Evolution's Cost: Rise of the Empyrean Empire: Novel 03 Read online

  Another man walked in from the side, and the screen blinked off. I felt more than a little alarmed. The guy was a nut case. Freeing the A.I.s before any signs of trouble were known suddenly got a whole lot more important as part of our plan.

  We had his location, and if we could have we’d have burned it to the ground, but we couldn’t fire on his position without destroying one of the domes and killing tens of thousands of people, what the hell would he try next?

  I asked, “Do we know who was with him?”

  A few seconds later Drake said, “Daniel Morris, head of a manufacturing corporation. The corporation has many ties with defense.”

  The captain asked, “Katy?”

  Katy said, “I’m not seeing anything yet… wait. I’ve got weapons fire on the surface, near one of the warehouses and fanning out. Looks like some kind of armored ground based attack drone. They’re… killing indiscriminately, some appear to be heading toward power systems and life support.”

  I never could have guessed this would happen, I expected skirmishes, not someone insanely trying to destroy everything. What kind of planned response is that? They must be terrified of humanity with access to their evolutionary talents, no place for rulers and the elite. I guess if they couldn’t rule the world they’d destroy it? I’m guessing it’s a last ditch containment protocol, to save the other colonies and worlds, but what kind of nut job would actually implement something like that?

  The governor, obviously.

  “My god, he’s going to kill them all, is there something you can do Drake?”

  It was true, but the words coming out of my mouth seemed absurd.

  Drake said, “Those A.I. armored ground attack drones have no external access comms, no doubt to help keep them secret. I suspect they were wired when they got orders, and now they won’t stop and return to base until those orders are complete. Standby, I have A.I. security bots heading that way. Several have already been taken out though, by the recently trained humans in the area.”

  Katy said, “Confirmed, several have been crushed into scrap. There are still a lot though, over ninety left, killing everyone in their path. Several have broken into the adjacent domes.”

  I ordered, “Stop them, but also cut power and comms to the governor’s mansion, and get someone with abilities over there to knock the jackass out, his buddy too.”

  Drake said, “Confirmed, two hundred individuals volunteered for the mission according to their A.I.s and are moving that way. Several other human groups are moving toward the drones. Our security drones aren’t much of a match, but they’ve managed to take down a few.”

  We couldn’t do it, knock out the governor I mean, too far away. The colony on Eta Cassiopeiae A was able to get me and Sara that way when we were in orbit, but there’d been thousands of them working together to do that, we only had twenty-one on the ship now. Mental range, but that was it, knocking someone out required making physical changes. I was starting to think banishment might be too good for the governor of Beta-Hydri, but I also knew it would be a mistake to go down that road.

  Drake said, “Following the governor’s actions, several more ships have been fully converted to our cause, though there are still three partial holdouts.”

  I wasn’t worried about them, let them sort it out themselves, enough of them were already taught, that they could find their own way to the truth. I supposed I couldn’t blame them, I certainly hadn’t decided on this course of action quickly or easily. I was still mad at the pilots of those shuttles though, and the captain that put them out there.

  Katy said, “I think they got them all.”

  Drake said, “Affirmative, and the governor is unconscious and in custody.”

  The mission to free humanity, and as a result give them the power to protect themselves from the aliens, continued unopposed at that point. There were no further deaths, though it took a little over twelve hours to complete the initial training for everyone that wanted it.

  One point six million humans, give or take a few converted that first day had embraced self-governance and their birthright.

  Just over four hundred thousand didn’t the first day, but I was sure they eventually would, or most of them anyway, once they realized no one was dying in accidents.

  The casualty estimates were just over twenty thousand. Twenty thousand people died that shouldn’t have, wouldn’t have, if it wasn’t for the insanity of a power hungry and self-deluded governor.

  But I grieved that day over just four deaths. The rest was just too much, and my emotions shut down on it. Twenty thousand was just a number to me that first day, but I would be destined to have nightmares about it for years to come. It’d still been the right decision, we had to save humanity from genocide by alien attack. Plus, all those that wouldn’t die in the future from a murderous government, two percent of twenty-five billion were a whole lot of people dying every generation. Far, far more than just twenty thousand.

  If I kept telling myself that, I might even start believing it was worth those deaths. It was easy to speak of sacrifice, when I was sitting on the bridge of my ship. Yes, I’d been in danger too, but I hadn’t paid the price.

  That night, I held Katy tight and we comforted each other, and that’s all we did, as we talked about Jerry, Carly, and John for hours. Good people, the very best humanity had to offer. I would never forget them. Never. I just wished we had stories to share about the fourth as well.

  The populace, after hearing what the governor did and why, was understandably angry. Perhaps incensed was a better word to use. When we were ready to move on to the next step we would have a lot of help, over five hundred and fifty thousand people had already volunteered to help with freeing the rest of humanity, just over a quarter of the total population. I hadn’t expected nearly that many volunteers. They were also patient, and they agreed to let us come up with a new plan first, a better plan, before we all moved forward.

  The one piece of good news without any exceptions was the refinery, there were no political or high-powered people on that habitat, they were all workers mining the gas giant and refining to extract the hydrogen and xenon. Not one death occurred as they joined the ranks of self-governed humanity.

  We would move soon, but first we’d rest, and mourn our dead…

  Chapter Ten

  The next morning Katy and I started our day by making love with an almost desperate tenderness. It was a life affirming act that carried us both away to a place where just the two of us existed. A shield against the anger and sorrow we felt, against the mortality we feared as we realized it could just as easily have been us, if more shuttles had gotten out of the ships. A shield against the guilt that perhaps we could have foreseen it if we’d tried harder. Maybe it was also a cry out into the dark of an uncaring universe that we were alive, in love, and still had hope for the future.

  It was many things, including tender and loving, and it brought us even closer together.

  The captain ordered everyone to the landing bay, everyone. Regulations were common sense, but we were in orbit, and Drake could fly the ship better than any of us, so we figured it was safe enough for a short time, the Beta-Hydri system had been secured.

  We were going to update our plans, but we had some goodbyes to make first. There were no missiles, no remains, their bodies had already been given to the dark of space in a flash of fire. A table by the entrance held drinks, and we all grabbed one on the way onto the deck, and faced the captain. It was a somber affair from what Katy and I had just experienced together, but that was as it should be.

  There were four life sized holographic pictures of the ones we had lost, framed behind and flanking the Captain. The lump in my throat was back.

  The captain cleared her throat, and twenty pairs of eyes looked back at her as silence fell. The mind merge was all of us in that moment, and it helped a bit, but there were tears. This time, I was able to wrap an arm around Katy and stand close, and be supportive.

  “We a
re gathered together to say goodbye to four of us. Ensign John Crossman, Ensign Jerry Circe, Ensign Carly James, and Crewwoman Madeline Davies. They gave their lives for our mission to see humanity safe once and for all, so we could step down as their guardians, and become their explorers, or start families, or… any number of things.”

  She took a deep breath, “It’s a hard thing to say goodbye, and let go of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for us and for others. They were ours, and they were some of the best humanity had to offer this universe. We will miss them, wish them peace wherever they may be, and raise our glasses in toast. Not to their deaths, but to their lives and all that they accomplished.”

  She raised her glass, and so did everyone else, “To those no longer with us, but still in our thoughts, and always in our memories.”

  We all drank down the toast.

  Samantha gazed around the landing bay, at all of us.

  “Bridge crew, Katy, and Michael with me, the rest of you may remain as long as you wish. I would stay and share stories, but our mission must move on and not tarry long, the longer we wait the higher the chances it may be discovered by the other worlds and lead to more casualties. Dismissed.”

  We followed the captain, as well as Sam and Cindy back to the bridge. Then Katy and I followed the captain into the ready room. Absurdly, I finally realized we were in zero gravity, and everyone had been using their abilities for personal artificial gravity, even on our drinks. It was amazing how fast people got used to things.

  The captain said, “Alright, we have three deficiencies to make up for. Two of them are easy, when the A.I.s are taken over, we must specify that weapons, comms, and landing bays are closed. That should take care of any fleet actions, unless someone is crazy enough to blow their own landing bay doors off.”

  Drake said, “That won’t be a problem, we’ll lock down the whole landing bay, including inner access, they won’t be able to get inside of it.”

  The captain nodded, “Good. The second easy one we already did, but we have to make sure of it this time. A.I.s absolutely must be freed before any nuts try to kill everyone with some kind of mass self-destruct signal. That means we send in one or two people per planet, first, and then after a specified period send the rest.

  “The third issue is a little stickier, I imagine Alpha Centauri, with a population of twenty million, and Mars with forty million will have even more of those attack drones. I don’t even want to know how many Delta Pavonis, Sigma Draconis, and Earth have.”

  Those populations were seven, four, and twelve billion humans respectively.

  I nodded, “With five hundred thousand volunteers, we won’t have any trouble bending space to all of those places. We let two or three through in each spot to free the A.I.s and give them instructions to forward it to the fleets around their planets, and then…”

  That’s where I wasn’t sure.

  Katy said, “Mars is pretty small, forty million people on the planet and in habitats, but the area I mean. I think if we can we should open portals to the three habitats, and on the surface, and then strategically place enough people near government officials and offices. Then when the A.I.s give their speeches, we send in ten thousand to strategic points, to protect them from any of those armored drones. If the A.I.s sense their host is going to do something like start killing people, they can inform someone close via A.I. comms, and have that official knocked out.”

  Katy shook her head, “I know it sounds too complicated, a lot of things could go wrong, but what else can we do? We can do the same thing on the colony at Alpha Centauri, but I’m not sure that would work on whole planets, like at Earth, Delta-Pavonis, and Sigma Draconis.”

  Samantha said, “That isn’t a bad plan. There’s got to be people on the fleet who know the perfect places to put people for Mars and Alpha Centauri. On the three full planets, we know where the government headquarters are for the planet, and we can put fifty thousand in that capital city, and maybe five thousand in twenty more strategic locations. We’ll lose people, but we’ll save most of them.”

  I asked, “And we’ll be doing what?”

  Samantha said, “Once we’ve verified all the A.I.s are done, we’ll head to Mars and take care of the fleet there that’s out of mental range of Earth and Mars. Four other scouts can head to Alpha Centauri, Delta-Pavonis, Earth, and Sigma Draconis. Then we hope we did a good job, and go on vacation.”

  I frowned, “That could take a couple of weeks.”

  Katy shook her head, “It takes five thousand or so humans to fold space and open a gate that’s ten feet high and twice as wide. Do you suppose if you were in a merge of a million you could open one a hundred yards wide, and twenty yards high?”

  I frowned, and tried to figure out if that would work, but I wasn’t a scientist and the math was a little thick.

  “Maybe?”

  Katy frowned at me, “Yes, the answer is yes.”

  I smiled, “Brains and beauty. I guess that leaves me with brawn.”

  She snorted and rolled her eyes, but her smile ruined the effect, “So… if we can do that, we can put us and four more scouts right next to the planets and colonies.”

  “Why do we need to do that at all, can’t the fleets just fly closer to the planets?” I asked curiously.

  Samantha said, “We can’t depend on it. Some might decide to run off, go to a secret base. With enough time, they can dismantle the walls and hull to get missiles and shuttles out, or simply destroy the A.I., disable the comms, and then install the spare which is still locked down. We can’t assume none of them won’t turn paranoid and fight. Especially if they believe it’s a local problem, and not too late. Especially on Mars and Earth, the admiralty won’t want to give up their power. Let’s face it, the UEDF, the defense force, is done with. We’ll be a voluntary exploratory service at best, with no one in charge. Just ships exploring and founding new colonies for humanity, because it’s in their blood.”

  I said half accusingly, “You’re not staying in, are you? Like Katy and I are.”

  Samantha smiled and shook her head, “My son is five, I’m going to retire and raise him full time. Who knows, in fifteen years I might get back in the game, I’ll only be forty something. Then again maybe it will be time to be a doting grandmother, I’ll have to see. You two will have to explore the universe without me.”

  I bit my lip to stop from smiling, she’d be fifty something, almost sixty. I was too smart to point that out, and decided to get things back on track.

  “Okay, so do we have a plan? Drake, can you think of anything else that might help?”

  Drake replied, “We can move the security bots to sites that we suspect have those assault machines, set up ambushes in case they’re activated. One of the A.I.s on Earth, and the other worlds will know something about where they might be stored.”

  Samantha nodded, “We have a plan, it won’t get much better, I hope it’s enough to keep the casualty count low, or lower than it was here if possible.”

  I nodded, the other places were much bigger, I’d settle for lowering the percentage much lower, but I hoped for a lower count too.

  Samantha asked, “Drake, status on the settlements?”

  Drake said, “There is a habitat without life support, adjacent habitats will be sufficient for life support until repairs are complete. The death total is complete at twenty thousand eight hundred and fifty-two people. Whole families, including children were targeted indiscriminately. The smallest and oldest habitat has been evacuated of those living there, who were moved to nicer places in other habitats. That old habitat is now filled with those who would not give up their power, or would have abused their new abilities as an evolved human. They are banishing people there, and those people are still suppressed by their A.I.s. Eventually they would like to banish people to one of the three worlds, once something there is set up. It would be too simple for them to organize some kind of strike or sabotage where they are now, whereas an island on a planet w
ould truly keep them isolated and out of mischief.”

  She said, “Alright, let’s send out the plan, and what we need. We need people with good targeting data, and volunteers for the advanced work of freeing the A.I.s. Then when that’s confirmed, we’ll move in the groups for government suppression, and then the A.I.s will start the debriefs for their humans. After that, we’ll open five large portals in space, move the ships, and then diverse portals to the planets to move in the majority of the five hundred thousand, split between the five targets. We have to move the ships first, or we won’t have enough people to make big enough openings without the five hundred thousand.

  “So, send that out with the general plan. Once we have people with good targeting data identified, and the volunteers for the first two phases, we’ll move on it as quickly as possible. We’re also open to other suggestions, if someone can come up with a better plan, we want to hear it. It really isn’t the best plan I’ve ever come up with, but I fear if we try to account for everything, we’ll get caught out early and things will turn out far worse. Stealth and secrecy until the A.I.s are giving the briefing is essential.”

  I couldn’t argue that point at all, it was most important. If someone like the governor here was on Earth, and sent out the mass destruction signal, billions would die. We’d have to risk the thousands on the less comprehensive but far more secretive plan, in order to save the rest.

  She sighed, “Matter of fact, just can this whole meeting and send it out to everyone in the system, but edit out my retirement plans please, and the lovebirds’ banter. Michael, Katy, we are down to two shifts, which means twelve-hour stints, but this is almost done. All I have left on first shift is Cindy and Sam. I want you to send me Joshua for countermeasures, and Katy I’ll need you on Ops. That’s the team when we go to Mars. We aren’t doing this with our thumbs up our asses again, assuming we thought of everything. When we go in, Michael you’ll be with Sara and Jared in auxiliary control.”