Koban (56 page)

“We can’t absolutely rule out Krall involvement, but it seems
farfetched they’d hide that or care if we knew. There has to be at least those two
humans involved, since that’s the only way Mel’s list could be copied.”

Noreen wanted to know how the Krall computer method even started.
“Why not a human made computer that juggles the names? We have a thousand simple
AIs on the Flight of Fancy that can do that. There must have been some pocket computers
like Mel’s that made it to here.”

Maggi had already inquired. “Originally the Krall grabbed one
or two random people a day out of just a couple of hundred, and took them to the
arena upstairs, handed them a weapon, and then basically killed them. The other
poor souls had to clean up the bloody messes.

“When a lot more captives arrived, the outdoor hunts were devised,
with eight or more taken at a time each week or two. Everyone started hiding to
avoid being grabbed. It pissed the Krall off, so they killed the hiders when
they found them, and picked someone else. Twice the carnage.

“Those early prisoners decided a lottery was better, so you could
have some degree of order in your life until you were picked. At first they didn’t
have any computers because the first thousand or so captives came here completely
empty handed in Clanships.

“The first lotteries were drawings out of a container of
names on paper. The drawing system wasn’t trusted after a cheater replaced his name
with someone else’s. All of those original people are dead now, but the current
Krall computer system was considered tamper proof by humans because it was Krall
made. That has been disproved today.”

“What a mess,” the Chief said. “How do they know how many names
are in the complete list, and how many the Krall want selected?”

“There is a scroll, or printed list, of everyone’s name made
anytime new names are added to or removed from the computer. You can bet that scroll
is checked thoroughly. Today a warrior announced they wanted ‘four hands’ to fight
in four days, and announced it right here in this hall. Sometimes a translator makes
the announcement. The Krall don’t much care about the selections, except those with
immunity, like Thad, are excluded.”

“Maggi, Telour granted some people immunity in trade for
their help,” pointed out Noreen. “Like he did for Doushan, which the other people
here called collaborators. Who takes those names out of the list?”

“I spoke to Thad about that. His name was not removed from
the list originally because he
volunteered
to join two of his men when they
were selected. I’ll bet none of you knew that.” She looked around.

They shook their heads. Thad wasn’t the type to advertise something
like that.

“Anyway, after he returned alive he told me his name did come
up months later. That time they called for one more random name to replace his,
without much dissent. They also selected new names when it happened for those given
immunity by Telour for their help. Those replacement folks raised a ruckus,
because unlike Thad, Doushan and the others had never faced death by combat.

“The names don’t come off of the main list until they pop up
on their own, when used.” She had a thought.

“If the Krall tinker with the list, why wouldn’t they simply
pull out the name of anyone they gave immunity right away? Maybe they aren’t involved.”

“Valid point,” Mirikami conceded. “In addition, it might explain
why resentment would have built so high against Doushan when his name came up and
someone else had to be picked to replace him. It’s a problem we need to consider
before we ask Telour for immunity for anyone.”

“Who do we tell about the lottery fix?” The Chief asked.

“Before we announce that the lottery is rigged we need some evidence.
Let’s take a look at the computer at the north entrance.” Mirikami proposed.

“And find Caltron and Arless,” Rigson reminded them.

“We can check what we have now in our records. Any names like
Mister Rigson said in the list?” Mirikami asked.

Jake said, “Sir, there is one man with a last name of Carltron
that is similar, and none with a first name similar to that. His name was listed
as Talbert Carltron. There are two women with Arless as a first name, and none with
a similar last name. Their names are listed as Arless Blythe, and Arless Moffet.”

“Do you have more information on any of them, such as a picture
or their ages, or a physical description?”

“No Sir.”

Maggi reminded them, “We got all of the names from the long printed
Krall scroll, which has no other details. We have added details from time to time
when we learn them, as we did for our volunteers.”

“Alright Mel,” Mirikami said, excusing him, “head back to the
ship. And thanks for your information. The rest of us will go see the magic box.”

He paused as he stood up and added, with a mischievous grin,
“Except those of us that can’t walk and need Noreen to babysit them.” Mirikami looked
at Dillon still sitting on the floor, looking annoyed and embarrassed at the same
time.

The Chief, Maggi, Chack, and Ricco followed Mirikami to the north
entrance to take a look at the Krall computer.

Noreen helped Dillon sit at a table when he regained some motor
control of his lower extremities. He told her the pins and needle feeling was like
when you cut off circulation for a time and a limb “goes to sleep,” but far more
intense.

“I need to think of a really clever way to get back at her,”
Dillon said brightly, as he hobbled to his feet.

“You had better not try to top this last one,” she warned, shaking
her head, smiling. “We don’t have a full surgery ward you know. I for one would
miss that overused groin,” and for some reason her laughter wasn’t quite as delightful
to him as it was normally.

The Chief was right,
Dillon thought,
my balls do feel
like they’re on fire.
Right then he wasn’t sure if he was grateful Maggi carried
the smaller Jazzer, or if it would have been more merciful if she packed the standard
Krall pistol. He was going to have to get an athletic cup or give up being a smart
ass around her. Considering her Jazzer, getting pants with mesh shielding might
be another good idea.

They were looking at the Krall computer keyboard and screen in
the north entrance maintenance bay. It was on a chest high table (for a human),
in a back corner. There was a slot in the wall where printed material was
extruded. Hard copies of data had also never been fully eliminated by humans. People
sometimes “liked” a printed version, or a bound book. Apparently, the Krall also
preferred that option sometimes.

The bay was nearly full today with subdued discussions in isolated
pockets of people that couldn’t help but think about a time when their own names
would be spit out. They watched the group from the Flight of Fancy with a mixture
of resentment and suspicion as they briefly looked at the discarded old full list
of names, and briefly glanced at the new list that was always generated after a
Testing Day.

It would be another four weeks before the Fancies had their names
added, per Telour’s orders. Six weeks was not an unheard of wait for muscles to
adjust, but some Krall left in charge of the compound had chosen four weeks, or
even three in early years.

The keyboard’s Standard characters were hard plastic overlays,
apparently taken from some human equipment, which were glued over the original Krall
characters. They included the alphabetical letters, numbers, space key, with an
enter key, a print key, a backspace, and some possible function keys whose use wasn’t
obvious at a glance. Someone had modified an alien system for human use. That required
knowledge of the Krall and human technology and language.

Mirikami was told by some of the assembled people that there
were always extra people on door watch here because of its more frequent use, at
least until the Flight of Fancy had arrived by the east door. Moreover, because
they also watched over the computer like it was some kind of oracle. It actually
was
the herald of who would face death next.

With a few objections voiced, they were told that they would
be permitted to watch the computer as it was activated, but all they could request
was another copy of the full list of names. They had already sent that list to Jake
via the Captain’s camera. Deciding he didn’t want to create any more tension or
suspicion than already felt from the hundred or so people watching, Mirikami politely
declined.

The human residents used the north entrance the most since it
was closer to the animal corral holding Earth origin animals taken from Rim worlds.
These were carefully protected from Koban wildlife. The north side was also used
to reach the edge of a forest area five miles away, where they drove to collect
native fruits and berries, and sometimes hunted small animals.

Motioning the others to follow him back into the corridor for
privacy, Mirikami asked, “Maggi, are there other keyboards and screens like this
one in each of the maintenance bays? I never noticed when I was there.”

“I was told there aren’t, but I actually looked for them after
I saw this one. The Krall seem to follow a common pattern repeatedly in construction
and equipment. There were high tables in the exact same locations with dirt or dust
outlines where the keyboards or screens had been. There are slots in the walls in
the same place as here, for printer paper output.”

“The Krall could have removed the computers when they left, since
they didn’t leave a lot of other stuff behind, like furniture.” Mirikami guessed.

Maggi told him, “Could be, but there is Krall furniture left
inside a handful of their old quarters, but it isn’t comfortable for humans; high
tables and no chairs, a few wide slots instead of drawers, and no beds naturally.”

Cocking her head in thought, “They must have taken most of that
when the clan moved out, so they could have taken the computers as well.” She acknowledged.

Mirikami scratched his head in frustration. “This hasn’t given
me a clue of how the list could have been manipulated by a human. The one in there
is pretty well watched. Chack, Ricco, you’ve both been seeing and hearing the same
things we have, but I’ve heard no comments. Do you have any? Don’t hold back.”

The two cargo specialists had been largely quiet, except when
describing with amusement Dillon’s goofy expression when Maggi had zapped him.

Chack shook his head no, and shrugged. However, Ricco made a
tentative comment. “I’m not one of the big brains on the ship Sir, and I don’t know
squat about computers unless I can
tell
‘em what I want, like we do with
the AI’s.” He hesitated a moment, then said what was on his mind.

“I wonder who worked with a Krall to set this computer up in
the first place Sir. With computers, even for humans, it’s only a technician or
a programmer that works on them. Why would any Krall care enough to change one of
their own computers do something like this for people? This machine picks who goes
out to fight them. I’d think a Krall would expect us to pick the strongest or the
best fighters, not just anybody at random. What kind of advantage is there for one
of them to go to this trouble?”

Midway through Ricco’s remark, Mirikami had started tugging at
his lower lip. Maggi and the Chief recognized that gesture. The Captain had an idea
he was mulling over in his mind.

“Ricco, I don’t have the answers to the things that struck you
as odd, but your questions may have cut to the heart of how the tampering is done.
What indeed would be the advantage for a Krall, probably a K’Tal, to do this for
humans?” He liked the idea better, as he repeated Ricco’s question.

“A Krall won’t do
anything
for us, so far as I can tell,
unless it offers some gain to their personal breeding status. Exactly like Telour
offered me advantages in exchange for increasing his status if I can make
his
humans fight harder. He doesn’t care about me or any of us in the slightest, just
what we can do for him, and he offered me what seems valueless to him in exchange.”

He pointed at the keyboard through the window. “The agreement
for that could be to teach a Krall some of the human numbers and alphabet and probably
information about our computer use, and our technology. That particular Krall would
gain a specialized advantage in learning about an enemy that employs much wider
use of computers than the Krall seem to do.

“What would be his offer to the human that has no value to a
Krall, but might be priceless to that person? I’d think it would be to shield the
person’s name from ever being selected for combat, a hidden form of immunity. It
would be kept from the other Krall, just like Telour hid his agreement with me.”

Maggi said, “But there were two people that worked to pick Mel’s
pocket. In addition, there were ten people deliberately put on the list today. It’s
more than providing just hidden immunity for one person. They can manipulate the
list, add or delete names.”

The Chief expanded the idea some more. “Could that K’Tal have
let a human learn enough to figure out how to alter the program, or use it better
than he expected? We already know they don’t have a keen sense of security when
it concerns humans, and we may have an edge in computer use since they prefer to
do more things manually. The guy may have outsmarted his teacher.”

He looked at his Captain with a wink. “It’s been done before.”

“Chief, I’d put my money on it. When we talk to those two pickpockets,
I’ll bet that at least one of them knows software, and that they have been around
for quite some time, staying ‘lucky’ with the lottery. This computer has been in
use for at least four years, longer than most of the people here have been held
captive.

“Mel said the woman mentioned spending more than four years here,
there’s a lot of luck involved in that feat. The man was also a ‘studious geek type’
as he described him. He’s probably the programmer, and she perhaps gets protection
if she sleeps with him.”