by Colin Weldon
“Is that right?” Vishal said still looking into Aron’s eyes.
Aron thought for a second that he was going to shoot him anyway. He looked tense and had probably not fired a weapon in his entire life.
“It’s Vishal, right?” Aron suddenly said trying to break the tension.
The doctor was beginning to take small steps backwards towards the computer console, presumably to make contact with the Colonial Guard. Aron raised his hands.
“Listen to me, I made contact with The Agathon. They’re still alive,” Aron said.
Vishal stopped and looked curiously at Florence.
“It’s true. The Unity made contact with The Agathon via the satellite relay buoys that you designed,” Florence said.
Vishal immediately lowered his weapon and looked at Aron.
“Bullshit!” he said.
“It’s true. The Kandinsky nearly destroyed my ship because of it. I have the frequency access codes. Tell me how to free these people and we can make contact. They can find us. They can take us all away from this place,” Aron said.
Vishal looked at Florence. Aron figured that he trusted her responses more than his. It looked as if they had a rapport.
“It’s true, Charles. We don’t have much time. The Kandinsky is on its way here and when Arturo finds out what those access codes are, he’s going to kill us all,” Florence said.
Vishal looked at the ground and stepped backwards into the lone chair beside his desk. He placed his weapon on the table. Aron lunged for the desk in a sudden swift motion and grabbed the weapon. Vishal looked up at him. He looked defeated. Tired. His skin was a pale white. Aron resisted the urge to shoot him and just holstered the pulse gun in the rear of his trousers.
“What is all this?” Aron said stepping closer to Vishal, “what have you done?”
Vishal looked at Florence.
“It was the only way. We were dead. The fusion generators had given in. There was no energy. We are seven light years away from the nearest star. No solar energy. A thousand years and no sign of anything. The ore mining you and your team were doing over the years, gave us enough to run the basic systems. The Unity did not have enough range, even at sub light, to find the nearest habitable planet before our power reserves ran dry,” Vishal looked at Aron, “There was no choice!”
Aron saw something he was not expecting in the doctor. Humanity. A deep regret and pain in the man. He saw now that he was also a slave. The worst kind of slave. An ingenious one. He looked back at Maya sleeping quietly in her glass tank. She was alive. At least there was that. There may still be a chance. He looked at Florence.
“We need to talk to The Agathon,” he said to her.
“They’re really alive?” Vishal said.
Aron nodded.
“I need to access the relay; can you do that from here?” Aron said.
“Of course, I designed the damn thing,” Vishal replied.
Vishal looked out at Maya’s pod.
“I had no choice,” he said to Aron.
“None of us have a choice anymore, Doctor, now open up the communication relay,” Aron said.
The Void
Carrie looked out at the spiral stars of the distant galaxy. It was strange looking at it from this perspective. It was like looking inside a galactic fishbowl. She was reeling at what she had just been told. Jack had spent the last hour describing in great detail the history of where all life on Earth had come from. It was seeded. A big galactic experiment. He had told her all about how Mars had once been as beautiful and lush as Earth, with an ancient civilisation at its heart. He had told her of the other planet, what was now the asteroid field between Mars and Jupiter, which was equally as beautiful and rich with life. Its core had been unstable and it had exploded without warning, shifting the orbit of Mars and rendering it uninhabitable. Earth had been inhabited by life forms which threatened the development of any intelligent species and as such, it was determined that it needed to be cleansed before implantation could begin. The dinosaurs had, therefore, been extinguished. A mixture of a radioactive explosive and redirection of a nearby asteroid had done the job nicely. Then the seeds were sown, some of which had a specific genetic marker, that could only be activated by certain telepathic triggers in the Martian atmosphere. Carrie’s natural telepathic abilities as a child had made contact with The Black easy. It was The Black that had activated her mutation via a telepathic neural transmitter.
The extent of the mutation was not yet realised and she was only part way through her transformation. Jack’s race had left markers on Earth and Mars, most of which were buried over the millennia. Some had been discovered, but misinterpreted as ancient human constructions. The pyramids, in the America’s and Egypt, along with a multitude of other markers, all of which laid themselves out in perfect geometrical and mathematical alignment with star systems across the galaxy. And of course, the giant Monolith on the artificial moon Phobos which orbited Mars. The Monolith had been a beacon. A permanent off world science station, where humanities progress could be tracked and monitored. Unfortunately, it had also attracted the attention of another race. A race that had used its position to amplify a powerful gamma wave that had led to Earth’s destruction. The race of planet machines was overrunning all life in the galaxy. It seemed so hopeless.
Carrie’s mind was spinning. She was looking out at the glass dome above, lost. She needed to see her father. Tyrell and Jack were standing behind her, silently watching her.
“What’s going to happen to me?” she asked watching the far off spiral galaxy.
“Something wonderful,” said Jack from behind her.
She was still unnerved by hearing such a perfect human voice coming from something that looked so different. She turned and looked into his almond eyes.
“Which is?” she asked.
“It may be difficult to explain, but you should not be afraid,” Jack said.
“I am a scientist, try me,” Carrie said pressing the matter.
“It has been theorised that your corporeal form will convert from matter to energy,” Jack said bluntly looking at Tyrell.
“I’m sorry, what?” Carrie said taking a step back.
Jack did not answer. Carrie looked at Tyrell.
“You will retain self-awareness, but not be limited by a physical form. It will enable you to travel infinite distances to any point in the universe with simple thought,” Jack continued.
Carrie’s jaw dropped. She looked at her hands.
“Is this some sort of joke?” Carrie asked, “if it is, it’s not funny.”
Jack moved his eyebrows and formed what looked like a frown.
“A joke?” he asked puzzled, “ah, yes, a joke. I understand. No, this is not a joke. It will be quite magnificent.”
He took a step towards Carrie.
“You could be your galaxies last hope for survival against the Targlagdu. You will be able to defeat them, once and for all,” Jack said.
Carrie was stunned. What was he saying? She was going to become energy?
“Sorry, hang on a second. When is this going to happen?” she asked Jack.
Jack paused for a moment.
“I really don’t know, Carrie, you are the first to return. It would seem that your abilities are progressing faster than we had anticipated. We expected it would take several generations before your species would develop kinetic electrical expansion. The electrical discharges you are able to exhibit would make it seem that it is at an advanced stage,” Jack said.
Carrie started to feel anxious at the thought of turning into a light bulb. The fear in her chest was making her hands shake.
“Will it hurt?” she asked Jack, still looking at her hands.
“Be calm, Carrie, you are more important than you realise,” Jack said.
“Why me?” she said angrily, “you could have chosen anyone, why me?”
“You were not chosen, Carrie, you were born with this. Embrace it. Use it,” Jack said.
“How?” she asked Jack quietly.
The alien pulled his lips apart revealing his sharp teeth. It looked like a smile. An unnerving one. He walked over to an empty section of the dome and waved his hand in the air. A set of symbols and diagrams emerged from thin air. He made circles in the air with one of his digits and selected several commands. What looked like clothing suddenly appeared a few meters off to his right. Materialising from nothing, it hung in mid-air and slowly rotated. It looked like some sort of atmo suit. It was seamless and had a faceplate attached at its shoulders.
“You need to put this on, we are going outside,” Jack said.
“Going outside where?” Carrie said looking at the clothing.
Jack pointed at the glass overhead.
“Out there,” Jack replied.
22
The Agathon
The captain sat at the head of the table in the conference room and looked around at the solemn faces of his crew. Chase Meridian was scrolling through her data pad and not paying much attention. Seated to her left was her secret husband, Doctor Kyle McDonnell, who was also combing through the data that Young had transmitted before being eaten alive. Chavel had returned from the medical bay after being resuscitated by Doctor Brubaker. He was unconscious when the shuttle pod had been opened, after partially drowning, but was given a clean bill of health by Brubaker. The doctor had tried to keep him in the medical bay, but he had insisted on returning to duty. She had healed a small head wound and sent him on his way, reminding him that he was spending far more time there than any other crewman and to try and be more careful. Ferrate was in worse shape. After the ship had picked him up from floating in space, he was found to have multiple broken bones and swelling of the brain due to the shuttle pod explosion. The faceplate in his atmo suit had fractured, but luckily, it had not breached completely. He had damage to his heart and a collapsed lung and Brubaker was currently in surgery with him.
Barrington noted how worn out they all looked. They needed to find a hospitable planet to set down on. They needed hope. Something. Boyett looked at the captain waiting for him to speak.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of all of you,” he finally said.
Chavel smiled slightly at the compliment.
“We have lost another member of our own. Jerome Young surprised us all, I think. If it was not for his foresight, this ship would never have been built. We would not have had the chance we have now, to try and save what is left of the human race. We can honour him by finding a home. I want to apologise to all of you to begin with, for isolating myself from the rest of the crew these last few weeks. I hold myself accountable for what happened in the engine room,” Barrington said.
“Captain, that was not your fault. We couldn’t have known we had a lunatic on board,” Boyett said.
Barrington raised his hand letting her know he wanted to finish what was on his mind.
“We have neglected our own. There are those among us who feel lost. Betrayed, maybe. There is not a soul on board who has not lost everything that they hold most dear. What we have encountered out here has not been a new hope. It has been the realisation that there are terrors in this galaxy intent on wiping us out. I am making it a new priority to connect with every member of this crew. It is OUR responsibility to hold this ship together. I want to make this a priority for everyone in this room. Reach out and connect with our crew. Meet them. Get to know them. They look to us for guidance and leadership and we have failed them. Is that understood?” he said.
“YES, SIR,” responded the room in unison.
“Now to begin with, I want new security procedures for sensitive areas of the ship. I want access points with retinal scanning installed at all entrances. Especially the engine room. Nobody gets near a sensitive part of this ship without proper authorisation,” he said.
“Yes, sir, I’ll see to that,” Boyett replied.
Barrington nodded in acknowledgment. He turned to Meridian.
“Okay, we need to talk about next steps. What’s on that data disk and is it any use?” Barrington asked her.
Meridian looked up. He had not seen her since he locked himself away and was glad of her presence. There was something different about her. The glint in her eyes had dulled. She had not gotten over her experience on the mechanical planet as effectively as the rest of the crew and she still looked visibly shaken by her attack.
“Eh, yes, John, I believe this is of some significant use. Let me show you,” she said, placing the data pad on the desk.
She tapped in a command and a three dimensional hologram emerged from the pad and began free floating in mid-air. It showed the six-point line diagram that was carved on the surface of the underwater structure.
“These are definitely spatial coordinates. I have fed them into the astrometric library and they seem to point to a star system eleven light years from our current position. The writing is undecipherable, but it was definitely created by a sentient and highly advanced race. The figure above the coordinates looks humanoid,” Meridian said, tapping in a command and bringing up a holographic representation of the figure. It looked like a cave drawing with one arm stretched out towards the sky. There was a sudden chirping on the computer.
“Bridge to conference room,” said Leanne Ripley, the young ensign who was manning the communications station in Ferrate’s absence She was young, only twenty-one years old and this was her first deep space assignment after being transferred from the Jycorp Orbital before the evacuation. At only five foot two, she made up for her stature with an excellence in her work. Barrington had poached her from the engineering staff earlier that day, to serve on the bridge, after a strong recommendation from Tosh.
“Go ahead, Ripley,” Barrington said.
“Sir, I have an incoming transmission,” she said, “it is on the same carrier wave as the space stations link we received earlier.”
Everyone sat up straight in their chairs.
“Put it through, ensign,” Barrington said.
There was a crackling sound as the comm system activated.
“Hello?” Barrington said, “This is The Agathon.”
There was a moment of silence.
“Agathon, this is Earth One, Aron Elstone, do you read?” said Aron through a light crackle.
“Yes, Mr Elstone, we read you. Report,” Barrington said.
He realised he had suddenly begun to think of Elstone as a member of his crew and reminded himself to try and be less formal with him.
“Captain Barrington, we have a situation here on Earth One. I don’t quite know how to explain it, but things have become more desperate than I had first thought. We are under mortal threat from our chancellor, who has begun using members of the colony as test subjects, in some sort of power generator. He is on his way here now, armed to the teeth, in The Kandinsky. It is our belief that he plans to destroy us all and make contact with you in order to commandeer The Agathon,” Aron said. “I’m sorry, Captain, it would appear that we have evolved into the very worst possible representation of our race in your absence.”
Barrington sat forward in his chair trying to comprehend what he was hearing. What had they become? He heard something else in Aron’s voice. The voice of a leader. Maybe there was still hope.
“He has my daughter, Captain. And the sons and daughters of many of the colonists. They are in fluid filled pods hooked up to the main power systems and they are being used to power the space stations. We need help,” Aron said.
Barrington looked at Meridian who was stone faced.
“Remain calm, Aron. Are you and the others currently safe or is there an immediate threat? Can you hold on while I discuss this with my staff? I will keep the channel open.” Barrington said.
“Yes, sir,” Aron said suddenly going quiet.
“Well?” Barrington asked his crew.
> Meridian spoke up first.
“Aron, is it?” she said loudly.
“Yes,” Aron replied.
“My name is Chase; I am a scientist on board The Agathon. Can you transmit your position to the ship?” she asked looking at Barrington.
“Yes, I can,” Aron replied, “Vishal, transmit our coordinates on this channel.”
Meridian frowned curiously at Barrington. There were others with Aron.
“Aron, what can we do?” Barrington asked.
“That all depends on where you are, Captain,” Aron said.
Barrington looked over at Chavel who was punching the new data into his astrometric charts on his pad.
“This may take a few minutes, Captain,” Chavel said, clearly sensing Barrington was staring at him.
“Tell me something, Aron,” Barrington said, “have you come into contact with anything unusual along your travels?”
Boyett looked up.
“Unusual?” Aron said.
“Yes, any unusual planets or strange changes in any of the colonists,” Barrington said.
“My ship is limited by sub light speeds, so all I have been able to do is survey moons and mine them. Arturo sent me out on a few recon missions of planets that looked habitable, but they turned into wild goose chases and most worlds in the habitable zone are currently out of range of The Unity. We have not been able to reproduce the FTL ring capabilities of The Agathon, Captain, which is a damn shame to be honest. The war set us back a few generations, we’ve been picking ourselves up ever since,” Aron said.
Barrington shook his head. The thought of some sort of uprising gave him chills.
“Tell me something, Aron, do you have any records of what happened to the original crew of the space stations? What happened to Sienna Clarke?” he asked.
Barrington figured he may as well use this time to get a little more insight while Chavel was plotting courses. There was a moment of silence on the comms.
“Hard to say, John, most of those records were destroyed, but there are stories of something big. Some say the stations were about to be hit by an asteroid and the fear of not being able to do anything about it turned the crew against each other. There are stories of some leaving, trying to find a planet on their own. There’s even crazy stories of alien abduction. Truth is, we really don’t know. What I do know, is that right now, we are on the brink of being fucked,” Aron said.
