Star Force 12 Demon Star (38 page)

“I get the feeling he’s angry,” Adrienne said. “What happened out there, Cody?”

“This response is my fault,” I said. “I let Marvin run wild. The robot jabbed a needle into him, so to speak.”

Adrienne’s console bleeped, and she ran to it. I signaled for her to answer the call.

Farswimmer’s image loomed on the main screen. He wanted to know what was going on and what I was going to do about it. After he finished explaining his concerns at length, I jumped into the channel to answer him.

“We’re working on it,” I told him. “You’ll be informed when we take action.”

“We were not informed the first time you took action,” he pointed out. “This situation exceeds anything we’d expected in the wake of our attack upon Tartarus.”

“We feel the same way, Farswimmer. Are you able to calculate how long we have, at the current rate of transfer, before the plasma cloud starts causing problems to your orbital facilities or your planet? It seems to be heading in your direction.”

“Our preliminary estimates show it will take several days before any of our infrastructure must be evacuated. The cloud’s progress is slowing down—perhaps coming through the ring or gravitational effects are reducing its velocity.”

“Days?” I asked. I’d hoped to have more time.

“If it’s going for the planet,” Hansen said, “they won’t have time to evacuate their population.”

Unfortunately, Farswimmer overheard Hansen’s comment.

“Evacuate our…” Farswimmer began in alarm. “Are you suggesting, Captain Riggs, that this creature means to scorch our world?”

“It’s a possibility,” I admitted. “I don’t know what he’s trying to do. Valiant, give me your analysis of this phenomenon.”

“Tartarus itself masses approximately seven thousand Earths,” began the ship, “which is over thirty times the mass of the target gas giant. Measurements indicate this plasma’s mass is approximately one percent of the original star’s matter.”

“Seventy Earth’s worth of mass,” Hansen said, whistling.

“When the entire mass has passed through the ring,” Valiant went on, “Trinity-9 will begin to deform due to gravitic and tidal stresses. If the cloud continues to encroach upon the planet, Trinity-9 will start to come apart. These predictions are based on the effects of gravity alone. There are other possible threats from purposeful destruction.”

Oh, God,
I thought,
have I killed your world, Farswimmer?

Outwardly, I projected confidence.

“Plenty of time,” I said firmly. “We’ll kill this cloud, or chase it off long before it comes down to that. Cease analysis, Valiant.”

“Analysis incomplete,” complained the ship.

“Yes,” I chuckled, wishing I had a kill-switch for both the brainbox and Hansen. “You keep working on those numbers in your head. I’ll get us some real data to go on.”

“I don’t have an actual ‘head’ to contain my software. Are you by chance referring—”

“Mute on, Valiant,” I said sternly.

The ship finally shut up. I turned toward the holotank and faked a smile. “Don’t worry, Farswimmer. I already have a plan.”

“What would be the nature of this plan?” he demanded. All of his normal sense of detachment was gone. “Billions of shared-minds want to know the details.”

“Before I alarm you with radical thoughts, let me consult with my crew and my AI, all right? We’ll be in touch shortly.”

“All right, but please don’t become distracted. You have three days, Captain Riggs, according to your own machine.”

“Not a problem!”

The connection faded out, and I let loose a vast sigh of discontentment.

Hansen eyed me. “You’ve got nothing, right skipper?”

“Not a thing. Valiant, mute off.”

“As I was saying—”

“Valiant, that conversation is at an end. Work on the problem as directed, please.”

The brainbox finally shut up, but I sensed a certain resentment in its attitude. Maybe this was why Star Force periodically wiped these boxes and reset them. There was definitely such a thing as too much personality when it came to AIs.

“Why would you give Farswimmer false hope?” Adrienne demanded.

“To prevent panic,” I said. “Also, people with hope generally function better. If I’d told them the probable truth, they might have become paralyzed with fear. Besides, I didn’t want to listen to his recriminations. This is a time to work on solutions, not point fingers.”

“But you’ve killed our world as well,” Cybele said quietly from behind me.

I turned and raised my eyebrows at her. Normally, I was happy to see her lovely form, but today, she’d stepped onto the bridge during the conversation without authorization.

“Ellada won’t last long against a mad god,” she said, staring out at the glowing mass that was an Ancient in the flesh. “You’ve brought this creature so close to us…”

Cybele looked so sweet and worried it hurt me to look at her.

“I’ll figure something out,” I mumbled without conviction.

“I hope you do, Captain Riggs,” she said. “You think that our ways are odd, but for ten thousand years our civilization has stood the test of time. Now, after one season of battle, we find ourselves on the brink of annihilation.”

Giving her my warmest smile, I felt like putting my hands on her shoulders—but I restrained myself.

“I accept the responsibility for this screw-up,” I said softly. “At least the endless war with the Demons is over. Isn’t that worth celebrating?”

“Yes…if we survive the aftermath.”

“How, Captain?” Hansen asked from behind me. “How’re you going to get us out of this one?”

“You’ll see,” I tossed over my shoulder at him, “Marvin has a plan. It’s in motion right now.”

Hansen snorted. “We can see that, sir.”

One of the screens was, indeed, showing Marvin’s last known position. He’d flown far away, running for cover, it appeared. I gave Hansen a glare, and he withdrew. The crew turned away with him to attend their stations. Everyone was worried.

Cybele walked close to me and lowered her voice.

“Do you really have this matter in hand, Captain?” she asked.

“Don’t worry. You’ll see.”

She gave me an angelic smile of relief and squeezed my hand.

I felt a pang of guilt. Sure, I was making her happy, but I wasn’t being truthful. Still, the look on her face was almost worth it.

She took another step closer. I felt her warmth. She looked like she might even kiss me. I was mesmerized for a moment, unable to move.

Suddenly, Adrienne stood up from her post. Her chair was left spinning behind her. I avoided her gaze as she came uncomfortably near.

“Thanks for coming up and visiting the bridge, Cybele,” Adrienne said evenly, “but don’t you have work to do below decks?”

“Yes, of course,” Cybele said, and she retreated.

Adrienne watched her go with hate in her eyes. “She’s been coming on to you lately. Why do all these Elladan girls have to be so sexy?”

“It’s just a cultural thing, Adrienne,” I said. “You don’t have to feel threatened. Uh…where are you going?”

Adrienne trailed Cybele off the bridge.

“I’m going to make sure she doesn’t strip down and climb into our bunk,” she said over her shoulder.

Hansen came up to me laughing after the two women had left. “Two girls, double the trouble! You’re just like your old man, you know that Riggs?”

“Far from it. I’ve stuck to Adrienne since we left Earth—well, almost.”

“Well, it hardly matters now,” Hansen said. “In my opinion, we’re screwed anyway. Discipline will hold for a while, Captain, but once the crew realizes their promised paradise is likely to be destroyed, they’ll start to waver.”

“Then we’ll have to stop that cloud, won’t we?” I asked. “Let me get off the bridge to think and grab a meal. When I get back, we’ll start work.”

“You’ve really got a plan to fight a god?” Hansen asked.

“I’ve got a plan to come up with a plan,” I replied. This seemed to amuse Hansen. “Astrolyssos is big and powerful,” I continued, “but he’s not a god. He has his limits, otherwise we’d be dead by now. All we have to do is figure out where he’s vulnerable and exploit that area.”

With that, I left my XO standing on the bridge. There’d be plenty of time to explain later. Besides, I didn’t have it all worked out in my head yet.

I dumped my suit, showered and stuffed my face, then returned to the bridge. I wanted to talk to Marvin, but he’d vanished again.
Greyhound
was nowhere to be found. I had the feeling he knew that if Astrolyssos could find him, there’d be hell to pay.

Frustrated, I decided to make an all-out attempt to reach Marvin. I used the ansible system, and I pumped it up to maximum power.

“Marvin,” I said, hoping my voice was booming into whatever passed for the auditory portion of his mind, “I know you can hear me, wherever you are. Talk to me.”

I waited a dozen seconds. Then a full minute. There was no response. Not even static.

“Okay then,” I said, “I’ve got no choice other than to reveal Valiant’s projected estimate of your current course and position. Astrolyssos might take that information as part of a bargain to let us off the hook. It’s up to you, Marvin, if you—”

“That would be a most unwise and unjust action, Captain Riggs.”

I allowed myself a grim smile. “Ah, there you are. I thought you might be listening.”

“This conversation must end. I feel it likely that Astrolyssos is also listening, and he might be able to pinpoint my—”

“If you don’t help me, I’m going to feed you to him, Marvin. So help me I will!”

There was another pause then he finally spoke again. “I find this newfound hostility toward my person both disturbing and baffling.”

“It’s not all that new,” I said. “I’m angry because you stung this monster in the ass and ran for the hills.”

“You’re analogy is weak in several respects.”

“Please don’t detail them. What I want from you is a plan. How do we defeat Astrolyssos?”

He hesitated again. That bugged me. Was he coming up with a lie, or deciding exactly how to twist the truth? It could be either one with Marvin.

“The best approach is to outrun him,” he said at last. “As I’m doing now. The poison is in his mass—but he’s so big, the effects will take time to fully be realized.”

Frowning, I tried to puzzle out what he was talking about—then I had it. “You mean he’s
dying
? You killed an Ancient?”

“Recall, if you would, your precise words. They indicated in no uncertain terms that any course of action I might undertake to stop Astrolyssos from destroying Earth would be acceptable.”

“That’s not exactly what I said—but never mind. How long will it be before he dies?”

“That’s an interesting question that requires a theoretical answer. For example, can a cloud of star matter really be considered alive? That part of the—”

“I don’t care about that,” I said. “How long?”

“Several days at the least.”’

I closed my eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. We could hold out for days. Even Farswimmer’s planet could survive that long. I was immediately entertaining plots to distract the monster and get it to chase us until it died.

“Of course,” Marvin went on, “there are opposing views. It might take a week—or two weeks. Maybe even a month.”

“Opposing views?”

“I ran the predictive analyses through several of my hind-brains for comparative results. They created several scenarios, each of which presumes a given set of values representing the total mass of the entity and its exact composition. After running these simulated models and observing the outcomes, I’ve compiled the output. Depending on a list of variables, the date of Astrolyssos’ demise varies widely.”

Frowning again, I dared to ask the next, obvious question.

“What’s the worst-case estimate, Marvin?”

“Approximately two point one years. I must caution you, however, that result is as unlikely to prove accurate as the two-day scenario.”

“Shit,” I said, “averaging out that span, we’re looking at a couple of months.”

“Well summarized,” said the robot.

I took a deep breath and shook my head. “It’s too bad, you know? I liked you Marvin. All these years, you were like my pet robot. You’ve been around since I was a kid. I’ve always found you entertaining and informative.”

“I remain both of these things. But why, Cody Riggs, are you speaking of me in the past tense?”

“Because I’m going to have to go with my original plan. To save my fleet and billions of lives on these planets, I’m going to have to deliver you to Astrolyssos. While we’ve been talking, I’ve had Valiant pinpoint your position and course.”

“You’re talking about treachery, Cody.”

“I prefer to think of it as a sacrifice. A very regrettable thing, but my hand has been forced.”

“I fail to see—”

“Think about it, Marvin, does it make sense for me to endanger every being in this system? Or should I allow Astrolyssos to chase you around these stars, dying all the while, until he sates his revenge upon the single being that poisoned him?”

Marvin fell silent. I thought perhaps I’d lost contact, but then he spoke up again.

“I’m returning to Valiant,” he said. “Please don’t speak to Astrolyssos until I arrive.”

For the first time all day, my smile was a real one.

“For you, old friend, I’ll wait a few more hours,” I said. “But hurry, please!”

-32-

Astrolyssos made the next move.

I was relieving myself when the call came. It felt like a jolt of current had struck my ansible.

“What the hell…is that you, Marvin?”

“You seem to be obsessed with that creature,” said a voice. It was a familiar voice.

Numbly, I staggered out of the ship’s head.

“Astrolyssos?” I asked. “How’d you get my number?”

“There are millions of active communications channels in this system,” the alien said, “but only one that connects the two of us directly.”

“Right,” I said, regaining my composure. “What do you want to talk about?”

“My final actions. They will be drastic.”

I felt a chill but remained stoic. When dealing with powerful beings, my dad had always insisted you had to be confident and stay on an equal footing. Now that I was in the middle of just such a negotiation, I could see what he’d meant—but it wasn’t easy.