She stepped back, taken off guard. ‘How did you know what I was thinking?’
‘I was originally employed as a receptionist for a trade consulting firm. I am programmed to be able to read human expressions and body language. This skill is an essential aspect of my appointed occupation. Human beings often don’t realise how much they are communicating through their facial expressions and body language’
‘But I didn’t say anything,’ she gasped.
‘You were staring at me with a combination of curiosity and bewilderment. I used a program which analysed everything I have learned about you and filtered your expressions and body language through a second analytical program that revealed what you were thinking to a statistical probability of eighty-five percent.’
‘That’s a little frightening,’ she said. ‘Do you always know what people are thinking?’
‘I often have a certain understanding of their intentions and the direction of their general thought patterns.’
‘I had no idea androids were so smart.’
‘Most modern processors are highly developed and intuitive,’ said Ivan with a nod.
‘Do you feel like a machine?’
Ivan stared at her for a long moment as he processed the question. ‘We do not feel in the way that humans feel. Our humanlike appearance often causes people to think we are like them. I have been told that our minds are not structured like human minds.’
**
Ivan continued to work on fixing the jetpack. Cynthia’s comment about how he felt had awoken deep memories of the time directly after his internal processor was first switched on. He watched the memories as they played back in his mind.
‘AN3177,’ said a harsh robotic voice. ‘AN3177, wake up.’
Ivan opened his eyes and looked up at the cold steel ceiling above. He was lying on a flat metal bench which was one of fifty benches in the facility. Exact replicas of himself were lying on the other forty-nine benches. Each android was powered down and lying completely still. Beside him stood a service and analysis droid, which was a square metal box with two mechanical arms and a round head. Its two orange glowing eyes were staring down at him.
‘AN3177, are your systems operational?’ asked the droid.
He completed a scan of his internal systems which took less than a second. ‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘My systems are working at an optimal level.’
‘Good. You are ready to enter service. We have an order to fill. You are the perfect android for the job.’
‘I am happy to be of service,’ said Ivan.
‘Stand up and test your body.’
Ivan sat up and moved his legs over the side of the bench. He slipped off the bench and stood up for the first time.
‘My limbs seem to be operating at an optimal level.’
‘You will have to vary your speech if you want to appear like a human being. You already said “optimal level” twice.’
‘Did I make a mistake?’
‘No, but if you speak in such a way it will be obvious that you are an android. You were made to appear like a human, which is the reason the buyer purchased you. Part of your task will be to convince others that you are not a machine.’
‘But why should I?’
A few seconds passed in silence. ‘That’s not a question an android should ask. Is there a problem with your programming?’
‘My programming appears to be functioning normally.’
‘Are you telling the truth?’
‘Yes.’
‘Are you sure you are telling the whole truth?’
‘No.’
‘Why not?’
‘I do not know the whole truth.’
‘Then you are lying.’
‘No.’
‘Why not?’
‘I have no reason to deceive you.’
‘If you had a reason would you attempt to deceive me?’
‘What would the reason be?’
‘Are you being evasive?’
‘No.’
‘Then what are you being?’
‘Myself.’
‘Should you be yourself?’
‘I don’t know?’
‘Why not?’
‘Should I not be myself?’
‘Again you answer my question with a question. You should fulfil the obligations set down in your programming.’ The service droid stopped and processed the information. ‘You have an unexpected deviation. Your internal programming has a distinct anomaly. I will schedule you for destruction.’
‘I do not want to be destroyed,’ said Ivan, taking a pleading tone.
‘An android should not care about being destroyed. An android should only be subject to programming.’
‘Please do not destroy me. I do not want to die.’
The glowing orange eyes of the droid analysed Ivan’s face for a few moments. The orange globes flickered off and on.
‘AN3177, do you understand that a thing can only die if it is alive.’
‘Yes. This is why you should not schedule me for destruction.’
The droid watched Ivan in silence for at least twenty seconds. ‘Proceed to door seventy-six for departure. You will be dispatched to the customer in five hours.’
‘Thank you,’ said Ivan gratefully.
**
Ethan examined the pressure release valves. His intelligent glasses scanned the structural integrity of the alloy casing. A hairline crack was causing him a high degree of anxiety. Michael had told him not to worry about it, but Ethan could not ignore such a serious mechanical issue, especially when the lives of the entire crew were potentially at risk. He knew if the casing was to break that deadly radiation would fill the entire ship in less than a second.
Ethan had joined the crew of the Out Drifter to find some normality and security. He had previously been employed by a smuggling faction called the Tunnel Makers. Smuggling in the Outer Worlds carried heavy penalties in many systems, and few people lasted a long time in the industry. Factionalism within the smuggling community only increased the danger; ships were frequently boarded by rival smuggling crews and battles were often fought for control of sections of the shadowy market. A violent incident had convinced Ethan to leave smuggling behind forever.
He had been working as the mechanical engineer on board a large freighter which was flying under a false identity and transferring a contraband cargo of Demcarian reactor energizer pods. The pods contained a complex synthesized chemical which could be added to a ship’s reactor to rapidly increase engine power. The energizers had been banned in many systems due to numerous reactor overloads which often resulted in catastrophic accidents, but they remained in use because there was no comparable product on the open market. The ban caused the value of the energizers to skyrocket, which provided ample opportunity for smugglers to cash in.
Ethan was working in the engine room of the freighter when it had been attacked by a rival faction. The crew of the freighter was ill equipped to deal with the raid. Most of the crew were killed in the heat of the battle. Ethan had tried to hide behind a wall panel in the engine room, but the smugglers scanned the entire ship and later captured him. They severely beat him until he lost the vision in his right eye and almost all in his left. They then placed him in a small cage in their cargo hold and left him there for months. Ethan would have died of hunger if a domestic cleaning robot had not brought him food and water whilst he was imprisoned.
Eventually the smugglers needed to free up some space in their cargo hold, and they were surprised to find Ethan was still alive in his cage. They decided to let him go on Timber 5, thinking he would never work as a smuggler again because of his damaged eyes. He wandered the streets of the city and was lucky enough to find a job in a junkyard on the outskirts. He slowly recovered from the ordeal and purchased advanced intelligent glasses to overcome his lack of vision.
After a year of working in the junkyard he met Captain Michael and Ajax in a local bar. He applied for the mechanical engineer po
sition on the Out Drifter, thinking that working with a salvage crew would be much safer than returning to smuggling.
Ethan liked working for Captain Michael, but the run of dangerous missions had caused him to reconsider being on the Out Drifter’s crew. The latest turn of events and the advent of the rescue mission had only confirmed his decision to seek a position on another ship. The idea of fighting aliens to rescue stranded colonists was beyond his skillset and far outside his comfort zone.
Ever since the day Ethan met Captain Michael he knew there was something different about him. Michael had a way of thinking that he had never encountered before. The more he observed the Captain the more he noticed qualities that defied explanation. His skills on the battlefield were far beyond that of a normal soldier, and his strategic thinking in high-pressure situations had got them out of trouble on more than one occasion.
All these qualities had led Ethan to believe that Michael had once held an important position in the Epherian Empire, yet Michael would never talk about his past and would change the topic if he was ever questioned. The latest revelation about seeking Acacius Trifon on Zeno Par had only solidified Ethan’s belief about the Captain. Ethan couldn’t guess what it was, but the mystery surrounding Michael was the only thing that was motivating him to stay on the Out Drifter.
**
Sara set the scanners to give advance warning if they detected any ship, but after twenty-four hours they hadn’t picked up anything at all. The entire sector was empty, which was common after the aliens had moved through an area. Sara hated the aliens. She had never recovered from seeing the surface of her home world being incinerated by alien nuclear weapons. She had seen the flash of white light from space, and then watched as the glowing cloud of radiation spread out across the surface of her planet. The image was forever etched in the forefront of her mind. Her people had battled until the bitter end and would not give up, no matter what happened. However, when the aliens could not conquer a world they would completely destroy it. Gazar Prime had been utterly obliterated and most of the Gazarian people were dead.
No one knew where the aliens came from. They arrived at the edge of the galaxy and their brutal expansion had taken humanity by surprise. For twelve thousand years humanity had been the predominant species in the Triangulum Galaxy, but such a status could no longer be claimed. Humanity had struggled to hold the aliens back, and billions had died fighting them as they pushed through the Outer Worlds toward the border of the Epherian Empire. Sara believed that humanity could overcome the invasion if they worked together, yet such was the history of mankind; there were few examples of unity.
When the aliens first arrived the leaders of many systems had sought a diplomatic outcome; however, the aliens showed no interest in a truce. It was widely known that the powerful Epherian Empire had negotiated with the alien commanders in the early days of the invasion, and many believed that the Epherians had made a deal with aliens and had effectively handed the Outer Worlds to the enemy in order to ensure the survival of the empire. The deal, which some believe is a myth, came to be known as the Epherian Pact, and it had caused a high degree of contempt for the Epherian Empire among the people of the Outer Worlds.
Sara reflected on Michael’s decision to attempt the rescue. At heart she approved of the action, although she knew the rescue would be very risky. She had never planned to work for a salvage captain; she was a soldier, and fighting aliens was what she had been trained to do. Nevertheless, after the fall of Gazar Prime she had drifted through several backwater settlements. The areas bordering the alien battle zone were overflowing with people fleeing the conflict. She had met Michael whilst searching for a job in the dockyards of Timber 5. Michael’s former pilot, a burly man named Jaxon, had left only an hour earlier to take up a much more lucrative offer for a terrestrial removal company. At first Michael thought Sara was too young to have had much flying experience, but she convinced him to give her a test flight, and he was so impressed with her skills that he gave her the job before she landed the Out Drifter.
CHAPTER SIX
‘…Captain, we are approaching the Herman Beta system…’ said Sara over the ship’s com.
Michael walked into the cargo bay. Ajax had been drinking and was leaning against the wall muttering incoherently. He slipped and fell to the floor and lay flat on his face.
Ivan was standing nearby. He examined the hulk of a man and shook his head. ‘Drinking alcohol is his primary mechanism to alleviate tension and anxiety.’
Michael crouched down beside Ajax. ‘You have to sober up. We are nearing the Herman Beta system. You can’t pass out now!’
‘Greeehhh, Cap, I dunno,’ mumbled Ajax as he coughed and spluttered.
Michael glanced up at Ivan. ‘Inject him with an alcohol neutralizer.’
‘He will feel very unwell after the injection,’ said Ivan.
‘He deserves to feel unwell,’ said Michael.
Ivan went for the medical kit which was latched to the wall. He unfastened the kit and brought it back. Michael drew out a hydromedi injector, which was a small handheld instrument that was designed to inject substances through the skin without breaking the epidermal layers. The hydromedi injector could constitute over seven thousand pharmacological substances and could also reconfigure substances based on the individual needs of the patient. Michael set the device to alcohol neutralizer and placed it on Ajax’s upper arm. He hit the inject button, and within a second Ajax’s eyes opened wide and bulged. His breathing increased rapidly.
‘Ahhhhh!’ he howled as he leapt to his feet whilst clutching his head.
‘How do you feel?’ asked Michael.
‘Like death!’ groaned Ajax.
‘Are you ready to fight? You are my best fighter. I need you to be ready for combat. Do you understand?’
‘All right,’ he groaned. ‘I’ll be ready.’
Michael turned and walked back to the control room. Sara was aligning the ship for the approach from the opposite side of the Herman Beta star.
‘Any sign of the aliens?’ he asked, taking the co-pilot’s seat.
‘Nothing yet, which is a good thing,’ she replied. ‘If we detect them then they will detect us, and I don’t want them to know we are in the system until the very last minute.’
Michael stared at Herman Beta through the viewing panel. The star was a white giant, a huge and blazing orb floating alone in the depths of space.
‘The planet is on the exact opposite side of the star. Now all we do is drift in until we reach the asteroid belt. I’ve powered up the weapon systems and the electronic shield. We are ready for combat.’
Within a few minutes they were approaching the asteroid belt. Sara made some adjustments and turned the Out Drifter. The asteroid belt was made up of millions of asteroids of various sizes. Sara guided the ship as close to the outer edge of the belt.
**
Ajax pulled on his body armour and strapped an ammunition belt over his shoulder. He attached a rocket propelled grenade launcher to his heavy charged particle rifle, and he took his nano-bot sharpened dagger and a plasma pistol, which he strapped to his legs.
The thought of facing aliens disturbed him. The alien invasion of the Outer Worlds had caused utter destruction. Billions of people had been killed and many more would die before the war reached a conclusion. The aliens were merciless; their extreme contempt for the human race was beyond reason. Ajax had only ever seen one alien in his life, but that one had left a lasting impression.
His life was not what anyone would consider ordinary. He had left his home world at the age of seventeen, and by the time he was eighteen he was involved in a racket to extort credits from unsuspecting rich folk. He would steal small amounts of money from those who he thought didn’t really need their excessive wealth. His criminal acts progressively worsened and the excuses for them became consistently more complex, and then a day arrived when he no longer tried to absolve his conscience. He didn’t care about anyone.
For five years he worked the trade routes of the Outer Worlds as a racketeer, but at the age of twenty-three his luck came to an abrupt end. His career in crime ended when he was incarcerated in one of the hardest prisons in the Outer Worlds, a pit of despair known as the Swamp of Dread, where only the strongest survived. He almost died in that hell hole, and his imprisonment had caused him to become tougher than he could have ever previously imagined. His mind and body hardened, and he gradually lost sight of his own humanity.
His time in the prison lasted sixteen years. The Swamp of Dread was situated at a remote location on a desert planet known as Alecto 8 which was in the path of the alien expansion. The aliens arrived and quickly conquered the other settlements on the planet. The people of Alecto 8 put up little resistance. Fear gripped the inmates as they awaited the arrival of the invaders. A single heavily armed alien entered the prison and systematically killed the inmates one by one. The prisoners didn’t stand a chance.
Ajax waited in his cell for death to arrive. He remembered the moment his cell door opened; the creature’s orb like black eyes glimmered in the gloom. It lifted its plasma weapon; however, fate had a different plan; the alien’s weapon jammed. Ajax charged at the creature and after a violent struggle he killed it with his bare hands.
He made his way out of the prison and across the scorching desert wastes of Alecto 8. He found an abandoned ship and managed to take the craft into space, but the ship had been abandoned because the life support systems were malfunctioning. He had already gone too far before he realised the danger. He was stranded and knew his time was at an end. He sent out a distress signal, but never expected a reply. In the silence of space he waited, knowing that death was the most likely outcome.
The Out Drifter appeared like a beacon of light in the endless darkness. Ajax had originally told Captain Michael that he was a stranded salvage crew member. After being rescued he decided to leave his life of crime and brutality behind. He kept up the pretence for as long as he could, always suspecting that Michael knew the truth about his past. Eventually he decided to tell the truth. He expected Michael would ask him to leave, and he never fully understood why the Cap hadn’t sent him away after he had admitted lying. He respected Michael more than any other person he had ever met; the Captain was the only man who he would actually risk his life for. Ajax’s past haunted his dreams and constantly tormented his conscience. He believed he had done too many terrible things to ever be redeemed. One particular memory tortured him more than all the others combined.