Yuina couldn’t have had a bigger smile.
Steo asked, “What about the engines? They were balanced for a reduced payload. Now the ship has more mass.”
“Much more mass, Master Steo. Weapons and munitions have increased the mass of the ship by 11.72%. However both the graviton engine and tachyon subengine were improved to handle the additional mass. There should be no loss in maneuverability.”
“Summary?” Steo asked. He realized he had some reading to do.
Hawking said, “The Eye of Orion is a corvette-class military ship with excellent weaponry and shields. With its outscale sensors it should be a match for larger vessels, even destroyers.”
“Like the Fire Scorpion,” Yuina said with a wicked grin.
While the bridge crew appraised the new armaments, Steo went back to the holobridge. He brought up a wild assortment of holograms.
Renosha entered the cold white room. “You’re not as enthused as the others about the upgrades.”
“Weapons are tools. We need to know how to use them. We need plans,” Steo said.
“What do you hope for?”
“A surgical strike. I’ve designed complicated schemes before, with more crew than this. The same principles should apply. Trick the guards, avoid the cameras, move to the target, steal it and get back out alive. Not so different.”
“Do you want Dr. Spierk and Admiral Slaught dead?”
“Yes,” Steo said. “I enjoy stealing things from bad guys, I really do. It’s fun seeing their reaction when they realize everybody knows what they’ve done, or the sudden turn of fortune when the big shot realizes he’s surrounded by all the little people he stepped on. This isn’t the time to steal something or talk to them, though. They’ve tried to kill us repeatedly, and they mean to kill many more. There’s no one else to do it.” He sounded like he was convincing himself more than the robot.
“What about the crew?” Renosha asked.
“Yuina’s angry. Glaikis wants revenge for Tully’s death. I think Cyrus just wants to contribute.”
“It’s good that you see that. What do you want?”
“We’ll surprise the Vadyanika and Fire Scorpion and destroy them before they know what hit them. With any luck, we can save the galaxy.”
“Yes. With any luck,” Renosha said.
CHAPTER 4
Human Exceptionalism
The woman’s serene voice played over the AndroVault’s internal communications systems.
“Not all humans are in shackles. Some people are alien thralls. They work with aliens to hunt down and capture humans. Some do it for pay. Others do it because their society has been perverted. They wish to impose their radical anti-human beliefs on others. These depraved ideologies must be resisted. If you encounter other humans, beware their motives.”
Muuk watched as more people were awakened and the ship repaired. While he had reservations about the followers of Councilor Ulay, they hadn’t taken anything from him or his people. They hadn’t even asked for anything. The rations were bland so he drifted into the awakening speech to get better food.
He wondered why it seemed like random people were being awakened. They were assured it was those safest to awaken, but the engineers had all been awakened early.
Everybody was shorter and debilitated in one way or another. Frailty was to be expected after such a long sleep. Of the two million on board, only a few hundred had been awakened. The technology of Councilor Ulay’s followers was advanced beyond anything he could understand. They were trying to strengthen the awakened, that much was certain.
They all seemed guarded. He had caught a few words in their casual speech though. Councilor Ulay’s personal ship was called the Scorpion, which sounded warlike to Muuk. In fact almost all the men he came into contact with seemed like soldiers. Muuk approved. In fact Muuk was impressed and a little intimidated by the Councilor’s followers. They were tall and strong. Long ago, his ancestors had a law requiring everyone to be armed. They thought it unnecessary aboard the AndroVault, but these new people obviously found it necessary.
In ages past, Muuk’s ancestors wanted to distance themselves from alien pollution. When species met there were sometimes problems with diseases. His ancestors’ homeworld in the Alpha Centauri system had been ravaged by an outbreak of scurj fever, a wasting disease transmitted from a multi-legged alien species. The people of the AndroVault believed in separation of the species for at least this reason as well as cultural ones.
Originally there were no borders in the Alpha Centauri system. Any person or alien could appear and join the populated worlds. The society changed from a human colony that had stood for centuries into a multi-species union. Laws changed, beliefs swayed and alien influence could be seen everywhere. Humans were no longer dominant.
Muuk’s grandfather was one of the founders of the Exceptional faction. Exceptionalists believed that humans and human culture should be protected because mankind was inherently special. If not directly blessed by God, it was at least worth preserving. They tried to prevent aliens from living on their homeworld, Merk 4. The outbreak of scurj fever gave them that opportunity.
At first, Exceptionalists worked to repeal laws they disagreed with, claiming they were reversing social decay and returning to classic traditions. Yet the traditions were handpicked. The faction longed for a return to a happy time when humans lived apart from aliens – whether those times were peaceful and prosperous or not. It was a false memory because man had a long history of war and murder. Revisionists changed history to suit the movement. Facts were ignored or suppressed in favor of ideological purity. Muuk’s grandfather was famously quoted as saying, “When men choose not to believe in humanity’s exceptionalism, they become capable of believing anything. The only way to love human exceptionalism is to realize it is about to be lost.”
Exceptionalists wanted a united humanity with one set of beliefs. The movement struggled with those who didn’t want to live in a homogenous society. Dissenters pointed out the limits of a culture that scorned diversity. They were labeled Appreciators. For a generation Exceptionalists opposed Appreciators. Exceptionalists worshipped what mankind had accomplished; Appreciators wanted mankind to live up to its potential.
When Appreciators won elections, Exceptionalist politicians blocked their legislation. Exceptionalists became intolerant of anything but their set of principles. As they became ever more radical, any proposed compromise was called “species treason.” All Appreciator ideas were labeled examples of the decline of human civilization. Living next to each other caused friction. Some Appreciators left Merk 4 to live on other planets. Exceptionalists held rallies to cheer and wave goodbye to the departing ships.
The scurj fever allowed Exceptionalists to close the planet to aliens. The Planetfall Incident made matters worse. A mixed human/alien crew lost control of their peaceful merchant vessel. It slipped into the atmosphere and plummeted to earth, breaking up as it fell. Pieces struck a large city. The impacts killed tens of thousands of people. Exceptionalists portrayed it as an alien attack, or at least an alien blunder. “Terror or error?” screamed media personalities who favored Exceptionalist views.
Muuk’s father was also a steadfast leader in the Exceptionalist movement. He saw alien influence in every part of their culture. It was a threat to their civilization as plain as day to him. His loyalty was without question. He favored military action and pushed for it publicly. Appreciators questioned whom exactly they would attack. Exceptionalists replied that Appreciators were a greater threat to mankind than aliens themselves. Muuk’s father passed the law that required all people on Merk 4 to be armed, for self-defense. He was quoted, “Soon it won’t matter where you live or what you said. It will only matter which side you fought on.”
However, the other planets in the Alpha Centauri system rejected calls for war. A week later an alien-owned vessel was blown up off the planet Belcaise 3. It became public knowledge that Exceptionalists on Merk 4 had supported those
responsible for the violence. Pro-Exceptionalist announcers rejected the attack as the actions of a few radicals. Conspiracy theorists believed that the Belcaise 3 explosion never happened. When moderates couldn’t believe Exceptionalists could get any more extreme, hardliners proved them wrong. Scientists proved that humans were on board the ships in the Planetfall Incident and Belcaise 3, but they were ignored.
A cycle began. Leaders fed their followers with increasingly caustic speeches. The louder the cheers, the more attention they gained. Their followers grew more fearful and angry. In turn they supported only leaders who strongly advocated Exceptionalist positions. They didn’t care if the politicians were competent, only that they toed the party line.
Under the watchful eye of more powerful planets, Merk 4 didn’t arm for war but the whole solar system became hazardous to aliens. The rhetoric escalated.
A small group of Exceptionalist leaders met to consider a course of action. Muuk’s father was one of them. They chose to abandon Alpha Centauri en masse. They commissioned a generation ship to take themselves and their families far away.
Not all Exceptionalists fled but their movement was forgotten. In time Merk 4 joined the Alpha Centauri Confederation.
“Erps!” Muuk called as loud as he could. His voice was a croak but it was recovering.
A man with a pronounced limp smiled at him.
“Muuk,” Erps said as they shook hands. “My hand can still hold a laser.”
“Good,” Muuk said. “We survived. We lived! The Great Planners were right. Exceptionalism didn’t die out. It’s strong.”
“Praise be to the Old Ways,” Erps said.
“The Old Ways are right,” Muuk said in rote reply. “Come, let’s talk.”
They found a small room with benches.
Muuk started. “Are you the Erps I knew? Do you know your place?”
“I am Erps, and I contribute. My place is Reminder of the Dead. I enhance our memory of our ancestors, so that their purposes remain with us.”
“Good,” Muuk said. “It has been so very long … can you remind me?”
“My father’s father said, ‘My eye sees. My heart believes. In time my mind will understand.’”
“That is the truth. Have you seen any other Reminders awake yet?”
“Yes, Doib is awake but struggling to breath. They have machines hooked up to him. They say he will recover, praise the Old Ways.”
“We need Doib moving soon. His place is the Reminder of the Soldiers,” Muuk said.
“The strength of our soldiers is the strength of our culture,” Erps quoted.
“What do you think of these new people?”
“They have similar beliefs, but they can’t quote the Old Ways. Our core article of faith – special purity – is clearly important to them. But I think they have drifted from the Old Ways and that concerns me.”
“We must hold true, Erps. Our culture can’t be infected. Not when we carry the right way.”
“Defend the soldiers, defend the mission, defend the leader, defend the Old Ways,” Erps recited.
“Cross-reference that,” Kiluth said from the conditioning center. He was a honna, aliens with cracked red skin and arms that extended up from their waists. He wore a plastic mask that showed only a vague outline of a face. When you worked with novorians, you tended to hide a lot.
“We have it now,” said an especially wrinkled novorian crewmember. “The Old Ways are a hybrid of religion and political structure. Do you want more?”
“Yes,” hissed Kiluth in irritation. He always regretted showing any sign of emotion around his crew.
“Special purity,” the nove said, reciting the first of the Old Ways.
“We knew of that, the xenophobia. It isn’t uncommon among humans, but it is ingrained in this society of defectives. Go on.”
“Know your place. Separation of men and women. Rigidly defined roles.”
“We haven’t kept the awakened apart by genders. That was my mistake,” said the hermaphrodite Kiluth. “Adjust the indoctrination programs. Incorporate that at once.”
The nove noted it and continued with the second of the Old Ways. “Punishment has no value unless it’s severe and memorable.”
Kiluth thought. “We have no need to punish them yet. Even so, displays of our punishment methods could go a long way. Send two discipline robots over. Discipline of our soldiers and techs on the AndroVault should include witnesses from the defectives. Offer the discipline robots to the defectives for any uses they deem necessary.”
“Responsibility to contribute,” the nove continued.
“An economic policy?” Kiluth asked.
“Economic and social. You are assigned what is deemed your strongest suit. There’s no flexibility in duties. Inferiority and weakness by choice are offenses against your family, friends and neighbors.”
“It’s no more than we expected. They listed their occupations in the ship database. They will probably want to return to their roles soon. I will bring this up with the other section heads.”
“Reminders are valuable.”
“From what we just saw, that apparently means a role as well as an idea.”
“Apparently,” the old novorian said sarcastically.
“Stick to the facts,” Kiluth chastised. “Make finding and awakening Reminders a priority.”
The novorian complied. “The dead remain with us.”
“Well that’s what got them into this mess isn’t it?” Kiluth said.
“It means return the dead to the community. Dead bodies are sent to the reclamation system, and turned into water and food for the rest. This is a technological variant of burying people, which would fertilize the land and result in crops. Unfortunately over long periods this results in degeneration.”
“We’re going to have to change that,” Kiluth said. “Get the staff thinking of alternatives.”
“We could claim to store the bodies until such time as the defectives find their quest-home. Then they could be buried properly.”
“Work it into their other beliefs. They won’t accept facts and figures to change even something that’s basically genetic suicide. Keep the belief, change the method.”
“Lastly, the strength of our soldiers is the strength of our culture.”
“On that point we should thank our employer. Admiral Slaught found this warrior culture and it’s turning out just like he thought it would. With a few adjustments, we’ll make it useful.”
CHAPTER 5
Scorpion’s Venom
Steo didn’t talk much for two days. He stayed in the holobridge, working with icons no one understood. Even when he went to his quarters he used his personal light interface hub to bring up text and diagrams. His valet robot, Governor, had to ask him to shut off his lee to eat.
The only break Steo took was to work with the light manipulator Renosha had given him. The old robot wouldn’t tell him anything about it, only saying something cryptic like, “It is completely intuitive.” Steo formed better images with it, but sometimes got unexpected results. He was beginning to suspect how Renosha had used it on him back on Zivang.
Once, Steo got an image of a man. He realized it was Cyrus, but with a smug look. He wore the robes of a priest. For a moment Steo couldn’t tell the difference between the illusion and reality. Unlike holograms that were translucent, these looked solid. He tried to determine how the light manipulator knew to create Cyrus, but Cyrus walked away with a righteous smirk, and faded from view. Steo put the red disc aside and went back to drawing up plans.
Soon he briefed them on his plan regarding the Vadyanika. He was more nervous than gearjacking missions like when he stole Hawking from the Forbidden Spin casino. This time lives were in danger. Usually that wasn’t the case, but this time the stakes were high.
Also, Steo had deep concerns about going into battle with a fully armed corvette class starship. The Eye of Orion was a weapon, something he hadn’t planned. He reminded himself why they wer
e on this mission.
The crew made sure the Eye of Orion was fully charged, then made the jump to the gas cloud. They stopped and regained power before entering. In a few minutes they neared the coordinates of the Vadyanika.
“Master Steo,” Hawking said, “Sensors indicate the Vadyanika is still at the coordinates.”
“It is?” he said. Everyone was surprised.
“In fact it is emitting hard radiation – far beyond even a leaking nuclear reactor, and the Vadyanika doesn’t have a reactor.”
“Do scans of the area show anything?”
“No active ships,” Hawking reported.
“Don’t get any closer. Direct a sensor drone at the Vadyanika. Have it circle and return,” Steo said.
A while later they had data to look at.
Glaikis said, “The ship was pelted with apollium. There are no life signs.”
Yuina gasped. “Apollium? Isn’t that dangerous to the Nth degree?”
Hawking confirmed the lethality of the radioactive substance.
Cyrus came up to the bridge. “No one is alive in there?”
“No,” Steo said.
“Not even the other experiments,” Cyrus said.
Hawking said, “If there is any living tissue on board the Vadyanika, it is irradiated. Death is certain.”
Glaikis scowled at Hawking, who didn’t notice.
Steo said, “I’m sorry, Cyrus.”
“Ah,” was all Cyrus said.
Steo felt sorry for him. He realized that Cyrus had held out hope for symbiants like himself – brothers of a sort. Now Cyrus really was without any true family.
Renosha asked, “Is there any way to survey the interior of the ship?”
“We could send Governor over,” Yuina suggested.
“Pilot Yuina …” Hawking started to say.
“No, she was kidding. Probably,” Steo said. “Though the idea of a repair robot isn’t so bad. A sensor drone flies fast. It can’t move slowly and delicately. Hawking, do you think you could devise something?”
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