Aneka Jansen 3: Steel Heart

by Niall Teasdale

  Ella had planted herself on Aneka’s lap and was lying there with her arms around Aneka’s neck, her head on one shoulder. She was in an affectionate mood, which tended to happen when she had been through something traumatic and it was now resolved. First there was the over-enthusiastic sex, and then the affection.

  ‘I want to apologise,’ Gillian said, her voice soft. No one was speaking too loudly. It was that kind of evening.

  ‘What for?’ Aneka asked.

  ‘I should have been the one going to Eshebbon. I didn’t and Ella had to endure it because of that.’

  ‘I had to endure it because Alexis Hayward is a gowdeyinjing,’ Ella replied.

  ‘That sounds like a highly descriptive term,’ Bashford commented.

  ‘It is,’ Aneka said as her translation software picked apart the word and suggested its meaning. ‘And it might burn Gillian’s ears, so I won’t translate.’

  ‘She used to curse like a spacer when she was younger.’

  ‘I did not!’ Gillian said. ‘Well, maybe more than I do now. Too much time spent in university politics. Still, I feel I should apologise for letting the Dean push us into sending someone at all.’

  ‘There wasn’t much you could have done about it,’ Bashford countered, ‘and now you’ve something to hang over his head when it comes to setting up the expedition to Old Earth.’

  ‘You think he might say no?’ Aneka asked.

  ‘It’s going to be a long trip. I took a look at the location and spoke to Drake. Our best bet is to fly out to Harriamon and take on provisions, then go on from there. It’ll be eight months travelling there and back, aside from the time we actually spend there. Even if there’s nothing to see but ruins we’ll be gone for most of a year. It’s going to take a lot of funding.’

  Gillian nodded. ‘We’ll need Federal money to do it, perhaps some private grants too. I’m afraid we will likely have to do more of that university politics, and I’m going to need your help for this, Aneka.’

  ‘Me?’

  ‘Of course. You’re the woman from Old Earth. If we put you in front of some wealthy corporate types and you apply some charm…’

  Aneka sagged a little and Ella giggled. ‘You can do it, love. You can be very charming when you want to be.’

  ‘Huh.’ Aneka would do it, of course, because it would make Gillian and Ella happy. She hated politics. When she had been told about the political system in her new world she had been rather pleased. Politicians were selected rather than voted for. Theoretically they were given jobs based on their abilities, so it seemed that politics in the way she knew it was a thing of the past. As she had learned more she had come to realise that it was not so simple. Moving up the ranks still required support from corporations, the public, and your fellow politicians. And there was still the kind of office politics operating within companies and institutions which there had always been. Things were different, but they had the same sort of flavour.

  Bashford gave her a sympathetic smile. ‘Just wear a low-cut dress. Most of them won’t worry what you say as long as you look good doing it.’

  ‘True,’ Gillian agreed, sighing. ‘If I had your breasts, I could make Dean, no problem.’

  ‘You could have,’ Ella told her.

  ‘I wouldn’t complain,’ Bashford said, receiving a punch in the shoulder for his comment.

  ‘I’m not getting my breasts enhanced to move up the ranks,’ Gillian told them. ‘Besides, I don’t want that kind of responsibility. I like going out in the field and I can’t do that if I have to run a university.’ Her nose wrinkled as she grimaced. ‘As it is I’ll probably be grounded for a couple of years after we come back from Old Earth.’

  ‘Could be worse,’ Bashford said. ‘If the Garnet Hyde’s engines hadn’t been upgraded on Negral we’d be looking at a sixteen-month round trip. They’d never let you out of your office again.’

  ‘Thank goodness for small mercies.’

  It was Aneka’s turn to frown. ‘How’s Aggy taking the news about Negral?’

  ‘Stoically,’ Gillian replied. ‘Cassandra went to see her when we finished analysing the data from the Brigantia. She’s still up there talking it over.’

  ‘Cassandra is a little worried,’ Al put in. Of course he had been talking to her; Aneka should have known.

  ‘Maybe I should go up and talk to her,’ Aneka said aloud. ‘She’s had more than a few shocks since she was brought back online. I can sort of relate.’

  ‘Check with Cassandra,’ Gillian suggested, ‘but I think that might not be a bad idea.’

  FScV Garnet Hyde, 27.1.526 FSC.

  Aggy’s golden body sat opposite Aneka in the Garnet Hyde’s mess. Or appeared to as far as Aneka was concerned. It made life easier; Cassandra neither needed nor used such ‘organic’ methods of communication, but Aneka still preferred to talk to Aggy one person to the other.

  ‘You don’t need to worry about me,’ Aggy was saying. ‘I am a ship’s AI, not a Human, or a Jenlay, or a higher AI. I accept what is rather than worry over what was or might have been.’

  The projection gave none of the usual indicators Aneka would look for in an organic being, but still… ‘I don’t believe it’s that easy,’ Aneka said. ‘And I don’t think Cassandra does either.’ She glanced at the android sitting with them for confirmation.

  Cassandra was stunningly beautiful. Long legs, wide hips, large breasts, and long, platinum-blonde hair: the perfect, sexy woman. This came as no surprise when you learned that her body was that of a sex android that had been fitted out with over-powered computer systems and brilliantly designed software, and had then woken up. She was what was known as an emergent AI, an accident in effect, and this gave her a unique insight when it came to the psychology of artificial minds.

  ‘I think that you may be affected by this more than you are willing to admit, Aggy,’ Cassandra stated. ‘Though your psychology is more like Al’s than mine, you have had to adjust to a lot of changes which I believe you may be less equipped to handle than an organic, or myself.’

  ‘She may be right, Aggy,’ Al put in. One of the nice things about conversations involving Aggy and Cassandra was that he could actually join in properly, even if doing so did not involve spoken words. ‘I was lucky. My programming revolves around Aneka. I have had to adjust to a different society from the one I was intended to be observing, but that does not change my circumstances. You were far more closely tied to Xinti culture than me, and the small part of that which we rediscovered has now gone.’

  Aggy’s brow furrowed. Aneka was fairly sure it was an affectation for her benefit, showing that she was thinking. ‘It is true that the events of the last year have put a strain on my ability to adapt to new circumstances. However, as you have pointed out, my programming is more akin to Al’s than to Cassandra’s or to your mind, Aneka. My purpose is the key factor in my psyche, and my purpose is the safety of my crew and the pursuit of scientific discovery. I regret the loss of my original crew more than the loss of Negral, and I have a new ship, a new crew. I believe I have successfully transferred my… affections to this new crew. What I need now is to be part of an expedition of discovery again.’

  Aneka grinned at her. ‘Well, it may take a few months to organise, but that should be coming. We’re going to go find Earth. Old Earth, that is.’

  ‘You have fixed a location for it?’ Aggy’s eyes widened. ‘Oh, that will be an excellent voyage to undertake. Mankind returning to the world it came from.’

  ‘I’m a little less sure about it myself. I’m not sure I want to know how it’s changed, but it’s something I have to do.’

  ‘I agree,’ Cassandra said. ‘It will, I think, give you closure.’

  ‘Maybe.’ Maybe it would just prove, once and for all, that she had to live in the present. ‘I just hope there’s more there than a dead, radioactive ball of rock. Otherwise we’re going to go a long way to prove there was no point in going.’

  ~~~

  Aneka slid
into the bunk she usually shared with Ella and settled herself down to offline for the night. Aggy stood beside the room’s one table as she did so, watching her charge prepare for what passed for sleep. It was just for one night; Aneka would be flying back down to New Earth in the morning.

  ‘Thank you, Aneka,’ Aggy said.

  ‘For what?’

  ‘Coming here to see me. We could have had this chat without you making the journey up to the transit station. I could have easily projected myself down to the planet for you.’

  ‘Yes, I guess, but conversations like that one should be done personally, not on the phone.’ Aneka gave her a grin. ‘No matter how high-tech the phone is.’

  The golden woman smiled. ‘That is what Cassandra said, more or less.’

  ‘She’s a wise woman.’

  ‘Indeed. I envy her. Her means of creation. It has given her remarkable insight.’

  ‘Everyone has their own talents, Aggy. Cassandra understands minds, especially artificial ones, and she’s got a few other talents which are… quite exciting. You have a phenomenal ability with data and science, and a built-in, strong loyalty to your crew. Just because you were programmed to do that, doesn’t mean you can’t be proud of how well you do it.’

  ‘And your talent is inspiring people to do what they do best?’

  Aneka chuckled and closed her eyes. ‘No. I’ve got another talent, Aggy.’

  Aggy waited, expecting Aneka to go on, but a second or so later her internal sensors notified her that Aneka was offline.

  University of New Earth, 29.1.526 FSC.

  ‘The Dean is being most accommodating,’ Gillian said, ‘but it’s still going to take some effort, and time, to get the funding together and the expedition organised.’

  ‘Parties?’ Aneka asked.

  ‘An initial one to make the announcement that the location has been found is being organised for the ninth.’

  ‘Fridgy!’ Ella exclaimed. ‘That gives us plenty of time to get new dresses.’ Aneka sagged in her seat.

  Grinning, Gillian went on. ‘We’ll be drumming up interest in corporate sponsorship then. I’d imagine there will need to be some…’

  ‘Schmoozing,’ Aneka interrupted.

  ‘…further entertaining of potential donors. “Schmoozing?” Not a word I know, but it does have a rather emotive ring to it.’

  ‘I think it’s probably Yiddish,’ Aneka said, ‘or derived from Yiddish. The language has some really great words that got dropped into English. Kibitz is my favourite, chutzpah, klutz, kvetch, kosher…’

  ‘That one is still used,’ Ella put in.

  ‘You still have bagels,’ Aneka said, nodding. ‘Not that they look or taste like bagels, but you have a form of pastry that’s called a bagel.’

  Gillian was looking thoughtful; Aneka was not sure she liked it. ‘I believe I have an idea for the opening party,’ the archaeologist said. ‘I’ll talk to the Dean and see about getting it organised.’

  ‘Why do I have the feeling I’m not going to like this?’ Aneka asked plaintively.

  ‘You’ll love it,’ Gillian replied, smiling in just the wrong way. ‘Trust me.’

  Yorkbridge Mid-town, 1.2.526 FSC.

  Aneka was half-lying, half-sitting on one of the couches in the lounge watching Katelyn, their downstairs neighbour, taking on all three of the men at the party at once. It was kind of spectacular in a pornographic way, but she could not see the attraction herself.

  ‘She loves that,’ Ella said from where she was lying against Aneka’s side. ‘Doesn’t get to do it very often.’

  ‘Looks kind of uncomfortable.’

  ‘You’ve got to be relaxed about it. Tense up and it hurts.’

  ‘So you’ve done that?’

  ‘Once or twice. I don’t really like it. Two at once, yeah, but three is too much.’

  ‘Yeah, definitely. That’s way too much stimulation. She definitely looks… over-stimulated.’

  Ella giggled. ‘Girls, Aneka doesn’t want to be over-stimulated.’

  Two female faces, one a nurse and one a pilot, looked around grinning. They started forward. ‘Oh no,’ Aneka said, which did not stop them. ‘Hey, come on, watch the show…’

  ‘It’s become an interactive,’ Bentall replied, slipping to her knees and pushing Aneka’s thighs apart.

  2.2.526 FSC.

  Aneka opened her eyes to see Ella leaning over her. ‘You’re awake,’ the redhead said, smiling. ‘I was starting to worry.’

  ‘Twenty-three hours of sex, my archiving software needed the extra run time.’

  ‘You didn’t offline while the rest of us slept?’

  ‘I didn’t want Kat or Dillon to notice anything odd. Anyway, there wasn’t that much sleeping. David woke up after a couple of hours and had me over the kitchen counter before he went back to sleep. Then Shari woke up, so I took care of her. And then Shari and Chance woke up and we were at it when Dillon woke up and joined in, and that was when everyone else woke up and it all started again.’

  Ella giggled. ‘You could’ve slept. You act like any ordinary Jenlay when you’re asleep. No one would’ve noticed.’

  Aneka shrugged, sitting up and swinging her legs out of bed. ‘I didn’t want to take the chance.’

  ‘You were looking a little tired by the time everyone left.’

  ‘It’s not exactly tired. It’s more like… Well, the technical bit is that my operating memory starts to get fragmented. I slow down. It gets harder to think clearly. I guess it’s like being tired, but there’s no fatigue.’

  ‘Huh. So while I was asleep, you were still at it.’

  ‘You caught up.’

  Ella grinned. ‘And you keep saying redheads are bad.’

  Reaching out, Aneka patted Ella’s behind. ‘You are. I just try to keep up.’

  University of New Earth.

  ‘Good party?’ Gillian asked as her assistant and her research subject walked in.

  ‘Pretty good,’ Aneka replied.

  ‘Awesome,’ Ella countered. ‘I personally think that my first experience of giving a titty-fuck was made that much better since I was in a line with two other girls.’

  Gillian laughed. ‘I don’t really have the chest for it, but I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. Now, we have the go-ahead for the ninth and I’m going to need some help with organising things, Aneka.’

  ‘Okay…’ Aneka replied warily.

  ‘Don’t worry, it’s nothing too terrible. I need buffet dishes which you think we can get made by the university’s cookery school. We’re doing an Old Earth buffet. I took the liberty of making a shortlist of things from that database Aggy had stored…’

  ‘Wikipedia.’

  ‘That’s the one. I thought you could narrow down the list a little, but your real job is going to be figuring out how to make the dishes taste the way they should.’

  Aneka looked at her for a second, mouth hanging open, and then burst into action. ‘Where’s the list?! We’ve only got seven days! I need to get back to the mainland and start planning. Are you crazy?!’

  Gillian held up her hands. ‘While the latter is subject to opinion, I have considered that this might be a tall order. Ella is going to take you over to the cookery school now. Doctor Halton has assured me that he can provide some useful help.’

  ‘Doctor Halton?’ Aneka said, her eyes narrowing. She needed a chef, not an academic.

  ~~~

  Except that Doctor Gary Halton was both. The ‘Doctor’ title was handed out to people who had managed to get tenure, generally through being made the head of some department, or from academic achievement. Halton was the head of Culinary Science at the university, but he also ran a successful restaurant in Downtown Yorkbridge, one you apparently had to book a month in advance to get a table in.

  Aneka was expecting young-looking and handsome, and she got them. Halton looked like he belonged somewhere in the south of France, probably running a high-end establishment in Cannes frequented by people w
ho starred in movies, or invited people who starred in movies to their yachts. He had wild, black hair which fell around his shoulders, olive skin, something of a Roman nose, and dark brown eyes which flashed as he turned to look at the two women entering his domain. The question was, would they be faced with the kind of chef that Gordon Ramsey had made famous? Had anyone even heard of Gordon Ramsey now?

  Actually what she got was a sudden shift in demeanour as Halton seemed to recognise them. He had a lot of very white teeth and he used them to dazzling effect. ‘Ah, Miss Jansen. I can’t tell you how enthusiastic I am about this project. Original Old Earth cuisine!’

  ‘Sort of original,’ Aneka replied. ‘We’ll need to do a lot of substitution of ingredients.’

  ‘It’s the taste that counts, the textures, the experience.’ Halton’s eyes sparkled. His smile was so broad Aneka wondered whether he might strain something.

  ‘Okay… Well Doctor Gilroy said you could help with the substitution.’

  ‘Indeed. Specifically I’m getting some of my best students together for a seminar tomorrow. We’ll brainstorm the entire thing. You bring your knowledge of what we’re looking for, I’ll bring the textures and flavours of dozens of worlds. Together we’ll create art!’

  Aneka smiled at him, hoping it did not look too bemused. ‘Okay. If you send me the details I’ll be there with a long list.’

  ‘Excellent! Now, if you’ll excuse me. They’re first years and if I don’t keep an eye on them they’ll burn the water.’