Slow Burn_Deep Darkness

by Stephen Landry

  ____________________

  I reached the surface of Shear, Athens colony. I was just a few blocks away from Reynolds dropship. I could see a part of it sticking up in the air above the cargo containers and cells that were being used as barracks and shelters for soldiers and colonists. Half a mile way I could see smoke rising from one of the relays. Dropships hovered in the air. Fire lined the skies above us. It was a war zone. I felt like I was back on the front line or in some kind of deranged simulation. A group of men, women, and children were standing near one of the cargo containers. They were civilians, neither Reynold's nor Miguel's. They were refugees from Sol that had gotten caught in this conflict of power. They motioned for me to come towards them. They were offering me safety from the fire all around. I declined screaming at them to take cover, screaming this will all be over soon. It had to be.

  "I'm here, now how do I get to Reynold's?" I said aloud.

  "I knew you wouldn't let me down, I'll provide the distraction you flank around the side, sneak onto his ship and get the bastard," Miguel replied.

  Log - 37

  Fear keeps us safe. It holds us close in its arms. Fear is safety. Fear is keeping your guard up, your fist ready, your gun was drawn. Fear is the reason we are here. The reason we have survived so long as a species. We fear something and we run, we adapt, we wait until we have the advantage until we are out of fears to grasp so that we can strike. All my life I have lived with fear on my side. Fear has been my oldest and best friend. Because of fear I have survived. I'm on the wrong side. Fighting for someone I hate because of fear. The fear of death.

  "If I kill Reynolds what guarantee do I have you will let me go?"

  "Does it really matter at this point? You have no guarantee. I can't give you any kind of guarantee even if I wanted, you have a bomb around your neck. My hand on the trigger. I have kept you alive this long so that you can kill that man, the lesser of our two evils. Are you really that afraid to die? If it's any guarantee to you I don't give a damn what you do after you kill him as long as he is dead I won't concern myself with you anymore. Pinky swear," Miguel says annoyed. He's right. Even if he wasn't lying I have no way of knowing the truth.

  "I will tell you this after Reynold's is removed. After humanity is recreated we will all be equal, we will be a republic, go inside the next cargo hold you come across and find a terminal I want to show you something, something secret," he says.

  I move towards one of the cargo containers and go inside. It has been abandoned since the attacks began. I move towards the terminal just as Miguel told me. The screen flashes before my eyes. Much of it I don't understand about time travel, lethe, nexus, but then there are a few key pieces I begin to pick up - - -

  Species: Arr7

  Home-World: unknown

  Description: A race of machines with possibly bio-organic parts created a servant for the Lethe. Possible allies if we can make it to their sector of space. Are known enemies of the Skrav.

  Species: Bespathi

  Home-World: Gorgana

  Description: A race of deeply religious ruminants with horns on their heads. Their home-world is rich in mineral wealth, making it a target for prospectors from many different species. Nearly mined to death by the Skrav.

  Species: Grenusheerans

  Home-World: Oculi Prime

  Description: A race of space-dwelling life-forms. They are obsessed with a sport called Machub, which takes place in an enormous multi-dimensional maze. They use advanced teleportation technology to explore the galaxy. Not interested in Skrav or human affairs.

  Species: Chuleerathi

  Home-World: Grazoare IX

  Description: A race of brachiators with extraordinary physical strength. They are currently receiving early television broadcasts from Earth, and they love to watch old American sitcoms. Many of them consider humans to be gods, and the Fonz is worshipped as a deity of fortune. Not a threat.

  Species: Bloobons

  Home-World: Vulx IV

  Description: A race of humanoid aliens with two hearts. They wear face-paint and have no vocal chords. Primitive. Possible allies.

  Species: Chentgane

  Home-World: Tulal 3

  Description: A race of hermaphroditic reptiles with horns on their noses and nostrils in their chins.

  Species: V'Zacrux

  Home-World: Ksaseon 3

  Description: A race of manipulative marsupials who consider arguing to be a sport and can build biological machines. Possibly once allies of the Skrav. They are currently endangered.

  Species: Araimgane

  Home-World: Di'hdania

  Description: A metallic race who can see magnetic fields. They once ruled a vast interstellar empire but were defeated by an alliance of other races known as the Aggregate (possible allies?)

  The screen flashes with several more texts written in the Skrav language with bits and pieces translated into English. Most of what I'm looking at is information extracted from the Skrav databases while others are human projects. Several genetic programs appear showing humans grafted with animal parts, variants, hybrids, evolutions. Different levels showing humans becoming more and more alien. A video of a man breathing underwater. Another of a man screaming in pain with multiple limbs across his body. Another with cat eyes. The list goes on and on. Human experimentation. Mad science gone wrong. Humans with the features of wolves, cats, bears, even birds.

  "Enough," I scream.

  "We are not alone Elyse, Reynolds, the other elders have been hiding this and more from us. There are other lifeforms out there each stronger and more resilient then we are and we need to be ready to befriend or fight them all, the Skrav are hunting us because we are human but what if we were something more, what better then to manipulate our own DNA and adapt what we want when we want from all the world around us," said Miguel.

  "You're talking about transgenics, you are insane," I answered.

  "I'm talking about making us more than we already are. We've been doing it for centuries. Mice with human ears, pigs with human hearts, this is the next step. The revolution has already begun," he paused, "my men are moving in on the base, kill Reynolds so we can get off this damned world," Miguel's tone was cold.

  Log - 38

  Define human. A bi-pedal species from Earth that looked up at the stars one day and began questioning everything. From that moment it became a part of their nature to control and learn about everything around them. They fought wars, creating fiction, created new realities in which to make sense of the world. From their instincts and pack mentality, they grouped together to survive and cultivate. They spread forming one civilization after another and failing every single time. They created fiction in which to govern themselves and then continued changing those rules. For the most part, the fiction was good. Everyone had a place, everyone had a purpose. Humanity worked together to keep one another happy. For the most part before the collapse, before the world was taken away from us we had grown together. Yes, there were still heroes and villain like myself, mad titans like Reynolds, Miguel, corrupt politicians in the Hegemony, the terrorists in Section 17, and those less fortunate that grew up in poor worlds BUT we were building outward. The present times were not black and white they were a light shade of grey. We had discovered we weren't alone. We had united. Humanity was reaching out to the stars for the first time since we awoke. Now we were running. There is no way to define human or define humanity. We are each our own.

  Maybe Miguel had a point. Humanity was nearing extinction and the only way we would survive would be to adapt. It just couldn't be his way. Altering our DNA was one thing but he wanted to reshape us completely. We might as well have been uploading our consciousness into machines. Sure we could adapt and survive but we would lose our shape, lose our history. Miguel wanted to transform us into inside and out. Future generations would be created in labs, hybrids of what we are now with what we could be. He was right in some ways. Humanity could use the edge. Future generations
would have to be augmented in some way if we were to survive out here in space but that doesn't mean everyone else has to die.

  "You should share what you have with Reynolds," I said.

  "He wouldn't listen," Miguel's voice answered.

  "Share what you have, we are the last of our kind, it's not right anymore, none of us should be killing one another, we have bigger threats to deal with."

  "My sweet child, you are right. Unfortunately, that's not how this works. I blame Reynolds and the others like him for running, if we had stood our ground we could have survived, we were ready the first time, we could have fought back, we could have used what we have now to fight back... instead, he and the other 'suns' chose this path. This journey to a new world, a new Eden, somewhere out there in the void of space hidden amongst the stars a safe world we could colonize, don't you get it yet?" he said.

  "Get what?" I asked.

  "This world was never meant to be a permanent home, this was a pitstop along the way, a chance to settle up, Reynolds and I have been playing this game far longer then you can even imagine. I am not alone, the Erebus, the Aelita, the Tritan, all three ships were flooded with refugees before they left. This is Reynold's way of giving them a home, this is his way of cleaning up," Miguel answered.

  "And what of the Skrav?"

  "What about them, I doubt he thought they would be so close behind us but he knew they would show their hand eventually, he was counting on it, while they were occupied here the others would be getting the hell out," said Miguel.

  "They are just going to follow us till we reach Eden," I said.

  "They already know where we are going, I'm sure of it, this is a game, Eden is the finish line, we make it there and we win, don't know why or how or even if that's the truth but that is what they would have you believe, remember what I showed you. We aren't alone out there, thousands of other species linked together in a web. The Skrav are the bad guys here, humanity is just another group of refugees looking for a home. Once we reach a certain line things are going to get harder and harder for the Skrav, that's why we have to adapt, we have to become stronger, we have to embrace what we are," he said before growing silent, "the time is now, move."

  On his command, I began making my way towards Reynold's dropship. Easy enough. Miguel's forces were attacking from the front drawing away the security and leaving my way open. In the distance, I could see what looked like several mechs armed with several rockets and a chain gun. "Where were you hiding those?" I said aloud. No answer. Miguel meant business. He was probably monitoring me from afar while commanding his troops from whatever desk he was sitting safe behind. He probably wasn't even on the planet. The mechs were nearly unstoppable. It would take an entire dropship or two to take one down. They were similar in design to ones used during the first invasion only flashier with tougher hulls. Most likely Miguel dropped them from orbit somewhere outside the colony and they were just now given the ok to come inside.

  I knocked out a few guards. My killing days were over. I had two lives left I wanted to take and no more. I could smell Reynold's when I opened one of the small hatches on the side of his ship. His ship was unlike anything I had ever seen before. The inside was rounded with organic veins growing down the walls like vines. The entire inside of the ship looked like it was the inside of some kind of beast. My guess was this was a prototype. A ship reverse engineered from Skrav tech and almost identical to their own. While most of our tech was reverse engineered they were still more human than alien. We were one step closer. One step closer to losing all that we are and being something else. Maybe that kind of evolution was the next step? Maybe losing our humanity is the only way we were going to survive.

  Log - 39

  I found him. The only human on the ship. Reynold's was sitting in the pilots seat facing a blacked out window filled with a matrix of numbers, maps, star charts, and languages I had never seen before. He was laying with his head against the back of the chair his arms resting on elbow pads by his side. There were several pieces of metal grafted to the back of his now bald head. Bits of blood still ran out from were they had been surgically implanted. He was older then I remembered. He had a grey beard that ran halfway down his neck. His eyes were bloodshot and filled with cataracts. His cheeks wrinkled and covered in catalysts. On my way in I had picked up a rifle now slung around my side. I held the skrav sword with both hands. I was ready for a fight. He didn't flinch. Drool dripped down his lip. Dirty old man.

  The screens flickered into one image. The fight outside. I lowered the sword for a moment. Miguel's forces were losing. Four dropships had joined the battle. One of them had been taken down and two of them were badly damaged but one of the mechs had already been destroyed. Miguel's ground forces were hiding behind cover. I could see the collars around their necks as the camera angle changed for a closer look. The screen flashed again. The elevator on the Erebus. The inside of the dropship. Jake and my legs wrapped around his back. The pirates. Chel holding me in her arms as I fell asleep without any clothes only covered by her warmth. The creatures in the jungle as they plants began covering them eating away at their flesh. I knew now why there were no insects. No maggots. This world devoured anything not breathing. Every moment since I woke up flashed along a small screen playing again and again. He didn't miss a thing.

  The screens flicker again.

  The battle outside continues to wage on.

  The mech suit opens. I recognized the pilot. Tusk. It had been years. She was wearing a collar just like me. Another one of Miguel's puppets.

  Reynold's hand reaches forward. He is holding some kind of device. No. The device is grafted inside his wrist sticking out to that he can manipulate it in the palm of his hand. Several wires are intertwined between his knuckles.

  "What have you done to yourself?" I said in a whisper.

  Tusk's profile flashes on screen. A picture of her when she served. A list of all of the missions she had done. She had been one of the refugees that found their way onto the Erebus before the collapse. A tear falls from Reynold's eye as he makes a fist. Blood runs out from the palm of his hand.

  The screen flashes again to a live feed.

  Tusk's collar goes off. I scream. The dropship begins taking off from the ground.

  Reynold's is in complete control hooked up to the ship through a neural interface. He's hardware now. A part of it. I thought Miguel was insane. The screen flashes again. I can see our ship in third person. The angle is from the side. I feel us moving. I feel the guns on the front of the dropship kick on and begin firing. One, two, three, I can't count how many blasts are fired. The ship trembles as it expels power. A voice screams at me "KILL HIM NOW," but before I can do anything Reynold's is staring at me. The collar around my neck begins to activate. I hear it beeping. One, two, three then nothing. It shuts itself off and falls from my neck. Another screen flashes. Reynold's was using my collar to trace the signal back to Miguel. The dropship begins to move upward and I fall backwards on the ground. I climb my way into an empty chair near Reynolds using the skrav sword to brace myself up. I sit back with the rifle by side and the sword across my lap. Reynold's was the lesser of two evils and as much as I hate him I am kind of glad it seems that he has won. I remove the earpiece. My part in this is over.

  Log - 40

  Several ships attacked us once we broke orbit. We were on approach towards the Aelita. Reynold's had tracked Miguel to one of the bigger transport ships near the massive seed ship. It had just left the hangar.

  Reynold's orders the Aelita to sit this one out. The three ships may all be human but each operates as its own nation. Reynold's couldn't order them if he wanted to. I hear him speak but I don't see his lips move. Miguel's ships are too much for us and we begin to take heavier damage. The Aelita ignores Reynold's message and begins to fire. Probably upset that they were harboring a terrorist and didn't realize it. There are seven ships total in the area besides the Aelita and Reynold's prototype. Miguel's
transport, four fighters, two heavily armed cargo freighters. Miguel must have had most of the 2nd fleet ready to come at his command. Reynold's ship fires on one of the freighters as we fly towards it. The entire ship rips in half as we turn sideways through the hull. The screen turns black for a moment as we lose power. The three fighters are like jets. Each of them heavily armed and fast. They could run circles around us if they really wanted to. Reynolds flips his ship around 180 degrees and fires. He takes one out and rams the second while the third scrapes the side of our hull before turning and firing at us again. The second freighter is bombarding the entire area One of the other fighters is hit in the blast. I imagine what this would sound like if we weren't in space. Fire bloomed around us every which way. We continue to take heavy damage. I can see our EmDrive overheating, ion thrusters malfunctioning. Reynold's sets his site on Miguel. He moves with incredible speed towards the transport before the freighter fires once again. We jump into the immer for half a second and we are a hundreds if not thousands of miles away.