The Madness Engine

by Paul B Spence

  "They just sent them out?"

  "There wasn’t time to send out probes and find inhabitable worlds first. One or two ships were sent to each star within five-hundred light years, we think. No one's really sure, though, because no records survived. It was a one-way trip, too. The ships were somehow projected to their destination without drives."

  "What happened to the MIs on Earth?"

  "No one knows that, either. They left an enigmatic message, but haven't been heard from again."

  "So the MI in the Concord aren't the same ones?"

  "No. They emerged much later."

  "What happened to the Earth?"

  "The Earth was almost completely depopulated. The various colony worlds maintained whatever level of technology they could. Many of them fell into barbarity. It wasn’t until the rise of the Federation a couple of hundred years ago that fast hyperspace drives were rediscovered."

  "No wonder I got the reaction I did, when I said I was from Earth."

  "Oh, that was probably more from the war than anything else."

  "I’ve heard people mention the war," Geoffrey said. "What's that all about?"

  "The Earth Federation and the Sentient Concord are at war now."

  "I’m sorry. I didn’t quite make that connection. Weren’t you from the Federation?"

  "The Federation has been infiltrated by Thetas. Many of us have come over to the Concord to try to save the rest."

  "Oh."

  "Yeah. Now you begin to understand."

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Drake moved through the ruins quickly and quietly, gathering supplies. Mary and Tom were going to need warmer clothes, food, and weapons for their trip back to Fort Mountain. He could have simply summoned appropriate gear from an adjacent reality, but that sort of activity would be like a beacon to the Enemy. He wasn't sure he was ready to deal with that problem just yet.

  Around midday he stopped and sat in a ruined diner to eat. He had realized that he hadn't eaten since the meager meal of beans a day or two before. A small pride of semi-wild cats lived in the diner, and he shared his meal with them. Some of them had obviously been pets before the fall of civilization. He enjoyed their soft fur and deep purrs. He liked cats, he decided. They were beautiful and efficient little psychopaths; he could respect that.

  Tom was awake when he returned to the lab. Mary seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

  "Hungry?" Drake asked.

  "More thirsty, to be honest."

  "Here." Drake handed him a bottle of water. "I brought you food and water. I found coats and gloves that I think will fit well enough. Also, I found you a pump shotgun and a box of shells. That should be enough to get you home safely. I suggest you leave at first light, as you have about thirty hours of walking ahead of you. You should make it back out of the city before nightfall. You'll be much safer then."

  "You're not coming with us?"

  "I need to check the Gerhardt building here, then I'm heading south to that launch facility you mentioned. Mary has enough serum to cure those who are sick. You can make more from your and Mary's blood. You don't need me."

  "We could use you back at the Hill. You're tough and strong and resourceful. Come back with us," Tom pleaded.

  "I don't think I'd fit in as well as you hope."

  Tom frowned. "Mary preach to you while I was out?"

  "Yeah. Look, I understand what you're trying to do up there. You have the right to believe whatever you want, but turning survivors away because they don't share the same faith doesn't work for me."

  "She told you about that?"

  "She didn't have to," Drake said. "I've seen that sort of thing before. It doesn't end well, you know."

  "We're just trying to maintain the purity of our faith. Anyone who comes is offered salvation. What are we supposed to do if they turn it down?"

  Drake shook his head in disgust. "If it's purity you are after, then you definitely don't want me there. I'm no Christian. Never will be."

  "I'm sorry to hear that. We'll pray for you."

  "Yes, because praying has worked so well for you so far."

  Θ

  Tebrey still wasn’t sure what he thought about Geoffrey, but he felt better for having talked with him. If he was being honest with himself, part of his problem was probably jealousy. He envied the young man’s relationship with Drake. Tebrey didn’t like admitting that, but there it was.

  Watching Geoffrey training, Tebrey thought the man had the potential be a valuable asset to his team. Geoffrey was pretty good with pistol and rifle – remarkable, actually, when one considered he kept forgetting to use his tech to help him with targeting. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, Tebrey thought. Tech could be taken away, knocked out of commission. Knowing how to use those weapons without relying on the tech could be valuable.

  Geoffrey was fairly unremarkable in hand-to-hand, but then, Sergeant Pt'kar was not only really good, a challenge even for Tebrey, but also a Rhyrhan. She was much stronger than a human, and her powered armor only made the difference more pronounced. She was also almost three meters tall, which gave her a significant reach advantage.

  After Geoffrey left, Tebrey stayed in the armory and waited for Pt’kar to finish altering his old armor. She was right. It did hurt badly to wear it, but he overrode the medical suite and used the neural shunts. That took care of the worst of the pain. As he had told Pt’kar, it was better than breathing vacuum. He’d tried to do that once; he didn’t want to re-experience it.

  He wore his armor back to his cabin. Contrary to what he’d told Geoffrey, he hadn’t actually thought a Theta could still be aboard the Vigilant. Alessa was monitoring life signs for any hint of entropic effect, but so far nothing had been revealed. Tebrey suspected the Theta had jumped back to the habitat. That ability wasn’t common among Thetas, but not rare either, as far as anyone could tell.

  That was another problem. The Concord knew more than anyone else about the enemy, but that was still damned little. Tebrey wasn’t sure how much he could trust the information they did have. He suspected it had been manipulated.

  Had a Theta really entered the Kirov while it was in hyperspace? Or had the Theta been there all along? Could it have been posing as a crewmember? Could Tebrey really trust what he remembered, when he knew the Federation psychiatric techs had altered his memories?

  Was the Theta in the tunnels under Serendipity really the same one as on the Kirov? Or had it just been using his pain and fear to hurt him more. That seemed more probable. His father had indicated that there might be some kind of vast organization to the Thetas. They might be united in some kind of bizarre and brutal common goal. Drake had mentioned an ancient war among his people. There had to be a connection.

  He’d add that to the list of other questions he had for Drake the next time he saw him.

  "Commander Tebrey," Alessa said, "are you all right? The medical VI notified me that your vital signs indicate you are in distress."

  "I’m sorry, Alessa. I’m just thinking about my problems. I didn’t realize the medical VI was still monitoring me."

  "You are technically in violation of medical protocol by being back on duty before your body has been fully restored."

  "Somehow I doubt I’ll be court-marshaled for it."

  "I also doubt that outcome, Commander. However, you are not yet completely healed. I compromised with the medical chief to allow you to return to limited duty, under observation."

  "Thank you, Alessa. I didn’t even realize you’d interceded on my behalf."

  "There was no particular reason to let you know until now. I know how you feel about talking to the VI about your psychiatric issues, but would you be willing to talk to me?"

  "Not as a therapist. No offense, but I don’t want anyone poking around in my brain."

  "How about talking as a friend?"

  "That could be nice."

  "I assume you are missing Ana and your companion, Hunter."

  "You assume correctly. Do you
ever get lonely, Alessa?"

  "Sometimes," the MI replied. "Not as much as biologicals do, though. I'm currently having sixteen conversations with other crewmembers. I also have a dedicated entangled link back to Central. I can communicate with others of my own kind at any time."

  "You never have any interference on the link?"

  "I've heard of the phenomenon but have never experienced it."

  "I was thinking about my psionic link. It's supposed to work like an entangled connection, but I can't communicate if I'm too far away."

  "Are you certain that it isn't psychological? I can see no reason why distance should be a factor."

  "Me, either. I was thinking that there might be something wrong with our understanding of what's actually happening."

  "Obviously there must be. The similarities between a psionic link and an entangled pair connection aren't readily apparent, other than both allow instantaneous communication without direct transmission. It could be an example of an explanation being applied based on correlation and not empirical evidence."

  "The Rhyrhans have a theory about matter extending through hyperspace."

  "I'm aware of their beliefs. That would fit the current model of the universe."

  "They say the soul is the energy that extends into the first layer of hyperspace, the shadow of the matter a person is made of."

  "It's an intriguing thought. The properties of hyperspace have never been properly studied."

  "Why is that?" Tebrey asked.

  "The energy required to break through the membrane requires heavy gravitic shielding to protect the ship. Also, the higher levels of hyperspace are known to be extremely energetic. This is what makes transition to higher levels so dangerous. Level one is passed through quickly, as it's of little use to spacecraft."

  "Why?" Tebrey had never heard it explained so simply, and was fascinated.

  "Level one expresses at the same relative frame rate as realspace. Traveling in level one hyperspace would take the same time."

  "So the two are contiguous?"

  "If by that you mean that matter projects an energy ghost into the first layer, yes. It is one reason it's difficult to jump near a large mass. Older hyperdrives cannot shift from layer to layer of hyperspace with precision and therefore must be outside the outer zone of gravitic mass influence in hyperspace to jump without being destroyed. The Marcos drive allows a ship to make quick transitions from level to level. It takes a third generation MI to calculate the mass variations quickly enough to keep jumping to lower levels, and thus allow a ship to jump very close to a mass."

  "I wondered how that worked," Tebrey replied. "So, level one is safe to travel in?"

  "More or less. There were some early experiments that resulted in crews going mad. It was determined that the cause was an unknown energy spectra leaking in from hyperspace, and thus the development of the first void shields."

  "Entangled pair communication is through subspace, right?"

  "Yes, Commander."

  "Could an entanglement take place in hyperspace? I mean, between forms of hyperspacial energy?"

  "I don't see why not. Any particle should be able to be entangled, even virtual particles. I'll pose the question to the greater collective. Maybe one of the MI associated with research will have a better answer for you."

  "Thank you. I think it could be a very important answer."

  "You think it may have something to do with the entanglement interference?"

  "Among other things." They needed to understand psionics better if they were going to survive against the Thetas. Understanding the genetics responsible for psionics was not the same as understanding why it worked. They were no closer to understanding that than the primitives hundreds of years before.

  "I'll let you know what I learn, Commander. You may want to think about what I said about it being psychological. Hyperspace or subspace entanglement, there's no reason distance should be a factor. Maybe it's only a factor because you were taught it is."

  "Thank you, Alessa, I'll think about that. And thanks for talking with me. I do feel better."

  "I know. I was monitoring you vitals."

  Tebrey laughed. "Could you warn me before we jump into the Delta Pavonus system? I'd like to be on the bridge."

  "Of course, Commander. Good night."

  Θ

  Lyra walked quickly past the fallen stones and entered the catacombs under the village.

  The ancient ruins extended for hundreds of kilometers in every direction. The cities of the Mo'Ceri had been great and numerous once. Cataclysms such as the one that destroyed their civilization were not uncommon. Most species faced it sooner or later: the crisis of Ascension. The Dark Ones and the Ascended of a species eventually outnumber the physical. War was inevitable once that happened.

  Human civilization wasn't at that point yet, but that didn't mean that they were safe. The Fallen of other species were always hungry. They would always be there to prey upon the weak. The problem with the current crisis was that the Fallen were preying upon the strong. This was different. Something had happened that had driven the dark ones into a frenzy. Lyra suspected it had something to with Drake, as did the others of the Circle. That was part of why they didn't trust him. He represented an unknown quality.

  She didn't believe that he meant them harm. In fact, she suspected he was waging his own private war against the same enemy. What she didn't know was why. What was his stake in all of this? It wasn't just about his son. Tebrey had faced the dark ones long before Drake came back from wherever he'd been. She'd love to know what he was doing, but she didn't want to draw his ire, either.

  Lyra reached the doorway she was looking for and directed her mind against it. After a moment the portal opened, and she stepped through into the heart of the ancient city, the vast arcane machinery that powered the network of interdimensional waypoints that made Aurora what it was.

  A crossroad of worlds.

  She'd asked Deegan about Drake's ancestry because it was important to know from where he came. If he wasn't of the First, then he was one of their descendants. Lyra knew of two groups that claimed descent from such people; neither of them were to be trusted.

  One of those group controlled a vast empire and had access to unimaginable power. She'd been to that universe once, long ago. New to the Circle, she had used her new abilities to push as far as she could. She wanted to know what lay beyond the farthest universes. She'd found out.

  She'd seen the Eye, and the shattered worlds that were all that remained of the domain of the First. She'd learned all she could of them at the time. She'd learned of the Instrumentality, a sentient device that harnessed the power of a collapsing universe. The beings who lived there were old, even by Mo'Ceri standards. The rulers of that place were linked to their Instrumentality and could destroy worlds on a whim. They could call forth new matter by will alone. It had been terrifying. They were shapeshifters, alien in thought and form.

  Lyra suspected that Drake was one of them.

  The other group she knew of was as far from those beings as possible. They were ancient, and they had something like the Instrumentality, as well, although Lyra didn't know what powered it or how it worked. She didn't even know for certain if the power was real. No one knew much about them. Legends said they were descended from the First, too, from before the Great War. She did know that they existed, however. She even had a few suspicions about where at least one of them might be.

  She kept that thought carefully to herself. If what she suspected was true, then the Circle was in for rough times. The fallout from what had happened with Tebrey had almost torn the Circle apart. She didn't want to be the one to uncover something that could actually do that. The problem was, she just didn't know who to trust anymore. The list got smaller every day.

  David stepped out from behind an incomprehensible machine ahead of her. "Curious place to wish to meet, Lyra."

  "I want to talk to you privately," she said. "The machines here bloc
k thought."

  "Curiouser and curiouser," he replied, quoting Alice.

  "I want you to tell me of the First."

  He stiffened, with a flash of anger and something else suppressed too quickly for her to more than sense. "I thought we had agreed never to speak of it."

  "I think we have to, David. I think Drake is descended from them, and I think you know it."

  "It may be that you are correct," he said. "I didn't face him directly."

  "I also think there may be another here –"

  "Don't name him," David interrupted. "You could be correct about that, as well, but there's no need to call attention to it at this time. I don't think it's a problem, do you?"

  "I don't know," said Lyra. "I don't like to think that the Circle has secrets from each other."

  "We all have secrets."

  "I don't have any that threaten the safety of this world," she snapped. "If the recent increase in activity is due to Fallen First, then we have a serious problem."

  David sighed. "What do you want from me, Lyra? If I knew anything concrete, I'd tell you. I'd tell everyone. Have I heard whispers? Yes."

  "Whispers of what?"

  "Back during the War, at the end, many of the Fallen came back from where we had been. We came back and joined forces with the Ascended to fight those who didn't want redemption. It was a long, terrible conflict. In the end, we were weak. We didn't want to destroy our brothers and sisters, hoping that they could still be saved. Instead, we locked them away for all time, beyond space, in tombs that could never be opened."

  "If they could never be opened, how could they be saved?"

  "The Plaza of the Worlds sealed the tombs, and they could only be opened by a release of tremendous power."