Netherspace

by Andrew Lane

  Kara glanced at Marc before speaking. They did a lot of glancing like that these days, as they increasingly spoke as one. “Relieved to be home. Bit sad to break up the team.”

  “In a way we became Tatia’s family,” Marc said, staring hard at Greenaway. “She’s an orphan of the Out with no one else, right?”

  “So it seems. Adoptive parents died in a crash.”

  “Lucky she had an AI,” Kara said.

  “Yes, very,” Greenaway said cautiously.

  “I asked mine to check it out. Unobtrusively. Thanks to the upgrades – the ones you never mentioned – it could do that.”

  “Interesting,” Greenaway said. “It wasn’t supposed to.”

  “It seems to have developed an independence. Of a sort. And no, don’t offer to have it fixed. I like it this way. Why was Tatia’s AI supposed to be off-limits?”

  “Privacy.” He ignored Marc’s laugh. “She’s an important person.”

  “Is that why there’s a link back to GalDiv? One she never, still doesn’t know about?”

  Greenaway nodded. “We do that with most colonists and GalDiv people going Up. It’s a rescue thing.”

  “It’s spy thing,” Marc said forcibly.

  Greenaway shrugged. “That too.”

  “So the GalDiv link was applied just before she left with the Pilgrims?” Kara asked.

  “Had to be her,” Greenaway said.

  “No one else had an AI. Except her late husband.”

  Outside the sun would be sparkling on water drops left by a brief shower. Kara remembered a violet desert and an eight-foot praying mantis playing Simon Says.

  “Tatia’s had a GalDiv trace and monitor ever since her first AI,” she said calmly. “Since she was eleven. My own AI found the logs. Every time she upgraded, the link moved across. Does GalDiv look after all orphans that way?”

  “Her parents were involved with Microsoft,” Greenaway said. “A major computer software company.”

  “That went bankrupt three months after pre-cogs helped scientists develop AI derived from alien technology,” Kara said. “We checked. Microsoft hasn’t been important for thirty years. Tatia’s father only inherited the shares. He was never part of it.”

  Marc stood up and stretched, suddenly needing to be away from Berlin. “So here’s the thing. We’ll go back Up for you. Find the Gliese homeworld, try and discover where the tech comes from and who that big thing that turned up after the Gliese ship blew up belongs to. We have unfinished business. But as of now Tatia’s out of the equation, right? Whatever you had planned is over. Just let her live her life.”

  Greenaway played with an antique letter-opener. It looked sharp. “That can’t be a threat.”

  “It’s not,” Kara said. “Merely pointing out that you need us more than we need you. That for whatever reason, GalDiv is suppressing information about the Cancri and all the other aliens. That could change in an instant. Also Tatia won’t be best pleased to discover that GalDiv spied on her. You don’t want that kind of fuss.”

  “Okay.” Greenaway stood up. “She’s off our radar. I assume you planted a tell-tale program in her AI?” He saw them nod. “Thought so. Now, go take ten days’ leave. Then report back here. You’ve a society to save. Maybe a master race to find. Possibly a snark to hunt. And a netherspace mystery to solve.” He smiled a little sourly. “Sadly there’s no pension or life insurance.”

  “What about Tse?” Kara said.

  Greenaway’s face went still. “I read the reports. He died well.”

  “Romantic of you,” Marc said.

  “We go… went back a long way.” Greenaway looked hard at Kara and Marc in turn. “He told you about the programme? Of course he did. I won’t try to defend it. We have to understand aliens better, if only to negotiate trade, and pre-cog’s the best chance we’ve got. Tse was a trusted friend. Saved my life a long, long time ago. Did he tell you about his children to be?”

  “He couldn’t—” Marc and Kara began in unison.

  “We, GalDiv, preserve the DNA of all our pre-cogs. His son will be born in a year or so. The mother will also have psi abilities. Sounds cold? Well, it is. And that’s something that perhaps neither of you understand. This really is about the survival of the human race. The end justifies the means. Do not forget it when you’re out there hunting for answers.”

  “Let’s just hope,” Kara said, smiling sweetly, “that the snark doesn’t turn out to be a boojum.”

  * * *

  There was a jitney waiting to take them to the airport. Kara was thoughtful as the vehicle pulled away, staying quiet for the next ten minutes.

  “He gave up easy,” Kara finally said.

  “Think he means it?”

  “Knows enough to be careful. As long as we’re one of his last best hopes to save humanity or whatever, Tatia’ll be safe. What’s your real interest, Marc?”

  “Only woman I really fancied who I turned down.” He frowned. “No. It’s like she’s part of the team. I never had a team before. Lone artist, suffering by himself.”

  She put a hand on his shoulder. “I like it when you’re open. Want to talk about Henk?”

  Marc made a face. “So you know. Your effing AI. No. Other than he’s fixated on netherspace and it can do strange things to a person. Which probably sounds like ‘I was drunk’.”

  “Not criticising. Only concerned.” Kara took away her hand. “Want to go walking on Dartmoor?” she asked. “Might be the last chance we get.”

  “I’ve got an artwork to do.”

  She nodded. Together on the moor, sleeping in a small tent. “You’re right.” Kara smiled. “Then let’s go and do something creative.”

  GLOSSARY

  ALIEN

  one of a number of non-human species, some of which are in contact with humanity and some of which are not. It has proved impossible to communicate with aliens on anything but the most basic level, that level being trade. Mostly they’re named after a constellation; not all city states agree on what a particular species should be called. The most common aliens and the ones responsible for most trades are:

  CANCRI

  an alien race resembling a small striped greyhound with two arms and carrying a pale white grub on its back in a symbiotic relationship. Neither have yet been dissected.

  ERIDANI

  an alien race resembling a segmented snake-like creature with multiple arms and a face like a disturbed nest of white worms. It smells of spaghetti bolognese.

  GLIESE

  an alien race – the first to contact humanity – resembling a pile of wet leather with three spindly arms, dozens of small, stub-like legs, a mouth part hidden by ragged flaps and what might be sensory organs on their outer skin. Dissection of one killed by accident revealed an interior full of a dark, viscous substance in which “floated” various connected objects that could be organs. The Gliese supply the sideslip-field generators (netherspace drives) and updown-field generators that make space travel possible.

  It is estimated by GalDiv that up to fifteen other types of alien have visited Earth. However these invariably land and remain in the Wild. What they might be doing there causes GalDiv many a sleepless night.

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCES (AIs)

  Most objects – houses, jitneys, restaurants – have their own AIs. People have them too, occupying computer chips implanted in their heads that can insert images and data directly into the optic nerve and auditory nerves. AIs evolve the ideal software persona (or “avatars”) to interface with their “owner”, but they are not in and of themselves conscious, although their owners may treat them as if they are. Larger AIs regulate trade between city states and between worlds. They also set the exchange rates for the common currency, virtscrip. Many people believe that some AIs have achieved a “life” of their own, although the programming is so good it’s impossible to tell. Most people prefer to forget that the technical breakthrough that allowed AI development came from alien technology.

  AVA
TAR

  the “front end” of an AI system; the means by which an AI interacts with humans. Avatars have no legal status as conscious beings: they are just a highly developed version of an operating system’s “theme”. That said, many people treat them like a valued friend.

  BOTS

  small, unintelligent robots used for cleaning, construction and observation. They have no individual controlling AI, although an AI may control multiple bots.

  CYBERDRONES

  small insects controlled by electronics. Theoretically it would be possible to electronically control small mammals or birds as well, but this is a moral grey area. Controlling fish is allowed, but not dolphins or whales although some city states will control anything alive.

  CALL-OUT FEE

  a human who has volunteered to be exchanged for rescue by aliens if an SUT’s sealed sideslip-field generator breaks down, leaving the SUT stranded in normal space. They might volunteer because they are dying of some incurable disease, because they want to pass their salary on to their family, or for some psychological reason known only to themselves. Fees are normally kept in an induced coma so that the crews of the SUTs do not become too attached to them. This trade is exclusive to the Gliese.

  CANCRI see Alien.

  CITY STATES

  were formed in the years after first contact, when the concept of nations began to fall apart and people realised they preferred living in self-governing communities. City states often form larger coalitions, especially for defence (hence: The Army of the Anglo-Saxon City States, The Army of the Gallic City States, etc.), but laws are still made and enforced at the local level. Trade agreements between city states are negotiated by each city state’s AI, and then reviewed by humans before becoming law.

  CLOTHES

  these can be mood-sensitive and colour-changing. City staters tend to dress conservatively, except during public festivals when anything goes. Wilders dress however they damn well please.

  COMING OUT see Out There.

  DOWN THERE

  landing on a planet. Also known as going down.

  EARTHCENT

  Earth Central, the administrative organisation that sits above the city states and tries to ensure coherence and stability. Derived from the old United Nations, it is more pragmatic and less idealistic. In reality it is subordinate to its Galactic Division, or GalDiv, which oversees contact between aliens and humans.

  ERIDANI see Alien.

  FIRST CONTACT

  the occasion when the human race and aliens met for the first time. It occurred on the moon, after the Gliese changed the colour of several craters so that they could be seen easily from the Earth.

  FOAM

  an alien technology and a self-hardening substance used to protect SUTs in space/netherspace. Its strength and effectiveness allows SUTs to be made of pretty much anything, including metal cargo containers or, in one bizarre episode, a small thatched cottage complete with garden, which subsequently vanished in netherspace. The supply of foam is controlled by the Gliese for no apparent trade. Humans consider it an after-sales service.

  FREE SPACERS

  freelance space travellers based in the Wild who use cobbled-together technology and scavenged alien systems to travel to colony worlds and explore outside the jurisdiction of GalDiv. They typically launch their SUT-equivalents from desert areas or converted oil rigs to avoid accidents. That was the GalDiv version. In fact free spacers provide links between colony worlds that no longer accept GalDiv/Earth hegemony.

  GALDIV

  Galactic Division of EarthCent that looks after the exploitation of space and the trade with alien races, and attempts to oversee the colony worlds, although many colony worlds don’t want to be overseen and no one knows exactly how many there are. Like many organisations, GalDiv’s true main purpose is to ensure its own survival since there is no real way it can regulate alien/human contact – especially in the Wild. It has also been penetrated by agents of the Human Primus organisation.

  GLIESE see Alien.

  GOING DOWN see Down There.

  GOING UP

  leaving a planet and moving through normal space. Also Up there.

  HUMAN PRIMUS

  a political movement that believes humanity’s interests should come well before those of aliens, and that the unequal system of trade with alien races is a form of charity at best, and callous exploitation at worst. Many in Human Primus want all alien/ human contact to cease; aliens to be recognised as dangerous; and for Earth to develop its own technology, no matter how long and how arduous that process might be. Human Primus has been accused of wanting to reinstate government by an hereditary, over-privileged elite and of a xenophobia with its roots in a pathological insecurity. Both are correct.

  INDUCED COMA

  derived from an existing medical procedure, a process by which a human – usually a call-out fee – is rendered unconscious for long periods of time. Electromagnetic fields are used to “switch off” their consciousness, while their bodies are fed with nutrients through tubes. It is the only real contribution that humanity has made to galactic travel, which is a little sad.

  INPUT TATTOOS

  sepia keyboard/input devices stencilled on people’s forearms used for interfacing with AIs. Alternatively, some people prefer interacting using their hands with virtual keyboards/displays

  which are projected onto their visual field. This is generally frowned on in public.

  IN THERE

  retreating into a simulity and ignoring real life. Also Going in.

  JITNEY

  a robot car, helicopter or boat controlled by an AI. Jitneys do not “belong” to anyone, but can be hired or flagged down. When not in use by humans the AI makes decisions about when it refuels the jitney and books itself in for a service.

  JOSS

  the logical progression of cigarettes and vapes, often containing soft or hard drugs, all of which are legal. Thanks to an alien trade, physical and mental addiction can be cured in less than an hour. The commercial search for an addictive, non-curable and highly pleasurable drug continues.

  MISSION MANAGER

  the person in charge of an SUT, usually a technically unqualified administrator. An exception is made for explorer SUTs, where the mission manager is also a back-up engineer, navigator or medic.

  NETHERSPACE

  the extra dimensions above or below “normal” space where interstellar space travel can be accomplished. SUTs that enter netherspace sometimes do not leave it. Human brains cannot find any frame of reference to latch onto when they see netherspace, and they quickly go insane. The relationship between normal space and netherspace has been described as being like the Florida Everglades: if you look at a map of them and want to get from one piece of solid ground to another via canoe, then you might have to follow miles of little waterways. Far easier to row to the nearest bank, pick your canoe up, cross a spit of land, get into your canoe again and row across another channel, go across another spit of land and keep going in a straight line. Netherspace is the dry land and normal space is the water.

  NETHERSPACE DRIVE see Sideslip-Field Generator.

  OFFICIAL ASSASSIN

  licensed by what is ostensibly an independent bureau, Official Assassins can be hired to right wrongs when the law may not apply – such as between competing corporations headquartered in different city states – or when the legal process is too expensive. In fact they’re covert arms of EarthCent used to keep the business and financial worlds reasonably honest, and so secret that not even Official Assassins know who really pays their considerable wages. Most Official Assassins are ex-military. Unofficial assassins also exist, used because they’re cheaper or more private than the official variety. Their professional lives are short.

  OUT THERE

  leaving a simulity for reality. Also known as coming out.

  PRE-COGS

  those humans who can, in some way that has never properly been explained, see the vague shape of the futur
e. Pre-cogs have described their ability along the following lines: they can “see” future events like landmarks on the horizon ahead of them, and they can also “see” roads, footpaths and overgrown tracks that might lead to those landmarks, but the landscape is hilly, with much hidden from sight. Paths that they think lead to a particular landmark suddenly end in a hidden spot, double back on themselves, or turn out to have a wall built across them. Pre-cogs can make educated guesses about which actions or choices now will lead to landmark events in the future, but they cannot be absolutely sure.

  SIDESLIP-FIELD GENERATOR

  a system for entering and leaving netherspace provided by the Gliese in three strengths that will power SUTs from the size of a caravan to a ferry. Also known as a netherspace drive. Any attempt to open the unit results in an immediate shutdown. Moreover, if the unit is opened it is shown to be empty. Humans have the – traded – power to reach the stars, but they don’t have the faintest idea how it works. Colloquially known as a netherspace drive.

  SPACE UTILITY TRANSPORT (SUT)

  a utilitarian vehicle designed for space travel and equipped with an updown-field generator (for getting out of a planet’s gravitational field) and a sideslip-field generator (for entering and leaving netherspace). Space Utility Transports do not have names, but randomly generated nine-letter codes: LUX-WEM-YIB, NOL-DAP-KIM etc. These are known as trifecta codes. Thanks to foam and updown-field (gravity negating) generators, SUTs come in many and varied shapes, few of them aerodynamic.

  SIMULITIES

  all-immersive simulated realities, usually accessed by multiple people at the same time and moderated by AIs using alien technology and in theory controlled by GalDiv and the larger city states military. People using a simulity can be made to experience another’s thoughts, perceptions and feelings. This leads to a gestalt useful in training SUT crews and the military. In practice the simulity technology has leaked into the public domain – probably via the Wild – where it used for gaming, psychoanalysis and virtual sex.

  SNARK

  a descriptive term used for whatever it is in netherspace that sometimes makes SUTs disappear. They may or may not have a physical form but can inflict physical damage.