Steel Beneath the Skin

by Niall Teasdale

  ‘We’ve got twenty-five pregnancies,’ Gibbons put in. ‘All the women are going to need counselling. Some of them want the babies gone, others bought into Hunter’s propaganda and want to raise good little soldiers for humanity.’

  ‘You can’t get rid of the unwanted pregnancies?’ Aneka asked. ‘Some of them didn’t look far gone.’ Ella gave her a horrified look. ‘What?’

  ‘Abortion is illegal, Miss Jansen,’ Winter explained. ‘Well, under extreme circumstances the procedure is allowed to save the life of the mother, but otherwise it’s classed as murder. When everyone can voluntarily control their reproduction it’s considered your problem if you’re stupid enough to get pregnant by accident.’ Aneka opened her mouth to speak, but Winter went on. ‘I understand that some of these women have been given drugs to remove their volition, but the law still stands. We can arrange adoption where the child isn’t wanted.’

  ‘You had abortion back then?’ Ella asked, still looking shocked.

  ‘Depended on local law, but yes,’ Aneka replied. ‘We didn’t have perfect contraception, we did have lousy sex education and a lot of stupid people. Though even some of the stricter states would grant permission in the case of rape, which is essentially the situation here.’

  ‘Very well,’ Winter said, bringing the morality discussion to a close, ‘the situation seems to be contained for now. Captain, if you would make haste back to New Earth we’ll continue the debriefings there. I want to get my team going over Hunter’s operation and I’m sure Miss Jansen and Miss Narrows are keen to be back in their own home.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Ella said, ‘just a little.’

  Part Seven: Facilitating Change

  Tristar Township, New Earth, 6.7.524 FSC.

  The entire crew of the Garnet Hyde had decided they wanted physical proof that Aneka and Ella were okay, so Gillian was hosting what amounted to a pool party. Aneka was pretty sure that it would have involved more sex if everyone was not tip-toeing around Ella. As it was there were instances where couples would vanish for a while and return later looking satisfied. Ella was quietly ignoring that, and Aneka thought she was a little annoyed that people were behaving differently because of what had happened to her.

  Only Shannon seemed concerned about Aneka’s feelings on her recent ordeal. The telepath had expressed that concern quite openly. If she had still been human, Aneka was sure she would have been almost as traumatised as Ella, but the body she had given over to saving her friend from too much attention was not, quite, hers. She was thankful she did not dream, however; not the same way normal humans did anyway.

  It was when Monkey sank gingerly into the hot tub opposite Aneka and Ella wearing swimming trunks that Ella finally snapped. ‘Good grief! Why is everyone acting like I’ll break if I see a naked man? Don’t make me fuck someone to make you think I’m over it.’

  There was total silence for a little over a second, and then Aneka started giggling and Ella punched her in the shoulder. ‘What? I’ve been expecting an outburst like that for the last hour. Get your trunks off, Monkey, before she enacts her threat.’

  Making shuffling motions to do as requested, the young man gave Aneka a slightly timid grin. ‘But, I’m closest so if she were to do it, I’d probably be the fuckee. Is that really an incentive to comply?’

  Aneka turned to Ella. ‘He does have a point. That wasn’t a well thought out ultimatum.’

  Ella glowered at her. ‘Ah… eat me!’

  Aneka’s lips twitched and, silently, she sank beneath the water. A second later Ella let out a squeak.

  Gillian, sat between Ella and her son, smiled. ‘I believe, my dear Ella, that you’re forgetting that she doesn’t need to breathe.’

  ‘Y-yes… you’re r-right… I hadn’t th-thought of that either.’ Her head rolled back onto the decking the pool was sunk into.

  ‘She’s clearly not worried about sex,’ Shannon commented.

  ‘Just sex with men,’ Gillian replied, ‘and she has a three step plan to get over it.’

  ‘I thought these plans had to have at least five steps?’ Monkey said.

  ‘Well, hers has three. Step one is waiting for the effects of the Ovanimax to wear off, just in case. That also gives her a break period where she feels no pressure. Then she’s going to initiate something with her neighbours and Aneka, lots of female contact along with a male.’

  ‘That sounds fairly considered,’ Shannon said. ‘Somewhat akin to the mechanisms they use to desensitise people with phobias. What’s step three?’

  ‘Orgy.’

  Shannon burst into a fit of giggles. ‘That’s so Ella, but I’m not sure that’s a great idea.’

  ‘I’m quite sure Aneka will make sure she takes her time about it. The woman has a remarkably solid head on her shoulders for someone dumped into this century with no warning. Perhaps because she was…’ She was interrupted by Ella having a rather noisy, and very splashy, orgasm. Aneka emerged from beneath the water, smirking.

  ‘If I say that to you,’ Monkey said as she slipped back onto the bench beside Ella, ‘would I get the same treatment.’

  ‘Considering that it’d mean you actually wanted me to do something,’ Aneka replied, ‘I probably would.’

  ‘Huh, yeah… Hadn’t thought of it like that.’ He grinned. ‘Well, don’t cos it’d sound like I was desperate, but I think I’m over that. I’m not going to get myself an android sex doll, but… Well, you’re different. You’re jenlay… well, human. Just human in a shell.’

  ‘Thanks. Hunter called me an abomination when he found out what I was. At least I’ve got someone else thinking I’m normal.’

  ‘You’re not an abomination,’ Ella said, her head still rolled back. ‘You’re a fucking angel.’

  Aneka laughed. ‘I’m surprised that word still exists. Considering that Christianity doesn’t seem to exist.’

  ‘A repurposed word,’ Gillian explained. ‘The Torem believe that Vashma manifests itself occasionally in the form of messenger beings, entities of divine grace. They have their own word for them, but we call them angels. No one has ever had unequivocal evidence that they exist.’

  ‘Sounds like an angel,’ Aneka agreed. ‘I’m not one.’

  ‘I’m sticking to my opinion,’ Ella said, finally lifting her head. ‘I’m also going to be more careful about my insults.’

  ‘Always good advice,’ Drake said. He and Bashford were sat at a table nearby, under a large, canvas sunshade. Aneka had absently noted that they were the only remaining members of the crew she thought of by their surnames, though technically Bashford was “Bash” to most people, and everyone called Drake “Drake” because he did not like his first name. They were friends now, all of them. She had friends here; friends who cared about her. ‘And for the record,’ Drake added, ‘Hunter was wrong. So you’ve got a cybernetic body. Who cares? You’re as… human as anyone here. And if you hadn’t had that body a lot of us would be dead about now. Oddly, I think what really convinced me you were really jenlay was the sex. Robots… just don’t come like that.’

  Aneka laughed, but it was nice to hear. Her ego needed a little boosting. ‘What are you drinking, Bash?’ was what she said.

  ‘Beer,’ he replied. ‘I brew it myself.’

  Aneka’s eyes narrowed and she pulled herself out of the tub to wander over. ‘Really? Could I try it?’ He handed her the glass, though his eyes were watching her body, which was also an ego boost. She took a careful sip. ‘Holy crap! That tastes like beer! A bitter. You realise this is the first drink anyone’s given me that tastes the way it’s supposed to?’

  Bashford chuckled. ‘I brought a case over with me and I do a couple of other brews. I’ve found very few people who actually like the stuff.’

  Aneka handed his glass back and started for the kitchen. ‘Taste of home, here I come.’

  ‘You’ve made a happy woman, Bash,’ Gillian commented.

  ‘Looks like it. I’m happy someone other than me thinks it’s drinkable.�
�

  ‘Bash,’ Aneka called over her shoulder, ‘beer is what God invented wheat and water for.’

  ~~~

  ‘So what happens next?’ Aneka asked as they sat around in the lounge that evening. Drake and Shannon had gone off not long after dark, despite Gillian’s protests that she had plenty of space to put them up for the night. Now Ella was lying with her head on Aneka’s shoulder, Gillian was sitting in Bash’s lap with no sign of embarrassment on either side, and Monkey was quietly ignoring them all since he did not have a girl to be cute with.

  ‘Back to work,’ Gillian said, ‘assuming you’re both up to it.’

  ‘I am,’ Ella replied, interrupting the soft kissing of Aneka’s neck briefly to do so.

  ‘And I’d be up to work the day after I stopped a nuclear missile with my face,’ Aneka added.

  Gillian chuckled, Bash and Monkey laughed. ‘I wouldn’t recommend that,’ Gillian said. ‘Your chassis is not that resilient. Oh! I forgot. While you two were having your little desert island holiday I got a mail through from the Administration. The xinti ship we found Aneka on will be available for analysis at the start of next month. They want our team to lead the project.’ She glanced over at Aneka, her eyes narrowing. ‘I think I detected Winter’s hand in the order. This is going to be a heavy technology mission and she’s put a field archaeologist in charge.’

  ‘Making the assumption that you’re right,’ Aneka replied, ‘and that she did have a hand in this, do you really believe Winter is the kind of woman who would put you in that position if she thought someone else would be better?’

  ‘Ah, well, no. I simply meant that there are more proficient administrators for…’

  ‘So she thinks subject knowledge needs to have higher authority than logistics and procedure. And you could bet your salary that that decision was made on cold logic.’

  ‘You think Winter’s cold?’ Ella mumbled, and then seemed to consider what she had just said. ‘You know what I mean.’

  Aneka considered it for a few seconds. ‘I think she makes business decisions based on a careful, logical, cold analysis of the situation. I currently don’t have an opinion on her personal demeanour.’

  ‘Not being able to get drunk does amazing things for your ability to use long words,’ Monkey commented.

  Aneka grunted. ‘I’ll add that to my list of things I need to figure out. Being pleasantly pished would be kind of nice.’

  ‘Pished is good,’ Ella mumbled. ‘I like pished.’

  ‘What’s this analysis of my wreck going to involve?’

  ‘A few months in space,’ Gillian replied. ‘They’ve parked the ship in orbit around the largest moon of Joval Seven and they’re building a small station to connect it to the Hyde and provide some additional laboratory space.’

  ‘It’ll be like a normal expedition, but closer to home,’ Bashford added. ‘There’ll be a lot of zero-G work, but we won’t have to sleep in free fall. We can drop down to the moon for supplies and recreation. There’s an outpost there used for low gravity research, some commercial interests, and as a military training post.’

  ‘There’s also an enclave of torem there,’ Gillian went on.

  ‘You can get your space-legs and meet more aliens,’ Monkey said.

  ‘Sounds like it’ll be interesting at least,’ Aneka commented, though her mind was really more on Ella’s tongue, which was tracing along the skin of her neck under her ear. The little redhead had been much more intimate, delicate, gentle about her sexual overtures since coming back from the island. It was probably a sign that she was a little more disturbed than she claimed to be, but Aneka liked it.

  ‘Between the xinti archives and that ship,’ Gillian said, ‘I’m hoping to find out more about them than we’ve ever previously known. Abraham will be there to look at the technology. He thinks he may be able to get the ship’s computer up and running, perhaps some of the other equipment. Yes, I think it could be very interesting.’ She looked across as Aneka let out a small whimper. ‘Perhaps you should take Ella somewhere private?’

  ‘We’re good,’ Ella replied as her hand slid between Aneka’s legs. ‘Besides, I owe her one.’

  University of New Earth, 9.7.524 FSC.

  Aneka walked out across the atrium headed for the coffee shop. It was mid-morning and she had needed the break from trying to discuss what she knew of the economics of Old Earth, so she had offered to get the coffee in.

  There was a queue, but that did not bother her. She had discovered that she had more patience lately, possibly due to the fact that she could quietly read behind her eyes while she waited for things. Today she was reading through various xinti documents about their military structure. They had operated a three caste structure, warriors, scientists, and administrators. At the time Aneka was taken, the Science Caste was basically controlling things and the Warriors had done little but practice. It was not unlike the Federal Navy now.

  ‘Is the coffee here any good?’

  Aneka turned at the voice behind her to find Winter standing there in a short-skirted suit with a sheer blouse and lightweight jacket. ‘It’s about as good as any of the coffee you have these days. A little too bitter for my taste, but it’s something to drink.’

  ‘I need to talk to you when you’ve got your drinks. Join me when you’re done.’ She turned and walked off to one of the small tables at the side of the shop, perching on a half-stool to wait.

  Aneka joined her a few minutes later, putting her plastic tray of cups down on the table and perching opposite the spy mistress. ‘I got you some water. I remember you said coffee made you hyper.’ She tapped the cup nearest to Winter and the woman smiled, lifting it free. ‘I also figured you didn’t want to discuss grinds and bean types.’

  ‘No.’ However, she took a sip of her water before continuing. ‘You’ve proven yourself a valuable asset since your awakening. Jenlay are much better social creatures than they once were, you see? The anti-social traits with genetic origins have been eliminated from many. Social engineering during education works to weed out learned behaviours. We have had little in the way of conflict for hundreds of years.’

  ‘That sounds like a good thing.’

  ‘It is. It would be even better if there were no circumstances were a… less perfect solution is required. Hunter, the Knights of the Void… They are not the only ones and I need people like you to make sure they don’t destroy everything we’ve built.’

  Aneka frowned at her. ‘You’re offering me a job? You want, what? An assassin?’

  ‘Trouble-shooter.’

  ‘Trouble-shooter who kills people.’

  ‘When required.’

  Aneka looked up at the ceiling for a second, and then back at Winter. ‘When I… Well, when I died, I was a soldier. I killed people for a living, but I was trying to make my living rescuing people instead. I’m good at killing, but I don’t need to like it. I woke up a different person in a different world. A better world. I’ve got a chance to be something else here. I’m a facilitator and next month I’m going to be helping to find out how the ship I was found in ticked. It’s constructive instead of destructive.’

  Winter nodded. ‘I can understand that point of view.’

  ‘Good. I’ve no doubt that if you have something you think only I could do, you’ll ask, and come up with a way to make me think I should do it. But I don’t want that to be my life.’

  ‘I can live with an arrangement like that.’

  Aneka gave her a smile and slipped off her stool. ‘Enjoy your drink,’ she said, and then she picked up her tray and started for the door.

  Outside the sun was shining and a light breeze was somehow making its way down to the atrium floor to keep the heat at bay. Yes, it was a new, better world she had found herself in. She had a new body which she was starting to really think of as her own. She had friends, and a place in the society she had found herself in. There was steel and super-high-tech components under her engineered, nano-tech enhanced
skin, but there was also Aneka Jansen in there, and Aneka Jansen had found a new home.

  ###

  About the Author

  I was born in the vicinity of Hadrian's Wall so perhaps a bit of history rubbed off. Ancient history obviously, and border history, right on the edge of the Empire. I always preferred the Dark Ages anyway; there’s so much more room for imagination when people aren’t writing down every last detail. So my idea of a good fantasy novel involved dirt and leather, not shining plate armour and Hollywood-medieval manners. The same applies to my sci-fi, really; I prefer gritty over shiny.

  Oddly, then, one of the first fantasy novels I remember reading was The Dark Is Rising, by Susan Cooper (later made into a terrible juvenile movie). These days we would call Cooper’s series Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy and looking back on it, it influenced me a lot. It has that mix of modern day life, hidden history, and magic which failed to hit popular culture until the early days of Buffy and Anne Rice. Of course, Cooper’s characters spend their time around places I could actually visit in Cornwall, and South East England, and mid-Wales. In fact, when I went to university in Aberystwyth, it was partially because some of Cooper’s books were set a few miles to the north around Tywyn.

  I got into writing through roleplaying, however, so my early work was related to the kind of roleplaying game I was interested in. I wrote “high fantasy” when I was playing Dungeons & Dragons. I wrote a lot of superhero fiction when I was playing City of Heroes. I still loved the idea of a modern world with magic in it and I’ve been trying to write a novel based on this for a long time. As with any form of expression, practice is the key and I can look back on all the aborted attempts at books, and the more successful short stories, as steps along the path to the Thaumatology Series.

  Writing, sadly, is not my main source of income. By day, I’m a computer programmer. I work for a telecommunications company in Manchester, England. My favourite authors are Terry Pratchett, Susan Cooper, and (recently) Kim Harrison. Kim’s Hollows books were what finally spurred me to publish something, even if the trail to here came by way of Susan, back in school, several decades ago.