by J. N. Chaney
That would never happen again, I vowed silently. I would litter the galaxy and beyond with the corpses of our enemies to protect Lex and the rest of our people. And yes, that included the godsdamn goat.
The conversation with Shaw played over in my mind, keeping me from falling asleep. I was under enough pressure dealing with the Celestials and tracking down Athena. I didn’t have any more room on my plate for anything else.
Sigmond’s drones could only do so much and we still hadn’t replaced the ones destroyed in the last battle. According to Shaw, this Solaris Initiative had access to weapons, ships, and more than a few worlds’ worth of people tired of being stomped on by a tyrannical government. That was what had started this whole mess anyway. If the Union had just left Lex alone and not set their military upon us to have her under their control, everything might be different.
But it wasn’t different, I reminded myself. We were living in the only reality we had, and it would take something big to ensure peace when all these conflicts came to a head, if such a thing were even possible. Three nations, each with their own problems, each with wars to fight and lives to protect or take.
Still, we would find the path ahead, that much I knew.
We had no other choice, and there was no other way.
5
The Star’s cargo ramp hadn’t yet finished lowering before something small started streaking across the ground. “Mr. Hughes! Mr. Hughes!” All elbows and knobby knees like most kids her age, it was a wonder to me that the girl didn’t trip and fall. Her little goat trailed behind, unable to keep up and bleating all the way. She made it one piece and leaped into my arms with a supercharged smile and smudge of dirt on one cheek that told me she’d been off playing like usual.
“You have to slow it down, kid,” I told her with mock sternness. “Your poor goat looks like he might do that thing where he plays dead.” The creature finally caught up with her, staring at the girl from the side, almost leering. Its strange eyes gave it a guileless appearance, consistent with its personality.
“Don’t be silly, Mr. Hughes.” She giggled. “He only does that when something scares him.”
I glared down at the little animal. “Are you saying it’s afraid of me?”
She snickered. “Maybe.”
The goat and I stared at one another for a long moment. I narrowed my eyes and muttered, “Good.”
I gave Lex a pat on her head when I noticed something different about her.
“Hey what’s this all about? Did you get taller while I was gone?” I asked.
Her head edged up to my shoulder now, whereas before she’d barely come up to my chest. Now her head fit right into my underarm.
She grinned up at me proudly and nodded. “One point five whole centimeters! Dr. Hitchens says that I’m having a growth spurt. That’s a funny word. Spurt!”
“Sure is,” I said, thinking how strange it was that Lex could grow so much in so short a time. I’d seen her a few weeks ago, hadn’t I? Where had all of this come from?
I ruffled her hair as Alphonse came down the ramp behind me.
“Alphonse!” He got the hug treatment too and smiled warmly down at the girl.
“Hey, Lex. There’s someone I want you to meet,” said the Constable. He turned and waved Shaw down the ramp. “This is Mr. Shaw. He’s going to stay here awhile with us.”
Lex peeked out somewhat shyly and watched the older man come closer. Her demeanor changed very quickly as she got a better look at him, and she relaxed. “Hi, Mr. Shaw. I’m Lex,” she told him.
Shaw’s eyes lingered on her for a moment, but his expression hardly changed. “Hello, Lex,” he greeted, taking a step closer and reaching out his hand.
She took it, and the two of them shook.
“Thank you for letting me stay here,” the old man told her. “I hear it’s quite the special world.”
Lex nodded. “Earth is the best! I have a goat,” she said, motioning to the animal standing behind her. “You can play with him any time you want.” She beamed up at Shaw. “Want me to show you around? I know where all the fun spots are.”
It struck me that Lex could still be so trusting after her experience with the Sarkonians some weeks ago. As fresh as it was in my mind, it had to be even more so for her. No one would have blamed her for being wary of adults or strangers, but it just wasn’t in her nature, I supposed.
“After he gets settled in,” I said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “And if Dr. Hitchens gives him the grand tour, you can tag along.”
Lex clapped her hands together in excitement, happy with this plan. “I’m going to find him right now.” She tore off again, presumably to find the professor, and we watched her disappear into one of the nearby tents.
“Got your hands full with that one, haven’t you?” mused Shaw.
“And then some,” I agreed.
His expression seemed almost wistful for a moment and I wondered if he regretted joining the Constables. Alphonse had told me they chose not to have families to cut out the distraction. I understood that. Settling down didn’t mesh well with the life of a Renegade after all.
“What is a goat?” Shaw asked curiously, staring at the little animal. It hadn’t followed Lex this time. I thought it was probably still recovering from its owner’s mad dash to get here.
“A damn nuisance, that’s what,” I said irritably. “Watch out for that one. It eats pants.”
“And boots,” Alphonse chimed in with a grimace.
Shaw stared at us with a bewildered expression as if he thought we might be joking and was waiting for the real explanation. “An animal that eats boots,” he said in wonder when we didn’t say anything else.
I smirked. “Not exactly what you were expecting, I gather.”
“Not at all.”
“Just wait until you get a load of the giraffes,” I promised. To me, they looked like stretched out spotted horses.
“If those are half as interesting as what I’ve already seen, I look forward to it,” said the former admiral.
I was mostly kidding. The giraffes had been born in a dome far from our little colony, almost on the other side of the planet. A shuttle trip would take over an hour and we had other priorities.
“Al, get him settled,” I instructed, moving on to business. Now that I was back, I had matters to attend to. “I’m going to check in with Karin before we leave. Then I have to see about a cat.”
* * *
Karin had taken over training the other descendants from her mother Lucia, ever since her act of self-sacrifice during the battle on Tartarus. As the group’s leader, it fell to Karin to pick up where her mother had left off while she searched for someone with experience to take over.
When I’d arrived out of the slip tunnel near Earth, I sent word to Karin that I was coming, and she planned to meet me at the edge of the training field.
As soon as she arrived, I was reminded of her recent weight loss and the mourning she’d experienced. Her eyes had a sharpness to them, and she didn’t offer the usual pleasantries. I made a mental note to speak to one of the women closest to Karin to make sure she was taking care of herself. Abigail knew her well enough. I’d try starting there.
Knowing it wouldn’t help for me to bring up the subject, I studied the scene before us and took in the field. It looked different since I’d last been here. The large square of land had been cleared of any fauna and covered with packed earth. Small groups of trainees were divided into two sections. One for hand-to-hand training and one for weapons.
Equipment lined the inside perimeter, arranged neatly for easy access.
I was pleased to see Leif’s people here as well, training and working alongside the descendants. There were even a few regular humans, most likely part of the groups we had brought from the Deadlands in one of our recruitment missions. They practiced with equal fervor.
“This looks damned good, Karin,” I said after surveying the scene. “Everyone looks like they’re doing a fine
job.”
She smiled in return, though it was only a formality. Her eyes gave it away. “Thank you. We have good people. They are dedicated to maintaining their newfound freedom. We’ve been studying the footage for the Celestials that you sent and are adapting our techniques to suit them. It’s been a slow process, but I believe we’re making progress and will be ready for the next fight.”
“You’re probably right about that,” I said wryly. “I need you to prepare as many people as you think are able. We’ll need a new group to come with us to Tartarus.”
Karin flicked a glance at me. “Understood, although there haven’t been any recruits recently with the Galactic Dawn stuck on the other side of the tunnel. I suggest sending out another ship to locate recruits.”
“Don’t worry. I was already planning on it. For now, just keep doing what you’re doing,” I said.
“I always will,” she said, glancing back at the trainees.
There was a long silence as a gust of wind blew through the valley. I breathed it in, happy to be home, even if for a short while. The woman’s porcelain hair whipped in the breeze before falling across her shoulder. “You know,” I said, shifting where I stood, trying to find the right words. “Lucia would have been proud of you.”
She took a moment to respond, and when she did, her tone was far more serious than I expected.
“I’ve done nothing yet, Captain,” said Karin, finally looking at me directly. “Let her be proud of the results that are still to come.”
“The results,” I muttered. “You mean the war.”
“The end is all that matters now,” she said, staring back at the trainees as they continued practicing. “Victory goes to the side with the greater numbers. Isn’t that how it always goes?”
* * *
One of Dressler’s technicians met me back at the Star with the cat that would soon be on its way to Sarkon to live the life of a pampered emperor’s pet. Alphonse had triple checked the paperwork for loopholes already to ensure that if anything beyond natural causes happened to it, they would owe Earth. And we weren’t responsible for damage to the Emperor’s furniture.
Lex sat on the bridge in Abigail’s usual spot, petting the little animal through the top of its carrying case, a wistful look on her face. He was a cute little thing, with pointy ears, yellow eyes with vertical slitted pupils, and black stripes on mostly gray fur. Its tail swished constantly, as if it were thinking about its next move and waiting impatiently to make it. “You promise Scratchy will be okay?”
“He’ll be fine, kid. You have my word on that. The palace is big, so there’s lots of room for him to roam around. I bet the Emperor will put a fancy collar on him and feed him food so good, he won’t even remember it here.”
“I guess so.” She swung a leg in and out dejectedly, scuffing the toe of her shoe on the floor.
“So, you named him Scratchy, huh? Is that because of his claws?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood.
Lex nodded absently. “Yeah. They’re super sharp. Dr. Hitchens says that’s why he likes to claw things, because it files them down. He can only reach a little way up the wall, though.”
I narrowed my eyes at her suspiciously. “What wall?”
The girl froze and looked away, as though she’d been caught. “Just a wall.”
“Kid, did you have that thing in the house?” I asked.
She kept her gaze away from mine and slowly nodded. “It was only for a minute. I swear!”
I groaned, picturing our little place torn to shreds and destroyed, a regular zoo probably by the time we got back. “No more animals in the house. That includes the goat.”
She dropped her head. “Fine,” she sighed.
My data pad beeped, alerting me of an incoming message. It was from the Sarkonian craft that would take the cat to the Emperor, letting me know it was nearly here.
“Time for me to go,” I said, holding out a hand to her and walking with her down to meet Hitchens, who waited a little way away from the ship. “Oh, before I forget. Abby told me to tell you hello and that she misses you.”
“Tell her that I miss her too,” said Lex, still a little pouty.
I put my finger under her chin and lifted her head. “Come on, kid. You leave me like that and it’s all I’ll remember. Let’s make sure we smile today.”
She nodded, and her expression transformed into the usual bright one that I had grown so used to seeing. “Bye, Mr. Hughes,” she told me, and then gave me a tight hug.
It surprised me how easy it was for her to let go of those negative feelings, even when it came to watching me leave her. There had been a time when it bothered her almost to the point of tears. Now she barely batted an eye. She had tons of little friends her age, adults who cared for her while we were gone, and, of course, the damn goat.
But none of that was the same as a family, and I knew I was depriving her of that every day that Abigail and I were gone.
One day, it won’t be like this, I thought as I returned to my seat and strapped in. Someday soon, I’ll settle here and there won’t be a need for me to leave anymore.
I just had to make it through the coming fight so I could give that girl the life she deserved.
“Sir, incoming transmission from Sigmond,” Junior announced.
“Put him through,” I answered. “This shouldn’t be weird at all, talking to two of you at once.”
“Good to see you, Captain,” greeted the original Sigmond, his gold likeness on the display rather than using one of the holo emitters.
“Siggy,” I said with a quick nod. “Everything still good on Tartarus?”
He frowned slightly, something the Cognitive rarely did. “I have made a discovery regarding the unknown signal we discussed recently.”
I had almost forgotten about our mysterious spy with everything else going on. “Was it Vick?” I asked hopefully.
The AI shook his head, his brows knitted together in another foreign facial expression. “I’m afraid not, sir. I have concluded that the signal is too fluid to be controlled by a normal user.”
“Normal? What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked. “Are you trying to say it’s part of the system? Maybe something automated?”
“Not quite, sir. Data is being collected and someone is watching, certainly, but the evidence suggests that it is part of Tartarus’s internal system,” explained the Cognitive.
“I’m still not following you,” I said, right as my ship’s thrusters ignited and the engines roared to life. “You just said there’s no one behind it and that it’s part of the system, so how can someone be watching if no one is there?”
“I believe it to be a synthetic intelligence,” he clarified. “An entity like myself, perhaps, though I am uncertain as to its full capacity.”
“Wait a minute,” I said. “Are you saying there’s an AI in there?”
“In a sense, perhaps,” said Sigmond. “Though the complexity of such a system may be the result of a higher artificial intelligence.”
“Like a Cognitive,” I concluded.
“Precisely, sir,” said Sigmond. “I believe it may be a Cognitive-level artificial intelligence native to Tartarus’s internal systems.”
“A Celestial Cognitive,” I muttered. “Gods. That’s not what I wanted to hear at all.”
“I presumed as much, sir, and I apologize for being the bearer of bad news,” said Sigmond.
“It’s fine, so long as we figure out how to stop it. The last thing we need is a foreign intelligence getting in the way. Keep an eye on it, Siggy. Let me know if anything changes. In the meantime, tell Alphonse what you just told me.”
“What about Dr. Dressler?” asked Sigmond.
“Use an encrypted channel. Make sure no one can listen in. In fact,” I said, tapping the side of my chair. “Tell her we need her to leave the station for something critical. Once she’s off-world, give her the briefing. We can’t risk that thing snooping in on any of us.”
The Cogni
tive bowed his head slightly. “Of course, sir. I’ll get right on it.”
6
I returned to Tartarus to find that our newly created military outpost had run into its first snag. Vick was apparently insisting that the Union should be the ones to “claim” the planet since they had the largest combat force protecting it. The Sarkonian emissary argued that the Emperor would not allow such an insult when so many of his own troops were currently assisting the Union in protecting other territories.
I said nothing, watching the discussion devolve into an argument like little kids fighting over a toy. The two traded insults while I waited for it to finally sizzle out.
“Is this of no importance to you, Hughes?” Vick scoffed. “You leave for days to take care of some trivial drone production problem and now you can’t be bothered to participate in a meeting?”
The way Vick said “trivial drone” made me think he questioned my story. He was baiting me, trying to get a rise, but it wouldn’t work. I had too much on my mind to waste time and energy on this pissant. The Vice Admiral still had no idea that Shaw was on Earth, and I aimed to keep it that way for a little while longer.
“Not at all. I was just waiting for you both to stop arguing over something that doesn’t even matter. The fact is, Tartarus belongs to none of us.”
“Tarta-what?” The Vice Admiral frowned and looked at Grennet, who shrugged.
I hadn’t gotten a chance to share the updated name with them and had expected some confusion from them when I finally did.
“Tartarus,” I said again. “Siggy came up with it. Something he found in the old Earth archives. A legend about a deep pit that leads to the underworld. Given everything we’ve seen of this place, it felt like a good fit.”
Vick’s lips turned down into a sneer. “So, you think Earth should have the privilege of naming this outpost, even though the Union holds the largest military footing? Add to it that you’re the cause of this conflict in the first place.”