Aneka Jansen 6: The Lowest Depths of Shame Read online

  The Lowest Depths of Shame

  An Aneka Jansen Novel

  By Niall Teasdale

  Copyright 2014 Niall Teasdale

  Amazon Kindle Edition

  Contents

  Part One: To the Victor Go the Spoils

  Part Two: The Sound of Trumpets

  Part Three: The Army of Sheep

  Part Four: Contraband

  Part Five: Collateral Damage

  Part Six: The End of War

  Part Seven: Sacrifice

  Epilogue

  Part One: To the Victor Go the Spoils

  Gwy, 16.4.530 FSC.

  Diagnostic messages scrolled past the inside of Aneka’s eyelids as her consciousness reasserted itself. As was the norm, everything was ‘optimal.’ Her body was a machine, and a very well run one. Where a normal robot might need maintenance periodically, she had billions of tiny mechanics working tirelessly on her constantly. It was still a comfort in the mornings to know that all was well and they were still doing their job.

  She opened her eyes and found herself looking at red hair. Ella was there in bed with her and that was more comforting than any diagnostic readout. Over two months ago they had invaded a secret Herosian base together, implanted a computer virus designed to disable the Herosian communication networks, destroyed a powerful AI, and escaped with their lives. Going in, Aneka had been all confidence because Ella needed it. Going home, she could allow herself to admit that there had been every chance of it being a one-way trip.

  ‘Al,’ Aneka said in the silence of her mind, ‘flight data, please.’

  ‘Of course, Aneka,’ Al, her embedded AI, replied and virtual panels appeared in-vision telling her the current status of the ship. Everything was working fine, of course. Gwy was not just a ship, Gwy was also an AI and she knew what she was doing. The ship’s routine operations were not something Aneka had to worry over. The data she was looking for was the navigation screen.

  ‘Two hours, seventeen minutes to warp exit,’ she noted. ‘We’re almost home. Sort of.’

  Home was New Earth in the Joval system and that was over two hundred parsecs from their destination. Even her old home on Old Earth was fifty parsecs away. Gwy was headed for G268, now referred to as Shadataga by its residents. And given that Aneka and her cohorts had snuck away from New Earth in something of a hurry, Shadataga might be what they had to call home at the moment.

  Pushing herself up onto one elbow, Aneka leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on Ella’s shoulder. There was no immediate response, so she applied another, and another, working toward her partner’s neck. She had to pull aside long strands of deep red hair as she moved up; Ella had had her hair cut for an operation and had been growing it back, and it was now about the length she wanted, straighter than it had been, but with rather pleasing, feathered bangs that came down to the upper slopes of her breasts.

  Aneka reached Ella’s neck and was still getting no reaction, which she considered suspicious. She lifted her head away, leaning back, and got her suspicion confirmed.

  ‘Don’t stop,’ Ella said, her voice still sleepy.

  Grinning, Aneka rolled Ella onto her back, getting a pouty face to look at for her trouble. Leaning forward, she kissed Ella’s lips, tongue flicking in to abuse the pout. Still half-asleep, Ella groaned and squirmed as her body got well ahead of her brain.

  ‘Just over two hours until we drop out of warp,’ Aneka whispered after breaking the kiss.

  ‘So soon?’

  ‘Ella, it’s been seventy-two days since we left Herosia.’

  ‘I guess, but it’s been like a holiday, and now we have to go back to work.’

  ‘We still have a couple of hours,’ Aneka replied, leaning forward to start the kissing again. This time her hand drifted down to find a nipple and stroke it into life, and the groaning got louder and turned into moaning.

  Shadataga.

  Control directed them straight to the planet’s surface and the hangars at the rear of the operations building. Primarily designed to handle surface craft and shuttles, there was still plenty of room to put the nimble little starship down through the roof access doors and into a space which almost seemed to have been built for her.

  As Aneka emerged from the virtual flight environment, the obsidian image of Gwy’s AI was left standing in the featureless cockpit in front of the chair. She smiled brightly, but there was a hint of sadness in her pearlescent eyes.

  ‘Ella is waiting for you before going out,’ Gwy announced. ‘I hope that I will have the pleasure of flying with you again soon.’

  ‘I dare say you will,’ Aneka replied, ‘but you’re not stuck here. Aggy projects herself for us outside the ship. There’s no reason you can’t visit.’

  The smile brightened. ‘Thank you, Aneka. That is most generous.’

  Aneka slid out of her seat. ‘Gwy, we’ve just been through battle together. You’ve watched me having sex. I think you qualify as a friend and I like to see my friends.’

  ‘Thank you, Aneka,’ Gwy replied softly. ‘I… That means more to me than you might realise.’

  Aneka grinned at her and started across to the gravity lift. ‘Maybe. I’m not sure I’ll ever understand AIs.’

  ‘If it’s any consolation,’ Al put in, ‘whenever I feel I’ve figured out organics you seem to throw something new at me.’

  ‘I’m not an organic.’

  ‘Your mind is more organic than not. Cassandra is waiting outside. Get a move on.’

  ‘I am.’ Reaching the upper deck, she turned for the main airlock where Ella was waiting impatiently. ‘If you know she’s there then you’re already talking.’

  ‘Yes, but she wants to see you and Ella.’

  ‘She’s your girlfriend.’

  ‘She has explained that she believes our combined, four-way relationship has become more complex than that. We have discussed it extensively and I can find no flaw in her reasoning.’

  ‘Her reasoning? Seriously?’

  ‘Her… sentiment then. Though her analysis of the situation is thorough and presents an entirely valid argument for why the results were a forgone conclusion had we thought about it beforehand. She has had a considerable amount of time to perform her analysis while waiting for our return.’

  ‘Like I said, I am never going to understand AIs.’

  There were four people waiting at the bottom of the stairs as Aneka and Ella walked out. Only one of them was truly organic. Gillian Gilroy was beaming at them, almost bouncing on the spot as she waited. Winter was there in her Number Seven body, tall and blonde, and Speaker in his white suit was beside her. Both waited patiently though Winter’s artificially created organic eyes were bright.

  It was Cassandra who made the first move, however. The leggy blonde android marched forward as soon as the two had touched the Plascrete, wrapped her arms around them both, and pulled them into a hug. She said nothing, and did not need to. Ella, who had not heard about Cassandra’s revelation, still seemed to consider this an absolutely natural reaction to their return, but then she had had a better handle on the whole situation than Aneka for ages.

  When Cassandra let them go, Gillian took her place. And then, rather awkwardly, Winter gave them both hugs.

  Speaker was looking amused. ‘I shall refrain from this charming custom,’ he said, ‘but there are others waiting to repeat it.’

  ‘Everyone else is in the bar,’ Gillian said. ‘We didn’t want to crowd you. If you’re tired…’

  ‘We’ve been more or less alone for months!’ Ella interrupted. ‘I could use some additional company, and we need to catch up on events.’

  ‘Oh yes,’ Gilli
an said emphatically. ‘You do indeed. There have been one or two changes around here, aside from things in the Federation.’ Turning, she lifted up the back of her ringletted hair to show them the back of her neck where a small, plastic insert could be seen just beneath her hairline.

  ‘You’ve had an implant done!’ Ella squeaked. ‘Fridgy!’

  ‘Yes, and I’m not the only one.’

  ~~~

  ‘Delta and me are the only holdouts,’ Monkey said as they gathered around several tables in the comfortable lounge bar of the residential building. ‘And she’s only holding back because I haven’t done it yet.’

  Aneka looked across at Shannon. ‘I thought you said you wouldn’t?’

  The pilot grinned at her. ‘Well, circumstances changed.’

  ‘Or are changing,’ Drake added. ‘We’ll get to that along with all the other stuff.’

  ‘Okay, so we know we planted the virus and it seemed to be working…’

  ‘It functioned exactly as predicted,’ Winter said. ‘The Herosian interstellar communications network is offline. They have no way of coordinating their forces and the war had, essentially, ended. A force was sent out from New Earth a little over a month ago to retake Lonar and then move on to Beryum.’

  ‘We sent ships out with the New Earth ones,’ Abby, Old Earth’s Ambassador, put in. ‘Ours took less damage in the battle.’

  ‘Ape is out there in the Banfry,’ Gillian added. ‘They came through okay.’

  Right now Aneka did not want to go down that road, and she could tell Ella was the same. She decided to indicate as much. ‘So, basically, we won?’

  ‘Bar the shouting,’ Bashford replied. ‘There’s going to be a lot of shouting.’

  ‘I just can’t believe you all got implants,’ Ella said. ‘I mean, war and stuff, but… implants!’

  ‘You can blame our esteemed Ambassador,’ Drake stated.

  ‘I didn’t do anything!’ Abby squeaked.

  ‘You demonstrated that they were useful,’ Gillian replied.

  ‘And that you don’t turn into a psychotic monster from having them,’ Shannon added.

  ‘We did explain,’ Speaker intoned, ‘that we would obviously refrain from turning on the mind control circuits until we had converted all fleshy meatbags, but they could not be dissuaded.’

  ‘It was the delivery,’ Bashford told him. ‘Too deadpan. I will admit you had me nervous for a second, but it was just too much like a set-up line.’

  ‘Unless that’s what he wanted you to think,’ Aneka said. ‘He is a communications specialist, psychologist, etc. He could be carefully manipulating you into a false sense of security and then…’

  ‘Zap! And you’re all mindless slaves to the new Xinti Empire!’ Ella finished.

  ‘I don’t think so,’ the statuesque figure of War said from her place near Aneka. ‘We wouldn’t do that. It would be unethical for one thing. And, of course, we would have to pick a different name.’

  ‘The Shadataga Collective,’ Winter suggested.

  ‘That has a nice ring to it,’ Evolution agreed.

  ‘I’ll make a note to discuss it at the next conspiracy meeting.’ Winter paused for a fraction of a second and then added, ‘Did I say that aloud?’

  ~~~

  ‘Um…’ Ella said, standing in the doorway of the apartment she shared with Aneka, ‘I could go spend the night in one of the other rooms…’

  Cassandra, who had accompanied them when the party had broken up, looked back at her. ‘Why?’

  ‘Well… I’ve had Aneka to myself for months and you haven’t been with Al in all that time, and…’

  ‘Don’t be foolish, Ella,’ the blonde responded, continuing into the room and pulling her short dress off over her head as she walked, a feat of coordination in itself. ‘I missed all three of you. I want all three of you.’ She turned around in the middle of the soft, luxurious carpet shifting one leg forward and pushing her substantial chest out, posing for them. ‘If you don’t get your clothes off soon I’ll begin to wonder whether you’ve missed me at all.’

  ‘Oh,’ Ella said, stepping through the door to let it close and reaching for the hem of her cropped top. ‘Well, we can’t have that.’

  17.4.530 FSC.

  They had managed to put off the inevitable until morning, but they had to know what the situation was and it was War and Winter who told them about it in the large operations room with its holographic display able to render all the information in far too much detail. Gillian was there too, but she stood silently at the back watching the presentation.

  ‘The initial phases of the battle were… mishandled,’ War stated as the Battle of New Earth was played out by coloured dots in front of them. ‘Admiral Farmer’s initial strategy was an attack. Having little idea of the opposing force’s nature, a defensive posture would have been more prudent. Losses were high and the Herosians were able to get their gunships into range for surface bombardment. At that point, the Herosians fell to the disadvantage of not knowing their enemy since command moved to the Old Earth ship, the Argus.’

  ‘Elaine tells me that Pierce was hoping he would gain control,’ Winter put in.

  Jason Pierce, an ex-military man who could bridge the gap between intelligence service and Navy, had been made head of the Federal Security Agency. It had seemed a prudent decision at the time.

  ‘Old Admiral hoping for glory?’ Aneka suggested.

  Winter nodded. ‘That’s what she thinks. Justine agrees, though she has some worries he’s more ambitious.’

  Aneka gave a nod and returned her attention to the display where the dots were performing an audacious bait-and-switch operation.

  ‘Guardian Norden, the Old Earth strategist, was more capable,’ War went on. ‘His plan was risky, but it worked and the Herosian fleet was almost entirely wiped out. There were significant losses on the Jenlay side, and extensive damage on the surface, however.’

  Ella looked at Gillian. ‘You said Ape was out securing Lonar, so the Banfry got through it okay.’ Gillian just nodded in reply.

  ‘The Delta Brigantia,’ Winter said. ‘They took out the last gunship attacking the planet, but… No one survived. I’m sorry. Norden put through a recommendation for posthumous awards for them. Abby has suggested that Old Earth send something as well.’

  ‘Oh,’ Ella said, staring fixedly at the display.

  Aneka closed her eyes for a second, did not like the images she saw there, and said, ‘What about the surface?’

  ‘The spaceport was reduced to a smoking pit,’ Winter replied. ‘It was, thankfully, the primary target and they used kinetic impactors rather than nukes.’

  ‘The university was flattened,’ Gillian said flatly. ‘Which is why… Well, we’ll get to that.’

  ‘One of my avatars kept your mother safe, Ella. Sharissa and Elaine were in a mobile command centre I arranged years ago, so they are fine. All of them are staying at Gillian’s house, which escaped the collateral damage. Katelyn and Dillon came off the worst.’ Ella gasped, staring wide-eyed at the blonde synthetic. ‘They’re alive and also at Gillian’s house. Dillon suffered a broken back. His spine was severed. The Old Earth medical teams got to him and replaced his spine with a cybernetic one. He’s still recovering, but he will be fully mobile and probably capable of lifting heavier weights.’

  ‘Cyborgs are becoming the new black,’ Aneka commented.

  ‘Indeed. More than a few Jenlay have had to choose between functionality and prejudice. A lot of the taller buildings in Mid-town are still being checked for structural stability. The Islands are more or less a wasteland. The other city zones escaped relatively intact.’

  ‘Elroy?’ Aneka asked.

  ‘Was with Elaine and Sharissa. He’s a very busy man at the moment so he’s basically living in his office. His house is a ruin, so that’s likely a good thing.’

  ‘What’s this thing with the university?’ Ella asked, focussing on Gillian.

  ‘Well, it’s gone,�
�� the archaeologist replied, ‘and we’ve been offered new positions, but we’ve been waiting on you before accepting them.’

  ‘Me?’

  ‘Both of you, but especially you, Ella.’

  ‘Uh…’

  ‘New positions here,’ Aneka said, catching on.

  Gillian nodded. ‘The AIs want me to be the Dean. I said it should be one of them, but they seem to still have this “natural minds are more suited” thing going on…’

  ‘It is not quite as hidebound as you would believe,’ War cut in. ‘We have exceptional organisational skills, and our ability to research and implement plans for discovery is good. We are less adept at teaching and we are, frankly, not designed for a leadership role.’

  ‘Speaker will work alongside Gillian,’ Winter continued, ‘so we get all the talents of a Higher AI, but without the tendency to indecision since Gillian will be there to figurehead things. There is one other obvious reason for doing it this way…’

  ‘It’ll go down better with the people coming to learn,’ Ella finished for her. ‘It makes perfect sense to me.’ She gave her boss a small grin. ‘You’re just worried you’ll never get to do field work again.’

  ‘Yes,’ Gillian said, ‘but watch yourself. If you accept, you’ll be heading up archaeology, social sciences, psychology, and psionics. Speaker will be helping you too…’

  ‘I don’t know the last thing about psionics!’ Ella broke in.

  ‘Neither do the AIs. The Xinti never developed the talent and then they went electronic.’

  ‘We’re creating our first new Higher AI in centuries to head the sub-department,’ War said. ‘We haven’t selected a name for it yet, it’s barely conscious, but your telepathic pilot, Shannon, has taken to calling it Psyche.’

  ‘Abraham will be heading up the physical sciences with Reality,’ Gillian went on. ‘Cassandra is going to split her time between his department and yours. Machine psychology fits into both, to some extent, and she is quite knowledgeable about physics.’

  ‘Bash…?’ Aneka began.

  ‘Is heading up “vocational studies” with Drake, which means you will still be our lead Facilitator. Again, this assumes you’re both happy with the jobs.’