by Luigi Robles
A little more off than usual? Fain thought. Am I that bad all the time? Ugh, I really need to find a way out of this mess.
Fain half-smiled and snickered. Over the past few months, he had grown to like his new crew, even though he detested his current situation. He saw their strengths and their weaknesses, and they were good people. They went about the ship day after day, just doing whatever they could to help ESAF. They, unlike Fain, loved their jobs, and he knew that if he could help it, he wouldn’t be the one to ruin it for them.
“Yeah, just didn’t sleep that well last night,” Fain said. “I’ll be back to my old self in no time. Just let me finish my coffee.”
“Was Cornelia rocking too much? We can always increase the power on the stabilizers.”
“No, it was just a bad night,” Fain fibbed. “That won’t be necessary. I’ve never been a good sea sleeper. Besides, we don’t want to be dealing with seasickness because of extra stability. This, my friend”—Fain pointed at his mug— “is the best solution.”
“I can agree with that, sir,” Chuck said, then turned back to his station.
The truth was that Fain was kept awake by the memories of Sodenia and how much he missed his flight crew. Though it was for a brief period of time, those memories would stay with him forever. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, he’d yet to find out.
The only activity that Fain was looking forward to for the day was seeing Sodenia one more time, the path they were taking to recover the alien debris would put the small boat within 110 miles. Fain knew that if he was lucky enough and the tide was low, the powerful binoculars he had on board would let him look at the magnificent ship once again.
Only two more of these Artifacts to go before I get to see her again, Fain thought as he sipped on his coffee, a hint of a smile appearing on his face.
About an hour later, the crew had pulled the two other alien debris from the ocean, classified them, and stored them on board the Cornelia. At first, it was a small thrill to pull the alien debris from the ocean, at least he got to see them up close. Now, they were all the same, just pieces of useless metal. The only difference between actual trash and the recovered alien debris was the distinctive frequency they emitted, though only instruments could detect those. They also had a distinct smell, and that he was able to detect all by himself, the smell reminded fain of burned meat mixed with forgotten trash.
“Alright, let’s wrap it up quick,” Fain said. “We’ll hold this position for an additional ten minutes. Good job, everyone; take a breather. Or, for those who smoke, make it harder to breathe.” Fain chuckled, and the crew joined in.
The Cornelia had a double deck, and with binoculars in hand, Fain made his way up to the bow of the ship and walked up to the edge of its roof.
“Here goes nothing,” Fain murmured.
He began scanning the horizon in search of the giant spaceship he’d once piloted. He thought about what a privilege that had been, as he looked keenly into the distance. It wasn’t long before he noticed a shadow out in the water. Calmly, he adjusted the binoculars so that they would allow him to focus in on the shadow. He got as close as he could with the manual settings, and the binoculars’ autofocus did the rest.
There she was in all her grandeur, sitting above the ocean. A massive ship, the largest moving object that humanity had seen on Earth, at least. The sun reflected on its outline, defining its shape and at the same time casting a shadow towards Fain’s position.
He was happy to see Sodenia once again, and part of him was relieved that there in front of him was concrete evidence that it had really happened. There were so many people around the world, day after day, calling the events of the second Acram attack a hoax. Sometimes even Fain himself was close to believing the ridiculous conspiracy theories. But there she was, as real as it got. Even though Sodenia was 1,056 feet tall, he was only able to see the upper hull, as the curvature of the land and tide covered the rest.
He missed everything about Sodenia—Kya, the ship’s AI, and the flight crew. It all just seemed like a far-off and long-ago dream, but a dream that he vividly remembered.
With a sigh, he left the ship’s roof and went back into the wheelhouse, remembering what it was like to pilot such a formidable ship.
“She’s still there, isn’t she?” Chuck asked as he too walked back to his station.
“Yup, she’s still there,” Fain confirmed. “Nothing has changed. Except, she no longer has the battle wounds. It looks like she’s been repaired.”
“Who do you think fixed her?” Chuck asked.
“The ship’s AI, I suppose,” Fain said with a shrug. “Who knows what’s happening on that island?”
“Sir, may I?” Chuck asked hesitantly. “A personal query?”
“May you what?” Fain asked, shifting his head slightly. “Since when do you talk like that? But go ahead, I suppose.”
“I’ve just been watching a lot of old sci-fi shows. Well, it’s just that they told us that we aren’t supposed to talk with you about anything that happened with the aliens and all, or anything before this assignment…”
This was news to Fain, but he nodded so that Chuck would continue.
“But,” Chuck said slowly as if choosing the right words, “what was it like? You know, being able to fly the ship.”
“Good question.” Fain chuckled. “Well, it was like an extension of yourself; of your body. A powerful extension. If you were thinking about going to point A, you were there before your next thought. It felt unstoppable, with no limit to its power.”
“Woah…” Chuck said. “That must have been something really special.”
“It was more than special,” Fain said, pausing for a second, searching for the right word. “It was life-altering. After that first flight, I knew that nothing would be the same.”
“You know sir,” Chuck said. “My friend sent me an email about Sodenia recently.”
“What about it?”
“Well, without making it too long,” Chuck said, turning to look around the wheelhouse as if to make sure no one was listening.
“Chuck we’re alone. But go on.”
“Yeah but it’s always good to make sure. Anyway, Sir, my friend said that they are having a lot of trouble trying to control the AI. It hasn’t let anyone on board the ship since it returned to Earth.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, every time they attempt to get inside, the ship’s cannons power on, and the drones begin circling.”
If this has been happening since we got back, Fain thought, why don’t I know anything about it? I haven’t seen anything about it in the news, either. Am I being monitored? No, not monitored, they wouldn’t get that far without me noticing. But filtered, perhaps? Are they filtering the information I consume? But why?
“How often do you hear news about Sodenia?” Fain asked.
“Before I was assigned to the Cornelia, pretty regularly,” Chuck said. “But it’s died down a lot. I’m guessing people have started forgetting about it.”
“Could be.” Fain looked out one of the windows.
“But I’m guessing my friend only brought it up because it’s big news back in Washington D.C.,” Chuck said.
“How so?” Fain said, turning back to face Chuck while taking a quick glance at his wristband watch.
“They want to take the ship’s AI to a public hearing in Washington. You know, like the senate judiciary committee one, but a special one.”
“I don’t see how that will help them get control of the ship. But we’ll talk about this later. We are about to head to our next location.”
“Yes, sir,” Chuck said as he turned back to his station.
“And Chuck. Thanks for sharing.”
“Not a problem, sir.”
Whatever is happening, this is not the time to let my mind wander, Fain thought. The time for that is later when I’m trying to sleep. Fain chuckled internally at the irony. Now, it’s time to focus.
O
livia walked into the wheelhouse, speaking as she moved to her post. “Captain, the rest of the crew is ready to head to the next location.”
“Perfect,” Fain said. “We’ll get going. It should be as easy as ordering food from a printer; consider it done.”
The rest of the day ran without a snag, and it was something of an easy day, for that matter. The weather was fair, and the seas were calm. If it weren’t for the eternal monotony of the task at hand, the day would have been a fine one. Fain and the crew of the Cornelia were able to complete all sixteen of their alien artifact quotas for the day, and they did so one hour earlier than expected.
Fain walked over to the microphone for the boat’s intercom and looked out the window before saying anything. He was trying to decide if they would be hanging out around the area for a while or heading back to port. But he’d had enough of the sea for one day, and there was a lot he needed to think about, so the decision was obvious.
Port was still close enough for them to make the trip back and forth every day, but he knew that after their current mission, they would need to upgrade to a bigger boat and spend more time at sea.
“Cornelia, this is your captain speaking,” Fain said with a slight smile, knowing that he was the only one that would ever use the intercom. “You have done a mighty great job today, and because of that, I’ve decided that we’ll be heading back home early today. Full speed home.”
The crew cheered and began preparing for the journey back to port as fast as they could.
“Maybe if you worked that way when it came to our recoveries,” Fain continued talking on the intercom, “we’d be done even earlier.”
As they headed back home, Fain looked outside through one of the wheelhouse windows. The sky looked redder than usual, even for a sunset. He was beginning to feel like something wasn’t right.
“That’s not the way the sky is supposed to look, right?” Olivia asked as she went to stand next to Fain. “It looks like it’s boiling over or something of the sort.”
Then, to everyone’s shock, there was a thunderous roar in the sky. It sounded like metal clashing with lightning, accompanied by the cries of a wounded beast. The sound was eerie, deep, and definitely alien.
“Are you seeing that?” Fain asked, trying to keep calm.
“Seeing what?” Olivia asked. “Where?”
“Just where the sun was two hours ago,” Fain said.
“OMG, we are going to die,” Chuck yelled from his station. “This time we are for sure going to die. Dammit, I don’t want to die on this boat.”
“Chuck, calm down,” Fain said.
“But Captain, we are going to die,” Chuck said as he pointed at the object that had appeared in the sky. “Look at the size of that thing. It looks enormous, and it’s not even in the atmosphere.”
A large rectangular object had appeared before them. From what Fain could see, the design of the object was totally different from his previous alien encounter. He ran to grab the binoculars to take a closer look. But there was not a lot to see. The object was slick and minimalistic, with a bluish light all around it.
“Chuck, calm down,” Fain repeated, staring steadily at the object, then putting down the binoculars. “If it was going to attack us, it would have done so already. It’s letting itself be seen. But who knows for what purpose?”
One of Fain’s gravest fears had come to light. A new alien ship had appeared on Earth, and he was in a position where he couldn’t do anything about it.
Damn it.
2
Definitions
Kya observed a group of soldiers walking up to one of Sodenia’s main doors at the front of the ship. It was early dawn, at least four hours before sunrise, and according to the thermostat, it was cold. The soldiers walked slowly, gripping their rifles more than necessary. Seven soldiers walked up to the massive door, and thirty-four waited with their weapons drawn by the safety of their Humvees a few yards away.
Kya had decided not to launch any drones this time around; the soldiers would have it easy. She was perfectly willing to cooperate with the show they wanted to stage back in Washington D.C. As far as she had gathered by reading hundreds of thousands of social media posts and other internet news sources, they thought Kya would actually care about public opinion.
I do still wonder, Kya thought as she watched the soldiers advancing, why are they going to such extremes and blocking information from getting to Fain and the others? The most likely answer is that they already suspect my abilities to scan the net looking for information. That’s why they added all those layers of inscription to their servers. They probably think that if they hear from me or try to contact me, I’ll get out of control or something. They aren’t thinking of me as a living being; they are thinking of me as a glitchy program.
Although Kya could easily break into any encrypted account or messages thanks to her AI mind, she thought it was repulsive and unfair, since no one could break into her. So, she played by their rules, for the most part. Recently, she had made an exception, fabricating an email posing as one of Chuck’s friends. The email was crafted as a casual conversation to let Fain know the recent events that involved Kya and Sodenia. In Kya’s mind, Fain was still the captain, regardless of what anyone said. And her tampering with someone else’s email account was well justified. Thousands of posts were being deleted from the internet almost as soon as they were posted. Someone had hundreds of people blocking information about Sodenia, Kya, and the rest of the flight crew from reaching Fain. So, she decided to fight fire with fire.
And in truth, Chuck’s friend Brenda did, in fact, send an email to Chuck talking about Kya; it just never got to him. Kya had noticed this as she scanned the Cornelia’s email inbox.
“Miss Kya,” one of the soldiers said nervously as he approached the ship’s door. “We are here to pick you up and take you back to Washington, as agreed. Please come out.”
“I’ll be out in just a minute,” Kya said through the ship’s speakers. She sighed as she stood up from the sofa in the quarters she had assigned to herself. “You can put your rifles down; there is no danger here.”
She stretched her mechanical body while running a system check on herself, to make sure everything was running optimally.
She walked towards the nearest corridor and called a pod. Kya had been busy making upgrades to herself and the ship ever since they landed back on Earth. One of the upgrades she had made was to the corridor pods. Now, instead of accelerating down the corridors at high speed, she had made the experience more suitable for humans. Now, instead of the pod itself being the one to cut through the air of the long corridors, the air would move out of the way automatically.
As her pod sped down the corridor to the entrance, she saw through her linked mind that the soldiers had not lowered their weapons. “If you are anticipating danger by keeping your weapons pointed at my door,” the ship’s speakers boomed, “I can oblige.”
“You heard the lady,” one of the soldiers said. “I’ve seen what she can do. If we aren’t careful, she’ll have this whole island flooded with drones.”
Was that Specialist Marshal? Kya thought as she zoomed in through one of Sodenia’s cameras to the badge on the soldier’s chest.
Within a few seconds, she saw the soldier’s badge clearly and knew her guess had been right.
Not too long ago, Specialist Marshal had been involved in an attempt to infiltrate Sodenia and take control from Kya. There were a little over 1,000 soldiers on the small island. The majority was attempting to cause a distraction by engaging in a firefight with Kya’s drones. At the same time, a small group tried to access Sodenia through the rear engines. Marshal was among the small group. But as the soldiers had found out, trying to beat an AI in its territory was an impossible task. That day, Kya ended up sending more than 400 soldiers to the hospital with non-lethal wounds. The sheer number of wounded soldiers was enough to put a full stop to any activity that had to do with the giant ship.
&n
bsp; Kya felt herself smiling as the soldiers put down their weapons. She didn’t like violence, though she didn’t know where that particular feeling came from.
It wasn’t long before Kya was at the ship’s door, but before she opened it, she glanced down at her ESAF uniform. She looked at each hand, her legs, and her chest to make sure everything was ironed and crisp. Satisfied with her appearance, she walked towards the massive door, calling for it to open.
Kya stepped out of the ship as if nothing important was happening while the soldiers stiffened.
“You can relax Sergeant Lucas,” Kya said loudly as she walked. “I can guarantee you that no harm will come to you, as long as no harm comes to my ship or me.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” Sergeant Lucas said.
Kya knew his name because she could see his badge without a problem from ten yards away as he spoke.
“Lowering our guard is not part of our military training,” Sergeant Lucas added.
“Have it your way,” Kya said. “I was just trying to make things easier for you guys. Isn’t it sort of a long trip to D.C.?”
“Not really, ma’am,” Sergeant Lucas said. “It will only take us about an hour to get to the capital. We’ll be using a hypercraft, and we have special permission to fly at maximum speed.”
“Like I said, a long trip,” Kya said, rolling her eyes.
As she got closer to the group of soldiers, Kya grew curious about their reaction. She had never seen humans so nervous, even when she observed thousands of humans on board Sodenia. The soldiers’ reactions were new.
“So, where to now?” Kya asked just a few steps away from the group of soldiers.
“Oh, right,” Sergeant Lucas said as he shook his head. “You’ll go with me and two others in that Humvee you see over there.” Sergeant Lucas pointed towards the middle of the large group of military cars. “The rest will escort and follow us.”
Kya didn’t say anything; everything she needed to say was handled by a nod. It wasn’t that she was trying to be mean to the soldiers; in fact, she was trying not to. She knew that they were on opposite sides with little progress to be made.
