by Andrew Gates
Darkness.
She remembered that glass window, the thin barrier protecting the station from danger. That barrier had been breached the moment those mechanized beasts arrived. So what is protecting us now?
Iris opened up her eyes again.
The first thing she saw was Trace, staring back at her. He looked different now after her moment of reflection. This did not look like the face of a killer. It looked like the face of a young boy she used to play with. As much as it pained her to admit it, she started to think he was right. He may have been crazy, but this was his world, not hers. She had always thrived in a world of control while he never had.
She took a deep breath and nodded her head. It was time to make her decision.
“Alright Trace,” she said, “I’ll help you.”
A smile formed on his face.
“Thank you, Iris, thank you.” He leaned in hugged her. His arms were strong. “Just like old times,” he said.
Iris nodded, though in reality those words could not be further from the truth.
No, she thought to herself, nothing is like old times. This is a whole new world.
WHEN SANJA WAS A YOUNG girl, she remembered learning about the early days of the station in school. That time period always fascinated her. She could just imagine how horrifying it all must have been, stuffed down in an underwater station after having the vast space of the surface to explore. She knew she could never relate to an experience like that. Nobody who lived today had any idea how that would have felt.
But despite the chaos and the fear that had driven so many to take their own lives, a city flourished through its shared desire to survive. And it was all thanks to order.
Order.
None of it would have been possible without it, thanks to the Atlantic Federation’s strong governing body. Though many criticized it, humanity would not have lasted this long without it.
Sanja knew the pledge. Everyone did. As children in the Atlantic Station, they were all made to recite it in their schools. Sanja always liked the message, progress through obedience.
But there was another poem she learned in school, one she doubted most people had even heard before. It was an older poem from the early days of the station, back when those alive were old enough to know a world beyond these walls.
The crimson flag upon the wall
Saves us from the dark
And should that banner come to fall
The days be bleak and stark
For crimson saves us from the storm,
The storm outside the walls
A guardian watches us in the morn
Its vigilance never falls
Freedom and safety are no mere guise
Within the treacherous sea
For when that mighty banner dies
A storm shall finally be
Survival marks the banner’s foster
Not men upon their knees
That we as humanity may survive and prosper
Under the Light of the Lord Beyond Both Seas
Sanja had never seen the Strategic Action Room as full as it was today. The crowd was so thick she could hardly see the wall on the opposite side of the room. Frustrated, the contractor slowly pushed through the black and white suits in her way as she progressed towards the center of the room. With a crowd like this, I should have Yuri in front of me pushing people aside, not behind me, she thought, practically knocking people over with each step.
It was an insult that she had not been granted a seat at the round table. Despite being a contractor, she knew she outranked many people here. Yet here she was pushing her way through the crowd like some plebian. And in heels no less.
When she finally reached the center of the crowd, she could see the regular cast of top level officials and Navy commanders seated around President Ortega. The usual group was here, Jordan Grey, Hugo Alvarez, Peter Skylar, Linda Faulkner and unfortunately the ever stuffy Sandra Walter. As always, there were new faces mixed in with the old.
“Ah yes, doctor, there you are,” said Jordan as she finally reached the table.
Even this far into the Central Government District, the room still stunk of dampness. It had been a few days since the water problem was solved, but that did not stop the smell from lingering.
“Yes, thank you, Commander,” she replied as she finally reached the front. She hid her frustration as best she could.
“This most recent attack has been incorporated into Dr. Parnel’s ongoing investigation of the Cassidy disaster, which of course, we now believe the two to be linked. Isn’t that right, doctor?” he added, introducing her to the room of suits and frowns.
“That’s correct, Commander. It would certainly stand to reason that the orb and these UBEs are linked,” she confirmed.
“UBEs, that’s Unidentified Biological Entity,” the commander clarified to the crowd.
Sanja nodded.
“Yes, thank you. Unidentified Biological Entities. It would stand to reason that these two are linked.” As if anyone in this room needed that term to be clarified.
Sanja looked around, realizing just how much attention she had. It had been a while since this many eyes were on her at once. For a moment she actually felt happy to be back in her element. But then she remembered why she was here and her mood quickly darkened like the walls that surrounded her.
“Dr. Parnel’s investigation has uncovered a great deal about the UBEs. But unfortunately she has been called into a hearing directly following this presentation, so all questions you may have will be deferred to her staff,” Jordan explained.
“Uh, yes, that’s right. Dr. Ahmet Bay and Mr. Zoran Knocks will be handling all questions you may have at the end of this presentation. Dr. Bay has helped conduct much of the research I will be presenting today. Both he and Mr. Knocks, my new assistant, are fully briefed on the findings,” Sanja elaborated.
An older gentlemen seated around the table stood up. His voice was strong and forceful, despite his age. Though she did not know who he was, Sanja recognized him from the first Cassidy disaster briefing.
“Surely this meeting should take priority over your other engagements, doctor,” the man suggested.
Sanja could not have agreed more. Unfortunately, Fielder and the other EOs did not necessarily feel the same way.
“Believe me, Dr. Parnel would get out of it if she could. But you can understand these are busy times,” the Commander responded. “She is needed before the Defense Committee.”
Quit reminding me, she thought, wanting nothing more than to move on. Every minute spent in the OCAFCEO was a minute of wasted time. At least it’s close by.
“Thank you, but as you are all aware, I am short on time. Perhaps I could reveal my findings now?” Sanja added, trying to assert herself. This gesture earned her a few annoyed looks, but she was mostly just glad to change the subject.
The room was silent for a moment. Once again, Sanja could feel herself at the center of the room’s attention.
“As you know,” she began, finally able to say what she came here to say, “exactly one week ago this station was attacked by an unknown outside force. Two hostiles we now call the UBEs entered the station from the west side on Level 5.” She turned around towards Yuri. “Yuri, if you’d be so kind.”
The big man handed her a holographic projector which she placed on the table for all to see. She pulled out her pod and tapped the center icon, prompting the projector to light up with a 3D image of the station’s hull.
“An unknown submarine craft docked here,” she explained as a red X appeared on the 3D projection. “As there was no opening, the submarine cut its own docking port, which caused a momentary, but significant change in pressure.”
“Why momentary?” asked an unknown woman at the table. Her short black masculine hair made her look rebellious, the type of person Sanja despised.
“Because the craft sealed off the hole rather quickly. It created a sort of hallway from the craft into the hull of t
he station. This collision though, between the submarine and the hull, was what caused that loud boom many of you heard.”
Sanja could remember that loud boom all too well. She shuddered just thinking about it again.
“Looking at the cutting technology used on our station’s hull and the hole produced in the Cassidy X20, my forensic team can safely conclude that this technology is one and the same. The hole was cut in a perfect circle, similarly to the one produced in the Cassidy submarine.”
Sanja tapped her pod again and the projection changed. Now the image of the two UBEs took up the table.
“Moving on,” she said, “these are the images of the UBEs that attacked us. As you have all been informed prior to this meeting, we can safely conclude that these are living biological creatures, not machines. The creatures themselves were wearing special powered suits, like the ones you see here. These suits were meant for deep sea submersion. They are completely resistant to significant changes in pressure and carry their own air supply. You can see the tanks in the back here. As many of our Navy have discovered, these suits are also incredibly durable. It took half our arsenal to bring one of these down and a vat of superheated metal to bring down the other.”
“What about the creatures themselves?” asked Sandra Walter.
What do these people not understand about saving questions until the end?
“I was just about to get to that, Mrs. Walter,” Sanja replied, pointing towards her. She tapped her pod again and the hologram changed to a naked UBE without its power suit.
The creature was slimy. Its skin was a thick mix of green and brown. The limbs were long and bony. Worst of all, its resting face looked as if it were snarling. The image made Sanja feel slightly uncomfortable. She did not like looking at this thing, though she had seen it a lot over the last few days.
She studied the faces in the room. Many of them seemed taken aback by the image. She guessed this was probably the first time a lot of them had seen the creature naked.
“Now this image is from the one that was subdued by our men and women in uniform. We will be using this particular specimen for all of our analysis today as the other UBE was partially incinerated by miners and metal workers,” she explained.
For some bizarre reason this comment generated a slight chuckle among those present.
“As you can see, this is what the creatures look like outside of their pressure suits. Interestingly enough, my team of biologists have discovered that the pressure suits worn by the UBEs were essentially useless in the station’s environment. The creatures breathe oxygen and convert it to carbon dioxide, just like our own bodies. The UBE bodies also seem to thrive in the same temperatures as humans and withstand the same level of pressure.”
Sanja changed the projection. This time the lights changed to reveal a rendering of the UBE lungs. Like humans, the creatures had two lungs. On the projection one lung was shown in full while the other was a cross section.
“A more detailed analysis of the lungs reveals a mixture of approximately 78 percent nitrogen, 20 percent oxygen and a remaining 2 percent of other trace gases. While the oxygen content here in the station varies by residential preferences, these percentages more or less correspond to the average ratio of gases here in the station.”
Sandra Walter raised her hand, but proceeded to join in on her own anyway.
“How can that be possible, Dr. Parnel? Are you suggesting these creatures originated in the station?”
Sanja shook her head.
“Not at all. Our bodies have evolved to live with this ratio of gasses. That’s why it we’ve used this ratio here in the station for the past 200 years,” the doctor explained. “Basically this type of air is what Earth experienced before the Descent.”
“So these creatures come from a pre-Descent surface of the Earth?” Sandra asked, as if she were intentionally trying to make Sanja look stupid.
The frustrated woman simply shook her head again.
“Not necessarily. At the moment we still do not have enough information to confirm the origin of these creatures. It may be that they originated from another station or perhaps that the surface of the Earth was not as toxic as we thought.”
Sanja could see that Sandra Walter was about to speak again, so she jumped in before the presidential aide could say any more.
“Moving on,” she said, cutting her off as she opened her mouth, “as I said, we cannot confirm the origin of the UBEs at this time; however, we are now sure that they live in the same environment as us.”
She tapped the screen of her pod once more to reveal a close-up of the UBE skin. Upon closer look, it was dark, yet slightly reflective. A viscous fluid of some sort covered the outside of the greenish, brownish layer of skin.
“Unlike the human body, which has its bone structure on the inside, the UBE body has a thick exoskeleton. In common vernacular, a shell. That’s what you see here,” she explained, pointing to the projection.
A man Sanja did not recognize with a large chest and a tie tied far too tight for him to breathe raised his hand and spoke without waiting to be acknowledged. This seems like a popular way to interrupt today.
“Has your biology team discovered any weaknesses for this animal?” the man asked.
“No,” she answered. “Their bodies seem to be stronger than that of a human body, both in terms of physical strength and durability. Additionally, the claw-like hands pose a further degree of offensive superiority. It seems even without their suits, these creatures would outmatch us in a fight.”
The man nodded as if his question was answered. Hopefully that’s the last interruption for a while, Sanja hoped, though she doubted it.
The hologram changed yet again, this time revealing the head of the creature.
“Their heads are similar to ours overall. You can see the eyes, nose and mouth. A dissection of their eyes has revealed that they have evolved to see the same light as we do in the electromagnetic spectrum. That means our visible light spectrum is their visible light spectrum. In simple terms, we see the same way,” Sanja explained. “Their olfactory sense appears to be stronger than ours. And lastly, their jaw is very strong as well. It can open wider than ours and has a stronger biting strength. Its sharp teeth also help with that.”
She pressed another button and the head of the UBE turned into a cross section, revealing the brain.
“Moving on to the inside of the head, we have the brain here. While the physical size of the brain is slightly larger than ours, that is not necessarily an indication of intelligence. These creatures are about twice as large as most humans, yet the brain is only one and a half times the size. So proportionally speaking, the brain is actually smaller than ours. As you can see here, it has all the same lobes and basic structure as the human brain.”
“How smart is it?” interrupted the large man in the choking tie.
Sanja turned to face him.
“We can’t determine that from its biology, at least not yet. But that does provide a good transition into my next section,” she answered as she pressed another button. The layout of the edge of Level 5 appeared on the hologram. “Tracking the movements of the two creatures, it would seem they aimlessly wandered around the station. It did not appear they had any real objective once they got here. As you can see, one stayed fairly close to the edge of the station and the other moved further in, towards some residential areas.”
Sanja remembered seeing the one that stayed closer to the edge. She remembered the horror, the panic. The Navy surrounded it as the creature searched for an exit. Escaping the only way it could, the UBE clawed through the floor, bringing half the hall down with it. That was the last Sanja saw of it until its charred and melted remains were brought before her on a table. It was hard to believe it had gotten all the way down to the mining sector.
“Their erratic movement would suggest that these UBEs are not very intelligent. Their technology however, would suggest the exact opposite. The power suits, the submarine c
raft, the glowing ball, all of it is more advanced than anything we have produced. Technologically speaking, these creatures are far ahead of us.”
Sanja paused, knowing that was not the answer anyone in this room wanted to hear. She took a deep breath before continuing.
“So for that reason, my team and I have concluded that the seemingly random movements they had throughout the station were not due to lack of intelligence, but lack of plan. To put it simply, I believe these creatures did not expect to find us here.”
This comment caused a bit of mumbling through the room. Sanja even saw Sandra Walter whisper into the President’s ear as he nodded calmly.
“Most likely,” she continued, “the UBEs were tipped off to us when we found their probe a few months ago. I think our unexpected encounter with their technology caused them to do some investigating. The two UBEs that landed here were probably nothing more than a scouting team, simply looking around for any more humans that might disturb their equipment. That would explain why it took them so long to find us. The trench is long and deep and it isn’t easy getting a craft this far down.”
The mumbling got a bit louder. Sanja could tell tension was high. This next part was not going to be easy.
“Now that they know exactly where to find us,” she continued, “I would expect we shall be seeing more of these creatures very soon.”
“And what exactly do you mean by that, Dr. Parnel?” asked Peter Skylar.
“Well,” she started. But before continuing, she paused and collected herself. “Let’s put this in our perspective. If we found that a foreign object had disturbed some of our equipment, the first thing we would do would be to send a small team in to investigate. Let’s say we do that. We send a team in and discover, yes, there are lots of these foreign objects around. Our next step, rationally speaking, would be to remove those objects.”
This is the hard part. Sanja could already tell the Council knew where she was going with this.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I expect fairly soon we will have a full scale army outside these walls. I’m not talking about two hostiles. I’m talking about a full assault force.”
