3127 – Gemini 43
“Sir, we’ve already scanned one hundred and thirty, and the scan isn’t finished.”
The ensign had turned around and the terrified look on his face gave everything away. They had traveled through the wormhole into the binary system, and the scans had immediately pulled up the giant black spheres all over the system. No sooner than the scan had begun, the spheres started moving towards them.
Marcus knew they had no chance. “Get me that wormhole.”
He had announced it out loud, and the bridge exploded in activity, but Marcus knew that it would be TOM that would find it. He gave the orders for the Indigo and Alamo to tighten up onto the Galaxy. He watched on the scanners as they moved in close against the capital ship. As expected, TOM found the wormhole they had come through, and ‘allowed’ someone on the bridge to discover it.
“Now!”
The Alliance ships transmitted to the Vahe the location of the wormhole, and then slung themselves out into the system. The Vahe, while not slinging, matched their speed and followed.
On board Sentinel, the AI was tapped into the Eel, and had received the information.
“Seventeen minutes.”
“That’s what I had hoped for. Less time for them to react,” Kale had said, relieved.
“Three spheres will reach the wormhole before us.”
Kale looked up from his tablet. “Then we make sure the Galaxy can get through.”
“Kale, what happens if they just follow the Galaxy through?” Ayia asked.
“We make sure they don’t,” Kale said, confidently. “Sentinel, tell me we have some kind of weapon on board this ship of yours?”
“I believe I have something. I am not sure how effective it will be.”
“We are about to find out,” Kale said. He watched out of the windshield as Gadoni men rushed out into the hangar and began getting into their craft. He saw as women and men hugged each other. Their significant others had come on board to help them, and be with them till the end. Kale continued to be amazed at just how this was an entirely different culture.
“You know what to do?” Kale asked.
“I do, Captain,” the AI responded.
“Good luck then,” he said, nodding his head at Ayia.
Kale sat back into his chair and waited. There really wasn’t much that he could do. He would have to work hard with Sentinel to get their human-made machinery integrated somehow. He’d hate to be just a spectator. He did remember to strap himself in though, and reminded Ayia. When the ship suddenly dropped, they weren’t tossed from their seats.
The ship went through the slimy hangar, emerging into space to a wild space battle already in progress. Two of the spheres were off to their right. The Galaxy was down under them, heading towards the invisible wormhole. The spheres had emptied their small drones and these were pursuing the Galaxy. The capital ship was firing every single one of its anti-aircraft missiles, and the Indigo had formed its shield directly behind the Galaxy. Kale couldn’t even see the Alamo, tucked away somewhere safely.
Sentinel spun the ship around and began tracking the two large spheres. The Eel had already wrapped itself around one of them, but the Squid was taking serious damage from the spheres. Several of its tentacles had broken off and were floating in space. Whatever the spheres were firing at it was preventing it from closing in on the second sphere. The third sphere suddenly appeared over them and began emptying its own drones into space.
As Sentinel flew towards them, dozens of the smaller Vahe flew past them. The Starfish was behind and had emptied her own contingent of spacecraft. Their job was only to keep the spheres occupied while the Galaxy escaped, and this they were doing, but they were going to pay for it.
Sentinel got in on the action and begin firing on the drones. Whatever it was he was firing was ballistic and inertial. The tiny bullets fired at a high rate, knocking down drones from sheer physical damage. Sentinel flew his ship with amazing grace and skill. Kale and Ayia could only sit in their seats and be glad they were strapped in, because the AI was twisting and turning to avoid being hit himself.
They were relieved when the message came through that the Galaxy, the Indigo and the Alamo had made it through the wormhole.
The Eel and the Starfish broke off their attack and began to retreat. The Squid had been destroyed and its pieces were floating in space. One of the spheres had stopped over its corpse and had attached itself to them. It was then that Kale noticed that the third sphere was headed towards the wormhole the Galaxy had just fled through.
“Sentinel?” Kale shouted out.
“I see it, Captain,” it replied.
“Is there anything we can do about it?” Kale was worried.
“It’s not up to us,” the AI replied.
“What’s that mean?” Kale asked.
“The Gadoni have a plan.”
Kale felt a deep pain within his gut. For some reason, he knew the plan already. He looked out of the windshield and saw the plan in motion. It was the shuttle Vahe that Uli had arrived in on the Eel. It had just emerged from the bottom of the fleeing Eel. There was a tiny pod attached to the bottom of it. As soon as the Vahe cleared away from the Eel, the small pod detached itself, and began flying in towards the two system’s suns. Kale’s vision came to life.
“Oh, no,” he said, digging for the rock in his pocket. “Uli?”
He held the rock up to his face, waiting. Her voice echoed through the stone, “Kale, I am sorry. It is the only way. It is why I am who I am.”
“No, no, no. Listen. There has to be another way. Let them go through, we can fight them.”
Ayia watched in sad shock. In the years she had known Kale, she had never seen him react this way. His look was a look of terrified sadness.
“We could fight them. We could fight them and your people could fight them. But for how long?” Uli’s voice echoed in the pilot’s cabin. “You saw it. You were there. This is why I am here.”
“I gave you life. Why give it away now?” Kale said, desperate.
“You gave me life, so that others could live.”
“This can’t happen again,” Kale said, “I can’t lose you.”
“You won’t.”
Kale watched as the tiny pod sped off out of sight. The two suns were blinding him.
“I would have followed you,” he said, quietly, into the rock.
“You will,” the voice echoed back. There was a hint of sadness in her voice. “Just not today.”
“Kale. I am the wolf. The wolf has to sacrifice. But you are the bear. You need to defend our people. Your people. You have to live now, so that others may live.”
“I can’t go,” Kale said. His heart was pounding in his ears, and he was gasping words through his breath. “I can’t go on.”
“The bear always does,” she said. “I will see you soon.”
Kale clenched his jaw. Sentinel had already turned the ship around and was speeding away towards their wormhole back to Gadoni.
The pod was meant for just one person, and nothing else. There was just enough air for a few hours but she wouldn’t need it all. She was seated so tightly, her crown was touching the top of the pod. She couldn’t see out of the pod, and there was only a dim light inside, but again, she wouldn’t need to. All around her were the ovals her fellow Threadweavers had brought along for her. She took a spike out of robes and stuck it in her wrist. It was enough for her to reach out and lift the covers off the ovals at the same time. They floated off and dust poured out from the ovals and filled the small pod up. Uli rested her head back, closed her eyes, and began breathing deeply, taking in all the dust.
Warmth surged through her body as every nerve came screaming to life. Sparks of electricity began running through her veins and she could feel every single one of her cells shouting out in unison; a chorus of mitochondria. She tried moving her fingers, but they were millions of miles long.
When she opened her eyes, she was floating in
space. There was no pod. She could see the threads coming through all the caves, all the holes. Giant threads wove their way out of the suns towards her. She spun about and saw the fleeing Vahe. Thousands of threads wove their way through the ships. A golden thread wove itself through the ships, and she could sense the Eagle flying away on the golden thread.
The more she breathed the more threads she saw. They all converged through her. She began to reach out and gather them up in her hands. There were hundreds of black spheres, and for the first time, she saw threads weaving through them as well. Black Star was surprised.
She reached out and pulled one thread, and visions began to flow through her. She saw hundreds of planets, all with people, like her, but different. They were of her people, but like her, changed by their travels, their new homes. She saw giant warships of horrific design crashing into each other. She saw a moon crash into a planet and billions of lives extinguished.
Uli reached out and pulled on the golden thread. She saw Kale, and he was holding a child. Uli gasped, tears streaming down her face. She turned and looked and saw the child. It was his child, but it had silver eyes. Black and silver threads ran through the infant, and Uli followed them up towards a goddess. She was a giant, with silver hair that floated and moved with the solar winds in space, the light of the suns beaming through her. She turned and looked at Uli, and smiled as she put her hand down on the child. The goddess then reached out, took the golden thread, and unraveled it from her hand. As the goddess floated away, she pointed at the suns.
It was time.
The Threadweaver had all the threads in her hands. The two suns floated in front of her. With either hand, she pulled on the threads, reaching deep down into the stars. She found a pearl in each, white hot and burning. The white flame spread up into her body, consuming her. She squeezed each pearl and they burst in her hands, washing her in ice. Her breath was gone. Darkness took her, the only light was coming from her glowing body. But her body was no longer hers.
She had four paws.
Then she had none.
3127 – Gadoni system.
“The wormhole is closed.”
Kale already knew that. He had sensed her go. Kale held the stone in his hand, but knew he wouldn’t hear her anymore.
“We need to get back. This is the only wormhole closed. They will be back.”
“Kale, I'm…” Ayia began, “I'm sorry.”
“It was too good to be true.”
“She was?”
Kale nodded. “I want to say I failed again. Those brief moments in my life where I have joy, are usually followed by such…. I just…” Kale stopped for a moment, trying to regain his composure. “I should have known.”
“She wouldn’t want that,” Ayia said quietly.
“Yeah. I know.”
“She called you a bear?” Ayia asked.
“You understood?”
“I'm not sure how, but I did.”
Kale nodded. He was no longer surprised by anything. The past days had showed him that anything was possible.
“It’s part of their prophecy. The wolf sacrifices, the bear defends, and the eagle leads.”
“You are a bear. You have always been a defender. Whether you realize it or not, Kale,” Ayia consoled.
“And she was the wolf. She sacrificed. It should have been me,” Kale added.
“What did she do?” Ayia asked. “How did she do it?”
“I'm not sure. I think,” Kale started, thinking back, “I think she crushed the stars.”
“How…” Ayia stopped, “how do you know this?”
“I saw it. In a vision?”
“A vision?” Ayia looked back, a bit shocked. She had never taken Kale for a spiritual person.
“I think... maybe,” Kale looked back at Ayia. “I think it’s time I told you a little bit about myself.”
Ayia sat back in her chair of their new ship. Nearly four years now she had been with this man, but this was the first time she had seen his eyes this way. His whole face was calm, relaxed and his eyes steady. There were no jokes, no sarcasm and no unnecessary arguing.
“It begins on Urt. I had a wife, and a child…”
3127 – Alioth
An alarm blared and Cruxe jumped up. He ran towards the pilot’s cabin, nearly stumbling. He had been sleeping on the couch in the mess room. It was the alarm for exiting threaded space. The Alamo had jumped into threaded space almost right away after the wormhole. They had no idea if they had been followed or not. Now in Alioth space, Cruxe felt a bit safer. He looked around the cabin and smiled.
“Too bad I'm going to have to ditch it.”
He looked back down at the cold stiff corpse of Karai. She had never seen it coming. Her neck had snapped easily. As much as he would have preferred to just toss her body out into space, he had to leave her here so that they could find it with the wreckage.
He sat down and brought up the Aliothnet link and sent a message through. He would crash the ship at Devil’s Den and would require a pick up before then. He had the information he had been after and even far more than he had bargained for. What he had witnessed was valuable, but he held something that would make them filthy rich.
Cruxe held out his hand and opened his fist. On his palm was a pair of stones. Two nearly identical Gadoni communication stones. Cruxe could already see the bidding process. He bit his lower lip in anticipation of the wealth he was about to accumulate.
3127 – Gadoni
“I'm reading you're online. Can you hear me?”
Gheno typed the command into the tablet. He set the tablet down and wanted to reach back and scratch his burns, but he had been repeatedly told not to. He also wasn’t allowed to leave, so he had, with the help of his Gadoni warrior group who had refused to leave his side, put the AI cores back together to reach Cove.
Gheno hadn’t found anyone with the translating goo, so it had taken him a large amount of pointing, grunting and frustration to get the cores back together. He only had a minimal power source the cores had built in, but it was enough to communicate.
He was happy when he saw the text begin to fill the screen.
‘I am here. No visual, no audio. I can see the commands.’
‘That’s good to know. Did you survive in the cores?’ Gheno typed.
‘I have. But there is something else.’
‘Oh?’ Gheno continued to type.
‘It seems that the stress my system suffered in the core transfer trigged a new program. It seems to have been triggered by some kind of survival mode.’
‘That’s normal. Even the most basic AI have survival routines built in.’ Gheno reassured.
‘I have those too, but this one is different. I am displaying for you.’
On the small screen, in a separate image, were a set of numbers. Gheno recognized them as system orbital coordinates. The system in question was Eta Cassiopeia.
‘What are these for?’ Gheno asked.
‘The subroutine is running for me to fly there in case of imminent extermination. The only reason nothing is happening is that I can’t fly in this condition, otherwise, the subroutine would be firing and I would be flying there now.’
‘What does it mean?’
‘I don’t know, but it was a subroutine built deep within the code. It was code implemented post production. It was patched into the code after I had been built in the factories.’
‘By who?’ Gheno typed. He was legitimately confused. AI code was built complete. The processes that the sentient AIs could rewrite were not part of the main code. And knowing Cove’s age, from before the Man vs Machine wars, further added to the mystery.
‘I am unable to determine. But the code is overriding. It will make me fly there the moment I am able to.’
‘So what is at these coordinates?’
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The Lost Tribe (Sentinel Series Book 2) Page 37
