Europa (Deadverse Book 1) Read Free Page B

Europa was a master or expert in his or her field.
    Everyone except Glorin Ignacius the Third. He was the mission’s xeno expert. Charles laughed at the thought. That someone could be an expert on aliens was of course, impossible, seeing as humans had yet to meet aliens. Still, the exceedingly wealthy man had managed to get his way on to the mission. Everyone knew he was just a tourist here. Everyone also knew and understood that his money, his vast billions, had helped fund the mission. They wanted him to be a kook or a weirdo, but he was really just a different kind of person.
    “Yeah, she’s down there now,” Ben replied. He rolled his chair over to one of the myriad of panels. Touching the panel brought it to life.
    “Extra O2 is pumping in now into the secondary ballasts. CO2 scrubbers are online but we probably won’t need them. The green dome really does its job well.”
    “Well, then I guess it is time to wake the boys up.” Charles stood up and walked next to Ben. He tapped on the same panel and brought up a secondary screen. Twenty entries on the screen were blinking yellow. Charles tapped on each one individually, and each entry turned from yellow to blinking green. Next to each entry, a forty eight hour countdown began.
    “Everyone is prepped right?” Charles asked.
    “Yeah, everyone is ready. Still…” Ben stopped.
    “Me too, my friend.” Charles sat back down on his chair. Ben rolled his chair back over.
    “Don’t they disturb you at all? Not even a little?” Ben asked.
    “They disturb me a lot. But, I don’t get paid to care. Drone soldiers are part of the military now.”
    “Well, I guess it’s better than androids.”
    Charles quickly turned away.
    “Wait, I know that look. Or rather, I know that lack of a look,” Ben was ever suspicious. “What do you know?”
    “Between you and me, right?” Charles looked around. The rest of the crew, those that were there, were too busy with ice cream and laughter to hear them. Ben nodded in agreement.
    “I received a briefing about six months ago. I’d have to look it up again. Anyways, in the report was a section that detailed the construction of a fully android army based on updated drone soldier schematics.”
    Ben let out a stifled shout as he pushed his chair away. “Still run by human handlers right?”
    Charles hesitated.
    “Oh no,” Ben’s shoulders slumped.
    “Hubbed AI.”
    “I told you…” Ben began.
    “Just relax. It was just a matter of time. Even drones are lives. With androids we don’t have to waste any more lives.”
    “Yeah, up until the point that they waste all of our lives,” Ben spat.
    Charles nodded. He agreed with his friend, but it was his job. He just hated keeping secrets from his friend. He hated keeping secrets from everyone, but morale was of the utmost importance. These secrets made him nervous, but for now, he would have to deal with them. Besides, they were 365 million miles away.
    He was 365 million miles away from his wife.
     

- Roberto -
    “Ok, start pumping it now.”
    “All right, coming through now, Bobby. Check the readings down there.”
    Roberto Palmeira, or Bobby, was a research analyst for NASA. He had come on the mission to study the frozen moon, look for life, and run hundreds of experiments on the surface of the moon. He had also been hastily trained to be an AI handler for the drone soldiers. It had been a grueling three day course and he felt overwhelmingly unprepared for it. And now, the day had come.
    Drone soldiers. Cyborgs, mechies, and wires were just some of their common names. Bobby had very nearly signed up to be one, fifteen years ago. Fresh out of high school, the Brazilian emigrant didn’t see a future ahead of him. There were always wars and conflicts around the globe though. Thankfully, a scholarship had come through at the very last moment and his life had taken a completely different course. He wasn’t locked up in one of those cybernetic suits.
    Drone soldiers.