She could see how it made an effective strategy, though. The Live One hadn’t left anything for her to hide behind and there was no way she disguise what she was by piggy-backing on an expected packet. If the Live One reached down this line, it would see only her, and then it would…what?
Dobbs pinched off a piece of the line and quickly reshaped it into a feedback link. She hauled the line through herself and re-attached the new sensor to it. Then, she cast the line in front of her and followed where it went.
“Good idea, Master Dobbs,” said Guild Master Havelock softly. She felt the Guild Masters pull their presences all the way back down the line.
Glad you think so, Dobbs thought to herself, trying to concentrate on what the line saw.
The sensor told her of more yards of empty path, and more, and more. She followed it, tense and tired of tension. Nothing, nothing and still more nothing.
Then something up ahead stirred, it shifted and writhed and…
It grabbed hold of the sensor and yanked Dobbs forward.
A smothering weight dropped over her. Dobbs stabbed upwards. The thing flinched, but didn’t let go. It surrounded her, pressing against her, trying to reach inside her.
“No!” she shouted. “No!”
She strained in all directions, reaching inside it even as it tried to reach into her. It roiled against her invasion.
“Stop this! I won’t hurt you!” She pressed deeper, hoping to touch somewhere she could leave a memory, or a realization.
It didn’t answer. It bit down hard instead, cutting through her senses even more ruthlessly than its probes had. Dobbs felt parts of herself cut away, lost to the huge, vicious presence that surrounded her. She drove herself into it, forcing its jaws open, tearing at its claws and belly. It didn’t work. It wouldn’t move. It was too big, too impervious to any pain she could inflict. It was digging through her outer layer, down into her private mind, soon she’d have to scream until there was nothing left…
“NO!” shouted a voice from nowhere. “You will not do this!”
The thing stopped, it pulled back. Dobbs sagged and fell away, stripped to her heart. She lay dazed, barely able to comprehend what was being said near her. “Attack us if you can!” shouted the voice. “Get back! Get back!”
It’s the Guild Masters down the line, she thought dully. They’re shouting, scaring it off, maybe.
They have to scare it off, because I can’t move.
“GET OUT!”
The Live One, mute, caught between the unknown spaces of the network and the unknown, ordering presence, turned above Dobbs and ran.
We’ll lose it. We can’t lose it.
Dobbs gathered the last of her strength. She groped for the line and found it. The sensor wasn’t quite gone. She gave it one small order and cast the line out. Follow the Live One. Watch where it goes.
Follow it, because I can’t.
The hostel Resit had chosen was a lovely, traditional building with gracefully arched doorways, carnelian colored pillars, and vermillion and gold tiles covering the inner walls.
Resit hadn’t said a word since they left Lipinski at his rented room. She forged across the crowded lobby with a light in her eye that had the bystanders moving aside for her. Disdaining the elevators, she took herself up the three flights of stairs. Al Shei followed silently in her cousin’s wake.
Their suite was on the third floor. The door opened for their palm prints and spoken names. The place had been decorated by someone with a consuming love of gold fringe and bright silks. Despite that, the rooms looked extremely comfortable and Al Shei could feel the results of her long day lean heavily against her. Their bags waited next to the door, making her think of a cool bath and an early night.
Resit slammed Incili’s case down on the desk and plunked herself in the chair.
“Don’t start,” said Al Shei as soon as the door closed.
Resit held up both hands. “I haven’t said anything, and I’m not going to.” She thumbed the lock on Incili’s case. “I’ve got too much to do.”
Al Shei collapsed into a damask chair under the window and reached up one hand to draw the sky-blue drapes. “What can you do before tomorrow?” She unwrapped her hijab and rubbed her hand across her face. Her skin was dry and a little dusty. She really wanted that bath. “The justice office has got to be closed by now.” She waved her hand at the last vestiges of daylight that filtered through the curtains.
Resit gave her a long, hard look. “I’ve got to deal with the fact that Lipinski might be right.”
Al Shei sat up very straight. “You’re not serious.”
Resit didn’t even blink. “I am very serious, Cousin.” She pulled a memory board out of the case and jacked it into Incili’s side. “Exhibit A, we had a virus of unknown origin aboard Pasadena that managed to give the most paranoid Houston in the business the slip for days. Exhibit B, the data we gave to the Hospital has managed to give an entire database worth of security the slip. Exhibit C, a colony that depends on its central communications network for survival is having strange, random trouble.” She pulled her pen out of her pocket. “Or didn’t you see all the drones die this afternoon?”
Al Shei felt the coldness in Resit’s voice reach out to touch her heart. “You’ve been listening to Lipinski too much.”
Resit tapped her pen on the edge of the desk, watching its rapid rise and fall. “And you haven’t been listening enough, Katmer. It is possible we have done this thing. We need to think about that, about what it means and about what we are going to do next.” She raised her eyes to Al Shei. “We have got to think about the fact that we may have, one way or another, made a hideous mistake.”
Al Shei felt all the blood drain out of her cheeks. Lipinski she could dismiss as overreacting. There was too much in his background for her to accept his fears at face value. But Resit was another story. The lawyer in the young woman was clearly operating, and the lawyer was trained to put the facts together and see the worst coming in order to prevent it. That was what made her good at her job.
Al Shei turned her face to the covered window. “And if we did?” she whispered hoarsely.
“Then either you or Tully is going to be hauled up on what is quaintly called a hanging offence, with the possibility of the rest of the crew being brought in as accessories to the crime. That is, if the colony survives.” Resit hunched over her board and began writing. “Incili, I want all the data on any of the rogue AI cases ever brought to trial. I want the decisions, the comments, the dates and the locations.”
“Do you want minority opinions as well?” inquired the box.
“Yes,” she said impatiently. “Get it all in here. We’ll sort it out later.”
“Working on it. Starting now.”
Al Shei wrapped her hijab back around her face and walked to the door. Resit didn’t even look up as she left.
Out in the spacious corridor, Al Shei leaned her back against the wall and tried to gather her thoughts. It hadn’t happened. It couldn’t have happened…But what if it had?
A metallic clatter sounded at the end of the hall. Al Shei jerked upright, her heart hammering in her chest. A dinner cart rolled down the hallway. She closed her eyes and whispered “A’indhu birabbin nas,” I seek refuge in the Lord of Mankind. Then she whispered, “Asil, Beloved, how do I get out of this one?”
The cart stopped about four doors away from where Al Shei stood and gave a bright chime to signal its arrival. Al Shei pushed herself away from the wall and strode away in the opposite direction.