Dangerous Evolution (4 page)

They tried everything they could, in every known language and
mathematical formula, to peacefully talk to the ship and establish a line of
communication—all to no avail. The alien craft just circled them silently, undoubtedly
doing their own investigation.

In the end, the Sentients opened fire and the explorers were
forced to defend themselves. But they were grossly outmatched, and barely managed
to escape destruction by engaging their Transit drive.

The discovery sent shock waves throughout the Sectors. Humans had
discovered other forms of life—in many different incarnations—as it spread
throughout the stars, but nothing even remotely sentient until that moment. The
common descriptive was adopted into the nomenclature, and soon, everyone
referred to them simply as
The
Sentients.

Every Sector sent emissaries to establish contact with the
Sentients, and each met the same fate. Actually, some ended up much worse. The
Sentients captured and dissected a few of the expeditions, and then for some
inexplicable reason, reassembled their bodies and sent them back into human
controlled space; their ships on autopilot.

Finally, the ever militaristic Rand Sector sent an armada to let
the Sentients know that humans had teeth, and at the very least, establish an
informal diplomatic conduit based on mutual respect. They were met with a force
ten times their size and obliterated.

That put an end to all attempts at contact, and went a long way
toward making sure no one ever crossed into Sentient territory again. A few
more years of vanishing ships and expanding debris fields firmly established
the borders of Sentient space, the boundary around it eventually becoming known
as The Verge.

But why were they on
our
side of it now? Did their presence
signal some Sentient expansionist plan or coming attack? This system did border
their territory; did that have something to do with Val Evans’ disappearance?

Time for some answers
, I thought.

“I think I’ll have a talk with one of the Sentients,” I announced
to Stinson.

“In that case,” he said. “I’ll alert Sergeant Tanaka to be ready
for…well anything I suppose.”

I calmly walked up to the closest one, subconsciously brushing the
inside of my left arm against the gun hidden beneath my coat; making sure it
was still there, just in case.

“Would you mind answering a few questions?” I said in the most
neutral tone I could muster.

“Why?”

“It might help my investigation,” I replied, a little insulted
that the Sentient didn’t bother to look at me while I was speaking.

“We are here to find Val Evans human. If your questions further
that goal, then I will answer them. If not—then no.”

The voice was…well….
metallic
, and when he/she/it spoke,
there was no tone or emotion. Even so, the message was abundantly clear that I
was barely being tolerated.

“They do,” I assured it. “We have the same goals.”

It looked straight ahead, its eyes never leaving the engineers as
they went about their work, “I doubt that is true.”

“Well…we all certainly want to find Miss Evans.”

It paused so long that I almost turned around and left. “Yes. What
are your questions?”

Finally, some answers…

“What was your involvement with Miss Evans?”

“No.”

“No?” I asked. “No what?”

“No. I will not talk about that.” It continued to stare ahead
without further elaboration.

“Okay… do you know where she’d gone on this trip?”

“No.”

“No you don’t know, or no you won’t answer?”

“No.”

“Do you have any idea why someone would take her?”

After a full minute of silence, it dawned on me how useless this was
going to be—I spun around to walk away.

“Why do you care?” I heard from behind me. I turned around to see
the Sentient looking right at me. The effect was unnerving.

Staring into its mechanical eyes, I began to wonder if I really
wanted to be noticed after all. “Er…what?” I finally got out.

“Why do you care human? Why do
you
want to find her?”

“It’s
my
job to get her back…to help her.” I said
forcefully.   

It stared at me for the longest few seconds of my life before
saying, “I don’t know anything that would assist you human, but I do believe that
you want to help.”

It took a step toward me, closing the already small distance. “Our
collaboration with Doctor Evans is private, but I can assure you that we had
nothing to do with her disappearance.”

“I see,” I said. My intuition told me it was speaking the truth,
but the creature was so impossible to read.

“I am certain that you can’t tell us apart, but I am Del. I
would…appreciate it if you would share any of your findings with me.”

“I will,” I replied, realizing how right it was. The two Sentients
looked identical to me. “But only if you intend to share as well.”

It inclined its head in agreement. “Also, a word of advice, Commander;
you should avoid my companion Woz if at all possible. It is not nearly as
progressive as I am.”

Progressive,
I thought,
compared to what I know
about the Sentient propensity to vivisect humans, you seem downright ebullient.

“What the fuck?”

The exclamation was loud, rising high above the other
engineer-speak going on inside the ship. Del and I looked at one another, then
walked toward the source of the outburst. I motioned over at Stinson to join
us.

Looking through the now skeletal framework of the flyer, I saw a short,
female engineer with a copious amount of brown hair, unceremoniously stuffed
into her service cap. She was triumphantly holding a partially melted device.

“What do you have?” I asked.

She ran a hand scanner over the small piece of electronic
equipment. “Son of a bitch…er…sorry, sir. It’s a remote blackout unit.”

“Son of a bitch indeed…” I took a look at her name tag. “Ensign
Mendoza.”

Stinson smirked. “You’ll have to forgive her, Commander. She is
only twenty-five after all.”

I grinned. “
Actual age?
”

“Actual,” he snickered. Mendoza gave us both as defensive look.
“She just transferred aboard the
Babylon
,” he added.

“I take it from the melted casing it was supposed to self-destruct?”

“That would be my guess, sir.” I reached out and she handed me the
chunk of distorted metal. When I showed it to Stinson and Del, I got the
distinct impression that the Sentient’s mechanical eyes were getting a more
detailed view than Mendoza’s hand scanner had managed.

“That should have shown up in the annual inspection,” Stinson
said.

“Actually, that’s probably when it was installed,” I surmised.

“You are correct, Commander,” Del said. “The battery’s decaying
energy signature is consistent with being charged at Harrakan Station—
before
it was installed. It functioned independently from the ship’s other systems.
That is how it evaded detection during routine system scans.”

Stinson looked at Del in amazement. “You can tell that just by
looking at it?”

“Yes, among other things. There is a residual transmission
signature as well—nothing else important.”

That explained the how anyway. A blackout unit did just what its
name implied, sending out a pulse to drain nearby energy sources. It then used
that captured energy to create an explosion. The units were frequently employed
in assassinations because they were difficult to detect, and could be programed
for different rates of energy absorption. This allowed the assassin to regulate
the size of the explosion, making it as large or small as they wished.

But this one wasn’t programed to explode at all, and a
transmission signature meant remote activation. The kidnappers were close when
they triggered it, then they swooped in, killed the pilot, and took Evans from
the powerless craft.

“Jeff, I’d like you to notify the ship to prepare for Transit to
Harrakan Station. Then join me for dinner with Breth Evans. There are a few
more things I’d like to find out about before we leave.”

“I’ll make sure everything’s ready,” he replied.

“Mendoza,” I said. “Take it to the bones. Make sure we don’t miss
anything else.”

“Yes sir.”

Del walked away without saying another word, making its way toward
Woz to bring it up to date on the new developments. I went to the nearest communications
console and called up a delighted Breth Evans to let her know we were on our
way. We were making progress, but as happy as I was to have found a small piece
of the puzzle, I wasn’t thrilled with the shape it was taking.

*****

As I made my way out of the hangar, my pad emitted a short beep indicating
a message had been received. I opened it to find an active map to Breth’s
quarters. I started following the route laid out for me, examining the interior
of the dome along the way 

The large complex had an outwardly chaotic layout, but I knew
there was a logical reason for the arrangement of every part of structure. The
hydroponics bays were built where the dome’s artificial sun could provide the
maximum benefit for the plants, increasing both the yield and quality of the
food they produced.

The flight hangers were naturally placed around the outside
circumference of the dome—each having their own internal pressure seals that
served as secondary safety features should part of the dome fail. Because the
dome and its vehicles also required periodic repair and upkeep, each of the
four hangars included fully equipped maintenance facilities. Should the need
arise, the hangars housed tools and equipment suited to almost any task.  The
physical plants that pushed water and electricity throughout the structure were
concentrated in the areas adjacent to the hangers, and I was walking through
this area when I decided to have a cigarette.

I didn’t smoke to be trendy, or pseudo-retro like others, I
actually enjoyed the experience. But it was unwise to smoke on a spacecraft, so
it had been awhile since I’d had the opportunity. No sooner had I ignited the
ancient styled tobacco substitute, than a voice bellowed out from above me.

“No smoking in the dome, Sir or Madame.
”

I looked up to find a small Bot, floating a meter above my head.
It must have been part of the dome’s ceiling, automatically dropping down when
it detected the smoke. An atmospheric monitoring Bot.
Good Lord.

“Go away,” I said testily, and continued to smoke.

“Attention, Sir or Madame. This dome’s atmosphere is highly
regulated. Smoking is prohibited. Please cease immediately.”

It dropped level with my face and stood off just out of reach—almost
as if it were challenging me. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear this little
thing had an AI, but no one, not even Val Evans, was allowed to pursue or
develop artificial intelligence. Every time it had been tried in the past, the
results had been unexpected at best—disastrous at worst.

During the war, all sides had experimented with augmenting their
ships with AIs, some even completely automating warships. It seemed like a good
idea at the time—until the ships began to develop
personalities
. Imagine
the surprise when scared ships ran from battle—against their captain’s wishes.
Or even worse, the bold ones that sacrificed themselves, and their human crews,
on unnecessary suicide runs. The AI programs were promptly discontinued—eventually
outlawed altogether—leaving dumb machines like this one.

I took a backhanded swipe at the Bot, knowing I couldn’t hit the little
thing, but hoping to send it on its way. It responded by taking up position floating
behind me, turning on its internal vacuum system to suck up the smoke as I
exhaled.
Stubborn little guy
, I thought.
Good for him.
I kept
walking, with my new friend in tow.

The residences were placed squarely in the center of the dome,
behind a dense and very tall wall of trees—designed to isolate the living area from
the sights and sounds of the structure’s mechanical necessities. Ahead of me, I
saw a three meter tall rounded entryway leading through the trees, fashioned
out of shrubbery, and festooned with colorful flowers; the entrance to the
residence sector I surmised.

I stepped through ornate archway, noticing a strong floral smell
as I walked; it was so pungent that it overpowered the smoke wafting off my
cigarette. I looked back to see that the Bot had entered the small tunnel as
well, stopping when I did. I flicked my cigarette at the little machine and it
sucked it up greedily, backing out of the arch and rising back to the dome’s
ceiling.

I shook my head in amusement, then finished walking the short
distance through the natural canopy. I emerged into an open area covered with
bright, green grass and beds of roses and other assorted Earth flora. The
gardens were multicolored, expansive, and obviously well maintained.