Analog Science Fiction and Fact - June 2013

ANALOG
One. In stories, prisoners also kept calendars.
From afar, every so often, she heard engine
roars, and rasping, and deep whooshing rumbles.
She remembered Carlos on the backhoeloader—could
it have been only that
morning?—and wondered how it could have
anything to do with Li’s . . . insurrection.
When Rikki called at a window (oddly
dusty) for help, the children ran.
Damn that horrible video! Damn Li!
Do I instinctively fear snakes? Rikki wondered.
Does everyone? Maybe I only learned
the fear growing up.
But none of that mattered. The morphing
faces and jarring music were surely terrifying
enough.
Just as the children’s dread of her was
enough.
Out of sight, around a corner of the childcare
center, the sounds of play soon resumed.
Every happy shriek was like a knife twisting in
Rikki’s gut.
There was nothing left to do but remember,
and that was the most painful of all.
Her datasheet! Straight from her pocket,
still folded, she whispered into it, “Marvin, unlock
the bathroom door.”
Silence.
She pushed on the door and it would not
budge. Maybe the lock’s wireless interface had
been disabled. She tapped out an email warning
to Blake. LI’S GONE NUTS.COME BACK AT ONCE!
Rather than an acknowledgment when she
tapped SEND the pop-up read, I’M SORRY,RIKKI.
I’M AFRAID I CAN’T DO THAT.
Nor, she found, could she access the safety
cameras to monitor what transpired outside. It
dawned on her: Marvin had been blocking her
messages to Blake all along. Carlos’s doing,
she supposed. The man knew computers.
Weary, defeated, Rikki lay down and closed
her eyes. And opened them almost at once, to
banish the image of Li brandishing her gun.
If Rikki had even remembered Endeavour
had weapons in its cargo, she’d have thought
them packed away forever. Anachronisms.
Useless. Not as much as a gnat existed on Dark
to harm them. To take up arms after billions—
whole worlds—had perished? It was more
than horrendous, beyond obscene.
And she was hopelessly naïve. An end to violence
would only come when human nature
changed.
The lock clicked.
“Stand back,” Li called. “I’m armed.”
Rikki, who had been pacing, sat on the
bench.
Li entered cautiously, looking around the
room. With gun in hand, she indicated the
food tray. “You should eat.”
“You expect me to believe this meal isn’t
poisoned?”
“That’s your theory?” Li laughed.
“You obviously poisoned me. To keep me
behind as your hostage?”
“Not exactly. In fact, at first I was annoyed
at how the timing worked out, that you’d be
staying behind. Tying up loose ends would
have been easier without you underfoot. But
you know what? I’m glad you’re here. You’ll
be more convincing when the others return.”
“What do you mean, ‘Not exactly?’”
“I did do something to you,” Li said. “Someday,
maybe you’ll thank me. Till then I trust it
will make you cautious.”
“I’m your goddamned prisoner! I can’t do a
thing. So stop being coy and tell me. What did
you do?”
“Carlos and me. Do you remember the immune-system
booster shot at your last routine
physical? That was actually software updates
for your nanites.” Li smiled. “All that’s wrong
with you is a major case of morning sickness.”
“I’m . . . pregnant?”
Pacing, sleeping, and staring out the window.
It passed the time but provided no answers.
Nothing Li had done made sense. Why reveal
having warped the children? Just to brag?
Why hold Rikki as a prisoner? Did Li think she
and her gun could hold everyone at bay once
Blake, Dana, and Antonio returned? She had
to sleep sometime!
And above all: why had Li enabled her to get
pregnant?
Staring out the window, Rikki screamed, at
everyone and no one, “Are you crazy?”
Children scattered. In seconds they had
abandoned all of the play area visible from her
window.
Not once in two days had Rikki seen an
adult in the yard to supervise the kids. Was
that the shape of things to come?
“Come,” Li ordered. “And bring your coat.
96 EDWARD M. LERNER