Dark Foundations (41 page)

“That is not possible.”

Arabella frowned. “I am unaccustomed to arguing with a machine, but—”

“A nonbiological organism, if you please.”

“A nonbiological organism, then. But whoever—or whatever—you are, if he dies, you are responsible.”

Betafor seemed to stare at her for a moment. “It is not that simple. The Dominion ship is coming. If they find out that either of us exists, we both will face . . . death or destruction.”

“We can arrange for minimum publicity.”

“That will not work.”

Suddenly Anya, who had been gazing at the wound, gave a grunt. “Merral, Arabella,” she said in an urgent voice, “we need to talk. Now. Privately.”

Merral found something in her tone that didn't encourage hesitation. “Very well. Excuse us, Betafor, for a moment.”

“As you wish. I will wait here.”

Closing the flap of the compartment door behind them, they joined Vero and Perena, who were seated on boxes near the outer end of the cave. Lloyd stood alert with his gun gripped tightly.

“This Sarudar Azeras has what's called gangrene,” Merral said, keeping his voice low. “I'll explain later. Anya has a comment. Go on.”

Anya looked at the doctor. “That wound. Do
you
think it was an accident?”

“Why not? It's odd, but what else could it be?”

“I think it was a surgical incision. I say that because I have made just such incisions on cockroach-beasts and ape-creatures.”

“But why?” The doctor's face showed bafflement.

“Those creatures all had implanted devices there. They were circuits apparently designed to secrete toxin on some sort of command.”

“I saw them,” Merral added. “And the time fits. This Betafor says the accident took place at the same time just after the ship was destroyed. That was when the circuits started oozing poison.”

“Hmm. So the wound would be the result of a surgical operation,” Arabella said as if to herself. “A botched one. . . . Even more fascinating.”

“Oh, dear,” Vero said, his voice almost a grunt.

“Why ‘oh, dear'?” Merral asked.

“Because this says that B-Betafor is not telling the truth. I knew it would be complicated dealing with a being like this. But to f-find that she lies makes it even more complex.”

“True enough.” Merral looked around. “Any ideas?”

Lloyd gestured toward the crew cabin. “Sir, I reckon we challenge this Betafor thing. Bring it in here. We need the truth.”

“Seems a fair point,” Merral said. “Arabella, do I take it that the patient's life isn't going to be significantly put at risk by us spending a few minutes getting to the bottom of this?”

“Not significantly, as long as we get him out of here in the next few hours.”

“I agree with Lloyd,” Vero said.

Perena nodded.

“Very well,” Merral said. “Let's interview Miss Betafor.”

15

W
hen Merral called Betafor, she walked out on all fours, then stopped and tilted her body back to balance on her hind legs and her tail, her back and neck vertical. The result was that her head was elevated almost to the height of Merral's neck. She stared at them with large eyes and then froze in a state of utter immobility that no living creature could ever attain.

“Betafor,” Merral said, “we think that this wound Sarudar Azeras has isn't from an accident. It comes from an attempt to remove an implanted device from his chest—a device we found on other intruder creatures.”

In the ensuing silence, Merral realized that he had not the slightest idea how she would react.

After several seconds, Betafor said, “Do you wish to know the truth, even though you will find it unwelcome?”

“Yes,” Merral said and was echoed by the others.

“Sarudar Azeras was life-bonded to Captain Damertooth of the
Rahllman's Star
.” Betafor's voice echoed in the cave. “It is a tradition in the Freeborn and the Dominion worlds to life-bond crew to ships or captains. If a ship or the captain perishes, the signal to the device fails and the crew member dies.”

Merral and his companions expressed shock and revulsion.

“I understand that you find this to be a disagreeable concept,” Betafor said. “I am aware it is unknown in the Assembly. That is why I created an . . . alternative version of events.”

“You lied,” Merral said.

Betafor blinked. “If you want to phrase it like that, yes. I lied.”

“We prefer honesty.”

“Thank you for the correction.”

“Betafor,” Anya said, “you do this with cockroach-beasts and ape-creatures too?”

Betafor's pupils contracted slightly.

Given time and familiarity, we might be able to read something of the emotions of this creature.

“I deduce that you mean the two types of gene-constructed hybrids on the ship. Yes.”

“I don't see the logic in this, this . . . brutal procedure,” said Anya. “Why cause more deaths?”

“It ensures loyalty.”

“In such evil ways is unity preserved.” Perena's voice was so quiet as to make Merral wonder if it was meant to be heard.
Of course
.
On worlds where treachery is common, such circuits might have a real value
.

“When we heard the ship had been destroyed, Sarudar Azeras realized he had only hours to live. He decided to extract the circuits in his upper chest. They are designed to be hard to remove. We used a robotic arm to remove the main circuit, but there were . . . complications and the wound did not properly heal. Later, it became infected.”

“But you did get the implant out?” Merral asked.

“Let me clarify matters. There were two units—an upper and a lower one. The upper one is the dangerous one and must be removed quickly. The lower one, which is only a minor nuisance, is harder to remove. We took out the upper one and left the lower one.” She paused. “But I think you should remove the lower one, especially as the concept offends you.”

“If we can, we will,” Arabella replied and took a step forward. “Betafor, I have a responsibility to that man. He needs major treatment. Why can't we just hospitalize him?”

“The ship I was on was stolen by the Freeborn. The Dominion seek to recover it and to have revenge. All who were involved will be destroyed.”

Vero's voice broke in. “But you were made by the Dominion.”

“Yes. I was made by the Dominion. The first badge I bore was that of the Final Emblem, the sign of the Dominion.” The long smooth sides of her tunic glowed and on a black background a strange red symbol like an infinity sign or a figure eight on its side appeared. It seemed to move, almost as if it was some sort of ever-flowing coil. There was something unidentifiable about it, though, that troubled Merral. “Then the ship was seized. I could have self-destructed, but instead I chose to serve the Freeborn.” The symbol on her sides changed to a circlet of heavy chains on a dark blue background bisected by a yellow lightning bolt at the top. “Doctor, when the Dominion come, they will destroy—or torture—both me and the sarudar. Our only hope is that they think that we were destroyed.” The tunic sides returned to their pale green hue.

“B-but why can't we leave you here and take this man to a quiet medical facility somewhere?” Vero asked.

“You do not understand the Dominion. They have many ways of extracting secrets, and human beings are weak. The Dominion can persuade, it can bribe, it can torture. It even has beings who can read minds.”

“Read minds?” Vero looked alarmed.

“Yes. I have . . .” There was a pause. “I have taken a risk in even revealing our existence to you.”

“So why have you taken this risk?” Merral asked.

Betafor turned to Merral. “Sarudar Azeras is my officer. My duty is to serve him.”

There was silence for a moment before Vero spoke. “I have a suggestion. A deep water research station was being constructed on the Manalahi Shoals, two hundred kilometers or so south of Isterrane. Work was recently abandoned as part of the crisis measures. I have been looking at it for some time for—shall we say—other purposes, and I can confirm that most of the medical facilities were completed. I suggest that we treat the patient there.”

“You'd need nursing staff,” Arabella said, “and a small surgical team.”

Vero nodded. “They could be found within the FDF.”

“Indeed,” Merral said. “We're building up medical expertise. And the nurses—even the doctor—don't need to know who this man is. Betafor, does he speak our form of Communal?”

“Yes,” Betafor said, “among the humans he was the best speaker on the ship. That is why the captain sent him to this island—in case there was any Assembly presence.”

“B-Betafor—” Vero's voice was sharp—“why did you come here?”

“Damertooth knew he had been discovered. We were sent to find and prepare a new site for the ship to move to.”

“We need to get moving, Vero,” Arabella said. “And the Manalahi Shoals sounds like the best suggestion. We can't leave him here.” She looked around, her face showing dismay at the conditions.

Merral made his decision. “Right. We'll move him to the Manalahi Shoals. Betafor, do you agree to this?”

“An isolated island? It may be the best solution. I would come too?”

“Yes.”

There was a silence. “Very well. I agree.”

“Right,” Merral said. “Let's take the sarudar out.”

Arabella showed them how to assemble a stretcher she had brought and then she sedated Azeras. After Merral and Lloyd volunteered to be stretcher bearers, they strapped Azeras to the stretcher and found spare waterproofing to put over him to keep him dry.

Betafor placed a pack on her back and then, with her strange four-legged gait, led them slowly back down the path under the continuing downpour.

Within half an hour of leaving, they had Azeras strapped down inside the
Nesta Lamaine
.

While the others changed into dry clothes, the Allenix unit asked Merral for clean water and a damp cloth and carefully cleaned the mud off herself.

Merral, rubbing his own hair dry, was struck by the action.
What is the motive? Pride? A desire for cleanliness? Concern for mechanical efficiency? How hard it is to understand this creature!

The ship took off and soon passed through the turbulence of the storm into clear starlit skies. Leaving Lloyd to watch over Betafor and Arabella to monitor the sedated Azeras, Vero, Anya, and Merral moved to the cockpit and closed the door behind them.

“Betafor's utterly alien,” Merral began. “We can't begin to understand her.”

Perena looked up from her console. “I disagree. She's not at all alien.” While everyone stared at her, she continued. “She's made in our image and we may expect she bears the flaws of her makers.”

It was a statement that no one felt inclined to argue with. Eventually agreement was reached on a strategy to ensure that Azeras was speedily treated and messages were sent arranging for the appropriate people to be urgently, but quietly, dispatched to the Manalahi Shoals.

“Getting information from Betafor will take time,” Vero said. “We mustn't rush it. More haste, less speed. Everything she says should be recorded. The fact that she lies makes things very complex. We may yet be able to learn to tell when she lies. We need information so badly that we must treat even a dubious source as valuable.”

“So, do we talk to her now?” Merral asked. “We have a couple of hours.”

Vero frowned. “I'm tempted. She knows much that we badly need to know. But I would prefer to read up on—there is no Communal word, so let me use the Ancient English—
interrogation
—techniques and start talking to her tomorrow.”

“That makes her sound like an enemy,” Anya said.

Vero shrugged. “We don't know
what
she is. We know she came from that ship and that she lies. We can't rule out the possibility that she is an enemy or even a spy. We need to keep her in isolation.”