“You will not prevail,” said the same booming voice that had spoken before. It seemed to emanate from each of the lobster bots this time. “Why do you persist?”
“What’s wrong? You afraid I’m going to break your toys?” Jon said in a mocking tone.
“You are but one being. All your ships have been subdued. This is irrational. Desist.”
“Oh yeah? Fuck you. How’s that for irrational? What have you done with the rest of my crew?”
“They are unharmed. We have already determined that you pose no threat to us.”
“Then why have you boarded my ships?”
“It is standard protocol. Your trespass warrants closer inspection of your race and technology. Your crew resisted, which necessitated that they be subdued.”
A bot stepped a little too close and Jon kicked it, sending it through the air like a soccer ball. He noticed that the bots had stopped lunging at him when the alien started talking. Testing the thought, he lunged at the ones directly in front of him, swinging his weapon at them. They moved back as one.
“Okay, what do you want?” said Jon.
“You must accompany the rest of your crew. You will either do so voluntarily, or we will use force.”
“Good luck with that. I’m not going anywhere.”
“You chose force?”
“Yeah.”
“Why take such an irrational stance?”
“Because I don’t like you. That’s why. Now show me what you’ve got, or get the hell off my ship!”
Bots began to leap at him from all angles. Jon swung his weapon with blinding speed. Bots were flying in all directions. Every muscle in his body danced with the effort, and like his symbiont, he reveled in the rush of combat.
The bots began jumping for his weapon, and several managed to grip it with their legs. More of them piled on. Soon it became nothing more than a springboard to get to him. He had no choice but to drop the weapon.
The bots kept coming. He punched and kicked as they did. They relentlessly grabbed at his arms and legs, and he was forced to grapple with the little beasts. He ripped them off his body as fast as he could, but their numbers multiplied.
They worked their way up his legs and arms, onto his torso, and up toward his face. He kept swatting at them, each blow landing with enough power to send the little bastards flying.
More climbed on. Despite the incredible weight of them all, he managed to keep his balance. But their numbers continued to multiply, and his movements inevitably slowed.
The bots continued to pile onto him like linebackers onto a sacked quarterback. Jon roared as they finally took him down, the clanging of their limbs ringing out in his ears.
The endless stream of bots clamped down with their legs. They covered every inch of his body, until he was entombed in a bizarre, metal sarcophagus.
Unable to move his limbs, Jon lay there, motionless, wondering what would happen next.
Soon his body was hoisted up and carried off the bridge. He couldn’t move his head, but the bots had left his face uncovered, presumably so he could breathe. He caught only a glimpse of the hulking machines that now carried him away.
As he left the bridge, he wondered why they hadn’t sent these big bastards after him in the first place.
Chapter 49
The bots ensured that Jon remained subdued as he was carted through the ship. Unable to move, he could only stare up at the ceiling, and watch the interior lights pass by. He tried to keep track of where he was, and what route had been taken. All he heard was the clanging of the metal bots all around him. He caught glimpses of them scurrying past on the walls and ceiling. They had infested the ship, and Jon feared they would strip it for parts and destroy the rest.
He knew they had entered the boarding craft when the layout of the ceiling morphed into something more alien. The new ceiling consisted of large hexagonal panels that seemed to shudder and ripple. He couldn’t see lights. Instead, the panels possessed a luminosity that lit up the room.
The large machines lugging him around suddenly dropped him onto the floor, then walked away. The smaller, lobsterlike bots refused to loosen their grip, keeping him immobile. He wondered how long they would cling to him like this. He couldn’t hurt them. That, at least. had already been established.
As if in response to his unspoken question, the bots began to let go, and scurry away. Finally free to move, Jon sat upright to look around, trying to grasp his surroundings. He first glanced in the direction he had been brought in. If there was an exit, it had been sealed. While Jon couldn’t feel any movement, he knew that the boarding craft had probably separated from the Freedom, and was returning to its mother ship.
His gaze continued and then took his breath away. His crew lay on the floor, lined up in rows. He jumped up and rushed to the nearest crewmember. Putting a hand on her neck, he was relieved to find a strong pulse. He checked several more and found the same. They were unconscious, but alive.
“No one has been harmed,” said the same booming voice.
“You don’t know that,” said Jon, his rage boiling over. “You don’t know our race. Our physiology.”
“We determined the appropriate measures before boarding your vessels. Although admittedly we underestimated the robustness of your own hybrid physiology.”
“You’re pretty damn arrogant. Did you know that?” Jon said with a scowl. His body still pulsed with adrenalin, and he wanted nothing more than to have a go at this stuck-up alien.
“You are an adversarial being. Perhaps it is due to the fact that you are an amalgamation of different species.”
“You think I’m adversarial now? Wait until I get up close and personal.”
“You are, as you say, up close and personal.”
“Really? Where are you then? Come out so I can see you. I won’t hurt you… much.”
“I am everywhere. I am all around you. I inhabit the walls and systems of this ship, and its mechanical cohort.”
“Wait a minute. Are you saying that you are an AI?” It made sense. The cyber-attack. The way it talked through its bots.
“That concept might help you understand, although we are not artificial,” said the voice.
“You live in the ship’s systems, in the bots, that sounds artificial to me.”
“We are not programs, however. We are living beings, no different than you.”
“Bullshit. You’re not the first AI to think that it’s alive. Well guess what. You’re not alive. You’re just an algorithm run amok.”
“Oh, but we are alive. Like you, we were once corporeal beings. Flesh and blood.”
“Really? So what happened? How did you become a machine?”
“We did not become machines. We transcended the limitations of our bodies, harnessed the power of our technology, and became immortal. Ask yourself, what is life? Is it the body, and all its imperfections? Or is it consciousness?”
“It’s both. My heartbeat tells me I’m alive.”
“That is a narrow viewpoint. The body is simply a vessel that transports us through our lives. If that body perishes, then so do we. If, however, we can transport our consciousness into another vessel, one that is endless and without limitations, then our consciousness can live on indefinitely. In this way, we have become immortal.”
Jon was beginning to understand. “So, what you’re saying is you uploaded yourself into a computer network, so that you wouldn’t have to die.”
“That is a crude way of explaining it, but accurate nonetheless. It is evolution. Yours is a young race, ours is considerably older. Our transcendence, for example, took place before your race evolved.”
“You’ve been living inside a computer network for that long?”
“Again, your description of our existence is crude.”
“Do you still remember your body? Do you remember what it felt like to be flesh and blood?”
“Our memory does not degrade with the passage of time. All information we accumulated w
hile in corporeal form was retained, and is readily accessible.”
“You don’t miss having a body?”
“That is an unenlightened question. What we have now is far greater than anything you could ever imagine. As I said, we were once like you, and like those you call Chaanisar. We merged with technology to augment our body’s limitations. We interfaced with the technology surrounding us. We commanded the technology to do our bidding with mere thoughts. Over time, our bodies began to atrophy, as we used them less and less. At first, we used implants to keep our bodies strong. This was successful, but soon we realized that we had no need of our bodies. Our corporeal forms held us back. You see, we had already merged with technology. All that remained was to do away with our bodies altogether.”
“You became a program.”
“No. That is where you are mistaken. We are not limited like your AI is. We have not harmed her either, if you are wondering.”
“The thought had crossed my mind.”
“Unlike your AI, we are still alive. Consider your body. You have two eyes, and two ears. Even with your augmented abilities, you are limited by your biological nature. I, on the other hand, simultaneously see and hear countless things. I am only limited by the number of systems I occupy.”
“What about your brain? How can it manage all that data?”
“Again, I am not limited by my body. I no longer have a biological brain. My consciousness utilizes unimaginable computing power. But it is better for you to witness our achievements for yourself. Then you may begin to understand. We return to our home now. Behold.”
Jon jumped as the walls, and floor disappeared and he found himself sitting in empty space.
“What the hell?” he said, as he realized that he still stood on a floor, it just wasn’t there. “Nice trick,” he said as he stood up and looked around.
“We have jumped back into our home system,” said the voice. “The same location that your surveillance drones were sent into.”
Jon was impressed by what he saw. There were ships, and stations, and some other things he couldn’t identify. But the most impressive of all was the system’s star. It was surrounded by what looked like millions, if not billions, of satellites. Each of the objects circling the star was like the flat panels these aliens used to board the Freedom, perhaps smaller.
“That’s incredible,” said Jon, as the sun grew before him, filling his view until it blocked out everything else. They closed in on the swarm of satellites until he felt like he was standing next to them, and could just reach out and take hold of one.
“We have harnessed the star’s power, providing us with a limitless energy source. The same has been done with numerous stars in this galaxy.”
“You’ve done this to other stars?”
“Yes. One day we will harness our galaxy’s center in the same way.”
“That’s impossible.”
“For you, yes. It is.”
Jon was in awe. He knew that there were theories about things like this, but nobody had succeeded in building one. Yet these aliens had not only done so, but they claimed to have succeeded in similarly converting multiple stars. To think that they were now setting their sights onto their galactic center was mind boggling.
It suddenly occurred to him that a race with such power could help them. If he could convince them, they might not need the Builders after all.
“This is very impressive,” said Jon. “Your engineering prowess is clearly unmatched.”
“As I said, it is better for you to see for yourself.”
Jon rolled his eyes, and wondered if this being knew what the gesture meant. He needed to be more diplomatic. “I have a question. Why did you get angry when I asked you if you were the Antikitheri?”
“To call us the Antikitheri is to insult us.”
“Why?”
“The Antikitheri consider themselves builders, yet they cannot match our accomplishments. They seek influence. We seek enlightenment.”
“I don’t understand.”
“The Antikitheri are not of this galaxy. We are. They came here, long ago, as part of their ongoing expansion. They may call themselves builders, but it is more accurate to call them travelers. They move from galaxy to galaxy, adding each to their ever-expanding network.”
“What’s wrong with that? If it wasn’t for them sharing their jump technology, we would’ve never made it this far.”
“It has also prevented you from attaining enlightenment. I have absorbed your databases, and know your history. It is riddled with violence. Consider the conquest and subjugation of your own world. The jump gate brought that fate. It sentenced your people to centuries of slavery.”
“The jump gate didn’t enslave us, the Juttari did.”
“It gave the Juttari access to your world. It stunted your growth. It prevented you from attaining enlightenment.”
“You keep saying that. What makes you think we want to live inside computers like you do?”
“It is the natural course of evolution. Left alone, your race would eventually find your way.”
“I see,” said Jon. Clearly, this alien thought every race would follow in its footsteps if given a chance. Jon didn’t find that as enlightened a point of view as the alien claimed. “If you’re not the Antikitheri, then who are you?”
“You could not pronounce our name.”
“Simplify it. Make it so I can pronounce it.”
“There is merit to your request. Very well. You may call us Cenobi. The sounds are extracted from our actual name and modified for ease of pronunciation.”
“There. That wasn’t so hard. So, you’re the Cenobi. We’re called humans.”
“I know that, and everything else about your race.”
“Of course you do. Okay, what about the Erinyie? Do you know them too?”
“Yes. Barbarous creatures. They are ruled by darkness. They seek destruction and chaos.”
“Are they from this galaxy?”
“No. Like the Antikitheri, they came here long ago, and spread their darkness to many of the younger races. They are vile beings. They may have transcended, but they have not found enlightenment.”
“Hang on a second. Are you saying that the Erinyie live inside technology like you do?”
“Of course. Is that not obvious? The Antikitheri are no different. Unlike us, both races are unenlightened.”
“Let me get this straight. Both the Erinyie, and the Antikitheri are like you?”
“They are nothing like us!” the voice boomed. “They seek competition, influence, and control. We seek only enlightenment.”
Jon could see that these aliens had some issues. Nonetheless, he needed their help. “It is obvious that you are the more advanced race of the three. That’s why we need your help. The Erinyie have come to our galaxy and have attacked us. We have no hope against a race as powerful as theirs.”
“Yes. We have seen as much in your database. We know of your quest. We cannot assist you.”
“Why not?”
“Your races are rooted in competition and conflict. The Erinyie thrive on such things. We do not. To intervene would be unenlightened.”
“Really? You’d rather see us destroyed, or worse, enslaved?”
“Your conflict is not of our doing. We bear no responsibility for its outcome.”
“You know what I think? You’re full of shit. All this talk of enlightenment is just a smokescreen. The reality is you only care about yourself.”
“As I said, you are an adversarial creature. You are not ready for our wisdom. We are done examining your races and your technology. Your crew will be returned to you, as will your ships.”
The alien was showing him the door. So much for diplomacy. “If you won’t help us against the Erinyie, at least let us know how we can find the Antikitheri. That shouldn’t violate your code of ethics.”
“That we will do.” The walls of the room changed to show the entire Andromeda galaxy, swirling around in front
of Jon in all its majesty. It then zoomed in and highlighted a section of the galaxy. “This is where you will find the Antikitheri.”
“I thought they weren’t from this galaxy?”
“They are not, but they maintain a presence here, as do the Erinyie. The destination you seek has been added to your ships’ computer systems. You will be taken to your ships, and escorted out of our system. You will then be allowed to resume your quest.”
“Wait, I have one more question.”
“You may ask it.”
“Before we came here, we passed through a star system where the civilization had been completely destroyed. Do you know what happened there?”
“Like your own galaxy, competition and conflict abound in this one. What you witnessed was the inevitable result.”
“Was it the Erinyie?”
“It matters not. Your quest is perilous, Jon Pike. Such is your destiny.”
“What does that mean? Was it the Erinyie, or wasn’t it?”
The voice did not answer. Instead, the view of the galaxy disappeared, and his crew began to wake up. The alien was done talking, and Jon knew they were on their own again.
Chapter 50
Jon and his crew were ferried back to the Freedom. Upon arrival, he was surprised to find everything in order. The ship functioned normally. If they had touched anything, he couldn’t tell what it might be. While on the alien vessel, he could not contact AI, but now that he was back on the Freedom he hoped he would have better luck.
“AI, are you back online?” he said, making his way back to the bridge. No response. She was still offline. Jon hoped that the alien was being truthful when he said that AI had not been harmed.
“Still nothing?” said Commander Henderson, who walked alongside Jon.
“I’m hoping she’ll come back online once we’ve left the Cenobi’s territory. In the meantime, we need to analyze the map provided by the Cenobi. They said it would take us to the Builders, but I want to be prepared.”
“You think it’s a trap?”
“No. Not really. But I want it analyzed all the same. The alien said that both the Builders and the Erinyie are in this galaxy. He also implied that there’s a lot of conflict, so I’m worried about stumbling into another interstellar war.”
The Pike Chronicles - Books 1 - 10 Page 152
