He filed his flight plan with his senior staff and with Talia, then brought the great ship to life. Within minutes he lifted off the surface of Skyra and set a course outward from the Lodias system toward the shimmering debris field that marked the scene of Tower’s final battle.
Tower’s Storm, they called it.
After the fighting, both Maelstrom in Faraway’s godship and Mik in the Hightower had undertaken quick surveys of the wreckage, salvaging what they could. But most of the vessels had been reduced to little more than flecks of composite materials, like a sandy beach tossed against the backdrop of space. They hadn’t spent much time on it, being the only two functioning starships left in Cityspace. Higher priorities always intruded.
But now that the rebuilding of the fleet was well under way, and he had a genuine need to add to his own proficiency in commanding the Hightower, he gave himself the task of taking a closer look. Navigating through the debris field and searching for something worth retrieving was a job that required exquisite control of the ship and its systems.
As the Hightower accelerated toward its objective, Mik felt himself relax. It felt good to leave behind the responsibilities of command to focus on a singular objective, just himself and the ship.
He set about his work, scanning and mapping the area from a distance and comparing it to earlier scans he’d taken. He quickly lost himself in the work—a man, a tool, a job, had been the description of his life for as long as he could remember.
Mik ordered the ship to decelerate as it neared the heart of the debris field. He disconnected himself from the command bridge and walked back to the central habitat. He engaged the 3D mapping display, and was instantly surrounded by sparkling representations of uncountable bits of the shattered warships. The image expanded as the mapping sequence uncovered more debris. Mik adjusted the scale of the display so he could better grasp the size of each particle.
The display of the debris field kept expanding, and Mik understood why this section of the sky glowed like a gaseous nebula.
It was in the second hour of his survey that Mik discovered a larger object hiding within a densely packed cloud of smaller particles. He sent a drone out to investigate. As it neared, Mik could easily tell the object was not from one of Tower’s AI ships.
It was definitely Otrid in origin.
He piloted the drone in closer, and lit up its bank of lights to illuminate the object. A green hunk of metal spun slowly in the void. It appeared to be a panel from an outer hull, but it must have been a bulkhead section—broken ribs protruded from the underside, and strands of wiring or cables fanned out behind.
Mik used the drone’s manipulating arms to grasp the object and bring it back into the ship’s hold. Then he squirmed into his lightweight radiation shielding suit, grabbed two small cases of his tools, and made his way back to the hold.
Let’s see what secrets you’re hiding, little alien space junk.
He entered the cargo area, set down his tool cases, and circled his catch. It was about six feet long, with a dull flat green hue that obscured the surface details. But attached to the underside was definitely some sort of circuitry, along with a complex grille of unknown function.
Mik went to one of his tool cases and pulled out a visual scanner. He focused on the grille, moving the scanner slowly as it took its readings. Then he projected the scanned image in front of him, enlarged five times. The grille appeared to be a filtration device, and Mik could see small bits trapped in its mesh. He focused on one of the nodules and magnified it one hundred times. A round, knobby sphere floated in front of him, clearly biological in nature.
“A spore? Either that or the housekeeping on their ships is terrible,” he muttered to himself. “How can they run any delicate machinery with this junk floating through the air?”
He pulled another tool from his case, one he used to measure metal fatigue. The integrity of this bit of wreckage would be minimal, but the tool revealed more than just the strength of the metal. It could read energy signatures and tell him what kind of power sources and radiation levels the metal had been exposed to.
As expected, the tool revealed a number of radiation sources in which the metal had been bathed. The traces of radiation could have come from anywhere—the weapons fire during the battle, the constant storm of cosmic background radiation in space, or internal power sources on the Otrid ship.
Mik forgot about everything else as he concentrated on teasing out the sources for the readings. He’d had plenty of experience in the UnderWorks tracking down radiation sources, and how they did—or didn’t—interact with materials.
Gradually a picture grew in his mind.
He could explain most of the energy signatures as the residue from human weapons and the heavy particles blowing out from Lodias. But when all of that was stripped away he was left with an exotic signature he’d never encountered in this system—something uniquely Otrid in origin.
“Well now,” he said, murmuring to himself. “Why would this piece of outer hull be bathed in this particular radiation?”
He could start to see it then, the outlines of how this was likely a clue to the Otrid shielding technology. A very large clue.
He smiled. Mik always felt better when he had a problem to solve.
Chapter 8
War Vessel 84
This time, the transition from the jump tunnels back to normal space was not nearly so disorienting.
Kwed Fighting Sea was pleased that the assurances from his commanders had proved to be so accurate. The initial jumps through space had been so strenuous that Kwed had missed valuable training time while recovering. But the four segments that constituted Kwed had adjusted to the effects rapidly, and this latest transition was no more stressful than awakening from a deep trance.
Kwed was grateful that the debilitating spells had passed, because there was much to see at this new destination.
The ship, War Vessel 84—a fortunate number—had exited the jump just beyond the gravity well of the primary staging world for the next assault on the humans.
The planet glowed in green and gold colors on the monitors that lined the inner hull. It was the first world Kwed had seen beyond those of the Otrid home system, and his spirit soared at the accomplishments of his species. To expand the reach of the Otrid Lords to these far worlds, to rule over lesser species—these were the worthy goals toward which all Otrid must labor. When pre-Kwed had been four mere singletons stumbling through forests of ignorance, none of the individual segments could have imagined such a thing.
It had taken only a very few cycles to jump this final light year, although there had been a great many jumps during this journey, often with much time in between for realigning the jump gates and harmonizing the engines. Harnessing the power of artificial singularities to bypass the limits of normal space-time was no easy task. But when everything worked to perfection a ship could jump two light years at a time, an absolutely astonishing rate of speed.
Or so Kwed had thought as the fleet embarked on its mission. But he’d heard rumors the humans had faster methods still.
How this singleton species possessed such superior technology was an unacceptable mystery.
Kwed chewed on these thoughts as he made his way down the central corridor. The call for assembly vibrated along the spine of the ship, drawing all the new warriors toward the immersion sphere. Kwed scarcely noticed his fellow Otrid on either side. His mind was already shifting into training mode, anticipating the various scenarios that would play out in this session's exercises.
So it was with some surprise that Kwed noticed one of his fellow trainees had moved up closely on his left.
The smaller Otrid motioned a discreet message. "Is it true we are to observe the human large one?"
Kwed glanced about, checking to see if this unorthodox interaction was being observed. But no one seemed to be watching them. "Not during this instruction module," Kwed replied. "Soon we must, however, if we hope to understand the s
trengths and weaknesses of our enemy."
This new companion's sail segment rippled in apparent distress. "There is something unnatural about these creatures. These large ones. I do not understand how they can still be classified as human."
Kwed's visual segment focused on this new companion. The four segments were female-origin, the precise opposite of Kwed's own alignment. Kwed briefly felt the flare of ancient instincts run the length of his body. He angrily buried these impulses. Physical reproduction was a function of the lower singleton orders. They bred like the primitive organisms they were, driven by mindless imperatives from the dawn of time. True Otrid population growth occurred when these base forms combined into higher minds, coalescing into a single form that no longer needed the lash of thoughtless instinct.
"They butcher themselves in repulsive attempts to mimic higher orders," Kwed said. "There is no limit to their sickness."
Kwed moved away brusquely, shaken by the reaction that had jolted his segments.
The Immersion Chamber was ahead. The vibrations from the call to assembly grew more pronounced. Kwed welcomed the flood of knowledge that the Otrid Lords would bestow today. From here, Kwed would get his first look at the world in the distance, this strange planet that would be the staging point for the glorious work ahead.
As Kwed entered the Immersion Chamber all other sounds and smells from the rest of the ship faded into nothingness. The Chamber was immense, swallowing up even the hundreds of Otrid already assembled.
It was another world.
Kwed's four segments drank in the stimuli that came roaring in like a flood. Screens that wrapped around the walls displayed sights from the main Otrid settlement on the surface. The colors were vivid, but also unfamiliar, hard to pin down, like a shape captured at the edge of vision that can't be focused upon.
Scents that approximated those on the planet drifted down from vents above. The song of the world's magnetic field trembled in the background. Temperature, humidity and atmospheric pressure levels increased the further Kwed moved into the Chamber.
On a platform at the center of the Chamber stood one of the Otrid Lords. His power was instantly apparent, like an additional segment that could not be seen or touched but was nonetheless there.
Only a handful of times in every long cycle was an Otrid Lord created, by that rare confluence of chance and design that resulted in a combination of the strongest, most intelligent, and fiercest segments.
This Lord, the commander of War Vessel 84, stood out even among the other high ones. The superiority of his parts was obvious. The stalk segment was taller than any other on the ship, with muscles that bulged like metal cables. The sail segment ran the entire length of his back, an astonishing rarity, and rippled with a vibrancy that promised great depths of perception. The whip arms moved with a grace and precision that made Kwed feel like a clumsy singleton by comparison.
The others in the Chamber quieted as they approached the Otrid Lord's platform. They bunched into groups of four and focused all senses on their superior.
When the last of the alien combat team had assembled, the Otrid Lord issued a deep rolling growl. The coloring of its sail intensified at the base, and gradually expanded to the top. When the entire sail was a bright red, the Otrid Lord shivered, and a cloud of spores erupted from his sail. The air glittered as the spores refracted the light.
Kwed's own sail eagerly ingested the spores as they drifted into range.
This round of spores contained compressed information about the biosphere of the planet. As Kwed digested the information contained in the spores the knowledge crystallized inside his mind. Kwed now understood which plants were edible, which were poisonous. He learned which native creatures were docile, and which were dangerous predators. He pondered the convulsions of the planetary weather patters, which were much milder than those of the Otrid homeworld.
The combat teams growled and stamped heavy feet as the information spores bathed the Chamber. Every sail segment rippled and shimmered as the knowledge was internalized.
After all the spores had been ingested or carried away by the ventilation system, the Otrid Lord issued a command.
A path opened as a new team entered the Chamber. This group of four pushed a cage and a large cart toward the Otrid Lord's platform. All eyes swiveled to watch its progress.
When the cage arrived at his feet, the Otrid Lord descended from his platform. He went to the cart, and his whip arms deftly seized two of the instruments that had been placed there.
The Otrid Lord issued a deep growl, and the top of the cage fell open. Inside was an ungainly figure, one of the natives of the planet. Its long legs were clamped to the cart, yet its body twitched and struggled against the restraints. Kwed knew from the information spores that this species was classified as low-sentience singleton, capable of building rudimentary structures and hierarchical organizations, but incapable of higher civilization.
The diminutive alien jabbered in defiance, sounds which quickly devolved into shrieks of pain as the Otrid Lord sent his whip arms into the cage.
Instruments flashed as the Otrid Lord sliced into the soft flesh, opening the creature from top to bottom. With a series of brief, precise cuts, the Otrid Lord cracked the skeletal structure and spread out the creature for display.
The image of the flayed creature was projected on the screens that lined the Chamber. Kwed studied the internal layout of the alien with interest. The brain was ridiculously small, and configured in such a way that there was no possibility of linkage to other alien segments, and thus no hope for higher evolution. Another of the universe's troublesome failures.
Kwed wondered if the internal structure of humans was more complex, or if it exhibited the same low potential as the natives of this world. If so, it would only deepen the mystery of how the humans had been able to successfully defy the will of the Otrid for so long.
After the Otrid Lord had thoroughly separated the various parts, he activated another of the instruments inside the cage. Blood and viscera were instantly atomized, sending a fine mist across the Immersion Chamber. Hundreds of sail segments rippled as this new information was ingested. Although the information conveyed was less than that embedded in the spores released earlier, Kwed could still taste the essence of this life form, the chemical composition of the tiny building blocks from which the species sprang.
Each of Kwed's four segments examined the information from its own perspective, passing the pieces of knowledge back and forth until a viable, unified picture of the alien world coalesced in his mind. Soon his own legs would stride directly upon this world, and the base of information would grow until full understanding was achieved.
The Otrid Lord motioned that the instruction lesson was now concluded. The squadrons of the combat teams remained in formation until the Lord had stepped from his platform and left the chamber, then slowly dispersed.
Kwed made his way down the central corridor of War Vessel 84 toward the barracks. His mind was still half-lost in the strangeness of the alien world when he noticed that the companion from earlier, the female-primary, was walking beside him once again.
And, once more, Kwed perceived a current of excitement and unease race through his body.
"The taste of the small creature is foul," the smaller Otrid said. "I feel soiled, as if hidden parasites have invaded this one's body."
"An unpleasant module of training, yes," Kwed agreed.
They walked in silence for several moments. Then the companion moved in front of Kwed, stopping him. "I desire the cleanliness of Otrid companionship," the female-primary said. "Higher forms must not allow themselves to be contaminated by lesser beings."
Kwed's eyes tracked the movements of the female-primary's body, trying to read the meaning beneath the words. Since becoming whole, Kwed had never encountered such behavior among his own kind. What was the proper reply?
"Accompany this one to the bathing chambers, that we might purge ourselves," the female-primary sai
d.
Kwed stood motionless, paralyzed by an uncharacteristic bout of indecisiveness. This request was unusual, especially from one who had approached in such an apparently random fashion. And yet, Kwed, too, felt the taint of the alien's essence clinging to his body. The sour taste of the strange world was indeed a disagreeable distraction. It needed to be removed if Kwed was to function at peak competence.
"Yes," Kwed said at last. "Let us purge ourselves."
"It is good," the companion said. "This one is called Sixteenth Day of Storm."
“This one is Kwed Fighting Sea.” Kwed displayed the proper forms of acknowledgement, and they made their way to the bathing chambers.
Others had apparently felt the same discomfort from the instruction, as the bathing chamber was filling fast. Several Otrid were already wading in the cleansing solution, trailing V-shaped wakes behind them.
Sixteenth Day of Storm glanced about, giving off signs of disapproval. After thoroughly scanning the layout of the chamber, the female-primary selected an entry point and motioned for Kwed to follow.
Kwed did so, surprising himself at his willingness to be pulled along in such a manner.
Sixteenth Day of Storm did not stop to acknowledge the others in the bathing chamber. The female-primary led Kwed to the farthest end of the bathing chamber and then, without slowing down, into one of the tributaries that fed the main pool. Kwed had never explored these channels. Kwed's assigned duties had never required him to be there, so the idea of exploring them was a thought unborn.
After a short distance this feeder channel took a sharp turn to the left. At the elbow of the turn was a cut-out where the cleansing solution was still, a quiet pool hidden from view of the main chamber.
"This one seeks the reflection that only privacy can bring," the female-primary said, as she sank into the cleaning solution.
Kwed followed, tentatively at first, then settling in as the comfort of the cleansing solution spread across his skin. The soothing liquid did not merely wash the outer surfaces of the Otrid body; it was also engineered to calm the mental state of the newly elevated as they struggled with the strangeness of interstellar travel.
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