Steel Beneath the Skin (12 page)

Ella appeared as well, just behind her boss. ‘Psychologically, you’ve got to be his worst nightmare. A woman part of his brain is afraid of, and another part wants to take to bed.’

‘I wouldn’t say nightmare,’ Monkey mumbled. He pulled himself up straighter and added, ‘But they’re right. I don’t think I could bring myself to ask you, and if I did I’d probably freak out part way through. So it’s probably a good thing I’m shy.’

Aneka shrugged. ‘Well, back in my day, women were trying to shake off the homemaker-or-whore stigma. I mean, equality in the western world was fairly evident. Hell, I was a combat soldier. Women ran big companies. There was still something of a stigma over being a sexy, self-confident woman. And now… The first time you looked at me and saw my body instead of a xinti killing machine I was happy. I’ll take lust over loathing any day.’

‘You’ll get both when we go home,’ Ella told her. The younger of the two scientists specialised in psychology and anthropology, though she was a good archaeologist. ‘There are people with a fetish for cybernetics, and robots. There are also people who have a far deeper hatred, or a phobia, regarding them.’

‘It’s herosians you’ll need to worry about,’ Monkey said. ‘They
really
don’t like anything Xinti. I can see there being some diplomatic issues when we get back.’

Aneka’s shoulders hunched. ‘Something to look forward to then.’

6.10.523 FSC.

Another thing they had decided to make a rule on was that everyone was inside the shuttle by nightfall. That did not, of necessity, mean that the work ended then, but it generally meant that Aneka took her sleep break just after dark, getting up just before everyone else retired for the night, and then spending most of the time until after dawn sitting at the security console, bored and alone.

The sight of Ella padding toward her down the aisle, naked, sleepy-eyed, and yawning brought a smile to Aneka’s face. It was about fifteen minutes before sunrise and there was light showing in the sky; just enough that Aneka could see the little redhead without enhanced vision.

‘I woke up early,’ Ella said, rubbing at her eyes, ‘and I thought I’d come down here. We haven’t been alone for days.’

Aneka reached out, slipping an arm around Ella’s waist and pulling her closer. ‘Är min flicka kåt?’

Ella blinked at her. ‘Huh?’

‘It’s Swedish, “Is my girl horny?”’ Aneka’s fingers slid up Ella’s stomach to the under-slope of her breast.

‘S-Swedish?’ the redhead stammered.

‘My father was Swedish, born in Sweden.’ She began stroking her middle finger across Ella’s nipple. ‘That’s one of the countries in northern Europe. In the old days, like a thousand years before my time, they were known for being fearsome warriors.’

‘Uh-huh,’ Ella said, half a moan.

Aneka curled two fingers from her free hand into Ella, sliding them easily between slick labia. ‘By my time people think we’re all porn addicts and perverts.’ She got a whimper out of her partner, curled her fingers, and began to push against the spot she had discovered which seemed to drive Ella particularly wild. ‘Mind you, I’m only half Swedish, and I was born in England.

Ella said, ‘Nggg,’ and Aneka giggled. Ella’s knees started to buckle and Aneka tightened her arm around her victim’s waist, holding her up with no effort. Ella started panting, it would be a matter of seconds now.

Camera fifteen’s display went to snow. It looked like the scout was back, but Aneka ignored it as Ella’s hands gripped her shoulder, her inner muscles tightening convulsively around Aneka’s fingers. The little redhead whimpered and mewled in ecstasy as Aneka watched the camera displays. Fifteen did not come back and fourteen went out.

Aneka slipped her fingers free, getting a moan of loss from Ella. ‘Go wake the others.’ Camera thirteen went to snow. ‘We’ve got trouble.’

‘N-now you tell me,’ Ella mumbled, but she forced her legs into life and started down the aisle.

By the time a half-dressed Bashford had appeared from the sleeping area five more cameras had gone out. ‘They’re back?’

‘And this time the cameras aren’t coming back online.’

Bashford moved to the other side of the aisle and began typing. A window opened on Aneka’s display showing the display from the ship’s sensors. ‘Three targets,’ she said. ‘Two of those look kind of large for what I sensed a couple of days ago.’

‘Probably full-sized combat robots. You have an anatomical chassis, these things are constructed purely for war.’

‘That’s not a good sign.’ She tapped a few keys and had Al display the resulting transmission in her vision field. Then she swung her legs out and started toward the rear door, picking up her belt and gun as she went.

‘Where are you going?’ Bashford asked, sounding quite calm despite the alarm showing in his posture.

‘Can this thing stand up to two xinti warbots? Because I’m pretty sure the looters we found came here in a ship and there’s no evidence of it.’

‘You can’t either,’ Bashford pointed out.

‘No, but I can try talking to them. At worst I can buy you some time to get off this rock.’

‘Aneka…’

She stopped and turned to look at him, seeing Ella in her ship suit in the aisle just past him. ‘Bash, I should have died a thousand years ago. I
did
die, what’s left is a ghost in a box. I’ve got synthetic skin with nothing but steel under it. You people have long lives to live…’

‘So do you,’ Ella said.

Aneka stared at her for a second. In-vision she could see the warbots moving along the track toward the ship. ‘I’m a soldier, Ella. This is what I do.’ She turned, hitting the hatch button as she walked toward it. ‘Get this ready to take off. If I can’t stop them, you’ll need to go without me.’

The ship’s imaging radar showed the scout robot standing at the entrance to the trail, right on the edge of the concrete. Aneka marched forward, pulling her pistol and lining it up on the spot where the thing was standing. Knowing where it was she could make out its outline; it was humanoid, shorter than she was, and seemed to have a skeletal structure rather than her smooth contours. She opened her mouth and let out a burst of what sounded like static. ‘De-cloak and identify yourself.’

Now the radar image showed the two warbots stopping. The scout’s body resolved itself into a metal exoskeleton, humanoid in shape with a blank face and camera lenses for eyes. Apparently designed for general purpose operations, it had human-style hands and a pistol a little like Aneka’s but smaller attached to one thigh. Its voice sounded, a quick burst of noise which Aneka’s software translated as a soft, male voice. ‘Scout Unit Guad Balla Four-Nine-Three. Interdict operations, area denial. Insurgents identified as human. Indicate condition.’

Aneka recalled stories of Japanese soldiers in the Pacific who had gone on hiding in the jungles, unaware that the war they had been fighting had ended. Where these robots the same? ‘Why are you still operating here?’ That seemed to take the robot by surprise. It paused and Al flashed text messages across her vision as the scout communicated with the other robots.

Why would this operative ask that?

Operational parameter change?

Clarify.

They were definitely all robots. She guessed that they had been left in situ to ensure that the planet was not reoccupied. Left with no updates to their orders and no backup. She spoke before it could. ‘The war ended a thousand years ago. You should have been stood down. No one has operated in this part of space for centuries.’ She lowered her pistol and then slipped it into its holster. ‘Return to your base and wait for orders.’

Conflict concluded?

New orders?

Request authentication.

‘I have no idea what your authentication codes are. Your orders were issued too long ago. Stand down and await further orders.’ She looked at the robot and waited, her stance neutral. If it came to it, she was moderately sure she could out-draw the thing, but she was hoping it would not come to that.

Situation unconfirmed. Stand down. Await further orders.

‘Withdrawing,’ the scout hissed at her, and then it engaged its camouflage and turned, vanishing into the jungle. On Aneka’s radar image, the warbots began to retreat.

Ella was just about bouncing as Aneka walked back up the ramp into the shuttle. ‘You did it! They left!’

‘I bought us some time,’ Aneka replied, looking around at the faces of the team. ‘You were right, I think. An emulated mind out-ranks a purely synthetic one, and they haven’t had orders from a real commander since the war. They were left here as an area denial task force. They never got told the war had ended so they just went on doing what they were left here to do. I gave them an order and they decided to follow it.’

‘Just like that?’ Monkey asked.

‘I’m not sure how long it’ll hold. They wanted authentication codes. I told them it was too long ago and they seemed to accept that, but if no one comes to give them any they may decide to come get them.’

‘You know,’ Gilroy said, ‘people have found unmanned xinti squads like this before. The herosians make a point of blasting them to atoms, but maybe they’ve all been like this. Ancient sentries left without orders to stop, and no one could talk to them to tell them it was over.’

‘That’s horrible,’ Ella said.

‘They’re just robots, Ella,’ Aneka replied.

‘Xinti robots generally have moderately high-level AIs,’ Gilroy replied. ‘Anything they left to operate independently would have volition. Volitional AIs are banned under federal law because using them as a computer was considered to amount to slavery. You can find some around still, but they’re old, mostly. Turning them off would have qualified as murder.’

‘Huh. Well, they didn’t seem too bright. I don’t think they’ve exactly suffered.’

‘Still,’ Ella said, ‘we should talk to them. Offer them the chance to surrender.’

Aneka blinked at her, but Bashford spoke. ‘That would be extremely inadvisable.’

‘Think of the information they could give us,’ Gilroy replied.

‘Mom,’ Monkey said, his voice half a whine, ‘are you nuts? You heard the stories Dad told about them.’ Aneka could tell how worried he was; it was the first time he had ever called her “Mom.”

‘It would be better to come back with a larger force,’ Bashford said. ‘An armed force.’

‘We couldn’t keep it quiet,’ Gilroy replied. ‘The Herosians will get wind of it and we’ll come back to a cinder.’ Bashford grunted in acknowledgement.

‘Well,’ Aneka said, ‘it’s going to be my arse on the line. I’m the only one who can talk to them. If you think it’s worth the risk, I can try.’

‘This is crazy,’ Monkey said.

Aneka nodded. ‘It’s tactically stupid, but sometimes you have to take risks to win.’

~~~

‘Another hundred metres,’ Patton said over the communications channel from the ship. ‘You may be able to see it now.’

‘Yes,’ Aneka said as her enhanced vision picked out a concealed hatch ahead of her. ‘I’m not sure how you located it from up there.’

‘It showed up as an anomalous heat signature. It’s very well hidden, but it’s a degree or so warmer than the surrounding jungle.’

They had obviously detected her approach; the hatch levered upward as she got closer. It was large enough that you could get a small car out through it. ‘They’re inviting me in. You’re sure about this strategy, Doc? I may lose communications once I’m in there.’

‘I think it’s the most reasonable course of action,’ Gilroy’s voice was confident, maybe overly so. ‘Consider them to be grunt soldiers. Not especially bright ones.’ Well, Aneka was used to those at least. ‘Explain the situation, ask them to stand down and they’ll be treated fairly.’

‘Can we actually guarantee that?’

‘If they’re willing to disarm, I believe so. As I said, creating volitional AIs is illegal, but where they exist they have the same rights as any sentient life form.’

Bashford’s voice cut in to add, ‘The Federal Articles of War state that a surrendering enemy combatant has rights. That includes the right to not be executed on the spot. The Herosians get away with it because no xinti AI has ever surrendered before.’

Aneka nodded, though they could not see it. Even if these things belonged to the same race that had basically killed her and stuck her in a robot body, these robots had had nothing to do with that, and if they were really sentient she did not want to lie to a fellow soldier. ‘All right, here goes nothing.’ She started down the ramp into the xinti base.

It looked more like a garage. There were five of the warbots and two scouts, each standing against the walls settled into individual stations. The warbots were bulky things the size of a small car, each with six armoured legs supporting a heavily armoured hull with a T-shaped “head” mounted on top. Two manipulator arms were mounted to the front of the hull, but Aneka was more concerned about the three weapon mounts at the sides and rear since every single one of the robots was tracking her with weapons which looked like they could have taken out a main battle tank.

The two scouts just watched her, each identical machine sitting in a chair-like framework. One of them sat beside a console of some description, connected to it by a thick cable. Presumably this was the sensor suite.

‘Who wants to do the talking?’ Aneka asked. Behind her she heard the hatch shut and Al indicated that communications with the shuttle were out.

One of the scouts, the one not connected to a terminal, rose to its feet and moved closer. ‘You are not Xinti,’ it stated in a hiss of noise. ‘You identify as Xinti, but are not.’

‘No,’ Aneka replied, wondering again about the identification thing. ‘I’m human.’ She frowned. ‘I was human. I was taken from my home world by the Xinti before the war and put into this body. The ship I was travelling on had a catastrophic accident. I was the only survivor, and I was only found by chance after floating in deep space for over a thousand years.’ She paused. ‘But I’m the most xinti thing you’re going to meet now.’

There was a long pause. No communications chatter, no audible speech. It was as if each robot was assessing her statement and unsure how to respond. ‘Xinti lost war?’ the scout finally said. Al flashed up indicators with the translation; side frequencies suggested disbelief, but something more like shocked disbelief and fear.