Nevertheless, I am still impressed.”
The woman smiled politely as she left to check on the next table of diners.
Vladimir leaned forward in order to be discreet and smiled. “I think I’m in love.”
“What, again?”
“Captain. Chief.” Josh addressed as he and Loki stepped up to the table, their dinner trays in hand. “Mind if we join you?”
“Not at all, gentlemen. Have a seat.”
“Thought you might like to know, we’ve got one shuttle all checked out and ready to go,” Josh told him as they sat down and prepared to eat. “And between the harvester and the other shuttle, we should have enough used parts to keep the remaining shuttle flying for some time as long as we don’t get shot at too much.”
“We’ll try to keep you out of the line of fire,” Nathan promised. He noticed a confused look on Vladimir’s face. “Didn’t I tell you?” he said to Vladimir. “I hired these guys to be the flight crew for the shuttle. This way, we won’t have to depend on strangers for rides.”
“And they are not strange?” Vladimir said.
“Well, he is,” Loki admitted, pointing at Josh.
Vladimir let out a chortle. “Listen, I’ve flown with you two. Trust me, you’re both insane.”
Both Josh and Loki watched the big Russian’s facial expression cautiously until they were sure he was kidding.
“Did you say that you can use parts from the harvester for the shuttle?” Nathan asked.
“Sure,” Josh answered, as if it were common knowledge.
“They’re both made by the same manufacturer,” Loki explained. “Many of the systems are identical.”
“Makes sense,” Nathan said as he scooped up the last of his stew.
“Captain,” Josh started. “I was wondering something.”
Nathan noticed that Josh looked a little apprehensive, as did Loki. “What is it?” he asked.
“No offense intended, but if this ship is from Earth, and we all originally came from Earth, why is that most of our technology is more advanced than yours?”
Nathan thought for a moment. “Well, you’ve all heard about the Legend of Origin, right?”
“Sure,” Josh said, looking at Loki who nodded as well.
“What does it tell you about what happened on Earth?”
“Just that there was some terrible evil that drove humanity deeper out into the galaxy .”
“Well, that’s a pretty vague description, but fairly accurate.”
“So, what really happened?”
“Well, it happened about a thousand years ago. At that time, there were five more worlds that had been colonized and fully developed. There were also about a dozen or so fringe worlds that had recently been settled. I guess you could say it was similar to the Pentaurus cluster, except a little more spread out, over about 100 light years, actually. But then there was a plague—the Great Bio-Digital Plague. That’s what we call it. This plague started as a computer virus that rapidly spread throughout the various networks on Earth and then eventually out to other worlds.”
“The terrible evil was a computer virus?” Josh asked. “How is a computer virus such a threat?”
“Back then, most people regularly used cybernetic implants to link their brains with computer systems. Through these implants, the digital virus would cause chemical reactions in the brain that would create a biological virus—a sort of super-cancer—that would rapidly reconfigure cells in the body and cause them to grow out of control. The result was rapid disfigurement, both internally and externally. It had a mortality rate of over ninety percent. And once it became biological, it was also contagious. To make matters worse, it constantly transformed itself, making it impossible to combat.”
“Damn,” Loki muttered. “Who would create such a thing?”
“No one ever found out,” Nathan told them. “Once the plague started spreading, everything rapidly fell apart. Economies crumbled. Infrastructure fell apart. Governments collapsed. People went crazy with fear, rioting,
The woman smiled politely as she left to check on the next table of diners.
Vladimir leaned forward in order to be discreet and smiled. “I think I’m in love.”
“What, again?”
“Captain. Chief.” Josh addressed as he and Loki stepped up to the table, their dinner trays in hand. “Mind if we join you?”
“Not at all, gentlemen. Have a seat.”
“Thought you might like to know, we’ve got one shuttle all checked out and ready to go,” Josh told him as they sat down and prepared to eat. “And between the harvester and the other shuttle, we should have enough used parts to keep the remaining shuttle flying for some time as long as we don’t get shot at too much.”
“We’ll try to keep you out of the line of fire,” Nathan promised. He noticed a confused look on Vladimir’s face. “Didn’t I tell you?” he said to Vladimir. “I hired these guys to be the flight crew for the shuttle. This way, we won’t have to depend on strangers for rides.”
“And they are not strange?” Vladimir said.
“Well, he is,” Loki admitted, pointing at Josh.
Vladimir let out a chortle. “Listen, I’ve flown with you two. Trust me, you’re both insane.”
Both Josh and Loki watched the big Russian’s facial expression cautiously until they were sure he was kidding.
“Did you say that you can use parts from the harvester for the shuttle?” Nathan asked.
“Sure,” Josh answered, as if it were common knowledge.
“They’re both made by the same manufacturer,” Loki explained. “Many of the systems are identical.”
“Makes sense,” Nathan said as he scooped up the last of his stew.
“Captain,” Josh started. “I was wondering something.”
Nathan noticed that Josh looked a little apprehensive, as did Loki. “What is it?” he asked.
“No offense intended, but if this ship is from Earth, and we all originally came from Earth, why is that most of our technology is more advanced than yours?”
Nathan thought for a moment. “Well, you’ve all heard about the Legend of Origin, right?”
“Sure,” Josh said, looking at Loki who nodded as well.
“What does it tell you about what happened on Earth?”
“Just that there was some terrible evil that drove humanity deeper out into the galaxy .”
“Well, that’s a pretty vague description, but fairly accurate.”
“So, what really happened?”
“Well, it happened about a thousand years ago. At that time, there were five more worlds that had been colonized and fully developed. There were also about a dozen or so fringe worlds that had recently been settled. I guess you could say it was similar to the Pentaurus cluster, except a little more spread out, over about 100 light years, actually. But then there was a plague—the Great Bio-Digital Plague. That’s what we call it. This plague started as a computer virus that rapidly spread throughout the various networks on Earth and then eventually out to other worlds.”
“The terrible evil was a computer virus?” Josh asked. “How is a computer virus such a threat?”
“Back then, most people regularly used cybernetic implants to link their brains with computer systems. Through these implants, the digital virus would cause chemical reactions in the brain that would create a biological virus—a sort of super-cancer—that would rapidly reconfigure cells in the body and cause them to grow out of control. The result was rapid disfigurement, both internally and externally. It had a mortality rate of over ninety percent. And once it became biological, it was also contagious. To make matters worse, it constantly transformed itself, making it impossible to combat.”
“Damn,” Loki muttered. “Who would create such a thing?”
“No one ever found out,” Nathan told them. “Once the plague started spreading, everything rapidly fell apart. Economies crumbled. Infrastructure fell apart. Governments collapsed. People went crazy with fear, rioting,
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