Currents of the Future - part 4
by Torpor

The quiet, monotonous, ever-present sound of a ticking clock echoed in a sterile, white room on the far side of the galaxy, in another time.

Karn looked down at the computer printout for the fourth time. He silently mouthed the calculations over and over.

He rubbed his rubbery hands across his gray, wrinkled head, scratching at the back ever so lightly.

He checked the figures again. And again.

Impossible.

After so many years, had he finally found the answer?

Echoing footsteps paralleled the beating of the clock, slowly rising in volume until they overpowered the small wooden device.

It was not until Karn felt the hand on his shoulder that he turned to face the incoming stranger.

"Yer, it's you," the scientist said, in a deep, solemn voice

Yer looked down at the printout as he spoke. "My old friend, Karn, The Group wants all scientific minds to come to an emergency meeting. You must come."

Karn looked at him fiercely, narrowing his eyes. "I must do nothing. My research is far more important than anything they could want."

Yer shook his head. "They're ordering it. You have no choice."

Karn smiled. "We always have a choice my friend. Nothing is inevitable. Or do you really believe I would have spent my life's work trying to cheat the one force in the universe that all others accept as inevitable?"

Yer nodded with compassion. "I understand your feelings. True, I don't like the new leadership much more than you do. We grow closer and closer to totalitarianism every day! But for you to take a stand over a simple meeting is too much! You know, in the time that you've spent trying to extend your life, you could have had a life filled with a wife, children -"

Karn broke in, "We've had this discussion a thousand times before. But this time I'm on the threshold!"

As he spoke, the scientist stared intently at the wooden pendulum still ever ticking forward. "This is no pipe dream, made up by some charlatan who seeks to pull money from the clutches of the elderly. This is the work of a true scientist, a pure genius who will soon see his dreams come to fruition! Out of all the close-minded thinkers on this world, I would have thought that you could understand me."

Yer sighed. "I can see there's little point in convincing you, as always. But I warn you, bad times are in our future. You should be mindful."

Karn laughed deeply. "My friend, Yer, I am always mindful of the future."

Yer cocked his head slightly at the strange grin coming across his friend's face. He turned around and marched out of the room, stopping only once to make sure his friend was not following.

As the footsteps faded down the hallway, Karn looked back down at the printout.

" ‘Friend,' I call him," he said. "Yet, to me he will soon be nothing more than drop of water along the cosmic stream, floating away as I stand still. I thought for a moment that he could share in my glorious discovery, but I should have realized that only my vastly superior mind could be prepared to even conceive of such a notion."

Karn walked to a nearby wall, pressing a button in the center of the two hands of the clock.

The clock rotated away, and the wall split in two, opening to reveal a closet dominated by one feature: A suit of glistening purple metal, covered with diodes, buttons and radiating power.

Karn pulled open a panel on one of the breastplates and began entering in numbers.

"They say tomorrow never comes, but for me it does!" he said, laughing to himself.

The laughter echoed far down the hallway, just reaching his friend's ears.

Yer looked down the hallway for a moment and sighed again, then returned to his former course.

On a planet called Earth

"The Dominion?" Atrid repeated.

The old man nodded again. "I'm not sure why you keep making me repeat myself. That's a Dominion warship if I ever saw one."

Atrid recollected himself. "Sorry, it's just that I can't understand why they'd come back. I mean ... " he trailed off.

Trevor put his hand on the younger soldier's shoulder. "You've got mixed feelings, just like I do. The Dominion were once our fiercest enemy. They nearly decimated the planet. But they're also the only force in the universe that might stand a chance of stopping the Microwave robots."

Atrid glanced unconsciously into the other room where a young girl warmed her hands in front of a thermal unit. He quickly stared back at Trevor, unsure of whether the other man had caught the wayward glance.

"Not the only thing," Atrid said. "The point is that the whole reason the Microwave units were built in the first place was to drive the Dominion off the planet. I doubt they'd stand much of a chance invading now that the Microwave units control the planet."

Trevor looked back down at the readout. "Who says they're invading? This is just one ship. And it's nearby in the mountains, an area the robots are known to avoid. Perhaps they're on a scouting mission."

Atrid smiled slightly. "Or possibly even communicating with us."

Trevor shook his head. "I doubt it. The only thing the Dominion have ever known is conquest."

Atrid paced around the room for a minute before responding. "Either way, we have no choice."

Trevor laughed out loud. "What, you want to try to take on a Dominion landing party? I'd rather take my chances with the Microwave robots!"

Atrid glared at him. "You could have your chance. This makes it even more critical for me to get access to the Link."

He went back over to the computer and pressed the large power button on the mainframe, underneath the desk. A low humming grew louder as ancient fans whirled to life.

After waiting several impatient minutes for the system to boot, Atrid began clicking on the finger pads with blinding speed. The clacks of the keys and the bleeps of the pad buttons were the only sounds in the room for several minutes.

A low beeping noise began wailing from the computer.

"I told you," Trevor said, "You'll never get a signal."

Atrid ignored the elder man. He reached into his jumpsuit, and pulled out a small metallic device. He clamped the boxlike contraption onto the fiber cables in back of the mainframe.

The beeping stopped, and a musical tone replaced it for a few seconds, followed by silence.

"We're in," Atrid gloated, smiling at Trevor with a knowing look.

He typed some more, pressed some command keys, and "Humph"-ed in interest.

"What is it?" asked Travis.

"Well, we might be able to go fishing for more than just Dominion." He cocked up one eyebrow and grinned.

Microwave Unit number 4539 was inching forward, using its one good arm to pull itself along the ground. The internal repair circuitry was slowly reconnecting damaged pathways, welding together minor patches in cooling ducts, but the overall damage to the outer shell was far beyond any minor repair.

Microwave stopped for a moment, allowing its energy batteries to recharge for a moment. It also took time to reflect on its current situation.

>Primary objective: Destroy human infestations.
>Current Mission: Priority Code 2: locate human soldier in this area.
>Analysis of current mission: 78 percent chance that target human is responsible for trap that destroyed Microwave Unit 4541 and damaged self.
>Priorities: Continue to search for target; secondary: continue self-repairs.
>Query: Human able to cause severe damage to self, yet in relation to skill set programmed into Microwave unit, human is still highly inferior. Self still does not understand need for urgency.

The robot pushed both arms down, and was able to prop itself back on its knees. After a few wobbly moments, the android was able to stand back up on both legs.

It slowly began walking back towards its previous destination.

>Regardless, Self must follow programming. Self must destroy human at all costs.

To be continued...