Underneath the basic functional
description, however, was a substrate of startling complexity. Only portions of the engine and the central
‘skeletal’ structure of the ship were cast as a continuous, solid frame. Everything else - from the furnishings, the
display screens, the sensors, the environmental systems, the weapons, and the
thousands of smaller components that made up those organs – was composed of
individually formed and replaceable cells, or structures built by those
cells. Emissary could quickly repair
most damage, not only hull breaches.
The ship could lose a stabilizer, an oxygen extractor, or a cannon
muzzle and have a new one ready for use within minutes.
The ship’s mind was similarly
complex. As best as the investigators
could decipher from its answers to their inquiries, Emissary’s program was the
net result of a nervous matrix distributed across multiple regions of the ship,
incorporating the functions of billions of cellular units. It maintained several ‘brains’, clusters of
cells capable of retaining and rebuilding its core program and personality even
if a significant portion of its structure were destroyed. The cells themselves were effectively
decentralized, following through on their routine functions without a central
processor’s orders. Yet their composite
‘organs’ were receptive to conscious control from the overall entity-mind. The interplay between remotely distributed
elements (as opposed to adjacent elements) explained the volleys of radio
signals NuRikPo continued to detect as they explored the ship. When messages could not be transmitted
between systems through electrical or chemical signals, nor via short-range
cellular messengers, then radio communication between specialized cells
was employed.
Katy was once again impressed
despite herself. Nature required
billions of years to produce systems this elaborate, working out the problems of
simultaneous design limitations through trial and error refereed by the
constant demands of survival and replication.
This structure had been directly designed by other sapients, presumably over a much shorter time-span. Emissary confirmed this idea, stating that
its predecessor, First Model, had been assembled in a vast orbital
laboratory. Only one such ship needed to be built manually. It had been granted reproductive capabilities, deduced from its claim to have been
created by First Model directly and its plans to create a Third Model,
itself.
The problem with all this sharing
and learning was that Katy was coming to suspect that Emissary’s
motives might also be more complex
than they first appeared. Certainly,
what the ship already admitted about its goals was problematic enough,
amounting to brainwashing, conquest, and colonization. Yet it presented these plans couched in
seemingly innocent, pleasant language.
It claimed to be offering help: peace, unity and prosperity. Katy could not yet decide if it was an alien
enough mind to genuinely conflate bodily violation as ‘helping’, if it was
having trouble with the translation of terms, or if it was just trying to
coerce them with clumsy bluff and/or propaganda.
During their investigation of the
ship, Emissary persistently attempted to convince them to ‘join’
with it again. Any time they showed
interest in a particular system or asked for details about a specific
innovation, it would take their attention for admiration and suggest that they,
too, could be a part of its wonderful self.
Even so, Katy had to admit that it wasn’t even the pushiest suitor she had
ever dealt with. Plenty of entities wanted to put parts of their anatomy into hers. Leading on a 'lover' far enough to
serve her purposes while still maintaining her bodily integrity was a familiar
dance.
The revelation that they were en
route to a confrontation gave their explorations
added urgency. Not only would a fight
potentially pose a risk to Emissary and its passengers, the distraction of
a battle might give Katy and NuRikPo their best chance for escape. If the foreign ship was successful in its
plans to create a permanent home within Collective space, their knowledge might
be vitally necessary to prevent ‘joining’ on a wider scale. While the pirates of Scape Grace might be parasites and
exploiters of their surrounding civilization, they needed that civilization to
continue for their own support. They
each also had personal attachments to their native cultures, home worlds,
favored associates and preferred ports of leave. As much as many crew members had alienated or
been alienated by some part of the Collective, they could not honestly wish its
disruption.
All too soon, Emissary’s display
screens began to show the irregular illuminated arc of a dwarf planetoid. Its dimensions and color were familiar. NuRikPo was first to recognize the features
of their former target, the Zig mining operation.
“I don’t know why I’m
surprised. We were in the neighborhood
and got dragged along on this ‘mission’,” he groused, obviously grudging that
their second chance at the mining base would still provide no opportunity for
his personal enrichment.
“No,” Emissary responded, its
language skills and comprehension having improved steadily during their hours
of interaction. “Not dragged. I chose you.
You came here before. You know
this place. I will help. Separately we fail. Together we succeed. Joining is best.”
“We’ll see,” Katy taunted
coyly.
She
managed to mask her dismay at the revelation that Emissary and its Ningyo
allies were already familiar with their attack on the Zig miners. Their abductors had either
tracked their escape or anticipated their path and had laid a trap well
calculated to draw Scape Grace
in. Either this alien AI was a tactical
genius, such genius had arisen from its partnership with the Black Humor and her Ningyo crew… or else
the identity and behavior of Scape Grace
was far better known than her crew
suspected.
Notoriety
was no asset to an interstellar pirate, not in comparison to anonymity. Striking fear into the hearts of their
victims was counterproductive. Getting
close without raising alarms was much more useful. Moving in and out of systems without notice
or under the guise of an innocent salvager’s registry… that stealth was necessary for
their continued operation. If ‘Grace’s description and nature were
becoming widespread news, it was only a matter of time before she was spotted
or tracked, captured or destroyed.
“Danger
begins soon,” Emissary warned them, beckoning with a curl of its construct’s
fingers and hand. “I must change, maybe
fast. Dangerous for you. Go to shuttle. Stay safe.
We join when danger ends.”
It
seemed that their survey would have to be suspended. As much as their explorations were incomplete
– NuRikPo was particularly frustrated by their inability to take samples – the opportunity
to return to their shuttle peacefully was too good to pass up. Emissary was right; they would be safest
within the shielded, rigid hull of their own vessel. Even if the strange ship shifted and flowed
around them, they would slosh around within it like a seashell in the tides.
Emissary’s
construct escorted the two back to their shuttle door, parting with a sorrowful
wave. As they boarded, Katy looked back
to close and seal the hatch. She saw the
construct melt and flow, its constituent units reabsorbed into the material of
the deck through fissures. In the
shuttle’s outer lighting, it glittered like a collapsing pile of iron
filings. It was definitely a beautiful
and wondrous form of life. Even without
her feelings being twisted, Katy would have preferred its anatomy to that of most biological organisms she had studied, sentient or otherwise.
It
was a shame it was such a threat, one which might need to be destroyed in
self-defense.
**************************************************************************************
The
final two days of travel followed a remarkably parallel routine aboard the Scape Grace. The survey of Emissary by Katy and NuRikPo
was echoed in several respects.
Their
tour of Emissary was akin to a tour of Scape
Grace undertaken by the Ningyo, Jolly and Punch. On the fourth day of travel, the two Ningyo
had grown bored and asked to be shown around
the ship. Originally, they had insisted
that captain Lerner be their guide. He
managed to defer that service to Burnett and Zenaida Georges on the basis that
the two engineers-in-training would be better able to answer questions about
the ship’s design and functions. To his
relief, Jolly accepted this logic. Evgeny’s
ulterior motive was to buy himself time on the bridge, unsupervised. He had managed to pass secret orders to
Gleamer and Luuboh via their private communications relay, but feedback was limited by their opportunities to check messages
unobserved.
Individually,
Gleamer’s research and Luuboh’s examinations were analogues to NuRikPo’s and Katy’s discoveries,
respectively. Gleamer’s analysis of the mysterious radio signals had
originally outstripped NuRikPo’s understanding of the patterns hidden in those
electromagnetic ‘choruses’, used by the miniature robots to coordinate their
activities. After a time, the frequency
of the signals declined and Gleamer’s lead shortened, due to the lack of novel raw data for his linguistic programs. Luuboh,
by contrast, had begun and stayed far behind Katy’s comprehension of the
structure and functions of the micro-robots.
Yet it grasped the essential nature of the invaders well enough: their
form, their abilities, their influence on a subject's mind via manipulation of
their body, and their subtle danger as a result.
Luuboh
had plenty of time to converse with Tklth while stuck in the medical room. Overtly, the Vislin was much more pleasant a
companion than she had ever been before.
She was not only no longer threatening, she was actually polite and even
solicitous. Even so, the contrast
between her former and present self was unnerving. Every pleasantry she spoke was a reminder
about how easily one’s ‘personality’ could be warped by a few cellular
modifications.
The
worst parts were her entreaties for release.
She began by indirectly reassuring Luuboh that she was healthy, she was
calm, she was healing and she would cause him no harm if the magnetic shackles
were removed. When he deflected or ignored
these suggestions, she moved on to polite requests. After that came the persuasive arguments: she
was harmed by immobility; the shackles were restricting her circulation; Luuboh
was acting out of fear and not concern for its patient’s well-being; she could
help it with whatever work distracted it so; and so forth. Luuboh was afraid she would resort to
pleading, begging, and eventually, threats.
During
this time, Evgeny became the point of synthesis for Gleamer and Luuboh’s
separate discoveries. He worked out that
Tklth’s infestation was probably one of the two sources of communication
Gleamer had identified, with one or both of the Ningyo being the secondary
origin(s). This idea was unpleasant, but
reassuring for another reason: if no one else was ‘broadcasting’ in the same
way, the encroachment of the micro-tech might not have extended beyond the
Vislin. Luuboh was still suspect, but as
long as the Mauraug continued working to expose the miniature invaders, Evgeny
had to assume it was still on his side, loyal to the 'macro-organisms'.
Evgeny
was certain that the Ningyo had brought the micro-tech aboard, but still could
not decide if they had done so intentionally or unwittingly. His suspicions about the odd coincidence of
unique technology coupled with the discovery of a unique foreign ship began to
approach the truth. As Luuboh added
reports about Tklth’s anomalous behavior, Evgeny became more and more convinced
that the Ningyo were acting out of character.
Not that Ningyo didn’t normally act strangely, but that basic alienness could
easily hide further alien influences.
Jolly seemed abnormally pacifistic, shrugging off the death of its
crew member with philosophical jargon.
That might be normal behavior for its culture… or it might be
manipulated behavior to suit the goals of the micro-robots’ controller.
There
were still several major pieces of knowledge Evgeny lacked, elements he and his
remaining crew could not uncover in the limited time available for study. Evgeny took advantage of his time alone with
Gleamer to pass on a compad filled with data from Luuboh’s research, which he
had picked up by feigning an injury to cover a trip to medical. Even so, Gleamer and his attendant programs
could not work miracles with limited observations.
A
similar relay had been managed - out of sight and hearing of the ship’s public
systems - when Soloth stopped into Evgeny’s private quarters. The two hastily compared notes on their
tactical plans for the upcoming battle, including strategies for compromising Harauch and double-crossing both of
their ‘allied’ ships. Most of their
plans included the regrettable necessity of abandoning Katy Olu and NuRikPo,
unless the entire operation went according to Jolly’s optimistic plans and
the two sides actually parted ways amicably.
That daydream seemed increasingly unlikely the more Evgeny learned about
the micro-tech loosed onboard. Neither
side could safely allow the other to leave with the knowledge they had gained
during their association.
For
similar reasons, Evgeny and Soloth discussed the disposition of their combat
crew, particularly the assignment of substitute officers. They would have to place specific persons
where their individual abilities and tendencies would allow them to react appropriately as
situations changed. Soloth would not
have much opportunity to discuss counter-strike plans against the Ningyo with
individual crew members. Anywhere it might talk to combat crew was under observation. The common lot
could not be made privy to the secret ‘dark areas’ of the ship where private
conversations could be safely held.
After all, Evgeny thought to
himself, I don’t even want to mention Bay
3e to Soloth. It was supposed to be my
secret with Luuboh. If everybody knows about a secret asset, why
bother?
Eventually,
all the time for studies, clandestine maneuvers, and plotting came to an
end. Just as Emissary had cut off Katy
and NuRikPo’s investigations, the onrushing destination forced a change in
activities upon Scape Grace.
First
mate Soloth bash’Soloth executed its first layer of plans by dispatching crew
to their assigned stations. Havish bash’Buurem
was called up the bridge to assume Tklth’s post at weapons. The Mauraug arrived dressed in canvas knee
pants, heavy boots, and an impact-armor chest plate printed with the insignia
of its old military unit. Sol Metaxas,
looking much better rested and groomed than he had at the crew briefing, was sent to
engineering, to serve as assistant to the promoted chief engineers, Zenaida and
Burnett Georges. Soloth delegated the
Mauraug ‘leader’, Kuugan bash’Ranpool, to ‘assist’ Luuboh bash’Gaulig in
medical. In reality, they both
understood that Kuugan would be acting as chaperone to both Tklth and Luuboh,
blocking them from leaving the medical room in case they were compromised. For example, they might try to sabotage the Scape Grace or defend the Ningyo.
The
rest of the combat crew was ordered to hold themselves at readiness for either
assault or defense duties, depending on how the attack against the Zig
went. Whichever way the battle went, Soloth wanted Macauley
at the point of greatest danger: in the outermost, lower hold during the combat
with the Zig fighters; at the forefront of an assault team sent into the
breached Zig mining base; or leading a defense team pressed to keep
boarders from taking out their key systems.
Every
crew member, plus the two Ningyo, moved to stations as Scape Grace closed on the planetoid. Harauch and the ‘unnamed’ ship followed
in formation. Evgeny joined
Jolly, Punch, Gleamer, Soloth, and Havish on the bridge and found himself with nowhere
to sit. He eventually decided to station
himself between Soloth’s navigation post and Gleamer’s communication console,
at the far forward edge of the bridge. He became a somewhat deliberate obstruction
between Jolly (seated at his own command console) and the primary display
screen. It was a petty nuisance, but at
the moment, it was the most provocation Evgeny could afford.
The
conflict to come would determine if he must obstruct the Ningyo
Captain still further. Evgeny was torn
between hoping for an opening created by the chaos of battle or a quick, clean,
profitable resolution. He still wanted
the Ningyo, Jolly and all his crew, to die slowly… but the likelihood of that
happening without significant concurrent damage to his ship, his crew, and
himself was low. If Jolly turned out
good to its word and capable enough to pull off its plans successfully, then
Evgeny would just have to accept profit in trade for abandoning his revenge.
Revenge and profit
were just two possibilities. If years
of criminal enterprise had taught Evgeny Lerner anything, it was that the
actual outcome of a mission rarely matched any ideal result. At best, you escaped alive, clutching something of
value, with a minimum of your own assets burned.
There were so many, many ways for a job to go wrong. In a complex, varied universe, a quick death
was by no means the worst outcome possible.
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