I asked, "Have you attempted to power up the helmet?"
Kerba shook his head. "I've been afraid to. I fear it won't work. I would rather daydream that it does than know it doesn't."
The tour ended at a table sitting by itself.
Kerba said, "I discovered this last week. It was in a housing that shielded it from damage. I believe it to be the computer core of a ship. This section along here is the memory module. It's all intact. If it could be powered up, I believe we would have the ship's log of everything that happened up until it crashed on this planet. Imagine... a log, possibly video, from the War of Wars!"
Go leaned in to examine it. "If we had video and data from then, wow, that would have to be the biggest historical find ever."
Kerba nodded. "I've spent the week at the dig site, trying to find anything that will give me an assurance about the power to be supplied. The housing appears to run on electronics. There is nothing ionic about this computer."
Go said, "From what little I've read, they had ion generators, but a lot still ran on electronics. We can easily build an electronic power supply if needed."
Kerba wiggled his arms with excitement. "I could not be happier to have others here who are interested in this. I would welcome any assistance in unlocking any of the secrets the items on these tables contain."
Garrett laughed. "You look like you could spontaneously combust at any moment!"
Kerba nodded. "I feel as though I could as well. All of this is everything I've ever dreamed of. And now, to be the discoverer of it. How impossibly fantastic is that!"
We walked back through the tables, discussing some of the items we had been shown. Kerba had been meticulous at cleaning, identifying, and cataloging every item. His finds had all come from a very small section of the fields surrounding the fort at Megiddo. An army of researchers would be needed for years to recover all that was buried beneath the surface. Kerba, if allowed, would spend the remaining years of his life digging, cleaning, identifying, and studying the artifacts from the War of Wars.
We walked back out into the Megiddo sunlight. Sitting in the grass, I began to tell Kerba of our adventures. I was the Emperor of the Talisans. We had traveled through a portal to another galaxy. We had fought in numerous wars and somehow survived. And as our crowning achievement, we had stolen the first portal ship known to exist in our two thousand year old history with the AMP. Kerba sat back, eagerly soaking in each of our tales.
Kerba said, "What fantastic and terrifying lives you have led. I would have turned to gelatin long ago had I been involved in any of that."
Garrett replied, "We're all works in progress on the 'not being so terrified we can't function' front."
Joni laughed over the comm. "Yeah, you showed that in the last week."
Garrett half smiled. "I'm still adjusting to the whole being in love thing. If you ever find that special someone, it will change all of your perspectives when it comes to them being in danger. I'll get over it... eventually."
I asked, "Can we give you a tour of the portal ship?"
Kerba nodded as his short arms wiggled with excitement.
Go said, "Would you mind if I took that ship core back to our lab? I'd like to start looking it over."
Garrett added, "And I'd like to get a better look at that helmet."
Kerba opened his arms in a welcoming gesture. "It was you who made all of this possible. You have been nothing but honest with me. Consider all that is here yours to study as you like. This is our history. It belongs to all of us. I know you will treat it with the respect it deserves."
After a short ride to the portal ship, the tour lasted an hour. While excited to be there, I could see that Kerba's thoughts and interests lay buried just under Megiddo's surface. The following day he was again out in his field, eagerly digging away.
Chapter 12
* * *
Garrett joined Jack and me on the bridge. "We've been here for three days. We have plenty of cesium, what's our plan?"
I said, "We've been discussing a trip to the Moddle worlds. Jack believes we can open a small portal that lasts long enough to perform a deep scan. We could survey everything going on there without actually being there."
Garrett frowned. "If you are talking about a full deep scan, that can take three minutes. The gate isn't usually open for that long."
Jack replied, "That's true, but we only need a very small opening. I've been looking over the controls on the Ares and aperture is one of the parameters that can be adjusted. And that type of window would only use enough cesium to fill half of one of those containers. We could do almost a hundred scans with a full load of cesium. We have plenty to spare."
Garrett nodded. "OK, how about we try it out with a scan of Adicus? It wouldn't hurt to see what they have there for a cesium stockpile, and to make sure the other gate is still there. Weren't we talking about stealing that gate as well?"
I said, "Jack performed the calculation for aperture size and duration of a portal window needed to bring the other gate through. It's too big."
Garrett shrugged. "Then we bring it through a piece at a time. We don't care if it works when we're done, we just want to keep Harden from making use of it."
"That's our goal," I said, "but I would like to keep it intact until we've brought my family back through. If something were to happen to the Ares, they would be without a way back."
Garrett half smiled, "Well, at least let's do a few scans to see where things sit. We also need to know if Harden is building another one of these ships."
A scan was performed of the area in and around Adicus. Twenty-three cesium ore haulers waited at the ready. A new crop of four thousand battleships was parked adjacent to the gate. Two new portal ships were under construction. More than a hundred fifty million Talisans were in training. The planet Dallex had undoubtedly been emptied.
Jack said, "We do have an option to shut down that gate without destroying it."
I asked, "What do you propose?"
Jack zoomed the scan data until the cesium haulers were in view. "We take his fuel. Without the refined ore, that portal won't be opening."
Garrett nodded. "I like that idea. And we could steal those two ships before he gets them built."
I said, "Does the portal window have enough resolution to sweep a line of those ore ships back here?"
Jack pulled up a table of numbers. "Since we have the deep scan giving exact coordinates, I think so."
I replied, "And what do we do with the crews?"
Jack smiled. "We stuff them onto their shuttles and send them back."
Garrett added, "If we move elsewhere before pulling those ships, we could send the crews back before bringing the ships back here. They would never know where we came from or where we went."
Jack nodded. "Nice. I say we hijack a few more ore haulers. After that, we scan the Moddle worlds for your people."
I raised Go on the comm. "We will be jumping for the next few hours and we need the Garmon. Do you need your lab or would you like to stay here?"
Go replied, "Oh, I need the lab. I have Anterra studying that computer core to see if it can be replicated."
Garrett flinched. "I thought you had that thing isolated?"
Go shook his head. "I need her for research. I have the comm block running and I have a console hardwired into her. She can only communicate with the console. It's been interesting watching the processes she goes through in her attempts to break out. Her programming is definitely geared toward survival. I think that's what makes her dangerous. Anyway, I hope to have that core fully analyzed by this afternoon. If we can replicate it, we can look at what's in its memories without worrying about damaging it. I do need to be here on the Garmon for this, though."
I raised Joni on the comm: "Garrett and I are coming over. We have a few jumps to make."
Joni nodded. "I was listening. And thanks for at least doing something. Just sitting here gets massively boring. Especially, when there is so much to b
e done."
Using the Ares, we jumped to the Theta sector. From there, four sweeps were performed, moving twenty-three fully-laden cesium ore haulers. Crews were transferred to shuttles and were swept back to Adicus. After lining up the ore haulers, a single jump placed us back near Megiddo.
The entire operation took only ninety-two minutes.
Joni was smiling. "My uncle is going to be livid."
Garrett replied, "He deserves to be livid."
Jack said, "I suggest we get right on with the business of scanning the Moddle worlds. None of us are getting any younger."
A set of deep scans were performed in and around the Moddle worlds. There was no sign of the Gruntas. However, the Moddle were under attack by the Grumar and Grotus. Six of their worlds had already fallen. Without a fleet, the Moddle had little defense. Of the six worlds taken, all showed an active population of zero. The Moddle were being wiped out.
Joni asked, "What do we do?"
Garrett replied, "For the Moddle? Sadly, nothing. That's not our fight. We need to find the Gruntas. Although... we could have some fun. What if we were to start sweeping Grumar and Grotus ships through to Adicus? That would keep Harden's people busy there, and possibly give the Moddle a break."
I said, "We can't risk them destroying that other gate. Enter the coordinates for Doomlight. It's possible my people were moved back there. If not, we'll scan Jorus and then Bolitha."
Joni frowned. "He wouldn't send them back to Balimus, would he?"
Jack shook his head. "This playing field is getting too big. Maybe we should sweep the Salton compound on Alpha Prime out to deep space and put an end to it."
Joni replied, "Please don't even suggest that. My father is there—even my two wretched cousins. They aren't deserving of that."
Jack nodded. "Sorry to suggest it. Was just a joke done out of frustration."
Jack started the sweep. Three minutes later our displays filled with data.
Garrett yelled out, "Got 'em! They're at Doomlight. And they are parked in a nice neat row. I say we jump to Balimus, sweep them back through and then come back here."
I replied, "They would not be safe there. Harden probably suspects we have his ship and his ore. They are safer in that galaxy than here."
Garrett shook his head. "That doesn't make any sense. He has them right now. Why would he wait until they were back here to hold them hostage against us? They have twenty thousand warships sitting there. How is that not more of a danger?"
I replied, "We haven't made a move toward rescuing them since we took the Ares. As far as Harden knows, it was the AIs on his ship that stole it from him. If we move them, he knows it's us. I also have to believe the Council would be very unhappy with being brought back here. Knowing that our home world and the Grotus remain out there would be foremost on their minds. It would be all-consuming of their thoughts. I would be branded a traitor and fully exiled for doing so."
Garrett shook his head. "I don't agree with your reasoning, but hey, they're your people."
Jack commented, "I have to side with Knog. They are sitting here in wait, probably the safest place for them right now."
Joni said, "I wonder if my uncle knows about the Moddle worlds. Anyone think we should tell him?"
I replied, "No. My people are the closest he has to their worlds. If they are sent there in those transports, they would be slaughtered before reaching the ground."
I turned to face Jack. "Perform a scan of Mayanis."
Three minutes later we each stood in stunned silence.
Garrett spoke first. "That has to be thirty thousand ships!"
Joni added, "They've been busy."
I said, "They have five of those huge orbital ship factories running. Their daily production must be astronomical."
Jack replied, "Hey, I checked for crew on each of those ships. No one is on them. Why would you not have crews on those ships getting trained?"
I thought for a moment. "Bring up the scans of the Moddle worlds. Tell me what the crew complements look like there."
Jack made several swipes through the data. "Zero!"
I nodded. "They're automating those ships."
Garrett frowned. "I wondered how long it would take. This is exactly what I've been saying all along. The machines will rise up."
Jack flipped back to the Mayanis data. "It looks like the Grotus population is still on planet."
I replied, "What about the Grumar?"
Jack swiped through the data. "Same for them, but—"
I asked, "But what?"
Jack looked over at me. "I only count half a billion. Half of their population is either dead or not there."
Garrett raised his eyebrows. "What do you do with half a billion people?"
Jack replied, "Scans show a lot of ship debris around the Grumar world. Hang on... hmm. I've got debris that is definitely Kergan. It looks like they may have attacked here. They must have had one huge fleet given the number of ships they lost at Jorus and Bolitha."
I stood in thought for several seconds. "Scan Bolitha and then Jorus. We need the bigger picture of what's going on. And take me back to the data from Adicus. Tell me if you see any warships converging on that location. Maybe we can find the location of Harden's ship factories."
Go came over the comm: "Anterra can replicate the cube in full!"
Garrett replied, "You aren't giving it access to bots again, are you?"
Go shook his head. "No, I have Anterra isolated. She's uploading everything needed to reproduce the core to one of the semi-smart AIs we had her build."
Garrett half frowned. "I would think an upload would only take seconds."
Go nodded. "It should. I know she is trying to find a way to communicate with the bots, but it's not happening. I'll give her three minutes. Then it's back to full isolation."
Garrett asked, "Did you hear about the Grotus ships?"
Go replied, "No, I was in the isolation chamber. No comms."
Garrett crossed his arms. "The Grotus ships are attacking the Moddle. And they are unmanned. There are also more than thirty thousand automated ships parked at Mayanis. And half of the Grumar's population are missing."
Go winced. "Automated ships? That's not a good development."
Jack said, "And they are killing all of the Moddle. And when I say all, I mean all."
Go asked, "Are they under orders from the Grotus?"
Garrett shrugged. "We don't know."
Jack said, "OK, we have data on Bolitha. I see about fifteen hundred Kergan warships and no others. If we could scan the path back toward Doomlight I bet we would find the others."
I asked, "What about my Talisans?"
Jack flipped through the data. "Scan says less than a million persons down on the surface."
Garrett replied, "Let's hope Gottlieb pulled them out of there whenever he left."
"Go?" Garrett asked. "Whatever happened to the ion amplifiers you were trying to replicate?"
Go replied, "They got sidelined with all my leg stuff, and then again with the AI isolation. We were close to a breakthrough on that. I could give it to Anterra as a task to think about."
Garrett nodded. "If we ever decide to build more ships, we're going to need it."
Joni said, "What's the chance we could outfit this ship with some of the gravity beams and a few blaster cannons? We could certainly supply the power for as many of those as we wanted. With some firepower and that portal generator, the Ares would make a superior battleship."
Garrett replied, "The Ares has no armor. She'd get ripped to shreds in a fight."
Go held up a hand. "I was talking with Kerba about the bits of shielding we kept finding down on the surface of Megiddo. He had some ideas about the Tantric material they used. I could have Anterra do an analysis on that as well."
Garrett sighed. "Whatever you do, you can't let that machine communicate with any others. Ion blasters, armor, most of the gravity beam technology. If one got loose with all that they would be
unstoppable."
Go nodded. "I'm keeping a tight leash on her."
Jack said, "Scan for Jorus is coming in. I'm showing only a few thousand people. None are located near those bunkers."
Joni asked, "Who would still be there?"
I replied, "Could be Kergans. They may have abandoned their fighters left on the surface."
Jack nodded. "I would say you're right. The Kergans had about a hundred fifty transports down on the surface. When they told the ambassador they were coming, they weren't kidding. They took Bolitha and Jorus, and then attacked Modus. You know, we must have thrown a big wrench into Harden's gearbox by taking the Ares."
I said, "It would seem to me that Harden has lost control."
Jack frowned. "Yeah, he sure stirred up a mess out there. Doomlight has been wiped out. The Moddle are being exterminated. He killed off the colonists on Bolitha. Half the Grumar are dead. And the Odentas all gone. Not to mention all of the Alliance people he sacrificed, including my own."
I placed my hand on Jack's shoulder. "We've stopped his progress. Now we need to undo some of the damage he's done. I'm certain my people want to return to Jorus, but it isn't safe with the Grotus and Kergans warring. And those automated ships are a new concern."
Jack half smiled. "You know, with all the problems in the New Alliance, it's still far more civil than those worlds out there. None of those species will stop until the others are completely wiped out."
Garrett agreed. "They are all genocidal. And now we have to worry about the AIs."
Jack sifted through the data from Adicus. "Here. Half a dozen ships on the edge of the scan, coming toward Adicus. If I trace their trajectory going back we get... Orwall. They came from Orwall."
I gestured toward the display. "Run a scan of Orwall."
Three minutes later we were again stunned. Four automated ship factories, strikingly similar to the ones we had just seen around Mayanis, were in full operation.
"Take us back to the Adicus data. The warships parked there. Are they manned?"
Jack moved through the data. "Uh. No."
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