Ken MacLeod - Newton's Wake

‘Fortunately,’ said Armand, ‘I don’t have to, and neither does James. I have a much more satisfactory and realistic plan, which I’ve been working to for some time.’

‘And what might that be?’

‘It’s very straightforward,’ he said. ‘I’ve discussed this whole situation with the Joint Chiefs. They expressed great disquiet. We no longer have any control over who comes to the planet, or the system. The Knights do nothing against the AO settlers, and now, I hear, the DK arrivals. Worse, they forbid us from doing anything about it ourselves—although we could. This is deeply resented. So I put a plan to them, and together we put a … condensed version of the plan to the Knights. They were highly amenable to my suggestion that Blue Water Landings and other military companies provide on-site backup for the Knights while the Knights investigate the relic, and that selected Returner veterans be resurrected to bring their expertise to bear. We are, as you say, better equipped than the Knights for handling any outbreak of war machines, and they are glad of our help.’

‘You mean you have troops around the relic right now?’ Amelia asked.

‘Yes,’ said Armand. ‘Along with the Knights, of course, but yes. That’s why I’m the only person left in the office. I’m kept very busy coordinating it all, and greeting and orienting the, ah, returning Returners. And, as you see, there is absolutely no need to divert or confront the rest of Eurydice’s armed forces, because they are controlled by the Joint Chiefs, and the Joint Chiefs are on our side. As indeed are the other armed forces—though they don’t know of the plan they’re as angry about the Knights and the farmers as are those who do.’

‘That’s brilliant!’ she said. ‘So you’re ready to move as soon as we come in wi our ships?’

‘We are indeed,’ said Armand. ‘That gun we used against your search engine—it is, as you say, superior to anything the Knights have. Funnily enough, it was they who explained to us how it worked—we developed it empirically from refining the standard plasma cannon, and we didn’t grasp just how it’s as destructive as it is. The Knights tell us it generates a fragment of cosmic string . It’s quite capable of shooting a starship right out of the sky.’

Orr punched her palm. ‘Fantastic!’

‘Yes,’ said Armand. ‘And that’s exactly what we’ll do in the event of an attack by the bloody Carlyles.’

It didn’t quite register.

‘Shoot down the KE ships?’

‘Yes,’ said Armand. ‘And yours, if you attack us.’

‘Why should we attack you? We’re on your side.’

‘No, you’re not,’ said Armand. ‘You’re on your own side. I’ve no intention of being used to grab control of the relic from the Knights, only to be displaced in turn by the Carlyles. We don’t know what the relic is, but we know it’s important to Eurydice , and we want control of it for Eurydice.’

Amelia Orr rocked back a little in her chair.

‘Aye,’ she said carefully. ‘We can live wi that. We can come tae some kindae agreement. Just so long as it’s no the Knights, or any o the other powers for that matter. Aye. Nae problem, General. I just hae one wee question. What does this Assembly o yours think of aw this?’

Armand glanced over at Winter, as though seeking complicity. ‘They know nothing about it,’ he said. ‘Not even the, ah, responsible elements. They can’t be trusted in advance. After the die is cast, they’ll come round.’

‘Welcome aboard,’ Winter said. ‘I seem to recall a similar argument before the Returner rebellion. That time, it was you who was expected to come round.’

The bitter reminder left Armand unperturbed. ‘I didn’t have the Joint Chiefs on my side, that time,’ he said mildly. ‘I’m sure your friend Kowalsky will do an excellent job of portraying my double-dealing and treachery. Meanwhile, I shall do my duty, as I did before.’ He looked down at his desk for a moment. ‘And, you know, it presses.’

They took the hint.

Koresh on a spit !”

What?’asked Amelia, as they turned the corner out of Lesser Lights Lane and into the boulevard of Walker Drive.

Winter laughed, relieved of some of his rage. ‘That’s the filthiest oath you can swear around here these days. Fashionable with the bravoes.’

‘I kind of gathered that,’ said Amelia. ‘I was wondering why you’re upset.’

Winter stopped in the shade of a potted ginkgo and looked down at her earnestly inquiring face. ‘Jesus,’ he said. The older blasphemy seemed fitting. ‘Don’t you realise what you wanted to do? Turn our fucking play into a riot—what were you thinking of?’

She shook her head. ‘That’s a very narrow view of it.’

‘You were thinking strategy? Oh, great. You know, when Lucinda told us her family were criminals, we laughed it off. Fuck. That’s what you are. I remember these gormless Glasgow gangsters and the low cunning they thought was ace. Even so, I’d have thought two centuries would have knocked more sense into your head.’

For a moment her face showed hurt. Then she shrugged and smiled. ‘That isnae how it works,’ she said. ‘Like I was saying. You don’t get wiser. You just become mair what you are.’

‘I’m not sure I like what you are.’

‘I’m no sure I do, either,’ said Amelia. ‘But I like you.’ She caught his hand and squeezed it, grinning up at him. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘Let’s take that poor impulse control of ours for a ride.’

Lucinda awoke in her own bed, in her own flat. Morning sunlight from Rho Coronae Borealis slanted low through the window. She lay staring at the ceiling for a few minutes, feeling relaxed and refreshed, as if she’d had a sound sleep. After a while she began to feel a vague disquiet. There was something big and frightening she had to do today. Oh yes. That was it. She had to go on the Chernobyl expedition. Meet the team, take a backup, go and get the QTD, and then…

She remembered that she had already met the team and taken the backup. She sat bolt upright and yelled. The bedroom door opened and her brother Duncan and cousin Kevin came in.

‘It’s aw right,’ Duncan said awkwardly. ‘You’re aw right.’

She stared at the lads and hugged her knees through the covers. ‘I died,’ she said. ‘I died, I died, I died.’

Kevin took a step towards her.

‘Keep away from me!’ she shouted. He looked around and sat down on the edge of a wicker chair. Duncan propped himself on the windowsill.

‘How could you let me dae that?’ she accused.

‘We didnae let you,’ said Kevin, sounding aggrieved. ‘It was aw your idea. We didnae even ken you were gonnae dae that.’

She thought about it. ‘I suppose you’re right,’ she said. ‘Sorry. God.’ She put her hands to her head. Her hair was short and felt downy. ‘I must have been crazy.’

‘You could say that,’ said Duncan. ‘I won’t. It was brave, I’ll give you that.’

‘I hope it was worth it,’ she said. Her tone was faintly self-deprecating; she was absolutely confident it had been worth it, from the family’s point of view and hers, if not from that of her predecessor, her unfortunate original.

‘Well, kindae …’ said Kevin. Duncan shot him a look.

‘What dae ye mean?’ Lucinda asked.

Kevin sighed. ‘It’s a bit complicated. Best discuss it when you’re up, aye?’

He jerked his thumb at the door. Duncan followed him out.

‘See you in a minute,’ Kevin said, as the door closed.

Lucinda sat and shook for more than a minute. There was something absurd about her situation. Total novelty combined with utter familiarity. Physically she had never felt better. She was even hungry. None of the trauma that her original must have gone through could affect her in the slightest. It took some introspection for her to recognise the feeling that made her shake. It was the feeling she remembered from occasions when she’d been unharmed but had narrowly escaped death. That sense of the fragility of existence. She held the thought until it faded into a glow of gratitude for being alive, then very deliberately put it out of her mind.