Callisto Deception

by John Read

  Kevin paced back and forth, approaching the prisoner and looking him in the eye, and then walking back to the mouth of the cave. Usually Kevin doesn’t shut up. Seeing him silent was intimidating. At first Howard looked confused, but then he scowled. It was obvious the prisoner couldn’t tolerate that he wasn’t been asked any questions.

  “You came from Mars,” Howard said.

  Kevin stopped pacing, and held his hands behind his back. How the hell did he know that? I thought.

  “Yes,” Kevin answered.

  “Then, it’s true. You're from the Communist Alliance.”

  Kevin unclasped his hands. “Hold please.” Kevin left his hostage and met us in the adjacent cave.

  “He just told me I was from the CA,” Kevin whispered.

  “We heard him, but what the hell?” Serene said. “The CA doesn’t have space ships! Keep him talking. Don’t respond to misinformation. That will just reinforce his beliefs.”

  Kevin walked back to the hostage, and stood like a solider at ease in front of him. Howard looked confused. He wanted answers, too.

  “You’re a commie,” Steiner said.

  “So you say,” Kevin replied smoothly. “What do you know about us?”

  “We know all about you,” Howard said. “You’ve come to take Callisto, because the Martian habitats are too small, too old, and too shitty, so you’ve come to take our world, to make us live by your rules, or kill us.”

  “Who is your commanding officer?”

  “I'm not going to tell you,” Howard answered, and spat on the cave floor.

  “Is it H3? I was always a fan of his. Nice guy in a murder-y psychopathic kind of way.”

  In the adjacent tunnel, I put a hand to my head, “Oh, Kevin,” I said.

  “Is this a joke?” Howard said.

  “How did you get to Callisto?” Kevin asked, regaining his composure.

  “In a space ship, you idiot; how did you get here?”

  “Me too,” Kevin said, sitting down on a rock. “It was a long trip, but the inflight entertainment wasn’t bad.”

  An awkward silence passed. The boy appeared confused. Apparently, Kevin wasn’t the villain he expected. Howard struggled as if trying to escape, but then winced in pain as he put strain on his injured wrist. His scowl returned.

  “Where were you from, on Earth?” Kevin asked.

  “New York, not that it matters to you. I was an exchange student in Hong Kong. I bet you liked it when you nuked Earth, you communist scum bag. They say most of the weapons were yours.”

  “Ahh, hold one second,” Kevin said, and returned to our cave.

  “How did it feel when you killed those people on Mars?” Howard yelled as Kevin left.

  When Howard was out of earshot, Kevin said, “So we nuked Earth, and we killed people on Mars? He called me a communist. What the hell, guys?”

  “Shit,” I said.

  “What?” Kevin asked again.

  “Don’t you see what this means? This kid was kidnapped. Whoever brought him here wanted an army so they kidnapped a bunch of people from Earth under the guise of nuclear war.”

  “I’m going in there,” Serene said.

  “Me too,” Amelia said.

  “Wait,” Tayler said. “Leave the camo.”

  Kevin, Amelia and Serene shrugged off their tunics. Underneath, Amelia and Serene wore blue T-shirts with the NASA emblem embroidered on the upper left. Kevin removed his tunic as well. He didn’t have a NASA emblem; instead his shirt showed a squadron of B3 bombers flying in formation in front of a giant American flag.

  “That’ll do,” Avro said. “Good luck.”

  The three of them stood in front of the hostage; it was dark in the cave, and their faces and T-shirts were barely visible.

  “I’m Serene Johnson. Former US Marine. Nice to meet you.”

  “Amelia Shephard, former Lieutenant in the Multinational Defense Force.”

  “Kevin Patel. I work for NASA.”

  “We all work for NASA now,” Amelia said, taking off her watch and using its light to illuminate the cave. “We were exploring the habitat when you attacked us.”

  Howard looked even more confused now. He stared at the women, maybe aware that they didn’t have foreign accents, and weren’t wearing the drab costumes of Alliance citizens.

  “I don’t understand,” Howard said. “This must be a deception. You’re trying to trick me. NASA doesn’t use guns.”

  “Well, thanks to H3, we do now,” Amelia said.

  “You say you’re American?” Howard asked.

  “Actually, I’m Canadian,” Serene said. “By birth anyway.” She let her voice become soft, a change from her usual macho tone.

  “I’m American,” Amelia said.

  “Okay then, how did you …” Howard paused, softening to the idea, “… survive?”

  “Survive what?” Amelia said.

  “The war, the apocalypse, everything!” Howard demanded.

  “What war?” Kevin said. “There have been no wars.”

  “July twentieth, 2071—” Howard began.

  “Impact day,” Amelia said.

  “Impact day?” Howard said. “What’s impact day?” Howard shifted his gaze from Amelia to Serene, then back again. His look was one of innocent wonder, like a child face to face with a whale at an aquarium.

  Amelia turned to Serene. “They were definitely kidnapped.”

  “Kidnapped?” Howard said. “We were rescued. I saw the nukes from the plane!”

  Amelia asked, “Where were you on July twentieth, 2071, the day the CTS Bradbury crashed into California?”

  “In the air, somewhere over Asia.”

  Serene turned to Amelia. “The Chinese detonated several nuclear warheads shortly after the impact,” she explained, “as a warning to the Communist Alliance. The Chinese were worried the Alliance would use the disaster to start an uprising.”

  Amelia sat down on a rock, looking up at Howard who still stood at the end of his lead. She picked up a stick, and began drawing on the cave floor. “There was a cartel in California which used the impact to come to power. In that sense, the Chinese were smart, as they may have avoided a war. Unfortunately, several transcontinental flights were caught in the crossfire.”

  “Except they weren’t,” Serene said. “You were on one of those flights.”

  “We landed in Tibet,” Howard said. “That’s where we boarded the spacecraft. But if there was no war,” he continued, taking two steps back, “then Earth is …”

  “A million people died that day,” Amelia said.

  “They told us Earth was uninhabitable.”

  “Who told you?” Serene said.

  “The Doomsdayers.”

  “The Doomsdayers? Those conspiracy theorists back on Earth?” Amelia said.

  “More like trillionaire executives preparing for the end of the world,” Kevin explained. “Bat-shit crazy people with money. Rumor had it, H3 was a Doomsdayer, although he never stated this publicly.”

  Howard went to his knees. He was weeping, realizing that his life was built on a lie.

  Commander Tayler stood in the entrance of the cave. “Untie him,” he said.

  Tayler looked back at Avro, Nash, and me. “C’mon in.”

  Avro lit a torch from his pack, fully illuminating the cave

  Serene walked over to Howard. “May I?” she said. Howard turned, and presented his hands behind his back. Serene pulled a knife from its sheath, cutting the zip ties that bound his hands together.

  They had wrapped his left wrist, which may have been broken, but his right looked fine. We exchanged introductions and shook hands. I could feel Howard’s hand tremble as we shook; he was probably still in shock.

  “Take a seat everyone,” Tayler said. “Howard, tell us everything you know. Absolutely everything.”

  27

  Only a few months after its creation, the army was ready for combat. Several regiments had completed basic training. On Marie’s morning
runs, she’d pass platoons standing at attention outside their barracks. During the day, they’d march up and down the streets of their newly constructed base.

  In Newport, the sound of gunfire from the range could be heard.

  Several VR suits from the Mount Everest had been collected, and a Virtual Reality training school had been established to train pilots for spacecraft that had yet to be built.

  H3 met with Commander Yamamoto, the highest-ranking officer in this army. The commander was just over a meter and a half tall, and would probably be less than this under Earth’s gravity. He looked like a man who’d been religious about going to the gym in the past, but had cut back on his routine after taking on additional responsibilities.

  They sat in H3’s office aboard his yacht. Marie sat nearby working through logistical details pertaining to H3’s position. Her side project however, was making sure to remind every politician, including H3, of her idea for a reconnaissance mission to Earth. It was still this that motivated her work for H3.

  “Five thousand adults on this colony, none of whom are aerospace engineers,” H3 complained. “We need to defend the space around the colony, commander, not just inside it.”

  “We have our smartest men training in VR aboard the Mount Everest, sir, and a manufacturing facility has been constructed. What we lack are effective designs.”

  The two stared at each other.

  Yamamoto said, “Sir, if we could use your cruiser as a template, perhaps we could replicate the design.”

  “No,” H3 said. “No one touches my ship.”

  “Henry,” Marie said, butting into a conversation well below her pay grade.

  “Your ship made the trip all the way from Mars; at least let them take a look.”

  “Trust me, Marie, it won’t help. My ship is a horrible template.”

  “I disagree, representative,” Yamamoto replied. “You should listen to your assistant.”

  “I’ve been asking for a reconnaissance mission to Earth for months,” Marie said. “If I had my way, I’d take his ship, and make the trip back to Earth tomorrow.”

  “Marie,” H3 began with a scowl, “my spacecraft can only carry enough fuel for a one-way trip. Without a convoy, they’d never make it back. I’m not sending good men and women on a suicide mission just to please you.”

  There was a knock on the door, and a young lieutenant stepped into the room. He drew a quick salute which he held in place. Commander Yamamoto stood, returning the salute.

  “Sir,” the young man said. “Our patrol out on the eastern Ring has spotted eight spacecraft parked almost five hundred kilometers further to the east.”

  “What?” H3 said. “Where are they, specifically?”

  “They’re near the universal constructer, sir. The ships are small, look like single pilot aircraft, and seem to be abandoned. We’ve followed all your protocols sir, and a radio jamming is in effect.”

  Yamamotto was speechless; he just stared at the young solider.

  “There’s more, sir,” said the young man. “We’ve spotted several flying machines. inside the Ring.”

  “Oh my God!” Marie said, thinking of Branson and Lise.

  “Well, take them out!” said Yamamotto.

  “Yes, sir.” The young man turned, walked out the door and began issuing commands into his watch.

  “Shit,” H3 said, banging his hand on the table. “They’re here.”

  Marie studied him. It was the second time she’d seen him lose his temper. The first was when Malcom tried to send a signal.

  “You must control your anger, representative,” Yamamotto said. “The enemy can use that to their advantage.

  “It’s not anger, Commander, it’s fear.”

  A siren sounded in Newport, and echoed off the water. Commander Yamamoto was just about to leave H3’s office when he received a message.

  H3 stood, and Marie joined him in front of his desk.

  Yamamoto passed his hand over his wrist, transferring the message up onto the holovision.

  “Captain,” Yamamoto said to the screen.

  The screen showed a military truck with a rear mounted 20mm cannon. The captain, a woman of about thirty, positioned herself in front of the camera.

  “Commander Yamamoto,” she said. “We took heavy fire from the south west. It was an ambush, sir.”

  “Was anyone killed?” Yamamoto said.

  “No KIA sir, but one person is missing,” replied the captain. “His name was Steiner, sir.”

  “No KIA? You took heavy fire and no one was killed?” the commander said.

  “We had one person in critical, sir, six with minor injuries, and one soldier is missing. We believe Steiner may have been taken hostage.”

  “Keep me updated,” said the commander.

  “Yes sir,” the captain said. “One more thing.”

  “Yes, what is it?” said the commander.

  “Those aircraft we saw, sir, looked like they were printed here. The pilots destroyed them, sir, using high explosives on the hydrogen tanks. But we found something in the debris.”

  “Oh?”

  “Fabric, sir. It was pretty bloody, didn’t find a body, but we’re pretty sure one of them is dead. The fabric had a patch on it. It said “NASA”, sir.”

  “A souvenir from Mars most likely,” H3 said. “The Alliance guys love their battle trophies. Thank you, captain.”

  H3 reached over to Yamamoto and tapped his wrist, ending the call.

  Commander Yamamoto turned to face H3. “Sir, do you have something to say?”

  “This is far worse than we thought,” H3 said. “Far, far worse. You must exterminate this threat immediately!”

  "No one was killed!” Marie said. “Maybe this means they don’t want to kill anyone!”

  “It means they’re sloppy,” H3 said.

  “Representative,” said the commander, “I’ll send every man we have to the eastern edge of the settlement.”

  “That won’t be enough,” H3 said. “Torch the woods, burn it from the east to the west.”

  “Representative?” Yamamoto said.

  “The colony will be fine, it’s designed to survive a fire,” H3 replied. “It is not designed to survive an occupation, Commander.”

  “Yes, sir,” said the commander.

  “And if you find your missing solider, hold him for interrogation but don't let him speak to anyone. These people have an amazing ability to corrupt young minds; they're probably trying to take us from the inside.”

  “I understand, sir.”

  “Carry on.”

  28

  We sat on rocks around the cave, each of us facing Howard in anticipation. In the torch light, we looked like campers about to tell ghost stories. Kevin opened a ration pack and passed out bars of dried fruit. Howard talked for over an hour and he turned out to be quite a story teller. He told us about the Hives and the four spaceships that left Earth, and the three that made it to Callisto. It was almost unbelievable. Except, here they were, thousands of people living their lives in a tube. The baby boom surprised me the most; almost 1,000 babies had been born since they arrived, and many more were on the way.

  “That’s it really,” Howard said, bringing his story to a close. “I joined the Callisto Defense Force, and we’ve been patrolling ever since. When you showed up, we thought it meant war.”

  "How many CDF soldiers are there?" Serene asked.

  "About five hundred," Howard replied.

  "Where did they get the officers?" Avro asked.

  "They were chosen personally by H3, and all of them have previous military experience. But mostly, they were NCOs on Earth."

  "It sounds like H3 wanted an army that wouldn't question orders," I said.

  "I never really thought about it,” Howard said.

  “What made you join the CDF?” I asked.

  “There's not a lot of opportunity for adventure here on Callisto. When we heard they were forming an army to protect the citizens, all my
friends and I signed up.”

  “Are there many other Americans in the colony?” I asked.

  “A few hundred maybe, but we are all pretty spread out now. Some were on flights like me; others were on the cruise ship that escaped the tsunami. I was fourteen when we left Earth, and don’t think about nationalities anymore.”

  “I lost my wife and son in the impact,” I said.

  “I’m sorry,” Howard said. “But if what you’re saying is true, my parents, and my siblings, are still alive. Can I contact them?”

  Serene tapped her watch. “Our comm equipment won’t penetrate the walls of this colony, sorry.”

  “Now that you’re here, you can tell everyone the truth, right?” Howard said, “Maybe some of us can go home?”

  “I don’t think they’re going to let us get the story out,” Commander Tayler said. “H3 is a wanted man and the Doomsdayers obviously don’t want anyone finding out the truth.”

  “They can’t keep this a secret forever; they must have known that,” Howard said.

  “They do know that,” I said. “That explains why they wanted a birth boom. Anyone born here would have serious trouble adapting to Earth’s gravity.”

  “So, anyone with family here is stuck here no matter what?” Howard said.

  “Basically, yeah,” I agreed.

  “What would they do if they found you?” Howard asked.

  “They’ll kill us,” Serene said. “And since you know the truth, in all probability, they’ll kill you, too.”

  “I’ll deny it, “Howard said.

  “They’ll know you’ve talked to us,” Tayler said. “I’m sorry we brought you into this.”

  Our proximity alerts began to chirp. “We’ve got company,” I said, and pulled on my visor. Half the screen showed a swirling stripe of red.

  “Tactical update,” Avro said.

  Nash grabbed a drone from his belt and tossed it out of the cave. Four little propellers popped out of the side and the drone flew a kilometer loop around our position before flying back into the cave, and Jamaal’s palm.

  The new data fed our visors, but something was wrong. Something was clouding the drone’s infrared sensor.