Dangerous Evolution (21 page)

“Destroy all of Rroske’s work,” I said. “Everything. Download the Sentient
cure and the human pathogen onto two discrete data disks. One copy each. Then
wipe everything clean.”

“What! You can’t. Do you realize what you are asking me to do?”

“Yes,” I said. “I’m asking you to save both of our peoples.”

Sa looked at me pleadingly, but found a face that would brook no argument.
The doctor was a scientist, and I understood that what I was asking it to do
was sacrilege, but nothing changed the fact that this information was too
dangerous to exist. Sooner or later it would be abused by someone else—certain
they were doing the right thing. I stared at the doctor until it turned away, the
Sentient realizing that this was going to happen, whether it wanted it to or
not.

It must be in a creature’s nature to improve on things
, I
thought,
to make them better—human or Sentient; but just like our attempt to
create sentient technology, the results can be disastrous. Nature has her
reasons for evolution, and humans should be human, machines-machines, and
Sentients as they are.

“Why are you preserving Rroske’s human virus,” Val asked.

“So you can reverse engineer it, and include a defense in the
standard Permalife formulation; preventing anyone from trying this shit again.”

“That is an excellent idea,” she said. “And I’m ashamed I didn’t
think of it.”

“Your job is to help people, Val, mine is to protect them. It
gives us a different mindset I suppose.”

“Different… but complementary I think,” she smiled.

I smiled back. “I think so too.”     

After Sa erased everything on the work console, it joined Val in
assembling the four hypodermic rigs; Sa assured us they would render any
Sentient unconscious—probably within two to three seconds of administration. I
took the opportunity to explain my plan to them, and when I got to the part
where Sa would impersonate a Sentient soldier—guiding us through the ship as
captives—the doctor looked amused.

“Do I
look
like a soldier to you, Commander?”

“No,” I admitted. “But you look a hell of a lot closer to one than
the rest of us. Besides, Stinson and I have been working on a cosmetic
enhancement for you.”

I gestured over to the fake arm bracer we’d fashioned from
scavenged metal and a disassembled surgical laser. Stinson was putting the
finishing touches on it as we spoke. From a distance, it could pass for
authentic…from
what
distance I wasn’t sure.

Sa actually laughed. “Even if that thing functioned, we wouldn’t
stand much of a chance.”

“Doctor Sa,” I replied. “I believe you’re developing a negative
attitude.”

“I don’t think Sentients have the ‘can do’ spirit, commander,” Stinson
said, joining in the good natured razzing.

Doctor Sa didn’t look amused; I imagine the entire concept was
lost on it.

“And what do you plan on doing about the child?” Val asked,
squashing all traces of humor.

I was ashamed to realize that, beyond saving it from Rroske, I
hadn’t even considered the child’s predicament. Where were its parents? What
future did it have now? And should we even intervene? If so, what could we do?  What
should
we do?

We’d be lucky just to get out of here with our own lives.

“What do you think they’ll do with it?” I asked her.

“Honestly Ben, I don’t know. What do you think, Doctor Sa?”

Sa looked uncomfortable; the Sentient carefully parsed its words.
“I do… not think there will be a positive outcome for the child. Generally…” It
stopped and took a breath. “Generally any aberrati…infirmity like that would
lead to euthanasia. Then the body would be studied, looking for preventative
treatments for the future. It’s one of the rare times that we
would
dissect
a corpse.”

Sa looked at us guiltily. “It will certainly be destroyed. It would
have been dead already if Rroske hadn’t claimed it for its own nefarious
purposes. Even if the parents still live, they wouldn’t take it.”

Val spun around and looked at me, her eyes burning fiercely. “We
can’t leave
that
child on
this
ship, Commander! We won’t.”

I walked over to the crèche, and looked down at the brilliantly
colored little figure sleeping inside. For all of the torture it had endured,
it looked peaceful; serene even. Val was right, if we got out of this, the
child was coming with us.

“We’ll take it when we come back for Mendoza,” I promised. “Doctor
Sa, please make sure the child’s needs are being met, and are fully automated
until we return.”

The Sentient looked surprised, and relieved. “Of course, Commander.”

“Thank you…Ben,” Val said.

“Don’t thank me yet, Miss Evans; we are still a long way from
home.”

There were no windows or external sensors on the door, so it was
impossible to know how many guards were stationed outside. There’d only been
one when we were first brought into the lab—and while I suspected that might be
standard procedure—we just didn’t know for sure. For all I knew, there could be
a platoon out there. In which case, this would all fall apart very quickly.

Stinson and I positioned ourselves on opposite sides of the door,
while Doctor Sa stood in the middle of the opening—wearing a fresh lab coat it’d
taken from a dispenser.
Sa was just too small
, I thought. I knew it couldn’t
pass for Rroske, but it would take a few seconds for the guards outside to see
that. I hoped so anyway. Val stood in the back of the lab, far off to one side and
out of any potential line of fire.

Sa entered the code and the door silently slid open.

One guard.

My mind had a split second to note our good fortune, before the
guard saw through the deception and raised its bracer to fire. It was on my
side of the entryway, and as Stinson stepped out to draw its attention, I leapt
out from behind it and stabbed the Sentient in the neck with a syringe. The
soldier spun around and grabbed at my arm; the bracer discharged loudly,
knocking me out into the hallway. We both collapsed to the ground
simultaneously.

Stinson ran over and grabbed my arm to pull me up. We looked down
the corridor in both directions, but no one came running.
God damn it
…I’d
been shocked again—but just barely this time.

Using my numb hands, I grabbed one of the soldier’s arms—the one
without the bracer. Stinson grabbed the other one, and we dragged the unconscious
Sentient into the lab, depositing it right next to Rroske. I could see relief
on the faces of both Sa and Val.

“Holy shit!” Stinson exclaimed after the door shut. “That was
close.”

“Tell
me
about it,” I said, flexing my tingling fingers. “What
I wouldn’t give for a plasma pistol right now.”

“Are you alright?” Val asked.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” I replied. “It was an indirect hit. I’m starting
to get sensation back in my hands already.”

I walked over to the bench and grabbed the fake bracer. “Let’s
dress Doctor Sa for its next role and get the hell outta here before someone
misses that guard.”

It took only a moment to prepare Sa, sliding the fake weapon over
his arm, and coloring his neck with the only red pigment available. After a
final check on the baby and Mendoza, we left the lab—sealing it behind us with
Rroske’s security codes. I hoped that would keep anyone curious from getting in—at
least for a little while.

Sa led us through the ship in a single-file line, walking behind
us and waving the bracer with faux aggression. Its behavior was so over the top
that I was forced to whisper a warning, “Tone it down before your
performance
attracts unwanted attention.”

Every Sentient we passed stared at us…hard; their looks angry and
murderous. It was apparent that word had sped throughout the ship—those responsible
for the virus had been caught. We did our best not to provoke anyone, to look
worn down and defeated; given our current situation, trapped on a Sentient ship
on the wrong side of The Verge, it wasn’t that much of a stretch.

I continued to marvel at the total uniformity of structure and
appearance within the ship. Every white corridor we travelled was identical;
every turn we took bringing us to another long, unadorned white passageway. I
noticed that none of the doors were labeled to identify the rooms behind them. Waiting
until we were all alone in one of the long passageways, I whispered to Sa, “How
do you know where you are, or which room is which?”

It looked surprised. “You humans really don’t know that much about
us do you, Commander?

“Your people are hard to get to know,” I said.

“Yes,” Sa admitted. “I can see where that might be a problem.”

It looked down both sides of the corridor before continuing, “To
answer your question, each door, hallway, room…even console, gives off an
electrical signal identifying where it is, what it is, and who owns it. We can
detect and interpret these signals internally. They are proximity based to keep
the information from becoming overwhelming—you have to be close to something to
detect its information stream.”

“It’s fascinating to me how Sentients generate and use electrical
energy fields,” I confessed. “I assume your silicon derived physiology plays a
part in it—I just don’t have the medical or engineering background to
understand how.”

Sa gave me a resigned look. “As Rroske’s recent miscalculations
have proven, Commander, even our own people don’t adequately understand how it
works.”

Before I could find out more, we rounded a corner, moving into
another long corridor. About halfway down its length, a Sentient soldier was
visible, stationed outside a closed door.

The soldier glared at Sa as we approached and raised its bracer.
“What is this?” it demanded.

“Captain Thov wants to see the prisoners,” Sa said, following the
plan we’d discussed. “I am to take the ambassador as well.”

“Wait here and I will bring Del out,” it replied, looking our
party over. “Then I will accompany you to see the captain.”

“But…” Sa stumbled for a second before recovering, “I have no need
of assistance for a group of
humans
.”

The bracer remained pointed at us and began to crackle—registering
the soldier’s displeasure. “The ambassador is
my
charge, and I
will
accompany
you to the Central Hub.”

I wasn’t sure how Sentient command structure worked, but I assumed
that Sa did—military or not. I was content to let the doctor deal with this
complication, but it was obvious to me that Del was this soldier’s
responsibility, and it wouldn’t let the ambassador leave without it.

“As you wish,” Sa conceded. The guard lowered the bracer and its
built up energy began to dissipate. The door to the room automatically slid
open behind it.

As soon as the soldier turned its back, Stinson lunged at it with
one of the needles, trying to hit it in the neck. The guard sensed the movement
and stepped aside, reaching out with one arm to strike its off balance
assailant. The impact, combined with Stinson’s forward momentum, sent him
flying into the room, falling into the arms of a very surprised Ambassador Del.

I moved in quickly, dropping low and sweeping the guard’s legs out
from underneath it. As it fell back into the room, the Sentient reached out,
trying to grab the door casing to stop its fall. It missed and ended up face
down on its stomach, one arm pinned underneath it.

The guard rolled over with amazing speed and raised its bracer, ready
to fire. But before it got the chance, Del straddled the soldier’s chest, grabbing
both arms. Massive electrical discharges jumped from the Sentients as they struggled;
ending when Sa injected the immobilized soldier with a sedative and it lost consciousness.
Del let go of its arms and they fell to the floor. The ambassador staggered to
its feet, and Sa grabbed one of its arm to help it maintain its balance.

Looking at Sa, Del asked breathlessly, “Is that blood on your
neck?”

The doctor’s face sank, and it looked down at itself, nodding
grimly.

When crafting Sa’s disguise, we hadn’t been able to find any red colored
liquid in the lab. In desperation, we used Rroske’s blood—dipping gauze into
its knife wound, and then painting Sa’s neck so it could pass for a soldier. Sa
was undergoing the Sentient equivalent of perspiration now, and the blood was
streaking down its chest.

Del turned to me, “How did you escape?”

“I wouldn’t exactly call this an escape yet, Ambassador. We are
still captives, just in a larger cage.”

The modest sized cabin was what I’d come to expect from Sentient design.
A control pedestal stood in one corner, with two light blue storage cabinets
set against the white walls on either side of it. No bed of course, but a black
bench seat ran the entire length of one of the side walls. 

Val came into the room, cautiously surveying the scene; Del walked
over to shut the door behind her. Despite his repeated protestations that he
was fine, Val checked Stinson for injuries while Sa and I brought Del up to
speed.