by Chris Fox
“Who are you?” he ventured, guessing it would be an AI of some sort.
“I am the Arbiter of this city. Your command is my purpose. Shall I gather your fuel?”
“Fuel for what?” he asked, pretty sure he knew the answer.
“Fuel for the journey, of course. It shall be done, we can brook no further delay.”
A tearing sound came from behind. He whirled to see the floor peeling back and what he could only describe as a chrome octopus crawling out. Immediately he bolted, running down the hall and into the unknown.
Reaching a “T” intersection, he dodged left. Another long hall drew out before him, lights springing on just ahead of his arrival. Fear was pumping in his veins, fueling his flight. He heard the scratching of the octo-bot’s many legs as it scrambled down the hall behind him. Pouring on more speed, he reached the end of the corridor and shot out into a large open space, a shaft or courtyard in the center.
The platform ringing the space was supported by large metal columns extending floor to ceiling. Dr. Fox spotted the backside of the column from across the way and noted the ladder like structure. With great trepidation, he reached around and grasped one of the rungs, then swung his legs around. He heard the octo-bot scrambling onto the platform just on the other side of the column.
He began to very softly climb down the column, reaching the next level without sign of pursuit from the bot above. Clambering onto the platform as quietly as he could, he quickly scanned his surroundings, tensing and expecting to see more octo-bots, or something worse. To his relief, the platform was empty. A corridor led away from the central shaft, and as he approached, the lights flickered on as they had on the level above.
He wandered for some time, hours probably, admittedly completely lost. In the distance was a faint rumbling. He seemed to have escaped both the pirates and the octo-bots, but wasn’t really any better off now. He turned down a corridor and faced a dead-end hallway.
“If we are to journey, I must gather your fuel,” the voice of the Arbiter came again.
“No thanks. How about instead you tell me how to get back to the surface? You said I could command you.”
“Affirmative. But while you are the Navigator of Acheron, you are not accepted until you have given the fuel.”
“And what is this fuel?”
“Your life pattern.”
“DNA?”
“Affirmative.”
He heard octo-bots rising from the floor behind him as it tore open. As he spun, metallic tentacles grabbed him, lashing around his arms and legs. They wrapped tentacle after tentacle around him holding him aloft and exposing his forearm. A probe with a needle on the end hovered near the throbbing vein in his arm.
Then it plunged in and his blood began to flow up the clear tube that was attached. Screaming, his blood flowed and flowed. Were they going to leave him dry? He began to feel lightheaded and was on the verge of blacking out.
12
Right Arm
Dr. Fox thought he was done for. He thought they were going to take it all. Then fiery bolts of plasma began tearing into the octo-bots, sparks showering his head and shoulders.
The needle was quickly withdrawn and retracted back into the octo-bot, who immediately made for the nearest wall, which opened up at its approach. The plasma blasts followed it, but impacted only with the closing wall. The octo-bots released him and went for whoever was firing. He propped himself up on one of the wrecked bots to see.
Amazingly, it was Hubbell battling the advancing octo-bots with a wicked looking plasma rifle she must have liberated from one of the pirates. She leveled the gun at one and squeezed the trigger, sending a trio of blasts dead center to its body. The bot split in half and erupted in sparks.
She immediately spun and unloaded another burst on the other one. Dr. Fox realized that she wasn’t going to be fast enough. Hubbell wouldn’t have enough time to turn and face the last bot. It would be on her in mere moments, and here he was, helpless. He couldn’t even muster the strength to call out to warn her as it sprang and launched itself through the air.
But somehow, Hubbell had anticipated her foe’s maneuver, and ducked, rolling backward beneath the leaping octo-bot, dropping the rifle in the process. She came up with her boot knife, and promptly rammed it into the back of the octo-bot’s head, eliciting a spray of sparks. Twisting and prying, she ripped wires and components loose, tearing them out as she wrenched her knife free. The bot wobbled and tried to turn, but crashed to the floor instead, smoking and spewing sparks.
Then Dr. Fox saw Reese emerge from the corridor as well, holding some sort of energy pistol in her two hands, the barrel pointed at the ceiling. She turned and ran to him, as he struggled to right himself. Setting the pistol down, she helped him into a sitting position. His head swam for a moment but then cleared.
“Shit, Chris, what happened?”
“I don’t know, they took my blood, and there’s an AI called the Arbiter, and…”
“Relax,” she said comfortingly.
“How’d you find me?” he croaked.
“We heard you screaming,” Hubbell said with a chuckle, “Bubbala.”
“There was an earthquake, of sorts. Then doors began to open all over. We were fleeing the pirates when we decided to risk underground. We’ve been wandering since,” Reese explained.
“Well I’m glad you found me, I don’t know how much they were going to drain,” he said weakly.
“Well, Numen and his pirate scum are still loose in the city. At least four well armed and particularly nasty creatures remain. Let’s see if we can evade them long enough to get back to the ship,” Hubbell suggested.
Suddenly the room began to rumble and shake and the very walls began to move as the chamber started to reconfigure itself. Hubbell grabbed the back of his collar and hoisted him to his feet. Reese ducked under his arm and helped to steady him.
“Quickly, this way,” Hubbell called, sprinting toward the hall she and Reese had entered from.
As they neared, Dr. Fox stared in horror as their escape route began to seal. By the time they reached it, the corridor was only shoulder-width, and still closing.
“Dammit,” Hubbell swore and turned back around, heading for the nearest hallway, but the floor rose into a wall in front of her.
Reese helped to hold Dr. Fox up as they shambled after her. A new corridor opened to their right and they made for it. Just as Hubbell darted inside, the floor fell out from under him and Reese, slamming them to the metal floor several feet below, stunning them both. He recovered first and sat up, touching his body and finding no blood, no pain. Relief flooded him as he looked over and saw Reese rising as well, apparently unharmed.
“C’mon, give me your hand. I’ll pull you up,” Hubbell called from above.
He motioned for Reese to go while he stood shakily. They grasped hands and Hubbell began to haul Reese up the wall. She was near the top and all that Dr. Fox could see of Hubbell was her arm and Reese dangling in the air. Then, to his horror, the corridor that Hubbell was in slammed shut, sending Reese tumbling to the floor, still holding Hubbell’s severed arm.
“No… Hubbell….” Reese said hollowly.
But before he could react, the world around them transformed yet again. The floor turned into a steep ramp, and a passageway opened at the end, leading into darkness. The angle of the incline kept increasing until they began to slide, slowly at first but as it became steeper they fell faster. He plummeted toward the black maw of the passageway, unsuccessfully scrambling to slow his descent. Terror gripped him as he fell into a pit of blackness.
13
Schmootz
They tumbled down the ramp for what felt like an eternity before the slope began to flatten. Sliding to a stop in the darkness, he heard Reese scrambling to her feet. As he stood, one of the blue lights in the ceiling flickered to life, illuminating a small room maybe twenty paces long by his estimation. The room was a dead end, no doors or any means of egress he
could observe.
“Welcome, Navigator, to the entertainment routine,” the Arbiter’s wheezing voice sounded out.
The light turned from blue to red.
“What the hell is going on? I demand you to tell me what you are doing,” Dr. Fox exclaimed.
“Who the hell is that? AI?” Reese whispered.
“No, companion of the Navigator, I am a Tevari.”
“Wait, you’re a Tevari? Where’s your body? How have you lived for so long?”
“My body is in stasis, while my mind floats free. I am linked to Acheron and control all with but a thought.”
“Wait, you’re speaking in our heads, right?” Reese asked.
“Indeed I am. I possess the means to communicate with all who enter Acheron,” the Arbiter replied.
“How is that possible?” Dr. Fox asked.
“It is one of my many abilities, Navigator,” the Arbiter replied smugly.
The lights flickered and there was a rumble as the room began to rearrange, sections of the floor rose into seating around a table. It was all constructed of the same blue metal as the walls and floor.
The far wall parted like a curtain and a shimmering humanoid figure emerged. It strode over, glowing and glistening as it sat down.
“Come, let the challenge determine your worthiness, Navigator,” the being hissed aloud in the Arbiter’s voice.
“Why does he keep calling you Navigator?”
“I think it’s because they took my blood,” he said, still woozy from the loss.
“I don’t get it,” Reese replied. “What is a Navigator?”
“Will you accept the challenge?” the Arbiter said, annoyance slipping into its voice.
“If we surmount your stupid challenge will you let us out?” Reese growled.
“Indeed I will,” he spat out like the sound of shoveling gravel.
An image appeared, swirling into existence. A single dot in the center surrounded by a circle, bearing another dot. The circle moved outward, jumping outward five times before halting, then turning into a squiggly line and shooting off the edge of the holoscreen hovering before them.
“What is the answer?” the Arbiter intoned.
“How is that a question?” Dr. Fox cut in, perplexed by the display.
“I know the answer!” Reese said suddenly. “It’s 13.8 electron-volts, the highest excited state of the electron in a hydrogen atom, just before it becomes ionized.”
“Correct!”
Another image flickered to life, showing two of the hydrogen atoms. A third image appeared, similar to the hydrogen image, but with greater complexity. Many dots filled the center, and there were just as many concentric circles each containing a dot.
“Water!” Reese exclaimed. “H-two-oh.”
“Wait a second,” Dr. Fox interrupted. “You said a question. That was two. How many do we have to answer?”
He was ignored. More images flickered to life, symbols hanging in the air before them.
“A question must be answered before egress. Please answer the question,” the Arbiter intoned.
“Beryllium,” was Reese’s answer.
Another image displayed. After studying it for a moment, Reese answered “Alpha decay.”
“Correct again.”
Immediately after Reese answered the question, another flickered to life, hovering before them. She looked deep in thought, studying the image.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand this one,” Reese admitted quietly.
“Do you have the answer?” it asked again.
“No, I’m not sure… wait, if that is the relativity tensor, then there should be a resultant waveform, and then…. Got it! Gravitational waves!” she said triumphantly.
“Sufficient knowledge is contained in this one. The lesser capabilities of your race are overcome by your collective action. Interesting. Nonetheless, you are free to go, as long as you are going to the control room.”
The wall peeled away, revealing another blue-light illuminated corridor the same as all the others. They scrambled into the passageway before the wall could close and began to dash down the corridor, lights flicking on at approach.
“Doodaloodooloo,” his QET rang.
He almost tripped and fell. He had forgotten he even had the thing on him still. Drawing it out, he accidentally hit the answer button. Dammit, he needed to get a case or something for it. This was starting to get ridiculous. He stopped in exasperation and held up the transmitter.
“Oh, hello, Dr. Phillips. Is my son treating you well?” his mother said, looking over his shoulder.
“Mother, this is a really bad time,”
“Oh, bubbala, you’ve got some shmootz on your face,” she said, licking her finger and miming wiping his face.
He reached up and scraped away some dried blood, deposited there from his sliced finger some time ago.
“Mother, I have to go, we’re into some very serious work here,” he replied urgently.
“Yes, Mrs. Fox, we are on the verge of a wonderful discovery, so we’re working double-time. I need your son back to work,” Reese said convincingly.
“Okay, if you ask politely, Dr. Phillips. By the way, I’ve heard my son is a competent lover.”
“Mother!” he said in exasperation.
“Okay, bye for now, dear. Call me when you’ve made your discovery.”
Her image disappeared, and Reese laughed and winked, “I’m so happy to hear you’re an adequate lover, Chris. I was getting worried for you.”
“Now that I’m thoroughly embarrassed, let’s get going,” he suggested, still blushing.
They roamed for what felt like hours, the walls and floors regularly rearranging themselves with that rumbling effect. They felt like they were being redirected, herded maybe.
“Where are you going, Navigator? You must go to the control room now. You have work to do there. Do not waste any more time,” the Arbiter said fervently.
“Yeah, well, I order you to show me the way to the surface,” he retorted, becoming tired of the strange being they only knew through its voice in their heads.
“Very well, I will show you the route,” it replied mechanically, sounding as if it were having a difficult time suppressing anger.
There was a tremendous rumble and the corridors rearranged themselves. The corridor before them elongated, opening into what appeared to be a large chamber, but he could only just make it out at this distance.
“So this work I have to do, what is it?” he asked as they walked along cautiously.
“You must prepare the vehicle for transport. Then we begin the journey,” the Arbiter replied.
“Okay, fine, but first we’re going back to our ship, understood?”
They approached the doorway into the chamber, so Dr. Fox flattened against the wall and crept forward slowly. The chamber was empty. It was the same central shaft he had discovered before. The room was a vast rotunda, a hundred yards in diameter and ringed by several levels of platforms.
Light beamed down the central shaft. Somehow it was open to the sky, letting in the full glory of the sun. The opposite side of the shaft was fully illuminated, while the near side was still bathed in shadow.
As they started for the central shaft, he heard the sound of octo-bots rising from the floor behind them. Dammit, those things were really starting to annoy him. He wished he had a plasma rifle like Hubbell.
Then he cringed and felt a pang of grief. He hadn’t known her long but he had come to have a tremendous respect for her. It was truly a tragic loss. He felt for Reese, who must be fighting a wave of grief. She seemed to be holding it back, though he knew it was just beneath the surface. Her normally cool exterior was showing ripples.
“You said you’d let us out,” Dr. Fox said angrily. “Why are you doing this?”
“No, I said I would show you the way. I didn’t say I would let you go. Besides, those systems are out of my control. I cannot alter their directives,” the Arbiter replied.
Sprinting into the chamber, he motioned to Reese, then to the columns. The octo-bots were advancing down the corridor.
“Climb the backside up to the next level. I think I can get us out from there,” he instructed.
She swung around to the back side and began to climb, and he promptly followed, the octo-bots hot on their heels. He had just begun to climb when the nearest octo-bot squirmed up onto the railing and shot out a tentacle. It wrapped around Reese’s leg and yanked.
Reese’s hand slipped and she was left hanging on by one hand, the octo-bot tugging her downward. Then a robotic arm appeared from the shadows and grabbed Reese’s other hand. She was pulled up and over the rim, the octo-bot’s tentacle slipping free.
Dr. Fox continued scrambling upward, but the octo-bot would not be deterred. As he reached the rim of the next floor, the tentacles wrapped around both his ankles. The thing attempted to yank him free.
The robotic arm extended from the shadows, proffering itself to him. He reached out and grasped it, and he was yanked into the shadows. He wound up on his back, staring into the face of the owner of the cybernetic arm. It was Hubbell.
14
Control Room
“How?” was all Reese could manage, a broad grin on her face. She touched Hubbell’s cybernetic left arm tentatively.
“Strange story, not sure I am recollecting all the details right. My brain feels fuzzy, my memory a little gray. But I’ll tell you what I remember.”
“After my arm, well, I went into shock. Some octo-bots came out the wall and scooped me up. One held its tentacle over the wound and it began to glow green. I think it somehow kept me from bleeding to death. They hustled me off to what seemed to be a strange alien med-bay, surgical apparatuses and the like. But there were strange runes over all of the machinery, like those glyphs you study.”
“I remember being lain on the table as the surgical machine went to work on me, assembling my arm one piece at a time. I felt no pain, but was conscious almost the whole time, although I felt as if I were tremendously sedated.”
