by Vann, Gregg
“Destroy all of Rroske’s work,” I said. “Everything. Download the Sentient cure and the human pathogen onto two discrete data disks. One copy each. Then wipe everything clean.”
“What! You can’t. Do you realize what you are asking me to do?”
“Yes,” I said. “I’m asking you to save both of our peoples.”
Sa looked at me pleadingly, but found a face that would brook no argument. The doctor was a scientist, and I understood that what I was asking it to do was sacrilege, but nothing changed the fact that this information was too dangerous to exist. Sooner or later it would be abused by someone else—certain they were doing the right thing. I stared at the doctor until it turned away, the Sentient realizing that this was going to happen, whether it wanted it to or not.
It must be in a creature’s nature to improve on things, I thought, to make them better—human or Sentient; but just like our attempt to create sentient technology, the results can be disastrous. Nature has her reasons for evolution, and humans should be human, machines-machines, and Sentients as they are.
“Why are you preserving Rroske’s human virus,” Val asked.
“So you can reverse engineer it, and include a defense in the standard Permalife formulation; preventing anyone from trying this shit again.”
“That is an excellent idea,” she said. “And I’m ashamed I didn’t think of it.”
“Your job is to help people, Val, mine is to protect them. It gives us a different mindset I suppose.”
“Different… but complementary I think,” she smiled.
I smiled back. “I think so too.”
After Sa erased everything on the work console, it joined Val in assembling the four hypodermic rigs; Sa assured us they would render any Sentient unconscious—probably within two to three seconds of administration. I took the opportunity to explain my plan to them, and when I got to the part where Sa would impersonate a Sentient soldier—guiding us through the ship as captives—the doctor looked amused.
“Do I look like a soldier to you, Commander?”
“No,” I admitted. “But you look a hell of a lot closer to one than the rest of us. Besides, Stinson and I have been working on a cosmetic enhancement for you.”
I gestured over to the fake arm bracer we’d fashioned from scavenged metal and a disassembled surgical laser. Stinson was putting the finishing touches on it as we spoke. From a distance, it could pass for authentic…from what distance I wasn’t sure.
Sa actually laughed. “Even if that thing functioned, we wouldn’t stand much of a chance.”
“Doctor Sa,” I replied. “I believe you’re developing a negative attitude.”
“I don’t think Sentients have the ‘can do’ spirit, commander,” Stinson said, joining in the good natured razzing.
Doctor Sa didn’t look amused; I imagine the entire concept was lost on it.
“And what do you plan on doing about the child?” Val asked, squashing all traces of humor.
I was ashamed to realize that, beyond saving it from Rroske, I hadn’t even considered the child’s predicament. Where were its parents? What future did it have now? And should we even intervene? If so, what could we do? What should we do?
We’d be lucky just to get out of here with our own lives.
“What do you think they’ll do with it?” I asked her.
“Honestly Ben, I don’t know. What do you think, Doctor Sa?”
Sa looked uncomfortable; the Sentient carefully parsed its words. “I do… not think there will be a positive outcome for the child. Generally…” It stopped and took a breath. “Generally any aberrati…infirmity like that would lead to euthanasia. Then the body would be studied, looking for preventative treatments for the future. It’s one of the rare times that we would dissect a corpse.”
Sa looked at us guiltily. “It will certainly be destroyed. It would have been dead already if Rroske hadn’t claimed it for its own nefarious purposes. Even if the parents still live, they wouldn’t take it.”
Val spun around and looked at me, her eyes burning fiercely. “We can’t leave that child on this ship, Commander! We won’t.”
I walked over to the crèche, and looked down at the brilliantly colored little figure sleeping inside. For all of the torture it had endured, it looked peaceful; serene even. Val was right, if we got out of this, the child was coming with us.
“We’ll take it when we come back for Mendoza,” I promised. “Doctor Sa, please make sure the child’s needs are being met, and are fully automated until we return.”
The Sentient looked surprised, and relieved. “Of course, Commander.”
“Thank you…Ben,” Val said.
“Don’t thank me yet, Miss Evans; we are still a long way from home.”
There were no windows or external sensors on the door, so it was impossible to know how many guards were stationed outside. There’d only been one when we were first brought into the lab—and while I suspected that might be standard procedure—we just didn’t know for sure. For all I knew, there could be a platoon out there. In which case, this would all fall apart very quickly.
Stinson and I positioned ourselves on opposite sides of the door, while Doctor Sa stood in the middle of the opening—wearing a fresh lab coat it’d taken from a dispenser. Sa was just too small, I thought. I knew it couldn’t pass for Rroske, but it would take a few seconds for the guards outside to see that. I hoped so anyway. Val stood in the back of the lab, far off to one side and out of any potential line of fire.
Sa entered the code and the door silently slid open.
One guard.
My mind had a split second to note our good fortune, before the guard saw through the deception and raised its bracer to fire. It was on my side of the entryway, and as Stinson stepped out to draw its attention, I leapt out from behind it and stabbed the Sentient in the neck with a syringe. The soldier spun around and grabbed at my arm; the bracer discharged loudly, knocking me out into the hallway. We both collapsed to the ground simultaneously.
Stinson ran over and grabbed my arm to pull me up. We looked down the corridor in both directions, but no one came running. God damn it…I’d been shocked again—but just barely this time.
Using my numb hands, I grabbed one of the soldier’s arms—the one without the bracer. Stinson grabbed the other one, and we dragged the unconscious Sentient into the lab, depositing it right next to Rroske. I could see relief on the faces of both Sa and Val.
“Holy shit!” Stinson exclaimed after the door shut. “That was close.”
“Tell me about it,” I said, flexing my tingling fingers. “What I wouldn’t give for a plasma pistol right now.”
“Are you alright?” Val asked.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” I replied. “It was an indirect hit. I’m starting to get sensation back in my hands already.”
I walked over to the bench and grabbed the fake bracer. “Let’s dress Doctor Sa for its next role and get the hell outta here before someone misses that guard.”
It took only a moment to prepare Sa, sliding the fake weapon over his arm, and coloring his neck with the only red pigment available. After a final check on the baby and Mendoza, we left the lab—sealing it behind us with Rroske’s security codes. I hoped that would keep anyone curious from getting in—at least for a little while.
Sa led us through the ship in a single-file line, walking behind us and waving the bracer with faux aggression. Its behavior was so over the top that I was forced to whisper a warning, “Tone it down before your performance attracts unwanted attention.”
Every Sentient we passed stared at us…hard; their looks angry and murderous. It was apparent that word had sped throughout the ship—those responsible for the virus had been caught. We did our best not to provoke anyone, to look worn down and defeated; given our current situation, trapped on a Sentient ship on the wrong side of The Verge, it wasn’t that much of a stretch.
I continued to marvel at the total uniformity of structure
and appearance within the ship. Every white corridor we travelled was identical; every turn we took bringing us to another long, unadorned white passageway. I noticed that none of the doors were labeled to identify the rooms behind them. Waiting until we were all alone in one of the long passageways, I whispered to Sa, “How do you know where you are, or which room is which?”
It looked surprised. “You humans really don’t know that much about us do you, Commander?
“Your people are hard to get to know,” I said.
“Yes,” Sa admitted. “I can see where that might be a problem.”
It looked down both sides of the corridor before continuing, “To answer your question, each door, hallway, room…even console, gives off an electrical signal identifying where it is, what it is, and who owns it. We can detect and interpret these signals internally. They are proximity based to keep the information from becoming overwhelming—you have to be close to something to detect its information stream.”
“It’s fascinating to me how Sentients generate and use electrical energy fields,” I confessed. “I assume your silicon derived physiology plays a part in it—I just don’t have the medical or engineering background to understand how.”
Sa gave me a resigned look. “As Rroske’s recent miscalculations have proven, Commander, even our own people don’t adequately understand how it works.”
Before I could find out more, we rounded a corner, moving into another long corridor. About halfway down its length, a Sentient soldier was visible, stationed outside a closed door.
The soldier glared at Sa as we approached and raised its bracer. “What is this?” it demanded.
“Captain Thov wants to see the prisoners,” Sa said, following the plan we’d discussed. “I am to take the ambassador as well.”
“Wait here and I will bring Del out,” it replied, looking our party over. “Then I will accompany you to see the captain.”
“But…” Sa stumbled for a second before recovering, “I have no need of assistance for a group of humans.”
The bracer remained pointed at us and began to crackle—registering the soldier’s displeasure. “The ambassador is my charge, and I will accompany you to the Central Hub.”
I wasn’t sure how Sentient command structure worked, but I assumed that Sa did—military or not. I was content to let the doctor deal with this complication, but it was obvious to me that Del was this soldier’s responsibility, and it wouldn’t let the ambassador leave without it.
“As you wish,” Sa conceded. The guard lowered the bracer and its built up energy began to dissipate. The door to the room automatically slid open behind it.
As soon as the soldier turned its back, Stinson lunged at it with one of the needles, trying to hit it in the neck. The guard sensed the movement and stepped aside, reaching out with one arm to strike its off balance assailant. The impact, combined with Stinson’s forward momentum, sent him flying into the room, falling into the arms of a very surprised Ambassador Del.
I moved in quickly, dropping low and sweeping the guard’s legs out from underneath it. As it fell back into the room, the Sentient reached out, trying to grab the door casing to stop its fall. It missed and ended up face down on its stomach, one arm pinned underneath it.
The guard rolled over with amazing speed and raised its bracer, ready to fire. But before it got the chance, Del straddled the soldier’s chest, grabbing both arms. Massive electrical discharges jumped from the Sentients as they struggled; ending when Sa injected the immobilized soldier with a sedative and it lost consciousness. Del let go of its arms and they fell to the floor. The ambassador staggered to its feet, and Sa grabbed one of its arm to help it maintain its balance.
Looking at Sa, Del asked breathlessly, “Is that blood on your neck?”
The doctor’s face sank, and it looked down at itself, nodding grimly.
When crafting Sa’s disguise, we hadn’t been able to find any red colored liquid in the lab. In desperation, we used Rroske’s blood—dipping gauze into its knife wound, and then painting Sa’s neck so it could pass for a soldier. Sa was undergoing the Sentient equivalent of perspiration now, and the blood was streaking down its chest.
Del turned to me, “How did you escape?”
“I wouldn’t exactly call this an escape yet, Ambassador. We are still captives, just in a larger cage.”
The modest sized cabin was what I’d come to expect from Sentient design. A control pedestal stood in one corner, with two light blue storage cabinets set against the white walls on either side of it. No bed of course, but a black bench seat ran the entire length of one of the side walls.
Val came into the room, cautiously surveying the scene; Del walked over to shut the door behind her. Despite his repeated protestations that he was fine, Val checked Stinson for injuries while Sa and I brought Del up to speed.
Sa found a fabric storage bag in one of the cabinets, then wet it using a water dispenser concealed behind a wall panel. The Sentient wiped the blood off its neck while we told Del about Rroske, and what we’d learned regarding the virus.
“I’m sure it was acting independently from the Science Council,” Del said. “They never would have approved of Rroske’s actions, even if they agreed with the goals; which I’m sure they did not. Except for that band of degenerates calling themselves the Pure Way, Rroske was acting alone—using its position on the council to deceive the military.”
“I’d hoped you could explain this to Captain Thov,” I said. “Show it the proof we’ve found. With this information, we can cure your people of the virus and save mine from this war. Thov respects you, Del—the captain will listen to what you have to say.”
“Commander,” Del began, shaking its head. “Thov respects me because the captain is from Seveq and I was its ambassador. Thov’s family died there—along with mine—and now the captain thinks I’m responsible. Anything I do at this point will look disingenuous and self-serving. Thov will think I’m just trying to save myself.”
“But we have proof,” I protested loudly. Val and Stinson looked over at us and I lowered my voice. “We have proof,” I said again more calmly.
“Let’s see,” Del said, speaking over the sound of Doctor Sa’s struggle to pry off the fake bracer. “We have a data disk bearing what we say is the cure, but have wiped out all corroborating research and killed Doctor Rroske; a member of the Science Council I might add, with direct authority from The Consensus. Moreover, six months ago I stole a classified military ship and abandoned my people to collude with humans; the same humans Thov thinks created the virus killing our people—humans who have now disabled two guards to free me.”
“The plan loses some of its luster when you describe it like that,” I said.
“But here we are nonetheless,” Del replied, bending over to examine the unconscious soldier; even out cold the Sentient looked dangerous. “How long will it sleep?” Del asked.
“About four hours,” Val answered, as she and Stinson came over to join the discussion; Stinson was limping I noticed.
I surveyed our unlikely group, realizing what a motley crew we’d become. Stinson’s normally crisp military appearance had been replaced by disheveled hair, a stained Kamo suit, and the beginnings of a beard. I felt my own face, finding stubble as well, thankful that there were no mirrors in the room. Val looked like the victim of an assault—because she had been—but the ripped dress, blood matted hair—even the dirt stained fingernails, couldn’t detract from her beauty. Even Del and Sa looked worse for wear.
“I’d like to modify your plan, Commander,” Del said, bringing my weary mind back into focus. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“Uhm…what type of modification are we talking about?”
“I would like to obtain some insurance before we speak with the captain.”
Something about the way Del spoke made me nervous; my intuition told me I needed more information. “What type of insurance?”
“I intend to arm and take control of a
Mass Nullifier.”
“What?” Sa exclaimed, “Are you mad? You can’t be serious.”
“I am very serious,” Del said.
“You will kill us all!” Sa yelled, then fell silent—a blank look on its face.
I don’t know if it was from blood loss, or the numerous electrical shocks I’d received, but I swear the temperature in the room dropped a couple of degrees.
“A what device?” I asked.
“It’s our most powerful weapon, Commander, and is only carried on capital ships, like this one. I intend to arm one of them and use it as a bargaining chip.”
“Powerful,” Sa spat. “Tell them how powerful, Ambassador.”
“It can produce a matter void big enough to destroy a planet.”
I looked over at Stinson and Val, noting that we all wore the same shocked expression. The Sentients didn’t need to kill humans in a long, protracted war; they could destroy our worlds from orbit with a single device. Now more than ever, I realized that if we didn’t stop this war, the result would be a human genocide—maybe not as complete as Rroske’s vision—but close enough.
“Why would an ambassador have access to such a device?” I asked Del. “And wouldn’t they have rescinded your clearance after you disappeared?”
“Commander,” Del said, “do you really think the planetary governments would permit the military to have such a weapon without some safeguards in place? Only a ship’s captain or planetary ambassador can arm a Mass Nullifier. The difference is that the captain has to get the code from The Consensus; an ambassador needs no such authorization.”
Val was equal parts amazed and horrified. “Why would you develop such a weapon in the first place?”
Stinson answered before Del had the chance, “Humans.”
“Humans,” Del agreed, “But not to destroy you. If we wanted that, we could have done so a long time ago. They are for protection from you.”
“But we can’t harm you,” Val protested. “Sentients are far more advanced technologically. The weapon itself proves that!”