Frontier Effects: Book 1 Read online

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  ‘Frontier FX’ Mars Dorian © 2017

  1

  The heatwave scorched Texas like a supernova from a distant planet. The smart air conditioner in the training center’s classroom battled the surging temperatures. Tavio wiped his forehead for the fifth time and walked around the holographic projection in the center of the classroom. He pointed at the orbital battle scene glistening in glorious hyper resolution. The projection emanated heat as well, but the high temperature couldn’t ruin Tavio’s passion for the digital scenario: an Alliance battle carrier released a squadron of eight unmanned interceptors which targeted a convoy of four hostile frigates launched from the rogue colony’s spaceport.

  Tavio loved this theoretical test.

  Even after the 226th running time, the lesson’s moral implications captured his intellect anew. Half of Tavio’s cadets snored at the projection with half-closed eyes and sleepy faces, the other half communicated via their comlinks.

  Tavio spotted Cadet Klarson in the 3rd row twitching his right eye in a suspicious way, which meant he was either sending or receiving a big data package. The training center forbade using the comlink during class and implemented jammers to cut the connection, but some tricksters gamed the system and hoped the teacher wouldn’t notice.

  Klarson messed with the wrong one.

  Tavio marched toward the cadet’s row and sat on the corner of the body-hugging desk. “Cadet Klarson. Given the gravity of the situation, which action should the division captain choose to deescalate the situation and prevent collateral damages on both sides?”

  The cadet blinked in rapid succession and woke up to the moment. He narrowed his eyes and investigated the fleet division’s battle formation on the 3D grid in the center of the class room. His smile showed desperation. “Launch a preemptive strike?”

  Most of the cadets chuckled. One whistled.

  Tavio massaged the top of his nose with his sweaty fingers. “Imagine the miracle of paying attention and actually learning something during class.”

  “But what’s the point, sir?”

  “Pardon?”

  Klarson swiveled around his chair. “I mean, it’s been aeons since the conflict. Why run the same simulations over and over again when the real wars are fought on planets, not between them?”

  He paused and straightened up. Tavio noticed an upsurge of confidence in the cadet. Klarson said, “Or do you think the colonies will fight each other again, sir?”

  The room fell silent. Tavio had heard this statement many times before. “We can never foresee what will happen in the future, but we can always prepare for eventualities.”

  Pure textbook answer, which didn’t seem to sway Klarson. The brunette cadet in the fourth row raised her hand.

  “Yes, Cadet Jessalyn?”

  “Sir, which planet are we actually dealing with here?”

  So much for the exemplary cadet. Instead of worrying about the mission’s moral issues, these soon-to-be-servicemen focused on petty information. Tavio blamed the failing air conditioning. “It’s a placeholder for the simulation, Jessalyn. Don’t mind it.”

  Her eyes stayed locked on his. “But isn’t it necessary to know the intel about your target zone?”

  “Not in this simulation. We’re dealing with the moral responsibility of attacking a rogue colony. The planet’s nothing but a pretty background.”

  She sank her glance which told Tavio she wasn’t satisfied with his answer. Another cadet, Moah, in row one turned around with a boyish grin. “C’mon, Jessy, don’t act like a VR rookie. You know the colony’s Mars.”

  The room sizzled with silence. The hologram hummed. Tavio sighed—even on a summer day, a harmless simulation could ignite geo-political controversy. Five Martian cadets were enrolled in his class and stared at their teacher with expecting eyes. The second Tavio fabricated a deescalating answer, the breaking news pinged his comlink; the Solar Alliance had sent an urging dispatch and allowed for public viewing. Tavio hesitated as the timing seemed unusual, but the content of the message piqued his curiosity.

  “Sir?” Cadet Jessalyn said with rising intonation.

  Tavio returned to the moment. “I’ve got a breaking news ping from the Alliance.”

  “Nice pull out,” Cadet Klarson mumbled under his breath.

  Tavio decided to ignore him and approached the tech table. He closed the orbital battle simulation and switched to the Alliance Dispatch channel where a blonde news anchor with earthy skin clang her finest colonial English. Tavio noticed nervousness in her voice but focused on the 3D display behind her. Blurry video footage showed a lush, green background with jungle-like vegetation. Coordinates flashed across the screen, followed by the word ‘help’. The recording fizzled out. The headline above the footage read, “First Alien Contact”.

  Tavio’s classroom gasped. Everyone glued their eyes to the news report with perked ears. Tavio increased the volume and soaked up the anchor’s words.

  “…twenty-two standard hours ago, an encoded signal laser-tagged the Da Vinci Space Telescope which then relayed the information to the nearest outpost station orbiting Jupiter. The Exo Protectorate Division of the Solar Alliance has verified the source of the signal and deems it the first alien contact.”

  Cadet Klarson whistled.

  “Finally, something’s happening.”

  2

  Tavio’s eyes soaked up the looping footage like a junkie craving his Burrn. The snippet totaled eight seconds and featured blurry images of a jungle, but the use of the English word ‘help’ rattled his curiosity. Did humanity make contact with a sentient race that knew an Earth-based language? It would be humanity’s wildest dream come true.

  Tavio was so ensnared by the message, he ignored the ringing of the artificial bell on his comlink. His cadets left their seats with confused glances and mumbled speculations. When three quarters of them had already passed the door, Tavio held up his right hand. “I’m going to send you a simulation recap with multiple choice questions. Tomorrow, we’ll have a discussion about each action’s moral implications.”

  By the time Tavio finished his sentence, his classroom had emptied.

  So much for the passion about space-faring combat and intercolonial conflicts.

  He had to admit his new class proved to be the toughest one yet. If Solar Alliance issues couldn’t set the cadets’ hearts on fire, he had to change his style of teaching—maybe include more interactive VR sims and field practice to engage every cell of their peace-spoiled brains. The alternative looked dismal—a disengaged generation of new officers would sabotage the advance of humanity. One needed to be passionate and proficient to lead the Alliance into the future.

  Tavio switched off the holoprojection and checked his comlink. Its biofeedback sub-function listed his calorie and vitamins needs. Since he had skipped breakfast, Tavio could eat food worth over three thousand energy units for the next twenty-four hours—a condolence for today’s failed class.

  Tavio shut down his room with a voice command and walked through the waxed corridors of the Alliance Training Center. He passed by colleagues and cadets gossiping about the breaking news of the century. Everyone talked about the alien signal. He hadn’t seen that much excitement in a decade, at least not on Earth.

  Tavio reached the mess hall where the giant wall-screen projected the Alliance news in crisp hyper-resolution. The blonde news anchor played the eight second footage from the alien transmission and commented on every micro-frame. A xenology expert from the MIT joined the discussion and flailed his arms around like a prophet foreseeing a new
future for mankind. “This will change everything,” the curly-haired man said. “We have officially reached the borders of the sol system and will now foray into the rim territory. Call me an idealist, but investigating the signal will be humanity’s first step toward becoming a type two civilization.”

  The anchorwoman listened with patience but pressed her lush lips. “You seem to have a positive outlook on the event, Doctor.”

  “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “Well, what if the sentient life form doesn’t share our values? Not to sound overly pessimistic, but the alien could be humanity’s worst adversary.”

  The xenologist frowned. “As a scientist, I cannot make an assumption based on fear.”

  Tavio averted his curious glance from the wall-screen when his stomach rioted with a roar. He approached the food showcase and picked an organic muesli with fresh produce delivered from the local farmscraper. Tavio had at least two sweet teeth, so he added a Booster coke as a guilty pleasure for a hot and demoralizing day.

  He grabbed the packed tray and maneuvered around the plasto-metal tables where hundreds of colleagues mumbled about the mysterious signal while keeping their eyes fixed to the wall-screen. A few cadets flicked a glance at the former captain and saluted him.

  “Incredible news, sir.”

  “Yep,” Tavio said. “Can’t wait for the details of the signal.”

  At the end of table five in the sixth row, Tavio found a man with Slavic features, short-trimmed hair, sporting a medal-crested colonel’s uniform. Like an alpha model from a military recruitment spot, he emanated an aura of authority. The man remained the only person in the mess hall who didn’t pay attention to the wall-screen. Instead, he raised his nose from the half-finished meal and targeted Tavio with a sharp smile.

  “About time you showed up, Tav.”

  3

  Tavio sat down opposite and fanned out his flatware. “Already bored of the news?”

  “What’s the big deal?”

  “We’ve made first contact with another sentient life form.”

  “Have we? As far as I know, we have an eight second spot with blurry images and disastrous audio quality. Sounds like a prank to me.”

  Ever the skeptic—pure Quintan. He stabbed his synthetic steak with the fork and wolfed it down like a survivor fearing a food shortage. Tavio grinned while scooping his muesli. “Imagine an intelligent life form waiting to connect with us. Imagine the possibility—“

  “—of facing extinction,” Quintan said. “Seriously, if I were a benevolent alien race and were to send only one word to humanity, it would be peace or freedom. But help?” He narrowed his eyes. “Sounds like a trick to lure us in.”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Most of the time,” Quintan said and washed down his chewed prey with his Booster coke. He wiped the dark liquid from his lips and gazed at the mess hall’s wall-to-ceiling windows letting the sun rays in. Quintan’s smile vanished and made space for an empty stare. Tavio knew something was up. Quintan only shut up when problems knocked. “Share if you care.”

  The chatter of the nearby people drowned his moaning. “Summer’s killing me. Hundreds of annoying rookies piercing me with the same questions over and over again.”

  He mimicked his ‘favorite’ cadets. “Sir, should I pursue a graduate degree in astrophysics or stick to mechatronical ground vehicle engineering? Sir, should I stay on Earth or visit the Martian Academy of Military Excellence?”

  He paused and squeaked. “Sir, sir, sir, sirrrrrrr.”

  Quintan sighed and reconnected his eyes with Tavio’s. “Seriously, I don’t know how you do it. Don’t you ever get tired teaching imbeciles?”

  Tavio shrugged. Being a teacher had overshadowed his previous life in the Fleet. Although he had served almost two decades, time and regeneration periods had warped his consciousness. The memory of his military missions morphed into a foggy haze.

  “Maybe it’s a sign from the universe. Most veterans waste their civilian life drowning in VR feeds while gulping down Merica Light. You get to teach the next generation of officers. You should be grateful.”

  Quintan rolled his eyes. “If anything, the cadets should. I’ve survived situations these noobs will never experience in their safe space simulations.”

  “It’s simply downtime. Periods of distress are followed by plateaus of calmness,” Tavio said.

  “Sounds like a cheap quote from one of your second rate self-help books.”

  With the steak gone, Quintan poked his carrots and pushed them around the plate like helpless pawns. “Hate to say it, but I miss the old times. Brutal for sure, but at least stuff was happening. Real stuff.”

  Tavio stayed silent. His brother rarely opened up. Quintan had always claimed that real men don’t talk about problems; they simply fix them, but even he broke his own rules.

  “Standing in overcrowded halls and blabbering the same nonsense like an automaton, man.” His tired eyes pushed up. “Lecturing is not soldiering.”

  Tavio nodded. The Colony War marked a devastating period of humanity, but it also brought out the best in people. Nothing forged a deeper bond between men than fighting together on the front lines of space. Tavio pictured his brothers and sisters from the Fleet Command and remembered the jokes, the camaraderie during combat, and the comfortable realization that no matter how hopeless situations got, your comrades would sacrifice their lives for you. The connection felt thicker than loyal friendship, thicker than even family blood.

  Good old times.

  A flood of melancholia washed over Tavio and almost triggered tears. He shook off the maudlin moment. “At least we’re in peace.”

  “Yeah,” Quintan said absentmindedly as he flicked a bored glance at the wall-screen where the blurry first contact footage looped. “Let’s see for how long.”

  The blonde news anchor projected a new hologram into the background frame. It featured the former major general of the Fleet stroking his cotton beard as he prepared for an official announcement. Tavio felt like he was being warped back in time. He welcomed seeing the old man again, even though the life cycles hadn’t been kind to Jackstadt.

  “The Exo Protectorate of the Alliance Fleet Command is setting up a special task force to investigate the origin of the signal. We’re currently looking for adequate applicants with military space-faring experience.” The old man paused. “Veterans from the Colony War will be given preference in the application process.”

  Quintan grinned. His eyes flamed with passion.

  “Now that is a sign from the universe.”

  4

  Tavio and his brother applied for the special operation before they left the mess hall. Thanks to their credentials and war experience, they received an appointment only one hour later. The systems administration AI forwarded the official invitation to their personal area network servers.

  Two hours later, the brothers took the Hyperloop express ride to the recently set-up Exo Protectorate Division in Houston, Texas. Even Quintan marveled at the speed of progress. “Everyone’s drooling about life cycle enhancements, but let’s be realistic; administrative AI replacing human bureaucrats is arguably the best invention of the 22nd century. Damn office poopers sucked harder than Martian dunes.”

  Tavio nodded with half attention. He had activated the Liquid Lancer; a tactical, self-guide immersion for advanced human beings. The work was hailed as the primer of practical psychology and remained Tavio’s spiritual guardian.

  “Book creeper,” Quintan teased and wiped his nose.

  The transport capsule propelled the brothers through the accelerator rings of the semi-transparent tube at sonic speeds. The golden landscape of Texas flashed by the curved wall windows. Although Tavio couldn’t nail a comfortable position inside the capsule, Quintan leaned back and relaxed his legs. He seemed to ogle his brother with pure enjoyment. “Relax, we’re not facing military trial, Tav.”

  “But this is big, arguably bigger than anything we’ve
ever dealt with. We’re on the verge of discovering a life form which might be at least as smart as us.”

  “Meh. I’ve survived a combined arms assault and a Martian prison camp. Investigating some alien signal is holiday by comparison.”

  Tavio admired his brother’s serenity. Quintan still appeared cool after everything he had to witness during the war. Tavio shared the same appearance, he certainly didn’t share the same spirit. “What if we’re dealing with an alien presence that is beyond our grasp?”

  “Then we better get those new artillery cruisers ready for action.”

  “What if the life form is dimensions above our intellect but prefers peaceful interactions?”

  “Unlikely. Smart civilizations create the most vicious technology, even by accident. Just look at quantum computing and smart nuclear bombs.”

  “What if the sentient life form wants to co-create a new society with us? What will be the moral implications?”

  Quintan wiped his face. “Jeez, you sound like one of my rookies.” He couldn’t help but mimic his brother’s smile. “What if I smack some common sense into your brain cells?”

  Tavio quoted a line from the Liquid Lancer—“Violence should always be the last option of conflict resolution.”

  Quintan pretended to snore. “Real life happens outside dated self-help books, brother.”

  “The Liquid Lancer is the primer on practical psychology.”

  “Whatever.”

  Tavio glanced out the wall windows. The dusty Texan prairie dashed by like a sun-scorched wasteland. Far away on the highway, he noticed a convoy of black auto-rides roaring through the heat shimmer.

  “I wonder how long the application process will take.”

  “We’re war heroes,” Quintan said. “Any delay would be a disservice to veterans.”

  “We’re not the only ones.”

  “No,” Quintan said with a smirk, “but we’re certainly the best.”