Athena Lee Chronicles 0: The Lost Pilot (2 page)

With the colony ship construction business booming, lots of people with big money took the chance to leave Earth. Several dozen big religious groups payed to have ships built and just left. The planet Mars was the first target. Large domed colonies began to rise out of the red sand. Many of the breakaway religious groups settled on Mars, opting to stay close to earth, but not too close.

Large groups of radio and film celebrities, who knew those people had that much money.They had pooled their money, built a ship, and left Earth's orbit with the destination being Mars. It was nice, sometimes, to think that out there on Mars, there were groups of movie stars, computer geeks, and famous talk radio guys trying to build a 'New' Hollywood.

It wasn't too long until the American government got involved and started building big ships too. Using expansion and progress as the excuse they sent quite a few groups of troublemakers off planet. It was actually cheaper to do than just locking them up and paying to house them in prisons.

Eddie was not really sorry to see those religious nuts and all the survivalists just go away. Some foreign Governments are still sending ships out in search of new planets to colonize. A slight few of the colony ships sent messages back informing Earth that colonies had been founded. Many of the early ships simply vanished into the depths of space. Conspiracy theories abound as to their fate. Some of the Government colonies started to send back resources. The US really needed the rare minerals and gemstones that were sent. All of this expansion opened up lots of opportunities for jobs on Earth and out in the far reaches of space.

Eddie heard a shuffling outside his door. He ran over to the door, grabbing his baseball bat off the table. He stood to the side of the door and cried out, "Who is it?"

"It's me, honey. The sky is blue, now let me in."

Hearing the all clear and safe code words, Eddie let his wife Ann inside. You really couldn't be too careful these days. Especially when the power was off at night. That was when the real monsters came out to play. He hugged his wife to him. "Hi, honey, did you have a good day?"

Ann removed her coat revealing a knife strapped to her waist. She took it off and laid it on the table for easy reach. Ann looked at the oil lamps casting a dull orange glow across the room. Eddie had fixed dinner and already set the table. The flickering light cast muted shadows across the table making the shadows dance on the walls.

"Ed, I have really good news! We might have a chance to get out of here."

Coming out of the bedroom Eddie looked questioningly at his wife. "Out of this apartment? Did someone at work die?"

She chuckled. Someone dying was pretty much the only way to get a new apartment these days. "No, the Government has a new program. Since I already work for them I qualify. Honey, we can be colonists! We have a chance to leave the planet."

"Ann, are you serious? You aren't messing with me right? No jokes. We can get on one of those ships and leave this shithole?"

"It's not that bad, but yes. We have to submit to a couple of tests first but my boss swore to me that I was eligible."

"What sort of tests?" Eddie had a real apprehensive look on his face.

"My boss said it was nothing bad. A few intelligence tests, a very in-depth physical and we have to submit some genetic samples."

"Samples? Why does the Government want my DNA? Please tell me they aren't trying to make super-soldiers again!"

Ann thought back to what she had learned in school. When the corporations got involved in the Cyber wars some of them tried making genetic freaks to do battle with the robot drones. It failed miserably. Some of the larger governments were rumored to have had successes but it was all covered up or the results destroyed. "No honey. It is just to test to see if we can withstand the g-forces and stress of space travel. That's all. I promise you."

"OK, if you say so. So when do we go in for the tests?"

"Holy crap! Honey you're happy to go? That is great." She gave him a big hug and a kiss that practically curled his toes.

"We can go for the tests in the morning. Will your boss let you off for a few hours?"

"She will if I tell her it is something for you. Mrs Southcott just loves you."

___

Dr Howard Holmes watched the young woman who helped him run his clinic here in Atlanta. His bosses had put out a call for Government employees to volunteer to go to the stars to help run the colonies. The call was twofold. He had heard from some of his colleagues in the research division of the Government that they needed genetic samples for a secret project that was in the works. Ever since the failed 'superhero' project 20 years ago, Congress had outlawed genetic experimentation, Government experiments had been kept very hush, hush. The cover story was that the tests were needed to select eligible workers for the new colony ships. Testing for resistance to space hazards was for the most part, utter BS.

His best assistants DNA was exactly what Government scientists were looking for. Both her and her husband. They were young, healthy, athletic, and already associated with the Government. In Ann's case she still owed money the Government for her education. Her husband also had a degree, that of agronomics. Not much call for that in Georgia anymore. If the damn Cybers hadn't crashed the systems at the CDC the Zanto-M crop blight might not have gotten loose. Crops across three states had been decimated before the antidote had been found. All that grew around here anymore were pine trees. The other thing that 'they' wanted was Government representatives to push America's agenda on the colonies. The theory was if they used actually Government employee's that they were more likely to stick to the plan. If he was about 20 years younger, Howard would go himself - it sounds like a real adventure.

When Eddie and Ann cautiously walked home that night they were bursting with their good news. According to the test results, they were perfect candidates for the next colony ship. They had less than a week to say their goodbye's and to report to the Government training center in the old sports arena. They both had large packets of reading material that explained their new duties as Government agents and colony supervisors. To them the training didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore here on Earth. They were going on an adventure and kissing Earth and all its problems and politics, goodbye.

Chapter 2

Scientists have proved that conception begins with a flash of light. I don't know if that's really true as I did not see the flash. My first memory is of swimming in a tube filled with a thick, clear liquid. I was breathing the liquid, not air. I later learned that it was an artificial Perfluorochemical that was allowing us to breathe as our small bodies developed. As soon as my brothers and I registered awareness our training and indoctrination began in ernest. Our artificial conception was the work of a lifetime for many of these Government geneticists and scientists. We were not clones. Using donated genetic samples scientists had engineered each of our parents DNA to make perfect superior beings. This sort of research had been tried several times in the past. During the 1940's German scientists had attempted to breed a 'master race' using natural selection. Crude, ineffective, and mostly horrific attempts at genetic manipulation were also conducted. That time period helped to give the art of eugenic science a very bad name. The art of Non-human Genetic manipulation reached its peak in the 21st century. Scientists were constantly creating new crops and breeding smaller pets for homes. Pressure from parental groups and educational trusts forced Congress and the President to lift the ban on Human experimentation with a goal of curing or preventing childhood illness. The were being born with birth defects at an alarming rate. Many medical professionals laid the blame at the feet of industry and technology. Many rare and genetic based diseases killed infants on a regular basis. That sort of research was supposed to prevent it. With the lifting of the bans on human experimentation, all sorts of human modification began. . While fixing birth defects had been the initial goal, other genes were modified too. It had begun small.

The US military first conceived of the 'Superhero project.' Emulating a popular comic book hero, Government scientists began using RNA retroviral vector gene transfers to create changes in volunteer soldiers. At first the scientists helped with small things such as better eyesight, obesity, and better reflexes. With success came a greater push for more results. Muscle tone and stamina were increased among the volunteers. Still politicians and military leaders wanted more. Why just create a stronger soldier, why not make a real superhero? Or a thousand superheros?

With the massive push for favorable results many mistakes were made. Participants began to look more like professional wrestlers than the ideal 'Superhero' figure. Combinations of steroids, retroviruses, and gene therapy cocktails of new drugs began to change the volunteers. Several soldiers began to resemble another comic book 'hero'-a green one. But not in a good way. Bulging muscles made it hard to hold certain weapons and to squeeze into combat vehicles. This fact alone is what canceled the program. All of the volunteers were removed and either sent back to their units or hospitalized until a reverse treatment could be found. Then it leaked to the media. All of the successes to this point were invalidated when the first pictures of the participants were released.

Without the drugs, therapy, and chemical cocktails, the volunteers slowly wasted away. Muscle tone was lost overnight. All of the men and women appeared years older than they really were. The chemicals either faded hair color or caused it to fall out. Gathered in a group the 'superhero's' resembled concentration camp survivors from the previous century. Officially, all work was stopped and records of the experiments destroyed.

Contrary to history not all of the experiments the 'superhero' project created failed. What they had been trying to do was increase stamina, agility, and longevity. This part of the program was where success had been made. A few of the longevity projects worked, its participant's survived the experiments and thrived. No actual superheros were created. Not really. America's leaders had wanted soldiers who could run all day and not get tired. They wanted them to live longer and fight faster, with more skill. The fact that they actually succeeded was covered up and hidden away. The successful experiments were studied and dissected to learn their secrets. Many of the secret project's originators and supervisors used some of the serums created on themselves. Why shouldn't those in power have more physical power?

A few rival countries had similar programs Their programs focus had been to enhance their soldiers strength and stamina only. Many of those programs were sabotaged or destroyed. Any success that the other powers had made was destroyed in the media blitz when the program was discovered in America. The surviving experiment subjects all died under mysterious circumstances.

With the advent of star travel and colony ships there was a need for pilots and crew members who would be able to survive the trip. Many of the secret gene therapy programs were dusted off and brought to light under the auspices of helping the space programs. The media either ignored the fact that these were the same experiments or they were already puppets of the governments.

If the program we were born into had a name, it was never told to us. We only heard it called 'The Program,' or at least that is what the scientists and trainers all called it. My brothers and I were kept in the tanks until age one. I suppose that being released from our liquid prison was what being born feels like to a natural born infant. There were fifty of us in the beginning. Fifty very inquisitive, extremely smart babies. The process of enhancing DNA was technically, still illegal, but we belonged to the Government. The eugenics program had been a huge secret for many years. We were to be the test subjects and ultimately the pilots for the new colony ships. There were several other groups of 'enhanced' children in the project. We found out later that they were earmarked for crew positions on our ships.

All I can remember from my first year is people talking to me and watching Vid after Vid. We spent our first year in special cocoons that both supported our growing bodies and provided everything we needed to survive. Nutrients were fed to our bodies and waste was removed. Exercise was provided using electrical muscle stimulation (EMS). Several of my brothers left this plane of existence during those early years. The system was not perfect. We were infants that could not communicate that the electricity being piped through out small bodies had too much current, or that the 'food' system had a malfunction. Well, you get the picture. The deaths were not noticed as a whole. There were several hundred of us, all in creches, by this time. I am told that they fixed the problem later in the project.

By year two we could carry on clear conversations with our keepers. English was our primary language but we spoke several others. The languages that I learned were English, Spanish, German, and Russian. Some of my brothers were learning Mandarin, Hindi, Arabic, Japanese, and Punjabi. All the languages of the Colonies were represented. The programs sponsors in the American Government intended for us to be able to converse in as many languages as possible in order to interact with the colonists on the ships. All of these classes were to lay a foundation that the advanced classes could build upon. As a group we were about to turn four, when the world began to change.