Rhythm of the Imperium (14 page)

When I was old enough to understand but not old enough to have put my desires into motion, my mother had sat me down for The Talk. She did not trust it, as other parents had, to the nannies or carebots that looked after us. She explained that because of the responsibility to my rank and position in the nobility, I could not simply indulge myself in hopeless passions or casual affairs. We of the Imperium dynasty needed to be careful. It was rude to break hearts or make promises we knew we could not keep. Going farther than that was out of the question. Not only was it unlikely to result in a long-term relationship, but it was against the laws created to protect the succession. None of us denied our natural impulses absolutely, of course. My cousin Xan was the most profligate among us as far as casual relationships went.

But this girl, something about her fascinated and attracted me. My heart told me to declare itself, but my brain reminded me that it would come to nothing. Dr. Derrida, for all her accomplishments and long string of academic titles, not to mention her amazing vocation as companion to an enigmatic and ancient alien, was a commoner. No real alliance between us was possible. Still, my imagination insisted on painting for me a whirlwind courtship full of moonlight and laughter, followed by a formal wedding, which dissolved into a charming cottage home in the middle of a green valley, with adorable, dimpled children that looked just like her running around and laughing. I was shocked, all the more because I did my level best to avoid any emotional entanglements that might propel me into one of those uncomfortable and interminable ceremonies which were
de rigeur
for one of my rank formalizing a sanctioned and approved permanent relationship. The rest of my family, had they the least inkling of what my imagination was up to, would have called an intervention and removed me from the planet, at least until the lady had decided to move on to a different locale, preferably in a galaxy far, far away.

Something must have showed on my face, because Dr. Derrida—Laine—gave me a peculiar glance as I approached her.

“What are you thinking?” she asked.

Her shrill voice brought me to my senses. I improvised hastily, something at which I was becoming more adept by the moment.

“I am fascinated to meet the Zang,” I said.

“They are fascinating,” she said. She stopped in a narrow arroyo where the winds blew on us from five different passageways at once. They all looked rather alike, but after a moment’s hesitation, she took the second opening on the left. “This way.” She scurried forward at speed, crunching over the fine gravel. I opened my stride to catch up with her. Redius and Deirdre hurried in our wake.

“What shall I say to it when we meet?” I asked.

“They don’t really speak as we know it,” Laine said, glancing back now and again over her shoulder. “It has only spoken to me a few times, even though I’ve been with it for many years. Most of the time I gain impressions, which are pretty accurate. I’ve always been good at body language. Please don’t be offended if it never looks at you. Most humans aren’t real enough for it to notice.”

“But it’s here to try and notice us, or so I have been informed,” I said.

“That’s right. As Zang go, it’s a scholar of lower orders … Please don’t be offended,” she said hastily, as my brow drew down at her words.

“I’m not.” I was pleased to realize I felt the truth of my assertion. “To the Zang, even
my
family is of a lower order.” She gave me an odd look. I changed the subject to cover our momentary mutual discomfort. “This is quite a labyrinth. How do you know where to find the Zang?” My voice echoed off the pink, tan and white sandstone walls and was lost in the distance.

“It has a presence,” she said, taking my hand. I fancied that I felt a spark as we touched. Had she noticed it? “You’ll know as soon as you meet it. Can’t you feel something ahead of us? It’ll grow stronger as we go.”

I opened all my senses. I was becoming accustomed to gathering impressions, but nearly all of them had been in the realm of the most common seven, including sense of place and time. I realized I did feel a presence, so to speak, almost a pressure upon my prefrontal cortex, my third eye, as I might have said, with reference to my previous enthusiasm. The sensation warned me to be wary of what lay ahead. I glanced back at my friends, to see if they felt any of that. They did. Redius’s eyes were open as wide as they could go. To my surprise, Madame Deirdre was enjoying the experience.

“My goodness,” she said. “It’s so … primal!”

At that moment, we snaked around a curve in the raspy-textured passageway, a silver-white glow suffused the surrounding stone, and the primitive centers of my brain all bowed down in awe.

“Here it is!” Laine announced. She let go of my hand and stood aside to make room for us to approach.

Indeed, we had encountered A Presence. The Zang was surrounded by so much sensation that it was difficult to look at it. Unlike anyone I had ever met before, I had the impression of a personality in advance of a physical one. The notion fascinated me so much that I stood drinking in the waves of force that struck me and passed through me. I felt as though I could hear distant voices calling over the crackling of nebular energy and the whoosh of solar winds.

In a way I could not have expressed easily in words, I had the sense that Proton Zang was ancient beyond anything that I had thought a living being could be. It was charming and avuncular, and I knew I could not fool it in the slightest by any posturing or appearance I could muster. I would have to strive to be as real as possible to be worthy of its acquaintance.

I became aware of eyes like eternal pools, deep and silver, set into its side among vertical crenelations. I willed them to turn toward me. The massive torso shifted. I felt a thrill go through me. Would they stop on me? What would I do if it noticed me? How should I respond?

Instead, the glowing gaze traveled beyond my upturned and hopeful face, and stopped on Laine. It had not noticed me or my companions at all.

An emotional impulse rather than words formed in my mind.
She is special.

I know
, I thought out at it, filled with sudden and overwhelming affection toward Dr. Derrida.
She is!

I became aware of a moment of scrutiny like a gigantic burst of energy as a wisp, a thread, a particle, of Proton’s consciousness touched me. It swiftly passed away, leaving me almost breathless. We had shared a moment. I was enchanted.

Redius looked suddenly uncomfortable. He gasped for air and felt for the wall of the canyon to lean upon.

“Scanning,” he said.

“More than scanning, wouldn’t you say?” I asked, wryly. “It took us, wrung out the interesting parts, and left the husks. I’ve never felt anything like that. Have you?”

“No! Nor would again!”

“I’m afraid this is just the beginning,” I said. “It’s coming with us all the way to the platform.”

Redius narrowed his eyes. He made himself slow his breathing.

“I know. Struggling.”

Laine leaned toward the Zang. I admired the way she seemed entirely comfortable beside this awe-inspiring being.

“Our contacts from the human ship have arrived.” She was doing more than talking. Somehow, she was conveying information to the Zang through force of will.

Fighting the impulse to flee the intensity of its reality, I moved around to the eyes to which Laine had addressed her remarks, and bowed deeply. It did not repeat the pulse that I had felt. I was a little disappointed. I had hoped that it would learn to notice me as it did her.

In a sense, its indifference was a relief. It gave me a respite during which I could study it more closely without feeling my own unimportance.

At a distance, it would have appeared to be a ridged, upright cylinder, narrowing slightly from its base to its top. In color, it seemed to be a pearly gray with a dash of the kind of pure blue one saw in glacier ice. If I had had to make a simile between it and anything in my personal experience, it would be as though an ancient tree trunk cut off at eight or nine feet at an angle had been petrified and replaced with moonstone instead of opal. I could not help but be struck by its beauty as well as the impression of age. No, more than age. Eternity. Yes. At once I began to re-choreograph my welcome dance, and wished Parsons was present so I could obtain permission to perform it.

“Would you like to go to our ship now?” I asked Laine. “Our transport is waiting at the edge of the park.”

Professor Derrida studied her companion. I felt the brush of energy pass by me toward her again.

“Not yet,” Laine said. She drew us away from the Zang to the other side of the stone passage. “It is gathering impressions.”

“What a coincidence,” I said, immediately feeling a minor kinship to this fantastic being. I turned to the Zang. “I am a student of interpretive dance. Madame Deirdre,” I indicated the lady, “is my teacher. I wanted to gain some insights on this very Earthlike planet.” Deirdre curtseyed gracefully. The Zang noticed neither of us.

“Yes, I admired your impromptu dance a lot,” Laine said, her warm amber eyes fixing on me. “It was terribly sad. I would love to see one of your formal performances.”

“I would be delighted,” I said, then I glanced toward the Zang and remembered my promise to Parsons. “Later on. Join me for dinner.”

“Thank you,” she said, looking up at me with interest. “I’d enjoy that!”

“I look forward to introducing you to my cousins,” I continued. I was aware that my outpouring bordered on babbling, but I couldn’t stem the spate of words. “They will have so many questions for you about the Zang.”

“I’ll be happy to answer anything I can!” Laine laughed, in a register that I fancied annoyed dogs for miles in all directions.

“And I will perform for them, as well. I have been gathering some very interesting impressions of Counterweight that I wish to share with my cousins.”

She laughed again, showing very white teeth behind her rosebud lips. “I would love to see them! Proton has been doing very much the same thing. It would be interesting to compare your observations.”

“No doubt,” I said. I frowned. “But how will I know what it is thinking?”

“I’ll give you its impressions. That’s all I ever get.” Laine smiled at me. I melted in the warmth of her regard. It would be my pleasure to travel with her, as long as fate allowed.

“Look out!”

A voice echoed throughout the chasm. I glanced up to see one of the immense hanging stones hurtling down on us. In horror, I realized it was falling directly toward the Zang. Without regard for my own safety, I threw myself at it.

I touched an impossibly cold column of air, then I hurtled against the cliff face, scraping my palms and barking the toes of my boots. In the next moment, a body landed on top of mine just as a multi-ton chunk of rock impacted into the ground behind us. An immense crack sounded. I fought to get free, fearing that I had missed my rescue, and the sound had issued from the Zang’s exoskeleton being crushed.

Redius rose, brushing sand and stone fragments from his robe. He pulled me upright. A cloud of dust enveloped us both. I coughed, expelling a kilogram or so of gravel from my lungs.

“Sorry!” a voice echoed down to us from the heights. A young man in casual clothes waved, an embarrassed and worried look on his face. Hovering park rangerbots enameled in khaki surrounded him and escorted him away from the edge. I heard them reading him his rights.

“Intact?” Redius asked me.

“Yes!” I said. I examined my palms. They were only scraped. “Is the Zang all right?”

I turned, with some difficulty, finding myself ankle-deep in freshly crushed gravel and pebbles. The fallen stone, now broken in half, filled most of the narrow passage in which we had been standing. The Zang stood some ten meters away, looking serenely uninvolved and intact.

“Stone fell through,” Redius explained.

“Did it?” I asked. “Do you mean it is insubstantial?”

“Or disbelieved stone’s solidity.” He dropped his jaw in a smile. “Predates it?”

Laine scrambled up and over the enormous rock. She gathered her full skirts in her hand as she climbed down on our side, showing a glimpse of a delightfully well-turned ankle.

“Are you all right? That was very brave of you.”

“I thought the stone would crush it,” I said.

She laughed. “Proton is pretty much impervious to harm, but I appreciate that you tried to save its life. I’ll remember that. So will Proton.”

“Really?” I asked, forgetting my new bruises in a moment. I glanced toward the Zang, but it showed no difference in posture or attitude to indicate that I was now any more real than before, but I took Laine’s assurance as a success of sorts. “I am grateful to have served in any small way.”

She gave me a smile that melted me with its warmth. No accolade could have been more rewarding. She reached out to take my hand again in her small fingers. Then, she glanced back over her shoulder at the blue-white column.

“I think it’s ready to go now. Where did you say your transport is waiting?”

CHAPTER 14

“As a result of Kail action, we have lost the services of an agent, but gained insight into a potential catastrophe,” Parsons said, pulling up the last of the images of the Kail that had been stored on the chip he had obtained in the salon, and displayed it to the officers gathered in Captain Wold’s ready room. He had inserted it into a portable player that was not attached in any way to the ship’s Infogrid system. The captains from the escort ships, present once again as holograms, had been warned to accept video and audio only, with no sideband transmissions that could carry tainted code to their own systems. He had no intention of wasting Bokie’s sacrifice.

“May we know the name of this agent?” Captain Wold said. Xe drew on a bright orange nic-tube clenched in xir small and even teeth. Parsons deplored such a habit, but could understand the need for the relaxing qualities of the drug. His report had the potential to overwhelm all the listeners with stress.

“I am sorry, Captain,” Parsons said. “Even in death, revealing the name of Covert Services operatives could put others at risk.”

Wold nodded. “I wasn’t trying to pry. I would celebrate xir courage.”

“Thank you. I will see that your sympathy is passed along through … appropriate channels.” Parsons could not explain that the bereaved were all LAIs who were attached through the Infogrid and were already aware of the gap in their numbers. “Let us instead concentrate upon the data that the agent provided. The infiltration that we detected earlier has been detected on a greater scale than we knew. The entire planet is affected.”

“But what are we going to do?” asked Captain Colwege, spreading his thick fingers in appeal. He was present only from the waist up. “We can’t shut off contact with Counterweight indefinitely. We all need to maintain communications with the fleet. The Admiralty office is demanding answers about the shutoff.”

“I have sent a copy of this report through other channels, captain,” Parsons said. “The message will deteriorate as soon as it passes each gate in turn, thereby leaving no trace for the virus program to detect. It will be passed along to the First Space Lord personally within minutes of arrival. She will be informed, and will take appropriate action.”

Lopez sat back against a chair that was invisible to those in the
Jaunter
’s ready room. “That’s a relief. She’s a stickler.”

“Yes, captain,” Parsons said. “I do not need to stress that it is necessary to protect all ships in the Imperium Navy, as well as all other vessels in space, from the Kail’s intrusion. It is not only the Kail of whom we must be wary. We do not believe that they could have accomplished this coup without the assistance of LAI personnel.”

“Traitors in the ranks?” Colwege asked, lowering mighty, white brows down over flashing eyes. “That’s outrageous! Our own crew, informing upon us?”

Parsons shook his head very slightly, inflaming some of the muscles that had been abused.

“It is believed by my late contact that few of the artificial intelligences are involved willingly, but there is no way to determine how many or how deeply without questioning them with the cooperation of our own LAIs. Unfortunately, each contact risks turning friendly electronic personnel into carriers of the command code, and thereby conveying back into the parent system.”

“Are humans—organic races—in danger?” Wold asked.

“I would work from the assumption that they are only of interest if they interfere with the Kail’s programs,” Parsons said. “As long as they don’t know about it, they’re less likely to run afoul of the Kail.”

“This is monstrous,” Atwell said. “News of this could cause riots systemwide!”

“We must inform the Counterweight senate,” Lopez said. “They ought to know what they’re dealing with.”

“It would cause too much of a panic,” Colwege argued, his snowy brows high on his forehead. “Especially among visitors. The planetary economy would be ruined, especially since nothing material can be done at the moment.”

“My department is in touch with local hacker organizations,” Parsons said. “They are beginning counterprogramming, but it will take time to see if they can close off access without seeming to do so deliberately. At present, it would seem that few people will be affected by the Kail’s investigation of databases. They have little interest in human affairs, including the economy.”

“But people should know they’re under attack!” Lopez said, leaning forward, her dark eyes blazing.

“Are they?” Parsons asked, dryly. “This appears to be chiefly an information-gathering process. Apart from proprietary data, including manufacturing secrets and the scripts for major digitavids in production, there is little that does not undergo government oversight in the Deep Grid already. And the Kail have no means of making use of that proprietary data, as they have no manufacturing centers or an arts industry.”

“It’s dangerous that they can take over secured systems,” Colwege said. “That’s my concern. You can’t dismiss that!”

“I do not. But it appears to affect only LAIs at the moment, and the systems on board the
Whiskerchin
, which appears to have been taken over only when the Wichu did not accede to the Kail’s demands. We still don’t know whether this incursion was purely defensive, or whether they have an ulterior, hostile motive. It behooves us to act, at least openly, as if we believe that they want to reach a détente with humankind.”

“Humankind and others are in
danger
,” Tamber said. “We must take action.”

“What can we do?” Wold asked, taking the nic-tube out of xir mouth and crushing it into a ball. “Blow the Wichu ship out of the sky? I’m reluctant to take any actions against a friendly. The Wichu have been our allies since humanity’s first contact with them. I would rather see them rescued.”

“As would we all,” Colwege agreed.

“It makes you see how helpless we are to get along without electronic systems,” Lopez said, almost plaintively. “Some of my best friends are LAIs. So are some of my finest officers and crew. I don’t want to feel as though they are plotting to take over my ship.”

“What defense do we have?” Lieutenant Plet asked. She and Lieutenant Oskelev sat at the far end of the table. Ordinarily, the outspoken pilot would not be included in the conference, but she had friends and distant relations on board the
Whiskerchin
.

“Insufficient, to say the least,” Parsons said. He nodded to Lieutenant Ormalus. “The communication system is tied to so many of the computer functions that there are a thousand open doors through which the rogue code could enter. Prevention is our best defense.”

“It’s terrifying that they can control any system, no matter how well defended,” Commander Atwell said. His round blue eyes seemed to pop out of his ruddy face.

“Not completely,” Parsons said. “During my … meeting, I was able to block their intrusion into one system, temporarily. More I cannot say at this time. The event must remain classified.”

“I see,” Wold said. Xe rose from xir place and paced around the table. “What can you tell us? How did you do it?”

“Through technology available to me in the Covert Services Operation.”

“Well, can’t we have it? We need it!”

Parsons allowed himself the tiniest intimation of a smile. “You already have it. I have put an upgradable anti-virus program into your communication officers’ hands. It’s been installed since my return to the ship.”

“Functions amazingly,” the Uctu officer said, vibrating her tongue. “Efficient.”

“Wonderful!” Lopez said, her dark eyes brightening. “Thank you, commander.”

“My pleasure, captain,” Parsons said, nodding his head slightly. “This is the first time that the program is being deployed by any but Covert Services operatives, so the interface may seem obscure to most, but we feel that it stands the best chance of fending off the intrusion. It must be constantly updated, of course, which relies upon quantum connection with the Infogrid. The difficulty in that is if the Kail access the Infogrid and infiltrate it with programs provided to them by the rogue LAIs. They might be able to piggyback upon the program and receive the updates as we get them. As those must be activated by an organic agent, they won’t be able to make use of all of them, but they might be able to use a gap in coverage to infiltrate systems further.”

“It sounds hopeless,” Wold said, throwing up xir hands. “I’m ready to return to Keinolt.”

“Impossible,” Parsons said. “Until the Covert Services is convinced that this ship is free of Kail control, you would not be allowed within hailing distance of the Core Worlds.”

“The nobles won’t like that!” Wold said. Xe rose and began to pace.

“Under the circumstances, you may as well continue to the platform and allow them to see the spectacle,” Parsons said. He checked the simple chronometer that he had placed in his belt pouch in lieu of the viewpad he did not dare trust. “Lord Thomas will be returning with Proton Zang very shortly. If nothing else, we can leave orbit as soon as the rest of the nobles are on board.”

“If no LAIs scuttle our engines and blow up our life support!” Atwell growled. “Never liked them.”

“Don’t plenty of them work for you?” Lopez asked, sweetly.

“I can’t help that! They’re everywhere!”

Special Envoy Garricka Wu Melarides, seated at the side of the table beside her charge d’affaires, cleared her throat. A motherly-looking woman with thick steel-gray hair tied in a figure-eight bun at the back of her head, she had a prosperous, plump figure and a serene, oblong face that exuded calm. The calf-length gray tunic she wore over white trousers that was the consular services’ uniform looked casual and comfortable, rather than formal and off-putting.

“I believe I have a solution,” Melarides said. Wold turned to her, albeit with a skeptical expression.

“What is it?”

“We have already arranged for custody of the Zang, thereby ensuring that we control access to it. I will prepare a statement to the Kail, outlining our conditions for contact. One of them will be that they are not permitted access to any of the ship’s electronic or communication systems, and no access to any LAIs or AIs except for the assistive personnel that will be assigned to them. I can easily order the translatorbots and other staff who will have ongoing contact with them to shut down other functions until further notice. That way, we can bring the Kail on board the
Jaunter
, removing them from the
Whiskerchin
altogether. They will be able to meet with the Zang as they wish, the Wichu ship will be back in the control of the crew, and we can oversee the Kail.”

“No!” Captain Wold said, xir face turning red. Xe slammed a fist onto the ready room table. “Endanger the lives of His Highness’s relations by taking those things on board? No. I don’t want a crowd of Kail on my ship! The nobles are enough trouble all by themselves.”

“But, captain,” Melarides said, with a pleasant smile, “this only advances the hour at which we would have had to allow the Kail access to the ship anyhow. This is a marvelous opportunity. My staff and I would jump at the chance to study them further. We know so little about them. The Imperium’s xenobiologists have little data. We can add to that. The fact that they agreed to a meeting with the Imperium while we are on the platform is unprecedented. I look at this as a chance to begin our negotiations early. We’ll have weeks instead of hours to get to know them.”

“What if it tries to do to the
Jaunter
what it has already done to the
Whiskerchin
?” xe asked. “We have no guarantee they won’t try to take over.”

“Captain Wold, I beg of you to consider,” Melarides said, leaning forward over her clasped hands. “Captain Bedelev said that the Kail changed the ship’s course in order to communicate with a Zang ahead of time. I would love to take that same opportunity to advance our cause with the Kail before the spectacle, when they might be too absorbed in the Zang’s activity to pay close attention to our negotiations. I remind you that the Emperor himself is deeply interested in our success.”

Wold sat down. Xe seemed ready to reach for another nic-tube, but instead folded xir hands in the same manner as the envoy.

“Ambassador Melarides, I know His Highness is concerned about the meeting, but it was expected that the Kail would make their own way to the platform. This ship is not prepared to take on board a potential enemy who have already proven that they can disrupt vital functions. They did whatever they pleased to the
Whiskerchin
. What assurance do we have that they will not do it to us?”

“We’ll keep them under control,” Melarides said, with confidence. She sat upright. “With the help of Commander Parsons and my staff, we’ll keep them
happy
. They won’t need to cause trouble. They’ll get what they want.”

“Are we sure that meeting the Zang is all they want?”

“I don’t know. We must trust them to a certain extent, or we will never achieve peace between our peoples,” Melarides said. “Let us make the offer. We will make it clear that we need assurances in order to make this meeting as positive an experience for all parties as we can. That will require some give and take. They made demands, true. That means that they cannot accomplish what they wish on their own. They made compromises to take passage on the
Whiskerchin
. We will let them know what we need, and see what they say.”

Parsons held himself erect, even though his healing bruises and cuts thudded in pain with each beat of his heart. “The fact that they changed course to arrive here at the same time as Proton means they must have intended all along to meet with the Zang. Whether or not their main aim was to witness the spectacle is open to question. This might be the aim of their journey. Unless my studies have given me a false impression, they do not travel out of their space very often.”

“No, they don’t,” Melarides said, with a world-weary smile. “They’re not comfortable among us or any of the other carbon-based species. I have to keep in mind that they may only have agreed to meet with the Emperor’s representatives in order to enter Imperium space. We can still make use of this moment. We want them to feel that we are friendly. His Highness would prefer to have peace on every border. My team means to try.”