As he got closer to the ooze, Steve had his nanites contain the scent molecules that normally emanated from his body. He hoped that would be enough to stop the omnivores from detecting his presence.
Steve thought that the local name for them ‘MuckTeeth’ was very appropriate. They lived in the odorous muck of the forest floor and if they found you, all you would have time to notice about them would be their teeth.
His nanites would protect him from them of course but there would be so many of them, that even his nanites would be hard pressed to stop them all. So a few might get through his outer defenses and the bites of the MuckTeeth were reportedly quite excruciating.
It would be better to get up into the trees, where they wouldn't follow. Then he spotted what he was looking for. One of the BranchCritters that curved it's way around the hill he'd landed on, had undulated far enough over the lower slope of the hill. That he could reach it without quite stepping into the dangerous shade.
He pulled a nanomorphic pellet out of one of the hidden pockets of his nanomorphic garment. Which he had set to resemble the poncho of a WildRunner. He placed the pellet on the side of his walking stick, near it's unusual ring like handle. The pellet stuck like it had been magnetized. Though it was not magnetic force that held it there.
He pointed the stick towards a point in the foliage that grew down from the BranchCritter's belly which was nearly 200 arms over his head. The pellet rapidly accelerated along the shaft of his stick. To which a thin gossamer strand of nanomorphic thread tethered the pellet. Which had transformed itself into the dart that flew from the end of the stick and embedded itself in a vine stalk. Then Steve commanded the thread to thicken. Which made it's length get rapidly shorter, pulling him up out of harms way.
He considered using the same technique to climb the rest of the way up to the ShellWay that he intended to walk on but he decided to reuse the nanomorphic pellet by commanding it to become a sling. So that he could hang his stick on his shoulder. While he commanded his nanites to grow him a set of metallic claws with which he was able to quickly scramble up the foliage and pull himself up onto the BranchCritter's hard shelled back. As soon as he touched the BranchCritter itself however, he could sense a vague foreboding coming from it. He was well aware that what passed for the BranchCritter's brain was much too decentralized for him to learn anything by having his nanites map out it's circuits. So he simply walked along the ShellWay until he reached one of the huge tree trunks that the BranchCritter had a symbiotic relationship with.
Then he again had his nanites provide him with claw like fingernails, that could grip the rock hard bark of the great tree trunk. Up which he climbed until he found another BranchCritter, that extended into the distance in approximately the direction he wanted to go. When he touched this BranchCritter he felt again the same vague foreboding.
When he felt it again from the third BranchCritter he touched, he decided he should hurry. He was soon running along the ShellWays faster than any WildRunner could have. Two cycles later, he was looking down at the old looking BranchCritter. That appeared to pass through a cave like tunnel in the exposed rock ledge on one end of an oblong hill. It was of course a different BranchCritter that came out of the other end of the tunnel. They were connected by an ancient ForkHub within the tunnel at a junction with the deep dark passageway and an even older, very unusual BranchCritter. Unlike it's brethren it didn't have upside down vines and bushes, growing out of it's belly. Instead it had a moss like growth that Steve knew would have overgrown some of the strange BranchCritter's narrow shell. Making it slippery in places.
He reached the ForkHub inside the tunnel junction before he felt the presence that had sought to draw him into the pit. Questor was alarmed to notice how much weaker it felt than before. He wanted to run down the narrow OverShell of the Mossy BranchCritter within but it was far too slippery. The ancient BranchCritter also sagged much closer to the floor of the cave than before. The slippery moss like growth now covered most of it's OverShell. Worse still the BranchCritter shuddered weakly as he walked along it. The deeper into the cave he went, the more he felt as though he needed to hurry. He also sensed an element of despair in the weak presence. He worried that he may have waited too long. It wasn't until he passed through the archway into the first of the five chambers that he sensed any awareness of his arrival. There was a small glimmer of hope but above all there was a sense of a desperate need for him to hurry.
Questor was now convinced that this presence he felt was one of the Kindred and that the ancient being was near death. Throwing caution to the winds, he ran to the inner chamber and dove head first into the pit below. He commanded his stick to provide more light as he began his leap. As he plummeted into the depths of the slightly curved shaft, Questor let the other end of his stick rub lightly against the smooth wall to keep his distance from it stable. Soon he could see a door like opening just to one side of the stone hand holds. As he approached it he began to see what looked like the bottom of the shaft, which appeared to terminate in an uninviting pool of a dark slimy substance. He also sensed that his path was through the door like opening.
With an acrobatic maneuver that would have amazed any observer, he tucked his body into a ball like pose and rotated 180°. Then as he straightened his body back out he caught the last handhold above the opening. At the same time he used his stick to push against the side of the shaft. The result was that he swung his body into the opening, landing heavily on the floor of the passageway beyond it.
The passageway led to a circular chamber. It's walls were covered in patterns of crystal in several different colors. Some appeared to be carved into bizarre three dimensional forms. Some of the shapes were like long curved rods connecting various objects with a single complex structure against one wall. A few of those appeared hollow and filled with various fluids. Just above that structure there was a shelf with a small pool filled with the liquid that had evidently been pumped through the tube like crystal shapes. Partially immersed in that liquid was a huge but unmistakable living face. It's eyes were blinking. Questor sensed distress at the unfamiliar brightness, so he muted the glow from his stick until it was a dim glow that barely illuminated the chamber enough for his enhanced vision to see by. There was a sound like a sigh and the huge eyes opened wide.
‘At last you have come,’ a faint voice whispered silently in Questors mind. ‘Please listen closely for there is much I must tell you and little time remains to do so. When I have told you what I must I will try to remain long enough to answer a few of the many questions you would ask me. But it would have been better if you had answered my call the last time you entered the chamber above.
I am the last of my kind. We who reformed our world ages ago so that it could be moved from our dying daystar, preserved some of our history in the markings on the cave walls above. Much of our knowledge is encoded within the crystal disks. Long have I waited for someone to bequeath this knowledge to. Over the long years a few hundreds found their way to the cave above. Of these, all but eleven were perceived as being the kind of enemy who would use our knowledge for such evil that they could not be allowed to depart with their minds intact. And of the eleven, you alone have engendered sufficient trust for me to offer the sum total of our knowledge. Much of which is so encrypted that it can not be extracted without knowing the key. Each of the disks above have a different key. It will take most of my remaining strength to impart these keys into your mind. But first I must ask you to promise that you will do all in your power to ensure that this knowledge is not used for evil.’
Questor thought deeply for a moment. Then he spoke aloud his reply.
“That would depend on your definition of evil,” he said.
‘True evil changes with the circumstances of each moment in time,’ the voice in his head said. ‘You will have to use your own perception of what is evil as your guide.’
“In that case I will do my best to prevent that from happening,” the Questor promised.
“Then I must now ask you to clear your mind of all distractions,” the voice in his mind continued. “That you may perceive correctly. It will also be necessary for you to temporarily disable the direct interaction between your mind and the mechanical devices that flow through it. As for this to work, I must impart much into your natural mind. And the shadow image of it provided by the mechanical devices would cause too much distortion.”
Questor's nano-symbiont didn't think it was a good idea but it agreed to go offline with an automatic reconnect preset for a time delay of one cycle or upon a manually activated signal from the circuitry embedded in Questor's stick.
One cycle later, Questor's nano-net rebooted and the nano-symbiont came back online to find his host mind unconscious. There was a massive chunk of new data embedded in Questor's brain. The nano-symbiont immediately began to copy the data to secure nano-storage. Much of data didn't compute however. His host mind did have a memory of knowing that there were some algorithms indelibly embedded in his mind that wouldn't translate well into the nanites digital thoughts. His host mind also contained the belief that he would be able to apply the algorithms as needed to decrypt the massive data stored in the crystal disks in the 5 circular chambers above. The nanosymbiont also ran a medical diagnostic which found no damage. So it began to rouse it's host-mind.
As soon as Questor's natural mind regained consciousness, he could sense that the mind of the ancient one before him was much weaker than before. There was little time left for answers to the questions he held dear. He did learn that part of why the ancient one chose him was his feelings concerning the Kindred who this ancient one referred to as the others. Who had chosen to roam the stars rather than transform themselves into the forms needed to protect their reformed home world. As far as the ancient one knew, the others may well still exist but he couldn't shed any light on where to look. He did however, confirm that XenDar was in fact their original homeworld. Questor also learned that the machinery that had maintained the cave in it's pristine condition for so long was itself maintained by the ancient one's very lifeforce. Thus said machinery would only survive him for a few years. Then the cave would begin to deteriorate. The ancient one was concerned for Questor's safety however.
“You should leave soon,” the ancient one spoke weakly within Questors mind. “When my lifeforce fails, my body will fall into the lethal slime below. And there will no longer be a bridge for you to walk upon.”
“That will not be a problem for me,” Questor replied. “Those mechanical devices within me, combined with the energy stored within the stick I carry will be able to provide me with another kind of bridge. I would that I could save you. But I perceive that the end of your long life is at hand. And that there are none of your kind left to give your spirit comfort as you pass beyond into the last unknown of death. So, unless you would prefer to die alone, I would stay and offer what comfort I can.”
‘This is a great gift that you would offer,’ the ancient voice in his mind said. ‘I sense that you have said goodbye to many friends and loved ones in similar fashion. Perhaps not as many as I have but enough that you know something of the sorrow you would feel. Your willingness to do so confirms my belief that I chose well. And I thank you. But it isn't necessary. You would be better off if you left now.’
“But then I would have to live with myself,” Questor countered. “Nay! I will stay with you.”
With that Questor emptied his mind of all but compassion for this ancient being who had long evaded the death it now faced with courage. He did his best to open his mind to it's weakening thoughts. He felt and shared it's uncertainty and fear. It wasn't long before it was too weak to speak to his mind but Questor kept his mind open. He could for a time, vaguely feel a sense of gratitude for the company.
Eventually with a gurgle the ancient's face was pulled through the wall of the chamber, as it lost it's grip on the artificial TreeWell in the outer cave. This left an opening in the wall two arms tall, and nearly four arms wide. Through it he could see the length of the ancient BranchCritter begin to fall into the depths of the cave. Questor just stood there, with tears in his eyes for nearly two cycles before he began to move.
He climbed out of the circular pit. Then as he made his way out through the five chambers, he collected all but one of the 363 crystal disks containing the encrypted knowledge of the ancients he'd been bequeathed. As he carefully wrapped them with nano-cloth and placed them into the backpack his poncho had become, he knew full well that the mechanism that would replace them was still running. Nonetheless, he didn't feel like he should take a second one like the one he had shown the Professor.
When he reached the stairs that led down to the now empty artificial TreeWell, he sealed and donned the backpack. Then he took a firm hold on his stick, as he would the bar of a hang glider and commanded it to transform into a personal grav-lifter. Thus he flew slowly down the tunnel until he reached the ForkHub that used to connect with the ancient BranchCritter. Here he landed and began to walk the ShellWays back to his ship.
Chapter 29 The Burning Sky
David and Jake spent the rest of the night discussing many things in David's study. Jake had the impression that David was considering confiding in him the critical details of some secret project he was working on. Though as yet he hadn't said what that project was.
“I know I've got you curious about my secret project,” David said. “So curious in fact that I'm surprised you haven't broken out a pipe full of asulrod to loosen my tongue with.”
“Asulrod?” Jake began to inquire, when his nanites responded with some data they were still holding from Steve's memories. “Why that old hypocrite!” Jake continued. “Now that you mention the stuff, I seem to recall some data on how Steve, also known as ‘the Questor’, sometimes uses it as a medium to deploy medical nanites. And to think he declined to replace my stash of weed.”
“What kind of weed was that?” David asked.
“Err, it's a somewhat less effective mood affecting smoking material that I had on me the day he saved my life,” Jake began. “Though I don't suppose I really needed it anymore. Because like the asulrod you mentioned, my nanites would have prevented the intoxicating effects. You did know Questor was impervious to asulrod's effects, right?”
“Well I suspected as much anyway,” David replied. “It's just that I've been dancing around a subject I'd like to consult with you on. This in spite of the fact that I've already decided to trust in your discretion. It's just that a bit of asulrod would have actually made it easier for me to spit it out. And since your mentor usually had some on hand for that... Say, would you look at the time. The sunrise tends to be beautiful this time of year. Would you mind finishing this discussion in the morning air?”
Jake simply stood up and gestured towards the door, to indicate that David should lead the way.
“As you probably know,” David said while they strolled down one of the cobblestone paths with a great view of what Jake decided really was a beautiful sunrise. “Slowlane's science is heavy on manipulating energy. But I've discovered a way to convert an advanced energy construct into real matter. Any kind of matter.”
David would have explained further, but suddenly the colorful sunrise wasn't the brightest point in the sky. Instead there were three small, but very bright objects outshining it. That's when the air began to get very hot.
Jake realized that they were under an attack a little faster than David did. His nanites had detected the problem even faster and activated his personal defense shield. Jake quickly pulled out his cigarette lighter and adjusted it's microfusion reactor to maximum output. Then he expanded his personal defense shield to cover the whole island. His Nanites automatically shifted the massive power drain to the microfusion reactor. Which instantly began to emit an overload warning.
There were less than 2 seconds between the moment his defense shield clicked on and the moment he expanded it but that was long enough for the exposed skin of David's
face to begin to blister. David looked up at the shimmering effect of the underside of the shield dome, then at the glowing lighter in Jake's hand.
“That's impressive,” he said as it dawned on him that the little device was generating the power to run the defense shield. Then with an upward glance at the purple hue of the defense shield he added, “But how long can you keep that shield up?”
“Only as long as this thing's microfusion reactor can supply the power,” Jake replied with a gesture of the hand holding the lighter. “And at this rate, it'll reach critical overload in 10 minutes or so. Then it won't matter much anymore.”
“Then pray to whatever deity you may believe in,” David said. “That it will be long enough! I must get to the control room under the bridge pylon at once.”
That said he took off down the path at a dead run. Jake quickly followed and soon was running alongside of him.
“Do you mean you can do something about this?” He asked.
“If I can reach the control system in time,” panted David. “I'll damn sure give it a hell of a try!”
Jake instructed his nanites to enhance his leg muscles and summarily scooped David off the ground as he doubled his speed.
“Near the entrance gate do?” he asked.
David had been at first quite surprised and somewhat insulted to be suddenly carried like a child but he noticed how much faster Jake was running than he had been and swallowed his pride.
“Yes the entrance is only 15 feet from there,” David said. Jake grunted and increased his speed yet again.
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