Temple of S.A.R.A.H. 5: Debug Mode

by Ben Winston

  “From what I have observed of those in power on Earth, it certainly appears that there is large scale corruption taking place on a daily basis. In a lot of cases it is very difficult to understand exactly who it is a government is trying to serve.”

  “How can that be allowed to stand? Why do the people allow it?”

  “The Earth is a diverse place, Admiral. There is no single governing body. The United Nations has no real power but does try to keep the nations talking to each other instead of fighting. Since the fall of Communism in the former Soviet Union, the United States has become the de facto police agency for the planet; however, many in that country believe that a political collapse or civil uprising is not only likely but inevitable. There are many problems on Earth, Admiral. But somehow, for better or worse, they always seem to work them out.”

  “I guess I just can’t understand how a planet can even function like that,” Vance replied. “Then again, I’m a soldier, not a politician or a political scientist. Please pass the word to our Marines that the mission will launch in forty-eight hours. They are to be heavily armored and prepared to repel bombardment by native militaries Assist any and all civilians, but keep all native militaries away. I want the unit leaders to make absolutely sure every piece of equipment is accounted for before we launch as well as upon return. Nothing is to be left for the Earth governments to exploit.”

  “Understood Admiral. Orders sent. Do you wish me to schedule a final planning mission for tomorrow evening?” Sarah asked.

  “That would be good, Sarah,” Vance replied. “I think I should warn the commanders just how screwed up the situation could get.”

  Cowan Residence

  Alliance Apollo Base

  Selene, Earth’s Moon

  Sol System

  Ellie leaned back from her terminal and sighed. “Sarah? Do you have a moment?”

  “Of course I do, Ellie. What can I help you with?” the AI asked as she took form in the small room.

  “Well, I was doing some research for an essay in my xeno class and I’m having difficulty locating the information I want,” Ellie replied. “Can you help me?”

  “I can, but I must be credited as a source in the paper. Your instructor may deduct points for my assistance,” Sarah warned.

  “I understand, Sarah. I wouldn’t be asking if I wasn’t really stuck,” Ellie explained.

  “Perhaps I can simply give you advice for your search, what are you looking for?” Sarah asked.

  “Well, I’m trying to do a paper on how the Aracs conquer planets. But I’m having a lot of difficulty finding specific information on almost every aspect of it! It’s really getting frustrating!” Ellie explained.

  “You are having trouble because you are searching for information that simply doesn’t exist, Ellie. We do not have very much information on the Aracs at all. What little we do have seems to be either be incorrect, or at the least inaccurate. We are finding that the information we had on that race is at best, flawed. It is suspected that the information was mostly misinformation planted by the Veranorian Synod to mislead us,” Sarah replied. “I am surprised that your instructor agreed to allow you to write this when they would have known that any information we have would be inaccurate and unproven.”

  “I haven’t submitted my Thesis statement yet. He actually doesn’t know yet,” Ellie replied in disappointment. “I was really hoping to be able to write this paper, I was even planning on interviewing a couple of Shallans if I could!”

  “Do you have a second choice?” Sarah asked.

  “Not really,” Ellie said. “I was so positive we’d have tons of information on the Aracs that I didn’t think of one. It’s a short paper so I was going to focus on how they got weapons so quickly after establishing the hive.”

  Sarah just shook her head. “That’s a really good question, Ellie. Unfortunately, we have no idea how they do that. We can’t even be certain about how they communicate. No one has ever entered a hive and returned.”

  “Isn’t that exactly what our Marines are about to do?” Ellie asked.

  “Well, yes, it is. But this mission is different from other instances.”

  “May I ask how so?” Ellie asked, but held up her hand. “I know pending missions are generally classified simply as a matter of protocol and I really don’t need to know specifics. I only want to know what is so different about this situation.”

  Sarah nodded. “The situation on Earth is very different in that the hive has not yet matured and begun taking the surface. In all other instances of attempted hive assaults, they were made on planets that had been fully infested and the total number of hives was unknown. We do know that other hives will react to an attack on a different hive, yet we do not know how they are aware of it.

  “On Earth, we know that there are only two hives and they are on different continents. We were lucky in that neither seed pod landed near an inhabited area, however, that same isolation will make it difficult to accurately gauge the maturity of the hive,” Sarah explained.

  “How so?” Ellie asked.

  “What little we do know of the hives and how they function - which is all conjecture at this point - is that soldier Aracs will not kill and eat if the Queen is still maturing. They capture and return the prey to the Queen. If they kill and leave the internal organs of the prey, we assume they are returning food for hatching. Most often after a hive has matured and become established, the soldier Aracs will kill and eat as they move. We assume that some of their ‘bounty’ is sent back to the hive but again we have no proof.”

  Ellie cocked her head to one side. “It sounds to me like there is plenty of information available on the Aracs, I just couldn’t find it.”

  Sarah shook her head. “No, you couldn’t find this information because there is no proof. None of it can be substantiated so none of it has been accepted as ‘official’. I see by your search history that you have been searching academic sites. That’s a perfect source for a student to use, however, the information I just told you about cannot be found there until there is a way to document and verify it.”

  “Well, perhaps we can get some information during this assault as well. If no one else requests it after the fight is over, may I request permission to study the battle footage?” Ellie asked.

  Sarah grinned. “Sweetheart, there are already over a thousand request for that footage on file.” When Ellie looked a little let down, Sarah took pity on her. “I’ll see if I can get you a copy, Ellie. With so many requests, I doubt the footage will remain classified for long. In the mean-time, perhaps you could consider writing your paper on the Shallans? There is still a limited amount of hard information available on them, however, you are in a unique position in the galaxy to gather information directly from the source.”

  Ellie brightened up immediately. “I never thought of that! Thank you Sarah!”

  Office of the Base Commander

  Alliance Apollo Base

  Selene, Earth’s moon

  Sol System

  “Okay folks, here’s the deal; we know that two seed hives have made it to the surface of Earth. However, we do not have an absolute fix on either hive,” Vance began as Sarah put up the images taken of the impact sites.

  “We have tagged these two sites as Alpha and Bravo. Site Alpha in located in the northern hemisphere of the planet in a heavily forested, uninhabited area of a country called Canada. While there are no population centers near the impact site, I have been assured that there is plenty of wildlife in the area to sustain the hive well past maturity.

  “Currently, the Command ship, Honor of Vengeance, has taken position directly over site Alpha and has been attempting to track all the diverse life signs in an effort to better locate the hive. Initial reports have confirmed the amount of wildlife in the area, and in point of fact, it will be difficult for the scanners to locate what we need. I have requested two of our Earth biologists to make the journey to the ship in order to assist in the search. Once locate
d, this will be your first target.”

  One of the company commanders indicated he had a question, and Vance nodded to him. “With respect Sir, why a ground assault? Once we locate them, can’t we just use an orbital to glass the area? It seems to me the wider damage corona of a heavy mount laser would be far more effective at killing them all than a ground strike.”

  “You’re absolutely correct, Captain Hargan. This would be an ideal orbital strike target, and we may very well have to resort to that. However, the answer to your question is the Bravo Site.

  “The second impact site is also very isolated, but in this case even the wildlife is scarce. It hit just south of the equator in a very large, very arid desert. While the continent itself is heavily populated and has abundant wildlife, the Bravo site is far from those areas. I am told the average daytime temperature in this area can reach well past the upper limit for human survival without special precautions. Because of the nature of the sand in this desert, a heavy carbon silicon composite, our scanners cannot penetrate past a few inches. While we doubt the heat will affect the Aracs at all, the lack of any type of life in the area will make it impossible for us to locate the hive before it reaches maturity.

  “This is the reason for the ground assault on the Alpha hive. We know that when one hive is hit, all other hives on the planet react immediately regardless of distance. When you hit the ground at the Alpha site, half our fleet will be over that desert with their scanners looking for any movement. Once we have a positive identification on the location of the Bravo hive, we will use an orbital strike to destroy it, but on site verification will be required. Earth is a core world now people, we can take no chances or make any assumptions, is that understood?”

  When they all indicated that they understood, Vance continued. “Now, there is one other thing I need to tell you. Trust me when I tell you that I don’t like it any more than you will. When you hit the ground, there is a good possibility that the people of the planet will attack you.” He had to hold up his hand to quiet the outbursts from the Marines.

  “Earth is very primitive, at least politically, from what we are used to on our own worlds. Their leadership is mostly driven by greed and power. They will do everything in their power to get any scrap of technology they can lay their hands on, and they will not hesitate to use force to do it. I’ve been told that the soldiers themselves will have no knowledge of this and will most likely believe us to be invaders.

  “Most of their weapons cannot hurt us as long as we are in our armor. Note that I said most of their weapons. They have heavy tracked vehicles that carry substantial cannons, as well as missiles they can fire from aircraft and ground vehicles. These weapons do have the potential to inflict telling damage on our people. I understand that you will have to defend yourselves, but keep in mind those humans have been lied to. Try not to kill them if possible. However, in addition to destroying that hive, every one of you must ensure that nothing, not even a burned out communicator, is left behind for them to salvage.”

  “Sir, once we locate the human attack vectors, we could reposition our shuttles and use their shields as a type of fence to hold them back. As for the flying machines, those are usually left to our brothers in the squadrons. Will we have air cover for this operation?”

  “Yes, you will. The Earth governments are really pissed about that, but what can they do?” Vance said. “I really doubt any of their aircraft can even hit ours. However, just to be safe, shields are to be used as often as possible.”

  Captain Hargen had another question. “Sir, I assume from your description that if the humans show up and are still there after we locate and destroy the Bravo site, we won’t be pulling out?”

  Vance looked thoughtful. “As tempted as I am to tell you yes you’ll be pulled out, the problem still exists. It’s hard to claim we are helping them if we leave them to die in an orbital bombardment by our ships. So, no, you’ll be staying down there to make sure the infestation is cleared the hard way.”

  “Could we lead the humans away from the site?” the Captain asked.

  “If you think you can pull it off, Captain, you would certainly save all of us a lot of extra work, but remember that the longer you’re exposed to them, the higher the odds are that they’ll get something we don’t want them to have. If you can lead them off site without losing any equipment to them, great; if not, well…”

  “We’ll pop a dome over the whole site, and hope like hell we find every nook and cranny,” the Captain replied.

  “Admiral, do we know if these Aracs will have particle weapons?” Colonel Cren’lith asked.

  “We have no way to know what they have, Colonel. Logically, if we look at the size of the pod they used for the seeding, there couldn’t have been enough room for a stockpile of weapons. However, I really don’t think we should assume they are unarmed either. It is a secondary priority that everything every single one of your soldiers sees and does is recorded. We need more information on Aracs! Everything you all see down there will be invaluable from an intelligence stand point.”

  “So, assume particle weapons, but hope for spears and knives. All battle footage will be relayed to AI Sarah via the Command ship,” Cren’lith said.

  Captain He’rsree asked. “With respect, Admiral. May I speak to Doctor Cowan prior to deployment? I would like his thoughts on this situation.”

  “He really impressed you did he?” Vance said, proud of his friend. “I don’t see a problem with it, as a department head he certainly has the clearance to know the details of this operation. I simply hadn’t seen the need. AI Sarah, would you please ask Lord Cowan if he can spare a moment for Captain He’rsree?”

  AI Lab

  Alliance Apollo Base

  Selene, Earth’s moon

  Sol System

  To say I was surprised by the message from Sarah would be an understatement. I had thought my Marine friends had forgotten about me by now. Obviously they hadn’t. I asked Sarah to inform the Captain that I would always be available to her; after all, she was the commander of ‘my’ unit. When she arrived, she wasn’t alone. Sergeant Tul-sa had accompanied her much to my delight and she was fully healed.

  Both women saluted me since I was a Knight of the Alliance and I returned it before giving each one a hug. “It’s really great to see you both! Sarge! You’re up and about already! That’s wonderful!” I said.

  “That’s thanks to your wife and her bio-whatcha-things. If not for the new treatment I got, I’d still be in Medical for another week,” she replied.

  I nodded. “That’s great! I’m really proud of her. Those biocytes of hers sure seem to be helping a lot of people. Captain, it’s really great to see you again, but I got the feeling that this isn’t exactly a social call; what can I do for you?” I asked. I had made sure to have the meeting in my office, so we could talk without the seemingly endless interruptions of being out on the lab floor.

  “What I’m going to tell you is classified, but has been approved by Lord Admiral Vance,” the Captain began. “We’re going to be deploying in a few hours for the Arac hive assault on Earth. Before we left, I wanted to talk to you about what we are facing and see if you had any ideas that might improve our odds.”

  I nodded. “I’ve been focusing mostly on the new AI for Fleet Command, but I can’t help but worry about the hives on Earth. Just to make sure my imagination and reality are somewhat close to each other, hives are generally underground, right?”

  They both nodded. “So we’ve been told. No one that has assaulted a hive has ever returned to make a report, and no signals were received from them after they entered the hive.”

  I looked at her with concern. “This is a suicide mission!”

  She held up her hands to stop me. “Not this time. Earth has given us a very unique opportunity. In all the assaults made before, the planet had already fallen to the Aracs and was overrun. That isn’t the case here. There are two hives and we have a good idea where both of them are. We’re
going to have a ton of back-up, and we’ll control the skies and the surface. None of which has been the case in previous assaults.”

  I calmed down a little, I didn’t like the sound of this, but it wasn’t my place to protest anyway. “Okay, I understand. Do you mind if I call in a friend of mine? I don’t actually have the right knowledge for what I have in mind.”

  “May I ask who it is? Security has to be maintained…” the captain said, hesitantly.

  “Doctor Ced?” I asked and she grinned.

  Before she could even tell me he was good, I had him on the vidlink. “Ced, I have some friends visiting me here that have a problem they need help with. I have a few ideas but need your big brain to flesh them out. Can you come over right now? It’s kinda urgent.”

  “Sure Eric, do I need to bring anything?” he asked.

  “Just your design panel and imagination. We’ll put them both to the test,” I replied making him grin.

  “I can’t wait! I’ll be right there!” he replied and had signed off before I could reply.

  “Okay, so while we wait for him; have either of you had dinner yet?” I asked.

  When both women shook their heads I moved over to the replicator. “Do you trust me to order for you, and are you off duty?”

  “Yes, we’re officially off duty. I’ll take the chance and let you order for me, just remember we have a combat drop in a few hours,” the Captain replied. Tul-sa agreed. So I ordered an extra-large, all-meat, deep-dish pizza and a pitcher of beer with half the alcohol content of normal.

  We had just sat down to eat when Ced arrived. When he saw the food he was about to protest until he saw the extra plate I’d put out for him. Then he just smiled and sat down.

  “So, what’s the emergency?” he asked as he grabbed a slice.