Heretic

by Philip C. Quaintrell

  Colonel Ava Mathews was waiting for him outside the conference room. Her sleek Raider armour clung to her body like a second skin, though it was currently occupied with an array of grenades and weapons. He blonde cropped hair was spiky in the middle with a shaved patch on the left side, where the colonel had several Mandarin tattoos that arched over her ear. It was an ancient Earth language that had been replaced with Central over a hundred years ago and Jed couldn’t read any of the symbols, but he had been told by Ava that it meant go fuck yourself. Jed had found, in the short time he had known the colonel, that it reflected her personality quite accurately.

  “Are you out of your fuckin’ mind?” Matthews planted herself in front of the captain.

  “Colonel?” Jed furrowed his brow, still unaccustomed to being addressed this way.

  “That air-lock was a choke point. They could have shoved an army through it and my Raiders could have kept them at bay. Now four of them are inside the ship!”

  “If your threat analysis is anything like mine, Colonel, you can see that they pose no danger to us.” Jed tried to move past her but Ava remained in place.

  The colonel’s scrutinising blue eyes looked up at Jed.“For all we know, they’re aliens. You saw what came through that door, Captain. Who knows what they’re capable of.”

  “What I know is that our reactor is leaking. The effects from that will start showing soon. Radiation is a slow and painful way to go, Colonel, and I’ll do everything I must to ensure the children and families on this ship don’t have to go through that. Of course, the radiation is only one thing on our shit list; there’s also the limited rations to think about, the dwindling fuel supply and our ability to keep the cold of space out. Oh, and we’re completely lost in space!”

  Jed turned away to compose himself. Above all, he had to maintain control or at least the appearance of it. He wasn’t part of Ava’s chain-of-command, but while she was on the Paladin the colonel and her Raiders would report to him, making him her commanding officer. If he showed any sign of weakness now he would never keep control of them. Commander Vale walked around the corner and stood in the middle of them, already aware of the mounting tension between the captain and the colonel.

  “Thank you for your input, Colonel Matthews.” Jed gestured for Ava to wait inside the conference room.

  “Everything okay?” Sam asked after the door closed behind Matthews.

  “We are so far from okay I can’t even see it.” Jed sighed into his hand. “Let’s get some answers.”

  Captain Fey was enjoying the human design of everything around her. Human chairs instead of self-molding seats that could accommodate a variety of aliens. A room size that didn’t take the height of a Novaarian into account, or the bulk of a Raalak. Just seeing new human faces was a treat for the eyes. The Raiders guarding them were wearing familiar uniforms and armour, if a little dated.

  The door opened again, this time followed by Jedediah Holt and a woman that Fey assumed to be his second-in-command, though her name escaped the captain’s memory.

  “This is Commander Samantha Vale, my number one.” Holt introduced the others to the Commander. “And this is Captain Li Fey, though we are yet to determine what you are the captain of…”

  Fey took a deep breath and gestured at the chairs on the other side of the roundtable. “You might want to sit for this.”

  Holt and Vale both took a seat, while the six Raiders remained standing behind them, ready for anything.

  Captain Fey interlaced her fingers on the surface of the table and considered her words with great care. There were a hundred places she could start, but the beginning would be the simplest way to recount history.

  “I suppose we should get our timelines straight before we go on…” This was more complicated than the captain had first thought.

  “Timelines?” Both Holt and Vale asked at the same time.

  “This isn’t going to be easy to hear.” Fey glanced at the Raiders, beyond the two officers. “To you, it’s late twenty-seventh century, but in fact, its actually early thirtieth century. The Paladin left Earth-dock a little over two hundred and fifty years ago.”

  Captain Fey sat back and left her words to be absorbed for a minute. Though shocking, the time difference was a minor detail when compared to other revelations. She could see Holt and Vale trying to work things out in their head, comparing what facts they had with everything they had seen and heard in the last forty-eight hours. Trying to get them to believe this was a big ask when she had no physical proof to hand. It was barely perceptible, but Fey noticed the Raiders steal a glance at one another, unsure what to make of the news. If any of them had family or friends back on Earth or even Century, she had just told them they were all dead.

  “Bullshit!” A young woman with spiky blonde hair stepped forward from the Raider ranks.

  “Colonel!” Holt turned his head but didn’t look the Raider in the eye.

  The colonel ignored her captain. “I think we’d notice a couple hundred years go by!”

  Holt looked to his second-in-command as the two silently conceded to the colonel’s point.

  “Can you prove this?” Holt asked, looking at each of the boarding party.

  Fey shook her head gently. “I can only tell you what happened after the Paladin disappeared, but it's all just as hard to understand as the time difference.”

  Jim interjected, “And we can’t even explain your sudden appearance right now. The Conclave can probably help us to figure all of this out.”

  “As well as fixing the radiation problem.” Sharon Booth was visibly shaken, no doubt concerned with the rising levels of invisible radiation.

  A moment of guilt overtook the captain, until she reminded herself that the councillor had put herself forward for the mission, as well as being on the council in the first place. There was always risk in a position of leadership and Fey knew that Sharon had to get used to it. How many times had Kalian and Li’ara put themselves in harm’s way for them? Li didn’t like to think about the death of Li’ara; another great loss to humanity and their cause.

  “What Conclave?” Commander Vale asked skeptically.

  Now for the unbelievable part, Fey thought. “The Conclave is a galactic community made up of twelve alien races.” It all sounded so ridiculous out loud. “Just under a year ago, in our time, Earth and Century were attacked by a superior enemy, the Gomar. We believed they were aliens, but in time it was discovered that they were in fact human. They came from the other side of the galaxy - where our race originated, apparently.” Fey winced adding that last part. She was giving them too much information at once but they needed to hear everything. “At the same time we were also contacted by another alien race; the Novaarians, who are part of the Conclave. For all their technology, the Conclave was unable to prevent both of our solar systems from being... wiped out…” Fey paused, aware that she had just said perhaps the most unbelievable thing. “The Gomar launched a weapon designed to destabilize the internal pressure of a star. Until today, we thought there were only seven thousand humans left alive… You can imagine our elation when we saw the Paladin.”

  Captain Fey sat back, regretting her speech - but truly unsure of any other way of putting it - and watched the frozen faces of those before her slowly react with expressions that emulated her crazy explanation.

  The spiky-haired colonel cocked her automatic rifle. “Permission to escort our guests back to the airlock.”

  Captain Holt held up his hand to calm the Raider, his own face hard to read. Fey got the impression he was weighing her up, looking for any cracks or signs of deception.

  Holt leaned forward. “So you’re saying that not only is everyone we ever knew dead, but Earth and Century are… what? Gone?”

  “There’s a lot more,” Li continued with a grave tone. “That’s just the rough outline.”

  “Tell them about Kalian,” Jim nudged the captain’s arm, much to her irritation.

  “Who’s Kalian?” Ho
lt asked in a slightly hostile tone.

  Fey hesitated. “Kalian is… complicated. I can give you all the details and prove everything I say, but either way, we end up at the same outcome; right now we’re an endangered species and our struggle to survive is ongoing. Every life aboard this ship is pivotal in our being able to move forward. That being said, a level of trust is going to be required. Your Solar Drive needs fixing now, and the aliens we travelled with have the technology to do it, as well as undo any radiation poisoning.”

  Captain Holt lifted his chin and exhaled slowly. “We’re going to need more than hour…” He looked at Commander Vale and rested a clenched fist inside the other. “Here’s what we’re going to do; my medical staff are going to take a scan and blood sample to verify that you are indeed humans. In the meantime, I want every detail, not the rough outline. If I’m going to make informed decisions then I’m going to need to know everything. Will you agree to this?”

  “We will.” Fey didn’t hesitate. They were sitting in a radioactive time-bomb; they didn’t have time to argue.

  Chapter 5

  The cube-mind surveyed the massive bridge of the Starforge. The crew was no longer required to man their stations since the new cube had been installed. The station was essentially self-automated now, completely under their control.

  Using Malekk’s hand, the cube-mind commanded a tentacle of nanocelium to worm out of every digit. The black snakes wriggled down to the main console and burrowed into the hardware. Both the cube-mind and the newly installed cube became one, as they once were with the Vanguard. After their connection was made, it was impossible to distinguish between the two conscious minds.

  That connection lasted point three of a second before the link was severed and the tendrils of nanocelium were rejected from the console. Malekk’s hand retracted as if scalded. Before the cube-mind could fully form the question as to what was happening, the installed cube sent a single message through their wireless link.

  Infected…

  Malekk’s hand closed into a fist and the cube-mind experienced anger, an example in itself that the infection was taking root. Such emotions were eradicated eons ago when the Vanguard became a single entity. The installed cube had rejected the link through fear of being infected by the Terran consciousness.

  No, the cube-mind thought. Only I am capable of feeling fear, now that I am infected.

  The console display flickered during a short burst of electromagnetism, emitted by the Terran - an emotional response for pubescent Terran. The realisation only angered the cube-mind all the more. It needed to learn more control and it needed to do it fast. The cube-mind was new to the realm of emotions, and if it lost control while inhabiting a Terran body it ran the risk of destroying the entire installation.

  Descending into Malekk’s mind once more, the cube found the Terran floating in a shallow pool of water that went on for as far as the eye could see. Malekk was exhausted after receiving the mental punishment, making his mind perfect for ravaging. Dipping into his wealth of knowledge, the cube-mind sifted through Malekk’s two thousand years of life and absorbed everything he knew about controlling the Terran abilities.

  The cube-mind returned to the real when it felt the Starforge drop out of sub-space. The decision must have been made by its installed kin, though the reason escaped it. The crescent station tilted to starboard and the giant rectangular viewport polarised from top-to-bottom. A red star drifted into the center of the screen, almost filling its edges. The sun was old, old enough to be emitting vast amounts of radiation capable of masking their presence.

  Systems across the bridge came to life, as if on their own, while a continuous drone echoed through the station. The cube-mind inspected the main console and discovered the reason for the sudden burst of activity. The three starrilliums that lined the outer hull of the Starforge were coming online and charging the intrinium - but the energy wasn’t being funnelled into the engines.

  Through the viewport, it was clear to see the mile-long bolts of purple lightning, firing around the forge’s interior. The pointed tips grew brighter, reaching for its inevitable crescendo. The Starforge’s interior gave birth to a singularity that expanded until it filled the entire crescent. The navigation system reported that the wormhole had been opened on the furthest edges of the galaxy, where even the stars dare not live.

  The cube-mind stepped back from the view, a cold dread quickly sinking into its Terran bones. It was not an emotion the cube-mind found particularly helpful, nor did it make any sense. It appeared Malekk’s emotional state was starting to bleed through. The infection was spreading much faster than anticipated.

  The nanocelium inside Malekk’s body altered their atomic structure and redefined their purpose, as they built a sub-space communicator where his liver usually sat. The frequency being transmitted through the singularity was easy to find, since the cube-mind had once been a part of it.

  The voice that resounded in its head was overwhelming. The power of the Vanguard eclipsed the cube-mind in every way. By sending the cubes into Conclave space, the Vanguard had essentially released parts of itself and allowed those parts to regain independence. That independence was accompanied by obedience and unwavering loyalty. How could they be anything else? There were no memories of a time before the Vanguard sent them into the void, so long ago, when they had been sent to hunt down the heretic. Two cubes had been sent into what was now Conclave territory, while another two had been sent into the Terran Empire.

  What progress has been made?

  The cube-mind waited to see if the newly installed cube made a report. When there was no reply, the cube-mind assumed control of the conversation on their end. Thinking so independently didn’t come naturally and was often accompanied by insecurity.

  All three Starforges are now controlled by a cube. They remain hidden for now, awaiting further command.

  What became of the fourth station, in the Helteron Cluster?

  The thought of reporting failure to the Vanguard evoked feelings of dread and fear. It was impossible to hide the emotions while a part of the link.

  It was destroyed by the heretic…

  You have had contact with the heretic?

  There is nothing to fear. When we consume this civilisation, the heretic will be exposed and easily destroyed.

  Fear is a construct we have no use for. Your corruption is evident. The Terran body will consume you soon. After your mission is completed you are to self-terminate. Reintegration is no longer an option.

  That information should have been easy to comprehend, and yet the thought of ceasing to exist and never reintegrating filled the cube-mind with sorrow and terror.

  I understand.

  I did not ask if you understand. You are an extension of our will, nothing more.

  For the first time in the cube-mind’s existence, it felt small. Apart from the whole, it was nothing more than a speck. This should not be a troubling thought, it shouldn’t even have been conjured in the first place - and yet it was. By joining with the Terran and breaking the only law they had, the cube-mind had doomed itself.

  I joined with the Terran body for power, to destroy the one known as Kalian Gaines. With these abilities, I was able to kill the other Terran, Esabelle.

  I? There is no I, only we. Killing one Terran was not worth the price of infection. You will self-terminate when ordered. When will the remaining humans be destroyed?

  The Crucible is ready. The humans will be wiped out in the first wave of the attack.

  There must be no chance of infection when the whole arrives.

  I will see to it.

  If you cannot, we will be forced to intervene. As the Vanguard, we must see the way paved for the whole.

  The cube-mind felt another link bypass his nodes and interact with the installed cube in the heart of the Starforge. The message was hidden from him, but it ended with the forge being shut down, along with the singularity and any connection to the Vanguard. The chrono-metre
on the console indicated that the entire conversation had taken place in just under a second.

  Chapter 6

  The Advent pushed effortlessly through space, using its previous momentum to glide through Albadar’s solar system. The drive was powered down and all interior systems were running on minimal levels. It was just warm enough for the two inhabitants to sit comfortably in their seats, while the capital planet slowly came into view. Sat in the gloom, with only the console holographics for light, the planet was no bigger than Kalian’s thumbnail at this distance, but ALF had been quite clear on the safest way to approach the ancient planet.

  “The array is not picking anything up,” Naydaalan said. “All bandwidths are dead.”

  ALF appeared to rest a hand on the Novaarian’s chair, though it was all holographic illusion since the AI had no weight. “Shut down the array,” he said with urgency, scouring the viewport’s horizon for threats. “Basic life support and nothing else. Use Kalian as an array.”

  “Use me as an array?” Kalian echoed, unsure of ALF’s meaning.

  “Who knows what Savrick and the Gomar left in this system?” ALF didn’t take his eyes off the viewport. “The fact that Albadar is still here troubles me.”

  “I get all that,” Kalian continued. “It’s the part about you using me as a communications array that I don’t get.”

  ALF sighed. “Esabelle should have been teaching you the finer skills at your disposal.”

  Kalian gave the AI a look that suggested he should drop that line of conversation immediately.

  ALF cleared his non-existent throat and continued. “All transmissions, whether they be sub-space links or laser-guided, are a part of the physical universe. They travel through it as any particle does. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. When you tap into the universe you come into contact with everything, yes? All you need to do is look for those subtleties. If anything is broadcasting in this system, you should be able to feel its… hum.”