OMEGA Rescue
Page 25
As I stepped onto the floor on the other side, the colonel again looked back as he smiled. "Welcome to Earth!"
The gate led down a short corridor that opened into the atrium of a tall building. As I looked up, a quick count placed the building at nearly eighty stories, the atrium running almost to the top.
The colonel walked to the center of the atrium and stood. We stopped behind him as we continued to look around in wonder. The windows to outside were black with the darkness that was night.
The colonel looked at us and laughed. "For the first time in your lives, your clocks are now actually on Earth Standard Time."
Joni asked, "Are we waiting for something?"
The colonel nodded. "Yep. They should be down in a few minutes."
Go asked, "They?"
The colonel held up a hand. "Be patient. You will all know in a minute."
A clank and a rumble could be heard coming from above. As we looked up, a glass elevator began to descend from the top floors. A Human, wearing bright white clothing, rode in the elevator. We all watched in silence as it settled on the atrium floor. Doors opened and the rider stepped out.
The Human said, "Please identify yourselves."
The colonel walked forward. "Colonel Thomas T. Harper of Earth heritage."
The Human held up a device scanning the colonel. "Mr. Harper, we have a DNA match, welcome back to Earth. My name is Mr. Anderson. You may call me Tony if you prefer. To what do we owe this pleasure?"
The colonel waved the rest of us over. "Tony, the AMP is in need of some repairs and updates. Frig can provide you with a list."
After a scan, Tony nodded to Frig. "Welcome back, Mr. Helgris. It has been a long time for both of you. Please follow me aboard the elevator."
The doors closed and the elevator lifted, although at a much slower pace than what I was accustomed to in the AMP. After nearly a full minute, I looked down through the glass at the floor far below. For a brief moment, I was overtaken by vertigo, bumping my forehead against the glass before jerking back. The colonel laughed.
The elevator door opened and we exited into a large lounge area. Couches, tables, two bars and a number of open conference rooms dotted the fifty by one hundred meter space before us. Again the outer glass walls were black with the darkness of night.
Tony gestured toward a set of couches. "Please have a seat. I will send a beverage host to see to your needs as I enter your assistance requests."
Frig walked past us toward a far room.
Garrett sat with a smile as he threw his arms up on the back of the couch he had selected. "Comfy. What is this place?"
The colonel replied, "It's just a meeting place for travelers. The clones prefer it because it's familiar."
Go asked, "Clones? As in the Human clones from the War or Wars?"
The colonel nodded. "One and the same. Tony here wasn't involved in the actual war. He was back here with his host duties."
Go looked around the room curiously. "Colonel? What happened to the clones?"
The colonel took a moment. "Most gave their lives fighting to protect us. They didn't have to, but everyone wanted to. We probably wouldn't... no, I'll take that back. We wouldn't have survived without them. It was the clones who helped us hold off the other species."
The colonel looked at me. "Such as you Grunta. The clones gave their lives on the ground, and it was their armada of ships that turned the tide in space. In fact, we were fairly certain that it was a clone ship and crew that fired the shot that took out the Duke's cruiser."
The colonel looked over at Tony. "All but about twenty thousand gave their lives that final day. When we got back, they asked to be put back in stasis should our need for them ever arise again. Never have seen such selfless behavior. And I doubt I ever will again."
Garrett asked, "The twenty thousand, they're here on Earth?"
The colonel swayed his head to one side. "I suppose most of them are in stasis on their ships in orbit."
Jack raised his eyebrows. "How many ships made it back?"
The colonel thought for a moment. "I believe we parked about thirty thousand. Tony can give us the exact number. And for your next question, yes, we have more ships than crew."
I asked, "Portals?"
The colonel nodded. "Every ship has portal capabilities. They all have Yacabucci generators, they all have active skins and tantric armor, and they have ion cannons that are probably two orders of magnitude more powerful than any you've seen. And when inactive they are a sleek silvery white. Probably the most beautiful ships you have ever seen."
I said, "That kind of power and capability, scary that someone had that."
The colonel winced. "The shocking thing is, the Duke had similar technologies. I guess he had something like a million years of confiscated engineering designs to draw from. Some of it, we never did figure out how it worked. Heck, we never figured out the portal gates. We found one on a derelict ship and Frig somehow managed to copy it. Took us years to get it working like it does. And you're right, that technology is too powerful. That's why most of it was destroyed after the AMP took root."
Joni asked, "Why only the six galaxies?"
The colonel turned to face her. "Those were the only ones we were certain the Duke had visited. We knew there were probably more, but we had no way of knowing which ones, so only the six were brought in.
"We reasoned that without portal gates from outside, the six galaxies would be secure. We thought we had the safeties in place that would keep anyone from moving them or using them to go out. Guess we missed on that one."
Frig returned with a small spherical device in his hand.
Kerba asked, "What's that?"
Frig replied, "This is Quan. Or at least it will be when we return. This was his original housing."
Go remarked, "All those memory circuits and processors fit in there?"
Frig nodded. "The design goes down to the molecular level. It's ingenious and at the same time very simplistic. The species who created this core were obviously brilliant and far ahead of us in their computer technology."
Go asked, "What happened to them?"
Frig held up the device. "The Duke killed them all. At least that's what he told us. Quan verified much of his story, only Quan had lost some of those memories. The Duke was terribly evil."
Quan said, "Thank you for retrieving my core, Frig. I look forward to regaining my mobility. Interaction with others seems much more pleasant in reality."
Frig replied, "You have shown that you are worthy of it."
Quan said, "When may we begin the transfer?"
Frig thought for a moment. "We could begin now if you like. The process will take longer over the QE connection; however, it should be complete before we return tomorrow. I'll have Mr. Anderson bring up a body for you."
Garrett frowned. "Not that Quan has been any trouble, but you're planning to transfer him to that and to put him in a robotic body? Does that sound dangerous to anyone?"
The colonel took the question. "Quan has been with us since the War of Wars. He has been nothing but loyal and trustworthy, giving us no reason to doubt his motives. Besides, he has safety circuits built in that prohibit devious or violent thought."
Garrett continued to frown. "Motives can change. I just don't trust an intelligent machine that can replicate itself."
Quan replied, "I am unable to replicate without permission and the best I could do in that instance is to reproduce myself as I am back on Gratis. I am sorry you view me as a threat, Garrett Rourke. I will have to work to gain your trust."
Garrett waved his hand. "Don't make any special effort."
The elevator door opened. A small robot pulled a cart with a robotic body lying on it.
When the cart came to a stop I stood to look down on it. It was similar in form and stature to a Human, but obviously different. The arms and legs were slightly longer with the torso being much shorter. When stood up, the android would be exactly two meters tall.
>
Frig walked over with the sphere. "Quan? Are you ready to transfer?"
Quan replied, "Yes, thank you."
Frig nodded. "Next time you see us it will be through your new eyes."
As a last word, Quan replied, "I look forward to it."
Frig pressed several buttons on his arm pad. A round hole opened in the top of the android's head. The sphere was inserted and the opening closed. Frig took a deep breath before pressing several more buttons and swiping away at a holo-display.
"In nine hours, thirty-two minutes, Quan will have the freedom of an android body for the first time in two thousand years."
Garrett chided, "Let's just hope this isn't a giant blunder. Our last experience with AIs didn't quite go as we'd hoped."
~~~~~
Once again, this Human is asking for your help! If you enjoyed the book, please leave a review on the site where it was purchased. And by all means, please tell your friends! Any help with spreading the word is highly appreciated! I have a free science fiction eBook short story, titled "THE SQUAD", waiting for anyone who joins my email list. Also, find out when the next exciting release is available by joining the email list at comments@arsenex.com. Visit the author's website at www.arsenex.com for the rest of the series and other works!
Thank you for reading my work! I hope you have a great day!
Stephen
Books written by Stephen Arseneault
SODIUM Series
A six-book series that takes Man from his first encounter with aliens all the way to a fight for our all-out survival. Do we have what it takes to rule the galaxy?
AMP Series
Cast a thousand years into the future beyond SODIUM. This eight-book series chronicles the struggles of Don Grange, a simple package deliveryman, who is thrust into an unimaginable role in the fight against our enemies. Can we win peace and freedom after a thousand years of war?
OMEGA Series
Cast a thousand years into the future beyond AMP. The Alliance is crumbling. When corruption and politics threaten to throw the allied galaxies into chaos, Knog Beutcher gets caught in the middle. Follow along as our hero is thrust into roles that he never expected nor sought. Espionage, intrigue, political assassinations, rebellions and full-on revolutions, they are all coming to Knog Beutcher's world!
HADRON Series
HADRON is a modern day story unrelated to the SODIUM-AMP-OMEGA trilogy series. After scientists using the Large Hadron Collider discover dark matter, the world is plunged into chaos. Massive waves of electromagnetic interference take out all grid power and forms of communication the world over. Cities go dark, food and water supplies are quickly used up, and marauders rule the highways. Months after the mayhem begins, and mass starvation has taken its toll, a benevolent alien species arrives from the stars. Only, are they really so benevolent? Find out in HADRON as Man faces his first real challenge to his dominance of Earth!
Find them all at www.arsenex.com.
Table of Contents
Title
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
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