It was indeed a shame that Ada and Valja hadn’t believed her. Everything would have been much more straightforward, and no one would have to die. They still had a bit of time. The 89 ships had been decelerating for a few days. At 99 percent light speed they would have simply whizzed by without being able to engage. Zhenyi would have preferred this, but they intended to engage. To do that they had to brake, and that gave their adversaries some time to consider a defense strategy.
“I have an idea,” said Z, Zhenyi’s biological double.
“Please,” said K.
“We’ll hand over the ship, as a decoy.”
“Ada and Valja are clever. They’ll see through it,” said Zhenyi.
“I know. That’s why everything has to look convincing.”
“What are you thinking? We surrender?”
“No, we give them a fight. But that doesn’t have to be your concern. We need you on the control station near the very last manipulation site. As soon as you have the data, you can carry out the manipulation.”
“And what if I don’t get the data in time?”
“We’ll buy you the time you need, no matter what happens.”
Cycle IP 2.2, Gigadyson
“What have you got for me?” asked Ada.
“There’s a ship in orbit around the unidentified object,” said Valentina.
“A single ship?”
“Yes, you heard right, only one.”
“That’s the enemy we sent a fleet of eighty-nine ships after?”
“Looks like it, Ada. Unless the unidentified object is also a kind of spaceship.”
“I think we can safely call it a gravastar. Remember the story Zhenyi told us?”
“Yeah, totally nuts.”
“So what have you got to say about it now? It’s as heavy as a black hole, like a black hole it emits no light, and yet it’s not a black hole.”
“It looks like that part of Zhenyi’s story is true. But if I remember correctly, you were the one who was most skeptical, my love.”
“Yes, Valja, I admit that maybe I was too mistrustful.”
Ada was annoyed. It wasn’t hard for her to admit she’d made a mistake, but it could be a momentous mistake. What if Zhenyi’s story was right from beginning to end? Could they allow her to destroy the Gigadyson? Certainly not. A decision like that could only come from the Convention. If Zhenyi wasn’t willing to wait, she was pitting herself against law and order. Then they’d have to detain her, even if her concerns were valid. Please, Zhenyi, don’t let it come to that.
“What now, Ada?”
“We’ll start the deceleration process as planned. Give the other ships the command to spread out in a hemisphere around the enemy ship, so their escape is impossible. We’ll take care of Zhenyi ourselves.”
Cycle IP 2.7, Gigadyson
The Mario matched its orbit to that of the enemy ship. Ada observed the final maneuvers from her commander’s seat. Everything was going according to plan! Would Zhenyi really let them seize her spaceship? They were now only 300 meters away. Valja had the front railguns directed at the enemy ship. It seemed to be completely inactive, but they might be deliberately giving the impression of being asleep.
“Don’t take any chances, okay, Valja?”
“I know.”
They’d gone over it several times. Valentina was to fire immediately if anything seemed off. Otherwise it could be too late. Ada didn’t want to take that risk. If the enemy ship really was structurally identical to the Mario, then it had the same weapons. They were concealed behind flaps on the surface, but that could change in two seconds. So, Valja had an advantage of two seconds. She and Ada were wearing spacesuits just in case she didn’t manage to disarm the other ship in time. That way they could survive if their control room were punctured by the other ship’s railguns—which was a possibility.
“This is the Mario. Unidentified ship, give yourselves up,” Ada said over the radio.
She’d lost count of how many times she’d already beamed out this announcement. There was no response. Had the ship been abandoned? But then where could Zhenyi and Kepler have disappeared to?
“Zhenyi here,” they heard through the speaker.
She was there!
Ada sat up and activated video transmission. “Valja, it could still be a trick. Don’t let yourself be distracted,” she said, “no matter what happens over here with me.”
Ada opened the channel and Zhenyi and Kepler appeared onscreen. Ada felt anger rising in her. How could they be so stupid as to ignore the hails of an entire flotilla? “It’s about time, too,” she said. “I thought you must have completely lost touch with reality.”
“We’ll see,” answered Zhenyi. “As far as we’re concerned, we’re behaving quite rationally.”
“And yet the point of view of the crewmembers of eighty-nine ships carries a lot more weight than yours.”
“We see it differently. So, what do you want from us?”
“The automated system has already stated that five hundred times.”
“We want to hear it from you.” Zhenyi wrinkled her nose.
Yes, that’s her. Even in the most hopeless situations she’s the same old Zhenyi. “There doesn’t have to be any drama. You give yourselves up, then we take you to the Convention. Once there, you’ll get a fair trial.”
“And what about the destruction of the universe due to it being flooded by dark energy?”
“You can present your argument to the Convention. They’re sure to respond to that.”
“Or not,” said Zhenyi.
Yeah, or not. Most likely, not. It might be challenging to motivate humanity to give up its greatest achievement. But that wasn’t her problem. “You should at least try,” said Ada. “That’s the only way this can go. The kudos you earned last time will surely count in your favor.”
“So... We won’t be disintegrated, we’ll just be locked up somewhere for a few million years.”
“They’ll pass more quickly than you realize.” But yes, Zhenyi’s assessment sounded realistic. Ada wouldn’t be thrilled about a sentence like that either. And, Ada would never dream of putting up a fight against 89 ships for precisely that reason. Zhenyi and Kepler must see that they had no chance? And they still weren’t wearing spacesuits, so they probably weren’t prepared to launch into a railgun fight.
Unless they’re just trying to lull us into a false sense of security, thought Ada. She muted her microphone. “Valja? Stay alert. I have the feeling these two are planning something.”
“Of course, Ada.”
Ada pressed the button to reactivate her microphone.
“Is Valja well?” asked Zhenyi.
“Very well.”
“Is she sitting at the guns?”
“Because she’s not in the picture? Oh, she’s just making the bed. No, of course she’s at the guns. So, what’s it going to be? Will you surrender? Can we come aboard?”
Zhenyi and Kepler exchanged a glance.
“No, it’s too soon for that,” said Kepler.
He looked sad, as if he was about to say goodbye. Ada felt a lump in her throat. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but something was really wrong here. What could she do? She didn’t want to escalate things. She was putting on a brave face, but the most important thing to her was that everyone would come out of this unscathed. Based on the current scenario, however, they were heading toward an outcome she didn’t want.
“Please be sensible,” Ada said. “You’ve really got no chance, that much must be obvious.”
“That’s relative,” said Zhenyi. “Everything that happens is also an opportunity—that is, a chance, no matter how it feels at the time.”
“Oh, stop blathering!” Ada cried into the microphone. She was getting thoroughly angry now. These two imaginary figures weren’t going to force her to shoot at their ship! She’d never been responsible for the death of a human being. So far she’d been able to solve every problem peacefully. Zhenyi and Kepler we
re smart!
“I really mean that,” said Zhenyi, “and we don’t resent you. You’re just doing what you have to do, and we’re fulfilling our mission. We’re like two asteroids that were set in motion long ago, and are now on an inevitable collision course, because we can’t leave our orbits. Or do you want to prevent that collision? There’s still time.”
“Do you mean, do I want to withdraw all eighty-nine ships and leave you to get on with your plan? Definitely not. You’re going to follow me to the Convention now, without resisting. I’m sure if there’s some truth to your story, it will come out.”
“It’ll be too late by then.”
That sounded like a threat. There had to be some way of solving this problem without violence. Ada scratched her knees with all four arms at once.
Then a vibration went through the ship. Ada knew that sound, and her hair stood on end. It was the sound of the railgun firing. Hundreds of small projectiles had just left the barrels and were flying at high speed toward the enemy ship. The picture on the screen disintegrated. Zhenyi and Kepler were no longer visible. And that meant Zhenyi and Kepler no longer existed.
“Valja, what have you done?”
“I had no choice. They activated their guns. Look!”
On the screen, where they had just been looking at Zhenyi and Kepler in their cabin, was the hull of the enemy ship. The flaps behind which the enemies’ railguns were hidden were slightly open. Valentina had only just acted in time.
“Thank you, Valja, you did well.”
Suddenly her girlfriend was standing next to her. She was crying. Ada stood up and held her in her four arms.
“They’re dead,” Valja said, sobbing. “I did that.”
“You had to fire. They must have known that. If anything, I’m responsible, because I couldn’t prevent it. I really tried.”
“But why, Ada?” Valentina let go of her. Her eyes were bleary.
“I don’t know. The way they made contact was strange in itself. It almost seemed like part of a plan, as though everything had already been thought out in advance.”
“A suicidal plan?”
“Maybe. We should board the ship and take a closer look. Maybe we’ll find some clues.”
“Is that a good idea? We’ll find Zhenyi and Kepler’s bodies in the control room. The railgun destroyed the hull and their air will have completely evaporated.”
Ada tapped the screen and pulled up the exterior camera view. She switched to infrared. The enemy ship was enveloped in a cloud that was brighter than its surroundings but quickly cooling down. That was Zhenyi and Kepler’s air. They hadn’t been wearing suits. Valentina was right. They couldn’t have survived that. They might also have been shredded by a railgun projectile. That would be preferable, because suffocation was terrible and took a while.
“There’s no choice.” Ada sighed. “We’ll have to go look for ourselves. Sending a robot won’t be enough.”
Cycle IP 2.8, Gigadyson
“Looks good,” said Ada. “The airlock still has power.”
She executed an override and the outer airlock door opened. Ada pulled herself inside with her two upper arms, waited for Valja to follow, and then closed the door again. Fog covered the floor and ceiling of the chamber. The ship was trying to fill the airlock with breathable air. But it was counterproductive, because once the pressure in the chamber was too high, they wouldn’t be able to open the door to the interior, which had probably lost all of its air.
So Ada went to work on the small computer that controlled the airlock. She’d have to convince it that the pressure sensor was delivering false data so that it would stop pumping in air. But the software was astonishingly well-protected. It wasn’t the standard that was usually used here. Someone must have manually improved it. Would Zhenyi have bothered to do that? It was hard to imagine. Maybe Kepler.
The computer finally responded and the stream of air stopped, but Ada didn’t understand why. Then she looked over at Valentina. Her girlfriend was smiling.
“I put my hand over the pressure sensor,” said Valja.
“Good thinking!”
If only all problems were so easily solvable. Ada operated the opening mechanism and the inner door slid to the side. “Shall I go first?” she asked.
“I’m not a child,” Valja protested, and drifted out of the airlock and into the corridor.
That was different from how she’d sounded yesterday. They would inevitably find Kepler and Zhenyi’s corpses somewhere. They couldn’t exactly have dissolved into thin air. Or was this all a bluff? Ada was sweating. She hadn’t checked where the transmission had come from. Zhenyi and Kepler could have been hiding out somewhere in the area, maybe in a shuttle. Then they could have activated the ship’s weapons remotely, so they could flee to safety.
If they had gotten away, she was responsible. Shit. But Ada found it hard to be upset about that. She preferred the pair alive.
“Shit, I have them,” Valja called over the radio. “No, him.”
“In the control room?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll be right there.”
That had been a short-lived daydream. Ada was afraid. Hopefully it had been a direct hit by the railgun. She floated into the control room and then had to reorient herself. What she’d taken to be the ceiling was the floor. She turned 180 degrees and discovered Valja, who was crouching next to one of the seats. Ada approached her. A dead person was lying next to Valja. It was clearly Kepler. His right leg had apparently got caught in the tight space under the seat. Valja tried to pull it out.
“Give me a hand,” she said.
“Really?”
“Yes. We have to take them with us and do an autopsy.”
“But Valja, he obviously suffocated. Look, Kepler’s not wearing a spacesuit and there’s no air in here.”
“And what if it’s a doll or something? I wouldn’t put anything past them. We can only rule that out if we do an autopsy.”
Valentina was right. She obviously still hoped Zhenyi and Kepler were alive. Then she wouldn’t have them on her conscience. Ada felt the same. She laid her upper hands on Valja’s shoulders and massaged her through her suit. Valja felt so tense and stiff it was as though she herself was a frozen corpse. It was all so nightmarish. She couldn’t imagine how terrible Valja must be feeling, having pulled the trigger.
“We’ll take him with us. After he thaws out we’ll autopsy him, I promise,” she said. “It might be best if you keep an eye on Kepler here and I’ll look around the control room.”
Valja turned so that Ada could make out her face under the helmet visor. She was smiling gratefully. Ada shoved off lightly and drifted up to the ceiling. She had a better view from there. The emergency lighting cast numerous shadows that could be concealing Zhenyi’s corpse. She searched in all the areas that were big enough.
Her foot touched something soft near the radio transmitter. She grasped a console in front of her and pulled herself down. She hoped it wasn’t a body part! Ada felt around and examined what she had found. It was definitely a leg. She pulled it. Something was caught somewhere. She pulled harder. It came free and she was carried backward by her own momentum. Red light fell on her find. It was Zhenyi. She had her hands at her throat as though she was trying to loosen a tight collar. Suffocation must be a terrible way to go. She had no other recognizable injuries. Why did she refuse to surrender? She’d always considered Zhenyi to be a pragmatist, but maybe she’d been wrong about that.
“I’ve got her,” she said. “We’ll meet at the exit.”
“Okay.”
She held the body by its arm and pulled it toward the airlock. The corridor was lit with bright white light, not the dim red of the emergency lighting. At first Ada didn’t dare to look at Zhenyi, but then she forced herself to. After all, she intended to autopsy her. It wasn’t so bad. The body looked unnatural, like a doll. The skin was whitish and the body was completely stiff. Ada could hardly believe that the very lively Z
henyi had once been in this husk. Yes, she had certainly been lively.
Cycle IP 2.9, Gigadyson
“You promised me.”
“Yes. But do you really think this is a fake? Look at him.”
They’d just fetched Kepler from the unheated storage room. He was still wearing the same clothes, a long-sleeved gray t-shirt and comfortable gray pants. Getting him out of them could be difficult, at least as long as he stayed frozen. But thawing him was out of the question. Ada had made it clear to her girlfriend that in that case she’d have to autopsy him on her own.
“We need to be sure, don’t we?” asked Valentina.
Yes, it would be good to have some certainty. Ada had asked the 88 escort ships to wait, because the gravastar was still there, and seemed to be ominously lying in wait. Only no one knew what for.
Ada sighed. “Then let’s start.” She switched on the small circular saw. The tool made a high-pitched whirring noise. “For the record, I’m now cutting a cross-section of a lower extremity.”
She held Kepler’s leg still with her two lower arms and controlled the saw with her upper hands. She carefully placed the rotating saw blade in the middle of his thigh. In a bad movie, this would be the moment Kepler would jump up and try to flee. She looked at his face as she pressed the saw down gently. The corpse showed no reaction. The whirring grew louder and deeper. The saw made short work of his leg, eating into the frozen flesh like it was butter.
The saw was through. Ada pulled the leg with her lower hands. It came away from the body. She turned off the saw. “Look at the profile, Valja. It’s definitely biological, not artificial.”
Valentina took the leg and examined the cut surface. Her forehead creased. “Can you cut me off a thin slice while it’s still frozen? I’d like to look at it under the microscope.”
“If you want. But then that’s it, okay?”
The Death of the Universe: Ghost Kingdom: Hard Science Fiction (Big Rip Book 2) Page 22