The Archeon Codex: Guardians of the Galactic Sentinel Book 2

by Phillip Nolte

"MacPherson broke the silence, "So...what do they say?"

  Arnold read aloud, pausing between each of the inscriptions to conjure up an approximate translation.

  "This one stands for 'Archea,'" he said, pointing at the corresponding symbol. "This next one means 'ruler,' or at least I think so." He shook his head. "No, not ruler, 'Overlord' would be more accurate...except it's plural, so make that 'Overlords.'" He pointed to another of the ornate inscriptions. "This symbol translates as 'flowing water.'"

  "Flowing water?" said Erik. "What do you suppose that means?"

  There was another silence while everyone pondered the significance of the phrase.

  "Like 'water over the dam maybe?'" said MacPherson. "Things that are past?"

  "Or time that has passed," mused Arnold. "That would make this title 'Past...times...of...Archea...and the...Overlords?"

  "A history of the Archea and the Overlords?" said Kathryn. "Who or what are the Overlords."

  Arnold's face turned grave, "This next symbol stands for...'foe' maybe? No, that's not quite it...'rival' is more like it. Or is it foe-rival? No, that's not quite right either." He paused in thought for a moment before his face lit up. "Archrival! That's what it is, archrival! That means this codex has something to do with the Archeons and their archrivals."

  "Archrivals?" said Olga. "Like...Custodians? Archeon name for Custodian is 'Overlord?'"

  "That seems to be the case," said Arnold.

  "It appears as though we have been granted an object of profound significance," said MacPherson.

  "We'd better see what else is in this codex," said Kathryn.

  Chapter 63. Plant Doctor.

  Earth orbit, on board Helianthus, October 17, 2676.

  After crashing for several hours, a somewhat rested but still profoundly apprehensive Zack took a few minutes to refresh himself before leaving his chamber. Keeling was wearily waiting for him across the corridor, outside the door to the Hordean "medical chamber."

  "Is everything okay, Cyrus?"

  "I wouldn't go so far as to say that, but at least her condition isn't any worse."

  "How long was I out?"

  "A good six hours. The requests for materials were really intense for the first few hours, but it's been pretty quiet since then. My quartermaster can get whatever you need, just ask for Mike. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get some rest myself, I've been here since we got back from Earth."

  "Thanks Cyrus. I can take over from here."

  Zack began checking in on the patient and the "plant doctor" once every hour or so. Each time he looked in, Ariane and the alien were motionless, still connected, and the patient remained unconscious. He could see materials continued to be exchanged through Malus' life-saving net, though the process seemed to slow a little more with each visit. Courtesy of the rest he'd been able to get, Zack began to regain some of his own strength and mental acuity.

  Over the course of the next two days, Malus periodically requested and was brought all manner of different nutrients and other materials. Many of these were in liquid form and the Hordean gave explicit instructions on how much water should be used to dilute them to the proper concentration. Some of the materials he requested were only available in solid foodstuffs. These needed to be pulverized or liquefied and again diluted to the proper concentration before they could be used.

  An unexpectedly rich source of several necessary nutrients turned out to be none other than Lehman's Starbread, staple food for star voyagers. After toasting, it was easy to convert the resulting browned slices into fine crumbs perfect for sprinkling over the pedolith bed.

  As soon as each reagent or material was available, the requested quantity was sprinkled or distributed evenly over the pedolith in the bed Malus remained rooted in. There they were presumably absorbed and processed within his body to synthesize materials needed to repair Ariane's wounds. Twice a day, one of Malus' fellow Hordea would glide into the chamber and join him in the pedolith bed. Each time he was visited, Malus seemed to gain energy and stand a little straighter afterwards.

  ***

  Sometime during the third day after Ariane had been wounded, Malus disengaged from her and from the soil bed. After breaking contact, he swayed slowly and unsteadily out of the chamber. Zack, who had been dozing just across the corridor on a chair the Hordea had grown for him, immediately confronted the Hordean, requesting an update.

  "She should be as she was before she was injured," replied Malus, "though it will require several more of your days before she regains enough of her strength to be able do anything besides sleep. She will probably not be hungry for a day or so; I have left her with adequate levels of nutrients. When she does resume eating, you must take care to ensure that she proceeds slowly."

  Profoundly relieved, nearly brought to tears by the good news, Zack took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh of relief. "I don't know how to thank you, Malus." Only now, with the stress finally relieved, did he realize how intense it had been and how much it had been gnawing away at him throughout the entire ordeal. Without thinking, he added, "You don't know how much she means to me."

  "It is obvious from the pheromones you emit in the presence of your companion you are strongly attracted to her."

  Zack's face turned red. "I'm not...wait, you can tell that just by being around me?"

  "Our chemoreceptors are very highly developed. They are a large part of how members of my species interact with each other as well as the environment and with other species."

  "I'll try to be more careful," said Zack, attempting a small joke.

  "It will do you no good. My experience with other animals tells me you have little control over such things. You should also know your dear companion feels very much the same way about you. Do you wish to mate with her?"

  "No!" said Zack, shocked by the boldness of the question. After a split second he added, "I mean, I would, but it's not that simple."

  "But you are so obviously attracted to each other. Not only that, you seem to be most compatible and your skills are complementary. When you work together, there is a potent synergy."

  Zack injected a dose of reality into what was becoming a rather awkward conversation. "Fat lot of good all of that will do. There's always so much to do, we have absolutely no time for personal relationships."

  "I understand, Zachary Lynton, but you should seek to enjoy her company as much as you can when the two of you are together. I can sense it benefits both of you."

  Zack, taken aback by these totally unexpected and exceedingly intimate revelations, was assailed by an intense, unsettling mix of exhilaration, anxiety and confusion in equal measure. He didn't have the slightest idea of how to follow up on the information -- or if he even should. He managed to stumble out a reply. "Um...thank you for the information Malus. I'll see what I can do."

  "I am only attempting to be helpful, but I can sense you are somewhat agitated. Have I upset you?"

  "It's nothing I can't handle," said Zack. "Can I go in and see her now?"

  "Yes, of course," replied Malus, "but do not stay too long, she will tire easily."

  "Okay. Thank you again, Malus."

  Chapter 64. More Revelations.

  Deimos Common Room, October 17, 2676.

  Back inside Deimos, MacPherson, Olga, Kathryn and Erik all looked expectantly at Arnold. "Yes, of course we need to look at the rest of the book," said Arnold. "Lend a hand, if you would. I can't see how to get this box open."

  "The upper side of the cube holding the Sentinel Key was a lid that came off," said the Professor, trying to be helpful. "Perhaps this container works the same way."

  The five of them inspected the upper surface of the container carefully, searching for a seam or something, any indication there was a panel that could be removed.

  "Not much to see," said Arnold. "Hang on, let me try something." He grasped the two long sides of the box in either hand, as though there was a top panel, and lifted, reasoning that just because there was no visib
le seam didn't necessarily mean there wasn't one. The box remained resolutely sealed. He tried a couple more times, the last attempt while lifting up on the narrow top and bottom sides of the rectangle, which resulted in another failure. "It seemed like a good idea," he said, as he straightened up and took a half-step back from the table.

  "Appologizing me," said the Deimos AI, unintentionally startling all of them, "I have prepared a chamber for the Archeon gift." A new archway, protected by another of the ever-present green force screens, had appeared in the wall while the scientists were concentrating on the codex. "Please to take artifact there."

  Arnold looked around at his companions and shrugged before bending over and picking up the box. "Might as well do as the AI says."

  "It would seem to be the best course of action," said MacPherson.

  The five of them, with Arnold in the lead, headed across the common room and through the new portal. On the other side, they found themselves in yet another chamber identical in size to the ones housing the Sentinel Key and the Teaching and Learning console.

  In the center of the new chamber, another block emerged from the floor. Similar to the block in the Teaching and Learning chamber, it was an equilateral triangle about a meter on each side with a flat upper surface. Unlike the pedestal in the Teaching and Learning chamber, whose sides bent inward at the top to accommodate the computer interfaces, the sides of this one simply came straight up out of the floor for a meter or so. In the top of the triangular platform was a thin, green, glowing line tracing out the shape of a rectangle. The shorter base of the rectangle was about two centimeters away from the closest side of the triangle and ran parallel to it. The upper corners of the rectangular outline ended the same two centimeters away from the remaining sides of the triangle.

  "It would seem as though we have been instructed as to the placement of the artifact," said MacPherson.

  Arnold carried the box over to the triangular pedestal and carefully set it down on top. He then used both hands to perfectly align it within the green, rectangular outline. Without taking his eyes off the box, he took a step backwards, and waited for further developments. He didn't have long to wait. As soon as the box was properly aligned, its edges began glowing with the familiar green light, dimly at first, but increasing to a level almost painful to the eyes over the next three seconds. Fortunately, the period of unbearable brightness lasted only a second or so before the light winked out, instantly dimming back to nothing. When the light was gone, so was the container that previously housed their treasure.

  The codex lay unprotected on the dais.

  For several long seconds, everyone just stared in mild shock at the newly-exposed artifact. Finally, as was his habit, the Professor spoke first, "Well, that seems to have done it."

  "Yes, it has," said Arnold. "Now what?"

  "Now we open it and see what's inside."

  Arnold nodded his head but didn't look totally convinced. He stepped back up to the dais and gingerly reached out to touch the codex. To his mild relief, nothing happened. He grasped the edge of the cover plate on the unbound side and carefully lifted it up and over to the left. The frontispiece on the inside of the red-brown cover plate was covered in intricate diagrams, rendered in gold. To the left, was a large, decorative, multi-colored glyph taking up the upper quarter of the title page. Beneath the ornate glyph, the page was covered in horizontal rows of symbols. A closer look revealed the symbols to be similar to those on the cover, though not nearly as ornate.

  Kathryn asked, "Can you read what it says, Arnold?"

  Arnold took a moment to look the script over before answering tentatively, "Yes...at least I think so. I won't be able to do it quickly though, it'll take some time."

  "Do you need to be alone?" asked MacPherson.

  "I don't think so," Arnold replied. "It might be best if you all remained here for the time being. I need someone to bounce my translations off from. And someone should be keeping a record of all this."

  "I'll get that," said MacPherson, "we'll try not to distract you."

  Arnold's eyes scanned the first plate of the open book before he announced, "This title page describes who compiled the codex and why it was written. He read haltingly, translating the unfamiliar script on the fly. "At the...command of the...Supreme Ruler, this...historical...record has been prepared." Arnold stopped translating aloud as he perused the next several lines. "It says here that this codex was written and compiled by a team of scientists and historians in...I think this is a date but, without context, it doesn't mean much."

  "Is it safe to say it was a long time ago?" asked MacPherson.

  "As I said," replied Arnold, "The date is meaningless in and of itself. From what Symantia told us, the information has to be tens of thousands of years old."

  "Humans didn't begin to produce codices until maybe 200-100 years BCE," said MacPherson. "How is it that this even exists?"

  "Mankind didn't produce this particular codex," replied Kathryn. "When you think about it, it's a pretty good format for something designed to last the ages. What's it made of, Arnold?"

  "Hard to tell, the pages are much thinner than parchment, and the material is a lot more flexible, kind of like paper..." He rubbed the page between thumb and forefinger. "...but it's not paper either. The codex is also in pristine condition, which is unbelievable given its age."

  "The symbols on the inside of the cover look like they could be circuit diagrams or something," said Erik, who up till now had just been observing.

  "Circuits for what?"

  "It's hard to tell without taking a closer look at them. Just a second, I'll get a holo of them, and we can have the engineers take a look." He made a video recording of the images. "I'll send these to Cliff and Bobrik, maybe they'll have some idea what they are. In fact, I'll work on it with them, it's not like I'm doing much good here."

  "On the contrary," said MacPherson, "this last observation was most helpful."

  "Thank you, Professor," said Erik, "but I still think I could be more useful somewhere else. Besides, I need to get some rest, I haven't slept more than an hour or two in the last couple days."

  "Of course you haven't, how inconsiderate of us," said MacPherson. "By all means, go and get some rest, young man, you've more than earned it."

  "Later then," said Erik as he turned and left the chamber.

  Arnold went back to inspecting the codex. He turned his attention from the "title page" to page one of the ancient book. The page was also covered in symbols, as was the adjoining page. Scattered here and there amongst the text, were simplified line drawings, much like the diagrams contained in an old, real-book dictionary. Some of these portrayed what looked to be common everyday objects, while others depicted things utterly alien. There looked to be a short description beneath each of the diagrams.

  "This could take a while," said Arnold.

  Chapter 65. Survivor.

  Helianthus, Earth Orbit, October 19, 2676.

  Zack made his way slowly and carefully into the chamber where Malus had performed his medical miracle to find Ariane resting on the same dais where he and Erik had placed her several days earlier. The way the top of the platform was partially deformed under her weight made it evident the Hordea had performed some more of their materials magic on the upper surface. The top five centimeters of the dais were not only a darker green color, they now seemed to consist of a firm but yielding substance, something like thermafoam. She was also covered with a blanket of a soft, green fabric very much like silk.

  A meter to one side was a lower platform running parallel to the bed. The platform, a bench really, was about the same length as the dais she was on, though not nearly as wide. Zack realized the Hordea had thoughtfully "grown" it there just for the comfort of visitors. Ariane was lying on her uninjured side, facing this "visitor's bench" which was also topped with a thinner layer of the soft, yielding, dark-green padding.

  He eased down onto the bench and spent the next couple of minutes just
watching her sleep while attempting to sort out his jumbled feelings. She'd lost some weight and her normally robust complexion was pale, but that was to be expected, considering what she'd been through. What mattered was she was still alive. A wisp of the short dark hair framing the fair, familiar features of her face had strayed out of place and fallen to where it partially covered her left eye. With a lump in his stomach, Zack was reminded once again of how beautiful she was.

  He leaned forward, reached out, and gently brushed the stray lock of hair back away from her face. Remaining on her side, she slowly opened her eyes. It took several seconds for those eyes to focus, and it was immediately obvious she was badly disoriented, very much as though she'd been drugged. Which probably wasn't far from the truth. He attempted to straighten the rest of her mussed-up hair with a couple more gentle strokes before withdrawing his hand and settling back down on the bench.

  "Zack?" she mumbled softly. "Is it really you?"

  "Yes, it's really me."

  "I didn't know for sure...I've had a lot of strange dreams lately."

  She made to push herself up onto her elbow but wasn't quite able to pull it off. While she was moving, the blanket slipped down over a bare shoulder. Though it made perfect sense, Zack realized with a mild shock that she was naked under the Hordean blanket. He reached over and tugged the blanket back over her exposed shoulder.

  "I think you should just lie still," he said. "Besides, you aren't ...decent under that blanket."

  She lifted the blanket just enough to look for herself, let out a short giggle, and let it fall back down again.

  "I'm too tired to be embarrassed, there's nothing under here you haven't seen before. Besides, you're such a gentleman."

  Zack decided this would be a good time to change the subject.

  "How do you feel?"

  "Tired," she replied. Careful to keep the blanket in place, she rolled over onto her back and closed her eyes. "What happened to me?"