Helium 3: Death from the Past (Helium-3 Book 2)

by Brandon Q. Morris

  “Stop it. That’s rude,” Norok said.

  Lobozinu laughed. “Green, my dear. That was a very clever question.” She spread her wings, and a basket woven from native willow appeared.

  “Is that—”

  “Yes, Kimi, this is homemade.”

  Kimi laughed. “I mean the contents.”

  “I’ve been working hard to keep them nice and warm.”

  Lobozinu came up to her. Standing in front of her, she opened the basket and held it out. There were three of the most beautiful objects that she could imagine in the universe. Her eggs!

  “Thank you.”

  She hugged the old woman. As she did so, a feather fell out of her back. Lobozinu was real. Like any real living thing, she was marked by decay, and Kimi was glad for it.

  Ascent

  Mart got straight to the point. “I’m really sorry, especially after all the sacrifices you made when you got here, but the solar system will be history in a few weeks.”

  It was useless to gloss over the situation. The Iks and the Mendraki were doomed to die.

  Until recently, and for many millennia, Mart had not used the field sphere ship. The Sol system no longer offered any secrets for him, and he still knew that he was strictly forbidden to leave it. He could no longer have said exactly who had issued this prohibition, and what the exact reason had been, but he knew that it would be dangerous to disobey it. Only since the arrival of the Iks and Mendraki had he had to resort to the old spaceship again. Fortunately, it still functioned to some extent, even if it showed slight signs of failure after so long.

  As inaccurate and incomplete as his memories might be after more than 300,000 years, Mart knew one thing with deadly certainty: the appearance of the scout ship at the solar system’s edge meant the death of all living beings within it. Even as he prepared his egomatrix to transfer back into a clone body as a physical incarnation, more memory stores had been exposed that had not been accessible to him before.

  The Artificials, the war between them and the humans, the solar torpedo—as well as the threat to wipe out all life in the Sol system, should unauthorized hyperphysical processes take place there—all were suddenly clear before his eyes again. The wormhole engines of the Mendraki must have triggered an alarm.

  It had also surprised him that there seemed to be a virtual incarnation aboard the spaceship in the ship’s systems that he had not known about. Perhaps he had just forgotten that it existed, like so many other things he had forgotten.

  She called herself Alexa and had started the ship without his intervention while he was still waiting for his new clone body to come out of the resuscitation bath. Mart had no idea why this Alexa had done this—and even who she was—but he was sure she had to obey his orders. After all, this had been his ship for more than 300,000 years!

  “Alexa, open the door,” he said, and led the two Iks through a spontaneous airlock, such as could be formed almost anywhere in the semi-material wall. Only when they also reached the two Mendraki did he tell the four of them about the solar torpedo that was on its way here.

  Their reaction surprised Mart. Instead of complaining, panicking, or resenting fate, the four seemed convinced that they could still avert disaster. It caused Mart almost physical pain to have to disappoint them. The Iks and the Mendraki had a chance of survival only if they somehow managed to leave the Sol system with the wormhole ships of the Mendraki or the generation ship of the Iks before the solar torpedo would create a black hole in the heart of Sol.

  In the middle of the discussion, Mart felt his clone body suddenly begin to fail.

  It was inexplicable! It didn’t disintegrate, turn into primordial slime or die of organ failure. It simply dissolved!

  Mart knew immediately that only the Artificials, or their newly acquired ability of matter manipulation, could be behind this. They obviously wanted to prevent him from helping save the Iks and the Mendraki from destruction, or maybe even to use their help to leave the Sol system himself.

  Mart wanted to shout something to the four friends, but it was too late. He could still feel his egomatrix leaving the clone body and somehow being transferred back into the quantum computer.

  He shuddered under the many memories that were suddenly accessible again and rushing at him: humankind, the Artificials, the war, the trillions of dead, and the banishment of the last survivors here to Earth.

  The past stood before him in terrible clarity.

  And now, the children of humanity would commit the next genocide, to the last Iks and last Mendrak. Mart shuddered in the face of his guilt. He had created the first Artificial, he had played God, and this sacrilege had brought unspeakable suffering to the Milky Way’s countless biological creatures. He was to blame for the extinction of humankind. It was also no comfort for him that the Artificials had distinguished themselves in the meantime as saviors of the galaxy. There was nothing that could excuse their countless victims, victims for whom he, under whatever name, Martin Jordan, Martain Joordan, Marty Joorthan, or now Mart, was ultimately responsible.

  He saw only one way out—the ascent to a plane of existence which was neither accessible for the other human egomatrices in the hyperfields of the subspace matrices of the quantum computer, nor even for the Artificials spiritualized in dark energy. A plane of existence that was only accessible for him, the last human. A plane of existence of which he could not even be sure whether it ever existed.

  Mart gave the order to self-extinguish.

  13th of Nahn, 301

  “But don’t fly too far.”

  “Yes, Mama.”

  “Remember, the Artificials have—”

  “—released only the eastern part of the island. I know.”

  Norok, their son, took off. His friends were probably already waiting for him. The Artificials had invited more and more Iks and Mendraki to their planet. Gradually the ecosystem changed, as the newcomers introduced their own microorganisms, which multiplied and evolved much faster than the Artificials could control.

  They’d said they wanted to study life and love. Kimi could not understand this plan, although Alexa, who did not leave her column, kept trying to explain it to her. Surely it was impossible to study something that could only be experienced through trial and error? Humans must have forgotten something very essential in the construction of the Artificials.

  How could one be so clever and so stupid at the same time?

  Author's Note by Brandon Q. Morris

  Dear Readers,

  We’ve finally managed to continue the story of the Iks and the Mendraki and to tell a possible future of humankind. Fabulating together again was lots of fun for us. We created this installment in a time characterized by ‘social distancing.’ Through the novel, which was written in parallel in Cyprus and southern Germany, we were able to reduce the distance somewhat, and we escaped the crisis briefly by traveling into the future. I hope you succeeded in doing the same with this book. As always, I would, of course, be interested in your opinion. What did you like? What would you rather have seen resolved differently?

  It would be great if you could also formulate a review if you like it, at:

  hard-sf.com/links/1896811

  It only takes a minute, but it helps us tremendously. And if you haven’t already: Why not sign up for my newsletter at

  hard-sf.com/subscribe

  Best regards from my night desk

  Yours, Brandon Q. Morris

  Author's Note by Cliff Allister

  Dear Readers,

  The Iks and the Mendraki, Earth and the native solar system, have had to survive a serious crisis in this history! We have also outlasted a heavy crisis in the time in which this novel was written—at least we may hope (for the moment!) to have survived it smoothly.

  Here in Cyprus, as in Germany, the COVID crisis has been handled quite well by those responsible, and I sincerely hope that you and your loved ones are among those who have not been harmed by the virus.

  Brandon Q
. Morris and I have told the story from different temporal points of view this time, and of course, we hope you enjoyed this way of telling the story as much as you enjoyed the point of view of the different species in the first volume. If this is the case, we would be delighted to receive a favorable review on Amazon, as always!

  And of course, I would be very personally pleased if you would sign up for my newsletter at cliff.allister@gmx.de!

  With best regards

  Cliff Allister

  Tala, Cyprus, July 2021

  Also by Brandon Q. Morris

  The Beacon

  Peter Kraemer, a physics teacher with a passion for astronomy, makes a discovery that he himself can hardly believe: Stars disappear from one day to the next, with nothing left of them. The researchers he contacts provide reassuring and logical explanations for every single case. But when Peter determines that the mysterious process is approaching our home system, he becomes more and more anxious. He alone perceives the looming catastrophe. When he believes he has found a way to avert the impending disaster, he choses to pull out all the stops, even if it costs his job, his marriage, his friends, and his life.

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  The Triton Disaster

  Nick Abrahams holds the official world record for the number of space launches, but he’s bored stiff with his job hosting space tours. Only when his wife leaves him does he try to change his life.

  He accepts a tempting offer from a Russian billionaire. In exchange for making a simple repair on Neptune’s moon Triton, he will return to Earth a multi-millionaire, enabling him to achieve his ‘impossible dream’ of buying his own California vineyard.

  The fact that Nick must travel alone during the four-year roundtrip doesn’t bother him at all, as he doesn’t particularly like people anyway. Once en route he learns his new boss left out some critical details in his job description—details that could cost him his life, and humankind its existence…

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  The Dark Spring

  When a space probe returns from the dead, you better not expect good news.

  In 2014, the ESA spacecraft Rosetta lands a small probe named Philae on 67P, a Jupiter-family comet. The lander goes radio silent two years later. Suddenly, in 2026, scientists receive new transmissions from the comet. Motivated by findings that are initially sensational but soon turn frightening, NASA dispatches a crewed spacecraft to the comet. But as the ship approaches the mysterious celestial body, the connection to the astronauts soon breaks. Now it seems nothing can be done anymore to stop the looming dark danger that threatens Earth...

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  The Death of the Universe

  For many billions of years, humans spread throughout the entire Milky Way. They are able to live all their dreams, but to their great disappointment, no other intelligent species has ever been encountered. Now, humanity itself is on the brink of extinction.

  They have only one hope: The ‘Rescue Project’ was designed to feed the black hole in the center of the galaxy until it becomes a quasar, delivering much-needed energy to humankind during its last breaths. But then something happens that no one ever expected—and humanity is forced to look at itself and its existence in an entirely new way.

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  The Enceladus Mission (Ice Moon 1)

  In the year 2031, a robot probe detects traces of biological activity on Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons. This sensational discovery shows that there is indeed evidence of extraterrestrial life. Fifteen years later, a hurriedly built spacecraft sets out on the long journey to the ringed planet and its moon.

  The international crew is not just facing a difficult twenty-seven months: if the spacecraft manages to make it to Enceladus without incident it must use a drillship to penetrate the kilometer-thick sheet of ice that entombs the moon. If life does indeed exist on Enceladus, it could only be at the bottom of the salty, ice covered ocean, which formed billions of years ago.

  However, shortly after takeoff disaster strikes the mission, and the chances of the crew making it to Enceladus, let alone back home, look grim.

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  Ice Moon – The Boxset

  All four bestselling books of the Ice Moon series are now offered as a set, available only in e-book format.

  The Enceladus Mission: Is there really life on Saturn's moon Enceladus? ILSE, the International Life Search Expedition, makes its way to the icy world where an underground ocean is suspected to be home to primitive life forms.

  The Titan Probe: An old robotic NASA probe mysteriously awakens on the methane moon of Titan. The ILSE crew tries to solve the riddle—and discovers a dangerous secret.

  The Io Encounter: Finally bound for Earth, ILSE makes it as far as Jupiter when the crew receives a startling message. The volcanic moon Io may harbor a looming threat that could wipe out Earth as we know it.

  Return to Enceladus: The crew gets an offer to go back to Enceladus. Their mission—to recover the body of Dr. Marchenko, left for dead on the original expedition. Not everyone is working toward the same goal.

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  Proxima Rising

  Late in the 21st century, Earth receives what looks like an urgent plea for help from planet Proxima Centauri b in the closest star system to the Sun. Astrophysicists suspect a massive solar flare is about to destroy this heretofore-unknown civilization. Earth’s space programs are unequipped to help, but an unscrupulous Russian billionaire launches a secret and highly-specialized spaceship to Proxima b, over four light-years away. The unusual crew faces a Herculean task—should they survive the journey. No one knows what to expect from this alien planet.

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  The Hole

  A mysterious object threatens to destroy our solar system. The survival of humankind is at risk, but nobody takes the warning of young astrophysicist Maribel Pedreira seriously. At the same time, an exiled crew of outcasts mines for rare minerals on a lone asteroid.

  When other scientists finally acknowledge Pedreira’s alarming discovery, it becomes clear that these outcasts are the only ones who may be able to save our world, knowing that The Hole hurtles inexorably toward the sun.

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  Mars Nation 1

  NASA finally made it. The very first human has just set foot on the surface of our neighbor planet. This is the start of a long research expedition that sent four scientists into space.

  But the four astronauts of the NASA crew are not the only ones with this destination. The privately financed ‘Mars for Everyone’ initiative has also targeted the Red Planet. Twenty men and women have been selected to live there and establish the first extraterrestrial settlement.

  Challenges arise even before they reach Mars orbit. The MfE spaceship Santa Maria is damaged along the way. Only the four NASA astronauts can intervene and try to save their lives.

  No one anticipates the impending catastrophe that threatens their very existence—not to speak of the daily hurdles that an extended stay on an alien planet sets before them. On Mars, a struggle begins for limited resources, human cooperation, and just plain survival.

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  Impact: Titan

  How to avoid killing Earth if you don't even know who sent the killer

  250 years ago, humanity nearly destroyed itself in the Great War. Shortly before, a spaceship full of researchers and astronauts had found a new home on Saturn's moon, Titan, and survived by having their descendants genetically adapted to the hostile environment.

  The Titanians, as they call themselves, are proud of their cooperative and peaceful society, while unbeknownst to them, humanity is slowly recovering back on Earth. When a 20-mile-wide chunk of rock escapes the asteroid belt and appears to be on a collision course with Earth, the Titanians fear it must look as if they launched
the deadly bombardment. Can they prevent the impact and thus avoid an otherwise inevitable war with the Earthlings?

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  Metric to English Conversions

  Author’s note: It is assumed that by the time the events of this novel take place, the United States will have joined the rest of the world and will be using the International System of Units, the modern form of the metric system.

  Length:

  centimeter = 0.39 inches

  meter = 1.09 yards, or 3.28 feet

  kilometer = 1093.61 yards, or 0.62 miles

  Area:

  square centimeter = 0.16 square inches

  square meter = 1.20 square yards

  square kilometer = 0.39 square miles

  Weight:

  gram = 0.04 ounces

  kilogram = 35.27 ounces, or 2.20 pounds

  Volume:

  liter = 1.06 quarts, or 0.26 gallons

  cubic meter = 35.31 cubic feet, or 1.31 cubic yards

  Temperature:

  To convert Celsius to Fahrenheit, multiply by 1.8 and then add 32

  Excerpt: The Wall – Eternal Day

  January 1, 2035 – Moon Base Unity