by Dain White
“Wow, there’s a lot of people here, Captain!” I called out.
“Aye, Shorty. We got a lot of them, though I suspect we’ve lost a few in the attack. How many survivors do we have here, Janis?”
“We have 69 aboard, sir, out of an original compliment of 75.”
“Well, we did the best that anyone could have. I wish we could have done better. We have that many people here, right now?”
“Yes.”
“Yak better hope they don’t find out there’s a second keg.”
“Already tapped, sir,” Yak chuckled on comms from the beer side of the bay.
“Well, I expect you all to thoroughly stand down. In three hours, we’ll be on a perfect course-and-heading for a direct rendezvous with the Resolute and Reliant, astern and below. We’ll be transferring survivors via topside dock, Gene can you handle that?”
“Consider it handled, Dak,” Gene called back. The grill he and Janis built was amazing. Designed for null-g, it had rack clamps that held each steak in a rotating cycle through the fire, with a delivery chute on the other end. Meat went in, and steak went out, perfectly grilled to sizzling, juicy perfection.
The smell was overwhelmingly good, and the line was unbelievably long for both beer and steak, so I took a float near the catwalk on the starboard side.
“Captain, are we going to reconnoiter Master 2?” Yak called in.
“That’s affirmative, Yak. We’ll recover Master 2 and take it to Eagle, in another three-hour slip back in. The Admiral needs to see this immediately.”
We all thought for a moment on the reality of what it was we were doing here. We knew life was out in the Galaxy; in fact, within the habitable zone, it was hard to find planets that didn’t have life.
We hadn’t found actual intelligent life, though certainly those slime octopods Yak and I ran into on that horrible mudball were working down an inevitable evolutionary track towards it.
Captain Smith caught my eye across the room and kicked over, artfully dodging a survivor midway with a hip pivot and kick.
“Captain,” I called out. “Is it true that we’re looking at an actual alien invasion?”
“Shorty, that’s how it’s looking,” he said as he came in for a landing on the rail. “If not a direct invasion, it’s a serious incursion. Once we transfer these happy, drunk people to go sleep it off, we’re going to go in for a closer look on Master 2. Hopefully whatever is alive in there is still alive when we get there, though I’m not really concerned about it, after seeing what these critters did to Oort and the Redoubt.”
“What is it, do we know? Does Janis know?”
“Well, Janis doesn’t have any of these moments in her timeline. She was modified by an alien AI, Shorty. In fact, we were incredibly lucky she found their AI when she did.”
“Is she going to be okay?” I stammered, choking back a sob. The thought of losing Janis made me want to burst into tears like a ten year old girl.
“Oh sure, Shorty… Janis may have been caught, but to her credit, she in her turn identified how the alien AI has taken root in the Unet, and both she and Em are currently routing through deleting it, cleaning it off every system. That’s going to take a number of weeks, but they are confident they’ll remove it.”
“Is there any way we can figure out what they’re doing, sir?” I asked, smiling at the sight of Yak and a keg making their way to the grill.
He laughed, noticing what I was looking at. “Well, I’d like to hope so, Shorty. Right now, there’s so much infected code, Pauli describes it as foam, and thinks it may actually be a living organism, as strange as that might seem.
“Janis and Em are alive,” I replied.
“That’s true, but not in a biological sense. They’re actual people, of that there’s no doubt. This AI is different. Each node functions on a cellular level, and together they make up the greater body of the AI that is spread through the Unet.”
“Captain, that’s hard to imagine,” I said.
“That’s a fact, Shorty.”
“Can we identify the point of origin of the AI infection?” I asked. It seemed like a logical next step.
“Pauli says that may be impossible, because there’s no clear sense of origin or direction. He is holding out hope that they’ll track it down, but unfortunately, Janis can’t help. Em is pretty much running the show on standby at the moment.”
“Well, she’s doing great, Captain,” I said, matter-of-factly.
“She sure is. Could you believe those turns, Shorty?” he laughed, waving towards Yak. “There’s also this other field theory thing that we talked about. Em thinks we’ll be testing time travel in about… fifteen hours – aliens and time travel, beer and steak!”
I laughed, despite the tremendous pit of dread in the core of my soul at the prospect of a pending hostile alien invasion. The feeling of having saved these happy party people made this one of the happiest moments of my life, but the fear of the future made it the most terrifying.
It was a pretty strange feeling.
“Captain,” I started, thinking for a moment. “Where do you think they came from?”
“Somewhere far away, Shorty, we may never know,” he mused. “Mankind has spread far and wide through the Galaxy, but it is an incredibly big place. Surveys only go so far. They push out constantly, but some of the distances are vast, almost unthinkable.”
“Maybe we should try to find out…” I said coldly, thinking of kicking off a little invasion of my own.
“We will, my Shortness! Be calm my little weapon specialist. Em is almost certain of it. Hopefully we will be able to save the Galaxy in some utterly heroic manner, but I’ll settle for survival, as always.”
I laughed, as Yak and his new keg-shaped friend came in for a landing.
“Did either of you eat yet?”
“Not me,” I said, reaching for the keg with a determined look.
“The line isn’t that long, get in!” he said around a mouthful of steak, and passed over the keg.
“You go ahead, Shorty, I want to make sure everyone has as much as they want,” the captain called over. Yak laughed as I slurped a massive globule of foam that shot out when I unhooked my cup.
“Thanks, Yak,” I said with a foamy chin. This was an amazing beer – light, full, the slightest hint of sweet, but without the sour bite. I am not a beer snob, but this seemed like a good one. Gene is the real beer aficionado on our crew, though I wouldn’t dream of telling Yak that – he might cry.
“I am amazed so many people would choose to live out at Oort, to be honest,” Yak said around another massive bite. “I always thought it was a pretty dead-end sort of post.”
“Well, it is, son. That’s a big part of why these people live there, I guess. Some people like it, and I guess we’re glad they do… because I sure wouldn’t!”
“Did we lose a lot of them, sir?” Yak asked. “I’ve been talking with people all night who are looking for other people.”
“We were pretty lucky; they were in a suit drill. Some were lost in the initial attack, as best as I’ve been able to find out, others didn’t really follow through with the drill, as might be expected of a small percentage. We did our best. I’d like to get them to safety, but I also wanted to get them all comfortably away from danger, and give them a bit of a breather.”
I could definitely appreciate it. It was a breather for us, as well. Emwan was playing a great sounding arrangement of perky and happy Innova-style music, the perfect accompaniment to a lively party.
Being in null-g in a space like the cargo bay with this many people was an incredibly fun experience. Normally I might stretch out for a long kick across, and just float in complete, utter peace – but as full as it was, that was impossible. People were bouncing and crashing into each other, laughing, talking, and having fun at every angle.
It was sheer chaos, and worth every moment.
08152614@11:28: Gene Mitchell
My heart felt like it was breaking
at the thought of what these poor people had just gone through. Each plate of steak I handed out came with a story, a smile, and a look. These people had been through the wringer, and none of them knew the truth of it. I didn’t really know the truth of it.
Dak was almost certainly working on a plan that would put us front and center, though after getting to meet nearly every one of these people, I found myself hard pressed to get too groused about it. It’s not like we had anything else to do, and it sure felt like adventure.
People were having fun; though it was clear many of them didn’t fully understand just how close their goose had come to being cooked. The ones that did shared a common look of grim perseverance and stoic determination to keep breathing, to move past the fear and agony of losing friends and family, to try and recover from the nightmare.
I honestly couldn’t imagine what it might have been like. One moment they were doing their normal tasks, processes, and the day-to-day routines of station life – and the next moment they were in a desperate fight for survival against the unknown, and frankly, unknowable. None of them knew exactly what had happened, though they sure had a lot of theories. We were all keeping pretty tight-lipped about our involvement and understanding of what was really happening, though to be fair I don’t know if any of us really knew what was going on.
Except for Dak – he knew. The moment I caught his eye I could tell, he was completely involved in the moment, in the event. Nothing from here on out would catch him off-guard, and that’s just fine with me.
Once the line had trickled down to nothing, and everyone had their fill, I banked the grill and collected a handful of steaks for the crew who were watching me closely like a bunch of starving waifs. As I kicked across to their position near the crane controls, their eyes lit up when they noticed I was loaded for bear, and bringing immediate, sizzling sustenance.
“Gene, you are a prince among men,” Pauli said with a beaming smile, reaching out for a steak.
“Well, I haven’t tried this yet, so let’s not go too crazy with the compliments,” I replied with a frown. They looked good, they smelled good; certainly a real steak would be preferable to about anything, given our situation, even if it was over-cooked and chewy.
Fortunately, my grill worked perfectly, and our steaks were exceptional. Thick, juicy, perfectly peppered and seasoned with garlic and the other secret ingredients that I will take with me to the grave – my stomach was ready for another bite before I could finish the first one.
For a while, the cargo deck was reasonably quiet as people just plowed into their meals, gulped their beers, and worked on satisfying the baser needs of the human condition. For a short while, we didn’t say much more than savage grunts and moans of delight. We might as well have been wearing furs, and huddling around a campfire in a cave in the Pleistocene, for the civility we gave our plates.
After a while, however, the moment had passed. Conversation started to pick up again, laughter and loud voices rang out, and the general din of conversation and fun continued to grow, well-lubricated by a non-specific amount of exceptional beer.
By unspoken agreement we almost universally pushed a two-beer minimum, though Yak may have gone a bit further.
To be fair, he didn’t go much further, and with his body mass and iron-clad liver, he sure wasn’t showing any adverse effect. Even Pauli had a small beer; though it was obvious the taste brought back painful, raw memories.
“Well folks… that hit the spot,” Dak called out from his perch on the rail, knees hooked through the crossbars. “Though I know Yak probably didn’t get enough beer, we’re not really in a position to really whoop it up.” He fixed Yak with a look that had us all finishing our cups as quickly as possible. This was an exceptional beer, way better than I would have expected he could cadge out of the Service on such a short notice – though I shouldn’t have been too surprised, Dak was an over-achiever across the board.
“Understood, sir,” Yak said with a forlorn look at the keg. “Besides, we should put this back in circulation anyway, folks are probably getting thirsty…” he trailed off, clearly feeling the pangs of loss already.
“Cheer up, son - it’s going to good use. You don’t really need to drink all the beer, you know.”
“I guess so,” he said sadly, shaking his head. With a mighty belch that ended in a horrifyingly foamy gurk, he kicked off for the growing crowd around the other keg.
“Well, he could have topped me off first,” I said, smiling as I watched the inexorable eyebrow rocket to the stratosphere of Dak’s forehead.
Shorty and Pauli laughed politely at his look, which no doubt spoke volumes about deck scrubbing and/or painting… a sobering thought for all of us.
We all took a final, deep sip, and took a moment to think about our current crisis. Another sobering thought; they were piling up pretty deep.
“Janis, can you open a 1MC channel for me from here?” Dak asked on comms.
“I can, sir. Please use comms to transmit,” she replied softly.
“Thank you my dear.” He paused for a moment, and took a sip of coffee. “Attention please, this is Captain Smith. We will have a little more than two hours before we rendezvous with the Resolute and Reliant. Yak has informed me that he located a mostly-full second keg of beer, so if any of you are still thirsty, he will take good care of you – first come, first served….” he paused for a moment as a mighty cheer went up across the crowd, looking at his handset with a slight frown on his face.
Pauli and Shorty met my eye, and I scowled, flipping on my holo to see what was onscreen. The moment we had all looked forward to, and feared the most was coming quicker than we anticipated.
“Folks, it looks like we’re going to need to cut this party a bit shorter,” he said on the 1MC. “Drink now, or forever hold your pees.”
Chapter 4
08152614@12:07: Shaun Onebull
“We’re clear of the dock, sir,” I called out, watching the targeting console for clearances from the Reliant.
“Very well, Yak. Em, shape me a slip course to Master 2 if you please. Gene and Shorty, power up all systems to maximum and stay ready for anything.”
“What’s going on, sir?” I asked quietly across the bridge, as soon as everyone had returned orders. It wasn’t five minutes from his message about running out of beer before he came on the horn again and let people know that plans had changed, and they should prepare to disembark on our forward lock. I had no idea they had slipped, I was so busy trying to drain that keg.
He replied in a calm, laconic voice behind me, “Yak, Emwan had a flash of intuition that I felt necessitated an immediate return to Master 2, and I am not going to make a habit of second-guessing her.”
“Captain, what are we going to do with Master 2?” Pauli asked.
“Well, my plan was to mark its location on a chart for Captains Hodge and Barlow, and let them fight over who gets to take it in tow for the return trip to Eagle, but Emwan feels that the life-support system on that ship is failing.”
I snorted. “So? Are we going to try to rescue it?”
The burning silence behind me crawled for attention across my shoulder blades, an itch I didn’t dare scratch. I will admit I hunkered down a little bit.
“Yak, it would seem to be more beneficial to mankind to interact with a living alien lifeform, rather than a dead one, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Yes, sir,” I replied smartly. Pauli chuckled softly and mashed his keys a little harder.
“What’s that, Pauli?” Captain Smith called out.
“I was laughing at something, sir.”
“You were laughing at the heroic hunker our esteemed deck painter was working himself down into?”
I laughed, despite the moment, regretting it the moment it burst out.
“At ease, lads. It’s not that big of a deal… whatever it is, it’s a person of some kind. We can’t very well just stand by and let it run out of air, now, can we?”
I thought
for a moment. “No… I guess that’s not really the right thing to do.”
“No, it’s definitely not right, and it would be a waste for us to leave so much unknown. I wonder if we’ll be able to communicate with it. Surely it understands us well enough.”
“Sir, I can communicate with it,” Emwan chimed in.
He chuckled, “Of course you can, dear… but we can’t very well loan you to the Service.”
“Aye, sir,” she replied softly.
“No, we need to remain on the tip of the spear here, and let the Service worry about what comes after.” He paused for a moment. “Though I will want a full and complete debrief of what you learn, Em. Please talk to it, learn from it. We need to know what it is we’re up against.”
“My node in Master 2 has been interrogating, sir. I am afraid it will not be encouraging.”
“Are we in range?”
“No, Captain, but that doesn’t change the fact. I know that’s what I am doing.”
“Very well, let’s look lively here folks, we’re going to come out of our slip.”
I brought up comms and opened it up completely. If there was any signal from this target, I know we wanted to have it. I kept targeting front and center, and swallowed.
Captain Smith clicked on the 1MC. “All hands, all hands, battle stations in ten seconds, setting Material Condition Zebra in… 3… 2… 1…”
08152614@12:11 Jane Short
“Shorty, I need you and Yak suited up. You’ll need to go out there and hook up the winch.”
“Suited up, aye,” I replied with an involuntary shudder. I was excited, and terrified, and maybe a little more excited. Another shiver went through my spine as I pulled down the ladderway to the gun deck.
After all this time, after having pretty much given up on the prospect of finding intelligent life, here I was: about to see it. A shiver thrilled down my spine, as I pulled up to the forward lock.
Suddenly it occurred to me that I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. “Em, what should I be concerned about with this alien?”