Exodus: Sci-Fi Thriller (The Belt Book 5)

by Gerald M. Kilby

Nobody was looking forward to it, least of all Luca, who had still not regained her full strength after her seven-month-long coma. She lay down flat on her back on the packing crate, rested her head on her hands, and contemplated the ceiling. She tried to imagine herself back in the pool in the canyon, cool and languid, timeless and safe.

  But her daydream was interrupted by the sound of the doors to the pool room opening, followed by the sound of short, skipping footsteps. She recognized them as belonging to Cyrus.

  He did not see her, as she had the more elevated position. She tapped the neural lace at the base of her skull and activated it. She could now see the camera feed from her drone, Fly, which had perched itself high up on one of the ducts that ran along the ceiling of the pool room.

  Cyrus was checking labels on a row of packing crates, looking for something, muttering to himself as he went. One of the ship’s service droids followed as he moved along the rows. Eventually, he arrived at a point just below Luca.

  She lifted herself up on one elbow and looked down at him. “Hi, Cyrus, what you up to?”

  He jumped back, startled. “Jeez, Luca. Don’t do that. You scared the crap out of me.”

  “Oops, sorry.” She sat up, legs dangling over the edge of the crate.

  “Eh…I’m trying to find a spare part. It’s supposed to be here somewhere.”

  “What for? Something break? Hope it’s not important.”

  “Ahh…this entire ship is falling apart.” He scanned another label, then looked up again at Luca. “Don’t worry, nothing major. It’s just I might be able to get us a shade more power by replacing some of the control boards for the starboard containment vessel.”

  “I see. It wouldn’t be good if we had a plasma containment failure during the next heavy burn.”

  Cyrus moved on to the next packing crate. “That almost never happens these days. Mostly this type of ship drive just loses oomph over time.”

  “You worried about what could start chasing us down from the Neo City asteroid?”

  Cyrus glanced up at Luca and gave her a considered look, although it was hard to tell since he permanently wore an ocular visor. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t.” He spun his head around to look at the droid, who had been scanning along a different row of crates. “Ahh…I think we’ve found one.” He moved over the droid and scanned the label. “Bingo.”

  Luca clambered down from her perch atop the crates and came over. “Can I help? I’m pretty good with tools. I think people forget I’m a technologist. It’s what I did before…well, you know.”

  “Before your grandfather wanted to turn you into stem cells?”

  Luca smiled. “Yeah, exactly.”

  “Sure, I could use a hand.”

  The droid extracted the crate and lowered it to the ground.

  Cyrus began opening it, but paused as Fly swooped down from its perch and settled on Luca’s shoulder. He glanced at it with fascination. “That’s quite a toy you’ve got there, Luca.”

  “Present from Athena. It took me a while to get used to it.” She gestured toward the base of her skull. “The whole neural-lace thing.”

  Cyrus nodded. “Well you’re a grandmaster now, after all that node-runner stuff back on the New World.”

  Luca lowered her head and studied the floor. “Bad business, that. I can still hear the white noise of all those dying minds. It’s a horror I carry with me.” She looked back up at Cyrus, who had stopped what he was doing, focusing instead on what Luca was saying. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this, Cyrus. But…I can’t do it anymore, not without freaking out. I tried…with the ship’s AI, Max. But it was all too much for me. Maybe I’m burned out. Interfacing with Fly is all I can manage.”

  Cyrus considered this for a moment, and Luca got the feeling that she had just dumped a load of stuff on him that he wasn’t quite expecting. He looked away and started fiddling with something inside the packing crate. “Once we get into Mars space, you’ll be safe, Luca. You won’t have to worry about battling demons in the network.”

  Luca did not share Cyrus’s optimistic outlook, but she let it ride. There was nothing to be gained by dragging the engineer down into her bleak worldview.

  “You know, I think you’ll really like Mars,” Cyrus offered with a noticeable cheeriness. “It’s a beautiful place, especially Jezero—and quite old. Some parts are over two hundred and fifty years old, antique almost. The first thing you should do is go and visit the old city, especially the original biodome. You’ll be amazed at how rudimentary life support was back then.”

  Luca was tempted to reply, If we manage to get there alive, but Cyrus’s boyish enthusiasm was having a calming effect on her, pushing back the dark clouds of her fatalism. “Yes, I’ve always wanted to see it. I’ve heard so many stories from Steph over the years.”

  Cyrus raised a hand to his temple—he was receiving an internal comms. “Yeah, what is it?” He glanced over at Luca and mouthed the name Scott. “When? Okay…I’m in the storeroom looking for those parts we discussed… Yeah, she’s here beside me. Okay, keep me posted.” He gave Luca a concerned look. “We’ve got some more company. A new blip just popped up. A ship heading out from Neo City direction.”

  “VanHeilding Corporation?”

  “Possibly. It’s a small personal transport. Miranda thinks it’s not a threat.”

  Luca shook her head. “It never ends, does it?”

  “Ahhh, it’s no big deal. We’re nearly in Mars space. Just ten more days and we’re home free.”

  Luca was not convinced, but she nodded back anyway.

  “Come on, let’s get these parts installed.” He signaled to the maintenance droid to lift the crate and follow.

  It took them a while to work their way along the torus to an elevator that brought them to the central spine of the ship, and weightlessness. They then moved along a maintenance tunnel to a control room just forward of the main reactor. They spoke very little, and Luca got the feeling that Cyrus was troubled. Perhaps she had dumped too much on him, or maybe there was more to the ship that was now pursuing them out of Neo City.

  “So what’s the plan?” she asked as the droid secured the crate to a rail in the control room so that it wouldn’t float away.

  Cyrus activated a holo-screen and brought up a series of schematics. “This ship has several fusion reactors, and all of them are running at around nine percent below optimal.” He brought up a 3D diagram on the holo-screen. “They’re just old, and Miranda seems to have spent most of her time and energy fitting this ship with weapons rather than the boring job of maintenance.” He glanced at Luca with a grin.

  “So we’re going to shut down this one here, which supplies power for one of the main engines, swap out the electromagnet control circuitry, and boot it up again. It should give us a few extra joules of energy.”

  “You think we’re going to need it? I mean with all these ships following us?”

  “Ahhh…to be fair to your mother, I think the weapons are more useful in this scenario. I’m just doing this to…keep myself busy.”

  They were silent for a time, both studying the 3D projection as it exploded out to detail each component.

  “I’m sorry I got you into all this mess,” Luca finally said.

  The engineer glanced at her, a little confused.

  “I mean, you had to leave New World One, leave the business you had built up, leave your life behind.”

  He let out a laugh. “Ha…don’t let that worry you, Luca. I sold my business for a handsome profit. I’m a rich man, so don’t go feeling sorry for me. Besides, the stress of it was killing me. I’m not cut out to be a leader. I leave all that to the likes of Scott and Miranda. No, I’m much happier tinkering away with this sort of stuff.” He gestured at the schematic.

  Luca smiled. “Then you’re a bit like me. Happiest when I’ve got my nose stuck in a machine.”

  He gave her a considered look. “No, Luca. You are much, much more than me. And way beyond my hu
mble capabilities. You can operate on a completely different level to anyone else in the solar system…except, maybe, for one other.”

  Luca perked up at this revelation from Cyrus. “There’s another like me?”

  “Yes, kind of. And he lives on Mars.”

  “Who?”

  “Xenon Hybrid. He’s an ancient individual, reputed to be over two hundred years old. He was their president a few times.” Cyrus glanced away from the schematic and gave Luca a curious look. “I’m surprised you haven’t heard of him. He’s a national treasure on the Red Planet.”

  Luca searched her memory, and yes, she had heard of him before. But her perceptions were that he was more of an eccentric oddity rather than being in any way similar to herself. Perhaps Cyrus was just trying to make her feel…less of an oddball. If so, he could have picked a better person.

  “He’s that crazy guy—writes poetry and philosophy, goes wandering around the planet?”

  “The very same.”

  Luca gave a dismissive grunt. “Forgive me, but I can’t see the similarities, Cyrus.”

  He gave her a grin. “Ah…then help me get these components swapped out, and I shall enlighten you.”

  A short while later, they were both ensconced in one of the auxiliary control rooms along with the maintenance droid and Fly. The small drone had been Luca’s constant companion ever since she’d woken up on New World One. And for the first week or so, it had been the only thing she talked to—preferring the internal dialogue of her mind to the physical effort of communicating verbally. But in due course, she had coaxed herself out of mental isolation and back to interacting with humans.

  Nevertheless, she found the maternal hovering of both Miranda and, to a lesser extent, Dr. Rayman to be a little irritating, even patronizing at times. As for Scott, he seemed to regard her simply as fixed—now that she was awake again. Cyrus, on the other hand, intrigued her. And he was easy to talk to.

  “So what’s the plan?” she asked as she scanned the control room. It was small, utilitarian, and densely packed with equipment for monitoring the ship’s functions. It was not a place she was familiar with, having spent most of her time on board the Perception in the comfort of the rotating torus.

  Cyrus put a finger to his lips, inferring that Luca should keep silent.

  She replied with a quizzical look. What’s he up to? she wondered.

  He floated over to a systems rack, dialed in some commands, and a sleek holo-screen slid out, presenting an interface for the ship’s systems. He proceeded to cycle through a series of schematics, entering commands as he went. Finally, he looked back at Luca. “Okay, now we can talk.” He gestured vaguely at the room. “Max can’t snoop on us in here.”

  It took Luca a moment to digest this seemingly radical move. Did he not trust AI? “What’s the problem with Max?” Luca said in a hushed tone, almost a whisper.

  “Nothing. It’s operating impeccably. It’s just that this ship, as you know, was designed to be fully autonomous, which is why there’s no bridge as such. Now that’s all fine and dandy if you’re just swanning through interplanetary space. But not if you’re being chased down by a couple of bogies.” He paused for a moment, considering his next words. “Especially if one of those bogies might have a few node-runners on board.” He glanced back up at Luca.

  “Node-runners?” Luca had never even considered this possibility. “You think they’ll try and hack into the ship—into Max?”

  Cyrus nodded. “Wouldn’t you? We are talking about a possible VanHeilding ship, after all.”

  Luca shook her head. “It never ends, does it?”

  “It will, Luca. We just need to get to Mars is all.” He turned and pointed to a long bank of auxiliary control systems. “Fortunately, we can operate the entire ship from here—without the AI.”

  He floated along the corridor between the system racks and pointed again. “This section here monitors the AI core. So what we’re going to do is set up a break. A way to disconnect the AI from the ship’s primary functions: power, life support, engines. Then if Max starts acting a little screwy, we can pull the plug on it.”

  Luca could see the sense in this, even if she didn't quite share Cyrus’s faith in the sanctuary of Mars. “Do the others know of this plan of yours?”

  “Eh…really it’s Scott’s plan. Miranda thinks we can just blow them to bits with a few well-placed plasma blasts. But both myself and Scott would like to have a plan B.”

  “And Steph?”

  “She thinks it wouldn’t be a good idea to…eh, rely on you…doing your thing.”

  “She’s right. I don’t think I could face off against any more runners without… you know, ending up in a coma again.”

  “Well, you won’t have to. So come on, let’s get to work on this.” He floated over to the crate that the maintenance droid had brought along and began to open it. At the same time, Luca moved Fly over to where they were working so that she could get a better view. This got Cyrus’s attention, and he studied the drone for a moment. “Say, Luca, what sort of range do you have with that thing?”

  “I really don’t know, why?”

  “If it was in here, would you be able to control it from back on the torus?”

  “Yes, no problem.”

  Cyrus smiled at her. “Excellent. I think we’ve just figured out our remote trigger.”

  10

  Scratching the Itch

  Even though the Perception had no bridge, as typically found on most ships, it did have a library with an impressive array of systems for organizing and displaying data. Miranda had originally utilized this section of the ship as a kind of proto-bridge, and over the years it had morphed into the main operation room for the ship.

  It currently had just one occupant, Scott McNabb, who was studying a navigation chart that blossomed out over the central holo-table, his attention focused on a blip that had recently materialized. The blip was still some distance away, at the very edge of the Perception’s sensors. But it was moving with incredible speed and, according to the ship’s AI, Max, if it maintained its current vector it would intercept the Perception in four days.

  The doors to the operations room swished open, and Scott glanced around to see Cyrus and Luca walk in. He nodded. “How did you get on with that…eh, maintenance job?”

  “All sorted. Ready to rock.” Cyrus gave a thumbs-up.

  They came over to the holo-table, both eager to know what progress the blip was making.

  “Moving fast,” Cyrus commented. “That’s one very fancy ship.” He sighed, then glanced around. “Where’s Miranda and Steph?”

  “Miranda’s gone for some shuteye. Steph’s… Actually, I’ve no idea where she is,” said Scott.

  “No matter.” He sighed again, but this time it was more of a yawn. “Nothing much is going to happen for quite a while. So I’m going grab some rest. Catch you later.” He turned and walked out, leaving Scott and Luca still studying the navigation chart on the holo-table.

  “Is that Mars?” Luca poked a finger at a point near the edge of the chart.

  “Yeah. We’re almost there, not too long now.” Scott nodded.

  “Cyrus was telling me about some crazy old guy who lives there called Xenon. Do you know anything about him?”

  Scott gave her a curious look. “Not a whole lot. I know he’s a bit strange—ancient, they say. Actually, myself and Cyrus met him once, back on Europa, long time ago.”

  “You met him? What’s he like?”

  “To be honest, I can’t really remember, other than he was…otherworldly. That’s about the best description I can give you.” He glanced over at her. “So what’s got you so interested in this guy?”

  “Eh, no reason. He seems like…an enigma. I suppose I’m just curious.”

  “Steph’s probably the best person to talk to. She’s pretty knowledgeable about Mars and its history.”

  Luca nodded. “Max, where’s Dr. Rayman?”

  “She is in the main rec
reational area eating a rehydrated bowl of Szechuan tofu balls,” replied the disembodied voice of the AI.

  “Thanks.” Luca turned and headed out of the operations room. As she did, Fly buzzed over from its perch at the edge of the holo-table and landed neatly on her shoulder.

  Steph pushed her empty bowl aside and considered Luca’s sudden interest in the enigma that was Xenon Hybrid.

  “So what’s put this into your head?” she said, wiping her mouth with a napkin.

  “Cyrus. He said we were alike, but I couldn’t quite figure out what he meant by that.”

  Steph leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. “I think what he means is that you are both products of genetic engineering experiments. But what Cyrus probably doesn’t realize is that both you and Xenon are cut from the same cloth.”

  “Are you saying we’re the same?” Luca felt a twinge of excitement at the thought that there might be another person in the system who understood how she felt.

  “No, I’m not saying that. Xenon is very different, genetically one of a kind. But there is probably a little bit of him in you.” She leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table. “It may come as a surprise to you, but the big breakthroughs in genetic engineering did not originate on Earth, but on Mars.”

  She leaned back in her seat again. “You see, back in the early days, the first colony on Mars was funded by genetic research, the type that was banned on Earth—human research. The primary focus was on longevity, cheating death. And they were very successful. This led to human cloning, and eventually to engineering a completely new strain of human—Homo ares.”

  “Xenon?”

  “Exactly. However, all this came at a price. The science was problematic, with significant side effects that hadn’t yet been ironed out. Long story short, once this clandestine research was discovered it was deemed too dangerous, and so it was completely destroyed and all data erased.”

  “So, Xenon is the last of his kind?”

  “He is. But not all the research was lost. Some made its way back to Earth and into the hands of just one family.”