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Poseidon's Wake

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‘We started our journey later than they did but had less distance to travel, and their ship can’t be much faster than mine. Have you responded to it?’

‘No, and nor do I intend to. I see it as a nuisance, not an opportunity. Still, it must be addressed. You have had a chance to review the repair work since you awoke — I trust there are no setbacks?’

‘No, it’s all going smoothly,’ Nissa said sullenly.

‘You do not sound encouraged.’

‘Part of me would rather report bad news, provided it wasn’t too serious. You’d accept the delay and the status quo would continue. Kanu and I would still be of use to you, and there’d be no reason for you to hurt the sleepers.’

‘Very candid of you to admit as much.’

‘I find honesty helps,’ she said.

‘Do not mistake me — either of you. My word is good. I have no intention of hurting you or of harming the Friends. If I did not think well of them, would I have kept them cold through all the years before your arrival?’

‘Perhaps you thought they’d come in handy as a form of blackmail,’ Kanu answered.

‘You are much too cynical lately. Tell me the truth concerning the repairs, regardless of whether the news is good or bad, and nothing untoward will happen.’

‘“Untoward”,’ he said. ‘That encompasses a multitude of meanings.’

‘I see you are both beyond reasoned discussion. Never mind — we will restrict ourselves to the strict practicalities. I do not want this new ship interfering with the good work we have already done. Your ship is nearly ready for testing, is it not?’

Kanu glanced at Nissa, wondering if she shared his disquiet. ‘We’re weeks away from that.’

‘Then make it days. I do not need the interstellar capability of your Chibesa drive, merely the means to reach Poseidon. If the Noah had been capable of doing so on its own, I would already have taken it, but its range and agility are not sufficient. This other ship must not be allowed to complicate my arrangements.’

‘Then ask the Watchkeepers to destroy it. They’re capable of that, aren’t they?’

‘Callous of you, Kanu.’

‘Just looking at this from your perspective. Why not have them destroy it?’

‘I’m sure they would if they felt the act was necessary. But they are watchers, recorders, gatherers of knowledge rather than butchers. More than that, though, they’re not mine to command. Did you think otherwise?’

‘I’m not sure what to think. Do you know what you are to them, Dakota? Do you really understand?’

‘What is there not to understand?’

‘The Terror,’ he answered.

‘You could not know of such a thing.’

‘And if I did?’

She regarded him with cool superiority. ‘Terrors must be faced. I will have my ship, Kanu, and you will accompany me in the gathering of knowledge. We will not flinch in the face of the unknown. Move Icebreaker beyond Zanzibar once more. Make ready to test the Chibesa engine.’

He sat on the edge of the made bed, bent over with his hands joined in his lap, considering the ways in which he might feasibly end his own life.

‘I know what you are thinking,’ Swift said.

‘Then give me an answer.’

‘You have never been suicidal. Even in your darkest moments — and there have been several — that was never something you considered.’

‘Nothing’s changed,’ Kanu answered.

‘You do not appear to be depressed. If you were, I would see it in your brain chemistry.’

‘I’m not depressed and I’m not suicidal. What I am is trapped. There’s a distinction. Can you see it?’

‘I am trying.’

‘I’m in a hopeless position, Swift. There’s no good course of action open to me.’

‘And killing yourself — that would be the solution? Have you forgotten the Friends, the fate of those poor frozen people?’

‘Think it through,’ Kanu said, hating himself for wondering just how far Swift’s empathy really extended. ‘They’re just a bargaining tool to her — they give her some measure of control over me. If I’m out of the equation, she gains nothing by harming them.’

Swift tapped his pince-nez against his chin. ‘Mm. But she might do it anyway, out of anger — or to reinforce her determination to Nissa, who I need hardly add will still be alive. There is human DNA in that elephant, Kanu — do you think she’s incapable of spite?’

‘Nissa can’t finish the work on her own. I’ve had you in my head to guide me through every difficult part of the repair process. She won’t have that luxury.’

‘Dakota will nonetheless force her to try, and she may resort to extreme measures in her attempts to persuade. She’ll break Nissa like the proverbial butterfly on a wheel. Do you really want that on your conscience?’

‘I wouldn’t have one.’

Swift strode around to stand before him, clenching his hands. ‘Please don’t speak that way, Kanu. I gave you back your life when you should have died. Do not insult me by speaking of a human life as something disposable.’

‘Then don’t speak as if you understand a single thing about being alive.’

‘I understand life more than you realise, Kanu. At least, I have begun to. How could it be otherwise after being inside you all this time? After the dead years of skipover, when I gained a little sense of what it would mean not to exist? Do you honestly think this hasn’t given me some miserable insight into the human condition?’

‘It’s not a “condition”, Swift. It’s being alive.’

‘I know, and I feel it, and I will not permit you to squander such a gift. Especially when the circumstances are nowhere near as dire as you imagine.’ Swift adjusted his sleeves and cracked his knuckles. ‘Chess. A game of chess. That will put things into perspective.’

‘I’m not in the mood.’

‘Immaterial. I am.’

Kanu pinched at the skin around his eyes, trying to shrug off the sense of hopelessness he now felt. Swift was perfectly correct: he had no desire to end his life. But when he set out his options, when he stepped back and analysed them dispassionately, suicide looked by far the most logical course of action.

‘You mean well, Swift, but you can’t see how bad things have become.’

‘On the contrary. I have as ready a grasp of our predicament as you or Nissa. But I do not think we have exhausted all our options yet. Nor should you. There is always hope, Kanu — provided you remain alive.’

‘Platitudes.’

‘We shall see.’ Swift conjured the chessboard into existence and set it between them. He lowered himself onto an invisible stool, adjusting his frock coat in the process. ‘Your mood is black, therefore I shall open proceedings.’

‘How thoughtful of you.’

They commenced the game.

‘Things are not as dire as you imagine,’ Swift declared, a few moves in.

Kanu responded automatically, barely caring who won or lost. ‘In which way are they not dire? We know about the Terror. We know that Chiku and Eunice were both against the idea of going any nearer to Poseidon.’

‘For which they surely had their reasons. But we are not them. Did we come here to wither at the first test, Kanu, or to challenge ourselves?’

‘Even if we make it to Poseidon, we’ve no guarantee that we’ll get the ship back afterwards. Or that Dakota will honour her promise concerning the sleepers. For that matter, we have no idea what she or the Watchkeepers will do next — or how we fit into that.’

‘The situation is not entirely ideal.’

‘I’m glad you agree with me on something.’

Swift move his piece with a decisive clack. ‘But neither is it hopeless. To begin with, we do need our ship repaired — and since assisting Dakota in her expedition helps achieve that, I do not think the cost is too great. Secondly, our aims are not entirely at odds with hers.’

Kanu responded with a weak countermove. ‘Aren’t they?’

‘We came here seeking knowledge, did we not? We know nothing of the M-builders and are scarcely better informed about the Watchkeepers. Dakota’s interests neatly intersect with both areas of our ignorance. By serving her, if you will, we serve our own ends. I do not see that as catastrophic.’

‘You see her as a bridge to the Watchkeepers. Your interest in the M-builders is secondary.’

‘I have an intellectual curiosity regarding the M-builders, but you are right about the Watchkeepers. I would like to know them better, and if Dakota offers a path to them, then she becomes useful to me. To us, I should say.’

‘No, I think you were right the first time.’

‘We both have a stake in this, Kanu. I am a machine intelligence and you are a man. Our two lineages have been on the brink of hostility for generations. We’ve papered over our enmity with embassies and treaties and fine words, but why deny the underlying distrust? The only thing preventing the complete sterilisation and reclamation of Mars is the fear of Watchkeeper reprisal. Otherwise you would have wiped us out if the chance had presented itself.’

Kanu looked at Swift, remembering better times, easier conversations. ‘I’m glad we’re finally getting our true feelings out into the open.’

Swift made his next move. ‘I make no bones about it. We were a threat to human dominion, and human oppression was a threat to us. Had the means existed, many of my fellow machines would have gladly taken the war beyond the atmosphere of Mars — smashed your orbital fortresses, retaken the moons, pushed our influence further out.’