Sarah Zettel - Fool's War

“What was that?” she demanded.

“I don’t know, but I think it was aimed at us. Did you feel how the mechanism worked at all?”

“I might have.” Dobbs shivered. “But that was probably the first thing that went.”

“Stay here,” Terrence edged back to the main path. “I’m going to see if its still out there.”

Before Dobbs could shout a warning, Terrence was gone. Dobbs pulled herself into her shell as far as she could, wishing desperately for someway not to count the passing seconds.

A message tapped her. BACK UP, DOBBS.Dobbs decided to believe it was from Terrence and pressed against the side of the pathway. The other Fool touched her gently.

“I think I see why they’re not following us anymore. Reach here.”

Dobbs let Terrence guide her awareness. She barely brushed the processors in front of her and the foul tugging and nibbling began. She snatched herself back.

“Curran’s talent have invented an AI anti-personnel weapon,” said Terrence. “It acts like a black hole. Sucks you in and tears you apart. It only reacts to us. The talent must have some kind of ID code that keeps it from going off around them.”

Dobbs found herself admiring Terrence’s calm. “So, how’d you get it to move?”

“It responds to us,” she said, “but not to stuff we create. I managed to get it on a leash. Give me a minute and I think I can use a couple probes to dissect its command structure.”

“Gladly.” Dobbs settled back. “I just wish you didn’t sound like you were enjoying this.”

Under her light touch, Dobbs felt Terrence strip a couple of nearby packets and turn them into probes. “It’s either have fun or curl up screaming.” She dropped the probes into the weapon’s maw. “Which I’ll be doing later anyway.”

“I thought I’d get it over with now, myself,” muttered Dobbs. “I hate to delay a good panic.”

The packet Dobbs leaned against twitched. “Ashes!” She bolted down the path, just in time to collide with First Stranger.

“I’ll get you, you twisted bastard!” she shouted as she took off down a fresh path. “I’ll get you for Terrence!” As she hoped, First Stranger veered to follow her. If she was lucky, it also thought their weapon had gotten Terrence.

Dobbs tried not to think about all the other black holes that could be lying around in the Exchange as she dodged down the paths with no other aim than to draw the talent away from Terrence. Her pursuer snatched at the ragged edges of her wound. Dobbs felt her determination begin to falter. If she couldn’t keep her speed up she was going to have to turn and fight, and she didn’t know if she had the strength.

All at once, First Stranger was gone. Dobbs felt the black hole breeze by without even twitching in her direction. She didn’t let herself stop to think what had just happened to First Stranger. She turned herself around and raced back to the receiver.

Terrence was already there. Dobbs pushed into the space beside her and together they reset the receiver’s commands.

A flood of packets spilled into the path and with them tumbled Cohen, Brooke and Lonn. Dobbs reached for them all. They were shaking badly and trying to haul themselves together.

“Had a split second each bounce to realize what was going on,” blurted out Cohen, “but not enough time to do anything about it.”

Dobbs told them what had been happening to her and Terrence.

“I found the key signatures inside that thing and re-set them,” Terrence chimed in. “Now instead of by-passing any AI carrying the keys, it’ll attack them. I sent it rolling around the exchange. It’ll self-destruct in ten seconds and we should be clear.”

“Glad to hear it,” said Brooke. “You’re a terror yourself, Terrence. I’ve said so before.”

“We haven’t got time for this,” Cohen reminded them all. “Terrence, you’d better spread the word about the black holes and how to un-do them.”

“I’m gone.” Terrence dropped like a stone into the transmitter holding stack.

“Lonn, you stay here and coordinate with the next set of arrivals,” said Dobbs. “This place has been seeded with the randomizer matrices. We know that. Your people have got to find them and work out how to spot and dismantle them. You’ve got to start a virus production as soon as possible. Cohen, Brooke, we’ve got to keep going.”

Terrence, good as her word, was gone. Dobbs re-set the transmitter to point toward the Asteroid Belt Repeaters. While she waited for the ping-copy, she wondered what was going on outside. What had the Exchange’s attendees seen on their read-outs? Were they mustering their diagnostics, or were they just scrambling to get into pressure suits before this insanity hit the life-support.

Which might not be a bad idea. “Lonn, get a message out to the station personnel. Make sure they start taking vital systems off-line and that they switch to generators and manual operation where possible.”

“But…”

“Do it!” ordered Dobbs as her ping-copy fell back against her. “This is not just about us!”

And it never will be again.

The war was twenty seconds old.

Jump.

Al Shei pulled on the black overalls with the Landlord’s bright green seal emblazoned on both shoulders. They felt uncomfortably tight across her breasts and around her crotch, but now was not the time to complain, or to think about her modesty. Especially with what needed to happen next.

Al Shei unwrapped her hijab and lifted it away. She crumpled it into a ball and stuffed it quickly into the drawer. There. It was done. She buckled her tool belt around her waist and picked up her spares kit. She avoided catching her own eye in the reflective surface of the view screen as she turned and strode out into the corridor.

The enemy would be looking for Al Shei, veiled in her modesty and shielded by the law of Islam. They would not recognize this bare-faced Arab. At least, they wouldn’t recognize her immediately.

God willing and the creeks don’t rise , she thought before she could stop herself. Now was not a good time to think of God. Not with all the sins she was committing. Resit was right. This was forbidden and she was a throwback, straight out of the seconds before the Fast Burn. She was a mad Arab, crazy with revenge and Allah was watching her every move closer to the brink of Hell. She knew she wouldn’t stop though. She wouldn’t even hesitate, because inside she didn’t feel Allah anymore. She felt Asil, his touch, his love, his possibilities. Gone. All of them gone.

As she approached the airlock, she realized she did not want Schyler to see her like this, but there was no help for it.

He’s going to stare, she thought sourly.

She reached the airlock. Schyler and Yerusha, also dressed in black overalls, waited there. Schyler did stare at her naked face for a moment, then he blushed and looked away.

Al Shei realized on any other day she might have found it in her to be amused. “Intercom to Houston. What’s our status?”

“Well, I’ve managed to get business module 56 listed as overdue for a maintenance check, and I’ve got three maintenance workers slated to go over there and raise their voices and level fines. Their names are Forrester, Klien and Brown. Any requests for information from any of your pens will be routed back here.” He paused. “Tully’s stuff is as good as advertised. Now I can stop wondering why he never got caught.”

“So now you can start wondering if we will get caught,” muttered Yerusha as she tucked her portable memory board under her arm. She had a coil of cable about the width of Al Shei’s little finger sticking out of her pocket.

“By the way,” said Lipinski, “whatever you said to the Freers seems to have stuck. I’m picking up dozens of urgent messages between Free Home Titania and the other Homes.”