by Mike Luoma
Sociopathic? I did used to kill people for a living. That’s not really all that social, is it? Well adapted?
What is love? What is truth? Quid est veritas?
Makes me think I need to check in on M’Bekke on ‘the book’.
We keep arguing and killing over how it is we’re supposed to love each other. How fucked up is that? Too many people who don’t even know how to love are telling other people how they should love!
And the killing continues.
BC finds a good night’s sleep no longer comes easily as the summer stretches on. He values his sleep when it does come... although he is wary of Dolomay’s attacks. Late one August night he once again finds himself standing on the still, calm ocean, as the walls fall away. The world turns gray. He stands alone on a sunless sea. This is getting old.
IS IT?
Out out out out out
WAIT!
What?
WHY DO YOU TRY TO BLOCK ME?
Wait a minute… who are you?
WE’VE ALREADY GONE THROUGH THIS, HAVEN’T WE?
You’re not Dolomay? This feels… different.
NO.
Are you trying to tell me you’re God? Jesus?
ALWAYS THE SAME QUESTIONS – AND SO, THE SAME ANSWERS: YES. AND NO. Do you speak like this to Dolomay?
DOLOMAY? NO. HE IS LOST.
But he speaks as you do, like this, in dreams, mind to mind.
AH, BUT ‘THIS’ IS BUT YOUR LIMITED MIND’S WAY OF INTERPRETING MY
CONTACT WITH YOU. YOUR MIND INTERPRETS DOLOMAY’S CONTACT IN A SIMILAR
FASHION, BUT IT IS ONLY SIMILAR BECAUSE YOUR MIND MAKES IT SO. YOU ARE DIFFERENT AS WELL. YOU ARE NOT AS I AM, BUT YOU ARE NOT LIKE
DOLOMAY AND HIS KIND, THE ONES THEY CALL THE ANCIENT ENEMY, EITHER. Me?
ALL OF YOU. HUMANITY.
BC sees a vision of a huge crowd stretching off as far as his eyes can see. All the people still alive, all of humanity, he somehow knows.
I HAVE A GIFT TO GIVE TO YOU. CLEAR YOUR MIND AND BE STILL.
BC attempts to comply. A feeling of warmth without heat washes over him, welcoming him, loving him, accepting him unconditionally. And something then ‘clicks’ in BC’s mind. The gray sea and sky surrounding him begins to shimmer and glow, luminescent, increasingly white, until it is nearly blinding him with its burning, phosphorescent glow. The light’s intensity peaks and begins to fade, and as the light fades BC’s feelings of warmth and love fall away and fade as well. What just happened?
I HAVE GIVEN YOU A GIFT. BUT IT COMES AT A GREAT PRICE.
Why do you sound so faint?
I HAVE GIVEN YOU ABILITIES AND DEFENSES YOU WILL NEED TO FACE
DOLOMAY. BUT BECAUSE OF THIS, YOU AND I WILL SOON NO LONGER BE ABLE TO BE
IN CONTACT WITH EACH OTHER. THIS IS THE PRICE.
YOU HAVE SEEN AND TOUCHED WHAT OTHERS HAVE NOT. YOU KNOW HOW
HUMANITY CAN EVOLVE – ALL CAN SHARE IN THIS AWARENESS AS YOU HAVE. BUT
THEY WILL NEED YOUR HELP TO GET THERE.
You’re fading away!
YOU’RE SHUTTING ME OUT. IT’S OKAY, IT IS PART OF MY GIFT. YOU WILL BE
ABLE TO KEEP DOLOMAY OUT EASILY, NOW. YOUR MIND HAS BEEN ALTERED, OPENED
ORIGINALLY BY THE DRUGS AND YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH THE LIGHT AND HIS CULT –
OPENED AND VULNERABLE. YOU NOW HAVE THE MEANS TO PROTECT YOURSELF. BUT
THE COST, FOR NOW, IS THAT YOU’LL NO LONGER HEAR MY SONG…
The voice is gone.
Hello?
The ocean and sky around him fade from gray to black, and BC drifts through a cloudy dreamland of closing doors.
BC wakes up, but stays in bed. He tries the mental exercise he’s been trying to use against Dolomay, the closing doors in his head.
Close the doors!
BC can almost physically feel his mind shut itself up, inner doors slamming closed. That does feel different… more potent?
He drifts back off to sleep and dreams of being on board the bridge of some strange ship. He’s yelling at someone.
Why am I yelling?
He shoots the man.
Why? Why did I shoot him? Waitasec… Is that Fiza?
A woman that looks like Fiza leads a Domo in front of him. BC hands the Domo a squishy, sealed bag of… something. The Domo looks excited, and speaks.
The Domo obviously values it… ew… could it be blood?
BC realizes he’s not alone. He feels Dolomay near! He visualizes the closing doors!
SLAM!
The dream ends with a snap! BC sits upright in bed at the jolt, expecting a headache. Damn! Was that real?
He rocks his head back and forth, loosening the tension in his neck muscles. He massages his temples, but he seems to be spared a headache, for now. He gets out of bed and begins his morning routine.
After breakfast, BC walks through the atrium, under the main dome of Lunar Prime, on his way to the Prime Rep’s office. As he looks at other people, a strange feeling clouds his thoughts. He’s struck by how ordinary life is still functioning all around them.
It all looks so ordinary, like nothing has changed. But everything has changed! Or has it?
It’s just me. Nothing has really changed.
BC feels like a spectator sitting back and observing from somewhere inside his own head as he goes through his day. He goes through all the proper motions. He analyzes production reports on the Project bases from Anita, covering ship production and retrofits. He reads through a report about, ultimately, nothing, from the Domo, on their unproductive discussions with the Eldred. There is a request from the Khalif for supplies and for the general needs of Mars as they rebuild. He signs off on almost everything, moves the files out of his office and on into the growing bureaucracy of the Solar Alliance, all save for Anita’s report. He calls her himself.
“Hey Anita, just read your report.”
“Yeah?”
“Things are looking good, huh?” BC asks her. “Looks like you’ve worked the kinks out of the assembly process after incorporating the Eldred tech.”
“Uh-huh. Things are humming right along BC,” she says.
She sounds distracted.
“What’s up?” BC asks her.
“What do you mean?” Anita answers, sounding defensive.
“Sounds like you have something on your mind,” BC prods her.
“Well,” she begins, but she stops.
“What?” BC asks after her pause.
“I hate to say it… But it’s too quiet.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, all summer… I just… I hate waiting for the other shoe to drop!” she says.
“I know. I’m trying to find that shoe.”
“What?”
“We’re rotating a new SAIF Stinger squadron out to Cat’s Eye to scout Dolomay’s last known location in Flaze space. If you’re looking for some excitement, I could put you in charge of the wing,” BC
offers.
“No thanks!” Anita demurs. “You trying to get me killed, BC?”
“Just offering.”
She laughs.
“Actually, I’ve got my hands full here on Ceres. You know, BC, you haven’t really been back to the new base since it’s become fully functional, lived in. You should stop out for a visit!”
“What? On an inspection tour, or something?”
“As the Prime Representative visiting one of the territories of the Solar Alliance?” she suggests.
“Alright, maybe I’ll come out,” BC says. A thought occurs to him. “Aw, you miss me, don’t you?”
Anita actually blushes, but she regains her composure quickly.
“Maybe I do,” she says. “Let me know what you decide to do.” She cuts off the com. Strange woman. Not that I’m sane…
The ice queen melts! Is this a good thing?
Whoah… My heart’s racing a little!
And then I think of Fiza. Inevitably. She’s with Dolomay, looking awfully c
ozy with him. How much of that is his doing?
A communiqué arrives from the Flaze, drawing BC’s attention. They ask about the disposition of the human fleet, the additional SAIF ships BC will be sending into Flaze territory. BC gets his secretary on the com to respond for him.
“Tell the Flaze the, um, ‘fleet’ will be there within a matter of days. But be sure to let the Flaze know the new ships are just replacing the ones we sent out last month. See if they understand ‘rotation’, huh? And set up a visit out to the Ceres base for me. I want to go inspect the place, tour the new facilities, get to know that part of the Solar Alliance a little better.”
“And maybe tour Ms. Capituna’s facilities as well, sir?” his secretary Lisa cracks, before she clicks off.
That woman knows way too much! Makes her an excellent secretary. BC calls up the plans for Ceres Central. The newest asteroid base draws attention away from the shipyard, and the original base, now their new retrofitting facilities. Ceres is distant enough to keep prying eyes away from the other bases.
Representative Juarez of Ceres has been directing the trade discussions with the Flaze and the Domo as head of the commerce committee. She has a knack for dealing with them… maybe I’ll pull her in on the diplomatic side, too.
Although… She’s not making friends with the remaining UTZ Councilors. They don’t like her no nonsense style. I told her to ignore them, don’t care what they say. And tell them to complain to ME. It’s a new day. A new world. Worlds, plural! And as we set up our central trading hub with these new cultures and planets, the old rules no longer apply. Juarez knows. She gets it.
I should visit with her while I’m out there, too. Boost the morale of the commerce negotiators. Maybe.
BC’s secretary Lisa books the trip with flourishes – BC will ride from Lunar Prime to Ceres on the new Transpace passenger liner, accompanied by a small contingent of SAIF Stinger Ships as a security escort.
Anita has arranged a state dinner for BC on Friday night. She confirms the details on a com call with BC. She throws him a bit of a curve ball when she adds, “And then on Saturday I want you to meet with me and the governors of the colonies.”
“What? What governors of what colonies?” BC asks her.
“Crankshaft, Cat’s Eye, Dimwit and Rigel Four.”
“What? We’re calling them ‘colonies’ now?”
“What should we call them?” she asks BC.
“I don’t know. I’ve always just thought of them as kind of… branch offices of The Project, I guess, under your jurisdiction, now.”
“That’s not how they see it. They were hit by the plague. They’ve sent ships to help fight, they make some of the parts we use on the new ships. They feel they’re much more than ‘branch offices of the Project’, now.
“Representative Juarez has agreed to meet with the colonial governors, too, to help map out trade routes. There’s already been a healthy amount of human/alien commerce going on out on the four worlds.”
“Okay. I’ll do that, then. I’ll meet with these ‘governors’… Were they actually elected?” BC
asks her.
Anita sighs. “Yes,” she says, a bit exasperated. “There are about three hundred people on Rigel Four. They elected Fari Anslan to represent them. The two-hundred or so left on Cat’s Eye voted Amara Schwartz into office. The two-hundred and fifty residents of Crankshaft decided Ken Grissom would lead them. And the two-hundred on Dimwit elected Su Chin to lead.”
“If they’re going to be part of the Solar Alliance, we’ve gotta change the name of ‘Dimwit’!” BC
cracks.
“Actually, Su Chin already has a proposal. They want to officially name it ‘Depot’. It’s kind of what they call it already out there,” Anita tells him.
“Just tell her to go ahead and do that. Let’s make it official,” BC says. “‘Depot’ it is!”
“Just like that?” she asks, and looks at him with a puzzled expression on her face.
“Just like that,” BC says. He smiles at Anita. “So, do we still need to meet?”
“BC,” she says, managing to turn his name into an admonishment. She rolls her eyes but then cracks a smile. “That’s just the tip of the iceberg, as the old saying goes,” she tells him. “Yes. We still need to meet.”
“Fine. Saturday afternoon, then. I’m all yours,” he says to her.
“Are you making any public appearances? Giving any speeches? Anything like that, while you’re here?” she asks.
“Do I have to?” BC asks.
“It would be a good idea,” she tells him.
“Listen. I…” BC begins to protest. Anita glares at him. “Fine! Okay. I’ll give a speech of some kind to start the meeting, let the press cover it. How’s that?”
“Good!” Anita says. “And that leaves Saturday night… open.” She looks at BC expectantly.
“Good,” BC agrees.
There’s an awkward silence.
What does she want me to say? It’s been a while. I never know how to read her. What am I supposed to do?
Anita clears her throat.
“Do, um, do you, uh, want to have a non-state dinner on Saturday night?” BC tries. She smiles.
Yes! Right answer!
“Good idea,” she says, patronizing him only slightly.
“Gee, thanks,” he says sarcastically.
“See you Friday,” she says, signing off.
Saved by the com…
Chapter Sixteen
Ceres Central is the Solar Alliance’s first official new facility. Built on the dwarf planet Ceres in the asteroids, Ceres Central is a hybrid base built for research, trade and commerce, with a large military component also included. Once a secret project, Ceres Central is now public knowledge, and open to the general public. The base is beginning to see some commercial traffic. The threats posed by Dolomay and the Eldred have hung heavy over the construction of the base. A division of SAIF Stinger Ships is based at Ceres Central, squadrons kept on constant alert, and the station itself is heavily armed. Each of the six radial corridors that come off the central dome is protected by an anti-ship battery armed with dual energy cannons and defensive measures powered by adapted tech stolen from the Eldred. The batteries are set in place just beyond the end of each corridor, effectively circling the dome with a ring of weaponry.
Although granted mission bases on Lunar Prime, civilian Flaze and Domo seem to be gravitating towards Ceres Central. BC spots several Flaze and Domo commercial ships as his liner lowers into a berth at the Ceres Central port.
The place looks sturdy, solid… hope it’s a good place for meetings. Still can’t… can’t believe I’m in charge! But who else was stepping up to do it? I want the war to end so I can quit! I’ve tried to make up for my past mistakes. Tried to draw the Muslims and Christians together. Better to have them arguing over a book than shooting at each other and blowing each other up!
Damn… flying always gives me too much time to think.
Anita Capituna and a small group of high-ranking Ceres Central personnel are waiting to greet BC as he gets off the ship.
“Prime Representative Campion,” Anita says with a curt nod, greeting BC with an outstretched hand. She seems cold, aloof.
All Business… okay.
BC shakes her hand. “Governor Capituna,” he responds. She introduces her head of security, her lieutenant governor, and two other bureaucrats from the Project with her. An older woman and a younger Latino woman approach as BC finishes with introductions.
“Representative Juarez,” BC says, greeting his Representative for Commerce.
“Prime Representative,” the Latino woman, Commerce Rep Juarez answers. “I’d like to introduce you to the governor of the Cat’s Eye colony, Amara Schwartz.”
“Prime Representative Campion, a pleasure,” the older woman says, shaking his hand. “I’m looking forward to our meeting tomorrow,” she tells him.
“As am I,” BC replies.
“Could
you and I meet sooner than that, on another issue?” Schwartz asks him.
“I’m not sure I…” BC looks around for Lisa, his secretary, but she’s nowhere around. “My schedule is kinda booked.”
What does she want?
“Well,” she starts, but she pauses. She starts again, “This really isn’t the right time or place but,”
she steels herself and then says, a little louder, “I want to register a complaint!”
This should be good… it’s good to be the king?
“Oh,” BC says. “I’m sorry. What is it?”
“You, the UTZ and The Project, moved a squadron of Stinger Ships and men to Cat’s Eye a month ago. And you never even bothered to warn us!” she says, upset. I did. And no, we didn’t. Cat’s Eye is next to the Eldred, close to the Flaze. The SAIF
squadron used Cat’s Eye as a staging area as they went after Dolomay. She has a point.
“You should have been warned,” BC admits to her. “But communication isn’t what it should be yet in our new alliance. I am sorry. We were trying to keep the operations secret… But you should have been informed, included among those who ‘needed to know’.”
“Everyone is scared, Prime Representative Campion. We didn’t think the plague could touch us. It did. We know Dolomay’s out there. And he’s damn close to Cat’s Eye, too. Where do you think Dolomay will attack first if a human strike force engages him in Flaze or Eldred space? It will either be us or Rigel Four, I guarantee you that! Tell me, Prime Representative, did you give any thought at all to us?
The couple hundred souls who live and work on Cat’s Eye for you?”
“We’re doing all we can to ensure everyone’s survival,” BC says, but the words ring hollowly in his own ears.
I’m sure she can hear that emptiness, too.
She looks like she wants to say something, but keeps her mouth shut. She looks BC in the eye. She breaks eye contact and turns away abruptly. She walks off, leaves BC standing in the port. Did she just snub me? Guess I deserved that. I didn’t give any thought to Cat’s Eye when I sent the SAIF out there. They won’t be there long. No mystery why those ships are out there. But no real sign of Dolomay, either… not yet. Not where we can reach him!