The Originator Wars: Universe in Danger: A Lost Fleet Novel

by Raymond L. Weil

  Bartoll looked uneasy and then answered. “So Jankel was not working alone?”

  “No,” answered Rear Admiral Barnes. “We’ve decrypted some of the messages Jankel sent to the Seeker, and we believe there were at least five or more others involved. We also believe we know why military research was being conducted on the Dominator.”

  -

  Bartoll looked over at Commander Zafron, let out a deep sigh and then addressed Jeremy. “You know about the Defenders of Zorn?” He had spoken to the commander before coming to this meeting. The commander had been as surprised by the news as the others. Kazak seemed unusually quiet and hadn’t commented.

  -

  “Yes,” Jeremy answered. “We believe that was why the military research was being conducted on the Dominator and probably why the Seeker was following the ship. The weapons were being developed to be used against the Anti-Life, and the Seeker must have been aware members of the Defenders of Zorn had made their way onto the ship. They were following to ensure the cure, if it was found, made it back to the Shrieels in time.”

  “When we were informed you had found the Seeker we checked the records here at the Communications and Transport Hub. The commander of the seeker was Barsii Alvord.”

  “Alvord?” repeated Commander Zafron, his eyes widening. “He was a member of the Defenders of Zorn, very outspoken about needing to eliminate the Anti-Life.”

  Jeremy looked over at Commander Zafron. “What about the commander of the Dominator? Did he have any sympathies toward this group?”

  Commander Zafron slowly turned toward Kazak. “Do you know anything about this?”

  Kazak sat strangely silent and unmoving.

  “This is what I was afraid of,” Bartoll said as he removed a small device from one of his pockets. “Kazak cannot answer as it violates part of his core programming.” Bartoll sat the device on the table and then pressed a small green button, activating it. Almost immediately a shudder passed through Kazak and then the military AI blinked.

  “You are quite correct,” Kazak said in a more monotone voice than normal. “Commander Adralin forbid me to ever mention any of what I am about to tell you. The commander of the Dominator was also a member of the Defenders of Zorn.”

  “Commander Adralin was a member?” said Zafron in disbelief. “How is that possible? If that were known he would never have been chosen to command the mission.”

  “It wasn’t known,” Kazak replied. “Zorn himself recruited Commander Adralin, convincing him that now was the time to finish off the Anti-Life before they grew strong again. After several meetings with the commander, he finally agreed to allow weapons research on the Dominator. The weapons researchers were brought on board in the guise of ensuring the Dominator could overcome any threats the ship might encounter while seeking a cure for the pathogen.”

  Bartoll shook his head in disbelief. “I often wondered why so much emphasis was being put on weapons research. I spoke with Commander Adralin several times concerning the matter as I thought too many of our resources were being dedicated to weapons and not enough on the pathogen. All he would say was that it was an ongoing program to ensure the Dominator had the most advanced weapons possible in case we ran across an unknown threat. In all the years I was on the ship I never saw any update made to the ship’s weapon systems.”

  Jeremy looked over at Kazak. It was obvious the military AI was under the influence of the device Bartoll had activated. “What do you know of the crew of the Seeker? Were all of them members of the Defenders of Zorn?”

  Kazak slowly shook his head. “No, only a small portion. Most of them only wanted to ensure the cure for the pathogen made it back to the Originators who arranged for the mission.”

  “What was your responsibility?” asked Commander Zafron a hint of anger in his voice.

  “My job was to ensure the Seeker remained undetected and to keep Commander Alvord informed of our destinations. That allowed the Seeker to follow us discretely wherever we went in the galaxy.”

  “Unbelievable,” said Commander Zafron, his eyes focused on Kazak, feeling betrayed. “All this time you’ve been untruthful to us. Do you know the locations of the missing Originators?”

  Kazak seemed to hesitate as if he were trying to resist Bartoll’s device. After a moment he answered. “Yes, one of the groups consisted of a large number of Originators who belonged to the Defenders of Zorn.”

  “How many?” demanded Commander Zafron, his eyes focusing sharply on Kazak.

  “Over ten million,” replied Kazak.

  Bartoll looked at Kazak in disbelief. “Are you telling me that ten million members of the Defenders of Zorn went into stasis?”

  “That’s correct,” Kazak replied. “They were going to stay in stasis until the Seeker or the Dominator returned with the cure and after the pathogen had run its course in the Shrieels.”

  “What happened?” asked Jeremy. Something still didn’t sound right about what Kazak was saying.

  “When I returned to the dark matter Shrieel I was given new instructions. The crew had been unsuccessful in finding a cure and the survivors were all in stasis. The only hope lay in the AIs at the Communications and Transport Hub doing so. I was sent out to where Rear Admiral Barnes found the Dominator, only things didn’t go as planned. I was supposed to wait a few hundred thousand years and go to the Communications and Transport Hub to see if a cure had been found. An unexpected power failure on the Dominator occurred and I was unable to do so. I finally put the ship in power saving mode and shut myself down.”

  “Power failure?” said Clarissa, looking confused. “How is that possible with the repair robots and the mechanical nanites?”

  “I now believe someone found out about the commander being a member of the Defenders of Zorn and sabotaged the ship. When I reached the asteroid field where I planned to hide the Dominator the power failure occurred almost immediately. The repair robots and the mechanical nanites refused to correct the defect.”

  Commander Zafron looked even more confused. “That seems impossible unless you were being monitored. That would indicate either the computer system had been compromised or there was an Originator awake somewhere on the Dominator.”

  Kathryn looked over at Commander Zafron. “Is it possible there’s another stasis chamber hidden on the Dominator we haven’t found?”

  Zafron’s brow wrinkled in thought. “It would have to be well hidden and shielded from detection. I will initiate a search of the ship as soon as I get back to the Dominator.”

  “What about the Seeker?” asked Governor Barnes. “Once it was obvious a cure wasn’t going to be found why didn’t it return to the dark matter Dyson Sphere?”

  “The Seeker was the backup,” Commander Zafron said in understanding. “It would remain in sensor range of the Dominator and when the time was right would dig itself out and follow the ship to the Communications and Transport Hub. I suspect Alvord’s disease isn’t far enough along to pose a serious threat. He would be awakened, take over the Hub and if the cure had been found take it to where the sleeping Originators of the Defenders of Zorn were. Once the cure had been administrated they would take over all the Shrieels and prepare to resume the war against the Anti-Life.”

  Bartoll looked at Kazak. “You said you know where the Defenders of Zorn are in stasis.”

  “It does not matter,” answered Kazak. “They’re all dead.”

  The room became silent as everyone looked at the military AI. They hadn’t been expecting that answer.

  “What happened?” asked Jeremy. He had a suspicion but he wanted to hear it from Kazak.

  Kazak turned toward Rear Admiral Barnes, Clarissa, and Andram. “They killed them.”

  Jeremy felt a sudden chill pass over him. That answer could only mean one thing. “The Defenders of Zorn who were in stasis were on the dark matter Dyson Sphere?”

  “Yes,” answered Kazak. “It was their base of operations. They were doing a lot of research on the use of dark matter
and dark energy. They believed it would allow them to create a new generation of super weapons.”

  “They’re dead,” Bartoll said, his eyes looking heavy with regret. “We could have used those ten million Originators even if they were part of the Defenders of Zorn.”

  Kathryn looked over at Bartoll. “There are still over six hundred Originators on board the Seeker. With those of you who survived on the Dominator you have enough to someday rebuild your civilization.”

  Bartoll nodded. “Yes, however, it will take time. I fear the burden of the war with the Eternals is going to fall on all of you. I had hoped to find more of our people in stasis. Now it seems that hope is gone.”

  “No, it’s not,” said Kazak. “The group who sent the Seeker on its mission sent a large group of Originators into the far regions of the Triangulum Galaxy. Most of them had only recently contracted the pantheon. They were to go into stasis until such a time as the Seeker brought them the cure. They were fearful the Defenders of Zorn would learn of them or, with the breakdown of Originator civilization inside the Shrieels, it would not be safe to remain. So they left to go to a place where they could await the cure.”

  Bartoll’s eyes lit up. “Do you know where they went?”

  “No,” Kazak answered. “I don’t believe anyone on the Dominator knew. There’s also a chance no one on the Seeker did either. Messages were sent to the dark matter Shrieel reporting on our progress with the pathogen. I do not know what happened after that.”

  “It seems we still have a mystery,” Commander Zafron said.

  “There’s a chance the crew of the Seeker will have other information for us,” Bartoll said. “Someone in the crew might know where the missing Originators went. I suggest we review its crew list and see if we can determine who might be members of the Defenders of Zorn and who may not. We will awaken those we know to be nonmembers first.”

  “If it was up to me, we would never awaken Commander Alvord,” said Commander Zafron. “He’s only going to cause trouble.”

  Bartoll shook his head. “He shall be awakened, but he will be one of the last.”

  Jeremy looked over at Kazak. “What do we do about him?”

  Bartoll picked up the device on the table but did not shut it off. “I’ll take Kazak to one of our labs. It will be a simple matter to modify his programming. I suspect he may not even be aware of what he has told us or what he has done. It was probably blocked off in a portion of his memory he cannot access without the proper code word or phrase. When I’m done he’ll be back to normal but will remember all that he has done and its ramifications.”

  Commander Zafron gazed at Kazak. “How can I ever trust him again?”

  “You must remember,” Clarissa said. “Kazak overall has done nothing but try to help us since we found the Dominator. Granted, some of his methods were outside the box, but he has become my friend and I trust him.”

  Zafron nodded. “I will give him a chance to prove himself. I owe that to him.”

  Jeremy looked around the group. “I still have a lot of questions about all of this.”

  Bartoll nodded. “I expected as much. Ask your questions and I will try to answer them.”

  For the next three hours Jeremy and the others asked questions of Bartoll. Sometimes he knew the answers and other times Commander Zafron was able to supply a few details. There were many questions asked about the different groups representing the Originators. As Jeremy had thought, most were very peaceful. The average Originator did not seek out conflict. It was one of the reasons why the war with the Anti-Life was fought with warships having small crews, depending on AIs, combat robots, and repair robots who took care of the ships. Jeremy, Admiral Kalen, and Governor Barnes had numerous questions about the Defenders of Zorn. This seemed to be a group far different from most Originators.

  -

  “In every advanced culture, including our own, there are those who are different,” explained Bartoll. “With trillions of Originators spread out over two hundred Shrieels, it’s not surprising there were a few billion who were more aggressive and wanted to end the Anti-Life once and for all. Balaf Zorn was a brilliant weapons’ designer and a member of the ruling council of the Originators. The ruling council were members of the scientific and arts community who had contributed greatly to Originator culture. It consisted of ten Originators from each Shrieel. I was a member of the council at the same time as Zorn. I met him on several occasions. He was a forceful individual and could become very agitated when he didn’t get his way. In nearly every meeting of the full council, he put forth recommendations on a permanent solution to the Anti-Life problem. However, the war was already far in our past and most of us didn’t want to risk igniting it again. Zorn called us fools, telling us we all would someday regret not listening to him. Shortly after that the pathogen struck and within a few decades it was rampant on every Shriel. Zorn and his plans for dealing with the Anti-life were forgotten.”

  -

  Kelsey, Katie, and Angela were in Angela’s home watching Clair play. The little girl was constantly giggling and seemed full of excess energy.

  “How do you keep up with her?” asked Katie as Clair ran across the room trying to kick a ball.

  “Fortunately they have daycare at the Tower,” Angela said grinning. “Of course Clarissa is around a lot. There are holo-emitters in Clair’s room and the Tower.”

  “Clarissa has been bragging about her training schedule for Clair,” Kelsey said full of curiosity. “How’s that going?”

  “Better than I ever expected,” Angela replied. “She’s actually a good babysitter.”

  Katie nodded. She well remembered what happened when she discovered Ariel on the crashed Avenger at the Fleet Academy on the Moon. The discovery had stunned her and she had later talked Ariel into helping her, even to the point of helping Katie stow away on the New Horizon mission.

  “Angela, how do you manage to balance your career while being a mother?” Katie was highly interested in Angela’s answers. Katie wanted children but she still wanted a career.

  Angela looked thoughtful and then answered. “At first it was very difficult. It seemed there was never enough time for everything. Brace was very understanding, and he was the one who suggested I go to work in the Tower. I’ve always loved communications, and now I’m monitoring the Dyson Spheres and helping to set up communication systems between them to allow for nearly instantaneous messaging. It’s been exciting.”

  Kelsey grinned. “I hear you’re nearly running the communications center in the Tower.”

  Angela smiled. “The technology the Originators use for communications has been like a dream come true. I never imagined having such equipment to work with.”

  Katie took a deep breath. “When are you and Brace planning on having your next child?”

  Angela blushed and then responded. “We have talked about it. I think I want Clair to be a little older yet. She’s a handful. I can’t imagine two toddlers running around at the same time. Maybe in another year or two.”

  Katie nodded. “Kevin and I have discussed starting a family. After this last mission on the Distant Horizon, I might just be interested in working at the Tower for awhile.”

  “Same here,” added Kelsey. “Maybe it’s time we all got started on the next Special Five.”

  “Or six or seven,” added Angela grinning. “I suspect both Clarissa and Ariel will be thrilled at the prospect. What made the two of you change your minds?”

  Kelsey’s eyes showed a hint of sadness. “After what happened with Grayseth, we realized the same could happen to any of us when we’re away from the Dyson Sphere. I think all of us want to leave behind a legacy of some sort. What better way to do so than through children? With the age extension drugs the Altons have helped us to design, we have years yet to go exploring if we decide to do so at some point. Perhaps our children will even be old enough to go with us.”

  “Maybe we should design another exploration ship based on Originator t
echnology,” suggested Katie.

  Kelsey nodded, her eyes brightening. “I like that idea. We could have Andram, Mikow, Clarissa, and Ariel help us.”

  “I’ll bet Leeda and Sible would be interested as well,” said Katie. “They would be more familiar with Originator technology.”

  “I’ll mention it to Jeremy. I’m certain if it means we’ll be staying at the Dyson Sphere for the foreseeable future he’ll agree.”

  “I love exploring,” Katie said with a huge grin. “It will give us something to look forward to.”

  “What about the Anti-Life?” asked Angela. “Won’t they be a problem for any exploratory mission?”

  “Not really,” replied Kelsey. “There are over six hundred galaxies in Originator space. Someone needs to go and see what’s out there. After all, most of those galaxies don’t have Dyson Spheres. Besides, our exploration ship will be heavily armed. If we have to defend ourselves, we’ll be able to.”

  “Angela nodded. I would like to help. We can design the new exploration ship for families. I’ve missed us not being together like we used to be.”

  Katie nodded. It would be great if they could all be together again. “Let’s do it!”

  -

  Later that night Kelsey was home with Jeremy. She had just taken a long, hot bath and was waiting for Jeremy to come to bed. He was on the comm unit speaking to Admiral Kalen. She finally heard him finish and go take his shower. When Jeremy came home earlier she had his favorite meal waiting. At least it wasn’t hamburgers like Katie often fixed for Kevin though Katie had managed to get Kevin to eat a few other foods.

  Kelsey looked at herself in the full-length mirror next to the bed. She still had a good figure. She posed, turning sideways, satisfied the way her body still looked firm and curved in all the right places. Thanks to the Alton rejuvenation drugs, she still looked as if she was in her late twenties or early thirties. She grinned studying the gown she was wearing. It was black and sheer in all the right places. She heard the shower stop and went over and lay down on the bed, posing seductively.

  The door to the bedroom opened and Jeremy stepped in. Kelsey saw his eyes widen and then she smiled as they moved across her body. “I thought you needed a welcome home present.”