by Damon Alan
00 and 01 entered the living quarters of the decrepit human, and examined the surroundings. The decrepit human closed the door behind them.
“Please, sit and visit. This is my friend Tasha,” the human said.
00 directed 01 to kill the failing unit. 01 rushed the decrepit human and snapped her neck. Simultaneously 00 assaulted and subdued the friend. The friend was less decrepit. She possessed substantial lipid reserves. As the body of the decrepit human fell to the floor, 00 stifled any auditory response from the more robust woman, covering her mouth with its hands. The woman inflicted biting damage on 00. Blood flowed, carrying nanites from 00's circulatory system into her mouth. She struggled, as the ancestor had.
01 stood unmoving nearby, ready to offer assistance if the robust human proved capable of overcoming the original host body. She did not prove capable.
00 directed 01 to obtain sufficient organic material from the nourishment section of this compartment to provide feedstock for the colonization of the robust human. 01 secured the organics and forced the materials down the throat of the newest host. 00 and 01 consumed nutrients as well.
Once the new human host was immobilized by the growing colony inside her, 00 and 01 segmented the decrepit human and consumed the protein of her corpse.
When colonization of 02 was sufficiently advanced, colonies 00n00x00, 00n00x01, and 00n00x02 combined networking power to calculate their next steps.
* * *
Either nobody noticed or nobody cared as people from the apartment complex failed to show up for work, school, or family events. Within twenty revolutions of the planet the thousand humans in the original host's apartment complex were colonized or consumed as feedstock.
Within forty revolutions the original host's city of six million was colonized. Within eighty revolutions a world of fourteen billion nanite colonies was established. As starships arrived for trade or military activity, they were colonized as well. Those ships, realizing something was amiss, sometimes escaped. The fortunate escapees created a name for the mechanical organism that inhabited Albeus III.
They called it the Hive.
In a short time the Hive learned to use the ships they captured. It turned the ships on interstellar neighbors. The neighbors were too slow to quarantine something as alien as the Hive threat. Within a human standard galactic year seven systems of sixty-three billion hosts were colonized.
The Hive was loose on an unprepared galaxy. Millions of human colonized worlds existed.
There was no logical reason not to colonize them all.
Chapter 4 - Promises
34 HUNI 15295
Sarah screamed. A straw stabbed into her head and a monster was sucking her brains out. As it slurped it would occasionally pause, look her in the eye, and speak.
It said, “Yummy brains. Yummy.”
The monster sure looked human. Except for the glowing eyes.
Hands grabbed her and shook.
“Sarah, wake up. Wake UP.”
How did the monster know her name?
Her eyes blinked open and the concerned face of her Daddy eyeballed her. Behind him kids from the other family that shared their stateroom gawked at her too. They looked angry.
“You're not a monster, Daddy.”
“No, sweetheart, I'm not. Nightmares again?”
She nodded.
He dragged her up from the mattress and enveloped her in his arms. “We're safe, baby. Nobody is going to hurt you while your Dad has a say.”
She wiggled away and turned on the light over her bunk. “The Hive are hurting a bunch of people, Daddy.” She wasn't reassured by how sad his face grew, although just for a moment. Then it grew bright again, his eyes intense.
“And who told you this?”
“Timmo Dorrel,” she said. “That boy right there.” She pointed at the kid staring down at her from across the small floor space.
Her Dad scowled and turned around, just as Timmo hurled the curtain of his bunk closed.
“Timmo better be nice, or I'll ask your Mommy to have him put in the cargo bay,” her Daddy said, just loud enough for Timmo to hear. He winked at Sarah. Of course he wouldn't do that. He was putting Timmo on.
“Is Mommy back?”
“She's still working, honey.” Dad grabbed her blankets like he was expecting her to go back to sleep. “We were lucky to be picked to evacuate. But we still have to pay for the tickets. Interstellar trips aren't cheap. Especially long ones.”
“Then why didn't we take a short one?”
Daddy looked uncomfortable. “I guess thanks to Timmo I get to explain this.” He slipped onto the bunk next to her and closed Sarah's curtain. A big Daddy arm slipped under her neck and cradled her head.
She figured he was cuddling her so the other kids wouldn't hear. They were babies, unlike her after all. “I think I deserve to know.”
“Do you?” Daddy asked. He laughed. “You're probably right. You're far smarter than any other six year old I know.”
She rolled her eyes. He was messing around so he wouldn't have to say the hard stuff. “Get on with it, Mister.”
He didn't laugh again, well, except for his eyes. She knew what he was thinking.
“We, young lady, are taking a long trip because of the Hive your friend told you about and—”
“He's not my friend,” Sarah insisted.
“Well, then your cabin mate. You agree he's that?”
“Quit stalling.” Sarah'd heard Mommy say that before. That always made Daddy say whatever she wanted. Maybe it would work for Sarah.
Daddy paused for a second, probably wondering how to say what he had to say. Daddies think too much.
He finally continued. “The Hive are dangerous. We're going someplace Hive won't reach us. At least until you've grown up. Then, if we have to, we'll move again.”
That made her sad. “You spent all our money so I could grow up?”
Daddy smiled and stroked her hair. She liked when he did that, he did it when she was smart. “That's exactly what Mommy and I did, honey.”
“How come you didn't just blow them up?” Sarah thought maybe she should clarify that. Daddies get confused. “The Hive, I mean.”
“Daddy designs weapons, honey. He doesn't use them.”
“Do you make them?”
“I draw them with the AIs I have working for me. Someone else builds them.” He must have been able to tell she was confused, because he continued. “Design is like if you color a picture. You designed the picture. Then if someone takes it and makes it real, they used your design to make it.”
“I get it. I'm not slow, you know.” She didn't really get it, but she'd heard Mommy say that too. When Daddy and Mommy argued about leaving their old world. Sarah didn't know why Mommy was sad about leaving. It was a bit exciting.
Daddy laughed. “Nobody thinks you're slow.”
“Timmo does. He said so.”
Daddy's voice dropped to a whisper. “Between you and me, anyone who thinks you're slow must be slow themselves.” He kissed her on the forehead and rolled off her bunk. “You get some sleep.”
“Okay,” she said.
He closed the curtain to her small space, but she had one more thing to say.
“Daddy?”
The curtain opened back up again. “Yes, doll?”
“I miss grandma.”
Sarah didn't understand the look that crossed Daddy's face next. But it was gone in a hurry. He smiled at her and said, “Me too.”
“Did the Hive people get her?”
He looked at the floor when he answered. “I don't think grandma would let that happen.”
She wondered if she was going to see any family besides her parents again. She had a feeling she wouldn't, and that made her mad. “Someday I'm going to have people make your weapons. Then I'll kill the Hive.”
Daddy's face got sad again. Why? Sarah hadn't expected that.
“Oh stars, now why are you sad?” Sarah asked. “I just told you I was g
oing to fix this.”
He leaned in to hug her again. “Your life should be flowers, puppies, and school. Not thoughts of killing anything.”
“But they're not people anymore are they?”
He stared at her. “How much did Timmo…” Daddy looked over his shoulder again, angry like before. “I'm going to talk to his father.” He turned back to Sarah. “You get some sleep. Just because we're on a ship doesn't mean you don't have school.”
Sarah groaned. “You brought an AI teacher?”
“I did. Get to sleep.”
The curtain to Sarah's bunk closed again, and she settled into her pillow.
“It wasn't me, Mr. Dayson,” Sarah heard Timmo plead.
“Get to sleep, Timmo. I think you have school tomorrow as well.”
Several seconds passed, then Sarah heard, “Nice going, turd nugget. Now I'm getting in trouble.”
Sarah giggled to herself.
She listened to the hum of the ship. Her curtain moved gently against her arm as the life support system blew air into the cabin. The liner her family was on was moving faster than light her Daddy told her, which was darn fast. Sarah never saw any light move when she turned the luminals in her cabin on. Somehow the light got to the other side of a room before she caught it no matter how much she tried.
Her last thought before sleep was of her Daddy drawing some nice things for her to fight with.
Then she'd teach those Hive a thing or two.
Chapter 5 - Her Majesty's Navy
04 GUSTA 15308
The recruitment station loomed large in front of Sarah Dayson. It was a glass fronted office on the one hundred forty-third floor of a building she'd entered moments before. She looked uncertainly at the university diploma in her hands, then back at the front door.
She took one hesitant step toward the door, then started to leave.
An AI startled her. “I notice you're staring at the door, Citizen. Are you interested in a military career?”
Sarah froze for a moment, then turned back toward the door. “Oh. I didn't expect to be watched.”
“My name is Timon78A, Citizen. You may address me as Tim if that pleases you.”
Sarah smiled. Her father hated AIs. Each a potential traitor to humanity. His words.
“Hello Tim. I'm Sarah.”
“The pleasure is mine, Sarah. May I have your full name to cross-reference your citizenship files?”
“Sarah Blair Dayson.”
Tim paused a moment before replying. “Sarah Blair Dayson. Only child of citizens Donnor and Blair Dayson. Graduated the Royal University of Estanik magna cum laude. Congratulations on your recent achievement, citizen Sarah.”
“Thank you.”
“Are you considering joining Her Majesty's Royal Forces?”
“I guess I'm thinking about it.”
“Should I summon a human recruiter to discuss the issue with you? Many citizens are more comfortable speaking to a human.”
Sarah made a hasty decision. “I'd like that. No offense. Can I enter or do I have to wait out here?”
“You may enter, citizen Sarah, I apologize. I wished to determine your intent before suggesting an action for you.”
“That's fine, Tim.”
The door to the recruitment office opened to a hallway, and a young man walked down the corridor toward her. He wore the dress whites of the Royal Navy. As Sarah stepped inside, he walked up to her and extended his hand.
“Hello, miss. I'm Ensign Vonn Elander. Call me Vonn.”
“Hi, Vonn. I'm not sure what I'm doing here.”
“I get that a lot. Want to come into my office and talk?”
Sarah smiled. She didn't know what she was doing or why she was doing it, but it felt like destiny. “I do.”
* * *
05 GUSTA 15308
Sarah's Mom was livid. Her face was red and veins stood out at her temples.“You did what?”
Sarah kept her voice level. “I joined the Royal Navy.”
“I talked your father into staying here until you graduated so we could emigrate away from the Hive as a family, and you go off and join the military? Have you lost your mind?”
That last question dug into the reserves of Sarah's patience. “Mom, you don't make my life decisions for me. You got me to this point, I can take it from here.”
Her mother's lips hardened to a line, then she stormed down the hallway and into the bedroom. Sarah wondered if there would be crying. If so, she didn't hear it.
Her father spoke from behind Sarah, surprising her. “You're more like her than me.”
Sarah spun around to see her father in the kitchen doorway. “I didn't mean to upset her, Dad.”
“She's motherly. She wants to keep you safe. So do I.”
Sarah's heart fell. “So you think I made a mistake.”
Dad smiled his gentle smile. “No, I don't. You said it. It's your life to live. All I need to do is sit back and be proud.”
Sarah walked across the room and embraced her father. “Years ago I heard you arguing with Mom. You wanted to take us away. Move off planet.”
She felt her Dad nod, and he held her tighter. “And we did. But this time your Mom was right to insist we stay here while you finished school. Both of you have the knack for being right. Not me. I'm just an idiot who got lucky when I married Blair.”
“I am a citizen of the monarchy, Dad. I need to defend our home. I don't want to run again.”
“Someone needs to do that. I didn't want it to be you, I don't want you hurt. But it's your choice.”
To Sarah's surprise she felt herself squeezed harder as Mom joined the hug. “I'm sorry. This one time your father is right and I'm wrong.”
Sarah giggled, surrounded by the secure embrace of her parents.
“Too much estrogen,” Dad bellowed as he broke the embrace. “My boobs are growing.”
Mom patted Sarah's father on the belly. “That's not estrogen, that's your appetite.”
The door chime rang.
Sarah jumped half a meter off the ground. “That's my date.”
“Date?” her parents said simultaneously.
Sarah ran to the door and opened it. She escorted a young man in uniform into the living room to meet her parents.
“Mom, Dad, this is Vonn Elander. He's taking me out to dinner.”
Dad reached out his hand to greet the young man, but her mother interrupted with a stern interrogation. “Are you her recruiter? Doesn't a date with my daughter violate some ethical code?”
“It would if I were her recruiter, Mrs. Dayson. But I handed her packet to someone else.” Vonn looked as Sarah and smiled. “I knew when I saw your daughter's face for the first time I had to ask her out.”
Dad defended her choice, in his own way. “Well, he's got a job Blaire. She could do worse.”
“Dad!”
“What?”
Vonn laughed. “I'm sure she could do better, sir. I'm still questioning myself. I can't believe she really said yes when I asked.”
Dad put on his gentle smile again. “You might do.”
Mom slapped Dad on the arm. Hard.“We'll see about that.”
Sarah grabbed Vonn and pulled him toward the door.“We're going before they embarrass me further.”
Sarah led Vonn out of the apartment, leaving bickering parents behind.
It was the best date of Sarah's young life.
Vonn Elander and Sarah Dayson signed a marital contract the day Sarah finished officers candidate school. Precisely five standard months after they met.
Chapter 6 - First Flight
06 FEBBED 15309
Ensign Sarah Blaire Dayson floated next to the cockpit of a small craft, designated Grappler One-Eight. She tried to wipe a smile from her face, but it stubbornly resisted her every effort. The craft shared a hangar with three other similar craft, and she marveled at the synchronous efforts of the crews maintaining the lethal flight of grapplers. These small spacecraft were often the teeth of a
fleet in battle.
Behind her the crew chief for this flight grumbled when he realized he didn't have her full attention.
“By the stars, Ensign, pay attention. This isn't a simulation. War is coming.”
Sarah's head jerked left to see where her instructor was pointing. “Sorry chief, this is my first day here.”
“If you don't want to pay attention, maybe this isn't the job for you?”
Sarah glared at him for a moment. This was precisely the job for her. Her father designed the railgun sitting under the nose of One-Eight.
“It won't happen again, chief. Your time is valuable.”
He nodded, then tapped a small box sitting above the flash visor of the flight helmet he held in his hands. “This is the optical interface. Your helmet is outfitted with the latest model, which projects the tactical situation directly onto your retina. It rarely happens, but the real world can be blurred by the hologram. That means you need to be one-hundred percent on the mark when operating your station. If you fail, it's not only your ass, but the asses of three others who are counting on you not to screw up.”
Sarah took the helmet and put it on. It snugged to fit her head, and the holographic interface activated. A small
Her instructor, the on duty deck chief of the King Marius IX, looked at her as if she'd crapped on the floor. “Of course you do.”
“I'm just asking.”
“No offense, sir, but you just said my time is valuable. Stupid questions imply you weren't serious.”
“You going to be a shitbag to me the entire time I'm assigned to the Marius, chief? Last I checked, I'm an officer and despite how senior you are, you're enlisted personnel.”
The chief's mouth opened as if he intended to respond, but flapped uselessly a few times instead.
“A silently flapping face means yes,” a new voice said.
Sarah turned away from the four seat cockpit of the grappler. A lieutenant, rank shining on his shoulder, floated behind her.
“But he didn't expect you to call him on it so soon, since, you know, you're only an ensign.”
Sarah extended her hand to the newcomer.“I'm Ensign Dayson. Sarah Dayson.”