Shadowkill

15

On the tenth day in the insplit, in the third hour of the shipnight, one of the five big EYEs woke and hid.

On the eleventh day in the insplit, in the third hour of the shipnight, the big EYE raided the supply bins and vanished into the ventilation system to join the smaller EYES already hiding there.

On the twelfth day in the insplit, during the third hour of the shipnight, the EYEs acted. By the fifth hour Betalli and the Savant were the only individuals aboard the ship (other than the engine crew) alive and in possession of their faculties.

At the sixth hour, Ginbiryol Seyirshi rose from his bed. Ignoring the android deactivated in the corner of the cell, he dressed and went out.

By the eleventh hour, he held complete control of the kephalos and the Savant Quatorze was dead. He contemplated what he’d accomplished, smiled with satisfaction, and sent for Betalli.

Betalli stared at him from red-rimmed eyes, then he nodded. “Fools,” he said. “All of us.”

Ginny tapped the readouts. “Not you,” he said. “They should have listened to you.”

“You knew they wouldn’t.”

“Oh, yes. They have given me data enough to know them. You worked for me long enough that I knew you.”

“How?”

“How escape your surveillance?” Ginny chuckled. “I did not. Of course I did not.”

Betalli waggled the fingers of the hand imprisoned in the android’s fist. “Why am I standing like this if you did nothing?”

“I did not say that. Surely it must have occurred to you that materiel meant to subvert a world would be exceedingly effective at subverting a much smaller community?”

“I warned them and I watched you. I had the kephalos analyze your additions. It said every addition was passive, needed a triggering from outside. Had you gotten to the kephalos already?”

“Oh, no. Merely trusted my Luck and implanted a latency in one EYE.” Ginny smiled and lied; much as he was enjoying this, he knew better than to broadcast secrets promiscuously. “In the night, in the vault, the EYE woke and primed others. A pyramid, Betalli. Once the first triggering was done, the rest was mere reduplication.”

“The crew is dead?”

“Oh, yes. At least, all but those crucial to running the ship. You were greatly overmanned, you know. Waste of resources. I control completely everyone still alive. Everyone but you, of course.”

“I see.”

“Yes. I am sure you do. You betrayed me, Betalli. You were in my employ and used my trust to destroy me. It will take many years to repair the damage you have done to me. You and Omphalos. Your death will serve me two ways. It will discourage others from following your example and it will entertain my customers. Oh, yes. I have a new project, Betalli, a new Limited Edition. Something I haven’t attempted before. It has a simple title, no need for fuss. The Fall of Omphalos. Nice play of sounds, don’t you think?”

Betalli struggled.

Ginny flaked his struggles.

He had Betalli stripped and thrust naked into a disabled rescue pod, an EYE there to watch him as air ran out on him.