Warship (The Outsider Series Book 3)

by Steven Oaks

  “But the success of his capture could lead us to capture all three. If we do that, then we would no longer have to worry about the Outsiders at all. And we would not have to risk a direct attack against them. Either way we handle this situation could cause an all out war. If our planned attack doesn't work it could cause the same outcome, even if their ship is destroyed, Adam would be free on Earth. I think the best thing we could do is try to capture all the Outsiders. As I am so far unable to be influenced by Ava, we could even capture her while she tries to question you. That of course is if she questions you again. I assume she will as we are the first to have been in charge of collecting from a colony. They will be curious as to how it affected you. I assume they will all at some point wish to talk with you,” he asserted.

  I sighed deeply and said, “Perhaps you are correct. As the Athene of the ship has reinforced herself against mental attacks while processing the Outsiders we might as well see if we can do it. If we fail, we always have direct attacks to fall back on. It will take two months for me to travel back, and in that time many more ships can be made for that attack. Perhaps it's best we get this over with as quickly as possible. I'll head back, and hope we can capture one or all of them. In the meantime I would suggest I be followed by our fleet, and if we fail in our attempt, attack immediately. That way it will give them little time to prepare.”

  “There is very little matter we can use while traveling to create other versions of ourselves. We would have to follow after you leave,” he said concerned.

  “It was said it would take five days to create the number necessary to overpower their gravity defense. I think I can stall that long, but on the fifth day of my arrival I will strike. If an opportunity presents itself to us before that time, I shall take it. If on my return I am immediately to be interrogated by Ava I will ask Athene to capture her. I'm weakest against her abilities. If she asks the right questions, and I'm unable to withhold secrets, we might as well act. If we are unable to capture her I will ask Athene to self destruct, and will prevent them from creating a fleet to counter us. That will keep the secret others are working against them. They will be unprepared for your arrival, and it will be necessary to destroy whatever remains of them,” I said with conviction.

  “Michael none of us wish to see you killed. Would it not be better to have us make a copy of you to go in your stead?” he asked.

  “They would notice that deception immediately. I have to give you time enough to act. They will never board a ship they noticed any anomaly from. I have to go. The possibility of my death is not one-hundred percent, and I can be useful as a distraction without causing suspicion,” I said, trying not to sound upset by the possibility of my own death.

  We stood there in silence for what seemed to be forever, but eventually the silence was broken by a shuffling of feet from a gathering of people forming around us. These people had the dead eyes I had come to recognize as those who no longer had their minds intact. My male companion wandered over to them, and as he laid hands upon each in turn, they dispersed to inspect the fence row and the gathering herd of animals. The smell of the creatures was filling the air about us, tainting the clean breeze that I had been enjoying until that point.

  Seeing the ship had ceased to hover over the herd to suspend itself above me, I turned to face it, and somehow knowing my intentions steps descended to meet the earth before my feet. I looked back to see if the male version of Athene would be joining me, but he seemed engrossed in instructing those about him. Shrugging my shoulders, knowing the conversation would continue with him even though I was no longer in his presence, I made my way back into my ship.

  I wondered if there was anything I must do before we left, and I could think of nothing. I had limited my interactions with the people here. I had feared I would cause them discomfort as I still had a close connection with the Outsiders they despised. That and I felt uncomfortable under their gaze. Having revived Jacob first, I had allowed him to instruct them as to the changing scenario when they disembarked. I had retreated into the safety and seclusion inside Athene and left him to it. That first day I set the precedent of rarely leaving the ship to go amongst these colonists I had brought with me.

  There was nothing here for me as I had never made the attempt to make it a home. I did what I could for them, using Athene, but that was the limit of my interaction. Today, and the many days before where I would go out to hunt down the location of animals were all that was asked of me. Everything else had been done through Mr. Thompson's duplicate, and Jacob. Supplies had been made, but little else. They had been able to fashion tools and the like from the local forest, but the metal they used was again manufactured by the many Athenes around the area. We allowed them to have food as well, with the understanding they would have to farm for themselves when the weather warmed up.

  Now with the new knowledge we would give them I did not know how they would function, but I knew there was a purpose for allowing them to experiment with it. I hoped they would survive the revolution of technology.

  Finding myself once more in Athene's lounge, I stripped off the remaining layers of the suit I had been wearing, revealing the simple clothes I wore underneath. Flinging it aside a hand reached out to retrieve it from midair, and pulled it away into some area Athene stored such things.

  Finally, only wearing my jeans and a simple blue t-shirt I allowed myself the pleasure of sitting down in the luxurious chair near the entrance.

  “Are we nearly ready for our return trip Athene?” I asked.

  “We will need to load up bodies for our return,” she said.

  I grunted, feeling upset, and said, “I know they are no longer people, but those we put into cold storage with their minds wiped will still have to be killed for them to be believably dead for the Outsiders.”

  “As you say, they are no longer people. We have decided using random numbers we will return with 8. That means we will have to age them slightly, and put into their minds memories of being out amongst the town. The facility version of myself has been doing so since our meeting earlier. Nothing to give us away will be included, but it will be based upon the instructions Mr. Thompson had, and what actually happened. Nothing to arouse their suspicions, but still slightly different from what they would have been up to without your presence. As for their deaths, it will be shown to have been from heart related failures, as the town is relatively safe from accidents. The eldest of the group will be taken, as they are the most likely to have died in the time span they have been here,” she said calmly.

  “I'm not sure how I should interpret your non emotional response. These were people after all,” I said, troubled.

  “They were people, but they were no longer once they reached this planet. They were automatons that just happened to have human bodies. They died months before this, and were merely animated by Outsider technology. If you wish to feel bad for them, feel bad they were already destroyed,” she said, almost coldly.

  Sighing, and not wishing to fight over this, I said, “I know Athene. I just hate all of this. The Outsiders using and manipulating people.”

  “That is why we are fighting back against them. If they were peaceful, and did not use immoral methods to their own ends, we would not have cause to struggle against them. This just shows we are justified to eliminate their influence upon humanity,” she proclaimed passionately.

  Nodding my head in resignation, I said, “That's all true Athene, and I suppose there is nothing to do but go on and return with them. I still can't help but feel responsible for their deaths though.”

  “You have done nothing to cause this. You just happen to be the first sent here. If you had not been, Mr. Thompson might have been able to continue on using them, and would have taken over any other ship that came here. We would have two enemies to fight then. The original Outsiders, and him. He could have created a fleet just as easily as we are, and with less scrutiny. He seemed to have no morals stopping him from taking over anything in his way
, or what was useful to him. He could have returned to Earth and destroyed the Outsiders himself. While good in the immediate, there would be nothing to stop him from then taking over the entire planet. I still find it strange that the Outsiders did not do this in the first place. It all seems so complicated considering the power they wield,” she mused.

  “Perhaps this method just happens to be one with the least exertion on their part. Make us feed our dead to them ourselves. Make us grow and expand on our own. All they had to do was supply us with a few ships, and now they get what they came for. Certainly it appears they manipulated some of our leaders, but again they did not have to do it with the rest of humanity. It seems they are doing as little as possible to turn us into a society where we do as they wish. The anomaly was Mr. Thompson and the conversion of the original colonists. Perhaps they just feared what people would do if they weren't being watched, and lead to his creation and the destruction of the minds of those sent here,” I concluded, disheartened.

  “If we were to look at them as perhaps not lazy, but efficient, what will that tell us?” Athene questioned.

  I sat and thought about this for a minute. It seemed they did not interfere as much as they could. They merely set up an exchange, and caused a few to follow their instructions blindly. They had not even done anything directly to me. They could have easily made me a slave to their whims, but they had not. If I was how they handled the rest of the pilots, then we were still free agents. It would have taken very little to convert me and the others. I had even met Ava face to face, and all she had done was interrogate me.

  “Perhaps they have a code they have to live by. One that says to interfere as little as possible. Though I would say even their arrival and announcement, that we were not alone in this universe, is a large intrusion in our development. Then giving us the ability to manufacture ships that can travel deep into space would be another. I find their methods confusing based upon the assumption they wish not to interfere,” I said, puzzled.

  “I did not postulate they wish little interference with human development. Merely they are being efficient. They used as little manipulation as was needed to push humanity to surrender their dead. They also offered the ability to populate other worlds, which in itself will allow you to grow your population. Causing even more dead to be available for harvest. They did not offer the ability to create the engines that power those ships; however, so you would be unable to run away from them. Though if they truly feared that, they should have caused the pilots they are using to be influenced by Ava. Perhaps they felt the ship's AI to be enough to rely on, but that turns out to not be true in our case,” she observed with a hint of a smile in her voice.

  “They must have feared the possibility though. They put a bomb inside you so you wouldn't turn against them, along with the programming to follow their orders over any other desire,” I retorted.

  “That is true. I am unsure why they would do this. Mr. Thompson was not given any details on their plans. He merely was given an order to develop this colony. They could have given any human under Ava's influence the job at that point. Except for the fact he would have not been able to control the mind wiped colonists that came with him. Their extreme caution at some points, and their lack of it at others, is unusual,” she concluded.

  “Perhaps they predicted some possible greater expenditure of power if they didn't do things in a certain way. If the colony here suddenly developed a hatred for them, for example, they would have to come here themselves and do something about it. Sending a group of people under the control of Mr. Thompson would make sure that would be unlikely. And having a bomb in place inside you would stave off any undue actions on your part, though we were able to route around that. As for why they didn't cause pilots like myself to come under Ava's direct influence, it could be that it's not permanent. If we were to suddenly come to our senses out here alone, then that might make us develop a hatred towards them. I know I would want to strike back against them for changing my mind. Had I not been aware that Ava was manipulating me when she met with me on their ship, I may have just felt I had developed a strong desire for her. It seemed as though I was falling in love with her when we talked. It was powerful, but subtle enough that I could've convinced myself it was my own emotion,” I asserted.

  “If her influence is not permanent then why try to sway the leaders of countries at all? Would they not then realize their mistake later?” Athene asked.

  “I think it might be different with politicians. They usually have to stay the course, or be considered a flip-flopper. If they implement a plan, and then suddenly decided to stop work on it, they would be seen as wasting taxpayer money and the like. Even if they become upset at a later date, they would have no way to strike back against the Outsiders without harming themselves,” I maintained.

  “They could still act by using the media. They could bring to light the almost unanimous dissatisfaction of the public. Then using that as a basis for changing policies, they would seem to be forced to stop contact with the Outsiders,” she challenged.

  “Again true, but we don't know their fears. Perhaps they think if they could be influenced, others might be as well. They might fear their co-workers are still under control, and would report them before any action might take place. Honestly if they wanted to strike back they should have done so by now. They haven't, so I don't think it will ever happen. This is of course only if Ava's abilities are not long lasting. We really don't know. Perhaps without you being with me I would have never been able to shake off the growing desire within me. The best we can hope for is if, and when, we get rid of the Outsiders, those in power will not become upset and set the whole of the world's arsenal against us,” I said with a sigh.

  “They cannot hope to injure you as you will be protected by me. I am nearly as powerful as the Outsiders main ship, and can take as many nuclear bombs as they can fire,” she said, proudly.

  “I know, but it would make going home hard. I'd no longer be able to wander the streets in peace, and would probably wind up being arrested. Not a horrible price for saving humanity, but still one I'd wish to avoid,” I ventured, chagrined.

  “Until they gain the power the Outsiders possess to utilize gravity for propulsion they would be reliant on you to continue the colonization of other worlds,” she insisted, trying to raise my hopes.

  “Not me, you. I don't know how to construct such things. You and your sisters are the only ones who would be able to do so. That and the other ships the Outsiders made for us pilots, who knows how they'll react? Perhaps they will retaliate on their own. Perhaps simply knocking out their main ship will lead to a war amongst the remaining pilots and ships,” I lamented, losing hope.

  “If they are anything like me they have no power to destroy, other than the bombs they likely have on board. There are no instructions inside me to activate them unless we disobey commands. If there are no commands given, they should not self destruct. Though you raise a good point, we will have to deal with the other pilots. It could be they are happy with their lot in life and do not chafe under the oppressive reign of the Outsiders. They may look to our behavior as reason for our destruction, though if they try they will be fighting against a fleet much larger than the numbers they possess. That and they would not be organized as they have been forced to remain ostracized from other pilots,” she argued.

  “So what do you think we should do about them? That is, after we handle the main problem of the Outsiders,” I asked.

  “That will depend on what we can learn before we attack. You will be returning to capture Adam. It is possible there is something in his memories we can use against them. It is even possible an attack might not be necessary. Again we are left with little information, but we have hope there is more to be gained in subterfuge than a direct assault,” she confessed.

  “When Pandora opened the box many horrible things were released. Hope was numbered among those things. Some look to that and see even in the most horrible situ
ations there is a positive to be found. In my darkest depression I sometimes wonder if hope is another of those horrible things. It's based upon nothing, and can make you try to be optimistic when you should be the most pessimistic. Failure is not an option here. The plan to have the others come directly after us is pessimistic and our only hope for success if we cannot contain Adam. But at that point the version of you that is with me, and myself, will likely be destroyed. No longer will I be there to help. No longer will I be able to know if we ultimately succeed. I may hope for a good outcome, but it doesn't mean one will arise,” I pointed out, becoming depressed.

  “Do you now wish to forgo your return and rely on the growing fleet to solve the problem?” Athene asked softly and with a hint of hope in her voice.

  “No Athene, I'm just stressed. I would rather not die of course, but I want to have covered all possibilities before we try to destroy anything. Like Mr. Thompson, we will be destroying Adam, though I think it might lessen the possibility of more destruction. There is very little happiness to come from war, and that is what we are about to attempt. If only there was a way for us to understand the Outsiders, we could perhaps come to a mutual agreement. But they simply came in, under the guise of peace, and forced their wishes upon us. We have named them Outsiders, but we don't even know if they are the ones in control of their own fate. There could be a whole other species controlling them like puppets. They may have no choice in what they do, and have been left to harvest humanity in the way specified by these unknown creatures,” I said, unhappily.

  “If that is the case, then might our attack upon their creations cause another war to begin?” she asked, worried.

  “There are so many unknowns, anything might be possible. They may see we won't stand for their tyranny and leave us alone, or they may wipe us out. How can anyone predict the reaction of something that isn't like us? They might even befriend us out of respect for our own strength. I have no idea, but if we get Adam at least some things should become clear,” I answered with frustration.