Ally or Alien: A Sci-Fi Novel Read online

  When asked about the humans colonizing planet Mars, the astronomy professor Chris Impey said,

  “These people will become an offshoot of the human tree. They will probably evolve into something else.”

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  Mars Dorian © 2015

  1

  Asteroid Pandora-5 would change the destiny of the Martians.

  At 82 km/h, the space rock tore through the cosmos like a silver arrow.

  Blazing a new star trail.

  eLoom's eyes widened as she floated in the lab section of the explorer-type starship called Progress. She stared at the monitors which were embedded into the ship's walls and soaked up the asteroid’s specs—the dimensions, its mass, volume and mean density. But those ordinary stats weren’t the reason why eLoom's mouth morphed into an O-shape.

  No.

  What really excited every cell of her nanotubed body was the object she had found on the asteroid. It was perfectly round and sported a slick hull colored in a creamy white. A stark contrast to the dark, rugged surface of Pandora-5.

  Simply off-world.

  The mysterious object also left a heat signature that the ship's optic sensors had picked up. The scanners created a Tri-D motion image in hyper resolution, which eLoom magnified by a factor of five. On top of the thermal reading, she marveled at that strange circuit pattern running across the object's surface.

  Whatever it was, eLoom had never seen it before.

  And she needed to do something about it…

  2

  "I'm going to explore asteroid Pandora-5."

  eLoom could have sent the message via her brain-2-brain connection, but she believed it would have more impact with the sound waves traveling through the central hub of the ship, in the old fashioned human style.

  She was right.

  Her compeers rested in recharge pods, arranged in a semi-circle at the center of the vessel. The pods were located as far away from the exterior as possible to provide maximum security in case of a hull breach.

  eLoom watched the pods slide open, and her crewmates emerged from the chambers. eVax, one of the most experienced members onboard, was the first to free himself from the recharge chamber. He floated in her direction until he hovered in front of her. His body was perfect—like a model, carved from purest marble. He narrowed his sharp blue eyes.

  "Why would you dare such a foolish venture?"

  eLoom held her ground. "I have detected an unknown material attached to the surface of the asteroid. I want to see it up close, with my own optical sensors."

  She braced herself for another lecture. After all, they had this kind of conversation before—many times. In fact, her memory indicated at least 127 interactions with this theme. eVax’s face showed a mixture of concern and irritation.

  "Up close? Why so wasteful? Use a recon droid and be done with it."

  She knew he was going to say that. That was the Newtype way—send serfs and stay in safety while evaluating the data behind thick hulls. But this time, she wanted... No, she needed to be out there. The tight space of the ship was too constricting. Too claustrophobic. The asteroid held something unknown, and eLoom wanted to be a finger-touch away from the marvel, much to the dismay of her crew.

  A second crewmate rose from her recharge pod and spoke via brain-2-brain.

  "No."

  It was eTrinity, the second wise one in the ship's command structure. "That goes against recon protocols.” Her voice was overly kind as she continued. “My dear eLoom, your neuron strings may have been burned. Please recheck the proper procedures."

  Like all Newtype, eLoom was in constant contact with the network. Her data transfer rate tested active at every other nanosecond which meant that she knew the official protocols, down to the last byte. And the more she parsed the rules, the more they infuriated her. Her response was tinged with anger.

  "We are scientists. We came here to explore and to venture into the unknown."

  The other members of her collective had risen from their pods to watch the interaction. eVax looked at the dull faces of her shipmates. Their bodies not only looked physically similar, they also shared the same expression of placid bewilderment.

  eVax addressed them all with an expansive gesture. "Of course we are scientists. That is why we have to act with care. We must not waste resources."

  eLoom bristled. “No one’s wasting anything. I will take full responsibility for my venture.”

  Silence hung in the air. It wasn't common to question the directives of the wise ones. eVax misfired a smile.

  "Our eLoom has a rebellious streak today, doesn't she? She must be consuming too many newsfeeds from Earth. Especially those featuring reckless, stereotypical alpha males."

  No one else was amused, let alone expressing anything reminiscent of a smile. The other Newtype remained impassive, staring at eLoom. Waiting for her to acquiesce. But she wouldn't let them have their way. Not this time. The moment was too important.

  "I do not need your support. I have my suit, my kit and my passion."

  eTrinity’s face lost its false smile. "You can not do it."

  eLoom freed her consciousness and targeted the lab section with instructions as she answered. "Just watch me."

  Intellicams were strategically placed inside and outside the vessel's hull. The surveillance sensors’ data feed was connected to every Newtype, allowing for maximum awareness. And maximum supervision. Not even a nugget-sized piece of debris would pass undetected, so her shipmates would be aware of every move she made. But eLoom didn't care about that. The Newtype had lost the ancient passion of discovery. They had forgotten how exhilarating it was to take risks. To feel the joy of finding with their own hands instead of sending serfs. But eLoom hadn't. She craved it.

  eLoom left the crew chambers and floated through the tight corridors of the ship in zero G. At the airlock she accessed the lab’s lockers and chose the exploration sample kit suit upgrade, an AMS variant. Their ship was equipped with dozens of Adaptable Modular Suits, each tailored for different missions. But they were never used. The crew never left the ship. That was the Newtype way.

  eLoom wrapped the wear around her body and willed the anchor points to snap to the sockets on her limbs and neck as she began to synchronize with the systems. Within half a minute of ship time, synchronicity reached 99.8% and she was fully upgraded. eLoom’s consciousness touched the network, recording her new version ID–eLoom ExRec AMS.

  eVax called to her from the central hub of the ship, using the brain-2-brain connection.

 

  eLoom replied in an instant.

  It wasn't the answer he was looking for, but nothing was going to stop her from venturing out of the ship and experiencing the sensations of exploration for herself.

  eLoom mind-activated her suit and observed the additional capabilities updating on her HUD. ExRec upgrades were designed for exploration and reconnaissance, specifically to secure and analyze remote samples. The ExRec could 'sniff' gases, measure dust particles, and analyze the shape and composition of organic and inorganic matter. The suit's exo-strings pushed out a transparent nanocream from micronozzles, located around the neck and hands. The smart cream engulfed her skin till every centimeter was sealed shut. The suit's biometric scanner rechecked her body stats and displayed the result in avatar-form on the upper-left corner of her vision. A fat green heart proved everything was A-okay.

  eLoom entered the airlock and sealed the shutter gate behind her. At the edge of her mind, she
could feel more conversation prompts awaiting attention over her brain-2-brain link. She put her thoughts on private to keep out the crew's pleadings and waited for the decompression cycle to finish. When the hatch opened, she triggered her back thrusters and flew into open space.

  Freedom at last.

  The vastness of the universe welcomed her body; it was like jumping into a black ocean adorned with stars. The asteroid hung in space nearby, and eLoom mind-spoke with her AMS onboard AI system.

 

  The suit was responsive, and anxious to please.

 

  eLoom smiled.

 

  the aid said.

  A tenth of a second later, the optimal route showed up on eLoom's vision HUD. Surround thrusters activated and she soared through the vacuum. A feeling of joy coursed through her as she maneuvered toward asteroid Pandora-5 and its unknown treasure.

  Even though her comm channels were set on private, eVax continued to pester her with conversation pings. eLoom ignored them. “Not now, my friend.” She thought, enjoying her freedom from the network, and from the confines of the ship.

  “I am in the middle of a voyage that may change the future of our species.“

  She would be the first Newtype—or humanoid for that matter—to ever make a find like this. What a moment. eLoom whispered into the darkness.

  “The stars will sing tonight.”

  She adapted her thrust velocity to the asteroid's trajectory and readied for the landing process. 123.4 meters till impact. Asteroid rotation = 12.4 hours.

  eLoom had to be careful—if she accelerated too fast, she could break her limbs during the landing sequence, or bounce off and miss the landing window. But the AMS AI was reassuring, calculating the flight path down to the nano-millimeter, adjusting her trajectory as she flew through the cosmic void.

  The aid pinged.

 

  eLoom thrust closer to the asteroid's surface and smiled. Pandora-5 looked like a beautiful frost canyon with its rugged surface and the rock formations.

  A warning sign blinked at the edge of her vision.

  "You are coming in too fast," the aid said.

  eLoom decelerated but it was too late. The messages bombarded her HUD.

  Warning.

  Warning.

  Warning.

  She prepped the anchor harpoon manually and shot the surface of Pandora-5. The smart dart with the graphene string penetrated the first layers and drilled ten centimeters into it. The dart spread out its stabilizers and cemented the foothold. eLoom pulled herself closer till she was hovering an arm-length over the surface. Claws protruded from the boots and gloves of her AMS and ripped through the ground.

  eLoom updated her progress.

  Pandora-5 boarded.

  Too bad asteroids cared little to no gravity—it was virtually impossible to walk on them. You had to mount them with hi-tech gear or you were lost in space.

  Outside temperature: −73 degrees.

  Barely a breeze.

  Underneath eLoom's skintight nanocream 'helmet', she grinned with passion.

  "See? Everything worked out just fine."

  She said it to no one in particular, but her local aid listened.

  "You sure love to live dangerously."

  The only way to experience life was to flirt with death. And that was more true for Newtype than their distant relatives from Earth. With all limbs glued to the asteroid's surface, eLoom looked like a little space spider crawling onwards. She followed the trail on her HUD and located the object 35.6 meters up ahead. Every step increased her heartbeat, which she artificially lowered to stay in control.

  Target object inbound in T-minus 3.5 seconds.

  There it was—the unknown treasure.

  It looked like a gravball wrapped with titanium coating. A delicate pattern rivered through its surface, reminiscent of Earth-based tech tattoos. eLoom wanted to touch it and scan its surface material up close, but that was too foolish since all of her limbs were busy clinging to the asteroid. eLoom gazed at the foreign object and pondered her next move. She connected with the droid bay of the Progress.

  Her access was denied.

  What?

  Maybe by mistake, but the second query remained as futile as the first.

  After the tenth try, she switched her channel to public and connected with eVax from the ship, flying in a parallel trajectory to the asteroid's course.

  the Newtype onboard said.

  eVax' semi-transparent avatar appeared over the center-top of her HUD.

  eLoom said,

 

  A hesitation followed.

  eVax mind-said,

 

 

 

  Playing the perpetually offended in a moment like this.

  It was more than pathetic.

 

  She sounded angrier than she actually was, but eVax sometimes triggered her.

 

  eLoom rolled her eyes. It was hard to believe this Newtype unit was thirty-five years her senior. But this wasn't about her ego, which she shouldn't have had in the first place.

  This was about science.

  Progress before pride.

  eLoom said.

  eVax chuckled over the connection.

 

  No more chit-chat for eLoom. She wanted results.

 

  eVax said like a serf, although jokingly.

  23 kilometers afar, eLoom saw the white, slick-curved recon droid with the carrier module leaving the ship's bay. The robot looked like a dagger-shaped insect, adapting its trajectory to the asteroid's. She watched the beloved droid as it decreased the distance between the two.

  Come, come into my arms, eLoom thought.

  The unmanned robot extracted its claws and targeted the foreign sample eLoom had discovered. The droid fanned a shield around the target area and collected the content.

  eVax said.

 

 

  He hated it when she used Earth-based terms for him. That's why its effect looked so much sweeter on his face—a contorted grimace with narrowed eyes. eLoom took a snapshot for future reference, in case she wanted to peeve him again.

  Just a little.

  But now, she held onto the rear of the recon droid with her suit's claws. She used its thrust and thus saved hers—at least that part was going according to protocol. The autonomous CarryAll transported the foreign sample and thwarted Pandora's super-low gravity. The droid targeted the fastest and safest route back to the ship. eLoom smiled as the spaceship appeared closer on her HUD. Soon, she'd be analyzing her fascinating finding in the lab.

  Nothing could stop her.

  Well, except for him...

  3

  Back inside the shuttle, eVax awaited her at the central hub of the ship. He and the rest of the crew sat inside their pods and glanced at eLoom's direction with half-closed eyes.

  Three against one.

  eLoom felt as if she was on trial again.

  "Did something happen?"

  eVax sighed.

  "This is hardly the time for jokes. What was this whole situation about?"

  She lifted the transparent mobile crate with the foreign object i
nside and held it like a trophy in front of her crew. She even raised her chest and proclaimed,

  "I have what I came for."

  She pressed the crate between her hands and grinned like a schemer from an ancient cartoon feed.

  "This may be the answer to life itself."

  She was the only one who believed it.

  The second most experienced unit in the collective, eTrinity, raised her head and used her roaring voice.

  "Your action was 100% uncalled for. If your maneuver had failed, you would have wasted your body, your recon equipment and even the droid. That behavior is unsuitable for a Newtype."

  eVax nodded, changing his supportive stance to a critical one.

  "Just what is the matter with you?"

  eLoom had many matters.

  Curiosity.

  Adventure.

  The sheer lust for knowledge.

  But they would never understand.

  So eLoom brushed aside her compeers' vitriol. Space radiation seemed more pleasant than these lifeless bureaucrats. The real question should have been—what's the matter with all of you? Had the obsession with security dulled your spark for life?

  eLoom cursed at herself for keeping these thoughts on a private channel, but she didn't want to trigger her crew anymore.

  "I'm just glad I'm part of something greater now."

  "You already are," eTrinity said.

  eLoom disagreed, but kept that thought hidden. It was better to leave the area of tension and do what she was meant to do: discover and analyze.

  "Are we finished here?"

  eTrinity reacted faster than eVax.

  "We will have you undergo a correction course back at the ringstation."

  "Fine."

  Which meant she was good to go, for now.

  "If you excuse me, I'm heading for the lab. I have a sample to analyze."

  She grabbed the crate and hovered through the two shutter doors until she reached her second most favorite place in space—the ship's science lab. eLoom accessed the work area of deck 02 and put the mobile crate behind a transparent hull, located in the testing area. She grabbed a twin-pair of exo-arms from the locked showcase and synced the additional cybernetic limbs to her body. With the nano-scanner clutched in her surrogate arm, she opened the crate. Its mechanism unfolded itself till only the foreign object remained.