The Archeon Codex: Guardians of the Galactic Sentinel Book 2

by Phillip Nolte

  "If ever a man had it comin'..."

  "Well, Lenin's political officer was every bit as bad."

  "How did you get them to investigate their politico? Seems like those guys almost always have a hammerlock on their crew."

  "Normally they do. In fact, the political officer ordered the crew of Lenin to attack us and Helianthus. While they were in the process, we had the bright idea of showing them the video clip of the Custodian killing the head engineer of Murmansk. Between our video and the fact their political officer had been batshite crazy since the beginning of the mission, they decided to look into our story."

  "You talked the crew of that ship into rebellin' against their political officer by showin' them the video clip? That was good thinkin'!"

  "It was Ariane's idea. After we played the video, Lenin's security people checked out the quarters of the mysterious 'Ambassador,' and captured a Custodian."

  "Wait? You also captured a Custodian?"

  "Actually we captured six of them."

  "Six Custodians?! By Odin's beard, how did you manage that?"

  "The first one, the so called 'Ambassador' was badly wounded while resisting arrest. The Soviets threw it and their political officer in the brig, but the creature either died from its wounds or committed suicide, we aren't sure. So did the political officer a few hours later. We were hoping to interrogate him before we executed him, but he beat us to the punch."

  "What about the other Custodians?"

  "The Soviets found five more inside a shipping container in the cargo bay. All of them are in a state of suspended animation or something. That means we've got a dead one to study and five live ones to examine or interrogate, if we can figure out how to go about it."

  "So you have five of those monsters alive?"

  "We do, but they're asleep in their container and under heavy guard, plus we confiscated their weapons. I need to ask the Deimos AI if it knows anything about the strengths and weaknesses of the filthy creatures."

  "I hope you know what you're doin'."

  "So do I."

  Holger changed the subject. "You say that's a Hordean ship? Did you bring some of them back too?"

  "There are two of them onboard Capri with us right now and several dozen more on board their ship. I think you'll like them."

  "I can't wait to find out. Their ship...It's huge!"

  "That was our first impression too."

  "We're not detectin' any metal. How can that be?"

  "The Hordea actually 'grow' their ships. Much of it is actually alive."

  "Yah, sure..."

  "Believe it."

  "I'd like to have a closer look at that ship!"

  "I think that can be arranged. You're coming with us to Deimos aren't you?"

  "Yeah, things have been quiet here, and I need to get updated. Besides, you need me."

  "Always, Father. I'll tell the Hordea you want a tour of their ship."

  "...It's a whole new galaxy ain't it?"

  "Hopefully one that will be a lot better than the old one."

  "We can only hope. I'll see you at Deimos."

  "Roger, Warbird One."

  The tanker disengaged from the courier.

  "Where to now, Capri?" asked Kozloff.

  "We need to go to Mars, the fourth planet out from the star," said Gertrude. "Once we get there, we'll be landing on one of the moons. Capri can land on the surface, you'll probably want to use your shuttle."

  "What are we supposed to find there?"

  "We'll be joining up with the rest of our expedition," replied Gertrude. "The moon is...well...you'll just have to see for yourselves."

  Several hours later, four ships approached the fourth planet out from the primary.

  "What are we looking for?" asked Kozloff.

  "Deimos, the smaller of the two moons," replied Gertrude. "It should be coming around in just a few minutes."

  Right on schedule, the tiny moon arced around from behind the planet.

  "We're going to set down near the north rim of that large crater," said Gertrude. "Put your shuttle down next to us, and we'll all go inside."

  "Inside?"

  "Yes, the moon has been extensively excavated. The other members of our expedition are inside."

  "I'll have to take your word for it. Readying our shuttle now."

  Gertrude set Capri down on her landing struts in Voltaire crater in the very same spot the ship had landed before, right next to Zack's lifeline. The Soviet shuttle eased down about thirty meters to starboard. A minute or so later, Holger's Viking shuttle landed to port.

  "Captain Kozloff?"

  "Kozloff here."

  "We'll be going inside the moon through that overhang straight ahead. I suggest you bring no more than two people until we get a few things worked out."

  "How about you bring Ensign Nuriyev and I come by myself?"

  "Very good, Captain."

  Within fifteen minutes, a small cluster of spacesuited humans and a couple of Hordea, encased in their protective envelopes, were gathered next to Capri. Holger joined them a minute or so later. The Humans who weren't experienced with the challenges of the moon's minuscule gravity were attempting to come to grips with it. The Hordea, in contrast, seemed to be right at home. The lifeline Zack had established during their first visit, to facilitate safe transport from Capri to the opening into the moon, was still in place, although the end furthest from the cave entrance was now attached to the anchor post Zack had placed before their departure, instead of the original attachment to one of Capri's landing struts. A cleared area around the base of the lifeline's anchor post showed that the bedrock lie under a centimeter or so of the fine dust coating the floor of the crater and just about everything else.

  "This way," said Gertrude. She clipped a carabiner to the tether and, keeping her body parallel to the ground in the all but nonexistent gravity, pulled herself down the lifeline, into the shadow of the overhang and disappeared. The others trailed close behind, the humans following Gertrude's example and pulling themselves along the lifeline. The Hordeans used their spin technique to negotiate the tether.

  When everyone had crowded into the short tunnel just inside the overhang, Gertrude led them deeper into the moon. "Use these handholds along the wall to pull yourself through the tunnel," she said."

  Each handhold was a recess some twenty centimeters wide, ten centimeters tall and ten centimeters deep, carved out of the rock. The handholds, about a meter apart, had been sculpted in such a way that a perfectly rectangular ridge, about three centimeters wide and three centimeters tall, suitable for gripping with a human hand or Hordean tentacle, remained on the outside edge along the bottom of the recess.

  Kozloff, who was first in line behind her, took her advice and used the handholds to traverse a short, downward-sloped tunnel that took a ninety-degree turn to the left after about three meters. Three more meters beyond the turn, the tunnel ended in a man-sized door or portal protected by a shimmering green...curtain or force screen of some kind. Ahead of him, Gertrude paused just outside the mysterious barrier.

  "Be careful when you go through this portal," she said. "There's breathable atmosphere and standard gravity on the other side."

  Gertrude carefully pushed herself through the shimmering portal. Having experienced the transition into and out of areas of high and low gravity many times during her stay on Deimos, she made the adjustment smoothly. Kozloff, Nuriyev, the two Hordea, Ariane, Holger and Zack came through behind her. Zack, last of the group to come through the portal, was not surprised to find the two Soviets staring in open-mouthed astonishment at the eerie glowing pyramid dominating the center of the hemispherical chamber.

  Chapter 39. Regrouping.

  Deimos, Sol System, October 13, 2676.

  The two Hordea were also inspecting the central tetrahedron inside the Deimos Sentinel chamber, but Zack couldn't tell whether they were astonished by it or merely interested. Gertrude, helmet under her arm, performed introductions, startin
g with the two aliens. "I'd like you all to meet Salix and Quercia, Sentinel Representative and Guardian for the Hordea." She then went around the chamber and introduced the humans new to the Hordea and the Soviets.

  With introductions completed, the assembly spontaneously broke up into three groups. The Professor, Kathryn, Holger and Arnold clustered excitedly around the Hordea, while Olga went over to meet with her fellow Soviets. Gertrude, Zack and Ariane, well acquainted with everyone, merely observed the interactions, their helmets also cradled under their arms.

  "This is your Sentinel device?" asked Salix.

  "Yes," replied MacPherson, "our Key was the very tip of the pyramid."

  "Our own Sentinel device and Key were nothing like this."

  "From what we've been told," said the Professor, "each of the Sentinel devices is unique and keyed to the abilities of the intended species. I should like to hear about your experience when time permits."

  "We would be honored," replied Salix.

  Holger, looking a little lost, remained silent and did his best not to stare too blatantly at the two aliens.

  Across from them in the chamber, the Soviets were in the middle of their own discussion.

  "You are the famous Doctor Dostoyevski from the Moscow institute?" asked Nuriyev."

  "I am Olga Dostoyevski. Famous? Is not for me to judge."

  "You are too modest," said Nuriyev. She motioned towards the pyramid, "This is the Sentinel Pyramid device we have been hearing about?"

  "Da," replied Olga "but we're still trying to decipher what it is telling us. It has not given up secrets easily." She went on to explain to her fellow Soviet scientist how the apex of the pyramid had been transported to the moon and how their team had deciphered most of the symbols on one side, enough to activate the fully-assembled device. "We think we have made breakthrough late yesterday that will allow us to move to next stage of Sentinel activation. We are waiting until the rest of Representatives and Guardians get here before we make attempt."

  "They're not all here?" asked Kozloff.

  "Not as yet," said Olga. "Won Ling-tsu and Sergei Popov contacted us earlier this morning. They are back in Sol system and have very important information to share with us. We expect them to arrive within a few hours. Meantime, perhaps you would like to see more of facility."

  "I was just about to ask," said Kozloff. Next to him, Nuriyev bobbed her head enthusiastically.

  After allowing the interactions to proceed for several minutes, Gertrude addressed the entire group, "Shall we move to the next chamber? We have a lot more to show you. Olga? Why don't you take the lead?"

  Olga led her fellow Soviets over to a doorway directly across the chamber from the entry portal. There they followed her down another short passageway that took a ninety-degree left turn before leading them to yet another portal protected by a green force curtain. Olga went through the curtain and the others followed, Zack being the last to come through, trailing behind the two Hordea.

  "This is 'Teaching and Learning' chamber,'" said Olga, after everyone had negotiated the force screen.

  The chamber was identical in size to the one they'd just left, but instead of a glowing pyramid in the center of the space, a block in the shape of an equilateral triangle, made of what looked like some kind of stone, jutted up out of the floor. The footprint of the block was the same size as the base of the Sentinel Pyramid in the previous chamber, but that was where the similarities ended. The sides of the block rose straight up out of the floor to about waist height before bending inward and terminating another half-meter or so above the bend. The top of the structure was another equilateral triangle, parallel to the base, but only about half its size. To complete the structure, a narrow, triangular spire about a meter tall and ten centimeters wide emerged from the center of the upper triangle.

  The inward-sloping sections of the sides, narrower at the top than they were at the bottom, formed a trapezoidal panel on the upper portion of each side.

  Kozloff deduced the panels were computer interfaces of some kind. To reinforce the notion, there was a softly glowing, green outline about the size and shape of a computer monitor at each of the stations. Three additional outlines, one below each "monitor," were the approximate size and shape of a traditional keyboard. Three stone benches came up out of the floor around the central structure, one parallel to each side of the triangle at a distance where an operator, presumably human, could comfortably sit at one of three stations. There they could interface with a computer or, given the advanced technology he'd already been exposed to, probably something far more sophisticated.

  Directly across the hemisphere from the entry portal was an identical doorway which, presumably, led deeper into the moon.

  A voice that seemed to come from everywhere spoke up.

  "Welcome Representative Salix, Guardian Quercia, Ensign Nuriyev and Captain Kozloff. I am the Deimos Artificial Intelligence. I can attempt to answer any questions you might have. Perhaps Ensign Nuriyev and Captain Kozloff would like to interface with the teaching and learning consoles in this chamber? Interaction with the console will very quickly provide an education about the Grand Amalgamation of Galactic Civilizations and what Humans are required to do to gain citizenship.

  Kozloff looked at Nuriyev who looked back at him expectantly as though she wanted to sit down at one of the consoles immediately. He thought it better to wait. "Perhaps later, Ensign, after we have become more familiar with our surroundings."

  "As you wish," replied the AI. "I have prepared quarters for all of the new arrivals. The humans will each have their own private chamber. There is an additional chamber for Salix and Quercia to occupy together. I assume these arrangements will meet your approval?"

  No one had any objections. The group headed through the doorway on the far side of the chamber and into the larger common room where the newcomers shed their spacesuits. After that, they were shown the galley and meeting facilities. Within the next hour, all the newcomers, including Salix and Quercia, had been introduced to their assigned quarters. The AI had somehow even provided a pedolith bed for the two Hordea.

  Several hours later Odessa, with Sergei, Won, Jakob and the three Soviet escapees onboard, approached Deimos. Won and the two spaceship captains became very excited when they spied two new spaceships, one of them a Soviet courier and the other something that looked like a gargantuan snowflake. The two ships orbited the planet from a position just a few kilometers behind Deimos and a kilometer or so from each other.

  "Sergei here. We have completed our scouting mission to New Belgrade. We have news."

  "A lot has happened on this end as well," Gertrude sent back. "The big ship that looks like a flower is Helianthus, and she's Hordean. We also formed a partnership with another Soviet ship and her crew. You may know the Captain of Lenin, Nicholas Kozloff?"

  "Kozloff? Yes, he's an old friend. How did he get here?"

  "It's a long story. We'll get you up to speed after you get here."

  "Roger that, Deimos."

  Chapter 40. Revelations.

  Deimos, Sol system, October 13, 2676.

  Since Odessa had no landing capability and no shuttle, Kozloff sent Lenin's shuttle up to bring Sergei, Won, Jakob and the three Soviet conspirators down to the surface of the moon. After everyone had safely transferred inside the moon, Sergei and Won gave their four wide-eyed companions a walkthrough of the Sentinel Pyramid and the Teaching and Learning chambers before escorting them into the common room. Here they were introduced to the two Hordea and to the humans they hadn't met yet. Sergei and Kozloff shared a hearty reunion while the aliens graciously answered questions and interacted with the newcomers over the next half hour.

  With the return of Capri and the arrival of Luken's cargo ship, all three of humanity's Amalgamated Representatives and the three Guardians were reunited. When the round of greetings and introductions had about run its course, Arnold announced, "Time to get down to business. Everybody take a seat, we have a lot to c
atch up on." In half a minute, everyone but Arnold had found a place to sit. The two Hordea stood behind the sitting humans while Arnold remained standing, facing the assembly from the front of the room.

  "I want each of our three groups to give a report on their activities so we're all on the same page," he said. "Sergei, why don't you go first?"

  Sergei got up and joined Arnold at the front of the room.

  After taking a moment to compose himself, he began. "As you know, Won and I went to scout out the situation in the Soviet sphere. We ended up spending several days on New Belgrade Orbital Station." While continuing to speak, he acknowledged the other members of his team with a sweep of his hand. "Thanks to Jakob here, and my fellow Soviets, we got the information we were looking for." He paused again before continuing. "We have bad news, I fear. I'm sorry to report infiltration by Custodians is far worse than we thought. Here is video we obtained from security cameras in Political Offices on Belgrade Station."

  He interfaced his tablet with the meeting room viewscreen and brought up the video clip of the meeting between Commander Lipnitsky and a Custodian. No one said a word while the video played, and the chamber remained silent afterwards.

  "Even though it was not unexpected," said Sergei, breaking the silence, "this represents very serious development. And there is more. While we were capturing video, we also had opportunity to copy several thousand files from security computers on New Belgrade. It grieves me to tell you that the same Custodian infiltration has already occurred on Novayarus and Ming, and is in early stages on Nova Siberia." He paused and looked around at the assembly. "We need to find a way to move more quickly on this citizenship process. We're running out of time."

  "What else is in those files?" asked Gertrude.

  "We have barely scratched the surface. Those we've examined so far indicate the problem is probably worst on Novayarus, but Ming and New Belgrade can't be far behind. We might have obtained more information, but we ran out of time. With authorities closing in on us, we escaped from New Belgrade and Soviet space as soon as we got the proof we came for."