Cath

The Cradle

Freyr studied each of the imposing set of Rothians in turn. It fascinated her how diverse the colouring and patterns were among the physiologically similar aliens. She knew most of these mature aliens had likely hand-picked their colour scheme, but she wondered if their colour and pattern choices somehow denoted societal or gender clues. Freyr spotted Vreta by his yellow stripes, on the end of the row; she gave him a polite smile and a nod.

She was no expert on body language, but Freyr detected a distinctly frigid vibe from the Rothians after a couple of seconds, which she could see her colleagues picking up on as well. There were some half-hearted verbal greetings while everyone got seated. Masgard, Blue Eye Guy had quickly occupied the middle three seats, and Osman had taken the one opposite Vreta, so Freyr moved to the other end and sat opposite the Rothian with a bright, floral scale pattern. Dr Uchida and Dr Kamau followed her and stood protectively behind Freyr’s chair.

Once everyone was settled, the Under-Secretary began speaking. “First of all, I'd like to thank you for seeing us at such short notice. As you know, I wouldn’t have asked for such urgency if it wasn’t important. I’ll let the Director General explain the situation.” Sequeira turned to the man with the augmented eyes, as did pretty much everyone else in the room. Freyr caught Masgard’s eye and could see he was about as shocked as her to learn the man’s actual title. Director General of what, though?

“Thank you, João. Before I begin though, I would like to ask the Rothian ambassador to drop the charges arrayed against one of my officers, designation Five Nine Five. They were acting autonomously to save the life of our new head of Cradle research from domestic terrorists. It’s extremely regrettable one of your own got injured. It’s nice to see you on the mend by the way, Vreta’Sori.” The Director smiled warmly at Vreta. I'm told we've apprehended all of the Skinners responsible for this attack. We would be happy to question them in co-ordination with Rothian elements, as a gesture of goodwill?”

The Cradle

Masgard ushered her up one more floor to the roof pad. Four of the police officers guarding the hallway peeled off to escort them. Before they exited out onto the exposed top of the building, Masgard handed her a thin headband. “It’s a scrambler, to hide your identity from the media.” he explained. “Wait, the media are outside?” Freyr asked dumbly. “Yeah, they’ve waited outside your block all night to catch a glimpse.” Freyr took the headband and slipped it on. A field encapsulated her head and neck, before becoming invisible again. “Nice. Now remember, this doesn’t mask your voice. So if you want to say something just open a comm-link with me, Ok?” Masgard grinned, then motioned for the police to lead them out onto the roof.

It was a cold but sunny day in Babylon. Looking out over the parapet, Freyr could see a thin sheet of frost clinging to blades of grass in Boycott Park, far below. One large crime scene tent had been erected on the path a couple of hundred metres away from her front door, and another in the cobbled market area behind.

Freyr heard a low buzzing noise growing louder and looked back out across the rooftop to find half a dozen media drones hovering above their heads. As she watched, one of the drones came down to eye level and trained it’s primary lens squarely on her. To them, Freyr’s facial features would’ve been obscured by a constantly evolving pixel pattern. That didn’t deter them though, and more of the drones fell to eye level, taking in her clothes and personal effects to gain clues as to her identity. Robotic voices began emanating from them as the police tried to shoo them away.

“What is your name?”

“Where are you going?”

“Were the Skinners Guild behind this attack? Is it true you were their target?”

“Was a Rothian citizen hurt in the attack?”

“Will you give us a statement for the record?”

Masgard gently guided her across the roof and into the back of a sleek black flyer sitting on the pad. He got in after her and closed the door so the flyer could promptly take off. “Good job.” He said, strapping himself in. “The windows are completely tinted, so you can take that off if you like.” Freyr peeled the headband off and secured her own seatbelt. “We have about twenty minutes until we’re at the embassy, so I wanted to run a spot of admin past you…” Masgard handed Freyr a holo-pad. “This is your new contract and pay grade as head of division, all standard stuff. Please sign here aaand... here to confirm the promotion.

“This is an obscene pay rise. Karos and I did similar jobs; I know for a fact he didn’t make this much.”

“He didn’t. But unfortunately, Dr Childermass is gone now and we need you to transform the division from the ground up. I hope this raise goes some way to remedying that fact.”

“It doesn’t, but okay.” Freyr signed on the dotted lines projected into the air above the holo-pad.

“Next, your team. There have been quite a few changes in your absence.” A tiled wall of people’s names, faces and roles appeared on the flyer’s dividing wall. Some of them, Freyr recognised immediately. Many of them were brand new to her. “Wow, the team has grown a lot.” Masgard nodded. “After the first incident, the one involving you and your family...there was a bit of a hiring spree. The administration felt quite strongly that more investment was needed to understand and control the Cradle’s...emergent behaviours.” Freyr was already going into a few of the new arrivals’ biographies, noting their skill sets and prior experience. A lot were inexperienced, straight from university.

“Do you have a new deputy head of division in mind?” Masgard asked after a minute or so. Freyr pulled two pictures out of the wall and brought them to the fore. “Doctors Kamau and Uchida; they’ve both been in the department longer than I. Please contact them and ask each for a status report to bring me up to date. I’ll choose a deputy later.” Masgard smiled broadly. “Astute choices! I think I can do you one better than a status report…” Freyr looked at him, confused, but didn’t have the energy to question the lawyer any more.

The rest of the flight passed in a flash. Freyr immersed herself in as many members of the team as she could, learning about their lines of inquiry and experiments. As Karos had mentioned back in the Cradle, a lot of the new recruits’ research was focussed on new terraforming capabilities and weapons systems. But Freyr could already see a lack of work to actually understand the Cradle from a biological point of view. She made a mental note to correct that balance.

She felt the flyer descending, and looked out of the window. They were right in the centre of Babylon, dropping into a square just off Outremer Avenue, Babylon’s primary artery. Freyr spotted a pretty, old building below, with a tasteful garden outside. There were other similar flyers outside, and a few people milling around. “It may be wise to put the headband back on, until we’re inside. Just in case the drones followed us here.” Masgard urged. Freyr sighed, but obliged.

As soon as they landed, four police officers jogged over and opened both passenger doors for her and Masgard to get out. They were escorted quickly to the grand front doors of the establishment, where Rothian guards escorted them to a reception area. Freyr gladly took her muffler headband off again. A gaggle of people were at one end of the finely furnished room, and as they moved closer she realised she knew most of them.

First to notice them was Major Osman, who came over and shook Freyr’s hand vigorously. “I’m glad to see you made it out alive, Doctor.” She said solemnly. Freyr thought perhaps Osman was still a bit annoyed at her for rushing in and forcing her to take on the creature alone. “I’m glad to see you as well. I’m sorry for endangering your life like that, in the Cradle I mean.” Osman nodded, and smiled. “Thank you. I’d have loved it if i hadn’t been so terrified.” She bowed slightly to Masgard before stepping aside to let the next person come forward.

Freyr’s stomach clenched when she saw that it was the man with the curious eye augmentations behind Osman. He gave her a wry smile and spoke cheerfully. “Good morning , Dr Lang! How are you holding up? Has Mr Xandrus been keeping things off your plate?” Freyr nodded awkwardly. She had not expected to see him here. Somehow, she’d imagined him being a full time resident of the Cradle. The man wore the same anonymous black uniform as before, and kept his hands firmly clasped behind his back. That is, until gestured to one side. “Please allow me to introduce Under-Secretary of the Outremer Diplomatic Service, João Sequeira.” Freyr shook the finely dressed man’s well tanned hand. “Pleased to meet you, Dr Lang. I’ve heard a lot about you!” He boomed.

“And finally, I believe you already know these two very well.” Blue Eye Guy turned and gestured two tall figures forward. Freyr recognised them immediately; she’d just been considering both of them to be her division deputy. “Yuma! Wallace!” Freyr found herself really happy to see them, and was glad at least one of them looked as happy as she felt. Yuma laughed in her familiar, musical voice and rushed over to embrace Freyr. “It’s so good to see you both!” Freyr gushed over Yuma’s shoulder. Wallace Kamau came a little closer and waved woodenly, a half smile on his face.

“I’m sorry to cut this short, but I believe the Rothian delegation is waiting for us in the next room. Shall we begin?” The Under-Secretary asked loudly. “Please João, lead the way.” Blue Eye Guy beamed, ushering the diplomat forward with both arms. At that point, Freyr felt a comm-link open between her and the mysterious man. He glanced at her. “Let Mr Xandrus & I cover the politics, ok? Lets see their terms before we give anything away.” He sent. Freyr set her jaw and didn’t reply, falling in behind him as they all filed into the meeting room.

The Cradle

Freyr thought back to her discussion with the Rothian, Vreta, idly massaging her arm. He’d said the creature with David’s face had talked about ‘finding toys’ just after using that communications array. With this new information, she concluded it was highly likely ‘toys’ was a way for an immature construct to assign value to something it didn’t have Human words for yet. The question was, who’s vocabulary did it pluck this word from? Freyr couldn’t help but think it was her daughter, Amy’s, lexicon. The evidence so far pointed to them being alive in some form in the Cradle. She just had to find them.

“In fact, there’s a meeting this morning with the Rothians. We’re going to look for permission to open an investigation on the coordinates we pulled from the arrays. Blue Eye Guy has requested your attendance, as the Cradle Research Division’s new head.” Freyr sharply looked up from staring into her tea. “That’s Karos’ job.” She snapped. Masgard regarded her sympathetically for a moment. “Dr Lang, Dr Childermass died in the Cradle... I’m told you were very close...I’m sorry.” The medication hadn’t kicked in yet, and Freyr could feel anger and grief bubbling up to the surface. She felt her grip tighten on her drink. “He’s been gone less than a day, and already they’ve made me head of department?” Masgard nodded. “The guy moves quickly, I must admit. He said it’d be good for you to link up with your team to-”

Freyr crushed her takeaway cup between her fingers, sloshing hot tea all over the breakfast bar. “THEY’RE ALL FUCKING DEAD! And now you look at me like I know how to fix this!” She exploded, standing up and glaring at Masgard with tears suddenly streaming down her face. The lawyer awkwardly grabbed up his cup and the bag of pastries to prevent them from getting wet. Freyr hissed as the pain from her burned hand kicked in. She rushed to the sink and held it under cold water. The sensation triggered memories of the energy burn she’d sustained to the same arm in the Cradle. “Freyr…” Masgard soothed, coming around to the sink. “I’ve read your file. You are the brightest mind in your field. No one else has your combination of specialised education, knowledge of the Cradle, and first-hand experience of what it’s capable of now. If anyone can figure out how to fix this, it’s you!”

Freyr pushed past him, heading into the bedroom and slamming the door. Masgard stood outside, trying to listen to what was going on inside. “With the amount of infrastructure that relies on the Cradle, i don’t need to tell you what is at stake if it gets any worse.” Eventually, Freyr emerged from her bedroom, jumper on. “Come on. Let’s go to the meeting.” She sighed, motioning with her head to the door, hands in pockets. Masgard grinned. “Now that is the spirit!”

Song Reference time

HAI, my name is Ronnie; I'm an addict!

The Cradle

Chapter 2 - Perfidious Dark

She was back in the Cradle. Everything around her was wrapped in night, a perfidious dark, crisscrossed with purple skeins on the walls, ceiling and floor. She looked down at her hands; they were covered in black, bristling algae. It crept up her body, toothy shoots wrapping around her neck. She opened her mouth to scream, and algae sprouted from in there too, curling around her lips and blocking her nose.

“Mummy?” A small, thin voice called from the dark. She looked up, unable to breathe but still searching for her daughter. The algae crawled past her eyelids and wriggled under her eyes. She couldn’t blink. “Freyr, where are you?” A man’s voice called, far away. She called back with every fibre of her being, but could only manage a muffled hum, deep within her throat. Something in the darkness chuckled.

A pale human face, one she remembered, but with black eyes and a gaping black hole for a mouth, appeared from the dark in front of her. “I can seeeee youuuu.” It sang, it’s voice wet and somehow dead. She screamed anew. The face flew toward her, on the end of a giant insect creature. It’s mouth grew wider and long, sharp teeth appeared that filled her vision as the algae covered her eyes-

Freyr thrashed around, screaming into her pillow until she was finally awake and her covers lay on the floor. She heard clattering and looked around just as Masgard, the lawyer from yesterday, and four guards with guns burst into her bedroom. “Dr Lang!” Masgard shouted, then he surveyed the look on Freyr’s face and the abandoned covers and realised what had happened. “Bad dream?” He asked. Freyr nodded, grabbing the covers back up to drape them over herself. “Clear.” Officers began calling from all corners of the apartment, including in the bedroom. “Ok, everyone out please! I need to talk to my client. I’ll let you get dressed, Dr Lang. Sorry for the disturbance; we thought someone was trying to kill you.” Masgard grinned sheepishly.

Once everyone had left her bedroom, Freyr quickly changed from her night clothes into some sturdy, comfortable trousers, her work boots & gloves, and a black tank top. She rejoined the living room, where Masgard was waiting with two takeaway cups and a large paper bag. “I brought some pastries and something hot to drink.” Freyr was actually starving after only eating a small part of her dinner, so thanked him and tucked in. “So, i have news from the Cradle.” Masgard began after they’d each eaten a pastry. He sat across the breakfast bar from her, his hands clasped around his cup of tea. Freyr looked up. “What’s that?” She said after politely swallowing what was in her mouth at the time.

“This is classified top secret. You Know Who-...” Masgard tapped just below his right eye, taking Freyr instantly back to the mysterious man with the augmented eyes. “...-wanted to bring you back into the Cradle personally to hear this, but i persuaded him you needed a little time away from that place.” Freyr smiled gratefully. “Thank you, i appreciate that. After last night i…definitely need some time to decompress.” She grabbed the canister of pills that were still sitting on the counter, and took one with her tea.

“So...” Masgard leaned forward, drawing Freyr in with him. “They sent a team back beyond the Border last night, to investigate the equipment that abomination with the human face was playing with. They found some advanced Rothian-tech communications array, with an activity log. It seems the creature used a testing backdoor to commandeer several comms arrays here, in real-world Babylon. It sent several encrypted bursts to coordinates on the surface of Rothia, the Rothians’ homeworld.” Freyr couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Are you telling me that thing was trying to talk to someone, light years away?” Masgard shrugged. “I’m not an expert, but those are the facts so far, yes.” Freyr took a big sip of her tea, deep in thought.

The Cradle

“Sure. I’d like that.” Freyr nodded. Masgard ushered the Rothians from the room and turned in the hallway, his voice calm and level. “I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow. Well done today.” Her new lawyer flashed a roguish smile before finally leaving and shutting the door. Freyr breathed a sigh of relief. She was almost alone, apart from the police officer still monitoring the windows.

Unwilling to fully settle down until all this business with the shield generators was resolved, Freyr poured another glass of wine and watched the news. Reports and footage of Boycott park were on all the local channels; Freyr hardly recognised the place with hordes of law enforcement personnel and journalists swarming everywhere.

Before long, a couple of Rothian technicians came by to install the shield, carrying the compact device between them. They put it by the windows and fiddled with it for a while, the police officer watching them closely. Eventually, the device began emitting a soft whirring noise and the Rothians stood up, seemingly satisfied. One of them then came over and offered her a personal shield belt, like the one Vreta was wearing. They showed Freyr how to wear it and activate the device. It was much lighter than Freyr was expecting.

She thanked both of them, and the police officer who’d been guarding the apartment, for taking such good care of her. She was beginning to feel more than slightly awkward at all the effort that’d been expended just for her protection. “I’ll be right outside if you need anything.” The police officer smiled, just before closing the apartment door and leaving Freyr with her thoughts.

After finishing her glass of wine, Freyr just about managed to get into bed, belt and all, before her exhaustion overcame her and she fell into a deep, partly medicated sleep.

The Cradle

Masgard considered the Rothian’s offer carefully. He understood any of their technology could be used to spy on people, and was very difficult to sweep without causing ‘damage’. But he did need to look like he was willing to cooperate, and this was a relatively small concession. He couldn’t think of any logical reason to turn it down. “Thank you, I’m happy with that if you are, Dr Lang?” He looked at Freyr, who nodded.

“After it’s set up, I'd like all security personnel to leave the apartment for the hall and common areas, so Dr Lang can get some rest.” Masgard continued, closing the deal. “If that’s acceptable, let's head to the lobby to discuss details? I’m sure you’re tired of having us in your safe space right now.” The lawyer finished, looking at Freyr one last time to see how many points he’d scored. Freyr smiled gratefully. “Thank you, all of you. I appreciate the effort you’re going to.”

The Cradle

Freyr cringed as she realised how inappropriate her offer had been. The alien had been shot in the stomach. “Oh shit, i’m sorry. This is going terribly.” Freyr muttered, pouring just two glasses of water. One for her and one for the police officer. Freyr walked out from behind the kitchen island and gave one to her while Vreta carried on talking. The woman smiled encouragingly and downed it in one.

Masgard jumped in and replied to Vreta’s offer directly. “I’m afraid i must decline that offer on my client’s behalf. The security we have in place is more than sufficient to deflect any further interest from a gang of thugs with knives.” He snipped. Freyr stepped in next. “Mr...Xandrus, is it? I’ll thank you not to just wade in like that. I am standing here, in the room, with you. I don’t even recall asking for a lawyer?” She was getting a bit annoyed with this awkward man already, however outwardly charming he appeared.

Masgard issued a supplicate nod. “Yes, of course ma’am. You didn’t call for me; the administration appointed me to serve you. And I'm afraid there will be instances where I have to intervene. Pursuant to Article 13 of our legal agreement with the Rothians, ‘ad-hoc’ security arrangements for critical Human personnel like yourself need additional sign-off by the Outremer Security Council. The Executive Vice-President has given emergency authority to me until they sit tomorrow morning, for which I have their stamp.” He fished a small holo-chip out of his pocket, which beamed a complicated, single use sigil onto the ceiling of Freyr’s apartment.

Freyr nursed the bridge of her nose with one hand, arms crossed. She felt the effects of the powerful medication she’d taken earlier rapidly wearing off. It felt as though her feet had been planted in thick mud. “Ok. So what is the plan then? Am i just to stay here?” Masgard nodded. “For tonight, that’s the plan. There are two dozen police officers in or around the block; you’re totally safe. In the morning, I'll liaise with Babylon law enforcement and Rothian peacekeepers on your behalf, to discuss what risks still remain to your safety.”

“I see...Well, in that case, thank you both for your very generous offer.” Freyr tried to smile at the two very polite aliens, one sitting and one standing. “But it seems i’m well taken care of here.” Freyr desperately wanted to talk more through their shared musings on the Cradle, but this obviously wasn’t the right time. “Perhaps we can chat further about what happened in the Cradle tomorrow, once you’ve been...stitched up?” Freyr offered.

The Cradle

Freyr nodded shakily. “I’m glad.” She stopped, not quite sure what to say. Masgard jumped in. “You seem tired, Dr Lang. Now we’ve checked in, we can get out of your w-” Freyr piped up again, remembering what she wanted to get off her chest before the Rothians were shooed away. Masgard blinked a few times, licked the back of his bottom lip and regarded Freyr with a very serious expression. Something akin to brotherly concern perhaps? Freyr didn't know, she was an only child.

“I’m grateful to...whoever that was...who got me out of there to safety. I just wish you hadn’t got hurt in the process, Vreta. As far as i know, i’ve done nothing bad to anyone. I think the Skinners must have found out where I work and…” Freyr trailed off. “Did we capture them? The people who did this?” She turned to her new lawyer. “Yes, I believe we have all of them in custody now. The ones your friend left alive, that is.” Masgard confirmed, stealing a glance at the two Rothians. “Oh, fuck…” Freyr murmured, running a hand through her hair; it probably needed a wash.

“Can i, uh, offer you guys something to drink? Water, juice?” She asked, casting her eyes around everyone in the room. Masgard shook his head, still pinning her with an intense stare. There was a large part of her that just wanted to curl up and forget about all this until the morning. However, there was another, supremely inquisitive part of her that wanted to know more. “I would love a water.” The police woman surveying the park through a slit in the armoured window plating called, looking backwards. Freyr nodded, walking toward the kitchen area. “Ok. Anyone else? Please take a seat guys.”

The Cradle

Masgard listened to Vreta’s brief recount of events, eyes wandering gradually to the alien’s injuries. “Understandable. However I must remind you that as you’re not formally affiliated with Rothian peacekeeping forces here on Outremer, I'm allowing you here purely as a professional courtesy. To verify the wellbeing of an...acquaintance. Any talk that might compromise my client’s mental wellbeing will not be allowed.” Masgard crammed into the elevator after the two Rothians and hit ‘doors close’.

Five police officers with compact SMGs stood guard on the seventh floor. They recognised Masgard’s authority, and nodded him through once he’d quickly explained the situation. He stopped the two Rothians at the door. The officer standing in front of it eyed the two aliens suspiciously, before eventually calling to the officer inside the apartment with a code word. They opened it from the inside. “I’m just going to talk to my client first, then i’ll let you in.” Masgard stepped into a dark apartment.

At first he couldn’t see anything, except a small fountain of sparks in one corner of the room. After a moment, he could see a police woman securing a flexible sheet of strong alloy to the last uncovered window pane in the living room. “All done in here. You can turn the lights on now.” She announced, getting up from her knees and dusting off her hands. Masgard fumbled for the light switch. When the lights eventually came on, he found a person matching the description of Dr Freyr Lang sitting curled up in an armchair nearby. She looked exhausted.

Masgard approached the woman. “Hello, Dr Lang? I’m so sorry to bother you at a time like this. My name is Masgard Xandrus, I'm your new legal representation, spokesperson and general lackey.” He smiled. “I was meant to come in the morning, but I was brought down here tonight to chaperone some Rothians who would like to check you’re OK. Would you like to see them? You can say no.”

Freyr, who’d been staring blankly into space while the police woman went about her noisy and intrusive job, turned her head slowly to face Masgard. “Is Vreta alive?” Masgard nodded. “Just about, he’s outside.” Freyr’s face animated slightly. She nodded. “Bring them in.” Her first reaction upon being confined to her apartment had been confusion and anger. When the police had arrived to protect her she’d flown off the handle at them. That initial energy had subsided after a little while, giving way to exhaustion; it’d been a very long day. However, hearing Vreta hadn’t died tonight had given her a little boost. She’d been starting to weigh up her feelings of guilt for his potential demise.

“Great. For the purposes of legal proceedings, I'd recommend you say as little as possible. If anything they say makes you feel uncomfortable, just say and i’ll ask them to leave, alright?” Freyr nodded, managing to stand up. Masgard went and opened the door, and the two Rothians sloped in. Freyr couldn’t contain her shock at the sight of the Rothian she recalled as Vreta based on his stripes. He looked like he’d been put through a combine harvester. Freyr covered her mouth with her hand to muffle her surprised cry. “Vreta, i’m so sorry...what happened out there? It all happened so quickly, I'm still trying to process…” Freyr trailed off.