Crash Course On Heroism Ch. 04

The idea for this one comes from Moonwing.

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Chapter 4: The Rescuer

“Pilot’s log, entry five of partnership, day four. Log entry to be included in reports.”

I was looking at the laptop screen. The one that was still a laptop, not the one that was wandering the halls of this incredibly-odd base in a half-nervous, half-overprotective manner. My habit of talking out what I was writing had been one that annoyed roommates whenever I had them, but since I didn’t at the moment I didn’t need to bother trying to suppress it. Thus, I could not blame his sigh that came out of my mouth on the need to keep the words inside my head.

“Following search patterns around the system-south of the debris field, effected rescue from disabled civilian spacecraft. Purpose and model of craft unknown, damage prevented identification and neither cargo nor passengers were in evidence. Possible scientific or exploratory purpose, but this is not verified. Two crew present, one survived, and in accordance with interstellar salvage law I retrieved all possible stocks. Per host standard operating procedures, the survivor was brought to their base for healing and debrief, not the local system. She was not conscious and not identified at the time of delivery, nor has she yet regained consciousness.”

I looked over at the door. I wasn’t in the hospital anymore, instead in a small apartment in the next segment over. To be honest, the layouts were so similar it was sometimes easy to forget that I could just… stand up and walk around, now. The bed was in the same place and made of the same materials, I still drank a lot of the same milk-like elixir, I still wore Sigma Four, but now I didn’t have sensors strapped to me. This room had a refrigerator and a heating element (of sorts), and I could supplement the drink with solid foods again thanks to the salvage. At least, I could to the limits of my culinary ability, which was admittedly not the best. Still, nothing beats some mashed potatoes when you miss the comforts of home.

Okay, maybe chicken noodle soup, but given that I hadn’t salvaged any chicken that would make things tricky even if I knew how to make it myself.

I saved the document. My mind was made up, there was something I had to do so I was going to use this newfound freedom. Next mission would launch tomorrow evening, letting me sleep aboard ship once we were in a safe area, so this had to be done today. I shook my head. That word, “today,” was also a bit of a flexible thing when we didn’t have a solar cycle and activity continued smoothly through The Hive at all times. After a couple of harshly interrupted “nights,” I had to beg Mu One Seven for a way to indicate that I was asleep and needed to be left that way unless there was something important. Honestly, the hard part was explaining that I had to sleep and for how long.

As soon as I stepped out of my room, one which they had been careful to adjust to Human-natural light at an intensity I could control, the Hive lighting was nowhere near as soft or pleasant. They preferred a hard-edged kind of pure white for primary corridors where they expected to need to see things very precisely. The light quality was wildly different from place to place, though. One wing over as I got into the medical facilities? Much less harsh, so as to avoid stressing the eyes of the sick and injured, but the signage and lighting was very oddly colored. Some of it was hard to see, the colors almost invisible or indecipherable text arranged such that I knew a word or two was missing. I could tell there were spectra at play I didn’t have the eyeballs to perceive. Which was telling, the Human visible spectrum wasn’t the broadest in the galaxy but we were in the top ten percent known. Several thousand years as sight-dominant omnivores in the evolutionary chain will do that.

More than one of the hospital rooms was occupied, something that caught me off-guard. Guess it shouldn’t have, given that they rescued me and seemed to have a way to know where these things were happening, but still. It meant that I did have to look for a few minutes more than anticipated to find the room they’d brought the woman I’d rescued to. She was Human, sure, but the room wasn’t. None of the usual beeps or screens that would be evident back Home, no printouts to let me know how she was doing. Just the slowly breathing woman on the bed, one whose color was thankfully normal and whose visible bruises were mostly or entirely faded.

I sighed again. Still not conscious. Still no name. I was getting worried for her, being under for this long indicated some serious damage under the surface, but I wasn’t nearly good enough to figure out what on my own. Just had to trust the Mu units. That was easier to do when they were talking about me than when it was about her for some reason. I shook my head. Looks like the check-in was as done as I could do it for now, so I turned to leave.

“Who are you?” The words were hoarse, but it was a woman’s voice. Her voice.

I spun right back to look at her. While she was still laying down, her pale skin more pallid and her blonde hair lankly greasy, her eyes were open and on me. “Oh, thank the Lord you’re awake! I’m James, the pilot who rescued you from the wreck.”

Her eyes closed. “I was hoping I’d dreamed that. Where’s Robert?”

I swallowed. “I’m assuming that’s the name of the guy in the spacecraft with you?” She nodded, I continued. “He was unfortunately dead before I got to you. Shrapnel. If it is any consolation, it was probably very fast.”

She took a deep, shuddering breath. “That’s… yeah, it’s a consolation. Our relationship was complicated. Guess it’s time for my own introduction. Name’s Mariah.” She pronounced it like “aria” with an M. “We were trying to gather some rare ores. Can’t quite remember if we got any, things are hazy.”

I shook my head in the negative. “I didn’t find any, but if it was a small enough quantity I wouldn’t have. Got no idea how to tell one rock from another, really. Not without a scanner.”

She nodded. “That explains why you’re out being a big hero among the stars instead of searching for new steel formulations.” Another deep breath, like she knew she was catching up with oxygen debt that should have been resolved days ago. “Well, I have nothing to my name right now without the ship and my personal effects. If you want payment for the rescue, it’s going to be with my body.”

“Oh, HECK no, Mariah!” I had a vehement and instant reaction to that suggestion. “First off, you’re freshly awake from a freaking coma. Second off, you’re clearly not into it, so that’s another hard pass. And third, it’s my literal job twice over right now. When you recover, if you want to say thanks like that? We’ll talk. I like sex as much or more than the next man. Not like this, and not about that. Clear?”

Her eyebrows raised in shock. While I could see that her figure was lush under the blanket, I had a powerful mix of anger and seething hatred that cultures still existed that made this kind of offer the first thing on her mind. Like she expected it to be my demand. Her voice was still a bit raspy as she responded “Clear.” The conversation didn’t get a chance to last any longer. Two Mu units came rushing in to the now-conscious patient. One of them asked me, politely but firmly, to leave so that they could take care of her. I knew better than to disobey an instruction like that at this point, so I left.

The walk back to my own room was a slower one than the one to the medical wing. More thoughtful. Despite most of the patients in the wing not being Humans, people were still people. I would need to find out where Mariah was from at some point. If for no other reason than to drop an anonymous tip to local authorities that this kind of thing was happening under their noses. If it was something they could start fixing, they probably should. No use going out and saving people’s lives just to send them back into abuse cycles…

When I opened my door, I found that I was not alone. The white wolf woman was there. Alpha Seven. Ah, so you do remember where you live now. How is that woman you rescued doing?

“How did you… you know what, don’t tell me. I don’t think I want to know. Mariah’s awake now. She woke up while I was checking on her, we had a short chat until the Mu units got to her.”

That is good. Did she tell you what she was doing in that particular area? It is not one that is conducive to safety, as she found out.

I was feeling thirsty, so as I considered my response I walked over to the mini fridge for some milk. Like all the other furniture it was very securely attached to the floor, like it grew there. The milk was from Mu One Seven, and though I still enjoyed it I definitely preferred it fresh and warm. One quick drink, and I turned back to Alpha Seven. “She did. Something about looking for rare ores. But something tells me that isn’t the story here. The meteors didn’t have much of anything to do with her ending up in the hospital and the other man ending up in the morgue.”

Alpha Seven laughed. It was a surprisingly human sound, and one that was physical instead of telepathic. And this would be why Alpha One said you would be good to keep around. This is why I’m Alpha Seven and not Alpha One. No, the meteors aren’t why she was injured so severely. I also seem to remember telling you that once you rescued someone we would talk more about what exactly we’re doing here. You have done so, and tagged good salvage besides, so let’s talk.

“That isn’t ominous at all, now is it?” I reached back into the fridge and grabbed some leftover mashed potatoes to warm up. “Guess I’ll start with a question. How the heck are your sensors able to detect probable space wrecks from interstellar distances when people in-system frequently miss them?”

Because you are all looking for the wrong thing. The wreck itself is hard to find. Evidence of the wreck possibly occurring is easier if you are searching for it when it happens. This helps with our mission, which is to preserve sapient life in all of its forms so that they may reach their potential for the galaxy at large.

“You know that helpfully explains nothing, right? Great mission statement, I’ve heard it before, but the explanation of your sensors didn’t mean anything.” I found the food I was looking for along with some chicken I didn’t realize I had, then started warming them up. “I need to know what I’m chasing, because wrecks are only a part of it. The circumstances to create a deep-space crash vary so wildly that nobody I’ve ever heard of has managed anything resembling an effective prediction engine. Which is why I have a job.”

Her head tilted. Fascinating that you put that together so quickly. I suppose that it would be more accurate to say that we have the ability to see the cause of one particular source, so we focus your efforts on that.

I turned to face her squarely. “That still doesn’t explain the timing. You launched me on a mission that took more than twelve hours to reach its target. That target was slowly bleeding air but still had barely-survivable atmosphere, which means it got into trouble less than eight hours before I got there. I was already in hyperspace. You didn’t just see the wreck. You saw it coming, with at least four hours notice, from interstellar distances.”

Alpha Seven froze. She was not breathing. Her tail was not moving, her fur didn’t ruffle. It had been easy to forget her alien nature given that I’d encountered much stranger things than a telepathic white wolf on two legs. This, though? This betrayed it. Even in the grip of panic, sapient beings who “froze” still had some motion to them. She looked like a three dimensional projection that someone had paused to point out some detail or another. The freeze lasted only a heartbeat or two before it was over, but I’d not be able to forget it.

It seems that I am not sufficiently equipped and authorized for this conversation. Pity, it was going to be a good one.

My eyes narrowed, but a beep from behind me reminded me that there was a difference between warming up leftovers and burning them. The delay let me get my thoughts in order. Again. I seemed to be doing that a lot these days. “You are an Ambassador. How are you not authorized to conduct a conversation?”

One which is going to be handled by someone senior to me, obviously. Alpha One requests your presence.

I had very limited idea of how their internal structures worked. I knew the Mu units were healers. I knew the Alpha units were leaders of some kind. I knew that they indicated the order of birth. Nothing more than that. Alpha One would indicate the oldest of the leaders. Ever? Still Alive? I had no way to know. That in turn implied that they would be incredibly important. “I… huh. I wasn’t expecting that. When do I go to see them?”

As soon as Sigma Two arrives to bring you.

“Sigma Two? You mean Sigma Four’s superior? I thought she was a suit.”

And so she is. That does not necessarily reflect on the others. We have the form we need for what we do.

She refused to elaborate, so I hurriedly wolfed down the rest of my meal. No sense leaving it to get cold just because I had an important meeting coming up. I asked both Alpha Seven and Sigma Four if there was anything I needed to be wearing in particular, and both refused to elaborate. Given that I was wearing Sigma Four, I figured she wouldn’t let me go before her superiors in a look that was wildly out of pocket.

Sigma Two, when she arrived, was not quite what I expected. She was definitely feline, large and bulky but without distinctive markings to indicate any specific species. I say “she,” because all of the others I’d run into were female, but she had no obvious indicators of what she was. Not even a voice. When she arrived, she saw that she had my attention without needing to speak. A jerk of her head indicated both that I should follow and in roughly what direction, and she strode off. Quickly. I tried to walk behind her, but that was a losing proposition. Her stride was just as determined as mine but her legs were both longer and more graceful. A light jog ended up being the compromise. A long one. The distance probably wasn’t long enough to have been three laps around the hangar I work in when I’m not off playing hero, but it certainly felt like it.

Never thought I’d ever regret missing my mandated exercise program from Home Station, but given how much I was sweating before we suddenly stopped in front of a seemingly-random door I might have to get back to it.

I don’t think I need to tell you this, but please don’t try anything dumb while you’re talking to Alpha One. The voice was Sigma Four, my suit. Easy to forget sometimes that there was a mind in there. I want to keep being your symbiont, but they can command me to restrain you instead if they need to.

That was a chilling thought. One I probably should have thought of, too, but since I wasn’t thinking of doing anything like that it hadn’t occurred to me. How far away could they command that, and would they do it any time I was doing anything they didn’t like? What would that even entail? And, for that matter, how strong was Sigma Four? She had assisted me before, and held my limbs to facilitate stretches and flexes, but i didn’t know if she was “hold me still” strong or “crush me like a grape” strong.

No time to consider that further. The door hissed slightly as though a seal had to be broken, then swung open. The big cat next to me pointed towards it with her chin again, and I got the hint. My turn to step forward. She followed at about arm’s distance. Her arms, not mine, she could have held me by the head and let my arms swing at nothing but air.

The passage was cool and dim. The lighting in different areas of this base were all different, but here it was the dimness that struck me. Once the door behind us closed itself, it took several moments before my eyes adjusted and I could see more than a couple of meters. I was not in a room, but a hallway. One I followed as it slowly sloped downwards, turning to the left twice. To continue downwards. Before too much longer there was another door that hissed at our approach. It swung open, I took the invitation, but as it closed behind me I realized that Sigma Two had not come through with me. I was alone in here. Wherever “here” was.

No, you aren’t alone.

My spine stiffened. That voice was different. It sounded like a dozen people speaking in perfect unison, so close that the differences were only evident around the edges. Thing is, the room was completely empty and barren. Maybe ten meters square and five tall. The floors, walls, and ceiling were all of the same material, and the telepathic speech gave my Human ears no indication of direction. Then again, there weren’t all that many possibilities. “Alpha One, I presume?”

And Sigma Four is in here with you, as well, but that is less important. Yes, I am Alpha One, the leader and originator of this Hive. It seems you have made quite an impression on the units here. Be proud of yourself, that does not happen often.

“I’ll see if I can put that on my next performance review.” Sue me, I get snarky when I get stressed. “Please tell me that you’re about to explain what the actual mission is. I’m out rescuing people, but too much isn’t adding up.”

Patience, we will get there. Tell me, what have you noticed about this base?

“It’s… uh, it’s very different from other places I’ve been. Your people hold wildly different shapes, but all seem to be of the same stock and purpose. Your lighting is wildly variable, too, and the materials all look like they were grown in place. Even what you used to repair my ship, which defies everything I've ever been taught about tech. I don’t think I’ve actually seen a single piece of pure technology around here, either. Everything seems organic.”

All correct, as far as it goes, but I must admit to some disappointment. You missed the important part.

I took a deep and steadying breath. It looked like the stuff I wasn’t certain about would be the real kicker. “And…”

Yes?

“And the place this base is located. The meteor. It isn’t big enough to hold this much in it. The whole thing is impressively large for a meteor, but it would barely hold ten of my ship if it was completely hollowed out and you stacked it up. Not a space station with multiple wings and the resources to be self-sufficient. Not the amount of area I’ve walked through, or what it would take to support as many people as I’ve seen. And I know I haven’t seen everyone or everything.”

Better. Much better. Tell me, what do you know of pocket dimensions?

“That a lot of people a lot smarter than I am have been bashing their skulls against the concept with no success for over a hundred years since someone did some math that might suggest they’re possible.”

I can confirm that they are, in fact, possible. You’re in one. I hatched here and direct it.

Welp. That wouldn’t take rewriting my view of the universe or anything, would it? “I… see.”

You don’t, not yet. There is no need to lie here.

“Okay. I guess my main question is why? What the heck are you actually doing here?”

There was a pause. I am not the only one of my kind.

That was about as helpful as Sigma Two’s lack of anything resembling speech. “So there are more of these pocket dimensions floating around space? Doing… what?”

That varies. Unfortunately, one of my brethren does not feel like being as helpful as I am towards your kind. And those you deem equals. The Enemy. They are much faster than I am, much more aggressive. I can see when he is going to act. Sometimes, I can intervene to stop the tragedy. Other times, I can make sure that as many of the victims survive as possible. We were once like you. In time, we became more. I do not want my kind to be alone. The only way for that to happen is if your development is encouraged.

“So let me guess. That rare ore research was a stop along the way to whatever you want us to eventually do?” Not having a point to talk to was getting disorienting.

I have no way to know.

“So, what, you just save people from the Enemy whenever you can on the off chance they’re going to help Humanity along the road to whatever it is you all are?”

Yes.

“Why don’t you… I don’t know, launch an invasion on that thing’s pocket dimension?” I thought to how Home Base would run it. Suffice to say, my scout ship would be armed. “If you can sense where they’re acting, you can put your forces in position to take them out.”

Because that is not how we operate. We do not maintain militaries, we do not directly attack one another. It is not our way, and for many good reasons. But until I can convince the Enemy to stop, or at least take it to a galaxy I do not care about, you will have gainful employment rescuing those they target. For now, that is all you need to know.

“All I need to know? We are not nearly done, Alpha One! I still have questions.” Nothing but silence met that statement, silence that was broken by the hiss of the door seal opening once more. I knew what Alpha One was telling me to do. I just didn’t like it. There were a million things I’d be doing differently in Alpha One’s shoes. Or in their pocket dimension. But I couldn’t. I didn’t have the capability myself, so instead of acting directly I had to wait for a rescue mission to come down the pipeline and pray that this Enemy didn’t hang around to catch me when I did.

Frustrated, I turned and walked to the door, and out of the bare room. The door closed again behind me. Without a word, just like before, Sigma Two began walking off. I again had to jog to follow, but before long I could recognize that we were headed back towards where I was housed. The familiar harsh lighting actually helped this time. It let me know when we were nearly there.

Then we were back. The room was empty, not that I expected Alpha Seven to still be here. Maybe Mu One Seven would have been, but that didn’t happen. I sat back down at my laptop, feeling exhausted well beyond what any physical effort should have led to. “Pilot’s log, entry six of partnership, day four...”