Hammer and Crucible Cameron Cooper (web ebook reader TXT) 📖

rest. While he was waiting for the printer to produce the meal, Lyth abruptly sprouted to full height. He glanced at me. “I left Dalton with the doctor and I’m listening in recording mode in case the doctor needs me for anything.”

He brought the bowl over and put it in front of me. “Enjoy.” He sat once more.

I detached the fork from the rim and ate. These were not Cygnus print files at all. I’d never tasted this before.

In between forkfuls, I questioned Lyth. “Tell me about this human who told you to come to Devonire and take Dalton with you.”

“I’ve told you what I know,” Lyth said. His tone said he was being frank. “The communication was direct, live and the message bullet reinforced. I could not break the encryption.”

“You tried, then?” Juliyana asked.

Lyth grimaced. “I did. I felt no more comfortable than you did about accepting an order from someone I didn’t know, although the order was simple enough. I was to attract Dalton’s attention when he came close enough to the ship, urge him to come aboard, then take him to Devonire.”

Lyth had become agitated when we suggested we would be leaving the ship and not returning. I coupled it to this revelation. “You were pleased to have the company,” I surmised.

“Yes!” Lyth said. “And the orders wouldn’t bring harm to him. When I saw Dalton was actually trying to escape Rangers, it meant taking him away would actually serve him, so I was pleased to oblige. I squeezed out of that mausoleum and dived into the gates as quickly as I could…” Lyth paused and looked uncomfortable.

“What else?” I coaxed.

“Dalton passed out,” Lyth admitted. “I didn’t have the capacity to do more than negotiate with the gate and jump, so I did not scan him then. Afterwards, he refused to let me or the doctor examine him.” His gaze met mine.

It was remarkable how a pair of black eyes made from nanobots could appear so lifelike.

“I am impressed you made him do it,” Lyth added.

“Dalton was a Ranger,” I said. “He follows orders if they make sense. I just had to make them make sense.”

“Wait,” Juliyana said, pushing her empty plate away and wiping her mouth. “You said you negotiated with the gate? You paid the fees and taxes, too?”

“I didn’t have to.” Lyth frowned. “I wasn’t asked. I did not notice the omission at the time. I did not have to negotiate or pay fees when I took the three of you back through the Devonire gate, either. It was simply never raised. I knocked and asked the gate to form the wormhole and it did.” He looked from Juliyana to me. “That is very strange, isn’t it?”

“Look who’s talking.” I tapped the table, thinking. “You also said the medical AI—the doctor—was updated straight after Juliyana suggested Dalton use it. We’re in a hole and communications squirts can’t reach us here. So how did you update anything?”

Lyth frowned again. “I don’t know. It was automatic to reach for updates, and they were available, so I handed them on to the doctor.” He shrugged, a human gesture.

“That’s impossible,” Juliyana breathed.

“Manifestly not,” I said. “The AI was updated.”

“Unless Lyth got mixed up. Maybe he updated the AI just before we jumped.”

Lyth gave her a gentle smile. “I assure you, I was far too busy to update anything right then. My subroutines were at full capacity computing the jump. I only updated when you spoke of the medical AI. I do not need to convince you, though, for you will check the logs yourself.”

Juliyana smiled reluctantly. “I will,” she admitted. “No offense, but if you’re malfunctioning, you would not be aware of it.”

“Yes, do run an independent diagnostic, Juliyana,” I said. “I want an operational status on everyone.” I looked Lyth in the eye.

He pressed his hand to his chest. “I’m part of the everyone,” he breathed, looking rapturous.

I rolled my eyes. “What can you tell me about yourself, Lyth? Where did you come from? How old are you? How long were you in the junk park?”

Lyth blinked. “I have downloaded all the boring statistics to your implant, Colonel. The same information is available via the concierge AI, which you can access via any of the staterooms. So I will give you the thumbnail version now. I was designed by Girish Wedekind, eighty-three years—”

“I know that name,” I interrupted.

“Wedekind was stark raving mad,” Juliyana said. She had her hand to her temple, so I knew she was accessing the files Lyth had downloaded. Of course he would have given her a copy, too. “He designed the dreadnoughts the Rangers are still using today—an earlier version, although the model has never fundamentally changed. Wedekind turned into a recluse after that. The fame and the claims for his designs sent him over—at least, that’s what everyone thinks. No one heard about him for decades, then he suddenly showed up, announcing he had made a special ship.”

“I was the sum of all his passion and creativity,” Lyth said softly. “He poured everything he had into my design.” His small, warm smile faded. “Then he revealed me to all of humanity…”

“And they laughed,” Juliyana added softly.

“They said I was ugly,” Lyth said. “They never got to properly understand about the inside of me. They looked only upon my appearance.”

“No offense, Lyth, but from the outside, you do look…well, blocky,” I told him.

Lyth nodded. “A symmetrical block. A dimensionally appealing one. They did not understand the elegance in the spare details, in the negative spaces. They misunderstood.”

“Quite likely, they did,” I told him. “I’m guessing you were displayed to the Emperor, the Shield and the Rangers, yes?”

Lyth nodded.

“Soldiers only understand function, not form,” I told him. “If you didn’t melt a frigate into vapor, they wouldn’t have been impressed.”

“I wasn’t given the chance,” Lyth said.

“Does that mean you can?” Juliyana asked, sounding interested.

“I wouldn’t know,” Lyth replied, his tone bland. “I’ve never tried.”

I thought of the railguns on the exterior. Given the true