by T. R. Harris
“I don’t know exactly. All I can tell you is what Zee told me.”
“That’s fine; I’ll extrapolate from there,” said Panur.
“According to Zee, the Aris are long-term thinkers, and I mean really long-term, like in the billions of years. With their world about to be destroyed, they sought another place where they could pass the time. It couldn’t be on a planet, because the parent star would continue to wander throughout the galaxy, taking them into regions where other beings might discover them. Planets are also subject to natural forces, with even the possibility of collisions with other objects. So according to Zee, they built an artificial world, one that they could control to maintain a somewhat stationary position, even as the galaxy changed around them.”
Panur frowned. “I don’t understand their reasoning. They could travel to any world at will, avoiding contact, if that’s what they wanted. And even then, as they evolved, contact with other species would have been a cause for study and experimentation, if not complete dismissal. Unless….”
Adam nodded. “They didn’t continue to evolve.”
J’nae came over to where the small group was huddled. “They have not evolved over these past three billion years?” She appeared almost in a panic.
“Will you stop reading my mind,” Adam pleaded.
“I cannot read your mind; I told you that. Yet I can anticipate your thoughts—and I have exceptional hearing. Explain more about the Aris.”
“There’s not much more. Zee said they began a lot of experiments way back when and they wanted to see them come to fruition. They thought that if they continued to evolve, they would lose interest in the results, making their efforts a waste of time and energy. So they found a way to suspend their evolution, at least until a trigger was reached. According to Zee, Lila was the trigger.”
“But they could have achieved so much more,” J’nae protested.
“Perhaps not,” Panur countered. “Once a civilization has survived for a million years, boredom is sure to set in. Things that once seemed important are not so much any longer. J’nae, you and I have only just begun our journey and already we are desperate for new stimulation, new challenges. Imagine what we will be like in a million years? There wouldn’t be much more to do except evolve. And into what, more cerebral beings who do nothing but think? We are creatures of action, of touch, feel and stimulation. Imagine life without such things.”
“I would like to.”
“You are still young, with so much life ahead of you. Use your mind to imagine being detached from all things you can now experience. It would be like…death.”
J’nae’s eyes turned emotionless as she stared at Panur, ignoring the penetrating glare from Sherri. Death was what J’nae was seeking, according to what Sherri had told Adam. Perhaps an eternity of evolution would allow a being to achieve a type of living death, another plane of existence detached from this world by billions of years. The Aris had that opportunity, yet they chose not to take it.
“I know now why the Aris chose the path they did,” Panur said softly. “They didn’t want to die.”
“You refer to death as we define it,” J’nae continued to protest. “The Aris definition could be different. Why would this existence even matter if we evolve beyond it?”
Panur considered his creation for a moment, studying her face and her words. “Because, J’nae, we have no choice but to live within this existence. For us, evolution is not an option.”
Adam was surprised by the statement. “You mean for you and J’nae…and Lila?”
“Yes, my friend, that is exactly who I refer to. Mortal beings continue to evolve through the ages. It’s a process that cannot be stopped, unless you possess the intellect of the Aris. This force of nature—of existence—is what has brought us to this point in time.”
“I did not evolve; I was created,” said J’nae with defiance, even anger.
“You were created…to be immortal. Consider what immortally is: It is the continuation of a system without change, while evolution creates immortally through change.”
“Damn, that’s heavy?” Sherri said, intrigued by the discussion.
Panur continued. “An immortal being has no need for evolution. The system will continue without the need for life-sustaining modification. Mortal creatures require evolution to create more durable, stronger and intelligent individuals to guarantee the system’s overall survival. Evolution is nature’s answer to immortality. It allows for the continuation of the system, while sacrificing the individual. What would an immortal creature be who continues to evolve? At that point, evolution becomes like a cancer, allowing the immortal to evolve into something else, possibly negating the immortality. J’nae, you and I do not need to evolve. As individuals, we have already achieved the objective of all life in the universe, a self-sustaining system for all eternity.”
“So for all the advancement of the Aris, they are not immortal?” Trimen asked.
“Exactly,” Panur said. “They’re still mortal beings who must evolve to ever-higher levels to assure survival of the system. It may appear as though they’ve achieved immortality, but that’s only an illusion. They could have developed incredibly long life-spans, long enough to where even evolution might play a part in their demise, but it would not be true immortality, not like we have achieved.” He turned sad eyes on J’nae.
“So in a billion years—”
“We will be exactly as we are today.”
At that moment, Adam sincerely hoped J’nae couldn’t read his mind, because he just came to a startling revelation. A person who could live forever without changing— without ever moving on to bigger and better things—would eventually go insane, and maybe sooner rather than later.
Panur smiled. “Let us move beyond all these philosophical musings and get on to the matter at hand. Where is this artificial world built by the Aris?”
“Zee said it was in the same area of space as their homeworld—or where it had been three billion years ago.”
“And where is that?”
“He didn’t say.”
There was a long moment of silence until broken by Trimen. “Then there is no hope of finding Lila,” the Formilian said. His tanned face was a shade or two darker, reflecting the anger and frustration he felt. “I thought we would learn and then begin a journey of rescue. What have we achieved for all our efforts and intellectual exercises?”
“I’m sorry, Trimen. This is all I know. Remember, I want to find her as much as you do.”
Adam caught notice of Panur’s intense, steady stare…at nothing.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked the mutant.
“The Aris home planet was destroyed three billions years ago,” Panur began. “In that time, the galaxy has continued to swirl and the stars migrate, yet we should be able to reverse time by following star tracks backwards and place them in their positions at the time the Aris star consumed the planet. Then we simply look for cosmic events that would destroy a system.”
“Where do we begin looking?” Riyad asked. “I’m sure you and J’nae can backtrack the stars—probably in your heads—and then we’d have the galaxy as it looked three billion years ago. But I can imagine there would be a lot of supernovas occurring at any given time. Which one would be the Aris star?”
“But the Aris star didn’t die as a supernova,” Panur countered. “For the Aris to evolve to the point where a civilization could exist for a million years, their planet had to be located in very a stable system, and not within one containing a massive star whose life would be measuring in millions of years, not billions. Contrary to your statement, Riyad, such supernova events are rare in the galaxy. The Aris star would have died in a much smaller event.”
“And more common,” Sherri pointed out, “which would make the search even harder.”
“Wait!” Adam exclaimed, catching everyone’s attention. “I have it.” It was so simple. He glanced at the anxious faces and smiled.
; “Any time, Adam, we’re waiting,” Sherri said.
“Zee!”
“What about her?”
“We know where she was found—”
“That’s correct,” interrupted Panur. “We simply project back using fragments of the Aris home planet in which the orb was found, eventually reaching the point of origin. From there we search the region for an artificial structure.” Panur said, stealing some—all—of Adam’s thunder.
“That’s right,” Adam grumbled.
“Using even a minimal movement track of the fragments we can extrapolate from there.” Panur placed a hand on Adam’s shoulder. “Very good, my friend, there’s hope for you after all.”
“So where was the object found?” J’nae asked.
“I don’t really know,” Adam admitted, “but the Incus do! They’re the ones who found it—her.”
“Please set course for Incus, J’nae,” Panur ordered.
“Difficult,” J’nae replied. “I have no navigational charts for the galaxy aboard this vessel.”
“It’s in the Kidis Frontier, near where we—I had my palace.”
“Recall, Panur, this is my first venture into this galaxy.”
“I will guide you.”
“Aren’t you forgetting about something…like the damn Nuoreans?” Riyad pointed out. “We have to let the galaxy know about them, where they’re located and that more ships have arrived. Besides, do you think it’s wise to go up against the Aris with just us, even if we do have our two mutant friends with us? Having superpowers didn’t help Lila.”
“He’s right,” said Adam. “Also, with more ships we can search the area faster. And it wouldn’t hurt to have more firepower should the Aris not give up Lila voluntarily.”
“We don’t have time,” Panur stated. “We’re going straight there.”
“Now look who has the death wish,” Sherri said.
“Why the rush?” Adam asked. He wanted to save Lila just as much as the next guy, but there was something Panur wasn’t telling them.
All eyes were on Panur, all except J’nae’s. She was already at the control station.
Begrudgingly, Panur continued. “Have you wondered why the Aris were so anxious to take Lila—why she was the trigger for their awakening?”
Adam shrugged.
“Consider our prior conversation. The Aris are seeking to avoid evolution—yet still live forever. The only way they can do that is to become truly immortal—like Lila.”
“They want to…use her, learn from her—or what?” Adam asked.
“I don’t know,” said the mutant. “But whatever they do, it will involve some violation of Lila. I find that prospect difficult to accept.”
“Me too,” said Adam.
“As do I,” Trimen added.
Sherri cleared her throat for effect. “We still have the little problem of the Nuoreans. You promised to help.”
Panur leaned back in his chair. “Yes, I did, and I have. Adam is free.”
“But now we’re rushing off in a stolen enemy warship to the other side of the galaxy,” Riyad countered, “on a trip that will take us a couple of months just to get there. In the meantime, the invaders are bringing in more units to the Milky Way with every intention of eventually making all of us pieces in their games of life or death. I hate to say this, but Lila is just one person. And what if the Aris do find the Fountain of Youth in her? Would that be such a bad thing? And you have to admit, we don’t have any idea if we could stop them even if we find her.” He paused to look into the faces of Adam and Trimen. “We have to have priorities, at least in the short-term. Let’s deal with the Nuoreans first, then we go after Lila.”
Now all eyes turned to Panur again. Adam had a pretty good idea J’nae didn’t give a damn anymore, now that she knew the Aris weren’t three billion years more advanced than before. Only Panur needed convincing.
“I will give you thirty days, after which I go and J’nae with me. You will then have to face the Nuoreans alone.”
“That’s what we’d be doing if you went after her now,” Sherri said. “So thanks. It’s better than nothing.”
“Now that a consensus has been reached…what do we do?” asked Trimen. He—like Adam—was torn between his personal priorities and duty to his race and galaxy. But Riyad made sense.
Panur stared off into space for a moment before answering. “As with any flood—be it water or invaders—it’s always best to shut off the supply first, after which the cleanup can begin. Seeing that we are currently heading farther into the Radis Spur, let us see if we can find that source, if only to inform your forces for further action. Will that satisfy your priorities?”
“It does mine,” Riyad said. He turned to J’nae. “Can this ship establish comm links with the Expansion or the Union…or anyone on our side?”
“The Nuoreans are interconnected among all their units, with communications monitored by a central command. If we attempt contact, they will know. Our location will be revealed and the information we relay become known.”
“This ship seems to be the problem,” Adam concluded. “We need to find another one, and something built in this galaxy.”
“If we could locate such a vessel, I could modify it for limited trans-dimensional hops. That would quicken our journey to Incus,” Panur offered.
“You can’t modify this one?” Trimen asked.
“Not without a supply of compatible native parts from other Nuorean vessels,” J’nae answered.
“So we need to find a nearby shipyard with a good supply of Milky Way parts and pieces.” Riyad concluded. “What’s around here? I thought this place was sparsely populated, with just a bunch of low-life drug dealers and gun runners killing each other for sport.”
“I do not have access to any local information,” J’nae said, “not in this vessel.”
“Another reason to find a replacement,” Adam said. “Do you have any navigational information at all?”
“Very little. What there is has been fed from the central command.”
“This is weird, flying blind in our own galaxy. Okay, let’s start making sweeps of some of the more promising nearby star systems. There has to be life around here somewhere, and someone with a map we can borrow.”
56
He’d come to the Radis Spur for his health, not to stick his neck out just to have it sliced in two by some alien’s ceremonial sword. This new race of invaders—the Nuoreans—were proving they didn’t give a damn what species you belonged to or whether or not you’d aligned with any of the galactic empires. They’d take anyone captive to play in their silly alien games.
Copernicus Smith was having a hard enough time dealing with the locals. These guys were badass hombres—gun runners and drug pushers—and he’d spent over a year getting them to trust him. Along the way he’d broken about a dozen major laws proving his cred—and now the Union big wigs want him to throw it all away and go out looking for these aliens from Andromeda.
But as they say, his job wasn’t to reason why, just do and die. It was that last part he was having a problem with.
The entire region was abuzz with news of the Nuoreans. Although the Spur was the badlands of the galaxy, it still had CW communications, so they knew of the alien raid on Formil and the missing head-mutant, Lila. They’d also heard of the ill-fated battle between Milky Way and Andromeda forces and rumors of how the aliens were grabbing people to play in their life-or-death games. And now his crews and clients were reporting that there was an almost-continuous train of new alien ships chugging in from the outer regions of the Spur.
Dutifully, he’d passed along these reports to his handlers. But now they wanted him to go out and take a look for himself. And if that wasn’t enough, they also wanted him find out how they’re getting in…and shut it down. That’s all. Just a walk in the galactic park.
It had been two years since Copernicus left the Kidis Frontier, content to set up shop about as far from Earth as he could, with the in
tention of never running into the vengeful Adam Cain or Riyad Tarazi ever again. The super-secret intel service he worked for had supplied him with the resources and a decent legend to do just that. His new base-of-operations wasn’t as pretty or tropical as his last one—in fact he was right in the shit with all the other bad boys—on the planet Crisen-Por and the city of Grack. Hell, the planet wasn’t even on the standard navigation charts. But the criminal elements knew the place, and now they came to him for starship repair services and spare parts, accepting him into their fold out of necessity. A good mechanic was always welcomed, even if he was a Human.
Copernicus did most of the repairs himself these days, while sending his crews out to scour the Spur for derelict starships. Parts were hard to come by this far out, so they had to make do with what they could find floating in space. Since arriving, Radis Repair Services had filled a needed niche in the local economy, making Copernicus Smith a local favorite among the eclectic mix of personalities in Grack and other establishments in the Spur.
But now everyone was running scared. The bad guys didn’t have a place to go to avoid the invaders—they were wanted beings in the Galaxy proper. Most just cut back on their operations, staying close to the settled star systems and their host planets. Even Copernicus recalled his crews. It was too dangerous for them to go bolting through space these days, not until the crisis cooled down.
Although the main alien transit route was only twenty light-years from Crisen-Por, none of the enemy ships had blessed them with a visit. In fact, none of the local worlds in the Radis had been hit. The aliens appeared to have other locales in their sights, those farther into the galaxy.
Copernicus was out in his shipyard, bundled against the cold and taking a quick mental inventory of what he had available for his mission of clandestine discovery. He had a working cruiser—a Belsonian D-4. It was about five hundred feet long with dual generators capable of reaching seven-light. Not bad, but it also left a pretty bright grav sig in its wake. It also required a crew of three to run it.