by Adam Moon
“Yes, Crusoe. Shall I inform the captain of our deviation?”
“I would make you regret that, Molly. Be a good girl.”
“Yes, Crusoe. We’ll arrive in under an hour.”
From his previous interfaces with Molly, Crusoe already knew how long an Earth hour was, so he started getting the ship ready to land.
Mining Planet
Crusoe mined metals and collected gasses. He needed the metals to add to the ship’s skin and the gasses to fuel the welding torches.
Although the planet was optimally located in a Goldilocks zone from the sun, it was a hell-hole. There must’ve been a runaway greenhouse gas effect at some point in the past, because surface temperatures hovered around eight hundred degrees Fahrenheit. It didn’t bother him, because nothing did, but he’d had to make certain none of the crew or colonists made it out of stasis during the seven years he was docked on the surface of the planet. If they’d walked outside, they would’ve flash fried. To be sure, he’d taken a part of Molly off-line during the stay. For artificial intelligence, she was a quirky little thing. Was she quirky enough to disobey his commands? He couldn’t be sure, so he took the decision-making processor out and packed it away for safe keeping.
Now that he was done bolstering the ship for defense from attack, he turned his attentions to beefing up its firepower. Before he started, he’d need to find out where the weaknesses were.
He interfaced with Molly again and accessed the ship’s schematics. He had glanced at them before, but now that he was digging deeper, he was shocked by what he found. The ship was built for war. Crusoe was impressed by the humans for the first time. It was equipped with matter weapons and energy weapons, and something that scared the shit out of even Crusoe: an antimatter pulse. He’d spent many centuries pondering his own immortality. As a consequence he’d spent a great deal of time considering what might in fact kill him. Antimatter was one possibility that intrigued him. He just couldn’t wrap his mind around how he could adapt to a bombardment of the stuff. Because he was a survivor he did what needed to be done: he took it off-line.
He did some additional digging around in Molly and found some startling information. He’d have to wake the captain and tell her about it, but not until they were well underway.
This endeavor had succeeded quicker than he’d hoped. He had given himself ten years to get it done. Seven was an accomplishment, even for a being as industrious as he was.
He inserted Molly’s processor back in and said as sternly as he could, “We are finished here. Take us up and do not wake any of the passengers.”
Molly did as she was told, but she did it in silence.
Crusoe muttered, “Sullen little bitch.”
As they ascended, Molly said, “We have taken on too much weight. I won’t be able to break free.”
“I’ve added four thrusters. Check pathway echo-niner dash theta in the navigation program. They just need to be put in series with the others.”
Molly said, “Thank you,” but she said it in a way that wasn’t very appreciative.
Crusoe added, “They use a different fuel source. I’ve added a scoop to the front of the ship. It’ll collect infinitesimal amounts of replacement fuel as we travel, but they’ll add up, trust me. We’re basically self-sufficient now.”
If Crusoe expected any form of praise, he didn’t get it. Molly activated the thrusters and they left the thick, mucky and hellish atmosphere behind.
Confession
As soon as they had resumed their course to the seed planet, he woke the captain.
She crawled out of her pod, half fearful and half enraged. She was weak from the thaw but she still managed to yell at him. “What the hell did you put in me?”
“I have a confession to make, Captain. I happen to know that the region of space we’ll be traveling through to get to the seed planet is crawling with millions of aliens bent on destruction and annihilation. My own people once considered traveling to the seed planet, but they chose not to because of the risks. They considered it a suicide mission.”
“That’s not what our scientists said back on Earth.”
“Maybe they didn’t see the danger since it’s so far away. But I think they did. This ship is positively geared for battle. It’s halfway full of soldiers, and the weaponry is impressive, to say the least.”
Sarah paused to pull her clothes on and let his words settle into her racing mind.
“What does any of that have to do with what you did to my IV’s?”
“I’ve given your DNA a little kick in the right direction. It should make you smarter, quicker, more adaptable, and more physically formidable.”
“You experimented on me like I’m some kind of lab rat? I knew we should’ve left you behind.”
“If you had, this trip would be pointless. You have firepower and troops, but you’re going up against an entire race of warriors and they’ve been fighting for at least two million years. You need the edge I gave you.”
“Well, I don’t feel any different.”
“Huh? I thought you would. I kind of thought you’d change physically too. Maybe it just takes more time.”
“Alright then. It’s time you took your leave from my ship. You knew the rules: if you did anything out of line, I would put you in the void.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Captain, and you can’t make me.”
Sarah came at Crusoe quickly and hit him on the jaw with an uppercut. To his utter surprise, he felt it. Maybe she had been too fast for his body to adapt? Maybe she was stronger than he could imagine. But it hadn’t been enough to hurt him.
He said, “I think my little experiment has borne fruit. You’re quick and strong. Imagine what you’ll be able to do with a little practice.” Then he feigned nonchalance and added, “I told you I wasn’t going anywhere,” but he said it with less conviction than before.
She spat on the floor at his feet and said, “Did you do this to everyone or just me?”
“Just you, the crew, and Jason Rodriguez.”
She nodded. “I will allow you to stay, but I have one ironclad rule from now on that can not be broken. You are not to tamper with the colonists. We’re trying to transplant the human race, not some watered down, altered version of the human race.”
“That’s a bit bigoted, Captain, but I promise.”
“I’ll send this ship into a star if you let me down again.”
“I only did what was necessary. You’ll understand when we come face to face with the aliens. I’ve reinforced the ship’s hull too, and added some self-sufficient thrusters.”
“When did you do that?”
“I made a slight detour to a planet to get the metals and spent seven years mining and welding. I apologize for going off-course, but we’ll make up that time, and the time it took to travel there, with the additional thrusters.”
Sarah sighed and shook her head. So much had gone wrong already that she was starting to break down. This alien passenger was either trying to help her in ways she couldn’t quite wrap her head around … or he was trying to test the limits of her sanity.
“How much time was lost altogether?”
“Just over three hundred years, but like I said, we’ll make it up. Trust me.”
“Why would I start trusting you now?”
She walked from the command station as Crusoe rubbed his jaw absently.
Jack
Sarah woke Jack Mayberry first. He was next in command and quite possibly the smartest person on her crew besides Michael Stevens.
Then for the first time she realized she’d screwed up. She’d imprisoned Michael for his crimes but had forgotten to put him out of the airlock. Had he been locked in the oven in the kitchen for three hundred years? Had he managed to escape and steal a stasis pod? She patted Jack on the shoulder and said, “I’ll be right back.”
Jack was groggy, but he managed to remember his ignored captive. “Oh shit, I forgot about Michael.”
Sarah s
aid, “Me too,” and then she left for the kitchen.
When she arrived, the first thing she saw was that the chain and lock had been broken and removed from the oven door, and then upon further inspection she saw no sign of Michael inside.
As she walked back to Jack, she realized for the first time that the usual pain and suffering that came after thawing out was completely absent this time. What did that mean? Had Crusoe’s DNA really had that much of an impact? Was she adapting to stave off the pain?
Jack was dressing when she walked into the main pod chamber. He said, “Crusoe did something to me. You were right, he can’t be trusted.”
“He altered our DNA. He said it was to make us tougher because, apparently, there are warrior aliens we might have to fight when we approach the seed planet.”
That was too much bizarre information all at once for Jack. He took a few seconds to process it. “Bullshit. You’re kidding, right? I thought he was poisoning me.”
“Me too. But I feel great.”
“Me too,” he said as he stretched his arms and arched his back. “Did you kick him off the ship for it?” There was a hint of trepidation in Jack’s voice. Jack was mesmerized by the alien and completely taken in by the fact that they had achieved first contact. The last thing he wanted was for Crusoe to get kicked off.
When she replied, “No,” he visibly relaxed.
“Good. I like him.”
“He’s a secretive son of a bitch with an agenda all his own.”
“Maybe. But if he’s right, then he turned us into super-humans. That’s not so bad.”
“Yeah, but it also means we have a fight ahead of us.”
“We’ve got plenty of time before that happens, right?”
“Yeah, but in stasis, it’ll seem like seconds have gone by. The next time we wake up we’ll be in the middle of battle.”
“Yeah, that is pretty scary. But at least we have an immortal, indestructible genetic freak on our side.”
“That’s what worries me. Is he on our side?”
The Truth
“What happened to Michael?” Jack asked Crusoe as he entered the command station.
“You forgot about him so I took care of it.”
Jack nodded and accepted the story without further question. He added, “Don’t experiment on me or the crew ever again without our consent.”
“I apologize. I was worried you’d say no to it.”
Jack smiled. “I don’t know about the others, but I would have allowed it.”
Sarah interrupted. “Why did you wake us?”
“Crusoe said, “Did you know there are two thousand additional stasis pods in an alternate chamber on this ship?”
Sarah said, “Yes,” at the exact moment Jack said, “No.”
Sarah turned to him and confessed, “Jason Rodriguez showed them to me before we went into stasis the last time.” She glared at Crusoe, “I mean, the second to last time.”
Crusoe looked away.
She continued, “It’s called Pod Bay Two and it’s hidden behind a hatch. Jason is in there along with about fifteen hundred troops and five hundred civilians.”
Jack shook his head. “Why weren’t we made aware of any of this?”
“I don’t know, but I’m suspicious. And you’ll never guess who’s hitched a ride with us.”
“Who?”
“The President.”
“You’re kidding. He made that big fancy speech about how he was staying behind. People loved him for that speech.”
“Well, it was apparently a lie. The British Prime Minister and the French Premier are on ice back there too.”
Jack looked at Crusoe and asked, “So what do those extra passengers have to do with why you woke us up?”
“I’ve been doing some digging around in Molly. What I found was that none of the crew members are listed when I look into the future of the mission. What I mean is this: after the four thousand year trip is up, you guys are no longer listed as alive and present. You are entirely absent from the computer’s database, but only when the mission is complete.”
Sarah said, “So what? It’s a pretty minor glitch. Why wake us to tell us that?”
“It’s no glitch or oversight. It is programmed that way. You and your crew are to be eliminated as soon as you reach the seed planet.”
Jack crinkled his brow. “Why?”
Sarah said, “I’ll bet you the President knows. And now that I’m thinking about it, it doesn’t surprise me in the least.” To the ship’s computer she said, “Molly, can you wake the President of the United States without also waking his complement of soldiers.”
“I can not, Captain. If I wake him, they wake up automatically. It’s hardwired into my programming.”
Crusoe laid his hands on the console and said, “Give me a minute with this deceitful bitch. I’ll make her do what we want.”
Molly said, “That won’t be necessary, sir. I am waking him now.”
If Sarah didn’t know better, she’d swear there was a hint of fear to Molly’s otherwise sultry voice.
Jack said incredulously: “Molly has the ability to lie to us?”
Crusoe nodded. “Only when the crew starts asking about classified aspects of the mission.”
Molly said, “The President is moving around. Do you want me to open the hatch to Pod Bay Two?”
Sarah yelled, “Of course, you lying bitch,” and then she made her way below deck with Crusoe and Jack in tow.
Jack was stunned when he saw the slide-away hatch. It had been hidden in plain sight the whole time.
A single silhouette was stumbling around in the dark. It walked over to another stasis pod and started to fuss with it.
Sarah ran into the pod bay and said, “Don’t even think about waking your entourage, Mr. President.”
“Who the hell are you? Did we make it there already?”
“I’m the captain and no, we did not.”
“Then why am I out of stasis?”
“My question is this: Why were you in stasis in the first place? Follow me. You have a lot of explaining to do.”
Jack took the President under the arm and helped him walk up to the command station.
Cowardly Leader
The President took a seat in the captain’s chair. He said, “What’s this all about?”
Jack asked, “Why are you even here? I heard your rousing speech. You swore you’d stay behind. You said you were too old to benefit a colony genetically, and you were right. So what gives?”
The President shook his head. “I’m a survivor. I had the opportunity so I took it.”
Sarah said, “You’re a coward.”
The President shrugged. “I suppose I am.”
Sarah asked, “Why are all those soldiers here?”
The President looked away and said, “That is classified.”
Crusoe stepped forward and said, “Is it because you expect a battle as soon as we get close to the seed planet?”
The President stared into Crusoe’s eyes and his demeanor changed. “Yes. There was some evidence of conflict in that region of space. My scientists were seeing explosions and unusual energy bursts, but they were coming from all over the place. The only way to explain it was that maybe there was a war going on. We knew the trip was long enough that the conflict would be over by the time we came upon it, but we had to be sure we were ready in case it wasn’t.”
Crusoe added, “It won’t be. They’ve been fighting nonstop for over two million years.”
“How can you know that?”
“I just know.”
Jack was tempted to tell the President that Crusoe was an alien being they’d picked up, but he didn’t think he’d handle the knowledge very well.
Sarah said angrily, “We’ve discovered something and we’d like you to explain it to us. Apparently, as soon as we are no longer necessary, we’re to be killed. Is that correct?”
The President looked downright flabbergasted. “That is classif
ied information, young lady. What have you people been up to? You’re supposed to remain in stasis unless there’s an emergency, but here you are, digging around in the ship’s computer, waking me from stasis, asking about top secret information like you have the right.”
Jack said, “We have the right to know why we are going to be murdered.”
“You are only a part of this mission because we considered you expendable. You know that. You all signed the waivers.”
“That’s no excuse to kill us. We’ve done nothing wrong.”
The President paused to gather his thoughts. “I had a team do independent psych evaluations on all of you before we took off. They concluded that because of the tortures and horrors of the testing you were subjected to, you could no longer be trusted.”
Sarah screamed, “You authorized those God damned tests.”
“We didn’t know they’d make you all so unstable. I was told it would be unwise to allow you to jeopardize the stability of the colony. You were to fly the ship to the planet and then you’d be eliminated, humanely of course.”
Jack said mockingly, “Oh, of course.”
Sarah asked, “What about Jason Rodriguez? Was he part of this?”
“Who the hell is that?”
“The weapons specialist. He already woke up once and helped us. He’s in stasis in your alternate pod bay right now.”
“There are some details I can’t remember. I couldn’t tell you the names of the soldiers. So I can’t tell you if this Jason Rodriguez was privy to the classified information.”
Jack said disgustedly, “You’re a pig of a man and the worst President the world ever shat out.”
“Yeah, screw you too, you crazy punk. Look at yourselves. You’re all going insane out here. Can any of you honestly tell me you should be allowed to interact with the colonists?”
Jack said, “That’s no longer your decision.” He said to Sarah, “How long have we been floating around out here?”
Sarah shrugged. “I lost count. I think it’s been around five hundred years.”