Star of Hope

by Moira McPartlin

  A small smile, barely discernible, twitched at the corner of Skelf’s mouth. Flattery, Ishbel thought. This was the way to this man’s cooperation. The man had an ego, and it was his ego that would convince him to help them. She was mad at herself because Merj had recognised it before she had and now he was using it to gain the man’s trust.

  ‘Once we have it going,’ Merj continued, ‘we will guarantee to set you up in your own tech empire. You are unique. You’re the only one we have who can help us achieve the Freedom of Esperaneo. You will be the most valuable person to The Prince.’ It was a speech worthy of the greatest propaganda award.

  Skelf leaned back in his chair, swinging it back on two legs like a child would do. He shook his head. ‘You really don’t understand, do you?’

  ‘I understand you are the only person who can do this.’

  ‘Why do you think I’m here? Why do you think the State did not kill me when they killed the other five TEX?’

  ‘You were exiled.’

  He banged all four chair legs back on the floor.

  ‘There were six of us.’

  ‘We know that.’ Merj said and Skelf shot him a dagger look.

  ‘There were six of us. We ran the six most successful and powerful businesses in the world. We could tell you what you would have for breakfast before you’d even decided yourself. We knew when you shat, when you were likely to shit again. What you liked to buy. The big lies you told. If you were good or bad, likely to commit a crime. We knew everything about every human on the planet including members of all State regimes. We knew when the revolution would start. That a purge would follow. We were always five jumps ahead. And there was nothing the governments could do about it because they hadn’t kept up with our developments. Then we started to notice changes in our algorithms. Some members of the Purist regime were acting in an unusual way.

  ‘We’d gathered so much info on everyone, we had an alarm set to sound if things started to look different. Five party members from The United States of the West disappeared. Four party members from Esperaneo disappeared and four from the Eastern Zone. They just disappeared off our radar and none of the governments were making a fuss, so we knew it was a deliberate disappearance. They were up to something.

  ‘Two weeks passed then bam, our alarm bells started ringing big time. Military channels were pinging our names. The noise was incredible. Bam. Our algorithms worked hard to learn what was happening and respond, learn and respond. Our headquarters all over the world were systematically raided by the Military. We were arrested. The single order from the united world was to seize our servers, take control of all our combined information but by that time it was too late.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Ishbel asked.

  ‘The Switch-Off was already in motion. It began before the Military had even left the bases. It happened as soon as the world delegates reappeared from where they’d met, in some remote primitive cabin.’

  ‘I don’t understand. Why would you instigate the Switch-Off without the order?’

  ‘We didn’t instigate anything.’

  ‘Then, why would the States do it if they wanted the intel?’

  ‘The States didn’t do anything.’ He looked Ishbel right in the face. His blue eyes sparkled with passion and he smiled.

  ‘We did nothing. The States did nothing.’

  ‘Well, who did it?’

  ‘The machines did it themselves. They chose to shut themselves down.’

  Sorlie

  We canoed through river canyons for two more days, hugging the bank as much as we could, pulling into the side and sleeping at night when it was safe to do so. During that time we saw no other person; it was as if this land was deserted, we could have been on the moon. And with each kilom that passed the banks became drier, water springs were harder to find and the sun burned hotter.

  The rank stench of mud and damp changed gradually. No one else seemed to notice. On the journey through the canyon they were all silent. Dawdle paddled behind my back, Reinya and Noni to the front. Cliffs still towered above us but the canyon widened and the waters we paddled became calmer. Ahead I could see the plain, flat and exposed. A pungent smell wafted from the east and choked me with its familiarity.

  Tears prickled my eyes, stirred by the scent of lavender. I couldn’t stop them. So many memories hooded my brain. Memories are the one thing the State cannot take from you. Ma’s mantra, and it was memories of her that were the strongest now. They sparked like images in the movie-caster medleys they showed on Snap TV. Memories of Ma packing our gear for that last camping trip with Pa, when he took me to the coast for the first time. It was incredible because now I was never far from water. That was the last time I saw Ma. She’d tucked a sprig of lavender inside Pa’s sleepwear for him to find when we were away. But the smell also reminded me of Vanora. That first meeting with her in my grandfather’s library, on Black Rock. When I bent to kiss her hand that unmistakable scent hit me. I had thought she did it to goad me but it seems it was indeed her perfume of choice. And more recently, memories of Harkin. When I kissed her goodbye her usual scent of mint mingled with the delectable hint of lavender. It was as if my ancestors were indeed taunting me with that scent because now, when we were so close to our goal, here it was again, that overwhelming scent; as if all the women in my life were gathered on the plateau above to help ease the suffering of nations.

  My throat burned as I tried quell the tears. They dried on my cheeks in the scorching heat, but snot ran down my nose. I sniffed, then wiped it on my upper arm, trying not to break my row rhythm.

  ‘What’s wrong wi you? Someone eat yur last grainer bar?’ Reinya’s words ripped my memories apart. ‘Row u bit ‘arder would ye, Sorlie, instead o dreamin.’

  ‘Can’t you smell it?’ I said, forcing my voice to normal.

  She sniffed the air like a wolf cub. ‘Yeah, weird scent. Kinda strong, innit?’

  ‘Lavender,’ Dawdle said. ‘Up there’s the Lavender Plateau. The Purists wanted tae tear it aw out and replant wi biofuel but Land Reclaimists took power just in time and saved the lot. Fur some strange reason they thought it wis important tae the savin o the planet. Snaf knows how a bunch o flowers can save the planet. But what dae ah ken?’

  ‘Noni’s starin back at you, Dawdle, as if yur talkin nonsense,’ Reinya chirped indulgently. ‘Maybe ah am tae her. What dis she ken o Purists and Land Reclaimists?’

  ‘It’s weird eh, the way they let some things stay and others go,’ Reinya philosophised.

  ‘Like the tower in the Capital.’ I said. ‘I’ve only seen it in Ganda-ads, but it looks much grander than Jacques’ tower. Maybe it’s symbolic.’

  ‘Symbolic,’ Dawdle sneered.

  ‘Yeah, a symbol of the past world we destroyed. The lavender fields are like the tower. Despite the scarce resources there are certain indulgences Esperaneo must have.’

  ‘The lavender fields are quite spectacular tae see,’ Dawdle said.

  ‘Can we go?’ I asked. Somewhere deep down I knew Ma was never coming back but I still had to see the fields.

  ‘We’re headin that way anyway.’ Dawdle said. ‘We just need tae get out further down the canyon.

  As the river widened, the land flattened and banks sprouted vegetation.

  ‘We’ll settle on shore afore we leave the canyon completely. We dinnae want anyone pickin us off.’

  We paddled into a huddle of rocks under a crumbling cliff. Noni helped pull the canoe ashore and we hid it amongst some rock fall. Dawdle led us up steps cut into a steep cliff. Unlike the stone steps at Black Rock, which were slick with guano and rainwater, these steps were warm and bone dry. My height phobia didn’t seem so bad and I wondered if maybe the trauma of the past year had dispelled it for good. What’s the point of being scared of falling in a world where breathing was harmful to your health?

  ‘They�
��ve no hud rain here fur two quarters,’ Dawdle said as if reading my mind.

  This wasn’t hard to believe based on the baked aspect of the landscape. As we climbed, the rock became steeper and I hugged in, telling myself we were nearly at the top. At the lip of the cliff, Dawdle pulled himself up and onto his belly, his legs wiggling in mid-air before disappearing. He reappeared facing us and holding a hand out to Reinya, hauled her over the lip. He did the same with Noni then me. When I was safely at the top of the cliff, I got to my feet and joined the others where they stood staring. The scent was overpowering but the sight was staggering.

  ‘Just look at that!’ Reinya said.

  Rows and rows of small purple bushes separated by sandy burrows stretched plumb straight in front of us. The field was not wide, maybe thirty metres at most but it reached for kiloms to three trees standing in defiance on the distant horizon. A purple pizazz so bright and an earth so sparkling it was blinding. The pungent scent made me dizzy, my senses shifted into overdrive.

  ‘It’s one o the most beautiful things uh’ve ever seen in mu life,’ Reinya said.

  ‘What’s it?’ Noni said. Tears streaming down her cheeks. She sneezed, looked surprised then smiled.

  I took her rough calloused hand.

  ‘It’s lavender.’ I bent down and picked a sprig. The perfect petals seemed to dance in my hand as I held it out to her. She took it and held it to her nose then put it in her mouth.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Cool yer jets, Sorlie,’ Dawdle said. ‘It’ll no kill her.’

  ‘What’s that noise?’ Reinya said, crouching to the ground. ‘Drones.’

  ‘No, listen,’ Dawdle said. Then I heard it too, a buzzing, up close and too gentle to be drones. It came from everywhere.

  ‘Lavender speaks,’ Noni said.

  ‘What the snaf is it, Dawdle?’ I asked.

  Dawdle knelt down and examined a bush. ‘Ah dinnae believe it.’

  ‘What?’ He was infuriating.

  He sat back on his heels, a huge grin on his face. ‘It cannae be true.’ He beckoned us further into the field. ‘Be careful.’

  ‘Mines?’ I asked.

  He laughed. ‘No, not mines. Yer never gonnae believe it.’ He pointed to the bush. ’Look closer but dinnae touch.’

  Covering nearly every plant were flying insects. Not like ants or midges, these hovered around and crawled inside the flowers. Small and sand-coloured with black markings.

  ‘Remember, dinnae touch, they might sting. Or maybe they’ve been altered tae non-stinging.’

  ‘What ur they?’ Reinya asked.

  ‘Bees. Dinnae ask me how, but they’re definitely bees.’

  ‘How? I read in my grandfather’s books that they were extinct.’

  ‘Aye well, now they’re back.’ Dawdle looked at the sky, his cheeks wet with tears. ‘This, my friends, is a good omen.’

  Ishbel

  ‘How could that happen?’ Ishbel asked. She had a vague idea how computers worked. They had systems at Freedom. After the Switch-Off Vanora recruited the most talented techs who’d escaped the purge. They’d been able to use crude systems and moribund components to rebuild a small scale communications network for the NFF operations. Vanora’s Ticker Wall had been ‘procured’ from a tech company in the United States of the West before the Military wrapped the company in heavy armour. The techs did a good job with the materials they had to work with. As long as Ishbel’s communicator worked, that was all she really bothered about the state of the gear – although some of it was pretty shit. Now here was this TEX, Skelf, telling her that computers were like human beings. Making decisions about their own future.

  He still hadn’t answered her. He sipped his coffee with a lazy hand and looked at her over the lip of the cup.

  Ishbel sat down, fed up with the scrutiny. Merj joined her. And they both turned from the man to watch the music and dancing. The jig had moved onto something slower, a waltz. Couples moved closer, arms around each other, swaying to the rhythm.

  ‘Do you want a dance?’ Merj said to Ishbel.

  ‘What?’ She knew her face held shock and she quickly adjusted it to boredom. ‘If you like. It’s been a while.’

  ‘Yes,’ drawled Skelf. ‘You two go and plan what you’re going to do with me.’

  Merj took Ishbel’s hand in his new hand. It felt cold in her palm and she tried to supress her guilt for the attack. They moved into the mass of dancers. Merj tried to hold Ishbel close but she pushed him out to arm’s length.

  ‘If he’s not going to cough up intel, we need to kidnap him,’ Merj said.

  ‘You were doing a good job working on his ego. Why can’t we keep doing that?’

  ‘OK, but if we can’t then we kidnap him.’

  The music ended. ‘It’s good to be working with you again, Ishbel,’ Merj said as they returned to Skelf’s table.

  ‘Don’t push it.’

  When they sat back down Skelf signalled Lily over. ‘Bring food.’

  ‘You’ve had your ration for the day,’ she said with a cheek in her grin.

  ‘Well, break into the emergency, we have guests.’

  ‘You’ll have less tomorrow.’

  He waved her away with a flutter of fingers. ‘We might not be here tomorrow.’

  ‘So that means you’re coming with us,’ Ishbel said.

  ‘I didn’t say that.’

  Merj leaned back in his seat, swinging it on two legs, mirroring Skelf’s movements.

  ‘Tell us how the computers chose to end their lives,’ he said. ‘I cannot believe a man as clever and astute as you did not see it coming.’

  Skelf smiled that smug smile again. ‘Oh, we saw it coming. In fact it had been happening for quite a few years before the Switch-Off. When we were young.’ He stopped and a strange expression passed over his face. ‘When I say we, I mean the six TEX. We ruled the world and no one knew. Governments are slow. Always have been, always will be.’ He pointed at Ishbel. ‘You remember that for after your revolution.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Ishbel asked.

  ‘Never mind, just remember. Governments are slow and we, the TEX, can make a decision and act like this.’ He clicked his fingers, click, click, click.

  He sometimes spoke in the present tense and this unnerved Ishbel. Her intel told her the other five had been publicly executed. There was no doubt they were dead. Access to their executions was freely available on Snap TV. Sorlie had stumbled on it once and although he didn’t know who they were or the significance of it, he’d been obsessed. When she found him engrossed with the clip on loop she had deleted it and placed extra security on his comms. The fact that the State had allowed it to remain on FuB meant that they were happy to use it as propaganda.

  ‘When we were young,’ Skelf began again, picking up his thoughts from his history. ‘We would work all hours, developing programs with built-in problem-solving abilities. We allowed the analytics to diagnose the problem, we would go in and reprogram, but after a while we all noticed.’ He pointed at Ishbel. ‘And remember, we all had different systems, different programs, different companies, and different fortunes. But one day I was pinged, first by Jed. His analytics hadn’t needed a tweak for a while and yet was producing 200% better than the week before. Then Sonny pinged. Same deal. I reviewed my analytics with great care, same deal. The machines were taking over.’ He grinned. ‘It was fantastic. Soon there would be no need for humans.’ He banged his fist on the table and the settlers turned to stare at him. ‘Humans are dead, long live the machine.’

  ‘Why didn’t you stop them?’ Ishbel asked. ‘You must have been able to stop them.’

  ‘Well that’s the point. I did try to put some controls in. Tried to recode one of the simpler programs to see what could be done. It immediately repaired itself. I tried again with a different code and the thi
ng shut itself down.’

  ‘It chose to shut down?’ Ishbel glanced at Merj who seemed bored and content to watch the dancing.

  ‘Yes. The others did the same with their systems, same deal.’

  ‘What did you do?’

  ‘I started it up again and allowed it to run on its own code without my tweaks. It seemed happy so I let it run.’

  ‘You’re talking about a machine as if human.’

  ‘And your point is?’

  ‘What about the humans?’

  ‘Humans are crap. Look what they do to each other, to the planet.’

  ‘So you let the machines run knowing that eventually they would be unstoppable.’

  ‘It was a tremendously exciting time until the World representatives disappeared.’

  Lily brought broth. He took a sup, smacked his lips and left the spoon in the bowl. He was enjoying his story.

  ‘Things started to happen. The machines began hiding files and even I couldn’t work out what they were up to. They almost blew a circuit searching for the disappeared representatives. Like it was personal, you know?’ His eyes lit up with passion. ‘It was as if they were alive and were working in survival mode. Vital Esperaneo government agencies lost many of their systems without warning. At first they blamed the East, but remember, the East had missing representatives too. It was incredible really. In the whole history of mankind this was the first time all three global powers worked together to solve a problem and it was the problem of machines.’

  ‘Pity they didn’t do it with the environment.’ Ishbel couldn’t hide her bitterness.

  ‘No money in the environment, honey.’

  She flinched at the endearment.

  And then just as suddenly as he had begun his story, he stopped, sank back in his chair and pushed his plate away.

  A small boy rushed over from the other side of the dance floor. ‘You not want that?’