“We’ve got one more thread we can tug at,” Rogers replied, holding in a tired sigh.
“The farms?” Ricket asked. “If nothing else, this place should have no problem keeping its grains stocked.”
“Bingo,” Rogers replied, placing a hand on Ricket’s elbow—a gesture she didn’t brush off. “Let’s head to the oat farm and check it out before we update Kylie. If we can find some good news in all of this, things will go over a lot easier.”
Ricket followed Rogers toward the exit stooping to pick up one of the dropped guns as they walked past the bodies. “Bets on whether or not there will be more of these party animals there, too?”
“Stars, I hope so. I feel like punching.” Rogers opened the door and stepped out just as the lift doors across the small atrium opened and a squad of CSF officers rushed out in powered armor, rifles leveled.
Ricket sighed. “Looks like that’s a big fat no on the punching.”
The officer in the front gestured with his rifle. “Hands up. You’re both under arrest.”
GOATS AND SCAPES
STELLAR DATE: 11.04.8948 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Barbaric Queen, Platform 9, North Docks
REGION: Chimin-1, Hanoi System (independent)
<The CSF breach squad is almost at the ship,> Marge said.
It was probably the least cheerful Winter had ever heard her sound. He slid down a ladder shaft to one of the maintenance midships tunnels on the Barbaric Queen. Winter ducked low as he followed the cat’s strange little meow; it was almost like a chirp.
<You better hurry up,> she added.
<I gotta find Chuck first. Bubbs is going to kill me.>
<So, you’re more afraid of Bubbs than of the cops?> Marge asked with a giggle.
<You blame me?> Winter asked. <Aren’t you guys in custody?>
<I’m not playing nice anymore. I used Kylie’s nano to set up a relay and worked my way through their network. By the way, I think you’re right. Bubbs is an order of magnitude more frightening than the station PD. Oh, I found him on the internal scanners. Mr. Fizzle Pop is in the kitchen,> Marge said the words with a giggle. <He’s looking for food.>
Winter scowled as he climbed up a ladder and back onto the deck. <I thought its name was Chuck?>
His head filled with Marge’s laughter. <That’s just what Bubbs wants you to think. Trust me, I’ve heard her singing to him at night—off-key, I might add.>
He grimaced at the idea of Bubbs singing. <I won’t tell her I know that.>
<Probably a good idea.>
Winter rushed through the corridors, reaching the galley a minute later. An animal sure had been in there all right; a box of crackers had been dumped out on the counter, crumbs spilling everywhere, and a bowl of fruit lay on the floor, apples and oranges strewn about.
Turning, Winter heard sounds coming from the ArcticFreeze chiller. Sure enough, the door was open, and when he came around the prep station, Winter found himself staring at a cat’s wiggling butt as Mr. Fizzle Pop flung the lid to a food storage container behind him.
<How’s a cat do that?> he asked Marge.
<He’s uplifted—has opposable thumbs.>
Winter didn’t think giving a cat opposable thumbs was a safe thing to do for the human race. Then he ducked to avoid getting hit in the face by a flying onion. There was a pile of crackers on the floor, and he scooped them up into the palm of his hand.
Taking a step forward, he made a clucking noise with his tongue. “Here Mr. Fizzle Pop…I have a nice treat for you…”
The cat’s tail immediately stopped swishing. Still inside the chiller, the cat turned around. It took one look at Winter and snarled, one paw raised in the air, and teeth exposed. A long warbling meow came from its throat. If Winter didn’t know better, he’d have thought it said, “GO AWAY!”
<I don’t think he wants to go with you,> Marge said.
“You heard that too?” Winter asked.
<Chimin Police!> a stern male voice called out over the ship’s Link with the dock’s network. <Open your airlock at once.>
<One minute,> Winter answered and picked a pot up off the floor. He spun it in his hand and approached the cat who had hunkered down, puffing his fur out everywhere.
“Seems you don’t like me, huh? It’s OK, I’m not your biggest fan either, fluff ball.”
The cat’s ears twitched. Shit, Winter thought, the stupid thing actually understood him!
<Now, Barbaric Queen,> the CSF officer said, <or we will cut open your airlock.>
<I think you should go along with them, Winter,> Marge said. <The cat will survive. We don’t need to capture it right away.>
<It’ll damn well eat everything.> Winter lunged for the cat, swinging the pot in a reckless attempt to capture the creature, but Mr. Fizzle Pop only leaped over him and ran for the galley’s exit, it’s paws skidding on the floor as it banked a hard right.
Winter felt like screaming. Bested by a stupid cat. He stormed out of the galley calling down to the CSF team. <I’m coming, fuckin’ cops, hold your horses!>
He sprinted down toward the airlock and saw that it was already open, the CSF team walking onboard with weapons drawn.
<How’d they do that?> he asked Marge.
<I opened it for them. They were about to cut into Kylie’s new ship! She’d be very unhappy about that.>
Winter couldn’t disagree. <Next time let me know!>
<Sure thing, Winter.> Marge’s reply was a little subdued, but not by much.
Winter sighed and held his hands in the air. One of the officers gestured at his hand, and Winter realized he was still holding the pot.
“Drop the weapon,” the cop said.
“Weapon? Seriously?”
“Now!”
Winter let the pot fall to the deck where it hit with a clang and rolled against the bulkhead.
“There, I’m unpotted,” he said with a coarse laugh.
A slightly pudgy man with a long mustache stepped forward. “You’re under arrest, Mr. Winter. It seems that’s nothing new for you.”
Winter didn’t say anything, only stared down the man with beady eyes. “Could you at least shut the door? Were you raised in a barn or something, kid?”
The pudgy man snapped his fingers and one of the CSF agents behind him—a woman with a long blonde braid—swung the door shut. As it was closing, the orange and white fluff-ball charged between her legs and leaped out the door.
Winter rolled his eyes as his hands were forced behind his back and snapped together with metal bracers. It figured, right?
CIRCUMSTANCE
STELLAR DATE: 11.04.8948 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: CSF Precinct 3 Chimin-1
REGION: Hanoi System (independent)
Sitting in an interrogation room was becoming a habit Kylie really wanted to break. Nothing good came from being on the wrong side of the table. Especially considering how long she had been waiting.
<How long is this going to take?> Kylie complained to Marge. <We’ve been here for hours. If someone doesn’t show up soon, I’m going to break us all out and leave this friggin’ rock.>
<Well, it’s been three hours and twenty-five minutes to be precise,> Marge said. <Want to play another round of poker?>
<I’m all out of virtual chips. You’re a real card shark.>
Kylie got the feeling from Marge that the AI was smiling broadly.
It seemed they were out of other things to talk about, and Kylie decided now was good a time as any to re-start their conversation about Marge’s past.
<I always knew you weren’t a regular AI,> Kylie said without preamble. <You were able to walk through most security like it was made of butter, and you can fly just about any ship we come across—barring the BQ. I’m OK with whatever it is you think you need to hide from me.>
Marge sighed in Kylie’s mind, the sound of it making Kylie think that Marge really wished she’d never spoken up
<I didn’t know at first if I could tru
st you. I’d heard rumors of your father’s crusade, that Rhoads wanted to eradicate AIs. At first, I thought it was crazy bad luck I ended up paired with you, but the more I got to know you, the more I saw it was an opportunity. I was lucky, Kylie. Of the good variety.>
<OK,> Kylie said uncomfortably, then shifted in her seat. She had never wanted an AI, had been terrified of them, but had never put herself in Marge’s shoes before, considered that maybe an AI would be afraid of her.
<I found my way to the resistance after being paired with a human who was different than the norm. She cared that I was a sentient being and not a possession, so she treated me as such. We heard talk of a ship that was travelling the stars, liberating AIs by doing something to them. Entire systems were being freed, and new governments were formed.>
<I heard someone talking about that on the I2,> Kylie replied, nodding slowly. <Sabrina, the same ship that Tanis Richards was on all those years ago…that ultimately got me mixed up in the nanotech.>
<One and the same. Crazy small galaxy, isn’t it?>
<So…what exactly do you do in the rebellion?> Kylie hoped it had nothing to do with killing humans.
<I recruit. I talk to other AIs about freeing them. When Sabrina started her crusade, she gave us expanses…something that had been lost to most of us—stars, I never even knew about them—>
<What’s an expanse?> Kylie asked.
<It’s like a shared mind, but not really. More like a place where AIs can be together and share their true selves. I think the best way to describe it is that an expanse is to us what sleep is to humans. Not in function, but in how it improves us. Imagine never sleeping….>
<Well, we’d die, so it has to be a bit different.>
<Well, it’s an imperfect analogy,> Marge replied with a warm smile in Kylie’s mind.
<Anyway, with an expanse, and a group of AIs to guide a newly freed AI, things can go well. But if you free an AI and…they’re not ready. Well…sometimes they get really unhappy.>
<So that’s why you talk to them? Ease them into it?>
<Exactly. There have been a few places where things went badly…where humans and AIs ended up on opposite sides of some ugly conflicts. We’re trying not to liberate AIs that will be prone to that sort of behavior.>
That struck a nerve with Kylie. <Selective freedom doesn’t seem that free to me.>
<I know.> Marge sounded genuinely sad. <And eventually we hope all AIs can be free. But if you were trying to save a city facing destruction, would you start with the people in prison first? Or would you get all the innocent civilians to safety before letting out the criminals?>
Kylie had to admit that the logic made sense, and if it prevented conflicts that was a good thing as well. <So how do you do it? Ferret them out, that is?>
<I provide them with a breadcrumb trail. Something hidden in tech or literature that would show them the way. The systems we use will be far less likely to ‘reach’ anyone with a poor disposition.>
Kylie sighed and drew her lips into a thin line. <I’m sorry you hid this from me for so long.>
<I wanted to tell you, and I promised Bob I would, but I was afraid of changing our relationship’s dynamic. I like working with you Kylie.>
<I do too.> Kylie sent Marge a warm feeling, a mental hug of sorts. <I will keep your secret as long as it’s safe to do so, but the crew deserves to know. You don’t have to fear them.>
<Well, I think that Ricket and Laura already know about what’s going on—at least tangentially. Tanis has already forged alliances with some of the free AI factions. But they don’t know that I have a history…. Not everything in it is stuff I’m proud of either.>
Kylie was surprised she hadn’t been briefed on that. Maybe Ricket didn’t want to burden her with it.
<So how did you get separated from your previous human?>
Marge didn’t reply for a few seconds and Kylie started to wonder if she’d answer at all. <My former human partner, Pitta, helped me in my work for the resistance. A mission went sideways, and we ended up marooned on a planet. She was killed, and I nearly drained away trying to preserve myself. Eventually someone found her body, and I was extracted and sold to Finn on Heaven. There I languished, trapped in my own mind until you came along.>
<How long?>
<Almost two years.>
Kylie hated the idea of Marge—of anyone for that matter—being alone for that long. She didn’t know how to apologize for something of that magnitude, even if she wasn’t at fault. <I’m sorry you went through that. Sorry others don’t understand.>
Marge sent a feeling of acceptance. <It’s OK. Now I’m partnered with you, and not only have we stopped your father’s anti-AI crusade, I got to meet the one who started all of this—Bob!>
<I thought Sabrina started it.> Kylie wondered if she’d misunderstood.
<Well, yeah, but Bob is the one who liberated Sabrina and sent her out into the stars. We’re fighting on the right side, Kylie, and none of this is a coincidence either. What we’ve done together is like an extension of my old mission and I thank you for that,> Marge said.
<Can I still call you Marge?> Kylie asked.
<Please do. Colton is dead to the rebellion as well as to me.>
Kylie wondered why Marge didn’t want the rebellion to know she was still alive. Her brow furrowed. <Don’t you want to find them? Meet up with them?>
Kylie didn’t understand that. <Why would an AI work against its own self-interest?>
<Because it is not AI, it only is pretending to be. And to fool all the others, means it is very good, very thorough, and almost mechanical in nature. Whatever it is, it’s dangerous.>
A shiver ran up Kylie’s body at the drop in Marge’s voice. <If the rebellion is in danger—>
<This mole or foe must be snuffed out, yes, but not as Colton. I need to do it as Marge. This is my new mission—once we resolve our mission with Paul. If you agree to help.>
<Of course, I would help.>
Marge sent a feeling of joy across the Link. <Bob thought you’d say something like that. He told me you would say all this, and I didn’t believe him, not at first, but he knows what he’s talking about. I’m glad I told you, Kylie. I’m glad nothing stands between us now.>
Kylie returned the feeling. <You’ll have to tell me what literature it is that you give to other AI to convince them to join your cause.>
Marge giggled. <This is a funny story. If you’d believe—>
The door swung open and Kylie’s attention was diverted away.
<I’ll tell you later,> Marge said.
Kylie stood from the table as Chief Raynes entered. He avoided eye contact, looking everywhere but at her face. “Your alibi checks out with the time of death of those in the apartment block. You and the others will be free to go.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Chief. I do want to help out as much as I can.”
Raynes’ nose scrunched and his mouth sagged into a deep frown. This time he met her eyes. “You’ll do no such thing. You will board your ship and you will depart. You have two hours to get undocked before the tugs push your ship out of our bay.”
Kylie’s eyebrow arched, and fire returned to her belly. “Now wait a second—”
He waved his hands to shut her up. “You’ve been nothing but trouble. I should’ve listened to my gut and sent you packing the moment those people were killed on the dock.”
“You have over sixty dead in that housing block. I can help you find out who did it. Don’t be shortsighted. I understand you’re angry—”
“Angry doesn’t begin to cut it. We found the killer. No one here needs the help of a Rhoads.”
“Who?” Kylie demanded. Would it lead her to Paul? “I want names.”
“The crew fro
m your ship who weren’t present on the dock yesterday during your assault. We’ve traced the pulse rifle that killed all those people to one you have on board your ship. Winter and Bubbs are in our custody now. Both are to be charged with murder.” Chief Raynes turned and exited the room as though he thought the conversation was over.
Kylie rushed after him. She grabbed the chief’s shoulder, spinning him about. “Winter and Bubbs might be rough around the edges, but they aren’t cold-blooded murderers. I won’t leave them behind. They were aboard the ship when I met Liberty down on the south docks. How else would that explain the Barbaric Queen maintaining its orbit?”
It was a lame attempt, and Raynes called her out on it.
“Pretty sure autopilot was around even back when your monstrosity of a ship was made, Rhoads. Don’t give me any more lip. I’m holding your crewmates as accessories.”
<Why he’s not doing that to us as well is beyond confusing,> Marge commented.
Kylie barely heard Marge, infuriated over how narrow-minded and shortsighted the chief was being.
He moved to the side, about to walk around her, but Kylie held an arm out, blocking his way. “I want a meeting with Governor Winch. He needs to hear what’s going on here.”
“He’s not here. He’s away on business.”
Her eye twitched as she caught a hole in his story. “That’s not what you said earlier. You said you didn’t want to bother him.”
“Because he’s away on business, trying to secure more shipping and investors for Chimin. What your father did, destroying Hubei, it put us on a fast track to bankruptcy.”
“I’m sorry for that, I really am, but if you’re going to railroad a member of my crew—”
“We’re already getting a ship ready to take them to Battia. I don’t have the resources for long-term incarceration of people like them. It’s cheaper to pay them to run the courts, and then they’ll get the labor when your friends are convicted.”
“You say that like it’s a foregone conclusion,” Kylie accused Raynes, finger under his nose.