Dangerous Evolution

by Vann, Gregg

  I started walking around, trying to increase blood circulation throughout my stiff but waking body.

  “Approximately four hours,” it replied.

  I must have been tired. “Hmm. Any luck with the link to Seveq?”

  Del gestured to a large, black panel on the wall, and it shimmered a moment before resolving into a live video feed.

  “Nice,” I said

  The picture was so highly detailed that it was hard to believe how far away we were. The screen was targeted on a white Sentient ship, slightly smaller than Del’s, sitting in the middle of a large clearing. The open area where it landed appeared to be a park, positioned near the center of a massive city. The buildings in the vicinity were all highly reflective silver, and you could see the light blue grass from the park mirrored off their lower surfaces.

  It was beautiful, I thought.

  Then I saw the bodies.

  As a second camera panned around, I saw hundreds—then thousands—in the streets, visible through building windows, hanging out of wrecked flyers and ground cars, even scattered throughout the park—lying dead in unnatural positions.

  And there were children! We suspected of course, but were never sure just how the Sentients procreated. Now we knew, but there was no elation in the discovery.

  “Jesus Christ,” Mendoza exclaimed. “I knew they would all be dead, but they’re everywhere.” It had been her turn to stay awake and she was watching the feed from the other side of the bridge. I hadn’t even noticed her petite form seated on the floor until she spoke.

  “There is a shimmering effect around the ship,” I said, hoping to break the melancholy I was sure we all felt, even Del. Especially Del, I noticed.

  “A force shield,” the Sentient offered. It waved two fingers, making a circular motion over its panel; the image zoomed in closer in response and the ship filled the screen.

  As we watched, the shield flared solid and then vanished.

  “They’ve deactivated the shield; I see some movement at the hatch,” Del observed.

  It motioned again to zoom in on the exterior hatch as the ramp extended itself. Three Sentients exited the craft and walked out into the clearing. Two of them were armed with energy weapons and appeared to be escorting the third…guarding him maybe? The third Sentient was shorter than his companions, and somehow appeared less menacing in its movements.

  “Soldiers,” I stated.

  “No.” Del said forcefully. “Soldiers are equipped with offensive bracers. These carry weapons like civilians. They are definitely not Sentient military.”

  The smaller Sentient approached body after body, scanning each with some type of medical instrument. Approaching the boundary of the clearing, it waved the scanner over a dead Sentient slumped against a small retaining wall, then paused to check its readings. After a second examination, he waved for the other two and had one of them pick up the body and carry it back to toward the ship.

  “What are they doing?” I asked no one in particular.

  “I don’t know,” Del said disgustedly.

  When the trio got back to the ramp, one of the guards pointed a small device at the hatch and it slid open to admit them. The Sentient placed the remote back into a holster on its hip, and then helped the other guard carry the body up the ramp. All three of them made their way inside, then the force shield flickered back into existence.

  “What the hell are they doing with the dead bodies?” I asked, not really sure that I wanted to know.

  “It is an outrage,” Del said vehemently. “Even our worst criminals are sent to the sun. To do anything less is an abomination.” The Sentient was seething mad.

  Even during the fight with Woz—and its attempt to escape the bindings afterwards—I hadn’t seen Del this angry. He knows rage, I thought. What other strong emotions danced around in that biomechanical body. Fear? Somehow I doubted it.

  Del stomped around the bridge trying to regain control of itself. Would it succeed, or was I watching the gestation of a violent outburst? And where would that violence be directed?

  Sensing the growing tension as well, Mendoza stood up—preparing herself for a potential problem.

  “What do you mean by sent to the sun?” I asked, trying to refocus its attention. Maybe explaining it would help.

  Del leaned over one of the control pedestals and grabbed it with both hands. I could see electrical discharges playing across its fingers, but they were subsiding. It was regaining control.

  “My people believe that all life,” it looked at me, “even yours, comes from the stars. When we die, our bodies are returned there—to wait with the sun until it finally expires, flinging its energy...our energy, out into the void. When the star merges back into the universe, becoming part of everything that is, we will go with it—completing our life’s journey.”

  “That’s why you ejected Woz into space,” I said. Now I understand.

  “Yes. I set the suit’s navigational controls to push Woz into Harrakan’s sun—despite its treachery.”

  It stood erect and backed away from the console. “What they are doing, the desecration, it’s against everything we believe in. That they even dare is…they must be stopped.”

  “By the time we finish our mission here, they will be. What can you tell me about the force shield?” I asked.

  “Impenetrable. We can’t defeat it without destroying the ship as well. We need that access device to get in; they usually control the force shield and the door lock.”

  “I see; how long until we arrive on Seveq?”

  It looked back at the pedestal where I saw symbols scrolling down the side of the screen. “Approximately seven hours,” Del replied, “What then?”

  “Then…we initiate my cleverly devised plan to infiltrate that ship and free Miss Evans,” I replied confidently.

  “Commander, what exactly is your plan?”

  “I’ll let you know as soon as I do.”

  It looked at me disapprovingly, and I could feel the tension rising again.

  “Don’t worry,” I assured it, “We will do whatever is necessary to rescue Val Evans and stop their operation—whatever it is they’re up to.”

  *****

  After a few hours of reading Sector status reports and brainstorming with the others about how best to assault the Sentient ship, Del directed us to a room we could use to clean ourselves up and prepare for the mission. It was the only place on the ship with running water, but it resembled a laboratory more than a bathroom. I was unfamiliar with Sentient hygiene or bodily functions, so the sharp implements lying about could have been grooming tools, but to me they looked like a cross between medical equipment and torture devices. We took turns using the laboratory/bathroom then suited up in our assault gear.

  Mendoza sized us up well when picking out our suits—even mine fit perfectly. The Kamosuit fabric was ostensibly black, but it was embedded with a holographic mesh designed to continually scan the environment and automatically color shift to blend in. At night, they were practically invisible, and even in direct sunlight they did a damn good job of concealing you—until you moved. Movement caused the mesh to shift slightly to compensate for environmental variation, and the pattern change was visible as a momentary blur to onlookers.

  Stinson threw his suit on like donning a second skin, but Mendoza couldn’t stop pulling on the cinch straps and adjusting her diagonally fitted bandolier.

  “First time?” I asked.

  “No sir. I’ve worn a Kamosuit before.”

  “I meant first time in combat, Mendoza.”

  “Combat? Yes sir.” She wore a concerned look on her face and continued to check her suit.

  “Everything’s fine with your suit, Mendoza. Relax.”

  “I‘m okay, Commander. I just thought my first combat experience would be in heavy assault armor—but you don’t have worry about me.”

  I grabbed her shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes to reinforce the message, “I’m not worried, Ens
ign, you’ll do fine.”

  “Just keep your head down and follow the plan; remember your training,” Stinson added. “It may be a cliché, but it’s true.”

  “What’s it like, sirs? Actual combat I mean.” Her eyes darted back and forth between the two of us, looking for answers I wasn’t sure we could provide.

  “It’s been awhile, Mendoza,” I offered. “Except for a few inter-Sector missions that went very wrong, ones I’m certain Sector Security would rather I keep to myself; I haven’t seen a true combat situation since the Diaspora War.”

  I paused to reflect on how many times I’d been in violent situations while working as an SI. Gunfights sure, fistfights…far too many, but actual enemy combat…it had been ages.

  “From what I’ve read, sir, nothing could be worse than the war,” she said glumly.

  “Probably not,” I agreed, doing my level best to push those memories back down into the deep, black hole where I’d buried them. “That means that this little drop should be a walk in the park. Right?”

  She smiled. “I didn’t think about it like that, sir.”

  I returned her smile. “Positive attitude, Mendoza…and a full weapons load-out never hurts either.”

  “No it doesn’t sir,” she said, looking more resolute and confident as she snapped grenades onto her bandolier.

  I walked back to the bridge, where a very disgusted Del informed me that the Sentients had left the ship again to grab another body—this gave me a workable idea about how to get ourselves into that ship.

  Well it might work, I thought, if everything goes according to plan.

  First, I needed some answers from Del. “They can’t detect this vessel right? You said it was new technology.”

  “Recently developed and restricted technology,” Del emphasized.

  “So we could land the ship nearby and they wouldn’t be able to detect it?”

  “The stealth technology is designed for use in space, not atmosphere. The ship wouldn’t be visible, but they could still detect air turbulence caused by our descent; they would certainly hear our approach.”

  “But we could still land in the general vicinity, then walk the rest of the way to avoid detection?”

  “Yes. If we entered the atmosphere at a distant point, then slowly approached the city at a low altitude; we would almost be invisible to scanners. Residual energy signatures from the city itself might mask any lingering heat traces.”

  Perfect.

  “Locate a suitable landing area, as close to their ship as you dare without compromising our arrival,” I directed.

  Del zoomed the active video feed out, exposing a larger view of the city, then started analyzing the surrounding area for a good place to land. I could see that the majority of the urban area was covered by large buildings; there were very few open places where a ship could be set down.

  “Will it be day or night when we arrive?” I asked

  Del looked away from the video and down at its monitor. “Night.”

  “Good, every little bit helps.” We needed to get Evans back to human controlled space as quickly as possible, and I preferred to launch our assault as soon as we landed—day or night—but the darkness would certainly work to our advantage.

  “I’ve found a landing site,” Del announced, then a beep from one of the monitors caught its attention. The Sentients body stiffened as it read the information scrolling across the screen.

  “Problem?” I asked, walking over to its side.

  “I extended the ship’s sensor capabilities by tying it into the planet’s systems. There is a fleet of ships headed to Seveq.”

  “A fleet?” Damn! Not now. We are so close.

  “Over a hundred ships…wait…I’m detecting other vessels coming in from different vectors. They are all converging on the Seveq system. It looks like my people are assembling a large fleet of ships for something.”

  “Something bad I’m sure,” I said. “How long until the first ships reach the planet?”

  “We will arrive three hours before they do.”

  “Lovely.”

  Chapter Five

  I called everyone together for a briefing, explaining the plan to rescue Val Evans, and the new complication presented by the imminent arrival of the Sentient ships. We would have to move fast, landing under the cover of darkness at a cleared construction site half a kilometer from the Sentient ship. The rest of the journey to the park would be on foot.

  The plan revolved around ambushing the Sentients on their next body run, then getting into the ship before those inside could raise the shield. It also called for Del to remain behind with our ship, keeping it ready for a quick departure. The Sentient didn’t agree.

  “I should go with you and present myself as one of the victims; their sensors will pick me up immediately, and they will come to investigate. You can set up your ambush around me.”

  I looked at Stinson and Mendoza, and saw from their expressions that they shared my concerns about including Del in the assault.

  Still... “That actually might work,” I conceded. “Our Kamosuits would hide our bio-signatures but yours would be like a signal flare.”

  But can I trust you against your own people?

  Loud, nagging doubts aside, this would place the Sentients exactly where we wanted them, instead of us having to react to their movements.

  I made a quick decision. “Okay. We can make that happen. While Stinson and I stake out Del’s ‘corpse’, Mendoza will position herself in the grass behind the ship—within striking distance of the propulsion units.”

  I looked at her directly, “I want you to disable the engines so the ship can’t lift off during our attack.”

  “Yes sir,” she said with obvious enthusiasm. Too much enthusiasm, I thought, better tamp it down a bit.

  “Nothing fancy, Mendoza, just make sure you cripple the engines without blowing up the whole ship. Don’t wait for orders, as soon as we attack, move fast. After the engines are down, drop back behind the wall bordering the park and watch the door for reinforcements. We have no idea how many Sentients are in that ship, or how many might come streaming out.”

  “Will do, sir.”

  “Jeff, you and I will conceal ourselves behind the wall as well, on the side of the ship where the door is. Once the Sentients discover Del and are in position, we can pop up and take them out before they know what’s happening.” Stinson nodded agreement.

  “Del, your job is to lay there and be convincingly dead,” I said. “When they get right up to you, they’ll know the truth and your cover will be blown. Yell ‘Go’, and we’ll launch the attack. We should be able to put them down before they can react to you. If you can, grab the little guy—it always seems to be unarmed and might be someone important. We’ll concentrate on the bodyguards.”

  “I understand,” it said.

  I looked at each one in turn, “As the old saying goes, no plan survives contact with the enemy. I’m positive that we’ll have to adapt and improvise at some point during this operation. Be flexible. Be ready for anything.”

  We dropped into the planet’s atmosphere fully cloaked, hoping the Sentient’s stealth tech was able to at least partially compensate for the massive heat signature our reentry was generating. Del leveled the ship out, and its exterior transitioned into a standard atmospheric flight configuration; we began to descend rapidly.

  Breaking through the cloud layer, we emerged into a flawless clear sky. Starlight spilled through small breaks in the clouds overhead, creating a sparkling effect where it hit the still waters of the ocean below. The display in front of me pinpointed the cities on the approaching continent, listing their unpronounceable names in Sentient script. Although I couldn’t read any of the incoming information, it was clear that there was no air or ground traffic anywhere within sensor range.

  Nothing was moving…anywhere.

  I could feel the acceleration as we reached cruising altitude—soaring toward our destination. Looking over
at Del, I saw that its concentration was absolute, focused on piloting the ship and watching for any signs we’d been spotted. Stinson and Mendoza continued looking at the main monitor—still displaying the target. Mentally preparing themselves, I believed. Within minutes, I could see a city growing larger on the approaching horizon.

  There are still lights on in the buildings.

  I briefly imagined that someone had survived and was hunkered down, waiting for a rescue that would never come; my instincts told me that was wishful thinking. Del confirmed this by informing me that most of the city’s systems were automated, and would continue to cycle on and off as needed until the power grid finally went down.

  I was glancing from my monitor to the video feed on the wall when a movement off to the side caught my eye. Stinson had pulled a small photosheet out of his pocket, and was looking at a holo-representation of two women. At first, I thought they were sisters because they looked so much alike—but something in the way he gazed at the image, even reached his hand out to touch it, told me it had to be his wife and daughter.

  Mendoza was checking her gear yet again, and when she saw me looking, said, “Let’s do this sir.” A familiar combination of false bravado and nervous chatter; I understood completely.

  “We’ll get it done, Mendoza.”

  Two small bumps followed by a winding noise signaled our touchdown on Seveq. The door swung open and a ramp extended silently. Drawing our weapons, we walked as a group out into the cool night air. No…not cool. Cold. The ship’s hull crackled and hissed as it bled off the leftover heat from reentry, and I noticed that my breath was visible as milky clouds of heated vapor.

  And we were alone. So far so good.

  Del’s natural coloration made any camouflage unnecessary, and I was intrigued to learn that Sentients could temporarily suppress the blue sparks that crawled across their skin. When it did this, Del was almost jet black—invisible in the shadows.

  Light was pouring out from the lower floors of the buildings, but thankfully, there were still plenty of blind spots we could use to mask our approach. We kept to the available shadows and started on our way—the ship retracted the ramp, closing itself up behind us.