I sat mulling over what I had learned so
far and what I still did not understand. “OK Agent,” I said, before starting the questions.
“Picket mentioned something called a kinetic impactor. Can you tell me what those
are and how bad the attack will be?” “Yes John. Note the figures I will be giving will
be approximations and averages for simplicity. First, a kinetic impactor like those being
used in the current bombardment of your planet is simply a large nickel-iron mass that has
been assembl
ed and accelerated to great speed and sent towards targets on the Earth. They
have been launched from an unknown location, though either the leading or trailing Trojan
points of Jupiter would be ideal. If true, the likely duration from launch to impact will
be between 24 to 41 months depending upon orbital locations of both the launch and target points.”
“While in flight, they have some ability to guide themselves and make minor course corrections
to correct errors or to switch targets. The
impactors will have also been sent on multiple
trajectories to not hit the targets located in the higher latitudes too shallowly, where they
would risk skipping off the planet’s atmosphere.” “The impactors have been timed to arrive over
an extended period of time, likely one or two decades, though impacts will be more numerous
early in the attack and tapering off after the first month. This will limit the ability of
your species to react and mitigate the ongoing disaster. They will impact w
ith great force,
with some designed to fragment and explode in the atmosphere causing great surface damage from
shock waves and electromagnetic pulses. Others are designed to remain intact, until they strike the
surface of the planet and will cause huge craters, throw gigatons of dust and debris into the
atmosphere and even cause faults to slip generating earthquakes or volcanic eruptions.’
“We also suspect that some of the air burst impactors are releasing toxic compounds and
chemicals, po
ssibly even biological agents, causing further panic and loss of life,”
Agent explained before pausing briefly. She soon continued. “The average impactor has
an iron-nickel body of around ninety meters in diameter and is traveling at a speed of
over twenty kilometers per second. About a third will strike the surface of the Earth
and the remainder will explode in the air.” “For the impactors which strike the ground,
massive craters will be formed with depths averaging six hundred meters and
a diameter
averaging two to three kilometers across, depending upon soil conditions. The crater
rims will average seventy meters in height also depending upon soil types. Each impact will
eject massive amounts of dust and debris into the atmosphere with some debris even leaving
the atmosphere to potentially fall back, causing further damage much later in the future.”
“The angle at which the impactor strikes may alter the previous estimates and projections somewhat.
Although mostly aimed at
your land areas, some will hit oceans or other smaller bodies of water
and will cause tsunamis and eject great volumes of water vapor into your atmosphere. Also, as Picket
relayed to you earlier, some will be directed to specific targets: Dams, cities, nuclear reactors
and similar critical and vulnerable targets” “For the impactors which detonate in the air, we
have postulated that they also start at around 90 meters in diameter and consist of iron-nickel
pebbles frozen together in a solid
water ice matrix. The matrix will also contain volatile
compounds and, as they enter the atmosphere, reactions to heating effects will cause the
impactors to burst apart. The sudden transition from a single, relatively low-drag object to
an enormous number of small, high-drag objects instantly releases a huge amount of energy into
the atmosphere in the form of heat, which produces explosion-like effects. These explosions will
be in the 10’s of megatons each depending upon the incoming angle
at which they enter the
atmosphere and at what altitude they burst.” “The total number of impactors expected to
be used in the attack upon your world is over 100,000 if this attack is like others witnessed
elsewhere. These numbers will saturate the land mass areas of the earth fairly evenly with
either an airburst explosion or ground impact occurring about every forty to fifty kilometers,
not counting those aimed explicitly at noticeable critical targets as described earlier.”
I imagined t
wenty megaton bombs going off every thirty-five miles, everywhere, every
direction, all across the planet and shuddered. “OK, we are royally fucked! Have any hit near
here yet?” I asked, feeling suddenly nervous. “The nearest impact which I have detected so far
occurred around 240 kilometers to the northwest near the North Dakota border. Two air burst
explosions have also occurred slightly closer, one to the north east in Minnesota and one to the
south, slightly across the Nebraska border.
Also, of local note, I have detected a ground impact
at around 280 kilometers which occurred near the center of the state. I calculate
that the Oahe dam near Pierre has been destroyed. There have been many more impacts or
explosions detected, but none closer currently. This will change as time passes though.”
That numbed me. Oahe was the largest of the rolled earth dams on the Missouri river system. The whole
river system would flood, taking the smaller dams along the way, all the way down t
o St Louis.
I thought of other big dams across the world, the Hoover dam and Three Gorges dam, those were
even bigger. Even so, all the dams soon failing was probably just a drop in the bucket considering
the massive hurt the rest of the Earth was taking. I quietly asked. “How close can
one hit before we won’t survive?” “It is likely that you will not
survive any impacts closer than five or six kilometers though that distance
does have a high tolerance for error.” I did the math ... yes, I
struggled a bit but
was too proud to ask Agent. The best I could come up with is that I had around a ten percent
chance of buying the farm from a direct impact. I felt a bit better for some reason until I
remembered all the people not currently in a deep bunker. They would have much worse odds.
Agent continued. “All across the world, electrical power will fail if it has not done
so already. There will be massive food and other resource shortages. The impacts and explosions
will spread fire
s, both in cities and in the wild, without any form of firefighting available to
limit spreading. Radiation from the damaged nuclear reactors will spread and pollute vast
areas for centuries. Other large areas will become contaminated from pollution caused by chemical
spills, pipeline ruptures, tank failures, rail car spills, tanker ship spills and more. Many will die
due to flooding from tsunamis and the failed dams. Sickness will spread. Survivors will turn violent
as the competition for
remaining resources grows.” “Adding to the direct, but relatively
short-term, impact of the kinetic strikes, the climate will be altered very severely on
the long term. What you would call a ‘nuclear winter’ will occur and this will last for
decades because of the long timeframe of impactor arrivals which will continue to renew
atmospheric dust and ash pollution. The extended drop in temperatures will cause most plant
life to fail and most animal life to die off. Ocean life will even suffer
because of increased
pollution and sedimentation entering the water, and from the lack of sunlight, killing any sea
life dependent upon photosynthesis, for decades.” “Anyone fortunate enough to find shelter will die
as they freeze or starve, either from exhaustion of stored food, or of heating fuel. This will
occur long before they could begin to see any meaningful recovery to the planetary environment
and ecology. Therefore, the end of your current civilization is inevitable,” Agent concl
uded.
I sat there rubbing my forehead. We weren’t just ‘royally’ fucked; we were
‘mega-uber-imperially’ fucked! I did not see how I was exempt from this bleak end either.
I was thinking about Agents description of the kinetic impactors and the effects of their attack
when another question came to mind. “Agent, that’s a huge number of bullets sent this way.
Over a hundred thousand? Do they use rockets or something? How did we not see their
base or whatever if they are that big?” “The kinetic
projectile masses are lunched by
space-based momentum transfer tethers. Simply put, they suspend two masses from each end of a long
tether and spin them up ... like a sling or hammer toss ... in your terms. The tethers are
incredibly strong, have their own intelligence and are self-repairing. They utilize solar
power to spin up the masses to a certain speed then they wait. The spinning tethers are spread
over a wide area and thus have gone unnoticed by your world. They also appear to active
ly
screen their tethers using various methods.” “Once the attack is initiated, in this instance
around seventy-five years ago by our calculations, they begin to spin faster until the impactor
masses are traveling at a speed of around twenty kilometers per second. Next, after
performing incredibly complex calculations to adjust rotational speed and axis, the tethers
release both masses. One mass is released so as to be on an almost perfect trajectory towards
your planet while the other mass
is flung in the opposite direction. Availability of resources
to construct both masses and the tethers lead to our conclusion that the asteroid rich Trojan
points of Jupiter would be an ideal location. “Why 75 years ago?”
“Picket concludes that the triggering reason was the widespread detonation
and use of nuclear weapons on your planet” Huh, that figures. I just realized something else.
“Hey! That launching method means they waste half their ammunition!” I exclaimed, shocked.
“Yes and No, J
ohn. The second mass, or anchor mass, is lost but this is just a large mass of
rock or even ice and easily found or fabricated by the attackers. The first mass, which is targeted
towards the Earth, requires more preparation. They are nickel-iron shaped masses with some onboard
intelligent and some course correction abilities” “Still, incredibly complex aiming calculations are
required as the target and the launching point are in separate orbits and various points around your
star. We projec
t the majority of the computational power of the attackers is devoted to astronomy and
orbital mechanics to achieve such a precise feat.” I must admit. I barely understood what Agent was
describing but I had no doubt that the feat was incredible. She almost sounded awestruck or proud
which confused and miffed me a bit. I paused a long time thinking before asking my next question.
“So, who is hating on us? Who is launching these attacks? Some angry species of Alien
from out in deep space some
where?” “I will attempt to provide as much information
as I am able. The attack was launched by self-replicating, autonomous, machine
intelligences, spread across the Galaxy...” “Fucking Berserkers!” I yelled,
interrupting Agent as I recalled an old science fiction story I had once read.
Agent paused a long moment before replying. “ ... Yes. Yes, I see. The term fits
almost perfectly if you are referring to the ‘Berserker’ definition as defined by members
of your science fiction writing com
munity.” “Yep. I read the books by Saberhagen,” I replied,
remembering the stories of autonomous machines wandering the Galaxy on a mission to destroy all
intelligent life. I followed with “I suppose the term ‘Fermi Paradox’ will also be a part of
your explanation as Berserkers were one of the possible explanations, right?” I asked Agent.
Again, she paused a short while before replying. “ ... Yes, I understand your references.
Yes, this is a likely valid hypothesis explaining why so few inte
lligences exist in
our galaxy,” she paused again before continuing. “I will use the term “Berserker” from now on
when referring to the attacking presence in your solar system. Here is what I know about
the berserker force. Some unknown species from the far recesses of the galaxy created these
weapons and sent them off into space programed to seek out and destroy any other spaceflight
capable civilizations they encountered.” “The original creators have not been seen for
millions of your yea
rs and are presumed long gone. However, the Berserkers remain, still active and
still very dangerous. They are, as your science fiction postulates, autonomous, intelligent
machines who spread by self-replication. The have destroyed thousands of civilizations over
millions of years. Your planet simply being the most recent to fall before them.”
“Unlucky us ... how did they find us?” “I will relay what I know regarding that as Picket
has now flagged the information as permissible to reveal to
you,” Agent explained.
Curious, I sat up a bit. “From what Picket’s species has observed from
other attacks by Berserkers, they search for emerging civilizations who are beginning to
become technologically advanced to the point of nuclear energy or interplanetary spaceflight.
Any civilization below those thresholds seems not to trigger the attacks. As I discussed earlier,
Picket suspects that when humans discovered and utilized nuclear weapons, the current attack
was triggered. Also, as you
say, bad luck, very bad luck, was partly responsible. This
was due to your location and the stage of your civilizations development.”
I considered her answer. “So, we set off an H-bomb or something, they saw
it and came here to do us in? ... and it took 75 years to get here?” I speculated.
“That seems unlikely. It is more probable that the berserker force has been present in your
system for millennia. They spread slowly as they pass various stars around the galaxy; they look
for planets har
boring life. They probably detected early signs of life millions of years ago and
have been waiting for significant growth since.” “Those bastards probably killed the
dinosaurs,” I murmured ruefully to myself. “Highly unlikely, but not impossible,” Agent
answered, not understanding I was half joking. “As the device waits and watches it slowly
grows, building its size and capacity and storing enormous amounts of energy. This occurs
over thousands and thousands of years. It mines asteroids an
d comets, builds solar arrays
as needed for power, gathers ammunition, and assembles huge launching tether arrays while
continuing to wait and watch. If intelligent life does not emerge, the arrays are eventually used
to send newly created Berserkers seed units out from the system to neighboring systems and thus,
spread Berserkers to more stars. Over the eons, their threat spreads across
the Galaxy,” Agent explained. “Picket’s species lets this happen? They
watch these machines build an ar
my for centuries and do nothing to stop it?” I asked.
Agent hesitated a bit before answering. “They are limited in ways to deal with the Berserkers.
Simply put, if the local Berserkers are halted here and prevented from attacking somehow,
then, almost certainly there will be a latter, more devastating attack. This attach would
be much worse and would render the world completely sterile of all life. Picket’s species
believes that if the original attack is allowed to continue, the attack would
be limited
to just exterminating the intelligent life and the majority of higher life forms on your
world. This would fulfil the Berserkers mission, as programmed by their creators long
ago, to eliminating intelligent life.” I did not understand. “Agent, what do
you mean by ‘a later attack’? Couldn’t all the berserkers in the system just be
destroyed before they attacked somehow?” “I am sorry John. Yes, that has been attempted
in the past but with a dreadful outcome. Once the Berserkers a
re reduced to a certain minimum
number and are nearing elimination, they activate an interstellar ‘distress beacon’ for lack of a
better description. Later, sometimes centuries later, there will be a new, much stronger
attack, coming from interstellar space, which results in complete sterilization of the system.”
“Berserkers have been programmed to account for such local resistance. It has been determined
that as they spread around the galaxy searching for life bearing systems, periodically
they also
seed a star system where there is no life. There they can go unnoticed and undetected for eons
as they build what could be described as ‘super weapons’. These super weapon bases can monitor a
large interstellar area, hundreds of light years across. When they detect an ‘emergency distress
beacon’ sent from another group of Berserkers, they will use their super weapons to attack that
system, even across interstellar distances.” “How can they attack from so far away and how
can thes
e weapons sterilize a world?” I asked. “They use a similar form of kinetic
impactors as the local Berserkers use, John. These are much more powerful as they are
traveling much, much faster when they hit. To cross the interstellar distances in a timely
manner and to carry the destruction they do, each interstellar impactor is traveling at least
0.9 C and sometimes faster,” Agent replied. “C? You mean like as in the
speed of light?” I asked. “Yes John. The physics are basic and even known
to
your species. The typical relativistic impactor has been calculated to have a mass of around 700
kilograms and travel at 0.9c. These will impact with an energy of approximately 79 million,
trillion Joules, the equivalent of around 19 of your ‘gigatons of TNT’ as you use when
describing the effects of your nuclear weapons. Based upon the few worlds we have
surveyed where this has happened, the attack will typically involve thousands of
these impactors, one arriving every few days, probably
because of the extreme energy required to
launch and accelerate such masses. The launching method we still do not understand and can only
speculate about as the total energy required would be a good fraction of the output of most stars.”
“Depending on the size of the planet, the impactor will either punch straight through to its core or
will break apart into a dispersed cloud similar to gravel well before reaching its target. Thus,
the impact energy is spread across a wider area of the plane
tary surface. Note that at any speed
above .866 C, mass impacts with energy levels as if it were pure antimatter with the same
resulting effects including heavy gamma ray irradiation and subatomic particle annihilation,
further reducing the capacity for life to survive. In addition, some, even more massive relativistic
impactors will be targeted on that world’s main star, causing massive solar flares which will
scour the entire system with additional life killing radiation. This will remove
any beings who
have taken shelter on other planets or reside in space in that system. I believe that your science
has already noticed and puzzled over these gamma bursts occasionally,” Agent explained.
I sat soberly and digested that, staggered by the numbers.
“So, basically, the story is that these Berserker thingies have been here for
ages, watching us, while also building a weapon to thump us once we grew up enough. You arrived later
and just watch it happen, doing nothing, with the hope
s that life will be able to restore itself
eventually. You can’t or won’t prevent the attack because that would end up with the entire system
sterilized later.” I summarized, a bit angrily. “Basically correct, though we do more than ‘just
watch’ as you describe it. We also observe your world, its lifeforms, and your civilization.
We record data, take samples and archive what we have learned for transmission to various
repositories of data around the galaxy. Your species, its achievements, k
nowledge and
unique characteristics will be remembered, and the information will be used to help others
and enhance life elsewhere around the galaxy.” “But why can’t you relocate us or something?
Even if just a few?” I asked, a bit upset. “How and where to John? What you ask would take
enormous resources which we lack. If we had the resources where could we take anyone? Other
planets in your system would be the first, easiest choice, but the Berserker’s in this system
would likely notice,
and attacks would follow. If we moved many humans to your moon, or to Mars,
soon, those locations would soon be attacked. Also, interstellar travel is incredibly hard, as
even most human scientists realize, so sending humans to other stars is beyond our capabilities.”
“But you must have star travel or else how would you have gotten here? Picket came here from
some other star, right? Isn’t he preparing to return to that star or somewhere else soon?”
“This is complicated but to simplify, Picket
’s species does have interstellar travel, but it is
both limited to the speed of light and limited by energy available. The high energy required demands
that the payload be very, very small. All that can physically travel between the stars are thus
small automated probes. They are sent to their target stars, and once there, find local resources
and start to grow larger. Ironically, this is very similar to how the Berserkers spread.”
“Once enough local resources have been gathered and enough
facilities and equipment
constructed, the automated station will use replication technology to create living
bodies like the one Picket uses. Next, Picket’s awareness and knowledge, which had
been received via interstellar transmission, is downloaded and embedded into the physical
body and, for all intents and purposes, he is now here. Basically, Picket transmits his thoughts
here to reside in a physical body built here. Interesting and fascinating. “So,
how is he going to leave here then?
” I asked next but already guessing the method.
“Picket will never physically leave. All that will leave are his thoughts and awareness and
those of his companions. That information will be included in the transmission containing all
the data collected from your world. After this transmission, the local physical bodies will
be reduced to raw elements along with most of the physical bases and resources. All that
will remain is a small seed base similar to the one that was originally sent here
in the
beginning. This seed base will remain on station, on an asteroid, waiting, for eons possibly, until
local circumstances require it to grow again, if ever. This small presence will not be
detectable by the remaining Berserkers.” So many more questions! I eventually
returned to wondering about the here and now. “So how do I fit in?” I asked Agent, hoping for
a better answer then the one I got from Picket. “Picket intends for you to survive
and eventually regrow humanity in some form
or other,” she replied.
“Let’s say I survive and link up with the other humans somehow. We act like bunnies and
fruitfully expand humanity. Won’t the Berserkers still be watching and attack us again?” I asked.
“That is the risk. Picket has a...” Agent paused in mid-sentence. “WARNING! Depress your head down
now!” she suddenly said, volume many times louder. Surprised, I did as she ordered while the sides
of the chair quickly extended and clamped inward, gripping my thighs tightly, when ...
B
OOOM!!! The floor bucked and heaved, and the chair almost collapsed completely
to the floor as its mechanical base tried to compensate for the abrupt motion. The
lights when out. Wham!! In the darkness I was flung upwards against the restraining
chair as the floor suddenly heaved again. I heard crashes and groans from around the
room and structure. I rode the bucking, twisting bull that was now my chair for a few more
seconds until the bucking gradually calmed down. Small indicators and tel
l-tales on much of the
equipment in the now dark room were flashing. I looked over and saw the massive ESU cylinders, at
the far end of the room, each had flashing yellow lights and wondered if the power was gone for
good. But, soon enough the lights came back on. Agent resumed speaking. “Moments before that
shockwave hit, sensors on my secondary antenna mount detected the flash of an impact directly
in the area of Sioux Falls at a distance of 16.6 kilometers away from this base. What you j
ust
felt was the ground wave. In a few seconds, the delayed air shock wave will pass overhead.
This will be weaker but still ... brace yourself.” I did and the bucking bull of my chair woke
again although it was not named “Fu Manchu” this time. Soon, the shaking and heaving slowed,
and I was again stable. Wow! Sioux Falls! That was 12 miles away. I shuddered thinking how bad
it would be if an impact had happened closer, say just outside the limit Agent said was the most
the shelter could h
andle and still let us survive. I also felt a sudden sadness thinking about the
number of people just killed so near by. Many I’d known or interacted with over the past few years.
I watched two of the mobile work units activate and proceed over to the side of the
chamber filled with equipment. I was about to ask why when Agent resumed speaking.
“As I was saying before being interrupted, Picket has a plan for you to wait a long, long
while before you can attempt to begin rebuilding humanity. T
he wait will allow the Berserkers
to finish the current attack and shift focus from eradicating this system to devoting
resources to spreading itself further into space. From what we have observed, once they
shift to self-propagation mode, they will have determined that the local system is no longer a
threat and drastically limit local monitoring.” “Further, once in self-propagation mode, they
will devote all their resources to sending a certain number of base seeds onward, after which
the
y will disassemble their local presence down to just a few dormant elements. At that
time, it will be much safer to be active on this planet and in this system, as long as
certain precautions are taken.” she explained. “That seems shortsighted of the Berserkers.
These attacks can’t always succeed perfectly, can they? A few species must be able to
survive to rebuild and become interplanetary again fairly quickly right?” I speculated
before adding. “It seems like they should be on the watch m
uch longer just to be sure.”
“That is true. We have speculated that they have been programmed by their creators to stop
activities in any one system after a certain time to preserve resources in that system. To
create another force of over 100,000 weapons and spin them up to launching speed a second
time would require an enormous amount of time and additional resources. Therefore, to retain
local resources, it is logical to program them to halt such activities after one devastating
attack a
nd then shift to self-propagation, thus saving resources. Those resources would
be needed by the creator species when they eventually come and colonize the local system.”
I guess that made sense though it was hard for me to imagine the long time scales involved.
Thank goodness the creator species was long gone right? I asked again anyway.
“You said that the creator species has not been seen for ages, right?
“No” Agent simply answered after a pause. “So much destruction, so much waste.”
Agent a
gain paused a bit before answering. “Yes, it could be considered a
great waste. I am sorry John.” I was too. I sat silently, not
asking anymore questions. Just sulking and thinking. Agent let me sulk.
After about twenty minutes had passed, Agent spoke again. “John, I just completed the
raising and deployment of my last remaining communications dish antenna due to the
previous antenna being destroyed by the shockwave from the Sioux Falls impact. Despite
the ionization and dust, I have achiev
ed a low bandwidth connection with the orbital station.
I am now in contact with Picket ... Stand by.” Pickets image appeared on the screen. The image
was pixelated a bit ... must be a bad connection. “John. Are you refreshed?” Picket asked.
“Yes, I’m awake. I’m getting a bit hungry though. I answered.
“I am sorry, but your hunger will have to wait,” Picket replied before continuing
... looking intent. “I apologize but I must be abrupt and convey this information to you rapidly
as communicat
ions may be severed at any time. My companions and I have been reviewing our plans
for you and the other humans’ survival. We have added recently obtained data on the ongoing
attacks and updated our model of how your planet will suffer. Our conclusions are that
in order to maximize and extend the duration of resources, mainly power, you must enter
suspension immediately,” Picket explained. Suspension, what the hell was that I wondered.
“I have updated Agent at your location with the latest d
ata and our revised analysis.
The augment is now preparing the medical crèche to receive you,” Picket continued.
I noticed activity in the room beside me and noticed the large rectangular deep
freeze looking box now had various lights and displays active. As I watched, a massive
lid began to raise. Did Picket intend for me to get in that freezer or coffin!
“What the hell! Do you want to freeze me or something?” I yelled at Pickets image.
“There is no freezing involved in the process, John. Th
e medical crèche will suspend your
life functions and halt any degradation of your body. It will give you the best chances to...”
Pickets image froze. After a moment, Agent spoke. “Communications have been interrupted, John.
However, the data transmission was complete, and I am now aware of the updated information
Picket was relaying. It is intended that you enter the medical creche to be placed in bio-suspension
immediately. Later, when conditions are better, you will be revived,” Agent exp
lained.
Well, that explained the ‘no shower needed’ comment from earlier. I didn’t need
to smell nice if I was going to be pickled, canned, freeze dried or stored away.
“What the hell, Agent? You can’t expect me just to hop in that box! What happens
when I wake up? I asked a bit frantic. “Remain calm John. You will simply lay
in the box and I will sedate you. You will fall asleep quickly. Later, when
you awake, I will explain the plans for your future and that of the other humans.”
What the
hell kind of mess have I gotten myself into, I wondered. I stared
at the box or, the ‘medical crèche’, as they called it. Could I do this? What were my
alternatives? Starving huddled in a corner. Could I convince Agent to make me food? Could I find my
gun? Could I force myself back to the surface and survive somehow? I paused, my internal dialog
rambling interrupted, and wondered when I had changed my goals from death to survival. Huh.
Well, what choice did I have? None, I guessed. “OK Agen
t, you win. I’ll get in the box. Can
you answer a few questions about it though?” “John, I am sorry. The questions will have
to wait until you are revived as the new plan places great importance on expediency to save
power. Also, there is still a chance that you, and this facility will be destroyed in the near
future. Any answers given at this time would be pointless if that were to occur,” she explained.
Wow, Agent was becoming an abrupt Bitch! But I guess what she said made perfect sense
though. Ok, I guess it was time to man up. I got up from the chair and started
towards the box ... err ... crèche. I also wondered when I had started thinking of
the female sounding A.I. as an actual female. “Stop John. Please remove all of your clothing and
along with all the items you have on your person, place them into the refuse hopper. You must
be naked while in the medical crèche for the equipment to have proper access to your body and
bio-suspension to occur. Your clothing and items
will be reduced to base elements, stored,
and later utilized to create new clothing, which will be available when you
are revived,” Agent explained. I thought about that. I looked
at my wedding ring, still on my finger. “Can I keep my ring at least?” I asked.
“I am sorry John. You cannot wear it into the crèche. I understand that it may be sentimental
to you. Hand it to the mobile unit by the chair and I will store it for you,” Agent replied.
I did as she asked, though removing the ring was
a struggle. I then proceeded to the intake hopper
and began undressing. Down the hole went my shoes, flashlight, cellphone, wallet, and most of my
clothing until I was left standing in just my underwear. “Everything?” I asked.
“Yes John.” I shucked the pair of underwear off and
tossed them down the hole noting that their condition was pretty good considering the
last twenty-four hours they’d been through. Now naked as a jaybird, I marched over to the
medical crèche feeling awkward, jigglin
g, and bouncing in my free state. The inside of the
crèche was padded and had a noticeable headrest on one end. It was also sterile looking and
seemed to be lined with all sorts of hoses, sharp pointy things, wires, and other scary bits.
I recalled that when Agent described what would happen to me, the word “Painless” had never been
part of the description and I gulped. The sides of the crèche were fairly tall, but I was able
to hoist a leg over the side and settled into the padded bottom. I
wiggled around trying to
get my bulk centered and taking a deep breath, I lay back, becoming still. This was
it! You bet your ass I was scared! “Hold your left arm still, John. I am going
to administer a sedative before I continue the process,” Agent replied, sensing my unease.
I did as she requested and felt a cuff of some sort cradling my lower arm. I noticed the prick
of a needle and then a cool sensation in my arm, spreading fast. I lay there blinking and
shivering a bit, nervous and y
es, still scared as hell. After a moment I started to calm
and soon, my eyelids became heavy and my thoughts slowed. I thought of Abby, and Mary, wondering if
this was finally to be my end as well, although I doubted I’d be joining them if that were so.
I noticed the room lights going dark beyond the open lid. I felt the crèche vibrate and saw the
lid lowering, lit by the dim glow emitted from the various devices still operating in the room.
I was fading fast when I heard the lid close and l
atch. I began to numbly feel objects touching
and probing various parts of my body. I smiled when the thought “anal probing” came to mind but
I was too numb to feel if that were the case. The darkness of the closed crèche ended when, on
a screen attached to the inside of the lid, images appeared. They were of my wife
and daughter! I stared at their faces for a short time before whispering “Thank
you, Agent”. Soon after, darkness took me. Part one Epilogue:
In high earth orbit The being once
referred to as
Picket floated in a dark chamber, arms and legs crossed as if in a meditative state.
The rapid eye movements detectable under the data goggles betrayed the fact that the being was
active mentally, reviewing data and video. “Well done Agent,” the being communicated.
“It appears the specimen went into bio-suspension with relative calm. The information you were
able to provide it acted to allay its questions and curiosity optimally. Do you estimate the
specimen will remain stab
le upon revival when faced with the knowledge of what is to come?”
“The specimen appears to be well suited to coping with the events occurring on its world.
I estimate that it will eventually adapt to what its future roles require, although it
is likely to neither accept nor forgive.” “I look forward to reports of its activities and
responses in the future,” the being communicated.
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