by Gabriel Dica
The President is now standing up, calm, carefully tucking his shirt in, almost like he’s preparing to leave somewhere. The councilman on his left keeps looking at him, worried.
Alexei, sensing that something is wrong, quickens his words: “I know you’ve read the report Captain Ayala Herut made on the ashans and I know it raised some doubts, Mr. Sterrow, about the people you swore to serve! I need you to think for yourself, Admiral, if at all possible uninfluenced by anyone else in this room!”
President Locke quickly changes his expression; no longer calm, he is now puzzled, worried.
Another councilman, sitting close to the Admiral’s hologram, so far entirely absent of any reaction during the entire meeting, raises his head, suddenly interested in what is happening, looking directly at Alexei.
Alexei keeps taking to the Admiral, his entire attention dedicated to him: “Let me help you do just that, let me help you open your eyes! I know you’ve read the Ashan Report, but have you seen the uncensored version? The original, just as Captain Herut recorded it?”
President Locke did not expect this; how did he manage to get his hands on the very sensitive recording?! He’s shocked, his eyes wide open, worried, agitated. He reaches forward, trying to grab Alexei, but he’s too far. He quickly turns to the councilman on his left: “DO IT! NOW!”. The councilman quickly reaches inside his pocket.
With the sad realization that time has run out, Alexei presses a concealed device on his wrist, calm, contempt, looking straight in Sterrow’s eyes, trying to communicate a final sense of urgency. At the same moment the councilman close to the Admiral, immediately takes a device out of his pocket and sends on a prewritten message: “Get her out! NOW!”. With the message underway, he raises his eyes, looks at Alexei and makes a subtle nod in confirmation.
Admiral Sterrow: “Unedited version…? The original report was altered?! I’m leading the invasion of an alien planet and you’re withholding information?! Mr. President?!”
But it’s too late. The meeting room is again empty, all holograms gone, the ship’s computer informing him of the obvious: “Connection lost. Trying to reestablish.”. But nothing happens.
The Admiral just stands there, in the empty room, thinking, trying to find some meaning to the rapid escalation of the events he just witnessed, unaware of what is happening back on Earth. But after only a few moments, the computer breaks his concentration: “Transferring… File transfer complete.”
He starts walking to the console next to the door to see what transfer the computer was mentioning. But just before reaching it, the hologram reactivates and the council room reappears. Sterrow turns around: this time it’s only the President, alone, right next to where the Admiral was previously standing, focused, his head slightly tilted down, his eyes locked on Sterrow, his hands by his side, slowly moving from the heavy breathing: “Admiral. You are authorized to begin the invasion effective immediately! Your orders have been dispatched to your ship’s computer.”. And with a low, deep voice, almost like an aggressive animal snarling, communicates the final order through his gritted teeth: “Get it done, Admiral!”. The hologram shuts down just as the President is turning and walking away.
Sterrow takes a deep breath and closes his eyes for a moment, instinctively accepting his order; but he immediately remembers about the file received and with one hand he checks the console. It seems to be a holographic recording called “The Ashan Report”.
Determined to find out what was happening, he starts playing the recording.
Final note from the author
Thank you for reading the first part of the Humanity series. If you enjoyed it, please take a moment to leave me a review at your favorite retailer. And if you’d like to tell me what you loved, what you hated, or simply say “Hi” – check out my author page on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/gabriel.dica
Thanks! Gabriel Dica
p.s.: Keep reading, you’ll find a short fragment from the next book.
The Ashan Report. File #1. Year 2221
“Gazing through the window at the world outside. Wondering, will mother Earth survive? Hoping that mankind will stop abusing her, sometime.” … The music fades away as the increasingly louder alarms come into focus - Captain Ayala Herut is slowly coming back to reality after she briefly fainted, again, from the huge forces her ship is experiencing. The cockpit is shaking violently, the frame is twisting and growling like a wounded animal desperately clinging to life; the ship is racing towards the ground in an uncontrollable spin, despite the Captain’s best efforts. Her whole body is constantly being pushed to right, forcing her painfully into the side of her chair. Her vision is coming back, but all she can see is a continuous trail of red lights from the panels in front of her. With all her strength she struggles to reach the controls, but it’s almost like the ship is fighting back; the lateral forces are too high, beyond the ship’s breaking point, she can’t move a single muscle; she’s pinned in her chair, a passive spectator to the unfolding of her imminent death. The ground is getting closer and closer. In total contrast to the Captain’s state of mind, the ship’s computer is very calmingly announcing the inevitable: “Warning. Altitude loss. Ten kilometers. Warning. Altitude loss. Eight kilometers.”. The ship’s tail breaks apart and the sudden difference in pressure causes the Captain to be brutally thrown forward in her chair, only to immediately come to a sudden stop because of her safety restraints. “Warning. Altitude loss. Six kilometers. Warning. Altitude loss. Four-thousand meters. Altitude loss critical. Impact imminent. Eject! Eject!” But the Captain can’t do anything, not even reach the ejection lever. In the last moment before the impact, she takes a deep breath, accepting her faith…
John: End of simulation!
John opens the door to the training room and with a big smile on his face he turns to Ayala: “I thought you said there’s nothing that could possibly happen, ever, anything, to keep you from landing on Asha!”.
Captain Ayala, trying to catch her breath, breathing heavily, clenching her teeth as she’s starting to feel the pain in the chest caused by the safety restraints, sketches a small smirk from the corner of her mouth: “A micrometeorite? Really?”
John: Yup!
Ayala: During reentry.
John: Yup!
Ayala: Just as I was making the final course correction, the worst possible time to get hit.
John: Yup!
Ayala: Seriously! What are the odds of that?! Is that even possible?
John: Sure it is! I mean, it’s in the realm of possibility. Barely… Kind of…? Hey! You said you can handle “anything”! Anything! So I got creative… All the other simulations were boring; you were passing them too easily. At least this one was fun!
Ayala: Fun, huh? As soon as I can move my right arm, I’m going to hit you! Hard!
They both start laughing as Ayala is getting out of her chair.
Ayala: John, you’re a hell of an engineer and sim programmer, but please make it less painful next time, will you?
They start walking towards the debriefing room.
John: Ha! And what will you learn if I do? I work my ass off to make these training simulations as realistic as possible. Look, we don’t know what to expect on Asha, not really. So yes, foreign objects hitting you on reentry while performing sensitive maneuvers – now you know you have to eject a lot sooner; fake die here so you don’t die for real over there.
John stops walking and faces Ayala, placing his arms around her shoulders: “What have I told you, over and over? Come on, say it with me.”
Ayala: Pain is my friend. Pain will keep me on my toes. Pain will keep me alive.
John isn’t Captain Ayala’s superior. He’s just a civilian. He is also a genius and an invaluable part in designing Ayala’s ship – a prototype design with the sole purpose to take her to Asha and back. And after the months he’s been assisting with her training and supervising all the ship modifications she was requesting, he is also her friend.
J
ohn: Oh! I almost forgot! There’s a General waiting for you.
Ayala: What?! You should have started with that! When did he request me?
John: I don’t know… A few hours ago…?
Ayala: I swear! As soon as I can move my right arm…
John: I know, I know! You’ll hit me hard.
Ayala rushes towards the briefing room and she almost stumbles and falls as she enters the room. General Beckett is sitting down in front of a monitor, closely watching the recording of her last training mission. Ayala’s commanding officer, Colonel Sterrow, is standing behind him, explaining her maneuvers.
Ayala: Captain Herut reporting, sirs!
The General keeps watching the recording and with a serious, low tone addresses the Captain: “I see you just crashed and died, Captain. What does that say about you?”.
Ayala: That I’m the best damn pilot you’re going to find for this mission, sir!
Colonel Sterrow briefly smiles, but turns serious again as the general stands up and walks towards Captain Ayala.
General Beckett: Oh? And why is that Captain?
Ayala: Respectfully, sir, they’ve been trying to get me to crash for months. They threw everything possible at my sim missions and failed. They had to implement the impossible to finally get me to crash… Sir!
Colonel Sterrow: And that’s why she’s the best. Although her ego could use some work… Captain Herut, meet General Beckett. And now that the pleasantries are out of the way, let’s sit down and have a chat.
Colonel Sterrow and General Beckett knew each other for years, since they first enrolled in 2185 and they became friends shortly after. Military etiquette was not a priority between them.
General Beckett: Tell me, Captain Herut, do you like history?
Ayala: No, sir.
General Beckett: Too bad, I’m going to ask you anyway. Do you know what the military was like before? Before we had space travel, before the World Alliance that you now serve was formed?
Ayala: Well, sir, I know it was more… strict.
General Beckett: And what has changed over the years?
Ayala: The different branches merged into a single entity under the full control of the W.A. There are no more terrestrial troops. The Navy doesn’t exist. All we have is a few ships in orbit around Earth and their personnel, sir.
General Beckett: And why do you think that is, Captain?
Ayala: There was no need for them anymore, sir. Almost all forces were disbanded or repurposed to aid civilian efforts. A considerable portion of resources was redirected to build the transit ships, to move Earth’s population to a new planet – most military technology was cannibalized for this.
General Becket: And there we have it. The big dilemma. Asha is our last chance for survival, but it’s inhabited by a species we know nothing about. If they’re as advanced as the initial reports suggested, they might not like us moving on their planet. They might fight for it. And we don’t have the forces to do anything about it. But, in the end, the matter is simple: we must take that planet, no matter the cost. That’s why we’re sending you there: assess their military power and their predisposition to fight us so we can figure out what kind of preparations we need to make, the amount of forces we need to train and the kind of technology we need to develop.
Ayala: … Sir? I thought I was going there to assess their level of development, to learn what kind of civilization they are and if they are as advanced as we are, to start looking for alternatives. From what you’re telling me, it seems like an invasion is already planned…
General Beckett: Alternatives, Captain? We have less than eighty years before Earth can’t sustain us anymore, before humankind dies. We’ve sent thousands and thousands of probes looking for alternatives and not a single one was found. Do you want your grandchildren to live on Mars? With its week gravity and week radiation shielding? It’s not a feasible long term solution. The few resources we found on Jatko will soon run out and then we’re truly out of alternative!
Ayala: What about Jatko, sir? Is it still uninhabitable?
General Beckett: We conducted hundreds of experiments and we just can’t kill the virus. It’s mutated so severely after our last attempt to kill it, it now lives even under the surface, in the soil. We can’t risk sending the entire population there! We’ll keep trying, of course, but it looks like a losing battle. So you see, Captain, one way or another, we’re going to Asha! Or we all die trying.
Ayala: … You being here, sir – does it mean my mission is starting?