Intrinsic: Book One of the Terran Cycle

by Philip C. Quaintrell

  The command module appeared to be breached again as the panoramic hologram showed them entering real space. Through his link Savrick knew the pilot was instantly analysing all local star systems. They had stopped here, if only for a moment, but why? Did they really think it would go unnoticed against the capabilities of this ship? He already knew from the holograms that floated around his person that the Novaarian ship was continuing on a heading for a planet called Corvus. So like a Terran, run and hide from the very thing they started. How dare they undo all his work, the pain and suffering his kind had endured to end them and they do this? That is why Kalian Gaines must die.

  Just thinking of the humans made him angry; their existence was an insult to his cause, a cause that had taken the lives of so many of his kind. It angered him further to think of how long it was taking to find and kill just one of them. Both Elandar and he felt the detection through their links.

  “Show me.” Savrick verbally commanded. The hologram magnified a sector of local space and began a reconstruction of the sensor’s readings. Eight Intrinium scars had been located in close proximity to one another. Elandar increased the strength of the neutrino bursts but limited its bandwidth to that grid. The image changed to highlight the individual signatures so they could distinguish and further analyse them. The pilot began to dissect the individual crystals left behind by the jump to sub-space.

  The largest collection of crystals had a unique isotope reading, marking the Novaarians’ jump easily. A ship of that size could not avoid their sensors even if they were cloaked. The other seven were almost identical, with a varying amount of crystals left behind by a smaller ship. Savrick quickly ran the scenarios through his mind searching for the most obvious answers. Had some of the crew abandoned ship knowing they would be hunted and ultimately destroyed by his forces? Had they sent messengers to wayward allies with a plea of help? Or had they simply wanted to slow them down with a mysterious stop mid journey?

  No...

  He had a better idea of what was happening here. They were being made to choose; follow one signature or the other, or split his forces. Smart, but foolish. Even if he did split his forces they could still overcome anything their crude technology threw at them. If this was truly their ploy then Kalian could now be in any one of eight places. He waved the holograms away in frustration. This was taking too long.

  “Pull them apart, I want estimated fuel consumption, potential destinations, class of ship and I want it now!” Elandar began his own investigation at Savrick’s request as well as the pilot who responded through his link commands. “We have all the data on human technology as well as Conclave; I want to know what they’re up to. Sift through it all if you have to!”

  “I have something.” Elandar picked up the floating hologram and slid it across the room to Savrick. The image showed a breakdown of the crystals on a microscopic level. Intermingled with the other scars was a unique pattern that had traces of an alloy across the crystalline surface. This alloy had clearly been picked up by the crystals as they were ejected from the engine. A further inspection of the trace element proved its origin was not of Conclave design.

  “The human ship.” Savrick recalled the small human vessel that had boarded the Eclipse before it decimated the Century system. Elandar had seen the female soldier as well as Kalian in the central structure of the missile. Just thinking about it, the pilot projected its schematics into the command module. The side read Fathom across the hull.

  Another scan projected the calculations made, based upon the other scar crystals. A local map of space showed the other six ships would run out of fuel in the middle of nowhere, a pitiful distraction. But the signature with traces of human alloy had the potential to travel into the heart of Novaarian territory, Nova Prime. He was faced with the option of two planets. Looking at the details of both he could see the obvious choice was Nova Prime with the bigger orbital defence system, and no doubt they were already amassing their fleets. Corvus was the less attractive, being the less well defended planet out of the two and a smaller population to get lost in. But he couldn’t rule out the possibility that this train of thought was what they were banking on. The human vessel goes to Nova Prime with Kalian while the Novaarian ship goes to Corvus to lead them off his trail.

  What would he do? No, what would a Terran do? He had spent centuries fighting them, learning how they think, how they fight and how they only ever think of themselves. A Terran would fight only until their own demise was evident, then they would flee and leave their brothers and sisters to die like the cowards they are.

  “Prepare a ship; I will take Lilander, Sef and the beast to Nova Prime. You will continue to this Corvus where you will crush that ship. If he is aboard you will bring him to me alive. But I’m willing to bet he’s not.” Despite the verbal command, the pilot knew which orders to follow through the link. Through the pilot’s own connection to the ship, the instructions were given to the nanites to begin construction of a ship with FTL capabilities. The onboard factories were equipped to make almost anything with the individual builders being the size of a pin head.

  “But brother, without the pilot you will have to use conventional fuel to travel. We have stored Intrinium but such a distance will take you several days to reach it with an actual engine.” The worry on Elandar’s face distorted the purple tattoo that covered half of his mouth and left cheek. His long dark hair usually concealed most of his face.

  “And yet those are my commands.” That was all he needed to say. Elandar retreated to his internal scans to monitor the new ship’s construction; it would only take an hour at the most.

  Chapter Twelve

  “I don’t believe it! If we ever see him again I’m going to kill him!” Li’ara was in the armoury having replaced her undersuit and armour. She was furiously searching through various concealed containers that all had key code locks on the outside. She looked at Kalian’s curious look and slammed the lid. “He took all the explosives and photon guns!”

  “Who?” Kalian knew the answer before she replied.

  “Roland, who do you think?” Before she could go on to insult the agent they both heard the low hum of the engine power down. Li’ara was already shouting her questions as they made their way into the cockpit. Namek was sitting in the pilot’s seat on the left with Telarrek in the co-pilot’s. The console’s clock had both human time and Conclave next to one another. They had been travelling through sub-space for just over a day, human time.

  “The buff capacitors are being destabilised by a faulty hatch mechanism.” Namek’s statement went over Kalian’s head. “We cannot re-enter sub-space until it is fixed.” Li’ara leant on the chair and sighed.

  “Upgrades, huh?” Both Novaarians tilted their heads at her sarcasm.

  “We can depressurise the cabin and I can make the repairs.” Namek had already started the process by sealing the armoury, med bay and sleeping quarters. “When I am ready, press this.” He showed Li’ara the correct sequence to alter the pressure in the cabin and release the outer hatch. He had already explained that one of the containers brought aboard had vac suits for the two Novaarians in case of an emergency.

  It wasn’t long before Namek could be heard clambering around under the ship as his feet and knee pads had magnetic seals. Telarrek had sat on the floor at the back of the cockpit in what resembled a meditative state. They decided to leave him to it, for all they knew it was how Novaarians slept.

  The field of stars beyond the view-port was mind-numbingly vast. Kalian wondered how many of them were inside the control of the Conclave. They both sat in silence for a while; even Li’ara marvelled at the sight rather than play with the ship’s diagnostics.

  “Do you believe in fate, Kalian?” He was startled by the break in silence as well as the deep line of questioning from Li’ara. He supposed this view could give anyone perspective.

  “Can’t say I’ve ever thought about it, why?”

  “All those stars and worlds. Now we kn
ow how much is actually going on, and how small we are. Is it hard to believe that some kind of fate has put the two of us in the middle of it? Even if it’s something we didn’t want.”

  “A great man once said, ‘It is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but in ourselves.’ We’ve had the worst thrown at us, we’ve endured the most, but whatever happens next, we will choose how it ends.” Li’ara had the visage of mocking shock but she was clearly impressed by his bold statement, in fact he surprised himself. But he was tired of being hunted across the cosmos. He was sick of seeing so much death and destruction, with him apparently at the centre of it. He had made no decisions or had any choice in the events that led him to this very point. He felt battered and beaten, but he could feel the energy building in his spine and felt a surge of confidence run through him. He would choose how it ended, because that was the only choice left to him now.

  “Tough talk for a history lecturer.” He loved the smile she gave him. “Who said that?”

  “William Shakespeare.” It was his favourite third year module to teach. To his disappointment Li’ara looked as though he had spoken in an ancient language of Earth.

  “Was that the guy who terraformed Mars?” Kalian laughed at her historical knowledge, or lack thereof. A week ago it would have just annoyed him: the lack of history people knew beyond the invention of Solar Drive. But now it all seemed so trivial.

  “I guess they don’t teach ancient literature at the academy.”

  “No... But I know a hundred ways to put you on your ass.” She retorted. They shared a laugh and he went on to give a small history lesson about an ancient playwright.

  After another hour of looking out at the stars, Namek finally returned and Li’ara pressurised the cabin. His return woke Telarrek and they resumed their previous positions as they re-entered sub-space.

  They spent the next two days travelling at a speed that had no comparison in reality. Li’ara continued to train Kalian in defensive techniques as well as a few attacking styles. Even Namek volunteered his expertise with some unorthodox fighting. Namek was knocked onto his back a couple of times when Kalian couldn’t control his reflexes. He always felt the surge but found the concentration hard mid-fight. He had everyone’s attention while honing his abilities. He would always start by trying to lift a small object like his Datapad and progress to larger objects like the Novaarian containers. Telarrek and Namek watched intently as though hypnotised when the object lifted against the reasoning of physics.

  Kalian always felt the exertion more when he concentrated on one thing. He felt nothing when he lifted things in his sleep.

  After three and a half days they emerged into real space in orbit around Naveen. The moon was the colour of desert sand, much like the surroundings were at The Hub, back on Earth. The moon was crowned in a halo of cityscapes on the northern hemisphere, which formed smaller rings into the centre, where a city of spires touched the edge of the atmosphere. The rest of Naveen was untouched desert. It was a beautiful sight...

  The Fathom rose over the moon giving way to the sight of Nova Prime. It was stunning to see a truly alien world that was actually a planet, rather than the broken artificial world of the Conclave. It was a swirling mixture of pinks and turquoises with a light-blue outline. Kalian knew from the data module that it was twice the size of Earth with a more even ratio of land to sea. In-between the clouds they could see the different cities on the surface. Being an older race than humans, apparently, they had kept the beauty of their planet by removing most of the cities in their terraforming years. Now the planet had a thriving ecology and beautiful landscapes. Kalian felt a pang of sadness that humanity would never have the chance to reach this golden era.

  “Activating stealth systems.” Namek announced. Li’ara swivelled in her seat.

  “Stealth! We’re invisible?” Humans had never managed to perfect that technology.

  “Only to scans, we are still visible to the eye. The Fathom is too small to possess the necessary technology for stealthware.” Namek explained in his usual monotone.

  “It is likely that Savrick is monitoring Conclave communications. We do not want our presence known.” Telarrek continued. Li’ara gave flight control over to Namek as he put the ship into a descent towards the desert surface of Naveen.

  They broke through the atmosphere with a sonic boom as the Fathom glided across the flat landscape. Under the umbrella of the atmosphere the sky appeared turquoise with a hint of purple. The stars faded from sight as they dived closer to the surface. If it wasn’t for the alien sky they could easily be back in Nevada. The ship slowed as a small blemish on the surface became visible.

  The sound of the manoeuvring thrusters overtook the hum of the engine. The landing gear dropped out of its housing and set down on the rocky ground with a thud. Through the view port they could clearly see The Wall. It was an unusual structure; Kalian could see why it would grab anyone’s attention. It rose at least forty feet into the air and came to a sharp point at an off-centre angle. The side visible to them was completely smooth without as much as a crack. He wanted to see more but the lower half was hidden by a screen of sand kicked up by the thrusters.

  Before leaving the ship they gathered in the cabin with Namek unloading some of the containers. He proceeded to remove the cylinder from his thigh and take the staff off his back. A silent communication took place between the metallic objects as the cylinder parted down its length and wrapped around the staff. Once attached, it extended with previously unseen compartments until it consumed the top of the staff. Kalian had no idea how, but Namek held the patterned staff to his side as it grew just beyond six feet.

  Telarrek opened another container and displayed its contents to Li’ara. The box opened into several layers of weapons that were not that dissimilar to human weapons.

  “These are more powerful than anything you have in there.” His large swirling eyes flicked towards the armoury. “They fire Intrinium.” Li’ara looked at the weapons with a new fascination.

  “I thought you said Intrinium was too dangerous to be weaponised.” Kalian pointed out.

  “For your kind it would have been, the technology was too new to you. The Conclave has been using Intrinium for thousands of cycles. All mining and distribution of Intrinium is strictly observed by the A.I, every unit is accounted for and can be traced from its usage to its source.” Telarrek handed Li’ara a pistol with a boxy rectangular barrel, with a hole in the end big enough to fit a thumb through. Telarrek picked out an identical weapon and with a snap forced the barrel of the gun to point down, exposing its inside. The barrel held a cylindrical compartment filled with red jelly. He snapped the gun back together and it responded with an affirmative beep.

  “The gun produces a small magnetic field that charges the Intrinium...” Li’ara was working out the mechanism of the weapon.

  “Precisely, although the particles it fires cannot travel faster than light, the magnetic fields are not strong enough.” Telarrek removed another handgun and presented it to Kalian. It was similar in size to Li’ara’s except his was shorter in the barrel and had a miniature holographic reticular on top.

  “As for your explosives...” Namek depressed the touch pad as the container revealed another compartment in the side. They both recognised them as the gravity bombs Namek used against Savrick in the Highclave chamber. Apparently these were not exactly the same. Namek explained that once activated they would scatter what Kalian interpreted as small metal ball bearings. These balls would stick to whatever surface they hit and create a distortion in the gravity well.

  “Effective in small spaces then.” Li’ara looked eager to try them out. It all felt like overkill for a rock in the middle of a desert.

  “Isn’t this a bit much?” He fitted the new holster to his thigh.

  “Whatever The Wall is I am certain it must be connected to them. Having seen a limited portion of their capabilities, I feel we are not prepared enough for what we may find.” Telarrek read
ied his own staff and all four of them picked up at least two gravity bombs.

  The hatch opened with a hiss as the ramp automatically descended. They were hit by what Kalian realised was his first alien breeze, the first real atmosphere of an alien world. The sand was beginning to settle and they felt the heat of the distant blue sun above. Li’ara and the Novaarians covered their eyes as they adjusted to the brightness of the natural light. Kalian was about to do the same when the glaring desert began to dull, allowing him to see details in the landscape. He blinked a couple of times wondering what was happening to his eyes. This had never happened before. The Novaarians had managed to lower their hands but Li’ara’s human pupils were still contracting.

  How was this happening? He looked around expecting his eyes to hurt but instead he saw the perfect clarity of the Naveen landscape. Off to their left several miles away were a set of cliffs that rose above the flat landscape and spread out as far as he could see, which was surprisingly far. He kept this new development to himself and tried to ignore it for the time being.

  The ground felt hard under his boots and appeared cracked from lack of precipitation. The air felt dry and tight around him. He looked up, expecting to see the massive sphere of Nova Prime in the turquoise sky. As if reading his mind Telarrek explained.

  “Nova Prime is only visible at night, which is eight cyclics from now.” He noticed the human puzzlement with Conclave time keeping, “Six point four hours.” He moved off towards The Wall at the front of the ship. Up close, it appeared even taller than in the cockpit. From side on, the rock looked very different; it resembled a wall from the front with a smooth surface, but from the back it resembled a normal rock. It sloped down from the top extending ten or twelve metres back with a jagged surface like the cliffs in the distance. The two sides of the rock didn’t look like they belonged together.

  “Kalian...” Li’ara called him back to the flat side. She was standing with her eyes fixed on the indented hand print. To see it in front of him was extraordinary, a human handprint on this alien moon- it made no sense. Beneath the hand were three rows of hieroglyphs with the familiar karyogram in the middle.