by Karl Morgan
“I was far away in the Large Cloud at the time. I wasn’t talking about a physical cloud, but something was blocking my mind from contacting my brain robots. It felt like my brain was lost in a bank of fog. I don’t know how else to express what I sensed,” Vanda replied.
Dave chuckled, “Well Master, that sounds like more of the magic and mystery I mentioned. I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“I want you to know that I will not consume you or allow you to be consumed by other Friends. I am driven to understand why you are different. That is why I put you at a desk job. I don’t want you to be killed by an errant threshing machine or wood chipper. If I may, I would like to meet with you more often. You are a unique human and I must find out why.”
“Thank you Master. I appreciate your protection. May I ask a favor from you as well?”
“You may ask, although I can’t say I’ll agree to it,” Vanda replied.
“I’ve become acquainted with two humans on Skee Lotho and would like you not to consume them either.”
“I assume you mean Margas Ongool and Zobu Inther, the ones who helped you off the ship?” Vanda asked.
“Yes, Master.”
“Of course, that is a small price to pay. I will have them join you on Nostu’s team. And I will let you know when we will meet again,” Vanda said.
“I’m sorry, Master, but I do have another favor to ask.”
“Another? Okay, please ask, but I am not your fairy godmother.”
“Master, you are the absolute idol of my superior, Nostu of The Accord. He speaks of you constantly. If you have time, could you consider giving him an audience like this?” Dave asked.
“Let me get this straight. You are asking for me to do something for a Friend?”
“Yes Master. Nostu and I have become close and I value him as a friend of mine.”
“Wow! Dave, you have surprised me again. I have never heard a human ask for something for one of my Friends. Of course, I will give him an audience,” Vanda agreed. “The elevator you are in will now return to the golden chamber. You may return to your workstation once you arrive.”
“Thank you for your valuable time, Master,” Dave said as the elevator began to move upward. “I hope your plan works, Odo,” he thought.
§
Eon and Lini were walking through a small patch of woods just beyond the high walls of his compound. Two guard robots, G4 and G7, joined them for security. Eon had explained how the livestock on Stit had become feral and inbred with wildlife around the planet. Once upon a time, Stit was full of farms and ranches. The residents of the planet led peaceful lives and were well fed. All of that ended when the Friends of The Accord arrived. Once the lack of large metal deposits was discovered, the citizens were loaded onto transport ships, never to see their home again. It was that act which convinced Eon that The Accord was evil, leading to his exile. Their path led down a gradual slope to the banks of a wide river, where a ferry boat was stationed, manned by another robot.
As G4 helped Lini onto the boat, Eon said, “This river flows to an ocean fifty miles from here. At the river’s delta, there used to be a magnificent city. It’s been so long that I’ve forgotten if that city was the capital. It’s still there, but deserted and crumbling away. I have had my robots maintain that small town we visited. It continually reminds me of what Vanda, Mantarcus, and I did to this world.”
G7 picked Eon up and set him gently on board where he took a seat on a heavily upholstered chair next to Lini. It was a warm and sunny day, and the coolness on the river was refreshing. H96, the ferryman, offered a pitcher of iced tea and some biscuits to his guests. The boat moved leisurely along its line toward the other bank. “Eon, are there dangerous creatures in the river?” Lini asked.
“Not that we have ever seen. Why do you ask?”
“I am hoping this planet is a natural Hive that will help me save my friend inside Vanda. If it is, there should be a certain type of sea creature living in the seas or rivers. I was hoping to take a brief swim in the water and call to them,” she replied.
“I suppose that is okay. My guard robots are water-capable, so I would like to send one with you, just in case. But I have no swim attire for you or me.”
“That’s no problem,” she replied as she began to pull her clothing off. She folded each garment neatly and set them on the chair. In a few seconds, she was standing nude in front of Eon. “Dave tells me I am a free spirit,” she giggled, then turned and jumped overboard. G4 followed her into the water.
Eon was stunned. After seeing Lini’s body, he was feeling sensations he hadn’t felt since he was a young man on Skee Lotho. “I guess I am a real man,” he said to his robots.
Lini dived toward the floor of the river. Her mind reached out, calling any Zula who might be listening. She forced her mind to concentrate and listen for their song. After three minutes, her lungs were smarting, so she rose back to the surface next to the ferry. G7 took her arms and pulled her on the boat while G4 climbed aboard. H96 handed her a large towel he kept on board and she wrapped it around her shivering body. “What happened to you, Eon?” she gasped.
“I don’t know what you mean, child.”
“You look much younger now. How did you do that?” she asked.
“I do? I had no idea.” He stood and looked over the handrail at his reflection in the water. “That’s amazing!” His reflection looked like a man in his twenties. “Do you have any idea why this happened?”
“Well, I do, but you may not like the answer. I saw how you looked at me as I disrobed. I remember Dave doing the same thing on Solander. He tried to look away, but couldn’t help himself. Do you think I’m pretty, Eon?” she laughed.
Eon blushed until his face was bright red. “Uh, I suppose you’re attractive, if that’s what you wanted to hear.”
She walked over to the young Eon, threw her arms around his neck and kissed his lips. “I think you’re pretty cute too, although you might be a bit old for me,” she giggled.
“Only by a few million years, Lini,” he laughed. He coughed and said, “By the way, did you contact any of those creatures?”
“No,” she frowned. “But sometimes it takes time. Maybe one day we can go to the ocean and try it again.” The sky began to darken quickly. Lini looked around the sky, but there were no clouds. It seemed to be twilight, but it was still late morning. Something was terribly wrong.
“I think Mantarcus has arrived,” Eon said, pointed upward. Lini followed his arm and saw an apparent total solar eclipse had begun. “Unfortunately, my brother has picked a site between us and the sun. I will have to ask him to move. The darkness will kill my crops.”
“Are we safe?” Lini asked.
“My friend, Bandopaz Niderak, says I am more powerful than The Accord, but I hardly understand how that could be true,” he replied, then turned to the ferryman. “H96, I think we should return to the estate. Our little tour is over for the day.”
“So, you’re more powerful than The Accord?” Lini wondered. Eon only shrugged his shoulders. “Why don’t you try a little experiment?”
“Like moving his vessel somewhere else?” Eon asked.
“That might be a little ambitious for starters,” she replied. “But remember how you drew him to the small village? Why don’t you summon him here? Bring Mantarcus in human form onto this boat now!”
“How exactly do I do that?”
“I don’t know, Eon. You’re the transcendent man. Think of him in Nan form again and imagine him here before us,” she suggested.
“I’ll try,” he said.
“Eon, you must have faith in yourself,” she urged. “Don’t try, summon him!”
“Mantarcus, I summon you now!” Eon shouted.
Another man appeared on the boat. After looking about with a stunned look on his face, he said, “Eon, what am I doing here?”
“Is it really you, brother?” Eon gasped. “I did this.”
“I was just contemplating our s
trategy for gathering and quarantining feral livestock and suddenly I’m here!” Mantarcus shouted. “I didn’t do anything, so it was either you or this woman.”
“My name is Lini in case you forgot,” she smiled.
“I remember,” he said and turned back to Eon. “I demand you let me go back, or I will summon my robots to destroy you!”
“Temper, temper, old friend, I meant no harm.” Eon snapped his fingers and Mantarcus was gone. He turned to Lini and hugged her tight. “Thanks for the inspiration, Lini. That was amazing.”
“Eon, honestly, I didn’t think it would work either,” she replied. “I think Bandopaz may be right. I don’t think any of the Friends of the Accord could do that.”
“Clearly, we need to work on my talents before The Accord ravages Skee Lotho or the innocent planets in your galaxy,” Eon replied. “May I try another test with you Lini?”
“You’re the boss, Eon,” she replied. He put his arm around her waist and thought of the dining room in his estate, then snapped his fingers. Only the robots remained on the boat, wondering what had happened to their charges.
Chapter 17
A tone sounded on Zee’s control panel by the side of his bed. He rolled over and looked at the clock, which reported 2:30 a.m. He tapped the button on the panel and Loni Arrak’s face appeared on the viewscreen. “Loni, it’s the middle of the night. What is going on?”
“I’m sorry, High Consul,” she apologized, “but the situation in the Magellanic Clouds has changed.”
“Please continue,” he said.
“Our agents are reporting a massive fleet of planetoids on course to exit the Large Cloud in the next day or so. Their current course and speed will intercept the Lubna system in twenty days.”
“Oh my God,” Zee gasped. “The invasion has begun. We need to notify President Mencius.”
“A signal was already been sent to him and the Fleet Admiralty,” she replied. “The Accord fleet consists of almost five hundred planetoids. Have you heard anything new on the singularity weapon?”
“Nothing good, I’m afraid,” he sighed. “I’m sure they will do what they can, but I doubt a stable device can be developed in so little time. We need to begin evacuation of the outer systems.”
“I’m certain the Free Society will begin the process immediately, although I doubt the Nan of Fistnan will leave their home easily. It is a natural Hive after all,” Lini countered. “But there is something else in the Small Cloud.”
“I hope it is better news, Loni.”
“It’s too early to tell. There are now two planetoids in the Cloud. One is near Stit while the other is near the planet where Lini has been detected. The population on Stit is being rounded up and transported to one planetoid. The Friends of The Accord on the other planetoid seem to be gathering livestock only on that world,” she reported.
“I’m surprised about that,” Zee noted. “What happened to the fog in the field of Universal Power around that planet?”
“It seems to be fading and condensing toward a central point near the home where Lini was found. I don’t know what it means yet, and we still can’t get close enough to Lini to extract her.”
A second tone sounded and Zee pressed the button to conference the two calls. General Fa-a-Di appeared on the left half of the screen. “General, I am guessing you’ve already heard the word.”
“Yes. It would seem we have run out of time,” Fa-a-Di sighed. “I will meet with the top commanders in the Free Society in one hour. The team working on the singularity device will be there as well. My preference is to make our stand on Fistnan. I hope and pray that Hive will help us win the day, with or without the new weapon system.”
“Gentlemen, I think it is time to consider the use of our Hives as offensive weapons,” Loni interjected.
Zee frowned and said, “I think we reached our limit in the battle against the Donnaki,” Zee suggested. “We were able to move vessels in and out of the combat zone. I’m not sure Universal Power or our own faiths will allow us to do more.”
“Plus I sincerely doubt the natural Hives can be corrupted so,” Fa-a-Di added.
“I know what you both are saying, but the alternative may be a victory by The Accord where we will all be ground to paste and consumed,” Loni said. “The Free Society will disappear along with most sentient life in the galaxy. Once our resources are used up, they will move along to another galaxy, leaving nothing but an empty shell where our societies once thrived.”
“I don’t know what to think,” Fa-a-Di said.
“Zee, if a planetoid Friend of The Accord comes to orbit Tak-Makla, sending thousands of maniac robots to this world to round up and consume all of the peaceful tekkans of your planet, will you accept that or fight?” Loni asked.
“Corrupting Universal Power is a serious thing, Lini,” Zee replied. “Honestly, I don’t think it would work anyway.”
“You both have forgotten the lessons of the Society of Humanity. They used their Hives as weapons through most of their existence,” Loni argued. “It wasn’t their use of Universal Power that destroyed them. The leadership of the Society failed when they lost their sense of responsibility for their people and focused only on maintaining their personal power and wealth.”
“I don’t think we know enough right now,” Zee said. “We need to meet with Odo Pak and Obu Neela to get their input. If we’re going down this road, I don’t know if we can ever come back. You know, when my ancestors built this world, they swore Universal Power would only be used for good. It was never intended to be a weapon of war.”
§
Dave was sitting enjoying his breakfast with his friends, Margas and Zobu, who had been transferred to his level in the planetoid. Vanda had proven to be a man of his word, although Dave had no idea what made him unique enough for this treatment. He thought about Universal Power and his connection to it and wondered if that could be part of the solution, although it had been some time since he had felt it. “Dave, I can’t thank you enough for getting us up here,” Margas said as he shoved a forkful of eggs into his mouth. “The food here is ten times better than where I was.”
“What did they make you do?” Dave asked.
“I was working on a vegetable farm,” he replied. “The place was unbelievable. It was hard to imagine I was inside a false planet, except when I looked at the sky. About two hundred feet over our heads was a seemingly endless metal ceiling covered with lights providing artificial sunlight for the crops. The robots woke us at first light. They gave us a small breakfast, usually some kind of gruel. Then we’d spend hours in the fields. At the end of the day, we were given a decent meal and sent to our bunks. Every day was exactly the same.” He turned to Zobu and said, “How about you?”
Zobu’s face was hollow with dark bags under his sunken eyes. He looked very thin and frail, as though he’d been in solitary confinement without human contact for months. He did not respond. Dave reached out and touched his hand and said, “Zobu, are you alright?”
Zobu was startled by the touch and sat up straight as if he’d been prodded in the back. “Oh, I’m sorry; I guess I was lost in thought.”
“Zobu, what did they do to you?” Dave asked.
A few tears slipped out of the corners of his eyes and his head dropped down. His face was grimacing as he tried to force the words out of his mouth. “Every day, I thought I was next. I couldn’t help but think it was my turn in the liquefiers. It was too terrible to talk about.”
“Zobu, please tell us. It will help to let it out,” Margas said.
His whole body began to tremble and his voice was quavering. “I was on clean-up patrol. That’s the only word that can describe it. Parts of this vessel are quite old and need lots of maintenance.” He stared off into the distance. “I remember when the Elder Council told me I would pay for what I did on that patrol. I told them over and over it was an accident. They laughed at me! I begged for mercy and they laughed at me.” He covered his face with his hands
and sobbed uncontrollably. Dave pulled his chair next to him and put his arm around his shoulders. “My team was charged with cleaning the liquefiers before the maintenance crew did their repairs. Like I said, parts of the ship are old and that includes most of the liquefiers. Every day, two or three would need maintenance. Oh my God, can you imagine what I saw every time?”
“Zobu, it’s okay. We know what goes on here. The first day I was put to work, Nostu had me control a swimmer robot looking for a blockage in one of the pipelines. When I found the blockage, it turned out to be a mass of human heads. I thought I would throw up.”
Zobu laughed. “I’m not surprised. If that’s all I saw, I’d be the happiest man in the universe. And I did throw up, every time, just like the other guys. That’s one reason I’m so skinny now. You eat breakfast and they send you to a liquefier. First they open the access panel. You can’t imagine the smell. A small robot goes in first to dispatch any of the people who are still alive. Then it’s our job to clean up the mess.”
“Oh my God,” Margas replied.
“God has nothing to do with it, Margas!” Zobu exclaimed. “We saw people chopped into large chunks when the blade froze. Some were still whole, but their bodies were impaled on the blades. We heard them screaming when the panels were first opened. Seconds later, the robots killed them. It was our job to clear the bodies and parts of bodies. Then we would wash away the blood and other fluids. The machine had to be clean before the maintenance crews could come in and replace the broken parts. Every time I stepped into the liquefier, I threw up until I had nothing left in my stomach. But even that wasn’t the worst of it.” He took a sip of coffee and looked at his friends. “Each time we stepped in, the lead robot would tell us the power mechanism was faulty and it might start again any second. Once or twice, they did start them, just long enough for the blades to move slowly around a time or two. Then they would laugh at us.”
“I had no idea,” Dave said.
