Sidespace (17 page)

“
Milostivyy menya
….”

His hand was instantly on her shoulder. “What is it?”

She looked up at him, irises ablaze. “What Valkyrie sees…light, everywhere. Before, to me this seemed a dead, silent world. Now, though, it’s bursting with life and energy. Can you see it?”

“Some of it.” Her enthusiasm seeped into him despite his efforts to remain edgy and tense. He reigned it in—he had a responsibility to do so—and jerked his head forward. “Let’s not keep the emissary waiting too long.”

They continued on, now side by side. The chill from the air seeped through the fabric of the suit into his bones. The structures pulsed with energy, but the setting still felt desolate. There might be ‘life’ here, but if so, it was the polar opposite of Akeso, no matter the measure.

The pyramid loomed over them forebodingly, far larger up close than it had appeared on approach. It cast no visual shadow as there wasn’t sufficient light from the sky to create one, but the psychological shadow was tangible enough. To either side the harsh metal stretched into the darkness, and beneath their feet electrical current raced in every direction.

As they neared, the entity that had emerged gained definition. A mech apparently designed for mobility and physical agility, it stood two and a half meters in height and was comprised of around two dozen modular pieces: four wheels which looked as if they became grippers when needed, four multi-jointed arms, a narrow, similarly jointed torso to connect them, and that was it. No head. No discernable mechanism for sight. Nevertheless, it knew they were there.

When they were ten meters from it their transmitters lit up.

You come from above. Why?

Caleb motioned for her to stop while there was still distance between them and the entity, and Alex cleared her throat. Her eVi was prepped to translate her spoken words into the alien language and send it to the transmitter to be delivered.

“Yes, we’re from another planet, far from this one. We’ve come in the hope we can learn from one another. We mean you no harm.”

Good job, baby.

You are small, yet you fly. How?

The alien’s manner of speech was curt, succinct and absent all nuance. He let Alex continue to handle the interaction, giving him the opportunity to study the entity more closely.

“You mean our ship? It contains a special engine—several, in fact—that enables it to fly.”

You refer to it as if separate. Other. Is this ship not you?

Alex muttered on their private comm. “Valkyrie, help me out here.”

She didn’t have to give voice to the question at all, but she went out of her way to include him in any conversation with Valkyrie that impacted whatever they happened to be doing. He was sure she slipped on occasion, but the fact she made the continual effort meant a lot to him.

‘The question suggests we are dealing with a single life form, of which the mech is a mobile subset, like one of your fingers.’

“No. We are each individuals. I—” she pointed at Caleb “—my companion, and our ship are each separate, self-contained life forms.” The
Siyane
wasn’t alive, but Valkyrie was, so arguably close enough.

You are small, but you do not join together to grow. Why not?

“We kind of…we work together while still maintaining our individuality.” Alex frowned in his direction, and he nodded encouragement.

You’re doing fine.

I do not understand. I will understand.

“I’ll try to explain it better—perhaps if I understood your makeup? When you say ‘I’ do you mean…” she gestured to the pyramid and around the platform “…is all of this you?”

For [no translation].

“Valkyrie?”

‘It is providing a form of distance measurement, but I lack a reference point at present.’

“Do you span the entire planet?” She switched to the private comm. “Because we’ve already seen that.”

No. We divide the planet among [one less than four quad—equivalent to eleven] others.

With this nugget of intel, by his estimation things became appreciably more interesting.

“And what do you call yourself? What can we call you?”

I am [One Quad Less One—equivalent to Three]. We are Ruda.

“A pleasure to meet you. I’m Alex, this is Caleb, and the ship is…Valkyrie.”

‘You don’t need to—’

“Hush. It’s easier this way.”

Her response gave him pause. When he met Alex, her ship was the most important thing in her life. Much had changed since then, so should he not be surprised? As he’d noted, the
Siyane
was not and had never been alive, and Valkyrie clearly was. He filed it away for later consideration.

Valkyrie is your Supreme. Your operator.

“What makes you think that?”

It is larger and stronger. It flies.

“That’s not…size isn’t the primary measure of authority in our society.”

Then Valkyrie is not your Supreme?

“We don’t have a Supreme—a leader, I think you mean. Well, we do back home…too many of them…anyway, we’re here as equals.” He heard the growing frustration in her voice. Still, five minutes as a diplomat was a good showing on her part.

There was a measurable delay in the response.

Valkyrie asserts this is true, so I will not dispute it.

‘The entity—I propose we simply call it ‘Three’ among ourselves—transmitted a signal directly at me asking for confirmation, so I confirmed it. I’m not certain any of us have convinced it, however.’

“Right.” She gazed hesitantly at him, obviously at a loss. “So what now? I think I’m at the end of the ‘greeting’ speech.”

He stepped forward to draw the mech’s attention. “We’d be interested to see more of your world and learn about your species. Will you show us something of how you live?”

If I do so, Valkyrie must also see and learn.

“Valkyrie will see everything I see.”

The mech didn’t physically turn to Alex.

You are Valkyrie’s mobile detachment.

“Um…” Alex grumbled in annoyance “…you know what, fine. Let’s go with that.”

Now I understand.

Somehow I doubt it.

Come.

The mech pivoted and rolled toward a wide opening in the pyramid. An entrance of sorts, though there were no doors.

He grasped Alex’s hand and held her back briefly.

Keep some distance between us and the mech, so we’ll have a chance to react if anything unpleasant happens.

She squeezed his hand in understanding, and they followed the mech inside.

The interior was architecturally no different than the exterior—walls, floor and ceiling of the same metal, smooth and sculpted into ninety-degree angles. Signals streamed along every surface; pitch-black to the naked eye, on most other bands the energy turned the space brighter than daylight.

The halls were four meters wide but nonetheless felt claustrophobic. Dangerous. Using the surroundings to his advantage would be difficult, and thus far he knew of only one exit.

Alex touched his arm. “Hey, it’s getting warm in here. Think we can take our helmets off and just use the breather masks?”

She was right. The enclosed space and the power flowing through it created a far warmer environment. “For now, but be ready to reactivate it. We don’t know when we’ll need them again.”

Her helmet was barely off when their escort halted and rolled closer to them. One of its appendages jutted out toward Alex’s face.

She flinched. He tensed.

No sharp objects materialized; instead the blunt edge of the arm drew across her cheek.

You are…organic?

It was the first time the alien mech had displayed any hesitation in its speech.

‘It has likely never seen skin before, or hair.’

Alex twitched under the scrutiny. “Yes. I apologize if you didn’t realize this before.”

Yet you think? You communicate?

She took a step backward. “Quite a lot. You don’t have any organic species on your planet?”

Unthinking, base life.

“Charming.”

He sighed.

Alex, that was out loud.

Whatever.

‘It is asking me how I succeeded in creating intelligent organic life. I am attempting to explain I did not create it—rather, it created me. Three seems unwilling to accept this assertion.’

Come. We will go this way.

The mech took a left, and the hall soon opened up into a larger, comparably open space. The ceiling vanished, replaced by soaring walls. Were they beneath one of the spires? They hadn’t traveled far enough for this to be the center of the pyramid.

Two additional mechs entered from other hallways and approached them. They looked identical to their escort.

Caleb’s combat instincts flared. If the mechs were mobile sub-units of the one regional intelligence, why did more than one need to be here?

13

ORYKTOS-4

R
UDAN

A
LEX COULDN’T SAY PRECISELY
when she and Caleb had gotten separated. Preoccupied by the mech leading them but mostly by their surroundings—by the walls coursing with endless streams of data she very much wanted to decipher—she’d lost track of both him and their location vis-à-vis the entrance. Or rather her location, because wherever he was, it wasn’t here.

Caleb? Where did you go?

Silence. Fuck.

Valkyrie, where is—

Two far larger mechs appeared as she followed her escort around the next corner. She turned to run—and ran smack into a third one. Rigid, strong claws grasped her wrists and pushed her backwards through an opening in the wall as her transmitter lit up.

Must study. Must learn. Must understand intelligent organic growth. Will incorporate knowledge and replicate results.

“No. Valkyrie, tell them no.”

I am trying.

She was forced downward until a flat surface met her back. Freed of needing to walk, she started kicking at the mechs while thrashing her upper body in an attempt to break free. More of the smaller mechs arrived to clamp down on her ankles and hold her still.

Damn they were strong. In a matter of seconds she was completely immobilized.

“You fucking monsters, let me go! Killing me isn’t going to teach you a goddamn thing!”

Will observe internal structure. Will measure sensory and cognitive activity. Will learn and incorporate, and grow life.

“Observe my ass!” Spittle flew into her breather mask; she inhaled and choked on it.

Alex, you need to give me control.

What?

You need to give me control of your body. Let me speak through you. It is the only chance we have to convince them to desist.

Fuck. The notion was a deeply unsettling one, but she really would prefer to live.
Do it.

She tried to ‘relax’ her mind, but it was a challenge what with the horde of alien mechs about to dissect—

“Valkyrie speaks to you through this mobile detachment. Confirm this with my hub.”

A new, more existential form of panic seized her mind, for she was now utterly helpless. The words were coming out of her mouth, but they were not her own. Her voice had taken on a flat, robotic tone. She watched from afar, in some deep recess of her consciousness.

Confirmed.

“Rendering this organic unit inoperable will not provide you the information you seek.”

Will not disable. Will observe and measure.

“Organic units are physically fragile. Perforation of the outer shell will result in permanent loss of operability. Organic units function via a complicated internal biosystem. If one portion of it is disabled, the entire unit ceases to function.

“If you wish to learn the details of its functioning, the only way to do so is by keeping it intact, operable and with freedom of movement and action. Physical examination will not yield the results you seek. Interaction via communication will yield those results.”

Communication does not reveal details of operation. Will observe and measure.

“If organic outer shell is breached, observation will not succeed. Knowledge will not be gained. Knowledge will be lost. Organic unit knows much to teach you. Organic unit knows how to control power, how to control light, how to control space. But organic unit must be kept operable in order to teach One Quad Less One.”

A blade of quartz glass hovered above her nose. She tried to scream.
Why my nose? NOT IMPORTANT.

Valkyrie will teach One Quad Less One.

“Organic unit is trained to teach and to demonstrate this knowledge. It is a more appropriate vehicle for the transfer of knowledge.”

Organic unit will share knowledge?

“Yes, but—”
like hell I will
“—you must guarantee its safety and continued unimpeded operation. Organic units do not operate properly when under restraint and immobile. Organic unit must remain independent and fully functional in order to share knowledge.”

Organic units move too much. Movement is not important. Growth is important.

“Organic units grow in intelligence by moving, by seeking new locations in which to gain knowledge. Organic unit must move unimpeded or it will not function correctly.”

The blade retreated.

I misinterpreted the nature of organic unit. I will no longer restrain organic unit, and it will share knowledge.

The instant the mechs’ grips loosened she was in motion, wresting control of her mind from Valkyrie as she wrested control of her body from the mechs.