Humanity found, p.42
Humanity Found, page 42
He smiled, and she knew she’d lost.
“A good point. We forgot Tomorrow’s Promise will have a supply of organic material. No one will evacuate the dead, right?”
“We still need approval,” she said. How did he do that? Just when she thought the game was over, he found a way to give her credit for something she just tossed out. “It would be better. And people would think everything was normal if we didn’t move bodies.”
He nodded. “If our plan works, we will not be sending bodies to suns anyway. We would be burying or burning them on the planet. Would it not be better to save the colony than be buried or burned?”
“I’ll talk to the captain,” she said, happy to do it now that the plan sounded like an honor rather than a violation.
* * *
An hour later, Brianne stood beside Kalin in the captain’s briefing room. She’d presented the plan and now waited for his decision.
“We’ll need to handle this carefully,” he said. “Your plan is solid, but using the dead will be a hard message to hear for their relatives.”
“There is no other way to fake that component of the wreckage,” Brianne said.
“I agree, lieutenant.”
Kalin hadn’t spoken during the discussion. She wanted that silence to continue. “Do we have the go ahead?”
“Prepare, but keep the details under wraps for now. I need to test out the response.”
Brianne started to say that once underway, they couldn’t back out, but the captain held up a hand.
“I understand. Tomorrow morning we’ll reconvene.”
18
Kalin stood at ease the next morning in the captain’s briefing room. Another update meeting, another draw on their precious time.
“We’ve encountered resistance,” the captain said. “Not everyone is willingly evacuating. We need to speed up the process.”
“It’s not only Tomorrow’s Promise,” Asher said. He’d been brought in by Whitnal, but no one mentioned his role. “Other ships are showing signs that they won’t just follow orders. We need to stop the unrest before it gets bigger.”
“To be expected,” Whitnal said. “They worry that we will abandon their ship next.”
Kalin listened, not quite understanding why he and Brianne were in attendance. Yes, they needed to know that there may be a delay, but this wasn’t a good use of their time. Some materials they needed for the test were waiting for transport. It was important that the charges dispersed the debris correctly. They needed to plant the various items around the ship while people were still aboard.
“Military personnel are required,” Whitnal said. “A few of my civilian security team members are there, but a uniform can give a sense of urgency and order to the evacuation. The new quarters will be ready in a few hours, so they can move in and get settled.”
The unused portion of the ship was more than large enough to hold the evacuees, if what he’d seen during Pen’s rescue was any indication. Kalin glanced at Brianne; no indication she was going to ask anything. “How long before this becomes a problem?”
“How long before your test isn’t worthwhile?” the captain asked. “I would like everyone aboard and settled a while before we blow the ship.”
Their plan didn’t take into account any settling in time for the new civilians. He’d assumed the ship would be emptied as fast as possible and then the test would start. Any time taken away now would cut into the three days of data gathering before the fleet moved too far away. And they did need to increase speed as soon as possible. Every hour sitting here was an hour for the enemy to surprise them, and an hour longer before they put down on the planet.
“We need to see if the explosion works as expected,” Brianne answered. “If we set drones to record and collect data, we don’t need to hang around. But if we can watch and send a scout party to the site, we’ll receive higher quality information.”
“We accelerate in twelve hours,” the captain said. “No later, preferably sooner.”
“Then we need to empty Tomorrow’s Promise in less than four,” Kalin said. “Do we need to worry right now about this protesting business?”
“Not urgently,” Asher said, “but it’s only going to get worse.”
“We should subdue the evacuees,” Brianne said. “If they are unconscious, they will be easy to transport. Once they are aboard Dark Prospect, it will be too late to resist.”
Everyone in the room looked at her. Kalin saw the sense of her suggestion, as anything was better than leaving people aboard to be destroyed. In his old life, when a ship started to fail, no one gave a thought to rescue. But the people he now called his, the fleet, they would riot.
“That’s too drastic,” the captain said. “We’ll go with the military presence and send your team now. As soon as the last shuttle leaves, you can commence.”
“And if some people refuse to leave?” Kalin asked. “Should we tell them what is going to happen?”
“The evacuation is not your task,” the captain said.
Brianne looked at Kalin and shook her head a little. Was she going to let that pass? They may not be in charge of clearing the ship, but the progress definitely affected them.
“The timeline is critical, sir,” Brianne said. “If we miss the opportunity to do this test, we’ll be blind when the situation arises.”
“If the situation arises,” Asher said.
“No, Asher,” Whitnal said. “They have to work under the assumption that the situation will occur, not that it might. Do you have a suggestion, lieutenant?”
Kalin waited. He knew better than to suggest leaving people aboard, which was the only other option. Perhaps if he only faced the captain, he could phrase it as a question about how far away the line was on their actions. But not here, not in front of civilians. The military thought more like his old life. Civilians would not consider such a plan.
“They are endangering the fleet,” Brianne said. “We’ve given them more than enough time to gather their belongings. They have no goodbyes to make because they are not leaving people, only a ship.”
“Yes,” Asher said, “but people tie themselves to a home, and it’s not as easy for some to leave.”
“By giving them a choice, we are lying,” Brianne said. “The other ships in the fleet need to understand that if we determine they need to move, there is no choice.”
“What are you suggesting, lieutenant?” the captain asked in a quiet voice.
Brianne didn’t catch the warning in his tone. Kalin held his breath, hoping for something that would work.
“If people are determined not to join us here where it’s safe, they should be allowed to stay on the ship. The fleet will pull away and we are done.”
No one flinched or argued.
“And your test?” the captain asked. “You would lose the opportunity.”
Brianne sat straighter and looked at the captain as if no one else was in the room. “If you ordered us to do so.”
“No, we can’t,” Kalin said. “We can’t abandon people and we can’t miss the test.”
The captain held up a hand to keep the others from speaking.
“We will not do anything of the sort,” he said. “Everyone on Tomorrow’s Promise will be transported. Every action to do that will consider the effect on the remaining ships if we have to sacrifice another. Thank you for being the Devil’s Advocate, Lieutenant Stonehouse. We now know where our boundaries lie. And it is this side of atrocity.”
Was she deliberately provoking to find the limits? She was very lucky they had an understanding captain.
“Return to your plans. You will be ready for your shuttle in three hours.” The captain turned to Whitnal, dismissing Kalin and Brianne to their duties.
19
Kalin stood in the shuttle bay watching the supplies pass into the cargo hold. Explosives, monitoring drones, and a few bodies because Tomorrow’s Promise passed a sun close enough to cremate theirs only ten years ago. Those containers were now marked as packing material. No one would give them a second look.
Kalin had taken down the names and family details of the people inside before they were crated. He’d do the same on the empty ship. These people would be honored at some point. Even if he had to personally reach out to every survivor.
Brianne had the leadership of the team for the short while he would be gone. They were working on her weapon design. He hoped that would keep her satisfied.
“Ready?” Asher asked, coming from inside the shuttle.
“I don’t know what that means,” Kalin said. “Yes, we are as prepared as we can be. Can anyone be ready for what we are about to do? In secret?”
“No. It’s uncharted territory for us. I think the idea of destroying a ship is as close to sacrilege as we can get.”
For a society run by people who aren’t priests, and without an official religion, they use a lot of Christian phrases.
“We’ll be quick. Is everyone out?”
Asher nodded. “Yes. The last shuttle is set to leave in an hour. We’ll be aboard before that.”
“You’re coming?” Asher didn’t seem the type to dive into the action directly. More a snoop in the shadows kind of person.
“We’ve been given more time,” he said. “I’m going with a team to make sure we don’t lose any records. We’ll work on data recovery while your team set the charges.”
Spying. I should have realized.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Asher said. “The leaders of Tomorrow’s Promise know we’re going. They agreed. We can’t afford to lose any knowledge if we can help it. Every decision from the moment that ship is destroyed will be a no-return option.”
“Sorry.” Before he could say more, they were interrupted by shouting at the bay entrance.
A crowd of ten or so people shuffled forward and began yelling at the guards who stood in their way.
“Shit,” Asher said. “We should board. Are your supplies loaded?”
“What’s going on?” Kalin took a step to assist the guards when the crowd kept moving.
Asher grabbed his arm. “They can take care of this; you need to get inside.”
“Save our homes...”
“No ship lost!”
“Stop the tyranny.”
Kalin turned and looked around. His team was in the shuttle, the last crates loading. “Is this about me?”
Asher pulled him into the shuttle. “No. Well, not specifically. They are protesting the addition of Tomorrow Promise’s people to our population.”
Three more guards joined the defense team, turning the crowd back and clearing the entry, closing the doors and running for the shelter.
“Do they have an alternative?” If anyone in his past had even whispered about such an act, execution would come swiftly and brutally. “Does this happen often?”
Asher instructed the pilot to leave when he was ready. “Get secured,” he said. “Our presence is only encouraging them.”
“Won’t they be detained?” Kalin snapped the restraints closed and checked the others in the personnel area.
“All clear to go,” the pilot announced.
The shuttle slid toward the port, now standing open. The alarms in the bay announced their departure.
“I don’t understand what happened. How many people think we are doing the wrong thing? What do they suggest we do?”
The team members released their safety belts and checked the equipment. The pilot was an expert; not even a slight bump on leaving Dark Prospect.
“The reaction is unusual, but we’re doing unusual things,” Asher said. “Only a few people are riled up enough to do what we saw, but there are rumbles of discontent.”
“If there is a better idea, I’m happy to hear it.” Kalin pulled a water bulb from the dispenser.
“If they do, no one is offering to share. Pen will find a way to deal with them. And these people won’t burden Dark Prospect mainly because we won’t be in space much longer. I guess since we took Loke’s people in, it might look like we’re doing more than our share. It’s hard to imagine people threatening our survival, but remember, they only hear what we give them. If they are inclined not to trust, we get this behavior.”
“Aren’t we the only ship capable of taking on people?”
The fleet was at war. No battles yet, with luck there would be none, but dissent now put people in danger. He couldn’t imagine dissent ever being helpful.
“We’re in the best shape,” Asher said. “And this won’t be the last time we need to cut a ship loose. Tomorrow’s Promise was just the worst maintained. If we don’t hit the planet soon, we’ll be squeezing more and more people in.”
“Should the captain talk to them? Whitnal?” It felt like no one was acting and by the time he returned there would be riots.
“Let Pen deal with the situation when she gets back,” Asher said. “Don’t talk to anyone because they’ll only twist what you say. We have people infiltrating and it will die down. And we’ll be on a planet before everything gets too bad.”
That was stupidly optimistic. “I hope you are right.”
“It’s the sitting and waiting,” Asher said. “They can’t go anywhere. We don’t appear to be doing anything. It will die down when we move.”
Kalin sat back and closed his eyes; talking wasn’t helping. Asher was too certain in his belief — perhaps he was used to this kind of thing. Kalin couldn’t suppress the fear that the fleet would not be destroyed by this new enemy, but by its own faith in people who didn’t deserve it.
Maybe Pen would explain. She was on Tomorrow’s Promise. He’d be talking to her soon; she would understand his alarm. She would convince him that Asher was right, or maybe he’d believe her when she said it would be okay.
20
When they arrived on Tomorrow’s Promise, and the outer bay doors sealed to contain the atmosphere, Asher headed off with his small team. Kalin knew the pilot would have announced their arrival, but he sent a message to Pen as soon as the bay was clear. His team rolled the equipment onto a transit mech and headed out to plant charges and cluster the bodies in the bridge and a few recreation places, in case the evidence needed to be scattered.
While he waited for Pen to join him, Kalin walked the empty bay. His shuttle stood alone, their pilot waiting to carry everyone back. It looked empty, but more importantly, it felt empty. Kalin had no experience on an abandoned ship. He expected either crowds of people going about their business, or terror and panic as his old unit raced through, destroying every life form in reach. The quiet wasn’t peaceful; the bay almost rang with tension. Like something waited for him to drop his guard. Something not human, old and angry and seeking vengeance.
“Hey.”
Kalin’s heart stopped and then raced. Then his brain caught up: Pen. Lucky he hadn’t been holding his weapon. “How did you sneak up on me like that?”
“You were miles away. Creeped out?”
“No, I was heroically battling the various ghouls and wraiths that have taken over the ship.”
“I believe you. God. Awful, isn’t it?” She waved her arm around the bay. “The bay should be filled with shuttles or scout ships. When we got here to evacuate people, only half of that was usable. Over the years, they jettisoned anything broken after scavenging the parts.”
Now they needed to fill the space with some shuttle parts rather than leave the broken ones in place. “They wouldn’t have survived long. Even though they resisted, the facts are this ship was done, right?”
“It was still home,” Pen said. “It’s hard to let home go.”
“Do you have time to talk?” He had nothing to do unless his team ran into problems. He was here to give one last check of their work and collect the names of the dead. Well, officially. The real reason was to talk to Pen and to get away from Brianne for a while.
“Everything’s done. I’m the only one left on board. I supervised the evacuation. The last shuttle was almost at capacity, and I said I wanted to wait and come back with you.”
“We should call for some damaged shuttles to at least partially fill this space.”
It was only a test, he knew, but if they were successful, maybe the enemy would be fooled.
“Don’t worry, they left enough around,” Pen said. “We shoved all the bits in the bay next to this. It was in the way as we sent people on the shuttles. I wanted to make sure no one could hide from us.”
“Good.”
Now that it was time to ask about Brianne, Kalin found a surprising reluctance to speak. What new advice could Pen give him? And he didn’t want to admit his temper frayed to shreds when he thought about the way the woman acted. He didn’t want to waste any time with Pen on stupid things.
“So, what do you want to talk about?” Pen looked around as if some chairs had materialized. “Let’s sit over there. It will be a couple of hours before we need to do our final checks and then leave.”
Over there meant sitting side by side on the floor, leaning against the wall. Kalin went to the shuttle, grabbed two water bulbs, two seat covers, and a pocket full of ration bars.
“Thanks, these will be better than the floor,” Pen said, grabbing a seat cover from him. “I’m looking forward to my quarters. Peaceful, and padded. Is this about Brianne?”
Kalin chuckled. Trust Pen to take the initiative and drain the awkwardness out of the subject.
“She suggested we leave the people who didn’t want to come. To let them die slowly without support.”
Pen drew in a breath. “That’s harsh. Did you think she had a point?”
Too complicated for a yes or no answer. “They were endangering everyone. I guess before I was part of your world, I didn’t need to worry about what I thought. The elders wouldn’t give them a choice. The ones they wanted to save would be saved. The rest would be left to die.”
