Dangerous Evolution (11 page)

Thankfully, mercifully—this time, the dreams didn’t come.

“Commander Malik,” I heard.

It was Del.
Gah.
Couldn’t it let me get some rest? I pushed
my eyes open through sheer force of will to find the Sentient eyeing me
curiously.

“It’s like you are dead,” it said.

“What?” I struggled to stand, my legs aching from the unnatural
position; my neck was killing me.

“When you sleep, it looks like death,” it said. “I have seen it
before; Val Evans often took what she called ‘cat naps’ on her computer console
when working. She assured me it was normal.”

“And necessary,” I replied. “How long was I out?”

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, Ensign, 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?”