Haste

“You must,” said the old man, a few moments before his death, “get the locket to Europa.” His death was instant, as if he had been just waiting to give me this task, as his final act. His face fell into the table, as if he was asleep, but it did not take long to realize he was dead. He hadn’t even finished his drink. This drew a couple of eyes of the other attenders of the Lonely Asteroid Saloon. It was not usual for someone to die in the bar, but the deaths usually involved guns or knives. It is exceedingly rare that someone should die so peacefully. Of course, it was not old age in his case; he had been poisoned, and knew of his death. I finished his drink for him. I stood up, and looked at the other person at the table, his granddaughter. She wore the heart shaped locket around her neck.

Their ship had been sabotaged, and they offered me and the rest of the Company a hefty sum to get them to the Sun. We were to take the granddaughter and her two Android bodyguards.

“All right then, let us go.” I said, getting up. The bartender, a large broad bald man was not having it.

“You!” Said the bartender. “Can’t leave your dead body here.”

“I did not kill him.”

“Don’t care.” He said. “This is a classy, respectable establishment, Nikki.” I sighed. It was etiquette not to leave dead bodies in the saloon, even if you weren't directly responsible for the deaths.

“He needs a proper funeral.” Said his granddaughter, Nina. “Tradition.” I nodded and had my shipmates take him with us. She did not weep, but that did not hide the depth of her sadness. She seemed to be out of tears to give. I was hardly surprised. Such was the way of life for those who traveled so deep into interstellar space, who took the dangerous way from Alpha Centauri to the Sun. It is true that Humans were explorers. Yet drifting across the void, millions of miles was something Humans had never quite adapted to. Some had evolved to live in the stations, part of the Chain, the string of space habitats between Alpha Centauri and the Sun, yet Nina was not one of them. There was a reason why these settlements, especially the ones deep into interstellar space, were mostly populated by Androids like me. The last centuries of evolution, even with the guidance of genetic engineering, were still paltry in comparison to the millions of years of evolution that had forged Humans in their planets. They did not belong here.

“Say goodbye to the neon lights at the Eea Station,” I told Nina, right as we were in the docking bay. “It might be a nest of pirates, but it’s my favorite place in the Universe.”

We boarded my ship, the Haste. This was the closest thing I had to a home, and the crewmembers were my family. We were the mercenaries of the Corinthian Company. All of us were Androids, and we were famous for never breaking a contract, and being ruthlessly efficient. “You are pirates,” she said. “Of course you like it here.”

“We are privateers.” I corrected indignantly. We had to leave quickly. Nina and her grandfather had explained to me the urgency of their mission. They were being hunted. The pursuit had been ongoing for decades, since they left Proxima, and even before that. Nina said that one of the ships that had been pursuing them was called Fenrir. I recognized the name unfortunately; it meant that they were being chased by Clarice Hunt, one of the most dreaded bounty hunters in the Chain. My first mate, Damien, strode towards me gravely.

“Source tells me that Fenrir has docked.” I cursed, and we hurried to get into the ship and took off. After the ship took off, I got to relax and walk back into the deck. I caught Nina looking at the small window, watching Eea Station slowly become a dot in the darkness. She was gripping her necklace. Next to her were her two Android bodyguards, Shiro and Aika.. They looked like twins.

“How long until the Sun?”

“Only a year.”.

“So close.” She sighed sadly. “Why should he die, now that we are so close to our destination?” Eea was the last station before we arrived at the Solar System. We were travelling nearly one tenth of the speed of light, with state-of-the-art fusion reactors. The Haste was aptly named, there were no ships faster. There hadn’t been for a long time, not since the Collapse. Not since the Nine Tunnels had been destroyed, and civilization had lost the knowledge to build antimatter fueled ships. This was all a long time ago, before Nina had been born, but I had lived through those dark days.

I had lived through much.

“What’s the locket?”

“Family heirloom.” She replied. “It has been passed down my line through generations. We cannot part with it. Not even for a moment.”

“Tradition?” I asked. She nodded at that, still eyeing me suspiciously. Her eyes were a vibrant green, her hair silver. There were very few Humans left that I ran into that looked like the original Humans of Earth. They all had evolved differently after eons living in different habitats. I didn’t run into many Humans in general. Indeed, she was the only Human abroad the Haste. “But why is it so important?”

“Why do you care? Do your job.”

“Trust us.”

“You are a mercenary. Doing this for the money, my fortune. You’re not like Shiro and Aika here. They have sworn to defend my family, and the locket, for more than one hundred years. And they have carried out their duty. I’m sorry if this offends you sir, but I can’t trust you with the knowledge.”

“I’m a professional.” I replied. “I would never betray you for the highest bidder, you know of the Corinthian Company’s reputation. Two hundred years of experience, a perfect record... well we’ve failed before a few times, but we never sold out. The contract is unbreakable.” I looked at the twin Android. “You may not think I’m as honorable as these two, but I’m bound by professional courtesy just as they are bound by their honor. Knowing what I’m up against might improve my ability to help you.” I leaned forward. “Look, I know the thing on your neck is important. You offered me a fortune to protect it, but everywhere in the Cybersphere there are figures offering me even more money. Your face is everywhere in the Cybersphere. Might as well tell me.”

She seemed to hesitate, then spoke. “Me and my family have been betrayed countless times. But I suppose someone else should know of the Long Voyage. If me or my loyal companions should die, I’d like someone to carry out our story… and perhaps the Locket. ’I nodded, and one of the crewmembers arrived with tea.

“The Long Voyage began in Tau Ceti. Right when the Collapse happened, two centuries ago. You have heard of the Academy, Nikki?” My eyes brightened. The Academy, the greatest university in all the Systems. During the Golden Age, it was a shining beacon of knowledge. Now it was nothing but ash and rubble. “Well, my great grandmother was a Professor, there. Cassandra. With the help Academy’s AI, Mimir, they foresaw the destruction of the Academy. Within Mimir contained all the knowledge gathered by the Academy during the Golden Age… the knowledge of the Ancients. This knowledge was already rare during the years right before the Collapse, as you know… but it was completely preserved in the Academy. Mimir also concluded that the other super computers, the ones that have gathered so much power during our time, were not to be trusted with her knowledge. Minerva, the AI of the Academy’s sister school, Minerva’s Library, was the only one to be trusted. It is located beneath Europa’s ice within Humanity’s last great stronghold, the Hidden City, which remains untouched by the Collapse. And so began the Long Voyage… the two ships, Lif and Lifthrasir, they left Tau Ceti, with fifty of the students, including Cassandra, and some guards.” She gestured at the twins. “In this little locket, Mimir’s memory is contained. Her data, all that information, is in this littlest of things. I must take this to the Hidden City. They are the only Humans who can use this knowledge. They are the only ones who would be willing to do something good with it. From there, Humankind can be rebuilt. We’re all that is left of the original voyagers. I was born in Proxima thirty years ago, which now is mostly a plagued wasteland that’s being fought by warlords and the Inquisitors. My mother died when I was a kid… sniper rifle.” She explained briefly, with a wave of her hand. “Then she passed me the locket.”

“You have a lot of enemies.”

“Our mission is no longer a secret.” She replied. “There are those who would have the knowledge be lost. Others want to steal it." So... a two Hundred Year Mission, and I would be part of its final chapter. The night afterwards, they made a ceremony where they sent her grandfather’s casket into space, with coordinates set for Tau Ceti. The twins sang an eulogy in Proximan. The months passed, and I had gotten to know our new crewmates.

“You’ve seen the setting Tau Ceti Sun?” She had asked, and I nodded. I had seen Proxima’s rivers and sprawling forests before it turned into a wasteland. I had even visited the Academy once. But I had never set my eyes on the Hidden City; it had been closed to outsiders since the Collapse. She then asked me about Earth, eyes twinkling.

“The green hills of Mars… and the blue seas of Earth. Oh! Grandfather told me stories. Earth, the Universe’s pearl.” I grimaced.

“Mars is red once again. Earth became a dusty desert, with few seas.” This had saddened her, and she did not want to talk after that.

We passed through the Oort Cloud with no problem, no signs of the Fenrir. I expected the Fenrir to reach the System at the same time. We approached Europa’s orbit, and I made contact with the Hidden City.

“You are approaching Europa; desist or you will be shot down.”

“This is Haste to Europa, do not…” I began but Nina interrupted me.

“This is Nina, and I carry Mimir, Humanity’s last hope… I must take her to Minerva. Please…” I frowned, but there was silence in the other side.

“You are cleared for landing.” I looked in shock and she beamed, and I grinned back. The celebration was short lived however, suddenly our ship began shaking. We had been struck, by the Fenrir.

“It’s got our engines… shit…” The Fenrir’s stealth was better than anything I had encountered; it had appeared as a strange looking asteroid in our ship’s radar, but now it had revealed itself, and it was utilizing all it’s firepower. We were losing badly. I looked at the twins and Nina.

“Get to the Evac pods. We’ll hold em off.”

“But…” She then got quiet and gave me one last nod, a nod of the utmost respect. The twins saluted me. They entered the EVAC pod and left. The Fenrir’s mission was to stop the Locket, not to kill us… I was seized by a momentary fear when I realized that they would destroy the pod before it landed after dealing with us. Even if we held them off for a bit. Holding wasn't enough. This was going to be the Corinthian Company’s last mission. Two hundred years, one hundred and nine missions and fourteen failures. This was not going to be one of em. I looked at Damien and he understood. We were together a long time, but we would have no time to say goodbye. We didn’t need to, we all understood each other. Damien aimed the Haste towards Fenrir, and piloted towards it at maximum speed. The Fenrir had no time to react or for evasive maneuvers; they were taken by surprise. I had a brief moment of satisfaction before the crash.