by Han Yang
“Probably. Last I checked it was super off-limits,” I said, breaking into a run. “I’ve never been onto the bridge, but Darcy did give me my council status. Not sure who else has it.”
The bridge rested at the ship’s center, where it was supposed to survive any catastrophe. So far, the halls showed no signs of damage besides the cracked viewscreens for advertisements and updates.
The actual walls withstood the damage, but the impact force splintered the interactive units. When a gust of fresh air whipped through the halls, I groaned, knowing viewports had shattered under the hard impact.
When we reached the first busted viewing port, I paused, fearing the worst. The ship was definitely leaning in its final resting place, with the degree being mild. However, I stared out the empty space where crystalline clear exterior should protect the interior from the outside.
Instead, the shattered remains revealed a jungle canopy that stretched for hundreds of feet. Wherever we crashed, it was somewhere with thick vegetation and immense trees. In the distanced, only the head of a narock peer from behind foliage, the nose sniffing the air intently.
“Shit, we need to hurry,” I said with concern.
I picked up the pace, feeling my legs welcome the exertion. After a turn down a hall toward the interior, I found the first dead body, and likely what the predator smelt. A middle-aged male with black hair had his skull split open.
His nanites realized their host ceased to live and sought a new body. Kevin bent down to check for a pulse as he shrieked when the nanites swarmed his skin to burrow inside.
“What do I do!” he shouted, swatting at the blood red tiny robots teaming up his arm.
“Relax, they’ll use you for now. Be happy, those are expensive, and they will die without a host,” I told him.
“How expensive?” Roma asked curiously.
“Oh boy. How do I say this?” I huffed continuing to run down the narrow halls. “Humanity treated commerce as a bit of a joke. Well, the money anyway. Darcy didn’t want countless conflicts.
“The reality was, we were three ships unable to produce and she had everything we needed to consume. Luxuries became the means of saving your pinnace of a stipend. Longer showers, viewports, privacy booths, and stuff like bench time at the park,” I said.
“That totally doesn’t answer the question,” Roma replied.
I opened my mouth and shut it. “Nanites are in all of us, and we share. They cannot revert aging, but they can slow it to a crawl. Part of the reason I was one of, if not the last, children born was a lack of nanites. They’re expensive and firmly controlled by Darcy.”
“Ah, so humans have no power over the most vital supplies,” Larry asked.
“Nope. When we had it, we ruined it. Damn shame too,” I said with a scoff, slowing my reckless run as we neared the bridge.
The hall twisted in a way that made me wonder how bad the damage was. The lower we went, the worse it became, and I had this sinking feeling in my gut, there were a lot of dead people.
“This is bad,” Fen said. “Structural damage to this extent means the Hope will probably never fly again.”
“Ye of little faith,” Darcy said from my arms. I shrieked like a frightened toddler and dropped her. “Hurry up, turn on the backup.”
“Where did you go?” I asked, helping her up.
“My sister… Sorry, I went to preserve myself. You’re talking to a fragment that has limited reach from the backup box. Something had to deliver a message to you,” Darcy said, pointing to the bridge. “Hurry. Restore the backup while the others get ready for combat in the armory.”
I ran by her, arriving at the double sliding steel doors. “Welcome, Councilmember Karo, please enter.”
When I entered the bridge, it sealed me in instantly. The room I arrived in certainly wasn’t a bridge. A hundred chairs with holographic projection capabilities sat in a circle around a statue of Darcy.
“This is not what was in the history lessons,” I muttered.
Under the statue, an orange light pulsed, giving me a notification to resume power. With a timer counting down. In case I missed the signal, well, it spoke.
“Warning, twelve minutes until cryopod automatic opening will commence. Warning, twelve minutes until cryopod automatic opening will commence. Warning, eleven minutes until cryopod automatic opening will commence,” the statue broadcast.
I hurried over, connected my linker to the power source and flipped the switch.
A static electricity surged out of the pedestal and a digital interface populated on the side I faced. The screen twirled an infinity symbol while it booted up and processed data. A moment later, a report scrolled across the screen.
“Ship command authorized. Full power restored to cryopod units. Severe damage to engineering, manufacturing, docking bay, bow floors one through seventeen, port floors one through twelve, starboard floors one through nine, and aft floors on through four.
“Structural integrity compromised. Hull breaches at every viewport. Hostile lifeforms detected on decks four, seven, and twelve in the aft section of the ship. Closing viewports. Unlocking bridge to key personnel. Opening armory to key personnel. Seeking drones. No drones found. Hostile life must be addressed before gaining a foothold,” the ship said.
This explained a lot and what I already figured. We rested with a lean because the ship crashed harder to the port side. At least the tilt was manageable.
“How big is the hole and where is the location?” I asked.
“Calculating, unable to ascertain. Damage too extensive. All viewports closed,” the ship’s system said.
“Good job Theo,” Darcy said. “Took us a minute to get in.”
“Told me it was opening the doors,” I replied, glancing at her and Roma. “Why aren’t you linked in and giving your report?”
“Power. Like I said, I’m just a fragment sent to give you a message. The main mind of Darcy is balancing the connection of the cryopods to the other ships. We can’t let people know.”
“Huh?” I blurted.
Roma folded her arms and said, “She spilled the beans in the hall while you restored power. The deaths will be hidden, the damage sealed off when people go to the park or to their leisure spots, and the ship repaired in due time.”
Darcy poked me with her cane, and I swatted it away. “Look. Everyone outside of storage died as did the cryopod units on the floors that were crushed. 4,112 souls killed. All to drive a wedge between me and those I try to protect. I’m taking some emergency actions to cover the damage. And yes, breaking pretty much every rule and law that governs me.
“As of today, the Hope is undergoing upgrades. A lie, but a good one. To help ease the transition, everyone is being given extra Moon Credits. The dead will compete as imprints and when they think they’re getting free time, it’ll be a simulation.
“Eventually, I will sour relationships until they’re alone or toss them into a new body. I’m pretty close to cloning and unlike most imprints, I have extensive DNA in storage. I haven’t figured it all out yet, but the general plan is to stall to try to fix this the best I can.
“To help, the main mind is starting a new Trial and is ushering in a new round set to last five years. Time will move slower inside the Trials until I can fix the issues.”
“Right. I hate your plan,” I said with a huff. “But I need to save everyone I can for now. We can discuss this more later.”
Roma stuck a hand on my shoulder and said, “I’m going to stay here and help Darcy start assessing areas where sensors are inoperable while you fight the boarders.”
“Hey, Theo. I have a few more things to tell you. Jennifer is on her way. Her lover will be landing on the last remaining shuttle here soon. Desmond, grouchy, but a great guy in a pinch. Let him in, and then we must seal the breaches.
“I can import another power source easily enough. I cannot keep the narocks at bay without drones. Ours were destroyed on this ship and if I move the others, the new
council will know. I can’t get away with everything,” Darcy said.
“Yeah, that makes sense. I need to go to the armory to suit up. Thanks Darcy. Thanks Roma, be safe,” I told them.
“Theo… one last thing. Marius and your mother did this. Operation Starfall. I had it under the insane files ‘I never thought possible’ folder. It became possible and Theo,” Darcy said, wanting to tell me more.
“Hold up, my mother?” I asked. “You’re certain?”
“Theo, she built the bomb during an excursion to Alpha Centauri. She almost used it a dozen times in space, and I thought it was rocks she kept as a dumb trinket,” Darcy said.
I ran a hand through my hair, feeling the goose egg on my forehead already fading. Roma’s conflicted face caused me to pause. While I wanted to avoid the issue, I could see both her and Darcy wanting to hear how I’d react.
“She is guilty of killing over four thousand people. I’m sure you have evidence, and there's a motive,” I said. “And yet, for all I know, this could be a simulation.”
“Nope, not even close. I have her contained, you can talk to her after you cleanse the ship and secure the hole,” Darcy said.
“Thank you,” I said.
“Why are you thanking her?” Roma asked, arms folded.
“Mom is dead, no matter what I want, say, or do. The main AI mind hive will not let this go unpunished. At the same time, she is letting me say goodbye. Be back soon, my love,” I said with an over the shoulder wave.
I had three narocks to kill and a ship to start fixing. All in a day’s work for a champion of humanity.
45
Day 1 on Earth
Texas Federation
“Major freaking Campbell!” Ayla shouted happily in surprise.
I arrived at the armory right behind my combat buddy. Jenny flung her blonde ponytail to stare at me, wondering what the hell was going on. She clearly didn’t recognize Ayla.
With a warm smile, I said, “Darcy broke some rules for a special combat mission. I still haven’t gotten a brief on that one. That’s Ayla, an imprint who was -”
Jenny slammed into the woman with an open hug. The duo exchanged a flurry of whispered words. Jenny pulled away, heading into the armory to join me.
“She saved my life. To get on Tranquility, she saved my life,” Jenny said walking into the cluttered room with a purpose. “I’m struggling to deal with everything. I’m normally pretty on point. On point. Get it together.”
“You’re repeating yourself,” I said, and she flipped me off playfully. “I doubt you’ll say yes, but you can sit this one out. Your call.”
She scoffed and rolled her eyes, sliding into a combat suit of armor. The sheer madness of the last few minutes left me taken aback. I had walked into the armory without savoring the moment.
This room had always tickled my interest. Those off-limits doors held a mystery to a kid growing up with almost unlimited access to his home.
Now that I was inside, it was just random gear the soldiers had given up when they became residents. This became abundantly clear when Jenny stood in front of a bin labeled Major Campbell.
I walked over to a fully decked out wall section with combat armor that should fit me. The metallic exterior created an exoskeleton with thick plating followed by thin sections for the joints. Scars and dents along the armor revealed that Sergeant Inabinet was a fighter.
These combat suits would recharge in the sun, enhance my already augmented body, and stop some bites. All great perks, but the main thing about them, they covered the scent of a human that drove narocks mad.
While this wasn’t some mesh armor made by Darcy, it was the best I’d find in this room filled with four-hundred-year old relics.
Ayla helped Jenny gear up and Kevin handed me a standard energy rifle. The recharge on these weapons were terrible. Ideally, you would use them on soft targets and the tanks or fighters would bombard the big bastards, but this was all we had.
Thankfully, most of the narocks on Earth found a sweet spot at a smaller size, meaning the weapon would kill them, or so I hoped. And it was abundantly clear this was inferior technology to the trinity, the weapon I used, and currently longed for.
Clearly Darcy hid the good weapons. I tapped the communication panel on the suit, navigating the smooth interface.
“Darcy, where’s the trinity weapons and the kickass armor?” I asked, standing still while the helmet sealed on.
“You mean the prototypes I have only a few of, because I had to keep humans alive. They’re on Trinity with my combat droids. We would need to enact a vote to open the door,” Darcy said.
“Whoa, you got the council to vote on my mission for quadrant 117?” I asked.
“Yes, Theo. That is how the government works ninety nine percent of the time. And no, I’m not an idiot to only rely on them. I had some stashed in manufacturing, but they’re surely destroyed,” Darcy said, closing the connection.
“Well shit. Alright, Jenny, are you okay?” I asked, powering my suit on.
The suit tried to say I wasn’t an authorized user at first. A second later, the sequence for bootup initiated and a status bar pinged green. The power light flashed green with an 82% charge indicated.
“Not really. I had my pod at the top and the rear, a few rooms down for you. Safest spot in the ship, but the majority of my team recently moved into the hangar bay. Where - where - I’ll be fine. Desmond is coming, which means, I knew these…” She paused, considering her term. “…reborns would be here. You got Ayla which is amazing. She remembers everything we went through.”
“They may have made it,” I said.
Jenny shook her head. “Death and I are familiar with each other. Death happens. They were good soldiers. Dying in accidents happens and they’ll become imprints. Not the worst ending after life.”
“I hear you. If you wanna talk about it later, let me know,” I said, mostly brushing her feelings aside because the ship needed us now.
I’d have to trust she was in a condition to help defend humanity, and I don’t think she ever turned that off, regardless of the disasters.
The suit finished completely powering up. Roma patched into my helmet, testing text messages on my HUD. She indicated six locations where cameras picked up intruders. I blanched when the footage in the upper left displayed our invaders.
Jurn’narocks. These narocks were about as bad as they got for humans. A gorilla upper body, a spider’s lower body. Where most narocks had a lot of animal infusions, this creature only needed the two. They could walk up slick walls, shoot webbing, hurl stones or spear with gorilla strength, and could live off human flesh or blood through stingers on their back ends.
Dozens of them flooded into the ship, with their large nostrils guiding them toward the blood of the dead. Jurn’narocks also had a brain, meaning they’d ambush, build traps, and generally only fought when they could win.
This intelligence was on full display when they worked in teams, providing cover while they stole bodies out of the ship.
If we gave them a few days, they'd be busting open cryopods to steal people in the Trials. This was beyond bad but they’d never be able to win a sustained war. This wasn’t the fall where hundreds of thousands of narocks gathered to eat the humans.
“Alright, the enemy is jurn’narocks. They’ll have a tree community nearby. I’m authorizing outside the ship combat. The mission is simple. Purge the ship of invaders, cleanse the nearby nest. Initiating, com check,” I said.
One by one the individuals confirmed they were in functioning suits and ready to go. I assigned two teams, making Jenny a commander of one and Fen the commander of the other. Ayla was my replacement and assigned to me.
“Team one is Commander Campbell. She’s not new to combat, even if she is new to you. Winston, Kevin, Yilissa. Follow her. Head to the lower decks pushing front to back. Team two is Master Sergeant Fen, Lenny, and Craig. Ayla and I will go mid decks front to back. Fen’s team will follow me, sin
ce I know the ship so well. If you can’t keep up, say something,” I ordered.
I didn’t have to run far, picking up a quick pace. Each creak and whirl of servos reminded me the suit lacked the silent sleek features of the version I used before. Based on how the armor reacted, I felt like I ran in a basic mecha. The downside was that the suits' functions were limited to armor, data, and masking of the human scent.
My hope for a built-in flamer or a shoulder weapon that honed-in to create a targeting triangle was dashed. Even with my disappointment, I did feel fluid and ready to fight.
I gave the rifle a second inspection. The energy container hummed and when my HUD inspected the weapon, it showed 100% charge. I ensured the safety was off and brought the weapon to the semi-ready.
“You want to raid their nest?” Ayla said on a private channel.
We reached the outer edge of the ship. All the sealed viewports kept out the jungle and the sunlight that would have punched into the vessel. The jurn’narocks clearly found some opening and just rushed in.
“Yeah, for a few reasons. This ship isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Out of all the narocks, the jurn variations were at the top with smarts. We should remove the jungle around it, even if we do plug the holes. This is our territory now, and they may find survivors on the ship and drag them out,” I said.
“Unlikely,” Darcy chimed in.
“Or have locals in their nests for blood,” Ayla said, adding to the good points.
Talking while running the halls I grew up in was easy, but I wanted to focus on the coming fight. Except, what I wanted and what the situation needed proved to differ.
“Yeah, maybe,” I said, and Roma sent an update to my HUD.
I processed the information quickly, finding hall after hall empty of threats. The dead bodies were minimal so far, but they were here and the nanites sought to cling to us.
“Did you get all that Theo,” Roma asked.
“Affirm.”
“Darcy is recommending that we send cleaning bots to collect the dead. If she stores them in their cryopods, it should remove the smell that is attracting the narocks,” Roma said.