"You have been exposed, true. The android is of course immune, being without living tissue. That is why the Agents of the Imago are able to kill its host, if left to their own initiative. They serve the Imago in part by being unaffected by it. I have not been exposed."
"Sure you have! You're standing right here. Unless its range is pretty limited— and from what you say, it isn't. You probably have to be a mile away to be clear of it. And you aren't."
"Gaol policy is to allow no other creatures within the stellar system of the host of the Imago, though probably a light-hour's distance is sufficient. I am five light-hours distant."
"Like fun you are!" Jack strode toward her. "She did not move. She merely watched him with a condescending smile. He reached her and grabbed her arm— and his hand passed through it without resistance.
Amazed, he grabbed for her with both arms, finding nothing but air. She simply wasn't there.
"You are addressing my hologram," Malva said after a moment. At the moment her face was right next to his, and his arms were lost in the image of her body. Her voice seemed to come from her mouth. "Your culture is too backward to be familiar with such things. It is a projection in three dimensions, with sound. It is a convenience of communication when direct personal contact is not desired, as in this case."
Jack had to accept the fact that she was not where she seemed to be. He swept one hand through her apparent midsection, one finger extended in a final gesture of contempt and backed off. "But the light-speed limit— how can you be five light-hours away?"
"To primitives, the speed of light is an absolute limitation. The Gaol are not primitive. Thus when the AI city traveled fifty thousand light-years instantly, the Gaol's pursuit was limited by the speed of the search pattern, not the speed of light. Our present dialogue is similarly unlimited."
Jack realized that she had no reason to lie to him. But still he hoped for some way out. Could he provoke her into providing it? "Why are you wasting time talking to me?" he demanded. "If you have such power over us, why don't you just put me out the airlock and seal up Tappy?"
"No!" Tappy exclaimed. Candy had finished bandaging her, and now she walked across to join him.
"We have no intention of mistreating you in any way, Jack," Malva said. "It is true that we shall confine the host of the Imago, but you will be allowed to remain near her for your lifetime. We shall if you wish conform the android to Tappy's likeness so that you will have suitable company, and you will have all your material and intellectual needs met."
"But you're going to put Tappy in a coffin!"
"This is necessary, yes. The Imago must not be allowed the freedom of even the ship. But you are harmless."
"If a ship will confine me, why won't it confine her? If it has to be, why not confine us together?"
"Because in past millennia the Imago has proved to be remarkably adept at escaping confinement," Malva replied. "We have not ascertained exactly how it manages it, but have verified that complete immobility of the host in isolation is sufficient to confine it for the duration."
"Well, I'm not going to cooperate in the incarceration of Tappy! I'll tear apart your ship, piece by piece, until I free her."
Malva shrugged. "I think not."
Suddenly there were bars in front of him. Jack turned, and discovered that he was caged. The chamber had been halved by a palisade of bars from ceiling to floor. He was walled off from Malva's image and from Tappy and Candy.
He grabbed the nearest bar— and received a formidable shock. They were electrified!
But he still had his voice. "Don't let them put you in their coffin, Tappy!" he cried.
Tappy looked at him. "I will try to resist. They don't want to hurt me, because that might shorten my life span. But the android is very strong."
Jack had discovered that. "Maybe that's the key! Tell them you'll hurt yourself if they try to put you away. You can do that, before—"
"Tappy," Malva said, "if you resist, we will torture and kill Jack."
Tappy looked at Jack. Then she spread her hands. "I will not resist."
"But you must resist!" Jack cried. "You can't let them salt the Imago away for a lifetime!"
Tappy merely looked at him, her tears flowing. "I love you, Jack."
"And I love you!" he cried without thinking. "That's why they must not put you away!"
She approached the bars and put her hands on them. They did not shock her. She put her face close to his and kissed him when he matched her on the other side. "These past five years with you have been so wonderful, Jack. They will serve for a lifetime's memories. Go with Candy; I don't mind what form she takes so long as you are well treated." She kissed him again and withdrew. "I am ready."
Jack knew it would be useless to protest further. Tappy did love him and would not do anything to hurt him. And that was why Malva had talked to him: to develop that leverage on Tappy. They were taking no chances at all with the confinement of the Imago.
Candy brought out what did indeed look like a coffin, except that it was surrounded by equipment that surely was designed to preserve the life of the person within. Tappy climbed in and lay down. The nightgown did not seem to matter. Candy swung the lid down. It was not a simple thing; it was spiked inside like an iron maiden.
"She'll suffocate!" Jack cried, but even as he spoke he knew she would not. There would be air piped in and nourishment, and her bodily wastes would be piped out. The seeming iron maiden was not a torture box but a mechanical maintenance device.
Candy folded down clasps on the coffin and locked them in place. Now it was impossible for Tappy to fight her way out even if she regained consciousness— and of course she would be drugged throughout.
Then metallic walls formed around the coffin. The plants in that vicinity disappeared. "What's that?" Jack asked, sure that he would not like the answer, but unable to stop himself.
"That is the formation of a spaceship," the Malva image answered. "The AI city station has been moved to a remote star and will be destroyed, leaving only the isolation ship. A Gaol unit will keep it under continuous surveillance for the lifetime of the host, which should be about a century, since she is young. The Gaol empire will be preserved."
A detail filtered through. "This city will be destroyed? But then what of me?"
"You will die with it, of course."
"But you told Tappy—"
"I lied. Now the Imago is secure, and you are surplus. There remains only the separation of the ship from the city and the destruction of the city with all its equipment."
"All by remote control?" Jack asked, the numbness of the finality of defeat sinking in. The Gaol certainly were thorough!
"No. The confinement of the Imago is too important to be done remotely. A Gaol will handle the concluding details."
"No, it won't!" Jack said, grasping what trifling fragment of victory he could. "Because if it comes here, it will be contaminated by the Imago, and you can't risk that."
"True. Therefore the Gaol individual, too, will be destroyed."
"But one of the conquerors wouldn't sacrifice himself!"
She shrugged. "Believe what you will. The Gaol is now boarding the city and will perform the necessary chores. Now I bid you oblivion, Jack, as my role here is terminated."
"Bitch!" Jack screamed as she faded out.
Candy walked across the chamber. "Where are you going, android?" he demanded.
She did not pause. "To the portal to admit the Gaol."
"Bring it back here and introduce us!" he called sarcastically.
When she was gone, he turned to stare at the coffin. He took hold of a bar to shake it, but it shocked him again. His arm was numbed; he could not get close to Tappy.
What was he to do? He couldn't just give up, yet there seemed to be no alternative.