by Jeff Carlson
His silence unsettled her more than the idea that he’d been crushed by a rock slide or ripped apart in a fight. What was he doing down there? How could he ignore their broadcasts? Had he asked the sunfish to destroy their other probes?
They’d tracked him as often as possible. It helped that he was sixty percent metal, but they couldn’t always penetrate the rock islands or the seas—and when they had been able to study him, he’d acted like a sunfish.
He seemed to have returned to the feral state in which he’d first joined the tribe. Tom described Lam as a leader now, a favored companion of the matriarchs, although his status was hindered by his sterility.
In other ways, his artificial nature had boosted his prestige. When he’d revealed himself as a human construct, Lam had disfigured one of his arms, peeling off his skin to expose the alumalloy beneath. The flesh at the base of this limb had healed in an ugly ring of scar tissue. Tom had sung about its glorious feel and taste.
Lam’s metal arm was an emblem of power to the lesser males and a challenge to the matriarchs. He deferred to them, adding his might to their leadership, but he was a wild card.
He was the final piece of the ESA puzzle. His presence among Top Clan Eight-Six was why Vonnie had wanted to call Sergeant Tavares when the tribe fled. As the sunfish passed beneath the FNEE relays, Vonnie had hoped to hit Lam with a slavecast. A close-range beam might have reactivated his data/comm systems, which he’d turned off when he’d abandoned everything above the ice.
Will he—can he—help us? she wondered.
“Sir, no response to our CEW codes,” Ash said. “Fifty seconds to intercept.”
“Prepare for evac,” Koebsch said.
“Hold on.” O’Neal posted a new sim on the group feed. “I’ve been differentiating among their sonar calls. Most of the sunfish are the larger breed.”
Vonnie’s eyes widened. “Are they chasing the smaller sunfish?” she asked.
“Definitely not,” O’Neal said. “The two breeds are intermingled. There are larger and smaller sunfish together in the lead element and in the main pack.”
“I confirm Ash’s count,” Ben said. “Sixteen in front, fifty-eight behind. Lam is with the lead element.”
He pinpointed one shape among the sunfish, a dense metal signature unlike the others’ flesh and blood. The metal shape thrashed among its companions, who tumbled up through the catacombs in a berserker cloud.
“Both groups are biting and flailing at each other, but the violence is universal,” Ben said. “They’re all doing it.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Koebsch asked.
“They’re inciting each other to attack,” Dawson said.
Vonnie shook her head. “No, they’re not. We saw the same bonding ritual when the survivors of Top Clan Two-Four merged with Eight-Six. They’re becoming a single tribe. The sunfish in the lead element are their scouts. The main pack consists of warriors and matriarchs.”
“The different breeds don’t work together,” Dawson said. “They’re natural enemies.”
“Can you translate their calls?” Vonnie asked.
“It’s inconclusive,” O’Neal said. “Aggression. Conquest. They’re warning other tribes to stay out of their way.”
“They always threaten other tribes.”
“Five seconds to intercept,” Ash said. Her countdown had reached the final mark.
“I am arming Warhead Number Four,” Ribeiro said, and Vonnie shouted: “Koebsch, don’t let him fire! We asked Top Clan Eight-Six to introduce us to more sunfish!”
“Weapons tight,” Koebsch said. “Do not fire.”
“Sir, I’m… picking up a signal,” Ash said reluctantly. “It’s encrypted. It has Von’s ID in the recognition codes.”
“It’s Lam. It has to be.”
“Answer the signal,” Koebsch said.
“Yes, sir,” Ash said. “The sunfish are past the FNEE diggers, sir. I’m beginning a new countdown. They’ll reach the hollows beneath our camp in two minutes.”
Koebsch was overwhelmed with the proxies and a private channel to Ribeiro. Even so, he asked, “What can I do?”
“Transmitting CEW codes now,” Ash said. “I’m using Von’s ID, and I’ve realigned our mecha to act as a directional composite. He should be able to hear us loud and clear.”
“Why don’t we see a response?”
“I don’t know. Ninety seconds.”
“He may be damaged,” Vonnie suggested as Ben said, “The lead element is splitting in half.”
“They’re coming toward Submodule 07!” Dawson cried.
“Affirmative,” Ash said. “Eight of them are moving toward camp, eight toward Submodule 07. Contact in eighty seconds.”
As the sunfish darted laterally through the ice, Dawson yelled, “Lam is strong enough to tear through the access tube! Good Lord, Koebsch! Fire!”
“Those bombs won’t do any good now,” Ben said.
“We can send our mecha into combat,” Ribeiro said. “They are outnumbered, but they will make the tribe think twice.”
“Do it! Protect us!”
The pressure on Koebsch was immense. Would he order the mecha to fight or tell his pilots to evacuate?
Thrumming with adrenaline, Vonnie bit her lip and drew blood, barely noticing the sting as she paged through their sims for any proof of the tribe’s intentions. Too late. Koebsch tipped his head at Ribeiro and said, “We should have had a response if Lam is on our side. Tell the mecha—”
“Sir, I’m receiving an open broadcast,” Ash said.
Vonnie wasn’t sure what she expected. The high-pitched screeches of a sunfish? Garbled data? Koebsch had prepared their grid to repel the subversive assaults of a hostile AI, but when Ash punched a key on her display, they heard English in a calm male voice. —This is Choh Lam on channels one through eight. I can feel your radar, so you’ve confirmed I’m with the tribe. Let me speak to Von.
“Ash, tell him you are Vonnie,” Koebsch said. “Ask him what they’re doing.”
“I can talk to him!” Vonnie said.
“No. Our module has better resources.” Koebsch gestured for Ash to proceed.
“Lam, it’s Von,” Ash said, using a simple electronic mask. It lowered her voice. She sounded like Vonnie as she asked, “Are we under attack? What is the tribe’s objective?”
His reply was gibberish, although his tone remained unnaturally calm:
—Christmas shell what if music women.
On the group feed, everyone stared at each other. “He’s dysfunctional,” Koebsch said as Dawson cried, “The sunfish are almost here!”
“Try again,” Koebsch said. “When he answers, I want a brute force override. We might be able to turn him against them if necessary. Hit him with everything we’ve got.”
“Yes, sir,” Ash said. “Lam, this is Von. Do you copy? Please acknowledge.”
Silence.
“Lam? Are you there?” Ash scowled and turned to Koebsch. “Sir, no response.”
“Radar shows him leaping among the other sunfish with a specific pattern of arm movements,” O’Neal said. “Some of them are repeating it. I’ll have a translation soon.”
“Tell us what you can,” Koebsch said, and O’Neal posted his sims in a flurry of piecemeal words:
LAM: Four Two Four / Two.
ALL SUNFISH: We are
LAM: Louder / Closer.
ALL SUNFISH:
“It looks like more boasting and cruelty. It’s always boasting and cruelty,” Dawson said in a faint voice until Ben cut him off.
“You keep acting like they’re you,” Ben said. “They’re not. They don’t think like human beings.”
“Their song is full of threat displays!”
“The two breeds are new to each other,” O’Neal said. “They’re still integrating. That makes them vulnerable as a tribe, so they’re scaring off their enemies.”
“What if we are their enemy
?” Ribeiro’s gaze burned with frustration as he spoke from his command module. “Eight sunfish from the lead element have reached our camp. They are swarming the mecha beneath us. They have knocked three diggers and a beacon to the ground.”
“Sir, the rest of their lead element has entered the cavern with Submodule 07,” Ash said. “We lost two relays and a listening post. They tore ‘em apart.”
“If the sunfish cause a blowout…” Dawson said.
“They won’t,” Ben said.
“They’ve used suicides before.”
“A few males sacrificed themselves to preserve the tribe,” Ben said. “That’s their way. But they wouldn’t bring seventy individuals to breach the surface. You’re not worth that many lives, old man.”
Vonnie managed a bleak smile. More than ever, she appreciated Ben’s passion and insight. She wanted to join him in ridiculing Dawson, trying to defuse the moment, but most of her attention was focused on a last-ditch analysis of Lam’s broadcasts. She knew what his strange words meant. She also worried at his tone. He hadn’t sounded like a lonely human being or a conflicted AI. In fact, he’d demonstrated the total self-assurance of a sunfish.
Koebsch is right, she thought. As much as I’d like to believe otherwise, Lam is dangerous.
She’d dealt with him twice before in crisis situations. Each time, he’d been a cunning opponent. First he’d been killed beneath the ice—the real him, a scrupulous man who’d loved Europa for its secrets.
Vonnie had resurrected Lam’s personality and intelligence from his mem files. Blinded by the hideous wounds in her face, she’d needed an AI to lead her through the catacombs. Unfortunately, Lam had tried to assume control of her scout suit, acting more like a virus than a true AI. Her bloody fights against the sunfish had occurred simultaneously with her quiet battles to outwit him.
In the end, she’d won, restoring a good portion of his mind. Lam had saved her life, but Koebsch had ordered him erased. If the ESA was caught using the ghost of a Chinese astronaut, the scandal could cause new political pressures on Earth or military posturing on Europa.
We’ve been enemies too many times, Vonnie thought as she finished her data analysis. He was a great friend. Now he’s not human anymore. I don’t know what he is. Machine? Sunfish?
“Administrator Koebsch, I request permission to protect my team!” Ribeiro said. “The lead element has destroyed our mecha. They are clawing at the ice.”
“We’re seeing the same thing around Submodule 07!” Dawson said. “Most of our spies have been wiped out! The listening post is disabled! The sunfish are excavating behind 07 or hammering on the access and cargo tubes!”
“The main group will arrive in sixty seconds,” Ash said. “Twelve of them peeled away. They’re going toward 07. The rest are approaching camp. We’re about to have fifty-four sunfish below the FNEE hab modules.”
Ribeiro glared at Koebsch on the group feed. “My officers need time to bring new diggers and gun platforms into position,” he said. “If we choose to defend ourselves, we must act.”
“Begin your preparations,” Koebsch said.
“Stop,” Vonnie said. “Let me talk to Lam.”
“It’s no good, Von. He won’t answer.”
“He isn’t stupid. Even with a mask, Ash doesn’t sound like me. She talks faster and she said ‘objectives’ when I’d say ‘What do they want?’”
“You think he knew it was her?”
“He knew it wasn’t me. That gibberish was a test.”
Koebsch nodded. “I got some of it,” he said. “Christmas Bauman was the American with your crew. She and Lam died when he tagged a shell in the ice.”
“That’s right. ‘What if music women’ were more prompts for me. He’s suspicious, and I can’t blame him.”
“Here they come,” Ash said.
Beneath the ESA/FNEE camp, a billowing wave of eight-armed bodies filled the ice. A smaller, similar bunch joined Lam around Submodule 07.
“They’re screaming at maximum volume,” O’Neal said. “The separate groups are communicating with each other. They’re synchronizing. Radar shows the same pattern of arm movements in every sunfish.”
“That’s unlikely,” Harmeet said. “Their pedicellaria and arm displays can’t be conveyed except in close proximity.”
“They’re doing it anyway,” O’Neal said. “I’m tracking the same message over and over. ‘Four two, four two.’ Christ. Listen to our sonar.”
I can feel it, Vonnie thought.
Their song was a malevolent buzzing. The floor quivered and her bones hummed. Vonnie felt transfixed until Ash said, “They look like a pile of fucking snakes.”
Vonnie glanced at the rest of their crews. Finding revulsion in Dawson and Ribeiro wasn’t a surprise, but Tony looked skittish, which was discouraging. Even Harmeet’s round, motherly face was wrought with stress.
The sunfish raged at the ice.
“They’re working themselves into some kind of frenzy,” O’Neal said. “It’s like a colony’s affirmation ritual, but there are new undertones.”
“We need to decide what it means,” Koebsch said.
O’Neal spread his hands. “I don’t know. An affirmation ritual builds to a climax. This song, this dance… they’re sustaining it.”
“Our mecha are positioned at the air lock,” Ribeiro said.
“Don’t you dare crash in there and start shooting,” Vonnie said. “Koebsch, I can talk to Lam!”
“Let her do it,” Ben said. “Ribeiro is misreading their behavior. The sunfish aren’t trying to bring down the cavern walls. They’re searching for more beacons and spies, and the FNEE diggers weren’t destroyed. They were crippled. The sunfish only hurt ‘em.”
“They did more than that,” Ash said. “They broke the diggers’ legs and eyes.”
“A sunfish would heal from similar wounds, and it’s normal for them to treat newcomers roughly,” Ben said. “We should have told our mecha to resist. The sunfish wouldn’t expect anyone to accept a beating. They’re probably confused. They might be angry. They wanted a dialogue.”
“They’re waiting for us to greet them,” Vonnie said.
“A few of them have stopped screaming,” O’Neal said. “Lam is pounding his metal arm against 07. He’s using it like a drum. Their tempo is increasing.”
“He’s banging on the hatch,” Ash said.
“Shit.” Koebsch looked at Vonnie. “Call him.”
She opened a public channel on her display and cleared her throat. She wanted to sound brave, even cavalier. How much of her anxiety was due to the bone-ringing sonar from the tribe? “Lam, it’s me,” she said. “There are some extremely nervous people up here who can’t wait to use their big guns. Tell me what’s going on.”
—Bajonette we embraced just like them.
The emotions his words evoked were bittersweet. She would have liked to remember their best experiences, not their worst, but she shared his mistrust. The gulf between them had grown too wide. In fact, she wasn’t sure what he meant by just like them, although she recognized his other clues.
“That was Ash on the radio before,” she said. “Now it’s really me.” To prove herself, she responded to his code words. She said, “I hugged you before we entered the tunnel for the first time. The last time. Then I tried to kill you with emergency order Bajonette.”
His answer was swift. —Switch to Encryption I.
“Switching now,” she said. She keyed new codes on her display, but Koebsch said, “You can’t let him isolate your feed. He could hack your station.”
“He wants to make sure we don’t hack into him,” she said. “Otherwise he won’t talk. What’s the risk? Cut me out of the group feed. If it’s a trap, we might lose one station. But if he can help us, this is our chance.”
“I have early warning alerts from 07,” Ash said. “Lam is beginning to affect the pressure seals on the hatch.”
“We have a bigger problem,” Ben said. “Their sonar i
s physically affecting the ice. It’s almost like a quake. If they don’t stop…”
“Cracks are opening on the north perimeter!” Ribeiro shouted. “Our sensors register outgassing!”
He posted FNEE sims that overlaid his cameras with radar and ultraviolet. Hairline cracks had split the ice. Wisps of atmosphere bled from the open spaces beneath them, no more than a few molecules, but the air was white-hot compared to the vacuum on the surface.
The ice lifted and sagged. Many of the narrow gaps melted shut. Others widened.
“Christ,” Koebsch said. “Oh Christ. Von, call him.”
Her display went dark when Koebsch removed her from the group feed. He left open a single band to one of their overseers: the counter-electronic warfare AIs who swam in a tachyon-fast world of sabotage and control programs. The overseer would monitor her communications with Lam, sifting through each bit of data. It had the authority to edit or block his signals. It could also attack as it saw fit.
Lam had asked her to use ‘Encryption I,’ an obsolete code from weeks ago. The ESA was no longer using AZ codes at all. Crypto changed daily, sometimes hourly.
Was it a trick?
He shouldn’t have the capacity to fox our systems, she thought, not unless he’s dedicated most of his computing power to assembling an SCP. Every time the real sunfish slept, he could have been arranging code… but he can’t hate us that much, can he?
The floor shuddered. “Hold on!” Ash yelled. Below her, Vonnie imagined the sunfish howling. They were a perfect diversion if Lam’s utmost goal was revenge.
He’d arranged for her to contact him on his terms. If he’d prepared a cyber attack, it would start now.
“Lam?” she said.
8.
His tone was nothing like the aloof, calculated delivery of his prior broadcasts. He sounded human. He sounded rushed and afraid. —Von, help me.
“What do the sunfish want?”
—I know you. You’ll fight for me because I’m with the tribe. Because it’s wrong. Because it’s right. Your voice is why they listened to you.
“Say again? You’re not making sense.”