Alutia Rising

by Craig Gerttula

  Trent walked over to one of the tables while carefully scanning his surroundings, and noticed a couple half-full cups, containing a strange smelling brown liquid...apparently someone had left in hurry. He did a thorough search of the tables, but found nothing besides the cups and the semi-circular protrusions. He sighed, deciding staying here would solve nothing, and started walking down the long line of empty beds, in the hope that someone may be at the other end.

  Without warning, the voice in his head became louder, appearing to emanate from a place behind the wall to his right. He walked up slowly and placed his hand on the spot where the voice appeared to be originating.

  "Hello, I can't understand you." Trent said lightly, voice cracking from lack of use. But the unintelligible voice continued, apparently not hearing his words. He stepped away, deciding for now to try to ignore the voice, and continued walking down the row of empty beds. The voice faded after a few meters, but again became louder as another took its place almost immediately, about 10 meters down the wall from the previous one. The incessant babbling began to grate at his nerves, causing him to forcefully push the strange voice to the back of his mind. To his surprise, it faded slightly, but didn't vanish.

  The rows of empty beds seemed to go on forever and Trent decided to start counting them to pass the time. He was up to 475 when he caught a glimpse of a wall ahead. He increased his pace and to his disappointment, found this end as empty as the other.

  The setup was similar to where he began, with two curved half tables on either side of a metallic door. Panic took him as he thought he must have turned around, but quickly realized the half-full cups weren't present. After checking the tables for anything useful, and finding, like the other end, nothing but the semi-circular protrusions, he approached the door, and bounced back as it didn't open. He shook off the surprise, rubbing his stinging nose that taken the brunt of the damage. He banged on the door hoping someone was on the other side, but also to take out his anger on the door for it making him look foolish, but there was no response.

  "Hello!" Trent yelled and a chorus of hellos answered him as his voice echoed back down the long room. He paced, thinking how he may escape this dungeon of beds, before once again searching the two desks, but finding nothing. Out of ideas, he walked over to closest metal bed, seeing for the first time an oval outline in the wall behind it, noting it to be the same size as the strange tube like device he had seen when he awoke, before he lied down.

  As he closed his eyes the whispering voice erupted from the back of his mind, this time from a spot above the closed door. He wanted to ignore it, but the sensation was like an itch inside his head that he couldn't possibly scratch. So he started to concentrate on the voice, listening to it carefully, but still couldn't make out the words...just gibberish. But he did find that the effort seemed to relieve the itch, providing a respite for the unexplainable sensation.

  He continued listening intently, ignoring the passing time, trying to gain something, anything, from the voice, but found no further clues. He was about to give up, thinking he may, in fact, be going crazy, when a new idea occurred to him. What if he thought back at the voice, concentrating on the area inside the wall where it seemed to originate? It made sense, he thought, since the voice was talking directly into his mind, maybe that was how he needed to respond. Gathering his thoughts, he concentrated on the wall.

  "I don't understand." He saw the words in his mind, the feeling was similar to talking, but with his thoughts... he was definitely going crazy.

  The voice vanished for a few seconds, then returned, clearer this time, but still too fuzzy for him to understand. Trent tried to clear his thoughts, picturing his words before projecting them at the spot in wall.

  "I don't understand."

  The voice vanished once again, this time for a few minutes. Trent knew he was on to something...or more likely, was going even crazier. But it couldn't be a coincidence that when he thought his words towards the spot on the wall, the voice would vanish immediately.

  Returning suddenly, the voice was much clearer, and Trent thought he could make out some of the words, but most were still gibberish. Once again, he thought.

  "I don't understand." This time the voice didn't vanish, but responded instantly, becoming even clearer, but still unintelligible.

  "I don't understand." He could see the voice's response with his mind, but still couldn't completely comprehend.

  "I don't understand." It became clearer, but only slightly. Trent started to become impatient, deciding to repeat the question constantly.

  "I don't understand, I don't understand, I don't understand, I don't understand, I don't under-." A crystal clear response suddenly boomed into his mind.

  "Please enter your request." A metallic voice echoed in his mind, no longer gibberish or causing that strange itching sensation. Trent found it disconcerting, the voice sounded identical to a normal voice, but talked directly into his mind. The thought that he was actually going crazy grew stronger, but he pushed it away, knowing it was better to accept it for what it was...a normal voice in his head. A laugh broke through the silence. He was crazy, and that last thought was proof of that fact. He sighed, then thought the first thing that came to mind at the voice in the wall.

  "Where am I?" A strange, annoyingly painful tone attacked his mind in response. Trent shook his head trying to remove its echo. But had little success, having to wait for the tone to fade on its own after a few seconds, being replaced by the metallic voice.

  "Please enter your request." Trent began to think, whatever the voice was, there must be some sort of guidelines for its use, meaning the question he'd asked wasn't appropriate or structured correctly. It suddenly hit him, the voice was asking for a request, not a question. He thought his question, but in the form of a request.

  "Please provide information about my current location." The response came almost immediately.

  "The location of this BAP is within emergency medical annex five of the TSB Earth Base wing eleven." He stopped cringing expectantly as he received an answer, instead of the painful tone. The response gave him some idea of where he was, in the base of a group called the TSB, but he needed information, something more concrete. He decided to consider the recent whirlwind of events that had been his life. Thinking his experience may provide him a better idea of exactly what sort of questions he should ask.

  Trent recalled the strange trial he'd been a part of, and from what he remembered, it was to join an organization called the Terra Space Battalion, which he gathered was the same as the TSB. A question suddenly came to mind. He quickly rephrased it into a request.

  "Please provide information on the Terra Space Battalion." Trent thought towards the voice in the wall.

  "Excerpt found in, Welcome to the TSB! Guide for new recruits: The Terra Space Battalion, or TSB, is an organization created by Emperor Noolis, the 278th ruler of the New Universal Empirical Human Alliance, in NHA year 69,482, to monitor, study, and protect the special protectorate of Earth." The answer that was returned surprised Trent. He was expecting some sort of corporate affiliated group, but he couldn't think of any that were gaudy enough to have an emperor. Well, maybe one of the English or Japanese companies, he recalled they both had some history of monarchy, which perhaps they adopted for one of their leading corporations. But instead of digging further, he decided to ask about the other name mentioned.

  "Please provide information on the New Universal Empirical Human Alliance." he thought his next question at the voice.

  "Excerpt found in, So you grew up on Earth?: The New Universal Empirical Human Alliance, or NHA, is the experimental government organization responsible for ruling the universe. Currently, the NHA rules 203 galaxies with over 200 million populated worlds, and constantly growing." Trent was in shock at what he heard, or thought he heard, or heard in his thoughts...it would take time for him to get use to this.

  According to this voice in his head, he was in the base of a universe spanning
alliance. Trent knew he was going crazy, but decided against admitting the fact. Instead, he grasped at an idea that he may have actually stumbled into a giant corporate experiment. Having had something implanted in his head that must be causing these delusions. It would explain why he heard a voice that told him strange and impossible things.

  The idea was logical, he thought, given his current situation. There was no way his arms had regenerated or he had been caught up in a giant galactic empire that was hidden from Earth. He'd more likely been brainwashed, causing reality and fantasy to mix...it made sense. He thought of revealing his revelation to the voice, but the idea quickly faded as he decided to continue to play along, wondering what other information he could discover.

  "Please provide information on the structure of the government of the NHA." he thought, hoping he may glean facts about the actual organization behind this experiment.

  "Excerpt found in, So you grew up on Earth?: The NHA is led by a Hereditary Emperor who is responsible for upholding the founding charter, universal proclamations, security, and expansion of the NHA empire. Each galaxy is ruled by a hereditary King who has sovereignty to rule each galaxy as they deem fit, within the boundaries placed by the Emperor. Each galaxy is separated into Duchy's which are ruled, with the permission of the galaxy King, by a Duke and Duchess. The Duchy's are further broken down into Marches and Earldoms. Marches are ruled by a Marquee and Marchioness, while Earldoms are ruled by an Earl and Countess. An Earldom and March are broken down further into Barony's, which are ruled by a Baron and Baroness. Each level of nobility is able to rule, with permission of the King, over those below them." The answer Trent received was not what he expected. The talk of the use of noble ranks in the NHA similar to the European titles made Trent positive that this was some sort corporate experiment, furthering his belief that he'd undergone brainwashing. Somehow, part of what he thought ended up as a request and the metallic voice responded.

  "Excerpt found in, I can understand you! But why?: The human translation node allows seamless translation of all known languages to your primary native language, using common wording to easily convey a meaning. During situations a word does not exist in your native tongue, the translation node will use accepted translation methods to either create a new word or use the existing term if the origin language is similar enough to your native tongue." Trent was surprised at this seemingly logical response.

  "Please explain translation further." He decided to follow the line of questioning that he stumbled across.

  "Excerpt found in, Human Improvements, Volume 1,326: Human interface translation nodes were created and genetically integrated into the human genome pre-NHA year 6,321 to allow humans who speak vastly different languages to communicate in their native tongues. During the translation process, certain similar terms in the translated language are used to allow for additional comprehension and understanding during conversations. If no equivalent term is found, the node analyzes the terms meaning and either creates a new term based on language rules or converts the native term for use." The explanations were impressive, if not similar, but he was still skeptical. The rationalization required that he have a human interface translation nod through the altering of his genetics...which he could only think could occur before someone was born.

  Trent was about to make another request when his stomach growled, causing him to become acutely aware of his hunger. He turned towards the door, putting his current concerns on hold, to see if the voice would let him leave.

  "Please open the door." The painful tone sounded in his mind, telling Trent he'd made a mistake in his query. He thought about it again and rephrased his statement.

  "Please open the door in the emergency medical annex five." The door slid open and Trent hoped off the bed, sticking his head out and carefully peering in both directions.

  He was greeted by a wide, plain, empty hallway, painted white and blue and extending beyond sight in both directions. About to give up hope, a solution presented itself.

  "Please tell me where I can find some food." he thought to the voice in the wall, now across the hall.

  "The closest nutrition dispensary is located outside Medical Bay 11. Directions shall be provided on the way. To start, take a right in the hallway outside medical annex five." Trent smiled and began walking, thinking that he liked the idea of having a personal guide inside his head.

  *********

  The smell turned her stomach and she found the food had no taste. Still, Sasha tried to force herself, taking a few small bites, but she'd lost her appetite. Memories of the dead were too fresh, making it difficult for her to eat no matter how hungry she may be.

  Knight Admiral Bhool sat across from her in the small officer’s mess, ignoring the two catillian's wandering cautiously around the six person table, while showing signs of using her BC node. Tiana and Regalia sat at her sides, while Gil'Da, the only servant that made it to safety, was refilling their drinks. They were in bad shape and Sasha couldn't think of anything to get them out of this situation.

  The guards who betrayed her, learning that the assassination attempt had failed, stormed and captured the bridge. Vin's message arrived a minute too late for the Flight Captain and two Flight Officers, who were immediately executed. The two remaining Flight Officers were held captive, being forced to operate the ABF Princess One.

  Flight Supply Officer Xin'Eir had been the lucky one, she'd been in the process of performing a manual inventory when the bridge was stormed. Somehow she was able to recover the bodies of the three officers that were shot on the bridge before the barricade was constructed. Sasha thought about asking, but felt it may be a question best left unsaid. The crewman, on the other hand, had more time to react, being on a separate deck then the guards, and immediately locked out the elevator and blocked the door to the bridge.

  After the rescue of Sasha, Tiana, Regalia, Knight Admiral Bhool, Guard Private Usa'Pol and Guard Lieutenant Lia'Sil, whose condition had stabilized, but still lay unconscious, a message was received from the guards. The traitors made it clear that if anyone tried to escape using the ferry shuttle, or any other shuttle approached the starship, they would be shot down, and the hostages would be killed. Knight Admiral Bhool responded immediately, demanding the guards surrender, while, at the same time, to avoid suspicion, sent a message to her second, Vice Admiral Jia'Tog, informing him of the situation and providing orders to proceed to the rally point to rendezvous with the other Alutia Battle Fleet battle groups.

  The orders were simple, he was to send Knight Rear Admiral Quo'Nup's battle group to Don'Alutia and take Vice Admiral Sys'Kol's battle group, Alutia's other, more trustworthy battle group, to Earth, to be placed under temporary command of Knight Captain Quinn, until Sasha or Knight Admiral Bhool could arrive. After the orders had been sent, a response was received almost immediately and an assault shuttle, full of Alutia Battleguards, were assigned to follow from a distance, hoping to find an opportunity to save them. Sasha knew the chances for an armed rescue were slim, but all options had to be left on the table. Knight Admiral Bhool sighed as she released her BC node, reaching out to the now lounging catillians.

  "We just went through the near Earth SJS Gate and from the tailing shuttles estimates...we are heading towards the Earth star system. If we continue at full speed we will arrive in about a day and a half." She paused for a second and looked at Sasha. "I think this is a pretty clear indication of who is responsible." Knight Admiral Bhool kept the anger out of her voice, but not her eyes.

  "Yes...Duke Zehman is definitely responsible...but I still cannot fathom what he would gain in my death..." Sasha responded, her voice lacking emotion, her mind still stuck in the cold embrace of her failure.

  "Is there anyone besides you who could stop him from destroying the TSB, Sasha?" Regalia spoke so daintily that Sasha didn't react at first, thinking it may have been her imagination.

  "That would make sense, Your Grace. The guards may have sent word when they learned you plan
ned on changing course to Earth." Knight Admiral Bhool and Regalia were right...it made sense. She didn't keep her orders secret and anyone on her private starship could have easily found out about their sudden change of destination. Knight Admiral Bhool cleared her throat, face turning serious as she stared intently at Sasha.

  "Your Grace....Sasha, I think it may be time to talk about the possibly of sabotaging the starship and escaping on the ferry shuttle." Sasha's eyes turned cold, fire burning away the ice that had overtaken her mind as she heard the Knight Admiral's suggestion.

  "If you can find a way to fit all 16 people onboard, plus save the two hostages, I may consider your proposition." Sasha's voice matched her eyes, fury building in her heart. Too many had already died due to her mistakes, she would not sacrifice anyone else.

  "Your Grace, as you know, your safety is paramount. If lives must be sacrificed to save you, then so be it!" The Knight Admiral made no attempt to hide her anger as her own voice rose to a shout. Sasha understood why she was mad, but didn't want to think about it, not now, not ever. She met the Knight Admiral's fiery gaze.

  "I realize that, Knight Admiral Bhool, but I will not consider sacrificing lives until every option has been discussed!" Both women were flush, eyes blazing, pushing further to the edge of their seats, neither backing down. Knight Admiral Bhool was about to respond, but stopped and took a deep breath, reaching out to her concerned catillian.

  "Very well, Your Grace. But I will not take the option off the board, and if you have not found a solution before we rendezvous with the Hulk'Zif Battle Fleet, then I will force you into the ferry shuttle with one hand while I hold a detonator in the other!" Sasha knew she was overmatched, but held the gaze for a few more seconds before backing down.

  "Very well." She sighed in resignation, reaching out to Terra and finding her despair had past. They sat in silence, the tension of minutes before lingering in the air, when Sasha suddenly straightened. She turned to Gil'Da, a crazy idea coming to mind. She doubted it would work, but she had to find out.