by Luigi Robles
“You fool,” Timothy shouted. “Captain Fain Jegga is not here.” This time the mob didn’t cheer.
“So, step aside, or I will have you thrown back to Earth on the next jump,” Mikey said as he began walking towards the Acram.
“You will what?” Timothy asked through gritted teeth. “Under what authority? I am the ranking ambassador on this station. You don’t have anywhere near the authority to do that.”
Mikey looked up for a second as he walked, attempting to cue Ktwo to answer.
“Michael James Harmon,” Ktwo broadcasted to the entirety of the dock, “is third in the chain of command, outranked only by Commander Felix Dash and myself. He has the authority to send anyone back to Earth if they jeopardize the Intergalactic Space Communications Outpost.”
“There you have it. So, step aside now,” Mikey said as he reached the angry mob. Slowly they began to move out of the way, and he walked towards the two Acram in the dock. His heart pounded; his legs felt weak, as if he could fall at any second. But he knew what he had to do. He had to act tough. “I fully intend to keep the peace. And if anyone here disagrees, let me know now.”
No one said a word.
“Welcome to the ISCO,” Mikey said as he extended his right hand to one of the Acram.
The Acram towered over Mikey, though they looked different from the Acram he had seen in photographs before. These Acram were not wearing any armor; instead, something resembling cloth covered their bodies.
The Acram nearest to Mikey seemed to hesitate, but after the other spoke in their language, the Acram shook Mikey’s hand.
Mikey and Ilda, the one other ambassador that had volunteered to help, sat down with the Acram in one of the station’s meeting rooms. The rest of the ambassadors refused to take any part in the meeting with the Acram and left angrily. There was a large table at the center of the room that held a universal translating console with a total of six necklace translating devices.
Mikey and Ilda grabbed a necklace each and gestured to the Acram to do the same. They took a few seconds to look over the devices and muttered something in their language but ultimately threw them on. Compared to humans, the translating devices looked fragile and small on the Acram. Mikey then activated the devices by pressing a button on the console and highlighting the devices they would be using.
“To initiate room settings,” a disembodied voice said from the devices, “please speak the language you intend to use to initiate language recognition.”
“I’ll be using English,” Mikey said.
“The same,” Ilda said. Mikey couldn’t tell what her exact reason was for being there, since she didn’t look all that supportive of the process.
The Acram stared blankly at Mikey and Ilda. This was Mikey’s first time initiating the meeting process, and he was unsure what to do next. But then it occurred to him that he should try to make the Acram speak their language. So, he opened and closed his mouth as if talking to the translating device. The Acram stared at each other and then back at them.
“This is a lot harder than it looks,” Mikey said.
Ilda sighed and rolled her eyes. “When we already know the alien species and have a language code, you can simply state it.”
“Ah, that makes much more sense.” Mikey paused for a second, trying to put together his next sentence. “Translate English to Acram and Acram to English.” He then turned to Ilda. “Is that how it’s done?”
“More or less,” Ilda said with an unenthusiastic shrug. “I’m sure the machine will accept it.”
“The new settings are accepted,” the disembodied voice said. “You may now engage in language exchange.”
“Can you understand me?” Mikey said, and the devices around the Acram’s necks began to speak in their language almost simultaneously.
“I understand this language,” one of the Acram said.
“Good.” Mikey nodded and decided that it was better to get straight to the point. “So, of all places, what brings you here?”
“I am Essons and this is Kashna,” Essons said as he gestured to Kashna sitting next to him. “We are simply messengers. We come bearing no harm, no ill will, as the people that greeted us may suggest. We come with a message from our people.”
“Is that so?” Felix said as he barged into the room with a squad of armed ESAF soldiers pointing their guns at the Acram. “Please don’t get up.” Felix went to the center translating console. “I’ll just be taking one of these.” He grabbed a translating necklace. “This is already synched, right?”
“Please take a seat, Commander,” Mikey said as he nodded.
Felix narrowed his eyes and rested his gaze on Mikey. For a moment, Mikey thought he had overstepped his newfound rank.
“Certainly,” Felix said as he smiled slightly. “I could use a nice, comfortable chair. Who doesn’t need a comfortable chair?” Felix turned sharply towards the Acram. “Forgive my rude interruption. I am Commander Eduard Felix Dash, but you may call me Commander Felix. I was able to hear your names, so there will be no need for further introductions.”
“Commander Felix,” Essons said. “I take it that you are the one in charge of this station, am I correct?”
“Oh, whatever makes you think that?” Felix said, staring back at Mikey. “In this station, we are all in charge, isn’t that right, Michael?” Felix turned back to face the Acram. “But if you choose, you may refer to me as the one in charge.”
“Very well then,” Essons said. “Forgive our lack of understanding. This device makes it difficult to understand the true meaning behind your words.”
“So, what brings you here?” Felix asked. “What is this message that you are talking about? I believe I heard it’s coming from your people?”
“Before we proceed,” Essons said, “please have your men lower their weapons. I can assure you that we come with no ill will.”
“Lower your weapons,” Felix said as he placed his hands on the table, interlacing his fingers. The soldiers quickly followed the new order. “Now we can proceed. But before you do, I hope that you are able to give us a good enough reason to hear you out. Our people were massacred by your kind. Why shouldn’t one of these soldiers behind me just disobey my orders and take justice into his own hands? After all, it’s the closest any one of them will ever get to getting revenge.”
There was palpable tension in the room; the ESAF soldiers behind Felix looked less than happy to be following orders. Some were sweating, others gripping guns with more than necessary force, but there was one that looked as if he could raise his gun at any second.
Either Felix is a complete nut job, Mikey thought, or he’s brilliant. He’s addressing any potential problems we might have before we have them. Whoa.
“That is fair,” Essons said. “The Acram that came to your homeworld were under orders that were beyond anyone’s control. Now it’s a new era for Acrania. The endless conquest has stopped thanks to Captain Fain Jegga, I believe you call him. That is why we’re here. However, if after you hear our message you still feel that our lives can begin to repay what you’ve lost, then do what you must.”
This is really serious stuff, Mikey thought.
“Acrania? What does that mean?” Ilda asked.
“Acrania is our homeworld,” Kashna said. “Our way of life. We know we’ve done a great deal of harm to the galaxy, but we also do not hide behind our new intentions. We just ask to be heard; we do not ask to be forgiven.”
“So Acrania no longer has any interest in conquering the galaxy?” Felix asked. “Am I getting that right?”
“Correct,” Kashna said. “We’ve abandoned all our previous beliefs. Now our prime directive is to repair the damage we’ve done since our inception and protect what’s left of the galaxy.”
“That’s quite a turn of events, but fair enough,” Felix said. “I think that is something my soldiers will be able to understand.”
“Protect the galaxy from what?” Mikey asked.
“
We are far from the most horrible thing out there. Far from it,” Kashna said. “In fact, that’s the basis of our message.”
“Alright, so let’s have it,” Felix said. “Let’s not waste any more valuable time beating around the bush. I hope that by now, ma boys and gals have a satisfactory reason for not disobeying orders and shooting one of you.”
Satisfactory reason? Are you kidding me? Mikey thought. They’ve just said that the Acram are far from the most horrible thing out there. How is that even possible? And if this is not something we need to hear, I don’t know what is.
“Well then,” Kashna said. “There are beings whose sole purpose is to end all biological life. With these beings, there are no terms of engagement and there are no survivors. As we speak, they are making themselves known throughout the galaxy. Through malfunctions in our machines, they are letting us know that they are coming. We believe there’s an impending galactic annihilation. It happened many lifetimes ago, and now it’s happening again.”
What the Acram were saying brought to Mikey’s mind a few instances where machines glitched or didn’t seem to work as flawlessly as they used to.
“And who are they?” Mikey asked. “Who are these beings?”
“We don’t have a name for them,” Kashna said. “But some refer to them as the Immortals Ones.”
“And these Immortals, where are they now?” Felix asked as he took off his hat and placed it on the table. He had a lot less hair than Mikey had imagined. “Is that it for your message? No hints on how to fight them or any of their weaknesses? Isn’t that how this goes?”
“Their whereabouts are unknown,” Essons said. “Although we believe they reside in the voids of space, the coldest places in the galaxy. Their coming to light will end all biological life in this galaxy. Even with the might of the Golden Armada on our side, we fear there’s little we can do about it. The Immortals have no weakness, fear or compassion, and they cannot die. This is the message we bring.”
Felix leaned back in his chair and let out a long, soft whistle. “ESAF is going to love this.”
The Acram can’t do anything about it? Mikey thought. Don’t they control, like, half of the galaxy already? And they have the Golden Armada. So, there is an end to this life after all? We’re so screwed if what they’re saying is true.
“We must leave now,” Kashna said as both Acram stood up from the table and began to take off the translation necklaces. “Our journey is long, and—”
“Wait,” Mikey managed to say just before the translating devices were completely off. “What is the little we can do?”
“Fight back,” Essons said. “Survive, and hope your planet gets left behind.”
Mikey, Ilda and Felix escorted the Acram back to their craft. It was a short walk, only about five minutes, but along the way, Mikey felt the entire station come to a halt as they passed by. Some of the ambassadors and ESAF staff stared at him with resentment and hate in their eyes. Mikey was sure he had made new enemies on board the station. He had always known that there were a few people that didn’t like him, but now the cold stares spoke for themselves. Mikey tried his best not to let them get to him; he knew he had done the right thing. The three stood at the dock until the Acram craft left the same way it came in. Once the Acram craft left, Ilda promptly left and joined a group of her peers.
Mikey and Felix walked towards the bridge. On the way there, Mikey asked how it was possible that the Acram craft had sneaked past the ESAF fleet. Felix explained to Mikey that it was he who let them pass through the fleet unannounced. Felix feared that if he had warned the ISCO, it would have been a different, rather grimmer outcome. As they walked, the cold stares continued to fall on Mikey.
Mikey’s legs felt weak; his entire body was shaking, he was sure. He knew that he had just learned and been a part of something huge, something that could reshape the galaxy.
“Get used to it, boy,” Felix said. “Sometimes—no, not sometimes. Most of the time, we will be hated for doing the right thing. You see, doing the right thing is hard, but doing the wrong thing is easy. When someone fails to understand that and you take away from them what they thought would be an easy victory, they will fight for that, a lot harder than it takes to do the right thing.” Felix tapped Mikey on the shoulder and began walking away. “But we have no time to waste; we have to inform the people on Earth.”
“Commander Felix,” Mikey said, still within hearing range.
“Yes?” Felix turned back to Mikey mid-stride.
“Would it be OK If I let Fain know myself?”
“Sure.” Felix turned back around. “I’d actually prefer that. But do make a detailed report. I’ll be here for a few more hours, trying to prevent the news from leaking in a bad way.”
“Yes, sir.” Mikey turned the other way and headed for one of the meeting rooms.
Once inside the room, he closed the door behind him, pulled out a chair from the conference table, sat down and pulled the coms machine towards him. He opened a new digital screen next to the machine and logged in to his account. A few seconds later, he found Fain’s ESAF number and pressed contact.
The phone rang five times before there was a connecting icon. Thanks to the high-power station antennas and repeaters spread through the solar system that accelerated the signals via micro-jumps, communication was instantaneous.
“Hi, Mikey.” Pycca appeared on the other side of the screen. “What can I help you with?”
Mikey was confused to see Pycca on the other end of the line. He quickly double checked on his screen to ensure he had contacted the right number. Then he realized that it had to be Fain’s number, as he didn’t have Pycca’s number anywhere on the list.
“What’s happening, Mikey?” Pycca said with a smile on her face. “You look confused.”
“Well, I am a bit. I’m not gonna lie. Does this mean what I think it means?”
“That depends.” Pycca moved the phone to show Fain smiling next to her.
“So, it does mean what I think it means.”
“Yeah, it does.” Pycca kept smiling. “We are on our first date. Fain is trying to change my mind about Neo LA. So far, I’m still fifty-fifty.”
“I knew this was going to happen; it was already taking too long.”
Pycca turned to Fain, and Fain rubbed the back of his neck.
“So, what’s happening, Mikey?” Fain asked as he squeezed into the frame. “I thought you were used to the station by now.”
When Mikey first started his new position, he would call Fain almost daily on the pretext of wanting to know more about being in space. But it was more about Mikey feeling alone than anything else. After all, he was on the outskirts of the solar system with a group of people that didn’t care much for him. Fain used to take the time to encourage Mikey to remain in his current position by telling him he was needed there. At the time, Mikey had no clue why he would be needed at the ISCO, but now he was starting to see for himself.
“I am, but that’s not it,” Mikey said.
“So, what is it then?” Fain asked.
Mikey hesitated for a moment, thinking that he would be interrupting their date with news that no one wanted to hear. But Mikey knew that Fain needed to know, and he needed to know now.
“There were Acram here in the station.”
Fain and Pycca shared a look and then turned back to the ESAF phone.
“What?” Fain said, sounding worried. “Are you alright? Where are they now?”
“Before you guys start to worry, I’m alright,” Mikey said. “Everyone in the ISCO is alright. The Acram left a few minutes ago.”
“So, what happened?” Fain asked.
“In short, I was a total badass,” Mikey said. “The people on board didn’t really like the idea of Acram coming to visit all that much. They formed a mob and all that. I was one of the only ones who did the right thing.”
“Good.” Fain nodded once. “So, what did they want?”
“It was two things.�
� Mikey raised his right arm and showed the bottom of his palm in the video. “One”—he extended his index finger—“they’ve abandoned their previous beliefs, according to the two that came, and I quote, ‘The endless conquest has stopped thanks to Captain Fain Jegga.’ And two”—Mikey extended his middle finger—“there’s something the Acram are scared of, and they said it’s coming to the galaxy with the intent of ending biological life. They didn’t say when or how. But they did say that they are making themselves known through malfunctions in machines. They called them the Immortals.”
3
Ascension
Out of all the things that could have happened on his date with Pycca, getting a call from Mikey about the Acram visiting the ISCO had never crossed Fain’s mind. But luckily, given Earth’s recent record with space, it wasn’t the worst thing that could happen by far.
Fain tried to keep calm during his brief conversation with Mikey. Fain thought of the arising problems in a much different way now. He thought of them as a consequence of humans venturing into space; it was bound to happen.
As they talked with Mikey, Fain and Pycca made their way to a nearby bench on the sky pier in downtown Neo LA. The sky pier was one of the oldest and largest aircraft piers in the city; it was built when the city-to-city air highways were built. For many years the sky piers were the fastest way to get around the megacities, but as the popularity of the Hyper Loops increased, the sky piers stopped being built. Now, most sky piers outside of airports and military bases were used as fairgrounds, though there were still airports for state and international flights.
“Immortals, huh?” Fain repeated. “Did the Acram mention anything about them being machines?”
“No, not that I can recall.” Mikey squinted. “They did say something about machines, but I can’t recall exactly what it was.”
“Mikey,” Fain groaned.
“What about the translation console?” Pycca asked as they sat down. “It was able to record the meeting you had, right?”