by Kit Walker
"Yes."
"You're going to look for Asha."
"Why is that such a fucking surprise?"
The crew stares at her in silence.
"I will go instead," Ysal says. "You should stay with the ship."
"I'm not leaving you behind," Laela replies.
"Nor will I leave you."
"Oh, hell," Kadar interrupts. "Why don't we all go?"
They all exchange glances.
"Goddammit," Kadar says. "We're all going, aren't we?"
•
Asha stares at the creature in silence for a very long time.
"You're not Mike," she finally says.
"I ... am ... not." The creature speaks slowly, hesitantly, as if carefully searching for each word. "He was ... consumed. I ... remember."
"What do you mean, you 'remember'?"
"Michael Sutherland was consumed, and I ... began," the creature says. "I remember him. His ... thoughts. His ... life."
Asha watches the creature carefully. If it were going to kill her, or eat her, it would have by now. Which means it must want something.
"Why did you bring me here?"
"We ... need ... help."
"You can't be serious," Asha snaps. "You attacked us. You killed Adam. You ate Mike."
"Mistakes," says the creature. "We were ... afraid."
"What about invading Earth? Was that a 'mistake' too?"
"We ... did not ... invade."
"I saw the Sentinel report," Asha says. "You killed everyone on Earth, and when the Sentinels showed up, you tried to kill them, too."
"We did not invade," the Sentinel repeats. "We began."
It takes Asha a few seconds to catch up. "What, on Earth?"
"Yes."
"You're from Earth."
"Yes."
Asha studies the creature carefully. It doesn't have eyes, but she gets the feeling it's watching her expectantly. "... How?"
"We are Aegis," the creature says. "We were made to help. Then we were altered. We consumed." It pauses. "Everything." Another pause. "We remember them. We ... regret."
"And the Sentinels?"
"Their ship ... screamed," the creature says. "Pain. We were afraid."
"You guys don't react very well to being scared."
"Do you?"
Asha doesn't have an answer to that.
The creature sits up. "Come with me."
"What? Where?"
"Come with me," the creature repeats.
Hesitantly, Asha gets to her feet. A side passage opens in the wall of the room, and the creature crawls inside. Asha follows.
"Do you have a name?" Asha asks.
"Aegis."
"No, like ... you, specifically."
After a moment, the creature says, "I am Paladin."
The passage leads to what must be the central chamber of the structure. The power core is finally visible, glowing and pulsing in the middle of the room. The chamber is filled with more of the Aegis creatures, basking in the light thrown off by the core.
Asha looks at Paladin, then back at the others. They're smaller than Paladin. Less armored.
"What's wrong with them?"
"The organic matter we consume here is ... dead," Paladin says. "It has no memory. New drones must grow. Learn. Adapt. It is slow."
"Wait," Asha says. "You haven't been eating the people on the station?"
"Correct."
"Why not?"
Paladin turns to look at her with those empty eyes. "We have enough regret."
•
Ysal wasn't too happy about being left at the entrance to the maintenance shaft. To be honest, Laela wasn't too happy about leaving her behind, either; now she has to rely on Vaz and Kadar to watch her back. Vaz is a big guy, and reliable, but useless in a fight. And Kadar is ... well, Kadar.
At least she brought a gun this time.
They reach the closed emergency door, and Laela opens up the override panel. "This is going to take a few minutes," she says. "Keep an eye out."
Kadar bounces nervously on his heels. "God, this is the worst idea."
"Yep," Vaz says.
"Why did I come down here?"
"You know why."
Laela manages to activate the override, and the emergency door slides back up into the ceiling.
There's a horrible metal monster waiting on the other side.
Laela yelps and pulls her gun on the thing. Kadar does the same.
"Whoa, whoa, hey, it's fine!" Asha shouts.
She steps out from behind the creature, where the other override panel has been opened. She looks unharmed.
"Asha, what the fuck?" Laela shouts.
"It's okay," Asha says. "This is going to take a lot of explaining and would you please put the guns away?!"
Kadar lowers his gun slightly. "Who's your friend?"
"Hello," says the creature. "I am Paladin."
"Did I hallucinate that?"
"No," Asha says. "Look, it's complicated. Where's Commander Faiza?"
"Probably back on her ship, by now." Laela checks the time on her comm. "We need to leave. The Sentinels are going to destroy the depot in half an hour."
"Paladin?" Asha asks. "Is that enough time for you to evacuate?"
"The new drones are dependent on the hive," Paladin replies. "They cannot survive without it. This station must not be destroyed."
"Shit." Asha rubs her hands over her face. "Shit. Okay." She looks at the crew. "Look, I can't ask you to help me with this. You need to leave, before it's too late."
"Asha, these things ate your planet," Kadar says. "Why are you suddenly so obsessed with helping them?"
"How much time do we have?"
Laela checks the time again. "Twenty-eight minutes."
"Then the explanation will have to wait," Asha says. "What do I need to do to stop this station from blowing up?"
"The Sentinels will have set up charges all over the station," Kadar says. "They'll be routed through a single detonator, and that's usually placed in a crucial, secure location."
"Like Eirik's office?" Laela suggests.
"Maybe. It'll be locked, though."
"Not to me, it won't."
•
Laela sends Vaz and Kadar back to the ship with orders to prep Wayfarer for departure. They may need to leave in a hurry. Ysal insists on coming with them to Eirik's office, especially since Paladin is also coming.
The elevator stops just below the top floor, opening up onto the command deck. Laela approaches the locked door on the other side of the room and keys in an access code; the door slides open, revealing a staircase.
"Really?" Asha says. "I was expecting some cool hacking stuff."
"Eirik's old," Laela says, leading the way up the stairs. "He's been using the same passcode for years. I figured it out on my second day here."
The detonator — an innocuous bronze box — sits on Eirik's desk, beeping ominously.
"This, however," Laela adds, "may call for some cool hacking stuff." She circles the desk and peers at the detonator's control panel.
Paladin tilts its head to the side, as if looking at something Asha can't see. "This speaks to the Sentinels," it says. "If you stop it, they will know."
"Let's cross that bridge when we come to it," Asha says. "Laela?"
"It's locked," Laela says. "Needs an authorization code."
"Will you be able to crack it?" Ysal asks.
"Probably," Laela says, "but it's faster if I just do this."
She pulls the faceplate off the control panel, reaches in, and yanks out a large, important-looking sphere.
The detector lets out a piercing beep and goes dark.
Asha holds her breath. It doesn't seem like the station just exploded. "... What did you do?"
"I disconnected the power supply."
And then someone's comm goes off.
Laela looks at Asha. Asha looks at Laela. They both look at Ysal, who points to the flashing communication panel on
Eirik's desk.
Slowly, Laela reaches over and answers the call.
Faiza's voice comes over the line: "I'm assuming this is Captain Laela."
Laela's face squinches up in a way that would be adorable under different circumstances. "... No?"
"Charming," Faiza says. "You have five minutes to get out of Eirik's office and leave the station."
"Or what?" Laela scoffs. "We already took out your detonator."
A shadow passes over the window.
The Pathfinder Suraya glides into view. She's easily three times the size of Wayfarer, sleek and armored and deadly. Hatches along the ship's belly open, revealing an impressive weapons array.
"Oh, right," Laela says. "That."
"Five minutes." Faiza ends the call.
"Call her back," Asha says.
"How will that help?"
Asha hits the panel, and the call goes through to the Suraya.
"Captain—" Faiza says.
"Commander Faiza, this is Asha Reed."
There's no answer, but the line remains open.
"You're making a mistake," Asha continues. "You don't need to destroy this depot."
"The lifeforms infesting Supply Depot 1356 voraciously consume organic matter and reproduce at a virulent rate," Faiza says. "They are indiscriminately aggressive and have been declared a threat to the Protectorate. They must be prevented from establishing a foothold within its borders."
"They were defending themselves!" Asha shouts. "We invaded their hive. We shot first."
"I have my orders."
"Well, your orders suck."
A huge, clawed metal hand lands gently on Asha's forearm. Paladin looks at her, then down at the communication console.
Asha nods and steps back.
"Commander Faiza," Paladin says.
There's a pause. "Who is this?"
"I am Paladin. I speak for Aegis. This station is our hive."
"... You're sentient."
"Yes," Paladin says. "We intended no harm. We were afraid." It hesitates, considering its words. "We ... do not wish to die."
Faint chatter comes down the line; the sound of several different people being consulted in quick succession.
"Will you speak with us?" Paladin asks.
"... Stand by."
Suraya's weapons array retracts, and the covers slide back into place.
•
From the balcony of Laela and Ysal's favorite restaurant, Asha can see almost the entirety of the now-abandoned market. It's a weird feeling, standing in a place that was once full of people and now isn't. A kind of hyperbolic emptiness.
Paladin climbs up over the edge of the balcony and settles beside her. "Hello."
"Hi," Asha says.
Paladin scans the room. "Commander Faiza is not here."
"She's coming."
Paladin nods. Asha wonders if it's an instinctive gesture, or if it's just emulating something it remembers Mike doing.
"Thank you," Paladin says. "For helping us. We were not sure you would."
Asha shrugs. "We Earthlings need to look out for each other."
Paladin appears confused by this, but doesn't say anything.
After a moment, Asha says, "Can I ask you something?"
"You just did," Paladin replies.
Great. Now the death robot's trying to be funny. "From what I remember of Frontier's logs," Asha says, "the ship was already adrift by the time Aegis got on board."
"Yes," Paladin says. "We tried to get inside. We were trapped in the heat diffusion system."
"But do you have any idea why the ship was drifting? What happened?"
Paladin considers this. "We do not know."
Asha hears footsteps coming up the stairs. Faiza appears, looking only slightly less hostile than the last time Asha saw her.
"Commander," Paladin says.
"Paladin," Faiza replies. She turns to look at Asha. "Before we begin, I'd like to discuss something with you."
Asha manages not to say 'uh oh' out loud. "... Yes?"
Faiza says, "You're not a Protectorate citizen." It isn't a question.
"Um," Asha says.
"I questioned your captain, and had a word with Immigration about your unique circumstances." Faiza reaches into her coat and produces a small gold data card, about the size of Asha's palm. "This is yours."
"What is it?"
"Your citizenship documents," Faiza says. "Please complete and authorize them by 0900 Standard tomorrow."
Asha knows she should take the card and run, but instead she blurts out, "Just like that?"
"Your passage through the border, while illegal, was unprecedented and through no fault of your own," Faiza says. "You have no homeworld to go back to, and you've established significant ties to the Protectorate. So, yes. 'Just like that.'"
"... Okay, then."
"Now, please leave," Faiza says. "I have some negotiations to handle."
"Yes, ma'am." Asha waves to Paladin. "Good luck."
"Goodbye," Paladin replies.
•
The door to the command deck opens. Laela looks over her shoulder, sees that it's Asha, and says, "I may have blabbed to the Sentinels a little bit."
"I know," Asha replies. "Now I have to fill out some paperwork. The horror."
"What? When I showed up at the border, they put me through the fucking gauntlet." Laela glares down at the helm console. "I should call my lawyer."
A few seconds of careful piloting later, Wayfarer safely clears the flock of ships leaving Supply Depot 1356. The depot is to remain evacuated until the Sentinels figure out what to do about the Aegis hive, and most of the ships leaving have no complaints about that whatsoever. First Contact is a beautiful and inspiring thing, in theory. In practice, it's usually a clusterfuck.
Asha drops into the comm station and leans over the partition. "So I guess I should thank you."
"For?"
"Coming to find me. Helping me save the hive."
"If you died, I'd have to teach Kadar how to calibrate the environmental controls. Nobody wants that."
"Could you stop being an asshole for five minutes? I'm trying to have a moment, here."
Laela rolls her eyes. "Look, if it were me down there, you'd have come looking for me. And not just because you need me to fly the ship. So ... don't worry about it."
Asha squints at her. "Oh my god," she blurts out. "Are we friends?"
"... Fuck," Laela sighs. "I think we are."
"Wow. Okay. This is going to take some adjustment."
"Don't tell anyone about this, okay? I've got a reputation to maintain." Laela brings up the FTL course controls. "We've got a pickup on Govannon, but we don't have to be there for another twenty days."
"So what are we going to do in the meantime?"
"No idea. Any suggestions?"
Asha thinks it over. "I want to see something I've never seen before."
The corner of Laela's mouth twitches up, the closest thing she allows herself to an actual smile. "I think we can manage that."
The story continues at
www.endling-series.com
About the Author
Kit Walker was born in the frigid wastes of Canada and raised on a steady diet of science fiction, superhero comics, and books about dinosaurs. A picture of her can be found in the March 13, 2009 issue of the Edmonton Journal, accompanied by the headline “RIVER CREATURE REMAINS AT LARGE.”
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