Mako Rising - Ch. 1 Part 5

“Why am I coming with you again?” Liam asked as he glanced around the heavily guarded space station corridor. They were in orbit around Dartmax where the bio-weapons had been developed and subsequently escaped.

“General Siderus told me that Doctor Monroe is not much of a people person,” Markov explained.

“You warned the crew about that already, but I’m probably just as bad if not worse than this Selandra woman!” Liam had to step lively to avoid being run over by a jogging soldier.

Markov chuckled. “I know, and that’s exactly why you’re here. I think the two of you will get along swimmingly.”

Captain Markov led him into a sterile white laboratory occupied by a single woman in a long lab coat. She was of average height, had her blonde hair pulled back, and her green eyes were hidden behind safety goggles. Doctor Monroe was bent over a microscope, meaning even her bulky lab coat could not conceal the fact that she had a delightfully curvy backside. Markov nudged Liam with his elbow when he caught him staring.

“What?” Liam whispered. Markov just shook his head.

“Captain Markov, I presume,” Selandra said without looking up from her microscope. “The rest of the staff has learned not to enter except by appointment.”

“That’s correct, Doctor Monroe,” the captain answered. “What can you tell us about the situation?”

“Straight to business, perhaps you won’t be a complete waste of time after all. Siderus spoke very highly of you, which is rare for him.” She finally stood and turned to get a look at them. She nodded towards Liam. “A member of your crew?”

“Doctor Liam Lafayette.” Liam inclined his head politely.

“My first officer aboard the Mako Rising. He also served with General Siderus in the AI Wars,” Markov said.

“A reunion, then. Lovely. Well, McDonalds-Wal*Mart made a royal mess out of Dartmax, as you know from the briefing documents. Unfortunately, what is being kept secret is much, much worse.”

“Worse than an escaped bio-weapon that forced the evacuation of an entire planet and killed thousands?” Liam asked skeptically.

“It’s not just a bio-weapon,” Selandra said tersely. “I should know, I helped create it. It’s a plant-based organism designed to seek out and destroy technology, particularly metal. It was developed at the end of the AI Wars as a potential solution should Siderus fail. Obviously he did not and the plants proved unnecessary.”

“But you didn’t destroy them,” Markov observed.

“Of course not! This is a new species! The scientific knowledge we’ve gained from study alone has been invaluable! Besides, what if the AI were to return? The research still exists to recreate them, multiple corporations are known to possess it, so the plants were kept should they become necessary once more.”

“Very well,” Markov allowed grumpily. “Continue.”

“The entire reason Siderus called you and not one of his military flunkies is because of the very confidential information I’m about to share with you. You alone he said he trusted to handle this while he makes preparations for the worst,” Doctor Monroe said ominously.

“Out with it!” Markov growled.

“The plants are sentient.”

*

The crew was gathered around the Mako’s mess room table to hear the news Selandra had for them. They were taking it about as well as Markov had feared.

“You sneaky, sciency bitch!” Ursula shouted. “This is what they do! They poke and they prod until this!” She held out her hands and created a ball of electricity in each palm.

Qadira put a calming hand on Ursula’s shoulder. “Just how sentient are we talking here? Kindergarteners? Teenagers? Wilson after a bottle and a half?”

Doctor Monroe rolled her green eyes at Qadira. “Little girl, don’t ask technical questions that you cannot hope to understand the answers to.”

“Hey! What was that about me?” Wilson lurched to his feet, finally realizing he’d been insulted, but Liam pushed him back down into his seat.

“Little girl?” Qadira asked icily. “Honey, you look like you’re barely in your forties! That means at twenty-three I’m hardly a little girl!”

Markov saw Selandra’s nostrils flare angrily. He knew from General Siderus’ files that she was only twenty-eight. He also knew that Qadira was deliberately lashing out at their newest crew member after Selandra’s snide remark.

“Enough,” Captain Markov cut in. “You two can argue on your own time. How smart are these plants? Dumb it down for us, Doctor Monroe.”

Selandra clenched her teeth irritably. “The plants do not experience life the same way we do. They grow incredibly fast for flora, but that is still a glacial pace compared to how fast animals move about. Initially we had no idea they capable of thinking or feeling.”

“Typical mad scientist bullshit,” Ursula muttered.

Doctor Monroe ignored Ursula’s comment. “It wasn’t until we observed them appearing to utilize strategy to destroy the machines we pitted them against that we – I, really, since none of my colleagues believed me – began to suspect they were more than just mutated blackberry bushes. We had created them to seek out technology and digest it into sustenance, we never dreamed that the primary instinct we instilled in them would evolve and manifest into a nearly religious worldview about maintaining a natural balance in the universe. During our first conversations with them, the plants explained at length how they believed machines to be the root of all evil.”

“Wait, you can talk to them?” Liam asked.

“Of course. Once I noticed their development of strategy, I isolated those root clusters that showed the most promise and bred them extensively, providing a generous helping of genetic modification along the way, of course. You see, my early sentient plants were much, much more effective in combat tests than their regular counterparts. As such, I was given free rein to enhance them to their fullest potential,” Selandra explained.

Ursula popped her knuckles savagely at the mention of “potential.” Markov put a hand on her shoulder to let her know it would not be appropriate to kill Doctor Monroe just for using the same language as the men and machines that had experimented on her. She relaxed, at least as much as Ursula ever relaxes in the company of a scientist.

“And then they escaped and killed thousands?” Qadira asked snarkily.

Selandra glared at her. “Eventually, yes. But that was after I left the project. McDonalds-Wal*Mart disliked the fact that I created a communication device for the plants. Well, device isn’t really the word. I modified a species of parrot that the plants can use as a mouthpiece via a rather grisly process.”

Qadira arched an eyebrow. “You think the process is grisly. You?”

“I admit, it was not my proudest moment, but it was the only way I could find to communicate with the plants without subjecting a human to the process. Regardless, the higher-ups in the corporation didn’t like the idea of their weapons talking back or thinking for themselves so after all of my incredible results I was fired. I have no idea what happened after that, but within two months the incident occurred that led to the plants’ complete overrunning of Dartmax. Captain Markov likely has more details on the incident, as the plants’ creator I am viewed somewhat suspiciously by the military commander of this operation.”

“The plants started attacking the labs they were held in,” Markov told them. “They were designed to overwhelm any kind of technology that might be used against them, so it was quicker than you’d think. Fire, cold, explosives, everything they did on Dartmax only drove the plants deeper into the ground where their roots could spread further and pop up in a completely new area. There are varieties that spew acid, strangle people in their sleep like a python, and some are giant Venus flytraps. All of them have thorns and are difficult if not impossible to kill.”

“So what’s our first move?” Qadira asked.

“We go down and have a chat.”