The building before us had a set of great arched doors that stood twenty meters high, opening into a lobby with ceilings of the same height. Simple decorations and paintings of people adorned the walls.
A large box then descended down tracks on a far wall. When the box came to a rest on the floor, a bell sounded and a door opened. A young, strong, handsome man in a white BGS suit stepped out into the lobby with a look of concern.
The man spoke. “Travelers. Welcome to Earth. However, your visit will be short. I can offer you whatever assistance you require to be on your way. There is nothing for you here.”
I replied, “I am Human.”
The man looked at me intently. “You appear to be Human, but you are not Human. You will have to leave immediately.”
I walked towards the man, and he raised a hand. “Please do not approach me. You will kindly board your ship and be on your way, by force if necessary.”
I stopped my advance. “My wife, she is Human; did you take her?”
The man again replied, “There are no Humans present on this planet. I have been pleasant with you up until now. Please return to your ship and leave this star system. You may return if you have a Human with you.”
I held out my arm and pulled it back.
I then poked out my chest. “Here, take a blood sample. I bet I have the same DNA as you!”
Frig spoke. “Sir. I think we better leave.”
I turned to see a robot, strikingly similar to the ones we had used at the Defender, standing behind Frig. It was time for us to go.
I turned back to the man. “And you are sure there are no Humans up there on that fleet?”
The man replied, “There are no Humans in the vicinity of this star system. Please, Sir. This is your final warning.”
I held up my hand. “OK, we’ll go, but we will be back. And you will welcome us with open arms.”
The man stood silently with a calm and stoic expression on his face.
As we walked out onto the bright green grass, I spoke. “We need to get back to Tresha. If everyone is gone, Frig, what are we going to do?”
Frig replied, “We are going to find them, Sir. We must find them.”
Chapter 2
The eleven-hour trip back to Tresha was excruciating. When we arrived, our worst fears had come to pass. Every Human was gone. A dozen Bulgar diplomats were huddled in a room waiting for a transport. The message they had sent was days away from being received.
I spoke. “Did any of you see what happened?”
One of the diplomats, Garus Doweath, replied, “I was talking to my counterpart when she disappeared from right in front of me. Five or six other Humans were in the room when it happened. They were all gone as well.”
I offered the diplomats a ride back to their planet. Several minutes after a portal jump, we were touching down in a Bulgar spaceport. We were thanked and invited to stay to discuss the incident. We declined.
I spoke to Frig. “What do we do now?”
Frig replied, “All existence of the Duke was removed from the Colossus Empire. I think we should attempt to find the Grid, Sir. Perhaps that will lead us to his whereabouts.”
I thought for a moment and then turned towards Frig. “I have one other thought about how we can find him. Take us back to Molov. If the old Duke is still there in Touchstone’s lab, maybe we can squeeze some information out of him.”
Frig replied, “Excellent suggestion, Sir.”
We made the jump back to Molov and walked into Ashley and Touchstone’s lab.
Quan spoke. “Ah, at last someone is here. Mr. Grange? How are you, Sir?”
I turned to Frig. “I don’t know if I can get used to the politeness. I am fine, Quan; we have some questions for you. Can you tell us where the Duke is?”
Quan was silent for seven minutes before responding. “I am sorry, Sir. I cannot tell you where the Duke is.”
Frig placed his hand on my shoulder. “Let me have a try, Sir.”
Frig continued, “Quan, where would you have sent the Grid, leaving from the location where we captured you, given a 20 percent fuel load? And why that location?”
The android computer was silent for another seven minutes. “I would have relocated the Grid to the Jawas sector. The Fronde star system there has an adequate hydrogen supply that is easily harvested.”
Frig spoke. “We should gather Quan and the equipment here, and reconstruct this lab on the Swift, Sir. If he remains here, we run the risk of the Duke learning of his existence.”
I replied, “Speaking of that. Why is it that you think the Duke never fully checked out this planet?”
Frig pointed to Quan. “Just ask.”
I shook my head. “Sometimes I just miss the obvious. Quan, why did you not fully investigate this planet?”
Again, we patiently waited through the seven-minute silence as Quan reconstructed memories for a response. “The cesium core of this planet prevented all but the most rudimentary of scans, and wormhole endpoints would not properly form. My repeated attempts at sending my agents also failed. The star system was not a threat to my ongoing activities, so it was ignored.”
I spoke. “Wow. I have a hard time believing that this place would be ignored. The mystery surrounding it is like someone waving a big red flag in front of your face.”
Frig replied, “Perhaps. Or perhaps the Duke has been preoccupied with his game of war. That is a question that only he, or Quan, could answer.”
Frig reached for the switch to turn off the mic and speaker. I grabbed his arm.
I asked one remaining question. “Quan, did you intentionally leave this planet alone so that Humans would find it?”
After another seven-minute wait, the truth was revealed. “No.”
I flipped off the switch as I spoke. “Wow. So, I think we can assume that the Duke doesn’t know anything about this planet, or about Earth as it currently exists.”
Frig replied, “We can ask, Sir.”
I flipped the switch back on. “Quan, what can you tell me about the current condition of Earth and the Milky Way?”
After the customary time, Quan responded. “Earth and the Milky Way have been ignored for the last thousand years. All Humans in that galaxy were transported to this galaxy. What remains is irrelevant until such time as new competitions are to begin.”
Frig spoke. “We should go, Sir. We can question Quan as we search.”
The switch was flipped off and the android core moved aboard the Swift along with all of the lab equipment, a replicator, and two bots. After we lifted off and exited the Molov system, a jump was set to the Jawas sector, and more specifically, the Fronde star system.
Quan’s suggestion was correct. As we popped into the star system, an image of the Grid came up on our tactical display.
Frig spoke. “I am going to take us right into Alpha Bay, Sir. We will blink in and scan for the presence of Humans or the Duke.”
I replied, “How do we scan for Humans? You mean bios?”
Frig stood and walked back to Quan. “How were you able to detect Humans?”
Minutes passed before Quan spoke. “Human DNA has a marker that transforms the Human lymph system into a group of bio-broadcast points. An extremely low-power signal is emitted. Microscopic wormhole scans are continuously conducted throughout all five galaxies under my control. The Human bio-markers are tracked and logged along with all other species who have been tagged.”
Frig turned back. “Sir, if the Duke is continuously scanning five galaxies, he must have a tremendous source of power available to him. The energy required to perform such a task would be astronomical.”
I replied, “Well, drop us on the Grid, and we will at least have an answer as to whether or not our people are there.”
We were soon settling into Alpha Bay. A scan was performed and the results evaluated. A large number of biologicals were present. The Duke’s android signature was not among the data.
Frig spoke. “Sir, you will ha
ve to go out and search.”
I stood. “I’m on it. I have the hatch dropping now. I’ll be back as soon as I know something.”
Using my BHD, I powered out and moved towards the Alpha section main hallway. As I came in contact with the first interior bulkhead, I nearly got a concussion as I bounced off the hardened wall.
I called back to Frig, “Did you see that? I just bounced off the bulkhead. It won’t let me travel through, even with the BGS on full!”
Frig replied, “I am performing a scan now, Sir. It would appear that the bulkheads have some of the same properties as your BGS suit, only at a much lower level. It could be why they have been so much tougher than the standard materials we have encountered elsewhere. That may lead to us finally unraveling the secret of the metal this station is made of. Perhaps the Duke found a material that naturally has electrons with a slower spin. That would account for your issue here. That would also make it incredibly durable and resistant to ion pulses.”
I redirected myself to a standard doorway. “Hmm, another mystery of the universe solved, then. Looks like this search might take me a while.”
I powered down the main hall and was saddened by the lack of hustle and bustle that normally filled the shops along the corridors. I moved up and down the halls until I came upon the first Colossun soldiers that were standing guard over the main parade field. I powered past them and through the doors towards the signs of the other biologicals beyond. Thousands of Colossun regulars sat, lounging about the parade fields and the stands that surrounded them.
I spoke. “Did you see any other concentrations of bios anywhere else? These are just the Colossuns who were on this station when it left.”
Frig replied, “Delta sector shows a concentration of just over forty thousand.”
As I turned back towards the nearest transway, I asked a question. “So, the Duke could track us due to some small signal our lymph nodes emitted. Can you pick up on that signal?”
Frig stood and walked back to flip on Quan’s switch. “Without having a Human here to scan, I would have no way of determining what signal to look for.”
Frig began to ask Quan about the Human signal, its frequency, and how it might be detected. Seven minutes later, the responses he received back removed the possibility of a Human scan.
Frig spoke. “Sir, the Duke has sensor gear available to him that is orders of magnitude better than what we have available to us. In short, the answer is no, we cannot scan for Humans without being in close proximity to them, as within a meter or two.”
I floated down the transway ramps as I replied, “Well, we’ll just have to do this the hard way, then. I’ll be in the main Delta corridor in a few seconds. See if you can pick out any other areas of interest for me if this one is a bust.”
I powered through the doors into a large auditorium that again held several thousand Colossun regulars. After more than six months on the Grid with no further direction from the Duke, the Colossun troops were beginning to lose any semblance of belonging to an organized army.
I spoke. “Frig, if you ask me, I think the Duke sent these troops out here with the Grid and then abandoned them. He likes order among his people, and from what I have seen so far, there is no order here. Do a scan of the food supplies. What are they surviving off of?”
Several minutes passed before Frig replied, “They appear to be going through the food stores while ignoring the farms. I tapped into the video feeds, and the farms appear to be overgrown and unharvested. If they continue, they will be starving within another three months.”
As I approached what Frig had described as the third-largest gathering of bios on the Grid, I took note of the guards who seemed to actually be paying attention. When I drifted through the doorways to the Delta sports complex, I came upon a dismal scene. The dead littered one playing field while those who lived were camped out in another.
I spoke to Frig. “Are you seeing this?”
Frig replied, “It appears that we have located all the other species who occupied the Grid when the Duke took control. And from the looks of that other field, they are not doing well.”
I shook my head as I slowly powered over the living. “Frig, this is horrible. They all look emaciated. I see debris from food storage containers, but nothing looks fresh. The Colossuns must have stopped feeding them just recently.”
Frig punched away on his holo-display. “Sir, I’ve completed a full scan of all decks. The Colossuns only occupy levels down to Gamma section. There are no other bios on the remainder of the ship. I have also scanned the ports; the harvesters are not in operation. The Duke is not refilling the Grid’s tanks.”
I spoke. “I think he tends to let things go once he’s gotten his use out of them. This galaxy, or at least this sector, is probably safe from him for the time being. At least until he decides to make use of it again.”
Frig looked over the remaining data from the deep scan. “I have analyzed the video feeds from the top five decks, Sir. There are no signs of Humans on this station. Perhaps it is time to look elsewhere.”
I sighed as I looked down on the species that we had once called friends. “I can’t just leave them like this, Frig. We have to do something.”
The comm was silent as Frig switched screens on his display. “Sir, I count as many as thirty-five thousand Colossuns on this station. The other species number only in the low thousands. What would you propose?”
I replied, “Well, how about this: you have access to the Grid’s systems through the Swift’s computer. The vast majority of Colossuns are camped out on the parade grounds. Just seal off Alpha section, and we have their numbers cut down to a few hundred. I can have them mopped up in an hour or so.”
Frig spoke. “And after we have freed them?”
I drifted behind the two guards that watched the Delta sports complex doorways. “We start those harvesters running and then show them the farms. We can leave them a bot with instructions for building a replicator. Give them a few months, and they could be running this whole place.”
The remains of the guards fell to the floor after I blinked in and out again.
I continued, “Tell me when those sections are sealed off, and I will finish the cleanup.”
Following the direction of Frig, I cleared the Delta section of Colossuns as the higher sections were sealed off. I powered back out to the field where the other species were huddled. I settled on the deck and blinked in.
I removed my helmet and spoke. “OK, listen up! You are now free to roam this section. We have sealed off the higher sections, including all of the Colossuns. I am going to be leaving you with a bot and instructions on how to make use of it. The food stores in this section are not deep, but they should offer you a good cushion to get started in taking care of yourselves.”
I continued, “We have locked away the Colossuns from their food stores, so, give them a couple months, and you should be able to clean their carcasses out of the other sections. We are leaving this station in your hands. You will have to work to survive, but we are giving you the tools to do so. Humans will very likely not be coming back to run this station. You must take charge of it on your own. Welcome those from the outside who are willing to help. And take care, for I will likely not be back this way again.”
I stood for several seconds looking into the largely blank stares of those before me. Several then stepped to the front with very relevant questions. When I left the field in Delta section, I had a good feeling that they would make it. They now had food, as well as the means to survive and to prosper.
Once back on the Swift, I plopped down in the pilot’s seat. “Well, the Grid was a bust. Where do we go next?”
Frig thought for a moment before replying. “Sir, I would like to find my people if possible. I believe Quan to be our best path to finding the Duke. Perhaps we can continue our questioning as we search out the other Gambits.”
I replied, “What about our search for Ashley and the others?”
Frig shook his head. “We don’t have anywhere else to search. Perhaps a short break will give us the time we need to narrow our search from the entire universe. If we come up with a new direction, we can leave at that time.”
I pointed my finger. “I’m OK with that. Set a course for the last place we saw the Gambits, and I’ll start hammering Quan for ideas.”
I sat down on a bench beside the open android as Frig jumped us to the Schnell sector. “OK, Quan, you are going to help me find Frig’s people. Did you track the Gambit like the Humans?”
After a seven-minute pause, Quan replied, “The Gambit were not deemed a suitable species for competition and therefore did not have DNA tracking injections in their developmental years as a sentient species.”
I turned back towards Frig. “You hear that? Your people were too dumb to be tagged!”
Frig replied, “Sir, really. ‘Not deemed suitable’ could easily mean that they were not as aggressive and pushy as your species. Or, perhaps they had too high an intellect and as a consequence were not well suited to continuous fighting.”
I laughed. “Yeah, well, it sounds to me like they just didn’t make the cut. Maybe next time, huh?”
The next four days were spent jumping and scanning before we got a hit.
Frig spoke. “Sir, I have a hit on ship activity in an unmapped star system. I am jumping to that position now.”
Upon our arrival, I pulled up the scan data on my holo-display. “I count twenty-six picket ships just outside the system. There, on the second planet, it looks like we have a colony. And it looks like those are the same Gambit codes that we saw back at our encounter with the Galis.”
Frig took a deep breath. “Sir, I believe we have found them. I count more than four hundred ships in orbit or docked around that second planet. There must be, must be millions of my people there.”
AMP Armageddon Page 2