The Vessel

by Jack Rasputen

The Vessel is large, impossibly so, roughly the size of what was once called Great Britain. When it had first appeared in orbit around the Earth it seemed like a godsend. For one, we were no longer alone in the universe, for another, it's sheer anatomy alone spelled hope for our then doomed planet. Some call it the "Great Beast", but we call it "The Vessel" for it is a self-contained biological ecosystem that can support human life and travels through space. Given the dying state of the world it seemed to come just in time to save us. The behemoth captivated the world; a great space whale that seemed to feed itself photosynthetically. More than that, Biologists discovered that it produced a rich atmosphere of oxygen and fertile soil but in a way we never could have imagined: inside of itself. It took us years to study it and figure out everything we needed to know, but once we learned that it's bowels (or I should say, waste organs as plant based life forms don't really have bowels...) also produced a psychedelic compound that allowed certain people to communicate with the beast telepathically, then we were all set. A small group of pilots began ingesting the compound the Biologists called "Scrunge" through a nasal inhaler and were then able to fly the Vessel to Mars and back in an astonishingly short period, less than a day at its closest distance from Earth.

For years our scientists had talked about building a generation ship to take a remnant of the human race to find a new habitable home, and now it seemed like the universe had provided one. It was almost too good to be true, and in fact, it was. We didn't know how long the Vessel would live, but from what we could tell it was old, very old, and didn't show any signs of cellular degeneration. It certainly seemed like our best bet. We drew a lottery to pick the remnant and sent them up in shuttles, often against their will as many didn't want to leave their homes, but we needed folk of different classes and abilities to perpetuate our miserable lot and begin the trek to an unknown destination. A destination they would never see. It's been four Biblical generations since then (about 280 years). We've traveled approximately twenty trillion, four hundred and forty billion kilometers out of a possible one hundred and thirteen trillion kilometer journey (if we're lucky) to the closest habitable planet. No one alive today will ever see the promised land and people are starting to lose hope.

My name is Marlo, I am a Knowing One, or at least, I will be. The pilots of The Vessel became known as The Knowing Ones, and their role is defined as pilot, judge, and priest in our society. The Elder Knowing Ones discovered the gift in me when I was a small boy and at once put me on the compound, Scrunge, to let me communicate with the Vessel. This is my diary and record of what I found. I have always kept a diary on me to scribe my thoughts and now it may be our only hope of survival, for I fear we are all doomed. I pray this finds you in a moment when you can take action and avoid repeating one of history's greatest atrocities.

Scrunge has a bitter scent and a high salt concentration that erodes the alae and the septum leaving a gaping hole where a nose once was. It's also life. We Knowing Ones are draped in long black robes with hoods that darken our faces to hide our deformities. We wear small nasal respirators hooked up to a tank we lug under our robes that provides a constant feed of Scrunge so that we can be ever present with the Vessel. Scrunge helps us to see more clearly, to see the world as it truly is, through the eyes of the Vessel. Each member of the Remnant has a job and a class to work in. Each sector is overseen by a Knowing One. My sector was deep in the Scrunge mine overseeing the harvesting and production of the life giving drug. That is where I made my terrible discovery.

"Marlo!" Shouted Teddy, a Scrunge miner and a dear friend. Teddy was a stout man in his forties with blonde hair stained grey from the mine. He had a mustache and his hands were rough like you would expect to see from someone who does manual labour all day. "I've found something!" He said. Scrunge exists in hard shale like plates that line the inside of the waste organs. Once we have removed the plates it's ground into a fine powder, mixed into a glycerine solution and vaporized for consumption by the Knowing Ones. Teddy had broken through a wall of Scrunge deep in the mine and revealed something that no one had yet seen, at least not in our generation. Behind it, a valve, a doorway to another organ we were before now unaware existed. It had a darkness and was cavernous inside. Most of the Vessel's internal organs are bio luminescent, but this hole was black as space. I grabbed a torch and lugged my Scrunge tank through the valve into the gaping black organ. Dimly lit, I saw something, the memory of which horrifies me still. Bones. Lots of bones, and not human looking bones, either. The dead are not kept on the Vessel, when someone dies we hold a brief service led by one of the Knowing Ones and then jettison the corpse into the void. This was a graveyard. I picked up what I recognized as a skull, but twice the size of a human skull and with a long oblong cranium. It had sharp pointed teeth and deep sunken eye sockets.

"What is it?" asked Teddy.

"I don't know." I said, taking a deep whiff of Scrunge, "But it's not human." I tried to focus my thoughts and communicate with the Vessel, to see what this could be, but noise and blackness was all I heard and saw. I exited the organ back into the Scrunge mine, and I hid the skull underneath my robes. "I have to take this to the counsel of the Knowing Ones." I said. "Continue working, I'll be back soon." I walked out of the mine down a corridor into the main chamber, a large open space with ribs lining the ceiling. This was where the general population lived. At first, according to legend, we lived in tents, but as the years went on we learned to build structures inside the Vessel without hurting it. What we were able to build is still a marvel to me. I walked for a while, limping slightly as I lugged my Scrunge tank and the skull under my robes. Finally I came to a structure with steps leading up to a grand entrance lined with stone pillars, as stony as we could fabricate using the materials we found in the Vessel. This was the hall of the Knowing Ones. I hobbled up the steps and through the doors, venturing far inside until I came to the inner sanctum. Inside was the heart of the Vessel, beating slowly and rhythmically. Around it sat a ring of Knowing Ones chanting as a series of vaporizers filled the air with thick plumes of Scrunge. This was the room from which we steered the beast.

"Elders," I said, "I have discovered something troubling." The chanting continued. "Elders!" I said again, "I must speak with you!" A deep rusty voice rang out through the chamber.

"What troubles you?" it asked, "We commune with the Vessel and all is well. There is no need for trouble." I removed the skull from my robes and dropped it on the floor of the heart room with a moist thud, the chanting stopped.

"Where did you find this?" one of the Knowing Ones asked.

"Deep in the Scrunge mine." I said. "It's not human." A familiar voice rang out behind me, Garret, my mentor and Knowing One adviser.

"This is truly troubling." He said. "We will look into it. Don't trouble yourself with it any longer." But I couldn't let it go. I had so many questions. They sent me back to the house of wisdom, where the Knowing Ones live. I went to my quarters and tried to sleep but my mind was racing. I increased the flow of Scrunge to my mask and tried to communicate with the Vessel, but I was still met with noise and blackness.

Sleeping comes easy to me, but that night I couldn't fall asleep for the life of me. The next morning I ran into Garret in the hall of rations while picking up my breakfast.

"Garret," I said, "What was that thing?"

"You saw it." He said. "I think you know."

"But, what does it mean?" I asked.

"It means we are even less alone in the universe than we thought, and that this isn't the first voyage the Vessel has been on..." He said. "But the counsel will take care of it. Try not to worry." I tried to put it out of my mind and go on with my daily tasks, but something in the back of my mind wouldn't let it go. No one else spoke of the discovery for several days, and I started to let it get to me. I was about to approach the counsel again when something unexpected happened. We were signaled by another ship. At once, I went to the hall of the Knowing Ones to see what was happening. When I got there a woman in strange garb was standing close to the heart and speaking with the counsel of Knowing Ones. She was tall and beautiful with short brown hair. She carried herself with an air of dignity and knowledge. I had never seen a woman like that on the Vessel before, and so she captivated my attention.

"What planet are you from?" One of the counsel asked.

"Earth, nearly 400 years after you left in the Vessel." She said confidently.

"Impossible!" cries rang out from the hall. One voice came over all them. "The Earth was doomed, there's no way life could have survived for that long." it said.

"Survived and flourished!" said the woman. "And as technology progressed we designed other generation ships and sent them off in other directions. As time passed we discovered the formula for near light speed travel, the arc was constructed (that's my ship) and we came off in search of the original ship, the Vessel."

"Light speed travel is impossible!" sang a voice from the back. "You're right." She said, "but near light speed travel is entirely possible."

"What is your purpose here?" one voice asked. "We are a return ship. We are one of a number that launched to bring the generation ships home." she said, "Another ship was launched just after us that is intended to make it to your destination faster, for those who want to continue the journey." I sat confused for a moment. No one spoke but for a few mutters to each other under their breath.

"What does it matter?" I said, "No one alive today would see Earth or the promised land."

"I don't think you understand." She said, calmly, "We only launched five years ago. It's only because of time dilation that it took us this long to find you. Come with us and you will be home in six years time, or continue on with the ship behind us and reach your promised land within 12 years." The hall erupted in chatter and arguments until the heart in the room started beating faster and louder than I've ever heard. A chant began and the rhythm slowly returned to normal. The chanting slowed and then stopped. After a long pause Diana, high priestess of the Knowing Ones who until this point had been silent, spoke.

"This is our home." She said, "Go back to your ship and leave us alone." I was about to protest when I felt Garret's hand on my shoulder.

"I think you'd better come with me." he said, and so I followed. He led me out of the Hall of the Knowing Ones, down the street to the House of Knowledge and into his quarters, pulled back the drape over the door and motioned for me to go in. Inside there were 10 other Knowing Ones, both men and women, sitting around his table.

"It's time." Garret said, and I didn't know what he meant.

"Time for what?" I asked.

"Time for you to become a full initiate of the Knowing Ones. To take your place in our ranks and share all knowledge." My heart stopped for a moment. I had waited for this day for so long. Most Knowing Ones did not become full initiates until they were already old, and here I was, in my twenties, being offered a seat at the table.

"Are you ready to take the oath?" He asked.

"I am." I said. I swore allegiance to the counsel of the Knowing Ones and to the Vessel itself. I swore to be a knowledge keeper and use that knowledge to govern the Remnant to the betterment of the Vessel. But I didn't understand that last part at the time. My allegiance wasn't to people, but to the production of Scrunge. I had sworn to do everything in my power to keep the peace so that the production of Scrunge could continue.

"It's time you knew then," Garret began, "We have known of the alien remains for generations. Actually, we've known about it since the beginning." I was stunned.

"Wh-what?" I stammered.

"We are not the first passengers of the Vessel." He continued, "In fact, we have identified up to three races' remains in the organ you found."

"Wait, you knew about the organ?" I asked, stunned.

"Yes, it turns out that the Vessel is not entirely photosynthetic. It actually requires the decomposition of organic matter to properly produce Scrunge." I couldn't believe my ears. He kept talking,

"Every generation we uncover the organ and quietly offer what we call a Shrove-Tithe to the Vessel, this allows the Scrunge to remain in production which allows us to pilot the Vessel."

"What do you mean, what is a Shrove-TIthe?" I asked, unnerved.

"Every generation, Forty to Seventy years or so, we take 10% of the population, and we seal them in the digestive organ. They are digested and their nutrients are what makes the production of Scrunge possible." I was disgusted.

"That's- that's monstrous!" I yelled.

"Quiet!" Garret shouted, I had never seen him lose his temper like this before. "Remember where your allegiances lie!"

"But, if the general population ever found out about this-"

"There would be mass panic and a revolt, and the production of Scrunge would stop, and we would be at the mercy of the beast, who can digest us all at any point so far as we know." I felt a knot in the pit of my stomach. This was terrible dark knowledge to hold, and now it was my burden.

"There's more," Garret said, "Given the uncovering of the organ, we have decided to go ahead with the Shrove-Tithe earlier than planned. And..." He stopped for a moment as if to consider how to break some bad news to me. "Teddy has been selected."

"No..." I said quietly.

"Given his knowledge of the situation, we can't have him walking around and telling people. He must be sacrificed to the Vessel, for the good of the mission." I was heart broken. Teddy was a good man. But, suddenly, I found some hope.

"But the other ship! The captain said it could take us home in 6 years and to the promised land in 12! There's no need for the Shrove-Tithe!" I said with enthusiasm.

"And what place would there be for us?" Garret asked, "With no way of producing Scrunge we would all surely die. We have created a life here, a society that works. We cannot jeopardize that."

"But to sacrifice people unnecessarily is wrong!" I protested.

"You need to figure out which side you are on, Marlo." He said intimidatingly. "Are you a Knowing One? Or part of the Shrove-Tithe?" I thought for a moment.

"My allegiance, of course, is to the council and the Vessel." I lied, I had to find Teddy. I left the house and at once made my way to the mines. Teddy was not there. When I asked other miners if they had seen him they told me he hadn't been in at all that day. I went to Teddy's quarters, but found them empty. I knew what this meant, the Shrove-Tithe had begun.

My purpose became clear: I knew then that I had to get myself to the mouth of the Vessel. In the mouth lay a great metal graveyard of shuttles and ships that we used to get the Remnant off the planet and into the Vessel, it was likely where the captain of the Arc had come onboard. I knew I had to move quickly, and so I did the unthinkable, I unhooked my Scrunge tank and stole away in alleyways and backstreets to move more freely and be undetectable. There were times when I had to hide to avoid being seen. Being in my large black cloak was both a help and a hindrance to me as it let me conceal myself better when I was trying to hide, but made me slightly more conspicuous when out in the open. I didn't know who to trust, or who would question my presence at any given spot. I got to the mouth and saw a shuttle untouched by rust or age. This had to be the Arc's shuttle. I could hear commotion in the distance and when I looked I saw the captain being escorted by two Knowing Ones, cloaked in black and dragging their Scrunge tanks. I snuck onboard and hid myself away in a broom closet through which I could hear muffled talking through the door and then the sound of the bay hatch closing. The engines fire up and I felt the lift of the ship as it took off, and then I felt something I'd not felt or even thought of before. Weightlessness. I began to float. Thankfully all the brooms, mops, and buckets were secured or I imagine they would have been bumping into me. While the gravity on the Vessel was far less than it would have been on Earth, it had gravity nonetheless. It's base (we called it the base because that's where gravity drew us) was composed of extremely dense matter and so it generated a gravitational pull towards it. I had never considered that there would be a craft without some kind of artificial gravity. And then, just as soon as it had dissipated the gravity returned and I fell with a thud to the floor. Perhaps the sound of the thud, or my slight groan of pain, or both gave me away, but I was soon discovered and hauled from my hiding space to be brought before the captain. The woman I had assumed was the captain was, as it turned out, in fact an ambassador of sorts. The captain was a gruff looking man in his sixties with a graying beard and an aging face. He wasn't a tall man, but was by no means short, at least in the way he carried himself. He had a firm presence and his short hair was in a crew cut. If we had had a military on the Vessel this would have been a standard look for our soldiers.

"Who are you?" He barked at me.

"M-my name is Marlo. I am a Knowing One of the Vessel."

"A what?" He asked. The ambassador woman, who I later learned was name Lydia, spoke. "The Knowing Ones are the rulers apparent of the Vessel, sir." She said. I had only been disconnected from my Scrunge tank for a short time, but I was already feeling withdrawals. Add to the fact that I was no longer inside the beast with whom I spoke through my telepathy, and I was starting to lose my grip on reality. Whenever anyone spoke their voice echoed through my brain and it seemed as though my vision was two or three seconds behind my auditory processors. Everything looked as though it was on a delay.

"What are you doing here?" asked the captain.

"I...I..." I stammered. I couldn't remember. Why had I come here? Why didn't I have my Scrunge tank on me? What was happening? I finally remembered. "I'm here because the Vessel is..."

"Is what?" asked Lydia.

"It's eating us." I said.

"What do you mean, it's eating you?" the captain asked. I explained all that I had discovered, to the best of my abilities anyway, I fear I wasn't making much sense as I blathered on.

"The Shrove-Tithe is happening..." I said.

"What's a 'Shrove-Tithe'?" asked the captain. I explained as well as I could, about the Scrunge, the 10% sacrifice, and Teddy.

"That's barbaric!" Lydia said in shock. "Why wouldn't they take my offer to return home, then?"

"Because Scrunge is life." I said, "We can't bear to be apart from it."

"And where is your tank?" They asked, noting the hole in my face not being covered up by a respirator.

"I left it, so that I could move faster. I'm already feeling the effects..." I said weakly. "You have to help them." I said. I may have said more, but that is all I remember from that interaction.

I woke up strapped to a medical gurney in zero G surrounded by a group of about 12 soldiers.

"Is this it?" I asked. 12 didn't seem like enough.

"No" said a familiar voice, it was Lydia. "We have 2 other pods on route with 15 soldiers each. 42 should be enough to intimidate and make our point known."

"I think you are underestimating the influence of the Knowing Ones on the people." I said.

"Perhaps." She said, "but it's all we could spare. We didn't exactly come with an infantry. We're a peace ship." I floated there for several minutes before we came to the Vessel. It noticed us and opened its mouth (probably hoping to digest us too). I felt gravity return as we landed inside the great maw, and they unstrapped me.

"We're going to use you as a hostage." Lydia said, "But don't worry, no harm will come to you. It's just for show." I was grabbed by my arms and lifted out of the bed, then brought to the front of the company. A gun was placed at the back of my head. The hatch bay doors opened, and I was pushed forwards. There were some Knowing Ones there to meet us.

"What is the meaning of this?" One bellowed, it was Garret.

"We know everything!" said Lydia, "The Scrunge, the Shrove-Tithe, everything!"

"What have you done?" He shouted at me.

"I'm sorry, Garret, I had to. The counsel is in the wrong." I said with a pained expression on my face, partly because of the rough way I was being manhandled, partly because of my Scrunge withdrawal, and partly because it pained me to betray Garret, but I needed to do what was right, especially for Teddy. The garrison apprehended Garret and the others who had met us in the mouth, and we moved into the main chamber, to the general population. When we got there we found the Knowing Ones were running through the streets alarming people to come and fight.

"To arms! To arms!" They shouted, "The aliens are attacking! They look like us, but they are not human!" Villagers started coming out of their homes, armed with pitch forks and tilling equipment. It looked like a pre-reneissance peasant revolt. The soldiers didn't want to attack, but there weren't any other options. They hesitantly began to open fire on the oncoming attack, but their hesitations got the best of them. Several villagers began to hack and slash at the soldiers, and soon the villagers sheer numbers were overwhelming. They captured some us and the rest were forced to retreat or enter a full scale slaughter, which is what they wanted to avoid. Lydia and I were captured along with five or six soldiers and brought before the counsel in the Hall of the Knowing Ones.

"Marlo, what is it you have done to us?" The high priestess asked.

"I'm sorry, Diana." I said, "but what we are doing to the people is wrong. And for what? So that we can continue to intoxicate ourselves on the excrement of the Vessel?"

"Scrunge is life!" she shouted, and her shout was echoed by other members of the counsel.

"I know it to be true, priestess, I've been without it for but a few hours and it feels like I am being ripped apart." I said, "Nothing makes sense, I cannot focus or retain what anyone is saying. I'm not even sure this is real or just some fever dream. But I know one thing for certain: we are in the wrong. I had to make it right."

"And what do you have to say for yourself, you meddling bitch?" the priestess barked at Lydia.

"We came here to rescue you from another millennia of space travel." Lydia said, "but it turned out your people needed an entirely different kind of rescue. My only question is this: who will rescue your soul?" The priestess slapped Lydia across the face for her insolence.

"The council has decided that the Shrove-Tithe will continue." she said, "You and your band of rebels will be chief among the sacrifices. You didn't know it, but you actually provided the perfect front for the Tithe. An alien invasion, in which 10% of our population was killed. The villagers have already been herded to the mines to be sealed in the Scrunge organ. You will join them." She clapped her hands, and a crowd of Knowing Ones took us towards the mines. They cleared the Scrunge plates away and opened the valve and threw us is. We could hear them sealing the valve behind us with a layer of Scrunge and the blasting some more plates off the lining of the mine to act as rubble in front of the plates so that we had no hope of getting out. One of the soldiers they had thrown in with us had a flash light which I have used to scribe out this account of what happened. I can feel myself growing weaker and weaker. I scrape the early formings of Scrunge of the wall of the organ and smear it onto my tongue, a bitter disgusting taste, but it makes me clear-headed enough to write. As I become thinner and more gaunt I know I am slowly being digested alive. My prayer is that the next time this organ is discovered so too will my journal be; and that whoever finds it might have the power to do what is right by the people and stop the twisted Knowing Ones from continuing the barbaric Shrove-Tithe. For myself, I am ashamed of whatever part I may have played in all this, regardless of my level of knowledge. I hope that my actions after learning the truth, and the account found in this diary are enough to absolve me of my sin. This is my final goodbye, and I am truly sorry.

-Marlo.