Attunga

by Peter Wood

  ‘No she’s not. We can’t get out. The hatchway mechanism was damaged when we scraped against the asteroid. That’ll be a couple of hours extra we have to wait while they fix it.’

  ‘Two hours to fix a door? As if! I’ll tell Turaku to burn a hole through if we have to wait that long.’

  ‘A hole? Through the side of my ship? I’ll burn a hole in you and Wirrin will help me. This ship is now famous and every inch of her is precious.’

  A certain amount of inanity was not only warranted but also infectious and Wirrin burst into laughter. Calen and Thom gawked at his overreaction then, infected themselves, couldn’t help joining in.

  ‘Dingoes! The whole major construction area for Attunga gets wiped out and we’re laughing like idiots. It’s your fault, Wirrin. You set us off this time.’

  ‘No I didn’t, Thom. You did – burning a hole in Calen. And anyway, laughing’s good for you when you get stressed.’

  ‘Stress? You call it stress? It felt like panic to me.’

  ‘Controlled panic, Thom. Perfectly controlled.’

  Thom made one of his nondescript sounds. ‘We didn’t have any choice. What’s happening with K74? We haven’t heard about that yet.’

  After Akama’s talk and general reports about the situation, Pirramar had been in contact with more details. They’d learnt that the external damage to Attunga was major, with the construction area completely destroyed and great amounts of the protective shell vaporised in that same area.

  The shell, nearly 500 metres thick and designed specifically to buffer the main habitat from the effects of any meteor or asteroid impact, had done its job so well that internal damage, widespread as it was, was relatively minor.

  They’d spoken with Sonic directly and Thom had been taken aback by the admiration and praise in his voice, a far cry from their normal badinage. He’d have to get used to that.

  The enhanced dolphins were on their way to their home reaches on Warrakan.

  The two companion AIs, along with two of the mobile AIs in their Comets, were racing to K74 to be ready to implement whatever consequences were decided, while the remaining mobile AI, along with a Comet crewed by humans, was departing on a rescue and capture mission for the seven helplessly drifting Cadre ships.

  Wirrin checked K74. ‘Nothing’s changed … Yes it has. Quambi’s kept a total communication blockage going but it’s been extended to a physical blockage as well and every vessel that’s left K74 has been taken to a holding area.’

  Thom was particularly interested. ‘I suppose the Cadre sent ships to get past the electronic blockade. Hey, they won’t even know what’s happened.’

  ‘Thom, they know absolutely nothing. It looks like they’re being even more isolated than the last time. They must be, if every ship they send out gets confiscated.’

  ‘I wonder if that’s what will happen with the Cadre ships? I wouldn’t even let them have them after this.’

  ‘I don’t reckon K74 should even be allowed to build new ones for years. Aggressive ships I mean,’ said Calen.

  They all agreed on that.

  After several hours of watching reports and looking into aspects that interested them, Wirrin said, ‘Well, time to catch up on sleep.’

  Thom laughed. ‘My brain’s too hyped up, Wirrin, and we can’t anyway. Your techbot ate the grav-bunks.’

  ‘Wombat head! Adjust your command seat to go flat. That’s as good as a bed.’

  ‘No it’s not. You know I like a grav-field for sleeping and it hasn’t got one.’

  Thom’s active brain didn’t last long though, once the lights dimmed and they were supine, and the little ship, under full automatics, carried them safely home for the next twelve hours.

  ***

  ‘Two hours? More like two minutes.’

  ‘Had you worried didn’t I?’

  Thom’s laugh ended abruptly and his jaw dropped when the ship’s portal slid back to reveal a great phalanx of dignitaries lined up and waiting: Akama and his counterparts from Warrakan and Freedom, Sonic in his transporter, Gulara, Burilda, the doctor, Miah and Raji, along with others the trio knew to varying degrees. They’d expected Gulara, and Pirramar had said Akama was going to meet with them at some stage, but this looked official. The trio stepped through their hatchway to the huge, unfamiliar docking area. They’d had to use this alternative Attunga dock because their regular dock no longer existed.

  Akama moved to greet them with a big smile, his customary shoulder grip, and a simple ‘Welcome home’, then Calen dived into the transporter, Sonic trilled hello in dolphin language and gave his dolphin laugh and they were enveloped in a welter of greetings, hugs and smiles.

  ‘My brothers have returned to the home reach and their pod awaits.’

  Wirrin wondered about the formal tone, then wondered again at the nods of agreement from Gulara, Burilda and the doctor.

  Akama spoke. ‘Yes, we are your escort. Your human and AI pods are waiting for you too.’

  ‘Now? For some sort of meeting?’

  ‘Of course. What else could you possibly expect? The habitats are waiting.’

  Habitats? All of them? Well of course they were. Wirrin looked to see if Thom understood. No, he didn’t.

  ‘Right now? Don’t we get a chance to change? We’ve been wearing the same clothes ever since Wirrin’s techbot ate everything.’

  ‘Nothing could be more appropriate.’

  Thom registered surprise, but nothing like the surprise that followed when Raji dashed from his father’s side and launched himself on Thom in a ferocious hug, his arms tight around Thom’s back and his legs dangling in mid-air. Thom almost fell over backwards but recovered and, laughing, returned the hug.

  ‘Wombats, Little Dolphin. What’s this for?’

  Raji had been called Little Dolphin for ages, a term he especially loved because it was Sonic’s name for him.

  ‘You saved us all. We watched you on the InterWeb and everyone says you’re brave but I already knew because Sonic told me.’

  Thom laughed and adjusted Raji so he could see his face.

  ‘That’s silly, Raji.’

  ‘No it’s not.’

  Somewhat nonplussed by Raji’s determination, Thom looked to the doctor as if expecting him to talk sense into his son, and received the nod and smile that was echoed by all the other adults. With a move, deft and familiar from relax time at the dolphinarium, Thom swung Raji to a comfortable sitting position on his shoulder.

  ‘What’s this about the InterWeb?’

  ‘We watched everything you did. It was really exciting, like a VR drama, except it wasn’t because Mum and Dad were watching it too and they were so quiet we felt the same till you beamed that last ship and escaped. Alisa says Calen’s amazing because he didn’t go unconscious but Miro says you’re more amazing because the way you controlled your ship was like magic and he wants to be—’ Raji stopped abruptly because his dad was making the shoosh signal that meant he was getting too talkative and excited. Thom saw too but disregarded it.

  ‘What about Wirrin? He made the decoy and the jammers and the techbot and you didn’t say anything about him.’

  ‘I don’t have to. Everyone already knows he’s special. Like Akama.’

  It was Wirrin’s turn to be nonplussed. What was Raji talking about, and how was he going to get him to explain? Akama had an interesting reaction too, though it wasn’t obvious.

  The group started moving and by the time they’d reached the nearest TransCom portal the trio knew they were heading to the now famous Attunga dolphinarium for an official thank you ceremony.

  After a journey, so rapid it must have been given priority treatment, they entered the viewing gallery, which was packed with people in the auditorium and dolphins on the other side of the big glass wall, and the hairs on Wirrin’s scalp shifted when every person rose to their feet and waited in absolute silence.

  Akama indicated three seats and gestured to the trio to move. Feeling the incredible
weight of attention focused on them, Wirrin grabbed Thom, pushed him into the lead, did the same to Calen, and then followed close behind. They sat down and the uncanny silence continued till, intruding on the quiet, a single person began to clap. It was Akama, and instantly a great ovation soared around the stunned and overwhelmed trio. Thom said later that he thought they must have all gone crazy but the sound and sensation were so powerful he felt like he was frozen in his seat. The roar went on, and on, then abruptly finished as Akama pointed to the glass wall or, rather, the dolphins massed behind it.

  Taking their cue from Sonic, who must have arrived during the ovation, every enhanced dolphin performed the dolphin to human greeting with the astonishing group precision they were capable of then burst into dolphin song. The joyous sound of their massed voices rang through the auditorium with extraordinary strength and power.

  Part of it was the welcome song dolphins gave to pod members who’d been absent for a while; part of it sounded like the song of success after a successful hunt; and interwoven through it all, Wirrin heard the dolphin names Puck had given them when Sonic was still tiny.

  This song was especially for them. Sonic must have created and organised it with the pod while they were asleep on the ship. The sound and motion finished and, before the hush of appreciation that invariably followed one of these special dolphin performances could change to applause, the images of Pirramar and the AI who represented the gestalt shimmered into view.

  ‘Welcome home, Thom!

  ‘Welcome home, Calen!

  ‘Welcome home, Wirrin!

  ‘The gestalt and all our associated AIs extend our gratitude and appreciation for your actions during this crisis. Friends! Thrice named!’

  The gestalt representative turned to Akama who immediately took over.

  ‘Members of our habitat triunity. Three young men set out on a journey of relaxation and adventure, little knowing that a straightforward request for help from our habitat security would send them into a situation fraught with danger and almost unbearable responsibility for the lives of Warrakan’s dolphins, AIs, and humans.

  ‘Watch, and marvel at the bonds of care and support that carry our Dolphin Boys through their worst moments.

  ‘Watch, and wonder, as gentle-spirited Calen becomes the rock of strength for the trio.

  ‘Watch, and share my admiration, as Wirrin, with inspiring innovation and application, provides the tools and wherewithal for success.

  ‘Watch, in awe, the triumph of spirit displayed by Thom as, faced with overwhelming odds and battling fears of inadequacy, he rose to every challenge with skill and control that is beyond my understanding. Watch now and share briefly the hopes, the fears, and the courage they display through their eleven-hour ordeal.’

  The trio sat, overwhelmed by Akama’s speech. To Wirrin’s ears there was the sound of conviction in every word. Whoops! Thom was taking it to heart. Wirrin gently clasped Thom’s forearm and was rewarded with a quick look and a subtle smile of thanks.

  The area directly in front of the glass wall lit up with a holo of Thom’s ship, and for the next short while they watched a carefully compiled outline of their actions, their early thoughts about what might be happening, parts of the discussion about strategy, Wirrin’s ideas and work with his InfoSystem, the high-grav practice, and then highlights from the time after match-up.

  The information from every sensor on the ship must have been collected.

  They watched the dramatic seconds of each encounter and saw the distortion of their features under high-grav, watched Calen’s fingers struggling to key the pre-sets, and relived the moments of Thom’s slow recovery to consciousness.

  The overwhelming message though, was the counterpoint of Thom’s skill and command when it counted, against his feelings of worry and despair.

  Wirrin’s heart constricted at the sight of tears welling in Thom’s eyes as he said he thought he wasn’t good enough, then relaxed with laughter as Calen called him a ‘great lumping idiot’. They found out from Pirramar that against the drama of multi-spectrum beams, conflict, and the spectacular images of impact, this was the most viewed and re-viewed moment on the InterWeb. ‘There’s no-one better!’ Calen’s following words sounded, the holo presentation finished, and in the immediate hush Akama stood and gestured for attention.

  ‘Yes, Thom, no-one better!

  ‘Through an act of providence beyond my comprehension, the only people from our three habitats with the necessary combination of skills and equipment were somehow located precisely where they were needed.’ There was no signal this time but the gathering rose to their feet for a second ovation, and against the roar of applause the Dolphin Song sounded again.

  ***

  ‘You’re going to K74, Thom?’

  This was surprising news because K74 had been completely blockaded for a week now and there was no activity around it.

  ‘The message came from Akama that he wants me to. The AIs and governments all through the solar system have demanded a stop to any aggressive ships being built there for the next twenty years and we’re going to destroy the big construction sites.’

  ‘Twenty? Is that all? It should be a lot more.’

  ‘It could be, Calen, if the Cadre keeps running things but if that changes then it’ll be less, and from what Wirrin’s been telling us that’s almost certain. When the AIs get serious things really start to happen.’

  Wirrin had learned from Pirramar that AIs through the whole solar system had decided the threats against them from K74 were now so serious they required action. This was amazing to hear because, for all the years since the great conflict when sections of humanity fought with tools of fear and hatred for the power to control all forms of machine intelligence, non-interference and cooperation had been an unvarying tenet for AIs in their relationship with the differing forms of human society.

  Their proposal had been for Quambi to spread knowledge throughout K74 about the Cadre’s actions, and at the same time to undermine any of the rogue’s anti-AI activities. Interestingly, they hadn’t proceeded till they’d gained human approval, though that was instant, with every major government applauding the idea, appalled that the Cadre was prepared to slaughter hundreds of millions of people to further its own ends.

  ‘What’s Quambi doing, Wirrin? She still has to keep hidden doesn’t she?’ asked Calen.

  ‘Yes, for Quambi-K’s sake, but that’s easy. She’s already a master at it and getting better all the time. Pirramar and I checked it out yesterday afternoon and the Cadre must be furious because images and reports telling the truth about what happened keep mysteriously appearing on the K74 InterWeb and they can’t stop them. Quambi has set it up so that when they try to trace the origins they detect an external breach of their security.’

  ‘Hey, that’s clever. Is it having much effect?’

  ‘It will. The embassy ambassadors were already in conflict, and Quambi’s building on those differences and spreading their questions all through the habitat as well,’ said Wirrin.

  ‘Isn’t that dangerous for the people who watch?’

  ‘It would be, Thom, but strangely, the monitoring programs have developed all sorts of bugs.’

  ‘Quambi?’

  ‘Of course. Data gets wiped or corrupted and the programs stop working or go into diagnostic mode, or something else unexpected happens.’

  ‘Dingoes! Only an AI could make that happen all through K74. Won’t the rogue think it has to be Quambi-K?’

  ‘Quambi-K gets ordered to check everything but from her viewpoint it’s either a genuine bug or the external breach it’s meant to look like. Anyhow, the rogue’s going to have his own trouble soon and he won’t have time to focus on Quambi-K.’

  ‘What trouble, Wirrin?’

  ‘Everything he’s been involved in is going to start malfunctioning. The first problems will be in the Black areas and then his equipment will start giving false results.’

  ‘Does that mean you’ll
be able to watch all the Cadre meetings again?’

  ‘It does, Thom, and because we’ll know all their plans as soon as they make them, we’ll be able to spoil anything we need to.’

  ‘I don’t understand. You’ve always told us electronic access isn’t possible for Black areas. How’s Quambi going to get into them?’

  ‘She’s going to intrude physically with her own completely separate access lines. The rogue won’t know they’re there.’

  ‘He’ll know when things start going wrong.’

  ‘No he won’t, Thom. There’ll be clues to tell him it’s more external breaches.’

  ‘He might. He’s very clever.’

  ‘He has no idea what he’s up against. Quambi has started building her own communication and control network through K74 and once she gets into the Black areas she’ll be watching everything the Cadre and the rogue are doing.’

  ‘How long before she does that?’

  ‘Another eight or ten weeks at least. She needs to have her network functioning at a basic level for the rest of the habitat before she tackles the secret areas, and building the network’s an enormous job.’

  ‘A secret network for the whole of K74 in ten weeks?’

  ‘Picobots, Thom. Her picofactories can do anything ours can. Remember?’

  ‘How long will you be at K74?’ asked Calen.

  Thom blinked at the sudden reversion to the early part of the conversation.

  ‘Just today. The Comet’s multi-spectrum beams will only take a few moments for each construction site. Why?’

  ‘I’m going to tell Sonic. He’ll think it’s a good adventure to share with you.’

  ***

  Thom turned towards Gulara.

  ‘Let’s go! We have to get to the next meeting.’

  They did have to get to another meeting, but not just yet. Thom was trying to dodge the half-hour of mingling which usually followed the formal talks because he’d listened to too many people telling him how good he was.

  Wirrin and Calen felt the same but evidently it was important for different groups of people to have an opportunity to express their gratitude and for two weeks Gulara had been their official companion, as they met with a range of people across the three habitats. She gave a serious looking nod, as if this was something important and in only five minutes they were making their way to the nearest TransCom portal.