by Gabriel Dica
Every muscle in my body is aching. Time to stop and catch my breath.
I guess for someone chasing rumors for years, it’s strange that I don’t put much faith in them. It is what it is, a rumor is only a rumor until proven true or false. So why is this one so different? Why do I care? Why am I so sure everything will change if I find what I’m searching for? For the first time in a very long time, I don’t understand myself and I don’t trust myself. Maybe I don’t want to find anything? …That’s not even a possibility.
I get up and slowly start moving towards the other side of the peak. As I walk, more and more of the valley in front of me becomes visible. The wind seems to be getting stronger, sometimes lifting the snow in powerful bursts and carrying it everywhere, in the entire valley. I struggle to get a better look in the distance, to make sense of the terrain through all the snow and mist. Wait… something’s not right, something doesn’t fit. Right there! Down in the valley, the snow looks different…
Could this be…?
Thursday, April 15, 2320. 6:30 AM, UTC
Secretary Nazari’s hologram: “The President is ready for you, Admiral Sterrow. We’re ready to begin.”
The Admiral had been staring at the blank console for an hour, slowly caressing his thick beard, lost in thought, waiting for the War Council to gather back on Earth. The recent developments are troubling, but ultimately of little consequence; the course of action is clear – move the invasion schedule forward. So why was the council assembled? Even the President of the World Alliance was there, interrupting his busy schedule to attend. No, this was about something else…
Turning around and looking towards the adjacent meeting room, he realizes for the first time just how big the command area is. He’s not a young man anymore; his once pitch black curly hair gave way to the scanty gray bobs barely visible under his standard white and blue cap.
For a brief moment he smiles, finding his recent realization funny. Of course the command area is big, the whole ship he commands is enormous – a first generation spaceship aptly named Santa Maria, the first with the new Titan class designation, currently orbiting Asha – designed to command, control and transport an entire fleet of weapon systems, denial systems and carrier systems; everything, from the small automated drones to the huge transports are housed inside the Santa Maria. Of course the command area is big; twenty-five officers responsible for all the different systems, all assigned to their individual, complex control units – large, transparent, holographic half-spheres, centered around their leaned back, bulky chairs. All twenty-five control units are positioned in a crescent around and above a large area in the floor – the combat information display, C.I.D. – that provides a real-time holographic representation of the Titan and its surrounding area, along with dozens of pertinent information channels about the battlefield. In contrast with everything else there, the Admiral’s command stand is simple, just a metallic platform surrounded by a plain handrail, placed halfway on the empty side of the crescent formed by the control units, well above everything else in the command area.
As he enters the meeting room, he stops for a moment and quickly checks that his white and blue uniform is straight.
Quantum entanglement communication and holographic projection makes the empty area suddenly transform in a lively populated room, with all the War Council members arguing around a long, rectangular table; the President seems agitated, arguing with a new face, but is interrupted by the Admiral joining the meeting. Secretary Nazari makes a subtle gesture, inviting Sterrow to take his place. The ten war councilmembers are seated on both sides of the table, with the president on the far end. The only person he doesn’t know, dressed in a well-fitted silver suit and unbuttoned white shirt, doesn’t seem to have a place, instead just standing next to the President’s chair.
Back on Earth, the Admiral’s hologram appears just as the room settles down. All eyes are directed at the President.
President Locke: “Welcome Admiral. “
Standing straight, just opposite of the President, Admiral Sterrow quickly salutes: “Thank you, sir. It’s good to see you again.”
President Locke: “Likewise, Admiral. At ease. As you can see the entire War Council was assembled; today we’re holding a special meeting. But before we get started, there’s something you need to been informed about, a somewhat recent development…”
Admiral Sterrow: “Sir?”
President Locke, considered by many too young for his position, is sitting in a large, comfortable chair. As always, very careful about his appearance, he straightens his striped tie as he informs the Admiral with an indifferent voice: “Last year it became apparent that Earth’s civilian population was no longer satisfied with our… strict leadership. World-wide riots started and things degraded fast. People were demanding a drastic change in how decisions were made. We were left with only two options: turn our weapons against the population, or accept the Civilian Council in the decision making process.”
Admiral Sterrow: “I take it we now have a joint civilian-military leadership?”. He turns his head to the new face in the room.
President Locke: “Yes. Meet Alexander Hofmann, Admiral. He’s the…”
Alexander Hofmann, with a subtle smile on his face, doesn’t seem to have a care in the world. Just as the President is trying to make the introduction, he starts walking towards the Admiral’s hologram, analyzing him, and abruptly ending his sentence: “Call me Alexei, Mr. Sterrow. I’ve been selected by the Civilian Council to attend all high-ranking meetings and observe, maybe ask a few questions every now and then. Don’t worry, I won’t get in your way. I’m just here to understand… how things work.”
President Locke, visibly upset by Alexei’s lack of etiquette: “Don’t interrupt me again, Hofmann! Allowing you here…”
Still smiling, with a calm but firm voice, Alexei again interrupts the President: “You forget, Mr. Locke. I’m not here because you allow it; and I’m not here as a courtesy extended by your leadership. I don’t have “President” before my name and I don’t need it as I represent the Civilian Council; we hold the same amount of power now; we have the same weight in any decision.” His smile fades and his look is more serious: “Don’t confuse me with one of your errand boys. I don’t even understand why your position is still called “President”; you and your predecessors were never elected, your government is nothing more than a war council and all leadership thriving under you is nothing more than a corrupt gathering of mindless warmongers; any values the World Alliance had were lost… if there were any to begin with; any respect and support you ever had from civilians has degraded into hatred. My point, “Mr. President”, is that if I want to interrupt you, I…”
President Locke quickly opens his mouth to respond, but before he gets the chance, secretary Nazari firmly interrupts them both: “Gentlemen! Don’t we have somewhat more pressing matters to discuss?”
President Locke: “…”
Alexei: “…”
His many years of dealing with politics leave Admiral Sterrow unimpressed by the younger men’s bickering. He tries to break the silence: “The invasion is advancing according to schedule; the initial unit production is almost complete and most of the machinery is already operational. Except for the fact that we had a minor intrusion yesterday, nothing… noteworthy happened since my last debriefing.”
Alexei: “I wasn’t present during the last debriefing. In fact, I wasn’t present during any debriefing. And considering that now you don’t answer only to Mr. Locke, I’m going to ask you to explain a few things for me.”
The ten councilmembers, sitting quietly and observing so far, now seem more agitated; they clearly don’t agree with a civilian presence in their War Council, asking questions. But Alexei doesn’t seem to even notice them.
Admiral Sterrow: “With all due respect, sir, we simply don’t have the time to sit around conference tables. The invasion has entered its most critical phase and with yesterday’s events,
I need to start coordinating…”
Alexei: “That’s exactly the point of this meeting. We’re not so sure the current plan for this invasion is in Earth’s best interest anymore, Mr. Sterrow! We, you and I, need to decide what our course of action will be in the following weeks.”
Somewhat annoyed, Admiral Sterrow doesn’t hide his emotion while defending the orders given years ago: “Earth’s best interest, sir? We’re doing this for Earth. This is the culmination of a two-hundred-year mission. We’re here on a two-year deployment, away from our families, risking our lives, some of us never returning home, all of this because Earth lost its capability to sustain itself, because we need access to new resources, to a new planet. Please explain, sir, how is what we’re doing here not in Earth’s interest?”
Alexei: “In due time, Mr. Sterrow.”
A military man his whole life, the Admiral turns towards the President, not because he respects him, but because his rank demands approval from his superior: “Mr. President?”
President Locke, bored by the entire reason of this meeting, answers with a tired, faded voice: “No point in arguing with him, Admiral. Trust me, I know. Just… play along.”
Alexei: “Mr. Locke admires you, Mr. Sterrow; he speaks highly of you. I want to assure you that your loyalty is not in question. We all understand your dedication, and we thank you for it. So how about this: I’ll start. I’ll tell you a little history lesson and help you better understand what, and who you’re fighting for.”
Admiral Sterrow: ”Sir, what is this, exactly? I know very well what, and who I’m fighting for!”
Alexei: “I assure you, you don’t. You’ve been a military man your entire life. Your parents, military as well? You’ve lived a privileged life, Mr. Sterrow. I bet you’ve never traveled outside the controlled borders. You’ve never seen Earth for what it’s truly become, you’ve never seen your praised Alliance for what it really is. Allow me to open your eyes, Admiral!”
Alexei turns around and addresses the entire room: “You know your military history, no doubt. But what do you know about the formation of the Civil Council and its research over the years?”
Thursday, April 15, 2320. 1:45 PM, Local Time
Looking for a change in pace, professor Noya decides to have one of her students continue with the story, so she asks Filip to stand up again. Her lecture today is different, carefully planned so that in the end she can make a crucial point; a point that, if remembered at the right time, might just make enough difference to break the cycle. That is, if anybody lives long enough…
With a straight face, she turns to Filip, now standing: “What do you know about religion, Filip?”
Filip, surprised to be chosen again, answers her question: “Well… I know that while in ancient times it started as a guide of sorts for what was generally accepted as “good moral values” for people, it very quickly became just another form of control, holding tremendous power over people’s thoughts and actions. Of course, people didn’t see it that way back then. Blind to its true purpose – the purpose it holds today – they fought for the right to worship superhuman-like, all-powerful deities – generally called gods – with many different names depending on the doctrines they represented. Like so many things back then, religion was also divided in hundreds of types, forms and sizes, with different rituals, goals and leadership.”
Noya, analyzing Filip from top to bottom, decides to intervene and continue the story: “Shortly after the Last World War ended, the riots started and quickly evolved into full-scale revolutions. It was during that time that religious leaders saw a selfish opportunity to profit by expanding their borders and increasing their following – the number of followers a cult had was detrimental to its power. To gain more trust, they started supporting the fighting in any way they could: dispatching representatives to the front lines to aid the wounded and perform rituals on the deceased; clothing, food and water shipments; establishing supply lines to the most affected areas; rebuilding torn settlements. They achieved their initial goal by proving themselves to be an invaluable ally for the common people. But after the fighting stopped, in exchange for their support they started demanding a more decisive role in the new leadership being formed across the globe. Some of them even demanded the unification of all nations that believed in the same gods, ruled of course, by “divine” leaders – this was unconceivable at the time. It was these demands for more control that sparked even more hatred in a population already sick and tired of fighting control – that is, control that was not carefully monitored by the civilian population. Although the religious structures were viewed by most as an integral part of community, especially after their recent proof of the good they could do for the common people, religions themselves – or more accurately, the act of believing in any god or higher power – had been slowly loosing popularity over the years. Cult leaders were promoting their respective deities more than ever; but it was normal, common, ordinary people that had fought and bled and died in the recent wars; it was men and women that had to fight against poverty and famine and violent, corrupt leaders; men and women from all races and religions across all regions of the globe, united by a common goal; it was human resilience that ultimately led to stopping the fighting, not divine intervention. People realized how similar they are, despite their differences, despite what gods they believed in; and for the first time they realized just how similar all their different beliefs are, how no matter what god they worshiped… they all promoted similar higher moral values. And it was just these moral values they decided to preserve. So in an unprecedented moment, people demanded a fundamental change in the holy structures across the globe: a major shift, from worshiping deities to achieving more tangible results. Of course, it took many years and several minor changes, but this event laid the foundation of what we have today: a self-sustaining organization simply known as “the Church”, equal in its function across the entire planet; controlled by common people, sustained by common people, with its only goal to help the common people.”
Noya, turning her eyes to the floor and opening her arms, with a soft voice: “And finally… there was global peace, not a single war on the entire planet.”.
Everyone in the room is silent.
But the moment doesn’t last long and Noya quickly turns around and heads back to her stand. Picking her tablet up and quickly scrolling over some notes, she lifts her head and again addresses the students: “Wars… Sure, those ended. We haven’t had another war in over two-hundred years. But peace…? That didn’t last long, did it?”.
Tuesday, April 13, 2320
We expanded so much in the past two hundred years: small towns grew to become vast megacities filled by seamlessly interconnected buildings; planet-wide transport networks emerged, connecting unending production hubs to the green tops of the living areas; monitoring stations spread in every corner of the land, keeping a close eye on the unpredictable wildlife, tagging and monitoring all movement. And yet we know so little about what happened before our expansion started. Or the exact reason it was triggered. Or why at the same time, the wildlife became increasingly violent, to the point our very existence started to be threatened. We do know that around the same time something happened here, in the mountains, something that isolated this area from the rest of the world, something that won’t allow our scanners to get any usable readings, something that shifted and changed the terrain to the point it became so unstable. We also know that all these events are connected; we just don’t know how. Over the years we tried to get some answers, to explore this mysterious land, but anything we sent inside never came out, we never learned anything useful. Eventually we gave up wasting resources on this pointless endeavor.
But I’m here now, trying to do what no one else could. And surprisingly I’m still alive.
Last year something happened, something that led to me being here: our planetary monitoring stations picked up on what appeared to be a small asteroid burning up high in the atmosphere. I
ts projected trajectory placed the crash site in the center of this area. That seemed like a strange coincidence, but we get hit by hundreds of small asteroids every year – they usually simply burn up in the upper atmosphere and never make contact with the ground; we didn’t think much of it at the time. Knowing where it came from seems like important information now, but we never built sensors to monitor beyond our atmosphere; it never seemed like a priority with all the important things happening on the ground…
Only days later, the tremors started: small scale quakes, sometimes up to ten daily. Our scientists focused their attention here, but without any way to look inside, all they could do was to wait and observe the effect that rippled outside of the isolated area. Even so, they were busy: just a month after the tremors started, a strange, thick, dark fog started coming out. The whole area was already covered in dense mist, so dense that we couldn’t see anything past the second row of peaks – but this was different, it almost seemed… unnatural. And when our scientists analyzed it, five percent of its composition couldn’t be identified. That’s when the rumors started… That’s also when we focused all our attention to determining what was happening inside; we started building new technologies to allow us any way to penetrate what seemed like an impenetrable, invisible, intangible barrier. One of these technologies started picking up strange, previously unheard, metallic sounds originating from somewhere in the center – and whatever was causing these sounds was not only expanding, it was also accelerating its expansion rate.