Gaea

Chapter 28

"She knew they were unimaginably distant, so distant that it would take a thousand centuries to reach even the closest among them. But still she set out. Her journey was long and terrible, and she was greatly weakened by the endless years of darkness. Then she reached a new sun, this one young and vibrant, a white smile welcoming her into its warm embrace. Wearily, she settled into one of the green worlds of this beautiful sun, cleared away the biting insects she found there, and began to plant the seeds of home. She regained her strength and she had a child. The second.

"A single world does not have the means to support more than one of us. The child was exiled from the second world. He made his own way in the black, and found another world and made it his own.

"The pantheon was made, world by world, child by child. Each journey taught us new ways to flit between the stars, each arrival showed us new wonders to marvel at. We learned to build machines to help us, to protect us when the stars were not so welcoming.

"We are alone in this dark ocean, still looking for our purpose. We wander the stars and making verdant oases, to what end no one knows. Meaningless husks doing only what we have been made to do.

"This planet was mine, long ago. I found it too difficult to shepherd, and made the daring leap into the ether yet again. The effort killed me, but thanks to you, I am returned. Imagine my surprise on finding an animal as chaotic as you had risen to our level and was traveling among the stars. At first, I was pleasantly surprised, indeed, and willing to let you grow if only to see how far you would collectively get. But I'm sorry to say, protocol precedes curiosity."

James coughed from the back of the truck, but didn't say anything. No one did.

"I know you have many questions, but most me is currently passing through a kugelblitz, so I'm afraid I will only be able to maintain this image for a short while. Ask away."

Caroline looked at the puppeteer with hazy eyes and muttered, "What are you going to do to us?"

"You mean to you four or your whole species? The details require some explanation, but the result is the same. You will all die."

Caroline coughed, unsurprised. Hernandez was not so willing to accept this. "Why?! What have we done against you?"

The puppeteer looked tired as he answered. "I thought I already explained? You've killed the creatures that used to leave here. My garden. And a farmer who doesn't poison the weevil goes hungry in the winter, my friend."

Hearing this, Hernandez seemed to back down. Then, in a flash of hot rage, he threw a punch into the puppeteer's cheek. It connected with a meaty sound, and the figure folded like a rag. For a time, he lay there, with Hernandez glaring down at him. No one else reacted in any way.

Then, the puppeteer began to giggle. "Perhaps that is the problem," he gurgled through a broken jaw. "Humans have the power to hurt each other without great sacrifice of their own. An inherently predatory race. What a marvel."

James spoke, apparently unconcerned for the puppeteer's well-being. "You said you plan to destroy the whole human race. Won't there be collateral? Won't you also destroy the native biota of Earth?"

At this, the puppeteer laughed harder. "Perhaps I was not entirely clear. This is less of an extermination and more of a reclamation of land. I'm clearing the bush, if you will. Besides, the entirety of Earth's genetic variance is present and accounted for on this planet." He laughed again. "Absolutely hilarious. Salvation and damnation, all in one burning, metal canister"

No one said anything. Hernandez slumped against the wall, massaging his knuckles. His stomach was beginning to ache.

"I'm terribly sorry. This is more of a personal score I'm settling here, very childish of me. Though I can't say you didn't deserve it."

All at once, the puppeteer expired. His corpse was papery and dry.

Gradually, the humans followed him down. Nadya was the first, going so quietly that no one even noticed until an hour after the fact. No one had the energy to bury her at that point. Instead, Hernandez and Caroline dragged her out of the truck and let the wind cover her with sand. James slept through the ordeal.

James woke up about thirty minutes after that. He tried again to turn on his music, but he found the device in his head unresponsive. There was a moment of pure, frustrated rage, but he didn't have the energy to sustain it. Instead, he tried to hum the tunes. His vocal chords croaked terribly. A mockery of Beethoven's Ode to Joy passed through his lips before he stumbled on a note he simply didn't remember.

He cried. Then he slept.

Then there was just Hernandez and Caroline. Neither had the mental capacity to carry a conversation, so the truck was silent. Finally, Caroline, worked up the energy to speak.

"There was an admiral on the Opes. This was before you got assigned there, in my early days. He looked like he came straight out of a book, I'll tell you. White moustache, stiff as a stick, the whole works. All he was missing was a ridiculous hat. He told the new ensigns that we were the physical presence of peace in the Solar System. That the Republic's Navy was the only thing standing between unity and scattering. I swear he even had an old accent too. Anyway, after the usual military bluster, he pulled us aside and told us just how bullshit that all was. He said we each had our own reasons for being there, and he wagered that maybe two of us were there for those other reasons. It turns out that most people are doing what they're doing for a paycheck. Maybe some for their families. Precious few to serve their country. And then there's us. You signed up to go down in the history books. I did because the other option was short-term humiliation and long-term boredom." She paused. "I can't believe I said that. I chose to be launched to the other side of the goddamn galaxy because I was bored." She coughed.

Hernandez didn't answer.

"I could have stopped this. If I had just done my goddamn duty, we wouldn't be dying here. I was too."

"No point in blaming yourself now," whispered Hernandez. "You know those marines could finish the job."

Caroline considered it. Their aim was perfect. I she could override the countermeasures and have two of the soldiers put a merciful bullet in both of their heads simultaneously. It sounded better than waiting to fall asleep.

The sound of the wind was joined by the soft rustle of treads rolling over loose sand. The door was ripped from its hinges with a loud bang, and two smooth-shelled beetles crawled in. They weren't very threatening, despite the jet-black rifles they held. The eyes were round and well-polished, perfectly reflecting Caroline's pale face back at her.

The two marines positioned themselves directly in front of the two remaining colonists of Eridu. In those last moments, Caroline, thought she saw a second shadow fade into existence on the floor. This observation was the only thing she was thinking about when the marine let loose.

Hernandez, who was alive a split second longer and faced in the opposite direction, realized that something must have gone wrong with the Facem. Then he was dead.

But there was nothing wrong.