Eden Burning (Fox Meridian Book 7)

by Niall Teasdale

  ‘We have a shuttle and pilot ready to take you over in the morning,’ Kit said. ‘It is after midnight and no one over there is going to be happy to see you right now.’

  Fox gave a grimace and picked up some running shoes. ‘No. Damnit. I guess I’ll socialise until you want to go to bed, Terri.’

  ‘Sounds good. I could use some gossip from home.’

  ‘And then,’ Kit said, beaming, ‘you can socialise with me and Fei. We don’t go to bed.’

  ~~~

  ‘Oh, I have got all the gossip on the biggest celebrity marriage of the year,’ Fox said, grinning, before taking a swig of wine which was not going to do anything to her, but was still somehow making her feel drunk. ‘Well, biggest I know of, of any celebrity I actually know.’

  ‘You know a few,’ Terri commented. ‘You know Marie, and I think Naomi Lind counts. You are a celebrity.’

  ‘Yeah, well, not getting married just yet.’

  ‘You will notice,’ Terri said, leaning toward Fei and Kit who were sitting with them, ‘that she qualified that statement.’

  ‘I did,’ Kit said.

  ‘I did too,’ Fei added, though you could sort of tell she had not quite got the point. Fei was operating her gynoid by remote. The elfin-looking blonde cyberframe was still cute, but Fei was getting the hang of things, matching more of her mannerisms to those of the humans around her.

  ‘I hear wedding bells,’ Terri sing-songed.

  ‘Ha!’ Fox barked. ‘You’re a celebrity too. When are you going to make an honest woman out of my SiC?’

  Terri’s cheeks coloured. ‘I don’t think we’re quite there. I mean, I’m not even sure Helen would want to head in that direction. She’s more inclined toward men… I think.’

  ‘How long have you been stuck up here?’

  ‘Uh, well–’

  ‘And she still misses her girlfriend. Plenty of people who aren’t on the far side of the Moon she could hook up with, male or female.’

  ‘You know, you should really take a break,’ Fei said. ‘You have been up here for a long time. You should return to Earth for a couple of months and enjoy Helen. I liked Helen.’

  Terri coughed. ‘Enough about my love life, dish the dirt on Iberson and Sakura.’

  ‘Oh, can’t do that. Misaki told Kit in confidence.’

  ‘But Kit told you.’

  ‘Yes, but that’s just between us infomorphs.’

  ‘Oh yes,’ Kit said. ‘Very confidential.’

  ‘Oh yeah,’ Terri said with a generous side of sarcasm. ‘Infomorph club, right?’

  Fei sat bolt upright. ‘The human knows about the club. Should I get the memory-wiping device?’

  ‘Leave it for later,’ Fox said. ‘We’ll probably need to do it again later if we do it now.’

  ‘As you can see,’ Terri said, ‘Fei’s understanding of humour has become quite acute.’

  ‘Yeah.’ Fox dragged the word out. ‘It’s a joke…’

  ‘Yes,’ Kit agreed, ‘just a joke.’

  ‘Indeed,’ Fei said. ‘Ha ha.’

  ‘There’s no memory-wiping device.’

  Fox smiled. ‘But, Terri, how would you know?’

  Niflhel.

  ‘Miss Iberson liked the kimono design,’ Kit said as she settled onto a seat in Vali’s farmhouse. She was not wearing the garment, having selected her ‘slave fox-girl’ tunic for her visit. ‘And I think I told you Misaki did.’

  ‘It’s always nice to be appreciated,’ Vali replied. He turned from pouring mead into two roughly made pots and Kit felt a little thrill at the sight of his slim, almost hard, face softened by a smile. ‘We must visit one of the Japanese virons at some point so that you can wear it for me.’

  ‘Are you a noble samurai there?’

  His smile became a smirk. ‘A ninja, subtle and deadly.’

  ‘Of course. You asked that I visit. That normally means that you have something for me.’ She sipped sweet, golden mead from her cup and smiled at the sensation of warmth it created. ‘A new blend?’

  ‘I tweaked the coding a little, improved the flavour and played a little with the effects.’ He paused, taking a sip from his own cup. ‘I have something for you, but not here. I don’t wish this data moved over any network, even over the encrypted channels I use for access to Niflhel. A secure courier will deliver a package to your home tomorrow. Please ensure that you or Zorra accept it.’ He spoke of Fox’s online name; he knew who she was, but always referred to her by her tag.

  ‘Zorra is currently off-world, on the Moon. I’ll ensure that my gynoid is ready to receive it.’

  Vali gave a nod. The smile was gone now, replaced by a serious expression, the kind of serious expression he reserved for very serious discussions. ‘The package contains an encrypted memory card. Decryption requires your ID or Zorra’s, but… I can’t make this clear enough. The data is dangerous. Images, only images,’ he added quickly, ‘but it would be dangerous for anyone to know you have them. If you wish to view them on your server, disconnect from the network first. I would suggest, perhaps, taking the card to Jackson Martins. I know he has excellent security on his office systems.’

  Kit frowned. ‘This is serious. Can you give me some idea of what these images show?’

  ‘Honestly? I have no real idea. Some people. Some locations. I have no idea what they mean or why you should need them. But they came with a short message, as sometimes happens, to direct my search for who needs the information.’

  ‘Okay…’

  ‘Two words. “Meridian” and “Eden.” Does that–’

  Kit held up a hand. ‘I have some idea why these images might be of interest. I’ll attempt to let you know more when I’ve looked them over. Now, let us drink our mead and talk of other things, and see whether your new coding works to your satisfaction.’

  Vali nodded and his smile returned. ‘I admit that your ability to create more copies, and so your ability to visit for longer without issue, is much to my liking.’

  Kit smiled back. ‘It definitely has its advantages. Have you got around to softening the mattress at all?’

  ‘Alas…’

  ‘Oh well, at least it’s authentic.’

  Luna City, The Moon.

  There was a mid-height woman in a Luna City Security Services uniform waiting for Fox when she got off the shuttle and walked out of the bridge into the attached lounge. She might have been in the uniform, but she did not entirely look like a cop. She was attractive, even beautiful, with sculpted features, blonde hair which fell straight past her shoulders, and deep-blue eyes which held a strong hint of warmth.

  Obviously, she recognised Fox and favoured her with a broad smile, and then there was a quick exchange of identity packets and it became clear what was not entirely right about the officer: Harriet was an AI in a gynoid cyberframe.

  ‘Miss Meridian,’ Harriet said, ‘it is a considerable pleasure to make your acquaintance.’ She held out a hand. ‘To meet such a well-known and unique infomorph. I admit that I applied a little pressure to be allowed to take this liaison assignment.’ She had a subtly sexy voice, slightly lower than you might expect and with a hint of throaty husk.

  ‘Thank you for meeting us,’ Fox replied. ‘You should meet Kit properly. I’ve no doubt you’ve exchanged details…’

  Kit’s avatar appeared beside Fox and gave Harriet a nod. ‘Good morning, Harriet. Yes, Fox, we have swapped ID packets. Is that frame based on the MarTech Sylph, Harriet?’

  Harriet smiled again. ‘I obtained it quite recently to replace an older model with a far inferior onboard computer. I had the sculpting done by one of Luna City’s best designers. I have found a significant improvement in my work efficiency since swapping.’

  ‘I have a Sylph frame myself. I was primarily virtual prior to that. I admit to finding the more immediate interaction with the real world most pleasing.’ Kit gave Fox a little grin. ‘Sorry. Infomorph small talk.’

  Fox let out a bark of a laugh which had a co
uple of other passengers looking her way. ‘It beats chatting about men, parties, and the weather. And I’m kind of fond of my frame too. However, Harriet, I’m hoping to get some information on the ship that crashed here. I may even be able to offer some information we’ve collected from other sources. This kind of thing is getting a little too common and MarTech is concerned about the cooling effect on space travel.’

  ‘I am allowed to state that the Luna City government has similar concerns, Miss Meridian,’ Harriet replied.

  ‘Fox. Us infomorphs have to stick together.’

  That got another smile. ‘Fox, then. I’m going to put through immediate requests to have further information opened up.’ She sighed. ‘I need to put it through channels. While that’s happening, I can take you through to ERU and they can pass on whatever unofficial data they think might be useful. They were first in when they went to check the crash site. They’ve seen what’s down there.’

  ‘I know the people in the Emergency Response Unit.’

  ‘Yes, you were instrumental in their training. Though I don’t believe you trained them for this.’ Harriet turned and started for the corridor into the main concourse, Fox stepping up beside her.

  ‘No, we handled forced entry and hostage rescue, primarily. Why were they sent in first anyway?’

  ‘Ah,’ Harriet said, ‘there are some very strange rumours floating around…’

  ~~~

  ‘Aliens?’ Fox said, disbelief strong in her voice.

  ‘That was the craziest possibility,’ Adam Driscoll replied. He was the head man in the LCSS’s Emergency Response Unit, an ex-NAPA tactical officer from Chicago, and a man who seemed more comfortable with his new position than he had when Fox had last met him.

  ‘I don’t know, boss,’ Lenora Pierce said. ‘I think UA cyborgs able to withstand the crash was pretty out there.’ Pierce, now Sergeant Pierce, was the B-team technical specialist. She was in the little meeting with Fox to pass on any technical information Driscoll was less-equipped to explain.

  Driscoll shrugged. ‘Maybe, but the brass was more worried about aliens. Immaterial aliens able to walk through the hull and take over the ship.’

  ‘Have the local administration people been watching too many monster vids?’ Fox asked.

  ‘Possibly while smoking something the vice guys would find interesting.’ Harriet gave Driscoll a slightly disapproving look. ‘Fox is ex-cop, Harriet. She knows banter when she hears it.’

  ‘I was just wondering whether you should check out accidental releases of hallucinogens in the air system,’ Fox said. ‘Have there been any reports of weird sightings? Like, you know, immaterial aliens floating through the city.’

  ‘Only around closing time,’ Pierce said, ‘and they were pink elephants. I’d love to know what they thought we were going to do to stop aliens? Anyway, turns out our training wasn’t entirely useless in this situation. Tight conditions, in a vacuum. It was possibly better we went in to do the initial survey. It was a real mess down there.’

  ‘I got the impression it hit the crater’s side,’ Fox said.

  ‘Oh, it did. And then parts of it slid or rolled down. You remember the layout down there? There was a habitat for mining operations, which they’ve restarted, and a big chunk of engineering rolled right on into it.’

  Fox frowned. ‘Another Xiao? So, the engineering section on those things is basically a fission reactor.’

  ‘There are infomorphs in heavy-rescue frames still looking for survivors among the wreckage,’ Harriet said, ‘but there was the impact, the radiation, and by now it is unlikely someone living through those would have air left to breathe. By tonight, the announcement will be made. Four dead, in addition to the crew of the ship.’

  ‘Yeah, another scavenger. A scavenger hit that biotech company’s station. Another hit the plant up on the surface here. Yet another tried to take out BioTek.’

  ‘One of these things tried to hit the BioTek station?’ Driscoll asked.

  ‘Yes. It didn’t get so much news coverage, but I’m surprised no one told you about it. BioTek’s station has a ring of laser turrets. By the time the ship got close enough to do damage, it was in small pieces, but they still had a couple of minor breaches. No one was hurt because they had time to get everyone into their shelter or pressure suits. They’re reasonably sure the crew were dead before they got shredded by laserfire.’

  ‘This lot were still alive,’ Pierce said. ‘We’ve got some video of its approach. They couldn’t do much by the time they were coming down, but you can see thruster burns. That ship would have hit Malapert Station if the crew hadn’t done something about it. Probably anyway.’

  ‘Like the hit on Eagle Station.’ Fox glanced at Pierce. ‘Either they lost control temporarily and got back enough to be able to fire the thrusters…’

  ‘Or the control systems were too far gone and they managed to hotwire the thrusters to fire. I think the latter. The EM signature on that ship was down to minimal. I’m not sure how much of the electronics was working, but not much. But those scavenger ships try hard to operate without much outside interference. They have space allocated so their engineer, and they always have an engineer, can get to the engines and anywhere else he needs to go. I think they knew they were screwed but maybe hoped they could live through it. They manually fired the thrusters, everything they had, trying to steer away from the lip of the crater. From the trajectory, they had no real chance, but when you’re about to die, you take whatever chance you’ve got, right?’

  ‘Including having your brain eaten by nanomachines so you can be converted into data,’ Fox agreed. ‘Okay, so Jackson and Teresa Martins took whatever chance they had to keep me alive, but I’m not well-placed to disagree.’

  ‘Yeah…’ Pierce gave Fox one of those grins that spoke heavily of curiosity. ‘I’ve got to ask. What’s it like?’

  Fox frowned thoughtfully. ‘Well, it’s kind of difficult to say. I mean, the way the software works with the hardware means that, really, it’s hard to tell anything’s changed. Unless I want to go looking for the changes. On the other hand, I only need four hours’ sleep and I got from New York to Jenner Crater in under two hours.’

  ‘Sweet! And up here, there are no pesky legal difficulties in the way of doing it.’

  ‘By the end of next year, I’d say, there won’t be any in America, Japan, Europe. Probably anyway. But if I were you, I’d stick with organic, at least until you’re older. There’s plenty to enjoy about being an ordinary human before you get turned into a digital one. Plus, I’m betting the process isn’t a hundred percent certified for human use. Let some rich idiots try it and get the bugs ironed out before you do it.’

  New York Metro.

  ‘You’re sure of your source?’ Jackson said as he took the small data card Kit offered him.

  ‘I am,’ Kit replied. ‘It’s Vali, and he would have checked the contents with every means possible prior to sending it to me. I would also expect that he expects you to check the contents with as much thoroughness.’

  Jackson nodded and stepped over to one of the consoles in his very modern but also antiquated office. The room was set out with a number of real consoles, all of them set into units made of dark wood. The chair he employed to use those consoles was fully modern, very ergonomic. One wall of the room was a vast display screen and Jackson liked using it for data display, just as he liked real keyboards instead of virtual ones. He had v-tags set up to give virtual interfaces if he wanted them, but Jackson liked the old ways for some things, even if he had been instrumental in making many of the new ways viable for public consumption.

  A few key-presses and the office went into lockdown. The sound of the physical security system engaging was quite audible, but, for Kit, it was the electronic hammer falling which really sold it. With the full security system engaged, nothing much beyond cosmic rays would be entering or leaving the room. Then Jackson plugged the card into a port on his desk and the edge of the port lit up with
red light. ‘Now then, let’s see what we have here,’ Jackson said.

  The pause was short: impressively short since Kit assumed that a lot of analysis had been done in that time.

  ‘Nine encrypted data files,’ Jackson said. ‘It’s a commercial encryption package, but one of the strongest available. It would take… some time to crack.’

  ‘The password is my identifier,’ Kit said. ‘I can–’

  ‘No, I have that on record. If the file does not require you to connect to decrypt it, we can supply the data and run further checks on each file before looking.’

  Kit smiled. ‘You’re the expert. I was told that the files are images. I would suggest that, if there is any indication following decryption that they are not image files, we assume the worst.’

  ‘That puts us safely on the same page… But it would appear your source was not lying.’ There was another short pause. ‘And, I might add, that the first file is as clean as one would expect. Considering that your paramour has gone to considerable efforts to protect you in the past, I was not expecting him to attempt something now.’

  ‘Well…’ Kit blushed and brushed some hair which had not really been in the way out of her face. Something about discussing her love life with her creator’s father, perhaps. Her embarrassment vanished as the first of the images appeared on the big screen. ‘That… That would appear to be a satellite image. A high-resolution satellite image.’

  ‘Too high,’ Jackson said. A second image appeared, this one showing what appeared to be a group of people walking across a broken concrete surface. ‘I am beginning to see why your friend felt it important to have this handled securely.’

  ‘I may have an inkling.’ On the second image, one of the people was looking up, not really toward the camera, but at enough of an incline that his face was visible. Kit’s eyes narrowed. ‘I believe that this man is one of the twenty-one missing people from the mass suicide in Tulsa.’ She turned her head as another image appeared. ‘And this woman. Jackson, are these spy satellite images?’

  As another image appeared on the screen, Jackson nodded. ‘From one of NIX’s sats. The metadata is clear on that. Geolocation places the targeted area in the Northwest Protectorate… Well, I’ll be… It’s the site of the old Boeing airfield. The place was trashed in the quake and then there was the ashfall from Yellowstone. From these pictures, someone’s cleaned it up. It looks like the landing strip is fairly intact, or they’ve repaired it. They’ve definitely repaired some of the buildings. They have some sort of camp there, and maybe facilities for air, or even space, transport.’