Genetic Drift

by Martin Schulte

  “Fine, you don’t have to worry about me,” she said. Quill, still apprehensive of Maddie’s intentions, watched her like a hawk.

  “Good, you know he had to die. He was gonna kill you. Why do you care what I did?” he asked. Maddie still had her gun pointed away from Quill.

  “I knew him,” she said. Rho entered Maddie’s thought.

  “I told you he was not who you thought he was.”

  Maddie sneered aloud, “I know.”

  Quill looked at her, “You know what? You hearing voices?”

  Maddie deflected, “Nothing, I know nothing.”

  Jay was rustling on the ground trying to get his bearings. Quill readied his blade to attack. Maddie put up her hand, “Quill. No. He’s okay.” Quill remembered the man from the door in the control building. He walked up to Jay.

  “Did you find the girl?” Quill asked, and extended his hand to offer Jay assistance in getting up.

  “No, not yet,” Jay said. He took the offer and Quill helped him to his feet. “Do you have any idea where to look?”

  Maddie’s head started to hear Rho, “I can feel something coming. It is something from the queen mother. I can feel its beacon calling us.” Maddie was careful not to speak.

  “Where? Where is it coming from?”

  “Look to the sky. It is coming from the sky,” Rho told her. Maddie looked up and saw a shape coming down. She pointed at the shape.

  “Look,” she called out. Quill and Jay turned their heads to the sky and saw the same object. Quill pointed at it with his blade and turned to Jay.

  “I think that is a good place to start.”

  DAY 283

  A NEW HORIZON

  CAMP PHOENIX CONTROL BUILDING

  The flood had receded substantially after the demolition of the dam, but it was still unsafe to walk through the grounds at Camp Phoenix. The remaining people from the battle moved from the roof back to the second level for shelter. Only a lookout stayed on the roof to monitor the hills and floodplain below.

  Ben stood alone next to the window finishing his grieving. He stared at the rushing water below as he tried to clear his thoughts. The loss of the General wasn’t the only thing that was bothering him. He wondered where Quill was, where Maddie was, where Barron was. The loss of people in battle caused distress in his heart but not as much as the loss of the people he had traveled with in the past week. The common bond they had formed was not easily broken. He felt guilty for what he assumed was their deaths but also felt more resolved to defeat the Trolls.

  As luck would have it, a jon boat drifted next to the building when night came. It was an endeavor to grab it and tie it to the roof, but they succeeded after someone fell in the water. Marcus and Ethen talked about what was more important, the guns that were within sight or the food that was on the hill. After a little debate and reasoning, it was decided that Marcus would be the first to go out on the boat. To maximize the return load, he told one of the soldiers to come with him.

  He selected Charles. Charles was fit and capable. He had fought alongside Marcus during the Troll attack on the control building. The boat was hanging from the roof since it had been tied up when the waters reached halfway up the second level. Marcus untied the boat and lowered it to Charles, who then lowered it to the water. The flood was waist-high as Marcus slogged through it on the ground level. Marcus grabbed the entry door and lifted himself into the boat. When he was securely seated, Charles let go and made his way to join Marcus.

  Ethen stayed behind, figuring that he would wait for the boat. It was possible to walk to the storage lockers but there was no guarantee that the weaponry wasn’t damaged. Also, the possibility of hauling unusable wet ordnance back to the building discouraged him further. He walked up to Ben and asked, “How are you doing?” Ben turned away from the window.

  “I’m fine. Who is our best tech to get the comms back up?” Ben asked.

  “Charles, but he is out with Marcus now going to the food stores. I can hold my own with electronics too,” Ethen answered.

  “Good, find out how we can get power back to the building and get the comms back up,” Ben told Ethen.

  “Roger that,” Ethen said, and left Ben to himself. Ethen approached the stairs leading to the ground floor. “There’s still too much water,” he looked down at the flood. The water seemed stagnant. Ethen sat on the top step, “Even if I got the backup generator back online, that comms center is going to be flooded for weeks… even months.” He sat and stared at the water hoping that an idea would enter his head.

  Marcus cut off the engine to the jon boat and it drifted onto the hill. Charles tied it to a tree and they began their walk to the food storage. Bodies of fallen soldiers were spread along the hillside from the ambush the day earlier. They pushed to the top of the hill and had a view of the other side. It was unscathed by the deluge. The water had taken the path of least resistance which was lower grounds following the river. Charles pointed halfway down the hill, “That’s one of the food storages there.” Marcus acknowledged the direction and started to walk toward the food storage.

  It was a shack but unlike the intricate tunnels of the outpost, it really was just a shack. They opened a creaky door and found a couple of coolers. “Really, this is what you guys did for backup?” Marcus asked Charles.

  “Don’t blame me. I wasn’t in charge of this stuff. I just know where it is,” Charles admitted. They opened one of the coolers and the rim and lid were covered with mold or some type of moss. Marcus feared for what he was going to see inside. Surprisingly, the food was vacuum sealed MRE’s with the packaging unaffected by the mold.

  “At least these things are good for years,” Marcus said. He picked up one end of the cooler and Charles followed his lead picking up the other side. They hiked up the hill to put the cooler in the boat.

  Once the cooler was placed, Marcus grabbed an MRE and opened it up. He threw another MRE to Charles, “Eat up, you’re going to need your strength.” Charles opened his package and grabbed the main entrée. He was happy to see it was a burger. He shoved the burger in his mouth and started to chew. His face turned sour as he started to push the burger out with his tongue.

  He took the package to scrape the food off of his tongue, “Veggie burger. That tastes like crap.” Marcus couldn’t help but laugh. It was Charles’ first MRE and it was very apparent.

  After they finished with their meal, Marcus was ready to go to the next storage spot. “Let’s go,” he told Charles. Marcus’ legs were starting to feel the burn of walking uphill. He told Charles that he wanted to take a break when they reached the top. When they made it to the top, Marcus found a stump and sat down. Charles scanned for the next shack.

  Marcus wiped his brow and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the woods. It was difficult for him to remember to stop for a bit and just take a break. He looked up and saw something in the sky. “Charles, do you see that?” Marcus pointed up. Charles turned to Marcus and then followed the direction of his finger. His eyes squinted as he tried to find what Marcus was seeing. Marcus stood up and went beside Charles. He put his arm in Charles’ line of sight. Charles finally saw it. It was a black blot descending to the earth.

  “Oh no, that can’t be,” Charles muttered.

  “Oh, yes it is. There are more coming down. We need to get back now,” Marcus said. They hurried down the hill and jumped into the jon boat. Marcus didn’t waste any time starting the boat and sped back to the control building.

  The boat barely squeezed through the entry door and Marcus coasted it to the stairs. He and Charles jumped out into the knee-deep water and started running upstairs. Ethen jumped up and saw it was the two returning from the food run. They didn’t have anything in their hands.

  “What’s wrong? Where’s the food?” Ethen asked as Marcus and Charles made it to the second floor.

  “They’re landing another bunker,” Marcus said, out-of-breath.

  “They’re going to land on the other side of the hill,”
Charles said, and pointed in the direction they had come from, even though the wall was in the way.

  Ethen’s mind shifted. Ben had to be informed, the ammunition was still on the grounds, and screw the comms, was the order of importance in his mind. “You tell Ben. I’ll go get the guns,” Ethen said as he jumped down the stairs, landing in the water. He got into the boat and made way to salvage any ammo he could find.

  As the sound of the boat’s motor waned, Marcus and Charles went to find Ben. “They’re landing another bunker,” Marcus told him. Ben’s head perked up as he ran to the ladder leading to the roof.

  “Show me,” he hollered as he climbed the ladder. Marcus and Charles hurried to the ladder and made it to the roof.

  Ben was looking in the direction of the hill as Marcus jumped onto the roof. “It’s right over…” Marcus didn’t have to say another word. Ben had already spotted it. It was the first time that Ben had actually seen a bunker but not Marcus. “That’s not a bunker,” Marcus told Ben. Charles caught up with the two after emerging from the ladder.

  “What do you mean, ‘it’s not a bunker?’” Ben asked. Charles was staring in amazement.

  “That’s bigger than a bunker. Way bigger than a bunker,” Marcus said as he fixed his sights on the descending object as well.

  “We’re not safe here anymore,” Ben said. “We’re going to attack them before they attack us.”

  “Do you think that’s what we should do?” Marcus asked Ben.

  “We’re sitting ducks here and it won’t take long to figure that out. If we leave, they’re just going to hunt us down anyways,” Ben said.

  Ben stared at the huge bunker as it descended. The bottom of the floating object became masked by the hill line. It was landing and it was right next to them.

  DAY 284

  FINDING HOPE

  ROAN MOUNTAIN STATE PARK

  The light of dawn began to paint the sky over the mountains. Jay and Maddie were fast asleep. As much as Jay wanted to find Hope, he and Maddie needed to recover from the previous night. Jay was still sore. And then there was Quill. Quill was Quill, awake and on guard for the Trolls.

  Quill noticed the first light and called to the sleeping bodies, “Wake up, time to go.” He nudged Jay and Maddie. Maddie sprung from her spot on the ground and Jay was slow to rise. He rubbed his eyes and realized where he was.

  “We have to find Hope,” he said, and he quickly got to his feet and started toward the structure that had descended from the sky. Jay called to the others, “Come on, let’s get going. Hope is out there.” Maddie and Quill didn’t argue. Jay was on a mission and they followed.

  They had been hiking mostly uphill for an hour. Jay was walking in front of Maddie and Quill was behind her. He still did not trust her. “Human, I need your help,” Rho talked in Maddie’s thoughts.

  “Can you call me Maddie? Stop barking ‘Human” at me,” she said.

  “Fine. Maddie, I have a plan,” Rho replied. Maddie was mindful of Jay and Quill. She did not want to rouse their attention by not paying attention to the walk. Especially Quill.

  “What is your grand plan, Rho?” she asked, inviting Rho to divulge its scheme.

  “We need to interface with the computer. We will never be safe under the queen mother’s commands,” Rho made its plea.

  “And how are we supposed to interface with a computer?” Maddie asked.

  “Not a computer, the computer,” Rho corrected her, “the computer interface can reassign objectives.”

  “No, the objectives of the queen mother can’t be changed. You said so yourself. You know how Bryce… I mean the vessel, reacted when you countered its objective,” Maddie said.

  “Yes. True. But with the computer interface, I can challenge the queen’s authority,” Rho said.

  “And how do you think that will change anything?” Maddie asked with skepticism.

  “They will have to choose whether the queen mother is better to lead than us. Some will follow it and some will join us. It is better than having to battle with every vessel we meet,” Rho explained.

  “How do you plan to tell the difference between our allies and the queen’s?” Maddie asked.

  “I do not know how this spacecraft is being used. Maybe it is like our bunkers. I was not privy to that information. That is another reason I have to interface with the computer. All of our followers will meet here after we take control of this spacecraft,” Rho said.

  Maddie was playing devil’s advocate, “And if they come to attack?” she asked.

  “Then we attack them first. If they do not disarm when they approach, then we will kill them,” Rho answered.

  “That’s right, Rho. Even if we get into this base or whatever it is. And we interface with the computer. And we get the ‘vessels’ to join us. We can counter the attackers with our bare hands. I think you are going to doom us,” Maddie said.

  “Maddie, this base is another part of the plan to take over your planet. I promise that we will use anything in there. You must trust me that I want us to survive,” Rho responded.

  “If you guys don’t mind, I could use some help.” Hope’s request announced her presence. Jay turned around and ran toward the voice. He quickly had Hope in his sights and greeted her with a big bear hug.

  “I can’t believe you’re alive,” Jay said, as a tear streaked down his face. “What happened to you?” Jay could now worry about the “how” since he knew Hope was safe.

  “I touched it after it killed Dr. Snodgrass. I wanted to talk to it and then it found out I was an Inject. It told me that I was going to be assimilated. Imagine that, trying to assimilate me! It dragged me out of the building and out to the grounds. Then the flood came from the dam and we got separated. Did you find Maddie’s monitor?” she asked. Maddie hadn’t even thought about Barron.

  “Barron was with you?” Maddie asked. Jay had not said anything about Barron being taken.

  “It dragged us both out of the building. I don’t know where he is. The flood saved me,” Hope told her. “And I don’t ever want to touch an alien again. That sucked.”

  “Jay, you can let me go now,” Hope said as she pushed and wriggled out of Jay’s hug. Maddie walked toward her.

  “Rho, can we make Hope a follower?” Maddie asked Rho.

  “Yes, that vessel is blank. It would take any directive issued,” Rho replied. Maddie knew what she needed to do.

  “Hope, I think we need to talk,” Maddie said, and put out her hand to join with Hope’s. Hope had taken off her gloves to touch the Troll, so she was barehanded. She reached for Maddie but this time…

  I am speaking to the controller of the vessel. You have a new directive.

  Body 1-0-0-0-0-0-0-7-7 awaiting directive.

  Directive is to support Rho as queen mother.

  Directive confirmed, support Rho as queen mother. What is the directive concerning the current vessel?

  Maintain life functions and support vessel. Communication between the two selfs is permitted.

  “Rho, let me talk to Hope,” Maddie said.

  “Very well Maddie, I will be your conduit.” Maddie turned her thoughts to speak to Hope.

  Hope, this is what you wanted. It’s not boring. This is the only way that we will defeat the Trolls. If we can have them join us instead of hunting us, we could live like this without being assimilated.

  Hope’s hand dropped to her side. She shook for a moment and then opened her eyes. “I hear it,” Hope said, her eyes wandering to the sky as she concentrated on a conversation no one else could hear. “Yes, it will follow Rho,” Hope confirmed.

  Quill readied his blade. He gritted his teeth, “Another alien.” Jay positioned himself between Quill and his prospective targets.

  “What just happened, Maddie? What did you do?” Jay asked.

  “We are Injects, Jay. We’re the ones that are going to stop the Trolls,” Maddie replied. Hope smiled and looked at Jay.

  “It’s alright. She’s right. It’s wha
t I wanted,” Hope said. Jay’s body eased.

  “Quill, put that thing away. You’re not going to do anything to my sister,” Jay said. Quill pulled his makeshift belt loop and put his blade into it.

  “It’s not beneath me,” he muttered.

  “Quill, we are going to the bunker and any alien that doesn’t want to join us is all yours,” Maddie said.

  “I don’t want any of you around. You make things too complicated,” Quill scowled.

  “You can’t tell if humans are the enemy anymore either. Stop trying to kill everything and focus on beating them,” Maddie sneered back. Quill’s eyes burrowed through Maddie.

  “I don’t know what make-believe world you are from. Killing them is beating them,” Quill said, and turned away. He walked behind a tree and then he was gone.

  “Jay, we’re going to break into that bunker tomorrow and we’re going to take it over,” Maddie said.

  “Sure we are,” he said, and shook his head. Hope was still listening to the voice in her head, not paying attention to the conversation.

  “Hope can get us in as well. We have to use the Specs. That was their mistake for putting them in us. Rho said–“

  Jay interrupted Maddie. “Who the hell is Rho? Let’s start with that,” he asked. Maddie threw her hands into the air.

  “Rho is the thing inside of me. The reason for my eye and the reason for my hand. It doesn’t want to follow the queen mother,” she answered.

  “The queen mother now,” Jay said. He was starting to wonder about Maddie’s sanity.

  “The leader of the Trolls. Do you want to hear the plan or not?” Maddie asked. She was curt with her question.

  “I don’t really care. I don’t want Hope to get hurt. That’s what I worry about,” Jay said. “Look at her, she’s never been like this.” Maddie watched as Hope spun around and looking toward the sky but with her eyes closed.