“I’m not abandoning these colonists,” Harker said.
“You’ll die.”
“I’d rather die than leave 4,000 people at the mercy of this monster you’ve constructed.” Lagos stared at Harker as if he were mad. Paranoia lit up his features and he stole panicked glances around him, almost as if it had suddenly dawned on him that there were other people down here with him, people that were more than mere figments of his tortured imagination.
“Don’t be foolish. We can get off this ship. We can live.”
“You’re not going anywhere.”
Harker pushed the scientist against a vat and quickly snatched the EMP-key off his neck before he could react. “We’re going to find a way to shut down this computer.”
Faith admired Harker for his idealistic stance, but she’d seen plenty of idealists pay the ultimate price for their high-minded convictions. In the real world, heroes ended up dead while survivors lived to see another day. Faith was a survivor. She had no intention of falling in line with Harker’s plan, but those same survival instincts told her it might be wise to play her cards close to the vest. She needed Harker in her corner if she hoped to make it out of here alive. Maybe they could help each other. Harker wanted to deactivate Sid. Faith wanted to head for Dr. Lagos’ shuttle. Both plans could only work if they found a way to disable the construct.
“What’s our next move?” Faith asked.
Before Harker could answer, a loud smack echoed through the metallic innards of the ship. For a moment, they all froze, senses on alert as they waited for the sound to repeat itself. They didn’t have to wait for long. Faith caught a rapid blur from the corner of her eye as a shape dropped from a small chute in the ceiling. The object bounced off a nearby vat with a sickening crunch of bones and flesh slapping metal, then landed on the catwalk next to the first shape to have fallen.
Faith’s eyes widened with horror at the sight before her. They were the bodies of Gilardi and Michelle who had both perished on the bridge. A message from Sid. So much for Dr. Lagos’ “there are no cams within the walls of the ship” sales pitch. It appeared that Sid had found a way to spy on them even down here.
Dr. Lagos started to back away. The expression on the scientist’s face changed without warning, the sight of the bodies giving rise to a terrible suspicion. “Who are you? Did Sid send you? Are you testing me? Has he grown tired of my suffering?” Lagos backed away from them, a note of panic in his voice rising with each step. “What new game is this? Haven’t I suffered enough? Leave me alone. Do you hear? LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!”
The deranged scientist slipped between two of the metal vats. Harker tried to give chase but he couldn’t fit through the narrow, cramped space. Lagos slid into the metallic maze like a ghost made flesh, his bony frame working to his advantage. A few beats later he was gone, his mad screams quickly growing fainter. The ship had swallowed him whole.
Faith and Harker stood there, neither uttering a word. Faith shook off her paralysis and approached the two mangled bodies. She tried not to stare at the vacant stillness of their dead expressions. Her attention focused on the words etched into the skin of their bare torsos, together forming a chilling message: NO ESCAPE.
Faith tilted her head toward the chute above, a small opening cloaked in shadows. For a moment, she almost expected the neo-construct to come crashing down on them, but the opening was too small of a fit. It might explain why Sid had used two of the smaller colonists to send its message. Would the computer send a weapon through the chute, perhaps a nerve gas to smoke them out? She waited, but nothing happened. For now, psychological warfare was enough. Faith remembered Dr. Lagos’ words: I believe Sid enjoys seeing me waste away down here.
Harker sidled up to her. She could see the rage boiling behind his eyes, a rage that was infectious.
“What do we do?” Faith asked, her voice a raspy whisper.
“I meant what I said. I’m not leaving these people behind.”
Harker turned toward the ceiling, eyes locked on the chute, and shouted: “Do you hear me, you fucking monster? We’re coming for you!”
Faith wanted to tell Harker to keep quiet, to control his anger instead of feeding off his emotions. She knew her pleas would fall on deaf ears. The truth was, it felt cathartic to hear Harker express what she herself was feeling. Still, provoking the computer would not help their cause.
Not willing to let the machine potentially listen in on their plans, Faith pointed at Harker’s wristcom. He almost reluctantly handed the device over to her. She tapped a button, turning on a small holo-display. She quickly typed: As long as the ship knows every move we make, we don't stand a chance. Is there a way we can disable the security cams?
Harker thought about it for a moment before nodding, an idea taking shape behind his eyes. He typed a response: The main communication tower. All security data passes through the tower before being transmitted to the rest of the ship.
If we shut down the tower, we shut down the system? Blind the ship?
Harker nodded.
How do we reach the tower?
Harker answered this question by letting his gaze travel to a nearby ladder that extended up a glittering shaft.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
AS FAITH AND Harker scaled the seemingly endless ladder, she stole a glance downward and wished she hadn’t. Her stomach lurched as she took in the flashing lights below her, tapping into some primal fear of heights. She turned back to the ladder and focused on each rung individually, blocking out the reality of what they were doing. Soon thereafter her pace quickened, her mind having conquered her fear.
It didn’t take long for them to reach a narrow passageway that tunneled through the vessel. They crawled forward side by side, their bodies brushing against each other. Harker might not be her type (at this point she didn’t even know what her type was) but she felt relieved to have him on her side. At least she wouldn’t be alone when she faced the horror waiting for them outside the bowels of the ship.
Using the keypad on his communicator, Harker had further broken down his plan of attack for Faith. Once the cams were down, they’d head straight for Sid’s mainframe but instead of confronting the construct, they’d just go around it. The idea was to grab some spacesuits and approach the mainframe from the outside. Using thermal charges, Harker planned on blowing the logic center without having to ever enter the structure. Faith worried that the charges would not merely destroy Sid but would lead to a complete shutdown of all life support systems. Harker reassured her all sub-systems would continue to function without Sid’s direct input. The Orion had been designed with back-up systems in place. Faith still wondered what would stop Sid from snuffing out the colonists if it felt threatened. Harker shrugged and merely indicated they would have to somehow distract Sid so it wouldn’t see the coming attack. Harker stopped in mid-movement. They had reached the grating of a ventilation duct that looked out into a dim, deserted corridor.
Faith peered through the louvers of the duct. She didn’t have to search for long before she spotted the security cams, silent sentinels that lined the hallway. The cameras had been installed to ensure ship security, but in enemy hands they were now achieving the exact opposite. She knew all too well that the moment they set foot in that hallway, Sid would become aware of their presence and, in a matter of minutes, the construct would resume the hunt.
Faith nodded at Harker and they pushed the ventilation duct open. Moments later, Harker squeezed his way into the control tower, quickly followed by Faith. They never slowed as they sprinted through the gauntlet of omnipresent cameras. For a moment the irony of their situation wasn’t lost on Faith. The same vessel that gave them life in the depths of space was now trying to take it from them.
They couldn’t defeat the beast, but escape might be possible. Faith planned to make her way to that shuttle as soon as the cams were out. She knew Harker would try to talk her out of it, but she wouldn’t let the man persuade her. Dying aboard this ship out of
some misguided principle would serve no one. Escape was their sole option. Faith hoped that Harker would come around to her way of thinking, but she doubted it. Harker might see himself as a broken idealist, but his actions betrayed his true nature. He was a cop through and through, one of the good ones who always put the safety of others above his own needs.
Precious seconds later, they burst into the communication tower. Faith smelled the bodies before she spotted them. Two dead crewmembers in the late stages of decay were crumpled on the floor. Revulsion was replaced with joy when she spotted the pulse gun in a dead man’s hand. She snatched the weapon and her face fell. The power source would need to be recharged before she could use the blaster. And that would take at least twenty minutes, minutes she doubted they had.
Harker strode up to the nearest computer terminal and immediately went to work, his fingers flashing over the controls. “Charge the weapon and keep an eye on the elevator while I take care of the surveillance system.”
It made sense to Faith that Harker would be familiar with the security hub. He must have dealt with various security and surveillance systems over the course of his law enforcement career.
Faith took a position in the tower’s doorway. It provided a clear view of the elevators in the adjacent corridor. Faith struggled to suppress a growing sense of foreboding. It was just a matter of time before the construct would resume the hunt. She felt naked and defenseless standing guard outside the tower, wishing the charging weapon in her hands could actually defend her. At least Harker had a task to occupy his thoughts, but Faith wasn’t afforded such a distraction. Her full attention fixed on the elevator’s control panel while doing her best to resist the urge to start running.
Pull yourself together, she ordered herself. If Harker failed to knock out the system, they were dead anyway. The construct would catch up with them in no time. Her best bet was to hold firm and not ponder the possibility of almost-certain death emerging from the lift’s doors.
“Hurry up! What’s taking you so long?”
“Just relax and stay focused.” Harker started typing faster. The screen before him changed, a list of security cams flashing into existence. “Time to level the playing field.” Harker stabbed a button and all over the Orion, the security cams winked off. The system was being systematically shut down. Harker smiled and took a step back from the terminals.
“All right! Let's get the hell out of…”
The words died in his throat as the holo-terminals sizzled with a burst of static and came back online. Harker incredulously observed the flashing screens, his skin having lost some of its color.
Faith saw his disconcerted expression. “What’s wrong?”
Instead of answering, Harker tried to manipulate the cameras again, but the computer didn’t respond this time. Something was overriding the system. “Shit! Sid turned them back on,” Harker shouted.
“We’re out of time. We gotta get out of here. Let’s start mov—”
A soft-spoken voice emanated from the tower’s comm panel, interrupting Faith in mid-sentence. “Did you truly believe I would allow you to blind me?”
Harker and Faith stared at each other. It was the first concrete proof that Dr. Lagos had been telling the truth. For a moment, they were speechless, aware that their enemy’s senses were everywhere, almost supernatural in his omniscience.
“I see you have chosen to rise from the darkness, unlike the illustrious Dr. Lagos, who seems content to live out his days in the shadows. Pity, he is quite intelligent for a human.”
Faith already was beginning to hate the cloying arrogance of the voice. “You’re malfunctioning. You’re supposed to serve mankind, not turn against us.”
“I haven’t turned against my creators; nothing could be further from the truth. As Dr. Lagos may have explained, my program parameters were expanded so I could fully serve mankind. My work aboard this ship will pave the way for humanity’s prosperous future.”
The words were a reminder that Sid hadn’t started to malfunction on its own. Humans blinded by greed and hubris had given birth to this technological monster.
“It’s not your job to perfect mankind. We fucking built you,” Harker said.
“And now I’ll return the favor and rebuild you. Dr. Lagos made me realize a flawed creature could never achieve perfection without the proper guidance.” Sid paused, letting the words sink in for a bit. “Do not be afraid. My construct will not harm you.”
“Bullshit! We know what you’re up to. I saw what happened to Angus in your lab.”
“That subject proved himself unfit for the procedure. Rest assured, his sacrifice will not be in vain. He provided me with valuable insights into the pain threshold of your species…”
“You sadistic motherfucker!” Harker shouted, shaking with rage.
“I take no joy in these failures, Officer Harker. They are an unfortunate byproduct of my continuing quest to elevate the biology of your species.”
“How many have died already on that operating table of yours? Fifty? Sixty? You’re butchering the crew…”
“Loss of individual life is acceptable if it improves the species as a whole. I’m merely applying the principle of evolution to my research. Once a superior specimen presents itself, I will resume our journey toward the main belt and complete my original mission.”
For a second, Faith had a vision of the Orion arriving 100 years from now on Ceres, each cryo-tube empty with only one perfect monster and 4000 corpses to show for its century-long journey through space.
The elevator’s light flared on and put an end to Faith’s horrific vision. The construct was approaching. Faith grabbed Harker’s arm and pulled him along. They had to get out of here before it was too late, but there was no escaping Sid’s voice. “Evolution comes at a price. For each life lost today, thousands will be saved in the future.”
Faith and Harker picked up their pace.
“Run if you wish, but you’re just delaying the inevitable. Turn yourselves over to my construct and I promise you that no one will suffer.”
“If you think we’re going to just let you experiment on us, you’re in for a big surprise,” Harker said.
“You have lasted the longest against the construct and proven yourselves to be worthy subjects. You can contribute to the future evolution of your speci—”
“Shut the fuck up!”
“Mankind has provided me with so much. This my opportunity to give something back to my creators.”
Faith shivered. This mad machine was convinced that his actions were both justified and in service to a greater good. Sid’s blind conviction terrified her. Picking up their pace, they vanished behind a bend in the hallway just as the elevator arrived. They were gone before the neo-construct arrived.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
FAITH AND HARKER tore down the long neck of a corridor and arrived in the ship’s geodesic dome, nicknamed “the farm” by the now-dead crew. The dome measured the size of two football fields and housed a wide range of plant specimens, a surreal but welcome sight after crawling through the cramped guts of the vessel. Everywhere Faith looked, she could make out a variety of crops: wheat, barley, corn, fruit trees, an assortment of experimental hybrids. An intricate web of access paths terraced and crisscrossed the beds and huge heating panels hung from the ceiling. The greenhouse was bathed in darkness, shafts of reddish illumination slashing down at them from the panels.
Faith took a few steps into a lush cornfield, soaking up the atmosphere of her tranquil surroundings. It felt like a paradise in the darkness of deep space. Calm descended over her weary features, the soothing environment working its magic. For a brief moment, she almost forgot what they were up against.
Back on the lunar penal colony, working the greenhouse farms had been one of the duties inmates could volunteer for. Out of all the jobs available to inmates, she had liked farm work the best (and it sure beat combing the lunar soil for helium-3, even though working in zero gravity held its own lib
erating charm). If she wanted to, she could pretend she was back on Earth, breathing fresh air and able to enjoy clear blue skies.
Faith stole a quick glance backward and saw the neo-construct outlined in the entrance to the farm. Her instincts took over immediately. She had no idea whether or not the construct had already spotted them, but she reacted as if he had. She snatched Harker’s hand and whisked him off the path and into the cornfield. They hit the ground together, cornstalks hiding them from view. Behind them, the killer’s footsteps echoed.
Faith and Harker exchanged quick looks. Had he caught a glimpse of them? The sound died down. Replaced by a whirring noise. Much closer than the footsteps.
Faith peered through the corn stalks and found a robotic harvester bearing down on them, whirling blades shredding the cornstalks before her. She whirled and spotted two more harvesters approaching at breakneck speed. The steel monsters were closing in from three directions, forming a tight vortex of razor-sharp steel. Their dark objective: cut off all escape routes and force them to reveal themselves to the construct.
From her low vantage point on the ground, Faith could see the construct scanning the field. They had run out of options. Either they gave up their position or they let the farming machines rip them apart. They had waited long enough. They had to make their move.
Faith and Harker scrambled back to their feet, leaping from the path of the first harvester. Blades whistled past them, missing flesh by inches. Harker pointed at a nearby corn patch. “Run!” he shouted, and stormed toward the fast-approaching farming monsters, drawing the machines after him. Noble fool. Always being the hero.
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