Dangerous Evolution (24 page)

“You can review visual records of prior events?” Val asked.

“It’s a long story for later. But you need to know that there’s an
explosive failsafe attached to the device. If it detonates…well, let’s try to
keep that from happening. Can you do it?”

Both doctors’ eyes widened in disbelief, “I…think we can,” Sa
answered haltingly. “Captain Thov, please have a medical scanner brought here;
I believe I can fashion something together that will work. Doctor Evans, I’ll
need you to check the interface to make sure it won’t…damage him.”

She nodded, looking at my face in amazement. “
An
explosive
?”

“Yes. I’m afraid so,” I replied.

Thov waved a hand at one of the soldiers and it ran out of the
room. No one said anything more until the Sentient returned with the device,
looking at the captain for permission before handing it over to Sa.

“This will do nicely,” Sa said, and it pulled the back off the
piece of equipment, removing some of the internal modules. Sa and Val spoke in
hushed tones, and a few times she shook her head so violently that I began to
think that this whole thing might be a very bad idea.

Sa rearranged a few modules, thought for a moment, then shuffled
them again before replacing the back cover. “We are ready,” it declared.

Captain Thov and Del stood side by side at the console,
positioning themselves to get a better view of the screen where my vision-memories
would be displayed. Lenic and his soldiers became noticeably more alert—the flurry
of activity heightening their concerns about a hidden plot for attack or
escape.  

“Have a seat on the bench and relax, Commander,” Sa said. Sitting
I could do, but relaxing might be a different matter. I tried to make myself
comfortable and pretend that our lives didn’t hinge on what the next few
minutes brought.

Doctor Sa, with Val closely at its side, turned on the scanner and
held it up to my face.

“Which eye?” it asked.

“The right one.”

“My right or your right ,” Sa asked.

“Mine,” I replied, recognizing the absurdity of the situation.

A yellow glow filled my vision and I started the playback.

I saw it all again: Rroske’s admission to being the leader of the
Pure Way; confessing responsibility for developing the virus; experimenting on
the silicon child and bragging about leaving it perched over the black hole…the
truth about everything. When the playback reached the point where Val and I were
injected with the human virus, I saw Thov turn to look at me.

I stopped the replay when Mendoza killed Rroske, and Sa lowered
the scanner and backed away.

“It’s all true,” I heard Thov say. “Rroske…you cursed psychopath.”

Thov slammed its fist into the console so hard that even the
soldiers flinched. Then the Sentient turned to Del, “I’m sorry, Ambassador. I never
imagined it could be true.”

Del ignored the apology. “We have the cure, Captain. We need to broadcast
it to The Consensus immediately so our factories can begin fabrication.” Sa
stepped forward to hand Thov the disk.

“Lenic! Broadcast this to The Consensus at once. Send it out to
each Sentient system individually as well.”

“Captain?”

“Do it. And take these soldiers with you.” Thov looked around the
room then out into the hall, “And get maintenance and engineering down here to
put my ship back together.”

Lenzic nodded and left, the two soldiers trailing behind it.

“Captain Thov,” Val said excitedly. “I have a fully equipped
laboratory, custom built for this type of work. If you can get me there, and with
Doctor Sa’s help, I can quickly manufacture a substantial amount of the cure.
We could save millions of lives.”

“I would be grateful, Doctor Evans,” Thov said tiredly, “but two fleets
stand between us and your laboratory, and I doubt either will listen to reason
at this point. You saw how hard it was for me to accept the truth, and I assure
you, I am one of the more equable fleet officers. I might, emphasis on
might
,
be able to talk my fleet into standing down, but there is nothing I can do
about the humans.”

My head was killing me, and I couldn’t stop rubbing my right eye—trying
to clear the cloudy vision left over from the playback. Even still, I hopped
off the bench and said confidently, “Leave that to me. I have some influence in
that regard. Hopefully, it’ll be enough.”

“Let’s hope so,” Thov said. “I am going to the Central Hub to
contact some of my fellow captains. Maybe we can quash this situation before it
spirals even further out of control.”

I stepped aside to let Thov through the opening and it looked down
at me, “Apologies huma…
Commander
. I thank you for your efforts to help
my people.”

I nodded and the Sentient left the room. We all traded weary grins,
but before we could figure out our next move, a new Sentient came in the room. I
was happy to see that it wasn’t another soldier.

“My name is Gos,” it said, stepping over the mounds of twisted
metal and shattered plastic scattered across the entrance. It took a quick look
around at the damage before continuing. “The captain suggested you relocate to
other quarters, where I’ve arranged to have food delivered. It also directed me
to tend to any other needs you might have. After you’ve eaten, you’re invited
to join Captain Thov in the Central Hub.”

“I’d like to check on my crewman in the laboratory first,” I said.

“I’ll go too,” Val offered. “We should look in on the child as
well.”

“I’ll escort you both there,” Gos replied. “We can drop Doctor Sa and
the ambassador off along the way. Gos motioned for us to follow it, then
paused, adding, “The captain has given you free reign of the ship, with certain
limits of course, but it might be safer not to wander off on your own.”

“Of course,” I smiled.

“And don’t worry,” Gos continued, “We’ve already cleaned up Dr.
Rroske.”

“Uh…good,” I replied awkwardly.

Gos guided us to a nearby meeting room with a large, rectangular
table sitting in the center of it. The shiny onyx surface held four recessed vidscreens,
two each on either side.  All of the screens displayed different views, depicting
populated areas or system readouts from throughout the ship. Doctor Sa, Del,
and Stinson, fell easily into the thickly padded chairs placed around the
perimeter.

Gos remained standing, waiting.

True to its word, the Sentient had provided a variety of food,
haphazardly dispersed around the table. Sa and the ambassador seemed delighted
by the selection, but Val, Stinson and I were less enthused. Not only were the
colors and textures
wrong
, but the smell…

“Ambassador Del,” I said, doing my best to ignore the food the
Sentient was eating, “If it becomes necessary to… encourage the Sentient fleet
by mentioning the Mass Nullifier—won’t they simply focus all of their fire on
the
Na’ardeen
—vaporize it before we can get close enough to make good on
that threat?”

Del put down what appeared to be a yellow fruit tube, covered with
hair. “I’ve been considering that problem myself, commander.”

I could see small vibrations within the discarded food, and it
began to slowly inch its way across the surface of the table. Its hairs were sweating
out a pus-green fluid that pooled in a sticky puddle underneath it—smearing side
to side as it moved.

I swallowed hard and looked away.

Del waved a hand over the viewer in front of it, and an intricate
directory spread across the screen. The Sentient deftly moved its fingers,
shifting from simple gestures that took a single finger, to elaborate patterns
requiring both hands. It fluidly moved through a host of successive screens
before finally saying, “I thought so.”

“Something that can help us?” I asked.

“Yes,” Del said, and it sat up straight placing its hands flat on
the table. “If Thov is right, and I think it is, my people are enraged beyond
reason. They have seen too many friends…too many family members die. They want
justice, Commander, and I don’t think they’ll listen to the captain, and certainly
not to me. ”

“The Sentients will die out if we don’t stop this war Del. If your
people win this battle, they will move across human space, exacting their
revenge until they all succumb to the virus. How does
that
help your
people?”

“It doesn’t,” Del conceded. “Those ships should be headed back to
our own planets, acting as couriers—taking the cure from system to system until
everyone has been treated.”

“If they don’t believe us…won’t listen to reason, they will be headed
in the opposite direction— taking lives instead of saving them. The cure will
end today with this battle.”

Del waved his hand over the panel again. “Captain Thov, this is
Ambassador Del. I would like to speak with you in private about an important
matter—as soon possible.”

“Meet me in the Central Hub in five minutes.”

“Agreed,” It said, then cut the channel.

Del stared at the panel for a moment, “If you can stop your fleet,
Commander, I’ve found a way to stop ours. But I want your promise that you will
help Miss Evans and Doctor Sa accelerate the manufacture and distribution of
the cure—to use whatever resources you have to save my people.”

“You have it,” I said without hesitation.

Del exhaled slowly, and then took a deep breath, refilling its
lungs. “With Captain Thov’s permission, I can deploy the Mass Nullifier right
in the middle of the Sentient formation. I can position it to destroy the
Sentient fleet.”

I looked down at the panel in front of the Sentient, instantly
recognizing the ship on the screen. It was a live view of a stealth ship, just
like the one Del had stolen, sitting in a hangar somewhere on this massive
vessel.

“
We
can deploy it,” I said tersely. “Humans have an
interest in this as well; I wouldn’t ask you to do it alone.”

I also knew that I had to be there to make sure the plan was
carried out.

Del started to speak, but I held up my hand to stop it. “I know it
could end up being a one way trip, but I also know what’s at stake—for your
race and mine. For what it’s worth, this is a distant Plan B…a last resort even.”

Stinson had a pained expression of understanding on his face,
while Doctor Sa just looked around confused. Val tugged on my sleeve to get my
attention. “You can’t possibly be serious.”

“I am. And you know how important this is.” I put my hand on her
shoulder and lightly squeezed. “Believe me, I have no death wish, and will do
everything I can to make sure it doesn’t come to that.”

I flashed a smile that was meant to be reassuring, but I knew it was
as hollow as I felt. Her expression told me that she saw right through it. But
she also knew that I was right. She’d said it herself; her facilities could
pump out millions of doses of the cure while the Sentients were still ramping
up production. Millions of lives could be saved.

The Sentient fleet had to be stopped.

I changed the subject to avoid any further objections. “We should
go to the lab; it won’t be long before we arrive where the fleets are massing
for battle.”       

“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” Stinson asked.

“No, Jeff. We’ll be fine.” I patted my newly returned TAC pistol
to allay his fears. Surprisingly, the Sentients let me keep the weapon, and it
now rested snugly in the leg holster of the Kamo suit.

Val and I grabbed a couple of the same horrid biscuits we’d eaten
in Rroske’s laboratory and followed Gos out the door. The Sentient wasn’t
particularly chatty, and as we strode through corridor after corridor heading back
to the lab, Val and I joined it in a comfortable silence.

The captain ran a tight ship; as we made our way through the vessel,
not one Sentient gave us so much as a sideways look. I was certain that one of
them
walking through a human ship would be stared at constantly—orders or no orders.

I braced myself before we entered the lab, remembering how we’d
left it—Rroske’s body splayed out in a pool of blood. But my apprehension was
unnecessary. Just as Gos had indicated, the lab had been thoroughly cleaned; it
was as if nothing had even happened.

Val and I went straight to the storage locker; I looked down into
the stasis pod while she checked the readings on the side panel. Mendoza was
motionless, but I could see her chest faintly rise and fall. The motions were
infrequent, but perceptible, confirming that she wasn’t completely stabilized.
In true stasis, there is no movement.

Val gave me a worried look. “She’s can’t hold out much longer, Ben.”

“I know…”

We went back into the lab and found Gos staring into the baby’s
crèche. “What an odd creature. What is it?”

“It’s a child,” Val said defensively. “A
Sentient
child.”

“Sorry to disagree, Doctor Evans, but
that
is no Sentient.”