OMEGA Destiny

by Stephen Arseneault

Jack looked over at Go. "If you want to go, fine. But you are taking him with you. And, Go, you stay blinked out the entire time. If I see anything I don't like, I'm sweeping you both back."

  I nodded. "Fair enough."

  Jack mumbled to himself as he set the coordinates. Seconds later, I was drifting just above the deck of the Baldi Command Center.

  I blinked in, coming to rest on the floor beside the admiral. His reaction was one of confusion and shock.

  I said, "Sorry to do it this way, Admiral. We really do need to be working together."

  Four guards pulled their weapons and scrambled to secure the admiral. I stood peacefully with my hands clasped behind my back.

  When the commotion had settled, the admiral said, "How is that possible? Are you a projection? A holo-image?"

  I shook my head. "I can assure you, Admiral, I am here in the flesh. We have technology that allows this. And I didn't come here with any threats. I came here to offer peace between us. The AI are our common enemy."

  The admiral stood for several seconds in silence. "If you have such technologies, why do you need the help of the Baldi?"

  I replied, "Because we can't be everywhere at once. We would be willing to assist in any way we can in the space surrounding your empire. If the AI are spotted, we can be there to destroy them in minutes or seconds—if we are notified. And we ask nothing in return but friendly relations."

  "And how is it we are supposed to summon you?"

  I said, "Just ask the commander to call for us. We will be listening."

  The admiral returned a suspicious look. "And how do we know this isn't just a pretext for an invasion?"

  I shook my head. "You don't. But keep this in mind: with our technology, we could invade at any time. If that was our desire, I wouldn't be standing here before you today."

  Jack came over my helmet comm. "Scan just picked up twenty-eight hundred AIs about four days travel from here. They are headed toward Baldi space."

  I replied, "Send me the data."

  I held up my arm pad displaying a holo-image of the AI fleet. "We just located the AI fleet that was probably responsible for the attack on your scout ships. They are three days from the Dekota system, heading in your direction."

  The admiral stared at the image for several seconds. "Commander Poad, you will want to join forces with Battlegroup Seven. There is a very large fleet coming your direction from Dekota."

  The commander said, "Admiral, we have over five hundred ships here."

  The admiral nodded as he continued to look at my holo-display. "You will need ten times that amount, Commander. The AIs are coming in force."

  I pursed my lips. "We've seen much larger fleets, Admiral. At one point the AIs had a hundred thousand such ships in our space. We've only destroyed ten or fifteen thousand. We believe the rest have come out here to hide."

  The admiral took a deep breath. "A hundred thousand? With that number of ships, they don't need to hide. We couldn't possibly defend against such a fleet."

  "All the more reason to accept our offer of help. We can defend our space, but we can't defend everywhere."

  I spoke into my comm. "Jack, can you do a deep scan of that fleet? I want to know if they have the missing Baldi ship."

  Jack replied, "Give me three minutes."

  The admiral stepped closer to my display. "If we were on friendly terms, what technologies might you be willing to share, Mr. Beutcher?"

  I said, "I see you have your own form of holo-display. And you obviously have a comm that stretches for long distances. We cannot share our portal tech directly, but if friendly terms were established, a gate could be placed on one of your worlds for diplomatic purposes. All of our colonies have such gates, although their secrets are closely held. As you can imagine, it is a resource that could be easily abused in the wrong hands. It took us months to get it away from the AI."

  The admiral returned a stunned look. "The AI had portals?"

  I nodded. "One of our Humans figured out how to defeat the safeties built into each gate. He took one from a colony and turned it into his personal war portal. When the AIs showed up, they stole several more. We only destroyed the last of them a few months ago. Without the portal, the AI were readily defeated."

  The admiral frowned. "You say there may be close to a hundred thousand of them out there. We've never known the AI to run when in number. Even a dozen ships will fight on against a thousand of ours. What you have described is an unusual behavior for them."

  "My bigger worry is that they went into hiding to multiply their numbers. And my people, the Grunta, are one of the colonies that is most exposed."

  Jack pushed the new data to my holo-display. "I'm getting some unusual sensor readings from inside one of them. I can't be certain, but I believe they have one of the Baldi ships. The docking bay looks large enough to hold it."

  Go said, "If you want to take the chance and sweep me there, I could verify this."

  The admiral grimaced. "If they are able to steal our projection technology, we are doomed."

  I said, "If we can catch their fleet and destroy them all before they interact with any others, those stolen secrets will remain secret."

  Jack added, "I show the signatures of about five hundred bots in that docking bay. They may be ripping that thing apart as we speak."

  I replied, "Send Go to the Baldi ship. And, Go, don't do anything other than observe. If they haven't penetrated the hull, we can destroy it before they discover anything."

  The admiral asked, "And what of our crew? What if they are still aboard?"

  I said, "Jack, when Go gets in there, if the Baldi crew is still aboard, sweep them back here."

  Jack replied, "Will do. Go, stand to his left... initializing."

  Seconds later, Go was hovering just above the deck of the battlecruiser docking bay. The smaller Baldi ship was aboard, and slightly damaged. A section of the rear quarter of the ship was visible. The AI bots were crawling about, trying to unlock the secrets of the remainder of the hull.

  Go powered aboard and onto the bridge. "They are here and alive. I count seven crewmen."

  The admiral frowned. "Those ships normally have a crew of eight."

  Jack looked over the video feed coming back from Go. "They are all seated. I can sweep that whole bridge into our bay."

  I said, "Hold off until we find the other crewman."

  Go powered toward the front of the ship. "I'll check the area for him."

  Jack said, "Don't bother. They have him in a room on the third deck. Knog, watch the space right behind you. He'll be showing up there in a few seconds."

  I held out my arms in an attempt to keep the open area clear. A portal window opened and swept over the captured Baldi's position. A bot came through standing over him. The Baldi reacted, but lowered their weapons when the portal closed and the bot fell silent.

  I winced. "Admiral, looks like they worked him over. You might want to get him to your medical facilities as soon as possible."

  The admiral yelled and two junior officers sprinted out the door as a third leaned in to offer immediate assistance.

  Jack said, "Sweeping the bridge to our bay... complete. Admiral, I've opened a comm feed to your crew. You can talk to them directly."

  The admiral cleared his throat. "This is Admiral Miratti. Hold your weapons. We are bringing you home with the help of the Humans."

  Go said, "We have a problem. Whatever tech the Baldi had shut down when we pulled that bridge out. The AI bots are tearing into that ship."

  I said, "Proceed to a generator. Take out that battlecruiser. We'll evaluate whether or not we need to do more once you are finished."

  Go nodded. "Give me about fifteen seconds."

  We watched on the video feed as Go powered through several bulkheads, stopping in front of an ion generator that powered half the ship. A quick blink in and out within the shielding surrounding the generator sent a powerful ion stream out through its side. As Go powered away, the camera v
iew turned bright white before flashing blue and then dimming to the blackness of space as the ship disintegrated.

  Go said, "That's a complete destruction. No need to revisit. Anytime you want to sweep me back, I'm fine with that."

  I shook my head. "Jack, hold up. Go, can you power aboard any of the other ships?"

  Go nodded. "I can. You still want an AI?"

  I half smiled. "Yes. We can find out where they are heading and if there are others."

  Go powered toward the closest battlecruiser. "Give me a few minutes."

  The admiral watched my video feed with amazement.

  Jack said, "I have seven crewmen coming your way. Four with the first sweep and three after that. Is the space there available?"

  I replied, "Just a second. They are moving the first crewman now … OK. Send them through."

  Two sweeps later, the Baldi crewmen were home.

  The admiral stepped closer, holding out his open hand with his two middle fingers spread. I looked down at it, not knowing their customs.

  The admiral said, "Open your hand and separate your middle fingers. It's a 'thank you' and 'you’re welcome' gesture among the Baldi."

  The gesture was exchanged.

  Go powered into the next closest AI ship. The inhibitor signal was broadcast and the AI closest to him stopped transmitting to its bots. Once removed from its holding socket, Go signaled for a sweep back to the Garmon. The captured AI was quickly placed in an isolation chamber.

  I said to the admiral: "I'll call before coming next time. And I'll let you know what we find out from the AI as to their intentions and direction."

  The admiral bowed. "You will be welcomed on your next visit, Mr. Beutcher. I will pass all I have learned here today on to our Grand Committee for consideration."

  Jack swept me back to the bridge of the Garmon.

  As I walked toward the AI and the docking bay, Jack said, "I hope this Committee of theirs isn't as stubborn as your Council."

  I replied, "We can only hope."

  Chapter 5

  * * *

  The interrogation of the AI proved a bust. Its memories had been wiped clean. Go speculated it had been modified to scrub itself should it be removed from the socket. Quan verified the speculation.

  Go remarked, "Well, we don't have the AI memories we wanted, but I did leave a tag on that ship. Wherever it goes, we will know."

  We sat in the Dekota system, continuing to scan the surrounding area for further signs of the AI. In an instant, our QE comms all went dead.

  I said, "Sweep us back to Effica. Something must have happened."

  Jack nodded. Seconds later we were in high orbit around the planet.

  Lieutenant Jefferson said, "Sir, I'm picking up aftershocks from the surface. It looks as though there has been a massive quake."

  I asked, "Would that have affected our tags?"

  Quan replied, "I have no connection to our bunker. It is possible the quake damaged that room. We can verify that event with a deep scan."

  I turned to Jack. "Give us a scan."

  Jack nodded, "I just performed a portal scan and there is no longer an open space at that depth. I think Quan may be right. If that bunker collapsed, we just lost all our tags... permanently."

  Go half frowned. "We can always replace them."

  Quan replied, "That will require one hundred forty-six additional tags. I will begin their creation."

  Go said, "If we put them back into another bunker, can we harden it this time?"

  Quan replied, "A natural hollow was selected so it would not show as unusual on a scan. If we harden the area surrounding the tags, we run an increased risk of their discovery."

  Go shrugged. "Who's going to be looking a kilometer under the surface of this planet? Just seems like an unnecessary precaution."

  Quan replied, "Perhaps we can identify a better location. A small hollow in a large piece of granite would suffice."

  Go said, "That's all I'm asking. How long before the tags are ready?"

  Quan replied, "The quantity required will take approximately twenty-eight hours."

  Jack powered through the atmosphere, setting the Garmon down at a newly constructed spaceport on Effica. Leaving Quan to work on the tags, I followed Jack and Go through the portal gates to Alpha Prime. Garrett met us at the gate for a transport back to the compound where Harden Salton was being held.

  As we walked into the entranceway of Joni and Garrett's apartment, I took note of Harden leaning back on a bed in a cell behind a gravity wall.

  Harden sat up with a sarcastic smile. "Mr. Beutcher … welcome to my home."

  Joni said, "He's actually been behaving himself. We've given him a dozen newsfeeds to follow and all of the fiction material he could ever want to read."

  Garrett laughed. "Don't let him fool you, though. He's miserable without something big and urgent to work on."

  Harden demanded, "Please, Mr. Beutcher, come and sit. Talk to me. Tell me about... anything."

  I gave Joni a hug and Garrett a slap on the shoulder before pulling a chair over beside the wall and taking a seat. "We just came from a meeting with the Baldi. It went well."

  Harden asked, "Any sightings of the AI?"

  I nodded. "We caught up to a fleet of twenty-eight hundred. They are heading for Baldi space."

  Harden pressed. "And?"

  I replied, "And the Baldi are preparing on their end. We'll be taking a force back in a few days. With a little patience, we should be able to destroy the fleet entirely. We tried to grab an AI, but they've gotten wise and its memory had been wiped."

  Harden sat back against the wall behind his bed. "Twenty-eight hundred. They must have a huge force hiding somewhere."

  Go jumped into the conversation. "We've scanned more than 15 percent of the galaxy."

  Harden leaned forward. "You know, Doomlight and some of those other worlds are right on the galaxy's edge. They may not be in and around those stars. They could be sitting right out there in the nothingness between."

  Go said, "We haven't gone that far."

  Harden offered a half grin. "You scanned Doomlight I assume. How far out from there did you reach?"

  I said, "We had a tag on Doomlight so we could monitor any activity in that system."

  Harden's grin turned to a frown. "I hope that wasn't what you were doing elsewhere."

  Go asked, "Why?"

  Harden sighed. "Because there is a lot of space between star systems. You aren't going to see them until they are only a couple hours away. They could be sitting in your space just waiting to pounce."

  Go scowled. "We've been monitoring it all pretty closely and there's been no sign of AIs."

  I opened a comm. "Quan? How much time would we have if an AI fleet approached one of those tags in the Yallux? I mean, how long would it take them to reach one of those planets from the time we detect them?"

  Quan replied, "Given the standard speed of the battlecruisers... two hours seven minutes."

  I rocked back in my chair. "Jack, I think we should return to the Garmon and start scanning the space in and around the Yallux planets."

  Jack nodded. "Yeah, the fact that he is the one to tell us that gives me an itchy feeling. If you want to stay, I can go and take care of that."

  Garrett walked over. "If you want, I'll give you a ride back to the gate and go with you for a while. We can hang out for a bit."

  Joni said, "Itching to get out of the house?"

  Garrett smiled. "Maybe a little."

  Joni nodded. "Don't be too long. I took out those borak steaks earlier. You said you wanted to fire up the ion grill... he makes a great steak."

  Go raised his hand. "I'll have his if he doesn't want it."

  Garrett opened the door to the front of the apartment. "I'll be back before then. Promise."

  I asked, "Where's your father?"

  Joni replied, "He's in a different cell on the back side of the house. It has a nice view of the hills out back. The two of them
do nothing but argue, so I had to separate them."

  Harden half smiled. "He blames me for his incarceration, even though he went along willingly. Seems very few are willing to accept responsibility for their actions anymore."

  I shook my head. "Like you had any intention of doing so yourself."

  "Tell me about the Baldi," said Harden.

  I said, "They are not unlike us. If I were to identify a strong character trait, I would say vigilant. It is almost as if they are consumed with eradicating the AI."

  Harden huffed. "We could use more of that here. Instead, we breed leaders to rule over the sheep. And those leaders are themselves nothing more than sheep. Our efforts to rebuild should first be aimed at destroying the AI. Until they are gone, we are all threatened."

  Harden again sat back against his wall. "I should like these Baldi."

  I said, "We just rescued eight of their crewmen from the AIs. I believe they can be counted among our friends now. If all goes well, I hope to install a portal gate on their home world so normal diplomatic relations can be established."

  Harden laughed. "And the conquest of the rest of the Yallux galaxy begins! You see, Mr. Beutcher, it is only our methods that differ. You have every intention of bringing them into the AMP, do you not?"

  I paused for a moment. "It would seem the wise thing to do."

  Harden pointed at Joni. "I can see why you chose him as a mentor. He's a big thinker like I am. He sees the benefit of E Pluribus Unum. It was an old Human saying that means 'From many, one.’ However, it seems to work better in principle than practice. You only have to look around our colonies to see this. Igari live among Igari, Grunta among Grunta. It seems the Humans are about the only ones who spread out among the others. Although, I believe that is mostly to assume positions of wealth and power."

  I said, "I've never had issue with living among others."

  Harden nodded. "Again, you and I are alike. We are all sentient beings, we all have our quirks, but you cannot erase or deny the fact that each of us has our own preferences, indeed our own prejudices. Those are traits possessed by every individual, some more than others. We all discriminate at some level."

  Quan interrupted our conversation. "Mr. Beutcher, you should return to the Garmon immediately. A scan through the newly installed portal gate at Mayanis has returned an AI signal. A deep scan is running now. I can't yet say how many ships are there."