Genisys (Sci-Fi short story)

Act 3: Endgame

"What do you mean, we lost them?", Hendricks shouted in disbelief.

"With that I mean they're gone", the Agent replied calmly, "The whole team. The terrorists killed the men in charge of watching their homes, probably sedated the scientists while they were asleep, to make sure they didn't wake up too soon, and then carried them away. We haven't been able to track them down."

"Dammit!", Hendricks shouted and slammed his fist against the metal table. Rushing into the lab hadn't done anything good, as it seamed. Somehow, the terrorists had found out all of it. Maybe the head of the team, Steve Collins, had sent them a mail telling about what had happened and demanding an explanation. Or they had been watched the whole time. It didn't matter, though. They were gone, and that was truly all that mattered. Now, the FBI would have to find them... but how?

"I need some time to think", Hendricks said, more to himself than to the others.

***

The first days seemed to have practised yoga for a few years: They stretched longer than Collins would have ever thought possible. He fell asleep late and woke up early, trying to decide if he had made the right choice. His team or possibly the lives of millions of innocent people he didn't even know? He hated himself for the decision he had ultimately made, but he just couldn't watch the people he most cared about being murdered.

They dedicated the whole day to the project they were being forced to carry out. And to Collins' anger, they were getting close. Every evening, Bryce Hamil demanded a full report on the progresses of the day. And Collins wasn't in the position to refuse to do it.

Since he had decided to cooperate, they allowed him to sleep in the same quarters as the rest of his crew. Their new room couldn't be described as a cell. It was quite comfortable. All the time, Collins asked himself where he might be, but there were no windows in the whole facility that could give him a clue about that.

Finally, the day arrived they finished the task, two weeks after their kidnapping. They inserted the data in the program, and for the first time, the word "SUCCESS"appeared on the screen. Usually, cheers would have erupted in the room, followed by mutual hugs from almost everyone. But today, uncomfortable silence filled the room as everyone stared at the screen. "So... we did it", Simmons muttered with gritted teeth. Collins nodded silently. Their duty was done. What would happen now?

***

"I thank you all for your services", Bryce Hamil proudly stated a few minutes later, "Now that your duty ist complete, I assume you are worried that we break our agreement and kill you all. I can assure you, you don't need to fear such thing. You shall remain our captives, until the war is over and you can step out onto the new, peaceful world."

"What exactly are you planning to do?", Collins asked before he could hold himself back. It was a stupid question, Hamil was never going to answer it. But to everyone's surprise, he sighed: "I suppose you have the right to know, after all you've been through. You need to know that the leaders of the prime nations are going to meet with the whole crew of the Glyph starships to make a public announcement, trying to establish peace between the races. Many Glyph will be present, but only few humans, as the leaders don't want the aliens to feel menaced by them. That is the perfect occasion for a strike. We will drop a massive bomb that will most likely annihilate any Glyph in the meeting. However, to convince the aliens that the whole of humanity is responsible for that attack, and not just a terrorist group, we'll have to make sure no human dies. We need the teleporters for that. Our people will hide them in every single human who enters the meeting, without them noticing, of course. Then, shortly before the bomb goes off, everyone will be transported out there safely... except for the Glyph. Of course, the human race will be blamed for the attack, and a war will start" The revelation took Collins's breath. How could someone want to do something so terrifying? "Why?", he whispered. Hamil looked at him as if Collins were a small child who couldn't understand the way the world ticked. "Humanity is on the verge of extinguishing itself in a nuclear war", Hamil explained, "And there is only one way humanity could unite and forget about its differences"