“We...” Telarrek’s mouth remained open a fraction longer but said nothing. Kalian saw his shoulders become slack for a moment, Telarrek truly had no answer. “We do not know.”
“Then show us what you do know,” Kalian’s first word was a croak. He couldn’t remember the last time he had drunk anything. Telarrek lifted his head sharply in response and began typing commands into the console.
“This is-”
“Wait,” Kalian interrupted him. “I want you to start by telling us why I’m here. Only two humans survived that attack, why is a history lecturer from San Francisco one of them?” He looked to Li’ara briefly. “A soldier maybe, one of our leaders or ambassadors, but why me?”
Telarrek looked intently into the hologram. “While your injuries were being repaired I informed the Conclave of recent events.” He paused as the golden swirls of his eyes focused on Kalian. “The politics of the Conclave are... complicated. There is more than just my race involved now. There are four other species that will each have their say in the matter, no doubt there will be consequences for keeping the discovery of your kind a secret.”
“You’re dodging the question.” Kalian didn’t care for the politics of an alien society.
“I am to bring you before the Conclave; it is my understanding that only the Highclave are allowed contact with you. I am to escort you there, nothing else is permitted. I am already breaking my mandate by changing course. It is not for me to speak on their behalf if they do not wish it.” Kalian’s frustration was growing, it had been a long day filled with pain and death and he had no idea why. No idea about any of it, why the attack, why him, who were their attackers?
He desperately wanted to know if they were aware of his other thing, the part of his life he had kept secret for so long. He already felt vulnerable with Li’ara knowing, but even that last outburst had frightened him. He had never experienced that before. To feel the room around him, even to be able to reach out and touch Li’ara was new.
He met Li’ara’s eyes across the room, a silent question passed between them. Kalian knew she understood what he wanted to ask but she shook her head discreetly. It made sense to let the Novaarians broach the subject, he didn’t want to be a lab rat on Earth let alone some advanced alien race.
Li’ara changed the subject, “There will be more time for this later.” She gave Kalian a knowing look, we will get to the bottom of this, but we’ll stay in control. “Let’s see what we can learn about these bastards.”
With Kalian’s silence Telarrek moved on, his large hands delicately moving over the orange hieroglyphs. The image was altered as the giant rectangular ship appeared in front of the Moon. From where he was standing, Kalian could fit the ship in his hand; he resisted the urge to reach out and do so.
“Our scans have proven ineffective in determining their propulsion technology. Intrinium leaves a unique signature after its consumption; even Novaarian ships can be identified. This one however, broke through sub space without leaving a trace of how it did so.”
“Hold on a second, Intrinium is Solarcite right?” Kalian hated the science part. Telarrek bowed his head in acknowledgement.
“He’s right; all UDC ships leave behind a marker that can be identified as Solarcite.” Li’ara turned to Telarrek; she looked like a dog with a bone. “What did you mean: even Novaarian ships can be identified, surely you use solar-, Intrinium as well?”
Telarrek paused before answering, “Novaarian ships do use Intrinium for sub space travel...” he paused again almost hesitating. “But we in the Conclave use it in a different way to you.” He was being deliberately vague, Kalian wondered if Li’ara had stumbled onto a Novaarian secret.
“What does that mean?” He didn’t like the science of it all but Kalian was getting tired of secrets.
“Your technology is primitive to that of the Conclave; most ships do not require the presence of a star to travel through sub space. The ship you found on Charon was of older design and too small to house an engine like the Valoran’s. Smaller vessels still require the magnetic fields of a star spot in order to ignite the Intrinium.” Both Kalian and Li’ara waited a moment longer expecting a further explanation of the bigger ships and their method of travel. It didn’t come.
“And yours don’t?” Asked Li’ara.
“No.” Telarrek’s answer was simple and his meaning was clear.
“Is that how you were able to just appear in orbit? Our perimeter sensors were aimed at the Sun but you just...” Li’ara was digging for as many facts as possible, always planning.
“It’s true we did not arrive by your conventional means, but we had been in your orbit for some time without detection.” Li’ara couldn’t help but look confused and a little shocked.
“How is that possible? The Valoran is so big we didn’t even need sensors to see you.” She was starting to sound a little defensive despite the topic being after the fact.
“The Valoran is a long range exploration vessel; it is specifically equipped with observation equipment and stealth technology, not normally permitted within Conclave space.”
“You have cloaking technology?” From the look on Li’ara’s face Kalian surmised that the UDC had long sought after such means.
“I fear we are going off topic, there will be time to learn about our culture and technology. My point is that this ship,” Telarrek pointed to the hulking block of their attackers, “uses a form of propulsion unknown to the Conclave.”
“Is it possible one of the species in your Conclave developed it without your knowing?” It seemed an obvious conclusion to Kalian.
“The Laronians for instance?” Li’ara had been storing every bit of information that left a Novaarian mouth apparently.
Telarrek sharply shook his head once to the left.
“The Laronians are ambitious but they could not construct such a ship without our knowing. I have already told you they are not a threat to you, only that your personnel on Alpha NL-2204 may be considered hostile. That is why they were to be evacuated as soon as possible.”
“What’s going to happen to them now?” Kalian had completely forgotten about the terraforming team.
“My superiors in the Conclave are already in discussions with the Laronians on how to handle the situation. Until we leave sub space however, we cannot communicate with them to learn of the resolution.” Kalian wasn’t put at ease by that; the idea of other alien species deciding the fate of seven thousand fellow humans. Li’ara’s face said the same thing. The frustration was putting knots in his stomach; he didn’t like the feeling of being helpless. It was a new sensation for him, after spending most of his life just trying to blend in, never getting involved in anything beyond his lecture theatre. For the first time Kalian wanted to be involved, to be in position to help.
“So your basic analysis is you have no idea?” Li’ara started pacing again.
“We can learn and deduce a lot from what we do not know.” Telarrek typed commands into the console making the hologram magnify the image of the enemy ship. “The sensor sweep of your entire solar system they performed was too fast and too powerful for any technology we have encountered. If they were able to correlate that information in the time it took them to attack,” he paused considering the altercations, “it would be an indication of an onboard artificial system far more advanced than any known to the Conclave or even the Shay.”
“The who?” Kalian was afraid he was going to get lost in all the names and technology this new galaxy was throwing at him.
“They are a key member of the Conclave. They are responsible for the manufacture of many electronic systems used on all Conclave ships.” He began typing again finishing his previous command. “You see here.” The image of the ship blurred as a tight oval bubble rippled down the length of the hull, quickly dissipating at the end. “I had to slow the image down in order for you to see it.”
“What is it?” Li’ara’s eyes were fixed on the ship, be it a strength or weakness s
he had to know.
“That was our own sensor sweep of their ship. The particles that we projected from the Valoran’s array impacted the shell you just saw, and were then absorbed.” Telarrek’s head tilted slightly in that curious way.
“What’s the significance of that?” Li’ara’s questions reminded Kalian she was a soldier not a scientist.
“The sensor particles should have passed right through their ship, even if they had the technology to jam the feedback. The fact that they were stopped by a physical barrier and then absorbed is even more curious.” Telarrek folded his upper arms across his chest.
“So they have shields, is that a big thing?” Kalian remembered the sci-fi shows he had watched growing up in the various foster homes; those ships always had shields around them. Thinking about it now he realised the only thing that had been fiction was the fact that UDC ships don’t actually have shields, they could do everything else. At this point he was willing to believe anything after everything he’d seen.
“Shield technology does not absorb energy, it disperses it. Over time the shields would be worn down from decay. The absorption would suggest it took the energy from the scan to make it stronger. This technology has not been invented.”
“Clearly not.” Li’ara stopped pacing and folded her only set of arms.
“Perhaps, but this next technological feat would seem impossible.” While keeping his upper arms folded his lower arms continued to key commands into the console. The hologram shifted again focusing on the gap between the Icarus station and the black ship. At first there was nothing to see but empty space. The hologram changed again, magnifying on a speck between two distant stars. The column of light was entirely focused on a blurred image of the goliath that attacked the station. It was horizontal on its collision course for the exact spot Ambassador Arlek had stood.
Kalian couldn’t believe what he was seeing; even though the image was blurred he could still make out legs and a head thanks to the backdrop of the Sun. He had assumed the alien attacker had been in some form of casing or even a small ship, not just the suit of armour he had seen it in. It was diving head first towards its target; its arms didn’t even appear outstretched. Whatever this alien was it couldn’t be ruled by its fear. He had seen it walk headlong into rail gun fire without flinching or even noticing it, now he had seen that it had literally jumped from one ship to the other.
“The Valoran attempted to scan it as soon as we detected the jettison.” A similar blurry haze appeared around the figure, the scan clearly hitting it from the side as the blur dissipated on the other side. This time though the shape wasn’t a bubble but more fitted to the creature’s bipedal body.
“The same thing.” Li’ara’s eyes were bright lights in the reflection of the hologram.
“Am I missing something here?” Kalian couldn’t make the connection as to their fascination.
“The same shielding that protects their ship also protects that.” Telarrek pointed to the outline surrounding the diving monster. “It acted exactly the same way, absorbing the particles, most likely making it stronger as well. How they are able to produce a shield emitter small enough to be carried on an individual is a science unknown to us.”
“You don’t have any that small?” Kalian asked.
“Our shield generators are similar in size to one of your fleet vessels.” Thinking about the vastness of the attacking ship, Kalian had forgotten how big the ship under his feet was.
“Is that what the shimmering effect is on the hull of the Valoran?” More facts for Li’ara.
“You are quite observant Lieutenant Commander. But unlike our shields, theirs cannot be seen or detected.” Telarrek continued the video of the armoured alien traversing the distance to the Icarus station. The impact was savage. The beast crashed through the viewport forcing debris in every direction as the vacuum of space created chaos inside. It was easy to see from the hologram how far the creature impacted, as the lights on at least seven decks winked out of existence one after the other. It was a miracle they even survived that.
“The armour was strong from what I saw on your station, but how it survived that impact is beyond our understanding of any alien biology.” The hologram flickered as Telarrek changed the view. In the new hologram only one object could be seen, obviously somewhere beyond the Earth and probably even Venus.
The ender of Kalian’s world.
The missile that had been fired into the Sun to end all things human. The image was sharper than the holographic one he had seen on the Icarus command bridge. The main body was a giant sphere encased by four grips that converged at the front extending into a point. It was entirely encompassed in light from the Sun, with a comet tail that spread for kilometres behind.
“Let me guess, this had shielding as well.” Li’ara was rubbing her eyes; Kalian couldn’t tell if it was frustration or irritation from the light of the hologram in a dark room.
“Actually it did not.” Both humans shared a quick glance before looking to Telarrek for answers. “Our scans hit no such barrier on the object, but it matters not, we could not scan beneath the hull.” Their faces dropped in unison. “The data we received from its exterior however is quite interesting.” Kalian was hesitant to feel any kind of hope.
Telarrek altered the hologram again turning the image into more of a schematic of the pointed object. It moved across the column of light extending in size, the backdrop of space disappeared, being replaced with faint light.
“There are some familiar elements in the hull’s material, but the majority is a type of alloy we have never encountered. But this is the most interesting part.” Telarrek typed in a command that enlarged a section of the sphere. In the middle of the flat surface was a small circle slightly raised from the main body.
“What is it?” Kalian was wishing he had studied engineering instead of history.
“It’s a door...” Li’ara had that calculating look on her face again.
“That is our estimation as well.”
“Why would a missile have a door?” Kalian was looking from Li’ara to Telarrek.
“A construct of that size would require internal maintenance and configuration.”Telarrek offered.
“How big is the whole thing?” Kalian asked.
“It is two miles in length.” That was a hard fact to swallow.
I suppose if you’re going to make a weapon to blow up a star, it’s got to be big.
The thought stopped Kalian; how did they blow up an entire star?
“How was it even possible?” Li’ara beat him to it. “Just before it happened you knew, you knew it was too late.”
“Our sensors show that the object entered your star and was able to survive the journey through the chromo and photosphere. Once it punched through the radioactive envelope it pierced the core. We are not sure what happened next, whether it exploded or released some form of payload. Either way it appears the weapon was designed to increase the internal pressure of a star, causing it to collapse on itself and supernova.” Telarrek leaned forward placing all four hands on the floating console. “I did not know a weapon of such magnitude existed, I believe its very creation to be a crime against all life.”
“We have to assume they have more of these weapons, and that they’ll use the same plan of attack on Century.” Li’ara sounded like a General making battle plans.
“That is an apt evaluation, Lieutenant Commander.” Telarrek replied.
“So what’s our plan of attack?” She asked quite aggressively.
“This may be a ship of exploration and observation, but we are not defenceless. However, it is impossible to predict potential outcomes based upon the mysterious nature of the ship.”
“Whatever you hit them with, just make it big.” The only thing Kalian was sure of was the immense size of their attackers.
“When we arrive in Century’s orbit we shall put ourselves between them and your fleet, we will give your people as much time as we can to evacuate.�
� Telarrek’s words were sobering; winning this fight wasn’t even an option, they could only hope to slow them down. Li’ara didn’t look satisfied when something on the console caught her attention. She stepped closer to the orange hieroglyphs displayed around the disc.
“That word...” She looked up to Kalian for reassurance. “It’s in Central, I can understand it.” She turned to Telarrek. “Is it supposed to be like that?”
Kalian walked round to see for himself.
“I don’t see anything, just symbols.”
“Right there, it says ‘rotate’ in Central.” She was pointing at what Kalian saw as three vertical lines with a dot above each.
“Your implant is becoming fully integrated.” Kalian instinctively reached for the metallic dot behind his left ear.
“What do you mean ‘fully integrated?’ I thought it was so we could understand one another?”
“The implant is given to every individual within the Conclave. Once fully integrated it allows the wearer to see and hear each other’s languages. Without it there would be chaos and confusion, there could be no trade or share of discovery. In time both of you will be capable of understanding not just everything you see and hear in Novaarian, but also that of all Conclave members.”
“How the hell does that work?” Li’ara was circling the edge of the small device with her finger.
“Do you understand the inner workings of the thalamus or cerebral cortex in relation to fluid neuro-netics?” Telarrek’s head was raised a little higher than normal. Li’ara’s quizzical facial expression was answer enough. “It was our first contribution to the other races in the formation of the Conclave.” Telarrek stepped away from the console and started for the door. The hologram blinked out as the up lighters against the wall increased their brightness.
Intrinsic: Book One of the Terran Cycle Page 12