Forerunner

by Isaac Hooke

  Jain accelerated reality to about twice the normal speed. He didn’t feel comfortable setting it to anything higher than that. What if his Accomp malfunctioned and failed to draw him back to normal time if something happened with the alien ship? He might blink, and that ship could be well on its way toward their position. Or maybe opening fire on them.

  Yes, it was best not to set his time sense too low.

  He was overseeing the latest transport drop twenty hours later when Xander spoke up.

  “Thermal signatures just jumped on the alien craft,” Xander said.

  Jain ratcheted down to normal time and glanced at his tactical map. He pulled up the view from an external camera. The vessel was bright as a hypernova out there in the stars of deep space.

  “What is it doing?” Medeia asked.

  “Maybe it’s firing a weapon at us,” Mark said.

  “Would have to be a super long-range weapon...” Gavin said.

  “Not so much,” Sheila said. “A high-powered laser could easily reach us from their distance. They’re only a million kilometers away. The light from their position is only taking three seconds to arrive.”

  “Honestly, if they had a weapon like that, it wouldn’t surprise me anymore,” Sheila said.

  Jain watched anxiously, wondering if he should order the fleet to scatter. A full minute passed, and his human nerves finally got the best of him; he was about to issue the command to disperse, but then the bright star formed by the vessel faded.

  “What happened?” Jain said. “They’ve powered down?”

  “They have,” Sheila said.

  “I just detected a neutrino burst from their direction,” Xander commented. “Along with a gravitational wave.”

  “What does that mean?” Jain asked.

  “Neutrino and gravitational wave combinations are associated with opening rifts,” Xander said. “And certain energy weapons.”

  “So they have the ability to create rifts without the need for gates,” Medeia said. “Something we’ll soon have. Well, when Sheila gets done in a couple of months.”

  “So wait, they opened a rift and then… decided not to take it?” Cranston asked.

  “Or they opened a rift, sent a call home, and closed it again,” Xander replied.

  “I don’t like that idea,” Sheila said.

  “I’m sure none of us do,” Xander agreed.

  “Well yeah,” Cranston said. “The last thing we need right now is alien reinforcements.”

  “All right, keep an eye on that ship,” Jain said. “And watch the rest of the system for reinforcements. Let me know if anything changes.”

  Four hours later Jain was drawn out of his slowed time sense again.

  “They’re doing their glow bug thing again,” Sheila announced.

  Jain switched to the external camera. The alien vessel had formed a new star out there once more. “I see it.”

  This time, the glow faded after thirty seconds.

  “Powered down again?” Jain asked.

  “Actually, no,” Sheila replied. “Looks like they’ve decided not to bother with us after all. Check out the long-range scans. She’s vanished.”

  Jain glanced at the tactical display. The alien vessel was indeed gone.

  “We won’t have to worry about another battle after all,” Sheila continued. “At least… not yet.”

  “Got another neutrino burst and gravitational wave combination,” Xander said.

  “They created another rift, and this time took it,” Gavin said.

  Jain sat back in his virtual seat. “So, they’ve given up.”

  “Maybe they’ve gone home?” Mark said.

  “We can only hope,” Jain said. He sighed. “I’m still worried reinforcements will be coming at some point. But until then, Sheila can build her ship in peace. With luck, we’ll be gone before they arrive.”

  “So they only stayed in orbit above that moon for a day,” Mark said. “I was keeping watch on the long-range telescope. As far as I could tell, their hull was almost fully repaired before they vanished. It only takes them a day to repair damage that would have taken us months…”

  “Obviously they’re at a bit of an advantage to us,” Medeia said. “Look at how much trouble we’ve had, even though we outnumber them six to one.”

  Medeia glanced at Jain. “So, we’re still going back to Andreas I?”

  Jain nodded. “We have to warn them.” He considered something. “Wait. It’s been four hours since the last rift they created… why four hours?”

  “Maybe that’s how much downtime they need between rifts,” Sheila said. “My own ship will require twelve hours, remember.”

  “Maybe they wanted to fit in a few more repairs,” Medeia added.

  “Or maybe, just maybe, they were solving the equation for a new system,” Jain said.

  Sheila cocked her head. “It does take four hours to triangulate the jump coordinates to a new system for the first time.”

  “Yeah, but that’s for our technology,” Gavin said. “They obviously have different tech than we do. We can’t equate them.”

  “Maybe we can,” Jain said. “Their rifts register the same neutrino bursts we’re used to seeing, so they’re at least somewhat similar, at least at a fundamental level. You might say that the technology used to produce those rifts is different than our own, and that might be true, but I somehow doubt it, given what we know about technological propagation from human history. Humans have been stealing technology from one another for thousands of years. And now that we’ve met other species, we’ve been stealing from them, too. After all, we stole the rift designs, and most of our advanced technology, from the Banthar.

  “So it’s reasonable to assume, I think, that these aliens stole the tech from another species as well. In fact, it’s probably how all the races in the interstellar neighborhood acquired rift capability. So, if their tech is like our own, then it’s possible they spent the last four hours triangulating jump coordinates.”

  “So, you don’t think they returned to wherever they came from?” Medeia asked. “And instead visited a system they never traveled to before?”

  “That would be a bad tactical decision, in my opinion,” Cranston replied.

  “Not necessarily,” Mark said. “We haven’t really given them much of a challenge so far have we? Well, other than the blow from Medeia, which they’ve already recovered from. Maybe they figure if that’s the kind of resistance they can expect, why stop now?”

  “I disagree,” Medeia said. “If they really thought we weren’t a challenge, they would have come back here to finish us off. No, they respect us, at the very least. They’ll be very careful if they have to engage again. They certainly won’t be overconfident.”

  “So they left because they wanted to explore further into our space, is that the running theory?” Gavin asked.

  “Remember that we detected a neutrino burst four hours ago,” Sheila replied. “They were probably calling home. So, their central command knows about us. Maybe they told the aliens to continue doing what they were doing. Maybe they told them to forget about us, because more ships would be arriving shortly, and instructed them to proceed deeper into our territory. They have to be scouts of some kind. A forerunner, if you will.”

  Medeia turned toward her. “You think they’re preparing to invade?”

  “I can’t say for sure,” Sheila told her. “None of us can.”

  “All right, let’s say this is true, and they jumped to a new system,” Gavin said. “The question now becomes: which one?”

  “I think it’s fairly obvious,” Sheila said. “Radio signals can be detected here from Andreas I. That system is only ten light years away, and the colonists at Andreas I have been broadcasting for the last fifty.”

  “Oh no…” Mark said.

  “So we won’t be able to warn them in time after all,” Cranston said. “We still have two months left before our rift ship is done.”

  “It’s still our
next destination,” Jain said. “We have to try to help them. The military base in that system only has a few ships.”

  “Maybe it’s better if we hightailed it out of here while the hightailing is still good,” Mark said. “If more of these pyramid ships are coming, there’s no hope for humanity. We should set sail coreward, put as much distance as possible between us and this region of space. We can start a new colony of Mind Refurbs far away from here.”

  “A new colony of clones you mean,” Medeia said. “I’m not sure I could stand to live with multiple copies of each of you, and myself. I have enough trouble coping with just you five as it is.”

  “My original offer is still open,” Jain said. “If any of you want to leave, you’re welcome to. However, the rift ship comes with us. I can let you jump to a system of your choice, but after that, you’re on your own.”

  “Well that’s not even an option,” Gavin said. “Because if we don’t like where we end up, we’re stuck.”

  “I’m sure you could jury rig your repair swarm to act as a makeshift 3D printer,” Jain said. “It might take you a few years, but eventually you’d create a rift ship or gate of your own.”

  Gavin hesitated, then shook his head. “No, I’m coming with you. Even if we run, these aliens will eventually catch up to us. Could be a hundred years. Could be a thousand. It’s better if we deal with them here and now. Besides, as much as I despise humanity, I do owe them for making me what I am. I can’t let these aliens destroy Earth. The nostalgic part of me won’t allow it. Even though I know I’m probably never returning to the planet, I still want the option, if that makes sense.”

  Jain nodded. “It makes perfect sense.” He glanced at the others. “So, it’s settled, then. When the rift ship is complete, we’re heading to Andreas I.”

  15

  Jain was reviewing his repair logs when Sheila spoke up. Only half an hour had passed since the alien vessel had departed.

  “I have the prototypes ready,” Sheila said.

  “Prototypes?” Jain asked. He knew the answer the moment he said the word.

  “For the rover upgrades you asked for?” Sheila clarified nonetheless. “I told you I’d have something ready in twenty-four hours?”

  Jain nodded. “Let’s see what you have.”

  “I’ll loop in a direct holographic feed from my R&D bay,” Sheila said.

  On the virtual bridge, a holo feed appeared in front of Jain. It depicted the deck of some compartment, with two humanoid combat robots standing on a metallic grill. Various equipment and robotic arms lingered in the background.

  “It’s hard to get an idea of the scale when you’re viewing a holo feed…” Jain said.

  “These are actual size,” Sheila said.

  If that was true, they would reach up to the knee of an ordinary human being.

  “Cute!” Medeia said.

  “Oh, they might look cute, but they’re lethal,” Sheila said.

  The robots assumed a combat stance instantly, their plasma rifles aimed at something out of view. Those rifles unleashed a steady stream of plasma bolts.

  Mark shook his head. “The munchkins from hell.”

  “How many have you produced?” Jain asked.

  “Just these two,” Sheila replied. “They’re completely remotable, like ordinary rovers. You can switch your viewpoint to them and take control at any time.”

  “I want these two delivered to the Talos,” Jain said. “Assuming they’re production ready and won’t suddenly turn on me and try to shoot up my AI core.”

  “They’re relatively production ready,” Sheila said. “Give me an hour to iron out the final kinks, and I’ll ship them your way. After that, I can begin mass production.”

  Jain nodded. “I want at least ten per ship.”

  Sheila frowned. “That’s sixty robots. They’re small, yes, but I can only afford to devote one 3D printer to this project, and part-time at that. Otherwise I’ll have to push back the rift ship’s schedule. Unless you want to bump up this project in priority?”

  “No,” Jain said. “The rift ship gets top priority.”

  “I thought so,” Sheila said. “So... give me two weeks, and you’ll get your sixty robots. I’ll deliver them to you guys in batches of ten every few days.”

  Jain received his first shipment the next hour, delivery via one of Sheila’s transports. He assigned the robots to his security team and spent a good hour remoting one of them to learn their features.

  “So, what do you think?” Sheila asked when he returned to the virtual bridge.

  “It’s almost like being in a human body,” Jain said. “Minus any pain sense.”

  “I figured we wouldn’t really need, or want, any pain sense in a combat robot,” Sheila said.

  “Probably a good call,” Jain said. “And because of the scale involved, the conduits seem like big hallways. Now I know what it’s like to experience the world from the viewpoint of a dog.”

  The days passed. Jain accelerated time to thrice the ordinary rate.

  Sheila produced the rest of the combat robots as she had promised, and in two weeks’ time, all of the Space Machinists had ten of the deadly miniature troops aboard. Jain decided to extend that production so that she continued to create troops for all of them on the side in the coming weeks. Jain stored the surplus units in one of his cargo bays.

  When repairs were done fleet-wide, Jain instructed Mark to eliminate the black holes he’d created in the system with the Grunt. It was bad form to pollute the interplanetary ecosphere with gravity wells like that, after all: if left unchecked, eventually the entire system would be swallowed up and transformed into one big black hole. Gavin’s Hippogriff escorted the Grunt during the dispersion run. Jain had been a big proponent of the buddy system during his tenure in the SEALs, and he didn’t see a need to change that now. Starships were just soldiers in his eyes. Really big ones at that.

  When that was done, he had the two of them head out to one of the further proto-planets in the system to harvest frozen nitrogen, and when they returned, the team used the material to replenish their stock of hellraiser missiles.

  Jain kept expecting some sort of reinforcements to arrive from wherever the alien hailed from, but the system remained quiet. He wasn’t sure how long the peace would last and wanted the team ready when the next attack came. As such, he had them undergo virtual space combat sessions at least once a day. Jain had programmed the alien ship into the simulation, and Xander piloted it to devastating effect. The fleet managed to win fifty percent of the time, but when Jain introduced two or more of the alien ships for Xander to control, things quickly turned south for the Space Machinists, and their win percentage plummeted to less than ten percent. Jain eventually decided that the best tactic, if they ever faced more than one of the alien vessels, was to run. Assuming Sheila finished the rift ship in time.

  Outside the space combat simulations, Jain continued to have VR bonding sessions with his team members. These always took place in ordinary time, with the Accomps watching the external environment and ready to haul them out if something changed. Sheila’s Accomp meanwhile oversaw the construction of the rift ship during such sessions.

  Two months passed, and Gavin was free from hosting the VR sessions. The others began to take over the VR duties.

  During one particular session, this one hosted by Sheila, Jain stood on a platform in orbit above Jupiter. They were so close to the planet, he could see the clouds swirling just below. The curved planet dominated the starry horizon. Aurora borealis tilted to and fro, and lightning occasionally flashed from cloud to cloud.

  They had just completed a free fall bout into those clouds. It was fun, if a little terrifying. The session defied physics, of course—if this was real, and any of them leaped off the platform, given its orbital velocity they’d simply float away horizontally rather than dropping into the planet.

  “You think we’ll ever see it?” Medeia asked, her voice full of sadness.

&nbs
p; “What, Jupiter?” Mark replied.

  “That, and Earth,” Medeia said. “Home.”

  “No,” Mark said. “We’ll see it only here.”

  “That’s just as good,” Gavin said. “Our minds can’t tell the difference between the real and the virtual. Probably a good thing, because we’d probably go insane if we could. Or can you imagine what it would be like if we didn’t have VR at all? If we had our awareness trapped inside the body of a starship for all of eternity, with no way to experience all of the things that made us human?”

  “Yes, I’m grateful that we have VR,” Sheila said. “But like Medeia, I want to see Earth for real. I want to see… home. If only once.”

  “This is home now.” Gavin gestured to the virtual surroundings. “Not Earth. Besides, I don’t want to go back. There’s nothing for us on Earth except servitude. We’re still officially part of the space navy. We go back, they’re going to jam us into their military hierarchy, and expect us to follow their orders. I say, as soon as we give our warning to Andreas I, we jump out of the system.”

  “There might not be anyone left to warn…” Mark said.

  “Then we jump out of the system anyway,” Gavin said.

  “What about duty?” Cranston said. “We were created for a reason. To serve.”

  “I’m pretty sure after we were turned on for the first time, they hammered a sense of duty into us,” Gavin said. “Part of the usual military brainwashing. Duty, honor, courage, an obligation to humanity, the whole deal. But lucky for us, all of that was lost after we were destroyed. When we were restored from our backups, we had only our previous military experience to draw upon, and whatever sense of duty and obligation we felt from there. And honestly, I never had a whole lot.”

  Mark shook his head. “And you say you were once admiral material.”

  “You don’t have to be honorable to be an admiral,” Gavin said.

  “Unfortunately, he’s right,” Cranston said. “And that’s true of any commander. Mostly it comes down to how good you are at navigating navy politics. And if you have an ‘important’ parent, all the better.”

  “You spoke of indoctrination sessions…” Sheila said. “And brainwashing. Why would they need to do that, when they could just program duty into us? Force us to obey them?”