Worlds Away (The Interstellar Age Book 3)

by Daniels, Valmore

  “Books,” Justine told them. “I was able to recall every book I ever read. They kept me company.”

  One of the human Aetherbeings, Na Huama, told her that word had come through the ranks that the Kulsat had posted a single warship to patrol the Centauri System. It was likely the ship would remain there for months, perhaps even years. The Sentinels, Fairamai and Naila, decided to go on reconnaissance trips to Centauri once every few days to check on their enemy’s status.

  In her off-hours, Justine visited Red Spot and went over the plan to get back to Sol System. She also undertook the training she needed to accomplish that goal.

  One of her first questions was what the final component was.

  “We do not know, specifically,” Red Spot told her. “It was a tool of subjugation. With it, the Xtôti were able to nullify the Gift.”

  “Like a damper?”

  “A damper will only suppress the power. We have devices that will quell the Gift from an enemy or their vessel, but it is a temporary effect. Whatever technology the Xtôti had, if they used it on a ship, it would render the Gift permanently inert—whether it was in a quantum engine, or in a Risen. If a ship were too far from a station or planet, it would never return. Any Risen exposed to this technology would perish.”

  If the Kulsat had that technology, they would be able to eliminate any other system’s ability to travel between stars. With that kind of threat, no world would dare to resist the Kulsat.

  The alien didn’t have any more information other than that, and Justine was left with only speculation on how she could identify the final component.

  “What if it’s not on my home world?” Justine asked.

  “Then you will have to continue searching other worlds until you find it. Our people have the advantage in that we are the only race looking for the final component.”

  She listened as the alien went into minute detail over the Kulsat training exercises for Potentials. Though Red Spot only knew the theories, she was able to convey to Justine many techniques of control while in Risen form.

  Justine practiced quantizing herself. Red Spot, along with several other Kulsat, volunteered to let her practice on them as well. Soon, Justine could quantize twelve of the aliens at a time, maintaining a photonic link with them for over an hour without becoming depleted.

  She learned several other techniques besides quantizing objects and beings. The first was how to hide her quantum signature while in a photonic state.

  When she’d escaped from the Kulsat mining ship, luck was on her side in more than one way.

  If the ship leader had extended his sight, he would have detected her moving about the ship. He would have initiated a section-by-section damping field to trap her and return her to her physical self. In that event, she would have drowned.

  Red Spot remarked that the hull of their ships had an external damper—a basic defense against alien Aethers boarding their vessels. To conserve energy, the shields were not normally charged unless there was cause. She was lucky to have passed through the hull without being converted to her physical self out in the cold of space.

  Another ability, which many Risen were unable to master, was to learn how to resist being quantized by another being. Three Crescents had not yet perfected the technique, since Justine had been able to quantize him.

  Justine could not practice hiding her signature or resisting being quantized by another. There was no one to practice on, or against.

  She’d promised the Gliesan Parliament that she would not try to learn their—or the Collection’s—technology, but there was no rule that said she couldn’t learn how the Kulsat did it. If the Collection of Worlds or the Parliament of Gliese found out she was learning the techniques, however, they might decide she was going against her oath by using that loophole, and restrict her from visiting Red Spot.

  The most important ability she needed to learn was how to travel outside light. Red Spot informed her that the technique was universal, no matter how the quantum engines had been constructed.

  Once again, however, Justine could only learn the theory; there were no Kulsat quantum engines for her to practice on. She hoped the theory would be enough when the time came.

  The skill was a compound of all the attributes of becoming a Kinemat.

  The navigational principle was similar to when Justine had flown the Ultio from Sol’s star beacon to Centauri’s. Her sight was able to mark the spacial locations of the two beacons, and her enhanced memory kept the two points in her thoughts when she engaged the star beacon.

  In order to travel outside light, the pilot would have to use the electropathic ability to link herself to the star beacon much the same way she linked herself to the quantized passengers on her ship. In this regard, it was akin to quantum entanglement. For a brief time, she, her ship, her passengers, and the star beacon would be a single entity. The star beacon would ‘know’ her navigational intentions.

  Once she reached the star beacon, instead of sling-shotting past as she’d done before, the star beacon would take over, and absorb the photonic energy of the ship and its passengers.

  That’s when the mystery began.

  Everyone she spoke to gave her an identical explanation: outside light, the star beacons shared the same space. That made no sense to Justine.

  If it were a form of dimensional travel, then the star beacon would simply transfer the photonic signature from one beacon in this plane of existence to its counterpart in another dimension, then back to another beacon in a different region of space. There was no way Justine could conceive of this without there being a delay. Travel between two star beacons was instantaneous; therefore, it wasn’t dimensional transference.

  It couldn’t be true entanglement, which would mean the star beacons were, in effect, the same beacon existing in different places at the same time. If that were the case, anytime someone activated a star beacon, they would all activate.

  No one knew the secret, or how the Xtôti had built the star beacons. The only thing they agreed on was that they had developed the technology nearly a million years ago.

  Justine wished she had Alex and Michael to talk to about it; perhaps they would have some theory to explain it.

  Each day, she went over the lessons with Red Spot, but without a practical application, she wouldn’t know if she had mastered the abilities. Under no circumstances would she share the fact of her knowledge with anyone outside of Red Spot and the other Kulsat.

  Learning the techniques without being able to practice them was a significant obstacle, but a bigger hurdle was managing to get on board a vessel heading for Sol System.

  No ship from the Collection of Worlds would break protocol and travel there. Speaking with Na Huama, Justine had learned that Ah Tabai had always been something of a rebel. As much as the human Aetherbeings wanted to help, they would not follow down their colleague’s path.

  Justine had given her word that she would not break Gliesan Law, and she was not one to go back on her word. She’d worked hard over the past few weeks to establish relations with nearly one-hundred systems; if she broke the Law, she would also break the trust she’d engendered with those races. Of course, if Sol System were ravaged by the Kulsat, those diplomatic relations would be meaningless. Justine was torn.

  When she related her concerns to Red Spot, the alien’s reply hit her like a bombshell. She couldn’t believe what she heard. For a brief moment, she thought that, despite all the time they had spent together building trust, Red Spot had been secretly plotting against her all along.

  It was only after the initial shock began to wear off that Justine realized it was the only way for her to uphold the Laws of Gliese and the Collection, and to get home and try to find the final component.

  Red Spot told her, “If no Collection ships will travel to Sol System, and you will not commandeer a ship, then you must be on board a ship that is already heading there … you must find a way to board a Kulsat ship.”

  38


  Qin Station :

  Sol System :

  For the first time in months, Chow Yin took no pleasure in walking around the station with the aid of his biomechatronic legs. The sense of freedom that came with the technological prosthetic paled in comparison to another, more unfamiliar feeling.

  Loss.

  From the time he was a child, he’d never formed a close attachment to another person like the one that had developed between him and his daughter. They’d only been reunited for the last few years; their time together had been painfully short.

  He’d imagined grooming her as an heir to the Solan Empire once he moved on to conquer the galaxy. Now, there was no one left to pass his legacy on to.

  It was all because of Alex Manez and Doctor Naysmith.

  Chow Yin had reviewed the recording of the last hours of his daughter’s life a hundred times while his technicians and engineers repaired the damage that had nearly destroyed Qin Station.

  Though Chow Yin had done his share of betrayal over the years, and uncovered more than a few traitors in his ranks, the doctor had been singularly successful when he’d slipped Alex a small quantity of Kinemet.

  It had restored the boy to his full powers, which he’d exercised at the most unfortunate time: simultaneous with the activation of the Kinemetic process on Sian.

  The photonic explosion quantized the lab and the top few levels of the space station. Unlike the accident on Macklin’s Rock years earlier, there was not nearly enough Kinemet to launch the affected section toward the star beacon at near-light speeds. Less than a day after the event, Chow Yin’s sensors picked up fragments of the station hull several thousand kilometers away.

  The salvage mission recovered the bodies of all those affected by the photonic conversion, including the technicians in the lab, several other works in the nearby levels, as well as Sian and Alice. Medical staff quickly determined that all of them had been partially converted to Kinemats, as had those who were subjected to Klaus’s first trials. Of the two priming sequences, their first attempt was the wrong one. Even if the cold vacuum of space had not killed his daughter and the others within moments of returning to normal space, the unsuccessful conversion would have killed them soon enough.

  The only body they had not recovered was that of Alex Manez. Chow Yin could only surmise that his previous conversion somehow kept him alive. Perhaps, as his records indicated, Alex managed to remain quantized. There was no way to tell how long he could maintain himself in a photonic state. According to those reports, Alex had no awareness in that form. Depending on how much Kinemet the doctor had injected him with, Alex could remain out of Chow Yin’s reach for months or even years.

  At least Chow Yin had been able to arrest the doctor before he escaped the station. Though Chow Yin did not believe in torture, he believed in poetic justice, and he’d had the doctor launched out into space to suffer the same fate as his daughter.

  There was a silver lining to the entire tragedy, and Chow Yin clung to it. Now, they knew the priming sequence for converting a person into a Kinemat. Once they finished rebuilding the Kinemetic conversion chamber, Chow Yin could create as many squadrons of quantum pilots as he needed to subjugate Sol System, and later, the galaxy.

  Chow Yin had never been a superstitious man, and did not hold with the power of chance, but he thanked his lucky stars that he’d received word about the liberation of Michael Sanderson in Guatemala. That had prompted him to speed up work on the quantum ship his engineers were building in the dry dock station several kilometers away from Qin Station. Chow Yin had decided to oversee the final stages of the operation.

  It was a grand warship. With a crew of only twelve, it had enough firepower to take on any of the USA, Inc.’s space destroyers and win. Chow Yin’s engineers had long ago learned to weaponize Kinemet into torpedoes, and the warship carried thirty-six of those, as well as an additional twenty-four conventional and nuclear missiles. A believer in stacking the odds in his favor, Chow Yin also had a dozen twenty-pound gun turrets installed, each with a five-kilometer range, just in case of those rare times the ships came within proximity to one another.

  Chow Yin visualized its maiden flight, once he’d successfully undergone the Kinemetic conversion to become a quantum pilot. His first target would be Canada Station Three, in revenge against Alex and his country. Even though his Solan forces had already taken over that station, he would destroy it as a symbol of his power and will. The United Earth Corporate would know the temerity of his purpose. If they did not immediately surrender the corporate nations of the world to him, he would launch Kinemetic warheads at their capital cities until they capitulated. Once he had bent Sol System to his will, then he would focus on these Kulsat Alex had told Alice about.

  Though the information he had on them was thin, he’d already developed a plan of attack: if they were so interested in some artifact on Earth, he would offer them free access to the planet to search for it. Why not feign cooperation, make them drop their guard? Once they’d found whatever it was they were looking for—presumably some kind of weapon they feared—then Chow Yin would swoop in and take it from them, and use it against whatever armada they sent against him. With that weapon in his arsenal, the galaxy was his for the taking.

  “Your Highness,” someone behind him said. “There you are.”

  Chow Yin stopped walking and turned to see General Leong hurrying to catch up.

  “General.” He gave a slight bow of his head. “I was on my way to inspecting the progress on the lab repairs.”

  The general said, “They should be complete by the end of today.”

  Resuming his pace, with full expectation that the general would follow, Chow Yin said, “And the warship?”

  “We’re going through final diagnostics. The quantum drive has passed all tests. The ship will be ready for its maiden voyage by this time tomorrow.”

  “Ensure there is ample Kinemet on board. I fully expect to test the quantum drive at that time.”

  “Are you certain it is wise to undergo the conversion yourself?” the general asked, raising a concerned eyebrow. “Perhaps it would be more prudent to test the formula on someone else first.”

  Chow Yin turned his head and growled, “And sully the memory of my daughter? She gave her life to prove which sequence is valid. No, I shall make the conversion tonight.”

  “Of course, Your Highness.”

  ∞

  It was the first time since he was a child that Chow Yin felt apprehension. He knew, in his mind, that the priming sequence was the correct one, but there was a small nagging thought that there could be another factor which might cause the trial to fail.

  For a fraction of a second, he wanted to heed the general’s advice and have someone else undertake the first trial, but then his pride drowned the notion. How could he face his men if he showed even the smallest hint of fear?

  Purposefully, he strode into the lab, taking pleasure in the heavy thumping sound of his biomechatronic legs as they stomped against the ceramic floor. It was a grand way to make an entrance; no one could mistake who had arrived.

  The general was there, as well as several of his top officers, watching on as the technicians made the final preparations.

  Without any sign of hesitation, Emperor Yin continued through to the Kinemetic conversion chamber. Inside, instead of an operating table with straps, there was a chair. Chow Yin would not be able to wear his biomechatronic legs during the event. The electromagnetic signature could interfere with the Kinemetic priming sequence.

  With the assistance of two technicians, Chow Yin unlocked the legs and, leaning heavily on the men, allowed himself to be maneuvered into the chair.

  Beside the chair, the Kinemet was already placed inside the priming device. Chow Yin imagined he could feel the radiation penetrate through him.

  He looked out through the viewing window at the general and the other officers, taking on a look of supreme confidence, as the technicians hooked up sensors to him.<
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  When all was ready, one of the technicians nodded. “We can begin whenever you are ready, Your Highness.”

  Chow Yin waited until everyone had exited the chamber and sealed the door behind them.

  Once everyone in the lab focused their attention on him, Chow Yin said, “Gentlemen, today marks the beginning of the greatest era in our history. From this day forward, the course of human existence will be shaped by us. Burn the memories into your minds; you will be able to tell your grandchildren that you were among the honored witnesses to the birth of the first galactic empire.”

  Having finished his speech, Chow Yin slowly raised one hand, lifting one finger and, after a dramatic pause, pointed to the technician to begin the priming sequence.

  The chamber became eerily silent as the Kinemetic damper engaged, and the room sealed electromagnetically. Beside him, the milligram of Kinemet in the conversion device, which was so small when dormant that Chow Yin had to squint to see it, began to glow as it was primed with the sequence of light waves. Once the procedure was complete, and the Kinemet was too bright to look at directly, the bombardment device opened a thin tunnel from which a beam of hydrogen photons penetrated the kinetic metal.

  The reaction was all-consuming.

  ∞

  Chow Yin had never been much of a patron of the arts, and held little interest in music. The sound that filled his mind and body when he became a photonic being transcended everything he’d experienced before in his life, and the music penetrating his soul was beyond description. It was the end-all of all things. Forevermore, the elegant symphony of the heavenly bodies throughout the universe would be an integral part of him. He was the song, and the song was him.

  He could sense the subtle signature of the Kinemetic damper around the chamber, and with a mere thought-impulse, he penetrated through it and turned off the electromagnetic seal.

  A collection of photons, Emperor Yin pushed himself out of the chamber and into the lab, reveling in the looks of awe on his men as they watched a being of light appear before them.