More fiction for the New Year!
Xerces is small and rather
unremarkable which made him the perfect spy. He could go in and out of places
unnoticed and seldom seen. This served him well until he started to learn more
and more about the entities he served.
He knew all aspects of his craft, networks, humit, counter intelligence,
making everyday people into espionage machines and how to be rid of them if
they created a “problem”. He was on the fast track to making it somewhere high
up in the machine. That is until he started to find out answers to his own
nagging questions. Worse still, he shared his answers thus creating a tiny
crack in the foundation of Fellix state power. Xerces hoped it was a start to a
revolution he knew from years of experience was still at least a generation or
so away. He had no fear of
execution. The death penalty may be gone but accidents still happen from time
to time. But too many now knew his story. The Federation had something else in
mind, something more useful.
Exile, that is the term
they use. In ages past he may have been put to death for his crime of
questioning widely known or not. His exact crime is of little importance now.
Let’s simply say he gave knowledge to those who were not expecting it and in
doing so enraged the most powerful people of the whole Federation. A few still
called for bringing back the death penalty in his case, an example was needed
they argued. But in time calm reason won the day. There was talk of sending him
back for more reeducation and retraining but this had been tried four times
already. Poor stubborn Xerces never seemed to learn questioning things was not
good for order much lass his health. Exile was a punishment for this sort of
thing, one thought to be worse than death itself.
The idea is simple; make
the less desirables deep space explorers, very deep space. Advanced life support systems make
death all but a sick joke. Immortality is a curse. Who wants to live on in good
health knowing all your loved ones have grown old withered and died? There can
never be any real rest crossing vast expanses only to cross another and another
after that. The first exiles were sent out ages before Xerces came along and
the knowledge they gained still flows back but for the benefit of only a few.
This may be the worse part of all. He knows they sent many after him. Who cares
if they never return? In fact, they are not supposed to. Exile is for life,
never ending life. There is no way out once the final decision is made. It only
took a matter of days for his fate to be decided in a closed trial in a rather
drab underground bunker. The hype quickly faded but the small crack remained.
So he hoped.
With advanced life
support systems and Hypersleep death is almost impossible. One can die in an
accident or by getting himself killed by other beings or as in some cases,
killing oneself. These poor options alone are the ways out of his sentence.
Just two days after his sentence he is sent for training. The training is
short, covering the basics of ship functions, systems functions and crew
functions. They figure rightly so, he has plenty of time to learn. All the time
in the world he thought. It is the last time he ever saw any friend or family
member. Just before he was to leave they threw a going away party for him. It
was much like being alive and fully present at his own funeral. They often
spoke of him in the past tense. None spoke of what he did or the “system” that
brought all to this sad point in time and space. At least they knew he is alive. Few are so lucky.
They put two or more
exiles together. Being alone leads to madness, which does little for successful
missions. They sometimes still get bad ideas. Some exiles have not done their
assigned mission, but made it up as they went along. This turns out to still be
okay. If they try to return to known areas already explored, they will be
killed. They have to go somewhere new. So new knowledge is still always gained.
There is no alternative but to leave forever and that means forever. A form of
suspended animation known as hypersleep, was developed and refined over several
generations. No one exile is “put
in charge”. Rather it is up to them to work it out as they go. If it does not
work out, well the robot crew will take care of the situation and the mission
continues with out exiles. Xerces soon found out he would not be alone on his
trip through eternity.
Dzann is the opposite of
Xerces, stunningly beautiful with long wavy blond hair and green eyes, social
and noticed everywhere she went.
She is also a world renowned doctor and scientist who worked in an
intelligence of a different sort, artificial intelligence. She wanted her
research to help those hurt in accidents facing a lifetime of paralysis and or
brain damage. She combined bioengineering with the use of intelligent
micro-machines for the purposes of healing. The powers that be had other plans
for he research. Monsters are what they wanted and she had no interest in
bringing them into being. When she refused their generous offers, her life
became very difficult. The end of a long good marriage, a ruined reputation and
an empty bank account were just a few of the costs she incurred for not seeing
the big picture. The Federation did not like loose ends so she wound up taking
a similar path to exile.
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