For Want of a Nail

by Mary Robinette Kowal

  "As soon as you confirmed that the cable was unplugged. I should have had a response before you sat down to fix it."

  "Begat me." Rue realized that she was standing in the hall, so she started walking toward the ship's cafeteria, to have a place to go. Hanson, one of the deck hands, nodded to her as he passed in the hall. She tried not to stare at him to see if he were the one who had unplugged the transmitter. The act of seeming relaxed made her too conscious of her own body, as if the length of her stride or the curve of her spine would tell Hanson exactly what she was thinking. "So, you're thinking deliberate sabotage and crap-- there are only six of us on this ship. You really think someone's a plant for AIM?"

  "Possible. My specialty is astronomy, a Metta would have a clearer idea, but there are anomalies here that I find disturbing." Cordelia appeared to be floating backward in front of Rue.

  Rue stopped at the door of the cafeteria. Inside the tiny room, she could see Monroe and Osborne playing cards at one of the fiberglass tables which folded down from the walls. Even with cheery yellow paint, the cramped room seemed depressing and more like a gerbil cage than anything else. It always managed to smell like cheeze-whiz, even though, to the best of her knowledge, that didn't appear on any menu selection. Rue could not wait to get back to Earth and have food that didn't come at the press of a button.

  The broad-shouldered First Mate seemed to have Osborne in a sweat over whatever game they were playing. The diminutive engineer's face was nearly as red as his hair. He seemed dwarfed in the loose blue coveralls the crew wore as uniforms, while Monroe bulked his out like a Greek god.

  Rue glanced at Cordelia in her glasses. "Let me talk to Dr. Chia and see what he says."

  "That sounds reasonable." The astronomy professor was, theoretically, in charge of this project even though the main focus was on Cordelia's mission.

  Pulling her PDA out, Rue dialed the professor.

  The tinny sounds of Also Sprach Zaranthrusta burst forth in the cafeteria. Osborne leaped straight up out of his seat, squawking with surprise. He fumbled and cards flew everywhere.

  "Sorry!" She stepped into the cafeteria. The two men were alone, but Dr. Chia's PDA rested on the counter next to the beverage dispenser. The man seemed congenitally unable to keep his PDA on his person.

  Monroe slapped his hand of cards down on the table and bellowed with laughter. "Dude, you jumped into orbit."

  Osborne scowled, picking up his cards. "We are in orbit."

  "So, hey, have you guys seen Dr. Chia?" Rue picked his PDA up.

  "Try the bridge. He was there muttering about spectral analysis before I went on break." Monroe stood up from the table. "Speaking of, I should get back."

  "Thanks. I'll head up with--"

  A klaxon went off, with ear-splitting bracks of sound. Osborne dropped his cards again and sprinted toward the door. Monroe grabbed him by the back of his collar, without any noticeable effort, and slammed Osborne face first against the wall. A spray of blood coated the yellow paint. Monroe dropped the man.

  And leveled a tiny gun at her.

  Rue took an involuntary step backwards, knees nearly buckling under her.

  Muscles rippling under the fabric of his coveralls, Monroe stepped over the engineer's body. "Shall we dance?"

  The comic book villain line popped her out of fear and into blind, red rage. Whatever he thought he was going to do to her was so not going to happen. Rue pressed the redial button on her PDA.

  In her left hand, Dr. Chia's PDA burst into Also Sprach Zarathrusta again . Monroe's gaze jerked down to the machine, and Rue threw her own PDA at him.

  He flinched and she ducked out the door, not waiting to see if it had actually hit him. If it made impact, bonus. Springing across the hall, Rue threw herself into the crew quarters and slid the door home. "Lock it! Lock it!"

  Faster than Rue could breathe, the lock flashed to red. Cordelia nodded. "I hacked, but--

  Monroe bellowed and slammed against the door, vibrating the whole thing in its frame.

  Rue turned to face the narrow bunks crammed into the quarters. The smell of dirty socks and the stink of her own fear filled the room, almost crawling on her tongue. At the far end of the room, four bulky white EVA suits hung on the wall, ready for their owners. Small metal lockers, painted the same grey as the rest of the ship created the ends of each bunk.

  There was only one door. Crap.

  "Can you get help?" She pulled open the closest locker.

  "I've lost my connection to the main system." The AI's brow was furrowed with concentration. "It's a hardware failure, not a viral block."

  Her pulse rattled every nerve in her body. Hands shaking, Rue tore through the the locker, looking for anything she could use as a weapon. Underwear, round datapods, cables, a pasteboard box of rhinestone earrings. "Okay. So it's likely that the ship AI isn't involved or he'd be hacking back at you, right?"

  "I think they have him isolated."

  "They. Who the hell is they? Monroe, clearly but who else?" Next locker. Black leather workboots, a worn miniature Bible, coveralls. She felt the pockets, but they were all empty.

  The thumps on the door had stopped, which was not a good sign. Rue left the lockers to press her ear against the door. Nothing. No klaxon, no footsteps. The only sound was that of her own breathing.

  Mutiny had not been covered in her courses on AI wrangling. She knew how to maintain systems and... "Total idiot. Cordelia, I'm a total idiot." She still had Dr. Chia's PDA. "It's sort of old school, but if I jack the interface glasses into the PDA, can you get into the basic ship system?"

  Cordelia's eyes seemed to gleam. "I'd like nothing better."

  Going back to the locker with the datapods, Rue snagged one of the cables and slipped the plug into the jack on the PDA.

  The other end did not fit the glasses.

  "Monkey!" She pulled her arm back to hurl the useless PDA at the wall and barely kept herself from flinging it. Not helpful. Rue stood, with her hand half over her head, muscles trembling with held tension. The complete helplessness would kill her and she didn't even mean that as a freakin' metaphor. "Begat this!" She lowered the PDA. "Do you have any ideas?"

  Cordelia shook her head. "I can't even unlock the door now."

  "Perfect." Rue pulled open the next locker, not really hoping to find anything, but because she had to do something . "Can't one of these guys collect katanas or something useful? Heck, I'd settle for a cricket bat at this point. Or a wrench." Instead the locker held more blue coveralls and pinups of a variety of centerfolds. Rue let her head fall forward to rest against the edge of the door. It made a cool stripe down her forehead. Exhaustion weighed on her.

  The smell of dirty socks had grown stronger here. Rue wanted nothing more than to curl up on one of the bunks and sleep until the whole thing was over. She staggered back from the locker, head spinning.

  Except for the sound of her own breath, the room was silent. The circulation system was not humming.

  "They've turned the air off," Rue whispered, so Cordelia would know.

  She stumbled to the end of the room and grabbed the closest EVA suit [which gets clearly and specifically described here]. Arms made weak by oxygen deprivation, it took her three tries to lift the bulky white garment off the hook. She slid into the thing and started the oxygen flow before she even had the suit fully sealed. Rue opened her mouth, gulping the air and relishing the slight metallic tang of bottled oxygen.

  It hit her in a rush, energy coursing through veins. Rue sealed the suit and sat, slumped against the wall focusing on breathing with deep inhales, stretching her ribcage.

  Cordelia said, "They can still outwait you."

  Rue looked at the VR projection of the oxygen gage. Two hours. "But maybe they'll think I'm unconscious and open the door." She pushed herself to her feet, struggling with the thick folds of cloth. The suit she'd grabbed was too large for her -- probably Monroe's -- and it was engulfed her like a child playing at dressup.


  "Or they're watching on the ship's camera." Cordelia pointed to the corner of the room.

  "That, at least, is easy to deal with... Hang on." She stood under the camera, out of its line of sight and looked up at its cable. "God bless your inventor for standardizing AI equipment."

  "You'll have to take the helmet off, since the glasses are inside with you."

  "Then you'll have to work fast." Rue yanked the cord from the camera.

  She inhaled until her diaphragm ached and pulled her helmet off, holding her breath. She set the helmet at her feet, trying not to rush and make mistakes. Slipping the VR glasses off, she inserted the cable into the socket . The glasses dangled from the cable, like a bizarre piece of bling. Rue bent to pick up the helmet, lungs burning with the desire for oxygen.

  Behind her, the door opened.

  Holding the helmet to her chest, Rue turned.

  Monroe pushed his way into the room, gun leveled at her. "Don't even think about throwing that."

  "It'd only work once."

  "You didn't even come close to hitting me," he sneered.

  "Made you flinch." Running was not an option this time anyway, since Monroe filled the door. She had to stall him to give Cordelia time to work -- if there were any chance of her being able to hack through the camera that is. "So, isn't this the point in films where the villain is supposed to make a giant statement of his evil plan?"

  "Dude. I already know what your evil plan is."

  Rue gaped at him. " My evil plan? You're the one who's mutinying."

  Without warning, the lights went out. Monroe cursed and fired his gun. The muzzle flash lit the room like lighting, burning an after image in Rue's eyes. The harsh sulfur of gunpowder burned her nose. She threw herself in the direction of the nearest bunk, hoping that the metal locker would offer her some protection. Was the man insane? Projectile weapons in space equaled bad plan.

  A computerized voice came over the loud speaker. "Self-destruct sequence engaged."

  "What the?" Monroe shouted. "We don't have a self-destru--."

  In the distance, an explosion boomed.

  No matter what Monroe thought, Rue was taking no chances. She pulled the helmet back on. As soon as it sealed, Cordelia appeared on the VR screen of the visor. She grinned. "Ready to go?"

  Rue subvocalized, "Crazy man trying to kill me. Plus, totally dark. Going is not such an option."

  Even through the helmet, she could hear Monroe crashing around in the dark. He collided with one of the lockers with a meaty thud. The locker rattled from the impact.

  The computer voice said, "Self-destruct in twenty seconds," at the same time as Cordelia mouthed the words. She winked at Rue.

  Then the visor lit up in an infrared display. Monroe's vivid red and yellow form patted the walls, searching blindly for the EVA suits. A second, muted blue person lay curled on one of the bunks. The image spun slightly and Rue realized that she was seeing the view from the VR glasses suspended from the ceiling.

  "Self-destruct in nineteen seconds." Another explosion sounded in the distance.

  Monroe cursed and began patting the walls faster. His foot hit something that rattled when he stepped on it and slid out from under him. He landed on the floor in a tangle of limbs. The gun, still glowing in infrared with the heat from his shot, bounced away from him.

  "Self-destruct in eighteen seconds."

  Rue eased off the bed, wincing as the EVA suit creaked with her movement. In the visor, she watched her image move as if she were manipulating an avatar in a third person game. None of the debris from the locker showed up clearly in infrared, so Rue crawled across the floor. Her over-sized gloves made it difficult to identify any of the shapes she passed over.

  "Self-destruct in seventeen seconds."

  Monroe had a suit off the wall and was trying to force his leg into it.

  Cordelia whispered in Rue's ear. "Of course, you realize that you are wearing his suit. None of those will fit him." She switched to computer voice. "Self-destruct in sixteen seconds."

  "Wicked." Rue put her hand down and closed around the barrel of the gun. "Which way is the door?"

  "Follow the dotted line on your visor." As she said that, a yellow path lit the way to the door.

  "Fifteen"

  Rue crawled out, clutching the gun in her hand.

  "Fourteen" In the distance, another explosion rumbled.

  As Rue passed into the hall, her figure on the visor disappeared from view, leaving her in total darkness.

  "Thirteen"

  The door hissed shut and the hall lights flickered on, burning Rue's eyes. She squinted against the momentary pain. When her eyes adjusted, she looked at Cordelia's image. "That. That was beautiful."

  "I like having a whole ship to play with."

  "Speaking of..." Rue got to her feet. "Do we know where everyone else is?"

  Cordelia nodded, face turning serious. "The ship's AI is disconnected from the system. The rest of the crew are tied up in the cargo bay. I can open the doors, but I can't untie them."

  "That will probably be the easiest thing I do all day." Rue put her hands to her helmet. "Can I take this off now?"

  "It'll make it harder for me to talk to you since your glasses are hanging by a cable."

  "Curses. Foiled again." Rue stalked down the hall, as best she could in the giant EVA suit. She had to lift her feet uber-high to avoid dragging the toes on the ground. "So... you going to be okay in the probe, after having an entire ship to run?"

  Cordelia cocked her head, floating away from Rue. "My dear, I'm going to get to see things that no thinking being has seen before. Do you honestly think I'd give that up for piloting a ship?"

  "But you might not come back." Rue stopped outside the cargo bay. "What if he undid more than one cable?"

  "Then we will find them and reconnect them." Cordelia seemed to lean forward, her eyes intent on Rue. "Promise me that you won't let them scrub the mission because of this."

  "Even if I have to jam my entire arm into someone's access hatch and squeeze till you to launch." Rue opened the door to the cargo bay. "You'll get to go."

  END

  Brainstorming Notes from "Unthread the Rude Eye"

  When I start writing, even with short fiction, I usually try to have a minimal outline so I know where the story is going. I brainstorm on the page because that helps me capture what I'm thinking about in a given moment. I can see the relationship between ideas.

  Here are the notes I made from that first brainstorming session. I don't promise that they make sense to anyone but me

  Observation ship, drone orbiting a black hole.

  Rebellion -- Who is rebelling?

  Robots? Sure, it's a drone orbiting. The AI could be rebelling.

  Religious rebellion. Sending a drone into the blackhole is murder.

  Rebellion against government. My character is just there for the science. Telescopes scattered around the planet.

  "Let me show you how to hold it"

  ---

  Lelta is an AI wrangler. She's on an exploration ship from Cygnus University studying black holes. Their grant is to send an AI into orbit around a black hole and then into the black hole. A religious faction sees this as murder and has sent operatives to take over the ship. Lelta and the AI work together to stop the rebellion. AI continues the trip, uploading constantly. Melancholy ending. Hurrah for science but thinks about the rest of the AI that is now in the disc.

  #

  Mutiny!

  Struggles to get to Cordelia. Trapped in room!

  Big fight scene in the dark. Wins because Cordelia gives her glasses a infrared signal from Cordelia's cameras.

  Scooby-doo moment.

  ---

  Lecia is an AI wrangler. She's on an exploration ship from Cygnus University studying black holes. Their grant is to send an AI into orbit around a black hole and then into the black hole. A religious faction sees this as murder and has sent operatives to take over the ship. Lecia and the AI
work together to stop the rebellion. AI continues the trip, uploading constantly. Had the operative succeeded, she would have been unable to do so. THAT would have been the same as death. Happy ending, hurrah for science!

  About the Author

  Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of Shades of Milk and Honey (Tor 2010). In 2008 she won the Campbell Award for Best New Writer and has been a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards. Her stories have appeared in Strange Horizons , Asimov’s , and several Year’s Best anthologies as well as in her collection Scenting the Dark and Other Stories from Subterranean.

  Mary, a professional puppeteer and voice actor, has performed for LazyTown (CBS), the Center for Puppetry Arts, Jim Henson Pictures and founded Other Hand Productions. Her designs have garnered two UNIMA-USA Citations of Excellence, the highest award an American puppeteer can achieve. She also records fiction for authors such as Kage Baker, Cory Doctorow and John Scalzi.

  She is the Vice President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Mary lives in Portland, OR with her husband Rob and over a dozen manual typewriters. Visit www.maryrobinettekowal.com .