Crises and Conflicts: Celebrating the First 10 Years of NewCon Press
Page 19
Carter relaxed his trigger finger and the carnage stopped. The final leaves and splinters settled to the ground and the only sound was the echo of gunfire still ringing in his ears.
“All three?” he asked.
Though the lack of return fire seemed to suggest as much, it was still a relief to hear the Gun confirm, “All three.”
Carter started to jog towards the trees, anxious to be under cover, knowing that the sound of gunfire would act as a beacon in the pervading silence, drawing any Stylene who happened to be in the vicinity this way. Besides, he was keen to have a look at his handiwork.
But as he ran the Gun spoke again. “Angle a little to the right. Land mines directly ahead of you.”
Mines! His new companion was proving to be one heck of an asset. Given an army equipped with these intelligent guns, they could overwhelm the Stylene once and for all. He remembered the ill-designed rifle that had let him down so badly and jammed as soon as the fighting started. There was no comparison.
This might just be enough to tip the balance and change the course of the whole interminable war. Carter had not felt so optimistic in a long while, perhaps not since he first signed up, when the concept of waging war still caused his chest to swell with patriotic pride, before it became irrevocably tarnished by the grim reality of blood, exhaustion, sweat and grind.
“Faster,” the Gun urged. “There are soldiers approaching.”
Carter quickened to a sprint, covering what little distance remained as rapidly as his abused body would allow and diving into the trees. He turned around and scrambled on his belly, pushing aside brambles and small stems to peer outward from the undergrowth, looking for the enemy.
“How many?” he wanted to know. “Whereabouts?”
“Two of them, moving in this direction along the foot of the ridge.”
He saw them, then: two figures in the annoyingly repetitive brown and tan battle dress. They were still some distance off and were moving cautiously, but gave no indication that they had seen him. He sighted along the barrel of the Gun but didn’t fire immediately, instead raising his head and waiting, allowing them to draw closer and then closer still.
They had covered perhaps half the distance when gunfire and shouts interrupted the stillness. The noise came from the far side of the ridge. The two soldiers paused, exchanged brief words and then turned to start climbing up the steep hill.
“Fire now or they may escape us,” the Gun urged. “I calculate that we cannot miss from this range.”
Carter agreed on all counts. He sighted and gently squeezed the trigger. The pair were caught totally unawares, cut down by a stream of bullets before they had any chance to react, probably without ever knowing what had happened. Multiple hits on both from comparatively close range. He didn’t need to check to know they were dead.
Carter let out a whoop of triumph. This was the best gun he had ever handled, by a margin of several light years. It made killing easy. Exhilarated, he leapt to his feet and strode out of the trees.
“Now, let’s see what’s going on the other side of this hill.”
“Combat,” the Gun informed him unnecessarily, evidently failing to recognise a rhetorical comment when it heard one. Good to know that it had limitations.
Carter scrambled up the escarpment, dislodging loose shale and stones as he went, feet scrabbling for purchase. Buoyed by recent successes, he didn’t feel in the least bit tired, only eager to kill more Stylene, to avenge the friends and comrades lying dead on the battlefield behind him.
The hill proved to be a narrow spit of raised ground, out of character with the surrounding terrain. It was almost certainly man-made, and he guessed it to be a cast-off, a by-product, rather than anything intentional. Perhaps there had once been quarrying in the area, or mining.
Almost as soon as he reached the hill’s crown the ground fell away before him, sloping sharply down towards the floor of a shallow canyon.
Below, a furious gun battle was being fought, spilling up onto the lower slope of the hillock, as each side sought to gain an advantage. Small arms only, no tanks or heavier weapons were in evidence, thank goodness.
“Stylene to your left, UPAF to the right,” the Gun informed him.
“How can you tell?” he wondered. “I can’t.”
“There are a number of indicators, principle among them the calibre of weapon each side is using. Do you intend to simply observe and debate the issue, or are you thinking of engaging the enemy at some point?”
Carter needed no more urging. Driven by the desire for revenge, he spurned the tactical advantage granted by the higher ground, charging down the hill and firing as he ran. The nearest Stylene looked up, startled by this sudden attack from a new quarter. Those who had occupied the lower slope of the hill died almost at once; one, two, three of them falling before they were fully aware of the threat.
“There are two grenades built into my carapace,” the Gun informed him. “They are triggered by the button just above the trigger guard. I suggest you deploy one now.”
Carter raised the Gun a fraction, reached up with his trigger finger and found the relevant button. As he depressed it, an apparently solid part of the Gun’s body flipped up and was catapulted away, to sail into the enemy lines where it exploded with devastating effect.
Bullets whistled past him and churned the hillside around his feet as he continued to charge. They didn’t matter. He had the Gun and felt invincible, roaring defiance as he ran, adrenaline pumping through his veins and blood lust spurring him on. Soldier after soldier fell before the hail of bullets from his inexhaustible Gun.
His appearance, so unexpected, proved the decisive factor. His grenade had ripped a hole in the heart of the enemy lines and they could no longer hope to hold their position. Realising that this skirmish was lost, the survivors turned and fled. Those who chose to remain died where they stood.
Carter reached the bottom of the slope and pulled himself to a halt. Once more he found himself surrounded by the dead. He raised the Gun and squeezed off a final burst at the fleeing soldiers, watching with satisfaction as the rearmost figure convulsed and collapsed.
The uniforms of the two sides looked so similar from a distance, he reflected, watching the defeated troops run for their lives. Only up close could you tell the difference. He glanced down at the fallen around him and felt a growing sense of dread.
“Wait a minute,” he exclaimed, “These are UPAF troopers.”
“Indeed,” the Gun replied.
“But you said...”
“I lied.”
Carter looked up towards the approaching Stylene soldiers, just as the first of them opened fire. He died without ever understanding.
The corporal moved cautiously, alert to every sound. Dusk was falling but there was still enough light to see by. Somewhere above, a hunting night bird voiced a mournful cry. Behind him, the corporal heard one of the two troopers startle at the sound. They were both pretty green and he winced at their clumsy footfalls. His responsibility, these two; they were all that remained of his unit.
The three of them had been cut off from the rest of the force, left behind in the chaotic retreat after the debacle of the battle. They had hidden out for the bulk of the afternoon, lying low and waiting for nightfall. At last, as the sun began to set, impatience got the better of him and he decided it was time to move out.
They had to tread carefully, Stylene patrols were everywhere.
This small canyon had obviously been the scene of some fierce fighting, perhaps a sidebar to the main battle. The bodies of the fallen lay all around them. Now and then, they would disturb something, and low, scuttling forms would flee a corpse. The corporal chose not to look too closely.
Then something on the ground winked at him: a small red light. He instantly froze, thinking it might be a land mine or some other lethal trap, but as he squinted through the gathering gloom, he realised that it was some sort of gun, a bulky thing lying by one of the UPAF fallen.
“Are you UPAF or Stylene?” said a smooth, calm voice.
He gaped and stared at the gun.
“Did that thing just say something, or am I going nuts?” one of the troopers behind him asked.
“I await a response,” the Gun said in that same level tone.
The corporal bent down and picked the weapon up, amazed at how light it was. He had never seen anything like it before.
“UPAF,” he finally responded.
“Good. Then you are permitted to use me.”
“Maybe. Just as soon as I can figure out exactly what you’re supposed to be.”
“I’m an intelligent gun; the latest development in advanced weapons technology,” the Gun supplied helpfully.
“Is that a fact? And why would anyone go to all the trouble of building intelligence into a gun?”
“To enable me to kill enemies with greater efficiency.”
The corporal grinned. Looking at his two young companions, he saw the expression mirrored on both their faces.
“Now you’re talking,” he said. The day had gone to hell in a handcart. It was about time they had a break. “Come on then, Gun, let’s go kill us some enemies.”
Tactics for Optimal Outcomes in Negotiations with Wergen Ambassadors
Mercurio D. Rivera
TOP SECRET – CLASSIFIED
DRAFT #3 9/10/26
[BRACKETED COMMENTS BY JCB: DOES THIS DRAFT INCORPORATE FEEDBACK FROM EXOBIO?]
R E T I N A L
M E M O R A N D U M
To: Members of the Outer Colony Committees on Human-
Wergen Relations
(via entanglement encryption)
From: Tessa Kornbluth
Senior Diplomat, Colonisation Planning
EarthCouncil
Re:Tactics for Optimal Outcomes in Negotiations with
Wergen Ambassadors
Date: October ___, 2526 [LET’S ACCELERATE TARGET DATE FOR DISTRIBUTION. NEGOTIATIONS FOR A PLUTO COLONY ARE IN THE BEGINNING PHASES.]
As we approach the 10-year anniversary of our first encounter with the Wergens, this memorandum (1) sets forth ‘lessons learned’ from prior negotiations with the Wergen Explorata in establishing joint colonies on Mars and Triton, and (2) outlines specific strategies going forward to optimise the outcomes of negotiations in connection with human/Wergen outposts on Pluto, Enceladus and Ceres.
I. Critical Metrics Regarding the Triton and Mars Colonies
The Unsuccessful Triton Talks
Negotiations for establishment of the Axelis Colony provide a roadmap for ‘What Not To Do’ when interacting with Wergen representatives. Discussions were hampered from the onset by our ignorance of the Wergens’ primary weakness agreeable nature. The talks were such a fiasco that each human colonist on Triton is currently required to be accompanied at all times by three Wergen shadows. This unfavourable Wergen to human (W2H) ratio has resulted in decreased productivity and high rates of depression and suicide for Axelis colonists exposed to the Wergens for such prolonged, uninterrupted periods of time. [TESSA, THE COMMITTEES ARE SENSITIVE TO COSTS. LET’S DRILL DOWN & QUANTIFY, AND INCLUDE THESE FIGURES AS AN ATTACHMENT.] Even more troubling, the Commitment Period for each colonist to partner with his or her alien shadows runs eight Earth years – an excessive length of time by any measure. These unfavourable metrics are directly attributable to the following factors:
Information Control: Due to first contact with the Wergens being established by our manned space stations orbiting Neptune and Saturn, the aliens immediately understood our aspirations to settle the solar system and mine the asteroid belt. Having discovered the numerous challenges we faced, they used this information to their advantage, offering us the assistance of their bots and forcefields provided that we agreed to partner with them in our colonisation efforts. This underscores the importance of keeping our cards close to the vest. The less the aliens know about our goals and needs, the better.
Location of Participants: The terms of the joint colonisation project on Triton were discussed and agreed upon primarily via video-con at the request of the Wergens. Also of significance is the short duration of the negotiations, which commenced and concluded within a span of only one Earth day.
Role of Earth: Because of the aliens’ peculiar phobia about interacting directly with Earth, the heads of our Neptune and Saturn space stations served as intermediaries between EarthCouncil and the Wergens. Discussions between the Wergen ambassadors and their own leaders in the Explorata via video-con added yet another layer between both sides’ ultimate decision-makers – which worked to the Wergens’ advantage.
According to one account by a typical Axelis colonist:
A pause follows. The smile fades and her face goes blank.
“Then we realised what we had bargained away.”
She hangs her head. The vid pans back to reveal three Wergen colonists standing directly behind the woman, their chalk-white, scaled faces barely visible behind hooded robes, their black, owl-like eyes trained on her in a lovestruck expression.
Testimony of Ariel Ambrose, taken on March 10, 2517 at 18:22 – 19:07.
[EXCELLENT SELECTION OF WITNESS. SHE’S MUCH MORE ARTICULATE THAN THE WITNESS YOU USED IN PRIOR DRAFT.]
The More Favourable Mars Negotiations
Martian colonists are the happiest and most well-adjusted settlers in the Solar System. [LAYING IT ON A BIT THICK HERE. DO WE HAVE PRODUCTIVITY METRICS WE CAN POINT TO?] Having only one Wergen shadowing four humans (a W2H ratio of 1 to 4) ensures every settler some measure of privacy. In addition, Wergens are required by the terms of the joint colonisation agreement to ‘earn’ their time with humans by sharing information about their bot tech and working the vineyards of Medusan Vallis for contractually negotiated periods. These favourable terms reflect a positive trajectory in our relationship with the Wergens and are attributable to the same three factors that worked to our disadvantage on Triton, namely:
Information Control: The fact that we had already established a belowground outpost on Mars strengthened our bargaining position. Having undertaken colonisation efforts without assistance from the Wergens, we could credibly threaten to walk away from the partnership proposal unless they gave us what we wanted showed more flexibility. [TESSA, KEEP OUR AUDIENCE IN MIND. PHRASING HERE IS OFF-PUTTING. COMMITTEE MEMBERS LIKE TO TELL THEMSELVES WE’RE ACTING IN A FAIR AND REASONABLE MANNER.]
Location of Participants. Wergen ambassadors appeared in person on Mars to discuss proposals for the construction of an aboveground colony and to demonstrate the effectiveness of their fieldtech. Those Wergens, however, craftily required all proposed terms to be approved by their off-world superiors – still not the optimal situation for us.
Role of Earth. EarthCouncil diplomats travelled to Mars and participated directly in negotiations with the Wergen ambassadors.
An average Martian colonist describes the living conditions on equatorial Mars as follows:
“The Wergen bots do a bang-up job tending to the crops. We’re growing corn, wheat, oats – and, I swear, Medusan Vallis wine is better than any spirits I’ve ever tasted on Earth. Sure, I have to put up with my Wergen coming in to the house twice a week to sit around and stare at me. Makes my skin crawl. But it gets pretty happy when I play the guitar, so I’ll sing the alien a few tunes – it doesn’t seem to mind that I’m so off-key.�
�
He laughs so heartily he has to reach up to steady the hat on his head.
Testimony of Abe Sidowski, taken on February 10, 2523 at 15:32 – 16:17.
[CAN WE BRIGHTEN THE COLOURS TO PROVIDE MORE OF A CONTRAST WITH THE TRITON TESTIMONY?]
II. Lessons Learned and Stratagems to Employ
A rigorous comparison of negotiations regarding the Triton and Mars colonies provides valuable insight on the best approach going forward.
When negotiating with the Wergens, it is critical to never lose sight of our primary objectives. First and foremost, we should must strive for the most favourable W2H ratios and Commitment Periods possible for each outpost so as to improve the productivity quality of life of our hard-working colonists. Second, we should must [USE MANDATORY TERMS THROUGHOUT MEMO] attempt to obtain information about the location of the Wergen homeworld. Lastly, when possible, we should must continue to encourage the Wergens to make direct contact with Earth itself so that they succumb to our demands to strengthen our partnership. The prevailing theory is that the Wergens are being overly cautious about revealing the location of their homeworld because they fear conquest direct contact between us and their leaders – who may find our arguments too persuasive, our positions too compelling, our personal charm too irresistible – and accede to our reasonable demands. [WHO WROTE “CONQUEST”? IT’S RIDICULOUS – AND DANGEROUS – TO STATE THIS SO OVERTLY.] Given their biochemical compulsion to love us fondness for humanity, one would have expected the Wergens to jump at the invitation. While they may yet bring their tech gifts directly to Earth, their reticence to set foot on our planet remains a mystery. [A BIT HEAVY-HANDED. OBVIOUS TO EVERYONE WHAT THEY’RE AVOIDING. CONSIDER RE-WORDING OR DELETING.] Whatever it is they’re hiding,[1] we strongly believe we may be able to exploit leverage that information in future negotiations.
III. Tactics for Ongoing Negotiations with Wergens: Action Items
In-person Negotiations
Prior talks highlight the importance of up-close, in-person contact with those members of the Wergen Explorata responsible for signing off on joint colonisation terms. In close proximity to humans, any Wergen enslaved by their biochemical compulsion to love us – overcome by their natural affection and fondness for us – will inevitably cave more likely agree to our demands. For this reason, we must avoid repeating the mistakes of Axelis where the Wergens cleverly utilised a layered communication chain. On Mars, the mere act of EarthCouncil diplomats sitting in the same room with their Wergen counterparts produced a more favourable outcome. Eliminating as many of these layers as possible provides us a crucial tactical advantage. Accordingly, we should must refuse to participate in negotiations going forward unless the ultimate decision-makers for each side are present.