by M. D. Cooper
Fran responded immediately. “You decide we’re friends again?”
Cara’s face went hot. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“You’re lucky I kind of like you,” Fran said. “And not just because I’m banging your dad.”
Cara made a choking sound, feeling like she’d been punched in the stomach.
“See?” Fran said. “I can be real too. We’re crew, not family. You tell me what you think and I’ll do the same.”
“I’m not used to people talking like that,” Cara said finally.
“You need to watch more vids. Look, Cara. This thing between me and your dad probably won’t last forever. That’s fine. Once it’s over, we have to keep on doing the job, you understand? We can’t let feelings get in the way. Not when we’re out in the big dark on the edge of InnerSol. You seem like you want me to be honest with you, right?”
“Yes,” Cara said in a small voice.
“Good. Anyway. No, I haven’t seen Tim. Did you check the cargo bay?”
“Why there?”
“It’s the biggest place where he can play fetch. That’s what I would do if I had a puppy. But I don’t have a puppy.”
Lyssa’s voice came over the channel. “Tim and Em are in the cargo bay,” she confirmed.
“You’re listening in?” Cara asked, surprised.
“Yes,” Lyssa said.
“You’d do the same thing,” Fran said. “Don’t act like you wouldn’t.”
“You should tell us when you do that,” Cara said. “It’s impolite to eavesdrop.”
Fran burst out laughing. “You’re going to lecture her on eavesdropping? You’ve got some balls on you, girl.”
“I don’t understand,” Lyssa said.
“Don’t worry about it,” Cara said quickly. “It’s an old saying.”
“Irony,” Fran said. “Although maybe she does? Who knows.”
Cara blushed again, realizing she wasn’t quite ready for all these adult jokes.
“I’m going to go find him,” she said. “Goodbye.”
She switched off the channel before either of them could say anything to embarrass her even more.
In three minutes, Cara was kicking off in zero-g from the lower habitat airlock. She used the bulkhead ribs to push herself down the corridor, spinning a couple times just for fun. When she reached the cargo bay airlock, she found it in safe mode due to occupants inside.
Lyssa had been right, Tim floated in the middle of the long room with the Corgi twisting in front of him, tongue lolling on one side of his grin. She watched as Em contorted himself until he had enough momentum to ease him toward the deck. Once he touched down, he kicked off with both hind paws simultaneously to fly out into the middle of the bay where a round piece of plas floated. He yipped excitedly as he flew, his short legs treading the air. He seemed to instinctively understand micro-gravity as he used his legs to maneuver toward the ball.
Tim clapped his hands and laughed, spinning in a backward somersault. When he caught the deck, he spotted Cara and completed a second flip before stopping himself.
Cara moved into the room, catching the edge of a crate with her hand to keep from floating too close to Tim. She wasn’t sure how he was going to respond. She was still a little in awe of how graceful he could be in zero-g.
Em barked, a high, happy sound. His tail wagged wildly.
“Do you want to play?” Tim asked hesitantly.
“Sure,” Cara said.
Tim moved toward Em, catching the plas ball and sending it back toward Cara. When he reached the puppy, he held Em even with his chest so he could kick off after the ball. Em yipped and wagged his fluffy bottom as he crossed the cargo bay, pointed ears erect.
Cara intended to catch the ball but tipped it with her fingers and sent it floating away from her toward the main doors. Em watched the ball, putting his ears back, then turned his attention to Cara and gave her his joyful smile. The little dog floated gently into her, legs settling against her chest and stomach. He licked her chin.
Cara giggled and hugged Em close to her. He licked her cheeks and nuzzled her neck, his whole body wiggling with excitement. He was soft but strong, with a watchful intensity in his brown eyes.
Cara floated backward with Em’s momentum. She hugged him tighter and pressed her chin between his ears.
“Fine,” she said. “I like you, too.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
STELLAR DATE: 09.16.2981 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Sunny Skies
REGION: En route to Ceres, Mars Protectorate, InnerSol
Andy sat back from the holodisplay. He’d been staring at the fuel calculations for an hour and there was no way around the fact that he needed to start the braking burn even though he didn’t have a filed flight plan for matching delta-V with Ceres. He would have to brake early and make adjustments with the steam jets.
He was also impressed that Cara’s plan had already determined this while he was unconscious and had planned for a braking orbit around Ceres. What Cara didn’t know was local governments didn’t appreciate unauthorized craft coming in hot into crowded space. And of those local governments, the Anderson Collective was amongst the most particular.
“Dad,” Cara said from where she sat at the communications console. “I’m getting an incoming connection request.”
“Who is it?” he asked. “Ceres Orbital Control?”
“It’s got a private token. I have to respond to get the details. It looks like a recording, anyway.”
Andy put his hands behind his head to stretch. “Take it,” he said. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and it’s just advertising. We’re almost in Ceres local space. Did I show you how to filter that stuff out?”
“I figured it out before we got to the M1R.”
“Right. Some of it isn’t kid friendly.”
Cara rolled her eyes. Her hands moved over the console and an audio file appeared in Andy’s holodisplay. He started it while still watching the fuel levels.
“Captain Sykes, my name is Fugia Wong. A friend of mine named Petral Dulan asked me to contact you if you came near Ceres. Please respond to the following token.” The audio file switched to static Andy assumed was embedded code. Sure enough, the console picked it out and asked if he wanted to create an outbound Link connection using the provided encryption. He glanced at Cara, switched the request to plain audio, and answered the message.
He waited, watching the deuterium levels plateau and drop in a predictable pattern that was going to end soon.
The communications handshake completed, followed by a tone as the system waited for the other side to pick up.
“Captain Sykes,” Fugia Wong said over the speaker. “Is there a reason you don’t want to use your Link?”
“An abundance of caution,” Andy said.
There was a pause that might have been lag. “Are you able to communicate via Link?”
“I am able,” Andy said. “I choose not to. What can I do for you, Fugia Wong? We’re in the middle of a braking procedure.”
“You need to abort that maneuver and continue to Callisto or some other point beyond Ceres.”
“I’m afraid we can’t do that,” Andy said.
“I’m telling you this for your own safety, Captain Sykes. You’re about to enter Ceres space. Once local orbital control tracks your entry, you won’t be leaving.”
“That sounds like a violation of SolGov law.”
“Call it want you want. That’s what is going to happen. I don’t know you. I’m only doing a favor for a good friend of mine. I can’t make you do anything but I ask you to believe me.”
Her voice was trembled with what sounded like genuine concern.
Andy chuckled.
Lyssa said.
Andy tapped the console. The discussion was becoming too much like talking to one of the kids and he wasn’t sure what that meant.
“Dad,” Cara said. “Are you talking to Lyssa?”
“Yes. She knows something about this.”
“You’re taking a long time.”
“Stop interrupting me, then.”
“Petral told me about this woman—Fugia Wong. She said if we get to Ceres, we should reach out to her,” Cara said.
Andy looked up and met Cara’s eyes. “She did? Why didn’t you tell me this?”
Cara shrugged, a sheepish expression on her face. “I guess I forgot. We were under a lot of pressure, it didn’t stand out at the time. She said we can trust her.”
“OK,” Andy said, withholding any further judgement. He checked the holodisplay again, pulling up the navigation charts. He had five hours before they entered Ceres’ space. He checked the stats. Even if he wanted to, he didn’t have enough fuel to change course before they crossed the boundary.
“Captain Sykes,” Fugia said. “Are you still there? I haven’t received an answer.”
Andy tapped his foot, wondering if he should trust this person or not—Petral’s recommendation notwithstanding. He had barely come to trust Petral and now she was gone. He wasn’t going to get any additional information on why Fugia Wong was choosing to help them—that’s what she was offering.
He switched back to the external comm channel. “Fugia Wong, I appreciate your concern, but at this point we have no choice but to stop at Ceres. I need fuel. Unless you’ve got a mobile fuel-station standing by, we’re coming in.”
The channel filled with static that Andy imagined as cover for cursing.
The static cleared. “I see. I didn’t have that information. Since you can’t communicate via Link, can you switch to a secure audio channel? I’ll accept your key over this channel.”
Andy glanced at Cara, who nodded.
“Sent,” she said.
When the channel came back up, Fugia Wong’s voice came across slightly clipped as a result of the bandwidth consumed by the additional security measures. “Captain Sykes, are you there?”
“I’m here,” Andy said.
“I hear you. This is what I need you to understand. The Anderson Collective government has acted to pre-emptively safeguard their citizens from the threat of sentient AI. This means all AI with a Turing quotient must be impounded and registered. Currently, every registered AI within their jurisdiction has undergone degradation.”
“How is that even possible?” Andy asked.
“How long have you been away from the Jovian Combine?”
“I was just at Kalyke less than two months ago.”
“Does your ship have an AI?”
“No, but no one asked me.”
“Things have been changing over the last few years, Captain Sykes. If your ship didn’t have an AI, you probably passed check scans without even being aware of their presence.”
“Someone would have mentioned it.”
“The JC is still divided. I can’t say why you weren’t targeted. What you, and few others know is that the Collective has been making inroads with the Jovians. They have established themselves as the vanguard of pro-human protection and are building influence on Callisto in order to sway the rest of the Jovian Combine.”
“They think they can exert control over the whole JC? Good luck.”
“It doesn’t matter right now if they are successful or not. What matters is that you are about to arrive in the most dangerous place in all of Sol for you and your family.”
Andy swallowed, feeling a sweat break out at his temples. “My ship still doesn’t have SAI. I don’t see what this has to do with me,” he said slowly.
“We both know your ship isn’t the concern,” Wong said.
Andy glanced at Cara. She watched him, concern for him plain on her face. He gave her a half-smile, nodding. “I’m the captain,” he said. “Leave the extra cargo to me.”
Fugia’s voice did not relax. “You have secure storage?”
“We do,” Andy said.
“If that’s the case, I can get you fuel and maybe get you off Ceres. But I need you to do something for me.”
“Of course, you do,” Andy said. “What are you offering?”
Fugia’s voice went up an octave. “I’m offering your life and you want to barter with me?”
“Look, lady,” Andy said. “You’re a voice over a speaker to me. I’m done making deals with people I barely know just so I can limp to the next port. I’m not without resources.”
“Your money won’t mean anything on Ceres, Captain Sykes. And I understand your concern. I’ve known Ngoba Starl longer than anyone. You ask him how far he would trust me. He’ll tell you he’s already trusted me with his life.”
“That’s a bunch of pretty words,” Andy said.
Cara slapped her console. Andy looked at her, frowning.
“We’re muted,” Cara said. “Why are you being so dumb about this, Dad? You know what she wants us to smuggle out, don’t you?”
“It doesn’t matter, Cara. We’re not entering into another deal with someone we barely know. We’ve got money now.”
“What’s the only thing as dangerous as Lyssa?” Cara asked.
“On Ceres?” Andy asked. “I guess that would be another AI.”
Cara made a duh face.
Andy stared at her. “When did you get so smart?”
“Petral said we should talk to Fugia. You trusted Petral. She helped us. She helped me. It’s starting to make sense that we got pulled into something they were already doing, Dad. This is some kind of smuggling operation for AI. Didn’t Starl say something about that when he was going to die?”
“That was all nonsense. He was trying to throw off Riggs Zanda.”
“Was it? We were listening too weren’t we?”
“Maybe,” Andy said.
“If she says what I think she will, we should help her.”
“Cara,” Andy said. “I’m not going to gamble with my children’s safety. Or Fran’s for that matter. There are other people here to think about.”
“I know, Dad. But you’re trying to figure out if we should trust her or not, right? If I’m right, I think we can.”
Andy took a deep breath, looking at the holodisplay again. They were far beyond the turnaround point now. No matter what happened, he would be dealing with the authorities on Ceres. Or if he went into hiding inside the water tank, it was going to be Fran and Cara. He didn’t know anyone on Ceres. He needed all the allies he could find.
“All right,” he said. “Turn it back on.”
Cara tapped her console.
“Are you there?” Fugia Wong demanded. “I don’t have time for games, Sykes. I’ll turn
you in myself to get the heat off me.”
“I’m here,” Andy said. “Calm yourself.”
“If you’re going to chat amongst yourselves, at least tell me so I don’t think this game of telephone cut out.”
“Tell me what you want moved,” Andy said.
“What? You don’t need to know anything about that.”
“I do or there’s no deal. I’ll take my chances with the Anderson Collective.”
Fugia scoffed. “You have no idea what you’re saying. You might as well tell me you’re going to jump into a volcano.”
“What’s the cargo?” Andy repeated.
The audio line went quiet. Andy waited.
“Did she put us on mute?” he asked Cara.
“You’re not on mute,” Fugia said finally. “I’m thinking. Apparently, you need someone around who can think, too. Fine. I’m moving three SAI, Captain Sykes. I need to get them off Ceres and you’re their best chance at survival.”
Andy looked at Cara. She gave him a pleased grin. He furrowed his brow. This was no time to take pleasure in being right. Fugia’s news meant they would be quadrupling the danger in getting off Ceres. As it stood, if everything went to hell he could give up and Fran could leave with the kids. If they had three additional AI on board, they were all implicated in the crime.
“You’re coming, too?” Andy said.
Wong backpedaled. “Captain Sykes, I am here to help others. I can’t leave Ceres.”
“You can stay at least until we’re past Callisto. Like you said, I need someone around who can think, and I don’t know the rules of this game. I’ll do this but you’re going to help.”
“All right,” Fugia said. “Fine. I’ll come. You’ll need someone who knows how to operate the stasis fields anyway. I can’t trust a bunch of cargo chimps to do that kind of work.”
Andy let the insult go. “According to my navigation, I’ve got four hours until we’re in Ceres space,” he said. “What’s this plan of yours?”
“Tell me about this secure storage. How large?”
“I have a safe room inside our secondary water storage. It’s transmission shielded with its own EV controls and battery power.”
“I asked how large?”
“It was an oxygen storage tank at one point. I could fit five people in it. Eight and it’s getting pretty snug. The EV can handle ten.”
