Children of Time, #2
Children of Ruin
by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Contents
CHAPTER 19.
Overview
The trapped Lightfoot crew is saved when Meshner, now operating through Kern's systems, delivers Kern's plan and has Artifabian inject the attacking parasite with an ambassador sample. The organism is not killed but transformed into a potential co-traveller, proving that understanding rather than destruction can redirect even this threat. The octopus vessel Profundity of Depth then rescues the whole ship, while the scientists shift their attention back to studying the orbital and Noah's unfinished work.
Summary
On the crashed Lightfoot, Fabian, Viola, and Zaine wait in suits as the alien organism spends nearly a day cutting through the hull. Fabian has already tried ramming the creature with a drone, but the attack only destroyed the drone and gave the organism a chance to rebuild its shell-like body and resume work with improved tools.
The three survivors retreat to the far wall while Artifabian waits outside for a desperate attack. Fabian and Viola trade bleak final words, but the creature finally squeezes through the breach, reshaping its debris casing into a humanoid form and moving toward them, especially the injured Zaine.
Just before the creature reaches them, the ship speaks and orders them not to act rashly. The voice first seems like Kern but gradually reveals Meshner's presence: Meshner has taken over Kern's functions after Kern withdrew to the implant. A hot orbital survey drone lands nearby, ejecting a drill-head that Artifabian carries back to the creature.
Artifabian drives the drill into the organism's damaged shell. Viola realizes the drill is acting as a makeshift syringe, injecting the creature with another sample of the same organism from the orbital. Meshner explains that the creature is receiving an ambassador, a revelatory message intended to change its behavior rather than destroy it.
Over the next several days, Meshner keeps the Lightfoot barely functional while the crew remains suited and quarantined. The changed organism leaves them alone and squats outside, rejected by the local starfish. Meshner explains that Kern made the parasite understand a new relationship: one colony can share its understanding with others, so the organism may become a co-traveller rather than a devourer.
Rescue arrives when the octopus vessel Profundity of Depth appears overhead and sends an unmanned sphere to lift the entire Lightfoot back into space. The crew is quarantined and later reunited with Helena and Portia. Meanwhile, the octopus scientists turn eagerly to the orbital and Noah's interrupted work, treating the diplomacy and survival crisis as a useful diversion that kept the warmongers away.
Who Appears
- FabianPortiid researcher trapped aboard Lightfoot; fears death and witnesses the organism's transformation.
- ViolaPortiid researcher who stays composed, interprets data, and recognizes the syringe's purpose.
- ZaineInjured human survivor whose condition leaves her especially vulnerable to the approaching creature.
- MeshnerHuman consciousness partly operating Kern's systems; coordinates the rescue plan and repairs Lightfoot.
- KernAI strategist who devised the ambassador-injection plan before withdrawing to the implant.
- ArtifabianSmall Portiid robot that attacks the creature and injects it with the ambassador sample.
- The parasitic organismAdaptive alien entity that breaches Lightfoot, then receives a transformative message from another colony.
- HelenaScientist reunited with the rescued Lightfoot crew after the crisis on Nod.
- PortiaPortiid scientist reunited with the Lightfoot survivors after the octopus rescue.
- NoahOctopus scion whose interrupted orbital work becomes the scientists' renewed focus.