AMP The Core

by Stephen Arseneault

The elder slowly stood from his chair. “From the protector herself! You have the eyes of the protector! Have you come to take her place?”

  I replied, “I have come to see the protector, but your question I cannot answer.”

  The chief elder attempted to order up a feast in my honor, to which I adamantly objected. I needed to continue my journey, and the pleasantries, while greatly appreciated, were not necessary. The chief elder seemed hurt, but not offended by my decline. I instead asked for food and direction for the next leg of my journey, a one-hundred-kilometer travel through the mountain pass and down onto the edge of the plains of Sarah.

  The elder insisted on four guides to accompany me on my journey. I again respectfully declined, as they would only slow my progress. Rations for another nine-day journey were brought about and immediately culled down to four days.

  Word spread quickly in Howhowis, and by the time I was ready to proceed on to Killami, there were a thousand Meggaks in the street. As I began to walk, they began to cheer. I could not help but smile and wave as I proceeded. As I neared the end of the main street, I felt that I owed them a show of what a Human was capable of. I sprang ten meters straight up into the air and then began to bound along at my twenty-meter-a-step pace. In only a handful of seconds, I was out of the town and well up the snow-covered trail towards the pass.

  The journey to Killami would have been treacherous for any Meggak. The snow in the pass was deep, and footing was poor. The extreme cold of the high mountain would have been difficult for any traveler who was not in a climate-controlled suit. I was not slowed by the elements.

  The trail out of the mountains looked over the broad plains of Sarah. I used the zoom built into my helmet to get a better idea of what made up the many scattered dark patches on the planet’s surface. I was somewhat shocked to see the remains of what must have been thousands of ships, none of which was recognizable to the database in my helmet computer.

  As I looked to my right and left, I took note of the debris scattered on the slopes of the mountains themselves. The number of ships that had fallen to the protector was immense. I looked up at the sky and wondered if the Bulgar fleet remained, waiting for an all-out assault on the planet itself.

  I then had the realization that I had not thought to see if my helmet comm could pick up the Human signal. I stopped where I was and began to scan for the frequency that the signal had originally been broadcast on. I soon found that the signal continued as before.

  “Are you out there?”

  The signal origination point was across the plains in the mountains of Sarah, just as I had been told. The protector and the signal were one and the same. I stretched my imagination to its limits, but I could not come up with a plausible explanation as to how it had come to be there.

  How was it possible for this hidden ship to do the damage that it did, without ever being seen? Why was it broadcasting a Human message? I shook off the questions and once again picked up my pace as I started into a sprint. The sun was beginning to set when I made it to the outskirts of Killami. Rather than getting the town in an uproar that night, I decided that it would be best if I waited until morning.

  I found a large, flat rock that was sloped slightly down towards the plains. I lay back with my helmet propped up by a small rock. As the yellow sun dropped below the horizon, the surrounding stars shone nearly as brightly as they would if viewed from space. After watching a number of falling stars, many of which I guessed might be Bulgar in origin, I peacefully dozed off.

  Chapter 6

  The early dawn had me awake. As I slowly sat up, I took note of the dozen or so small, furry animals that lay huddled up next to me on the rock. My suit had a heat exhaust port, and even though the amounts of heat being expelled were minuscule, the small animals had found it to be a comfortable spot. When the realization set in that the warm spot was actually moving, the small herd scattered in an instant.

  The buildings in the village of Killami were largely made up of a hodgepodge of fallen ship parts. It looked as though a small fleet was emerging from the earth of the plains. I waited until I could see the first signs of activity before I hopped down off the rock and continued my way into town.

  The first Meggak I saw dropped the material he was carrying and ran towards a building in the city center. As I continued to walk, I was soon confronted by a Meggak carrying a heavy blaster.

  The Meggak spoke. “Halt! Do not move or you will be vaporized!”

  I stopped and held up my hand. “OK, I’m only passing through.”

  The Meggak’s eyes soon got wide as he got a better look at my face. “From the cradle of Sarah! My apologies, great one!”

  The Meggak handed his weapon to an assistant who had come up behind him. “Please forgive me! You are the first of the protector’s race that has visited with us! Please allow me to escort you to the elders!”

  I nodded and continued to walk. When we entered the tribal building in the center of the village, there were three elders sitting in ornate pilot’s chairs that had been salvaged from the ship debris. As each spun in my direction, I could not help but chuckle at the somewhat comical sight before me. I stood before the elder Meggaks, and a bright light was shone on my face.

  An elder spoke. “He is of the protector!”

  A second elder spoke. “Great day on Molov! A new protector has come!”

  I held up my hand. “I am here to journey across the plains to the mountains of Sarah. I only ask for enough food for the journey.”

  The first elder replied, “Sustenance will be provided. Have you come to end the falling debris? It has been devastating our villages and farms of late due to a much-increased frequency. The night skies have been filled with falling material from the protector’s wrath.”

  After a short visit with the elders, I was again offered more rations than needed. This time I accepted enough for a three-week journey. Once on the other side of the mountains of Sarah, I had no idea if other villages existed, and if so, if they would be so willing to provide me with aid. As I left Killami, it was again to a parade-like atmosphere, as most of the village had come out to see me off.

  Progress across the plains was at a fast pace. Only the occasional large section of a ship would offer any detour off of my otherwise straightforward path. As I bounded along, I took note of the port side of a ship that looked somewhat familiar. I stopped along the way at several other ship’s sections that had interesting architectural features.

  As I continued, I came upon a section that was a silver metallic base metal with hundreds of spiny protrusions that were several meters in length. I studied the wreckage for several minutes, but could not draw any conclusions as to their usefulness. The debris reminded me of the drawings of sea urchins that I had once seen in the archives.

  A second piece of a vessel that had drawn my attention was of a warship that had obviously seen a tremendous amount of battle. The forward piece of the hull that lay spread out before me had hundreds of pockmarks on its surface from when it had at one time been in a fierce battle. I paused for a moment as I thought back to our many encounters with the Milgari leading up to the Prassi wars.

  As I stood on top of the remains of a possibly once-great warship, I thought about how good it felt to be on the ground of a planet. The natural gravity felt somewhat different than that provided by a gravity generator. I speculated that perhaps a planet provided a more even pull, including out towards one’s sides, while the gravity generators on a ship would all pull in one direction. With a single leap, I was once again bounding across the plains.

  As the mountains of Sarah approached, the ship debris surrounding me became more frequent. My earlier estimate of a few thousand ships was hardly accurate. As I bounded and glanced around, I began to come to the conclusion that the remains of tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of ships lay strewn across the planet’s surface.

  When I had come within twenty kilometers of my destination, my helmet comm signaled that I
was now within broadcast range of the mystery signal’s point of origin. I stopped and contemplated a reply.

  I thought to myself, “OK, if I talk to this thing, is it going to vaporize me? It doesn’t look like anyone else has ever gotten close to it. Come on, Grange, just do what you already know you are going to do. Barge in there and make yourself known!”

  With my mind already made up, I continued sprinting towards my goal. Twenty minutes later, after climbing over mounds and mounds of debris, I stood looking at the signal’s point of broadcast. It was an area three hundred meters in diameter, where bare, flat ground formed a near-perfect circle in the center of the mounds of debris.

  I hopped down onto the bare earth. I began to slowly walk towards the center of the field. There was nothing there, no ship, no building, no antennae. Nothing was visible, and yet the signal continued to be broadcast out of thin air.

  I performed a deep scan with my helmet sensor, and nothing came back of significance. It was a barren field, centered in mounds of defunct ship parts. I walked to a spot near the center, slowly turned to look in each direction, and then sat down. The mystery signal, which I was now sitting almost directly on top of, was still a mystery.

  I enabled the comm on my helmet and spoke. “OK, I’m out here. You haven’t vaporized me yet, so why don’t you make yourself known!”

  Several seconds passed before I had a sudden feeling of dread. The mystery signal had stopped broadcasting. I began to think about how foolish I had been, barging in where I didn’t belong. I wondered if this was the end of the line for Don Grange. Then I thought of Ashley and of the other Humans who still had a tremendous battle to fight. Had I gone around the signal, I might have made it back to the fleet, where I would have contacted Frig and gone through a portal to be with the others.

  I was then startled by the sound of a mechanical latch and a hydraulic door opening behind me, where moments ago there had been none. I slowly turned my head to the sight of a long, sleek, silvery-white vessel, sitting only meters behind me. A door was now open on one end.

  The exterior of the small ship was featureless, resembling a loaf of baked arnoee seed bread. I slowly stood and took only a single step towards the door before what I believed to be an android stepped out. The mechanical creature had three long, spindly legs that unfolded, making it just over two meters tall. The legs had what appeared to be various tools and instruments that surrounded the two joints within the legs.

  The legs ended with another joint connection at the bottom of an upside-down half-dome-shaped torso. A mechanical rim on the dome spun until two glowing red eyes faced my direction. I stood, prepared to be vaporized by whatever this mechanical being was. The several seconds of silence that now came seemed like an eternity.

  I spoke. “Hello?”

  The android gestured for me to come forward.

  I again spoke as I walked. “The message you broadcast—was that Human?”

  The android soon had me stepping up into the back of the white vessel. Coming from the bright daylight outside, I had a hard time making out what was in front of me. The android gestured for me to move forward and to then be seated in one of the four chairs that the silvery-white ship housed. As I sat, I turned quickly back at the sound of the hydraulic door closing behind me. With the light of the Molov sun now blocked away, I was left sitting in almost complete darkness. Only the faintest light from several small flashing diodes offered a sense that a world still existed outside.

  I was again startled as a holographic image of a display lit up in front of me. The light it provided illuminated the interior of the ship, allowing me to see its makeup. The walls, ceiling, and floor turned a shade of black that could only be described as a void. The chairs, as the one I was seated in, were bolted to a steel walkway that ran from the seats to the back of the ship. I took note of the faint blue glow coming from a piece of machinery in the back. Various other holo-displays then began to light up.

  I reached up to touch the display floating in front of me and was surprised when my gloved finger enabled a second holo-screen to my side. As I looked at the various meters, dials, and readings, it suddenly occurred to me that they were all displayed in Human English.

  As I reached up to press another holo-button, the display in front of me flashed and changed. Before me floated the image of a very old Human woman. Her features were somewhat different than I would have expected. Instead of frailty, the face before me appeared strong and bold.

  I jerked back in my chair as the image spoke. “Hello, fellow Human. At last I have found you. The atmosphere in this vessel is compatible with your needs. Please remove your helmet so that your image may be logged. I hope this day finds you well. Ask any question as you will, and I will attempt to provide you with an answer.”

  I flipped open my visor to find the air inside the cabin smelled fresh and clean. I removed my helmet and looked around for a place to set it. The android reached out and gently took it from my grasp.

  I turned back to the holo-image before me. “Who, who are you? How did you come to be on this planet? What kind of ship is this, that it doesn’t show on scans? And is this an android or only a robot?”

  The screen replied, “Responses will be queued up in the order in which questions are received. For clarity, it may be advisable to ask a single question and to then wait for a response before proceeding. My name is Sarah Rogers. I come from a small town in central Alabama. I have traveled through dozens of galaxies in search of my fellow Humans. The ship is a highly modified Defender with an active sodium skin. The assistant is purely robotic with advanced artificial intelligence programming.”

  The display was silent for several seconds before I continued. “You appear to be very old. Are you around here in another ship? Are there other Humans here?”

  The display replied, “Due to genetic alterations, I was able to live a life span that ended after 382 years. I have been passed on from this life for 798 years. You are asking questions of an AI program that I left running in the ship’s computer. You are the first pure Human that this ship has had contact with in over a thousand years.”

  I sat back in the chair with a thousand questions running through my mind. “Do you know of the origin of Humans? Of where we come from?”

  For several seconds the display was silent; it flashed, and the image of a blue planet appeared. “Earth. Our recorded history indicates that this planet is the planet of our origin.”

  I looked on in shock as my eyes began to fill with tears. There it was! Our home planet! It was a beautiful water-covered gem with large, swirling white clouds. I reached out to touch it and was brought back to reality as my finger sent the holo-image spinning rapidly in one direction.

  I spoke. “Where is Earth in relation to here?”

  The image of Earth stopped rotating. The holo-image then shrank away from Earth to reveal its position in the solar system. That image then shrank away to show the galaxy arm in which the solar system resided. The image again shrank to reveal the whole of the Milky Way galaxy, and then with a final reduction, the galaxy cluster in which the Milky Way spun. A green dot indicated the location of Earth. A yellow line then stretched from the Milky Way to the Triangulum galaxy, where the reverse process then began to zoom in, until a holo-image of Molov was floating in front of me.

  I spoke. “What is the approximate distance from here to the Earth, in light-years?”

  The display replied, “The distance to Earth is approximately 2.78 million light-years.”

  I thought to myself, “Great, even if we had the Grid, it would take us more than two thousand years to cross that. We wouldn’t have the fuel.”

  I asked the next logical question. “How is it that we got from the Milky Way to the Triangulum?”

  The display then began to tell the story of a planet that was found that had not been visible before. And of a mysterious temple that had been discovered on the planet. After gaining access to the temple, the Human race was given t
he option of staying in the galaxy where they were, of being transported to a new galaxy where there would be no more war, only peace and prosperity, or of being transported to a galaxy that offered adventure and conquest.

  The display continued to explain the Humans’ decision. “After many years of constant war and struggling to survive, the decision was made to be transported to the galaxy that offered peace, tranquility, and prosperity. However, a single Human triggered an event that sent all Humans to the galaxy of exploration, adventure, and conquest.”

  I shook my head. “Well, that would explain why nearly every species we have come across wants to wipe us out.”

  I asked another question. “Did this ship come from Earth? Did it travel between the galaxies? And if so, how?”

  A map of several dozen galaxies appeared, with a line tracing the path the ship had taken. Sarah Rogers had searched on her own for over three hundred years in her quest to find the Humans that had been taken away.

  I then asked, “How fast can this ship go?”

  As I waited for an answer, an alarm sounded. The holo-image floating in front of me changed to a tactical display that showed a large fleet gathering just outside of the Molov star system. The Bulgars had returned.

  The display changed to an outside camera view, and in an instant the ship rocketed up and out of the atmosphere. It began a wide arc that would sweep us around to where the Bulgar fleet was assembling. I was shocked at how quickly it had passed through light speed.

  A zoomed-in tactical display of the fleet then appeared before me. A tracing line drew repeated patterns through the fleet until a set of forty-two ships was identified through a single straight line. The Defender continued to accelerate. Thirty seconds after liftoff, we were aligned for a strike on the Bulgar fleet. The visual of Molov and its sun was stunning on the display as we swirled out from it and circled back around.

  The Bulgar fleet continued to show on the tactical display as we came in perfect alignment with the forty-two ships in question. In an instant, I felt a slight rumble as we passed through the ships to the other side. The Defender then began another wide arc as it turned to align itself for another pass. The forty-two Bulgar ships now showed as red Xs on the tactical display.