Levi didn’t know it then, but as the elevator door closed, he saw his father for the last time.
With a jolt, the car began its decent into the depths.
Levi looked to each of his companions in the elevator car. Maylin leaned her left shoulder into the wall of the cabin, her right shoulder bearing her nationality: the Chinese flag. Alexei stood in the center of the car, his arms crossed. Alexei noticed Levi looking at him and winked. The Russian was the closest Levi had to a friend these last few months. Meanwhile, Jean Delacroix stood in the corner with his back to the group.
What surprised Levi was how mundane the interior appeared. Besides a small locker for safety equipment, he could have been riding any elevator found in a typical earth based apartment complex. The only difference being that this one was located on the second largest moon of Jupiter.
Levi’s father always joked that the more things changed, the more they stayed the same.
Finally, Levi noticed that the last member of his group, Bieito, was fairly green in the face. He was having stomach problems again.
“This… gravity is not… good on me,” Bieito retched, his thick accent hardly noticeable between the deep breaths. “I don’t like this elevator.” The Portuguese physicist reflexively brought his hand near the black waterproof barf bag he had tucked into the leg pocket of his flight suit.
“Are you ok Bieito?” Maylin inquired.
Alexei leaned towards Bieito. “I think it good that you learned to have plenty of your ‘barf bags’,” Alexei emphasized, he found the English terminology funny, “within arm’s reach.”
Maylin nudged Alexei with her elbow. Glaring at the large Russian man without a word, Maylin’s gaze reminded Alexei that he needed to be nicer to his teammate.
“What?” Alexei acted dumb. “I was saying is good!”
Levi kept silent throughout the exchange. Although they spent four months traveling together, he still felt out of place. It was hard to fit in with the PhDs and Scientists.
“Oh Deus!” Bieito cried. He frantically pulled the plastic bag from his pocket.
Maylin reacted quickly. She grabbed Alexei and Levi, pulling them away.
With practice, Bieito vomited his military rations into the plastic bag. After a few heaves, he wiped his face clean and used the built-in fasteners to seal his former breakfast. Though he was quick about it, the acidic aroma of digestive goo had already infested the air. Levi’s eyes began to water slightly.
“Desculpe… sorry,” Bieito mumbled, “it just happened.”
Alexei opened his mouth, but another elbow jab from Maylin ended the point.
“It’s fine Bieito,” Maylin assured. She pulled a napkin from her own pocket and handed it to him.
As Bieito cleaned up, she turned to the least social member of the group – Jean Delacroix. Jean busied himself avoiding the conversation. His ears were occluded by headphones, and his hands and eyes occupied with a small digital sketch pad. Between the flicks of his drawing pen, Maylin could hardly make out what he was working on. She thought to ask, but refrained.
With a ding, the elevator came to a rest. The long ride was over.
After the doors opened, the party stepped out into the hall. A few moments later, so did Jean.
The first thing Levi noticed was the museum like atmosphere. There was a lone plaque waiting for them. It reminded Levi of one of those ‘wait here for your table’ signs that you sometimes saw in a restaurant.
“Welcome to Callisto Bunker,” Levi began to read, “buried 10 km below the surface, this bunker is humanity’s last line of defense against invasion by the alien race known as The Economy. Dedicated to the memory of Dr. Zinkus.”
“Your father wasn’t kidding,” Maylin stated, referring to Levi’s dad. “This looks like an exhibition.”
“It’s not open to the public,” Jean noted. “So technically…”
“Right Jean,” Maylin cut him off, not wishing to listen to Jean. The fifty year old rarely spoke, but when he did it was usually something that Maylin found pretentious.
Although the bunker was built to deter invasion, humanity’s opinion of deterrence had changed over the years. While Earth built up her meager space fleet, they needed some way to prevent invasion. They planned to deactivate the facility eventually, but making Callisto Bunker a museum may have been premature.
“I can’t believe that he took me all this way,” Levi whined, “just to dump me in a museum.”
“Is not so bad Levi,” Alexei chuckled, pointing towards the floor. “If Economy attacks, this is where father will destroy Universe. You should be happy is just museum… for now.”
“Come on Levi,” Maylin urged, pushing the group forward, “Let’s just check out the exhibit while we wait for your dad.”
“I need to find…” Bieito gulped and then exhaled, looking around the corridor. Finally, finding what he was looking for, he scrambled towards the bathroom sign.
Waiting until he turned the corner, Alexei grinned. “He lucky that scary alien Econ menace does not attack now,” Alexei teased, leaning towards Levi. “Then he’d spend end of universe in very messy way.” He grinned directly at Levi, who grinned back.
“Alexei!” Maylin scolded.
“What? He not hear.”
Levi saw another plaque affixed to the wall further along the hallway. It was placed next to a deep space image of a blobby indiscriminate shape. “When the Alien ships arrived in our solar system,” Levi read aloud, “and broadcasted their imperial intentions, only the threat of the Zinkus device would keep them away.”
“Maybe if Bieito was around,” Alexei joked, “then smell would scare away invaders. Save earth governments’ much money and time.”
Maylin rolled her eyes. She had given up on scolding the Russian engineer.
Continuing down the hall, Levi came up to another plaque. Reading it, Levi spoke again, “Dr. Zinkus discovered the Zinkus affect while studying elemental particles. While he passed before the arrival of the alien invaders known as ‘The Economy’, his work was never the less crucial in Earth’s survival and independence. Callisto is home to the only Zinkus device known to humanity.”
“You think that important key holders,” Alexei wondered aloud, as his stomach audibly growled, “have fancy cafeteria to keep desire to live and not activate suicide machine?” He was bored of the history lesson already.
“That’s a good idea,” Maylin agreed, “want to come along Levi?”
Levi considered it, but decided he wasn’t hungry. “I’m ok, I’ll be here.”
With a shrug, the two set off looking to pilfer a meal.
Levi walked along the corridor and occasionally stopped at a plaque to read a few lines. None of the information was especially new to him. He started reading a plaque that described the message The Economy had sent to Earth.
“What do you think they are like?” A thick french accent startled the air.
Turning around, Levi could see that Jean had been following him the whole time. Perhaps, Jean had blended in with the shadows.
“Who?” Levi responded.
“The Econs,” Jean clarified. “This species that would call themselves The Economy.”
“I thought they said in the broadcast 60 years ago that it was the closest word in English?”
“Yes, but what does it mean to call yourself and your people The Economy,” Jean again asked. “What does it mean for such an advance civilization to call itself that.”
Levi opened his mouth to answer, but then closed it again after further consideration. A few years early, he would have fallen back to the cartoons and video games that he’d play with his friends. They would be like bugs or maybe robots. But, Levi didn’t want to rely on childish things. He wanted to be taken seriously.
Jean smiled. “I’ve been wondering if they smell good.”
“Smell good?” Levi chuckled. The shift in the conversation caught him off guard.
“Yes, and what they like to do for fun, and what they taste like.”
“They probably taste pretty bad,” Levi laughed. This was already the longest Levi had talked to the older man.
“It’s good to think of such things,” Jean asserted, “if you are expected to hate each other.”
“My dad says we shouldn’t hate them,” Levi disclosed.
“Oh,” Jean was surprised, “why is that?”
“He says that we’re the ones who want to destroy the Universe. At worst, the econs only want to hurt us.”
Smiling to himself, Jean pulled out the digital pad he had kept so discrete all this time. Flipping through menus, he found what he was looking for.
“I bought this from a shop in my town before we left,” Jean explained, “so I can draw what I see and feel.”
Jean showed Levi a fairly cartoonish drawing of two men in a pool of liquid. Both were holding matches, but one was ginormous. There were other drawings on the display, separated from each other by dividing lines.
“It’s petrol or as you call it gas-o-line,” Jean drew out the word, “I don’t know the captions yet, but I want you to know it is flammable.”
“It’s like a cartoon,” Levi marveled at the simplicity.
“It’s called a comic,” Jean handed the pad to Levi to look closer, “I loved comics when I was your age. I don’t think The Economy would like comics.”
Levi wanted to talk more, but then the ground seemed to leap below him. Levi felt as though the world had turned sideways. The floor was the ceiling, or maybe the ceiling had just sucker punched him. The flickering lights only added to the confusion. With a final thud, Levi lost his grasp on consciousness and he slipped into darkness.
“Levi!” A stern woman’s voice startled him awake.
Levi raised his head from the desk. He had fallen asleep. The teacher was directly above him.
“Good morning,” the teacher announced, “How was your nap?”
Levi heard the snickering of his classmates. Everyone was looking at him now. He felt an outbreak of redness burn his cheeks.
“Since you’re already bored,” the teacher offered, “perhaps you can tell the class what The Economy broadcasted to the countries of Earth.”
“Umm,” Levi trampled over his words, “the… Econs…”
“We’re waiting Levi!”
Levi took a deep breath, he could not let himself give in to panic. Besides, Levi thought, this is common history.
“The Econs told the governments of Earth the purpose of their society,” Levi explained.
“And what,” the teacher responded, “was their purpose?”
“They listed it first in their enumeration.” He felt himself in control now. “Expansion. The Econs wanted to settle new stars. They told us they wished to settle on Mars.”
“So,” the teacher continued, “what was so bad about that? Mars is an empty planet we had little hope of visiting, let alone colonizing.”
“Because,” Levi responded swiftly, “The Econs are superior to us. History tells us when an advanced power comes in contact with a primitive one, the superior power tends to colonize and suppress the natives.” He spoke the words from memory.
“How could we,” the teacher questioned, “possibly prevent the Econs from hurting us?” The teacher walked between the aisles of desks, she made sure every student remained engaged in the lesson. The politics of that moment in history had been settled long ago. “They can travel between stars! Even if we could destroy that one ship, they could send hundreds more later! How can we keep away the invaders?”
“With the Zinkus device,” Levi answered, “we told them about it.”
“What do we call that decision class?”
“The Great Shame!” the students replied in unison.
All of Levi’s classmates began to nod in approval. He had answered as was written in the book. This was the lesson of the day – the lesson of the century. In schools across the Earth, students were learning the disgrace humanity bared to ward away destruction.
“What is shameful about that?” the teacher asked.
“Because,” Levi explained, “the Zinkus device is evil. If we use it, then the resulting reaction will cause the destruction of the entire galaxy. First, our planet would dissolve, then other nearby stars, continuing until everything is gone. We had to become evil for our own survival. It was selfish.” He quoted the textbook exactly, but still felt unsure. How could humanity’s only option for survival also be evil?
There was a loud buzz, like that in any high school to signify the passing of the period. The lights in the classroom dimmed, and Levi felt a dizziness unlike any before. He could neither taste, nor see, nor hear. A coldness began to creep up his spine when he felt a shake. His hearing returned.
“T’as dormi assez,” the voice said, “wake up boy.”
An older man was standing over him. It was Jean. His jacket smelled of blue raspberry and menthol. The chamber had the solemn glow of emergency LED red. With the aid of low gravity, Jean helped raise the young man to his feet.
“Come,” Jean encouraged, “we must find the others.”
Both of them had cuts and bruises, but they had not broken any bones. Though Levi felt dizzy, he managed to steady himself.
“What was that?” Levi asked uselessly.
“Look,” Jean pointed, “the arrows.”
Indeed, on the lowest parts of the wall, were arrows pointing the way. To what, neither knew. With swiftness that would make an airline stewardess proud, they followed them.
After a few minutes of walking, they came to a door. It looked like a large bank vault. There were spots where four key cards might go. It was already popped open and slid to the side. Jean and Levi looked at each other.
“Maybe,” Levi asked, “we should go back to the elevators?”
“Oh no,” Jean shook his head, “it’s not the thing to do.”
Jean popped his head into the next room and looked around. It looked like the control room of an old nuclear reactor. LED lights littered the ceiling. The room was sterile and covered in white tile. There were no chairs. Jean walked inside. Nervously, Levi followed him.
“It’s the room,” Jean exclaimed, “that controls it.” Jean took in the room like one might take in the grand canyon.
Levi only looked at Jean, “do it?”
“Well,” Alexei walked in behind them, “not good.”
Turning around, Levi and Jean noticed the Russian man standing in the doorway. His hair looked less put together then before. They could see Maylin peering around his shoulders. Levi had never seen her so timid. The tag for Alexei’s shirt was clearly visible below his chin. He was wearing it inside out and backwards.
“Oh hi,” Levi acknowledged.
Alexei nodded at the young man, but then began to head towards the left most computer terminal. He only had on one shoe. Maylin took a step, and then headed towards the right side. Having nothing better to do, Jean and Levi watched the two work.
Finally, Levi felt curiosity get the better of him. “What is this room?” he asked.
Without turning, Alexei responded. “Is computer control room for Zinkus device,” he said.
Levi stood stunned. This room was only supposed to open if all four key holders agreed. Levi knew that they were all on the surface for the change over ceremony.
“But the k-k-key holders,” Levi stuttered, “they aren’t here…”
“First strike rules,” Maylin answered, “this particular door will unlock if the computer determines the Econs attempted to destroy the facility.” As members of the backup crew, both she and Alexei were trained on operating the device.
“Prevents case where,” Alexei contributed, “one key holder dies in strike and other three cannot open door.”
Levi felt as though he had been flung into the ceiling once more. “Strike?” he asked.
Alexei and Maylin paused their work long enough to exchange looks. They went back to the screens. Tears started to swell in Levi’s eyes. He shook his head.
“No, something’s wrong,” Levi anxiously proclaimed, “my dad will know what to do.”
Neither Alexei or Maylin turned to speak to him. Jean put his hand on Levi’s shoulder.
“Son,” Jean comforted, “if we felt it down here…”
It was all too much. Levi could not accept that his father was dead. He had only just seen him. Levi floated down to his knees and tucked his head into the floor. A small pool of tears and snot collected into his hands as he cried.
“Maylin,” Alexei noted, “I can confirm data-link with surface facility has been severed. The space-port is destroyed. Computer reports impact of approximately one-hundred-forty megaton.”
Maylin blinked. That was a lot of megatons.
“Work to restore communication and our eyes to the outside,” Maylin ordered, “send status update to Earth when you can.”
“Axillary systems powered on,” Alexei reported, “beginning deep space scan.”
“How,” Levi spoke through clenched teeth, “how did they know to attack?”
“Who knows?” Jean responded, “Maybe they were watching?”
A new alarm sounded, and Levi looked up towards the direction of the noise.
“Ahh,” Alexei gasped, “come look.”
The four spectators gathered around the screen.
“See here,” Alexei pointed, “those are flares from fusion drive.”
“Econ ships,” Maylin spoke through gritted teeth, “they’re coming to finish the job.”
Levi felt red hot anger corse through him. “We have to do it,” he announced, surprising even himself with the conviction of his words. “We have to… for everyone that died.”
“We cannot,” Alexei chuckled, “device needs one key to fire.” He pointed towards the center of the desk where a small box stood. It had a slot similar to those at the entrance of the room. “All keys were on surface, but now dust in crater.”
Without an exchange of words, each acknowledged that their was a certain relief in their current helplessness. They had no agency. They didn’t have to kill the universe. They couldn’t. Alexei pushed himself away from the desk. Jean closed his eyes and smiled - resigning himself to death.
Levi tightened his fists, the uncertainty weighing heavily on his mind. What now? What could they possibly do next?
A sharp knock echoed from behind, startling the group. Turning towards the noise, they saw that Bieito now stood in the doorway. He was frowning.
“They actually attacked us?” Bieito asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Levi nodded his head.
Bieito took a few steps forward. “Do we have a plan on what to do next?”, he asked, looking to each of them. They all stared blankly in return. Without words, he could see the truth written plainly on their faces. They needed direction.
“Now we make a choice,” Bieito declared, more to himself than anyone else.
“We don’t have a key, Bieito,” Maylin reminded him.
Bieito hesitated, his gaze drifting downward as he considered the impossible options before him. A flicker of doubt passed through him, but he knew what had to be done. Like a clumsy King Arthur, he fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a small metal card. Time fell still as their eyes fixed on it.
It was a key.
Maylin opened her mouth, her voice shaking with disbelief. “Where…?”
“Akello gave it to me before we came down,” Bieito explained. “Basically, he meant it as some kind of joke.”
“Blyad’,” Alexei muttered under his breath, his face twisting with frustration.
“A cruel joke,” Jean lamented, his tone heavy with disappointment.
Whether it was the suspense, or the still roiling anger within him, Levi announced, “we do it.”
Alexei shook his head. He wished that Bieito had stayed in the bathroom with that damned key. “Is not that easy,” Alexei scolded, disbelieving his misfortune. “We should not decide fate of entire universe.”
“They killed my dad!” Levi snapped, giving into his anger. “They will kill us, and then they will kill everyone back home.”
Jean let out a deep sigh. He could see now that the boy had succumbed to youthful glorification of war. “Yes, we may die,” Jean Answered, “we do not know what will happen to home.”
“I think we should,” Maylin spoke up. “We were trained for this.”
“May,” Alexei cooed, he expected better of her. “You know what this mean.”
“I know,” Maylin reprimanded, she stood firm in her decision. “I know exactly what that means.”
Alexei was caught off guard. This woman that he loved was suggesting that they do the unthinkable. “We will all die,” he reminded her.
“Then we all die,” she responded.
“That’s two against two,” Levi butted in.
“No,” Bieito disagreed, “this isn’t a democracy.”
Alexei felt stunned by the statement, he didn’t expect such an authoritarian conviction from this pathetic man. “We vote,” he stated, “we decide.”
“No,” Bieito dismissed. “We are engineers, scientists, thinkers.” He pointed towards the four of them, excluding Levi. They were the back up team after all, not Levi. “We each represent different countries and cultures”, Bieito continued, “We talk it through, and decide together what is best.”
The earlier panic subsided. Bieito hoped that now they could make a rational decision.
“And what if we can’t decide,” Levi asked.
Bieito smiled. “Then we talk until they come and blow us up,” he said.
“How long is that,” Maylin asked. She looked towards Alexei.
“Blow up!” Alexei laughed. He looked towards the screen. He shrugged. “I do not know. Maybe a week, a day, an hour.” In truth, none of them had a clue what would happen next. The Econs could be firing more of whatever hit them before, or maybe even planning an assault with ground troops – if they had such a thing.
Bieito needed to get started. “Basically, we take turns,” he told the group, “we give our reasoning and then debate them.” Realizing he missed something, he interjected, ”calmly debate them.”
“I start,” Alexei announced, he wanted to control the direction of the discussion. He lifted five fingers and began dropping them. “One: we do not activate device.” His thumb bent into the palm. “Two: we do not kill ourselves.” His little finger snugged itself under the thumb. “Three: we do not kill innocent galaxy full of who knows what life.” This time he folded his ring finger. “Four: we do not end up in hell as evil killers.” His index finger joined the rest. It was not lost on anyone that he had stopped short of the full five.
Bieito took a second before responding. “Well,” he gulped, “good points. What do you think Maylin?”
“We made a promise,” Maylin explained. “We told them that if they attacked, we would respond.” She looked Alexei directly in the eyes. “The responsibility is on them.”
“What if,” Alexei responded, “there is nice space alien family in some corner of galaxy. They do not know Earth or Economy.” He conjured an almost human like image in his mind, “should they die?”
“We don’t know who else is out there,” she retorted, “the Economy might have killed them already.”
“Economy is not god,” Alexei spoke with conviction, “they cannot have gone everywhere in galaxy.”
“The uninvolved aliens,” Jean interposed, “is my favorite argument for not activating the Zinkus device.”
Even in the current situation, the group found it hard to ignore or interrupt Jean when he started lecturing.
“The Great Shame,” Jean continued, “is based on the notion that there must be other aliens that are innocent in all this, but would surely suffer if we were to activate the device.”
“If there are aliens out there,” Maylin rebuked, “they would also be able to build Zinkus devices of their own. Most likely someone,” she waved vaguely around her, “has already activated their own device. What difference would it make if we did the same here?”
“The accidental hypotheses,” Jean affirmed, without suppressing his smug demeanor. “It’s a contradiction baby! You forget that Dr. Zinkus stopped his experiment before he died. Any species smart enough to build the device would be smart enough to understand the problem.” Jean based his assertion off of the official history of Dr. Zinkus.
“Contradiction! What a thinker!” Maylin mocked, wanting to wipe that smile from his face. She pointed at the digital tablet still clutched in Jean’s hand. “Screen baby!”
This was not the formal conversation that Bieito had in mind. “Friends,” he interceded, “please let’s just talk this through.” Bieito stepped closer to the group.
“This is not the way,” Alexei scolded. He reached forward and grabbed Bieito by the arm.
The Portuguese physicist squirmed under the sudden use of violence.
“Alexei,” Maylin screamed as she reached for the Russian, but he swatted her away, his long arms sweeping like the pikes in a phalanx.
“Bieito,” Alexei ordered, lifting his free hand - palm up. “Give the key.”
“Alexei, my friend…” Bieito began. But Alexei had none of it. He reached forward and plucked the key card from Bieito’s hand. Afterwards, Alexei let go of the smaller man.
Bieito rubbed at the bruising skin where Alexei had man handled him.
“Alexei,” Maylin pleaded.
The Russian shook his head, he was tired of this conversation. There was no debating this evil. “We are not ‘phil-os-o-phy’ class,” Alexei scolded, “we sound like political television show.” He looked towards Bieito, who would not meet his gaze. “I am sorry, but it is final.”
“We could take the key,” Bieito spoke, still not meeting the Russian’s eyes. “It could take days until they get here. You have to sleep eventually.”
“I stay awake,” Alexei retorted, “I am stronger and bigger. But I don’t want to fight.” Alexei took the card and placed it between his palms. With the force of a hydraulic press, he bent the card in half hamburger style.
“Alexei!” Maylin screeched, she was in disbelief. The rest of the group was as well.
Alexei bent the card again, this time like a hotdog. It would never function again.
Levi leaned his back against the wall. Utilizing the small amount of gravity, he slid down until he sat against the floor. He was still angry. He thought about striking Alexei. But what was the point? Levi didn’t really want to fight anyone.
“Come on Alexei,” Maylin again pleaded. “We weren’t even done talking. Bieito’s plan was good.”
Bieito frowned, realizing that the point was decided. He had to figure out something more productive than waiting to die.
“It is not plan,” Alexei dictated. “Is waste of time. We bluffed, and Economy called it.”
Bieito realized then that there was something he could do. “Can we talk to them?” He asked.
“We already sent a message to Earth,” Maylin responded. The round trip time was a little over 2 hours, they had time before Earth responded.
“No,” Bieito clarified, “I meant to them.” He pointed at the screen.
Jean was the first to understand the meaning. “The Economy?”
“Yes,” Bieito answered, forming the plan in his mind. “We make a deal.”
“We already made deal,” Alexei pointed out. “They were supposed to stay away, and we not kill universe. But now they make bad on deal.”
“No, deal is a bad word,” Bieito spoke again, searching for the correct English term. “We… surrender.”
Alexei perked up at the suggestion. He didn’t want to die, but he definitely did not want to activate the Zinkus device. “Surrender is good,” Alexei commented, “we can use auxiliary communication array to beam message towards ships”. He tapped away at the computer terminal, looking for the correct menu. “Humanity live bit longer if they accept.”
“That is not a solution,” Maylin argued. “We are not diplomats. Earth needs to confirm this.”
“You didn’t ask for ‘confirmation’ when you debated using the Zinkus device,” Jean retorted.
Maylin clenched her teeth. Without a word, she slapped the Frenchman across the face - leaving a red mark on his cheek. “Fuck you Jean Delacroix,” she spat through gritted teeth.
“May,” Alexei spoke gently, trying to reach for the woman. She stepped away and left the room. Maylin was done talking.
“We should send a message to the Econs,” Bieito declared.
Alexei nodded his head slowly, he approved of the plan. “Do you think aliens know word for ‘surrender’?” he asked. “It would be wasteful to use limited backup power on message they not understand.”
Jean wiped at his bruised face. “I am sure they do,” he responded. Jean gestured at the terminal, and Alexei stood aside. The three men decided, without speaking, that Jean should compose the offer of surrender. He was better with words.
While Levi was trapped in a depressive stupor, Jean wrote. When he was finished, Alexei and Bieito looked over the message and nodded in approval. It was short and direct, but most of all it seemed convincing. It would have to do. With a click, Alexei sent it towards the Aliens and towards Earth.
They shook hands. Maybe they just had bought more time.
They got a reply from the Econs first.
The world around them shook from bombardment. They were crushed under the weight of the ceiling collapsing on top of them. Like blowing out a candle, their consciousness was extinguished. The Economy needed to finish the job.
As each subsequent shot met its mark, Callisto was torn to pieces. After a week, the people of Earth observed that Jupiter formed a new ring – for Callisto was gone.
Now nothing stood between The Economy and Earth.