John Brosnan - The Sky Lords

Nothing happened.

Something made a loud beeping sound on the other side of the room and Jan jumped. She turned. A screen had risen from a console on which a red light was flashing. She hurried over to it with relief. At least a minute had passed since she’d inserted the tube and she had begun to fear that the computer was no longer functioning.

There were words on the screen: “Hi! It’s me, Ashley! ol’ lame-brain Carl has been having a bit of trouble sorting things out. Can’t activate any of the voice synthesizers yet. Wants you to reinsert as many of the original software tubes as you can back into the mainframe. There’s info on them he needs. He wants to copy it on to our software. Hurry, will you? I want to be able to see and hear again. Much love, Ashley.”

Not being very good at reading, it took Jan a while before she understood the bulk of the message on the screen. She frowned. “Mainframe? What’s that?” she asked.

The words on the screen remained the same. She read the message through again and realized that Ashley couldn’t hear her. Then she worked out that the ‘mainframe’ must refer to the computer where she’d inserted the tube. She returned to it and studied the six other tubes that she’d left lying on its glass top. There was only space in the computer for five now. Did it matter which? Well, she would soon find out, she thought, as she began to push the tubes into the opening. The computer hummed as it took the tubes one by one and drew them deep into itself. Jan became aware of more lights starting to flash on other pieces of equipment. She could feel the circular room of crystal starting to come alive.

The air crackled. Then a voice said, “Ah, that’s better! Light and sound! Hi, Jan! Have you missed me?”

It was Ashley. The voice wasn’t the same as the one in the shelter—it was neither male or female—but it was unmistakably Ashley. “Hello Ashley,” said Jan, looking around for the source of the voice. “You can see me now?” And hear me?”

“Yup. Place is loaded with sensors, inside and out. But Carl couldn’t activate them until he got the drill from the other programs. Can you insert the final one now?”

Jan saw one of the tubes starting to emerge from the computer. She took it out and replaced it with the sixth tube. As the computer ingested it, Ashley cried, “Wow, what’s been happening in here? Who are those guys?”

Jan guessed she was referring to the dead Japanese. She had been avoiding looking at them as they lay there in their large pools of congealing blood. “They’re the warlord’s men. They were waiting here.”

“Jesus, did you do that to them?”

“Of course not. Frusa did.”

“Frusa? Who’s Frusa?”

“She’s a cat.”

At that moment the panther, no doubt curious about the sound of voices, came in through the door. “Jesus,” said Ashley, that’s some cat.” The panther sniffed the air and said to Jan, “Hear voice, but no one here.”

“There is someone here, Frusa. Her name is Ashley. She’s a friend. Ashley, say something nice to Frusa.”

“Hello, pussycat. You’re real cute. You know, I had a coat exactly like yours once. Oh, but it wasn’t real fur, it was synthetic.”

The panther looked at Jan. “No one here.” Then it turned and went back out through the door.

“I’m sorry,” Jan told Ashley. “It seems that if Frusa can’t smell someone they don’t exist.”

There was a pause before Ashley replied. “But she’s right. I don’t exist. Carl wants to talk to you. Bye.”

“Ashley …?”

“This is Carl.” It was the same voice but infinitely different. “I have made contact with the computer controlling the Sky Angel factory facility. I am currently transmitting the sequence of codes which will initiate the launching of the Sky Angel from the facility.”

“Oh,” she said, taken by surprise. “That was quick. Where did you find these codes?”

“In this computer’s memory.”

“Yes, of course.” She should have known that. “So everything is going fine. The Sky Angel is going to come down here without any problem?” Jan couldn’t believe it was going to be so easy. …

“All systems are functioning. I can foresee no problem.”

“Great. When will it get here?”

“In eight and a half days from now.”

“Eight and a half days? That’s a long time.”

“It has a long way to travel. It will take four days to reach the Earth’s atmosphere. Its descent path will bring it down over Australia. It will take another four days to reach here travelling at top speed.”

“What’s Australia?”

“An island continent in the Southern Hemisphere.”

“Why can’t you make the Sky Angel come down here instead of in this Australia place that’s so far away?” Jan asked.

“The procedure for bringing a Sky Angel down through the atmosphere—intact—is a very complicated one. The mathematics of the procedure are also very complicated and are an integral part of the whole system. For me to alter the system at this stage would be unwise. There may be random factors that the original program is designed to compensate for but of which I am ignorant. I advise you to follow the established procedure.”

She sighed. “If you say so.” Eight and a half days. What if the warlord returned before then? Or, more likely, other Japanese arrived to relieve the ones who had been here? Well, she had the panther for protection, provided Frusa didn’t get bored and wander off. And there was the laser, except that. …

“Carl, is there any way you can recharge the laser?”

“No. I have power but not the means to transfer it to the laser’s fuel cell.”

“Oh,” she said, disappointed. That left only the projectile weapon, and Carl had made her dubious about that. Then a question occurred to her. “Carl, where is the power coming from?”

“The sun. There are arrays of solar energy receptors on the outside of the tower.”

Sun-gatherers. Jan nodded her understanding, though she wondered why they hadn’t become clogged with fungus over the years if there hadn’t been anyone to keep them clean. Then again, the city seemed remarkably free of any type of fungi. “Will you let me know when the Sky Angel has actually been launched?”

“Of course.”

“Good. Now let me speak to Ashley.”

“She’s not available.”

“Not available. What do you mean?”

“She’s incommunicado. She doesn’t want to communicate with you. Or me.”

“Oh. You mean she’s sulking.” Frusa’s comment had obviously upset her. “Very well, let her sulk.” Jan sighed and forced herself to look at the two corpses on the floor. The first thing to do was get rid of them. She wasn’t going to spend the next eight and a half days in their company. She went downstairs to find the panther. Frusa was on the floor below, finishing her meal. Jan’s stomach gave a heave but she managed to keep control of it. The panther regarded her with its unreadable eyes. Jan said, “Um, I don’t suppose, when you’ve finished here, that you’d like to go and eat the other two upstairs …?”

“Cat not hungry now. Full belly.”

“Oh.” Jan thought for a few moments then said, “Well, why don’t you, er, put them somewhere for later. For when you’re hungry again, I mean.”

The panther stared at her. It said, “Like fresh meat. Kill, then eat.”

“Oh,” she said again. “Well, you see, I really would like to get rid of their remains. I find them … uncomfortable. And as I’m going to be in that room for over a week, well, after a while the bodies will. …” She couldn’t continue under Frusa’s unsettling gaze. Jan got the distinct impression that the panther thought she was not right in the head. “It’s okay,” she told her, “I’ll take care of it myself.”