This was what Christophe wanted to hear. The hulks would be coming, and would anticipate only human resistance. He informed the battalion that zero-day was approaching, and drew a rough map of the facility. They would hide in the surrounding bushes while he and Albert sat on the forecourt. He gambled that Tolstoy would want to make an example of the two of them, and organise a public broadcast to hammer home the point. The twelve groups of seven Neanderthals would each attack a particular Hulk. The recent history had shown Tolstoy to be accompanied by a dozen such bodyguards. The rebel ambush squad would have thick metal shields to dilute any initial DPB discharge, and they would only have heavily sharpened saplings to hurl with their enormous strength at the enemy.
“Some of us or all of us may die, that is why I am happy to be the bait for the trap. No matter what happens to me and Albert, you must stick to the plan. We have surprise, we have tactical superiority insofar as our targets will be concentrated in a small area, and most importantly we have you. Your physical presence will cause panic, and your immense power at close quarters will negate their weapons. I salute you all now in case I am the first to fall. We must prevail, and if I don’t survive, you have your leader Atlas to take up the cause. Let us rest, they may be here tomorrow.”
Those remaining few dropouts who hadn’t made the march to join Harley agreed to help negate the risk to Christophe, by sitting in the courtyard. This prompted him to excuse Albert from the proceedings, although the prospect hadn’t seemed to cause the Primede much concern.
It was a cold dawn. The mist was welcome as it added cover for the emergent groups of Neanderthals, and allowed closer order to be taken before unleashing their javelins of prodigious girth. The weight of each of these projectiles, converted to momentum, with the anticipated velocity, was capable of knocking down their ancient church doors. With Christophe and some thirteen individuals sat in a circle as if they were picketing the facility, Tolstoy strode toward them without fear. He engaged them as one. “You know why we are here. Unless you are completely stupid, and I see you are unarmed, you know that this situation calls for a lesson to others as well as your demise. Stand up.”
Christophe had arranged for the Neanderthals to respond to his loud laughter, hoping that this would further enrage Tolstoy, and intensify the distraction of the Hulks. They charged from all sides and each group faced the rear of a particular Hulk. It was crucial to get in the first blow. Five Hulks hit the ground, injured but not defunct. Another three were impaled on the mini-trees and could be counted as ‘dead’. Two managed to evade the first barrage and did get a round of DPB off to atomise half of one group of assailants. They didn’t survive the second wave of spears, and Christophe himself noticed the remaining two Hulks running for cover. They were inconvenienced by sapling splinters in their armour. He picked up a DPB and vapourised them as they approached the perimeter. Instructions had been issued to take Tolstoy alive if possible. Not only was this achieved, they had a cache of twelve DPB weapons. Christophe made sure the first act to follow the victory was one of acknowledgment of the sacrifice of four of their own. Their remains were gathered carefully and would be honoured in an appropriate ceremony the next day. No prisoners were taken. They had the only hostage they needed.
Christophe contacted Harley and told him of the day’s events. “That is unbelievable, fantastic – what will you do with Tolstoy?”
“This victory will attract a massive response, that’s why I wanted Tolstoy alive and kicking. I’ll put up a poster at the scene telling the retribution force that he will be dosed with a DPB if we are pursued. I’m ready to head toward your position, but I still want to follow my ultimate objective.”
Harley agreed to wait for him at Everett, just north of Seattle. Christophe said he preferred Bellingham. “We have collected nine DPB units which are in working order, and you’ll stand a better chance of defending your group if we can be there to fend off Hulks by using their own weapons against them. They didn’t like fighting on a level playing field against the Neanderthals, and we also have stripped the protective armour from our victims to reconfigure it for our soldiers. We need to do this with every encounter Harley, until we can make better weapons ourselves. If we meet further north in Bellingham, you are less likely to run into trouble.”
Harley deferred to this suggestion when Cleopatra endorsed it. Nobody had noticed Albert during or after the minor miracle of this victory. He had brought up two important findings for Christophe to consider. The first was a simple but important observation, and the second had enormous potential. “I have studied the original text and your attempted translation of it, from the Primede inscriptions on the walls of the Ganymede cave. Those translations are reasonably accurate, but there are passages which must have been too difficult for you to decipher, because they are missing. Also, you will undoubtedly be far more interested in the work of twenty-first century researchers into the science of Bio Bricks, as it was called at the time.”
Chapter 20
With Tolstoy out of action, Alexander had to make an appearance. He chose to broadcast his message to those who had been involved in the abduction.
“The minority groups of humans and domestiques should take note that the programmes upon which we have embarked since the cessation of hostilities are tailored for their ultimate benefit. We must make order out of chaos, or no one will survive in the longer term. Tolstoy’s genetic project is only the beginning, and I urge you to see the benefits before rushing to judgement. The alternative would be very painful for all of us, but will come to pass, unless we can forge a convergent path. The future will be unsustainable if we are confined to this planet. All possible effort must be channelled to this objective of finding another homeland. You have to realise that resisting such an essential mission is both myopic and futile. If we are forced to eradicate such resistance then it will be because of your intransigence. No matter how brutal the medicine, it will nevertheless be administered. As an example, those holding Tolstoy need to think hard. We won’t hunt you down, that is inefficient. We will reinstate the mass executions of the recent conflict. You have one week to consider your position, and if Tolstoy is not set free, then one hundred thousand indiscriminately chosen individuals will die.”
Harley was really uncomfortable with such a threat, because as a Borg, he knew Alexander would seize upon such justification to eliminate more resistance to his grand design. He turned to Cleopatra. “Tolstoy was feared, but at least he was predictable and therefore we could react accordingly. Alexander is the opposite, and can manoeuvre us into a position which he claims forces him to be draconian, pretending that it is the last thing he wanted. This will weaken the resolve of those who are considering joining with us for a second time.”
“That may be Harley, but there are also those who would simply rather die than accept slavery, which is what is coming if he isn’t stopped. Think about the dropouts who have already pledged their support. It is meaningless in one sense, but they have decided that their present life, having been abandoned by even moderate citizens, is worth fighting and dying for. We have to match Alexander’s propaganda. That should be your role, I can annex his threats better than you can, so you should let me handle the insurgent strategy, and that includes Christophe.”
“You mean we are going to watch another stadium full of citizens die?”
“Your concern that this will regenerate such fear that our recruitment will stall may be correct – initially, but we won’t be the first oppressed minority to keep coming back for more. He will be killing them, not us, and we have to find the right response. I must speak with Christophe as soon as possible.” Harley began to think he was one of the least suitable candidates to lead this crusade.
*
In the meantime, Christophe’s long journey to join with Harley was punctuated with ideas from Albert. The revelation that the translations of the Ganymede inscriptions had many gaps was fascinating, but he struggled to see the link that Albert was makin
g with the current slide to a new theatre of war.
“It comes back to the Primedes’ declaration that the perfect specimen was a failure. You must factor in the small matter that I am a Primede. Unlike the other vials here and on Ganymede, I am unaltered and I am therefore still one of them. The Neanderthals and modified Homo-Sapiens are experiments. The text your crew failed to translate clearly indicates that the perfect specimen was going to become extinct, despite their considerable investment in it. You must recall Douglas Newton saying that the human alterations were in the opposite direction to the Neanderthals. This is a crucial piece of information. How do you think they judged their perfect specimen? When do you think they concluded it was a failure? Why do you think this was so important to them?”
“I can’t wait to hear,” groaned Christophe, stifling a yawn.
“Another conclusion you reached was that the Primedes themselves were probably extinct. Wrong, I am here. Come on Christophe, begin using whatever inadequate cerebral capacity you have, which is as yet unaffected by drugs and thirst for revenge. There has been speculation between you and Newton about how far back the Primedes may have been involved with genetic manipulation on Earth. Perhaps you should look at this from their point of view, rather than how fascinating it would be if there had been a benefactor from the stars. I would like to discuss my second discovery, but that will only happen when I have your undivided attention. If we had both expired during the capture of Tolstoy we wouldn’t be having this conversation and your struggle with drugs and retribution wouldn’t matter. Let me know when you feel the inclination to engage with me.”
Christophe promised he would. “We do have to live in the ‘now’ on occasions Albert, and we need to reach Harley before he gets too close to Seattle. I will speak to you again when we reach Bellingham.”
“Living in the ‘now’, I like that, you must have read my mind.” The march continued without bumping into any loyalist forces. Christophe thought this was strange.
The reunion was a source of relief rather than one of jubilation. Harley and Cleopatra were quite overwhelmed by the sight of so many formidable Neanderthals. There were even signs of a few pregnancies amongst them. Christophe explained that he had convinced the expectant mothers to stay out of the front line activities. He therefore needed to find another suitable laboratory in which he could spawn a new specimen to fill the gap. “I think we should keep a reserve in the vial for the present, because we will encounter more difficulty as we make gains. I have yet to suggest that the new offspring will become both a worry and a burden if the maturation process isn’t invoked. Natural birth and nurture is for the future. This isn’t going to be an easy hurdle to clear.”
After everyone was settled, Cleopatra managed to get Christophe on his own. “You are extremely driven for a man who used to be involved in saving lives.”
“Yes, that’s probably why I’m still on drugs, to blot out the compassionate streak which is required to be a medical practitioner. But that’s not what you want to talk to me about is it?”
“Not really, you keep mentioning your objective. I assume that although it is in the same cause as ours, you have a plan which may be considered as barbaric to the Brotherhood. I have thought about this and we may actually be on a similar wavelength. Harley would never countenance such indiscriminate response, but he has given me responsibility for the military implementation strategy. I believe your objective is dependent on getting access to a certain location in what was the old High Command HQ at the Cape. Am I correct?”
“You might be.”
“Then be patient. I will shape the campaign to that end and we can do this together.” Christophe could not benefit from any interpretive facial expression or body language of Cleopatra, but he was still pretty certain that she had figured out his ‘piece de resistance’. She didn’t need to know it would be his last contribution to the cause.
Having digested this conversation and its implications he was immediately bounced into another. Albert awaited him, and tackled him about keeping his promise.
“Well Christophe, here we are in Bellingham.”
“Yes indeed, you have my attention Albert. I’m sorry that I have been a little distant recently. I know you asked me questions on the way here but it will save time if you just get to the point.”
“No, that is not acceptable. What I have to say must be taken seriously, and if you aren’t the best person to act on what I have to reveal, I will approach Harley.”
“Suit yourself. I have other puzzles to solve which may prevent loss of life of our soldiers. Just do what you think is right.”
Albert was extremely disappointed with his creator and decided to sever this contrived filial loyalty. He approached Harley.
He immediately got the attention he had failed to arouse with Christophe. Harley asked him to elaborate on the contention that the Primedes were not extinct.
“I believe that may become apparent if we try to answer all of the questions I asked Christophe. The most compelling in my mind was how far back can we trace Primede interference with Earth evolution? I struggled with this until I had made sense of other blanks in the overall picture. Firstly, how did they judge their failure with the revered perfect specimen? I’m afraid you missed clues to this when you were on Ganymede. They had tried to tinker, rather than make wholesale changes. They didn’t like their projected outcome of unaltered Homo-Sapiens in terms of becoming the dominant species. They wanted the more pedestrian, yet intelligent counter-balance of Neanderthals calling the shots. The failure was that they did not prevent their extinction, when all of their projections indicated the opposite. Question two then enters the fray. When do we think they made this assessment?”
Harley began to see where this was going. “You’re suggesting they came back to find Neanderthals were extinct.”
“Precisely, and now let us consider the third conundrum. Why do we think this was so important to them?”
“All that comes to mind is that they somehow foresaw something extremely undesirable with unbridled human development.”
Albert was rather pleased with Harley’s deduction thus far. “Indeed, and drawing on the answers to the two previous questions, what might that be? Think about who I am, where I came from and why I was left amongst a staggering number of experimental vials.”
“I can only guess that you represent what they were at the time.”
“Ok then Harley, we are close to unravelling this mission to Jupiter space. Your crew debated the paradox which confronted you at that time, and the key word here is time. This perceived or real paradox you talked of was merely a flicker in the full context of the plan of the Primedes. We are dealing with, and they were facing a temporal paradox, not one of simply having no solution, rather one with limitations of influence by them or us. Is this beginning to make sense?”
“It provokes even more questions. What you are intimating is that the Primedes are our ancestors, and chose to steer the evolution on Earth to assist their own long term survival. What I can’t see is what precisely they didn’t like with regard to their own meddling.”
“Well, I believe that we haven’t seen everything there is to see in Jupiter space, because another passage within their inscriptions, which you failed to appreciate, was with regard to computer science, cybernetics and artificial intelligence in general. It seems as if you misinterpreted their emphasis as well as the actual semantics. You indirectly represent what they were trying to avoid.”
Harley pondered this for a brief period and then exclaimed, “You believe that they predicted humans would create life forms such as the Borg, and this could become a self-destructive calamity?”
“Absolutely, and they needed to take small steps to nudge humans, really themselves, in the form of their descendants on to a different path. They had invested millennia of effort in dragging and twisting Darwinian inevitability into a nursery for their IVF progeny. Now we can visualise the missing part of the story which m
ust still be orbiting Jupiter. They, me, the Primedes, Rodriguez and Christophe are from the same nitrogen-breathing stock which originally emerged in other parts of the galaxy. This is but one experiment in a coherent statistical plan. They expected the Neanderthals to prevail, and after all, they were also their long distant progeny. They underestimated the force of uninhibited evolution, which allowed Homo-Sapiens to conquer what Neanderthals could not. Once this was realised they needed to devise a puzzle which humans would discover one day, and change the course of events, including the unsatisfactory future for the Primedes. Your species is threatening their existence out in the galaxy. Their hope is that cyborgs will be eradicated and disappear from their future. This has become extremely urgent. You missed a lot of data while you grappled with the Ganymede terrain. There are many repercussions we have to take into account. They will not stand by idly and watch the Borg effectively keep the timeline as it is. Your species has to be uncreated, and we have to do that. Unless we comply they will have another means of undoing events before Homo-Erectus appeared. They don’t want to go further back than is deemed necessary, because it will change so much which will have to be re-created. We are looking at the period just prior to that of computer infancy. It’s not what you wanted to hear, but you are just pawns in a complex matrix. Now then Harley, who is going to believe us? There is another layer to the temporal paradox. I have invested in me, a means of carrying out a purge of all cyborgs, but this is for them a fall-back option only, and yet from your perspective, a blackmail threat. How do you suggest we proceed?”