Antares Crucible

by Warwick Gibson

  “Our best guess is that the Invardii now control an area approximately this size.”

  The original orange blob remained, but a new, light purple area appeared next to it, and it more than doubled the area they controlled. There were apprehensive intakes of breath from the Prometheus heads of department as they sat in the boardroom.

  “One particular disappointment for us as researchers is the location of Mentuk, the original planet inhabited by the Caerbrindii. The archives give its position as here,” said Andre, and a blue dot lit up inside the light purple area that now reached out into the Spiral Arm.

  “Mentuk has been inside Invardii-controlled space for some time now, and whatever archaeological findings or ancient data bases there were on the planet have almost certainly been destroyed. This is behavior we’ve noticed in the Invardii before, for example they copied and then erased all the databases on the Sumerian home world of Uruk.

  “It’s probably standard practice for them to destroy a conquered people’s ability to maintain their civilization. That way there won’t be any ongoing resistance using sophisticated weapons.

  “We’re still working on this, but it seems the Invardii have little interest in rocky planets like Earth. They prefer to build in the energy rich areas between binary stars. But they do want to reduce the inhabitants of rocky planets to a stone-age culture, where they won’t be a threat.”

  There were some anxious looks around the boardroom, but also some angry ones.

  “I would like to know about the internal structure of the Invardii empire,” commented Cordez. He was driven by a need to know more about his enemy, and to find its weaknesses.

  “Yes, understood,” answered Andre. “Sallyanne has more about that. I’ve finished my part of the presentation now, so I’ll turn things over to her.”

  He went back to his seat, and Sallyanne moved up until she was standing beside the 3D picture of the galaxy in the middle of the long table.

  “Despite the size of the Invardii empire, we think they can’t maintain a workable government for more than a fixed number of individuals, which we call a cell,” she began.

  “Something in their aggressive behavior, or their social networks, eventually leads to the breakdown of order if a cell grows beyond a certain size. We have examples of principalities, tribes, and distinct geographic areas working like a group of cells on Earth, but in time we were able to develop a central government without giving up a sense of local identity. It appears the Invardii haven’t been able to do that.”

  She tapped a command into the processor controlling the image of the galaxy, and a small green lump added itself to the outermost side of the Invardii area of influence.

  “This part of the Spiral Arm, the home of the races in the Alliance, is an area where the Invardii hope to establish a new cell. It’s a large area of space compared to the cells inside the galactic core, because star systems are much more spread out in the Spiral Arm.

  “The new cell is around eight percent of the area of the existing Invardii empire, because of that spread out nature, and we think those distances are working against them. It is very energy consuming traveling so far between star systems. Despite the size of the cell they’re trying to establish, most of the established ones are much smaller, and we think the Invardii empire currently consists of around five hundred cells.”

  Cordez lifted both eyebrows. Here was the Alliance, barely able to hold back the forces of one cell, and the Invardii had the resources of five hundred cells to call on. But then, smiled the Regent grimly to himself, the arrogant sons of bitches can’t work together, which might just save our skins.

  “The archives tell us that a force sent out to establish a new cell consists of around a thousand Reaper ships,” said Sallyanne, “with a crew of 40 or so Invardii on each one, and twenty flagships with a crew of around 2000.

  “There are also some 20 thousand Invardii stored in the inert cylinder state, and that gives a total of around 100 thousand individuals. The stored individuals begin their active phase as the city at the heart of each cell grows, but more about the city later.”

  Our experience confirms the thousand Reaper ships, thought Cordez. He was recalling the initial 1100 Reaper ships of the armada, and the 14 flagships.

  “A fully developed Invardii cell has about 400 thousand individuals, and can field around 2000 Reaper ships and 50 flagships,” continued Sallyanne.

  “When numbers increase past this level – and that’s when the internal cohesion of the cell begins to break down – some of them are sent out to create a new cell in a new area of space.

  “We are all aware, thanks to exceptional work by Meeaniro and Matsu Fujimi at Prometheus, that the Invardii exist in two states. The active orange plasma state, and the inert cylinder state. Matsu tells me that the Invardii share an internal world when they’re in the cylinder state, a sort of community cyberspace.

  “Since we can assume they are connected by some form of sub-space communication, the cylinders will remain an active part of the community whether they are active or inert.”

  Cordez steepled his hands together. It was his best thinking position. He wasn’t sure if there was any advantage he could leverage from this new understanding of Invardii society. The conflict in the Spiral Arm wasn’t changed by it. Whoever could cobble together the greatest military force in the shortest time would prevail over the other.

  Still, the research teams at Prometheus would find out more as they delved deeper into the ancient archives, and maybe something would give the Alliance an edge, a way of creating an advantage.

  There was no reference to the Druanii in the presentation, although they must have been referred to by the archives. Cordez had respected his allies’ wish for secrecy. He also didn’t want to destabilize the political situation by alerting the Invardii to the Druanii presence.

  He had insisted that Celia’s team be sworn to secrecy on all matters relating to the elusive race that lived on the fringes of the galaxy. The small file that contained the full story – now in his personal VHLock case – was something he would read later.

  Sallyanne looked at the electronic tablet she held in her hand, and addressed the meeting again.

  “The only other thing we can add at this stage, is that the Invardii cells do have a central city. We’re not sure if this is simply their seat of government, or if it’s also a fully functioning production base. We can say, though, that apart from this city they don’t seem to congregate anywhere in large numbers.

  “Unless of course they are preparing for war and forming an armada. There’s only one city for each cell, and it is always found in the outer layers of a red giant star, or inside one of the cooler star types.”

  Sallyanne stopped at that point. She asked for questions, and fielded two. Then she returned to her seat.

  Cordez was much more interested in this last piece of news. It was something he might be able to make use of. If the Alliance destroyed the head of the Invardii cell, it might also have neutralized the body. That would be far preferable to fighting the enemy back, step by step, until the resources of all the Alliance worlds were exhausted.

  Cordez’ mind turned back to something he had seen a few hours before, in a large cavern directly beneath the Prometheus boardroom. The Valkrethi were a huge, and as yet largely unknown, asset in the Alliance forces. Brought back from Humanity’s original home, the planet Orouth, they had already been taken into action against the Invardii a number of times by their Human pilots.

  They were the way of the future. The archives had called them ‘battle gods’, and they were living up to that description. Whether they were the equal of an armada, or even an entire enemy city, was another question.

  CHAPTER 11

  ________________

  Kalken-ar-wuyr slipped along the cyber highways of the Invardii inner world. She – an uncertain gender choice and of no real biological accuracy – had sent a rudimentary form of herself to the vast city mind
. It had been sent to report on Uruk, and the Invardii occupation of the planet.

  Several terabytes of data had been enough to support consciousness in this cyber form of herself, though it was little more than a dream state. Deep in her hybrid brain ‘she’ was aware of the shadow self as it sped along the cyber highways.

  As always in the Invardii rest state, her cylinder had been slotted into a dense web of communication sensors at the heart of the flagship that was her home. This provided her with optimum life support, regular maintenance, and a connection to the vast Invardii inner world.

  Kalken had grown powerful on the energies taken from the captive Sumerian world turning endlessly below the armada. She made the mental equivalent of a derisive sneer at the weakness of the Sumerians. They had fled their planet rather than fight to the bitter end.

  Still, her energy reserves would soon be high enough to allow her to divide off part of herself, mixed with hereditary attributes selected by the city mind, to form a new individual. Expanding into a new area of space had provided new opportunities for some, like herself.

  Creating a new individual was a moment of pride. For herself, and for her clan, ar-wuyr, but also for the new Invardii cell. It had been a difficult task to create a new cell among the sparse stars of this part of the galaxy, so far from the energy-rich core.

  Anger surged through her cyber self at the savage resistance they had encountered from some of the species in the area of the new cell. Kalken sent out calming signals from her cylinder self to her shadow, returning it to its task of navigating the cyber highway to the city mind.

  It sped under an arch inscribed with complex symbols, and began to slow. Then it was directed to dock at a periphery of the vast consciousness that shimmered before it.

  The shadow self made a small mental bow, done with a certain amount of hesitation. Although one of the most important leaders of the armada, Kalken did not have the instantaneous communication with the other 500 cells of the Invardii empire that the city mind had.

  She could never know when a change of plan might lead to her demotion, or even punishment for a perceived failing in her duties. Her shadow self felt the uncertainty of the situation and cringed lower in fear. Kalken elevated its mood settings and it adopted a more acceptable level of obeisance.

  “The - native - Sumerians - escaped - from - their - home - planet - and - you - did - nothing - about - it,” hissed the coiled form of a serpent-like creature on the dock in front of Kalken’s shadow self. Each word was unvarying in its emphasis and intonation.

  The first space-faring race the Invardii had encountered in the core of the galaxy had died to the last individual resisting the invaders. The Invardii respected that, and had made this tall, coiled representation of that race an emblem for the city mind of each cell.

  “The - Sumerians - had - help,” replied Kalken’s shadow self, adding layers of reasonableness and unconcern on a number of higher frequencies.

  “The - ‘help’ - they - had - was - more - inferior - native - races - like - themselves!” roared the city mind, incensed that the shadow mind before it saw no outrage in this.

  “That - weakened - us,” muttered the city mind, “and - tipped - the - balance - at - the - Dark - Ship - system.”

  Kalken could see the city mind had slipped into one of its analysis modes. It was clear this matter still troubled it, and she said nothing as the vast consciousness struggled with its thoughts.

  The Dark Ships made all the Invardii uneasy. They were silent metal hulls that slipped through space unannounced, and they were manned by primitive creatures from cold, rocky planets. These were strange places, where the inhabitants lived in darkness for half of each planetary rotation.

  The Rothii ships had been beacons of light, the Sumerian cooling towers haloed their ships fiercely in a tail of fire, and the Invardii ships were a mammoth blaze of heat and light, but the Dark Ships that came from one of the rocky planets were chillingly different.

  Kalken’s shadow self turned back to the deliberations of the city mind as she felt its attention shift to her. It would not do for it to find her not listening avidly to everything it said.

  “They - are - crude - and - unrefined,” the city mind was saying, “without - the - slightest - enhancement - to - their - animal - beings.

  “Primitive - creatures - clinging - to - barren - rocky - planets,” it continued. “Living - so - close - to - the - absolute - zero - temperature - of - space.

  “The - Rothii - databases - we - have - captured - do - not - even - mention - them - and - that - data - was - complete - for - this - sector - only - a - fraction - of - the - last - galactic - regression - ago.

  “Where - have - they - come – from?” hissed the city mind. “How - is - it - possible - they - stopped - us - at - the - Dark - Ship - home - system?”

  The carrier wave that brought the voice of the city mind to Kalken’s sensors broke up in static, before re-establishing itself. Kalken shut down her sensors momentarily, rather than be witness to such uncertainty in the great mind of the city.

  “The - establishment - of – the - city - defenses - must – continue!” said the city mind. “Building - more - Reaper - ships - must - also - be - a - priority.

  “Keep - half - the - armada - at - the - Sumerian - home - planet. Disperse - the - remainder - among - the - shipyards. Return - at - the - same - time - in - the - next - cycle - to - discuss - ways - to - disrupt - the - production - of - Dark - Ships.”

  Kalken’s shadow self bowed its acknowledgment, and relinquished its place at the dock to another cyber copy. The coiled serpent form vanished behind her as she traveled back to the flagship.

  Her work cycle at the center of the flagship was a busy one. She would have liked to recharge in her inert state, but it was time to visit the city mind again. A short time later Kalken made a mental nod to the coiled serpent symbol that served as a periphery of the vast consciousness.

  “Analysis - shows - the - Dark - Ships - use - a - superheavy - element - decay - path - to - power - space - flight,” intoned the city mind.

  “This - is - the - same - system - used - by - the - Sumerians - the - servants - of - the - Rothii,” continued the city mind. “A - primitive - means - of - propulsion - it - is - all - the - Rothii - entrusted - to - them.”

  The city mind was, apparently, giving some grudging respect to the Rothii as an ancient adversary, planet dwellers though they were.

  “If - we - destroy - the - rock - dweller’s - ability - to - produce - this - element - we - stop - their - ships - of - war,” said the city mind. “Particularly - the - Dark - Ships,” it added broodingly.

  “The - next - cycle - of - Reaper - ships - is - almost - ready - at - the - shipyards,” observed the city mind. “Provide - crews - for - them - and - have - them - gather - at - these - coordinates.”

  Kalken verified the coordinates, and sent backup copies to her flagship by different paths along the cyber highways. Losing or corrupting vital information would not be tolerated, and Kalken-ar-wuyr would take every step necessary to avoid being caste out of her clan, the ar-wuyr. It was a fate that sent most Invardii spiraling into despair, and eventually madness.

  “Drones - report - high - frequency - electromagnetic - emissions - consistent - with - the - nuclear - assemblage - of - such - superheavy - elements - at - this - site,” said the city mind, passing on another set of coordinates not far from the first ones.

  Kalken’s shadow self noted it was an ice planet on the outer fringes of yet another nest of planet dwellers. She was filled with disgust at the way these rock crawlers infested every planet in a system once they evolved space flight.

  She caught her mind wandering, and brought herself back to the matter at hand. The city mind was addressing her once again.

  “You - will - lead - this - cleansing - of - the - ice - planet - yourself,” said the city mind. “You - will - leave - nothing - standing - at - the - mining - site - and - yo
u - will - irradiate - the - area - so - nothing - can - live - there - for - the - next - thousand - revolutions - around - its - sun!”

  Kalken was becoming worried. This decision was unlike others the city mind had made. It was wasteful, and vengeful. These were not Invardii characteristics.

  There were many other objectives, more pressing, and yet she was being taken off her duties leading the armada at Uruk. A subordinate would have been quite sufficient for a straightforward operation like cleansing the ice planet.

  “Prepare - a - submission - to - the - Plenium - Council,” continued the city mind. “Make - a - case - for - releasing - the - Buccra - if - destroying - the - rock - planet - mining - sites - does - not - reduce - them - to - slave - races - of - the - Invardii - in - a - very - short - time.”

  Kalken’s shadow self reacted to the mention of the Buccra with a spasm of pain that momentarily disconnected it from the coiled serpent periphery. A dozen star systems away, transmitted instantaneously by sub space ripples, Kalken felt the shock in her shadow self. It reset many of her systems, and forced her to increase her energy levels to cope with the disruption.

  The Buccra must not be released for any such reason! raged Kalken to herself. They had to remain prisoners in their cities that orbited their white dwarf sun. Their numbers were strictly limited, because they were so dangerous, and they were only allowed to exist because of previous services rendered to the Invardii. That, and the chance they might be of use again, in an extreme case.

  But this was not such a case! The city mind was over-reaching itself, but who had authority over the ultimate authority? Perhaps the Plenium Council – the rare connection of all the city minds by sub space links – would deny the submission.