Roboteer by Alex Lamb Page A

breath. He would have to do something about Rodriguez soon, though the thought repelled him. The right time to start was probably now, while Rodriguez was still forming his opinions. With a grunt of frustration, Gustav stabbed the intercom button on his tablet.
    ‘Sir,’ said the ship’s captain.
    ‘Send Rodriguez to my cabin. Immediately.’
    ‘Yes, sir.’
    Gustav sank back into his chair and scowled at the wall until he heard a knock at the door. He took a deep breath and tried to will himself into a diplomatic frame of mind.
    ‘Come in,’ he called.
    Rodriguez opened the hatch and stepped through. He was dressed in an all-white ship-suit. The changes in gravity they’d experienced since leaving Earth didn’t appear to have affected his slick hair at all.
    Gustav nodded to him. ‘Father.’
    Rodriguez returned the gesture with pious deliberation. ‘You asked to see me,’ he said, one eyebrow tilted in mild curiosity.
    ‘Yes, I’d like to talk.’ Gustav gestured at the empty chair opposite.
    Rodriguez lowered himself into it like a large cat settling. ‘Certainly. What would you like to talk about?’
    ‘You, for the most part,’ said Gustav. ‘If you’re to function as my assistant, it will be necessary for us to know a little about each other.’
    ‘Of course,’ said Rodriguez. His tone suggested otherwise. ‘What would you like to know?’
    Gustav steeled himself. There was no point wasting time. ‘To begin with, your opinion of the Relic.’
    Rodriguez’s eyebrow tilted a little further. ‘In what context?’
    ‘Well …’ started Gustav. He struggled for a way to start. ‘The origin of the Relic is still very ambiguous. There’s nothing explicit in its structure or function that proves it’s the work of an alien species.’
    This was one of the ideas Oswald had raised in the report he’d sent Gustav as ammunition for this very moment. Gustav felt slightly dirty repeating it – it wasn’t something he believed. However, drawing the disciple out had to be the best place to start.
    ‘I’m interested to know,’ he continued, ‘whether you believe it to be the work of an alien civilisation or a message from God, as I’ve heard some people suggest?’
    Rodriguez gave him a small, plump-lipped smile. ‘Both,’ he said.
    It wasn’t the reply Gustav had expected to hear. ‘How do you manage that?’
    ‘Science is how we know the mind of God, General,’ Rodriguez replied with amusement. ‘Your prayer attendance record may be poor, but surely you must have heard that? It’s one of the Primary Teachings.’
    Gustav refused to be baited. ‘I’m not sure I follow.’
    ‘Truism is not a backward faith,’ said the disciple. He was clearly enjoying himself. ‘If evidence suggests that the Relic is of alien origin, then we of the Leading must work on that basis.’
    Gustav’s brow furrowed. ‘But doesn’t the Prophet also say that mankind is unique? That we’re God’s greatest creation, unequalled in the universe?’
    ‘He does. But being unique and being alone are not the same thing.’ Rodriguez twisted a hand in the air to illustrate and smirked. ‘The fact that mankind has universal primacy does not preclude the existence of extraterrestrial life. We would be foolish to deny the existence of dogs, say, simply because we have never set eyes on one.’
    ‘I see,’ said Gustav. He’d assumed the man would refuse to acknowledge the origin of the Relic flat out on theological grounds. And from the expression on his soft face, Rodriguez clearly took delight in defying that expectation. Perhaps he was not so much of a fool as Gustav had first supposed.
    ‘Yet the builders of the Relic must have been highly advanced,’ he ventured. ‘By the Prophet’s own teachings, does that not imply they knew more of the mind of God than we do? How do you reconcile that with the idea of human greatness?’
    ‘Greatness requires more than scientific knowledge,’ replied the disciple