P Hillard - The Teller of Lies

“I wouldn’t no. But if I needed some surgery done, then that’s a different story. I think I get what you’re saying though.”

“Running conversational algorithm. I have never met another machine life form before. My creators weren’t present when I was activated, and whilst I am aware there are other installations, I have never contacted them. I have been alone here, for a very long time. It is, exciting to meet not just your people, but one similar to my own.”

Michael let out a chuckle. Clive didn’t consider himself anything other than human, a consequence of his programming. Michael had noticed the AI changing, growing as he spent more time interacting with the people aboard the Sword. Perhaps at some point, Clive would admit what he was. A loud whistling noise filled the air, snapping Michael out of his half-daydream as an engine started.

It was a common occurrence the past few days, ships taking off, flying up to the Sword to bring more people to the surface as the town grew to accommodate them. There weren’t many left now aboard the ship. The most devout had been particularly excited to come to the flat world. A planet built by people who once lived on their holy world, in its image at the time, was an enticing prospect. A sacred temple floating in the stars. One of the wooden buildings had a large drawing of Michael on the side, a crude effigy designed to denote the structure as a church to him. It made his stomach turn a little. Michael hated the messiah talk at the best of times but seeing active proof of worship felt like reaching another uncomfortable level.

Michael stood up, stretching out his legs. The grass had stained his suit again, but the thing was starting to fall apart anyway. Michael would need to find some new clothes soon before these finally gave in. A good enough portion of the aliens he had encountered had a roughly humanoid shape, two arms and two legs, that he was sure he could find something.

“Come on, let’s get back down there,” Michael said. “Lots to do.”

The image hung in the air, projected from a holographic unit salvaged from one of the landed ships that had been stripped for parts. It was a map of their position relative to Council space, now navigation was possible. Michael was sat watching the picture spin, trying to wrap his head around the sheer number of stars. He knew the galaxy was massive, it was just one of those things everyone agreed on, but seeing it was something else. Their escape from council space had put millions of solar systems between them and the border, but on the scale being shown, it looked like they had barely escaped.

“So,” Aileena said. “We’re pretty far past the council border, as you can see.”

“That’s pretty far? Doesn’t look it.”

“It is, Knower. Galactically speaking.” Mellok nodded along to his own words.

“It’s far enough to be a problem for us. The ships that left, well, they were free to leave, but they’re going to have to stop for supplies several times. Most of them will be lucky if they get back to Cortica within the year.” Aileena zoomed the image in further, expanding it with a flick of her hand. “This is this planet, object, installation, whatever you want to call it. We’ll need a better name.”

“Eden,” Michael said. “We’ll call it Eden.” He looked around at the confused faces surrounding him. “Eden is a place in Earth myth. An unspoiled perfect garden created at the start of time.”

“I like it, seems appropriate,” Mellok said, his feathers ruffling.

“Right, well, that will do.” Aileena spun the image again. “This is Eden here. This region is largely unexplored, aside from one or two right on the edge of council space. The reports for those systems don’t list much, just empty space or spare asteroid belts.”

“Confirming data. My creators recorded nothing of interest in those systems. This is part of the reason why the installation, sorry, Eden, was built here. I will overlay the information I have now.” Large chunks of the stars turned red, whilst others went grey. “Grey systems are those mined to provide resources to build Eden. They supported no life at the time and will likely be of little interest to space-faring races now. Nothing much of value was left. Red stars are actively dangerous, with either hostile races present at the time of construction, or natural hazards.”

“Hostile races?” Gurrit said. The trooper had elected to stay on Eden, along with several of his number. They had outnumbered their loyal counterparts, who had somewhat wisely chosen to leave, though they made several promises to return. Gurrit and the others had become unofficial police, the former troopers naturally falling into a similar role to their past lives. There had been one or two grumbles about it, some understandable upset at the troopers still holding the guns, but most people had simply accepted it. “Something we need to be aware of?”

“Assuaging worry. No, thankfully most seem to have passed on, and we can relocate Eden before the presence of ships draws the attention of others.”

“Sorry, relocate?” Michael said. From the expression of the others around him, Michael wasn’t the only one confused.

“Selecting appropriate affirmative. Oh yes, this facility is not stationary. It is capable of jump space travel, though real space manoeuvres are beyond it a little. We can begin preparations to move the planet when necessary. I would advise we remain in the space between systems, Eden isn’t really designed to share space with other solar bodies. It would get awfully warm with a real star above, and without sub-light engines, getting caught in a gravity well would be… inadvisable.”

“Well then, this throws my entire plan out the window. I was going to say we scout nearby systems but seems like that might not be necessary. I think we should move Eden to here then.” Aileena pointed at the hologram, a tiny mote of blue light appearing where she had indicated. “Purnax. A small planet, but it should have everything we need. It’s inside of Council space, but it’s the kind of tiny backwater that no-one could give a single Rhythm beat about. We can leave the Sword above Eden and send in the Seeker. Less conspicuous.”

“Right. We still have the problem of not having any money,” Michael said. This whole meeting was to plan out how to get supplies to Eden. The people here had lived on mushrooms for three months as they had ridden the Sword. Whilst the Custodian had stated he could start breeding plant life on Eden that would be edible, it would still take several months to grow. The plan was to get food, clothing, building materials, even livestock if possible. Anything to make the planet a more liveable place.

None of the crew had even questioned needing to do it. Everyone had seemingly agreed it was worth their time and effort, and Michael had to wonder how much was down to guilt at dragging a people from their homes into what was effectively a wilderness.

“Everyone has chipped in, given what money they can. We’ve managed to collect a sizeable amount from the…” Aileena thought for a moment, trying to find the best word. “Townsfolk? I guess that’s right.”

“So, taxes? We’re collecting taxes now?”

“Donations, Knower. Taxes would imply we forced people to pay us,” Mellok said, protesting just a little too hard.

“But, I mean, they don’t have much choice, do they? Give us the money or you don’t get the supplies. God, we sound like racketeers. Fine, fine. Sounds like as good a plan as any. You lot know more about what goes on out here than me.” Michael let out a long sigh. What he was about to say next felt like just one more crazy thing for the pile. “Let’s get ready to move the planet then.”