The Dave Brewster Series

by Karl Morgan

  “Did you save me from the firing squad?” she asked. “I don’t know how else I got here. Did Elder Pak talk to you?”

  “I did save you, Dar Lini,” he admitted. “But I’m not really sure how I did that either. All I know was I was watching the events in the kangaroo court. When you were all taken to the wall, I became frantic. I knew I couldn’t save Anil. Why would I anyway? As long as he was on Skee Lotho, he was high on the list for elimination. But when I saw them drag you from your mate and chain you to the wall, my mind just snapped and you were here.”

  “What happened to the other man, my mate?” she asked, crazed with fear.

  “I knew I didn’t have the strength to save you both. Fortunately, the brain robots are very simple. I just gave them a new suggestion and they believed it came from Vanda and accepted it. He is now on a spaceship headed to my brother. I am hoping to rebuild my strength before he arrives there. Then I can save him too,” Eon said.

  “Can you help me get home?” she asked as a few tears slipped down her cheeks.

  “I will try, child. But I have a problem. As I mentioned before, I don’t really know where we are,” the old man replied. “I have been here so long, ever since I abandoned The Accord. I can still sense the Friends and the Beings on Skee Lotho, but not much else.” He stood and walked over to the bed and took her hands in his. “I was hoping we could help one another.”

  “But how can you not know? Is this a spaceship, or are we on a planet?” she asked.

  “Neither, I’m afraid,” Eon answered. “I just created this chamber for you. My body is not real either. I didn’t want to frighten you with my real nature.”

  “Well, your hands feel real enough to me,” she said. “But it is hard to believe a Nan could live so long. The Accord has been around millions of years, right?”

  “I suppose that’s possible,” he replied. “You have to understand that I have no sense of time. I could have abandoned The Accord yesterday or a billion years ago. I can only judge time by the lives and deaths of the citizens of Skee Lotho and the growth in the size of my brothers. Perhaps it has been millions of years. That’s an intriguing idea now that you mention it.”

  “Eon, let’s take this one step at a time, okay? How about you create that door again and we’ll go outside and see what we find.”

  “I don’t think that will work,” he answered. “I only created this room for you. There is nothing on the other side.”

  §

  Dave woke up with a terrible headache. That was the second time he had been knocked unconscious since arriving on Stit. He sat up in the darkened room, which was only lit by a few small fixtures built into the ceiling. The entire room appeared to be made of steel. A glint of light caught his eye and he looked to his left. Several feet away, past two more rows of bunks, a porthole pierced the side of the room. Beyond the heavy glass, he could see stars zipping by. He was back in space! The Nan of Stit did not have the technology to do this. Perhaps he had been rescued? He tried to climb off the bed, only to find his right leg chained to it. So much for the idea of rescue, he thought. He felt woozy and lay back down. Soon he was sleeping again.

  Sometime later, the lights in the room came on and an alarm sounded. Dave sat upright in bed and noticed the chain around his ankle was opening. He stood and stretched. He was in a large dormitory, filled with several hundred Nan men. Most remained seated on their bunks with their heads in their hands. Many were crying. Dave moved to the next bunk and sat next to a large burly man whose expression was painted with anxiety and despair. Dave stuck out his hand and said, “Hello, I’m Dave Brewster. What is this ship?”

  The man looked back at him with watery eyes. He limply shook Dave’s hand and replied, “I’m Margas Ongool. You don’t know about the Death Ships?”

  “No, but I was only on your planet a few days,” Dave answered. “Tell me about yourself and this ship if you can.”

  “I can’t really tell you much about the Death Ships, Dave. One comes from time to time and people are forced on board. Then it heads back into space, but no one ever comes back,” Margas said. “The Elder Council explained that our sacrifice of people is the price we must pay to keep The Accord away. I think the last ship arrived almost two years ago. No one ever thinks they will be the ones called. I guess my luck finally ran out.”

  A second man approached the bunk with his head held down. He sighed, “Admiral Brewster, I am so sorry about this. It’s my fault.”

  “You’re that soldier who accidentally shot Elder Pak! It’s Zobu, right?” Dave asked.

  “Yes sir. I’m Zobu Inther. It was my stupidity that led to all of this. Now look at us. We are on our way to be fed to The Accord.”

  “It’s okay, Zobu, accidents happen,” Dave smiled. “We’ll figure out how to get out of this mess together.”

  The door to the room opened and a robot entered the room. It looked and moved very much like a man made out of brilliant silver. The door slammed shut behind him. “Greetings, I am Vanda of The Accord. I hope your journey will be comfortable. Please do not be afraid. You will be treated and fed well while you are here. If you follow my orders, you can still live a long, productive life. After I leave, some other robots will take you to a lavatory where you can freshen up and get a uniform. Then you will be led to our mess hall. After that, you can spend your days reading, exercising, or just being with each other. Fraternization with females is not allowed on this ship. They are in a separate and secure area. This voyage should take only a few spans. I hope that is understood. Now, would Admiral Dave Brewster please come with me? He and I need to have a separate meeting.”

  “Don’t go, Dave,” the other prisoners said. “Don’t trust him.”

  Dave patted both men on the shoulder and said, “He has all the cards, I’m afraid. I’ll see you both later.” He walked through the crowded dormitory and stood before the robot that seemed to be smiling. “I’m Dave Brewster.” The robot extended his hand and Dave shook it. Astoundingly, the robot hand was soft and warm to the touch. The two left the room as other mechanical robots entered to take the men away.

  Vanda and Dave walked down a long corridor. The design of the ship was classic, but seemed a bit antiquated. At the end of the corridor, they entered a lift which shot upward toward the top of the vessel. When the door opened, they walked into a large conference room. Nine other identical robots were sitting at the table. Vanda motioned for Dave to sit at one end of the table, and then moved to the opposite end and sat.

  “Dave, we have been wondering about your singularity weapon and why you are here?” Vanda asked. “These other robots represent the Leadership Council of The Accord.”

  “So, you are not all Vanda?” Dave asked. “The last time I ran into you guys, everyone claimed to be Zeet.”

  “No, we are not all one,” another robot replied. “I am Mantarcus and I was the one who initiated Zeet into The Accord. I must congratulate you on your weapon system.”

  “I can’t say I’m sorry about killing Zeet,” Dave replied. “He had enslaved an entire planet of people. That is unthinkable in our Free Society. But the singularity weapon did not kill Zeet of The Accord.” Each of the robots looked up and to the left. “Bingo,” Dave thought. “Take all the time you need to communicate, boys. But do you think I could get a cup of coffee?”

  “Your beverage is coming, Dave,” Vanda replied. “We often forget how weak your bodily systems are. If you need a restroom break or anything else, just let us know.”

  “You are very kind, in a sadistic way,” Dave laughed. The door opened and Elder Palaba Quifer entered the room with a tray of coffee and biscuits. Dave noticed the tracks of tears on her cheeks and the redness of her eyes.

  She set the tray down in front of Dave and said, “I’m so sorry, Admiral. Please forgive me.”

  “That will be quite enough, you may go,” Vanda said. The woman scurried out of the room and the door closed behind her.

  Dave poured a cup of coffee
from the pitcher and added cream and sugar. He took a long drink. “Your coffee is excellent. Too bad you can’t drink any.”

  “Dave, how was Zeet killed?” Mantarcus asked.

  “Why should I tell you anything?” he replied. The robots looked up and to the left again.

  “Dave, it is clear you came to Skee Lotho to learn more about The Accord after the incident with Zeet,” Vanda replied. “Now you have a live audience with the entire Leadership Council. We offer to tell you anything you want to know, if you tell us about the singularity weapon and how Zeet died.”

  Dave bit one of the biscuits and washed it down with the coffee. “You know, that’s a very fair offer on your part. Okay, let’s see where this takes us.” He leaned forward to get their full attention. “Do you want to know the real reason Zeet failed and why you will fail in your attempt to take over my galaxy?”

  “Continue,” Vanda said.

  “Brain power!” Dave said. “Sure, individually, each of your brains is probably huge, like a planet. But how many of you are there? A few thousand? A million or two? In our Free Society, we have hundreds of trillions of brains. I’m certain any of you are much smarter than I can imagine, but I have the help of trillions of others to get to the right answers. Your egos will be your downfall.”

  “It is as I suspected,” Mantarcus said.

  “Don’t be swayed by this one foolish human, Mantarcus!” Vanda cautioned. He focused on Dave again and said, “We know your singularity weapon was a fluke. It may take millions of spans before you can perfect such a weapon. You will all be of The Accord or dinner by then.”

  Now Dave was laughing. “You are right that the original blast was a fluke. But the man who had the idea is a brilliant scientist. By chance, he was at the scene of the battle when all hope seemed to be lost. It was his idea to create the singularity that decimated Zeet. We have many men such as Jon Lake. They are now working together to create the singularity weapon. But it is not our only tool.”

  “There are more weapons?” another robot asked.

  “So it would seem, Opala,” Vanda replied. “Please tell us, Admiral.”

  “We have two unbeatable weapons: Universal Power and faith,” Dave replied. “Come to think of it, that’s only one weapon.”

  “Faith is a weapon?” Vanda laughed. “Faith is that thing you cling to when you are about to be liquefied and fed to one of us. It is a sign of the lack of intelligence. But what is this Universal Power you mentioned? That sounds promising.”

  “I doubt you’ll believe me if I just say it,” Dave began. “But let me mention some things we did, and I’ll let you tell me how they happened without some force that is beyond explanation. First, there is my first appearance deep inside of Zeet. He never knew how Lini and I got there. We were flying in Universal Power and fate led us to him.”

  “That is a joke, Dave,” Vanda laughed.

  “As I told you before, the singularity weapon did not kill Zeet of The Accord. I did. Well, actually it was my Bandabar friend Veek Alar and I. After the singularity exploded, our agents traveling in Universal Power saw how weak Zeet had become. They used Universal Power to transport us directly into his brain chamber, where we used our blasters to explode his brain. I couldn’t get the stink of it off me for days.”

  “You are a barbarian!” Opala shouted.

  “At least I didn’t fry up his brain and eat it,” Dave scowled. “I know exactly how you bastards eat, so don’t give me your sanctimonious drivel.”

  “Dave, please calm down. My brothers meant no discourtesy,” Mantarcus said.

  “I’m sorry. You are right,” Dave apologized. “We knew we had to come to the Magellanic Clouds to find out more about you to understand your motives. Quite by chance, we ended up on Skee Lotho. When one of the guards accidentally shot my friend, Universal Power was used again to pull him to safety.”

  “And finally there is the case of your mate, who disappeared before the musket balls could kill her,” Vanda concluded. “I witnessed that personally. So, for the sake of argument, how do we access this Universal Power?”

  “Well, that’s the tricky part,” Dave said. “You need a Hive, which requires billions of brains, or you need to die.”

  “I am certain I can guess which of those options you would prefer us to follow,” Vanda smirked. “Dave, you have been very fair by telling us all of this, but I think that’s enough for today. Please enjoy the rest of your day and night. Perhaps tomorrow, we can discuss The Accord so we can repay you for the insights.”

  “Thank you all,” he replied. “Who will take me back?”

  “No need Dave,” Vanda answered. “You know the way. If you get lost, ask any robot. You can’t hurt anything here, and there is no way to escape. As you can imagine, a ship of robots does not require escape pods. I know the men you spoke to before must be worried about you. Have a good day.” All the robots looked up and to the left and remained frozen. Dave finished his coffee and walked out of the room.

  §

  Odo Pak and Obu Neela were sitting inside the Chief Engineers’ office at the base of the Tak-Makla Hive. Loni Arrak and Pua Napale, the two chief engineers were pacing back and forth. Zee Gongaleg rushed into the room and sat down. “I’m sorry I’m late. There was a problem in one of the tubes. What update do you have, Pua?”

  “I’m afraid it’s very bad news, Father,” she replied. “The fog in Universal Power faded around the planet Stit. Our agents can find no sign of Dave or Lini.”

  “Are we still looking for them?” Obu asked.

  “Of course, but they could be anywhere in the entire universe,” Pua replied.

  “Or they might be dead,” Loni added.

  “No, I refuse to believe that!” Obu exclaimed. “I know Dave too well for that. If he had rejoined the Source, he would have come to me or Odo immediately to wish us well.”

  “I concur, old friend,” Odo said. “They are out there somewhere. I just hope they are still together. Dave is very well grounded in the Source. I have faith he is being led where he needs to go. Lini is just a young girl. As far as I know, the only time she joined with the Source was when she returned from the past on Fistnan.”

  “Have we learned anything about that fog?” Zee asked. “I have never encountered anything like that before. It seems impossible for such a manifestation to occur within the Source.”

  “Well, we have to stick with what we know,” Loni began. “When we are traveling in Universal Power that is all there is. There are no physical Beings, or weather, or anything else to be found. Given that, the fog must also be Universal Power. And it must be extremely strong to effectively block us from passing through.”

  “Hmm. That almost makes it seem there is an evil force within the Source,” Odo replied. “That cannot be true. The Source is pure good. Evil exists only in the hearts and minds of physical Beings.”

  “I never said it was evil, Elder,” Loni replied. “But there is no doubt that fog is incredibly powerful and an intense manifestation of Universal Power. I would guess it has the same amount of Universal Power within it as a small galaxy, or several hundred million light strings.”

  “If it isn’t evil, then why did it block us?” Zee asked. “We could have protected Dave and Lini, but the fog stopped us dead in our tracks. That doesn’t seem very friendly.”

  “Perhaps the fog did not know it was blocking us or that we even exist,” Pua said. “Think of it as a massive gold door that is blocking us from moving forward. The door does not know it is impeding us. It only knows that it is a door.”

  “That’s a bit metaphysical for a tekkan, don’t you think, Daughter?” Zee laughed.

  “Father, I only know what I saw and felt. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen in Universal Power. I could sense its strength and intensity, but could feel no attempt to reach out on its part. It’s almost like it didn’t know what it was,” Pua replied.

  “It’s a ghost?” Obu asked. “That’s a very interesting
thought, Pua. Imagine a Being of incredible mental power passing over. It might have a string of light that was massive enough to appear as a fog. We have been told the brains of the Friends of The Accord are gigantic. Is it possible that this is Zeet?”

  “I think that’s unlikely, Obu,” Zee argued. “Zeet was new in The Accord. Also, after Zeet died, I’m sure his spirit joined the Source and has moved on. In his perfect knowledge of existence, he must know what he did was wrong. I don’t think this fog is a dead Friend of The Accord. Why would it continue to support the evil of The Accord after dying? That doesn’t make sense.”

  Odo slammed both of his fists on the table. “Of course! How could we be so stupid? The fog even gave us his name already. It is Eon of The Accord!”

  “Do you think he died and was actually trying to save Dave and Lini from his former friends?” Zee asked.

  “I don’t think Eon ever died. According to the monster Pik, Eon was horrified by the barbarism of The Accord. He left because he had an idea for another kind of existence. I think Eon crossed over from physical existence to being part of the Source but is still alive!” Odo exclaimed.

  “I don’t know, Odo,” Zee replied. “I have never encountered a Being living within Universal Power.”

  “Just because we have not seen it does not mean it cannot happen,” Odo said. “Imagine how a spirit reunites with the Source after death. All fear of death is gone and the spirit is free to follow its heart’s desire. If Eon is still alive, his fear still lives within him. Imagine how confused he is, not knowing his true nature. It makes sense to me that he would try to save Dave and Lini now. He was disgusted by the habits of the Friends of The Accord. He is trying to stop them in his own way. But he thinks he is still one individual fighting against them. If he knew his true nature, he could eliminate them all with a single thought!”