Guardian Awakening

by C. Osborne Rapley

  He sensed her pain and distress. Fury like a hot desert wind filled him. If the perpetrators were standing in front of him at that moment, he could have ripped them apart with his bare hands. He took a deep breath, forcing his pounding pulse to slow. He had to be calm and think clearly. The red cloud of anger would not help.

  He sent the message as gently as possible, but sufficient enough to break through Aesia’s pain. For a moment, there was no response, then she came alive. Tristan?

  Yes, hold on, I’m coming to get you.

  Tristan, how can you reach me in this way?

  The AI is acting as a telepathic amplifier.

  He sensed her shake her head. Leave me. You have to find the commanding officer. I think they are planning a military coup. You have to stop it.

  Aesia, just be ready.

  OK. Tristan is Tristain……

  She is safe, don’t worry.

  He terminated the connection. The tactical showed a corridor branching off to the right. Halfway along a room where Aesia was being held.

  Two guards were posted outside her cell door. Tristan dare not use his telepathy to destroy their minds, Aesia was too close and the technique could be indiscriminate. He paused a moment then stepped out into the right hand corridor.

  The two guards looked round and started to draw their guns “Hal…” Tristan shot them both cleanly in the head with the near silent laser before the closest one could finish his challenge. They slumped to the ground without making any further sound.

  He checked for any movement close by then went to the door. He tried the handle; it was not locked. With a push, the door swung silently open.

  Aesia faced the door, tied to a chair rope round her neck and hands. “Aesia?” He stepped quickly into the room and drew the knife strapped to his shin. He cut the rope binding Aesia to the chair. She stood rubbing her wrists. “Are you OK, Aesia?”

  “Yes, but for a few bruises. Who is looking after Tristain?”

  “Dionysia has her.”

  “The computer, are you sure she is safe?”

  “She is in a hardened bunker hundreds of feet below the surface. No one can get to her.”

  Aesia sighed. “Good.” Her eyes flicked over Tristan, appraising his weapons. Is that a battle staff on your back?”

  “Yes why?”

  “Best for close quarters fighting. Give it to me.” She held out her hand. Tristan unclipped the staff and held it out to her. She hesitated. “I can’t fight in this.” She pulled at the fastenings of her dress and stepped out of it.

  Tristan’s eyes went wide. “Aeisa! You are practically naked, you can’t…”

  She touched his cheek with her fingers. “You are funny, Tristan.” She paused, looking into his eyes. “You are my partner, and anyone else who sees me will be dead before it registers, OK?”

  “No, not really.” With a shake of his head, he handed her the staff.

  Laughing, she turned towards the door. “Come on,”She ducked out of the room and started up the corridor. Tristan hurried to keep up. Three guards appeared round the corner.

  Before he had time to even raise a pistol she had attacked them. Tristan froze as Aesia became almost a blur. Within the space of three breaths all three guards were lying dead, skulls and limbs smashed.

  She skipped over the bodies and darted up a wide corridor on her left. “This way, hurry up.” Tristan was hard pushed to keep up with her.

  They came to a large door at the end of the corridor. Aesia pressed her back against the wall and put a finger to her lips. Tristan skidded to a halt and stood silently waiting.

  Aesia knelt down and put her ear to the door.

  “What are you doing?” Tristan whispered.

  She turned her head towards him a frown on her face and put her hand up. “Shh,” she hissed through her teeth.

  There was a steel cold hardness about her Tristan had never sensed before. He shivered involuntarily.

  She moved back from the door, moving silently like a cat and came to him. She pulled him down close to her so she could whisper. “There are five men ranged just inside the door. Plus the ring leader of this little nest of vipers is in there. He is the one you need to interrogate. You get to him and the couple of guards round him I will deal with the rest.”

  “OK, but…” Tristan hissed.

  Aesia did not let him finish “Knock down that door now!”

  Tristan shook his head, then with a shrug walked up to the door, engaging full battle armour as he did so. He jumped forward, smashing against the door and turned it to matchwood. Hand laser fire bathed his suit; the whine of the cooling unit filled his ears.

  Standing behind a desk flanked by two guards stood an old, balding Sicceian dressed in a flamboyant, heavily decorated officer’s uniform.

  In the time it took to take a breath he had appraised the situation. Out of the corner of his eye, a shape flashed low, passing beside him underneath the concentrated laser fire at almost blinding speed.

  He fired at the two guards in quick succession. Ignoring anything else in the room, he ran forwards, making a grab at the balding officer, pinning the officer’s arms to his sides.

  The armour cooling unit shut down as he turned. Scattered behind him, lay the three remaining guards.

  Aesia stood over the last one, closed the telescopic battle staff, bent down and with a fluid movement removed the guards blouse and pants. Tristan pushed the officer to his knees and held him paralysed. He disengaged his battle armour.

  She quickly donned the dead guards uniform then looked straight at Tristan with a smile on her face, held up her arms and pirouetted round once. “Better now?”

  Tristan sighed “Yes. Following your naked body up the corridor was playing havoc with my concentration. And thank God you are on my side!” Aesia laughed softly the cold steel in her mind melted away and was replaced by the gentle warmth he was used to.

  “What are you? How do you move so fast?” Tristan asked.

  She stepped forward and took his hand. I’m an Adept, especially with a battle staff. It is a very rare ability, usually past down from mother to daughter.”

  “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

  Aesia shrugged. “I never had a need to use it.”

  Tristan sucked in a breath through pursed lips. “The times you tackled me in the cottage and on that ship we used to leave Earth. You could have disabled me before I had time to take a breath.”

  She looked up at his face. “The very first time your mind touched mine I knew. I could not use my ability against you. All of that time I spent fighting MYSELF. It was at that oasis I finally bowed to the inevitable.” She squeezed his hand. “Right, we are wasting time, let’s get on with it.”

  Tristan turned to the officer he was holding paralysed. He partly released his control, just keeping the man on his knees. “What’s your name?”

  He ignored Tristan and glared directly at Aesia “I’m not telling you or your pet anything,” he spat out.

  Tristan sighed. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. You either tell me what I want to know, or I will force it out of you. Be assured I will get it one way or another.”

  The officer swore at Aeisa, his mouth a tight line, jaws clamped together.

  All right, if that is the way you want it.

  The officer’s eyes opened wide in horror. “How did your pet do that? Slaves aren’t capable of telepathic communication.”

  Aesia glanced at Tristan, then smiled down at the kneeling Sicceian. “Oh you’ll be surprised at what my pet can do. Are you going to talk or not?”

  “No!”

  She rested her hand on Tristan’s arm. “All right, my Pet, do your worst.”

  With no effort at all, Tristan sliced through the barrier the officer had put up against him. His mind was open, and panic bubbled under the surface. Memories came and went. Tristan flicked through them like pages in a book, then found what he needed. Th
ere was a brief resistance he had to suppress before the whole plan was laid out before him. The officer’s eyes rolled back in his head he started to dribble and foam at the mouth, then he slumped forward and died.

  “Did you find anything?”

  “Yes,” Tristan nodded. There was the sound of voices down the corridor Aesia turned and moved behind the door jam.

  Dionysia is there a way you can get us both out of here or do we have to fight?

  I can transport you both if you are close and hold onto the Sicceian.

  “Aesia, come here quickly.” He held out his arms.

  “But Tristan they are coming.”

  “I can get us out of here, but you need to be close.” Aesia looked sceptical but moved close to him. She put her arms round his neck and he held her round the waist. Now, Dionysia.

  Aesia let out a scream, gripping Tristan tightly. “Whaaa-”

  They were standing in a large well-appointed lounge. “-at.” Tristan smiled as she looked around her eyes wide. “Wow! Where are we?”

  “This is an underground bunker that houses the planetary computer and quarters for at least two Guardians.”

  Aesia pulled away. “Right, tell me about it later, first I want to know if Tristain is safe.”

  A door on the far side of the room opened and the avatar of Dionysia walked into the room. “The child is safe, asleep in the room across the hall.”

  Aesia turned and, grabbing Tristan by the hand, she pulled him past Dionysia out of the room. She hesitated for a moment then opened the door opposite. Tristan heard her catch her breath. In the dim light he could see his daughter sleeping arms thrown out across the bed.

  “It looks exactly like her own room at home,” Aesia whispered. “Isn’t she adorable?” She looked back at Tristan.

  Tristan felt a lump in his throat. “Yes, she is cute,” he whispered back. “Now, we must discuss what I’ve discovered from your kidnapper.”

  He heard Aesia sigh. “Oh all right.” She squeezed his hand and he sensed the wistfulness in her voice. “I suppose we cannot live in peace and safety until this war is over.” They walked together back to the lounge. Aesia left the bedroom door ajar. Tristan gave her a questioning glance. She sighed. “Just in case she wakes up frightened.”

  They sat on a large couch facing Dionysia’s avatar, that now sat on a chair, legs crossed under her, her hands resting on her lap waiting for them. Tristan leaned back and gathered his thoughts.

  Aesia shifted beside him he sensed her growing impatience. “Well?”

  “There is to be a full meeting of the Sicceian government here and all the occupied planets in three days time. The hard line military are planning a coup. They intend to kill out of hand known supporters of the peace movement. Those not yet declared to openly support the continuation of the war will be detained. They will then impose Martial Law throughout the remaining planets under Sicceian rule.”

  Aesia gasped. “They can’t do that, it is unprecedented, it’s treason!”

  Dionysia shook her head. “They have to be stopped.”

  Tristan glanced from one to the other. “I can probably stop the Coup here with your help Dionysia, but how do we stop the takeover of the civilian administration on the other worlds?” He lent forward and ran his hand through his hair. “Unless we can activate more planetary computers.”

  Dionysia stared at him. “Even if it were possible to reactivate them, how would a single avatar stop a military take over?”

  The planetary governments will be sitting simultaneously. All will be linked directly to the main assembly here on Sicceia in real time. A heavily armed avatar appearing at the centre of each assembly directly under my command should cause enough surprise to stop the coup in its tracks. A display of power the Sicceians will understand.”

  Aesia was watching him with her eyes wide. “You are planning to bluff them into submission, aren’t you?”

  Tristan shifted uncomfortably in the chair. “Yes, it’s a risky strategy, especially if they call the bluff. But, it will be something that has never happened before. The Guardians and their computers have been long forgotten. I am banking on them not acting against something they don’t understand.”

  “Don’t forget, Tristan, we have to rely on sufficient planetary computers being still operational to cover most of the planets. It will show weakness if not.”

  He turned to Dionysia. “I know the risk. Can you get them to restart?”

  “It will take time as each computer will have to start the ones closest to it. There are over two hundred worlds still under Sicceian rule and there cannot be any breaks in the chain.”

  “Why, Dionysia? The Quantum communications should not have any range issue.”

  “Because, Tristan, until the computer is running there is no active receiving system. The boot command has to have sufficient power because the receiver is passive.”

  “Oh. That was not included in the training.”

  “Of course not. A situation where the computers were shutdown was never envisaged.”

  Chapter Twenty: The Artificial Intelligences.

  The lights in the bunker were dimmed. Tristan lay quietly on one of the settees in the lounge. His hands behind his head he gazed at the plain white ceiling. He could not sleep, even though he had been working with the planetary computers almost constantly for the past two days. Every one required direct communication and authorisation from a Guardian to complete its final boot sequence.

  The numbers went round and round in his head. Of the two hundred and fourteen Sicceian systems, one hundred and ninety-five originally had computers. Fifteen failed to boot up, so the final count left a shortage. Some of the shortages would be covered by adjacent systems, but there were ten planets that would not have an avatar appear in their assembly meeting.

  Considering the length of time since the computer systems shutdown, the number available was astounding. He swung his legs off the settee and sat up. It says a lot for Lantian engineering. I just hope to God the plan works.

  The Sicceians had to be intimidated, so he had discussed weapon options with Aeisa and Dionysia. The universal laser weapons were clinical, practically silent, and known by everyone. The situation needed a terror weapon no one had ever seen before. Tristan had experience with compact submachine guns during his time in the Navy. He outlined the principle to Dionysia, who took the detail directly from his memory.

  The result was spectacular. Dionysia transported Tristan and Aesia to a deserted area on the planet’s surface for a test firing. The balance was almost perfect, vibration and recoil minimal, but the sound echoed around the valley they were standing in. Tristan fired at a small tree and the spray of slugs splintered it in seconds.

  Aesia watched, eyes wide, with her hands over her ears and a grin spread across her face. “That is wonderful, let me try.” Tristan handed her the weapon. She pulled the trigger and held it. Another tree disintegrated in a roar of sound and flame. “This is a real weapon! I want two of these things for myself.” Tristan laughed. “Before I met you most women I knew would be happy with a bunch of flowers.”

  Aesia made a face. “Flowers! Puh!”

  When they returned to the bunker, Tristan gave instructions that every avatar should be armed with two of these weapons. And appear in full Guardian armour.

  He glanced at the clock for the hundredth time. Dionysia appeared in front of him. “Tristan you need to sleep.”

  “What? Yes I know, but I can’t sleep too much is at stake tomorrow and there are so many things that can go wrong.”

  “I can help you sleep.”

  “No! I have never taken anything to help me sleep, and I never will.”

  Dionysia laughed. “I don’t mean drugs.”

  “It is very un-computer like of you to laugh, Dion….”

  He was being shaken. “Tristan, wake up” He opened his eyes and blinked adjusting to the light. “Aesia?”

  “Yes, it
is time to get ready. Your clothes are over there.” She indicated a chair with a green Guardian uniform hanging across it.

  Tristan swung his legs round stood and gently cupped Aesia’s chin in his hand, tilting her face up to his. He kissed her. “I will get ready.”

  The scheduled time for the assembly meetings was fast approaching. Tristan paced up and down double-checking everything. He had sent a message to the League high command using Dionysia’s quantum communicator ordering them to stay back behind the current border and avoid any conflict until he contacted them again.

  The Guardian dress uniform was stiff and uncomfortable. His battle armour folded into the belt made it seem heavy and bulky. He practiced deploying the armour several times for his own peace of mind. It reliably unfolded and covered him, but he was mindful of three or four-second delay before he was fully protected.

  He strapped the machine pistols to his hips after checking the clips; he was ready. They had agreed that Dionysia’s avatar should stand by the entrance and watch his back to warn him of any possible attack while he was concentrating on the delegates. He insisted she was armed with the gun he had designed during his virtual training. Aesia reluctantly agreed to stay behind with Tristain.

  “Has the assembly convened yet, Dionysia?”

  “Yes, Tristan, they are currently discussing the missing peace delegation.”

  “OK, let’s go.” A now familiar lurch and he was standing in the middle of the Sicceian assembly. There were gasps and the scraping of numerous chairs at his sudden appearance. Simultaneously, the planetary AIs carried out their instructions and most of the assembly’s had a fully armoured Guardian appear in their midst. The Sicceian communications were overridden, and the proceedings were being transmitted to all the planets and fleets.

  Tristan looked round the assembly hall a large area with a sweep of tiered seats facing a raised dais behind which were a wall of screens. He stood on the Dias with the screens behind him a sea of faces looking back at him. A cacophony of raised voices bounced off the walls. He took a deep breath, his heart almost bouncing off his ribs with every beat. Frowning, he raised his right hand. “Silence!” His senses were on edge among the clamour and he felt determined hostility from a group to his right. “I said SILENCE.”