Exiles (The Progenitor Trilogy, Book One)

by Dan Worth

  He was aboard an Esacir bubble city, a space borne habitat enclosed beneath a gigantic one piece crystal dome, populated by thousands upon thousands of passengers. The Esacir were a race of humanoid plant-animal symbionts. Quite how and why this biological state of affairs had evolved was something of a mystery to other species, but it had evidently occurred rather early on in the history of life on their home-world of Erafir since much of the other native life forms followed the same template. The Esacir were slow moving and peaceful creatures, for there had been few fast moving predators on Erafir. They were generally stocky, with large heavy heads, though they varied greatly in appearance due to the different blooms and tendrils that spouted from their dark green bodies. Significantly, they demonstrated incredible levels of intelligence. Their relatively sedate lives gave them plenty of time in which to think and study, creating a civilisation which excelled in the arts, philosophy and science to a level which was only approached by the Arkari.

  The bubble cities served partly as intellectual retreats, and partly as holiday destinations for the Esacir. The gigantic disc shaped structures migrated from system to system, where they would spend lengthy amounts of time orbiting one star or another with their crystal domes perpetually facing the glare, allowing their occupants to sample the different ‘flavours’ provided by the varying spectrums of one star or another. This, combined with the intense humidity of the bubble cities’ atmospheres, provided almost the ideal environment for the plant half of the Esacirs’ biology, boosting their metabolism and stimulating their mental processes far beyond normal levels. Many bubble cities were famed for the intellectual and scientific triumphs accomplished beneath their domes and most contained a centre of learning or artistic expression of some description. This one, Riianto, was no exception and was widely recognised as a centre of research into the field of artificial intelligence.

  This was why Rekkid was had come here. Artificial intelligence was a technology that had eluded all species save the Esacir and the Arkari due to the immense technical challenge involved in constructing an artificial replica of a sentient mind.

  Decoding the log was a task which would take years or decades without the help of an AI and Rekkid was under no illusions about what would happen if he returned to Arkari space with the log in his possession. The Esacir were allies of the Arkari, but it was unlikely that Arkari or Commonwealth agents would pursue him here for fear of damaging that relationship.

  Rekkid had come here to Riianto on the recommendation of a friend and colleague by the name of Doctor Sanjay Chopra from Turing College, Cambridge a specialist in encryption algorithms. The past few months of Rekkid’s absence had been a ruse, the log had stayed in Cambridge with Sanjay whilst he worked on the device in secret. He had contacted Rekkid to report his findings and had had the log couriered to Riianto for him to collect upon his arrival.

  Rekkid trudged steadily through streets filled with moisture laden air. Water dripped from every overhang and pooled upon every surface. Everywhere was damp and the atmosphere oppressively muggy. The log and his own datapad and notes were in a satchel slung at his side. Despite his relatively light attire Rekkid was sweating profusely, it collected in and around his head-crest and made his scalp itch infuriatingly. His felt as though he were wading through a thick soup. Pausing, he removed his dark glasses and wiped the droplets that had accumulated on the backs of the lenses before replacing them. Slightly dizzy and short of breath he plodded wearily on, drawing curious glances from the Esacir about him, all of whom seemed quite at ease.

  The street down which he walked was lined with buildings in a number of architectural styles as well as tall decorative plant life that turned it into a pleasant avenue. Flourishing creepers and trailing flowers hung from balconies and roofs also, some of which appeared to be moving of their own accord.

  He passed a warm pool of greenish algae filled water, where a number of young played in the shallows. Their inflatable ball sailed toward him and came to rest at his feet, followed by the stocky plodding form of one of its owners. She picked up the ball and, unused to the sight of aliens, looked quizzically at Rekkid before charging back into the water. Rekkid walked on, the sounds of play and splashing water continued behind him until he was struck on the back of the head by the beach ball. He turned angrily.

  ‘Just what the f…’ he checked his language, a group of the young Esacir stood looking at him. ‘Just what do you think you’re doing?’ he said as his translator medallion repeated the phrase in the deep, warbling Esacir language. One of the group, a small female with yellow head flowers piped up.

  ‘Are you a spaceman?’

  ‘Am I a what?’

  ‘A spaceman. Did you come in a spaceship from a long way away?’

  ‘Well yes, I’m Arkari’

  A chorus of excited noises greeted this statement.

  ‘My father says the Arkari are ‘nice, if a little aloof.’’ The child quoted her father’s words in deliberate fashion then added. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘I’m an archaeologist.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  Rekkid felt a little taken aback by the precociousness of the children, he grinned at them evilly. ‘I dig up dead people,’ he said with a flourish.

  The children made various noises of disgust and backed off slightly, except one fat one with red flowers whose words Rekkid’s translator interpreted as some sort of expression of enthusiasm.

  ‘Then I don’t think you can play with us Mister Spaceman, I don’t think you’re so very nice,’ said the first and they dashed off. The fat one turned and waved his tendrils at Rekkid before joining them.

  Rekkid smiled, he had forgotten how idyllic the lives of Esacir children were. Despite their intelligence they were by Commonwealth standards, naïve, being the product of a society relatively free from danger, crime and predation. He envied them, but he wondered how they’d fare on worlds outside Esacir space, where youngsters of many species were taught to avoid talking to strangers from an early age. Indeed the trusting and pacific nature of the Esacir was one of the reasons they were so vulnerable, despite their technological superiority. Violence was simply not in their nature and without the protection of the Arkari they would have fallen victim to the K’Soth centuries ago.

  The Riianto Cybernetics Research Centre was now visible a few hundred yards away at the end of the street as a functional cube shape topped with a ziggurat of gardens. Rekkid groaned. It might as well be a hundred miles away; this heat was unbearable. It had only seemed a short walk on the map he had examined before setting out, so he had eschewed the use of public transport in favour of walking through the verdant streets. He was coming to regret that decision intensely.

  He cursed as beads of sweat stung his eyes and he wiped them hurriedly, and then swore again as his dark glasses fell off. Stumbling forward, cursing the climate, he eventually he reached the main entrance of the research centre and staggered gratefully through the automatic doors, it was wonderfully cool and dry inside.

  ‘Oh thank my mother’s nest!’ cried Rekkid. ‘It’s so wonderfully cold in here! Bliss!’

  The old female Esacir behind the reception desk regarded him with some unease. Rekkid slumped on the seat in front of the desk. It was slightly too low for his Arkari frame. He sniffed at his sodden clothing and grimaced.

  ‘Yes? Can I help you?’ asked the receptionist cautiously in heavily accented Arkari.

  ‘Yes, yes you can. I’m here to see Master Adept Ormintu. I have an appointment.’

  ‘And your name would be?’

  ‘Professor Rekkid Cor, I’ve come from Cambridge University, Earth.’

  The receptionist consulted her computerised ledger for a moment.

  ‘Yes, here we are. I’ll just call him for you,’ she said and touched a panel on the sleek device before speaking into it at length in her native tongue. ‘He’ll be along shortly.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  Glancing idly around the
room Rekkid noticed that the receptionist had a large fluted white flower growing out of the centre of her forehead. It was shaped exactly like an Arkari woman’s sexual organs. He found couldn’t stop staring at it.

  ‘Something I can help you with Professor Cor?’

  ‘What? No, ahh… I was just wondering, why is it so much cooler and dryer in here than outside? I mean it’s fine for me but aren’t you cold? Doesn’t the dryness bother you? Is it moist enough?’

  ‘The nature of the research conducted here demands that the building’s environment be altered to these levels. The humidity and heat we prefer are unsuitable.’

  ‘Is it not uncomfortable though?’

  ‘Yes. But we take short breaks every so often. Many of the faculty go outside into the gardens to think and study. We only come inside the building for practical experimentation. Most of our best work is done in the roof garden.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yes, oh look, Master Adept Ormintu is here to meet you now.’

  Rekkid turned towards a set of double doors to see a youngish male Esacir with an unusual number of blue flowers about his shoulders and possessing a frame which was thin by the standards of his species. He bowed slightly in greeting. Rekkid bowed back. He spoke in perfect, though accented Arkari.

  ‘Professor Cor, a pleasure, so glad you could come. Step this way please’ he beckoned Rekkid to follow him back through the doors. They walked and talked

  ‘Tell me how is our mutual friend Dr. Chopra?’

  ‘Fine. He sends you a present in addition to the item I brought with me.’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘Yes, he was digging around in the archives when he found a few programs he thought you might find interesting. They’re games mainly, human and a couple of hundred years old or thereabouts. He said they were crude but strangely compelling, particularly one by the name of Tetris. Anyway he thought they might interest you,’ said Rekkid and handed him a data wafer.

  Ormintu chuckled. ‘Thank you. Well I’ll have to find him something in return to play with for when you see him next. We like to keep each other amused. This way please,’ he gestured. ‘My office is just through here.’

  He led Rekkid into a small room crammed with stacked notes, books and miscellaneous pieces of equipment, with a small window that offered a view of the gardens outside. Ormintu gestured for Rekkid to sit in one of two padded chairs. Despite being fashioned for a different species Rekkid found it quite comfortable.

  ‘Master Adept…’

  ‘Oh please, none of that formality. I hate it. Just Ormintu will do Rekkid.’

  ‘Thanks. Now, first of all, do I have your utmost confidentiality?’

  ‘Yes, yes of course. I did have a vague idea of what you were bringing me when I accepted. Its contents will be quite safe here I assure you.’

  ‘You’re quite sure?’ he reiterated. Ormintu nodded solemnly ‘Well that’s quite a relief I can tell you.’

  ‘What is it exactly that you have?’ said Ormintu, leaning forward. Rekkid produced the worn looking device from his satchel and passed it to him.

  ‘We believe it to be the log of a derelict Arkari ship that we found floating in interstellar space.’ He explained. ‘It’s around a million years old and Sanjay Chopra’s analysis revealed its data core to be formed from some form of crystalline structure, the arrangement of the molecular structure being used to store data. I have all his notes with me by the way.’

  ‘Good, oh and I shan’t insult you by pointing out the conundrum of its extreme age, do go on.’

  ‘Sanjay managed to get the thing working and he made an adaptor to fit it to a standard data port. It’s almost perfectly preserved, but we’ve no way of comprehending what it contains. The data formats and the language used to record it are unknown to us, though it seems to have been recorded by an Arkari.’

  ‘So it’s possible it might contain similar grammatical patterns to known Arkari languages, including the present universal one?’

  ‘Possibly, but as I say until the characters are decoded I’ve no way of knowing. Sanjay said I should talk to you about this.’

  Ormintu looked thoughtful for a moment. ‘I think what he really meant was that you should meet a friend of mine,’ he said slowly.

  ‘Is he here?’

  ‘Yes, he’s through in the lab. Come on, you can talk to him now.’

  ‘I wouldn’t be disturbing him would I?’

  ‘Oh not at all,’ said Ormintu brightly. ‘This way.’

  Ormintu led Rekkid out of his office and along the corridor outside. He guided Rekkid through two sets of automatic doors and into a spacious laboratory filled with computers and electronics, workbenches and countless scientific instruments. One side of the room was partitioned off to form a clean room and inside a couple of Esacir in sealed suits could be seen working in the sterile environment. At the end of room sat a metal ovoid, connected by numerous cables to sockets in the wall and to other computers in the room. A swarm of shiny camera bugs flew lazily around the room on their micro anti-gravity motors. They turned and approached Rekkid to peer at him.

  ‘Professor Rekkid Cor, welcome,’ said a measured and disembodied voice.

  ‘Hello?’ replied Rekkid hesitantly. ‘Who am I speaking to?’

  ‘I am a friend. I am a friend of Knowledge-Master Ormintu also. I am his offspring, so to speak. I am his prodigy. My name in your language is Quickchild.’

  The truth dawned on Rekkid.

  ‘You’re an AI?’

  ‘Yes. You seem surprised. Do the Arkari not have artificial entities?’

  ‘I’m not sure to be honest, most of our starships have so-called ‘intelligent’ software that helps to run them and I’ve heard rumours that our military use AIs in their ships but it tends to come from the usual crackpots. I’ve never encountered anything quite like you before Quickchild.’

  ‘Thank you Professor Cor, you flatter me,’ said the voice as the camera bugs danced in the air.

  ‘It’s just Rekkid, please.’

  ‘Very well Rekkid. May I be so bold as to ask you what brings you here to see me? I have watched your progress through the city today, but I thought it rude to pry without permission.’

  ‘He’s a very polite computer Ormintu,’ said Rekkid with a hint of playful mockery. ‘You must be very proud.’

  Ormintu beamed.

  ‘Quickchild I have an artefact with me, a ship’s log. It contains records in a dead language that we have no practical way of decoding. I was hoping you could help.’

  ‘I would be delighted to help you Rekkid. It sounds fascinating. It could take some time though.’

  Rekkid’s heart sank

  ‘How long?’

  ‘Ten, maybe twelve periods.’

  Rekkid spluttered ‘That’s fine! That’s perfectly fine, we were looking at decades and you apologise for a third of a day. I can’t thank you enough!’

  ‘You are too kind.’ replied Quickchild. Rekkid thought it actually sounded bashful. ‘Since this is a ship’s log however, decoding its contents may be less difficult than you would expect.’

  ‘Oh, how so?’

  ‘It has long been common practice amongst many species to embed a key of some sort into records such as this. If the ship were to be lost in an unfamiliar region of space there is always the possibility that it may be found by beings unfamiliar with the language of its creators. Hence a key is usually included to enable the contents of the records to be deciphered so that the fate of the ship and its crew and their origins may be known and its people notified if possible.’

  ‘So how does it work?’

  ‘The key is usually stored separately within the device, appended to the end of the data or printed on its casing. The data types take various forms, but they are usually formed from matrices of binary sequences which when arranged correctly form pictures and diagrams a line at a time. Usually the dimensions of the matrices conform to prime numbers, making them more obvious.
The pictures they form will contain further aids in decoding the rest of the data: the alphabet and numerical systems for example, and ultimately the programming language that the records were created in so that they can be read independently of their storage device. It is still a laborious and difficult task to decode however, even for one such as myself.’

  ‘And you think this log might have one? It is extremely old.’

  ‘True, but maybe we shall get lucky. Good ideas seldom confine themselves to one race or age. Furthermore, if it is of Arkari origin its language may share some characteristics with known Arkari languages.’

  ‘Well I hope so. My entire career and that of one of my colleagues depends upon it.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yes, it seems that certain individuals are rather edgy about what the log might contain. I’ve been followed around half of known space these past few months by all sorts of people.’

  ‘Then we must be quick. I may be a child of the Esacir, but I’m under no illusions about their inability to grasp concepts such a security and secrecy.’

  Ormintu butted in. ‘Really Quickchild, I’m sure we’re quite safe here. We’re in the heart of Esacir territory.’

  ‘Ormintu, with all respect, I have just queried traffic control. It seems that an Arkari naval vessel, a cruiser named the Stormfront is headed this way and has requested permission to dock with us in nine periods. Plug the device into me and let me get to work. Time is of the essence.’

  Ormintu took the log and placed it on a workbench in front of Quickchild, attached a thin cable to Dr Chopra’s standard data port and stood back. ‘Really I think you’re making a big fuss about nothing,’ he said and looked at Rekkid, who seemed distinctly shaken. There was a pregnant pause of several minutes until Quickchild spoke again.

  ‘It seems our luck is in. As I suggested the device does contain a key. The log is written in a language composed of thirty seven characters and with a numerical system in base fourteen, which would seem to add weight to its probable Arkari origins. Creating a dictionary and building a full understanding of the grammar used and programming languages employed in the construction of the log will take rather longer however.’