Eden Burning (Fox Meridian Book 7)

by Niall Teasdale

  ‘We’re using one of MarTech’s transports. They’re faster than a typical Earth–Moon shuttle, which would make them harder to hit. However, if they do know you two are aboard, I think they’d make the extra effort. Basically, it’s probably fifty-fifty, so I’ve got everything I could think of for, um, repelling boarders.’

  ‘Huh. I sent you the data on the projects we’re proposing with the UNTPP.’

  ‘And I’m about to start going through them. It’ll keep my mind off other things.’

  ‘Really?’ Mariel asked.

  ‘No, not really, but soon we’ll be too busy worrying about Jackson anyway.’

  ‘Oh. Yes. True.’

  ‘I’m not that bad,’ Jackson said just as the shuttle was pushed back from the gate. ‘Okay. Yes, I am.’

  Aboard The Thynnus, En Route To Luna City.

  Thunnus-class transport ships were a rather pleasing luxury as far as Fox was concerned. Or they had been when she had been human. They were designed to move small numbers of people, in comfort, at speed and over significant distance, and in safety. MarTech Stellar made them and the Thynnus was the one Jackson generally used when travelling in space. It was also used by others, because having a private transport just for Jackson would have been a complete waste of money.

  There were two larger, luxury cabins aboard the ship, and two smaller ones. Fox had insisted that Jackson and Mariel take the larger ones: the trip was going to be less than twelve hours and physical comfort had become less of a concern since Fox had stopped being organic. It did not really matter anyway since all three of them were in Jackson’s room, watching him lie on the bed looking even whiter than usual.

  ‘We should’ve sedated him,’ Fox suggested. ‘I don’t know why he doesn’t put himself out for the duration.’

  ‘He says it’s worse when he comes to,’ Mariel replied.

  ‘I can hear you, you know?’ Jackson said in a voice that wavered a little, but not too much. He was, in fact, not doing as badly as he could have been. The Thynnus had been accelerating at almost a tenth of normal gravity for four hours straight. It was not much, but it gave a direction for down and it was constant; Jackson’s stomach had decided to be good to him after an hour of it. ‘Thank the Lord for Einstein is all I can say.’

  ‘I’m going to assume that’s some reference to gravity,’ Fox said.

  ‘Einstein formulated the idea that, within a fixed referential frame, accelerating at one gravity was indistinguishable from being still on a planet with one gravity. This may only be point zero eight G, but it has an effect and makes me feel a little better. I am going to hate the attitude change when we turn around for the second part of the journey, but that should be relatively quick.’

  Kit appeared beside Fox. As nothing more than a virtual image, she was entirely happy with the lack of gravitation and tripped easily across on her high heels to stand over Jackson. ‘At least we’re not taking the low-thrust route,’ she said. ‘Extended microgravity had me worrying about you a lot.’

  ‘Ah. Now I almost certainly should have been sedated for that trip,’ Jackson admitted, ‘but I was worried about Fox. Even if there was nothing much to actually do, I felt I should be awake in case it needed to be done.’

  ‘You had time to talk to Fei on that trip,’ Fox said. ‘Why the need to do so again? It hasn’t been that long.’

  ‘She’s developing. Her social skills are markedly improving. She’s taking an interest in cybernetics and electronics, intent on obtaining at least the capability of further mobility. Obviously, Terri and Kit are evaluating everything she does and says.’

  ‘We are,’ Kit agreed. ‘To date, we have seen nothing worrying about her interactions with others. Her curiosity appears quite natural.’

  ‘Yes, but even Terri agrees that you two are too close to the project, if you’ll forgive the rather unemotional term, to give an entirely unbiased assessment. Someone less immediately attached needs to take a close look and, given the sensitivity, it needs to be me. Bringing Mariel in is, I feel, an important step.’

  ‘I need to see what we have,’ Mariel said. ‘I can read reports and assessments, but we’re talking about… I want to say we’re talking about a person.’

  Fox nodded. ‘We are. She is. Fei is a “person” as much as I am or Kit is. All three of us aren’t people in the human sense, but we are people. Fei’s a little harder to think that about at times. She’s basically a tank of gunk that looks like a retro lounge ornament. If you only ever see her as the gynoid she remote controls, it’s hard to see her as a thing.’

  Mariel gave a nod and a small smile. ‘I did vote for the nonhuman rights amendment. We’re talking about a person and I’d like to meet that person and make my own assessment.’

  ‘Fair. To date, she understands the constraints she’s under and she seems relatively happy with her situation, but–’

  ‘Excuse the interruption, Miss Meridian.’ The voice came from overhead speakers and belonged to the AI running the ship. He went by the name Ty and, so far as Fox was aware, always piloted when Jackson was aboard, and probably at all times. ‘I am detecting incoming transmissions. A confined beam from something aft of the ship.’

  ‘What kind of transmissions, Ty?’ Jackson asked, frowning.

  ‘Coded binary, Jackson. I am currently unsure of the purp–’

  The cut-off was sudden, as was the almost immediate loss of gravity. Jackson gripped the bed, and Fox and Mariel grabbed onto the nearest chair.

  ‘The engines have shut down,’ Fox said. ‘What the fuck?’ Turning, she pushed off for the door. ‘I’m going to the control room. See if I can figure out what’s going on. Maybe you could follow, Jackson? If you’re up for it.’

  ‘Go ahead. We’ll both join you there.’

  Fox pushed out through a small lounge outside the cabins and across to a corridor which would get her to a ladder up into the control room. She was not going to need the ladder unless the engines restarted. There was no movement when she got there, so she pulled herself up to the hatch at the top and through into a totally dead control room.

  There were physical screens which should have been showing views of the space outside, but they were all blank. There was a command chair with flight controls, but nothing glowed to indicate functionality and the virtual displays which should have been operating were not there. Fox settled into the seat, strapped herself in, and pushed at a few buttons, not expecting a response.

  Kit appeared, standing firmly on the deck despite the lack of gravity. ‘The shipboard wireless network is down. We could plug in directly, but I would not advise it at this time.’

  ‘You think this is a hack? Is that even possible?’

  ‘I don’t know, but I’m having difficulty formulating another way for this to happen. Perhaps when Jackson–’ She stopped as the ship shifted, a turning motion. In the silence of the semi-dead ship, the sound of the thrusters firing was fairly obvious. ‘We’re changing attitude.’

  ‘Yeah. Without a frame of reference, it’s hard to tell how much, but–’

  Gravity reasserted itself as the engines kicked back in at full thrust. There was a muffled curse from the area of the hatch and, a few seconds later, Jackson emerged up the ladder onto the flight deck. He gazed around, frowning deeply, while Mariel followed him.

  ‘Something’s taken over flight functions, Jackson,’ Fox said. ‘Otherwise, we seem to be deaf, dumb, and blind, and we’ve no motor control. Kit suspects a hack, but–’

  ‘A logical conclusion. I’ll see what I can find out. In the meantime, we are not entirely blind. The turrets have windows. I doubt we can get power to the weaponry, but you can look out.’

  ‘On it.’ Fox already had the chair’s harness unlocked. She bounced to her feet and headed to a ladder on the back wall of room.

  The Thunnus ships had been designed, essentially, as luxury yachts. They were streamlined darts, despite the fact that they were never meant to go near an atmosphere. Ahe
ad of the deck with the control room and what was known as the utility segment, the hull narrowed toward a sleek point. Up there, there were two sleek turrets mounting laser cannons and a small fusion reactor designed to power them. The turrets were designed to operate under the ship’s fire-control system, but they had seating and controls, apparently designed for use by an anorexic ten-year-old. Fox squeezed in to the one on the port side and peered out into space through a window which was not exactly large.

  ‘The Moon is not in the right place,’ Kit commented immediately.

  The Moon was, in fact, well to the left. ‘And the engines are firing, so we’re being pushed… Uh, astronavigation was never one of my strong points. Moon’s not behind us, so they haven’t started slowing us early. It’s kind of over there, so… L-five? Would this push us toward L-five?’

  ‘Jackson would know.’

  ‘Yeah…’ Fox peered out into the darkness, scanning for anything she might be able to see beyond the local and far distant stellar bodies. ‘There! That distortion in the starfield. They have got some sort of optical camo. They must have some method of supressing heat signature as well.’

  ‘It’s close,’ Kit said, her voice soft, hushed.

  ‘Pretty close, but we’re accelerating away. It’s done what it was meant to do. It must’ve been on an intercept course.’ Fox frowned. ‘Someone had to know we were coming before we started. They’ve got people monitoring flight plans. Damn it! If these guns worked…’

  ‘Then you might be able to take out that ship, but it would not solve the problem that we have, essentially, been kidnapped.’

  ‘No, but it would make me feel better.’ Fox glowered at the shape in the stars and then began pulling herself out of the turret. ‘You’re right. If anyone’s going to get us out of this, it’s Jackson. Let’s hope he can work one of his miracles while we still have reaction mass to correct the problem.’

  ~~~

  ‘Anything?’ Fox asked as Jackson shuffled into the central lounge.

  He held up a hand and waited until he had settled onto one of the sofas before speaking. ‘Frankly, these are not ideal circumstances for me to play the computer genius.’

  ‘Granted.’

  ‘I managed to persuade the system to dump out its command log. The computer is locked down so tight I can only use the most basic diagnostic commands, the ones designed to be useful even when something goes seriously wrong with the system. I found a stream of commands entered via port seventeen. It’s a priority serial connection used for communication with the transponder unit.’

  Fox frowned. ‘I thought the transponders were isolated from the other electronics. They’re supposed to be secured so you can’t tamper with them. They’re black boxes.’

  ‘Spaceship engineering is not one of my major areas of study,’ Jackson admitted. ‘However, I recall the basics because I viewed it as a short-sighted policy. Transponder units are produced by only two or three companies under direct licence from the UN Space Standards Authority. They are built as sealed units, black boxes, so that everyone uses the same standards. All ships, all civilian ships, are required to have one. Most military vessels are fitted with them. However, they require power and this serial connection. Anyone wishing to turn their transponder off simply needs to cut the power, though there is an internal battery which will run the system for some time. The serial connection is used for a number of things. The transponder acts as a “black box recorder” in case of accident and can be instructed to transmit an emergency message, uh, in emergencies. There is also a mechanism for the transponder to receive specifically coded messages which cause it to send alert messages to the computer. There’s a specific command it should use for that, but the standards state that the channel should be fed to a standard console input.’

  ‘If I remember my computer science classes, that means they could actually send anything they want through that channel. And you said it was a priority port, so I’m assuming it’s got some sort of command authority?’

  ‘Precisely. Of course, the protocol is secret and the keys required to formulate the commands are secret. Only the “right” people are supposed to be able to use them and they are only allowed to use them for emergency messaging…’

  ‘If I wasn’t on a hijacked ship heading for God only knows where, I’d be on the floor, laughing my guts up. Uh, figuratively. I don’t have guts.’

  ‘It’s the kind of short-sighted policy decisions I’ve come to expect when politicians are given control of technical solutions. That does not help us, however. The command sequence shut down the AI in command, and just about everything else, and then programmed in a sequence of manoeuvres which, were I a navigator, I’m sure could be used to work out precisely where we were going. I do believe that last attitude change put us on a deceleration trajectory. We’re slowing down.’

  Fox nodded. ‘I don’t think they’re planning to slam this ship into a planet or whatever. I think this is a kidnapping, and I can’t help but wonder whether they’ve done the same to anyone else.’

  ~~~

  ‘Why haven’t you jumped Jackson’s bones yet?’ There was a curious, almost plaintive, tone in Fox’s voice, but that did not stop Mariel from bursting into a coughing fit as she tried to avoid exhaling her coffee. Jackson was up on the flight deck, fiddling with the computers again.

  ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ Mariel said. Fox stared at her. ‘Jackson doesn’t think of me that way.’

  ‘Better attempt, but I think he does. Maybe not as much as you’d like him to, but he’s human, male, and still alive. You’re an attractive woman and he has noticed that.’

  ‘And he’s still in love with Lysandra.’

  ‘Yes, and he always will be. That doesn’t mean he can’t have feelings for someone else. You’re friends. Good friends. It’s a good way to start and needn’t be an obstacle to something deeper.’

  ‘Yes, but–’

  ‘Consider this the voice of experience, if it helps, but don’t wait. Don’t assume you can do something tomorrow, because there might not be one.’

  Mariel’s brow furrowed. ‘What if he says no?’

  ‘I may be reading this wrong, but I don’t think he will. Anyway, if you’re always afraid of what might happen, you’ll never get anything done. Carpe diem, Mariel. Carpe that diem and don’t let go.’

  Luna City.

  Terri glanced at the gynoid beside her. ‘Anything?’

  Kit shook her head. ‘I’m contacting BioTek to see whether they have any data. Currently, the Thynnus is not showing up on Luna City’s traffic control system.’

  ‘They’re an hour overdue, Kit.’

  ‘I know.’ Kit appeared quite calm. Her gynoid body showed no signs of distress and her voice was steady. If you knew her, however, the short answer with no attempt to comfort was a sure sign that she was concerned. ‘I believe we should return to Jenner and you should get some rest.’

  ‘Kit–’

  ‘A couple of hours. BioTek will review their logs and check for the Thynnus’s transponder code. I will converse with Fei and the facility’s security team regarding a best course of action. They are an hour overdue, but we have not been told of any “accidents.” This may be a simple case of mechanical failure, in which case we will have a rescue ship underway before you wake up. Otherwise, we will review what we have and act accordingly.’

  Feeling like she wanted to argue, but knowing Kit was probably right, Terri turned to head for the gate they had left their shuttle at. ‘When did you turn kind of bossy?’ Humour to deflect the tension; Terri was a little annoyed that, being a psychologist, she knew that was what she was doing.

  ‘Fox says that it’s been since she gave me my command keys.’

  ‘Interesting.’

  ‘I’ve initiated a small study to determine whether that was, in fact, a trigger or whether other factors were involved.’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘My friend Misaki has recently been
“freed.” She has a very unassuming personality, so if she turns bossy, I think we can definitely say that presenting an AI with their command keys results in… an assertive AI.’

  ‘And if she doesn’t?’

  Kit’s lips curled a little. ‘Then I suppose we’ll have determined that I’m just a bossy AI. Now, hop to it, we’ve a shuttle to catch.’

  Terri shook her head and stretched her legs. ‘I don’t think Misaki’s going to turn bossy at all…’

  The Thynnus, 27th August.

  Fox lifted her head as Jackson walked in from his cabin. In turn, he looked at her. ‘You’re wearing a vacuum suit,’ he commented.

  ‘I am, and you and Mariel will be. Couldn’t sleep?’

  He smiled, thinly. ‘It was a good idea, and I think I managed a couple of hours, but low gravity doesn’t work for me and the circumstances are far from ideal. You finished your cycle?’

  ‘Uh-huh, and I’m fully charged. I’ve also made a few preparations for… whatever happens next, but I need the two of you ready to handle a vacuum if necessary.’

  ‘You think it’ll come to a fight?’

  Fox gave a small shrug. ‘I think it’s going to come to a fight at some point. I’m just not sure when. Or where.’

  The door to Mariel’s room opened and Mariel stepped into it, leaning on the frame and rubbing at her eyes. ‘I heard voices.’ Half a sleepy mumble. Her black, shoulder-length hair was tousled, and she was dressed in a thin, camisole top and boy-shorts, and she did not really look her forty-seven years, though Fox knew that was down to health and good genetics. Jackson blushed a little and turned his head to appear not to be looking; yes, Jackson was not entirely unaware of Mariel’s appeal.

  ‘Jackson had trouble sleeping,’ Fox said. ‘I did my four hours and… Well, I don’t exactly sleep.’

  ‘One day, I’m going to sit down and talk to you about the whole Akh thing. Perhaps when I know we’re all walking away from this.’

  ‘We will,’ Jackson said. ‘Fox hasn’t failed me yet and she won’t fail us now.’

  ‘Yeah, well,’ Fox said, frowning. ‘You haven’t failed me either. I want you both in suits as soon as possible, but first, some basic strategy. I think this is a kidnapping. I think it’s the same group as the one running the Seattle camp so they’ve been collecting people to keep “safe” from the coming war. Maybe they somehow hoped to grab Jackson some other way and this is just luck. Maybe they just went for it when they saw the flight plan filed.’