The Cold Steel Mind

by Niall Teasdale

  Delta straightened her back. ‘They will. I’d prefer if you dug as deep as you can.’

  Shannon did not look keen, but she nodded. Delta needed to be at ease about the process, if it happened. Aneka wondered what it did to Shannon. ‘Anyone else?’ the blonde asked.

  No one seemed to feel the need, which seemed to please their resident psychic. Aneka, however, did have a problem. ‘What about me and Cassandra? Psionics are going to be useless against us.’

  ‘We have the sensory memories from both of you,’ Gillian said. ‘I’d imagine they’ll go over those in minute detail. That’s probably more precise than psionics, once they’ve had technicians verify that nothing’s been faked.’ Aneka nodded and Gillian continued. ‘Abraham and I will be handling most of the science questions. Abraham will be fielding theory and application. I’ll be handling history and social implications. Ella and Cassandra will be fielding psychology and machine psychology. Drake, Bash, and Aneka have the military aspects covered, and Aneka can report on anything they need to know about the various projects Evolution presided over.’ She looked down at Aneka. ‘You’re okay with that?’

  ‘I can report what I was told and my thoughts on it, sure.’

  ‘Good enough. Now, Aggy. You’re going to be acting as their ambassador, essentially. Communication using their systems is going to be faster than it would normally be, but it will still take over a day to get a response from Negral.’

  ‘Yes, Doctor,’ Aggy said, her image appearing on the wall screen. ‘I have been briefed extensively. I have every contingency which could be thought of covered in my databases, and additional plans for handling things which were not considered. The AIs believe that I will be able to handle most requests immediately with confirmation coming from them the following day.’

  Gillian nodded. ‘All right. Bash and I will be attempting to catch you out tomorrow. I want to go over historical records the day after. Abraham, I suggest you and Cassandra go over the technical stuff, and Cassandra and Ella should make sure they are telling the same story. Drake, Aneka, work on the military issues. Aneka knows their weapons and Drake knows ours. Everyone else, we have the recordings of your interviews on Sapphira, review them carefully. If you think something is wrong, be ready to admit it and explain why.’

  The team nodded at her; everyone was ready and knew what they had to do. ‘However, most of us have just come out of cold sleep. We need to be up to mental speed for this. I suggest we take what remains of today to relax and get ready. We have a lot of work to do. Let’s be ready to do it well.’

  19.12.524 FSC.

  Aneka lay spooned against Ella. The redhead had been asleep for a couple of hours, happily cradled in her lover’s arms, but Aneka had stayed awake along with the other non-organic members of the crew. They communicated in silence, networked together in what amounted to a private Internet chat room.

  ‘Eight hours until we exit warp,’ Aneka said. ‘Do you think we’re ready?’

  ‘I do not believe we can be more ready,’ Aggy replied.

  ‘If we do much more preparation we will be in danger of sounding rehearsed,’ Cassandra said. ‘This is not a play. We need to sound natural. Obviously we need to be confident and know our parts, but an overly perfect performance will raise suspicions.’

  ‘I am most worried about Monkey and Delta,’ Al stated. ‘They’re young. They will be nervous.’

  ‘Monkey’s a decade older than I… was,’ Aneka replied. ‘Delta’s about my age.’

  ‘Comparatively they lack your experience. Monkey has issues with authority stemming from his father. Delta is still insecure in the core environment.’

  ‘Agreed,’ Cassandra said, ‘but their nervousness may be an advantage. They will balance the confidence of everyone else.’

  ‘Let’s just hope the Federal Administration is willing to be reasonable about all this then,’ Aneka said. She was not entirely confident about that. Jenlay had robot issues stemming from the Xinti War. The Herosians were just going to be unreasonable, full stop, but it was possible the technical advances on offer might sway them. The Torem were an entirely unknown quantity, but she hoped they were open to at least talking to the AIs.

  ‘There could be a problem with us holding these negotiations on New Earth,’ Cassandra commented. ‘The other races may see it as a preference. The Jenlay are being singled out for special treatment.’

  ‘It’s just a matter of proximity,’ Aneka countered. It was not a problem she had considered.

  ‘Yes, but they may not see it that way.’

  ‘Huh.’ Aneka checked the time and sighed. ‘I’d better shut down for the night. It’s probably going to be a long day.’

  ‘Good night, Aneka,’ Aggy said. ‘Don’t worry. I’m sure everything will work out for the best.’

  Aneka settled herself and initiated her sleep cycle. She really wished she was as confident about it as Aggy was.

  ~~~

  ‘Three staves,’ Ella announced, her voice triumphant as she put down her cards, pushing the three of the matching suit out for proof.

  Aneka grinned at her and put her own cards down on the cabin’s table. ‘You got me. Two pairs.’

  ‘Yay!’ Ella exclaimed reaching out to collect the cards together. ‘One to me, that’s…’

  ‘Three to you, Ella,’ Aggy supplied. ‘You owe Aneka seventy-two hours of “worship and adoration.” I must admit I don’t understand the stakes. You seem to adore each other quite enough as it is.’

  ‘I think Ella had some more physical forms of worship in mind when she thought it up,’ Aneka replied. ‘It’s a good thing she enjoys “worshipping” me because she’s really bad at this game.’

  Ella pouted, but did not deny anything; she was terrible at Fives. It was not exactly a tough game, but it had nuances, and the rules were a bit like draw poker. Doing well at it was as much a matter of psychology as luck. There were five suits to the deck, each consisting of ten cards. The probabilities were different, but the basic arrangements were the same as poker. Ella’s problem was that she could not bluff to save her life. Still she kept playing, possibly because she liked losing.

  ‘Aggy,’ Aneka asked as Ella started to deal another hand, ‘what’s happening? We should be out of warp by now, but I haven’t heard the fusion drive power up.’

  ‘We exited warp two minutes, seventeen seconds ago, Aneka,’ the computer replied. ‘We have been ordered to hold position until two frigates arrive to escort us to the orbital transit station.’

  ‘Two? We’re getting more popular.’

  ‘I am currently tracking the FNf Delta Brigantia and the FNf Castellan Grant on intercept course. Time to intercept is eight minutes, fifty-three seconds. Estimated time to docking is twenty-three minutes, forty-two seconds.’

  Aneka picked up her cards, barely glancing at them. She dropped two of them. ‘Two more. What class is the Castellan Grant, Aggy? I’ve only ever seen the Delta-class ones.’

  ‘A General Commander-class frigate, Aneka. While largely superseded by the Deltas, the General Commander is still used as a battleship escort vessel.’

  ‘Battleship? Is the Admiral Banfry within transponder range?’

  ‘The FNb Admiral Banfry is stationed near the transit station we have been ordered to dock with.’

  Ella flicked a glance at Aneka. ‘It’s usually stationed around New Earth or the nearby systems. It doesn’t mean he’s here because we are.’

  ‘Uh-huh. Want to bet he won’t be around when we walk onto the station?’

  Looking at her cards, Ella dropped four and took replacements from the pack. ‘No, I think I’d lose.’

  Aneka gave her a smirk. ‘Raise,’ she said.

  New Earth Transit Station Two.

  They walked through the docking bridge two by two, not sure exactly what to expect when they got into the reception lounge at the far side. Drake and Gillian led the group with Aneka and Ella behind them. The tension was almost palpable, even though
they all knew that no one was going to shoot them on sight. Aneka’s view was that the frigates would have blown them apart if that was going to happen. She had not mentioned that to anyone, but she was pretty sure Drake had considered it.

  The first sign was not good; Aneka counted twenty armed marines as soon as she walked into the room, Al putting up a tactical map and initial attack vectors as soon as the carbines were identified. Aneka did not like the odds if any of that were required, but there were other signs that the marines were there for other reasons.

  Ella would have lost the bet. Ape Gibbons, Monkey’s father, was standing towards the rear, a big, imposing figure of a man with a bald head dressed in a green, combat shipsuit. His side arm was in its holster and he looked far more relaxed than Aneka had expected. Of course, that might have been because he had orders to arrest them all; Captain Gibbons was not one of Aneka’s biggest fans.

  The Dean of the university was there, towards the rear with a few other people who looked important. Aneka recognised one of them, a Senator she had seen at a party. Ollander, Diana; Al supplied the name as she saw the face, along with a note saying that she was New Earth’s Representative on the Senate. Aneka figured the others were Representatives or something similar, but she had never met them.

  Up front, and obviously waiting to meet them, was a tall man, well-built and dressed in an immaculate, grey suit with a very fine but opaque Nusilk shirt under it, and Winter. The head of security for the Federation was dressed in one of her skirt suits, though the blouse was quite sheer and the skirt a little shorter than Aneka usually saw her in. Her pretty but generally unassuming face was as unreadable as ever. Her companion was wearing a smile, but it was the sort of smile Aneka associated with liars. Or, if not actual liars, then consummate politicians. It was he who spoke.

  ‘Captain Drake, Doctor Gilroy… And Miss Jansen I see. Welcome home.’ Aneka was sure she had heard a less sincere greeting, she was just not sure when. ‘As I’m sure you’ve surmised, your return has caused some uproar.’

  Gillian bowed her head in acknowledgement. ‘Senator Elroy. The fact that one of the Council is meeting us would indicate that even if we hadn’t guessed.’

  Al threw up some text for Aneka to read. Elroy was one of fifteen Senators who represented the different races rather than individual planets. Together they made up the Senate Council and were responsible for making policy, which was then ratified by the rest of the Senate. In times of war they could operate without Senate oversight, though that contingency had never had to be enacted. The fact that one of them was here at least suggested the situation was being taken seriously.

  ‘Quite.’ The word was curt and spoke volumes about his attitude. They were causing ripples in his pond and he was not pleased. On the other hand, he was being forced into being nice about it since it was clearly a huge opportunity as well as a can of worms the size of a battleship. ‘The press have got wind of it, of course. I’m afraid you won’t be able to go home immediately. We need a full debrief and a discussion of what we’re going to tell them. We have a shuttle waiting to take us all down to the surface and these people all have questions they want to ask on the way. Then we’ll be sequestering you for a day or two.’

  Drake nodded. ‘Understandable.’

  ‘Good. Let’s get moving.’

  ~~~

  Aneka had a pretty good idea who wanted to talk to her once the private, and very plush, shuttle was on its way down from high orbit. Ape Gibbons, however, got in while Winter was talking to Elroy.

  The big man sat down in the seat beside her with a sigh and Aneka forced herself not to stiffen. ‘I saw some of the video the scouts collected from your deposition,’ he said without preamble. ‘You wanted to leave as soon as you could. It was Gillian who stopped you.’ Not really sure what to say, Aneka nodded. ‘That was where you were built. You could say it was your home world.’

  ‘I did think of that, yes.’

  ‘But you wanted everyone away from there, back to their homes.’

  ‘And my home. New Earth is where I live now.’

  Gibbons nodded. ‘I was wrong about you.’ It sounded as though it took a lot of effort to make the admission. ‘You’re more Jenlay than you are Xinti. Thank you for thinking of my son and Gillian.’ He held out his hand, palm upward. Aneka did the same and, satisfied that neither were holding weapons, they shook. ‘I may not like what you are,’ he said, ‘but I can’t deny that the mind in there is a good one.’

  ‘Thank you, Captain.’

  ‘Ape,’ he replied. ‘You’re not in the Navy and we’re not on my ship. I’m supposed to discuss weaponry with you once…’ He stopped as Winter appeared beside them, turning a seat around so she could sit down facing them.

  ‘Captain Gibbons,’ Winter acknowledged and then turned to Aneka. ‘How are you feeling? The experience cannot have been an entirely pleasant one for you.’

  ‘There were a few shocks,’ Aneka replied, ‘but nothing I couldn’t handle. You wanted to discuss weaponry?’

  Accepting the change of subject, Winter said, ‘We need to know what threat these AIs represent should they turn aggressive.’

  ‘All right, making the assumption that they would, they have devices on the drawing board which can wipe out stars. They can drop a wormhole into any area of space they like and send ships through it. You’d never know they were coming. Basically, if they decided to wipe out the Federation, they almost certainly could, and quickly.’

  Gibbons’ face went ashen. ‘You’re saying that there would be no hope?’

  ‘If they went to war the only advantage we would have is numbers. In a straight battle, maybe, we would have the upper hand, but they wouldn’t engage in a conflict like that.’

  ‘The subtext you are not so subtly pushing,’ Winter commented, ‘is that they would not, in fact, attack us.’

  Aneka shook her head. ‘Not unless we attack them. They want to engage with the Federation, teach us what they know. If they can’t have that then they want to be left alone. I think they would defend themselves, but they won’t strike first.’ She shrugged. ‘If we do, it’s suicide.’

  ‘We’ve beaten the Xinti before,’ Gibbons countered.

  ‘With Torem help,’ Winter replied. ‘Using weapons they claim no longer function or were used up in the war.’

  ‘And these aren’t Xinti,’ Aneka added. ‘They’re AIs who have been expanding on the science the Xinti had a thousand years ago. They have technology more advanced than anything that was used in the last war and they can deploy it with the precision of computers.’

  Gibbons sank back in his seat. He looked rather more relaxed than Aneka had expected. ‘Do you think you can be that convincing in front of a few vice admirals?’

  ‘Between Drake and me, we can be pretty convincing, yeah. You think we need to be?’

  ‘There have been some rumblings. The Admiralty want to set up contingency plans in case we “have to” attack. I’ve heard rumours that the Herosians want to mount a pre-emptive strike.’ He looked at Winter, raising an eyebrow.

  ‘I cannot verify such a rumour,’ Winter said. The woman was almost impossible to read, but the way she said it suggested she had, at least, heard the same rumour.

  ‘If they want to make plans for war,’ Aneka said firmly, ‘then they should be evacuation plans. Anything else is just wasting lives.’

  The Islands, New Earth, 20.12.524 FSC.

  ‘If we’re in prison,’ Ella said softly, ‘I could get used to incarceration.’ She was lying in Aneka’s arms looking out towards the huge picture window which formed one wall of their room. Beyond that was a lawn, a rocky beach, and then the ocean. Aneka could see the two marines on the beach who formed part of the continuous perimeter patrol, and she knew the window was armoured, but the view was idyllic.

  They had been taken to an unused diplomatic facility on one of the islands off the coast of Mericiana, the main continent of New Earth. The monorail to Yorkbridge did no
t stretch out this far; like many of the islands it had its own landing pad and they had arrived by vertol aircraft. The facility was entirely self-contained, and was obviously meant to put up a visiting delegation in style, comfort, and safety. There was even a secure bunker under the main building, just in case.

  ‘We should get up,’ Aneka said. ‘It’s almost eight and we’ll have a horde of politicians and admirals arriving at nine.’

  ‘Okay,’ Ella said with a sigh. ‘But we shower together.’ Aneka chuckled; that explained her lack of resistance.

  ~~~

  Diplomacy was not one of Aneka’s major virtues; she had been taught it, but had never really liked having to use what she learned. The four Vice Admirals she and Drake were having to deal with were testing her patience to the limit. Drake, thankfully, seemed to be more used to dealing with the upper levels of naval command. She was allowing him to do much of the talking, supplying technical details where needed.

  Gibbons had been right. It seemed that these men had been sent to concoct battle plans with the implicit assumption that the AIs would turn hostile. While Aneka was a firm believer in ‘plan for the worst, hope for the best,’ she was not seeing much hoping going on. These were men who believed that the best defence was a good offence and there seemed to be little point in trying to convince them otherwise.

  Drake was still trying after four tiring hours. ‘You don’t appear to be grasping the basic concept here, gentlemen. Your defensive line will fail because they can drop their ships behind it. Your early warning systems will be useless because they can jump out of nowhere, right on top of you. We do not have the technology to detect an incoming wormhole fast enough to make a difference. The only viable course of action, Vashma forbid it ever come to this, is to get as many people out of the system as possible. Stay mobile. Avoid contact. Hide.’

  ‘I’d expect that response from you, Drake.’ The speaker was Vice Admiral Part, an older man who reminded Aneka of a First World War general, always ready to send other people to die. ‘The Navy does not retreat. We move in and crush our enemies. It’s always worked in the past and it’s the best way to defend our worlds.’