Tag: Sci-fi

Pegasus (Part 96)

It took three hours for us to reach our destination. As I expected, it was small compared to the other surrounding it.

A request for the password came over the intercom.

I inputted it into the onboard computer, and it was automatically transmitted.

Then, a tractor beam latched on the ship and my control panel switched off.

“I’ve lost control, do you have anything?”

“No, everything is gone back here too. Should we be alarmed?”

“I don’t think so. But stay alert.”

The habit grew larger as we approached. It looked like we were going to the main docking bay before the ship did a sharp turn to the left to a smaller one.

Feck it – This is looking very secluded. Nice place to bump us off.

The ship glided in and landed perfectly. All the hatches opened. They heard a female voice coming from outside.

“Howdy, you can get out now. We are armed, so no funny business.”

I climbed out of the ship, Tabitha did likewise. Three petit women were standing in front of us.

Not at all what I was expecting.

They were all dressed in tight jeans. A blonde woman in her forties was in the center flanked by a brunette, and a jet-black-haired woman. They were much younger, probably in their twenties.

Pegasus (Part 95)

Magellan four, five, niner was not a habitat I had previously heard about.

I talked to Tabitha.

“Have you heard of this habitat we’re going to?”

“No, but there are so many. I’ve only heard of a tiny percentage of them. I found where they’ve hidden at least some of the drugs. They are not concealed at all. They are just under the floor and If we’re searched, we have a major problem. It would take somebody two seconds to find it.”

“We’re just going to have to trust them I guess. This merchandise must be worth an awful lot to them, I’d day.”

“Oh yeah, they definitely won’t want anything happening to this.”

I inputted the name into the online search and a raft of information appeared on the screen.

It was more of a depot than a true habitat, with a population of only a few thousand. This was not the endpoint for the drugs. No, they would be transported across the system from there.

I had watched documentaries about drugs. Over the centuries their potency and addictiveness have been optimized, causing habitats to fail where they have gotten out of control. This was not something I wanted to be associated with.

Pegasus (Part 93)

I sat down on what I hoped was a clean surface. Tabitha did likewise but rubbed it with her hand before looking at me with a frown.

A burly, bald man with a sliver of grey hair and a woman wafer thin sat down opposite us at the round table. Both were in torn, shabby clothes, with black smut on their faces.

The man spoke first.

“Your ship is being loaded with the merchandise. You must bring it to Magellan four, five, niner to receive payment. On the approach to the station, you must say “Deontay” to get past security. You don’t have much time. A heatwave will be upon us imminently.”

I just had to ask.

“What is the merchandise?”

He blinked and then stared straight into my eyes. Then he pulled his bottom lip back before continuing.

“It’s Ezine 126 in tablet form.”

Fuck me, that’s the most proscribed drug there is. Ten times stronger than fentanyl, and much more addictive. And I had thought or perhaps hoped it was a relic from the past. The devastation this was going to cause to the people in the habitat is unfathomable, not to mention the automatic death sentence if caught.

Tabitha held her hand up to her mouth, but I tried to show no emotion.

“Let’s go Tabitha, no time to waste.”

Pegasus (Part 92)

The two Scottish men led us round the rear of the closest semi-standing building to an old manhole. They lifted it open and started climbing down a ladder. Tabitha followed them first, then me. I pulled the manhole close and immediately felt much cooler.

They were waiting for me at the bottom, lit by torches at the side walls.

“Ye shud take some of dis, don wanna ya dying before we even get to no yous,” the blonde one spoke as he showed a flask in his hand.

“What is it?” Tabitha asked.

“Water.”

She slowly gulped it down, before handing it to me. I did likewise. It tasted like the best thing I had ever drank.

“Dis used to be a sewer.”

I stopped drinking to laughter from both men.

“Don worry, the water is from elsewhere. Follow us dis way.”

We walked along the tunnel for a few minutes. It was dry and dusty, and there was little evidence of its previous use. We heard chattering in the distance, then reached a large cavern full of people, tables, and their body odor.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“The East End,” came the reply.

We were then led through the throng of people to an enclosed area with chairs and a table.

Pegasus (Part 91)

“Where are we? Near the coordinates?” Tabitha asked excitedly as she opened the overhead hatch.

Spotting a clearance amongst all the rubble, I set the spacecraft down.

“Not too far from here,” I replied confidently.

Hit by a wave of heat as we exited the craft, unlike anything I’d experienced before., I struggled to get out.

“Just as well, we came during a cold spell.” I looked back to see Tabitha was already sweating. There were crumbling buildings all around us, and little signs of life. It smelled of death. Humanity had really messed this place up.

“We better get moving,” Tabitha added anxiously.

“Yeah, let go. It’s just a hundred meters this way. I’m sure we’ve been monitored, and there waiting for us.”

I was growing anxious, and the heat was not helping.

The short distance we had to walk over the dusty surface was unpleasant. Then, just as I expected two men appeared from before, and I was started by what I think was a thick Scottish accent. That in itself, could have been considered an archaeological find. They were tall in white robes like ancient Roman Emperors, and with flowing black and blond hair.

“Wha brings ya ere?”

“Five, four, six, one, niner,” I replied. The password had been one of the first things I noted on the leaflet.

“Aye, follow me.”

Pegasus (Part 90)

Previously, I read about entering Earth’s atmosphere but to experience it is another. The shaking grew larger, and I could see the heat shield at the front glowing red.

Then, everything was still again. Tabitha shouted out her approval. We were coasting now in the Earth’s upper atmosphere. The sky was beautiful blue. The toxic grey clouds that covered most of the planet were like a carpet below us. We were going to try and avoid them altogether.

That carpet gradually faded, then disappeared giving us our first opportunity to see the tainted purple sea. Tabitha was thrilled. “Do you think there is anything alive down there?”

I didn’t want to crush her dreams.

“Yes, I’m sure there must be something. What exactly, I don’t know.”

And maybe there was. I had serious doubts though.

A few minutes later, the sea turned to sand.

“We must be close,” Tabitha said.

“Another ten minutes or so.

The ruins of London were something else. They became visible as jagged pieces sticking out of the land in the distance. They drew closer and what were a few pieces, grew into a sea of its own. Tabitha scanned the vicinity for movement.

“Nothing, apart from some rats.”

Pegasus (Part 89)

I slowed down the craft. We needed to arrive during the cold front, preferably in the night. Only then, would the temperatures be just about bearable on the surface. Any inhabitants at that latitude lived underground.

Taking out the leaflet, I flicked through the pages.

“So, who are we meeting anyway?” Tabitha asked.

“”We’re to go the coordinates and ask to speak to a Harold Stoker. Only, then will we find out more about what we need to do?” I replied.

“I don’t know about this. Going to Earth doesn’t seem like a great idea.”

“I know but that’s where we’re at. I’ll put the craft on autopilot, we should rest.” I raised my hand and moved it over my shoulder and we briefly held hands.

After what must have been several hours, I opened my eyes. the Earth was larger now. It was possible to make out distinctive features. The seas were mostly a dull purple, but patches were also green. There were the continents, brown with a reddish tint. I could just make out the island that was our destination.

A few minutes later, the craft began to shake.

“”What’s happening?”

Tabitha’s voice was sharp.

“We’re about to enter the Earth’s atmosphere.”

Pegasus (Part 88)

It was not good news. In fact, it was terrible.

The coordinates were on an uninhabitable part of the earth near an ancient city called London. From documentaries I had seen, it had previously been an important center of commerce and finance.

I took out the leaflet. It contained information on how to receive payment but little else. We were to meet a guy called Sol, it contained no description. With thoughts of the competition, I ignited the spacecraft and we left the thin atmosphere of the planet.

There was no sign of any Empire craft in the vicinity. We joined a large convoy on its way to the Earth, probably one of the Poles. We could peel off as we drew closer.

Tabitha told me that she would analyze where and when would be best to land by logging into orbiting satellites and downloading any weather reports from the planet.

As we expected, there was a red warning for that part of Europe. Despite, its northerly position, a warm front from the Caribbean makes it unbearably hot most of the time.

“I’ve got it,” Tabitha said from the rear.

“The World Meteorological Service is predicting a cold front to pass over London in two days. We just need to slow our approach.”

Pegasus (Part 87)

The ladies were beneficial if a bit giggly. They were sharing some sort of joke that they found increasingly funny. I smiled, unsure if I was part of it. They gave me the details I required.

“You will need to go these coordinates,” the lighter-haired one said.

She handed me a small, crumpled piece of paper. I checked it, ensuring it was legible, and placed it in my pocket.

“And what about payment?” After all, that was why I was here.

“Good question.” It was the other lady this time.

“You will be paid through an escrow account. You should log in and provide your details today. It will be paid in bitcoin.”

“Excellent,” I replied.

She handed me a leaflet.

Some work for Tabitha to do later, I thought to myself.

The lighter-haired lady looked at me and smiled, “You better get going. Quite a lot of interest in this job.”

I headed down the steps, the place was even more crowded now, and forcefully made my way through to Tabitha.

“Time to go.”

I told her the details as we went to the craft. We didn’t really know what we were facing till we put the coordinates into the onboard computer.

“Damn it,” Tabitha shouted.

“What?” I replied.

We are Legion (We are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor

Hello readers, I do hope you are all in good form. The cold weather is really settling now, at least in Ireland. Let’s hope it doesn’t last too long for the sake of my sanity. On much more positive notice, I have just finished reading We are Legion (We are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor.

This is the best sci-fi novel I’ve read in quite some time. Thoroughly original and engaging throughout, it was impossible to stop reading.

Bob is the main character or is that characters? In the current time, Bob has come to riches through the sale of his software company. One of the first things he does with his newfound wealth is sign up for a life extension company. He is an atheist, so he wants to live as long as possible. Upon his death, his head will be removed from his body in the hope that in the future with advancements in technology, he can be brought back to life.

Of course, he thinks this is something that is the far future.

But it’s not.

He dies in a car crash.

The next thing he is awakened over a hundred years from now. But, not all is as he would have hoped. He quickly realizes he no longer has a body but is now computer code. Due, to political changes, he has also lost all of his wealth and his body has been incinerated. He is now private property, belonging to the Ministry of Truth, and is what is called a replicant.

Most replicants quickly have psychotic breaks and don’t make it even with their mood qualifiers. But, Bob sees it as a chance at immortality and realizes he is in the running for an important task.

That task is integral to a Von Neumann probe seeking new habitable worlds for humans. A self-replicating probe to cover the galaxy will necessitate more copies of Bob being created. But, other probes are being sent by other political entities, and some will be armed.

Bob just about manages to take off before missiles strike. This ultimately leads to a nuclear conflict on Earth.

What follows is a tale of exploration, kinship, and what it means to be human.

This gets five stars out of five for me. Highly recommended.

Have you read this novel? What did you think? Let me know in the comments.

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