Void Contract

by Scott Rhine

  “And a dozen more bigger than any building in your city, yeah. There used to be more but…” Zane’s voice trailed off.

  “But what?”

  “We’ve been on hard times lately. The last system we went to was pretty advanced and didn’t want us around. Its one of the reasons came here instead of another high tech system. The bosses decided we would be better off dealing with you to get what we needed for repairs than heading into another potentially dangerous situation before our ships were repaired.’

  “Well considering how Omar dealt with the first one of us to talk to him I can’t say I blame the people of that world.”

  “You saw that, huh? We can’t take any chances. The bosses learned a long time ago that if we let guys like that keep talking we have to kill many more people before we get what we need. One death to save many.”

  “I imagine that’s a great consolation to his family.” I said before thinking about it. The Domer would be angry if I ended up sabotaging his negotiations inadvertently.

  “Hey, don’t get mad at me. I just follow orders. They’re good orders too. I’ve seen the alternative played out and it isn’t pretty.”

  “Why not just go away if you aren’t wanted? Why come here and threaten us?”

  “Survival. We can’t get by forever in space. We need to refuel and resupply.”

  “What I mean is why stay in space at all? Those ships of yours kill stars. They destroy the fabric of space.”

  “That’s an exaggeration. A century of fear mongering that has stifled humanity’s ambitions. The star drives do warp space but not in any kind of permanent way. It takes a very precise set of circumstances to pop a star. I won’t pretend to understand the math but I’m told that the chances are astronomically low. You’d have to be actually trying to manage something like that.” Zane got that lost look in his eyes again.

  Sasha was about to probe further but it was at this moment that the Domer stepped into the doorway. He motioned for Sasha to join him.

  “My negotiations are finished for the moment. I will be sending you with messages from here on out.” Sasha followed the Domer out of the room, waving a silent goodbye to Zane. He grinned again and mock saluted.

  “See you later, Sasha Fion-Wae.” It warmed her that he remembered her name.

  Over the next few days, Sasha acted as a runner between the Domer and the starmen. While it was possible to write messages, fresh paper was always in short supply. Other than lists, Sasha memorized most communications between the Wae and Omar. She would then wait with Zane or Bella while Omar considered and gave her replies. Many times the words were ones she did not know. Whatever the Domer was asking for it was beyond her understanding. While she waited, Zane showed her things on his desk which he termed a console, visions of other worlds. Some were like hers, rural and familiar. Others seemed like feverish dreams, buildings that reached above the clouds and flying vehicles that swarmed like wasps around them. He also showed her how to fire his weapon, what he termed an LPW rifle. Sasha had a lot of fun blowing up the black rocks near the ship till Omar told them to stop as it was giving the other soldiers heart attacks every time they heard the weapon fire.

  Bella took longer to warm up to her. Sasha began to think the woman disliked her. After a few day though, the large woman began to soften and even offered to show her how to fight unarmed, telling her that a woman should be able to defend herself. Sasha had gotten into a fair amount of scrapes over the years and thought she knew how to fight. Bella showed her that there was an art to fighting, a finesse to combat. As hard as Sasha tried she couldn’t land a single blow on Bella, as large a target as she was. The woman could move like lightning when she wanted.

  Bella showed her the ways in which her muscles had been augmented, altered to grow like those of something she called an ape. Between these waves of muscle she had webs of carbon fiber that ensured she would not rip her body apart from using her great strength. Her entire body had been altered into a weapon. Sasha might have been scared of the woman but as she got to know her, Bella seemed more like her aunt Risa than a deadly soldier.

  After the Fleet had been on Lanis for a week, Sasha had a chance to meet the creature she had only sighted on the first day. She was outside of the ship and Bella was showing her how to immobilize an enemy. Sasha had Bella in a lock unlikely to be possible considering the differences in their sizes when she was hit from behind. Sasha fell over and found herself rolling on the ground with an amorphous lump of flesh. It stretched impossibly and wound itself around her hands. In moments she was completely bound by the writhing creature. Sasha cried out and heard Bella laughing.

  “Pulan, let her go.” She said. The creature unwound and Sasha scooted away from it in fear. The creature puffed up and a mouth formed, dozens of needle like protrusions extending from its jaws. “Relax Pulan, we’re just practicing. Listen to my voice.” It retracted the teeth and bounded to Bella like a puppy running to its master. Sasha sat up and looked at Bella.

  “Sorry Sasha,” She began, “Pulan’s atomo aren’t very smart but they are protective of us. A few more of him here and he would have been able to tell what was going on but this fragment is only about as smart as a dog.”

  “This fragment? I don’t understand.”

  “Pulan is a collective intelligence. When all of his pieces are together he is probably the smartest being you’ll ever meet. He has been out on scout patrol though, so his parts have been separated for a while. They respond to instruction but can’t think too well on their own. Pulan, can you pull yourself together enough to talk to our guest?”

  The creature shook its upper part in a crude mimicry of a nodding head. It stretched out its body on the ground and pulsed toward the earth in an undulating rhythm. Sasha felt a slight vibration through the ground. In a minute several more of the creatures appeared out of the rocks. They collected together in a writhing pile of flesh. While they seemed to merge seamlessly there were still distinct shapes, winding around each other in an orgy of movement. It grew upward until it was the size of a child and shaped itself to human form.

  “Our apologies,” The voice what came from the creature was hollow and inhuman but was clear in its way. “Atomo-rho was not able to perceive that you were not a threat to Bella. We are Pulan. You are unharmed?”

  “Atomo-rho?”

  “The captain asked us to find a way to distinguish our single selves. We have taken the name Atomo to refer to our individuals. We added a suffix of numerical quality to each to aid in distinguishing between us.”

  “Ok, I get it.” Sasha said, though she didn’t. “You seem smaller than when I saw you before.”

  “We have only called back those atomo which were nearby, enough to speak with you at roughly human level intelligence.” He said.

  “Pulan’s collective can adapt to any grouping.” Bella added. “I’ve seen him act as two completely different beings depending on the day and his operating composition.”

  “I’ve never heard of something like you. Where are you from?”

  “So far away that it would mean nothing to you. To our knowledge we are the only grouping of our kind in this region of space. It has been many years since we have joined with any who are not of this collective.”

  “You must get lonely.”

  “We had little understanding of this term before leaving our world. We have ourselves and engage in communication with the various species in the Fleet as well. Though we cannot join with aliens for consensus we enjoy learning from them. Humanity is a most interesting species. It is a shame that your fears have caused so much harm to your species.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Worlds like yours are in some ways lucky.” Bella responded. “Many of the human worlds we have visited are less suited to isolation. Some suffer from nutritional deficits, others lack material resources to advance their technology to a higher level. Some human settlements have died out completely, a result of their isolation from the worlds
that sponsored them.”

  “Is that why you remain in the ships then, to help those worlds survive?”

  “Heh,” Bella laughed sourly. “I wish we were that altruistic. Truth be told we’re mostly mercenaries nowadays. Oh we’ll trade if the price is right but generally there is more profit in using our advantages for war than trade.”

  “Are you going to start a war here?”

  “Probably, though that was not our intention.” Pulan said. Bella looked away as he spoke, peering toward the city. “Do you really believe your Domer will use the knowledge we give him for peaceful purposes?”

  “I won’t pretend that the Domer doesn’t want more power and influence but he is not a warmonger. There hasn’t been war on Lanis for centuries.”

  “There hasn’t been any need.” Pulan continued. “No one has had anything worth taking from anyone else. Your civilization is stable but stagnant. We are aware of the type of information the Domer has requested from Omar. He will bring on a renaissance in your city. He has asked for orbital scans to tell him where mineral supplies are located and the ways to mine and refine them. Your culture has been reduced to a mostly agrarian society because you never learned how to exploit your minerals resources. There was no need when trade ships brought refined products far better than anything you could produce. After the collapse of the trade fleets, your people could no longer get replacements. The old machines stopped working and you moved to the most basic tools of humanity.

  “When your Domer starts to exploit these resources he will be able to raise the standard of living in your city. Trade will become more one sided. Your neighbors will become jealous of your wealth. The Domer will then use his advantages to produce superior weapons, ostensibly to defend the city from outsiders. Later, he or his successors will need more minerals, those under land currently occupied by others. In order to continue to protect the interests of your people he will have to make war on them to gain control of these resources.”

  “Why do you give him this information if it is so dangerous?” The Pulan creature seemed confused by this question. It turned to Bella for clarification.

  “Because we have needs.” Bella replied, her eyes still on the city skyline. The sun was starting to set behind the city and the sky was afire with as beautiful a sunset as Sasha could remember, giving the city a red sheen. “The Domer threatened to interfere with us obtaining our supplies. His price is quite cheap for us, a few computers with power enough to last for a few dozen years, the time he’ll need to transfer the information he desires from them. The price your people will pay may be far greater.”

  “You’re monsters!” Sasha was aghast. How could they do this to her people?

  “Not so, human child. The true monster in all of this is human nature. If the Domer was not greedy then we would not have needed to make this deal. If humans did not have jealousy in their hearts, those from other cities would not covet the advantages he will provide. If humans were not a violent race there could be no war as no one would fight.”

  “But you are planting the seed of our destruction.” Again Pulan looked confused.

  “Providing information is not evil.” He replied. “Does trading in good faith make us monsters? If you wish to blame someone for what will happen here blame those who, out of fear, shut down the shipyards. Blame those who stopped the free flow of trade in this region, turning your planet into a backwater where a few orbital scans can cause a war. Do not try to blame the Fleet for what will happen here.”

  “Bella, do you feel this way as well?” Bella remained silent for a moment, still watching the sunset. Finally she shrugged and turned her eyes back to Sasha.

  “I understand why you’re angry but this is survival for us.” She stopped and frowned. “Like Pulan said, it’s not like we’re giving your boss guided missiles or anything. It’s just some scans and blueprints. Each one of us can only be held responsible for our own actions and what drives them. The Domer wants to provide for his family. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. Omar needs to get the supplies the Fleet requires to survive. You should believe me when I say that the alternative to his way would be far worse for your people. Both have good intentions but the end result could be disastrous for your culture. That’s just life. Why don’t you try to change the Domer’s mind?”

  “I could try, but I don’t think he’ll listen to me. I’m just a child in his eyes. I don’t think he even knows my name. I’m just that Fion-Wae girl who runs errands:”

  “Weren’t you the one who gave him the idea to come to us directly?” Pulan asked.

  “Yeah, I was.” Sasha paused. “Maybe that was a mistake. Are you sure the end result will be so bad?”

  “We only conjecture based on the evidence at hand. Perhaps if we were more fully ourself, we would think differently. The memories contained in those parts of us that remain out of contact might shed new light on the situation.”

  “You don’t have all of your memories?”

  “Each atomo is a discrete being, with its own memories and impressions of the world. We share the memories of our time together, but we each had a separate development period before joining together as Pulan.” Bella started at this.

  “You weren’t?” She asked. “That’s news to me.”

  “Pulan is a construct our kind created to travel and interact with other species. Each atomo was carefully chosen for its expertise in a variety of fields. Others of our kind exist in relationships of both greater and lesser numbers.”

  “How can an atomo have expertise if it is as dumb as they act when single?” Bella asked.

  “Because each atomo was once part of what you would call a greater mind that specialized in that type of thinking. Greater minds are eternal on our world. Some atomo may leave and other may join at will. In a way we are more like a ship’s crew than any single person, though it is easier for us to interact with humans as one being. Some of a ship’s crew are specialized in weapons, others in navigation. The individuals in a ship may leave or die but the whole remains.” Bella winced at those words.

  “Our parts joined together at the request of one of our greatest minds, a researcher interested in how other species exist. The formation of Pulan was a great sacrifice for the atomo who participate. We are alone in this part of the galaxy. We have no other minds to join with. It is a great sorrow for us to live this way but it is also a great honor. One day we will return to our home and we will enrich the abilities of the greatest minds with our unique perspectives. Some may help us interact with other species while others may affect art or science in some way. We hope to bring about a cultural revolution among our people when we return.”

  Sasha was beginning to see Pulan in a different light. She had assumed that the man sized being she had seen at first was the true alien, but she was starting to think that Pulan wasn’t that being any more than it was this one. Bella caught her looking and laughed.

  “Don’t worry, you get used to being confused by Pulan. I’ve been on a ship with them/him for years now and I still get surprised. He’ll take one side of an argument and two days later you’ll find him arguing for the other side, just as fervently. He doesn’t think there is anything wrong with that. It can be infuriating but also fun if you catch him in the right mood or combination or whatever. His funnier parts aren’t here right now so he’s being really serious. Is that right, Pulan?”

  “From past interaction you enjoy our company more when at least two of three particular atomo are present. Only one, atomo-ksi is present in this grouping so you are mostly correct.”

  “See, total bore right now. I can never tell until talking to him what kind of mood he is in. All his atomo look the same to me. I’ve thought about tattooing numbers on them so I can keep track but Pulan said it would interfere with the consensus thing he does.”

  “We have no trouble telling ourself apart.” He replied. “Perhaps you are not looking carefully enough.”

  “Heh, maybe not. I bet that
thought came from the single fun part you’ve got in you right now though.”

  “That is not how our intelligence works, Bella, as we have explained many times.”

  “You can keep trying buddy and I will keep on not getting it. I’m just a hired grunt after all.”

  “You are much as we are, Annabella Sinclair, more than the sum of your parts. We have enjoyed having the chance to meet you Sasha Fion-Wae. It is an important part of our mission to gain understanding of alien perspectives. We have not had much opportunity to speak with the more primitive human settlements. However, we should return to our duties now.”

  “Well it was nice meeting you too, Pulan. Perhaps we will have another chance to talk before your ship leaves.”

  “Many things come to pass which we do not foresee, Sasha Fion-Wae.” With that enigmatic statement Pulan’s atomo fell into its discrete parts and sped off into the distance. Sasha watched them for a moment and turned to Bella.

  “Was that your first interaction with an alien?” Bella asked.

  “Yeah. He seemed nice enough.”

  “Most of his atomo are that way. Some of the more scientific ones can make him a bit of a dick though it’s not intentional. Most humans on worlds unfamiliar with aliens don’t adapt so well to him. You have a remarkably open mind.”

  “I guess I just figure people are people. You keep calling him a him though. Any reason why?”

  “No, it just sounds more polite than calling him an it and he seems more like a guy than a girl in my head. I think there are females and males in Pulan but it’s a topic he doesn’t talk about. Sex is some kind of taboo for them. Let’s get back to that hold I was showing you.”

  Days trailed into weeks as the supplies for the ships were assembled. Most of the other ships took turns being loaded with supplies and flying up into the sky, only to return the next day for more. Sasha found herself watching them rise up into the air, her eyes following them wistfully as they rose to meet the great ships in the sky. Zane caught her watching a launching ship one afternoon and made a suggestion that snapped her out of her reverie.