Asimov's SF, Oct/Nov 2005

by Dell Magazine Authors

  The hardbodies and their cats followed the script predicted by Purvali's simulations. They concentrated three cats and four hardbodies on the cat at the extreme left of Choy's defensive line. Choy was faced with a classic dilemma. If the outnumbered cat held its position, it could be eliminated. If Choy pulled it back, the assault force could sweep around the flank and strike directly at the widemounts and their passengers. Choy responded by ordering two cats to the defense of the animal under attack. His other cats extended their line and took up defensive positions.

  Sabor resisted the temptation to damp his stress reactions as he watched the tactical exhibition on his display. He knew he needed all the alertness his brain could muster. Visuals from the aerial scouts offered him flashes of the real life violence hidden under the symbols moving across the map. Cats leaped on other cats from ambush and disengaged after a flurry of bites and slashes. Hardbodies slipped through the forest with their guns, searching for targets.

  Sabor's widemount was demolishing a bush that was covered with thick leaves and dangling pods. The other widemounts were gorging on the local vegetation with the same concentration. Choy had thoughtfully placed a time strip on the map display, so Sabor could see how many minutes they had to wait before the rest stop ended.

  Sabor decided to intervene when the countdown reached ninety seconds. “I think we should go now, Choy—if you feel you're in a position in which disengagement looks feasible."

  Sabor's widemount raised its head from the bush. A huge snort jostled its frame. It turned away from its chosen collation and lumbered toward its place behind Choy's mount.

  On the map display, Choy conducted a fighting disengagement that drew a flurry of claps from Sabor's hands. Colonel Jina's cats abandoned the fight and settled into their walking pace the instant it became obvious they had done all the harm they could for the moment.

  "Those people know what they're doing,” Choy said. “They didn't waste a calorie."

  "You're doing a rather impressive job yourself, Choy."

  "We've got two cats that took a mauling. I may have to sacrifice one of them at the next stop."

  The hunters of the Benjori Hunt were sampling the fruits and dessert wines that had been arranged along the table. The camera drifted down the hall and Sabor saw Avaming busying himself with his food while the women on both sides of him chatted with other partners. The hunters rose from their chairs with their glasses raised and the Recording Secretary terminated the transmission with an image of a waving banner.

  "So what does Avaming do now?” Sabor said. “Go home and recuperate from his endeavors?"

  "I'm afraid I can't help you,” Purvali said. “He doesn't seem to have a regular post-hunt schedule."

  "Then it obviously might be best if we assumed he's in a receptive mood. Will you advise his welcomer I've been talking to one of the better-known hunting coaches and I have some information that he may find of interest? Phrase it in your own irresistible style, of course."

  Sabor's time strip clicked off the minutes while he waited for Avaming's reply to his call. The widemounts plodded through a complete, forty-five minute march segment. Purvali expressed her disgust at the “affectations” of an “outmoded class."

  "He's taking about as long as I thought he would,” Sabor said. “Moneylenders have to be treated with a certain condescension. We belong, after all, to a coterie that devotes most of its conscious hours to the pursuit of mere wealth."

  Avaming's welcomer was an off-the-shelf female figure. She was so undistinguished Sabor was confident Avaming had spent hours searching for a design that would impress his callers with his total indifference to trivial matters such as the way his welcomer impressed his callers.

  "Possessor Avaming has advised me he is now available, if you're still interested in talking to him."

  "Please advise Possessor Avaming I'm still interested."

  Sabor's widemount had once again settled its bulk in front of a large bush and started grinding leaves and branches between its molars. On the map display, the hardbodies were making another run at the defensive line Choy had formed with the cats. They had split into two groups. The larger group—three cats and five hardbodies—was driving toward the left flank of Choy's line. The other group was obviously supposed to harass the center and keep it occupied. It had been six minutes since Choy had called the rest stop.

  Avaming had exchanged his ceremonial finery for a loosely belted lounging robe. He received Sabor's gift with a superbly aristocratic response: he recovered his control of his facial muscles seconds after he heard the news and he immediately offered to return the favor.

  "That's a most generous gift,” Avaming said. “I must admit you've quite taken me by surprise, Honored Sabor."

  "It's our pleasure, Possessor."

  "I hope there's something I can do for you. I would be embarrassed if there wasn't."

  "There's no reason for you to be embarrassed. The opportunity happened to come to my attention and it seemed like the appropriate thing to do, given the fact that your deposits have made such an important contribution to the capital formation that keeps our planetary economy functioning. You and your colleagues have created a tradition that sets a high standard of courtesy."

  "But there must be some way I can display my appreciation,” Avaming said. “I realize the theorists are undoubtedly right. We large landowners will eventually be supplanted by the masters of capital, just as our counterparts were on Earth. But that day hasn't come yet. We still have some influence."

  The three enemy cats had located one of Choy's mauled cats and ganged up on it. Choy inserted a transmission from the cat's optic nerve in the upper left corner of the map display. The cat rose to all fours seconds before three furies leaped across the bushy fallen tree it had been using for cover. The glistening black skin of the cat's assailants filled its visual field. Trees and sunlight rolled past its eyes as it tipped back its head in response to the wounds it was receiving.

  Choy had placed another cat where it could act as a reserve. It popped out of its hiding place ten meters behind its doomed teammate and Choy switched to a direct transmission from its nervous system. Sabor peered through its eyes as it bored toward the heaving bodies in front of it. It lunged at the hindquarters of one of the enemy cats and apparently closed its jaws around part of a leg.

  The display shifted to map-and-symbol mode. The symbol that represented the second cat broke contact and angled away from the fracas.

  I think we should go, Choy transmitted.

  Sabor's fingers danced across an imaginary keyboard. Go.

  "As a matter of fact,” Sabor said, “I have been thinking about a problem I have. I discovered your interest in the aquatic chase, in fact, when I was researching the problem."

  "Feel free to tell me what you need."

  "I believe you and Possessor Makajida have had some disagreements."

  "You could say that. I think most impartial observers would inform you we're not on the most cordial of terms."

  "As you may be aware, his military forces are somewhat smaller than normal at this moment. He has rented about fifty of them to another Possessor. It would be very helpful to me if you could place some of your military personnel on your southern border—enough that he would feel he had to bolster his own defenses."

  Avaming smiled. “As I understand it, he's rented his soldiers to Kenzan Khan."

  "That's my understanding, too."

  "I can see how that could be of value to you, Honored Sabor. I've received two rather boastful messages from Kenzan."

  The widemounts had trudged away from their feast and settled into line. The cats that had attacked the left flank were sweeping toward the widemounts unopposed. Had Choy realized the cats would move that fast when he had made his tactical calculations? Did he really think the widemounts could pull away from the cats before the cats closed in ... ?

  "As a matter of fact,” Avaming said, “I've been thinking about conducting an alert
exercise. There's no reason why it can't take place on my border with Possessor Makajida."

  Avaming smiled again. “I would have to notify Possessor Makajida I was conducting an exercise, of course. I wouldn't want him to misunderstand my intentions."

  Sabor smiled back. “That would certainly be the most prudent way to go about it. I hope you'll be able to schedule it soon."

  "I'll get onto it as soon as we terminate this call. I gather it would be most helpful to you if it were done promptly."

  "That could make a significant difference, Possessor."

  "Consider it done. I'm only sorry you didn't ask for something that required more of my resources."

  The enemy cats had dropped back to marching speed. The tactician on the other side had earned another burst of applause from Choy. The cats had aborted their attack at the first sign the widemounts were pulling ahead.

  "Our widemounts have now lost six minutes of refueling time,” Choy said. “Four this feeding period, almost two last period. I can't keep them moving at their maximum pace if they don't get a full feeding period soon."

  "We have no idea how long Possessor Avaming is going to dally,” Purvali said. “I can understand why you didn't want to give him any sense of the time constraints we're working with. But he could spend the next three hours wandering around his domains admiring his building projects."

  "He said he would get on it as soon he terminated the call, Purvali. I'm inclined to think he will—given his personality structure. I should also note that we aren't the only combatants who are testing their limits. Our pursuers are driving themselves, too. As you yourself have advised me."

  Sabor turned his attention to the material he had downloaded from the databanks. Now that they were being pursued on the ground, he could assume their pursuers knew where they were. He could transmit and receive without worrying about security. He could turn away from all the stresses and tensions of their situation—including the tensions Purvali was creating—and lose himself in profit projections, trading opportunities, brilliant-but-unworkable ideas for new projects, gossip that might tell him something about the character of possible customers, and all the other details that made his working life so endlessly fascinating. He had never understood people who thought “getting and spending” was an empty way to fill your days. The numbers and facts in his databanks absorbed him in the same way the interactions of individuals fascinated dramatists and the intricacies of natural systems fascinated ecologists.

  He could probably claim, in fact, that he had a better understanding of human relationships than most of the creative minds who had tried to depict them. A dramatist's errors might be overlooked by some segments of the audience. His cost him real purchasing power.

  He kept on working after they stopped for the next fueling period. He didn't call up Choy's displays until the halt had reached the five minute point. This time Choy deliberately left one flank wide open. Choy's opposite number committed his forces to an all out attack on that side and Choy responded with a precisely timed counterattack. Three of Choy's remaining cats threw themselves into a melee in which they were hopelessly outnumbered. Choy lost one cat, but he achieved his immediate objective. The widemounts placidly completed a full fifteen minute feeding.

  "Quite good, Choy,” Sabor said. “You had that timed to the second."

  He waited for a nag from Purvali, but she apparently decided to fume in silence.

  Choy now had six cats left. He grouped four in a loose formation in the center the next time they stopped. The other two were positioned further out, one on each flank.

  The opposition came in fast, in an attack that seemed to be spread across Choy's entire front. Then, just when Sabor thought they were committed to a straightforward linear assault, they behaved like the kind of highly trained, purpose-shaped soldiers they were. Four hardbodies and four cats coalesced into a compact mass and started a wide swing around Choy's right flank.

  Choy responded by detaching two cats from his central formation. They joined forces with the cat he had placed on the right flank, and the three animals raced toward an intersection with the assault party.

  "I need a decision,” Choy said. “I can put up a strong fight when they make contact, gain us three or four extra minutes of feeding time, and probably lose one cat. Or I can put up a weak fight, hold them off just long enough for us to get moving, and probably save all the cats."

  Sabor scowled. The widemounts had accumulated about eight minutes of browsing time.

  "Recommendation?” Sabor said.

  "I can't make any,” Choy said.

  "Light resistance."

  It was a random decision. He said the first thing that popped into his head and hoped he could live with it. Choy started the widemounts moving, Choy's cats engaged in a brief flurry of action—and a shot from a hardbody reduced one of the cats to a set of rigid, totally paralyzed muscles. They had sacrificed several minutes of feeding time and lost a cat, too.

  "Not my most brilliant decision,” Sabor said.

  "I'm sorry,” Choy said. “I thought I could save the cats."

  "You're working with percentages, Choy. You make your bet and accept the results."

  He returned his primary focus to the databanks, but it had become a pointless exercise. Information flowed across his brain like water washing across a stone floor. Nothing penetrated.

  They were down to five cats. The next feeding period could be the last. Choy might be able to stave off a breakthrough one more time, but it was a fifty-fifty proposition—at best.

  A blinking prompt advised him Purvali's carrier had come open. He ordered it closed and received an immediate not responding.

  "You seem to have a problem with your carrier, Purvali."

  "You have two options, Sabor. You can give Choy permission to integrate me into his tactical schemes or you can make me fight on my own."

  "Please remove the pillow or whatever it is you're using to jam your carrier open. I've already given you my decision."

  "And how are you going to stop me? I can drop off this animal and be lost in the trees before you or Choy can touch the ground."

  He could give her an order, of course. But would she obey it? He had asked her designers for a concubine, not a robot. He had her loyalty and her devotion. For machine-like obedience he would have to console himself with the companionship of machines.

  "Don't do this to me, Purvali. Please."

  "You're rolling the dice, Sabor. That isn't good enough. Not when your survival is at stake."

  "I have been running simulations,” Choy said. “I have a suggestion you may find worthy of consideration, Sabor."

  "I would be a fool if I didn't consider your suggestions, Choy."

  "The simulations indicate we could probably lethal two or three of their cats at the next rest stop if I employed Purvali as a surprise ambusher. The risk to her would be minimal. She would only have to expose herself for a few seconds—just long enough to fire at their cats when I told her to."

  "Look at the simulations,” Purvali said. “Just look at the simulations."

  "Show me the simulations, Choy."

  A summary popped onto Sabor's display. Choy's program had run five hundred simulations. They had killed one cat in 27 percent of the simulations, two in 54 percent, three in 13 percent, and none in 6 percent. There had been no simulation in which Purvali had been captured or injured.

  The display zipped through a random selection of quick-play runs that included samples with all four outcomes. Choy had conscientiously included all the unknowns he and the program would have to work with during a real attack. There would be important blanks, for example, in Choy's knowledge of the terrain. He wouldn't know the location of every tree trunk and the sight lines it would interrupt.

  "An impartial observer might note that you've left out one important factor,” Sabor said. “You're assuming Purvali will obey your orders with scrupulous precision. If you included the possibility she might da
lly for a few seconds before she retreated—in the hope that she might be able to kill two of their cats instead of just one, for example—the outcomes of some of those simulations might have been less acceptable."

  "You are running out of time,” Purvali said. “You'd be running out of time even if Possessor Avaming called you right now and told you he's kept his word. How long will it be before Possessor Makajida reacts to the news he has a hostile force threatening his borders? It could take him hours, Sabor."

  Sabor eliminated Purvali's face from his display. He scowled at a block of text that summarized the current financial status of the second largest mobile submarine restaurant on the lake.

  "Whatever happens,” Sabor said, “I'm obviously not going to have any peace until I let you prance around the forest. Take care of her, Choy."

  He watched her as she made her preparations. She fired her gun at a passing tree. She recharged her armored coat. She slipped into a relaxed meditation state and gave herself a half hour nap.

  She dropped to the ground as soon as Choy brought the widemounts to a halt. Choy positioned her on the left flank and removed her symbol from the map display. Choy would track her movements with his memory. There would be no possibility the opposition could pick up a stray transmission.

  Sabor raised the side of his carrier. Cold air bit at his cheeks. He couldn't watch Purvali's movements on the display, but Choy furnished an explosion graphic when she shot the cat that was leading the assault on the left side. Another graphic announced a hit on a second cat. Choy transmitted a command and the widemounts backed away from their food sources.

  Purvali raced out of the woods with her eyes focused on her goal. She leaped for her mounting ladder when she was a full stride away from her widemount. She pulled a pillow into position and lowered the side of the carrier as she rolled inside.

  Sabor jumped away from the tree he had been using as a cover. He grabbed the pillow and threw it at the ground. A command shot out of his brain. The lock on the carrier returned the appropriate signal.