Space Above and Beyond - #2 Dark Side of the Sun - Dina Anastasio

by Dina Anastasio

  Shane hit another circuit and waited. This time it was a male voice that came through the speaker.

  "Take a chance," a voice shouted. "Kill 'em all. Rid the Earth of humans."

  Shane shivered. "That's the start of the AI rebellion," she said. "I don't—"

  "AGAIN!" Nathan cried. "AGAIN! IT'S DYING!" When Shane probed the next circuit, the digital patterns began to whirl.

  "AI's have a collective memory," Nathan explained. "That means any unit can remember events that happened to any AI that was ever built."

  Suddenly, the AI's body began to twitch. Its eyes moved from side to side. Then, very, very slowly, it transmitted these words:

  "Transmission received 01:30:23... Feliciti OH 519... position is currently... Platform A... A... Airloooooocck..."

  As it said the word airlock, the AI slumped. The machine was almost dead. But not completely.

  "It's still functional," Nathan whispered.

  "But we got what we need," Shane said. "We know where they're holding Cooper and the others."

  Nathan nodded and moved away. But Shane and the miner stayed where they were.

  "So, any AI unit is capable of recalling any AI event," Shane said. "Even if it wasn't there at the time. Then this unit, this AI, could replay why they killed my family. Couldn't it?"

  This dying computer could replay her parents' deaths. He could tell her everything she ever wanted to know.

  Nathan touched her shoulder gently and handed her a rifle. "You've got another family now. And it's up to you to keep them alive."

  The miner was standing very close to Shane now. She knew he was depending on her.

  "I don't want to hear what happened to my friends again," he said. "Do I have to?"

  Shane smiled. "Of course not," she said. "And neither do I, unless I want to. And I don't think that I do."

  She rose and turned to go, turned back and looked down at the machine. She hated it.

  Then she backed away slowly, despising all AIs everywhere.

  Chapter 10

  As Shane, Nathan, and the miner made their way toward Tower Platform A, Feliciti OH was grinning. The industrial drill was moving closer and closer to Wang. She could tell that he was trying very hard not to show how scared he was. But he was afraid all right. She could see it in his eyes.

  Feliciti OH moved down the line. As the drill whirred louder, she studied the Marines. Gordon and Damphousse tried to appear calm, but she knew they were terrified. Feliciti OH smiled, and moved on to Cooper.

  She walked around him slowly. There is something odd about this one, she thought. What was it? He looked like the others except...

  Of course! There was a bump on the back of his neck. She lifted his hair. This one had an In-Vitro navel. This one was a Tank.

  She stepped back and laughed out loud. A stupid Tank in this Marine unit? What a jerk.

  "What are you doing?" she asked him. "Why are you fighting for these humans? They farmed you to kill us because they didn't want to die. You're a sucker!"

  Cooper tensed and looked away. He had heard this before, a million times. When he was young the world had taunted him.

  "Hey, Tank," they had said. "What's that thing on your neck?"

  "Hey, Tank," they had shouted. "Attached to a pod in some test tube?"

  "Like a melon?"

  "Instead of a mother?"

  "That Tank doesn't have any parents," they had cried. "And he isn't even an orphan."

  "Can't even dream."

  "Can't even cry."

  They had been right about the tears. He couldn't cry. But they had been wrong about the dreams.

  He knew what nightmares were. They shook him awake every night.

  "You don't owe them anything," Feliciti OH told him.

  Maybe she was right, Cooper thought. What had humans ever done for him? They had made fun of him. They had called him names.

  His eyes must have revealed his doubts, because Feliciti OH moved closer.

  "That's right," she said. "Humans have done nothing for you. They have used you. Scared little humans needed somebody to fight us. We were going to take them over, and they were terrified. Too terrified to fight. So they started a farm, and they grew some soldiers. You!

  "They thought they had won. They thought they had rid the Earth of all AIs. But they hadn't. They moved into space and decided to take that over too. But we were clever. Very clever. And now here we are. And you Tanks are still fools."

  Maybe, Cooper thought. Maybe she is right.

  "Tell me where the others are. Tell me where your leader is. Then you can walk."

  No. No. She is wrong. These others, the ones hanging beside me, are my friends. They have never done anything but fight beside me.

  Cooper glared at her with eyes filled with hatred. Feliciti OH grinned and tapped his navel.

  "Come on, Tank," she said.

  Cooper jerked. But there was nowhere he could go.

  The head AI grinned and aimed the rotating drill at Cooper's neck.

  Cooper watched the drill move toward him. Tension filled his body. Sweat gathered on his forehead.

  He had to do something... fast. But what?

  And then he knew. "I want to take a chance!" he announced, with every bit of strength he had left.

  Feliciti OH frowned and waited.

  "A gamble," Cooper said. "If you win, we'll tell you what you want to know. We'll give you our leader. If I win, you will let us go."

  Cooper could see that he had made the right move. The AIs were intrigued. "Take a chance" was the one phrase that would make them hesitate.

  But the rest of the 58th wasn't happy about his suggestion.

  "You said you were a bad gambler, Cooper," Wang reminded him.

  "Do you know what you're doing?" Damphousse cried. "If you lose, you'll have to give them..."

  Cooper knew what she was going to say. He would have to deliver Shane to them. But he wasn't going to lose. Not a chance!

  "Ain't nothin' to it," Cooper said, cutting her off.

  He was confident. He was a winner. No one was going to take that away from him.

  No matter where he had come from.

  Chapter 11

  Feliciti OH was delighted. "It was your bet," she said. "So I will choose the game. We will play blackjack with one deck. I will not take another card if I have seventeen points."

  She pulled a deck of cards from her pocket and shuffled them. She was good at it. She had done this before.

  The 58th Squadron watched her.

  "What did she say?" Cooper asked.

  "Just add up the points on your cards," said Wang. "It's whoever gets the closest to twenty-one points without going over."

  Cooper nodded and watched the head AI. He could tell that she was pleased. He could see she thought she'd win.

  But Cooper knew different. He was a winner. He'd beat her at this game. And then they'd be free.

  Suddenly, Feliciti stopped shuffling and froze. A faint digital pattern was coming through Justin EB's modem. She moved closer. The beeps grew fainter. Feliciti OH placed her ear on Justin EB's chest and listened. After a moment she straightened. The modem was quiet. There was... nothing.

  Feliciti OH moved toward Cooper. She stood there for a long time. She was thinking.

  The members of the 58th waited in silence. They understood that something sinister had happened. But they didn't know what it was.

  "The stakes have just been raised," Feliciti OH said at last. "The Brandon IM unit has terminated function. Now you're not playing for your freedom. You're playing for your lives. And the life of your leader, of course."

  "What does that mean?" Wang whispered to Damphousse.

  "It means he's dead. If an AI can die, that is," Damphousse said.

  Feliciti OH glanced up and glared. She took a step forward. But Cooper stopped her.

  "Remember the game," he said. "Take a chance."

  She turned and shuffled the cards faster. Then she cut th
em smartly and straightened the pile.

  "Ready to lose, Tank?" She laughed.

  "Don't be too sure," Cooper said. "Don't ever underestimate a—"

  Feliciti OH flipped the first card at Cooper's feet.

  The card was a ten.

  "That's ten points for you," Feliciti announced angrily.

  Cooper kicked his feet and grinned down at her.

  A ten would be fine, thank you very much.

  She placed the second card facedown in front of her so that no one could see it. Then she dealt Cooper his second card.

  It was a seven.

  "Seventeen points for you," she said.

  She flipped herself another card, face up. It was a nine.

  "It's up to you." She laughed.

  Cooper looked at the others and frowned. Wang shook his head. Seventeen was a good number.

  But Cooper wasn't having it. Feliciti OH had a nine showing. What if her other card was a ten? That would give her nineteen points. And their lives.

  "Gimme one!" Cooper said.

  "Tank," Feliciti OH muttered softly. "Stupid Tank, every time."

  Cooper heard her. He knew that she was trying to get to him. But he wasn't going to back down. Not this time. This time he was going to win.

  "WAIT!" Wang called. "Don't do it, Cooper. It's the wrong gamble."

  "He's right," Damphousse agreed. "You should stay. The next card could put you over twenty-one."

  Cooper shook his head. "Gimme one!" he said again, louder this time.

  Wang and Damphousse closed their eyes. They couldn't look. This was their lives that Cooper was playing with. This time it was serious.

  Feliciti OH flipped the next card.

  Damphousse and Wang opened their eyes and looked down.

  It was all right. The card was an ace. Eighteen points for Cooper. He could still lose if her hidden card was a ten. He thought about asking for another one. But it would be crazy to try it.

  "Never mind," he said. "I'll stick with eighteen."

  Cooper closed his eyes. Then he opened them again and waited for Feliciti OH to turn over her card.

  She took her time. She knew their whole bodies must be beyond pain by now. She was going to punish them for as long as she could. She wanted to see their wrists bleed. She wanted to hear them cry out for her to hurry.

  She was programmed for this. Someone had added this a long time ago. Someone cruel. Someone intent on winning a war that could never be won.

  She walked around.

  She pushed at their boots.

  She fingered the cards.

  Just a little longer.

  Just a little longer.

  The Marines watched her carefully. They kept their eyes on the pile of cards. She was an AI. She was capable of anything.

  She was certainly capable of switching the next card.

  "Turn it!" Cooper shouted. "Take a chance!"

  "Say 'please.' " Feliciti OH laughed.

  "Take a chance, you piece of plastic!"

  She turned it.

  It was a six. Eighteen points for Cooper. Fifteen points for the AI.

  "I'll take another card," Feliciti OH said.

  "Of course you will," Cooper hissed. "You don't have a choice. You're a stupid computer. Just a lousy, stupid computer. There's nothing inside that dumb head of yours but a bunch of wires."

  She wasn't listening. She was intent on the deck of cards. She wanted to know what the next card would be.

  She wanted to take a chance.

  Her third card was a five.

  She had had fifteen points. And now she had twenty.

  Feliciti glanced up at the dangling Squadron and grinned. She didn't speak for a long time. She just stood there and grinned that superior robotic grin.

  And let them dangle there. In pain.

  She was a winner. Their lives were now in her hands.

  "Twenty points for me!" she said finally, laughing. "It looks like I win."

  Wang reached his foot out and touched Damphousse gently. She turned her head and shrugged.

  There was nothing to say. They knew what was coming. And there was nothing they could do about it.

  "It's up to you, Jean Paul," Feliciti OH called.

  Below them, the AI Jean Paul was ready. Slowly, it raised its automatic. It moved closer. Then it pointed the gun between Cooper's eyes.

  "A stupid computer?" it said. "Is that what you called us, you dumb Tank?"

  "That's exactly what you are."

  "Be quiet, Cooper," Damphousse whispered. "Please be quiet." Her voice was shaking. Cooper could tell that she was really scared.

  They were his friends.

  He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sorry," he said. "I tried."

  Damphousse smiled weakly. Her eyes filled with tears.

  "It's all right," she said. "It's not your fault. Sort of the luck of the draw, I guess. But maybe we'd better be quiet for a while."

  Cooper closed his mouth. He did not say another word. He kept thinking about the pain. Why hadn't they eliminated pain when they farmed him? If they could make the perfect tomato, then why couldn't they make the perfect In-Vitro?

  Pain-free?

  Jean Paul moved closer. It raised its gun. Its arm straightened. It aimed. "Give us the information," it said.

  No one spoke. Jean Paul took a step forward.

  But before it had a chance to fire, a shot rang out. The Jean Paul unit jerked and flew backward. Then it crashed to the floor, sparks flying.

  Chapter 12

  Shane Vansen was furious. She leaned on the railing and studied the scene on the level below her. Her friends and fellow Marines were hanging there, tied to pipes. And standing before them were more of the disgusting creatures that had killed her parents. Her shot had taken one of them down. But there were others. There were always others.

  She turned and saw Nathan. He was crouching in the shadows. His breath was coming in quick, nervous gasps. She tried to remember his words.

  "You have another family now. And it's up to you to save them." Is that what he had said?

  She led the miner to a corner and hid him there.

  "I'll come back for you," she said. "I promise."

  The old man nodded and disappeared into the shadows. Shane moved back to the railing.

  That was her family down there. In a second they would be dead, unless she did something.

  Nathan was on his feet now, moving toward her. When he was beside her, he stopped and touched her arm.

  "Ready?" he asked.

  "Ready."

  "Watch your sights!" he whispered. And then he fired.

  Shane knew what he meant. One stray shot could kill a friend. She aimed, and her gun exploded. She fired again and again and again. Below, the AIs were scattering wildly, searching for cover.

  But one of them was clever. This one stood very still. It did not move. And then, slowly, it loaded a clip into its gun and raised it toward Damphousse.

  Shane stepped back. She grabbed Nathan's uniform and pulled him away from the railing.

  "Hold your fire," Shane whispered:

  The AI remained still, its gun pointed directly at Damphousse.

  And then it made a mistake. It looked up.

  Damphousse was ready. With one last burst of strength, she pulled herself up. She raised her legs. She bent her knees. And then she kicked.

  It was a violent kick, violent enough to send the AI flying.

  The AI flew backward and landed on the cold, hard floor.

  "Fire," Nathan whispered.

  But Shane wanted time. "Not yet," she said. "Wait. Let the other AIs come out. They won't stay hidden for long. They can't. It isn't in their nature. They have to come out and take a chance."

  Shane and Nathan waited. The AIs emerged. Slowly. One at a time. Five. Then six. Then more, and more. Too many to count.

  "I hear you're looking for me!" Shane shouted. "I am their leader." Then she jumped forward and cried, "FIRE!"


  With her gun blazing, she slid down the pipes, leaving Nathan alone.

  Nathan covered her from above. His gun roared. The AIs' guns below roared back.

  Shane hesitated, hanging on to a pipe above the heads of her fellow Marines, and looked down.

  As she watched, the AIs pointed their guns at her friends.

  Nathan was quick. Bullets from his weapon rained down on the AIs. When they hit, the wires inside the AIs exploded. Sparks shot from their electronic bodies.

  At last the room was quiet. Shane dropped to the floor below and moved toward Cooper and the others. One by one, she cut their ropes.

  "Thank you," they said. "Thank you, Shane."

  They were her friends. They were her family.

  The members of the 58th Squadron were free. As Wang retrieved their weapons, they raced for cover. Then, when they were hidden in the shadows, the Marines began to fire.

  At first, the remaining AIs stayed behind the machinery. They were impossible to see, and the Marines could not find them. Shane and the others fired wildly.

  But the AIs finally emerged, as the Marines knew they would. The fatal command that had been programmed into them was their undoing.

  One by one, they emerged to take a chance.

  And one by one they fell.

  It was a ferocious battle. Gunfire sprayed from one side of the room to the other until, at last, only a few AIs remained.

  They looked around and hesitated. They understood their mistake and returned to the shadows. They huddled there, firing.

  Cooper slid across the floor and crouched beside Shane. He pointed to a great pipe and said, "Feliciti OH, their leader, is hiding there. She is after you. Watch out."

  Shane slid forward, then stopped when she noticed a lone AI moving between the pipes of the great building. It moved through the room and made its way through a small dark doorway.

  Shane watched it from behind a pole.

  Then she rose and followed it through the doorway, leaving the others behind.

  Cooper watched her go. He took his eyes off Feliciti OH just long enough to move over to Nathan and tell him that Shane was gone. It was too long. It gave the AI leader time to gather her small group of followers and hurry them through another door.