Renegades (The Progenitor Trilogy, Book Two)

by Dan Worth

  ‘Oh, that,’ Rekkid grunted, unpacking a selection of tunics and shaking out the creases from the Arkari made material. ‘Well, like I said, it’s all very fascinating, historically speaking. But I still can’t see what’s so important about it from a military standpoint.’

  ‘You’ll have to let me have a look.’

  ‘Oh, be my guest. There’s far more material even on the scant few wafers I managed to copy than any one person could ever really research properly. However, I did find something of particular interest.’

  ‘Oh, what?’

  ‘Well I don’t know exactly. It’s an absolutely huge block of data. I fed it into the translation program and it seems to be taking forever to process. It’s been stuck around the thirty percent mark for hours now. I gather from what the computer’s been telling me, that the data has been compressed via advanced algorithms. Whatever it is, there’s an awful lot of it.’

  In his private office in the base’s command centre, Cox activated the console set into his small desk and established a secure connection via the military hypercom with his superiors back on Earth. Operating via hyperspatial data nodes, communication with the home system was instantaneous, despite the hundreds of light years separating the worlds.

  The connection established itself and then the stern, dark skinned, grey haired features of Admiral Morgan filled the paper thin screen. Morgan was a member of Joint Chiefs of Staff, one of the most senior military figures in the Commonwealth, one of the few people between Haines and the President in the command structure.

  ‘Sir, you requested an update on our progress,’ Cox said smartly.

  ‘Yes, I did Admiral. How goes the excavation?’

  ‘We are slipping behind schedule a little sir. Cutting away the hard volcanic rock is proving a problem without jeopardising the vessel or my men. We’ve also been suffered from poor morale among the workforce. However, I am confident that we will have a major breakthrough any day now. Our new team members have arrived. Cor and O’Reilly should prove to be a great help in assessing this ancient craft.’

  Morgan nodded thoughtfully. ‘Hmm, you know I still have misgivings about those two being there,’ he said.

  ‘Sir, I assure you that the security of this operation will be maintained,’ Cox replied firmly

  ‘Yes, I’m sure it will. But Cor is Arkari after all, I’m not sure he can be trusted.’

  ‘He is a civilian sir, and by all accounts he and War Marshal Mentith do not see eye to eye.’

  ‘Perhaps,’ replied Morgan sceptically

  ‘Besides sir, by the time Cor has any opportunity to communicate with the outside world, it won’t matter anyway. The ship will be in our possession and her secrets will be ours. These two archaeologists are the foremost in their fields. We need them on our team for this sir, regardless of their affiliations and past records.’

  ‘I’m sure you’ll do everything possible Admiral. Academics are easy to manipulate. I’d bet the two of them will be too absorbed in their work… in your work for them to worry about the wider implications.’

  ‘Sir.’

  ‘We need this, Admiral. The technology that ship could give us…’ Morgan looked at him intently. ‘You know, many of us here back home, both in the military and the government are beginning to get a little sick and tired of the Arkari, the President included. If they’d just given us some of their technology to fight the Empire… just think of the lives that could have been saved! Don’t you ever wonder what they’re up to?’

  ‘It had crossed my mind sir. Personally, I’ve always disliked their high minded attitude towards us. We are treated as though we’re their naughty children who need to be molly-coddled and who can’t be trusted to look after ourselves. We should seize every chance we get to acquire new technologies. Why should we be denied them?’

  ‘Exactly. The Arkari must not find out about this ship, Admiral, which is why we’re keeping Haines out of the loop on this one. He’s grown too close to their high command for our liking. I’m sure I can count on you being discreet. After all… your career would definitely benefit from the successful completion of this vital task. How does ‘Vice Admiral Cox’ sound to you?’

  ‘I’d like that very much sir.’

  ‘Good, good. Pay no heed to the rumour mill Admiral. Ghost ships do not interest me; however ships full of ancient technological secrets interest me a great deal. The Arkari have been giving us reports of phantom ships and mysterious organisms, but they’ve yet to provide us with any hard evidence. Neither I nor the other Joint Chiefs have seen anything that satisfies us. The President is in the process of curtailing the Black Ops budget as we speak, now that the war is over. Chasing shadows is not a military priority and we must concentrate on moving forward and building the peace.’

  ‘Try telling Haines that, I hear he’s been running his own private operation with the help of the Arkari.’

  ‘Yes, well. We generally allow fleet admirals a certain leeway in how they run their operations in wartime. But… it may be time to curtail such eccentricities now that peace has broken out. Many have called for the old man to retire you know, so that other younger commanders can take his place, if you catch my drift.’

  Cox tried to suppress a smile. ‘Yes sir, I do sir.’

  ‘Good, good. Well, carry on then. I’ll look forward to hearing how you get on. I’d like to keep this low profile for now, but we’ll see about boosting the fleet compliment in Hadar pending any discoveries that might need protection during transit back to Earth. The two Atlas class heavy lifters you requested have been dispatched, but I was thinking of giving you another battle group to join you. I understand the repairs to the Germanicus have taken longer than expected, and given the piracy problems you’ve been having I suspect you could use the extra assets. Perhaps we’ll send you the Nimitz and her flotilla; once the carrier has completed her shakedown trials?’

  ‘A Saturn class carrier? Thank you sir, I’m flattered. We’ve been rather stretched here at the moment. To be honest, I’ve been itching to get space under me again. The Germanicus’ crew have missed their commander, so I’m told.’

  ‘Yes well, this alien ship must be protected at all costs Admiral, remember that.’

  ‘Yes sir.’

  ‘Very good, Morgan out.’ The Vice Admiral cut the link, leaving Cox staring at the console interface. He breathed out a sigh of relief, then chuckled to himself in satisfaction.

  They stood at the bottom of the pit in the shadow of the alien vessel. The huge stern of the ship jutted out of the ground in front of them at an angle, the layered cone of spikes rising up over their heads until it came to a single point a couple of hundred metres above them. The ship dwarfed the ant-like figures of the suited humans and their excavation equipment and utility vehicles which seemed like toys against its looming immensity.

  Katherine studied its segmented black surface, her own breathing loud inside the armoured pressure suit she wore. Rekkid and Reynaud were similarly attired to protect them from the noxious gases of Rhyolite’s atmosphere. She attempted to suppress the sense of claustrophobia she always felt inside these things and to steady her breathing and calm her nerves.

  There was something deeply unsettling about that ship, as though it were only playing dead, like a deep sea predator attempting to lure unsuspecting prey close enough to swallow. If she looked away it seemed to shift at the corner of her vision, but then moved back if she looked right at it, before she could catch it in the act. It didn’t seem to be wholly there at all, like an impression of ship, like a shadow cast by an object rather than the object itself. Although her eyes were telling her that it was around kilometre in length, it seemed at once much smaller and far, far larger. It made her skin crawl.

  ‘Rekkid,’ she said, keying her comm. ‘Do you feel it?’

  ‘Feel what?’ he replied.

  ‘The ship. It… I can’t even put it into words properly.’

  ‘Like it isn’t real?’


  ‘Something like that.’

  ‘Like it doesn’t belong here, like it isn’t really here.’

  She heard Reynaud snort inside his suit with derision.

  ‘Please tell me you aren’t scared of it too,’ he said. ‘What you are experiencing is just a normal reaction to witnessing something so wholly alien. Please Professor, Katherine, try to remain professional. I for one feel nothing but awe when I look upon this craft. Shall we?’ He indicated toward the ship with a gloved hand.

  Reynaud began to trudge across the hard black surface of the lava, etched smooth by the cutting tools of the excavation team. Katherine followed suit and saw Rekkid pause to pick up a small rock, a chip of lava broken off by the digging. He turned it over in the heavy gauntlet of his suit and peered at it through his helmet visor. She saw his brow furrow. She stopped and looked at him.

  ‘Something the matter, Rekkid?’

  ‘I was just wondering… Henri, have you had this lava field dated? Presumably it was still molten when that thing crashed into it.’

  ‘Yes we have Rekkid,’ Reynaud replied. ‘This whole lava plain was formed by a massive eruption fifty years ago. As I’ve said previously, we believe that the ship drifted into the moon’s gravity well and made planet-fall here. Fortunately the soft lava broke its fall.’

  ‘Yeah, convenient. Fifty years… around the time of the first Commonwealth war against the K’Soth.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘Maybe you attracted someone’s attention.’

  ‘Oh come now, this ship is millions of years old. You’re just being paranoid.’

  ‘It pays to be paranoid, we’ve found,’ said Katherine.

  ‘I’m sure,’ Reynaud replied dismissively. ‘You’ve come all this way; surely you would like to see the ship up close? Come on, this way, we’re wasting time.’ He stomped off between a line of parked cutting rigs towards the ship. Rekkid shrugged inside his suit and rolled his eyes theatrically.

  As they approached the ship, the bustle of suited figures increased. Cox had a sizeable workforce clearing the tonnes of lava from around the base of the ship, whilst others were hard at work erecting a support cradle to prevent the vessel from tipping over once the surrounding rock had been removed. A series of heavy digging machines were in operation, whilst an array of cranes and AG lifting units manoeuvred composite girders into position around the flanks and underside of the craft. Even through the alien atmosphere and their thick suits, the noise was considerable.

  The three figures stepped aside as a huge truck laden with lava rubble rumbled up the rough dirt road from the centre of the dig site towards the spiralling ramp that led back up to the lip of the deep, stepped pit. It left a cloud of whirling dust in its wake. Reynaud led them on.

  They were right under the vessel now. It loomed above them, huge, black and ancient. Katherine could see the surface of the ship better now. The material contained patterns composed of the same characters that she and Rekkid had seen on the fragments they had been shown back at Barstow, though these seemed a little different. There seemed to be something else too, some sort of pressure emanating from the ship that seemed to manifest itself only in her mind. She shook her head and blinked heavily to clear her thoughts.

  ‘Are you alright?’ said Rekkid, looking at her with concern.

  ‘Nothing it’s... I don’t know. I don’t feel so good.’

  ‘Anything wrong with your suit? Maybe your respirator’s faulty.’

  ‘No, it’s something to do with the ship I think. I…’ she paused. ‘It’s stopped all of a sudden. I… I feel fine.’

  ‘Hmm, Henri, have you ever encountered anything like this before?’

  ‘Why yes,’ said Reynaud, matter-of-factly. ‘It’s some sort of defence mechanism we think, I shouldn’t worry about it too much. It seems to have spooked a few of our people though.’

  ‘Any idea what triggers it?’

  ‘Once or twice when our machines grazed the surface of ship it seemed to respond with similar attacks, though of a magnitude far greater than the one you experienced, but it quite often happens seemingly at random to particular individuals. It’s as if it takes a particular interest in certain people.’

  ‘Perhaps it’s a form of communication as well?’ Katherine ventured.

  ‘You may be correct, we don’t know,’ Reynaud replied with a shrug.

  ‘What about dreams?’

  ‘I’m sorry?’

  ‘You ever had any nightmares since you came to this moon Henri? Weird visions of alien empires. That sort of thing?’

  Reynaud paused and looked at her. She could read his curious expression through the visor of his helmet.

  ‘Why… yes I have Katherine. The ship has shown me the most wonderful images of its civilisation - glittering spires and technological wonders beyond comprehension.’

  ‘It did huh?’ said Rekkid sceptically. ‘Katherine had a rather different experience, didn’t you?’

  She nodded slowly.

  ‘You could say that,’ she replied. ‘What I saw was pretty awe inspiring, but for rather different reasons. It didn’t ‘glitter’ very much, that’s for sure. It looked like a civilisation in its death throes, or at least one that came straight from somewhere so hellish that we’d barely be able to comprehend it.’

  ‘Interesting,’ said Reynaud thoughtfully. ‘Perhaps you saw the last days of the people who built this ship. I wonder why it chose to show you something like that?’

  ‘I don’t know, but it also showed me a vessel and it looked human. The ship was… someone on the ship was calling out for help.’

  ‘Strange. I have not seen this. Rekkid, how about you, have you experienced any dreams or visions since you came here?’

  ‘Nope, and quite frankly I’m rather glad that that thing,’ he gestured at the vessel, ‘has chosen to stay out of my subconscious for the time being. This place is weird enough without being mind-fucked by a star-ship, if you’ll pardon the expression.’

  Reynaud shook his head and tramped on, leading them further down under the stern of the vessel, to where a team of workers were busy with energy based cutting gear, paring off chunks of lava from the underside of the ship to reveal the skin of its hull. Reynaud approached one of the men, whose nametag identified him as the foreman and spoke to him over a local network channel.

  ‘Mr Aaronson, how goes the work?’ Reynaud asked to the shorter man, stocky and grimy in his well worn suit.

  ‘We’re a little behind schedule,’ came the gruff reply. ‘Had another one of the lads taken off site yesterday with one of them attacks. Poor sod kept gibbering about all sorts of stuff, then he fainted. Medical’s got him under observation. Anyway, we’re a bit short handed here for the moment.’

  ‘Would it be alright if my colleagues and I took a look at the hull section you’ve just uncovered for a moment?’

  ‘Be my guest, Doctor,’ Aaronson replied. ‘It’s your ship after all. Lads, let these three through.’

  The group of suited figures moved away from the ship and stood, leaning on their tools as they let the three academics past. One of the men winked at Katherine as he caught her eye.

  Reynaud stepped up to the surface of the ship and waved at Katherine and Rekkid to come closer. He peered intently at the dark, glassy surface. Katherine moved closer to better see what he was looking at.

  ‘What do you make of this?’ Reynaud asked. ‘These patterns in the surface?’

  Katherine looked closer at the skin of the ship. The patterns they had seen earlier were clearly visible, but they seemed alive and moving. Snaking, alien shapes, they shifted and changed beneath the ship’s glassy skin like dim shadowy forms seen through deep water. Looking deeper still she could see layer upon layer of these patterns, all moving slowly over one another, and within each pattern were smaller patterns, woven fractal-like into the larger forms. The smaller patterns were of a different nature, strings of symbols arranged in three dimension forms.

  ‘Hmm
, interesting,’ said Rekkid.

  ‘Isn’t it just?’ said Reynaud.

  ‘No, I mean that these patterns are different from the fragments you showed us back on Barstow. There are two languages here. One seems to be piggy backed onto the other. Only the smaller patterns were visible in those shards.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Yes, it has a different structure. They both use the same characters, but they are arranged differently. One is purely linear as you or I would write onto a page, the other is arranged three dimensionally. The same forms and patterns re-occur throughout each separately. I’m wondering if the way that the patterns move also has significance.’

  ‘Can you read it?’

  ‘The smaller patterns, yes I can. It’s Progenitor script in a form we’ve encountered many times before. I have translation software that should be able to deal with it en masse without a problem. The other? No, not without a primer of some kind or unless I can establish the relationship between the different patterns. But we should try and record as much of the ship’s surface as possible. Maybe if I can decipher what all this means, we can understand the ship and its creators far better. This looks like some sort of machine language. It could help us further understand the workings of their systems.’

  ‘I’ll get a survey team on it right away; we have plenty of recording equipment.’ Reynaud began communicating with the dig site base, ordering men and materiel for the task of scrutinising the surface of the vessel. He wandered away as he talked, and then went to inspect another recently exposed hull section.

  ‘Well done Rekkid,’ said Katherine. ‘I think you’ve actually managed to impress our host.’

  ‘It was nothing.’

  ‘Nothing? That was quite an insight you provided there.’

  ‘Look again at those patterns Katherine, at the smaller strings wrapped around the larger forms. Where have you seen those before?’