Revolution: The Ship Series // Book Two

by Jerry Aubin

  Something nagged at Zax after a few mins of listening. The voice had been modulated to disguise the speaker, but there was something about the speech pattern that seemed familiar. As for the content of the message, Zax had no idea where this talk of slavery was coming from and who exactly might be hoarding what resources, but he agreed with the person’s assessment of the Ship. As long as he had been alive, it had been clear the pace of decay among the Ship’s critical systems was accelerating towards a point where all of their maintenance efforts would no longer keep ahead of the damage. Hell, it was amazing the FTL drive had lasted so long. It was the most critical system on board which also had no redundancy. It might not occur in his lifetime, but Zax was certain the Ship was sliding inexorably towards an irreparable state. The voice continued.

  “Even though all of us who have given this any significant thought have recognized the Ship’s condition will ultimately prove fatal and our Mission will fail, we never saw a better alternative than to press ahead and seek out the next new world in the next new system. What else could we do? Earth was behind us somewhere, but what would be the sense in going back to a dead planet. We’ve left plenty of colonies in our wake, but not a single one of those planets was sufficient to support the ten million of us who are awake, much less the billion who still wait in cryosleep. If there’s nothing behind us but death or misery, then why not press forward and hope for the best.

  “This equation changed one year ago, though the Crew’s leadership has done their utmost to keep this fact hidden. A group of Marines discovered irrefutable evidence the Ship is not the only representative of humanity traveling the stars. The image on the screen was taken during a planetary expedition and shows the wreckage of a fighter craft which is not associated with the Ship and yet is clearly human in origin. Look at the writing in the cockpit! Look at that picture of Earth! Even though the Omega puppets who lead the Crew and the Ship’s Artifical Intelligence which pulls their strings tried to suppress and discredit this evidence, I’m here today as emphatic proof it was impossible for them to do so. We are not alone! There are more humans traveling the stars—humans who have the means and ability to explore distant planets!”

  Zax didn’t need to be told the image of the human fighter was legitimate since he had seen the craft firsthand. He had never admitted this fact to anyone other than Kalare in an effort to protect himself but instead concocted a story where he was only passing along what Mikedo had sent him in her final message. When Zax first revealed the video, the Omegas who ran the Ship tried to bully the few people who saw it into forgetting about it altogether. When that strategy failed and news of the video became too widespread to ignore, they pursued a different approach. Alpha, the root node of the Ship’s AI, produced “evidence” showing how Mikedo’s video was a forgery. This proved sufficient for most Crew to drop their questions about the rumors. The civilians clearly hadn’t been as willing to accept those lies. Zax looked over at the Boss. The man seemed to be ignoring how the Omegas’ deception was being exposed and continued to stare at the wall opposite where he sat.

  “We know they’re out there somewhere. Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing where this new human homeworld might be. Do we ignore their existence and continue stumbling forward to serve our hopeless Mission, or do we take decisive action to find these other humans and seek refuge from our dying Ship? A handful of Omegas tried to decide for us, but I’m here today to say we reject their authority in this critical matter. We’re going to find the humans who built the spacecraft you see on your screen!

  “Much to the chagrin of the Captain, the Flight Boss, and all of the other Omegas who run the Ship, I am not stupid enough to believe that just wishing for these humans to appear will allow us to find them. The odds of us just stumbling across these other humans are infinitesimal given how we’ve seen evidence of their existence once in five thousand years. No—what we need is a strategy to give ourselves the best chance of finding them and we believe we’ve got just such a plan.

  “Starting today we will work our way backwards to visit the colonies the Ship has established in the last five thousand years. Each of these outposts represents a shining beacon we hope may have attracted the attention of these mysterious humans. Our goal is to find additional evidence along this path which will point us to where these humans are originating from. Ideally, these humans will have made contact with some of our colonists and may even be living alongside them.

  “What happens if we don’t cross paths with these humans as we retrace our steps? Well, there’s one last place where we may find evidence of who they are and where they may be. If all else fails, we will return to the very beginning of this Ship’s journey—Earth.”

  The image of the human fighter was replaced by an image of Earth. It remained by far the most beautiful and hospitable of all the planets the Ship had ever encountered. Humanity had come of age swimming in its blue oceans and gazing up at its white wispy clouds, and it seemed fitting to think the Ship might soon return. Zax knew in his heart the planet was dead and it was a foolish dream as a final destination, and yet deep in his marrow he felt a yearning for home at the notion he might see that lonely blue marble with his own two eyes. After letting Earth’s image soak in for a while, the voice spoke again with increased vehemence.

  “The Omegas made their decision to ignore the existence of other humans and press forward. We do not expect them to easily accept we have now chosen otherwise. We will help them to do so today. The Captain wants you to believe this is a ragtag group of civilians who will piss themselves out of fear when the first Marine in ChamWare appears out of thin air. We are not. We are half a million strong and we are prepared!”

  There was a collective gasp in the compartment as each member of the Crew envisioned five hundred thousand berserk civilians. There was no doubt the Marines were well-armed and wildly powerful, but with ten to one odds in their favor the civilians might stand a chance. And if they already had 5% of the civilian population engaged, Zax couldn’t help but wonder what would stop them from enlisting the other 95% and making those odds two hundred to one. Human history was chock full of insurgents who overcame great disparities in weaponry to win their cause.

  “The past year has not been full of random riots. Each and every activity has been part of a master plan and prepared us for today. We don’t want to harm anyone. We’re not trying to take the Ship away from the Crew. We believe you’re still the best people available to support our new goal of finding these other humans. We don’t believe your leadership is working towards the best interests of all the Ship’s inhabitants, however, so we’re going to help them see the error of their ways. Once they accept our plans, we’re prepared to return most aspects of life back to what they were just a short time ago. This is not a mutiny. We’re not going to send all of the Crew out an airlock. Unless you force us to.”

  The voice paused for a long moment to let those final words sink in.

  “That’s all for now. To those civilians not already involved, go back to your quarters. If we need your help, we’ll call for you. To the Crew who are not already held captive by my teams, I implore you to put down your arms and return to your quarters as well. We’ve disabled the Tube system, so, unfortunately, you’ll have to live like a civilian today and just walk.

  “Captain—please hear me clearly. You’ve already lost control of the Ship and there’s no need for any additional lives to be lost proving me right. I’ll report back once we’ve finalized our takeover and gotten commitment from the Omegas to move forward with our plans.”

  The screens did not fade to black as usual after newsvids but instead displayed the image of the human fightercraft. Zax looked at the Flight Boss and saw a smirk on his face. Even with his current situation, the Omega seemed to doubt the notion he had truly lost control of his Ship. The irony was not lost on Zax that he how sat captive alongside the man who was a prime target of this revolution—a revolution which Zax himself instigated a yea
r ago when he revealed the existence of other humans.

  CHAPTER TEN

  You can help them.

  The final words of the civilian’s speech still lingered in the air when Rege spoke.

  “All of you from Engineering should sit tight except the cadet. The Engineering cadet, along with the other two cadets, stand up. You get up as well, Mr. Flight Boss. And your little Marine too. I hate to break up our nice party here, but things will be more manageable if we get a few people separated.”

  Rege nodded in the direction of the burly civilian, and the man jabbed his blaster into Aleron’s back to get him moving. Kalare fell into line behind Aleron and Zax followed immediately behind her. They exited the compartment and after a few secs of walking down the passageway, Zax turned to check behind him. He received a whack between the eyes from the butt of a blaster for his trouble.

  “Eyes front!”

  Zax followed the instruction and swiveled his head back. His eyes watered from pain, but he had seen what he wanted to. The giant civilian at the head of their column was joined by three others. One walked directly behind Zax, one was behind the Boss with his rifle pointed at the man’s back, and the third trailed Bailee. The civilians appeared well-trained as they not only kept a tight formation but also left enough of a gap between the prisoners so they could react to sudden movements. Any action on the part of the Crew, especially while their hands remained bound, would most likely end with all of them shot dead.

  After a couple of turns down the passageway, the civilian at the front stopped and gestured towards a hatch.

  “Let’s keep the Boss and whitey in here. I want the three of you to stand guard outside the compartment once you get them locked in. I can handle the kids on my own. Keep an eye on that Marine. He looks like a tricky one. If he gives you any grief, come get me and I’ll happily take care of him for you.”

  The sergeant’s suppressed rage turned his face an even deeper shade of crimson once he was called “whitey” and shoved towards the hatch by a blaster to the back.

  Zax turned to follow Kalare and Aleron while the burly civilian took up the rear to herd the three cadets by himself. They walked for a few mins and made a left turn and then a right and then one more left. Along the way, they passed at least twelve more armed civilians who walked in twos and threes. All of them looked disciplined and purposeful to Zax. Eventually, their captor called for a halt in front of a compartment. He opened the hatch, pushed Aleron in, and then stood aside and gestured for Kalare and Zax to follow.

  “You three get comfortable. You’re gonna be here for quite a while as I don’t see any reason we’ll require you. We have more than enough Engineering Crew to get what we need.”

  The tone of the last sentence left sinking a feeling in the pit of Zax’s stomach. During the walk he had obsessed about how effective their collars would be as torture devices and feared for the fate of the Crew who remained in the Engineering command center. The civilian began to leave and Kalare spoke up.

  “Hey—I need to visit the head something fierce! Hey! Come on, don’t go. Please!”

  The civilian didn’t stop walking but looked back over his shoulder and replied, “Hold on. I’ll be right back.”

  He returned a moment later holding a bucket which he ceremoniously placed in the corner of the room and then gestured at with a sarcastic flourish. “Your throne awaits, ma’am. Turn around.”

  Kalare turned her back to the civilian who pulled a blade out of his boot and went to work on the bindings that held her hands.

  “That’s my blaster you feel in your back. I’ve got a real itchy trigger finger so don’t think about trying anything cute.” Once he had her hands freed, the civilian quickly backed out of reach towards the compartment hatch. “I’m going to leave now.”

  Kalare spoke out again. “Wait! You said we’re going to be in here for a while. What happens if one of them needs to go?”

  “You can help them.”

  “Ewww, no way! Come on. You’re just going to lock us in here anyways. Cut their bindings too in case one of them needs to take a leak. No way I’m touching their junk! You’re easily twice as big as any of us, plus you’ve got the blaster. Are you really that afraid of three kids you need to leave us tied up?”

  The civilian appeared on the verge of ignoring Kalare’s pleas but then decided otherwise. He raised his blaster to the ready position and made exaggerated motions to show he was aimed at Kalare and prepared to pull the trigger. He slid the blade across the floor towards her.

  “OK, you’ve charmed me. Cut their bindings as well, but if you so much as twitch an eye while doing so, all three of you are dead. I’m not supposed to kill anyone, but self-defense is self-defense.”

  Zax turned his back to Kalare and a moment later was relieved to feel his bindings removed and circulation returning in his hands. He was stepping away from Kalare so Aleron could approach when he noticed the hair on the back of his neck stand up and his body slide into weightlessness. Zax was about to identify the familiar cause of the sensations when the room faded to black and he was unconscious…

  …until he awoke what felt like an instant later and completed his thought. The Captain had engaged an FTL jump without warning. The three bells had woken Zax, which meant that gravity would return in less than one min. Zax quickly looked around. The cadets as well as the massive civilian were each floating in the zero-g which accompanied every FTL jump. Zax was the most alert of the Crew, but Kalare was almost fully conscious and Aleron wasn’t too far behind. The civilian remained out cold. This disparity was to be expected given how much conditioning the Crew received to help them react to the three bells and return quickly from the depths of the unconsciousness that remained an unsolved side effect of the FTL engine.

  Zax’s breakfast had left his stomach while he was unconscious and now danced in the air as well. He was more than a year removed from being Plugged in, and the medics had still not managed the proper calibration to prevent him from puking each time the Ship engaged the FTL engine. Zax had suffered from this malady for most of his life and had been long promised that getting his Plug would provide the cure, but he continued to earn the nickname “Puke Boy” which Aleron had bestowed upon him. He typically arranged his eating plans to avoid a full stomach before a jump, but of course this one was unplanned and his stomach hadn’t yet fully digested breakfast.

  While observing the remains of his breakfast, Zax spotted something critical. The civilian had dropped his blaster and it hung in the air between them—up for grabs. This must have been what the Captain intended by engaging the jump. Zax pictured Crew and Marines all around the Ship being presented with similar opportunities where their superior FTL training would allow them to regain the upper hand if they acted quickly enough.

  The complication was that Zax floated so far from any solid surface he was unable to push off and affect his movement. He stretched his legs until his toes barely reached the bulkhead. It wasn’t much leverage, but he established enough contact to impart the tiniest bit of momentum and directed his body towards the blaster in a slow glide.

  Zax kept an eye on the civilian as he floated for the weapon and was dismayed to see him return to consciousness scant secs later. The hulking man regained situational awareness almost immediately, and a wicked smile spread across his face as he realized what Zax was attempting. The civilian had a huge advantage over Zax because he was floating right up against the bulkhead. He quickly reoriented himself, coiled his full body to leverage his considerable strength, and pushed off towards the blaster.

  Even with a significant head start, Zax realized immediately the civilian’s acceleration advantage would be insurmountable in their zero-g race for the weapon. Physics often picked the most inopportune time to rear its head. Zax watched hopelessly as the civilian closed the distance first and wrapped his fingertips around the blaster’s barrel.

  The man was reorienting the blaster in his hands to grip it properly when the gra
vity generator reengaged. Zax cartwheeled to the ground and was winded as his weight returned and his full mass slammed into first his shoulder and then his back. Even as he saw stars from the impact, Zax maintained enough of his senses to hear the blaster clang out of the civilian’s grasp and rattle across the deck. It came to rest a few meters away, and Zax scuttled for it on his hands and knees.

  Zax grabbed the butt of the blaster and rolled over to face the civilian as he desperately fumbled to aim and pull the trigger. The man recovered from his own rough fall and charged at full speed. He launched himself at Zax in an effort to pin the blaster uselessly between them before he could fire.

  The force of the flying tackle would have knocked Zax out cold were it not for the fact the civilian’s foot slipped at the last instant (in a pile of half-digested eggs) and sent him slightly off target. Even so, Zax was slammed against the bulkhead with much of the man’s weight on top of him. He attempted to scramble out from under the civilian’s sprawl, but the man was double his mass and quickly pulled Zax back under him.

  The civilian’s enormous hands easily encircled Zax’s throat and squeezed. Zax fought for his life, but it was no contest given the size differential. Even with all of the panicked strength Zax could muster, his desperate flailing against the man’s arms had no effect. The civilian’s sadistic grin intensified and sweat beaded and dripped off his massive bald head. His vision began to fade and Zax was on the verge of blacking out when the man suddenly went wide-eyed. The tip of a blade appeared below his chin, and he released Zax’s neck to clutch desperately at his own. The civilian gagged on the blood which spurted out of his mouth until the blade turned 90 degrees and the man’s eyes went vacant. He keeled over and hit the deck with a lifeless thud.

  The last thing Zax saw before passing out was Kalare standing over the burly corpse with blood dripping off the knife in her hand.