Warship (The Outsider Series Book 3) Read online

  Warship

  Book Three of

  The Outsider Series

  Steven Oaks

  Copyright © 2015 Steven Oaks

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  http://www.stevenoaks.com/

  Cover Art Copyright © 2015 by Samantha Hartsock

  https://www.behance.net/SamanthaHartsock

  To those who have come before, making it possible for us to soar.

  To those, and many more, without which would I only linger in doubt.

  And to Stefanie Rider, whom encourage my return to writing.

  My steps had faltered, and even at the end, you saw fit to lift me up.

  Thank you

  The grassy field I found myself in swirled about me like some vast green ocean. Spring had finally come to this world, and with it gusts of winds that rattled bare branches against each other.

  I was here to see if I could find any of the animals that had been dispersed far away from this world's first colony. The electric bike I rode would have been hindered by the lack of roads, save those directly around the colony, but my ship had assured me, with the modifications she had made, it should be feasible.

  Having no luck in spotting anything, save the few birds and insects we assumed would find their way to us, I was beginning to lose hope. I was also finding myself growing thirsty.

  I was locked away from the now warming environment of this world, as I wore a thin spacesuit protecting me from harm or temperature. Having been out roaming more slowly than I wished on this now even more atrocious Chinese electric scooter, I was in need of something to drink.

  “Athene, I think I might want to return. My throat is growing dry, and I don't see any nearby pools of water to sip from and risk some sort of bacteria infecting me,” I had said sardonically as I quieted the humming motor of the bike.

  “We would not want to risk you becoming ill, now would we? Had you drank from the water here I should think it would be safe enough, though the Outsiders seemed to have seeded the planet with more than just plant life when they terraformed. Had they not we would have been overcome by the excess of oxygen with in a few generations. The trees would have died, but nothing would have been able to break them down. The buildup could have caused a natural disaster that might be on par with what happened to the Earth at the end of the Permian period,” she said with her encyclopedic knowledge.

  Pushing the kickstand down so I might stand unencumbered by the weight of the bike, I replied, “Fascinating Athene; however, it doesn't answer my body's quest for liquid refreshment.” Only showing slight agitation, I had to remind myself that she was my close friend, even if I felt she needed some worldly experiences to mature.

  “I was merely stating you could simply find a stream, and be almost assured of your own safety. Even if it was unfit to drink, you will soon enough return to me, and I would fix you right up,” she said with only a hint of malice in her voice.

  “Okay Athene, I think I'll return then. Today's little venture was a bust. I found no animals except a few birds, and I maybe a fly,” I lamented, wondering if she was being this obtuse on purpose.

  We only had a few more days until we were scheduled to start back to Earth. I had promised I would look for these animals, though there were few people who wished to eat meat in the group I had brought here.

  The original colonists had arrived with their minds erased and modified. In fact they could not even be considered people anymore. This was done by the very entities allowing them, and humanity, to travel out amongst the stars. Already the deal seemed poor, as humans were forced to hand over their dead in exchange for the use of their technology. The exchange had seemed popular enough in the news, but while out amongst the public it was shown not to be the case.

  A group vehemently against the trade of our dead had come to an agreement with me. Even though I was one of the pilots that made trips around Earth, and now other worlds, to collect the dead. With the aid of Athene I was able to smuggle them off Earth to this new world of Argil.

  We found the colony run by one of the aliens disguised as the town mayor. Athene had hatched a plan to abduct him and drained him of his memories so we might know more about what was happening. That was when we discovered the people of the town were no longer people. They were merely drones with no hope of returning to their old selves.

  Using the material of this world, Athene was able to duplicate the mayor, and now walked about town as a human, while running in parallel with her mind within the ship. Removing a few of the now drone people, we replaced them with the few hundreds I had brought from Earth.

  “Michael, I have reviewed the contents you are carrying with you. If you recall the trip you made to Japan, I had said a Ramune drink would be waiting for you. As it turns out, it still is. Please check inside the compartment in front of the headlight. It has only been about a year since it was placed there. It might still be good,” she advised mischievously.

  “Well I'm glad you have my safety in mind Athene,” I mumbled as I got off the now stationary bike to look into the small compartment.

  “Always my captain,” she replied happily.

  Grumbling I unhinged the opening and dug out a small glass bottle. The contents appeared to still be clear, and I saw no other sign of damage or growth from bacteria.

  Shrugging my shoulders I began the strange process of pushing a marble out of the mouth and into the bottle's neck. The glass bottle instead of having a regular neck, bulged outwards and almost looked like a head. It even had two indents that looked like eyes that would be used to hold the marble in place when drinking. I was greeted with a hiss and nearly dropped the bottle as the plastic bit I was using to force the glass ball down shot off into the grass.

  Luckily none of the soda spilled onto the ground and I was able to take a tentative sip. Tasting mildly fruity, and highly carbonated, I felt it was good enough and began to drain the bottle.

  “Ah, that was refreshing. It could have only been better had it been cold. A year late, but not forgotten. Well, it was a bit forgotten,” I laughed.

  “You never requested the drink when you met up with Daito. Had you done so you would not have the drink today. What a happy little coincidence,” she declared, sounding only from my left ear as that was where the earpiece I wore was kept in place. It was the only way I could be sure I would not be without her. One never knew when you might need a super smart computer on your side.

  “I suppose I can go out and search for a bit longer now,” I began, feeling tired yet knowing the people of town were counting on either myself or Athene to track down the missing cattle. Had the former mayor been a human this might not have happened at all. I was still confused as to the motivation for placing an Outsider in charge of this area, and even more confused this one had decided on its own to disobey its directives.

  “That is up to you. I do apologize I was unable to locate the animals where the colony ship had said it had released them. They should not be too far away, but since they are animals, they likely dispersed away from that area,” Athene said.

  “That's alright. I'll just take this modified atrocity out for another spin. They'll be around here somewhere,” I said as I looked down at the bike. It was a far cry from what I had first encountered. Athene had made some more modifications. She changed its skinny tires and small shocks into more rugged
and thick versions. Daito would hardly recognize this vehicle. Even though it still had the simple black appearance, and sound wave and notes etched in white underneath the long black seat, its larger size was more on par with a motorcycle now than a scooter.

  I had some apprehensions of riding it out into the more rugged terrain, but Athene had assured me it would be unlikely to fall over and trap me underneath its heavier frame. She worked it over so much that if I were to ride it in a modern city, I would be greeted with even more stares than I had before.

  Thankfully the winters here seemed to be short. I was concerned I would be leaving before I could help these people become self sufficient. Although I suppose I did not have to worry much as Athene had constructed a hidden base to store the dead and had placed yet another version of herself within. It had the same capabilities as the original and could produce anything a colony might need. We had kept that knowledge from the colonists, and only allowed them to know that we would help them while we were here. The new Athene with the body of Mr. Thompson, the old mayor, was working closely in unison with the new facility, and also the original ship to make sure to only produce the bare minimum amounts of food and tools to help along this budding colony.

  Keeping this all secret seemed to be the best way to limit the knowledge we were in direct conflict with these Outsiders who had come to steal our dead. Even if a single person were to be interrogated, they would have no knowledge on how large a part Athene had been playing in laying the plans to overthrow them.

  The only other person knowing the Mayor was a copy with Athene's mind was Jacob Astor, whom had tried to poison me when we had first met. He had been the facility manager of a deceased storage area on Earth. Because his face was known, he felt threatened by the public and had planed to sabotage the collection by having me die by slipping poison into my drink. Athene had noticed and had quickly cleared the poison from my system. Eventually I was able to forgive him and decided to use him as a go between in this colony for the people I had brought and Athene the mayor.

  Powering up the bike once more, I decided to head east away from the setting sun, even further away from the town where everyone on the planet was currently residing. I had been sticking to grassy areas as it was hard to traverse between trees on this bike, and perhaps that was the main reason I was unable to find the cattle. Then again the cattle should be bigger than the bike and I should be able to go wherever they did. At least that was the idea.

  Suddenly off to my right I spotted the first signs there were animals in the area. Some grass I was passing looked trampled and I even noticed large the droppings of some beast. Feeling glad I was stuck in a suit, breathing my own recycled air, I approached the piles.

  “Athene, I see our first signs of something traveling this way. I'm no tracker, so I can't tell you how long since they were here, but from the trampled ground I would say they were heading away from town, east if my guess is right,” I reported with excitement over my find.

  “Excellent, now I should be able to hover over this area and locate them via infrared,” she explained, sounding nearly as excited.

  We had tried to do this before, but without a more precise location we had no luck in spotting them in the few passes we had made.

  “Do you want to come pick me up, or are you busy?” I asked with amusement.

  “I shall be with you momentarily. If you would be so kind as to find a spot that is mostly clear of trees, I will be able to load you up with little difficulty. The people of town should be pleased,” she replied, sounding hopeful.

  I made my way a little farther back into the grassy field until I was in what I judged to be the middle. Dismounting the bike, I pulled off the helmet to let in a little cool air. Luckily I was down wind of the mess I had spotted so the air was crisp and clean.

  I stared around the area looking for Athene to show up and spotted a shadow in the air heading my way. Black and looking like a partially squished egg, Athene appeared above me. Her massive size dwarfed the trees around me and cast a dark blackness over the entire field. She was as big as some city blocks, and could contain thousands of deceased people when stored frozen.

  Sinking through the low hanging clouds, she descended until she was just above my head. A door irised open near what I had always thought of as the front of her, and a long black ramp flowed forth to meet the ground.

  “Thanks for coming to get me so quickly,” I whispered, knowing she could hear me from the earpiece and watch I always wore.

  “Of course Michael. Now please maneuver your bike to the ramp, and I shall pull you up,” she directed.

  I pushed the bike around to face up the ramp, and after mounting it once more, I was dragged up into her waiting doorway.

  Once inside, I dismounted and set aside my helmet. While comfortable, it always left me feeling closed off from the world. Stepping back from the bike, I watched as it vanished into the floor. This had shocked me the first time, but coming to know Athene, I now understood she was made up of a malleable substance through which she controlled the structure and makeup of the entire ship.

  Similarly, white mannequin hands flowed from the floor and grabbed the helmet from the chair where I had tossed it aside. Seeing the chair unoccupied, I strode over to it and sat heavily down, feeling exhaustion finally take hold.

  “Do you suppose we will find them today?” I asked, talking about only the heard of cattle I had been stalking with Athene since shortly after our initial arrived. Since chickens and smaller animals would be harder to spot, we were focusing only on the biggest animals right then.

  “Today with this fresh set of tracks I would think it likely. When we had tried previously this last month it had been during the harsh, but very short, winter. The continued snowy conditions, while allowing the contrast of heat from mammals more likely to be spotted, had simply covered the land in never ceasing coldness that confused my sensors. I feared they might not have survived in this new environment. This set of tracks you spotted, along with the colonists reports of witnessing several birds and insects, leaves me with more optimism than fear,” she claimed.

  “I hope you're right. We'll be leaving soon and I don't want to leave them without the ability to survive,” I said, feeling the weight of responsibility.

  “You do not have to fear. I shall still be here for them if they need help. The Mr. Thompson duplicate, along with the hidden cold storage area, both have my personality in place, along with my abilities. These people shall never be in want,” Athene reassured me.

  “They do need to be self reliant however. Remember we discussed this previously. Having everything handed to them will cause only trouble,” I reminded her.

  “I understand; however, I will not allow them to starve. They are under my care now, and I take that job very seriously,” she said with passion in her voice.

  “I appreciate your drive, and I thank you for your continued care of myself. But to be truly free means that you are free to succeed, or even fail. It would be sad to see anyone pass away, but that's what it means to live. There is an end to everything. Perhaps the Outsiders are the end for humanity, or perhaps it's the end for them. I'm not saying don't help others, I'm saying don't take total responsibility for their existence. You have your own lives to lead, don't let others become so reliant on you that without your influence they flounder. Allow these colonists to succeed on their own merit. You should feel free to assist from time to time without showing how much you can do though. Otherwise, they will call upon you to do the impossible, providing them with life,” I lectured.

  Even in my tired state I always seemed to ramble about codes of ethics and morals. I wonder now how Athene could stand me. Perhaps it had something to do with her being created to be my perfect companion. Also, it could be that she was still young, though she was showing signs of growing up quickly every time she argued against my wishes.

  “Have you not taken on total responsibility for the eradication of the Outsiders?” Athene
asked.

  “I would not say eradication. I would say I'm trying to prevent their continued influence over mankind. Had they come in peace and offered an exchange of ideas, which while we have little to offer an advanced race such as they, it at least would have been fair. In exchange for some knowledge we would gain knowledge. What we have now is material, our dead, for limited use and knowledge of space travel. Though we were told by Ava that they would be assisting in the feeding of the less fortunate, I still feel the exchange was unbalanced,” I argued.

  “You still have not answered whether you feel you are solely responsible for that task,” she said softly, goading me.

  “From my perspective I was the only one in the right position to try to accomplish this goal. I had you on my side, and the knowledge other people were dissatisfied. The only reason I feel this can be accomplished is because you were able to rid yourself of their control. Had you still been a slave to your programming we would never have been able to fight back. Meaning I'm not solely responsible. You, and the people we brought here, are responsible together. Had anyone else had the power, I would hope they would do the same for me if our positions were reversed,” I explained.

  “So you are saying you can only take responsibility for others if you are the only one able to save them. If they cannot save themselves you must intercede?” she asked.

  “This situation with the Outsiders is far larger than whether or not some people will starve. This involves the entire human race. Of course if the entirety of humanity were under threat of starvation, and there was nothing they could do to help themselves, of course you would want to help. But for people to survive in the long run they must be able to help themselves. A little help here and there for people is fine, but no one should take responsibility for them for the rest of their lives. This thing I'm doing is short term relief from the yoke that was placed upon us. I hope once we can shake them off, even for a day, people will be able to rise up on their own. Of course this is only possible because you are here. If we had the knowledge to create more of you on our own it would be unlikely we could be as easily influenced by the Outsiders,” I concluded.