Zero Point (Owner Trilogy 2) (43 page)

Finally, the only personnel remaining were Le Roque, the working technicians and a few of his staff like Chang, along with Langstrom and herself. She felt a sudden familiar tightening in her
torso and in the back of her throat. Though she recognized the first signs of a panic attack, they came to her almost like a balm. Her liar panic attacks only ambushed her when there was nothing
actually to panic about. He was back in charge, and she could now return to her laboratory.

‘Langstrom,’ he said, turning to the police chief, ‘I have just started running diagnostic checks on Chairman Messina’s space plane, the
Imperator
, and fuelling
has also commenced. I want you to choose the required crew to fly it, and a six-man team of the best EVA workers you have and get them aboard the plane, ready for a flight in twelve
hours.’

‘Yes, sir,’ Langstrom replied. ‘Might I enquire why?’

‘The
Imperator
is armed, and it even has five tactical atomics aboard. I intend to make things a little difficult for the
Scourge
,’ Saul replied. ‘Get on to that
now.’

Langstrom obviously wanted to ask more but, grateful to still be alive, he quickly headed off, taking the repro Manuel with him.

‘Now you, Le Roque,’ Saul said, and the man immediately looked as if he expected the hammer to fall, ‘you’ve been receiving requests from the
Scourge
to open
communication.’

‘We’ve said nothing to them,’ said Le Roque hurriedly.

‘Well, now it is time to talk,’ Saul replied.

‘Why?’ asked Hannah. ‘They want us all dead or captured, and this station back under their control.’

‘You will see shortly,’ Saul replied, as Le Roque turned to the console below the three big screens and punched in a command.

The screen just flickered for a moment, and then a tough Asiatic face appeared. It was the man Hannah recognized from the
Scourge
broadcasts as Captain Scotonis.

‘So you have seen fit to reply at last,’ said the captain, then his eyes widened fractionally as he took in whatever was visible to him on his screen. ‘Who are you?’

‘I am Alan Saul.’ He stepped closer to the screens, and Hannah guessed that he had routed an image of himself, rather than the image the screens, with their integral cams, would be
currently picking up of Le Roque.

‘So rumours of your demise have been exaggerated,’ said Scotonis.

‘Not entirely,’ Saul replied, ‘but then death has become a rather movable feast with me. Do you yourself have complete authority aboard the
Scourge
, Captain
Scotonis.’

The captain looked momentarily baffled, then said, ‘I’m handing you over to Political Officer Clay Ruger right now.’

The next image to come up on the screen was another that Hannah recognized from previous attempts at communication with them from the
Scourge
. The man was also recognizable in another
sense, for he was a type. Handsome but cold, there was a kind of blankness there, indicating the archetypal murderous Committee bureaucrat. However, upon seeing Saul, he did show a modicum of
shock, albeit quickly concealed.

‘Alan Saul,’ he said. ‘You have a great deal to answer for.’

‘Substantially less, perhaps, than your new leader Serene Galahad, since I did not send the signal to release the Scour from eight billion implant biochips.’ Saul paused for a
second. ‘But I sense that this is old news to you.’

Ruger appeared momentarily fazed, but then continued smoothly, ‘That’s complete nonsense. Everyone on Earth knows how you inflicted the Scour on them.’

‘Whatever.’ Saul waved a dismissive hand. ‘I haven’t contacted you to waste time in such recriminations. And certainly I can’t apprise the people of Earth of the
truth, since it seems that Galahad now has her own comlife guarding Govnet.’

Again Ruger took a moment to recover. ‘Then why have you called?’

‘To make you an offer,’ Saul replied. ‘Twenty minutes ago I began making a copy of all the Gene Bank data we have stored aboard Argus, so I can begin transmitting it to you at
once.’

Again Ruger’s response was slow, but now Hannah realized that this was due in part to transmission delay, which seemed to emphasize his hesitancy. She studied Saul’s face. What was
he doing?

‘And what would you want in return for that?’

‘Despite my demonization on ETV, I am not actually a nihilist. I would like to see that data used on Earth to try and restore its biosphere, and it is little enough trouble for me to send
you a recording of it.’

‘What about the physical samples?’

‘Unfortunately, making copies of them would take months, if not years, since it would involve some lengthy biotech processes. I could, however, set such processes in motion should you be
prepared to stand off and wait.’

‘I would have to put this to Chairman Galahad.’

‘I understand.’ Saul nodded. ‘I have now begun transmitting the data to you, and I do have one small thing to ask in return.’

‘And that is?’

‘Tell me, what is that object fixed around your neck?’

Ruger really did look put out this time. He unconsciously reached up to touch the metal ring, and seemed to be searching for the right words.

‘It ensures obedience,’ he said.

‘Strangulation,’ Saul replied. ‘Explosive collars are too messy, and inducer- and drug-administering versions are too complicated to manufacture in large numbers.’

Ruger just gave a tight nod.

‘Get back to me when you’ve received a reply from your chairman,’ Saul finished.

The screen flicked back to show the mining robot still hard at work.

‘What was the point of that?’ asked Le Roque. ‘You’re throwing away one of our biggest bargaining chips.’

Saul turned to him, and Le Roque abruptly took a pace back.

‘I agree with him,’ Hannah interjected, not so much because she did agree but in the hope of forestalling any nasty reaction from Saul.

Saul watched her as she moved round to stand beside Le Roque, his face expressionless until he remembered to appear human, and he smiled ruefully.

‘It was, in effect, about a number of things,’ he replied. ‘I actually do want a copy of that data back on Earth, in fact as many copies as possible, because I am
not
a
nihilist and the death of Earth’s biosphere concerns me as much as it concerns those still living there. However,’ he held up one finger, ‘consider just how much data that copy
will contain. It would consist of the DNA maps for maybe twenty per cent of Earth’s species, which incidentally includes most of the macro fauna and flora of the planet. It comprises
literally terabytes of data – more than could possibly be checked through by the
Scourge
’s computer security.’

‘You’re making a link, then,’ said Hannah. ‘You’re going to take control of their ship.’

‘I hope so,’ he said, ‘though it is quite possible they will route the data straight into completely isolated storage. My hope is that, instead, they will then begin
transmitting it back to Earth, where it is more likely that someone will be careless in their handling of it.’

‘What’s the benefit to us?’

‘There is a small chance that it won’t go into isolated storage, and right now we need to grab every chance we can get. It’s also the case that, if it is routed back to Earth,
it could come in useful in the future . . . if there is a future for us at all.’

‘You said something about comlife back there,’ said Hannah.

‘While I slept, I felt it,’ he supplied, ‘but just before we came in here I tried to obtain data from Govnet. This Galahad has set her own guards on the computer networks of
Earth, seven of them. They do not have my grip on the data world, however, so I suspect the bioware used was an earlier version of yours, but with transmission delays they are enough to keep me
out. However, if what I am currently weaving into the Gene Bank data is released there, I will gain a foothold.’

‘A foothold in the future doesn’t help us now,’ said Le Roque.

Saul shook his head briefly, as if in irritation. ‘Again you fail to grasp the danger we are in. I had to send it simply because of the small chance of it being effective on the
Scourge
. But, of course,’ he continued, ‘I am not betting our lives on that possibility.’ He turned towards the door. ‘We need that drive, we need those weapons, and
we need to do all we can to give us the time for them to be completed.’ He paused at the door, and Hannah hurried to catch up with him. Before stepping out, he added, ‘And one way of
giving us some time is to lay a minefield.’

Earth

It had taken some weeks to prepare the place, because Serene had wanted it open and with no buildings in sight. She had ordered that the entire area previously evacuated
during the search for the deer killers should remain unoccupied – its three million previous residents being reassigned to accommodation emptied by the Scour. Next the big dozers and ploughs
were flown in, first clearing a mountain in the misnamed Transylvanian Plateau of its infection of apartment blocks and then heading outwards, tearing up further buildings and dumping their rubble
in various valleys, canyons and gorges. Serene estimated that by the time the machines had finished there the place could truly be called a plateau.

The polished aluminium spikes specially commissioned for this site were erected on hinged brackets attached to a concrete dais – the medical monitoring equipment inside them constantly
checked until the arrival of those who would require monitoring. The nine had been well fed, all their medical needs had been attended too, and they were probably the healthiest they had ever been
throughout their miserable lives. As the doctors attached further monitoring devices, injected them and attached fluid and plasma feeds, they remained subdued and compliant. But when they finally
saw the nine spikes tilted over on their hinges, ready to receive them, their reaction was not unexpected.

With a hard-faced expression, Serene watched the whole process through to its completion, watched the spikes raised with the nine writhing and screaming in inescapable agony, silhouetted
horrifically against a dull iron sky. It soon began to snow, big flat flakes of it tumbling down. She cut the sound of screaming when, after the ETV compère of the show had finished his
narrative, her own lecture began.

I did not enjoy that
, she told herself,
but it was necessary
.

She flicked to other cam images and now watched the dozers at work some kilometres from the scene, pushing over buildings and exposing long-hidden earth. Here was something really necessary that
she enjoyed so much more. Elsewhere on Earth the scene was being repeated now that surviving populations were being moved to population centres. Whole swathes of sprawl were being cleared. New
rock-grinding machines were turning concrete and carbocrete to sand and the contents of now-redundant digesters were being spread. Satellite pictures showed a steadily climbing percentage of
greenery all across the five continents, and further massive algae blooms had appeared in the oceans.

She had done so much but was aware that her achievements were fragile. With the new resources that had become available after the Scour – the plentiful food and energy –
Earth’s population was again rising. Even after the hard lessons of the last century, it seemed that people refused to learn. This was why Serene now returned her attention to the work she
had paused while watching the execution of sentence on the nine.

The Safe Departure clinics needed to be reopened, for clearly she had been premature in her closure of them. However, new rules needed to be enforced. In the past, safe departure had been a
voluntary exercise, though there had been a great deal of social and state pressure on those whose working life had ended to take that route. It must now be made compulsory. She would not be so
foolish as to set some arbitrary limit as, generally, with modern medical technology, the working life of a citizen could be extended into a second century. It would all have to be based on a finer
status system than the old ZA/SA system. This would grade how useful a person was to the state, and in that respect it would encourage people to try to become as
useful
as possible. The
non-productive could no longer be tolerated. She would set up a focus group to look into the details.

Then there was the birth rate. During the last twenty years the Committee had brought in the one-child-per-couple rule in an attempt to reduce the population, but many had flouted it, especially
those who worked for the state. This could no longer be tolerated. Previously, those who had more than one child were demoted to ZA status, sterilized and had their children taken into care. But
this was not sufficiently harsh to overcome the human breeding instinct. The one-child rule would remain in force until the human population sank below her ideal target of five billion. Compulsory
sterilization would be introduced for parents who already had one child. Anyone who found a way round this, no matter their status, would face summary execution, with no exception. Also any extra
children they had produced would be disposed of, too.

Was this enough?

Serene sat back with her hands folded behind her head and gazed at the screen. She felt a tightness in her stomach, a frustration and impatience. Surely there were more measures she could take?
Surely there must be some way to bring the population quickly down to a properly sustainable level? She could use the Scour again, of course, but recently she had learned that its reoccurrence
tended to undermine her authority; tended to leave populations with the impression that she wasn’t quite in control. Then, again, did anyone have to know?

Madagascar.

For a moment she wasn’t quite sure why the name of that island popped into her head, but then remembered a report she had seen, a few weeks back, of lemurs being spotted there. Now she
immediately began to think about bones scattered around a campfire . . .

Nature reserves . . .

Yes. Serene began her research, soon finding that, apart from fish farms and palm-oil plantations, the island produced very little that was of value. Since the Scour the population had dropped
to thirty million and some jungle was re-establishing itself in sprawl clearances. How difficult would it be to shut this entire island nation out of worldwide communication? The answer was quite
simple: the same safety protocols that shut down Govnet during Alan Saul’s attack on Earth were still in place, and they could be applied regionally. Any communications outside of Govnet
could be safely ignored, since there were no longer any free media organizations to pick them up.