Plague

110 AE

Polemos Catacombs

Former PRD Territory

ζ17

Plague

 

                The Polemos catacombs are cold and dark.  I will admit there is something unsettling about them.  They feel other-worldly.  It is a completely different world down here.  These catacombs connect various Polemos facilities together all over Salvation.  They once served to transfer materials and data between facilities, but now they are the safest way to travel.  Traversing the surface is suicide. 

                The bike I ride is built for transport.  Nothing special.  It runs on an antimatter battery, an infinitesimal source of energy that can be turned into a devastating weapon.  There is little clearance between my head and the ceiling of the tunnel.  These catacombs were not built to be comfortable.  They were built to be practical. 

                The reason surface travel is so risky is also the reason humanity is on the brink of extinction.  The war ten years ago, the only war fought on this planet, ended with a series of biological attacks.  It is not clear which side launched the attacks.  It does not matter because everyone lost due to the attacks.  Strategic missile strikes at major population centers released an engineered super virus.  It became known as Hell’s Plague.

                Now ‘virus’ is a vague term.  No one knows exactly what the Plague is.  They just knew it infected people within the immediate vicinity of the missile strikes and within a few hours they were dead.  And from there, people within the vicinity of the dead when they died became infected.  All that’s known about the plague is it transmits through the air after death.  The only recorded symptom up till death is increasing weakness. 

                The plague spread out of the cities through suburbs killing all in its path.  The only downside to the plague is it killed too fast.  The death was not able to spread to remote places, and thus there are still isolated pockets of humanity living out in solitude.  But the planet is in no way, shape, or form, reconquerable. 

                The last and most puzzling part of the plague is that it remains active in the air around the deceased permanently, as far as anyone knows.  My suit has a rebreather as a precaution to this fact, so I don’t breathe in the surrounding air, but it is a precaution taken in vain.  Hazmat teams sent into cities to study the plague never returned.  The plague ignores airlocks. 

                Also, the plague kills every living thing.  From humans to microscopic bacteria, nothing is free from the path of the plague.  It jailed Humanity in tiny pockets of sanctuary while the rest of the planet become cold, barren, and lifeless.  The way it was when we found it. 

                That is the cruel cyclical irony of it all.  When humanity was making its exodus from Earth, they looked for planets that could support life but did not already.  There were plenty of planets known at the time of departure to house life, but escape to them would be too risky.  There was a chance native biology, even at the microbial level, could decimate Earth biology.  When you are talking about the existence of a species, that is not a risk you want to take. 

                That was why they chose Salvation.  The planet had the potential to support life, but had no life yet.  A thick ocean and one rocky continent orbiting a small red dwarf star at just the right distance.  It was also in Cryo Distance.

                Cryo Distance refers to cryogenically freezing a living thing so that it stays preserved at the same age until thawed.  Every living thing making the exodus had to go through cryogenic freezing.  The method used at the time of the exodus only had a limited span before the living thing would deteriorate.  Cryo Distance is the maximum time that can be spent in cryogenic stasis multiplied by the distance per year that can be traveled by a ship.  The maximum cryo time at the time of the exodus was three-hundred years.  Salvation was five hundred light years away.  Now it is not possible, or, not possible yet to travel faster than light.  Luckily, the laws of physics applied to the situation.  The faster someone goes, the slower they experience time.  Someone going near light speed could travel two years and experience only a year’s worth of time.  That was the speed ships could go at the time of the exodus.  The time experienced by the travelers was only about 250 years, and thus within Cryo Distance. 

                Three ships left Earth.  Each carried around 10,000 passengers, plants, animals, and materials necessary to terraform the planet.  The Prevail, the Decorum, and the Freedom.  After the long voyage, the ships woke up a hundred passengers each.  These passengers, or now colonists per say, began making the planet habitable.  The three ships chose three locations and founded three settlements.  Every five years, the ships would wake more passengers to go and contribute to the growing settlements.  This system was in place for 50 years, at the end of which, the remaining passengers were woken and incorporated into society.  At that point, the new governments declared it to be the year AE 1, AE standing for After Exodus. 

                The settlements of the three ships became the three nations that existed until the Plague ravaged the planet.  The nations were somewhat representative of where the ships were built. 

                The Prevail was built by western powers.  The nation the passengers founded became Prevailia.  The political ideals of Prevailia were somewhat balanced between regulations and freedoms.  The political structure could remain simple considering there were less people to govern.  The initial settlement, Lucerana, became the Prevailian Capital.  As the population expanded out of Lucerana to the surrounding country side, they divided the land into states.  Each state voted on one councilman to serve on the Prevailian Council.  The Prevailian Council drafted legislation the public had to approve at the time of the next election.  Also, the council picked one person to serve as the Chairman.  The Chairman needed three-fourths of the council’s approval to take office.  He could keep office as long as the majority of the council wished to keep him in office.  The Chairman was in charge of all executive decisions.  This included appointing judges to higher courts and waging war when necessary.  Though part of the Chairman’s powers, war was never big with the people of Prevailia.  Military spending only began about thirty years before the war, and it was minimal spending at that.  It was quite a surprise they were not completely demolished in the early days of the War. 

                The Decorum had a different situation in its escape from Earth.  The Decorum was built by eastern powers.  The first settlers wanted to try and create the ideal communist society.  Something somewhat reminiscent of their past attempts.  Communism turned out much easier to start and maintain with a smaller population without an old regime.  The colonists of the Decorum settled at what is now called New Moscow and named their country The People’s Republic of Decorum. It was often referred to as the PRD.  The communist style government gave the illusion of freedom with the emphasis on illusion.  For example, every three years the country held an election to elect regional representatives.  Yet the PRD constitution stated only people in the communist party could be on the ballot.  The only way someone could be a full member of the communist party is by knowing another member.  Steep punishments were in place for minor crimes, and speech was not free.  The PRD received a lot of flak from other countries for human rights violations.  Things were starting to change by the time the war began, but slowly. 

                The last ship was more unique than the other two, as sovereign nations constructed and funded the other two.  Private companies and investors constructed the Freedom.  When the Freedom settlers set down on Salvation they wished to create a nation with unrivaled economic freedom.  What they managed to create resembled a libertarian oligarchy.  They named it Laissez.  They decided that the fifty wealthiest people met twice a month to decide the laws.  They called this the Confederation.  They enacted a law if half of members of the Confederation decided it needed to be.  The only chartered company in Laissez, Defense Corps, enforced these laws.  Defense Corps ran like a business, and with the CEO decided internally.  The CEO and or anyone on the Defense Corps Board of Directors could not be a member of the Confederation, no matter how wealthy.  Every other established business gave a percentage of their profits to Defense Corps to enforce the laws.  Defense Corps also provided a military solution to external problems if they were to occur. 

                The system worked well for just over one hundred years, and then everyone died.  That is what happens when people draw lines in the sand with their ideals.  They cannot change the past.

                It is not a past I remember much.  The Plague was released ten years ago.  Half of my life has occurred after that.  Then again, my life has only been Polemos.  I only became aware of all that was going on in the world after the planet was dead.  Maybe it was because I began seeing less and less people around.  I don’t know. 

                It has just been test after test.  First it was cognitive tests, such as being able to recite facts about prewar politics and IQ tests.  Then it was physical ability and endurance.  Go jump through these loops for ten hours and do not fail.  I never failed.  I passed all their tests with ease.  All the way through wartime simulations.  Never once have I failed.  I am their tool.  I am a good tool and a good tool does not fail. 

                I do not remember choosing this life though.  I have always been here.  Perhaps there is a reason why I am here.  For now my purpose is to follow orders.  For now?  Why do I say ‘For now?’  Do I question what they tell me to do?  No I do not question.  My purpose is to follow orders.  I need to clear my mind of this speculation.

                I understand that normal human life takes place in the form of a family.  A mother, a father, and children.  I have no family.  I never have.  Do I wish I did?  I am not sure.  I do not think it would fit well with my purpose.  Polemos is not my family.  They are my master.

                If I were to answer my earlier question, ‘Am I weapon, or am I human,’ I would answer weapon.  Humans have families.  Humans have compassion.  Humans are allowed to question their purpose.  I am not human.  Yes, I have a human body but I am not human.  I am a weapon.  They point and I shoot.  I am used.

                My existential dilemma will have to wait for the time being.  I have reached my destination.  A small ladder and a hatch in the tunnel roof.  This should bring me out right next to the Crimson Palace, the political center of the PRD where my targets now reside.  This is yet another test.

                I dismount my bike and climb the ladder.  The hatch opens into a concealed shed on the outskirts of the palace grounds.  It’s dark and dusty.  Of course, no one has been here for ten years.  I turn on my visor light so I can see.  This is not good. 

                In the shed on the ground are two bodies, no life signs from either.  They are dead and it is likely they are plague victims.  They look like someone planted them here on purpose.  Someone knew I was coming, and now I have just walked into a Dead Zone.  In a few hours, I will be dead.  

Reviews

[Kayja Symphious]

Yes! Now I what AE means. ( I was so close to asking you... but I'm glad I didn't, cause it was worth finding out.)

As I've said before this story is well thought out. I loved the back story on how the 3 nations formed. (and it really is what humans would do in that situation.)

I also enjoyed how you explained cryo time/light years, in the relationship of traveling to other planets. That was brilliant.

Just a few things... nothing major at all. Per say... I think you mean Per se.

And right near the beginning... "They feel other-worldly. It is a completely different world down here." These two sentences are the same, I think only one is needed.

Other than that, this is really enjoyable to read. Thank you for the entertainment.