Nemesis

by Alex Lamb

  As the first of them began to descend the ladder to the lounge, Mark shut down the memory. He suspected they’d all been muttering with each other in the corridor so they could present some kind of a united front.

  ‘Good morning,’ he said, aiming for brisk professionalism. He received reserved expressions from his assembled shipmates. ‘Thank you all for coming. As you’re undoubtedly aware, tomorrow is a big day and I want to make sure I’ve understood your needs correctly for the mission phase that follows. My intention is to check in with each of you in turn to make sure I have everything straight. Does that work for you?’

  ‘It’s a little late,’ said Yunus, ‘but the gesture is appropriate. We’re amenable to discussion, of course.’

  ‘Terrific,’ said Mark. He turned to Sam. ‘Overcaptain Shah, do you mind if I start with you?’

  Sam spread his hands.

  ‘As I understand it,’ Mark said, ‘your primary concern for our insertion into Tiwanaku is that if these Photurians are actually a sect ruse, it’s unclear what the motivation behind them is. A charade like that couldn’t possibly last, which implies a short-term objective rather than a longer one. So you’re concerned that the entire purpose of the event was to draw Fleet attention, exactly as it has done. Hence, we need to treat each event that draws us deeper into the system with extreme suspicion. Scanners should be on full sweep the entire time, and we should have an array of tactical predictors going, treating the insertion as a military engagement to ensure that it doesn’t actually become one. Is that a fair summary?’

  ‘That’s about the size of it, yes,’ said Sam, looking unimpressed.

  ‘Lovely,’ said Mark. He turned to Zoe. ‘Doctor Tamar, your main concern is that the Photurian warp-burst signature looks physically impossible. It doesn’t conform to any known decay pattern, and without tapping the galaxy’s curvon flow, there’s no way it could possibly generate the spatial distortion burst necessary to create a warp envelope. You and I have already discussed possible ways that signature might be faked, but you’d ideally like us to get close enough to their machinery for a thorough scan. We should be sampling at the highest possible rate while observing Photurian warp so as to distinguish between true warp pulses and artefacts. If possible, you’d like a physical sample of one of their drives. Correct?’

  Zoe nodded.

  ‘I’ll see what we can do,’ said Mark. He turned to Citra next. ‘Your talk concentrated on what we might be able to learn from a valid Photurian biosample. You point out that a simple test of their base-pair lexicon will tell us immediately and unambiguously whether we’re dealing with a new form of life or an impostor. That leaves us, of course, with the question of how to collect such a sample without exposing the Gulliver to danger.’

  ‘My talk covered a lot more than that, Captain Ruiz.’

  ‘I’m well aware of that. What I’m trying to do here is summarise your needs. Is there anything else you’d like me to try for while we’re in there?’

  Citra shook her head.

  ‘And how about the other Professor Chesterford? Yunus, for you, adherence to the diplomatic protocol you’ve invented is paramount. We should assume that humanity has transgressed into Photurian territory and that the Photurians are our peers. We should behave as visitors to sacred ground and make no assumptions as to what is safe to look at, sample or visit.’

  ‘We’re still debating this,’ said Venetia. ‘I don’t think that approach holds water.’

  Yunus scowled at her. ‘It’s the most cautious strategy.’

  Venetia rolled her eyes. ‘You saw the video dump that was waiting for us at Gore-Daano,’ she said. ‘The alien machines started by packing up the colony and porting it to space. Then they gave up and started milling about. I’m more convinced than ever that your Photurians are like broken robots or confused eusocial insects.’

  ‘Are you proposing we walk into a potential first contact assuming we’re meeting with broken robots?’ said Yunus.

  ‘I’m not proposing anything at this point other than keeping an open mind,’ said Venetia. ‘For starters, the way Mark has framed it, it’s pretty obvious that we can’t be totally respectful and collect the data we want at the same time. I think that’s sort of his point.’

  Mark smiled. ‘Thank you for listening, Doctor Sharp,’ said Mark. ‘However, I propose you leave the solution of that conundrum to me. And while we’re on the subject, I confess you’re the one person whose needs I don’t fully understand yet. I enjoyed your talk on the Fecund, and the whole idea of sentience frameworks, but you didn’t articulate a specific mission agenda.’

  ‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘I did not. But I might still think of something.’

  ‘I’ll make sure to keep a comms channel open, in that case,’ said Mark. ‘Just let me know if you do.’ He surveyed the room. ‘Did I miss anything? Would anyone like to add any thoughts?’

  Zoe raised a hand. ‘Sure. I’d have preferred it if you’d actually come to my talk rather than just nerding it afterwards. We still hardly know you.’

  ‘My apologies,’ said Mark. ‘I meant to spare you my company, not hurt your feelings. I see now that that was a mistake. I’m truly sorry. Anything else?’

  A leaden silence fell. It sat there until Yunus broke it.

  ‘Captain Ruiz,’ he said, ‘this isn’t easy, but I think we need to be realistic. You’ve had weeks now, and at no time have you shown the necessary level of engagement that would convince us you’re a suitable commanding officer for this ship. We’re flying into a very uncertain situation and need to feel absolutely confident that we have the best man at the helm. You haven’t given us reason to believe that, which is why we’re asking you to step down.’

  The silence fell again.

  Mark’s brow creased in astonishment. ‘I’m sorry. You’re asking what?’

  Sam spread his hands. ‘Look, Mark,’ he said, ‘it’s great that you’ve got us all here, but from tomorrow onwards we have to be functioning like a team, not one vid-star and a room full of groupies. Ash could have taken those shifts during the talks. You know that. And now Ash is better informed about the upcoming risks than you are. I don’t know about everyone else here,’ he said, looking around, ‘but I’d feel more comfortable with him in the hot seat tomorrow. He at least feels like part of the team.’

  ‘You have to be joking,’ said Mark. ‘You want to take me out of command? But I haven’t done anything.’

  ‘And that’s precisely the point,’ said Yunus.

  Mark glanced around at their closed faces and began to realise just how screwed he was. His one chance for career redemption had disappeared already and he hadn’t even noticed. So much for hiding away to avoid pissing anyone off. He’d managed to achieve that without even opening his mouth.

  ‘You need a unanimous passenger vote to unseat a ro-captain.’ The words sounded pathetic and defensive to his ears even as he said them.

  ‘Which is why we all agreed to come. As the only other non-voting crew member, Ash has already been informed.’

  ‘Look,’ said Mark, raising a placating hand, ‘I’m an Omega roboteer, for crying out loud. You all know that, but maybe you don’t know what it means. It’s a curse as well as a blessing. I’ve got digital access to information that makes a lot of human interaction irrelevant. That’s why roboteers tend to be bad with people. Ash may be an exception, I admit, but I’m not. When I talk to ordinary people, I either have to deliberately screen information from myself or pretend I don’t have it. I didn’t come to those talks because I didn’t want to patronise or infuriate anyone.’

  ‘The fact remains,’ said Yunus, ‘that we have a roboteer aboard who does have social skills.’

  ‘Wait,’ said Mark. ‘Let me finish. I know I’ve got that limitation, so I haven’t been hiding from you all that time, I’ve been compensating. I didn’t just watch you
r presentations once – I watched all of them eight times. I spent my rest hours doing follow-up analysis on every topic you raised. I had analysis SAPs combing your prior work and integrating subminds for my use during the upcoming insertion. There isn’t a paper any of you have published that I don’t currently have SAP-memorised. I didn’t come along to ask you questions because I already knew the answers.’

  He couldn’t tell whether they believed him or not. Either way, it was clear they didn’t want it to be true. He felt his hackles rising.

  ‘Here’s a question,’ he said. ‘This one’s for all of you. Did any of you watch one of those presentations again after the fact?’ He glanced around again, trying to meet their evasive eyes. ‘Anyone?’

  He knew the answer, of course. And they knew he knew. He could tell he wasn’t making friends, though. Only Venetia wasn’t frowning. She appeared to be hiding a smirk.

  ‘And it’s precisely that kind of adversarial attitude that will ruin this mission unless we do something about it,’ said Yunus. ‘I’m sorry, Captain Ruiz. Your technical skills may be impressive, but this mission calls for a deft, socially aware hand.’ He looked to the others. ‘I call for Captain Ruiz be removed from his position on the basis of unsuitability for the post.’

  He raised an imperious finger. Mark’s heart sank as he watched other hands go up – first Citra Chesterford’s, then Sam’s.

  ‘I’m sorry, Mark,’ said Sam. ‘It’s for the best. I’ll still support you when we get back to HQ.’

  Two hands stayed down: Venetia and Zoe.

  Sam turned to the physicist. She stared at her feet.

  ‘Zoe, this is a serious matter,’ he said softly. ‘You need to have total confidence in Mark not to register a vote right now.’

  ‘I just think it’s a bit mean,’ said Zoe. ‘We’re going to kick him out of command and trash his record because he failed to come to some slideshows?’

  ‘That’s not the point,’ said Sam. ‘Think about those things you told me earlier. About that corridor on Triton.’

  Mark’s cheeks flushed.

  ‘I’m asking you point-blank if you can have total confidence in this man tomorrow,’ said Sam.

  Zoe’s hand crept upwards. Her eyes did not. Sam turned next to Venetia.

  ‘Doctor Sharp, I don’t think I have to explain the weight of this moment to you. May I ask you why your hand is still down?’

  ‘Me?’ said Venetia cheerfully. ‘Well, it’s because I do have total confidence in the captain, Sam. I was undecided when I came in here, but he’s addressed every one of my concerns quite adequately.’ She tucked a strand of straight black hair behind one ear and looked pleased with herself.

  ‘I’m sorry?’ said Yunus. His face had turned an unhealthy beetroot colour.

  ‘Captain Ruiz,’ said Venetia, ‘could you tell me the title of Professor Chesterford’s third linguistics paper?’

  ‘Sure,’ said Mark. ‘That would be “A Comparison of Semantic Network Structures Derived from Fecund Hierarchical Glyph Language Nine”.’ He stared at her with a fluttering realisation that someone might actually be on his side.

  ‘That’s correct, is it not, Professor?’

  ‘Parroting technical information doesn’t prove anything,’ Yunus said sharply. ‘A research SAP could do it just as well.’

  ‘You’re right,’ said Venetia. ‘So can you tell me in your own words, Captain, what were the main criticisms of that paper, and your opinions on them?’

  Mark tried to resist grinning. Against all expectations, he’d suddenly started enjoying himself.

  ‘Of course. You were the most vocal critic, Doctor, as I recall. You had issues with the specific mapping technique Professor Chesterford used to derive those networks. You claimed it lacked foundation and didn’t take account of the Nazca out-system data-core findings. My guess is you chose to ask me about this particular paper because of the way that whole controversy was resolved. The entire issue became moot a couple of years later, I believe, when Yingling Bo’s work on SAP-simulated Fecund worker-groups was published. Your concern is probably that without the same level of deep simulation, making assumptions about any language patterns we encounter at Tiwanaku is likely to be dangerously biased due to our own semantic priors, just as it was then.’

  ‘A fair answer,’ said Venetia, ‘and a thoughtful one.’ She turned to give Yunus a wicked smile. ‘You see, you should have listened to his explanation a little more closely. Ash isn’t the best-trained pilot on this ship any more. Mark is.’

  ‘This is beside the point,’ Yunus snapped. ‘We’re not contesting his capacity for recall but his ability to participate as a member of the team.’

  ‘And I’d be able to get behind that concern, Yunus, dear,’ Venetia replied, ‘if it wasn’t so transparently politically motivated. You think you’re in some kind of contest with Will Monet, a position made obvious by the fact that you’ve brought his name up at coffee every day since you talked to him. And you see Mark as his weapon. But if you actually wanted to involve Mark with the team there are a dozen different ways you could have done it, none of which you tried. So rather than messing with the ship’s command structure, I propose we let Captain Ruiz absorb this lesson and get back to work. I’d be surprised if he isn’t extremely attentive when we enter that system tomorrow.’

  Yunus erupted to his feet. He looked daggers at Venetia for a long second and then clomped to the ladder. Citra took an extra moment to give Mark a withering, disdainful look before following him. Sam sighed and rubbed his eyes.

  ‘I hope you know what you’re doing, Doctor Sharp,’ he said. ‘That’s not how I would have run things, but it’s your call. Good luck, Mark, I’m confident you’ll do your best.’

  He heaved himself up the rungs, shaking his head.

  Zoe stood, too, but lingered, squinting into space, on the brink of saying something.

  ‘I don’t blame you,’ Mark said quickly. ‘Not for a moment. They put you in a tough spot. I’d have probably done the same thing.’

  She looked at him and a quick, fragile smile blossomed on her face. Something in Mark’s chest squeezed tight as he tried to return it but it was too late. She was gone already, swarming up the ladder after the others.

  Mark turned his gaze to Venetia and found her watching him closely with a dry smile curving one corner of her mouth. He’d given her less attention than she deserved. He’d been too caught up in his opinion of everyone else.

  ‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘I don’t know what to say. Why did you …’ He couldn’t finish the question.

  ‘I thought you deserved another chance,’ she said, shrugging. ‘And I knew your mother.’

  Mark’s face fell. ‘You knew Bella Ruiz?’

  It sounded unlikely. Why would a high-powered scientist like Venetia know a part-time molecular engineer with a second-rate degree from Earth?

  ‘No,’ said Venetia. ‘I’m talking about your other mother.’

  Mark instantly saw the truth behind the joke. She meant Rachel Bock, of course. Rachel had spent her whole career in exoscience. She and Venetia must have been crossing paths for years. He should have guessed it from day one.

  ‘She wouldn’t have had much patience for this lot,’ said Venetia, her eyes sliding to the top of the ladder. Then she fixed him with a hard look, her smile dropping away. ‘Listen, Mark, I’m as surprised as you are that we’re on this ship together. I had no idea until I showed up for the shuttle briefing. So don’t get me wrong, I didn’t do this out of some sense of allegiance. I did it because I thought you deserved better. But you need to up your game. People like Sam and Yunus thrive on attention. Give them as much as you can. Kowtow. Laugh at their jokes. And don’t take a single thing they have to say seriously. Stick to that formula and I’ll make sure you come out of this trip in one piece. Got it?’

  Mark nodded mut
ely.

  ‘Good,’ she said. ‘Nice job with the science research, by the way. That paper of Yunus’s was a stinker. You were very diplomatic.’

  She winked at him as she headed out. Mark just stared. He actually had an ally. Who’d have guessed?

  6: APPROACH

  6.1: ANN

  When the Gulliver and Ariel Two warped in to meet with the observation ship outside the Tiwanaku System, the Chiyome flew alongside, silent and attentive.

  It had been a tense, dull flight. Sam’s hand-picked crew were polite, professional company. Ann had tried to build a bond with them, but as the days creaked into weeks, the sense of distance between her and most of the others had deepened.

  The only bright spot in the trip had been the occasional opportunities to work with Kuril. The rest of the crew watched their unexpected friendship develop without comment. Now, at least, they’d all have something to do instead of stewing and feeling out each other’s loyalties. This close to Tiwanaku, the Ariel Two needed to be monitored constantly. Ann felt glad of the change, even through her fear.

  The observation ship sent from New Panama, the IPS Samyaza, had chosen a spot just beyond the heliopause, far enough out to make detection by the Nems statistically impossible but still close enough for surveillance. Ann tuned in when the comms channel from the Gulliver opened.

  ‘Good morning, Samyaza,’ said Yunus Chesterford. Ann could see the diplomatic team clustered in the Gulliver’s faux-opulent lounge and immediately felt jealous of their space.

  ‘We’re ready for insertion,’ said Yunus. ‘Do you have anything for us?’

  The feed from the Samyaza showed the round, earnest face of the chief observer, Meleta Keth, with beige crash-padding behind.

  ‘Plenty,’ said Meleta. ‘First, and most significantly, we’ve witnessed two exit events on the same bearing.’

  ‘Fascinating!’ said Yunus. ‘Information about the origin of our visitors, perhaps?’

  Of course, Meleta had seen no such thing. And even if there had been an exit, Meleta’s team wouldn’t have been able to trace it. The Nems’ warp system made that almost impossible.