Earth Honor (Earthrise Book 8)

by Daniel Arenson

  He breathed.

  Often the thoughts claimed him, tugging him into the storm, and he found himself lost within them, sometimes not realizing until long moments later what had happened. Often the physical discomfort tugged at him—the pain in his body, the hunger, the heat, the tension in his muscles—and he forced himself to sink deeper into awareness.

  "Let it all be," the baba said softly. "Observe. Breathe. Rest in awareness. Be one with everything. Be present. There is no past, no future, only the now. Be here. Be aware. Breathe."

  That night, Marco and Addy again made soft love, and they slept embraced. The baba gave them only four hours of slumber. They rose in darkness. They ate a simple meal. Bread. Porridge. Fruit. They gorged themselves, anticipating the hunger ahead.

  They sat cross-legged on the hill.

  They breathed.

  They let it be.

  The hours went by. Hours of struggles, wrestling with thoughts and memories. Marco had never realized how busy his mind always was. How his thoughts were a constant storm. How his demons forever danced—the grief, trauma, nightmares, memories.

  Was my mind always like this? he wondered. For these past few years, did this storm forever rage, and I simply hid from it? Suppressed it?

  Yes, he realized. And for the first time, he was seeing his mind. Not lost within his mind. Not lost inside the illusion of the self. He was outside his mind. He was lying on the grass. He was gazing up at the sky of the mind, observing the thoughts, memories, fears, all just clouds. Ephemeral like the mandala. His thoughts were not him. And they blew away in the breath.

  Sometimes Marco felt as if his body disappeared. As if he was nothing but breath, just air flowing from top to bottom, passing through him, as if he were just a sack of skin. And then his skin too disappeared, until he was only consciousness. Until there was no self. Only this mountain, and the grassy valleys below, and the sky above, all one. All a single organism. And he observed.

  Those moments of oneness never lasted. A thought would always rise. A memory. Perhaps only a mundane thought, wondering how Addy was doing, perhaps analyzing his own success, perhaps remembering some of the baba's teachings. Sometimes more distressing thoughts arose—about the fate of Earth and his friends. Sometimes their lure was strong. Sometimes the thoughts seemed so urgent that he had to think them. He had to plan for the future! He had to analyze the past! He had to invent things, do things, figure things out. It was important. He was in danger. There were monsters after him. He was wasting his time here. This was foolishness, just a scam. He had to get back to Earth, he—

  He breathed.

  Again and again, he took shaky breaths.

  Focus on the breath.

  Let it be.

  Rest in awareness.

  He breathed.

  He gazed up at that sky, aware, one.

  "I am not my thoughts," he whispered that night to Addy, gazing into her eyes.

  She gazed back, holding him. "I am not my thoughts."

  They slept, holding each other. They rose. They breathed.

  They walked along the path, discovering the first truth of wisdom.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Dented, cracked, and belching out smoke, the Ryujin trundled through space. Sitting at the helm, Lailani thought that only her duct tape was holding the starship together.

  "Barnard's Star," she said, pointing at the light ahead. "We're almost there, Epi. Hope."

  Her Doberman made an approving sound and licked her cheek.

  Barnard's Star was a red dwarf, a small and relatively cool star, barely more than a luminous gas giant. It was only six light-years from Earth—just around the corner—but few humans ever visited this place. Barnard's Star was too dim to see from afar, so unimportant that few humans even realized it existed. A handful of small, rocky worlds orbited it, desolate wastelands. This was Earth's neighborhood, but it was the dregs, the back alley of human civilization.

  It was here, HOBBS had once told her, that she would find Dr. Elliot Schroder. The man who had made HOBBS. The man who could perhaps repair him. The man who could save Lailani's quest.

  He lives in hiding on a lonely world orbiting Barnard's Star, HOBBS had told her back on Mahatek. Hiding from what? Or from whom? The robot had not said, and now HOBBS was unconscious. Lailani would have to find the answers herself.

  She tapped her tablet, pulled up the entry on Schroder, and reread it. There wasn't much info. Dr. Elliot Schroder. Born 2107. A robotics pioneer. As a student, he had shown remarkable promise. Professor Ilana Teitelbaum herself, inventor of the azoth engine, had overseen his thesis. His roommate had been Professor Noah Isaac, Nobel Prize laureate and inventor of the wormhole. As a young man, Dr. Schroder had worked on the burgeoning field of artificial intelligence, helping to create the first Osiris models. He had worked for Bai Liu himself, the famous inventor of true artificial consciousness. In the world of science, he had shone like a star among stars.

  Yet ten years ago, things had gone sour.

  The article didn't say much, only that the police had investigated Schroder, that he had fled Earth in shame. For a decade now, nobody had heard from him. Nobody knew where he was hiding—aside from HOBBS and Lailani, it seemed. According to the article, if Schroder ever returned to Earth, he'd be arrested on arrival.

  "I don't know what you did," Lailani said, flying toward the red dwarf. "But you invented HOBBS, and maybe you can fix him. So right now you're the most important person in the galaxy."

  She looked back at HOBBS. He still lay in the hold, strapped to the floor with duct tape. It wasn't very dignified, but with the gravity drive busted, it was the only way to keep the cyborg from floating away. He was still unconscious, his heart still beating but his eyes dim. And inside his positronic brain—the instructions for the hourglass. For the time machine that could undo Lailani's shame.

  "Hold on to that info, my friend," she whispered. "Hang on to yourself."

  She flew closer to the red dwarf. It hovered ahead like a Christmas ornament. Her scanners showed three gassy planets orbiting it, worlds without solid surfaces; she ruled them out. There were a handful of moons too, but most were too small to have any significant gravity, or they were too far from the red dwarf, terrifyingly cold. Finally she found a possible candidate: a large world, roughly the size of Luna back home, close enough to the red dwarf to soak up some energy. It was a barren rock of a world, pockmarked with craters, but the only one where a base could potentially be built. She flew toward it.

  She orbited the planet several times, scanning the rocky surface, until she found a source of heat and light—a mere speck on the barren landscape. Thankfully, the atmosphere was thin. Her ship was rattling enough as it was; entering a thick atmosphere would rip her apart. She landed the Ryujin in a crater near the energy source she had detected.

  The ship had come with a spare spacesuit. Lailani had spent yesterday working on it, cutting and sewing and tweaking. She could now fit it over Epimetheus. It fit horribly; the dog could barely walk in it. But thankfully the gravity was low here, and Lailani was able to carry her pet even though he outweighed her. He lay in her arms, bundled up, peering through his helmet.

  They emerged onto the surface of the rocky planet. It was a cold, depressing, shadowy world. Barnard's Star was dimmer and cooler than the sun. It glowed in the sky, small and red, casting crimson light. It was no brighter than moonlight back home.

  Lailani walked with her scanner drawn. The energy source should be right ahead, yet she saw nothing. No colony. No other starship. Not even an atmo-tent. Nothing but this sandy valley the color of rust, mountains in the distance, and the red dwarf in the sky.

  "What the hell?" Lailani said. "There's nothing h—"

  A voice crackled through her helmet's speakers. "Identify yourself or die!"

  Lailani spun around, dropping Epimetheus and drawing her pistol.

  A hulking robot stood before her. He had seemingly materialized from nothing. He stood eve
n larger than HOBBS, all polished steel, and held a rifle the size of a park bench. His head was bucket-shaped, sprouting an antenna. His eyes were two light bulbs, and his hands were mere wrenches, reminding Lailani of a Lego man's hands. In an era of realistic-looking androids, some indistinguishable from humans, this machine was decidedly retro, like something out of Forbidden Planet.

  "Weapon identified!" the robot said. Even its voice was quaint, a robotic monotone. "Danger, danger! Drop your pistol and identify yourself!"

  Lailani kept her pistol raised, pointing at the massive robot. "I am Lailani de la Rosa!" She considered adding that she was a lieutenant in the army reserves, but decided against it. If this robot served Dr. Schroder, a notorious outlaw, it was likely programmed to dislike the police and military. It perhaps looked like a twentieth-century movie prop, but its rifle seemed real enough.

  "State your purpose," the robot said, gun pointing at her head.

  At Lailani's side, Epimetheus managed to rise in his bulky spacesuit. The dog growled.

  "I've come to seek Dr. Elliot Schroder," she said.

  The robot's light bulb eyes blazed. "Target to be destroyed!" His rifle heated up and fired a blast of plasma the size of a heart.

  Lailani leaped aside, firing her own pistol. The two projectiles collided in space, shattering.

  "I'm not here to arrest him!" Lailani cried. "I'm here with his friend. I—"

  The robot fired again. Lailani leaped aside, and a blast slammed into a boulder beside her. It disintegrated. Epimetheus barked and lunged at the robot, but a wrench hand knocked the Doberman aside.

  Lailani curbed the instinct to rush to her dog. Instead she fired again, hitting the robot's rifle. The weapon shattered.

  "I am tasked with guarding Dr. Schroder!" the robot said. "You must be destroyed. Exterminate! Exterminate!"

  He stepped toward her, raising his wrench hands. The robot had no rifle now, but those hands could easily shatter Lailani's bones.

  "I've brought HOBBS back!" Lailani said. "Tell your master that HOBBS is with me. One of his creations."

  The robot kept walking toward her, metal fingers held out. "Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!"

  Lailani raised her pistol again, prepared to fight rather than flee.

  The robot loomed above her, and she aimed her gun, and—

  Another voice spoke.

  "Robby! That's enough now. Stand still."

  The massive robot paused, his hands centimeters away from Lailani. The bulky machine looked over his shoulder. His antennae wobbled.

  "Must I, Doctor?"

  The voice spoke again. "Yes, Robby. That'll be quite enough. Escort the girl and her dog into our home."

  Lailani peeked around the robot, pistol still in hand, but she saw nobody. Whoever was speaking was transmitting his voice from hiding.

  The hulking robot—Robby—reached out to her. "Come, human. I am to escort you. Disobey and you will be exterminated."

  "Was that Schroder speaking?" Lailani said.

  "Obey! Obey!"

  Lailani rolled her eyes. "Ever heard of the Three Laws of Robotics? A robot shall not harm a human? Isaac Asimov. Read your classics."

  The robot gave her a harsh stare. Lailani sighed and followed him, and Epimetheus joined them, swaying and slipping in his oversized suit.

  Robby walked several steps, knelt, and lifted a hatch. Lailani gasped. The hatch was made of stone. When closed, it had blended perfectly with the surface. On closer inspection, Lailani saw several vents hidden among rocks, possibly emitting the energy she had detected from above.

  Schroder definitely liked his privacy.

  "Robby, before we climb down, I need your help," Lailani said. "I have a third passenger on my starship. A fellow robot. Well, not a robot but a cyborg. He has a human heart. Help me carry him inside, please. He's wounded and needs help."

  "I am not your servant, human," Robby said. "Follow me! Obey or be exterminated! Obey or—"

  "Robby." The voice from earlier rose through the speakers, impatient. "Do as she says."

  The sound of grinding gears rose from within Robby. Lailani wasn't sure if robots had true emotions or mere simulations, but Robby seemed convincingly annoyed. With a grunt, he approached the Ryujin. When he saw HOBBS lying inside, Robby froze. He looked at Lailani.

  "Did you do this, human? Did you hurt him?" His eyes blazed. "Did you duct tape him to the floor?"

  Now it was Lailani's turn to fume. "I brought him here to fix him. Help me take him inside, Fisher Price."

  Robby snorted but obeyed. He returned to HOBBS, pulled off the tape, and lifted the unconscious cyborg. They returned to the hatch, which led to an elevator. They descended below the surface of the planet.

  The elevator reached its destination. They stepped out into an underground warehouse, and Lailani gasped.

  "Fucking hell," she whispered.

  Robots. Hundreds of robots filled the place, maybe thousands. Robby walked through the warehouse, carrying HOBBS. Lailani followed, gazing around with wide eyes, trying to soak it all in.

  In one section of the warehouse stood a dozen battle-bots, tall and burly, mounted with machine guns, grenade launchers, and cannons. Some had caterpillar tracks on their feet. Several robots, she saw with a jolt, looked just like HOBBS, just newer and still operational. As Lailani walked by, HOBBS's doppelgangers gave her dour looks.

  But most of the robots were not military. In one corner stood a group of robotic dogs, wagging their tails, hopping up and down, and playfully nipping at one another. Epimetheus gave them a growl, a snort, and then walked on with disinterest. They passed a group of female androids—very female androids. They wore lingerie and high heels, and they blew kisses at Lailani as she walked by. There were robotic knights battling a massive dragon the size of a dinosaur. Beyond them, robotic dwarves, halflings, and elves battled one another with swords and daggers. There were robot pirates, robot cowboys and Indians, and robots built to resemble celebrities. On a stage, a robot Elvis was swaying his hips, playing guitar.

  Lailani cringed to see that last one. She mustn't forget her purpose. She hadn't come to gape at robots but to save her friend, Benny "Elvis" Ray. The boy she had killed. The boy she would travel back in time for.

  She looked up at the unconscious HOBBS. The cyborg lay slumped in Robby's arms.

  You're the only one who knows how to use the hourglass, Lailani thought. How to send me back in time.

  She placed her hand on her pack, feeling the hourglass inside. The time-travel device. Her hope to save her friends. To save herself.

  Because just as much as I seek to save Elvis, I seek salvation for myself. Lailani winced, the memory pounding through her. She could still feel her friend's heart in her hand, falling still. Tears burned in her eyes. After a decade of guilt, I will find redemption.

  They reached the end of a warehouse, where a doorway led to a cluttered workshop. The robots here were incomplete. A gynoid stood on a table, nude and seductive, her skull open to reveal electronic components. Robotic animals crawled in a corral, clicking and clattering, only partly assembled. Various heads, limbs, torsos, and other robot parts hung everywhere. Gears, microchips, cables, wrenches, and countless other components covered shelves, tables, and the floor.

  Lailani approached a deactivated android that stood on a platform. It was shaped like a girl, the metal ribs opened like gates.

  Inside pulsed a human heart.

  "Another cyborg," Lailani whispered.

  A red glow caught the corner of her eye. She turned to see several human hearts in jars on a shelf. They were still beating.

  Lailani reached for her pistol.

  A voice rose from behind a pile of robot parts.

  "Robby, have you brought the faulty HOBBS unit?"

  The hulking Robby halted in the chamber. "I have the Humanoid Offensive Biometric Battle Soldier. I do not think he is going to make it."

  Lailani walked around the table, keeping her hand close to
her pistol. Epimetheus walked at her side, tail in a straight line. She glimpsed a figure ahead, mostly hidden behind piles of robot parts. She could just make out a lab coat and a bald head ringed with graying hair.

  "You know, Robby, it would be nice if you called me Master." The man raised a wrench, then plunged it down like a blade. "Ah, there we go! This clunky gear will be the life of me."

  The man spun around, and his gaunt face split into a tight grin. He dusted his gloved hands against his pants, then held out his arms as if expecting a hug.

  "And you must be Lailani!" he said.

  Lailani stood frozen, examining him. He was perhaps fifty years old, his cheeks sunken, his nose beaked, his back stooped, giving him the appearance of a vulture. He wore several tool belts across his chest and waist. They were heavy with wrenches, hammers, screwdrivers, and soldering guns. His boots were thick and heavy, and many pockets jangled across his tan leather pants, overspilling with gears and bolts.

  "Dr. Schroder, I presume," Lailani said.

  Robby cleared his throat—a human tick no doubt coded in as a lark—and dropped HOBBS onto the floor. The cyborg clattered.

  "He is your problem now, master," Robby said. Lights swirled in his bulb eyes as if he were rolling them. "If you need me, I will be outside guarding again, bored out of my mind. It will probably be decades before somebody else shows up, and you probably won't let me kill them either."

  The hulking robot marched away in a huff.

  Schroder approached the fallen HOBBS, brushing past Lailani.

  "Oh dear." Schroder frowned. "Oh my my my. This won't do. This won't do at all."

  He knelt by HOBBS, ran a scanner across the cyborg's shattered body, and tsked his tongue.

  "Can you fix him?" Lailani said.

  "Of course I can fix him," Schroder said. "He's my son."

  Lailani had the hideous vision of Dr. Schroder carving the heart out of his living child, then placing it into a metal body. She pushed the thought aside, hoping Schroder had spoken metaphorically.

  "What about HOBBS's memory banks?" Lailani said. "Will he still have his memories, all the data inside him? Things he saw?"