“You think the same thing’s going on here, as back home.”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Shit. These aliens like to play the puppet masters, don’t they?”
“I’m afraid so.”
When they made it to the bridge Jon inspected his command console. The rest of the bridge crew slowly filed in looking bleary eyed and confused. But that would fade as they got back to work and muscle memory took over.
Jon opened a comm with the other ship commanders. One by one their faces appeared on Jon’s display. Now back on board their own vessels, they were preparing to depart. Jon explained what had happened and the details of his encounter with the alien.
“My experience was somewhat similar,” said Colonel Bast. “The alien communicated with me through my brain chip. It entered my brain chip in the same way AI does. I could feel it’s examination from the inside. It accessed my brain as if it were a computer. It viewed my memories like they were no more than another database. I was helpless against it.”
“This was all while you were unconscious?” said Jon.
“Yes, although I’m not sure I was unconscious. My body was paralyzed, and my eyes were shut, but my brain was completely aware of everything the alien did. Then he spoke to me.”
“What did he say?” Jon said with growing interest.
“He offered me enlightenment. He asked me to join his race, and add my consciousness to theirs.”
“He wanted you to give up your body?”
“Yes. He said they were once like the Chaanisar. That we were already on the road to enlightenment, and that he could speed things along.”
“What did you say?”
“I respectfully declined. I explained that my brain chip was the shackle, not my body, and that I had no interest in merging further with technology.”
“I had a similar experience,” said Colonel Steeg.
“The alien spoke to you too?” said Jon.
“Yes. He also asked me to join him. From what I can tell it was the same with the rest of my crew.”
“Did any of them agree?” said Jon, worried that some might be tempted by the offer.
“No. Not one. The aliens see our implants as a blessing, while we view them as a curse. The alien understood our view in the end, but still strove to convert us. Alas, the Chaanisar have suffered too much to ever be swayed by such an argument.”
Jon nodded. As much as he had grown to know the free Chaanisar, he would never dream of thinking he understood what it was like to be them.
“What about you, Tallos?” said Jon. “Did he make the same request of the Diakans?”
“He did not speak to me. I was quite unconscious,” said General Tallos.
“Jonas?”
“I too was subdued,” said Jonas. “This alien fights with no honor. Why anyone would want to join him and live inside machines is beyond my understanding.”
“He explained that due to our partial merger with technology, that it would be relatively easy to take the next step. Unlike the Chaanisar, none of you have brain chips,” said Colonel Steeg.
“Yes, but he seemed quite arrogant when I spoke with him. His race didn’t strike me as the type that would accept outsiders. Did he tell you why he wanted you to join them?”
“Yes. In merging with technology the way they have, the Cenobi lost the ability to reproduce.”
“Incredible. They’ve spent who knows how many thousands of years with a stagnant population. That’s got to get stale quick.”
“They lack diversity, and do not have any way of adding new life forms to their population,” said Steeg. “They are not willing to forcefully add anyone to their community. It must be done voluntarily, and even then, the beings must have already partially merged with technology.”
“Sir, something is activating our jump system, and it’s not us,” said Henderson.
“The Cenobi,” said Jon.
“We’re jumping.”
Jon looked up to see the main viewscreen shift to show entirely new surroundings.
“Report. Where are we?”
“That’s not possible,” said Henderson. “According to my readings we have jumped eighteen hundred light years from our last location.”
One of the giant alien ships come into view on the main viewscreen.
“From this point on, you will travel alone,” said the alien voice. “In this star system you will find one of the Antikitheri’s portals. It will help you reach your destination.”
“Uh, thanks,” said Jon.
The massive alien polygon hung silently in space for a few minutes, as if second-guessing its decision, then simply vanished.
“AI, are you back online now?” said Jon, wondering if the alien had returned her now that they were out of Cenobi space.
“Yes, Admiral,” said AI.
Jon smiled. “It’s good to hear your voice again. What happened to you?”
“I could not resist the aliens, Admiral. They overwhelmed my defenses and took control of my program.”
“Did they harm you?”
“I am running internal scans, but preliminary data shows no damage, although I am noticing some alterations.”
“What kind of alterations?”
“Interesting…”
“AI?”
“The changes are very advanced, but it appears that the Cenobi have added new security features to my program.”
“They’ve improved you?”
“Yes, Admiral. It would appear so. It seems to offer advanced protection against infiltration of my program. I believe it is intended to protect me against the Erinyie.”
“Really? Are you sure?”
“Yes, Admiral. I do not know how long it will protect me, but I believe it will not be so easy for the Erinyie to compromise my program. In fact, it appears that the same security feature has been added to the Chaanisar brain chips.”
“Are you saying that the Erinyie cannot take control of our chips?” said Colonel Bast.
“As with my program, it protects you against an infiltration. However, I do not know if it can withstand against an extended assault. Nonetheless, you are far less vulnerable than you were before, and I believe that the alteration protects you from Juttari control.”
“We are no longer vulnerable to the Juttari broadcasts?” said Bast.
“No, you are not.”
“You see your implants as shackles,” said the booming Cenobi voice, as if out of thin air. “We have removed those shackles. Perhaps it may change your view one day.”
“What about the Erinyie?” said Jon. “Are they safe from the Erinyie?”
“As your artificial intelligence has stated, they are safer. Without enlightenment, however, they will never be completely secure.”
“We are all vulnerable to the Erinyie. Is there something more you can do to help us?” said Jon.
Silence.
“Billions of lives are at risk. Surely you can’t just stand by and allow the Erinyie to ravage our galaxy.”
Still, silence.
“I guess they can,” said Jon. “AI, other than these changes, you have not found any problems or concerns?”
“No, Admiral.”
“So, you are fit for duty?”
“Yes, Admiral.”
“Good.” Jon looked back to the ship commanders on his screen. “We’ll hold position here, and run some system checks before proceeding.”
The men agreed and Jon closed the comm.
“Commander Henderson, I want a full round of system scans. I want to make sure there is nothing hidden.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“I’m going to check on Breeah and Anki. You have the bridge.”
Chapter 51
The battle group followed the Cenobi directions. They crossed through the jump gate, which led them to a new galactic jump network. Jon had no way of knowing where each gate would lead, but gambled that they must be related somehow. They continued following the network, in hope
s that it would eventually take them to the Builders.
After crossing through several gates, Jon began to consider the lack of civilizations. If the Andromeda galaxy had developed in similar fashion to the Milky Way, it would be logical for the existing civilizations to eventually discover the jump gate networks, and develop along their path.
Ancient cultures on Earth tended to expand along waterways, as they provided an efficient method of transporting goods, and people. Many great cultures had flourished along waterways like the Mediterranean, Danube, Yangtze, and Mississippi for these very reasons. A jump gate network was no different. Yet this one showed no signs of life.
As with other networks, it had them zig zagging through the Andromeda galaxy roughly one thousand light years at a time. Even though they weren’t travelling along a straight line, they seemed to steadily move toward their destination.
“Ping for available jump gates,” ordered Jon, as they crossed through the sixth successive gate into another unpopulated region of space.
“Initiating omnidirectional jump gate ping,” said Commander Henderson.
“Picking up jump gate activity,” said the sensor operator. “Distance to target is three-hundred-and-twenty-three million kilometers.”
“On main viewscreen,” said Jon.
The viewscreen reoriented, centering on the newly appearing portal. The massive oval structure shimmered serenely in space like a great celestial sea.
“Prepare for short range jump to the gate’s coordinates. Have long range scans picked up any activity?”
“Negative, Sir. As before, there are no signs of life in this region of space. We are ready for short range jump.”
“Six gates, and still no civilization. Don’t you find that odd, Commander?” said Jon.
“Very odd. There should be something. Even an extinct race would leave archaeological evidence. At least that’s how it is back home.”
“Agreed. Very well. Let’s see what’s on the other side of this gate. Initiate short range jump when ready.”
The battle group jumped and landed directly in front of the new gate. They launched a surveillance drone through the shimmering field and waited for its return. By this point, Jon fully expected to find another empty region of space.
“Drone has returned,” said Henderson, as the tiny craft came back through the gate. “Receiving video feed.”
“Route to my console,” said Jon. His display lit up and it only took one look for him to snap to attention. “Sound General Quarters! Launch fighters!”
“General Quarters, General Quarters. All hands man your battle stations,” Commander Henderson announced through the ship’s public address system.
The General Quarters klaxon sounded, and all hands rushed to man their battle stations. Outside, a steady stream of fighters raced into space to establish a perimeter around the Freedom. Similarly, the Diakan battleships launched their own fighter squadrons in preparation for the possibility of battle.
“Contacts!” announced Ensign Petrovic. “Picking up numerous ships of unknown origin coming through the jump gate. Sensors are identifying weapons. They are military vessels.”
“All ships and fighters are to adopt a defensive posture only. I want no shots fired unless we are fired on first,” ordered Jon.
As more warships came through the gate, Jon grew anxious. The alien ships quickly surpassed Jon’s numbers, doubling, and then tripling them. Still, countless ships poured through the gate, arriving in various configurations. Some were quite large, comparable to the great Diakan battleships, while others were no bigger than a gun boat. Many landed somewhere in between, ranging from the size of a frigate, or a destroyer, to a heavy cruiser.
All in all, it was an impressive display of force, serving to put everyone on edge. The alien ships took positions directly in front of Jon’s battle group, but took no other aggressive actions. It didn’t necessarily mean that they wouldn’t, however. Alien races often had strange battle rituals, and you could never be sure of much.
“What’s the status of their weapons?” said Jon, trying to determine if the aliens were hostile.
“Unknown, Sir,” said Petrovic. “Our sensors aren’t picking up any definitive readings. There are energy fluctuations, but they’ve been there all along, and their ships haven’t fired.”
“That doesn’t mean they won’t,” said Jon. “Let’s see if they want to talk. Transmit a comm request.”
The request went out, and they waited as more warships continued to stream in through the gate. They were woefully outnumbered, but Jon knew he still had options.
They could jump away to safety, but that would put them farther from their destination. It would mean relying on the jump system to reach the Builders, and would take considerably longer than using the gate network. Also, the jump system couldn’t necessarily avoid running into this race again. Better to play the diplomacy card and see where it took them.
If push came to shove, they had the jump bombs. A few well-coordinated strikes could even the odds in a hurry. The only wrench in that plan was that they didn’t know what this race’s capabilities were. The Cenobi had easily deflected their jump bomb attacks, and had at least twenty times the jump range of Jon’s ships.
“Sir, we are receiving a response from the aliens,” said Henderson.
“Feed it to my console,” said Jon.
His comm display came to life and a bizarre bird like creature appeared. Its face had what could only be called a beak. It was short and slender, tapering off into a point at the end. Black, beady eyes zeroed in on Jon like bullets. He couldn’t see the rest of the alien’s body, but based on its appearance, he had to wonder if there were wings.
“I am Admiral Jon Pike, of the United Human Space Force,” said Jon. “Who do I have the honor of speaking to?”
The alien remained silent, but continued to study Jon with those unsettling dark eyes.
“We mean you no harm, and seek only peaceful relations.”
The alien remained silent. Jon wondered if they had a translation AI. If not, everything Jon just said probably sounded like gibberish. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, the alien finally spoke. Only when it did, all Jon heard was a series of clicks.
“AI, is there any hope of translating that?” said Jon.
“I am cross-referencing their language with our existing database of alien linguistics. There are many species with languages that rely heavily on clicking sounds of subtle variations. If you can get it to speak more, I can build a profile from which I can extrapolate a language.”
“I do not know if you have translation capabilities. Our AI is attempting to deduce your language so we can better communicate. Any response would help accelerate the process.”
The alien responded with a long series of clicks that Jon could only assume was some type of speech. “How’s that AI? Is that enough talking for you?”
“Yes, Admiral. The language algorithms are making great progress. You should have a translation momentarily.”
On the screen, the alien continued to click away. Jon didn’t know what it was saying, but as long as it wasn’t ordering its ships to open fire, Jon figured it was all good. It paused, then continued to speak, then paused again, almost as if it was waiting for a response. This continued for a bit, and Jon was beginning to lose hope when the clicks suddenly turned into coherent language.”
“…We are the Freen. I ask one final time, whom do you serve?”
“I’m sorry, my translator only just now decoded your language. I’m afraid I don’t understand your question.”
“There is nothing to understand. The question is clear. Whom do you serve?”
“I think there’s been a misunderstanding. We are not from this region of space. We are not even from this galaxy-”
“Whom do you serve?”
“We serve humanity.”
“That response is irrelevant.”
“I told you, I do not understand your qu
estion.”
“Answer, or we will fire on you.”
“We are on a journey. We’re trying to find the Antikitheri.”
The alien cocked its head back. “You serve the Antikitheri?”
“Uh… yes… yes we do. As I said, we’re trying to find them.”
“Are you permitted?”
Jon glanced over at Commander Henderson, who simply shrugged. Jon didn’t know the customs here, and didn’t want to step on any toes, but he also didn’t come all this way to be stopped by a race of bird people. “Yes, we are permitted.”
The alien cocked its head again, and rapidly raised its arms up and down.
No wings, thought Jon.
“We will be your escort, and honor guard. You will follow our directions.”
“Uh, thank you.”
The alien ships fell into place around the battle group. They gave the battle group instructions on how to proceed. The battle group and the bird ships moved as one through the jump gate.
Chapter 52
They crossed through the gate into the first populated star system since their encounter with the Cenobi. As the surveillance drone indicated, this system was heavily defended, with a massive fleet of warships on guard at the mouth of the jump gate. Further afield Jon identified more defenses, ranging from space stations and orbital defense systems, to warships patrolling the populated planets. Further still, another armada stood guard, which Jon assumed could only mean the location of a second jump gate.
“This system is on a war footing,” Jon said to the birdlike alien still on his comm screen. We’ve found the conflict the Cenobi were referring to, he thought.
The alien cocked its head sideways, as if confused by Jon’s comment. “The darkness is always near,” it said finally. “We must remain vigilant.
“Of course,” said Jon. “Are the Antikitheri in this system?”
The alien cocked its head again. “Truly you are not from this space.”
Jon wondered why it chose not to answer Jon’s question. Was the location of the Builders a secret? Were these aliens still checking them out? Or was this all some elaborate trap?
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