Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, Jotunheimr System, January 23, 2022
“Hey Steropes, how many stargates are there in this system?” the helmsman asked.
“There are three. One leads to Golirion, one to Ssselipsssiss space and one to the Dark Star. Why do you ask?”
“Because a fourth one just popped up between the orbits of the second and third planets, and I don’t have any idea how we could have missed it before, especially since this is an inhabited system. I mean, it’s the most obvious stargate I’ve ever seen. It’s almost like the stargate is calling us.”
“What is it, Steropes?” Captain Sheppard asked.
“Curious,” Steropes replied, looking at his system. “The gate was not there before, but it definitely is there now. It very much reminds me of the gate we went through in the Domus system that led to where we met the avatar of the Progenitors. That gate also just appeared where there hadn’t been one previously.”
“So, do you think this will take us to the same place?”
“That is unknown, sir; we do not have enough data to forecast an answer. Due to the nature of its appearance and characteristics, though, I believe it will likely take us to the same place. I just can’t say for certain.”
“Do you suppose that something Calvin did on the planet caused it?”
“That is also unknown; however, there is likely a correlation, based on how the rod was originally obtained. It is certainly very coincidental if not.”
“Understood,” the CO said. “Let me know if—”
“Sir!” the communications officer interrupted. “Captain Magnusson is calling. The Jotunn want to know what we did to cause the new stargate.”
The CO sighed. “Of course they do,” he said. “Put him on screen, please.”
“What have you done?” Captain Magnusson demanded before his form had completely solidified on the screen.
“What have we done with what?” Captain Sheppard asked.
“The system’s defense command just noted a new stargate has come into existence. What did you do to cause it, and what do you intend to do with it?”
“Well, we’re not entirely sure we had anything to do with its occurrence. We are still trying to ascertain the nature and purpose of the stargate; however, my initial intentions would be to recover my personnel from Jotunheimr and go through the stargate at our earliest opportunity. We have seen this happen once before, and it was due to an artifact of the long-lost Progenitors; we believe that the stargate’s appearance this time is due to a similar artifact.”
“Does the stargate represent a danger to our system?” the giant asked. “Is it possible for another race to launch an attack through it?”
“We don’t know what dangers the stargate may represent,” the CO replied. “The last time we experienced this phenomenon, the stargate led to an abandoned system with an ancient artificial intelligence. We believe we will find something similar on the other side this time, but won’t know for certain until we go through it.”
“But you do intend to go through it?”
“Yes, we do.”
“Our defense command has instructed you to stand clear of the anomaly until they can assess whether it poses any dangers. We will be moving several ships into the vicinity, and we wouldn’t want any unfortunate…misunderstandings…to occur.”
“We understand and will stay clear; however, your defense command should be advised that the anomaly probably won’t go away until we go through it.”
“I will pass that on,” Captain Magnusson said, “but until I receive additional guidance, please stay away from the stargate or you will be destroyed.”
The Red Mountain, Jotunheimr System, January 23, 2022
“Get back!” Nightsong said, motioning with the rifle.
“Unlike him, I’m in no hurry to die,” Farhome replied, moving back down the pathway away from Calvin’s body.
“Don’t try anything,” Nightsong said as he slung the rifle over his shoulder, “or you’ll be next.”
He knelt down to roll the body over. “You should have listened to me,” he said to the inert form. “You didn’t have to die.”
Nightsong’s eyes opened wide in surprise. The burn hole through Calvin’s suit was obvious, but underneath, the flesh was knitting closed. Calvin’s eyes snapped open. “I didn’t have to die,” he said, “but you do.”
Before Nightsong could move, Calvin reached up and grabbed his suit and pulled him forward. Off balance, Nightsong fell across Calvin, who pushed him over and rolled on top of him.
Recovering his balance, Nightsong used Calvin’s momentum to roll him over, and the two fought back and forth, each trying to gain an advantage over the other. After trading several punches and kicks, Calvin got behind Nightsong and looped an arm around his throat and began choking.
Nightsong struggled, his face turning several shades of green as he flipped back and forth, using the motion to draw a knife from a belt sheath.
“Look out!” Farhome yelled, but it was too late. Nightsong reached back and plunged the knife into Calvin’s chest.
“Bastard!” Calvin exclaimed, losing his grip. “That hurt!” He let go of Nightsong and pulled the knife from his ribs. As Nightsong scrambled to get away, Calvin dove forward and slammed the knife into Nightsong’s side.
“Thor’s beard!” Nightsong yelled, pulling out the knife. He flipped it aside and started to draw the rifle, but Calvin tackled him to the ground, and they began wrestling again.
“Hold him down, and I’ll shoot him,” Farhome urged. “Just grab him!”
Before he could get a shot, Nightsong’s features stretched and suddenly there were two Calvins rolling on the ground. Farhome rapidly lost track of which was the real Calvin and was unable to shoot.
One of the Calvins finally got an advantage and pinned the other, sitting on his chest with his knees holding down the other Calvin’s wrists.
“Hee, hee, hee,” the immobilized Calvin laughed, and his features changed to Nightsong’s. “If you want to be me,” he said, “I’ll be you.”
“What?” the Calvin on top asked. “How are you able to do that? What do you know about being an Eco Warrior?”
Nightsong laughed again, somewhat maniacally. “We know quite a bit,” he finally said when he stopped laughing. His features shimmered and solidified into Farhome’s. “Especially since we’ve been one far longer than you.”
Both of Farhome’s hands withdrew into his arms, leaving Calvin/Nightsong kneeling only on the suit’s sleeves. With a yank, Farhome pulled them out from under Nightsong and punched upward, striking Nightsong in the throat. He fell backward off Farhome who sat up and dove on top of him again.
Both Aesir rolled on the ground, features and forms shifting to inflict maximum damage on the other. Spikes grew to stab, then withdrew to form again where they were needed next. Although both Aesir were injured repeatedly, little blood spilled as their wounds closed within seconds. Even grievous injuries were repaired by the master Eco Warriors.
The real Calvin stood outside the battle area, watching the combatants through the sights of his rifle, ready to assist…if he could only figure out which one was Nightsong. It would be tough; now they both looked like Farhome.
Eventually, the two Aesir began to wear down, and one of the Farhomes got the other in a chokehold. The one being choked flailed with a variety of pointed appendages, but didn’t have enough energy to break the hold. “Shoot him…” he gasped. “In the leg…”
“No,” the Farhome on top said, “he’s trying to trick you. I’m the real Farhome.”
“Shoot us…” the other said, his eyelids beginning to droop. “Both…”
Calvin fired into the thigh of the Aesir on top. “Damn it!” Farhome yelled. “I’m me!”
“Other…leg…” the one being choked said. He went limp.
Calvin fired into the other thigh, and the Aesir dropped, letting go of the Farhome he was strangling. Both Aesir fell to the ground.
After a couple of seconds, the Aesir who had been choked rose unsteadily to his hands and knees and crawled back to the other Farhome. His hand narrowed, and he plunged it into the hole the laser had made in his foe’s leg. With a yank, he pulled a heart out of his opponent’s leg. “He had it hidden there,” Farhome gasped. “That’s why O’Leary couldn’t kill him.”
Farhome reached back in with his hand and stood unmoving for five seconds. “There,” he finally said. “I’ve turned off his nanobots so he can’t grow another one. He’s dead. Again. This time for real.”
He stood up and turned to find Calvin’s rifle aimed squarely at his face.
“How do I know that you’re actually you?” Calvin asked.
“Because you made us act like a bunny and a stupid robot shot our tail off,” Farhome said. “Is that good enough for you?”
“No, it’s not,” Calvin said. “Nightsong might have heard the story. Turn into the bunny. I know what it looked like; if you match it, then you’re really Farhome.”
“We swore we’d never turn into a bunny again,” Farhome said, “and I don’t have enough energy to turn back into my normal form once I do it.”
“Tough,” Calvin said. “Change to a bunny, or I shoot you, just to be sure.”
Farhome slumped. “We really hate the bunny.” His features shifted, and fur grew. It was the same bunny, minus the tail the robot had shot off.
“Happy?” Farhome asked.
“Absolutely,” Calvin said, laughing. “I figured it was you, but I needed to be sure. I also didn’t get a picture the first time, but I’ve got one now.”
“If that picture ever makes it out, we can think of a number of things we can do to make your life very unpleasant.”
Calvin laughed again. “I’m sure you can,” he said. He walked over to the Progenitor’s Rod and picked it up, then he helped Farhome to his feet. “C’mon,” Calvin said; “let’s go home.”
Epilogue
Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, Jotunheimr System, January 25, 2022
“Stargate entrance in five minutes,” announced the helmsman.
“General Quarters!” ordered the commanding officer. He turned to Calvin. “Sure you don’t want to activate the Progenitor’s Rod here in this system prior to going through the stargate?”
“I don’t know that I want to activate it at all,” Calvin said, “but I definitely don’t want to do it here. If something good happens, I don’t want the Jotunn trying to steal it from us. They have a lot more ships than we do, and they are a lot bigger. If it’s something bad, I definitely don’t want it to happen here and damage our relations with the Jotunn. The previously mentioned ships will make short work of the Gulf. Besides, the stargate opened up at nearly the same time the rod’s quest was completed. It seems apparent to me we’re supposed to go through the gate. Someone or something might get pissed if we don’t.”
“Okay, you’ve convinced me to go through and activate it on the other side,” the CO said.
“Like I said, though, I’m not sure I want to activate the rod. What if something bad happens?”
“Well, let’s get there first, and we can discuss it,” Captain Sheppard said. “Communications officer, please let the Jotunn know we are going through the stargate.”
“Done, sir,” the comms officer said a few moments later. “Captain Magnusson says he looks forward to drinking a cup with you in Valhalla.”
“Hopefully that will be a long time in the future,” Calvin said, “and definitely not mead.”
The Vella Gulf hit the stargate before he could say anything else. The blackness engulfed them, and the stars stretched to infinity...then went black...then everything seemed to tumble forwards forever...then there was a vermillion flash...
Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, Gliese 667 C System, January 25, 2022
“As expected, we have entered the Gliese 667 C system,” Steropes noted. “The Gliese 667 C system is part of the Gliese 667 triple star system, which is located 22 light-years away from the Solar System in the constellation Scorpius. There are seven planets in this system, all of which are super-Earths. They are like the Earth in form and composition although they are much larger. The last time we were here, we found the remnants of a civilization on Planet ‘c’ of this system.”
“So you’re sure this is the same system you came to last time?” Captain Sheppard asked.
“Reasonably sure,” Steropes said. “The planetary bodies are the same, and the stars are in the right places.”
“All right, if that is the case, I would like to return to Jotunheimr and let the Jotunn know what’s happening. Their trigger fingers were starting to get kind of itchy before we left. Let’s go back through the stargate and let them know they can relax.”
“Sorry, Skipper,” the helmsman said, “but that isn’t going to be possible. There’s no stargate back to where we were.”
“What do you mean there’s no stargate back?” the CO asked with a smile. “Don’t tell me you lost it.”
“No sir,” the helmsman replied, “I didn’t lose it. I mean there’s no stargate out of the system. When the electronics stabilized after we jumped into this system, there was no sign of a stargate behind us. It’s gone.”
“This happened the last time we were here too,” Steropes said. “There was no return stargate when we arrived.”
“That would have been great information for your commanding officer to have before we jumped into a system we couldn’t jump back out of.”
“Yes sir,” Steropes replied. “I’m sorry; I forgot that happened.”
“So where does that leave us?”
“I’m afraid we’ll have to interact with Einstein, the avatar of the artificial intelligence located on Planet ‘c.’”
“Have to?” Commander Russ Clayton asked. “What if we want to return home using the normal drive?”
“There’s a problem with that,” Steropes said, “and it’s the same problem we had last time. Yes, we could harvest enough fuel for the journey home on the normal drive, and we could get home that way. Unfortunately, it would take a very long time.”
“How long?” asked Captain Sheppard.
“If you wanted, we could accelerate to almost the speed of light. Doing so would slow down the apparent passage of time for us as we approached it, making the journey home seem like only 17 days for us at 0.99 the speed of light. However, for everyone else back home, it would take slightly more than 22 years for us to get there. We would make it home, but everyone we know will be 22 years older.”
“Aside from the enormous amount of back pay that would be owed us, that wouldn’t be my first choice,” Captain Sheppard said. “The Shaitans would have all that time to rebuild. We might get to Terra and find that the Shaitans had already destroyed it.
“That wouldn’t be my first choice either,” Calvin agreed.
“Okay,” Captain Sheppard said. “We’ll keep that as a backup option, but for now let’s head to Planet ‘c’ and attempt to contact Einstein.”
Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, Gliese 667 C System, January 28, 2022
“So what do you think, Calvin?” Captain Sheppard asked.
Calvin looked at the Progenitor’s Rod in his hands. It hadn’t changed as the Vella Gulf had approached Planet ‘c.’ The device still glowed brightly and was as warm to the touch as it had been on Jotunheimr.
“I don’t know,” Calvin replied. “I would have thought Einstein would have made contact by now.” The Gulf was orbiting Planet ‘c,’ where it had been for two days. The Terrans hadn’t heard from Einstein during that period; every transmission they had made had gone unanswered.
“So, are you going to push the button?” Captain Sheppard asked.
Calvin looked around the bridge. All eyes were on him. The rod vibrated at a high pitch, as if full of energy just waiting to break free.
“I don’t know, sir,” Calvin replied. “I’ve been chasing this around for so long it seems almost anticlimactic t
o finish the quest. I don’t know…maybe it’s that so many people have tried to do it over the years and have failed, to be here and have it complete is sort of…surreal, I suppose.”
“Do you want to know what it does, or don’t you?” Lieutenant O’Leary asked.
“I’m not sure,” Calvin replied. “I think I do, but I’m worried that pushing the button will cause something bad to happen. I mean, we really don’t know anything about it. We don’t know who gave it to us, either, for that matter. It could do anything.”
“Do you really think an advanced civilization would give us something bad?” Captain Sheppard asked. “They had the ability to create stargates and move planets. If they wanted something done, why didn’t they just do it themselves? They were certainly powerful enough. Even the avatar that gave you the rod had more power at his command than all the ships in our fleet put together…not that there’s really that many of them, at this point. If they wanted to kill us or enslave us or something, the avatar could easily just have done it.”
“You’re right, sir,” Calvin said. “I can’t imagine they would have us chase around the universe to show we’re worthy, just to have something bad happen to us if we completed it. That would be pretty dumb.” He stood a little taller, his mind made up. “I’m going to push it.”
“Great, do it then, so we can see if it reopens the stargate,” Captain Sheppard said. “I know I for one would certainly like to see home again. I’ve even been thinking about writing my memoirs once I get back. I’m going to call it, ‘Why didn’t Calvin push the damn button sooner so we could all go home?’”
“Fine,” Calvin said. He pushed the button. The rod grew brighter, and the vibration rose in pitch. It became so bright Calvin couldn’t look at it, and so loud he thought he would lose his hearing. It became too hot to hold, and he dropped it onto the deck. Thin wisps of smoke rose as the paint burned off. Just when he thought he couldn’t take it anymore, the rod vanished, leaving actinic afterimages floating in front of his closed eyes. His ears rang; no, his whole head rang like a tuning fork.
The Dark Star War (Codex Regius Book 3) Page 33