by Jerry Aubin
The civilian leadership didn’t want a bunch of primitives wandering the Ship and ordered them moved into cryostorage immediately. The next day five similar shuttles arrived, and the day after that it was seven. From that point forward, anywhere between one and ten shuttles had arrived daily, and a procedure was established for processing each group and moving them into cryostorage. Zax had volunteered for the duty since, with the involuntary grounding of the Ship’s fighters, his piloting skills were unneeded.
The group who descended the ramp were wildly different than any who had passed before. For one thing, they were the most amazing collection of physical specimens that Zax had ever seen. All of them towered over the tallest of the Marines and moved with a preternatural strength and grace. Every single individual was objectively beautiful with flawless skin and lustrous hair. Their clothing was impeccable and shimmered as they walked.
Haydon clutched him by the arm and broke Zax’s reverie.
“Aren’t you supposed to be training me? What are we supposed to do when they get down here?”
Zax sighed. “Relax, it’s easy. We’re part of the greeting and sampling team. We ask each individual some questions about their colony, collect a DNA sample, and then send them off to cryostorage.”
“Questions about their colony? What are we trying to learn?”
“We mainly want to understand what happened after the Ship left. We always hear one of two answers. Either the colony fractured and devolved into some level of primitive survival, or they retained the Ship’s culture with colonial security remaining dominant like the Crew on the Ship. Just watch me for now, and save any other questions until after this first group has been processed.”
The group entered the queue, and the first man approached their workstation. Zax was taken aback by the man’s magnificence and stared up at him with his mouth agape. He quickly gathered his wits, delivered his welcome greeting, and began asking his standard questions. What came out of the colonist’s mouth in reply left Zax breathless.
2
That’s pretty creepy, but I understand why you did it.
Mase chewed on the tip of his thumb. It was a habit he had fought to extinguish for years that resurfaced whenever his brain was churning through a particularly gnarly challenge. He had triple-checked everything, and his conclusions were the same every time, even though they made no sense.
Someone was interfering with multiple AIs and changing their outputs. It was subtle, but undeniable. He had spent weeks trying to find a way to replicate the behavior in even one system and had hit nothing but dead ends. He probably shouldn’t have been so aggressive in his own attempts at interference, but his fear of discovery and getting tossed out an airlock had diminished ever since the battle with the Others.
He had stopped worrying because the simple fact was they were all going to die soon. Either the Others would apply their overwhelming power and destroy the Ship altogether, or they would continue to hold them prisoner until all of their supplies were gone and everyone on board either starved or died from lack of water. Once life-sustaining resources hit a tipping point, the violence required to acquire them would tear the Crew and civilians apart and doom everyone on board the Ship to death in a spasm of internecine bloodshed. Mase planned to put himself out an airlock before the conditions on board the Ship deteriorated to their logical endpoint, and that decision had been liberating.
A light flashed in his field of vision, and Mase raised an eyebrow when he identified who the incoming communication was from. He had not spoken with Zax since well before the final battle. They had explored the log files and learned about the history of Alpha together, but then Zax bolted after telling Mase to never contact him again. He understood the boy’s rationale and gave him the space he asked for, but it had been hard. He accepted the communication.
“Hello, Zax.”
“Hi, Mase. I guess you’re surprised to hear from me.”
Mase considered a few different responses but kept it simple.
“Yes.”
There was an uncomfortable pause before Zax replied.
“I’m sorry I walked away from you the way I did. I was terrified when I learned Alpha was controlling everything and everyone. I was already Culled once and somehow managed a reprieve, and I didn’t want to do anything that would put me at risk of that happening ever again. It was horrible to abandon you like that. I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I’m asking for it. Other than Kalare, you’re the only friend I’ve ever had, and I hope you find a way to trust me again.”
Mase smiled. He wanted Zax back in his life but didn’t jump at the peace offering. The boy needed to earn his way back in.
“OK. I’ll think about it. I’ll contact you in a few days. We’ll eat dinner together. Sort things out.”
Mase cut the connection, but Zax contacted him again immediately.
“Mase—there’s something else important I needed to tell you.”
Mase grimaced. He had been happy that Zax wanted to repair their relationship, but that feeling was tempered when the boy revealed an ulterior motive.
“What, Zax?”
“I’ve been working as part of the reception team for the colonists the ants keep returning to the Ship. What we’ve seen previously is that none of the colonies have progressed technologically in any way. In fact, most of them have fallen backwards into a much more primitive state. We just finished processing a group, though, who were unlike any of the rest. Their colony advanced radically after the Ship dropped them off. In fact, I’m guessing their technology might be even more advanced than the Ship’s.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Because one of them just told me they fought off thirty of those human motherships. Imagine that being possible after our experience with them. It’s even crazier given they went through a revolution weeks after the Ship left them behind. One of the ex-Crew led the revolt and overthrew Colonial Security. I spoke with someone who was a direct descendant of the woman who led the uprising.”
Mase’s ears perked up. “A direct descendant? Give me the record locator for that person’s data.”
Zax sent over the identifier, and Mase navigated to the right AI system to put it to use. The tip of his thumb went back into his mouth, and he chewed furiously while he waited for his analysis to run. The results appeared, and Mase read them twice to be certain before he spoke.
“Since the battle, I’ve spent all of my waking time exploring the AI. What I’ve discovered are multiple systems where errors are occurring. It’s statistically impossible for the errors to be random. They must be the result of direct manipulation by someone. The weirdest part is that it’s been happening for thousands of years. There must be a group of people who have passed the knowledge down from one generation to the next.
“The system impacted the most is the Genetics AI. The Genetics AI specifies the way in which genetic material should be combined to produce a specific output—a person. It passes off its specification to the Culturing AI which does the actual manipulation of the genetic material. The Genetics AI assumes its output will match the specification, and there is no final validation. I’ve evaluated a million samples across the Ship’s history and there’s a pattern. Approximately one in a thousand births throughout history deviate from the Genetics AI specification. I checked the DNA sample from the colonist you spoke with earlier and traced his lineage back to the original Crew member who started the colony’s revolution. That Crew member was part of the zero point one percent.”
“Are the DNA errors consistent, Mase? What traits do they impact?”
“They are consistent, and the primary traits they affect lead to increased creativity and intelligence.”
Zax paused for a moment. “Adan had started out with the most intelligent Crew but then settled on picking people who were the most compliant. I remember how frustrated he was that the new selection process led to people who were less creative and intelligent. Whoever is messing a
round with the system is fighting back against Adan’s intentions. Wow.”
“There’s one more thing. I evaluated my own DNA along with yours and Kalare’s. All three of us are in the zero point one percent.”
“You did what? Everyone’s genetic information is supposed to be inaccessible as long as they’re alive and not in cryostorage.”
“I was at dinner one night a few weeks ago while you two were eating together. When you left I took the cups off your trays and collected samples from those.”
Zax fell silent again. Mase worried he had crossed a line with such a blatant invasion of privacy. He had considered not sharing the personal genetic information with the boy, but concluded it was too important and Zax needed to know. If it prevented the rekindling of their friendship, then Mase was prepared to accept that outcome. Finally, Zax spoke.
“That’s pretty creepy, but I understand why you did it. I need you to do me a favor.”
3
I don’t have any patience for that noise right now.
Kalare glared at the image on her screen of the ant shuttle that had just landed and tried to remain calm. No one understood the relationship between the giant insects and their captors, but it was clear the ants were somehow under the control of the Ship’s human enemies. The fact the bugs continuously dropped off colonists like cargo, acted as a constant reminder of the Crew’s defeat in the battle for Earth and filled Kalare with a mix of helplessness and rage.
In hindsight, it was clear the Others had led them straight into a trap. The potential for that outcome had been raised throughout the run-up to the final battle, but everyone believed that worst case scenario was worth the risk. What no one had bargained for was the Ship’s FTL engine going offline. What bothered Kalare the most was her inability to decipher why their inscrutable opponents might have gone through all of the effort in the first place. It was clearly a great strategy to draw the Ship into a position to be destroyed, but the Others hadn’t finished them off. They had complete power over the Ship and yet held them frozen in place.
On the third day after the battle, President Rege sent out a shuttle. It was filled with a group of emissaries and launched in the hope of drawing out some form of communication. Almost immediately after the shuttle departed the hangar, it was swarmed with golden missiles and forced back to the Ship. It struck Kalare as a crystal clear message from the Others, but Rege launched the shuttle again a day later. There were no golden missiles the second time. One of the motherships fired an energy beam instead and the shuttle was vaporized after three shots. No one ever made an explicit announcement, but it was clear that no communication would be forthcoming.
It was a few weeks later that the ants started to arrive regularly with their cargo. The Intelligence group had concluded the ongoing arrival of colonists from the Ship’s past was the most vital clue to the Others’ intentions. Their most popular theory was that the humans were rounding up all traces of the Ship’s activity before executing a final plan of destruction.
Regardless of what the Others might have in mind, Kalare knew she had to do something to try to save the Ship—whatever the cost. Her fighter was ready to launch and she gave the command. A sec later she flew free of the Ship with the deep blues of Earth below drawing her eye. She didn’t admire the view for long because her threat board wailed almost immediately. One of the motherships had targeted her and she expected it would soon fire its energy beam. She had spent days analyzing the footage of the same vessel destroying their shuttle and had identified a potential flaw in its weapon system. It was time to prove her theory correct or die trying.
Success! There was a narrow window between when the Others locked on and when the beam fired where juking her craft avoided destruction. The mothership fired six more times and she dodged each. A second mothership engaged and Kalare stayed alive even in the face of their coordinated attack. She accelerated at maximum velocity on a collision course with the first vessel that had fired at her. Her plan was to sacrifice herself while doing significant damage to the enemy’s hangar in the process.
Golden missiles launched from the target mothership, but with her velocity Kalare would close the distance before they locked on. Her threat board showed that three of the other motherships had also launched missiles, but she ignored them. They were too far away to reach her before her journey of sacrifice ended. She breathed deeply knowing it would all be over in a handful of secs.
A red light flashed to indicate an urgent inbound communication—Zax. Kalare gritted her teeth in frustration at the interruption, but then paused the simulation and accepted the connection. She had already seen what she needed to, and she could finish the scenario later.
“Hey, Zax. You’re not going to believe what I just figured out in the simulator.”
Kalare explained the scenario and its outcome. Zax paused for a few secs before replying.
“That’s interesting, but how will you use that information? Are you thinking that we’d just sacrifice every fighter and pilot? Even if that worked, wouldn’t the ants just destroy the FTL engine and leave the Ship stuck here forever?”
“I’m not saying it’s the answer to all of our problems, but it’s the first time since we arrived at Earth that I’ve been able to get close to beating them. It’s just a simulation and who knows if it will match real life, but at least I’ve finally seen they may not be invincible.” Kalare was getting worked up, so she paused to collect herself before continuing. “Forget about it for now. Why are you reaching out to me?”
“Have you heard anything about the latest group of colonists the ants dropped off?”
“Why would I have? It’s been nothing but the same story every time.”
“This group was different, Kalare. I think they’re more technologically advanced than we are. They fought off thirty of the Others’ motherships before they were finally defeated.”
“Thirty! How is that possible?”
“I wouldn’t have believed them, except it’s obvious how they’ve thrived away from the Ship.”
“Any idea why?”
Zax explained how the colony had started off with a revolution, but Kalare only half-listened. Her mind remained locked on the idea of colonists having such great success against the Others. If superior technology had made their success possible then it likely wouldn’t matter for the Ship, but if the colonists had discovered new engagement tactics or identified critical weakness in the Others’ spacecraft, then perhaps those could be exploited by the Crew.
“Zax—we need to tell the Boss about this. I want those colonists out of cryosleep to find out if there’s anything useful to learn from them.”
Once again Zax was silent for a few extra beats before replying. “The Boss is actually a big part of what I need to talk with you about before we do anything with this information. I’ve learned some things over the last few months. It’s important now for you to hear all of it as well.”
“This better not involve any more of your harebrained conspiracies. I don’t have any patience for that noise right now.”
“I know, and I understand. I have indisputable proof for everything that I’m going to share with you. OK? Can we meet for lunch, and I’ll walk you through it?”
Kalare’s first instinct was to say no. She had spent too many years listening to Zax and supporting him in his conflicts—perceived and real—with the Boss. What tipped her decision towards honoring his request was the chance to learn more about the mystery colonists. She needed enough information to convince the Boss to defrost their leader for interrogation.
“OK, Zax. I’ll see you at lunch.”
“Thanks, Kalare. I promise you won’t regret it.”
Their history together suggested it was far more likely that Kalare would indeed regret listening to Zax about any topic concerning the Boss. She considered the situation for a few mins and then settled on a radical course of action. She would meet Zax, but Kalare intended to have a surprise waiting for him.
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4
Now!
When Zax entered the mess hall, there was a different energy among the people eating. There were many more armed civilians present than he had become accustomed to, and there was palpable tension in the air. As he gathered a tray of food, he was dismayed that many of his favorite items were not available. Was there a permanent depletion of stocks, or had the food rationing regime been further tightened alongside the new showering prohibition?
“Zax!”
Mase waved at him from the entrance. Zax waited until the man loaded up his tray and joined him.
“Thanks for meeting me like this on short notice, Mase. Let’s grab a seat.”
Mase fell in alongside him, and they walked towards the table Zax had frequented for years.
“It’s good to see you, Zax. I’m glad you reached out. I’ve discovered a lot of other stuff over the last few weeks.” Mase stopped short and glared at Zax. “You didn’t say she would be here.”
They were still twenty meters from Kalare, who sat with her back to them and remained oblivious to their proximity. Zax had justified the subterfuge knowing that neither of his friends would be excited about interacting with the other, but convinced that he needed both of them involved.
“I’m sorry, Mase. I was afraid you wouldn’t come if I told you I wanted Kalare to hear everything as well. I understand you don’t trust her because of her relationship with the Boss, but we need all the help possible right now.”
“And what if I say no and turn around and leave? Are you going to betray my trust and tell her everything I’ve already told you?”
“No. I promise I won’t reveal your role if you aren’t comfortable with sharing it yourself. But I’m begging you to please join us. Things are getting worse and worse on board. Even you must be aware of the crazy amount of anxiety around here today. Something bad is going to happen soon if we don’t figure out how to escape the Others and resupply. I don’t know if they’re planning to actively destroy us, or whether they’ll just let us do the job for them, but I’m convinced we don’t have much more time before things start getting really, really ugly.”
