Deathstalker 08 - Deathstalker Coda

computer services continued to take care of vital work like life support, artificial gravity and the engines, but all higher intelligence functions were gone. The machines still worked, but no one was home. Silence told his comm officer to check all the other ships in the rebel fleet, and sat scowling in his command chair as the answers came flooding back. There wasn’t a starcruiser in his fleet with a working AI.
    “Could it be sabotage?” said Price. “Or some new weapon that Finn’s turned up?”
    “No,” Silence said slowly. “I think it’s simpler than that. I think . . . something’s happened to Shub. Every ship’s AI is a subroutine of the AIs of Shub. It’s been that way for so long that we just take it for granted.”
    “But what could have happened to them?”
    “I don’t know, Captain. But the odds are this is happening in the Imperial fleet too, so we’re equally disadvantaged. I wonder if they’ve noticed yet. Price, get those backup systems on line, fast. We can’t afford to be caught short when the battle starts.”
    “Of course, Admiral.” Price hesitated. “Even with all backup systems operating at full capacity, our options will remain distinctly limited. We’ll be going into action crippled.”
    “So will they, Captain. Serves us all right for growing too reliant on Shub. Take the command chair for a while, Price. I need to discuss this with the Deathstalker.”

    Silence explained the situation to Lewis and Jesamine, striding restlessly up and down their quarters. Lewis tried calling out to Oz through his mental link, but there was no reply. Silence finally ground to a halt, and looked hopefully at Lewis and Jesamine.
    “Sorry, Admiral, this is all news to us,” said Jesamine. “Why would Shub abandon us?”
    “Could something have happened to them?” said Silence. “If Finn launched an attack on their homeworld, could they be dead?”
    “If Finn had ships that powerful, he’d have sent them after us,” said Lewis. “No; the AIs must have gone into the Madness Maze. I knew we should never have left them there alone. All they’ve ever cared about is transcendence. It must have proved too great a temptation.”
    “It’s not just the fleet’s AIs,” said Silence. “We’ve been picking up reports from all over the Empire. Everything that Shub had a hand in has stopped working, from air traffic control down to sewer maintenance robots. It’s chaos on every industrialized world.”
    “Presumably everything will start working again when they come out,” said Lewis.
    “Not necessarily,” said Silence. “It depends what comes out of the Maze. Who knows what they’ll evolve into?”
    “Could the Maze have destroyed them?” said Jesamine. “Or driven them crazy again?”
    “No way of knowing,” said Lewis. “The Maze does what it does, and we never know why. But we can’t allow ourselves to be distracted. We have a battle to fight.”
    “Where are your appalling friends?” Silence said suddenly. “The con man and the psycho? No one seems to have seen or heard of them in ages.”
    “Probably trying to break into the med dispensers again,” said Jesamine. “Brett always gets a little nervous before . . . well, anything, really. No doubt he and Rose will turn up once the action starts. If only because they hate to miss out on anything.”
    “The powers and abilities I got from the Madness Maze were always limited,” Silence said slowly. “Even at my peak, which was a long time ago. You see, I never made it all the way through the Maze to its center, even though I went in twice. The heart of the Maze has always been reserved for Deathstalkers. Do you have any powers, Lewis, any special abilities you could use against the Imperial fleet?”
    “I’m still learning what my abilities are,” Lewis said carefully. “And I can’t talk about what I found at the heart of the Maze. It’s not my secret to tell. But I don’t see what use our kind of powers would be in a space battle anyway.”
    Silence sighed, and sat down on the edge of the unmade bed. He looked suddenly older, and very tired. “I’ve been teaching my captains what tactics I can. I was shocked by how much had been forgotten. It’s been so long since the navy faced a serious threat that they’ve got rusty. They don’t even run full-scale battle maneuvers anymore. No starcruiser’s fired on another in two hundred years. The only good news is that Finn’s captains will be just as