Page 22 of Solomon's Ransom

Still, after he cleaned himself of the mess Remma had left, he went to the knob on the wall beside the door. Helpless as a small child faced with candy left temptingly in reach, he raised his hand to grasp the ridged lump.

The ship’s attention turned toward him, ponderous but immediate.Hello, human.

Hello, ship, Sol thought at it.Thanks for talking to me.

A ripple of amusement.So polite! How can I help you?

Sol still wasn’t sure if the ship was an AI or an actual sentient being. The interior of the ship made him think it was at least partly organic; maybe it had a brain, and the brain was what was talking to him. Even if it was an AI, he couldn’t imagine that it would hurt to treat it as a person.I don’t really need anything, he thought at the ship.I’d just like to talk to someone for a while. If you don’t mind.

I like to talk, the ship replied.Are you lonely? You stay in that room all the time.

They’re keeping me here. I’m not allowed to leave.

Oh, the ship said. It sounded surprised.Is that why that man is always standing outside your door?

That’s right. He’s here to make sure I stay.

I don’t know why they didn’t just ask me to lock your door.

Well, they have to come in and out to bring me food and water. I would die otherwise. And maybe—Sol realized it for the first time as he had the thought, even though it was obvious—they want to make sure nobody tries to get me out.

Did you do something bad?the ship asked.To make them want to keep you?

No. They kidnapped me. They want to see if my people will pay money to have me returned safely.

That does align with what I know of these men, the ship said.They like money and spend a lot of time trying to get more.

I think a lot of people are like that, Sol said. His own included, but he was trying to present himself as a helpless victim, so he didn’t share that thought with the ship.Everyone needs money to survive. If you don’t have enough, it’s natural to want more.

I’m glad I don’t have to worry about those things, the ship said.Oh, excuse me for one moment.It was silent, then said,My apologies. My attention was needed elsewhere.

That made Sol think it wasn’t an AI, because an AI wouldn’t have a problem doing more than one thing at a time, even holding multiple conversations at once. Well, except maybe it was some navigational problem that required most of the ship’s processes. He couldn’t rule it out that it was an AI.

It didn’t really matter. He was curious, that was all. It was a puzzle to occupy his time with. He had too much time. Remma’s visits helped, but Remma didn’t come more than once a day, which left Sol with many empty hours spent staring at the wall and trying to entertain himself. He did calisthenics and slept as much as he could, but there was a limit on how much one could exercise and sleep. The rest of the time he was alone with his memories.

You must be very busy, he thought at the ship.I don’t want to take up too much of your time.

Sopolite! It’s a nice change. These Tozren don’t have any manners.

They’re pirates. I would imagine other Tozren are polite.

I’ve never met any others.The ship sounded wistful.Before these Tozren, I had Relarkamené passengers, and they were so nice.

What happened to them?

Oh, the Tozren captured me in battle and stole me. They did, at least, put the Relarkamené on a shuttle to the nearest orbital, so I would imagine they all lived. But it’s been a big change.

I can imagine, Sol thought, trying to convey warm sympathy.Have you changed passengers a lot?

No, and that’s why it came as such a shock to me, I suppose. I’m a young ship, and the Relarkamené were only my second set of passengers after the Xerca who built me.

So it was a Xerca ship. Sol didn’t know much about them. Technologically advanced, secretive, minimal contact with other spacefaring species. But he knew about their ships—everyone did. Sol wondered how the Relarkamené had gotten their hands on a Xerca ship, and whether the Tozren knew what they had. He thought they probably didn’t, if they were casually sailing it around the galaxy using it for petty larceny and troublemaking.

Well. That might make things interesting.

I’m sorry you’ve had such a hard time of it, he thought.Is there anything I can do to help?

It’s nice to have someone to talk to, the ship replied. It hesitated for just a moment before it added,It would be nice to have a friend.