by Karl Morgan
Veek laughed. “I will consider your kind offer, Pik. At this particular moment, I can see no advantage to joining your group, however. All of your friends are dead and you are a helpless brain in a bubble. What can you offer us?”
“The other will return to save me, Veek of the Bandabar Fold. That was the promise he made to us. And he will bring others to defeat you. The Accord is much stronger than your pitiful species. Eventually, this entire galaxy will either be of The Accord or simply a source of protein.”
“Tell us more about the other, please. What is his name?” Nik asked.
“Mantarcus of Skee Lotho. Just to say his name brings me joy!” the robot replied. “He was one of the founders of The Accord long ago. Skee Lotho was the original planet of The Accord. He and the two other founders were all from that heavenly planet.”
“Who are the other two founders?” Veek asked.
“Surely you know this already,” Pik scoffed. “How could a semi-intelligent race like you not know about Vanda, Mantarcus, and Eon of Skee Lotho?”
Nik was seething with anger, but Veek motioned for him to remain calm. “Perhaps we are not as intelligent as you think, Pik. We would love to be enlightened by you.”
“It would be my pleasure, but may I make one request first?” Pik asked.
“Go ahead,” Veek replied.
“My mind is weakening as I have not been nourished in some time. Could one of you feed me?” the brain asked. “I need protein, carbohydrates, and fat to nourish me. You only need to liquefy a living creature and mix it with our feeding compound and inject it into my vessel,” Pik explained.
“Do you want me to liquefy Colonel Paka here?” Veek asked.
“Oh, I do not need that much nourishment. I am just one small brain. Lord Zeet needed most of the nourishment to feed his larger size. Any small animal would suffice,” Pik said.
Veek pressed a button on the control panel and said, “Did you hear that? See what you can do to find this feeding compound. If there’s a rat or mouse around, that will do.” He pressed the button again. “Okay, we’re getting your meal now. Please continue your story.”
“Thank you, Veek of the Bandabar Fold,” Pik replied. “The three founders were born on Skee Lotho as I said. Mantarcus was a surgeon while Vanda was a robotics specialist. Eon was the High Consul of the planet. The people of that planet fled another galaxy long ago to escape persecution. They found peace in the small cloud of stars. However, their fear of the overlords never left them. When Eon was elected to lead the planet, he formed a team, led by Mantarcus and Vanda, to find new ways to protect their world. It took many years, but Mantarcus and Vanda found out how to put human intelligence into robots. By that time, Eon was very old and on the verge of death. The others came to him with their idea to put a full brain into a robot, giving the brain virtual immortality. Even though the Elders of the planet protested, Eon agreed and became the first Friend of The Accord.”
“He escaped death! That’s amazing,” Nik gasped.
“That is a great reason to join The Accord, don’t you think?” Pik laughed. “But that was only the beginning. Mantarcus and Vanda kept improving their design and those improvements were given to Eon. Also, without the limits of a skull, his brain was able to grow and become more powerful. When Mantarcus and Vanda were quite old, Eon had become incredibly powerful with the ability to control millions of robots with his single mind. Knowing his friends would die soon, he used his robots to construct more machines for them and finally their brains were removed. All three were now of The Accord.”
A Bandabar soldier entered the room with a large syringe. He saluted his superiors and walked over to Pik. He located the port on top of the robot and injected a dark fluid into the glass dome. Then he turned and walked out.
“Interesting,” Pik said. “I’ve never encountered such a medium, but I do feel myself gaining strength. Thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome, Pik,” the admiral replied. “Please go on with your story if you can.”
“As you can imagine, the population of Skee Lotho was intrigued by the robotic brains. Many wished to join them, while many others thought it was an abomination of God’s Will.” Pik laughed. “God’s Will, that’s funny. If God didn’t want us to be robotic, he would have kept the Founders from their discoveries. Anyway, there was a fierce debate on the question. The planet needed defense and The Accord was happy to provide it. But there were a few problems. The Friends of The Accord had to eat, and the only satisfactory food source was the people themselves. As the Friends grew in strength, they realized that those who shunned The Accord were less intelligent, and would likely not be good candidates for The Accord. As soon as enough Friends had joined, the remaining population was put to work to serve them. Some were farmers providing fodder for the others who would be consumed. Most were miners extracting the metals needed to construct more robots. As you imagine, the religious community was outraged. The Accord knew these people to be the least advanced, so they were singled out for consumption first. But then something strange happened.”
“Admiral, all of this is strange,” Nik said. “I can’t imagine anything more weird that this.”
“Please continue, Pik,” Veek urged.
“When the Friends went to capture the religious folks, they were just gone!” Pik said. “None could be found anywhere on the planet. It seemed as if God Himself had pulled them all up to Heaven to save them. That was the beginning of the end for Skee Lotho. The population was shrinking rapidly. One-third of all people had simply disappeared. Plus, the planet was running out of metal. The disappearance of the faithful was too much for Eon. He insisted there must be another way rather than to destroy the people and the planet. When Vanda and Mantarcus refused to listen to him, he left, never to be heard from again. It is said he ultimately rejoined the faithful as a human again. But that is just a fairytale only children believe. The Accord had a bigger problem though. There were five hundred Friends and almost no metal left. The population was thinning and the food source was dropping. Vanda had an idea. The Accord needed to find new sources of food and metal, but they could not leave their helpless Friends. He had the miners and many robots build a mine reaching to the liquid iron core of the planet. He knew there would be more than enough metal for them there.”
“That seems quite extreme and incredibly dangerous,” Veek replied.
“You’re right, but they were desperate,” Pik said. “They underestimated the pressure the metal would be under. A massive flow of molten iron surged up the mine and exploded out onto the surface. All the miners and robots in the area were incinerated instantly, including more than half of the Friends of The Accord. With no other recourse, Vanda and Mantarcus took the remaining Friends with them and left Skee Lotho forever.”
“That’s not a great inspiration for others to join you, Pik,” Veek laughed. “It sounds like the planet had its revenge on your friends.”
“As it turns out, it was a great learning experience for The Accord,” Pik replied. “Now they knew their limitations, just like I learned from your attack here. But they did learn and used the metal from thousands of other worlds and recruited millions more Friends of The Accord. We will learn from your attack on Zeet as well. You will not be so lucky the next time, Veek of the Bandabar Fold.”
“And what happened to the planet?” Veek asked.
“Who knows and who cares,” Pik said. “Skee Lotho did its job. It allowed the creation of The Accord. It gave birth to our Founders. However, it outlived its usefulness and was abandoned. As far as I know, it’s just a dead rock in space. Why do you ask?”
“You said it yourself. It was the birthplace of The Accord. Doesn’t that make it worth remembering, if nothing else?” Nik asked.
“Planets and their resources are tools. It is my understanding that the Bandabar left this planet long ago to find new homes in another galaxy. Do they keep the memory of this place in their hearts? I don’t think so. It was
the others who found Zeet here and summoned you to help kill him. It was Dave and Lini who visited Zeet not long ago. Zeet never did figure out how they were able to get inside his inner sanctum. Without them, you and your ships would be millions of light-years away, completely oblivious to the plight of the creatures here,” Pik snarled.
“Pik, in the name of God, have you no compassion?” Veek screamed. “You were born a Bandabar and probably looked much like Nik and me. Now you call them creatures! What kind of monster are you?”
“Pik is of The Accord. I don’t expect you to understand since your minds are locked in tiny skulls. I am more evolved than you. The Accord is the future of the universe and you know it. You can either be part of that future or just a source of nourishment for us. That is your choice.”
Veek jumped to his feet, grabbed the robot and threw it against the wall. The glass globe shattered and the brain splattered against the wall and slid down to the floor. Veek pulled his blaster and shot it, causing the brain to explode. “Now you are the dead meat, you son of a bitch!”
Nik put his hand on his superior’s shoulder and said, “Thank you Admiral for killing that garbage. I’ve wanted to do that since we sat down here today.”
Veek laughed. “It’s funny, you know. It reminds me of the Society of Humanity. No matter how advanced we become, the evil stays with us, just waiting for any opportunity to reach out and take over. The Accord has incredible power and has become obsessed with its cult of intelligence. None of our planets are safe now. I just hope and pray that Admiral Brewster can come up with a solution.”
Chapter 6
The night on Stit was very cold. When Dave awoke in the darkness, he was surprised to see a thin blanket of snow covering him and his friends. He brushed himself off and was thankful their sleeping bags could adjust automatically to the external conditions. They also wore their helmets to keep their heads from the rain, snow and cold. After a few minutes of tossing and turning, he fell back to sleep again.
“All right, everyone, don’t make any sudden moves,” a voice said. Dave knew that was not good news. He gradually opened his eyes and saw a group of twenty of more soldiers surrounding them. Each held what looked like a flint-lock musket, all of which were aimed at Dave’s team. Zee’s agents had been correct. The soldiers were Nan; all about four feet tall and definitely human. “Which one of you is the leader?”
Dave sat up slowly and said, “That would be me. Please relax. We mean you no harm. May I remove my helmet?”
“Are you of The Accord?” the head soldier said.
“No, of course not,” he replied. “I’m human like you. Let us take off our helmets so you can see for yourself.”
“Okay, but go slow. My men will kill you where you lie if you try something stupid,” the soldier said.
Dave pulled his helmet off slowly and set it on the ground next to him. Then he gently unbuckled his belt and let his weapons fall to the ground. “I am Admiral Dave Brewster of the Free Society of the Milky Way Galaxy, and these are my friends Ensign Dar Lini and Elder Odo Pak of Nan. I have removed my weapons now. May I stand up?” He turned to look at Lini and said, “Take off your weapon belt too, Lini.”
“All three of you better stand up, but don’t reach for your weapons,” the soldier said. “I am Captain Umala Zingot and this is my team. A local farmer noticed your camp and alerted us. What are you doing here? Your friends look like Nan, but you are something else. What race do you come from?”
Dave chuckled, “Well, they tell me I look like a Pa, but I am not from the Society of Humanity. I am from the planet Earth in the large spiral galaxy nearby.”
“Captain, did he say that old man is from Nan?” another soldier said.
“Yes, son, I am an Elder of Nan,” Odo replied. “It is heartwarming to see my distant cousins on this planet.”
The young soldier put down his rifle and knelt next to Odo. “Please forgive me Elder. I did not mean to threaten you.”
“Get back in ranks, Zobu!” the captain shouted.
“You should do as your commander says, Zobu,” Odo replied. “You are protecting your planet and that is a noble profession.” Obo helped the young man to his feet and he rejoined the squad. “We come in peace, Captain.”
“Zobu, you idiot! You forgot your weapon! Go get it and don’t any of you try anything stupid,” the captain growled.
Zobu rushed forward and grabbed the rifle, which slipped out of his hand and discharged when it hit the ground. The musket ball shot out and through Odo’s left shoulder. Odo fell to the ground and blood poured out onto the snow. Dave rushed toward his friend. Just as Dave reached him, Odo disappeared and Dave collapsed onto the bloody snow.
Dave could feel the barrel of a rifle in his back. “Where did the old man go, Admiral?” said the captain’s voice. “I’ll deal with you later, Zobu!”
“Our friends jumped him to safety,” Dave said. He turned to look at the captain and said, “This was a stupid accident. We need to speak with your people.” The captain struck Dave in the side of the head with the butt of his rifle. Dave fell unconscious into the snow. Lini screamed.
§
Odo was in a hospital on Nan. Two doctors were huddled over him, working on his wound. “I have to get back! Send me back! Dave and Lini are in trouble,” he begged.
“Not now, friend,” said Obu Neela who was standing to the side. “We’ve got to take care of you right now!”
“Obu, you don’t understand. This wound was an accident. My disappearance will put Dave and Lini in terrible danger,” Odo said. One of the doctors injected an anesthetic into the elder’s arm and he fell asleep.
“Not now, old friend,” Obu sighed. “We can only handle one crisis at a time.”
§
“Master, I am very close now,” Mantarcus of The Accord said. “I will be with you in two spans. I assume you felt the invasion.”
“Of course, old Friend,” Vanda replied. “But it was only three insignificant life-forms, so it is no concern to us.”
“I’m not so sure, Master,” the other said. “Zeet told me of other Beings who can move about without leaving any sign. He said two such creatures, named Dave and Lini, entered and left his inner chamber. He felt they might bring others, and that did come to pass. In this case as well, the three Beings simply appeared out of thin air and one has already disappeared again.”
“Friend, The Accord cannot act on what one Friend says without something concrete. We sense no danger from those creatures and they are quite far from us. If they come this way, we will check them out,” Vanda answered.
“Yes, Master, I know I am being foolish. Since we last spoke, I have continued to think about the third Founder. Perhaps those old fairytales are affecting my brain. You and I are quite ancient, you know,” Mantarcus stated.
“We have been through so much in our lives, Mantarcus,” Vanda began. “Soon we will begin our next great adventure. The spiral galaxy is very rich and The Accord will expand greatly once we arrive.”
“Have we learned about the new weapon that was used on Zeet?” Mantarcus asked.
“It will take some time, Friend. I am confident we will come up with a solution. Our minds are far superior to those tiny-skulled creatures. Ultimately, they must lose or join us.”
“I hope that is true, but I have my doubts, Master,” Mantarcus replied. “While our brains are thousands of times larger, we do not command the sheer number of minds and differences of thought and opinion as the others. I am beginning to understand Eon’s words when he said ‘the hive of knowledge will overcome the largest bee.’ ”
“You could spend your transit time on more useful activities than remembering the words of that old fool,” Vanda argued. “Or are you considering leaving The Accord to follow that old goat?”
“Of course not, Master. I am just considering alternatives. If we cannot beat the new weapon system, we will need another plan. That is all I’m doing. I’m just considering next steps i
n that case.”
“Very well, I suppose that is the wise course of action,” Vanda answered. “Just be careful not to get attached to your dinner and befriend it. It can sour your taste for life very quickly. We will talk again when you arrive. And please forget those trespassers in the Small Cloud. I have an eye on them and, so far, they mean nothing.”
§
Dave woke up in a small cell. It was no larger than six by eight feet. He was lying on a tiny cot. There was a small table and two chairs across the way, and Lini was sitting on one of the seats with her head down and tears streaming down her cheeks. A small metal sink and toilet were on the back wall. He sat up and could feel pain surging through his head. “This room looks a little familiar,” he said.
Lini looked up with a pained expression and said, “Are you okay, Dave? You’ve been out for hours.”
“I’ve got a terrible headache and the side of my scalp is sore, but other than that, I think I’m okay,” he replied. “What did they do to you?”
“They just cuffed me and brought us both here. A doctor came in a couple of hours ago to check on you and then left. I haven’t heard anything or seen anyone since,” she said. “Why do you think they hit you? We didn’t try anything.”
“They probably think I’m some kind of wizard,” Dave pondered. “I was rushing toward Odo when Obu yanked him to safety. I bet they think I used a spell or something to save him, or maybe that we really are of The Accord. I don’t know.”
“I can’t believe we’re prisoners again,” Lini sighed. “You warned me, but I didn’t listen. Now the elder is wounded and we’re locked up. I am so stupid!”
“Calm down sweetheart,” he said. “The clumsy guard shot Odo and I’d be locked up here either way. Your presence didn’t change a thing; well, other than you’re locked up too. But this is completely different. Fola Untor isn’t here, he’s dead. But remember, too, that Odo could sense this planet is a natural Hive. If we can find a stone temple, we can connect to others.”