by S. H. Jucha
“That’s your first assignment, Tatia,” Alex ordered. “Organize your ships, gather SADEs and sisters, and clear every digital structure and device that isn’t on Toral.”
“The domes and mining sites were opened to space. That was part of Artifice’s takeover,” Julien said.
Reiko didn’t say anything. It wasn’t necessary. Her face said it all.
“You’ll need the assistance of Toralian crews,” Julien said. “After clearing the systems’ memories, it would be an opportunity to seal the locations and restart the systems. Warn the crews. They’ll be encountering Toralian remains.”
“Julien will direct another group of Toralians, SADEs, sisters, and engineers to clear major manufacturing plants on Toral,” Alex said. “We’ll feed those plants pieces of destroyed bots to manufacture Omnian technology.”
“So you intend to give the Toralians and the sisters the GEN machines and everything else on the yellow list,” Tatia surmised.
“Yes,” Alex said simply.
“Then why are we meeting, Alex?” Tatia asked. “You could have just sent us orders about what you wanted to accomplish.”
“I could have,” Alex replied, “but that wouldn’t have communicated what’s most important.”
Renée took the opportunity to inject a thought. She said, “Tatia, during the initial conversation with Sargut and the sisters, it was apparent that Sargut hadn’t thought through what it would be like to work beside SADEs in a new society. He and the other Toralians wanted to elevate them … praise them for their efforts and sacrifice.”
“A reverse Haraken,” Tatia said in a rush.
“Exactly,” Alex added.
“So, throughout our efforts, no matter what we’re doing, we combine sisters and Toralians in work details,” Tatia said. “No superiority … just citizens working side by side.”
Alex gave Tatia a big smile.
“Society building basics, Omnian style,” Reiko echoed. She still had her reservations about Artifice, but she understood that the best defense against allowing a restored Artifice to run amok was to ensure the society that governed it would be fundamentally solid.
“Setting aside the issues on Toral, which are monumental,” Cordelia said, “we have two problem sources. They’re the remaining Toral shuttles. Both are on the planet. They’re auto-controlled, but we don’t know if it was by Artifice or a secondary source.”
“Is there a signal we can track?” Reiko asked. Then she immediately waved a hand in negation. “Sorry,” she said, and Cordelia smiled politely at her. Reiko had belatedly realized that if there was a signal, Cordelia would have mentioned it.
“Reiko, organize a team and figure out how to neutralize the shuttles,” Alex ordered. “If they can be salvaged, do that. If not, have the engineers strip them.”
“Sisters, SADEs, engineers, and Toralian pilots,” Reiko murmured, annotating her implant list.
“Cordelia, what’s the status of debris?” Alex asked.
“Lots of it, but nothing in a dangerous path for a while,” Cordelia replied.
“Is that my second task?” Tatia asked, and Alex nodded.
“Cordelia —” Alex managed to say before she interrupted him.
“If I can anticipate your needs, Alex,” Cordelia said, “the path to constructing the warships must begin with the station and its adjunct construction. While engineers and SADEs work on constructing the ship parts on Toral, I’ll put the freighter crews to work on the orbital platform.”
“Close,” Alex said. “Add the comm platforms to your list. I don’t need all of them up. Choose as many as it takes to get good planet and system coverage.”
“Understood, Alex,” Cordelia replied.
“When does all this start?” Renée asked.
“This group begins now,” Alex replied. “I’m assuming the charter will be concluded without too much difficulty. After it’s approved by all parties, we’ll have our strategic plan for the beginnings of a new society. Practice makes perfect.”
* * *
Sargut had exhibited a great deal of patience in the fighting’s aftermath, but Alex could sense his growing frustration during their calls. Miriamelle was translating, and Alex believed she was accurately relaying his words, which indicated his emotional state.
Sargut was in his commander’s quarters. It allowed him a private conversation with Alex via Miriamelle. While he talked, he relaxed by hanging from his rod.
“I’ve a pressing duty, as fleet commander, but it’s also personal,” Sargut admitted.
“I must visit Toral. The Urge is upon me,” Sargut said.
Alien biological cycles were nothing new to Alex, but they were always confusing, when first encountered.
“That won’t be satisfactory,” Sargut replied.
“There is a location near the planet’s midline that’s an honored location,” Sargut explained. “I must visit this place. It will quiet the urge.”
“The commanders and our crews must learn that I’ve claimed Toral,” Sargut said.
“It’s our custom,” Sargut replied. “When we’ve found a new world or retaken an old colony, it must be claimed.”
“Yes,” Sargut replied.
“You understand,” Sargut replied, pleased to have been able to explain the complicated need to Alex. It was easier than he thought it would be. Then again, according to Miriamelle, Alex exhibited an easy acceptance of the social mannerisms of new races.
“Soon,” Sargut replied.
“That’s the problem, Alex. Its location has been lost through time. We know it exists, but where is unknown,” Sargut explained. “However, I will know it, when I see it.”
The following morning, one traveler exited the Dark Whispers, and the other launched from the Freedom. The two travelers rendezvoused over Toral’s equatorial zone and pushed through the atmosphere.
Sargut, Suntred, and Taralum hovered around a portable holo-vid managed by Julien. It displayed the fighter’s telemetry, giving the Toralians a view of the planet’s surface.
Taralum whistled her appreciation of the Omnian ship’s amenities. She expected to feel atmospheric turbulence and had braced herself. Now, she was regarding crystal-clear imagery of the surface on a portable device. It made her realize that nominating Sargut, who had the most experience with the Omnians, was one of the smartest decisions of her life.
“This is not working,” Sargut said dejectedly after hours of searching. “I don’t recognize anything. We were told stories of the multitude of pilgrims who traveled to the mounds to honor the first sentients of our kind. It was said that they wore a wide path from the metropolis to the mounds. But the vegetation has overgrown everything.”
“Julien,” Taralum said. “There is supposed to be a large metropolis on the planet’s midline. We must find it and start there.”
Julien contacted Cordelia a
nd requested a database search. The Freedom had stored the accumulated flight telemetry of Tridents, as they overflew the planet.
“Would you expect the city that you’re searching for to be the largest one?” Julien asked.
The Toralians briefly discussed their knowledge of the old stories and decided that the greatest metropolis was more than likely the starting point they sought.
Julien sent coordinates to the two traveler pilots, who reversed course, and circled nearly halfway around the planet.
When the travelers hovered hundreds of meters above the largest metropolitan location, the Toralians were devastated by the view on the holo-vid. Small areas had been kept active by the bots to manufacture material for their maintenance and the infrastructure that Artifice required. The remainder of the once-magnificent city had succumbed to the advancement of vegetation and rot.
“It’s not worth inhabiting again,” Suntred said desultorily.
“We’re building a new society. We should have new structures that reflect the needs of both Toralians and sisters,” Sargut declared defiantly. “Below is only a landmark to guide us.”
The Toralians compared notes again and agreed on an approximate direction and distance.
Julien directed the pilots to fly slowly, following the Toralians’ guide, separated by a kilometer to observe more surface area.
Unfortunately, the lack of success was repeating itself. The Toralians couldn’t see any evidence of the pathway or the mound that they sought.
From high up, Julien’s holo-vid display gave no evidence of what Alex had found. However, he linked the holo-vid image to Alex’s traveler, which showed a treetop view. There was a definitive depression in the tree line that was twenty meters wide and stretched into the distance.
The new view excited Sargut, and he watched anxiously, as the travelers skimmed above the vegetation, following the slight dip in the tree line.
When a clearing in the trees emerged, Sargut cried excitedly, “That’s it.”
The grass-covered mound caused Sargut’s demeanor to change rapidly. The cool, calm persona of the grand commander was nowhere to be found. His dark eyes opened wide, and they blazed with fervor. Suntred and Taralum stroked Sargut’s arms and whistled soothing tones.
Alex received Julien’s message, but, more important, he received the SADE’s code. It was shorthand for the two of them and indicated the danger of a delay. Alex ordered his pilot to land and open the hatch on the fly.
Close to the ground, Z and Miranda in their Cedric and Frederica avatars jumped through the hatch. Their heavy bodies made impressions in the soft ground, and they hurried toward Julien’s traveler, which was landing nearby.
Dischnya poured out of Alex’s traveler and set up a defensive perimeter, their plasma rifles charged and ready.
Alex was stunned by Sargut’s appearance. He looked more like a deranged individual than a military commander.
The female Toralians held Sargut’s arms and guided him toward the grassy mound. They released him at the base, and he climbed slowly toward the top of the eight-meter-high knoll.
“Will Sargut be all right?” asked Alex, when Suntred and Taralum joined him.
“In time,” Suntred commented, eyeing Sargut’s tortured climb up the mound. The grand commander’s coordination was off.
“This is the urge, Alex,” Taralum explained. “It overcomes males when they arrive to claim new territory. For our ancestors, it meant a tribe locating to a new area of Toral. In this age, it afflicts males when worlds are claimed. This episode is especially strong for Sargut, because we’re reclaiming our home world at the honored site of our ancestors.”
“What is your role here?” Renée asked. “Sargut seems to have needed you.”
“A male is likely to hurt himself, when the Urge is strong,” Taralum replied. “Females can calm the male with touch and sound. It helps him focus on achieving release.”
“And as a senior commander and a fleet liaison, we’re here as witnesses,” Suntred added.
“So, do you testify to the governors of other Toralian colonies that Sargut was the one who the Urge overcame, and he ascended the mound?” Renée asked.
“No,” Suntred replied. She’d bared her sharp teeth in amusement at the question. The Omnians and the Toralians had risked everything to take the Talus system and defeat Artifice, but there was so much that they didn’t know about each other.
“The females witness to sing of the important event,” Suntred said. “There will be no need to inform other Toralians of what Sargut has done here.”
“Please explain,” Renée requested.
“The Urge and its release create physical changes in the male,” Taralum explained. She was embarrassed sharing this intimate knowledge with outsiders, but the Omnians deserved to understand. “Sargut’s facial ridges will increase in size and darken, and his scent will become dominant.”
That was enough explanation for Renée. She was loath to pursue the subject of Toralian male scents.
The group waited for more than an hour after Sargut had reached the mound’s top. He’d knelt there and remained unmoving the entire time.
The Dischnya spotted low-flying bots. It was thought they were originally surveyors for the Toralians. Now, they were scouts for the remainder of the bot army. The Dischnya downed most of them, but two retreated.
Alex acknowledged that they’d been spotted, and he expected larger bots to soon come their way. He sent a signal, and a third traveler was posted in overwatch, two kilometers along the ancient pathway toward the overgrown city.
Eventually, Sargut walked wearily down the mound to the group that waited for him.
“Is it permitted to sit here?” Alex asked, indicating the mound’s initial lift. He was relieved to see Sargut acting like himself again.
“It is,” Sargut replied, slumping to the grass on his rear. “It’s considered a place of contemplation. It’s most fitting that we rest here.”
Renée sat on the other side of Alex. Julien took the far side of Sargut for translations. Taralum and Suntred backed Sargut, while Z and Miranda patrolled the mound’s base.
“How do you feel, Grand Commander?” Renée asked.
“Tired but pleased to have the Urge satisfied,” Sargut replied. “It’s more taxing than I could have imagined.”
“Does this make you the ruler of Toral?” Alex asked.
“Under our custom, I would be the governor,” Sargut replied. “But by the terms of the new charter, a governor must be chosen. It’s likely the position will fall to me for the first term.”
Alex was loath to disturb Sargut until he’d recovered more. Besides, he was enjoying the peaceful scenery. Occasionally, the voices of unusual-sounding fauna echoed from the dense vegetation.
“Toralians can never thank you and the Omnians enough for what you’ve done for us,” Sargut said.
Alex expected to see and hear a measure of enthusiasm as Sargut delivered those words. Instead, the grand commander appeared saddened. Alex and Julien exchanged worried glances.
“Why do I think you’re about to deliver some difficult news?” Alex asked.
“There are truths that you must be told,” Sargut said. His eyes were apologetic, as he stared at Alex. “Artifice’s control has been removed, and the Nua’ll will clear the federacy’s systems.”
“Yes,” Alex agreed, his stomach tightening in anticipation.
“These actions will release the races from Artifice’s domination. Some will be complacent. Many will seek revenge on those races that brought Artifice’s ultimate codes to their systems,” Sargut said.
“Are the Toralians responsible for reducing races?” Alex asked.
“More than most,” Sargut admitted.
Alex glanced behind him, when he heard the strangled whistles of Taralum and Suntred. Their heads were hung, and they wouldn’t meet his eyes. Sargut had admitted a terrible secret of the Toralians.
“Do the sisters know that fleets will come this way, seeking revenge?” Julien asked Sargut.
“It was discussed,” Sargut replied. “I was requested to keep the information private.”
“There is one more truth to be told,” Sargut said.
Alex’s eyes narrowed at Sargut. Other individuals might have cringed at the sight of that expression, but the grand commander straightened his back, as if preparing to accept a tribunal’s sentence.
“There are aggressive races that served Artifice faithfully,” Sargut continued. “None that were here for the fight,” he hurriedly qualified. “These races will seek expansion.”
