Heirs of Earth (21 page)

“You really
are
keeping a low profile these days, aren’t you, Caryl?” said Axford, looking sidelong at her. “Still, it was nice to see you back in the thick of things earlier. Just because Thor can manage on her own doesn’t mean she should have to do it all the time.”

She turned to face him and held for a beat, watching him. He looked back at her with a faintly amused expression in his eyes.

“Tell me, Frank,” she said, ignoring his unsubtle stab at small talk. “How
were
you intending to get us out of the hole ship earlier on? You never did explain.”

“Because there was no need to,” he said.

“Surely we have a right to know just what our resources are,” she said. “What if something were to happen to you and—?”

“If something happens to me, then my hidden capacity is irrelevant, no?”

“Not to us, not necessarily. We might still be able to use it, so you should tell us. This is supposed to be a team effort.” When he didn’t respond, she pushed a little harder. “Come on, Frank. What is it? Are you packed full of antimatter explosives or something?”

He tilted his head to one side for an instant, then straightened again. “That’s not it, Caryl.”

“You could be lying.”

“I doubt you’d believe me if I said I wasn’t. In fact, were I to be completely honest, you’d still have your doubts. So, frankly, I don’t see the point.” Axford tapped his forehead gently. “My secret is staying right here until I’m ready to reveal it.”

“Fine.” She sighed with genuine frustration. What with Axford’s hidden secrets and Alander’s strange Praxis-given memories, it seemed like everyone had something to hide. “You win. But this isn’t supposed to be a competition. Not between us.”

He laughed. “That’s exactly what it is, Caryl. That’s what it will always be. You and I will never be able to comfortably cohabit. Trust me.”

The bluntness of his words, and the apparent cheerfulness with which they were delivered, sent a chill down her spine. “Perhaps we won’t need to,” she said after a moment. “It’s a big galaxy, after all.”

“A galaxy that I intend to own one day.”

“
Own,
Frank? Is that a threat?”

He shook his head. “No threat, Caryl. I’m simply telling you as I see it. And you of all people should be able to appreciate what I’m saying. That’s what makes you simultaneously my chief competitor and my chief ally. We both know that the engrams are just a step up the ladder. It’s what lies at the
top
of the ladder that is the prize. Together or apart, we might just get there one day.”

They were speaking softly now, less by speech than by coded sounds too soft for the others to hear.

“I’d say the Starfish might have something to say about that.”

“And perhaps this is what it’s all about—all the destruction and hope dashing. The Spinners or their servants are blindly going about their uplift program while the Starfish blithely knock everyone back down again. Maybe there’s simply no more room at the top. Maybe the Starfish are among the uplifted who don’t want to share what they have. Who knows?”

“If that’s the case,” she said, “then what’s the point of fighting?”

“Because this is our first test, Caryl. If and when we pass it, we’ll be able to move on to the second test. And make no mistake, there
will
be a second test. It’s only taken a few thousand years for the first test to stumble across us; think how quickly we might stumble across the next threat when we actually head out into the stars looking.”

“You make it sound like we’re in college or something.”

He shook his head firmly. “Far from it, Caryl. This is evolution, red in tooth and claw. The Yuhl didn’t pass the test; they’re stuck in their Pax Praxis forever, unable to migrate or change. The Pllix and the
A|kak|a/riil
didn’t pass the test, either; they’re clinging like limpets to the underbellies of the Starfish pest controllers. If we are to survive, then we must be better than them. If we are to go up another rung in the great evolutionary ladder, then we’re going to have to fight back with all our heart and willpower.”

She thought about this for a moment, staring at the screens that depicted the almost dreamlike environment that they were navigating through. Then: “Tell me, Frank: what do
you
think is at the top of that ladder?”

He smiled at this and shrugged lightly. “I have absolutely no idea, Caryl. How could I? Does an ant about to be crushed underfoot have any concept of what a human foot might look like, let alone the entire being? We simply don’t have the mental capacity to
imagine
what we might find there at the top.”

“But that doesn’t stop you from wanting to get there, does it?”

“Nor does it stop me from looking for allies to help me get there.”

“You’ve got a strange way of going about it,” she said.

“It doesn’t come naturally. That I’ll admit.” He smiled, and for a brief moment some of his intensity seemed to boil off. “It might only be the fact that I’ve been abandoned here by the others—by the versions of me who’ve taken their chances with the Praxis—but at this point in time, anything is looking good. Even this motley bunch.”

“But you’re still not prepared to tell us what the ace up your sleeve is?”

A short, definite shake of the head. “A guy’s gotta have some secrets, Caryl.”

On the screens, the dense thicket of interlocked cones had thinned, opening up to form a wide, domed space that reminded Sol vaguely of the pocket immediately behind the cornea of a human eye.
Eledone
reported that they had entered a region of relatively clean vacuum, with low particle counts and very little stray energy.

“There must be a hull breach nearby,” said Samson hopefully.

Thor stirred at this, quickly standing and alert. “We’ve found the way out?”

“It’s possible,” said Alander.

“This is your last chance to change your mind,” Axford said to Thor.

“I’m aware of that.” Thor didn’t look as though the rest had moved her even remotely to changing her mind. Bald and lean, with a hungry look that Sol’s other engrams lacked, her attention was firmly focused on the information displayed on the screens before her. “What’s that up there?” she asked, pointing.

Eledone
zoomed the view to reveal a twinkling point high on the giant cornea’s ceiling. “I am detecting a scattering of laser light at that point,” announced the AI.

“It looks like a tear to me,” said Thor. “Head for it as discreetly as you can, Cleo. I know we’re going to stand out in here, no matter what we do, but I think we can minimize the disturbance. Not too many g’s; don’t aim straight for it, bring us in on a wide spiral—whatever it takes. I’ll leave the finer details up to you.”

Samson gripped the command stalk, and
Eledone
swept off on an entirely new course. The twinkling point of light quickly resolved into a jagged line—a tear, just as Thor had proposed. As they drew nearer, Sol made out black points crawling and hopping along its inside edges. They became sharply defined, rounded shapes, like helmets with multiple legs. Whatever they were, they were clearly in the process of widening the tear, and they were doing so with both speed and ease. As each chunk of the translucent retinal material fell away, they scooped it up and stored it under their carapaces, opening winglike shells to expose cargo bays beneath.

Like black ladybugs,
she thought. Only these ladybugs were equipped with cutting lasers and reactionless thrusters.

As
Eledone
approached in a lazy, nonthreatening arc, the black bugs scattered with lasers flashing, gathering a moment later at the other end of the tear.

“I am receiving a complex repeated signal,” said
Eledone.
“The cypher employed is not one with which I am familiar.”

Thor turned immediately to Alander. “Peter? Do you recognize these things?”

He glanced away from the screen to face Thor. “Nothing’s coming to me,” he said. “Sorry.”

She sighed. “So starting up a conversation with them is obviously out of the question.”

“At least they’re not overtly hostile,” put in Gou Mang. “Which makes a nice change.”

The bugs appeared to be making a pyramid out of themselves as
Eledone
drew closer.

“Hey, look!” said Inari. “I can see stars through the tear!”

Sol peered closer at the image she indicated. There did indeed seem to be stars visible between to ragged lips of the tear, but they were shimmering as though viewed through exceedingly hot air. What was causing the effect, she couldn’t tell. There might have been a field effect of some kind surrounding the breach, an antidepressurization system that had come into effect too late to save this area from evacuation. Or perhaps atmosphere boiling from the breached cutter had crystallized in the vacuum, clouding the view.

“Whatever they are, I don’t think there’s any point worrying about the bugs anymore,” Thor said, watching the way they scrambled to link limbs and carapaces. It appeared as though they were trying to build a small, thick wall to keep the
Eledone
at bay.
Making themselves look larger,
Sol speculated.
Making themselves more threatening than they really are.

“I say we go for it,” Thor said.

“Once more into the breach, eh?” said Axford, grinning.

“Something like that,” said Thor. “Take us through, Cleo.”

Samson straightened
Eledone’s
course and accelerated for the stars. The bugs reacted instantly, flexing their stubby black legs and causing the wall to contract into a solid structure. A squat bug squeezed out of the middle, its forelegs raised high. Blue sparks crawled across gleaming carapaces, tickling antenna and glinting eyes.

This doesn’t look good
, Sol thought.

Barely had she finished the thought when a bright flash filled the screen, followed a split second later by
Eledone
bouncing in midflight.

“
Eledone?
What the fuck—?”

Another flash cut Thor off in midquestion. Sol felt Alander’s hand grip her shoulder, steadying himself against the resulting disturbance. The source of the attack was clearly the central bug in the combined alien assembly. Its forelegs spat densely woven bullets of energy that were powerful enough to make even the hole ship think twice.

“I am sustaining damage,”
Eledone
announced in a deadpan tone.

“Can we ride it out?” Thor asked as a third bolt blinded all the screens simultaneously. When they cleared, the distance between the tear and their former location had halved.

“There is a chance that we can get through intact,” said Samson.

“But there’s also a chance we won’t,” said Axford, bracing himself against a wall as the hole ship rocked again beneath another attack.

“Just do your best, Cleo!” Thor called out with a grimace. “Everyone else, hang on!”

The bugs spat again. The intensity of each shot increased as the distance separating them decreased. Sol fell to her knees on the fifth, and thick webs of energy filled the air as
Eledone’
s less subtle safety measures came into effect. She could move only in slow motion, as though caught in gel.

Her eyes stayed fixed on the screens as the bugs fired again. The distance between them was shrinking rapidly, as evidenced by how violently the cockpit shook. There was time for maybe two more shots before they reached the tear. Alien faces molded out of gleaming black shells glared alarmingly at them from the screens.

“Almost there!” groaned Thor through the anti-impact field. The team members were liberally scattered through the cockpit now, some touching the ground, some suspended in midair. Sol had just enough time to think how ridiculous they must have looked when the final shot hit, and every screen around them went white.

There was a moment of disconnection as
Eledone
rocketed through the tear with considerable momentum, flashing past the bugs and through any field effects that might have tried to impede them. Sol was frozen, unable to move and helpless to assist in any way. The hole ship was flying blind, the last shot having left its instruments dead. She could only pray that the effect was temporary.

Soon the anti-impact field eased enough for Sol to turn her head and look at Thor.

“
Eledone,”
Thor ground out through clenched teeth. “Report!”

“I have sustained damage,” replied the AI, its voice more wooden than normal. “Repairs are under way.”

“How long until we can see again?”

“Ten seconds.”

Sol anxiously counted them down, living ten seconds for every one. It seemed to take forever, but at the end of it,
Eledone
was as good as its word, and the screens flickered back to life.

Sol strained against the anti-impact field, not immediately comprehending exactly what she was seeing. Images in numerous frequencies conveyed strange, contradictory impressions that, when combined, made her dizzy. There was something that looked like a planet; at least, it was as big as two Earths combined, but in some frequencies it was riddled with holes, and in others it seemed to balloon outward in a massive torus. Tapering filaments stretched across the sky, which was rippling just as it had been when glimpsed through the tear.

Camouflage,
Sol thought, wondering what the effect looked like from the outside.

A shape reminiscent of the Trident hung superimposed across the rippling starscape, lit from below, with streams of ships flowing to and from it. Three more of the giant vessels were visible in the distance; one appeared to be hunchbacked, sporting two extra horns or tines midway along its spine. There were other things Sol couldn’t immediately identify: a blowing plasma bubble that oscillated every two or three seconds, sprouting numerous thin, elongated arms that whipped out to touch passing vessels; a net of stressed space-time that filled the bubble of space contained by the camouflage field, giving the vacuum a wavy, gridlike aspect unlike anything she’d seen before in the natural universe; a liberal dusting of hyperdense objects that darted to and fro under impossible accelerations; a distant point of light that looked like an artificial star sending vast, looping magnetic field lines across everything.