"Sooner or later, we'll have to tell Xyl we're back," Brazel said. He and Rhundi sat in her office, remotely observing Rhundi's medical and engineering staff do their jobs.
"Dust-of-the-Plains hasn't asked for him, and he's not pushing for status updates," Rhundi said. "We'll tell him when we have something to tell him. Do you think we ought to bring Irtuus-bon into this? It's been a few days. My girls don't seem to be getting anywhere."
"He specializes in Benevolence tech," Brazel said. "You think that's what this is? Color-of-Rushing-Water was an asshole, but I don't see her dabbling in that kind of technology. Have you ever known any dwarves who collaborated with Benevolence?"
"Only a couple, and they were stooges," Rhundi said. "But the tech's clearly something my people haven't seen before, and I'd like to know who this stuff is programmed to kill before we let anyone leave the planet." She thought for a moment more. "If we can even let them leave. Irtuus-bon might be able to help."
"What's the down side, then?" Brazel asked.
"My staff hates him," she said. "That, and do you really want Irtuus-bon to have access to anything more dangerous than the stuff he's already meddling with?" The troll had amassed a small collection of Benevolence artifacts and weaponry when Rhundi met him, most of which was now locked away out of his immediate access. He was known to occasionally be a bit forgetful, and concern for the lives of those around him was not always one of his highest priorities.
"So have them bring some of the particles to him," Brazel said. "What's the worst that can happen?"
"Planetary extinction via grey nanotech sludge," Rhundi responded promptly.
Brazel thought about it for a moment.
"There's other planets," he said. "Let's try it out."
* * *
It took four more days to puzzle the technology out, and Irtuus-bon was much more willing than usual to share the credit once they found a breakthrough. The troll sat in Rhundi's office, his tall frame folded into Grond's chair, a lead box in his lap.
"This is … extraordinarily dangerous," Irtuus-bon said. "Are we … giving it back?"
"We are not," Rhundi said. Irtuus-bon made a little mewl of pleasure and cradled the box closer to his chest. Rhundi took a moment to enjoy the feeling of her skin crawling underneath her fur and then shook it off and moved on. Sirrys ban Irtuus bon Alaamac was a phenomenal intellectual talent, but occasionally he was immensely creepy.
"Tell me exactly what it is," she said.
"It is precisely what we thought it was," he responded. "The nanoparticles are … keyed to the DNA of the males from Color-of-Rushing-Water's line. In fact, they appear to be from at least a generation older than Color-of-Rushing-Water. When they come in contact with a being possessing the targeted genetics, they activate."
"And that activation does what?"
The troll giggled. "It eats the genetic material, and begins using it to reproduce itself. The results … would look much like what Grond and Brazel reported aboard the ship. It then searches out nearby hosts that do not possess the target DNA, and deactivates for a time."
"For a time?"
Irtuus-bon nodded.
"Your gnomes discovered this, not I. There is a timing function built in. If the nanoparticles are not expressed out of the bodies of their hosts within a certain amount of time … they eat the host as well, and spread themselves again. Dust-of-the-Plains was … nearer to death than she realized."
"Can they get out of that box?"
"We have deactivated the timer," Irtuus-bon said. "We have no reason to believe that the nanoparticles … can adapt themselves to nonorganic matter. But there is more."
Rhundi waited.
Irtuus-bon continued to stare at her silently.
"You're going to make me say it, aren't you?" she said. "Fine. What more?"
"We know how to reprogram the genetic strings," Irtuus-bon said. "We can target … anyone with this. Or anything."
Rhundi's blood went cold.
"You understand that I can't let you keep that," she said.
The troll's body underwent a brief shudder, collapsing into a shorter, wider form, then— with some apparent effort— restoring himself to his usual shape.
"We … understand," he said, elongating his arms to deposit the box on Rhundi's desk next to her. "We may wish to investigate further in the future, of course."
"Of course," Rhundi said. "Under the terms of your contract. I won't be handing you something this dangerous just because you're bored. But thank you. You did good work. Do I need to give bonuses to any of my other scientists for putting up with you for this long?"
Irtuus-bon considered this idea for a few seconds.
"I do not believe so," he said. "There was … much less yelling, this time, than the last time we worked together."
"Good," Rhundi said, making a mental note to distribute bonuses anyway. "Send Gorrim in on your way out, would you?"
Irtuus-bon nodded and stood, leaving the room quietly. Rhundi considered the box on her desk carefully.
I should probably have this destroyed on the spot, she thought. But if the dwarves had access to this technology, that probably meant that it was more widespread than she realized. And she was loath to ever get rid of a weapon.
"Tell the dwarves they can finish out the week at the resort, rent-free," she told Gorrim as he entered her office. "Tell Xyl we weren't able to solve his problem for him. Have the doctors look Dust-of-the-Plains over one more time. And then make sure they get the hell out of here."
Gorrim nodded, turning to leave the room.
"And get Brazel for me, too," she said to her secretary's back. "Tell him I've got something he needs to find a hiding place for."
* * *
The Recruit
"That chunk of space is just full of pirates, you know. We've had to start routing through the Yngrasar system. You'll get a bonus if you manage to get the shipment there early, but if you lose the whole thing … probably better if you don't even try."
"I will manage," the elf said. "My ship is fast and well-armed. I have little fear of pirates."
The dwarf shrugged, running a hand through her beard. "Your loss if you get hit. You've got plenty of time to go the long way around. It's not like the hardware you're moving is going to go bad or anything."
"I understand," the elf said. "I'm eager to get moving. What else do I need to do to claim the shipment?"
"Retinal scan and a thumbprint," the dwarf said. "What was your name again?"
"Asper," xe said, and pressed xir thumb to the scanner.
* * *
It took only a day to locate the pirates. Faster than Asper had expected. Whoever they were, they were getting braver, as Asper hadn't even reached the point where the "safe" route diverged from the route cutting through the pirate lanes. The Shield and Spear's long-range scanner package— a present from Lady Remember herself— detected the blockship just before xe entered its range, and Asper was able to brace for the soul-deep tearing feeling that came with being pulled from tunnelspace involuntarily.
Interesting, xe thought, observing the blockship. It hadn't been that long since blockships were Benevolence-only technology. Xe'd heard stories that at least one of them had been stolen. Clearly at some point someone had reverse-engineered it, because the ungainly mess in the distance in front of the Shield and Spear was clearly not of Benevolence make. It had the cobbled-together, built-from-spare-parts look that xe would expect from technology that had been stolen and then built in secret and on the cheap.
In other words, it was exactly what xe was looking for.
WE ARE BEING HAILED, the Shield and Spear AI said.
"Go ahead."
The voice on the other end was human, and sounded positively jubilant.
"Now, I'm just betting that someone warned you that cutting through this part of space was a terrible idea," he said. "And you didn't listen. Why didn't you listen? Because now you have to turn over everything you're transportin
g. And probably your ship, too. It looks expensive."
Yes, this was certainly exactly what xe had been looking for.
A few seconds of silence passed before the voice began speaking again. "Nothing to say, eh? That's fine. Power down your ship, deactivate any weapons, and prepare to be boarded. We outnumber you, so no silly moves like trying to fight your way out of this. It's happening. Let's try and get this over with without anybody getting killed, okay? I'm going to interpret further silence as compliance."
A quick sensor sweep indicated four mid-range fighters hiding behind the blockship. Newer models, but nothing xe couldn't handle. But the blockship wasn't a place to live. There had to be some sort of base nearby.
Also good. Asper complied with the pirate's orders and brought shields and weapons down. It made little difference; they could be powered back up again in milliseconds if the ship AI detected an attack. No need for the pirates to know that, though.
"Good," the voice said. "We're on our way. How many of you are there? No being quiet, now. We expect an answer."
"One," xe said. "I'm the only person on board."
"Good, good. You sit tight now. We'll be there in a moment."
Asper disengaged all the internal locks on the boat and moved to the airlock. Xe put on a cloak that concealed xir form underneath it, but kept the hood down. If the pirates had any sense at all they would pat xir down before allowing xir off the Shield and Spear, so xe wore two weapons: a pistol in an ankle holster and one other, much more carefully concealed. The pistol, of course, would be found. The other was much less likely.
The pirates only sent three over, two human males and a female dwarf. The dwarf did all the talking.
"I'm flying your ship. You're going with these two," she said, cocking a thumb over her shoulder at the humans. "Any lockouts or anything else I need to know about getting this thing moving?"
"Nothing," Asper said.
"No stupid surprises you have stashed anywhere? Because whatever happens to me happens to you, y'know."
Asper only nodded.
"Smart move. The boat might be yours, but I bet the cargo isn't. No use dying for someone else's money. Check xir over," the dwarf said, and one of the humans roughly patted Asper down. He found the pistol, of course. But nothing else.
The human handed Asper's gun to the dwarf, who looked it over.
"Nice little number," she said. "You'll probably get it back, but you can understand why I'm going to hold on to it for now."
Asper nodded again, silently concentrating on making the dwarf stop talking. Let's get this over with. Thieves could be so tiresome.
"Shield and Spear," xe said. "Authorize the dwarf as pilot. No restrictions."
ACKNOWLEDGED, the AI said. The entire conversation was pointless; the Shield and Spear really didn't have any mechanisms to lock out unwanted pilots— or, at least, didn't have any that were operative once you were inside the ship. But the boat did know enough to agree with that statement whenever it was made. It tended to make things move more smoothly.
This wasn't the first time in recent weeks that Asper's ship had been boarded.
* * *
Apparently believing Asper disarmed and harmless, the two humans moved xir to their ship and locked xir in a small sleeping berth. Asper folded xir legs and meditated, focusing carefully on passing sensations from the ship. It was possible with enough practice and enough sensitivity to the universe to tell when a ship changed directions and even to get a vague sense of velocity, and Asper's senses were sharp indeed. They were near enough to the pirates' base that the ship did not go into tunnelspace to get there, and the flight was exactly 28 minutes and 14 seconds in duration. They were brought in by tractor beam— Asper felt the slight tremor when the beam grabbed the ship— so they were flying into something mobile, not landing on a stationary, ground- or orbit-based structure.
Asper allowed xirself a smile. This continued to go well.
They made xir wait another half-hour before there was a knock at the door. It slid open to reveal the same two humans who had brought xir in.
"They're ready for you," one of them said. "You gonna get up?" He looked as if he was hoping for trouble. Asper looked both of them over carefully before standing up in one fluid motion.
"Who are they?" xe asked.
"You'll see," the larger of the two men said, reaching for xir.
"That won't be necessary," Asper said, putting a bit of weight into xir tone. The man hesitated, then let his arm fall to his side.
"Let's go, then," he said, and the two of them turned and stalked off.
Asper narrowed xir eyes and concentrated, expanding xir consciousness to fill the entire ship. By the second turn the elf was reasonably certain of the model and manufacturer. It was a Karem Industries heavy freighter, only lightly customized. A ship of this size was built to move short-range fighters from system to system. There was plenty of room for cargo and personnel, and the ship itself was reasonably fast and mobile for its bulk. Most of the modifications were to add weaponry; the ship was considerably more dangerous than a heavy freighter generally needed to be. It was a good choice for a floating pirate base.
By the time they arrived at the bridge, Asper knew nearly every detail of the ship's construction. With that came the knowledge of the fastest ways to escape the ship, the best places to hide, and the simplest way to completely disable the frigate if it became necessary.
Asper hoped it would not become necessary.
The bridge of a Karem Industries heavy freighter spanned the entire width of the front of the ship. It seemed like poor design; no bridge should need to be any larger than the captain's voice could project, but virtually every station that needed to be staffed by a person was crammed onto the bridge. The captain's chair was the most prominent, of course, with a row of consoles sunk into the floor facing the broad windows at the front of the ship and rows of perpendicular stations on either side. Slightly lower than the captain's chairs were the pilot and copilot's seats. This type of freighter did not have a gunner's chair. They were armed, but the armaments were controlled by six different consoles all controlling one portion of the outside of the ship.
The humans stopped a few meters from the captain's chair.
"We've brought the elf," the larger one said.
"I am aware," a voice said from the chair, which slowly rotated around. "I heard you coming."
Well.
This was unexpected.
* * *
Sitting in the captain's chair was the largest dwarf Asper had ever seen. Even more surprising, it was a male. Dwarven society was famously and rigidly matriarchal, and while there were plenty of rogue males who had escaped one way or another from a life of near-slavery with their families, for one to have risen to a position of authority over female dwarves was rare enough that Asper had never encountered it. Further, most male dwarves were thinner and shorter than females; a life of poor nutrition and hard work stunted their growth and marked them for life even if they escaped. This dwarf did not seem to have that problem. He was seated, but he looked to be at least Asper's height, and easily twice as broad. His beard was glossy black in color, and spilled over an ample gut. This dwarf had been well fed.
And then there were the horns.
Grey in color, covered with a thin layer of fur, the horns erupted from at least five points on the dwarf's head to twine together and broaden outward in a halo over his head. They added at least half a meter to his height, and reached out to nearly the width of his shoulders.
How does he SLEEP with those, Asper had time to think, and then the dwarf was talking.
"I am Sulkar Nuh," he said. "All that was yours is now mine."
"That remains to be seen," Asper replied.
Sulkar Nuh laughed, a deep, rolling laughter that would have been infectious under happier circumstances. "This is not a negotiation, elf! I am Sulkar Nuh. I am the Horned Dwarf. I am the Malevolence. And I tell you that your ship and your perso
n are now mine. This is no debate. The only question is whether you survive to fly again or not."
"You claim the Malevolence, then?"
"I do," Sulkar Nuh said.
"The Malevolence is mine," Asper said. "I am Asper, descendant of Overmorrow. I lead the Noble Opposition. Your acts of piracy under a stolen name have ended, Sulkar Nuh."
The dwarf smiled sardonically for a moment, then made a nearly-imperceptible nod to the two humans. Asper moved before they did, crushing one's knee with a swift kick then rolling behind the other and looping a hidden microfilament wire around his neck.
"Do you claim the Malevolence?" xe said to xir captive. "Swear allegiance, and serve me. Deny it, and lose your head now."
"Fuck you," he said.
Asper shrugged, flipping a switch that instantly retracted the wire into the two handles. Blood gouted from the stump of the man's neck, coating Asper and much of the bridge between xir and the captain's chair. Screams echoed from every corner of the bridge. Sulkar Nuh was untouched.
Xe dropped the body, letting it thud to the ground.
"Shield and Spear," xe said over the comm. "Lock down."
ACKNOWLEDGED, the ship said, putting a number of customized subroutines into effect.
A moment later, there were guns pointed at xir from every corner of the bridge. Sulkar Nuh had not moved, a look of surprised pleasure on his face. The remaining pirate hissed, holding his broken knee and trying not to scream.
Tales: The Benevolence Archives, Vol. 3 Page 10
