Donald walked up to Jeffrey, the current Council leader, and waited to be acknowledged. Jeffrey was a bit of a dick, and liked to keep people waiting, just to show how important he was. Donald accidentally stood in Jeffrey’s sun and began cleaning his spear while he waited, the dried pieces of blood and hide landing all around Jeffrey. I looked around and tried to keep a straight face.
Finally, Jeffrey accepted the fact that he was being out-ignored. He looked up and gestured for us to sit. We made ourselves comfortable and Donald explained about our encounter with the Caerleon gang.
When we were done, Jeffrey made a face. “That’s now almost a hand of encounters in the last three hands of days. A couple of people were stabbed when they refused to give up their kill. I’m going to have to bring this up with the full Council. Something has to be done.”
“All by people from Caerleon?” I asked.
“Yes, it looks that way. Leave it with me. I’ll get the Council started on it.”
Donald nodded to Jeffrey, and we got to our feet. As we walked away, I said to Donald, “Do you think it’s the one gang, or different ones?”
“Fred’s been mentioned more than once. There might be others involved, but it’s mostly him and his group.”
“And all lately? What’s changed?”
Donald stared into space for a moment. “Um, I don’t think it’s a case of something changing. It’s more likely that Fred just saw a way to take advantage of something that’s been brewing for a while. We’re just not sure what’s behind it.”
We walked in silence for a few moments while I thought through an idea. I looked up to Donald. “I have a plan. Can we get an extra dozen people or so? People who won’t mind some close-up action?”
Donald grinned. “Yeah, I think I can scrape that together.”
I grinned back. Time for some dirty tricks, Earth-style.
We’ve Lost
Howard
February 2217
Vulcan
Bridget opened the door, looking surprised. I hadn’t phoned ahead, and she wasn’t expecting me tonight.
She started to say, “Howard…what…” Then my expression must have registered.
“Howard, what’s wrong?” She grabbed my arm and dragged me into the apartment.
“We lost. We lost and now a billion sentients are going to die!” I collapsed onto her couch and leaned forward with my face in my hands.
“The Pav?”
I nodded, unwilling to trust my voice.
“My God, Howard. Does Butterworth know? Are the Bobs all right?”
I sighed, and tried for calm. “We lost a lot of Bobs, but there are backups. It’s not quite the same, of course.” I turned to Bridget and tried to smile reassuringly. “Riker let Dexter know, and Dexter will be passing the info along to Butterworth or whoever has taken over for him.”
“Are we in danger?”
“Not specifically, Bridget. The Others only know about Earth and Epsilon Eridani. But there are almost two hundred systems closer to GL 877 than us. All these worlds are ultimately in danger as long as the Others exist.”
“And the Pav? I’ve read some of Jacques’ blog entries. They sound like an interesting species. What happens to them?”
I closed my eyes for a moment, hoping maybe I’d be in a different universe when I opened them. No such luck.
“We’ve never seen the process, just the aftereffects. Now we’ll be getting a ringside view. The Others will kill off all life on the Pav home world using the Death Asteroids, then move in with ants and cargo carriers and strip the planet and the inner system of all metals. And they’ll collect all corpses and carcasses.”
I had to stop and take a few deep breaths. The android body didn’t need air, of course, but it was designed to react to emotion, and I was working myself up into a fine conniption.
“Jacques had a plan to rescue twenty thousand Pav, but the rest will be dead soon. And the Others will have wiped out another intelligent species, another entire planetary ecology.”
I turned on the couch to face her. “There will be a moot today, to try to figure out what we can do. I just wanted a few minutes…”
Bridget put her arms around me and pulled my head down to her shoulder. Soundlessly, I tried to cry without tear ducts.
Trouble Brewing
Marcus
November 2212
Poseidon
I rubbed the bridge of my nose with thumb and forefinger, shaking my head. Kal waited patiently at the other end of the call. I looked up to see Gina smirking at me. She smoothed her features out quickly, but come on—computer, remember? I gave her a quick smile in reply.
“Still not convinced, Marcus?” Kal cocked his head at me in the video window.
I sighed. “I guess I’ve been convinced for a while now, Kal. I just didn’t believe it, you know?”
Kal laughed. “Thus ending the myth that computers are logical.”
“Bite me. I was human once.” I sat back in my chair and considered my response. Spike picked that moment to jump into my lap for the obligatory chin-scritching. I gave her the proper adulation while I thought through my options. Kal and Gina wouldn’t even notice the millisecond pause in our conversation.
Kal was an Assistant Governor on Southern Mat Three, and Gina was a mid-level security officer. I’d become friends with both of them over the last couple of years. As we became more comfortable with each other, they’d each confided an increasing concern about the Council’s ongoing power grabs.
“Okay, so we’ll take it as a given that the Council is no longer even pretending that they’ll be instituting elections any time soon. Or at least not putting much effort into it. It’s not proof positive of a totalitarian government, but I’ll grant you it’s a pretty good indicator. Gina likes to shoot things at the first excuse, but Kal, you’re a lot more conservative. The fact that you’ve bought into this is what really scares me.”
Gina opened her mouth to retort, but Kal beat her to it. “Worst case, we’re a long way from crossing any kind of line. If the Council gets a sudden attack of sanity to the head, we’ll have done nothing indictable. Or even embarrassing. And yeah, Marcus, before we do anything that we can’t take back, I’ll want to take a good, long look at the situation.”
I nodded, mollified. The Poseidon Administrative Council was happy to make use of my services, but I had no real official position or authority. The moment I became a liability they could cut me loose. Not that I would be devastated by the snub. I wanted the colony to be self-sufficient, if for no other reason than so I could work on my projects in peace.
“What do you need from me, Kal?” I asked. “I’ve been steadily handing over functions to the administration for a decade now. If it came down to a showdown, I’m not sure I could even maintain control of the autofactories.”
“If it comes to that,” Kal responded, “you’re a wild card, and something the Council can’t control or interdict. At minimum, you’ll be a distraction. At best, you’ll be able to cause them significant stress.”
“Well, I always wanted to be a pain in the ass,” I replied.
“Mission accomplished.” Gina grinned at me. “But you’re also a public figure, and easy to track. We’ll have to be careful about what you’re seen doing.”