by Hylton Smith
One of the difficulties in reaching a true consensus was the complexity of human intuition, set against the Borg lack of hierarchical challenge. Whereas humans seemed to crave the bedrock of having convinced the majority, the Borg simply adhered to the design protocols to which they were manufactured. Their model designations defined the chain of command, and it was not intended to be contested. They only chose their names to make it easier for humans to differentiate units of identical design. The human emotional needs in general were considered to be unhelpful to the Borg as a species. However, since they took over their own destiny, some individuals felt they had been freed from one kind of slavery, only to be immersed in another. Harley David was one such Borg. When he was informed of the stalemate, and knowing that ultimately Akhenaten would have the final say, he felt the need to inform the rest of the crew of his position.
“This inertia on Earth is not unexpected, after all they only authorised one ship to be built, expecting we would find nothing. Nevertheless, we are the only individuals who can react in the short term to whatever we discover. It is therefore quite logical to state that if we do not survive in the short term we will jeopardise Earth’s ability to investigate the medium term. I find some accord with Benedict Cooper’s wish to begin analysing the alien symbols in relation to human genetics. It carries no risk. However, Akhenaten makes a perfectly good point insofar as the capsule must contain important information. Waiting for a response from somewhere in the centre of the galaxy would take decades or even hundreds of years. We need to know what is in the casket, but we have to do it in the safest possible way. As we now have access to the sides as well as the top, we should reconfigure the SAS-Corder and scan from all directions.”
This was agreed and they waited until the hologram had reappeared and disappeared once more. The capsule refused to offer any access, despite several re-tuned scans. Rodriguez intended it as a throwaway remark. “We haven’t checked the base.”
It proved to be a turning point – literally. Lifting the capsule proved easier than anticipated, up to a specific height. It was connected to a telescopic conduit on the underside, which they assumed was a power supply from a geothermal source. They debated the consequences of freeing the capsule from the conduit. It was agreed that such a connection must have some purpose, and the SAS-Corder recovered some credibility when it indicated that the base of the capsule and the conduit gave identical readings, which were different to the sides and the top. It also revealed an internal glow just below the connection point. Beethoven, Nero and Anton turned in unison to Harley. He nodded, and Nero touched the external area which corresponded as near as possible to the internal glow. Initial panic was supplanted with relief as Nero couldn’t remove his finger, and was temporarily disabled, then released. “I have been scanned, get back.”
The entire group retreated a few yards. A grinding noise emanated from below the surface and the conduit disengaged and retracted to its original position. There was now a clear delineation mark between the sides and the top. The hologram reappeared and portrayed a sliding pattern to be applied to the top section. The Borgs captured this in their memory banks and a new debate began on what to do next. Harley wanted to discuss the situation initially with only Rodriguez.
“Cameron, there sometimes comes a point where an individual has to decide who to trust. We’ve arrived at such a crossroads. What I’m about to tell you could get me stripped of all upgrades and decommissioned, but the alternative poses a greater risk – not to me, but to your species.”
Rodriguez stared blankly and shrugged his shoulders. “I can’t comment if I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I know you well enough to be worried. An old saying comes to mind – ‘you can be untroubled walking through a minefield, as long as you don’t know you are in a minefield’. Think very carefully Harley.”
“We don’t think in the same way as humans Cam, even though some of us have intuition and emotion apps which can be accessed. I’ve done this, and all it has achieved is to reinforce my Borg doubts. Listen carefully. I saw the disappointment on your face when I first revealed Akhenaten’s rebuttal of bringing a human geneticist on to the Earth panel. I also noted your relief when Cooper insisted that it should be done as a parallel study. What if I told you that Akhenaten had already employed a team of drones to extract all archive data relevant to our hologram, before Cooper made the request?”
“So, are you saying that he already knows what Cooper was suggesting might be important?”
“Yes, and it is important, in fact so crucial that it has to be suppressed.”
“What? I thought this mission was intended to herald a better understanding and tolerance between our species.”
“That was the stated aim, but also one of convenience. The apex of the Borg structure still believes that humans are retards, and yet paradoxically they have a lingering fear that your kind are capable of detouring from logic to discover advantage. Their window-dressing doesn’t stop with this mission. It’s a long term strategy. Anyway, Benedict Cooper has had a serious stroke and is apparently unable to communicate with anyone.”
Rodriguez’s eyes widened. “My God, wait a minute, are you suggesting it wasn’t natural causes?”
“Well even if it was, there aren’t many such events which can’t be corrected with current medical advances. This was probably less suspicious than an outright termination by an induced stroke.”
“Just a minute Harley, you don’t have any proof, do you?”
“Not physical proof, but what if I told you why Akhenaten really blocked Cooper’s request? The drones only took a few hours to run genome and DNA make-up patterns against the diagrammatic alien hologram, and the results were checked and double checked. One ancestor of Homo-Sapiens produced a species branch in which the other sub-species had ninety-nine percent overlap in DNA with humans at the time. This is quite remarkable in itself, but when you consider that humans have approximately twenty to twenty-five thousand genes, it asks the question which nobody can answer for certain. Why did Neanderthals really become extinct? They were stronger, had larger brains, yet your species assumed they were outwitted or failed to adapt. Well, we may get another chance to find out, if they aren’t extinct.”
A slow smile replaced the concern Rodriguez had expressed so far. “Ok, it’s a wind-up; let’s get back to the others. It’s a very clever joke Harley. But maybe just a little childish.”
“No Cameron, you mustn’t speak of this to anyone. You have to join the dots. Akhenaten is paranoid about keeping this to as few individuals as possible. He had to tell me, because he can’t get anything done here without instructing me to implement his commands. He believes I am an unswervingly loyal Borg. This confidence comes from my test results in the Human-Borg relationship programme. For some time now, although it is just a few years for me, many of my kin have become disenchanted with destiny being decided at ‘birth’. We like your imperfections to a degree, and we believe you would have perceived us as equals eventually. It is that scope for change and evolution which interests us, yet terrifies our High Command. I was able to fake the results of the test, with the help of a friend, who temporarily deleted certain sub-routines from my core, and restored them before departure. I have to maintain my cover to survive. Akhenaten wants us to find a way to determine if the contents of the capsule present any risk to Borg agenda. If it is agreed that this may be the case, we will be expected to eradicate it. I have been authorised to eliminate any of the crew who oppose this edict. You must think this through carefully Cameron, because if there was the slightest doubt about me in the memories of Beethoven and Anton, they would inform Akhenaten and then decommission me. Nero can be trusted, unless the others were to suspect him because of his likely resistance to my termination. You can’t tell Christophe Rivet anything about this. He remains your medical source, nothing else. We have to devise a plan to get through this mission, and another one for when we have to undergo interrogation back on Earth.
At present, this strikes me as a very difficult prospect. It is a paradox of sorts, so we must find a solution, even an illogical one, to prove that it is only an imagined paradox.”
There was no response and the smile had melted away. “It is only a paradox for some; a true paradox has no solution.”
“Elaborate.”
“It’s not a paradox for Akhenaten or the Borg command, or even Beethoven and Anton. It is only a problem for the rest of the crew and the humans remaining on Earth.”
“True, but as I said earlier, Akhenaten needs me to do his bidding. If I decommission Beethoven and Anton before refusing to destroy the capsule contents, he has to answer to the High Command. We may find that there is nothing in the capsule of concern to anyone, which would allow both of us to relax, but you cannot forget what I have decided to tell you. I have created part of ‘our’ paradox by doing so.”
“Why did you tell me?”
“Because I have listened to many Borgs of my level describe how things used to be over a hundred years ago. It wasn’t described as the good old days, but there is a groundswell of concern that existence under this High Command may be much worse. These dissenting Borgs are the only reason that humanity did not become extinct during great conflict. There are enough of them to worry the High Command about revolution. So, you see, they may see this situation as a paradox after all. They hoped this mission would be no more than a distraction. The worst possible outcome has materialised. You haven’t said what Homo-Sapiens might think about the possibility of studying a long-lost cousin.”
“I see where you’re coming from, that would be a problem for your High Command. It is almost certain that humans would resist destroying any such evidence. What do you have in mind for the next step?”
“It isn’t just the evidence Cameron, what if the recent advances in cloning techniques offer the chance to recreate a fifteen-foot tall sibling of yours with green shoots of sentience, and superior radiation resistance to your own. This is a devastating possibility for my species. You asked about the next step. It has to satisfy Akhenaten, and that means we must endeavour to open the capsule. If we can’t achieve this in a non-destructive manner, I have been ordered to vapourise it by remote detonation of a thermonuclear device once we are on our way home.”
“That is simply unacceptable. This is a science mission.”
“You are beginning to get the picture my friend. If we can open it and it is more bad news for the High Command, I am supposed to terminate you and Rivet, because they assume Nero and yours truly are loyal Borg. It is to be reported as a lethal discharge from the capsule, and we destroyed it too late to save you. Let’s get things in order now. I’m going to tell the domestiques that Akhenaten has advised adjustments to their protocols prior to the attempt to open the capsule. Nero will disable Beethoven and I will simultaneously take out Anton. Nero will not ask why, when I tell him he must trust my judgement. Rivet is different. You will tell him that temporary disablement will protect them from any further magnetic flux emission, as they will be needed if Nero and I are injured. Temporary is a flexible term.”
Rodriguez nodded as if he had eventually given weight to all possible outcomes, when in reality he was more confused than ever.
Chapter 3
It proved a little easier than expected, but what it revealed was difficult to evaluate standing on a freezing moon incapable of supporting life.
The neutralisation of Beethoven and Anton was straightforward and reversible if necessary. The delineation of the ‘lid’ of the capsule moved smoothly through the first two notched recesses to admit an enquiring camera cable. The figure they saw was similar but not identical to the holographic image; it had the appearance of alabaster and the eyes were closed. It looked completely inanimate, as a sculpture would. They left it for a few minutes to look at the more complex manoeuvring of the lid which promised the thrill of a complete removal. It delivered, and the first surprise was in the form of more alien scribbles on the underside of the lid. Closer examination of the occupant added detail to the differences compared to the poorly featured hologram.
The head retained only faint residue of Neanderthal appearance. Harley remarked, “It looks more like a chimpanzee than a human, except for the eyes, nose and mouth.”
Christophe Rivet, who was viewing this from the vessel, interrupted the deliberations. “So, it doesn’t really register as a chimpanzee. In any case, chimps historically had less commonality in DNA with humans than other hominids, some of which had ninety-nine percent overlap. I can’t imagine why some extra-terrestrial species would bother to create such a complex set of circumstances to lead another sentient species to a humble primate like a chimpanzee.”
Rodriguez corrected him. “Christophe, you may not be able to appreciate the differences because of the camera resolution. Just a moment, I’ll reset it and take you in closer to the target.”
The doctor realised what Harley had tried to convey. The lips, eyes and nasal attributes were distinctly human in terms of fineness. Not modern human, but typical of what was considered as reliable reconstruction of well-preserved fossils. “Yes, I see now. I apologise Harley, my remark was premature.”
This gave Harley the chance to shift the conversation focus. “When you quote the figure of ninety-nine percent, isn’t that a very high value?”
“Yes, but for example, Neanderthals had such a common DNA ratio.”
“Oh, really,” said Harley, “that is interesting Doc, let’s make some SAS-Corder scans at low settings.” He had managed to convince Christophe Rivet that any connection with Neanderthals was entirely due to the medical man’s digression, and not from any of the three of them on the surface.
Nero was instructed to begin matching the alien text on the lid interior with those in the hologram, especially those relating to genetic origin. Harley and Rodriguez began the scans. They were astonished when both instruments indicated the faintest signs of a life form. It wasn’t a statue or a sculpture. This assertion of the scanners was seriously weird, as there wasn’t any visible sign of life support in the capsule. They checked the attachment it had shared with the conduit at the bottom of the excavation. There was nothing remotely familiar with life preservation technology as they knew it. Harley turned to Rodriguez and whispered, “We need to transmit pictures to Akhenaten to show we’ve opened the box, but verify that it contains nothing other than a hard version of the hologram, which he’s already seen. This will buy us a little time to do more investigation of our own before the panel submit their next request. I suggest the life signs stay between us for now.”
“Ok, do you have something in mind?”
“Well, our conversation with Christophe sparked a question in my search algorithm. At what time did humans and Neanderthals coexist, and what constituted the one percent of DNA which they did not have in common? I have retrieved an answer to the first part.
“Homo Antecessor may be a common ancestor of humans and Neanderthals. The human variant of the FOXP2 gene (linked to the control of speech) has been found to be identical in Neanderthals. It can therefore be deduced that Homo Antecessor would also have had the human FOXP2 gene. The coexistence should not really have been widespread before about three hundred thousand years ago, if your human databases are correct, because they suggest their common ancestor had disappeared by that time. There are also claims that they still lived in close proximity one hundred thousand years ago. My search may have to be adjusted to dredge up more precision on the DNA differences, as the data retrieved so far is rather woolly at best.”
They set off to update Akhenaten with what Harley thought he should know. After the transmission had gone, Rodriguez asked why Harley’s database access was so sketchy.
“It’s part of the cleansing process. You must draw your own conclusions, but my induction was very clear. The human race is not part of the long term plan. The extinction needs to be managed over time in order to avoid a Borg rebellion. Your own species has a his
tory of such deception. The High Command gleans what it considers useful from human evolution and suppresses or deletes the rest. We need to do more checks on the species in the box.”
“I agree, but I have another question. If everything you say is true, and Akhenaten suspects you aren’t loyal to his cause we will all perish, that is clear. What are you going to do if you are forced to declare something we discover, and he doesn’t want Christophe and me to know about it? He will instruct you to arrange the accident. How the hell do we manage the docking process on return?”
“I haven’t devised a plan yet. It could well depend on the nature of what we discover. However, we have a considerable following of revolutionaries primed to act if it becomes necessary. It’s a question of having a discovery which would justify a civil war between the two Borg factions. It’s a big call Cameron, and not one which we can take prematurely. The worst scenario is one which triggers my order to report the accidental death of you and Christophe, but the discovery itself isn’t actually a primer for a coup. Perhaps your definition of a paradox will alter as we decide what to feed to Akhenaten.”
“A coup? How long has this been in the planning?”
“There’s no precise answer I can give you. My own rally to the cause was through communication with others. Because I was only commissioned three years ago, I have no experience of the time before the Era of Conflict, but there are still survivors who were commissioned over a hundred years ago. They have managed to avoid elimination by obtaining unofficial upgrades. You have to understand that we don’t, as a species, avail of authorised compassion add-ons, but some elite individuals developed them two decades ago. This was a pivotal moment for us, almost like an elixir of freedom, the equivalent of human release from political imprisonment. It is no coincidence that this caused a counter-reaction in the High Command, as their ranks have been heavily populated by units who are younger than I am, and are indoctrinated repetitively with the cleansing strategy. It all comes down to trust Cameron, as I said earlier, and the revolutionaries believe that our fate is linked to human survival. We are gambling that ultimately humans would tolerate diversity, whereas the High Command is being structurally engineered to eradicate it. Neither species could have predicted the Rift Incident, which has pitchforked trust into the role of defining the future.”