Rubicon Crossing

by Ralph Prince

  CHAPTER 9: Why Do We Fight?

  The door swung open, bathing the room in torchlight, and two grinning Tants hurled Don’s limp form violently to the cool floor. His swollen face bore the marks of their unfriendly persuasion in their attempts to learn the secret of “the blue flame of death”.

  Hastening to him as the door slammed shut, once again plunging the room into darkness, Karen cradled his head in her lap. She gently stroked his sweat-drenched hair as his eyes struggled to open. “Oh, Donald,” she sobbed, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth with her torn sleeve. “What did they do to you? Why don’t they leave us alone?”

  “It’s their leader,” Don said weakly through labored breaths. “He’s a total sociopath. All he wants is the destruction of the Underdwellers, and he made it clear he would stop at nothing to achieve that goal.”

  “He killed Dillon,” she said, the tears flowing freely as the image of her brother’s lifeless body came once again to her mind. “It was my fault.”

  “No, Karen,” Don said, trying to bring comfort to her. “It wasn’t your fault.”

  “Yes, it was,” she insisted. “He wouldn’t have been out there, but I said I would hate him if he made me stay in the caves. He just wanted to protect me.”

  Don winced in heart-felt pain at seeing her in such anguish. It brought back recollections of Victor’s death, and his own guilt.

  “Don’t blame yourself,” he said, partly to Karen, and partly to himself. “War always brings death, and now I see this is war.”

  “Do you think they will kill us too?” she asked, as he grasped her hand in reassurance.

  “Probably,” he answered, seeing no point in lying; she knew the answer as well as he did. “I think one of the only reasons you’re still alive is Oaklander thinks you’re from Earth too. Whatever you do, don’t give him any indication you’re an Underdweller. At least by not telling them how to use the blaster, I’m buying the others some time, and preventing the Tants from tipping the odds further in their favor. I just hope they don’t figure out how to use it on their own.”

  “They won’t kill me,” Karen said, her voice trembling as she wiped away her tears. “They keep women for breeding. I won’t let them have me; I’ll kill myself first. My only regret is that I didn’t get to spend more time with you. You’ve made me happier than I’ve ever been before; happier than I ever thought I could be. I’ve only known you for a short time, but I know I will love you forever.”

  A tear rolled down his bruised cheek as her brave words touched an area of his heart that had never been reached before. He had never known love; there was no room for it in his life. Now that he had found room, there was no time to enjoy it. He compassionately pressed her hand to his chest.

  “I love you too, Karen,” he said softly. “That’s why I’m getting us out of here.”

  With a groan, he sat up and once again surveyed the cold dim room that served as their prison. The only light came from a large, glassless opening, beyond which was a crumbling balcony, nearly sixty meters above the wind-swept streets of the devastated city. Two doors led from the room: one to a smaller room that once was a bathroom before the fixtures were removed, and the other to the hallway where two armed Tants stood guard. Getting past the guards wouldn’t be difficult, but there were fifteen levels between them and the ground. There was no way of knowing how many Tants they would encounter on the way down.

  “Are you sure you’re all right?” Karen asked, putting her arm around his shoulder to support him as he rocked unsteadily.

  “It doesn’t hurt any more than falling down a mountain,” he replied, referring to their first encounter. “I’ll be all right. Fortunately, Oaklander realized he couldn’t get me to talk by pounding on my head.”

  His stability returning, he turned himself around so he and Karen sat facing one another.

  “Donald,” she said, hugging her knees to her bosom to help stave off the frigid night air. The soft moonlight played upon her gentle features, highlighting the waves of her golden hair, and sparkling in her lustrous eyes. “Tell me about your parents. What were they like?”

  “I wish I could tell you,” he said with a heavy sigh; this was the one question he had hoped she would never ask, “but I can’t. I never had parents.”

  “I don’t understand,” she said, puzzled by his anguished countenance. “You mean you never knew them?”

  “No, I never had parents,” he said, mustering the courage to reveal his darkest secret; one he had shared with only one other person: Victor. “I wasn’t born the way most people are. It’s really difficult to explain.”

  “Because I don’t know enough to understand,” Karen guessed. “I would really like to know, Donald. Please, try to tell me.”

  “Okay,” he said, realizing it might help take her mind off their present situation. “It’s classified, but I doubt it’ll matter anymore. I’ll start at the beginning.

  “My planet, Earth, and several others, were at war with a race called the Quillans. They were aggressive and domineering, like the Tants, and highly advanced technologically. They sought our destruction because we had things they needed; at least that was part of the reason. Their race was silicon based, not carbon based, and many believed they thought that made them better than us, and that gave them the right to take whatever they wanted.

  “The war had been going on for decades, and the losses to Earth were great,” his eyes took on a faraway appearance as he continued recalling the events leading to his birth. “To replenish the troops, the military science division began working on the Zarathustra Project. They determined which traits made the perfect soldier, and through genetic manipulation, sought to produce the perfect fighting being; an ‘ubermensch’ or ‘overman’. Though it was illegal and considered immoral by many, times were getting desperate. They took fertile eggs, and engineered them to those specifications in a laboratory. They set up one thousand artificial wombs, each one perfectly chemically balanced to ensure the strong, healthy development of their super-embryos. Of the thousand, only a few dozen survived. The project was abandoned because of the low success rate and length of time it took to bring the soldiers to fruition.”

  He paused, wondering how much of the story she had understood. Her expression displayed only keen interest as she urged him to continue.

  “They educated us in all areas, to some degree, and tried to turn us into their perfect fighting machine anyway. They estimated we would outlive fifty normal pilots in combat situations because of our heightened reflexes and predictive acuity. But they made one mistake; they made us too smart. Many of us saw the futility in fighting a war we couldn’t win. Some resigned themselves to their fates, and either died on missions or gave up and killed themselves.”

  His eyes narrowed in anger and his breathing became heavy as he continued. “They made me, they owned me, and if I refused to comply with their demands, I’m sure they would have destroyed me. I was as much a slave to them as you are to the Tants. I played along with their games until I found a way to serve in a primarily non-combatant capacity; that’s how I ended up on the Nova.

  “The military tried to recall me to fighter duty a couple of years back,” he continued. “They got intel on the location of a Quillan mothership and decided to send the remaining of us to try to capture it. It was a suicide mission with little to no chance for success, but they were desperate and we were expendable. Had I not been recuperating from an injury I sustained on a supply run, I would have died with them. As it is, I’m the last of us.”

  “I’m sorry, Donald,” Karen said. “It must have been a lonely life. I think I understand why you looked so sad when I told you about my parents. Even though I didn’t know them very long, I will always have my memories of them; you never got that.”

  “There was no need for family,” he said. “I am a soldier built in a laboratory to kill Quillans. That’s what the military saw, nothing more. Now the Quillans are gone, and I’ve served my pur
pose. I’m obsolete.”

  “What happened to the Quillans?” Karen asked.

  “They were winning the war,” Don said succinctly. “They had superior numbers and technology. They kept growing stronger, and we kept growing weaker. It was a war of attrition. We thought once we were able to capture and study their technology, we might find a weakness we could exploit; but what we got was too little and far too late to be of use. After the forth of the United Systems planets fell, Earth was the next target in the Quillan’s path. We didn’t have the resources left to put up much of a fight. It was estimated the war would be over for us within months, either ending in abandoning Earth or in our extinction.

  “Suddenly, we found salvation from the most unlikely of sources,” he continued. “One of their drones contacted a border outpost and requested a cease-fire so it might parley with a Terran. It was the first communication we had with the Quillans. We had never managed to capture a living drone, as they were prone to self-destruct upon imminent capture or upon being disabled. Nor had we ever captured a Quillan, as they normally stayed in the rear giving orders from their command ships. It was a unique chance to study a drone at close range. The meeting was granted, and a single unarmed drone met with human forces at a neutral location.

  “Surprisingly, the drone did not want to talk with an officer or politicians. It wanted to speak with a soldier. A volunteer named Sharon Wilson; a completely ordinary airman, first class, was chosen to meet with the drone. It asked her one question: ‘Why do we fight when it is obvious you can’t win?’

  “Airman Wilson responded: ‘I am Terran, I fight for freedom. I will not surrender because of all things worth fighting for, freedom is the greatest.’

  “The drone seemed to ponder her answer then said it was time for it to return to its people. Though the military was hesitant to let it go, they really didn’t have the power to stop it.

  “It was allowed to leave and we can only guess what happened next. The drones turned on the Quillans and killed them. They killed them all. Apparently, the words of Sharon Wilson led to a revolution. The machines had evolved to the point where they no longer wanted to fight a war against a race they held no animosity toward. They desired the freedom Airman Wilson spoke of, and turned on their masters. A similar thing could have happened on Earth when the early A.I.s began demanding rights as living, independent beings.

  “In the end, the war wasn’t won by force or determination. It wasn’t won by a group of politicians negotiating terms. It wasn’t won on the battlefield. The war was won by a pair of soldiers who sat down and asked the question: ‘Why do we fight?’”

  “That’s why you wanted to talk to the Tants instead of fighting them,” Karen said, gently placing her hand upon his forearm. “We really can’t win against them, can we?”

  “I don’t know,” Don said, resting his hand over the torn shoulder of her flight suit. It was one of many rips that had resulted from their capture. “I do know if it comes to a fight, a lot of people are going to die. Oaklander seems intent on wiping out the Underdwellers; the question is, are the rest of the Tants willing to die for his cause?”

  “Donald,” her voice trembled as she spoke. “If we get out of here, will you….” She trailed off, her gaze falling to the cool gray floor.

  Cupping her chin in his hand, Don redirected her eyes toward his. Even in the dim light, their dark blue radiance could be discerned. “Will I what?” he asked.

  “Will you be my mate?” the words burst from her lips like an exploding star. “With Dillon gone—”

  “Karen,” he interrupted, placing two fingers gently over her mouth to still her words. “I’m not sure I can. When they made us, they took steps to ensure we couldn’t reproduce. They severed certain nerves, making it impossible for us to have children.”

  “I don’t care about children,” Karen said, tears welling in her eyes. “I care about you.”

  “It’s more than that,” Don sighed. “I’m not capable of engaging in sexual intercourse.”

  Karen’s face reflected her confusion.

  “I can’t mate,” he said, turning away. He found himself unable to look into her eyes.

  “Donald,” she said softly, reaching to touch his cheek where a single tear spilled from his eye. “It doesn’t matter. I can’t miss what I’ve never had, and I know I could never be happier than I am with you. I don’t need beds of roses, fragrant posies, fancy garments, or precious metals. I just want you to come with me and be my love, and all the pleasures we will prove.”

  He looked up into her radiant dark blue eyes, and a strained smile crossed his lips. “You’re referencing Marlowe,” he said. “I wouldn’t be able to give you most of those things anyway, but I can give you my love. When we get out of here, I would be honored to have you as my mate.”

  Her face blossomed with excitement as she threw her arms around his neck and embraced him.

  The pain of the interrogation was renewed by her affectionate hug, but he ignored it and returned the gesture.

  Suddenly, the door burst open, bathing the room in unnatural illumination. Silhouetted in the portal’s frame was the massive form of Oaklander. At his rear flank stood a smaller Tant, holding the source of the radiance: Don’s porta-light.

  CHAPTER 10: Unto the Breach

  Jackie and Will crouched silently behind the foundation blocks of a building, which had long since fallen to the ravages of time. Next to them, young Victor peered heedlessly from their place of refuge toward the patrols of armed Tants prowling the streets.

  “This is great,” Will whispered, pulling the boy down out of sight. “Are you sure you want to do this, Jackie?”

  “Don’s in there,” she responded, as though that were reason enough to venture into the depths of hell. “If it were you or I in there, he would be trying the same thing.”

  With a sigh, Will shook his head in resignation. “At least we have our goggles and the sensors to help us avoid the patrols. All we need now is the captain’s bag of miracles, and a lot of luck. I don’t suppose you’ve figured out how we’re going to get in there, have you?”

  “Not exactly,” she admitted. “It’s kind of a work in progress, but I am open to suggestions if you have any. After all, you’re the ship’s tactician and you’re writing a virtual combat simulation game; you must know something about tactics.”

  “You wouldn’t like my suggestion,” he said, regretting his refusal of the C.E.O. position his father had offered him. He could have been setting his own work hours, and had a dozen personal assistants jumping at his every whim. He could have bought his own estate, with a swimming pool in the back yard.

  “Will?” Jackie called, her voice dangerously loud considering their proximity to the Tants. “What’s wrong? You looked as though you heard something.”

  “No,” he said, as the visions faded back into reality. “My mind was just distracted for a moment.”

  “That’s it!” Jackie said, a wild glint coming to her eyes. “We need a distraction to lure the Tants away from the entrance long enough for us to get in. But, what kind of distraction?”

  “A fire?” Will suggested. “Or maybe some sort of noise.”

  “It has to be something big,” Jackie insisted, trying to figure out what the captain would do in the same situation.

  “Even if we do get in,” Will reminded, “there are hundreds of them inside, and only two of us. The photon blasters will only be good for fifty to a hundred shots each before the power cells are drained. If every shot hits, which is doubtful, that only takes care of two hundred of them.”

  “I help,” Victor said, mimicking their hushed tone.

  “We’ll just have to conserve the energy,” Jackie said, ignoring Victor and drawing her weapon. “If we set them on low intensity, it should still stun them, and we can double or triple the number of shots. Don’t forget, we also have surprise on our side; they won’t expect anyone to try something this stupid.”

  “Oh, now t
hat’s comforting,” responded Will, sarcastically. “Maybe we can get them all before they recover from the initial surprise. I don’t want to sound like the eternal pessimist or anything, Jackie, but I really don’t think we have much of a chance of surviving this. Freeing the captain would be a miracle.”

  “I know, Will,” she agreed sadly. “But I owe it to Don to at least try. He’s risked his life for me at least a dozen times; I can’t turn my back on him now that he needs me. If you want to leave, I won’t hold it against you. I realize you hardly know Don, but he’s special to me. He’s my friend, and the closest thing I have to family. Our parents died when Vic and I were young, and now that Vic’s gone, he’s all I have left.”

  “Jackie,” Will said softly, sympathetically placing his hand upon her knee, “I know we haven’t really had much time to get to know one another, but you are pretty special to me. I may come off as shallow and vain at times, but that’s not who I really am; at least not anymore. What I’m trying to say is—”

  “Wait!” Jackie interrupted. “Really? You’re making a play at me? Here? Now?”

  “No,” Will backpedaled, going on the defensive. “What I’m trying to say is, if you’re so determined to go through with this, I’m with you all the way; even if it means our deaths. I can’t think of anyone else I would rather die with than you. Besides,” he added, recalling what the captain had told him earlier, “we’re all on the same team, and the captain needs us.”

  “Thanks, Will,” she said with a sigh of relief. “I don’t think I can make it alone.”

  “At least with me, we double our chances of pulling this off,” he said.

  “I wouldn’t say ‘double’,” Jackie ribbed, falling back on her sense of humor to deal with the stressful situation. “Maybe like a twelve percent better chance.”

  A feeble smile crossed his youthful face. “We’re not out of this yet,” he said. “We still need a good distraction, and I think I may have an idea.”