by Henry Vogel
Lowering my head, I said, “Sorry, Sko. I told you to think with the brain above your shoulders but didn’t follow my own advice.”
“I am no less tempted than you, Captain.”
I snickered. “Yeah, that much was pretty obvious.” When Sko didn’t reply, I added, “You’re blushing, aren’t you?”
“You know me well, Captain.”
“We’re going to have to cure you of that, Sko.” I slapped him lightly on the butt. “When all of this is over, I’m going to screw your brains out.”
Sko convulsed with a suppressed laugh. “If ‘screw’ means what I think it means, both of my brains will look forward to it.”
Unable to stop myself, I burst out laughing. Sko joined in a couple of seconds later. For close to a minute, the room echoed with our guffaws. When we both got them under control, something had changed between Sko and me. Without either of us speaking, we both felt the formality which previously existed between us was gone. In a comfortable silence, we waited for the elevator to return.
A few minutes later, we heard the elevator approach and grind to a halt.
“Remember, don’t attack unless the occupants spot us or show signs of sticking around in this room,” I said.
“I won’t forget, Captain.”
The elevator doors slid open, illumination spilling into the darkened room. Squinting into the light, I watched a row of seven culling robots roll into the room. In their clawed hands, each robot carried a young child. A couple of the older children, perhaps seven or eight, struggled futilely against the mechanical muscles. The reactions of the other five children ranged from quiet terror to hysterical crying.
I felt Sko tense, as if preparing for action, and fully understood his reaction. Every fiber of my being wanted to protect those children and blast their robot captors into a million pieces. With my free hand, I caught Sko’s gun arm as he lifted it slowly into firing position. He resisted for a second, then lowered his arm again.
The lead robot opened the far door and led its companion robots out of the room. Only after the door slid shut, did Sko and I come out from our hiding place. We hurried to the door and we each pressed an ear to the door.
“I can’t hear a thing,” I said. “The door must be too thick.”
Sko gave me a surprised look. “The robots are continuing away from us. The last of them is no more than thirty meters away.”
Belated, I remembered that hunters in muscle-powered culture rely heavily on all of their senses, especially hearing and smell. “Sko, did you hear this door make any sound when the robot opened it?”
“No, but those robots make a lot of noise moving on this metal floor, so it may have made a noise I couldn’t hear.”
“If you didn’t hear it, I’m willing to gamble that the robots won’t hear it, either.”
I held my droid arm against the door’s contact plate. Without a sound, the door opened. Before us, a hallway stretched off into the distance. We saw doors spaced every twenty meters or so on both sides of the corridor. We also saw the last two robots turn into the fourth door on the left.
As the last robot disappeared from view, Sko and I ran lightly down the hallway. This time, I left the listening to Sko. His eyes widened as he listened.
“What is it?” I asked.
“More children, Captain. Many more children.”
“Can you make a guess at their number?”
“At the very least, several hundred.” Sko closed his eyes in anguish. “We must rescue them, Captain.”
“Damned right we rescue them, Sko. But we’ll need much better intel before we do it.”
“Is ‘intel’ another weapon of some kind?” Sko asked. “One even more powerful than these blasters?”
“Yes, intel can be more powerful than a blaster, but it’s not the kind of weapon you’re thinking of. ‘Intel’ is short for intelligence—which is just another word for information.” I watched comprehension dawn in Sko’s eyes. “Can you keep your desire for action in check until we know what we’re up against?”
“It would be easier if the robots took adults instead of children, Captain,” Sko said, “but I swore to follow your orders.”
“Thank you, Sko. If it helps, I also want to charge through that door and rescue those children right now,” I responded. “But we both know that wouldn’t end well for us or the children.”
Throughout our short conversation, Sko kept his ear pressed against the door. Suddenly, he stood, interrupting my comment, grabbed my arm, and ran back down the hall to the robot charging room, pulling me along.
His free hand jabbed toward the contact plate as we approach the charging room. “Open the door.”
Life in the military during a war teaches smart officers to listen to anyone with more recent intel than you possess. I stretched out with my piece of robotic arm to touch the contact plate at the soonest possible second.
Sko dragged me through as soon as the door opened wide enough for us to fit through. “Close it.”
I was already tapping the contact plate with the arm when Sko spoke. The door smoothly reversed direction and slid shut. Once he saw the door closing, Sko dragged me off toward the alcove we’d hidden in mere moments ago. All the while, he spoke only to tell me what to do, saving his breath for running. Only when we were both safely hidden in the alcove did he take time to explain.
“I heard serv- robots approaching the door. Many more than we saw come from the lighted room. I know you’re not the Captain, but I still would not have given orders to you if our lives weren’t at stake.”
I nodded, then remember Sko couldn’t see me. “Give me orders any time you believe it’s necessary and don’t have time to explain. I trust you and your instincts, Sko.”
Seconds later, the door into the charging room opened again and, one after another, twenty-six of the culling robots rolled into the room. Each robot headed for an empty alcove and backed in. As the robots closed the proper contacts, a light above each alcove came to life, blinking red. As each alcove light began flashing, the various lights on the robots slowly died.
I held my breath, waiting for one of the robots to react to the discharge setting, but none of them did. Within a few short minutes, all twenty-six robots sat within their alcoves, a red light flashing above all of them. Sko and I waited for a few extra minutes after the robots stopped moving, then emerged from our hiding place.
“All those robots had to go somewhere besides your village, Sko. How many other villages are as close to the elevator entrances as yours is?”
“Four others, Captain. If the robots act as they always have, they culled from those villages yesterday, too.”
“Then why did it take that last group so long to get back here? Are any of the villages hard to reach?”
“No, Captain, they are all farming villages, just like Drazam.”
“Uh, Drazam? Is that some kind of ship thing?”
“It’s the name of my village—which no one has used around you even once, have they?”
I shook my head, but returned to the main point. “So, why did it take those other robots so long to find children and return?”
“I don’t know, Captain.”
“It probably doesn’t matter.” I shrugged and walked toward the elevator. “Anyway, we’ve got more important things to do right now.”
Seconds later, Sko and I were back in the elevator and ascending to his world.
“The last time we traveled within this elevator, you asked me what I knew of what was beyond the ship. I know only of earth and colony—and those are both spiritual realms, not places where men and women actually live.”
I closed my eyes and tried to figure out what to tell this man. Sko possessed the intelligence to question what others accepted blindly, but would that be enough to allow him to imagine anything beyond the confines of the ship?
“That’s not really correct, Sko. Among my people, what you call earth, we call hell. And what you call colony, we call h
eaven.” Sko nodded, indicating he understood. I expected that, since I’d simply given different names to concepts he was familiar with. “But there really is a physical place called Earth and it has more men and women living on it than any other place in the universe.”
Sko’s brows drew down as he tried to follow this. “You say people live ‘on’ this Earth. Don’t you mean they live ‘in’ it?”
“No.” I shook my head and sighed. “Do you have any idea what a planet is, Sko?”
“No, Captain.”
“What about stars? Or space? Or the sky?”
He brightened at that last one. “Sky is where the clouds are and where the birds fly. It’s what is between us and the other side of the ship.”
How do you explain the sky and stars to a man who has never seen either one? Sure, it’s easier than trying to describe red to a blind man, but in both cases you’re trying to explain concepts the other person has no frame of reference for. But I tried—God knows I tried. And, from Sko’s baffled expression, I also failed miserably.
As I felt the elevator slowing as it neared the end of its ascent, I said, “It’s obvious I’m not the right person to explain this to you, Sko. Maybe if I had some way to show you what I’m talking about—but I don’t.”
“Of course, Captain.” Sko sounded as frustrated as I was. He wanted to understand so badly it hurt, but he couldn’t.
“Maybe we’ll find something down where the robots and children are that will help me with my explanations.” I smiled ruefully at Sko. “Until then, I think we’ve got enough problems without adding this to the list.”
Sko nodded in agreement as we felt the elevator come to a stop. We stood next to the door, waiting for it to slide open. As the first sliver of an opening appeared, we heard harsh voices from outside the door. Then several things happened in rapid succession.
Outside, the voices fell silent. Next to me, Sko paled and grabbed the robotic arm from my hand. The door opened just far enough for me to get a brief glimpse at a crowd of rough-clothed people gathered outside the elevator. Sko slapped the contact plate with the robotic arm and the door reversed itself. Then an arrow flew through the narrow opening and pierced Sko’s left hand.
CHAPTER SIX
Into the Belly of the Beast
Another arrow skittered off the side of the elevator, missing both of us, as the door hissed shut. Sko held his arrow-pierced left hand out before him, staring at it in shocked fascination.
I caught Sko’s left arm firmly. “Sit down so I can work on this.”
Putting his back to the wall, Sko slid slowly down into a sitting position. I found that move reassuring. It meant Sko was still thinking, even if he couldn’t take his eyes off his bloody hand.
“I’ve never treated an arrow wound before, so any advice you’ve got will be welcome.” My words had no effect on Sko, who was now turning his hand around so he could see the wound from several angles. I snapped my fingers in front of his face. “Captain to Sko! Are you in there, man?”
With a start, Sko’s eyes focused on me. “I’m sorry, Captain. What did you say?”
“Do you have any advice for preparing your wound for treatment?” I pulled off the survival backpack from my ship and rummaged through it. “You’re the first person I know who’s been shot with an arrow.”
“You need to pull the arrow all the way through. Or break it off near the wound and then pull it out the short way.” Though his eyes still registered pain, Sko pasted a lopsided smile on his lips. “I will try to hold my hand as still as possible while you work, but the pain may make that difficult.”
I pulled a spray bottle out of the first aid kit in the backpack. “I think you’re going to be in for a surprise, Sko.”
He watched in fascination as I caught his hand and brought the bottle close. His fascination turned to wonder as the spray numbed the pain in his hand. While he was distracted, I snapped the arrow in half and quickly removed it from his hand. Tossing the halves aside, I pulled Sko’s hand down to my lap and gently started cleaning the wound with a med pad.
“So, have you got any idea who was outside the elevator and why they shot you?”
His eyes remained locked on my handiwork—no pun intended—as he answered. “They’re a band of nomads and they think everywhere they wander is part of their territory. They show up for a few days, steal crops and animals, and are a real pain in the ass until several villages get together and run them off.” He looked up and caught my eye. “That last band of children the robots brought in must have been taken from the nomads. The robots probably found their tracks and followed them to the nomad camp.”
I examined the clean wound with a critical eye. It was nasty and would take a long time to heal properly. I didn’t have that much time and very much needed Sko fully functional if I was going to get anything done. Reluctantly, I pulled one of the four packs of medical nanites out of the kit and applied it to Sko’s hand.
“This is going to make your wound heal extremely fast, Sko, but it is most definitely not magic or anything like it.” As I sat back, the elevator slowed its descent. “So, these nomads don’t have much experience with robots?”
“No. I think that’s one reason they wander—to avoid the culls. Their leader is also known for his temper. Getting caught in a cull has to have really pissed him off.” Sko flashed a brief smile before his serious expression returned. “It would be funny if children weren’t involved.”
“Do you think we can get the nomads to listen to us long enough to talk sense into them? Maybe get them to help us rescue all the children?”
Sko shook his head. “That’s not likely, Captain. And now that the nomads have seen the elevator door open, they’ll spend days up there trying to force it open.”
“Okay, we either need to find another elevator that goes back to your part of the ship or we have to rescue the children by ourselves.” I saw Sko open his mouth to protest and waved him down. “I know I said we should get more information and more help, but that was before we found the nomads blocking our only elevator. We also had twenty-six robots return to the charging station. It’s possible we could slip in and at least rescue the children who were just brought down here.”
“If we take the nomad children out first, I don’t think the nomads will attack us.”
“I don’t really like the idea, but what other options have we got?” I stood as the elevator ground to a halt, holding out a hand to help Sko up. “Have you got a preference?”
“Between finding another elevator and rescuing the children now?” At my nod, Sko gave the question careful consideration.
The elevator door slid open while he was thinking. A quick glance around the charging room showed that nothing had changed during the few minutes we’d been gone. I hadn’t expected anything different, but you can’t be too careful.
“Could I suggest a third alternative, Captain?”
“Of course you can.”
“We should keep to your original plans—explore this part of the ship and find out what we’re up against. We might find another elevator, but I don’t think that should be our main goal. We know too little about what’s going on down here to jump right to rescuing the children.” My eyebrows arched at this and Sko hastily continued, “I’ve already said I very much want to rescue the children, Captain, but not if they’re going to be caught again within a few hours. That would be worse for them than staying where they are for a day or two.”
“My first CO always said-” Sko gave me a look of incomprehension. “My commanding officer—think of him as my captain—always said the worst plans are the ones you make too quickly and with too little information. Worrying about the nomads almost made me ignore those words of wisdom. Thank you for reminding me, Sko.”
We exited the elevator, crossed the charging room, and cautiously opened the door into the corridor. Seeing it was clear, we walked boldly down the corridor.
“By the way, Sko, you can remove the bandage n
ow.”
With some trepidation, Sko did as I said and stared in amazement at his healed hand. “With such wonders as you bring, Captain, how can we fail?”
Right then we heard sounds coming from a cross corridor. With nowhere to hide, Sko and I flattened ourselves against the wall and hoped whatever was approaching didn’t look our way. A few seconds later, a band of robots crossed our corridor. The machines were far too busy balancing a heavy load to ever once look our way. The robots were at least fifty meters away, but I had no trouble recognizing their burden.
They had one of the engines from my starfighter.
I caught myself before I shouted at the robots to come back with my ship. The robots must be equipped to process sound, even if none of the ones I’d dealt with acknowledged anything said to them. With all the children Sko heard beyond the door, it seemed likely there were people down here who could be allied with whoever controlled the robots. It would be profoundly stupid to let possible enemies know we were there.
I almost told Sko that the robots had something of mine—then I caught myself before I said anything. With my recent failure explaining about things beyond the ship, how could Sko grasp the idea that the robots had taken my ship? As far as he was concerned, that would be like someone from Terra telling me robots stole their universe.
All of that ran through my mind in a split second. So I said the only safe thing I could think of. “Come on. Let’s see where the robots are going.”
Okay, so ‘safe’ may not be the right word for this idea, but at least I didn’t have to explain any entirely alien concepts to Sko.
We sprinted the fifty meters to the cross corridor and I cautiously peered around the corner. The robots tottered slowly along, guiding a float pallet holding my starfighter engine. Eight robots guided the pallet; one at each corner and one along each side. They directed all of their attention forward, which both made sense and made it easier for Sko and me to follow them.