by Worth, Dan
‘All empires need good communications to hold them together,’ said Katherine.
‘Exactly, and as I believe the human expression runs “All roads lead to Rome.” It is possible that Eonara found a way to get us home, but given her previous statements about her intent to bring down the Shapers, we had considered the possibility that she intended to return to the Progenitor home system. From Eonara’s previous utterances and the records we found relating to that system, it appears that a gate capable of creating wormholes to any destination in the galaxy may exist there. She may have intended to use it to attack them somehow. The Shaper home-world never did lie on the gate network, we have specific references to this, but we could also use the device to return home if it still exists, theoretically.’
‘Do we have a map of this network?’ said Rekkid.
‘We do indeed, but we have no way of knowing how much of it still exists. Furthermore, although we now know which system we are currently in, once we pass through the gate in this system it would appear to bring us out five hundred light years away at a junction of several such pathways. Quite how we would know which one to take once we got there is not clear, nor do we know what would happen were we to venture down a wormhole that no longer led to a functioning device.’
‘I strongly suspect that it would not be pleasant,’ Rekkid commented, and winced. ‘Do we even know how to activate these devices anyway?’
‘No, we do not. We must investigate the device in this system first of all. The one found in the Fulan system contained resident AIs. Perhaps we may need to communicate with one here, although so far it has not responded to the efforts of our smaller craft to do so,’ said Mentith.
‘Hmm, you know Maran did try to kill us all,’ said Rekkid. ‘Are you sure that this is wise?’
‘What choice do we have?’ Mentith replied. ‘It will take us years to return to our home systems otherwise, if we make it at all.’
‘How is Ushild?’ said Katherine. ‘If we could speak to him again, perhaps he could help us. He may know how the Akkal passed through before.’
‘He is still unconscious, I’m afraid,’ said Mentith. ‘Chief Medical Adept Okanno informs me that although they have removed him from stasis after his journey, he remains in a greatly weakened condition. In any case, we may have a long period of investigation ahead of us before we are able to pass through the portal in this system, though if Ushild awakes, all the better.’
‘And if he doesn’t, then the secrets of his race die with him,’ said Katherine, gloomily.
‘How’s the ship?’ said Rekkid, changing the subject. ‘Has she been fully repaired?’
‘Fortunately, almost. There are still some minor areas of damage to deal with, but we managed to fully re-manufacture those key systems that we could not repair. My crew have worked tirelessly to get the Glory back to her peak operating capacity.’
‘Ship shape and Bristol fashion?’ said Katherine.
‘I’m afraid I have no idea what that means, but if you are referring to this ship of war being ready for service, then yes, she is. We shall be breaking orbit soon to journey to the portal. Perhaps you’d care to join me on the bridge? You may be able to offer some insights, given your previous experiences.’
Rekkid shot Katherine a sideways look.
‘Yes of course, War Marshal, thank you,’ Katherine replied.
‘Excellent. I shall now proceed to Lord Steelscale’s cabin and ask him to join us also,’ said Mentith, a little stiffly, and made to leave
‘Yes... I’d knock before you walk in if I were you,’ said Rekkid. ‘We heard... noises.’
A few minutes later, they saw the grey-white cloud-tops of the dead planet slide away from view on the main bridge display as the Shining Glory turned and broke orbit, heading for the centre of the system and the Progenitor portal. As the starfield wheeled with the ship’s motion, Katherine caught a glimpse of the brilliant whirling stars of the galactic core, visible edge on as a vast swathe of light, before the ship entered its jump and the spectacular scene was replaced by the rushing dark of hyperspace.
They emerged, moments later, into the brilliant light of the twin suns. Ahead of the ship, the two closely orbiting G class stars dominated the scene, blazing yellow white against the blackness of space. As the Glory headed between them, other lights became discernible in the darkness. The destroyer’s fleet of smaller craft were clustered about the Progenitor device, as yet invisible to the naked eye against the void. Views from the ship’s other sensors showed a slender ring floating free between the two stars, balanced by their opposing gravities, but which neither emitted nor reflected any signals of any kind. It was a perfect black body object composed, the ship had theorised, of compacted dark matter. Smaller rings had also been detected floating in the photosphere of the two stars, similar to those found in the Fulan system. Presumably - like those other, larger, devices, - their purpose was to feed the portal with plumes of directed energy.
As the Shining Glory approached, the fleet of smaller craft parted to allow their massive mothership through. The Glory slowed to a stop and began to probe the device with its more powerful instruments as the smaller craft, no longer needed, began to return to its cavernous hangars.
The ship’s cat avatar, now fully restored to life, padded across the deck towards Mentith, who stood in the centre of the bridge contemplating the instrument displays.
‘Anything?’ said Mentith, addressing the creature.
‘Not much,’ the cat replied. ‘It would seem that our theory that this device is composed of compacted dark matter holds out. I’m assuming that the density of the material is part of the wormhole terminus anchoring properties of the device. It is impossible to penetrate with my sensors. The only surface features discernible are the circular apertures on its outer surface that face the rings located within the photospheres of the stars and presumably act to collect energies directed towards them. I get no returns at all from the rest of the device. However, I can detect the wormhole terminus.’
‘Can we pass through?’ said Mentith.
‘No. At present the device is not active and hence the wormhole is not being held open for us. Its current diameter is on the sub-atomic scale and we cannot enter.’
‘Any thoughts on how we activate this device?’ said Mentith to the bridge in general.
‘I’m afraid not,’ said the cat. ‘However, I will continue to attempt to penetrate the device somehow with my sensors. I have theorised that perhaps I can determine its inner workings by examining its imprint on hyperspace at the microscopic level.’
‘If I remember correctly,’ said Rekkid. ‘The first signs of life within the Fulan system device were uncovered when Varish approached it.’
‘You are referring to the Progenitor AI that accompanied you to the system?’
‘Yes, although its true origin was unknown to us at the time. The AI systems within one of the rings seemed to respond to its presence.’
‘The same AI that had murdered the others controlling the portal and had allied itself with the Shapers, unleashing the Banished Arkari upon us and killing thousands of people,’ said Katherine. ‘We should be careful. If an active AI is still present within this device, perhaps the long millennia have driven it insane also.’
‘Duly noted,’ replied Mentith. ‘Especially since we do not know what destroyed the original home-world of the Akkal.’
‘Perhaps we should move the ship closer to the ring?’ Steelscale suggested as he considered the various projected images, arms folded across his muscular chest. ‘We have a Progenitor AI of our own aboard. Perhaps they might like to talk to one another?’
‘Assuming of course that Eonara is capable,’ Mentith replied. ‘She still appears to be locked within her core and remains uncommunicative.’
‘To us, maybe,’ Steelscale replied. ‘It might be worth the attempt.’
‘Agreed,’ said Mentith and turning to the cat said: ‘Ship, close slowly with the ri
ng and extend greetings on all channels, but raise our shields and prepare to go to combat readiness at a moment’s notice.’
At Mentith’s command, the Shining Glory edged forward towards the ring’s outer surface, until the nose of the warship was mere metres away from the night black, featureless material. All the while, the ship continued to broadcast using all means available to it.
Still nothing. They waited in anticipation.
Then the ship’s cat broke the silence:
‘Wait. I’m detecting a signal. It’s coming from the ring but I’m unable to pinpoint the exact point of origin.’
‘What sort of signal?’ said Mentith urgently.
‘It’s a hypercom broadcast of some kind. It bears some resemblance to other Progenitor communications that we have on record, but it seems to be heavily encrypted. It is however directed at us.’
‘Directed to Eonara?’
‘If it is, she isn’t responding yet.’
Just then, the shipboard comm. chimed and the image of Medical Adept Okanno appeared in the air to one side of the bridge. He looked alarmed and talked hurriedly in Arkari, the ship translating for the benefit of Rekkid, Katherine and Steelscale.
‘Bridge, this is Okanno. Our patient has woken up. Something... I don’t know... something woke him very suddenly. He started to rant and rave at us. I’m not sure any of it makes any sense. You should get Professor Cor, Doctor O’Reilly and Lord Steelscale down here immediately. They might be able to make some sense of what he’s saying.’
‘Can they not talk to him from here via the comm.?’ said Mentith.
‘Under the circumstances, I don’t think that would help. He’s raving about gods and the end of the world. I doubt that introducing holographic faces and disembodied voices would improve the situation. Get them down here now, before it’s too late.’
Emerging from the ship’s internal transport tubes, they rushed along the corridor into the brightly lit sickbay. Ushild lay near the centre of the room, his bed surrounded by gleaming equipment, drones and Okanno and his staff. The walls and air around them were alive with data displays and medical scanning imagery. Ushild was babbling in his own language and clawing the air.
‘I don’t know exactly what happened,’ said Okanno, seeing them enter. ‘All of a sudden he emerged from his coma. His eyes flicked open and his heart rate and breathing became highly elevated. I don’t know if this is normal for his species... I don’t know if he can survive for very long in such a state. In fact, we don’t know enough about his physiology at all, although we’re trying to stabilise him all the same. We are however seeing some very strange neural activity.’
‘What do you mean?’ said Rekkid, as they moved closer to Ushild.
‘Ushild’s body is riddled with implants. They were to connect his nervous system to the machine that we found him in. They became inactive when we removed him from the device, but now they’re active again. It’s as if they’re receiving data. We can see the electrical impulses radiating out from them along his nervous system.’
‘And this started around the time that the ship approached the portal?’ said Rekkid.
‘Yes, I would say so,’ Okanno agreed.
‘The Progenitor portal; it must be trying to communicate with him,’ said Katherine. ‘You remember that vast machine that we found him plugged into to: it didn’t look like the Akkal had built it all by themselves, did it? It could be that it was Progenitor technology that they had appropriated. Maybe the portal has detected the implants in his body and is trying to talk to him.’
‘Maybe,’ said Rekkid. ‘The question is: will he talk to us?’
As they moved closer, the ship began to translate Ushild’s ranting for them. His eyes were wide open, his lips flecked with spittle as he convulsed and raved.
‘The gods... the gods are here! I can hear them... I hear them whispering inside my mind! They know what I have done, what I did with the gifts that they bestowed upon us! Death! Death! Death! I have caused nothing but the slaughter of innocents! I shall drown in a river of their blood! I shall be punished, yes, punished for my sins against the living!’
His back arched and Ushild gave out a rending cry before he began to snatch at things in the air above him that only he could see. Katherine moved forward and tried to talk to him.
‘Ushild,’ she said above his cries. ‘Ushild can you hear me?’ He appeared not to notice her. ‘Ushild you have to tell us what happened. We’re about to attempt to pass through the portal that your people were led to by the ship you found. We need to know how to open it, but we also need to know what’s on the other side. What happened here?’
‘I killed them all, that’s what happened!’ cried Ushild, suddenly fixing her with a piercing gaze. ‘All my fault! Yes!’
‘What happened?’
‘I... the gods are fickle... they bring death as well as life... and everlasting undeath to Ushild!’
‘This is pointless,’ sighed Rekkid. ‘He’s quite clearly completely delirious. Okanno, can you do something?’
‘Let me try a mild sedative,’ Okanno replied. ‘I’ll have to be careful. Too much and he may fall back into his coma.’
Okanno administered the dose, and after a few moments, Ushild seemed to calm down. He ceased to rant and rave, although his heart rate remained high and his breathing still seemed unusually laboured.
‘Ushild, what happened? What did you do?’ said Katherine.
Ushild said nothing for a moment
‘Ushild?’
‘I killed them all. It was me. It was my fault.’
‘I don’t understand. Take it from the beginning.’
Ushild’s breathing subsided a little. He began to talk, lucid once more.
‘It was total war on both sides. You understand? No quarter was given or asked. Our entire civilisation was plunged into conflict, one half against the other. I had no choice but to join up when I reached maturity, but I soon rose high in the ranks. Attrition amongst the senior ranks and my own ability led me to the very top. Eventually I became High Praetorian of the Order of the Sacred Way. We were the elite warriors, sworn to defend the new faith against the lies of the old. My office held the highest responsibility. For many years we held the Great Gate against all comers, but we were losing the war. The greater resources that the home-world had available to them were steadily grinding us down over the years and there was talk of them delivering a final fatal blow to us. We had sent many people through the Great Gate to explore the worlds beyond. They had found many useful things that had aided our civilisation in the years since their discovery, advanced materials, computer technologies and space flight advances and so on. Our very command centre was constructed of samples taken from the very Home of the Gods itself! In desperation I ordered my warriors to retrieve any technology that might help us win the war. They brought back the hibernation technology that you found me in. We copied it, constructed our own and installed it in the subterranean chamber where you found me. The hope was that if our world was bombarded, that our military command and control centre would survive and that we could sleep away the long centuries until our world was habitable again. The other thing that they found though: it was a device of terrible power, a gigantic thing, a weapon of last resort. We thought that it might end the war in our favour. We were wrong.’
Ushild shook his head and gasped as if in pain. They allowed him time to collect himself before he continued.
‘I ordered the weapon brought back through the portal. The portal slammed shut as soon as we brought it through, trapping our people on the other side. We should have taken that as an ill omen, but still we persisted. At first we didn’t know what the weapon did or how it worked, but since we had deciphered some of the language of the gods, we were able to determine that they had forged it to destroy worlds. We were not able to fathom its exact workings, but we did determine how it might be activated, and what it did. We called it The World Breaker. It was a gun capable of collapsi
ng planets or even the cores of stars by ripping apart the fabric of reality. I ordered that it be placed in orbit above our planet and aimed at the home-world. Then I warned our enemy of our new weapon.
Vast stockpiles of interplanetary missiles had been accumulated on both sides, but had never been used for fear of the mutual destruction that their fusion warheads would cause to both sides. The World Breaker offered us a war winning solution. It would be capable of destroying our enemy utterly without them having the chance to retaliate. I informed the enemy that they must at last come to terms, or we would use it. I also informed them that any attempt to strike at our world or the weapon itself would result in its deployment and that my men were standing by to fire it at a moment’s notice. With that, I signed the death warrant of our race.’
‘What happened, Ushild? Please tell us,’ pleaded Katherine.
‘I don’t know exactly, but... there was truce, at last. We were in the process of despatching a delegation when there was an attack on an enemy city. Whether the unit in question were defying orders or whether they simply hadn’t had them communicated to them, we never found out. Thousands were killed. The enemy thought that the cease fire was a ruse and in their anger at our apparent betrayal they launched all of their ballistic missiles at us. The Order of the Sacred Way followed my orders to the letter and fired The World Breaker cannon. Billions died instantly and the planet of our birth was torn asunder into rubble. But it didn’t end there: the barrage of missiles that the home-world had launched against us overwhelmed our defences and struck home, levelling our cities in the space of a few minutes. We had only a few hours to retreat below into our underground command centre and seal ourselves inside before the bombs fell. We had hoped to ride out the worst, but there was more to come.’
Ushild struggled on, his voice becoming hoarser. Evidently it was a real physical effort to speak at such length, but he continued anyway, anxious to impart the truth about his people to the beings clustered around him.
‘The shattering of Kel scattered rubble across the system. As it happened, our two planets had been in close alignment at the time of the exchange and so Arul Kar was bombarded with debris for many days. The sky rained fire for a second time as rocks the size of mountains pummelled our already shattered world still further. All was in darkness and fire. The very sky burned. We at first planned to escape, but our ships had been recalled to port due to the ceasefire. They had been caught in the exchange of weapons and destroyed and when we looked to the portal, we saw that it was still closed off to us. We surmised that the gods were angry with us for what we had done, and in any case, we now had no means to reach it.
