Outpost Omega

by Dan Davis

  “Okay, maybe it’s lost in translation. So, the Temples are just their ships and the gods are the pilots?”

  “It’s understandable that you mock what you don’t understand.”

  “So help me to understand.”

  “When you start being honest.”

  “Ask me anything you want and I’ll give you an honest answer.”

  “You are the champion Rama Seti, are you not?”

  “I am.”

  “Are you a clone of his?”

  “I’m a clone, sure. But I’m also me.”

  “You died in the Temple, no?”

  “And was reborn in a new clone body with my old mind fully intact. So I am me.”

  “But then you died in combat on Arcadia.”

  “You’ve got a good memory. I was gravely injured, yes. And yet here I am.”

  “Are you sick?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “What’s wrong with you?”

  “I am suffering from a kind of irreversible cellular degradation. My DNA and other molecular structures in my cells in most of tissues are damaged beyond repair.”

  “How long do you have?”

  “Unknown at this time. Weeks, perhaps months.”

  “They’re treating you for this?”

  “Regular blood transfusions and stem cell injections and all manner of gerontological treatments. That’s the reason I’m able to continue to function so well but there will come a point when my systems start to collapse and there’ll be nothing to stop it.”

  “You’ll die.”

  “Oh yes.”

  “Horribly, I would imagine.”

  “For sure but between you and me…” Ram leaned forward and lowered his voice. “I’m going to break into the armory, steal a weapon of some kind, and shoot myself in the head while I still can.” Ram sat back. “Don’t tell anybody.”

  “Who am I going to tell?”

  “Can’t you communicate with… you know…” Ram pointed at the ceiling. “The Gods of the Spheres?”

  “It doesn’t work like that.”

  “You can’t… pray to them?”

  “You can if you like. But how would they hear you?”

  “I don’t know. Because they’re gods?”

  “They’re not gods in the way humans think of gods. Or of God.”

  “What are they?”

  “Beings of some kind that exist in some form or other. More than that can’t be said.”

  “So you and your humble friends have no more idea than we do about the Orb Builders, okay, cool.”

  “Your flippancy is an attempt to reign in your fear.”

  “I’m not afraid.”

  “You are in awe. An element of awe, along with wonder, is fear. More than that, it is terror. And it is well placed.”

  “What am I terrified about?”

  “You admitted it to me a moment ago without even meaning to do it. You are afraid of the Gods. You call them Orb Builders, another absurdly pedestrian description, surely you agree.”

  “Well, you know what these bureaucrats are like. They try to keep value judgments and, well, awe, out of their naming conventions. It’s descriptive, isn’t it, for a hypothetical alien civilization that constructed the orb stations and sent them out and that controls them. Bureaucrats, scientists, politicians, they’re not going to call them the Gods of the Spheres, ever. That’ll never happen.”

  “They will one day. When all of us come to see the truth.”

  “Tell me about them.”

  “No. You are not willing to hear the truth.”

  “Alright, tell me about the Humbled, then. That must have been strange, being captured by them and indoctrinated, right? How about that?”

  “Again with the flippancy. And again it is because they frighten you.”

  “That’s true, I’m not afraid to admit that the Hex scare the living shit out of me. Sixteen legs… or tentacles. What do you call them, do you call them legs? I call them legs but some of the crew here call them tentacles. Some crazy few call them arms but that’s just insane, isn’t it? Arms, please. What do you call them?”

  “I don’t call their body parts anything at all.”

  “Yeah but come on, in your mind, deep down, when one of them reaches out and prods you with one of its limbs, with one of its appendages, its protrusions, do you think, eww, it touched me with its… go.” Ram pointed at him.

  “If you’re hoping to get an emotional reaction from me then keep hoping. It’s not about the Humbled. My work is about preparing humanity for joining the Humbled and for ultimately joining the Gods of the Spheres.”

  “Joining them, like in death? How does that work?”

  “You wouldn’t understand.”

  “They didn’t tell you, huh?”

  “All has been revealed to me but I am unable to pass on sacred knowledge to the uninitiated, you understand that, surely.”

  “Okay, I get that. There’s levels to this thing and I’m down here and you’re up there, right? So, how do I get to where you are? There’s a membership fee, right? How much do I owe you?”

  “If you believe you’re being amusing, think again. If you intend to anger me, I assure you, it won’t work.”

  Ram pursed his lips. “Seriously, how much to just bump me up to the top level?”

  “I see through you. I see your fear.”

  “Is that right?” Ram smiled. “What am I afraid of?”

  “You fear death.”

  Ram grinned. “How very perceptive of you. Did the Hex tell you that humans are afraid of dying or did you figure that one out for yourself?”

  “You fear truth. You’re afraid I might actually know something that you don’t.”

  “I’m certain that you do. I’m just thinking you’ve been brainwashed into an alien religion but I actually really, truly want to know if you do have any insights into the nature of reality, into the origins of the Orb Builders. I want to understand the Hex and why they believe this stuff. That’s the truth, can you tell?”

  “But why? Why do you want to know? What are your intentions?”

  “Lots of reasons. Pure curiosity. Existential fears for myself and for my people. And I really want to know the best way to kill the Hex.”

  “The Gods will decide who lives and who dies.”

  “I know. I’ve been there.” Ram watched the man opposite him squirm. “How does it make you feel to know I’ve been inside a Temple?”

  “I’m honored to be in your presence. It is the only reason I am still speaking to you in spite of your endless hostility and irreverence.”

  “You think I should revere you?”

  “Not me. I’m just a messenger. But surely you felt their majestic presence in the Temple? You felt it and your defense against the depths of those feelings you express now as mockery.”

  “It was pretty spooky on that orb, I’m not going to lie. But I’m sorry, I didn’t feel any holy presence. To be honest, it felt empty. Automated.”

  “I doubt that very much.”

  “Who’s been inside the holy of the holies here?” Ram raised a hand. “That would be me. And I’m telling you, I reckon your gods are just code. Algorithms.”

  “It’s perfectly possible. That doesn’t diminish their accomplishments, does it?” He smiled. “Who built the Temples? Algorithms?”

  “Yeah, maybe autonomous robots. AI. That’s plausible.”

  “Which begs the question… who built the AI? Who built the robots? This is all part of our training, sir, you cannot outmaneuver me on any of this. We are perfectly willing to worship the Gods even if they are some ancient autonomous system running a program. The effects are the same and so our devotion is just as deep.”

  “They can’t have given up all the good stuff to you, a measly little human. They must be keeping something back for themselves. They probably know what the Orb Builders are but they wouldn’t want you to know. You can’t be trusted.”

  “You could not
be more wrong. The Humbled have opened themselves up to us. Their only desire is to awaken humanity as they have been awakened. They could have wiped us out a hundred times over but they haven’t and that’s because they don’t want a genocide, they don’t want our planet, our resources, anything like that. All they want is our awakening. Our enlightenment.”

  “They want us subjugated. Enslaved, physically and mentally, by their alien religion.”

  “They want us freed. They want us to join them. They’re only doing what the Gods commanded be done. The Gods created the gateway to open up our system to their conquest. The Gods want their worship to spread.”

  “The orbs tell us to fight and the winners get the spoils. If humans had won the last couple of fights in the arena, then we would be conquering their home system right now.”

  “You think the Gods are powerless about who wins and who loses? The Gods set the terms and the sacrifices are made and the cycle continues. Until it does not.”

  “You’re saying it's fixed? The fights are fixed?”

  “Not at all. But why did the Gods bring a new Temple to our system so soon after the first Temple?”

  “You’re saying it’s because I killed the wheelhunter champion when I wasn’t supposed to win, is that it?”

  “Who can say what their motives are. But a human fighting the Humbled? We cannot win. Clearly, we cannot win. They’re bigger, faster, stronger, armored all over, and armed with blades, toxins. We have no hope of victory and that is because the Gods wish us to embrace what the Humbled can teach us. When humanity embraces the truth and worships, as a newly Humbled species, perhaps we will then have victory and a homeland of our own once more.”

  “That’s your sales pitch? Give in and subjugate yourselves for freedom? It’s no wonder everyone on Earth hates your guts.”

  “Your insults have absolutely no power.”

  “Must have been weird, living amongst monstrous aliens all that time. What was the indoctrination camp like? Must have been unpleasant living amongst all that water, wading through it every day, always wet. At least their habitats are warm, right? Warm and wet all the time. Did you ever get, what’s that thing called, trench foot?”

  “What are you talking about? It wasn’t like that.”

  “Oh, so, you never got taken into the Hex areas? You were kept in human areas all the time? Okay, I guess maybe you weren’t so trusted after all.”

  “I lived and worked in their habitats a great deal, actually. All I required was simple breathing apparatus and on occasion a pair of eye protectors.”

  “Gas mask and goggles, huh? Doesn’t sound very pleasant, splashing through water up to your knees struggling to breathe while they indoctrinate you.”

  “Where the hell did you get the idea about this water? Have you ever seen their ships? Their homes? I have. I assure you, there’s no water to be found.”

  “High humidity, though?”

  “I suppose. No higher than August in Florida.”

  “That’s where you’re from, Florida?”

  “An irrelevance.”

  “Your accent, though, you’ll have to forgive me because I’m from India so I only know from Avar but your accent sounds more like you’re from New York or something like that?”

  “As I said, irrelevant.”

  “The hex like it in humid places, did you know that? They’re almost entirely situated around equatorial zones, do you know why that is?”

  “It is their natural environment.”

  Ram ground his teeth. “Earth is not their natural environment.”

  “Our environments are unimportant when viewed on a cosmic scale. The planets we inhabit are neither here nor there, it is whether we are Enlightened or not that is critical.”

  “Yeah, sure, I’m sure that’s absolutely right. But that’s just it, they wear protective clothing all the time even around the equator so they stay in their little localized environment inside their suits and bases so they could live literally anywhere on the planet but they prefer most of all to stay where it’s wet and warm. Why is that?”

  “Your supposition isn’t correct. I was stationed in the far north of North America along with… a number of the Humbled.”

  “Hardly that many. Not compared to the number of bases in the rain forests and marshes. Outside of the equatorial zone, they seem to take most interest in the wetter parts of Washington State, for example. Not hot enough for them to stick around much, though. Bet you they didn’t like it much up there in the wind and the snow, right? What difference does it make, though, that’s what I don’t understand? If they’re inside their suits, or inside their bases, they can live anywhere. Just as well as we can. Why?”

  “I’m sure you are going to tell me your theory.”

  Ram shrugged. “I don’t have one. I just really want to know. Maybe they’re really homesick, you know? It reminds them of home. Is their entire home planet like that, do you know? Surely, they don’t just stick to the equator on their homeworld, that would be crazy.”

  “I’m afraid you’ll have to ask one yourself.”

  Ram raised his eyebrows. “Oh, so they don’t share everything with you then. I thought they were your friends?”

  “I never said that and I don’t believe they are. They have guided me toward enlightenment just as I have guided so many others.”

  “You’ve helped repress your own people, you know that. You’re a mouthpiece for them.”

  “I am one who guides humans toward the truth of the Gods of the Spheres.”

  “How do the Humbled speak to you?”

  “We communicate through text and through audio translators. They are far more advanced than humans.”

  “Bullshit.”

  He smiled. “You would like to think so.”

  “We are almost equals, technologically speaking. The orbs have made it that way, haven’t they. Only throwing two civilizations together that could fight on an equal footing.”

  “Equal, yes. And how did that work out for humanity?”

  “Nothing we can’t undo.”

  “The Humbled were chosen to spread the word to us. Everything is going according to the will of the Gods of the Spheres.”

  “Do they believe everything is preordained?”

  “Of course not. There is a plan and it is up to us to follow it or to deny it. Those that work against the will of the Gods will ultimately fail.”

  “Perhaps your being here is their will?”

  “How so?”

  “Perhaps the Gods of the Spheres want humans to catch up? Perhaps they want balance? And you could provide that balance.”

  “You captured me by pure chance.”

  “By pure intent, you mean.”

  “Fine, your intent, no one else’s. The Gods do not have the power to perform miracles at a distance. Your premise is nonsensical.”

  Ram sighed and looked at the ceiling just above his head. He smiled. “You’re too sneaky for me. I’m not going to get anything out of you like this. I suppose the captain and her officers are finally going to get their way with you.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “They wanted to torture you since I brought you on board. But you didn’t know anything that might help them with the mission, you were just irrelevant, so they didn’t do it. Plenty of them wanted to but they were just going to hand you over to UNOP. But now I do think your information might prove useful, so, I guess the XO will get the chance to torture you after all. Unfortunately, he’s not trained in that sort of thing, I get the impression he’s more of an enthusiastic amateur. But I’m sure he’ll get the job done. After all, it’s not rocket science, is it!”

  “I’m not afraid of you. Any of you.”

  “That’s nice. Well, have fun.” Ram stood and went to the door.

  “What is it that you expect me to say?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. How do the hex think? What do they feel? I’ll draw up a list of questions for Lieutenant Blackma
n to go through while he sticks things in you.”

  His face turned gray. “I don’t know anything about them. Honestly, I don’t. All I know is what they taught me about the Gods.”

  Ram sighed and hung his head. “I believe you.” He opened the door and turned in the doorway. “The XO is still going to torture you. No stopping him now. Bye-bye.”

  23.

  Ram went to speak to Stirling but he was asleep. Still, Ram eased himself into the chair beside his bed.

  “I don’t know what else to do, Sergeant,” Ram said to the unconscious man. “I was expecting some spectacular insight into their psychology or something. But that idiot is just that. He’s nothing. They’re going to hurt him now, which is good, I suppose. But I can’t even take any pleasure in the thought of him suffering. He’s just a useful idiot. He doesn’t have any insight.”

  He sighed and looked around the med bay, rubbing his tingling hands. His circulation was degenerating further. “Seems like I’m always in some place like this. It would have been nice to have some time off before I died.” He smiled to himself. “Oh, well.”

  “Sad bastard,” Stirling muttered with his eyes closed.

  Ram laughed. “That’s sad bastard, sir.”

  “What are you moping about, sir?”

  “Just thinking it’s about time I had a bit of leave.”

  “What, R and R?” Stirling scoffed. “What the hell do you call this?”

  “It is a very pleasant environment.”

  “You should go be with your girlfriend.” Stirling opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. “While you still can.”

  Ram scoffed. “She’s not human.”

  “Don’t take this the wrong way, sir. But neither are you.”

  “I was raised human. She’s an AP.”

  “She more than that. It’s obvious. Everyone knows it, even if they don’t understand why.”

  “I will admit that she is intriguing and I enjoy her company. But what’s the point? I have to be back to training in a few hours and sometime soon I’ll be too ill to work and then I’ll die. So what’s the point.”

  “She’s pretty.”

  Ram smiled and shook his head. “She is.”

  “Prettier than me.”

  “That’s not difficult. Anyway, get some rest. I’m going to bed.”