Lai Pi was amazed. He estimated the circular foundation to be at least two hundred meters in diameter.
»An unbelievable structure and marvel of technological achievement, 40028. I can imagine that these constructs are using a lot of energy to maintain the protective energy shield. How do you do that?«
»There are energy sources in the universe which are still beyond your comprehension. The cosmos is an amazing place, small and large. There are endless possibilities; you only need to understand how to tap into these resources to make them work for you. The planetary energy source for Techno-Center is located in its core. We are employing a minute White Hole which we transferred from the center of the galaxy.«
»A White Hole?« Vasina asked, not believing her ears.
»The counterpart to a Black Hole, except that it does not attract matter but instead forms the exit point of a wormhole, thus creating energy in the process – at least in theory,« Lai Pi tried to explain.
»This is in fact true, not just a theory,« 40028 confirmed Pi’s elaboration agreeably.
The gravo-sailer continued the flight over large, kilometers-long, green belts, interrupted by dome-like structures under which houses were erected, almost looking like terrestrial bungalows. Forests, meadows, rivers and lakes were also visible, filling the field of view to the horizon.
Arkroid and Vasina were speechless.
»Are these the green lungs of your world?« Lai Pi asked, fascinated.
»Your assumption is correct, Pi. Most of the oxygen, which the Creators needed, comes from these parks and forests. Even though we can produce an artificial atmosphere from other sources; the Creators preferred the natural oxygen supply and the associated circulations. The Creators enjoyed designing these landscapes to have places for relaxation. We maintain these grounds, just in case they return. These parks are home to a variety of plants from different regions of the Milky Way. Some are from planets that have long vanished. We maintain their genetic bases, using them for the good of our world.«
»That makes them very sympathetic,« Lai Pi suggested.
The scenery changed to a densely populated area of tower-like buildings, standing very close to each other.
Man … the deep gaps between the buildings are barely wide enough for a sailer to pass through, Arkroid thought.
As if someone had read Arkroid’s mind, the sailer went into a steep dive, following those narrow pathways, which were considerably wider than Arkroid had assumed. The pathways were bridged by hundreds of overpath links, connecting the different buildings with each other.
»This is our memory pool,« commented 40028, »all our knowledge and experiences are preserved and pooled here, ready for the collective. The Techno-Twin misused the memory pool, infecting it by introducing the destructive code or a virus, as you would say. We have cleaned up the pool in the meantime, reversed all manipulations and implemented newly devised failsafes to prevent any future attacks on our civilization.«
»A truly impressive and suitable place for compiling millions of years of history,« Arkroid replied. He was speechless and didn’t know where to look first. »You said your world is artificial, 40028?«
»Everything began with collecting the energy source, then we established layer on layer around its core and constructed the foundation of our world. Everything you can see here on the surface is just a small part of available and usable space. Techno-Center is one big single world, mobile through space and dimensions.«
»In other words, Techno-Center could easily be transferred into another solar system, if you so pleased?« Lai Pi asked and swallowed hard.
»Techno-Center is absolutely self-sufficient. Originally, we came from a different sector of the Milky Way. This location over Bachtar, as you call the Dimensional Anchor’s planetoid, is not the final destination.«
Suddenly, the view changed into a wide open area, surrounded by delicate-seeming towers.
»This is Techno-Port, our spaceport, built by the Creators. It hasn’t been used for a long time since we don’t need spaceships. There are still some spaceships of the Creators in underground hangars which we maintain and adapt to contemporary technologies.«
Arkroid touched Lai Pi’s shoulder as he saw a gigantic disk, with a diameter of about a thousand meters. It must have a thickness of around four hundred meters. The object hovered in the sky and cast a dark shadow over the buildings below it.
»This is one of the remaining fifty repair and docking platforms. We use these platforms to prepare stellar bodies to serve us as Dimensional Anchors. We can dislodge planets from their orbits to integrate our world into the gravitational fields of any given solar system and we use the platform for projects requiring higher energy levels than this world could supply, although, we are technically sitting on a White Hole.«
Lai Pi’s eyes glared as he heard the Techno-Cleric’s explanations. It seemed to him that the technical possibilities of these people were limitless. After the flight, that had taken them around the entire planet, over fully automated industrial basins and far branching, kilometers-long assembly lines, they landed close to the pyramid ship. They stepped out of the sailer as if in a trance. Even Scorge was silent and didn’t offer any comments. 40028 gave the group a couple of minutes to digest the experience, and then he thanked them again for their assistance.
»You brought me back home and helped unmask the Techno-Twin. It is quite possible that severe damage to my people was averted because of your involvement. I spoke to my brothers and we would like to show our appreciation for your help.«
The surrounding Techno-Clerics opened a gap, revealing an elegant looking spaceship whose appearance immediately fascinated Arkroid and his team. Arkroid estimated the ship’s size to be about equal to a Hawk – slightly longer than 40 meters, designed like a thin sickle with a thicker center bulge.
»This is your token of appreciation?« Arkroid asked in disbelief.
»I know that you want to explore the vicinity of your solar system, but don’t have the technology for it yet. Scorge is helping you for now, but he cannot be around all the time to be your host. This spaceship possesses a highly advanced tachyon drive and a self-regenerating energy source. You don’t even have to tell it where you want to fly; you just need to think of your destination. However … heed my advice: the ship will be of great service to you as long as you use it according to the spirit of the Cosmic Moral Code. It will always protect you in times of need, but the ship will leave you if you misuse it or act against the Moral Decree.«
Arkroid nodded.
»I understand. It’s a magnificent offering and I’d like to say thank you on behalf of Humanity,« Arkroid choked, obviously moved.
Arkroid, Vasina and Lai Pi just looked at each other silently as the small ship was transferred into one of the Yax K’uk’Mo’s hangars. Slowly, the small group began to understand the importance of everything they had gone through and witnessed on Techno-Center. The moment had come to say good-bye to the Techno-Clerics and Arkroid hoped to meet them again in the future.
Epsilon Indi it is!
The Yax K’uk’Mo’ flew slowly through space between the two brown dwarf suns while Scorge scanned the vicinity around Bachtar for the last time.
»No trace of Techno-Center, nothing, except for the mass anomaly we detected before. This is all too hard to believe. If Shwakans could dream then I’d say this never happened and it was just a dream. I could lose my mind if it weren’t for that little spaceship inside my hangar.«
»We feel the same,« Arkroid acknowledged, »once we were brought back to our standard continuum, the Techno-Clerics returned to their higher dimensional hide-out.«
»A breathtaking event,« Lai Pi replied.
Lai Pi noticed that Vasina seemed withdrawn since they had left Techno-Center.
»What’s the matter, Vasina?«
Vasina shook her head.
»I’m still thinking about the agitator. We interfered with the Dark Brotherhood’s plans and
I’m afraid that we’ll have to pay the consequences, sooner or later. I wonder if you people truly understand with whom you’re dealing?«
»You mean an opponent who can destroy entire worlds, uproot people and civilizations and manipulate their histories?« Lai Pi asked.
»An opponent who can isolate our solar system, making us believe that we were the only ones in this vast universe?« Arkroid added. »An opponent who doesn’t take no for an answer in his plans, which we don’t even know?«
Vasina just nodded worriedly and looked at Arkroid with honest open eyes.
»Then we have an idea what to expect! I think this unknown power has miscalculated and sorely underestimated us Humans, because we just can’t stand being used for somebody else’s dubious ends.«
Her eyes are sad, Arkroid thought with concern. She doesn’t think that we can handle this threat, even if she won’t say it out loud.
»Well, it’s time to live up to our agreement,« Scorge announced happily via the inter-com. »I’d like to hear your suggestions for possible expedition destinations. The Yax K’uk’Mo’ is ready.«
Arkroid smiled and glanced at Lai Pi.
»What do you think if we advance into the Epsilon Indi’s core system? Scorge already mentioned that there are some habitable planets within the ecosphere of the orange sun.«
»Nothing against it,« Vasina answered reservedly.
She’s probably still coming to terms with what she experienced in the Hall of Eternity, Arkroid thought. He himself still had problems leaving those virtual, yet all too real events behind him.
»Well then, Epsilon Indi it is!« Scorge announced, while he set course for the inner planets. The brown dwarf, dual star system fell behind them quickly and Techno-Center disappeared between the dimension and darkness of space.
Planet of the Dreadful Dwarves
The Adventurer
»Are you sure, you want to do this?« Samuel McCord, the Princes’ first officer, Hugh Fosset’s bodyguard and friend asked.
»Why are you so worried, Sam?« the philanthropist asked back sympathetically, pretending to snip away an imaginary dust particle from his snow-white uniform.
Hugh Fosset was the richest man in the solar system and was well aware that he could do things others only dreamt about. The English-born Fosset was CEO and main shareholder of the mining company that was the backbone of Fosset Enterprises. His investments and partnerships in other markets had insured his wealth and fame, and securing the mining contracts of most of the iron-ore rich Uranian moons had cemented his reputation. That move had made his mining company the primary source of resources for most industries in the system. The know-how and advanced technologies pooled in his diverse company left him years ahead of the competition. He was an overnight trillionaire able to do whatever he pleased – he could now fulfill all his childhood dreams.
Fosset was the only person in the solar system who could afford a second home on Uranus’ moon Oberon, with luxurious living quarters protected by a dome-like structure which included a small spaceport. A spaceport required a ship, so he’d bought the Princess, a retired Solar Fleet space cruiser, forerunner of the new Pulsar Class cruisers. The Princess was the flagship of a modest private fleet, whose drives and equipment rivaled even the more modern Solar Fleet spaceships. Fosset was a man with deep pockets, easily able to equip his ships with the latest technology available.
»You know exactly what I mean, Hughey,« McCord replied. »After the fighting in the Neptune Sector a Solar Fleet cruiser has taken position over Triton. They could cause a lot of problems for us when we show up there.«
Hugh Fosset just smiled. Although sixty-two years old, he seemed like a man in his mid-thirties. Modern medicine made it possible to live a long and fulfilling life, as long as you could cough up the money.
»I’m counting on it!« Fosset laughed.
As he saw the worried look on his advisor’s face he added, »Oh, c’mon, Sammy, you know what it’s all about. Life’s too short! We need to make something of it, you know … adventures, excitement, and sometimes we have to take risks. An adventure like this will pump the adrenaline to the tips of our hair! It’ll be unbelievable.«
»I don’t know – tackling a Union cruiser? That’s plain foolish, not to say insane. That’s beyond adventure for my taste,« McCord argued.
Fosset lay back in his seat and flipped one knee over the other.
»All part of the game, Sammy. I’m not stupid enough to provoke an incident with a battle cruiser. We’re just undertaking some private research, that’s it. What can happen? The Princess is faster than those lame Union ships. I spared no expense to make her something special – as you well know.«
Fosset’s assurance was based in fact. He knew exactly what his ship could do.
»That’s final!« Fosset asserted. »We’ll approach on the previously discussed vector and keep in Neptune’s radar dead zone. As soon as we reach the planet, we’ll begin our research and carry out my plans.«
»That’s what I’m afraid of!« McCord sighed.
»Honestly, Sammy, would you really like to live on Earth? Would you give up adventure just to meet boring people at boring cocktail parties? I want to experience the extraordinary before my time’s up. See things nobody else has seen, you know, feeling like the ancient Conquistadores … that’s my deepest dream.«
»Your adventure tours …,« McCord stretched the words a bit, »… are well known throughout the system. But we’ve never disobeyed a Fleet regulation yet, although we’ve somehow circumnavigated a few …«
»… so what? We’re still flying around with our Princess, right? Undisturbed and free. Pissed-off Fleet admirals calm down real fast when they recall that I’ve contributed more to society than the whole Union. I don’t care about regulations.«
»You can’t always argue relying on finances, Hughey. Someday you may get in a situation you can’t buy your way out anymore! What if you ran into those Globusters? Not to mention provoking a lot of people who dislike your lifestyle and wealth.«
Fosset laughed out loud.
»Screw them! I have you, the best bodyguard around.«
McCord kept a serious face and didn’t feel like smiling at all.
»Okay, you’re right,« Fosset told him, »I’m an adventurer and bloody wealthy.«
»It’s called stinking rich!«
»Okay, that too. The Princess is my ship, not part of the Union Fleet. Space is not a restricted area, it’s open to anybody. Ergo, I can fly wherever I want. Haven’t you always had fun on our adventures?«
»Except when we were the laughingstock of the universe. Remember when we were after extraterrestrial artifacts you thought you’d found on Venus, but we had been fooled by a geological fault? The world press ridiculed us for weeks.«
»It was exciting!« Fosset laughed. »This time will be different, believe me, Sammy. My sources leave no doubt. The greatest coup of all time. Those paparazzi who laughed at us over the Venus mishap will …«
»… they ripped us!« McCord butted in.
»… ripped us, ridiculed us, criticized us, yada, yada … who cares, they’ll love us tomorrow, because we’re going to make a discovery that’ll rock the world. Wait and see.«
»You paid a hell of a lot of dough for information about the lost Progonaut flagship … do you really believe we’ll find it?« McCord asked, suddenly tense.
»The collision of the Quaoar fragment with Neptune was a lucky strike, literally! The atmospheric jet-stream anomalies generated by the impact clearly indicated that there is a large object circling the planet’s core deep within the atmosphere. The atmosphere is relatively dense at the objects position, but not enough to provide lift for any object without an advanced technology keeping it there in place.«
»I’ve read some excerpts of Vasina’s reports, but this jet-stream anomaly is news to me.«
»Trust me, my sources are watertight,« said Fosset, squinting at Sam briefly with an innocent smile. »Think, Sa
mmy: Vasina mentioned that the Atlantika was engaging the approaching Globuster fleet while she was fighting the Globuster Lord on Earth. Nobody knows what happened to the Atlantika. Ship and crew vanished without a trace.«
»What makes you think the ship still exists? It probably lost the space battle and the Globs destroyed it!« Sam protested.
»Well … yes, possible, but that would be a really boring ending to my story, wouldn’t it?« Fosset winked at McCord. »I like the idea that they defeated the enemy and went into hiding.«
»Why’s that and why your story?« McCord asked doubting.
»So that Vasina can take over her ship again after her reawakening! It’s that simple.« Fosset didn’t answer the second part of Sam’s question, just threw a quick glance at the ceiling.
»Jeez … your fantasy’s running amok, Fossie. The reports say that all this occurred about a million years ago. Do you have any idea how long that is? I, for sure, don’t.«
»What an unbelievable discovery if it did survive! ‘Hugh Fosset, last adventurer of our times, finds lost Progonaut flagship!’« Fosset had stood up, drawing an imaginary rectangle in the air. McCord believed that his boss could see the headlines he was ‘reading’.
Despite that McCord felt himself getting caught up in the magic of the moment. His boss could do that to him, and others. He forced himself to answer cynically, »… and the crew’s skeletons are still sitting inside the dusty command central, orbiting Neptune until the end of time!«
»No skeletal remains after a million years, Sammy,« Fosset smiled, amused. »Maybe the Progonauts found a different way to bridge time into the future. Remember the sarcophagus with its fascinating conservation shield. Vasina was able to survive the ages buried several hundred meters underneath the Antarctic ice. The Progonauts were incredibly far advanced in technology. If we can find that ship and reverse engineer their technology it would be like a major evolutionary leap for us.«
NEBULAR Collection 2 - The Expedition: NEBULAR Episodes 6 - 11 Page 14
