Dr. Zorn listens and grimly smiles up at Abs. “Samuel saved me, but I know him by a different name to hide who he really is.”
“What do you mean?” Abs is becoming anxious, something within her already knowing the truth.
“Samuel isn’t what he seems, and I do not think he could help himself really, but he’s been here for such a very long time.”
Abs is now white with apprehension. “What did he do, Dr. Zorn?”
Zorn, looking stern, replies, “Samael is the angel of death. He created the freakers.”
With the power fluctuation now returning to normal, I know what has to be done. The possibility that Abs might not return during the fluctuation phase is high, and if that happens, the computer will remove her from the system.
Once the power fluctuation returns to normal, I waste no time and go up to the security room; such commands are best carried out from there.
Arriving to an empty room, I address the computer. “Facility Zero, where is Jessica at this time?”
“Prisoner F2965 is no longer on the system.”
Okay, that was to be expected. “Please add Jessica, Prisoner F2965, back on the system, and give her security clearance as before.”
“Prisoner F2965 has been reinstated as per your request.”
“Facility Zero, please locate Jessica and give me her current condition.”
“Jessica is currently in the dining hall on level one. Her condition is healthy.”
Sighing with relief, I ask, “Is Jessica with anyone?”
“Jessica is alone but seems to be walking slowly around the dining hall. No active visual or audio available on level one, but her actions would suggest she is having a conversation. Her known medical records would suggest that she is talking with someone and not to herself.”
“What is the status of level one?”
“Status of level one is currently inaccessible due to quarantine protocols in effect.”
“Who ordered quarantine protocol and why?”
“Quarantine was initiated by Professor Brookes—reasons unknown.”
“Send a message to Brookes. I need to speak urgently with him regarding level one.”
“Professor Brookes currently does not wish to be disturbed.”
“To hell with what he wants! Tell him I have a new plan that requires his presence in security.”
“Professor Brookes is on his way.”
Ten minutes pass as I pace security, and then the noise of the elevator arriving with Brookes brings me out of my thoughts. Brookes, normally looking smart and healthy, almost falls out of the elevator; his appearance is disheveled, and he looks like he hasn’t slept in weeks.
“What do you have, Sam?”
Lying, I decide to approach the issue from a different angle. “I need you to counter the quarantine protocol on level one. Jessica has managed to get down there, but she’s now trapped.”
Brookes looks confused as he walks over to the security terminal. “What quarantine? I’ve not ordered anything of the sort.” He logs on. A printer embedded within the terminal starts to print as the professor’s face continues to furrow with concern. “I don’t understand. This isn’t my authorization,” he says. Then, reading something that has just been printed, the professor stands up. He looks shocked to the core as the printer starts printing again.
“What are those?” Now it’s my turn to look confused.
“These are my little messages of hope. It’s how I’ve known things…like, for example, when you were going to arrive and other such useful bits of information. I also like to call these my messages from the past.”
The professor, already starting to get his old look back, types a string of commands into the terminal and then looks back at me. “Somehow the quarantine has my authorization, but it also has been encrypted. I’ve set up a key breaker, but this will take a bit of time.”
Tearing the first message off, he passes it to me as he reads the second one.
I read the message several times as I slowly understand the meaning of it:
Message 10: Federation year 2430
My friend, it has now been thirteen long years, and my attempts to help you have seemingly all failed. Please forgive me, old friend, but I kept something from you, I arranged to send your wife and daughters to Facility One as low-priority prisoners. At least now you might see them again.
I look back at the professor, stunned. “I’m so sorry—”
Brookes cuts me off before I can say another word. “No need to be. You might not see the good side yet, but it’s possibly be the best news I’ve heard.”
“I don’t understand. Why?”
“Low priority means they have been sent to the holding station. They will be in cryostasis for years before they get sent down to the facility. At least for now they are not aging while we try and escape from here.”
“I still don’t understand. You’re happy about this, that your family is being sent here?” I read the message again, and then I see it. “What is Facility One?”
“Facility One is the second of a possible four stations that will someday be hanging over the black hole. Every ten years that are escape-free, the sponsors agree to build another facility. Four in total for this particular location, four meaning up to forty-eight thousand prisoners incarcerated with no chance of causing harm ever again. Amazing,” Professor Brookes replies.
“Yeah, sure, amazing, but still a little nuts. What about the power issues?” I ask, feeling that what’s happening here isn’t exactly a humane way of treating prisoners.
“The power issues, as you put it, were resolved in my notes. The other three stations will not suffer with them. In time I would have fixed this facility, but I got stuck here…” The professor trails off in thought.
Thinking on his last words, I start to wonder too. “This was no accident. It was part of a design that you got trapped here, Professor.”
“I think I’ve known that all along, but I feel like I’m missing parts of my mind.”
“I think it’s Samuel. Not sure why or how, but I had a conversation with him a week or two back, and somehow I remember him saying that he had a long chat with you. He’s been manipulating all of us.”
“So what do we do now? Your message said you had a new plan?”
“I’m sorry. I said that to get you here. But these messages you have been receiving, I would like to read them.”
The professor looks annoyed for only a moment and then types another command into his terminal. “The messages will print out in the order they were received. Commander Taylor was in charge of the project, and he’s the one who has been pulling the strings on the outside. The first set of messages are rather cryptic.”
Brookes goes back to working on his encryption program, and I take the first of the messages. The printer then beeps and prints out the first of the messages. Looking at the first one, I notice that Professor Brookes has added an addendum to the end of each message.
Message 1: Federation year 2417.
Maintenance lights should be set to white for a successful test.
Message addendum, Professor Brookes:
I set the facility’s docking lights to display white for fifty real minutes and repeated the sequence to display for an additional minute each real year. The code will autodelete if I die or leave the station.
Well, that’s straightforward enough, and the commander, I guess, finds out that his message got through. I can only guess that fifty is for his age. I take the next message, placing the first down on the desk.
Message 2: Federation year 2417.
I’m sorry the doc could not make it. The whole situation is a mess. No other appointments possible at this time.
Message addendum, Professor Brookes:
I watched the facility external footage and watched the pod take a direct hit; no one could have survived it.
Must be about Dr. Zorn that Abs mentioned. Would be interesting to know what the plan was. But I fe
el that there is something missing here. Did they really only send one pod down? Placing the message down, I reach for the next.
I imagine it’s nice to be able to get some updates from the outside world, even if the communication is pretty much one way.
Message 3: Federation year 2418.
Sorry it’s been so long—too hot to the touch. Will have something soon.
Message addendum, Professor Brookes:
It’s odd how perspectives can be confusing. It’s been almost two years for the commander, but only fourteen weeks for me. I calculated that by the time I’ve been here seven years, it will be around 446 years in the real world.
Message 4: Federation year 2418
The other half is going nuts. If I only had people with her resolve, there would be no issues to deal with.
Message addendum, Professor Brookes:
That certainly sounds like my wife, but for her sake, I hope she doesn’t piss off too many people.
Well, that would explain some aspects about the professor, and I know some of the federation guys can be a bit trigger happy with issues they can’t handle.
Message 5: Federation year 2419
To hell with the cryptic messages. I just found out that these can’t be read by anyone but you. Check out Sam McCall’s records. You will be receiving him soon. Amazing record. If he can’t, no one can.
I hired him to rob one of my own security boxes and left some additional information I knew he would not be able to resist. For a while I thought he would not pull it off, but he managed it somehow.
Message addendum, Professor Brookes:
This guy’s record is impressive. A kind of ethical thief, but he’s been working for almost every faction there is. His last job has been deleted, but it looks like he was working for himself. Whatever he stole, it annoyed a lot of people.
I don’t know what’s worse, being scammed into stealing a worthless hunk of junk or being sent here for the sole purpose of trying to escape and even failing at that.
Message 6: Federation year 2423
By my calculations, Sam should be with you by now, but about a week after Sam’s arrival, you should receive a Jessica Smith. It’s a fake name. She killed the son of a high-ranking Mars Federation officer—not such a great career move. Anyway, the father wanted to put her in the ground, but I suggested sending her to the facility.
I checked out her records. She was working for the Planetary Enforcement Agency, and before that she spent two years working for the Planetary Special Defense Force. Those guys are trained to do something called angel jumps—sounds totally insane. She will make a good ally for protection if things go bad. Read her file, but ignore her crime report—it’s fake.
Message addendum, Professor Brookes:
This lady sounds insane, but most likely it’s all been hyped up. I looked up the term “angel jumps.” Special Forces use them for planetary insertion; the squad is dropped out of warp in special suits that are designed to burn off in reentry. As the jumpers fall through the atmosphere, they resemble meteorites burning up, like they’ve been cast down from heaven—hence the term “angel jumps.” The crime report says she was responsible for blowing up a star liner on purpose to kill one target.
From what I’ve seen of her, this sounds pretty correct—she’s nuts but effective. But this Commander Taylor has a lot to answer for. Has he condemned her or saved her? Personally, I’ll kick his arse if I ever get out of here.
Message 7: Federation year 2425
I’m sorry for not sending a message sooner. I’ve moved from my home on Earth to relocate to Mars. In a few weeks, Earth Fed will join the inner planetary federation. Mars can’t or won’t get there for at least another hundred years. I can’t lie to myself anymore, and for that matter to the ideal Earth now stands for. It’s a great honor, for sure, to join the inner planets, but the moral question is, was the price worth it? Can a utopian society work where the previous choices were to join us or be put down?
I’m sure I could go on for days about the ethical question of dragging everyone into a peaceful, perfect new way of life. Is being free the choice that an individual can starve to death if they so wish or take drugs for that moment of euphoria? What is the answer? Not everyone values life with the same scales. How can we accurately measure the true value of a utopian society?
For me the cost is too high. Two warring factions kill each other for hundreds of years, one life escalates to two, revenge escalates to even more deaths. Is the solution really to just remove the least liked, men, women, and children, the memory of the genocide lasting for years, ten, twenty, one hundred years, two hundred years, then forgotten, rewritten, overlooked and cast away. Is peace really worth it when it comes at such a price?
Message addendum, Professor Brookes:
Well, that was depressing. Best thing about joining is that now Earth will enjoy instantaneous travel between inner planet worlds once the quantum gateways have been built, taking at least thirty years and a small moon’s worth of materials, each.
I used one of them once, maybe twice. It’s almost like having every planet in the collective in your backyard. Travel time is minutes rather than hours, weeks, months, or years.
Message 8: Federation year 2426
Congratulations, Professor, your design has been passed to the Inner Federation penal system, meaning your facility could be set up at dozens of suitable black holes. Survey ships are being sent all over the system to find suitable sites for your facilities.
Message addendum, Professor Brookes:
I’m no longer certain if that’s a good idea or not.
I would guess being a prisoner in your own prison can dampen the spirits some.
Message 9: Federation year 2427
Well, Professor, ten years, and Facility One will be online in a few days. Another five locations have been surveyed, and each of those will have a facility within ten years. On other matters, your wife continues her search for you, but now I fear she may cause more harm than good. I will do all I can to protect her.
Message addendum, Professor Brookes:
I need to get out of here, but Sam has come up with nothing so far—not that I can blame him. This place was designed to be escape proof.
Well, I think I now know a way out, but the price is too high for now.
Message 10: Federation year 2428
My friend, it has now been thirteen long years, and all my attempts to help you have seemingly failed. Please forgive me, old friend, but I kept this from you: I arranged to send your wife and daughters to Facility One as low-priority prisoners. At least now you might see them again.
No message addendum from the professor this time. I guess after our chat in medical, he did not find my analysis of escape possibilities acceptable and decided to lock himself away in his room. I wonder how many more messages there are, as I’m guessing he’s not seen any more from here onward.
Message 11: Federation year 2431
This report landed on my desk today. I thought you might be interested in what it had to say. Inner Planetary Survey team discovered a planet with an extinct civilization just outside the influence of a small black hole. The black hole seemed ideal for several facilities, and the once-earthlike planet is no longer habitable due to some kind of unknown event.
But the team discovered a new form of slime molds in large areas around the planet. Some were currently in their undulating states, and others had transformed into giant, dry, fruiting bodies. Samples were taken for cataloging purposes, and due to the reason the team was there, they might name the new group of slime molds after you. Congrats once again.
Okay, odd but cool, I guess. “Professor, you might want to look at this,” I say, handing the message to Brookes.
Brookes looks up and takes the message and starts to read. A bright smile breaks out over his face as he gets to the end, and he comes over and sits down. “Thank you. That was rather interesting. Any others?” Looking at the console, I nod and
take the next message.
Message 12: Federation year 2431
It might be nothing, but the inner planets have gone dark. No messages out, all data feeds cut, all quantum gateways are down. I’ll be in touch with more news when I have some.
“Well, that’s rather ominous. What do you think that’s all about?” I ask.
The professor remains silent for a moment before replying. “Hard to say. Could be anything. The quantum gateways take up tremendous energy. Could be as simple as a power outage, but to be honest, I’ve never heard of one there before.”
Another message prints out, making us both jump.
Message 13: Federation year 2433
The inner planetary worlds are back online. A power conduit blew near a research lab, but all seems okay now except for one issue. It seems they have lost a battle cruiser. How that is possible is anyone’s guess.
“A power conduit and a battle cruiser—those are rather suspicious occurrences at the same time. It’s something I would do—or something similar—to cause a distraction.”
“I read your file before you got here. Wasn’t your last job related to the inner worlds?”
I smile and am about to reply when the printer prints out another message.
Message 14: Federation year 2434
The shit has hit the fan, and I mean on a system-wide scale. Inner worlds have started a civil war with each other. Not sure when I can get another message out.
We both read the message at the same time and become speechless, and then the feeling of dread crawls up my back as another message prints out. Taking it, we begin to read, but before we finish, another message prints out, followed immediately by yet another.
Message 15: Federation year 2434
Not sure how long I can send these messages, but it’s bad. The inner worlds are going dead. Earth Federation has managed to deactivate any local quantum gates, so if any attack comes, it will be via warp-capable ships, which is good since the inner planets’ really big ones, the dreadnoughts, require a quantum gateway. Sorry for the bad news.
Message 16: Federation year 2434
Not sure if this is good news or not. We have had confirmation that the inner worlds are not dead but infected, or at least some of them are. The slime mold samples taken from the recent survey ship managed to escape the lab. How mold can escape just blows my mind, but I’ve been informed that some types of molds found on Earth can solve mazes under test conditions.
Prototype: The Lost and Forgotten Series Page 13