The Silence of Zegandaria by Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov (book recommendations website txt) 📕

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: FRATRICIDE

The closer the clones were in a series, the greater the likelihood of complications, and this was only too well known. It wasn't unheard of for excesses to occur, which in the past had been quelled with particular ferocity, especially those that occurred in Earth's training corps.

It would not be incorrect to say that the second part of the Clones' tragedy was fratricidal hatred - like Cain and Abel in the Bible.

The fratricidal hatred between them had a deep mystical root. The fratricidal hatred between the clones had a deep biological root. But the end result was the same.

When Hermonal Bivors set out to create his clones, he saw huge potential for it - the solar system needed new manpower, the colonies needed fresh blood, and Earth's population was aging. Things took a drastic turn after the year 2100, and the current year 293545 was definitely extremely interesting. Clone production had reached its apogee.

When they stole the liaison ship, they knew that the Intergalactic Police based on Phobos, one of Mars' moons, might sniff out their desperate escape attempt. This satellite was named after the ancient Greek god of war, Phobos. The interesting thing about Phobos was that it rotated synchronously and always faced the same side towards Mars. Its low albedo[1] also made any forces located on its surface difficult to see.

Something clicked in GH307's head as he stepped out into open space - he couldn't accept that he was going to be rescued just like that without some afterthought by two almost complete strangers.

GH306 was the only one who could expertly fly an aircraft. He had even decided that the flight to Mars was a direct dispatch to the Inquisitor General, who had taken it upon himself to deal with anyone who had allowed a criminal thought.

The clone began to feel mixed feelings - on the one hand he was obliged to express his gratitude to his liberators, and on the other he was perhaps being led to certain doom.

He didn't believe he would be released so easily, given that he had broken the rules of the Lunar Colony, was responsible for stealing its property, and had previously been extradited to the Moon for the murder of his commander, who was also a clone.

There had to be some other way to solve the problem. Maybe somewhere out there awaited them, deliverance or doom.

GH306 could also guess at the thoughts that were going through his mate's head, and he could also foresee how hard it was for him to trust them despite their huge contribution to his rescue.

When they approached Mars, the Intergalactic Police did make a sign to them by emitting a special radio signal that reached them quickly - the point of the radio wave was:

- Show your authentication card or send coordinates to the passengers. For your convenience, you can choose any of these options. Thank you!

After checking in with the stolen data on one of the robots, they were missed and the landing procedure began.

Mars now had a welcoming look that indicated there was some hope after all - albeit a very small one.

There were numerous greenhouses along its surface, housing a variety of plants. The Earth Federation had issued a regulation - as many as ten new greenhouses were to be opened each year, and they were filled with compressed air. Yes, it was still primitive, but these plants thrived wonderfully under Martian conditions.

The soils on Mars were regolithic, which would mean that quite a few of the plots had to be improved to make them suitable for planting the appropriate crops.

The size of an average one was in the order of two hundred square meters and in conditions - close to earthly - could grow a variety of vegetables such as sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, lettuce and also various herbs such as basil. Overall, the Earth Federation had tried to make conditions as close to home as possible.

The Manorian turbines were meant for something else - they were simply slowly changing the Martian atmosphere and were a kind of helper to the humans in their struggle for survival.

Korolan Bru envisaged some additional terraforming measures at some future stage, such as removing the greenhouse structures and exposing them to environmental conditions. But until then a sustainable layer of atmosphere had to be created, which was lacking for now, and frankly that wasn't going to happen too soon.

In addition, the mines on Mars were producing many rare and valuable metals such as gold, niobium, molybdenum and so on.

- "I've never seen such beauty!," the GH307 clone marveled.

- "Me too," confirmed XBL-4, which was a slightly newer version and not of the same series as the two of them.

Soon after their landing, however, the colony administrators came and decided to send them without any preamble to the Chief Executioner, who happened to be on Mars at the time.

- "You have brought forbidden materials onto the colony's territory, and it would have been easy to register them in the Intergalactic Police's inspection," one of the robots, who seemed less aggressive than the others, spoke in a monotone. "This is a grave misdemeanor, as it undermines the moral foundations of ..."

The moral tirade was endless from then on, but after about a quarter of an hour they realized that their punishment would be death!

The chief executioner had a habit of punishing his victims severely, not just killing them painlessly.

The Earth Federation had given him explicit orders to deal with the smuggler, and after his ostentatious castration, there had been a bit of a lull in this sort of crime.

Korolan Bru wanted to get to Haumea as quickly as possible, and he didn't have quite the nerve to deal with these petty criminals.

After they were properly interrogated by the appropriate persons, they were placed in an isolation capsule and transported by a small rover to the execution building.

They were given special electronic documents to fill out to clarify their motives for being on Mars, which was a mere formality for reporting to Earth authorities.

It was proper to describe the execution building - there were special devices for injecting electricity into the brain, which must have caused immense suffering, devices for tearing off limbs and so on and so forth. The list was endless.

The chief executioner was waiting to execute them.

Here the treacherous GH307 decided to betray his benefactors and give away their plan.

When they had filled out the electronic forms, GH307 had made it clear what he could assist with to get their skins off.

The Chief Executioner had seemingly agreed - after all, he'd received explicit orders from the Holy Cosmic Inquisition that any action to curb crime was welcome, and making false promises and indulgences from the Holy Institution were only part of the way to deal with some of the more hardened subjects.

The room, with its massive composite walls, was the same where they executed the criminal in question by castration and firing squad. It had been carefully prepared for the new martyrs.

The condemned entered one by one - each unsure if they would ever get out.

First was XBL-4 - they put a special high voltage collar on him that would have nearly ripped his neck off. Soon he was a corpse, and his burnt insides were painstakingly described and put away by the brutal torturer.

GH307, who had secretly testified against them, had to come in next, much to his surprise.

They put the device to inject electricity into his brain and soon he felt a slight warming in his head area. The temperature became intolerable and he felt his brain fry in brutal agony.

Finally GH306 himself entered and then, as if by some Higher Providence, his electronic file fell into the hands of the Chief Executioner. He was always meticulously familiar with the deeds of his victims. He considered it a mark of professionalism and respect for the dying!

But he had never had such a convict before him. He became uncomfortable because the human race could be wiped out without the help of this brave man, but he had a job to do, and he was being paid to do it.

What was more, the Holy Cosmic Inquisition had provided certain bounties for every criminal executed, so the Chief Executioner had a vested interest in the number killed.

And then, he saw one of the Light Creatures. It was in his mind.

The Chief Executioner was speechless - he didn't know if he was dreaming. He was a hard man who would stop at nothing to mercilessly end the life of his ward condemned!

"Leave it! He has to live!"

No, the chief executioner was not dreaming - it was true.

He wondered what to do - if he disobeyed, his own head would be on the chopping block, but to go against the Higher Powers was unheard of.

"I'll put a gevondan[2] on him, if he's truly forgiven he won't be affected and he'll save himself. And then I'll see what I'm going to do.," he thought.

The Executioner most diligently set about caressing the device. The clone was clamped tightly into the brutal device with a sadistic purpose. The executioner then set about tightening it more and more. But suddenly the massive pole broke.

The executioner was stunned. But he had been chosen to carry out the will of the Holy Cosmic Inquisition, and he could not give up so easily.

He decided to make one more check. He had a Reondan burner, the technology of which had been stolen from an alien civilization in one of the Earthlings' brutal raids. Its use wasn't very canonical according to the Holy Institution's precepts, but he'd manage to roast the wretch on the spot!

But soon after their ignition, the flames died out without causing him any harm.

Now, there was really no doubt in the Chief Executioner's mind that someone forgiven was standing before him. But he was a clone! It was damn strange. He'd never dealt with clones who'd escaped his clutches, patronized by higher powers.

Medieval thinking seemed about to get the better of him. He wanted to end it. But then a beam of light entered the torture chamber. It came out of nowhere. He looked at it - he had heard that the Light Creatures were coming with him. His eyes opened wide, expressing immense surprise and disbelief.

The brutal bully fell to his knees and began to pray. He was doing it for his own soul. This clone had to survive!

[1] The albedo characterizes the reflectivity of the surface of a body.

[2] A device used by the Holy Cosmic Inquisition to punish criminals.