by Isaac Hooke
That seemed to crumple Alex’s resolve, and he immediately hunched over as if physically struck in the stomach. Rade tried to hug him again, but Alex went for Shaw instead and wrapped his little arms around her so tightly that Rade thought she must have had trouble breathing. But Shaw didn’t make her son let go—she seemed to hold on just as tight. At the same time, Sil hugged Shaw’s neck.
Rade felt left out, and somewhat hurt by the behavior of his kids, but he didn’t say anything.
Shaw looked at Rade. “When the team arrives, I’ll stay here and watch the twins. Leave Bender behind to guard the hatch, and—”
“No,” Rade said. “We can’t let them stay here, not with a Purple potentially on the loose. When the team arrives, we’re all going to engineering together.”
Shaw opened her mouth but then shut it. There was something about her expression that told him she wasn’t done arguing that point yet.
Instead Tahoe spoke for her: “Bringing the kids to engineering might not be such a good idea… especially considering we’re unarmed.”
“Not unarmed,” Cora said. She went to the back of sickbay, reached up and opened one of the vents, and produced two hidden laser rifles. “Ever since the first boarding incident, I thought it wise to keep a few weapons close at hand to protect the children.”
Cora tossed one rifle to Rade, the other to Tahoe.
“Thank you,” Rade told the robot. It wasn’t a Phant stun rifle, but it would do.
five
Rade joined Tahoe at the entrance to stand watch, and the tense moments passed. In a few minutes the remaining members of the team came back into range: their blue dots approached sickbay on the overhead map. Harlequin and Algorithm were with them, according to the map data.
“Status update on the other robots?” Rade asked Lui over the comm.
“Couldn’t find them,” Lui transmitted. “The storage closet was empty. But according to Harlequin, Surus has taken control of them. I’ll let him explain.”
“Where did you find Harlequin and Algorithm by the way?” Rade said.
“They found us,” Lui said. “On the way to the storage closet, their indicators popped up on our overhead maps and then they came to our position.”
“All right, thanks,” Rade said. “Harlequin, tell me what happened. You say Surus has taken control of the robots?”
“Yes,” Harlequin said. “And the ship, too. Not many of you know this, but AIs are equipped with self-modifying routines that allow them to update their behavior on the fly. Because ship AIs are an integral part of day-to-day starship operations, as part of standard operating procedures all modifications to the codebase must be reviewed by at least one crew member. TJ and Bender alternate between the task, but I like to get my hands dirty, too, offering a second pair of eyes.
“Anyway, a few hours ago I was poring over the latest code changes ahead of TJ, the designated code reviewer this week. I noticed some rather odd routines had been inserted. Function calls that I believed would allow an external actor to assume full control of the AI, bypassing its command and control subroutines entirely.
“TJ was awake, so I asked him down to engineering with me to help explore the issue. As we began the task of isolating and reverting the changes, we noticed that all of the log entries pointed back to one person: Surus. The alien had made the modifications. Or her host, Ms. Bounty, had. I left TJ in engineering so he could continue reverting the changes, and I went to the cargo bay to confront Surus about it. I never made it. The klaxon sounded, and the power failed shortly thereafter. She must have been monitoring TJ and me.
“I tried to contact you, but was out of range. I was close to the combat robot storage closet, and found Algorithm. We made our way back to engineering, pausing at the armory along the way, but it was empty: I believe the robots ransacked it. At engineering, we managed to ambush one of the Centurions that was guarding the passageway—Ulysses. We disabled him, but were forced to retreat when the other combat robots opened fire. We dragged Ulysses with us, unfortunately losing his weapon in the process. When we were in the clear we opened him up.
“After a quick scan of his AI core, Algorithm and I determined Surus had installed nefarious routines that were almost identical to those she had placed in Bax. My guess is she did it at some point when the Centurions were all on the surface of Ceres V. Algorithm wasn’t affected because when we returned to the ship, we restored him from a backup taken from before he went to the surface. And my guess is Cora and Dora weren’t affected either, because they never set foot on the planet.”
Rade eyed the two Centurions in sickbay suspiciously. “When you get here, I’ll want you to scan their AI cores for signs of tampering.”
“Of course,” Harlequin said.
“In the meantime, stay away from my kids,” Rade told the robots.
Cora and Dora stepped back.
“What’s going on?” Sil asked wide-eyed.
“Nothing sweetie,” Shaw answered. “Daddy just needs his space.”
Ignoring the comment, Rade continued his conversation with the team, transmitting: “Were you able to restore Ulysses?”
“No,” Harlequin said. “Unfortunately we couldn’t revert the changes to his AI core, not without access to the neural interfacing equipment in engineering.”
“How can you be sure you weren’t infected yourself?” Rade asked.
“In the safe house on the surface, I roomed separately from the other robots,” Harlequin said. “As I always do. And I rarely log into VR, unlike the Centurions. They’re essentially Vaddicts. Complete sensory deprivation is dangerous: I like to be aware of my surroundings at all times. In any case, just to be on the safe side, I had Algorithm scan me for the rogue routines and I turned up clear. As did Algorithm when I checked him in turn.”
“Okay,” Rade said. “Get here as quick as you can.”
Rade terminated the connection and watched the team approach on the overhead map. He kept a suspicious eye on Cora and Dora, ready to raise the laser rifle in defense if necessary. Still, because of that weapon, he had little doubt the two robots were innocent. Then again, Cora was the one who had given him the rifle, not Dora. Maybe the latter robot was infected.
As the Centurions didn’t have facial expressions of any kind, it was almost impossible to gauge their current emotional state, but from their tense body language Rade could tell they were nervous, too.
He idly wondered if he should update those robots to fully Artificial bodies at some point, especially if they were going to continue being nannies to his kids. Rade worried it was damaging to the twins’ emotional development to interact with faceless robots during their childhood years. Then again, in VR Cora and Dora chose avatars with faces. Cora used a friendly cartoon porcupine, and Dora a flappy-armed walrus.
The kids kept quiet, with Sil sometimes whimpering, causing Shaw to whisper something to the little girl.
Finally the rest of the Argonauts arrived. Most remained outside in the passageway, because sickbay was cramped enough as it was. Harlequin came in to scan Cora and Dora. “They’re clean.”
“All right people, we’re heading toward engineering,” Rade said.
“Is that wise?” Shaw said. She lowered her voice, and moved away from the children, obviously not wanting them to hear. “Normally I wouldn’t contest you in front of the men, but come on: if there are armed Centurions guarding engineering, and you bring the kids, all it takes is a stray plasma shot…”
Rade hesitated. “Well I can’t leave TJ. And I don’t want us to split up.”
“We’re going to have to, I think,” Shaw said. “Because as a mother, I can’t feasibly bring the twins to a firefight. My protective instincts won’t allow it.”
“They’ll be at the back, far from any fighting,” Rade said.
“Will they?” Shaw said. “And what if we’re surrounded?”
“I’ll stay with her,” Tahoe announced. He patted the laser rifle. “I got protection
now. The twins and Shaw won’t be undefended.”
Rade looked at his friend, and then back to Shaw, and then sighed. He knew this wasn’t a fight he would win.
“All right,” Rade said. “All right. We’ll go to engineering alone. Once we have TJ, we’ll come back for you.”
“And then what?” Shaw asked.
“We try to take back the ship,” Rade said. He started to turn away, but then paused. “You know, I almost want to send you and the kids into the closest lifepod, and just get you out of this situation.”
“Might be a good idea,” Shaw said.
“I don’t think we’re there, yet,” Rade said. “At least, I hope we’re not.”
“If Zhidao is free, y’all know he could come seeping out of the deck at any time, right beneath any one of our feet?” Bender said. “Without the Phant-repelling jumpsuits, we have no protection. Sending the kids into the lifepods might be the best idea I’ve heard today.”
TJ’s signal abruptly showed up on the overhead map, approaching from the direction of engineering.
“TJ!” Rade sent.
“Hey boss,” TJ said over the comm. “Had to abandon engineering. The Purple nearly smoked me. Came up right out of the floor. If I hadn’t been sitting on the console with my feet off the deck, that would’ve been it.”
“Told you,” Bender said softly.
Rade ignored him. “How did you get out?” Rade asked TJ. “I was under the impression the Centurions had barricaded engineering.”
“They have, but I used the vent crawlspace,” TJ answered. “Wasn’t the funnest experience. But I’ve been through worse.”
“All right, get here as soon as you can,” Rade said. “Tahoe, get out there and meet him half way. Use your weapon light to ensure no one ambushes you.”
“On it,” Tahoe said.
Tahoe departed.
Rade glanced at Cora and Dora. “I want you to carry the kids at all times. I want them held away from the deck and other surfaces.”
Cora and Dora obeyed.
“What if Zhidao attempts to stealth possess them?” Shaw asked.
“Keep pacing back and forth,” Rade instructed the robots. “Don’t stand in the same spot for too long.”
“There isn’t that much room in here…” Cora said.
“You’ll manage,” Rade said. He glanced at Bender and Harlequin. “Out. Give the robots some room.”
Cora and Dora began pacing back and forth, as instructed. Rade and Shaw flattened themselves against the bulkheads.
“What’s going on, Daddy?” Sil said from Cora’s arms as the Centurion squeezed past.
Rade forced a smile. “Just some minor problems with the ship. Nothing to worry about. Cora’s going to give you a ride in the meantime.”
From the tearful expressions on the faces of his kids, he knew they didn’t believe him.
Tahoe returned with TJ so that all of the Argonauts were finally gathered in the passageway outside sickbay.
“Now what?” Fret said.
“We retake the ship,” Rade said.
“That will be hard,” TJ said. “The passage in front of the engineering section is crawling with combat robots. As is engineering itself—they broke in when I left. Plus, don’t forget that the Purple is inside, waiting to incinerate anyone who decides to show up. And as you know, without access to engineering, the bridge is useless.”
“The ship is lost…” Fret said.
“We can’t abandon her,” Rade said. Especially considering I haven’t even come close to paying her off, yet!
“There’s something else,” Tahoe said. “The breach seals closed behind us on the way here. As if the ship, or Surus, were trying to herd us here, away from engineering.”
“Then we’ll use the manual overrides,” Rade said. “And when we’re close, we’ll take to the vents and use the crawlspace like TJ did. Bender, Lui, Manic, Harlequin, you’re with me. The rest of you stay behind. Protect the kids. Tahoe’s the only one with a rifle, but you robots have a weapon as well: your strength.”
“Except we can’t use it, not with children in our arms,” Dora said.
“Your feet are free…” Rade said. He exited sickbay to join the others outside. “Let’s move.”
Harlequin had the ability to emit LIDAR, and the Artificial transmitted the data stream to Rade, Bender, Lui and Manic so that the team could “see” again. Rade preferred that to activating the weapon light, though in reality LIDAR was perhaps even more detectable by enemies, due to the number of photons emitted.
Rade moved ahead to the point position, since he had a laser rifle. Harlequin brought up the rear.
“Boss, you’re not supposed to be point man,” Lui said.
“I’m the one with the rifle,” Rade said.
“Exactly why I should go first,” Lui said. “So we don’t lose our rifle man.”
“We’re not in the military anymore,” Rade said. “I won’t let you be my human shield. We don’t have to pretend my life is worth more than all of yours.”
“But it is,” Lui said.
“It isn’t,” Rade told him.
“If you die, there are no Argonauts,” Lui insisted.
Rade knew that Shaw was still listening in on the communications while he was in range. And he could almost hear her unsaid thoughts.
And you’re also a father.
Rade hesitated. But then he ground his teeth, firming his resolve.
Tahoe is a father, too. And so is Manic.
He remained in the point position.
They reached the first seal, their way forward blocked entirely by the hatch.
“Harlequin, open that up,” Rade ordered.
The Artificial opened the panel next to the hatch and knelt.
“Manual override isn’t working,” Harlequin said.
“How is that possible?”
Bender knelt beside the robot. “Someone plasma’d the jacks.”
Rade glanced at the laser rifle he held. The weapon would take a long time to cut through the hatch, especially considering it wasn’t designed as a laser cutter. Nor was it military grade. Some of the plasma rifles on board would have made short work of the hatch. Too bad the rogue Centurions had looted all of them.
“Can you punch your way through?” Rade asked.
Algorithm began bashing the seal. Then stopped after a minute. “All I’m succeeding in doing is damaging my fists.”
“You made some sexy dents, though,” Bender said. “Gotta give yourself credit.”
“Never thought I’d wish I hadn’t paid for the best breach seals available,” Rade muttered. “We’ll try another route.”
They backtracked, passing sickbay, and turning down another corridor. Once again they encountered a seal.
“Damn it,” Rade said. “All right, looks like we’ll have to take to the vents immediately.”
“Seals in the crawlspaces also close up when nearby breach seals activate,” Lui said.
“But they might be easier to cut through,” Rade said.
They returned to the closest vent, and Rade had Harlequin crawl inside with the laser rifle. Sure enough, the Artificial reported an internal closure.
“Zhidao let me go,” TJ said. “Why?”
Because he wants me to see you die, one by one.
Rade dismissed the thought. “Use the laser rifle,” he transmitted to Harlequin.
“I’ll try,” Harlequin replied. Two minutes later: “At the current rate, it will take me approximately six hours to cut through.”
“How many seals are there likely to be between here and engineering?” Rade asked.
“Six,” Harlequin said.
“Thirty six hours,” Rade said. “Well, I don’t see we have much choice. Start cutting.”
“What about the shuttles?” Lui said.
“The shuttles?” Rade asked.
“Yes,” Lui said. “There’s an airlock close to engineering. No breach seals in the way. If we board a
shuttle, travel along the exterior hull of the ship, and mount to the airlock, we’ll only have to cut through the two airlock hatches and we’ll be right beside engineering.”
“Assuming Bax bitch hasn’t sealed up the route to the hangar bay,” Bender said.
“We might as well check,” Rade said.
“I can scout ahead,” Lui said. “While the rest of you stay here.”
“No,” Rade said. “We stick together. Harlequin, get back here.”
When Harlequin exited the vent, Rade led the team back toward sickbay, taking the first bend that led to the hangar bay. He kept in touch with Shaw and Tahoe the whole time, confirming that everything was all right.
So far, none of the breach seals leading to the hangar bay were closed. Rade wondered if that would continue.
“It’s like Zhidao is herding us toward the hangar bay,” Lui said.
“Maybe he wants to space us,” Manic said.
“If he did, he would have done it already,” Rade said. “I’m guessing the seals all the way from here to the hangar bay are open. As are the airlock hatches.”
Sure enough, all the seals were open along the way, including those of the airlock that led inside the hangar bay itself. Zhidao could have indeed spaced them at any time.
The hangar bay armory proved looted, too. No jumpsuits. No weapons.
“Should have headed to the mech bay,” Bender muttered.
“Harlequin, scan the shuttle’s AI core,” Rade ordered. He kept an eye on those hangar bay doors, half expecting them to open at any moment and suck him and his men into the cold void of space.
Harlequin approached the shuttle, which was vaguely shaped like a dragonfly with those bifurcated frontal wings attached on either side of the fuselage. The Artificial unlocked a side panel underneath the craft and reached inside.
“I’m not detecting any of the previous aberrations in the codebase,” Harlequin said after a moment.
“Close it up,” Rade said.
Harlequin sealed the panel.
Rade accessed the shuttle’s remote interface and opened the rear ramp. When it touched the deck, the five Argonauts piled aboard.
Rade took a seat opposite Bender, and the chair clamps spiraled into place, securing him.