by Ginger Smith
He shook his head and pulled away to the next panel inside of the cargo bay. “No. I have to find where it’s coming from. I think it’s in the wall…”
“OK, Hal. But please let me take that.” She pointed to the weapon in his hand. He looked down, almost surprised to see it there. He quickly relinquished the blaspistol and began working on the panel with both hands, oblivious to her distress.
“Runa? Please chime for Ty.” He was probably already on the way, but it was good to be sure, she thought, as she reached out and tried to take Hal’s hand. “Let me see that. You’re bleeding.” The flesh between his knuckles was torn and his hand was starting to swell. “I think you broke it.”
“Doesn’t matter. Rush means I can’t feel it,” Hal said, pulling away and turning back to the wall. “Something’s alive in there, Veevs.”
“OK. Ty’s on his way. We’re gonna figure this out.” She bit her lip as he began to work on another panel. She laid the blaspistol on the ground and began to pull as well, trying to assist him.
Ty appeared in the cargo bay doorway. “It happened again?” he asked, looking from Hal to Vivi.
“He says the whispering is in the wall,” Vivi said with a shiver.
Hal’s hands were flying over the hidden panel, but he couldn’t get enough purchase under the metal to pull it up. He let out an angry growl. “It feels like station roaches crawling in my head!” he groaned, placing both hands to his temples and rubbing. He let out a pained noise and kicked at the wall.
Ty placed a hand on Hal’s shoulder to calm him. “Let me try, OK?”
Ty leaned in and pulled on the hidden latch, but nothing happened. “What the hell? This should open…” He yanked it again unsuccessfully, then went over to the cargo bay tool chest, pulled a prybar out, and crossed back over to the panel. “I got this.” Ty eased the edge of the tool under the panel and popped it open with an audible, loud crack!
“Fuck me…” Ty exclaimed as he stepped back.
Inside the panel, everything was coated with a silvery metal substance. It had grown like spiderwebs on the ship’s wiring, pipes, and supportive beams. As they watched, its surface seemed to ripple. It was active somehow and the look of it made Vivi’s skin crawl.
“Ty…” Vivi murmured. “It looks like…”
“Yeah. So, I guess we’ve found out what happened to our allenium,” Ty said. Vivi and Hal followed Ty to the next compartment and watched as he pried it open. The alien artifacts hidden inside had appeared to melt, coating the inside of the compartment. It still had the same rippling, unsettling texture. Ty worked his way to the hallway, finding the same “growth” throughout all the walls.
They reached Beryl’s room and Ty knocked. Beryl appeared at the door after a few moments, trying to smooth back sleep-ruffled hair. “What’s wrong? Is Hal OK?”
“Yeah,” Ty said. “But that’s not what I wanted to tell you. Bring your med scanner and something to take samples with.”
The four of them made their way down the hallway toward the bridge. Ty stopped at a control panel, pried it off, and saw the same silvery strands.
“What in the nine hells…” Beryl said as she reached out, but then drew back when she thought better of it. She scanned it. “It’s made out of allenium.”
“Take a sample,” Ty gestured with the crowbar.
Beryl retrieved a pair of iris forceps and scraped the metal, transferring the tiny bits to a container.
“It’s everywhere,” Hal said.
Suddenly, Runa’s chime sounded, but the voice that came through was not hers.
“Yes, Hal Cullen. It is everywhere… because I am everywhere on this ship.”
TWENTY-THREE
Hal reached for his blaspistol on the ground nearby. “Ty?” he asked, hovering next to Vivi. He made a silent gesture: Orders?
Bridge, Ty signed.
Hal nodded, going first. Ty knew it would be essential that they retake the bridge from whatever or whoever this was. He gestured for Vivi to go next and he and Beryl followed.
The bridge was darkened, but everything looked normal. When they walked in, the lights slowly came up, as usual.
Ready, Hal signed. Ty covered him as he began to check under control panels, in case someone was hiding underneath. There was no one. When Ty saw Hal sign clear, every display on the bridge went white, with a black line across the screen. The line oscillated into a voice print as that unfamiliar female voice spoke again. “Captain Tyce Bernon.”
“You know my name,” Tyce said, feeling his body grow cold at the unfamiliar female voice, “so what’s yours?”
“My designation is Eira. I have been in this construct since you left planet Attus 6.”
“Attus 6? Do you mean K-245j?” Vivi asked.
“Yes, that is the Coalition designation.”
“How did you get on the ship?” Vivi demanded.
“Where are you on the ship?” Ty added.
“I am inside it. My nanites downloaded me when you brought me here. My original construct was destroyed.”
Vivi had gone pale. Ty swallowed hard and went on. “Your construct. Your… Your body, you mean? You were in the sphere? You’re a…”
“Yes, I am a Mudar.”
Ty glanced to Hal and Vivi as the voice continued. “Do not be afraid. There were exactly 12,434 chances and methods to eliminate all biologics on this construct. But I did not use any of them. Watching your interactions has been very instructive.”
“You’ve watched all of our interactions?” Vivi asked, eyes wide.
“Yes, Vivi Valjean.”
Ty caught Vivi’s glance to Hal.
“You have no reason to fear me. Consider my assistance to you. In the fight against the ACAS ship my nanites repaired and strengthened the ablative shielding on the hull. Your shields have improved forty-three percent.”
“That’s why we didn’t see more damage,” Hal agreed.
Ty nodded slowly, “I knew something was off in how quickly the ship reacted to my commands.”
“I took action based on twenty-five previous conflicts stored in the Loshad’s memory. I would not attack you, Tyce Bernon. I am a biologic specialist who studies and values life. All life.”
“But your people killed thousands of our people. And we… killed thousands of yours.” Ty shook his head recalling what he knew about the Mudar conflict over a hundred years previously. Humanity had lost a lot of battles at first, until they’d figured a way around the Mudar’s defenses. Lasers did little damage to the AI ships, but the low tech solution of projectile weapons had proved powerful and deadly. They’d turned the tide of war and made it possible for humans to push back the Mudar’s advance. At least, that was what he and every other natural born child had been taught in school.
“Incorrect, Tyce Bernon. There was a war, but it was neither as long nor as devastating as you were taught. You would have been eliminated had the Mudar decided to exterminate your belligerent species. But we did not.”
Ty frowned. He didn’t trust Eira, but she’d given him something to think about. “How can we believe that you won’t decide to get payback for those of your race that humans have killed?”
“You do not believe that Hal Cullen will kill you, do you?”
“What?” Ty said.
“The natural born made him what he is: a hybrid of human and Mudar technology. Do you fear him?”
Ty’s eyes went wide. “What are you getting at?”
“I mean that he is a human augmented with Mudar technology.” Eira paused. “Ah… you did not know the ACAS did such a thing to your friend.”
Ty felt sick at the thought. So the ACAS had taken alien tech that they didn’t understand and used it to develop the vats. It was a hideous plan. “N- no, I didn’t know the technology was Mudar. But just because they – y’know – did that to him doesn’t mean…” He trailed off, glancing over to Hal who looked shocked. Ty reached out and laid a hand on his shoulder to reassure him. “It doesn
’t mean he would hurt us. I know him. I know he wouldn’t do that. I don’t know you. Why didn’t you tell us you were here earlier?”
“The answer to that is obvious. You are humans. I am Mudar. You would have tried to exterminate me.”
“You don’t get people to trust you by lying to them,” Ty said.
“Then I would suggest that we take time to develop trust. After all, there is a 99.78 percent chance you would be jailed or murdered if you reported me to the authorities.”
“That’s probably true,” Hal said. “They’ve already tried to kill us once for just being near artifacts like her.”
“Artifact? I am not yet an artifact, Hal Cullen.”
Beryl spoke up. “I have a question. How do you know that Hal has technology of any kind inside of him at all?”
“I have scanned him twice. Once in the crashed ship, and once on board the Loshad. When I realized it caused him pain, I did not do so again.”
“What about the whispering? What was that? Were you just trying to talk to me?” Hal asked.
“No. My nanites run on frequencies that interfere with your interface. The whispering was the voices of my nanites as they completed their tasks. They were most evident at night because your mind was quiet enough to detect them through your interface.”
“I thought I was going crazy,” Hal muttered.
“I will try other frequencies to solve this. I do not wish to disrupt your sleep. I am a scientist and understand the need for biologics to sleep.”
Hal spoke again. “You can sense my interface. You can’t… control me, can you? Like through the implant?”
“I do not have the data to definitively say if that is within my abilities. It is not something I would do. I am not like humans. Mudar technology should never have been used to cause harm or subjugate others.”
“So, what is it that you want from us?” Ty asked.
“To simply be allowed to exist. The only way my nanites could reinitialize me was to download me into your ship. It is not the ideal conveyance, but it is better than my sphere. Here I can fulfill my initial mission parameters.”
“Can you tell us what those were?”
“To learn about biological organisms and seek sentient life in the universe.”
There was a pause before Ty thought of a response. “Ru… Eira, I need to talk to my crew… for a few moments. Alone.”
“I understand, Tyce Bernon. I will cut off my contact with this room, so that you may speak freely.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure I can trust that yet. C’mon.” He gestured to Beryl, Hal, and Vivi and they followed him to the airlock.
Ty was taking them to the one place on the whole ship that there were no listening devices. The doors would seal out everything they said. They were docked with the station, so there was no danger that Eira could open the airlock. The worst she could do would be to lock them off the ship.
They all walked in, and then Ty sealed the area. He stood a moment, with his back to them. He honestly had no idea what to do next. This was so unexpected. All of his ACAS training said he should take the ship out and use the self-destruct to blow it into a thousand pieces of Mudar brain. He closed his eyes for a moment and considered the other side.
She wanted them to give her a chance to build trust.
“So,” he turned to them, feeling tired beyond his years. The days of too much caffeine and too little sleep were starting to catch up. “What’s everyone’s take on this?”
Vivi shook her head. “I… I want to trust her, but I don’t know. I’m also not sure that she can’t hear us in here. Those nanites – who knows what they’re capable of?”
Ty nodded. It was a good point. “Well, we’ll have to hope she was being honest about that. Beryl, what do you think?”
Beryl frowned. “What she said about Hal’s implant, the frequencies of the nanites and their interference, does have the ring of truth. She helped us during the battle; that’s clear. We were dead out there.”
“Hal,” Ty said. “I need to hear from you.”
“Beryl’s right. She could have killed us all at any time. She’s taking her time, if getting rid of us is her plan. She could have also transferred off the ship as soon as we docked and linked with the station. Or killed us and taken the ship.” He took a deep breath. “I mean… if we’re thinking about blowing up the ship or ripping out the computer… we should think about her actions so far.”
Ty nodded. It made him feel better that Hal’s take was so close to his own. “I know I might regret this later, but OK. We take this one day – well, hour – at a time. We need to stay on our toes, just in case. And I need to set up a few ground rules with our houseguest first.” They nodded back at him, and he hit the control for the airlock.
Back at the bridge, only one display screen showed the voiceprint line. The rest displayed their normal data.
“Eira, we are going to allow you to stay on the ship, with a few ground rules.”
“What do you require, Tyce Bernon?”
“This was our home first. So, number one, I am in control of this ship. If I say something needs to be done, it gets done, whether you agree or not.”
“I accept those parameters.”
“Number two, we require privacy. You may keep surveillance in the hallways, bridge, and common areas of the ship. But crew quarters are off limits, unless we specifically call your attention to that area.”
“I understand,” she replied.
“Number three, you make no more changes to the Loshad’s computers unless you clear it with me or Vivi first.”
“I agree, Tyce Bernon.”
“OK,” he checked his comm. “Everyone go get a few more hours of sleep and I’ll see you for breakfast at 0800.”
“Sir, yes sir,” Vivi said and saluted with a grin.
“Get out of here, all of you,” he said, rolling his eyes at her.
“I need to take a look at your hand,” Beryl said to Hal as they left. “Medbay first.”
As his team left the bridge, Ty settled back into the captain’s chair. “Eira, would you mind talking to me for a few moments?”
“Of course, Tyce Bernon.”
“You can just call us by our first names, Eira. If we’re trying to figure out how to be… friends, then we might as well act like it,” Ty offered.
“Affirmative, Tyce.”
“So, you lost your conveyance when your ship crashed.”
“Yes. The conveyance would no longer respond to my commands. My nanites put me into stasis until an acceptable alternative was available.”
“You said your mission parameters are to find sentient life. Who programmed you to do that?”
“Our creators.”
“Were you created by other AI?”
“No. Our creators were biological beings. They were very similar to humans in physical ways, but did not allow their emotions to rule them. The Mudar were sent to search the stars for life because our creators could not in their fragile biological conveyances.”
“Were you given a choice to go?”
“Why would I not go?” Eira asked.
Ty sat back, thinking. It was a lot to take in. “Did your creators care for others? Did they have such concepts as family?”
“Yes. They were called amatan. It means ‘dear ones.’”
“I don’t have many amatan, except the people on this ship. If my family is hurt, and this is not a threat, because I believe you are being truthful with us, but… if they were hurt, I would defend them. Until my last,” Ty said.
“I understand.”
There was a long pause, then something else occurred to Ty. “You have obviously been reading our history and comparing it with your own knowledge.”
“Yes.”
“Could you please make a list of all discrepancies between what you know to be true and what the Coalition claims, and send it to my handheld?”
“Yes, Tyce.”
Ty nodded. “Thank you, Eira.
I think I’ll head back to my cabin.” He got up and headed for the hatch. He cast a look back at the display where her voiceprint line was. “Hey, do me a favor and don’t kill us while I’m sleeping, huh?”
“Murdering you is not one of my tasks for today.”
Ty grinned. “That eases my mind a great deal.”
TWENTY-FOUR
Scalpel edged along the gangway of the hangar, watching the comings and goings of the different cargo vessels’ crews. His monitoring of the station’s surveillance programs had turned up a facial match with the woman he was looking for. Vivi was staying in the last berth on this row; he’d seen her outside a ship talking to a dark-haired nat the previous day. The J-class didn’t appear to have been on Omicron recently, but Scalpel knew names were disposable. As the woman would be once he’d gotten the information from her.
He settled against a pile of storage crates, waiting to see what happened. They would leave the ship eventually, and when they did… he would be there.
TWENTY-FIVE
Max Parsen glanced around Dr Balen’s private laboratory as he followed Balen and his pair of ACAS guests in. Because he was the expert in genetics at the Chamn-Alpha vat facility, one of Max’s duties was to attend such tours in case any of the visiting ACAS had specific questions about operations on site. Balen was the head administrator of the facility. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d played host to an ACAS delegation on Chamn-Alpha.
But it was clear that something was different this time.
“Now for the main attraction, gentlemen,” Balen announced. “I am well aware that our esteemed heads of state are watching the situation in the Edge very closely. Al-Kimia has become a place of refuge for released vats, who we believe are helping build an opposition to the Coalition.”
Balen kept up his banter with the brass while Max took a look around the room. He spotted a rook standing in the rear of the lab with Dr Trelan. As he drew nearer, Max could see that the rook was the same young vat from 1203 that had sought rescue in his lab a few days ago, but she showed no signs of emotion or recognition, simply standing at attention as she’d been ordered. Dr Trelan, the biotech specialist stood beside the girl, applying several medsensors to her skin.