Convergence: Genesis

by Flores Bermúdez, Heiner; Christina Hopkinson, Rachel;

  He had grown up amongst warriors. His father had made him enter into the galactic army when he was barely of age, where he participated in many colonisation missions until his transfer to the station. Neil Gobi was born in the year 2252. When he met Denn, he was already one hundred and eighteen years old.

  In an earlier era, a person of that age would be on the brink of death, their face full of wrinkles and their strength decimated. But now, humans were different. They aged very slowly. The advances in genetic engineering had converted the human race into one of the longest living in the galaxy, and somebody of Neil’s age now was considered to be a young person.

  “What do you want me to do?” Denn asked him.

  “We’re going to search for the intruder throughout the whole of sector H. I want him alive.” Neil turned around, and walked towards a lift a few meters away from them, followed by a group of officers who were accompanying him. Denn stayed still for a moment whilst the rest were beginning to come past him. “Come on, move it,” scolded Neil, who turned his head to address Denn.

  Denn turned his gaze to C0-UN1 and said:

  “There’s nothing left for it, let’s follow him and put an end to this.”

  Whilst Denn and the rest of the groups searched the vessel for an intruder they would not find, Captain Val Afkbar tried to find a solution to the predicament in which they found themselves. He had sent two technicians to try and repair the jump system, without any luck. In addition to that, he ordered them to communicate with any system or ship that might be found near the station, but there was not a single trace of any civilization anywhere near them.

  All of the people still on the station were registered, and all of the resources they had on board were inventoried. Some four hours later, when Denn was finally on his way back, in the main plaza, he approached Senlar, who was now looking a little tired, surely from responding to peoples’ questions.

  “That Neil’s a great guy,” said Denn, in an ironic tone.

  Senlar smiled.

  “He’s certainly likeable.”

  “He didn’t even want to give me his name; one of the guys had to do it.”

  Senlar burst out laughing.

  “Don’t worry about him.”

  “I need to speak with the captain,” said Denn, in a more serious tone. “I want to know what he plans on doing.”

  Senlar nodded, and getting up from his place, he asked Denn to follow him.

  “Go ahead, I’ll catch up with you,” said Denn, who, before walking after Senlar, took a second to ask C0-UN1 to wait for him in the plaza. After doing so, he picked up his pace in order to reach Senlar.

  Denn analysed him for a moment. Since Senlar had agreed without question to Denn’s request, it seemed obvious that the captain had given him the order to take him back with him as soon as he returned to the plaza. The captain would probably have several questions for him as well. After all, what would a Sergeant be doing all alone at a jump-gate station?

  After a somewhat long walk, they finally arrived at the control room. The very one that Denn had taken a few hours earlier. Now, there were several people in there, perhaps trying to communicate with someone, or trying to repair one of the navigation systems.

  “Through here,” said Senlar, and he pressed a button that opened a door in a wall, right there in the middle of the control room. A door that Denn had not noticed before.

  It was the Captain’s Room; a small room that was accessed via the Control Room. How careless! How lucky there wasn’t anybody there when I was controlling the station!, thought Denn.

  “Here is Denn, captain.”

  “Thank you,” replied the captain, whilst Denn entered the room.

  “I’ll go,” said Senlar, and he immediately closed the door so that the Captain and Denn could have a little privacy.

  The room had an enormous picture window looking out into space, similar to the one in the control room. There, in front of said window, stood the captain, looking out onto the cosmos with his hands behind his back.

  “Sit,” said the captain.

  There was a desk separating Denn from the captain. He sat down in one of the two chairs pulled up in front of it, expecting the captain to turn around and sit in his seat.

  “How has the search gone?” asked the captain. “Did you find anything?” he asked, and, without moving from his spot, continued contemplating the universe.

  “I imagine you must already know,” answered Denn.

  “I want to know what your opinion is,” insisted the captain. “Do you think the intruder escaped?”

  Denn shifted a little in his seat so as to be more comfortable, and without hesitating, he answered honestly.

  “He hasn’t escaped. The intruder is still here.”

  The captain turned towards Denn. He was not trying to look threatening, but he maintained a seriousness that would make anybody uncomfortable.

  “Still here? Maybe we haven’t searched enough. Perhaps he’s escaped somewhere. Will he be hidden?”

  “Hidden in plain sight,” replied Denn, without faltering.

  The faintest trace of a smile on the captain’s face appeared to show his satisfaction at Denn’s response; it was just what he was thinking.

  “What is a sergeant from Tau Ceti doing in a jump-gate station in the Solar System?”

  Denn did not display any nervousness; he seemed to be prepared from the start for an interrogation like this.

  “That is confidential, captain.”

  The captain shrugged his shoulders. It was the type of response he did not want to hear. It gave no room for finding out the truth.

  “A moment ago, I found myself looking at your profile on the database... you are thirty years old... How was it that a little boy got to be sergeant in a Union squadron?”

  “There are thousands of sergeants belonging to The Galactic Union armies, I suppose that many of them will be of a similar age to me, sir.”

  “It’s not that common.”

  Denn was not just trying to cooperate with the captain; in addition to that, The Union laws obligated it. The captain of a jump-gate station had a certain authority over medium ranks within the confines of the station, and although Denn was now a fugitive, the captain did not know it. To him, he was a sergeant who had to follow The Union laws.

  “Captain, I don’t want to discuss with you whether or not I have the necessary aptitudes to have been promoted to sergeant; with all due respect, that’s a decision that has nothing to do with you.”

  Denn was not irritated by the captain doubting him, it was understandable, even. What he was really worried about was the fact that he had come up with a rather loose plan: a plan that placed the crew in grave danger. His lack of experience had led to him putting innocent people at risk. He knew that it was all his fault, and he would have to do his utmost to revert the situation and get all of these people out of danger.

  “Perhaps I've offended you?" asked the Captain, as he turned to face the window, to contemplate space once more.

  "No, sir, that doesn't bother me, to tell the truth, the only thing bothering me is the situation we're in. Have they been able to repair the jump systems?"

  The captain paused briefly before answering; a suspense that, without meaning to, managed to make Denn uncomfortable.

  "No... And we won't be able to. We don't have the necessary resources."

  After that response, Denn was no longer so calm. He had counted on them being able to repair the station systems. Now that he knew that was not possible, he felt afraid, not for himself, but for the lives of everyone else. They were lost in deep space thanks to his recklessness.

  “There has to be some way, Captain! Are the technicians sure? And... The communicators? Have they been able to contact anyone?"

  The captain noticed Denn's change in tone, the consternation that invaded him was obvious. He wondered whether it could be from fear of losing his own life, or whether it was the case that he was worried about everyone o
n the station.

  "We haven't been able to communicate with anyone, we’re in the middle of nothing," replied the captain, and he carried on looking into space.

  "Perhaps I could help, captain, I'm good at repairing things... If you'll let me take a look at the systems... I could..."

  "I already told you. If professional technicians say it can't be fixed, then it's because it can't."

  “But... at least we’ll be able to know our location, if we analyse the cosmos we’ll be able to find some known stars. Perhaps we could triangulate our position with some pulsars.”

  “No, we don’t have a database for stars. And some of our instruments proved to be damaged. We tried to measure the distance to the centre of the galaxy, with definitely erroneous results.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The results say that we are a much shorter distance from the centre of the galaxy than we ought to be. I’m not talking about a small error; the difference is enormous. Without a shadow of a doubt, the systems are not working as they ought to be. Even so, knowing where we are wouldn’t be of much use. Without the jump systems, we’re not able to go anywhere.”

  The captain’s apparent calm managed to worry Denn even more, as he was still not managing to get to grips with how he could be so tranquil in the face of such a situation.

  “But, aren’t you worried?” asked Denn, as he got up out of his chair. “Aren’t you concerned about the lives of all these people?”

  It was a few seconds before the captain answered; it was if he wanted to add more tension to the moment.

  “Perhaps you ought to calm yourself, Bornew, you’re supposed to be a sergeant, you ought to be capable of maintaining your composure in complicated situations.”

  “How can you be asking me to be calm, sir? Aren’t you aware of the fragile situation we’re facing?”

  “Don’t get impatient, with a little luck we’ll get out of this.”

  The captain’s answer managed to tip the balance of Denn’s annoyance.

  “Luck? You’re standing there, doing nothing, with no plan, just because you decided to put your trust in luck. Are you joking or something?”

  The captain turned his head towards Denn for a moment, and looked at him for a second before turning around again to look into space.

  “Who told you I don’t have a plan?” and he gave a brief pause. “Do you see that point in that area?”

  Val lifted his hand and placed his finger on the window, pointing to a small mark in space. Denn approached a little, in order to see what the captain was talking about.

  “Yes... I see it. What about it?” asked Denn, somewhat confused.

  “Well that is my plan. That point you see there is a planet, and an hour ago I set course for it. We’ll see yet how our luck goes.”

  Chapter II

  The Government of The Galactic Union

  A few short hours had passed since the hijacking of the station, and the high authorities of The Galactic Union had already gathered to tackle the situation. There was still no trace of the station, and Denn had already been added to the galaxy’s most-wanted list.

  The Government of The Galactic Union, made up by its High Council, with its ten members and the Supreme Leader, were trying to reach a consensus regarding the measures to take.

  As usual, its meetings took place in Capital City, a colossal underwater city constructed in a part of the Atlantic Ocean on the planet Earth. A city which functioned as the capital of the entire Galactic Union, in which all of the political issues and important decisions were dealt with.

  Inside the Capital Palace, the Leader of The Union and his ten advisers were congregated in a hall that was completely isolated away from prying ears, seated around a circular table.

  “Still nothing is known regarding the whereabouts of this Bornew,” said one of the most important members of the High Council, Voill Conner, the right-hand man to the Supreme Leader of The Union. “I have asked Tau Ceti to locate everyone he knew intimately so that they can be interrogated, in the eventuality that the situation is not resolved soon. There don’t seem to be many of them. His mother, his direct supervisor, and some soldiers from his squadron.”

  “What about the station?” asked another. “Something so big ought to be relatively easy to find. With the great presence of ships and other stations in all the planetary systems, we ought to have news soon.”

  “It isn’t that easy, Biherys,” said the next important member of the council, Yavar Afir. “If you had left Earth even once, you would know how vast a planetary system is.”

  “I can hazard a guess... How many systems have been ruled out?”

  “Seventeen,” replied Voill. “But it’s been barely a few hours since it was lost. As the hours go by, we’ll have more news. Even so, we certainly won’t know anything until the end of tomorrow.”

  “We’re talking about the hijacking of a Solar System station... the central system of the entire Galactic Union... How is it possible this has happened? How does this leave our safety...? That is to say, this is where the capital of the entire Union is. It is unacceptable.”

  “The public don’t know that it’s been a hijacking,” said Yavar. “What we have announced is that a failure on the station caused it to drift.”

  “It’s only a matter of time before they know. This must be resolved immediately.”

  The Leader of The Union, who was at the head of the table, not saying anything, got up out of his seat and walked towards a window overlooking the centre of the city constructed below the ocean. Everybody remained silent, waiting for his reaction, whilst he looked at the beautiful city full of sculptures, gardens, and fountains, populated by the most influential people in the galaxy.

  He thought about all the people on the station in terms of their importance to The Union, and did not find the need to worry about them. All that mattered was what this meant for the reputation of the Solar System’s safety: the fact that one of its stations had been hijacked.

  After analysing it for a moment, he came to the conclusion that that was not so important either. Now he was only worried by one thing: the robot that Denn had stolen from Earth.

  “How is it that nobody knew about the robot’s existence?” asked the Leader of The Union.

  The room remained silent; nobody dared to give an answer. It was as much a surprise to them that the existence of such a special robot on Earth had passed unnoticed for such a long time.

  The laboratory from which it had been taken would not provide them with many answers, not after the explosion that Denn caused had reduced it to rubble. Even less the fact that this place had not been visited by virtually anybody for a long time.

  It was Helagar Ust’s laboratory. He had used it during his whole life’s work for A-Corp, until the day in which he left the planet Earth, some twenty years earlier, supposedly for a convention in the Eridani System, to which he never arrived. Nothing more was ever heard of him again. A-Corp decided to shut down his laboratory, and not allow entry to anybody.

  “Surely the old Helagar would have some dark intention in order to leave it in his laboratory without saying anything,” prompted Biherys.

  “That bastard!” said the Supreme Leader. “He always defended his robots, even after the disaster they caused. He was very likely responsible. Where will he have got to?”

  “Might he have anything to do with Bornew?” asked another member of the council. “It seems strange that this man knew exactly where to look.”

  “Perhaps,” replied Voill. “Even so, it’s early days for jumping to conclusions. I made contact with A-Corp regarding the robot, and they deny all responsibility. They had no idea the robot even existed.”

  The Supreme Leader was furious. The negligence of the people responsible for A-Corp was causing problems for The Union.

  “I swear that if it wasn’t for A-Corp being such an important business for the economy, I would make it disappear immediately. How many problems have they giv
en us? First the Colonisers, then the susceptibility in the semi-humans, and now this. Somebody bring me their president right now. He’s going to have to listen to me.”

  “We’ve already sent for him, sir,” replied Voill. “He should be on his way.”

  “Good... Capture Denn Bornew, whatever the cost. The lives of the people on board the station are of no significance. Finding that man is all that matters. I don’t know why, but I have a bad feeling. Why would somebody take such trouble to steal a robot that is an enemy to humanity? How did he know it was there? I suspect that what’s happening goes further than any of us can imagine.”

  “We’ll take charge of it, sir,” reassured Voill, “don’t worry.”

  “When Helagar disappeared, twenty years ago, I knew there would be problems for The Union...” The Leader paused, went back to the table, and, resting his hands on it, continued: “I have been in power for twenty-five years, I started just after the unfortunate death of the second Leader of The Union. The only reason my term is renewed every ten years is because I have done it in the best way possible. The first Leader lost his term after the events of 2215. Those sorts of things cause the people to lose confidence. I do not plan on giving way for the fourth leader. We need to find out how it is that this man knew about the robot, and why he took it, no matter the cost.”

  “Sir, I assure you that we are doing everything possible to capture Bornew,” said Voill.

  “You may go, all of you,” he said, and all the members of the council stood up, crestfallen, to leave the room. “Not you, Voill... Yavar.”

  He had asked his reliable men to stay. The Leader of The Union needed to speak alone with them.

  “What’s is it, Ebyem?” Voill asked the Leader.

  “Remind me of what The Augur said, before his disappearance.”

  “That is not important, sir. You are the legitimate Leader of The Union.”