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Interstellar

Page 22

by Bob Mayer


  “The Strategy was taken from me,” Leahy said. “It became the province of the Parrish’s. Ethos was programmed to come up with projections for the future of mankind. The results were beyond pessimistic. Almost conclusively negative. An eighty-four percent chance that humanity would be extinct on Earth or approaching it in two hundred years. It was projected that climate change would cause civilization to collapse within one hundred years.”

  “Cheery,” Yakov commented.

  “Realistic,” Leahy said. “I ran the numbers using the Tesla. Over and over. It agreed with Ethos. That’s reality. You have no idea how much I desired the numbers to turn out differently.”

  “The Strategy?” Turcotte prompted.

  “You need to understand that the Strategy is an organic plan, constantly evolving,” Leahy said. “Originally, before you ripped aside the façade at Area 51 and reignited the Airlia Civil War, the plan was basic and straightforward. The Myrddin was working on a way to keep the human race going in the face of these apparently insurmountable odds. Actually, a noble cause.

  “They came up with a three-pronged solution that the Strategy gave a good chance of succeeding. First was Perdix, the space program initiative. You saw, are seeing, some of that. The launches of the Nimue and the Niviane. The pod you are towing. The goal was to establish a space station. Then explore and colonize the asteroid Ceres.

  “Another possibility was Mars, even though we were aware of the Airlia facility at Cydonia. Mars is a big planet. We had a location selected on the other side. We also considered we might be able to seize the Cydonia facility, which you are now towing the benefit of. The men with you have been training on just such a mission.”

  “Mrs. Parrish thinks she can keep mankind alive with a space colony?” Turcotte said. “For how long?”

  “Indefinitely,” Leahy said. “But bear with me. That was not the final result. Remember I said three pronged? The third is connected. The Facility. A closed ecological system that is self-sustaining. We’ve been working on that for a long time.”

  “Where is it?” Turcotte asked.

  “Not far from Dreamland and where I am,” Leahy said. “They used data from the early Biosphere projects and fine-tuned it using Ethos. They built the first biosphere twelve years ago. They’re now on version four-point-oh.”

  “Does it work?” Yakov asked.

  “Yes.” There was a pause. “The Facility was designed for six-thousand-two-hundred-and-fifty people.”

  “You’ve switched back to ‘they’,” Turcotte noted.

  “That’s because I don’t agree with Mrs. Parrish’s Strategy,” Leahy said. She sighed. “You can’t replace the Earth. No matter how self-sustaining a Ceres or Mars colony might be, it’s not Earth. We live on this planet. So, the Strategy doesn’t end with a colony.”

  “Where does it end?” Turcotte asked.

  “Coming back to Earth,” Leahy said.

  Yakov spoke up. “I don’t understand. Taking thousands of people from the planet isn’t going to change any of those things.” He thought about it. “Is the plan to come back in a couple hundred years, after civilization implodes?”

  “No,” Leahy said. “That has several problems. Too many things can go wrong in the meanwhile. Also, if the environment changes so drastically due to climate change, it’s going to take more than a hundred or two hundred years to recover, if it does at all. The Strategy, the Myrddin Strategy, is more extreme.” Leahy rubbed her forehead. “The Strategy had to adapt once the Airlia were knocked out of the picture. Once the mothership became available.”

  “That’s going to be your colony,” Turcotte realized. “The mothership.”

  “For a couple of years,” Leahy said. “Yes. As we speak it’s being loaded with pre-positioned supplies. There will be enough supplies it doesn’t need to be self-sustaining although the plan is to start out as a closed system.”

  “And then?” Turcotte asked.

  “The third prong. The Strategy was to cleanse the planet after going off-world.”

  “You said that word before.” Turcotte glanced at Yakov. “What do you mean ‘cleanse’?”

  “Exactly what the word means,” Leahy said. “Wipe it clean of humanity and reboot. That will solve almost all the foreseeable doomsday problems: climate change, nuclear war, pandemic, over-population.”

  “How?” Turcotte demanded.

  “Remember the Mission?” Leahy asked. “The virus it was preparing?”

  “It did more than prepare,” Turcotte said.

  “The Strategy, certain scientists, biologists,” Leahy amended, “were working on something like that. Fast, airborne and very lethal.”

  “Hold on,” Turcotte said. “Wait one damn second. You’re saying the plan is to wipe out everyone, everyone, once these people go up into space? Every person on the planet?”

  “Yes. The biologists had not yet come up with something they considered effective. But we knew that Vampyr had accumulated three, top-secret, man-made biological weapons. Each one capable of causing an extremely lethal pandemic. So deadly that the governments that made them, the US, Russia and Japan, banned them and destroyed all samples. Even the Parrish’s couldn’t get a version. But Vampyr got his hands on them. And now, Mrs. Parrish has them. She plans on releasing them. She calls the project the Danse.”

  “The what?”

  “The Danse. From the Danse Macabre. The dance of death.”

  “She’s nuts,” Turcotte said.

  Leahy shook her head. “Sadly, she is very practical. It actually is a logical plan. Was, I should say.”

  “How does the appearance of the Swarm change that?” Yakov asked.

  “The Earth is no longer viable either short or long term,” Leahy said. “The Swarm arrival makes the pandemic rather unnecessary, doesn’t it?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “That is why I brought Nosferatu into this. The island you left them on in Puget Sound is where the viruses were. He’s tracking them down. That is part of the Strategy Mrs. Parrish has hidden even from herself, thus it’s hidden from me also.”

  “You were going along with this?” Turcotte demanded. “Wiping out everyone on Earth?”

  “No,” Leahy said. “I told you; I split a long time ago from the Myrddin. But I had to pretend to be part of it in order to change things.”

  “Why did we leave Nosferatu and Nekhbet there if it’s no longer important?” Turcotte asked.

  “Do you want that crazy Undead woman hanging around?” Leahy said.

  “I think you’re nuts,” Turcotte said. “You and Parrish.”

  “We believed in the Facility,” Leahy argued. “The space colony. Surviving aboard the mothership. But when we learned the rest, we knew we had to stop her. But we also had to take into account the parts of the Strategy that made sense. Keep those. I’ve used the Tesla to do a different version of the Strategy.” She looked down for a moment, then back up. “It has been a very difficult balancing act. Now, it is all rushing toward a conclusion. Mrs. Parrish absolutely needs the ruby sphere. We all need it. That was only a minor possibility in the Strategy until recent events. Now it is the most critical component. We die without the sphere and the mothership. No matter what you feel or hope, Earth is doomed. You are our only hope.”

  *****

  “There are multiple Swarm scout ships which have cleared the Asteroid Belt on path toward Mars,” Leahy said. “And others heading for Earth. You’ve got a tight window to retrieve the ruby sphere before the first scout ship arrives at Mars. Their arrivals will be tightly staggered. I’ve picked up several larger vessels, each twice the size of a mothership, clearing the Belt. I believe they are warships. At least one is on course for Mars.”

  “Affirmative,” Turcotte said.

  “The Swarm are shoving a number of mid-size asteroids on trajectories toward Mars?”

  “Affirmative,” Turcotte said. “But Maria said they didn’t know why.”

  “I don’t know either,” Leahy admitted. �
�Next. Ruby sphere?”

  “On the surface,” Turcotte said. “Perhaps for self-destruct or as a weapon.”

  “India-Pakistan nuclear exchange?”

  “Is it over?” Turcotte asked.

  “If thirty million immediate dead could be called over,” Leahy said. “India launched first, hoping to take out Pakistan’s nuclear weapons in a surgical strike. But they’d already been dispersed to launch platforms. The back and forth of nukes might be over, but they’ve detonated over eighty. That’s going to fuck up the planet for the next couple of years. A layer of smoke is spreading and it’s going to cover the world. Not to mention the fallout.”

  “I think the Swarm makes that irrelevant,” Yakov said.

  Leahy appeared old and tired. “You’re right. The news isn’t exactly flowing out of the radioactive heaps that are the major cities in both countries. Next. Status of mothership?”

  “Actually,” Turcotte said, “the scout ships, ruby sphere, asteroids and nuclear exchange were it. The warship thing was new. What is the status of the mothership?”

  “Eighty-two percent loaded with supplies. Mrs. Parrish has implemented the Canaan option of Exodus. Which is moving the people from here to Area 51 for loading. Initially it was planned to bring the mothership to them, but Ethos doesn’t factor there’s time to do that.”

  Yakov spoke. “Who are the people in this Facility? Who has she picked to keep mankind alive?”

  “Humanity two-point-oh,” Leahy said. “The Chosen. Five thousand. The planned total was six-thousand-two-hundred-and-fifty including the Mentors.”

  “Mentors’?” Yakov repeated. “Security?”

  “No,” Leahy said. “The adults who take care of the Chosen. They’re all children, between the ages of two and eight. The number is a bit below that right now because--” she paused—“well, it just is.”

  “Makes sense,” Yakov said. “Better to have kids than old men like my friend here and I. The future is the young.”

  “Why five thousand?” Turcotte asked.

  “That’s what Ethos came up with,” Leahy said, “after generating a survival curve with sufficient gene variation. Technically, ten thousand would have been the optimum number, but we also had to factor in the size of the mothership, the amount of space inside and—“

  Turcotte interrupted. “How did Mrs. Parrish know how much space was inside the mothership?”

  “She had access to the Majestic data from Area 51,” Leahy said.

  “Right,” Turcotte said. The time when the mothership rested in its cradle inside the cavern of Hangar Two at Area 51 seemed long ago. “How were these kids chosen?”

  “Ethos found them,” Leahy said. “Officially, the search was for resilient children from all over the world. Complicated a bit by the fact they have had to be orphans. Or at least that’s what we were told. Whether those gathering the children had such scruples is questionable in my book, given the Parrish’s lack of ethics.”

  “What is a resilient child?” Yakov asked.

  “Children who are not just survivors,” Leahy said, “but thrivers. That sounds like a cliché, but there are children who can overcome the worst possible circumstances and still succeed. They exhibit similar traits. Competence, confidence, and the ability to cope no matter what the odds.”

  “So that’s the future of the human race?” Turcotte asked.

  Leahy hesitated, glancing away for a moment. “Yes.”

  “What?” Turcotte demanded. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  “It’s not important right now,” Leahy said. “There’s a lot going on.”

  Turcotte checked the screen. Mars was closer. “Can I trust Mrs. Parrish when we get back to Earth?” he asked. “Once she gets the sphere?”

  Leahy shrugged. “Trust? Never. But as long as you have the regeneration tube, you have leverage. Don’t give that up until you’re on board the mothership and leaving the Solar System.”

  “Will you be on the mothership?” Yakov asked.

  “I’m working on that,” Leahy said. “I’ll update you if anything significant occurs.”

  The screen went blank.

  TESLA LAB, DAVIS MOUNTAINS, TEXAS

  A SHORT TIME LATER, BUT STILL THE PAST

  Leahy held the Tesla computer between her hands, eyes closed.

  Turcotte had been successful and was returning from Mars with the ruby sphere, so they held that powerful, and essential, piece. The Facility was cleared and the Chosen were either already at Area 51, or on their way. The nuclear reactors providing power to the Facility were in the midst of a powerdown.

  The mothership was fully loaded with the colonization package.

  Danse? That was no longer a factor in either Parrish’s Strategy or her own given the Swarm factor. She deleted that node.

  Leahy scanned the latest world news, all bad. China’s nuclear forces were on a hair trigger, but the India-Pakistan War was isolated to the subcontinent, at least in terms of direct damage. However, its influence was pushing out a very strong, very dark probability line. Computer simulations on a nuclear exchange limited to those two countries indicated that once a threshold of over 100 low-yield nuclear weapons were detonated there would be a number of very negative effects on the rest of the world. Some were already materializing.

  Massive firestorms were consuming Mumbai, Calcutta, Delhi, and a half dozen cites in India, along with Karachi, Lahore and other major Pakistani cities. Besides killing tens of millions, the fires were producing smoke on an unprecedented scale in human history. Millions of tons of smoke and ash were rising into the atmosphere, where they would eventually be spread around the globe.

  Leahy removed her hands from the Tesla and rubbed her temples. Too much. Too many loose ends this close to the end.

  She glanced at a flexpad displaying the Battle Core’s position. Tracking stations around the planet were also picking up clusters of warships and scouts. It would be here soon.

  FYNBAR, ON THE WAY BACK TO EARTH FROM MARS

  A SHORT TIME LATER, BUT STILL THE PAST

  Turcotte and Yakov stared at the Airlia they’d captured at the control facility on Mars. She’d told them her name was Nyx and had given herself up willingly. She was sitting, her back against a regeneration tube, her helmet on her lap. Labby was next to her, lying down, paws out.

  “What is that?” Turcotte pointed.

  “My dog,” Nyx replied. “Her name is Labby.”

  Turcotte and Yakov exchanged a glance.

  “It’s not real,” Turcotte said.

  “No. It is—“ Nyx paused—“what you would consider a construct. A robot.”

  “Why do you have a robot dog?” Yakov asked.

  “To study canis lupus familiaris,” Nyx said.

  Yakov found that odd. “Aren’t you actually studying a robot?”

  Nyx nodded. “That has been the problem with the research. You see—“

  Turcotte cut her off. “Why study dogs?”

  “They are the only species we have encountered that changed from predator to companion of Scale and—“

  “’Scale’?” Yakov asked.

  “Intelligent life.”

  Turcotte waved a hand, dismissing that line of questioning. “What do you know of the Swarm?”

  Nyx adjusted her position, grimacing. “There is much we know about the Swarm and much we do not know.”

  Yakov snorted in disgust. “You’re a scientist, aren’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Let me rephrase,” Turcotte said. “What do we need to know with a big-ass Swarm spaceship heading to Earth?”

  “Your planet will be reaped,” Nyx said. “The ship is a Battle Core. There are tens of millions of Swarm on board, if not billions. No one knows exactly. Once it gets in orbit, it will send down warships. Then the reaping will begin. But you know that.”

  “What exactly is a reaping?” Yakov asked.

  “We don’t know how it plays out,” Nyx said. “We just know t
he results. The planets where we’ve sent survey teams have been reaped so thoroughly, there is little sign of the former Scale life.”

  “Earth is done for?” Turcotte said.

  “You don’t want to believe,” Nyx said. “It is understandable. All you’ve known is your planet. Your little orb of blue and green. In this solar system. In this galaxy. That might be a good thing. It gives you something naïve but with a kernel of goodness. I believe you call it hope. Even when there is none.” She looked up, her red, cat-eyes staring off for a moment, then she shifted back to the two humans. “I think my people lost that something. A long, long time ago. We have been fighting for so long. All we are is fighting. Everything goes to it. Not just our lives. Our—“ she shook her head. She pointed at Turcotte. “You. You’re the same. All you’ve known is fighting, Major Turcotte. That is all Lisa Duncan, Donnchadh as she was known on her home world, knew. That is why she flew the mothership into Mons Olympus. I see it now. She was tired. Are you tired?”

  Turcotte stared at the alien. “I was. But now? With everything at stake? No. I’m not. How do we defeat the Swarm?”

  “You don’t,” Nyx said. “Over the course of millennia, the Airlia have only managed to battle off a Swarm Battle Core a few times. That required large Imperial fleets with many motherships and talons. The space battles were tremendous and are inscribed on the Walls of Honor on every Airlia world. But the losses were prohibitive. We have never destroyed a Core, only forced it to retreat. You have nothing; not even your Tesla weapons can stop a Battle Core. You probably couldn’t stop a single Swarm warship. And there will be thousands of them.”

  Turcotte took a deep breath. “Why didn’t you fire the solar array at us?”

  “I was saving it for the Swarm.”

  “That’s not true,” Yakov said. “You came out and fired your personal weapon, poorly, at our soldiers. You knew you would not survive a battle with us. So you were not saving it.”

  Nyx looked away. “I wanted to die.”

 

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