by Mars Dorian
The debt.
The pressure.
The rankings.
Oh, those damn rankings. RX feared how much his position had tanked. Lack of mission participation resulted in massive droppings over time.
“Stryker still exists, doesn’t it?”
“Of course. How could you think otherwise?”
“Let me talk to the sergeant."
She sank her glance and lowered her voice.
“There’s a problem.”
Of course there was.
51
“I can’t reconnect with the Stryker Net. Maybe it has something to do with the long-range or the atmospheric layer.”
RX nodded.
“Happened to me as well. Still haven’t figured out why. The citizens don’t know, but then again, they never tried to contact anyone in space.”
Arrow listened.
“It’s not as bad as it sounds. Stryker has increased their satellite presence. I’ve got the coordinates from their last position. We just need to enter space and reconnect.”
“Today?”
She looked up the sky and smiled at the afternoon sun. Golden rays wherever she looked.
“No. I’m craving this weather and the air.”
“You get used to it.”
Arrow pointed toward her powder pale skin.
“Look at me, I look like a frost corpse from space.”
“No money for skin upgrades?” RX said with a smile.
“I want the real tan. Plus, I’m curious.”
She focused her intense eyes.
“You’ll show me around the colony and explain how it works. I want to know everything.”
“Do we have time for that? Didn’t you say Stryker needed every pilot in space?”
She licked her lips.
“I’ve been on active duty every single day since I left the cryo. I have a right to relax.”
“Just saying. I want to make sure your ranking isn’t dropping because of carelessness.”
“Oh, don’t worry about my ranking, I’d worry about yours. It’s licking the ocean ground, submarine-style.”
A sting ripped through RX’s stomach.
The next words crumbled out his mouth like space debris.
“How bad is it?”
“Well, I don’t want to destroy your hope, but you may want to consider going back to Basic training.”
RX swallowed hard.
“That bad?”
She rolled her eyes.
“What do you expect? You know how much inactivity hurts the rankings.”
“I crash-landed on this planet and couldn’t connect with the carrier. What the hex was I supposed to do?”
“Don’t blow up on me, boy. I didn’t design the algorithm. Rank high during your next missions, and you’re back to being a lieutenant.”
RX grunted.
Lieutenant, how pathetic.
He single-handedly protected a colony with over a million citizens and avoided a war between two factions. But since RX was disconnected from the ranking system, none of his recent actions mattered. Once he returned to the carrier, he would be the bottom-feeder again.
No, he couldn’t think like that. The anger clouded his mind, and could make him spill the wrong words. He wouldn’t let Arrow press him, not anymore.
He was a new RX.
Version X, for excellence.
“When are we going to return to the carrier?”
“Either tomorrow or the day after.”
“Sounds good.”
Enough time to deal with Arrow.
They looked at the sun hiding behind the horizon. Water and air turned crimson, a wind roared over the beach. Arrow walked away from the paradise and waved RX over like a dog.
“Didn’t you say the community is having dinner today?”
“Yeah, in the commons. It’s located in the middle of Evergreen.”
“Let’s go then. I want to see if these greenies know how to dish out.”
They walked all the way back to the inner sections of the colony. RX took the charge and made sure that his former ‘peer’ followed him.
Arrow was a full-time job, even though she seemed more pleasant than RX had remembered her.
He connected with his favorite AI.
“Do you think she’s lying?”
“I couldn’t detect any contradictions between her voice levels and her words.”
RX pondered her words.
“Why would Stryker increase their satellite presence around the planet?”
“I still have no intel on current issues.”
Questions and more questions, but Stryker wasn’t a priority now.
Arrow was.
52
Late evening, Evergreen central.
RX goodbye’d Arrow and offered her a stay at a vacant house. She refused and chose her APEX cockpit instead. No surprise there.
RX took shelter at a random house. The second he unwrapped his armor, Bloom bursted through the wall and fumed like an overheated mass driver cannon.
“What does she want?”
“Now?”
“Rex.”
He didn’t like Bloom’s voice, but he shared her worries. He’d rather deal with a million mindless citizens and the troops than with a single Arrow.
“I don’t know, but she’s definitely not here for me.”
Bloom pressed her lips.
“Do you think she knows the secret about this colony?”
“Maybe.”
“You look awfully quiet. Please tell me you have something planned.”
“I have two drones left. I’m sending one to supervise her, and the other to patrol the rims of the colony, in case Klaven’s in for a surprise attack.”
He looked Bloom deep into the eyes. Unbelievable how a change of character affected her visuals. One day ago, she looked like a naïve Evergreen girl who liked to plug flowers and hum grandaddy lullabies. And now she reminded RX of a disgruntled Stryker campaign manager.
“I’m going to show her around tomorrow. I'll find out the truth."
“Are you sure she can’t communicate with the carrier?”
“Yeah. If my APEX’s AI can’t, neither can hers. Besides, she seems to be in no worry to fly back. Which buys us enough time to deal with her.”
“I hope so. I don’t like her—the way she looks, moves and talks. It has toxic military written all over her. And what if she finds out about our mother that you—“
Killed was the right word, but Bloom didn’t allow it to pass over her lips.
“Took care of.”
RX saved her from the awkward sentence.
“What about the citizens? How do they handle the disconnect from the creature?”
“A lot of them are confused, but they don’t know why. You have to understand, everyone thought they were operating on their own. As if some voice from within told them what to do.”
Scary and effective—being a slave without knowing it. The surest way to never revolt.
“Bloom, remember when we picnicked on the field in the meadows, and you wanted me to stay but acted strangely?”
She didn’t have to answer.
Her squeezed expression showed what words never could.
RX was onto something.
“Was that a moment when that thing controlled you?”
“She sensed the attack of the renegade USC troops and used me as a medium to alert you. She wanted you to protect our colony.”
That’s what RX thought.
But Bloom wasn’t finished yet.
“The truth is, she allowed us a lot of freedom. Most of the time, we’re were free to do what we want, except when she needed us to fulfill a task.”
“Such as force-feeding these sea creatures to your citizens which then were sacrificed to your green dictator.”
“It was a small prize to the pay for the peace she provided us. She took care of us, like precious tools, careful not to hurt us.”
�
�As long as you followed its will. And if you didn’t, it caused pain until you were conditioned to obey.”
“I don’t expect you to understand. We've had this symbiotic relationship for years, and it worked out. We were happy.”
“You would have been wiped out by the renegade USC troops if I hadn’t intervened. Your pacifist plant stood no chance against tanks and soldiers.”
“That’s why it allowed you to stay, Rex. She realized it couldn’t deal with the threat alone, so it offered you a place in our community in exchange for our protection.”
She lowered her glance.
“It could have been paradise.”
The paradise of being a dog.
Addicted to the leash.
No thanks.
That chapter was ripped from RX’s book of life.
Forever and ever.
“It doesn’t matter. Your plant alien is no more. Only you and I remain as the sole protectors of Evergreen.”
That statement must have squeezed her insides, because Bloom looked as if she swallowed acid. Why was she still hooked on that alien plant?
How could a human being enjoy slavery?
“Please deal with Arrow.”
RX looked up and watched Bloom being her old self. She just stood there, probably expecting another answer from him.
“You’re too wired, Bloom. Go to bed now and let me handle this, okay?”
“Okay.”
The anger disappeared from her face. The old Bloom broke through. Felt almost like the good old times, almost.
“I know we have gone through a lot over the last weeks, but my feelings for you were genuine. You still mean a lot to me.”
She touched his arm and stroked the palm of his hand.
“Do you want to spend the night together?”
RX couldn’t tell whether she was sincere or trying another manipulative technique, but it didn’t matter. He was too distracted for a sex session.
Couldn’t release the juices with Arrow around.
Watchful, sparky little Arrow.
“Thanks for the offer, but I’m going for single player tonight.”
“Are you sure?”
“100%. Good night, Bloom.”
He did give her a gentle kiss on the forehead and ushered her out his house. Watched her walk to a vacant home and sighed.
Man.
Years without any physical relationship and the first attractive female he met blamed him for killing a manipulative pacifist alien plant.
Just once in his life he hoped to play on ‘easy’. It didn’t matter whether RX served on a carrier millions of kilometers away or crash-landed in a strange colony, politics knew no distances and creeped into every relationship.
“Aida?”
“Yes?”
“What do the drones show?”
“No suspicious activity so far. Arrow’s inside her cockpit and probably asleep.”
“Good. I’m going to bed now, but wake me up as soon as she leaves her perimeter.”
“I will. Good night, RX. I hope you wake up with replenished energy.”
RX hoped so too. Because dealing with Arrow required every ounce of his strength.
53
“Show me around. I want to know more about this whacko pacifist plantation.”
said Arrow the next day, standing on the street in front of RX’s house. The peer pilot glowed brighter than a solar panel reflecting the sun. Her hair radiated like plasma fire.
RX had to shield his eyes.
“What about Stryker? Don’t you have to report to the carrier?”
“One day won’t break the schedule. I’ve been granted a generous amount of time to look for you. Spoiler alert: I’m still on schedule.”
She stretched her arms to the sky.
Blessing the clouds or enjoying herself.
Probably the latter.
Always the latter.
“Besides, the weather is sooo much better than the artificial BS we get served in space. I need a natural tan. Maybe I’ll even turn into a chocolate bar like you.”
“Well, about the sightseeing. I can lead you around Evergreen and show you some of its facilities."
“Sounds great.”
RX ordered the porters. Even after the plant alien’s death, the technology worked just fine. Arrow wiped her hands, entered her unit and closed it. RX stood outside and knocked on her side windows.
“What are you doing?”
“I want to ride one myself.”
“Didn’t you say you wanted a tour?”
“Don’t be a bore. I can pilot an APEX, I can surely ride one of these rollers.”
“Okay, but follow me.”
Arrow sighed, her favorite expression when around RX. He stepped back into his unit and took charge. Drove around the corners and made sure Arrow followed his lead. He showed her the noteworthy points of Evergreen and avoided the damaged district the USCs blew to nano-particles.
“This is where they live.”
And he pointed at the various houses that graced the horizon. RX forced passion into this voice, playing the best fake guide Arrow had ever encountered. And what did she do? Marched up to him and said,
“This is so interesting.”
And RX was like,
“Huh?”
“I mean it. I don’t say I like this place, but it’s refreshing to see something different from our Stryker lifestyle, don’t you think?”
Words that didn’t make sense coming out of Arrow’s well-formed mouth. It took RX a frown and three more seconds to compute her statement.
“Definitely. I’ve never been to a colony that works like this one.”
“Me neither.”
She inspected the organic houses with lively eyes. They seemed to fascinate her.
“How many people live here?”
“I don’t know the actual numbers, but I believe it’s almost a million.”
“And there’s no hierarchy whatsoever?”
“No.”
“So what happens when people disagree here?”
“I guess they never disagree, or they resolve matters in private.”
She watched his face with doubt.
“What about big matters? Do Evergreens never argue about controversial topics that involve defense spending or civil liberties?"
“Like I said, they love peace. They breathe it with every smile.”
Didn’t sound as good as in his mind.
Arrow scratched her neck.
“Mmmm.”
“You want to see the emerald meadows in the southern reach?”
“Emerald?”
“Not real emeralds. But they glow in the same color. Quite a sight if you ask me, better than any holo simulation.”
“Okay. Show me.”
Arrow’s answer baffled him.
Okay, RX repeated in silence. No objection, no derision, not even a mean look. Arrow was almost being…what’s the word again..
Nice.
Check that out.
Arrow the Nice.
The oxymoron of the orbit.
But way better than Arrow the Aggressive.
“Cool. I’ll take you there,” RX said.
They took the porters and roared through the inner Evergreen. Rode the highways to the south and visited the infamous ‘country side’.
Also known as the former Bloom date spot.
“Whoopiee, what a view.”
Arrow ran into the green meadow and embraced the endless sky with her pale arms.
“Is it real?”
“The sun? Of course.”
“No holo projection? No synthetic satellite?”
“Arrow, you know the answer.”
She closed her eyes and grinned like a girl seeing the fireball for the first time. She even unwrapped her uniform until only the tight shirt remained on her athletic body.
“Still can’t believe it. It’s so…”
Pause.
“Naturally warm.”
RX watched her sweating in the sun with eyebrows raised.
And he thought ‘going out’ with Bloom was strange.
“Keep your eyes in your socket,” Arrow said with a smile.
“Don’t worry.”
After she finished her two hundredth push-up, she sat down on the grass and crossed her legs. RX joined her side and allowed the organic sun to change their pigments.
It was strangely comfortable.
In the middle of the sun-soaking, Arrow touched a delicate subject.
“So, did you find a partner?”
“Partner?”
“You know, a female you can play sex with.”
“I’ve been really busy, Arrow. I needed to understand the Evergreen customs, solve the conflict with their aggressive neighbors and stay alive.”
“Yadda, yadda. Come on. A male unit in his prime enters a colony full of healthy men and attractive women. A bit greenie maybe, but well-shaped nevertheless. You must have at least thought about using your exotic status to score.”
“Since they’re all pacifists, they feared me. Especially the women.”
“Fear can be attractive, if you play it right.”
“I didn’t play anything.”
Arrow shrugged.
“What a bore. If I had been in your place, I would have been commander-in-chief by now. And all the men would have been my sex slaves, heh.”
She batted her eyelashes, whatever that meant.
“I doubt that. They despise authoritarian leadership.”
“But they’re still humans, aren’t they?”
“Of course.”
“Then you know hierarchy has always been a part of humanity. A system where everyone is equal has never worked, and never will.”
RX let her statement echo into the meadow field. He wasn’t interested in talking politics now. Thankfully, she must have thought the same. Arrow switched to harmless topics like the local food, the differences in Evergreen culture and the lack of military defense. RX played the game and listened to each word, hoping to find out more about her mission.
When the late afternoon hit, RX made an offer.
“Let’s get back to the commons. Dinner’s getting served as we speak.”
“I’m psyched.”
And so they left the meadows.
Rode back to Evergreen central.
