by T. R. Harris
The group set off toward the tall metal beam two hundred feet away, J’nae in the lead. Three distinct trails converged at the location, with a mound of rock ten feet high surrounding the column. They encircled the support beam, thrilled to find a door set in the shiny metal. Adam ran his hand along the surface. No signs of rust or deterioration, even after three billion years. This definitely wasn’t normal steel.
There was no knob or entry keypad on the door—
Adam heard a clicking sound behind him; he tensed but didn’t turn immediately. He looked to the others. They had heard it too. Adam turned slightly to his left, while placing his right hand on the handle of his flash weapon. He heard the sound again, this time louder.
He dropped to one knee and turned, pulling the bolt launcher from its holster. He pointed the weapon at the top of a mound of boulders—and at the spindly metal creature sitting atop it.
It resembled a large dog, but one made entirely of metal and covered in a mesh of wire revealing the inner workings. The large head featured an elongated mouth with multiple rows of uniform metal teeth, all tipped with needle-sharp points. Black eyes stared down at him, unblinking and uncaring.
The creature sprang, its mouth now open impossible wide. Adam jumped to his side, soaring through the air twenty feet before rolling on his right shoulder and assuming firing position. The gravity of this artificial world must have been lighter than he assumed, because even for Adam, it was quite a leap. He fired his weapon.
The bolt struck the robotic attack dog while it was still in flight. The bolt penetrated the mesh skin before being absorbed by the various electronics within the body. Sparks flew and the creature shuddered before landing on the metal floor and skidding to a stop at Panur’s feet.
Adam looked behind and above the mutant, as another of the metal dogs appeared. It jumped, landing on Panur’s back. Four-inch long, needle-sharp teeth sank into his gray flesh, biting at his narrow shoulder and then onto his neck. Panur stood there, letting the mechanical beast have its way with him, even looking bored and annoyed. Eventually, he reached a slender arm over and grabbed the dog around the neck. He squeezed, collapsing the wire and metal frame as if it was made of cardboard. The robot didn’t make a sound as its body went limp. Panur tossed it aside.
There was clicking off to Adam’s right; he turned in time to see Trimen place a brilliant blue-white bolt into the mouth of another mechanical dog flying through the air toward him. The Formilian calmly stepped aside as the sparking robot flew by him.
The team circled the stanchion, looking for more threats coming their way. All was quiet and still.
“That answers the question regarding other defensive measures,” Panur said with little emotion. The bite marks on his shoulder and neck were long gone, the only trace of the attack being the ripped cloth of this one-piece uniform. The collar material was still intact, so the garment didn’t fall from his body. He turned his attention to the door in the support beam.
He rubbed his fingers along the surface and then the doorframe. Then he placed his hand at the center of the door and pushed. The panel recessed a couple of inches before sliding sideways.
He turned to Adam. “Why would they need locks?”
Adam shrugged.
Beyond the door was a simple room lined with metal. It resembled an elevator, if there had been floor buttons. Instead, the walls were smooth and seamless. Panur stepped inside, followed by the others, after which the door slid shut without any coaxing.
72
The elevator began to move down, not fast, but slowly, methodically. It came to a stop without notice and the door slid open. They stepped out into a large receiving room. Adam was relieved to see that it had normal dimensions, along the line of fifty by fifty, rather than the vast expanse of the prior floor. They had reached the living level for the Aris.
A four-and-a-half-inch diameter, green-tinted orb floated in the air at Adam’s eye level.
Adam rushed forward. “Zee! I’m glad to—”
A ray of white light shot out from the globe, striking Adam in the head. He was blinded and staggered by the blast, tumbling back into J’nae’s massive body. Panur stepped between the orb and Adam.
“I assume you know that I will simply absorb the energy and become stronger as a consequence?”
The globe floated inches from Panur’s gray face; Adam got the impression it was staring at him even though no eyes were present on the green surface.
I am not Zee, Adam heard in his mind.
Then who are you? Panur asked mentally. Both Adam and Trimen carried Formilian brain interface devices, so they could hear the conversation with the orb. The mutants didn’t need ATD’s to do the same.
I am Ri, assigned to Jos. You have breached the outer layers. How?
Before Panur could answer, Adam heard a low hum in his mind. The Aris service module—Ri—seemed to pause, listening. Then its awareness returned to Panur.
You will follow me. My master wishes to speak with you.
The orb began to float away. J’nae lifted Adam up by his underarms and placed him upright on the floor. She slipped past him and joined Panur and Trimen as they followed the ball across the room.
Adam was the last to follow.
They entered through a vast portal into a chamber with a dome ceiling—or what Adam assumed was a ceiling. Above was a blaze of stars, appearing near and far at the same time. The entire skyscape was in motion. Being inside the huge space station meant this had to be a projection, a very life-like projection.
A frail looking figure stood off to the left, a gown of light blue covering the thin frame. The features were standard Prime: two almond-shaped eyes, a thin nose and a wide mouth. The head was hairless, while two small ears balanced out the face. Long hands extended from the sleeves of the gown, four fingers and an opposable thumb.
Adam had speculated why the Aris would look like Primes, concluding that they were probably the originals, with most advanced life in the galaxy modeled after them.
The alien’s eyes were piercing blue and they watched the visitors approach with a mix of curiosity and concern in the orbs.
Ri, the service module, landed on a small table next to the Aris. The globe had referred to its master as Jos; Adam assumed this was he. The alien stepped forward, walking slowly along the line of visitors to his world, starting first with J’nae, then Panur, Trimen and finally Adam. He peered into the eyes of the Human with an intensity that made Adam uneasy.
“You are the birth father, the one referred to as Adam Cain.”
“Where’s Lila?” Adam tried to sound unafraid and forceful. It didn’t work.
“In time, all will be revealed,” said the Aris. “I find it admirable that you have made it this far in the quest to retrieve your mutant offspring. The paternal instinct must be stronger than we anticipated.” He glanced to the others in Adam’s team. “Yet I see you had help.”
Jos stepped back, and a moment later all four of the visitors were enclosed in glowing blue bubbles of the interphase effect. None of them activated their countermeasures, however, content to let the Aris believe they were trapped in their shimmering blue prisons. Adam gave a mental shrug; none of them knew if Panur’s device would work, they would have to take it on faith.
Three more Aris entered the room through side portals. None seemed very upset with the intrusion, more curious than concerned. Unlike the last time Adam had seen them, they were in normal space and not encased in the blue bubbles. For his part, Adam didn’t feel any different. He could still sense the floor beneath his feet and see clearly through the thin film of the containment sphere.
To Adam’s surprise, he noticed each of the Aris had distinctive features. He’d been expecting a homogenous blending of features making each alien hard to distinguish from the other. One of the new Aris stepped up to Adam’s bubble.
“We meet again, Adam Cain,” said the alien verbally. His face was smooth and pale, yet this one had deep brown eyes
with only a trace of wrinkles at the edges, giving him an almost jovial look. “You are taking time to realize now how similar we are in features,” said the creature. “You are correct in your assumption. Nearly all creatures you call Prime can trace their origins back to us. This is not because of one extensive seeding program, but from numerous experiments conducted over thousands of years by my kind.”
He turned to look at the others in the blue bubbles. “You can imagine how fortunate we surviving Aris are to see the end result of our many experiments, of which some have been more successful than others.”
He stepped over to Panur and regarded the squat gray alien for a moment. “I am called Nunki. If you wish to speak literally then you can use that name. Mentally, the thoughts you project will identify the subject.” He leaned in closer to the shimmering screen, separating him and the mutant by only inches. “You are not one of our creations. You are Panur; the Apex Being has spoken of you.”
“What has she told you?” Panur asked evenly.
“Do not be alarmed. She has not revealed anything that is not to your liking. In fact, it is because of her revelations about you that she still exists in a single form.”
The other Aris clustered around Panur and J’nae, ignoring the primitive Human and Formilian. Adam was okay with this, even though he was worried that the Aris could still read his thoughts, either directly or through his ATD. If they could, it would be very hard to plan the unexpected. He needed a definitive answer to his dilemma. It would be a risk, but without verification, any attempt to escape would be futile.
Without accessing his ATD, he let out an intense thought: I’m going to activate the interphase jamming device, pull my M-101, and waste every last one of you stinking aliens. It seemed like something he would be thinking. He reached into his pocket and found the control box. He waited for a reaction from the Aris.
There was none.
Next, he accessed his ATD and sent out a thought.
Can we see her? he asked mentally.
The Aris named Nunki looked down the line at Adam. “Do you not trust my assertion that she is well?” he said aloud.
“Can you blame me…we just met?”
The pale-skinned alien smiled. “Yes, you may see her.”
Adam had his proof. He could think freely, so long as he didn’t link his brain with the ATD.
His experiment had the added benefit of producing Lila. His mutant daughter entered through an open portal, unaccompanied and free of an interphase prison, and with a small, greenish orb held in both hands before her.
Zee? Adam asked through his ATD.
It is I, Adam Cain. I am both pleased and saddened to see you again.
Lila, can you hear me?
Yes, father. I, too, share Zee’s emotions. And Trimen has come as well. I appreciate the effort, yet I fear you may be helpless to save me…or yourselves.
Adam cut the link with his ATD. That’s what you think, he thought to himself. With Lila now present, what better time than now to initiate the rescue?
Adam pressed the button on the jamming device in his pocket, as his left hand gripped the stock of his M-101, ready to spin it around from his back and into firing position. The thin blue film separating himself from the Aris disappeared, and a moment later his weapon was leveled at the closest of the four aliens.
An invisible wall hit him hard, sending his body flying across the room and to the metal floor ten feet away. He was dazed, his vision blurry, with his arms extended to his sides, fingers gripping the air from involuntary muscle spasms.
The condition passed quickly and he was able to sit up. Two of the Aris were standing over him, wearing neutral expressions on their pale faces. One of them held up his right hand, palm facing Adam.
“We anticipated one of you taking such action once the Apex Being entered the room. There was a ninety-two percent probability it would be you, since you are the warrior of the group and carrying the most external armament, giving you a sense of confidence and power.” The alien glanced at his hand. “We have embedded in our hands a low-frequency sonic device. The signal cannot be heard audibly, yet it sends out a powerful sound wave that compresses the air into an almost solid moving force. It is non-lethal, yet can suppress an adversary, as you have seen. Now stop such nonsense. We do not intend you any harm. We only seek what is rightfully ours.”
Adam climbed to his feet. “Which is?”
“The end product of our experiments—immortality.”
73
The Aris had dissolved the interphase bubbles after they discovered Adam’s team had a way of countering them. But they did confiscate the jamming controllers, so technically it was no longer possible for them to escape the effect if the bubbles were reintroduced. The Aris didn’t seem concerned. With the revelation of their sonic devices, it opened up the possibility that they had other tricks up their sleeve—or under their skin.
Nunki asked Panur if he was going to cause problems, to which the mutant promised to behave. He and J’nae seemed to have crossed a figurative threshold, from intent to rescue Lila to being more curious and amazed by the Aris. Adam and Trimen didn’t feel the same. They are so far removed from the level of the Aris—as well as the mutants for that matter—that all this awe and wonder was wasted on them. They wouldn’t understand even if the aliens took the time to explain their every invention.
Still, that didn’t stop the Aris from trying.
Adam had seen it many times before. The people—or aliens—in a position of power were often so enamored with themselves that they spent far too much time explaining to the captives what powerful and intelligent beings they were. Adam called it the James Bond Syndrome, where the bad guy would give Bond a walking tour of his facility, revealing all its secrets and purpose, and giving the secret agent time to work out an escape plan. The Aris were no different. In fact, they were going overboard.
“What do you think of our facility?” Nunki asked Panur. “It has survived for three billion years; only stars and rock last as long—in addition to threads of life.”
“It is amazing,” Panur agreed. “However, it could not have survived for all that time intact. It would require constant maintenance…and more.”
“That is true. Please, all of you follow me. As you can imagine, we get so few visitors that it would bring us great pride to provide you a tour.”
The entourage moved off, leaving the huge reception room and entering a long corridor. They passed through a portal on the right and into a huge room populated by spindly robots—most walking on two thin legs, and others on four wheels.
“The facility is seven hundred miles in diameter, comprised of six levels, all within a narrow range to provide a relatively stable gravity from the generators below. You have probably already surmised that our deflection ring is just that, a means of protecting us from the low-level radiation streaming in from the space around us. All of this requires the upkeep and modifications you mentioned. We employ a workforce of six hundred robots and service modules at any given time, which also require maintenance and replacement as necessary.”
Nunki held out his hand and Zee materialized in his palm. “My personal module is by far the oldest, having been placed in a protective layer of rock at the beginning of the encasement period. It is not as advanced as the others, only able to teleport over short distances rather than hover in space. Over time, there have been three million, eight hundred thousand other modules constructed, placed in service and then retired, but not my special Zee.”
The next chamber they were led to was a vast room with row upon row of huge blocks reaching five stories high. There were ladders running diagonally across their faces, along with a myriad of electronics embedding in the metal surface.
“These are our Encasement Chambers,” Nunki narrated. “There are one hundred twenty-four of them.”
“Is that all of the Aris that are left?” J’nae asked. Her tone sounded…panicky almost to Adam.
The alien
turned to the mutant, a sad smile on his face. “At the end of our homeworld, there were only three hundred nine remaining Aris. They were the last born by natural means, with the oldest over eight thousand years old. When the encasement was first proposed, some of the Aris chose to not participate. One hundred twenty-four did, hence the chambers.”
“If your purpose was to cheat evolution, hadn’t you done that already with your extended lifespans,” J’nae asked. “Evolution primarily takes place through successive generations.”
“That is true, however there is still molecular and cellular modifications taking place within individuals. Yet this process takes time and is seldom observed during normal lifespans. With the enhanced life of the Aris, evolution was still occurring.”
“Enhanced?” Panur asked.
“Yes. The Aris have been able to extend our lifespan through the use of artificial methods, including organ replacements and other implants. Witness our ability to communicate telepathically. That is achieved by an implant vastly superior—yet similar too—that of the Formilian’s. And our sonic weapon is an implant as well, along with many others.”
The alien displayed sadness on his pale face. “It is from this fact that the search for immortality began.” Nunki walked up to one of the huge structures and ran his hand along the smooth surface. “We were encased in solid nitrogen, not only to suspend our bodily functions, but also to stop the molecular evolution that would take place over the term of our encasement.”
“I do not understand,” said Trimen. “You had already achieved immortality through your replacements and enhancements—at least immortality in practicality. Molecular evolution must be such a prolonged process compared to birth mutations that your longevity would be measured in the millions, if not billions of years.”
