ARTIS PRIME

by Tobias Roote

  The messages were compressed and sent. They would be delivered in a few hours using the encrypted buoys set up by the GEN Vasta for just this type of situation. RIGA mentioned finding the core, but advised the knowledge should be passed up the channel only on a ‘need to know’ basis because it was linked to the conspiracy, the depths of which were, as yet unplumbed. Her full analysis was also included.

  When she had made good on her reports, and finalised her plans, she advised the ship AI of the next move.

  “It is evident that the SCN (Space Council Navy) patrols are compromised and conspirators are working with the tacit support, or approval of the Tesperadus and possibly other ships in the Terran Navy. We have no way of knowing without getting inside their political, or military system. I am unable to do that without help. I need some means of accessing their chain of command.”

  “How will you gain access? You have no knowledge of their command structure. Could you learn all of that fast enough to make a difference?”

  RIGA nodded, then realising it was yet another human trait she had subconsciously picked up, held her head still. “Affirmative. I need to meet with Osachi and find a way of infiltrating the conspiracy. His family may know who they can trust and be able to help. My analysis indicates it is a small opportunity, but fraught with danger for them. It could precipitate the very thing we are trying to avoid,” RIGA admitted.

  “It’s a good plan, RIGA, but I don’t think this ship should risk falling into enemy hands,” she advised. They both knew that they were individually expendable, but the loss of everything combined with the risk of having the ship’s databases stripped and information passed along to the enemy didn’t seem a desirable outcome.

  Gossie was being circumspect, but RIGA had updated the ship’s programming with the evade and escape protocols. If RIGA was compromised or eliminated, the ESSG would need to know everything. RIGA was aware that, through her own programming, her survival would be placed secondary to the mission.

  “This ship will not enter the Space Station, you will ‘port’ me into a quiet sector, then retreat to a safe location, my transponder will keep you aware of my position,” RIGA confirmed.

  Gossie, satisfied that their mission, as well its updated preservation protocols were properly observed, jumped to the Space Station and remained cloaked, while they waited for Osachi to receive the transmitted message.

  The outside of the Space Station away from the docking areas wasn’t at all busy. There was constant traffic in and out, but these places were mostly infrastructure to house internal needs, and the outside shell was rarely patrolled, only by maintenance bots which adhered to the surface of the structure. So, maintaining a cloaked position this close to the station didn’t represent any threat to the small courier ship, totally dwarfed by the height and depth of the structure it hid next to.

  Once uploaded, the schematics of the station provided them with a number of unpopulated jump points. When a short message came in on the unused frequency from Osachi, confirming that he was on-board, and giving location details for the meeting - an unused office in the commercial quadrant, RIGA chose to ‘port’ into a storage bay area that held empty cargo palcons.

  Palcons were variable sized containers that had built-in anti-grav sleds and custom locks. The seals were capable of retaining air pressure in a vacuum and were designed to keep goods safe until recovery was possible. They weren’t hired out all that often, so it would be an unpopulated area most of the time.

  As RIGA became aware of her new surroundings, she received a locator signal beamed from the ship. Her appearance had changed to fit into the Terran fashion, although she couldn’t do much about her clothes; her Armillo leather would be seen as exotic, and would probably fit in without a problem.

  Walking confidently, RIGA followed the signal through the utility sector towards the accommodation area. There were plenty of people on the Station, it housed over twenty thousand workers, many of whom were business and trade representatives who maintained offices here so they could bid on goods arriving from out of system.

  It was a primary stopping point, where cargo ships that had no specific client for their loads, found buyers and picked up new loads. RIGA knew she would fit in here, she simply needed to not call attention to herself. Security in these places had to be high to ensure terrorists and hijackers were kept out. As she was already within the Station it would be assumed by security that she had every right to be there.

  The locator directed her to a block of offices and showrooms. The 3D blueprint representation in her head indicated it was on the second floor. Once she explained to Osachi what was happening they would be able to take the matter higher and get some official Terran forces to help her. She didn’t want to tell them about the core, only the discovery of the cell network and the Goliath battleship they had come across.

  ‘Gossie, how is the location looking?’ RIGA asked.

  ‘Not good RIGA, I cannot see anything, and there is something blocking my infra-red sensors. There appears to be nothing untoward going on in the adjoining rooms or corridors, I think it's just interference from equipment in those showrooms,’ Gossie responded.

  ‘OK, I’m proceeding, but with caution. Keep me updated,’ RIGA replied. She didn’t anticipate any trouble, but it was always better to be prepared.

  The portal opened automatically as she approached. It wasn’t locked down as it was a public foyer. She saw an elevator tube at the end of the smart reception area and RIGA walked up and stepped into the hole. The box system lifted her at a jerking speed to each floor slowing slightly as it reached the level where she might want to hop out, then speeding up again when no forward movement was detected.

  She stepped out at the second floor and walked the corridor to the door indicated by the locator beacon. She had hoped that Osachi would have been downstairs waiting to meet her, but no matter.

  As she reached the office she noticed the automatic closer had been disabled, the door was open slightly, a time honoured indicator of something untoward occurring within. RIGA had no weapon except her fring lariat, and she wasn’t prepared to use that here. Relying on her own skills she pushed the door open. Seeing no immediate threat, she walked cautiously into the apartment.

  ‘Gossie, what can you detect?’ RIGA asked.

  ‘I can detect you, and the locator which is ahead of you in the next room. I detect no body heat. I wonder if there is anyone in there,’ the AI replied.

  A mistake, RIGA thought. Assuming someone would be at the location was amateurish. Sensing she was in a trap, it remained to be seen how it would be sprung and whether they would be expecting her to behave like a human.

  RIGA detected an odour and set her olfactory sensors onto it, sniffing the air suspiciously allowed her to get sufficient quantities for analysis. Hmm, a human sleep gas. RIGA judged the time it should take to succumb, then obliged, falling softly to the floor as though unconscious. Continuing to analyse the gas, she assessed it as a short term inhibitor, probably no longer than an hour.

  With her sensors now actively monitoring for any approach, RIGA knew when someone entered the room. It must have been under surveillance. They had been waiting for her.

  ‘RIGA you have company. Two lifeforms, male humans I suspect judging by body mass,” the AI informed her. “They must have been hiding in a shielded area, but I’m not sure how they managed to camouflage themselves.’

  ‘Gossie, I detect a short duration sleep gas and have pretended to be affected. I cannot do otherwise without warning them I’m not human. However, this might turn out to be the ideal opportunity to find out more about who is behind this,’ RIGA updated the AI.

  ‘Affirmative,’ the AI replied.

  “She’s out like a light,” the first voice said. It was deep and unrecognised, as RIGA detected a male, approximately 220lbs judging by the sound of his footprint on the floor covering. She listened to his heartbeat, strong and steady, even though he was in a stressful situation.
A professional, without doubt. “She’s nothing but trouble this one. She suspects too much and has been nosing around our operations in this sector.”

  “Yes, I know her. We can give them both to Trench, he will enjoy interrogating her especially.” He gave her a swift kick which, judging by the sharp intake of breath and the sound of him grunting in pain, had hurt him more than it did her.

  She knew the second voice, it was the Political Officer, Wright, from the Tesperadus. So, the Tesperadus is involved yet again, she thought. This was looking very much like a military operation, RIGA decided. ‘Gossie did you pick that up?’

  ‘Yes, RIGA, should I pull you out of there?’ Gossie asked.

  ‘No. We need to find out where they are taking me. They mentioned another person, probably Osachi. Wait until we have an idea of what is going on, this might be a better plan,’ RIGA responded, deciding that falling into enemy hands might prove providential in uncovering the conspiracy quickly. It would all depend on where they took her from here.

  RIGA’s sensors recorded everything around her. She picked up the biorhythms of the humans, each unique to an individual so they would aid her in identification, if proof were needed back at ESSG. She thought it unlikely, but protocols insisted she follow the regulations. If she could continue to pretend to be unconscious, she would hear everything that was said, and be able to track their location.

  Someone was bending over her, an electric jolt arced at the back of her neck, then....

  13. Kidnapped

  The alarm went off inside RIGA’s head.

  >System reset complete 15:22HRS UST.

  >Maintenance Mode: COMPLETE.

  >Neural Network: REPAIRED - NO DATA LOSS.

  >Defence Perimeter: SET. HOSTILE MODE.

  >Location Coordinates: SPACE: 447:42 943:77 230:33.

  >Galactic Star Date: 2145,15,04.

  >Task Schedule: UPLOADED.

  >Unit Readiness: OPERATIONAL.

  RIGA’s systems rebooted. She was immediately aware from the log report, that she had taken a shock and something had temporarily shorted out her bio-circuits. Her bio-system had a periodic boot switch built-in, so that when she was ‘switched-off’ unexpectedly, it would go through a timed reset until it could repair, or overcome the obstacles. She checked her systems, it had been two resets. That meant twenty four hours. Her internal inspection indicated a place where two prongs had made contact with her spinal cord, a localised electrocution had taken out her link to her power unit. Her body had bypassed the damaged area and re-routed her consciousness. RIGA judged the odds of something similar happening to be extremely unlikely. It was what the humans referred to, as a lucky strike.

  Her recorded memory of the seconds before she crashed out was still intact, the two voices, one of them the PO from the Tesperadus.

  Was she on that ship now?

  As her sensors caught up with her reboot, awareness spread to her surroundings. She had not yet moved, her system’s HOSTILE MODE had judged her to be safe from immediate harm. It would have already established there was nobody in the immediate perimeter, or she would have awoken in COMBAT MODE, and probably killed the first thing that moved.

  Her reactivated sensors detected surveillance echoes. They also reported that she was in a room with steel reinforcement built into all the walls. This could mean she was somewhere on the Space Station, or perhaps a ship. Either could create the return signals she was getting.

  RIGA opened an eye slightly and used that to visually gauge her situation. Interesting, she was in a restraint room. Her hands were somehow clamped behind her back. She felt for the contacts in the heel of her hand with her fingertip. They appeared untouched and had remained covered by their overlap of synthetic skin.

  Gossie had not rescued her, meaning she was either nearby, or something had occurred to prevent her recovery.

  The room was also shielded, so RIGA couldn’t detect anything further than the four walls. This was normal for restraint rooms in the Empirum, she expected no less here. If Gossie was anywhere around, it would be a while before there would be any opportunity to make contact. Gossie would home in on her locator signal, and track her across the universe, if she had to. The emergency transponders placed in every system by the Empirum, wherever they went, would provide the piggyback for her signal. She needed to be somewhere unshielded long enough for a beacon to pick up her location, and transmit it to Gossie, and the ESSG.

  RIGA resumed her covert inspection of the room. The front was all bars. No privacy here, not that she worried about that. A cubicle off to her right seemed part of her cell. How far would she be required to pretend she was human? She could eat and drink, of course, but her body would have to store the organic content until it could be disposed of. Some of it she could break down to give the impression of digestion. It would hold up to a brief inspection, but wouldn’t work under the microscope. However, RIGA’s manufacturers knew of the humans’ adverse reaction to all kinds of excrement, so were certain only a cursory examination would ever be carried out.

  She tuned her hearing sensitivity to high, and after listening for a few minutes, decided there were two other occupants in the restraint area. They could be guards. It was time to see what was happening.

  RIGA sat up and took a full look around, knowing full well what would be expected of her if she was being watched. Making an attempt to uncuff herself, she struggled to her feet and staggered to the bars, sliding back down to sit on the floor, as if she was still a bit woozy. She anticipated a reaction from somewhere, as soon as they realised their prisoner was awake.

  Whilst she could have removed the electronic tags on her wrists with the intelligent wiring in her hand, RIGA knew it would only cause additional problems if they discovered it too soon. It was a nuisance she could live with for the time being. Right now she needed to know where she was. RIGA guessed from the dilating surveillance lenses that it wouldn’t be long in coming.

  The two guards that came wore black uniforms with a gold stripe along the edge of short sleeves. RIGA had never seen the uniform type before realising, that wherever she was, it wasn’t the Tesperadus. They pushed an anti-grav sled, a six foot pole fixed to one side, along with them. As one guard opened the door, the other guided the sled into her cell.

  “Stand up,“ the one holding the sled ordered.

  When RIGA hesitated, the taller one of the two said, “It will go easier on you if you cooperate.” He seemed nervous, but moved smoothly, both working efficiently, as if they were well used to the procedure.

  RIGA stood. They both moved toward her grabbing an arm each, and lifted her physically onto the sled, straining at her weight. They looked at her in surprise, glancing at each other.

  “Gravits! You’re a heavy one!” the tall one groaned.

  “I come from a high gravity planet,” RIGA gave by way of explanation.

  “Really, and what planet is that, then?” the other asked suspiciously.

  “Oh, not one you would know,” RIGA smiled sweetly.

  “Oh, we will soon enough,” he growled.

  As she balanced on the sled, it shifted beneath her activating a restraint system, setting tractor beams at knee, waist and chest height, securing her expertly to the sled. RIGA had no doubt the device had other abilities and decided not to try anything while standing on it, in case she earned another electric shock and blacked out again.

  The two guards didn’t talk. One adjusted the controls to account for the unexpected density of her body, while the other used a hand-held device to communicate their location. The shorter guard was pushing and pulling the anti-grav sled, checking RIGA all the while to ensure she wasn’t doing anything unexpected.

  Sensing electrical activity close by, RIGA picked up a glimmer of airborne electronic signals as they moved out of the cell. She was amazed they hadn’t screened the entrance area. The two guards fiddled with their vidscreen, while preparing to take her somewhere. In the few seconds delay she managed to connect
with the ship’s electronics. It wasn’t sophisticated, but provided her with an easy to fudge handshaking protocol that she was picking up from the surly guard’s input, while he accessed the vidscreen nearest to her.

  Using all of her hacking skills, RIGA gained access to the network and was immediately rewarded with data. The ship was called the DAN, and RIGA knew immediately it wasn’t Terran, neither was it Empirum. Her sensors scanned the terminals around her. Most would normally provide an uplink via a set frequency. The guards were preparing to leave, she didn’t have much time. There was one, she had it, a supervisor terminal with restricted access to the mainframe.

  RIGA scooped up data files so that she would have information to trawl through when she had more time. Most of it was data logs and duty rosters. There was little information stored there that would aid her escape. Obviously the workstation didn’t have the clearance for anything higher. It did give her some details of the ship's network structure, which might be useful if she could get access to another vidscreen with better credentials, at some point.

  RIGA viewed the logs for the restraint area. She found sales data on the PRS’s, Prisoner Restraint Sleds, designed for transporting uncooperative prisoners. A quick search through the data-files uncovered user manuals for all kinds of equipment. She hadn’t had time to download everything.

  By chance, she opened the prisoner log to find that Osachi had been there earlier. The records showed he had arrived at the same time as her and had been removed several times, then returned. There were records of two medical visits. RIGA surmised they were to treat the results of interrogation. She now knew where she was being taken. According to the log, Osachi was no longer on the ship, having been removed twelve hours previously. Where had they taken him?