| Copy & paste the opening chapter(s) below: |
Chapter 1
As the Pathfinder’s systems continued their slow collapse, Connor Gates wondered which would run out first: the ship’s power or his crew’s hope.
In his many years of military service, Connor had learned that time could escape him. It didn’t matter whether there was a lot going on or very little. Time had a way of passing at an alarming rate, no matter how well prepared he was. He stood on the Pathfinder’s bridge, a large amber holoscreen hovering before him. Various sub-windows had populated, showing data feeds that told him the status of the wayward ship, and almost all the data pointed to the fact that their time surviving on this ship was running out.
Connor averaged about five hours of sleep a night, but in the days following their escape from the Aczar world, Ichlos, it had been less. It wasn’t just him but the entire rag-tag “crew,” although he hesitated to use that word. The Pathfinder had no crew, just a group of people who’d happened to be on the ship when a major breakthrough in their hyperspace technology came to fruition–one that might’ve had a little help from a frustratingly mysterious alien race they referred to as the Phantoms. The Phantoms existed outside of normal space—n-space but had the capability to function within n-space whenever they wanted. Despite all of Connor’s security precautions to hide the research that was being done with the Infinity Drive, the Phantoms had figured out what they were doing and intervened. Noah thought the Phantoms were trying to help them, that as desperate as things were on this ship many thousands of light-years from home, things could’ve been much worse. Connor could see Noah’s point, but he still reserved judgement where the Phantoms were concerned. Noah was among the best people he'd ever known, though his good nature sometimes blinded him to certain truths. Noah wasn’t naïve, but in Connor’s experience, powerful, intelligent, alien species had their own motivations for the actions they took, and that didn’t always coincide with the betterment of everyone involved.
The door to the bridge opened and Louis Maclean (Mac) walked in. Mac’s right hand started to rise but then stopped.
“Good morning, General Gates,” Mac said as he walked over.
Connor didn’t have access to military records, but he knew a veteran of the Colonial Defense Force (CDF) when he saw one.
“Good morning, Mac.”
Mac was a cook and commanded the kitchen. He looked around the bridge with a bit of uncertainty.
Connor waved him over. “I’m almost positive nothing else is going to break if you walk past a few workstations.”
Mac chuckled and rubbed his bald head. His thick gray eyebrows knitted together in amusement. “Sorry, General.” He shook his head. “Once in the CDF, always in the CDF.”
Connor smiled and tipped his head to the side. Then he switched off the holoscreen. “What’s dragged you out of the kitchen at this hour?”
“It’s our guests, sir. You asked me to set aside some of our supplies so they could convert it to make food for themselves,” Mac said.
Connor nodded. “Is there a problem?”
Mac shrugged. “Maybe. I’m not sure. We gathered plants and other things from their planet because it was compatible with our own processors.” He paused for a second with a thoughtful frown. “I don’t know anything about Aczar physiology, but the amount of supplies I set aside for them, they’ve hardly used.”
“Are you saying they’re starving?”
Mac lifted his palms. “I don’t know. They’re not complaining. If anything, they seem content, but I’m not sure about that. Their expressions are hard to understand. It’s just strange. Most things that talk and move that fast have high metabolisms, but not the Aczars. When I asked Phendran about it, I got the impression he was amused by my question. But he assured me that this situation was going to be short term, and they could endure it.”
Connor nodded slowly, finally understanding what Mac was implying. “I see.”
“I just figured that with everything they’ve done to help us escape, they deserved better than to simply ‘endure’ being our guests. I’m just not sure how to convey that to them. I’m not an ambassador.”
“Neither am I.”
Mac stared at him for a second, one eyebrow arched. He looked unconvinced.
“Alright, I’ll talk to Phendran about it. Maybe something is getting lost in translation. They might be concerned about us. Our provisions aren’t what I would call extensive.”
Mac sobered. “No, not by a long shot. At least I don’t need to worry about feeding the prisoner.”
Connor had the impression there was more that Mac wasn’t saying. Their prisoner, Salpheth, was trapped in an energy sphere in the secondary power-core. Salpheth was a Phantom, some kind of ascended being, but he’d been left behind by his own race. The Aczars had imprisoned him for hundreds of years. They’d kept him alive, and Salpheth had manipulated their species into a dogmatic condition that prevented the development of technology to explore the galaxy. The Aczars and Salpheth had been in a stalemate for a long time. Connor learned that Salpheth had escaped his prison a few times, and it had caused a significant upheaval in Aczar society. Salpheth, who many revered as a deity of some kind, a holder of higher knowledge, had tried to steal the Pathfinder to escape the Aczars. But there were some Aczar who’d been brave enough to question Salpheth’s motivations.
Connor was still trying to understand his new alien friends. They’d helped Connor and the others escape just as a civil war had begun on the Aczar homeworld.
Connor and Mac left the bridge.
“Is there anything else, Mac?” Connor asked.
Mac was a man of many skills and had a keen sense of putting things in order. Connor appreciated his unique perspective, even here, out in the middle of nowhere.
“No, that should do for now. If there’s anything I can do to help, you just say the word.”
“I’ll do that.”
“I’ll leave you to it, sir,” Mac said and quickened his pace.
Connor went into the conference room near the bridge. The metallic band on his left wrist warmed for a moment, and Connor glanced at it. During their escape from the planet, Phendran had given Connor a piece of his Saruvian Robotic Assistant (SRA) so he could interface with Aczar technology. Things had happened so quickly that Connor hadn’t had the chance to return it. When it was discovered that Phendran and some of the other Aczars who’d helped them escape were stranded in space near the ship, Connor had them brought aboard. He’d wanted to give the SRA fragment back to him at that point, but Phendran refused. The SRA had changed and requested to stay with Connor. He could’ve refused, but the SRA was an interesting piece of alien technology. He supposed it was a form of artificial intelligence, but the Aczar viewed their SRAs as a partnership, treating them as equals.
Aczars used their SRAs as both a tool and a weapon, and Connor suspected there were other functionalities that he hadn’t had the chance to explore. Connor’s SRA was still in a learning mode and had limited communication with him. Phendran assured him that this was to be expected. Aczars bonded with their SRAs almost from birth. It was used in their education and defense. The SRAs were high powered and could change forms through the re-alignment of their matrix. It was made from some kind of metallic alloy but was also a machine.
Connor’s SRA was learning about him, but it also showed him things, as well, and helped bridge the communication gap between Humans and Aczars.
Phendran sat in the chair and his feet didn’t reach the ground. Aczars were short—just under five and a half feet tall—thin, with furry brown hair. They had large, tan-colored ears that extended from their heads and ended in triangular points. They also had hooked snouts, and their mouths moved rapidly as they spoke. Their movements were fast and energetic.
Phendran wore a uniform with metallic accents and sleeves of bright chrome. His SRA was part of the clothing he wore. Three other Aczar sat nearby.
Phendran looked at Connor and spoke. “I detect a power spike in your SRA.”
The Aczar had stopped speaking before the translator finished.
“It became warm for a second and I wasn’t sure why,” Connor replied.
“Your SRA was acknowledging our presence,” Phendran said, and his head tilted slightly. “And it has a general approval of something that has transpired.”
Connor frowned. “It didn’t tell you what?”
“It’s no long part of my SRA.”
Connor wondered how his SRA would react if it didn’t approve of something he did? Would it try to stop him? Would it interfere? He was cognizant of the security risks, but given the current situation, he’d take all the help he could get.
Noah looked away from the holoscreen he’d been staring at and gave Connor an appraising look. “You just make friends wherever you happen to be.”
Connor chuckled as he sat next to him. “It beats the alternative, although the jury is still out on some of the recent developments.”
Noah glanced at Phendran for a second, then looked at Connor. “You don’t think they’d pin that one on us, do you?”
“Our going there was a catalyst. No matter how you look at it, our presence was a factor. And if they ever learn that Salpheth is our prisoner, they’ll demand his immediate return.”
Noah pushed his fingers through his hair for a second and shook his head. “It’ll be nice to have those kinds of problems.”
Phendran peered at them, and some of the other Aczars spoke quietly to each other.
“This recent exchange is a bit confusing for us,” Phendran said.
“He means that if…when we have those kinds of problems, it’ll mean we’ve overcome the problems we’re facing today,” Connor replied.
Phendran considered this for a half-second and then glanced at his companions. “We now understand.”
One of the Aczars sat with his arms crossed. He seemed to regard his surroundings with some disdain.
Connor looked at him. “Noxrey, you look like you have something to contribute.”
The Aczar just looked back at Connor. “I have no comments to share.”
Not all the Aczars were happy to be there. The very foundation of their society forbid space travel. Phendran was a Loremaster and had extensive knowledge about his species’ history. Connor found that Phendran made him more open-minded about things, particularly where Salpheth’s manipulation of his entire species was concerned.
The other two Aczars, Kholva and Vorix, were students of Phendran’s, whereas Noxrey was more of an engineer. They’d all helped Connor and the others escape, but their ship had been caught within range of the Infinity Drive and had traveled with the Pathfinder thousands of light-years away.
Glenn Rhodes, a director of the Colonial Requisitions Department, also at the table was. He’d been part of the team, inspecting Connor and Noah’s R&D project for the Infinity Drive. Rhodes had been difficult to deal with in the beginning but had been of more help as he accepted that the events that led them there hadn’t been because of any negligence on their part.
Captain Tyler Kincaid sat to Connor’s left. He’d been assigned to Connor’s protective detail, responsible for security matters.
“We should get started, General,” Kincaid said.
“Alright,” Connor said and looked at Noah.
His friend’s expression became sober. “Lots of updates, and none of it is any good. Our nav systems still can’t pinpoint our location.”
“It’s been over two days. No indication at all?” Rhodes asked.
Noah leaned forward, raising his hands. “For all intents and purposes, our nav system is designed for a much smaller region of space because of what our current capabilities have been. Obviously, things have changed, and the shortcomings of our nav system will need to be addressed.”
Connor regarded his friend for a moment. “What kind of issue is this? An issue with resources like available cycles from the computer core?”
“I wish it were that simple. Look, Salpheth fed some kind of coordinates into the nav system. I have no way to recall them, so unless you ask him, we might never figure it out.”
Trusting their prisoner to disclose that information wasn’t Connor’s first choice.
“I cannot recommend that course of action. Salpheth cannot be trusted,” Phendran said.
“It might be our only option,” Rhodes replied.
“I might be able to provide an alternative,” Phendran said.
Connor raised his eyebrows. “Okay, what do you mean?”
“I have access to data of the surrounding star systems around Ichlos.”
Noah’s eyes widened for a second. “So do we. In fact, we tracked the stars upon arriving at your planet.”
“I understand that, but the data I have is from our entire time on Ichlos,” Phendran said.
“Really? That’s amazing. Why didn’t you tell me before?” Noah asked.
Phendran was quiet for a moment and looked as if he wasn’t sure how to respond.
“Where is the data?” Connor asked.
A flicker of understanding registered on Phendran’s face. “It’s in my brain.”
Rhodes blinked and looked at Connor for a second. “In your brain?”
Phendran nodded. “Yes, as Loremaster, we practice special memory techniques to function as a living archive.”
Rhodes’s mouth hung open, and he leaned back in his chair.
“A living archive? Are you saying you carry the entirety of Aczars’ knowledge inside your…” Connor said and lightly tapped the side of his head.
“Yes, only certain Aczar are able to do this,” Phendran replied.
Connor wasn’t sure if the translator was working. All their own considerable knowledge could never be held by anyone. This was why they had specialists, and even then, they were experts in very specific areas. Only by working together could people expand on the knowledge they’d gained.
“I see this is a cause for hesitation,” Phendran said.
Connor glanced at the others for a second. “I’ve seen your technology. It’s very impressive. I’m at a loss as to how you could store all that information in one person’s mind.”
“But it’s not just one person’s mind. It’s shared, and my SRA helps bridge the gaps. The knowledge I have isn’t always readily available. I must focus on retrieval, and this can take some time.”
“But don’t you use…” Connor began to say but then stopped. “We use machines to hold our data. It frees up our minds for other things. Don’t you use machines for data storage?”
“Ah, I see the disconnect,” Phendran said. “We do use machines as well, but they are jointly controlled by Loremasters and our Council. As I’ve said before, I have data from our observations of the great expanse.”
“Are you able to share it?” Noah asked.
“I’ve been working on doing that with my SRA. The problem is making the data available in a way that your nav system is capable of processing,” Phendran replied.
Noxrey stared at Phendran. “The archives are only for the Aczar.”
Connor frowned for a second. “I don’t understand.”
Phendran regarded his companion. They could communicate with each other through their SRAs, and he wondered what they were saying.
Noah looked at Connor. “What’s going on?”
“They’re discussing the matter among themselves,” Connor replied.
He waited a minute and then gestured toward Noxrey. “I get the sense that you don’t want to be here.”
Noxrey blinked and stared at Connor. “It is forbidden for us to traverse among the stars.”
“And yet, here we are,” Connor replied. “You want to go home. That can only happen if we work together.”
“General Gates,” Phendran said, “there are restrictions on Loremasters sharing our knowledge.”
“What kind of restrictions?”
“The kind that results in severe consequences. However, if I comply with those restrictions, the result could also be construed as severe.”
Connor nodded once. “We have a saying: Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.”
“Our language accounts for similar sentiments,” Phendran said.
“There are more than just the limitations of our nav system,” Noah said.
Connor looked at him and nodded for him to continue.
“Our power core is degrading fast.”
“Faster than before?” Connor asked.
Noah nodded. “Yes. Essentially, we’re trying to do more with less. The result is that core degradation increases. We need to find a way to refuel it.”
“Is that even possible?” Rhodes asked. “I didn’t think the ship was ready for that.”
“It’s not,” Connor said.
“Not traditionally. Those refinement systems had been taken out of the ship and…well you know the rest,” Noah said.
Rhodes nodded. “It was being scheduled. So, how do you propose to refuel the power core?”
“In emergency situations, it is possible to use our current power core as a means to refine other fuel sources. Doing that results in a lot of waste, but it’ll help in the short term,” Noah said.
Connor stared at him and heaved a sigh. “Doing that requires the secondary power core as a backup.”
The secondary power core was currently home to their prisoner.
“Right, and we can’t risk it because of Salpheth. So, I’m proposing we don’t use it.”
Connor blinked. What Noah was proposing was extremely risky. It could leave them stranded if things went wrong.
“I know what you’re going to say,” Noah said. “If I could come up with a better option, I would have. In fact, this might be our only option.”
Connor considered for a few moments and then looked at Phendran. “Is this something you could help us with?”
“I’m afraid we have no knowledge of spaceships,” Phendran said.
“Yes, but you do know about generating power. A lot of power in a compact form.”
Phendran considered this and then looked at Noxrey. “You might be able to help them.”
Noxrey looked at them.
“I could go over how our power core works. Maybe it’ll spark a thought about it,” Noah said.
Silence.
“It’ll help you get home,” Connor said.
Noxrey looked at Connor and then at Noah. “Very well. I will try to assist.”
Noah stood. “We should go there now.”
Noxrey hopped off the chair and followed him out of the conference room.
“General Gates,” Phendran said, “I wish you would reconsider your position on allowing us to join you during your interactions with Salpheth.”
“It’s not that I doubt you. You’re free to observe us through our monitoring systems. However, I don’t want Salpheth to know that there are any Aczars here on the ship.”
“I don’t understand why you delay.”
“Because right now, Salpheth believes he only has us to deal with. Once he learns about you, he’ll change how he approaches us. I want to get a baseline to compare when we do reveal that you’re here.”
Phendran slowly nodded. “Very well. Remember, you cannot trust anything he says.”
Connor would never forget it. Salpheth was the most dangerous thing on the ship. ... |
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