Vinium (The Silver Ships Book 10)
Page 33
Alex met his father’s eyes and sadly nodded in agreement.
Katie and Christie gripped each other’s hand.
“That’s what all the new contracts are about,” Christie said. “We know Haraken has signed a deal with Omnia. Word is, so has New Terra.”
“And the Confederation of all places,” Renée added, shaking her head at the incredulity of it.
“One correction, Christie,” Julien interjected. “These agreements aren’t with Omnia. They’re with Omnia Ships.”
“That’s you, isn’t it, Alex?” Katie asked.
“Yes,” Alex admitted.
“All these warships from every local human world will be under your control?” Duggan asked.
“Indirectly,” Alex replied, “but the fighting, if it comes to that, will fall to the senior naval commanders.”
“But where they go and whether or not they fight will be your decision,” Duggan pursued.
Alex nodded, and Duggan looked at his son with sympathy. When Alex was young, Duggan imagined a future for his son punctuated with successes, a family, and, most of all, peace. He never envisioned and never would have wished for one that saw his son carrying such incredible responsibilities on his shoulders.
Silence descended on the family group until Katie jumped up and said, “Well, I think thé and a small repast is in order.” While the humans ate, the conversation turned to small talk about the children, their studies, and Christie’s career.
Alex and Renée turned in early for their morning meeting with Terese. Duggan, Katie, and Christie took the opportunity to learn the details of the past year from Julien. His stories became the stuff of their nightmares, when they slept.
After midnight, Julien left the house and walked to the family’s gazebo. He stood looking over the ocean waves racing toward the beach below. Their white crests were highlighted by Haraken’s moons. From his kernel, he spooled memories of the family’s time on Haraken. He relived his emergence into an avatar, his growing liaison with Cordelia, the encounters with the Earthers, the adoption of the Idona orphans, the birth of Teague, and many more. He smiled at the pleasant depth of memories that had been accumulated in a few short years compared to his age.
But, Julien’s smile was soon lost. The future looked dark to him. There was an ancient and powerful race allied against humans and SADEs, who appeared as youngsters to the entities they faced. Are we capable of being clever enough, my friend? Julien thought, addressing Alex. I believe the Nua’ll won’t allow us a single misstep.
In the morning, the parents and sister awoke to find Alex, Renée, and Julien gone, their traveler having silently arrived and departed not long after dawn. Alex had risen early, made his way down to the beach, and spoken with the new First. He had a polite and extended conversation with the Swei Swee leader, but, when Alex left, he felt unsatisfied. His friend, who had fought with him at Libre and convinced the hives to transfer to Haraken, was gone.
“I wanted to apologize to everyone, again, for my foolish comment,” Christie lamented to her mother and father over morning meal.
“They know you didn’t mean it,” Katie said, patting her daughter’s hand.
“They’re scared,” Duggan said, staring into his large mug of thé, “and that should terrify every human and SADE.”
“Then we’ll just have to hope that the spirit of Alexander continues to ride with our son,” Katie said, trying to lift everyone’s mood.
“I think Alex will be better served by the likes of Julien, Z, Miranda, his senior commanders, the rest of the SADEs, and the thousands who believe in what he’s trying to do,” Christie said fervently.
“I’ll echo that,” Duggan replied.
* * *
The Liberator’s traveler dropped swiftly onto the manicured front landscape of the naval academy’s administration building, disgorging its passengers, before lifting quickly to return to the warship.
President Terese and Admiral Sheila Reynard came down the steps of the building to greet them. It was a warm reunion for old friends. Alex and Renée joked with the two Haraken women about the elevated positions they presently occupied.
“I think I preferred the medical profession,” Terese quipped.
“You’re working at saving lives, Terese,” Alex teased. “It’s just in a wholesale manner, rather than one at a time.”
“Don’t listen to Terese,” Sheila said. “She loves being in charge. Always wanted to be the one giving orders.”
“That’s the way I remember it,” Alex agreed.
“Enough about me,” Terese said. “Inside, everyone, where it’s cooler.”
“Julien counts nine Tridents,” Alex said, as they walked.
“Accurate, as usual,” Sheila said, hooking her arm into Julien’s. “And three are under construction.”
“When do you think you’ll need your share, Alex?” Terese asked.
“I’ll have to tell you later, Terese. We have some research to conduct,” Alex replied. “How is the Méridien training proceeding?”
“What Méridien training?” Sheila asked, as the doors of the admin building slid aside, and the blast of cool air hit them. “The Council’s envoy arrived and announced they were constructing new facilities and could we send them the plans to copy our academy. Furthermore, they wanted some top administrators and trainers.”
Alex stopped dead in his tracks.
“Alex, we gave them everything they needed, and that’s the last we heard from them. That was about a year ago,” Sheila said, lifting her hands palm up, as if to ask what else could she do.
Alex stared at Julien, and the three women could imagine the fierce exchange between the blood and crystal brothers.
“Where is the Confederation’s naval academy?” Alex asked.
“According to our SADEs, it’s at Bellamonde,” Terese replied.
“Orbital platforms, which are producing their Tridents, are also there,” Julien added, a moment later.
The group adjourned to a comfortable, private room reserved for senior commanders, and the Omnians updated the Harakens on the events of the past year — all of them.
When Alex finished, he regarded Sheila, “What do you see as your role in the upcoming expedition, Sheila?”
“To my regret, Alex, I’ve been directed to remain at Haraken. Depending on the number of Tridents we’re able to send your way, there will probably be a commodore or two.”
“Anyone we know?” Alex asked.
“Edouard Manet and Miko Tanaka are shortlisted with three others,” Sheila replied, and Alex placed a hand over his eyes, a small groan escaping his lips.
“That’s the way of it, Alex,” Terese said, with her usual firm, bedside manner. “If the danger is as great as you surmise, we’ll need our best on this expedition.”
“There’s always the possibility of negotiations,” Sheila said encouragingly, looking at Julien.
“Learning a new alien language sounds intriguing, Admiral, until you realize that the only reason your enemies are coming to the negotiation table is that they want to take you with them when they detonate,” Julien replied, a sour expression twisting his lips.
“If Edouard and Miko have the commodore positions, does this mean you plan to retire the No Retreat and the Last Stand?” Alex asked.
“Unless you can use the carriers in your expedition, Alex,” Sheila replied. “They’re obsolete. They’ve served their purpose.”
“Let me think on that,” Alex said. “How much would you want for them?”
Terese laughed. “Thinking of one-credit deals, are you, Alex?”
“It’s a good price, but I can afford more now,” Alex replied. “They might have a better use than sitting idle somewhere in your system. By the way, I understand the Sojourn is out on an exploration of its own.”
“Yes, sorry you missed them, Alex,” Terese said.
“They due back soon?” Alex asked.
“They should be entering their target syst
em in a few days. Why?” Sheila asked, with rising concern.
“You might want to load a sting ship with a banisher from our Trident. Odds are there will be a probe in that system, and you don’t want it reporting on your explorer ship’s investigations, which it inevitably will do.”
A small gasp escaped Renée’s lips, and Terese’s pale skin turned even whiter. Sheila stood up and turned away to focus on her implant, issuing the orders that would send a sting ship, with a knowledgeable SADE and an Omnian banisher, on its way.
The group continued to talk through the morning, a midday meal, and into half of the afternoon before they exhausted the exchange of critical information. At which time, Alex ordered their traveler. It was a quick goodbye on the steps of the admin building, and the Omnians were away, headed toward the observation orbital platform.
“Why do I think that each time I see that threesome that it might be the last time?” Terese lamented, watching the traveler lift.
Sheila glanced at her friend. Hellébore’s light shone through Terese’s red hair, amplifying its fiery nature. “Because every time it has a good chance of being true,” Sheila said, and the two women stared at each other, hoping against the odds that it wouldn’t come true this time.
* * *
Alex, Renée, and Julien exited the traveler in the observation platform’s bay. The orbital station was built to conduct a search for new home planets for the Harakens. Its first director was the SADE, Willem, who now co-commanded the explorer ship, Sojourn, with Captain Asu Azasdau.
A SADE met the threesome, as they exited the airlock. He had midnight-black skin, littered with tiny colored dots, ranging from blue white to yellow to red. His synth-skin resembled the nighttime stars against the deep dark. Jupiter was a SADE who had plied the depths of space for more than century, guiding a freighter. It was his love of space that had kept him sane.
The freighter’s captains were a succession of individuals, who rarely communicated with Jupiter. But that was fine with him. He had little time for humans. His fascination with the origination and transformation of stars and galaxies through the eons claimed his every free moment. Jupiter spent his enormous capabilities collecting every scrap of information he could locate on the evolution of stars, their deaths, and the creation of new systems through accretion.
Several times throughout the decades, Jupiter requested upgrades to his memory crystal. He was fortunate that his captains failed to ask the reason for the requests and simply approved them. With each increase, he was able to delve into more and more of the intricacies of the movement of galaxies and the interplay of gravitational forces, including those that affected a system’s celestial bodies.
“Alex, Renée, Julien, I’m honored. I’m called Jupiter,” the SADE announced, giving the Omnians a Méridien Leader’s salute, dipping his head, and placing a hand on his chest where a human heart would beat.
The threesome dipped their heads in acceptance. Each of them had received Jupiter’s original ID, which was Theodosius.
Alex described to Jupiter in detail the type of search he required, and the SADE stood politely, recording every word.
“How long will it take you to prepare your equipment and scan for what I’m requesting?” Alex asked.
“Ser, we’ve collected telemetry data for two decades,” Jupiter explained. “Every increment of that data has been stored in this observatory’s crystal banks. As we updated the scanning equipment with improved sensitivity and strength, we expanded the data storage to accommodate the greater volume of information we were accumulating. With respect, Ser, we possess all the data you require. It only requires that I program a query to search for the particular signal that Julien has just passed me, and I will have your answer. May I show you?”
“Yes, please, Jupiter. On the holo-vid, if you would?” Alex requested, and Julien and he grinned at each other.
The Omnians turned to observe the enormous holo-vid that Jupiter initiated. The SADE’s eyes briefly fluttered with the extent of the data flooding from the memory banks through his kernel, even though the query had reduced the stored data by orders of magnitude.
The holo-vid lit with a massive number of dots of light.
“These are your probes, Ser,” Jupiter announced. “I’m highlighting only the star systems that contain one of these alien devices.”
“If you won’t say it, Alex, I will,” Renée whispered. “Black space.”
“I must admit, Ser, under few circumstances would I have postulated that number,” Jupiter said, staring at the display.
Julien augmented the holo-vid with bright dots of yellow light. “The worlds of Haraken, Omnia, and New Terra,” he said. Next, he inserted a red point, adding, “Ollassa.”
Finally, Julien drew a simple blue line and then a much more complex one. “Alex, the straight line is the approach path of the first sphere toward the Confederation system. The multi-jointed line represents the path along which we chased the second sphere.”
“Fortune favored you, Sers, that you survived the insidious nature of your foe,” Jupiter said.
Alex knew the SADE would have the truth of what happened at the final system, where the second sphere was cornered.
“Kind of you to say, Jupiter,” Alex replied, laying a firm hand on the SADE’s shoulder.
Julien’s added touches allowed Alex to orient himself within the display. He stepped close to the holo-vid, recalling Renée’s story of his dream, and eyed the short, blue line. The first sphere had arrived in the Hellébore system to scour Haraken, when it was known as the Cetus colony. Alex reversed the course and flew through the display.
Jupiter watched Alex drive past thousands of stars, where the probes lurked. His data query had retrieved them based on their unique broadcast signal. The probe-laced stars whirled past in a dizzying display, too fast for most humans to comprehend or measure, but the SADEs were tracking the distance that Alex traveled.
Suddenly, the lights winked out, and Alex reversed his course until he positioned the view where the final display of lights was found. “The wall,” Alex marveled.
“That’s an enormous wall, Alex,” Julien said. His kernel was involved in analyzing the width and breadth of the space that the data displayed.
“Jupiter, what are these faint points of light?” Alex asked, peering closely at the display. The ones he highlighted in the display were found in the dark area, where they stood out. “Is the data displaying probes, and, if so, why are they so faint?”
“One moment, Alex,” Jupiter replied. The SADE entered a fugue state, while he searched the data points for more detailed telemetry.
“Alex, I can tell you that these curious data points are found in the dark and the light areas. Those in the bright area aren’t easily observable for human eyes among the points of light. However, to your question, my original query displayed data points that matched Julien’s parameters within 95 percent accuracy. The items that you’re indicating are near matches, which fall outside that accuracy. They were included because of relevance.”
“Jupiter, what’s the breakdown of the numbers of these nearly relevant points between the two areas?” Alex asked.
“I can confirm twenty-three within the area dominated by the probes, and another thirteen probable in the dark area, Ser.”
Alex looked at Julien for his thoughts. The SADE replied, “The probes have a singular broadcast frequency or process, and these others are another form of communication similar to the probes.”
“Spheres?” Alex asked.
“Possibly,” Julien replied.
“Julien, share with Jupiter the signal from the Libran sphere.”
“What have I received?” Jupiter asked Julien, since the SADE couldn’t interpret the data.
“This is the first sphere’s broadcast signal sent before it detonated,” Julien replied. “We’ve been unable to decipher it or even separate the encoded da
ta from the type of carrier signal. Do not attempt to break it down. Allow a root comparison to the telemetry data collected.”
Jupiter ran a comparison exclusively against the thirty-six, anomalous, data points that the query had produced.
“Julien’s broadcast signal is a 98 percent match, Ser, to all thirty-six points,” Jupiter replied.
Alex slapped his hands together, creating a great boom, and he hugged a surprised Jupiter.
“Excellent work,” Julien said, by way of explaining Alex’s reaction.
“Might I inquire precisely what I’ve displayed that has you so elated, Ser?” Jupiter asked. “I request this because it would seem to me that we’ve potentially identified the location of the Nua’ll civilization, and, if the vast area of space where no probe signals exist is any indication, it’s enormous. In addition, I appear to have identified for you a significant number of the aliens’ spheres both within the Nua’ll territory and without.”
“To quote Admiral Tachenko,” Alex replied grinning, “when you begin to know your opponent is when you begin to defeat them.”
Alex sent.
“Jupiter, you’ve been invaluable. I’ll inform President Terese and Willem of your much-appreciated assistance,” Alex said, shaking the SADE’s hand.
“I don’t believe I’ve done anything that any other SADE couldn’t have done for you on this platform, Alex, but if you’re feeling generous, I would ask a favor,” Jupiter replied.
“Ask away,” Alex replied.
“A second explorer ship is undergoing its trials. I would like to be considered the SADE to co-command it on its maiden voyage.”
“I’ll pass along your request, Jupiter, and I wish you good fortune,” Alex said.
Jupiter beamed — literally. Light glowed from underneath his synth-skin, and it passed through the tiny dots in his midnight skin, making the stars shine.