The Coming Storm_A Pax Aeterna Novel

by Trevor Wyatt

  "I think it’s too arrogant for humans to presume we’re the only intelligent, sentient life in the universe. That’s both thinking too big and too small," she said with her deep accent. Her parents were British though she was born in New India. Her voice was a melodic blend of the two cultures.

  "Well, if other life exists outside of ours," Wolf said, "what sort of evolutionary steps would lead them? How would they evolve? What would their society look like?”

  She set her glass down and waved him off. "Give me a moment."

  "Don't tell me you haven't thought about this, you are the science lead after all," he said with a smile, downing his own drink. Mareesa’s returned smile reached her eyes, pulling him along.

  "Well," she quipped, "I do believe that any race we encounter will likely be more advanced than we are.”

  "I have no evidence to support this theory, it’s only a hunch, but I feel strongly," she added. She traced her finger along the glass’ rim, eyes downcast. Wolf felt like she was waiting for his response—perhaps even a bit wary of it.

  "Makes sense to me, especially if their evolution diverts from our path," Wolf said. Mareesa looked at him with alert eyes.

  "Exactly!" she said happily.

  "You know, in my research with primate species, the more advanced social systems were matriarchal. Female-led, female-ruled, female-guided. I'm not saying we humans have not come a long way in gender equality but, in these societies, it was always the females in charge, no question."

  "So...you're saying that the likelihood of a species being advanced is that they have the women in charge."

  "Yes," she nodded laughing, her hands waving. "I'm just kidding."

  "Well, not to repeat myself, but that makes sense to me, too," Wolf agreed with a smile, clinking his glass to hers. "Cheers to gender IN-equality."

  "Are you attempting to get on my good side by agreeing with me?" Mareesa asked, eyes dancing.

  "Hmmm...that's a serious question—is ‘yes’ the correct answer?”

  "Yes."

  "Then…yes, I’m attempting to get on your good side, but I do still agree with your theory," Wolf said.

  "You know, you're pretty advanced for a male of our species," she snorted laughing. They clicked glasses again. "To advanced species!"

  Their conversation was no longer theoretical. The Sonali and the humans had made first contact two years ago, and the sum of their knowledge about the species only rested in their understanding of their weapons and defenses.

  In that game, they had to play catch up; would they judge the evolution of a species based on their ability to defend themselves? Wolf considered Earth's apex predators. Many were extinct, the last few residing in zoos or preserves.

  No. As a species, you could become better fighters, or you could become smarter fighters, Wolf thought. Might isn’t the only measure of success.

  Yuang approached him, breaking his reverie. "Captain, the probes are ready, and my team has coordinated their trajectories—they should be masked by The Exeter's emissions."

  Wolf looked at Mareesa for confirmation. Yuang was eager, but he spoke only for Engineering, which was just half of the solution.

  She nodded and added, "Science is satisfied with the telemetry. Everything is ready for launch."

  "Excellent work," Wolf remarked, then he looked up again and said, "SkyPrime."

  "Yes, Captain," SkyPrime replied.

  "I want you to coordinate the operations for this launch with Science and Engineering.”

  "Yes, Captain."

  Yuang wasn't happy. "Captain, putting the AI in charge—"

  "Will be the same as if I was here sequencing it myself. Actually, SkyPrime is better at it than I am, and faster. We can't have any errors, and I'll be watching everything as it happens in the CNC."

  With that, Wolf left Yuang and Mareesa and made his way back to the CNC. As he settled into his chair, he spoke via comm to SkyPrime and asked, "Is everything ready to begin the launch of the communications probes?"

  "Yes, Captain," SkyPrime responded.

  "On my mark...3, 2, 1. Launch.”

  There was no climatic roar of a departing probe, which was a good thing. It meant their cloak and dagger trick with emissions was working. Wolf watched as the sequences got displayed in real time on the CNC screen. As each probe launched and left the screen, he felt himself relax.

  After a few moments, Jensen turned to confirm what Wolf already knew.

  "All comms probes have been deployed successfully, sir."

  "Good work. SkyPrime, HesterPrime, please monitor all sub-space frequencies both at the probes and the surrounding areas. In addition, please adjust all of the resequensors onboard to charge half credits for the next two hours for all crew members. Please inform all crew members of this reward."

  Wolf turned to see Jensen smiling at him, looking like a nervous teenager, but eager to ask for keys to the car. He nodded at her and said, "SkyPrime can take it from here."

  Bouncing up, Jensen walked quickly towards the corridor that led to The Cerulean Parrot.

  As Wolf watched Jensen leave the CNC, a hesitant female voice came in.

  "Captain," said HesterPrime.

  "Don't worry, HesterPrime," Wolf replied, "I'm going to go reduce my stress levels right now."

  "I think that's a lovely idea," cooed HesterPrime. "Have a great time."

  "I intend to do just that."

  The Cerulean Parrot was only a standing room. A cheer went up as Wolf walked in and headed towards the bar with the holo-bartender wiping a glass, beaming at him. He ordered a whiskey without ice.

  While the AI's away, the humans will play, he thought to himself, though he guessed that was not really accurate. Wolf thought back to his earlier sentiments regarding having a bigger ship with bigger crew and bigger responsibilities. More weight on his shoulders meant less room to allow for the type of frivolity the crew was enjoying right now.

  All of the drinks at The Cerulean Parrot were made with synthol. Actual real grain alcohol was not allowed on military vessels. Synthol mimicked the taste and, some argued, the effects of alcohol without the actual molecules. If the people who drank closed their eyes and let the fluid dance on their taste buds, they could almost convince themselves it was the real thing. For those unlucky few who did suffer hangovers, well, it’s always the notion of mind over matter.

  Wolf nodded to the bartender for another.

  "His next drink is on me," a voice said beside Wolf.

  He looked at the familiar smiling face of Mareesa. "That's very kind of you," he said, raising his current glass.

  She pressed her back against the bar, sliding an olive deftly off a toothpick in her martini. "Not really," she said.

  Wolf cocked an eyebrow at her.

  "I just love getting things on sale," she added.

  "Ah," he said, downing most of his drink. The synthol was not touching him. "Do you remember our conversation?"

  "We have had many conversations," Mareesa said, smirking.

  "The one about other species."

  Her eyes darkened.

  "Yes," she said, her tone going somber.

  "The Sonali are more advanced," Wolf continued, though he disliked seeing the light leave Mareesa’s eyes. "So does that mean they’re female?"

  Her mouth tightened, the joke falling flat. Maybe the synthol was affecting him. Wolf certainly felt like the words coming out of his mouth were disconnected from his brain, which was silently encouraging him to shut up.

  "There are a lot of things we don't know about the Sonali," Mareesa said, her eyes still shut. Wolf raised his hand to let the bartender know he wanted his free drink now. He was hoping this would put the glint back in Mareesa’s eyes. No such luck.

  The part of his mind that was gently suggesting he should shut his mouth switched tactics and suggested he do the same. So Wolf decided to change topic.

  "Do you know the origin of the Cerulean Parrot? Where it got its name?" He saw a g
host of her former smile hover on her lips.

  "Oh, that's easy," said Mareesa. "It’s from Casablanca—the other bar, not Rick's." She smiled as she talked about it. "The large man with the fez." They both laughed at the image.

  Wolf was just about to do his best and worst impression of Humphrey Bogart when a glass shattered above the bartender’s head. He and Mareesa spared a wide-eyed glance at each other before their heads turned to seek the source.

  Fists pounded tables as the crowd shouted, "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

  At the locus of this storm were Yuang and Jensen, grappling each other in wrestling moves, which in a different situation could be deemed erotic. Not in this case. Jensen was trying to kill Yuang, not seduce him. The dance she weaved was just as intimate.

  Wolf stared transfixed, until a part of his brain screamed at him, reminding him that he’s the captain of this ship and that maybe it's time to put down some authority.

  Synthol whiskey. I may never touch that stuff again, Wolf thought.

  The crowd quieted when they noticed Wolf. They may leave Earth, they may leave their parents, they may leave their homes to seek the stars, but they’d never leave their need for each other. They were social animals—they seek order among themselves.

  At this moment, Wolf was the alpha of their little society. I am the apex predator, he said to himself, but his mind shooed away that thought.

  The room has stilled to an empty, embarrassed silence. Wolf stood like an angry parent, his shadow stretching along the floor. Yuang, who was on his back like an angry turtle, noticed Wolf first. His face was red.

  Jensen had her palms wrapped around Yuang’s throat. His lack of resistance made her grip more eager until she saw that his eyes were looking past her. Her head rotated to Wolf, the feral gleam dimming.

  "Captain?"

  Yuang took this moment to flip her off him. Panting, they separated and stared at Wolf. Jensen looked annoyed at being interrupted, but she tried to hide it. Yuang had an expression Wolf couldn’t read—something akin to wariness. Neither looked apologetic.

  Wolf’s brain fumbled towards different ways to end the conflict. "Happy hour is over," he said, then turned around to face the crowd. "The bar is closed."

  At that eloquence, the crowd dispersed. Mareesa touched his arm as she left.

  Wolf shook his head when the bartender asked if he wanted another drink.

  He headed back to his quarters.

  The moment between wakefulness and sleep was like the question about the state of the cat in the box—was it alive or dead? Were you asleep or awake? Could you be both?

  Wolf’s mind played the events of the previous evening in an odd loop within a loop that only dream logic allowed. He saw Mareesa outlined in neon, her eyes were like diamonds, hard and glittering. Jensen was there, her hands bloodied.

  Screams came in waves that hurt until Wolf blinked his eyes against the noise. Not bellows, not human anyway, but the ship was screaming.

  The AIs had gone mad. HesterPrime was babbling in a manic state. No words were discernible—just a litany of crazed enthusiasm. On the other hand, SkyPrime was repeating, “....proximity alert...proximity alert...proximity alert...proximity alert...proximity alert...”

  Jensen was not on the CNC.

  "SkyPrime! HesterPrime! Status!" Wolf shouted over the din. And then there was silence as sudden as an intake of breath. It was followed by a soft sound, like droplets of water falling again and again. Wolf found its source.

  Jensen—or what was left of her—was on the CNC after all. Wolf, still shocked, closed Jensen’s eyes.

  SkyPrime said softly, "Captain, Jensen is dead."

  "I know!" he furiously screamed at the AI.

  A feminine titter, then Hester's voice saying, "Yes, she is most dead..."

  "Captain," said SkyPrime sans emotion, "You need to leave, Captain."

  "Yes, you should leave," giggled Hester.

  "Captain, you should run!"

  Mareesa

  As Mareesa sprinted down the corridor, she almost ran headlong onto Wolf. He was panting hard and holding his arm. "Are you alright?" she asked.

  He nodded, "Jensen is dead."

  "What? How?" Mareesa exclaimed.

  He shook his head and said, "I’ve no idea yet."

  They listened to the crazed voices of the AIs.

  "Someone has hijacked them," Mareesa said. "I'm completely locked out of my lab."

  "Can you access the mainframe from your lab?"

  "Yes, all of the lead staff have master access to upload our reports."

  "Good. How's your coding skills?" Wolf asked.

  Mareesa thought about it then said, "Remedial, it's been a long time since the Academy. But I know the basics, why—oh, you want me to hack the core code?"

  Wolf nodded. "But first, we'll need to get into your lab through a less obvious route. Air duct?"

  "Air duct," She was glad to know there was a way for her to get into her lab, and she was happy to be in the company of Wolf. But Mareesa was not happy that they were going to be squeezing themselves into an air duct soon.

  Well, if there's something you have to do and you don't want to do it, it's best to get it over with quickly, Mareesa thought.

  "Let's go," she said, grabbing Wolf’s hand as they raced down the corridor.

  "Where is the crew? I don't understand. Where is everyone?" Wolf asked as they scurried away.

  "I have a theory on that," Mareesa told him. "I believe the AIs have locked everyone in their quarters. I was lucky that I was on my way to my lab when everything went mad.”

  She could tell Wolf was weighing his responsibilities. "I see. Well, we fix the AIs first, then we can help the crew. If we go down this way, there's a nexus behind the panels, an intersection of ducts that will take us above your lab," he said.

  She helped him ease the panel off.

  "Ladies first," Wolf said, and Mareesa slid her way into the duct.

  Wolf pulled the panel up as he climbed in behind Mareesa. They sat in the semi-darkness. Mareesa saw the captain dig in his pockets. Fear was on his features.

  She slid the torch from her suit pocket, letting it flare into dramatic life.

  "I'm so glad you have that," Wolf said as he sighed. "We need to go left for two full corridors, then turn right and we should be there."

  Mareesa found herself in front, so she decided to keep going, figuring Wolf would tell her if she made a wrong turn.

  That is if he isn't spending too much time looking at my backside.

  Mareesa chided herself for even having that thought, but the prurient part of her mind reminded her that, while they were in crisis, they were also not dead.

  Mammalian responses were still very much online. Mareesa promised herself that if they’d be able to get out of this predicament, she would investigate these feelings. But for now, she needed to focus. Conversation would be pointless or worse—dangerous. They didn’t know who or what was tampering with the ship.

  She could smell her lab even before she saw it. They used certain disinfectants coupled with unique flora, so the lab had a clean smell. She peered through the filtration grate above the lab floor.

  Despite their desire for stealth, Mareesa kicked the grate until it fell with a metallic clang on the desk below. She slid her body down until her toes touched the desk. She let go, dropping herself safely. She got out of the way so Wolf could join her.

  The lab was quiet. By rule, most of the ship’s notifications were silenced here. Too much distraction led to shoddy research, and shoddy research led to poor results.

  Not in my lab, Mareesa thought.

  The visual assessment showed that everything seemed to be in place. She went to her computer, but her access code failed. "That's impossible!" she said after the third try. "It's coded to my retina and thumbprint."

  The captain grimaced.

  "Let me see if I can override it. Captain's OVERRIDE CODE: ALPHA 9043."

  “Please p
resent thumbprint.”

  Wolf pressed his thumb to the screen.

  "Thumbprint accepted. Captain Wolf."

  "All yours," he said, moving so Mareesa can 'drive'.

  "First, let me make sure none of my files are missing," she searched all the drives, local and in the nano-cloud. Everything was there. "Ok, now let's look at the mainframe."

  She typed in a run command. "Ok, what we need to find is...there!" she said, pointing to a line of codes, and continued, "That doesn't belong there...I don't even know what it means. But I think I have an idea of what it does..."

  She typed in a command for self-diagnostic. "Damn."

  "What?" asked Wolf.

  "It's clever! It's hiding in the BIOS code of the mainframe. It's parasitic. If I try to remove it, the whole thing goes down. Jensen was murdered. What we need to know now is who’s responsible for this..." She let that hang, and then added, "Who wanted Jensen dead?"

  She watched Wolf's eyes go shrewd. "You don’t think it’s…Yuang?"

  “It makes the most sense. Ocam's razor: the simplest answer is usually the—”

  "The correct one," finished Wolf. "If Yuang is responsible," he continued, "Then he's committed murder and hijacked our AI's. Now, how do we get them back online?" Mareesa could hear the frustration in his voice.

  "I have an idea," she said. "How do you feel about flirting with an AI?"

  The captain arched a brow then set his face in a grim line as comprehension dawned. He sighed.

  "HesterPrime."

  "Yes," Mareesa said, "HesterPrime."

  Wolf

  When Mareesa told Wolf he needed to flirt with HesterPrime to enable them to counter the ship's current state, he was dubious. How would that help things? In her current state, HesterPrime was likely to try to kill him. She and SkyPrime had made those threats more than apparent.

  But he trusted Mareesa, and when she told him the whole plan, he knew he had to do it.

  "Captain, you have returned," observed SkyPrime, its voice still devoid of any emotion.