Eon Gate (The Eon Pentalogy Book 1)

by Mitchell T. Jacobs

  “So deep in enemy territory, not knowing who you can trust, with a far-off prospect of relief and support. Sounds familiar,” Rappa grinned. “Although at least we're getting paid better.”

  Kei continued to feel uneasy as they advanced down the winding corridors of the installation. Who knew what lay in wait for them?

  “YOU SAID that you had more information,” Nina said. “Can you tell us anything?”

  “Of course,” Hammond said. “As I said, the Ulics referred to this place as the Eon Gate. And according to everything I've read about it, they considered it the height of their achievement.”

  “What is it?” Lauren asked. The question had been bothering her for quite some time. If it was a weapon…

  “I'm not certain. Unfortunately that's not a very good answer, but it's the only one that I have right now.”

  “The passage I read said that out of the gate comes the sword that splits the heavens.”

  “Oh? And what do you think that it means?”

  Lauren shrugged. “I'm not completely certain, since Ulic poetry tends to be rather vague. But the mention of a sword makes me think that it's a weapon. And given the surrounding area...”

  Hammond nodded. “Yes, about that. The Central Expanse is tied closely to this place. The writings I've come across are also vague, but they seem to hint at the Eon Gate being responsible for the destruction in the area.”

  “Was there a particular reason mentioned?”

  “Not that I could find, though if this is a weapon that could explain a lot.”

  “Does Eon Path know about that?” Nina asked.

  “I had to tell them about that, yes. But who knows what their motives are for such a device, if it even still functions.”

  “Huh, a terrorist organization gets their hands on a weapon of mass destruction. I can't see any use they'd have for that. None at all.”

  Dr. Hammond smiled. “Ah, quite. But who knows whether it can actually be used as intended. We're dealing with technology that's far beyond our understanding.”

  “That still doesn't make it impossible to use.”

  “And if it's a weapon, what are you planning on doing with it?” he asked. “Destroying it?”

  “We'll see.”

  “Or will you keep it?”

  “Again, we'll see. I prefer to keep my options open.”

  “I can understand that, but what gives you any more right to have such a powerful weapon at your fingertips than Eon Path? Is there truly any difference?”

  Lauren frowned as she heard that. Did he have a point? She had been so caught up in trying to reach this place, to take the technology and keep it out of the hands of Eon Path that she never stopped to ask herself what would happen afterward. Would Skare Interstellar take control of the weapon? And if they did, what would that do to the balance of power in the galaxy?

  They were dealing with something so far beyond anything they had previously known, a device capable of smashing a third of the galaxy. Lauren remembered Leon Skare's words. Something like this was so far beyond their grasp that it might as well be magic. It was like the first atomic bomb, said to harness the power of the sun, only this was on an infinitely larger scale.

  But Nina's laugh broke into her thoughts.

  “Oh,” she said, “what do you think I'm planning on doing with it? Blowing up another third of the galaxy? Or using it to lord over everyone and declare myself empress? Or something like that?”

  He shrugged. “Well, those kind of thoughts aren't exactly unheard of.”

  “Maybe, but I'm not foolish enough to think that they're possible. Using a weapon to subjugate people? That will only work for so long before someone decides to overthrow me, and I know plenty about humans. Our ingenuity is second to none, especially when we're threatened.”

  “Still, some would try.”

  “Not me. I'm well aware of my place in the universe. And I'm a merchant. I sell goods and services to others. That tends to work best when they're alive, so I'm not one to kill off my customer base. And besides, there's no guarantee that this will work. Even if it does, the destructive power isn't what interests me. It's the manner of its construction. How were the Ulics able to harness something so powerful? And can we do the same?”

  “A very relevant question. And one that I also believe should be answered,” Hammond said. “A weapon is one thing. Using it is one thing. But actually understanding it, knowing how to harness the power is another. It's easy to destroy. It's much harder to create, or even to replicate.”

  “And I think that's what we need to know,” Nina said. “Possession of something means almost nothing if you have no understanding of how it works, how to replicate it and how to repair it if needed.”

  “Knowledge is our true power as a species,” Lauren said. “Without it we would have never been able to come this far. And I think that we can expand that knowledge by pushing the boundaries of what we know. And we have a duty to do that.”

  Dr. Hammond nodded in approval. “Someone after my own heart. You're certainly one of Doran's students.”

  “I picked up a lot of my philosophy from him.”

  “We all do. Our teachers always have great influence on the way we think and act later in our lives. Either we seek to emulate them, or we oppose them and try to go in the opposite direction. But either way, they influence us.”

  “Did your teachers and professors do the second thing to you? I mean, push you toward another direction?”

  “You could say that, yes. But I don't think it's so bad. Like you say, the way to expand our knowledge is to push the boundaries of what's possible. Many people like to stay in their safe spaces, to explore knowledge that has been passed down over the generations and has clear answers. But then there are those of us that like to push further, to reach into the unknown. I would think that you're one of them.”

  Lauren thought about it for a moment. She had never really made that much of a distinction of her philosophy on learning. To her looking for new discoveries and knowledge was just a part of what she was called to do. The way to discover more about the past, about the civilizations that once thrived here, about the universe itself was to push further, asking questions, searching for answers.

  And the wonder of this place wasn't lost on her. Scholars and archeologists spent years, decades, even entire lifetimes looking for something with the fraction of the value that this place contained. What secrets could they learn from this place? What mysteries did it hold for them?

  And how had it survived for so long, seemingly untouched by the ravages of time? That was the other part of searching for knowledge. Every time they believed that they had accomplished their goal, inching toward total understanding, the vast, inscrutable nature of the universe made itself more and more apparent. Every time they found an answer it only led to more questions.

  Humanity had tamed beasts, harnessed the elements, crossed oceans, established dominance over their world. They had reached out beyond that, traveling into places where no living creature was meant to survive. They journeyed through the void, sailing the cosmos and bending the very fabric of time and space. They took barren orbs of rock and transformed them into vibrant worlds, capable of sustaining untold amounts of life.

  And yet, in the grand scheme of the universe they remained tiny. The forerunners of this galaxy had been far beyond humanity's understanding, and though she and many others had worked to broaden their knowledge, they had barely made any headway.

  “Do you have any idea where we're headed?” Nina asked.

  “Of course. We're going to the center of the complex,” Dr. Hammond said. “That's where the control center for this is buried. Sealed away in the center of this complex, to better survive the elements and the passage of time.”

  “Seems like a lot of space to use on something so small.”

  “I wouldn't say that. A lot of material is needed to ensure that this stayed safe. You wouldn't want the controls for such a powerful
device to be smashed into ruin by a passing asteroid, would you? And then there's the matter of powering it. How many generators do you think that a weapon this would need?”

  “Point taken.”

  “And we're going to need to map this place as we go. We don't need to end up getting lost.”

  “Already in progress,” IVIN said. “I'm recording every tunnel we go down and adding it to a schematic. That way you will be able to track our progress and be able to find our way back.”

  “Good,” Nina said.

  Lauren wondered how long they would have to travel. If the control center was in the center of the complex then it was twenty-five miles from any surface. But with the winding twists and turns any tunnel could take, that distance could be significantly greater than they anticipated. At the very least it would take several days to traverse, unless there was a system that allowed them to travel faster.

  But would they want to take the risk of boarding equipment that might not even work properly at this point? Getting stuck in an elevator or a tram with no prospect of rescue could be too risky for them.

  The lead elements came on the radio. “Looks like there's a chamber up ahead. Might want to check it out.”

  “Copy that,” Nina said. “Anything interesting about it?”

  “It branches off the main hallway. Looks like it might be a maintenance tunnel, or something like it. There's a door that we'll need to crack before we can go any further.”

  “Understood. Once I get IVIN up there we'll see what we can do.”

  “Well, well,” Hammond said. “Looks like we might be making a bit of progress after all.”

  “CLEAR.”

  Nina stepped inside the chamber, looking for anything of interest. At first glance the room seemed completely empty, save for a pedestal standing in the center.

  “That's it?”

  “That's it,” Salim said. “I don't know what it's used for, but-”

  “It's a terminal.”

  Nina glanced over her shoulder at Dr. Hammond. “I'm sorry, what were you saying?”

  “It's a terminal. You know, a computer.”

  “You know this for a fact? How is this even supposed to function? And where's the display?”

  “It's holographic, of course. We just need to find the way to activate it. If I may?”

  Nina shrugged. “Go ahead, if you know what you're doing.”

  Hammond smiled. “Ah, I've seen plenty of pictures of these in my time studying Ulic artifact. Now, if I can just find the activation switch...”

  Nina watched him fumble around for a moment, wondering if he actually knew anything, or if he was just bluffing and overstating his knowledge. She remained uneasy about his presence, but with the information he had they couldn't afford to dispose of him at the moment. So like it or not they needed to keep him around and intact.

  “Ah, here we go,” Hammond said, and a moment later a green holograph flickered to life on the top of the pedestal. A voice began to speak in an incomprehensible language.

  “Ulic?”

  “Undoubtably. This may be the first time it's been spoken in millenia.”

  “Can you translate it?”

  Hammond shook his head. “I'm afraid that's going to be quite impossible. All of my studies have been of Ulic writing. We're still not sure about the pronunciation, so trying to translate based off of sound will be almost useless. And I don't have my research notes to help me, which will make this even harder.”

  She glanced at Lauren.

  “I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be much help either.”

  “Well then, I guess this is a dead end,” Nina said. It didn't surprise her, but she still wanted to access the information held within. Maybe they could come back for it after they secured the complex and received reinforcement, but for now it might be out of their grasp.

  Nina just hoped they weren't missing crucial information. They had no idea what they were facing the further they traveled into this place, and if they could even get a hint of what lay in store them…

  “There may be another way.”

  Nina glanced over at IVIN. “What are you suggesting?”

  “Simple. I assume that since this is a computer that it's capable of speaking binary.”

  “So you're thinking that you can translate?”

  “Perhaps. Or I can try to feed it information. I assume that a system like this is capable of learning languages. I can offer it a language codec and see if that helps it communicate so the rest of you can understand.”

  “Sounds like a plan. See if you can make it work.”

  Nina watched the orb float over toward the console and hover in place. No words or sounds passed between the two machines. She guessed that he was utilizing a wireless link to communicate.

  And then the console suddenly spoke.

  “Greetings,” it said. “How may I be of assistance?”

  For the first time in a long time Nina wasn't sure what to say. What should she ask the system, something so old that it might not even comprehend her question properly? Even with the language codec there could be a significant disconnect.

  “Can you explain to me your purpose?” she asked.

  “Certainly. I was created as an artificial intelligence to watch over and maintain this installation.”

  “And what is this installation?”

  The AI answered with some incomprehensible words.

  “The translation is imperfect,” IVIN said. “It's likely that there are gaps between languages that the codec is unable to account for. And I can help translate from binary, but even that is imperfect.”

  “We'll deal with it,” Nina said. She thought for a moment. “And what is the purpose of this installation?”

  “I'm sorry,” the AI said, “but that information may only be accessed with proper authorization.”

  “Figures,” Soko said. “Any idea where we're going to get that from?”

  “We may need to get creative. And it may be a while,” Nina said.

  This threw a wrench into their plans. If the AI was still functioning and connected to the systems then it could probably lock them out if it wanted to, preventing them from delving deeper into the installation's inner workings. They could try to use IVIN to bludgeon their way through, but Nina wasn't sure he'd be able to do it. At the very least it would be very risky.

  But perhaps they could find a way around the obstacle. If she kept asking questions then the AI might lead them toward a new discovery.

  “Can you give us a map of the installation?”

  “Certainly. Please enter the proper authorization code.”

  Nina wanted to groan. At this point it might have been better for the AI to be nonfunctional. Then they could at least have IVIN explore the systems without any opposition.

  She glanced over at him. “Can you do anything about this?”

  “I can try. Let me see if I can utilize a password cracker to get the information we want.”

  “A password cracker?” Hammond commented as IVIN went to work. “Are you certain that's going to work? A military installation like this will have strong security measures in place.”

  “Of course it will, but it's not like we're using a random model that we plucked off the net,” she said. “IVIN is using military-grade cipher protocols. He should be able to break it, or at least keep himself from doing any harm to anything.”

  Now they just had to wait for him to finish his work.

  THE SQUAD SETTLED in to their new surroundings, planting a few tripod defenses at the entrance to ward off any potential attackers. Kei wasn't sure if Eon Path would be able to break through the encryption on the locked doors, but they could always cut their way through if they needed. Judging by the thickness of the doors, though, that would take some time.

  And they still had to cope with the Starlight orbiting around the asteroid, ready to rain down destruction at a moment's notice. Their ship was the great equalizer here, allowing them to pin dow
n huge numbers of enemy troops and allow a small team to go to work inside the structure.

  The place still made him uneasy, but Kei could deal with that. At least they could walk around without their helmets, and that made eating and drinking easier as well.

  Now that they had time to take a break the squad began preparing field rations, calorie-dense meals in small plastic pouches. None of them were fine-dining by any stretch of the imagination, but they were filling, and they went down easily enough. Kei was just thankful that Nina always made sure they had decent varieties available. Some of the ones he had been forced to eat during his time on active duty barely counted as food.

  Besides, he was hungry. The fighting had drained a lot of his energy, and at this point he didn't know when he'd get the chance to eat again. If everything went smoothly they'd have time to take regular breaks to rest and eat, but Kei knew better than to count on that. So many things could go wrong and force them to keep moving, and while he knew he was capable of pushing the pace for hours on end, he didn't enjoy it either.

  “Hopefully we can get our hands on a map,” Rappa said. “That's going to make things a lot simpler.”

  “What's so complicated about it?” Gilroy said. “The control center is in the middle of the sphere, so we just have to keep moving in that direction and we'll eventually come across it.”

  “Hm, wouldn't be so sure about that. Yeah, you would assume that it's in the center of the complex, but that's no always the case. Who says that this is symmetrical?”

  “The scans.”

  “Well, not like that. I mean, it's natural to assume that something important inside the sphere would be right in the center, because that's symmetrical. But maybe it's not.”

  “OK, now it just sounds like you're saying things.”

  “Maybe not,” Elsner said. “I see his point. We like things to be symmetrical, but that's not always possible or practical. And even if it was, there's no guarantee the builders would see it that way. They're not human.”