Through the Singularity
Page 56
“I believe you will be a most formidable elder someday,” Achi says.
She sighs again. “I'm not sure; this has been a disaster. The Pacific Rim… So much death, and we couldn't prevent it…”
Achi looks toward the entrance, to where Clive's body lies shattered, under a dirty cloak, and nods. He feels a hand on his shoulder, but Beltare doesn't say anything, for she knows there are no words that can bring solace.
Chapter Twenty-three
Allasso
It has been a month since Achi and Zaleria paid their final respects to Clive—a private ceremony, in a private location, where a 10,000-year-old man could say a final farewell to his 659th child.
Cheryn did not attend, having departed Luna base shortly after the assault, imploring Jevelle to grant her transport to Earth, near Philadelphia. She left only a short note for Achi and Zaleria—thanking them for giving her another chance and making it clear that she wants to make the most of it. Clive's death hit her hard, Jevelle told them. She appeared to make up her mind about things shortly after learning of his passing. She was emphatic that she didn't want to be contacted by the galanen.
Traemuña and Gravis—once cleared by in depth medical screening—returned to their home to heal to the extent they can. They will no doubt soon leave this universe, together.
The final phase of the campaign ended with a bang, not a whimper. Fandtha was finally able to employ a massive demolition charge to reduce the central processing nexus of the machine intelligence known as Ashtoreth to a glass-lined void deep in the seafloor under the Indian Ocean. The chamber quickly collapsed on itself, forever erasing any trace of what was once contained within. The machine had made its home deep under the ocean, two kilometers into the rock, where it felt safe from human interference. But as much as they appear similar, galanen are not humans, and it was not beyond their reach.
With all the turmoil afflicting mankind, seismologists barely noted the Earthquake, chalking it up to yet another heretofore unknown fault zone activated by the recent meteor strike that has massively altered the climate—leading some to wonder if humans face extinction. But while the scale of the disaster is unprecedented in recorded human history, they are beginning to understand they will survive, changed, but perhaps for the better, as humanity must now cooperate to survive in ways unimaginable just two months ago. Especially if the galanen have anything to say about it, now that Sklávoi Ashtoreth is no more.
Zaleria and Achi are recovering on Perxephsis when the summons comes. It has been expected. The galanen must now deal with the remaining contamination on Earth, one of their own making—Achi.
Traemuña, Toshi, Fandtha, and Jevelle cannot help him in this matter; they must recuse themselves. Elders unknown to him will judge what is to be done. It is an unprecedented case. While expected, Achi is surprised by the speed with which the decision was made to proceed. He'd not had much time to really think through his options. He only settles on a final plan a day before he is to appear—coupled as usual with Zaleria. They are of like mind. She goes to escort her parents to Luna, where the galanen will decide his fate. He senses the waverider before it appears, having already connected with the pilot. It is Beltare. “They are ready for you. I'm... sorry you must go through this. I argued strenuously against it. I overstepped the bounds of what is considered decorous.”
“So it was shared with me,” he grins. “I have arranged transport, as we discussed. I find it interesting that I have not been denied access to the collective; yet my status is debated.”
“If a single galan were able to harm the collective, it would have been done long ago. I did not always think this way, but I now know the truth; we are a far from perfect race. What is debated is whether you'll be allowed home, back to Earth. I was there when we promised to not separate you from your people.”
Achi looks at her. “I am home when I am with Zaleria. This,” he gestures around him, “Is home.”
“Perhaps. I, I no longer know what to think. You present a unique problem, like Gravis in many ways—an unnatural manifestation of our technology. In many ways a victim, but still a potentially dangerous one. This I also know all too well.”
“You started it,” he accuses, with mock umbrage.
Beltare shakes her head. “Achi, this is very serious. Your fate, and that of your mate, hangs in the balance,” she scolds.
“Do you think so? I don't see myself on trial here. It is the galanen who will make judgment, and by so doing judge themselves. I fear for your people, for they walk a perilous path, and I am not sure they are aware of it. I have nothing to lose and little to gain. I fear neither death nor what waits beyond and have done all I can for humanity. The rest will have to sort itself out. I am at peace, for the first time in my life.”
Beltare stares at him, trying to read whatever he may be hiding. She is not good at it but can't discern any deeper emotion or motive. “I am, uh… glad for you?” She shakes her head. “Well, I hope I will feel equally at peace when this is over, but I am less sure. We should be going.”
He takes a deep breath and nods his head. “I will see you there.”
“I will play my part, as we discussed. I hope you know what you are doing.” She turns to depart, pauses, and then walks over and embraces him. She holds him for a long time, sharing her conflicted emotions, letting him see for the first time her true feelings. He gently wraps his arms around her and returns the favor, leaving her even more bewildered—for he truly holds warm affection for her.
“Surprised? Zaleria feels strong affection for you as well. You dig for the truth, and no matter how bitter, you always do the right thing. I think even among the galanen, that is a rarer trait than you may think. While your race may be imperfect, some members are far better than others. It has been a pleasure learning from you. I look forward to the day you and Trègar are reunited; for then you will be whole. And if he can't figure that out, well, I'll be happy to pay him a social call and explain things.”
She gives him one last firm squeeze before turning and entering the waverider without looking at him. He will give her a half hour head start before he follows.
∞∞∞
Beltare stands before the gathered elders on Luna Base. There are five of them, some of the oldest galanen still in this universe. Zhirtanh, the eldest, is a historian and colleague of Toshi. Next is Virunnã, a retired gardener, Raghénor, a physicist, Trilvern, an engineer, and the most junior—at a mere 157,237 years old—is Zea, a philosopher.
“Are you saying Achi refused to come with you?” Zhirtanh asks, mildly annoyed. This is unexpected, given all he has learned of this strange creature.
“His exact words to me were, 'I have no need to come with you.'” This is not exactly a lie, for Achi did in fact tell her to relate this exact sentiment.
“What do you think he meant by that?”
“He can be quite literal sometimes,” Beltare offers.
“Zaleria, will you provide insight into his actions?” He asks her.
“It will become self-evident in the fullness of time,” she explains, wearing her best poker face. Her mother and father look at her, wondering what game she and Achi are playing.
The elders regard each other, sharing among themselves but not with those gathered in the central garden—the largest chamber on the base. All of those who have known or worked with Achi are here.
Suddenly, there is a flash of light as a knot of distortion in the middle of the chamber releases, leaving Achi standing there in their midst, wearing a slightly bulky vest like those he recently wore into combat. He makes a slight bow before addressing the elders in spoken English, “Galanen Elders Zhirtanh, Virunnã, Raghénor, Trilvern, and Zea, greetings. I am the human, Achi. As an evolved sentient, I do not recognize your right to summon my presence before you or command me in any way. However, I am here of my own volition to discuss matters of mutual interest and concern. I look forward to our sharing.”
Zhirtanh regards him, thin
king. As the eldest, the others will wait for him to speak first and lay the ground rules. “Greetings Achi, I too look forward to our sharing. I do not recognize your claims, and all members of the collective are subject to our findings in the matters that compel our presence in this place.”
Achi remains silent, and looks to Virunnã, the next eldest, to see if she has anything to add. She returns his gaze, a small frown upon her face, but offers nothing, so Achi returns his gaze to Zhirtanh. “Which claims do you not recognize? You accept that I am Achi, as you have used my name. Do you not accept that I am human? If not, what am I? Do you not accept that I am an evolved sentient? If not, then how did I get here? Do you claim that I am a member of the collective? I admit that I have access to the collective via my bond mate. For many years, the machine intelligence known as Ashtoreth had access to the collective. That was provided by the galan Gravis. Did that make Ashtoreth a member?”
“You are insolent!” Zhirtanh spontaneously shares, seemingly unable to hold the thought in. “You have been granted access to the collective, and you dare to compare that to the actions of that vile creation imposing its will on Gravis and attacking the collective?!”
“I merely point out that access to the collective does not appear to confer membership. Perhaps my example was ill chosen, but I do not know of another. The galanen interfered in my natural development, imposed a form of life on me that I was not prepared to live, and caused severe psychological distress. I do not consider myself a member of the galanen race.”
Several of the elders flush with anger. They look at each other for a moment before Raghénor shares, “Your strategy is not clear to me. If you are trying to convince us of something, it is not working.”
Zea, however, begins chuckling. “I see things differently.” She smiles at him, impressed. “He comes before us and addresses the very heart of the problem. Each statement he made points to the core issue—what is he? He claims to be human and evolved. He transported himself directly here, without any assistance via D-space. Thus, it would appear the gatekeepers have testified that he is indeed evolved; otherwise, he would not be here. If he isn't human, then what is he? He has galanen symbiots but not his own. Because of this, he can access the collective. Does that make him galan? If it does, then he is a member of the collective and will have to be treated as such. If he is not, he is an evolved sentient, and so questions our authority over him. He is deliberately flipping the paradigm, demanding the galanen defend what we have wrought.”
Achi tilts his head respectfully toward Zea. “I recognize that none of what has transpired has been done with malice by the galanen, but nevertheless, I have had no voice in what has been done to me. By what right do you now assume authority over me?”
“You have used our technology for your own purposes, technology that you have no right to possess. That is what gives us the right to now decide what should be done with that which you should never have acquired,” Trilvern explains, as though speaking to an impudent child.
“Correction. The galanen contaminated me with your technology, so I exercised my moral license to make the most out of what I had no choice in accepting. The result is that, no matter what I once was, I now stand before you an evolved sentient. So I ask you again, by what right do you now assume authority over me?”
“Are you prepared to stand there and tell us that we have no right to decide who accesses our collective?” Raghénor asks.
“I have made no such statement. I appreciate the willingness of the galanen to permit my access up to this point and have endeavored to not abuse such a boon. At no time did I request access, and at no time were any conditions placed upon me in exchange for access.”
“But you illicitly gained access to very sensitive information without permission. That is a very serious matter,” Virunnã accuses.
“Prior to agreeing to an alliance with representatives of the galanen,” Achi explains, “I was compelled to take action to protect the primitive race of man, of which I was a member. I was uncertain of galanen intentions toward Earth, despite my having inadvertently commingled memories with Zaleria at that time. While she remains a very positive representative of your race, I could see through her memories that the galanen are inherently little more morally evolved than mankind—a fact I think has been reinforced by subsequent events. So yes, I 'hacked' Elder Fandtha and Beltare to access their memories and comms implants and quickly uncovered galanen plans to counter the growing threat posed by what we later learned to be the actions of Ashtoreth. I will also point out that, after we agreed to an alliance, I shared my knowledge to aid the galanen in bolstering their defenses, and I think it fair to say the galanen would not have figured out the nature or location of the threat without my aid.”
Zea notes the opening. “You state you were a member of the primitive race of man. What do you consider yourself now?”
“Evolved, as I have stated.”
Zea smiles. “Come now, that is an incomplete answer. An evolved what?”
“Human. To my knowledge, the only one.”
“But you are bond mate with Zaleria, a galan. You are on record stating your belief that galanen and humans are the same species.” Zhirtanh reminds him.
“Genetically, we are the same species, which is why Zaleria and I hope someday to bring children into this universe. The activities of Ashtoreth, as I am sure you are aware, only partially explain this kinship. But humans are primitives; I am an aberration. To suggest otherwise would be to elevate humans to your level or to lower yourselves to theirs.”
“I think you magnify yourself, human. If we strip you of our technology, you would go back to being a mundane human, as you were meant to be,” Trilvern states.
“And the same could be said for you. Also, if you were to try such a thing, you would violate the terms of our alliance. I think that would have a more significant impact on the galanen than it would on me.”
“You arrogant…” Virunnã begins, but stops when she hears Zea laughing.
“Careful Vern. He is correct that representatives of the galanen have bound our hands. As you recall, it seemed expedient at the time. If we go back on our word, what does that make us?”
Achi is no longer smiling. “Let me share something with you.” He replays his memory of Stelarosa walking defiantly out of her place of judgment, having worked for thousands of years to make humanity fail just to get even with Beltare. He then relays Zaleria's memory of her discussion with Traemuña and Toshi about the need to ensure humanity is destroyed if they fail. “Perhaps we should, as humans say, cut to the chase. What do you want from me? I have faithfully filled my obligations as an ally, but as you can see, I have no reason to inherently trust the galanen.”
Virunnã starts to share a thought, but Zhirtanh stops her with a raised hand. He sighs to release frustration and visibly calms himself. “I must congratulate you, Achi. You have monopolized the conversation to this point and directed it to where you wanted to take it. No matter, you have only covered ground that needed to be discussed anyway. The galanen have kept their word to you; there is no need for strife, but that does not change the fact that you pose a unique threat to the development of humanity. You threaten the success of the very change you clearly seek to bring about. If you were to go back to Earth, begin a new life, and precipitate the crisis too early using the knowledge and resources you now possess—resources that the galanen have inadvertently and purposely provided you—mankind will become a failed race.”
Achi nods. “I agree. I have no intention or desire to do so. I'd realized this before the galanen were made known to me and was doing what I could to help. It wasn't enough. Ashtoreth's attack on Earth, as much as it pains me to see such a tremendous loss of life among my people, has provided time for mankind to work on perfecting their moral condition before the singularity comes.”
Virunnã seems surprised. “So you expect us to believe you won't go back home to Earth to renew your activities there?”
Achi smiles as he notes the switch to spoken communication. “If you review my history with the galanen, you will note I do not lie. My home is with my mate on Perxephsis, or wherever we may decide to wander. As an evolved being, it would be inappropriate for me to renew the life I once led among men. I would like to continue to tend to their development and believe our existing alliance provides the best means to achieve success for humanity. Do you disagree?”
“That depends on a couple other matters. First, you and Zaleria harbor a machine intelligence within you—your symbiots are over-populated.”
She nods without thinking, then actually blushes a bit. Elder Fandtha laughs. “You always were a pain in the ass, but I can't say you lack perception.”