The Arwen Book two: Manifest Destiny

by Timothy P. Callahan

  “I found the Commander near death when I arrived. He didn’t survive much longer, just long enough to tell me about Fran and the Arwen.”

  “All the more reason for you to return and testify against her.”

  Marjorie took a deep breath, she had practiced what she was going to tell her friend, knowing he would do and say anything to get her back to Earth. She felt her resolve strengthen as she spoke. “I’m not going back. I don’t want to go back. This is where I want to be, this is where I want to belong.”

  She looked at him, watched as his face contorted in a way she recognized. He was thinking of a reply, like a chess player trying to gain an advantage he was plotting his next move. She wouldn’t let him think too hard about it so she continued. “Earth doesn’t even feel like home to me. It never did. My life was on the Arwen and when I wasn’t on the Arwen I was staying at a space station. When I was on Earth I would just be shuffled around from one speaking engagement to another, never really had a chance to see it, never had a chance to feel like I belonged there.”

  “It’s where you were born.”

  “It is, but it hasn’t been home since I was 16 and I joined the junior space corps. Plus,” she paused trying to recall how she was going to phrase her next comment. “Plus, I’ve given everything to defend Earth and the Corps. I gave up my life and I gave up-“ she paused again, the emotion she felt thinking of Payton never left and when she dug into it, it would boil to the surface just as strong as when she first heard the news. “I gave everything.” She knew the Professor would understand what she meant by that. “Even though they were unwanted the Nanobots gave me a second chance and I plan on using it.”

  “By staying her?” Professor Ricter asked. “By living on this planet?”

  “Yes! This place is perfect for me, I can explore, I can sleep under the stars, I can do anything I want and I don’t have to worry if I’m going to be dead in battle the next day. I don’t have to do anything more than eat, sleep, walk and enjoy this place.”

  “You’ll get bored,” he said. “We both know that.”

  “Not for a long time. It’s a big planet you know?” She grinned.

  He simply looked at her and shook his head. “I kind of figured you were going to say something like that. I didn’t think you were going to be this stubborn.”

  “You know me.”

  He leaned back, placing his hands on the ground behind him for support. He had a grin on his face that told Marjorie he had some sort of ace up his sleeve. “What if I told you something that you would find much more interesting than spending all your time on this planet?”

  She didn’t want to take his bait but she knew she would bite. “What?”

  “What if I told you the Arwen was now a living, thinking entity not unlike you and me?”

  “What?” Marjorie didn’t exactly understand what he was talking about.

  “Juliet, would like to explain?”

  Juliet cleared her throat and sat down next to the Professor. She looked alive, happy and when she spoke it was with an excitement Marjorie remembered from a time long ago. “The Alien Cabal have some very smart aliens in it. One of the races perfected the science of artificial intelligence and had been using that technology for hundreds of years before the Handlers destroyed their home world.”

  Professor Ricter picked up where Juliet left off, it was a fine chorography of a speech they must have rehearsed several dozen times. “They were highly advanced and gave the Handlers a fight but in the end they lost and only a handful of them survived.”

  “After we convinced them the Handlers needed to be stopped on Earth and they could go no further we had an exchange of technologies. One of those technologies was Artificial intelligence.”

  “It wasn’t easy to implement,” Professor Ricter said. “The computer power was well more than what we had at the time but they’ve helped us catch up and now we can program any ship in the fleet with a computer that thinks for itself.”

  Marjorie looked at them and resisted the urge to clap at the presentation. “So, are you telling me that the Arwen is alive? That’s it a living, thinking being?”

  “It’s just a simulation,” Professor Ricter said.

  “No, it’s not.” Juliet replied with a touch of anger in her voice. “Yes, Captain, the Arwen is now alive and it wants to meet its-“ she paused. “Well, for the lack of a better term, it wants to meet its mother.”

  Marjorie laughed and nearly fell over. “Its mother?”

  “It gets its personality from the files it finds,” Professor Ricter said. “It takes all the captain logs, all the personal logs, any recorded conversation, any piece of information stored in its databanks, it takes and processes. When it’s done it uses that information to form a sort of personality.”

  “And since you’ve been its Captain for so long it’s formed a bond with you.”

  “A simulated bond.” Professor Ricter said.

  “No, a real bond. And it wants to meet you.”

  This was the sort of thing Marjorie could not pass up. The chance to actually talk to the Arwen, even it was just a simulation, was too much for her to pass up and the Professor knew it. “Okay, I’ll meet her but I can’t promise I’ll stay.”

  “No kidnapping,” Professor Ricter said, “I promise.”

  Chapter thirty

  The Handlers had no names. The only way they could tell each other apart were from the pheromones that each individual released. Each pheromone combination was unique and even among the billions of Handlers that had gathered for the feeding the male was able to find his female counterpart.

  He scurried across the floor in a rush, ignoring the powerful scents from the unattached females he crawled over. He walked over the backs of others that had been buried under the mass of Handlers that gathered. The pile moved like an unstoppable wave across the surface of the first world. Those on the bottom had no fear of being crushed, the armored plating that evolution had provided was more than enough protection against mass which was growing deeper by the second.

  He lost her scent for a moment and rose up above them all, his antenna twitching as it searched the air. There, he found it amongst the hundreds of thousands of other scents. He fell back down and moved toward it as fast as he could hoping the winds would not change direction before he found her.

  He had told her he wouldn’t make it to the feeding but he was wrong. The humans were more easily fooled that he thought and now that he had the location of a planet they would arrange to attack.

  Her scent grew stronger and he pushed against the tide of bodies that moved around him. He heard nothing other than the scratching and tapping of those in his immediate surroundings. The ground was not solid and he fell before another mass of bodies stopped him. He lost her scent. Panic filled his heart as he searched once again climbing those who were ever moving forward. An unstable mass surged as one. He somehow managed to climb above them all. His legs ached from the effort. He would have stopped if not for the sudden rush of energy he got as he caught her scent more time. She was close and getting closer. Before he knew it they were facing each other, their antenna’s twitching in anticipation and excitement. The both reared up and embraced each other shooting clouds of pleasure from their abdomens. They fell down and tapped their feet on the bodies below them starting a conversation.

  Happy: You told me you wouldn’t be able to make it.

  Happy: Yes, I was wrong.

  Happy excitment: You can feed?

  Excited: I have thought of nothing else. Come, let us feed.

  They moved together, this time with the crowd.

  They found the feeding grounds and both rejoiced leaving behind them pink clouds of ecstasy. Others reacted the same way merging the clouds into a fog which would have blanketed the site of anyone who had eyes. The two lovers followed the vibrations from those who were walking in front of them. Messages were sent back from the front, a rhythm that was easy to follow and easy to pass along, rev
erberated as far back as was needed. This is the place where we feed. This is the place where we grow.

  They moved with the flow as it organized itself into long columns that stretched out and over the horizon. He felt the ground under him slope downward. His heart raced with anticipation, soon he would be at the cliff face and he and his companion would be on the valley floor.

  He tasted the first grub and devoured it. It had been a long time since he felt the worm like larvae crawl between and under his armor plates. They would lay there while his body’s digestive juices broke them down into fuel. It was a quick process, one that took only a few moments. It warmed him deep inside his body making him feel content. They moved across the valley, scooping up the food layer by layer until there was nothing left. Together the male and female ate until they were full and slow.

  The plains over the valley stretched out for hundreds of miles. Small grass grew in bunches and provided natural material for a nest. The female and the male gathered the grass and moved on until they found a good spot. Together they built a small nest with the grass. The female curled up around the edges leaving the center empty. The male crawled over her and curled up in the empty space she had left him. Together the two slept off the feeding.

  He awoke while the sun was still below the horizon. The ground he lay on was warm from his and his female’s body heat. The air was cool and a breeze tickled the hairs on his legs. He placed one leg flat on the ground and detected the vibrations from the other Handler’s the slept nearby.

  His female released a puff of curious scent toward him. You’re awake?

  Sorrow: I could not sleep. Too much on my mind.

  Curious: How could you think of anything more than sleeping with me while our babies incubate?

  Anger: I have lots of things to worry about. I presented my findings to the elders and they are deciding what to do next with me.

  Confusion: You will go back to finding other planets. You’ve been doing it for many generations, since at least the second sun.

  Worry: That is what they should do. They fear I have been compromised. They feel I am too close to the humans while looking for their planet.

  Confusion: Have you?

  Anger: No, of course not. But they don’t know that.

  He curled up inside the nest again and let out a neutral scent: I am sorry I brought this up. You are right, I need my rest. By tomorrow it will all seem clear.

  The rest of the night they slept together in silence and he fell into a deep hibernation like slumber. He would not need to feed again for a long time.

  Many weeks passed while he slept and when the time was right the male woke and felt around. She was gone. He stood on his back legs, his antenna twitching as he searched for the female. She had left him while he slept. That was the way it was, that was the way it will always be. The males were always left alone while the females continued their journey with his sons and daughters tucked away inside their armor plating. Unlike the primitive times there would be facilities to make them comfortable as his young gestated. Some would be lost, it was inevitable, but most would be born and he would have contributed another hundred or so offspring to the continued growth of his race. One hundred Handlers that will grow up and live millions of years. That kind of growth needed fresh places to live constantly. Finding the Earth ship was the good fortune he needed. With it they would find several new worlds. It was time to plan the attack.

  ********

  Has it really been over a year since I’ve been this close to you? Marjorie thought. The Professor had insisted she sit in the front of the shuttle with the pilot. He wanted her to have a full view of the Arwen as they approached. She knew what he was doing and it was working. Seeing the ship again opened up a part of her she tried not to think about. The hull reflected the light brighter than ever. The gun emplacements were silent now, tucked behind armor plating, but she could recall when they would fire. It was the ship’s primal war cry to all those who opposed her and the Corps.

  She felt power from the ship. Its sheer size and firepower had brought many battles to a halt before they could shed more blood. Her mere presents could jump start peace talks. It was this ship that led a small fleet into battle again the Gyssyc. This ship which ended that war. The history the Arwen wrote was more impressive than Marjorie could have ever imagined when she took commander of her over twenty years ago.

  The shuttle banked as it approached. A small hanger door, nearly hidden behind the perfectly smooth and polished surface, opened. Light streamed out and was eaten by the darkness of space.

  “Arwen, this is shuttle seven five three, requesting landing.”

  “Affirmative shuttle, the bay has been cleared and the force field has been lowered.”

  The disciplined chatter between the Shuttle and the Arwen opened another door of belonging inside Marjorie. How many times had she heard that? How many times had she said it herself? Don’t do this, Marjorie. She told herself. This is just what the Professor wants.

  The shuttle entered the hanger and landed gracefully on the deck. Professor Ricter walked up behind Marjorie and placed his hand on her should. “Welcome back, Captain.”

  “No,” Marjorie said. “I’m not the Captain.” She then turned to face him. “Who is in command anyway?”

  “Captain Millway.” The Professor replied.

  “Millway? I have no idea who that is.”

  “He served with you on the Arwen for a few years, never got past sensor office third shift so you only worked with him a few times. There are a lot of new officers who you’ve helped over the years.”

  “Stop,” Marjorie snapped. “I know what you’re doing so stop doing it.”

  Professor Ricter just gave Marjorie a ‘who me?’ look, shrugged and walked away.

  Damn him, Marjorie thought. The feel of the Arwen’s gravity brought back so many memories, some bad but most of them good. The constant fighting she had to do with new officers or other dignitaries who wanted the gravity plates adjusted to make them heavier or lighter was something she would never miss yet, she missed the gravity itself. It took her the better part of five years until she finally got it to where she liked it and where she felt the crew would work better. Five years of slight adjustments, five years of tinkering until it was just right. There were a lot of things about her command of the Arwen that was like that. A lot of little adjustments here or there that made this ship her home.

  The pilot stood from his seat and looked over at her. “We’re ready,” he said.

  Marjorie nodded and followed him out into the back. Professor Ricter and Juliet waited for her to stand next to them. The Professor had a Cheshire cat grin on his face as he rocked back and forth waiting for the door to open. Was he excepting something on the other side, or did he just know her well enough to know she was having second thoughts about staying on the planet?

  The door opened and Marjorie was hit in the face with the customary blast of wind that always accompanied that. The wind brought with it the smells from the hanger. The smells that were now causing a flood of memories to return. The mix of lubricants, fuel, oil, and basic human toil washed over her and she nearly staggered backwards.

  She walked behind the others and looked around. The hanger was a hub of activity. Engineers walked around briskly carrying parts needed for the almost constant maintenance of shuttles and other craft. It was organized chaos and something Marjorie missed. She tried to ignore those feelings but knew she no longer could.

  A short man wearing the uniform of a Captain walked up to her. He was bald, or at least shaved his head, and had a cap tucked under his right arm. He looked young and Marjorie wondered if they were that desperate for Captains now a days. Those thoughts were unfair and she quickly tried to forget them. “Captain Cook,” he said holding his hand out. “I’m Captain Millway.”

  “Captain,” Marjorie said no longer wanting to correct people when they called her Captain. “Permission to come onboard.”

  �
�You don’t need to ask permission to board your own ship,” he laughed. “I’m just the babysitter.”

  “Don’t get too far ahead of yourself. I’m still not sure I want to come back.”

  “That’s fair,” Millway said then turned to the Professor Ricter. “What would you like to show her first?”

  “Marjorie, would you like to meet the Arwen?”

  “Can’t she talk to me through the communicator?”

  “Yes,” Juliet said. “But, she told me she wanted us to introduce you to her before she started talking to you.”

  “How?”

  “Through the Hologram room,” Professor Ricter said. “She hasn’t chosen a form yet, she wanted you to help her do that too.”

  “She sound pretty excited to meet me but I don’t think I’m ready yet.”

  “Fine,” Captain Millway said. “I’ve been pretty excited about showing you the new Wormhole generator room.”

  “Formally known as the Particle accelerator room,” Juliet said. “We’ve modified the way we open wormholes. I think you’ll agree it’s better.”

  Captain Cook raised an eyebrow and couldn’t help but smile. She always loved when she came onboard the Arwen to find that technology had made her a better ship. She couldn’t deal with a sentient Arwen just yet but seeing a new way to form wormholes was something she could wrap her mind around easily enough. “Sounds like a plan, Captain. Lead the way.”

  Captain Millway kept a good ship. The hallways were spotless and the crew all smiled and saluted sharply as they passed. Most seemed happy to see her and Marjorie knew they were expecting her to stay. Why not stay? She thought to herself. This ship is my life. This ship, these people, this is my home. This is where I belong.

  She ran her hands against the wall feeling their familiar form. How many times have I done this before a battle? How many times have I caressed your surface wondering if it will be the last time we were together?

  This was more than a ship, more than a collection of metal, wire, glass and computers. To her was always alive. The people inside made it that way. The battles it fought and won gave it. She gave it its soul. Marjorie Cook, Captain of the Arwen. It could have been any ship, but it wasn’t, it was this ship that had chosen her.