The Terran Representative (8 page)

Dwarfing the remains of the
Omanix
was a skyscraper. It hovered above the ship, blocking out the stars in nearly my entire field of view. Multiple beams of light zapped from its hull. Some struck the corvette while others seemed to strike bits of debris. I zoomed in and realized the bits were
Omanix
crew. A small pod burst forth from the rear section. It shot out at a perpendicular angle, slowed down and then started to take off in a different direction. My suit showed five life signs on board. The skyscraper zapped it and snuffed out all five.

I watched it in a near silent void. The only sound to accompany the slaughter was my breathing. It rang in my ears and felt like it echoed in my head. I wanted Wards to call up on the radio and tell me to do something. Her life signs were nowhere to be found.

My suit started picking out survivors and opening hailing channels to them, but as quickly as the suit found them the skyscraper hit them. SOS alerts pinged my suit from others but were then snuffed out. I didn’t want to open the general channel, afraid of what I might hear. With no objective I didn’t want to be alone with my thoughts. Floating alone didn’t help me think beyond when I was going to be next. When was it going to be my turn at being burnt to a crisp in space?

My suit flashed a warning that my automatic emergency signal had been bounced. I didn’t know that anything had been sent, let alone why it wouldn’t have made it. “Radio jammed” flashed on my HUD. The suit wasn’t picking up any more life signs, and I couldn’t call for help.

I don’t know why, but at this moment it kind of felt fitting to be the last one. I was the last apparent sane Terran. I was the last of the little group that had saved me, and now I was the last of the
Omanix
. I was destined to be the last. The tightness in my chest lifted and my heartbeat slowed down. My breathing became shallower and a feeling close to contentment settled over me.

The world around me began to turn into a solid wall of golden yellow light, interrupting my thoughts. In my head I cursed those who pulled me from my reverie. I was alone. I had faced my end. It was time. They couldn’t snatch that from me now.

The light strengthened around me until it was all there was and then started to dissipate. A room began to fade into view. First the outlines then the substance of objects then the textures and finally the colors appeared. The world came back into focus, and I found myself on my hands and knees staring at the floor grating. I built up a giant diatribe about being saved at the last second once more. Maybe it would be more appropriate once we were out of danger, but I didn’t care.

“I was alone and ready to-” I started, pushing myself up from the ground. My words caught in my throat as I caught the eye of my savior: General Braxa.

Her head bobbed from side to side, and she said, “Welcome back, Terran.”

Braxa gave a low whistle that sent shivers down my spine. Even if it was meant to be happy I knew it didn’t bode well for me.

“Braxa,” I stuttered. All of the saliva in my mouth evaporated, and any kind of additional response left my mind.

Five Vantagax trained their weapons on me. My HUD scanned their firearms and popped up a warning that my suit wouldn’t stop the projectiles. It didn’t seem as noble to die on my hands and knees in a loading bay as it did floating alone in space.

One guard moved around to behind me, his weapon steady and aimed at me the entire time. He took something off my back and handed it to Braxa without me seeing what it was. Braxa turned the object over in her hands as the guard moved back to his post. She dropped the object and watched as it fell to the ground. It bounced and clattered on the ground, at last coming to a stop that I could see that it was a Traveling beacon. It must have been placed on me in the chaos and confusion in the
Omanix
without my knowledge. Braxa cocked her head to the side and looked at it for a split second before crushing it under the heel of her boot then focusing her attention on me.

“You won’t have anybody to happen along and save you now,” said Braxa. She began to strut back and forth, head bobbing, hands behind her back.

I clenched my fists. Bile rose and burned against the back of my throat. The memory of my suit’s scans turning up no life signs flooded back. In the moment, floating amongst the debris, I’d been ready to go. It hadn’t mattered who’d attacked or who’d destroyed the
Omanix
, but now, with the perpetrator in my face, my anger at the act began to build.

“You don’t have a sniveling scientist to keep you safe,” said Braxa. “You don’t have a bunch of thieving lizards to whisk you away.” She clacked her beak open and shut in rapid succession.

“And what do I have?” I said through gritted teeth. I started to stand. The Vantagax guards tensed. One of them shook, his gun quaking in his hands. I continued, making smooth, slow movements, keeping my hands visible until I stood up straight. The guards could have itchy trigger fingers. I’d already seen enough death to know that even with advanced medicine getting shot wasn’t a good game plan.

Braxa stopped pacing and cocked her head to the side, looking at me with one eye and then turning and looking at me with the other. Her eyes held nothing. They were blank, like the dead eyes of a computer interface program.

“You’ve only got me,” she said. She leaned her head back and gave a quick, shrill whistle. As she repeated the whistle in succession she extended her arms and moved them as if flapping. After a second the guards matched her in the whistle. I took it as some kind of laugh.

“And what are you going to do with me?” I said.

She stopped whistling and, as if on cue, the guards stopped as well. Braxa walked up to me and extended her neck until her beak almost tapped against my visor. Her breath fogged the material as she exhaled.

“You’re going to tell me how to contact your fleet admiral,” said Braxa.

“I don’t know,” I said.

Braxa nodded and stepped back. “I find that hard to believe, and you know why?”

I didn’t say anything.

“I find it hard to believe because everywhere you go a little bit more of the Terran puzzle falls into place,” Braxa said. She started her pacing again, hands behind her back. “We know where your fleet was supposed to go, and when we investigated there was nothing to be found.”

“So?” I said. “I didn’t find the fleet either.”

“No,” said Braxa, “You didn’t, but you did find other things.” She stopped pacing, turned on her heel and looked at me. “It’s like a trail of breadcrumbs were left for you, like they left something for other Terrans to find and to follow.”

I shrugged. It seemed like anyone could have found the monument or the altar or the heavy particles. I told Braxa so.

“Maybe,” said Braxa, “but you’re still hiding something.” She shook her finger at me. “Why were you going to a disputed area?”

I narrowed my eyes. “How did you know where we were going?” I said. It seemed obvious, but she’d been close behind us the entire time. “How’d you even know where we were?”

Braxa gave a low whistle and shook her head. She walked over and tapped my head. “Think about it.” Her voice was condescending. Her tone was one you would use when explaining something to a child. “The Vantagax have a vast and wide spy network feeding me information at all times. I always knew where you were.”

“No,” I said. It couldn’t have been right. If that was the case she could have just scooped me up at any time. “You’re lying.”

Braxa gave her whistle laugh. “Doesn’t matter.” She stopped laughing and focused her gaze on me again. “Because the Confederacy wanted to get your people on their side, swing the war in their favor. Well, they won’t,” yelled Braxa. Spit flew out of her mouth and splattered on my visor.

“You know,” I said, “if you’d been a little nicer to me at first you might be the one getting help from me right now.” I smirked. I was beyond caring if I tweaked or struck a nerve with Braxa. “We could be flying around finding the breadcrumbs, and it could be the Vantagax benefiting from my help.”

The rage boiled in Braxa’s eyes. Her feathers puffed out, rippling underneath her uniform. It looked like she gained a third of her size in an instance. She pulled her hand back as if to strike me with the back of it. Her beak clacked and then inch by inch she lowered her hand back to her side. Perhaps it was the realization that hitting me wasn’t going to get what she wanted, but I think it was that I still wore a helmet. She’d do nothing but break bones against it.

“You’re going to help,” said Braxa. Her voice was low, almost a growl. It was deep and coated every word she spoke with malice. “We’re going to the disputed territory. We’re going to wait until your fleet shows up and then you’re going to explain the situation to them.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then you’re going to get thrown out an airlock and your colonial fleet will be destroyed,” spit Braxa. “I will bring to bear the full weight of the Vantagax Republic’s military power against your pitiful people. Your fleet will be crushed underneath my might.” She leaned in and curled her hand into a fist. “And I will feel no remorse in wiping the remains of an extinct species off the heel of my boot.”

I believed her. I saw it in her eyes. It didn’t matter what I thought of Kaur or whether there was anything worth saving from the colonial fleet. It didn’t matter that pulling ships in to destroy the colonial fleet might swing the war in the Confederacy’s favor. Right now, at this moment, with this train of thought, in this mindset, Braxa would do everything in her power to destroy the last vestiges of Terran society and me with it.

“We’ll see what happens,” I said. I couldn’t make myself agree to do her bidding. While I knew she’d make good on her threat I thought if I could walk a fine line between saying yes and saying no I could keep some of my pride intact, maybe even get out of this alive. Neutrality seemed like a good move.

“Yes,” said Braxa, drawing out the “-es”. “We’ll see what happens.” She made a motion and the guards stepped forward. They grabbed me and manhandled me into a standing position. Manacles were slapped on my wrists and ankles. Braxa smirked, watching as I was led out of the room.

The Vantagax guards and I marched through the ship. The two in front walked just far enough ahead that I couldn’t lunge forward and grab them. The two behind me walked just far enough behind that I couldn’t spin around and hit them. I strained against the manacles to test their strength figuring my suit would help, but I had no luck. Something prevented me from using my exosuit’s abilities.

We swept through the halls at a brisk pace. They looked identical to the Vantagax ship I’d been on before. It was easier to see without the emergency lighting and fire suppressant foam, but I still had no idea where we were going or an overall layout of the ship. It was like I’d been plopped down in a maze without forewarning. I tried to release some mapping drones, but they were prevented from doing their job as well.

Vantagax crew moved themselves out of the way as we strode past. Some watched with keen observance, sticking their necks out as we went by. Others seemed to pointedly ignore the five of us and kept their head buried in whatever work they were doing. The occasional few pressed themselves against the walls like they were trying to avoid us at all costs. I didn’t know what Braxa had told her crew about me, but I got the distinct impression most thought I was at best a sideshow oddity and at worst some kind of monster. Either way it didn’t seem like I would get much help. The best I could hope for if I stayed in the Vantagax care would be someone like Roile who wanted to keep me comfortable for study.

We turned into a small room. The lighting was dim, and there was no other way out besides the way we’d come into the room. The guards in front of me stopped. The guards behind me stopped. They didn’t make a move one way or the other. My guards stood ramrod straight without wavering or flinching. It was as if they had turned into statues.

Move in front of the guards.

I looked around. Someone had spoken to me, but it wasn’t anyone in the room, and it wasn’t coming in over my radio.

Hurry! Move in front of the guards.

The voice became more insistent. It wasn’t demanding. There wasn’t an order behind its words. It sounded as if it was pleading with me.

“Who is it?” I said, keeping an eye on the guards. They didn’t move when I spoke.

The Hive. Now do as you’re told.

With that knowledge it clicked into place; the voice was in my head. Somehow The Hive communicated with me. Braxa didn’t say anything about members on board, but why would she?

With as much care as possible I moved around the front guards. My heart pounded, and I held my breath. I didn’t want to touch or jostle them in any manner lest I somehow bring them out of their trance. At this distance I would have to do some mind bending acrobatics to avoid the hail of projectiles they could fire at me.

Hold your hands out.

I put my shackled wrists in front of me. The guard closest to me reached out, and I pulled back with a quick jerk. Her hand stopped moving forward. There was no expression on her face or any of the others. They blinked, and they breathed, but it all seemed robotic. I moved my hands back to where they had been, and the guard waved something over them. The shackles around my wrists unlocked and then the one around my ankles followed suit. They dropped to the ground, clattering and clanging on the metal grating. I winced and prepared to run, but the guards didn’t move.

Leave the room, turn right and go down the left corridor.

I moved at a quick walking pace, following The Hive’s directions. It was somewhere between a speed walk and full run. I jogged for a few steps then slowed down and walked a few steps. My HUD showed that my suit powered back up. Whatever had released the shackles had also turned off whatever had been preventing me from using the suit to its full extent.

“Where am I going?” I whispered.

An image of a shuttle bay formed in my mind.
At the next intersection take a right.

I stopped at a four way and looked up and down the corridors. There was not one crew member to be seen. I took one last look over my shoulder. No one followed me.

“Where is everybody?” I said, turning down the right hallway.

I have turned everyone away.

“How?” I said. There must have been hundreds if not thousands of potential crewmembers who could be walking these hallways.

I’ve suggested to them that they should take a specific route. If I’ve done it properly no one will know it wasn’t their own decision.

“What about the guards?” I continued to move at a quick pace while trying to be as quiet as possible. Even if The Hive had cleared a way there could have been someone they missed. There were a lot of doors I was passing. Someone could come out of one at any time.

They are in a type of stasis. When they wake up they won’t realize any time has passed.

An image of large, heavy looking doors with the warning lights around the frame and caution labels emblazed across the door panels came to mind. I nodded and then realized The Hive wouldn’t see me making the motions. They’d already know I’d understand though. I felt foolish.

“What about cameras?” I said, trying to change my train of thought.

One of my ships is nearby. I’ve launched a cyber-attack on Braxa’s ship. It is allowing me to go undetected and help you move unseen. They’re seeing what I want them to see.

I came to another intersection and stopped. The hallway split: one corridor went to the left and the other continued forward. I didn’t see the large doors The Hive had shown me. Both paths looked the same as the corridors I’d come down before.

“Which way do I go?” I said.

There was no response. I bit my lip and started to bounce on the balls of my feet. There could be anyone coming at any time, and there’d be no good explanation for why I was there.

“Which way do I go?” I said, trying to send out as much of my thoughts as possible for The Hive to hear.

Straight. Go straight.

The Hive sounded taxed and tired. It had the voice of a person who’d been working all day and needed to collapse in their armchair.