Retribution (Shaitan Wars)

by Sudipto Majumdar

  “The gas is completely harmless to humans. The only reason we have subject B in the plastic box is to concentrate the gas to demonstrate the effect. It would work just fine, albeit slower if I were to release the gas in the open room.” Sgt. Popov said with a smile, taking pleasure in the uncomfortable squirm some of the audience were giving at that thought.

  Dr. Kramnik pitched in at this point. “The serum injected into subject A has already started working, but the sedating effects of the prep injection has not worn off yet, hence we are not seeing any reaction from subject A yet. In fact we will see the first reactions from subject B, since it has not been sedated at all.”

  Subject B stopped thrashing and stood still after some time. About 10 minutes after it had been gassed, subject B started twitching all over. The limbs and even individual parts of its body twitched in an uncoordinated fashion, uncontrollably. It almost looked comical. Sgt. Popov gave the nod and 20 Marines came and stood in full armor and fully armed between the audience and the two Shaitans.

  Then Sgt. Popov flipped a switch and the plastic box was raised. Subject B stood out there in the open completely unrestrained. Many in the audience gasped. “Do not worry. The Marines have been brought in only for your peace of mind. Subject B will not turn violent right now, because we are ordering it to stand still.” Sgt. Popov said.

  “Actually it is the autonomous system of subject B we are ordering to stand still.” Dr. Kramnik pitched in. “We are sending continuous ultrasound message for subject B to stand still. His main brain inside is screaming and shouting in confusion and rage, but it is unable to command its body to do anything. The autonomous nodes are not in our command completely, but it does listen to strong suggestions that ask it to do simple non-threatening things like standing still.”

  “Subject B is not really in our control in terms of cooperation. It will not tell us anything it knows. It will not even tell us its name, but it will follow simple instructions. For example, I will now ask it to sit.” Sgt. Popov said and then blinked as he commanded the translator program to give the ‘sit’ command. The Shaitan with its twitching limbs almost resistant to its own volition started splaying its limbs and slowly went into a sitting position.

  Subject A had started showing signs of getting out of its stupor. It was weakly trying to get back to its limbs instinctively. “Ah. Subject A is getting up. We can now proceed to the main part of our demonstration.” Sgt. Popov said and nodded to Vasili, who went ahead without any armor and removed the restraints from subject A. Normally a Marine performing such a feat could not expect to live very long, but Vasili had done this before and went about his task confidently.

  “We are going to communicate with subject A by touch instead of ultrasound. Partly because it is easier to make the Shaitan understand what we are saying by the richer means of communication of sending signal via its skin slime, but also because we do not want subject B to hear what we are saying to subject A. Please take a look at the screen above, you will see the conversation that we are sending to subject A via the translator program, and its responses.” Sgt. Popov said as he attached a small device to the torso of subject A and taped it tightly.

  Q: ‘What are you called by your beings?’

  A: ‘Scent of Strength.’

  A: ‘No… How did I say that?! I will not say… spawns of Ka… this is impossible… how did the spawns make me say my sacred name!!!???’

  “If you notice that the Shaitan spilled out its name on being asked the very first time! This has never happened before. No Shaitan has ever told us its name. We didn’t even know till recently that they had names. We only started suspecting it after a few lobotomies pointed in that direction. It is something cultural or religious to them, not to reveal their names to us ‘spawns of Ka’. By knowing their names, we are supposed to get a connection to their ‘soul’, whatever that means!” Sgt. Popov gave a sneer.

  “If you notice, there is another response. A confused and disjointed one, that can’t believe that it said its own name! We have stopped the translator, otherwise that voice will continue rambling, and that screen will keep scrolling with the rants subject A is making. The first reply came from the simple brain, which is the collection of nodes, which has been cut off from the main brain. This simple brain holds a fair amount of information, which we can retrieve.

  The second rambling voice is from the main brain, which is completely aware of what is going on, but has no control over its body or this proceedings. It is obviously giving its confused response. Surprisingly, the main brain does not hold all the critical information. The storage of information is also distributed, so that many of the critical information is stored in the simple brain. Dr. Kramnik thinks that as the need of information storage increased in the Shaitan body, it started growing nodes to store them.

  To demonstrate this fact, we will now ask a series of questions to the Shaitan. It is likely that some may not be answered, while others may be. We will ask some simple questions where everyone is expected to know the answer and hence cannot be considered critical, while others which would be considered so. You will be surprised with the results as we have been so often in this last one month.”

  Q: “Have the spawns of Ka attacked the home world 12?”

  A: (No response)

  Q: How many moons does the gas giant of home world 12 have?

  A: (No response)

  Q: How many flood control gates does your nest have?

  A: 12 external gates, 22 internal emergency cut off gates.

  A: No… No… No… what am I saying, why am I talking to the spawns of Ka. The seers were right, these are the most dangerous spawns. Why can’t I move!? Why can’t I kill? Why can’t I kill myself?! – (response truncated)

  Q: What is the inventory situation of food in your nest?

  A: (No response)

  Q: Have you been getting regular food after the flooding and shut down of the flood control gates? How many times do you get to eat?

  A: Not getting usual food supply. I get to eat only once in 3 cycles.

  A: Why am I not being able to hold my breath and die? What have you spawns done to me!! – (response truncated)

  “If you notice, the first question was an obvious question with an obvious answer holding no secret. Obviously we have attacked their world, and a simple ‘Yes’ would have spilled no secret. The second question about the number of moons, while a bit more complicated, also cannot be a secret to us. Yet we got no answers from the subject. These two questions were not transactional, needed for everyday survival or operation on Jehannum.

  The third question about the number of gates was transactional, and the simple brain of the nodes had the answer stored in them. The fourth question was also transactional, but most probably this Shaitan did not know about it, and hence there was no response. The fifth and the last question was very basic about its own food, which the Shaitan would obviously know, and would be stored in its simple brain.

  It indirectly let us know through that answer that the inventory situation of food in New Babylon is bad. Shaitans normally eat twice in a cycle, but this one was starving, getting to eat only once in three cycles.” Sgt. Popov looked at his audience. He had a wicked smile on his face.

  “Now we come to the dramatic part of the presentation. I must warn you, that anyone who is squeamish may want to look away whenever they feel it is getting too much. I am not displaying the commands on the screen, because the response is going to overload even the translator program, and you would see a set of gibberish on screen. My commands would be obvious to you in any case.”

  Subject A slowly started moving towards the subject B, who was sitting. Then in an incredible burst of motion subject A sprung on subject B, slashing with its claws rending the flesh of the hapless Shaitan, who just sat meekly getting shredded into pieces. Then on another command from Sgt. Popov, subject A sat splayed on the spilled out juices of subject B and started feasting on them.

  “Shaitans ar
e not cannibals ordinarily. We think they have a deep social taboo just like us to eating one of their own. This is just to demonstrate that we can even overcome that deep seated taboo to make this Shaitan eat its own kind. Of course the fact that it is starving helps a lot…” Sgt. Popov was interrupted by Sarah.

  “That is enough sergeant. I think you have proved your point!” Sarah said, more than a little disturbed.

  “Of course Major. Sorry for that grisly display. There is just one last item left in the demonstration.” Sgt. Popov was still enjoying the sadistic display despite the rebuke from Sarah, who had more reasons to hate a Shaitan than Sgt. Popov.

  “The reason we stopped the translator program, is that subject A is fully aware of what is happening and what it is doing in its main brain. We didn’t want to show you its pain and confusion. So was subject B fully aware of what was happening to it, till the last moment of its death. Now as the final display of our hold over the Shaitan due to the serum I injected, I will put him out of his misery. This is one thing that the main brain of the subject A might actually thank for.” Sgt. Popov nodded at Vasili, who brought a large spike mounted on a stand and placed it square in the middle of the room.

  “Every instinct of every living being on this universe works towards self-preservation. The first lesson in evolution, which any living organism learns, even as a bacteria is to avoid killing itself. As a final demonstration, I issue the final command to subject A.” Sgt. Popov blinked and gave the last command. He had the demeanor of the hangman as he issued the command.

  Subject A walked slowly towards the spike. It did not jump or fall on it. Rather it placed the center of its body on top of the spike and then slowly lowered its body by letting go of its limbs in a splayed fashion. The Shaitan was impaled slowly as the spike emerged from the top of the carapace of the Shaitan. There were gasps and ‘my gods’ being uttered all around the room.

  No one noticed except Sarah that Dr. Mary Kramnik had moved to a corner of the room behind the audience. She had not watched most of the demonstration. She was facing the wall and tears ran freely on her cheeks. She knew that she had created a monster.

  Chapter 28

  Lemmings

  Jehannum, Alpha Shaitan System

  December, 2116

  Hello Mamma. We have won the war! Very soon I will be doing what I came here to do. Your son will be a landowner so vast that no one back in Tirana can even imagine. You would think that I would be happy and dancing with joy. I am happy but not dancing with joy, for I am also sad… not so much sad really, but disturbed. I have seen things in this last few days Mamma that do not let me sleep in the night.

  I will tell you all about it Mamma but, first let me fill you in all that has happened in the last few months. I am very sorry Mamma that I have not sent you a message in a long time. We have been very busy these last few months, and by the time I got back to the camp after every deployment, I barely had any energy to even go to the toilet. I have been getting your messages though, and am happy to know that everybody in our family is doing fine.

  When I got here a few years ago Mamma, you remember how scared and depressed we all were. We were not exactly losing the war, but we weren’t winning it either. Everyone in my platoon was scared and wondered who would be the next one to die. I even ran a betting racket taking odds on who would be the next one to go, until the Major put me in the brig for it. She was a Captain in those days, but I am glad she did that for it stopped a lot of the negativity I was spreading. I will tell you more about her a bit later.

  I remember telling you every time I sent a message, about what a big mistake I had made in coming to this cursed place, and I remember that you would ask me to be patient and diligent every time in reply. Well you were right Mamma. What a difference a few years have made! Not just to our situation here on Jehannum, but to me personally.

  I was just 18 on the day I declared that I had signed up for the USC special recruitment drive for the Jehannum campaign. I know I hurt you and made you cry a lot on that day and perhaps every day since. I am sorry Mamma and I wish I could give you a real big hug and say thanks to you personally. Thank you for all the times you held me when I used to be sick often as a child. Thank you for giving whatever little food we had to me and my brothers and sisters, while you and Papa probably stayed hungry. I wish I could have thanked him before he died.

  Now that I am older, I realize that I never saw you in new clothes, but you ensured that all of your children had clean and decent clothes to wear. So what if the clothes were not so fancy? There were so many little sacrifices of yours and Papa that I missed then. I know that I was a real assho… I mean I was an insensitive idiot back then. But your baby has grown up a little since then.

  It has been a decade since that fateful day when the USC recruiter came to our home. I remember how you fought with him, and argued that I was still a child who did not know what he was doing. I laughed then Mamma, but now I know that you were right. I did not know what I was really doing then, but I do now, and I do not regret the path I have chosen any longer. I am 28 now, although the doc insists that I am only 24 biologically, having spent 4 years in hibernation.

  Whatever may be the case, 2 years of training on the ship, 4 years of hibernation, and 4 years of enduring the best of times and the worst of times in this war has made be grow up a little bit. I see things a bit differently now. Initially when I came to this war, I wanted it to be over quickly because I was scared of dying. Then I stopped caring about living and dying and started enjoying the killing.

  It might sound strange Mama, but there was a phase in my life, when I didn’t want the war to end. I wanted to kill Shaitans forever. Then I grew war weary and wanted the war to end, so that I could get my promised piece of land and settle down to farming – the very reason I had come to this place. There were periods of depression through those years when I thought of taking the option of returning back to Earth after my commission.

  Many of my friends from the platoon are opting for the free return trip back to Earth, rather than the tract of land here on Jehannum. They find the gloominess of this world unbearable. They don’t think they can last their entire lifetime in this dark world. I have no such problems here. I have come to start liking the artificial lights inside, and the majestic caves and chambers of this world.

  I am debating whether to take a mining concession or a large tract of land for mushroom farming. We are now growing a lot of our food here on Jehannum, although most of it is still shipped from Earth. One of the best delicacies of this place is Mushrooms. They are even better than the ones grown by uncle Amin in the caves outside Tirana. You will hear more about my plans in my future messages. I will be doing a lot of video messaging from now on.

  I have been doing some reading lately, and I feel a lot like the pioneers to the Americas 500 years ago. I and my band of brothers have all come here to escape a life of poverty in the hope of making it rich here in a land of promise. Just like a letter from a son back to his mother in Europe would take months to reach her, my messages take 3 months to reach you, and your reply returns in 6 months to me.

  I do miss you all my family, but now I have a family out here too. There is Bin Talash, one of my closest friends who escaped an oppressive religious regime in his country to look for a free and secular start here on Jehannum. Then there is Michael N’wanga who, like me wanted to escape the poverty in which he was born into, and the endless ethnic strife in his country to find a fresh start where humans are treated like humans.

  Hua Hin comes from a slightly different background. He was not poor. He comes from a superpower, but an oppressive one according to him. He had a stark choice of 30 years in prison for his political views or a one way ticket to Jehannum to fight for the cause of humanity. He chose to make a life of freedom or die trying here. We four are the band of brothers in our platoon who plan to make a new and prosperous life here, now that the war is over.

  Our band of brothers is not uniq
ue. Every year thousands of young people from mostly poor countries come to this world in search of a better life, and in some cases suffocating and oppressive governments in search of freedom. We do have Marine comrades from rich countries of North America, Europe and Asia, for there are still poor in those countries who want to find adventure and make a better life in a new world.

  Then there are people like our Major. She comes from a rich country with a very comfortable life there compared to us. Such people have left every comfort and dedicated their entire lives to fight for humanity. All of us have special respect for her and many like her. They had many more comfortable options in life, and yet chose to fight here for honor. Someday I would like to be respected like her.

  The Major is not just an amazing soldier and commander Mamma, she is also one of the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Here… let me attach my chain of command reference into the message, her photo is near the top of the chain, you judge for yourself. I sometimes wonder what made such a beautiful woman into such a hard soldier. Rumor has it that she was orphaned in the Holocaust, and she has dedicated her life to wiping out the Shaitans.

  A lot has happened since the last time I sent a message Mamma. First we heard the wonderful news that we have been able to successfully prevent not one but two KK Ships thus preventing another Holocaust of an even greater magnitude. Many of us in the Marines believe that the Shaitans have been fighting a bit more dispirited ever since that news, although we cannot be sure of that.

  The bio scientists have made a major breakthrough since then in making a captured Shaitan talk, and even program it to behave the way we want like a zombie.