Teletack
Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. Nobody thought telepathy or teletacks were real decades ago either.
Kristina Kenny knew she would never forget that gut-wrenching scream. It came over the T-Pathways around 0800 UTC that day. The shrill agony and suddenness brought Kristina’s hands to her mouth. This did little to muffle her own screams, which turned almost immediately into cries.
She had been using T-Pathways to communicate with Glen Sackett, the leader of the People’s Army of Liberators, known as PAL. Her and Glen went way back to their Space Force Academy days. That was before they broke rank, Glen founded PAL, and recruited Kristina to join him.
They had been running covert smuggling operations between Earth and the Moon colony at Neil Armstrong Landing, known as NAL. Their goal was to evacuate as many of the deplorables as possible.
Earth was burning. One World Liberators, known as OWL, forced those wanting to leave to get in line. Wait times for the poorest members of society – the deplorables – had increased to ten years in most cases.
OWL maintained legal and operating jurisdiction between Earth and the cosmos on behalf of humanity. As the climate crisis on Earth intensified and more people tried to leave, they implemented a lottery. Those who could afford it bought millions of tickets to increase their odds of early departure. Those who couldn’t afford even one ticket like the deplorables were stuck at the back of the line. The future looked bleak at best for most of them, especially as Earth’s average temperature continued to rise well above 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
Glen and Kristina had made it their mission to help the deplorables. Despite their efforts running afoul of numerous OWL criminal statutes, they transported approximately 500 deplorables per week to the Moon. From there, the deplorables could easily scatter to the furthest reaches of the Milky Way and beyond.
Two bit hustlers flying hunks of scrap metal were more than willing to cart these people to other inhabitable zones. For a fee, of course. Some deplorables were sold into slavery. Others didn’t make it. Glen and Kristina rationalized they couldn’t solve all of the universe’s problems.
On that fateful day, the day of the scream heard round the galaxy, Glen was preparing to enter Earth’s atmosphere. Kristina was at her own ship, the Encore Eagle, which was docked at NAL.
Like most spacemen, they used T-Pathways. These were telepathic networks that required no waves, signals, or power. They were networks of human brains. Instead of calling, two or more brains linked on the same T-Pathway could communicate merely by thinking.
It was by far the most efficient way of communicating in the cosmos. Before using T-Pathways though, users had to train their minds, allocating one area for public thoughts suitable for T-Pathways and another for private thoughts. Glen and Kristina had received ample and rigorous training on this technology at the Space Force Academy.
They knew there was always a remote risk OWL or other hackers were monitoring the T-Pathway networks. But on that fateful day, as on any other, Glen inserted his telepathic earpiece and updated Kristina real time on his mission’s progress.
They had used a rotating set of counterfeit Earth passports for years in an effort to evade OWL. Glen’s cargo ship was perfect for ferrying hundreds of deplorables in crates disguised as synthetic food suitable for space.
As he was given the green light to enter Earth’s atmosphere that day though, Kristina felt her thoughts jumble, as if radio static was running through her brain.
Then the scream came. Gut-wrenching. Bloody.
Kristina threw her hands to her mouth, dropped to one knee, and screamed herself. Her screams turned to cries as she dropped her wrench.
Her crew members rushed to her side. She heard none of their questions or concerns. She felt none of their hands that were helping to steady her.
She was trying to focus on Glen. But she could no longer hear or think his thoughts. There was an emptiness, a void in her brain, that had once been filled with his rich stream of consciousness.
Suddenly she felt the presence of new thoughts. Foreign. Abnormal. Threatening.
“Stand down, Kristina. Or you’re next.”
She ripped out her earpiece and threw it on the ground. It smacked the concrete inside the hangar, but stayed intact.
Her hologram connector vibrated in her pocket. It was Rebekah, Glen’s first mate. Kristina flipped the connector, revealing Rebekah’s distraught hologram.
“He’s dead, Kristina”, Rebekah said through convulsing sobs. “He’s really dead. Oh my God. His whole head exploded. Kristina . . .”
Kristina dropped the connector, sending Rebekah’s hologram crashing to the concrete next to her earpiece. She sank to the ground, covering her face with her hands.
“I just, I just”, Rebekah stammered, her hologram flat on the ground. “I saw him reach for his earpiece. Then I felt this weird static sensation. The rest of the crew did too.”
“I know”, Kristina moaned. “I felt it too.”
Before Rebekah could say anything further, Kristina grabbed the connector, stood up, and motioned for everyone’s attention.
“Remove your telepathic earpieces. Now. Everyone.”
Confused faces spread across the hangar. The crew had stopped in their tracks, but nobody reached for their ear. Life without T-Pathways was foreign. Communicating telepathically was as natural as breathing.
“Now”, yelled Kristina. Everyone jumped and grabbed at their ears, many fumbling in the removal process.
“That goes for you too, Rebekah”, said Kristina, turning to Rebekah’s now upright hologram. “And the entire crew aboard Glen’s ship.”
Kristina looked around the hangar. Her imposing six foot figure, defined tatted biceps, and black military boots commanding attention.
“We’re only using burner hologram connectors. Our PAL T-Pathway has been compromised. We’re going to investigate and should have more information shortly. But for now, no using the T-Pathway. You could compromise all of us.”
Kristina stared at a mass of shocked, angry expressions. Barrett, one of the engineers, mumbled, “What an overreaction.”
“Have something to say, Barrett?” Kristina asked, her eyes narrowing on him.
“No, ma’am”, Barrett said, stuttering.
“It isn’t ma’am, Barrett. That’s First Lieutenant Kenny to you. Either fall in line or get out of our way. I’m sure OWL would love to have you.”
Snickers. Barrett’s massive muscular frame shrank in place.
“Listen”, said Kristina. “I know going dark and not using the T-Pathways is going to be difficult. We haven’t used our hologram network in years. But there’s a good reason for doing so. Glen is dead.”
Gasps and shock spread amongst the crew. Their leader. Their founder. Their captain. Dead.
Whispers and chatter grew louder. “How?” “Are we next?”
“We think our PAL T-Pathway network was compromised”, said Kristina, motioning for everyone to calm down. “So we’re going dark until further notice. And based on our protocols, I’m everyone’s commanding officer until further notice.”
Kristina turned to Rebekah’s hologram and said, “That goes for you and your crew too, Rebekah. Abort your mission and return to NAL.”
“But Kristina”, Rebekah insisted. “Excuse me, Lieutenant, I mean, Captain Kenny. We have a few hundred people waiting for us at the Galveston Way Station.”
“Abort the mission”, repeated Kristina. “Return to base. Now.”
“Yes, Captain”, Rebekah said before signing off.
When her hologram disappeared into the connector, Kristina dismissed her crew and turned to Barrett.
“Don’t ever undermine me like that again”, she said as Barrett’s hulking frame drew near. He tried to respond, but she beat him to it.
“Get me Austin Stanley.”
“But I’m working on this wing”, Barrett stuttered, pointing to the ship.
“It can wait. I need Austin. I’ll be on the bridge.”
Kristina made her way inside the Encore Eagle. She paced from one side of the bridge to the other, racking her brain as to how someone could have hacked a supposedly impenetrable T-Pathway closed circuit network. Not to mention how someone could use telepathy to kill a human.
“You okay, Captain?” Austin asked as he entered the bridge. He found Kristina with her head down, sitting next to the ship’s controls. Her dark hair covered her face.
“What the hell happened to our T-Pathway?” Kristina asked, looking up. “You’re my technical officer. Please tell me this was a freak accident, not something worse.”
Austin hesitated before responding. “I’ve only performed a cursory review of our network, but.” He paused, avoiding eye contact as he searched for the right words. “It appears our network was compromised. The system was overloaded. I’ve never seen anything like it. As if trillions of brains entered the PAL telepathic network. All at once.”
He cleared his throat, and while scratching his head said, “It reminds me of DDoS computer hacks back in the day.”
“DDoS hacks?” Kristina asked.
“Denial of service hacks. One of the most common hacks in the early internet age. I wrote my Ph.D thesis on new applications for this type of hack. Basically, it bombards a website with traffic and overloads a server until it shuts down or crashes. I think that’s what happened to Glen’s brain.”
“Rebekah said Glen’s head literally exploded”, said Kristina.
“I guess that could technically happen if a human brain was overloaded by enough inputs.” Austin shrugged, removing his horn-rimmed glasses. “I’m really sorry, Captain. I wish I had better news for you.”
“I was also given a message, Austin”, said Kristina. “I think by the same people who hacked our network and murdered Glen. Any idea who’s behind it?”
“After Glen’s brain went dark, I did notice one node connected to your brain that I didn’t recognize. But I need to investigate further to determine its source.”
After Austin left to do more due diligence, Kristina met with the heads of her crew. As she received more information confirming the breach of their T-Pathway network, she became more convinced they were no longer safe at NAL. If someone could hack these sophisticated networks, they certainly could hack antiquated hologram connectors.
They could also probably space locate PAL’s position on the Moon.
Rebekah arrived with Glen’s ship early that evening. Four crew members disembarked first, rolling a stretcher covered in a bloody white cloth. Rebekah appeared last, her eyes swollen, hair frizzled, and sleeveless shirt damp with sweat.
Before Kristina could debrief with her, the Encore Eagle’s navigator, Torsten, came running towards them, arms flailing.
“Captain, Captain! Our radar shows a fleet of OWL ships. Incoming. ETA 10 minutes.”
“Battle stations, everyone”, Kristina shouted. She motioned for Rebekah to follow her aboard the Encore Eagle. The two women arrived on the bridge behind Torsten, with Barrett and his engineers bringing up the rear.
Austin was already programming the ship’s systems for takeoff. The alarms on the radar screen lit up like a Christmas tree. Some twenty dots came into view, all in a tight formation and traveling at a high rate of speed.
From the bridge, Kristina could see Earth in the distance. The atmosphere was foggy and shrouded in smoke from the thousands of wildfires and volcanic eruptions.
“The poor people we missed today”, she thought. “But Glen. Glen would want us to persevere, save ourselves, and continue our mission. Live to fight another day.”
She realized she was talking to the crew when Torsten interrupted.
“Closing in. Three minutes.”
“Fire up the engines, Torsten”, commanded Kristina. She took the navigation seat next to him.
The Encore Eagles’ engines roared. Their hydrogen fuel cells erupted as the ship levitated before blasting its way out of the hangar.
“OWL checkpoint ahead”, said Torsten. “10,000 meters.”
“Blow through it”, said Kristina, measured and calm.
An armada of OWL ships appeared in the distance ahead. They were nearing the satellite checkpoint as the Encore Eagle approached to exit.
“Divert course”, said Kristina. “Wait for my signal.”
She studied the radar screen and checkpoint maps. A maze of OWL satellite systems encircled the moon. The slightest wrong move would cause a catastrophic collision.
“Twenty degrees right, now”, shouted Kristina.
Torsten cranked the center stick, shooting the ship parallel to a row of OWL satellites. Some fired electromagnetic waves to interrupt the Encore Eagles’ systems.
Torsten evaded one after the next with a series of corkscrew maneuvers, before dropping below the final row of satellites and bolting out into hyperspace. He accelerated near the speed of light, leaving the OWL armada stuck in the satellite maze.
Once they were clear into deep hyperspace, out of range for OWL systems, Kristina and Rebekah met with Austin. They were hoping to learn more about Glen’s demise.
The ship’s medical officer, Dr. Dennis, invited them to his office in the infirmary. There was a sense of relief in the room, having escaped the OWL armada earlier, but also of dread, with Kristina and Rebekah both suspecting that Glen’s death was not an isolated, freak accident.
“So I didn’t have much time to examine the body and perform a full autopsy”, Dr. Dennis began. He opened his hologram connector and projected his report into the center of the room.
“I started reconstructing where his telepathic earpiece connected to his brain. I haven’t finished since we needed to evacuate the base quickly, but I was able to do a preliminary scan of his body and an analysis of some of the skull fragments we collected.”
Kristina stared at him intently, hanging onto his every word.
“My preliminary conclusion for cause of death is teletack. I’ve never seen anything like this, and I’m not aware of anyone in the medical community seeing it either. But I think teletack accurately describes this type of telepathic attack on a human.”
“And you’re sure?” Kristina asked. “The T-Pathways he was connected to through his telepathic earpiece was what killed him?”
“With a reasonable level of certainty, yes”, said Dr. Dennis. “Now, I still need to conduct a few more tests to be sure. But we’ll need to get back to his body in the cold pack at NAL.”
“We’re not going back”, said Kristina. “For a long time. Maybe forever.” She turned to Austin. “This seems consistent with your findings?”
“Yes”, said Austin, hesitating. “There were foreign nodes in our closed circuit PAL network. Our T-Pathway was compromised. But doctor, could enough computing power blow up a human brain?”
“If enough neural connections overload at once, effectively overheating the brain, yes I think it’s possible.”
Austin turned back to Kristina. “I think this confirms our suspicion that someone used a denial of service or DDoS attack on Glen. I’m guessing they organized numerous fake brains that penetrated our T-Pathways, which were supposed to be private and closed circuit. Then they all targeted Glen’s brain with thoughts, overloading it until the point of eruption. Much like a volcano.”
“Dear God”, whispered Kristina. Rebekah, standing next to her, remained silent, looking shocked.
“This is disturbing, but great work, gentleman”, Kristina said. She looked at Rebekah. “We need to make sure nobody uses a T-Pathway earpiece until further notice.” Rebekah nodded.
Kristina rubbed her head as she thought. “Austin, tell me you can fix our network. We can only keep everyone happy for so long without telepathy. Most of our younger crew members have never even communicated without it.”
“I’ll see what I can do, Captain”, Austin said, clasping his hands together.
“And doctor”, Kristina said, almost pleading. “Do you think you’ll be able to complete the T-Pathway reconstruction of Glen’s brain without his body? Especially in light of this new information, we cannot risk returning to the Moon.”
“I can try, but it will be difficult, and I will probably have to make a few assumptions.” Dr. Dennis’ eyes drooped and body hunched over with fatigue.
“Get some rest then”, said Kristina, making her way out the door with Rebekah a couple steps behind.
“Captain, there is one other thing”, said Austin, holding up a hand as Kristina started to motion for the door to open. “We could find the T-Pathways architect. The more I think about it, I’m not sure I have the technical expertise to figure out how our T-Pathway was breached. And even if I did, it would take me forever to safeguard our systems to prevent future attacks.”
“The T-Pathways architect?” Kristina asked. “Who is it?”
“Albert Eckler. He created T-Pathways, but was imprisoned by OWL once he protested how they were choosing to make use of it. Mind control, disinformation, and the like. When he refused to help them and publicized his objections, they imprisoned him on their maximum security penal planet. I think it’s in Solar System X, but nobody is really sure.”
“And this Eckler can and would be willing to help us?” Kristina asked.
“Well”, said Austin, looking down. “We would probably have to free him first, but then yes, I’m sure he would. Especially after hearing what happened to Glen with technology he created.”
Kristina looked at Rebekah, tempting her to protest this crazy idea, but she said nothing. Kristina’s eyes moved to each person in the room in sequence.
“Let me have a think”, Kristina said. “We certainly cannot operate in the dark for long, especially with OWL actively chasing us now. For years they left us alone, but now that more and more people have left Earth, they must feel like they are losing control.”
When they retired to their cabins that night, a silent alarm illuminated on Austin’s in-room control panel. It was designed to detect T-Pathway communications. Kristina had asked him to surveil for any activity after giving the order for everyone to cease using their telepathic devices. They had collected earpieces, but she suspected some had backups.
She was right.
Austin was getting a strong signal from somewhere onboard the Encore Eagle. If only he felt safe enough to tap into it with his own earpiece, and read the mind of the person using the T-Pathway. He had recommended to Kristina to shut down their network completely, but Kristina wanted to see if anyone would disobey her orders.
Again, she was right.
Austin pinged Kristina on her hologram connector. A few seconds later she appeared, looking groggy and half-asleep.
“Captain, we have a live one”, Austin said, pointing to the alarm flashing on his screen.
Kristina shook her head. “I’m guessing you cannot pinpoint their precise location?”
“No, captain, but they are definitely onboard. By the strength of it, I’m guessing it’s only one person though, which is interesting because that means they must be communicating externally.”
“The traitor”, Kristina said, cold and monotonous. She punched a few buttons on a screen next to her bed. “Barrett. Hi, yes, Barrett, it’s me. I need you and your guys to do a sweep of the ship. Austin will give you a T-Pathway sensor. We have someone disobeying orders, and I’m hoping it’s not you.”
When Kristina looked back up at Austin she said, “He’ll be there in 5 minutes. Good work. I’m going to the bridge to relieve Torsten.”
Barrett and his engineering team of three, who also doubled as Captain Kenny’s investigative squad, went door to door with the T-Pathway sensor. They held the device near each cabin door to check if the signal strengthened. Halfway through, they lost the signal completely.
There were approximately fifteen cabin rooms to go. Barrett and team finished the remainder with a roll call. Everyone gave affirmative responses until they reached Rebekah’s cabin.
Silence.
As Barrett was about to alert Kristina, he saw a message come through his connector glasses.
“An escape pod has been activated. Don’t let it leave!”
Barrett unleashed a string of profanities. Him and his men tore through the ship to the escape pod bay. One of the pods was already sealed. As they approached it, the pod released from the Encore Eagle, drifting off into space before firing its small rockets.
Kristina knew it was hopeless. The odds of hitting that small of a target, even with smart weapons, were slim to none. The Encore Eagle would otherwise have to turn around and try to outmaneuver a smaller and more agile escape pod.
Rebekah was gone.
Kristina sat back in her navigation chair. Shocked. She tried Rebekah over their hologram connectors. No response. But she found a message.
A pre-recorded image of Rebekah’s hologram appeared. Dressed in the fatigues she had worn onto the Encore Eagle that day. Her dark hair pulled back in the same ponytail.
“Captain Kenny, Kristina, I’m sorry. It was either Glen or my family. OWL took my family. I had no other choice.”
A bolt of rage shot up Kristina’s spine. She banged the dashboard in front of her. Nobody dared say a word.
Torsten broke the ice when his radar screen lit up.
“Looks like an OWL armada formation closing fast.”
“What’s their speed?” Kristina asked. “Can we outrun them?”
“No way”, said Torsten, shaking his head. “We’re in open space too. Still another day away from the closest planet. Solar System X is about a week from here, Earth time of course.”
Kristina looked up at Barrett and team who had just arrived on the bridge.
“The other escape pods are operational, Barrett?” Kristina asked.
“Yes, Captain. We were tracking the one Rebekah took, but looks like she disabled the space positioning system.”
“Forget Rebekah. We’ll deal with her later. I need you to listen carefully.” She walked to the center of the bridge and looked around at the crew assembled there. “Our position has been compromised and an armada of superior OWL ships will overtake us in minutes. When they close in, I expect them to try to disable our systems and make demands. Just before they are able to”, she turned to look at Barrett, “I want you to launch all of our escape pods simultaneously.”
“Excuse me, captain, what?” Barrett asked, bewildered.
“I want everyone to pre-record hologram messages of themselves screaming. Austin, we can connect our T-Pathways to our hologram connectors, right?”
Austin stiffened. “Yes, Captain, a bit technically challenging, but possible. They’re really meant for human brains.”
“Make it happen. I want our screams on endless loops too. It may not be a lethal teletack like theirs on Glen, but it should torture them just the same. Although my main goal is to force their hand. Force them to choose between our ship and our escape pods, with the latter being more inducing since our T-Pathway signals will be coming from them.”
Kristina turned to Austin. “Give everyone back their telepathic earpieces.”
He distributed the earpieces as Torsten’s radar screen flashed more warning signals.
“Remember”, said Kristina, “OWL will be able to read your mind as you’re screaming, so don’t forget your training. Think defensively. Don’t let any extraneous thoughts invade your mind. Focus on thinking of fear, escape, and abandoning ship. Compartmentalize your mind.”
“Captain, if we are going to do this…” Torsten interjected.
“Okay, okay, on the count of three, everyone hit record”, said Kristina. “One, two, three.”
The entire bridge screamed in unison. Their best impression of the same gut-wrenching, bloody scream they heard from Glen just the day before.
They passed their hologram connectors to Austin, who plugged in their respective telepathic earpieces.
“This is to keep our mission alive, team”, said Kristina. “I am so proud of your perseverance through all of this. We cannot rest until everyone is safely off Earth, deplorable or not. Glen would want nothing less.”
Kristina turned to Barrett and his team. “Make sure these connectors get evenly distributed across the escape pods.” Barrett nodded, taking a couple full boxes from Austin as he finished connecting everything.
“OWL is trying to make contact”, said Torsten. “What should I do?”
“Stall”, said Kristina. “Slow us down to cruising, but prepare for hyperspeed. Once we launch the escape pods, put everything you have into that throttle.”
The OWL ships had now encircled the Encore Eagle. They made multiple attempts to send incoming messages, but Torsten blocked all of them.
A few seconds later Barrett confirmed that the hologram connectors and T-Pathways were planted in every escape pod.
“Turn on the recordings and release the pods”, Kristina commanded.
And with that, nine escape pods floated away from the Encore Eagle.
Without their telepathic earpieces, nobody onboard could hear the screams in the vacuum of space.
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