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Betrayals: twelveby Steve Bowers |
Zero plus Ten hours
“I am afraid I must interrupt here, Lady Ur-ner-geb.
At last, I believe we are getting somewhere. I have received a copy
from Santos Entrepot of the bodyscans of Auguste Gienah and Max Handy,
which were taken when they entered and left the planet.”
The Bailiff and the Librarian faced each other in a featureless
cyberscape, in the memory of the Necklace library. The images extracted
from the memory of Auguste Gienah occupied a circular virtual window
between them, but the Librarian now closed this window and turned her
focus of attention to the Bailiff. The last image seemed to show the
beginnings of an embrace between the man and woman concerned.
“It is to the credit of your culture
that you have such information to hand, Bailiff. The various unruly
inhabitants of the Necklace are difficult to moderate, and we have
found it safest to remove sensitive and redundant information to the
ice belt, as you know,” the Librarian said.
“Yes. It will be necessary to address that point in a
moment, I am afraid. However, the information from Santos has certainly
advanced our inquiries.”
“I am a little puzzled by your tone, cousin Bailiff, but please do continue.”
“A subliminal compulsion neural advertising virus was
found in both individuals, the human and the robot symaiote. It is of a
fairly common type, although the compulsion is strong. The compulsion
itself consisted of an urge to visit the planet Nova, in the Tau Ceti
system; no surprises there. We knew that the subjects were heading out
to that particular planet anyway. The target location is very specific,
however. The subjects were compelled to visit the `Birthplace of Lisa
Miguel' Museum in Chico, on the east coast of Hope continent. There is
no record of any other tourist, either from the Necklace worlds, or
from Prior A, ever having been infected with this specific virus, or
indeed any virus associated with Tau Ceti in any form. This leads me to
believe that the virus was designed specifically for the subjects, to
ensure they visit that particular location.”
“It may very well mean that we have to expand our enquiries
into the Interstellar sphere, then, cousin Bailiff; we may be waiting
for several days before the data channels are acquired for such an
involved investigation. I had better prepare a subpersonality routine
for the journey. What records do you have of their return?”
“Both individuals returned on a Mutual Progress
wormthreader, which departed the Prior A wormhole without calling at
any Negentropist port, and were not scanned by our systems.”
“One has to be optimistic, I suppose- we may
uncover the key to this mystery by examining the memory that Gienah has
of the visit to Chico. It would be a stroke of luck for such an old
memory to tell us anything he himself had not noticed, even with the
type of snapshot memory reinforcement Gienah has been using.”
“Yes, that is correct. .
However, I have another matter to discuss with you at this particular
moment, my lady
Librarian. I have to inform you that we need wait no longer for the
data from the Mutual Ice cloud to reach us in twenty hours time. I have
requested that a Diametric Drive defence vessel travel at full speed
towards the particular ice planetoid that you have indicated as
retaining your records.
"Cousin Bailiff! I have not indicated any planetoid in particular. How have you come to this conclusion?"
"Simply by examining all ice belt objects within the radius necessary for the lightspeed delay you have indicated."
"There are – sixteen such planetoids, as far as my
records indicate. Did you examine them all – yes, you did, didn't
you. But why. You would need at least sixteen high acceleration patrol
craft equipped with nanogauge communication wormholes. Is it necessary
to expend so much effort to avoid such a small delay?"
"We do have a certain number of defence vessels in the
Mutual cloud, Librarian. It has not been necessary for you to be aware
of this fact until now. I will now open a communication channel to the
vessel approaching the planetoid in question. It will be desirable for
you to be party to this communication."
The soft grey-green cyberscape they were occupying produced a single
virtual window, showing an elliptical warship in deep space- the Lady
Ur-ner-geb instantly identified it as a fast displacement drive craft
from the configuration. She was aware however, that the representation
within the window was a simulation produced by the Bailiff, so need not
reflect the actual configuration of the vessel. No doubt it was created
from data sent via his personal nanochannel from Arkab Prior A, and
ultimately from the vessel itself, deep in the neutral territory of the
Mutual Oort cloud.
“Defence craft Black Emerald! This is Bailiff Beta 49. What is your current status?”
‘We are currently one hundred and fifty thousand
kilometres from target twelve and closing. Shall we attempt radio or
laser communication?’
The defence craft Black Emerald was controlled by a
Negentropist captain/lawkeeper virtual entity, and this so-called
vircaptain was now communicating to the Bailiff via a series of
nanoscale wormhole links; these tiny tunnels through space and time
allowed information to be transferred much faster than by lightspeed
message. Lady Ur-ner-geb’s original request for information was
still only halfway to the icy planetoid, but it would not now be needed.
“Try radio frequencies first, Captain- they might
misinterpret a tightbeam transmission. The Deeper Covenanters are very
security conscious.”
‘Are we aware of the name or local designation of this settlement, Bailiff?’
The avatar of the vircaptain resembled a fuzzy red ball, with only the
faintest suggestion of a human face, and it now hovered in the
cyberscape a few metres from the black avatar of the Bailiff and the
prim Librarian. Behind the vircaptain was the round window now showing
the distant planetoid glimmering in the dim starlight.
“Excuse me for a microsecond, Captain…” The Bailiff turned to the Librarian, his virtual body language strangely tense and formal.
“Cousin Librarian, can you tell us who we will be talking to, and any passcodes we may need?”
“Indeed, cousin Bailiff- this planetoid is
occupied by the Covenant Sufficiency of Syie. They will only release
information directly to me, so I had better address them first.”
“Very well, cousin; you may address the Covenant
planetoid directly to expedite matters. You are now linked to the Black
Emerald comm system. Please let the Deepers know that we mean no
harm.”
“Thank you.
~To the people and Protector of the Sufficiency of Syie,
Greetings. (identification code burst). This is your patron, the Lady
Ur-ner-geb of the Prior B Necklace. Due to an urgent matter it is
necessary to contact you in real time, via this Negentropy Defence
craft and microwormhole channel. Please do not interpret the approach
of this vessel as a hostile act.”
“This be the Lord Protector of Syie. I do accept your credentials, my Lady.”
A thick-skinned, vacuum adapted human appeared in the circular window.
His large eyes indicated that he was used to low light levels; his
demeanour indicated that he was used to commanding respect. “But,
by my skin, this is a most troublesome happenstance. Never have ye
foretold that ye would permit any vessel to approach wa Sufficiency,
and I wot it be in wa contractual agreement to resist any such contact.
Insooth, we should blast yonder vessel from out the sky.”
“That will not be necessary, Lord Protector. I am
in need of certain information you have in long-term storage; I have
already sent a lightspeed message requesting same, but that message
will not reach you for another nine days. By chance this vessel of my
allies from Prior A was in your vicinity, and has offered to open
nanochannel communications with you.”
“It is for the trust that I place in ye, My Lady, that I
do agree to your request; against the way my heart bestirs me. But no
thing we keep safe for ye may be fully secret anon, if all and sundry
are apprised of wa location.”
The speech of the Deeper Covenant Lord was an archaic and strangely
altered variant of Middle Galanglic, reflecting the fact that this
secretive deep space empire was the product of a long period of
separate development.
“I know, it is less than an ideal arrangement, but
this is the situation we find ourselves in, Lord Protector. The
information we require is as follows- (information request burst). It
is necessary for me to ask for a rapid retrieval, as several
interstellar interests are involved in this situation.”
“(Information request burst acknowledged). On reflection,
my lady, I deem that wa bargain may be void, and wonder if now we of
the Covenant should seek wa luck elsewhere. This compromise that has
befallen does serve no-one well.”
“Naturally, I have a plan prepared for this
eventuality, and for any other foreseeable event- you and your
Sufficiency are to be offered an alternative location, where I
guarantee you will not be found by chance. I have an excellent spot in
mind, if you agree.”
“It shall be my pleasure to discuss such terms by wa
channels habitual, just as soon as these allies of yours do depart.
(Requested information retrieved and transmitted).
Vessel of the Negentropy Alliance, know that ye may be allies of our
patron, but ye be no allies of ours while your motives are
undisclosed.”
In the cyberscape, back in the Necklace Library, the red
vircaptain swivelled to face the Bailiff, and information was
apparently exchanged for a few microseconds. The Bailiff now addressed
the Lord of Syie for the first time.
“My lord, it is my understanding that the data we
require for our investigations has been transferred. For this I thank
you. However the craft in proximity to your planetoid will remain there
for the moment, until I am satisfied that there is no other relevant
information you can give us.”
“If it were my choice, ye would taste a kind of
hospitality ye would not care for over much. As it is, ye must make
yourselves welcome with or without my goodwill.” The Protector
showed white teeth behind his black lips.
“Lord Protector, I am of course confident that you
will only surrender information with my express permission. Much of the
data you hold is confidential.”
“Nought will leave this world unless you so will, Milady.”
“Rash promises are best left unvoiced,” the Bailiff said quietly to his vircaptain, but the Librarian could not help but overhear;
the cyberscape they presently occupied was maintained by her own systems, and nothing could occur,
no message could be exchanged, within that scape unless she was aware of it.
She pushed her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose once again.
