Frozen Sky 2: Betrayed

by Jeff Carlson

  —Ghost Clan will fight for Mid Clan?

  Vonnie hesitated, but she didn’t need to ask Koebsch how he would respond. A bureaucrat would compromise. An administrator would accept some evil for the greater good. She was repelled by the idea of killing more sunfish to preserve one clan, but she nodded. —Yes, she said.

  They screamed in triumph when she gave her oath. —We would be Thirty with you! they shrieked.

  —We are Twenty-Sixteen! she cried. She wasn’t sure what they wanted. “O’Neal, Charlotte said that before. ‘We would be Thirty with you.’ Do you know what she means?”

  “It’s not a sunfish number,” O’Neal said. “I think it’s how they envision a union with us.”

  “A new number,” she said.

  Maybe, just maybe, the bloodshed had been worth uniting the two breeds. She was cheered by the prospect of teaching them. Someday the sunfish might achieve more unity than humankind had ever learned. Caught in the frozen sky, unable to leave its dwindling resources, their tribes had more incentive to work together than the widespread cultures on Earth.

  Achieving such a goal would require years or decades. First they needed someone to show the way.

  She let them sense her eagerness. She adjusted her body from a closed posture to an inviting one. She opened her arms. She lifted her head. But there was also a trace of caution in how she remained apart from the tribe with her back against the cavern wall.

  —Thirty is an unknown sum, she said. —Explain it to me. The savages are gone. Who are you?

  —We are Six-Six! the leaders cried.

  Vonnie knew this was more than a rote answer. She struggled to read as much into their calls and body language as they intended. At the same time, her visor filled with extrapolations and sims.

  Their name was their totality. To the sunfish, Six-Six defined equilibrium. It described a fundamental vitality and right-mindedness. They were self-assured to the point of arrogance. They found her caution aggravating, but they slowed themselves to match her pace. They demonstrated their worth by holding themselves in check.

  They bragged to her.

  —We know the top and the middle, they cried. —We have touched the bottom.

  —What is there? What is there? she asked.

  They shrugged off her question and boasted again. —We can rule the ice with you. We are healthy and fertile and smart.

  —Healthy, yes. A treaty, yes.

  —We deliver ourselves to you as equals. Our strength is yours and yours is ours.

  —Not yet, she said. —Many of your tribe aren’t here. My clan sees them in the ice to the northeast. Who speaks for them? Do those sunfish accept your choice?

  —Yes! Yes!

  Charlotte and Lam screamed at the cavern floor with the larger females. His voice was so high-pitched, he would have torn his larynx if it was flesh. The larger females chorused with him, guiding his meaning, adding to his volume.

  He shook the ice.

  Far away, the other sunfish replied: —Yes! Yes! We are Six-Six!

  Her radio chattered with human voices. “There is another commotion beneath our modules,” Ribeiro barked.

  “Colonel, it’s okay,” O’Neal said. “Both groups of sunfish are negotiating the terms of an alliance with us.”

  “Administrator Koebsch, I cannot permit the presence of an uncontrolled native force beneath our living quarters,” Ribeiro said.

  “We’ll ask them to move,” Vonnie said, feeling awestruck again at their abilities.

  Forever blind, forever scuttling through the three-dimensional maze of their world, the sunfish were uniquely qualified to act in concert with each other. Their group mind extended across short distances. Every leader spoke for the rest.

  —Bring your entire tribe to me, she cried. —Call them to this cavern. We will eat. We will rest. I can help your injured and your sick.

  —They will come. Your kind comes, too?

  —Yes. More suits, more mecha, she cried. To her radio, she said, “Ash, on my mark, can you send tools and food into the cargo tube?”

  “Roger that.”

  The sunfish churned around Vonnie. They shrieked with new enthusiasm, and Ben said, “I’m reading a Class 3 alarm from our seismographs. They’re affecting the cavern ceiling again, although it’s not bad. Not yet.”

  —Calm, calm, Vonnie cried. —Sing quietly.

  —A quiet song. Yes. No. Yes, they called.

  Long after the fact, it occurred to her that Lam’s wavering might not represent schizophrenia. The sunfish thought in darts and jolts. Each idea ping-ponged among them until they found consensus. Did that mean Lam was more sane than she’d worried?

  The tribe slithered. They called and danced, repeating her promises of medicine and food.

  “The sunfish beneath the FNEE modules are on the move,” Ben reported. “They’re descending into the ice. Von, they’re heading toward you. Time of arrival is seven minutes.”

  “Nice work,” Koebsch said.

  Vonnie would have liked to scoff at Ribeiro, but nothing good could come from publicly raking him over the coals. If she wanted to reach an accord with him, or, less likely, bring him to her cause, she needed to let him win a few rounds. Maybe he can hunt the savages for us, she thought. He was a soldier. He should be able to relate to the tribe’s security concerns.

  While the sunfish screamed at their approaching kin, Vonnie switched radio links and spoke privately to Lam. “Thank you for your help. I mean it. We couldn’t have come this far without you.”

  —New tribe, he said. —Good tribe.

  “Lam, can I do something to help you?” she asked. “We could fix your mem files. We could repair your arm.”

  —No. No. Yes. No.

  Faced with his inhuman dilemma, she hurried to explain. “Your arm is a sign of strength and you’re one of them now. Everyone can see that. If you’re okay, we don’t have to talk about it. But I want to help. If you need anything…”

  —Yes. No. No. No.

  “All right. I can give you more capacity if you change your mind. I can run corrective sequences if you decide you want them. We owe you. Everyone up here is in your debt. So is the tribe.”

  —Thank you. No. No.

  There wasn’t time to push Lam. She needed to increase the bonds between their species. She wanted to introduce Charlotte to the varied personalities who’d supported her, so she sent five alerts to Ben, Harmeet, Ash, O’Neal and Koebsch. “Let me have audio from the group feed, please,” she said. “You can keep my station quarantined if you’re still concerned about a cyber attack from Lam, but I want to share your voices with the tribe.”

  “Roger that,” Koebsch said.

  Shutting off her spotlight, Vonnie walked into the throng of sunfish. She invited them closer by opening her arms. —These are my people, she cried before she said, “I’m mingling with the tribe. Their affirmation ritual might take a while, and I need to pay attention to them, but I want you to know I’m proud to serve with you.”

  “My pleasure, Von,” Koebsch said.

  Her speakers conveyed his sincerity through the cavern. The sunfish jerked in surprise, then chirped their approval.

  Ben’s voice held an edge. He pretended he was relaxed, but Vonnie heard his wariness toward Koebsch. So did the sunfish, who tensed. “Hey, it’s been fun so far,” Ben said. “I wouldn’t miss it.”

  “I could have skipped some parts,” Ash said, a rare joke for her.

  Vonnie grinned. “Me too.”

  —Ghosts! the sunfish cried. —We hear Ghosts!

  She’d counted on their wonder and excitement. Encouraging them to learn was her best defense against men like Dawson.

  Then her grin faded. Despite everything, she was stunned when the sunfish launched into a detailed analysis of her crewmates. Tom led the tribe through several parts of their new song by adding personal cues. —[First voice/Koebsch] is your dominant male. [Second voice/Ben] is your current mate. [Third voice/Ash] is
a rival female, fertile and aggressive. [Koebsch] seeks to lead us and protect you. We will listen. We will listen. [Ben] challenges him. [Ash] challenges you.

  “Oh, uh,” Vonnie said.

  “That’s ridiculous,” Ash said. She was flustered like Vonnie, but Ben laughed.

  “They’re not far off the mark,” he said.

  “How can they know so much?” Koebsch asked, although their skills had been proven weeks ago.

  Their hyper-sensitivity allowed them to track the behavior of every human on the surface. Tom had also heard radio exchanges inside 07, and other scouts must have intercepted the faintest vibrations of conversations inside their hab modules.

  Attempting to hide from the tribe was pointless.

  —I will show you more of us, Vonnie cried. “Harmeet? O’Neal?” she asked.

  Harmeet took her motherly stance, not solely for Vonnie but also for the sunfish. She complimented them. “You performed very well today,” she said.

  “Von, the other group will reach you in two minutes,” O’Neal said. He was all business, and Vonnie felt glad again at his unflappable nature. O’Neal was a rock. He was exactly the kind of man who should have been sent to deal with aliens, not shitheads like Dawson.

  —More voices? the sunfish cried. —We want more voices.

  —These are my people, Vonnie said. She’d hoped to focus on her supporters, not anyone who might persuade the sunfish to decline a treaty. Had they sensed her thoughts about Dawson in her body language?

  —We know [Fourth voice/Harmeet], they cried. —We know [Fifth voice/O’Neal]. She is a matriarch. He serves as an advisor. Like you, [O’Neal] and [Ben] guide your clan’s metal scouts.

  “That’s impossible,” Ash said. “They can’t tell who operates the mecha.”

  —[Ash] challenges us like she challenges you! [Ash] is young. She is . She also guides your scouts when you allow her.

  “They’re guessing,” Ash said. She was unnerved.

  Ben spoke with conviction. “No,” he said. “I believe it.”

  “Any pilot will tell you ships fly differently with different people at the controls,” Vonnie said. “Ash, you know that’s true. It’s not always obvious, but you can see changes in how the same mecha act if Ben or Ribeiro is in charge.”

  —Where are [Loud Warrior] and [Shy Foot] and [Quick Walk]? the sunfish cried. —Where is [Old Foe]?

  “’Old Foe’ is Dawson,” O’Neal said.

  “How did they learn about him?” Koebsch asked.

  “Look at his name,” O’Neal said. “They’ve described him by his relationship with Von even though all of us have butted heads with him. ‘Loud Warrior’ is Ribeiro. I think the others are Tavares and Henri.”

  ‘Shy Foot,’ Vonnie thought. That’s a superficial description of Tavares, but Henri moves expertly in everything he does. ‘Quick Walk’ sounds like him.

  “Hold on,” Ben objected. “Your transcripts referred to the rest of us ‘First voice’ or ‘Second voice.’”

  “The AIs were still working on their translations,” O’Neal said.

  Ben laughed. “So let’s hear it, man! What do they call Koebsch?”

  “His name means something like ‘Mature Male,’” O’Neal said. “They don’t have a word for ‘Patriarch,’ but that’s the connotation. Vitality. Leadership.”

  “Mm.” Ben must have hoped they’d given Koebsch a disparaging term like ‘Old Boss’ or ‘Timid Male.’

  O’Neal seemed oblivious to Ben’s botched attempt to put his rival in a bad light. Reading from his displays, O’Neal was as captivated as a child with a mirror. “Harmeet is ‘Elder Matriarch,’” he said. “I’m ‘Wise Scout.’ Von is ‘Young Matriarch.’ Ben, you’re ‘Biting Male’ and Ash has same primary feature of ‘Biting Female.’ The implication is a contrary member of our crew.”

  “Got it,” Ben said. He didn’t want to hear more.

  Vonnie muffled her laughter. Maybe it was perverse, but she found Ben especially loveable when he tripped himself up. It made him more human. Like her. She’d made more errors than she could count.

  Meanwhile, the sunfish had continued their song. As they chorused and danced, hammering through what they’d learned, one new thread of information emerged.

  —We hear your strength, they cried. —We know your many kinds. We are a conglomeration like you!

  Then their song accelerated. They became a tapestry of names. They overwhelmed the AIs, and O’Neal stammered in his delight. “They… They’re describing our mecha!” he said. “Tiny spies. Small beacons. Diggers. Rovers. Listening posts.”

  “The rovers are above the surface,” Ash protested. Now her tone was more than unnerved. She sounded stiff with fear.

  “They’re describing our modules and landers, too,” O’Neal said. “The sheds. The tents. Our jeeps and scout suits.”

  Vonnie had stopped feeling astonished. She realized she was grinning again like a loon. “Imagine what it’s like to live with so many connections. They hear so clearly. They’ll make better scouts than anything we can build.”

  “I may have some bad news,” Koebsch said. “Von, radar shows forty-two survivors in the approaching group. That’s a lot.”

  “They’re going to fill the cavern,” Ben said.

  “They’ll bury you! I couldn’t stand it if I…” Ash caught herself. “Take me off speaker.”

  “Ash, no,” Vonnie said. “Don’t go away. We don’t want anyone to withdraw. This openness is normal for them. They share everything.”

  “I don’t like it.”

  “Do you feel like they’re spying on you?” Vonnie asked. Mostly she was teasing. She also hoped she’d stung Ash, the British mole, but the young woman missed the irony.

  “They are spying on us,” Ash said. “They’ve mapped everything. Look at O’Neal’s transcripts. Their names for us include specific locations in camp. They even know we’re not in the same modules.”

  “We’ve mapped them, too,” Ben said. “I don’t see how this changes anything.”

  “I hate to say it, but Ben is right,” Koebsch said. “Von, keep going. You have forty seconds before the bigger group arrives.”

  Vonnie selected five recommendations from her AI. —Your ears are wise, she called. —You know us well. We have many kinds, many strengths. We blend our varied shapes into one potent clan.

  —Many strengths! the sunfish cried.

  “Good. Perfect,” O’Neal said. “During that last song, they kept repeating their shapes for ‘conglomeration.’ I think they were doing more than listing our different mecha and people. They compared Lam and their two breeds with our group. They’re trying to say they could fit in, too.”

  “Then she’s done it,” Ben said. “We’re on the verge of a treaty with them.”

  “Nice work,” Koebsch said for the second time.

  Vonnie shook her head. “It was you, too. It was everyone. If we hadn’t…”

  The ice crackled with the oncoming weight of sunfish. “Here we go,” Koebsch said. The bigger group shoved up through the maze as Vonnie greeted them, matching their cries with her own. —We are here! We are here! We are here! We are here!

  The sunfish billowed through the cavern like muscular confetti, dodging among each other, screeching in an unusual hush. They jostled her with their many arms.

  As they brushed against her, the AIs translated their tone as respectful, even reverent. “They’re waiting for your signal,” O’Neal said. “They want your affirmation.”

  “Koebsch, would you like to take over the suit?” Vonnie asked. “You’re our ‘Mature Male.’ You should be the one who tells them.”

  “Absolutely not,” he said. “They should hear from ‘Young Matriarch.’ You’ve earned it.”

  “Thank you. All of you.”

  Her crewmates had been amazing. Over dinner, O’Neal might get a kiss. So would Koebsch—a chaste, sisterly peck—and Ben was in for a thorough lovemaking on her bunk.
r />   Vonnie smiled at her to-do list. She snickered out loud when the sunfish perceived her exultation.

  Their treaty had been written in the blood of the smaller males, but it was more concrete due to their sacrifice. Her guilt, her faith, her fascination with Europa and her drive to solve its mysteries, each of these emotions added fuel to the obligation she felt not only to the sunfish but to her friends.

  They deserved more appreciation than she could express. Later, she would hug everyone from Henri to Harmeet… everyone except Dawson. She intended to curse the old bastard like she’d wanted to yell at Ribeiro. In fact, Dawson would get a double dose since she knew she’d never win his support whereas Ribeiro might come around eventually. He took honor in his service. If she could convince him that the sunfish were unparalleled allies, would he see them in a new light?

  As for she and Ben and Koebsch, they needed to figure out their triangle, an extremely un-sunfish-like predicament.

  She also planned to buy Ash a drink. Maybe they could become buddies again. Europa was too cold to stand apart from another woman close to her own age.

  In coming days, she would also have time to scrutinize and repair Lam as they explored the ice. They would develop the enormous potential of the union between the two breeds and humankind. Soon they would approach neighboring clans. She hoped to spend the rest of her life on this incredible moon.

  We’ll make it work, she thought.

  The sunfish felt her confidence. Their movements were relaxed as they bumped against each other, burying Submodule 07, clinging to the ice.

  At the base of the densely packed crowd, Vonnie sang. She told them what she believed her friends were thinking. —We are pleased to join with you. Our tribe is your tribe.

  —We are Thirty! the sunfish cried.

  —Yes. Vonnie cradled eight of them in her arms, increasing their physical contact. Tom hung on her shoulder. Lam called from nearby, offering a more reserved link with her as Charlotte and three larger females seized her leg.

  Their weight would have been too much for a person without a scout suit. With it, Vonnie held them easily, demonstrating yet again the power they craved. The sunfish called and danced, celebrating. Vonnie smiled.

  —We are Ghost Clan Thirty! she cried.