by JD Clarke
“We weren’t sure how we could identify any other assassins if they looked like Sybil and had Sybil’s memories,” Sasha interjected with some concern. Her eyes were still examining Sybil as she lay on the workbench. Sybil’s injured arm dangled off one side, limp and useless. The flesh was torn from most of her injured leg, and the metal subframe was exposed.
“How did you know the assassin was not the real Sybil?” I asked.
“It was easy. She asked to see you, Jason. She did not know that you had placed your consciousness within the original Sybil, and her obvious lack of that piece of knowledge made us immediately suspicious. When I began questioning her, she became frustrated and knocked me out of the way. She intended to search for you. Fortunately, Legion was nearby, and I summoned him. He and the three Warriors with him got into a firefight with the assassin. She killed two and injured Legion before he could kill her. Blew her head right off her perfect little shoulders.”
“She was armed with a pistol hidden in her clothing. She was a good shot. We all had pulse rifles, and still, she managed to hit three of us before I could kill her,” Legion reported.
“Her pistol was of similar design to our pulse rifles, more effective than the Colt .45s we use, and the technology had been scaled down to pistol size, something I’ve never been able to accomplish. We knew she was from the Unity. The only problem was we didn’t know if they would be sending more imitations, perhaps with better information or even complete memories from Sybil.” Mako helped Sybil sit up on the bench.
“I will instruct Jason’s neural net to reproduce his memories of the past few days and awaken him, with your permission. You may guard me if you like.” Sybil looked at Legion as she said it.
“I will be there.” Legion still had his pulse rifle.
“Just don’t get trigger-happy and kill her before I get my body back. She’s the only one that can manipulate the neural net.”
“It is still an untried procedure, Jason. It might not work, and all your memories of the time you have spent sharing my android body could be lost.”
“I know, Sybil, and just let me take the opportunity now to tell you that I have enjoyed it very much. Thank you for carrying me in your mind. I feel closer to you now than ever before.” This last communication was strictly between me and Sybil. After all, she was still Mako’s girl. Then Sybil stopped my program in preparation for the transfer.
It was like awakening from a long, deep sleep in a strange place. I wasn’t sure of where I was or what was real. Was I dreaming? I had trouble focusing my vision, and it was hard to sit up. I was stiff all over. Legion and Mako were standing over me.
“Jason, are you all right? Can you hear me?” Mako was gently shaking my shoulder and speaking to me aloud. Then his thoughts entered my mind as he tried to speak to me telepathically. “Jason, are you OK?”
“Yes, Mako, I’m fine. I’m stiff and sore. My head feels like somebody hit me with a baseball bat. It’s throbbing like hell.”
“How’s your memory? Do you remember going to the Unity with Sybil?”
“Yes, I think so. Yeah … yeah, I remember. I remember everything, I think.” How would I know? “Where’s Sybil?”
“She’s in the lab. She’s downloading into her new body.”
“How long have I been asleep? I mean after Sybil installed my new memories, how long since then?”
“Over seventy-two hours, Jason. You’ve come around a couple of times, but never fully conscious.” Mako was visually checking me over. “You know, you and Sybil didn’t have to bring back a whole warship with a plasma cannon. Just the designs would have been sufficient.”
“Well, Doctor, we aim to please. I guess we’re just a couple of overachievers.”
“It is good to have you back, Jason. I will inform the others.” Legion left without further comment. I made a mental note to speak to him later.
“What about the other Unity members we brought back with us?” I asked Mako. My head was still a little woozy, and I decided not to try and stand.
“We removed their processor units from the crippled warship and installed them in the base. The two other Jasons are being downloaded now into male android bodies. We resumed android construction while you and Sybil were gone and have been shipping them out to nearby Unity bases.”
“No further attacks from the Unity?”
“No, they’ve been strangely quiet since your return. They made a few runs against us utilizing their warships, just probing sorties, as the sergeant would call them. Nothing major.”
“I miss Sarge. And we will definitely miss his experience and advice. I’ve been a fool, Mako. A fool to think I could do everything myself. A fool for thinking I was smarter than everyone else, and it got the sergeant killed. Now Legion has lost faith in me as well.”
“He is upset with you, no doubt. But, Jason, he has been defending you when his Warriors complain about your lack of concern over their losses.”
“I’ll speak to him,” I said as I slowly got to my feet. “Right now, I’m hungry. I need some solid food. Help me get these IVs out of my arms, Doc. I feel like a piece of electronics all plugged in like this, and I’m ready to feel human again.”
I contacted Sasha for a report on the current state of the blockade. Nothing had changed; they were still orbiting above us. Sasha sounded genuinely glad to hear I was back to normal. In fact, she seemed to be the only one with true feeling for me. Mako had been pleasant, but he was oddly reserved. I could feel a distance between us when we exchanged thoughts. Perhaps he was a bit jealous of my time with Sybil. Maybe a little threatened by it. I decided to let Sybil deal with that aspect. Mako was her partner.
Legion made a lot of excuses when I contacted him and asked him to meet me in the mess hall. He finally came around and said he would be there shortly. While I was waiting, I pigged out. Everything tasted delicious. It’s good to be human. It’s good to be corporeal.
“The defenses are established, and I have installed covered trenches for the gunners to take shelter in if their positions are exposed,” Legion reported as he entered the mess. He sat down across from me with no greeting.
“Thanks, Legion. I should have done so earlier. It would have saved lives.” I paused, thinking of not only Sergeant Klanton but also of the many Warriors that had died. “I owe you an apology, Legion. I owe all the Warriors an apology. Sergeant Klanton had advised me to build more shelters earlier, but I didn’t listen. I was too caught up in my offensive plans, too caught up in my own thoughts. I got conceited, oversure of my own abilities. And your Warriors paid the price for that conceit. I am not worthy of your loyalty. I am not worthy of leadership. If you and the Warriors wish it, I will step aside, and you can lead.”
Legion sat motionless with his unblinking stare for a moment, a long moment. He was aggressive and smart. He had led his own people to overcome the constant conflict among the different tribes. He had united them. He knew how to lead.
“I have made many mistakes in my life. I have many regrets. Following you is not one of them. We will follow you, Jason. I have learned much from you. It is good that you are learning as well. The sergeant liked you very much. He would follow you still if he could.”
I truly was not worthy of such an ally and friend. I had been prepared to step aside and let Legion take command. Now I was not sure I was ready to continue as commander of our forces. I wasn’t sure what to do next. Prepare was all we could do. Prepare for the Unity’s next assault.
“All our defensive positions have been rebuilt?”
“Yes. I have placed mines along the perimeter also. The eastern perimeter is now strengthened with particle cannons as well. It is no longer a weak point in our defenses. It was an idea Sergeant Klanton expressed to me earlier.”
“You’ve done a good job, Legion.”
“I should get back to my troops. I wish to do more training exercises on the fast attack vehicles. They are still not fighting as one unit.”
“Of course, and thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“It is good to have the old Jason back.” Legion rose and left. I felt better. Our bond was still strong.
I decided on visiting the other two Jasons next. Things would get confusing having three of me around the base, and I needed to know the intentions of the other two. I found them in Mako’s workshop. They did not look anything like me.
“Hey, Mako, I came to visit Jason 2 and Jason 3. We have some things to discuss.”
“Of course, Jason, they’re finished with the download. I was just running some final diagnostics to ensure they were fit.” He walked me over to them as they stood with wires protruding from connection points along their necks and torsos. Fortunately, they were clothed, which made having a conversation with them easier for me.
“Jason 2?”
“Jason 3, actually. He’s Jason 2.” The android nodded to the other on his right.
“Well, we need to assign new designations to you two. It’s going to be too confusing with three of us running around with the same name.”
“I was thinking the same thing. I have always liked the name Austin.”
“I have always liked that name too,” Jason 3 responded to Jason 2 with a smile. “But that’s no surprise is it?”
“What about Jacob? I’ve always liked that name also,” I suggested.
“Yes, but I know a Jacob, and I would always think of him when I heard the name.”
“You’re right, I would. I mean I would too.”
“Jackson is a good name. You remember that art exhibit we saw several years ago? The artist’s name was Jackson, and it struck me as a good name then.”
“OK, then Jackson it is. All right, Austin and Jackson, where do we go from here? What positions would you like here on the base? And don’t say mine. It’s already taken.”
“I’ve been thinking about that too actually. I would not be happy following you, Jason. I would always be second-guessing you and wondering why you didn’t do things my way. I want to return to one of the Unity bases. I think I could lead a rebellion there, maybe recruit an entire planet. I would like the pilot of the warship to go with me. I made certain promises to her to get her help,” Austin told me. It seemed an ambitious plan, but maybe he had learned things from the warship pilot that I didn’t know.
“And you, Jackson? What would you like to do?”
“I would like to stay here and help Mako. I could make a real contribution to his android designs, and also, I would be interested to know more about how this alien technology works.”
“Yeah, I’ve been curious about that myself. I think you’re right. It would be fascinating to learn. Then it’s official. I’ll meet with you later, Austin, and we’ll make plans on how to sneak you off planet and get you and the pilot to another Unity planetary base. I’ll talk to you two later.” I left feeling good about our talk. I was afraid it would be awkward, each wanting to resume my life, but then I am sure they had been thinking it through, perhaps even discussing it between the two of them. I went back over to where Mako was working.
“Mako, have you had any time to look at the plasma weapon we brought back?”
“No, but we are in luck. The pilot that came back with you is well trained on every aspect of the new ship. She piloted prototypes and evaluated many of the changes as they developed it. She has detailed design schematics in her holographic processor unit. Noomi and Claire are working with her to input design specifications and production details into the factory computers. What information we don’t have we can reverse-engineer from the warship you brought. We should be able to replicate the plasma weapon soon.”
“That’s more than I had hoped for, Mako. You won’t believe the awesome power that weapon has on a warship. There’s no defense against it. One shot, one warship kill. The only thing that will stand up to it is your time shield.”
“And the time shield is too power hungry to place on a warship,” Mako added.
“We need to equip all the warships in our fleet with plasma weapons.”
“What about android production, Jason, do you want to continue?”
“How far are we from our goal?”
“We reached that while you were gone, Jason. We’re now producing beyond that and shipping them out daily. I even had to produce more cargo ships to handle the shipments.”
“Excellent, then put all our production efforts into the upgrade of our warships and then the production of new warships,” I told him. Things were looking up, which made me cautious; seems like life is full of ups and downs. When you’re down, you can always expect things to get better; conversely, when you’re up, you can always expect something to hit you—usually from behind.
Demands
The blockade above the planet now consisted of 128 warships. The Unity was certainly into overkill. It was more than enough warships to keep us pinned down or keep us from getting any new supplies of food. Perhaps they knew that we now possessed a plasma weapon and were afraid that with the base’s production capability, we would soon have an invincible fleet.
I could not think of any way to get Austin and his pilot—Mela was the name she had chosen—off the planet as I had promised. We had tried to download my consciousness into the orbiting warships, but their computers had been adjusted to keep us out. That trick was not going to work again. Two of our warships had now been equipped with the plasma weapon, and the others were being fitted. Other warships were in production, but it took time to build an entire ship, even with the resources this base offered. We had enough food to last us until a fleet was built, a fleet strong enough to challenge the Unity blockade above us, but it would be a long wait.
“Jason, the Unity warships are maneuvering. Something new. You better come look,” Sasha reported to me from the command center. I immediately made a mental check on the information by generating a mental image of the display screen. She was right; they were now in a circular formation above us and descending. By the time I got to the command center, Mako, Sybil, and Legion were there also.
“Looks like trouble.” Legion was in full combat armor. I wondered how he knew, or did he just put it on every morning? He noted my look. “I was training with the troops. I have already ordered them into position.”
“We should all suit up. Have the pilots ready their warships regardless of their state of modification.”
“Jason, only eight are combat ready. The rest are in various states of repair, and much of their forward shielding has been removed.” Mako’s thoughts were filled with worry. He was right to worry. This was a very formidable force headed for the planet.
“Keep the warships within the factory walls. We may need them for a last defense. We may need everything we’ve got to fight off whatever they have in mind. Let’s move. We don’t have much time.”
Everyone scrambled to get into their combat armor as the Unity warships continued to approach the planet’s surface. We all returned to the command center expecting the worst. By now, the Unity Fleet had taken up stations around the base. The warships completely encircled the base just outside of the time shield. The ships hovered only a hundred feet above the surface. Each ship was equipped with four forward firing particle cannons—that was 512 gun barrels of deadly forces aimed right at us.
“It does not make sense,” Sybil was saying. “They are evenly spaced around our perimeter. Most of it is completely shielded, and their weapons cannot penetrate it. Only the western and eastern areas are exposed. The ships should be concentrated there.”
“Mako, could they blast out an opening below the shields? Blow away enough of the surface to fire missiles underneath the shields?”
“Maybe, it would be tricky if they did.”
“Perhaps they are loaded with the giant robots that assaulted us before, and the warships are there to give them covering fire,” Sasha speculated.
We continued to talk among ourselves for over an hour, and still, the Unity had not acted. They just sat
out there, waiting. It was beginning to get on all our nerves when finally the silence ended.
“We demand 128 android bodies. We will accept no fewer.” The communication came from the Unity warships, all the ships in unison. We were stunned and slow to respond.
“We demand 128 android bodies. Acknowledge this transmission—immediately.”
“We acknowledge your request and will gladly provide you with the android bodies you desire. Please specify male or female,” Sybil responded. She looked over at me for confirmation. I just smiled; the blockade was over.
I made the Unity warships wait another week while we finished the modifications to our warships. We now had twenty fully operational warships equipped with plasma cannons. Sasha had voiced fears that this was a Unity trick, a way to lure us into dropping our shields. But I had never known the Unity to bluff or be deceitful. It just was not in their programming; still, I felt better having our warships ready and keeping our time shield intact.
