Stranded on Haven

by William Zellmann

  Jess didn't even seem to notice that she was a very attractive young woman, with an oval face and large, liquid brown eyes. She certainly didn't try to capitalize on it; she seemed uncomfortable in her skirt, constantly smoothing it and tucking it around her tightly-clamped legs. And her blouse was, if anything, oversized. I suspected she was much more accustomed to a pilot's coverall. A fringe of brown hair covered her forehead to the eyebrows, but the bulk of her hair was pulled tight and gathered into some sort of clamp at the back of her head before cascading down to her neck. Somehow, it gave her a youthful look, though I guessed she was in her mid-twenties. I offered her a tour of the gig, and received a wide, white grin. I liked Jess immediately. She'd made no effort to seduce me, of course, but I definitely wanted to get to know her better.

  Forewarned by Ellie, I was curious to see what kind of women Duke Richard had selected from East Brent. I was sure they would be different from the New Homers. He'd given me a girl-next-door who admitted being an agent, and a hostile man-hater.

  Janet Combs turned out to be an unremarkable, though attractive, woman in her late twenties, I guessed. She was the “career woman,” the type that could be found in offices galaxy-wide, with a husband and two screaming kids at home. She also wore those glass things on her eyes, and conservative, unremarkable clothing. And that best described her: unremarkable. I got the feeling that she was trying very hard to seem ordinary. I suppose the Duke felt that an 'ordinary' crewman might prefer an 'ordinary' woman. She probably didn't really have them, but I just couldn't escape the image of that husband and kids. I think her face was attractive, but she was trying so hard to seem 'ordinary' that I couldn't be sure. Her brown hair was neatly, if simply, styled.

  I made a bet with myself that the next would be a rural farm-girl type, and I was right. Rebecca Towne was not really much like Tanya Reyes, from Cornwell, though both were farm girl types. “Becky” as she asked me to call her, was tanned and muscular, but her figure was more athletic than Tanya's plump curviness. She also lacked Tanya's aggressive, masculine mannerisms. Her hair was blonde-streaked brown, and her ruddy complexion was nearly always split by a wide grin. She had an odd accent, which she claimed was common in East Brent. Despite her tanned athleticism, I noticed that her hands were smooth and soft. If she was a farm girl, she'd been off the farm for a while, now. “I'm not much at dictation,” she admitted, “but I'm a qualified radio operator and telegrapher.” Becky didn't try to seduce me, either, though she did hint she'd be willing to get to know me better. If this kept up, my ego was going to begin to suffer.

  I was getting tired of interviewing woman after woman now, but after Ellie's and Jess's visits, and the problems I'd had trying to find someone in charge in Refuge, I was curious to see what they would send me.

  Cara Tenner came in first, and she certainly didn't look like an anarchist. Or a libertarian, whatever that was. Or a spy. In fact, she looked like a college girl, and she had the same earnest, excited determination to succeed. “I asked for this assignment,” she said. “Daddy's on the Council, and I asked, and argued, and fought, and, well,” she flushed. “I told Daddy I wasn't exactly a virgin. There was nothing to lose and a lot to gain!” Surprisingly, Cara had been the only one so far to actually mention sex, even obliquely. Even Giselle the sexpot had only used hints and innuendo. I struggled to suppress a smile. No, not a predatory smile. Cara seemed so young!

  Luckily, I was relieved of the necessity to answer by a quick knock on the door, followed by a black-haired female head. “She's gone,” the head commented, and then it and the body carrying it came on into the office. My hand grasped the blaster clamped to the underside of my desktop.

  Quite a nice body carried that head, actually. Cara introduced her as Terry Havens. Terry perched on the corner of my desk. Another tanned, wholesome type. Luckily, it was a type I liked. Terry was the only woman besides Tanya Reyes to wear trousers. She wore a rather plain blouse resembling a man's shirt, and she moved with a smooth grace that screamed “athlete.”

  Once she arrived, Terry did most of the talking. I gathered that Cara was the junior member of the team. “I know you've talked to the Westins,” she said, “If I know Ellie, she's already told you that we'll be working together on protecting you. When we found out about the metal men, here,” she indicated the robot standing silent in the corner, relaying everything to Lisa, “Some of our scientists did some research in the old records, and they said they're not sure, but that they think that the robots won't be able to fight for you. That right?”

  I nodded. “Mostly. They can't harm a human, or through inaction, allow a human to be harmed. There are some other Laws that narrow that a bit, but that one is basic to all robots and AI's.”

  She grinned. “Sounds like fun. They can't stand by and watch a kidnapper hit you, but they can't harm the kidnapper, either.”

  I nodded. “That's actually pretty close. My friend, over here, would grab your arm to keep you from hitting me, and he could even restrain you, if I ordered it, and if he could do it without hurting you. But he couldn't hit you himself, even if you pulled out one of those 'pistol' things and started shooting him. Self-preservation is only the third Law.”

  She nodded. “Be a lousy soldier.”

  I shrugged. “Robot soldiers have been tried,” I said. “But they're incredibly expensive to build and operate, and because you have to tamper with the Laws, they need frequent sanity checks.” I shrugged. “It just doesn’t pay.”

  I started to go on, but the door opened, and Ellie and Jess came in, Ellie bustling in her usual whirlwind fashion. “We haven't got much time,” she said without preamble. “What can you tell us about your security before all the listening tubes get uncorked?”

  I smiled. “I can tell you that this office was scanned last night, and we located and plugged four listening tubes. And six more in my bedroom. There was even one in my bathroom! Everyone seems very interested in my love life. So, how many of those tubes were yours?”

  Jess grinned widely. “None. New Home and Cellia were the ones that could get to the contractors.” She shrugged. “As for your bedroom, you asked for a dozen young, attractive females. I guess everyone wonders if you're some kind of superman.”

  I felt my face warming, and shook my head. “That was a joke! I didn't expect anyone to take it seriously! And I'm no kind of superman! I'm just a man that's been cooped up alone on a ship for two years.”

  Ellie cocked an eyebrow. “Our experts tell us that some robots are designed for sex.”

  I sighed. “Yeah, I tried one, after a year or so. But I could never fool myself into believing it was a 'she' and not an 'it'. So I put it back in the crate.” I straightened. “The point is,” I continued, “that those listening tubes will have to be open most of the time, but we should be free to talk in this office or my bedroom, when necessary.”

  Ellie shook her head. “One at a time, maybe. But if the others notice that we're meeting, it could cause problems.”

  “Well,” I said, “Let's get to it. I've already told you about the robots, and you know about the electrified fence, and the schedule designed to keep you mixed with agents from other countries. That may not work so well, now that you've told me the Duke has four agents instead of two. Still, you can have a lot of fun trying to pump each other for information.

  “As you've noticed,” I continued, “there are about a dozen robots watching and listening all day and night. The office door is steel, and is alarmed, as is my bedroom door.

  “And, of course, my ship is up there constantly, with its AI scanning the area and monitoring communications. No airship can approach within a hundred klicks without Lisa being aware of it and warning me.”

  Terry's eyebrows went up, and a smirking smile appeared. “Lisa?”

  I smiled. “Yeah. Lisa is my ship's brain. Very smart, and she never sleeps.”

  “So your whole ship is a robot?”

  “Not really,” I replied. “Lisa is an electron
ic brain. She knows a lot, and has a lot of information in her files, but there are still a lot of things that only people can do. My ship had a crew of 24.”

  “And you're the only one left,” said Jess. I nodded.

  Ellie waved a dismissal. “Our main concern is to prevent New Home or Cellia from getting control of that ship,” she said. “Now, we have twelve agents down here, and a twelve-man security team, working in three shifts of four. New Home is in command of the security team this week.

  “The balance on the security teams will be the same as for us,” she continued. “We have six bad guys, two from Cellia and Four from New Home. We have us, the four good guys. Five, with the Captain, here. The Cornwells are unknowns, and we'll have to watch them. We certainly can't trust them.

  “We also can't have much contact with the security team people. They'll be watching, and it'll cause suspicion.”

  “The Cellians and the New Homers won't be working together,” Terry said. “King David hates Len with a passion, and the Maximum Leader doesn't trust his left hand to know what his right hand is doing.”

  “That's true,” Jess put in. “And it works to our advantage. At least for now, all the New Homers will be watching the Cellians.”

  “Yeah,” Ellie replied, “but Len is not famous for his patience. Next week Cellia assumes command of the security team. I'd bet that will be when he makes his move.”

  Terry nodded. “Agreed. But let's not get tunnel vision, here. Duke Richard is as smart as us, or smarter, and he's probably expecting that, too. If I were him, I'd plan my attack for just after Cellia's. If the Cellians do get the Captain, here, he'll probably have watchers and forces stationed to make sure they can't get away. If we beat them off, the Duke certainly can't be blamed for sending help. I'll bet he has airships and troops standing by. In the confusion, it would be easy to grab the Captain, here, or maybe just grab the installation, to 'protect' it. By the time all the dust settled, this would be a New Home prison. Of course,” she added, “we would have to be killed in all the confusion. It wouldn't do to have people around who didn't agree with the official story.”

  I thought about it. She was almost certainly right. Duke Richard would take advantage of Len's impatience to give him an excuse to send in armed troops. I was becoming happier and happier about that hangar on the roof.

  I made up my mind. “Wait here.” I went into my bedroom, and unlocked the safe that was now set into the floor under the bed. It was another precaution. If someone did seize the place, they might be careless enough to let me stay in my quarters, since the installation had no cells. My robots had installed the safe, and it had a fingerprint lock. A plas panel identical to the room’s flooring concealed its door. Nothing fancy, but well beyond Haven technology. I took out eight comm bracelets, pulled the bed back into position, and returned to the office.

  I spread the bracelets out on the desk. “These are communication bracelets,” I explained. “They will let us talk to each other. They're pretty short range, but they'll cover the compound, and Lisa can pick them up. Best of all, they use an entirely different spectrum from your radio.” I showed them how to use the bracelets to call any other bracelet or all the others at once.

  “Now, you probably can't wear them openly; they're too obviously off-planet stuff. But you can remove the comm units from the wristbands, and pin or sew them to your clothing, or something.”

  I'd hardly stopped speaking before they each snatched one, and in moments they were examining them, and excitedly discussing how they could conceal them on their persons.

  “And nobody can listen in?” Ellie's eyes were bright with excitement.

  I shook my head. “Unless they overhear you speaking, no one on Haven can listen in. I have one for each of you, and one for each of the security team. But don't use them too often. Each time you use them, you risk a Cellian or even worse a New Homer overhearing and finding out about them. We want them to be a surprise when the shooting starts.”

  Jess looked up appraisingly. “You have a lot of this kind of stuff?”

  I shrugged. “These are crew equipment. A lot of times it's not convenient to stop what you're doing to find an intercom to ask or answer a question. It's much easier to wear one of these. But yeah, over the years we've developed a lot of stuff that would be handy in a situation like this.”

  I'd finally impressed Ellie. Everybody had been talking about the wonders I would bring to Haven, but this was real! It was something immediately useful. After removing the wristbands, they would be left with disks 3-cems in diameter, and less than a cem thick. They should be easy to conceal in their clothing or the rather gaudy jewelry popular on Haven.

  Jess, grinning widely, jumped up and hugged me. I suspected that, like many pilots, Jess liked gadgets. I decided to see what else I could find on the ship.

  Terry stood. “We have to leave, before people start looking for us,” she said. She turned to me. “We've got almost a week before anything's likely to happen,” she continued, “If I were you, I'd start your seduction routine with one of the Cornwells. It'd be good to know which way they're going to jump.”

  Ellie jumped to her feet. “We know how they're going to jump. They'll hide on the sidelines until they see which side is winning, and then they'll jump in on that side.”

  Surprisingly, it was Cara who laughed aloud before saying, “That's President Tyree, all right. Daddy says he's the ultimate pragmatist; capable of reversing his position on any issue in less than a minute, if necessary.”

  Jess smiled and threw me a surprising wink. “There you are, Captain. You're free to hunt at will. After two years, I'd recommend Giselle. She won't kill you without orders, and she has a reputation for, uh, enthusiasm. Don't let her get to you, though, or you might find yourself in Cellia.”

  I was speechless. I'd decided that Jess was totally uninterested in sex, or in anything that didn't fly. By the time I came up with a retort, it was too late. The four of them were trooping out the door, giggling and whispering.

  ******

  I finally did succumb to Giselle's persistent pursuit. Her blatant sexuality and erotic talk and innuendo combined with my own raging hormones finally drove me to bed her. Only twice, though. It relieved the physical pressure, but despite her amazing skills, it was hard to ignore the image of Len huddling in a corner, cackling delightedly.

  All the women seemed to know about it within hours. The Cornwells became suddenly even colder and more distant than before, and the East Brents seemed disapproving. Ellie always had a wicked smile or a wink, and Jess seemed a bit distant. Cara seemed a bit disappointed, the rest of the women indifferent.

  Heidi appeared at my inner office door, to tell me she’d noticed a problem with the perimeter fence, and inviting me to take a look. Curious to hear what she had to tell me, I accompanied her.

  She stopped a few meters from the fence, and began gesturing, apparently to confuse watchers, since her words had nothing to do with her gestures. “The schedule is confirmed, Captain. At 2030 Thirdday, things are going to get very hot around here.

  “The attack will actually begin a few minutes before that,” she continued. “The security team people will begin killing the off-duty team members, and Giselle and I will make our way to your office. When the alarm is given, we’ll blow your door, and they will start killing the on-duty team, while the raiding party distracts them. We’re to join them, and take out any of the surviving agents while our security destroys the generators.” Her ladylike smile was out of place as she said, “I’d suggest you start avoiding Giselle, though that’s not going to be easy. She’ll be upping the pressure, now.”

  Trust her or not, I warned the others, and began trying to extricate myself from Giselle as Cellia assumed command of the security team. She kept trying of course, with increasing urgency, as I tried to distance myself from this unlikely assassin. Ellie and Terry found my discomfort hilarious. Jess wore a satisfied half-smile.

  Given Heidi’s warn
ing, I wasn’t surprised when Lisa called. “Captain, I have detected twenty humans emerging from the swamp.”

  I nodded. “Activate the interior fence. We're going to need power quickly. In fact, light it up. Turn on every light in the place, and don't forget the floodlights pointing outside toward those humans.” Lights flared as Lisa overrode all local switches, and the compound was suddenly bright as day.

  I hurried to my office and my desk. It indicated intruders in the hallway outside the outer office. I keyed the cameras, and saw two figures in black, one blonde, one black-haired outside the door. They had tried it, and found it locked. Now they were removing something from their bodies. Explosives, I assumed. I shrugged, and pressed a button, flooding the hallway with sleep gas.

  I didn't even wait to see the results. I keyed my wrist comm. “Alarm! It's started!” We’d already planned for this, so there was no need to add details,

  As I expected, the two figures sprawled outside my door were women, obviously Giselle and Heidi.

  I activated the public address system we'd installed. “Alert! We have twenty intruders approaching from the East. Perimeter fence is activated, but it won't stop bullets. Security team defend to the East.”

  I heard shots from the security team quarters, but before I could activate a camera, Ellie's voice came over the comm circuit.

  “What's happening, Captain? Do you need help?”

  I shook my head before I realized she couldn't see me, “No, I'm fine for the moment. But we have soldiers coming from the swamp, and shots from the security team quarters. They're sure to send someone to take out the power receptors. The fence around them is now charged, but we should send someone to guard it, just in case. That fence is the only thing that will keep those soldiers out.”