“Wait…” Naydaalan was examining his console. “These are not the exact coordinates ALF gave us.”
“What?” Kalian should have known better than to trust the AI.
“This is the correct system, but the exact coordinates are -”
“On the other side of the sun…” ALF finished the sentence for him.
Kalian got up from his seat and met the holographic man at eye level. “Start explaining or I swear this entire suit is going to find its way to the airlock with you trapped inside.”
ALF stepped past Kalian and gazed out of the viewport. “As far as the Terran were concerned, that metal husk was the Criterion. They believed that it housed all of my central processing units and personality. If they could destroy that, they could plunge the empire into chaos.”
“But that’s not the Criterion…” Kalian was following along.
“No. But it was armed to the teeth if only to give the impression that it was the Criterion.”
Naydaalan looked from the coordinates to ALF. “The real Criterion is at these coordinates?”
“You’ll find a small planet, if you could call it that, it's more of a giant rock covered in volcanoes. Its proximity to the sun makes it somewhat uninviting, shall we say. The real Criterion is hidden within.” ALF explained everything as if it was common knowledge.
“Lying is just second nature to you, isn’t it?” Kalian took his seat again.
ALF sighed and replied patronisingly. “Why don’t we just investigate the Criterion, allow me to access the rest of myself and then we can finally take a detailed look into the past. If these cubes are indeed of Terran origin, there’s bound to be some record of it somewhere inside my main housing.”
Kalian nodded to Naydaalan, who set the Advent on course for the mystery planet. The Novaarian wanted to stop and charge the intrinium inside a starspot, but Kalian was eager for answers and pressed them on. The idea of ALF connecting with the rest of his personality didn’t sit well with Kalian, but he desperately needed the answers potentially stored inside the Criterion’s ancient files.
It took almost an hour to navigate the circumference of the sun on thrusters alone. Naydaalan had them on a flight path as close to the star as the hull would allow. Once the sun was behind them they were able to see the small planet that disguised the Criterion. As they drew closer it became apparent that ALF’s description of the planet had been quite accurate. A molten sphere covered in red veins and oceans of orange lava stood alone in the cold of space, the only planet in the system.
“The array can find nothing but organic material,” Naydaalan said.
ALF stood over the Novaarian’s console and looked down at a grid reference of the planet’s surface. “You won’t find it with sensors. You have to know where it is.” His holographic finger pointed at a section of the grid. “There.”
Kalian had the map display on his own console and had it change into three dimensions. The section ALF had indicated was a mountain, the only mountain that wasn’t actively ejecting copious amounts of lava.
Kalian spoke to Naydaalan, “The suit you wore on Albadar, can it withstand this can kind of punishment?”
Naydaalan checked the temperature on the surface of the planet, but Kalian was more concerned with any lava that might find its way onto his suit.
“Not for long,” Naydaalan replied. “An hour at most.”
“You won't need that long,” ALF stated, mysterious as ever.
After breaching the atmosphere, Naydaalan scanned anywhere for the Advent to land and found no suitable areas. The lava flow continuously pushed the land masses across the surface, pulling them apart and bringing them back together again.
“I will have to keep the ship afloat while we probe the area.” Naydaalan showed Kalian the control pad, built into his suit’s forearm. “To conserve energy, I will send it back into the stratosphere and have it sync with our orbit. It will never be more than seconds away should we need it.”
Kalian had his suit cover his head and hands, while simultaneously having the nanocelium link wirelessly to Naydaalan’s suit, allowing him to monitor the Novaarian’s vitals and structural integrity. On a planet like this one, only Kalian’s Terran abilities could keep them alive long enough to discover anything of importance.
After bringing the Advent to within thirty feet of the rocky ground, at the base of the mountain, the airlock opened to a gust of super-heated air and swirling cloud of ash and sulfur. The drop was too far for any creature to survive, and Kalian was about to guide the two of them down with telekinesis when Naydaalan stepped out. At the last second his boots flared and his rapid descent slowed down until he was standing comfortably on the edge of a river of lava. The effect reminded Kalian of a certain bounty hunter with whom he had fallen out. Roland should have brought Li’ara back. If anyone, it should have been him who died.
“Kalian?” Naydaalan’s voice came over the speakers in his helmet.
His reverie broken, Kalian dropped out of the ship, not bothering to slow his descent. The ground cracked under his weight, as he landed on one knee with his closed fists either side. His Terran physiology was stronger and could take such punishment, with denser bones and tougher muscle mass - not to mention the exo-suit’s durability. The suit also kept him cool, while the temperature outside was reaching eleven-hundred degrees Celsius.
Above them, the Advent’s thrusters kicked in and sent the ship flying vertically upwards, until it vanished behind the black clouds of ash. Appearing entirely out of place, ALF’s unprotected form projected in front of the pair. The projection itself was incredibly sensitive to their environment, causing ALF’s grey beard and shoulder-length hair to blow in the same direction as the hot breeze. This data was clearly taken from Kalian’s exo-suit and fed into the projectors to give the AI the most life-like appearance as possible - even his robes whipped about his legs.
“It’s just over this rise.” ALF started walking in that direction, leading them over a series of tributaries flowing with lava.
Naydaalan used the miniature jet thrusters, built into his suit’s back and legs, to overcome the rivers his unique Novaarian physiology couldn’t naturally jump. Kalian simply stepped into the shallower flows and used telekinesis to jump the over deeper ones. ALF gave the appearance of walking over them as if he were some kind of god.
“This is it.” ALF gestured towards the wall of mountain before them.
Naydaalan looked from the wall of rock to ALF and finally to Kalian. “Is your suit malfunctioning?”
ALF smiled. “It’s buried behind millennia of rock. A little Terran ingenuity is going to be required.”
Kalian met ALF’s eyes and wished he knew what was going on behind those grey orbs. With an outstretched hand, he pushed his awareness beyond his physical body and let the mountain fill his mind. He gasped and pulled back as soon as the mountain’s secrets took shape.
“What is it?” Naydaalan asked.
Kalian just stared at ALF. “What we’ve been looking for.”
Tapping into some of his rage and frustration with the AI, Kalian used both hands to crack the wall of rock. Three hundred feet of rock burst apart and exploded outwards as if a new fissure had blown inside the mountain. Tons of molten rock flew into the air and splashed into the lakes and rivers of lava. A clear twenty-feet remained untouched around the three of them, where Kalian had been sure to erect a telekinetic bubble to protect them. The disturbance caused multiple rock slides across the mountain, but Kalian guided them away from the Criterion’s entrance.
It took a moment for the dust and ash to settle, revealing the three hundred foot wall of nanocelium. The surface was similar to that of the cubes found on Trantax IV and inside the Gommarian and Protocorps, lined with intricate patterns and interlacing circles engraved in unknown languages. Having felt the outside of the entire Criterion, Kalian knew that its shape was that of a cube with the corners cut off.
“Is that..?” Naydaalan craned hi
s long neck.
“A giant cube? More or less…” Kalian walked past ALF, towards the Criterion.
Once they were within fifteen-feet of the shear wall, the giant cogs and patterns began to rotate and move about the surface. Kalian had seen a similar effect in Savrick’s memories when he first discovered the cube on Hadrok. The cube had presented him with a hole in which he placed his arm, where it proceeded to take his free will by poisoning him with thoughts of civil war. Now, the Criterion presented them with a giant doorway, big enough to fit the Advent through, had they wished. It was dark inside and Kalian thought to warn Naydaalan away, but nothing happened as they passed over the threshold and into the shadows.
Kalian’s exo-suit indicated an instant drop in temperature, despite only being feet away from the lava world outside. ALF remained by his side, calm as ever, while Naydaalan used a hand scanner to interpret their new surroundings. A new alert popped across his HUD, informing Kalian of the change in atmosphere.
“The air is becoming breathable,” Naydaalan announced, checking his own scanner.
“And warmer,” Kalian added.
The doors began to slowly close the gap behind them, narrowing the available light. Both Kalian and Naydaalan tensed, but ALF raised a holographic hand.
“Wait. It’s okay,” the AI assured them.
As the light disappeared, only Naydaalan’s suit torches illuminated their environment. Kalian raised his hand, palm open, and willed the molecules to vibrate violently until they heated up and became a swirling ball of organic plasma. Its brilliant blue and white light cast harsh shadows all around them, revealing dark cables and tubing and hanging, broken pieces of chain.
When the oxygen inside was as habitable as the temperature, Kalian deactivated his helmet and gloves and breathed in the cool air. It smelt damp and old, but completely silent, even the volcanic eruptions outside couldn't be heard.
“I don't suppose you remember where the light switch is, do you?” Kalian held his sphere of plasma over ALF’s face, causing the hologram to squint as if the light was actually blinding.
Like fireflies in the dark, hundreds of tiny orange lights filtered through unseen vents, high above. After filling the upper levels, the lights slowly dropped to Kalian’s height and spread out, bringing light to every corner. The space was massive and occupied with machinery Kalian couldn't even fathom. Most of the mechanisms and parts appeared old, but it was all so alien he didn't know what to think. There were more levels higher up, but the unusual lighting system had gone no further than a hundred foot.
Kalian dissolved the plasma in his hand and reached out to touch one of the glowing orbs, no bigger than the tip of his finger, but continually failed to make contact. The orbs moved around in a similar fashion to dust, always reacting to the proximity of other objects and the airwaves created by them. Naydaalan was treating them with more suspicion and waved them away from his face mask with three hands.
“What’s with the lighting system?” Kalian asked ALF.
“I like the ambiance…” It wasn't ALF who replied, though the hologram was smiling.
Kalian took a step back and welcomed the tingling sensation running along his spine, readying him for a fight. Naydaalan was by his side in a second, having swapped his scanner for a gun. The voice had come from the back of the Criterion, where the shadows had yet to be overrun by the fireflies. The mysterious reply, spoken with an augmented tone, was followed by heavy footsteps, gradually walking towards them.
“ALF, what’s going on?” Kalian had one foot forward, ready to defend or attack, depending on what emerged from the shadows.
“Kalian, Naydaalan…” The holographic image of ALF stood between them and the approaching figure. “I would like you to meet me, the real me.”
Captain Fey cupped her mouth, a subconscious attempt to hide her dismay at the three dead bodies lined up in front of her. Sharon Booth, Lieutenant Peter Holmes and Ch’vork, the Nautallon’s chief engineer, were all covered in blue sheets in the medbay. Off to the side was another body, covered with a different body bag and a radioactive symbol printed on top. Whatever remained of the Paladin’s saboteur was thankfully hidden from sight, unlike Sharon’s bloody hand, which could be seen hanging off the gurney, lifeless.
How many more casualties would there be? How many lives could she stand to lose under her command?
Lieutenant Worth came up on her side. “Captain?”
Fey appreciated his concern. “I was due to retire in a couple of years. I had so many plans. I was going to read and write and explore. I wonder what plans they had. We cheated death the day the Gomar attacked our people. Now it seems, death is coming for us all…” Li didn't know why she said it, and she knew she shouldn't have, not to the lieutenant. “I'm sorry, Ben.” The captain patted his arm before she even realised she had referred to him by his first name instead of rank. The death of the UDC was finally starting to settle in, it seemed. “I'm becoming pessimistic in my old age.”
At a hundred and nineteen years old, Captain Fey was still keeping up with the youth around her, not to mention keeping the looks of a fifty-five-year-old. In human years, she was expected to live for another sixty to seventy years, but having seen so many die in the last year, Li suspected she would never see a hundred and twenty.
“You cannot be serious?” Colonel Matthews rounded the corner in the med bay, along with Captain Holt and Commander Vale. “I highly advise more goddamn caution... Captain!”
Fey looked over the colonel, her short blonde hair splattered with Shay blood. Her team had returned half an hour ago with three more dead bodies to add to the growing list today. Li frowned at the way Ava spoke to her superior officer, wanting to believe that she would never put up with such insubordination, but then everyone knew that Raiders were just guns with people attached to them. That profile made her think about Roland North for a moment, another weapon in the human arsenal. As usual, the captain had no idea where the bounty hunter was or what he was doing. She only knew it would be nothing good.
“Colonel.” Holt stopped his advancement towards Fey and turned to meet Ava’s eyes. “I think your team needs to clean up and cool off, before the funeral.” Jed’s tone was that of a commanding officer, and not to be challenged.
Colonel Matthews shot Fey a venomous glare before her gaze flickered to the bodies beyond. “Sir.” Ava stormed off with her team in tow.
Captain Holt watched her leave before meeting up with Fey in front of the viewing room. He looked just as exhausted as she felt.
“How’s Chief Grenko?” Li asked.
“He’s already trying to get back to his engine. Alexsander’s a tough bastard. All of my crew are…”
Captain Fey nodded her agreement. “Exemplary.”
“High Charge Uthor has already requested a new party come aboard and oversee the newest repairs, as well as collect their engineer and the Shay bodies.” Jed glanced back at Commander Vale, who was talking to Lieutenant Worth. “I’m being advised not to allow any more Conclave personnel onboard,” the captain stared hard at the bodies on the other side of the screen, “and I’m seriously considering it.”
When was she going to get this vision through to everybody?
“There aren't two bodies inside that room, Jed, there’s three, and one of them isn't human. The Conclave lost people today too, not to mention whatever that was with the Shay, but they’re dead as well. If there’s one thing the last year has taught me, it’s that we’re all in this together. I told you that there’s something else out there, something that wants us all dead, not just humanity, but the Conclave too. There are seven hundred trillion lives inside their civilisation; they might not be human beings, but their lives matter. They have to, because if we don't start working together and trusting one another… we all lose.”
Jed puffed out his chest. “I gather that’s not the first time you’ve had to give that speech?”
Fey gave in to her smile before the dead grounded he
r again. “And I fear it won't be the last.”
A ruckus from the bay behind them drew their attention, to where Chief Grenko was pulling away from the nurses and doctor swarming him.
“I'm fine, I'm fine!” Grenko had one arm in a sling while the other kept him propped up with a cane. “I want to know what those trigger-happy morons have done to my engine!”
The sight would have been amusing were it not for their morbid surroundings.
Jed turned back to Fey. “I’ll inform Uthor that a team can come aboard, but not any Shay. The Raiders are likely to kill if they see another of their species.”
“Fair enough. Will you return with us to the Raalak system?” If Fey couldn't unite her people with that of the Paladin, what hope did she have of building a bridge between humanity and the Conclave?
“Well, it’s either that or stay out here and starve to death or freeze to death. The list of things that can kill you in space is horribly long…”
“Sir?” Commander Vale said. “The Nautallon is contacting us again. They really want those alien bodies.”
Jed chewed over his response, looking to Li instead. “Do you have any idea why they would attack us like that?”
Captain Fey had given the matter much thought. “There have been protests all over the Conclave since our arrival. Some argue that we should be given membership, others believe we are a threat. It’s possible the Shay engineers were part of some radical group, but it seems highly out of character. The Conclave is generally a peaceful civilisation. They haven't known war or violence for thousands of years.”
Commander Vale added, “Their behaviour was normal until that moment before they killed Ch’vork. It looked like they all experienced the same thing at once. Our initial scans also show serious trauma to their brains - they were all reduced to pulp, post-mortem.”
“This investigation will have to continue while we’re on the move.” Jed walked over to the comm panel on the wall. “Captain to the bridge.”
The Terran Cycle Boxset Page 111