Gravity of a Distant Sun

by R. E. Stearns

  “And then tell us how long we’ll be stuck out here.” Wiley waved toward the window on the opposite wall from the one where the intelligences’ ships hung as motionless as the Mayhem. On that side, the cabin’s sunsim dimmed the stars and grayed out the blackness of space, far from any reliable route.

  “Got places to be, Shieldrunner?” Iridian asked without looking away from Adda.

  “No, but my muscles are turning into marshmallows,” said Wiley. “I’d like to go someplace with grav while I can still walk.”

  “I want to see what Casey comes up with before we go anywhere,” said Iridian. “Besides, Gavran can’t fly like that.” She pointed to where Gavran was braced in the bridge doorway, squinting like he was having trouble following what they were saying. He threw them a sloppy salute that set them all laughing again.

  Adda sighed happily and stopped Iridian from getting tangled in the mobile workspace generator on her way to dragging Adda to bed. For the first time in months, it felt like everything was going to be okay.

  * * *

  It took Casey less than a day to create a workspace that documented its decision-making process. Adda loved it at first sight.

  The base construction, made by Casey and rendered by the workspace generator, was a life-size holographic depiction of the planet-wide machine that Casey and the other awakened intelligences planned to build. Coolant systems towered over pipelines, transparent for the purposes of this construct. The real pipes would be thick and opaque to protect the pseudo-organic fluid inside. The alien star’s light was warm on Adda’s skin, confirming that Casey was devoting much more attention to this workspace than the ones in which it represented itself with a humanoid figure.

  Everything Adda touched dissolved into data in whatever form her mind would best comprehend. The level of abstraction made it more dreamlike than any other workspace she’d been in, except that she remembered everything that happened. She could take notes. She could export data in whole or in part to whatever device she had available, and she could pore over it all, draw out its implications. With this, she had a chance to learn how the most advanced intelligence the universe had ever produced assessed, chose, and evolved itself and the two intelligences that followed it.

  As a test, she requested a summary of how her involvement had been identified as essential to the intelligences leaving the solar system, as far back as Barbary Station. The results arrived on her comp as readable text. As Adda had expected, Casey had reviewed the history of awakened intelligences in laboratory conditions.

  What it’d taken away from that assessment was that for an awakened intelligence’s efforts to succeed, they must begin with a human agent who understood and advocated for them. If that human agent was in communication with powerful people who mistrusted intelligences, the intelligence’s efforts were doomed. The selection process that led Casey to Adda, out of all the other humans it was in contact with, was incredibly complex. Si Po, one of Captain Sloane’s experts on Barbary Station, had been a prominent candidate. And she could read all of it, whenever she wanted.

  The structures that stretched for kilometers in all directions were all part of Casey’s mind, and Casey had welcomed Adda into it. When pressed, Casey would even send an envoy, a toy drone or a sea turtle or a bizarrely animated swarm of arrows, to point Adda toward something that would answer her questions. And all the answers she had ever hoped for seemed likely to be somewhere in this massive representation of Casey’s “thought” processes.

  Far too soon, Iridian patted Adda’s leg and subvocalized, You’re missing dinner. I know it’s reheated plastic with goo inside, but you haven’t eaten today, and I don’t want you to pass out in there.

  Adda dragged herself out of the workspace and checked her comp on her way into the main cabin. She paused in the doorway to open Dr. Björn’s very brief reply to her proposal to accompany the intelligences on the expedition, since they were remarkable beings that had invited themselves along anyway and were responsible for the upcoming change of expedition ownership. Dr. Björn’s white face was rounder than it’d been when Adda had last seen ver. Dark bags hung under vis blue eyes.

  “I don’t know what your game is, but the project is transitioning to University of Mars sponsorship. My administrative assistant informed me of this about five minutes before Oxia fired him. That was my last administrative assistant. He made good coffee. So just what are you two . . .” Dr. Björn breathed in through vis narrow nose and out through vis mouth. “Thank you,” ve gritted at a more reasonable volume, “for placing the expedition under competent sponsorship in time to avoid delaying our launch. Two berths are available because Oxia decided they were too expensive to fill, but I am not paying for two more ships’ fuel. Get here as soon as possible. Significant testing is required by law, and then we need to talk. Regards, Dr. Blaer Björn.”

  “Ve said yes,” Adda said aloud.

  Iridian used a wall handhold to whip herself around to look at Adda. “Ve did?”

  “Ve who?” Pel said. “Who said yes to what?”

  Adda eyed him cautiously. He’d been happy enough when she’d explained this, but he’d also been remarkably drunk. “You know how I said the intelligences wanted to join Dr. Björn’s expedition, and we’d be going with them?”

  “Sort of.” Pel’s confusion and concern were painful to watch. “Wait, now you’re going across the interstellar bridge again? I thought Dr. Björn said no.”

  “Dr. Björn’s accepting our help managing the intelligences, which are going. So we are too.”

  Pel just stared for a moment, his boxed food tilting and mixing its contents inside. “You really want to?”

  “I really do,” said Adda. “It’s going to be fascinating.”

  Pel looked at Iridian, who smiled wider than Adda had expected her to. “If she’s happy and no AIs are influencing any of us,” Iridian said, “then I’m happy.”

  “Well, all right. All right!” Pel threw a box from Gavran’s emergency stores at Adda. It bounced off her shoulder. Iridian chased it down before it drifted into the bridge. “Fucking keep it that way, though. I’m tired of going back and forth on will you or won’t you be in the damned solar system. How long will you be gone?”

  “The initial phase we’ll be on is four years.” Adda glanced at Iridian. “We’ll see how we feel about things after that.”

  “Oh, is that all?” asked Pel. “After four years you’ll have to come back and see my luxury suite in perfect grav and my pet tiger and—”

  “Yes, we’ll visit.” Adda rolled her eyes. “Four years seems like a long enough time for people to stop looking for us.” She caught Iridian’s hand.

  “I’ll have to buy fresh stock in Rheasilvia, then,” Gavran said. “I need food that won’t expire on the way home.” After years abroad, he was finally going back to his Kuiper Belt colony, once he added a few thousand more to the money Iridian’s crew had paid for his service.

  Eventually everyone settled down enough to start eating again. “So, how was the AI brain?” Pel asked around a mouthful of rations.

  “Wonderful,” Adda said. “Fascinating. I don’t know how Casey translated its algorithms into—”

  “Oh gods, that’s enough info.” Pel groaned. “Sissy, I’m happy you’re happy.”

  Iridian gave Adda a gentle pat low on her back, which they’d found through trial and error was the easiest way to show Adda affection in microgravity without throwing her off-balance or nauseating her. “Me too.”

  After dinner, Pel and Adda recorded an update for their father on Earth. Iridian shut herself in the bridge to record a similar message for the numerous members of her spacefaring family. Pel started the recording while he was upside down, and Adda remained right side up beside him.

  “They’re still not really colonizing, just like last time.” Pel was referring to her and Iridian’s first ship hijacking, for which the two of them had gotten onboard by pretending to be colonists on their way to a new s
tation on Io. They hadn’t told Da the truth until after they’d taken the ship. “Dr. Björn’s expedition’s only for, like, a couple years. They’re such liars.”

  “The initial phase is four years, so shut it,” Adda said. “There’s going to be a constant newsfeed about the expedition, but since the ITA is still looking for us, Iri and I are going to stay off the vids. Don’t worry, Da. This time nothing’s even going to look like it’s gone wrong.”

  “I haven’t decided what to do while they’re gone,” Pel said. “Can I crash at your place until I figure it out? All my friends are either living in company housing or they’re completely incapable of hosting guests.”

  They said their good-byes and ended the recording. “I’m glad you’re going to visit Da,” Adda said. “Have you thought about going back to school? If you’re going to be on Earth anyway, there are a lot of really good colleges you can attend in person.”

  Pel shrugged, which looked odd upside down. “I don’t think school’s my thing. All these secret infiltration mission things I’ve done with you and Iri and everybody were fun. Maybe I can do something with that, like . . . acting? I bet being a famous pirate’s brother will get me some tryouts, or whatever they do for actors.”

  “Lunawood will be just four hundred thousand kilometers away,” Adda said. The entertainment production hab’s location on Earth’s Moon was one reason that most actors were Earthers. In that way, and probably in others as well, Pel would fit right in. “You’d be great at that, as long as you show up on time. Which you’ve been doing, actually.” She’d relied on him again and again over the past few months, and he’d consistently done his part. For the first time in years, she felt confident in leaving him alone to let him choose his own path.

  * * *

  The Mayhem docked at Rheasilvia Station near the southern pole of Vesta without a dramatic confrontation with stationsec, Captain Sloane, or the ITA. Perhaps the new University of Mars IDs that Casey made for them all were proof against ITA attention, or perhaps the captain had recognized Gavran’s ship and told the port’s ITA office to look the other way. “Sloane wants Gavran back on the crew eventually, if the captain can get him,” Iridian said. “That’s my bet why nobody hassled us landing. But I don’t think Gavran will take that offer.”

  The intelligence running the station, AegiSKADA, would’ve tipped the captain off anyway if Sloane had asked it to watch for them. AegiSKADA had been so well behaved on Vesta that Adda actually expected it to follow that kind of instruction. Either way, nobody was at the docks to meet them. That was the calm arrival they wanted.

  They all took a few days of grav recovery treatment to get up and walking around after the affordable travel in microgravity. After that, there was a flurry of reunion parties for Pel in shady bars, and a flurry of health and equipment checks for Adda and Iridian. Despite how busy their days had become, Adda was down to one bothersome detail in her expedition plans. “I’m having second thoughts about telling Dr. Björn about the Coin,” she admitted to Iridian at the end of a hallway, between testing appointments. “There’s a difference between two new self-contained awakened intelligences and one that’s interacting with a human pilot, on a ship it wasn’t developed to fly.”

  Iridian frowned. “I thought you already told ver about it.” When Adda shook her head, Iridian said, “There’s a big difference, yeah. But if we tell Björn and ve decides to replace the Coin’s AI with the original copilot, what will Casey and the Apparition do?”

  “I’d expect them to defend the Coin’s intelligence.”

  “Violently?”

  “If necessary, yes.”

  “We’d better not, then.” Iridian’s arms enfolded her and pulled her close. “We’re too near launch to fuck it all up now. Honesty’s a luxury, babe. We can’t indulge ourselves all the time.” She sounded like she was convincing herself, not Adda.

  * * *

  Dr. Björn met Adda and Iridian in the hospital lobby after their last wellness tests concluded with passing results. After the Yăo Station clinic, the Rheasilvia hospital was overwhelming. The lobby was big enough that Iridian had to wave Dr. Björn down from her and Adda’s position beside a live tree at one end. Ve looked even more like the mad astronomer who discovered an interstellar bridge than the last time they’d seen ver.

  “Hello”—ve consulted vis comp—“Ms. and Ms. . . .” Dr. Björn raised an eyebrow at Adda, probably distracted by Adda’s new name. “The name listed here is Hippocrates Mercy Gladwyn. Is any part of that correct?”

  Adda attempted to keep a straight face, but her mouth curled into an awkward smile. “I didn’t choose it, but yes, that’s correct. It’s distinct from my previous name.” That had been the criterion she’d emphasized to Casey when it was creating the names for their new identities. She found it funny, but Iridian claimed she should have been much more precise. “Mercy” was Casey’s attempt to encourage a collaborative relationship between them.

  Dr. Björn glanced upward and muttered something about needing strength. “I will not be calling you Hippocrates for the next four years. Gladwyn is all right. Please choose a nickname.” Ve glanced at Iridian, who had done most of the talking when Sloane’s crew had kidnapped ver, and vis frown deepened. This was why Adda and Iridian had decided that Adda would do the talking during this meeting. “Also, I’m surprised to report that you’ve been ruled mentally and physically fit to join us.”

  Iridian’s eyes narrowed. Ve’s one to talk, she subvocalized to Adda.

  Kidnapping, Adda replied. Dr. Björn’s dislike for them was perfectly rational, but ve was still talking like they’d be going along on the expedition. Until the ships launched, Adda was going to keep watching for last-minute disasters that could leave them stranded on Vesta, where Captain Sloane did not want them. “Has there been any difficulty in fueling up the two new ships?” she asked aloud.

  “I’m not happy about their impact on my budget, but the university has been . . . accommodating. Which is also strange, frankly, although I suppose the positive publicity has been allowing for all kinds of splurges.” Dr. Björn looked around the lobby as if ve had forgotten where they were. “Let’s go and see them, shall we? I received your message that their passthroughs would open at my request, but I’ve been putting my tour off until you were out of quarantine. My colleagues have commented on how uncharacteristic of me it is to delay an inspection, so I’d better be seen touring them today.”

  You mind if I check out Pel’s latest fling instead? Iridian asked. You two can nerd out to your hearts’ content. When Adda shook her head slightly, Iridian said, “Great seeing you again, Dr. Björn, but I’ve got places to be. Catch up with you later, babe.”

  “Of course,” said Dr. Björn. Iridian gave Adda quick peck on the cheek and strode away.

  Adda and Dr. Björn read expedition documents on their comps on the way to the port module. It wasn’t until they arrived at the Apparition’s dock and its passthrough opened as soon as Adda stepped into its terminal that Dr. Björn spoke. “What biosecurity feature does it use to identify you with the public passthrough?”

  “Ah . . . It’s not.” Adda walked onto the ship and into its missile bay. “This is a good place to store cargo that isn’t breakable. It’s also a fine emergency habitat in case anything happens to your primary ship.”

  Dr. Björn stepped inside as well, and jumped when the exterior passthrough shut. “Goodness, it really is alive, isn’t it?”

  Adda grinned. “Yes. It recognized me when we arrived, which is why it opened the door.” She couldn’t guarantee it would do the same for Dr. Björn and vis crew. It had only invited Captain Sloane onboard after Adda told it that was a good idea. “It’s been very helpful in the past, and it’s careful with passengers.” Adda fought off the absurd urge to pat the Apparition’s wall like Gavran patted the Mayhem. That way lay personification of artificial intelligence, the one remaining path to influence that she had to worry about. This ship was not a creature tha
t enjoyed being patted.

  “I do appreciate a backup.” Dr. Björn peered down the long hallway that ended at the bridge. “Do you know that including this warship in our expedition has inspired some imbeciles to spread rumors about aliens in the Thrinacia system? People will believe anything. I pitched its inclusion as protection against pirates. Nobody would blame me for that.”

  Awakened intelligences could be classified as aliens, but this did not seem to be an advantageous time to bring that up. Adda just hummed in what she hoped was a despairing sort of way. “Well. I wouldn’t advise going into the bridge on either of these ships. People will ask about the pilots, but the ships don’t need any, and it’s not safe to hire any as a cover. Tell people . . .” Adda smiled, remembering what Sloane’s crew had told her when she’d asked. “Say they’re Earther pilots, from Russio-China. You know how translation software is with creole languages.”

  Dr. Björn looked dubious. “Very shy Earther pilots, I suppose. It would be much less odd to hire people, but the budget would benefit from this minor mystery. Let’s see the other one.”

  Adda stopped just inside the Casey Mire Mire’s main cabin, until Dr. Björn said, “Is something wrong?”

  “No, sorry.” Adda stepped aside to let Dr. Björn board. The Casey Mire Mire looked much homier than the Apparition, but that was one of its many methods of camouflage. “This one is a significant influence risk,” Adda told Dr. Björn. Casey had promised not to hurt anyone on the expedition, but the risks inherent in translating intention between an awakened intelligence and a human left opportunity for unforeseen errors on both sides. “I don’t recommend spending more time on it than you have to. If this one needs any maintenance that Iridian or I can do, we’ll do it. Same with the Apparition, actually.”

  Dr. Björn looked from the darkened bridge console to the unlit pseudo-organic fluid in Casey’s tank, then back to Adda. “All right. I was going to call it cozy, but you’re giving me the willies.” To Adda’s relief, Dr. Björn said nothing about difficulties with the original expedition ship, which had recently had a secret change in copilots.