by Ben Winston
Hanna grinned. "No, I just tried to think of what I'd like to share with my own love, and here you are."
"You want to take a tour of the Transit Facility?" John asked, grinning.
"Well, no, but considering Lady Diamond's hobby, I didn't think you'd mind," Hanna replied smiling. "I can cancel the tour if you would like?"
John shook his head. "No, don't do that; she'd skin me alive if you did!"
"You bet your ass I would! I knew they were working on them, but I hadn't known they had gotten any built!" Chloe replied.
"Well, come on, Sparkle, let's go take that tour," John said using Chloe's nickname.
"John, you know I hate that nickname!" Chloe replied. "I suppose we could start calling you 'Lazarus'!" Chloe replied.
Hanna looked confused. "What's a Lazarus? Something to do with lasers?"
John chuckled. "No, Lazarus was a poor man that another man supposedly raised from the dead. The man that did the resurrecting later became a central figure in an old Earth religion. Actually, I'm really surprised even Chloe knew of him."
"You're not the only one of us that knows how to read," Chloe replied as she made her way to the door with John. "Thanks again Hanna, have a good day!"
"The same to you both, Milady," Hanna replied.
Chapter 27
Mark had no more than gotten sat down on his throne to begin court than a courier from the Ministry of Intelligence arrived. He all but ran up to the throne and bowed.
"Sire, please forgive the interruption, but Minister Gadfries has sent you an urgent message. He apologizes for sending it via courier, but he felt it was too important to be sent over a comm," the young man said. He was panting and sweating profusely.
"Did you run all the way here, young man?" Mark asked, as he motioned a guard to take the message and hand it to him.
"Yes Sire, I was told that it was very urgent."
"Well sit down there on the steps. Rest for a moment, you deserve it after a run like that," Mark ordered. The Ministry was almost five miles away across the Royal Menagerie that was used to separate the Palace from the rest of the city.
However, the man was forgotten as soon as Mark opened the missive.
"Sire, we have received the most astounding information from a group of traders that were allowed to travel very deeply into the Tammerain Empire. Based on their sensor readings and testimony, we believe we have found the capitol world of the Tammerain Empire!" was all the message said.
Mark stood, getting the attention of every one of the courtiers in the room. "Ladies and Gentlemen, an urgent matter has been brought to our attention and must be investigated immediately. My apologies, but Court is canceled this day. Until the morrow, I bid you all, Good Day!" He was already heading for the door while he finished speaking and didn't even see the entire room bow in response.
He sprinted down the hallway leading back to his quarters, using his comm implant to call ahead. "Hanna, I canceled court. Something has come up. You might want to delay the defense consortium for a couple of hours, too."
"Understood, Sire. I will have your transport readied and notify your guard," Hanna replied.
"Do you even know where I'm going, Hanna?"
"The Ministry of Intelligence and Information Sire. It's where you always go in this type of situation," Hanna replied logically.
He opened the door to his quarters and was now in the same room as Hanna, so he closed the comm and simply spoke to her. "What would I ever do without you, Hanna?"
"Flounder about helplessly. Go put on your armor, I'll handle the rest," the woman said and nodded over her shoulder to the door to his inner quarters.
Mark winked at her and went to change. When he came back out, Hanna was ready to go, she had a satchel over one shoulder and an energy bar in one hand for him. Two armored guards were also there waiting for him. He grabbed the energy bar, and led the procession out the door, down the hall to his private landing pad, and to the transport waiting there.
Minister Gadfries was waiting for him when they landed at the Ministry Pad. Mark was the first down the ramp. "How certain are you about this, Jed?" Mark asked.
"Very, Sire. However, the information is somewhat troubling as well. Come, I'll show you what I mean," the old man replied. "I think we should do something for these traders as well, Sire. They went to extraordinary lengths to get this information back to us."
"Oh?" Mark asked. "How so?"
"Well, they started out as a group of five ships carrying food stuffs and agro-machine parts. Once the Tammerain figured out that they had gotten too close, they sent out warships to hunt them down. They lost three of the ships and crews. One of the other ships was badly damaged, but managed to make temporary repairs sufficient to continue. It took them almost two years to get back to Human space. Sire, they had to jump laterally to get out of Tammerain Space, and completely circumvent the border. They went into inter-galactic space by almost five hundred light years in order to lose the pursuit vessels. Their navigator then plotted a reverse course jump, adjusting for distance, to bring them back into our space. They arrived last evening and are still in medical."
"Medical?" Mark asked.
"They are all suffering from dehydration and malnutrition. A few of them had other wounds suffered earlier in battles. They knew how important this information was to us, and they did the impossible in order to make sure we got it. I should mention that they were all unconscious when we boarded them. It had been a close thing for them.
"We are still going through their logs, and what information we've gotten has come from the Captain's logs, as well as other messages left for us in the computer systems of the ships," Gadfries reported.
They had arrived in the main operations room, and Mark could see a few of the people working on what had to be the logs of the trading ships. "So what's troubling about this, Jed?"
The older man led him into a smaller room that still had terminals in it. He stepped up to one of them and began typing. "This is the world we believe is their Capitol, There isn't a lot of detail, because of the distance. However, if we compare the astrometric readings from the same time period, there doesn't appear to be a planet located there. As you can see, we have the rest of the planets in the system showing up and all is well except for this one world; it appears to not have a gravity well and is not affecting the other large bodies in that system."
"Jed, that's just not possible. Any object that size would have gravity, even if it were artificial, it would still have gravity. The sensors have to be wrong. Look, it isn't registering an atmosphere either. How could this be the Capitol?" Mark asked. He knew there was more to this story, these people didn't make mistakes like this.
"We believed the same thing, Sire. Until we saw the rest of the information about this system." He began typing more, and the view backed out to one of the system and icons began appearing for warships; thousands of icons. During the time the recording ship had been in range, there had been considerable shuttle activity to the 'dead' null-gravity world. As well as the amount of recorded data being sent and received, the messages themselves hadn't been recorded, the computer didn't have the capacity for it. As it was, just recording that they took place was straining its capacity.
"The engineer of this ship had to build six more memory units in one of the holds to record all the data. Luckily, this was one of the ships that survived, or the data would have been lost. Although the traders didn't have the decryption software we have, we have been able to decode some of the message tags in the literally millions of messages. They are clearly imperial," Jed replied.
"Could the planet be hollow? Basically a shell built to keep atmosphere in? Perhaps it's only one of the Tammerain shipyards? That would explain the absence of gravity," Mark asked.
"Possibly Sire, but there is one more thing that is troubling. Most of that load of comms traffic was directed deeper into the empire, to the far side," Jed asked.
"Far side; ancient Promethean S
pace?" Mark asked.
Jed nodded. "We can't decode any of it. It's just a jumble of data to us."
Mark activated his Comm again. "John?"
"I thought you had Court, Mark?" John replied, teasingly. "Get bored already?"
"Something else came up, I need your help at MIIO as soon as you can get here," Mark replied using the abbreviated title for the Ministry of Intelligence, Information and Operations.
"Gonna try to turn me into a spook, Mark?" John replied. "Chloe and I have reservations at a restaurant in Capitol City tonight, do you need us to cancel them?"
"I don't think it'll take that long, John, I just need you to take a look at something. You should be able to leave right after," Mark replied.
"We just finished a tour of the Transit Facility, we're on our way now," John replied.
"Good, I'll see you when you get here," Mark replied and closed the comm. He turned to one of his guards. "Pass the word that Captain-General Aster will be arriving; be sure he and Knight-Commander Diamond know where to find us."
"Of course, Sire," the guard replied and began making the arrangements over his suit comm.
"I asked John Aster to stop by because he's been studying the races of the Tammerain since the armistice was signed. He might be able to help us with this," Mark told his Minister.
The old man nodded, "His knowledge of the Tammerain races is well known, Sire. I should have though to ask for him sooner."
Chapter 28
When John and Chloe arrived at the ministry, he expected to have to go through all the security bullshit that visiting such a facility entailed. Instead, John and Chloe were ushered right in to where the Mark and Minister Gadfries were still puzzling over the strange symbols their computers were producing.
"Sorry it took so long, Sire; traffic sucked," John said sarcastically, it had taken them only minutes to land.
Mark snorted and Minister Gadfries chuckled. "I have a shorter distance to go, and it takes me twice as long to get here!"
"What did you need, Sire?" John asked.
"This data stream was captured from a previously unknown Tammerain World. It appears to be directed towards Promethean space, but we can't make heads or tails of it," Mark said.
John stepped up to the terminal, and looked at it for a moment. Nodded, and typed an instruction into the terminal. The stream changed, and John nodded to himself again. "It's definitely a Promethean code, but it's an old one. I can barely recognize it."
"How old, and do you know what is says?" Mark asked.
John snorted. "Old as in pre-ancient. As for telling you what it says, I have no idea. It's a control code for an ancient Promethean computer system. I think it has something to do with environmental settings." He paused. "You said this comes from a world? It must be terraformed, and the computers are still online. See this part here," John highlighted a portion of the code. "Deals with maintaining ambient temperature."
Mark looked puzzled. "Jed, please show him everything."
When the minister finished his explanation, John nodded. "That's not a planet, it's an ancient Promethean artifact."
"Excuse me?" Mark said.
"Prometheans were, by many, considered to be the original architects of the Empire. They built massive computer systems, and have even been rumored to have developed an AI, although no one has been able to prove it. Like the rest of the Empire, they eschewed violence and held the quest for knowledge as a racial goal. They built massive fleets for exploration and research. Terraformed entire planets, and had even seeded them with different forms of life; some of those life forms are now part of the Empire. They reached a pinnacle that was so technologically advanced that they no longer needed ships to travel between star systems."
"You keep talking about them in the past tense. Aren't they still a member race of the Tammerain?" Mark asked.
John shook his head. "No, there is a race that moved into their space and are now inhabiting their worlds, and they claim to be the Prometheans, but there is evidence to the contrary. Most Promethean artifacts that we have seen indicate the race was very tall. The current 'Prometheans' average four feet."
"So what happened to the original Prometheans?" Minister Gadfries asked.
"Again, this is speculation, but it is believed that one of their experiments turned on them. Quite possible a sentient AI or one of their genetics experiments. The area is so far away, I doubt we'll ever know for certain. However, I would say you've stumbled across something that will freak out a number of our archaeologists," John replied.
"Why is that?" Gadfries asked.
"This is the first Promethean artifact discovered that is still functioning, it also indicates that there is more than one. From the looks of the data streams here, there has to be a Promethean AI that is still functioning on whatever that is supposed to be," John said looking a little troubled.
"So why does that trouble you?" Mark asked.
"If the Minister is correct, and I'm starting to agree with him about this being the Tammerain Capitol, then the Entire Empire is being led by a million-plus-year-old, Sentient AI," John replied. "Agrarian civilizations or not, if that machine decides we need to die, it'll mobilize the entire Empire. Let's just hope it doesn't have access to the ancient Promethean shipyards or transportation equipment."
"Minister, Highness, can I have a copy of that part of the data?" Chloe asked. "Maybe I can make something of it."
"I'm sure I don't mind, Chloe, but the fact is that all of this is still highly classified. Considering the lengths the Tammerain went to just trying to prevent it from getting back here, it wouldn't surprise me if this doesn't trigger the war all by itself," Mark said. "As it is, we're going to have to report the ships as derelict hulks that arrived with all hands dead and all but fried computers."
"Does that mean I can get a copy or not?" Chloe asked.
"That means you can examine a copy as long as the data doesn't leave this facility, Dear," John said.
"Oh, well in that case, I know you'll be talking for a while, so can I borrow a terminal Minister?" Chloe asked nicely, and indicated another terminal in the room.
Gadfries chuckled and shook his head. "Of course, Milady,"
"So, if that is indeed the Capitol, and there is at least one AI there, what does that mean to us?" Mark said. "We have no proof that this AI is the one actually giving the orders, we only suspect it's there, and we have no way to prove it."
"We could take the Flyer and go find out." John said. "We have its spacial coordinates"
"I'm afraid it would be a one way trip even in that craft, My Lord. There are several fleets protecting that... uh, facility, and it has sensors we can't even begin to imagine," the Minister replied.
"Why is that, Jed?" Mark asked.
"According to the Captain's log, several of those warships immediately jumped to intercept them. Even though they were almost three light years away, that monstrosity detected the trader ships, and sent the warships after them. Later on, in his logs, the Captain reports the arrival of the warships. They questioned the Captains over the comms, and shortly after receiving a signal from that facility, they dropped back into attack position and fired on them," the man answered. "Our ships jumped away, and the Tammerain responded by sending an entire fleet after them. They hunted them for the next six months, destroying three of the five ships. Whatever this is, the Tammerain do not want us to know about it."
As they stood there talking, John noticed something happening out in the main room. Suddenly, the lights took on a red hue. "Red alert!" the intercoms broadcast. "Red Alert, the Tammerain is attacking the Kingdom. All personnel to war status. This is not a drill."
Minister Gadfries opened a channel via the terminal he had been using. "This is Gadfries, report!"
"Minister, a Tammerain fleet has arrived in the Haven system! Reports are of two battleships, four carriers, six frigates, and escorts, they are approaching the farming world of Haven in battle formation," a man replied.
"Keep us apprised!" Mark ordered and moved to another terminal. "Minister, can I get Ms. Halstead in here?"
Gadfries nodded and made the arrangements, in less than a minute there was a polite knock followed by the entry of a plump, dark-skinned woman that wore glasses and a very flamboyant dress. "You called for me, Minister?"
"Actually, I did, Gabby. I need your magic," Mark replied. "Please?" he asked and indicated the chair in front of a terminal.
She grinned. "I knew you couldn't live without me!" she said and quickly took the seat. "Whatcha need first, Your Handsomeness?"
"Current fleet distribution for this sector, local force readiness, and border status with the Tammerain, if you please, Gabby," Mark replied.
John stood close to the Minister and asked in a low voice. "Who's she?"
"His Highness's personal analyst-slash-computer specialist-slash-hacker-slash-computerized magic worker. She's one of the best code breakers we have. But her skills really shine in data acquisition and collation," Gadfries replied just as quietly. "Whenever he works from here, she's the one running his computers."
Mark turned around. "I'm sorry about your dinner reservations, John, but I need you out there. I'll order the Destroyer Hades to pick you up in orbit. Jump immediately for Haven," Mark ordered. "I'll brief you on the rest in transit."
John kissed Chloe, and she winked at him. "You still owe me dinner. Hurry back."
"You're going with him, just on a different ship. The destroyer Clandestine will be for you," Mark replied. "I'll find something for Carl and Alice and get them out there as well."
John activated his comm. "Carl, Alice! Put your clothes back on and grab your gear. The balloon's going up. Where are you so we can pick you up?"
"Fuck! John how do you know when to call? I was just about to there and you called again!" Alice bitched.
"Officer’s quarters, Palace Marine barracks, Boss. Don't worry about Alice, she's just getting a mad worked up to take out on the Tammerain," Carl replied.