Homesick

Sally’s hard boots clapped like thunder in the otherwise silent ship as she marched purposefully down the corridor to Vladimir’s quarters. Her hair was tied back neatly and she wore her blue UN dress coat and pressed slacks, the former bearing her command insignia. Silence returned when she stopped at the door. The red “locked” sign glowed on the panel and only her command key could override it. She inserted the key, not even touching the chime before sliding the door open.

Vladimir had been sitting on the floor, a tray of food between his legs. He jumped up at her entrance and stood at attention.

Sally looked him up and down. Like before, he hadn’t been prepared for her visit. His legs were bare, his face was dark with unchecked beard growth, and he hadn’t bothered to comb his hair. All this made his attention posture look meaningless and pathetic.

Sally then pulled a shiny metal disk from her pocket and waved it at him, casting colorful reflections on the gray walls. “I, Vladimir Ivanovich Coronov, in service of my country and my planet chose to take these measures to ensure the safety of my people and future generations, bla bla bla . . . perhaps at the cost of my honor and even my life . . .” She shook her head, as if his words were a bad joke told in extremely poor taste. “I read this, Mr. Coronov. I read it all very carefully. And, hard as it may be for you to believe, I honestly tried to see your perspective. I can’t.”

“I did what I had to __”

“No!” Sally threw the disc across the room. It clanged on the floor and rolled up the wall, finally becoming lodged somewhere in the window blind. “You didn’t have to do anything! It wasn’t your job to wage war on an alien society. How dare you even think of calling yourself a martyr?”

Vlad tightened his hands at his sides, waiting for her to finish.

She gestured to the disc, wherever it was. “I know you’re arguing that you followed orders from some half-baked Russian bureaucrat back home, but you still have to answer to me here! Is that clear?”

He stood still, as if his stance could somehow protect him.

“You really believe this, don’t you?”

“They were a threat to us, Captain. I had to act.”

“And act you did! You took it upon yourself to act outside my authority, the authority of the UN, and even that of your own government to commit an act of terrorism. You tampered with our power systems, risking all our lives, and you started what may eventually become an interplanetary war.”

“You may say that, Captain, but it had to be done. You would not have done it.”

“It had to be done?” she repeated, pacing around him. “Killing untold thousands of people?”

“They were a threat to us.”

“Oh, were they? Vlad, you just don’t know what you’ve done, do you? There were probably less than three hundred Masters on that whole continent! That was like throwing a hand grenade into a crowded room to kill a fly!”

“That may be true, but they had to be__”

“And, for all we know, those palaces might have been fortified!”

He stood a little straighter, not meeting her gaze.

“Vlad, the thousands you killed were people just like Scott!” She hovered in front of him, forcing him to meet her eyes. “They were innocent victims of the Masters, just as Scott is now.”

“And the Builders, too,” he reminded her. “All those people are better off__”

“God almighty, how dare you? How dare you hand out life and death? Why don’t you go down the hall and kill Scott while you’re at it?”

Vlad resumed his statue-like stance.

She let out a humorless laugh. “You know the funniest thing about all this? You missed!”

“No!” he insisted, his pride swelling up. “It was on target!”

“Oh, you hit the palaces all right, but that’s not where ground zero was.”

“The range had to be great__”

“Again, you just don’t get it! Are you even listening? Why didn’t you just destroy the whole damned planet?”

“I had to be sure,” he mumbled, his face beginning to perspire.

“The fact is, Vlad, that over sixty percent of the blast didn’t even fall on the camps! Do you know where it did fall?” She let her face drift within inches of his. “It fell on the forests.”

He stood silently, squinting his eyes as if expecting her to slap him.

“I don’t know how much you heard while Darm and Obilion were here. By the way, you made me out to be a liar when I granted them safe passage. Thanks a-lot!”

Vlad’s chin trembled at her fury, but he remained still.

“Well, when they were here, Darm let slip that he does a bit of hunting to keep up the numbers of the Brethren. Or did, rather. Do you know what that means?”

Vlad remained still.

“It means there was one player in this game who might have been on our side!” She paced around him before facing him again. “What would you do if you lived on that planet and wanted to stay out of the Masters’ control? You’d learn to hide well and trust nobody! That’s why we didn’t see them.” Her voice trailed off to a whisper. “But they were there! All through the forests, they were there! They must have been!”

She continued to pace the room while Vlad followed her with his eyes.

“They probably saw Ian and me, but they didn’t reveal themselves. I can’t say I blame them. You see, we probably looked like a new kind of Builder to them.” She stiffened, masking her anger and regret. “We were carrying equipment just like the Builders do. And I’d imagine, living the lives they must have lived, they probably weren’t expecting help to drop down from the skies, were they?”

Then she faced him again with barely bridled fury. “But you dropped something else on them, didn’t you! And now you’re no better than Darm! You’re just as selfish and merciless as the damned Masters! And you did it in our name and with our equipment!”

“Captain, I have confessed,” Vlad said, trying to remain calm. “I never expected you to support my actions.”

“Thank you, Vlad. That’s the first complement you’ve ever given me.”

“When we return to Earth, I expect to be received by my government at their discretion __”

“Well, we’re a long way from Earth now. Let’s not think so far ahead. But, even so, I don’t think you’ll be going home the big hero you imagine yourself to be.”

Vlad glared at her.

“Oh, you’ll have your tickertape parade, you’ll shake hands with your president, and your name will be posted everywhere, but that’ll be just for show. Behind the scenes, you may have some explaining to do. Perhaps a few long debriefing sessions, as they say.”

“What can you possibly __”

“I’ll say it again, you’re a remarkable man. You’re into just about everything. And it seems you lead a double life. Or maybe even triple.”

Vlad waited for her to go on.

“You see, we knew you were up to something, but we were on the wrong track. We spotted your covert slight-of-hand, but not against us.” She strolled over to his console. With a practiced move, she reached under the main panel and withdrew the object Vlad had so carefully hidden.

“We found out about this, Vlad. It didn’t take long for Ian to figure out you were examining something. He found it when he searched your quarters for more weapons as part of your confinement procedures. No need to let you know he’d found it. The story was all there in your hand-held.”

“That computer is New Soviet property! You had no right to search__”

“You were an international criminal at that time and we had every right to defend ourselves! Of course, you’re welcome to file a formal protest through your embassy if you wish, but don’t forget to tell your superiors you never informed them about your find!”

Vlad started to speak, but could say nothing.

“We know who you spoke to and about what. Your secure channels may not have been monitored by the UN, but, thanks to the VR restrictions, we know the types of things you were talking about and even whether or not you were telling the truth at the time you talked about them. The analysis says you were hiding something. Does that sound right?”

“How dare__”

“Do you know what this represents?” Sally said, holding up the turtle-shaped object. “This is an act of international piracy, theft, sabotage, and possibly treason. It’s also the singular most stupid thing you could have done.”

Vlad started to protest.

“Just what did you think this was, Vlad? A long-range transmitter? A surveillance device?”

He shook his head. “It was nothing more than __”

“A diagnostic tool,” Sally finished for him. “A Builder used it to measure power levels in the shuttlepod’s control systems. It was probably left by accident. Ian was able to track your analysis very easily. But who authorized you to tamper with enemy alien technology?”

Vlad said nothing.

“Did you ever consider that this might be a bomb or part of the Masters’ plans to infiltrate our VR system? How stupid can you be?” She shook her head. “You wanted this for leverage, didn’t you? You could sell it, perhaps, or try to patent it. Of course, that isn’t very responsible considering your government’s stand on the collective good over personal gain. But, if you’d asked your superiors first, they might have done something unreasonable like tell you to take precautions, involve us, or even hold it aside for trained professionals. A moot point now, since it’s no longer hidden from anybody, including your government. And, though they’ll close the lid on this as tight as they can, they’ll know you for the weasel you really are. But that’s between you and them. Next to the real crimes you’ve committed, this is nothing.”

Vlad sighed and his lips stiffened further.

“You know, Vlad, since we left the planet I’ve had some time on my hands. I’ve been catching up on my reading. You know, Shakespeare, Emerson, things like that? I’ve also been looking over the UN manual for this mission.”

She moved in on him for emphasis. “Did you know, because this is an international mission, no one government has any real authority here?”

He said nothing, looking away briefly.

“Well, it’s true. I could get on the com link and tell the US President to go to hell, and about the worst he could do is tell me to do the same.” She smiled playfully. “I almost did that yesterday, in fact.”

He snorted with indignation.

“What, that bothers you?”

“The US President is an authority,” he mumbled. “You should show more respect.”

“Respect?” She laughed. “But I do respect the US President, and even yours. All I’m saying is I don’t really have to obey them here. You see, as it turns out, I have full authority on this ship and there isn’t much they can do about it. Now, that’s not something they advertised when they gave me the job, but it’s right there in black and white!”

“I know of your authority, Captain.”

“Do you really?” she asked, as if preparing to call his bluff. She gestured about the room. “This is my ship. The UN can tell me where to steer it, but they can’t tell me what to do inside it. You see, they weren’t thinking we’d actually have personnel issues or anything like that. Did you know I could perform marriages? If you’d taken a liking to Obilion, I could have helped you tie the knot with her! A nice thought.”

Vlad looked away.

“I can also pass laws and regulations. I could change the ship’s official language, for example. We could all be speaking French if I had reason to.” She stepped closer to him. “I also have every right to decide how those laws are to be enforced and what penalties would result from breaking them.”

Vladimir did flinch at that, but tried not to show it.

“But in your case, Vlad, I don’t have to make a law. One exists already. It’s a very old law. It defines what we call treason. We also call it mutiny.”

He started to protest, but something in her eyes forced him to keep silent.

She stared at him for a moment, saying nothing. “I don’t have to define the punishment for that crime either. History took care of that, too.”

She drew the gun from inside her jacket and raised it to his face with both hands.

“What are you doing?” he said, trembling. He let his eyes glance briefly at the chalk X on the wall exactly behind where he stood. He made pleading gestures with his hands, as if his voice had suddenly dried up.

“It’s easier being on this side of the gun, isn’t it? It’s so simple to just push a button and not even have to be there when somebody dies.”

“I gave you that gun!” he blubbered. “I saved your life!”

“No you didn’t. For all I know you’d have turned it on me eventually or left us to die on the planet. Besides, we’re even for that, remember?”

“Please, Captain!”

“The parallel is amazing. I’m only interested in punishing a small part of you. I’m aiming at the part of your mind that allowed you to do what you did. Maybe it’s only a handful of cells, not all of them. But the other ones . . .” She shrugged. “I guess they’re expendable, aren’t they? Just like the Brethren and the people in the forests.” She straightened up in final resolution. “Too bad!”

She looked seriously at Vlad, tensing her fingers on the gun in a final endless instant in which both she and Vlad shared each other’s complete attention. She pulled the trigger!

The hammer clicked hollowly on the empty chamber, but Vlad roared in terror, leaping back as if a real bullet were racing toward him! He stumbled against his blank console in a pathetic dance, dropping into the seat with his feet waving in front of him. He glared at her with pure contempt.

“But I’m not like you, am I, Vlad? Remember that Hippocratic Oath? Well, you’re a sick bastard, so I guess it applies to you, too.”

He straightened up, returning to his state of attention with a grunt of disgust.

“No I won’t kill you, Vlad, but I will exile you. I’m sending you back where you belong. You’re going back to New Ontario.”

He looked at her in surprise. “That’s not possible! The shuttlepod has not the range!”

“I thought of that!” She grinned. “Frankly, I’d be happy to send you out in it anyway, but that would still technically mean killing you, so it’s not really an option.” She glanced at her watch and looked up towards the ceiling. “Now, Rachel!”

The room’s features then shifted without warning. The wrapping floor unfolded soundlessly into hard, black ground. Vlad could no longer see Sally clearly, as a dark cloud of smoke appeared between them. He coughed wildly and deeply, kneeling down on the searing hot stones.

“Welcome to ground zero.”

“What is this?” he coughed.

“This is what you did, Vlad.” She motioned with her hands. “This was your intended target.”

Vlad pivoted his head. The sky was dark from smoke that still rose from the smoldering forests, which stretched out into the distance as far as he could see. He stood on the concrete slab that had once been the labor camp, seeing the ruins of the palace, the wheel, and the Brethren. Faces stared at him from amid the rubble, and blackened arms and legs sizzled and crackled on the fiery ground.

Vlad continued to cough wildly, looking in horror at gobs of mucus that flew from his mouth and nose.

“You’re sick, Vlad,” she explained with a hint of sympathy. “You’ve taken a great deal of radiation and you’re covered with fallout.”

He stared at his arms, gasping at the lesions that now covered his skin from his elbows to his hands.

“You’re hungry, too, and thirsty, just like the survivors here would be. Good luck finding food.”

He looked at her with fear and amazement.

“Oh, I had some help of course,” she said, reading the question in his face. “But this was my idea. A friend of mine helped me set it up.”

He looked at the horizon with growing terror, kicking at the blackened chunks of brick beneath his feet.

“I hope you can appreciate the detail. I used pictures, testimony, medical reports, and other files from the atomic era. I even put in a few scavengers and wounded animals for you to contend with. It did have to be accurate, after all. Welcome to the other side of the gun.”

“You can’t mean this!” he choked, covering his mouth with his hand.

“Actually I can, Vlad. I told you, I’ve got a lot of latitude here.”

“I’ll die!”

“No you won’t,” she assured him. “When we get home, your body will have come to no real harm. And, since this technology hasn’t been regulated yet, this doesn’t count as anything more than confinement to quarters.”

Vlad stumbled towards her, but she stepped out of the way and he quickly fell into another coughing fit.

“Take heart, Vlad. You’re only getting a mild dose of it. This is just a teaspoonful of what you gave them.”

He felt his legs hesitantly, wincing at his own touch.

“Your safeties are still on. That means your threshold of pain remains the same. It probably would be illegal for me to tamper with that, and it would be considered cruel and unusual punishment by many governments, including mine.”

He stared at her, pleading with his eyes.

“There’s something else I’d like to leave you with, Vlad. We don’t know very much about the Masters, but we do know they once had space flight capability. We also know that some of them probably knew where Earth is.”

“Not anymore!” Vlad coughed triumphantly.

“There’s a whole planet full of other Master communities. We only assumed they don’t communicate. We don’t know for sure. And the Builders learned a great deal about our technology. Builders don’t need to sleep. They can spend all day scheming and working things out. There could be thousands of them still alive down there, plotting and planning against us! You may have done more than you thought, Vlad. You may have unified this planet!” She motioned around them. “The fallout will drift, after all, and I think you can be reasonably sure many of them saw the blast. Hiroshima was certainly no mystery. Maybe they’ll know where it came from. Maybe they’ll want revenge someday. Think about that.”

She stepped towards him again. “You see, you’ve made us the aggressors now. If there ever was a chance at negotiating a peace, it’s gone now. One day they may come looking for us. And they’ve got an extremely devoted army. Can you imagine what great soldiers Brethren would make? Each one begging for martyrdom, each one a suicide bomber.”

“Captain! You can’t!” He coughed and gagged.

“Three hours,” she said, turning away. “Anderson sleeps three hours every day. When he’s awake, we need the computer to run his program. When he’s asleep, we run yours. Enjoy yourself, Vlad. You have two hours and forty five minutes left for today.”

Then, for a flicker, the door to Vlad’s quarters appeared, as if illuminated by an unseen searchlight. He could just make out the ghost image of Sally exiting through the smoke. He stared after her in wonder, and then turned his attention to the smashed landscape beyond. His legs quivered weakly and he felt a terrible queasiness in his stomach. He couldn’t tell if it was real or imaginary, but he retched uncontrollably onto the hot stones that once made up the foundry.