Humanity in the Deep

As Captain Patel entered engineering, he saw that everyone was busy. All the teleoperating cubicles were being used, and all the workshops had something being repaired in them.

He greeted everyone as he passed them, asking how they were doing.

He made it to Chief Engineer Jack Harken as fast as he could while not looking like he was in a hurry. He was helping a very tired tech fix a problem with what looked like a laser. Probably one they were going to install onto a boat. He was waving his arms wildly as he spoke.

Eventually, he saw the captain behind him. “Carry on, if you have any more problems, I am sure the lieutenant can help.”

Jack walked up to the captain and said, “Here for the bad news I take it?”

“That is about the only kind I get these days.”

“I’ll start with the warships then. The alterations are going well. Once they launch, they will be taking almost all our remaining nuclear electric generators though. We’re going to have to start relying on the fusion generator more, and we’re not exactly flush with hydrogen.

“When the warships launch, and I have the people to spare I will set some on trying to kludge some NEG’s together from scrap radioactives we have in storage. But, don’t get your hopes up; we don’t have much left. Honestly, I’m hoping we can get the boats back here and hooked up again fast. We really need that power.”

“I know, but it has to be done,” the captain said as they reached the chief office and closed the door.

“This is the real problem,” the chief said as he swung a display open and with a few taps brought up what looked to the captain to be a deep scan of the rear plate.

He had seen scans of the rear plate recently before he pulled them off, fixing it. They were not as detailed as the one on the screen.

“This is a model based on the magnetic resonance scans we took. It’s almost as good as a real deep scan.

“You see this crack?” He pointed to a faint line across half of the plate.

“How much a problem will that be?” the captain asked, wanting the chief to get to the point.

“A big one. No way can we get past about point one G’s with that there, and no, we can’t maintain even that delta-V long. We should get a new plate.”

The captain looked at him sternly as he threw up his arms and said, “Yes, I know. I’ll find a way to make it work, but Captain, it’s not going to be an easy or short fix. Without more reaction mass, we can’t even use our plasma jets to break orbit. It could easily take months to improvise a solution, and it will take a lot of power. And that is assuming we can get heavy metals.”

“Keep at it, although I would assume we don’t have months to spend,” the captain replied.

Changing topics, he asked, “How are your people? I know they are working double shifts.”

“They’re engineers. They’ll get the job done.”

---

It was not a good day for Roger or for Councilor Powell.

He was heading to a section of corridors he had never been to before. When he arrived, Adrian was waiting for him along with the marines who were stationed there.

Roger extended his hand and Adrian shook it.

“Per your request, Councilor, the prisoners have not been told you are going to talk with them. Also, for the record, I still think this is a bad idea.”

“I have to do it, Adrian,” he said, not disagreeing.

Adrian led him into a small cell where a local had handcuff’s on and was watching something on a display.

Roger was handed a translator. “The language team has been working with the locals to improve them, but the emotional inflections are still off. We will be watching. If you need us just call out.” At that, he was left alone with the local.

Roger studied the man in front of him. He looked so ordinary. He was short with one of his arms in a zero-G sling and bandages over his torso.

“What’s your name?”

“Zurrleeeya,” the translator relayed, not even trying to translate it.

“But they call me Bob.” He motioned outside with his good arm.

Roger stared at him intently as he said, “Will you answer my questions?”

“Sure,” he said almost joyously. Roger thought he would look haggard, but strangely, he appeared to not be stressed at all.

Deciding to get it over with, Roger asked, “Why did you attack us? We came in friendship and asked for nothing you would have missed.”

He looked at Roger oddly. then said, “Why would we not? You had something we wanted so the leader decided to take it. I keep telling your people that and don’t know why it’s hard to understand.”

Roger then said, “You didn’t think it was wrong to attack?”

“The leader did not, of course, or he would not have done it. He was right; it worked.”

“No, I mean morally or ethically wrong.” As he finished the sentence the translator gave the beep that meant the sentence was not fully translatable.

“I just told you it worked.”

“Morally wrong, meaning an action is not justifiable, even if it would work.” The translator beeped again.

He just looked at Roger with a confused look on his face. Roger got the sense he was trying to explain the concept of ‘blue’ to a blind man.

Deciding to go to another track, Roger said, “Why are you willing to help us? Your people declared war on us. When you were captured, you did not even hesitate before telling us anything we wanted to know.”

“Is there some reason I should have resisted? You’re obviously strong, and I expect you are going to need people like me. Your translators are nice but you’re going to need people who really speak the language before too long. You know how effective I am in combat.”

“You mean because you shot our people.”

“Yes.”

Roger felt like he was getting a headache.

He’d read about sociopaths; all the council had by then. But it was not enough. All the books were about sociopaths who were trying to fit in. Where Bob was from, there was no need to try and fit in. What would that do to them? How could they even have developed a society if there was no trust?

“Do you have art?”

“Oh, yes. I prefer pain art myself.”

He knew he would be happier not knowing, but he had to ask.

“Pain art?”

“You know, carving people up? Seeing how long before they ask for death? Hard to do out here, costs too much to ship someone out, but we can always tune into the broadcasts.”

That was all Roger could take. He banged the door and left.

To his shame, Roger had killed people. It was in defense of others, but he had been taught that killing was never something to be proud of. Despite that, he was willing to do it again. He would die and kill before he left Kat with people like those.

---

One day after his meeting with...Bob, the council had another closed meeting.

That time, it was just the council, Adrian, and the captain. The captain looked like he always did, well-rested and in control. Everyone else looked how Roger felt, haunted by the reports they had read and the choices they were being asked to make.

When everyone was there, and the pleasantries were done, Myra stood up. and said, “I believe the situation was laid out well last time. Colonel, if you would.” She gestured to Adrian.

Adrian gave a slight nod and moved in front of the circular desk, swinging the screen behind him.

“With the help of the prisoners and observations of ship motions, my think tank has come to several conclusions:

“First, the two points of most strategic importance to the locals are these stations.” He pointed to the four large stations around the gas giant Roger passed by when he did his first sweep through the system. “These are the bases where their scoops and the boats that mine the rings are located. They are the only major suppliers of reaction mass or water for their ships. They have no halo, so sending it up from the surface of the planet may be possible but it would not be sustainable.”

Adrian continued quickly. He moved the map to show the local home world. It looked like Earth or Hope but grayer, like there was a layer of dust over the entire planet. “Second,” he pointed at the large asteroid that orbited the planet, “This is the home of their leaders, and of almost their entire space industry. Overtly, it’s massive rail guns and ships are what keep the planet, asteroid mines and the gas giant stations in line. Although long term, it’s the fact that they are the only ones allowed to grow food in space.

“However, before we do anything, we have to take out the quarantine ships.” The screen changed to show the ships that were surrounding them. “They know enough to stay out of the way of our navigation lasers. Nor can we hope to take them all out with our boats, not when one shot in the wrong place means we lose the Erikson.”

He changed the view to show what looked like bulky probes. “This is what my team came up with. These probes are modified with radar baffles and painted with nano-black. Their drive’s are being removed and replaced with ion drives and cold jets. We should be able to nudge them close without being noticed.

“Once they are in place, we activate them all at once and they burn to the ships and take them out.”

Remembering the Alice, Roger asked, “One each? Will that really be enough?”

“If they make it past the outer hull, yes. Our models say it will be. That said, we should try to double up if possible, but each one we send out increases the chance that one will be seen.

“The second part of the plan requires us to quickly fix the Alice, at least her engine, navigation, and power systems. It may require several more NEG’s as well, but that can’t be helped.”

“We set the Alice to fly into their headquarters. If it can maintain five G’s, we can impact at just over five percent C. That would release enough energy to entirely take it out. Remember that as far as we can tell, this is their only shipyard as well as the only place that food is grown off-planet. I believe we can handle what little else they would have.”

The captain almost casually asked, “What would happen to the planet in this scenario, Colonel?”

Adrian made a motion over his wristcomp and the picture changed, Roger saw the Alice leave and impact the asteroid. There was a flash of light and the asteroid snapped in half. Half slammed into the planet, causing an explosion large enough to be seen with the model of the planet less than a meter across. It was glowing red where the asteroid hit. The shockwaves wrapped around the planet several times.

The colonel turned to Roger and the rest of the council. He said, “Councilors, we are at war. A war like nothing that has happened in our lifetimes.

“Most of the fighting that happens today is piracy. There has never been a war between the current major powers and, god willing, never will be, but we are not on the grid.

“What they declared on us was not a limited war or a police action. It is a conflict that will only end in one of two ways. Either we destroy their ability to hinder us from resupplying, repairing, and leaving. Or, they kill or enslave all of us.”

He looked at the captain square in the eyes and said, “Yes, what I am suggesting will likely lead to genocide. Odds are good that the fortress will impact the planet and if it does, it will be an extinction level event.

“Even if the planet survives all of the locals in space will starve. None of the stations have any craft that can go down to the planet’s surface, nor do they have more than a few weeks of food if what we are told is right.”

He looked back at the council, at Roger. “We are not in a war for some political gain, or for land or greed. We are at war for our very survival. The purpose of any war is to as quickly and decisively as possible ensure your enemy cannot stop you from achieving your goals. Mercy and kindness do not win wars.”

Roger spoke up, “And the prisoners?”

“I am sorry, but they would die. They would be the last, however. The stations and ships would have no choice but to surrender after we do this.”

Lucas said, “How could you possibly know that? Unless I’m mistaken, we have no real basis for comparison. There has never been a society remotely like this one. You’re just hoping they won’t see our ship as the only life raft left and all try and get aboard all at once. Nothing unites people like the threat of being killed if they do nothing.”

“In that case, our boats could take them out. We would only have to hold off for a few weeks after all.”

Against protocol, the captain stood up and slowly mag-walked next to Adrian, turned to the council and said, “You all know this is wrong.

“I have seen death; I have killed in defense of myself and in defense of others. And may the gods forgive me, but I have killed out of anger and out of greed. The stain of those deaths will be on my soul forever, and I will bear that in the next life. There are things worse than death, and living with such a crime would be one of them.”

He looked each of the council members in the eye’s in turn and said, “We should know the difference between killing soldiers who put themselves against us and murder. There are other military options than genocide.”

Roger spoke up for the first time, thinking of Kat, and of the uncountable people on the local’s home world. “I move that we disregard all plans that end with genocide. Do I have a second?”

Roger almost cried in joy and pride when every hand went up.