Termination

Termination


Brilliantly hued golden eruptions bloomed over the surface, the scheduled bombardment decimating the planet. It was a tragic end that didn’t have to happen and, staring down upon it through the transparasteel in the relative comfort of the bridge, at least provided some emotional distance from the tragic carnage below. The rhythmic hum of capacitors powering up and subsequent blast made it seem almost choreographed, like a pyrotechnic performance, only this was too real, and just so devastating.

“Something troubling you, Yarik?” Govenor Leneto sensed my tension, approaching from behind.

“What?” I replied, at first pretending I hadn’t heard the question. Arms crossed, my unyielding gaze remained fixed on every explosion. A part of me felt I owed it to them not to look away. “Oh, it’s nothing.”

He strolled cooly to my side. “Do I sense a bit of regret?”

“Regret?” I pondered through a deep sigh. “Perhaps.”

“It had to be done.”

“I suppose.” I turned to him. “Was there truly no other way?”

“You know the danger they posed…the threat to the Coalition. We spent nearly ten millennia working toward peace, our people spread to every corner of the galaxy. You know that comes with a heavy price.”

I didn’t respond, only turning my attention back to the barrage.

A brief silence and he continued, “It’s definitely concerning that we’re finding more and more of these hives, some even uncatalogued. We’ve had to eradicate countless numbers of these swarms.”

“And it doesn’t trouble you that we were the cause?”

“I agree that it was an unmitigated mistake. We never should have tried to replace our synthetics…should never have played God.” Another pause. “You know, when we first released these things into the wild, their limited intelligence allowed them only rocks and sticks for tools. They were dumb and obedient. The perfect servants for our burgeoning civilization to move into a bigger future. Funny how a few unsupervised eons change things. We never should have left them.”

“We had no choice,” I reminded him. “The Omniphage nearly wiped us out. Our people are still recovering.” A heavy sigh and I next wondered, “This extermination…their level of societal development doesn’t concern you?”

“Oh, it really concerns me!” he scoffed. “As Governor for this sector, I for one know these sorts of pests only become a bigger threat if we don’t exterminate them immediately.”

“You mean cover things up.”

“Careful, Yarik, that almost sounds like treason,” Leneto smirked, then added, “Have you ever seen one up close?”

I hadn’t.

“The smell…it’s sickening. Their piercing eyes, their secretions, and those…those feelers…” he scowled. “Anyways, we’re doing ourselves and them a favor. They’re spread like a cancer, to every part of this world.”

“And the others?”

“Additional regrettable attempts to create lifeforms that never should have happened. I mean, experimental life-form 0169 actually infected thirty-seven other systems, even had the audacity to send a delegation to the Coalition, before they were eradicated.” He paused, then added, “We should have left well enough alone. Our synthetic automatons were more than enough.”

“And this species pays for our avarice,” I remarked.

“You make it sound so immoral. We were trying to take our species to the next level, trying to remove every physical toil in our society, not mention leave a legacy for the future, but the inherent fear in these creatures, their unquenchable thirst for violence, a need for victory at any price, all mixed with an ability to stay down when their hit…this was supposed to be our greatest achievement. Instead, our greatest regret. Thankfully, the program’s been permanently terminated.”

Suddenly, the bombardment stopped, and the bridge grew quiet.

“So, that’s it then,” I lamented.

“Looks like it.” Leneto turned to his bridge offers and asked, “Life signs?”

“Still too much interference from the bombardment, Governor. It will take some time to process the scans. Hold on, our sensors are detecting something on a primitive carrier band.” Accessing the virtual console, the officer continued, “It’s a transmission from the surface. Running it through the translator.”

“…to Earth. On behalf of our people we greet you in peace and look forward to meeting you in person. Welcome to Earth. On behalf of…” Leneto terminated the message immediately.

“Sounds like a recording,” I noted.

“Still, we can’t take that chance,” he said. “I want this site wiped clean. Continue the bombardment.”

Again, plasma cannons tore into the planet.