by Mark Tufo
“I will always stand with you, Michael, but sometimes you make it difficult.” He stood and strode out of the room. I was dizzy with the rage I felt. I sat for a few minutes, gripping the screen in front of me, choking back words I had for the Universe, and attempting to get some semblance of myself back to normal. Of course, this was when Fields came back.
“We’re ready, sir.”
“General, this is Colonel Talbot,” my wife said over the radio. I realize she was using military decorum, but who else would I think it was?
“Go.”
“Would like to see you before you talk to Alken. You should come to the galley.”
“You heard the Colonel. Let’s go,” I told Fields.
Dee and Tracy were standing side by side, looking at something by their feet. As I got closer, it looked like a Roomba knock off. You know, the little vacuum cleaners that autonomously scoot around picking up discarded Cheerios and dog hair from the carpet. Well, those were round and squat; this looked more like a box. It looked about as deadly as a milk carton.
“Dee’s idea,” Tracy said as I approached.
“What am I looking at?”
“Maintenance robot,” Tracy said.
“It is used in tight cable runs and duct work; it has the ability to tighten screws and fittings, solder, even weld if necessary,” Dee explained.
I had a blank look on my face. Did something come un-welded? Because none of that seemed like it was going to scare the enemy into complicity.
Dee nudged my thinking forward. “It can be remote controlled when the service needed is beyond the machine’s capability,” he said, as if that would make it clearer.
“A remote-control milk crate with arms.”
I swear I heard him sigh. “It is not the device itself but rather what it can carry.” He bent over to open up a hatch; the thing was stuffed with what looked like a pound of C4.
“That’ll ruin someone’s day,” I said, looking at all that plastic fuckery.
“Or possibly even their after-life.” I looked up, he was looking at me. I knew what he was implying.
“Pretty late in the game to be worrying about the fate of our souls, Dee. If the penalty for taking a life’s the forfeit of one’s soul, we don’t have much to lose at this point. How many of these little buggers do we have?”
“Four,” Tracy said as she reattached the hatch.
“What’s their range?”
“We can do it from here. There’s a built-in camera that allows us to navigate.”
“Get these close. I’m going to talk to Alken and see if we can do this peacefully.”
Dee bowed his head in appreciation. “But I want them ready to go when I give the word.” This I said specifically to my wife.
“Tell the Imperial Witness the general is out here,” Fields said from across the hallway.
There was a lot of grunting, but no moving. The natives weren’t exactly hostile, but I didn’t see a welcome mat being rolled out.
“They’re stalling, sir.” Fields thought he was letting me in on a secret. I stepped forward, much to Fields’ chagrin.
“You looking for a battle? You do realize your record on this ship so far isn’t that great.”
“Perhaps we could even the score some,” a large one barked.
“Harker, that you? You old sour puss. Tell one of your lackeys to let the Imperial Witness know we’re here or I’m going to blow a hole in your thick skull and smear the wall with what little brain mush you have.” I stepped aside as two renderers were wheeled to the front. You can imagine my surprise when Harker moved aside and two of his own came to the fore.
“Motherfucker,” I breathed. While he was smiling, I was wondering: if I shit my pants, would my men smell it? We were seconds from barbecuing every soul in the place when Alken’s voice rang out.
“You will stand down, Harker. I did not authorize this.”
Harker didn’t much look like he cared whether this little soiree was authorized or not. He leveled that creepy smile at me while defiantly ignoring his master. He turned his head to the mute that was operating one of the renderers. He was daring me to do something. He could later explain he was defending himself and the Imperial Witness. A brilliant balls-out and deadly opponent.
“Stand down!” I ordered. “Weapons away now!” There were a lot of looks between the men before they did as I had yelled, but they moved as ordered. If Harker fired now he would not be able to say he was forced, and he wasn’t willing to cross that line. I bet our lives on the chance he would keep rank. It wasn’t relief that crossed his face; it was disgust. He was held back by the slimmest thread of our shared rules of engagement, laced with desperation. This was his big chance; he wanted to kill humans and as many of them as he could.
“Commander Harker!” Alken yelled.
“Stand down!” Harker yelled savagely before turning away.
“General. You wished to see me?” Alken said over the four portable incinerators. It was as cordial as if I’d come over on a Sunday afternoon for some iced tea on his porch.
I didn’t think now was the appropriate time to tell him I wanted him to remove the mutes from deck seven.
“Can we talk privately?”
“I do not trust you, General, no offense. I would much rather talk here amongst friends.”
“Friends? That certainly strains the definition of that word. I mean unless you’re talking about your friends and my friends which definitely aren’t friends of each other.”
“It does not matter the word I use. I am not approaching you, and I would imagine you are not approaching me. Say what you need to. I am busy preparing my report for the Great Council.”
“Plan on delivering that soon?”
“Yes. I hear much sooner than I had anticipated. I always knew your kind would be useful in some way. I am not sure what you did, nor do I care. I am merely pleased that we will be rid of you sooner. Makes my heart soar.”
All or nothing, I supposed, as I uttered the next words. “I need you to remove your mutes from deck seven.”
The change was immediate. He got suspicious and the mutes that had semi-chilled were now back to looking like they were ready to kill on command.
“What difference could that make? It is merely a gathering place for some of the troops,” he lied.
“Then I would ask you to tell them to gather elsewhere,” I pressed.
His mouth hung open in stress before he realized to clasp it shut. “There is nothing of any importance up there.” Bad move.
“Alken.”
Harker growled.
“Alken,” I said again. “This isn’t a debate or a request. I’m telling you to move those mutes, and I’m only presenting it this way in an attempt to save lives.”
“Anything more would be a breach of the agreement we have. We would be forced to defend ourselves.”
“Why would you choose to have men die if there is nothing up there of consequence?”
“It is the principle of the matter.”
I scoffed. “Progerians. You go to great lengths to continually brag how much better you are than my species because you do not lie, but you’ve been lying your ass off for the past few minutes, and it’s not the first time I’ve seen it, either.”
“Imperial Witness Alken does not speak untruths!” Harker took more offense than Alken himself.
“Alright. Well, since there’s nothing important up there…I thought it worth asking, but I figured this would be the outcome. Captain Fields, tactical withdrawal. Give both orders.”
Fields told the radio operator, who relayed the go command to the colonel. We never turned our backs as we withdrew from the area. I’d just gone around the corner when I felt a shudder throughout the ship and then the klaxon of those infernal alarms. We had an ambush set-up for the moment Harker and his men went running to deck seven with as much haste as they could muster. More than a few of his men tripped over the surprise we’d left them. The explosion was
deafening this close; I’d just assured that there would be no help forthcoming for the mutes still alive on seven.
It was a huge victory. We had obtained that with which we could use as either a bargaining chip or the ultimate weapon, and we had also taken out the only truly viable threat onboard. However many mutes were left would have a difficult time changing a light bulb. Or so I thought. My ears had no sooner stopped ringing when a very pallid Dee grabbed me.
“We have a problem.”
“Not the words I want to hear.”
“Nevertheless, one of our bomb delivery systems traveled too close to the storage doors.”
“Don’t. Don’t you say it.”
“We may have a leak.”
“A leak of atmosphere into space or a planet killing agent leak into the ship?” Not sure how much it mattered, both were pretty deadly.
“There may be a canister leak. I have had Beckert seal off the level, though that may not be enough. If the integrity of the ship is damaged at all, it will find a way out.”
I was thinking about all the explosions and the violent trip we had taken thus far; I was surprised the ship was still flying. I couldn’t imagine that something wasn’t just a micron out of whack.
“Fields!” I yelled, didn’t need to. He could have scratched my back if I’d asked him. “Do we have bio hazard suits?”
“Some.”
“Numbers, Fields. We’re in some trouble.”
“Thirty, forty at the most.”
“Fuck. Get the people on the bridge suited up and get yourself one.”
“You, sir?” Fields asked.
“Am I on the bridge?” I said a bit too harshly. “Sorry–just get a move on. Dee, do the Progs have suits?”
“They should.”
“And before you misconstrue or think I’ve softened up, I plan on using them for us not them.”
“I understood. They will be large and cumbersome to move around in.”
“I’m more concerned about people surviving rather than how well they dance,” I said.
“The effects of dex are extreme and difficult to watch. Are you prepared to see that?”
“Don’t start that shit, Dee! They brought it to my world. I would never have known what it was if not for them. And as far as I was told, this shit only affects mammals. Analyze that intention; do they even need suits?”
“Insecticide only kills bugs, too, unless you breathe in heavy concentrations.”
“Point taken.”
“What have you done!” Alken screamed from the far side of the room. He was covered in soot and his clothing was singed a bit. My men had him and the two mutes with him under the sites of dozens of rifles.
“Fucking Harker is like a cockroach,” I said as I looked over. “What do you want Alken?” I asked, only moving a little. The time for niceties was long gone and I didn’t want a cheap shot taking me out.
“We were so close!”
“Close to what? Us being turned over to your authorities? Excuse me for not wanting to be a part of that.”
“I have reports of leaking dex. You must vent that portion of the ship.”
“In a buckle? Is that even possible?”
“You must find a way or we will all perish.” Alken looked around and saw suits being passed around. He laughed; he outright laughed. “Commander Harker, how long does the air supply last in a battle suit?” He already knew the answer, he just wanted all of us to know as well.
“Eight hours, sir, at the most, nine.”
I hadn’t taken that into account.
“You are rash, Michael Talbot. You make impulsive decisions without thinking through all the consequences,” he said.
I’d heard this in one way or another more than once, but a slow response or inaction can also mean disaster. “What’s done is done. If you don’t have a solution don’t waste my time telling me things I already know.”
“You need to die!” Harker shouted. He was smart enough not to pull the weapon by his waist.
“Yeah I know. Your kind has been attempting to make that happen for the last few years. That’s why it’s going to be so satisfying to stand over your rotting corpse,” I told him.
“I will not rot in eight hours, fool.”
He had me there. We were going to come out into Aradinia airspace, dead but still warm. As soon as they figured out what had happened on the ship, my guess is they would send it back to Earth on a collision course.
“Belay the suits, Fields. We wait until we’re sure it’s leaking.” Fields wasn’t overly thrilled.
“Bridge, this is General Talbot. I want a constant monitor on the dex gas.” That was like telling a cop to keep an eye on his radar gun during an illegal street race. “Do not place your helmets on until absolutely necessary. Out.”
“I will need a survival suit, as well,” Alken said.
“You hear that Harker? He wants a suit for himself. Didn’t say anything about you.”
“My life is unimportant. It is the survival of the Imperial Witness that is paramount.”
“Fields give the Imp Wit a suit. We’ll maybe use him as bait, or as a hostage if the need arises. And get them out of here. There will be no more uninvited drop ins, Alken. I’m done.”
As soon as they were ushered out the door, I began to look around at my people who, even in the face of some seriously adverse conditions, had high morale and were working their asses off. We had a purpose, and for the first time in a long time we had the upper hand and we were planning to backhand the living shit out of the Progs. Something began to gnaw at my stomach, didn’t take long to locate the source.
“Where the fuck is BT?” I asked Tracy as she was attempting to zip by.
She started with the standard, “I don’t know,” without slowing, but then when she started to think on it, her steps faltered. “I…I haven’t seen him since the meeting. What did you send him out to do?”
“I didn’t send him to do anything. I figured he rated a little down-time; he’s been pulling double shifts since we dropped out of time. Said he wanted to learn how to fly after his little excursion with you at the helm.”
“Ha ha, very funny. Going to suck sleeping alone for a while.”
“Hey! I could order you.”
“Yeah, give that a try, see how it works for you. I’ve got to get going.”
“Keep an eye out for him and if you see him, let me know.”
“I will. I’m sure he’s fine,” she said before zooming off.
It had been about a half an hour. I’d let the BT disappearance slip back a few notches in my head as I was busy dealing with all the other things that go with being in command during a deadly enviro leak. I just kept expecting to see him meander around. Sort of tough to miss one so large. I had just received word that the leaking dex had been contained to deck seven, which was both ironic and a huge boon. If it had held this long it was likely it would hold for the duration. I saw Dee come into the expansive room, his head swiveling around until he found me. Like magic, a pathway formed between us two, can’t blame people for not wanting to get trampled.
“Hello, General.”
I arched an eyebrow; it was strange for him to use the formal address in a semi-private setting. We certainly were the only ones in this particular conversation.
“Hello, Major. Can I help you?”
He hesitated. I’d not known Dee to be afraid to say anything to anyone.
“I have been meditating.”
“Uh-huh,” I nodded.
“I am no lover of Progerians; they have ruthlessly used Genogerians for their own purposes for generations now.” He stopped talking. He was on some internal fence of sorts, though I could not figure out which way he was leaning.
“Their relentless pursuit of habitable planets at the expense of the existing species has been abhorrent to all moral beings.” He paused again. At this rate, we would be at Aradinia by the time we were done.
“Dee, where are you going with t
his? If you’re going to wrap this all up with a ‘but’ before you change direction, I’m not so sure I want to hear it.”
“That’s the problem, Michael. In every ethical dilemma, there should always be a ‘but,’ yet I have been hard pressed to find one here despite my early reservations. You are right; they have brought this and so much more upon themselves. How long may an innocent remain blameless if they idly sit by and do nothing while these injustices are perpetrated around them by their own governing bodies? I am, at last, coming to an understanding. There is an anger to your actions but also a resignation. I am sure you realize that this broad, decisive strike is the only way to stop this war. There will be no bargaining, no alliances, no way to ensure peace with the Progerians. Even if you were to force them into complacency, they would merely wait until the advantage switched back to their favor. How many times have you offered an olive branch only to have it turned against you and used as a switch? You have done what you could to reach a minimally violent solution.”
I could have told him that most of those olive branches were handed out because I had no other viable option other than to hope they would be accepted, but I didn’t want to ruin his epiphany.
“What more can be expected? I will not revel in the loss of so many lives, but I cannot argue the fact that one race must perish completely or no lasting peace will ever come. I would prefer it to be Progerians who die over humans. Although you are a violent species as well, you are young and still have time to overcome some of your deficiencies. The Progerians are an ancient race; that they have reverted back to their most basic territorial instincts is what will seal their fates.”