Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy
Author: Martha Wells
Date: 0101-01-01 00:00:00+00:00
Keywords: fiction; humble bundle; sf; science fiction
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group

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They were still three hours out when Perihelion picked up the first clean images of the station. Iris didn’t groan under her breath; the mission team was in the ship’s conference room with her and Tarik, and she didn’t want to alarm them. But this was not going to be the easy slip-in-and-out job that they had hoped.

“This could be difficult,” Martyn said, which was a mild way to put it. The station’s feed showed multiple corporate transports in dock, as well as armed ships, their sensor images highlighted in red.

Standing on the other side of the conference room, Tarik rolled his eyes at the understatement. Iris caught his gaze and lifted a brow. He folded his arms, his attention back on the display, but she could tell he was a little embarrassed. That was the kind of back-and-forth that was fine when it was just crew, but it wasn’t for outsiders or students. She said, “It depends on the situation onboard the corporate station.” The schematics on the floating display above the table showed the corporate—controlled station was a large one, in the shape of three connected spheres, which meant it had probably been built incrementally over time, with sections being added as the population grew. And the docking ring was on one end. At the other end was their goal, a Pre–Corporation Rim habitation.

The shape of it was mostly obscured in the sensor image by the bulk of the corporate station. Though the schematic projection showed it was irregular, like a lumpy asteroid, they knew it was an entirely built structure, not something based on a naturally occurring body.

“You mean there isn’t a way we can approach from the outside without being caught,” Dr. Mauriq said. She was mission team leader, but her experience with this kind of thing was limited. Iris could tell she was a little nervous and trying to hide it.

There is a way.

Iris knew that tone. She used the private crew channel in the ship’s feed to say warningly, Peri.

Dr. Mauriq frowned at the compartment ceiling. “Yes?” Peri’s voice didn’t have a direction, but new people always looked at the ceiling.

Martyn took in a breath to intervene, but it was already too late. Another diagram popped up and superimposed itself over the corporate station schematic, with proposed targets and calculations for the potential results. Iris grimaced. On crew-private again, she said, Peri, you promised to be nice in front of the new people.

She asked. At least Peri used crew-private to reply.

Dr. Mauriq took it calmly, glancing at Martyn for reassurance, but Dr. Ladsen was clearly agitated. He said, “That … You’re suggesting we destroy the corporate station.” The diagram, now with a helpful animated image, was demonstrating how the proposed targeting solution would break the corporate station into pieces with a 47 percent estimated casualty rate.

On crew-private, Tarik said, You manipulated her into asking.

That was not manipulation. Peri hesitated for the perfect beat. It was far too easy for that.

Tarik sighed audibly.

Martyn rubbed his forehead like he was nursing a headache already. From the bridge, via the feed, Seth said, “Peri, stop. We’re not blowing up the corporate station.”

The mission team nervously eyed the animation, which was now showing how the tractor could be used to slice what was left of the corporate station off the Pre-CR hulk.

The first thing Iris always told new mission team members was, “Don’t let it intimidate you. Because it will try.” She honestly didn’t know whether it helped or if it just scared them and encouraged Peri to live up to its reputation. She used her personal channel, the one nobody else could hear, and said, Peri, stop it, you’ll upset Dad and Dad.

The animation stopped and the schematic disappeared. Peri replied, If the mission team is unable to cope with me, they are unable to face hostile corporates.

It had a point, though Iris didn’t want to admit it. Hopefully they won’t have to face them, she told it. Aloud, she said, “We’ll have to dock at the station and then make our way through to the Pre-CR structure. Our contact aboard said there are access points, multiple ones. We were hoping to be able to avoid that, but it was always a possibility, so we have a plan in place.”

Iris, how is that not facing the corporates? Peri said, mercifully on private.

Because we’ll just be another group of travelers. There’s no facing involved, she told it, aware it sounded like a bad rationalization.

You and I are defining facing in entirely different ways.

Peri was also having separate conversations with Seth, Martyn, and Tarik on the crew channel, and also Karime down in Medical, and Kaede, Matteo, and Turi in the engineering pod. Iris missed most of it except for Martyn saying, What is wrong? Why are you in such a bad mood?

Peri declined to answer that one.

Dr. Mauriq cleared her throat. “You all went quiet. Are you speaking to … it?”

From the bridge comm, Seth said, “Yes, sorry. Perihelion provides mission tactical support and has some logistical concerns.”

On crew-private, Seth said, Peri, can you hold off on the vaguely threatening interjections, at least until we get these people off the ship?

Very well. I’ll save them for our long walk through the corporate station, which is still in the throes of a hostile takeover, shall I?

That would be great, Seth told it.

Iris folded her arms and let out her breath. This was going to be one of those missions, she could already tell.

As they approached the station, Iris changed out of her ship clothes into her usual outfit for trying to look unobtrusive on a corporate station. It was simple, just sturdy shoes, pants, shirt, and jacket, in dull greens and browns, nothing to attract attention, nothing too nice but nothing that made her look like a transient who could be kidnapped for a corporate labor camp. She would be leading in Dr. Ladsen and Dr. Sunara, with Tarik and Matteo. Once they sent the okay, Karime would lead in Dr. Mauriq and Oster with Turi and Kaede.

Matteo came and stood in her cabin doorway, eyeing her critically as she adjusted her hair band. “Is that what you’re going with?” they said.

Iris didn’t sigh. “No, this is what I put on when I’m thinking about what to actually wear.”

“High-larious.” Matteo leaned against the hatch lip. “No, I meant, maybe we should go with something upper end. Business work clothes. These people like business.”

Iris had brought some nicer clothes, to use if they actually had to meet with corporate officials. “If there’s still unrest, it might make us look like targets.” She knew not wearing any jewelry might stand out just as much as wearing something expensive, so she put on some bracelets made of cheap but pretty metal and woven fibers.

“If there’s still unrest, it also might make you look like not a target,” Matteo persisted.

Peri said, You need a deflection vest.

Matteo pointed up and mouthed the word paranoid.

Peri said, I can see you.

“A deflection vest,” Iris repeated, checking over her tool kit, making sure there were enough ordinary maintenance tools that a glance at it didn’t immediately say, hi I’m here to break open secure hatches. She thought Peri was being facetious. “Like for knives?”

“Do we know there’s stabbing on this station?” Matteo frowned. “Is that a thing?”

A garment made of tactical deflection fabric, Peri said.

Huh, Peri was being serious. “Personal armor is really obvious, isn’t it? It would make us safer if anybody tries to rob us or something, but I think it would draw attention from the corporates’ security.”

I can make one that will look like an ordinary item of clothing, the same weight as what you are wearing now.

This was starting to sound like a good idea. Iris was willing to take any advantage possible. “Really? Can you show me a picture?”

An image popped up in the feed. It looked like an ordinary vest, the fabric surprisingly thin. I’ve researched similar garments used by port and corporate security, and have been working on a design for use on missions.

Matteo said seriously, “That’s great, Peri. You could wear that under a shirt, nobody’d see it.”

I’ve altered the material’s profile so it will not be detected by corporate weapon scanners.

Iris was convinced. “Can you make one for Tarik, too?”

No, I dislike Tarik and would prefer to use this opportunity to be rid of him.

“Oh, thanks,” Tarik said, appearing in the hatchway.

“You’re supposed to assume it’s kidding and be lulled into a false sense of security,” Matteo explained.

Tarik told them, “My sense of security is always false.”

“See, if I thought that was a joke—” Matteo began.

On the feed, Seth said, Children, are you ready yet? We have a job to do.

Iris hated walking into stations blind; you never knew what you were going to see.

By Corporation Rim charters, all stations were supposed to be independent, like UplandGateway One, the nearest station to Mihira and New Tideland’s system, where a number of small corporates rented space but the station itself was sovereign territory. Being independent meant they might be anything from safe and orderly to a chaotic mess.

As the hatch cycled, Iris smelled acrid smoke. Not a good sign. She walked out onto a broad embarkation floor that didn’t show any obvious signs of damage, except that it was unusually quiet. A glass-enclosed walkway ran below the high curving ceiling, but only a few people, walking hurriedly in a group, moved along it. One lone hauler floated past toward the nearest freight lock.

Iris checked the map that Peri had pulled out of the station feed and annotated for her. “Looks like we need to go this way,” she said, mostly for Ladsen’s and Sunara’s benefit, and started toward the section exit. Behind them, Perihelion’s lock cycled closed.

The smoke smell got worse as they walked, and Matteo muttered, “I hope the air barriers are still working.”

Air barriers would prevent a fire from moving along the dock, but you should be able to tell when you passed through one. Iris hadn’t felt one yet.

“Is it possible the station is actually on fire?” Ladsen wondered.

Peri, mercifully only on the crew-private feed, said, Yes, but I didn’t think it relevant to mention.

“Perihelion says it’s not on fire,” Iris said, trying to smile confidently and fairly sure she just looked irritated. Peri, come on, relax a little.

Tarik added, And you people say I’m cranky.

Matteo said, You’re jealous because you’ve never been able to compete in the crank-off.

Peri said, I have unfair advantages.

Iris controlled a sigh. She wasn’t going to try to unpack that one. It was equally possible that it was self-deprecating humor or an attempt to get Tarik to step into a verbal trap leading to some massive insult. But Peri had been in a strange mood since it had come back from its last solo cargo run, so there was no telling.

It was something of a relief to see other people waiting at the section lock, the passage into the commercial part of the port. The group ahead were all wearing uniforms with company logos. They passed through the lock and Iris stepped up to face the three armed guards. The emblems on their protective suits didn’t match the station’s, so they weren’t the regular port security.

Starkwether, Peri said, an outsystem corporate.

Iris was expecting to be scanned for weapons and ID, which was normal; most stations kept private and public docks separate. But the first guard said, “Your business here.”

It didn’t sound like a question, but Iris answered it anyway. “We’re with the University of Mihira and New Tideland; we have a mapping contract for this system.”

The third guard shifted, looking down the public dock behind him. Iris didn’t make the mistake of trying to peer past him to see what was down there. At least the airflow was less smoky here.

The first guard said, “Mapping?”

Iris smiled a little, though her throat was growing dry. “It requires a statistical analysis of this station.”

He’s scanning your IDs again, Peri reported.

The guard said, “Not a good time.”

Oh, he wanted to chat, possibly to trick them into revealing they were secretly here for some illicit reason. Not that he was wrong about the illicit reason, but Iris doubted he could guess what it was. “We noticed the smoke. Can you tell us what happened here?”

The second guard spoke suddenly. “The station was liberated by Starkwether Shipping Alliance.”

On their feed, Tarik said, Liberated? You’d think they’d come up with a new word for it.

Iris just needed to get them past this damned hatch. She let herself sound uncertain and nervous. “Oh, I didn’t know.”

Good, Peri said. They want you to be afraid.

The guard stared at her, possibly trying to intimidate her or just trying to think of another question to ask. Suddenly she had a split feed view of the dock behind her, letting her see that a corporate group was approaching. Some were in civilian clothes, very nice ones, with a couple of small hauler bots carrying luggage crates. The split screen was gone before Iris could blink.

The guard stepped back and motioned her to move on.

Iris obeyed, glancing back to make sure Matteo and the others were allowed to follow. She hit the team feed to ask, Everybody okay?

Four acknowledgments came back, which was good enough. Iris wanted to check on how Sunara and Ladsen were taking this but didn’t want to draw attention to them by stopping. The public docks were more crowded, but a lot of the occupants were in private security uniforms. Fresh scars from energy and projectile weapon fire showed on the deckplates, on the transparent shielding of the overhead walkways, on the large cargo hauler bots making their steady way along the freight concourse. But Iris didn’t see any current violence, just watchful, worried people. The smoke had dissipated but somehow that wasn’t as reassuring as it should have been. From the schematic, they still had a long walk, and the transit station had a set of blinking hazard lights around the entrance. She asked, Peri, how did you get that view behind me? You don’t have a drone following us.

I accessed the station’s security camera system.

I thought you couldn’t do that, Tarik said. Iris knew he didn’t intend to sound skeptical.

I am capable of taking in new information. Before anyone else could ask, it added, I had recent contact with a source who demonstrated a number of useful techniques.

Are you doing this through our comms? Matteo asked.

I’m not a wizard, Matteo. I’m accessing the system through my connection with the station’s docking feed.

Wizard? Tarik asked Matteo, Is that from that game you like?

It’s not a game, it’s a multimedia—

Iris tuned them out and switched to her private connection with Perihelion. She thought it had used the word “wizard” specifically to tempt Tarik into teasing Matteo, distracting both of them. What source was this? Another transport?

Are you surprised?

It was definitely in avoidance mode, but Iris answered its question. Well, sure, she admitted. I thought you hadn’t found any other machine intelligences outside the university that were, you know, up to your level.

I haven’t found any inside the university, either.

Iris had to smile. It’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it.

It’s complicated, Iris.

She was still turning that over when they reached the ramp up to the station mall. Iris led the others upward, past another armed checkpoint with guards who were thankfully less chatty, and through a temporary air barrier into the mall’s main avenue. It was a canyon of multilevel structures, balconies and terraces and shops and businesses looking down on the different levels of walkways and two transit tubes, only one of which was running. The travelers and locals were dressed in everything from recycled work clothes to fancy outfits with impractical corsets or concealing drapery. Vines hung down from the upper reaches, either cultivated or growing wild in the condensation on pipes and railings. From the amount of drying laundry hanging from those upper balconies, there was transient housing mixed in with the shipping firms and repair outlets. Some of the bigger firms were closed, shields over their storefronts. There were drones everywhere, and a lot of armed security with Starkwether insignia.

Iris didn’t see any signs of fighting but she didn’t have the leisure to stare around at everything, either, and the number of floating displays, each with its own soundtrack, was distracting. Sunara and Ladsen were staring like rubes, and Iris couldn’t blame them. The mall on UplandGateway One was considerably lower-key than this.

A big map display rotated in the plaza where five different avenues led off, just below the accesses for the two different transit tubes. Iris stopped to look at it, or at least pretend to look at it. Peri’s map had come from the station feed and should be updated. Sunara and Ladsen stopped and pretended to look, too, and Matteo went to stand in the feed zone for the transit tubes as if checking the prices. Iris refused to ride strange station-mall transit vehicles unless she absolutely had to; lack of regulation meant you never knew if the things were death traps or not. The ones up inside the station proper should be safer.

On her feed, she said, Dad, do we have a site yet?

Martyn answered, Just got it, honey. We have a Dr. Mahari, address tier 37, transept 3. I know we pegged transept 6 as the quickest access, but this was the closest we could find.

Should be fine, Iris replied, though that depended on how heavy the security was inside the residents’ sections.

Peri highlighted the location on the station schematic in her temp storage before Iris could find it on the rotating map. Stations usually didn’t allow visitors into the permanent housing quarters, so Martyn and Peri had been checking the station’s social media looking for somebody who they could claim to be coming to visit but who wasn’t currently on station. Peri had already created the formal-request-to-consult letter from the university with Mahari’s name and feed address; hopefully that would get them past the security checkpoints.

“Right, I think I know the way now,” Iris said aloud to Sunara and Ladsen, because in a corporate station you never knew who was listening and watching. “Let’s— And we’ve lost Tarik.” It was partly a joke, and she regretted it a second later as Ladsen looked around worriedly. Fortunately, Tarik ambled up before anything else happened, carrying a packet of steamed buns from one of the food kiosks.

He held the bag out to share, and Iris took a bun. She said, “We need to go up this way,” and started toward the path to the transept 3 access. All the transepts connected, so once they were past the security barrier, they would switch over to the correct section.

They went up a ramp to an upper-level walkway and took that toward the inner station barrier in this section. Sunara ended up walking beside Iris, and asked, “Why is there clothing hanging from the railings? Is it a festival, a custom?”

Iris glanced up at the transient housing cluster they were walking under. She tried her best not to sound as if this was a stupid question. And it really wasn’t, it was just that Sunara wasn’t used to corporate stations. “It’s their laundry. That’s transient housing up there, for people who are trying to get station jobs. The station’s gray water probably comes with the price of the housing, but not access to a recycler or cleaning facility.”

“Oh.” Sunara frowned, looking up again.

To your right, Peri said, when Iris hesitated at a junction. The next set of ramps took them up to a transparent walled chamber up against a bulkhead. Starkwether Security was here, too, with more weapons scanners. They were questioned in detail about their business in the residents’ section, the feed letter examined, their identifications examined, and then finally a feed message sent to Dr. Mahari’s address. The answer came back gratifyingly quickly that yes, she was expecting off-station visitors and she apologized for not sending the authorization to enter in advance. The reply of course was from Peri, who was spoofing Dr. Mahari’s feed address.

As the guards passed them through the multiple barrier locks, Iris felt her shoulders relax a little. That was the hard part done. She hoped. So far so good, Matteo sent.

They came out into a broad plaza, a junction for several avenues. The tall canyons of businesses and housing still looked down on central walkways, but they were wider and cleaner and there was no laundry or wild plants. A lot more people in corporate business wear and more Security moved through here, and a large number of floating hauler bots shifted crates of all sizes. Either an oddly high number of businesses had decided to move on the same day, or a lot of people were being thrown out of the residents’ section. From the general air of both bustling industry and anger, Iris was guessing it was mass eviction day. She asked Peri, They’re forcing the old residents to leave and moving their own people in?

Yes, Peri said. That’s why the mall was so crowded.

And those people were going to be forced into transports? Or just stuck here? Either way, it made Iris sick.

Matteo added, Uh, I shouldn’t have said “so far so good,” right.

Iris flinched at shouts and a bang from somewhere below. She looked down to see Security drag three people out of a housing balcony on the level below. Somebody young cried out, sobs turning into a shriek. The others on the walkway stirred uneasily, but nobody else reacted. Ladsen stopped but Sunara grabbed his hand and pulled him into motion again.

We need to get out of here, Tarik sent. More people were glancing at their group; they were out of place here, clearly strangers. Shouting sounded from somewhere down one of the intersecting canyons.

Iris gave up any reluctance about unreliable transportation and headed for the nearest transit ramp. She was careful to keep her steps even and not look like she was running away, and hoped the others were following suit. Nerves coloring their feed voice, Matteo sent, There’s a drone following us. A big drone.

Iris bit her lip and didn’t turn around. Don’t look at it.

Sorry, I looked at it, Ladsen sent.

Don’t look at it again, Peri said, before Iris could.

This transit was a different system than the one in the station mall, with smaller capsules traveling the tubes, meant for groups of eight. No one was in line on the first platform they reached and Iris swung into the next capsule and dropped into a seat. The air flow wasn’t good and the capsule smelled like sweat.

Sunara fell into the seat next to her and caught Ladsen when he tripped. Tarik grabbed the back of Matteo’s jacket to steady them as they climbed in, then folded into the next seat. Iris accessed the feed menu and asked for transept 3. Once they got there they could transfer to another capsule for transept 6. The system accessed the temporary account that they had set up for Peri’s docking fees, deducted the amount for the tickets, then slid the door closed.

Iris was pushed back into the musty upholstery as the capsule started to move. The transparent walls gave them a good view, and the drone a good view of them, as it followed them out of the platform and along the curving transit pipe. Oh, that’s a problem, Iris thought. Then a floating hauler slid sideways suddenly and the drone tried to evade but clipped a lifting arm. The drone wavered and fell out of sight.

Slumped back in his seat, Tarik’s gaze crossed Iris’s, and he lifted his brows. That was a coincidence?

Peri, was that you? Iris asked hopefully. If Peri could access drones this far into the station, that would make this mission, and a lot of other future missions, so much easier.

Yes. There was no specific alert, it was following you because you registered as foreign in the residents’ area.

Considering how much Peri liked to be specific, that was a vague answer. Iris persisted, So you’re in the station security system? Is that code you got from your friend? Peri had always been able to monitor comm and feed transmissions, including transmissions it wasn’t supposed to have access to, due to its ability to decode any kind of encryption. It had never been able to get so far into a security system that it could access cameras or drones in a space it didn’t have control over.

I would prefer to discuss this later. I’ll notify you as to how it will affect operational parameters, Peri said.

Iris knew a snub when she heard one and didn’t press it.

Matteo said, This seems like a pretty close friend, with all this highly sophisticated system-penetration code they— “Whoa, okay, I was joking!” Matteo flung an arm over their interface. “I’m sorry, don’t hurt me.”

Ladsen and Sunara stared in startled consternation. Ladsen said uncertainly, “Are you talking to the transport?”

“They’re just kidding around,” Tarik said.

Iris added, “It wouldn’t— That doesn’t happen.”

Matteo smiled reassuringly. “Right, it was a joke. We like to joke around, me and Peri.” On the crew feed they said, Except it never gets my jokes because it has no sense of humor whatsoever.

Because you aren’t funny, Peri said.

It’s got you there, Iris told them.

Don’t help it, it doesn’t need your help, Matteo said.

Hey, it said it didn’t want to talk about it right now, Tarik said unexpectedly. Maybe not so unexpectedly. Tarik had a lot of things in his past he preferred not to talk about.

Ladsen and Sunara looked a little uncomfortable, and must have realized there was a feed conversation going on they weren’t privy to. Iris smiled at them and said, “At least we’re still on schedule.” The smile probably looked as fake as it felt. None of this would help the idea that crews for highlevel transports tended to be insular weirdos.

The capsule rounded a curve and started to slow down, and Iris sat up. Transept 3, and time to change tubes.

The drones at the next transit station ignored them, and when Iris bought the passage for transept 6, she used an untraceable currency card. They could have walked, but there was still a lot of security. People were moving out of this section, too, though there was less crying and more quiet urgency. “They know what’s coming,” Ladsen said. He stood beside Iris as she wrestled with the card kiosk, which was much less efficient than the feed payment method. “They’re going before they’re forced to.”

Iris glanced at him, curious. He sounded like he knew what he was talking about. “You’ve studied corporate takeovers?”

He was keeping a worried eye on the drones patrolling below the station. “I was in one, when I was young. But my aunty had just gotten a professorship at Mihira and she was able to get us all out before it got too bad.”

“Oh.” Iris felt guilty, and like she should say something else but had no idea what, and that made her feel more guilty. Her family went all the way back to the New Tidelands original terraform crew; they had been safe from corporate predation as long as the system compact held. And it was obvious now that Ladsen’s nerves came from remembered trauma. Please be nicer to Dr. Ladsen, all right, Peri?

She expected a snarky answer, even though it would do what she asked; Peri wasn’t known for being sympathetic to adults it didn’t know well. It had always been much better with younger people.

Instead, it just said, Understood.

They found the access right where they had expected, deep in a disused maintenance tunnel. Fortunately, all the security presence seemed to be concentrated on the residents’ and business areas; no one was paying much attention to the infrastructure.

Tarik got the hatch open and Iris flashed her light over the dark space inside. It was just a corridor, dark metal walls scratched with graffiti, mostly symbols she didn’t recognize. Ladsen and Sunara, both suddenly all business, stepped immediately toward the walls, taking out their recording interfaces. “Is it Pre-CR?” Matteo asked.

“No, not as far as I can see,” Sunara told them. “This looks like early to mid corporate.”

“Probably from right before they built the newer station,” Ladsen answered.

Iris pulled her pack around and crouched down on the scarred floor to unload the mapping drone, which had been configured to look like the kind of metal analysis sensor that would go with her tool kit. She set the drone body, a smooth squarish box about the size of her spread hands, down and it immediately powered up, floating a few centimeters off the floor. “Everything okay?” she asked Peri.

As can be expected, it said, and sent its analysis views to Iris’s feed.

She blinked and studied the image of the corridor, much brighter and with sharper detail than she could ever have seen with her own eyes. She blinked it away to background; in situations like this, she preferred to see with her own eyes. Speaking aloud for Sunara and Ladsen’s benefit, she said, “Right. Peri, lead the way.”

The drone lifted up and moved down the corridor, extending a limb with a light/sensor attachment.

Iris followed it into a circular chamber. It was a junction, another dozen corridors leading off from every angle. Peri said, Careful. The gravity is fluctuating through here.

They made their way down the curved wall, Iris moving ahead with Tarik to find the places where the gravity was lighter or heavier. Peri sent more mapping images to their feed, projections based on its scanning data augmented by what the drone could now pick up. By the time they made it across the junction, Peri had narrowed it down to two corridors, both going in about the right direction.

“Which one?” Iris asked the others, because she hated being the one to choose.

“I assume we don’t want to split up,” Sunara said.

“No, too risky and time isn’t that tight.” Matteo leaned down the rightward corridor, shining their handlight down it. “How about this one?”

“And you’re basing that on?” Tarik walked across the wall, skipping across a low-gravity spot.

“Uh, it’s the first one I came to.” Matteo started to step inside, and the map drone nudged them out of the way to go first.

Iris said, “That’s good enough for me,” and took Ladsen’s hand for help over a bad gravity area.

Partway down the corridor Iris realized the graffiti was gone and the colors caught in her light were decorative. She stopped in front of a mural taking up most of the height of the tall curving wall, a space scene with glittering bridges of light weaving through and connecting a solar system with multiple planets and moons, their surfaces picked out in colorful detail. The light couldn’t be meant to represent structures, could it? It had to be trade routes, or some other symbolic connections.

With relief, Dr. Sunara said, “This is it, this is what we’re looking for.”

Iris abruptly realized that she had gotten distracted, which was the number one thing not to do on a mission. But Ladsen and Sunara were both recording the mural and Tarik and Matteo were starting to unload the equipment. She hurried to help as the drone moved upward to hover above them, lighting the chamber and keeping watch.

“Glad we picked the right corridor. Mapping is such a problem,” Matteo said, setting out the more delicate sensors. “We could try to smuggle in more drones.”

“That just makes it easier to get caught,” Tarik pointed out reasonably.

These would be more effective, Peri said, sending an image to the feed.

Matteo paused to look. “Those are drones? Wow, that’s tiny.”

Iris squinted, directing her feed to enlarge the image. There were several different views of a single drone, smaller than an insect, a tiny sharp thing, like a needle with fins. A video clip showed the drones working in a cloud, still almost invisible at a distance. She could imagine them shooting down these empty corridors, collecting video, looking for signs of anybody creeping up on them. “You’re right, that would be perfect. You could keep an eye on the station access and all the corridors around it and no one would notice.”

“And map the whole place, too.” Matteo scrolled through the specs.

They are detectable by corporate security systems via weapon scanners, Peri said. Even when inert.

Of course they were. The corporates wouldn’t want something like this in their stations unless they were controlling them. Iris said, “That’s a problem. But you could still use them in a place like this, or on planet, searching ruins. You could cover a lot of territory.”

Matteo asked, “Peri, do you have the templates for these? Maybe we could run some up in the workshop and test them. Not now, obviously, but for next time.”

I don’t have the template, only a schematic analysis from video. Modifications would be necessary as they are not designed to work with the same system interfaces as my drones.

Iris realized Tarik was frowning, staring at the images in the feed. He said, “Those are intel drones.”

“That makes sense,” Matteo said. “You’d never see these coming.” Taking in Tarik’s expression, they said, “What? Oh, that means we can’t just order the templates from a catalog?”

“Where did it—” Impatiently, Tarik set his equipment case aside. “Peri, where did you see corporate intel drones?”

“On a station.” Iris wasn’t sure why Tarik was so emphatic about it. “Where else would it see them?”

He sounded certain. “Not specialized drones like those. And it just said they weren’t permitted in corporate stations.”

Peri said, I accessed the armament databases at the Mihira Extension Hub during my last download. Why do you ask?

“Those are the kind of drones associated with SecUnits,” Tarik said.

Iris didn’t see where this was going. SecUnits were used by security companies and bond companies, mostly for isolated installations, as far as she knew. She had never seen one before. Matteo looked confused, too. They said, “So where did you see them, Tarik?”

Tarik made an impatient gesture. “They were used as enforcement in the Sagaro Pits.”

Nonplused, Iris exchanged a glance with Matteo. Tarik didn’t mention his stint as a guard in a contract labor camp very often, or hardly at all. She said, “All right. But that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t show up somewhere else.”

“They aren’t used anywhere else.” Tarik grimaced and shook his head, admitting, “At least anywhere else that I know of. There are other small intel drones, but those specifically are only used with construct systems like SecUnits.”

Peri was silent. Then it said, So?

Tarik leaned forward, looking up at the drone. “Where did you see those?”

Peri said, Clarify your question, Tarik.

Peri sounded touchy. So did Tarik, but that was unsurprising. Iris glanced toward the rest of the mission team. She could see Sunara and Ladsen were both still engrossed in the data. The last thing they needed was to be caught having an argument with their transport. “Inside voices, people.”

Tarik lowered his voice but persisted, “If intel drones like that came aboard Peri at any point, then we have a problem.”

Peri said, No intel drones of any type have been aboard me.

Matteo had clearly picked up on the tension. “See, no problem! Why doesn’t everybody tune it down a notch? We’re just chatting here about drones.”

With a wince, Tarik ran a hand through his hair. “Sorry, but you don’t understand how dangerous those things are. If some corporate hired a security company to watch us, that’s what they’d use.”

Peri said, Do you think I’m unaware of the danger of that? Do you think I’m an idiot? Or are you calling me a liar?

Matteo flung their hands in the air. “Now you made it mad.”

“Of course not,” Tarik said to Peri, gesturing sharply. “I just want to know—”

Right, that’s it, Iris thought. She said, “Peri, Tarik, that’s enough. This is obviously not the conversation to have when we’re in enemy territory.”

Of course, Iris, Peri said. It sounded just like a perfectly obedient machine voice. Iris rolled her eyes. That was always a bad sign.

“I was not calling you an idiot or a liar,” Tarik added. “And—” He grimaced. “It cut my interface off.”

Iris set her jaw, and drew on her rapidly dwindling store of patience. “Great. What did I just say?” she asked him.

“I don’t even know what I said wrong,” Tarik protested.

“It was trying to be proactive and give us new tech and you jumped up its butt,” Matteo explained, not patiently.

“I just wanted to know where it saw those drones,” Tarik persisted. “If it was on a station with SecUnits— They’re the only MIs I know of who would have a chance in a fight with Peri.”

You are adding insult to injury, Peri said.

“I’m sorry!” Tarik waved in exasperation. “But—”

Iris had enough. “Matteo, can you take over? I need to go on private for a few minutes.”

“Sure, I’ve got it,” Matteo replied. As Iris got to her feet and walked a little distance across the chamber from where the team was working, they stage-whispered to Tarik, “Now look what you’ve done.”

Iris switched to her private connection with Peri and faced away from the others. She sent, All right, Peri, what’s up?

I don’t understand what you mean, Iris.

She folded her arms. Oh, don’t pull that with me. You didn’t think Tarik was trying to insult you. You pretended to be upset to distract us. You’ve been weird since we started this mission. I just want to know what’s going on with you. The last part came out more plaintive than Iris intended.

I am capable of losing my temper.

But you don’t lose your temper, Peri. You get furious, but you don’t make mistakes and you don’t misinterpret things. Peri’s anger was made of ice and steel, but it thought at speeds that a human mind couldn’t match, in multiple directions at once. It was incapable of acting on impulse, in conversation or in any other way. This wasn’t even you getting annoyed.

With just a hint of amusement in its tone, Peri said, What gave me away?

Iris let out a breath. The admission was a good first step. You don’t jump to wrong conclusions like a human.

It said, I’ll have to work on that.

Iris winced. It would, too. Remind me not to critique your performance again.

I value your input, Iris.

Iris absently started to pace. She was too tired and jumpy to play this game right now. Is it something you can tell me at some point? It’s just that I’m worried about you. And I think I’m not the only one. Our dads have noticed, too. She hesitated, then tried to lighten the mood. You aren’t evolving into a new being, or something, are you?

It was an in-joke for their department, that there were always popular press articles about advanced MIs transcending their programming and becoming gods. Peri usually liked the joke, because it gave it a chance to be mean about stupid people. This time, it said, Iris, did you sustain damage to your neural tissue?

She let out her breath. Come on, that’s your favorite joke. You’re really scaring me now. What’s wrong? Did something happen?

Peri was silent for six whole seconds. Then it said, Explaining would in effect be violating a confidence.

Iris sat with that for a minute. She trusted Peri’s judgment, especially concerning anything that might jeopardize their missions or their lives. And it wasn’t like Peri had to tell her everything. She was just used to thinking of it as her precocious sibling, even though Peri had been the equivalent of a human adult for a while now. And if you considered the way that Peri experienced time, it had had a lot longer to be an adult than Iris had.

Their relationship had definitely changed since then, and they related more as equal friends. If it was a human she would expect it to keep secrets as it grew older, probably the same kind of secrets human siblings kept from each other … Oh. Oh. Iris blurted aloud, “Did you meet someone?”

Sunara looked up from across the chamber, worried, and Iris waved distractedly to indicate it was okay. Back on her private feed, she sent, Someone who asked you not to tell us about them?

I’m not a fool, Iris. The tone was distinctly testy. But it didn’t deny that there was a someone.

No, no, I know, I didn’t mean it like— She had meant it like that and Peri knew it. I’m sorry, it was a knee-jerk response. I do trust your judgment.

Do you?

Peri, I am sorry. She gave it a few seconds to get over its irritation. Is there anything you can tell me about them without breaking your word?

The confidence I don’t wish to violate is my own.

Oh. Oh, Peri. Iris found a seat on a rock. So you really like this person?

I had never encountered another machine intelligence that I could experience this kind of rapport with before.

That’s wonderful. And it really was. She didn’t want Peri to be lonely, and it refused to try to get along with the other machine intelligences in their department.

Peri added, It has given me a better understanding of trauma.

Trauma? Iris thought, taken aback. A machine intelligence with trauma? I’m not saying I think you’d run off and fall in … have an understanding and rapport with a corporate transport. But … Iris gave in and covered her face. Peri, please, it’s not a corporate transport, is it?

It’s a rogue SecUnit.

“Oh shit.” Iris sat bolt upright. She realized the rest of the group was frozen, staring at her in open concern. She told them, “It’s fine, it’s fine.”

Is it fine? Peri sounded skeptical.

I’m just surprised, she admitted. A lot surprised. Okay, wow. That is … not what I expected. But it makes sense. I can see it. The research about intel drones, the new code for penetrating station security systems. And Peri had always gotten along better with humans than other MIs. It might find it had more in common with a being that was part MI, part human neural tissue. How did this happen? How did you run into a rogue SecUnit?

It’s a long story and we are in the middle of a mission.

Right, we are. You’re right. Iris hesitated, struggling with both protecting Peri’s feelings and the vital importance of their whole department’s purpose. If they were exposed, so many more people would die, trapped into corporate slavery.

Peri said, You are thinking of the mission as well.

Yes, she admitted. I think you should tell our dads. Just as a precaution. And really, if you’re feeling … anything about this, they can probably give better advice than I can.

And if I don’t, they will continue to annoy me about my operational state.

That, too, Iris agreed. Remember when I was fourteen and had that problem with the lab assistant in Biomass Analysis and I wouldn’t talk about it and our dads were convinced it was a much bigger deal than it actually was?

Vividly, Peri said. I concede that you may have a point.

It was teasing her, and that was good enough for the moment. Thanks, Peri. I don’t think you’re entirely pointless, either.

Very funny. I set that one up for you.

I’m sure you did, she agreed.

Iris stood and went back to the others, and found herself smiling. She realized she liked this for Peri. That its emotional world was expanding.

Tarik was busy helping Ladsen with a sensor reading, but Matteo glanced up at her, their brow furrowed with concern. “Okay?” they asked.

“Yeah,” she said, “I think it’s going to be great, actually.”

About the Author

MARTHA WELLS has written many novels, including the New York Times and USA Today-bestselling Murderbot Diaries series, which has won multiple Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Alex Awards, and was adapted into an Apple Original TV series. Other titles include Witch King, City of Bones, The Wizard Hunters, Wheel of the Infinite, the Books of the Raksura series (beginning with The Cloud Roads and ending with The Harbors of the Sun), and the Nebula-nominated The Death of the Necromancer, as well as YA fantasy novels, short stories, and nonfiction. You can sign up for email updates here.

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Contents

1. Title Page
2. Copyright Notice
3. Begin Reading
4. About the Author
5. Copyright

Copyright © 2025 Martha Wells

Art copyright © 2025 Jaime Jones

Cover design © 2025 Christine Foltzer

The publisher of this book does not authorize the use or reproduction of any part of this book in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems. The publisher of this book expressly reserves this book from the Text and Data Mining exception in accordance with Article 4(3) of the European Union Digital Single Market Directive 2019/790.