The Passenger Ch. 07

Raz smiled his good smile.

"I think I shall be discrrreet about that, Anne," he rumbled.

"That's probably best," I agreed.

It wasn't long before Tar returned. He led us to a small room deeper into the building. It had a double set of doors but no windows, and from what I could see, the walls were quite thick. Like everything else, it was constructed of wood, but while the walls appeared solid, something made me suspect that they were in fact hollow; possibly concealing shielding equipment inside. Heavy wooden benches lined the walls, and a large 3D screen dominated the center of the room.

"I have enabled and checked all eavesdrrropping counterrrmeasurrres, sirrr," Tar said to Raz. "You will have complete prrrivacy."

"So will you, Tar'Krrraggrrr. I want you to be prrresent."

"Verrry well, sir."

"I trrrust Tar'Krrraggrrr completely," Raz said to us. "The same goes forrr doctorrr Por'krallarahrrr."

"That's good enough for me," I said.

Anne nodded.

"Absolutely," she agreed.

I looked at her and smiled. She may or may not have trusted Raz' assessment of his fellow Gawrrans as completely as I did, but she did trust my trust in his judgment. Which sounds more complicated than it really is.

Tar turned and closed the outer doors, then the inner ones. He tapped out an elaborate code on a keypad set in the wall next to the door. Several lights on the panel came on, and suddenly something changed in the air. It was difficult to describe, but the acoustics of the room seemed to change somehow, as if the walls had suddenly been padded with some soft, sound absorbing material. Tar consulted a small handheld device that he had produced from somewhere and nodded.

"We arrre securrre, sirrr."

"Good," Raz said. "Prrroceed."

Tar did something to the gadget he was holding, and the head and shoulders of a solidly built Gawrran materialized on, or rather in, the 3D screen. Of course, all Gawrrans are fairly chunky, but this one looked like the proverbial immovable object about to go head to head with the equally proverbial unstoppable force. He wasn't fat; he was merely massive in a muscle-and-bone kind of way.

"Doctorrr Por'krallarahrrr," Raz rumbled. "Thank you forrr accommodating us on such a shorrrt notice. As you can see, ourrr guests herrre arrre human, so we shall speak Interrrworrrld. This is Harrrvey'Rrross, and this is Anne'Rrryderrr. I rrrequest yourrr perrrmission forrr them to addrrress you by yourrr corrre name. In turn they will have no objection to being addrrressed as Harrrvey and Anne."

"Cerrrtainly, sirrr," Por'krallarahrrr answered. "I will be honorrred. Please, call me Porrr."

"Thank you, doctorrr," Raz continued. "The rrreason forrr this conferrrence is that we rrrequirrre yourrr assistance in an urrrgent prrroject. The naturrre of ourrr prrroblem is rrratherrr unusual. We need to adapt the active ingrrredients in ourrr prrroduct to Anne's physiology. Forrr a varrriety of rrreasons that arrre not rrrelevant at the moment, we need a pharrrmaceutical that will boost Anne's pherrromone prrroduction by severrral orderrrs of magnitude."

"I... see, sirrr," Por said slowly. "If I may ask, sirrr, arrre you considerrring expanding yourrr marrrket? The rrreason forrr that question is that this would rrrequirrre rrratherrr extensive clinical trrrials."

"Perrrhaps laterrr, but not at this time. This will be a strrrictly perrrsonal prrroject. Howeverrr, therrre is one additional prrroblem. Anne's physiology is not... entirrrely orrrganic."

"I'm not surrre I follow you, sirrr," Por said. "Arrre you rrreferrring to prrrosthetics orrr otherrr implants?"

"Oh, Raz, just come out with it," Anne said. "Doctor, I'm a droid."

"Urrr?"

"From what I understand, most parts of Anne's body are organic," I explained. "Including her flesh and skin, and she has a functional respiratory and digestive system, among other things. I'm not sure how that applies to organs and glands. Her motor system and nervous system are probably mostly artificial, and her brain is entirely that, because she's a fully emergent AI. Beyond that, we're not entirely sure yet what's what."

Por thought for a moment as he realized the implications of what I'd just said.

"I must rrrespectfully disagrrree with you, Harrrvey," the eventually continued. "What you descrrribe herrre is not a drrroid but a cyborrrg."

"A... cyborg?" Anne asked.

"Most cerrrtainly. A cyborrrg is an amalgamation of orrrganic life and cyberrrnetic arrrtifice. The distinction is not clearrr, as drrroids can be fitted with minorrr orrrganic extensions, but in yourrr case, Anne, as farrr as I underrrstand frrrom what I have just been told, yourrrs arrre not minorrr extensions. Yourrr self-awarrreness and frrree will as an emergent AI arrre also significant. Wherrras a drrroid is merrrely an automaton-- often sophisticated, but still an automaton-- yourrr AI is entirrely autonomous and therrreforrre it rrrequirrres farrr morrre along the lines of an orrrganic supporrrt strrructurrre. I would also say that classifying yourrr AI as emerrrgent is incorrrect. The prrroperrr terrrm would be emerrrged, not emerrrgent, based on the fully integrrrated perrrsonality I see herrre beforrre me. I am of courrrse speaking without having prrroperrrly examined you, so the rrratio between yourrr orrrganic and cyberrrnetic components rrremains to be deterrrmined as yet, but yourrr status as a fully rrrational and frrree entity arrre indisputable."

"How is that rrrelevant, doctorrr?" Raz rumbled.

"The distinction is rrratherrr significant, sirrr. Ourrr pharrrmaceuticals worrrk only on orrrganics, not on cyberrrnetics. A cyborrrg has a farrr grrreaterrr chance of rrresponding favorrrably to ourrr compounds than a drrroid would."

"Whateverrr the case may be, doctorrr, I would like you to get a prrroperrr rrresearch efforrrt underrrway immediately. This prrroject is to be trrreated with the utmost secrrrecy. Keep yourrr team as small as possible, and select its memberrrs carrrefully. Tar'Krrraggrrr?"

"Sirrr?"

"Ensurrre that doctorrr Por'krallarahrrr has everrrything he needs. Allocate a full categorrry thrrree budget to this prrroject forrr the moment. Should he need morrre, then consult me if I am available, but if I am not just give him whateverrr he rrrequirrres forrr the moment."

"Yes, sirrr."

"Doctorrr Por'krallarahrrr, is therrre anything you need rrright now?"

"I will starrrt prrreparrrations immediately, sirrr. I would like to meet you tomorrrow, Anne'Rrryderrr, and examine you prrroperrrly."

"We'll be honored, doctor," she said with a smile. "We'll be there."

"Excellent. Will therrre be anything else at this time, sirrr?"

"No, doctor Por'krallarahrrr," Raz replied. "I will leave this in yourrr eminently capable hands. Rrreferrr to Tar'Krrraggrrr forrr anything you may need."

"Yes sirrr. You can expect my prrreliminarrry rrreporrrt in a few days."

"Excellent. Thank you, Doctorrr Por'krallarahrrr."

"My pleasurrre, sirrr."

Raz nodded, and the screen clicked off.

"Tar'Krrraggrrr, please see to all ourrr guests' needs," Raz said as he rose from his bench. "Harrrvey will overrrsee the unloading of both ourrr ships. I will be with my mate forrr a few days. Do not contact me forrr anything less serrrious than a naturrral catastrrrophe."

"I underrrstand, sirrr."

Raz smiled his good smile.

"I apprrreciate yourrr discrrretion," he said. "Harrrvey, Anne, I will leave you in Tar'Krrraggrrr's capable hands. Do not hesitate to ask forrr anyting you need."

"I don't know how to thank you for all this, Raz," Anne said. "We owe you so many huge favours already."

"Harrrvey and I neverrr kept scorrre, Anne, and we'rrre not about to starrrt now. Also, the two of you arrre mated, so by Gawrrran trrradition you arrre one to me."

I raised my eyebrows.

"I know what I see and hearrr and smell, Harrrvey. The two of you arrre mated."

He looked at Anne.

"You disagrrree, Anne?"

"Well..." Anne began. "It's complicated..."

"You arrre worrried about yourrr physical makeup being a prrroblem. Forrrtunately I know Harrrvey to have no such concerrrns. Give it time. You'll be fine."

"That's what Harvey keeps telling me."

"Even Harrrvey can't always be wrrrong. Perrrhaps this is a time when you should trrrust his judgement."

He smiled his good smile.

"As a last rrresorrrt only, of courrrse."

"Gee, thanks, Raz," I said sarcastically.

He gave me one of his indecipherable looks.

"The two of you have got something good going herrre. Hold on to it."

"Oh, don't worry, I will, Raz," I promised, speaking more to Anne than to him.

"Good," he rumbled. "I will leave you with Tar'Krrraggrrr, then. I will see you in severrral days."

* * *

The Gawrrans proved to be very efficient and well-organized when it came to unloading ships. They had a team standing ready with antigrav sleds when we returned, and both cargo holds were empty in record time. I noticed that they did seem to have a disproportionate number of workers on site, most of whom didn't do anything except standing around and looking alert. Then I saw that they were armed. A neural disruptor is small enough to be barely noticeable in the hands of a Gawrran, so it took me a while to catch up. They appeared to be quite good at what they did: most security types stand out in a crowd so much that they might as well have "security" written on their backs, and in fact many do, but Raz' corporate security staff were quite unobtrusive, which is one of the hallmarks of any top-of-the-line pro.

As soon as the unloading was complete, we serviced the Slowboat. I always like to do that as soon as possible, and by now Anne was getting the hang of cleaning filters, flushing lines and tanks, going through the checklists and seeing to the seemingly endless little jobs required to keep a ship in good condition. Servicing is tedious work and parts of it are downright unpleasant, at least where cleaning the filters and disposing of the accumulated organic waste is concerned, but she worked at it without complaining. Soon we had the ship to a point where she would be fully flight-ready as soon as we'd refueled. I expected Raz would see to his own ship upon his return. We would happily have serviced the Pride for him, of course, but he had left no such instructions and most captains prefer to service their ships themselves.

"We will make arrrangements forrr fuel laterrr," Tar told us. "I underrrstand you will be with us forrr at least severrral days, is that corrrect?"

"I expect so," I said. "We will see doctor Por tomorrow, and I imagine his work will take a while."

"Indeed. Which is why I have been instrrructed to show you to temporrrarrry living quarrrterrrs. When you arrre rrready I will take you therrre."

We followed him into the building where we had had our meeting earlier, but this time he led us down a wide flight of stairs into what appeared to be an underground section. We followed a short, well lit tunnel to what looked like an airlock door. Tar tapped a sequence onto a keypad set in the wall, and the door slid open to reveal a transport capsule.

"Securrrity is rrratherrr imporrrtant forrr us, given the naturrre and high value of ourrr prrroduct," Tar explained. "This trrransporrrtation system allows us to arrrive and deparrrt unseen and unhinderrred. Please, enterrr."

The interior of the capsule was comfortable, even luxurious. It was small but not cramped, and my guess was that it would accommodate six or eight Gawrrans in comfort. Large, padded seats lined both sides of the capsule and a thick, brightly patterned carpet covered the floor.

"Please make yourrrselves comforrrtable," Tar said. "The trrrip will not take long."

A small chime sounded as the door closed, and only a gentle vibration indicated that we were on our way. I was impressed. I had of course encountered anti-grav transportation many times before, but this one had obviously been fitted with some sort of inertia compensator, which is a complex and expensive system commonly used on space ships but rarely found on ground transport systems.

I sat down next to Anne on one of the seats. Being designed for the bulk of the average Gawrran, it was large enough for the both of us. Par sat down across from us. There was no noise whatsoever, and my guess was that the tunnel had no atmosphere and the capsule moved through a vacuum. Our ride was as smooth as silk.

"I'm impressed," I stated.

"Merrrely a necesarrry prrrecaution," Tar said. "I was given to underrrstand that yourrr prrresence herrre is not to become public knowledge. This is not uncommon forrr memberrrs of ourrr company. We prrreferrr to maintain a cerrrtain amount of confidentiality with rrregarrrd to ourrr top executives' movements. This trrransporrrt system is merrrely one of many arrrangements with that in mind."

"Your security measures seem rather... extensive," Anne said delicately.

Tar smiled his good smile.

"Ourrr prrroduct is popularrr, but supplies arrre limited. Demand farrr exceeds the available supply, which incrrreases sales prrrices. Ourrr company has done well, therrreforrre Mr. Raz'Rwwrr Grllrrlrr rrrequirrres cerrrtain securrrity measurrres, as I am surrre you can imagine."

"Low supply, high demand," I mused. "It's what every drug company dreams of."

"Rrrr. That is trrrue, of courrrse, but the morrral implications arrre not quite the same in this case. Ourrrs is a luxurrry prrroduct only. It is not addictive, norrr is it a medical necessity. It it werrre, distrrribution would be underrr strrrict goverrrnment contrrrol."

"I wasn't criticizing," I said hastily. "I meant no offense."

"No offense taken, Harrrvey'Rrross," Tar said. "Mr. Raz'Rwwrr Grllrrlrr has trrrusted you with the sourrrce of ourrr... ingrrredients. That tells me all I rrreally need to know. Incidentally, we arrre at ourrr destination."

I hadn't noticed the capsule slowing down; so smooth was the ride. A few moments later the doors slid open. The corridor we stepped into was also lined with blond wood and had the same pleasant atmosphere as everything else we'd seen so far. Tar led us up several flights of stairs until we came to a door made from heavy logs.

"This aparrrtment should have everrrything you need to be comforrrtable," Tar rumbled. "You will find the pantrrry well stocked. Forrrtunately yourrr physiology is much like ourrrs, so Gawrran food staples should worrrk well forrr you." He smiled his good smile. " Mr. Raz'Rwwrr Grllrrlrr did mention yourrr prrredilection forrr caffeinated beverrrages. We have made arrrangements accorrrdingly."

"This is so lovely..." Anne said softly, looking around.

I had to agree. The interior of the room was done entirely wood, in keeping with the apparently all-pervasive Gawrran style. In fact, it resembled a rustic log cabin somewhere in the woods more than anything else. The roof was made from dark, heavy beams which rested on supports made from a lighter sort of wood, that rose up from the floor and curved inward in a graceful, almost organic manner. A large fireplace dominated the center of the room, and the furniture was of the massively heavy variety apparently favored by Gawrrans, but covered with thick cushions. On the floor, which was made of smoothly polished, reddish wooden planks, were thick rugs that resembled large animal hides, brightly striped and spotted. I assumed they were synthetic, but I couldn't really tell just by looking at them.

Heavy beams framed doorways off to the right, and a compact but well-designed kitchen area next to an autokitchen panel, allowing for both preparation of food or for quick-and-easy meals, depending on one's preferences. But the most stunning aspect of the apartment (if that was the word for it) was right in front of us.

The entire front wall was transparent. It could have been glass, or transparisteel, or some other sort of synthetic, except for the fact that it was clear to the point of being invisible. It looked like the entire front of the room was open to the outside air. I raised my hand to touch the invisible partition. There was just the merest hint of bluish shimmering as my fingers went right through it, and I realized it was not a transparent wall but some kind of force field, although not one I had ever seen before. I stepped forward and through it, into crisp, moist and fresh outside air, and I realized the field was a thermal barrier that kept the interior of the apartment dry and cozy regardless of the weather outside, while keeping the front of the apartment essentially open at the same time.

I found myself outside on a wide, wooden balcony, framed by a chest-high balustrade consisting of twisted, gnarled branches woven together in what could only be called a work of art. Heavy wooden benches seemed to grow out of the wood, almost looking alive.

But that wasn't what made me catch my breath. Standing on the balcony, I could see that the apartment itself was built into the side of a cliff. We were at least a hundred or so yards up, and the valley that stretched out below and in front of us offered a view that was nothing short of stunning. Dark green trees lined the slopes that enclosed it, losing themselves into the mists on either side, except for the waterfall to our left, which plunged itself into the depths with a strangely muted roar, creating a rainbow in the mist that rose from the stream as it fell down and down into the depths until it lost itself in the haze far below us.

"Wow," Anne said, standing next to me. I hadn't noticed her coming out onto the balcony. I could only nod. The view was simply too amazing to be expressed in mere words. The air was fresh and cool but not chilly, and it was full of the smells of green and growing things, of damp earth and cool water. I felt my spirits lift with every breath.

"It is one of ourrr corrrporrate guest quarrrterrrs," Tar said. "It is verrry safe and verrry prrrivate. You will not be seen. This valley is entirrrely uninhabited and surrrveillance systems arrre in place to ensurrre it stays that way."

"That's almost a shame," Anne said, a sense of wonder in her voice. "It's absolutely beautiful."

"Many places on Gawrr arrre like that. We simply happen to own this one. Among otherrrs, of courrrse."

"It's amazing," I said. "I could retire in a place like that."

Anne smiled.

"Me too," she said. "But not quite yet."

Tar nodded.

"Therrre arrre worrrse places to live than Gawrr," he agreed. "And once you have fulfilled all yourrr ambitions and lived a rrrich life of fulfillment and happiness, I'm surrre we could worrrk something out forrr you herrre."

"Someday," I said. "Someday. First we've got a gazillion problems to solve."

"Agrrreed. Mr. Raz'Rwwrr Grllrrlrr has instrrructed me to assist you in any way possible. I will leave you now to rrrestIf therrre is anything you need, use contact entrrry one on the aparrrtment's console and one of us will assist you rrright away. In any case will see you tomorrrow morrrning and arrrange forrr you to meet with Doctorrr Por'krallarahrrr Grrorrghr. Unless therrre is anything else I can do forrr you rrright now?"

"Thank you, Tar," Anne said. "We'll be fine. We appreciate everything you have done for us."

"My pleasurrre. I will leave you in peace, then. Enjoy yourrr stay herrre, and rrrememberrr I am available at all hourrrs."

"I don't know how to thank you, Tar," I said. "We are in your debt."

Tar smiled his good smile.

"Not at all. Rrrelax, and have a good night. I will see you firrrst thing tomorrrow."

And with that, he turned and left.

"Holy heavens," I muttered. "I don't think I've seen anything so beautiful in my entire life."

"Me neither," Anne agreed. "I could sit here and look for hours."

She looked at me as I stood there, yawning.