The panic was still in check but only just, and there were suggestions that they should destroy the Primede vials. Christophe called for order.
“Albert has been right all along and if we were to do this we would be ignoring him again. He was almost at his wit’s end when he shouted me down to make it crystal clear that if the Primedes lost this conflict, we would have to prepare for the galactic cyborgs instead. I guess we still have a paradox guys. If we are sure we’ve done everything here we must at least get back to Earth and find Hansel and Gretel. Yes? No?”
Chapter 34
Rodriguez was muttering to himself while they were making preparations to leave. Christophe asked him to speak up or shut up.
“Yeah, yeah, I don’t think we’ve discussed why this is all here on Ganymede. What is the bloody point? All we have done is to prove Albert was right, is that a big deal?”
“Well, I think it’s obvious why the vials are here, to tempt us to come and open them, and then fiddle with them. We complied and we are being used. I think it’s more interesting to think what difference it would have made if we had brought Hansel and Gretel to life and never known Albert. Either way the Primedes had it covered. The difference is that Albert warned us what would happen if we ignored him. The alternative is what the other two are up to, now that he is dead. It’s an invasion Cameron, no matter how it is dressed up. I shudder to think what else there is in these Primede vials. Having slept on it, I now believe we have to destroy them.”
“Ok, but why are the movies here? You know, the Primedes appearing to be on good terms with historical human figures.”
“I suppose as this is just one of their outposts, they want to have a safe house equipped with the information as well as the tools for a new start. It’s still bad news for Earth, particularly the Borg. However, if the Primedes lose out we will be next. I just hope I’m long gone by then. Anyway Cam, we haven’t dislodged the paradox by coming here again, it is still there. We are being implanted with the idea of cleansing Earth of the Borg or having a fate worse than cleansing the Earth of the Borg. I still say we should scour our planet for the runaways. They are the Primedes’ other option, their Trojan horse. Let’s finish up preparations and have one last crack at Harley about the next move.”
They were all set. Christophe approached the subject carefully. “Harley, Cameron and I were shooting the breeze and we started looking at this place in a different way. One of the questions we wrestled with before Albert put his oar in, was whether or not the Primedes could actually be extinct. That was based on our translation of the inscriptions during the first trip. Albert tried to persuade us they weren’t extinct, and I, more than anyone, didn’t believe him. Now we know they weren’t extinct in the early twentieth century.”
Harley was getting weary of the continual regurgitation of ‘what if’ scenarios, but it had been his own firm edict at the beginning of the current exploration that they had to stick to the facts. This seemed to qualify as a fact. “Yes Christophe, you have a point. Does it change anything?”
“I believe it does, but since I was more scathing than anyone else about Albert’s veracity, I don’t have a good track record to back up my volte-face. Cameron asked what the real purpose of this outpost could be, and I can’t get away from us being a pawn in a game going on over our heads. We, Cameron and I, drifted on to the multi-layered agenda possibilities and something else which Albert felt, which now disturbs me. To make an analogy, he was a ‘Primede domestique’ and his missing kin are Primede loyalists. The thousands of the pure Primede vials must contain more variants, and therefore more solutions. They are trying to cover every base.”
“I see, and your conclusion is?”
“I know you’ll think I’m crazy, but one such solution, looked at from their point of view is to drive a wedge between us, just as Albert did. It was him who advocated the pathogen. It failed to produce the wedge, but only just, and that may have been what pushed him over the edge. I really implore you to think again about what is in these four thousand identically marked vials. We wouldn’t want to have to come back a third time to do something we could do now. There is also the number of magnetic flux missives which have gone in the very recent past; it could be that we won’t get another chance to return. Until we can find the missing duo, I can’t call this any other way. We are either being invaded or we are going to be. Cameron is right, because there is no other logical explanation for this outpost. If you have one I’d like to hear it.”
Harley could sense the others were not challenging this in the same way they had in the second chamber.
“You haven’t touched on my feeling that it would be better for the Primedes to see harmony when they arrive. Do I take it that you now disagree with that strategy?”
“No, it’s what we all supported before we landed on Ganymede again. I thought the purpose of this exploration was to find evidence which would support that plan. My reading now is that it has done nothing to support it, and it may even have suggested it would have no effect on the psyche of the Primedes. In splendid isolation, I still support your call for harmonisation, so I would like to see us use that cohesion to make the kind of decision we are facing now. The very least we should do is talk this through again as many times as it takes to be of one mind. We should delay the return.”
The others backed him up.
Having raked over the coals again there was now consensus on finding out more about the content of the massive quantity of Primede vials. Christophe asked for Cleopatra to get Bianca to check more from the vial in the security vault on Earth. It wouldn’t take too long to prove or disprove whether there was variation. While this was being done they returned to Albert’s many predictions, in particular the one in which he steadfastly dismissed all protest. The Primedes knew of the existence of cyborgs on Earth. Nero asked how the sphere graphics affected this prediction.
“The last recorded visuals were from the early twentieth century. We hadn’t been created then. I know you will say the era of computing was about to emerge, but that isn’t proof.”
Rodriguez countered this. “That’s true. However, if we look at the progression of their graphics from interaction to observation, it would suggest they were worried about blowing their cover. Don’t laugh, but there was an absolute explosion of UFO sightings in the twentieth century. We could say they were all bullshit, but a few could have been the vial people. They must have known the human race was not only computing, they also had one eye on the Cosmos. If this Ganymede outpost was manned, they would have tracked all of the probes and exploration equipment we sent out into space. They may even know that we have been to the Moon since their last visit. I’m with Christophe on this; we can’t afford to just roll out the red carpet.”
The discussion was interrupted by a message from Bianca. It wasn’t the result of the analysis. It was the discovery that most of the contents were missing. The mood of the discussion changed instantly.
Christophe lit the fuse again. “I can’t guess who the thieves were? Do you need any more convincing?”
They argued again for hours and finally settled on taking as many vials back to Earth as the vessel could safely carry. They prepared for a long process of loading one at a time. Rodriguez flagged up an oversight.
“They have a means to video capture any of our activities in the chambers. The hologram has shown that to be the case.”
They agreed there must be a ‘camera’ of some kind hidden somewhere in the cavern. It had the ability to connect to the holographic interface. It had to be wireless, but they didn’t even know what they were looking for. The option of using the DPBs to dematerialise the vials or rock in which the video recorder could be embedded was rejected. It would be detected or determined as an act of aggression. The search was conducted as if they weren’t actually looking for something. They began to think that the entire power source was geothermal. Harley had taken his mind back to the original site on the other side of the moon. ?
??The casket was connected via some kind of cabling from underground. This site is probably powered in the same way. Can we use the scanners from the vessel by refocusing them? They surely can’t trace us from there.”
They ascended once more. Harley was correct; the conduits to the circular podium in the second chamber were clearly heading vertically downwards. The second trace picked out the position of another connecting point. It had to be the video apparatus. Beethoven ventured an observation.
“Maybe there’s no camera in the second chamber, because Anton flagged us when the cartouche was interrogated. There was a magnetic emission the instant we did this. That in itself means that the information is on its way. They don’t need it on video.”
The new puzzle was to disable the camera without blowing the whistle. Anton wasn’t used to the limelight and nervously blurted out a crazy idea. “When I was stuck in the ship while the rest of you were solving the mystery of the second chamber, I was bored. I played around with my scanner and found that all of this surface rock has pretty strong magnetic properties. I wasn’t too surprised as Ganymede has a magnetic field.”
“Yes. And why is that interesting?” said Harley.
“If we put a metal cover over the camera spot, when we find its location, it will most probably stick to the wall without any help.”
“Presumably you haven’t forgotten we will be seen to approach the camera just before it blacks out.”
“Of course, but if we make a dust storm with the DPBs outside, it will mask the activity. It might also seem like it failed because of the dust rather than being applied by one of us.”
“It’s the best suggestion so far. Does anyone have a better idea?”
It was approval by silence. It would also give them plenty of time to fetch and carry out the vials.
Eventually Bianca’s archived results from the first Primede vial came through. There were at least thirty-two marginally different DNA profiles. She also answered a question they had not yet asked. Only one being came to life when Albert was created. She had determined that the process of maturation was designed to eliminate all but one within a sample. It was a kind of survival of the fittest. This rang a bell with Christophe. When he had repeated the exercise to produce a successor to Albert, he was sure the first attempt had failed, so he began a second process only to find that the first had taken much longer than expected, hence the two fugitives.
The entire group was now fully convinced that invasion was coming. Christophe said, “Or is already happening. There is nothing more important now than finding the missing duo, after we disable the camera and load the vials.”
Harmony was in fashion again, but only as a means to compose the strategy, not as the solution to a paradox, especially one with a shrinking deadline toward extermination.
The trip home was thankfully short in terms of time, and highly concentrated in discussing what information from this trip would be acceptable to pass on to all species. Christophe suggested all information was held back until they had exhausted the search for the fugitives. He referred to it as ‘A Fairy tale by the Reapers Grimm’. Black humour was an acquired taste for the Borg.
Chapter 35
Wilson Kelly was running short of serum. He had been informed by Jake that the first stage of puberty was different for his daughters compared with his sons. The Primede breathing conditions elsewhere in the galaxy imposed a two-step correctional adjustment to atmospheric makeup. Jake had been able to shorten the first by infusing small amounts from the maturation vial which he’d stolen along with the pure Primede broth. The infusion took place just prior to each session of intercourse with Primrose, and was injected into her womb. Conception then became a free-for-all scramble for however many divisions took place in the embryonic process. It was very similar to what Bianca had reported regarding the multiple templates giving way to a single birth. In this case it was not so draconian, insofar as the multiples could survive, but the female embryos were able to take more than their share of the fast-forwarding characteristics. It was however, nothing like the rate achieved in the laboratory process. It had a marginal accelerated boost, but had primarily been designed to overcome respiratory toxicity by creating markers for passing through infantile and juvenile phases of puberty. Such meddling was not considered to be manipulation of Darwinian law; in fact it was to ensure the fittest did survive. From the seven children, and four females, it was highly unlikely that more than two would become a potential queen. Wilson Kelly had to look out for a change in the brightness of the iris of the girls. It was not expected to occur in less than a year, and this was still a little way off. He had to settle for a hiatus in conversion of the citizens of Helena. He was however, pleased with the flock having risen to over four hundred. Jake had emphasised the need for the final exodus to be in dribs and drabs to avoid suspicion. The destination was already known.
*
The new stock of vials was handed over to Bianca for testing and the returning team concentrated on the search. They briefed Cleopatra with the latest findings, which had not been broadcast. The wider approach was abandoned in favour of spreading out from the bio-lab in a concentric manner, with much more thorough checks. Harley outlined the starting procedure.
“We will begin again here in Tacoma. The travel restriction for humans is still in place and these two targets look like humans. Ask every contact about new arrivals in their neighbourhood, especially a couple who could be brother and sister. The absence of a biometric local travel chip is a clue. Such a young couple who both have breathing difficulty is unusual. Once we clear Tacoma we have to institute incoming checks. Then we move outwards to take in Vancouver, Spokane, and Portland. Withdraw all units from outside this radius to assist. I will have to find a form of words to broadcast why we must upgrade this manhunt to the highest possible status. We do have Bianca to check any suspects for DNA, but this work cannot be outsourced and she will have limited capacity to perform the checks. Fortunately, Christophe is familiar with the screening process and will assist her. We therefore have to be careful to avoid overloading the lab with bogus individuals. Good luck.”
Cleopatra was able to assure Harley that James was progressing well and this was an oasis of good news amongst the stark truth of the fragility of lasting peace. He was anxious about the precarious balance of harmony between each species, if too much was revealed too soon. Censorship was undergoing flexibility in its definition.
Bianca and Christophe stared at the results from the first of the new vials in disbelief. None of the templates were exact replicas of those in the original vial from which Albert had been created. If this trend continued, the implication they faced was that over four thousand containers, each with a minimum of twenty variants on average, projected eighty thousand types of human lookalikes. Christophe sank into a chair and gazed blankly at the printout. “What the hell can this mean? Surely it’s not a recipe for eighty thousand competitive strains to fight over who inherits the Earth?”
Bianca reminded him of the duels which took place in the lab to bring forth a single victor from each cultured specimen. He replied. “That’s true, but we don’t have a clue what happens with natural procreation. I can’t see past the human comparison that the entire planet has a very low common denominator of DNA groups in relation to the total population. This is totally unlike the vials containing Neanderthal and Homo-Sapiens templates, as they were from thousands of years ago. We don’t know that the four thousand Primede vials were produced at the same time. I hope this doesn’t mean that they already knew they were going to lose the war with the cyborgs. If that is the case, they could have prepared a Noah’s Ark to embark on their journey to Ganymede, and then cut off all data which contains any reference to our solar system. My mind is in overdrive again. The invasion could be an enforced survival strategy, apparently fighting to the last man, and conveying pseudo-extinction.”
“It sounds like You2Me talking again Christophe. Let’s check a few more via
ls before we all get stoned.”
“Hey, I’m still clean. Have you got a better explanation?”
“I don’t have any explanation, and may not have one even after we have tested all of the vials you brought back. Until we know something for certain I’m putting all of this out of my mind. I could get hit by a bus tomorrow, and one of the few ways to avoid that, which is within my control, would be the bus timetable. Let’s sketch in this timetable shall we?”
“You’re right? Pay no attention to me.”
*
More Neanderthal veterans had passed on, and both Lofty and Treetop were gone, as were Adam and Simon. In the mind of Christophe, that only left James, and the rest of the Neanderthals from the original creations, apart from the two fugitives. James was an enhanced human from the same period as the Neanderthals, and like them posed no threat. Christophe’s proliferation of theories was unabated, despite the sarcasm of Bianca. He couldn’t sleep, and began to think about stepping up the pace of checking the other vials. He was desperately hoping they would find a match for the fugitives, as that could be another way of unravelling the agenda. He worked through the night without success, but the ray of hope was that he had at last found two templates which had already been discovered. This gave him the belief that there could be others. He was asleep in his chair when Bianca arrived. She saw his results and decided not to wake him. She continued his search.
The broadcast wasn’t totally convincing, more because of the intonation than the actual words, even though Harley blatantly disregarded Christophe’s advice to maintain a temporary ‘detail blackout’.
“As you are all aware, we have completed our investigations on Ganymede. It was a productive exercise. The pictures you saw of gaining entry to the second chamber were unfortunately curtailed due to technical difficulties and Jupiter space ‘weather’. Suffice it to say that we discovered more from the holographic displays in this chamber. These pictures showed beyond any doubt that Primedes did interact directly with Hominids from our ancient past. However, we now have evidence that this continued for thousands of years. It seems that they have kept a watchful eye on our progress in more recent times, without the former direct interaction. We still believe that if the Primedes decide to resume contact, we need to demonstrate as much mutual respect between species as possible. If they have helped our ancestors to make progress over the millennia, it is in our interests to ensure that such benefits are not replaced by interference. We believe that further trips to Ganymede may be justified in future, if analysis of the most recent data warrants on-site exploration. We can now concentrate on producing more vaccine and antigen for those who are still at risk from the respective plagues, and therefore we must retain the travel restrictions until we are certain the pestilence to all species is totally under control. We are winning these particular battles, and your patience is appreciated. There will be progress reports on the aforementioned issues as new information comes to hand.”