Guardian Generations

by C. Osborne Rapley

“I’m sorry, I have been away from the company of Guardians for too long, please excuse me for my rudeness.”

  Tristain’s thought was short and blunt. Apology accepted this time, don’t do it again!

  Octavian cursed to himself. Things were not getting off to a good start with this new Guardian. He kneeled down by the sitting Mordavian.

  “Do you think it was the Cartigians who did this to your people?”

  “No, the technology was far too sophisticated for it to have been them. They just took advantage of our weakness. Our intelligence, while it was still effective, discovered the same enzyme in the water supply of some of their outlying colonies. Even the Cartigians are not stupid enough to poison their own water supply!”

  The Mordavian lapsed into silence, and the vacant expression returned. Octavian stood and turned to Tristain.

  “We need to go to the Mordavian home world and see whether the planetary AI is still active. If not, there is another race on the same direction from here, a little further out. They were called the Facillians I believe. Maybe their AI will still be functioning.”

  A frown crossed Tristain’s brow. “I have been trying to locate Earth as the records of its whereabouts have been lost. I believe we were close when we happened upon an unmanned probe. It had taken a prisoner from Earth. Unbelievably the prisoner turned out to be my cousin, the son of my father’s sister. My father was the first person for millennia with the capability of communicating with the AIs. He has brought many races together, revived their AIs and brought some stability to our sector of the galaxy. My brothers and sister have the same capabilities, but we are the only ones. That is the reason I was looking for Earth. We need more Guardians!”

  She paused for a moment. “I wonder if the snatching of my human… sorry, Lantian cousin, has something to do with all of this?”

  Octavian shook his head, and his mind raced. “The best course of action is to locate a functioning AI. She may be able to see a pattern in what is going on.”

  It was Octavian’s turn to fall silent. He suddenly remembered something Tristain had said. “Just a moment ago you said, ‘we were looking for Earth’. Is there someone else with you?”

  “No, just a figure of speech. I’m accompanied by an avatar of a planet’s AI – my father insisted. Unfortunately, the distance is too great for her to link with the AI properly.”

  Tristain glanced out of the cellar’s high grimy window. “It looks like night is falling, we should return to my ship first thing in the morning. We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves by being the only ones on the road at night.”

  Octavian agreed. He opened some tins of food, and they settled down on the floor to eat. The Mordavian just picked at hers. Tristain sent a quick thought to Octavian using his tactical computer to form the words.

  I am concerned about her, it is apparent she has been under significant stress. I will give her a sedative when we return to my ship.

  Octavian brought his attention back from what he was doing. Yes, it will probably be the best thing to do. He glanced side long at Tristain and returned to his train of thought. He wondered why it was forbidden for Lantians to mate with the other races. There had to be a reason. He rose, wedged the door to the cellar closed, wished his companions good night and lay down to sleep. He didn’t fall to sleep immediately, the question of why kept going round and round in his mind. His mixed feeling of repulsion and attraction was disconcerting, and it was a while before he managed to drift off into a troubled sleep.

  He was woken by a flash of light and a clatter. He activated his armour almost automatically and switched on his helmet light. The light from Tristain’s helmet cut through the darkness simultaneously. The Mordavian lay in a heap to one side, a pool of blood forming around her. She had stolen one of Octavian’s laser pistols and blown half of her own head away.

  Tristain gasped, “Oh for fuck sake, I didn’t think she was suicidal!”

  Octavian looked puzzled. “What did you say?”

  “Sorry, it was my father’s language, English.”

  Octavian and Tristain went over to the stricken Mordavian. There was nothing they could do. Tristain threw an old piece of carpet over her, which was lying near to where she had fallen, and knelt down by the covered body.

  “Poor woman, I sincerely hope she is not the last of her kind.” She shook her head stood then handed Octavian back his laser.

  “You need to take more care of your weapons, Guardian.”

  Octavian had left the laser loose by his side so he could grab it quickly, but this was the last thing he expected to happen. He shook his head; it seemed that since meeting this Tristain, things were conspiring to make him look stupid.

  “I think it is light enough for us…” Tristain stopped in mid sentence and was silent for a moment. “There is a problem; I have just been contacted by my AI – my cousin has disappeared. I have told her to move the ship if it is safe to do so. Hopefully, the power surge will not be detected among all the electronic clutter on the planet’s surface. We must return quickly before the ship is discovered. I have the new location coordinates on my tactical computer.”

  Octavian quickly removed the barricade against the door and they stepped out into the dawn.

  Eleven: A Trap is Baited

  James woke, put his hand to his head and groaned, vivid memories that were not his flashed through his mind. He shook his head trying to make sense of them. The ache increased. He relaxed and let the events in his head run their course. He was in a classroom; Cassiopeia was in front of him. She stood and told him about his new abilities and how to use them. She seemed to concentrate on how to hold a telepathic shield.

  The ache in his head started to subside. He looked round – he was in another cell similar to the one Tristain had rescued him from.

  He reviewed his new memories and cautiously opened his mind as he had been taught. It felt a little like slowly opening his eyes and glancing around through his lashes. First there was nothing, then suddenly he felt a presence – it was a machine, a computer. The word seemed to form in his head almost as if he were hearing it out loud.

  Identify?

  James quickly blocked the machine as he had been taught. It was like holding the machine at arm’s length. He felt sweat beading on his brow and while holding the machine away he searched again. He felt many presences, some were blank. Just like an empty page, James thought.

  There were other minds; however, which were active; James guessed there must be at least a hundred of them. He cautiously touched one gently using the technique he found in his memory. He shivered involuntarily and attempted to bring order to his whirling mind. He knew his teaching was not real, but the memories were there as plainly as if they had happened. He clenched the side of the bunk he was lying on, as reality and synthetic memories spun in his head. He felt sick, but breathing deeply, the cool air cleared the nausea that had threatened to engulf him. He swallowed several times and closed his eyes. His head started to clear, and he tried to order the memories he knew were not his. He resolved to regard them as real, that way he could cope with the information, and hopefully the nausea would not return.

  He cautiously opened his mind again, this time concentrating on the closest active mind. It was ordered and shielded. He could feel emotions and vague concepts of what they were doing, but when he felt deeper there was a barrier. James pictured it in his mind’s eye as a brick wall he could not cross. The mind he was looking at was not yet aware of his presence. He pushed gently against the wall, increasing the pressure little by little until the wall in his mind’s eye seemed to bend a little. He suddenly got a vague impression that the person was becoming aware of the pressure. He broke the contact and lay still and quiet, listening with his mind. He kept thinking random thoughts as Cassiopeia had shown him so as to mask his new abilities.

  The cell door suddenly swung open and a tall, dark, cold-eyed woman stood silhouetted against the light from the corridor beyond. James sat
up and swung his legs round to the floor to face her. He could see she held what looked like a pistol in her hand. She spoke and made a gesture with the pistol, clearly indicating she wanted him to stand. She stepped backwards out the door and waved the muzzle of the pistol, and it was obvious she wanted him to walk out in front of her. With his new found abilities James could also sense what she wanted. There was also an underlying feeling from her of loathing. James stepped out into the corridor and felt the woman poke the pistol into the small of his back. He walked forward following the corridor. Once they came to an intersection, she said something James did not understand and waved the pistol indicating she wanted him to turn to the left. James noted there were several corridors – he glanced down one once resulting in a sharp jab of the pistol in his back.

  This was obviously a far larger ship than Tristain’s had been. The corridor ended in what appeared to be an open lift platform. The woman pushed with the gun, indicating he was required to step onto the platform. James did as she required and turned to face the woman with clenched fists. He had been taught not to hit a woman – but for this arrogant cold-eyed bitch he could quite happily make an exception. He gritted his teeth and held his temper; she was after all the one holding the gun. If she sensed what he was thinking she showed no sign, she just kept the pistol levelled at his midriff.

  The lift stopped on a large bridge. The woman moved behind him and pushed him forward with the muzzle of the gun. The bridge crew turned and stared. James sensed an undertone of emotions from them all, the primary one being contempt. He glanced round; there were more women than men and the men seemed smaller than the women. The Captain stood and turned towards him. At the same time, she beckoned over an officer standing at a console to the left. James noted that most of the women were as tall as he was, and he was over 6ft. There was a short conversation between the Captain and the officer. He could sense from the overtone of emotions in the conversation that there was a feeling of reluctance on the part of the officer. She turned towards James. Her dark eyes suddenly struck him; he sensed a flash of anger and wondered what he had done.

  She spoke in halting English, “Welcome, Jamestaylor. The Captain wishes to apologise for abducting you and wishes to know whether you are comfortable in your cabin.”

  James almost laughed out loud. It was the last thing he had expected to hear. He thought for a moment. “Give the Captain my compliments, and please tell her I object to being abducted – and the cabin looks like a cell!”

  The officer looked uncomfortable. She turned to the Captain and spoke with her. James could tell from her emotions she had not exactly translated what he had said. He toyed with the idea of challenging her but thought better of it as it would give his new found abilities away.

  The officer turned back to him. He looked her straight in the eye and felt her sudden anger as she took a couple of paces towards him, raising her hand as if to slap him across the face. The Captain spoke sharply to her. She reluctantly lowered her hand and stepped back.

  With a voice that was shaking with barely concealed anger she said, “The Captain is concerned you think your cabin is a cell. She has changed the arrangements. The Empress has ordered that you are treated well.”

  James’s reply was sarcastic. “Oh, that’s nice. Tell the Captain I am grateful for her consideration.”

  The sarcasm was lost on the officer. She turned to the Captain and spoke a few words. The Captain nodded and with a wave of her hand they were dismissed. The officer carefully walked towards the lift, keeping as far away from James as possible. She spoke to the guard, who holstered her pistol and stood to one side.

  The officer turned back to James. “Please follow me, Jamestaylor. Do not try to escape as I am armed.” She patted the pistol at her hip. “You will not get far and there is nowhere you can go anyway.”

  James conceded the point. He did not have a clue where he was, and he knew there was no way off a ship in deep space.

  He stepped on the lift with the officer, deliberately moving close to her. She shivered and stepped back to the edge of the platform. The lift went down several decks and stopped opposite a large corridor. As they moved down the corridor, a male crewman was coming in the opposite direction. He was a good half a head shorter than James and his escort. As they approached he stepped to one side and lowered his eyes.

  They walked down the corridor past several doors. The woman suddenly stopped by one and put her hand on a panel. The door slid to one side with a gentle hiss. They stepped through the door into a spacious cabin. There was a large window on the far wall, and the view made James catch his breath. What he assumed were stars formed rainbow streaks across a vast velvet backdrop. The woman turned at his gasp.

  “Is there something wrong, Jamestaylor?”

  “No, it’s the view – it’s beautiful!”

  “It is only the stars distorted by warped space; it is nothing special. Please sit down.”

  She motioned to a curved couch situated on the wall by the viewing window. James sat down. She sat down on the section curving away from the wall so she could face him.

  The woman looked at her hands. James felt it was almost possible to cut the atmosphere with a knife.

  “I have been assigned to you for the rest of our voyage. I am to teach you about us and our ways and ensure you do not come to any harm. Your quarters have been changed on orders from the Captain. These are my quarters. I have been ordered to double up with one of the other officers. You will be locked in during the sleep period and are not to be left alone during the ship’s daylight time.”

  James noticed her shudder and sensed her undisguised loathing and hatred. He almost felt sorry for her.

  “How long is this voyage going to be?”

  “Three months.” She shuddered again.

  “May I ask your name?”

  She looked surprised. “Oh I am sorry; it is Ilithyia.”

  “Well, Ilithyia, I would like to know why I am here?”

  “We need your help in our holy crusade. The Empress has requested your presence. She wishes to discuss this with you in person. I am not allowed to go into detail.”

  “Can you at least tell me what the holy crusade is?”

  “Yes of course: it is to rid the galaxy of the filthy synthetic life forms.”

  “Synthetic life forms?”

  “Yes, there is only one intelligent natural life form in the galaxy – us.”

  “What about my people?”

  “You are descended from Lantians, you displaced the synthetics that were on the planet you call Earth.”

  “Why was I chosen?”

  “There are only a handful of people on your planet with the necessary capabilities and genetic key. That is all I can say; the Empress will explain it all to you. Personally I would have been more specific with the probe’s programming to ensure it only selected a female. It is unfortunate a mere male was taken.” It seemed to James that she managed to put a lifetime of contempt into the word ‘male’.

  “So men are second-class citizens in your society?”

  “Second-class citizens? No, they are property! You have to learn to act accordingly.” Her voice rose, and James noted the edge of indignation and anger in her emotions. “You should step to one side as a woman approaches and keep your eyes lowered. Never look a woman in the eye. It is not permitted!” Her voice had risen almost to a shout.

  James looked her straight in the eye and smiled. “That’s tough then!”

  She pulled her pistol. James flushed, and for a moment he thought she was actually going to shoot him.

  “I don’t think the Empress would be too pleased if you were to shoot me, Ilithyia.” He held his breath; maybe he had pushed her too far.

  The gun wavered; James sensed the turmoil of emotions. She holstered the pistol, stood and walked out of the cabin locking the door behind her.

  James sighed and let out his breath. His shoulders ached, and he lifted them several times to ease the ten
sion. He stood and walked round the cabin. It was designed for two people. He assumed it was officer’s quarters as Ilithyia was a bridge officer. There were two small alcoves with a bunk in each off the main lounge, with curtains across the opening for a semblance of privacy. He quickly checked all the cupboards, scanning the area with his mind simultaneously. He felt the presence of a personal computer. There was no logon restriction, and he linked with it easily; a quick menu search told him that the computer was full of useful information. It also had translation function that would directly translate any language in his mind. He felt his heart race as he heard footsteps in the corridor outside.

  He swore quietly under his breath, “Where is the bloody thing?”

  The footfalls stopped outside the cabin door just as James found the small pocket-size device. He put it into his pocket and sat down at the same time as the door opened. Ilithyia stepped into the cabin. She was clearly upset; she looked at James suspiciously then shook her head. She stopped in front of James, her legs slightly apart and her hands on her hips. It suddenly occurred to James that she was rather pretty, if a little too slim. Her dark eyes flashed with the emotions he sensed from her.

  “I tried to get you reassigned, but the Captain has insisted you are my responsibility. I have warned the rest of the crew about your lack of manners, and they should ignore your rudeness.”

  James inclined his head. “Thank you, that is most kind.”

  “I have arranged that meals will be brought to us here to avoid you causing any offence in the officers’ mess until you are trained.”

  “Is there an exercise area, or am I simply confined to quarters?”

  “We are permitted one hour a day in the…” she spoke a word James didn’t understand.

  She stood looking down at him. He felt the swirling emotions; the hatred and revulsion and something else she was struggling to keep submerged. He wasn’t used to being able to sense emotions this way. The tension between them was almost electric. He was attracted and repelled by her at the same time. He tried to shut her out of his mind, knowing well enough if he were to get too close or even touch her she would almost certainly shoot him and to hell with orders and the wishes of the Empress.