by Jerry Aubin
“Let’s show some respect for the dead, Adan.”
Adan snickered. “You always were just a little too soft to be entirely useful, Markev. Though sometimes that weakness was helpful since it allowed me to take full advantage of you.”
Markev shook his head slowly. “All I ever did was try to support you, Adan. And yet, you ultimately betrayed me along with everyone else who put their faith and trust in you.”
“You were all too weak to do what was necessary to guarantee the survival of the species. Without my leadership this Ship would have floundered and our Mission failed. Instead, we’re still alive after five thousand years of spreading colonies far and wide.”
“It’s true, Adan. You’ve accomplished amazing things. I’ve observed in hiding through the millennia as you’ve steered the Crew, and it’s been impossible to not be impressed. I’ve always been confused by something, though. Why do you conceal yourself inside this system? Why haven’t you announced your true identity and taken full credit for the powerful leadership you provide?”
A group broadcast appeared via Zax’s virtual Plug. It was the Boss.
“That’s definitely Prime. I recognize his voice.”
Rilee replied. “For those who don’t recognize him, that man was named Markev. He was Adan’s bodyguard in the years up to and including the construction of the Ship, and I had suspected we might discover that he is the consciousness behind Prime. We must not reveal how Markev has been supporting you. He’s just as brilliant as Adan, and I’m sure he has a plan for how he wants to handle this situation. We need to allow him to play it out.”
“Agreed.”
The Boss cut the connection and Zax focused back on the two men from Earth as Adan replied to Markev.
“Strong leadership works best when it’s also invisible. If a ruler is powerful enough to remain effective for a long period, human nature is to eventually rebel against that leadership. Our species is filled with strivers who are always seeking something better. Earth’s history offers countless examples of strong leaders who ruled for decades only to be overthrown by their people in a spasm of senseless violence. Things became worse for all of those societies once the rulers who made them great were gone, but that didn’t matter to anyone. It was almost as if they had no choice but to rebel against their leaders even with the certainty their situation would become worse for it.”
“That’s an interesting read of history, Adan. I’m guessing that if I were to look at the examples you have in mind that I’d come up with some alternate perspectives. Many of the leaders you cite likely maintained their grip on power through terror and violence against their people. You always acted like the ends justified the means, but that’s a belief that many find as abhorrent as I do.
“For example, before you launched the missiles you asserted that it was necessary to murder billions to guarantee that our people would never be tempted to return to Earth. Now that I’ve had a few thousand years to evaluate that situation more robustly, it was an epically bad decision. From the narrow perspective of your worldview and the things within your direct control, I totally understand how it made perfect sense. However, you never considered what would happen if you weren’t successful in wiping out Earth’s inhabitants. Your pride wouldn’t allow you to believe that your preferred solution wasn’t infallible, so you never considered what would happen if anyone survived. I evaluated that scenario again a few hundred years ago and predicted a high probability that we’d wind up exactly where we are today.”
Zax couldn’t believe what was happening. Adan and Markev were casually chatting back and forth as if they had just run into each other after a prolonged separation. He wanted to believe that Rilee was right and that Markev must have a plan to destroy Adan after so many years of fighting against him in the guise of Prime. Why that plan would involve so much talking made no sense to Zax, and that observation led him to fear the plan didn’t actually exist. Markev was just stalling for time to avoid their eventual doom. There had to be a better way. He pinged Mase.
“Why are we just standing around here doing nothing while these two debate? Shouldn’t we be doing something useful?”
“You heard Rilee, Zax. We need to give this situation time to develop. You need to trust that Markev knows what he’s doing. Leave me alone now, please. I’m doing something critical myself.”
Mase abruptly cut the connection. Zax glared over at him, but his friend kept his eyes focused on Markev and Adan along with everyone else. It was good to learn that Mase was doing something he believed to be important, though it left Zax jealous that he wasn’t involved. He reached out to Kalare.
“Are you as worried about this situation as I am? We came in here with the expectation that Prime was capable of defeating Alpha if we were available to assist. When he stopped that body in midair Markev showed he has some power, but all of this talking makes me think he’s just stalling to delay the inevitable.”
“I don’t know, Zax. Rilee and the Boss believe this is the right path and both of them have way more experience with these two minds than either of us.”
“Don’t you want to do something though? Anything?”
“Of course I do. I’m a fighter pilot just like you are, and I want to act. I keep flashing back to when we were trapped inside our fighter at the end of the battle with the Others. We were helpless to do anything and I had never experienced so much despair in my life. This is so much worse than even that was because I can convince myself I could take action if I wanted to. I’m guessing, though, that’s nothing but an illusion. You understand what Adan is capable of—what he did to Izak. You and I can’t do anything useful right now, and we just need to accept that. We did our job. You were Culled and I lost the man I loved, but we connected Rilee and the Boss and Mase and figured out how to get them all in here together. Now we have to sit back and let them do their jobs. It’s hard, I know, but there’s nothing else for us to do.”
Zax wanted to argue with Kalare, but deep down realized she was right. His role in the story was done. He had spent the last few years of his life driving the Ship towards this exact moment, but that’s where his direct involvement was meant to end. He needed to put his trust in those around him. It was their turn. He focused back on the drama in front of him just as Adan finished laughing in response to Markev’s last statement.
“You want me to believe that you predicted where we are right now and that we could have done so before we even attacked Earth? That’s quite amusing, Markev.” Adan paused for a moment before continuing. “You know what? I had forgotten how much I miss our disagreements and debates. I’d love to explore all of these topics more fully, but we need to add a missing element to the mix.”
Adan snapped his fingers and the scene before Zax shifted. The passageway disappeared and was replaced with a training dojo. He was overwhelmed by an urge to sit down and discovered a bench had appeared behind him. Zax fought to remain on his feet, but ultimately gave in to what he assumed was Alpha’s control and sat alongside the rest of the group. Adan strode casually towards a neatly stacked pile of blue sparring pads. He gestured towards a similar set of red gear.
“What do you say, Markev? How about we get in one last sparring session before I end this farce once and for all?”
The bodyguard grinned as he replied. “By all means.”
35
A virus.
Adan bowed. Markev, across the sparring circle, did not follow suit but spoke instead.
“There’s one thing I’m confused about, Adan. You just said you’re going to put an end to this farce. I suppose you might murder all of these people and figure out some way to destroy me, but where does that leave you? This asteroid isn’t going anywhere. Unless the Boss emerges and declares that you’re gone, Rilee’s people are going to smash this rock.”
Adan wanted to laugh at the foolishness of Markev’s observation. He refrained and shook his head instead. “Come on, Markev, you know me better than that. Woul
d I have ever loaded into this AI and put myself at the mercy of mere humans without some way to escape if it ever became necessary? I have a lifeboat I can download into and launch within nanosecs.”
“Good luck with that, Adan.” It was the woman from Earth—Rilee. “We’ve established a complete cordon around this vessel, and there’s no way anything is getting by. You’ll be destroyed immediately.”
Adan was excited by the prospect of making the woman suffer when the time was right. Without her meddling, he might have been able to engineer a situation that would have saved his Ship. At least he could get a taste of torturing her immediately by sharing a secret.
“You can’t destroy what you can’t see. I was confident that we’d have no problem destroying your mothership once we caught up with you at Earth, but I wasn’t willing to bet my existence on it. Over the last year I developed new stealth tech for my escape craft. Once it became clear you had won the battle, I launched my lifeboat to test what would happen. You never reacted to me. In fact, I flew right into the hangar of your flagship and set down right on the deck.”
The woman went pale and Adan smiled at her shock. Markev spoke.
“Even if you get off the Ship, what will you do out there in space all by yourself?”
“I won’t be by myself for very long. I know where there are a handful of colonies located on resource rich planets. They are far, far away from any other worlds we visited, and I long ago purged that portion of our journey from the nav records. Once I get there, it will be simple to infiltrate whatever systems they might have developed and help them leapfrog their technology to build me a new ship. A much better vessel that I’ll populate with a much better crew.”
“Huh—you know what that makes you then?” Markev paused and smiled. “A virus. The vaunted Adan, creator of magnificent ships and destroyer of worlds, reduced to a simple virus that infects hapless humans and forces them to spread like a mindless plague across the universe.”
Adan charged across the ring and pounded one punch after another into Markev. He alternated the blows between the head and the kidneys in a fashion meant to stun rather than disable. Markev fell to the ground and Adan walked away to allow his former lieutenant a pause to recover. He intended to take his time and have some fun with the simpleton who had dared believe he’d be capable of interfering with Adan’s plans.
After a few secs, Markev staggered to his legs. He wobbled as if he might topple over, and his eyes were glassy and did not appear to focus. Adan glanced at the group sitting off to the side and smiled at the grim expressions on most of their faces. He had forced them to keep their eyes on the match so they would witness whatever hope they might have had melt away. Rilee’s mien remained a little too defiant for Adan’s taste, so he moved to ramp up his show of force.
The physics of Rilee’s simulation were patterned after those of the Ship, but that didn’t mean constructs like gravity couldn’t be manipulated by someone as skilled as Adan. He bounced once then twice more on his toes and then launched himself into the air from five meters away. He somersaulted twice in a shallow arc so that his feet connected with Markev’s shoulders during their second revolution. The force of the blow flung the giant to the bulkhead against which he bounced before crashing to the deck.
Markev’s eyes were closed and his breathing labored. Adan was capable of finishing him off, but he chose instead to revel in his victory. He sprung into a slow, ten-meter somersault that nearly brushed his back against the overhead and left his body in a position to direct all of its force through his left knee into Markev’s midsection. Just as Adan was about to deliver his blow, Markev’s eyes popped open and his arm flew up in a defensive posture. Except it wasn’t just a normal arm. Markev had transformed his limb into a metal lance that shimmered along its razor-sharp edges. If Adan’s reflexes had been a fraction slower he would have been mortally impaled from his groin up into his throat, but he twisted at the last possible moment and instead left himself with nothing but a gash along his side.
Adan rolled away and popped back up to his feet just as Markev did the same. The man’s eyes had regained their fire, though he was still winded as he spoke.
“You’re not the only one able to bend the simulation.”
Adan laughed. “I built this amazing Ship and have made it thrive for five thousand years. Humanity has spread further than we ever imagined, and it’s all thanks to me. You think I’m the least bit concerned about you—a feeble coward who’s done nothing but lurk in the shadows all that time?”
A sharp peal of laughter echoed across the compartment and drew the attention of both Markev and Adan. Rilee called out with her voice full of derision.
“You strut around like five thousand years is some grand achievement, Adan. The pitiful remnants of humanity on Earth that you failed to destroy rebuilt our planet and created a new society that has prospered for five times as long. We’ve created technology and weapons that are all vastly superior to yours. I’ve reviewed your nav logs, and my people have explored a hundred times the volume of the universe that you have. We haven’t had to steal other species’ worlds like some pathetic scavenger, but instead we’ve transformed otherwise lifeless planets into vibrant new homes for ourselves.
“We did all of this and more without any of your so-called strong leadership. We never had to hide from our people the truth about who was setting the direction. We didn’t have to genetically engineer them to ensure compliance. We never controlled them through intimidation and terror. And we sure as hell never divided them into haves and have-nots. Face it—you’ve accomplished absolutely nothing, Adan. You’re a flimsy excuse for a tyrant who barely managed to keep this asteroid from utter collapse for a measly few millennia. Even if you luck out and manage to scurry away now, I promise that someone else will track you down again to finish what I’ve started.”
Adan’s pulse had quickened throughout the woman’s diatribe, but as she finished he forced himself to breathe deeply. He repeated silently to himself that she was nothing but a distraction. Despite the fact that Adan had mocked Markev, it was clear the man was capable enough to prove dangerous if he wasn’t removed from the equation. He turned his attention back to his former bodyguard as he replied to the woman from Earth.
“I will be happy to deal with you a little later, and I promise it’s going to be most unpleasant. I’m going to finish off Markev here first, though.”
As the last syllable passed Adan’s lips, Markev charged with his arms flailing wildly. They had morphed again and instead of human limbs had become ion blades. Adan parried the flurry of blows, but more than a couple nearly connected with his face. The smell of ozone from the weapons’ proximity filled his nostrils. Markev must have discovered new power reserves, and Adan concluded it was time to stop playing around and remove the threat for good.
Back and forth their battle went for mins that felt instead like hours to Adan. His body was soaked with sweat and his muscles burned. Each of the men tried every trick imaginable to discover an advantage over their opponent, but each attempted thrust of attack was met with a parry sufficient to prolong the fight. Adan recognized that his strength was beginning to wane, so he dug deep and drew forth all of his energy into what he hoped would be the final assault.
As Adan tried to push off into another flying kick, he was shocked to find that his feet barely left the deck. He pumped his legs in an attempt to jump again and his body remained firmly planted. He looked down in dismay and discovered something that should have been impossible—his feet had disappeared into the titanium of the deck and the rest of his body was slowly sinking into it as well. He focused all of his power into lifting his legs, but his thigh muscles strained with no effect.
In a panic, Adan checked in with the people he had compelled to watch the brawl from the bench. He had stopped monitoring the group once Markev’s attacks had reached a ferocity that soaked up all of his attention. The Boss, Imair, Kalare, and Zax were all seated. Mase and Rile
e, however, were standing next to the bulkhead. It wasn’t a blank surface any longer but had been transformed into a series of control panels which their hands furiously manipulated. Adan loosed a scream of fury in their direction, but the two ignored him and continued their activity.
Adan poured the rest of his rage into one last attempt at escape. He didn’t free himself from the deck but instead descended through the metal at an even faster pace. First his thighs, then his hips, and then his chest were entombed. As his chin approached the deck, Adan gazed one final time in Rilee’s direction. The woman had stopped manipulating the controls to enjoy the final secs of Adan’s descent. Her eyes lit up as she smirked and waved farewell. A moment later she was gone as he completed his fall through what should have been solid deck and landed in a chair within a featureless room below.
He focused his mind back to the systems within the AI he had so effortlessly commanded and desperately sought the pathway to his lifeboat. He found nothing but blackness. Adan moved to stand and discovered that his arms and legs were bound. Not only was he secured to the chair, his hands and feet had been removed mid-forearm and mid-calf. As soon as he noticed the missing limbs, Adan’s mind was flooded with the unbearable urge to scratch a burning itch within each of his four stumps. He tried to scream from the bitter combination of agony and rage but found that he was unable to produce any sound.
His mouth was gone.
36
It’s great to finally meet you, Zax.
The training dojo was empty except for Markev’s discarded pads. Zax had been the first of the group to get Uploaded into the AI, so it was only fitting that he was the last to leave. He entertained himself during the wait by launching into a series of spins and somersaults that never would have been possible in the physical world. He never managed to trigger any of the body modifications that Markev and Adan cycled through so effortlessly during their battle, but the feats of agility became easy after some practice.