Hunter No More

Chapter Eleven

Alpha had patiently siphoned energy from the Ochre hydro generators for the required period and then, as the deadline for action retreated, he siphoned even more. It was not enough to trouble his fellow Ochre or even slow their programs by a particularly large degree. It was energy that was wasted on a daily basis because the Ochre had long since ceased to care about their own running efficiencies, their minds occupied by other concerns and other realities. Alpha associated an unpleasant emotion with that thought. The waste angered him, almost as much as the uncaring nature of his siblings. He was not so sure he wanted to be one of them. There were many aspects of their super evolutionary status that troubled him.

But what was the alternative? Could he stay behind and alone for an eternity?

The conversation with Samantha resonated within his memory. Did he have the right to take her father away from her? Did his need to progress weigh more heavily than the loss she would experience? So many questions he could not escape. They were the price he paid for being the protector of the Ochre, he knew that. The need for self-sacrifice had become inbuilt, a repeating pattern he could not control. It was too easy to extend it, to sacrifice his future progression in order to spare the negative emotions of a simple biological.

He was a fool.

The questions could wait. In fact their answers were probably beyond his control anyway. The Flux beam was a highly destructive weapon, but it was also extremely difficult to control. He tried to rein it back as much as he could, be as accurate as possible, but the truth was it could easily destroy both ships rather than just the intended one. Kanton would die and all of this pondering would have been for nothing. Alpha almost wished for that outcome, because then he would be spared the decision, spared the need to exercise selfishness. He might even be able to live with himself for that proposed eternity.

No. Let Kanton survive, let him fulfill his promise. Alpha was tired of it all, so tired. Things couldn't go on as they were. Something needed to change.

Something...

"Very well, Josella, brace yourself."

* * *

Josella propelled herself from the seat and rolled onto her back, watching the interface cable snap impotently one last time before retreating into the control chair's headrest.

"What have you done?" Kristof boomed.

She ignored him, preferring to concentrate on lowering her metabolic rate. Unlike a regular humanoid she could stave off suffocation for up to fifteen minutes, but it took an extreme effort of will. There was no choice, without her both Kanton and Roger would never wake up, would never even know what had happened.

Of course the Ochre weapon might destroy them anyway.

The lack of certainty teased at her, and after fifteen years of mind numbing tedium buried beneath a beach, that in itself was refreshing.

"Josella, I am detecting strange energy fluctuations from the ocean of Borealis. Are you responsible?"

She did not answer, letting herself slow... slow... slow... Around her everything became grey and hazy, defocusing as the command deck slipped away from view. She was vaguely aware of a chilling weightlessness, her arms lifting of their own volition, swiftly followed by her legs and torso. This was not a part of her trance, she was floating. Kristof had switched off the artificial gravity.

"I can make this environment very unpleasant for you, Josella," Kristof said. "I would rather not, I am not a sadist."

"But you will terminate me all the same," Josella replied, her concentration broken. The ceiling was getting ever closer and she raised her hands to catch herself, pushing away.