by David Byrd
“Fascinating,” Hollis said aloud and with great respect. The teacher as they B’Noth called it was nothing more than a condensing of data and images and then superimposing them directly into the brain. The mechanism was far too advanced to reverse engineer, but the organization of the data and the use of the material was just like all other Plakorii data…organized, simplistic and with virtually no regard to any one person or group gaining unauthorized access. As if they did not yet know the meaning of distrust of one another. Hollis was able to discern that the menu structure was like many of the other controls, color coded into groupings. Green appeared to be the lowest level suitable for children. He started with these datasets and one by one he activated and assimilated the knowledge. For the first few days he could only manage 2 sessions with the teacher. The machinery was designed for a much more advanced brain than his and the result if he attempted to use too many sessions was a splitting headache and muddled understanding of the topics. He had to be contented with slow and steady progress but that was the hallmark of a good researcher.
On the morning of the celebration for Elia and Kai’s safe return, Hollis had been using some of his new knowledge in the main chamber. The 3d image of Trellis II hung in the air before him except…there were two new symbols being displayed over both poles of the planet. The labels identified the exact north and south positions and consisted of two Plakorii symbols that were not converted to earth normal. Hollis took the image in both hands and rotated the sphere to the north and then widened his arms to expand the image. After carefully studying the north he switched to the south and made the same careful observations. Where had he seen these symbols before he asked himself mentally?
Later in the day he realized they had been in one of the submenus of the teacher. He rushed back downstairs and searched through the groupings until he came across the two symbols in one of the advanced archives. If he had not remembered seeing these before it could have been years before he accessed this particular data bank. Hollis activated the dataset and closed his eyes. The download took only seconds. When it was over he sat down with a heavy thud his face pale and drained of color. He actually thought he might faint…or be sick or both.
Inside Kai and Elia’s hab, the vid beeped for attention and Faye being closest, answered the call. “Hollis,” she said brightly smiling at the disheveled scientist on the other end. “I’m so glad you called in, Elia and Kai would have been terrible disappointed.”
“Yes of course my dear,” Hollis said. “I’m awfully sorry I didn’t call earlier.”
The others heard part of the conversation and all crowded into the compartment. They had toasted a few times and were all smiling and laughing, trading barbs and just hanging out.
“I….ah, perhaps this isn’t the best time…I see you are all enjoying the celebration and I just wanted to ring in and give my best wishes.” He said.
The group quieted and exchanged glances with each other and noted for the first time that Hollis appeared to be a bit more disheveled than usual and he had a distinctly pale face.
“Hollis Meska,” Jean started, staring directly into the vid screen with a no nonsense look on her face. “It doesn’t take a mind reader like our dear Elia and Kai to see that something is very wrong and you know you are terrible at hiding things…so out with it right this minute.”
Hollis stared for what seemed like a minute at Jean. He could never refuse anything she asked him to do and this had to be one of the hardest admissions yet but he owed them all. The people in that room were his family. Swallowing heavily and gaining a measure of composure he began.
“When I was captured by the Plakorii named B’Noth, he showed me what became of his people during the great experiment over a thousand years ago. The how and why aren’t important but what he did was. He activated a final protocol that essentially terraformed the planet again wiping out all matter down to a few meters in depth. When the erasure was complete, the planetary template containing all forms of matter they wished on the planet surface such as trees, rocks, mountains etc. were recreated from the particles in suspension. Before Kai rescued me B’Noth said “It has already started”. I didn’t understand until now.” Hollis changed the vid to the planetary sphere so that they could see the symbols above the Poles.
“So these symbols in Plakorii mean final protocol. If you zoom in to one of the poles you see this.” Hollis expanded the region and there was a circular region that was…empty.
“I don’t understand,” Noel said. “It looks as if there is nothing there.”
“Yes precisely,” Hollis said. “There is nothing there…anymore… except freed atomic particles waiting to be converted to matter. Think of it like the transport device. All the particles that make up a person are freed from their bonds essentially like disintegration. But then they are stored as a template and reintegrated at the other side. The terraforming process is the same. All matter is reduced to sub-atomic particles in suspension waiting for the instructions to reform into a rock or a tree or a river. So the circle is the expanding event horizon of the first part of the process which reduces matter to particles.”
As the grim reality settled in for the group, Noel knew that despair could be crippling.
“So we have a problem,” Noel said. “It’s not the first one we’ve had and probably won’t be the last…at least I hope not. But there are always options so let’s work them. Hollis can you calculate the rate of consumption and the time it would take to reach us in the equatorial zone?”
“Yes I have that now as a matter of fact,” He said. “Trellis II is roughly half the size of Earth so that’s about 10,000 Kilometers pole to pole. The rate of phase 1 as I’m calling it has been about .0694 meters per second which gives us roughly 40,000 hours or about 5 years until the leading edge is within the proximity of Ancora and the habitats. I can’t be sure that the process won’t accelerate or slow down but from my observations it has been rather constant.”
“So as I see it we can either try and stop the process or leave the planet.” Noel said.
“Ah my friend …just a small problem with leaving the planet is that we don’t have any ships capable of space travel and if we did we can’t leave because of the energy shield.” Max said.
“O…that…well that’s not really a problem anymore it was chil…” Hollis started but Max interrupted with a bellow.
“STOP!” If you say it was child’s play Hollis Meska so help me my good friend but I’m going to punch you.”
Hollis’s eyes widened at this outburst and he swallowed hard. “Ah, I…was about to say that I had uncovered a…new way to deactivate the shield…as it were.”
The two men stared at each other and then Max let out a roar of laughter that soon had everyone in the room laughing with him…Even Hollis, normally studious and reserved was given over to the absurdity of the situation they were in and the tension everyone felt.
“Well we have some work to do people,” Noel said finally after everyone had a good laugh.
Chapter 11
Plakorii South Complex
Micah had discovered the transport lockout a few months after he made his escape to the south complex. He had not counted on anyone being as intelligent as he was in learning the Plakorii secrets but he realized reluctantly that Hollis Meska had probably learned as much or more about the systems as he had. So the thing to do now was to find a way to defeat his enemies. There had to be some knowledge stored here he could make use of to build a weapon of some kind. He had been taking daily walks outside the complex in the cold clear air near the southern pole to think and plan his revenge. Directly outside the cave tunnel he could enjoy the scenery of low mountainous terrain to the south with snowcapped peaks.
He sat in his usual spot outside the complex and breathing in the cool clear air, he pondered his situation. He had food and water for at least a year but after that he would have to find a way to break the travel lockout or starve. There was Plakorii stasis foo
d but he’d sooner eat dirt than the nutrients they used even though they were compatible. As he walked through his options he kept thinking something was missing. Something at the edge of his mind was…off but he didn’t know quite what that was. He got up to go back inside and it stuck him. The snowy peak he had seen for months in the center of his view to the south was…gone! Just gone as if it had never been there…but he was not hallucinating…it had been there the last time he was out.
“What the hell?” He said aloud. “It didn’t just disappear. Could that old coot Hollis have somehow managed to destroy the mountain?” Micah resolved to find out just what was happening here as he made his way back into the main complex.
…A few kilometers away, phase 1 of the ever expanding ripple had relentlessly marched through a small mountain converting all in its path to base particles…
North Pole
Cranston Singleton was one of those hardy pioneer types. He had climbed Mount Everest on Earth and all of the other notable mountains. He had raced in competitive athletic events and was a survivalist who preferring living off the land. When the Trellis II mission came up he was one of the first to volunteer. A new world to conquer and a new adventure every day. Cranston had been one of the few who had gone off exploring nearly from the moment they landed. He preferred solitude to people and only came back in to resupply since there were no animals to hunt for food. He had painstakingly detailed a rover route as far north as he could go backtracking sometimes for hundreds of miles before finding a passable route north. He was determined to plant his flag on the North Pole and immortalize the area in his name. He had been forced to leave the rover days ago and go on foot with his packs and provisions. By his estimates he should arrive in the next day or so being only 10 kilometers away. It was night so he made camp and rolled out his sleeping bag resting under the unfamiliar stars of this part of the galaxy. The advantage of Trellis II was that not only were there no animals…there were no insects of any kind to deal with either. He felt somewhat letdown by those facts. He was a man who lived to control and tame his environment whatever that may be and Trellis II was feeling more and more like just another hike. There was nothing inherently dangerous in the environment unless you walked off a cliff. His Adaptogen treatments would heal any wound or even a broken bone in no time.
He slept deeply and Trellis I was already high in the sky when he woke up to sudden searing pain in his ankles. He tried to sit up but in horror he could see that there was nothing where his feet should be. The pain was advancing up his legs and his limbs were just disappearing before his eyes. In seconds his waist was gone and then his chest. His last thought was of disappointment that he would not have a landmark in his name. The matter that made up the being known as Cranston Singleton was now only billions and billions of floating particles.
Ancora Central Park
“Order…Order…Everyone please calm down and let Noel continue,” the moderator of the meeting admonished the crowd. They had gathered everyone in the central park since it was the largest space in the dome.
“Why should we calm down…this is all their fault anyway,” a man shouted from the crowd. “We should have made peace with Kinsdale and we could have gone back to Earth.”
“Sir…I know how you feel…we all do,” Noel said. “But considering that Earth tried to wipe us out on multiple occasions I find it hard to believe that you really think it would have been better to negotiate with Kinsdale. I know that many of you are angry and scared. We are too…Don’t you think we have something just as precious at stake here?” Noel looked into the crowd to see Elia and Kai in the front row.
“This is our home. We have survived incredible odds and I for one love it here. I’m not going down without a fight and I’m asking you to fight with me…with all of us.”
Clap…Clap…Clap…From around the room Max, Faye, Jean, Kai, Elia and many other colonists started clapping and nodding their approval. Soon the entire crowd was clapping enthusiastically. When the crowd settled down again the man who had objected stood up to face Noel.
“I…I’m sorry Noel. I didn’t mean what I said. I’m just scared for my kids.”
Noel looked at the man with understanding and nodded. “We are all scared for our kids buddy. That’s the best motivator anyone could ask for.”
“You all know what we are up against and the time we have left to us,” Noel said. “So please check the link top priority menu and you’ll find the data Hollis is feeding directly to link. We are hoping that we can find a way to stop the process or anything else that can help us with the situation such as why the Plakorii stations are not affected. Perhaps there is some way to add exceptions. Anything we can learn will be useful and with all of you helping, I know we have a fighting chance. Thank you.”
Chapter 12
Plakorii South Complex
Micah had been busy in the last few months since he discovered what had caused the mountain to disappear. It was not difficult to find information on what the process was doing or why the Plakorii executed the process but it was damn difficult to find the scientific data behind that process. He had been making treks closer to the demarcation zone and taking readings but so far all he had to show for it was a rough timetable of when it would overtake the complex. He had read the data that all the Plakorii installations were excluded and that was something he spent hours researching. Today was the day the process would overtake and pass the lab and even though he knew he was safe in the complex, there was still some trepidation…after all it wasn’t every day that walking outside could cause you to cease to exist.
Micah keyed the general world sphere in the main console and expanded the area around “his” base of operations as he thought of it. The terraforming process relentlessly crept to the mouth of the artificial cave. In a short time it had passed to the south and he had to get out and see the result. As he came to the cave mouth all he could see in front of him was grayness…no color except for a few sparkles that must be residual friction from the particles but otherwise a complete lack of reference. Micah was impressed by the technology but a bit frightened by the fact that just a few feet into the void, a person could be hopelessly lost forever until he starved.
“This just won’t do,” he said aloud. “I’m going to need to build some special equipment to be able to go out into the void and experiment. “ For the first time in months he was quite elated at the prospect of learning and using that knowledge to his advantage. He was playing a long game…one that wouldn’t bear fruit for a few years but he had the time to wait.
Plakorii Canyon Complex
Four years sped by in a blur. The colonists had made great discoveries in the data stream Hollis fed out to link but nothing about how to stop the process. The process was nearly to the northern forest complex and a few months from now would overtake and overlap the equator from north and south. They had nearly exhausted all options and a feeling of dread certainty had fallen over everyone. A year ago they stumbled onto a dataset called “Theorem on Matter Energy Conversion” but it never led to anything tangible that could help the situation. They explored the option of moving every last person into the cave/Plakorii complexes until the process completed but ultimately scrapped that idea since nothing would be left to survive with. No farms, water, shelter…only the void.
Hollis as usual was working feverishly at the main console. Time was the enemy now and it had taken a toll on him. He was gaunt and worn from the stress but none of the group could get him to stop with such a short time remaining.
Ding…The main display activated and a face stared back at Hollis with a huge smile.
“Hollis Meska you’re looking…pretty bad these days…I thought you would be dead by now but don’t worry it won’t be much longer.”
Hollis stared with his mouth open in utter astonishment at Micah Ross staring back at him as if from the grave.
“I…I,” Hollis was at a complete loss of what to say.
“Oh don’t
worry yourself Hollis; you’ll have a heart attack. Now why don’t you patch me in to Noels vid screen directly? I know you have that capability and we have some business to discuss.” Micah said.
Hollis was still shocked by this more so because he had no idea how Micah had initiated the communication. Hollis contacted Noel and established a direct vid link and at Noels insistence, broadcast the verbal conversation over link to everyone in Ancora.
“Micah, what is it that you want?” Noel said calmly staring straight at the screen.
“Noel Hasten…good to see you again,” Micah said cheerfully. “What’s it been…4 years 6 months since we last met? I’m sure you’ve all been as busy as little bees lately. I’m surprised to find you at home. I thought you would have been out rousing the troops.”
“Hollis cut the connection please,” Noel said.
“Oh I wouldn’t do that just yet Noel old man…I have a proposition for you that you won’t be able to refuse,” Micah said. “Besides, it’s been a really long time since I actually talked to a human and I hate to admit it but I’m…kind of lonely.”
Noel was not for a moment taken in by Micah’s baiting.
“I’m listening…get to the point Micah.”
“I really do miss that military no nonsense way you have about you Noel…that straight to the point, honor and duty personality of yours. That’s really why I’ve decided to contact you directly because your decision will be the colony’s decision,” Micah said confidently. “So I’ll come directly to the point before that temper of yours causes you to do something you will really regret. I’m going to offer you a way to save all your precious colonists and continue that boring uninspired thing you all call living down there. In return, I have a few small things I need and I also want you to allow anyone who wants to join me from the colony to do so. We can discuss the exact terms later.”