The shaft remained dim as I slunk towards the proverbial illumination, and my freedom, at the end. My superior elven vision gave me the edge over the less evolved humans who guarded the route to the exit. I mentally chided myself to avoid arrogance, as the youngest race on Leribis we could still be overwhelmed by the sheer number of humans and the shortlings that called themselves untermen.
I felt the weight of the perfectly balanced sword in my hand as I neared the two guards at the opening, their attention of course focused on threats from the outside, not expecting the sole survivor of the captured diplomatic mission to slip a cursed blade into them from behind.
[I prefer enchanted over cursed] I nearly let the blade slip from my hands at the shock of the voice in my head. Father always said that the blade spoke to him, but this was the first time since I pried it from his cold fingers that I grasped he wasn’t as mad as we all thought.
“Shh.” I whispered to the longsword, if I hadn’t felt in my hand, I would have doubted there was anything there, whatever strange metal it was cast from wrapped the very gloom of the tunnel about it self like an ebony veil.
[They can’t hear me. Really it is most annoying to be thought of as cursed]. Is this why father was always so irritable, having a wittering angel of death in your head? I shrugged the thought away as one of the men half turned in my direction.
[Oh well done, right through the heart, not even time to realise he was gone.]
“Wuh?” The voice was thick with the languor of boredom, rendering his human tongue even more clumsy than usual.
I ran him through the armpit as he made to raise his pike, the sword sliding effortlessly in and out of his torso. He dropped to the ground, the clatter of his armour and weapon the only sound he made.
[Oh well done, right through the heart, not even time to realise he was gone.]
The guard’s partner had more warning and managed to jab his weapon at my midriff, he was too slow, and I swatted the shaft to one side. He sent me a pleading look as he realised his guard was left open. Wide open. I ran him through the throat to forestall any cry of alarm.
[Oh, you’re quite good at this. I think we’ll be a good pairing after all.]
“What do you mean, after all?” I was not used to impertinence as a member of the royal family, least of all from an inanimate object. I stepped over the weakly flapping body of the guard and crept along the rock face of the cliff, hoping to make the treeline before any of the perimeter guard turned to look at the mine entrance.
[Well you are a lot younger than my usual wielders, and you would be the first female to carry me in battle since MacAnne the Great.]
“Misogyny and misandry in one package, you truly are cursed aren’t you Pigsticker?” I was almost at the allure of cover thrown by the Elder Forest, a few more yards and I’d be there.
[Not Cursed, and my name is not Pigsticker either. Just stating the facts as I have experienced them. I do see a future for us as partners though, and I can help you gain revenge for the death of your father and the betrayal of your family.]
[Oh, you’re quite good at this.
“I’m not interested in revenge; I need to stay alive and reach my uncle so that I can prevent a war.” A few paces remained to the cover of the evergreens.
[Even better, a noble cause. Oh, I’m going to like you. Yes, very much.]
“Not that noble, my people aren’t strong enough to face the humans yet, not if they unite against us as my captor intended.” My heart skipped a beat as I heard a familiar, yet unwelcome sound.
The unmistakable twang of bow strings being loosed, followed swiftly by the angry cries of men and the whistling buzz of arrow shafts in flight.
THUNK.
Several shafts grounded around me, I leapt for the boundary of the foliage, a white-hot lance of pain shot through my shoulder as my feet left the ground.
“Argh!” I landed in a daze, and staggered to my feet, heading deeper into the forest.
[Come on Archeh, keeping moving, you must stay ahead of them.]
I fumbled at my shoulder, which had gone numb, and found the shaft had penetrated between the strips of the splint mail shirt lifted from the corpse of my gaoler. Bad luck that the dimensions of the human body and the elven form weren’t a closer match, worse luck that my captor had chosen to outfit his men with cheap accoutrements.
I tried to distract myself from the pain, as I drove myself away from the baying voices behind, “If you aren’t called Pigsticker, which I assume was my father’s attempt at humour, what is your name?”
[MELLTITH]
Reven disentangled himself from the engram at the quantum level with a sigh of disgust, leaving the dreamer to their facile fantasy.
“Melltith? Oh gods, no that__” My whole body went as numb as my shoulder, feet tangled themselves as legs turned to rubber, too late I realised I was on the edge of a steep gorge. Tipping over the edge I caroomed down the sheer slope, body tumbling head over heels and then heels over head. I felt a new surge of pain in the shoulder as the wooden shaft snapped, and a new agony as my head smacked against something hard and unforgiving.
An unknown length of time later I awoke at the bottom of the gorge, cold, wet and with various spears of pain lancing my ravaged carcass.
[Well you’re not dead then, that’s a good start.]
“Melltith? Oh, gods and I picked you up of my own free will!”
[What? Oh no you don’t want to believe half the things you hear, it’s more like__
Reven disentangled himself from the engram at the quantum level with a sigh of disgust, leaving the dreamer to their facile fantasy. Such childishness, such puerile use of the gifts at our disposal he reflected was one of the main reasons behind his decision, and far more important than the personal one, wasn’t it?
“You seem disenchanted once again Reven Elttes,” the voice of Nikcor Elltob, the sole remaining other Praepostor rasped its way into his consciousness once again, “ever since Praepostor Noosy took the Way, your countenance has been as glum as the lifespan of the Unenlightened is short.”
Reven groaned, he didn’t need this right now, “Nikcor, Imagiro took the Way twenty old years ago, and how do we even know the Unenlightened still have short lifespans? We haven’t seen any in a kiloyear or more.”
“That we still haven’t proves the point, no? But my main concern of course remains you. You seem distracted constantly, and don’t think I haven’t noticed your voyeuristic tendencies, spying on the dreamers as they explore the Way.”
Nikcor’s prissy tone had the ability to get under Reven’s skin at the best of times, but now when he was already in a heightened state of anxiety, it took all his will not to bolt from his own integral and deliver a primitive coup de grace to his erstwhile supervisor.
As Reven balled his fists hard enough to indent his palms with nail marks, the other praepostor pushed onwards with the supercilious lecture.
“Once there was a thousand of us monitoring this sector of the world alone, now alas just you and I, and your performance is causing me much anxiety. I am considering as a result, postponing my rejuvenation again.”
No, not now, not when they’re so close. When I’m so close. Reven battled hard to keep the anxious thoughts from infecting his reply, “You are overreacting Nikcor, we had thousands of staff when this was home to a billion souls, now there are a few hundred across the whole of Atlantis. The AIs and I can manage.”
“We still have more than a billion souls under our care Reven, don’t be careless with the facts.” Reven thought he caught a hint of doubt creeping into the starchy delivery and pushed to get his planning back on track.
“A few hundred bodily active souls, the rest are easily monitored, and you can’t put that rejuve off any more Nikcor you’re already a decade overdue. The sad truth is neither of us are indispensable anymore. Everything can run on automation.”
To punctuate his point, he reclined his seating web and spread his arms wide to indicate row upon row of empty integrals within the vast control chamber, “Once upon a time the air was full of viewing panes, information bouncing all around these walls, now nothing. I can handle this Nikcor.”
The elder praepostor’s shoulders slumped as he exhaled, “Ah I concede you are right there Reven, the aging of my neuroreceptors has hardened my thought processes and heightened my anxiety levels. I will go as planned at the end of this work schedule. Please though, keep vigilant for problems. And less of the voyeurism eh?”
Relief flooded Reven, and this time he had to fight to control the manic smile threatening to overtake his features, “Surely Nikcor, surely I will.”
The other praepostor nodded curtly, and his eyes glazed over as his attention turned inward, presumably monitoring the efficiency of hydrogen fusion reaction chain as he was wont to do.
Totally unnecessary, as if the thing were ever going to go out. He realized that the chain of thought had dragged his eyes to the titanglass wall opposite, and the vast ball of fire that lay beyond, the literal centre of their civilization.
After a few minutes Reven deemed Nikcor sufficiently distracted to enable one further act of voyeurism.
Possibly the last ever, maybe the last chance to see Imagiro Noosy in his innocence before all hell breaks loose. He sent the requisite access code via his integral and the world blurred as he felt his mind engage with the active engram at the quantum level.
I made the usual note in my diary, muttering aloud the particulars of the young lady gracing today’s page three, “22nd June 1989, Priti from Watford age 17, 36-24-36. Bapri!”
I cursed as the nib of the HB snapped just as I was about to complete the entry.
“Lawks! You’re still looking at that garbage after all these years?” The cockney warble of our secretary sung out from over my shoulder, somewhere near my ear by the volume.
“Well at least they’re a bit more artistic these days, I like the fact that her sari is covering most of her boobies in this one, though it’s so wet it doesn’t hide much.” With that she grabbed my copy of the Sun and threw it in the bin.
“Doris!”
“Don’t Doris me, if you don’t cut that kind of rubbish out, you’ll never get a nice mature lady interested in you. Connery Ji is too classy for that kind of stuff; I’d never catch him with this rubbish.” She finished opening the windows in the stuffy inner office as she spoke and made to return to her own domain outside.
“Catch being the operative word Doris,” I glanced at the empty desk of my partner in the opposite corner, “speaking of which, where is he today?”
The sari clad form paused in the doorway to the outer office, “It’s Thursday, he’s at his Bangla lessons.”
“Oh right. Yes, of course. About bloody time too, I was fed up with all the translating.”
The greying blonde head popped back through the aperture with some welcome news, “Your nine o’clock is here, I’ll send her in?”
“Please.” It wouldn't do to keep paying clients waiting, the peel of bells from St Mary-le-Bow up the lane drifting through the open windows confirmed this one was at least punctual.
I closed my diary and locked it in my desk drawer.
“Mr Folgate? Mr Norton Folgate?”
I looked up from the desk at the elegant young lady stood before me, a tall blonde dressed in the sharpest of business attire, a shoulder pad enhanced salwar kameez ensemble in conservative blue.
I nodded and made to stand up.
“No don’t bother, no need.” The accent was transatlantic, and coupled with features that looked somewhat familiar, a warning tingle developed in a corner of my mind.
“So glad that I’ve finally caught up with you.”
“Well it’s not that hard to find me, I don’t usually make a habit of leaving the confines of the Bharat Empire, Miss…?”
“Katherine Mercer, nee Iverson.”
Uh-oh.
The blonde smirked, and whipped a small automatic from her clutch, “You helped rob my siblings and I of our inheritance you cheap Byomkesh rip-off, now you’re going to pay with your life!”
She held the pistol steady, the muzzle square with my head.
How was I going to get out of this one?
#
The ugly little ship winked into existence at the edge of the hitherto uncharted system. The cutter was not a sleek or svelte vessel in the estimation of any observer. Tapering to a blunt point at the bow along a narrow cylindrical body from the bulky rift mechanism at the stern, it’s hull was covered in an eruption of sensory nodules, communications pods, and the odd weapons blister.
The class it belonged had once been nicknamed the bitter gourd due to its similarity, not that anyone knew what a bitter gourd was anymore. From the rents and scarring across the hull it was clear that this example had recently come to some harm.
The external damage was mirrored on the bridge by sparking workstations, and the intermittent flickering of the lights as main power fought to stay online.
“Engage damage control!” the voice of Arthur Ransome issued from the command seat behind the cluster of workstations.
At the Captain’s command fire suppression systems kicked in, surprising some of the pan crew who had manually tried to affect the same from their reaction couches.
“Engage reserve power, all departments send me your damage reports.” The immediate responses underway Ransome titled the command seat to face the observer strapped into the reaction harness mounted on the rear bulkhead.
Controlling his anger, he addressed his bonobo passenger as levelly as he could manage, “I thought you said the co-ordinates would give us safe passage?”
The ageless female gazed back at him as if considering her response carefully, “Yes, well. I guess threading our way through the gravitational fields of two opposing black holes, hidden in a dense cluster of active star forming nebulae using rift mechanics was always going to be a bit rough,” she paused, tongue flicking in and out as she thought further, “like threading the eye of a needle.”
Ransome pulled his lips back in a grimace, “Well if my guesstimate of the damage is correct, you’ve snapped your thread. This is likely to be a one-way ticket Doctor Esgyrn, for all of us.”
The doctor freed an arm from the reaction webbing and activated the ancient hot terminal attached to the harness, a quick scan of the device and she replied in a honeyed voice, “If the information I received is correct we’ll have safe harbour to effect the required repairs.”
“If Doctor. If. The Pan Alliance is stretched thin enough that we can’t even afford to lose this rotting hulk from the front line.” Ransome groaned as another thought hit him, “This hunk of junk is ancient, finding workable parts will be impossible.”
“I don’t think that will be an issue, remember this planet has been missing for longer than the lifespan of the Nixon,” the doctor scanned the bridge with an unreadable expression before her attention snapped back to the Captain, “besides this hunk of junk is a tough old girl, full of surprises, she won’t let us down.”
“The blind optimism of bonobos never ceases to amaze; I’ve had this command for a month, and I haven’t seen anything yet to suggest she’ll live up to that billing. You’ve been on board barely a week.”
The doctor gave a harrumph, “Yes and the intellectual limitations of chimpanzees, repackaged laughably as pragmatism never ceases to amaze me. I served on this boat, for years, trust me I know what she can do.”
“Impossible! All the craft the Longkumer Union graciously supplied to help the secession were mothballed for centuries, including this one.” Ransome scoffed, the emphasis he placed on graciously implied the gift was anything but.
Esgyrn smiled at him, an enigmatic affair, “As I said, trust me, there is a reason I recommended Alliance Command request these ships, and there is a reason I specifically requested the Nixon for this…mission.”
“Requested? You requested this garbage? We’re fighting the might of the Illustrious Domain with a hand already tied behind our backs and you ask for__”
“Captain, sensing is back online,” The pan manning the Comms and Hunt station interrupted his commanding officer mid rant and indicated a mass viewing pane that he had raised in the centre of the bridge, “a single stellar mass and with a single orbital planetary body.”
“Single? Of each? Unusual but not unheard of, what else then man? Spit it out.” Ransome had held commands long enough to know his officer was holding something back.
“The star is a main sequence star Sir, exactly one sol unit in mass and size, and…”
“And what? For Atu’s sake, do you all need a refresher in how to report?”
“…and the planetary body reads as exactly as one earth unit, the distance between the two bodies is exactly one AU and the orbital trajectory follows that of Old Earth to a tee. Isn’t that right Comms?” Esgyrn spared the blushes of the struggling officer with a timely interjection.
“Yes Ma’am.” The chimp nodded gratefully to the doctor before sheepishly recalling his Captain’s presence, “Uh yes Sir, that is exactly correct.”
“I didn’t give you access to the live data Doctor; how did you know that?” Ransome felt a wriggling worm of curiosity eat away at his irritation and frustration.
“My contact advised me to expect it. Still, hearing about it and seeing it in practice are two different things.” A note of awe crept into the bonobo’s timbre as she studied the hovering viewing pane.
“What exactly is this mission? My briefing suggested a fool’s errand searching for a mythical planet, but why? What is this? A twin of Old Earth?”
“Don’t be absurd! Where are the other planets? No this is a copy, a homage even, and definitely a message.” The initial condescension in Esgyrn’s reply to the Captain softened somewhat as she mused on the implications of their find.
“What message?” All heads on the bridge now focused on the conversation between the two senior Alliance officers.
“Look how clever we are I should imagine. They’re showing off, god knows who to though given this the cosmological equivalent of a small clearing in a vast uncharted forest.”
“So, again, why are we here?”
“We’re here to pick up sufficiently advanced technology from a willing benefactor, sufficiently advanced that is to turn the tide of the Secession in our favour and ensure the freedom of pans everywhere.” The rousing statement from the doctor pierced the heart of every pan on the bridge, apart from the most sceptical.
“And what exactly are we going to trade for this technology? Will we exchange one yoke for another?” Captain Ransome hadn’t risen to where he had by being a yes pan, and his reputation for blunt talk was on clear display.
“Nothing. Our benefactor asks for nothing in return. They will give with no obligation.”
“That makes no sense! What do they get from this?”
The doctor gave a melancholy little sound, “Something they have been missing for a very long time apparently.” Her voice firmed up and she looked the CO in the eye, “You and I Captain are just the removal firm, hauling away the unwanted furniture, other than that we’re beneath their notice.”
“Who are they? Who are we dealing with?”
Esgyrn’s lips pulled back in a wide grin, “Captain Ransome, and the valiant crew of the Nixon, prepare to meet the Others.”
Absolute silence ensued, gravitational concerns aside, a pin drop could have been heard on the bridge.
#
A warning pulse from the Perimeter AI flashed across the scene as Norton Folgate battled to free himself, prompting Reven to disengage from the engram. He needed a few moments to reset his senses, he always did when it was one of Imagiro’s.
He engaged with the AI and the relevant data poured into his mind, a tiny craft had winked into the outer reach of the system using rift technology and was progressing inward at modest sub-light speed. There were evident signs of damage, which might explain the limping approach.
Reven surreptitiously interrogated the house AI on the whereabouts of Praepostor Nikcor and was relived to find he was safely locked within a rejuve tube in the sector clinic.
Using a physical interface to circumvent the house AI he sent a team of repair drones to the remote dock he had prepared earlier.
Why didn’t they send a bigger vessel, something more able to withstand the binary singularities? His nervousness at the task ahead made him susceptible to vexation, he slowed his pulse and took another look. Best see what they brought so the drones know what they’re dealing with.
The Perimeter AI identified a Palin class cutter, a product of the mid period Illustrious Domain, as old as Atlantis. The registry beacon pinged up a name inside Reven’s head, IDS Nixon. The Nixon? Oh no.
Reven screwed the hem of his robe in both hands and gritted his teeth hard as he tried to repress the memory that was forcing it’s way to the surface of his mind, a shoot desperate for the nurturing rays of the sun.
No! Not now!
Reven stood in the rehousing bay earmarked for Praepostor Noosy, his heart beating rapidly despite his commands for it to slow, his fingers fidgeting with the neural testing equipment he had brought as camouflage. He glanced at the glass coffin containing the physical form of Imagiro Noosy, his handsome features not yet animated by the spark of intelligence.
Finally, the remotes drifted away from the glass housing and the tube cracked open like a chrysalis, its occupant stretching his arms reflexively, fleetingly imitating a nascent butterfly.
“Relax Imagiro, the drones have done their job, it should be as simple as waking from a light sleep.” He grinned at his lover, the light of his life, he couldn’t help it. The last six months without his company, his touch, had been an unending torture.
“Why have you woken me Praepostor Elttes?” The disorientated eyes of Elttes’s lover settled on the neural tester, “according to my chrono memory I have only been in the dreaming state for a few months, it is far too early for me to require such an examination.”
The confusion on Imagiro’s face sank an icy dagger of doubt into Reven’s heart, he tried to jog his partner’s memory, “Six months remember? I was supposed to pull you out, so you could tell me what you learned? Why no-one comes out, ever?”
“I have no memory of this, I scarcely know you Praepostor, why would I agree to such a thing?”
Crushing panic hit Reven, “Because you love me? Because you trust me? Because together we wanted to halt the decline of our people?”
“Preposterous! Anyone who knows me, understands I am asexual, I have never entered into any form of relationship with anyone, nor have I ever wished too.” He forced himself into a sitting position, heading turning and seeking a manual terminal.
Reven rushed to the tube and made a grab for his partner hand, “No, No, No. We’re desperately in love, the unexpectedness of it made it so special for you. For us.”
Imagiro brushed the distraught praepostor’s hand aside, “As I said I retain no memory of any of this.” He found the manual interface and hit the power key.
“We share the same goals, the same ideals. We drew a straw to see who went in, you didn’t want to leave me.” Reven’s plea trailed off as he saw the blankness in his partner’s eyes, the utter lack of feeling, the absence of any rapport.
Imagiro’s face softened as he observed the despair worn by the other man, a trace of the compassionate soul that Reven had come to adore, “Look I don’t remember any of this, though it seems to mean a lot to you. This is one of the risks of the entering the Way, we all know that, the memory purge.”
Reven’s head shook in rejection.
“Praepostor you know this is one of the fundamental tenets of the dreaming state, to keep our minds us from crumbling under the accumulated weight of centuries worth of experience, the AIs periodically purge unnecessary memories.”
“By why would the AIs purge you of this? A core memory?” Through his grief, a theory began to build in Reven’s head, the first pebble trickling down the mountainside.
“As you know Praepostor they do what is needed to keep us dreaming, in order that we might reach the great goal.”
“Imagiro, you spent years monitoring the dreamers, the same as I. You know that no-one bothers with the goal once they go in. They spend eternity living through fantasies or historical recreations, playing, just like children.”
Puzzlement played across the chiselled features, “I don’t remember any of that…I don’t remember monitoring, though I know that was my job…”
The single pebble became a trickle of rocks for Reven, “That’s why you entered the Way, to see if it would be different for you, to see if you could maintain the push to the great purpose.”
“No, I…this can’t be right.” Confusion turned to irritation, Reven recognised the tell-tale signs from his partner.
“Why would the AI cut a core memory so soon? You’ve barely been under, why cut you and I? The reason you went in?”
“I have no memory of you and I, nothing. I…don’t remember why I went in. It must have been to contribute, to finally act instead of watch.”
“Imagiro my love, no-one acts once they go in…” The tumbling rocks became an avalanche, “…because the AIs remove the reason why they went in? Why? Why do that?”
“Elttes, as I have reiterated, I have no memory of us as a romantic pairing. I am, therefore, not comfortable with your terminology, nor your closeness,” Imagiro had chosen to hide behind his façade of stiff formality as he had often done in the early days of their courtship, “now kindly back away from the pod, I will re-enter where I left off.”
“What? On the bridge of the Nixon? Re-living Longkumer’s fight with the old order? Her breakaway from the Domain? How is that relevant to the great goal?”
“You were watching me? Invading my privacy?” Consternation drove the praepostor to hurriedly start the portal sequence on the terminal.
“You asked me to, but you don’t remember!” Wailed Reven.
“The only way I would remember such a ridiculous request, if it ever existed, would be a hard reset of the system, and we both know that will never happen.” Imagiro punched the final command sequence, setting off warning sirens.
“What? No one would ever risk the damage that would cause to the dreamers, the physical and mental trauma could well be fatal.” The damage to Imagiro could be fatal, a horrific thought for Reven.
“Now back away.” Imagiro dropped back into a prone position, as the halves of glass case began to close.
“Please, don’t go back in. Please don’t leave me!” Reven tried to grab his lover, but the closing case forced him to withdraw his hands.
“You’re lucky I don’t report you to Praepostor Nikcor for your instability. Now step away.”
“Don’t leave me.” Reven’s plea was ignored by Imagiro as the remotes moved back in and clustered around the coffin.
A flash of light signified the activation of the stasis field once more, and the drones departed, their work done.
“Don’t leave me…alone.” The dejected praepostor sank to his knees, overwhelmed by the knowledge that he would be haunted by a love that only he remembered.
Another nudge from the Perimeter AI dragged Reven back to the present, wiping tears from his eyes he focused on the incoming Nixon.
They’ve locked weapons. And so have we. What on Old Earth?
Racing through the defence protocols, Reven found a nasty surprise left by Nikcor, a hard-coded instruction to destroy any approaching vessel.
Why would he do that? Did he suspect anything? More importantly, how in all the hells do I stop this?
#
An alert from the engineering console broke the spell on the bridge of the Nixon, as the Engineering Chief dealt with status update Ransome gathered himself enough to speak for the stunned crew.
“The Others? The honest to gods’ radicals who split from the Domain, fought it to a standstill, and then when it was on its knees disappeared without delivering the killing blow. Those Others?”
“I think they preferred reformists and liberals to radicals, but yes, those Others.” Esgyrn smiled patiently.
“Their technological level far outstripped the Domain in the end, so that’s why__”
“Yes.” Esgyrn’s patience had limits.
“Captain, we’ve restored power to the sub-light engines.” The Chief looked pleased with the result of his minions’ efforts.
“Can we raise the rift shielding, Mister James?”
“Aye Sir, the mechanism will hold up for that, can’t say what will happen if anyone takes pot shots at us, and it’ll need serious work to get us home.”
“Well Doctor looks like the Nixon can limp to your appointment; shall we proceed?” In truth Ransome knew they had little choice.
“By all means.”
“Wayfinder Powell, take us in please, one half sub-light power. Comms keep scanning, peep up at the first sign of anything unusual.”
“Aye Sir.”
“Aye Captain.”
Ransome settled back as he watched the crew carry out his orders, “I hope you know what you’re getting us all into Doctor, the last thing we need right now is to make another enemy, and a powerful one too.”
“Trust me, Arthur. I have it on good authority that both pans and humans are going to get what they need out of this.”
The Captain wore a frown of polite scepticism in response, unwavering over the subsequent minutes until, Mettrick, the Comms officer, spoke again.
“Visual on the planet available Sir, transferring to the viewing pane.”
A glittering bauble flashed into life on the mass pane at the front of the bridge, forcing the observers to cover their eyes.
“Sorry Sir, adjusting for the glare. Should be better now.”
One of the officers gave a low whistle, and Ransome turned once again to Esgyrn, “Are those mirrors?”
“Solar panels. Covering the entire surface.”
“Then that’s not a planet, it’s a…a…”
“A construct, yes.”
“The size of Old Earth? Lords…”
“Sir, I’m picking up some…unusual readings.” Officer Mettrick faltered as his eyes flicked through the feedback on his own pane.
“Again man, be more concise.” The Captain’s lips formed into a snarl.
“Sir. Well according to our evaluation, the interior of the planet…uh construct rather, is hollow. The outer crust, or layer, is around twenty kilometres deep. Then nothing, but right bang in the centre a dense mass or core.”
“What do you mean nothing?”
“Nothing, empty volume Sir. The core though is giving off incredible gravitational readings. It seems to be a mix of hydrogen and helium, in roughly a three to one ratio.”
“What? A star? There’s a goddam star in the middle?” Chief James reached the conclusion a few microseconds ahead of his fellow officers.
“A very small, dense star, but yes.” The Comms officer replied.
Ransome directed a query to Esgyrn, “What the hell? Are we looking at a Dyson Sphere?”
“Yes, and no. A theoretical Dyson construct would be built around a…real star, and would be much, much, bigger than this.” She paused for a moment, tongue digging deep into her cheek as she thought, “I would postulate that they’ve harnessed the energy of the natural star to build themselves an artificial version at the heart of their world.”
“But why? What the hell’s the point?” Ransome sucked in hard as he spoke, before blowing a raspberry to indicate incomprehension.
“Because they can? As I said before, I think they were showing off. As I also said before, who knows whom to?” The doctor shook her head and shrugged.
ALERT!
ALERT!
ALERT!
“Computer kill the audio alert.” To a pan the bridge crew sighed in relief as the klaxon shut off at the Captain’s command.
“What’s happening people? What have we got?”
“The construct has a weapons lock on us. We’re reading a massive spike in exotic energy. Some sort of energy shielding also.” The tension was palpable as Mettrick detailed the threat.
On the viewing pane patches of the construct began to distort under accumulating eddies of energy.
“Gods, I knew this was a fool’s errand.” Ransome snapped at Esgyrn before turning to his crew. “Weapons and Pacification, I want those grazer’s pumped and the particle cannons charged, get me a lock on yesterday.”
The CO turned to Chief James, “Can you give us enough juice to fight?”
The engineer’s face was grim, “Enough for a few shots, not enough to penetrate their shielding.”
“Weapons primed; target lock achieved.”
Ransome acknowledged the Weapons station with a curt nod, “See if you can hit one of those energy build-ups.”
“Power the weapons down Arthur, lower the rift field.” The calmness of the doctor’s voice a jarring juxtaposition to the tension filled atmosphere of the Nixon’s bridge.
“What? Are you mad? No!” Ransome shrugged off the request.
“They could swat us like a fly regardless, turn the systems off.” The Bonobo persisted.
“Be quiet, the last thing I hear isn’t going to be the wittering of a gormless scientist, not if I can help it anyway.”
“Computer run command override Esgyrn one eight six four.” A hint of resignation tinted the doctor’s otherwise calm delivery.
ACKNOWLEDGED
“Power down all weapons, redirect rift energy to main drive. Transfer all offensive command functions to my terminal.”
ACKNOWLEDGED
“What the blazes? What? How__” Ransome was cut off mid splutter by the doctor.
“Be quiet and watch.”
“Quiet be damned, you’ve killed us all__”
“Construct is powering down its shields, exotic energy field dispersing,” relief flooded the room as Mettrick relayed the information, “target lock released.”
The mass viewing pane glowed anew as a rapid spew of information, including a docking location pinged across from the construct.
Ransome glared at the doctor.
“I told you there was a reason I requested this ship,” she flung a disarming smile at the Captain, “trust me Arthur.”
He sighed.
“Computer restore all command functions to normal settings.”
ACKNOWLEDGED
“I think we can go ahead and dock now, don’t you?” The doctor maintained her even tone.
Ransome sighed again, “Wayfinder Powell, you heard the lady, let’s go meet our long-lost cousins.”
#
Reven blinked in astonishment. Just as his careful planning appeared on the verge of ruin, the Nixon dropped its weapons lock, and the Perimeter AI followed suite.
Interrogating the AI’s logic path, he discovered that by an accident of sloppy parameter programming, any unshielded vessel would not be considered a threat.
A kiloyear or more we’ve been here, and we could have been caught with our britches down at any moment. He shrugged the negative thinking aside. No time to wallow, Imagiro needs you, they all need you.
He called up a transport portal and stepped through the glowing disk onto the hard metal surface of the docking bay viewpoint. He fidgeted as he waited for the ugly little ship to complete its docking cycle.
Once the grav clamps were deployed he made his way from the small observation deck to the docking well itself, a score of repair remotes dutifully made way as he awaited the disembarkation of his guests.
To cover his nervousness, he inspected the stacked AI crystals he had the remotes deposit earlier, the intricate folds within the rod like structures dark for the moment, as they had been since he had them removed from the Way core.
Finally an exit spiralled open in the outer hull of the cutter, and a handful of pans in military fatigues descended the telescoping ramp onto the floor of the chamber, the first Unelightened to set foot in Atlantis in hundreds of old years.
The lead pair marched towards him whilst the remainder gawped at the remotes as they floated by the Nixon.
The pair comprised a large chimpanzee male wearing captain’s epaulets, and a slight, ageless, bonobo female whom he recognised immediately.
“Doctor Esgyrn, this is indeed an honour, a privilege even. I am Praepostor Reven Elttes.”
Both pans were taken aback by his greeting, the female covered it, but not well enough to escape his eyes.
“You know the Doctor? You’ve met before?” The male spoke first, his tone puzzled.
“No never, I and almost everyone else here on Atlantis know of her though, and her great work. I’ve seen her in many of my kin’s dreams, we call her the Agent of Change.”
The poor chimpanzee was torn between shock and puzzlement, “No, you’re mistaken, she’s not that Doctor Esgyrn, we don’t live that long.”
“Well unless my superior intellect, infinite recall, and enhanced perfect vision are all mistaken, I assure you she is, that, Doctor Esgyrn. Now can I instruct my remotes to start repairs to your vessel Captain…?”
“Ransome, Arthur Ransome of the PA Nixon. Repairs?”
“Yes, I noted as you entered the system that the ship had sustained damage, it will need extensive rehabilitation in addition to the modifications and upgrades. About twelve Old Earth hours I should guess.”
“Wait a minute, upgrades? Modifications? This is all going too fast for me__”
“It’s OK Arthur, everything is going to plan, this is the tech we came here for.” The doctor placated the Captain with a touch to his shoulder, she turned to Reven and indicated the stacked AI crystals, “You’ll be installing these?”
“These AIs? Just the one on the Nixon, however that one will supervise the installation on the rest of your fleet once you rendezvous with them.”
“How on Old Earth will we install them? We won’t have your flying drones and our own systems are ancient.” The chimpanzee Reven noted was dragging his feet mentally but would surely come around in time.
“The AI crystals are composed of quantum nanites, they’ll be able to unpack themselves, for want of a better term, under direction from Melltith.” The praepostor hoped the reassuring smile he had practised for this sort of occasion would settle the Captain’s doubts.
“Melltith?” Esgyrn titled her head.
Reven sighed, “Oh, the AI I assigned to the Nixon. It chose the name itself, a little over dramatic if you ask me, but nothing to worry about otherwise.”
“Uh…the Domain classes AIs as a category one danger to humanity, these are safe?” Ransome eyed the stacked crystal’s warily.
“The Domain hate them because we used them to break free, they’ll be safe for the Pan Alliance, we made sure they’re tame enough.”
The chimpanzee scratched his head for a few seconds, and then firmed his jaw before asking the golden question, “Why are you helping us?”
Reven took his time before answering, “The AI are not dangerous to your people, but they are to mine, we broke away from the Domain to escape their restrictive practices, and free our minds to pursue lofty goals,” he paused, fathoming out a simplistic explanation, “we celebrated our freedom by creating Atlantis, the engineering marvel around you, then we lost our way.”
He walked to the stacked crystals and toyed with the arcane rods, “The development of the dreaming AIs was meant to harness our creativity and our curiosity as we chased our goal of transcendence, instead it became a gilded cage drawing more and more of us into its stupefying embrace.”
Turning to address Esgyrn he continued, “I have spent the last twenty years planning for their removal, in order to free my people, but I was at a loss of how to safely dispose of the AI themselves before our mutual contacts suggested your people could benefit Doctor.”
“It seems a better solution than destroying hundreds of years’ worth of research and development, yes.” She smiled.
“Plus, I feel we owe you, as well as the other races and people we left behind with the Domain; we could have ended their tyranny for good, but others decided it was not our place.”
“All things end in time Praepostor, at the right time.”
Reven nodded, suddenly conscious of the need to press on with his final, most important task.
“Please feel free to explore the immediate area whilst you await the completion of the repairs, I have reprogrammed the internal security AIs to accept you, and there’s no chance of encountering a living soul in this sector. No sidearms though, those will be detected, and eliminated.”
“Thank you, we are most grateful, for everything.” Esgyrn bowed.
Reven was taken aback, he stumbled over the next sentence, “I must be away now, the final dreaming AI must be disconnected. I well send a remote to fetch you when the task is done.”
Esgyrn nodded, and Ransome shrugged.
“Oh, one last thing Doctor, how did you know to drop the Nixon’s shielding?”
“Our mutual contacts informed me we would need to do that at an appropriate juncture.”
Reven laughed, “They seem curiously well informed, do they not?”
“They do indeed. They do indeed.”
#
Hours later Esgyrn and Ransome sat together on a fallen log in the middle of a flawless meadow, overlooking a vast, beautiful lake.
“It’s supposed to be Lake Garda.” The bonobo mused as she bathed in the mild, warm, rays of the internal sun.
“What?” Captain Ransome was distracted by an itch in his psyche that he needed to scratch.
“It’s Lake Garda from Old Earth, they seem obsessed with the planet, even down to the name Atlantis.” She watched him, ready with the legend if required.
“A lost city or a continent wasn’t it? A mysterious place of gold…look...um…are you that Esgyrn? Not a descendent, or a namesake?”
“If I were, would you be frightened off by the figure of legend? The right hand of Longkumer?”
“Well, no…that is I don’t know. I mean how would she be here? What are you, I mean why would she be here?” It was almost sweet how he couldn’t look her in the eye.
“Maybe she felt she’d done enough for humanity and it was time to help her own people, or maybe she’s helping both, after all the Others are still human, just.”
She took his hand and squeezed it, “I promise you; you’ll find out in time.”
“Look, on the bridge…the thing is__” He began.
“Forget it, not important.” She cut him off then checked her chronometer, “According to my calculations, the fit out should be nearly done.”
“The alterations he mentioned, what should I expect?” The professional naval officer was back in a flash.
She beamed, “Updated rift mechanism, half the space, ten times the range and output.” He opened his mouth to reply, but she was only starting, “A completely different shielding system that can absorb anything the Domain can throw out, quantum entanglement for real-time comms. Nanobot repair technology.”
His jaw went slack, and still she continued, “Oh and the weaponry of course, grazers replaced with focused exotic energy beams, particle cannons replaced with quantum filament launchers.” She counted off the items on her fingers, “Lastly but not least, torpedo launchers that fire rift capable ordnance that materializes inside an enemy’s shields, delivering a payload of corrosive nano goo.”
Ransome whistled, “And tying it all together an AI that can think and target faster than any organic.” He thought for a second, “Will the changes be noticeable, to Domain sensing tech I mean?”.
“No, not at all. Now do you understand why I asked for the battered old Palins?”
“A fleet of small, fast and agile ships that punch way, way above their class. The element of surprise they bring to the theatre alone would be devastating.” His mind whirled ahead, “We could only spring the trap once or twice, but if we suckered enough of their fleet in each time we did…”
Esgyrn brought her hands together, “Boom! We wouldn’t finish them, there’s too many of them, but they would sure as hell leave us alone after that!”
Ransome roared with joy, “Secession completed, war over. Freedom!”
He grabbed her and kissed her fiercely.
A few minutes later as they laid entwined in the grass he spoke again, “You must be her, after all she was amazing too.”
She gazed him for a second before cuffing him around the ear, “Be professional Captain!” Then she laughed again, snuggling against him.
There was a sudden flash of light and a bright disc shaped aperture, around six feet in diameter, rent the air in front of them.
A remote emerged from the hole, flying forth from a gloomy cavernous space beyond.
FOLLOW. FOLLOW THROUGH THE PORTAL.
After broadcasting its message, the remote drifted to the cusp of the portal, where it hovered, waiting.
A hurried realignment of clothing later the pair stepped tentatively through the rip, into an enormous chamber reminiscent of a vaulted cathedral, with the gothic décor replaced by row upon row of square windows covering almost every inch of available space.
The gloom in the chamber lifted in an instant with light flooding every window, then ambient illumination returned to its previous level as the windows darkened again.
“They’re not windows, more like panes, or monitors.” Mused Ransome.
“All showing the same scene.” Added the doctor.
“What? Oh yes, well with only one AI left it couldn’t handle multiple dreams,” Reven called across to them from a row of empty racks, empty save for one last crystal he was in the process of detaching, “they are all living the same memory now, one of mine, from when we first set foot in this system. I thought it would be an appropriate reminder.”
As they approached the tall Other, it became apparent that he had ditched the long over robe he wore earlier, the reedy body underneath almost emaciated. His flowing grey locks were a constant distraction as he worked to unscrew the final crystalline rod.
“Once I’m done with this, take it and follow the remote again, it will open another portal to the dock.” He rotated the crystal another full turn, “I would come and escort you on your way, but I will probably have my hands full here. There’s an awful lot to explain.”
Another half turn and Reven staggered backwards as resistance ceased and the crystal detached itself.
Silence.
The darkness in the chamber deepened as the monitors winked out.
“Well that was a little bit of an anti-climax, I was expecting sirens and flashing lights.” Ransome looked this way and that as he spoke.
Reven hand him the rod, “Best if you two got going, before we air our laundry in public.”
The pans shared a glance, before nodding in thanks to the Praepostor, they turned on their heels and started towards the remote.
They both flinched as light from a dozen portals, then two dozen, then a countless number opened in the chamber.
A tall dark skinned Other was the first to step through a portal, at sight of this man Reven gave a choking sob and ran towards him, embracing him tightly.
The new Other pushed Reven away gently, a look of admiration and pride writ large on his face, “What have you done Reven Elttes?”
“The right thing…I hope…Imagiro Noosy.”
“What have you done Reven Elttes?”
“What have you done Praepostor?”
The phrases echoed over and over as more and more Others graced the chamber.
“What have you done TRAITOR!”
The scream cut across the hubbub, silencing the other voices.
“What do you think you are doing Elttes!” The harsh voice belonged to a nightmare vision of an Other, a naked wreck of a man with wild tufts of hair poking out of his scalp, alternating in colour between grey and dark brown. One leg was shorter than the other gifting a hobbling gait, and great swathes of skin were missing altogether, raw flesh open instead to the world.
“All the dreamers must go back under, I order it!” The wild one screamed.
“Praepostor Nikcor, it would have been better had you allowed the rejuvenation treatment to complete.” Reven addressed his furious colleague.
“It would have been better for you if you had not committed this atrocity! Drones kill this man!”
Ten more portals opened and discharged larger versions of the remotes, each bristling with vicious looking muzzle attachments.
“What are you waiting for? Kill this filth!”
#
Spittle flew from the contorted features of the elder praepostor as he shouted the command, Reven suspected the man’s outward appearance now mirrored the monster within.
“No!” Reven felt another hand slip into his and Imagiro stepped in front of him, shielding him from the security drones.
“Step away from your lover Noosy,” rasped Nikcor, “lest you want to share his traitorous fate.”
“No.”
“No.”
“No.”
“No.”
Four bodies stepped in the way to shield the couple, and the drones shook as their limited logic regimes struggled with the unexpected scenario.
“Looks like pulling your fellows out of the dream without consent, truly has damaged them, how many of them lie drooling in their re-housing chambers right this moment?” The derangement had dropped from Nikcor’s voice though he still shouted his message.
Trying to persuade the crowd? Build an argument to support your crimes? Not today. Reven thrust his shoulders back and called out his response.
“Do our friends seem damaged to you, really that is, Nikcor? I spent a long time thinking back to who first mentioned that consequence, you must admit it’s odd that we thought that when nobody ever wakes up.”
“Well it stands to reason, we have the science on the matter, we follow that.” For an instant Nikcor’s eyes flicked to the side as he spoke, checking the reaction of his fellows.
Now I know for sure.
“It was you that first mentioned that wasn’t it Nikcor?” Imagiro’s baritone barked from alongside Reven, he felt his soul pull back together, finally.
“Why does nobody ever choose to wake up Nikcor?” Reven felt his own voice, his conviction strengthen, as he spoke, “why does nobody ever work towards the noble goal we all choose?”
“I don’t know the answer to that Elttes, perhaps you can ask the deranged souls who you’ve damaged.”
Imagiro squeezed his hand and Reven pushed on, “No one is damaged Nikcor, I spent the last twenty old earth years erasing that particular protocol you left in the AIs.”
“What? What are you talking about?” Nikcor’s voice trembled.
“I also checked the engrams of all the dreamers, every single one had their memory of the time they entered the Way removed. Everyone, and with it for most of them, the reason they entered. Isn’t that odd?”
“Rubbish, you’re talking rubbish. Radical nonsense.”
“Now you sound like the Domain, shame on you!” Nikcor flinched as a woman on his left shouted at him, others joining in with cries of, “Shame!”
Reven glanced and Imagiro, who smiled encouragingly, “I checked the programming logs, you altered the AIs memory purge routines, you Nikcor.”
“It’s a lie, are you going to believe this deranged idiot? He’s been spying on you for years, a grubby little voyeur. Are you going to trust him over me, the eldest of us?”
“We know the truth Nikcor, stand aside.” The woman spoke out against the praepostor again.
“I wasn’t spying Nikcor, all those times you thought I was creeping in for a little dirty entertainment I was restoring those lost memories. I was repairing the damage you wrought. Twenty years. That’s how long it took.” Reven shook as he spoke, his long burden sloughing off with each syllable.
“Liar! Liar! He’s desperate, he’s implanted false memories, to stop you from enjoying your reward!” Nikcor’s voice rose again as something dark built within him.
“It won’t do any good Nikcor, I’ve removed all the dreaming AIs and deleted the knowledge of how to build them. Deleted from the archives, and our memories.” Reven felt dubious over that last act, but really did I have a choice?
“We know the truth Nikcor, stand aside.” This time the cry echoed all around.
“I played them all my memory of the day we arrived in the system, the pledge we made to find a higher purpose, to transcend, to achieve our own singularity. Why don’t you want us to achieve that goal Nikcor?”
“It’s not achievable, and it’s not what the majority wanted in the end, they wanted a peaceful life filled with wonderful daydreams, which you’ve ripped them from!”
“We might as well spend our life drinking laudanum, or smoking opium in a den, pleasurable but pointless.” Imagiro spoke this time.
“Before I shared my memory, I showed them something else.” Reven dropped his partner’s hand and pushed back through to the front, “I recorded all I found, and I played it back to them, all of your misdeeds. They’ve seen the evidence, all the evidence they need to judge you.”
“Who are any of you to judge me? The first of you! The greatest scientist humanity ever knew!” Nikcor convulsed with rage, he staggered towards Reven.
“Before we pass judgement, I want to know why. We all do, I’m sure. Why did you derail our very purpose?”
“Why? To save you all of course, to save myself! I was the first dreamer, I tested the system myself, but erased the evidence. You don’t want to know what I found.”
“Yes, I think we do Nikcor.” Imagiro’s voice rose from behind Reven.
“Beings, things, monsters beyond the ether. Dark things, powerful beyond our puny comprehension.” His body shuddered, racked by convulsions wrought from more than mere anger this time, “I pierced the veil the first time I entered the Way. They saw me, they clawed at me, they stole part of me and left something in its place. I will never go there again, and neither will any of you.”
“Isn’t that for us to decide?” Reven felt the mood shift, it was time to reach a verdict, he raised his voice high, “How do we find Praepostor Nikcor my brethren?”
“GUILTY!”
The cry was repeated, bouncing around the chamber, drowning the elder in a cacophony of judgement.
“No, you fools, I safeguarded you!” He snarled and waved more security drones into the chamber, “Very well, if you won’t accept my protection, I will protect myself.”
With a roar Nikcor pushed away from his judges and screamed at the drones, “Kill them! Kill them al__”
The praepostor didn’t finish the command, pitching headfirst instead to the floor. A large lump of crystal rolled away onto the floor from the back of his head, leaving behind a bloody mess.
Reven looked beyond the still form of the elder and saw Ransome standing there, a big grin on his face.
“It’s not a sidearm, but I don’t like to go anywhere without a little back up. We couldn’t leave you to face the music on your own.” The chimpanzee waved that most primitive of weapons as he spoke, a slingshot.
The AI won’t like that. Reven moved forward to assess the damage to the rod but was distracted by an urgent tug from behind. He found himself staring into the brown eyes of Imagiro Noosy.
“Thank you for putting me back together Rev, I’m sorry for what you went through.” He leaned in and kissed his lover with a newly remembered passion.”
After they broke apart, Reven wiped the tears from both their eyes, and held Imagiro’s hands.
“Thank you for putting me back together.” It was the most heartfelt sentiment to have ever passed his lips.
Before they could share more, they were deluged a crowd of well-wishers, and whisked away to start the long process of recovery.
#
The image of Atlantis shrank on the mass viewing pane as the Nixon made its way to the outer edge of the system.
Kelly Esgyrn admired the gleaming new bridge and tried not to worry about how long it might take to affect the change across their little fleet.
The new artificial gravity generator and the redesign had allowed for installation of chairs in the observers’ positions, a change she found much to her liking.
A collective gasp whipped around the bridge, looking up from her report, the doctor belatedly realised the construct has vanished.
“What the hell?” Ransome voiced the communal consternation, “Comms any sign of an explosion?”
“No Sir,” Mettrick’s reposting Esgyrn noted had improved, “a large spike in exotic energy, but I’m not reading anything else.”
A memory sparked in the doctor’s brain.
She was stood in the docking bay with Imagiro and Reven, shortly before they departed.
“Why did you build this place?” Esgyrn’s curiosity hadn’t been satiated.
“It was a symbol, of a new start for us, but also as a reminder of who we are, and where we came from.” Imagiro response was full of pride at the achievement.
“Also, we were showing off. Because we could do it.” Reven was more blasé.
Esgyrn laughed, even more when she witnessed the wounded look Imagiro sent his partner.
“Why didn’t you build a Dyson Sphere, or a ring around the star? Why all the trouble with the inner star?” She couldn’t quite let it drop.
“That was too easy, plus it was passé.” Imagiro dismissed the giant feat of solar engineering with an offhand gesture.
“We found several in this galactic zone alone,” Reven chimed in, “and the star wasn’t an exact sol mass when we found it, we had to trim it a little, building another one out of the leftovers seems a good idea at the time.”
“Besides, we can’t move the original star.” Reven’s matter-of-factness a direct contrast to the doctor’s incredulity.
“But you could move this one, if you wanted?” She ventured.
“Yes, if we wanted. If we decided on a better place.”
“They’ve gone to a better place.” Esgyrn announced to the bridge, gaining her a few shocked looks.
Ransome stared at her.
“Literally a better place.” She clarified.
He smiled at her, a smile of shared ideals, “And us, are we off to a better place?”
“Yes, we are.” She thought for a second and then returned the smile, “and for once it’s a place of our own choosing.”
THE END