The Last Revolution (3 page)

The markings looked so familiar, yet completely foreign at the same time. Every pattern was comprised of straight lines and sharp angles. He’d attended university in Prague. When he’d first arrived it had taken forever to learn how to navigate the old narrow streets. That’s it! “It reminds me of a map.”

Xander snapped his finger. “That’s exactly what I thought! After failing to categorize the lines I moved forward with the assumption that it was a map.” He walked over to one of the boards covered in notes. “Based on the angle of entry, velocity, and the gravitational forces of Jupiter, I believe I’ve calculated its origin. That was when I knew I had to wake you.”

“Whatever this is, it’s obviously manmade. The internal light proves it’s not a meteorite. Where did it come from? Was it a weapon?”

Xander smiled. “Are you sure it’s human?” He pressed a button on his wrist deck and a giant holographic map of the solar system appeared. The map zoomed out until the entire Milky Way galaxy was visible. He stepped back and waved his hands. A holographic projection of the object’s surface floated off the device and into the air above them. Xander spread his arms and the concave image stretched back until it was flat. He then placed it over the image of their galaxy.

The angles of the lines matched up with hundreds of stars. Each point that fit blinked at the same time. Xander walked into the digital map and then pointed at a specific spot. It was in the adjacent arm of the Galaxy, towards the center. “This is where it came from. My calculations confirmed it.”

Nathan’s heart raced. “This isn’t possible. I know we both wanted this trip to turn out better, and there’s no denying this machine is special, but it can’t be possible.”

“That’s a normal reaction to this situation, but look at the data. Numbers don’t lie.”

“You’re telling me that this thing flew billions of miles and just happened to crash land at our location? What’s the probability of that?”

“Not as crazy as you think.” He was about to object, but Xander held up his hand. “Just hear me out. If this is truly from another system in our galaxy, then the age of our suns would be similar. It stands to reason then, that our worlds would have evolved along a similar trajectory. Our first broadcast was only sent out two hundred years ago. It’s not crazy to think it would take another species that long to receive the message, build whatever this is and then travel here. Two hundred years is actually a pretty quick turnaround, relatively speaking.”

“You still didn’t account for its timing.”

“Think about it. The object didn’t appear until right after the drill rig exploded. We both know a blast of that magnitude would have been visible from space. We also know that Jupiter’s gravity pulls everything towards it, acting as a natural shield for Earth. That’s the reason we don’t receive as many asteroid strikes as the rest of the planets in the system. This thing could have been caught in that same gravity well on its way to the inner solar system. Who knows how long it’s been circling up here. It’s possible the detonation was picked up, and that it wanted to be found by humans. This is the first chance it would have had.”

Nathan stepped towards the object. The green lines were so vibrant. He didn’t know why, but he felt compelled to touch it. As he reached his hand out, the light intensified under his palm. Small amounts of moisture accumulated at his fingertips. His hand shook ever so slightly as he made contact. The surface was smooth as silk and surprisingly warm. This object was going to change the course of human history and his baby wouldn’t have to grow up in the world of his nightmares.

Suddenly every siren and alarm in the complex sounded. Red lights flashed above.

“What is that?” Xander yelled. “Is it from the artifact?”

Nathan ran to the command console and pressed several buttons until the noise cut out and the lights stopped flashing. “Something tripped the exterior sensors.” He switched on the holographic display of the area. One of the landing pads displayed a solid red ring. His heart dropped when the ship came into view. “It’s an Alliance I.E.P. unit.”

“That’s impossible. How’d they cover that much distance in half a day? We have to get out of here!”

“Calm down! If we’re going to survive this you have to do exactly as I say. This is bigger than us now. We have to get this object back to Earth. Everything we hold dear is in danger. They’re going to be coming through the front entrance. I need you to take the object out of the facility and into our spacecraft. Lock yourself inside and begin the startup sequence. I’ll be close behind.”

“I’m not leaving without you! We’ve been in worse situations before. We’ll get out of this. We just have to think of something.”

“We’ll never outrun their ship, and when they find out who we are, they’ll kill us. There is no other way.”

“Fine, then I’ll stay behind. Grab the artifact and I’ll make sure you’re not followed.”

Nathan shook his head. “You know I’m a great pilot, but if something breaks I may not be able to fix it. You built her, and only you can guarantee she makes it back in one piece.”

“They’ll never stop chasing me.”

“That’s correct. You cannot return to Earth. I want you to travel to New Tranquility. Jacob will help you disappear. As soon as you arrive, call for Sasha. Take my family into hiding with you. You have to protect them for me.”

Xander nodded. He lifted the artifact and opened the interior entrance to the airlock. Nathan pulled a data stick out of his pocket. “Take this with you.”

Xander slipped it into his spacesuit. “You’ll be right behind me?”

“Right behind you.” He could hear the sound of air rushing into the front airlock as it was pressurized to match their internal environment. “You have to go now.”

Xander stepped back into the airlock, pressed a button and the door sealed shut behind him. Nathan turned and ran down one of the hallways. There wasn’t a moment to spare. He threw stuff out of the way inside the maintenance closet until he found a small orange box. Inside were several sticks of H-3 explosives. He opened the lid, and primed the top one. It synced with his wrist deck. Nathan grabbed the whole box and returned to the main room just as the light clicked green of the front airlock.

He moved to the center of the room and placed the box near the exterior wall. The door began to open. Nathan grabbed the sheet that had been covering the object and threw it on top of the box.

“Freeze!”

Nathan slowly turned around. Dozens of footsteps thunked against the metal planks around him. He placed his hands over his head. Once his back was to the wall, he slowly tapped a command on his wrist deck. It was primed.

A dozen I.E.P. soldiers had taken up offensive positions around the room, their assault rifles pointed at him. They were covered head to toe in zero gravity combat gear.

A voice came from the airlock, “Good morning. My apologies for our rather intrusive arrival.” A tall man emerged from the entrance. He was very fit, and dressed in a ceremonial grey and black military outfit. Several medals hung from his chest. Nathan was surprised to see the insignia for the concerned group of religious leaders. He’d seen it several times before, but never as a combat pin. “My name is Kalligan. I’m the commander of this unit.”

He raised his hand. “Please lower your weapons, they’re not necessary.” He smiled at Nathan. “So what is your name?”

His first thought was to lie, but they’d eventually find out who he really was and it wouldn’t help his situation. “My name is Nathan Connors.”

Kalligan seemed shocked. “You’re not
the
Nathan Connors, are you?”

“I doubt that. I’m sure there are a lot of people with that name.”

“This is a welcome surprise. I recognize you from the vids. You’re the one that discovered the controversial material on Mars. You know, you made a lot of people very unhappy when you violated our laws.” He scanned the room. “It doesn’t appear you learned your lesson the first time. Where is the other one? You two were always together.”

“No one else is here. It’s just me.” Technically he was the only one still inside the base. He needed to change the subject. “What do you want? Why are you here?”

“Now don’t be rude. Since I’m a representative of the Alliance government, and you’re currently breaking international law,
again,
I’d appreciate more respect when you speak to me.” He moved further into the room. “Several years ago I was informed about the most peculiar… miracle. The smallest of objects was observed moving through our solar system. Only it didn’t conform to any of the laws of nature. It passed through gravity fields with ease.

“Our top researchers have been studying it for years. It defies everything we know about science. It’s just another example of the ineptitude of the field. After much debate we decided that it warranted a closer look. We’ve been en route for several months now. We were close to intercepting the object when we recorded a small burst of heat on the surface. At that exact moment, and as unbelievable as it sounds, the object changed course. It was as if something caught its attention.”

“That’s an interesting story, and you’re right, I do find it hard to believe.”

“Nathan, we need to find this object and study it. Make sure that it doesn’t pose a threat to the Alliance or Earth. We scanned the crash site and couldn’t find anything. It certainly didn’t help that the sub-surface ocean swallowed most of the impact area.”

“There you have it. I’m sure whatever you’re looking for is at the bottom of the ocean by now.”

“We considered that possibility as well, until we picked up a faint heat trail leading away from the crash site.” Kalligan walked down the steps into the central area. He moved towards one of the work stations and picked up a framed picture. “Is this your family? You’re a lucky man. What a beautiful wife and newborn baby you have. I’ve never been able to have a family of my own.”

He set the picture back on the desk. “Can you guess where that heat trail led us?”

Nathan was quiet for several moments. He hoped Xander was ready to go. “It led you here.”

“Correct! I knew you were a reasonable man. Now, we don’t have much time. I need to know where that object is. I’m going to take a leap of faith and guess that your research partner has it. Make it easy on both of you and tell me where I can find him.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t help you any further.”

Kalligan was obviously agitated. “I respect your resolve but please do not underestimate mine. I will find what I’m looking for and you are going to tell me. Give me what I want, and this will all be over. No one has to get hurt.”

“You’ll never let me leave,” Nathan whispered.

Kalligan lifted his hand, on cue every soldier raised their weapon and pointed them at Nathan. “Last chance, where is the object?”

Nathan pressed a button on the wrist deck concealed behind his head.

An intense vibration shook the entire space craft. Xander turned around just in time to see the exterior door of their craft seal shut. The spaceship’s computer came to life. “Manual override. Launch sequence initiated.”

“No!” Xander yelled. “Not yet! There’s still time. This isn’t how it’s supposed to end!” The seatbelts automatically locked him into place.

The spaceship shook and rattled every bone in his body. From the porthole window he saw the surface shrink as they rocketed off the launch pad. The force on his body was so intense he couldn’t move. He wanted to slam his fist against the window, but all he could do was watch helplessly as their base got further away.

Suddenly a blinding light and a fireball ripped out of the top of the base. Half the wall was blown away, debris and people could be seen getting sucked into the vacuum of space. “Noooo! Nathan!” The Alliance spaceship that had been docked outside buckled under the violence of the explosion and collapsed to the ground in several pieces.

Xander pressed his hand against the glass in agonizing torture knowing his friend was gone. It felt as though a part of him had been ripped out. He wanted to fight the gods, yell and scream at everything that was keeping him pinned to his seat. It had been a mistake to leave him there.

The thin film of atmosphere quickly dissolved into the utter blackness of space. Tears floated off his face. His hand still rested on the window. The flight path was set, there was no way to stop the craft and return to the surface. It was a one-way trip. His mind and body were wrecked. He needed rest. Several hours later Europa had faded into the darkness behind him. He pressed a button and his harness retracted into the seat.

Xander placed his hand on the co-pilot’s seat. He floated in quiet remembrance for several moments before he pushed off to the back of the ship. The artifact lay quietly in the corner. He picked up one of the tablets from the table and inserted the tiny device he’d been given by Nathan. As the screen flickered to life he saw that there were dozens of video files stored on it.
What is this?

Clicking on the most recent video image, Nathan popped up on the screen. He was seated at his work station. The video had been recorded several weeks earlier. Xander pressed Play. “
Hey! This is your dad. I miss you so much and wish that I could be with you. I’m sorry that I haven’t been there for you, but I’m always thinking of you. You may not understand all of this now, but I hope you’re proud of what I’ve done someday. I’ll always be with you..
. ”

Xander choked back the tears. He set the data pad down and looked away. Nathan had given his life so they could survive. He would not let that sacrifice be in vain. They would never be able to achieve true enlightenment under the suffocating rule of the government. He wasn’t sure how he was going to do it, or what role the object would play, but he would make them suffer.
When a distant assembly asserts their will with violence and irreverence there can be only one logical outcome – revolution.