Artificial Intelligence Page 13

  “A light electrocution,” Arian reminded him. “We don’t want to cause them permanent harm.”

  On the last day of the fence completion, Jax turned to Arian. He was holding up a detached piece, while the others added to it. His eyes were flashing in a quick beat of light. “Get to the ship. Quickly. Tess has picked up an incoming ship.”

  Arian left on a dead run, and burst aboard. She headed straight for the main hull. “Tess?” she called out. “What’s up?”

  “Hello, Arian. A vessel has been circling the skies, inspecting the planet. They are known as Drahmeds.”

  “Did our cloaking shields hold?”

  “Yes. Including the perimeters of the newly thickened wall. Serepto had already modified the shields to include them.”

  “Then what do we suspect these Drahmeds want? Since they don’t know we exist.”

  “Unknown. They seem to be hovering where the planet’s natives--labeled the Pleans by Orion--nest.”

  “What could they want with the natives?”

  “Unknown. I am unable to breach their computer records. I only know they are Drahmeds by the shape of their vessel.”

  Behind Arian, Jax and Serepto burst in, followed by Dieroc.

  “We have Orion, Rune, and Sifahn watching the ship. It appears they are beaming the Pleans aboard the vessel, yet it is preparing to land.”

  “Why?”

  “They’re chaining the creatures and marching them aboard in masses. Orion thinks they may be gathering them as slaves and had beamed a few aboard to see if they would be sturdy. In which case, it may work out in your best interests if they’ve rid the planet of the natives.”

  Arian shook her head. “The natives aren’t wrong or evil. They were merely protecting what was theirs by attacking us when we landed. We have to help them.”

  Jax’s grin was ear to ear, while the rest of the council stood stunned.

  “You called that one,” Dieroc said, with a laugh to Jax.

  “I know her. Let’s come up with a plan to stop that ship from clearing the atmosphere with the Pleans on board.”

  “Might I suggest an old-fashioned radiation poisoning?” Tess said. “Just like the AI had experienced on their planet.”

  “How would we do that?”

  “The vessel is docked. We can have someone approach from underneath and shove a leaf from one of the Hysteria trees into the radiation filter. It works in two ways. One, it clogs their filter with instant radiation from our planet, which we are immune to because of our oxygen. The filter however, will be blocked and unable to pull in oxygen to fight the radiation. Two, they have no idea or way to detect how the filter has become contaminated. We can fight them, rescue the natives and they will probably prepare the ship for liftoff for the upper hand. Once that is done, their levels will go through the roof. They will launch into space to relieve the pressure, and explode out there. Other vessels from their planet will assume the poisoning is from this planet, and they will have no survivors to state that two species working together rescued their slaves.”

  “We can’t keep them from contacting or logging what is happening, though.”

  Jax smiled at Arian. “My love, have you learned nothing about AI? Of course we can muddy their communications. Their comrades will assume they were contaminated from the radiation poisoning.”

  “So we can save the natives and keep people assuming the dangerous, radiated planet is uninhabited with anyone else?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Rumors will work better than anything to keep enemies away. We learned that from the Sirian galaxy. Everyone avoided it for fear of it being haunted. Let’s do it.”

  “The fighting needs to happen at the exact same time we have someone sneak under the ship to clog the filter. The person who does this should have extra leaves from the Hysteria tree, in case the tunnels to the filters are deeper or wider than we assume. Or, if he cannot find the proper filter, he can clog all that he sees.”

  “Tian or Orion will be best for the job of clogging the filter. They are specialists in knowledge of mechanical systems. The AI will create a commotion and destroy as many of the Drahmeds as possible, while our people release the natives. The natives will be more used to seeing us.”

  “Agreed. We’ll need furs and coverings for the natives, because most slaves are stripped bare on vessels. It’ll be cold when they’re released.”

  * * * * *

  Using the headset in her ear, Arian counted down.

  “Three. Two. One.”

  The explosion took out two of the eight-foot tall Drahmeds. Before the others could react, two of the AI slammed down the Pleans, knocking them to the ground and covering the chain of bodies the aliens had been leading up to the ship. Other AI created a distraction by firing at the Drahmeds. When smoke filled the air, the two AI dragged the tinier Pleans out of the range of fire, depositing them with Arian, and then headed back to the action.

  In the meantime, a few others invaded the ship.

  In the turmoil, no one noticed Tian crawling underneath the belly of the ship.

  Arian tried to soothe the terrified Pleans, but she wasn’t dumb enough to untie them. Instead, she tossed furs over them. It wasn’t as cold as she thought it would be, since all the fire power was creating heat.

  “Tian? Talk to me, son.”

  “Everything is fine, mother. Don’t worry. I gathered enough leaves and all the filters are stuffed without any danger of unclogging. I’m inside the ship now with Orion and Serepto. We’re shoving the little creatures into a giant metal cage to wheel out of here at once. Like a shopping cart full of little planet natives.”

  Arian sighed. Even in the midst of war, Tian cracked jokes.

  A small shooting flame made Arian whirl. A native holding a crudely manufactured flame thrower tossed a spitball of fire at her. “Oh, oh,” she said.

  “What is it?” Two voices answered at once, Jax and Orion.

  “Are there mostly women in the cage?”

  “Yes. And children. How did you know?”

  “I think some of the men arrived.”

  “Arian. I’m coming,” Jax said, his voice furious.

  An arrow sailed through the air, hitting her in the shoulder. Pain radiated from the pierce, sending a burning sensation trickling down her arm. The tiny Plean females chittered, gnashing their sharp teeth. Another arrow sailed by, and she huddled near the women, holding the fur up to block it. She heard Jax bellow, and then there were no more arrows.

  He burst through the trees, looking through the thick smoke to find her huddled with the natives. “Are you hurt?”

  “Just my shoulder. There’s too much adrenaline coursing through me to feel much pain though.”

  He lifted her arm, inspecting the wound. “The arrows are primitive. They’re shaped to cause damage when pulled back out. We’re going to have to push it all the way through the other side.”

  She winced.

  “Tess,” he said. “Check for nerves or arteries it may have hit.”

  Arian couldn’t hear her computer’s response, but Jax obviously got it. He propped her in front of him, supporting her back with his chest, and reached across her to pound on the end of the arrow.

  The burn ripped through her shoulder. Behind her, he snapped the end off, and then yanked the smooth handle of the arrow back out. He gathered cold snow to pack on the wound, and applied pressure to both ends.

  “Arian? Tell me you’re all right,” Orion demanded through the earpiece.

  “I’m okay,” she muttered. “Jax is here.”

  “She’s been shot by an arrow. It’s a clean wound and I’ve removed it. We’ll check her out when this is over.”

  “I thought we gave her the easy job?” Tian muttered.

  “What?” Arian sputtered.

  “Just kidding, mother.”

  “Not funny,” she snapped, but there wasn’t any heat in it. She knew her son, and he was trying to deflect the worry over her with his
own humor. “Are all the natives released from the ship?”

  “We got them, Arian.” Serepto’s voice came through the earpiece.

  A giant roar sounded, and a spotlight lit the sky with oversized sparks like a jagged lightning storm as the ship took off.

  “Ha. Looks like they can’t mask their lights and noise with the filters clogged,” Tian said.

  “Everyone clear the ground around the vessel,” Jax said.

  The ship sailed through the sky, unable to cloak or muffle. They watched it rise higher and higher.

  “Are the communicators still scrambled?” Arian asked Jax.

  “Yes, sweet thing. Everything is fine. They’ll clear the atmosphere and burn in space.”

  The ship became a tiny dot in the sky.

  “Better news than that, kids,” Tess said. “Here comes a similar vessel. Backup. They’re trying to hail, and…too late.”

  Shooting flames blasted the atmosphere, and twin explosions lit the sky.

  “Two for the price of one,” Tess finished.

  When the dust cleared, the AI and her own men came into the clearing. The Pleans huddled frantically.

  “I’ve located their nest,” Serepto said. “We’ll take them back.” He stepped toward the Pleans, but they screeched piteously, and then grabbed at their throats, the shrieks silenced suddenly.

  “What is that?” Arian asked, bewildered. “How did their screeching stop?”

  Serepto took another cautious step forward, and the Pleans began crying, though they no longer made noises. Instead, they continued to clutch their throats.

  “They’re terrified of males,” Jax said. “We’re too large.”

  Arian stepped forward. While still scared, the Pleans didn’t behave as frantically.

  “I think you’re right,” she said. “But it’s something physical that made them stop screaming.” Very gently, she reached out to a tiny woman, touching her arm. The creature shivered, but let her. She traced up her arm to her neck, very tenderly tracing the scratches on her neck.

  “I don’t think their mouths should be reddened,” she said. “They may be injured.” She mimed opening her mouth to the creature.

  The Plean looked around at her comrades, and then cautiously opened. Arian turned on the light at her sleeve, and shined it into the woman’s throat. She stepped back.

  “They’ve put something down there. I don’t understand how she can breathe.”

  The blue lights in the eyes of the AI flashed, and Jax said, “Tess says their anatomy is different than ours. Their voicebox is separate from the tubes that go into their lungs. From what I can tell, their nose is strictly a breathing apparatus. They eat and speak through the vocal piece.”

  “Serepto.” Arian spoke softly, unwilling to scare the creatures any more. “Do you think you can ask Shala to be brave and come? And to bring long tongs or tweezers. Something thin to fit into a throat.”

  He nodded, and strode from the site.

  “Mother, are you seriously going to try to stick something down there?” Orion asked, his voice incredulous.

  “If she’ll stay calm enough to let me. If that’s the case, I’ll know it’s okay to do. Perhaps that’s how the aliens stuck something in their throats, so they’ll allow the removal.”

  The standing crowd parted long enough for Serepto to return. Arian tried not to show surprise that Shala allowed herself to be carried in his arms. He set her on her feet and protectively tightened her cloak around her as if she’d freeze by being outdoors.

  “Is this something you needed?” she turned to Arian and asked softly.

  The tool she’d brought was one of many. It was long and pinched on the end, but was blunt.

  “I think that’ll work. Let’s try it.”

  She showed it to the female Plean, letting her touch it, and again mimed opening her mouth. The creature slowly opened wide.

  “I can’t believe she’s going to let you do that,” Orion muttered.

  “She’s desperate, aren’t you, pretty girl?” Arian crooned. Very carefully, she inserted the tweezers and startled when the thing inside moved. “I think it’s alive. Grab a jar,” she said.

  Shala leaned back to take it from Tian when he moved forward, and held it out for Arian. Arian gripped the thing and as smoothly as she could, brought it up from the gagging woman’s throat. She dropped it into the jar by the tweezers. It squirmed around, like a large slug, unable to attach to anything.

  The Plean immediately turned to the others and began chittering in their language. The woman chained next to her moved forward to Arian, pointing at her throat.

  “Looks like they all want plucked,” Tian said.

  “If we can get another container, someone can take this to the ship for Tess to analyze. If it’s from the planet, we’ll dispose of them here. If it’s something the Drahmeds brought, we’ll have to destroy them so they won’t upset the natural balance of the habitat.”

  “I’ll take it,” Dieroc said.

  Before she knew it, Shala had another empty jar, this one larger, to use for the addition of the rest of the throat insects.

  “This may go faster if you work on one end and I take this side down. Do you feel like trying?” she asked Shala.

  “Yes, I’ll help,” Shala whispered. Serepto must be good for her. She would never have attempted anything like this in the past.

  Shala moved away and Arian removed another slug from a Plean’s throat. She heard footsteps behind her as Jax nudged another jar her way. She dropped it in, and moved down one to the next Plean while the first two chattered.

  Just as they finished with the last woman, Dieroc returned from the ship. “It is not native to the planet. It is a creature used on the Drahmeds’ planet to attach to vocal cords. It discourages speaking or screaming by holding on tightly when there is movement. Tess recommends burning them.”

  “We’ll do that.”

  Dieroc collected the two jars.

  “Now to get the chains off their legs,” she said. “Then we’ll take them as close to the nest as possible, and set them free.”

  Once again, she went to the first Plean woman. She made soothing noises, and pointed to her chained ankles. Slowly she kneeled to look at the chain.

  “There’s no release mechanism. No lock. I think they were going to be wearing these chains for a long time.”

  “They’ll have to be cut away. Let me have Tess analyze the metal since I can’t get close enough to look at it,” Jax said.

  Tess’s voice echoed in her ear. “It is a Drahmed metal called sirecian. It can be cut with tools but takes a tremendous amount of strength.”

  “AI strength?” Arian murmured.

  “Yes, with their metal skeletons, the AI should be strong enough to snap it.”

  One of the men brought thin bladed shears to Jax and he approached Arian’s side slowly. The Plean chattered, and flinched as he got closer.

  “It’s all right, pretty lady,” Arian crooned. “He’s going to get these things off you.” She inserted her finger between the ankle cuff and the Plean’s skin, creating space for Jax to insert the shears.

  The Plean woman visibly shook. With her other hand, Arian soothed her, running it up and down her tiny leg.

  Jax slowly squeezed the shears until the metal snapped.

  “It still looks as though it’s going to need another cut to get the entire cuff off,” Arian said. “Otherwise it’ll pinch if we try to force it.”

  “Let me do the other side,” he said to Arian.

  Slowly, Arian twisted the cuff around and Jax snipped at the opposite end. The two pieces fell apart. They moved to her other leg, slowly and quietly repeating the procedure. As soon as the metal hit the ground, the Plean jumped away from Jax, hiding behind the others.

  The rest of the Pleans began murmuring when they realized her leg was freed. Abuzz with excitement, one stepped up. She hid behind Arian, but held her leg out to Jax. Arian caught his eye, amusement on her face
. “Just move in slowly. They’ll be fine, the temptation of being free outweighs the wariness of trusting a big strong hunk like you.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Jax stepped forward and the tiny Plean women huddled together, crying piteously. One by one, they had all been cut free. The severed cuffs, still attached with the chains, formed a giant linked snake on the frozen ground.

  “They’re still scared,” Arian said. “Even though they trusted us enough to allow the removal of the creatures from their throats. To cut their chains.”

  “I won’t allow you to get close to their males,” Jax said. “They’re frightened and ignorant. That’s unstable. They’ll kill you.”

  “We can follow and keep a safe distance. We’ll have constant communication,” Serepto said.

  “I’m not risking Arian,” Jax snarled.

  “Let’s compromise,” Orion said. “We’ll follow at a safe distance. When we reach the Plean nest to drop off their women and children, we’ll come in even though it frightens the women. But Arian will be safely surrounded by us when the males approach.”

  Jax nodded. “That would be acceptable.”

  “Glad you all agreed on what would happen,” Arian said.

  “We have your best interests at heart, mother,” Orion said, moving toward her to place a small communicator in her ear. “Tess has modified this to track you as well. I’ll talk you through the directions to their village.”

  Arian grunted and moved to the Plean women. They’d stopped crying, but still huddled. Arian held out her hands, palms up. Slowly, two of the women reached out and touched her.

  “Come,” Arian said softly. “We’re taking you home.”

  She stepped forward, away from the men. The women followed, several looking back over their shoulders as if worried that the men would follow.

  “It’s just us,” Arian assured them, even though she knew they couldn’t understand. Eventually they walked far enough that the men were out of sight, and the Plean women grew more comfortable. Softly they chattered back and forth.

  “Mother?” Orion said, his voice in her ear.

  “Yes,” she said softly.