Heirs of Earth by Sean Williams, Shane Dix Page A

about this the other day. Data is actually encoded in the map image at all frequencies. The visual appearance of each image matches what we would see in the visual spectrum, but if you look outside those bounds, you can find all sorts of—” He stopped, noticing that he was drifting from the topic. “Anyway, there’s nothing unusual recorded in the map. It all looks kosher.”
    “So do you think we’re doing the right thing, Kingsley?”
    He glanced at her uncertainly. “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”
    “The question is simple enough: Are we doing the right thing?”
    He appeared suddenly flustered. “Well—I wouldn’t presume to comment on something you had already—I mean. I’d only be confusing the issue, wouldn’t I? And what would be the point of—?”
    “Come on, Kingsley. Indulge me, won’t you? I just want your opinion on this, rather than mine parroted back to me. If it makes it any easier, I’m ordering you to do it.”
    He swallowed uncomfortably before: “To be honest, Caryl, I’m absolutely terrified.”
    She nodded her approval and thanks. “Okay, now tell me why .”
    “Because it’s bloody dangerous, that’s why. I don’t know who’s going to volunteer for this mission, but they’d have to be half bloody crazy to even bloody consider it.”
    She noted the repetition of the swear word and wondered if she might be pushing him into unstable territory, “I’ll be volunteering, Kingsley.”
    “What? You can’t be serious!”
    “How can I expect my colleagues to do something that I’m not prepared to do myself?”
    “But Thor’s going. Surely that’s enough?”
    “Thor’s going? How do you know that?”
    “It’s not a secret.”
    “It’s a secret from me, obviously.” She swallowed her confusion and the question: What the fuck is Thor hoping to gain by broadcasting this?
    He nodded warily. “But that means you don’t have to go, right?”
    “I’m afraid not.” She risked touching him, reassuring him with a squeeze to the shoulder. “You don’t have to worry about my safety, Kingsley, and neither should anyone else. The colonies have enough concerns as it is.”
    “I can’t help it, Sol.” His eyes avoided hers. “You’re all that’s left. If we lose you, what’s there to fight for?”
    “Plenty,” she said as firmly as possible. “You just keep working on Plan B and let me take care of the rest, okay?”
    Starting with Thor, she added to herself as she turned and left the map—and the illusion of godhood—behind her.

    * * *

    The data from the trial run flowed like honey through the high-level simulation. Thor bathed in it, letting the raw information pour over in a slow, dense avalanche. She was assisted in the process by Marduk and Mahatala, two other Hatzis engrams who seemed happy enough to take her orders. They acted as primary filters for the data stream, weeding the information so she wouldn’t be overloaded. Even at her fastest clock rate, there was too much for a single mind to absorb in one sitting.
    But that didn’t stop her trying. She needed to understand firsthand what she was getting into. It was all very well to take Sol’s tame expert’s word for what might be found in the morass of details, but she wanted to see it for herself. If she was going to leap into the fire, she wanted to know exactly how extensive the resulting burns would be.
    Dozens of probes had penetrated the skins of the Starfish cutters and transmitted a wealth of data back to the waiting observers. She saw in exquisite detail everything they had experienced as they died. Explosions prompted massive and immediate defensive measures, sealing breaches and smothering fires with invisible, irresistible fingers. Lasers provoked mirror fields of perfect reflective index, sending the energy back at the probes, while chemical attacks slid off suddenly inert surfaces and were absorbed. Only the sudden annihilation of matter seemed to release enough energy to damage