The leaping robot struck Silo and took her to the ground, but rather than carving her up the instant she was off her feet, it remained motionless. She pushed it off her and scrambled up. All around them, the leading edge of the horde of robots had ceased its attack. Some were shuddering in place, others had feathery electrical discharges dancing across their chassis, but none of them were attacking. One by one they fell to the ground, limp and nonfunctional. Those farther back soon followed. Within fifteen seconds of the device’s activation, they were all completely inert.
“What the hell was that?” Dreyfus asked.
“Plan B,” Silo said, stepping warily into the ship after confirming the robots were no longer an immediate threat. “Some gadgets we stole from a terrorist group called the Neo-Luddites.”
“Those were the terrorists that were discovered along with the specimen,” he said.
“They were after it. And this gadget and others like it were all they had with them. Seems like they work like a charm, too.”
“They obviously knew exactly what they were after, then,” Michella said.
“If you had something like that in your arsenal, why didn’t you use it immediately?” Dreyfus asked.
“You ever get a good look at a Neo-Luddite? I don’t take combat tips from someone with that much scar tissue unless I have to.” She eyed the wound on her arm. “I guess pretty soon I won’t have much room to criticize on that.” She popped open a cabinet, retrieved the first aid kit, and gave her wound a spritz of sealant. “Anyone else need a touch-up? No?” She stowed the kit. “Besides, it was an EMP. The one they used on the planet obviously wasn’t enough to take out the meaty one they had there, so I don’t imagine we’re looking at a permanent solution. We can keep our fingers crossed that the military will finally show before these things wake up, but to be on the safe side, I’ll pull a few of the Declaration’s missiles and hand prime them. That’ll take out these buggers, the ship, and probably a few hundred meters of terrain. I just hope we have enough time.”
Silo stepped outside again and found her way to the external missile launcher to get to work retrieving one.
“Doctor, could you estimate how long an EMP might keep them down?” Michella asked.
Dreyfus tried to calm himself enough to reenter his analytical mindset. “Well… as you say, the EMP probably won’t destroy them. Most electronics recover from small EMPs eventually. Vehicles and other embedded electronics can usually boot back up in minutes. More intricate devices and computing modules with volatile memory may be scrambled or wiped, but from the analysis we were able to do, the electronics running these organisms are equivalent to about thirty to four hundred years behind the current state of the art.”
“That’s a very wide range,” Michella said, absentmindedly feeling her pockets for a pad and pen. It didn’t take her more than a sentence to settle into her default role of interviewer.
“It is strange. The technology is old-fashioned integrated circuits—complementary metal oxide semiconductors. But the actual architecture, the arrangement of the circuits and modules, is extremely modern by comparison. You’d find similar architecture in devices from just a few decades ago. The juxtaposition of old and new is confounding, like finding a spacecraft chiseled from stone,” he said. “It was our theory that this biomechanical organism had hybridized several found technologies, using the best techniques available but adapting them to function with available resources and fabrication techniques.”
Silo stepped into the ship with the business end of a missile. “Listen, you two. It’s nice you’re taking all of this in stride, but we do still have a problem. Let’s focus ourselves on mopping up this mess before we start editing the footage. How long are we looking at before the robots are on the prowl again?”
Michella’s eyes shot open. “The footage!” She looked about and spotted the camera on the ground beneath her seat, where it had been dislodged when she stood. Her hands were shaking as she tried to power it up.
“If it was indeed one of these devices that disabled the original specimen, it was inactive for a number of days afterward. But the circuitry it had been able to maintain on that planet was extremely low quality. I hesitate to make any concrete guesses, but based on their observed reactions, two hours is a reasonable minimum recovery time for the best assembled of them.”
“Good. Lex, I don’t suppose you could take a look at the reactor of this ship, maybe give it a kick in the pants,” Silo suggested.
“I wouldn’t do that just yet, my boy,” Garotte said. He hurried into the ship and pulled open a compartment. Inside were assorted accessories for rifles. One was a purely optical scope, which he swapped for his currently useless digital scope. He took the newly equipped sniper rifle and targeted the horizon. “The second swarm of robots, the ones from the mine, have turned tail. They are heading back.”
“That fits with our understanding of their behavior,” Dreyfus said. “The EMP knocked out any significant transmitters and power sources. They are opportunistic feeders. At this distance they probably can’t detect the resources here, and even if they could, there might be a better source back at the mines.”
“Good, good. Lex, you and I will see what we can do to get this ship ready to fly again, but let’s avoid doing anything that might attract that second swarm until we’re ready for them. Silo, keep at that missile.” He scanned the horizon with the rifle for a few more moments. “Well, what do you know? The military is finally in sight. They’ll be heading to the lab first. Saunders, you seem to be the sort to have a worthwhile opinion on this. If there are any straggler robots remaining in the laboratory, will the sort of force that would respond in situations such as this be able to handle it?”
“We are a fringe planet in the early stages of colonization. We aren’t even finished terraforming. There are suburbs on hub planets like Tessera that exceed our global population. This place hasn’t exactly attracted the best and the brightest. There aren’t more than a dozen fully trained soldiers on the planet, and most of us went into private security for the paycheck. If those soldiers encounter a force like we saw, I expect their reaction will be one of panic and mass confusion.”
“And in the meantime a convoy of top-notch military hardware will be carved up and made into more of these things… No, that won’t do at all.” He turned to Lex. “Do you think this bike of yours will still work?”
He knelt down to inspect the damage. Flipping the power on brought it sputtering to life, the EMP-blasted onboard computer grinding reluctantly through a diagnostic. “I won’t be able to get the sidecar back on, but the primary frame is still intact. If the electronics come up okay, I might be able limp two people back to town on it, but the wind field is screwed, so it’ll be slow.”
“I’d like you and the lovely Ms. Modane to get back to town. Dig your ship out of storage and be ready to get off planet. We’ll be in contact. We need to know precisely what these things are and how the Neo-Luddites became aware of them.”
“That’s exactly what I intend to find out,” Michella said. “And unfortunately, we’ll be doing it without any of the video I was shooting. That EMP ruined it.”
“If that’s the worst thing to happen to you today, count yourself lucky,” Silo said, squinting in the moonlight as she worked on the missile’s warhead. “Garotte, sweetheart, could you dig up a light that still works?”
“With the greatest of pleasure, my dear. You’ll have it in just a moment.” He turned to Lex. “How is the bike?”
“I think it’s good to go,” he said.
“Good. Ms. Modane should be able to make some good progress with the Neo-Luddite side of things. For the technical end, I want you to contact our mutual friend. Tell him to expect you, and that you’ll be bringing a sample.” He gave a thump to a large metal crate. “I imagine that’s what the microwave crate was for to begin with. We’ll load a sample and lock it away in the Declaration for now. Now off with you. Things will go more smooth
ly if the two of you aren’t entangled in what comes next.” He clicked a fresh clip into the sniper rifle. “I’ve got to get the attention of a few soldiers.”
Chapter 13
Lex and Michella reached the town nearly two hours later. Michella was seated behind Lex, arms around his waist, with Squee tucked between the two of them. They were a bit windburned from the trip, but it did little to dim the excitement of having civilization accessible to them again.
Michella pulled her slidepad out as they began to slow and approach the hotel. “Oh good. At least this didn’t get destroyed. It looks like it booted up fine. I’ve got so many calls to make. And you’ve got one to make, too.”
By the time he brought the bike to the ground, steadying it with his legs thanks to the landing struts being largely missing. Michella was already talking to Jon.
“Yes. … Yes, Jon, I need every military and technical contact we’ve got on autonomous robotics. … Yeah. … Yeah, I don’t know that it wasn’t an extraterrestrial, but the Neo-Luddites came for it, and they were prepared. That means that someone in the military knew about it and knew where to find it. I also want to know everything there is to know about the history of this star system and any systems nearby, particularly the system where the alleged ET was found.” She stood from the bike, gave Lex a peck on the cheek, and paced into the hotel room, all without breaking conversation. “I want to know anything interesting or distinctive about the cosmic neighborhood, and…”
Lex watched her shut the door behind her, then released a long breath. Squee climbed to his shoulders, prompting a wince from him as she put her weight on the swollen one, and licked his face. She snuggled close to his neck and released a contented sigh through her nose. He gave her a scratch between the ears and cupped his hand to his head. A dull headache was forming, a sure sign that he was coming down from the heady adrenaline high he’d enjoyed during the evening’s excitement. On top of that, his body was reminding him that he hadn’t slept lately, so he was going to have to start pumping some caffeine, sugar, or fresh adrenaline through his system if he wanted to remain functional.
He shook his head a bit. A large part of him had gleefully enjoyed the prolonged near-death experience. Not only that, but he was now feeling the crash even had a nostalgic quality. He’d been away from real excitement for far too long.
“Well, Squee,” he said, standing and letting the bike clatter to the ground, “I just spent the last few hours riding around with my girlfriend and nearly getting killed. The fact that it is easily the most fun I’ve had in months is probably enough to have me committed. It’s just as well I’m calling Karter, then. Maybe he can recommend a good psychiatric hospital.”
Lex powered up his slidepad and watched as it flipped through a few angry “Improper Shutdown” screens before restoring itself from its electronic assault. He paced to a vending machine, identified the candy bar with the largest peanut-butter-to-chocolate ratio he could find, and waved the pad in front of its sensor to pay for two. He unwrapped them both, took two big bites of one, and waved the other under Squee’s nose. She sniffed, then eagerly perked her head up to start gnawing on the bar. He stuffed his own bar in his mouth like a cigar to free a hand to fetch his slidepad again.
“Don’t get too used to it,” he said, holding up the device and scrolling his contact list. “We’ll call this a treat for being such a good little trooper today, and for sniffing out those survivors.” He came to the one contact without a video preview, labeled simply Ma. “Let’s call Mom and Dad, shall we?”
He touched the connection and waited while it negotiated. Karter was protective of his privacy, to put it lightly, so the connection tended to take longer than most to negotiate. The wait gave Lex enough time to finish the last few bites of his candy bar, awkwardly trying to handle both the food and the slidepad with the same hand. Finally a crisp and efficient automated voice spoke from his device. The connection was video, but since Ma didn’t have a face, she chose to provide a visualization of her voice waveform in lieu of eye contact.
“Hello, Lex. It is nice to hear from you again so soon. I hope the local weather patterns in your area are comfortable,” she said. “I see you have Squee with you. Have you found room in your schedule for a trip to Big Sigma so that I may perform the previously discussed standard upkeep?”
“Standard upkeep? You make it sound like you want to give her a tune-up.”
“There is a metaphorical similarity between the two procedures.”
“Ah. Well, as a matter of fact I was calling you to set up a visit.”
“I am pleased to hear it. Before we discuss that matter further, may I ask what you are currently feeding to Squee?”
“It’s a candy bar. She saved a couple of lives today. I thought she deserved a little something.”
“Funks do not suffer from the same methylxanthine sensitivity that many canids share. Sweets are acceptable additions to her diet in moderation, but please avoid spoiling her,” Ma stated.
“Understood.”
“Would you please elaborate on her recent heroics?”
“I’ve got a feeling we’re going to be pressed for time, so let’s go into that in person. The short version is that we’re on planet Movi and there has been an incident.”
“There is tremendous precedent for such to occur to you in recent months.”
“Yeah, I saw it coming this time, too, only I figured I was going to be dealing with the Neo-Luddites again.”
“What was the nature of the disaster, if it was not terrorist related?”
“Self-replicating robots, possibly of extraterrestrial origin.”
“The frequency of your calamities is matched only by their novelty. I am relieved to see that you appear to be unharmed.”
“I got off easy, just screwed up my shoulder. A bunch of locals weren’t so lucky.”
“That is most unfortunate. May I be of any assistance?”
“I hope so. We need to find out exactly what these robots are and how to beat them for good, so Silo and Garotte are hoping I can deliver a sample of some kind to Big Sigma for analysis.”
“I’m afraid I will have to ask Karter. He is presently engaged rather deeply in an investigation of his own. The interruption, regardless of its motivation, may be unwelcome.”
“If it wasn’t important, I wouldn’t be asking.”
“As you know, once Karter has chosen a course of action, few things are capable of persuading him to alter it. Stand by.”
A few seconds passed, then the video feed switched to a black-haired man with an unusual complexion and an unnatural silver color to one iris. It was Karter Dee, dressed as always in a mechanic’s coveralls and barely aware that he had been summoned for a call. He was seated at the console of a vaguely familiar device, a massive apparatus with countless indicators and screens. It was showing him from roughly eye level, but when he moved to adjust a control or glance at a readout, the video moved with sharp, sudden shifts to keep him centered in the shot. Solby, Karter’s personal funk, dashed by in the background, then periodically popped up into the shot, yapping at the camera.
“What do you want?” Karter barked.
“Ma didn’t tell you?”
“She did. Wasn’t paying attention. Something about aliens. Not interested.”
“Not aliens, robots. Self-replicating machines, possibly extraterrestrial.”
“Still don’t care. Better things to do. Where are you right now?”
“Movi.”
“Never heard of it. Is there a large, open area near you?”
“Karter, seriously, time is a factor, I don’t—”
“Meh, meh, meh, I’m in a hurry,” he said mockingly. “Ma, get me a satellite view of Lex’s current position.” He glanced down at one of his screens. “Yeah, the parking lot will do. Turn and look at the parking lot and tell me what happens. Ma, load up one of those fifteen-kilo dummy loads.”
“Whoa, what are you planning?” Lex said.
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“I’m planning on having you tell me what you see in the parking lot in about fourteen seconds,” he said.
Karter flipped some switches and began to manipulate the data on a series of screens. Solby’s periodic leaps into the camera’s view shifted to a more general springing about.
“Calm down,” Karter growled. “You remember what happened last time?”
The connection began jittering with digital interference. “Five… four… three… Solby, seriously get down before—”
There was a flash, and the video briefly froze. When it started again, Karter was in the middle of a lengthy string of expletives.
“Again. Again. Ma, if we ever do a Funk Mark II, we’re doing a few more rounds of breeding for intelligence. Lex, did anything show up in the parking lot?”
Lex glanced over at the expanse of pavement. “Nope.”
Karter muttered something under his breath. “Ma, start processing the sensor data. And prep another Solby. Probably best if we keep him out of this lab during tests from now on. He’s not up to the learning curve on this one.”
“Listen, Karter, this is serious.”
“Serious for you, maybe, but I’m a big picture kind of guy, Lex.”
“These things gutted a whole lab and killed more than twenty people.”
He waved his hand dismissively. “Small potatoes. Call me when… wait, did you say a lab?”
“Yes.”
“You aren’t working with another lab, are you? You’re under contract with me. I get your services as a beta tester exclusively.”
“I wasn’t working with them, I was just there.”
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