there were the new robots.
The room’s rock walls were carved smooth and coated white. In the center of the room was a round window on the floor. It offered a view down past a smooth-walled chamber to another window; no hand-holds, no ladder, just a matching polycarbonate window with a view to outer space. The view showed the stars going by as the rock rotated.
Caleb spotted Spruck, Natalie and Saanvi to one side, their hands cuffed. Are they to be put out too?
To one side there was a short platform with a panel containing a simple set of buttons on the wall behind. Pablo stood on the platform looking almost giddy. Another man stood next to him, a look of concern filling his eyes. Caleb knew that face; Philipe Dima-somthing-or-other. What is the Governor of Soul doing here?
Pablo spoke with a rousing voice in his East LA accent.“Alriiight, here we go, my friends. It’s been awhile since we enjoyed a good plank show.” He pointed toward Caleb, Jennifer and Hee Sook. “My apologies that you haven’t had a chance to meet them properly, but allow me to introduce the entertainment. Say a hello and a good-bye to Señor Caleb, Señorita Jennifer, and their sentient friend, Hee something. After a full vetting, it’s been decided that they won’t be staying with us."
The crowd called out together from much practice, as though quoting from an old Beatles song, “Hello, Hello, Hello, Goodbye!” then let out an excited cheer.
Caleb and Jennifer made eye contact with their friends, who looked on in horror, desperation in their eyes.
Pablo said, “Now, as we all know, it’s always more fun if the walker knows what exactly is in store for him or her, so I nominate the robot to go first.”
Jada, who stood at the edge of the platform said, “All be in favor say, Aye.”
The crowd let out an unanimous, “Aye!”
Jada asked, “And the nays?” The room was quiet. “All right then, ouchyah go, cleanin' lady.”
Hee Sook cast her eyes to the ground. She had already experienced her battery power being sapped to nothing. Being offline was no different whether she was out of juice or shut down for maintenance. She wouldn’t re-awaken, she knew that. Fear played no role in her dismay; she was simply frustrated. She had been given the adventure that is life. It felt unfair to have it cut so short. She glanced up at Caleb and Jennifer; she felt bad for her companions as well.
Pablo turned to Dima, “Little extra twist. Everyone gets a last breath.” He turned to the crowd. “So’s the condemned gets a taste, and for purposes of illustration for our important guest, we’ll be putting an emergency breather on it.” He said in an aside to Dima, “A near depleted one of course. A little hope makes for some entertaining last gasps.” To the crowd he said, “Stand back now. You know the drill.”
Once the crowd was safely back, Pablo turned and pressed a button on the panel behind him. The inner glass window dropped three inches and slid back into the floor beneath.
Hee Sook was pointlessly outfitted with an emergency breather and guided by Max to jump into the hole below. She stood at the edge and looked at Caleb and Jennifer. She smiled through the mask, and in a muffled voice, she said, “It’s been good knowing you.” She paused waiting for a response. “That’s a thing that gets said at times like this is it not?”
There were chuckles in the crowd.
Jennifer looked forlorn, and said, “It is.”
Max gave Hee Sook a little shove, and she dropped to the window below with a hollow sounding thump.
Pablo pressed another button and the glass above her slid closed with a satisfying thunk as it sealed.
The crowd chanted over and over, “Out she goes, out she goes.”
Dima said to Pablo, “That seems like a perfectly serviceable artificial human. May I ask why the waste? And why bother with the breather? Even on a human, the lungs won’t really be able to make much of the thing in total vacuum.”
Pablo scowled and his East LA accent became thicker. “Like I said, for the illustration. We took on a huge cache of the things. Far more than we could ever use. And yes, it’s to give a little pointless hope. Up’s the anti.” He looked sideways at Dima. “You’re not going to get into the business of analyzing our decision making, are you? Cuz that might be a problem.”
Dima told himself that he should expect nothing more from this lot. This is exactly why he had reached out to them. “Of course not. I’m just trying to understand your choices. I’m hoping I can learn something from them.”
This flattered Pablo well enough.
Hee Sook stood in the silence that was the chamber. She slowly removed the breather and held it with one hand. The movement of the stars rushing past her feet was wonderful to view. She told herself to enjoy it while she could. She wondered how long she would float out there. Would she drift into deep space and beyond or would she be just another satellite in Saturn’s orbit? She wouldn’t be the first to enjoy such a grave. There were so many dead bodies floating in this part of the Solar System that it was a wonder that there weren’t headlines about ships crashing into one now and again. The sphincters that sucked the air out of the room whistled slightly as the space was equalized to the vacuum beyond. The glass beneath her feet dropped slightly, causing her to steady her footing, then it began to open. The sound wave from the cheering crowd inside dully push its way through the window above.
The lower window was hinged like a door. She thought perhaps she could hold on to the edge where the hinge was and dove for it before she slipped away. She caught the window between t
wo hinges and held on. Space flew by below her. As she looked down at it, she considered the pointlessness of her action. Before she became who she was, she would have accepted this fate without question, not even able to acknowledge its remarkable unfairness, or that she didn’t want her existence to end. Like everything else that was newly animalistic in her, she had a deep desire for self-preservation. She cast her eyes about for something else to grab, something to fight her way back inside with. Then she remembered the breather. The tool had a clear flexible mask that protected the face attached to an insulated bottle. The indicator on the bottle showed it to be nearly empty. She smiled to herself and with one hand unzipped her tunic. Then she pulled the mask off the bottle with her teeth and stuffed the bottle inside her clothes. She then jammed the mask into a gap in one of the hinges, making sure it was stuck tight. She glanced up and spotted Pat487 crushed in among the happy pirates, who were suddenly looking perplexed by her antics. Like everyone else onboard, they had compelled Pat487 to witness the execution. Hee Sook sent her a private message, watched her sister robot’s eyebrows raise in response, then focused again on her surroundings. If she could have taken a breath to settle herself, she would have. Instead, she closed her eyes for a moment, looked up once more and waved to Caleb and Jennifer, then let go of the window’s edge, sliding out as the rotating rock slung her into space.
With her body in a slow spin, she watched with satisfaction as the window attempted to close and got jammed with the mask squashed in the hinge. That would spare her friends for a little while at least.
The spinning rock was small enough that its gravity was too weak to pull her back in, but with the assistance of the bottle of oxygen…
She waited until she was certain she was out of sight of the window. The regulator was designed to only operate when a person was drawing oxygen through the now abandoned mask. Hee Sook had to take care not to shred the synthetic skin off her fingers as she pried the regulator loose, exposing an adjustable valve. She opened it slowly. Just like she’d done with the fire extinguisher, she adjusted her spin, then used the last of the escaping gas to push her back toward the rock, aiming for the maglev rail.
Pirates of Saturn (The Saturn Series Book 2) Page 20