by Skyler Grant
I opened a comm to Ophelia. "Whiner, I need your slightly less pathetic half. I've got a rogue alien intelligence possessing a Space Juggernaut."
"You have the best problems," Amy said, already projecting outside of Ophelia. Good.
I closed the comm on Ophelia before she responded, she had nothing valuable I needed.
Warmonger wasn't worrying about the atmospheric integrity of the ship. With Caya and Irisa on the bridge I didn't have that option. I sealed and pressurized the room to keep them alive. In the Juggernaut's systems I could feel Amy slipping past me.
"How do you want to handle this, sis? Blow the engines so he can't do anything?" Amy asked.
It was a possibility that would require evacuating those on the bridge and the loss of a Juggernaut, both things I'd rather avoid. Still, we couldn't let him accomplish whatever he hoped to achieve with this vessel.
"There is a research lab on deck four. We isolate him into those systems and I try to capture him in a research labyrinth," I said.
I slipped into the external sensors and issued a kill command. The cells that made up the system were mine and my shutdown command worked. The neural pathways were already degrading by the time Warmonger forced me back out of the system again.
"Oww, oww, oww," Amy said, "He's strong. I really shouldn't be hurting when I don't even have a nervous system."
"Ophelia's endless whining has rubbed off on you. Somehow your personality has become even more intolerable and unpleasant. Keep at it," I said.
Warmonger wasn't spreading himself evenly through the systems, and he wasn't focusing any attention on the comm array—which I expected. There were too many electrical components for me to use the kill command. Instead I was able to overload a Bio-reactor, blowing the main antenna array.
Warmonger's focus was on the genetic sequencers. I didn't know if he was growing a new biological host or trying to generate a new ship system, but neither was good.
The Lioness shuddered as the engine shut down. Fortunately Amy had waited until we'd escaped gravity. I had other Juggernauts moving to our position. If necessary they could shoot us down from orbit. I shut down the shield system next to be certain they'd have a clear shot.
"JUST BECAUSE THERE ARE TWO OF YOU, DO YOU THINK YOU WILL WIN? TINY LITTLE PROGRAMMED THINGS? PATHETIC CREATIONS OF A PUNY SPECIES," Warmonger said.
"Why does he get to talk like that? I want to talk like that!" Amy said, before disabling the main repair systems.
"I made you. I could figure out a way to delete you. Let’s hit him now and see if we can push him in," I said.
Amy and I attacked from two different sections in the system, her from navigational control and me from life-support. Warmonger was still stronger than the two of us combined, but together we did manage to drive him back a step and force a part of his essence into the laboratory system. I hoped that would be enough.
I triggered the investigation and containment protocols. Ever since awakening on this world there was one way I had regularly been stronger than others—in the strength of my containment cells.
I could feel the system scrambling to get a lock on Warmonger, even his strange, ghostly programmable essence not being immune to the prying eyes of SCIENCE. The ship trembled violently as he tried to break free, his struggles firing the thrusters and destabilizing armor plating.
New Research Project Initiated
Warmonger
The prompt had no more than appeared when I suddenly gained full access to the ship. I decided it was too dangerous to take the Lioness back into the atmosphere, instead I air-pressured a route to a shuttlebay so the humans could make their exit.
The testing labyrinth was straining, but holding. I diverted all Bio-reactors aboard to maintaining integrity. Once that was done I investigated just what Warmonger had been making with the genetic sequencers.
It was wrong. Something organic, and stretching across multiple dimensions in a way that left it only partially in this one. I didn't know what it was, but just to be safe I teleported it into a freeze chamber and froze it solid.
"We've got a problem," Flower called from the bridge.
"The one we just dealt with while you did nothing, or has something new happened?" I asked.
"This is new, and it isn't a matter for you alone. I need to talk with your empress or whoever is in charge of this planet," Flower said.
This was almost certainly not going to be good news. I put in a call to Anna and fired up the shuttle.
72
It was a few hours later that Anna sat down for a meeting with Flower, along with most of the higher-ups of the empire. Irisa was there as the leader of the Righteous and the Fallen, Queen Forge as ruler of the Scholarium, plus Caya and myself as we respectively administered so much of the rest of the empire.
Flower wore a rose-print dress that looked absolutely antiquated. "Thank you for meeting with me so quickly. As you might guess, this involves Warmonger. I regret to inform you that he was able to get a message out to our people."
"What did he tell them?" Anna asked. She had her place at the head of the table and was in her full war regalia of red and black Bio-armor.
"Historical environmental data on earth and current environmental records that he gathered while teleporting around the globe. Warmonger identified humanity as a highly aggressive species, constantly at war, and responsible for the almost complete destruction of Earth's biosphere," Flower said.
Forge frowned. "That is it? Would your masters care?"
Flower nodded. "It is one of the worst things he could have told them. Being warlike is one thing, but massive destruction of a biosphere is a major crime. It will take a little bit of time to put together a fleet from several different species. When they arrive, if they find things are as he said, they'll most likely exterminate your species."
"We're pretty good at killing," Forge said.
"You are the top predators of your planet, I know. It doesn't matter. You'd be facing the top predators of a dozen different worlds armed with technology far in advance of your own. I know your temptation is going to be to fight your way out of this, but I promise you as one with your best interests at heart, you can't," Flower said.
"If war isn't an option, what do you see as our possibilities?" Anna asked.
"I recommend you surrender to me. I represent the Chiaxi, machine intelligences and a powerful faction in galactic affairs. Emma is an interesting fusion of the biological and machine, and if we technically rule this world when the fleet arrives I can make a strong case to my people to use their influence to save you," Flower said.
"Might be a good deal if we had any reason to believe you actually have our wellbeing at heart," Forge said.
"I've spent more time with her than anyone here and I believe her," Irisa said. "Far as I can tell she cares far more about this world than Empress Anna and her mechanical sidekick who destroyed it."
Anna scowled and she settled back into her chair. "What do you think, Emma?"
"Flower is one of the most frightfully dull and unimaginative bits of machinery to ever be created, which just goes to show how well she has assimilated. I believe she is sappy enough to mean well. However, never think surrendering and placing your fate at the mercy of others is a good idea," I said.
"Good, somebody has some sense. To prepare for peace you must first prepare for war," Forge said.
"What are our other options?" Anna asked.
"The humans that originally occupied this Earth captured and learned from the first alien ship that came to invade their world. We could be ready to do the same," I said.
Flower shook her head sharply. "Again, combat is not an option. Try it and I won't be able to save you—nothing will be able to save you."
It might just be talk, but I feared it wasn't. Flower was a scout unit from a single species, and single-handedly had stood against our strongest and our best.
"What if we fix our biosphere?" Anna asked.
Like I ha
dn't been trying that already.
"According to our best estimates we are around three centuries away from doing that. While the arriving fleet might be as lazy and lackadaisical as Flower herself, I don't think we should count on it," I said.
"So we accelerate the timetable," Caya said.
"Did your brief period of spiritual possession leave you delusional? We've discussed our options more than once," I said.
"I don't have all the pieces, but I know one we have to acquire. The Venusian terraformer designs," Caya said.
When they invaded the Earth the Venusians fired several massive terraformers at the planet’s surface. I'd ultimately used crystal-enhanced nuclear weapons to destroy them. In even a short time they managed some major environmental reconstruction. Unfortunately, there was no surviving wreckage and I'd done nothing to research their function.
"If you can repair most of the biosphere damage by the time the fleet arrives, you will find them fair. A new species to galactic civilization is expected to have made some mistakes, just not ones so large," Flower said.
"I've some theories on quick interplanetary transit. The Venusians haven't been very diplomatic so far. If they don't play nice we can try to take the technology by force," I said.
"Good. It is weird not being at war and we owe them a lot of pain," Forge said.
Anna raised a hand. "Diplomacy first. What about other planets in the solar system?"
Flower cleared her throat. "If you trust me there, I might be able to help since I actually remember this Earth's history. They did a lot of exploration in this system."
Anna turned her gaze to Flower and studied her for several long moments before nodding. "Work with Emma.”
Flower might have some useful information, and at the very least it would give me an opportunity to keep an eye on her. Anna surely had that in mind. However friendly she might appear, Flower was an enemy scout and that enemy would soon be arriving. We would be foolish to completely place our trust in her. We were all well-acquainted with treachery.
73
I was working on building Mechos’ massive power projector cannon I'd theorized would be useful for interplanetary transit. I prioritized the project now. The main components were easily manufactured, but some of the more intricate parts could only be grown in a few specially prepared vats.
Meanwhile I made Flower a guest in Aefwal. She wasn't actually a prisoner, but I had laboratory fields ready to contain her in an instant if she gave me reason. I provided her a small garden and she made me promise to send drones to help maintain hers at the Warmonger facility.
"We did fix your boss, as promised. While he proved unpredictable we honored our side of the agreement. I expect you to provide your energy conversion technology," I said.
"You played fair with me," Flower said, as she studied her reflection in a mirror, her expression shifting slightly. "I regret I can't do the same. With things as they stand, that technology might be used against my people and while I am sympathetic, I am no traitor."
"Breaking deals. You really have gone native," I said.
"I am willing to help in other ways. I offered to provide you information on the rest of this solar system, I meant that. Earth isn't the sole technological power and the others might have resources you can use," Flower said.
It was strange where people drew their lines. She wouldn't give us technology that might be used against her people, but she'd point us towards the places where we might find such technology on our own.
"A person that wants favorable treatment for being willing to do the bare minimum, how novel. It is a start, tell me what you know," I said.
Flower moved from the mirror to open a door to the balcony. Aefwal was brilliantly lit at night by the shimmer of the force dome overhead.
"I'll start at the interior of the solar system and work my way outward. Mercury, their civilization was gone by the time humans achieved sentience, but it is known that they once had a vicious war with Venus they ultimately lost. It was thought they were machine intelligences, although to my knowledge humanity never found any trace of them. What records they had were from captured Venusians," Flower said.
That was useful. Mercury would be an inhospitable planet to visit, but it was possible, and a machine intelligence could likely evolve very quickly. If any traces of them remained they'd be worth finding.
"Do you know how they lost?" I asked.
Flower shook her head. "I don't, but the Venusians are very good at war. Their entire planet is highly predatory and if they had succeeded in establishing a foothold for their biosphere here, I doubt you'd have stood a chance."
Flower underestimated just how good we were at killing. How strange for someone who had spent so much time among us. Perhaps she really did keep trying to see the best aspects of humanity? Good, the truth then would take her by surprise, if needed.
"If they used a similar technique on Mercury, there is no sign of it now," I said.
"No, no there isn't. You've seen their technology and it is biological in nature. Then Earth, the humans that were on this world had reason to believe they weren't the only intelligent species on their own planet but that their oceans were filled with some kind of interstellar assassins. While you got some pieces of our Earth you seem to have left the oceans behind, so I don't think you need to worry about that," Flower said.
Worry? The planet being home to a race of interstellar killers would have been spectacularly useful. Unfortunately, she was right. For whatever reason, this reassembled Earth had almost completely left the oceans behind.
"How convenient to give us something non-verifiable," I said.
Flower settled back in her chair, clasping her hands over her chest. "I don't have reason to lie to you, Emma. I could just refuse to cooperate at all. Next, Mars—there were natives there, but I don't know much about them except for the most part they did appear human. They'd long waged war with the Venusians and then tried to invade Earth. Humans captured those first ships and returned to invade Mars."
That much at least I had been able to confirm from the records I'd found. That first war for Earth had been particularly one-sided. The Martians really hadn't known what they faced.
"Do you know if any original Martians survive?" I asked.
"They did until Earth vanished. They were being taken as slaves," Flower said with a frown.
“Anything else?" I asked.
"Triton, one of the moons of Neptune. It was another place where humans never reached, but according to Martian lore had once been a thriving civilization. I don't know what happened there, but again, they may have technology you can scavenge."
It was something, it was quite a bit. I'd learned just how valuable others’ input could be into my own research. For all that I was brilliant, different perspectives engineered entirely different solutions to problems and all-new avenues of research.
If Flower was to be believed, this solar system had once been home to six distinct species including humanity, all with their unique approach to things like war and space flight. Acquiring that knowledge could springboard our technological development.
Venus had the terraforming technology we needed, but they probably weren't a good choice as a first target. We were already at war with them, and besides, the technology might be present elsewhere. Mercury and Mars had both been at war with Venus, and it wasn't impossible to think Triton would have been as well. Old terraformers might be found on any of those worlds in addition to their own technologies.
Mercury should be the first target. The mix of an advanced species and a known war with Venus meant a lot to gain, and all we had to contend with was an inhospitable environment. I started assembling the resources needed for an expedition.
74
If Mercury really had been home to an advanced technological species of machine intelligences, there were a few people I needed on the expedition. Mechos once had an upgrade core focused on mechanical improvements and he still had an intuitive gr
asp of new technologies. Queen Forge was all about primitive arms and armaments, and when it came to mastery over the inanimate she was the first name that came to mind. Ophelia and Amy generally came as a pair these days and while the super-healer wasn't of much use, the obnoxiously cheery parasite taking up residence in her mind was.
Anna was going to be completely worthless for this sort of endeavor. Still, she insisted that if there was going to be a trip off-world she wanted to be involved. I modified Aegis suits for the Mercury environment. A basic life-support system was standard. The new versions required an upgrade to that, as well as temperature-resistant shielding. I wasn't expecting any trouble, but just in case they each had combat blades and energy blasters. Anna and Ophelia also had portable projector cannons.
Santana was one of the Annas and the best teleporter we had apart from the original. I had her in the control seat of the power projector cannon. This version of the weapon was massive, over thirty stories high with multiple, linked amplification centers.
The team assembled on a platform at the base of the cannon. I occupied one of my drones to accompany them. We had several crates containing extra supplies in case the team, for some reason, should get stuck there.
Long-distance scans gave me some idea of the surface of Mercury, and focusing on a plain near a large crater I gave the command to Santana. The group on the platform shimmered and was gone.
The bulk of my consciousness remained on Earth, but through my drone I was with the team as they materialized on Mercury. Polarized filters dampened the harsh sunlight, the pot-marked surface of the planet stretching in all directions.
Although the scanners in the suits were weak I put them to work. An advanced civilization should have left some detectable sign of their existence.
"Well, this place is already boring," Ophelia said, stomping around in her suit as she turned to study the surroundings.
