Steel Beneath the Skin

by Niall Teasdale

  ‘You didn’t come back to the station with them.’

  ‘No. No I didn’t’

  ‘Would you care to explain that?’

  Aneka started walking, stepping around the big man. ‘No, I wouldn’t. If you want to know what I was doing, you’ll have to make a request through your command chain to the Federal Security Agency.’ Making him angry was probably not the best course of action, but Winter had been very clear on the matter; Aneka’s participation in the events on Harriamon was need-to-know only.

  He did not try to stop her, however. ‘I’ll be keeping an eye on you, Jansen.’

  ‘That’s not your job, Captain,’ she said over her shoulder. ‘I’ve got people queuing up to look at me with every kind of sensor there is. Some friendly advice, don’t get in the way too much or someone will get pissed.’

  He said nothing more as she walked away, but she doubted this was the last she was going to see of him.

  Part Four: Terra Nova

  FScV Garnet Hyde, 29.11.523 FSC.

  Watching the stars on a video screen was not the same as doing it live, but it was the only way to do it at warp speed, and the screen in the science lab was huge. Aneka sat watching the stars because she needed a break from studying and you did not get the chance to watch stars from space too often.

  Well, she thought, perhaps she would if she continued working for the university. She could not go into cold sleep, which meant she would be awake for journeys between the stars. It gave her plenty of time to study more, familiarise herself with equipment, and learn more about the society she was about to jump into, but it meant someone had to be awake with her. There had to be a way around that. Currently both Gillian and Ella were happy to do it so they could begin the detailed analysis work on their finds. Next trip, however, there would be nothing to analyse until they got there. So, one of her projects on the one-hundred and ninety-two day trip to New Earth was to come up with a way to put herself into suspended animation.

  The thought occurred that she was thinking of Doctor Gilroy as Gillian now. There had just been the three of them awake on the ship for the last nineteen days and Gillian had been spending part of each day interviewing Aneka about Old Earth. It was something of a two-way exchange; Aneka would explain some aspect of the society she had come from and that would generally result in a discussion of how it differed from Federation society. The more they talked, the more Aneka felt she knew the woman.

  It might also have been Ella’s fault. Well, fault was the wrong world, but she had suggested cutting down on the resource usage on the ship by having everyone move into Gillian’s room. She had a double bed and while Aneka was a fairly large woman, neither Ella nor Gillian were. They all fitted, and they could shut down air circulation in one of the cabins. They had managed to be restrained for three nights. It was not like they were shagging like bunnies every night, but it was hard to call a woman by her surname after you had had her face between your legs. Damn she was good too! Aneka squirmed a little in her seat.

  Gillian chose that moment to walk into the dark lab. ‘Lights,’ she said and then jumped when she saw Aneka sat in front of the monitor. ‘Sorry, I didn’t know you were in here.’

  Aneka gave her a smile. ‘I was just thinking about you, and watching the stars.’

  ‘No bad thoughts I hope, though thinking of me while watching stars sounds rather romantic.’

  Aneka laughed. ‘The two things weren’t related. My mind was just wandering. I realised I’ve started thinking of you as Gillian rather than Doctor or Gilroy, or some combination.’

  Gillian smiled, wandering over to one of the terminals and sliding herself onto the stool in front of it. ‘I’d imagine it’s the sex. It’s hard not to use someone’s given name when you’ve seen them in orgasm.’

  ‘I was thinking something similar.’ Aneka lifted from her seat and wandered over to stand behind Gillian’s right shoulder. ‘You two are so good at it. I mean, I muddle through and I hope I’m giving back what I get, but…’

  ‘I’ve been quite satisfied, I assure you. It’s practice, partially. Ella practices whenever she can and I’ve been doing it for… ninety years. You’re young, you’ll learn. Though we do have a slight advantage over you.’

  ‘Sorry?’

  ‘There’s been a little genetic tinkering since your time. There was a phase before the Long Dark when people were tweaking the genome a fair amount. These days there are manipulations done to weed out defects and socially unacceptable mental characteristics, but back then they were into boosting IQ, adapting humans for space, things like that. Most of those have carried through into the Jenlay, and one of them was some tweaking of the genitals.’

  Aneka grimaced. ‘You’re kidding.’

  ‘Oh no. You won’t find many small men. They wanted thicker and longer. So the women had to be able to take longer penises without discomfort, and the women wanted bigger, better, easier orgasms. You must have noticed that there’s a muscle reaction when we get excited, a milking action? That was put in when the men started being able to fuck for hours without coming. As best we can tell, it was a sort of sensual arms race, and we’re the result.’ She chuckled. ‘A friend of mine in college had inherited a rare gene which made her nipples intensely sensitive. She couldn’t wear a bra and she’d come if you sucked on one for a few seconds.’

  ‘Ouch, that had to be a pain.’

  Gillian shrugged, her fingers working over the keys. ‘She was a big hit with the boys. Of course, you have some physical advantages which you could learn to use to make up for our genetic advantages. Your strength, for example. Your senses…’

  Aneka’s eyes followed the glyphs moving across the screen. ‘What are you working on? Those are Xinti characters, aren’t they? But they don’t make any sense.’

  ‘Quite. This is from the databank the xinti robots gave you. It seems to be encrypted, and the computer has had no luck with decrypting it yet.’

  ‘Do you want Al to take a crack at it? He’s stupid fast and he is actually a xinti computer.’

  She gave a little shrug. ‘I don’t see why not. As far as we know these are historical records related to the war. There’s no harm in anyone looking and, as it stands, no one can. I’ve uploaded several files to the ship’s server, pull one down and see what you can do.’

  Al was already busy downloading one of the smaller files having anticipated her request. ‘Working on it.’ She frowned. ‘What’s the definition of a volitional AI?’

  ‘They… have volition? I’m not a cyberneticist. If you want the legal definition, it should be in the Law Codes. There’s a copy in the ship’s library if you want something to help you sleep.’

  Aneka put a hand on Gillian’s shoulder. ‘If I need help sleeping I have more entertaining options.’ In-vision, Al was busy posting updates in his search for the cypher. The names were all in Xinti, but he was flicking through options at remarkable speed.

  Gillian chuckled softly. ‘How am I supposed to get any work done with all this willing, nubile flesh around?’

  ‘Technically, I’m not flesh. Normal flesh anyway. I’ll accept the nubile part, though Ella’s a lot more flexible. Anyway, if I wasn’t here you’d be asleep, so it’s all a bonus.’

  ‘A valid point. I think you’re acclimatising to your new culture very well.’ She sighed and tapped the console’s attention button. ‘Gilroy to Narrows. What are you doing, Ella?’

  Ella’s voice, sounding bored, came from the speaker a second later. ‘Playing robot. I figured I’d go through the finds catalogue, check everything against the labels and see if there was anything we missed.’

  ‘I see. Finish up whatever you’re currently processing and report to my cabin.’

  ‘Yes, Doctor.’ Ella sounded a little surprised at Gillian’s tone.

  Gillian tapped the intercom off. ‘Do you think that sounded stern enough?’ She slid off the stool, locking the terminal as she went. ‘Come on, I haven’t played the stern schoo
lmistress in years. You are a bad influence on me, I’m normally far better at focussing on my work.’ She smiled and started toward the lab door. ‘Of course, I haven’t had a new lover in a decade and novelty is quite the aphrodisiac. Now, when we get there and she comes in, you’ll hold her and I’ll do the spanking…’

  ~~~

  ‘I can’t believe you did that,’ Ella mumbled through the pillow.

  ‘I can’t believe you came three times just from being spanked,’ Aneka replied. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, propped up on one arm. Gillian was taking a shower.

  Ella rolled onto her back, her hair falling over her face. ‘I didn’t know the Doc knew that trick. It’s effectively a sympathetic resonance thing. One of the, um, risks of the way our clitoral organs were restructured.’

  ‘You’re demystifying sexual magic.’ A message appeared in Aneka’s vision field. ‘Al’s cracked the code on your file, Doc.’ She turned to the large display screen on one of the walls as her AI sent the file to it.

  Ella pushed her hair out of her face and focussed on the screen. ‘It looks like this is… the original troop deployment order and mission profile for the robots on Alpha Mensae Four.’

  ‘Not exactly exciting,’ Aneka commented, ‘but he picked one of the smallest files as a test. According to him it’s using the Bol Nar Four-Two-Six algorithm, a “standard, low-grade, military file encryption standard using one-thousand and twenty-four bit encryption keys.” He’s uploaded the decryption software. The ship’s computer should be able to decode the other files easily enough.’

  Gillian emerged from the bathroom cubicle towelling her hair. ‘Computer, begin decrypting files in folder “Xinti Archive” using the uploaded decryption software.’ Animated icons began moving around in a window on the big screen as the computer began its work. ‘Thank Al for us, Aneka. I dare say we could have cracked that back at the university, but we don’t have that kind of raw power available on the ship.’

  Aneka chuckled as an in-vision message appeared to her. ‘He says, “My pleasure.”’

  ‘You were asking about the definition of volitional AIs earlier. You suspect he is one.’

  Aneka’s face straightened. ‘The way he reacts… He’s got initiative. He predicts my needs, does things for me without me asking. He’s never done anything I wasn’t going to ask for anyway, but he has volunteered information. I don’t want to discover I have an illegal computer buried in my chest.’

  ‘If he already exists, then he’s not illegal,’ Ella supplied. ‘It’s creating volitional AIs that’s against the law. And he’s been in there for over a thousand years.’

  ‘True… I think I’ll still look into it. Hey, if the ship’s computer can understand spoken instructions, why do you guys use the keyboard and mouse-pad so much?’

  ‘The “mouse-pad,”’ Gillian repeated, smiling. ‘That’s a term I’ve not heard for it.’

  ‘We used to use a thing called a “mouse” to direct the pointer on the screen. It had a small body with buttons on and a wire which was kind of like a tail so… mouse. This is a touch-sensitive pad to do the same job…’

  Ella giggled. ‘I like that.’

  ‘Voice command is always available,’ Gillian said, ‘but keyboard commands are usually more precise and…’ She reached out to the screen, placing her finger and thumb against one of the files which had been decrypted already. She spread her fingers and the file animated out to show the contents. ‘…gestures can be more efficient for some operations. It’s a matter of selecting the interface option which suits your needs.’

  ‘I’ll get used to all of this eventually.’ She was reading the first part of the file Gillian had opened as she spoke; her eyebrows went up. ‘That looks like something you might find more interesting.’

  Gillian turned and scanned the first few lines. A small squeak came from her throat and Aneka bounced up from the bed, just making it in time to catch the archaeologist as her knees gave out.

  ‘Doc?’ Ella said, concerned. Her eyes flicked up to the screen; Gillian was just making incoherent squeaking noises. ‘D-does that really say “Xinti History, Intra-stellar Expansion Period”?’

  ‘Uh-huh,’ Aneka replied. ‘Could you get some smelling salts or something? Gillian’s feinted.’

  21.12.523 FSC.

  Aneka stood beside Drake’s sleep pod, watching the system cycle through the wake-up procedure. It took around thirty minutes to revive the occupant and, where possible, it was preferred that someone was standing by when the lid finally opened. When the entire crew were asleep it was common practice for the flight crew to be woken first so that they could assist the others, but Drake was going to have the luxury of someone standing by this time. In this case, Drake was waking up for one of the mid-journey flight checks which were mandatory on any trip longer than fifty days. Routine, probably unnecessary, but still mandatory.

  Everything was going according to the book. All the indicators were green, the bio-sign screen showed a steady rise in heart rate and breathing, and a strong EEG. When the lid of the pod finally opened up, Drake let out a groan and sat up, swallowing as though he had been on a drinking binge the night before. Aneka held out a bottle of rehydration fluid and let him drink it down without comment. Sleeping through the trip would be easier, but clearly less pleasant.

  ‘You’re naked,’ he commented, swinging his legs off the bed.

  ‘Yeah,’ Aneka drawled. ‘We’ve taken to playing cards every ten days or so. Something called “Fives?” No money involved, but the loser has to pay a forfeit decided by the winner. I lost and Ella decided that, since I don’t need a ship-suit, I should do without clothes.’

  Drake looked at her, his eyes narrowing. ‘You lost at Fives to Ella.’

  Aneka smirked. Fives was something like poker; a game based as much on bluffing and psychology as it was on the luck of the cards. Ella was lousy at it. ‘She lost three games in a row and we decided to let her win one. She’s convinced she should be good at it.’

  Drake shook his head, picked up another bottle, and got to his feet. ‘Let’s get the work out of the way, then I can have something to eat and go back to sleep.’

  ‘So keen to be back in the freezer,’ Aneka laughed.

  He returned the laugh, heading for the door. ‘No. It’s a question of resource management. The fewer people awake at once the better. Of course, you count as a fraction of a crewmember, but Gillian and Ella are a moderate drain on the recycling systems. We took on extra supplies at Harriamon to be sure we were okay for this run. How are they doing, by the way?’

  They were walking up the spinal corridor of the main deck, Aneka going along because he seemed happy to talk to her. ‘According to Gillian, “We have entered a whole new era of historical knowledge.” Al cracked the encryption on the files in that xinti data store and the two of them have been in archival bliss ever since.’

  ‘Huh, worth staying up for then.’

  ‘Oh yes. I’ve been going through more cultural familiarisation exercises, making sure I understand some of the equipment, stuff like that. Gillian’s been interviewing me about Earth, though that’s dropped off since she got her treasure trove to go through.’

  He chuckled, stopping at the door to the cockpit. ‘Girls with toys. Drake, Captain, ready for routine flight check.’ There was a chime from the control panel, and the door slid open. The air smelled slightly stale, but Aneka could hear the air conditioning working at full power to freshen the room up. ‘Come in if you like,’ Drake added as he walked through the doorway. ‘This won’t take long and we can go down to the mess after.’ Aneka gave a shrug and followed him, hearing the locking latches fall into place as the door closed behind her.

  The control panel flickered into life as Drake settled into his chair. Standard, but highly configurable, video displays were complimented by pseudo-holographic projections which gave additional information to the pilot and were visible wherever he looked. Aneka settled into the co-pilot�
��s seat beside him, pulling one knee up and wrapping her arms around it. She watched as Drake pulled his seat forward and his fingers started to dance over controls. On his left, hanging in the air, a diagnostic display expanded into existence, amber lights turning green as the ship pronounced various systems to be working within parameters.

  ‘You ever get any of those lights turning red?’

  He glanced at her. ‘Occasionally. I’ve never had a major system cause problems outside of a simulation, but I’ve seen the odd problem. The worst thing the Hyde’s ever done to us was have the long range communications system go out on us.’ His fingers moved for a few seconds. ‘I tell a lie. The backup atmosphere processor failed its check-up once. Not bad of itself, but we were flying a hundred parsecs with no backup.’

  Aneka wrinkled her nose. ‘Never good.’

  ‘No, but from what I hear you’re pretty good without backup.’

  No one had really mentioned the Harriamon spaceport incident. They all knew about the hostage situation and that Aneka had come back to the naval station after Ella and Monkey, and they had all seen the news reports stating that an “unknown federal agent” was responsible for taking out the terrorists. No one had asked, but it was not hard for them to put the pieces together knowing what she could do.

  ‘I’m not allowed to discuss that.’

  ‘I know. Ten men in an entrenched position with no possible point of ingress, all the terrorists disabled or killed and four out of eighty hostages lightly hurt in the rescue. Whoever did that, she was fucking amazing.’ Aneka gave him a slight smile over her forearm. ‘Okay,’ he said as the last light changed colour, ‘all green and the nav-system says we’re on course. I don’t suppose you’d be interested in a quick fuck?’ Aneka’s eyes widened as he pushed his chair back and swivelled it around to face her; the bulge in his ship-suit had taken on a more recognisable shape. He shrugged. ‘It was worth asking…’

  ‘I didn’t say no,’ Aneka said quickly, ‘I just wasn’t expecting it. I haven’t actually had a man since I woke up.’