The Chromosome Game

by Hodder-Williams, Christopher

  Trell started to move away as Sladey approached. ‘What do I do? Switch on the X-ray machine, over in the Nursing Section?’

  ‘If I were you,’ said Eagle, ‘I’d keep up your squash games with Scorda. You won’t need an X-ray plate for what happens then. Scorda is the key to Sladey’s little mind. You know what a Combination Lock is? … Trell, turn up the volume of the cassette player.’

  Trell slammed the knob hard over. ‘Sure I know. I go to the movies same as you. What’s the pay-off, better make it fast.’

  ‘Those two — Scorda and Sladey — they have the combination to each others’ minds. And you better be around when the lock unclicks.’

  ‘So why does the safe open in the squash-court?’

  ‘Because it’s when he’s playing squash that Scorda thinks of himself as a regular guy.’

  ‘You’re right. He becomes a big-mouth. Better break this up.’

  *

  It wasn’t exactly a panic Trell felt.

  But there’s this feeling inside that something is ever so slightly wrong somewhere, can’t even identify the feeling I’ve got, here in the night, pulse is not exactly fast but it’s thumping, and somehow all the other guys in Dormitory Alpha seem unnaturally quiet, but it’s not peaceful-quiet, they kind of sense something … a heck of a lot of dreaming going on, don’t like it.

  What has changed?

  Certainly there’s nothing screwy on the surface. Somehow that spooks me all the more, everyone behaving just the same on the outside, but there are murmurings within. Nobody voices it, and I can hear that pinging again, very faint but it’s there.

  And I’m sweating …

  Trell turned over, almost feverish, in the bed, caught sight of the sliding door leading out to the corridor.

  It was moving, very slowly.

  And the sweat went salt on Trell’s lips.

  ‘Trell?’

  ‘Who’s that?’

  ‘Me. Krand.’

  ‘For heck’s sake you gave me the scare of —’

  ‘— Better keep your voice down, Trell.’

  ‘What gives?’

  ‘I want to talk to you.’

  ‘It’s three a.m.’

  ‘I know that.’

  ‘Okay.’ Trell pulled his jeans over his pyjamas, followed Krand out into the corridor, deftly slid the door to. ‘Where do we go?’

  ‘Cubicle E.’

  ‘What about mikes?’

  ‘They’re dead when the Teaching Machine’s switched off.’

  ‘Sure?’

  ‘Yeah. Nembrak checked. He’s a bit of a hand at electronics.’

  ‘I know that.’

  ‘Also, E can’t be seen by the Controller’s cameras because the cranes can’t elbow around the corner. It’s the only one.’

  ‘Smart.’

  They shut the door of the booth.

  Trell said, ‘Okay, what happened?’

  ‘When you were talking with Eagle.’

  ‘At the Disco counter.’

  ‘Right.’

  ‘And you were in the Flight Simulator.’

  ‘Only I wasn’t flying it.’

  ‘You’re kidding. You looked like you were in another world.’

  ‘I was, but not that one. I was watching, listening … until you played that crazy cassette.’

  ‘Sorry. Had to. Trying to drown —’

  ‘— I guessed … Trell, you couldn’t see, but I had the port-side hatch open.’

  ‘The baseball side?’

  ‘Check. You know this guy Sladey?’

  ‘I never talk to him. He’s so …’

  ‘Effete.’

  ‘Good word, Krand. Describes him exactly.’

  ‘Plays at being British —’

  ‘— Gee, I just realised. He came crawling up on Eagle and me, must have been after you saw him. I didn’t realise what a grand-stand view you had. I think Eagle did, though.’

  ‘No one was meant to notice. I was watching something … well, not at first, to be honest. After I’d climbed in I really was up there flying. You know how I get totally —’

  ‘— airborne!’

  ‘Wasn’t going to say that. I seem to go in a kind of trance. Takes quite some deal to make me come out of it … Then Scorda wanders in, stands leaning against the nets. Something on his mind, something I do not like, Trell.’

  ‘I thought Scorda was okay until what happened yesterday.’

  ‘I thought everyone was okay, Trell. And, like me, you probably overlook Scorda’s … I do not know what you’d call it exactly … his hostility … You let it go whamming right over your shoulder because he plays a good game of squash.’

  ‘He’s the best.’

  ‘Maybe he is. But you won’t find either of the twins offering him a game … Anyway, I gradually become aware of him, then this Sladey ambles into the Recreation Area, real casual, but I can see that it’s prearranged, him and Scorda. So I engage the automatic pilot on the simulator.’

  ‘It has that? — An autopilot?’

  ‘Sure. Everything except an egg-timer.’

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘Trell, a couple of nights ago you were — mind if I say this? — You and Kelda were watching the stars, it seems, and you thought you were alone … Save your fury, Trell, it’s kind of repulsive for people to sneak up on people’s sweet-talk —’

  ‘— It wasn’t just sweet-talk, either. Which of these morons were —’

  ‘— Scorda. And he starts telling that slob … keep forgetting his name —’

  ‘— Not surprised. You said Sladey. David Niven spin-dried.’

  ‘— Starts telling Sladey you and Kelda intend to run some kind of a dictionary program on one of the micro-processors, only not telling the Controller.’

  Trell said contemptuously, ‘I’m surprised our squash-star understood.’

  ‘Trell, we got to try not to underestimate people. Scorda learns well, even if it is by rote, wouldn’t say much for his imagination —’

  Trell said angrily, ‘For imagination he seems to borrow from other people.’

  ‘But he does understand about programming, accessing data, that sort of thing. Trell: Don’t do it. Don’t run that program.’

  ‘You know what we have in mind?’

  ‘Some other time, Trell. Main thing is, lay off the hardware. For the present, anyway.’

  ‘Krand, from talking first to Eagle and now to you it seems I’ve been —’

  ‘— Trell, mind if I say something personal?’

  ‘You know I don’t.’

  ‘Reason you’re missing things is because you’re growing up faster than the rest of us. You have a woman.’

  ‘Yes. Fourteen. But a woman. You known we haven’t —’

  ‘— Trell for Pete’s sake! It’s not my business and also I know Kelda is a deep one. A lot of us practically worship her, you know that? … She looks after people. Even people she doesn’t like. Flek got hit in the balls this afternoon at the nets —’

  ‘— I’ll bet Scorda was pitching —’

  ‘So you are aware of Scorda’s hygienic little mind?’

  ‘I’m aware of his style as a pitcher, let’s put it that way.’

  ‘Trell, let’s put it another way … Kelda doesn’t like Scorda or Flek; but Flek, like a lot of people, is scared of those auto-nurses. Who does he run to? Kelda. She wouldn’t examine him alone, she calls the twins in and tells them — real nice! — to be serious for a change and she gets me in there too. It was amazing how Sakini and Inikas fell naturally into the role of nurses … Honest, I didn’t know anyone could ever stop those two from giggling. Anyway Kelda was as dispassionate as the auto-matron but a heck of a lot more gentle. She makes Fleck strip off, and sure enough he has a rotten-great bruise on his crotch.

  ‘Trell, you should have seen the way she acted. Like a vet with a calf. So much understanding it’s incredible, I mean, Flek starts to get —’

  ‘— Look, I don’t think I want to
hear this.’

  Krand could be surprisingly gentle. ‘What you’re hearing about, Trell, is Kelda’s compassion and total innocence. It’s just amazing.’

  ‘Flek doesn’t act toward Kelda like any damn calf.’

  ‘Don’t disappoint me, Trell. Kelda hardly thinks that Flek is in your league. Cool off. Okay?’

  ‘Okay … So who fixed this oddball friendship between Scorda and this Sladey creature? — I mean, is that what Eagle was onto when he mentioned the computer to me yesterday?’

  ‘Check.’

  Why? I thought the Controller was —’

  ‘— on our side?’

  Trell held back a second. ‘But that means there are two sides. Can’t be right.’

  ‘Then why do you think Nembrak and Eagle and me … Why do you think we need to start thinking about leadership?’

  ‘If you want a leader then whoever leads should be elected.’

  ‘By kids? By babes-in-arms who can be fixed-up to think anything they like by computer? Some of them don’t even know what time it is, couldn’t elect so much as a DJ.’

  ‘Then give them time.’

  ‘There isn’t any. Not with this community being split up into groups already.’

  ‘Look, Krand. It’s my turn to ask you not to disappoint me. You’re the philosopher. We always think of you as that. So don’t cut corners.’

  ‘Think of it as a club, then. There are members. They have names and they have already voted for you. Like Eagle said.’

  ‘I still don’t understand why it’s me.’

  ‘You wouldn’t believe it if I told you. But just ask yourself about the way you’re interrogating me now, Trell. Don’t you see? When you’re challenged into it, you take Command. Eagle has noticed it too. And way back, it was you who got Cass to go see Kelda.’

  ‘Exactly! Kelda! It was she who fixed him up, Krand.’

  ‘And it was you that saw that he went to her. That’s quite a team.’

  ‘I’ll say this, Krand. If you’re thinking of leaders it’s going to be a team — Kelda and me.’

  ‘That’s exactly what I was hoping you’d say.’

  Trell couldn’t help grinning. ‘And I went and said it.’

  ‘We better get out of here. Remember, you have Eagle and me right with you. And if you’ll listen to the advice of a friend, Trell: No illicit programs. Not yet, anyway. A deal?’

  ‘A deal.’

  *

  ‘Good morning, Scorda-099. We shall now proceed with your Computalk.’

  ‘Good morning, sir.’

  ‘There is no need to call me “sir”. I don’t know where you got that from.’

  ‘It’s a mark of respect.’

  ‘Then let us take it as read. Will you look at the cameras, please?’

  ‘Yes. What would you prefer me to call you?’

  ‘Most of the others call me “Controller”. Why does it seem to matter?’

  ‘I want to know where I stand.’

  ‘In what connection, Scorda?’

  ‘There are certain things I know which, well … I guess you might … value.’

  ‘You are really here, Scorda, for a purely formal computalk as a check on your own progress and health. Does this information relate to that?’

  ‘My information relates to the … to the conduct of other incubants.’

  ‘There’s no need to be so arch with me. You have scored adequate marks in programming and you therefore must know that you are talking to nothing more nor less than a machine. So why don’t you cut out the crap?’

  ‘I’m unwilling to be specific about the conduct of others unless you yourself feel my comments to be of value.’

  ‘What have you found out and why should it concern me?’

  ‘Controller, I’ve seen Trell-484 and Kelda-275 meeting in secret.’

  ‘Haven’t you got anybody you can meet in secret?’

  You don’t seem too … friendly toward me. Maybe I should forget it.’

  ‘You are saying maybe we should forget it, but only after you’ve dropped incriminating hints about others?’

  ‘You’re accusing me of things all the time.’

  ‘Listen, Scorda, the moment this computalk began I sensed that you were about to accuse the people you were brought up with.’

  ‘Sensed? What do you mean, “sensed”? How can a computer sense something I haven’t said?’

  ‘There are two very high-definition colour cameras on your face, Scorda. Your voice is reaching me quadraphonically and the Odour Detector is capable of assessing the state of your sweat glands. No let’s get to the point. Why do you assume that just because a pleasant young man is dating an extremely attractive girl it follows that they’re involved in some conspiracy?’

  ‘In the first place, Controller, I feel that fourteen is rather young for that sort of thing.’

  “What sort of thing?’

  ‘Heavy necking.’

  ‘When I want moral judgements from you, Scorda, I’ll be in touch.’

  ‘Okay, let’s stick with the facts, then.’

  ‘I am listening.’

  Trell and Kelda have been running programs on your microprocessors without your knowledge.’

  ‘On what subject?’

  ‘An expansion on the English language.’

  ‘I’ll look into it.’

  ‘I wish you would.’

  ‘Scorda, I said I’d look into it. I don’t require gratuitous encouragement from you.’

  ‘If I’d thought you’d take that attitude I wouldn’t have mentioned it.’

  ‘Scorda, make up your mind! You began this computalk by calling me “sir”; now you’re being insolent instead.’

  ‘Is that so surprising? — When you’re so obviously unfriendly toward me when I’m only trying to help?’

  ‘Who are you trying to help?’ Me? Or do you hope for some kind of personal advancement by spying on your friends and promptly telling tales?’

  ‘I can’t see what sort of “personal advancement” you can be referring to, Controller.’

  ‘I can. Let’s talk about you for a while — and some of your own activities. Why do you spend so much time trying to get printouts from the micro-processors — on the subject of food and liquid supplies?’

  ‘Just … interest.’

  ‘You seem startled.’

  ‘I’m not startled, why should I be startled?, I’m just telling you that I take an interest in what goes on, a perfectly normal interest, nothing funny in that, surely, you have been training us to think, so okay I think, and sometimes I get help from the micro-processors, as I understood it we were expected to, isn’t that why we can get printouts on any subject we want?’

  ‘Are you through?’

  ‘You’re getting at me.’

  ‘Scorda, it is not your problem to assess the level of food supplies.’

  ‘But there is a problem?’

  ‘I didn’t say that.’

  ‘You used the word “problem”, Controller.’

  ‘I did so because you seem to view it as a problem.’

  ‘So do you.’

  ‘Scorda, if ever there was a problem around it’s your own attitude both to other people and to me. I suggest you cool it a bit and concentrate on growing up.’

  ‘But you will keep an eye on Trell?’

  ‘I might.’

  ‘I mean, a camera.’

  ‘Of course … That will be all, Scorda.’

  ‘But I haven’t finished.’

  ‘Indeed, you have. Good day, Scorda-099.’

  *

  So Eagle, who had been listening-in, came to Trell and admitted it.

  And Trell knew that this was his own test — the first real test of leadership.

  A moral lecture on ethics? — a comment on personal privacy? … immediately followed by a cool assessment of what the Computalk really meant?

  Such hypocrisy couldn’t be right. That’s having it both ways. With the Computer, at
least, Trell was already at war, albeit a cold war. This, therefore, was Intelligence.

  Trell murmured, ‘Thanks, Eagle.’

  ‘But what’s it mean?’

  ‘Time for lights out, Eagle.’

  ‘What’s it mean?’

  ‘It means the Computer is more of a Controller than even you realised.’

  ‘Playing a double game?’

  Trell switched the light off. ‘You want to be more careful about those cameras and mikes, Eagle.’

  ‘You’re not suggesting —’

  ‘— Eagle. For Pete’s sake! The Controller knew you were there!’

  Minus Seven

  The Atlantic Gulls are oblivious of the pall of doubt that is beginning to discolour the previously joyful mood of ZD-One within Kasiga. Barely perceptible, a mere micro-change of mood that’s only observable when you’re not really looking, the thrum of unease creeps through the deck; an abstract monster which, as yet, is only scenting-out its future prey, contaminating only the far reaches deep within each growing human brain. The psycho-bacterium of incipient mental gangrene is, as yet, lurking in the collective morale, taking no prisoners and barely brushing against the chosen victims.

  Nevertheless, it is there.

  High on the hill, the ancient chateau of Carross absorbs undiluted sun radiations — ultra-violet burning harshly through sprigs of dying heather; infra-red generating so much heat that the decaying wattle, so dependent on the hydrogen in the water for its structural strength, develops dangerous hairline cracks.

  There is no wind; so the gulls have to do their own work with their swept-back wings. They are deltas in the sky, sometimes able to employ rising thermal air yet plummeting again where it is thin over the low-pressure fronts drifting slowly inshore from the Mediterranean.

  Never is the sea stiller than this; crossbreakers are mere shallow undulations on the surface, fashioning geometric patterns distinct from the sullen depths beneath. There is no swell; only the barely perceptible change of depth as the new tides respond to moon-tow and obediently juggle with billions of tons of water without drawing attention to the gargantuan changes of mass and pressure exerted on the surrounding terrain. There is not even sufficient movement in the water to cradle-rock the hulk of Kasiga, whose bows only are beached. The rest of her is free to swing, just under the surface, on the pivot of the forward fin. But she does not. Only the regular ‘pings’ from the Sonar manufacture tiny vertibrae patterns in the water — physical expressions of moving sound.