Survival Game

by Gary Gibson

  She fished a ring of keys out of one pocket and unlocked the shack door. Inside I saw a cot, table, chairs and a wood-burning stove with a copper chimney poking through the roof. Nets and rods and fishing tackle hung from hooks. It looked surprisingly homely.

  ‘Sit down,’ said Nadia, nodding towards a table and chairs. She opened the door of the stove and threw in some wood, then got a fire started. She pushed the stove door shut, then looked around at me. ‘You hungry? Want some coffee? Because I need to eat something bad.’

  ‘Yes,’ I said. In fact, I was starving. ‘Thank you. If I can explain—’

  ‘Just wait,’ she grunted, putting a kettle onto the stove and spooning granules into two mugs before pulling a pan down from a hook.

  Ten minutes later, she handed me a plate of beans and fried potato and I ate like a starved animal. I even managed to forget my wrists were chained together as I shovelled hot food down my throat. Nadia raised her eyebrows, but said nothing.

  By the time I finished my coffee, the rest of the Pathfinders had arrived. Nadia went to the door, and I looked past her towards the road just as several jeeps pulled up. All of them had come – even Casey Vishnevsky. Perhaps they had decided to accept him – or perhaps they just preferred to keep him where they could see him.

  ‘Why do they all have fishing rods?’ I asked as they came walking towards us.

  ‘Cover story,’ said Nadia. ‘If anyone asks, we were out on that dinghy.’

  They crammed into the shack until there was barely room for them to stand. ‘I think we can take those off,’ said Rozalia, nodding at my cuffs, ‘now we’re all here.’

  Nadia looked dubious, but produced a set of keys and released me. I briefly made eye contact with Chloe Wicks, who was staring hard at me with her arms tightly folded and her mouth set in a narrow line. I looked away again, guilt washing through me like a warm tide.

  ‘So,’ said Winifred Quaker, dropping into a chair across from me. ‘How about you tell us where you’ve been all this time, Katya?’

  I told them everything. By the time I had finished, the stars were visible through the single window. Winifred slumped back in her chair, looking exhausted.

  ‘Well,’ said Yuichi, ‘that all pretty much ties in with everything the beads told us about the Portal-Monoliths.’

  I looked at him, confused. ‘“Portal-Monoliths”?’

  ‘The things Lars Ulven saw falling from the sky,’ explained Rozalia. ‘We had to call them something.’

  ‘Then you know you must help me,’ I said, with as much urgency as I could muster. ‘Please, I beg you – help me stop Borodin before he destroys my entire civilization.’

  ‘Before we do anything,’ said Oskar, ‘I just want to put something out there. If there really are more of those things out there somewhere – these Hyperspheres – aren’t they at least worth studying, so long as we don’t activate them?’

  ‘No,’ I said flatly.

  ‘But forewarned is forearmed, right?’ he insisted. ‘Seems to me those Hyperspheres are the solution to all our problems, if they can find us any alternate we want just by thinking about it!’ He looked around the rest of them. ‘There’s got to be at least a chance we can figure out how to use them without getting our fingers burned. I mean – that’s got to be at least worth considering, hasn’t it?’

  I worked hard to push my temper down. ‘They’d destroy you, the same way they destroyed the Syllogikos. Besides, you don’t need a Hypersphere – not when you have me.’ I pressed my hands against my chest. ‘Give me time, and I can show you exactly how to construct your own transfer stages, and search for viable alternates – everything the Novaya Empire can do already. I am entirely willing to do this for you, and more, if you will just help me go back to the Crag and stop Borodin.’

  ‘And what about Jerry?’ asked Yuichi. ‘How much danger is he in?’

  ‘He’s alive,’ I said. ‘That’s as much as I can tell you.’

  Nadia made a face. ‘Well, we can’t just leave him there. No Pathfinder left behind, and all that. That means we’re going to have to go back there and get him.’

  The rest of them nodded affirmatively.

  ‘Wait a minute,’ said Selwyn, a Pathfinder I hardly knew. ‘I’m first in line to get one of our people out of a jam, but you’re talking about storming a fortress.’ He turned to me. ‘Don’t take it the wrong way, but for all we know you’re still lying to us, and we’d be walking into some kind of a trap. How do we know Borodin didn’t send you back himself?’

  Yuichi chuckled and shook his head. ‘Even for you, Selwyn, that’s plumbing new and unexplored depths of paranoia. We’re not giving up on Jerry.’

  Selwyn shook his head, irritated. ‘I’m not saying anything about giving up on anyone, but it still doesn’t mean we go charging into a situation just on this girl’s say-so!’ This time, one or two of the other Pathfinders nodded. ‘And even if she’s telling us the unvarnished truth, we’d still be walking into a fortified castle guarded by a bunch of armed goons.’

  ‘So what are you saying?’ Chloe shouted. ‘What if it was you, Selwyn – would you rather we left you there?’

  ‘Wait!’ Nadia shouted as the rest of them began to jump into the argument. ‘Just shut up. What we do is, we discuss this rationally and make a plan.’ She turned to Rozalia. ‘You’re on pretty good terms with Barney, right?’

  ‘Who the fuck is Barney?’ said Oskar.

  ‘One of Major Howes’ men,’ explained Rozalia. ‘The guy in charge of the shed where they store the drones. He owes me a favour anyway. If I put it real nicely, he won’t ask too many questions about me borrowing one.’

  ‘There you go,’ said Nadia. ‘We send a drone over to scout out this Crag before we set one damn foot anywhere near it. Nobody’s charging in there half-assed. You should know that, Selwyn.’

  ‘But what about this invasion force she says Borodin’s threatening to send our way?’ asked Randall. ‘Rescuing Jerry’s one thing, but what do we do when some freaking army turns up?’

  ‘He’s got a point,’ said Oskar. ‘I know you all wanted to keep this between ourselves, but maybe we should be talking to Director Blodel after all.’

  Rozalia barked out a laugh, and Oskar’s face coloured. ‘Will you use your brain? We’d have to tell him about the secret stage, you dingus. We wouldn’t even draw breath before he had us all thrown in the clink.’

  ‘But . . . surely he’d listen, given what’s at stake?’ I asked.

  Rozalia shook her head sharply. ‘Not a chance. Especially not after the mess on Delta Twenty-Five, and you and Borodin and Jerry all disappearing into thin air. First, he’d send you back to the Authority to be interrogated, and then he’d sit back and wait for Washington to tell him what to do because, unlike our previous director, he doesn’t take a shit unless someone gives him an order first.’

  ‘Rozalia’s not kidding,’ said Yuichi, before I could protest further. ‘The Authority are a military dictatorship by any other name, and they’re about as inflexible as they come. Blodel’s job is to keep us in line, and that’s it.’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Nadia, ‘by which time your whole Empire’s gone the way of the dodo – and taken Jerry with it.’

  ‘Hey,’ Chloe piped up, looking at me. ‘I just thought of something. You said Borodin’s intending to attack us after your Tsar’s used the Hypersphere, right?’

  I nodded.

  ‘Look,’ she continued, turning back to the rest of the Pathfinders, ‘I don’t mean to sound callous, but if they all end up getting killed by these Portal-Monoliths as a result, they’re hardly going to be in a position to invade us, are they? I mean, doesn’t that make it sound as if it’d be better for us not to save her people?’

  I blinked, then tried to say something. Somehow the words stuck in my throat.

  ‘Hey,’ said Oskar brightly. ‘Good point, Chloe.’

  Around the tiny shack, heads nodded in agreement.

  ‘That still
leaves Jerry in the lurch, though,’ said Winifred. They were all looking at each other as if I wasn’t even there.

  ‘What are you suggesting?’ I asked with growing horror. ‘Just let Borodin wipe out my entire civilization? You’re talking about countless lives!’

  ‘Do you have any idea how many full-on, world-ending apocalypses everyone in this room has seen with their own two eyes?’ asked Chloe. ‘Personally, I’ve lost count. If they’re not frozen, or sucked into a black hole made in some lab, they’re irradiated, or mutated, or whatever. Not to mention every one of us here had to watch the same damn thing happen to our own alternates.’ She leaned towards me. ‘Look, I’m sorry, but your Novaya Empire is just one more in an endless line of alternates that’s doing its level best to wipe itself out of existence. By the looks of it you’re going to be lucky – or unlucky – enough to be its sole survivor.’ She spread her hands, as if to encompass everyone in the room. ‘Congratulations, Katya. You’re about to join one of the most exclusive clubs in all of creation.’

  ‘So that’s it,’ I said, clutching the table before me with a death grip. ‘You won’t help me.’

  ‘Well,’ Nadia said softly, ‘we’ll at least try to pull Jerry out of there, assuming it’s possible. But as for the rest of it . . . You have to see our point of view, Katya. If we help you find and destroy that Hypersphere, we could easily find ourselves coming under retaliatory attack from your Tsar’s forces. And it sounds as if your Empire’s got the resources to roll right over the Authority – and us – without even blinking.’

  I pushed my chair back and stood, panic gripping me. ‘Please,’ I said. ‘You don’t know what you’re saying. Jerry’s is just one life against billions.’

  None of them would meet my eyes.

  ‘So,’ said Randall into the silence that followed, ‘I guess we’re all finally agreed.’ He nodded at me. ‘What do we do with her in the meantime?’

  ‘If you’re going back for Jerry,’ I begged them, ‘at least let me go back with you. Let me at least try and save my people.’

  Winifred shook her head. ‘Sorry, Katya. You told us yourself we can’t risk losing you – not when you’re the key to solving all our problems. That means you stay right here where you’re safe. We’ll have to tell Blodel about you eventually, but we’ll deal with that after we’ve got Jerry back. With any luck, he’ll take his head out of his ass long enough to see sense.’ She stepped a little closer to me. ‘I’d really rather it wasn’t this way. You have to believe that. But if you can give us some idea in the meantime of how we could get Jerry out of that place, it’d be greatly appreciated.’

  ‘No.’ I shook my head violently. ‘Not if you’re going to stand by and just let this happen. I won’t help you.’

  I could take no more. I felt claustrophobic, as if my lungs had been stuffed full of cotton wool. I tried to push past the Pathfinders nearest me towards the door, but hands reached out, grabbing for me and pushing me back into my seat.

  ‘We’re going to have to put the cuffs back on her,’ said Nadia. ‘I knew we should have left them on.’

  ‘Jesus, Nads,’ said Yuichi, shaking his head, ‘I’m starting to have my doubts. Have we really come to this?’

  ‘It’s a hell of a lot better than what they did to Jerry,’ Nadia shot back. ‘And a hell of a lot better than what they’ll do to us if we give them half a chance!’

  ‘Fact is, Yuichi, we’re at war,’ said Rozalia. ‘Whether we like it or not.’

  ‘So do we keep her here?’ asked Randall.

  ‘Can’t take her back to town and risk her being seen,’ Nadia replied. ‘So yeah, we’ll keep her here. Meanwhile, we’d better start getting everything together. We’re going to need weapons as well as one of Barney’s drones.’

  ‘Agreed,’ said Rozalia, stepping towards the door. ‘We can talk over the details back in town.’ She glanced at me. ‘Anyone want to volunteer to keep an eye on our guest?’

  Selwyn looked around. ‘I guess I can take first shift,’ he said, then looked at me. ‘You okay with that, Katya?’

  I looked away from him, trembling with fury.

  Nadia shook her head and produced the cuffs once more. I spat furious insults at her and twisted away when she tried to snap them over my wrists. Randall and Oskar held me still until she managed to get them on.

  ‘Think over what we’ve been saying, Katya,’ said Winifred, standing on the threshold. ‘I know you don’t feel like it, but if you can see your way to it, we could really use your help.’

  I snarled something foul in Russian, and she pursed her lips; the intent, if not the words, were clear.

  ‘You’ll be okay, Selwyn?’ asked Rozalia. ‘It’s going to be a while before we get everything sorted out. You could be stuck here for some time.’

  ‘I was all alone on my alternate for nearly twice as long as any of you,’ he said, dropping into the chair Winifred had just vacated. ‘If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s passing the time.’

  The rest of the Pathfinders shuffled back out into the night. Selwyn looked across at me, then took a rifle down from a hook beside the door and placed it next to the table. Then he reached over to a shelf and picked up a pack of cards, spreading them on the table.

  ‘Fancy a game?’ he asked, looking over. ‘I know it won’t be easy with your hands cuffed, but—’

  ‘Fuck you,’ I growled back.

  ‘Sorry to hear that,’ he said, and laid the deck out for Solitaire.

  TWENTY-TWO

  After a while, exhaustion took its toll on me. I persuaded Selwyn to let me try and sleep on the cot in the corner. He agreed, but kept a watchful eye on me as I lay back, twisting around until I could get as comfortable as the cuffs would allow. I fell asleep to the sight of him playing cards beneath a gas lamp hanging from a hook. His rifle lay within easy reach on the table.

  When I awoke, it was to the sound of rain drumming loudly on the roof of the shack. It was light outside, the sky dense with rainclouds. Selwyn was still sitting in the same place, only now he was reading a paperback held folded-over in one hand.

  I heard the sound of an approaching engine and Selwyn got up, stepping over to the door. I blinked and groaned then pushed myself upright just as Casey Vishnevsky came inside, rain dripping from his floppy leather hat.

  He took his hat off and shook the worst of rain from it, then nodded to Selwyn with a cheery grin. ‘Hey, Welshman.’

  Selwyn smiled thinly back. Just before Casey stepped across the threshold, I had seen him glance towards his rifle.

  ‘Casey,’ said Selwyn, closing the door. The sound of rain became muffled once more. ‘What are you doing here?’

  Casey dropped a heavy bag next to the table. ‘It’s taking a lot longer than everyone expected to get stuff sorted out. Nadia told me to take over and let you go home, get some rest.’

  Selwyn yawned involuntarily, covering his mouth with the fanned pages of the paperback. ‘And the two of us had so much more to talk about,’ he said, nodding towards me.

  Casey frowned. ‘He’s being sarcastic,’ I said, leaning back on the cot.

  ‘Oh.’ Casey nodded, then pulled off his raincoat, dropping it on the back of a chair. ‘Go on, Selwyn. Git.’

  ‘Maybe I should radio Nadia first, check with her that everything’s . . .’

  ‘That everything’s what?’

  Selwyn opened his mouth and closed it again. ‘Nothing,’ he said, picking up his own coat and shrugging it on before stepping towards the door. He stared dubiously out at the rain, then hurried away with a final nod.

  Casey pushed the door most, but not all, of the way shut. He kept his eye to the narrow gap, watching until the sound of Selwyn’s jeep had faded into the distance.

  He finally pushed the door all the way shut. ‘Man. Son of a bitch came that close to calling my bluff.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘I’m talking about getting you out of those cuffs, if you want,
’ he said.

  I frowned, studying him. ‘Is this some kind of trick?’

  ‘No trick,’ he said. ‘I came here because I want to ask you something.’ He sat at the table and nodded to the chair across from him. ‘Look, at least come over here and sit down so we can talk face to face, will you?’

  I hesitated for a moment, then got up and sat across from him. ‘All right. I’m here.’

  He tapped the table in a staccato rhythm for a moment, studying me. ‘Say I let you go,’ he said at last. ‘And say you made your way back to the Crag. What exactly are you going to do once you’re back there?’

  ‘What are you up to, Casey?’ I asked. ‘Did Nadia send you here to try and trick me into cooperating with you?’

  He shook his head. ‘I’m just here on my own. Humour me, Katya. I swear I’m here to help you.’

  ‘If I could go back to the Crag,’ I said carefully, ‘I would do just what I said I would: destroy the Hypersphere before they have a chance to ship it back home to the Empire.’

  ‘And if they already have? Shipped it back, I mean?’

  ‘Then it’s too late,’ I said. ‘But until I know otherwise, I still have to try.’

  Casey leaned forward with his arms on the table. ‘I’ve been thinking a lot since I handled those beads you left behind. Felt like I had chunks of somebody else’s life upended into my skull . . . Anyway, seems to me there’s a solution to your problem you mightn’t have thought about.’

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘Lars Ulven worked out that the Portal-Monoliths detect a Hypersphere’s whereabouts when someone first lays their hands on it, right?’

  I nodded. ‘If it’s been calibrated, yes. After that, any physical contact will cause it to automatically seek out an alternate that best fits the user’s thoughts and desires. Until that moment, it’s essentially dormant.’

  ‘And as long as it’s dormant, the Portal-Monoliths don’t know where to find it?’

  I nodded again.

  ‘But once it’s been used for the first time,’ Casey continued, ‘they can find it wherever it happens to be in the multiverse – right so far?’