by Drew Wagar
Zoella looked around in astonishment. All about them were machines of different types and sizes, all arranged in their bays and organised side by side. She recognised one of the machines as being identical to the one Meru had used to rescue herself and Liana from Viresia.
‘Welcome to Caesar’s cavern,’ Meru whispered, his voice hushed.
Zoella continued to peer about her. The machines were arranged around the circular edge of the cavern, except for in one area where a vast pair of doors could be made out. In the centre a series of glass partitions rose in multiple levels. Zoella followed as the crew moved across to it.
Within was a large central table, with a glossy black finish, around it were chairs made of some strange coloured material she didn’t recognise.
‘Let’s hope he remembers us,’ Coran said.
‘Where is this Caesar you were speaking about?’ Zoella asked.
Coran tapped a finger on the table top. ‘Here …’
A musical tone sounded and a picture of a hand appeared before him. Zoella gasped in surprise.
‘Identify for palm print identification please.’
The voice had come from with the table. It was male, with a soft yet peculiar timbre.
Zoella watched as Coran placed his hand on the image, matching his fingers and thumbs to it. The image glowed for a brief moment around Coran’s hand.
‘Identification confirmed. Welcome, Coran, captain of the Mobilis.’
‘Hello Caesar,’ Coran replied. ‘Do you remember us from last time?’
‘Details of our last encounter have been stored in memory as a permanent record, along with those of your companions Mel, Fitch and Meru. Sensors detect two additional individuals whose identity is unknown. Please state your names, ranks and designations, if available.’
‘I don’t like the way he can tell who’s about,’ Fitch grumbled.
‘Their names are Zoella and Ren,’ Mel said, ignoring him.
‘Welcome Zoella and Ren,’ Caesar said. ‘Please speak for identification purposes.’
Ren pushed forward. ‘I’m Ren. What do you want me to say?’
‘That single sentence is sufficient. Your voice pattern indicates you are a child, is this correct?’
‘It is,’ Mel said with a grin and then looked over at Zoella.
‘I am Zoella,’ she said. ‘I don’t have a rank or a des … desig …’
‘Rank and designations are optional parameters,’ Caesar replied. ‘Identities have been recorded and stored. You have been granted read-only access to monitoring systems alongside your companions. Would you like a status report?’
Zoella looked at the rest of them.
‘I don’t understand what it’s saying.’
Fitch laughed. ‘Join the troop, sister.’
Coran smiled at her. ‘Neither do we most of the time. Caesar, a status report would be welcome, thank you.’
A spinning circle appeared on the table, turning from red to green.
‘Manysensorsfeedsremainunavailable.Uplinksremain unresponsive. Diagnosis has been unable to determine the precise cause.’
Text began to appear on the table. Zoella stared in surprise.
‘How does …?’
Facility status summary: Poor.
Power: Poor. 23% of Magnetic Induction Panels remain operative.
Comms links: Failed. Not responding, no data.
Satellite links: Poor. One Lagrange point facility remains operating.
Obelisk status: Failed. Not responding, no data.
Internal integrity: Good. Minor atmospheric leakage detected.
Hangar assets: One class six personnel shuttle lost. Telemetry at point of loss indicated catastrophic airframe damage. All other vehicles serviced according to schedule.
Terraforming Status summary: Warning!
Atmospheric Pressure: Good. 950 millibars.
O2 Mix: Good. 22%.
Pollution: Excellent. No harmful oxides or excess carbon detected.
Humidity: Good. Average 55%.
Magnetic field strength: Critical! 14 Microtesla and falling. Atmospheric loss due to solar wind erosion in progress, check Obelisk status.
Zoella’s eyes widened as she read the display. Meru nodded.
‘The Obelisk!’ he whispered. Caesar continued.
Astrometric Condition Status summary: Critical!
Orbital eccentricity: Good. No anomalies.
Semi-major axis: Good. No anomalies.
Solar output: Critical! 790 W/m2. Fluctuating due to ongoing flare activity.
Ultraviolet flux: Critical! Fluctuating on high frequency band between 110 and 315 nm.
Flare activity: Critical! Solar cycle now at maximum. Flares are likely at any time with radiation peaking in infrared, ultraviolet, microwave and x-ray frequencies.
Status report ends.
‘Flares likely at any time,’ Fitch grumbled. ‘He’s got that right.’
Zoella pushed past him.
‘The Obelisk,’ she said. ‘What is it? Where is it?’
The display of text faded out and was replaced by a vast map which was overlaid with markers pointing to specific places. She recognised some of them. Viresia was marked, as was Nireus. She could also see Daine.
Caesar spoke once more.
‘The Obelisk is a magnetic field booster positioned at co-ordinates zero zero, the substellar pole of Esurio. Its purpose is to supplement Esurio’s latent magnetic field and prevent atmospheric erosion by Lacaille’s solar wind. It has a secondary function of providing electrical power distribution across Esurio. It has a tertiary function as a communications relay for administrative purposes.’
The map moved. Viresia, Daine and Nireus moved upwards and another large continent was revealed below. A flashing cross hair appeared in the midst of a bright coloured area of the map.
‘The Obelisk is located here,’ Caesar said. ‘Obelisk status is marked as failed. There has been no data connection with those systems for three hundred rounds, seventeen stretches and four chimes.’
‘Far to the sunward,’ Meru said. ‘A really long way sunward.’
‘Way off the map,’ Coran agreed. ‘The substellar pole, what does that mean?’
‘The substellar pole is the location upon the surface of Esurio whereby Lacaille is positioned directly overhead from the perspective of the observer,’ Caesar replied.
Zoella’s eyes widened. ‘That’s what I saw!’ she exclaimed. ‘Lacaille, overhead and a great wall of cloud.’
‘Please specify your observations,’ Caesar requested.
Zoella looked around at the rest of them. Coran shrugged and indicated she should continue.
‘I had a dream,’ Zoella said. ‘I saw a tower, made of metal, reaching high into the sky. Around it was a huge wall of cloud …’
The map on the table disappeared and was replaced with a moving image. Zoella gasped as she saw in exquisite detail the images she had seen in her vision. The others gathered around to look. The table was displaying a view of a vast metal edifice, reaching high into the sky. A vast swirl of cloud rose behind it, moving as they watched.
‘That’s it …’ she whispered. ‘Just like in my dream.’
‘This is the last library stored visual record from the Obelisk site observation cameras taken before the communications failed,’ Caesar said. ‘The cloud is the internal structure of the substellar vortex.’
‘Vortex?’ Meru echoed.
‘Satellite imagery will aid understanding,’ Caesar said. The image on the table changed, the map being overlaid with streams of white and grey. ‘This is a live feed of cloud cover on Esurio. The vortex is a permanent storm condition that persists around the substellar pole of Esurio.’
Over the familiar continent of Voren they could all see wispy traceries of cloud, sweeping in bands across the land. The further sunward they looked the more twisted and complex the cloud became, sweeping inwards into a gigantic angry looking spiral. The spiral was centr
ed on the position of the Obelisk. They could just make out a small clear area right at the heart.
‘It looks like an eye,’ Zoella said.
As she said the words the image enlarged, centring on that location in a series of snap movements. They could see a circular area free from cloud and a metal structure at the very centre.
‘This is the maximum resolution available,’ Caesar reported.
‘What you saw is real then,’ Coran said.
‘Never doubt Zoella’s dreams,’ Meru added. ‘They come true, every time.’
‘Query,’ Caesar said. ‘Zoella, how often to you receive such dreams or visions?’
Zoella shrugged. ‘I don’t know, maybe twice a round or so. Why?’
‘Have these visions contained warnings?’ Caesar continued.
Zoella was conscious of everyone looking at her.
‘Yes. In the last one I felt compelled to go to the Obelisk,’ Zoella answered. ‘And that bad things would happen if I didn’t …’
‘Why are you asking?’ Meru demanded of Caesar.
There was an uncharacteristic pause before Caesar answered.
‘This unit is programmed to assimilate any additional sources of data in case of the failure of primary data feeds.’
Zoella looked at Meru and then whispered. ‘What does it mean?’
‘No idea,’ he said.
‘All very interesting,’ Fitch interrupted. ‘But not why we’re here. You going to ask it about your plan?’
Coran nodded. ‘Caesar, we need your help.’
‘Please specify request.’
‘We need to borrow your machines.’
‘Please specify which machines and for what purpose.’
Coran shrugged.
‘What machines are available?’
On the table, text appeared once more. A list as Coran had requested.
Facility asset summary:
3x Class 6 Personnel shuttles.
4x Class 7 Surface reconnaissance vehicles.
2x Class 7 Mining vehicles
2x Class 3 Personnel transports
1x Class 3 Medical transport
1x Class 2 Equipment transport
‘We need all of them,’ Coran said.
‘Please specify purpose,’ Caesar replied.
Coran sighed, looking around at the rest of the crew.
‘You’ll have to tell him what’s happening,’ Mel said.
‘Caesar,’ Coran said. ‘We need help in defending our island against an invading force.’
‘Specify the nature of the invading force,’ Caesar replied.
‘A bunch of psychotic women with magic powers are hell bent on murdering us,’ Fitch said.
‘Please elucidate the scenario,’ Caesar said. ‘Magic does not exist, it is a pre-technological explanation for sleight of hand tricks or complex phenomena …’
‘Fitch,’ Coran snapped. ‘You’re not helping …’
‘The people of Drayden wish to destroy us,’ Mel said. ‘They intend to attack our island of Amar.’
In a moment the map was back with two locations highlighted. The crew could see the markers over the island of Amar and the city of Daine.
‘What is the motivation for the attack?’ Caesar asked.
‘The priestesses of Drayden believe that Lacaille is a goddess,’ Meru said. ‘And that Lacaille has ordered them to destroy us. They believe that will prevent the flares.’
‘That is an incorrect premise,’ Caesar replied. ‘Lacaille is an M2V class red dwarf, not a deity. Sacrifice of life will have no effect on future flare events. They should be advised of their flawed reasoning.’
Fitch laughed. ‘Yeah, why didn’t we think of that?’
‘We can’t reason with them, Caesar,’ Meru insisted. ‘We’ve tried. I will try again, but we need to be able to defend ourselves regardless.’
‘You intend to use the hangar assets to defend the island of Amar from attack by the people of Drayden?’
Meru looked at Coran who nodded.
‘Yes,’ Meru said. ‘The priestesses have trained dachs, flying creatures, to help them. We’ve got to be able to counter that.’
‘This unit is an automated diagnostic, forensic, reference simulation and decision making aid, providing terraforming support to the colonists of Esurio. It is not a tactical or strategic military decision making aid. Conflict between Esurio colonists is strictly prohibited by original statute and is not permissible.’
‘Caesar, these priestesses don’t care about your statutes,’ Meru said.
‘This unit is not programmed for offensive or defensive duties. The hangar assets will be ineffective in warfare as they do not carry any weaponry.’
‘You won’t help us?’ Mel asked. ‘But we will be wiped out. Surely that isn’t permissible either?’
‘Conflict should be averted by mediation,’ Caesar replied.
‘We have tried that,’ Coran said. ‘They are intent on destroying us.’
‘This unit cannot permit a violation of statute,’ Caesar replied. ‘Hangar assets cannot be used for military purposes without override from an administrator.’
‘We’re scorched then,’ Fitch said. ‘Told you it would be a waste of time coming here.’
‘Administrator?’ Coran snapped. ‘Caesar, the people you served have been dead for hundreds of rounds, there are none of these administrators left. You have to help us! Let us use the machines to defend our home!’
‘This is an incorrect assertion,’ Caesar answered, his voice as flat and toneless as ever.
Mel frowned, trying to follow the conversation. ‘Which bit?’
‘Coran stated that there are no administrators left,’ Caesar replied. ‘This is an incorrect assertion.’
The crew looked at each other in surprise.
‘I don’t understand,’ Coran said.
‘There are administrators,’ Caesar replied. ‘You have one in your company.’
The crew looked around at each other.
‘Who?’
Caesar’s answer was immediate. ‘The individual designated as Zoella is an administrator.’
The crew looked around at Zoella. She looked bewildered.
‘I’m not an … whatever it was!’
‘Incorrect,’ Caesar replied. ‘Your bio scan indicates you have the signature nano-infusion which is the mark of an administrator.’
‘Nano-infusion? What is nano-infusion?’ Meru asked.
‘Not now, Meru,’ Coran interrupted. ‘Caesar, can Zoella command you to allow us to use the machines in this hangar?’
There was another pause.
‘That is affirmative,’ Caesar replied.
Coran looked at Zoella and gestured to her.
‘I’m not …’
‘Zoella, we need this, you know we do,’ Mel pleaded. ‘If we’re to have a chance of stopping the priestesses. We’ve come all this way …’
Zoella swallowed and nodded.
‘How do I … ?’
‘You must request hangar asset override against current policy,’ Caesar replied.
Zoella looked at Coran, Mel and Meru. Ren gave her an encouraging push from behind.
‘Go on, do it!’
Zoella stood before the table.
‘I request hangar asset … override …’ she stuttered, trying to remember the words. ‘Against current policy.’
‘Identify for palm print identification, please.’
The table was dark now, other than the glowing outline of a hand print. Zoella placed her hand on it and it grew brighter.
‘Identity verified. Nano-infusion levels confirmed. Administrative access granted and override confirmed. Zoella, you are now a level two administrator. Hangar assets are at your disposal.’
‘Now what?’ Zoella asked.
‘I can fly one of the machines,’ Meru said. ‘But the others …’
‘All hangar assets have autonomous piloting and navigation capability,’ Caesar replied. The
y can be given rendezvous coordinates or follow a designated target. For travel overseas the ground units can be carried aboard the personnel transports. Would you like all hangar assets prepped for immediate roll out?’
Zoella nodded. ‘Yes. Prepare the … the hangar assets.’
‘Instructions confirmed,’ Caesar said. ‘All hangar assets will be prepared immediately.’
Coran grinned at her. ‘Well done! Now, let’s get moving. We need to get all of this stuff back to Amar. There’s work to do.’
The crew were ready to move when Caesar spoke again.
‘Query,’ he said. ‘Administrator Zoella, are you able to contact the Obelisk?’
Zoella shook her head. ‘I don’t understand. Contact it? How?’
‘All administrators have access to multiple facilities via mesh communication and remote telemetry. Are you able to contact the Obelisk?’
Fitch laughed again.
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Zoella said. ‘I dreamt about it, saw it, is that what you mean?’
‘Did the Obelisk provide any instructions?’ Caesar demanded.
‘Tell him what you saw in your dream,’ Meru said. ‘It’s got to be important. Tell him!’
‘Please provide all pertinent details,’ Caesar said.
‘It was asking me to come to it,’ Zoella explained. ‘In my dream something was going wrong, there was heat, a fierce blue light that came from Lacaille. Animals and people died from burns and ran screaming as they were consumed … it was horrible …’
‘What does it mean, Caesar?’ Coran asked.
Again there was a pause.
‘Your testimony matches current data,’ Caesar replied. ‘The Obelisk is a magnetic field booster positioned at co-ordinates zero zero, the substellar pole of Esurio. Its purpose is to supplement Esurio’s latent magnetic field and prevent atmospheric erosion by Lacaille’s solar wind. There is no direct data feed from the Obelisk. Your testimony confirms observations of reducing magnetic field strength and associated fluctuations.’
Zoella and Meru looked at each other and then spoke at once.
