Genetic Drift (26 page)

DAY 287

ONBOARDING

INTERFACE ROOM

Five more Trolls joined the small human resistance at the terraformer.  Hope remained outside to invite others to join.  All the Trolls brought their orbitizers for attack and defense purposes except Barron and the Troll that traveled with him.  As night began to fall, Ben told his forming army to go inside.  Marcus stood lookout at the ramp for any straggling Trolls or worse, attacks.  The Trolls were led to the interface room.  Maddie had been sitting in there since her talk with Barron.  Barron broke away from the Trolls and approached her.  She noticed him coming toward her and got to her feet.  “I don’t think I’m ready yet,” she put up her hand to stop him from coming any closer.  Barron stopped to watch her go to the other side of the room.

Will went up to Ben and asked, “Do you want to see the killer plant?”  Ben easily made the decision.

“Yes. Ethen, go with Will and take a look at the plant,” Ben replied.

Ethen followed Will to the stairwell.  The Trolls were huddling with no formation.  Ben looked at them as an unruly bunch but he knew that they were there to fight against their soon to arrive attackers.  “Hope, please come here and help me talk to them,” Ben asked.  He turned to Maddie and asked her for help as well, “Maddie, would you come and help me with the Trolls?”

Rho
’s voice spoke to Maddie,
“I don’t think it wise to continue to communicate with them.  They will become too reliant on us.  Let Hope direct them.” 
Maddie turned to Ben and answered, “It’s best if Hope talks to them.  I am going to sit this one out.”

“Thanks for the assist,” Ben responded and then turned back to Hope.  “They need some semblance of direction, Hope,” he said.  He walked up to the Trolls.  Either they were oblivious to where they were or they were so used to being in the structures that they did not pay attention to the map that was still displaying on the wall.  Each Troll, except for the one that came with Barron, held its orbitizer across its waist, angled down to its left-hand side.  “Have them put out their hands,” Ben told Hope.  Hope touched the Troll closest to her and then it touched the next, and then the next.  Soon, Hope led an interlocked chain of all the Trolls.  After she knew that all of the Trolls were abiding by her commands, she told them to put out their hands.  The Trolls simultaneously disconnected from the chain and strapped their orbitizers on their backs.  They held out their claws ready for Ben.

Ben took out the marker that Jay had given him and opened the cap.  “A white marker?  Why would anyone have a white marker?” he asked himself. 

Jay was within earshot and answered him, “I know, I figured no one would miss it.”

“What did you want it for?” Ben was curious.

“I got bored in my room,” Jay replied.

“Let’s just leave it at that,” Ben said.  He walked up to the first Troll and painted its claws.  The first layer of the marker turned out light blue.  “It doesn’t contrast enough,” Ben said.  He drew on a second coat and the color was much closer to white.  He was content with the mark but knew it wouldn’t last in battle.  “We’re going to have to find a better way to discern these Trolls,” Ben told Jay and Hope.  He continued to mark each Troll until all of their hands appeared like frosted claws.

Ethen entered the arboretum behind Will.  Will’s eyes immediately shot to the ground and searched for anything that could grab him.  “Watch your step,” he advised Ethen, “you never know what can eat you in here.”  Ethen looked around and saw orange and red trees scattered in the purple moss that had already started to grow outside of the terraformer. 

“So where is this killer plant?” Ethen asked.

“Follow the wall,” Will pointed to his right.

“That’s not how this is going to work, buddy,” Ethen nodded his head for Will to go first.

“I guess I’ll show you… buddy,” Will said begrudgingly.  “Here we go again, Will put your life on the line because YOU found something and MADE the mistake of telling the others about it.”

Will began his walk along the wall.  Each step was slow and tender and methodical.  He didn’t stop near any of the trees and was focused on walking straight for the area of the blood red brush.  Ethen took one confident step and then stopped while he followed each step that Will made.  Ethen thought it was a painful process but didn’t want to give Will a reason not to take him to the killer plant.

The cordons were strung in no particular order.  The red strands came into view as they walked along the metallic wall.  “There they are,” Will stopped and pointed Ethen toward the plant’s tentacles. 

“Where is the killer plant, Will?” Ethen asked.

“I’m not going any closer.  I brought you to it and my job is done.  Just follow those red vines and you’ll find it.” Will was adamant.

Ethen walked toward the cordons but was careful not to step near them.  Will stepped back a few more feet.  His footprints were still imprinted in the moss and Ethen matched his stride step for step.  Will watched as Ethen moved further away.  “Damn, he’s going straight for it,” Will said under his breath and he followed Ethen toward the plant.

Ethen stepped in every footprint following the cordons to their source and came to the spot where Will rested after the plant pulled him.  The red cordons were separated from the rest of the plant.  “We could use these,” Ethen said.  “We need a better way to identify the aliens and we could tie the vines around their arms.” Ethen began to pick up the cordons.  He pulled one cordon and it didn’t budge.  Then the plant came to life.  Its mouth opened and the cordons started to whip around searching for something to grab.  Will was watching and moved away from the flailing cordons.  One cordon rubbed Ethen’s leg.  Sensing him as a food source, more of the cordons flew into the air and struck the ground searching for their prey.  Ethen was nimble and dodged one strike after another until a cordon hit him and wrapped around his arm.  Will grabbed his blade and Ethen went across his body to grab his gun.  Another cordon wrapped around his arm and then another grabbed his leg.  Another cordon wrapped around his free arm and he dropped his gun.  The cordons began to pull in different directions and the plant lifted Ethen trying to pull his body apart.  Ethen tried to fight the cordons but the more he struggled, the tighter the hold became. 

Will decided that he had stood back long enough and reared his blade as he ran toward Ethen.  Another cordon wrapped around Ethen’s neck.  He attempted to grab it but the plant held his arms too tightly.  Will jumped and brought his blade down on the cordon.  The tension on Ethen’s neck subsided.  Will freed Ethen’s arms and leg with a flurry of strikes.  Ethen fell to the ground and backed away from the plant.  Will avoided the cordons that were now searching for him and helped Ethen scoot away from the attack.  “I told you that you never know what can eat you in here,” Will said as he pulled Ethen by the collar.

“You were right, Will,” Ethen said as he struggled, still trying to catch his breath.

“Do you think we can go back now?” Will asked.

“I think I’ve seen enough,” Ethen said.

Ethen returned to his feet and gathered the loose cordons from around his ankles.  He noticed that the cordons had left welts on his arms and leg from trying to tear him apart.  He didn’t go back to the wall.  Ethen walked straight for the door through the small trees that obscured the killer plant.  Will looked back at the plant and saw its mouth close.  He followed Ethen as he started for the exit.  “I never want to see that plant again,” he told Ethen. 

“Me either,” was the only reply Ethen could conjure up.  Ethen was focused on getting to the exit and Will shifted his focus to following him.  Once they made it to the doorway, they ran down the stairs skipping as many steps as they could.  They rushed into the interface room.  “Do not go up there,” Ethen said as he came to a stop.

“Up to the plant?  I could have told you that,” Jay said.  Ben watched Ethen approach him with several red bands wrapped around his shoulders and arms.  Ben was looking at Ethen strangely.

“What did you get yourself wrapped up in?” Ben asked.

“Let’s just say I found something that we could use,” Ethen said as he let the cordons drop to the floor.  “I figured that we could tie these vines around the Trolls’ arms.”  Ethen looked at one of the Trolls and said, “The red coloring is a better marker than what you did with their hands.”

Ben picked up one of the cordons from the floor and took it over to a Troll.  The Troll lifted its arm and allowed Ben to tie the cordon around it.  Ben wrapped the cordon in a coil and tucked the ends underneath the single layer.  “That should do it,” Ben said as he walked backward.  He examined the Troll from five steps back. “I think that’ll do.”  He took ten more steps backwards.  “Yeah, we’ll be able to tell the difference now.  From fifteen steps back, the Troll’s arm was discernably red from the vine.  It was a perfect contrast and an obvious difference from the Trolls that would be fighting them.

Ben grabbed another cordon and Ethen joined him.  Ben wrapped one arm as Ethen matched the process on the other arm.  Once they were done, the Trolls’ arms appeared to be covered with red sleeves.   A total of nine Trolls were ready to fight alongside them and Barron, Barron was with them too. 

Ben realized that Marcus had been watching the entrance to the terraformer for a while.  “Maddie, could you go check on Marcus and see if he needs anything?” he asked.

“No problem,” she said, “it’s crowded in here anyway.”  Maddie made her way toward the door.  She stopped beside Barron and decided to talk to him, wanting to know exactly what had happened to him.

“Do you want to come with?” she asked.

“Yes, I would like that,” Barron said, seizing the opportunity to talk to her.

Maddie started to walk out but reached out to
Rho
,
“I don’t trust him, Rho.  We need to find out if Barron really is in there.”

As soon as they left the interface room, Maddie started asking her questions.  “So why can’t you let the real Barron talk to me?”

“Because I am not able to make the connection, like I told you before,” Barron told her.

“That’s a load of crap.
Rho
and
Kappa
made the connections, why can’t you?” Maddie demanded.  She grabbed Barron’s arm and
Rho
took control of the conversation.

Who are you, being?  What do you call yourself? 
Maddie listened to
Rho
get straight to the point.

I was given no name, no identification, I am Barron.  Named just as the vessel was.
Barron replied. 
Rho
probed Barron’s mind in search of the real Barron.  Barron twitched in reaction to the search. 
Rho
continued to probe but its search was being obstructed somehow. 

You are blocking me and my ability to communicate with the vessel, Rho
told Barron.

It is as I said, I am unable to make the connection,
Barron replied.

Maddie felt herself being grabbed and pulled away from Barron.  The voice and the connection came to an abrupt stop.  Marcus had grabbed her.  He held her face-to-face.  “They’re coming.  The attack is here,” Marcus said.  He was quick and concise with his words.  His eyes were wide open.  “The time has come.”  Marcus released Maddie and ran to the interface room.

Maddie was slightly stunned but looked around for Barron.  “Where did he go?”  She looked to her left and right.  In the short time that Marcus had separated them, Barron had managed to run away. 
“I don’t know where he went Rho,”
Maddie thought to
Rho
.

“He will be found, Maddie.  Let us focus on our survival for right now,” Rho
said.

Maddie sprinted to the interface room and had to dodge the outgoing Trolls.  She quickly searched for Barron and did not see him.  “Crap, he’s not here,” she said as she ran to the interface poles.  As she sprinted past the far pole, her metallic hand extended and grabbed it.  In one motion, she bent over, swooped up her orbitizer, and changed her direction back for the door.  “This time, they die,” she said as she ran through the door.

DAY 287

INITIAL SHOCK

TERRAFORMER

In the chaos that Marcus had initiated when he entered the interface room with news of the attack, two groups formed to fight against the attacking Trolls.  The groups were formed by their familiarity with the structure.  Marcus, Ben, and Ethen hurried for the stairs toward the room with the vats.  Hope, Jay, Will, and the Trolls went through the other entrance.  After Maddie grabbed her weapon, she quickly followed Hope toward the lounge.

There were already flashes of blue flickering in the hall as Maddie passed the closed doors to reach Hope.  Their allied Trolls were in front of Will and Jay.  Maddie asked Hope, “Do you know if that is Will or Quill?”  Will overheard her and turned around.

“It’s Quill.  Did you really think Will could handle this?” Quill responded.

Maddie was relieved.  Even though Quill was difficult to be around, Will was a burden in any situation.  Maddie approached the stairs that went down to the lounge.  Quill noticed that they were oversized just like the ones going up to the arboretum.  The allied Trolls had no difficulty descending as they marched forward as if they were on a suicide mission.

The Trolls were on the lower level when Maddie and Hope reached the stairs.  They slowly walked each step keeping their eyes on the hall in front of them.  Step by step, they had made it halfway down when rapidly plodding footsteps came toward them.  Jay and Quill ran back up the stairs.  Jay grabbed Hope by the hand and Maddie turned to follow the flow of oncoming Trolls.  She noticed the red sleeves and knew they were friendly.  With her balance weighted on her knee and foot, she sprung toward the top of the stairs. 

Maddie made it to the top and one red sleeved Troll stood in front of her.  She could see that Jay had stopped and Hope was in front of a door.  The door slid open and Maddie jumped into the opening behind Jay, landing flat on the ground.  She noticed the pad to close the door and picked herself up off of the floor.  She reached for the pad.  Hope’s hand touched the pad first and the door closed before Maddie could do anything else.  “Bet you’re glad that I’m around,” Hope said with a smile.

“I sure am,” Maddie returned the smile.  She did a head count of who had made it into the room.  There was Jay, and there was Hope, and there was nobody else.  “Did Quill make it?”

“I don’t think he’s here,” Jay said.

“He ran in front of us,” Hope said as her smile vanished.

Maddie looked around the room.  It was filled with large metallic boxes that were made of the same material as the walls.  “We should hide behind those,” Maddie said as she walked to the boxes.  Jay positioned himself behind Hope, who was the first to take cover.

“How long are we going to wait here?” Hope asked.  Clunking was heard outside of the door as the movement and sound of a fight grew closer.

“Until it’s quiet out there or someone comes in the door,” Maddie told her.

Maddie and Jay took cover.  Jay, as big as he was, had more difficulty getting in a comfortable position.  Maddie found a spot where she could lean against the wall.  There was silence as they took time to catch their breath and calm down.  Maddie closed her eyes and thought to
Rho
. 
“If you had any great plans, now would be a great time to share them.  You know, with the whole wanting to survive thing.” 

“I wouldn’t have recommended anything other than what we have done,” Rho
, as usual, did not hesitate to answer.

Maddie opened her eyes and looked over to Jay and Hope.  Hope’s eyes were closed.  It was clear that she was talking to
Kappa
in her mind.  Jay sat with his arms resting on his knees.  He was staring at his hands as he picked the underneath of his fingernails.

“You know, this is going to end one of two ways, either we live or we die,” Jay said, still picking at his fingers.

“You know, we are still alive,” Maddie said, watching Jay.

The sounds outside the door stopped.  It seemed the commotion had subsided.  Maddie noticed the absence of noise and slowly got to her feet.  Her head rose above the box as she stared at the door.  Once her chin was even with the top of the box, the door slid open.  “Are you in there?” the question came from a silhouette.  Maddie’s eyes quickly adjusted to see the man.

“Barron, is that you?  We’re here,” Maddie said as she fully came to her feet.

“Yes, I told you that I was going to help you,” Barron said as he walked toward their makeshift foxhole.  “Let me help you get out of here.  We can’t be pinned down.”  He waited for Jay and Hope to get to their feet.  They started to make their way toward Barron.  He turned to walk out of the room with them in tow.  As he spun, they saw that his hands held an orbitizer tightly.  Somehow, Barron, who was unarmed originally, had managed to grab one. 

Maddie figured that he had run away from Marcus and hid when the attack began.  He must have picked one up at an opportune moment when one of the attacking Trolls fell.  She gripped her orbitizer tightly as she still did not trust Barron.  Hope and Jay were less apprehensive and quickly fell into form behind Barron.  Maddie closed up the back and they left the room.

Outside of the room, Maddie saw piles of Trolls.  She looked at strewn limbs.  A mixture of mangled arms, legs, and bodies filled the floor.  She stepped in the few areas free from the carnage as she counted the red bands.  She couldn’t count the sets since some of the bodies were dismembered but it looked like all of the allied Trolls had been killed.  Strangely, she did not see any of the attacking Trolls.  “Barron, if these Trolls are all dead, then where did the bad ones go?” she asked since he had been on the outside.

“They continued to go that way,” he said pointing to the interface room. “I am sure that they are looking for the others.”

Maddie kept her focus on avoiding the Trolls as she stepped toward Barron and the others.  The flow of casualties extended to and down the stairs.  She continued her cautious walk making sure that she didn’t trip.  Barron had stopped at the corner and looked around toward the lounge.  He put his hands up to indicate that everyone needed to stop.  The core of his orbitizer began to glow and he pointed it around the corner.  One shot, then a pause, and then another shot.  He stepped around the corner as a Troll crumpled to the ground.  “I got him, let’s keep going,” he said.  They walked around the Troll and Maddie saw that it didn’t have red sleeves.  She decided that this version of Barron was really there to help them.

Hope and Jay followed closely behind Barron as Maddie kept a little distance between them.  Barron turned the corner to the dark hallway and luckily there were no Trolls in the darkened area.  He led the others to the main hall.  Blue flashes were littering the hall near the laboratory.  “Well, it looks like the best way to go is outside,” he told Hope and Jay.  “Come on,” he directed them toward the exit and walked toward the daylight. 

As they made it to end of the hall, one surviving Troll stumbled into view, his red sleeves showing in the light from outside.  Barron started to pick up his pace.  “Come on, hurry,” he beckoned the others.  Hope and Jay felt his urgency and hurried toward the outside.  Maddie saw herself falling behind and started to jog briskly.  Barron, Hope, and Jay made it outside as Maddie approached the door. 

Maddie was two steps from making it outside when the red sleeved Troll grabbed her orbitizer and pushed her down the ramp.  Maddie stumbled as she tried to keep her footing.  She stayed upright and straightened herself once her feet hit the purple moss.  She looked back to see the red sleeved Troll holding two orbitizers and blocking the doorway back into the terraformer.  She spun around to see Barron with his orbitizer pointed right at her.  Her arms shot up, “Barron, what are you doing?”

She kept her eyes on Barron and looked for Hope and Jay in her peripherals.  There were only a few Trolls around her.  One was holding Hope and another was holding Jay.  A third Troll was mounted on a Crossbearer with an orbitizer sitting on its lap.  “You can let
Rho
know that you both erred in your judgment,” Barron told her without any emotion breaking his façade.

“How’d we do that?” she asked.  She hoped the longer she could keep him talking, the more likely that somebody, even Quill, could help them out of the situation.

“The queen mother thought you were just ordinary human pests that would eventually have been exterminated.  But when you decided to challenge the queen mother, it knew that you could not be allowed to survive,” Barron said, maintaining his aim on Maddie.

“Maybe we could talk to the queen-,” Maddie started to say.

“No,” Barron stopped her abruptly, “the queen mother has given her directives and there will be no negotiations.”

“What are you going to do?” Maddie asked.

“The queen mother has decided the following punishment for you.  Any vessels being found to have joined you will be exterminated.  Any humans in league with you shall be exterminated.  You will observe all exterminations and then you, yourself, shall be exterminated,” Barron informed Maddie of her sentence.

The red sleeved Troll came from behind Maddie and wrapped its claws around her.  She struggled to break free but the grasp was too tight.  The Troll lifted Maddie and carried her next to Jay. 
Rho
tried to speak to it.
You said you were going to help us and now you are helping to kill us.  You can still stop this.

That was my directive.  Gain your trust and then eliminate you,
the Troll responded.

As Maddie and Jay were being held, the Troll holding Hope shoved her to the ground.  Hope was on all fours and looked up at Barron. “Please, please don’t kill me,” she begged him.  Barron, unmoved by her plea, raised his orbitizer and pointed it at her head. 

“This is your extermination,” he said as the core began to glow blue.