‘Voidspawn’ (sci-fi story) Ch. 1

Posted on May 12, 2015 Updated on May 12, 2015

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Chapter 1
Calynn felt exhilarated for the first time in months as she raced over the arboreal landscape, running and leaping with uncanny swiftness through flowering forests and across open meadows. It was not because she was breaking any particular rule or regulation that she was so enthralled; she was well within her duties taking the agility-enhancing RECON suit out for a trial run. It was not because no one knew where she was – if Stahl and the others had truly wanted to find her, they could easily have followed either her personal transponder signal or the suit’s in-built geobeacon. It was not even because she was not entirely certain of the functionality of the suit’s safety limiters, which prevented the form-fitting armor’s prehensile carbon nano-structure from crushing the operator’s bones during a strenuous task such as running and leaping at preternatural speed through the wilderness.

She felt exhilarated merely to be out of sterile labs and climate-controlled observatories. Much as she enjoyed her profession, the past few months on this remote world had taken a mental toll. The wanderlust instinct that had led her down a long path to the eventual rank of First Explorer had screamed at Calynn for weeks, aching to be out among the plains, forests, and caves of their temporary home. The planet, recently christened Septa Upsilon III, practically begged to have its utmost mysteries plumbed. Who knew what unknown ruins or long-forgotten secrets might await them on this uncharted world, if only they would go seeking?

Their orders had been explicitly to the contrary, of course. Her team’s task, given by Aethernet upon reporting the recent discovery of this bountiful world, had been to establish a base camp and secure it, remaining on site and busying themselves with maintenance tasks until such time as the first excavation crews arrived. The miners would then take it from there, and Calynn’s party of explorers would be free to depart, to find other virgin worlds ripe for the taking, while Septa Upsilon III was most likely stripped bare and plundered of all its ample natural resources by the massive excavation engines.
Such was the way of the Ma’li. Calynn tried with middling success not to think of herself as a complacent participant in the continuing operation of a vast engine of war.

No doubt when the excavation crews arrived, the planet’s pristine beauty would not go unmarred for long, but by then she would be long gone and on the search for new and uncharted worlds. She was merely an explorer, a pioneer. When the famous explorer Marcus of Polara had a century before discovered the mineral-rich Acquilon star system, had he at that moment become responsible for the genocide that would later fall upon the semi-sentient race of beings that had dwelt there, when they refused the ungenerous terms offered to them by the covetous Ma’li Federation? Calynn did not believe so, and she did not believe that she was in any tangible way responsible for the plunder of any of the worlds she and her team had discovered on their voyages. After all, she considered, someone else would have discovered all of those planets if not for her.

Tearing herself from her ruminations on the matter, the explorer nearly took a fatal stumble. An upthrust column of natural stone veered suddenly in her path as she sped through the wilderness. Reflexively, she vaulted over it, limbs pedaling in a great leap as she soared precipitously over the obstacle. In her haste, she had misjudged and jumped too far, the powered weave of the RECON suit passively enhancing her speed and stamina far in excess of their norms. She covered her bare face with her arms as she hurtled through a hanging curtain of vegetation and emerged with a burst of scattered foliage into the air, to be enraptured by the resplendent sweep of scenery that lay suddenly all about her.

The rushing wind in her face was almost as intoxicating as the view. The gorgeous forestscape rolled in the gentle wind below her as she hung in the air for a glorious moment. The local sun cast the warming rays of its golden light onto the sweeping emerald hills in a dazzling display of natural splendor. Calynn almost didn’t realize that she was now beginning to plummet, having reached the apex of the mechanically enhanced leap which she suddenly realized had carried her over the edge of a precipitous drop in the terrain.

Calynn’s stomach leapt into her throat as gravity took hold. The wind rushing past her took on a vertical affect, and her heart began to pound in her chest as she was gripped by instinctive fear. In the reckless haste of her monotony-breaking expedition, she had bounded right over the edge of a tall cliff. Her panicked senses returned to her just in time, as the rapidly approaching trees below began to grow much too large for her liking. Throwing her arms wide to catch the wind, Calynn hurriedly issued a mental command to her suit. The flexible weave writhed against her skin with a familiar ticklish sensation that ran down both her arms.

Fighting against the wind that rushed deafeningly past her, Calynn brought her hands together in a practiced gesture and smote the air before her with open palms. There was a clap like thunder that echoed for miles across the valley. As if the motion had suddenly opened some massive and unseen pressure valve, a furious column of white fog shot forth from her outstretched hands like a streaking comet, an icy mass of super-compressed air almost solid in its roiling density. The great wave of pressure rapidly broke the velocity of her fall, crushing the lush vegetation some distance below into a fine pulp even as it was frozen solid by the frigid air released from the RECON suit’s ultra-high pressure microstorage tanks.

Even over the wind, the explorer heard the high-pitched whine of overtaxed micro-machinery as the tanks began to run dry, the nanocompressors continuing to hurl forth torrents of air like the breath of some frigid god. Heart pounding her chest, Calynn rode the wave of buffeting winds to the snow-covered ground in a successful execution of the suit’s relatively untested ‘fall mitigation system’.

This was but one configuration of the versatile nanites which comprised the suit’s intelligent fabric. This particular utility had proved useful enough to merit the great demands of energy required for its operation, and the unfortunate side effect of drastic local temperature change. Given enough resources, the suit could have been equipped – programmed – with any conceivable mechanical utility. The infinitesimally small, yet intelligent machines which made up the fabric could with the proper instruction combine to emulate almost any machine, even while remaining too small to be seen by the unaided eye. Calynn knew as much, of course. She, after all, had programmed this particular suit more or less from scratch.

The explorer had little time to reflect on the success of her designs, as she was still travelling at an appreciable speed both horizontally and vertically when she impacted the ground shortly thereafter. As intended, the suit absorbed much of the remaining shock as she tucked into a somersault. Calynn rolled along the ground for some distance, the reactive fabric stiffening, softening, and rearranging itself as needed to absorb and redistribute the successive impacts. When she finally came to a halt among a bracken of flattened shrubbery, a thick mist steaming from the joints of her suit, she was flat on her back and panting desperately for breath. What at first were choking, breathless gasps of panic soon became gales of relieved laughter as Calynn realized that she was, but for some superficial bruising, completely unharmed.

“Pad,” She said through panting breaths, a grin of exhilaration and relief upon her face, “Take note: Rapid Exploration Cognito-Organic Nanoweave suit, field test three completed. Results: exemplary. Possible future modifications include improved shock absorption systems… ” Only then did she realize her constant companion was not with her. Looking around in the still-dissipating fog of her landing, she did not see Pad. Her brow furrowed in worry. Had some local predator mistaken the little guy for a snack?

It hardly seemed likely, given the mundanity of the local wildlife – a fact which Calynn had noticed with some disappointment, being herself an avid xenozoologist and eager to discover unknown and unseen forms of life among the galactic rim. Second Explorer Stahl had been quick to point out to her that any lack of distinguishing animal life was, in his considered opinion, more than made up for by the veritable cornucopia of fascinating flora to be found in the whispering depths of the leafy oceans with which their temporary home was awash.

He had not put it in so many words, of course. In reality her assistant slash team security officer had merely commented in characteristic brevity that the local plants were nice, as the two of them had stood together gazing out over the verdant landscape from the roof of the modular habitation complex that served as their home base. As a private joke at her laconic Second’s unknowing expense, Calynn amused herself by verbosely paraphrasing simple statements Stahl had made. Most often it was in her own thoughts, but sometimes with dry amusement she even misquoted her subordinate to other members of their team – even on one occasion in a report to their superiors. That Stahl, if made aware of the fact, would have been more than passingly annoyed made it all the more terribly amusing.

Some people said that Calynn had a strange sense of humor.

However verbosely it was put, Calynn did not share the deep appreciation for flora that she had projected onto Second Explorer Stahl. Here there were none of the strange and often deadly megafauna that could sometimes be found in the uncivilized detritus of frontier star systems that littered the galaxy’s edge. Not that she wanted to encounter such creatures, persay. She merely, after countless mundane discoveries, had no more scientific interest for such prosaic creatures as could be found on any number of planets throughout known space. Septa Upsilon III practically typified what the Ma’li reverently referred to as The Great Plan, at the mention of which Calynn often had to fight an irresistible urge to roll her eyes.

Whatever one called it or however one explained it, the idea was fairly simple and undeniable. There had been found time and time again to be a number of unexplainable biological similarities that seemed to pervade across all of space. Evolution – if one believed in such a thing – seemed to have walked much the same paths throughout much of creation. This was not without a significant amount of exception, yet it was taken as a general rule throughout known civilization. She had yet to see an unfamiliar form on this world; there were antlered and hoofed cervids, twitch-nosed lagomorphs with long ears, even pad-footed vulpids darting among twisting eaves of the gnarled forests.

Even the trees, despite their varying appearance and composition, were among the most common form of life in the known universe. In the sparkling rivers that rolled across the grassy plains, she had seen armored crustaceans, and shimmer-scaled swimmers which were more or less fish – and which would some time later prove to be quite edible. In overall shape, function, and even composition, they were essentially the same creatures she had found on a dozen other newly discovered planets. Boring.

The fact of these uncanny universal biological similarities was undeniable, especially to one as well-travelled and learned as Calynn. Where her opinion differed considerably, however, from the Ma’li was where her government’s official view ascribed a religious aspect to this phenomenon, forming part of the foundation for the state-enforced Ma’li dogma to which all upstanding citizens ascribed, albeit in many cases under an unspoken threat.

Dogma or no, Calynn ached for a new and exciting discovery, some beast or even plant that she had not seen a dozen variations of on her travels. Her companions back at the habitation dome were glad for the opportunity to kick their feet up with some light duty in these hospitable climes. Most of them, she knew, were here because it was a well-paying job, in its way, and in some cases because they had been drummed out of more lucrative scientific pursuits in favor of the undemanding solitude of the galactic prospector’s lot. Consequently most of them executed their duties only to the letter, with little encouragement or desire to do otherwise.

This was with the notable exception of her direct subordinate, whom some time ago Calynn had affectionately nick-named Stalwart Stahl, and who was determined, as she had put it, ‘to ruin everyone’s fun as always’. She’d quickly countermanded the Second Explorer’s plan to implement a series of drills and training exercises to keep up the team’s fitness during their sojourn. Calynn cared little what her team did while they awaited the excavation teams, but more than that she disliked Stahl’s presumption in commanding her team. They were scientists, she’d informed him in no friendly tones, not soldiers, and they would not be ordered about like grunts entering boot camp.

As for herself, she was more than happy to take on extra duties, lest the suffocating pall of boredom settle over her like a lead blanket. Under the guise of such a duty, she had come miles now into the wilderness, and taken a tumble that had been perhaps a bit too close for comfort. She would likely have some explaining to do upon her return. She hoped that said explanations would not include how she’d manage to lose Pad in the rugged forests.

Her thoughts were interrupted and her fears alleviated as a small silvery shape dropped over the edge of the cliff far above, slowing to a controlled fall as it rapidly approached the ground with far more finesse than she had demonstrated only moments before.

The Personal Assistance Drone alighted a few feet above her, hovering gently. It was less than a foot in diameter, an orb of smooth metal which freely levitated without any apparent mode of propulsion. Calynn, of course, was aware of the internally-mounted motive system that the drone was equipped with, having performed the installation herself. Only upon its sudden return did she realize that she had missed the reassuring hum of the drone’s repulsors.

“Explorer,” addressed the unwaveringly stoic synthetic voice of the drone. “Do you require medical assistance?” She laughed breathlessly at its droll tone as it addressed her. The small hovering robot was not truly sentient, being equipped with a fairly cheap neural processor unit, but after so many months of constant companionship, she could not help but project personality onto the endearing little drone. “Diagnosis,” the drone announced. “Explorer One is delirious and possibly concussed,” it continued, ignoring Calynn’s grin. “Will depart to seek out assistance unless response within fifteen seconds,” The drone hovered before her, floating gently up and down on drifting remnants of the fog of the explorer’s landing.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” She told Pad, standing up and dusting herself off. “Acknowledged,” responded the drone dryly.

“As is your deep concern for my wellbeing,” the explorer shot back.

“Acknowledged,” repeated Pad. Calynn smiled wryly at the expected response, noting a few scrapes on the smooth black outer surface of her formfitting suit as she examined it.

“Can’t say how the suit fared, though,” she said ponderously, straining her neck to check the backside of the armor. “Pad, perform system diagnostic on RECON suit,” Calynn commanded, holding her arms out from her sides.

The drone immediately complied, interrupting its casual survey of their surroundings to come and circle around her. “Scanning,” it droned. Red streamers of holographic light played out from the small glassy eye on the front of the robot’s otherwise smooth outer skin. Though she could not see it, Calynn knew that there was also a rapid exchange of information occurring wirelessly between the drone and the powerful micro-computing modules distributed amongst the weave of the suit.

After a few moments, the red lights of Pad’s scanners died away, and the drone hovered in front of her face once more. “Diagnostics complete. Minimal damage sustained to microstructure. Maintenance operations suggested at earliest convenience, but suit is operational at 90% capacity,”
Calynn nodded. “What would I do without you?” she asked sweetly. Pad did not respond, intelligent enough to recognize a rhetorical question, if not a sarcastic one.

The drone began scanning their environment for potential dangers or discoveries, as she had programmed it to do in idle moments. Calynn liked to think of it as Pad’s inquisitive nature. She too regarded their surroundings, not entirely certain and not entirely caring just yet where they were. The sky was a pleasing shade of bluish-green, and the amber disk of the local star was still far above the lazily advancing horizon. Here the days were something like forty standard hours long, she recalled, and this one was not yet halfway over.

“Pad,” she began, eliciting a glance from the hovering drone. “Follow me, scanners active,” she commanded unnecessarily, well aware the drone had been specifically programmed to do just that more or less at all times. She smiled as Pad complied in what she decided was moody silence, following her lead as she trundled on into the thick forest.