Jumping from the platform, Maddox neared the shimmering dome. The hairs on his arms stood up, and he heard a faint hum. Steeling himself, he plunged through the light and found himself falling down a huge hole.
The captain barely suppressed a shout of surprise. Then, he composed himself. He would ride this out.
He fixated on Meta in his thoughts, wondering how she was doing. He shut his eyes and crossed his arms. The fall continued unabated. How far could he drop? He must have reached terminal velocity by now.
Maddox practiced a calming technique. He wasn’t going to let the Builder rattle him. This could possibly be the most important interview he’d ever had. According to Ludendorff, this was the last of its kind in the Orion Arm. Maybe others lived elsewhere. This Builder appeared to have an army of robots, androids and cybernetic organisms at its disposal. The professor believed the thing had gone to sleep the last five hundred years. Was it good or bad that it had woken up again?
I guess that will depend on its goals.
Maddox noticed he was slowing down. He opened his eyes and wished he had kept them shut. It felt as if floated through stellar space. Stars surrounded him, but in patterns and constellations that he’d never seen before. This must be a gigantic chamber kept in weightlessness.
“Captain,” a soft voice said.
Maddox twisted around. He realized that he’d stopped falling and now floated weightless. With a shock, he saw that some of the star patterns were blocked out. A black outlined shape was in the way. Where the head might have been, a series of lights winked. If this was the Builder, he couldn’t get an accurate idea of what he saw. It was more an absence of sight, which didn’t make much sense.
“You are confused,” the soft voice said.
When the words sounded, the winking series of lights brightened the tiniest bit.
“Are you the Builder?” Maddox asked.
“Yes.”
“Why can’t I see you?”
“Because it is my prerogative as the oldest living thing in the Orion Arm to cloak myself in darkness,” the Builder said.
Maddox studied the darkness. He couldn’t tell if the Builder had a humanoid shape or not. Did the thing wear a cloak? Edges of something rippled as if in a breeze, even though this chamber had none. If that wasn’t a cape, could it be wings?
A feeling of disquiet filled Maddox. Was there another reason why the Builder didn’t want to show itself? Was its shape hideous to a human, devilish?
“You really are like monkeys,” the Builder said. “It is amazing.”
“Why did you bring me here?”
“Captain Maddox, it is unseemly that you immediately attempt to interrogate me. I have gone to considerable effort to bring you here at the end. We will enjoy certain decorum. This is a stately affair. I am a Builder, The Builder as far as you’re concerned. Without me, humanity would have been snuffed out ages ago. Without me, a derivative of you would be swinging through the trees, scolding the great cats for daring to dominate the ground.”
“Are you claiming divine status?”
The Builder chuckled softly. “How you prod and poke, hoping to engage a reaction. I have instructed you, though, to act with decorum. Otherwise, I will teach you a hard lesson. It won’t be of any benefit to you or your crew, but it will amuse the commander. Such boorishness might even persuade me in Thrax Ti Ix’s favor. I doubt you would appreciate that.”
Maddox closed his mouth lest he say more. He looked around at the stars. It finally dawned on him what the Builder had said. It or he had gone to considerable effort to bring him—Maddox—here at the end.
The end of what? Maddox wondered. He didn’t like the sound of that.
“Your silence is much better than your chimping,” the Builder said.
Maddox folded his hands in front of his stomach. He breathed deeply, striving to calm himself.
“It is awe-inspiring, is it not?” the Builder said.
“If you mean the stars,” Maddox said, “I quite agree.”
“I do mean the stars.”
Maddox held his tongue, unsure about the correct thing to say. He didn’t want Thrax Ti Ix winning anything.
“The fact that you and I can be awed by the stars is a sign,” the Builder said. “They show the insignificance of our being. Galaxy upon galaxy awaits intelligent life. We Builders have constructed mighty artifacts throughout the Milky Way Galaxy. That is your term, by the way, not mine.”
“What is your term, Excellency?” Maddox asked in a slow-speaking manner.
“You would not understand it, but I will say the word nonetheless.”
The Builder spoke, and the words were like a roaring waterfall against Maddox’s ears.
“That was my real voice. For your comfort, I use this one.”
“I appreciate your consideration, Excellency,” Maddox said, his ears ringing.
“Very good, Captain, you are a quick study. You have judged the situation and now react correctly. I am glad I took the time to induce you here.”
Maddox waited, finally asking, “You sent the Shanghai androids and the Ludendorff hologram to me?”
“Yes.”
“You believed I wouldn’t come unless you acted as the professor?”
“You do not need to ask me that, as you already know the answer. Please, Captain, don’t make these moments tedious. They are among my last, and I prefer to enjoy them.”
“Would you…” Maddox hesitated. It was time to think as never before. This wasn’t about action, but about thought. It was Intelligence work. He was uniquely gifted among the operatives of Star Watch Intelligence to use this opportunity.
Yes, it was time to revert to form. He was an Intelligence officer primarily. Drawing a gun to blast his way out of an error had become his usual method lately. Today he must think and choose his path with care.
“Excellency, when did you first come to Earth?”
“It was during the Swarm explosion.”
“Approximately six thousand years ago?”
“Seven to eight thousand Earth years ago,” the Builder said. “Yes, I built Atlantis for my use and allowed others to copy the pyramid. That was my original error. I interfered with your species’ development. I deeply regret that.”
“You didn’t fashion any Methuselah People at that time?”
“I did, but they died out. I hadn’t yet discovered certain important processes. Extended life produces problems. Every so-called improvement causes problems to appear. It took me a long time to realize it was more than simply accounting for entropy.”
“During the Swarm Explosion is when you went to the Adok System?”
“It is so,” the Builder said with a sigh.
“Do you regret that action as well, Excellency?”
“Deeply,” the Builder said.
“The Adoks would have perished without you.”
“They perished with my help. In the end, it made no difference.”
“Your help also destroyed a Swarm invasion.”
“If you only knew,” the Builder said softly.
“Humanity needs the ancient starship now, without—”
“No,” the Builder said, the word hardening in the air. “I have done enough damage. Before I leave, I will rectify some of my worst errors of the past.”
“Do you refer to the Adok starship?”
“Of course,” the Builder said. “That was my other reason for bringing you here. I want Starship Victory back.”
Maddox frowned. “Will you destroy the starship?”
“No, no,” the Builder said. “You know nothing about my crimes. Doesn’t my name imply construction?”
“Yes,” Maddox said.
“Yet, I have destroyed in a monstrous fashion. I have become the very thing my people loathed and fought against for what seemed forever.”
“Do you refer to the timeless war against the makers of the Destroyer?”
The Builder groaned as if in deep agony. It seemed to
grow then, to blot out more stars. The sound also grew louder.
Maddox clapped his hands over his ears.
Slowly, the keening dwindled and so did the extent of the star blockage. Maddox experimentally removed his hands from his ears.
“Have you no pity, Captain Maddox? Do you hate me that much for having to clear my slate before the Creator?”
“I don’t hate you at all,” Maddox said.
“You will.”
Maddox didn’t like hearing that. “Will you kill Meta and the others?”
“Yes.”
And me?”
“Yes,” the Builder said.
“Do you bear me malice?”
“None,” the Builder said.
“You’re right. I do not understand. I would consider it a blessing if you told me.”
“You are quick with your barbs, Captain. I can well understand why the New Men hate you. They will win the war, you realize. They are the future of humanity. There is no stopping it now.”
“I hope to prove you wrong.”
“I know,” the Builder said. “I can forgive you that. You do not see the big picture. You look out only for your own well-being.”
“Yes,” Maddox said. “I suppose that’s another way that I’m just like you.”
The Builder did not respond.
Maddox practiced his breathing. He felt as if the great contest was about to begin. He had to change the Builder’s mind. Maddox needed Victory, and he had to return to Human Space. Whatever this ancient being had done… Maddox wasn’t going to let the Builder get in the way.
“A long time ago,” the Builder said in a heavy voice, “we fought the Nameless Ones. They constructed the Destroyers. Those were mighty engines of annihilation. I realize you are among the few to understand that. The Nameless Ones sought out life, snuffing it out for reasons we could never fathom. That was a terrible thing, to fight others awesomely powerful like ourselves. Yet, we could not communicate with them other than by dealing them death or dying in turn. That long time of battle demoralized us as a people. We rose up to stop the horror here. I do not know what happened in other galaxies.”
“The Nameless Ones came from outside our galaxy?” Maddox asked.
“It is almost inconceivable, I realize. The distances involved and for no positive reason—they were all too sane, you understand. But they worshiped annihilation. To them, life was evil and they stamped it out.”
The Builder sighed. “You destroyed the Destroyer, Captain. I am awed at your exploit. Many have desired to do what you did, but among the weaker races, only you achieved the impossible. That is why I brought you here, Captain. Before the end, I wanted to meet the one who had done the unmanageable. Whatever you are or are not, you did wonderfully that day.”
Maddox said nothing.
“That ancient war against the Nameless Ones was so far in the past. We turned them back. We saved life in our galaxy. We should have quit then and gone our way, having done our duty to the Creator. But we could not. We grew vainglorious at our deed. We built in grandeur everywhere. We brought knowledge to planet after planet. We coaxed species after species to advance to new heights. Oh, we believed we were the gift to the universe. We believed that up until the time we picked up the tools of genocide and tarnished our souls with black annihilation upon those who were not Builder.”
Maddox waited, listening, using every mnemonic device he could so he would remember everything he learned today.
“Builders acted as judge and jury. We killed by the trillions. That stained our souls so fast, so very fast. I do not know why I was immune the longest. Perhaps I was the boldest, always considered the best warrior and strategist among us. I remained here while everyone else departed in despair and shame.”
Still, Maddox waited.
“I used to believe it was the curse of the Nameless Ones upon us. Now, I see that the sin was in our hubris. We believed we could decide which species was good and which was bad. Can you conceive of such gross arrogance?”
“Easily,” Maddox said.
“We had ranged through the stars—” The Builder fell abruptly silent. “What did you say?”
“I can easily imagine such arrogance because it sounds quite logical,” Maddox said, “even practical to me. I would gladly decide what species is good and bad in relation to my own.”
“But…but that is monstrous.”
“Perhaps if you gave me a concrete example I could understand better and see the error of my thinking.”
“I’m unsure if you’re exalted enough to understand.”
“Ah,” Maddox said. “You are wise and I am a dullard, is that it?”
“You are a clever talker,” the Builder said. “You seek to turn my own words against me. Perhaps I shall tell you. Maybe you’ve earned it. Your brilliance helped destroy a thing we Builders had been unable to do. It wasn’t for a lack of ability but desire. It all seems to come down to desire, doesn’t it?”
Maddox waited, unsure what lid he’d torn off.
“We used the tool left behind by the Nameless Ones. I designed the control unit that would allow us to wield the genocidal machine. It happened six thousand years ago after the sacrificial Adok defense. We watched the Swarm annihilate a race. It was horrible. Some of us spoke boldly, saying we should have interfered directly. Why had we held back from war? We had stopped the Nameless Ones. Why couldn’t we use our might to stop the scourge of the Swarm?”
“You wielded the Destroyer against them?” Maddox asked.
“In star system after star system,” the Builder said, sadly. “We brought the Destroyer to bear, annihilating nest after nest. We burned the Swarm from a thousand worlds, creating a dead zone between what you now call Human Space and the Beyond versus regions closer to your galaxy’s center. We gave your species ample room. If we had not, the Swarm would have reached Earth in time. Your species would have died under the Swarm occupation.”
“Thank you,” Maddox said.
“Your words are teeth, biting with sarcasm.”
“You are in error, Builder. I mean ‘thank you’ with all my heart. If you had not acted, I would never have been born.”
“Yes, yes, I realize that. But who were we, Captain, to play Creator like that?”
“Are you asking me to feel bad about existing?”
“No…no, that would be illogical. You fail to grasp—”
A loud, waterfall sound washed against Maddox. Once more, he clapped his hands over his ears.
“Captain,” the Builder said.
Maddox slowly removed his hands.
“I did not mean to let you hear that. My pain and guilt is deep. You have no idea. How could you? You are young and short-lived. You strive during the entirety of your meaningless existence.”
“You will excuse me if I disagree with you about its meaninglessness,” Maddox said.
“We annihilated trillions of Swarm creatures, pushing their boundaries back a thousand light-years. We wanted to give others a chance to flourish. We—”
“Builder,” Maddox said.
“Why do you interrupt me? I am baring my soul to you.”
“You said you drove the Swarm boundaries back—a thousand light-years?”
“That is correct.”
“You mean there is a giant Swarm Empire out there somewhere?”
“Oh, yes. It encompasses nearly a tenth of our galaxy.”
A cold feeling settled on Maddox. This was grim news. Then he realized something else. “If the Swarm is so prevalent, why are you so sad about slaying a few in the past?”
“Because I slaughtered life,” the Builder said. “Don’t you understand by now? I thought you were quick-witted. Successful life is what matters, not merely life that has a similar image as us.”
“What do you mean by successful life?”
“Yes, that is the crux of the matter,” the Builder said. “It is the equation I’ve finally solved. Five hundred years ago, I could bear no more. But
I hesitated taking the final step. So I tried another way, hoping that time might heal my wounds. I shut down the majority of my systems. I hibernated, letting my experiment mature. Moving the Destroyer from what you call the Xerxes System sounded an alarm so I awoke. What I found on the Dyson sphere—see, I know your term for it.”
Maddox nodded.
“I discovered a nearly complete Swarm conquest of the entire sphere,” the Builder said. “I had placed a small Swarm colony here before heading for slumber. I also put humans on the sphere. They are nearly dead, a small colony of scientists and soldiers using ancient Adok technology to hold the onrushing Swarms at bay. I give the humans two more years at most. Then, they will succumb to the Swarm hordes. Then, the Swarm will have conquered the Dyson sphere.”
“And you conclude what from that?” Maddox asked.
“It is an obvious conclusion. You should see it clearly. But I understand, you are too species-conscious to understand the stark reality. The Swarm is more worthy to survive than humanity. It is that simple. They have passed the test.”
“What does that have to do with Victory and me?”
“I have collected thousands of starships in the past. I brought them through the sphere so they are drifting in the inner side of space at a Venus-like orbit from the star. Thrax Ti Ix will lead a new and improved Swarm upon the galaxy, to go to his brethren and give them what you call Laumer Drive technology.”
“Why would you do that?”
“As an offering for the trillions of deaths we Builders brought about in the past. It is the least I can do to help expedite my sins before the Creator.”
“The Swarm will annihilate humanity,” Maddox said.
“Why should that bother you? Humans are the inferior species. Life is what counts. The Swarm produces life in the greatest quantity. What other measure is there?”
“Bugs aren’t superior to humans.”
“Which would survive under the harshest conditions? You and I both know the so-called bugs would.”
Maddox floated in the stellar room stunned. The idea flummoxed him. The captain shook his head, forcing himself to think, to talk and to try to persuade the Builder to a different course of action.
The Lost Colony (Lost Starship Series Book 4) Page 33
