The screen suddenly stopped blurring and Oliver turned in his chair. “Is there an issue, Stone? Am I doing something incorrectly?”
“Just a hunch. Keep working.” He said and hears Renee say ‘I’m on my way. Is it an emergency?’ to which he replied “Take your time.”
Oliver meanwhile turned back around and continued absorbing from all fifteen screens. He truly wasn’t conscious of what he was doing. All he saw was a blur from fifteen open screens, but he was learning at an exponential rate. Already he mastered all forms of math. His fingers typed as if it had a mind of its own and already he was finding history much more interesting.
He assimilated over ten thousand years of known human history with only the last thousand years making any significant impartial collection without religious dominated influence. He learned of evolution from single celled organisms and how they changed, adapting to their environment. He learned about multiple great extinction level events, ice ages and climate shifts. He was intrigued by how humanity’s technology seemed to explode from the age of industry. How computers were originally made of metal and used inefficient electricity. He also learned how savage humans were, but also could see their potential to grow far outweighed their need to assert themselves to hold back said growth.
In the late twenty first century humans barely avoided another ice age by introducing algae into the world’s oceans and ceased using fossil fuels for the bulk of their energy needs when cold fusion made a major leap in the year twenty two twenty which also in a decade produced an engine capable of FTL. Faster Than Light. Humanity learned FTL travels in subspace and takes ten thousandth the time of light’s constant speed, but proved to still be slow though it was beyond the dreams of the people at the time.
The key to traveling and not die of old age between travels was the creation of administering of a synthetic chromosome atop the natural twenty three. It gave humanity the cure for the most terrifying disease of their world. Old age death due to cellular deterioration. The new discovery wasn’t true immortality, not at all. Such a thing doesn’t exist. It just took the fear of dying a cellular death. One could still die from an accidental slip and broken neck or get hit by lightning. Accidents were more an ease of the mind that growing old, frail and loss of mental function.
With the therapy of eternal youth, population restrictions were put in effect on only what a world can sustain.
An age called the Age of Logical Reasoning came as a result to the therapy and still remains unchanged today. After its enactment, it abolished nearly all popular religions as new discoveries and insights were made. It didn’t stop religions. The newest Age’s government would never take away a person’s beliefs. Religions were just picked so much apart, most stopped fighting reality when universal truths were proven beyond doubt. Especially with alien words teeming with life being found.
Only some preferred to age naturally. They are knows as naturalists.
Religion wasn’t also to become mostly extinct. English was finally chosen as a worldwide language everyone spoke in the three years of FTL’s publishing. But the metric system became the universal means of measuring, ending mathematical conflict. English and Metric had a purpose. Meeting an unknown alien civilization needed complete cooperation. Different nations, factions, languages and math measurements were confusing enough. To another race would be devastating without a single united way of understanding.
Oliver did though do the other conversions just for fun. In Standard he would weigh on Earth a hundred and seventy eight kilos and stood two twenty six centimeters tall. Translated, turned those numbers into three hundred and ninety two pounds and stood seven foot five inches tall. Absently he thought Renee is six foot even in one measure and one hundred sixty seven point six four centimeters tall in Standard. The math is simple now that I know it, but I’d better not ask for her weight. She’s liable to kick me in the balls again judging by interactions I’ve read so far between social gender standards between sexes.
Then came the greatest discovery and the worst when on the fourth year of FTL exploration came face to face with the discovery of Beasts that greatly resembled Earth Fauna. Animals. But larger and deadly. Some of the deadliest though were fundamentally different. One thing all Beasts had in common was a hunger for human flesh and technology which picked up the use of electricity and drew the near unstoppable predators to humans.
Humanity learned their projectiles, missiles and beam weapons only served to infuriate the creatures and draw more Beasts like blood to a school of sharks. Many ships fell to the Beasts who seemed to be on more than ten percent of all planets capable of support life. It was originally thought an alien civilization placed them until a person witnessed a Beast being shot out into space by another Beast with powerful back legs. Called a Skipper. It wasn’t a sign of complex intelligence. It was symbiotic. Skippers were weak and never hardly moved. Other Beasts brought it food and gave security. It exhibited a queen ant, but did nothing other than eat, kick Beasts through space and lay a single Skipper egg every decade. It didn’t give any direction to other Beasts.
A year and six months after humanity met and futility battled against the fearsome Beastly creatures, an interstellar pioneering ship detected an anomaly to discover proof of an advanced species.
Proof came in the form of a great pyramid of mountainous proportions. Inside the alien structure was a great writing in metal. It would be in six months time commonly called The Geo Record.
The Geo Record was impossible to decipher without a reference, a Rosetta Stone reference, until one scientist accidently cut himself and his blood touched the great object.
Blood made the random scribbles into the most basic forms of communication. On one side revealed every element in the galaxies by molecule. The other sides had DNA double helix’s. But it was more. Largest of the many strands showed twenty five pairing chromosomes. Beside it was instructions on genetic manipulation. How to bind and unbind. Only one corner held writing none has deciphered.
Experiments were made all over to do blind studies. Each and every geneticist team returned with the same incredible results. The twenty forth discovered chromosome that allowed immortality was exactly like the Geo Record’s blueprints.
Only the twenty fifth’s addition showed something unexpected and varied person to person.
Psionics were created.
Psionics is the term used by harnessing the electrical synaptic response of a human’s brain. The extra pairing allowed one to express themselves outside their own body. Ranged from classes one to twelve, twelve being people who can do extraordinary things. Dangerous things. Things that could devastate entire city blocks with ease. Only those were rarest cases. It made pseudo science fact. High psionic capable people could move objects at no less than class five with their minds. Shields could stop physical momentum in class six. Sevens’ could focus their synaptic energy to a point and discharge what is called a kinetic blast. Devastation increases the stronger the class.
But psionic people made a major discovery in the fight against Beasts. The first survivor was an class eight who killed a Beast out of fear and got out alive without drawing more creatures. The ability proved more valuable than every missile and bullet ever created.
Around that time the first Star-saber was discovered quite by accident when a mining crew searching for graphite found it buried. Scientists figured out how it would work, but couldn’t make it function for themselves.
Years of reverse engineering coupled even with weak psionic individuals allowed absorbing of energy to discharge. Making it an invaluable weapon against Beasts who were basically immune to human technology.
Recovering the sword had dual results and advancements. One, it gave birth to Hunters. Two, it made way for crystal technology. Leaving metal and electrical circuits obsolete.
Crystals could absorb and channel psionic energy efficiently and could be engineered to grow, store information, transfer great quantities of information and c
ould bind to other forms of matter. Crystals became new nanites as well as brain-chips. Class eight and above could now be implanted with a crystal neural chip compatible with the human brain. But their programming is strictly regulated and limited to the point it would not overwhelm the individuals brain. It is also regulated against illegal misuse such as invading private information without authorization as well as remotely taking control of weaponry.
The Empire was instituted shortly after FTL was proven. Governments gave up petty grievances when the galaxy now opened and territory was no longer logical to fight over. An emperor was named by world election, to act when the senate bickered too much to accomplish anything important. He still remains the emperor, and oldest living human, keeping his position only because he is a man of compassion as well as action. He serves humanity as a whole and has done a job that most of his people agree with. He relies on logic and hasn’t been forced to step down because he’s the right man for the job.
When he learned how psionics were effective against Beasts he let volunteers go to heavier worlds to train the elite guardians with the sole purpose of protecting humanity. They became the first Hunters who made their own laws and rules, but only to benefit humanity’s survival through exploration.
In the year 2371 mankind met its first extraterrestrial sentient species. The Keptl. Only they proved to be anything but friendly. They were an evolving based society controlled by ancient psionic minds. They were sentient because the minds behind the deadly creatures showed complex lateral thinking. Using overwhelming numbers and terrifying tactics resembling a wolf pack mentality. Most attempts to make contact end up being sent back with a massacred crew and minimal pilots too shocked to respond. They then hunted, liking humans. It was a war with no end.
Until the Drake home world was discovered and they liked humans and hated the Keptl with a burning passion. Every confrontation between Drake and Keptl found one dead, the other triumphant or too wounded to live long after.
The latest species were met seventy nine years later.
The Creelin. A civilization far more advanced than humanity could understand. Like Drakes, Creelin are a telepathic race and loathe the Keptl with every fiber of their being. But they are highly evasive, not wanting to seek any exchange with a race not even a full two millennia advanced from finding Faster Than Light travel. Several times rogue factions tried stealing their warp and space powered technology. Those responsible were sent back unharmed, but only if they complied. Hostility was met with superior weapons and numbers humanity could not defend against. Any meeting done pleasantly was reciprocated in kind, but aside from themselves, they gave no information away that could be assimilated in a young race. Creelin were immortal as well, were humanoid, but easily distinguishable. Their eyes glowed always. They had two legs, arms and a single head. Human height on average, but they had no mouths, a ridged forehead that swooped back, were pale due to silicone biology and were thin. A hundred or so limp antennae resembled hair, but was theorized to aid their advanced psionic ability. And they had a psionic system similar to humans, but those weaker seemed to enjoy what they had and used it as best they could. How they ate was still unknown.
Oliver learned every pivotal historic event since the twenty first century to the day he found himself in, all in four tenths of a single second. Eight hundred years of fantastic history absorbed in an eye blink.
In the time of twelve minutes for Renee to step through the door Oliver was learning every form of advanced schooling science discovered and was learning biology and anatomy. She grumbled internally. It hasn’t even been a whole hour since the overgrown baby left my skirts. What the fuck has he done now… at least I feel better from the shower. Her gaze took in her scaly partner and the Hunters in the corner. Lazing as usual, but something was off. They were tense. Over at the desk sat Jessica and Stephanie to either side of Oliver in front of a holo-screen. The two women were busy doing scans of his suit, sword and forearm protector. Only she too stiffened as Oliver showed an expression of complete calmness in front of fifteen passing screens. “What the fuck is he doing now?”
The views stopped flashing as soon as his left hand stilled. He turned around and got up rubbing his jaw. “I now understand why you were all so frightened of me.”
“Come again?” Renee asked. Then gasped as she now saw a profound change in his eyes. He no longer held the ignorant innocence. He had a dark, brooding setting in his gaze of a man of intellect. And when his amber gaze fell upon her fully, she no longer saw a lost puppy, but a great alpha wolf. Fuck, he just made me cream my panties again. I hate the bastard more than ever.
“Renee, I’m sorry I felt the need to take you as my mate. Your pheromones called to me, but I had no right. You confuse me and I do not need that problem at this time. Excuse me, but I need to be alone.”
Too shocked to let it soak in, she couldn’t even breathe as he walked past and out the door before it slid shut.
Oliver moved down the halls as if he had knew them all his life thanks to the elevator diagram Jessica explained. He didn’t care Stone and the other two trailed him, but he was grateful they were silent and left him to his thoughts. He reached the elevator, waited for it to arrive and took it from the eight level full of labs, to the deck on level two, but not in the direction of the mess.
Crew paused as they took in the giant frame of Oliver. None were ready to see him in person so soon. And not a single person approached him because his expression showed an internal struggle and need for solitude. Most wore pants and a shirt, but some crewwomen opted for short skirts to show off their shapely legs. Oliver saw every man was roughly his age and every woman was in her blossomed, late teens prime. There was not a single overweight person aboard. None though were as tall or muscular as himself or the Hunters behind. Most carried a dagger somewhere on their person. Passing one hall he spotted a woman staring up at something. He too followed her line of sight to find her psionically levitating a sprayer which applied wood stain to a patch of the ship.
In an hour Oliver reached a great set of wooden door also used in emergencies as an airlock. The first large door opened from the floor up and closed as they passed. Forty meters ahead opened the outer hatch which let him step out to the deck.
Wide space opened to the Dorgenox’s roomy deck ten kilometers long and half as wide. The central mast was a half kilometer in diameter and reached high above. Ropes thicker than grown men were long were woven into nets along with riggings were mostly for aesthetic purposes in space, but worked in docking on planets. The mast was so large, Oliver could not see around it. But the sails from before were now unfurled. They were silvery solar sails.
Solar sails captured light photons to get the ship out of a planet’s gravity well to conserve engine power. Conserving energy for FTL.
But Oliver wasn’t interested at the moment staring at the ship. He knew what calmed him before and turned portside. Though in space there is no up, down, left or right, he looked up.
A galaxy of stars arrayed above and at once he was relieved. It took his mind off Renee and all the information adjusting itself in his head. The vacuum of space lit all over, drawing him into an embrace of sorts. Only the ship’s shield kept atmosphere in, but didn’t steal away too much of gazing with a distortion. It was translucent enough.
Tension in his chest evaporated and he took a deep breath as much as physically capable, held it and let it out slow. Then decided to do as recommended for a man with women troubles.
Oliver crouched. Muscles bulged, tendons stretched and pressure built. He then jumped and immediately lost control and screamed. He had no muscle memory or knew what his capabilities were in such low gravity.
Flipping end over end made the world tilt in a sour stomaching way. Bile rose in his throat and could not be stopped in its bid for freedom. He flew and smacked head first into the ground two hundred meters away, bounced twice and rolled to a stop.
“B… Bhm… Ba. HA. HA. HA!” Steven d
oubled over laughing at Oliver’s first leap gone wrong. He expected a perfect landing, but it seemed his body and mind weren’t equally as fast in memorizing. It was so unexpected he and his brothers were caught unprepared. He was so believing Oliver could do everything instantly, finding a flaw was too much to retain all the tension built up since finding him. “By… By the stars! That was the funniest thing I saw all month.”
Stone recovered first, shook his head and in the lower gravity it took him two expertly execute bounds to reach Oliver rising to his feet and wiping his lips. “Are you well?”
“What the hell do you think?” He retorted and touched his lip that split enough to bleed. “I’m as awkward as a child learning to walk. I’ve been holding back all this time and the one time I want to see what I can do beats the shit out of me.”
“You just need practice, Brother.” Stone clapped his shoulder. “Now that you are talking again can you tell us what that was back there?” Steven was wiping tears from his eyes like Deegen, but they too had bounded over as if child’s play.
“After learning math, history, science, biology, anatomy, basic medicine and astrology I started learning about relationships and how badly I reacted… and learning the many ways people express love both benign and intimate made me embarrassed. From stories of women with red hair, I’m surprised Renee didn’t castrate me.”
“Stars! You did learn.” Steven said, finger brushing back wavy brown hair.
“Yes.” Oliver nodded to the simple fact. “And I came to many conclusions why you all have been so hesitant around me…” Amber eyes fell to his comfortable boots. “I’m dangerous. Too dangerous to be around anyone till I figure it all out.”
“It’s good Hunters aren’t afraid of danger.” Deegen said as he pulled a string from his back pocket to start tying his long dreads back. “Brother, I know you wish to be alone and all, but you’re right. Since you can see how different you are all on your own, you need guidance. I didn’t agree to Mrs. Menann’s contract so I can give you the option to teach you how to move. What do you say?”
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