Foster gave no verbal reply. She tilted her head as her eyes locked onto the stars beyond the window in her office. She fixed in on the largest star in visual range, the white dwarf Sirius B.
“With all due respect, Captain, perhaps we should consider walking away?” Rivera said. “Architect, Marduk, asshole, whatever you want to call him. This is his domain, his territory. Earth told us not to colonize systems where spacefaring species have control over it, we’re not conquerors after all.”
“No, we’re not, but Marduk has already made up his mind,” Foster said. “He’s gonna attack Earth and no matter what, we can’t let that happen. He’s also enslaved the populations of this system, including the Poniga, descendants of humans. Like it or not this is our fight now, we’s gots to take him down. Talking is gettin’ us nowhere with him.”
“And if he’s out of the picture, nobody would officially have control of the system,” Williams said.
“And the Undine and Poniga will be free to make their own choices,” Foster added.
Rivera put her data pad away and proceeded to the staircase. “Well then, I guess I got more work to do.”
Foster left her desk and followed the two up onto the main bridge above. She was about to take her seat in the captain’s chair when both Pierce and Nereid entered. Nereid wore off-duty crew person uniform, which from what Foster was told was a mission itself to get her into. Wearing clothing was something that brought her a lot of discomfort, so she had originally insisted on the old ragged and soaking wet robe from her world. One she probably would have walked around with barely tied up since she protested repeatedly it irritated and dried her skin too much. Which would also explain why she clearly wasn’t wearing a bra either and possibly any other undergarments, compromises that had to be made to get her to wear the outfit.
Foster was pleased to see Pierce had donned a nice fresh, clean uniform to match his newly clean-shaven face and new haircut in the wake of his imprisonment. That was the limit of her being pleased to see him as his presence on the bridge caused her to sigh. “Dr. Pierce, I thought I told you to take time off to rest.”
“Captain, this is important,” Pierce said as he and Nereid approached her. “Can I see you in your office?” He faced Williams and Rivera. “Hell, you two as well. Everyone come!”
“Pierce, from your point of view you were in prison for two years and were convinced we’d died,” Foster said. “You really need to take time off to recover mentally and physically.”
“I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” he said, and pushed his way down the stairs into her office. “And if you don’t let me help out, then we’re all going to be doing that.”
Foster returned to her office chair at her desk. Pierce, Nereid, Williams, and Rivera were later joined by Chang, Dr. Kostelecky, Chevallier, and Tolukei, essentially the entire senior crew. They all began to spread out within her spacious office turned briefing room, and all eyes were on Dr. Pierce as he fidgeted with his holo pad. It looked as though he was preparing to launch a holographic slide show presentation, much like ones he used to show during his lectures at UBC.
“You have our undivided attention, egghead,” Chevallier said with her arms crossed.
Pierce nodded and waved his hands across the projection, the action enlarged the display on his holo pad for everyone to clearly see. “Our time in decontamination gave me the chance to think clearly for once, in regard to everything that has transpired since our arrival in the system. Marduk, Tiamat, Undine, the connections to Earth. Then it hit me.” His holographic slide switched to the cover of his poor-selling book back on Earth. “Have any of you read my book on the legend of the Dogan tribes of Africa?” The crew gave their answers via silence, a few heads shaking ‘no’ and blank stares by Nereid who no doubt didn’t know what a book was unless of course that part of McDowell’s memories had been unlocked. “Didn’t think so, it was laughed at by the science community on Earth. Well, for those that don’t know, the Dogan believed they were visited by travelers from another planet thousands of years ago, they called them the Nommo, a species that was described as, half-fish, half-man.”
“The Undine . . .” Foster said.
“Exactly. They claimed to have been told about celestial objects in the skies. Like that Saturn had rings and that Sirius, the system they claimed to have travelled from, was not a single star but a triple star system. The Dogan knew all this information before the invention of the telescope and modern science. I think there’s some truth to Marduk coming to Earth and the religion of the ancient Babylonians,” Pierce said as he continued his holographic presentation. “Here’s what I think happened. According to Babylonian myth, Tiamat and her husband Abzu created the universe and the lesser gods, including Marduk. Tiamat was the goddess of the salt seas while her husband was the god of the fresh seas. Two seas, two oceans . . . like two ocean worlds.”
Nereid clued in right away. “Meroien . . .”
“And the original Undine home world . . . wherever in the galaxy that lays.” Pierce directed everyone’s attention to the new hologram that manifested, a map of the known side of the galaxy. “So, Tiamat and Abzu take the Undine to Sirius, encounter the Lyonria, and then travel to the Javnis home world. They create and uplift the Muodiry, teach them how to build and operate starships. Then they travel to Earth, make contact with the Dogan in Africa, and allowed a small number of Undine to populate the oceans of Earth, giving rise to the myth of Sirens when ancient Greek sailors discovered them.”
Pierce continued. “And then something happens, something that causes the Lyonria to vanish except for a few, living in Sirius. During which according to myth, the lesser gods plot to overthrow Tiamat and Abzu’s reign. Abzu is killed, Tiamat gets upset, and goes to war with Marduk, the leader of the lesser gods uprising. Tiamat is killed by him and he becomes ruler of all the gods, travels to Earth and tells the ancient humans there he’s in charge. From there he starts hunting down Undine and Nereids, as they are still loyal to Tiamat. He grabs a bunch of them on his ship including human slaves, returns to Sirius, and forces the Nereids to unlock tech left behind from Tiamat. Then a trap that had been placed by Tiamat engages, keeping him stuck in the Sirius system.”
“The humans then are forced to live with the Lyonria,” Kostelecky said.
“Enter the first generation of Linl explorers,” Pierce said. “They travelled here to set up a colony and were wiped out by Marduk. The survivors were then forced to live with the now enslaved human and Lyonria populations, which over time lead to the evolution of the Poniga. Also, EVE you detected traces of Arabic and Hebrew in the Poniga language, right?”
“That is correct, Doctor,” EVE’s voice echoed throughout the office like an omnipotent force listening in.
“That was the language the Babylonians had used,” Pierce said. “And with Marduk trapped, he forced the Poniga and Undine to study the Lyonria ruins in hopes of finding clues on how to escape.”
Williams faced away from the projection, and asked Pierce. “So, who is Tiamat then? Clearly not a Lyonria.”
“I’m not sure; in the legends she was always described as being a dragon. Javnis are at heart a reptilian species, maybe she was one of them, or perhaps a different faction within the Lyonria civilization.”
“Marduk in the legends had four eyes . . .” Foster said referring back to her high school classes of studying Mesopotamian mythology.
Pierce nodded to her. “Four eyes and four ears, but I’d imagine his appearance had been exaggerated slightly to make him appear more humanlike and Tiamat more serpent like. In any case, the Lyonria were here before Tiamat, it’s probably how she discovered Sirius in the first place. Since Marduk is obsessed with learning about Lyonria technology, and not Tiamat’s, even though its Tiamat’s drones that are keeping him trapped in the system, it’s safe to assume Tiamat’s technology has a basis in Lyonria technology.”
Williams asked Foster. “Captain, according to your engram trance, the Lyonria
ruins, rather Lyonria travel hub, we found has a wormhole powerful enough to travel to other systems, right?”
“Yeah, somethin’ like that.”
“Wonder why he didn’t just use that to leave?”
“He didn’t know how to use it to connect to gates beyond the system, only local ones, and that weird alternate existence, which required psionic powers to reach rather than the gate itself. He was close to figuring it out until a lockdown halted him ten years ago and set him back.”
“Another reason why he enslaved the two races,” Rivera said. “He was searching to rebuild it to suit him. It’s what I would have done; if I was an evil and lazy dictator, with an engineering degree.”
“Sounds more like he was searching for an instruction manual,” Williams said.
“He’d have to leave his ship behind, anyways,” Foster said. “A ship that hasn’t had its navigational computers updated in over four thousand years. He was truly stranded here in every sense.”
“Stellar drift.” Pierce snapped his fingers at the revelation. “Of course, that’s why he needs the location of Earth from us. Every planet and star system travels throughout the galaxy at varying speeds. Sol and Sirius are not in the same place as they were five thousand years ago. If you don’t know the proper motion of stars and its planets, you could end up spending years flying through space trying to find a particular system unless your navigation systems kept that data up-to-date.”
The information exchange got Foster thinking and got her mind ready to connect the final dots in the puzzle before them. “The planet around Sirius B we first stepped foot on,” Foster said. “EVE, didn’t you say that structure was not consistent with Lyonria tech?”
“That is correct, Captain.”
“Marduk said that place was a tomb, Tiamat’s that is.”
“It is a sacred place for my people,” Nereid said. “We all long to visit it, but lack the means to travel there safely.”
“You’d need an EVA suit to walk on that planet,” Pierce said. “Something the Undine wouldn’t be able to do, even if they went through the wormhole to get there.”
“I reckon that voice that told us to ‘leave’ wasn’t threatenin’ us,” Foster said. “It was trying to warn us. Marduk’s people were there messing around. The trap that’s been keepin’ him here is a fleet of drone ships, programmed to attack his ship if he tries to leave the system. He mentioned he managed to reprogram some of them to serve him, just not all of them.”
“There were hundreds of them that chased us out of that sector when we lost contact with you guys,” Williams said. “Guess it’s safe to assume that’s where the ones he controls lurk.”
“Tiamat’s tomb must be more than just a tomb, though,” Foster said. “It’s probably a control center for the drones.”
“Marduk’s forces were probably entering the tombs to see if they could make further progress into taking control of the drone network,” Pierce said.
“OK!” Chevallier interjected loudly. “Can we get cliff notes for the people not interested in science, legends, and ancient shit?”
Foster smiled at her and her willingness to push things forward. “All you need to know is Marduk wants to rule Earth again, and he needs the drones in the system to allow him to leave.”
“So, stopping Marduk results in enslaved people becoming free, our colony safe from danger, and the prevention of another alien attack on Earth,” Chang said, uncrossing his arms as he leaned against the window peering out into space.
“Pretty much.”
“Awesome, so when do we start? ‘Cause it sounds like whatever we need to do, we should have started it an hour ago.”
“The planet SB-417. Tiamat’s tomb must be the control center for the drones. And if he’s got part of EVE’s program he might be able to use it to hack in and take control of the network.” Foster stood up from her chair with new direction and determination powering her growing smile. “And we got a fully functioning EVE, we just need to get there and take control of it before he does.”
“There’s only one problem,” Pierce said. “We lost contact with the ship the moment we got deep inside the tomb? We won’t be able to utilize EVE.”
“I could modify an EAD to store part of her programming into it,” Rivera suggested. “It’s just I will need to wipe out everything on the EAD including its OS. You won’t be able to do anything with it except use it as a portable EVE.”
“Works for me,” Foster said.
“OK, we do our thing on the surface, then what?” Chevallier said.
“Then we’s gonna force him to negotiate,” Foster said. “Give him one last chance to end this conflict without bloodshed. Tolukei, what’s the status of Marduk’s ship?”
The long silent Javnis psionic briefly entered a trance, and shut all four of his eyes. When they opened he said, “I sense his ship has not moved.”
“But he’s alive, isn’t he?”
“I can feel his mind, so yes, he still lives.”
“He might be using his wormhole to travel there,” Rivera said.
“Then let’s get movin’ folks.” Foster strode away from her desk and toward the staircase leading up to the bridge. “MC, put together a fire team, let’s be prepared, unlike the last time we went to that world.”
Chevallier and Williams exchanged glances with each other. “Williams here had the brilliant idea of deploying every Hammerhead to protect the colony and the Lyonria travel hub.”
Foster groaned and face-palmed as she stopped short of stepping up onto the stairs. “Anything else I should be aware of, guys?”
“Let’s not touch what little crew we have left to operate the ship, especially if we’re going to battle,” Rivera said.
“Want me to head back to pick them up?” Chang offered.
“There’s no time for a detour like that,” Williams said, “it will take us half a day just to get back to Sirius B if we do. Marduk might have what he wants by then, assuming he doesn’t already.”
Chevallier raised her hands in the air in a ‘what the fuck’ motion. “So, what does that leave us with?”
“I’ll go.” Nereid said, stepping forward. “I’m sure the Poniga will assist.”
Chevallier rolled her eyes at Nereid. “Right, let’s take people who nearly lost their lives into a combat situation using equipment and weapons they know nothing of.”
“Then, we shall teach them,” Nereid firmly said.
“Dr. Kostelecky, see which of the Poniga are well enough and willing to fight,” Foster said to her, and then addressed the senior staff before her. “Any other questions?” There were none, everyone was ready to do their jobs. “All right, dismissed. Let’s liberate the people of this system, and prevent the human race from suffering what they have had to for the last four or five thousand years.”
ESRS CARL SAGAN, Bridge
SB-417 orbit, Sirius B system
May 22, 2050, 17:39 SST (Sol Standard Time)
The Carl Sagan appeared above the southern hemisphere of the ice world SB-417 as its sub light speed engines disengaged. Sensor and ESP scans combed the sector around them checking, and then later, double-checking for any signs of hostile forces. There were none, Marduk’s ship was where they had left it in Sirius C. Drones loyal to him evidently arrived and remained at its side in a wide defensive pattern. The reveal helped slow Foster’s heart rate as her breathing slowly returned to normal. All that remained, was hopefully, a quick and easy in and out operation on the planet’s surface, then a brace for whatever Marduk planned to retaliate with in the aftermath.
“Chief, how goes the mind shield situation?” Foster transmitted via intercom.
“Give me a few more minutes, Captain,” Rivera’s voice replied over the speakers.
“Marduk’s ship could come after us any second and travels at FTL, we ain’t got that.”
“We’ll be fine, Captain,” Chang said. “This planet is big enough for our two ships to play hide-and-seek
. I’ll do my best to keep our distance if it comes to that.”
“You sure?” Williams cut in. “Because that didn’t work out too well at Meroien.”
“No offence, Commander, but you were at the helm,” Chang said. “Marduk uses energy weapons, we don’t. Tolukei’s powers can force our weapons to curve around the planet to hit him. I can do this.”
Foster liked the idea. “Psionics can’t control the trajectory of energy weapons.”
“It was the biggest advantage Radiance had over the Hashmedai,” Chang said. “If a missile missed its mark, a psionic could force it to turn back around and try again. If a plasma cannon missed, it missed, there wasn’t anything a psionic could do to change that.”
Foster leaped out of her chair and moved to the exit of the bridge. “Dom, you have the bridge.”
Williams stepped between her and the exit with his arms crossed. “Captain, remember what happened the last time you left?”
She smiled and patted him on the left shoulder. “I’ll be back this time.”
“Let me go.”
“You’ll be fine, Dom, I believe in you.”
During a situation like this Foster’s place was on the bridge. But who else could have gone on the mission? Only she, Pierce, Kingston, Chevallier, and McDowell had gone down the first time, and therefore they were the only people that were familiar with the labyrinth within Tiamat’s tomb.
Pierce went through enough trauma as it was, and should have been resting and speaking with a counselor. It was bad enough he insisted on remaining at his science officer’s station. Nereid didn’t have all of McDowell’s memories back, Kingston is gone, that would leave Chevallier as the sole person that knew where to go. Besides, the engram trance Foster received did give her better insights into the past and Marduk’s objectives, it might come in handy down below.
ESRS CARL SAGAN, Docking bay
SB-417 orbit, Sirius B system
May 22, 2050, 17:51 SST (Sol Standard Time)
Foster arrived in the docking bay fully geared in her EVA suit while its magnetic boots clung to the floor, planting with every step. She examined her EAD which was modified to allow a partial copy of EVE to be loaded onto it, thanks to Rivera. Damn Rivera wasn’t kidding, she thought as the screen of her EAD was blank, its contents completely wiped out in favor of storing EVE on it.
The Siege of Sirius: A Splintered Galaxy Space Fantasy Novel Page 27