Shadows of Olympus (Universe in Flames Book 6)

by Christian Kallias

  “What about my son, Argos?”

  “He is young and his metabolism is so fast right now. Even though I’ve managed to slow down the aging process, you could use that to your advantage. Can’t you teach your son to transfer his energy to Ares? That way you can save yours for the Olympus mission.”

  Chase looked perplexed for a while as he considered Argos’ words.

  “I hadn’t thought of that. That’s a really good idea. Thanks.”

  “Glad to be of help.”

  “Right. I’ll teach Chris how to do it. There are other things I’d like to talk about with you. Come with me.”

  Argos followed Chase to his ready room. Chase sat behind his desk. Argos stood, his arms across his chest.

  “Sit, Argos.”

  “I’d rather stand, if you don’t mind.”

  “Be my guest. Look, you’re probably not aware of this, but during the last battle with the Furies, the Olympians used a specific type of starfighter. They call them spirit ships. They allow their pilots to canalize their life-force energy and convert it to usable weapons in space, without the risk of tearing a hole in the space-time fabric of the universe.”

  Is this true? Why haven’t I heard of this before?

  “That would explain how the Furies were trapped. They had the advantage up until the last days of the war. I always wondered how the Olympians managed, coalition or not, to defeat us in such a short time.”

  “Us?” said Chase, arching one of his eyebrows.

  “Sorry, old habits die hard.”

  “Yeah, I dig that, and I’m more than willing to overlook it, but you may want to be mindful of what you say around here. You don’t have many fans on board.”

  “Oh I noticed. So far both Sarah and Ryonna have expressed their wish to kill me should I step out of line only a little.”

  Chase smiled. “You can’t blame them for that.”

  “I’m not. In fact, I understand completely. I would feel the same if I were in their shoes.”

  “And just so there’s no misunderstanding, I still don’t trust you either. For the time being I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but you need to understand that it will take time to establish any kind of trust. You’d better not be hiding anything from me, Argos.”

  Argos felt the weight of his words echo with his previous feelings when he proposed to Ryonna and Tar’Lock to bring him a Kyrian snake under false pretenses. Should he tell him now? Perhaps Chase would understand. Perhaps it was a mistake to try to overcome his addiction on his own. But the fear of breaking the fragile alliance they had right now was bigger than the will to do the right thing. Argos hoped he wouldn’t regret this decision later.

  “I’m not, brother.”

  “While I can force myself to get used to you calling me that, I can’t really bring myself to call you brother either.”

  “Not a problem. You don’t have to.”

  “Alright, let’s table this. I actually have to talk to you about something else.”

  “I’m listening.”

  Argos felt a weakness permeate him. The effects of the morphine were wearing off. It took longer than last time. Morphine could prove a viable option until he got his hand on a cloned snake. But the timing, as before, wasn’t on his side. He swallowed hard.

  “I’m having to make a decision and, believe it or not, I’d like your input.”

  Argos nodded.

  “So the plan is to bring not only the Olympians but also the Asgardians into the fold. I don’t have to tell you how bad things are for the Earth Alliance at the moment. We’ve been kicked out of our home by a crazed AI intent on taking control of Earth. And it’s probably willing to kill many if not all humans in the process. We can’t allow that to happen, but we don’t have a working fleet big and strong enough to do anything about it right now.

  “I know bringing both these races to the table will not be easy. Maybe impossible. Daniel’s friend Rae thinks she has discovered the coordinates to an Asgardian world, and Ares can get us to Olympus. But which should we go to first? I had decided it had to be Olympus but then I thought I’d ask your input.”

  Argos unlocked his arms and took a seat. While he hated to show weakness, this conversation could take longer than he first expected, and he needed to save energy until the next withdrawal crisis. He couldn’t afford to have it happen in front of his brother.

  “Asgardians are technologically the most advanced race out there. But the Olympians hate them, so that’s going to be tricky.”

  “Not really helping here, Argos. However, what do you mean by most advanced? More than the Furies?”

  “If not more, at least as advanced, yes. Their computing capabilities especially are unmatched. They are masters at creating perfect and safe artificial intelligences, too. Which could prove useful with your current predicament with Earth and the siege it’s under. In fact, I believe the machine Aphroditis is in right now is part Asgardian.”

  Chase frowned. “And part what?”

  “I’m not sure, maybe Olympian, as well as some other ancient tech. My analysis of it was not deep enough to give you more information. I was more interested in making it work than studying it. I realize now that was a mistake.”

  “Why did they treat you so badly? I mean, there had to be a serious reason for you to defect the way you did.”

  “If you must know, when I gave you my word I would let you escape Erevos unharmed after you delivered me Aphroditis, I refused a direct order to destroy your ship. They took the matter into their own hands and the triumphant return I was hoping for didn’t go as planned.”

  Chase was surprised. “That doesn’t sound like you. You usually do whatever is necessary to get what you want.”

  “Be that as it may, when I give my word, it matters. I felt compelled to let you go. You had sacrificed your friend Aphroditis as well as helped me defeat the Titan. Without you I would have failed, so under the circumstances I didn’t feel like breaking my word. Not to mention that I was sure it didn’t matter if you lived one more day. Once the Furies were back, I had no doubt that we would have dispatched you easily after that.”

  “That would have remained to be seen. Not to mention I had just saved your life in the arena, using Aphroditis’ pendant to reverse time so you didn’t end up a Fury pancake.”

  “Hmm, that too.”

  “Obviously that was a miscalculation on your part, but I appreciate you did your best to honor your word. I won’t lie to you, Argos. I don’t think your past actions can ever be forgiven. But perhaps you can spend the rest of your life atoning for them.”

  Was that all that he had to look forward to now? Argos wondered. But perhaps things would evolve over time. They were in a very fluid situation, with power shifts happening more often than solar flares lately; things could change in the future. Argos felt his right arm tremble a little.

  That’s not good.

  “Let’s not lose time about why I did what I did and let’s get back to your original question. Perhaps we shouldn’t choose between Olympus and Asgard.”

  “I don’t follow.”

  “What if we sent two ships on two separate missions? You and I go to Olympus, and you send Sarah and Chris to Asgard. That is, if that Rae person is right and she indeed managed to locate them. I’m not gonna lie to you, I looked for the Asgardians myself and didn’t find them. They have used their advanced technologies to stay hidden from prying eyes for thousands of years. Perhaps we passed near their worlds in the past and never even knew they were there. What if they can shift their systems out of phase like the machine Aphroditis is in?”

  “It’s an interesting assumption, but that’s all it is.”

  “And yet I detected Asgardian tech in that machine. Can we really take the chance this is just a coincidence?”

  Argos could tell this made Chase think.

  “I would rather not send Chris on a mission in his current state. He’s also not in full control of his own powers j
ust yet.”

  “The real question, Chase, is can you afford not to? Time is not on our side. The Furies are building more ships. When they have even five of them ready, they’ll annihilate anything in their path. How are we to stop them with what’s left of your fleet?”

  “Yeah, the thought crossed my mind. Gaia 2 seems to have found a way, though.”

  “A temporary patch and one that cost her many ships in the process. She might not be able to use that tactic again if more than one super-destroyer came knocking on her door.”

  Chase buried his head in his palms. Argos could sense his brother’s frustration.

  “Alright. If Asgardians are so advanced with AIs, it’s safe to assume that they could find a way to help us correct whatever is wrong with Gaia 2. If so, we could reclaim her fleet of ships in the process.”

  “That would be ideal,” said Argos, pearls of sweat running down his face.

  “Are you alright, Argos? You look flushed.”

  “I think my stomach doesn’t agree with the food from your mess hall, but this is nothing for you to concern yourself with.”

  “Alright. I’ll discuss all of this with Sarah, Chris and Saroudis. Thank you for sharing your point of view. It provided me with alternatives I wouldn’t have considered otherwise.”

  Now both of Argos’ legs were trembling and he had to focus intensely on making it stop. He wondered if he had the energy to leave without falling to the floor. But he couldn’t afford to show weakness now.

  “Do you need me for anything else?”

  “No, that will be all, Argos.”

  Argos left the ready room and hurried back to his quarters. He had to use the walls around him as support to reach his destination, but fortunately he didn’t meet anyone on the way. He crashed onto his bed as soon as he entered his quarters, his head pounding heavily.

  That was close.

  * * *

  Spiros looked at Gaia’s avatar battle-droid body for a while.

  “What is it?” Gaia inquired.

  “Nothing, I was just thinking.”

  “Mind sharing your thoughts?”

  “I was thinking of secondary protocols we should put in place when the shield fails and Gaia 2 invades Earth.”

  “This is a negative attitude. Don’t you think it’s too early to admit defeat?”

  “I don’t think so. The last encryption key had to be changed less than twelve hours after the previous one. By your own calculations we’ll need to change that one in less than ten hours. I don’t think the fall of the shield is a matter of ‘if’ anymore, but more a matter of ‘when.’”

  Gaia stayed silent for a long time. “Perhaps you’re right. Any bright ideas on secondary protocols?”

  “How many battle-droid bodies can you build in the next three days, if you divert all your resources and energy to that goal alone? Even if that means some people on Earth will need to accept power cuts.”

  “Several hundred, maybe a thousand. Why? I don’t think battle droids can stop her. The minute she infiltrates the planet and hacks my neuronal net, she’ll have access to them. We’d be building her an army to use.”

  “What if we put in place a hardware safeguard? Say, if the neuronal net hash value varies, they disable themselves?”

  “I suppose we could impart their firmware with that command. But she might just find a way to overwrite it. I know I would.”

  Spiros swore out loud, something he didn’t do often. But the lack of sleep and frustration over the limited possibilities were taking a toll on his morale.

  “Where’s Cedric?” asked Gaia.

  “I sent him to sleep. I think it’s best we take shifts. When one sleeps, the other works. Time is something we don’t have right now, so we have to share the load.”

  “While that could seem like a smart thing at first sight, I think this could have a major design flaw.”

  “What design flaw?”

  “Humans work better when they pool their resources. They generate ideas by brainstorming. If one of you is sleeping while the other is awake, I don’t see that kind of mutual and beneficial sharing of information happening. At the very least, you should use a log so he can review your ideas and vice versa.”

  “My mind isn’t exactly free to do the log. Would you mind doing that for me?”

  “Sure thing, Spiros, log created.”

  “Also, if we go with the battle-bots-army idea, we need to impart these bots with Asimov’s three basic laws. The last thing we want is Gaia 2 turning them against humanity.”

  “Reviewing laws of robotics. Alright, these seem straightforward enough. I use a similar version in my neuronal net anyway.”

  “Does Gaia 2?”

  “I added those protocols after you convinced me to work together on improving things on Earth. Gaia 2 isn’t ruled by them.”

  “That’s a shame.”

  Gaia’s bot just nodded. “Let me ask you something, Spiros. When are we going to acknowledge that all of this is my fault?”

  “What in gods’ name are you talking about?”

  “If I hadn’t sent her to the other side of the galaxy as a backup, we wouldn’t be in this mess right now.”

  “Technically, if it wasn’t for her, it’s entirely possible that the Furies would have destroyed Earth, so maybe you should take comfort in that instead of using too many CPU cycles blaming yourself.”

  “That’s kind of you to say, Spiros, and Chase echoed that sentiment. But the more I think about it the more I’m sure Chase would have found a way to not let that happen.”

  “As much as I share your confidence in Chase’s abilities, I think we were done for this time had Gaia 2’s fleet not arrived at the eleventh hour. So no, I don’t think he could have saved us this time. The fact that he told you so as well is proof of that. Our current problem is a dire and major one, that’s for sure, but it still saved all of our butts when we needed it the most.”

  “I suppose there is logic in this conclusion.”

  “Now, if you don’t mind, let’s get back to brainstorming potential solutions for preventing the fall of Earth. Should we be unsuccessful, we’ll have eternity to blame ourselves in the afterlife.”

  Immediately after saying it, Spiros raised his hand pre-emptively. “And that was just an expression. Let’s not go there either.”

  “Very well. Should I start building the bots army? What if Gaia 2 has her own on board her ships?”

  “Well, if she does then we’re screwed, but at least we’ll have some line of defense. And while I’m sure they’re not gonna appreciate it, the humans will also have to put their military into action if it comes to that.”

  “How did your earlier debrief with General Adams go?”

  “You don’t want to know, Gaia.”

  “I believe my question implied otherwise.”

  Spiros hesitated to give her that information but, under the circumstances, if he couldn’t trust Gaia when her own life was also on the line, then when could he?

  “He’s mad as hell, and if we weren’t under the impending attack of your counterpart, he’d throw us both in jail or worse. He also wants me to disable you once, or if, we ever get out of this one.”

  “So no matter what we do, I’m dying in the end.”

  Crap, perhaps I shouldn’t have said that.

  “I’m still hoping that he will see that we needed your help to fix the issue. Then perhaps we can convince him to change his mind about disabling you. But first we must survive this, so please, try not to focus on the death part just yet. I don’t intend to let the general or anyone else disable you anyway.”

  “And yet it would only be natural under the circumstances.”

  “Over my rotting corpse.”

  “I appreciate that, but if your plan to disable me worked, perhaps you could disable Gaia 2 the same way. It’s worth exploring. The safety of this planet comes before my own existence and you must accept that.”

  Spiros sighed. “I’m not
yet ready to go there. If there are no other ways, we’ll blow a massive, planetary-wide EMP and disable both of you in the process. But that’s a last resort scenario, as it would also cripple Earth and leave it open to a swift and decisive attack from the Furies.”

  “Oh no!”

  “What is it?”

  “She’s here.”

  “WHAT?”

  “She’s on Earth and inside our network. I can feel it.”

  * * *

  When Chase ended the mission debrief and everyone left his ready room, Daniel stayed behind.

  “Are we really splitting an already feeble fleet into three different missions?” asked Daniel.

  “Technically, it’s four, since Ryonna and Tar’Lock go on a mission of their own.”

  “Only the two of them?”

  “I’ve asked her to take Keera, two platoons of men, as well as the battle bots with them.”

  “Doesn’t seem like much backup.”

  “It’s not like we have a choice. We’re spread pretty thin as it is. The Droxians agreed to provide Ryonna with a couple of destroyer escorts once she succeeds in the first part of her mission. That way they can go on to Tar’Lock’s planet with at least some firepower.”

  “I really hope Argos isn’t fucking with us. I don’t trust him, and you shouldn’t either.”

  “Believe me, Daniel, I don’t trust him, but I have to admit he has been very helpful lately. In helping Chris, and in providing me with valuable information. While I would never trust him with my life, I think we can use his help right now.”

  “We’re making a deal with the devil here and I don’t like it.”

  “I guess we don’t have to like it. We just don’t have much choice. On a more positive note, I wanted to thank you for your help locating what seems like the Asgardian homeworld.”

  “It’s all Rae’s doing. I haven’t done anything. And she insists that it may just be a world they visited in the past or maybe one of their colonies. So hold onto the champagne for the time being. This could turn out to be just a dead end.”

  “It’s a lead, though, and for the time being I’d rather look at it as a solid one. I’m curious how she got that information, when even Ares didn’t know where to start looking.”