W Michael Gear

by The Artifact (v3. 1) (epub)

  “But you said you could kill individuals with this thing!” Mac Torgusson reminded.

  “All right, so I pop Nikita here out of existence because he has the nerve to propose anarchy! Is that healthy for all of humanity? Dissent, like it or not, leads to growth!”

  “Everyone is too carried away with the political implications!” Hendricks interjected angrily. “If this thing can see inside of the atom, if it can uncover the secrets of stellar fusion, give us the first comprehensive vision of the universe, it’s worth any price! People, think! What’s the transmutation of matter worth? And . . . and exploration? We can go anywhere! Determine the mechanics of gravity! Mine toron from neutron stars, the limits are unbounded! Think of what we can learn! Consider the benefits of—”

  “At the expense of what sort of terror? Slavery? Hmm? You would pay the price the Americans paid in the twenty-first century? Subservience for a no-risk society?” Origue Sanchez asked. “I saw what Elvina did! Can we guarantee such as she will not get hold of this device? We speak of absolute tyranny here!”

  “And it will be Brotherhood tyranny!” Lietov glared at the rest of them. “Mark my words! Yes, tyranny, by a secret organization which skulks in the shadows of political light.”

  “It could turn into another arms race,” Sanchez added thoughtfully, preempting Malakova’s explosive response to Lietov.

  The last one didn’t destroy us.“ Lietov raised a finger to emphasize. ”Humanity survived—and got off the planet.“

  “There was Soviet to seize initiative that time, too,” Malakova said. “They exploited space. Was tyranny, Mark. Politics of oblivion on one hand—or strangulation on other. And in between huddled people. Nice thing about Artifact, no bodies to have to deport to Gulag planets. Is ultimate Nazi ‘Night and Fog’ solution.”

  “The alien technology will not spawn another arms race,” Connie protested. “This is so far beyond anything our labs could produce that it becomes a moot point. A similar, but very poor, analogy would be to provide a blaster to aboriginals with stone technology.”

  Wan Yang Dow observed, “I wish Archon had never found this thing; we would be better off without it. Perhaps he should have left it where it was?”

  Connie shook her head. “It was meant to be found. The Star’s Rest system is like a huge beacon from space. My father thought it best to give it to the Confederacy. He may have been naive in that regard; but he didn’t think any one nation should own a weapon of such magnitude, or have such an advantage when it came to the acquisition of knowledge. It should belong to all of humanity.”

  “How would we control it?” Stokovski, the Confederate representative, asked.

  Mikhi Hitavia added, “How many secrets have been stolen throughout human history? Can we assume that any place is safe when the Artifact can grant so much to its possessor?”

  “The Brotherhood has managed to keep their secrets,” Nikita said. “I, for one, trust them with their ships. I think I trust this Kraal, too. But suppose we give them Artifact to watch for humanity. Will next man have Kraal’s concern for humankind? Remember, we talk about ultimate power.” He spread his hands, black eyes on Sol’s. “You see, with device, even your computers, your Committee of Jurisprudence, are little more than pawns.”

  Sol exhaled loudly. “I can’t say, Nikita. With the checks and balances in our system, no man should be able to create a tyranny. With a power like this, who can say? It is absolute.”

  “Hah!” Lietov exploded. “Even the Brotherhood distrusts itself!”

  Nikita shook his head and muttered with disgust. “Oh, shut up!”

  “Captain,” Mac Torgusson stood. “I suggest you adjourn this meeting. Give us a couple of days to think on it. Perhaps in that time, we can come up with some way to give ourselves—and humanity—an out.”

  “I think that’s a definite step in the right direction,” Sol agreed. “In the meantime, I’m appointing Tayash Niter as ad hoc chairman for meetings such as this. I believe he’s about as neutral as you can get.“

  “When can I see the ship?” Hendricks asked. “I would like to begin my studies as soon as possible.”

  “That’s another thing,” Sol told them. “The Artifact is off limits!”

  A roar of outrage filled the room. Sol waved it down with the help of Nikita’s booming voice. Sol added. “Listen, we’ve already had one spy on this ship. What if Elvina had waited patiently? Further, we don’t know what all the knobs are for. What if someone pushed one and we ended up in the Sombrero Galaxy? What if someone figured out how to use the weapon? Would any of you who were arguing today want your opponent loose in there?” They were silent.

  Sol spoke softly. “I’ve had my engineer install an antimatter device aboard. Any of you who wish to take matters into your own hands will do more than that. You will take the Artifact, Boaz, and all of us with you.”

  “Then,” Lietov pointed out, “we don’t know that it will do all these things you claim.”

  Sol nodded coldly. “I guess you’ll just have to take my word and Constance’s, won’t you?” He gave Lietov a cool smile as he wheeled on his metal legs and walked out.

  * * *

  “Could I see you, Captain?” Nikita leaned into the hospital.

  “Come in, Representative.” Sol shifted his head on the cushioning foam of the med unit.

  “Is relapse?” Nikita asked, gesturing to the machine.

  “No, just a standard therapy session. Takes time to check and recheck all the neurons the unit spliced. It’s pretty delicate surgery. I get a command through the headset I’m wearing to lift my leg. I try to lift my leg which is immobilized. The unit reads the reaction, checking to see that it matches the one sent to my brain. At the same time, the neural pathways are checked for compliance and growth. You’ve got to have redundancy in the nervous system, so that’s being strengthened.”

  Nikita grunted assent, pulling up a gravchair and slumping into it. “Is not interruption?”

  “No, I can do two things at once.”

  “Would talk to you, Captain, as one man to another. About Artifact, I have taken serious risks on your word. Even Tayash looks at me with reserved eyes. At same time, some of your claims are a ... Well, belief is stretched.”

  “I wish Archon hadn’t been forced to ... Damn you, Elvina! You might have believed him over me. Nikita, I’m afraid I’m all I’ve got for proof—and, no, I’m not letting anyone inside to work that thing! It’s a damning of the soul to do it. And if I let every politician use it, they’d still claim it was another Brotherhood trick—that they couldn’t prove they’d shunted Arpeggio into nothingness until they went to see for themselves.”

  Sol stared at the ceiling panels, eyes haunted. “And it’s addicting, Nikita. Every time you push the lever, you feel a little more godlike—and a little less in touch with your humanity. And I ... I suppose eventually, that’s the horror of the thing.”

  Malakova leaned forward, the thick mat of his beard bunched under his propping palms. “Then I must ask you, what do you plan, Captain? Who will you give this thing to now that you have it in your hold? Will you trust Kraal’s humanity? Or his successors? You know it is farce to give it to University. Or will you give it to Palmiere the First? Allow him to become god?”

  Sol shook his head. “Damn it, I ... Nikita, I don’t know what to do with it. What do you think? Seriously, tell me.”

  Nikita smiled wistfully. “You know, in end it doesn’t matter. Suppose you give it to Kraal? Rest of Confederacy would strike immediately. Have had assurances of that from Lietov and Medea. So, combined might of Confederacy falls on Frontier? Only Artifact can save planet, no? Kraal becomes despot and shunts TPF, Sirian League, Patrol, and who knows who else out of space. Confederacy is dependent on Frontier for resources.“

  “Unthinkable.” Sol frowned. “We can’t allow that to happen.”

  “We?”

  “You and I, Nikita. Power corrupts. Power as great as this would eventuall
y corrupt even the Craft. You know it, you’ve been reading the files. Yes, I know about that, I cleared your access to some of the restricted stuff.”

  “Why?” Nikita’s face hardened suspiciously.

  “Because you question. Because I think you really want to know—and not for political leverage, but for your own edification. Humanity fascinates you, doesn’t it? That’s why you continue to represent Gulag, isn’t it? You’re constantly puzzled, challenged, and amazed by humans. That, and you think you can actually make a difference.”

  Nikita rubbed his hands together, a slightly abashed look to his blunt features. “Perhaps . . . just a little of that is true.”

  “Well, read away. I’m not sure anything will be the same when we finally get rid of this thing. What good are Brotherhood secrets going to be if the Artifact can stare inside the Grand Lodge anytime it wants?”

  Nikita sighed. “You know, is possible, Captain, that you and your ship may be stuck with Artifact for a long, long time. Perhaps is rest of your life to shunt device back and forth across space trying to keep it safe?”

  “At least until someone can build a faster fleet with more powerful guns.”

  Nikita nodded soberly. “But then, with device, you have power to stop that at proverbial bud.”

  Sol swallowed. “It always boils down to that, doesn’t it.”

  “Will you use it to protect it from others?”

  “Double damnation.” Sol blinked, suddenly tired. “Damned if I do ... and damned if I don’t.”

  Nikita stood. “And I would remind you of something else. Time changes such things as concept of responsibility. To use device becomes easier, less threat because is familiar. And tell me, what is really more important in end? To use device—in self-protection, of course—or to see it fall into hands of Elvina Sellers? Where, then does moral dilemma lie?”

  “So, you think, no matter what, I’ll end up using the Artifact? Damn myself?”

  Nikita hesitated at the door. “Think about it, Captain. Think hard and honestly . . . then you come tell Nikita truth.”

  CHAPTER XXXIII

  Sol let them see the outside of the alien ship. Even Lietov’s skepticism vanished as Hendricks tried to get readings on the hull structure. When Constance told him about the walk-through bulkheads, the aging professor stomped off, mumbling to himself.

  Shouting matches raged in the corridors, in the lounge, in rooms. On those occasions when they met, Nikita’s baleful eyes demanded an answer. Sol only stared back haggardly, and shrugged his confusion.

  They made the jump without a hitch, Sellers far behind. Sol began taking his watch again.

  On the day Boaz released him from his metal cage, he enjoyed the feeling of freedom. Muscles slowly reacted to the learning process as his once severed spine traced new neural connections between brain and legs.

  “So you’re free!” Connie greeted as she cleared the hatch, eyes instantly on the screens. She stopped, cataloging the stats from old habit.

  “It’s heavenly,” Sol grinned over his coffee cup. He looked absently at the console where he’d been playing a losing game of Find the Ship with Boaz. “Um, I want to apologize. I’ve been unnecessarily rough on you for the last couple of weeks.”

  “I’m well aware of that ... but it’s all right.” She flipped her wealth of red-gold hair over a shoulder and settled athletically into the command chair. “I kept trying to put myself in your position. A strange woman has taken control of your ship. That thing is sitting in the hold like a malignancy. Your latest command is in jeopardy. And there were medical reasons which Boaz explained to me.”

  He nodded, biting his lip. “You know, the dreams were the worst. Med units do that to a person. They can’t deaden all the nerves. Your mind knows how horribly you’re hurt. Way down deep, fear builds in the subconscious and the brain relieves it through horrible nightmares. I’d see ... no, live the vision of Boaz dead in space, holed, starlight shining through the rips and tears in her hull. I’d float through the corridors and companionways. I’d scream into the blackness, the very sound lost in vacuum. Only the corridors weren’t empty; exploded bodies and crystallized fluids would leak away into space. All ... all in that weird red and blue light like off Tygee.”

  “No, don’t blame the med unit. It’s the Artifact’s tainting presence.” She shivered. “I know how that thing affects people who understand it. In our imaginations, it’s evil. Otherwise, it’s simply a ship with a ... a technology that scares the primitive parts of our brains. Men like to fear the dark, Sol. They like twisted beliefs about the nature of God and death—and still need to appease the things hiding in the shadows when they turn the lights down at night.”

  He nodded. “I’ve been fighting that fear all through this jump, Connie. Fear . . . just below consciousness. Every decision I make lingers in the shadow of fear.” He stared absently at a bulkhead and knotted a fist.

  “You’ve chosen right so far. You’ve—”

  “I’ve lost three ships! I’ve had over one hundred of my people killed in one disaster or another! When I dream like that—I wake up simply wanting to quit. If I can react, fine. I manage to make the right choice more often than not. But . . . well, like when you were in the hospital, I had nothing to do and my mind went mad. It all piles up. Flashbacks spin up from . . . from . . .” He closed his eyes and shook his head.

  “And you’re trying to escape it all. Sol, you can’t do it. You’re not the legend the rest of space thinks you are. You’re a human being like the rest of us.”

  “And if I fail, how can I live with it again?” He propped his chin on one palm and studied the mass detectors glowing lime green on the main monitor. “Three times in the past, a ship and a hundred people relied on me. I lost each ship and so many of the people. This time, it’s all of human space. The future . . . rests on my shoulders?” He smiled sickly, “And if I make the wrong decision this time? Who do I trust that nightmare back there with? University? How long until it’s stolen? One day? Two?”

  Connie took a breath and reached for his hand. “Welcome to the club. Father and I didn’t know what to do with it either. You just have to ... Oh, hell, that’s a damn lie. Fact is, I don’t know what to tell you. When I look back on it, I think it’s a miracle we didn’t destroy the universe by pushing the wrong button!”

  “Humans learn by pushing buttons to see what happens.” Sol frowned, eyes empty. “Part of who and what we are, I suppose. Sophisticated apes, Connie, but apes nonetheless. Did you see the politicians in there? Still arguing, each side right, each side scared of the others. They look just like the colobus monkeys in the Arcturian Zoo!”

  She tightened her grip. “Listen, my fleet is coming along behind. Let’s drop the Artifact off on Frontier . . . or Arcturus. You can hand Boaz over to Petran Dart and we’ll space that very day for wherever we end up. It is an option I want you to consider.” She tilted her head, waiting, eyes measuring with that familiar old reserve.

  Sol shook his head, continuing as if he hadn’t heard. “And if the wrong man pushed the wrong button? What if someone like Lietov figures out the weapon? How do we live with the knowledge—even light-years away—that we allowed that to happen?”

  “Just like you’d have to live with it if you let yourself curl up and escape your responsibility to this ship and crew, Sol.” She winked triumphantly. “Just as I thought. You’re a pushover for responsibility, hooked on your duty to humanity. That’s why I could make that offer to you. You won’t back out until you’re relieved of the burden. Then it’s out of your hands. And I just uncovered the root of what depressed you in hospital, didn’t I?”

  He chuckled dryly. “I’m not sure I like the idea that you know so much about me.”

  She gave him a warm smile, radiant as her eyes sparkled. “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t love you, Sol.” She squeezed his hand again, suddenly pensive. “It’s because you care. You’re kind, and gentle, and strong, and you know it way down deep inside. I
never really loved a man before. None measured up the way I thought they should. None could work with me. Instead, they were awkward under my command, afraid of my abilities—or my father—or they wanted to dominate me.” Her eyes flashed at the memory. “I don’t dominate easily.”

  “Got that right.”

  She cocked her head. “That bother you?”

  He smiled and bent to kiss her hand. “No. In fact, I’ve had a lot of time to think about us, during the last three weeks. You know, you did a superb job off Star’s Rest. Won the respect of the entire crew. When this is over, finished one way or another, I want you to come with me.” He flushed, lowering his eyes. “I, uh, never thought I’d say it, but I’m starting to have trouble imagining life without you.”

  “It’s not just the superb sex?”

  He shook his head, grinning. “No, it’s . . . well, a hole inside that I never knew I had. That spot, down deep, it’s . . . full. Yes, that’s the word, full when you’re around. Like part of my soul is warm and healthy and I’m content.”

  She bent down to kiss him, lips light and warm on his. “Thank you, Sol. It’s mutual. I—”

  Boaz interrupted, “Misha on comm, Captain.”

  “Put it through.”

  “Cap!” Misha looked worried. “That Lietov is here with Hendricks. Says we wouldn’t dare shoot him—and he’s going on board the Artifact!”

  “You have your orders, officer, carry them out. I don’t care what you have to do. Use the Jordan option if you’d like ... or simply shoot them. They know the rules.”

  Misha nodded warily. “Aye, Cap. Acknowledged and logged!”

  The screen expanded to display the shuttle deck where two of Fujiki’s men came up from behind the gesticulating Lietov, calmly bent him into a pretzel, and EM restrained him.