protocols have been over-written.’
And Calder could guess by who – five graves full. Safe inside, or trapped inside ? Momoko activated the roof-top camera, a view of the night sky appearing on the ceiling, dark swirling clouds pierced by the wan wine-coloured light of the world’s three moons. No sign of a rescue shuttle or his ship streaking like a comet through the heavens. Lento had survived outside for over a week. She might have come through the experience slightly deranged, but she and Calder Durk were now inside a human-built lodge specifically constructed to survive the rigours of the jungle. How hard could it be to get through a single night? Maybe he should have asked one of the suicide machines standing decapitated in the lodge’s charging stations. Or the mounds in the garden.
‘Can you move the camera? Turn all the roof’s spotlights on and keep them on.’
In response, the dark sky twisted around above them, dizzying Calder. He was getting a crick in the neck looking at the view.
Janet Lento appeared, white silk sheets wrapped around her. She looked like the sort of deranged elder meant to haunt the upper levels of badly maintained castles. Saying nothing she approached a makeshift charging station that had been set-up opposite the board in the viewing gallery. Presumably this was Momoko’s work. So the robot would wake up in the morning with amnesia and read the instructions right away… then download what passed for the lodge’s maintenance manual and get on with its job. Lento sat down at the foot of the robot, like she was its pet, huddled under her blankets. Her eyes still stared wide and glassy. But there was something else there now. Resignation ? She stared at the heavens, waiting for a sign. Calder felt dog-tired. But if he closed his eyes now, he’d go straight to sleep on one of the sculpted sofas – leaving his fate reliant on a mute woman in deep shock and a robot caretaker about to forget everything that had happened to it today including its visitors’ presence. Neither woman nor machine seemed a safe bet to trust his life to. So he stayed awake and watched and waited for help to arrive. It had started raining outside. Big fat gobs of water which steamed as they hit the roof, dripping down the external camera dome and generating artefacts across the projected image… and… a dark shadow flickered at the edge of the image for a fraction of a second. Calder might have written it off as a symptom of his tiredness or the storm front building outside, but Lento had obviously seen it too. She started rocking and moaning beneath her blankets. Calder felt a chill run down his spine. Something sharp and razor-edged yet lethally sinuous and flowing. What could pass through the toxin fence out there?
Calder looked at Momoko. ‘Did you see that? It looked like a humanoid figure.’ It’s covered in spines.
‘I didn’t see it,’ protested the robot. ‘And anything I do, I wish to forget.’
Calder checked his rifle. It was still set to single shot. Over a hundred projectiles. He boosted the magnetic acceleration to maximum and damn if the gun’s energy cell lost its juice. He could always recharge it in the lodge’s boot room. A rail rifle on max-mag. He could blast a flechette through a castle wall and watch it pass out the other side with enough kinetic energy to penetrate a tank. He jumped back as there was a massive clang from the outside wall. It sounded as if the tank he was planning to shoot had just collided with the lodge. Another loud metallic boom, and a dent appeared in the wall, the nearly indestructible composite metal as pliable as clay under the raw force of whatever was battering the lodge.
‘What is it out there?’ shouted Calder.
‘It’s not written on the board,’ said Momoko. ‘Soon, soon,’ it hummed to itself. ‘I will forget soon. I am powerful and fun.’
Lento joined the robot with a low keening noise. Calder ran to the viewing gallery’s
And Calder could guess by who – five graves full. Safe inside, or trapped inside ? Momoko activated the roof-top camera, a view of the night sky appearing on the ceiling, dark swirling clouds pierced by the wan wine-coloured light of the world’s three moons. No sign of a rescue shuttle or his ship streaking like a comet through the heavens. Lento had survived outside for over a week. She might have come through the experience slightly deranged, but she and Calder Durk were now inside a human-built lodge specifically constructed to survive the rigours of the jungle. How hard could it be to get through a single night? Maybe he should have asked one of the suicide machines standing decapitated in the lodge’s charging stations. Or the mounds in the garden.
‘Can you move the camera? Turn all the roof’s spotlights on and keep them on.’
In response, the dark sky twisted around above them, dizzying Calder. He was getting a crick in the neck looking at the view.
Janet Lento appeared, white silk sheets wrapped around her. She looked like the sort of deranged elder meant to haunt the upper levels of badly maintained castles. Saying nothing she approached a makeshift charging station that had been set-up opposite the board in the viewing gallery. Presumably this was Momoko’s work. So the robot would wake up in the morning with amnesia and read the instructions right away… then download what passed for the lodge’s maintenance manual and get on with its job. Lento sat down at the foot of the robot, like she was its pet, huddled under her blankets. Her eyes still stared wide and glassy. But there was something else there now. Resignation ? She stared at the heavens, waiting for a sign. Calder felt dog-tired. But if he closed his eyes now, he’d go straight to sleep on one of the sculpted sofas – leaving his fate reliant on a mute woman in deep shock and a robot caretaker about to forget everything that had happened to it today including its visitors’ presence. Neither woman nor machine seemed a safe bet to trust his life to. So he stayed awake and watched and waited for help to arrive. It had started raining outside. Big fat gobs of water which steamed as they hit the roof, dripping down the external camera dome and generating artefacts across the projected image… and… a dark shadow flickered at the edge of the image for a fraction of a second. Calder might have written it off as a symptom of his tiredness or the storm front building outside, but Lento had obviously seen it too. She started rocking and moaning beneath her blankets. Calder felt a chill run down his spine. Something sharp and razor-edged yet lethally sinuous and flowing. What could pass through the toxin fence out there?
Calder looked at Momoko. ‘Did you see that? It looked like a humanoid figure.’ It’s covered in spines.
‘I didn’t see it,’ protested the robot. ‘And anything I do, I wish to forget.’
Calder checked his rifle. It was still set to single shot. Over a hundred projectiles. He boosted the magnetic acceleration to maximum and damn if the gun’s energy cell lost its juice. He could always recharge it in the lodge’s boot room. A rail rifle on max-mag. He could blast a flechette through a castle wall and watch it pass out the other side with enough kinetic energy to penetrate a tank. He jumped back as there was a massive clang from the outside wall. It sounded as if the tank he was planning to shoot had just collided with the lodge. Another loud metallic boom, and a dent appeared in the wall, the nearly indestructible composite metal as pliable as clay under the raw force of whatever was battering the lodge.
‘What is it out there?’ shouted Calder.
‘It’s not written on the board,’ said Momoko. ‘Soon, soon,’ it hummed to itself. ‘I will forget soon. I am powerful and fun.’
Lento joined the robot with a low keening noise. Calder ran to the viewing gallery’s
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