Medusa in the Graveyard Page 5

  The variation was that now we had entered inhabited space—we were meeting all sorts of people under less-than-ideal circumstances. This dangerous moment was the direct result of a new challenge I had to ponder: If you can’t kill the inconvenient people who complicate your life, what do you do with them instead?

  In my case, you spy on them. If you want to be extra sneaky, you do that with Minis.

  * * *

  Captain Epatha Thomas placed a call to Itzpapalotl a few hours after she and Representative Lee returned to Merlin. We could hear them talking through the link they still had with us, the one that remained open despite their heightened state of alarm.

  I give Captain Thomas credit: she sounded calm when she spoke to Bomarigala. “Our mission is complete. Your message has been delivered.”

  “I trust you spoke it word for word.” Bomarigala’s voice was intriguing—I recorded it for later analysis.

  “I did,” said Lee, and he also managed to sound like an unflustered professional.

  “Then you’ll be returning to Itzpapalotl?” said Bomarigala.

  “We haven’t been given clearance to leave yet,” said Thomas. “We’ll let you know when we have.”

  “Your funds have been transferred into your accounts,” said Bomarigala. “Our business is concluded.”

  “Thank you,” Thomas and Lee said together.

  I’m guessing Bomarigala terminated the link, because a few seconds later, Lee said, “He thinks we’re not going to make it out of here.”

  “He may be right,” said Captain Thomas. “I’m going to give it my best shot anyway.”

  “The Olympians are pretty mad, but they showed restraint. We’re still alive.”

  “What’s your advice? Should we make an overture?”

  “Not yet,” said Lee. “We should give them time to make one of their own. We dumped something on their heads that upset them. An overture from us at this juncture might seem authoritarian. They need to see respect from us.”

  True. I was starting to like this fellow. I was glad he didn’t know that we needed him as much as he needed us right now, which is why they were about to receive a visitor from us.

  “I need to update the crew,” said Thomas. “They’ll be happy about the money, at least.”

  I could see Merlin’s crew in the front windows, still gazing into Lock 212 as if something interesting were happening out there. They would soon be right about that.

  * * *

  Perhaps two engineers, a doctor-surgeon, and a communications wizard did not have much to do when their ship was sitting in an air lock. Perhaps they were also wondering if the people who had almost killed their captain, but then changed their minds, were ever going to give them permission to leave.

  Thomas didn’t keep them wondering very long. “Okay, the good news is, Bomarigala transferred our credits. All of you have been paid your full share plus the bonus. However, I don’t think the Weapons Clan ever had any intention of letting us leave, now that we’ve seen Olympia. Once we exit the system, I believe they’ll try to kill us, and no one is better at killing people than the Weapons Clan.”

  Narm sounded surprised. “Why would they kill us?”

  “Originally,” said Lee, “I think they expected the Olympians to kill us. The message they gave us was not the real message. We have delivered something we didn’t know we were bringing.”

  “Not a disease,” Mirzakhani said. “The bacteria and viruses we’re carrying are nothing out of the ordinary. Our decontamination supplies are fine. I always check that stuff—I’m paranoid.”

  Before she mentioned it, the thought of sabotage by disease never occurred to me—which is fortunate, because it was very alarming.

  Lee’s next remark made me feel slightly better. “The Weapons Clan doesn’t want to kill these people. They believe they own these people.”

  Thomas argued, “The Weapons Clan already has cases against them in Union Courts for the trafficking of sentients. Maybe they don’t want more of those.”

  “They’re not afraid of litigation,” said Lee.

  There was an interesting piece of information. If I learned nothing else from our open link, that made it worthwhile.

  “I think it has more to do with their proprietary interests,” Lee continued. “The Weapons Clan aimed Olympia and Titania at Graveyard, and they didn’t try to claim their assets before this generation ship reached the Charon system. If all they wanted were these people, they would already have them.”

  I had reached the same conclusion, though I was still pretty much in the dark about the ultimate goals of the Weapons Clan.

  Mirzakhani said, “If the Olympians are assets—are they engineered people?”

  That was a damn good guess. Unless the engineering of sentient people was not so rare as I liked to think.

  “If so,” Mirzakhani continued, “that raises the question of their origin. Since they’re headed to Graveyard, we should wonder whether it’s the source of their nonhuman DNA.”

  Mirzakhani might be far too smart for her own good. She had no time to elaborate on her point, because Wilson said, “Hey—what’s that?”

  Everyone crowded the windows to see what he was pointing at.

  My ambassador had already moved out of sight.

  “It looked like a small animal,” said Wilson. “I could swear it was carrying something in its mouth.”

  “Where did it go?” said Thomas.

  “It made a beeline for Merlin, like it was going to—”

  An alarm sounded outside Merlin’s main air lock.

  “We’ve got company,” said Thomas.

  “Let’s open the door,” said Lee. “I think this is an overture, not an attack.”

  Relative silence ensued while everyone left the front of the ship and trooped to the air lock. I smiled. So far, so good.

  * * *

  “Cap,” warned Narm, “you shouldn’t be the one to open the door. I should do it.”

  Thomas was having none of that. “You four are my skeleton crew. Much as I hate to say it, Lee and I are the expendables on this mission.”

  No one argued with her.

  Thomas opened the outer air lock door and peered out. My ambassador stood right on the threshold, but Thomas didn’t see her until she looked down.

  “Herro,” said Kitten, who was holding a tablet in her mouth. She set it down. “I’m Kitten. I’m a Mini. I brought you something to use so you can talk to us more directly.”

  “You’re a Mini?” said Thomas.

  Kitten performed a little prance. “I am! I’ll be your liaison with the Olympians. I will also be your guide.”

  Kitten didn’t mention that I could see through her eyes and hear through her ears. She was my Kitten-cam. When the rest of Merlin’s crew crowded into the air lock to get a look at her, I had a much better perspective than I had enjoyed from the Security cams in Lock 212.

  Thomas knelt and reached a cautious hand toward Kitten. The Mini lifted a paw and met her halfway. “Is this a greeting ritual of your people?”

  Thomas smiled. “Yes, but I was curious. I wanted to know if you’re made of the same substance as Medusa.”

  “I am,” said Kitten. “Ashur’s team made me. We were the first Minis. Now there are many more. I can’t say exactly how many—that’s proprietary.”

  Lee knelt beside Thomas. “Kitten, may I—touch paws with you, too?”

  Kitten raised her paw again, and Lee placed two fingers on her footpads.

  Lee blinked. “Kitten, does your brain have organic—um—qualities? Or is that also proprietary information?”

  “It is,” said Kitten. “But it’s a darn good guess. We are units for helping people. We are less scary than the Medusas. They’re our big sisters.”

  “Did you say you’re going to be our guide?” said Thomas. “Are we going somewhere?”

  “At least one place,” said Kitten. “Maybe more. We have to see how it works out. First, let me show you how
to use this.”

  Kitten touched the tablet, and a keyboard appeared. “You can write with this stylus if you prefer, or you can use the raw paw.” Kitten began to type with her digits.

  “Oh my god,” said Wilson. “The cute.”

  Kitten held up the tablet so they could see what she had typed:

  THERE’S NO BUSINESS

  LIKE SHOW BUSINESS

  LIKE NO BUSINESS I KNOW …

  “I love show tunes.” Kitten called up the address directory and selected OICHI. “Boop!” She pressed SEND.

  “Lovely,” said Thomas. “We just sent a little song to the lady who almost—” She cast a sideways glance at Lee. “—to Oichi.”

  The tablet beeped, and my return message appeared: Received, my Kitten. You may introduce the others.

  “The others?” said Thomas.

  The Merliners looked to the open door, just as my ambassadors made their move.

  6

  Chocolate, Anyone?

  Dragonette flew into Merlin’s air lock, using her propellers and miniature jets. I didn’t have a link with her eyes, but through Kitten, I watched Dragonette flit over to Narm. The propellers retracted when she landed on his shoulder. “How do you do?” she said. “May I perch?”

  Narm lifted a hand to his shoulder. “Will you perch on my hand? I want to look at you.”

  “Of course.” Dragonette used her tail as a spring to hop onto Narm’s hand, from whence she studied him as closely as he studied her. I wondered—could he tell that her design had been inspired by a sea horse?

  Rocket glided in second; he had flaps that stretched between his limbs. He landed at Wilson’s feet and said, “Reporting for duty, sir.”

  Wilson knelt and extended his hand to Rocket, whose paws were only large enough to shake Wilson’s index finger. “Glad to meet you. What are your duties?”

  “I will guide you into the Habitat Sector if you’d like to see it. We also have leave to visit the Entertainment Sector. They have restaurants there.”

  Teddy chose that moment to roll up the ramp and into the lock—literally, since he appeared to be a ball when he was in motion. When he stopped, his limbs unfolded and he stood. “I’m Teddy. I’m usually for tunnels, but I can improvise.”

  Kitten sat on her hindquarters and pointed to each Mini in turn. “Dragonette, Rocket, Teddy, and Kitten. We are the first four that Ashur’s team made. Ashur would like to meet you, Captain Thomas and Representative Lee. You are invited to tea in Oichi’s quarters. Your other crew members are invited to tour Olympia. We hope you will accept.”

  Thomas regarded Lee. I thought I could guess what she was thinking.

  Charm us with your cute biorobots, separate us, and then kill us all. Then take my ship, because Merlin would come in handy. It would take you a while to get past her security protocols—but you could do it eventually.

  At least, that’s what I would have been thinking, and I can’t say the idea hadn’t crossed my mind.

  Lee seemed to have a more positive outlook. “These Minis are well loved. This is a demonstration of trust.”

  Kitten could have added something adorable at that point, perhaps sung another show tune, but she kept silent. I was proud of her.

  Could Thomas afford to refuse? Did she want a cold war with us? Merlin couldn’t leave until Lock 212 was opened, and from what they had said, returning to Itzpapalotl was out of the question. The Weapons Clan would be gunning for them. The only way out was forward.

  “We accept your invitation to tea,” said Captain Thomas. “I’ll leave it to my crew to decide what they’d like to do.”

  Mirzakhani touched Dragonette’s nose. “How do you do? I would like to take a tour.”

  “Me, too,” Narm and Wilson chimed in.

  “Where would you like to go first?” said Dragonette. “The Habitat Sector or the Entertainment Sector?”

  “Well,” Cocteau spoke up, “I’m older than the rest of you, so I’m more inclined to think about practical matters. I would like to eat first. You mentioned restaurants?”

  * * *

  Everyone rode together in the same mover for the first part of the journey, and Kitten ordered up show tunes to play overhead, selections from South Pacific. The only one who seemed nonplussed by her choice was Narm.

  “How old is this music?” he said more than once.

  “As old as you feel!” declared Kitten. “I feel very young.”

  “Why would anyone use real voices or handmade instruments? It’s so retro!”

  “Retro is the new black,” Kitten replied, puzzling Narm even more, until Cocteau nudged him.

  “It’s a fashion reference,” she said. “Look at your own clothing, my dear.”

  Since Narm was wearing black, maybe that made sense to him. My Kitten-cam perspective gave me an odd angle from which to judge his expression, but Narm stopped frowning for a while. His scowl didn’t return until Wilson and Cocteau began to sing along with “Some Enchanted Evening.”

  Just when it looked like Narm could stand no more, the mover opened into the Entertainment Sector. Now our guests could glimpse other Olympians, and there were plenty of people to see, since the Entertainment Sector had been opened up to every citizen aboard our generation ship, instead of just the elite Executives.

  Kitten turned her cam toward the open door. People strolled past, along a promenade that was far different from the cramped tunnels through which I had guided our guests on their way to the Habitat Sector. The clothing my fellow citizens wore was colorful, quite the opposite of the austere style adopted by the Security Council.

  Minis ambulated along with the crowd. Some walked—but some slithered, some hopped, and at least one of those Minis wheeled like a starfish turned on its ends. There were so many of them, the Merliners must have thought we had an endless supply of biometal. (Actually, we used it all to make the Minis.)

  Teddy, Rocket, and Dragonette herded everyone but Thomas and Lee out of the mover and onto the promenade.

  “Be care—” Captain Thomas began. The doors shut before she could finish.

  “They will be safe with my friends,” Kitten assured her.

  “I think they will,” said Lee. “I think we’ve turned a corner.”

  I wondered if he said that because of the lively pair of Mini ears and eyes that were trained on him. He must have suspected Kitten had been feeding sound and pictures back to me since the moment they had let her into Merlin’s air lock. I appreciated his efforts. He, at least, seemed willing to entertain the idea that they might be able to bargain with us.

  Kitten had moved on to The King and I before the mover opened again to a different scene. Uniformed Security personnel dominated the hallway leading to my quarters, rather than casual strollers. Security came to attention as soon as the doors opened; they kept their eyes focused on Thomas and Lee, sparing Kitten very little attention as the little group left the mover and approached their station.

  “I’m Captain Epatha Thomas of the Union Ship Merlin,” the captain said as they halted in front of the Security station. “We’ve been invited to tea.”

  “Welcome, Captain Thomas,” said a woman whose uniform may have looked the same as everyone else’s to the Merliners, though any Olympian could see the subtle differences that indicated rank and seniority. “We’ve been expecting you. Please accompany me.”

  The staff remained alert, but I doubt our visitors could fault their courtesy. Lee appeared relaxed, and Kitten was at home as she trotted down a carpeted hallway, into the complex that had once been the Charmayne visitors’ quarters, reserved for the friends of the highest-ranking family on Olympia.

  They turned two corners before they halted in front of a large door. The Security chief touched the controls on the wall. After a pause, the door opened, revealing my sitting room.

  My sensory connection with Kitten ended at that moment. I observed Thomas and Lee with my own eyes as they regarded Ashur and me.

  If the situation had
been casual, our visitors might have spent more time looking at my tiger screen, or at the other treasures that had been gifted to me by the Koto, Charmayne, and Chang Clans. I had tried to live up to my surroundings, wearing a wig with upswept, bronze-colored hair. My eyes were currently tinted the same color. Ashur wore his natural hair cropped close to his skull, and he favored amber-with-green for his eyes. I’m sure we looked an elegant couple in a fine setting, but our guests barely glanced at us before they noticed what else was in the room.

  Tentacles. Not just from one Medusa unit, but from two.

  * * *

  Sometimes my anger takes a lethal form. However, Ashur had set an example for me of how one should cope with adversity. He had been forced to adjust to new family circumstances when his fathers divorced—and I had to adjust to the new Ashur.

  Yet when he had arrived at my quarters for the tea party, I felt a moment of surprise. Every day Ashur got taller, more handsome—and more preoccupied. The carefree boy who had boldly kissed me inside his Mermaid program did not act impulsively anymore. These days he thought hard about things. He probably thought too much.

  He arrived wearing Octopippin. They separated as soon as they came through the door, and Octopippin joined Medusa.

  “Will we frighten them?” said Octopippin. “I don’t want to start off on the wrong—um—tentacle.”

  “I think you will frighten them at first,” I said, “but if we’re going to become partners with these people, they must know our nature.”

  “I’m not sure I know our nature.” Ashur examined the tea cakes, frowning as if the answer could be found among the lemon, vanilla, and chocolate swirls.

  said Medusa.

  I considered that.

  If Medusa had anything further to say about that, she didn’t have time to say it. The signal for the door sounded, and I allowed entry. The door opened, and Kitten trotted in. Behind her, our guests stood with a shift captain.