Running With Argentine

by William Lee Gordon

  That was a nice change of pace.

  So far in this era, every culture they’d run into had either tried to take advantage of them, enlist them in some empire building scheme, or were simply too afraid of them to initiate a dialog.

  He supposed it was easy to understand.

  The Roosevelt represented technology that was centuries ahead of any civilization they’d so far run into.

  At any rate, his scientists had already manufactured the diamondite crystal his message would be lasered into. It’s what the Betelgeuseans had done to preserve their records – so they knew it could survive millennia.

  Within the next couple of days they would enclose it in a structure that would be constructed at the Cydonia site on Paladin IV (Mars). Captain Ramirez remembered reading about the rumors that used to circulate concerning Cydonia, the face on mars, the pyramids… it had all turned out to be nothing.

  His scientists, however, would build a pyramid that was unmistakably not a natural feature.

  As to the message itself…

  ΔΔΔ

  Directed To: Admiral Federico Sanchez, Terran League Space Navy (or his predecessors or successors)

  We are now inching our way backwards in time.

  The closer we draw to when we believe the last extinction event occurred, the shorter our jumps - the goal is to observe it, not overshoot it.

  Our cosmologists tell us that their observations indicate we are now 9.3 million years in our past. This is slightly off from what the temporal engineers had expected; we continue to recalibrate and refine the technology.

  There are distinct differences in the universe around us between 24th Century Earth, our previous jump and this one. That previous jump placed us only a few thousand years in the future from where we currently sit on the timeline, and that era is starkly different from what we are seeing now - more on that in a minute…

  First, I want to describe what we are seeing in this era.

  It is unimaginable.

  When we first re-entered the Orion Spur from the void the differences were obvious. Human civilization fills the galaxy (or at least this spiral arm, if the local cannon is accepted).

  I don’t mean that it has expanded in a sphere from one planet; I mean that humanity is so pervasive that no one even remembers where, or if, there was an origin point. Although there is no one overriding culture or society to serve as a platform for all scientists to arrive at a consensus, the idea that humans are the natural result of evolution, any evolution, seems universal.

  As we made our journey back to the Sol system we realized that 24th Century Earth lives in a sparsely populated desert compared to this epoch.

  When we arrived at Earth we found it heavily populated. The planet is currently known as Paladin III.

  How can there have been an advanced space-faring civilization in Earth’s past, and for us (you) to have no surviving record of it? 8 million years is a long time, but surely some evidence would remain?

  This brings us back to what we discovered in our previous jump, which put us several thousand years in Paladin III’s future…

  It was empty.

  We couldn’t find any intelligent life. We couldn’t find any evidence that there had ever been any intelligent life. It is no wonder there is no surviving record of this civilization lasting 8 million years; no evidence lasted for even a few thousand!

  On Earth, we identified a species that would probably develop into Sahelanthropus tchadensis. This hominin had recently started walking on two legs and had developed small canine teeth. It will, however, take several evolutionary branches and a few million years for this species to even start using tools.

  Our scientists believe that we have crossed the last Extinction Event.

  Whatever caused it didn’t just wipe out all intelligent life, it erased all human constructs down to man-made alloys that don’t occur in nature.

  To avoid confusion we are calling the time period after the extinction, the Earth Epoch. The time before will be the Paladin III Epoch.

  If we assume that technological advancement is a decent gauge of the age of an intelligent species, we could deduce that both epochs survived to about the 8 million year mark. This begs the question: Why is our own epoch more sparsely populated than the previous one?

  If we determine that the Betelgeuseans were correct, that there have been an entire series of extinction events, and if we discover that the proliferation of humanity reduces with each event, it must be considered as a possibility that these extinction events are deliberate attempts to culling or eliminating the human race.

  Our next destination after leaving Paladin III and IV will be Betelgeuse, or as it is known in this epoch: Asperia.

  We have surmised that political entities located there and known as Secret Societies would have the resources to research extinction events. One of them is the most likely candidate for building the archive we discovered 8 million years later.

  If we can somehow add what they know to our own experiences we will be greatly aided in our mission.

  I must take the space to mention how proud I am of our crew. When dealing with time periods of this scale it is difficult to fear an extinction event as eminent, but because it is our goal to observe one, the pressure of it is constantly hanging over our heads. Our people have stood up to it, though.

  Should we be successful in isolating the moment of occurrence, there is of course no guarantee for our survival. For that reason I will be increasing the number of message drops we leave for you. This one will be positioned within the next 48 hours and I will soon leave another one with everything we learn on Asperia.

  Rest assured, the captain and crew of the Roosevelt hold serving mankind as our highest purpose.

  Captain Jaime Rodriguez, T.L.S. Roosevelt

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE

  Argentine’s Secret

  Aboard the Roosevelt

  Almost every hour of the following week revealed some new surprise.

  Argentine had ordered the ship to maintain sub light status and to remain in the same region of space, relatively speaking. He wanted the bridge personnel, which was almost everyone, to undergo the same familiarization routine as any new ship would on its shakedown cruise.

  Still, that left plenty of time for new discoveries…

  The Roosevelt carried a small fleet of what can only be described as military shuttles. Perhaps fleet was too strong a word, they had found seven of them on the starboard side hanger deck, but there was strong evidence that the ship could manufacture more.

  Each shuttle could carry a pilot and a copilot and then had room for either a small amount of cargo or six passengers. But they were armed and had obviously been designed both for space operations as well as extreme aerodynamic maneuvering.

  Argentine was relieved to learn that the ship could manufacture its own food!

  The hydroponics and agricultural bays, as well as the newly discovered protein vats, were all intended for variety and as a supplement, but the ship was fully capable of providing a nutrient slush that was almost palatable.

  The fact that it could be manufactured as a drink, a nutrient bar, or a type of porridge helped… a little.

  To Argentine's frustration, however, they still knew nothing about the upper section of the ship. No matter how hard they looked, no one seemed to have access…

  The chief and the lieutenant were both sitting with Argentine in a small conference room immediately aft of the bridge. It actually had a private corridor connecting it to the Captain's suite.

  Argentine surmised that it had probably served as the Captain's day cabin. At any rate, that's what he was using it for…

  "Well, someone on the ship has to have had access to that upper section," the chief said for the third time. "And I'm thinking that someone would've been the Captain."

  "Look, Chief… Not knowing what we have there bugs me too, and it's not like I haven't tried to query the ship. But I haven't had the time to try
and delve deep into the ship's stored personalities.

  "Paula simply has no idea and either can't or hasn't bothered to try and find out, and Captain Ramires' personality has been… Difficult."

  Which was a huge understatement, but Argentine didn't want to raise any undue alarms… And he wasn't ready to reveal what he'd learned from Captain Ramires' messages. As a matter of fact, he hadn't yet told anyone about the ship's true mission…

  "I think we need to focus," he continued. "On what we want to do with the ship and how we want to go about doing it."

  "Are we reconsidering our decision to turn it over for a reward?" the lieutenant asked without emotion.

  "No, at least I don't think so. I've got my own plans that include a cabin and a mountain lake… Personally, I really don't want to lose sight of that.

  "It's just that, recently, Sami has started voicing some concerns and I wondered if the both of you still felt the same?"

  "She is an amazing ship," muttered the chief. "Rory and I could spend a decade here and still not be caught up on all her technology… But no. We want to stick to the plan – especially now that we realize just how big our nest egg could be."

  When Argentine turned his attention to the Lieutenant he responded, "My position hasn't changed; I still want to cash out and start a new life somewhere. No offense gentlemen, but the day we all part ways and never see each other again couldn't come too soon for me.

  "Still, as long as we have the ship we can be assured that that day will come. There might be a few things we could accomplish first before we hand her over… If we decide we want to, that is."

  "Like what?"

  "I was thinking it might not be a bad idea to get a little payback on the Lords of Trinity," he clarified. "Maybe right the wrongs of social injustice… That type of thing."

  "Now you're sounding like that redhead," the chief declared. "She won't come out and say it, but she wants us to take on the Asperian military and put the Secret Societies back in their place."

  "She does?"

  "She keeps going on about how their freedoms are slowly being eroded, about how the military is taking on more and more control. She even used the word tyranny!

  "She doesn't know the first thing about tyranny," the chief continued while shaking his head. "If she'd ever lived in the People's Republic she'd think Asperia was a paradise and be grateful for every minute of it!"

  After a brief silence, Argentine heard himself say…

  "Be that as it may, Chief. Every tyranny has its beginnings. I'm not sure it's wrong not to want Asperia to turn into the People's Republic…"

  No one had an answer to that.

  "We still need more crew," Lieutenant Stark eventually said.

  "What?" Argentine responded to the non sequitur.

  "No matter what direction we go, we can't safely operate like this. We've got barely enough people to man the critical bridge stations, and everyone has to sleep sometime.

  "Even if we headed directly to Asperia and immediately entered into negotiations to turn the ship over, we'd be in no position to keep them from boarding us and just taking it. And you’d better believe once the word gets out that we have a temporal drive… Everyone and their brother will come gunning for us. And they won't be nice about it.

  "No matter what we decide to do… Turn her over or right some wrongs first… We’re going to need more people."

  "And as much as I hate to say it," the chief added. "We're going to need the time to train them too. Which means we're going to need to get our food situation squared away – there's no way in Jezebel’s black hole that my diet is going to be made up entirely of that glop."

  "Okay," Argentine responded. "Where are we going to find them? I don't think it makes any difference if we’re trying to hand the ship over or recruit new crew, if we make orbit at Asperia we're in just as much jeopardy either way.

  "And you do realize," he continued. "That the more crew we take on, the smaller our share of the prize money will be…"

  "That doesn't have to be a problem," the Lieutenant interjected. "We hire the new crew on at normal wages. I’d guess that most spacers would jump at the chance to crew a ship like this."

  "And we can head up spiral to find them," the chief added. "Let's get far enough away from the Asperian sphere that no one knows anything about the legend of the Roosevelt. With any luck, no one will realize how undermanned and vulnerable we really are."

  We now have a plan, Argentine thought to himself. There's a solid reason that we can't just hand the ship over and cash out immediately.

  He should be frustrated; cashing out and finding that cabin is exactly what he wanted to do.

  What surprised him, though, was the relief he felt.

  If he told them about the ship's true mission, if he told them about the extinction events… What would they want to do then?

  There was every likelihood that they, and any children they might have, could live out their entire lives before it came. If they chose this path, his tranquil life around a mountain lake would finally become a reality.

  But what if everyone went and got all noble?

  It was insane to think that as untrained and ignorant as they were about the situation, that they could have any hope of carrying out the Roosevelt's mission...

  Would they see it that way, though?

  It really wasn't anything that had to be decided right now, he realized. Regardless of what they decided, heading up spiral and recruiting new crew was the immediate priority.

  There wasn't any reason to burden everyone with what he knew… was there?

  CHAPTER EIGHTY

  The Night Before Nightmare

  Aboard the Roosevelt

  "Stop pulling at your uniform..."

  "It's tight!" Sami replied.

  "No, it's not. It fits the way it was designed to, so stop tugging at it," Mandi said again.

  "I feel like I'm covered in shrink-wrap."

  One pleasant surprise had been the discovery that all of the Roosevelt's uniforms were self-fitting. Something about the fabric allowed it to stretch into whatever shape was needed and then, presumably from the heat of the body, shrink into a comfortable form fit.

  Well, at least comfortable for some…

  "You're used to wearing those almost one-size-fits-all sacks that your People's Republic called uniforms. Honestly, they were the sloppiest things I've ever seen."

  "I just feel… Brazen," Sami muttered.

  Mandi laughed…

  "Believe me, Sami… You don't look provocative. Men and women are different and there's nothing wrong with those differences being apparent in your clothing. I promise you there are a million places in the spiral arm that would think you're dressed for church.

  "So, lighten up. Besides, you actually look good!"

  Argentine hadn't given any orders regarding the uniforms. One day, the chief had shown up on the bridge with the new look.

  The Petulengros had immediately followed suit, and everyone else soon followed.

  Mandi changed the subject…

  "What do you think of the new additions?" she asked.

  "What's not to like?" Sami responded. "We're only taking the best of the best from all the interviews, and then moving on to the next planet. I think we’re getting some good people.

  "Why? Are you thinking differently?"

  "They all seem competent enough. I'm just wondering about their ideology…"

  "You know, Mandi, there's no guarantee that Argentine is going to want to help your people on Asperia."

  "Oh, I'm not worried about that," she replied.

  "Really? Has he said something? I didn't think any decisions had been made?"

  "No, silly. No decisions have been made, but that doesn't mean anything. Haven't you figured out by now that I tend to get my way?" Mandi said with a somewhat evil grin. "Men really aren't all that complicated; sometimes you just have to remind them of what they don't know they really want…"

&nb
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