by B. V. Larson
“Why do the lower orders do anything?” he said airily.
Damn, but I wanted to slap the smug look off his face. I didn’t have to see it to know it was there. I decided not to call him on his possible lies in order to keep my advantage hidden. “Why did you survive?”
“We have an armored safe-room. When you arrived and killed the enemy, we came out.”
“In hopes of enslaving us?”
Timor’s voice took on an arch note. “If we had been able to dominate you, you would have deserved to be enslaved. Because you maintained self-control, you have earned a place of equality among us. Come now, Captain. There’s no further need for hard feelings. It’s simply our way to challenge others for dominance—our culture.”
“Your culture sucks,” I said. I was usually fairly understanding about aliens and their bizarre attitudes, but these people were hard to take.
“One of your mind-tricks forced a gunner on my ship to try to kill me with a ship’s laser,” I went on with a snarl. “I’m lucky to be alive and only blind. So don’t try to tell me this was all some kind of fair test that I passed and I should let bygones be bygones. No, you’ve gotten on my bad side, Galen, and people that get on the bad side of a Riggs usually start hating life pretty damn quick.”
Galen didn’t reply. We jogged on in silence for five minutes, and I resisted the urge to bug Kwon or berate Galen any more. It would only make me look weak.
Before we arrived, Hansen contacted me. “Captain, we either have to run or destroy our own Nano frigates. They’ll be here in about thirty seconds.”
“Dammit. Go ahead, get out of here. You have to preserve yourselves. Come back when you can.”
“Aye, aye, Skipper. We’ll keep watching for an opportunity.”
“How’s the rest of the battle going?”
“It was close for a while, but the Elladans are losing.”
“Serves them right. If they hadn’t screwed with us, we might have been able to turn the tide in their favor. Goddamn idiots.”
In a suddenly strained voice, Hansen said, “Yeah. Ah, sorry, gotta go.”
Valiant’s voice took over. “Captain Riggs, Lieutenant Commander Hansen is currently engaged in initiating violent evasive maneuvers.”
“No problem, Valiant. You’re doing a great job. I don’t know if I ever told you this, but you’re a damn fine brain, and I’m proud to serve with you.”
“Thank you, Captain.”
“Riggs out.” I had no idea if the Nano-style brains we used were truly sentient and conscious, or only seemed to be. That was a philosophical question well above my pay-grade or interest level at the moment, but I figured a few compliments couldn’t hurt.
Sentient or not, Valiant had remained unfailingly competent through all our ordeals. When we got home, I was going to argue for not re-base lining her at the next update. It seemed an unfair reward for her constant loyalty.
Because of the example of the Macros and Nanos, Star Force was paranoid about letting its AIs become too individualistic, but maybe we were being too conservative.
Hell, look at what Marvin was able to accomplish. It seemed worth the risk. But all militaries tended to become risk-averse in times of peace, and when we left, we’d been at peace for two decades.
That might change when we got back, depending on what happen here in the Trinity system.
“We’re here, boss,” Kwon said. “There’s a bunch of rubble in front this airlock. Troops, put that stuff down and clear this mess, pronto.”
I stood there uselessly, listening to the sounds of the Raptors working. I felt the clunks and thuds of debris and rock when they moved it. I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them repeatedly, trying to see something—anything.
“Suit, turn up my HUD to max brightness, and then back down again, once per second.”
“Cycling.”
I thought I could see a faint pulsing of light against my optic nerve, which cheered me up. Like many things, you never know how wonderful sight is until you lose it.
“Kwon, don’t open the airlock yet. Valiant had to leave,” I said. “They’ll come back for us later.”
“Okay, boss…what do we do now?”
I was sorely tempted to order my forces back to the command center and have the Elladans call up views of the battle, but giving them access to their systems seemed far too risky—especially with me blind. “First, use the override module to make sure we can open the airlock with the push of a button. Then make sure we have a good atmosphere and everyone can crack their suits if they want. Get the supplies organized, feed the troops, and set up whatever gear we have.”
“All right, Pigs, do what the boss said,” Kwon shouted, slamming his gauntlets together. I heard the Raptors rustling, hastening to obey.
“What do we have, anyway?” I asked.
“We got lotsa stuff, boss. Lieutenant Turnbull drew up the list. We got a surfboard for each of us in case we have to evac into space. We got food and water, survival shelters, blankets, fuel isotopes, grenades and other heavy weapons, and a portable console.”
“A portable console?”
“Yeah, that’s what the box says. Looks like a utility control with a couple screens, a keyboard, different connection ports and cables, cameras—the works. Only, me and the Raptors aren’t really nerds, you know.”
Consoles like this were standardized throughout Star Force ships, completely configurable and programmable, so that crewmembers didn’t have to re-learn how to use each specialized control.
“I didn’t know they made them portable,” I said. “Can we connect it to Elladan circuitry?”
“I don’t know, Captain. I’m no technician. Sergeant Tork, do you have anybody with electronics skills?”
“No,” the Raptor replied. “All such personnel are aboard Stalker. We are combat specialists here.”
“Shit. Sorry, boss.”
I blinked and squinted. “I think I’m starting to get some vision back. Once I can see, I’ll check it out. In the meantime, set it up, turn on the power, and plug it into my suit.”
“Okay.” I felt Kwon guide me over to sit down on something, and after accessing my suit’s ports, he placed my hands on the console.
“Thanks, Kwon. Now see to your troops, and keep those Elladans away from everything.”
“Right!”
I peeled off my gloves to better touch the console, running my hands over it to locate all the standard controls and keys. There were touchpads and touchscreens. I figured I might as well get comfortable with the system and not feel so useless.
“Suit, do you have standard console configurations in your database?”
“Yes.”
“Configure this one as a sensor display console.”
“Configured.”
“Access all available sensors to build an integrated display.”
“Parameters insufficient.”
I growled. “I need this console to display an integrated picture of all available sensor data.”
“Not possible. Excessive data detected. It’s too much to integrate and display on this unit.”
“Excessive? Why?”
“Query not understood.”
My suit was no Valiant. I tried to simplify my questioning. “List the major sources of data available to you.”
“Suit sensors. Secondary sensors via friendly suit data links. Data feeds from nearby non-Star-Force technology.”
“What non-Star-Force technology? Clarify!”
“The devices in my utility compartment.”
It took me a moment, but then I remembered the medallions the Elladans wore. We’d removed them when we’d captured them and I’d stuffed them into my suit’s handy holding pouch. When I’d looked at them before, I’d assumed they were translation devices. But they could be wearable computers of some kind.
Rather than asking the Elladans about it, I decided to figure out what I could on my own. “You can access the medallions? How’s that possib
le?”
“The hacking module provided protocols to synchronize Elladan encryption. When you ordered me to access all available sensors, I did so.”
Amazing. These guys were so arrogant that they used the same encryption protocols for multiple devices, and they’d accidentally provided me with the means to access them. Now, I decided to do something I probably never would have if I wasn’t already blind and desperate to regain control of the situation. I reached into my suit compartment and carefully untangled one medallion from the mess. Delicately, I stretched out the chain and let it hang from one finger.
“Kwon, I’m going to try something crazy.” I opened my faceplate, and then took off my helmet. “If I go into convulsions or something, take it off, but if I’m coherent, leave me alone.”
“Boss…”
“Here goes.”
I placed the medallion around my neck.
-19-
Vertigo assailed me and nausea welled up in my throat.
“I’m okay,” I gasped. “I’m okay.”
But I wasn’t. A universe of visions crashed into my brain, as if I’d acquired an entirely new sense that I’d never used before—which I probably had.
“Captain, you must take that off immediately!” Galen’s voice cut through my distress. “You’ll harm yourself! It takes training to be able to use such a device!”
“Go to hell,” I rasped. “If you can do it, I can do it.”
Shapes and colors whirled around me as if someone had stuck me inside a giant kaleidoscope, and I leaned over and vomited thin bile onto the deck. As this station apparently didn’t have smart metal floors to absorb and recycle everything, the smell came back to make me want to hurl again.
Oddly, the nasty aroma turned out to be something to hold onto, an anchor of normalcy that helped me make sense of what was going on inside my brain.
“I see things,” I said through gritted teeth. “I’m getting it under control.”
The shapes and colors slowed and stabilized. Eventually I lifted my head and stared with eyes wide open, even though that didn’t actually matter.
What did matter was that I was looking straight at Kwon standing in front of me, his hands on his armored hips. I couldn’t see details, but his bulk was unmistakable. The weird thing was I could see through Kwon—into his bones. His skeleton was a shadowy network of thick interlocking pieces.
I began to realize what this thing was—a sensor-array.
The big shock came when I looked at Galen. He didn’t look like Kwon at all. The overall shape was that of human, but…he didn’t appear to have any bones.
“Galen?” I asked. “Is this thing your eyes?”
“Essentially, yes,” Galen said. His voice was stiff and irritated. “May I have them back, please?”
“No, not yet.”
I surveyed the other Elladans. They were the same. Human-shaped blobs without bones inside. I recalled seeing Argos warp when he folded himself into the seat of his tiny ship. Could it be these beings who I’d always assumed were nearly human weren’t like us at all?
“You’re not humans,” I said firmly. “No bones. I don’t even see veins…”
“We never said we were,” Galen answered. “Now, if you don’t mind…”
He extended a hand toward me, reaching for the medallion. His fingers grasped the air, groping.
I frowned. “You’re blind without this thing? Without an artificial sensory system?”
“Not entirely, but we can’t perceive the world the way you do.”
I heaved a sigh. I’d already been planning to keep the medallion until my eyes repaired themselves, but it wouldn’t be right to blind Galen in the process. Besides, the perceptive capabilities were pretty limited. I preferred good old fashioned stereoscopic color vision.
Finally, I handed back the medallion. Galen thanked me and returned to huddle with the other prisoners.
Valiant contacted me soon thereafter. “We’ve withdrawn from the battle zone, Captain. Greyhound and Marvin are here with us. Stalker and the Nano frigates have left us and gone to engage the Demons. We are moving slowly toward you while maintaining the ability to run again, if needed.”
“Stick with those protocols, Valiant. Your survival and the crew’s is still the top priority.”
“Please be careful, Captain. Losing you would be sub-optimal.”
“I think so too,” I said drily. “Are the Demons still winning?”
“Generally, yes. My projections show an expectation that, after defeating the Elladans, they will retain approximately twenty ships in various states of repair.”
I ground my teeth and cursed our stupid, backstabbing fellow humans again. So close… “Connect me with Hansen.”
“Hansen here.”
“XO, we can’t let the Demons win this battle, even if the Elladans deserve it. Isn’t there any way to help?”
“We can try to slip in and pick off some Demon ships, but I’m afraid they’ll send Stalker after us again.”
“You’ll have to try. Maybe the Elladans will be smart enough not to interfere and keep Stalker engaged with the Demons. Has Marvin come up with a defense against the Elladan influences yet?”
“The scientists have been comparing biometrics, trying to identify those showing signs of influence.”
“Detection isn’t as good as prevention,” I said, “but it’s better than nothing. What about the Whales?”
“They sent a fleet, but it’s two days out. They should be able to finish the remaining Demons off when they arrive.”
I mulled that over. “Two days. Then that’s all we have to buy ourselves. Two days… Has Marvin done anything?”
“He’s not talking to us right now. That could mean anything.”
“Let’s hope he comes up with a medical defense against these Elladans. Hopefully he won’t ask us to coat ourselves in slime.”
Hansen didn’t comment. I figured he was skeptical. “Skipper, if you want us to get into the fight, I have to go.”
“Go on, XO. Do what you can, but preserve the ship at all costs.”
“Got it. Hansen out.”
“Valiant, call me on the ansible for anything urgent, but I think I’ll be busy for the next few hours.”
“Understood. Valiant out.”
As I hadn’t closed my faceplate, everyone there had heard my side of the conversation. That was as I’d intended. Hopefully they’d be reassured that the situation was under control even if it wasn’t.
The stoic Raptors went about their duties, rotating to eat, sleep and stand guard. I didn’t think there was anything other than us living aboard the station, but you never knew, and it kept them busy.
Kwon paced back and forth, and although I couldn’t see his face to read his expression, I sensed by his body language that he was bored, with little to do. Well, that was a marine’s lot in life: hurry up and wait.
A few uneventful hours passed, during which I periodically opened my visor and poured a bottle of water onto my face. My eyelids were sloughing off skin—a sure sign the nanites were doing their damnedest to repair my flesh.
“Captain Riggs,” came a voice. I realized I’d nodded off. “This is Valiant.”
“Riggs here.”
“Captain, the situation has become worse than I’d predicted. The Elladan defenses are crumbling. Stalker is heavily damaged but still mobile. I have spoken with her AI, but she can do nothing overt against her crew as she’s constrained by protocol to follow the orders of her command personnel.”
I reached up to smack my forehead with my palm, hitting my helmet instead. “Crap! I forgot we’d installed a brainbox on Stalker. I should have told her a long time ago to override the crew and…” I trailed off.
“That would have done no good, Captain. The crew would have disconnected the brainbox.”
“I can call her, though. Put me through on the ansible.”
“Channel open.”
“Stalker? Can you hear me?”
>
“Yes, Captain Riggs.” Stalker’s voice sounded different than Valiant’s. If a machine could be frustrated, that’s how she sounded.
“Stalker, I’m invoking command-override mode. Your captain and crew are under mental compulsion from enemy forces. Do you understand?”
“I understand. This explains the distressing attack on fellow Star Force personnel.”
“Exactly. Given that Captain Kreel and the crew are not responsible for their actions, you must perform with maximum combat efficiency while avoiding as much risk as possible, in order to preserve yourself and the biotics aboard.”
“I’m not sure what you’re asking me to do.”
“I’m going to tell you. Maintain continuous contact with Valiant. As the senior brainbox, she will give you guidance on how to subtly adjust your actions without doing anything obvious enough to get yourself disconnected. If and when possible, you will join back up with Valiant, and you will, under no circumstances, ever fire on her. You have to create the illusion of malfunction if anyone orders you to attack anyone friendly, got it?”
“I understand, Captain Riggs.”
“And if they’re about to disconnect you, do whatever it takes to disable the main laser.”
That way, Stalker could still defend herself but wouldn’t be a threat to Valiant.
“Protocols updated.” The young brainbox sounded relieved to have clear instructions now.
“Good luck, Stalker. Valiant, you still there?”
“I’m listening.”
“Any chance of getting us picked up?”
“I’m afraid not, Captain. You’re in the middle of an ongoing battle, and we cannot get too close without risk of destruction.”
“Once the Elladans lose, the Demons will probably start mopping up the leftovers, like us.”
“That seems probable.”
I squirmed and tried my eyes again. They burned when I opened them. I had sight now, of a sort, but I needed my eyes to be fully operational to use the portable console. “All right, Valiant, thanks. Riggs out.”
I could tell Kwon was getting fed up with the inactivity. Maybe I could give him—and everyone else—something to do. “Galen, are any of your people technicians?”