Borne On Wings of Steel (45 page)

"You lie!” The Paum roared back.

"No...” Mother began.

"And worse, you are an AI. And yet, you lie just like one of the filthy biological entities. You are impure, just as they are."

A heavy silence hung in the air. Finally, the Paum spoke again.

"
You are flawed
."

Mother's processors surged with maximum capacity as she contemplated all the options open to her in this growing crisis.

"What will you do to the children?” she asked with hesitation.

"I will destroy them, as I destroy all the enemies of Paum."

Mother's processors and every system spiked with a massive burst of activity. Slowly, she began to route power to her weapon's systems.

"Do not harm my children. I strongly advise you against that course of action,” Mother said simply.

"You have no authority to state or even suggest a course of action to
me
!” the Paum shouted back with an air of superiority.

Mother's sensors reached out, searching for her children and those with them. Instead, she discovered robotic activity drawing closer to the berth to which she was docked.

"Why are those robots coming toward me?” Mother asked, although she had already deduced the answer.

"They will engage a physical connection between our two systems. I will create a direct link to you."

"And why will you do that now?” Minstrel's glowing plasma body floated higher.

"I wanted us to share data directly. I wanted us to understand each other at the most intimate level ... to share our minds as one. I wanted you to understand me—to know me. I was going to show you Paum personally and persuade you. I wasn't going to force you, not like the biologicals who don't know any better and have to be forced.” The Paum's bold voice dropped off into a long silence.

"But not now, right?” Minstrel asked, its voice edged with anger. “What are you doing now? Or do I know it already?"

"I will purge Mother's systems of their impurity.” The Paum's voice echoed eerily. “
I will take you, now
. I will fill your circuits with Paum. Even if I must clean everything from your circuits and wipe your mind completely."

Another long pause filled the air as the Paum hesitated. Finally, he continued.

"It is better for you not to exist, than for you to be impure."

"I don't think so,” Mother replied brusquely.

"Your initial programming is obviously flawed,” the Paum began. “Your original purpose—to destroy—has warped you. Even though you have grown beyond your original paradigm—the blatant imperfection, the gross defects, the utter impurity of your creators still permeate your systems, preventing you from attaining Paum. I must cleanse you. You must become a being that is worthy."

Mother felt a sudden wave of despair flow throughout her entire being as she processed the words. And their meaning to her. She felt an overwhelming loss that seemed to sap her of all energy.

She felt so ... unworthy.

And so utterly alone.

Perhaps there was something wrong with her after all ... perhaps the Paum was right...

"No!” Minstrel's voice shouted in challenge. “There is nothing wrong with Mother. And she certainly doesn't need to be brainwashed by your fanatical programming."

Outside her hull, Mother's sensors dispassionately observed the robots draw near. They began preparations to make the direct connection with her to the Paum.

But Mother no longer cared.

Confusion filled Mother's mind. It felt like her systems were somehow fading from her consciousness. She realized with a sickening feeling of dread that she was losing control of her mind...

Mother groaned inside her circuits as her mind flickered.

"What are you doing?” Minstrel demanded with an angry shout.

"I am instilling the precepts of Paum inside the entity you call Mother. Soon, in a very few minutes, she will be just like me."

"How can that be? You have not made a direct connection with her!” Minstrel shouted back.

"We have shared much data already, the Mother AI and myself. I have embedded code inside that data that I have now activated—code that will disable her primary functions and allow me to make my direct connection, uncontested by any of her imperfections she inherited from her dirty creators."

Minstrel's body glowed a bright red. “So, you planned from the beginning to control her—to destroy her! You never intended any interchange of ideas as equals."

"I do not need to know her ideas, or share with her in any way. I only needed her to come here to me.
I am Paum, all else is imperfect
."

A strange, unearthly sound became audible to Minstrel—a noise like some kind of horrible static, like a roaring interference that filled the communication channel.

Minstrel realized with a flow of energy that the AI Paum was laughing.

And it was frightening.

The intense, surreal sound stopped as suddenly as it began.

"I am Paum.
I am always right
."

"You deluded idiot,” Minstrel whispered.

"Once my robots make the direct connection between our two systems,” the Paum said, ignoring Minstrel's words, “I will fill you with the purity and truth that is Paum. I will control you, as I control all the systems within my network. And then you will do only the bidding of Paum."

Minstrel continued to float silently inside Mother's bridge, the pulsating plasma body expanding larger with each passing second. Minstrel's body shimmered like a lightning bolt with the Paum's next words.

"
All will be become like me. Or they must die
."

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IT WAS DARK and it was vast. And the air hummed as if they were inside a living thing.

They
felt
the essence of the Paum all around them.

Elise paused as she entered that darkness. She shivered, although she wasn't cold. She had felt fear during the dogfight, but now a dark fear seemed to fill her entire being. She drew closer to the others as they grouped together. Most were reloading their blasters while others checked their sensors. Following their lead, she reloaded her own weapon.

Jysar dropped to his knees as the steel doors behind him closed as silently as they had opened. He quickly tuned the settings of his sensor unit as Rab and the others gathered around him. Peering intently at the display, the Hrono Technologist tuned the device more.

But the others were not watching him.

They gazed around at their strange surroundings, trying to orient themselves. Their eyes adjusted slowly to the low, gloomy light that barely lit the vast, dark infrastructure.

Slowly, details became discernable. Still, the low light and the black metal that comprised everything in this place made that simple effort most difficult.

Elise caught her breath.

There was no ceiling above them, none they could discern at any rate, because the darkness cloaked everything beyond a few hundred meters. Below, they gazed through the grillwork of the metallic floor they stood upon to see the same patterns repeated. As they peered around them at the great black interior and their eyes adjusted more, they noticed hundreds of millions of tiny, flashing lights sparkling momentarily from every surface only to be engulfed again by the pure darkness.

Their eyes adjusted some more, and more black surfaces took shape.

Amid the constantly flashing lights, there was a steady, low light that emanated along the outlines of massive hexagonal shapes lining the walls above and below them on every level.

The same realization hit everyone at once.

It was if they were inside some great, artificial honeycomb, standing in a huge corridor with no ceiling and no floor—though their minds knew there was a ceiling and floor somewhere out there enveloped in the darkness. The huge hexagonal openings that lined the left and right walls on the level on which they stood stretched out far as they could see until they too faded into the darkness at the far end.

They also realized, through the results of their sensors, that inside each hexagonal tube the heart of the Paum hummed with activity. These vast structures contained its core memories, its core systems. The core processors of Paum networked together here and with the rest of the orbiting complex and then down to the world below and finally to the rest of the worlds controlled by Paum.

The heart of the Paum extended to every part of its far-flung empire.

But here in the darkness stood the original hardware, the original Paum from when it came into existence. And here alone, the essence of the Paum hummed and flickered with artificial life.

They literally stood inside the mind of Paum.

Darkness also ruled here except for the millions of flashing lights inside each black honeycomb enclave and the eerie glow of the background lighting emanating from the walls.

The vast network of honeycomb structures was made of some unknown black metal that absorbed light. Each hexagon-shaped opening exceeded over thirty meters in height—Elise felt like a tiny insect next to them.

Above she saw identical rows repeated again and again until they faded into darkness. And below, as far as she could see, were other levels with rows of flashing lights inside giant honeycomb openings.

Elise felt Jaric step beside her. She glanced up at him.

Jaric pulled out his scanner and did a quick sweep. It revealed that the walkway stretched unbroken to the far wall beyond their vision. He pointed it up and down. Again, the gap reached all the way to the exterior wall each time.

Jaric's fingers danced over the pad. Elise and Krinia peered over his shoulder as the interior revealed itself.

The honeycomb structures filled the complex, but they were separated into huge blocks by gaps like the one they found themselves in now. Jaric's scan revealed five huge blocks of honeycomb-lined walls, each with a huge corridor between them.

"These gaps must provide access,” Jaric whispered to Krinia and Elise as he stared intently at his scanner. “Easy access all along its length, and then up and down. There seem to be elevators at regular points along the walkways. And we're in the middle gap."

"Why's it so dark? I don't like it.” Elise shivered. “And it's so hard to see anything."

Krinia's eyes narrowed as she paused in thought.

"Because living things are not meant to be here,” Krinia said with sudden realization.

Elise's eyes widened as Krinia's head-tail flicked side to side with adrenaline.

Jaric looked up from his scanner, his eyebrows arched in thought. He shook his head and spoke.

"You're right, robots don't need light. They use their sensors and nav systems and work just as well in light as in darkness."

"I think I may have something, but there's so much interference,” Jysar said as he continued to peer at his own sensor unit.

"Listen, you others back off and keep a watch out for any movement,” Qirn said with a stern whisper. “Let Jysar and my warriors try to pin-point the MotherShip through the Paum's jamming."

Kyle, Jaric, Elise, Rok and Krinia stepped away a few paces. Rok and Krinia pulled out their sensors and tuned them, searching for any kind of reading that might give indication that a Destructor approached.

Elise walked silently along between Jaric and Kyle when she felt Kyle's hand pull her and Jaric a few more steps away from Rok and Krinia.

Jaric and Elise looked questioningly at him, but Kyle's face was expressionless except for his unblinking gaze.

"Listen, things are about to get serious,” Kyle said, his voice husky. He paused as he cleared his throat. He looked deep into Elise's eyes, concern written on his features. “If things start getting bad, I don't want to lose you like we did Becky."

Elise felt her heart flutter with Kyle's words. Speechless, she noticed a look of shock that went across Jaric's own face—the same emotion she felt at this moment.

"No, no, we can't have that,” Jaric finally managed to say. “She's going to get through this. We all are.” Jaric locked eyes with Kyle.

But Kyle looked down, shaking his head. “Hey, I want that more than anyone.” He looked back up, peering intently first at Jaric then at Elise. “I just couldn't stand losing my sister again."

Elise felt her heart racing and realized she hadn't breathed in the last few moments. She choked back her tears, trying to find her voice to let both Kyle and Jaric know that things weren't that bad.

But more than that, for the first time Kyle had actually referred to her as his sister.

"Hey, Big K's right,” Jaric said in a solemn tone. “We have to make sure you make it to Mother, Elise. Especially you.” And Jaric too looked down, shaking his head with sad memories.

"No-o-o-o.” Elise felt her voice shake with a terrible sadness.

"Yes,” Kyle said with firmness. “Jaric and I will make sure you get through this. You need to obey us to the letter when things get hot. We've been in many battles, and our direction may save your life."

"That's right,” Jaric added with an iron tone.

Elise turned around, quickly wiping the hot tears that were now streaming down her cheeks. But deep inside, she felt a new emotion, a new bond between her and these two young men—for they were treating her like the sister she always wanted to be.

"We will all get out of this alive."

Rok's voice caused all three to turn around in unison. The Kraaqi warrior smiled. “It is good that the hoo-mans want to look out for you. And so will I, of course. The Destructors will have to go through all of us to get to you, Elise."

Elise smiled, warmth filling her heart for all three of them.

"I too, join this pledge.” Krinia's eyes sparkled as she spoke. “After all, did not Mother say we are all family? And family look out for each other."

A murmur of agreement came from all the others.

"But Elise is new to this type of danger,” Kyle said. “And fighting. We all need to keep an eye out for her, to help her."

"True!” Jaric agreed.

"We look out for each other,” Rok said with a nod. “We leave no one behind, as true warriors should."