Dangerous Evolution

by Vann, Gregg

  I could see the hurt in Val’s eyes, the betrayal smothering the incandescent sparkle that usually resided there. I spoke for her, with as much bitterness as I could muster. “She became an unwitting spy you mean.”

  “Unwitting?” Rroske intoned, “Yes, I suppose in some regards she was, but she knew about the kidnapping. Woz assured her that we wouldn’t harm Evans, we would only force her to modify the antigen, changing it from an injection for those who wanted it, into a virus that would spread to everyone—whether they wanted it or not. Your niece wanted every human to start aging again and to die naturally. She didn’t know about my modification to the antigen, I think that might have clashed with her god’s wishes.”

  Stinson had regained a modicum of mobility, and was standing next to Sa at the edge of the force shield, listening to Rroske’s litany of excuses and explanations. The sentient doctor was speechless—either in shock or disbelief; Stinson shared the contemptuous look Sa was giving Rroske.

  Rroske looked around the room, at each one of us in turn, but found no friendly faces. It gave a slight shrug, then strode over to the refrigerated wall cabinet and took out another box.

  “I couldn’t have asked for better test subjects,” it said, speaking over its shoulder to no one in particular. Turning around, the Sentient spoke to Val and me, still bound and helpless. “You two are very old, almost the same age as Doctor Sa and myself.”

  How long did they live, I wondered.

  “That makes you some of the first users of the original Permalife formulation,” it said cheerily.

  My gut told me that this Sentient’s happiness had to be bad news for us.

  “Lesa told us that you’ve improved the process over the years, Doctor Evans, so I’m aware that different preparations exist. But I’m certain those refinements won’t affect my virus.” It opened the box and checked its contents, nodding approvingly. “But it never hurts to be thorough either.”

  “Captain Stinson,” Rroske said loudly, “You fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. And that human in stasis, if she survives, will make a perfect specimen of the newest variant. It is an ideal sampling.”

  “What exactly are you testing, butcher?” Val was incensed, showing such strength and anger that I was having a hard time remembering her as the scared woman we’d rescued on Seveq.

  Rroske carried the small box to Val’s bedside. It was similar to the one holding the set of needles, but where the first box had been white; this one was a much more ominous black.

  “No need for name calling, Doctor Evans, I promise you this will be painless. Just as before. I am simply trying to nail down some of those variables I told you about.”

  “What variables?” she asked.

  “I’m trying to determine the absorption rate and post mortem transmissibility of the pathogen, and to be perfectly honest, I intend to do a gradual autopsy—sectioning off pieces of your organs, and letting them die off over time.”

  The Sentient grabbed Val’s head, roughly moving it to the side to expose her neck; she snapped it back defiantly, prompting Rroske to raise its hand as if to strike her.

  “That’s not science; it’s murder!” I yelled, trying to distract it. “And you are no doctor, Rroske, you’re a monster. Nothing more—nothing less; no amount of artificial evolution will change that.”

  I purposely tried to provoke it, attempting to draw it away from Val. “You are a failure as a scientist and a Sentient. The only reason you even got onto the Science Council is because you were willing to do things they wouldn’t sully themselves with. They laugh at you, Rroske; you are a joke to them…and even less to me.”

  Anger flashed in Rroske’s eyes, and then rapidly subsided as a thin smile emerged on its face. “No need for duplicity, Commander, if you want to die first, I understand.”

  Rroske moved over to my side of the tightly packed beds and leaned close to my face. Its voice was calm and level. “I’ve read about your gender based concepts of chivalry, Commander. Very interesting.”

  The Sentient sat the black box down between my feet and turned on some instrumentation above my head. The equipment emitted a tiny beep, which grew in tempo and volume. I realized that it was my heart rate when the beeps synchronized with the thundering in my chest.

  “This will destroy all brain activity,” Rroske announced, “Unfortunately for you, Commander, the damage is quite permanent. But don’t worry, you won’t go to waste. I will place your body in stasis so I can use it for my ongoing research.”

  Val reached out and took my hand; I could feel the trembling in our touch. She squeezed as Rroske opened the black box and took out a large needle. The thick fluid inside was as dark as the Sentient’s skin. Rroske thumped the glass syringe twice, then squirted a little of the poison onto the floor—testing the plunger. Val squeezed my hand even harder in response.

  “Time to die, Commander,” it said, then leaned in to push the needle into my neck.

  “You’re right about that motherfucker!”

  A metallic glint flashed past my eyes, then Rroske fell back clutching its chest; I saw a combat knife sticking out of the Sentient’s torso. Electrical currents arched around the handle, then faded away as Rroske fiercely pulled the object out and threw it. The Sentient fell over sideways, smashing its head on the floor so violently that it bounced once before laying still. The needle fell out of its hand and went skittering across the floor.

  “Mendoza?”

  I gasped when I saw her in the doorway of the storage room. She was barely standing—barely breathing from what I could tell—but had managed to take out Rroske from across the room.

  “Yes sir,” she said proudly, then fell against the wall for support. She started staggering towards us, inching her way along the wall.

  “Nice throw, Ensign,” I said. I knew I needed to encourage her, keep her engaged and conscious. She was still our only hope.

  “I was aiming at his head sir,” she said with a smirk, then faltered for a moment. I thought for sure she would fall over, but she regained her balance and kept moving.

  Making it to my bed, she pushed herself off the wall and fell forward, landing hard across my chest. She moaned as her torso smashed into mine, and I realized that the alien membrane across her stomach was the only thing keeping her internal organs from being pushed out by the impact. I could feel her perspiration soaking through my clothes.

  With cold, clammy hands, she reached over and undid my wrist straps, then slowly sagged down to lie flat on the ground—unconscious. As I reached down to undo my ankle straps, I saw her entire body started spasming; her chest rose jerkily, went rigid, then fell back to the floor.

  “Get me out of these so I can help her!” Val pleaded.

  I ripped the last restraint off and leaped off the bed, running over to Val’s side to free her. Mendoza was motionless; I didn’t think she was breathing.

  Val jumped down from the gurney and ran to her, while I sprinted over to the field generator and tried to figure out the controls. They were designed to interact with a Sentient’s electrical field, but while squatting on still wobbly legs, Sa walked me through a bypass method.

  When I finally managed to bring the shield down, Sa ran over to a wall unit and grabbed some equipment, joining Val to treat Mendoza. Stinson and I went over to observe, staying out of the way.

  “How bad is it?” I asked, but looking at Mendoza’s inert, colorless form; I already knew the answer.

  Val shook her head before replying. “Bad. Doctor Sa, does that contraption scan blood types?”

  “It does.”

  Sa waved the machine over Mendoza and Val, and then rose to scan Stinson and myself. “The Commander will work. He’s not perfect, but this isn’t a perfect situation.”

  “You,” Val pointed at me, “Back on the gurney.”

  I reluctantly returned to the medical bed I’d just escaped, pushing the restraints aside to lay down voluntarily this time. Sa and Stinson lifted Mendoza, ge
ntly placing her in the bed right next to me. Val positioned a respirator over her mouth—adjusted the oxygen flow to maximum—then began rifling through drawers in a supply pedestal until she found what she needed.

  “Here you go,” she said, throwing what looked like an arm band to Sa. The Sentient attached the device to my arm, then pulled out a thin, clear hose from the cuff’s housing. Sa laid it across my chest, and then handed the open end to Val. She attached it to a similar cuff she’d already placed on Mendoza.

  “This isn’t going to be pretty,” she said. “But we don’t have time for pretty.”

  “Wait,” I said. “What about the virus Rroske injected us with? It’s in my blood now. Won’t it infect her?”

  “No,” Val answered. “According to my scans, she hasn’t taken Permalife yet, so there’s nothing for Rroske’s virus to corrupt.”

  Sa hit a switch on my cuff, and I felt a slight pinch as the needle inserted itself into my vein. Almost instantly, my blood began to fill the clear tube; I watched as it crossed my chest, moved over the divide between the two beds, and into Mendoza’s cuff.

  “I can’t see anything through this membrane,” I heard Val complain. “She’s bleeding internally somewhere, but I don’t dare open her up here.”

  She looked over at the storage room—at the doorway where Mendoza had launched her unlikely rescue. “Doctor Sa, I’ll keep an eye on this, would you please prep the stasis chamber. We’ll have to put her back in.”

  “I’m afraid you’re right, Doctor Evans.” The Sentient checked my cuff again then went over to the storage room.

  “How the hell did she get out of it?” I asked Val.

  “I don’t know, but this is one determined young woman. She’s in pretty rough shape, but I don’t doubt her will to live.”

  Stinson took a position at the door, listening for any activity outside. “I don’t think we will be missed anytime soon,” he said, then gestured at the dead Sentient, still in the middle of the floor. “I think Dr. Rroske over there kept to itself. In fact, with what it was up to, it probably needed complete confidentiality.”

  “Even so,” I said wearily, “we can’t stay here forever.”

  Sa came out of the storage area looking glum. “The battery is dead. Those idiots must have damaged it while transferring her to the Na’ardeen. Either that, or there was a power spike during the attack on Del’s ship. As the power gradually leaked out, the stasis subsided and she regained consciousness. She must have experienced a tremendous amount of pain.”

  I looked over at Mendoza, vowing to make sure she received every promotion and commendation I could wrangle if we got back. If she survived…so many ifs. But that girl was a true warrior and deserved nothing less. I was starting to feel a little light headed. “Can you fix it?”

  “No, regrettably it’s beyond repair. But I can plug it into a stationary power outlet.”

  “So if we leave this room, she will have to stay behind?” If she did, I thought to myself, we would damn sure be coming back for her.

  “Leave?” Stinson said in disbelief, “And go where?”

  “We need to find Ambassador Del,” I answered, “I have a plan.”

  Sa looked confused, “I understand escaping the ship, Commander, but I’m surprised you would risk yourself to take the ambassador with you.”

  “I appreciate your confidence in me, Doctor Sa, but I don’t think we can get off this ship. Not for long anyway. Even if we did manage to steal a shuttle, how far do you think we’d get before they vaporized us?”

  “Not far,” Sa conceded.

  “I’ve seen the way you and Captain Thov treat the ambassador. Del obviously commands respect in your society—even now. If we can find the cure for the Sentient virus in Rroskes’ database, Ambassador Del might be able to convince the captain that we are not responsible. And when I say we, I mean our group here and humanity in general. We could stop this war before it begins…if it hasn’t started already.”

  “Ambassador Del represented an entire planet in The Consensus, and that gave it immense respect and power. But that planet is dead, Commander, along with any real influence the ambassador had. At this point, I am afraid Del’s title is merely a courtesy.”

  “Even so,” I managed, “it’s our only chance.” I was getting tired, and felt extremely weak; the blood transfusion and shock I’d received were taking a heavy toll on my body.

  “Doctor Sa,” Val said, sensing my difficulties, “I’m about to stop the transfusion. Please plug in the stasis chamber so we can transfer her.”

  “Right away,” Sa replied.

  Val leaned over me, her face filling my field of vision. I could feel her breath on my face as she reached out to disconnect the cuff. I fought the urge to lean up and meet her lips.

  Focus Commander Malik. The blood loss was making me loopy, I realized.

  “So that’s your plan huh?” Val asked, backing away to discard the cuff onto an empty wall shelf.

  “Yep,” I slurred. Then smiling, replied, “I never said it was a good one.”

  Chapter Eight

  Sa managed to scrounge up some food, albeit barely suitable for human consumption, and we ate while the Sentient sorted through the files on Rroske’s console. The doctor was the only one of us who could competently interface with the computers, so I also tasked it with finding out where Del was being held.

  I grimaced as I ate, nauseous from the blood transfusion and alien food—conspiring to challenge my stomach. The yellow biscuits were rock hard and looked like plastic, but they tasted like dirt—maybe worse than dirt. But I knew that I had to eat, my body needed those nutrients to begin replacing the blood I’d donated to Mendoza.

  “You want to do what?” Stinson asked, still guarding the door.

  “When Sa finds the door codes, I want to open the hatch, subdue the guards, and drag them back inside. Then we can slip out to free Del, and have him contact the captain to broker a deal—to convince Thov to give us an opportunity to explain the truth.”

  Stinson looked at me dubiously. “What kind of deal did you have in mind?”

  “One that saves our lives hopefully, and puts an end to Human/Sentient hostilities.”

  “I’ve found the door codes,” Sa interrupted, “and the ambassador. Doctor Rroske was kind enough to leave the terminal active with no security protocols in place.”

  “I’m sure Rroske didn’t think it would be dying today,” I said. “It was saving that honor for us.”

  “Yes, well…I can open the door whenever you wish, but unfortunately Ambassador Del is nowhere near our present location. In fact, Del is near the Central Hub. I don’t see how we can possibly get that far through the ship without being captured.”

  “Leave that to me,” I said.

  Val came out of the storage area shaking her head, “If we don’t get her into surgery soon she is going to die. There is nothing more I can do to stabilize her, and stasis just isn’t going to cut it.”

  “What is soon?” I asked. “How long are we talking about?”

  “Twenty four hours, give or take,” she said angrily. I could tell she was tired, that she felt helpless and frustrated by her inability to heal Mendoza. “Ben…we have to do something.”

  “We will…right now.” I hopped off the medical bed; I wasn’t feeling much better but there was no time for recovery. It was time to act. Stiffening my shoulders, I adopted my command voice, attempting to project an air of strength and surety. I had to reassure everyone that we were moving forward and that everything would be fine.

  “Val, I’d like you to rig up a few hypodermic needles—ones able to drop a Sentient, quickly and quietly. Consult with Doctor Sa to formulate something suitable for their physiology. She looked at me curiously, then nodded her head and went to confer with the Sentient.

  “Captain Stinson,” I continued, drawing his attention away from the door, “you and I have our own little project to accomplish.”

  I motioned him o
ver, and he joined me in gathering an assortment of objects from around the lab. Most of the items were mysterious to us, and we could only guess at their intended purposes, but our choices were driven by appearance, not functionality. When I briefly explained my plan to Stinson, he did his job—pointing out all of the obvious faults and shortcomings—but when he couldn’t come up with any better alternatives, we both resigned ourselves to this course of action.

  “Can’t we just take one off one of the guards?” he asked.

  “From what I can see, they’re surgically attached—wired into the body’s electrical field. It would take a long time to remove one and reinstall it. Time we don’t have. Even then, it wouldn’t be functional without the other implants boosting the body’s intrinsic electrical field.”

  “Sa isn’t going to like this at all,” he offered, pointing at our pile of wire and metal bits.

  “What am I not going to like?” the Sentient asked over its shoulder, still waving its hands over the work console. “Never mind, I’ve found everything, Commander, and the access logs indicate that this is the only copy—Rroske really was paranoid. All of its research is here, including the original viral agent, and more importantly, the cure for it.”

  “The actual cure, or a working version of Rroske’s Sentient evolution virus?” I asked.

  “Both. Rroske had ready access to the child, and was responsible for the virus itself. The cure was a simple thing with all that developmental knowledge. Since our capture, it had been using our research from Seveq to fix its silicon evolution virus. Everything works now, the good and the bad.”

  I looked down at Rroske’s body, trying to fathom the arrogance and hubris necessary to inflict such a horrible thing on its own people; to tamper with their very existence. And there were even more of these Pure Way zealots out there, of that I was sure. How long before one of them was tempted to try again? The thought was sobering.