Dangerous Evolution (23 page)

“I found these in the armory,” it said. “They were keeping them
for study.” The Sentient tossed a Snub Rifle to Stinson, who immediately checked
the ammunition.

“Still loaded with impact rounds,” he said, frowning, “I would
have preferred a plasma clip.”

“There are some explosives left as well,” Del said, and I noticed
the Sentient’s limp for the first time. It was clear that the ambassador had to
fight for these weapons, probably to make it back here as well.

I heard voices yelling in the corridor.

“Stinson, grab some grenades,” I ordered, then ran to the door.

Peeking out into the hall, I saw Sentient soldiers approaching
from both sides. “Give me two grenades,” I said. Stinson dropped them into my
outstretched hand.

I pushed the arming buttons and leaned out—rolling the explosives
down the floor in both directions. Bracers fired, and blue blasts of electrical
energy bounced off the door casing as I ducked back inside. There were a couple
of loud yells, followed by the sound of retreating footsteps. The explosions
were almost simultaneous.

I looked out to see both sides of the hall blackened by the
detonations—jagged holes punched in the walls and flooring. An ochre colored
fluid began to pour out of a ruptured pipe, filling one of the holes in the
floor.

That should keep them from storming the room,
I
thought.

Looking directly ahead through the doorway, I saw Thov…still alive.
Two other Sentients lay unconscious nearby. Del must have used a sonic charge
to clear his way in. I looked back into the room and saw the guard we’d subdued
when first freeing Del.

“Jeff,” I called out, “We need to make an exchange.”

He looked at me quizzically; I nodded to the captain’s inert form,
then back at the soldier.

“It would be a step up,” he agreed.

While Del stood guard with a combat rifle, we dragged the soldier out
into the hall and dropped it. Then we picked up Thov and carried it back to the
room—placing the Sentient on the ground where Sa and Val knelt down to check
its condition,

“How bad is it hurt?” I asked.

“Not bad at all,” Sa answered. “In fact, the captain is regaining
consciousness as we speak.”

“Del,” I said, “Maybe you should talk with Thov as soon as it
comes around. This is our chance to convince it that we’re not responsible—to
put an end to this madness.”

Del looked at the unconscious captain, the destroyed room, and the
wreckage in the corridor. “It might be even
more
difficult now.”

The ambassador had a point, attacking and kidnapping someone was
probably the worst way to open their mind to your cause. But I still hoped that
the truth might win out in the end.

Thov started to stir, coughing and flexing its limbs. Val and Doctor
Sa moved away, then Del grabbed the captain, propping the Sentient up against
the wall in a seated position. Thov opened its eyes, and I saw them extend and
retract as it struggled to bring them into focus.

“Ambassador…what happened?”

“I knocked you unconscious to keep you from doing something stupid.”

“What are you talking about?”

Thov grabbed its head with both hands, rubbing its temples,
“Haven’t you done enough already? Is there no end to your treason?” The captain
tried to rise, using sheer anger to power its assent—but ended up weakly sliding
back down the wall.

“I will see you dead for what you’ve done…
Ambassador
,” it
spat out.

“No, Captain Thov, now you will shut up and listen.” Del grabbed
the other Sentient by the throat and leaned its face in close; I could make out
a dull, red glow emanating from the ambassador’s eyes, the color reflecting
eerily off of Thov’s face. The situation reminded me of Harrakan Station—of when
Del killed Woz. I turned away to look back down the hallway.

“I have armed a Mass Nullifier,
Captain
. If you don’t call
off your soldiers and listen to what I have to say—this ship will be vaporized long
before it has a chance to reach the rest of the fleet.”

“Are you mad?” Thov’s asked incredulously. The captain tried to
get up, but Del’s grip kept it from moving. Realizing it was trapped, Thov spoke
more softly, “Del, I know you’ve lost everything.
So have I
. My family also
perished on Seveq. If you really aren’t involved, help me get out of here. We
will make these humans pay.”

Del’s face was emotionless. “If the humans were responsible, don’t
you think I
would
be helping you?”

I stopped following the exchange when the ceiling above my head
exploded, dropping melted plastic and burning wires into my hair. Sentient
soldiers had formed makeshift barricades past the grenade damage, and were firing
at us from both directions. I leaned out to return fire; Stinson began shooting
as well.

We took turns firing down opposite sides of the passageway—scoring
several hits—but the Sentients responded with a withering barrage. Their attacks
were widening the hole Del had blown into the room, increasingly limiting our available
cover.

I dipped out to the left and sent a plasma bolt straight into the
chest of a very surprised Sentient, and when I ducked back out to fire again, I
noted that it was still standing, frozen in death. The Sentients were
replenishing their numbers as fast as we could shoot them; every dead or
wounded soldier was dragged behind the barrier and replaced with fresh troops.

I saw Stinson drop an empty ammo clip to the ground, and before he
could ask, Val threw him a fresh one—already pulled from the bag and waiting. “That’s
the last one,” she said, keeping her voice low so the Sentients couldn’t hear.

Even though I
knew
it was fully charged, her statement made
me look down at the power indicator on my TAC pistol. The gun would hold out
through a long engagement, but there was no way we could hold this room firing
from only one position. Hell, I doubted we could hold it no matter
how
many guns we had.

“What else is in that bag?” I asked her, ducking back into the
room as the bracer fire grew more intense.

“Two of these,” she said, holding out a pair of grenades, “and
this…thing.” It was a wrist-knife, similar to the one Mendoza had used to kill
Rroske.
If our defense comes down to that,
I thought,
we might as
well use it on ourselves.

“Throw the grenades to me,” I said, and Val hesitantly lofted them
into the air. “Del,” I called out, pulling the ambassador’s attention away from
Thov, “If you can’t convince the captain of our innocence, we may have to try
using it as a hostage.”

“They won’t negotiate, human,” Thov spat out disgustedly. “They
will kill us all first.”

“Call this off, Thov,” Del said, reasserting its grip on the
captain. “If you won’t listen to me, I’ll broadcast the cure to the rest of the
fleet and destroy this ship. Hopefully, one of the other captains will be more
reasonable.”

“Captain Thov,” I said, leaning out to throw a grenade before
continuing, “I have evidence that fully exonerates us. I can show you an
unedited video confession by Doctor Rroske—one which proves that Rroske and the
Pure Way fabricated the virus. Would
that
convince you?”

“How can you do that?” the captain asked, the Sentient’s question
partially drowned out by the loud grenade explosion coming from the corridor.

“I have a recording device implanted in my head, documenting everything
I see. Rroske admitted it all to us, and I can show you its confession. Beyond
that, there is an infant being held in Rroske’s laboratory that will further
corroborate what we are
trying
to tell you.”

“Captain Thov,” Del said officiously, “I know you to be an honorable
person. We will surrender on your word that you will hear our evidence. And
consider it seriously.”

I leaned down low and threw out the last grenade, watching it gently
arch upward before bouncing off the ceiling and dropping behind the Sentient barricade.

Nice.

“Del…,” I began, “I don’t think that’s a great idea. In fact, I
think it’s a
crappy
idea. A quick look around the room told me everyone
else agreed.

“Thov is from Seveq, commander, and the captain of a Sentient
ship; the captain’s word is the only guarantee we need. I’d bet my life on it.”

“You are betting
all
of our lives on it,” I pointed out.

Before Del had a chance to reply, the wall next to me blew apart,
knocking me to the ground and sending dust throughout the room. The lights in
the room started flickering—the intermittent darkness punctured by flashes of
light from the intense bracer fire. The effect was like a murky kaleidoscope
held by a shaky hand. The door opening was much wider now, and I had to
scramble to get behind an intact portion of the wall for cover.

“It all comes down to trust,” I said, “and our time is running out
Del.”

“Well,” the ambassador said, “What will it be, Captain Thov? Will
you join me in saving our people, or doom them through your obstinacy?”

Thov spat out a mouthful of dust and looked at me. “If you fail to
prove what you say human, I will kill all of you myself.”

I believe you would,
I thought.

Thov then looked back at Del, “All except for you, Ambassador, first
I will make you disarm the nullifier,
then
I will abandon you on Seveq,
to die with those you’ve killed.”

The captain paused for a moment, and when the Sentient spoke
again, it was with a command voice steeped in authority. “I agree to give you
this chance. Release me and help me up. I need to get to that console.”

Del pulled Thov to its feet, then escorted the captain across the
room. The Sentient propped itself up on the pedestal’s edge and waved a hand
over the control surface. “Lenic, I assume you are in command of the force
destroying the corridor on Level J2.” There was a cascade of static, and for a
moment I feared the console might be too damaged to function properly.

“Who is this?”
a voice barked.

“
This
is Captain Thov; call off your attack. Immediately.”

“Captain…what’s going on? Where are you?”

“Stop firing
now
, Lenic.” Thov employed a tone many
captains would envy, and Lenic heard it clearly. 

“Yes, captain!”

A final few blasts sailed through the ragged opening into the room,
and then everything became silent. “I really hope you know what you are doing,”
I said to Del.

“Commander Malik, let me remind you that it was
your
idea
to speak with the captain.”

“It was,” I agreed. “But I didn’t expect it to occur under
these
circumstances.” I lowered my weapon, and placed it on what was left of the wall
bench. Stinson did the same.

Regaining a little more vigor, Thov walked over to the gaping hole
and yelled out, “Lenic! Bring two soldiers and get in here…now.”

“Yes, Captain.” The distant reply was followed by the sound of
footsteps running down the hall.

We looked at each other nervously as three red-banded, Sentient soldiers
slowly and cautiously entered the room—shifting their bracers from target to
target looking for resistance.

“Are you alright, Captain?” one of them asked.

“Do I look alright?” Thov said sharply. “Collect their weapons and
keep an eye on my prisoners.” The captain turned to Del, “Better make it good,
Ambassador.”

The soldiers pushed us all together, and I leaned back against the
wall giving Val a hopeful look. We listened intently as Del explained
everything to the captain, beginning with why it stole the stealth ship and went
to seek Val’s help. I was surprised to learn that Woz had been one of Del’s closest
friends, and it was clear that its betrayal and death still haunted the
ambassador. Del also detailed the True Way’s activities on Seveq—the story
ending with the events in the
Na’ardeen’s
laboratory. But when it
revealed that Rroske was real power behind the Pure Way, Thov held up a hand to
stop.

“Impossible. Doctor Rroske was appointed by the Science Council to
cure
this virus. Why would it develop something that could kill us
all…Rroske included? It makes no sense.”

Thov pointed at Val and Doctor Sa first, then gestured at Stinson
and myself with a sweeping motion. “It seems much more likely that the humans
saw us as a threat, and had their top geneticist develop a way to get rid of us.”

We were losing Thov; I could feel it. “Captain, let me show you
what I saw. You can see Rroske’s confession for yourself.”

“Something you’ve fabricated I’m sure…why should I trust you?” It
was clear the captain was skeptical, but after some hesitation, it resignedly
said, “Show me.”

“Doctor Sa…Val, I need to rig up some type of interface that can
tie into an optical data-stream. I can trigger the playback in my own visual
cortex, but I need something that can display what I’m seeing in real time.”