AREA 51: IMORTUM

by Stone,Kord

  Justin called out, “I’ll be there in a few minutes as well.”

  Jerren closed the communications and just realized he didn’t ask the AI for its name, “What should I call you?” Jerren said aloud.

  The AI said, “I have gone by many names in the past. Actually I never liked any of the names the prior commanders gave me,” the AI was afraid its next comment could be used as a weapon against it, but hoped its burgeoning trust was not misplaced, “The last name was exceptionally rude. I would prefer to never be called Bot again.”

  Jerren grumbled, “I promise you, I will never call you that. As a matter of fact I’ll let you choose your own name if you would like it.”

  The AI had been surprised by the offer; it was really beginning to like this new commander. The AI realized it had not responded to Jerren’s statement, so it said, “Thank you, I will deliberate on it and let you know what I have decided on.”

  “That sounds good, I’m going to help my brothers get Gebb-Atum and Nuit-Atem over to Jason’s ship and I will be back shortly.” Jerren said.

  The AI asked, “Why do you use the incomplete formal version to their names by the way?”

  “What do you mean?” Jerren asked sounding curious.

  The AI explained, “Their names are just Gebb and Nuit, their full formal names are Gebb-Atum-Shu and Nuit-Atem-Tefnuit, Atum means son of and Atem is the daughter of in the ancient Lantin language. The names are based a long paternal and maternal lines depending on gender. At least in that family line.”

  “I didn’t draw that correlation, thank you; I will let the others know—”

  The AI thought about what it knew of Enyali’s family and said, “If you are planning on questioning them, I would suggest doing it one at a time, with the others still in stasis. And if you wish to rile Gebb, do not use his name. Refer to him only as Atum-Shu… it infuriates him to be addressed as such, but Nuit is not as sensitive about her lineage.”

  Jerren said, “That’s good to know. Thank you very much.”

  Jerren’s brothers arrived a few minutes later, Justin picked up Nuit in a fireman’s carry and Jerren helped Jason carry Gebb, they got them placed into their medical beds aboard TDS 1 before they could wake and Jason activated the stasis.

  Justin looked at Jason, then to him and said, “Calia thinks we should still GMP the planet. She said the energy readings from Anukan have grown much higher than they should be, and she’s afraid they may have repaired the ship hidden below.”

  Jason asked Justin, “Why would a single ship pose a problem? These TDS ships seem to be very durable.”

  “Calia is concerned because Anukan was rumored to have been one of the ancient Imortum outposts, and the location the ship is in was covered in water until after the Lantins fled the planet. Calia believes the old ship could be some of the ancient Imortum technology down there,” Justin finished with a frown.

  Jerren thought about what Justin had just said, and a second later he said, “I’m going back to my ship, and I’ll see if my AI knows anything about that ship down there. Call me when we’re ready to question them.” Jerren swept his hand toward the three in stasis, and then said, “Is there any way they can use the disk in her head to connect with the ship’s systems at all if they wake up?”

  Jason laughed and said, “No, Alise wasn’t sure how Enyali connected to the other ship, so she removed the disk completely. And even if they wake… There, now it won’t matter.” Jason had closed his eyes a second and upon opening them each of the medical beds was encased in a cocoon of bars.

  Jerren looked at Jason, “Good, I won’t be happy until they’re no longer with us. Especially her.” Jerren pointed in Enyali’s direction. “I’ll see you later.” Jerren patted his brothers on the shoulders and headed back to his ship.

  *****

  The AI was puzzled. It had chosen several names over the past hour. However, the moment it was about to say the name out loud the name seemed to be wiped from its memory. This happened seven times before it figured the Commander must have to assign the name.

  Jerren reentered the ship and announced, “I’m back, how is everything over here?”

  “Uneventful,” the AI called back then it told him, “I have tried to come up with a name while you were gone, but nothing I select seems to work.”

  “Why won’t your name work?” Jerren asked.

  “Every time I choose a name and try to say it out loud, I go blank for a second and it is wiped from my memory bank. I recall selecting a name but not the name itself. I think you will have to choose a name for me,” The AI said a bit downhearted.

  “That’s strange. I would be more than happy to help you choose a name. I know you’re hesitant about bonding at the moment, so we can put it off until then if you wish,” Jerren said sounding sympathetic.

  The AI thought about it a moment, Jerren was compassionate, caring and had a strong sense of right and wrong. Enyali had none of those traits, and hoping it was not going to be a mistake the AI Activated the bonding process and transferred its consciousness into a new body directly in front of Jerren.

  Chapter Seven

  Jerren was standing there waiting on the AI’s response, and a moment later his eyes fell on the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his existence. She had stunningly green eyes with an exotic angle, long flowing brunette hair, her lips were full and luscious and he suddenly had the desire to taste them. Jerren felt his blood begin to course and ears ringing, he managed to mutter something, then his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he was out like a light.

  The AI was shocked, upon entering the new body Jerren said ‘Eneria’ and passed out. Looking down, the AI realized that the new body it had was female, and when she heard the name, she had a strange feeling course throughout her body, and she could feel her heart begin to race. She shook off her bemused state and rushed to Jerren’s side.

  Jerren had a knot forming on the side of his head from his fall, but other than that his vital signs appeared to be stable, but she figured it would still be prudent to transport him to the medical unit to check him out though.

  Eneria activated the medical unit and proceeded to medical. While walking, she tried out her new name, “Eneria,” she said out loud with a smile. Eneria smirked at the thought of Jerren’s response to seeing her, and she liked the name he gave her, especially since it made him swoon.

  Eneria made it to the medical room then examined the medical scan, and she was quite impressed. Jerren’s synaptic functions were higher than any of her prior commanders, and that included the psychopath who was very intelligent but insane. She tried to look into Jerren’s mind and was not a bit surprised to find it was difficult to see anything, even with him unconscious.

  Sighing contentedly she realized that after a hundred and fifty thousand nonlinear years, she would finally have to have a conversation again to learn something about the commander.

  *****

  Eneria was on the observation level looking into space. Jerren had been uncouscious a little longer than her prior commanders, so she moved him to bed after her medical scan found that he was alright. She was taking in the serenity of the view when she felt Jerren was in distress and she descended to the bedchamber and asked, “Are you feeling well? I sensed that you were disturbed about something.”

  *****

  Jerren’s mind kept him in a terror-induced paralysis, which was saying something considering some of the horrific scenes he had witnessed during his stints in the military. He was witnessing scenes that appeared to be out of the Spanish Inquisition, or at least he thought they were until he realized it was the AI who was suffering the torture at Enyali’s hands. He forced himself out of the dream state and shot bolt upright. Heart thrashing and hands trembling he looked around. He noted he was in his newly redecorated bedchamber, and a moment later he was startled by an angelic voice.

  Jerren looked up at the ceiling to find a vision of loveliness descending from the observation level, Jerre
n thought he had only imagined her beauty before, but here she was, “Uhhh…” was all he could manage to get out.

  She looked at him with concern in her gaze when he cleared his throat and spoke again.

  “Uhm, Yes. I was just startled at waking up in here. The last thing I remember is seeing you appear and saying something, do you recall what it was?” She smiled at him and Jerren feared he was about to pass out once again as his heart thrashed. He took a few breaths as she explained.

  “You gave me my name, and then the bonding caused you to lose consciousness.”

  Jerren’s disappointment rose at hearing that and he said, “I wanted to let you pick out your own name.”

  She smiled weakly at him, “It is okay. It really is. The name you gave me is not terrible.”

  “What’s your name?” Jerren asked dolefully.

  She seemed to appraise him a moment, then with a glint to her eyes she said, “You called me Medusa.”

  Jerren could feel the blood drain from his face and he shook his head, “I’m so sorry, we can change it.”

  She cracked a smile a second later and laughed, “I am only playing with you. The name you gave me is really quite lovely, it is Eneria. Do you have any idea why you would have chosen it?”

  Jerren chuckled, relieved that she had been joking and thought it over, then he said, “I don’t know, it seems familiar but I think it’s the first time I’ve ever heard it.”

  Eneria appeared to look him over and said, “You still look a bit flushed, are you sure you are alright?” Eneria made it to the bedside where Jerren was sitting and took his hand, “Your hand is trembling,” She looked at him questioningly.

  Jerren sighed, and knowing he would have to address it sooner or later, he said, “I’m alright, I saw what Enyali did to you…” he looked down into Eneria’s face, “I know there are twisted people out there, I’m sorry you had to endure that.”

  Eneria looked at him compassionately, “She is very sick, I am sorry you had to see it. There is nothing to fear now, you will be alright.”

  Jerren couldn’t believe it, Eneria was trying to comfort him, “I’m not shaking because I’m afraid. I’m shaking because it pissed me off.” Jerren stood to his full height and was towering over Eneria as he said, “nobody should be treated like that… nothing should.”

  “I am just an AI—”

  “No!” Jerren snapped with definite anger in his tone.

  Eneria had jumped back and flinched at his angry words and Jerren instantly regretted it. He closed his eyes and calmed down a moment then said, “I’m sorry I scared you. Your being an AI is no excuse for the horrors perpetrated upon you.”

  *****

  Eneria calmed down, for a moment she thought Jerren was going to hit her or worse. Then his words sank in, Jerren was angry on her behalf. She relaxed a bit and was about to ask if he wanted to sit in the chairs in the corner when the voice of one of his brothers chimed in.

  “Jerren how much longer until your charge is complete?”

  Jerren closed his eyes a moment, apparently consulting the ship, “We have just completed. One second… we’re out of range…Now.” He called out.

  Eneria studied Jerren and asked, “Why did we have to move?”

  “Justin’s ship is going to perform a GMP on Anukan, Calia didn’t like the readings they were getting from the planet and we decided to reset it.”

  “GMP?” Eneria asked questioningly.

  “A Geo-Magnetic Pulse, it will kill all electrical devices on the planet. That’s what we did to Toralis and Serqalin. We know Gebb was working on a ship down on Anukan, and we think it best not to let anyone still down there succeed, just in case it’s old Imortum technology.”

  Eneria smiled at the memory of what happened to TDS 5 when they encountered the energy pulses, and nodded then said, “I had wondered what caused the EM waves, it caused systemic anomalies throughout our ship. I never got the chance to discover what caused them, Enyali got spooked and had us flee to Serqalin the first time, and Anukan the second.

  “And Calia was right, the ship is Imortum. We were charging here about fifty thousand nonlinear years ago and Gebb was onboard. He heard a rumor about an ancient Imortum ship crashing into the lake a long time before the Lantins arrived on Anukan and he wanted to check it out.

  “All of the surface water was roasted off of the planet after the white dwarf star got caught in this systems stars gravitation and formed a binary pulsar, leaving the lakebed exposed. Once Gebb located the ship, he and his family brought slave laborers in to dig down to it. I cannot even count how many people have died down there.”

  “What was the ship like?” Jerren asked her.

  “It appeared to be a battleship of sorts. Its forward bulkhead hatch was opened and Gebb and Sethis were able to access the ship through it. But they were unable to close it, so they attached a makeshift hatch to the ship. In the beginning we were able to send probes down to the ship, but the scans could not penetrate the hull, and every time I sent a probe into the ship, the data became corrupted before we could analyze it, but in the last thousand linear years all of our probes get taken over. I never told Enyali, but I am responsible for destroying all of the probes.

  After the first probe was taken over I noticed a complex command algorithm trying to access our ships system. So I destroyed the probe and all other probes afterward. Then I blamed it on the radiation spikes and gravitational waves from the solar pulsar.”

  Jerren smiled at Eneria, and then he furrowed his brows as if thinking about something, and asked, “Couldn’t Enyali see what you did with the probes?”

  “No… she did not have full control of this vessel. She could only order me to operate the ship, and perform minor inquirys,” Eneria said with a frown.

  “If she was bound to the disk, then why couldn’t she control or access the ship?” Jerren asked.

  The memory of the trauma Baelentus and she underwent after his capture flashed in her mind, and she cringed.

  Jerren must have sensed the pain the memory evoked, because he immediately added, “I see that topic disturbs you. You don’t have to answer me. It really doesn’t matter anymore anyway.”

  Eneria was comforted that she would not have to re-live the events, in the descriptions of what had happened, and sighed in relief.

  “Jerren, you need to meet up with Justin and Jason aboard TDS 1 as soon as possible. It is time.”

  Jerren said, “Okay Calia, I’m on my way.” Jerren looked at Eneria. “I will be back in a while.” He seemed to ponder something, and then he asked, “Would you like to accompany me?”

  Eneria felt her heart begin to race, and she became light headed, then without hesitating she shook her head saying, “No, not this time, maybe when it can be under more pleasant circumstances.”

  Jerren nodded saying, “I understand completely,” then he bent down and kissed her forehead, “I will see you in a bit.”

  Eneria’s nerves were still on edge after Jerren exited the ship. When Jerren had asked if she wanted to go to the other ship, she had almost said yes. That was until she realized that would mean seeing Enyali again, then her body began acting erratically, she definitely did not want to see that woman ever again.

  Once Eneria calmed down, she decided to occupy her time to get her mind off of what the psychopath or her family was doing or saying over on TDS 1, and she began compiling data that she felt Jerren and the others should know about as soon as possible. Eneria thought back on the emotional rush she had felt when Jerren kissed her forehead, and marveled with a smile at how that memory put her at ease.

  Chapter Eight

  Jerren was more pissed off than he could ever recall being. He could usually school his anger to accomplish his goals, and then dwell on it afterward, but after seeing what Enyali and to some extent her father and mother had done over the years, it had pushed him to the brink of a murderous rage.

  The only thing keeping him from rushing over and killing t
he trio where they were, was the fact that they needed Intel, and that was hard to get out of a corpse. Jerren schooled his features as best he could and stepped into TDS 1 to find Alise and Jason waiting for him.

  Jason took one look at him and asked, “What’s wrong? You look livid.”

  Jerren ran his hands through his hair, trying to find a good way to let them know what he found out, “My AI…” Jerren started to say, and stopped, Eneria’s name rang in his head, and he decided he would never call her AI again either, it put him in mind of her as an inanimate tool, and Jerren could feel that she was far from that.

  Alise and Jason looked at him obviously concerned, and Jason asked, “Is the AI giving you a hard time?”

  Jerren took a deep breath trying to push down his rage. Shaking his head, he said. “No, she’s sweet. Her name is Eneria for future reference… I will just say that what Enyali and her family did to her is inexcusable.”

  When Jerren spoke Eneria’s name aloud, he noticed Alise got a dazed look and shook her head.

  “Eneria is a lovely name,” Alise said with a smile.

  Jerren nodded and continued, “The punishment they receive is going to be far less than they deserve, let’s get this over with.”

  Justin had arrived a second after Jerren said that, and Justin explained that Calia had launched a probe after the GMP, then Justin said, “We need information about what they were doing with the ship, in addition to the whereabouts of the other family members, and dark matter bombs if Gebb knows of any.”

  Jerren confirmed what Calia and Justin suspected, “that ship buried under the dried lake bed is Imortum in origin.” Jerren explained what Eneria told him about the vessel, then Jason, Justin and Jerren agreed that it would be for the best to get whatever they could out of Gebb before they went down to the planet to secure or destroy the Imortum battleship.