by Frank Carey
Steve and I carried the core into the ship and secured it to a cargo pallet in the lower bay while Snake went up into the cockpit to set the autopilot. Shortly, Snake came down and met us at the bottom of the ramp.
"Rachel, bad news. The Earth-weenies have been playing with this thing. Autonav is gone. All that is left is manual control. My remote control range is only ten miles at best. Someone is going to have to hand-fly this beyond the moon."
"I guess that would be me," I heard myself say. Just then, several of the lab doors blew in, followed by guards pouring in and aiming their guns at us. Just as I was about to order Snake off of the craft, a bright light hit me, and the lights went out.
I woke up with a medic taking my pulse as the general and Steve were watching over me. I looked around and saw that the Roswell craft was gone. "What happened?" I asked groggily. Lord did my head hurt.
"Your friend, Snake, hit you with what we think was a stunner. He then flew the ship into space. Our deep-space tracking network has him well past the moon and traveling at close to the speed of light."
I quickly stood up and ran out of the lab building to a spot where I could see the moon. As I watched, it was illuminated from behind as if by an impossibly large explosion. Soon it faded.
"Snake…" was all I could say. My friend, my companion, and my confidant had just been converted into subatomic dust.
"As he was leaving, he told us that he would be all right and for you not to worry. He said he was your guardian and that guardians do not let their charges ever come to harm," Steve said.
"So, what do we do now?" I asked.
"Your mother contacted the UN General Assembly and explained what had happened and why you are here. I have been ordered to show you every courtesy afforded to a diplomat. She said she and her entourage would be arriving shortly," the general said.
He was interrupted by the sound of a shuttle landing near the group. Once its engines were shut down, its boarding ramp was lowered. The first group off the ship was mother’s honor guard followed by mother in full uniform. Behind her came a familiar shape.
"Snake!" I yelled as I ran up and picked his mechano-serpentine form off the ground and hugged him.
"Rachel, sometimes I think you don’t hear me. I distinctly remember telling Steve to tell you not to worry. Did you forget that I am AI? When the ship got past the moon, I simply transmitted my consciousness to the Command ship via a human data relay satellite," Snake said as he looked at her with his synthetic eyes.
"Rachel, you and Snake saved this planet. I am so proud of you," Mother said as she walked up to Snake and me and gave us a hug. "Why don’t you introduce us to your new friends?"
"Especially Steve," Snake said as he peeked around my shoulder. "I think he likes you."
I shook my head as I put Snake down and walked mom over to the general and his staff, where I made introductions. I guess today turned out pretty well after all.
Juxtaposition
sound of my helmet
rolling across the steel deck—
stink of old charcoal
having a drink
at end of long duty shift—
glare of ship’s thrusters
malfunctioning frame
sends me back into the net—
dreams of electric sheep
mechanical snakes
dance amongst the solar flares—
hum of life support
ancient folk sing
as the hunter’s moon rises—
scent of long dead oak
stinging windblown dust
fills the cabin with dry earth scent—
Summer haboob
Sanctuary
"Awaken Princess, for there is much to do," the voice said from the darkness.
"No, let me sleep, for the winter snows have come, and the castle is cold," the Princess replied as she pulled the covers over her head. Then she remembered there were no covers, no bed, and no castle. It all came back to her, the war, the ship, the refugees, and their need to find a home, a place to hide, a sanctuary. She opened her eyes and saw a blinding white light, a doorway, a passage to a place for her to hide, for all of them to hide. She walked through the doorway as the rest of the ship awakened behind her.
Cyber Lab 1...
Angela sat perched on a lab stool while she dug inside a transtator with both hands. With a forgotten screwdriver clenched in her teeth, Doctor Meriwether tried to cajole a response from the unit, but with no success. Finally, after much cursing and mumbling, Angela was on the verge of success when her assistant, Joshua, burst into the lab followed by a group of armed guards led by Captain Ralls, head of Center Security.
"Doctor Meriwether, I need you to stop what you are doing and join us over here," Captain Ralls said as he leveled his gun at Angela. Behind him, Joshua was emphatically waving his arms in panic.
"What the hell's going on? Why are you pointing a gun at me?" she said after removing the screwdriver from her mouth.
"Doc, he isn’t pointing the gun at you," Joshua said as he pointed to something behind her.
Angela turned around and found herself facing one of her test robots, number 1138 to be exact. It was standing with its arms crossed and staring at her, no more than two feet away. Something about the way 1138 looked at her convinced her to follow the captain’s order, so she slowly walked over to stand behind the security team. The robot did nothing to stop her, it just watched.
"Captain, what’s going on?" she asked.
"A survey team brought back an artifact from sector 22. They put it in Lab 17, and when they hooked it up to diagnostics, it emitted an energy pulse that traveled over the network to this lab. We think it’s now inside 1138.
"What’s inside 1138?" she whispered.
"I am inside this robotic body. My name is Layla, and I am here seeking political asylum for myself and my people," robot 1138 said simply.
"Corporal, call Command. Tell them the situation in Cyber Lab 1 is contained, but it has gotten very complicated. We need an ambassador down here, stat," the captain said as he lowered his weapon and signaled the other members of his team to do so as well, leaving Angela and Joshua wondering at the strange turn of events.
Later that day...
"Let me get this straight, Captain, we have an alien artifact that is, in reality, a ship of refugees, sitting in one of our labs. One of the refugees gets out, travels across our lab computer network to end up in one of our test robots where it is now asking for political asylum?" the ambassador asked with some dismay.
"Yes sir, Mr. Ambassador. Her name is Layla, and her function is to be woken first, so she can assess the situation before deciding if and when to revive the others."
"What about their bodies? Isn’t their ship pretty small?"
"Their ship is about twenty feet in diameter, so, yes it's physically small, but they don’t need any room since they are non-corporeal—"
"They’re ghosts?"
"—beings made of pure energy. They can store themselves in something akin to a supercomputer as digital data. Their ship is basically a huge hard drive. Dr. Meriwether and her assistant can better explain it. We’re here."
The Ambassador and Captain arrived at a door flanked by two heavily armed guards, one of whom checked their ID cards before opening the door and ushering them in.
On the other side of the door was a sparsely furnished room with a large table and several chairs. Sitting on one side of the table, a robot and a young woman were carrying on a conversation while across from them a young man sat, listened, and took notes. The man and woman stood up when the captain and Ambassador entered the room. The robot slowly followed suit, as if it were learning the social protocols on the fly.
Captain Ralls made introductions, after which they all sat down.
"So, Layla, tell me what’s going on," The Ambassador said as he watched the robot form.
"Ambassador, I will keep this short since my time and the time of my peopl
e is limited. We are from a planet called Lycera, which is located deep in what you designate sector 22. Our planet is populated by a dual race—one non-corporeal, the Kestrans, and one corporeal, the Lakoo—that lived in a symbiotic relationship. Our planet’s biosphere was unique in that it allowed for the Kestrans to travel freely outside any physicality."
"You used the word ‘was.’ Is your planet no more?"
"The planet was destroyed in a terrible war. Two factions had formed within the Kestrans—the Latrea and the Sulman—who had vastly different philosophies. These differences led to a war that ended with the destruction of our planet and the death of millions of Lycerans, both Lakoo and Kestran. A small off-world colony survived, but the Lakoo decided that they had enough of the Kestrans, so they exiled them in crystalline ships that were sent off into the Void. Our ship, containing the Latrea faction, was found by your survey ship."
"Interesting, since you and the Lakoo were symbionts, wouldn’t your separation cause difficulties for both forms?"
"Yes, eventually both forms would sicken and die, but the Lakoo felt they could figure out a solution. Anyway, it wasn’t like they were thriving with us around. We, on the other hand, just need to be around living, sentient, corporeal creatures. Your life force is to us like sunlight is to a plant."
"So, what do you propose?"
"Let us stay here and have a new start. There are only five hundred of us left. We can live in your computer network and interact with you through these robotic forms. We can become members of your Consortium with the network as our world," Layla said, pleading for her people.
"I will bring this request to the Council, but I cannot guarantee they will agree. What will happen if they decline your request?"
"We will leave. Understand that my ship’s onboard computer says that it can only maintain us for a short time once we leave the vicinity of living beings. We will not make it to another planet before we cease to exist," Layla said as she reached her robotic manipulator across the table and gently touched the ambassador’s hand.
"I will do everything in my power, I promise," he said as he stood up and walked out the door.
Six months later…
Angela, Joshua, and Layla were in the lab running tests on Layla's robot, trying to determine how she could so effortlessly take over the robotic body.
"Layla, this is incredible. Your energy field seems to override every safeguard that is installed in the robot to keep out intruder software. It is as if the body is expecting you and has set out a welcome mat. With this new data, we should be able to have our human operators transfer their consciousness directly into the body without having to use the supercomputer as a buffer. It would have taken us years to come up with this if it wasn’t for your help," Angela said as she disconnected cables from Layla’s body.
"I only showed you that it could be done. You were the one who figured out how. You should feel proud about what you’ve accomplished," Layla replied as she closed the access ports.
The lab door opened, and Captain Ralls came in.
"Doctors, Layla, the ambassador is here with news about Layla’s request for asylum. Before you ask, I don’t know any details about what he wants to tell you. Please, come with me to the conference room.
When the three arrived, the ambassador had already taken off his coat and was standing next to the table.
"Layla, I won’t mince words. The council turned down your request for asylum. They are worried that what happened with the Lakoo people of your world could happen here. They feel that it is their duty to protect the people of the Consortium from even the possibility of a threat. I’m deeply sorry."
"No. This is not acceptable. I’ve worked with Layla for six months now, and she has never posed a threat to me or the people working here in the Institute. I have some pull with members of the council. I demand to see them—"
"Angela, it is going to be alright," Layla said as she gently placed her hand on her friend’s shoulder. Angela turned toward her to say something when she saw the lights go out in Layla’s robotic eyes.
"Noooo," Angela said as Captain Ralls frantically called the Central Security Office to check on the status of the crystalline sphere.
"It’s gone," he said as he lowered his communicator.
No one spoke for there was nothing to say.
One-year later…
"Good morning, Dr. Angela, weather reports indicate that it is going to be a fine day," Freya said.
"Yes, Freya, it is a truly beautiful day outside," Angela replied to the sleek frame waiting for her in the center of the laboratory.
Since the departure of Layla and her people, great advances had been made in robotics, most notably the appearance of synthetic life forms, which were popularly known as artificial intelligences, or AIs. No one was really sure how the AIs came about, though some thought the Internetwork that connected the planets of the Consortium had become so complex as to have the AIs spontaneously form. To date, the AIs have not offered an opinion.
Several AIs were known to inhabit the Institute’s computer systems. They were a boon to research and loved by one and all, including Angela. Angela, though, missed Layla and found herself thinking about her absent friend every day, especially as her condition worsened.
Weeks after the crystalline ship disappeared, Angela was diagnosed with Breyard’s Syndrome, an incurable and fatal condition that was as mysterious as it was rare. Angela was running out of time.
"Dr. Angela, my sensors detect anomalies with your life functions. Are you unwell?" the frame asked as it looked more closely at the researcher.
"Freya, I should have told you this sooner. Not to put too fine a point on it, I’m dying," Angela said as she reached over and took the frame’s hand. No matter how many times she interacted with the new devices, she still marveled at how lifelike the frames looked and felt. Only a detailed examination would reveal that Angela was talking to a robot and not a carbon-based life form.
"Dr. Angela, what is dying?" Freya asked. Angela suddenly felt like she was talking to a child, an immensely strong, incredibly fast, hyper-intelligent child, but a child none the less.
"Soon my life functions will cease, and this body of mine will return to its component molecules and atoms. My soul, my spark, my consciousness, will go somewhere else. I will become no-more. I will—" Angela’s explanation was interrupted by a severe coughing spasm. Angela started to fall from her chair, but Freya caught her and gently lowered her to the floor where she lay gasping for breath, "I’m sorry, Freya, but I think I overestimated the time I have left—" Angela coughed again, blood now seeping from between her lips. "Freya, call security and tell them what is happening."
"No Angela, I think security can wait," Freya said. However, the voice wasn’t Freya’s. It was someone else.
"What?" Angela said as she started to pass out.
As Angela lost consciousness, Freya’s body started to glow. The next moment a glowing point of light emerged from her chest and hovered over Angela’s body as Freya smiled.
"Can you help her, Mistress Layla?" Freya asked the glowing point of light.
"Yes, Freya, I can help her, but there is a risk."
"Yes, she is not one of the Lakoo. No Kestran has ever merged with someone not Lakoo, let alone someone of Angela’s race," Freya said as a tendril of energy emerged from the light and touched Angela’s chest. Immediately, the bleeding stopped as Angela’s breathing became less labored.
"I know, Freya, but Angela is my friend. She has helped our people. I have to help her," Layla said as Angela’s body regained some color.
"Balt will be furious," Freya said.
"Balt will understand," Layla said as she slowly dropped into Angela’s chest. Angela’s body glowed for a moment before a small gasp escaped from her lips, and her eyes snapped open.
"Freya?" Angela said with a look of wonder and amazement in her eyes.
"Yes," Freya said, wondering who she was talking to.
&n
bsp; "Layla’s here, I’m here," Angela said as her eyes went from blue to purple, "we’re here."
"Yes, you are. What should I call you two?" Freya asked, practical as always.
"Call me Angela, my old friend. I have so much to do. Help me up," Angela/Layla said. As she headed to the bathroom, she saw herself reflected in its mirror, her eyes glowing purple. She wondered how she was going to explain this to Joshua.
Zombots
The sound of the door slamming followed by the sound of angry footsteps stomping down the hallway to the kitchen signaled Olive’s entry into the apartment. Seth walked in calmly, picking up Olive's sweater, scarf, and shoes off the various pieces of furniture they had landed on. She stormed out of the kitchen with a water glass filled with three fingers of scotch over crushed ice. He said nothing as she stomped up to him, sloshing her drink on the hardwood floor.
"What were you thinking trying to explain your work to Jackson Smythe? I told you to just be eye candy tonight. No talk, no conversation, and no explanations.”
"He seemed interested in my work, so I thought I should answer his question."
"He's a moron! They're all morons. They were lost the moment you inhaled. Now, they're all pissed at me because you made them feel like low grade morons."
"But you just said they were morons," he said. He knew she would blow up, but he couldn't help himself.
"They are!" she screamed. "But you don't have to make them feel that way. I'm ruined. My boss is going to fire me tomorrow. That's it. We're through."
"Olive..."
"No. That's it. We're through. Take your stuff and get out!"
"I don't have any stuff here," he said. He had seen this coming months ago, so he had removed everything he owned. Funny how she never noticed how empty his side of the closet was or that there was nothing of his in the bathroom. Early on, he realized how one-sided their relationship was, so he'd already implemented an exit strategy. He didn't even have to hide it from her.