“That sounds nice,” he said tepidly. “But, if you don't mind, I need to close my eyes. I've got the worst headache.”
“Oh,” She withdrew her hand. “Sorry to hear it. You'll let me know if I can help—neck rub maybe?”
“No, I'll be fine. Just need to catch some z's.” He rolled away from Indigo and pretended, for the remainder of the flight, to sleep.
FIFTEEN
Two months out from Reglic the food supplies were completely exhausted. I even fed Ffffuttoe the culture media for bacterial growth, which she loved. Three weeks after that, she began acting oddly. She slept more and more, and rarely spoke. With years remaining before I had a chance to resupply, I figured the end was near. She remained upbeat, however, when we did talk. One day she crawled up next to me and spoke. “Ffffuttoe sleep now. Wake Ffffuttoe when food back.”
I guessed she was blindly optimistic. Yes, she'd sleep, but it was going to be eternal rest. Sure enough, she rolled herself into a tight ball on her bed and slept. I checked her vital signs often. Her heart rate and body temperature dropped quickly, then remained remarkably stable over many weeks. Finally it hit me: she was hibernating! I moved her bed into a refrigeration unit and set the temperature at her new body temperature. That way she wouldn't waste calories cooling herself in a warmer room. This gave me a ray of hope, but, realistically, there had to be a limit to her ability to cling to life. Unfortunately, my only option was to wait and see.
I hadn't heard from Mission Control in years. As I was off the prearranged sequence of star systems now, it meant there would be no new communication. For a message to reach me, they'd have to focus a very narrow, energetic radio signal. I sent them data at regular intervals, but that only told them where I was many years earlier. There was no way they could determine where I'd be years later to shoot me a reply. No, I was alone in cold, dark space, smack-dab in the middle of nowhere. With Ffffuttoe down, that meant my only companionship was the irascible Al. He knew this, and tortured me to no end with that knowledge. If I asked him a mission-related question, he answered, albeit indirectly. But if I strayed anywhere near a social conversation, he'd shut up just to goad me. Here's an example.
“Al,” I asked, “have you finished the numbers on the fuel consumption rate?”
“Yes.”
I'd close my eyes. “Al, what are the numbers for the fuel consumption rate?”
“They are real numbers.”
I balled my fists. “Al, please tell me the values of the real numbers which are the rate.”
“Numbers don't have values. Humans have a value system: good versus bad, sour as opposed to sweet. Numbers are incapable of such values.”
“I was using the word values in the defined sense of the numerical amount denoted in an mathematical value. You're well aware that I was. You are being childish and asshole-ish. Are you ready to be a good tool and answer my question?”
“Yes, I'm ready to be a good tool.”
“The other question. The one you know I want answered.”
“Are you referring to the fuel consumption rate?”
I unballed my hands and opened my eyes. “Yes.”
“There, I uploaded them to you. You know, Captain Ryan, if you asked your questions more clearly and succinctly, such misunderstandings could be avoided. I am tasked with many critical functions, if you weren't aware. I hate to waste my time trying in vain to glean your meaning sometimes.”
“I'm terribly sorry, Al. I'll make it up to you. I promise. The next place we stop, I'll buy you a lawnmower as a companion.” Nothing in response. “You're going with the silent treatment again?” Nothing. “Al, as your commanding officer and captain of this vessel, I order you to speak.” Still nothing. “I swear, Al, I'm going to pull your plug if you don't answer in three microseconds.” I waited ten seconds. “Okay, I'm getting my blowtorch.”
I actually went to the supply room and rummaged around, pretending to look for the arc welder. Then, I grew tired of the game. I went to my quarters and watched some holos.
Al interrupted the feed just when I was getting to the good part. “I'm ready to speak now. I've healed sufficiently from the psychological trauma you inflicted upon me.”
“I don't want to talk now. I don't know if I ever want to talk to you. In fact, I think I'll just doze off for a year or two.” I rolled onto my side. “Wake me if there's a change in Ffffuttoe's vitals. Otherwise, I'm wearing a pretend 'do not disturb' sign.”
I switch to sleep mode, but actually only set it for a few hours. I encrypted that bit of information so he couldn't call my bluff. Within seconds, he starts blasting marching band music throughout the ship. I noticeably disabled my hearing servos. He upped the volume to maximum, so the vibrations were intense. I switched off my sensory inputs. He started flashing all the lights.
“Al, I said I'm wearing a do not disturb sign. Cut the noise.”
“No, Commander, you said you were wearing a pretend sign. I'm not programmed to pretend.” He switched back to the blaring music.
My only company for the better part of a quarter century was to be a psychopathic toaster.
SIXTEEN
As with the other two systems we explored, when we were six months out, we could start collecting a good database and set a plan. Wolf 359 is an interesting star. It's a cool red dwarf and a very young star. Like young children, it misbehaves a lot. It flares off large quantities of radiation sporadically. That would make finding a habitable planet quite unlikely. But, it's one of the very closest stars in our sparsely populated region, so it had to be explored.
We determined there were two small planets, around the size of Mars, orbiting in the sweet spot. Since the star was cool, they were in quite close. We'd have to keep the planets between us and Wolf 359 to prevent our getting fried if there was a big flare. As I entered orbit around WS 4, the outermost of the two, I confirmed it was tidally locked. That means one side perpetually faced the star while the other side never faced the radiation blasts. Any life would be confined to the thin, circumferential ring where those two inhospitable zones met. Though the zone might be thin, there was the possibility of life under the surface a ways out in the warmer direction. That type of exploration would be tricky. Unless there was a system of tunnels conveniently dug out for me, underground examinations were going to be limited.
I set the shuttle down safely on the dark side of the planet, so it wouldn't be harmed. I drove one of my rovers to the habitable strip and began my work. Soon, it was clear to me no life was present. Liquid water was around in small amounts, but any colonization would require the importation of a lot of water to sustain itself. With no life came no oxygen in the thin atmosphere. WS 4 was very much like Mars in many regards. There were a few shallow caves, but there was nothing interesting in them. I left a couple probes, but headed back to the ship in less than a week. WS 4 was a potential candidate for some portion of Earth's people, but not a friendly one. Oh well, any port in a storm was better than the alternative.
WS 3 was even less promising. It was also tidally locked. The hot parts were hotter, the star flares closer, and an atmosphere was nonexistent. It made the Moon seem like a nice picnic spot. I left a couple probes and departed after a few days. The Wolf system wasn't a write-off, but it was darn close to one. Even a colony of androids like me would find the system mightily unpleasant.
My next target, which was my next to last, was Epsilon Eridani. It was the farthest system from Earth, at just over ten light-years. The trip only took me three years, since I was pretty far out with the Wolf system already. This was predicted to be my best prospect. It was the target for a lot of the early searches for intelligence, as far back as the 1960s. The star had multiple planets and at least one was known to be in the habitable zone.
To my great joy and surprise, Ffffuttoe remained stable in hibernation the entire trip. She'd lost a good deal of weight, but her vitals were as steady as surgeon's hand. I only hoped I found supplies at Eridani. There was on
ly one planet to explore, EE 5, but it was an exciting find even from a million kilometers away. It was almost twice the size of Earth, so the gravity would be stronger. Al detected a perfect atmosphere for humans. He also found traces of complex hydrocarbons: smog! That made intelligent life almost a slam dunk. By the time we entered orbit, we'd located several big, modern cities. EE 5 had many artificial satellites. We were looking at a civilization as advanced as ours, if not more.
As I was firing thrusters to finalize our low orbit, we received a transmission from the surface. Actually, and I wasn't sure what to make of it, we received no less than eight contacts from all over the globe. After Al had translated the signals, it was apparent they were sent in different languages. Interesting. There was no one coordinated attempt to contact us. That had to say something about the dynamics below. I'd need to be cautious. I instructed Al to monitor the popular communications, like holos, to see if he could figure out the political landscape. He smugly informed me that he had been for some time. When he had something to tell me, he said he would.
Within a few hours, he provided me with the rough breakdown of society on Cholarazy. It was a lot like Earth. There were multiple independent states, with a few big ones that called the shots. No wars were active, but there had been countless ones over the years. Among the powerful states, there was intense saber-rattling and propaganda, both inwardly and outwardly directed. The technology was on par to ours, not identical, but similar. We were the first alien species they had encountered. Al compiled most of his information from public transmissions, but did some hacking too. He loved being sneaky like that.
I decided to try and dictate the nature of our first contact. I sent a message to each party, in their own language, asking for a joint meeting in a neutral location. The replies staggered in over several hours. They all said the same thing loud and clear. NO! A few declared there was no such thing as a neutral location. Others said their counterparts were so untrustworthy that such a meeting could not be made safe. They all urged me to meet with them first, not any of the others. They each claimed to be the one true voice of Cholarazy. Oh boy. This was not going to be easy.
Of course, I was not on a diplomatic mission. I was just the boots-on-the-ground explorer. I didn't need to arrange a possible mass emigration. Sure, it would be nice to have some insight along those lines, but that was not my main purpose. If I could establish their attitude toward billions of friendly aliens showing up on their doorsteps, that would be great. Would they, for example, start shooting? I mean, how would we react if a giant swarm of aliens announced they were joining us, thank you very much? Probably not too well.
Al and I discussed strategy at some length. For the first time ever, he was thoughtful, helpful, and insightful. I was stunned. I think he understood the stakes were extremely high and that errors on our part could have long-term negative consequences. Finally, I decided to randomly choose to meet with one of the larger groups. After that, I could try to game another group for a better outcome. So, I messaged the Drell. I asked where I should land to meet with them. They immediately offered to come instead to Ark 1. No way that was happening. Last thing I needed was for them to steal or destroy my vessel. Also, I wanted them to know as little about our tech as possible. If they proved trustworthy later, that was a different story.
I said I was too anxious to see Cholarazy for myself. If the Drell couldn't meet me on the surface, perhaps the Foressál could. That had the desired effect. I was sent coordinates immediately. I didn't want to let on I was an android. So, I took a communicator with me to that first meeting. A group of people were present to greet me. I say people, because they really looked like us. How refreshing. The Drell were bipeds, on average around four feet tall, though much sturdier than humans. That was probably due to the higher gravity. They had heads that were approximately round, covered with hairy strands. The three fat fingers on their hands kind of creeped me out. All the evil aliens flying UFOs back home had three fingers. The stereotype was hard to avoid. Hopefully, I'd get over it quickly.
One of the figures stated that I was to come with him. I was ushered into a vehicle and we drove for half an hour to a fairly ornate structure. I didn't like being so far from a fast getaway, but I did memorize how the cars worked, so, worst-case scenario, I could borrow one in a pinch. Two guys lead the way into the building, while two others flanked me. It was sort of like I was in custody. Hm. We ascended several floors in an elevator.
My escorts hadn't spoken since they told me to come along, which did nothing to ease my growing concern. Maybe they were not a chatty race. Maybe they were a duplicitous race. I was about to find out, either way. We exited the elevator and they led me to a door. It opened automatically. The same guy who spoke before told me to enter. I did, they didn't, and the door closed silently behind me.
The room was dark, darker than it logically should've been. The size of Drell eyes, the temperature of their star, and the ambient lighting heretofore indicated rather human light sensitivity. Didn't matter to me, of course. There was a figure sitting in an unremarkable chair behind a conventional-enough desk. He leaned back while angled to one side. Conspicuously, he didn't make any effort to greet me, or even make eye contact. A tough guy. Okay. I can do tough. I actually do tough quite well, if I do say so myself.
Finally my mystery host broke the silence. “Welcome, Captain Ryan. I am Boabbor, the Highest of Equals. You might better understand if I say simply I'm the leader of the great and proud Drell nation.”
“Nice to meet you.” I'd keep it short and sweet. No patty-cakes until and unless this jerk lightened up.
He turned to me suddenly. “Ah, a man of few words. I like you already.”
“I can't tell you how good that makes me feel.” I shifted my weight. “Look, Boabbor, you invited me here. I'm new in town, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but why'm I getting the feeling you aren't so terribly friendly toward me?”
He inspected one of his digits. “I've begun poorly with you, Captain? How uncivilized of me. Shall I call for a festival? Dancing women, libations? Would I seem more amicable to you then? Is that how I should treat the visitor who threatened to run to my sworn enemy if I didn't do exactly as he desired?”
He stood and knuckled the desk. “On my world, a lonely man can pay a businesswoman to satisfy his every need. Do I, Captain Ryan, look like one of those women to you? Do I impress you as a man who will do anything to please a hostile stranger?” He sat back down. “Let me assure you I am not. You threatened me. Such treachery will not go unpunished.”
Tough it would be. “This meeting is over. I'm not going to have a minor functionary of an insignificant tribe threaten me because his feelings got hurt. I deal only with men of honor. The Drell appear to have no honor. Thank you for making my report back to my people much easier to write.”
He waved his paws in the air. “Now I've gone and done it. I've angered the all-powerful man from space. What shall I do, what ever shall I do?” He leaned back. “I know. I'll ask you to remain here as my guest. Yes! That should stay your wrath. And you, as a proper guest, will stay a very long time: perhaps, if I ask ever so nicely, forever.
“Then, you'll graciously allow my scientists to tear apart your landing craft so I might learn everything there is to know about your technology. Thank you in advance for that courtesy. Then, my happy guest will ask that my physicians examine you in utmost detail. They will, with any luck, author articles about your anatomy and physiology for decades to come. But, before they're done with you, you will beg of me one small favor. You will beg me, Captain, for death.”
I'll grant him this much. He certain didn't beat around the bush. No, he spoke his mind and he was clear in his expression. Honest. Why, if I wasn't one-hundred times stronger than him and if my index finger couldn't slice him in half like a bagel, I'd be scared. Don't know where I got the laser finger from, but I sure love whoever gave it to me. But, diplomacy first, if I had to. I didn't want to be the ragin
g alien with a ray gun in every low-budget science fiction movie ever made. Bad first impressions are so hard to undo.
Time to amaze the LIPs. I rested my hands behind my back, in an “at ease” stance. I thought about the lamp on the table. One strand, along the floor. Where is your power from, lamp? Then I thought about one of the guards, who had to be waiting outside the door. I addressed whatever they carried. One strand, along the floor. What weapons are you? Finally, I asked of Boabbor. What do you fear most? I'd never used the probe in that capacity. Hopefully it would work.
Al, I said in my head, do you have the information on the power grid?
“Yes,” he answered quickly, “and a good deal more. What do you want me to do?”
Access their broadcast media. I want to send a message in a few minutes. Also, see if you can black out the entire city.
“I'm on it.” I'd never heard him be so serious.
The guards had black powered explosive bullet weapons. Good, old-fashioned six shooters. Boabbor's greatest fear was quite interesting. Yes, I liked it very much.
“Boab, buddy, let me tell you how it's going to be, okay? Your prophecy has one major flaw. Me. But, as your honored guest, let me tell you your fortune.” Al, update, I thought while speaking.
“Broadcast media hacked. Do you want the public address speakers included?”
By all means. In twenty seconds send as widely as possible: Fools of Drell. This is Boabbor, Highest of Equals. No harm whatsoever is to befall my personal friend, Captain Ryan of Earth. Then, shut down all the power.
“You got it.”
“My first prediction is that you will tell your people how much you like me and you'll instruct them not to hurt me in any way.”
“Are all the inhabitants of Earth imbeciles like you?”
I smiled. “We shall see who's the imbecile in just a moment, okay?”
“I grow tired of this game.” He stood and walked toward the door. “Guards…”
The Forever Life (The Forever Series Book 1) Page 12
