Daniel tried hard to keep his voice calm as he turned away from the door. 'And how do you propose to deal with the Grendels after you've won?'
'They'll shut themselves down once they've run out of things to kill. They're only a superior form of weapon, when all is said and done. Traces were found in the original Vaults that led the AIs to believe that the Grendels were originally created by an alien race to be used against some other unknown species. Just another reason why Shub has to be strong, in case either of these alien species turn up again. Another reason to dispose of Humanity. The AIs can't afford to be distracted.'
'And the Grendels will make such marvelous warriors,' said a cheerful, booming voice. Daniel looked around sharply, surprised by the first new human voice he'd heard since he came to Shub. And there striding toward him was one of the heroes of the great rebellion, Young Jack Random. He stopped before Daniel, smiled widely, and offered Daniel his hand. He shook it automatically. 'Superb killing machines the Grendels,' said Young Jack Random. He was tall and strongly built, wearing golden battle armor chased with silver, and looked every inch the hero. 'Can't help admiring the awful things. All the power of a Ghost Warrior or a Fury, with none of their limitations or frailties. I'll be leading them into battle. Should undermine human morale no end.'
'Pardon me if I'm being too personal,' said Daniel. 'But didn't you die during the rebellion?'
'Ah,' said Young Jack Random, smiling easily. 'My body was destroyed, but I live on. The lack of a protective suit here should have been a major clue. I'm a Fury, you see. One of the AIs' most successful agents. For a time I was right at the heart of rebel planning. Afterward, I would have been right at the heart of the new government. But it was not to be. One grenade at just the wrong moment, and my true nature was revealed. I did offer to continue working with the rebels, but they destroyed my body anyway, which I thought was rather petulant of them. Still, not to worry. I have a fine new body now, and no further need to hide my true nature. I will walk among humans, wearing the face of one of their greatest heroes, and spread terror and slaughter wherever I go. I'm quite looking forward to it.'
'Everything you've been shown, boy,' said Jacob, 'are just the fringes of the AIs' plans. A mere quickness of the hand to deceive the human eye.'
'You see, Daniel,' said Young Jack Random, dropping a comradely arm cross his suited shoulders, 'it really all began on Vodyanoi IV, the site of my last battle against Lionstone's forces.'
'Wait a minute,' said Daniel, wincing slightly under the inhuman weight of the Fury's arm. 'I thought Jack Random was captured at Blue Angel, on Cold Rock?'
'Ah, no, that was the real one, some time earlier. The AIs sent me out to maintain the illusion of his presence for their own purposes. Specifically, to put me at the head of a rebellion on Vodyanoi IV.'
'What's so important about that world?' said Daniel. 'Place is a bloody dump, by all accounts. Cold as hell, unfriendly life forms, and a kind of carnivorous moss that attacks the extremities. If it weren't for the spice mines, there'd be no population at all.'
'Exactly,' said Young Jack Random. 'Just the place for Lionstone to set up an extremely secret scientific Base, doing extremely sensitive research. But we can talk about that later. There's still much for you to see.'
'I don't think I can take much more,' said Daniel. He shrugged off the Fury's arm and looked appealingly to his dead father for help. 'Can't we stop for a while? Get some rest, and a little food and drink. I'd kill for a cold drink.'
'Human weaknesses,' said Jacob. 'Rise above them. You can survive without such things for a while yet. Brace up, boy; the tour's nearly over.'
And Jacob strode off, not even looking back to see if his son was following. The viewscreen in the door shut down. Young Jack Random put his arm through Daniel's and urged him on, smiling companionably. The three of them moved on through a series of metal tunnels, each slanting sharply downward. Daniel began to feel distinctly uneasy about how far below the surface of Shub he'd come. There had to be some point to all this, some end to their travels.
They passed by vast chemical lakes, thick as soup, with disturbingly organic liquids being drawn off through miles of transparent tubing stapled to walls, like capillaries. The air felt just a little more than comfortably warm, and had a strange resistance, like moving underwater. Jacob stopped before a human-sized metal airlock, set flush into a wall. Young Jack Random urged Daniel forward, squeezing his arm reassuringly.
'You'll like this, Daniel,' said Jacob cheerfully. 'It's a sort of zoo. Though not the petting kind. The only living things on Shub. They're kept strictly separate from everything else. Follow me in, boy. It's time to improve your education.'
'Don't mind me,' said Young Jack Random. 'I'll wait right here till you return. Don't want to pick up any nasty bugs.'
Daniel was still pondering the significance of that last remark when the airlock cycled open before him, and Jacob gestured impatiently for him to enter. Daniel did so, closely followed by Jacob, almost treading on his heels, and the airlock door closed immediately behind them. The steel chamber was claustrophobically small, and the two of them practically filled it. Jets of chemical steam washed over them, and then the inner door cycled open. Jacob stepped through, and Daniel followed, only to stop immediately just inside the new chamber.
There were cages everywhere, from a few feet square to some the size of whole rooms. All of them full of creatures Daniel was sure he'd never seen anywhere before. He moved slowly forward, checking the contents of each cage as he passed. Daniel had always had a minor interest in alien creatures, and knew some friends with their own private menageries, but he'd never seen anything like this. There were eyes and mouths, limbs and tentacles, flesh and fur and scale, and many other things he couldn't even put names to. Many looked sick or in pain. Some looked like they were dying.
'It's not really a zoo,' said Jacob, standing impassively at Daniel's side. 'This is a laboratory. The AIs run experiments here, on life forms they've captured. Or created. They've combined elements of interest, and removed others, to see the results. They've worked with chemicals and surgery and applied breeding techniques, to better understand the basis of meat life. Know thy enemy. The resulting creatures are tested to destruction, and then their bodies are vivisected. Knowledge is all that matters. And the AIs have discovered so much, unrestrained by human morality or conscience.'
'This is vile,' said Daniel. 'Nothing can justify this kind of torture. Have you no respect for life?'
'Human scientists have always practiced vivisection on lesser organisms. Shub is no different.'
Jacob moved on, and Daniel followed reluctantly after him. For the first time since he'd come to Shub, he was angry. This could not be allowed to go on. And then they came to a new series of cages, and Daniel had to fight not to vomit inside his protective suit. The things in the cages had been human once, but now they were something else. There were monsters and abominations and things so horribly violated that Daniel was pushed beyond horror into pity. Some still had human eyes or voices, and pleaded for freedom or death. One humanoid figure flitted back and forth inside its cage, moving almost too fast for the human eye to follow. Its hands were blurs. Another had been opened up and its insides carefully pulled out and spread over the walls of its cage, without killing it. A heart hung from the cage's roof, still beating, while lungs swelled and contracted on the floor. Miles of pulsing intestines and bowels had been strung around the bars of the cage. There was no sign of any face, for which Daniel was grateful.
'What… is the point of all this?' he finally managed. 'What purpose could these atrocities possibly serve?'
'It's interesting,' said Jacob. 'And that's really all that matters. Toughen up, boy. I didn't raise you to be a weakling. Now, come with me; you're going to want to see this next bit. Its purpose should be a little more obvious.'
Daniel swallowed hard and followed his dead father between ranks of cages, looking straight ahead because he just couldn't bear to see any more suffering. An arm over five feet long snaked between the bars and brushed his shoulder gently in passing. Daniel wouldn't let himself shudder. Finally they came to an open space at the back of the laboratory, and there, in a great glass cage, were the insect aliens whose ship had attacked Golgotha. Insects in all shapes and sizes, from the tiniest scuttling things to great, ponderous shelled things as big as a tank. Jointed legs and compound eyes and drooping feelers, scrambling around and over each other in constant darting motion. Daniel had no trouble recognizing them. There'd been no shortage of holofootage of what Captain Silence and his crew had encountered inside the alien ship.
'So you're in league with the alien insects!' he said finally. 'Where did you find them?'
'We didn't,' said Jacob. 'We created them. Right here in this laboratory. They're just another Shub weapon,
