Vesta, The Belt, June 24, 1000 Solar Era.
The incident sent alarm bells ringing. Two more S-class starships arrived at Vesta, one belonging to Admiral Sullivan, one to Vice-admiral Laurent.
Sullivan, Laurent, Zheng and Enine convened in the military command room that used to belong to the EFSF on Vesta, with the three martians on one side and Enine alone on the other of a long rocky oval table carved from Vesta’s material.
“You’ve brought the members of the T3ST colony that has been assisting you with coordinating your ships?” Sullivan had already given an order for Laurent to return the colony’s members.
Sullivan was originally the other vice-admiral, and beat Laurent to the promotion. He knew of Laurent and the faction this man had built.
He had thought that Laurent and his rancorous faction would be rather useful in an all-out war for Mars, especially if they were to end up in a position with their backs to a wall. He still believed this to be true, despite the implications of the incident-- as long as Laurent disciplined the members in his fleet properly.
Regardless, he knew that leaving the T3ST colony’s members with Laurent’s faction would spell trouble. He knew that Laurent’s faction would stand staunchly behind the fallen Jacobs.
“As you ordered, admiral,” replied Laurent expressionlessly in a monotonous voice.
Both Zheng and Sullivan knew this man was fuming internally.
“I demand an answer and recompense. That man must stand trial!” Laurent immediately expressed his suppressed infuriation upon the four taking their seats.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” scoffed Enine in return. “Have you seen the surveillance data? Have you?!”
He flicked his fingers and the holographic terminal in the middle of the table projected the incident in clear frame-by-frame detail.
“Xeight doesn’t even wish to fight. Some of you even think of him as a coward. Look here. Xeight clearly lowered his firearm. Yet, your man, Jacobs instead fired upon him! This is but a fight or flight reaction. Xeight obviously couldn’t run from a bullet, and in a panicked self-preservation state, fought like a madman to protect himself!”
The hologram had progressed to the point of Xeight curled, shaking relentlessly on the ground. “See?! He’s even trembling in fear after the deed!”
“I haven’t even mentioned how your man, Jacobs, attempted to take the Nexarm unit. That unit wasn’t even something recently gifted to our colony by Neurorevo at your behest. It had been placed at the T3ST colony for a decade, meant for harvesting the belt’s resources!”
“It is not us who should be explaining ourselves. It is you, Vice-admiral Laurent, who should be explaining your lack of ability to train your soldiers with proper restraint! You are inept!”
“Don’t pretend to be fool, Grand Elder Enine!” Laurent smashed his fist against the table as he stood up, his chair scraping backwards in unbridled fury. “Your son quite clearly insulted my subordinate and provoked him!”
“This is the martian fleet?” Enine retorted and his voice even conveyed his disenchantment at the state of the martians. “I had thought your soldiers capable of standing against the terrans. Yet, instead, all it took was a single insult, which in case you lack the intelligence to see, was a response to your man’s attempt to take the nexarm unit!”
“Let me remind you!” Enine continued. “It was your desire to make use of my genetically-enhanced members for war. It was you who gave us the extra three units to go alongside the old unit we had for a decade!”
“Hah! Big words, grand elder, but did your other son, Bone, not also send a few swarms of crab automations to kill over fifty of the civilian population? In my eyes, that seems worse!” Laurent, feeling somewhat suppressed, had no choice but to drag in the subject of Bone’s actions.
“Bone’s actions are irrelevant to the issue here. The issue is what happened to your man, Jacobs, and your incompetence at training him properly to be a soldier. As for the issue with Bone-- it was your decision to not provide military disciplinary training to my colony, fearing the terran’s potential early discovery of your independence plans through the T3ST colony’s member’s overly orderly behavior!” Enine held no punches. Perhaps some would accuse him of protecting his sons. But, was he more wrong or more right?
“Please, calm yourselves,” Zheng interjected with a steady voice. “We are allies. We Mars wish to fully govern ourselves and grand elder… you are fully aware that due to your history of being genetically tested on by the terrans, the EFSF would be most interested in keeping you far from Earth or any influence of any sort.”
“Now, I’m sure we can--”
“Vice-admiral Zheng. You seem to have conveniently left out a detail,” Enine interrupted. He then flicked his finger, and a hologram of Zheng ordering Jacobs to not enter Starship Oneiroi was played. Enine had managed to find this surveillance data through the systems monitoring Vesta’s docking bay.
“Vice-admiral Zheng. You gave clear orders to Jacobs not to board the T3ST starship. This whole incident is but a result of you martians. You will receive no form of ‘compensation’ from the T3ST colony. In addition, I will no longer cooperate with Vice-admiral Laurent’s fleet in any shape or form-- I do not believe in his soldiers’ capability, or his leadership.”
“We will continue our cooperation in other areas.” Enine no longer wasted words. He had finished what he wanted to say to the martian command.
The hologram of Zheng’s orders to Jacobs kept replaying before his eyes. Zheng had hoped that the Grand Elder Enine would not have this data. Now that it was right before their eyes… it would be impossible to avoid the accusation that it was a martian internal disciplinary issue.
Zheng found himself unable to utter a single word even when Enine was now back on his feet, about to leave the military command center.
“Grand Elder Enine! You and your colony will suf--”
“Stand down!” Sullivan barked and silenced Laurent. He had been mostly observing from the beginning, but he could not allow Laurent to step past the line and sabotage their cooperation with the T3ST colony.
Still, the damage was done-- even with few words, Enine knew what Laurent had attempted to say.
“You should take care, Laurent,” he replied as he strode towards the exit. He no longer believed the man worthy of the title of vice-admiral. “Mars would lose support from the belt if word of this incident were to get out.”
“You--”
“Remember! Vice-admiral Zheng’s subordinates were sent the surveillance data. Who knows where news of this incident might leak from? Perhaps Vice-admiral Zheng could use this to guarantee his future as a primary voice of the martian military!” Enine viciously sowed the seeds of chaos in response to Laurent’s threats.
“Grand Elder Enine.” Sullivan interjected before Laurent could say another single word, knowing that the whole situation was standing on a precipice, both externally and internally. “Do we still have your cooperation? If so, please leave Vesta and await our signal for the next task. I’m sure you understand Bone’s actions will not stand with the civilians here. As requested, none of our requests will require your people to work alongside Laurent.”
“Very well, admiral.”
Sullivan sighed in relief as he watched Enine exit the door of the command room. The whole situation had very nearly spiraled out of control once again.
“It’s not too late. We still have members of their colony. If--” Laurent continued grasping at straws, clearly unwilling to accept his humiliation.
“Vice-admiral Laurent. I have already ordered my soldiers to escort those members to the T3ST colony’s starship.” In fact, Zheng had secretly passed on these orders the very moment he observed Laurent’s initial reaction to the incident.
“You little shit. I have been around much longer than you and--”
“Laurent. Are you loyal to Mars?” Sullivan’s voice was deep and steady, but it also contained a hint of threat.
“Of course I am!”
“Then, Laurent. What are our chances of victory without the T3ST unit?”
Laurent’s lips turned into a thin line, unwilling to speak the truth to this question.
After a moment of silence.
“Return to preparing for your mission of intercepting the terrans’ launch,” Sullivan ordered. “I will hear no more of this from you. Either you do what needs to be done to maximize Mars success. Or you’re a traitor who sabotages our chance at victory. And for the Wolf Coil’s sake. Discipline your damn soldier properly!”
“Yes, sir.” Laurent finally regained a measure of clarity as he saluted and excused himself from the command center, though his face remained hardened with disgruntlement.
Only Sullivan and Zheng remained. Zheng began replaying the surveillance data of the incident while drumming his fingers on the rocky oval table.
“You know, it’s somewhat… surreal. Terran history has incidents similar where an ill-disciplined soldier acts in an ill-advised manner and sabotages his own side. Some even instigated major wars that wiped out millions of lives.”
Zheng magnified the hologram image to scrutinize Xeight’s every action and expression in increased detail.
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“Perhaps our centuries of half-hearted efforts against the pirates in the belt have weakened us. Perhaps the peace we have kept for a millenium have made us forget the importance of such discipline.”
A few minutes of silence filled the room again, only broken by the swooshing sounds the hologram made under Zheng’s manipulation.
“He’s terrified.” At length, Sullivan began to explain Laurent’s person to Zheng. Sullivan was of the same generation as Laurent, and had developed an intricate understanding of the man.
“Who?”
“Laurent. He’s scared out of his wits. We are of the same generation. Laurent always acts out in this way when scared stiff. It’s how the man deals with his fears.”
“Fear?”
“Of the T3ST unit. Not an unreasonable fear. Imagine a future where the T3ST colony and their genetically enhanced personnel are armed to the teeth. They would effectively become the dominant faction within our martian defense.”
A scary prospect. Yet if the T3ST colony’s people were to be fully integrated into their society…
Though Zheng wanted to believe in such a possibility, his knowledge of history indicated such a task would be rather monumental in nature. The T3ST colony’s lives were more similar to those in the belt.
Though they may currently be allies with the T3ST colony, there is the irony that terrans and martians, both planetary cultures, might have more similarities to each other than the various forms of space colonies.
Zheng had even begun drawing historical parallels between the T3ST colony and the Jews in terran’s past-- except the T3ST colony could be far more ‘problematic’ with their genetically enhanced neural function. Not necessarily to himself, but rather, in the eyes of someone who might think similarly to Laurent…
It had to be noted that Laurent’s faction existed precisely because a substantial population on Mars shared his embittered sentiment. He could only sigh in exasperation.
“Is this… Xeight, was it? Is he dangerous?” Sullivan had soundlessly observed Zheng’s examination of the surveillance data for a rather extended period of time.
“He shouldn’t be, if the claims of him being avoidant of combat is true. I just can’t help feeling like… he might have intentionally caused this incident.”
“You know...I’ve read much on what someone with a heightened number of neuro channels meant… my wife being a researcher and all.”
Zheng perked up his ears. He had studied quite a bit of terran history, but not research on aspects related to the neuro circlet system. He sealed his lips and indicated for Sullivan, his mentor, to provide a thorough explanation.
“Initially, some believed that those with heightened neuro channels had higher intelligence.” Continued Sullivan. “Certain data supported this idea. The average IQ of a group of heightened neuro channel population was certainly higher. However, if you examined the individual, there were quite a large number of those with lower number of neuro channels that would score higher on IQ tests.”
“My wife mentioned this many times during our early relationship,” Sullivan laughed as he recalled his fond memories of their early courting period. “When examining more in detail, those with heightened number of neuro channels’ main strength lay in their ability to parallel process.”
“It is this strength that raises their IQ scores, with our tests having certain tasks that those with heightened ability to consider more possibilities simultaneously, would excel at. But, if some ancient genius such as Einstein was still alive, his reasoning and conjecture would still remain unmatched.”
“Sir, you are saying…”
“Yes, Zheng. It was not Xeight who initiated this incident. However, he may very well have ‘bumped’ into Jacobs and rapidly saw the many possible results from the many actions he could take. And in that single instant, he executed the one he believed beneficial to him.”
Zheng shook his head without being conscious of his motion. Ridiculous. He failed to see how this incident would be beneficial to the T3ST colony.
___________________________________________________________________________
T3ST colony, The Belt, June 25, 1000 Solar Era.
“Thanks, brother!” Bone warmly slapped an arm around Xeight’s shoulders. “You took the heat off me. Absolutely sublime. I knew you had it in you!”
That was certainly not Xeight’s intention, but he still grinned in response.
“I thought you liked the martians. I never trusted them.” Xeight was referring to Bone’s previous willingness to cooperate with the martians. He had thought that Bone would at the very least frown at the incident he had caused. This was not so.
“Xeight. I never disagreed with you. But, fighting alongside the martians was and remains our best shot. Look-- even Vfive… did you see her black eye on her return? They couldn’t stop that Laurent soldier from lashing out.”
Bone then dragged Yfour back to their dwelling on the T3ST colony. It was good to be home. The T3ST colony that had gone dark had an intricate link to Starship Oneiroi. The energy was costly, but a jump into unidentified space, then to the T3ST colony practically made it impossible for any to follow them.
“Xeight. Come to the chamber of elders.” His father’s voice called out to him through the neuro circlet. He complied.
Grand Elder Enine stood alone in the chamber of elders, patiently awaiting his son’s arrival.
In the past day, his opinion on Xeight had changed rather drastically. For quite some time, he had felt exasperated by his son’s unwillingness to participate in the conflict. He felt different now.
Previously, he had mostly interacted with the past martian admiral and the martian politicians above him. Those men and women were always amicable to the extreme.
However, this incident brought him into contact with the Laurent faction. Was he previously aware of their existence? Certainly. Yet, he had only thought them to only be somewhat boisterous in nature. His direct interaction with Laurent and observation of Laurent’s underlings over Xeight’s incident, changed his views.
On the return journey, the more he mulled in his comfortable captain’s seat, the more he realized that Laurent’s faction represented a substantial population of Mars. The martian population would not have tolerated the Laurent faction for so long if they did not somewhat back them. His son was right to be cautious.
Xeight’s figure soon appeared through the entry archdoors of the chamber of elders.
“Did you know of the Laurent faction?”
“No, father.”
“Then, why do you distrust Mars?” Enine wanted to understand his son’s thoughts.
“Father… James… James MacLeod once told me that in a century or two, Mars would be fully terraformed into a second Earth. Of sorts. So… The terrans are a planetary people. Martians will be one too. We are not. We are of the belt. Of colonies. Will Mars allow and welcome the whole population currently in the belt onto its surface, if it gains its independence? When Mars itself relies on the belt’s resources?”
Enine gestured his right hand in the air after a momentary silence, and Xeight was dismissed.
Unlike Bone, Xeight did not return to his dwellings on the T3ST colony. He instead went to Nexarm Chimera, determined to harvest some material from the surrounding asteroids.
“Xeight!” Jen had been searching for Xeight, and finally found him boarding Nexarm Chimera. “Have you seen what your brother Bone did to those civilians on Vesta?!”
Some visual data of the civilians’ mutilated corpses were circulated within the members of Starship Oneiroi.
They all knew the Bone had shown no restraint. The limbs and heads of many of these civilians were quite literally torn and separated from their bodies. The areas that Bone sent his automaton swarms to were effectively graveyards of body parts dyed in dark drying seas of blood.
“I do not wish to talk about Bone.”
“Xeight! You can’t just ignore it!”
Over the past day, a slight awkwardness had certainly entered their relationship.
“Jen. I will be heading out to harvest asteroids.”
“Can I…” Jen hesitantly wondered, “Can I join?”
“Only if you do not bring up Bone.”
“But--”
“I wish to mine asteroids in peace and quiet. Not have my mind filled with grisly images of detached limbs.” He pulled on the wire that dragged him up into the cockpit.
“Wait-- I agree!” She herself would not wish to think of those gruesome images during her own neurotech research and maintenance either. “But, can we discuss it when we return…?”
“No.” An immediate and swift rejection.
“Why?”
“I did not and do not believe in our colony’s participation in this war. If we chose not to participate in this war, none of this would have happened. So, this is not my issue.”
“Bone is your brother! Should you not… reprimand him?”
“Bone is Bone. My words will not reach him.”
Jen climbed into the cockpit as well, and as promised, ceased her questions on Bone. Anyhow, she had already obtained Xeight’s reasons. Xeight simply did not believe he could, to any significant degree, influence Bone’s actions.
When she thought of the past six months she had spent with the T3ST colony… she found herself unable to recall Bone being swayed from the actions he had taken. Almost never.
Indeed… Now that she thought about it, Bone was in some ways bull-headed, perhaps even worse than Xeight. That hadn’t been an issue yet, because Bone was more than happy to participate in the war. In comparison, she had successfully swayed Xeight on a number of things!
As Nexarm Chimera set off for another routine mining operation that would keep the T3ST colony supplied with vital resources, Jen wished to further dispel the awkwardness that had existed between the two for the past day.
“Can I ask about why you killed that martian soldier…?” She was pensive-- worried that Xeight’s explanation would plunge her heart into a deeper fear.
“Hmm…” Xeight attempted to find the right words as he sped Nexarm Chimera toward a target that his sensors had detected the elements and compounds the colony needed. “I never believed the martians to be wholly trustworthy.”
He continued, “You once told me that if I wished to mine asteroids in peace, I needed to pave a path to that dream, no?”
Jen nodded. She had indeed said that to convince Xeight into cooperating with the T3ST colony’s efforts.
“So, I thought to myself. What would be the best way to awaken the T3ST colony’s population to be skeptical of cooperation with martians? Of the war?”
“The opportunity presented itself on a golden platter. A martian soldier who could not control himself. So, I did what I had to do. The martian response? Returning a group of our people from the rancorous Laurent faction. Their actions proved me right. They fear their own soldiers escalating the situation. Their soldiers do not see us as their own people. Nor will they necessarily treat us fairly. I did not fire the first shot.”
“Now, my people are awake. Even if we continue to cooperate with the martians… we will do so with eyes wide open.”
Over the last day, whenever Jen recalled the viciousness with which Xeight had dispatched the martian soldier named Jacobs, she could not help but wonder whether she had thrown herself into the arms of a butcher. Xeight’s justification for his actions settled her heart.
Yes! She screamed at herself within her heart. Xeight was only thinking ahead. She could not deny the effectiveness of Xeight’s action. It had caused a chain reaction that wholly awakened the T3ST colony. The returning members that had assisted the Laurent faction soon spread words of the hostility they received from certain soldiers there.
Exhilarated and relieved, she uncontrollably straddled Xeight on the pilot seat.
Xeight did not reprimand her for flouting the safety rules of a nexarm guest rider. Jen never listened to his previous protestations anyway.
“Do you wish to hear an alternate reason?” He whispered into the ear of Jen’s twisting lithe form.
“Yes,” replied Jen, her breath a sizzling blaze.
“He aimed his pistol at you.”
Whatever remained of the heaviness within her heart was completely dispelled. Then… an idea occurred to her…
“Xeight…” She blushed, rather ashamed of her thoughts, but she could not deny her desire. “You know those weapon devices… There is a certain taser device that can be calibrated to deliver a low dose of electric discharge…and since you can control twenty-one motor devices…I … I also can sync to your neuro circlet and observe your control of those devices…”
Xeight stared into Jen’s hazy emerald eyes. This woman had a rather deep obsession with all things neurotech. Perhaps too deep of one. “I’ll ensure you regret this suggestion.”
He had to first harvest the asteroid proper.