The Origami Dragon And Other Tales (17 page)

Received:LS-6
to LS-1

Threat msg
plant?

Send: LS-1 to
LS-6

Y! Jerks.

Not just me,
then. Great way to motivate the soldiers. Still, Baris was an
orphan. They don't even get luxury of the lottery. I wonder what
you threatened
him
with?

Me?

15

I spent most of
my youth as an elective mute. Nobody asked me what I thought about
this, naturally. Not that they listen anyway. Which was the point,
really. Just another reason why I am the way I am, why I am where I
am.

10

They don't even
get a chance to surrender. That’s what really eats at me. This
isn’t a battle, this is a slaughter. They won’t know what hit them.
That’s the point, I know, but I hate it. This isn’t fair. I wonder
if they would ever do the same to us?

Apparently this
is a big fleet-building system. The place where they fling ships
together behind the battle lines. Too well defended for
conventional attack, they say. That’s why it was chosen for us.
Won’t be the first time intelligence got it wrong though. Probably
be a first if they get it right.

Time to forgo
all contact with Baris from here on in. I say my goodbyes.

5

Uh oh. The
passive sensors show big time space ships here, orbiting the suns.
Bigger than anything I’ve ever… energy collectors? Makes sense, I
suppose. We should be close enough to use the telescopes soon. Too
many to take out in one go?

No. I have so
many bombs.

4

Farms! They’re
just farms. Massive amounts of food being grown in this system.
Probably feeds a hell of a lot of people. Must be enough to feed…
swift calculations… Earth’s entire population, give or take.
Supplies the

people! They
are people, too. Don’t let the propaganda men tell you
otherwise.

My superiors
would be pleased. 'This could win the war' I bet. They always say
that, but we still seem to be fighting.

Me? Not happy.
Starvation is not an acceptable combat technique. Think of the
civilian casualties: they will never forgive us. Need to talk to
Baris. Time is running out.

Needs must…
breaking silence.

Sent LS-1 to
LS-6:

Civilian
s.stations. Remove from the target list

I can see a few
large floating shipyards, too, and a dozen big cruisers. At least
we can hit those.

3

LS-1: received
from LS-6

Concur
.

Relief. Doesn’t
technically matter what Baris thinks, because I am in command of
this flight. Nominally. This added responsibility is courtesy of my
IQ being 0.5 higher than his, and 27 points higher than the officer
who chose us for this mission. I know; I hacked the system
again.

As if Baris
would do anything I told him to just because I’m in command.

2.1

Preparing
bombs. Only need to use half now, and half again for the second
section of battle ships. There will be bombs to spare.

2.2

Rechecking
bombs.

So soon.

0

Firing
bombs.

They don’t all
go where I mean them to.

The computer
fights me over how the bombs are used. It targets the farms. We
argue. This ship is no longer mine to command.

Taking some
damage from long range weaponry.

Armour
holding.

Bomb
impact.

Destruction.

Waste, one of
the farms falls into the sun.

Wait… start
cycle again. I can’t stop it.

I can’t stop
it. But I can try, for if I don’t try then what am I?

My computer
pings, and new code flashes across my screen. My bombs explode
shortly after I shed them, killing nothing. Finished. Three bombs
left. I prevent them from firing just in time.

Checking
position of LS-6

Uh-oh

Attack +1
day

Baris is dead.
I think I may have killed him with my fallout.

He must be
dead, I can’t find him. We were set to meet up outside the system,
but he is not there. Like, where I expect him. Where he is supposed
to be. The problem with stealth bombers is that I can’t tell where
he is, and he can’t tell where I am either. Until now, we kept in
touch with low power lasers and serious precision flying. If he
doesn’t let me know his location before I Jump, I will never find
him again.

Replaying
records of bombing run. Maybe he is still OK.

+2

No, I think he
is dead. Camera recorded fires behind me. Out of system now,
preparing for first Jump. I have no choice if I want to
survive.

+3

.

+4

.

+5

.

+6

Poor Baris.

+7.1

Will be
spending the next month getting home. No company at all. And, when
I get there, a court martial. Probably. May as well not bother.

+7.2

Another hidden
pop up message. I’m going to find out who programmed these things,
and I’m going to make them suffer. It is hard enough being alone
without also being bombarded with propaganda and coercions.

You win,
though. I’m coming home. You don’t need to make threats about my
life support: I’m coming home anyway. Don’t worry about me. Or the
billion-dollar flying bomb you put me in that cost more than a
battle cruiser.

Coming
home.

Minus a
wingman

+18

Just not the
same. Now I truly am lonely. I am the only mind amongst the empty
byways of space, and the weight of nothing is suffocating. It was
always enough to know that people like me existed, in case I wanted
to contact them. I never felt the urge. Now, I do, and I am… all
alone.

+24

This is
definitely why they send us out in twos. Even I get lonely out
here. Bored. Scared. No second set of sensors. No crew, no
conversation.

No help.

+30

My Jump drive
is broken. Must have been damaged in the brief battle, possibly
even by my own bombs. I don’t want to die here, but the mechanics
of the drive are beyond me. On the other hand, I
really
don’t want to die. Out here. Alone. So.

+300

Done. I hope
the repairs hold. The work has kept my mind distracted.

+400

Why bother? If
this thing had a self-destruct code… No. There is work for me on
Earth, and I cannot be selfish. I am surrounded by a billion miles
of pressing stillness. I fall through the light of dead stars,
buried beneath the rubble of my own self-worth. I should not have
been sent out here.

+404

The silence
screams at me. I pulled the trigger that killed so many. Yes, I
could have killed more, but I should have killed less. I should
have known that the bombs would fire automatically. Because of me,
only one farm was destroyed; because of me, many will die of
hunger.

+823

So long without
writing. My work and my guilt consume me, but at least the work is
finished. One more Jump, and I’m home. It’s been so long, so long,
so long. I yearn for human company.

+824

Holding near
Sol. Huge fleet 'beneath' me, between me and Earth.

Big news today,
one of the fleets hit a major enemy system. Knocked out a lot of
enemy ships. Also, what I recognized as the sun-farms. Lump in
stomach when I think of what that means for those poor aliens who
will now starve to death.

Or not. Can’t
starve when you’re vaporized. Our brave commanders nuked them
mercilessly from a million miles away. Everybody celebrating their
incredible valour. Yellow cowards. We have to get much closer than
that, we are forced to see what it is we kill.

New ships
arriving in system soon, judging from the Jump waves. Moving closer
to the fleet.

Ordered to.
Don’t think they trust me too well. Wonder if they know I am still
part armed with the ordnance, since I didn’t drop it all? I am
stealth, after all. Three quarters of the fleet don’t even know I’m
here. Don’t think they will know I’m armed. We aren’t supposed to
come back with bombs, but…I killed more enemy craft on that last
run than any battleship hero could claim.

Have to write
report.

Fake ignorance
of basic principles of English syntax and vocab due to massive...
trauma/social difficulties in early life/time spent away from
society/major mental deficits. What now?

+831

Baris is still
alive! He was forced to Jump out of the target system. He also had
problems with his ship, but not as bad as me. He arrived outside
the sol system nearly two months before me. He says he is so far
away because his sensors are messed up. Makes sense. He is
travelling in on his sub-light engines and wait, hold on, hit the
big red button. Surely he isn’t thinking about

He drenched the
system with lasers until he found me, but since mine are the only
sensors set to detect the lasers…. He will be here in two days. I
don’t think the rest of the fleet knows, just me. Can’t tell them,
either, because… hell. I just don’t want to. The conquering fleet
now joined the fleet below me. News casts of celebrations. Not
impressed. Others on Earth feel same way, apparently. Minority, but
a vocal one.

+832.1

They sent my
report back, with another threat of court-martial if I don’t comply
with regulations and write a proper one. Perhaps it was the use of
pictograms that pushed them over the edge. If the fleet commanders
want to court martial me, they are going to have to wait in damn
line. Far more important people are going to want to bust my chops
by the end of all this.

I intentionally
didn’t bomb the farms. I fought the computer and prevented it from
bombing the farms as well. If I had my time over again, I would go
back and not bomb the farms in exactly the same manner. I am
unrepentant on this point.

Faking
communication device damage

Faking computer
error.

Better be on
the safe side. Faking mental breakdown.

Pretending to
be catatonic. Ship lock down and stealth to prevent being boarded.
Floating away from fleet – somebody will be coming after me
soon.

+832.2

Received:LS-6
to LS-1

Look. They did
what? Terrible!

Send: LS-1 to
LS-6

Y! Y! Those
were civilian farms.

Received:LS-6
to LS-1

By the by.
Bomb coming yourwaysoon. prep eject. Also, large EMP from bomb.

Send: LS-1 to
LS-6

WT?!

Received:LS-6
to LS-1

Cowards

Send: LS-1 to
LS-6

Agree
sentiment, question action.

His sensors
were always fine. It was no coincidence that

Preparing
evacuation. Baris has a wicked sense of humour, but this is no
joke. Perhaps now he is just wicked. Best get ready to get out of
here. The ship can shield the escape pod – good use of the world’s
resources there.

Received: LS-6
to LS-1

Take care of
yourself. Was nice knowing you. Pity about the rest of the
race.

The funny thing
is, he had it all planned. Planned well, I might add. We are like
that, sitting and thinking for hours before we even do
anything.

The plan was
simple: built up speed coming in-system, just like we trained for.
He had the time. My arrival delayed him, but only slightly

When he finally
was detected he just flashed the correct entry authorization. He
got close, close enough to drop the bombs he had kept from our
earlier run. Lots of bombs. They can’t stop him, and when his work
was done the fleet was no more.

He passed
through the system at incredible speed, avoided interception, and
is gone like a bad dream.

Eject!

The EMP kills
my computer, the sensors, the black box. Everything.

I sit in my
ejected cockpit and wait a while before turning the emergency
systems back on.

The fleet is
dust beneath me. Baris aimed his bombs well. It was what we were
trained for, after all. The bombs were city killers, and did their
work admirably.

The EMP wiped
out all evidence from my computers of our earlier attacks. There is
now no evidence of my glorious battle prowess, except in my
memories and my journal. Ah well, I’m sure I can have those
scrubbed out somehow. I’ll need to.

These things
happen. As for my earlier behaviour? As if they will care anyway.
I’m going back to Earth. I wonder if it’s possible to become a
politician if you hate people or have more than half a brain.
Without a fleet, Earth will need to try politics again.

Worth a try.
Somebody will have to put paid to this madness.

To my surprise,
she is waiting for me…

…time
passes.

(I wonder where
he went?)

-from the
notes of Dr Whenson

When I first
met Rob Echosoul, I believed him to be unique in this world, for
aren’t we all? He had arrived on my doorstep half-dead, and I had
used my skills to keep him alive. The reasons for his remarkable
recovery are a story for another time, but, needless to say, I was
intrigued both by his biology and his life. He had often hinted
that there were others like him in the world, but I clung to my
comfortable views of life and at first didn’t grasp his meaning. I
found out the shocking story of his origins on a quiet morning when
I asked him if I could take a sample of his DNA, a standard
practice for the doctors of my time.

“Can’t let you
take a sample, Doctor,” he explained, shaking his head.