Roboteer (24 page)

Will frowned. Why was the captain talking to him like an idiot? Did he think Will was clueless about all this? It just wasn’t as simple as Ira was making out. Since the Transcended had involved themselves, it was a whole different ball game. They were talking about the future of the human race here.

And why had Ira even bothered to ask the others if his own mind was already made up? To give the impression of it being a group decision? What a joke.

Will tried to speak again, but Ira interrupted a second time.

‘Do you even know why you want to stay?’

‘To read the archive,’ Will said stubbornly.

‘You can do that on the way home,’ Ira countered.

‘No. It has to be done here.’

Ira raised an ironic eyebrow. ‘
Why
, Will?’

Will folded his arms. ‘I don’t know. They haven’t said. But what does that matter? We’re being given clues here!’

But the captain pressed harder. ‘Clues to what, Will? So far, your alien buddies have taken us a long way up shit creek, and this is the first paddle we’ve found. Do you know what
compromised
means?’

Will found something about Ira’s question chilling. ‘Yes,’ he admitted.

‘I have to consider the possibility that you’ve been lied to, Will,’ Ira told him. ‘That you’re being used. The truth is, we have no idea what we’re dealing with.’

‘Exactly!’ Will insisted. ‘And this could be our last opportunity to find out.’

Ira smiled humourlessly. ‘Now you’re sounding like Hugo.’

Hugo looked up in surprise and regarded Will suspiciously.

‘I’m sorry,’ Ira said, ‘but we can’t afford to pin our lives on your hunches. If the thing in your head wants to come clean and tell us why we should hang around, now’s the time for it to do so.’

Will scowled and willed the Transcended to offer him something. As usual, nothing happened. How could he explain? He turned to Rachel. If the captain wouldn’t listen to him, maybe he’d listen to her.

‘What do you think?’ he asked.

Rachel sighed and looked at him sadly. ‘I’m sorry, Will, but I think Ira’s right. The repairs are complete and we can’t afford to stay right now. If we can get ourselves out of this scrape, there’ll be nothing to stop us coming back here. Nothing you’ve told us about the Transcended suggests they’ve given us a deadline. Once home is safe, the pressure will be off.’

She glanced down, as if in shame. ‘Think of it this way,’ she offered. ‘You got the archive. If you’re right, it contains everything we need to beat off the new Earther fleet. What more can this place give us?’

The crew’s eyes were on him. Will felt Amy’s concern, Rachel’s regret and John’s urgent desire to leave, which was showing ever more obviously though his veneer of amusement. Will’s chest felt tight. They still didn’t trust him, or what he’d become.

‘Look,’ he said, ‘I know that none of you likes this situation. Nobody hates it more than me. And I know we’re dealing with a lot of unknowns. But if it wasn’t for the Transcended, we’d be dead already. They’re helping us for a reason. This is bigger than just us. This is about our species.’

‘Exactly,’ said Ira, ‘and that’s what concerns me. How much do the Transcended care about Galatea, Will? We’d all like to see humanity continue, but personally I’d prefer keep my home world, too. Have they made you any promises about that?’

Will winced. Of course they hadn’t.

‘That’s what I thought. Look. Don’t think I’m taking what you’ve discovered lightly – I’d be a fool to do that – but remember that we’re also trying to stay alive. And we understand that it’s frustrating for you. Someone’s dropping facts into your head and leaving it up to you to explain them to the rest of us. That must be maddening. Let alone the fact that you’re expected to take the weight of the entire human race on your shoulders without even understanding why.

‘So if you honestly think Galatea would be better served by me leaving you here with a shuttle so you can carry on with your research alone, we’ll do that. We have enough spare robots to make that possible. But the
Ariel
needs to get home
right now
, and you must ask yourself whether you’re still the roboteer on this ship – or not.’

Will’s mouth twisted in frustration. He could hardly save mankind hanging around in this system on his own. But if he went with them, he might still stand a chance. And more than anything else, he couldn’t bear to see Rachel looking at him that way.

‘Okay.’ He squeezed the word out from the pit of his stomach.

‘That’s what I like to hear,’ said Ira, gracing him with a smile as if it were some kind of reward. ‘Amy, plot us a course out. Will, how about finishing that fuelling?’

Will nodded and turned away. He found himself intensely disappointed with the captain. With all of them, in fact. But could he blame them? They were still themselves. They weren’t sharing their heads with the unknown.

And maybe Ira was right. What did he really know of the Transcended? Just because they’d led him down a few tunnels and shown him some memory fragments, what did that mean? If he were in the crew’s shoes, he’d probably want to leave, too.

Will told himself that, all things considered, they were doing the right thing. But no matter how hard he tried to convince himself, he couldn’t shake the feeling they were making a dangerous mistake.

11:
SICKNESS

11.1: GUSTAV

Gustav stared intently at the progress monitors in the brown, padded docking pod as it crawled from the hub down to Tang’s habitat ring. He couldn’t wait to get aboard and check on the details of the search. It had been nearly two weeks. By now, messenger drones should have come in from gunships investigating some of the suspected fuelling stars.

Gustav tried to keep his contact with Konrad Tang to a minimum, but now he needed to know exactly what was going on. He didn’t trust the admiral not to have augmented the orders to the gunships with a few of his own, designed to speed up the attack on Galatea.

Then there were the protectorate governments – another headache. If the Gallies were foolish enough to head for one of the Kingdom star systems, he’d have even less control over what happened. All three colonies within the Gallies’ maximum predicted fuel-range were under the jurisdiction of other subsects. And all of them were hungry for chances to improve their own standing at the Prophet’s court at the cost of the Reconsiderists.

Gustav had given strict instructions for the Gallies to be well treated when and wherever they were caught, and for him to be informed as quickly as possible. However, most protectorates had a habit of interpreting such orders in their own ways. He could only hope his security rating scared them enough to keep their noses out.

If it didn’t, Gustav’s career – and probably his life – was over. His one remaining chance of getting out of this mess was to be the man who saved the day. It was a role that everyone else was certain to try to take from him. But if he could stay on top of things, he’d at least get to keep his life. If he made it that far, he could work on extracting enough leverage from the debacle to convince the Prophet that the Relic was safe in Reconsiderist hands on a permanent basis.

Behind him, Rodriguez hummed a hymn. Gustav’s shoulders tightened. It was unfortunate that things had to happen this way. Tang would get to meet the disciple, which was something he’d hoped to avoid.

Thankfully, Rodriguez had been less of a pest of late, probably because he wanted to keep his lily-white robes clean of the whole affair. Then, when the time came, it’d be easier for him to stand aside and let the Kingdom’s wrath descend upon Gustav’s head. Gustav just hoped the disciple held on to that strategy once Tang was involved.

The docking-pod door slid open. The blunt, bricklike figure of Admiral Tang was standing in the drab corridor on the other side. He waited with his hands clasped behind his back.

‘General,’ Tang growled, with a barely adequate nod of respect. The fact that a Military Intelligence officer had been given authority over an admiral on what was essentially a fleet project had always been a sore point for Tang, and showing deference was a constant struggle. ‘Welcome back,’ he said, sounding even less convincing than usual.

‘Why, thank you, Admiral,’ said Gustav. ‘And may I introduce Disciple Rodriguez, my new assistant?’

Tang gave Rodriguez a perfunctory, stiff-bodied handshake and immediately returned his attention to Gustav.

‘I wish to register my disapproval of this search you have instructed me to conduct.’

Gustav hadn’t instructed Tang to be involved at all. He restrained himself from pointing that out. ‘Disapproval noted,’ he said. ‘I trust it has not prevented you from carrying out my orders swiftly.’

Tang’s face coloured. ‘No. The ships have been sent out as per your request.’

‘Good.’

‘Though quite frankly I do not think employing them as a messenger service is an efficient or fitting use for them. These are state-of-the-art suntap gunships. They carry weapons with an
aleph
security rating. Sending them into protectorate star systems presents an unwarranted risk for this project. Any number of enemy spy cells may take the opportunity to observe them.’

‘I am well aware of the consequences, Admiral,’ said Gustav. ‘There is no need to remind me of them.’

‘Furthermore,’ said Tang, ignoring him, ‘the message itself is somewhat hard to swallow. An attack on the Prophet?’ He made a sour face. ‘Coupled with your name on the orders, it will not take people long to guess that this has more to do with Memburi than Earth.’

Gustav had heard enough. ‘If necessary, we shall embellish,’ he said firmly. ‘The Gallies have stolen some of our superior technology for their assassination attempt, thus the reason for our involvement. I’m sure the palace will support us. They have at least as much reason as we do to keep this discreet. And now, gentlemen, let us proceed.’

He strode towards the strategy room, forcing a pace a little too fast for Tang’s shorter legs. The admiral matched his pace with difficulty, his face getting redder still.

‘Then there is the issue of the fleet position,’ he added.

Ah, the fleet, Tang’s private joy – Gustav had ruined his tidy little rows of ships.

‘You have spread us out and revealed our strength before the strike,’ the admiral said bitterly. ‘This will make it
considerably
harder to launch the big push against Galatea.’

That was the task Tang had been salivating over for years. It was to be his moment of fame – the victory that he expected to catapult him into the history books.

Gustav stopped and swivelled to face the shorter man. ‘Admiral, imagine for a moment, purely hypothetically, that the Galateans find a way to interrupt the suntap. What would you do if your fleet arrived in their system and found that your weapons didn’t work at all? There would be no bold victory. In all likelihood, your forces would be slaughtered. I prefer to work from a broad, exposed position than face that prospect. I suspect you do, too.’

‘I strongly doubt they could develop a defence like that in such a short time,’ Tang blustered.

‘Why?’ Gustav asked coldly.

Tang’s security rating didn’t permit him full knowledge of what transpired at the
remote facility
. Thus he had no way to gauge the severity of this emergency for himself. He had to take the scientific assertions Gustav gave him at face value, something he hated doing.

He regarded Gustav with a loathing he could not disguise.

‘As General Ulanu’s assistant, I can assure you that he is fully cognizant of the weaknesses in his position and is ready to accept them,’ Rodriguez put in smoothly. ‘I would suggest that all we can do is assist him as best we can. In any case, you can rest assured that the Prophet will receive a fair and accurate impression of your role in these proceedings from me personally.’

Tang fixed Rodriguez with a startled expression, as if noticing the disciple’s existence for the first time. His eyes lit up. Gustav could tell the man had spotted a potential ally.

Gustav had predicted this, though he was surprised by how quickly it had happened. It was inevitable that once those two got together, it would be the most natural thing in the world for them to try to conspire against him.

Let them
, he thought to himself. He was alert to the possibilities, to the extent that he’d started carrying his executive automatic around in the pocket of his ship-suit wherever he went.

‘You’re exactly right,’ he told Rodriguez, injecting a little menace into his voice. ‘We are in a state of alert. Thus, as the commanding officer on this project, obedience is all I expect from either of you under these circumstances. But I expect it unconditionally.’

He fixed each of them with a hard stare. Tang met the look with sullen suspicion, Rodriguez with a pious, scornful smirk.

‘Now, let us proceed to the planning room,’ Gustav announced.

He walked on ahead again, leaving the two of them trotting behind him. As he strode down the corridor, he could feel the spot on his back itching where he was sure the knife was going to go.

11.2: WILL

From the moment they left the Fecund system, Will felt uneasy. With every day that passed, the sensation worsened. By the time he was four days into the flight back to human space, it was intolerable. Foreboding churned his guts and made his teeth ache. Sleep became impossible.

As a consequence he was awake when, on the fourth night, Hugo appeared at the side of his bunk.

‘Will,’ he said. ‘I’ve been going over my results and I’d like to talk to you about them.’

‘Now?’ said Will blearily.

‘Preferably.’

Will was instantly suspicious. ‘But it’s the middle of the night.’

He glanced up towards the top of the cabin. Only Amy was on duty, her bunk flickering with visor-light. The others were asleep.

‘Please,’ said Hugo quietly. ‘I don’t expect any answers from you, but what I have to say may trigger some of your artificial memories, and that would help my work immeasurably.’ He looked down, as if embarrassed by the admission.

Will had barely exchanged a word with Hugo since their disagreement in the meeting room. That Hugo was suddenly interested in talking to him now didn’t exactly inspire his confidence. But Will couldn’t just ignore the fact that the man had extended an olive branch of sorts. He’d clearly suffered since being responsible for the deaths of the Earther crew.

Perhaps Hugo had chosen the night because he was embarrassed to make peace in front of the others. He might not try again. And if Will could convince Hugo of his good intentions, perhaps he could help lobby the captain to turn the ship around.

‘Okay,’ he said uncertainly.

Hugo smiled. ‘This way, then. We’ll use the privacy chamber.’

Will didn’t feel entirely comfortable as he descended the ladder to the room below. He quickly checked his home node to make sure his memory logs were running properly. If Hugo got weird again, Will wanted the captain to be able to see what had happened for himself.

Hugo reached the bottom of the ladder and sat on the floor, his back against the wall. Will did likewise. The floor beneath him hummed with the pull of the gravity drive.

‘So, what do you want to talk about?’ said Will.

Hugo hung his head, shut his eyes and spoke. ‘I have been checking and rechecking my data, and I have come to an uncomfortable conclusion. The suntap schematic is
definitely
incomplete.’

He glanced up at Will with accusation in his eyes. Will began to wonder if he’d made a mistake in coming down here after all.

‘My original assessment of the gravitic-generator control system was accurate,’ said Hugo in a quavering voice. ‘The software that completes it is not there. It is added in from outside at the time of operation.’ He regarded Will expectantly.

Will wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say. ‘So where does it come from?’ he ventured.

Hugo drew a long, heavy breath. ‘I know what it looks like, but it can’t be true.’

‘Well?’ said Will.

‘The blueprint makes it look like it comes out of empty space. From natural curvon polarisation patterns. We didn’t know that curvons could polarise. That’s why it took me so long to figure out. I had to advance Galatean science in order to comprehend the supposed purpose of the devices.’

‘What’s wrong with that?’ said Will.

Hugo shot him a look of tortured amusement. ‘Because it would mean the galactic core is broadcasting software patches. Consider it for a moment,’ he said dryly. ‘A black hole thousands of times heavier than the sun. The single most significant object in the galaxy. And we are expected to believe that its total output is being tweaked for our benefit as if it’s nothing more than a cheap house-mast. An impossible result by all accounts. It’s as if we’re being made fun of!’ Anger flickered back into Hugo’s features for a moment. ‘I have a much better explanation, if you’d like to hear it,’ he added.

‘Go on,’ said Will uncertainly.

‘I believe that the aliens download the software into the device’s processors at run time. In order for a culture to have access to the suntap, their computers must necessarily come into contact with the lure star first. In doing so, they’re infected with an alien virus, just as we have been. That virus monitors their actions and responds accordingly. Given that we already know the computers of both societies which have the suntap have been compromised, it is relatively safe to assume that this is the general case. And given the relative difficulty of engineering such a virus compared to that of manipulating the galactic core, Occam’s razor would appear to support my argument. Do you not agree?’

Will wasn’t sure he did. ‘I see where you’re coming from,’ he said slowly. ‘But how can I help you?’

Hugo nervously tapped his fingers against his lips. ‘If we assume the validity of such a viral strategy, then we must ask ourselves why the Transcended refuse to provide us with the software directly.’ He looked straight at Will.

‘I don’t know,’ said Will. ‘To maintain control over its use, I suppose.’

‘Exactly,’ said Hugo darkly. ‘And, by extrapolation, every system on the ship dependent upon it. So, simply put: any civilisation that comes into contact with the relic world is lured by the promise of unlimited power and leaves with their technology under the relic’s control to at least some extent.’

Put that way, the aliens sounded more than a little menacing. Will wasn’t sure he liked where this train of thought was taking them and still wasn’t clear why Hugo needed him for this exercise.

‘Another line of reasoning I’ve followed concerns the remarks you made during our meeting in the Fecund system,’ said Hugo. ‘Let us assume that what you said is true, and that you were not responsible for wresting control of the data feed from me during first contact.’

‘Yes, let’s,’ Will muttered.

‘The next logical question is why an alien should choose you as a target for contact instead of me.’

Will frowned. He tried to phrase his next words as tactfully as he could. ‘As I said in my report, because I represented the kind of constructive self-editing they were looking for.’

‘But
do
you?’ said Hugo, his mouth cracking into a slightly unhinged smile. ‘I am as much the product of genetic engineering as you are. Arguably more so. Your mods may be extensive, but they are cheap and unrefined compared to mine. I have a counter-hypothesis. You were chosen for contact because of your interface. Because, being like a machine, you were the easiest to manipulate. Their abuse of your memory processes since appears to bear this idea out.’