The Constant Star (81)

THE STORY SO FAR

Macy watches with curiosity as Baldr stands on the Bridge waiting for something. Siff hears the Bridge door open and Mars steps into view. Macy keeps her gun trained on Saturn, but her attention is fixed on the screen. Everyone in the room knows their fate now lies in the hands of these two men.

64

Baldr feels a shiver of cold, but he does not let it show. His old friend stands before him as the door slides shut. Mars seems a little surprised to see him there, “Well, how did you get out, Baldr? Who chose treason with you? And how did you get in here? Your position was revoked.”

“To revoke my position would require an act of the Council, through due process. Which you have neglected. You have neglected a lot of things about the mission.”

“Only Council members had the keys to your cell. Did Saturn let you out? Has that fool finally fell for your bleeding-hearted pleas?”

Baldr smiles, “She came back to me. She made the choice once she saw what you have become. I need to know, Mars: do you know about your Protocol Chip? The tech every single one of your Security wears? Do you know what it does?”

“It makes us strong-willed, so that we can fulfill our mission.”

“It manipulates your brain and rewires you to be analog. Only the letter of the law, no mercy.”

“And that is what is necessary!”

“I know what you’ve been doing.”

“You have no idea! You stand here to stop me from the final step of a mission I realized the necessity of before I was even appointed!”

“To destroy humanity?”

“To save the universe! That is the fight! The only fight worth fighting. I could have had Siff executed ten years ago, but I saw in her and her friend the path to show all aboard Janus how unworthy we truly are.”

“What do you mean?”

“I knew our mission was unsustainable all those years ago. I knew human nature was boundless in its creativity when it comes to survival. I knew the only thing stopping us from being consumed by ourselves was the Protocol Chip. I knew it was only a matter of time before the lower levels would rebel. And so I chose to be the one who controlled it. I pushed and pushed and I crushed them. I tortured and hated them. All the while feeding snippets of information so that when their leader was ready she would rise up and choose vengeance.

“I fed them our troop movements and tactics so they could take over significant portions of the ship. I crafted this rebellion so that I could show everyone exactly what humanity is, because I found my higher call all those years ago.”

“A higher call than what?”

“This mission was an experiment to see if humanity deserves to live in this universe. I have proven without a doubt that it does not. And I am here to end the suffering that we bring.”

“So even if we stop Diana?”

“She’s just a symptom of what we are. The highest call is to save the universe; nothing will stop what comes next. Do not stand in my way.”

“If you’ve learned anything about humanity, you know that I have to.”

“All it takes is me accessing that control panel and we are instantly gone. If you stand in my way I will make sure you suffer first.”

“The mission has made us stray from our souls, but we can change.”

“Have you studied any history? We never change.”

“We have to. We know this. And we have discovered that denying ourselves free-thought is self-destructive. We will change.”

“No. We won’t. Time’s up Baldr. I’m coming through.”

“Not while I’m alive you’re not.”

“Fair enough.”

Knives are drawn and the fight commences, Baldr is pushed back quickly as Mars works on getting past him. But the pilot is not so easily beaten. He uses the momentum to spin and throw Mars to the ground. Mars rolls out of it and rushes him again, this time the knife gets through and slashes Baldr’s arm causing him to drop his weapon. Baldr manages to slam Mars’ weapon-hand against a counter and head-butt him, but the man will not let go of the knife. The struggle goes to the floor, rolling and slashing one another as they fight for control of the knife, striking with elbows and head-butts. It is clear to Baldr that he is losing.

It does not take long for Mars to overpower him, kneeling on his arms with knife now free to use, “Your mind has been corrupted by the wishful thinking of your forebears. You force yourself to believe the poet and your textbooks so you don’t have to face the truth. You fantasize as if we are some precious ornament! Decorating the universe with shallow hope and convoluted pride! A cocoon that one day will give birth to a beautiful new humanity. But we are nothing more than a blister of plague, damning the universe with our refusal to die. Deep down you know the truth. We must be destroyed.” He cuts the blade across Baldr’s forearm, “The universe has decided. The universe sent me as its savior. I am the best of humanity.” He stabs Baldr in the ribs, “I am the one willing to do whatever it takes to ensure we do not destroy more of creation.” He continues to cut across his body, “I was made for this.” He holds the knife to the man’s throat, “This is fate, Baldr. And you cannot stand in its way. Any last words to cry into the void?”

“A couple. First, nnngh! You are out of your mind. And second, I’d do anything to save my people.” Baldr smiles and releases his hand, a device lets out a small beep that is echoed at the observation window.

“What have you done? No!”

Baldr looks to the camera

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