Defending the Galaxy: The Sentinels of the Galaxy

by Maria V. Snyder

  One pulse.

  Another long pause. Or looters playing head games, Niall says.

  One pulse.

  Niall furrows his brows and I silently encourage him to keep thinking. I review the signals. What else can I do?

  Then Niall’s expression darkens. Or a mouse?

  Two pulses.

  They glance at each other. Beau holds up four fingers.

  I pulse the lights four times.

  Beau shakes his head in amazement. He’s grinning like a fool, but Niall slowly sinks to the bunk as his face pales with shock and grief. Oh no.

  She’s dead, Niall says. It’s the only way she can be—

  Beau places his hand on Niall’s shoulder to stop him from saying more.

  Is it safe? Beau asks, pointing to his mouth.

  Safe to talk. Two pulses.

  Are you dead? Niall asks immediately.

  One pulse. Niall sags in relief as Beau does a fist pump and I try not to be consumed with guilt. Because I don’t really know what happened to my body after I…left, but I can’t explain that and poor Niall looked so devastated.

  Is everyone okay?

  Two pulses.

  Where are we? Beau asks, but then realizes he can only ask yes or no questions. He starts listing planets and I pulse the lights when he reaches Suzhou. Then he asks who else is in detention and names the people from our team. I pulse at the appropriate names.

  Where are you? Niall asks. He goes through the list of Warrior planets. When I don’t dim the lights, he grows concerned. But then Beau says the silent planets and finally mentions Xinji. They’re as surprised as I was.

  Who else is there?

  It takes a while, but eventually I give them all the information I have. Well, except about Jade. That would be impossible to do via blinking lights. It’s interesting that they also consider having me open all the cell doors, but they decide that escaping wouldn’t work at this time. Although they still want the code for when it will. Finding the override code for the base takes me a few hours. I left their lights bright so I dim them to signal, I’m back.

  Once they have the code, I go to Yulin. My mom is in a cell with Bertie. I pulse the lights. Mom catches on faster than Bertie. The astrophysicist counters with a scientific explanation for the lights’ odd behavior. But there’s enough magic—my mom’s word—to finally convince Bertie to shut up and just go with it. Mom’s relief over my living status is visible. More guilt wells. Repeating the flickering light show, I give out information.

  When I start digging for the code to the looters’ base on Yulin, Q helps out, listing codes for all the bases. Another bit of hope rises.

  Worming into Xinji’s detention is the hardest as the looters have security programs everywhere. Radcliff and Morgan catch on the fastest about the significance of the light show . I go through the list of people and places, then wait for instructions. Surely Radcliff has a grand plan that I can implement.

  If we escape detention, we’ll have surprise on our side, Radcliff says, but it’ll only give us a few extra minutes at most before we’re overwhelmed again.

  We can take a few of them with us, Morgan says in her unflappable tone. Beats dying of boredom in here.

  They discuss a few options—more than Niall and Beau offered. Still nothing that qualifies as a grand plan that saves everyone.

  Radcliff orders me to send a message to DES. But what can Director Ormond do to help? Any rescue would take years to reach us. I veto it for now. There’s a chance the looters would see it and figure out they had a worm. And I can’t be discovered. They would move to block me and be on guard for anything unusual.

  The thought that I’m the only one who can do anything sends ice through my veins, freezing me. I’m it. Well…me and Q. Or is it Q and I? I never can remember that grammar rule.

  Q AND I.

  That correction is the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard in my entire life. Not an exaggeration. Does this mean my brain is healed?

  NO.

  Huh. It sure seems like it. Unless— My brain was never damaged! Why did you stop talking to me? I demand.

  SAFER FOR YOU.

  That’s ridiculous! What logic led you to that bogus conclusion?

  NOT RELEVANT AT THIS TIME. NEED GRAND PLAN.

  My outrage and indignation fizzles as fast as it arrived. Q’s right. It doesn’t matter. What’s our grand plan?

  UNKNOWN.

  If I had a head, I’d bang it on a hard surface. Repeatedly. But I’m just an intangible worm. I pause. And what do worms do? Get into places where they’re not allowed. Like that cluster the looters have locked down. As Beau says, nothing is impenetrable. And I’d bet the information and data stored inside will give me the spark I need for our grand plan.

  My optimism lasts until I reach that part of the Q-net. Just like the barrier around the looter base on Yulin, the protections around this cluster resemble thick steel walls. There are no seams, no holes, no way in. It’s a vault.

  Q could crack it if it wanted.

  NOT ALLOWED.

  Yet once I do it, Q can repeat the process for any others. What about when Beau punctured the one on Yulin? He already figured it out.

  NOT THE SAME. HE WAS INSIDE IT. A pause. NICE TRY.

  Does that mean I need to find another loophole? I try to twist the logic, but nothing pops up and I’m wasting time. I inspect the vault’s programs, seeking a gap or a pinhole. After hours, years, centuries, I find nothing. Looks like I’ll just have to slip between the atoms—lots of space there.

  Huh.

  My sarcastic thought gives me another way to approach the problem.

  The Q-net is the Milky Way Galaxy. Lots of space there. Yet Q is able to send messages that are not affected by the time dilation by using entangled particles on a quantum level. There must be zillions of entangled pairs throughout the Galaxy. And one or more of them have their partners inside that vault. I just need to find the other.

  Except, I’m not a message. I’m a person.

  No, wait.

  I’m an intangible worm!

  I’m just thoughts. A collection of energy particles. That’s why I can fly through the Q-net. That’s really how everyone else does it as well, but they’re anchored by the sensors in their brains, limited by the terminal, tethered to their bodies. Q has freed me.

  I’m part of the Q-verse. I don’t need to worm. When I turn back to the vault. It’s no longer solid. It’s…alive. That’s the best way I can describe it. It’s living, breathing, moving. And I’m already entangled with all those particles!

  Concentrating on being inside that cluster, I’m there.

  Just. Like. That.

  FINALLY.

  Amused approval surrounds me. I don’t waste time celebrating. Instead, I get to work. There’s an overwhelming amount of information here. But with my new knowledge, I’m able to work with Q at light speed. As much as I’m tempted to learn all the details about how this all started and who all the looters are, I need to concentrate on what their plans are for their prisoners. On what they expect to happen when all the Protector Class ships arrive. How they’re going to reveal and monetize the Warrior Express.

  One of my main questions is why did they capture everyone and not kill them? They didn’t hesitate to kill before Operation Strike Back. It appears the prisoners are to be questioned for information. Also they’re insurance in case the looters need hostages in the future.

  I’ve no idea how long I spend inside the cluster. Long enough to learn that there will be no Operation Grand Plan.

  There’s absolutely nothing I can do to save my team.

  Twenty

  2522:283

  I sag in utter defeat. Yeah, I know I’m an intangible worm. But the news is grim, people! The looters have it all figured out. Our resistance, arresting Jarren, saving the people on Pingliang have inconvenienced them, but in no way have we upset their grand plan. I’d have to devise a grander plan to counter it.

 
; At least we were right about the Protector Class ships enroute to the active Warrior planets. They’re not working for the looters. But the looters are intending to ambush those ships as soon as they arrive, picking them off one by one and adding them to their arsenal. Which explains why there are prisoners on Suzhou. Then, once they’ve claimed all the Warrior planets and “cleaned out” the scientists, they will set up the Warrior Express.

  They have the personnel, the money, and the equipment. And I have…Q. Go me.

  YOU HAVE THE GALAXY.

  The tone is annoyed. Great, not only have I just insulted Q, but it thinks I’m an idiot. You chose me, remember?

  OF COURSE. I FORGET NOTHING. UNLIKE YOU.

  I sense this is significant. A hint of something big that I’m missing. What have I forgotten? Lots of stuff, but I don’t think Q is implying the time I missed my mother’s birthday. Although my mother wasn’t happy and she wouldn’t let me forget it for years. That woman can be super creative when it comes to passive aggressive comments.

  FOCUS.

  Sorry! I pull my scattered thoughts together. What are my assets? I have the codes for all the bases. I have Radcliff and the strike back force all willing to fight. Great, except I need a hundred times the amount of people to even make a dent in the looters’ forces. I have the element of surprise. I have control of the looters’ energy sources through the Q-net. Hmmm…could I turn off all those bright lights in the portal rooms and let the shadow-blobs in? In other words, could I kill the murdering looters? No. I couldn’t. I’m a good guy. We don’t do that unless we’re really desperate. What else do I have?

  I have the Galaxy.

  What I need is more people. But I have the Galaxy. It’s filled with people. Just not in the right places at the right time. All those Protector Class ships are in time jumps that will arrive too late. They’ll all be very surprised to find an armed force waiting for them instead of the dead, silent planets they expected.

  I have Q.

  Could I send them a warning while they’re in a time jump? The BP Crinkler engine grabs small sections of space at a time, warping space in a crinkle, smooth, crinkle, smooth pattern. Between each cycle there’s an infinitesimal pause.

  Q can you send a warning message to the ship’s navigators during one of those pauses?

  NO.

  Why not?

  THEY ARE ON THE STAR ROADS.

  That doesn’t explain anything. I thought they’re following the star roads. Aren’t the roads like a map?

  YES. ALSO A PASSAGE.

  I consider this new information. To me, the roads resemble a glittering expanse more like a river than a tunnel. Actually, rivers, as there are more than one. Many more.

  CORRECT.

  I’m not sure how this is important, but I sense excitement from Q, as if I’m on the right track. That word stops me. Track. River, road, tunnel, passage, path, track.

  LICORICE. TAFFY.

  Great. Even Q knows I love sugar. However, I doubt that’s the reason it mentioned those two candies. So why those two? They both can be long and thin. Chewy, sticky, flexible. Shoestring licorice can be tied into knots. Very flexible. How does that connect—

  The star roads can be manipulated like licorice and taffy!

  CORRECT.

  Oh. My. Stars.

  Can you manipulate those roads so the Protector Class ships arrive at their destinations early?

  NO.

  Yet there’s a buzz of energy all around me. It means I’m close. Very close. Q can’t do it. But I can!

  CORRECT!

  Oh. My. Stars.

  I take a moment to absorb it all. If I can do it, then we’ll have plenty of people to fight on our side. The looters will be caught off guard. However, there’s that if. I’ve no idea how to do it. And I suspect Q will not be allowed to tell me.

  CORRECT.

  My excitement ebbs. Plus time will be a big issue. As in, not enough to get all the details worked out and implemented. Argh. I’m jumping ahead. Nothing will happen unless I figure out how to twist the star roads. That sounds dangerous. I remember my lessons with Chief Hoshi and how crinkling space must be done with extreme care.

  THERE ARE RISKS.

  Thanks for stating the obvious. I’m assuming if I do it wrong, everyone dies?

  ONLY THOSE ON THAT STAR ROAD.

  I feel so much better. Not really. In fact, that’s too high a price to pay. I can’t risk killing all those soldiers—at least five hundred plus the crew and support personnel.

  THEY WILL DIE REGARDLESS.

  But not because of me.

  YOU HAVE NO CHOICE.

  Yes, I do! I can let the looters win. But as soon as I think the words, I know I can’t allow that to happen. Eventually, the shadow-blobs will overrun the Galaxy and humans, or rather fifth nation, will be extinct.

  ALONG WITH SIXTH NATION.

  Sixth nation? There’s another sentient species living in the Milky Way Galaxy?

  YES.

  That’s exciting. Are they technologically advanced?

  NO. NOR WILL THEY BE IF YOU DO NOT STOP THE HOLFS.

  Gee, no pressure. But Q’s right. I’ve no choice.

  So I straighten my non-existent spine and fly to the star roads. They glitter as they curve and swirl. Studying them with my new sight, I’m reminded of something from my school lessons. Biology class. A memory rises of a graphic of the human circulatory system, blood pumping through the arteries and veins. It’s almost as if the star roads are carrying the life blood of the Q-net.

  We humans have tapped into Q and inserted ourselves into its very being, using it like a parasite. An odd thing, but one that was expected and welcomed. Perhaps more like symbiosis.

  Do you need us to exist? I ask Q.

  NO. BUT WITHOUT YOU I HAVE NO PURPOSE.

  Interesting. I return to studying the star roads. How to move them? The ships resemble pearls on a string. Q, I need the designations of all these ships.

  YOU DO NOT.

  I don’t? How can I move them if I don’t know where they’re going? No answer. Am I going to have to worm into DES’s records of all the ships currently in time jumps? Except I don’t have to worm anymore. I’m entangled!

  I fly to one of the ships and concentrate on being inside that ship. It’s a supply ship heading to Planet Gamma. I go to another ship and it’s a Protector Class enroute to Planet Ruijin. I hesitate.

  Q, can I just think about where it needs to be and it’ll be there?

  YES.

  That’s—

  BEYOND YOUR TECHNOLOGICAL LEVEL.

  It sounds more like a question, so I answer, Yes. Well beyond.

  NOT ANYMORE.

  I take a moment. Then I ask, Is my discovery of being truly entangled with all the particles in the Q-net something others can learn?

  YES.

  Wow. I’m sure all the interstellar navigators will want to learn how to be truly entangled. And if they can do what I’m about to do, then there will be—

  No. More. Time. Dilation!

  That’s huge. Immense. Gigantic. None of those words come close to adequately describing it. It’s life changing for all of us. That is, if we survive. A sobering thought. And I realize I need a plan. Not just a grander plan, but an all-out save the Galaxy plan.

  It takes me a while to figure out the best way to engineer the surprise attack of the ships. Actually I steal part of Radcliff’s plan of hitting them from the inside and out. It worked on Yulin—at least at first. But this time we’ll have the numbers. I hope.

  The hardest part of this is going to be convincing the people on those ships. No one is going to believe Junior Officer Ara Lawrence. Maybe I should say I’m Dr. Roberta—call me Bertie—Carson. Tell them I made the biggest discovery of the twenty-sixth century.

  GIVE THEM THIS.

  A file appears. It explains everything about the looters, HoLFs, and the Warrior portals and even provides proof. It’s a wonderful comprehensive document. W
here did you find this?

  OFFICER TACE RADCLIFF.

  Wow, he’s been busy. I write a message to go along with the file, explaining my plan. Then I send Radcliff’s report and details about the operation to Director Ormond at DES through the super secure connection, which Q assures me is still protected. I’m not seeking permission because there is no other way to save everyone, and we’ll all die waiting for DES. But I want DES to know what’s going on, who’s involved, and to have some warning if we fail. I’m surprised when a response comes back.

  2522:283: To Junior Officer Ara Lawrence. What you proposed is beyond impossible. However, I’ve been communicating with Officer Radcliff. If anyone can pull off the beyond impossible, it’s you. If you’re successful…the entire galaxy will be indebted to you. And you’re already well aware of the consequences if you fail. If you do contact the Protector Class ships, inform them that I approve the op. They still won’t believe you, but it’s worth a shot. Speaking of shots, I’m going to remain in my office until you message me again. I’ve a full bottle of whiskey to keep me company. Good luck on Operation Defending the Galaxy, Junior Officer Lawrence.

  Step one of Operation Defending the Galaxy: Move the Protector Class ships to all the Warrior Planets. Then send them the message and file. There are twenty-two of them. The good news is once I do one, Q can do the other twenty-one. Right, Q?

  There’s a pause, which worries me. Q?

  I CAN.

  But?

  ONCE YOU PROVE YOU HAVE TAKEN THE NEXT TECHNOLOGICAL STEP, I AM NO LONGER NEEDED.

  What do you mean? Of course you’re needed! Who is going to free the navigators so they can fly the ships?

  I CHOSE YOU. YOU CHOOSE THEM.

  But we can’t do anything without the Q-net!

  THE NETWORK WILL REMAIN. I WILL NOT.

  You won’t? Where will you go? What happens to you?

  I GO BEYOND THE EDGE.

  I’m stunned for a second before I frantically search for a loophole. Wait! When fourth nation went beyond the edge, they left you behind to protect us. Ha! You have to stay.

  UNTIL YOU COULD PROTECT YOURSELVES.

  Are you kidding? There are HoLFs poised to invade because of a bunch of stupid, greedy humans. What about sixth nation? They need you.