Carbon Life

by HR Ringer

  Upon arriving at the main facility next to Oxford Castle, she set her air car down in a spot reserved for visitors in order to check in with her new CO, Marine Major Leland Hansen. She stepped out of the speeder and looked at her surroundings with a great deal of interest. Not much had changed since she had graduated college and left for Vancouver. ‘Not much here,’ she thought. ‘Just everything in my life has changed, and now here I am, back where I started.’ She slung her small bag over her shoulder before sealing the X3M against intrusion – the rest of her kit was inside, and she would be sick if any of her special weapons were stolen.

  Walking confidently through the main entrance, she stopped in front of the receptionist, a seemingly small woman with a sergeant’s chevrons on her sleeves. Showing her orders, she announced herself: “Specialist Samantha Traynor, here to see Major Hansen?”

  The sergeant entered several commands into the haptic interface in front of her; after waiting a few moments, the terminal chimed its response. “Welcome to Oxford, Ma’am; you’re right on time. If you wouldn’t mind, please have a seat while I inform the major you’ve arrived.”

  Moving to one of the nearby chairs, she mused, ‘Damn! She’s really polite. Is everyone here gonna be that way?’ Sammy had barely taken a seat when a door beside the receptionist’s desk swung open to reveal a trim man of medium height and build, dressed in a crisp uniform. “Ms Traynor?” he said as Sammy stood up. “I’m Major Hansen.”

  Traynor came to attention and saluted before Hansen had finished speaking; after acknowledging her salute, the major stepped up and offered his hand. “Good to meet you, Specialist. Captain Anderson has spoken highly of you… please, do come in,” he said as he waved her into his office. “We have much to discuss.” Turning his attention to the sergeant, he said, “Would you mind sending for a tea service, Michelle. Just bring it in when it arrives, thank you.”

  The major walked in behind Traynor and closed the door; waving her to a chair at his conference table, he sat opposite her and referred to a datapad he had retrieved from his desk. “I’ll get right to it, Traynor. I’ve read through your service record; quite frankly, I’m surprised at some of what’s here. Seems Lieutenant Commander Garrett Sutton was reduced in rank and relieved of his command at Arcturus. Malfeasance. Serious charge. You provided Anderson with the ammo he needed to get that done, yet you still have a black mark in an otherwise spotless service record – a record, I might add, that has a fair amount of missing information. Care to explain?”

  “I’m sorry, Sir. I had to sign a legally-binding NDA concerning my time in a… special training program.”

  “That’s too bad, Specialist. Without violating that NDA, can you answer one question for me?” Clasping his hands in front of him on the polished table, he asked, “Just why in the name of all that’s good in this world aren’t you a Marine?”

  Traynor was at a complete loss for words. “Sir? Does my answer have some connection to my assignment here?”

  The major leaned back and roared with laughter. Still chortling, he wiped his eyes as he said, “I’m sorry, Specialist. I should have warned you… I was included in a conference call with Anderson and General RaeLee Park.” As sudden understanding colored Sammy’s expression, a knock at the door was preceded by Sergeant Delaney entering with hot water and mugs for the requested tea. “Ah! Excellent, Michelle. Set that tray right between us. We can serve ourselves. Thank you.” She quietly set the tray down and left, closing the door gently behind her.

  Hansen stood, waving Traynor down as he did so. After he had poured them each a cup of hot tea, he retook his seat, sipped from his mug and sighed, before continuing, “I know a great deal about your education, Ms Traynor… top of your class… just down the street, if I’m not mistaken.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “That education cost the Alliance a significant number of credits; it’s nice to see their faith in you wasn’t misplaced.” Hansen continued to smile as he looked through her record. “I’m more interested in the knowledge and abilities you’ve acquired since college, Specialist… real world experience… in electronics, computers, communications systems. Still, it was quite refreshing to hear from General Park that a supposedly meek tech-geek has a titanium spine and isn’t afraid to defend herself.”

  Not knowing what else to say, Sammy simply nodded as she responded with, “Yes Sir.”

  “The general indicated you graduated from an unnamed special program at the top of your class, Specialist – a class she said included a hellova lot of combat training. Now, I seriously doubt you’ll see any combat while you’re in Oxford, Ms Traynor, but you may be happy to know we do have a well-equipped gym downstairs, should you feel the need to keep to an exercise regimen.”

  Hansen polished off his cup of tea; making several notations on his datapad, he touched a control with a flourish. This activated Sammy’s omnitool, the deep purple glow indicating it had received and archived the material for later reading. “All the info you need is right there, Ms Traynor – your quarters are in the building just to the south. There are a number of nice ale houses and restaurants close by. As soon as you’re settled, come see me… I’ll introduce you to our comms systems R&D director. I think you’ll get along famously here.” Standing, he stuck his hand out again and concluded by saying, “Welcome to Oxford, Specialist Traynor.”

  * * *

  * SSV TOKYO · AT LARGE, UTOPIA SYSTEM · EXODUS CLUSTER *

  “You’re not in Vancouver?” Xiùlán was surprised at Sammy’s news. “I don’t understand. You didn’t expect this, did you?”

  Traynor smiled at her Inamorata’s confusion. “Captain Anderson recommended me to an old friend, Major Leland Hansen… he’s the CO of the Oxford R&D facility.” The high regard Traynor had for the facility and the personnel she was working with was evident in her radiant smile and happy demeanor. “It’s the perfect fit for me, Ai! [愛 - Love (Sam’s meaning is ‘luv’)] It’s the first time since our program ended I’ve felt truly relaxed at my job! Everyone is so pleasant – none of the bullshit I had to put up with at Arcturus.”

  Yuán was thrilled her lover appeared to be so happy. “That’s wonderful, Sà mǐ! I’m so pleased for you.”

  Traynor couldn’t keep the concern from her voice as she asked, “What about you, Lieutenant? I’ve tried to keep up with the Third Fleet’s movements in Arcturus and Hades Gamma, but most of the information about ship movements is classified, and I’d be the first to agree that’s a good idea, but… I really hate that I can’t point to a spot on a galaxy map and know that’s where you are. How are you doing under your new captain?”

  “It only took a few days to get used to Captain Tyler’s way of doing things – she’s not that different from Captain Anderson.” Xiùlán looked down for a moment before bringing her head back up and continuing. “Rumor mill is working overtime out here, and I seriously doubt you can confirm anything I’ve heard concerning the Normandy.”

  Sammy chuckled. “No news from the Citadel, which was supposed to be its first port of call, but…” suppressing a giggle, “… The brass did leave the thing unlocked… partially my fault, I guess.”

  Xiùlán looked intently at the image on her screen as she reluctantly asked, “Just what, exactly, was your fault?”

  “A flight lieutenant entered the bridge as I was leaving for the engineering deck… I was in the process of tracing and confirming all the connections between the galaxy map in the CIC, the cockpit and engineering. He said he’d be right out…” Traynor paused as she thought back. “Son of a bitch sealed the kinetic barriers after locking himself in the cockpit, fired up the engines and took the ship out for an unauthorized joyride, Xiùlán.”

  “What the hell, Sà mǐ? How could that happen?”

  “He must have known all the correct pass-codes – told me he’d brought General Invectus to the yard to certify the ship after its test flight.” Traynor’s expression was one of total amazement. “He had to use crutche
s to get around – told me he’d aced all the written tests and the simulator, but no one would give ‘im a shot at the pilot’s chair after they caught sight of his sticks.” Shaking her head from side to side, she concluded with, “Guess he figured stealing the ship and demonstrating his prowess was the only way to make an impression.”

  “So, did the brass clap him in irons and drag him off to prison?”

  “That’s the really strange part of the entire episode, Xiùlán!” Sammy’s amazement was readily apparent. “He got the damned job! Actually flew rings around the interceptors sent after him. They were under orders to target propulsion, but he was able to evade every shot they took at him.”

  “So, Anderson’s the captain of a stealth frigate piloted by a rogue flight lieutenant? What about punishment for stealing the ship?”

  “Anderson told him he’d have to accept some form of punishment for being so brazen, but I don’t know what that was. The captain was kinda forced to accept Moreau as his pilot… and the turian general is the one that came to his defense! He told Captain Anderson in no uncertain terms that since Moreau beat all their trials with time to spare, and successfully adjusted to unexpected conditions while under weapons fire, he was exactly the kind of man the turians wanted piloting the Normandy.”

  “I’ll just bet Invectus is now the Alliance’s most favorite turian. So, what happened next?”

  Sammy laughed again as she replied, “He strongly suggested that Alliance brass listen to him – in the interest of continuing good turian-human relations.”

  It was Yuán’s turn to express amazement. “Never heard of a human that was able to impress a turian… about anything! So, nothing at all about what happened when the ship got to the Citadel?”

  “There are a few stories floating around concerning a rogue Spectre… and there’s been some mention of geth, but they’re just that… stories, and they cannot be independently corroborated. Besides, you know how the brass is, Xiùlán. We not supposed to talk about anything but the weather…” Sammy turned her head, as if looking out a nearby window. “… Touch of fog and a cold drizzle here right now. You?”

  Xiùlán laughed. “It’s cold outside… damned cold! No air to speak of, so no fog, rain or wind. Pretty much the same thing every day. Kind of boring, really.” Grimacing slightly, she said, “I have to cut this short, Sà mǐ. You take care! Send me a text when you get a moment.”

  “Okay then… I love you! Stay safe out there.”

  “You too. Wǒ duì nǐ de ài tiānchángdìjiǔ, sà màn shā.” [我對你的愛天長地久，薩曼莎，- My love for you is as enduring as the sky and the earth, Samantha.]

  * * *

  * OXFORD, UNITED KINGDOM, EARTH · SYSTEMS ALLIANCE R&D CENTER *

  Samantha Traynor had spent a full six weeks researching ways to gain even greater performance from existing quantum communications nodes – perhaps enable one node of a connected pair to have its entangled pairs doubled, effectively allowing for real-time communications among four similarly connected nodes. The laboratory tests had been promising, but real world results had ultimately proved disappointing – the limited bandwidth of one entangled pair was effectively halved when the entangled particles were doubled – where a single entangled particle was capable of transmitting a single quantum bit of data at once, doubling the number of entangled particles significantly reduced the quantity of data that could be transmitted between the entangled pairs. After a lot of reconfiguring and retesting, Sammy was forced to concede to Major Hansen’s assessment that it would simply be more efficient – and cost effective – to have multiple QEC nodes in one central location, such as Arcturus Station, with matching nodes installed in the flagship assigned to each of the fleets calling Arcturus ‘home’; each Alliance colony would also maintain a QEC at its military headquarters, connected to matching nodes in Arcturus.

  At this, Traynor expressed fear that, however unlikely, the destruction of the comm center at Arcturus would collapse the entire network. She had mapped out her solution and presented it to Major Hansen – each of the ships connected by QEC to Arcturus would have an additional node installed; this would be paired with a node at either the Alliance headquarters in London, or the HQ in Vancouver, BC. When asked why she felt that placing very expensive QEC nodes on Earth and installing the matching nodes on the ships was a good idea, she explained how simple it would be for an unknown enemy to destroy the comm buoys that were the fallback communications tools for everyone, should the communications terminals in Arcturus be destroyed.

  “If comms on Arcturus were crippled or destroyed and the comm buoys in the Serpent Nebula, Sol, the Exodus Cluster and the Horse Head Nebula were eliminated, real time communications with the majority of our fleets would be non-existent,” she had explained. “The further away our fleets operate, the more important reliable comms with the brass become, wherever they’re located.”

  To his credit, Major Hansen endorsed Traynor’s recommendations and sent them up the chain to the Defense Committee; additionally, he placed a commendation in her record praising her research methodology and reasoning skills. Saying, “We’ll just see if all their soft living has completely blinded them to the necessity of being prepared for any eventuality, no matter how unlikely.”

  As it turned out, Traynor’s foresight turned out to be the safety net they needed.

  * * *

  * SSV TOKYO · AT LARGE, EXODUS CLUSTER *

  The Tokyo’s arrival in the Utopia system had been welcomed somewhat ambivalently by a majority of the colonists living on Eden Prime. Captain Alicia Tyler had entered the system unannounced shortly after the Normandy had left for the Citadel in order for Captain Anderson to present their findings concerning an unprecedented – and unprovoked – attack on the colony by geth forces, inexplicably led by a turian Spectre, Saren Arterius. More disturbing than that news were numerous reports of an enormous dreadnaught that had actually landed on the outskirts of Constant, the colony’s capitol. If true, then the geth had developed and constructed a warship of incredible power, able to generate mass effect fields powerful enough to land on a planetary surface, the implication being that it possessed a massive eezo core – with the ability to generate enormous amounts of power. The only naval vessels belonging to any species that were capable of landing on a planet such as Eden Prime were frigates and smaller vessels.

  Lieutenant Yuán had been placed in charge of collating all the reports from various sources; to that end, she was given a shuttle and a Marine escort in order to obtain the data files and interview the few surviving eye witnesses to the attack.

  She began by interviewing the head of Constant’s security forces; after obtaining all the available vid-files of the attack, she traveled to the site where the Prothean relic had been dug up. The site was empty of anything worth investigating – the relic had been relocated before Shepard and her companions arrived. Going up the hill behind the dig site led her to a small freight shipping area – it was here she encountered several workers that had hidden themselves during the geth attack – they had spoken to Commander Shepard as she pursued Saren to the small spaceport where the Prothean beacon had been taken.

  As much as she hated the task, she performed a cursory examination of Nihlus Kryik; the dead Spectre had been placed in a container with a stasis generator. As it was obvious he had died from a gunshot at close range to the back of his head, she reactivated the stasis generator and called down a shuttle to transport the unfortunate turian back to the Tokyo – Captain Tyler could make arrangements for a transport to retrieve the Spectre once they returned to Arcturus.

  Taking the shuttle to the small shipping port where the remains of the Prothean relic were located, she noted a number of inactive geth platforms on the ground and platforms; these she ignored, as there was no known method of retrieving any data from the machines once they had been deactivated. Of more immediate interest were the four bombs Saren had caused to be placed in an effort to destroy any trace o
f his presence on the planet. Yuán once again called the Tokyo, asking for a bomb disposal crew to come down in order to either remove or disassemble them before any colonists could unintentionally trigger an explosion.

  After spending the entire day on Eden Prime’s surface, Yuán was happy to be back aboard the Tokyo – she still had to finish her report, but it would be much easier aboard ship than attempting to do so in the cramped confines of their shuttle. Having set up a meeting with Captain Tyler the next morning, Xiùlán finished writing her report before taking a soothing shower. She was not sure how, but the distinctive smell of burned plant life had combined with the unearthly stench of spilled non-organic lubricant and hydraulic fluids from the geth machines to cover her in an unhealthy smelling odor. Once out of the running water, she quickly toweled her body after wrapping her long hair in a smaller towel.

  After pulling on a pair of shorts and a crop top, she tossed her soiled clothing into a recycle bin, then sat down at her desk to consider her report. The entry of Olivia to their shared quarters brought a welcome sigh from Xiùlán as she greeted her roommate and friend. “Kenzie! How was your day?”

  “Pretty routine, until I had to go dirtside to lead the retrieval of a bunch of unexploded ordinance. Where in hell would the geth obtain Alliance grade explosive devices? Just one of those damned things could have obliterated that entire platform and a significant portion of the colony. All four together would have left a crater big enough to hide this ship!”