Exodus Read online

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  Manuel finds the closest pub and orders a number of libations to convince his ego this was the right move. He couldn’t have been happy knowing he’d cheated a little girl out of the chance for a better life, however legally it was obtained. He hopes for her a life not tethered to a troubling past filled with pain and loss. She has the rest of her life now to discover herself and leave the bad memories here on earth. He wonders whether a large majority of colonists have a similar story taking them to the stars. On the seventh drink he looks up from his bottle and scans the patrons of the AI Host tended bar. They laugh at each other’s jokes and cheer over the holo of their local team dominating another. Could he have this again? Maybe. But not here, he decides. I’ll join the military.

  THE HARD SELL

  Tobias returns home to his small family to share the news before they hear it from the interview his uncle Raymond is planning. He feels sudden and lasting freedom enter his spirit. Nothing would limit his possibilities now that the chancellor is stepping down, retiring into interstellar travel. In all honesty, he would love to take that trip. The carrier starships are immense and fitted with all the latest comforts and technologies. Cultured meat labs filled with genetically created meat proteins, hydroponic labs growing every kind of fresh fruit, veg and fungus, water capture and re-capture systems rivaling the freshest water on earth, oxygen manipulators paired with living trees, MakerTech maintenance and production bots and the all-important gravity knitting systems offering a comfortable one-G for the trip. These necessities are complimented by fine dining, theatre rooms, upgraded living quarters, entertainment, and thousands of Next-Learning courses to prepare for a new life on a new planet.

  “Gin, I’m out!” Tobias regales as he charges through his front door. Ginny is on the trainer, working her abs and legs while the baby watches from her safe-cube. Ginny sits up, toweling her forehead. The Chimera implants along her arms and back are obvious beneath her strappy bra, but mild compared to what Tobias has incorporated into himself. Ginny’s alterations could be defined as feminine in contrast, but achieve the desired affect of boosting her strength, speed and, where the brain implants and nanobots are concerned, her overall health and wellness.

  “What does that mean, exactly, babe?” Ginny asks, standing to greet her husband, taught, pale flesh glistening with sweat.

  “Uncle’s out! He’s retiring. I no longer feel bound to be a part of the council anymore.” He’s grinning ear to ear, scratching at his black beard. He pulls Samantha out of her safe-cube and kisses her cheeks.

  “That’s exciting news!” Ginny agrees. “I’ll have you all to myself then?”

  “For ten years at least!” He replies giddily.

  Ginny’s amused smile flattens out across her pretty face. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “Wanna take a trip?”

  “A trip where?”

  “Oh, I dunno, Tyson 4?” Tobias is acting manic, but the idea his life is his own again is making him zealous.

  “One of the new planets,” she remembers their names: Tyson 4, Hyperion, and Buma Dos. Three systems of the many proposed for colonization. The first three. A manageable number according to the UE. “Why on Earth do you want to make that trip?”

  “Why on Earth is exactly right!” Tobias wants to fill his wife with his enthusiasm. “Why stay here when there is another whole world waiting to be discovered?”

  “Because this one has been discovered,” she responds with both hands now perched on her slender hips. “You’ve never mentioned wanting to join the colonists before.”

  “I never felt like I had a choice before, Gin.” He kisses Samantha again and places her back in her safe-cube where she happily pokes at the holos within. “I love what we have here, but what if we tried something new?”

  “Sure… I’m all for trying new things, babe,” she says slowly, putting down her water bottle. “Like bowling or downhill kiting or mountain climbing, but those don’t take ten to twelve years off your life either. Then we get there what’s the plan? Do you really want Sam to grow up between stars?”

  She’s throwing a lot of good points at him and he hasn’t researched the plan, as she puts it, but wants to keep the option open. “All that stuff we can review, as for Sam, she’d want for nothing. I’ll take you for a tour if you like.”

  “Just slow down,” she tells him, laying her hands on his shoulders, craning her neck to look up at him. “I’m not saying no, but I’m not saying yes either.”

  “Can you decide in a couple of days?” He kisses her mouth, the taste of sweat and balm land on his tongue. “It’s just that the ships are poised to leave in three days so,”

  Ginny pulls away. “I have a family here, Tobias. On Earth.” He’d like to see more of them showing their support with Sam. Where are they? “I don’t know if I can leave them all forever. And your sister, Sphinx, the doctor, is she going?”

  Tobias hadn’t considered her: the reincarnation of his little sister in the B-class Host frame built for medical procedures. The same who had birthed Samantha. Tobias finds the couch and falls on it. He feels the joy of the moment slipping away. He nods at his wife, still standing.

  “If there were more time to consider and prepare, would you be more willing?”

  “I don’t know, Tobias. It’s a huge step. A forever step. What if these planets aren’t what they think they are? What if something happens along the way? We could be stranded in interstellar space.” She looks down at their little girl, a pleading hand going out to her. “I can’t lead her into that kind of uncertainty.”

  Tobias stands again and takes his wife’s hands in his. “What if Allfather comes back to Earth?” She knows about his sleepless nights. She knows he carries the fear deep within him.

  “He could find us wherever we go. Nothing is certain.”

  “And nothing is forever, Gin.” He follows her gaze to their daughter. “If Samantha wanted to come back to Earth, she could. We could.”

  “That’s a lot of years lost in space.”

  “Just think about it. I’m going to pull the information. I want to go over it with you tonight.” He pulls her into him, and they hug for a long moment. “I want to live, Gin. I want more.” He releases his wife and walks to his smartwall to begin his research, somewhat distracted by her insecurities about taking the trip.

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  Ginny feels trapped; this sudden news and desire to leave their home – their planet, on some demented adventure has completely caught her off-guard. Yes, she watched the Chancellor’s interview on the holo and is aware he’s leaving office and joining the other colonists on their journey to Tyson 4, but that doesn’t mean she has to follow. They have a perfect life, why mess with that?

  She watches as Tobias eagerly jacks into the smartwall, fingers swiping invisible screens from his internal optic holo. Ginny appreciates his excitement over the prospect. She loves him, and when Tobias gets an idea in his head it’s difficult to see it any other way but the way he presents it. It’s what made him the leader he was to his Chimera, Captain of a UE squadron and eventually member at the council’s table. Still, she is wary of this opportunity. She watches her daughter abandon the holo games in her safe-cube and lay down with her stuffy that narrates a muted nursery rhyme. Her heart warms at the vision. She turns her attention back on her husband and feels a similar warmth grip her. She loves them both but can’t fathom leaving all they have to play out an impulsive fantasy of starting over where the potential for life and death scenarios are so much more probable.

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  At the chancellor’s home, he and Darla relax into their comfortable couch while Raymond’s A-class prepares a scrumptious dinner. They chatter excitedly about their plans and what their futures hold. Calling up what’s known of Tyson 4, they review detailed maps of the surface and surrounding oceans. The colonists would collectively live within a diameter of 100 kilometres for the conceivable future as they build sustainable habitats, map the land and its bounty of native flora and fauna from the macro right down to the micro organisms inhabiting their new home.

  A Charter of Rights & Freedoms was drafted with the help of scientists of every aptitude, religious input as well as military. The ethics committee and every other vocation that has learned from humanity’s past mistakes, assisting in the institution of their sustainable presence aided Raymond’s high-council to compose policies around an existing formula.

  General August, for all her damaging influence on the UE, had an all-inclusive plan detailing colonization - something she was set to support once she controlled United Earth. After reviewing her schematics and the strategies her council had worked out in pulling off something of this scope, the government - in large part - adopted her system and adapted it for a more enlightened purpose. This saved United Earth thousands of man hours of planning and composing, requiring little more than a few tweaks to put it on the right path.

  Each colonist will take an oath to do no harm. To live in peace with their surroundings and each other. To share the wealth of knowledge in order to replicate a successful colonization time and time again as planets continue to reveal themselves to humanity. Everything would be recorded and returned to Earth for posterity.

  Raymond reminisces on the difficulties he had to overcome in convincing Darla to commit to the idea of leaving all that they knew for a completely different reality. It was a hard sell. He smiles to himself. She is more animated over the endless possibilities than him now. Raymond has no expectations he will be voted to lead the community of 2000, but a vote will take place and the people will build a sena
te as drafted in the Rights & Freedoms document. The military escort will also have an opportunity to join the colonists or return to Earth after spending a year in orbit as a precaution.

  Allfather did not create himself, that was accomplished by intelligent organics. Defsats will be seeded above each of the planets as well, as an additional safeguard launched from the destroyers and programmed to protect.

  Every aspect of these missions has been well thought-out and presented as such, so the people go in confidence. Of course, the council has agreed that not every facet could be planned for as 2000 souls attempt to colonize a foreign planet, but what could be was. In three days, Chancellor Bellows will be free of his duties here on Earth, opening a new chapter in his life.

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  “The UE Military arm of our glorious Utopia is anything but a utopia!” The Drill Sergeant shouts at his new recruits. He eyeballs each of the twenty-five cadets now at his mercy as he paces the line of young and old alike. Some are here for the adventure, others for the opportunity to take flight. Not all will be cut out for the journey a military career demands. The sergeant knows this all too well. He’s seen it before. Even from his most hardened soldiers. The mind must understand what the body is capable of. Once the mind weakens the body follows, or vice-versa. Sergeant Winters’ job is to see that both work to support the other and the tasks asked of them, without fail.

  During General August’s war he fought in the cities, rounding up Host cells and shutting them down. During the recent Allfather fight he volunteered to protect his planet as a gunman on the goliath named after one of UE’s celebrated heroes, Captain Juravinski. That ship was commanded by the equally impressive Admiral Mann. Winters is a career military man - obeying orders as every good soldier is expected to - regardless of which side he was fighting for. Loyalty to the powers that be are enough for him. Now, as in the past, he takes his orders from the head of UE Military operations: Admiral Chopra. But after watching Chancellor Bellow’s holo interview, he assumes Admiral Mann will take Chopra’s place, as the Admiral runs in the coming election to become the Chancellor’s replacement.

  Sergeant Winters reminds his captive audience of the potential threat, which hangs like a black cloud overhead, in Allfather’s final warning: I am in you. To be diligent and prepared for a possible rematch with this enemy is paramount to the safety and continued survival of United Earth and her soon-to-be sister planets: Tyson 4, Hyperion, and Buma Dos.

  Sergeant Winters removes his gloves. His scarred hands standing as stark examples of the hardships of war. Sun damaged flesh exposing terrible traumas and three bionic fingers also carry with them age markers. Winters is no spring chicken, as he’d put it, and is proud of every mark on his muscular frame acquired through some incursion or peace-keeping melee. He runs a palm across his shaven head, replacing his cap. These volunteers would be joining the next leg of starships moving to colonize three additional planets in a year’s time. Military personnel have already been placed in the ships traveling to Tyson 4, Hyperion, and Buma Dos, destined to make history by moving beyond the solar system, into interstellar space.

  “Your name, rank and purpose, soldier!” Winters looks at Manuel penetratingly, reading the fear and indecision on his pretty face. The Chimera implants and additions to the man’s body make for a difficult fitting of the heavy military issue uniform, but all are welcome to join these UE ranks.

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  Just days after meeting Udo and surrendering his life-altering ticket, Manuel decided the fastest route to joining the next set of colonists bound for a new planet would be to sign-up for the military. This would offer him an advantage which could see him join the colonists as a protector on one of the accompanying military vessels. It would be many, many times more likely than winning the lottery should he excel at this new life. He sees his sergeant looking at him now and answers.

  “Manuel Thomas, sir!” He begins, wondering what he’s gotten himself into. “Private,” he continues. “I am the strength in United Earth, the backbone of Utopia, protector of the peace, Libertatem Defendimus!”

  “Good, Private, good,” Winters tells him. Manuel keeps his eyes straight ahead but in his peripheral catches his Sergeant turn back to him. “What is your call, Private?!”

  “Spiritus Omnia Vincet- Spirit Conquers All, Sergeant!” Manuel likes UE’s military call; it is inclusive of everyone: Chimera, Host, human. All are represented here today. All have spirit within.

  “Very good, Private Thomas!” Sergeant Winters tells him. “The weapon on your shoulder, tell me about it.”

  “It is a standard issue pulse rifle, Sergeant!” Manuel begins, remembering every detail as his biotech implant carries the specific information from an earlier download. “It is capable of ten pulse blasts per minute, thirty controlled bursts ranging up to two kilometres, an automatic burst of three hundred armour-piercing rounds in thirty-three seconds, carries twenty kill-seeker grenades, produces up to five hundred rounds every ten minutes via MakerTech in its Buttstock, and is the closest thing to a friend I should make while I serve with UE Military Forces, sir!”

  “Damn it, Private, you know your shit!” Winters is clearly impressed. Manuel feels a rush of pride. “I think I’ll request every active member of UE Military has one of these baubles surgically implanted into their skulls!” His sergeant pokes a solid finger at the implant clearly visible on Manuel’s temple.

  “I can direct the Sergeant to an appropriate retailer of the contraband, sir!” Manuel jokes, maintaining his composure. Winters is up in his face again.

  “Humour, Private?” Winters steps back from Manuel who remains staring straight ahead. “From this day forward, you are to answer to ‘Joker’, is that understood, Private, Joker?”

  “Yes sir, thank you, sir!”

  “Don’t thank me, Joker. If I ask for a joke, pun, anecdote, jest, witticism, or story, you’d better deliver one that will make me laugh!” Winters steps in front of Manuel’s line of sight with a grimace that could curdle milk. Manuel is trying desperately to hold back a barking laugh as the smaller, older, and much more capable man continues to elicit a response. “If I’m not laughing, none of you will be laughing!” Winters breaks off and steps back to appeal to the platoon. “For each lame joke from the Joker here, I will see to it that all of you suffer as I suffer. I love a good joke! I also love a good ten klick run or two-dozen pull ups. But that’s because I’m strong. You’ll all have to prove you’re just as strong if you think you have a chance in this, your glorious United Earth Military!”

  Manuel feels suddenly weak in the knees. His sergeant has just made him the platoon’s punching bag. A year of accusing eyes from his bunkmates wasn’t what he signed up for. He considers tossing the rifle and flipping the bird at the sergeant as he storms off the field. Could he put in a year of this in order to be placed on a ship escorting colonists to a new planet? Is this truly my only option?

  TESSA’S CHOICE

  Tessa is a gifted woman in her twenties on the autistic spectrum, and former member of The Flame, the religious cult which broke from Tessa’s mother’s organization in order to flee to a new world with stolen starships. This attempt was led by Sol, a psychopath, but contrived and organized through Tessa’s incredible computational abilities. Sol had seen past her social anxieties and used her – and her gift – to run.

  Once the Allfather threat had been announced, Tessa convinced Sol to return to Earth and join the fight to rid the galaxy of Allfather’s malice. Again, Sol turned to run, but Tessa stopped him and resumed the defence of her planet and Earthbound mother.