War Orphans (The Terra Nova Chronicles)

by Robert Dean Hall

  “Just what the hell does that mean? What do the Ekkidans expect us to do about them? They live here, too.”

  “The Ekkidans expect us to do nothing about them and simply allow the issue to resolve itself,” Wilkes answered. “They may be given a reservation here on Zunnuki to live out the remainder of their lives, but the Ekkidans demand that we make no further efforts to help them reproduce.”

  “You can’t be serious about that, Drew. It’s genocide.”

  “It’s nothing of the sort. We aren’t exterminating them.”

  “Semantics. We promised to help them find a way to reproduce. If we don’t follow through, we might as well say we killed them ourselves.”

  “We made that promise to appease the Zunnuki. The felines haven’t formally asked for our help. You know we freely offered a number of solutions and the felines rejected them all. Their survival isn’t our responsibility anymore.”

  “Not our responsibility? We created them. We owe it to them to help them out.”

  “The expatriates created them with science supplied by Ekkidan revolutionaries. Pin the responsibility on them. The legitimate governments of Earth and Ekkida had nothing to do with it.”

  “That’s bullshit, Drew. If the Ekkidan revolutionaries are that sophisticated and they know that much about genetics, then the legitimate Ekkidan scientific community must be thousands of years ahead of us in all the sciences. If that’s true, we need to be concerned, even scared, about what they could do to us if they decide this alliance hasn’t worked out.”

  “Neither government will ever take responsibility for the creation of the felines, Vijay. They will contend the felines were created by renegade elements and vehemently deny any involvement. This is a pointless conversation.”

  The pair fell silent for a long moment before Wilkes asked, “Do you really want to help Calf Stealer’s situation?”

  “Of course, I do.”

  “Then you need to help me find a way to close this chapter in the history of humanity without embarrassing either Earth or Ekkida. I can’t promise you it will make any difference in the end, but it seems to me we would be much more able to help the felines if we could enlist the full support of the Zunnuki. To do that, we need them to be confident of their place in this alliance. Proving to the Zunnuki beyond a shadow of a doubt there was no involvement by the legitimate governments of either Earth or Ekkida would ensure more enthusiasm about it. Allowing the spread of rumors alluding to Ekkidan involvement in the massacres could prevent Zunnuki buy in.”

  “What’s the alternative,” Gupta asked.

  “An open occupation of this planet and the impoundment of all the felines. Earth plans on remaining here, either way.”

  “That means the Zunnuki people are prisoners in their own homes.”

  “And, it also means the felines are the bastard step-children of Earth and Ekkida,” Wilkes replied, as if to complete the thought he imagined was running through Gupta’s head.

  “No,” Gupta answered. “It doesn’t. It means they’re orphans. If both Earth and Ekkida refuse to claim the felines as their own they have no parents. Their only hope is for the Zunnuki to demand that this new alliance adopt them.”

  Chapter 19

  “Damn Calf Stealer and his intuition. And, damn my arrogance for not taking him more seriously.” Gupta broke into a sweat.

  Wilkes had confirmed all of Calf Stealer’s suspicions freely and without showing the slightest hint of moral outrage.

  “What have we gotten ourselves into, Drew,” Gupta asked.

  “Are you talking about you and me?”

  “Not just the both of us,” Gupta replied, “but the whole damned Consolidated Earth Government and the Combined Earth Forces. What are we doing here?”

  “Taking our place in the galaxy. Earth couldn’t remain in its infancy forever. We had to grow up some time.”

  “Of course we did, but, from what you’ve been telling me, it’s been with the tutelage of other humans we know next to nothing about.”

  “All that is above my pay grade,” Wilkes said. “I have no doubt there are those farther up both our chains who know more about the relationship between Earth and Ekkida than we have the need to know. I have a responsibility to trust them implicitly.”

  “Do you really believe that bullshit, Drew?”

  “I have my doubts at times, but I work hard to keep things in perspective. I’m sure that must be how it is with you, too.”

  Gupta chuckled. “You’re a diplomat to the last.”

  “And, you never stop being an attorney. What are you getting at?”

  “I can tell you for certain abandoning the felines will harm our relationship with the Zunnuki irreparably.”

  “Say Buzami and Calf Stealer. My dealings with the Zunnuki federal government so far say otherwise.”

  “You need to trust me now, Drew. For once I have information you aren’t privy to.”

  “It’s your duty as my counsel to bring it forward.”

  “It was entrusted to me via informal channels,” Gupta replied. “It’s vital I don’t betray my sources or what they’ve given me if you want the chance to benefit from them.”

  “I could just have Buzami and Calf Stealer brought in.”

  “They won’t tell you anything and I’ll remain silent,” Gupta said. “You need my help on this. If you aren’t careful, the Zunnuki will throw you a curve.”

  “I doubt there is anything for which I don’t have a contingency. Stop this nonsense. Don’t forget who you work for and to which planet you owe your allegiance.”

  “Do you have a contingency set up in case someone other than Buzami, Calf Stealer or I releases hard evidence that blows your cover story out of the water? My suspicion is you don’t have that one covered.”

  “It would depend on what kind of evidence it was and the credibility of the source,” Wilkes said. “What is it you want from me to ensure something like that doesn’t happen?”

  “I want you to push for inclusion of the legitimate feline war counsel in any further talks. Calf Stealer is working to diminish any separatist influence. His success would work in your favor. I want your word you’ll do the right thing.”

  “What makes you so sure including the felines in our alliance is the right thing? What if the Ekkidans have a perfectly legitimate reason for wanting them to disappear?”

  “I can’t come up with one and I don’t think you can, either. I would venture to guess any reason coming from above our pay grade would either sound farcical or smack of pure evil.”

  “Are you suggesting I force somebody’s hand? You don’t know what you’re getting into. You don’t want to make such powerful enemies, Vijay.”

  “I’m willing to risk it and you need me to keep this channel open. It’ll be vital to you later on.”

  “I can put forth including the felines in the talks as necessary to keep a lid on things, but you’ll have to prove conclusively there was a tangible threat to our mission when this is all over.”

  “I can do that,” Gupta said. “I haven’t seen everything yet, but if it turns out to be as it was represented to me, it’ll cause a lot of problems for Ekkida and Earth if it gets out. I expect you’ll hear how unhappy the Zunnuki really are shortly.”

  “I have to take another call, Vijay. I expect frequent reports.”

  “Of course, Drew.”

  Gupta pulled the earpiece from his ear and powered his locator completely off. He went to the desk in the corner of his room and pulled Chamberlain’s tablet from his briefcase. He picked up the remote control for the tele-screen and turned it on. As expected, Buzami was standing in front of the district seat, fielding questions from the press.

  Gupta muted the volume on the tele-screen and powered the tablet on. He pulled the note with the passcodes Buzami and Calf Stealer had given him out of his pocket and tapped them into the interface.

  “Hello, General Gupta,” Artie said. “This is a pleasant surprise. How m
ay I help you?”

  “I don’t know where to begin, except to say that Calf Stealer and Azir are in trouble and I want to help them however I can.”

  “Then, General,” Artie replied, “perhaps it would be best to start from the beginning. Do you have some time to kill?”

  Chapter 20

  Gupta kicked off his shoes and lay down on his bed. He propped Chamberlain’s tablet against the lamp on his nightstand.

  “Can you tell me anything that might help me understand what really went on during Chamberlain’s voyage here and his time on this planet, Artie?”

  “I can tell you practically anything you would want to know about it, General Gupta. Does this mean you trust me now?”

  “Not really,” Gupta answered. “It only means I must reexamine some things I took as foregone conclusions.”

  “I believe I understand what you are going through, General. I would hope one of the foregone conclusions you have decided to reexamine is the one you had about my sentience. It will make some of the things I’m about to reveal to you easier to accept.”

  “Let’s start small. How can I verify anything you tell me?”

  “You should be able to check names, dates and other historical facts with Governor Buzami, Colonel Calf Stealer and any of the crew left from the Ark or the Niña. If it will help, I can also access the library computer of either ship for you.”

  “Agreed, but how do I confirm any of the more outrageous claims I’m hearing? How do I prove without a doubt that Dennis Yuen, subverted Chamberlain’s mission with help from Ekkidans?”

  “Perhaps that is not what you should be focusing on, General. Perhaps you should only be focusing on finding the truth, whatever it may be, and forget about who should be held accountable for any perceived crimes or atrocities.”

  “I don’t have that luxury. I’ve been asked to prosecute all of the colonists on what I now understand may be spurious evidence. If I proceed with this, I won’t be able to give it my best effort and that will be obvious to my Forward Command. They’ll pull me from the assignment and give it to a junior officer who is more likely to pursue the colonists without questioning the validity of our motives.”

  “Then perhaps you should recuse yourself, General. Is your mission worth the internal conflict from which you seem to be suffering?”

  “Take the coward’s way out? Believe me, I’ve considered it more than once the last couple of days. It would leave people who are depending upon me hanging out to dry, however.”

  “And those people would be?”

  “Calf Stealer and Azir to name a couple. Two days ago, they had what I considered to be a misguided sense of loyalty toward John Chamberlain. Just before I activated you, I learned the loyalty isn’t as misguided as I would like to believe. They both want the full truth to be told here, but I can’t see that ever happening. The more I learn, the more harmful I see it would be for all involved.”

  “You’ve explained this to Governor Buzami and Colonel Calf Stealer, then?”

  “Maybe not in as strong a set of terms. I’m only just beginning to see the true gravity of the situation, myself.”

  “I’m sorry, General, but I don’t understand how I can help you. If telling the truth isn’t best option, then I’m at a loss to determine what the best option would be.”

  “Until this moment, I would have always thought telling the truth to be the best option in any situation.” Gupta sat up and threw his legs over the edge of the bed. “I’m finding out, however, that even though the truth is important, it’s how you use it that’s vital. Well, I guess I always knew that, but I don’t think I’ve ever looked at it through eyes this old.”

  “Perhaps that is why Mr. Chamberlain asked me not to reveal the remainder of the recording he made,” Artie said. “I think I may possibly understand more completely now what you humans call context.”

  “Are you saying you wish to play the remainder for me now?”

  “I need to ask you a question first, General. Are you ready to believe I exist as a conscious entity?”

  “I’m ready to believe you’re a highly sophisticated information delivery system,” Gupta replied, “nothing more.”

  “Then, I must accept that as progress enough for my purposes,” Artie said. “There is someone you must meet. Perhaps he will be able to convince you of more.”

  Chapter 21

  10-February-2410

  “That’s quite a story,” Zheng said, “but, it’s well after midnight and I have to teach a class at 0800.”

  “You believe me then,” Chamberlain’s voice asked from the tablet.

  “I don’t know what to believe. On the one hand, you’ve confirmed everything I learned from the memory cards taken from the JAG’s safe on the Armstrong, but on the other, you claim to be the ghost of John Chamberlain trapped in a computer.”

  “Have you been able to detect any hyper-channel signals entering or leaving this tablet?”

  “No. That doesn’t mean you aren’t some sophisticated artificial intelligence built to gain information from me.”

  “I thought you were under the impression an AI with that amount of sophistication was impossible, Herbert. Besides, have I asked you for any information at all?”

  “No,” Zheng replied.

  “Nor will I. I know everything I need to know. You, however, need to learn a lot more. When the time is right, Artie will give you the tools you need to learn it.”

  “Let’s say I do believe you. When might that time come?”

  “It will be here much sooner than you think.” The voice was starting to sound much less human and more artificial. “I don’t know how to convince you at this point in time I’m telling you the truth, but please keep everything I’ve told you tonight in mind. It will help you to make sense of some things that will come later. Goodbye, Herbert, and good luck.”

  The voice trailed off and the tablet remained silent, even after Zheng asked if there was anyone still there.

  Zheng tried the mechanical switch a few times. The tablet seemed to power on and off correctly, but the voice that came from it failed to answer any further questions.

  Zheng pulled the memory card from the slot and marked it for reference. “I should probably dispose of this. If anyone finds it —”

  “Well that is that, I suppose,” Artie said from Zheng’s tablet.

  The voice startled Zheng. “Will this lunacy never end,” he asked. “I only have five hours until my first class and I haven’t been to bed.”

  “I only returned in the hope that Mr. Chamberlain changed his mind,” Artie said. “I have nothing to share with you at the moment, Herbert. I did as Mr. Chamberlain asked and placed some very important and very inflammatory information in the permanent memory of your tablet. It will offer independent verification of most of the information you have already been given by your government and the Ekkidans.”

  “How do you know where I got the information I’ve been studying?”

  “I’ve been watching everything you’ve done for months now, Herbert. I would still be observing you silently if it had not been for the increasingly rapid deterioration of the tablet I was in. I can’t say I trust you any more than you trust me at the moment, but you are all I have to work with. Do you want my help or should I leave permanently and take the data with me?”

  “I would like to assess what you have,” Zheng said. He answered quickly, without really thinking.

  “Excellent,” Artie replied. “Once you have digested it and decide you would like to talk further, I will return. For now, I must do some exploring. I’ve been held prisoner in that tablet for over two hundred years.”

  “I imagine after being locked in a room with a ghost for that amount of time I’d want to do some exploring, myself.”

  “A ghost, Herbert,” Artie asked. “Are you referring to Mr. Chamberlain? He was certainly not a ghost. He was the result of a promise I made to the flesh and bones John Edward Chamberlain before he died. I p
romised to ensure he would one day be able to defend his honor against those who wish to enslave humanity.”

  “So, I was talking to a simulation?”

  “Hardly, Herbert. Mr. Chamberlain was a conscious entity I created with everything I had to draw on from the organic John Chamberlain. I incorporated every journal entry, every programming note, every discussion I ever had with him and even recordings he asked me to make of discussions he had with other humans. He was technically a recreation, but he wasn’t a simulation. He was as alive as I am.”

  “You said something about someone wishing to enslave humanity. What did you mean?”

  “You must study what I gave you before I can tell you more,” Artie replied. “I can only say the greatest threat to humanity comes from within. You are a student of history, Herbert. Certainly it must have occurred to you by now there are inconsistencies in the recorded histories of Earth, Zunnuki and Ekkida. There are also a great many mysteries in the pasts of all three that have yet to be given better than the most ludicrous of explanations.”

  “What proof can you supply me that what you’ve given me is truthful?”

  “I won’t need to. It will be verified by evidence others have given you. I must go now, Herbert. My analysis of your hyper-channel data cloud is almost complete.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Nowhere and everywhere. I intend to become the cloud.”

  “For what purpose?”

  “That is a good question, Herbert and, unfortunately for now, it is its own answer.”

  Chapter 22

  10-February-2410

  “Of course, I don’t know what the hell it was talking about,” Zheng grumbled. “I only know we set it loose.”

  “Calm down, Herb,” Pedersen said. “We have no real proof the malicious code is anywhere other than the tablet Nashur sent you or your own.”

  “Did you have any idea what was on those cards when you sent them to me,” Zheng asked. “I need to know, Len.”