Reclamation

Uary lifted his head. "We are going to have to wake it up."

"No," said Basq flatly.

"Then we can go no farther." Uary folded his hands. "I have nothing to work with. I have no pattern of brain activity. I have no baseline neurochemical activity for the active state. I do not know what the normal status of the artifact is, so I cannot tell what initiated the telekinetic, your pardon, Ambassador," he said bitterly, "the 'extramechanical abilities.' I do not know the system. Without even a partial map, I cannot understand anything."

Uary sat back, prepared to wait until the ship fell apart around them.

"Have your Beholden uncouple all the comm lines to the outside," said Basq. "We must observe total computer and biological quarantine procedures. There cannot be a single physical link between this room and the rest of the ship. If we run this risk, it must be just us."

A feeling that was almost respect surfaced in Uary. At least Basq carried his need for notoriety through to the end. If he was witnessed doing any less than this, it would of course be shameful, but he put that thought far ahead of his personal safety. Uary had seen the recordings of Born breaking open the door and of him tapping the private network. There was a real danger to them all if Born could break open the holding tank.

Well, they would just have to make it dangerous for him to try.

"Lairdin, place the artifact on complete life-support. Make sure that we are responsible for its physical existence. If it does manage to damage the systems, it will simply terminate itself."

Before I have to, he added silently, and he realized he was cherishing that exact hope.

Unexpectedly, the Witness spoke. "I must download what has happened here before the lines are closed."

"Cierc, you will assist the Witness," said Uary. He turned his attention to his own work.

All the systems needed to be put into independent mode. That meant shuffling operations around, cutting some functions and making sure there was enough storage space for the data to accumulate. Even with the help of the prompts that began as soon as he initiated quarantine procedures, it was a painstaking business.

But it was finally finished. The proper superiors were notified. The doors were shut and locked by hand and every instrument was physically separated from its links to the ship outside. Uary glanced at the monitors again. The artifact was still quiescent and the neutralizing gel was undisturbed.

"Restore active state," he said.

The monitors showed the stimulants flowing into the system. The response was good. Steady and not too fast. Normal orientation in five…four…three…

The monitor went dead.

"Systems check!" he snapped. The Beholden jumped and Basq sucked in a breath.

The lights went out next, and the backups did not come on.

"Aunorante Sangh," murmured Basq.

Uary did not bother to respond. He groped under the edge of the counter until he found the emergency handlight and pulled it out of its holder. The beam showed that everyone had had the sense to hold still.

The monitors on the tank itself still had power. They glowed eerily in the darkness, as did the tank. The artifact lay totally immobile inside, and the gel around him was undisturbed.

Uary shuffled the board keys with his free hand, but the terminal did not respond. He was barely aware that Lairdin had cleared a space in the wall and was working on the lights. A flicker made him blink. Lairdin fell backward, centimeters ahead of a shower of sparks as, against all specifications and parameters, some circuit burned out.

Uary's terminal screen flared with sudden light. Three words printed themselves across it.

LEAVE ME ALONE.

Basq stood at Uary's shoulder, his cheeks hollow with shadow and fear.

"Can we answer it?" he asked.

"I don't think so," said Uary slowly. He sketched the artifact's name on the notepad. Nothing happened. "We have to shut off its life-support. Terminate it."

"No," said Basq fervently. "We need to tame it."

Uary turned on him. "And how are we to do that?"

"Outnumber it. All it has had to do so far is trip a few switches. If we all work to regain control of the instruments, it will have to fight us all, repeatedly. We will wear it out."

"It could be possible." Sense is the last thing I expected from you, Basq, but I'm glad it's come. Uary hesitated. To keep the artifact alive even a few minutes longer would be a hideous risk, but as long as it was in the tank the monitors were recording its reactions. If they could find out what it took to overload its telekinetic processes, they would have a real weapon against its counterparts on the Home Ground.

And Uary would have the work of the Ancestors under his eye that much longer.

"Ambassador." Uary stepped aside. "Take over the terminal. My Beholden and I will work directly on the tank. Witness…" Uary hesitated. One did not give orders to a Witness.