Hybrids

A three-kilometer-long run, thought Mary. Sweet Jesus, she hadn’t done anything like that since her undergrad days, and even then she’d been terrible. But adrenaline was pumping through her like there was no tomorrow—which, she knew, might very well be the case for the Barasts. She ran off down the tu

There was much less illumination in this tu

“How…far…is…it?” called Louise from behind.

Despite the urgency of the situation, Mary was pleased to hear the young woman sounding winded already. “Three thousand meters,” Mary shouted back.

Something suddenly cut across the path in front of Mary. If her heart hadn’t already been pounding, it probably would have started then. But it was just a mining robot. She called out that fact so that Reuben and Louise wouldn’t be startled, then she found herself shouting to the robot, “Wait! Come back here!”

Christine obliged with a translation, and a moment later the robot reappeared. Mary got a good look at it now: a low, flat, six-legged contraption, like a two-meter-long crab, with conical bores and hemispherical scoops projecting forward on articulated arms. The thing was built for hauling rock, for Christ’s sake. It had to be strong enough. “Can you carry us?” asked Mary.

Her Companion translated the words, and a red light winked on the robot’s shell. “This model is incapable of speech,” added Christine, “but the answer is yes.”

Mary clambered up onto the machine’s silver carapace, severely banging her right shin as she did so. She turned back to Reuben and Louise, who had come to a stop behind her. “All aboard!”

Louise and Reuben exchanged astonished looks but they soon hauled themselves onto the robot’s back, as well. Mary slapped the thing’s side. “Giddyup!”

Her Companion probably didn’t know that word, but surely understood Mary’s intention and conveyed it to the robot. Its six legs flexed once, as if to gauge how much weight it was now carrying, and then it set off in the direction they’d been heading, moving fast enough that Mary felt hot wind on her face. There were puddles of muddy water at various points, and every time one of the robot’s splayed feet came down into one, Mary and the others got splashed with dirty liquid.

“Hold on!” Mary called out repeatedly, although she doubted Reuben and Louise really needed any urging to do just that. Still, Mary herself felt as though she was going to be bounced right off the carapace a few times, and her bladder was objecting strenuously to the abuse.

They passed another mining robot—a spindly, upright model that reminded Mary a bit of a praying mantis—and then, about 600 meters farther along, they passed a pair of male Neanderthals going in the other direction, who leaped out of the way of the charging robot just in time.

Finally, they made it to the elevator station. Thank God those two Neanderthals had just come down: the lift was still at the bottom. Mary scrambled off the robotic crab and dashed over to the elevator. Louise and Reuben followed, and as soon as they were all in the cylindrical car, Mary stomped on the floor-mounted switch that started the upward journey.

Mary took a moment to see how the others were doing; everything had a slightly greenish cast under the luciferin lights. For once, Louise looked nothing like a fashion model: sweat was ru

Reuben was in even worse shape. The robot had bounded along, and at some point Reuben’s bald head must have hit the mine’s roof. He had a nasty gash ru

“All right,” said Mary. “We’ve got a few minutes until the elevator reaches the surface. There will be an attendant or two there, and they won’t let you pass without having temporary Companions strapped on. You might as well allow that—it’ll take less time than to convince those guys that it’s an emergency. And, besides, Companions let us communicate with each other, and with any other Neanderthals we need to speak to. All the ones stored here at the mine have the translation database.”

Mary knew the elevator cab was gently corkscrewing through 180 degrees as it rose up the shaft, but she doubted Louise and Reuben could tell. She lifted her forearm and spoke to it. “Have you reacquired the planetary information network yet, Christine?”

“No,” said the voice coming from Mary’s cochlear implants. “I probably won’t be able to reco

“Great!” said Mary. “Get me Ponter.”

“Calling,” said the implant. “No answer yet.”

“Come on, Ponter,” urged Mary. “Come on…”

“Mare!” came Ponter’s voice, as translated and imitated by Christine. “What are you doing back on this side? “Two don’t become One until the day after tomorrow, and—”

“Ponter, shush! ” said Mary. “Jock Krieger has made it over here. We have to find him and stop him.”

“He will be wearing a strap-on Companion,” said Ponter. “I saw the arguments in the High Gray Council on my Voyeur after Gliksins were let through before without them. Trust me: that is never going to happen again.”

Mary shook her head. “He’s no idiot. It’s certainly worth getting an order to triangulate on his Companion, but I bet he’s removed it somehow.”

“He can’t have,” said Ponter. “That would have set off numerous alarms. And he certainly can’t be just wandering around on his own. He’s probably with Bedros or some other official. No, we should be able to locate him. Where are you?”

The elevator cab shuddered to a halt, and Mary gestured for Reuben and Louise to hurry out. “We’ve just exited into the equipment room above the Debral nickel mine. Louise and Reuben are with me.”

“I’m at home,” said Ponter. “Hak, call for travel cubes for Mare and for me, and contact an adjudicator.” Mary heard Hak acknowledge the command, then Ponter continued: “Any idea where Krieger might be?”

“At the moment, no,” said Mary, “although my guess is that he plans to release the virus in the Center when Two are One.”

“That makes sense,” said Ponter. “It’s the time of maximum population density, and there’s lots of intercity travel when its over, so—”

Hak’s voice came on, interrupting, untranslated, speaking to Ponter.

“Mare,” said Ponter, a moment later. “Hak has reached an adjudicator for me. When your travel cube arrives, head to the alibi-archive pavilion in the Center. I’ll meet you there.”

A male Neanderthal attendant was now clamping a temporary Companion onto Reuben’s left forearm. A moment later he came over to Louise and attached one to her, as well. Mary held up her own arm to show the attendant that she had a permanent unit. “Okay,” she said to Louise and Reuben. “Grab some coats and let’s go!”

It had snowed since Mary was last here; the glare from the white ground was fierce. “The adjudicator is getting hold of two more adjudicators,” Ponter said, coming back on-line, “so that they can order judicial scrutiny of Jock’s Companion’s transmissions. Once that’s done, they can triangulate on him.”

“Christ,” said Mary, holding a hand over her eyes and sca

“Not long, hopefully,” said Ponter.

“All right,” said Mary. “I’ll call you back. Christine, get me Bandra.”