Ally or Alien: A Sci-Fi Novel (24 page)

The biomorph would now take control of every aspect of the facility and incorporate the technology into its body. Including the first generation weapons from the depot, the bionic arms in the repair stations and other devices the Newtype had been quiet about. Bellrock hoped eLoom was right about her peers taking away all the excess equipment. Scary to imagine what the biomorph could do with a fully-operational facility.

eLoom focused on the rugged path in front and spoke, ignoring the turbulences swallowing up her syllables. She didn't carry any visible sign of a helmet. Heck, she seemed to breathe the Martian atmosphere through her gills.

"Are you okay? I can feel vibrations through your suit."

"Yeah, I'm just...I hope Srini's alright."

"Oh he is. Your partner has already boarded the ringstation with eVax and eKazumi."

Bellrock wanted to follow up with a How Do You Know, but then he realized she was still linked to her peers, even across the planet.

All hail to the B2B.

eLoom added,

"Dr. Rao is currently in a repair pod being treated by our units. His situation is stable, his chance of making it reaches 97.5% probability."

Another load of fear lifted from Bellrock's heavy shoulders. So far, everyone he cared about was safe, which lowered some of his stress. And as much as Bellrock wanted to smile and feel grateful for the situation, his instinct knew better. 

As long as he remained on Mars, danger was imminent…

57

Ride of a lifetime. 

At least for Bellrock, glued to the backseat of the hovercycle, wrapping his healthy arm around eLoom and fearing squeezing her. Then again, she was made of artificial skin and a nanotube-enhanced bone structure, which could withstand more pressure than he could muster up. This rare moment of serenity allowed him to ponder the situation. He was still trapped on a hostile planet that once belonged to the humans. 

The American Commonwealth would have eradicated the biomorph by now. The Newtype’s mixed-combat droids were useful, but the only thing that could stop a viral aggressor like the adaptable biomorph was a WMD that could be fired from great distances. A weapon of mass destruction which was outlawed by the interplanetary peace treaty. Bellrock doubted the Newtype possessed anything like it, even though they still harbored weapon depots. After all, the anti-WMD stance was one of the many reasons why the Newtype had separated themselves from their human siblings. 

"An advanced race does not use weapons that cause area-wide damage," they had said.

If they had to implement military force, they would have used technology that could target hostiles with accuracy in the nano-realm, avoiding any form of collateral damage. Would they utter these same words in today's situation? Surely, they would find a justification for their non-use of WMDs. 

Well, as long as they could access other options. 

Bellrock increased his volume and said,

"What happened to the other Newtype?"

"Everyone in a radius of five thousand kilometers has left the perimeter. Only a handful of aerial recon droids are scouting the area for surveillance purposes, aiding our satellites in orbit. We have a back-up shuttle base, but it’s far away.”

eLoom bowed forward and boosted the hovercycle's speed. Bellrock noticed the floating vehicle whirling the red dust from the rugged Martian surface. The Farsight station was out of sight, and soon, out of existence.

Bellrock looked forward to the ringstation. He wanted to leave this part of the galaxy behind. Back in the old days, a part of him would have cherished the constant action and excitement, but after a decade of battle fatigue, his desire for real war had vaporized.

Why had he forgotten how grave real-life war was?

Or maybe he just had gotten old.

Still, Bellrock looked forward to return to his home planet. Mars' hostile environment, even without the biomorph, showed him how much he cherished the blue planet. Amazing what over 55 million kilometers of distance could do to one's psyche. It intensified the homesickness by a factor of ten.

eLoom broke his pondering spree.

"Port inbound, Captain Bellrock. Do not be afraid, but it is going to be a different experience from last time."

"Why is that?"

"You will see soon."

Bellrock looked past her shoulder and discovered the astroport approaching on the horizon. eLoom was right, something about the construct was different, but it took him a few seconds to find out what...

58

It was the astroport, alright.

At least the trimmed down, super-slim version. Bays and ports were missing, except for the center module which was still connected to the space elevator. A long, transparent tube connecting the Martian earth to heaven.

"I don't know what to make of this,” Bellrock said as he looked over eLoom's shoulder.

"Heh, in case you haven't noticed, but all our structures are modular units which can be detached. When I said we have evacuated the area, I didn't only mean our plasto-organic units."

Whenever Bellrock thought the Newtype technology couldn't wow him anymore, eLoom served him a double-whammo. 

Evacuate buildings?

Get outta here.

"So how did you move the structures?"

"They're mobile platforms with suborbital flight capabilities."

"So basically houses with thrusters."

eLoom chuckled.

"Simplified, but yes, that is a helpful mental image."

"If that was the case, why didn't you fly Farsight out of harm's way?" 

"Because that was still a refurbished construction from the old days. It is stationary as such."

"Got it."

eLoom parked the hovercycle near the slim astroport construct. 

"The Exec took the bay, so we have to use the airlock manually."

"No worries."

Bellrock checked the oxygen supply of his EVA suit. It was still going strong at 75.3%. He stepped from the hovercycle as eLoom brought the vessel to a still stand near the shutter gate. She folded the craft in the middle and attached it to her back sockets.

Mini transformer on the go.

"We're going to take the hovercycle to the ringstation."

Still true to their motto—no device left behind.

The two entered the decompression zone. The first airlock closed behind them. Fifteen seconds of awkwardness before the gate leading to the station, or what was left of it, opened like a mechanical iris. Bellrock was the first to step into the circle-shaped hall.

Wherever he looked, the void answered back. 

Ghost center. 

Freaky, to say the least. It was hard to believe this station used to be the crowded connectivity hub of the area. Only three sols ago, thousands of Newtype had traversed these grounds to travel to every spot on the red planet. Not even the folks back home could evacuate that fast. 

"Let us make every second count," eLoom said and approached the entrance to the climber. The gate slid sideways and offered the view to the ramp. It was connected to the empty climber shuttle waiting for its last two escapees. An oval-shaped, window-less vessel, 'parked' horizontally, ready to shoot up the nanotubed pipeline. It reminded Bellrock of ancient Noah boarding the ark to escape the floods. 

"Are you okay?"

eLoom looked at him with her big blue eyes. She seemed genuinely worried about him. 

"Yeah, I was just thinking about some very old story from Earth."

"Well, once we are inside the climber unit you can tell me all about it."

"Amen."

They traversed the ramp and boarded the climber. Bellrock chose the seat next to eLoom and waited till its adaptable tech wrapped around his EVA suit, ensuring maximum stability.

Felt almost like a quaint shuttle start from Earth. 

But that was the only similarity with Earth-based spaceship technology. There was no dashboard, no yoke or any other form of physical control mechanism. Just eLoom, connected to the climber shuttle itself via her personal area network. Without saying a word, she ordered the thrusters to activate. All Bellrock could hear was a faint humming. When they ascended, he looked out the transparent walls of the shuttle. In less than a handful of seconds, he saw the crimson surface of Mars blessing his sight again. Impressive canyons and rugged grounds, barely touched by its benevolent colonizers. One part of him missed leaving the planet—after all, he was one of only two humans who had touched ground here in the past decade. But the other part remembered the biomorph and its devouring spree. 

If the Newtype wouldn't deal with the aggressor, they could lose the entire red planet. 

Damn.

After saying goodbye to planet Mars in whispers, he could feel eLoom craning her slender neck and piercing him with her ever-blue eyes.

"Now tell me about your cybernetic arm."

59

eLoom's curiosity burned brighter than a flare tracer lighting up the dark. This question had to come up eventually. Since she had answered every of his requests, it was only fair to return the favor.

Although it hurt to go deep again.

"Remember when I told you about my love for Japanese pop?"

"Oh yes. I have even copied your songs and deciphered their meanings. Japanese is a fascinating language and sooo different from your World English."

"Well, believe it or not, J-pop is related to my arm. You see, when I was in my mid-twenties, I got a degree in cybernetic engineering from the MIT, a renowned university in Massachusetts, a territory of the American Commonwealth. After college, I was looking for a change of place, and since I had always loved Japanese pop culture, such as their comics, movies and video games, I thought it would be a great idea to work there. It had always been a technologically advanced country."

Pause.

The memories shot up his mind. 

All of them—the good and the bad.

“The Japanese faced the lowest population growth of all nations on Earth, which meant they lacked qualified employees in their workforce, especially in the technology sector. They're proud people, but they're also practical, so they changed their immigration policy. They offered free housing and tax reduction for any skilled foreign worker willing to relocate to Japan to work in their tech sector."

"Interesting. Tell me more."

She seemed sincerely interested.

"Well, I was young, straight out of tech college and drowning in debt. I saw the newsfeed ads from the Japanese Immigration Department and thought, why not? So I sold my car, took the next flight to Neo-Tokyo and quickly found work at Onimech, a company specializing in exoframe and prothesis construction."

“Splendid. That is so revealing, Bellrock. I had no idea you had such a technical background. But how did you end up as a soldier?"

Digging up the old stories, not exactly one of Bellrock's preferred activities. But he had already slipped down the rope, so why not go the full descend. 

"Well, first of all, I loved working for Onimech. Even though I remained the 'gaijin'. I quickly got accustomed to Japanese culture, had a girlfriend, good pay and loved my job. Sort of like the American immigrant success story in reverse." 

Pause.

The next sentences hurt as much as the memory still haunting Bellrock to this very day.

"In the second or third year I worked for Onimech, the American Commonwealth and its global allies reported an uproar on their Martian colony. To me, the rumors sounded ridiculous. Some crazy talk about the first Martian-born humans demanding independence from their Earth-based governments."

He paused.

Silence crept in, flavored by the humming of the climber shuttle they sat in.

"Within three months, the AC reinstated the draft which counted for expats like me, too."

He paused as he pictured the memories from the past. A past that seemed to belong to a different Bellrock. A young man filled with ambition to create a better future. 

Oh my, how times had changed.

"Since the AC still wielded a big military presence in Japan, they found out about me and made me enlist in the forces. That's when I learned about Taurus McCloud, now the AC's Secretary of Space Defense. He was a military advisor for Onimech back then, helping them expand their business into the military industrial complex of the Commonwealth."

It took a while for eLoom to answer, even though her brain capacity surpassed that of a human. She seemed to cherish every bit of Bellrock's revelations. 

"I had no idea. What a rich history, full of disappointment, dreams and twists of fate. Just like a compelling human story I know from Earth-based fiction."

That was one way of looking at it.

"Long story super short, I went through Basic training and became a soldier, got dispatched to Mars...well, you know how it went from there. During the Separatist War, my left arm blew off in the crossfire."

He avoided unnecessary details about the incident to avoid the blaming on both sides. Not that eLoom would have minded.

She seemed detached from the war-torn past—good for her.

Bellrock said,

"The Veteran Services sucked back in the day. They were overextended and underfunded, so getting long-term treatment for my heavy injuries seemed impossible. Taurus paid for all my medical costs, including the cybernetic arm from my previous employer, Onimech. It was a blessing."

He pictured his wounded arm under the armor of the EVA.

"Back in my Japan days, I was actually in the design team that created the blueprint for this baby. It's an RD-X022 All-Rounder. Pricey, but arguably the most realistic 'fake' arm ever produced on Earth."

He grinned at eLoom.

"The arm had served me well over the years, with very little maintenance involved. But it always felt foreign in a way, as if something alien invaded my body without ever belonging. Something which made me feel—“

"Inhuman," eLoom said. 

"Yeah."

He let her word linger on his mind. 

Bellrock, 88% human, the rest, cybernetic. He had always continued this thought—if he had lost more limbs in the war, let's say his legs or even parts of the torso, he would have gotten more cybernetic replacements. At which point the question arose—would he still be human, or transform into a Newtype 'shell' himself?