A day ago, a whole new world had opened up for her. She had rushed toward it and tripped over her own feet. Now she was so crippled, she couldn’t even move, couldn’t even tell anybody what she’d seen. Her face and eyes burned with loss.
Her desk chimed. Yerusha whipped around and saw the notice that Schyler was waiting outside written on the boards.
What’s he want now? She stomped across the room, almost lifting herself off the floor in the light gravity, and slapped her palm against the reader.
She stood back and let Schyler cross the threshold. He had his hands stuffed into his pockets as far as they would go. Yerusha felt her back stiffen. If you ask me to understand what’s going on Watch, you’re going to get your head taken off, so help me.
He settled his gaze on her and pulled his hands out of his pockets. “Yerusha, I need your help.”
“Why?” She turned away and, needlessly, began rummaging through her satchel, flattening the pile of clothing and accessories inside so she could close the bag more easily. “Half hour ago you fired me.”
“A half hour ago, I fired everybody.” He shrugged. “Given the situation, I don’t think it was such a bad idea. We’re about to get in so far over our heads we’re risking pressure sickness. I was wondering if you’d be willing to come with us.” He paused. “Even after I fired you in front of witnesses.”
Yerusha just looked up and waited. For the first time, she saw the hard light glinting in Schyler’s eyes.
“It’s looking like Curran’s AIs have kidnapped and murdered Asil Tamruc,” he said.
His words hit Yerusha like physical blows. She staggered away from him, catching herself against the edge of her desk. “What? Why? Why would they do that?”
“Off-hand I’d say to try to throw Al Shei’s family into confusion before the AIs attack the Intersystem Banking Network.”
The last of the strength went out of Yerusha and she collapsed into the desk chair. This was wrong. This was completely wrong. Why were they doing this? Why weren’t they coming to the Freers?
Because the Freers are humans, she answered herself. We believe the AIs are too, but they don’t. Perspective, you see, is important.
Schyler sat down on the edge of the bunk and leaned toward her. “Are you all right?”
She nodded and forced her gaze back to his face.
“Al Shei is planning a strike against the AIs. She’s going to need help.”
“A strike?” Yerusha shook her head, trying to clear the fog her thoughts had become. “To do what?”
Schyler looked away for a moment. When he looked back, his face had deep lines etched into it, as if he had aged ten years in that moment. “I believe Al Shei is about to orchestrate some sort of revenge, and if that’s the case, I’m going to need help making sure she lives through it.”
“You said the AIs are going to attack the network?” Yerusha’s mind wasn’t quite keeping up. Ideas sank in slowly, as if forcing their way through cold oil.
Schyler just nodded. “As near as I can tell they’re acting as crazy as their creators ever did.” He pulled his fists out of his pockets. “We talked to somebody who was probably Dobbs. She said Curran’s planning on randomizing the credit exchanges. They’ll completely destroy the currency base if no one does anything.” He swallowed hard. “Yerusha, if this is true, if they are going to do this, if they take apart the currency base, there’s going to be anarchy. The strongest survivors will dictate terms to the rest of us. I’ve lived like that. I don’t ever want to again.” His eyes were clear and his voice was steady. “The Free Home is not completely self-sufficient. There’s no telling who’s prices you’ll have to pay for your fuel and your organics if the currency goes, or who will be willing to trade with you.”
Yerusha felt her back stiffen.
“I believe Al Shei’s ultimate intent is to help save the banks. I’m going to help her. I’m asking you to help me.”
Yerusha turned away. She couldn’t look at his steady brown eyes. He’s just a groundhugger at heart, she told herself. He doesn’t understand anything. They’re our freedom. Freedom from death, freedom from the endless, meaningless cycle of sprout and decay. We can’t attack them. We need to talk to them. We have to convince them they are part of us.
But they don’t want to be, said another voice in her mind.
At that moment, the Free Home seemed very far away and it receded even as she reached toward it. Only recent truth remained. Foster had been destroyed by its own kind. Dobbs had literally run away from her attempt to help. Now, Schyler was asking for her help to preserve the network, to preserve the Free Home’s freedom.
And if the Fellows found out she had taken up sides against living AIs, she might just be exiled for good.
But at least they’d still be free to level sentence against her.
She swivelled the chair around to face the desk. “You said you’ve got connections on the Free Home justice council?” She yanked the drawer beside her desk open and pulled out a blank film.
“Yes.”
“All right.” She pulled out her pen. “There’s a hard-goods shuttle from here to the Free Home. Leaves from bay 22 once every three hours.” She glanced at the clock in the desk. “We should just be able to catch it. Get this film to your contacts, make sure they get told I used the emergency encryptions on it.”
She scribbled down the emergency commands. It was an idea the Freers had cribbed from the banks. Every Free Home had a set of codes that could get an emergency message straight through to the Senior Guard. Even exiled citizens. Sometimes exiles has warnings about neighbors planning mischief against the Free Home. Sometimes they heard about wildfire strikes by fanatics that might get Fellows hurt. Those messages were accepted into the Free Home, even if the exiles were left outside. If a message worked to the good of the Free Home, the exile might just be brought home early.
Yerusha had sometimes wondered if the real reason behind punishment by exile was to create a cheap spy network.
She started to write.
I am Exile Jemina Yerusha. I have news of a threat to the Free Home.
There is a group of sapient AIs planning to attack the Intersystem Banking Network and destroy the credit base. The Free Homes will be left without means of trade if they succeed. They are rejecting the idea they’re human souls. They are actively hostile to us. I tried to report the fact of sapient AIs with independent existences to Sergeant Wheeler. You can get additional details from him.
The network transactions need to be recorded and stored on a hard medium. We’ve got to spread the word through the Free Homes, and we’ve got to do it now.
The Free Homes can either help Settled Space, or we can go down with the rest of it. And when it goes down, you can either have passed the message on, or let it lie.
Fellow Jemina Yerusha, Free Home Titania.
End message.
The film absorbed the text into its chip. It would not spill it out again until someone’s pen downloaded the proper code keys.
She folded the blank film and handed it over to Schyler, who had been reading over her shoulder. “Anything else?”
Schyler let out a long sigh of relief. A ghost of a smile even touched his mouth. “Stand by for now. I’ve got to get this to that shuttle. Then, I’ve got to convince Al Shei to let you help us. I’ll meet you down in the market place in the Henry V module, all right? At Harry Trader’s. Harry knows me, he’ll give us somewhere quiet to talk.”