Evolution

Chapter 1

1

Daylight through a window that looked out on the city made Jena into a silhouette that stood with her back turned, gazing out on a lovely afternoon. “What's this one called, again?” she asked with amusement in her voice.

Jack's living room was a small space with a couch along one wall, an easy chair on the other and a coffee table between them. At the moment, a jangly indie-pop guitar riff came through the speakers he had hung on his walls. He wasn't entirely sure why Jena wanted to hang out, but he didn't mind the company.

Dressed in gray jeans and a black t-shirt, Jack sat on the couch with hands folded behind his head. “Gwen's Revenge,” he said over the music. “They're a new band out of Halifax. This is their debut.”

Jena tuned.

Her lips were curled into a small smile as she glanced over her shoulder. “So this is what you consider a good time?” she asked, raising one eyebrow. “Hanging out, listening to music?”

Jack closed his eyes, letting the sound wash over him. “You're the one who wanted to spend your Saturday with me,” he replied, sitting forward. “Besides, I don't get much time to just sit and listen to an album like I used to.”

Jena paced across the living room with her arms crossed, grinning down at herself. “Well, I've listened to pretty much everything you've sent me,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. “Most is pretty good. And I've got an extensive collection. I mean you've got stuff from the middle of the last century.”

The ring of an oven timer told him that the pizza was ready; so he got up with a grunt and decided to be a good host. His small, galley-style kitchen with white floor tiles and gray countertops was just large enough for one person to move freely. Grabbing a pair of oven mitts, he opened the stove.

Jack winced as a blast of heat hit him in the face, then forced his eyes open. “That's the thing about rock and roll,” he said, blinking. “It's always evolving. Each decade has a unique sound.”

He set the pizza on the stove-top, the cheese still sizzling and filling the apartment with a delicious scent. Pepperoni, green peppers and olives: his favourite combination. If Anna were here, she would want a purely vegetarian option, but Jena was less interested in Earth's food politics.

He turned around.

His boss stood on the other side of the chest-high wall that separated the kitchen and the living room, smiling at him. “Okay, then,” she said. “The best song of this decade: what is it?”

“The Grand Shirleys, 'Moving Parts.' ”

“And the 2010s?”

“The Arkells, 'Systematic.' ”

“The 90s?”

“Our Lady Peace, 'Naveed.' ”

Tapping her lips with one finger, Jena squinted at him. “Interesting,” she said with a curt nod. “And you know, it's really odd, but I can't help but notice the fact that these are all songs by Canadian artists.”

Jack smiled down at the counter, shaking his head. “Oh, Jen,” he said, his eyebrows rising. “I can hardly help it if my country just happens to have the best damn music scene on the planet.”

They ate pizza for a while, talked about work, family, relationships. The only rule Jena had made when she'd asked for this little hangout was that under no circumstances would they mention their never-ending search for Slade's Key. Not that Jack wanted to discuss that. He still had nightmares whenever he thought about the hologram they had spoken to in that cave.

Jena lifted a bottle of fizzy water to her lips, then tossed her head back and took a swig. “Okay, one thing I have to know,” she said, setting it down on the counter with a thunk. “You and Anna. Why isn't that a thing?”

Chewing on his lower lip, Jack shut his eyes tight. He took a deep breath and then let it out again. “I really don't know,” he answered. “We were very close when she came here the first time, but…”

“But?”

Jack crossed his arms with a sigh, hanging his head to avoid making eye-contact. “She was transferred to Alios,” he went on. “She said that she didn't want a long-distance relationship; so I let it go. Besides, I've got a girlfriend now.”

When he looked up, Jena was watching him with those hard, dark eyes of hers, and he knew that he was going to get a lecture. There were times when she seemed to think of herself as the smart, practical aunt he'd never had. “Kid, a piece of advice,” she said. “If you really care about someone, make sure they know it.”

“I didn't want to push.”

“And that's good,” Jena said. She brought a slice of pizza to her mouth, took a bite and pulled away with strings of cheese stretching until they snapped. “But did you ever tell her that you wanted to try? Did you ever think she might have changed her mind if she knew you were willing?”

He wasn't sure what to make of that; so he chose to focus on his pizza and hope that the conversation would naturally shift away from this topic. No good would come out of tempting himself with the road not taken. He was beginning to relax when a sharp beep from his multi-tool startled him.

Checking the screen revealed the words “Urgent Call” flashing in bright red letters. Worry settled into the pit of his stomach. So far as he knew, no one was out on a mission. So, why was this call urgent?

Squeezing his eyes shut, Jack pressed a palm to his forehead. He massaged away a light throb. “Duty calls,” he muttered in a strained voice. “Give me a few minutes, Jen. I need to see what this is about.”

She nodded.

A long hallway branched off from the foyer with doors in the left-hand wall. The first led to Jack's bedroom, and the second to the room that had once been Anna's. Now that she was gone, Spock had claimed it as his own.

He stepped into his bedroom to find sunlight streaming through the window, falling on a mattress where the covers were in a state of disarray. What exactly was the point of making one's bed? You were only going to get back in it.

Tapping the screen of his multi-tool caused it to project the image of a blue, human-shaped…something. It appeared to be a man composed entirely of ones and zeroes that floated about, crashing into one another. “Greetings, Jack Hunter,” the hologram said in a pleasant tone of voice.

Jack squinted at the image. “Well, this is new,” he said, shaking his head. “Would you mind telling me who I'm speaking with?”

“Of course.”

The image bowed its head respectfully, but it was really just a shift in the projection of ones and zeroes. “Perhaps you've heard of me,” it went on. “My name is Ven. I am the artificial intelligence-”

“That emerged on Leyria over a century ago.” Suddenly, Jack felt more than a little light headed. Being the first person from this world to accept a symbiont had brought him into contact with several VIPs: politicians, reporters, even the odd celebrity. And he had experienced none of the awe that he felt right now. “I thought…The reports said that you built yourself a vessel and flew off toward the unexplored regions of the galaxy.”

“I did.”

Blushing hard, Jack closed his eyes and hung his head. “And you came back here just to hang out with me?” He wiped sweat off his brow with the back of his hand. “Date a sexy alien? Check. Meet a living robot? Check. Throw in some time travel, and my life is officially a 1940s serial.”

Ven laughed.

“You grasp humor.”

“Of course, I do!” The hologram flickered for a moment, then resolidified into a man of ones and zeros, but now the numbers were flying about like a swarm of angry bees. “I see,” Ven went on. “Your concept of artificial intelligence is largely defined by the depictions you see in your media.”

Suddenly, it was a transparent image of Lieutenant Commander Data who stood before him, and before Jack could speak, the image shifted again to a cylon and finally one of the cybermen. “It's nothing like that. In fact, I've always objected to the term 'artificial intelligence.' How is my intelligence any more artificial than yours? But that is a moot point at the moment.”

“What…” Jack stammered. “What can I do for you?”

“As you said, I've been exploring unknown parts of the galaxy.” The hologram was once again the image of a man composed of floating ones and zeroes that swirled about as if caught in a cyclone. Almost as if their pattern of movement reflected Ven's mood. “I traveled through many uncharted solar systems, finding little in the way of intelligent life. There are some truly fascinating species in the distant regions of this galaxy, but almost none have anything approximating the human capacity for language. I began to think that the Milky Way was an empty place…”

The hologram changed colour, blue characters suddenly becoming a deep, angry red. “But then I began to notice it,” Ven went on. “Something was lurking in star systems beyond the rim of known space. Hiding, watching me…

“It would come as a brief sensor ghost, the silhouette of a ship that would vanish the instant I tried to scan it. I ran diagnostic after diagnostic to ensure that my readings were not faulty. Each time, I found no errors. But the ship would appear again and again. They were hounding me, Jack, observing my movements. What little I could learn of them suggested that their ships were made entirely out of living tissue.”

Pinching his chin with thumb and forefinger, Jack narrowed his eyes. “Overseers,” he muttered under his breath. “They use purely organic technology. I believe you caught a glimpse of an Overseer ship.”

“I concur.”

Jack sat down on the bed with his arms folded, practically doubling over. “And this is new?” he asked, shivering. “These strange encounters you've been having. They only started recently.”

“The first was nearly one year ago,” Ven explained. “Since then, I've caught sight of the strange ship at least fourteen times. I can't tell if it's the same ship every time, but in each encounter, there is only one.”

Ven was able to mimic human movement, spinning to face the window with one holographic hand pressed to his hip. “They're planning something, Jack,” he said. “For thousands of years, there has been no sign of the Overseers, and now suddenly, they're showing up on my scans.”

Baring his teeth with a hiss, Jack winced. He shook his head ever so slowly. “You don't know that. Just because we haven't detected them doesn't mean they haven't been there this whole time.”

“I'd considered that possibility,” Ven admitted, “but scanning through news items from Earth and Leyria suggests that the Overseers have indeed shown up with alarming frequency these past few months. A survey mission from Belos Colony detected strange ships on the border of Leyrian space; a woman on Salus Prime had a psychotic break in which she claimed to have been stalked by ships made of flesh lurking in the night sky. Ships only she could see. Your team recovered not one, but two Overseer devices less than three months ago.”

The hologram made a face, but it was difficult for Jack to read an expression made entirely of floating characters. He suspected Ven's use of body language was purely for his benefit. “For thousands of years,” Ven went on, “the Overseers have taken a laissez faire approach to human civilization. Now, suddenly, they've decided to play an active role. I'm forced to wonder why, which brings me to you.”

“Why me?”

The hint of a smile appeared on Ven's face, and his ones and zeroes changed from pale blue to bright white. “I have studied the records of almost every Justice Keeper on active duty,” he said. “Yours indicates a uniquely powerful distrust for authority and a penchant for unconventional thinking. You were the first person in history to name your Nassai. You were able to look past the commonly-held perceptions of the Justice Keepers and recognize Cal Breslan's treachery. Time and time again, you have demonstrated an inclination to disregard what you are told and seek the truth on your own terms. Simply put: I believe I can trust you.”

Well, Jack supposed he couldn't argue with that. Though this was probable the first time anyone had ever praised him for his stubborn noncompliance. “What did you have in mind?” he asked.

“We need to determine the Overseer's plans.”

Jack stood up with a sigh, clasping hands together behind his back. He let his head hang. “I might be able to help you there,” he said. “My friends and I have been looking into this for almost six months now.”

“Your friends?”

“Yeah,” Jack said. “One of them's in the kitchen. I'd like her to meet you.”

“You're sure that's wise?”

Grinning like an i***t, Jack felt his cheeks burn. He chuckled softly to himself. “One thing you'll learn about me,” he began. “When someone does earn my trust, they have it for life. This is non-negotiable; we're bringing Jena in.”

The hologram regarded him for a moment, ones and zeroes shifting from white to blue to a dark gray. “Very well,” Ven said at last. “I will defer to your judgment.”

“Jena!” Jack shouted. “Would you mind coming in here? There's someone I'd like you to meet!”