by Ivan Kal
“I apologize, but I’m afraid that our trip needs to be cut short. Let me escort you back to your quarters,” Adrian said, leading her away from the room.
Chapter Three
As soon as the doors to the prisoner’s quarters closed, two people stepped out from around the corner where they had been following out of sight. Adrian started walking towards the two, Akash and Sora following a few steps behind. One of them stood on his three tentacle-like legs; the other was Gotu, the Nel who was Adrian’s second in command. Both were waiting for Adrian, who walked with languid, confident steps. As soon as Adrian reached them, they started walking back towards the command hub.
“So, what do you think, teacher?” Adrian asked the tall Sowir telepathically.
“You were correct. Even with your device, she can sense you telepathically,” Lurker of the Depths said.
“What did he say?” Gotu asked, sounding annoyed, as he felt left out of the conversation without telepathy.
“That I was correct,” Adrian answered.
“Good, at least we have that going for us. Were you successful?” Gotu asked.
Adrian turned to Lurker of the Depths and quirked his eyebrow. “Well?”
“She did not realize your deceptions. She believed the ‘telepathic leaks’ to be genuine,” Lurker of the Depths responded.
“Good. And what about the arrival of the Erasi?” Adrian sent.
“You don’t need me to tell you that she noticed what you wanted her to notice. Your two people have much in common in how you express your emotions.”
“True that. Now I just need to make sure that I don’t give away too much and make her suspicious,” Adrian sent.
“Your telepathic ability is superior to hers. She might have more power, but she lacks finesse,” Lurker of the Depths sent back.
“Good, because in every other Sha ability, she is leagues ahead of me. The only reason I survived our battle was because of our numbers advantage and because she was trying to capture me unharmed. She could have crushed me like paper in her hand if she so wished,” Adrian sent.
“It is good that you acknowledge your limits,” Lurker of the Depths sent.
They walked in silence, with Lurker of the Depths drawing looks from the Nel residents of Olympus Mons as they walked past.
“There is still a great deal of distrust pointed at my people,” Lurker of the Depths sent.
“You can’t expect them to forget. Just them accepting you as a part of the Empire, no matter how unofficial your status, is a great step forward,” Adrian responded.
“I know,” Lurker of the Depths responded, sending a glimpse into the abyss of regret he felt for his people’s actions in the past. “What we have done might never be forgiven. We understand that. And yet, those of us who remain are stalwart in our desire to make amends.”
“Gotu has accepted you. Others will too,” Adrian sent.
“He might be willing to work with my kind, but it is only out of his respect for you. He feels the same anger as the others of his kind,” Lurker of the Depths sent regrettably.
Adrian was surprised, since it was something he hadn’t noticed. His telepathy might have had the potential to be more powerful than that of his teacher, but he was still not at the level of Lurker of the Depths. The Sowir’s only means of communication was through telepathy, and they had become very good at it. And Lurker of the Depths was Sowir’s greatest and most powerful telepath.
Telepathy was an amazing tool, but it was not what Adrian had imagined it would be before he gained it. A person with telepathy could not read the mind of another, at least not easily. And it was near impossible for a telepath to retrieve information from someone who didn’t also have telepathy. That required multiple powerful telepaths working in concert.
And reading the mind of another telepath required both knowledge and power, and even then it was extremely hard. At most one could get at the information that the person didn’t value much. Things that were truly important to a telepath were buried deep and protected well.
Adrian had learned long ago how to skim through the surface thoughts of non-telepaths, how to put ‘noise’ into their minds in order to distract. But doing the same with another telepath was tricky. They usually had defenses against such things, and were far more sensitive to any kind of invasion. And while Adrian was a great telepath according to the Sowir standards, he still wasn’t as good as his teacher in the arts of reading another telepath’s mind without them realizing it. Which was why Adrian had called the older Sowir to help him.
Adrian glanced at Gotu, who was walking to his left, and studied him. There was no sign of unease or anger from him toward the Sowir, but then, Nel were very good at keeping their true emotions to themselves. He reached with his mind and tried to get a feel for his friend’s mood. After a few moments, Adrian caught a glimpse of what his teacher had seen so effortlessly.
Gotu turned and caught Adrian studying him, and he made a Nel hand gesture that meant curiosity at Adrian. “What?” he asked.
“Nothing,” Adrian said, responding with another gesture that told Gotu that he did not wish to speak of it at the moment, just as they reached the command hub. “Can you handle the Erasi diplomats?”
“Shouldn’t you do it?” Gotu asked.
“Not really. It was always the plan for you to administer and run the Sol system from here. Dealing with diplomats is your job,” Adrian responded.
“Alright, then. I assume that you want me to put their embassy in the south wing?” Gotu asked.
“Yes. And see if you can get them to give us any more information on the Shara Daim.”
“Sure,” Gotu said, and entered the room.
Adrian led Lurker of the Depths away and towards the area of Olympus Mons delegated to the Sowir, who had arrived a few days ago. They entered the large hangar-like room, with dozens of Sowir moving equipment from the end of the room where a large pile of crates was to the large pool at the other end of the room. Adrian knew that most of the equipment would be installed inside small rooms underwater, some submerged, others filled with pockets of air. The Sowir living quarters were also down there, as they preferred water despite the fact that they could survive on land.
“How long before you and your people are ready to start the constructions?” Adrian asked.
“A couple of days, no more. All of our construction vessels are in orbit and ready; we only need to settle in down here,” Lurker of the Depths responded. “Granted that the fabricators you promised arrive on time.”
“They will. Isani informed me that they are on their way from Warpath,” Adrian sent.
“Good. This will be a good thing for my people. Until now, we were kept isolated inside our home system. Interacting with others, including those we have wronged, will start the process of healing. I am thankful to you for that, Adrian,” Lurker of the Depths sent, showing Adrian his gratitude.
“It was time. Isolation would have only allowed the wounds to fester,” Adrian sent.
Ever since their defeat, the Sowir had been kept isolated in their home system. At first they had been left alone, bound to their worlds, but as time had passed, the Emperor had allowed them more freedoms. Eventually they had started building civilian vessels for the Empire; then they’d moved to mining equipment and eventually to building stations. And now Adrian had brought them to Sol to help him develop and construct a new defense grid and stations for the system based on technologies from the sphere, augmented and adapted for Sol’s needs.
It had taken some convincing to get them here. The Guxcacul and the Nel were not happy, but thankfully their inclusion to the Empire meant that they had to leave their personal feelings aside. After a bit of convincing from Tomas, they’d agreed to allow the Sowir outside of their ‘prison’ system.
The Empire’s unity, its bonds, came from a simple thing—knowledge. Tomas knew that knowledge was the great equalizer; it gave everyone the same starting point. Lack of dissidents in the
Empire came from the fact that everyone had equal rights and opportunities. All could get the education they wanted; all could live freely and with the same quality even if they decided not to give back to society. But that happened rarely; from the moment a child in the Empire was capable of learning, it was taught that life was about advancement, about always improving oneself, never allowing yourself to stagnate, always moving forward in every direction.
“I have seen the data on your assembling pools. Any chance that we could use them?” Lurker of the Depths asked.
“We are still experimenting with the technology; it isn’t yet up to par with the fabricators. There are defects in finished products that we haven’t been able to correct. Hopefully in a couple of years the technology will be ready,” Adrian responded.
“A pity. What you are asking of us would have gone much faster if we could use that.”
Adrian was about to respond when he heard Iris’s voice in his head.
“A message from Aileen has arrived for you, Adrian,” she said.
Adrian brought it up on his HUD, and after a few moments of skimming through it, he turned to Lurker of the Depths.
“I will have to leave you to get your people settled. There is an urgent matter I have to take care of,” Adrian sent, and turned, walking away and leaving the Sowir behind.
***
A couple of hours later, Adrian stood in the Olympus Mons base’s hangar bay watching a shuttle from the Second Fleet’s flagship—the command ship Decisive—slowly lowering itself to the floor. After it landed and its doors lowered, he watched as a blonde woman wearing the Fleet uniform with the rank of Fleet Commander slowly made her way towards him.
“Johanna,” Adrian said as he shook the woman’s hand.
“Adrian, I hope that this is important. I have much work to do before we leave tomorrow,” Fleet Commander Johanna Stern of the Second Fleet said as she turned and gave the two wolions a pat on the head each.
“It is. Come, let us move to someplace more private,” Adrian said, and led her to a small meeting room attached to the hangar.
“What is this about, Adrian?” Johanna asked once they were inside the room and seated.
“I have received a report from Sentinel Aileen,” Adrian said. He had sent Aileen on a mission to Tarabat, to establish a presence and develop relationships with other races present there, but also to lay a foundation for an information network. That was what a Sentinel’s job was supposed to be, to evaluate and learn about races outside of the Empire’s borders. “She sent me the coordinates for the place where the fleets should wait for her,” Adrian continued. “The Erasi might be willing to sell information to us about the Shara Daim, but something tells me that they will be doing the same for our enemies.”
Johanna nodded. “So, is there anything we should know before we leave?”
“The Erasi were less than forthcoming concerning Shara Daim military movements; they insist that they don’t know anything. But Aileen managed to...obtain a few pieces of information from other sources,” Adrian said.
“And?”
“The Shara Daim Legions are mobilizing, just as we suspected. But the word she sent back is that it isn’t just a few Legions; the rumors that reached Aileen’s ears are that they are mobilizing all of their Legions,” Adrian said.
“All of them?” Johanna asked incredulously. “For us?”
“Yes. It looks like they really want our sphere,” Adrian said with a grim smile.
“How many are there?” Johanna asked.
“Our intel suggests anywhere from two dozen to fifty. Each comparable in size to our fleets.”
“We can’t fight those numbers, Adrian. We have six fleets, with another three on the way by the end of the year, not counting the system defenses, but those are all old ships and drones. We might be able to raise the fleet numbers to sixteen in four, maybe three years. But it will still not be enough if they hit us fast and hard.”
“It isn’t as bad as that. Tomas and I have plans. If it comes to all-out war, we might not match their numbers, but we will have enough to defend ourselves. The good news is that their territory is so large that it will take years for all of them to reach us. The bad news is that they have three Legions close enough that they can attack in six months. The problem is that for my plan to work, I need them to attack with those three Legions before the other Legions arrive,” Adrian said.
“Why?” Johanna asked.
“I want to make peace with them—we need to make peace, but the Shara Daim are not like us. They want to rule the galaxy, and they believe everyone else to be inferior to them. We need to make them see us as their equal, as someone worthy.”
“There must have been other races that have been close to their equal—the Erasi, for example. They did not succeed in changing the way the Shara Daim look at them, so what makes you think that we can?”
“Because the other races were not made by Axull Darr. The entire Shara Daim culture rests on the notion that they are the heirs to the galaxy, descendants of the people who once ruled it, which we are as well. We are not so different from them; our goal is to rule the galaxy as well,” Adrian said.
“But we do not go around eradicating other cultures towards that goal,” Johanna said.
“Don’t we?” Adrian asked. “We might not use destructive weapons, but the result is the same. Any race that joins our Empire leaves who they were behind in order to become something new. We have destroyed cultures of every race that had joined our Empire.”
“Perhaps, but how will you make peace with them?” Johanna asked.
Adrian’s expression turned hard. “I am going to do what the Empire had been doing since its founding: I am going to destroy their civilization. I am going to shatter their belief that they are special, that they are the ones destined to rule the galaxy. I am going to force them to change. And the only way to do that is from within.”
Chapter Four
One month later — April; Year 55 of the Empire—Tarabat—Erasi space
Aileen, Sentinel of the Empire, walked into the small establishment, struggling not to rip the uncomfortable breathing mask off her face. She was in one of Tarabat’s domed cities, built to accommodate races that couldn’t breathe the air of Tarabat. She had spent the last few months on the planet’s surface, expanding the Empire’s influence with the Erasi and other races in the region. But she had also been trying to learn more about the Erasi, their practices and goals.
As she stepped inside, she noticed that the ceiling of the establishment was low, and she had to hunch in order to not hit her head. Before she’d the chance to take more than a few steps in, she was met with a strange insect-like creature which was almost all spindly appendages coming out of two larger round sections. Its head was at the end of a short and somewhat thicker ‘neck’ and was circular with multifaceted eyes and three sets of mandibles above them. Her implant immediately provided her with the information about the alien race on her HUD; its race’s name in its native tongue was unpronounceable by Aileen, and most other races, which was why they simply called them Hav. The alien was wearing the Erasi translation device, as all did here on Tarabat.
“Welcome I-you,” the alien said. The translator might have been an amazing piece of technology, but there existed races whose speech patterns were just too strange to translate precisely. The Hav were one such race.
“Greetings,” Aileen said. “I was told that I might find what I am looking for here.”
“What, looking might you be?” the Hav said.
“Information about the Weavers,” Aileen said slowly.
The Hav froze for a moment, his multifaceted eyes looking at her intently. Aileen reached out gently with her mind, trying to get a feeling of the Hav’s emotions. The Hav did not possess telepathy, which meant that it would be much harder for her to feel anything. But soon enough she got a few snippets from his mind—the Hav was frightened.
“I was sent by Narateth,” Aileen
said quickly, and the Hav immediately relaxed upon hearing the name of the Jugat who had become a great help to the Empire’s people on Tarabat.
“Good, should told-know that before,” the Hav said, then turned and started walking towards the back room. “Come.”
Aileen followed and was led into a room that was half filled with some kind of green fog. She stepped inside the larger room, the fog reaching to her hips. The Hav was almost completely submerged, hidden except for its head.
“Here, information is,” the Hav said, and turned and left confused Aileen inside the room. She looked around, seeing nothing but the fog. She reached out with her mind, fearing some kind of a trap. Then something brushed against her mind, just as the surface of the fog rippled. Aileen took a step back and readied herself for a fight when a voice boomed inside her head.
“Fear me not, child,” the voice boomed.
Aileen shuddered at the intensity and the strength of the mind that spoke. “Who are you? Show yourself,” she sent.
The fog rippled again, and a head slowly rose, with a scale-covered, snake-like body following behind. The triangular head with large horns curved backwards rose to look down on Aileen, and the being opened its mouth, allowing her to see three rows of sharp, jagged teeth on both the upper and lower jaws. The being released a surprisingly soft and musical sound from its throat before its jaws closed and it lowered itself to be at eye level with Aileen.
“You may call me Jurr, although that is not my name. Others call my kind the Uraasat, though that is not the name of our kind,” sent the being, Jurr.
“And what is your real name?” Aileen asked curiously.
She felt the being’s amusement. “You would not be able to comprehend it in your tongue; Jurr and Uraasat will suffice. And who might you be, little child?”
“My name is Aileen, from the Empire that has recently made contact with the Erasi,” Aileen responded, embarrassed for not introducing herself immediately.
