by S. H. Jucha
Z replied.
The SADEs used their contact with the traveler and their memory of the routes they took to wind their way back to the bay. Many times, they ran into crew members, who leapt in surprise and ducked away.
After that fleet’s first battleship, Z and Luther weren’t even met. A bay opened, the doors closed, and the space was pressurized. They used a small plate on the bulkhead to rotate through the airlock. Luther had to bend his head, and Z squatted on his haunches. Then they made their way to the lower deck and the control room. They found the same plate and connected the sister again. When finished, they exited the ship. On any ship, after the first one, they never saw another crew member.
After the last ship was cleared, Luther remarked, “Apparently the word went out. Stay inside, monsters are arriving.” He’d waved his hands in fear and put a horrified expression on his face to emphasize his words.
“That warning was for you, Luther,” Z quipped. “The other half of their warning was about my beauty. If you behold his magnificence, you’ll never wish to behold another.”
Luther regarded Z in surprise.
Z’s heavy eyebrows tilted up in inquiry. “I thought I’d respond in imitation of my partner.”
“Don’t,” Luther admonished. “She can do it. On you, it’s … it’s disconcerting.”
As the SADEs put a safe distance between themselves and the last battleship, Z contacted Alex and Tatia.
Alex thanked the SADEs and the pilots, who’d performed the duty aboard the battleships. Then he contacted the Nua’ll comm sphere, while Tatia warned the Trident admirals.
Julien regarded Alex and asked, “What are you thinking?”
“I’m wondering how we can make use of the Nua’ll. They have the capacity to communicate with every race in the federacy, and they can manipulate Artifice’s code,” Alex replied.
“We would need a means of controlling them,” Julien said.
“And I think their requirements for supply might be their weakness, but we have to discover exactly what those are before we can leverage them,” Alex said.
The work of clearing the elder fleets had gone smoothly and much quicker with the fleet commanders’ cooperation. The fleet commanders required a final exchange with Alex, and Sargut was elected to have it. His broadcast was received by Miriamal, who transferred the call to a traveler near Alex.
“Alex,” Sargut said, “we’ve noticed the lesser fleets are underway without interference from your forces.”
“How did you manage that?” Sargut asked. He was unaware that there was a means of communicating with the lesser fleet commanders.
Alex replied.
Sargut looked to Suntred. He was stunned by Alex’s response, and her expression shared his surprise.
“Why would the Nua’ll serve you, Alex?” Suntred asked.
“And you trust them?” Sargut asked.
Alex said.
“The elders wish to know about the future of their home worlds and colonies,” Sargut said. “Artifice’s codes are embedded in every device, and they worry that the programs might be accidentally activated.”
“Yes, they’re aware and grateful,” Sargut said. “The elders have pledged their loyalty to you and the Omnians, as I do the Toralians.”
Alex said.
“Do not take this commitment lightly, Alex,” Sargut said, and Alex heard the tones of a fleet’s grand commander. “An elder’s pledge means ships and crew would be sacrificed to further your endeavors,” Sargut continued. “The Omnians have lost much to free us. Our honor requires you be repaid for your sacrifice.”
It was Alex’s turn to stare at a comrade in surprise.
Julien sent to Alex.
“This is understood, Alex,” Sargut said, “but commitment must be matched by commitment. Does the Talus system wait to be cleared until you have your solution?”
“We have the numbers and the expertise to sweep your system, Sargut,” Alex explained. “After the elder and lesser fleets clear Talus space, we’ll search out Artifice’s programs across Toral.”
“I’ll inform the elders that a final solution for their dilemma must wait,” Sargut said, and ended the call.
Two days later, the elder and lesser fleets were gone. The Trident admirals were issued new orders by Reiko. As the Omnian warships got underway, Darius reached out to Ellie and Deirdre.
Ellie interjected.
-37-
Traps
The next traveler to descend from the Freedom brought a load of shadows and equipment that Claude had ordered. The pilot settled near Artifice’s primary tower. Much of the space around the tower had been cleared by work crews. However, crew members with plasma rifles continued to operate on the farthest reaches of the debris field, eliminating arriving bots.
“What a waste,” Mickey commented to Miriam, when they received the latest updates on the defensive perimeter. Mickey had caught some sleep in a traveler’s main cabin stretched out on a seat. He enjoyed a little more rest as he linked to the traveler’s sister and caught up on recent news.
“We’re unable to produce a universal program,” Miriam said. “The bots exhibit generational development. In this case, one program does not fit all. Their comm processing is different. Their data-storage mechanisms are unique, and their signal-handling protocols vary.”
“What if we just shut them off until the programs we need are created? I hate seeing this waste of valuable resources,” Mickey lamented.
“We believe that Artifice anticipated our intentions,” Miriam replied. “The bots don’t respond to even a hail from the sisters. It’s as if a code can only be sent, once a specific comm exchange has been established.”
“Artifice has been thorough, if nothing else,” Mickey admitted.
“The SADEs are wondering what Alex intends to do with Artifice, when we reach it,” Miriam said.
Mickey turned his head to regard Miriam. She’d locked her avatar in a space next to his converted seat. “I know the answer to that query is important to the SADEs, Miriam, but I don’t know Alex’s intentions. I wonder if he does.”
“Claude’s load of shadows has arrived,” Miriam announced.
“Back to my suit,” Mickey said unhappily.
&n
bsp; Cold was ever evident, and darkness occupied most of the day. Only a shelter or a traveler offered humans some respite. Even the SADEs used a great deal of energy to power and warm their avatars. Their internal grav cells were unable to keep up with the increased drain rate, and they used the shelter or the ships to recharge.
Mickey and Miriam met Claude at the cargo shuttle. The ramp was down, and the human crew members were wrapped in their suits.
Lights had been set up to illuminate the work area around the casement. A series of them were rigged overhead, and they flooded the steps that the first shadow had taken.
Miriam interjected. She connected to the small shadow that Claude held in his hand and signaled it. The little device folded its legs tightly against its body, resembling a wire-mesh ball.
Claude checked to ensure the sister aboard Mickey’s traveler was connected to the shadow before he gently pushed it off the top step. It quickly gained momentum, tumbling down the steps and out of sight.
The threesome stepped away from the casement opening and linked to the sister, who signaled the shadow. The device unfolded its legs and righted itself. A tiny beam from the shadow allowed enough light for the sister to orient it. She hurried it quickly across the floor, aware that the energy bead on its back gave it a limited amount of operational time.
Beneath the light panels, the shadow climbed the wall. The cold challenged the little shadow to adhere to the wall. In preparation for the chilly conditions, Claude had adapted the shadow’s stick pads with a form of nanites paste to enhance the adhesive capability. When it crept beside the first panel, it turned so its light illuminated the floor where the first shadow had stood.
The shadow reached out a thin, long leg and touched the panel. In the light from its single beam, a section of the floor opened and snapped closed.
The action was too quick for Mickey and Claude to have caught the most important part of the visuals, but not for the SADEs.
Miriam sent,
Mickey and Miriam watched two crew members exit the cargo shuttle and come running. They slid to a stop in front of Claude, obviously enjoying the opportunity to test their skills on the ice.
Claude removed a warming blanket from a shadow about the size of the first one, except it had an additional appendage that reared from its back and a significant power pack strapped behind the appendage.
Mickey exclaimed.
Claude indicated to the crew member, who was holding the shadow, to set it near the casement opening. He signaled the shadow, which lifted its forearms, and the bar was inserted into the claws. He communicated with the sister, who would be acting as the shadow’s operator, and briefed her on his idea.
When the sister acknowledged that she was ready, Mickey signaled her to proceed. The shadow rose on its legs and turned on its lights. It moved swiftly down the steps, and the sister brought it to a halt just short of the floor trap.
The hoist shadow extended its forearms and lowered the bar to position it over the expected opening. Then the sister made minute adjustments in its alignment. She reviewed the imagery of the trap opening and closing and signaled Claude’s retainer bar to extend its length.
When the sister was satisfied with the arrangements, she triggered the little shadow on the wall to touch the nearby panel. At the same moment, she signaled the hoist shadow to drop its bar. Her timing was exquisite. The trap door snapped open, probably driven by hydraulics, and when it tried to close, it hit the solid plates on the end of the retaining bar.
Mickey sent his compliments to the sister, who coordinated the shadows. In return, she sent,
The hoist shadow turned its light downward to focus on the open pit. The trapped shadow tapped its forelimbs on the wall. It had been seeking purchase to climb out. The hoist line was unreeled, and the shadow below snapped it to its undercarriage. Then it was quickly retrieved from the pit.
The little shadow on the wall leaped from its position and landed on the back of the hoist shadow. It stuck neatly there with its nanites-covered pads. A mouth part extended from the tiny head and plugged into a charging circuit.
Claude asked in return.
Mickey sent quietly.
The sister signaled the tiny shadow, which uncoupled its mouth part from the power supply, and with a boost from the hoist shadow, it sprang onto the wall. Clambering up above the panels, it poised two legs over the second and third ones.
The image in Mickey’s implant showed two small arms dropping in front of the vid pickup and striking the panels. There was a flash of light. Then the image’s brightness adjusted. Mickey switched to the sister’s signal from the first shadow, which occupied the lowest steps. A broad corridor, coated in a muted gray tone, stretched into the distance.
The shadow climbed off the steps, approached the open trap, bunched its legs, and hopped neatly across the opening. It skittered down the middle of the corridor, without incident, and stopped in the center of a small rotunda.
Miriam commented.
Claude interjected.
Claude objected.
What Mickey had seen in the shadow’s transmission was a corridor absolutely clean of piping, conduit, cabling, and antenna.
The engineers, techs, and SADEs set to work. A tech squirted a tube of nanites adhesive on the edges of the trap doors. An engineer tapped the first wall panel, and a SADE snatched the bar out of the opening, when the doors retracted. The trap slammed shut and the nanites bonded.
Someone had prepared a sign, and it was placed over the first wall panel. It read, “Touch the panel beneath this sign at your peril. You might be left on Toral when the fleet returns home.”