Some of his joy and enthusiasm waned as her presence changed the Entity’s mood. He could feel its disapproval, its suspicion. She wasn’t a part of the All. She was immune to its influence, still driven by petty individual interests. She wasn’t a piece of a greater whole like him. She was her own piece in an impossibly tiny universe that only revolved around her and those she cared about.
If everyone perished and yet she and her loved ones remained happily untouched, she would scarcely feel the pain of their passing. Her caring extended from her in ever weakening circles, the more distant the relation, the less she cared, until she could live quite happily knowing that children were starving in Africa and people were being sold into slavery in Asia. She could buy a three story mansion by a lake in California, and live a life of ease and luxury while others sat shivering in the rain and eating garbage.
Alexander remembered how his old self had felt about such things. He had been just as ignorant and selfish, just as blinded to the misery of others. Benevolence had tried to remedy those problems on Earth, but without everyone working together his solutions were never permanent.
Alexander had comforted himself with the knowledge that he could do nothing to solve such vast problems, and therefore, he was not to blame. He didn’t have to help because whatever help he could offer would never really fix anything.
And all of that had been true to a certain extent, but as a part of the All, with the Entity guiding them in unison, privation was a mote of dust that could be swept away with a whisper. And just as simply, all the other problems would disappear. Just as you wouldn’t sell yourself into slavery, a member of the All would never sell another member.
“What is wrong with you?”
Alexander turned to see his wife staring at him in disgust. Her hands were planted on her hips, her honey-brown eyes flashing.
Back was the darkness and suspicion he’d felt when she’d entered the room. Catalina was his wife, but she was divorced from him in every way that mattered. The Entity had to find some way to join her with the All or he would lose her forever. A wave of despair rolled through him with that thought, and his smile faded.
“What do you mean, darling?” he asked.
“I’ve been watching you from the hall for the past ten minutes. You’re just staring at the wall with your eyes glazed and a stupid grin on your face. What’s going on with you, Alex? Talk to me!”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
The Entity encouraged him, urging him to speak. Perhaps if she knew, she would no longer see him as a threat.
“I’m becoming a part of something bigger. The Entity has joined us all together. Now my needs are the needs of the All. My life is not my own. I belong to the All, a slave of the Entity’s will.”
Catalina’s eyes grew round. After a long moment she smiled and said, “Sounds great,” but he didn’t miss the way her lips trembled.
“You don’t understand,” he said.
“I’m trying to,” she replied.
“The Entity only wants what’s best for the All. When I say I’m a slave to its will, I don’t mean that in a negative way. Humans are afraid of losing control, because deep down we only trust ourselves to look out for us, but there’s another way. If we all look out for each other, the All acting as one, there’s no reason to fear. Each individual is just as important as the others, and none will be neglected.”
“You’re talking about some new form of communism,” Catalina said slowly.
“The only kind that works. How can you have equality without unity of mind, body, and soul? If we are one, then there is only one set of needs, one set of desires, one directive.”
“And you cease to exist,” Catalina added.
“I still exist. I’m here talking to you, aren’t I?”
“But your thoughts and actions are all directed by this Entity, so where does the Entity stop and you begin?”
“You, me, them—these are the divisions that cause us to act selfishly, serving our own interests instead of those of the All. The only way to put an end to human suffering is to unify us. Together we can build a society with no more tears and no more pain. Heaven in all but name.”
Catalina’s brow furrowed deeply. “And this Entity, what is he then? God?”
Alexander shook his head. “The Entity didn’t create us.”
“So what gives it the right to change us?”
“What gives it the right?” Alexander echoed. He shook his head. “You have it all wrong. It’s not a right, it’s a responsibility. If the Entity left humanity to their evil ways, knowing it could do something to save them, would that not make it just as evil and uncaring as they are?”
Catalina appeared confused by that logic. “They? You’re talking like you’re not human.”
“I am All.”
Catalina shivered. “How do I know becoming a part of this All won’t kill me?”
“In a way you will die, but death to self is not to be feared—it is to be welcomed!”
“And what happens when we die for real?” Catalina asked.
“The All cannot die.”
“I’m pretty sure people can still die, infected or not.”
“Infected?” Alexander felt a wave of frustration ripple through him. “You insist on giving negative connotations to what is happening because you refuse to open your eyes! You cling to your notions of self as if selfishness were a good thing.”
Catalina glanced behind her. “Does this Entity care if others apart from the All and itself die?”
Alexander smiled. “Why do you think the Entity came to join everyone together in the All?”
“But I’m not joined to it.”
“Not yet,” Alexander corrected.
“And what if I don’t want to be joined?”
He shook his head. “That’s ignorance talking. Once you see what you’re missing, you won’t want to be apart from it.”
“Okay, let me put it another way. What if I can’t be joined to the All?”
Alexander found himself wondering the same thing, but the Entity reassured him—no one would remain apart from it. “The Entity will find a way,” Alexander insisted.
A thin smile spread across Catalina’s lips. “Well, I can’t wait. Thank you for this talk, Alex. I really needed someone to explain what’s going on.”
Alexander knew she was lying. He was tempted to tell her that the Entity could not be so easily fooled, but he knew it would do no good. Best to let her take comfort in her lies, exposing them would only make her feel more threatened. He nodded and smiled back at her. “You’re welcome, Caty.”
She nodded back and headed for the door.
“Leaving so soon?” he asked.
“I need to check on Benjamin.”
“Yes, where is he?”
“He was bored, so I left him... in the rec hall,” she said quickly.
More lies. Alexander said nothing.
Let her go. Soon she and the others will know that the All means them no harm.
Chapter 16
Catalina left their quarters shaking uncontrollably. The Entity? The All?
They weren’t just dealing with some behavior-modifying virus—this was an organized takeover of the human race. She could only imagine what the aliens they’d left behind in the Sol System were busy doing on Earth and Mars.
She had worried about trying an experimental treatment on Alexander, not knowing what it could do to him, but anything would be better than this. Even if the treatment killed him, it would be a merciful release from the Entity that had enslaved him.
When Catalina reached the Med Bay, she walked up to the reception and asked for Doctor Laskin.
The nurse behind the counter turned to her with a blissful smile that faded by a few degrees upon seeing her.
“He’s in surgery, ma’am. You’ll have to wait.”
“Any idea when he’ll be out?”
The nurse shook her head. “Are
you reporting for examination? We have other doctors who can see you.”
“No, no, I feel fine.”
“Ma’am, for your own good and that of everyone else on board, you should get checked out.”
“Of course, but not yet.”
The nurse regarded her with a frown, and Catalina smiled back. “Going to call for security to drag me into an examination room?”
The nurse remained silent, and for a moment Catalina feared that was exactly what the nurse was going to do, but the woman just shook her head. “If you’d like to speak with Doctor Laskin, you’ll have to wait,” she said again.
“That’s fine,” Catalina replied. She turned and went to sit in the waiting area.
She passed an hour there, twiddling her thumbs and glancing nervously at doctors and nurses as they walked by. Some of them glanced back, their perpetual smiles fading the moment they saw her. They knew. Somehow, just by looking at her, they knew she wasn’t one of them. Did they also know what she and the others were planning?
Finally Doctor Laskin came walking out into the reception area, looking exhausted.
Catalina got up and went to speak with him. “Doctor.”
He glanced at her and smiled. “Mrs. de Leon. Are you ready for your examination?”
She hesitated, suddenly wondering if they’d all misjudged Doctor Laskin, but then she noticed the way his smile didn’t reach his eyes.
“I’m ready,” she said.
“Follow me.”
He led her down another corridor on the other side of the reception area. Once they were far enough away from the nurses she leaned over and whispered. “I need to see Ben.”
The doctor nodded, but said nothing. He led her through corridor after corridor until they came to a door covered in warnings, both holographic and painted-on.
Her ARCs identified the door as leading to Bio-safety Lab #3. The door was locked and access restricted.
Doctor Laskin looked both ways, making sure they were alone before waving the door open.
Catalina wondered about that, remembering how the councilor had appeared out of thin air. If the infected could make themselves invisible, then they could be hiding literally anywhere.
The doctor led her through the open door and into a small containment corridor beyond. It was sealed on the inside with another door. Doctor Laskin waved the outer door shut behind them, and a computerized voice said, “Decontamination initiating.”
Red lights flashed in the corridor, and pressurized air blasted them from all sides. An acrid, aseptic smell filled Catalina’s nostrils. Then the air stopped blasting them, leaving a swirling, acrid-smelling mist behind. The flashing lights pulsed crimson through the murk, making it seem as if they were drowning in blood. Then a loud whirring noise started up and the mist ran into the corners of the room. As soon as the air was clear once more, the red lights pulsed green, and a pleasant tone sounded.
“Decontamination complete.”
The inner door swished open, and they walked into the bio-safety lab. Catalina was surprised to find the others already waiting there and wearing bright yellow hazmat suits. She couldn’t see them through those suits, but her ARCs identified them clearly enough. Remo stood by an open locker full of matte black guns, while Commander Johnson stood beside him in a matching suit, removing vials from a crate and fitting them into tranquilizer darts. Remo took each of those darts and carefully slotted them into ammo belts.
“What’s going on?” Catalina asked, turning to Doctor Laskin in question. He seemed equally confused.
“I called them here.”
It was Benjamin’s voice, amplified to a tinny register. Catalina turned toward the sound and saw him sitting motionless at a computer terminal, drowning in another hazmat suit while a trio of holo displays blazed in front of him with rapidly scrolling lines of text. Trying to track what he was doing made her head spin. Clearly there were some differences between her synthetic brain and his.
She approached him carefully. “Ben?”
“Yes, Catalina?” he replied, not turning to look.
“We have a problem. I think they’re on to us.”
“They are,” he replied. “But I have the solution.”
Without looking away from his work, he pointed to where Remo and Commander Johnson were busy preparing their arsenal.
Catalina followed that gesture and shook her head. “We can’t possibly tranquilize them all. There’s too many of them.”
“I know,” Ben said. “But we won’t have to. They’ll run away from us as soon as they realize what we’re shooting them with.”
Catalina studied the crate where Commander Johnson was withdrawing the vials, and this time she noticed the bio-hazard warnings scrawled on the sides of it. She used her ARCs to check the contents of the crate, and a holographic label appeared before her eyes.
The vials contained Ebola III mixed with a sedative agent.
Catalina gasped. “You’re going to set loose a plague?”
“How did you get this?” Doctor Laskin demanded. “This is weaponized Ebola! What are we even doing with this on board?”
“We have it in case we run into a hostile alien species that’s too advanced to fight with conventional methods.”
“An alien species whose biology just happens to be susceptible to a plague from Earth?” Doctor Laskin asked. “How can this be in here and I don’t know about it?”
“Maybe you didn’t have the clearance to know,” Ben suggested. “You two had better put on your hazmat suits. That virus is airborne. If they drop one of those vials and it breaks open, you’ll both be dead within the hour.”
Her heart pounding in her chest, Catalina glanced hurriedly around the room, searching for a hazmat suit. Ben pointed to another locker opposite the one where Remo and Commander Johnson were busy loading dart guns. Doctor Laskin was already on his way there.
“This is insane!” he objected as he reached the locker. “You can’t set Ebola loose on this ship! You’ll kill everyone! Including us! We need a vaccine.”
“I’m working on it,” Ben said.
“Better to kill everyone than let them be dragged off into slavery to the Entity,” Commander Johnson said.
“Fuck the Entity,” Remo added.
Catalina realized someone must have explained everything to them at the same time that Alexander had been explaining things to her. She reached the hazmat locker and waited for Doctor Laskin. His hands shook furiously, rattling the hazmat suits on the rack as he struggled to remove them from the locker.
Catalina placed a hand on his arm to still his violent tremors. “Let me,” she said.
The doctor nodded quickly, his eyes wide as he backed away.
“How’s Jessica doing?” Ben asked.
It took Doctor Laskin a moment to realize Ben was speaking to him. “She’ll live,” he said. “Until the Ebola gets her. We can’t do this!” he insisted. “I agreed to the other plan, but this is going too far.”
Catalina was about to agree with him when Ben’s voice came whispering through her thoughts.
There is no Ebola III. Play along. They might be watching.
Then what’s in those vials? Catalina thought back, wondering if Ben would be able to hear.
To her surprise, he replied, The nanites.
Catalina glanced at Doctor Laskin and saw from the relief on his face that Ben had explained the same thing to him. She glanced around the room, wondering if someone really was watching them.
“How are we going to shoot invisible targets?” she asked aloud. “Councilor Markov appeared out of nowhere. The others could hide like that, too.”
“Not safely,” Ben said. “The councilor was naked. They can’t use hazmat suits and cloak themselves at the same time.”
“They might sacrifice a few of their own to take us out.”
“Let’s hope they’re not that callous,” Ben replied.
“Just in case, our first objective should be to get to a rea
l weapons locker,” Remo said. “If they’re shooting at us with automatic rifles and we’re shooting back with darts, this is going to be the shortest mutiny in history.”
“Mutiny?” Catalina wondered aloud as she pulled on her hazmat suit.
Remo turned to her with a loaded dart rifle in one hand and belt full of darts in the other. “What did you think this was?”
Catalina grimaced and put her helmet on. She struggled with the neck seals with her hands now encased in bulky yellow gloves.
Commander Johnson walked over to her. “Let me help you.”
“They’re coming,” Benjamin warned.
“W-what?” Doctor Laskin stuttered.
Remo walked up and pushed a dart rifle and an ammo belt into his hands.
“You know how to use it?”
The doctor shook his head.
“Point and shoot. Right down the barrel. Like this—” he took back the rifle and illustrated. “Take the safety off here. It’s a bolt action rifle, so you have to reload after each shot. To do that, you lift this handle and pull it back to open the breech. Once the breech is fully open, you slide in another dart and push the handle back into position to shut and lock the breech. Got it?”
Doctor Laskin shook his head, and Remo scowled.
“We’re out of time,” Ben said. “He’ll have to figure it out on his own. Someone watch the door! As soon as it opens, you all shoot. Remember, we might not be able to see what comes through.”
Remo passed Catalina a rifle and an ammo belt. She set the rifle down and leaned it against the wall while she clipped the belt around her waist. Taking up the rifle she spent a moment looking for the safety. She found it—a little lever above the trigger. She flicked it into the off position and raised the rifle awkwardly to her shoulder to aim it at the lab door. She glanced back at Ben and found him still sitting in front of his holo displays, lines of code scrolling by faster than ever.
A hissing sound drew her attention to the door and she recalled the pressurized jets of air that had blasted her during decontamination.
“Here they come...” Remo said.
Exodus: Book 3 of the New Frontiers Series (A Dark Space Tie-In) Page 14
