by Dan Worth
‘I spoke to you on the surface of how the Shapers were created,’ said Eonara. ‘Now I will tell you how they operate as a species. When you consider the Shapers you should not regard them as other civilizations. They are not organic; they are an artificially created race of self replicating machines. Neither should they be regarded as a civilization composed of separate, independent individuals. They are a hive mind. The thought processes and decisions of the Shaper race are shared between many individuals in order to devote greater levels of processing power to a problem. This grants them great intelligence, but it also a weakness that can be exploited.’
Images began to appear in the air behind Eonara, three dimensional tree-like structures growing outwards in all directions from a central core.
‘The Shaper hive mind follows a hierarchy. They are few in number, compared to many other races, so they must maximise their potential and ensure that data flows throughout their shared consciousness in the most efficient manner. Overall command decisions are taken at the core. This is the largest grouping of Shaper minds which we called the Singularity, a self perpetuating machine intelligence designed for unrivalled computing power and which, due to its own self governed evolution, quickly surpassed its designers’ wildest expectations. Decisions from the Singularity are passed down to local processing nodes, composed of smaller groups of minds and thus to individual ships, agents and enslaved creatures under the Shapers’ control. When viewed as a whole this command structure resembles a galaxy spanning structure not dissimilar to that of the nervous system of a large animal. Destroying the local nodes is the key to victory. With these taken out, the individual Shapers will be cut off and will be forced to rely on ad hoc networks of command and control and shared processing in order to remain co-ordinated and part of the whole. In addition, the shared processing of the Shapers’ hive mind is greatly impeded by distance, resulting in significant lag over galactic distances even via hypercom communication. Typically, command decisions at local level are delegated downwards granting individual fleets autonomy at tactical level. Destroy nodes, and the Shapers in the local volume will become uncoordinated. It may also be possible to jam their transmissions or even intercept and decipher them, though this was something we never managed as a species, I have provided the ship with my own research data on their methods of sub-space signalling.’
‘If you created them, why can’t you decipher their transmissions?’ said Rekkid.
‘The Shapers were able to evolve rapidly, creating better, faster copies of themselves. Within a few years they bore little resemblance to their original design. They are now as alien to myself as any other naturally occurring, sentient race. What we do know is that their transmissions are able to interface directly with the cerebral cortexes of some sentient races, allowing messages to be broadcast directly into the minds of the recipients who will hear ‘voices in their heads’ so to speak or see images. We believed this to be an unintended side-effect, though doubtless the Shapers aim to control minds directly via this method at some point, rather than rely upon parasitic agents.’
‘I can vouch for their ability to project messages’ said Katherine. ‘The one on Hadar spoke to me and the other humans there, but left Rekkid alone.’
‘Yes, the Arkari seem less susceptible. Though they are not immune.’
‘I don’t get it,’ said Katherine. ‘If the Shapers are able to evolve rapidly and replicate themselves quickly, why are they so few in number? Why didn’t they take over the galaxy eons ago?’
‘I personally believe it is a matter of control. Following the destruction of the Progenitor Empire, the Shapers attempted to take over the entire galaxy. It appears that when they reached such numbers, concentrations of Shapers remote from the Singularity began to form separate Singularities of their own, each bent on dominating the galaxy and imposing their will. The terrible war that followed wiped out the remaining star faring cultures and plunged the galaxy into a dark age that lasted for almost four billion years until a second generation of sentient races arose. The Shapers themselves had been reduced to a handful of scattered survivors across the galaxy. Slowly, they made their way back to their home-world and licked their wounds. It is my theory that they now use their technological superiority to exert direct control over large numbers of more primitive beings and maintain stricter controls over themselves by maintaining a relatively small Shaper population. It also appears that their evolution amongst the general Shaper population has stagnated, possibly intentionally, as evolution among some groups of individuals would have a destabilising effect upon their hierarchy. Certainly the creatures that you have encountered in recent years are not too far removed from those fought by the Nahabe a few tens of thousands of years ago. We can only postulate, but based on prior experience, I would have expected a number of potential Singularities to have emerged during the Shapers’ long slow resurgence only for them to contest dominance over the general population, following which the losing parties would have been assimilated by the victor. The surviving one will be able to exert almost unimaginable levels of control over its subjects, even down to individual level. It is a machine god in all but name.’
‘So how do we kill it?’ said Katherine. ‘Something like that... surely its defences would be unimaginable. It would be a suicide mission’
‘It... it may be possible to create a virus to disrupt the Shaper’s hive mind and prevent them from communicating with one another.’ Eonara seemed hesitant, distracted even. ‘Were that to be successful... the Singularity would fall apart and in all probability destroy itself. The Glory and I have also been working on this together these past few days... our progress is slow, so far but... wait.’ Eonara paused then said: ‘Something’s wrong.’
The Progenitor AI’s image wore an expression of worry. There was a pregnant pause. Mentith seemed on the verge of speaking when the ship’s cat avatar began to explain:
‘War Marshal I have lost contact with our hypercom datasphere,’ said the ship. ‘I am unable to maintain a consistent connection.’ It paused for a second then continued. ‘I have now closed all hypercom traffic to the datasphere. War Marshal, my hypercom interfaces are being bombarded with a large number of viruses originating from our own hypercom routing nodes. I am attempting to establish a peer-to-peer network with other ships but we are a long way from other vessels. It may take some time to establish a secure connection.’
A schematic image of the ship’s comm. systems and the nearest segments of the Arkari hypercom network appeared in the air at the far end of the bridge. A number of areas were highlighted with winking icons
‘Bring us to combat readiness,’ said Mentith, quickly. ‘Alert Black Rock and activate all defensive systems about the facility.’
‘Done,’ the ship replied. It accompanied the comm. schematic with one of the local volume of space and the myriad of defensive platforms in place around the Black Rock facility
‘What the hell’s going on?’ said Rekkid.
‘We’re under attack, Professor Cor,’ Mentith replied. ‘Someone is using our own communication system against us.’
‘The Shapers?’ Rekkid replied. His question was left hanging, unanswered.
‘I am analysing samples of several viruses that the ship has isolated,’ said Eonara. ‘They bear a striking resemblance to Shaper AI shards. These coding segments here,’ she displayed them in the air in front her, three dimensional patterns of symbols that seemed to squirm as if alive.
‘We seen symbols like that before, they’re Shaper alright,’ said Katherine. ‘Rekkid, do you remember when we examined the skin of the ship on Rhyolite?’
‘I concur, the two sets of intertwined symbols are formed from the same character sets,’ Rekkid replied. ‘I can read them but I can’t understand what they say. I’m sorry, I’m no computer programmer.’
‘Tracing their point of origin,’ said the ship. ‘Infected data packets in all cases are originating from our own hypercom node A.Is. The
y are not simply relaying data from elsewhere, they are the source! War Marshal, it is my estimation that the hypercom datasphere has been subverted by the Shapers. I am as yet unable to raise any other vessel or Arkari world. I have established contact with the Black Rock via analogue radio signals. They are experiencing similar problems.’
‘Typical,’ growled Steelscale. ‘This is how the Shapers fight. Worthless cowards!’
‘If all hyperspace comms are down then we have to get back to Arkari space,’ said Mentith. ‘I have to contact the fleet. Glory, plot a course for the Ashenti system.’
‘War Marshal, I am detecting a point of neutrino emissions in the local space inside the remains of Bivian,’ said the ship. ‘I have also established a temporary connection to the cruiser Pale Fire in the Varanno system. The ship has relayed the following message. Playing now.’
The sound was poor quality due to the appalling data transfer rates but Mentith recognised the distorted voice of Captain Hekat: ‘We are under attack. Have lost contact with all other vessels. Badly outnumbered. Hypercom network down everywhere. Shapers.’
‘The source of the broadcast terminated in mid transmission,’ the ship commented.
There were gasps from the other Arkari on the bridge who turned to look at Mentith in alarm.
‘Don’t get distracted!’ Mentith barked. ‘Yes, we are now at war! Now let’s do our jobs. We need to establish where these incursions are taking place and take appropriate action. Ship, can you get me information from any other vessels?’
‘I am attempting to do so,’ the ship replied. ‘Formulating counter viral programs to increase data flow capacity and lock out hostile programs.’
Outside the ship, the space around Black Rock was pierced by a brilliant point of light that expanded into a shining hoop of energy through which unfamiliar stars could be glimpsed.
Katherine peered at the sight in rapt fascination and horror as the scene outside the Shining Glory was projected into the air in an arc around the bridge. The Arkari officers and crew worked to a backdrop of looming Dyson Sphere landscapes and the bright, distant stars beyond overlaid with complex unreadable icons and labels in Arkari script. The portal dominated, a circle of pale fire.
Rekkid was pointing. She saw movement within the portal even as the view shifted as the Shining Glory began to manoeuvre swiftly and bring its weapons to bear. Ships began to emerge to be met with a barrage of fire from the sentry weapons in the space around the Black Rock. There was no mistaking the sleek, ice bright, crystalline vessels that swam among the coruscating fire. She could hear them whispering to her mind.
‘The Shapers are here,’ she heard herself say, her mouth dry with fear.
Chapter 42
The mahogany table of the Churchill’s wardroom was a pool of inky darkness that reflected the light of Earth’s swirling cloud tops from beyond the tall bank of windows. Chen sat at one end of the table, her mouth pressed into a firm narrow line as she listened once again to the transmission that they had picked up from Haines a week earlier. She had to listen to it again. She needed to feel the anger that swelled within her, needed to feed off it to drive her fighting instincts. The message was scratchy and distorted, his voice strained and desperate yet still defiant. They were his last words to her.
‘This is Admiral George Haines of the Abraham Lincoln to Admiral Chen. We have been surrounded by Shaper vessels and are outnumbered. They have achieved complete tactical surprise. We cannot fight our way out and we can’t jump – the bastards are using inhibitor fields. Most of the fleet has been wiped out and we are powerless to stop them taking the system. The Lincoln has lost power to her engines and we are trapped within the gravity well of Orinoco. Venting atmosphere from a dozen decks. Ship’s breaking up. They’re still firing on us, but at least the bastards didn’t get to board us...’ There were a few seconds of inaudible speech. ‘...Chen, it’s up to you now. You must defend Earth at all costs, use all necessary means. I have every confidence in you. I did my best, but I guess you can’t win them all, kid. Fleet Admiral George Haines, signing off.’
All necessary means. She didn’t have much. Her force was smaller than the one Haines had taken to Achernar. The Churchill, plus four carrier battle groups led by the Jupiter class carriers Leonides, Horatio Nelson, Ulysses S.Grant and Hugh Dowding. Each carrier group had seen considerable action in the war against the K’Soth and their crews were battle hardened veterans. She had fought with the Leonides during the opening battles of that last war, and now Captain Diaz’s crew would stand with her in the first battles of this one. Part of her wondered if it might also be the last. She thought of Haines. Was he dead or alive? Nothing had been heard from the Achernar system since that last urgent message and not a single ship had returned. She feared the worst. If the Shapers could defeat Haines...
Admiral Cox’s renegade force had not tarried in the Achernar system. Although deep range hyperspace scanning had spotted a great many unknown vessels still lingering there, a large number of Commonwealth drive signatures were being tracked on a direct course for the Solar System. It was only a matter of hours now. Chen had ordered the broadcast of a system-wide, repeating message across the shipping channels that all civilian ships should vacate the system and stay clear of the potential combat zone. Meanwhile, the government had begun emergency broadcasts to the billions of citizens trapped in the capital system as to how they should prepare for the impeding attack. Panic and rioting had broken out across the Solar System as people scrambled for the last liners leaving for other stars. The local defence forces and police were already out in strength in a number of cities on Earth, Mars and Jupiter’s moons. There had been some looting, and some deaths.
Chen had tried to contact her parents, but the comm. channels, planetary internet and hypercom systems were jammed with the frantic traffic of twenty billion frightened people and she couldn’t get through. She fired off a confused, emotional email urging them to flee San Francisco and hoped for the best, knowing that whatever she said, her parents would make up their own minds regardless.
Re-enforcements – ten carrier battle groups and half a million ground troops – were still a week away as the Commonwealth’s loyal forces sprinted back from the wreck of the K’Soth Empire that they had conquered and were now hastily abandoning. Other ships and troops would take much longer to reach Earth. Too long. Chen must work with what she had.
She did have one card up her sleeve though. The interim government had contacted her after it became clear that the fleet sent to Achernar had been lost. Haines had left recommendations to the government to the effect that she should be placed in command of the defence of the Solar System and given a field commission to full Admiral. The frightened, inexperienced politicians had acquiesced.
It was an awesome responsibility. The fate of human civilisation now rested in her hands. She required all necessary means to fight the Shapers, and this would be granted to her. The four matt black, insignia-less warships that she had inspected earlier were proof of that. They were the Commonwealth’s Nemesis class strategic missile destroyers.
Chen had heard rumours before, but the four ships had turned out to be real enough. They were a more-than-secret, black budget project. Design and construction at great expense had begun in the years after the first K’Soth war. They were to be the ultimate weapon against humanity’s enemies, designed to penetrate the strongest defences that the K’Soth could throw against them and deliver a killing blow to the Empire’s core systems in the event that Earth should once again be at their mercy. Each of the kilometre long vessels was sheathed in advanced stealth hull plating and thick armour rather than conventional - and obvious – energy shields and possessed the foremost in low signature jump drive systems. They had limited conventional armament, for conventional fleet actions were not their forte, instead each was designed to administer a devastating blow to planetary populations or space borne assets via stand-off attack. The ships were armed with jump-capable a
nti-matter tipped missiles.
They were, in every sense, illegal. There was little defence against such a weapon, a weapon capable of sterilising the surface of entire worlds in a cataclysm of nuclear fire from several light years away. Even if the missiles were knocked out of hyperspace by inhibitor fields, they still possessed stealthy profiles and high powered fusion engines as well as combat software designed to help them penetrate enemy defences. They were near unstoppable doomsday weapons.
The press had gotten wind of the possibility of their existence twenty years ago and the programme had eventually been quietly curtailed in the name of interstellar harmony and – more importantly – budgetary constraints. The vessels were immensely expensive to construct, their primary armament especially. However the four ships already constructed at hidden shipyards were rumoured to patrol beyond the space lanes and occasional, unverified sightings had been made over the years. It had been generally supposed before the war that the Commonwealth was happy for the rumours to circulate in order to keep the K’Soth guessing.
To Chen’s eyes, the four, terrible ships reminded her of the old nuclear submarines from the history books, both in their general appearance and in their ability to achieve total surprise and wreak utter devastation. She had met the crews. They were a breed apart. Long periods in deep space and a life of utter secrecy had made them very reliant upon one another and reluctant to talk to outsiders, but their professionalism and devotion to duty were second to none. If Chen’s plan worked, the Shapers were in for an unpleasant shock. The Nemesis, the Shiva, the Azrael and Guan Yu now waited in the darkness above the ecliptic, running silent and drifting just like four rogue asteroids, their thick, black-body hulls almost invisible. They awaited Chen’s command.
The comm. chimed suddenly. It was Haldane.
‘Admiral I thought you should know: enemy vessels have entered the system.’
