The Cold Steel Mind (32 page)

Aneka grimaced. She did not like being known to most of the planet, if not the galaxy, but she had to admit she was and there was nothing she could do about it. ‘Can we expect them to chase us afterwards?’

‘They will be told everyone on your team is off limits following the conference.’

‘That wouldn’t have stopped reporters in my time.’

‘Ah yes,’ Gillian said. ‘Freedom of the Press, wasn’t it?’

‘We’ll be explaining that we are planning to open a dialogue with a new alien race,’ Winter said. ‘Specifically ignoring our instructions would lead them to be taken off the approved list for Administration announcements. They can do so if they wish, but they’ll be behind all their competitors when the stories from our talks with the AIs begin breaking.’

Aneka grinned. ‘Subtle. I like it.’

‘I won’t lie,’ Elroy said. ‘The next few months are going to be difficult. For most of you your part is done. You won’t need to be involved in the proceedings after tomorrow. I expect that some of you will be needed when we talk to our new neighbours, however.’ He smiled. ‘We have plans to make before then. I suggest you all take the time to relax over the next couple of weeks.’

‘The party’s on then,’ Ella said, grinning.

Gillian slumped a little. ‘Yes… we can have this Christmas party of yours.’

‘Oh, Miss Narrows,’ Winter said before Ella could respond. ‘Your mother sent a request through the Administration offices asking about your well-being. Obviously we told her you were fine, but she is flying over. She should be waiting for you when you get home.’

‘My Mom? She’s coming over to Yorkbridge?!’ Ella frowned. ‘Wow, she must have been worried.’

‘A lot of people were,’ Elroy said. ‘The disappearance of the Garnet Hyde caused a considerable stir in the media, as well as the Administration. The rumours were… numerous and outlandish.’

‘The Ghost Fleet?’ Drake suggested.

‘Was one of them. Several were around the idea that some secret enclave of Xinti had reclaimed their ship. As it turns out, those were less wrong than we had thought. There was also the theory that the Herosians had somehow grabbed the Agroa Gar. Questions were asked in the Senate.’

‘By people who don’t read my security briefings,’ Winter commented. ‘The Herosians have no technology capable of that kind of action.’

Elroy nodded. ‘I still expect them to be difficult about this. The Herosian Senators on the Council have been putting up a defiant rear-guard action against opening negotiations.’

‘Their military are still considering attack plans,’ Winter added. Elroy looked at her and she shrugged. ‘Senator, the people in this room have, by discovering Aneka, become subject to some of my most stringent background checks.’ She glanced at Delta. ‘Yes, Miss Ling, even you. They all know the penalty for disclosing things I tell them. More, I trust them not to do so. They need to know the situation they are in to function as I would expect and if I decide to tell them something you can be quite sure I have considered whether they need to know it.’

‘My apologies. You caught me by surprise.’ He smiled and, to Aneka’s astonishment, it seemed like a genuine emotion. ‘A man in my position is generally uncomfortable with surprises.’ He turned his gaze on Aneka and something had changed. Suddenly the politician had gone and there was just a man there. It was refreshing. ‘Aneka, if you don’t mind me dropping the formality, we haven’t had a chance to talk and I doubt I’ll get another. I studied History before going into politics and I must admit the papers Doctor Gilroy has written so far on your interviews have been quite fascinating. Especially the similarities between your world and ours…’

Aneka smiled and prepared herself to chat about Federation versus Old Earth culture. Well, it was better than politics.

Part Five: Quint

Yorkbridge Mid-town, New Earth, 22.12.524 FSC.

Yorkbridge was just as Aneka remembered it. It seemed like years since they had last walked through the streets of the city’s Mid-town district, but they were pleasantly familiar. Buildings stretched above them into the mist which seemed to pervade the middle levels. The population still looked like members of a cyberpunk dystopian street gang, but acted like model citizens. The brickwork was still grimy, the signs were still in Latin and Hani script giving a Chinatown feel to the place, and the underground trains were still too clean for the subway of a bustling city.

‘I have contacted the computer at the apartment,’ Al said as they rode the lift up from ground level. ‘Janna has already arrived there and is waiting. Should I inform her that we are on our way?’

‘Your mother is home,’ Aneka said aloud. ‘Want Al to let her know we’re coming?’

Ella shook her head. ‘She’ll be bouncing up and down on the doorstep if we do. We’ll keep the hugging and worrying inside.’

Aneka grinned. Ella loved her mother, more than a typical daughter in all probability. When Ella had lost her sight it had been Janna who had sacrificed everything short of her life to get them to New Earth and organise the operations needed to get her daughter back to a seeing, beautiful young woman. It was not that Ella felt indebted to Janna. It was more like Janna had demonstrated, very clearly, how much she loved Ella and it was hard not to return that love. That was especially true when you were someone like Ella. She was, however, well aware of her mother’s faults.

The lift opened and they walked out onto the upper level where their flat was. Below them the mist obscured the streets and it seemed that they were crossing a metal bridge above the clouds as they crossed from one side of a roadway to another and Ella opened the door to the block. Kat and Dillon, their neighbours, lived on the lower floor, but were nowhere to be seen. That suited Aneka who wanted to be inside and home more than anything. Up a flight of stairs and the apartment door opened, and there was a gasp from inside and then Ella had to drop her cases to catch Janna who was flying at her.

Mother and daughter looked almost identical at first glance. Janna had dark hair, almost black, instead of Ella’s red, and she had brown eyes. Janna’s features were a little harder and definitely more careworn than Ella’s. The most apparent difference was Janna’s chest; she was an exotic dancer, a good one, and she had more than a handful in the breast department while her daughter had inherited very little of that. But they both had the same sort of personality. What Janna was thinking tended to be written on her face and right now that was incredible joy mixed with relief.

‘I was so worried about you,’ Janna said, not letting go of her daughter. ‘Both of you. It was all over the news, and I contacted the university and the Administration, and then there was no word at all…’

‘We’re fine, Mom,’ Ella said. ‘Really we are.’

‘Well, yes…
Now
you’re fine, but…’

‘Nothing bad happened, not really. I wasn’t even injured when the ship was taken and… our hosts were really nice. It was almost like a holiday. Could you let go so I can breathe?’

Giggling, Janna freed her daughter and picked up her bags. ‘Don’t think you’re getting away without a hug, Aneka,’ she said as she started for the bedroom. ‘I’m dropping these off first though. I started some coffee brewing about five minutes ago, it should be fresh and after that press conference I expect you’ll need some.’ The dancer strutted away, her behind clad in a pair of very short shorts swinging as she went. Her top was a draped flurry of golden cloth kept attached to her by a string, which was the only thing keeping her back from nudity.

The conference had been a success as far as the Administration was concerned. They had got over the basic story they wanted to push. The Xinti were gone, extinct, but a group of AIs originally created by Xinti scientists were seeking to make contact and open diplomatic channels. The assembled media had gone nuts, of course, and Aneka had had to fend off the brunt of the questions. The more serious media channels were interested in the technological and social changes such a meeting of races might cause, but the angle most of the reporters were interested in was the personal one. Aneka had been kidnapped by Xinti and now found herself at the head of a diplomatic delegation for them.

Aneka dumped her own bag and headed for the kitchen, not worrying about being neat. The bag thudded heavily as it hit the floor; Aneka’s guns had been transferred out of the trunk and into a large, heavy-duty Bi-weave carryall. She was either going to have to hide them, or hope that Janna was moderately open-minded about enormous guns.

‘I’m sure Janna has no problems with enormous guns,’ Al commented dryly. ‘Yours, while not enormous, are certainly shapely and I’m sure she likes them.’

‘Your slang dictionary is up to spec then,’ Aneka replied, heading for the small kitchen area to get coffee into her hands before Janna reappeared.

‘I must say,’ Janna said as she stalked out of the bedroom on her six-inch stiletto heels, ‘I was a little surprised to hear you defending Xinti, Aneka. I expected you to be their worst enemy…’

‘They aren’t actually Xinti, Janna,’ Aneka interrupted. ‘They’re artificial intelligences. They were originally created by the Xinti, but they aren’t quite the same… Want to meet one?’

Halfway across the broad lounge to where Aneka had not quite managed to get coffee into a mug, Janna stopped, her eyes widening. ‘There’s one here?!’

‘Kind of,’ Ella supplied. She looked over at Aneka. ‘We should check in with her. I think she gets kind of lonesome.’

‘Yeah… Computer, initiate connection to the FScV Garnet Hyde with my identity code and a grade-four encryption algorithm.’

The walls of the room, which had been displaying a slowly shifting geometric pattern, rippled and the beach scene Ella favoured as a backdrop replaced it. The soft rushing sound of waves on a stony beach came from the speakers, followed by Aggy’s voice. ‘Oh this is really quite a nice environment, Ella. I approve. I hope you don’t mind me using it.’ Her golden figure appeared to walk up from the ‘beach’ to the edge of the room and she gave them all a smile, ignoring the fact that Janna’s mouth was hanging open.

‘Aggy,’ Ella said, ‘this is my mother, Janna. Mom, this is Aggy. She was the computer on the ship that took Aneka from Old Earth, the Agroa Gar, and now she’s the ship’s computer aboard the Garnet Hyde. She’s a Xinti-built AI.’

Janna mustered her stage skills and closed her mouth. ‘Uh, hello Aggy. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.’

‘Thank you, Miss Narrows.’

‘Janna, otherwise it gets very confusing. I… don’t believe I’ve ever met an AI before, never mind one built by the Xinti.’

‘I understand that Jenlay are often wary of volitional artificial intelligences,’ Aggy said. ‘I assure you that I am quite safe.’ Her face shifted into a grin. ‘Currently I am several thousand miles away and here only as a virtual reality construct.’

‘Aggy has impressed both our pilots with her handling of the Garnet Hyde,’ Aneka put in. ‘The rest of the team have come to rely on her as a personal assistant. And she’s pretty good company.’

‘In that case,’ Janna said, ‘would you like to join me in the kitchen? I got some food in and I was going to cook for these two. They can relax and decide what they can tell me while we chat.’

Ella giggled. ‘Just remember, Mom, she’s only an image.’

Janna started towards the kitchen, Aggy walking around the wall to meet her. ‘Yes, but what an image.’

23.12.524 FSC.

Janna had been very good the night before, probably because her daughter had been missing for so long and the worry had not subsided. When Aneka found her puttering around the kitchen in the morning wearing a G-string and high heels, the look she got suggested that Janna had recovered. Thankful she had thought to put a wrap on, Aneka headed in to get coffee.

‘Ella still asleep?’ Janna asked.

‘Uh-huh, and she’ll probably wake up feeling worse for wear.’

‘She has a terrible head for alcohol.’ Janna giggled. ‘But she does have amazing taste in women.’

‘Thank you.’

‘She’ll probably be out for another hour at least.’

‘Possibly, yes.’ Aneka could see where the woman’s mind was going. It had to be Janna’s biggest flaw; if Ella viewed sex as a recreation it was because Janna had taught her that. She saw nothing wrong with bedding her daughter’s partners, the female ones anyway, and she did not seem to like taking no for an answer.

‘We could take a shower…’

Aneka sighed. ‘Janna… You’re gorgeous, sexy. I’ve seen you dance so I know you’re, uh, very flexible. It’s just that you’re Ella’s mother. I know that hasn’t bothered her other girlfriends, but I’m not from this culture. I don’t see it that way.’ She paused, not sure whether she should continue, but… ‘And I don’t think Ella really wants you bedding her partners either. She would
never
say anything to you. She loves you, and she’ll keep loving you no matter what you do, but she doesn’t like it.’ She took a nervous sip of her coffee and looked up at the dark-haired woman who looked so much like Ella.

There was not even a hint of embarrassment, no shame. Janna took a drink from her own coffee mug, and then said, ‘I have waited about fifty years for someone to say that to me.’

Aneka blinked. ‘Sorry?’

‘It started with a girl called Arabella. Ella brought her to see me and the vacuous bitch couldn’t keep her eyes off my tits. I thought, “If Ella sticks with her, the bimbo will be cheating on her constantly,” so I asked Arabella to go to bed with me and she jumped at the chance. They broke up. Not immediately, but soon after. Ella found her in bed with another student. After that I’ve propositioned every girl she’s picked up waiting for just one of them to say no.’ She reached forward, her hand stroking over Aneka’s cheek. ‘Vashma but she lucked out with you. Not only do you turn me down, but you have the guts to tell me what I’m doing is wrong.
And
you’re the first one in two decades I’d actually have liked to have said yes.’

Aneka opened her mouth, then closed it, and then she said, ‘From what Ella says, I’m missing out on an experience, but I’d be feeling guilty the entire time.’