What do the colours on those uniforms mean, Kalrea? James asked, looking at the bottom picture.
From his thoughts Kalrea replied, they’re all officers. The woman in the centre with the yellow stripes is the executive captain, to the left in red the commander and the others with green are lieutenants.
Eleven minutes passed.
He’s on his way, James, Kalrea said.
James hurriedly moved towards the door, just as Milonri entered. He smiled at James and held out his hand.
‘I believe they greet people on Earth by the shaking of hands. Please sit!’ Milonri said, pointing to the table. ‘I’m sorry you had to wait so long.’
‘It’s all right. I imagine it takes time to debrief Gulino and the… Ah!’ James said, realising what he was saying.
‘How do you know that?’ Milonri paused. ‘Oh yes, of course - Kalrea,’ he almost laughed. ‘It has been so long, I’d forgotten that she’s not just any nuronic computer. When the Aurora was built I worked on its reactor control systems, although I never did finish them.’
He smiled.
‘When the Treitans attacked, I had to return to my ship, the Brenostar, before the Aurora and Pulsora were launched.’
James suddenly realised that Milonri was one of the lieutenants in the photograph of the Brenostar.
‘So you’re Lex and Karunet’s son,’ Milonri said. ‘I’m sorry for your loss.’
‘Thanks, Milonri.’ James replied.
‘You told me earlier that Lex died before Kalrea had completed the ship,’ Milonri said. ‘That would explain why it wasn’t returned sooner.’
‘Yes, he died when I was very young. According to my mother, Lex was the only one who could interact with Kalrea, so she had to wait for my mind to become old enough. I have to tell you that I only learnt my true identity recently, when my mother passed away. It was a bit of a shock.’
‘I bet it was.’
‘Why did she keep this a secret? I would have come back sooner, had I known.’
‘That’s why, James, because you would have wanted to return when your mind wasn’t ready.’ Milonri replied slowly. ‘She was protecting you. Interacting with Kalrea is dangerous. A young mind can be overwhelmed to the point of madness.’
‘I can remember my mother; Carol… I mean Karunet… mentioning that I am only, now, barely old enough to pilot the Aurora.’
‘Carol?’ Milonri repeated.
‘It was the name she used on Earth,’ James replied.
‘Ah, I see. That must be where the name James comes from, then. I was surprised when you didn’t use your real name, Jameilo.’
‘As far back as I can remember I’ve been called James. I can’t change now.’
Milonri smiled.
‘No. I understand. How old are you, James?’
‘I’m seventeen… Earth years.’
Milonri looked perplexed.
‘I’m afraid that means nothing to me.’
You’re thirty-four sykals, Kalrea informed James.
James smiled.
‘Kalrea just told me I’m thirty-four.’
‘You really are, barely old enough to interact with Kalrea,’ Milonri said, with a surprised look on his face. ‘From tests that Ontano made, he said a male pilot must be over forty-one.’
‘Who’s Ontano?’ James enquired.
‘Oh, Ontano Gindot. He and Ka Glia Plyane were the brains behind the project. They had the dream to build the ultimate Qintaino ship; one that needed no pilot and had a Plyane hull, so it could travel where others only dreamt of going. Of course not all that was possible. Even with all the latest top secret technology at their disposal they had to compromise. The result was the Aurora and Pulsora and their two advanced nuronic computers, Kalrea and Sarhao.
‘Ontano Gindot found that although a nuronic computer was self-conscious and could function by itself, it needed a Qinant to give it a long-term purpose.’
‘A long-term purpose?’ James repeated.
‘Yes, give it a command and it would carry it out, but leave it alone and it reasoned that there was nothing for it to do. Think about it. If you didn’t need food or sleep, had no one or nothing to look after and no curiosity, because you already had all information you needed, would you be able to find a purpose?’
‘I would probably find something to do, just not to get bored,’ James replied.
Milonri smiled.
‘Unfortunately Kalrea and Sarhao don’t get bored. That’s why we gave them someone to obey and protect.’
‘Was Kalrea created before the seatra then?’ James asked.
‘Oh yes. The mind control seatra and telementor were developed to give the pilot the perfect way of communicating with the computer. You can control the ship from almost anywhere.’
James felt the telementor on his wrist.
Indicating toward the telementor with his finger, Milonri added,
‘They’re so complicated it took seven sykals to perfect them. The Aurora’s and Pulsora’s are the only ones of their type. The devices surpassed all our expectations. The only constraint we found was with the telepathic connection with Kalrea and Sarhao, where the test results showed that the Qinant had to either be a female between thirty-four and sixty-eight sykals old, or a male between forty-one and ninety-seven sykals old. There was no success outside of that, hence my surprise at your age. You’re seven sykals younger than the minimum age, so you need to be careful. If you get any headaches you must exit the seatra and remove the telementor.’
‘Why?’ James questioned.
‘Because prolonged exposure can lead to madness.’
‘Oh, I see.’
‘Just be careful, James. I’m sure Kalrea will warn you if she feels you are in danger. Remember, the Aurora is a prototype.’
‘So is everything about the Aurora new?’ James asked.
‘Very much so. The Aurora was barely a shell when the war came upon us. The Pulsora was at a more advanced stage of construction. I can remember it very well. The Aurora only had one event horizon drive installed. They didn’t even have time to test it. All the remaining information on the construction plan was passed to Kalrea and Sarhao and they got them away from Qintaino, just before the Treitans destroyed the base. Unfortunately, the Plyane hull had never been tried on anything as large as the two ships, but Ka Glia Plyane was confident they would make it through Normia. The fact the Aurora is here means he was right.’
‘But we only just made it out of Normia,’ James said. ‘We wouldn’t have if we’d only had two drives.’
‘Oh yes, Ontano designed them with redundancy in mind. They have three reactors instead of one; four drives instead of two.’
‘Is the Aurora a war-ship?’ James asked.
Milonri bowed his head.
‘I’m sad to say the weapons were introduced just before they left Qintaino. Ontano intended them to be science ships. Do you know how special Plyane is?’
‘Yes, Kalrea told me all about it.’
‘And why the ships were built?’
‘No, she did not tell me that.’
‘Well there’s an inner-space, which Ka Glia Plyane discovered, whilst he was testing at Normia—’
‘I’ve seen inside the inner-space,’ James said, interrupting.
Milonri raised his eyebrows in surprised.
‘Really? Then you probably know of the Paradoxica?’ Milonri asked.
‘Yes. A group of scientists, including Ka Glia Plyane, believed it was another dimension; a kind of hyperspace. They named it Paradoxica.’
‘That’s right, and the Aurora and Pulsora were being built to explore it.’
‘Really?’ James replied.
Kalrea, you never told me that when we discussed it.
I didn’t know. I hadn’t been told why I was built.
Milonri continued speaking, while James was communicating with Kalrea.
‘Ontano and Ka Glia Plyane believed it would provide a faster way of travel. Imag
ine if you could get to the next galaxy in under a day instead of many sykals. It would open up endless possibilities. You could explore the universe. Of course the war changed that...’
James, if I was built to explore Paradoxica and Ka Glia Plyane’s theory of time-travel within it is true, then there may be a link between Paradoxica and the diary you have.
What! You mean at some point we’ll end up inside it? Travel back in time?
We nearly entered it at Normia, so it seems rational to believe we could, at some point in the future.
But that means we would disappear. I mean from this time.
Yes and end up in the past.
We must know what’s in that diary, Kalrea. Have you had any success in de-coding it?
Sorry, nothing as yet.
Do I tell Milonri about the diary?
Why? He can’t help us and I’m not sure what he would make of you telling him something which we cannot prove. With your young age, he may think that your connection with me is affecting your mind.
Ah yes. I see what you mean. Then we need to know what’s in that diary, Kalrea, before I tell anyone.
Milonri paused and took a deep breath.
‘The leaders of Qintaino had no choice but to order the Aurora and Pulsora to be transformed into war-ships. I don’t know what the galaxy is coming to, when we have to turn science ships into instruments of war. Moreover, I’m sorry to say that our most eminent scientist, Ontano, died onboard the cruiser Jotosio when it was destroyed in the evacuation of Qintaino. At least the Aurora made it and we can now use it to find the Pulsora—’
‘But we already have,’ James said, immediately. ‘We found it on our way here.’
Milonri looked amazed.
‘I’m astounded you found it so quickly.’
‘Kalrea managed to pick up a few clues from a Treitan scout ship,’ James said. ‘It’s hidden in the Uolcolian planetary trading station.’
‘We searched a few planets for the Aurora and Pulsora, but we never got to Uolcol,’ Milonri said. ‘The majority of the Telqintre decided it was a waste of resources. It was like looking for a nifig in a poin stack. After all, both ships could have been destroyed.’
Milonri paused.
‘If you found the Pulsora that close to Qintaino it must mean there’s something wrong.’
‘It was badly damaged in the Treitan attack on Qintaino. It’s a bit of a mess and has holes everywhere. The starboard event horizon drives have been completely destroyed.’
‘What about Horus and Maris,’ Milonri asked.
‘I’m sorry. They didn’t make it. They died trying to repair the ship, but Sarhao is still functioning.’
‘Was there a kiol onboard?’ Milonri said.
James was surprised that Milonri mentioned her.
‘Yes, Kira. She was still alive in the seatra. She’s now onboard the Aurora.’
‘Maris was a very close friend of mine.’ Milonri sighed. ‘She loved that kiol. I’ll always remember when the Treitans attacked. I was ordered back to the Brenostar, and Horus and Maris returned to Rinaf. We said our goodbyes. It was as though we knew we’d never see one another again. Even Kira sensed there was something wrong.’
He paused.
‘Oh well, at least we can bring the Pulsora home.’
‘Can you rebuild it?’ James asked.
‘It’s impossible I’m afraid. The Pulsora and Aurora are totally different to any other ship we have. And even if we had the parts to repair it, there’s no regenite to rebuild the hull.’
‘What are the other ships hulls made of?’ James asked.
‘An ulite metal. It’s much stronger than untreated regenite,’ Milonri replied. ‘We would have to totally rebuild the Pulsora’s hull in it. Unfortunately, we just don’t have the resources.’
‘Gulino told me that you don’t have many ships,’ James said.
‘No, we don’t,’ Milonri said, trying hard to disguise his anguish. ‘It has been a long struggle. All we do is hit and run. The Treitans think we are a large force, but we haven’t had any great victories for over eight sykals. You achieved more at Qintaino in one day than our whole force has in half a sykal. The intelligence reports we receive are not always accurate. We’re gradually losing our ships, one by one, and we’re struggling to repair any major damage.’
‘Kalrea managed to access the computers onboard that cruiser we destroyed,’ James said.
‘Excellent!’ Milonri said. ‘I would like you to get Kalrea to download the information to our central computer.’
‘No problem,’ James said and instructed Kalrea to do so.
As he spoke, the door of the room opened and in came two men and a woman. James and Milonri got up to meet them.
‘Let me introduce you to the rest of the Telqintre,’ Milonri said. ‘Julio, Cairl, Stuilo— Where’s Amaunet?’
‘She was in security,’ Stuilo said.
James looked at them in turn. They were all dressed in tight black uniforms like Milonri, and it was evident that Cairl was not a Qinant.
Cairl’s a Telecan, Kalrea informed James, and they’re not really that ugly!
He’s not what I’d have imagined, James thought, looking at Cairl’s leathery pale-grey face. He had no visible nose, and his hair was very flat and straight, almost artificial-looking. As James introduced himself he noticed that Cairl’s eyes blinked like a lizard’s.
Julio the female and Stuilo looked much older than the others. James noticed they were both carrying some sort of pistol in holders attached to their belts. The pistols made him feel uneasy.
‘We’ve just seen the ship for the first time. It’s far more beautiful than I ever imagined it, Milonri,’ Julio said.
‘I’m amazed the Aurora is here at all,’ Cairl said.
They all sat down around the table.
Cairl continued,
‘I have to say, I didn’t believe Milonri when he told me. I thought it was just a mythical ship, but there it is standing like a Tylop statue, outside.’
James smiled, while he listened very carefully to Cairl’s voice, which sounded very nasal.
The door suddenly opened and in walked Amaunet.
‘Apologies for being late.’
She walked over to Milonri and gave him a metallic bar.
‘Hello, James,’ she said, glancing across the table.
Amaunet appeared to be a lot younger than the others.
Milonri looked at the metallic bar and then laid it on the table in front of him. Light from it illuminated his face. James noticed some writing on the bar, just before it turned black.
Milonri appeared concerned.
‘We have a problem. The security of the base has been compromised.’
He paused.
‘A Dreh agent has relayed data to the Treitans from within the base.’
‘What?’ Julio said.
Is a Dreh agent a kind of spy? James thought.
Downloading data, Kalrea replied. There was a slight pause while Kalrea accessed the base systems. Yes, they are, Kalrea informed James. Any Qinant taken prisoner is used by the Treitans.
What do you mean? James thought.
They partially wipe their minds, erasing their real identities, Kalrea replied. Then, they’re programmed to serve. Selected prisoners become Dreh agents and are sent back to infiltrate us. When they return they behave normally, and they do not even know they are Dreh agents until they are activated by the Treitans. Then they change, with only one purpose, to obey any command they receive from the Treitans.
James felt angry.
‘I thought the regular mind-scans were supposed to detect them,’ Julio said.
‘They do, but I believe the success rate is higher when the Dreh agents are activated,’ Amaunet said.
‘They must have activated an agent just recently, to get information about the Aurora,’ Julio said.
‘It could be anyone,’ Amaunet said.
‘Amaunet’s right,’ Milonri said
. ‘It could be anyone, so we must look for any changes in behaviour and personality, but it might be difficult to detect.’
‘We were able to trace where our security system was breached,’ Amaunet added. ‘Whoever broke in was very clever. They knew the access codes to disable the perimeter security matrix. They hacked into the main computer through one of the personal access panels in area thirty-one in the main accommodation block. The data was transmitted to a shuttle which then relayed it to the Treitans.’
‘Whose room was it?’ Julio asked.
‘Londuo Besic—’ Amaunet said.
‘Wasn’t she on the Aurora?’ Julio said, interrupting.
‘Julio, please let me finish before you jump to any conclusions. Yes, she was a member of Gulino’s team, but she was in the command centre when the data was transmitted.’
‘What about the DNA scans of the room?’ Julio asked.
‘There were only Londuo Besic’s DNA traces.’
‘How much data did they manage to transmit?’ Stuilo asked.
‘Never mind how much; what about the base?’ Julio asked, concerned. ‘Do the Treitans know our location?’
‘It’s all right,’ Amaunet said. ‘The base is safe, at least for the moment. The perimeter security matrix recorded and analysed the data being sent. The Dreh agent was more concerned with transmitting everything they had on the Aurora. The unauthorised transmission was quickly detected and terminated. They were about to give out the location of the base.’
She paused.
‘All the security matrix access codes have naturally been changed.’
‘What data was sent on the Aurora?’ Julio asked.
‘Only images,’ Amaunet replied.
‘This time we were lucky,’ Milonri said. ‘We must find the Dreh agent. I want everyone put through the mind-scans within the next three days.’
‘Do we put the base on alert, then?’ Amaunet asked.
‘No,’ Milonri replied. ‘Think of some excuse. Say the computer screwed up.’
He paused.
‘Or… we’re uncertain who we scanned last time. I’m sure you’ll be able to find something. We’ll keep it quiet for now. I don’t want people constantly watching their backs.’
Milonri pressed a symbol set into the surface of the table in front of him. Food was brought in and placed on the table.
The Aurora (Aurora Saga, Book 1) Page 14
