Chapter 26: Betrayal From Within
Adam and Dobson had been traveling through the alien vessel fairly slowly at first, moving through the rooms one at a time, as Dobson used the computers in her armor to map out the alien ship that surrounded them. Still, Adam had sometimes run ahead and scouted the next few rooms, giving Dobson their descriptions and dimensions; which made the exploration go a bit faster. At last, however, they'd found themselves opening the door into a very small room, which had just a few computer terminals of some kind lined up along its walls, and just enough room for the controls, as well the the person operating them. In fact, it looked more like a closet with computers than a room, so Dobson had gone into it alone, quickly hooking things up to the computers, turning them on, hooking more things up to them, entering commands into them, and so forth. It must have been a huge job, getting those computers to do anything for her, but then, she did have some past experience with the technology of those aliens, which may have helped her learn more about those interface terminals.
At last, Dobson started grinning, then smiling openly as she punched in more commands and started to remove pieces of her own equipment from the device in front of her, plugging them back into her armor. Just a second later, she left the computer area with a broad smile, as if she'd just learned something very valuable, and turned to Adam quickly.
"These computers are hooked up to some kind of library in the center of the ship. It's got all kinds of information, though I guess I'm not sure what to look for. I wish I had enough time and storage space to download everything in it, but the alien computer's much too big."
However, there was one term that Adam had heard recently; a term he wasn't too familiar with, which he wanted to learn a little more about, so in just a moment, he'd squeezed himself into the library interface closet, located the microphone-like device, similar to the one he'd seen inside the "planet incinerator," and spoke a single word into it.
"Daerlin."
"Ga'da Kien." the computer replied, displaying a long list of symbols on the screen, none of which Adam recognized, but as he got near the bottom of the list, he started finding human letters; most of which were based on the roman alphabet, and those letters spelled out the names of Earth's languages; all the ones that Adam was familiar with, as well as quite a few he hadn't heard of. Quickly, he selected "English," and in just a moment, a stiff-sounding computer voice spoke up, as a video played in front of him.
"In 413 G.A., during the early days of the Galactic Alliance, one of the major alliance worlds; Harr, began changing. Its people were weak-willed, but very prolific, and because of the latter trait, they were a welcome addition to the Galactic Alliance. Unfortunately, a new philosophy began to sweep across their world before long; effecting many of them; a hierarchical belief system, where power and possessions of any kind could simply be seized from those in a lower class of society."
"To justify this belief, the Harrans convinced themselves that divine providence established rich and poor, and that rich people were meant to have unrestrained access to the possessions of the poor, because of the power they'd been given. This belief system was a very weak one at first, but it began to slowly spread among the upper classes, until nearly the whole planet was consumed by it. Even so, the Galactic Alliance waited a long time before severing ties with the Harrans. By the time it was decided that the marauding lifestyle of the Harrans could never have any place in the Galactic Alliance, it was too late."
"From the planet Harr, there came an invading force; unique in its character, since this force consisted of only three individuals, in three separate ships. They were the first of the daerlin, and they had, it seemed, gained some kind of strange power, which matched the advanced weapons of the Galactic Alliance in sheer strength."
"Further research into the backgrounds of these three individuals indicates that all three were rich, all three had uncovered and used sorcery for quite some time during their lives, all three had been bloodthirsty savages while they were alive, and all three died before leaving the planet."
When Adam heard that, it sent a jolt of worry through his heart, because those traits reminded him of someone very familiar. In fact, they reminded him of a couple people he knew. Still, the recording continued.
"In death, they were a greater threat than ever. One of them invaded an alliance communications ship and attacked the people on board. Nearly two hundred died in that attack, and twenty-seven of them rose again as daerlin."
"At the time, the threat still seemed minimal, but six warships were sent to deal with it, along with another communications ship, to sever ties with the Harrans. However, the outcome of that encounter was devastating."
"Every last person aboard all seven of those ships died over the course of the next thirty hours, and every last one was reborn as a daerlin. Furthermore, six of our warships were in their control by that point, and a large part of the population of Harr had already become daerlin. Soon, they were using their new ships to travel to other planets, and had begun to transform those they found on those worlds, like a supernatural plague."
"By the time the daerlin had claimed three worlds, all-out war against them was finally declared, but even so, the battles went very poorly at first, because alliance troops made the mistake of engaging them in combat directly. The daerlin had powers very different from any alien race; powers that seemed to defy the laws of science and reason, and there were direct engagements of daerlin, where the odds were more than a hundred to one against them, and yet they still survived the fight, swelling their forces with our own."
"Only a few effective methods of fighting the daerlin were ever discovered, and most of them took place on a planetary scale. A few of the weaker ones were vulnerable to fire, but that was never guaranteed to be effective. The vacuum of space could destroy them. Only a tenth of them could survive a large-scale disintegration bomb, and less than one percent of them had the sheer power needed to survive the utter destruction of their planet."
"For this reason, the androids known as the galactic police force were developed; not simply to protect our people from engaging in war, or causing death, but to prevent any further spread of the daerlin contagion across space. Androids were impervious to all forms of contagion, and could wield technology just as well in war as our best champions could; developing creative solutions to the powers of the enemy when necessary, and receiving minor input from us during the rare instances when their creativity proved insufficient."
"The war continued for two centuries after that, and six more worlds fell to the daerlin, until finally, the infected worlds had been incinerated by the android police force, and the last confirmed daerlin had been destroyed. Over half of the galactic alliance had perished in the war, and that was when our people knew that from that moment on, we could never afford to show weakness again. We could be kind and merciful at times, but we could never allow it to endanger the intergalactic peace, because that had been done on Harr, and it had nearly destroyed us all."
"Since that time, the daerlin have made a few more appearances, on one planet or another, sometimes even consuming an entire world here or there, but these worlds have always been planets of extremely primitive technology, without even the simple power of space flight; planets of barbarians, who, tragically, destroyed themselves through their simple lack of commitment to doing right; the apparent cause of the daerlin infection."
With that, the display ended, and after just a moment, Adam decided to listen to one more file; the file on planet Earth.
"Earth." he said into the computer, and immediately, there was an image of his own planet; the third planet of the solar system. However, that image didn't stay on the screen long, before the computer began describing very general information about the Earth's different animal kingdoms, different types of plants, natural elements and so forth, so Adam decided to clarify his information search just a little.
"Earth society."
However, even that didn't seem to help. The computer started with common themes between the many different societies of Earth, past and present, and moved on to the differences between the continents and so forth, so Adam tried one last thing; stringing words together like a search engine, and hoping that something would come up.
"Earth society, daerlin and Klaatu."
However, in response to those search parameters, a brief list of files appeared. Still, that search had been helpful, because those files seemed to be relevant, and a couple of them were the ones that Adam had seen already, aboard the metal giant known as the planet incinerator. Still, there was one more file there, which read "path of Earth society towards the daerlin menace." It had apparently been made by Klaatu, though he wasn't in the video that came up when Adam clicked on it.
"Earth has never truly been united." the computer voice began, "However, its people seemed like they might have been on the path to discovering the truths of right and wrong, and suppressing the voices that sought personal pleasure over responsible living. Many threw their lives away, following a false philosophy of wickedness into battle; killing and being killed by the thousands, but even so, the strongest force on planet Earth, for quite some time, was also the most upright; the force that prized charity, and the rights and duties of each person. For over one thousand years, this force held onto its strength across most of Europe, and even began spreading into large sections of Africa and Asia."
"Unfortunately, it was not to last. Some were discontented with this way of thinking, and began to sew dissent among the righteous, and a hesitation in responding to these malicious individuals led large sections of this stronghold of European morals to fall apart. Soon, a new philosophy was growing on Earth; a philosophy that said that nothing was true or false; good or bad, except what each individual wanted in the short term; a period that many of the humans refer to as 'the enlightenment.'"
"The beliefs that 'the enlightenment' gave birth to soon spread across the world, causing further division and corruption among the humans, and with no clear, established standard of right or wrong to rely on, they could do nothing to prevent it. Revolutions took place, founded on the desire for freedom and brotherhood, but in sometimes less than a decade, those dreams would be forgotten, and a new, more power-hungry tyrant would seize control."
"Soon, new continents were discovered, and conquered single-handedly by masses of European settlers, all taking with them the belief in subjectivism which had opened them up to so many horrors already, and soon, they were embroiled in civil war. However, the evil continued to grow among them. Soon, the whole world was at war, then a second world war was born from the discontent over the first. Every time, more and more death would result, as technology pushed forward, until humans finally reached up into space, and the emissary Klaatu came down to study them."
"Klaatu found the humans still embroiled in their terrible confusion over the very nature of right and wrong. Wickedness abounded, without any accepted standard to hold it back, and yet, Klaatu discovered words written into one of their monuments, which gave him some hope for the human race; the words of a man named Abraham Lincoln. Those words proved to him that some human beings had wisdom."
"Klaatu did not, at the time, have the resources to perform a full evaluation of man's works, nor had human beings sufficiently cataloged their works and history in a method that could be scanned, so he decided that in spite of the personal danger that he'd been in while on Earth, he would give the humans more time to consider their approach to the alien worlds, which they'd recently become aware of, and to get their own affairs in order. He left the human race after a short time, with one strict ultimatum, however; one demand that represented the very limits of his own authority."
At that point in the video, however, the brief scenes and descriptions cut off, and an image of Klaatu himself appeared again, speaking aloud as he stood near his saucer-shaped vessel, and looking out sternly over the people gathered around him. Those people seemed to be human, and there was a tense atmosphere of fear covering that group, though Adam couldn't tell much else about them, since most were keeping their distance from the alien. His words seemed to ring out to the people gathered there like the toll of some mighty church bell.
"I am leaving soon, and you will forgive me if I speak bluntly. The universe grows smaller every day, and the threat of aggression by any group, anywhere, can no longer be tolerated. There must be security for all, or no one is secure. Now, this does not mean giving up any freedom, except the freedom to act irresponsibly. Your ancestors knew this when they made laws to govern themselves and hired policemen to enforce them. We, of the other planets, have long accepted this principle. We have an organization for the mutual protection of all planets and for the complete elimination of aggression. The test of any such higher authority is, of course, the police force that supports it. For our policemen, we created a race of robots. Their function is to patrol the planets in spaceships like this one and preserve the peace. In matters of aggression, we have given them absolute power over us. This power cannot be revoked. At the first sign of violence, they act automatically against the aggressor. The penalty for provoking their action is too terrible to risk. The result is, we live in peace, without arms or armies, secure in the knowledge that we are free from aggression and war. Free to pursue more... profitable enterprises."
"Now, we do not pretend to have achieved perfection, but we do have a system, and it works. I came here to give you these facts. It is no concern of ours how you run your own planet, but if you threaten to extend your violence, this Earth of yours will be reduced to a burned-out cinder. Your choice is simple: join us and live in peace, or pursue your present course and face obliteration. We shall be waiting for your answer. The decision rests with you. Gort, berenga."
With those words, the image of Klaatu faded, and Adam felt truly stunned, because if what he'd just heard was true, then it meant that Klaatu's role in the invasion was much smaller than he'd first believed. It was possible that the robot being Gort was the real mastermind behind the invasion of Earth, as it had gone up to that point, and that Klaatu was merely watching it; perhaps giving Gort some creative advice from time to time, but on the whole, taking no significant part in the acts of violence that were going on there; perhaps even searching for some means of saving mankind. That notion bothered Adam a great deal, even before the video continued its tale.
"In the time since the ultimatum was given to the people of Earth," the computer explained, "mankind's technology has advanced drastically in the areas of computers and communications, but unfortunately, the depravity that haunts the human race has not faded, and in fact, has grown tremendously stronger. As communication increased, so did propaganda, and the voice of the corrupt rich in the public square. Soon, mankind's sins had spread further and further across the world, and it was believed, for a time, that the Earth would simply be consumed by its own warring and sinful ways. However, for some reason, peace was achieved between nations for a very long period, and in that time, the aforementioned propaganda began to undermine both public opinion, and seats of governmental power all over the world, in many and diverse ways. Some sought more extreme forms of violence against their fellow man, some craved illicit, irresponsible pleasures without consequences, and others began killing their fellow man en masse, disguising their acts with empty pseudonyms and arbitrary rationalizations, which a true understanding of righteous conduct would have made impossible."
"In spite of this environment of social and ethical turmoil all across the world, several space programs continued to progress among rich nations, until one finally launched a successful mission to the planet Sol 4; which the earth people call Mars. There, an expedition party lived for a brief period, until an act of violence on the part of a daerlin, who'd been disguising herself as a human, triggered the reaction of the interstellar police force, still monitoring the solar system."
"It has become clear that the social climate of Earth, encouraging the refusal to accept responsibility, has become a breeding ground for wickedness, and as such, for violent, ruthless daerlin. More research will need to be done into this, of course, but without strong champions to fight this growing evil, or some means of keeping Earthlings bound to their own world, it will be difficult to satisfy the criteria of Gort and the interstellar police force on the behalf of planet Earth."
That, as it turned out, was the end of the video, and all of a sudden, Adam began to understand some of what was really going on. Until that point, they'd seen the alien invaders as simply an enemy to be overcome, but suddenly, it was becoming clear that Klaatu wasn't the enemy they were really fighting. Even Gort was more of an objective standard than an opponent. Defeating him was like trying to defeat the law of gravity. With the right powers, it could be done, but it never acted out of any genuine malice in the process.
Suddenly, Adam found himself drawing parallels in his mind. He'd studied many fields over the years; many things that he found interesting, and some of those fields had been easy to understand. Others hadn't been as easy, like theology. For the longest time, Adam had wondered how God could be called merciful, and still visit punishments upon people for the sins of the very first Adam, but suddenly, he'd begun to realize the truth. Just being powerful didn't mean that you could do whatever you wanted. Both Klaatu and Gort were proof of that.
Klaatu was a man from some other world, who had great technology, and incredible power, and who seemed like a decent and merciful sort of person. However, when it came to interplanetary peace, he couldn't act against the greater good. Likewise, Gort had spent years and years just waiting and watching, taking no action against Earth or its people at all, though he easily could have. In the end, he'd only reacted when there had been something to react to. The two were virtually the embodiment of an objective standard, and the worst thing was that mankind had been struggling so hard to discard the concept of an objective standard, that for ordinary human beings, it would have seemed just as strange and alien as they were.
Still, when he thought about the situation in that light, it gave Adam a few new ideas about how to cope with it. Gort's criteria for mercy may have been hardwired into him, but every advanced machine had to require some kind of maintenance, and if he was like that too, it meant that Klaatu probably still had some influence over him.
As far as Adam could see, there was no completely sure way of stopping the invasion of Earth, but whatever happened; no matter how bad things were, they'd all have a much better chance of surviving if they could just get Klaatu on their side somehow. It sounded as if he was frantically looking for some slim hope that mankind might have champions willing to cast aside their popularity and fight its evils, and Adam could only think of one way to give Klaatu evidence of that. It was difficult, to say nothing of being dangerous, and it was likely to tear their team apart, but it might be the only way to prove to Klaatu that humanity's villainy wasn't uncontested.
A few moments later, when Adam and Dobson left that room, and started moving further into the ship, however, he felt as if he'd really lost something important during that brief period of research, because he knew that no matter what, from that point on, he couldn't depend on the support of other people anymore. Still, he didn't say a word about that to Dobson.
Lord Dracula couldn't help but smile as he finished viewing the last video in that very spacious communications hall. The smell of burnt flesh could still be noticed all through the room, but it was the sort of smell that didn't really bother the vampire, because he'd gotten used to it long ago. It hadn't made it even the least bit difficult for him to concentrate on what those view screens had shown him; especially considering just how incredible the videos had been; giving Lord Dracula plenty of information that he'd never had before about the nature of the delightful corruption that had swept over the world those past few hundred years; the reason why he'd been growing stronger and stronger. It had set the vampire's thoughts racing again, as he contemplated what it would mean for him from then on. Suddenly, he realized, he wasn't just one undead lord anymore. He had opportunities before him, which, he thought, it would be foolish to pass up.
In that room, Lord Dracula had already viewed videos on the development of Earth, the "daerlin," which seemed to be an alien name for monsters, and the history of the being calling himself Klaatu. It amazed the vampire that people like him could have caused so much trouble for the planet Earth, but he was learning more and more about the controls to that room with every minute that passed, and he could already see one selection of buttons that seemed to have been sealed off in some kind of transparent bubble. Still, the sight of it just made Dracula smile all the more, as he rested one hand on that bubble, feeling over it with his fingertips for any weak section of it; even a tiny crack to slip through. However, there was nothing. In a way, that only made the vampire feel even more eager as he started to surround his hand with a thick mist, shaping it like a cloud around the bubble; once again trying to determine how to get through it without damaging the machine inside. However, that was when he heard one voice that he hadn't been expecting to hear, coming from the display screens behind him.
"Lord Vlad Dracula."
Quickly, Dracula looked over one shoulder, and there, his image spread across the many screens that were scattered throughout the communications hall, the vampire saw Klaatu again. The alien being was starting to look very stern, as if to give the illusion that he was still in control of the situation. However, the vampire knew how to see through deceptions, and he could tell that Klaatu was just putting up a brave face. He could see that there was no longer anything about that situation that the alien had much influence over.
"Klaatu." Dracula replied, "I suppose that you would not care to tell me how to access this panel."
"Not even if I knew." Klaatu replied a bit stiffly, though it sounded like an honest enough reply, "However, I'd like to come to some kind of agreement, if possible."
"I would like the planet Earth to survive the month." Dracula observed, "You don't want that. I fail to see what kind of agreement we can..."
"You're wrong, Dracula." Klaatu interrupted him firmly, however, "I don't want to kill your people; I never did."
However, although Dracula could sense that most of Klaatu's words to him were sincere, he also knew when he was being lied to, and a moment later, had turned back to the protective bubble, just replying "Don't lie to me, Klaatu. You can't fool me."
The alien looked more than a little shaken by Dracula's words, but he continued just a moment later, recovering from his shock.
"Alright. It was a lie." Klaatu admitted, "For a few moments, when I found out what had happened these last few decades, I did want your people dead. That was how repulsed I was by what I saw; the weakness and evil everywhere, without shame or remorse..."
"I somewhat like all that." Dracula just admitted, but it seemed that Klaatu was already starting to get angry with him again.
"You would, monster." Klaatu replied with acid in his voice as he spoke, "Why didn't you just take my warnings seriously? Why did you have to cause so much evil?"
However, Dracula's smile only broadened when Klaatu asked him that, and he was still rubbing his hands over the transparent control barrier as he responded to the alien's questions.
"I think that you have given me too much credit. The evil for which I'm personally responsible isn't really so great. I've murdered, stolen, infiltrated high society, wielded influence and power alongside other men with aims of impurity and immorality, and believe me; there are many other men like that among the rich. Monsters can cause corruption if we want to, but it's really more the other way around. The more weak and corrupt people are, the stronger and more numerous we grow. It's a rather uncomplicated fact."
"I see that now," Klaatu replied very somberly, "but you didn't realize that until recently, did you?"
Dracula paused at that point. It was true that he hadn't really understood that in the past. For him, corruption was just a part of his life; just something that he set in motion to protect himself from reprisals. However, what he hadn't realized was that there were dangers to it as well, and enemies could strike from the dark, just as easily as from the light. At last, he replied to Klaatu with a slight frown.
"If I had, it's possible that this situation never would have arisen. You see, Klaatu, I came here for one reason only, and it wasn't to destroy you or your robot police force. Oh, they are a problem, but based on what I've just learned, I merely need to destroy this one ship, and take one machine back with me to Earth, and all of my problems will be solved. With the device that your people used to nullify electric power, I could prevent mankind from ever reaching the stars again, and avoid provoking any further reactions from the robots that your people have been using as policemen. Then, I could seize control of the planet Earth in time, and feed on whoever I wanted, at any time, and for any reason, without needing to fight any well-armed, uncorrupted men. In fact, part of the reason why I gathered up a team of monsters and brought them here was to nullify a few major threats to my own survival."
However, when Dracula said that, a look of unspeakable horror spread across Klaatu's face, and it was obvious that the alien was both terrified and disgusted by Dracula's words.
"What? What are you saying?"
"Please, do not pretend that you never suspected, Klaatu. You must know that I have never done anything for any purpose but to gain power and safety for myself. As strong as my teammates are, I cannot really count on them. They have no reason to help me in anything but this one mission, and I am afraid that if they ever made it back to planet Earth, they would be nothing but competition for me. When I first stepped onto this ship, it was my intention to destroy it, and them, escaping from it alone somehow. That was the real purpose for which I formed my monster team; to dispose of them all. However, my aims have changed a bit, since viewing those videos just a few moments ago."
"No..." Klaatu muttered, looking absolutely horrified by the vampire's words. However, Dracula continued, undeterred.
"Listening to the story of the daerlin and their interstellar war has reawakened in me an old ambition, which I'd once thought was lost forever." Dracula said, a smile stretching across his face again, "Your videos told me much. For a while, I'd assumed that those I fed on were being exorcized by the local humans. In fact, I'd thought that aside from myself, there were only two or three other surviving vampires in the world. Do you know how many confirmed vampires there are now on Earth, aside from myself?"
"Forty-six." Klaatu intoned flatly, looking utterly miserable.
"And there may be more in hiding." Dracula replied with a satisfied grin, "These last few decades, the corruption and skepticism of man has grown so great, that they cannot even deal with the weak, newborn garbage I leave behind for them. The way that things are going right now, I could fill the world with vampires, and with modern chemical technology, a way could be found to feed us all. In addition to all the other monsters that have been surfacing, the planet Earth could be turned into a daemon's paradise over the next few decades; a new planet Harr, to wipe out the confident and the powerful of this universe, and I can decide whether our planet will be self-contained, or whether it will open itself to the cosmos, and begin a new war amidst the stars. I have already proven my superiority to your pitiful robots. Do you believe that you could stop me?"
"You're insane, Dracula!" Klaatu exclaimed furiously, "A moment ago, you were talking about eliminating the competition, and now you suddenly want the whole planet Earth to be filled with monsters?"
"Oh, it's true that I could be giving birth to mountains of competition for myself, and even create a plague of evil, which could spread across the galaxy," Dracula admitted with a sly smile, "but that notion doesn't horrify me as it once did. In fact, I'm starting to find the idea somewhat pleasant."
"Don't be a fool, Dracula!" Klaatu exclaimed, though he looked more terrified than angry over what was happening there, "If you go through with this, you'll be dooming your whole planet! Can't you see that?"
"Yes, yes. I'm sure." Dracula just replied, still looking over the controls carefully, memorizing where each button was as he tried to get them working for him. The vampire lord didn't say another word to Klaatu, but then, he didn't need to. If he needed to mount another defense for planet Earth, he could, and with the vast numbers of monsters, still growing on Earth, there was nothing that Klaatu or Gort could do to stop him. What was there to talk about anymore? Even Klaatu must have realized that the threat posed by Earth was growing beyond his control, and through it all, Lord Dracula smiled.
However, just then, the vampire noticed that something was wrong. The controls he'd been using just a moment ago had stopped responding to him, and with his sonar sense, he could tell that someone was approaching him from behind; someone who was being very quiet, but who, nonetheless, was an intimidating figure; the seven-foot man who Dracula had been most eager to get rid of from the beginning. Even before the vampire turned to face his new adversary, he knew who his enemy was.
The patchwork giant was glaring at him from only a couple yards away; clearly very angry, and about to attack, and that was all that Dracula needed to see. In only a moment, he knew, he'd be fighting to the death against Adam Frankenstein.