“It was in this situation where Lekiso’s commanders came to test her in the field for her ambitions. Military records to which Lekiso is not privy advise that she should never be promoted to sufficient seniority to be able to affect policy. Nor should she ever be allowed to run her own unit or be in a position to enter into any other international organization where she could influence events or resources.”
Lekiso was wide-eyed by this point.
“The effective neutering of Lekiso’s career was ascribed to her ideology and beliefs, which drove her to be not only capable but also dangerously hopeful that she could make a difference. Lekiso had a paramount and idealistic drive that would not allow for the backroom bargains and other shady deals that took place to keep the organizations running in Africa.”
“In one specific quote, a commanding officer of Lekiso’s commented that if she were ever in a position of authority over the manner in which they ran the operations in foreign nations, she would most likely arrest everyone involved in any corrupt practice, even if the unethical practice was required to perform their work.”
“Your superiors would never have let you become that which you sought to be. Your hard work and discipline only proved further to them that you would be a force to be reckoned with, one they would not countenance in a position where you could make the changes you so desired. Lekiso, you were chosen because it is most likely that you would choose to assist my mission once you had the facts.”
“Are you saying I would have wasted away my time trying to earn my way up the chain of command and been blocked at every turn if I stayed?” Lekiso asked softly, her look deeply thoughtful.
“That would be the best-case scenario. They could also assign you duties in various remote outposts or assign you one that would ultimately get you killed if you proved to be more trouble than you were worth.”
“Thank you, SAI. I’ll need to think about that. But you are right. I’m with Connor. I really do want to help.” Lekiso didn’t look at the others when she spoke.
“Thank you, Lekiso. And now our last member.”
The display shifted Lekiso aside and brought up details of Ormond.
There were several images of him in military gear and other uniforms. The one that hurt him the most, though, was the picture of him happy and smiling with his wife and daughter.
When they noticed that, the others gave him surreptitious glances.
“Subject: Ormond Jaesce, born in Britain and entered the military service as soon as he got out of school. From there, Ormond went through various forms of Special Forces units until he became one of the best within the offerings of the United Kingdom. After that, Ormond was approached by Secret Service units, from whom he then accepted offers from to become a counterterrorism agent instead of just part of a unit within the military.”
Ormond couldn’t help but be impressed. Although he had guessed that the level of knowledge this SAI had was detailed, he had wondered how deeply it could get into the protected systems governed by the people he had worked for. It seemed that there was no limit to what the ship could access—and had accessed—to determine the selected people it had abducted.”
SAI continued the retelling, and Ormond was afraid he knew what was coming up next.
“Ormond met and then later married one Patricia Wendell. They had one daughter. Ormond continued his career in the Secret Service equivalent of the UK while their family life was ongoing. Then, when his daughter was seventeen, his wife and daughter were kidnapped by an organized criminal syndicate while they were on holiday.”
Yup, this was going exactly where he thought it would.
“Ormond lobbied for aid from his comrades and his employers but was refused. He then went about tracking down the location of his wife and daughter himself, succeeding in finding them. He was, however, unable to rescue them alive. The subsequent fallout from the incident saw Ormond take his vengeance out on the entire syndicate, and in the process, he learned that they had been working with the agency that had employed him, thereby affording them the protection that prevented him from getting his employer’s assistance.”
Ormond remembered; his extensive training brought it all back like it was yesterday, the horror and the pain.
It must have shown on his face because the others wouldn’t look at him for long. Lekiso tried to hide the sympathy, understanding what it would mean to him.
Marc was just confused and horrified, while Connor tried to be stoic about it. Only Meriam looked at him with a particular genuine camaraderie. She had probably guessed what had happened to him after that.
“Ormond then returned home to find that he had alienated himself in most of the previously respectful circles he had operated in. Some of the more senior members of his organization were, in fact, arrested and put into incarceration based on evidence he had found. His revenge was complete, but by that point, Ormond had given up on life as a whole.”
“He left everything behind and disappeared, becoming another one of many homeless people living on the streets in safe anonymity. What Ormond may not know is that at the time of my retrieval of him, the remaining agents of the syndicate were closing in, out for his blood.”
“Ah, well, go figure, mate. It was only a matter of time.” Ormond gave a weak smile up at the ceiling.
“My analysis indicated that you were essentially a good man with an honest approach to life, willing to keep to the crusade your patriotic side had started you on. My hope is that this drive and perseverance will find a new purpose in the current situation I have outlined.”
“Hope, mate?” Ormond had to ask. It sounded so strange coming from a machine, and he was still a bit bent out of shape by the reminder of his past.
“Yes, my programming defines variables, parameters, and analysis that lead me to possible conclusions. The outcome of a set of actions on my part is not predetermined. I can only reach a high level of probability. I will, therefore, expand my statement. It is my hope that the calculations and probabilities prove correct and, now that all of you have learned these things about each other and the situation you find yourselves in, that you will be willing to take on this task—and others that will be set before you in this galaxy.”
* *
Aside from some small talk the five of them had little to say about everything.
Between being in agreement that they needed to help, for their own personal reasons, and the fact that leaving events to run their own course would make them spectators and not participants it was time to prepare.
That time was in short supply with the Devourer and Domum forces preparing for a fight.
This was where SAI explained some more of the wonderful future based technology which had brought them here, upgraded their bodies and equipped them. The memory implants included knowledge as they looked for it, what they also included was how to use Gravitonics although it could not be spelled out as easily as facts about alien species.
Over the next hours, the five humans got individual attention from SAI in the special training room for Gravitonic manipulation.
Inside itself the starship held more volume than the outside, SAI explained that this was due to gravimetric manipulation where the mass of the inside could be compressed or uncompressed. In a practical sense, this meant that rooms could be made bigger or smaller within itself.
The training room expanded itself before the humans got to it so that once they entered it became an open circle with a high ceiling and divided into five wedges.
Each of them was assigned a training space and the walls blanked to keep their activity hidden from one another. This was because distractions would be a problem and to get the necessary feeling for Gravitonics use they would each need to find their own way.
Marc had teleported through the door because of his drive for answers, it had overcome his rational thought and pushed him to use a tool that only his subconscious mind recognized.
This was the reason the training was individual, w
here the implanted memories and knowledge were not facts but feelings tailored to the psyche of each individual. For Meriam to teleport was a wholly different effort on her part than it was for Lekiso and again for Connor although all of them caught onto that basic application of Gravitonics quickly.
That was because Marc had shown them that it could be done and all they needed was some prompting and soul searching to find their individual understanding of what teleportation meant and why.
To learn anything else, any other practical application of Gravitonics, became an exercise in individuality that went beyond psyche and into the millions of complex variables that made up a mind.
SAI tried to explain to them that using a power like Gravitonics was a personal and individual understanding, as well as a desire to use something which they did not yet understand.
The philosophy was by necessity not discussed at length, they were short on time, but the feelings and understanding came with the training.
They each went through tailored experiences, setups designed so uniquely to their personalities that for someone else to have viewed them would have felt like a violation. The five of them were not yet at a stage where they could share themselves that openly and SAI understood that.
So while the humans were given what training could be done in the limited time, and their proficiency with Gravitonics increased a hundredfold, what they would eventually be able to do would be orders of magnitude more developed.
Automated log update.
Analysis of biological indicators from the subjects shows a high probability of acceptance for the information provided. Mission parameters are still in accordance with current actions as per the accelerated protocols.
Gravitonics training suggests proficiency well within the estimated requirements for the current objectives of this point in the timeline.
Probabilities indicate a high degree for continued cooperation from all subjects except for Marc Umber, who may take further reinforcement.
This is within expected analysis.
Monitoring of the situation on the Enone Hub shows that the refugees’ evacuation is now encountering presupposed complexities in execution.
The interference of the subjects into the objective time stream is required. Data on the relevance of this decision stored in file 396-K for future review.
Subjects are now moving into target areas for direct influence on the existing timeline.
So far as possible, this system will include subjects continued acceleration into direct action on the objective timeline and the safeguarding of the Devourer species within the next eighteen human standard hours before the next expected milestone event occurs.
Interaction and monitoring continue.
* *
Gravitons brought new industrial applications, the focus fields could collapse alloys into ultra-dense material. The mass remained the same, so weight was still a factor, better battle suit armor for military uses was out of the question without before unthought-of enhancements.
Starships could add the materials to their designs and construction, the only problem being inertia from the extra weight and the required thrust to move something that heavy even in the frictionless environment.
A graviton based star drive overcame these limitations with no problems.
It was an application that proved expensive based on the limits of Graviton capturing. Priority went into gathering more Neutron stars for the encapsulated gravity fields required. Soon the nearest supply was used up, and humanity had to travel further out to find viable stars.
This expansion was more extensive than original colonization and led Humans to contact with even more species, those with a lower technological level and some with other explored avenues. Human’s powerful energy production and their impressive defense fleets provided good reasons for mistrust.
Especially since Humans didn’t want to share their Gravitons, now one of the most valuable particles in the galaxy.
It was easy enough to share the principles of capturing a Graviton and how to work with them. Potentially valuable allies partnered with Humans on the sharing of technology in these respects. Even those species fell behind in applying the theory into practice and then implementing that practice.
The slow work was just starting to show results for other aliens when the refugees from the Tempest arrived and disrupted everything.
Humans had evolved their use of Gravitons to such a degree that multiple applications were put forward in military requirements. The first successful breakthrough came with Quantum Entanglement.
Using the power of Gravitonics in an ultra-small field around a captured Quantum mass the identification of entangled Quantum particles could be found and moved. Quantum entanglement is the link of one particle to another no matter the distance in space.
The proven theory was that a particle could connect to its pair across the entire Milky Way galaxy.
What to do with such a tiny tunnel was the next brainchild. One of the pairs of particles was embedded in a bio-neural device attached to the base of the human spine. The other particle was placed inside a Graviton generator.
Even the smallest of wave energy passing through the entangled pair of particles was an immense source of energy. By adopting the waves through the microscopic superconductors, electrons moved, and power was generated for the Human implants, wearable computing, and more sophisticated equipment.
Ultra-dense materials became suddenly lighter and had practical applications.
Quantum entangled particles, however, were even rarer than Gravitons, so the idea of an army of super soldiers was not going to be practical. So elite Special Forces units were recruited and given the technology.
Although practical, the reliance on their ingrained training from boot camp to final profile meant that these soldiers did not adjust well to the possibilities. Ground troops fought on the ground, naval forces added to their space vessels.
Experimentation with other more intuitive and insightful people showed more promise, they could be adaptable to changing circumstances and apply Gravitonics in many more alternatives. The original idea to allow the bio-neural system to manipulate the Gravitonic fields through the human sensations was expanded to the brain stem.
Quickly mankind stopped the Tempest in their tracks and was able to start defending critical star systems.
But still, there were only so many people who could take the Gravitonics, and even those who could pass the tests and effects couldn’t get enough Gravitons to make enough difference to the entire Milky Way.
The refugees from the Galactic Citizenship had come to a sanctuary that started to crumble around the Tempest onslaught.
**
Refugees of all sorts of species made a solid mass of bodies at the park entranceway, streaming in from every nook and cranny.
In the past few hours, the word had spread that the Enone Hub was being evacuated. Every refugee who could be was trying for space to get out of the park, into the hub, and, from there, as far away as possible.
It had helped the panic that the refugees had learned that the Devourer was in the park.
The source was unknown, but Commander Obragon Vax expected to find it was the Lopokin family. Having lost several more of their gang inside the mining tunnels, they’d probably let the word out to be an annoyance to the Domums, at the very least.
The Domums had set up a command post off to the side of one of the raised walkways next to the entrance to the park. From that vantage point, he could look down on the sea of aliens jostling each other for a way out.
They were just the end of a very long queue that lined the tunnel between the park planetoid and the Enone Hub.
From there, it extended to the elevator shafts, which were in constant motion ferrying refugees from several levels to the magnetic carriage platform.
There were still thousands of refugees on the hub and the park combined. The carriage network was now almost wholly devoted to ferrying
refugees anywhere there was space or where they could be packed in.
The only reason the entire system wasn’t dedicated as yet was that the carriages from the far side of the Puzzle Box were still on their way.
But in another half hour, every possible means of transportation would be in use for the escape.
Commander Obragon Vax was sure it would be enough, though.
Already, reports from his officers on the outer edge of the refugee mass in the park were reporting raids by Devourer forms. Fast moving and well camouflaged, these forms would suddenly appear, grab a few refugees at a time, and then disappear with them, swelling the Devourer numbers every minute that the refugees were vulnerable.
He just didn’t have enough men.
Between managing the flow of refugees and controlling the crowds all trying to get away as quickly as possible, he had precious few officers to run the perimeter inside the park.
So, when a Devourer form did make an appearance, it was almost certainly away from the nearest security forces—splendid tactics and infuriating in the current circumstances.
Protocol was clear, and he was pushing the limits already. If he couldn’t handle the situation soon, then he would have to blow up the park anyway. Killing thousands of innocent refugees in the process.
Protocol also dictated an aggressive enough response that the entire Enone Hub should be destroyed depending on how bad it got. That would kill more than thousands of refugees, something he would do and would have to live with.
I hope it does not come to that.
If the Devourer front line got closer to the park entranceway, they were finished. The chances of contamination with the rest of the Puzzle Box increased exponentially at that point.
He was being left with precious little choice. He would have to decide soon.
It was then that he noticed the two humans coming up the ramp towards his command post—which was strange since the last report from four hours ago had them entering their ship but he hadn’t been alerted that they had left it again.
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