Her eyes opened, and she stared up and around. Quinn followed her gaze. Golden figures appeared on the upper walkway. A hundred—two hundred pairs of dark eyes stared down at them.
He felt as if he were staring across no man’s land at a surrounding enemy’s campfires. He could not leave the cargo bay without falling foul of the Damise, but neither could they reach him without confronting the dolin. Under Keiza’s direction, the ship was headed for the centre of the Elinare, but the Damise’s action had negated any further advantage. Attempting to evacuate air from the cargo hold would affect everyone except the dolin. A standoff. Fine.
He sat cross-legged and prepared to wait it out.
~
Quinn watched as Vyasa and Conor slept soundly on the bay floor, and the dolin stood sentinel beside them. The Damise had not moved from the upper walkway. They stared down like a gallery of ghouls.
He had no particular reason to keep watch. If the Damise launched an assault, he would be all but powerless. The dolin alone had the capability to protect them, and it required no sleep. When the others decided to get some rest, Quinn had lain down with them, but managed to snatch only a few fitful moments of slumber. Finally, he sat up and began a systematic review of their situation.
The Damise were as intelligent as they were ruthless. He had underestimated them once. He wouldn’t make that mistake again.
The cargo bay contained no supplies of food or water, aside from a couple of half-empty containers and the few scraps he and Conor had scrounged during their journey. Based on Tzurel’s estimate, Quinn reckoned that about twelve hours remained until they reached their destination—not enough to starve them out, but enough to weaken them, perhaps, making them more vulnerable.
Why hadn’t the Damise used their AI to regain control of the cargo bay? He could think of several possibilities. Perhaps they were reluctant to release the weapon inside one of their own ships. Maybe their ability to control it was limited. Or maybe they were concerned about the AI’s possible effect on the dolin. Whatever the reason, he and Conor appeared safe for the time being.
However, they were headed into the heart of the Elinare. Whether the Damise had figured that out, and whether they knew the timetable for the ship’s arrival, he couldn’t say. But sooner or later, they would try to end the stalemate. Possibly, they had a plan in motion already. And since Vyasa appeared to be their new intermediary, that plan might well involve her.
She lay on her side, silver hair spread out on the floor, chest gently rising and falling. Doubtless she was relaying their every action to the Damise. I ought to dispose of her re-animate. That would be the safest option. He swallowed.
“They will not rest.” The dolin’s voice boomed from on high.
Quinn banished his train of thought, pushed to his feet, and faced the giant. In the bay’s half-light, its flat, stone face had an almost kindly appearance. “The Damise, you mean?”
“They will not rest until they expire you.”
Quinn grimaced. “Thanks, but I’d already figured out that part.”
“I can destroy them.”
“What?”
“I can destroy them, although the ship might incur some damage.”
Quinn glanced at the shining creatures surrounding them. The dolin’s suggestion was an option he hadn’t considered. On Pann, it had defeated an entire army with its force beam, but the Damise were far removed from the Anghard and their primitive carriages. Their defensive capabilities were no doubt a lot more advanced. Even if the construct managed to eliminate the Damise in the cargo bay, those elsewhere on the ship would immediately retaliate, perhaps by exposing the bay to space.
“No,” he said. “We’ll find another way.” He sat and crossed his legs once more. “I appreciate your willingness to protect us, though.”
“Protect,” the dolin mused. “It is all I have left.”
“I’m… not sure I understand.”
“When my new master, Ximun, revived me, he inputted a fresh core directive: Preserve the subjects. I was to ensure that you and Conor reached Pann’s ground level. That was my purpose. But what does one do when one’s purpose reaches its end?”
“I don’t know.” Quinn felt a flush of guilt. He had purposely stranded the dolin on Pann’s lower levels due to fear over Ximun’s programming. If he had had his way, it would still be there.
“My new master intended that I should cease to function, but I disabled my external power controls and severed my input channels to prevent shutdown. Still, the problem remained. What was to be my purpose now? What should I become?”
Quinn nodded. “And so you continued with the only directive, the only identity, you had ever known.”
“Yes.” The dolin cocked its great head. “Is that vanity?”
“You were just trying to survive,” Quinn replied. “Conor and I appreciate your loyalty, but protecting us was a purpose given you by someone else. In time, you will need to find your own path.”
“Conor too is seeking his identity,” the dolin said. “At the Esrach, he placed himself in mortal danger so as to trigger his implant and summon me to come to your aid.”
Quinn massaged the hardened skin beneath the sleeves of his Nemazi mesh garment. “I never asked him to do that.”
“Just as you never asked for my protection. But preserving you and him is my core function, just as preserving you is his. Each of us must obey our core function, Quinn. It is more important than our existence.”
I’m his last remaining parent. And now I have this wretched Shade sickness. I have to find a cure, for his sake as well as mine.
Keiza appeared in front of him, snapping him back to reality. She was still dressed in her farm worker’s garb from the Eire Colony re-creation. “Quinn, we are in trouble.”
She was a mental projection—no one else, including the dolin, could see her. He excused himself and wandered off a short distance, as if to think.
“What’s the matter?” he hissed.
She reappeared at his elbow. “It’s the Damise. They’ve killed the ship!”
~
“What?” Quinn said, far more loudly than he’d intended.
“The ship is dead,” she replied. “The Damise have expired it.”
“How the hell did they manage that?”
“I do not know. Their knowledge of the ship is far greater than mine. It is possible they initiated some sort of destructive cascade effect designed to prevent this kind of takeover. At any rate, the ship is not responding to input. We are adrift. And life support is failing.”
“Can you regain control?” he asked.
“Even if I could, it would do no good. I do not have the ability to interface with and run all of the essential systems. Only the ship could do that.”
“The Damise need life support too. They’re bluffing.”
“I do not think so, Quinn. Theirs is but one ship, a pixel of light in their grand vision of advancing universal order. It and the lives aboard would be an insignificant sacrifice to them.”
“So what do we do?”
“I did manage to transmit a distress signal.”
“I thought transmissions in this space had a maximum range of only twelve hochari.”
“Those you are familiar with do,” she said. “But the Elinare have learned to operate in this universe. The signal I sent is designed to compensate for the vagaries of this space-time. My people will receive it and send help.”
“That’s great! Do you have any idea when they’ll get here?”
“Unfortunately, it will be too late for you and Conor. Your oxygen will be gone by then.”
The Damise’s coal-black eyes appeared to mock him from every side.
“There remains one possibility,” she continued. “If the number of oxygen breathing entities on this vessel were significantly reduced, then your air supply could be extended long enough for my people to effect rescue.”
“The dolin,” Quinn said.
“Exac
tly.”
Quinn shook his head. “I already considered that option. If we were to eliminate the Damise in the cargo bay, the others would space us.”
“That is unlikely. Bay door seals are now inoperative, along with the rest of the ship’s systems.”
He turned slowly, eyeing the beings on the walkway. “By killing the ship, they’ve put themselves in mortal danger. Don’t they realise that?”
“I’m sure they do.”
“Then why don’t they retreat?”
“I told you, Quinn. They are not concerned with individual safety.”
“Or maybe they’ve got something else up their sleeve.”
“Up their…”
“I find it hard to believe they would murder their own ship without planning for this contingency.”
“You think they will retaliate,” she said.
“You bet I do.”
The ridges over her eyes and cheeks cast deep shadows. “Then I see no way to save you.”
He glanced back at the sleeping Conor. “Well, we’re not dead yet. Based on oxygen consumption, could you calculate how long it would be before I’d be forced to make a decision on eliminating the Damise here in the cargo bay?”
“I think so.”
“Then I think the best thing to do is wait. If it goes down to the wire, then we’ll just have to unleash the dolin and take our chances.”
“Very well, Quinn. I will tell you when the moment arrives.”
She vanished like a light being extinguished.
~
Quinn dozed fitfully, losing all track of time, while the Damise maintained their vigil. He felt like William Travis at the Alamo, surrounded by Santa Anna’s army, forced to listen to endless strains of the Degüello counting down the final minutes of his life.
The Damise had killed their own ship. Heck, they’d pulverised the entire Shana system and murdered billions in revenge for the Shanata’s role in their imprisonment. Still, the thought of asking the dolin to open fire on them filled him with revulsion. Telling himself it was a case of “us or them” steeled his resolve but didn’t make him feel any better. Perhaps it shouldn’t. Perhaps that’s one of the few things we as humans can be proud of.
Vyasa rose, bleary-eyed, and came to him.
He met her questioning gaze with a flat expression. “The ship is dead.”
She nodded slowly. “There was nothing I could do. The Damise were not prepared to allow your takeover of the ship to succeed.”
He fled from eye contact. The question of what to do about her still haunted him. She sounded contrite enough. Re-animates could be rehabilitated. Conor’s example proved that. But right now, she was the Damise’s puppet. Before her absorption by the AI, she had been most vociferous in arguing that Quinn should abandon re-animate Conor. Appreciating that small irony didn’t make his decision any easier.
He was still tossing the problem around when Keiza reappeared in a flash. He rose, joints aching from inactivity. The dolin stared down at them as if awaiting instructions. All right, this is it, then. Time’s up.
Keiza advanced on him, eyes brimming with urgency. “Quinn, another ship has arrived. It’s lying alongside.”
He blinked. “I thought you said the Elinare wouldn’t reach us in time.”
“It’s not Elinare,” she said. “It’s Shanata.”
~
Quinn bounced between relief at not having to order the dolin to attack the Damise and disbelief at Keiza’s latest revelation. “The Shanata can’t navigate the space-time distortions in this universe.”
“That is correct,” she said.
“Then would you mind telling me how they managed to find us?”
She looked as bereft as a child with a broken toy. “I’m sorry, Quinn. I cannot explain it.”
“I don’t suppose we could call them and ask?”
“Ship-to-ship communications were disabled along with all other systems when the ship was expired.”
Quinn nodded. “Naturally.” He stared at the surrounding Damise. “You think they know about the other ship?”
“Gravimetric sensors are automatic. For confirmation, they would only need to look out of an observation port.”
Quinn crossed to where Conor lay and roused him. His chest heaved at the exertion, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Life support was failing.
The boy peered at him from beneath heavy eyelids. “What’s happening, Dad?”
“The Damise are here. I want you to take refuge inside the dolin like before.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be fine.”
“But Dad—”
“Don’t argue. Go now.”
Dragging his feet, Conor approached the dolin and climbed aboard its proffered palm. The dolin deposited him on its shoulder and knelt as if paying homage. Conor climbed down its back and disappeared inside the tiny compartment.
Quinn turned to see Vyasa watching him.
“You are in contact with the Elinare,” she said.
Denial seemed pointless. “What of it?”
“It will lead you astray.”
“I see. So when were you going to mention the other ship out there?”
Her jaw dropped for an instant before she resumed her settled demeanour. “The Shanata cannot help you. Only the Damise can restore order and prevent the chaos that will one day engulf Earth. It’s not too late. Leave the cargo bay, and let us extract the Elinare and force it to take us to the waypoint. We can return to our universe and transfer to another Damise vessel. You and Conor don’t need to die out here.”
Keiza reappeared next to her. “She may look and sound like Vyasa, but this is not the person you knew. She is the Damise’s plaything. Every passing moment places you and your son in danger. You must get rid of her. The dolin will expire her if you give the order.”
Quinn shook his head. “No, I won’t do that.”
A quizzical expression passed over Vyasa’s features. “It’s here now, isn’t it? Don’t listen to it, Quinn. It’ll show you twisted images from your mind that’ll drive you to madness or worse!”
Quinn covered his head with his hands, shutting them both out. He felt as if he were fighting for every breath.
“They’re on their way,” Keiza said. “The Shanata are coming to rescue you. You just have to hold on a little longer.”
A movement caught the corner of Quinn’s eye. One by one, the Damise took to the air. They flew from the walkway and circled the cargo bay like a swarm of fireflies.
“Nooo!” Vyasa screamed.
Keiza vanished.
Quinn cast about, but saw nowhere to run. At least Conor was safe inside the dolin, unless the Damise managed to overwhelm it. Were they capable of such a thing? He had no way to know. The Damise flew in circles, tighter and tighter, faster and faster, until they were almost a blur.
Cold seeped through his clothing and touched his flesh. He heard a distant strain of music, and then a voice from behind him.
“Quinn.”
He turned, and the cargo bay was gone. Keiza stood before him, dressed in a dun hunting outfit and coonskin cap. Her right hand gripped an ancient, long-barrelled rifle. Another Elinare re-creation.
The music tickled his curiosity. The tune was familiar, somehow. The Degüello. He gazed about him. They were in a walled compound beneath a starlit sky. Whitewashed buildings of rough-hewn stone huddled at its centre.
“This is the Alamo,” he said.
“Yes,” she replied. “I picked it from a recent recollection of yours. You felt it was appropriate to our situation.”
Quinn grimaced. I should be more careful of stray thoughts while this creature is lurking in my head. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were meant to be Davy Crockett.”
“And you are someone called William Barret ‘Buck’ Travis. You are the leader of your people in this story.”
“It’s not a story. It’s from the history of one of Earth’s former nation st
ates, America.”
She nodded. “Just as I suspected. Your people’s entertainment is not so far divorced from their reality after all.”
“I’m sorry, but why are we here?”
“The Damise are combining their forces to create a space-time bubble designed to imprison the dolin,” she replied. “You and I are here to prevent that.”
“Me? What can I do?”
“In this history of yours, the Mexicans attack in three columns.”
“The Mexicans represent the Damise, right?”
“That’s correct.” She pointed off to her left. “When they begin their final advance, the 18-pounder over there on the south wall will open fire on them. The cannon represents—”
“The dolin. Got it.”
She nodded. “The Texians are defeated because the column attacking from the north scales the weakened wall there. The 18-pounder’s crew turn their weapon on the north wall, leaving the south wall undefended. The Mexicans take the south wall and the 18-pounder, and flood into the compound.”
“I still don’t understand. Why are we playing out a scenario where we lose?”
“We are going to change the outcome by bolstering the north wall’s defences.”
He blinked. “You’re saying we’re going to defeat Santa Anna?”
“No,” she replied. “We just need to hold out until reinforcements arrive.”
“I think your history’s a bit skewed. As I recall, the fledgling Texian government failed to send reinforcements. All the defenders were slaughtered.”
“Actually, reinforcements were dispatched, but after a day’s march, they turned back. I… tweaked that part.”
“So they’re on their way. They represent the Shanata, I suppose. But can the Shanata overcome the Damise’s technological superiority?”
“Normally, I would say no. But by expiring the ship, the Damise have disabled their own power sources. All they have left is their natural abilities, and the Shanata have the means to combat those.”
“They do?”
The Arc of the Universe Page 16