“Oh dear,” said Gavin, his head returning to vertical.
Belinda folded her arms before sitting down with a thump.
“Don’t worry, everyone,” said Carrie. “The oootoon won’t hold us. It’ll set us free, like before.” She turned on her translator.
Voices blasted into her mind. Victory, victory. The ship is ours. We won, we beat them. Fight the placktoids.
“Hello?” she said. “I’m the Transgalactic Council Officer you were holding before. Do you remember? There are three humans here and a...a Transgalactic Council Manager.”
Trapped! We’ve got them trapped now. came the voices. Hooray for us. Thought they were so clever.
“Hello,” called Carrie. “Listen to me. There are more than just placktoids aboard. Hello?” she shouted, wincing at the multitude of triumphant oootoon voices echoing around her mind.
Belinda watched her with a sardonic expression. Carrie walked to the bulge of oootoon in the hatchway, hoping proximity to the stuff might help her to be heard. “Please,” she bellowed, “please, you must listen to me.” But all she heard in return were victory cries. “Oh, it’s impossible,” she muttered, and thumbed the translator off.
“You see?” said Belinda. “Utterly pointless. The creature’s hardly sentient. You’d get more sense from a marshmallow.”
“One moment,” said Gavin. “I will attempt a conversation.” He twisted his head to its horizontal position and was silent for several minutes. The three humans watched the large bug as his feelers twitched. “I have not been successful in communicating with the oootoon,” he finally said, “I have informed it that it will be breaching Transgalactic Code 538F if any harm comes to us through its action or inaction, but it gives no coherent response. Nevertheless, I will continue the attempt.”
“How come you don’t have to speak to it out loud like I do?” asked Carrie.
“Humans are only partially telepathic,” said Gavin.
“Oh.” Carrie leaned against a stack of black boxes. “well, maybe if we wait it’ll calm down enough to listen. Is there anything else we can do while we’re here?”
“We do not have an endless amount of time,” said Gavin. “The oootoon can clog and prevent from working whatever it chooses. It can become as liquid as water and solidify at will. It has no doubt accessed every duct and port and jammed the engines, weapons, everything. Without running engines the ship cannot maintain orbit. Neither can it remain warm, though the oootoon coating provides a measure of insulation. Of course, as the spaceship falls, friction with the atmosphere will generate heat but at sufficient temperatures as to be incompatible with life. To put it simply, we will freeze to death, roast to death or die upon impact with the planet surface. Now, please excuse me while I seek to gain the oootoon’s attention.”
Dave eyed the yellow bulge in the floor. “It doesn’t sound as nice as you seem to think it is, Carrie. I’m glad it didn’t think there was anything in here worth jamming.”
“Yet,” said Belinda.
“Well, you’re all glass-half-empty types, aren’t you?” said Carrie. “I’m telling you the oootoon is good at heart.”
“Did you hear what Gavin said?” asked Belinda.
“It’s been provoked by something. I’m sure of it. And we’re still okay, aren’t we? I bet there aren’t any recorded instances of the oootoon actually harming anything.”
“It’s difficult to imagine what else has happened to the missing placktoids,” said Belinda.
“Look, I admit I’m new at this job, and I might not have made much of a success of it so far, but aren’t we supposed to maintain some sort of objectivity? You know, look at the evidence before we jump to conclusions?”
Belinda stood. “Are you trying to tell me how to do my job? Who the hell do you think you are?”
Carrie also levered herself upright. “Well, let’s face it, you didn’t even try to talk to the oootoon before you called the placktoids—”
“And what would be the point of that, exactly? As I correctly assumed, it’s impossible to—”
“For goodness sake, you two,” said Dave. “Just stop it, won’t you? We might all be about to die, and I’d rather not go to my death trying to break up another fight.”
Carrie and Belinda glared at each other, but after a time Carrie relaxed and leaned once more on the stack of boxes. She turned and looked at them curiously. “I wonder what’s in these?”
“Probably raw materials to make new placktoids,” said Belinda, “ready to ship home. The placktoids are mining the planet for ores.”
“We didn’t see any mines,” said Dave.
“There are more islands than the one you were on.”
“Oh,” said Carrie. She rested an elbow on a box. “So, what is it you do exactly? Apart from this, I mean.”
“On Earth? I’m a banker.”
“That figures.”
“Carrie,” said Dave.
“All right, all right,” she said. “So, how long have you been working for the Transgalactic Council?”
The woman shrugged. “A couple of years. It’s been fairly straightforward up until now. I go to a conflict zone, establish the history, facilitate negotiations between the sides. They usually come to a resolution in time, providing they’re reasonably advanced—unlike the oootoon. Job done.”
“And why do you do it? I mean, it’s interesting and all that, but what’s in it for you? Seems like a risky profession.”
“Most assignments are more clear-cut than this, and I like to travel, meet new species. There’s an index-linked pension at the end of it and you can retire on the planet of your choice after ten Earth years’ service.”
Carrie’s eyebrows rose. “Really? Those are quite some perks.”
“Yes, they are. My background’s finance, and believe me, Earth economies aren’t stable. And what with all the environmental destruction...”
Belinda continued to speak but Carrie wasn’t listening. Her eyes glazed over as she considered life as a space detective, or liaison officer, or whatever the proper job title was. Travelling between the stars, visiting new planets, meeting aliens of every kind and shape. Who knew what wonders the universe might hold? And finally settling down on the perfect world, never having to work again. She grinned. “Right,” she said, cutting through Belinda’s monologue, “I know I got off to a bad start, but this sounds like my dream job. You know,” she turned to Dave, “I used to think I was a failure because I was always getting fired. Now I see it wasn’t because there was something wrong with me, I just wasn’t cut out for jobs I was doing. I wasn’t the right person for them. But this, I can make a go of it, I know I can. Or at least I’m going to give it a damn good try.” She stumped off towards the exit.
“Where are you going?” called Dave.
“I’m going to talk to the placktoids. The oootoon isn’t evil. I know it. I’m going to get to the bottom of this conflict if it kills me.”
“I can’t wait to see this,” said Belinda.
“The oootoon continues to fail to respond to my communications,” said Gavin. His head returned to vertical. “Where is Carrie going?”
“I think she plans on opening that door so she can talk to the placktoid commander,” said Dave.
“Given that the oootoon is not responding, I believe that is an appropriate course of action. Indeed, it is paramount.” The insect crawled to join Carrie at the door, trailed by Belinda and Dave.
Carrie was examining the door.
Belinda snickered. “All the systems are off, remember? The oootoon has jammed them all.”
Carrie rubbed her chin. “The ship’s general systems may be off. That doesn’t mean the local ones are. That emergency lighting, for instance. It must be locally powered or on a backup grid. I bet there’s some way we can open this. Gavin, do you know how these doors work?”
“As with most placktoid technology, the mechanism is comparatively simple. They’re magnetic.”
“Magnestism to open or close them?”
“The doors are nearly always open. A magnetic field is activated to hold them closed.”
“An emergency system,” said Carrie. “Thanks, Gavin. How come you know that?”
Ten pairs of legs shuffled to the right. “In my previous position I was a safety inspector for the Transgalactic Council Fleet. The placktoids contributed several ships.”
“Why did you leave?”
“I did not leave as such, I was forced to resign. I would rather not say why.”
“It’s okay. Don’t worry, you aren’t going to get fired again. We’re going to get this job done. I won’t let you down, I promise. So, emergency power is holding the door closed?
“Yes, it’s a safety mechanism.”
“You.” Carrie turned to Belinda. “You must have something in that bag that neutralises magnetic fields.”
Belinda’s expression was pinched. “No, I haven’t.”
“Carrie is correct. I believe you have,” said Gavin. “The magnetic field neutraliser. It’s about this long—” he held up two claws six inches apart—“and it—”
“Oh, that magnetic field neutraliser.” Belinda narrowed her eyes. She rummaged in her bag, retrieved the instrument and slapped it into Carrie’s outstretched palm.
“How do I—”
“Press the switch at the end,” snapped Belinda.
Carrie pressed the switch. With a quiet whoosh, the door slid open. Carrie strode through and turned left.
“Right,” said Dave. “The shredder’s to the right, Carrie.”
She about-faced and walked past the others. Dave caught her up.
“What are you going to say to the shredder?” he asked in an undertone.
“I don’t know yet.”
“You’re making this up as you go along, aren’t you?”
“Kind of.”