OMEGA Destiny

by Stephen Arseneault

  Go looked around the room curiously. "Colonel? What happened to the clones?"

  The colonel took a moment. "Most gave their lives fighting to protect us. They didn't have to, but everyone wanted to. We probably wouldn't... no, I'll take that back. We wouldn't have survived without them. It was the clones who helped us hold off the other species."

  The colonel looked at me. "Such as you Grunta. The clones gave their lives on the ground, and it was their armada of ships that turned the tide in space. In fact, we were fairly certain that it was a clone ship and crew that fired the shot that took out the Duke's cruiser."

  The colonel looked over at Tony. "All but about twenty thousand gave their lives that final day. When we got back, they asked to be put back in stasis should our need for them ever arise again. Never have seen such selfless behavior. And I doubt I ever will again."

  Garrett asked, "The twenty thousand, they're here on Earth?"

  The colonel swayed his head to one side. "I suppose most of them are in stasis on their ships in orbit."

  Jack raised his eyebrows. "How many ships made it back?"

  The colonel thought for a moment. "I believe we parked about thirty thousand. Tony can give us the exact number. And for your next question, yes, we have more ships than crew."

  I asked, "Portals?"

  The colonel nodded. "Every ship has portal capabilities. They all have Yacabucci generators, they all have active skins and tantric armor, and they have ion cannons that are probably two orders of magnitude more powerful than any you've seen. And when inactive they are a sleek silvery white. Probably the most beautiful ships you have ever seen."

  I said, "That kind of power and capability, scary that someone had that."

  The colonel winced. "The shocking thing is, the Duke had similar technologies. I guess he had something like a million years of confiscated engineering designs to draw from. Some of it, we never did figure out how it worked. Heck, we never figured out the portal gates. We found one on a derelict ship and Frig somehow managed to copy it. Took us years to get it working like it does. And you're right, that technology is too powerful. That's why most of it was destroyed after the AMP took root."

  Joni asked, "Why only the six galaxies?"

  The colonel turned to face her. "Those were the only ones we were certain the Duke had visited. We knew there were probably more, but we had no way of knowing which ones, so only the six were brought in.

  "We reasoned that without portal gates from outside, the six galaxies would be secure. We thought we had the safeties in place that would keep anyone from moving them or using them to go out. Guess we missed on that one."

  Frig returned with a small spherical device in his hand.

  Kerba asked, "What's that?"

  Frig replied, "This is Quan. Or at least it will be when we return. This was his original housing."

  Go remarked, "All those memory circuits and processors fit in there?"

  Frig nodded. "The design goes down to the molecular level. It's ingenious and at the same time very simplistic. The species who created this core were obviously brilliant and far ahead of us in their computer technology."

  Go asked, "What happened to them?"

  Frig held up the device. "The Duke killed them all. At least that's what he told us. Quan verified much of his story, only Quan had lost some of those memories. The Duke was terribly evil."

  Quan said, "Thank you for retrieving my core, Frig. I look forward to regaining my mobility. Interaction with others seems much more pleasant in reality."

  Frig replied, "You have shown that you are worthy of it."

  Quan said, "When may we begin the transfer?"

  Frig thought for a moment. "We could begin now if you like. The process will take longer over the QE connection; however, it should be complete before we return tomorrow. I'll have Mr. Anderson bring up a body for you."

  Garrett frowned. "Not that Quan has been any trouble, but you're planning to transfer him to that and to put him in a robotic body? Does that sound dangerous to anyone?"

  The colonel took the question. "Quan has been with us since the War of Wars. He has been nothing but loyal and trustworthy, giving us no reason to doubt his motives. Besides, he has safety circuits built in that prohibit devious or violent thought."

  Garrett continued to frown. "Motives can change. I just don't trust an intelligent machine that can replicate itself."

  Quan replied, "I am unable to replicate without permission and the best I could do in that instance is to reproduce myself as I am back on Gratis. I am sorry you view me as a threat, Garrett Rourke. I will have to work to gain your trust."

  Garrett waved his hand. "Don't make any special effort."

  The elevator door opened. A small robot pulled a cart with a robotic body lying on it.

  When the cart came to a stop I stood to look down on it. It was similar in form and stature to a Human, but obviously different. The arms and legs were slightly longer with the torso being much shorter. When stood up, the android would be exactly two meters tall.

  Frig walked over with the sphere. "Quan? Are you ready to transfer?"

  Quan replied, "Yes, thank you."

  Frig nodded. "Next time you see us it will be through your new eyes."

  As a last word, Quan replied, "I look forward to it."

  Frig pressed several buttons on his arm pad. A round hole opened in the top of the android's head. The sphere was inserted and the opening closed. Frig took a deep breath before pressing several more buttons and swiping away at a holo-display.

  "In nine hours, thirty-two minutes, Quan will have the freedom of an android body for the first time in two thousand years."

  Garrett chided, "Let's just hope this isn't a giant blunder. Our last experience with AIs didn't quite go as we'd hoped."

  Chapter 2

  * * *

  Tony stood in the center of our group. "I see only the colonel has one of the latest battle-suits. I can outfit each of you with one if so desired."

  Go eagerly nodded. "Over here! I'd love to have one again."

  Frig shook his head. "I would rather stay as I am, thank you. Please size and construct one for my associate, Kerba Skol. He may benefit from the health improvements it would bring."

  The colonel shook his head. "I don't understand. You could extend your life by years with one of these."

  Frig nodded. "That is true. Let's just say I have a proclivity for leaving things the way they should be. I have far outlived everyone I know except you. Even though I do not have a death wish, and I'm not looking to live forever, I have no interest in the BGS."

  Tony began to take scans of each of us. "Mr. Carson, I see you are healing from a recent spinal injury. If you care to follow me, after I've completed the scans, I may be able to expedite the healing process."

  Jack stood. "Really? Can you get any of my mobility back?"

  Tony nodded. "I believe we can restore you to 100 percent. And once we have you in a BGS suit, the issues with your eyesight should improve."

  Jack asked, "My eyes?"

  Tony said, "The eyes are particularly vulnerable during long periods in space with low or no gravity. I would presume you were on a ship for some period that had a gravity rating of 85 percent standard?"

  Jack replied, "For about four years."

  Tony smiled. "That would account for the astigmatism. The BGS will help your body resolve that issue."

  I said, "I never knew you had any issue."

  Jack shrugged. "Mostly affected my distance vision. And I can't say I've had a big need for that anyway. The holo-displays were all adjustable to account for it, so it wasn't a problem."

  Tony scanned my torso. "The BGS suit will improve the health of each of you. It may take weeks to feel or see the results, but they can be dramatic."

  Garrett raised his hand. "I thought I wasn't able to have a BGS. Has something changed?"

  Tony smiled. "Yes, you are here on Earth. We have the technology to make the n
eeded adjustments to your genetics. It will take longer before you see the benefits of the suit, but they will likely be more pronounced. If you want to follow me after the scans, I can see to it that your DNA has the necessary enhancements."

  Joni stepped in. "Uh, I read where there is an issue with sterility. Is that true?"

  The cloned human nodded. "Yes. If you wear the suit for two to three years, you will see a decline in your ability to conceive. Mr. Rourke will see a similar decline in his abilities as well. If the suit is removed for a period of at least six months, the effects will reverse themselves. If the wearer continues for five years or more without the break, the effect cannot be reversed."

  Joni half frowned. "OK, good to know."

  When the scans had been completed, Jack and Garrett followed Tony to another room. Jack was placed on a table and a robotic surgery was performed on his damaged bones and tissue. Garrett received a series of injections and was sent to a bed to sleep. He was assured the initial period of nausea would happen while he slept. He would awaken a new man.

  I stood by a window, looking out into the darkness. "I can't see anything out there."

  The colonel replied, "The Earth and its moon are surrounded by an enormous superstructure. The skin of the superstructure is an active sodium skin that remains on at all times. They have artificial sunlight that comes on for twelve hours, every twelve hours."

  The colonel looked at a timer. "We should have our simulated sunrise in about forty minutes. You should be able to see some spectacular views from this building. Grass plains for a couple kilometers in each direction, followed by heavy forests. The coast should be visible to the south and mountains to the north. The air will be some of the purest you have ever seen. It gets constantly filtered. The entire ecosystem of this planet is managed. It really is an incredible achievement in terraforming and environment management."

  Go stood beside me. "You can't see anything out there right now. How were they able to achieve such massive undertakings?"

  The colonel laughed. "They had bots. Still do. Not like the AIs we were fighting—much less intelligent, but very capable. They used the same technique of having the bots build more bots and then turning millions or billions of them loose on the task at hand. One of the many things I found incredible after first visiting here was the fact they could move this planet to wherever they wanted. I know it sounds crazy, but with the active skin, this entire planet loses the effects of inertia that come with its mass. The skin out there has Black Hole Drive technology built into it."

  Go shook his head. "I'm still having a hard time grasping that they are able to hide an entire planet."

  I asked, "Why wasn't the science of all this studied further? Imagine the discoveries that could have been made."

  The colonel chuckled. "Mr. Beutcher, can you imagine Harden Salton having this tech?"

  I half frowned. "I get what you're saying, Colonel. That's why it was all hidden away and why the people of the AMP were never encouraged to pursue any of those fields of study."

  The colonel raised an eyebrow. "Frankly, I'm surprised you people made it as long as you did without pushing the bounds of those discoveries. I have to wonder if the new generations have lost some of their intellectual curiosity. My generation, prior to the establishment of the AMP, wouldn't have let anything go undiscovered."

  Frig joined our discussion. "If any of you would like, I would be willing to give a tour of my lab here on Earth. I did initially pursue some of the science behind our discoveries. However, much of that research was shelved due to the time needed for raising and caring for a family."

  Go and Kerba stepped forward.

  Go said, "If you have anything mechanical or ship-related, I would be interested. Maybe I can take it back and work on it with the Talisans at the shipyards."

  Frig shook his head. "The items I have are not for use by the general public. They are items of war. Our best understanding of portals, ion amplifiers, weapons, genetics and other technologies are housed there. While some benefits could obviously be derived from their use, they can also be destructive when in the wrong hands. I would be willing to show you here for curiosity’s sake, but the technology cannot leave this planet. It's too dangerous."

  Go and Kerba left with Frig for a tour. I joined Garrett and Joni on the couches. The colonel decided to remain standing.

  Garrett asked, "So, you really think we got all the AIs?"

  The colonel replied, "No. Not even close. We took out maybe ten or twelve thousand ships. They had a much larger fleet. Where they went, I don't know. The Tamarin and Grunta tried to say they self-dismantled. I think they are either waiting just outside our space in the Yallux, or they are out terrorizing the remainder of that galaxy. I worry they may visit the Baldi."

  I said, "I've had the same thoughts, Colonel. Until and unless we sweep through that entire galaxy, there is no way to be certain. Maybe we should direct Quan to do that as a background task."

  Garrett pointed at the android body. "He's not doing anything for a while. And as far as that goes, who's monitoring the worlds in Yallux at the moment? It isn't Quan."

  Quan said, "I must apologize. I do maintain a minimum of processing ability as needed for the transfer. I will enable a portion to continue with the monitoring duties. The transfer will be slowed by several hours, a reasonable requirement."

  Garrett replied, "Can you let us know when the monitoring is fully online again?"

  Quan answered, "It is fully active now."

  The elevator doors opened and a bot pulled in a cart carrying three BGS suits and the gel needed to fill them.

  Tony walked back into the room. "Mr. Rourke, if you like we can begin with you. If you would care to disrobe, this suit on top has been sized for you."

  Garrett replied, "Uh, no. Can we do this in private?"

  Tony nodded. "Certainly. Please follow me."

  Several minutes later Garrett returned. "Yeah, I can see how this would chafe. Hope that gel does what you say it does."

  Joni laughed. "Oh, you need to get ready for funkytown. At first you'll feel disgusted, but give it a few hours and you'll be wondering how you ever lived without it. And once you blink out and start to power yourself around, you'll be singing a different tune."

  Tony hooked up a hose and the gel began to flow into the BGS suit.

  Garrett grimaced. "I see what you mean."

  Joni nodded. "Hold on. Wait until it starts circulating. And then wait again until the muscle stimulus system kicks on. Your brain will be asking the rest of your body to hold up until it can figure this all out. If you just let those feelings go, they will fade in short order."

  When the gel reached its prescribed volume, Tony turned to Joni. "Mrs. Rourke? You are next."

  Joni walked toward the room Garrett had changed in. "Come on, I'm not doing this out here. And I'll be needing a shower first."

  Tony nodded. "Perhaps we move on to Mr. Beutcher. Mrs. Rourke, if you follow the courier bot, I have re-tasked it to lead you to a change room where you may shower."

  Garrett reached for the cart. "I'll bring the suit for you."

  Joni stopped. "You aren't gonna wanna see this suit coming off. Sometimes the gel is a little nasty. Just leave it with the bot to carry. We'll be back in ten minutes."

  Garrett held up a hand as he stopped and turned back toward the couch. "Good to know. Will see you in ten."

  Tony held up a suit sized for a Grunta. "This would be yours, Mr. Beutcher."

  I replied, "Are you certain it's large enough?"

  Tony nodded. "It has elasticity. It will be a snug fit until the gel is added."

  I reached down, snapping off the clamps that held on my boots. Joni hadn't reached the far doorway before I began to remove the hardened trousers of my battle-suit.

  "Hey, at least wait until I'm out of the room, please."

  I held my position until she had gone through a doorway. The suit was snug, and stretched to reach over my shoulders
. I looked down at the ultra-thin material, wondering how it would ever protect anyone. I blinked several times involuntarily as the gel began to fill every nook and cranny.

  Garrett laughed. "A little different than what you were expecting, huh?"

  I looked around my body at the snug fitting form.

  The colonel crossed his arms. "You'll get used to it pretty quick."

  I asked, "What about my maul?"

  Tony looked at the device still attached to the back of my old suit. "I will have an engineer removed from stasis to evaluate the maul. Perhaps it can be coated with the active skin and linked to the suit."

  I said, "If I'm blinked out, what good will it be?"

  The colonel replied, "You can instantly adjust how active that skin is. At the lower levels you retain some interaction with the outer world. You would have to evaluate its usefulness by trial and error."

  I picked up the maul in my un-gloved hand.

  The colonel gestured toward the end of it. "Blink out, hold that thing out and then blink in. Whatever space it occupied will be cleared. I've more than once contemplated asking for an iron bar that was covered for that very purpose. If this works for you, I might have to revisit that."

  The colonel turned to face Tony. "Can I get a blaster to carry with me? When they brought me out of stasis, my old skin-enabled one wasn't there."

  Tony nodded as he spoke softly into his arm pad.

  As he turned back to face us, he said, "I'm having four brought up, and three additional units for Go, Mr. Kerba, and Mr. Carson."

  I took a deep breath. "I don't want to sound alarmist, but don't we have enough blasters out there already?"

  The colonel fielded the question. "These blasters will only function when connected to your BGS. They will draw power from your power cells. The amplifier and power tip are so integrated into the blaster that they would be almost impossible to remove. They also blink out when you blink out, and can be fired at full power just like the tungsten round of the coil gun. Believe me when I tell you this is something you will use."