Alice's heart skipped a beat as a mix of anger, disbelief, and grief coursed through her. Wasn't Ganymede enough? Were there still monsters out there that could desire death on that scale?
Alice bared her teeth as rage coursed through her, and she spoke in a pained and guttural growl. "Tell me how that's possible and why they aren't already dead! Tell me now!"
Zary looked deeply haunted as she answered. "There is one who has produced technology capable of such a thing. Indeed, she is the one who created the very technology that allows us to exist here in this place. Have no doubt; she possesses the intelligence and resources to succeed in her desires. She will certainly succeed if you do not intervene."
Alice's anger ratcheted up a notch at the vague explanation. She violently screamed her next question. "Who, and why?! And why aren't they already dead?!"
The sheer thought that someone would try to create another Ganymede was as shocking an idea to Alice as she could formulate within her mind. It was an act so evil that even the most deluded psychopath would be grossly offended by it.
As Alice's anger and sadness ratched tighter, it seemed that Mir's anger had evaporated to compensate. He gave her a small smile as he resumed speaking.
"Alice, we will tell you everything you wish to know. But we must succeed in this matter, and the emotions you are so rightly displaying will only hinder our effectiveness. Please, take a breath and sit down."
He then gestured behind Alice. When she turned, a comfortable white armchair appeared before her.
Alice wasn't sure if she could continue standing much longer anyway, so the chair was a welcome sight. She snatched both armrests and flopped down, releasing some of her anger in the forceful and exaggerated movement. Then, she watched as identical chairs appeared behind Zary and Mir, and they both sat down without so much as a glance back.
Alice took a deep breath as Zary gazed at her and continued. "We believe you to be uniquely suited for this mission, Alice. You alone possess the attributes necessary to stop this evil plan from reaching fruition. You alone witnessed the nightmare of Ganymede with your own eyes, and you alone survived."
Alice glared back. "And?"
"And..." Zary continued as she raised her eyebrows. "Because you survived the technology deployed on Ganymede, we believe there may be some unquantifiable attribute you possess that may allow you to survive if this new technological terror is deployed."
"We do not know how you survived Ganymede, but we are not perfect, and neither are our scanning methods. You may possess some unique mutation that allows you to survive that which would kill anyone else. This new technological terror is a descendant of the same technology used on Ganymede, you see, and we believe that you will demonstrate an inherent resistance to it."
Mir gave Alice a stern look and took over the duty of speech. "You may be the only human in existence to possess a natural resistance to this new weapon, and that is why we have summoned you here to beg for your help. We are begging you to help us, for we fear all other options to be untenable."
Alice felt something change within her as she listened to Mir. She had survived Ganymede, but everyone else had died. Was she really the only person who could help?
Mir seemed to read her mind and nodded as he continued. "We listened to you during your testimony after Ganymede. We heard your guilt, we heard your regret, and we believed your professed desire to make things right, though you thought that would never be possible. We also believe that that desire still runs powerfully within you. Because of this, we know that there is no one else who will put the force of their will behind this mission to the extent that you will."
Alice felt her resolve begin to weaken. She wanted to hear more, though she wished she didn't.
Mir continued. "We made a profound error of judgment on Ganymede, but if through doing so, we gained knowledge of an operative with an inherent resistance to the weapon, then we must seize that opportunity, and you must be the hero to guide humanity through this storm."
"There can be no greater, more virtuous, and more important purpose than what we propose to you here and now. If you are successful, it will not bring back those who have already passed, but it will ensure that hundreds of billions more will not suffer the same fate. This is the proper way, and the only way to balance the scales of injustice which we once so violently skewed. It is simply the right thing to do."
They both ceased speaking and looked at Alice expectantly. Alice saw hope in their eyes, and expectation in their faces, but also fear, as she pondered the words she had just heard.
Was it possible that someone, somewhere could do what they claimed? After Ganymede, the restrictions placed on nano-weapons had been extreme and absolute. All studies related to those weapons had been outlawed with the penalty of death. How had anyone been able to craft such a weapon under such tight regulations? There weren't only laws to prevent it. There were implants carried by all humanity that were programmed to monitor for such actions and immediately stop them.
Perhaps the one who was so hellbent on mass-murder didn't have standard neo-natal implants. Maybe they had found some way to counteract those implants or to block their signal. It was difficult for Alice to imagine, but perhaps what the Council claimed was possible. Tech was always changing, always adapting, and maybe some psycho out there had found a way around the safeguards.
And, if it was a lie, why had the Council summoned her and invested the time and effort into their conversation? The Council, in all their ruthless efficiency, did not waste time. If they were willing to attempt to convince Alice to join them, they had an important reason. Even if they weren't being entirely truthful, something was going on. It was something big, and they were offering Alice the chance to be involved in it.
Before speaking, Alice exhaled deeply, releasing most of her anger in the process. As her breath left her, she slowly filled herself with a different emotion - hope.
For eight years, she had begged the universe for a chance to undo the horror she had helped bring about on Ganymede. She had begged over and over again for a chance to make things right. Maybe the Council was offering her one.
"I'm still listening," Alice announced as steely resolve entered her voice. "Tell me more. Now!"
Chapter 3
Thrall Verdum looked out through the small window of his white, sparsely furnished cell and grinned.
He had needed medical treatment for his severed hand, so overall, he wasn't too upset at being captured. It would have been much better if he hadn't let his hunger overcome his presence of mind, but he didn't imagine it would prove to be of any long-term significance.
Thrall's grin reversed into a slight frown as he recalled the madness that had accompanied his hunger. It wasn't really his fault, he quickly decided. He had been distracted by the momentous and glorious plans that he had recently put into motion.
Thrall's frown slowly faded as he stared out his cell window and thought about his situation. If he stayed there in that cozy little cell, he would be tried for possession of a firearm and attempted murder, but that wouldn't happen. He wouldn't be in the brig for long.
Thrall leered as a young male brig officer walked up to the window of his cell and spoke. "You hungry or thirsty? We already did dinner service, but I can scrounge you up something if you haven't eaten."
Thrall didn't reply, but instead extended his tongue and licked the entire vertical length of the window while leering creepily at the brig officer. He didn't need the station's useless prisoner rations; he needed something real to satisfy his hunger.
The officer sighed, turned, and walked away. As he left, Thrall could hear him mumbling under his breath. "Try to be nice, but they're all the same..."
Thrall smiled, turned from the window, and with slithering, snake-like movements, made his way to his cot, then laid down and closed his eyes. As he leaned back and rested his head on his hands, he became lost in thought at what had happened to him earlier in the evening.
How
had that spacer both sabotaged his weapon and cut off his arm, all without coming within ten meters of him? Even more importantly, what had caused the strange feeling when it had happened. It was as if time itself had stopped existing. He was confident the odd feeling was somehow related to his lost hand and missing gun, but it was still a mystery to him.
He had gotten careless at the bar, and that had made him vulnerable. He had let his hunger grow too much, distracted as he was by the daily operations of his critical enterprise on Osiris. If he had fed recently, the alcohol he had consumed in the bar wouldn't have had nearly the effect it had, and he would never have embarrassed himself so badly.
As it was, he would be seen as a laughing-stock. He would be remembered as the guy who couldn't hold his liquor, and who was bested by an aging bartender and a stupid spacer nobody. He was furious about his embarrassment, but he knew it wouldn't be long before he got the last laugh.
He would feed again very soon, and he would never make the mistake of allowing his hunger to grow to that point again, regardless of how difficult it had become to procure his meals.
As Thrall contemplated what he had experienced, a keening hunger for revenge slowly took over his mind. He needed to kill the spacer, but before he did, he needed to capture him, torture him, and figure out how he did his little tricks.
Thrall smiled to himself as he recalled the odd scent of the spacer. It had been sweet and exotic, like fruit from some unknown alien world. It would be easy to find his prey once he caught the trail of that scent.
Thrall felt a deep sense of peace come over him as a plan crystallized in his mind. He would wait patiently to be released from the brig, and then he would sniff around the station until he found his prey. Once he located the spacer, he would set a trap and strike, as would a viper upon a mouse.
A few minutes passed as Thrall fantasized about the ways he would torture the spacer. Pliers would be involved, and if possible, someone the spacer cared about. In Thrall's experience, the emotional pain you inflicted could cause a much deeper hurt than anything achieved using physical means.
As he waited, he caressed the freshly sealed stump of his right arm and logged how much time had passed so he would be prepared for his escape. He had already sent the signal to his kin, and they would soon be there to bear him to freedom. He just needed to wait.
Luckily, he had lots of entertaining things to think about as he passed the time.
Chapter 4
Alice gracefully slid through space halfway between Mars and Jupiter aboard the new, state-of-the-art ship the Origin Council had given her.
The ship, officially named "Epiphany," hummed quietly around her as she lost herself in thought.
At that moment, a vast stretch of asteroid filled space was visible on the viewscreen in front of her, but she didn't take notice. Instead, Shonn's smiling face swam through her thoughts as she remembered their last mission together.
"I love you, Alice," he had quietly confessed to her when they had landed on Ganymede.
She and Shonn had known eachother for years, and she had harbored a deep love for him for many of them. For a long time, that love had been unrequited, but shortly before that mission, something had changed. Shonn had opened his heart to her, and unlikely possibilities had become real.
Suddenly, Alice was pulled from her memories by the voice of her ship's integrated artificial intelligence.
"We have passed through the asteroid belt. Twelve minutes to our jump point, Alice."
Alice immediately became angry with herself. She could not let her memories dominate her being. There was only death within those memories, and she could not allow that death to distract her from the critical purpose the Council had given her.
There was only death in her memories...
Death...
And love...
Alice angrily rose from her command station and walked to the creamy white, iridescent wall of the command deck. With a grunt, she violently punched the wall with her right hand. Pain instantly blossomed in her mind, and she focused her eyes on her red and rapidly swelling knuckles. The pain within her hand brought her fully back into the present and helped her banish her painful memories.
"Why me?" Alice whispered as a profound sense of self-doubt oozed over her.
She was sad, broken, and hadn't performed a real operation since Ganymede, and yet somehow, she was supposed to stop the extermination of humanity?
A clear voice sounded in reply. "According to Council simulations, you have the best chance to succeed in this mission, Alice."
"I know, Idi," Alice retorted. "But I have no idea what I'm doing. I haven't even read all the briefing files yet. I can't focus! I can't get my idiotic mind out of the goddamned past!"
"Alice, you seem to be suffering from a stress-induced panic attack," Idi stated. "I recommend you take a few deep breaths, then proceed to the medical bay where I will administer a light sedative."
"Fuck you!" Alice spat. "I know how to deal with my baggage, thanks."
With a roar of anger, Alice slammed her fist into the wall again, then smashed it with her other hand. "Focus, goddamn you!Focus!"
Slowly, the pain in her hands pushed her anger away, until a dull throbbing pain was all she could feel. As she stared at her red and swollen knuckles, Alice breathed deeply.
"You can do this," she reassured herself as a semblance of peace began to even her emotions. "You're here to save lives. You can do this. You have to."
After she gathered herself, Alice returned to her command station. She was alone on the Epiphany except for Idi. However, even the most advanced ship A.I. couldn't replicate the companionship of another living, breathing, human being.
Loneliness was a burden she had carried her entire life, with only brief respites of love and companionship blossoming along her path. Being alone aboard a ship in space made her loneliness even that much more acute. Still, that was the last of Alice's actual worries. If she found success in the first task of her mission, she wouldn't be alone for long.
"We have to keep our mission secret," Alice declared. "We have to."
"I am aware of that, Alice. Two minutes to our jump point," Idi replied.
Alice's next destination was one of several places within the Solar system where one could accelerate to near-lightspeed travel. If, that is, one happened to be aboard a lightspeed capable ship like the one which was now hers.
She had taken a course at the Operative Academy, where she had learned the finer points of that particular method of travel. However, she had only experienced it once before.
Though the technology was old, it was still reserved for those with large amounts of power and money. Even purchasing a ticket to bring a small personal shuttle on a lightspeed ferry would cost a year of wages for the average human.
"We have arrived at our jump point, Alice. We have priority tethering permissions. Prepare for lightspeed travel," Idi informed her.
"Frontal observation, Alice commanded. Instantly, the viewing screen in front of her transitioned to her requested point of view.
Ceres station appeared in space several thousand meters from the Epiphany. The station held the form of a gigantic and beautiful white disk. Without the use of nano-polymer machines, constructing a station of such immense size would have taken hundreds of years. However, the tiny devices that self-reproduced and built upon themselves had been able to make the plans of Ceres Station a material reality within just over a year.
After its completion, the station had become an essential stopover for those undertaking space travel between Jupiter and the inner colonies. Along with the travelers that frequented it, the station was home to over 100 million people who lived and worked there. Ceres was a marvel to behold, and Alice couldn't help but feel inspired by the sight of it.
"I have confirmed our location and destination to the relay operations center, Alice," Idi stated. "Ignition will occur in sixty seconds. Initiate lightspeed protection protocol now."
"Transfer viewing screen to my location, and show me our rear field of view," Alice commanded. Milliseconds later, the requested holographic viewing screen appeared on the wall in front of her.
"Fusion ignition in thirty seconds. Activating photon capture cells," Idi replied. "Stasis initiation in twenty seconds."
Alice wished she could view the massive fusion explosion that was about to occur near her ship, but the stasis protocol wouldn't permit that. Oh well, she thought, there were more productive pursuits she should be focusing on anyway.
"Idi, send me a recording of our mission briefing. I want to review it when I'm under."
"Yes, Alice. Transmitting now."
With bated breath, Alice waited. She was about to travel at the fastest speed any human had ever been able to achieve. Even though she knew the technology was safe, she was still afraid.
The photon capture cells could malfunction, the nuclear blast could be miscalculated, the lightspeed routes could contain deadly debris, or she could suffer permanent brain damage. All were unlikely, but still possible, and she was helpless against any of them.
"Initiating stasis protocol," Idi informed her.
Then, Alice's vision left her. Suddenly, she stood alone,in a sea of darkness. She basked in the momentary silence, cherishing the peace that the darkness offered, but almost immediately, a voice swam around her.
"Alice..."
She would have wheeled around to see where the voice had come from, but she had no body in that place. She could see, but only through her mind's eye.
"Alice..." the voice called again.
"Shonn?" Alice called back.
A figure materialized in Alice's mind. He was tall and handsome, but he bore the weathered visage and haunted look of one who had seen and experienced profound pain.
The Ganymede Legacy Page 4
