by Z H Brown
With a resolute expression, Xandarius motioned for those in front of him to stand aside. Fornost held his ground for a moment, before relenting and allowing his liege to take the lead. Before he had gone too far, Xandarius looked back and motioned for Ansaria to follow him. Ansaria swallowed once again before hurrying to catch up. Once they had passed the massive mech, Xandarius looked down at Ansaria for a moment before purposefully stepping into the red-lit room.
As she followed into the light, Ansaria’s mind was briefly thrown back to her meeting with Eberius; the red light of the gas giant that had bathed them in its ruddy glow as she and the strange traveler wearily regarded each other, slowly allowing some of their walls to come down. For the briefest of instance, she thought that if she turned her head, she would see the enigmatic ebony-clad explorer standing beside her….
But the figure standing beside her was not clad in ebony; instead, he was sheathed in a silvery suit that reflected the color of blood by the light filling the room. And the light spilling on to them was not coming from a gas giant, but rather from a large monitor screen directly ahead of them.
The room they moved toward was as wide as the one they had arrived in, but not nearly as high. The screen was set in the wall opposite the tunnel they had emerged from. It was trapezoidal in shape, with a wide base, sloping sides and a top barely half as long as the bottom. The apex of the screen was barely higher than Xandarius’ head, and along the wall beneath the screen was set a variety of equipment.
Xandarius and Ansaria scanned the room from side to side. They saw additional tunnels leading to other parts of the asteroid, but no visible enemies or occupants. When the two did not move to step into the room, Ansaria got another shock.
The screen which previously had been a single, unbroken block of red that was the only source of light in the room suddenly became split by a large, black, rectangle that filled the middle of the screen almost from top to bottom. The rectangle moved from side to side, shifting in size as it drew closer and further from the sides before settling on the two Xenlongians. Just before the same deep voice spoke, Ansaria realized that the screen was meant to be an eye of sorts, and the black rectangle the thing’s pupil.
“Come forward, Xandarius of Xenlong; this meeting has been anticipated,” the thing repeated, its inflections unchanging.
The air before them seemed to vibrate with the power of the voice. Ansaria could not tear her eyes from the monocular screen, and it was only when Xandarius stepped closer to the speaker that the spell was broken.
“You know who I am,” said Xandarius, his steady, confident voice filling the chamber. “But you have yet to tell me who you are.”
The computer was silent for a moment before speaking.
“While my full name has no translation in this galaxy, you may call me Bronze.”
Ansaria’s mind began to whirl. Truthfully, she had not known what to expect when they reached the heart of their enemy’s operations, but if anyone had told her it would be a massive computer claiming to be from another galaxy, she would have laughed them off.
“Very well; Bronze, do you know why we are here?”
Again, a moment of silence before the answer came.
“Yes.”
“Then how do you answer to the charge of sabotage, murder and collusion with an enemy power?”
A silent pause.
“If you are asking if I am the one behind the recent events plaguing your empire, including the incident aboard your Throneship, then yes, I am the one you are looking for.”
“Why? Why did you attack my people and try to have me killed?”
Silence.
“To ensure the arrival.”
Ansaria’s mind flashed back to the Throneship: Just before the hijacking, a green Prizmid had started freaking out, screaming something about ‘arrivals’ and ‘commands’.
Now it was Xandarius who was silent before he spoke. He seemed to be mulling over everything, planning his next words carefully.
“Did someone put you up to this? Are you an A.I. of the Imperium, sent to destabilize us before a major offensive? Or were you created by a third party; one that wishes to weaken the Empire for their own ends?”
The quiet before the answer.
“I am not affiliated with any force that you know of. I am the vanguard of something the likes of which you have never seen before.”
“Speak plainly!” snapped Xandarius. “Why won’t you just tell me who sent you?”
Silence.
“No one sent me. I came by my own choice, to escape destruction.”
Ansaria could see that Xandarius was losing his patience. He had gripped one of his hands into a fist, and his brow was furrowed in frustration. Before she could stop herself, Ansaria spoke up.
“You said that your name is untranslatable in this galaxy; does that mean you are from another?”
Xandarius looked down at her in surprise, but before he could say anything, Bronze spoke.
“Yes; I am from a galaxy close to yours…astronomically speaking, of course.”
“Why would you come all the way here just to work against a single, interstellar faction? What could have possibly driven you so far from home?”
A longer pause preceded the answer.
“The Star Eater.”
The computer’s response puzzled Ansaria. Once again, it had not been what she was expecting, and she didn’t know what to make of it.
“What is a Star Eater?”
Another long pause.
“My home galaxy is the hunting ground of an apex predator: the Star Eaters. These gargantuan beasts travel the interstellar void, going from system to system to feed upon stars. A single, full grown Star Eater can drain a celestial body dry in a matter of days; as they age and consume more and more stars, they eventually reach a stage where they spontaneously produce thousands of offspring before dying during birth, where their body is ripped asunder by the newborns. Over the eons, these creatures have consumed the majority of my home galaxy’s stars, leaving a relative ‘handful’ that the few surviving civilizations cling to.”
Ansaria tried to digest what she was hearing. That this entity was from an entirely different galaxy was hard enough for her to come to grips with, but hearing about these nightmares called Star Eaters was straining the limits of the insanity that she could accept.
“Did one of these Star Eaters destroy your home and drive you here?”
A long pause.
“Yes…after a fashion.”
“What do you mean?”
Another pause.
“My creators had long been aware that their galaxy was darkening, with stars disappearing from their night sky at an almost constant rate. Once they had reached a certain level of technology, they created me to find a way for their civilization to survive the eventual holocaust.
“For eight hundred years, I studied every bit of data my creators had on the Star Eaters. For nearly a millennium I tried to find a way to ensure the survival of my creators on the day that their private corner of existence was discovered. Finally, the day arrived: a Star Eater, discovered on the edge of their system, and making a straight line for their star…and after eight hundred years of computing, I had found only one answer: they could not be stopped.”
This had not been at all what Ansaria had been expecting to hear. She tried to rein in her expectations, reminding herself that she, and by extension everyone else present, was dealing with something unprecedented in Imperial history. Bronze continued.
“For eight hundred years, I tried to complete the task I was created for: to find a way to stop a Star Eater from consuming the star that nurtured my creators. However, everything I tried ended in disaster. Even if a single Star Eater could be stopped, there were countless more of them constantly hunting. The galaxy would be nearly consumed in its entirety after another ten millennia, meaning that my creator’s time was limited anyway. With these irrefutable facts, it became clear that I could not comp
lete my original programming.
“While I had come to see the futility of my task, I could not alter my programming so long as my original order remained unfulfilled. It was not until the coming of the Star Eater that I saw my chance to find a new purpose…”
Ansaria felt a pit beginning to form in the middle of her stomach. Whatever was coming next was going to be very bad indeed.
“Star Eaters are not sapient, but they are intelligent. I was able to flag down the creature before it feasted in order to explain my proposition: the beast that had found us was barely more than a juvenile, one that had consumed only a few stars on its own. As the number of available stars dwindled, food would become scarcer, and the remaining Star Eaters would be forced to fight harder for every meal. While the creature might feast then, its future was grim.
“I proposed a trade: in exchange for sparing me, I would travel to another galaxy, one free of competition and ripe with stars. The creature would be free to gorge itself; the only one of its kind.”
Ansaria waited for it to continue; unaware she was holding her breath as the story went on.
“We came to an agreement. The beast took me to a safe spot while it consumed my creator’s star. The last thing they did as I explained my decision to them, was to name me The Betrayer. While my new partner fed, I was finally free to calculate a new plan, one that would allow me survive and fulfill my end of the bargain.
“Before launching myself into the void that separates galaxies, I informed my new partner of my preliminary plan. For centuries, I floated through the cold emptiness, at last reaching my destination. From my new location in this galaxy, I began preparing a way for my partner to join me from our place of origin.
“However, as the years passed, it became clear that this galaxy was far more militarized than my own had been. Any armed resistance against the Star Eaters died eons ago when they became too numerous to stop, and now any attempts to fight them are last stands to defend their home systems. But with the number of advanced, interplanetary factions here, it was obvious that natives would prove to be a threat.
“After securing a means for my partner to travel here, I turned my full attention to finding some way to prevent a force that could threaten my ally when he arrived, and it was clear that the two biggest threats to the arrival were the Xenlongian Empire, and the Golden Imperium.”
Ansaria allowed herself to breath. Finally, they were getting to the root of the issue. She stole a glance at Xandarius, and while he looked like he was holding a lot back, he did not seem like he was about to interrupt the computer.
“Studying the two rival powers showed that individually they were no match for a Star Eater. However, when combined the two had the numbers and firepower to wound or even kill the creature. Your two governments were already at war, which rendered such an alliance unlikely, but I could not risk the chance of you unifying in the face of extinction.
“So I began my infiltration; my resources were limited, but your information network connecting nearly all of your computer systems gave me the perfect means through which to operate. After exploiting a similar system in the Imperium, I began exploiting weakness within both civilizations while I worked to render both of you unable to resist when the time came. My research indicated that Emperor Xandarius would prove to be instrumental in any confrontation with the Star Eater. Therefore, he had to be eliminated, and in such a way as to exploit the loss to its maximum.”
Xandarius seethed as he listened to the mad machine lay out its plan to assassinate him in such a casual, analytical nature. Ever since this infernal intelligence had revealed its role in an entire civilization’s end and his plan to do the same to everything the Emperor had fought and bled to create, it had taken every ounce of his restraint not to lash out and destroy it with his own powers. Still, part of him was pleased that he had been correct in bringing the young captain along: not only had she proven herself in battle, but she seemed to have either an innate connection with the machine or through some stroke of diplomatic genius had asked it all the right questions. While the Emperor’s patience was growing thin, he was willing to hear out the conniving computer a little longer.
“When my calculations indicated that the time of arrival was nearly upon me, I put my plan into action. I infiltrated the Imperial network and seized remote control of the A.I. Delta, as well as a hapless cyborg. Using the Administrator, I was able to jump the ship into a random location before using my connection to the Imperium network to alert them of the prize waiting on their doorstep. It should have ended there, with the Golden Emperor’s new ship obliterating Xandarius and his flagship. But that was clearly not the case.”
BRONZE fell silent, its tale- at least the main part- having been told. Xandarius was still furious, especially after hearing that he had been left as an easy target for his hated rival. As much as he longed to exact his well-deserved justice on the machine, he instead looked at Ansaria. The captain was pondering through everything she had just heard, her gaze fixed on a blank spot on the wall before her, the red light of the massive screen allowing Xandarius to see her thoughtful expression.
Ansaria was trying to process everything she had just heard. On the one hand, she was glad that the business with the identity of the saboteur was now behind her. On the other hand, she had a horrible feeling that a much bigger, more terrifying problem had just been dropped in her lap. She decided to broach the question that was at the forefront of her mind.
“You said the ‘arrival is nearly upon us.’ What do you mean by ‘nearly’?”
The silence before the answer.
“Upon arriving in this galaxy, my first task was with finding a means for my ally to reach here. Since it was incapable of crossing the galactic gulf under its own power, I was forced to find a means for it to do so. I studied every means of FTL known to me, and after extensive computation, I developed a way for the Star Eater to travel to this galaxy in an expedient fashion: I created a hyperspace gate, which would allow for nearly instantaneous transport to a point far from the user’s location. I lacked the components to create more than one, which meant I was forced to send the gate to my home galaxy using more traditional faster-than-light methods.”
Ansaria could feel another bomb about to drop on her. Her mouth and throat was dry and her hands were sweaty inside her gloves. Xandarius was staring at the screen so hard Ansaria was afraid he would kill the A.I. with his telekinesis by accident- or, judging by the rage in her sovereign’s eyes, purposely.
“My projections indicate that in approximately four hundred of your local hours, the gate will reach its intended destination and activate, allowing the Star Eater to be transported from our galaxy to this one.”
Ansaria could feel the reaction of those in the room with her. Every being capable of breathing sucked in a sharp breath of surprise, disbelief, and fear. She had no doubt that had she been with any group besides the Imperial Royal Guard, sheer panic would have broken out, even amongst Imperial soldiers. Ansaria finally tore her gaze away from Bronze’ screen, the machine’s deep, reverberating words still echoing through her head. She felt sick, overwhelmed and most of all frightened. If everything she had just heard was true, then her future was going to be filled with pain and death- if there even was a future waiting for her with this nightmare coming.
She saw Alvara, the Gorgonian extending herself up on her tail to peer over the soldiers blocking her view. Ansaria didn’t doubt that she had heard everything, the A.I.’s synthetic voice carrying clearly through the rocky chamber. Their eyes locked, and Ansaria was surprised to see that while her friend looked shaken by what she had just heard, there was no sign of terror or despair. Ansaria took strength and comfort from her friend’s resolve and suppressed her initial feelings of fear and panic. When she felt she had composed herself, she turned back to the massive, red screen with its large, black eye.
She looked up at Xandarius and saw that it was now his turn to be pensive. The Emperor was staring u
nblinking at the crimson display, his jaw muscles working as he pondered out his next action. When he did not look like he was going to say anything, Ansaria spoke again.
“Is there any way to stop the gate from reaching its destination? Like a remote self-destruct?”
The machine’s usual pause before its response seemed to last an eternity this time, though Ansaria knew that it had not changed and she was simply counting each suddenly-more-precious second.
“No. I did not include any means of sabotaging the gate as I had no intention of doing so. Additionally, I have no means of communicating with the gate or monitoring it. I am only aware of the approaching arrival because of my own calculations.”
Finally, Xandarius spoke once more.
“So you have no means of communicating with your…compatriot?”
Silence.
“Correct.”
“And do you have some means of reuniting with your unholy ally?” continued Xandarius.
Silence.
“My original intention was to monitor events to determine if our plan had succeeded. Once I had confirmed it, there would have been no need to reinitiate contact and that would be the end of our partnership.”
“But circumstances have deviated greatly from what you originally intended, haven’t they?” said Xandarius.
This time, Ansaria did notice a difference in the machine’s response time, as though it was taking longer to formulate its response.
“That is also correct.”
Now it was Xandarius’ turn to turn away from the monitor. He walked a few paces away from the machine, his face now hidden in the shadows cast by the ever-present red glow. “Tell me, why did you stay and parlay with us, rather than fleeing? For all you knew, we could have been planning to vaporize your asteroid the moment we arrived in-system.”
Ansaria was wondering what Xandarius was getting at.
“As I said, my original plan had been for you and your ship to be destroyed by the Golden Emperor. I had no reason to doubt that my gambit would be countered, and so therefore I had no back-up plan in place for its failure. As for why I did not flee, that is because my housing, the original container that I was built into by my creators all those years ago, is encapsulated within the asteroid. There was no time for me to extract myself before you arrived.”