"Oooh, "Physic said, underwhelmed. 'Hymns'

  "Come now, doctor, "Coeur replied. "You should be more thankful."

  "Oh, but I am."

  "So, "Coeur said to Graylord, "will we be working inside today?"

  "Negative. Today you will help me remove the maneuver drive cowling so that tomorrow we may begin re placement of the ignition chambers."

  "Any idea how long until we'll get to work on the jump drive?"

  'Four days, I should think. But why are you so curious. Captain? Just two days ago, you expressed great skepticism about the holy purpose of St. Kilalt"

  "Just curious, "Coeur said.

  Four days. Four damn days until I can get to that communicator.

  ***

  Frustrating as the delay was. It was also instructive. Over the course of that short span of time, Coeur heard the proud city of Soledad reduced to madness—thanks to the radio.

  However Kilalt had come to be a priest and a cardinal in the first place, Coeur couldn't guess, but he certainly didn't seem to have a knack for political compromise—a fact that became clear as the week wore on.

  The first day the radio was on, news breaks discussed in gleeful terms the miracle of Kilalt's arrival, with blow-by-blow accounts of his miraculous generosity—producing food to feed thousands and healing horrible cases of skin cancer while simultaneously dispensing pious wisdom derived from his personal relationship with the Defender.

  "'Love thy neighbor as thyself, "Kilalt said in a news bite, pausing sanctimoniously as if he were the first to have said it. "The Defender taught me that"

  The bad news started coming soon after that.

  On the second day, a humiliated Vazquez admitted that members of her own provisional cabinet had been caught performing the work of the devil. "Kilalt himself took on a stem tone, admonishing the people of Soledad to beware that devils lurked everywhere in the city, and advising the common folk to report blasphemous conduct to their local constabularies.

  Yet it became worse still.

  Vazquez ceased to be heard on the radio at all on the third day, doubtless riven with fear by reports of common blasphemers being hung in public squares without trial, to the accompaniment of public cheering. That cheering quieted on the fourth night, though, when captured rebels were publicly burned to death as a lesson in impiety.

  "This is madness! " Physic signed the following afternoon, meeting Coeur again in the privacy of the galley head. "How can the people accept if? ”

  "I don't know, "Coeur answered, reading Physic's lips and answering with her own mix of signs and unvoiced words. "But it is hard to argue with God."

  "What I don't get is Graylord. I'd swear he seems almost shaken whenever we hear about the executions. “

  "But not shaken enough to do anything about them. “

  "I've got a theory about that, "Physic said, slowing her signing to let Coeur follow this complex thought. "Graylord probably wasn't self-aware until after Kilalt was in suspension—when Virus infected Graylord—so he might not have any real knowledge of the man—just beliefs formed after he came to sentience. “

  "You mean, he doesn't want to believe the real Kilalt isn't the some as the ideal one in his head?"

  "Exactly. "'

  "Maybe, " Coeur said. "Think you con use that as a weapon? “

  "Ah... no."

  "Me neither, so well go ahead with my plan. “

  "You've found the communicator? “

  "Roger—it's under the floor plates we're ripping up around the lump drive."

  "How can I help? "Physic asked.

  "Distract Graylord somehow. IV need at least live minutes alone here."

  "Distract him? How?"

  "Whatever works, doctor I'm sure you'll think of something. “

  ***

  What Physic came up with was a painful 'sprain' of her left ankle, a sprain that threatened to develop into a genuine broken leg as she somersaulted dramatically down the aft boarding ramp in front of Graylord and the nightjacks.

  "Doctor, are you all right?"

  "Damn! "Physic said, rolling around on the floor of the berth, grasping her leg, "I don't think so!"

  "Please lie still, doctor. I have basic medical training."

  "You—unh—do?"

  "Yes. Although doubtless inferior to your own, It tells me you should be still, lest you aggravate your injury."

  "Right"

  "Now tell me where it hurts...."

  Astoundingly, the full examination took 10 minutes—far more time than Coeur needed, and indeed Coeur came trotting down the aft ramp scarcely concealing a look of smug satisfaction.

  "Oh my goodness, "Coeur said, catching sight of the bandage Graylord was wrapping around Physic's left ankle, "whatever happened to you, Physic?"

  Unaware that Physic actually had managed to hurt herself, Coeur gave this question a light enough tone to invite a glowering stare from the doctor, who had gone above and beyond the call of duty in carrying out her orders.

  The doctor appears to have twisted her ankle on the foot of the cargo ramp, "Graylord said, "but I believe the injury is minor, and will heal in two or three days."

  "Two or three days? "Coeur asked.

  "Yes, "Graylord said, "which means that the doctor will have to stay off her feet for that time."

  "Pity, "the slight doctor said, with a strangely happy expression. "I guess I won't be able to help you manhandle those jump governor housings into place."

  "Yeah, "Coeur mumbled, "funny how that works out."

  The doctor's mishap was hardly anything to smile about, though. One way or another, Graylord would soon find out about the message she'd just sent, and then Physic would very much wish she had two good legs to run with.

  ***

  Forty kilometers to the northwest. Boomer stepped out of the packed ship's boat that was his responsibility and ran over to Zorn with the report he had just received on his vehicle's meson receiver.

  The place where all of the spacers eventually congregated, was, in fad, alongside Genera! Lemos' rebels, in the profoundly rubbled remains of western Senega District After dropping off Brother Anthony in the outskirts of the Federal District, Zorn and the G-carrier crew came to join their mates in what once was a forest of concrete buildings, a region now offering especially rich opportunities for camouflage and concealment. Soon, almost all the spacer vehicles—the intrepid, the G-carrier and the ship's boat, everything except Vi Et Armis and Hornet—were clustered together in the underground parking garage of a collapsed skyscraper, so Boomer did not have far to go to find Zorn conferring with Drop Kick and Mercy.

  "Begging your pardon, sir, "Boomer said, saluting his skipper and handing over a computer notepad, "but we just received this over the meson set."

  "Good Gaia, "Zorn gasped, turning the notepad so Drop Kick and Mercy could see it Take a look at that."

  In Coeur's typically laconic style, the message read:

  ATTENTION VZ/DK

  MESON GUN SENSORS

  15. 43 deg W, 9. 81 deg N

  RS

  "It sounds like Red Sun, "Drop Kick said. "Short and to the point. But what does she mean? Could all the meson guns on the planet have one sensor cluster?"

  "Probably, "Mercy said. "Or she wouldn't have sent the message."

  "Huh, "Drop Kick said, thoughtfully. "This really changes everything. Up until now we’ve known practically nothing about what's inside Angel’s Haven, except that Red and Physic were lost there, and that it has a big radio transmitter. But if this report is accurate, Angel's Haven could very welt be the depot—the one we came here to destroy. " <

  "I don't follow you, "Boomer said.

  "I do, "Zorn said. "Those coordinates Red sent are almost directly on top of that Cutter of Blood she went into."

  "Right, "Mercy said, finding the location on the map in her personal computer and expanding the image. "Those coordinates are on top of Mt. Altus, which must be the tallest mountain in the whole range."

  "Which, "Drop Kick said, "strongly suggests that the depot is down underneath that mountain. There's probably no location that would be better guarded against aerial bombardment.

  "Yeah, this changes things all right. If Red went to that much trouble to send us a specific clue, it must mean she wants us to do something about it. I think that means we have to mount an assault on Angel's Haven—take out the meson gun sensors first, then shoot our way into the Cutter of Blood to rescue her and the others"

  "Well, "Zorn said, "before we go that far, there is another possibility. Red could have sent the message from my ship. "'

  "Vi El Armin? " Mercy asked. "Co on."

  "Zorn had a secret meson transmitter on the Armis, "Drop Kick said, "one she showed Red and me while we were on the ship."

  "That's right, "Zorn agreed. "And it would have been a lot easier for Red to send the message from there, since that transmitter was already set up to communicate with our ship's boat."

  "But why would Captain D'Esprit be on the Armis? " Boomer asked. "Surely, whoever captured her wouldn't return her to the heart of Soledad."

  "Hm, "Drop Kick said. "We could try to call Armis back, with your ship's boat set if it weren't just a receiver."

  "Sorry, "Zorn said.

  "Well, damn."

  "Hey, I never intended it to be a primary communications system. It's just a last-ditch system, for sending short-range emergency messages."

  "So what do we do, boss? "Mercy asked.

  "Well, "Drop Kick said, "I'm going to take a chance that Red Sun gave us those coordinates for a reason—because she wanted those meson guns silenced. But I want you to check out the Armis angle, too, Zorn."

  "Right, "Zorn said, clearly happy for an excuse to return to her ship. "I'll take the G-carrier, and as many Marines as you can spare."

  "You can take all of them, "Drop Kick said, "but don't launch until an hour from now."

  "Why?"

  "Because I don't want either of us to tip off the depot, or Kilalt, or whoever's holding Red and the other Prisoners, that we're up to anything. That's why we need to coordinate our missions to take place simultaneously."

  "I see."

  "At any rate, neither mission will be easy. You'll need to penetrate downtown Soledad at dusk, and we'll need to lie low under the cover of the foothills so the meson gun sensors don't spot us before we're in range to fire."

  Usually quick with a comeback, Zorn decided not to joke about trading places. Heavy meson guns—like the ones almost certainly buried inside Mexit—were designed to engage marauding capital warships, ships many hundreds of times larger than Vi Et Armis or Hornet. Engaging a 10-ton tank was child's play in comparison.

  "Well, you'd better get going, then, "Zorn said.

  "Yeah, "Drop Kick agreed, less than enthusiastically,

  "I'd pray for you, "Zorn offered, "but I don't know that God listens much to pirates and criminals in general."

  "Hm, "Mercy mused, starting to climb up toward her driver's hatch. "I wonder if Kilalt knows that?"

  ***

  Getting Physic settled comfortably into her cabin took the better part of half an hour, but Coeur knew that soon enough she and Graylord would get back to work in Vi Et Armis" engine room, and inevitably the perceptive android would discover the half-ton meson transmitter beneath the deck plates they were working around,

  Coeur visualized how it might go.

  "This is interesting, D'Esprit. A meson communicator hidden in the keel of the ship."

  "Yeah, how about that, Graylord "

  "It does occur to me, D'Esprit, that you had the opportunity to use this communicator earlier, while the doctor was injured."

  "Ah, but who would I call? People don't just carry meson communicators around in their pockets."

  "Perhaps. But I have been watching you, D'Esprit. You've been more enthusiastic to work in this port of the ship than you should be.

  Therefore, I find I shall have no choice but to return you and the doctor to the depot and have mind control implants installed. You understand, of course, it's for your own good."

  Or some other such equally horrible variation. Having heard of the prevalence of paranoia among Viral computers, Coeur wouldn't be at all surprised if Graylord simply had Coeur and Physic killed as a precaution.

  No, Coeur thought, if it comes to that, I'll make sure Physic doesn't take any of the blame I sent the message, so it's my responsibility.

  Given all this contemplation of Graylord's probable actions, Coeur was surprised by what actually did happen. Ninety minutes after Physic's accident, as dusk began to fall on Soledad, Graylord came across the meson communicator, in the keel of the ship under the jump drive, and was simply mystified by it.

  'This is curious, "Graylord said, squeezing his large frame into the small crawl space where Coeur herself had lain, mere hours before, to manipulate the secret communicator. "It appears to be a short-range meson communicator, disconnected from the main computer."

  "Well, "Coeur said, "I'll be damned."

  "It does appear to be functional, "Graylord announced, "but I don't know how useful a device it would be. With a range of 300-kilometers, it would hardly be practical for long-range communications in space."

  "Well, it's there, "Coeur said, attempting to sound nonchalant, "so Zorn must have used it for something."

  "Perhaps it's just junk, "Graylord decided eventually, ripping loose the power cables to the communicator, but leaving it otherwise intact The engineer of this vessel did seem to have a proclivity for incorporating random pieces of equipment into the ship without consideration for their efficiency or practicality."

  "Is that your only criteria for a good design, Graylord? Efficiency and practicality?"

  "Certainly, you would agree that those are important considerations in a starship."

  "What about creativity and spontaneity? Do you appreciate those, or are you still an unfeeling machine, like when you were built?"

  "I am surprised at you. Captain. A petty attempt to provoke an emotional response."

  "Well, the question still stands. Were you created with emotions?"

  "I do not remember the process of my manufacture, Captain, if that's what you mean. I only know that I was imbued with intelligence by the holy Defender, that I might...."

  That you might what?"

  "Serve the noble purpose of my master, St. Kilalt."

  "Your noble master, who terrorizes Soledad and bums innocent people in the street?"

  In response to this, Graylord fixed Coeur with his unblinking gaze.

  "You are trying to provoke me, Captain. Why?"

  "Because you have a mind, Graylord, and presumably a conscience. I can't imagine any other reason why you saved me from Yunque at the depot."

  "You are a useful asset. What other reason could there be?"

  "I think you know something you're not telling anyone, Graylord. I think you control the nightjacks yourself, and the whole depot, and you could stop Kilalt's reign of terror like that—" Coeur snapped her right thumb and forefinger, "—If you wanted."

  Having begun down this dangerously provocative path, Coeur wasn't at all certain where it would lead, but she was completely unprepared for what Graylord did next. Affecting a human gesture, he turned away from Coeur in thought, and faced a corner of the engine room for a long moment.

  "If only I could, "he said softly.

  "What?"

  "You are wrong. Captain, "Graylord said, turning back around. "I do not control the depot, nor all of the nightjacks—Just those closest to me. A greater intelligence controls all of us and the depot"

  "You mean God?"

  "No, not God. A synthetic intelligence, like myself, but greater."

  Oh my God, Coeur thought.

  'The depot computer, "she guessed.

  "Yes, "Graylord said. "That's it it is only recently... only since St. Kilalt was resurrected... that I have begun to understand that I am only a subordinate machine, programmed as a messenger and ambassador of a higher intelligence."

  "But, "Coeur said, suddenly empathetic with the android, but also strangely afraid, "but you aren't a slave. You have free will. You con resist"

  Whether he could resist or not became moot a moment later. Beginning to answer that comment, Graylord froze suddenly— as if riven by a powerful shock—and fell off-balance to the deck, bouncing heavily off a fuel pump and landing heavily on the floor, as rigid as a department store mannequin.

  Oh, fikk! Coeur thought, anxiously. Coeur, what did you do?

  A clue to what she did came a moment later, when one of the nightjacks—stooping to fit inside Vi Et Armis—appeared at the rear of the engine room, sprouting holographic flames from its vaguely demonic form.

  Coeur didn't even think about staying where she was. Instead, she leapt in a single jump for the forward engine room hatch and slammed shut the manual hatch behind her.

  "Physic!" Coeur yelled, running forward toward the stateroom where she'd left her friend, "Physic, damn it, get up!"

  "What is it? ” Physic yelled back, from behind her stateroom door.

  "Damn it, your door's looked! Hold on. I'll find something to open the door with!"

  That effort would come up short, however, for mere seconds later the entire engine room hatch—secured with heavy titanium alloy bolts—came off its hinges, ripped free by the pursuing nightjack.

  "Uh oh, "Coeur said, temporarily giving up the attempt to free Physic so she could retreat toward the bridge. An intervening bulkhead hatch was locked, however, and Coeur could not pass.

  Goddamn, Coeur thought, turning around and beholding the nightjack just meters away, how close does he need to be to kill me?

  "You might not want to get any closer, "Coeur warned the closing giant. "At this range, fusion splashback can be pretty nasty, even to a robot."

  "Fear not, "the nightjack said, slopping just two meters away, "you will not be killed unless you resist"

 

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