X-Calibur: The Trial

by Jackson-Lawrence, R.

  X-CALIBUR

  The Trial

  Copyright R. Jackson-Lawrence 2015

  The moral right of the author has been asserted.

  All rights reserved

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any forms or by any means, without the prior permission in writing by the author.

  All characters and events depicted in this

  book are fictitious and any resemblance

  to real persons, living or dead, is

  purely coincidental.

  Cover images copyright NASA and Sirarturo.

  Used under creative commons licence.

  (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode).

  ISBN 978-1512341676

  The Knight's Code

  A knight should protect the weak and help the helpless. They should be truthful and honourable, both graceful in defeat and merciful in victory.

  Chapter 1

  The Signal

  Earth Year 6239

  A construct, that's what the technicians had said, something made up by the program to support a chosen identity.

  Arthur still couldn't get his head around it. He knew Merlin, the man and the legend, and he was far too real to have been fabricated by some faulty machine. He had a mind of his own, made up of hopes and dreams and a lifetime of memories. True, Merlin couldn't remember how exactly he had transferred his mind into the computer, but that wasn't the same as it having been made up. He wasn't just some error to be deleted or rebooted or whatever the technicians had suggested.

  And what did that mean about him? Merlin had told him that he was unique, the true King returned to lead the people to freedom. If Merlin was a construct, then was Arthur similarly fake, another facet of a damaged computer's mind? He'd achieved what Merlin had said he would, freeing the slaves and returning to Earth, but was it all just a part of Merlin's delusion?

  Arthur was sat at the round table, staring into space when Gar-Wan took his seat across from him. It was two days after they had returned from the remains of the planet Teela, a small armada of highly advanced spacecraft alongside them. The majority of the Teleri were still in orbit, either on the Evacuation ships or the other craft of the Teleri Defence Force, now referred to as the Earth Defence Force. The surviving Elders of the Assembly were on the ground, as well as small teams of engineers, preparing to begin construction of permanent settlements.

  “Arthur?” Gar-Wan said, startling the younger man. “Is everything okay?”

  They hadn't told Gar-Wan what the technicians had said, preferring instead to keep it amongst themselves. It wasn't that they didn't want Gar-Wan to know necessarily, more that they didn't want Merlin to find out. The more people who knew the truth, the more likely they would behave differently around Merlin, and the Wizard was far from stupid. He'd know something was wrong and badger them until they told him everything.

  “Gar-Wan!” Arthur replied, almost jumping out of his skin. “What? Yes, I'm fine. What did you want me for?”

  “We're supposed to be reviewing the applicants?” Gar-Wan continued, puzzled. “For the Knight Guard? We spoke about it yesterday?”

  “Yes, sorry,” Arthur said. “That's why I'm here. How many are there?”

  During Arthur's absence, Gar-Wan had been responsible for the smooth running of Camelot. As well as completing the shield dome above the city and the construction of the plasma cannons, he'd announced the intention to recruit people from the city to form a peace keeping force, something he'd named the Knight Guard.

  “There were almost one thousand applicants,” Gar-Wan replied, “but I've reduced that number to a little over two hundred. They're mostly human and Dorgan, but some of the Mori applied too.”

  “I'd like to have guards from all aspects of our society,” Arthur thought aloud. “Do you think we should have equal numbers of each?”

  “I'd rather pick those most suited for the role,” Gar-Wan remarked. “Some of the applicants, well, they're amongst those who've caused us the most problems since we landed here. They aren't the people I'd like to put in positions of authority.”

  “Good point,” Arthur agreed. “I suppose we'll have to include the Teleri as well now?”

  “Maybe, at some point,” Gar-Wan said. “Let's just go through the applicants we have first.”

  They spent the rest of the morning reviewing the applicants, finally whittling it down to a little over one hundred. They weren't going to be given weapons for day to day use, but they'd have the authority to act autonomously, dealing with problems and maintaining order. Merlin had told them there were several judicial documents they could use as a basis for maintaining law and order in Camelot, adapting the Knight's Code to cover a variety of day-to-day responsibilities.

  “Are you going to tell them or shall I?” Arthur asked, mentally exhausted from the exercise.

  “I'll get them all together tomorrow,” Gar-Wan replied, smiling sympathetically. Gar-Wan was a natural bureaucrat end enjoyed the day to day running of the fledgling government. It was far more than he was ever allowed to do for the Senate on the hive, where the word of the Mori-Gran was law, no matter what that word might be.

  “And the one's who didn't get in?” Arthur continued. He was worried there might be fallout, especially from the more troublesome applicants.

  “If they ask, we'll tell them,” Gar-Wan suggested.

  “Thank you,” Arthur said, nodding and rose exhaustedly to his feet. As he trudged back to the Vanguard to get some food, he hoped Gwen and Lance were having more fun with the Teleri.

  *****

  Gwen stifled a yawn as the Teleri engineer spoke hurriedly. She was standing with the engineer and Elder Yamon, Lance having been called away on urgent business. She wasn't sure, but she suspected the urgent business was something Lance had engineered himself to get out of the endless discussions.

  “With the materials available,” the engineer said, “we'll have no difficulty beginning the keep and the detention block in only a matter of days. My team have been able to merge our designs with images from the human archives.”

  “I showed them pictures of castles and keeps from around the British Isles,” Merlin said to Gwen through her capsule. “I though he was going to have a heart attack, he was so excited.”

  Gwen began to laugh and turned it quickly into a cough. “Is the detention block a priority?” she asked.

  “Many of the Followers remain incarcerated on the fleet,” Elder Yamon explained. “They're overcrowded, and it's difficult to coordinate the trials when they're so spread out. We hope, that by bringing them to the surface, we can determine what punishment is appropriate on a case-by-case basis.”

  “Many of them were just following orders,” Gwen continued, “and were too scared to speak up.”

  “I'm aware,” Elder Yamon replied. “Elder Minsc will be joining me from the North American settlement and assisting me in the decision making process.”

  Elder Minsc was one of the few surviving members of the Assembly, and had been chosen to govern the Followers of Ajoch following Elder Joleen's death. Elder Yamon represented those Teleri who once lived beneath the surface of Teela, those who embraced technology and all the benefits it provided.

  “Well, if we can be of any assistance,” Gwen offered.

  “I will be sure to ask,” Elder Yamon replied testily.

  Their walk brought them back towards the Tor, where the engineers had big plans. The designs had the Tor at the centre, the hanger at the top becoming the central room in the keep. It was already where the round table was to be found, and where Arthur and the others met to discuss matters relating to the growing community. By adding rooms a
nd quarters, they planned on building a castle to rival any from Medieval Britain, with the additional inclusion of Mori and Teleri technology. Other teams would work on permanent homes and communal buildings in the surrounding area.

  “Arthur!” Gwen exclaimed as he exited from the Tor. “Is it that time already?”

  “Time?” Arthur asked, confused by the question.

  “The other meeting?” Gwen continued, her gaze intent as she willed him to get the message. “I've been having such an interesting time with the engineers, I almost forgot all about it.”

  “Oh yes, time,” Arthur replied with a smile. “The meeting, it's starting in a minute. We should get going, straight away.”

  “I'm so sorry,” Gwen said, turning towards Elder Yamon. “This has been absolutely fascinating, but I really have to run. Please, let me know if I can be of any further assistance.”

  “Of course,” Elder Yamon remarked with a scowl. “Thank you for your time.”

  Gwen turned and left before Elder Yamon could say anything else, her fast walk slowing once he was out of sight. Arthur matched her pace and chuckled quietly. “Meeting, eh?” he said.

  “You have no idea how tedious that was,” Gwen replied in her defence. “If I have to hear how they can enhance the crystalline structure of the surrounding rock one more time.”

  “Try looking through two hundred applications for the Knight Guard!” Arthur retorted. “Just how many Dorgans do we have called Oscar anyway?”

  Gwen burst out laughing. “You're right!” she said. “It's crazy.”

  “And where was Lance?” Arthur asked. “Wasn't he supposed to be joining you?”

  “He was needed on urgent business,” Gwen explained. “Probably for someone called Oscar!”

  That set them both laughing again as they walked towards the Vanguard.

  *****

  Lance kept pace with the shorter Mori woman as she led him through the ramshackle collection of buildings. “What's so urgent?” he asked.

  “You'll see,” she replied breathlessly. “I didn't know who else to turn to.”

  Sel-Mar opened the door to her home on the outskirts of the fledgeling city and showed Lance inside. It was small, smaller even than one of the cabins on the Vanguard, and cluttered. The food dispenser took up half of one wall, while the washing and toilet facilities were in the corner opposite the bed, a sheet of fabric the only protection of modesty. The dim light in the ceiling illuminated a collection of components scattered across the bed and floor, a weary looking Mori piecing them together.

  As Lance entered, the other Mori froze, looking scared.“What have you done?” he exclaimed to Sel-Mar.

  “It's okay, Gin,” Sel-Mar assured him. “Once we tell him everything, it'll be okay.”

  Gin placed the collection of the components on the bed beside him and raised his hands. “I didn't mean anything by it,” he began. “I wasn't trying to contact them, I promise. I just wanted to catch up on what had been happening since we left.”

  “Start at the beginning,” Lance said, though his voice was stern. Whatever he'd walked in on, he had the distinct impression that he wouldn't have approved if he'd been asked. The Mori, Gin, looked positively terrified, an unusual expression on the face of the overlords.

  “Gin was trying to listen to communications from the hive,” Sel-Mar began. “We left family behind, friends, when we followed you and Arthur to freedom.”

  “You were always free,” Lance reminded them, his anger growing. “What have you done?”

  “I just built a receiver,” Gin insisted. “It only goes one way, and they already know we're here. I promise you, I'm on your side.”

  “It's been quiet,” Sel-Mar continued. “We didn't think it worked, but then, this morning, Gin heard something. Gin, tell him.”

  “It didn't make sense,” Gin said hurriedly. “It was weak, garbled. I've been trying to clean up the signal, but I can only make out a few words.”

  “Tell me,” Lance demanded.

  “The message,” Gin said. “It said Camelot, and unstoppable.”

  *****

  “Celeste,” Steven said, tapping icons on the display before him. “Are you getting this?”

  Steven was human and had been a house slave on the hive Ship. He had always marvelled at the stars beyond the tiny window of his room and had jumped at the chance of joining the crew aboard one of the remaining cruisers. He was sat in the cockpit, puzzling over a strange transmission that the system could barely decipher.

  The cockpit was larger than that of the Vanguard. Cruisers were bigger then the scout ships, with an enormous cargo hold and more powerful weapons. Unlike the cockpit on the scout ships, which had only four seats, the cruisers had eight seats arranged with two at the front and then a row of three on either side.

  Celeste was sat in one of the two seats at the front, the pilot's seats, monitoring the Earth's system for any sign of alien vessels. Arthur had suggested turning over the responsibility to the Teleri vessels, or the Earth Defence Force as they were now known, but Celeste didn't know them well enough to trust them. She was happier keeping her own vigil after the surprise attack by the Mori-Gran-Ra, at least until she shared Arthur's enthusiasm about the Teleri fleet.

  “Where's it coming from?” Celeste asked. “Can you isolate it?”

  “The signal's too weak,” Steven continued. “The ident is the same as the hive ship though, the one we escaped.”

  Celeste rose from her seat and joined Steven at his console, watching over his shoulder as he attempted to clean up the signal. “You're sure?” she asked.

  “I think so,” Steven replied nervously, not yet confident in his abilities. Unlike Celeste and many of the others, he hadn't had the knowledge and skills programmed directly into his brain. He had to learn things the old fashioned way, and though he thought he was interpreting the information correctly, an element of doubt was always there, nagging away at the back of his mind.

  “Play it,” Celeste ordered. Steven tapped further icons and the message began to play through the cockpit speakers.

  “Arthur. . . Camelot. . . control. . . unstoppable. . . please. . . only hope.”

  “It's on a loop,” Steven explained when it began again. “The same message, over and over.”

  “Contact the surface,” Celeste said. “We need to speak to Arthur, now!”

  *****

  Merlin was attempting to access his system code again, hoping that using the original hardware would help. The lab, deep beneath the Tor, had barely been used since Arthur and the others had landed. Merlin didn't sleep, and he didn't have a home as such, but the lab was where he always returned to when he wasn't engaged in the hangar or joining Arthur and the others on one of the ships.

  His system code remained elusive, almost visible but just beyond his reach. He knew that the Teleri technicians had been through it and found nothing, but his sense of discomfort remained. Even when Arthur had told him what the technicians had said, he still had the feeling that something was missing, hidden from him, and he wanted more than anything to remember what that was.

  The transmission from orbit brought him back to the present. “Arthur? Merlin?” Celeste shouted through the speakers. “Are you there?”

  “Yes?” Merlin replied.

  “Merlin,” Celeste continued anxiously. “Where's Arthur? I haven't been able to contact him?”

  “He was meeting with Gar-Wan,” Merlin said. “Is there a problem?”

  “We've picked up a message from the hive,” Celeste explained. “He's going to want to hear it.”

  Merlin listened to what they'd manage to decipher of the message and assured Celeste that he'd find Arthur. He passed through the wires and cables to the hangar, expecting to find him deep in conversation with Gar-Wan. He was about to start looking elsewhere when Lance came running in through the hangar door, clearly distressed.

  “Merlin, I'm so glad it's you,” Lance began. “There's a signal, from the hive.
We need-”

  “So I've heard,” Merlin said. “Contact Gar-Wan, ask him to come immediately. I'll find Arthur and Gwen.”

  Merlin's hologram shimmered and disappeared before Lance could reply, reappearing in the cockpit of the Vanguard. Arthur and Gwen were nowhere to be seen, but the systems informed him of sounds coming from Arthur's cabin. Merlin transferred himself without a second thought.

  “Merlin!” Gwen exclaimed, pulling the blanket up to cover her nakedness.

  “We spoke about knocking!” Arthur added, similarly distressed.

  “I'm sorry, my King,” Merlin replied, turning away from them. It was a gesture that they appreciated, though if they thought about it they'd realise Merlin didn't 'see' through his holographic eyes but through the various cameras and sensors located throughout the ship.

  “You're not leaving?” Gwen pointed out. “Merlin, why aren't you leaving? We really are a little busy.” Arthur stifled a giggle.

  “This cannot wait,” Merlin said apologetically. “There's been a transmission from the hive. You both need to hear it.”

  Arthur groaned as Merlin disappeared. “Two days,” he said. “Two days without a crisis. I was foolish to expect we'd have some time to ourselves.”

  *****

  Arthur and Gwen entered the Tor a short while later, their hair unruly and cheeks still flushed. Lance and Gar-Wan were already there, as were the holograms of Merlin and Caran Doc. As Arthur and Gwen took their seats, Triltan stepped through the large doors to the hangar and joined them.

  “I thought she might be able to help,” Lance explained when Triltan took her seat. Arthur nodded, though Gwen suspected there was more to it. Lance and Triltan had spent most of their free time together since returning to Earth. Triltan was understandably very upset about the destruction of Teela, and was often to be found staring at images of her lost home. Lance remained by her side, always there with a comforting hand or reassuring word.