Ken MacLeod - Newton's Wake

‘Any association with you after tonight could really drag us down with you,’ said Duncan. ‘Which is one good reason to be seen with you here, heads together an aw that. Half the wee clipes in this place will be pinging shocked messages tae the boss, and he’ll smile and nod, because we’re daen just what he asked us tae, see.’

‘OK,’ said Lucinda. ‘With you so far.’ She drained her glass. ‘I’ll get this one.’

Standing at the bar she tried to detect who was watching them, but found it impossible. The whole skill suite of that sort of thing had been Darwinianly perfected far too long ago to be crackable now, at least not by her, a strict amateur in that regard. Lipreading and distance mikes weren’t a worry. She was sure her brother and cousin had scramblers in their pockets. Come to think of it, she had one herself in her bag.

‘So I take it you’re not too happy with the way the old guard are handling this,’ she said when she’d returned and settled.

‘Hell, no, I wouldn’t say that,’ said Kevin. He and Duncan shook their heads.

‘Not us,’ said Duncan. ‘I mean, think about it. What have we got to deal with on Eurydice? A civilisation that developed independently and in all kinds ae different directions fae us and the Knights and the commies and the farmers, OK, wi platoon-level weapons that can fry a search engine, that has total continuity wi the armed space forces and science and tech ae the old anti-American alliance, and forbye it’s now got a traitor or defector fae our camp who kens aw our gear and tactics and it’s supported by far and away the maist sophisticated ae the rival powers. Tae say nothing ae mysterious extinct aliens who have apparently left war machines lying around, for the Knights tae poke intae like a fucking hornets’ nest. Right? So obviously , the thing tae do is tae treat it like it’s some scurvy wee backwater where the farmers are getting uppity or the commie strip-miners are crunching up valuable tech. Aye, sure, it’s pure routine. Throw some mair ships and sojers at it an see who blinks first. Jeez!’

‘Is that still the plan?’

‘You heard the boss. That or try storming out through the gates. I’m sure your story about mair than one gate has Ian and Amelia poring over maps ae the skein right this minute.’

‘They can’t be that stupid,’ Lucinda said. ‘Come on .’

‘It isnae stupidity,’ said Kevin. ‘It’s a kindae conservatism, like, that goes aw the way back tae the Castle on the Clyde. Not tae mention a sudden surge ae adrenaline tae the heid at the thought ae getting their claws around the scrota ae the guys that used the old country as a fucking gun-rest.’ He shrugged. ‘The old guard are used tae handling what you might call the military side ae things, dealing wi the other powers, whereas this is mair like combat archaeology. Dealing wi a power we dinnae ken much about.’

‘Our sort of thing,’ said Duncan. ‘Your sort of thing.’

‘Amelia Orr’s sort of thing, too,’ Lucinda pointed out.

‘Nah,’ said Duncan. ‘She’s aye rode shotgun on expeditions. Good comms op, but she disnae have the nous that comes fae getting down and dirty in the tech.’

‘So, gentlemen,’ said Lucinda mimicking the boss, ‘what alternative would you suggest?’

‘That was what we were going to ask you,’ said Duncan.

‘They DK ships sound promising,’ said Kevin.

‘All right,’ said Lucinda. ‘Here’s how I’d play it. I’d fortify the other side of the gate we went through, and every direct secondary connection from it. I’d try to negotiate with the Knights—hell, offer them a free hand, and hands off on our part, on every new discovery of a posthuman tech deposit for, say, the next year or so. Opening bid, take it up to ten years if we have to, but keep that card close tae the chest. In exchange, they give us back control of the gates on Eurydice. At the same time, make a real generous offer to the Eurydiceans of good rates and a clean slate, forget about the old vengeance stuff. We’ve far more to gain from trading with them than from trying to screw reparations out of them. They have lots of cool kit and flash art. And they’re just yearning to talk to and trade with somebody else, they’ve been in cultural solitary confinement for two hundred years.’

‘Cannae see the Knights buying it, or the Eurydiceans trusting us,’ said Duncan.

‘That’s just the diplomatic offensive. The other side of it is, getting ships in-system without engaging the Knights. Now, I have no doubt that DK and AO will be interested. There’s a whole system that’s not very well developed, a nice stable sun, and an underpopulated terraformed planet. Deals to be done there, I’d say. Encourage them tae swarm in. Get some of our people in on DK and AO ships.’

‘Aha,’ said Kevin. ‘Good one.’

‘Then what?’ said Duncan.

‘Build up contacts with the Eurydicean armed forces. Remember how I said many of them are a dissident faction, the Returners? I bet most of them will be smarting under the Knights before too long. There’s your ground force ready made.’

‘It’s space forces we need, and that’s the problem,’ Duncan objected.

‘One way to do it would be a straight swap—ship for ship. Our people in-system could clandestinely take over DK or AO ships already in place one by one, in exchange for our ships somewhere else. When we have enough, we’ll have a local superiority of force, all ready to put some weight behind our very reasonable offer.’

‘Nice plan,’ said Duncan. ‘Too many failure nodes, though. Depends too much on secrecy and surprise for my liking. One KE spy in any ae the camps and we’ve blown it.’

‘That’s why we need a backup,’ Lucinda said. ‘It could be a dozen or so of our ships—I reckon that’s what the old guard are going to go for, and would fit in fine with that plan. Trouble is, it’s high attrition, brute force, and might not succeed after all. Or —it could be just one ae they new DK ships—it could fittle straight in, right under the belly ae the KE ship on site, and any ship in space, and blow them all intae the next cycle ae the universe in real time.’

‘ Im -fucking-possible,’ said Kevin. ‘Nae fucker can fittle wi that precision.’

Lucinda fished out the slate and passed it to him. ‘Read the spec,’ she said. ‘It’s no boasting. I’ve seen one ae they ships, and I tell ye, it goes like a bat out of heaven.’

The two men became lost in the spec for a few minutes. Kevin got up, saying nothing, and got in another round. They checked through it again.

‘No way can we afford tae go off after the kind ae stuff they’re asking,’ Duncan said at last. ‘It’d be a huge diversion fae dealing wi the Eurydice crisis.’

‘It would be if we were to divert people who would otherwise be working on it,’ Lucinda said coolly. ‘But I’m not.’

‘You’ll no get any other family members alang wi ye,’ said Kevin. ‘Your name’s pure poison at the minute, I’m sorry tae say.’

‘That’s my problem,’ said Lucinda. ‘I’ll put together a team of civilians if I have to. At their own risk and mine, and their profit and mine if we succeed. And the family’s, if we get enough loot to buy a ship in time. Meanwhile, chaps, do feel free to take the ideas we’ve discussed back to the boss. Claim the credit for them if you like. They’re good ideas, and they complement what he was going to do anyway.’ She grinned at them. ‘Settled?’

It was.

‘So—what do we do now?’ Lucinda asked. ‘The night is young.’

Kevin laughed. ‘Aye, but you’re going to flake out in a couple of hours.’

She nodded gloomily at this assessment.