by Joshua Guess
“Torres,” Fen said gently. “Looks like we lost Fraser. He was in there. The two of them were an item, I think.”
Torres was breathing, but shallowly. She looked bad. Low pressure and low O2 would do that to you. “Grab under her arm. I’ll get the other. Dex had the right idea.”
Other people appeared. Other members of the assault team. One of them came over and took Grant’s place. “I’ve got her, sir. You don’t look good yourself. Let us handle it, okay?” Fen let another of them take her place, and together the crewmen hustled Torres to safety.
Grant sat back against the smooth wall of the corridor and let his head bump the wall as he looked up and closed his eyes. “Lost one. Maybe three. Jesus, I don’t blame them for not trusting me.”
Fen sat down next to him. “It’s not that, sir. They were being honest, I think. It wasn’t about blaming you. You went out to bring them back. I don’t think they’ve served with any captain who would have done the same. I think my guys were really worried about you. You’ve been through hell since they joined up.”
Grant laughed bitterly. “Me? No. My crew has been. My friends. I’ve skated through it.”
Fen shook her head, tiny scales catching the light. “Just because your wounds don’t show doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Even right now you’re looking around like something else is about to go wrong. It’s the same way you’ve looked for months. It’s over now, sir. You can stop and let others handle things for a while.”
Over. Right.
Crash missing a leg. Dex taken and subjected to god knew what. Batta might have suffered brain damage. Krieger, though he hid it well, deeply bothered by the lives he’d taken today. Even Iona had become more focused and far less innocent since the nightmare began. Fen was right; it might be over. Just not in the way she thought.
Epilogue 1: Dex
“Have you asked yourself how they found you?” Sharp asked him a few days later.
They were still in orbit around Threnody, a small fleet of regular navy ships in system to set up monitoring and clean out any surprises that might pop up. Dex studied the man across the conference room table. “No. I assumed Threnody had someone tracking my movements once they knew what ship I was on. They hunt the other refugees down, right?”
Sharp nodded, steepling his fingers together on the table. “I suppose since you know they targeted you specifically, you have theories on why that might be.”
Dex nodded wearily. “Yeah, once I had time to really think about it. Whatever they infected us with to alter the genetics of normal humans also worked on me. It changed the enhanced parts of my DNA.”
Sharp nodded again. “You know what that means.”
Dex blew out a breath. “If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say they’re going to start doing large-scale, rapid tests on the people down there. See if they can introduce better versions of the Blessings at will rather than waiting a generation to try them on living subjects. It’ll have limited utility, I think. Some biology tied too strongly to human development.”
Sharp smiled. “Like your brain. They won’t be able to make themselves a race of geniuses overnight.”
“Yet,” Dex said. “And remember they’ve been breeding for intelligence for a couple hundred years. They’re not far off from that now.”
Sharp waved a hand, conceding the point. “Well, I wanted to tell you that while you might want to watch your back in the near term, they won’t be able to put out any new contracts on you. We’re cutting off Threnody’s ability to contact anyone outside the system except us. The Alliance military and civilian leadership, I mean. We’re their only link past this solar system.”
Dex snorted a laugh. “Like they care. All this is going to do is convince them they’ve been right all along. The outside is full of enemies. In ten or thirty years, they’ll figure out a way to do this all over again. They’re resourceful.”
“It’s possible,” Sharp said. “We’ve got a fail-safe in place. Or will, in a few days.”
“That rock you mentioned,” Dex guessed. “You’re going to leave it at the edge of the system?”
Sharp sighed. “Yes, as much as it turns my stomach to think about. Threnody is wholly surrounded by PA space. They’re a tiny sovereign nation inside our borders. We can’t risk what almost happened here biting us in the ass again. I’m not happy at the idea we might have to sterilize another planet full of people, but I’m not about to let our citizens be attacked and killed because we were too soft on an enemy. The cost this time was high enough, and it was pure luck we stumbled across their plans in time. If they hadn’t taken you to test their weapon...well, what I’m saying is that I wanted to tell you personally what the stakes are.”
Dex studied Sharp for another few seconds. “Wait, you think I’m going to be upset about this? You’re worried about how I’ll react knowing my home might be annihilated?”
“You’re not?” Sharp said, mild shock on his face. “I’m not thrilled about it, and it’s not even my home world. They’re people, Dex. Probably a lot of them just like you down there. Folks who want to live free.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” Dex agreed. “And with a sword hanging over their heads, I think they’ll have all the motivation they need to finally rebel and force change. But you’d be stupid not to have a deterrent on hand, and dangerously weak not to be willing to use it. I hope my people can change, Commander. I really do. But don’t forget I’ve seen their cruelty firsthand. I’ve lived it. No one knows what they’re capable of better than me. If it comes down to a choice between us or them, don’t hesitate.”
Dex saw the reaction on the other man’s face when he spoke the words, and knew what it meant. How he’d changed. How the relatively innocent kid had hardened. Oh, something precious was lost. What a shame. His enhanced hearing picked up more than anyone suspected, and he’d heard it all a dozen times from his friends when they thought they were private.
It didn’t bother him. They were entitled to their reactions and opinions. For himself, Dex felt as if a veil was finally lifted from his eyes. It was impossible to maintain the fiction that all life was precious when a great many people were eager to kill everyone they could get their hands on, innocents included, just for spit. Threnody was a planet of rabid dogs, and if they couldn’t change that fact, they needed to be put down. Anything less would be a crime itself.
Epilogue 2: Spencer
Spencer sat alone in the cargo bay as she waited for the inevitable. Iona appeared after only a short while.
“What are you going to tell her?” Iona asked after sealing the door behind her.
Spencer raised an eyebrow. “Are we private?”
Iona scoffed. “I control the ship, Abby.”
“Yeah, you do,” Spencer said.
Iona shook her head. “You have a problem with that. Which you’ll pass on up the chain. I’m assuming Grant doesn’t know about this?”
Spencer leaned against a crate. “I’m curious how you know. I’ve written nothing down and had no communications other than that one conversation with one admiral.”
Iona tapped her head. “You might not, but she did. She was sloppy. One of her sims found a note written in a personal code. To be fair, it was just a short notation about an asset aboard this ship. Once I looked at the in/out times and realized you were the only person not accounted for just before that note was written, logic did the rest. Hard not to reach the conclusion that she wants someone objective to keep an eye on all the pet AI when we’re in a war with other AI, right?”
Spencer nodded. “Nailed it. And you’re right that the Captain doesn’t know. Mostly because I didn’t think it was worth bothering him. As for what I’m going to tell her, if I tell her anything...well, you were raised human for a long time, right?”
Iona favored her with a flat stare. “Yes. You know I was.”
“Because logically doing that meant you’d develop human sensibilities and morals,” Spencer said. “I think it worked.
You’re as human as anyone else when it comes to how you think. How you look at the world. And that’s a problem.”
“Oh?” Iona said.
Spencer nodded. “Yeah. People change, Iona. We get arrogant when we think we’re better than other people. We get stupid in really specific ways when it comes to protecting loved ones. We constantly shift, and a lot of people confuse that with growth. We relied on you a lot over the last few months, and maybe that was okay. Worth it to get Dex back. But what happens when word spreads about what your network of sims did here? Thirty-one of you took a tiny force and shattered the defenses of one of the oldest and most well-armed planets in human space.”
“With help,” Iona said, her voice emphatic. “The crews did as much as any sim. Maybe more. There’s no reason for other humans to see us as a threat.”
Spencer shook her head sadly. “There’s that tunnel vision I was worried about. I’m not worried about what other humans think. The Children have us well on our guard about AI capabilities. I’m afraid of what happens when the thousands of other sims out there start wondering why they aren’t the ones running things since you guys did such an amazing job here. Every avalanche starts small, Iona. I’m not worried about sims suddenly turning traitor and trying to kill us the way the Children did. I’m afraid of what happens when we cede too much control to you, because you are better than us. What happens in the long run when your people decide we’re no longer worth the effort?”
Iona said nothing. Spencer understood the silence.
“You’re thinking that’s a ridiculous, long-term way of looking at what seems like just a potential threat,” Spencer guessed. It was a good guess, based on the way Iona jumped a little in surprise. “You think that’s a far-off, wild prediction. It isn’t. We’re up against a wall with the Children. My job is gathering and analyzing data, whether it’s sensor information or...other things. More subtle things. This is the kind of stuff I have to think about, because someone has to. What happens when the brass realizes how much more effective our forces could be with sims brought to the fore and given greater control? That’s where it starts. If we’re smart and careful, we can walk the knife’s edge and use your abilities without falling into that trap. People like me will make sure the dangers don’t go overlooked. But make no mistake: we’ve already crossed that barrier. All we can do now is manage the consequences.”
Iona gave Spencer a flat, frank look. “You realize that without me, we might never have found Dex, right?”
Spencer raised her hands. “I do. And I can’t thank you enough for it. I’m not against using every resource at hand to get the job done. But I’d be a fool not to recognize the dangers. If you really sit down and look at it objectively, I think you’ll end up seeing where I’m coming from. I’d much rather have you on my side when I talk to the admirals about this. I think it’ll go a long way toward working out the best solution.”
Spencer saw her consider it. Saw her words working. There was no massive change, no light suddenly blaring to life to signal a reversal of epic magnitude. Only children saw things in those sorts of stark terms. But something in Iona’s manner did change. A thoughtfulness on her face.
Just like the avalanche, every small shift could render enormous changes. She just hoped it would be enough.
Epilogue 3: Batta
The world was a cold, loud, confusing place. He heard words—so many words—but they were clear and muffled at the same time. Clear because the sounds were crisp and muffled because no matter how he strained and turned them over in his mind, they made no sense.
The light was too bright. That was a true fact. Even with the luminosity reduced to a third, his damaged eyes were sensitive to it. He knew, or at least hoped, this would heal. His awareness might be fuzzy, but not so much that he didn’t know it was fuzzy. Some things were still easy enough to recall, like how far medical technology had come just in his lifetime. If his eyes could be fixed, they would. He took some comfort in that.
Now and then people would visit him. Really, there was nearly always someone there. Not necessarily at his bedside, but at least in the room. He took comfort in that even if the tube in his throat kept him from speaking.
The tube was a small comfort. As long as it was there, he couldn’t know for sure that he couldn’t speak. He understood the problem understanding the words spoken around him was intrinsic to his brain. That there was damage. Something had happened, though his memory of it was foggy at best.
One person in particular showed up often, holding his hand and speaking in soothing tones. It was a woman with light brown skin and soft eyes. Soft for him, anyway; she had the hard face of a soldier. Someone who had killed and come close to dying enough times that death was more an old drinking buddy than mortal enemy. Not that the two were mutually exclusive.
He knew the tube was not helping him breath. He could do that much on his own, at least. It alternated between warm and cool depending on the time of day. He suspected it was delivering some kind of medicine or treatment to his airways. It took him a while to work that one out, and some distant part of him grasped that something was wrong about that.
He should have known sooner, maybe. That seemed right. But he didn’t know why it was right. So much sat just beyond his grasp, like the sun gleaming dully behind a bank of clouds. He wanted to reach for the warmth or understanding but had little leverage to hold himself up with.
Hours passed, transforming into days. A severe man in a crisp uniform stopped by and spoke to him in a professional tone. His face was hard as well, though his eyes were a little sad. It was during this visit that Batta began understanding words again.
Hypoxia. Seizures. Neural shear. The last rang a dozen churches worth of bells for him. Concepts unfolded like paper swans, old lessons from the academy and years aboard ship appearing before him whole. A torpedo. That was what happened. He must have been caught at the very edge of one of them when it went off. Within it, his brain would have been turned to jelly. The shearing force was faint at the edge, though. Combined with seizures induced from low oxygen...
Batta’s strongest realization since waking up here was that he was lucky beyond belief to be alive.
His second was that alcohol existed and he wanted a fucking drink.
Things generally got better from there.
*
It took him three weeks to recover enough to realize that it would be months or years before he could come back on duty full time. If ever.
Frederick Batta was nothing if not a realist. The ship had deeper problems, structural problems, that required more than he could give her. In that they were kindred; his own structural issues needed a better hand than what was readily available.
Had Blue been at their beck and call, it could have fabricated parts and fixed Seraphim in a matter of weeks. But Blue was gone, darting around the Alliance to put out the fires caused by a renewed push by the Children. That was someone else’s fight for now. Batta and his people were worn down and damaged. They would need time to stop and repair.
He wondered if that was even possible. The last few months saw suffering across the board in one form or another. It might just be proximity making him maudlin, but for the first time in his adult life, Batta wondered if it wasn’t the right moment to hang it up. Retire. Let younger hands take the wheel and make the dangerous calls.
These people were family, but he had another. Maybe he just needed to take some time off and visit them. His mother was a doctor, after all. She might be able to help him heal.
Yes, that seemed like a good idea. Go home for a while. Try to find a little perspective. He was beaten but not defeated. The mission had been an important one. The cost, as far as he himself was concerned, was worth it.
Time was the only way to tell if the others felt the same way. Or if he still would once the wounds began turning to scars.
He thought about home and wondered whether the rest of the crew might like to come with him. A real break this ti
me, no kidnappings allowed.
It might do them all a world of good. They were family, too, after all.
Other books by Joshua Guess
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Also by Joshua Guess
The Fall (Completed Series)
Victim Zero
Dead Will Rise
War of the Living
Genesis Game
Exodus in Black
Revelation Day
Cassidy Freeman
Chosen
The Ghost Fleet
Cascade Point
Borderlander
Carter Ash
The Saint
Living With the Dead
With Spring Comes The Fall
The Bitter Seasons
Year One (With Spring Comes The Fall, The Bitter Seasons, bonus material)
The Hungry Land
The Wild Country
This New Disease
American Recovery
Ever After
The Next Chronicle
Next
Damage
Black Sand
Earthfall
Ran
Apocalyptica ( Also serialized into multiple parts)
This Broken Veil
Misc
Beautiful (An Urban Fantasy)(Novel)
Soldier Lost (Short Story)
Dog Dreams In Color (Short Story)
With James Cook
The Passenger (Surviving The Dead)