The Chaos Chronicles - The Infinite Sea Part 18

"We are drawing close," S'Cali said, interrupting his thoughts.

"Do you have a special way of preparing for battle?"

Ik rubbed his chest in silence.

"Now would be a good time," said Delent'l, crouching near the rear of the sub and the lockout chamber. I'll check your breathing gear for you."

Breathing gear. It had been fitted so hurriedly back at the habi-tat-adapted from breathing aids used by juvenile Neri with immature gills--that he had thought little about it. So much for taking the long view, he thought.

"I have never thought of myself as a warrior," Ik said finally, not knowing what to say except the truth. "If I have any strengths to offer you, it will be in sharing my knowledge. If I see something in your salvage site that I think may be a source of your sickness, I will tell you at once."152 * *

The Neri pilot made a muted sound of acknowledgment; the other said nothing at all. Never, Ik thought, had he made such an ineffectual-sounding offer of help. But he could think of nothing to add.

S'Cali flicked off the headlight.

A twilight gloom closed in around them. The illumination from the surface was substantial, but there was little or no color. The bottom landscape was becoming visible in shades of grey.

Silhouetted like a charcoal sculpture against the misty blue-green ceiling ahead was the jagged, broken shape of an enormous sunken vessel. The salvage site. He could not tell what kind of a s.h.i.+p it was, perhaps a very large submarine. As they drew closer he glimpsed, swarming around the wreck like insects, a number of small, black objects.

They did not seem to move like Neri.

He had scarcely even begun to wonder if the landers had detected the approaching sub, when it became obvious that they had.

They were already turning and gathering to meet the Neri.REPAIR AND RESCUE THE ROBOTS WERE trying tO report to Bandicut when a conflicting transmission came through from another source.

L'Kell rasped something in reply, drowning out the robots'

efforts altogether.

Bandicut waited until he thought the channel was clear, then called, "Say again, Nappy! You have a link with what subsection?"

The robot's voice was a partially garbled hiss. "Operational records, Cap ... block in which malfunctions ... think we know why..." At that point, Napoleon's voice became inaudible again.

"We have something new coming in--sorry," said L'Kell, and called for everyone to be silent.

This time, the incoming message was clearer, though still scratchy. "... under attack. Salvage party trapped inside, many sick with poisoning ... swimmers have gone to their aid ... one sub, one of the visitors.., may not be enough."

"Do they need our help?" L'Kell called back, with a sharp glance at Bandicut. Most of the available subs were either here on this expedition or tied up on jobs such as repairing damage to the Neri city.

L'Kell's glance lingered, and Bandicut suddenly realized what the Neri was thinking. He wasn't asking whether more subs were needed; he was asking whether the stricken Neri workers needed John Bandicut to come heal them./Oh, no. I think we're about to be pulled out of here . . ./ "/Whatever we need to do,"/ Char said calmly.154 *

Perhaps Char didn't understand how hard that would be for him.

After committing so much energy and will power to this mission, he wanted to see it through to the end.

"/You don't want to leave Napoleon and Copernicus."/ A statement, not a question.

/No./ He took a breath and said to L'Kell, "I'll help, wherever you need me."

The Neri grunted in satisfaction and muttered something back into the comm. Then he gestured outside. "They haven't asked for us yet. So let's find out what your friends were trying to say."

Bandicut called, "Can you try giving me that update again, Nappy?"

After a certain amount of static, Copernicus reported, "Cap'n, the good news is that most of the internal circuitry appears to be in working order. However, the programming is not. Napoleon is trying to diagnose a faulty code module that appears to be recycling through the main processor."

"That's fast work."

"Well, Captain, the central program apparently attempted to compensate for an operational self-repair problem--a mechanical breakdown, perhaps caused by seismic impact, combined with an unexpected materials shortage. The compensation failed, and errors became compounded. Once self-repair failed, there was no way to recover without outside intervention. But there was no such intervention."

"And now?"

"We have hopes for a restart."

Bandicut thought of the healing of the Neri and decided that nothing was impossible. "Will you need help from us?"

"Unknown at this time."

"Any idea how long it might take?"

"Unknown, Cap'n."

Bandicut asked L'Kell, "Did you follow that?"

"Some." The Neri adjusted an outside light, which was s.h.i.+ning along the flank of the robots' sub. All they could see was the blunt form of the sub with its nose stuck under the overhang, its forward probes buried in a juncture membrane. The robots, presumably, were motionless inside the sub; everything they were doing was invisible, electronic signals sent into the heart of the factory. "You probably should ask," said L'Kell, "if they could carry on without you, if they have to."*

THE INFINITE SEA * 155.

Bandicut stared into the green and yellow and grey world carved out by the headlight. "Better find out if Nabeck and the robots can understand each other, first."

"Yah," said the Neri.

The next communication from the city indicated that matters were worsening at the salvage site, but stopped short of asking them to ptll up and go. L'Kell looked troubled, though. The darkness around them was s.h.i.+vering with occasional faint flashes of light from the direction of the abyssal valley, like heat lightning before a storm. It made Bandicut nervous.

He keyed the comm. "Copernicus--"

"Yes, Cap'n." The robot's voice sounded distracted. Napoleon remained occupied in the subsystems, with Copernicus trying to understand what was happening. Bandicut imagined Copernicus standing by with a tool chest, reaching for the appropriate wrenches as Napoleon asked for them.

"I need you to make a judgment. L'Kell and I may be needed elsewhere. But this repair is every bit as important as what we might be doing. Do you think you can carry on without me?"

"Cap'n--it is difficult to know."

"Do you mean because of you and Nabeck?"

"Well, we can communicate with Nabeck--" Meaning, with effort, they could make themselves understood. "So that's--"

Copernicus was interrupted by a piercing tone in the comm.

"Coppy? What was that?"

There were some confused electronic noises. Finally Copernicus said, "That was the factory control, trying to broadcast a message.''

"Trying to broadcast? Then it really is awakening?"

"Hold a moment. Napoleon thinks it was just a subsystem reflex. Possibly in response to our activities--but we haven't been able to decipher it yet."

"Oh." Bandicut let out a slow breath. "Does that change your a.s.sessment?"

"Negative," said Copernicus. "Captain, we suspect that the factory may indeed have initiative, but not necessarily consciousness.

We'll just have to wait and see."

Bandicut blinked in surprise. "If it doesturn out to be conscious, do you think you can handle the situation?"156 * JEFFREY A. CARVER *

ii Copernicus did not speak for a moment. Then he said, "Re- ii member the shadow-people."

The noncorporeal, fractal- I dimensional beings who were in charge of systems maintenance .

back on s.h.i.+pworld: Copernicus had spent considerable time in ii communication with them, and had done just fine without Bandi- ii cut's help.

"Ah. Yes. Of course." Bandicut looked at L'Kell. "I think ... if '.

we have to go, the robots can manage by themselves."

"Are you certain?" said L'Kell.

Bandicut s.h.i.+vered. h.e.l.l, no, he wasn't certain.

"/If you're not, then shouldn't you--"/ "Yeah," Bandicut said to L'Kell.

I.

"/Never mind."/ '!.

"In that case," said L'Kell, "I think our friends above could use some help right now."

I.

Bandicut looked out into the mist overlooking the alien abyss I.

and felt one mission slipping from his hands as another was thrust into them. He turned back to the comm. "Coppy, you and Napoleon ji are in charge. We'll be back when we can." He swallowed hard, ',iii glanced at L'Kell, and jerked his thumb upward.:.

L'Kell squeezed the controller. The engines hummed, and the sub backed away from the overhang, then lifted from the abyssal ledge and drove upward into the perpetual night.

The Neri swimmers dropped out of formation with Ik's sub and dis- ,,.

persed for cover along the sloping seafioor. They would continue making their way toward the looming, sunken s.h.i.+p. They were far swifter than the lander swimmers coming to meet them, and better ,,.

able to conceal themselves. The landers were close enough now that Ik could see that they were bipedal, and enc.u.mbered by bulky diving equipment.

A cloud of bubbles approached out of the haze, and from it emerged several landers riding a mechanized, powered sled. "Rakh,"

Ik muttered, watching the vehicle sweep in an arc ahead and a lit- the to their left. Three landers dropped away from the sled, swim- ming, air bubbles streaming up from their heads. He couldn't see them too clearly, but they all seemed to be holding something in their hands. Weapons. They were fanning out, looking for the Neri swimmers--but for now, keeping clear of the sub. Maybe they thought the sub had bigger weapons.THE INFINITE SEA * 157 *

S'Cali steered in a skirting detour to approach the salvage site from the right. Above the shadowy form of the sunken s.h.i.+p, Ik saw several white flashes of movement. Not the landers. More like a school of fish. He pointed. "Are those--?"

"Pikarta," S'Cali said.

"The deathfish?"

"Yes. They could be dangerous to both sides. If there's fighting, and the scent of blood gets into the water--"

Ik gave a grunt. He had lost sight of the Neri swimmers now, as well as most of the landers. "Do we need to help your people out here?"

"They can take care of themselves," S'Cali answered. "My biggest concern is the wounded inside the wreck. Maybe you'd better go back and put on your gear."

Ik clicked his mouth shut at the thought of swimming out there--among the landers and the pikarta--with diving equipment designed for juvenile Neri. "To be honest, S'Cali, if I am to be of use to you, the longer I stay inside this vessel the better. Outside, I may quickly become a liability."

S'Cali a.s.sessed him with large, dark eyes. "Perhaps so. But be ready. If they attack us with bursters--"

"Understood," Ik said. "But since we're concerned with the injured, let's see if we can stay clear of the fighting long enough for me to help you discover the cause of the sickness--yes? Radiation cannot be seen--but perhaps this s.h.i.+p was powered by some kind of reactor. We should be alert for a large, heavy structure or compartment somewhere inside--probably with thick metal s.h.i.+elding around it, maybe cracked or breached."

"There could be many places fitting that description," Delent'l called from the back of the cabin. "Our people have been opening compartments all through the wreck, combing for useful equipment.

Any one of those could have been what you said."

"But not just a compartment," Ik interrupted. "It might be in a compartment, but it would be large, and inside the s.h.i.+elding would be tightly packed machinery--coils, wires, quantum crystal arrays--"

"I do not understand those last words," S'Cali said, turning his eyes from the viewport for an instant. "What exactly do you mean?"

Ik struggled to find a way to make it clear. "I can't say exact/y,158 * *

but there must be some kind of--" he flexed his fingers in frustration "--reactor--" he knew no other word "--that's leaking radiation into the water. And--by the stars, why didn't I think of this before? There might be a blue glow around it, or inside it." Secondary radiation, in the form of visible light.

"We'll ask," said S'Cali. He was steering the sub directly toward the wreck again. It was a shadowy shambles in front of them now, with what looked like large, dark openings in the hull.

"It would be very dangerous to approach. Your people must stay away from it, if they find such a thing." Ik could have kicked himself for not thinking of it before. Secondary light emission might or might not be present, but if it was, it would be one sure tip-off of radioactivity.

"We'll try to get inside, up ahead here," S'Cali said. "At some point, though, we'll have to leave the sub and swim."

"Okay, but the longer we can stay in the sub, the better," Ik said.

"If there's radiation contaminating the water, the sub's hull will give us protection."

S'Cali grunted. They were very close to the wreck now. Ik still kind of vessel the thing sunk and broken couldn't tell what was, on the bottom. It was roughly cylindrical, and enclosed all around; . it could as easily have been a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p as a submarine. Ik rubbed his chest. A s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p? Now, that could raise interesting possibilities.