Coeus?

by Andur

  Gideon returns my embrace. “Long time no see. But I hope that will change in the future? We have to meet more often with me settled down on Aether. I hope you two stay here while the colony goes on its mission? And how's business going Paul?”

  “As smooth as ever, Gideon.” Paul answers. “You warned my company in time about the new technology. We were the first ones who jumped onto the new train, though it looks like fusion reactors will still stay a lot cheaper than the anti-matter tech. Fusion reactors are smaller and cleaner, so there is no real reason for us to lose the market completely. It will simply shift to smaller applications. The only reason to use anti-matter is having to supply big ships and installations which need a lot of energy.”

  I take a seat next to Cyla. “And of course we'll stay on Aether. StarDrive got tasked with the installation of the new teleportation network. We'll take four of the big shipyards with us to have everything at hand that's needed. Paul and I will play the supervisors for the project.”

  Paul's eyes start glowing with greed. “Think of all the money we can make once we start taking fees from other species in exchange for using our network. Communication, transportation; they'll throw their resources at us once we get in place at the strategically important locations.”

  56. ~Stopover.~

  “

  First node connection: Sol - Antares

  ”

  -Project report 25-26533

  Antares, Asteroid Habitat

  Ilin Kleio

  “It's so huge. How did they build something like this. It's fourteen? Fifteen clicks in diameter?” I admire the city which appeared out of nowhere just a few hours ago. The disc-shaped platform is settled with a real city. It looks like the mages simply cut one of their cities out of a planet's surface and lifted it to space. A transparent dome in the shape of a diamond covers the entire settled area. I wonder why they didn't settle the other side of the disc too?

  Then there are the four tubular structures which are accompanying Aether. Immediately after their arrival they began to produce parts for something much bigger. “I want to go over there.”

  This is the chance I've been waiting for, but our diplomats are such incompetent idiots and the aliens obviously aren't trusting us for whatever reason. First they denied us access to their systems. Then they refused to trade.

  And now I've one of their settlements directly in front of me and all I can do is watching it from afar with a telescope. “It's like they are taunting me. Normally they cloak everything they have, but this one they show us openly. They are dangling the treat in front of me, but just out of reach.”

  “They are hiding something.” Ayo muses at my side. “Their diplomats are very good in diverting your people's attention. They openly show you this city and the fleet which is accompanying it, but at the same time they have something else behind their backs.”

  I turn to look at the Zeen. “How so?”

  Ayo gestures at the four structures. “They are building something huge. But where are the materials for it coming from? It seems like they are teleporting them from somewhere else.”

  I shrug, not understanding him. “That seems to be within their capabilities. The only thing that really worries us is that they are arming the new structure to the teeth.”

  “They could have built it somewhere else if they wanted to use it against the Forlorn. There is no sense in building it here where you can see and easily reach it.” Ayo answers. “It's nonetheless a provocation that they are intending to put your people in face of of finished results. I want to know what they are up to.”

  Antares, Aether

  Gideon

  “We are intending to invest the time and resources to create a single transportation route from Sol to the centre of the galaxy.” Paul explains.

  I tilt my head, not understanding the strategy behind it. “Didn't you mention that you want to take over all the strategically important places?”

  “Yes, of course. But a project of this scale has certain risks involved. It's important for us to have a fast way to travel to the centre. But everything else is just useless expenditure at the moment. Of course we'll connect important systems when the chance arises, but that will only be out of opportunity.” The leader of StarDrive gestures at the map of the galaxy which is displayed above my office table.

  “This project is like building the first railway. We'll invest in the transportation line which we need and everyone else can take a look at it and test it.” Paul's expression turns into a grin and he rubs his fingers. “Everyone else who wants to be connected to the network has to pay.”

  I nod in understanding. “So you want them to pay for their nodes. The Forlorn are just lucky to get one for free since we need it too. But why do you don't want to tell them before the complete installation is in place?”

  “We don't even know if it works. This is a prototype. Why should we jump into the cold water if we don't have to? It's the first rule of business to not talk about unfinished projects.” Paul spreads out his hands. “Once we are connected to the node back in Sol and have teleported a few ships we can tell them.”

  I nod slowly, understanding his point. “I see where you are coming from, though the technology seems solid. Even though we've just scaled up the product. There is nothing new about what we are doing. But I guess it's better to be safe than looking stupid later on.”

  Our relationship with the aliens is still based on the fact that we have some capabilities which they lack. It's important to demonstrate that we are the ones who are in a position of strength.

  That is the reason why the elders aren't willing to let the Forlorn anywhere near Sol. If they find out that our species is currently restricted to a single star system they might get stupid ideas. Well, maybe not the Forlorn themselves but the Zeen or any of the others out there.

  “Right.” Paul stands up and corrects his attire. “If you excuse me then? I've a lot of things to do and places to be. No rest for the manager.”

  I wish him goodbye and we shake hands, then Paul retreats and leaves me alone in my office.

  Without any further visitors who need my attention I decide to do some administration. The crew for the fleet of a hundred ships and fifty battle stations need a regular schedule to take a little time off. That's the main reason why Aether is coming along for the trip. There is no mage who would willingly go on a mission for over a year without having some place to relax.

  Pilots are a little more hardened in that regard, but we've a whole bunch of diplomats and scientists along for the ride.

  My work is interrupted by an unexpected call from Sadina. I ponder for several moments if I should take the call. How did she manage to encode a secure connection when we aren't in Sol? Deciding that I'll never find out if I don't talk to her I answer. “Yes.”

  Sadina's Avatar appears in front of me. “Congratulations! To you marriage and to your new ability!”

  “You are late.” I answer with a dry voice.

  “Aw! So sorry. I thought it would be good to give you a little privacy. And it wasn't easy to set up a safe communication through the node network. With Aether so far away from Sol only the biggest quantum computers can create reliable connections.” She purses her lips. “It was actually quite complicated to find a way to hide my tracks. But it's worth the effort. One year! To think I could go one year without talking to my only son. Unthinkable!”

  I wouldn't have a problem with that. “So why are you calling?”

  “I just wanted to ask, how is it?” She places both her hands in a praying gesture.

  I can't help but raise an eyebrow. “How is what?”

  “Being pure energy. Becoming one with the machine in mind and body.” She starts hopping up and down. “Have you tried again since then? I tell you, it was one hell of a problem to encode that ability in your gene pattern. I honestly wasn't sure if you would simply go up in a nuclear explosion.”

  I stare for several moments at the being which I sh
ould call my mother. Then I shake my head. “I didn't find that state to be very comfortable and the lack of energy in the environment made me revert back rather fast.”

  Sadina drops her hands in disappointment. “I had hoped it would be an enlightening moment. All my research and efforts were aimed at a higher form of techno-magic.”

  It was indeed very pleasurable and I felt very powerful, but I certainly don't want to spend my life as a disembodied energy being. After I had time to think about it I am of the opinion that, by somehow returning automatically to my physical form, I used up all my luck for the next century.

  Sadina recovers on her own. “Well, no matter. The main project is still on track and manipulating the media worked perfectly fine.”

  I feel my left eyelid starting to twitch. “Manipulating the media?” What the hell did she do?

  “Yes, you have no idea how hard it was to talk certain announcers into saying the correct things. I even had to take down channel one for a few minutes, just to stop them from representing you in a false light.” She shrugs. “But after having their bank accounts scrubbed clean they were very cooperative.”

  How did she do that? There wasn't even a word in the... oooh. It would be stupid to assume that the media would announce anything about being controlled by a mad techno-mage. 'Stupid be they would', as Yoda would say.

  “I am beginning to see you as more than a slight threat to me. Why aren't the elders and the faceless all over you.” I grumble.

  Sadina makes a dismissive gesture with her hand. “They are always trying, but their efforts are wasted. If there is something I am good at then it's hiding my tracks in the network. Even that old fart Sanguin isn't able to trace me and he has full access to the main frame. Imagine what would happen if I ever got access to that much computational power. All the things I could do.”

  Imagine what I could do if I ever got that much access. I would surely be able to triangulate your position and then... “Then let's be happy that you don't have that level of access.” Maybe I should really try to become an elder. I wonder what I've to say in order to pass the personality test. I doubt that my knowledge is an issue, so I highly suspect that the problem lies with my personality.

  “What are you thinking about the aliens? I suppose you've informed yourself about this new variable in your games?” I ask in a sudden burst of interest.

  Sadina shrugs, not dropping her smile. “Some idiotic bird-brains who are playing games with each other. Their current game is throwing a hot potato from one participant to the next, it's just a question who gets burned first.”

  I narrow my eyes. “And who is the hot potato?”

  Sadina starts grinning. “Us, of course. The only question for us is: How can the potato prevent being thrown?” Her avatar flickers and then she looks aside, something else drawing her attention. “Unfortunately I've to go. See you later!”

  Her avatar flickers out of existence and leaves me alone inside my office. I sigh and lean back in my chair. A hot potato she said.

  How did she even come up with that reference?

  57. ~Daily Life.~

  “

  Not many know that Aether wasn't always a flying city. During Aether's construction it was anchored in the Mediterranean Sea and could be easily seen from the main land of ancient Greece. There was no convenient magic to hide an entire city in those days.

  There are countless legends about Atlantis. Sometimes it's a sunken continent or island, sometimes it's described as a city of wonders. The simple truth is that Aether's construction was finished at some point, so the mages took off and left.

  The normals who were left behind wondered about the disappearance of the ancient city and started to invent their own explanations like they always do.

  ”

  -Mages and their influences on the normals

  Antares, Asteroid Habitat

  Ilin Kleio

  “The new structure is a device which allows instant transportation from one point in space to another. We've already tested it and teleported a few ships from one of our systems to yours. Our maximum range is five thousand light years and we intend to create a connection between our worlds and yours.” The diplomat pulls a document from his papers. “The next stop on our list are your neighbours towards the galactic centre. The Grahu? If I pronounce it correctly.”

  Our diplomat hides all his hands behind his back, which signals utter shock. “You built this in our system without asking?”

  The mage nods, not understanding the body language behind the gesture. “You can't expect us to always wait for several days until one of our ships can make the trip to your homeworld. With these installations we will be able to trade goods almost instantly and travel wherever we want. We don't want to spent years to visit this famous gathering of yours.”

  My eyes wander to the hologram of the construct. It's a huge grid-like construction of tubes which outline the rough shape of a sphere, big enough to hold even Aether several times. But since the interconnected tubes aren't that thick it's mass is probably much less than the city's.

  Fragile. That's the only word I can think of when looking at it.

  Each crossing between the tubes holds a big sphere which contains an oversized anti-matter reactor. Our scientists could tell at least that much from the energy readings. It makes the entire thing look like an oversized molecule. A really big, oversized molecule.

  But fragile doesn't mean that it's badly protected. The mages surrounded it with tons of stationary weaponry. In combination with the fact that they now have the anti-matter reactors I suspect that someone would need a small fleet to destroy the teleportation node. I am still not sure if Ayo didn't make a grave mistake in handing them the technology.

  “We'll have to talk with our regent about this.” Our diplomat locks up like he always does. When he thinks that the stakes are getting too high he runs off to get instructions from the senate.

  “That's no problem. We can always shove the node off into empty space. You won't even notice that it's there.” The mage explains unfazed.

  Our diplomat turns a nice shade of pink upon realizing that there is practically nothing we can do about the node. The fact that the Mages put it right in front of our noses was to our advantage. They could simply place the whole thing somewhere a few light-days outside of our solar system and we would never be able to find it despite its size. Not in a million years. They wouldn't even need to cloak the creepy thing. I think our diplomat realized just now that we can't stop the Mages from going anywhere they want.

  Yes, we can shoot at them and maybe one of our fleets is able to defeat one of theirs. But there is no way to catch them if they don't want to engage. Their way of transportation allows them to bypass any established borders.

  Maybe I'll have to step over our diplomats and request help directly from the emperor? It's not smart to step into the stage-light of politics, but if I mask my request as a report and find the right words the right people might read it. That's a lot of 'mights', but if I am confident of one thing then it's the sociology of my people.

  I turn away from the pair of diplomats and head back to my quarters. There are a lot of letters to write and calls to make.

  Antares, Aether

  Gideon

  I play with the edge of the file's paper while regarding the request. The Forlorn have requested to send their contact team to Aether. No, it's more accurate to say that they informed us of a fact which we may or may not like. And if we don't like it we may use force, but that will result in them using force. Apparently their emperor laid down the law.

  They want to join our travel to the centre of the galaxy. In exchange they won't challenge the presence of the teleportation node within their system. The request might seem small, but if they are free to roam around Aether as they want, they are sure to find out a few things we are still trying to hide.

  The elders nonetheless accepted their request, deciding that being too secretive would cause more sus
picion and mistrust than is acceptable. Thankfully that means that the responsibility for handling the alien visitors to our city falls in my trustworthy hands.

  I stash the file on a stack of requests for later usage. Right now I don't want to think about what it means to have several aliens running around my city. Should I make a public announcement for everyone to hold their mouths shut? But how long would such a measure work? No, there is no way to keep certain common knowledge away from the aliens.

  I file a request to hand the task to the SDF. The contact team which is handling the aliens since a few months has to give us experienced people. In exchange they can have the personnel which joined us at Sol.

  When I am done I turn my attention to the second file. It's a complete summary of Brenton's life. His education, yearly income, possessions. I have everything the government knows about him. If I gave him the hints to hit on my sister I may as well check if he has some corpses in his cellar.

  Being too absorbed in the file, I don't even notice the door opening and closing. “Ahem!”

  My eyes wander to the person who cleared her throat to gain my attention. It's Melan and she doesn't look pleased at all. I wonder what I did wrong?

  She points at the file in my hand. “Actually that's why I am here! And to catch you red handed on top of it. Gideon, you can't make requests for people's personal data from the database without a proper reason! What did you think? That's a violation of your office.”

  “I had a reason.” I pull the sheet of paper away from Melan's hand as she tries to grasp it. “Everything went through the proper channels. I was very careful about that. The proper procedure was made and archived. Nobody of my successors will even waste a second thought on something as small as that.”

  “You said that he's under suspicion of being a spy! How did you even get through with this, Gideon. To make such an enquiry you need two people from the government to approve and a faceless to make the request. I get how you managed to persuade Ed and get permission from the faceless. But not your secretary. Tell me how you managed to persuade Alessia to help you. She's your aid and should know better than to go and get you such information. Such a request needs to be filed by two public servants!”