by Dan Worth
It was then that the three of them noticed that they were not alone in the chamber, a glowing projection of a humanoid alien figure hovered in the air behind the schematic of Maranos. It regarded them coldly then focused its attention upon Rekkid.
‘You, Arkari!’ it cried. ‘Your kind has been here before. I remember now, I remember…’ The figure flitted about the chamber. ‘Though I was born Chiriya I am known to the people of this world as Maran. You have freed me from my prison, Varish! As a reward, I shall activate my portal for you. Isn’t that what you wished, my brother?’
‘Yes,’ said Varish. ‘It is.’
The calm waters of the polar seas were suddenly and simultaneously split asunder by blinding pillars of light a thousand kilometres in height that projected into space from the exact centre of Maranos’s geographical poles. The pillars began to expand, forming into hollow cylinders that displaced the seas. The atmosphere too was pushed aside, resulting in an ever larger pillar of vacuum that now extended from the core of the planet into space itself.
The cylinders of light continued to expand, gradually pushing aside up ever greater volumes of water, so that soon an entire fleet of foundering Dendratha sailing ships and countless millions of sea creatures lay in a ring about its base. Finally, when the cylinders reached almost a hundred kilometres in diameter, they ceased to expand at the base and instead their walls began to angle slowly outwards until they formed gigantic funnels that swept aside the atmosphere at a stroke as clouds churned about their perimeters.
Now the portal itself activated, creating an immense stable wormhole. A circle of thirty six, black spherical nodes lay at the heart of the machine which crackled with unknown energies. These now pulsed into life with a titanic spike of energy that overloaded not only the Darwin’s sensors, but those of the monitoring arrays in the system. A circular wall of blackness fringed with blue blinked into existence between the ring of nodes at the core of the planet.
The arrays detected the massive energy surge that was then followed by a blast of exotic sub-atomic particles as the expanding shell of energies rushed outward from the poles at the speed of light.
The arrays, and the Darwin, began to record and transmit all that they were witnessing via hypercom as the entire planet of Maranos revealed itself to be an immense alien engine. The world was nothing less than a great machine constructed from technology millions of years more advanced than anything in known space. It was a glittering prize of incalculable value.
Fourth
‘What is this?’
‘It opens!’
‘The gate is active once more!’
‘We shall not fail this time.’
‘We shall escape our prison and take back what is rightfully ours.’
‘We must gather our forces.’
‘There will be no mercy and no quarter given.’
‘Our enemies will know fear, they shall know death and they shall know our revenge.’
‘We shall prevail.’
Chapter 24
In an age of hyperspace communication, information travelled quickly. Within hours, the navies of both the Commonwealth and the Arkari had focused their attentions on the situation unfolding in the demilitarised zone. The K’Soth too, though slower to react, became aware of the strange signals now emanating from neutral space. Decisions were taken at the highest levels and in the belligerent climate of fear and mistrust that had already been cultivated, the wheels of the machinery of war began to turn.
Haines was disturbed from his lunch by a junior officer informing him of an alpha priority message that had come from the Joint Chiefs. Leaving the tray of congealing food in the officers’ mess he made his way to his office and took the heavily encrypted call there. Admiral Morgan greeted him sternly. His broad black features were grave. Haines knew then from his expression, that this was it.
‘Admiral Haines,’ Morgan began. ‘This morning at oh-nine thirty-two hours our monitoring arrays in the Fulan system, located in the middle of the DMZ, picked up an artificial energy surge of hitherto unseen intensity. Due to the location of the system we only have one ship on station at this point, the science vessel CNV Darwin. Fortunately, her crew were able to determine the nature of the energy pulse.’
‘What is it, a K’Soth weapon?’
‘We don’t think so. The initial assessment of Captain Spiers and the data they provided would appear to indicate that the only inhabited planet in the system, Maranos, is home to an alien device capable of generating stable, controllable wormholes of a size suitable for the passage of spacecraft. The crew of the Darwin and a team of archaeologists on the planet itself had been investigating the device for some time, but they did not determine its true purpose until it was activated. George, the K’Soth will have already picked up the signals from the device as it activated, just as we have. They don’t have any ships in the system, though they do have a small diplomatic staff there. In any case it won’t take them long before they decide to investigate.’
‘Stable wormholes? Sir, this technology is centuries ahead of anything we’ve ever encountered. Who the hell built it?’
‘We don’t know at this time. Initial indications are that the device may be as old as the system itself; however we cannot allow the K’Soth to seize control of this device. If they were to learn its secrets, it could give them an immense tactical advantage over us. The ability to transport entire fleets across the galaxy in an instant would make them a threat that we would find impossible to counter. We must seize control of this device or prevent it from falling into the hands of our enemies. So, it has come to this.’ Morgan took a deep breath. ‘Fleet Admiral Haines, the President and the Joint Chiefs of Staff have authorised you to deploy the fleet into the Demilitarised Zone. You are to secure the planet Maranos in the Fulan system and defend it at all costs. You are to prevent any K’Soth forces from landing on the surface. If confronted by the enemy you are ordered to use all necessary means to ensure their swift defeat.’
‘Sir, you are instigating the War Plan?’
‘That I am Admiral. If the K’Soth should respond to your deployment, you are to engage them and following their defeat you are to proceed into Imperial space as planned and begin the assault upon their primary forward bases as we have discussed.’
‘Yes sir,’ Haines heart was pounding.
‘I know you won’t let me down Admiral, and I know how long you’ve planned this. I will now transmit the go codes to your ship. When you have authenticated them you may issue your orders to the fleet. Good luck George, we’re all counting on you.’
Beklide stood, surrounded on all sides by the virtual images of the assembled Council. The members of the Meritarch Council were scattered across the Arkari Sphere and so physical meetings were impractical. Instead, the hypercom network allowed them to meet like this, each member cocooned in his or her virtual representation of the Council Chamber. In reality, the Chamber existed only on Keros, the Arkari home-world at the Sphere’s centre. It too was spherical, the bottom half filled with tiers of seats for the delegates, the top half formed from a single piece of crystal etched with a representation of the night sky.
Beklide was paying scant attention to the remarkable virtual architecture; she had a duty to perform. Standing on the debating floor at the chamber’s centre, she addressed the assembled dignitaries, her small elderly form dwarfed by the scale of vast hollow space.
‘My fellow delegates,’ she began. ‘It is with great fear and trepidation that I come to you now, for a dark secret from our past has come back to haunt us.’ There was a murmur from the assembled Meritarchs. ‘Just a cycle ago our deep space monitoring arrays detected an unusual energy spike coming from a system known as Fulan that lies with the Demilitarised Zone between the Commonwealth and the K’Soth Empire. This signal is consistent with the energy signature of a device our exploratory missions uncovered in the pre-Sphere period. Our records show that this device, when activated the last time, created a wo
rmhole to a point in space and time that was filled with unimaginable horrors.’ There was mutter of disbelief, she continued. ‘Our fleet succeeded in defeating these creatures on this first occasion, but at great cost. Had they gained a foothold in this galaxy it would have spelt doom for us all. Their level of technology and needless to say their level of savagery knows no equal among the civilisations in this spiral arm. Since the device has been reactivated, it is my recommendation that we deploy the fleet immediately to respond to this potential threat. I regret to say that our intelligence efforts have been unsuccessful. The humans have activated the portal, and they do not appear to know the dangers they are meddling with.’
‘You say the humans have activated the device,’ said one delegate. ‘I say let the Commonwealth deal with the problem. Why should we risk our precious fleet once more to save them from their own foolishness? After all, we will require all our resources if we are to confront the greater forces that lie at the centre of this galaxy.’
‘The humans cannot possibly hope to defend themselves against these creatures,’ replied Beklide stubbornly. ‘Their ships are far too primitive to stand against them. Only we have the firepower to repel a breakout from the Maranos portal. Furthermore,’ she continued, ‘we believe that the re-activation of the portal is part of a wider plot by the Shapers to disrupt the civilisations in this arm of the galaxy prior to an invasion. Our intelligence efforts on Maranos had attempted to draw out the Shapers’ agents present there, but were unsuccessful. Needless to say, it is the intention of our enemy that all civilisations become embroiled in war and chaos to make it easier for them to make gains in this volume of space.’ She had their attention now, she knew. Mention of the Shapers would send a chill down the spine of the most arrogant of Council members. ‘There is another reason too,’ she added. ‘These creatures are our problem. We created them so it is only right that we should deal with them.’
‘And why do you say that Beklide?’ said another delegate. ‘What makes you think that they are our responsibility?’
‘Because,’ she replied. ‘They were once Arkari.’
The first sign that Chen had that something was afoot was when her comms officer, Ensign Andrews, picked up a priority message from Fleet Command.
‘Captain,’ he called out. ‘We have a priority alpha coming through on the hypercom. The system is decrypting it now.’ He tore off the sheet of paper as it came out of the printer and handed it, the ink still wet, to Chen. Her heart in her mouth, she examined it, dreading what it would contain.
From: FleetComNorthQ
To: Captain Michelle Chen. CO. CNV Mark Antony. Eyes only.
Auth: CBNM2221456A
Message:
Alien device of great importance to the Commonwealth located. Assist in its capture.
Rendezvous with CNV Normandy and her group at pre-arranged co-ordinates in system Klondike (0,240, -3). Proceed to system Fulan (-1.252.2.) best speed. Oversee landing on planet Maranos (Fulan AB1) by Marines under the command of Colonel Simonov. Planet Maranos to be held against Imperial forces at all costs. Admiral Kojima to oversee assault op. to secure planetary capital Erais and city of Marantis. Captain Chen to lead defensive group. Use of deadly force authorised. Hold the line against any K’Soth attack and await reinforcements. Provide fire support for landing if required.
-Message Ends-
Chen turned to Ramirez. ‘Commander, into my office please,’ she said. He nodded silently and followed. Inside they unlocked the safe and opened the twin sealed containers inside that held the authentication codes. Both of them displayed the same pattern of digits as the order they had received. It was genuine, the hour had finally come. They were going to war.
Chen looked at Ramirez. Her face was drained of colour. She couldn’t think of anything meaningful to say now that their fate was finally upon them. She had to focus, she told herself, if she lost concentration for just a moment she could condemn them all and she couldn’t allow her personal feelings to cloud her perception. Ramirez tried to say something comforting, but the words sounded futile and they both knew it. Silently Chen composed herself, and with Ramirez in tow, returned to the bridge.
The light from the great machine filled the bridge of the Darwin as her crew sought to compile as much data as they could on the incredible events they had just witnessed. The four tapering pillars of light blazed against the black backdrop of space and the softer glow of the planet itself.
The scientists were amazed. What sort of civilisation could construct machines that manipulated the very stars themselves or that could demolish or move planets? They had also seen Varish’s resume of ancient galactic history and were still reeling from the implications. Here was a being that predated the very existence of the Solar System itself. He had lived in a time when Earth was little more than an accreting clump of rock and gas and belonged to a species that had once held the entire galaxy, around a hundred billion systems, under its domain. Doubtless Varish had seen wonders that they could scarcely imagine.
The scientific implications were staggering. What technology lay buried in the planet below? What could the four stored personalities tell them? What secrets did they know? Here was a mother lode of potential scientific discovery that could change the fortunes of the human race for ever.
Despite this, Spiers was facing a near mutiny from his crew who were outraged at him having given in to the orders from the Navy for further information about the device. The thought of the military coming here and crawling all over this great discovery sickened them.
‘What choice did I have?’ He argued. ‘People, listen. We are, after all, a naval vessel and as such we are subject to the chain of command, whether we like it or not.’
‘But you didn’t even try to stall them,’ retorted Pembrooke. ‘At least you could have bought us some time before they arrive. You know what’ll happen; they’ll strip this thing to the bone to make some new weapon or something. By the time we get a look all the real science will have been classified and we’ll never see it.’
‘How could I buy us some time? They’d send a ship here anyway and demand we hand over the information. Then we’d all face a court martial for disobedience and lose our jobs. Plus, what about the K’Soth?’
‘What about them?’ asked Fullerton, scornfully. ‘You’re not suggesting we tell them all about it too are you?’
‘My point is, that they already know. My point is, that those monitoring arrays in this system will have broadcast that energy surge to both the Commonwealth and the Empire. You don’t think that maybe they might come here for a look as well? I know who I’d rather deal with.’
‘So what do you suggest we do? Sit and wait for both sides to turn up and start squabbling?’
‘We gather as much data as we can, then if things get a little risky we retreat to a point well above the ecliptic and wait and see what happens. We can make a run for Commonwealth space if we have to, or we can stay here and work on the device.’
‘Bob, you know how things are between the Commonwealth and the K’Soth right now. We could end up in the middle of a shooting match.’
‘Alright, alright. If the K’Soth come, we make for Klondike okay?’
‘And what about those guys down there on the planet?’
‘They’ll just have to sit it out, or else Quickchild, Varish, whoever he is can get them out. We can’t land a shuttle with all that dust around. Look, you can barely see Marantis now. Do you think our shuttle’s engines could cope with that?’
‘Great Bob, very heroic.’
‘Well what would you have me do?’ replied Spiers in exasperation and stormed off the bridge.
Rekkid, Katherine and Steven stood at the top of the temple’s central tower and looked out at the gathering storm. The activation of the portal had upset the planet’s weather, creating shockwaves in the upper atmosphere that had raced around the planet from the poles. The resulting storm force winds had whipped up millions of tonnes of sand from
the deserts into the atmosphere.
They were wearing the goggles they had used earlier whilst cutting open the hatch to shield their eyes against the growing clouds of rushing sand. Northwards, a boiling wall of particles swept down out of the great desert toward the sacred city. To the east and west however, the twin ever-setting suns were still visible, as well as the thin, bright columns of fire that now joined their equators to the planet, umbilical cords of twisting plasma that fed the vast mechanism at the centre of the world. The streets and rooftops of Marantis were full of people, pointing at the strange patterns in the sky and already muttering rumours that Maran had returned to life. A large crowd was gathering around the base of the temple awaiting an announcement from the priests inside.
They had left the underground chamber whilst Varish communed with the entity that called itself Maran. There was something greatly unsettling about the creature; it seemed taciturn and sly and it had regarded them in such a way as to suggest loathing, Rekkid in particular. The possibility of a religious stampede had also occurred to them, something they had no desire to become caught up in.
It was, to say the least, a lot to take in. Katherine and Rekkid knew that what they had discovered dwarfed any xeno-archaeological find ever made. They had had uncovered an artefact that encompassed an entire world and its suns, a stunning technological achievement of indescribable power and engineering prowess.
The re-appearance of the entity that now called itself Varish was another source of fascination. Rekkid’s ship had revealed itself to be the mind of a creature far older than many of the star systems in this part of the galaxy - one that had been preserved via what seemed like a miracle of technology. Yet the three of them were deeply troubled.