Echoes of Earth by Sean Williams, Shane Dix

had so far done a good job, she couldn’t rely upon him to ask all the questions that needed answering. And at the moment, at least, he seemed to have no problem with everyone pressing their queries onto him. If anything, his annoyance was toward the Gifts for being so stubborn.
    “You said that the Spinners have gone elsewhere,” he said, repeating the question being whispered into his head by Hatzis. “Can you tell us where that might be?”
    “We do not know that ourselves.”
    “For security reasons, I suppose?”
    “We are not privy to the reasons behind all our builders’ decisions. Those matters are not relevant to our purpose here.”
    “So they just built you, then left?”
    “Yes.”
    “And you’re ours to do with as we wish? No strings attached?”
    “That is the nature of a gift, is it not?”
    “I understand that,” said Alander. He paused to listen to rest of Hatzis’s comments before repeating them. “But you can’t blame us for thinking there might be a catch.”
    “There is no catch.” The voice of the Gifts was calm in response to Alander’s concerns, as though it could keep on saying the same thing forever.
    “Just wait until Earth hears about this,” said Samson.
    “If there’s anyone left there,” said Alander.
    Hatzis didn’t grace his cynicism with a rebuff.
    “Ask them what the spindles contain,” she said. Alander repeated the question.
    “That will become clear when you arrive at each of the eleven gifts in turn,” the voice replied.
    “Eleven?” said Hatzis. “But there are only ten towers.”
    Alander shrugged. “Maybe the Gifts are a gift,” he said.
    “I mean, they have a collective intelligence that allows them to communicate with us and instruct us in the use of each individual—”
    “It would be easier to see for yourself, Peter,” the Gifts interrupted him.
    “Okay,” he said. “But how?”
    “We will show you,” they said. “The area you currently occupy is called the Hub. After your impression of the climber, we have tailored it more to your expectations.”
    “My impression...?”
    “You expected it to look more sophisticated,” came the reply.
    Hatzis absorbed the revelation that they had been listening in with the understanding of why the environs within Chamber Five were so outlandish. Both unsettled her.
    “We must make it clear,” the Gifts went on, “that this chamber is the common entry point to all of the gifts. You cannot enter any of them without first passing this point. You are the only individual currently permitted to pass, although you may at any time allocate another. Given your people’s current circumstances, we will allow them free access to the climber that brought you here, should they wish to use it to ferry more android drones or other far-sensing devices to the gifts, but you are still required to give them permission. Understand this, Peter: You were chosen to have first access to all the things we contain, and to you we pass the responsibility of who will follow.”
    Alander nodded solemnly. “Okay,” he said. “Whatever you say.”
    Hatzis’s mind was immediately racing. Who would go next? Should she order the shuttle immediately back to Drop Point One for the other drones? Then she remembered the temporary lack of reaction mass. Shit. Damn Alander for screwing up that bath! That set them back at least a week. Maybe a telesensing robot could be constructed in orbit and sent in via the bug instead.
    She didn’t have time to reach a decision, however; the Gifts were speaking again.
    “The Hub lies at our heart.” Movement around Alander made him start and look around. The view of Adrasteia melted away, and in its place appeared ten doorways in a circle around him. Each was different, and all of them were closed. Between each door was nothing but space. “All gifts may be accessed from here.”
    When Alander hesitated to approach, the Gifts nudged him along with the assurance, “None are locked,