Invardii Series Boxset

by Warwick Gibson

  “Already spoken to Cantoselli and Habid about that,” said Jeneen. “Cantoselli says the Mersa won’t directly participate in any action of war, and Habid says his people have their hands full piloting the Javelins. I don’t think either planet will want to be part of this.”

  “I understand,” said Celia, “we can talk about that in detail later. In the meantime, hold off on anyone else trying the ID handprint.”

  “Come on, Roberto,” she said, turning to the console on the mezzanine floor, “we have to get this work station up and running.”

  It turned out it wasn’t exactly a work station. Once Andre got it started, and mastered the simple navigation system within it, they were able to access diagrams and pictures that showed them how to activate the ancient giants.

  “You can go ahead if you want to, Jeneen,” called down Celia after a while. “The ID process starts with a handprint, and then each giant takes an imprint of its pilot – well I think it means pilot, but it says ‘rider’ – to prepare it for activation.”

  Jeneen disconnected her analytic tools from the control panel at the back of the giant heel, and looked up along the soaring back of the figure. She had known she was on borrowed time since the Druanii saved her life after the mishap with the accelerated growth of the Rothi mind machine.

  If there was anything she could do to help save her planet, help the Prometheus project prepare for the coming Invardii invasion, she would do it. That was why she had told Celia she didn’t mind being a test subject if something at Maka’H’Rosh required it.

  “Taking handprint ID now,” she called up to the mezzanine floor. There was a flash of light, and Jeneen stood transfigured by a column of blue light, while a number of shining rings moved up and down her body.

  “Dammit, she’s being scanned!” said Roberto. “Habid, get her away from there!”

  The scanning process ceased. “I’m all right!” called Jeneen loudly. “Just a bit surprised, that’s all.”

  “Goddammit, look at the giant,” breathed Roberto. They watched the features change, the hair drawing in until it had Jeneen’s medium cut, and the face hair on it disappeared completely.

  The body grew more slender, and filled out in more of a woman’s form. Then the vivid platinum white of Jeneen’s hair spread through the hairstyle. The giant figure, now a reasonable copy of Jeneen, began to move.

  It made small stretching and flexing motions, like someone who was warming up, and then it stood still again. Its back opened up, and a telescoping ladder ran down vertically, stopping short of the ground. There was a Human-sized space deep inside its back, surrounded by servo mechanisms.

  “Mother of all gods, we ride the damn things!” said Roberto, disbelieving.

  “It’s a weapon all right,” he said, “though it looks more like an avenging angel, and it’s every bit the ‘battle god’ the archive talked about. I wonder what the giants could do,” he wondered, in awed fascination, “against an Invardii battle fleet.”

  “One day, I can promise you, we’re going to find out,” said Celia, with grim determination.

  “What are we going to call them,” said Sallyanne. “We can’t call them ‘battle gods’ like the archive does.”

  “The Rothii word for ‘battle gods’ is Valkrethi,” said Celia, checking with the work console, “if that’s any help.”

  For a moment she wondered if there was any connection with the Earth word Valkyrie, creatures of myth and legend who decided which warriors lived and which died on the battlefield. Had the Rothii sent these giants to check on their transplanted colony of Humans, once it was established on Earth? Did the Human race remember them?

  Sallyanne thought for a moment. “We could call them Titans,” she said, “because that was the name in legend of the first offspring of people and gods.”

  “I think I would like to keep the Rothii name,” said Celia at last. “They were the race that gifted them to us, and it would be fitting we name them in honour of that.”

  Sallyanne nodded. She could see Celia’s point.

  “Then I welcome our newfound friends, the Valkrethi, to the alliance,” said Celia, with an elaborate flourish, and a bow.

  “Who’s going all medieval on us now?” said Andre, a smile on his face. Then he looked concerned as he saw Jeneen climbing up the ladder toward the recess in the Valkrethi’s back.

  “Does she have to do that now?” he asked Celia, his concern for the one person he loved more than any other evident in his voice.

  “Jeneen?” called Celia, wanting to reassure herself as well.

  “I’m doing this,” said Jeneen firmly, pausing on her way up the ladder. “This is more important than me, and – forgive me, Andre – this is more important than us.”

  When there was no answer she continued up the ladder, and disappeared into the back of the Valkrethi. The ladder telescoped up and the way in smoothed over like it had never been there.

  There was a long silence.

  “Jeneen, do you read me,” said Andre anxiously into his commslink. Celia laid a hand on his arm.

  “This is Rothii technology, Andre. She’ll have sub-space capabilities in there, nothing else.”

  “Well, the freighter has that,” said Andre quickly, and opened a link to the ship in orbit above them. There was an exchange of words, and then Andre was patched through into the sub-space system.

  “You there, blondie?” he said. He repeated himself, and after a while there was a frustrated response.

  “Give me time to get used to the systems!” said Jeneen, and a relieved smile broke out on Andre’s face.

  “The first few moments were the worst,” she continued. “The space in here shaped itself around me – actually it prodded me into this sort of elevated fighting stance. It feels weird. The Valkrethi is solid around me now, there’s no give anywhere.

  “I have all five of my senses, but they’re heightened somehow. I can feel my feet on the floor. I think I would feel rain or cold on the giant’s skin. The vision is amazing, very sharp. I can see information systems at the edge of my eyes, on some sort of screen.

  “I think everything has adjusted properly to me now,” she said, a few moments later, “but I’m frightened to move because I think I know what happens next.”

  “The Valkrethi moves when you do,” said Celia, leaning across to speak into Andre’s commslink.

  There was no reply, and then the giant head nodded. Celia laughed.

  “I thought I would try something simple first,” said Jeneen, acknowledging that she had moved the figure’s head. Then a giant foot lurched forward, followed by another. She was trying to walk.

  “I’m not sure this is such a good idea . . .” she said, before they saw the giant figure topple forward. Seconds from the floor an arm sprang out, and stopped the imminent collision. Then the figure sprang up, moving effortlessly.

  “It seems to work better when you don’t think about it,” said Jeneen, “and just use your reflexes.”

  “Yeah, well, that’s enough play time for you, my lovely,” said Andre firmly. “Come out of there. We need a full report, and we want to run a full body scan on you as well.”

  Jeneen did not attempt to ‘park’ the Valkrethi neatly back in the row it had come from. The rest of the team saw the same opening miraculously appear in the giant’s back once again, and the ladder telescope down. Then Jeneen emerged.

  Celia turned to Roberto as Jeneen climbed down from the back of the giant figure. “It seems like we have solved one mystery, and discovered another,” she said.

  He laughed. “Well yes, that’s one way of putting it. What do you have in mind for the research team, now that we’ve done the work we came to do on Orouth?”

  “I think we’ll take all the data we’ve collected back to Earth,” she said, “and that will keep the media and the universities busy for quite a while – one mystery has been solved, as you say. The universities in particular will want to show how this fits in with thei
r particular theories of Human evolution!”

  Roberto laughed. Academics were like that.

  “But after that,” said Celia, “I have to agree that yes, we’ve discovered another mystery in the Valkrethi, a really big mystery.”

  Roberto waited for her to go on. Celia often knew what Finch was thinking at Prometheus, and to some extent what Cordez might do as well. She was the person most likely to guess what would happen next.

  “Cordez will see that some of the Valkrethi are brought back to Prometheus,” she said, “and Finch will work out a place to store them. Some of the Hud pilots will be trained up to use them – once we’ve figured out what they can do.

  “They have to be space capable, if they’re war machines. Control of planets is outdated, as it would have been when the Rothii built these things. Those who control the space routes between planets control those planets.”

  Roberto nodded.

  “I don’t know how Finch is going to get the Valkrethi off Orouth, though,” continued Celia. “We have freighters that could take them, but they have to stay in orbit, and we don’t have shuttles big enough. Maybe the Valkrethi can operate in the atmospheres of planets, as well as in space.”

  “It takes a lot to escape the gravity well of a planet,” said Roberto, looking doubtful, and Celia turned more thoughtful.

  “I don’t know what powers them,” she said, “but I think we’ll find they have access to a lot more energy than we think.”

  “Powerful enough to make a difference against the Invardii and their giant Reaper ships?” said Roberto.

  “There are too many Reaper ships,” said Celia, after a while, “but I think the Valkrethi will have a crucial role ‘behind enemy lines’ as it were.”

  She turned to face Roberto. “It’s still up to us, and our allies, to meet this threat head on, Roberto,” she said, cautioning him. “A squadron or two of Hud pilots flying Rothii ‘battle gods’ isn’t going to change the outcome.”

  “Who says it has to be Hud pilots who fly them?” said Roberto suddenly. “We’re the top alien artifact team, and these are, well, alien artefacts.”

  Celia went to say something, and then closed her mouth. Roberto had planted the seed of an idea. Preposterous as it was, maybe she and her team could take a Valkrethi each and ‘tag along’ when the giant machines went to war.

  She could sell the idea to Finch that the research team were ‘observers’, who could take notes on the Valkrethi performance – and the capabilities and strategies of the Reaper ships – while the Hud pilots were busy trying to stay alive.

  It might just work.

  THE END

  HISTORIAN’S FOOTNOTE

  This paper is only one aspect of the Invardii conflict. It is true in its facts, and in its references to the timeline of the conflict. Some details have been filled in from a ‘most likely to have happened’ point of view, as was acknowledged in the prologue.

  The most common criticism when this paper was peer reviewed, was that it suffered from too much historical detail, and too many explanations of how and why things happened. I welcome this criticism. Any work is not complete until it has been submitted to a gathering of those who have to suffer the reading of it.

  Regent Cordez wanted this paper published in a timely manner, so the media would have a definitive account of the discovery of Orouth and the Valkrethi to refer to. The time pressure he imposed is my excuse for not rewriting it so the paper flows more easily. Of course it has been said that a poor workman blames his tools, or in this case a poor historian blames his circumstances.

  All errors, and all impediments to the flow of the story, will always be mine.

  The discovery of the Valkrethi, left to the Human race by the Rothii, gave us hope. They were a superior weapon, but it must be remembered there were over a thousand ships in one Invardii armada.

  The story of the Valkrethi, and the difference they made to the conflict, is scheduled to be paper five in this history of the war with the Invardii. Unless, of course, Cordez sets me other tasks with a higher priority.

  The second paper on the Invardii wars is now well underway, and this time I will be researching the beginnings of this savage conflict, and in particular the rise of Regent Cordez, and later Regent Asura, in response to the threat.

  Cordez bristled when told that my next project was about him. I have found him to be a man who does not care for the adoration of the people, or the score sheet of history, and I think he prefers to be as far from centre stage as he can – but that has not been possible.

  In the end he gave me full licence to carry out my historian’s duties, even though it meant I would now be researching him, and his part in this war. The relationship between these two Regents has long been the stuff of legend, and they are now, for all practical purposes, the new royalty of Earth.

  The first chapters of the second paper can be found after the Appendices following this footnote.

  As always with such historical projects, some people will wish I had included other things, and some will think I have the balance about right. This is something I must live with.

  All errors and omissions continue to be mine alone.

  Reviews.

  If you enjoyed this book, could you write a review for it?

  Reviews help new authors like Warwick Gibson get established, and they help readers decide if the book is for them. If you do have time to write a review it would be greatly appreciated.

  Mailing List.

  If you would like to be notified when other books in Warwick Gibson’s “Invardii” series come out, leave your email address here (guaranteed no other emails).

  There will be six (or more) books in the series, and they will appear every 6-8 weeks. They will be stand-alone tales mined from a huge science-fiction trilogy that was written around three years ago.

  Together, they tell the story of the hybrid Invardii as they boil out of the galactic core, and the developing Human resistance to the threat of extinction.

  APPENDIX A

  TIMELINE OF THE INVARDII WARS.

  ~ December 109 (2586AD) ~

  A mining team on Proteus, one of Neptune’s smaller moons, encounters an automated Druanii scout ship.

  II

  ~ March 110 ~

  An Invardii ship destroys Ragnaroth, an ancient Rothii space station.

  II

  ~ July 110 ~

  First contact with the Mersa, and their home planet Alamos.

  II

  ~ August 110 ~

  Regent Cordez unveils plans for a giant production facility named Prometheus, to meet the Invardii threat

  II

  ~ October 110 ~

  The planet Hud heats up, and many plants and animals die. Hudnee and his family make a desperate cross-country journey to Shellport on the coast.

  II

  ~ March 111 ~

  Regent Asura agrees to be Regent Cordez’ queen in an effort to unite Earth behind them for the war effort.

  II

  ~ April 111 ~

  K’Sarth planet destroyed, but the K’Sarth live on underground and produce materials for the Alliance forces.

  II

  ~ June 111 ~

  Hudnee forms the first militia to overthrow the Descendants of the Prophet.

  Celia’s research team learn about the Caerbrindii, and their ideas of ‘cultural dissonance’.

  II

  ~ July 111 ~

  An Invardii armada of over a thousand ships defeats a combined Earth and Sumerian force above Uruk, the Sumerian home world. Survivors settled on remaining Sumerian planets.

  II

  ~ November 111 ~

  Battle for Roum between Hudnee’s militia and the Descendants of the prophet.

  II

  ~ January 112 ~

  Earth ablaze from end to end. Alliance forces fight the Invardii to a standstill. Prometheus completely destroyed.

  II

  ~ April 112 ~

  Celia a
nd her research team arrive among the pre-technological peoples of Orouth, with many questions about human ancestry.

  II

  ~ May 112 ~

  The early days of rebuilding Earth.

  II

  ~ January 113 ~

  The discovery of the Valkrethi at the Lizard’s head.

  Prometheus is rebuilt.

  II

  ~ July 113 ~

  Valkrethi training over and a series of missions against Invardii ships and shipyards.

  II

  ~ October 113 ~

  The Invardii commander Kalken-ar-wuyr has concerns about the stability of the great Invardii city mind.

  II

  ~ February 114 ~

  Fedic Vits mission to Mentuk, the original Rothii planet, inside Invardii space.

  His time with the Collector.

  II

  ~ May 114 ~

  Discover great Invardii city inside the red supergiant sun Antares.

  II

  ~ June 114 ~

  The last stages of rebuilding Earth.

  II

  ~ November 114 ~

  Cordez and Geelong travel outside the galaxy with Druanii help, and meet their elusive protectors.

  Alliance forces protect the Orion home planet from the Invardii following a Druanii request.

  II

  ~ March 115 ~

  The Invardii unleash the Buccra, a vicious slave race they have only subjugated by having vastly superior numbers.

  II

  ~ June 115 ~

  Battle at Antares between the Invardii and Buccra forces, and the Alliance. Earth, Sumerian, Druanii, Centaur and Magenta forces take the field, supported by pacifist Mersa and the trading planet K’Sarth.

  APPENDIX B

  MAIN CHARACTERS.

  ANDRE

  One of Celia’s research team on alien artefacts.

  ASURA MING

  Regent of the powerful Asian trading block.

  BATTRICK

  One of Hudnee’s close friends at Shellport.