SODIUM:6 Defiance

by Arseneault, Stephen

  A Frekkin emerged from the ship followed closely by a number of Por Hollis guards. Various boxes of equipment were brought out, hooked up and powered on. It seemed the Frekkin had a science team of their own and that this was not their first visit to the site.

  As we watched I was curious as to what the Frekkin might know that we did not. Our brightest minds had been hard at work on the site for more than a year and had come away with nothing more than what we had learned in our initial visit. From the movements on the surface area in front of the great doors I could only guess that the Frekkin had found out nothing more than our own teams.

  Several hours passed when the first of the other species was brought out. It was a Meche which sent a sudden chill up my spine. But it was soon evident that the Meche was not there of its free will. Next out was a Roache followed by a Reladian. Eight Por Hollis soldiers then struggled to pull out one of the monstrous Jessians as it pushed and pulled with the obvious intention of making the soldier's lives difficult.

  I looked at Hershen and remarked that there was at least one Jessian still alive. Following the Jessian was a Gidden who looked as though he had been severally beaten or injured. The Gidden struggled to walk down the ramp of the ship under its own power.

  As the Gidden was moved into position over the prostrate carving of itself the Frekkin in charge barked orders for the next of the species to be brought out. It was a Waffen and was followed closely behind by a Kurtz. I looked at Hershen and then back at the Kurtz and then again back at Hershen. While I had believed initially that most Kurtz looked alike that perception had drastically changed over the years as I became familiar with those little subtleties that made each of them unique. But this Kurtz looked identical to Hershen in every possible way.

  As the next figure emerged from the Frekkin ship Hershen stood up in his chair. He looked at me and then pointed at the holo-screen. I zoomed in with the video sensor and was shocked at what I saw. It was me or at least an identical version of me, walking down the ramp from the ship. As I thought back to our time of captivity with the Frekkin I then realized why they had taken so many blood and body tissue samples. We had been cloned!

  Missing from the known species on the right door was a Nickarian, a Hark, a Bellian and a Karant. From the left door an Ogle, a Borten and a Moom were absent. As I sat staring at my exact copy standing on the carved human figure the Frekkin commander then barked another order. Five more Por Hollis soldiers brought out another struggling species. It was an Ogle and it was fighting mad.

  The Ogle was heavily bound and yet it was still able to twitch and squirm and jerk, making the task of moving it a heavy chore. When the soldiers had the Ogle in place over its carving the Frekkin commander then moved to a position directly in front of the doors. An order to proceed was then given.

  The Gidden was the first to be forced into the prostrate position. The crystal in the center of the Gidden ring soon began to glow and the great doors moved back five meters. Next was the Jessian. It lurched violently and rolled free for only a moment, but it was long enough for a swing of its powerful arm to send a Por Hollis flying backwards and over the cliff's edge. It had a thousand meter fall to its death.

  Several shocks were administered to the Jessian's temple and it quickly fell in line. With the Jessian once again subdued the procedure was continued and the great doors again moved back five meters. The Waffen was then forced into position and again the great doors moved backwards. The Kurtz clone knelt without struggle making it evident that it had no animosity towards the beings that ruled over it. I reasoned that it had probably been taught that its captors were really its god and having learned such it bowed willingly.

  Next was the clone of me. Again there was no sign of struggle as my perfect replica knelt and placed the palms of its hands out onto the Human crystal. I took note that the crystal glowed but the great doors did not move, just as they had done with me. The clone tried repeatedly to enable the crystal, with each attempt being a failure. The Frekkin commander was livid and lashed out at the others standing on the surface. He then turned to the species of the left door, starting with the Ogle.

  The Ogle kicked, growled and jerked violently before a shock to its temple brought it into submission. With each of the species of the left the great doors again moved back another five meters. The last of the species to bow before the great doors was the Frekkin commander. As she stretched out her tiny arms and looked up the crystal began to glow and the great doors move back another five meters. But nothing else happened...

  After several minutes in the prostrate position the Frekkin commander rose and began to scream and stomp around in frustration... her tiny arms and hands cupped behind her head as she exposed her teeth in anger. A Por Hollis soldier then appeared at the door of the Frekkin ship yelling at his commander.

  Seconds later alerts went off on our holo-screens as an Ogle and then a number of Meche ships appeared in orbit. A powerful particle beam began to cut through the matrix of Frekkin globe ships as they began to spin up. When the orange glow of their shields came on full the Ogle particle beam could no longer penetrate the Frekkin shield.

  The Meche ships then began their assault but no damage was being done to the Frekkin matrix. The matrix began to eject the parts from its globes that had fallen prey to the particle beam. Several minutes later the matrix was spinning fully and began to move. The Meche ships were quickly chased and annihilated.

  The Frekkin commander at the DaCuban doors had taken the few moments of chaos to load his captives back onto his ship. The Frekkin ship shot quickly upward through the atmosphere in an attempt to rejoin the matrix. The Ogle ship moved in with a tractor beam and pulled the Frekkin vessel aboard. Then, in the blink of an eye, the Ogle ship disappeared.

  When the matrix had finished off the last Meche ship it returned to its place in orbit. Five more Ogle ships then appeared and another fierce battle ensued. The five Ogle ships quickly joined together and the particle beam they emitted was just powerful enough to cut through the orange Frekkin shield. The fight lasted for nearly an hour before the Frekkin matrix left in retreat. The Ogle ships then vanished as quickly as they had come.

  As I sat discussing the incident with Hershen the Frekkin commander suddenly appeared on the surface in front of the doors. She had hidden herself instead of boarding her vessel before its departure. It was a shrewd move and had prevented her capture by the Ogle. She was not counting on the waiting Human and Kurtz parked nearby with their hidden ship. Hershen quickly projected a static box field around her. She was now our prisoner.

  With Hershen still at the controls of the Jacques I floated to the surface and blinked in. The Frekkin commander was startled and attempted to move but the static field surrounding her held her in place. I then had the strange sensation that I knew her. It was the same Frekkin scientist that had watched over Hershen and I when we had been their prisoners.

  She immediately barked an order at me to assist her. When I refused she again had a startled look. I was not one of her clones. I was the real human. She quickly vanished from view, but I knew she was trapped inside the static field. I waited with a smirk on my face while continuing to stare at the static field. After several minutes she popped back into view in front of me.

  Using our translator and a resonant frequency of the field I decided to strike up a conversation. I didn't bother to posture or threaten the little dog-like creature as she was trapped and of no danger to us. I instead took the time to ask her questions... questions about the DaCuban site. I started by calling her name... "Shtia."

  I began the conversation by asking how she had been. I remarked of how well she looked as I grinned at her non-stop. When my sarcastic mood came to an end I turned my questioning to the issues at hand. What did the Frekkin know about the doors and how long had they known.

  Shtia was quiet and refused to answer. I called to Hershen for assistance and minutes later he appeared beside me. He had a small aerosol container in hi
s hand with a vial of green liquid attached. When I asked him what it was he remarked that I should know. The Kurtz had used it on me many years ago, when I had first been taken captive. It was the green mist that had been used for my interrogation.

  Hershen continued in its description by stating that this was the "latest" version. It was much more effective that what I had been given and with it now being used on a much smaller being the effects would come on much more quickly. I then looked at the static box and back at Hershen. He remarked that the box was our friend and with a thought to his helmet computer a small window opened in the side of the static field, courtesy of the multi-field unit on the Jacques.

  He sprayed a short stream of the liquid into the static box and then closed the window with another thought. Shtia attempted to close her helmet but she was too late. The truth spray took hold. The dog-like creature first began to smile before scrunching down and cowering in fear. In less than a minute her mind raced through bouts of fear and ecstasy before settling in on a euphoric glee.

  The Frekkin had only recently discovered the site. Had they known about it before they would have spared the Fromus species from annihilation. They had declared war on a species named the Fromus. It was the second species on the second row of the left hand door. They had attempted to subjugate the Fromus, but when they failed, they instead wiped out their entire population. It was a savage and bloody war as the Fromus fought the Frekkin to the last being.

  Had the Frekkin known about the site earlier they would have spared at least one Fromus, captured a Nickarian and seen to it that at least one Borten, Roache, Moom and Kalant had lived. They too believed the great doors could be opened by having all of the species present.

  I asked about the beings on the top row and the Frekkin replied that they were unknown. Every species they had encountered during their long history was of the ones that were visible on the two doors or of those on the archway. The species on the top rows remained a mystery. They had all the known living species with them except for a Nickarian.

  Shtia was baffled as to why my clone had not been able to enable the human ring. The being she had brought with her on the ship was an exact clone of me, of my human DNA. I asked why they had not cloned the other species to which she replied that our DNA and that of the Kurtz had been the only ones that had taken successfully. The Kurtz clone had a reduced cognitive ability making it of little use except as a being for the DaCuban experiment.

  The Jessian DNA had several odd formations that they had not been able to replicate. The closest they had come was to create a warrior made from the DNA of Hershen, the Jessian prisoner and of me. It stood three meters tall, had an oversized human brain and the Kurtz skin and eyes. But it was docile and not easily moved into action.

  I began to wonder about what the outcome would have been if the Human Empire had gone up against the Frekkin. They had been occupied with fleeing their worlds and the Ogle when we had only begun to make contact. Their technology at the time was far superior to ours. I wondered if Man would have survived a full on war.

  We had been witness to ten species moving the great doors back 50 meters, but nothing new was revealed. In our travels we had identified all of the known species on the two doors and most upon the archway. We had encountered species that had every intention of either making us slaves or wiping us out. Our part of the galaxy was indeed a hostile place.

  I made a request to Kurg that we bring Shtia to Meyer so that any tracking devices could be removed. He was hesitant at first until I explained that the Frekkin were already aware of the location of their world so nothing new would be revealed. Kurg accepted my request and we were soon on our way. Once any tracking devices had been removed Shtia would be heading for Earth.

  Chapter 9

  We touched down at a base just outside of Los Angeles. I was eager to turn over our Frekkin guest to the science team before grabbing an air taxi to Alabama. When I arrived home I was again shocked by what I saw. I stepped out of the taxi onto the drive in front of the modular home. A humanoid looking robot was riding my father's tractor as it plowed a small field. Two other robots were working in my mother's garden.

  When I walked in the front door the three of them were sitting back in chairs with their feet propped up and BGS helmets on. I said hello and it took them several seconds to respond. Their visors lifted and I was greeted with smiles. It was a strange greeting and came without any actual physical interaction.

  When I questioned what they were doing they responded that the latest helmets had a holo-screen built in that was tied directly to their robotic counterparts. They could each seamlessly direct their robots to perform any tasks that were needed without having to get out of their chairs. The BGS suits kept them physically healthy while the robots did all the actual work.

  I wondered if the human race would become nothing more than lumps in a chair with robotic equals that performed all of their work. It was certainly a less dangerous way of accomplishing any task, but I wondered if we would soon lose the mental experience that came with our interactions in the physical world.

  I was soon schooled on the forced feedback that came through the BGS suit. If the robot reached down and picked up a tomato my mother would feel the light resistance the tomato offered against her own fingers. The holo-screen gave her a visual view that was similar in quality to the real thing. The audio filtered in through stereo speakers. My parents would sit happily in their chairs all day while their virtual extension went about their daily chores.

  I asked where Zack's wife was to which they responded that she had moved out and settled in New York. It was the new home port of Zack and her sons. The three of them were off-world for the next five months, but would be returning in August for a six month training tour in New York.

  After a week-long visit home I could not wait to get back to duty. My parents seemed strangely occupied with their virtual lives. They had gone as far as sending their robots into town to meet with the robots of other friends, all carrying on as though they were there themselves.

  Hershen had taken the time to visit with his brother on Toledus. Upon his return he had a similar story to tell of the Kurtz people beginning to live their lives through Virtual Robotic Mimicry as they termed it. VRM was government sponsored and had spread like wildfire when first introduced.

  The Kurtz had gone as far as making their robots as similar looking to themselves as they could. Hershen had been ill at ease during his visit when he had discovered that an hour long conversation had been had with his brother's VRM instead of with his brother in person. I wondered how long it would be before the robots of Earth were covered with flesh and hair. Many aspects of it seemed very wrong. I found it all disturbing.

  With the intelligence extracted from Shtia, AMP Command sent a scout ship to the Frekkin's last known location. As expected, they had already moved on. Shtia had led on that the entire Frekkin people, as well as the Por Hollis, were living in one giant globe ship matrix that they would move whenever needed. With Shtia's capture, that need for a move had arisen.

  The Mundari assimilation into the AMP continued. In less than a year most of the technologies available had been transferred between all of the species where all could benefit. Every adult Human and every adult Kurtz now had a personal VRM that could be used to do any or all of the tasks required of being a citizen.

  There were grumblings by many parents over not having VRMs for their children but the AMP Council of Governance had decided that children needed to grow and experience life in their natural bodies so that they could function, if needed, on their own. I felt it was a wise decision that every citizen knows what it was like to work, to interact and to have their lives in danger from the real world. When living through a VRM there was no real danger to the controller.

  Over the next several years there were no sightings of either the Ogle or the Frekkin. The AMP had spy drones camped out near the Meche worlds, but no suspicious activity was taken note of. I beg
an to wonder if the Frekkin had possibly discovered the Ogle home world and with that discovery had launched an attack. I could think of no other explanation as to why both species had not been heard from.

  I had requested that Hershen and I once again be given control of the Jacques for journeys of exploration into the unknown. My ambassadorial duties had become stale with no real benefit derived from my presence. I still had many friends at AMP Command and my request was quickly honored.

  I was given my choice of a science officer and an engineer. My first thoughts were of Boota, but I did not feel the Kurtz would be comfortable with my choice. Boota was among their chief scientists and of too high a value to his people. So, I instead asked for volunteers.

  A number of resumes were scanned with a choice of Beatrice Frederick for the engineering position. She had an impressive list of accomplishments, but had yet to set foot in space. For the science position, Hershen selected Mika Honnes. She was a well-regarded Nickarian scientist with a background in anthropology. She would also easily double as our linguistics officer.

  The Jacques was refitted with the latest gear available from AMP Command. It remained the only ship in the fleet with an active Cesium reactor and multiple static field shielding. Designs for other ships were in the works, but none had yet to make it into the physical world.

  With the ship upgrades complete and supplies restocked I asked Hershen what destination he thought worthy of our exploration. He only thought for a moment before stating that the Cat's Eye nebula would make for a fascinating journey. I agreed and the course headings were entered into the Jacques computer.