Child of Time (65 page)

“Alright Alec, we understand that you need a ship and
that fractal encryption is bad.” Kiyan poked a bit of fun at his
ship’s resident AI.

“Rotating fractal encryption with a floating code
block. It is only bad if your enemy is the one using it.” Alec was
being literal again.

“What if we managed to scramble their com link first?
We would be able to seize the ship without them making any distress
broadcast betraying our presence.” Corban seemed to light up with a
new idea. “In fact with a civilization as large as the drakken,
they would have to mine the stars to support their energy
consumption. If I am right then a stellar mine would only need a
few drones to operate.”

“Actually, that is a pretty good idea. What do you
think Alec?” Kiyan liked the idea but wanted a second opinion.

“I concur. There is probably little in the way of
piracy in these parts to blame a missing ship on. A stellar mine on
the other hand. I can block any transmissions from the mine while a
team infiltrates the facility.” Alec was busy running the idea
through his supercomputers.

“A team? I want to go.” Terra looked at Kiyan as if
to dare him to deny her.

Kiyan swallowed hard before speaking. “I’m sorry but
your powers would have little effect against a drone.”

“Then I will go.” Corban stepped forward. “As the
commander it is your duty to remain onboard the ship and as the
first officer the job falls to me to lead this mission.”

“We both know that will not be happening. I could use
your help but what if they blow the self-destruct with us inside? I
know I can survive the vacuum until rescued but what about you?”
Kiyan tried not to remember the eons he had spent in the
aforementioned vacuum.

“I’m a fire elemental. I know a normal fire requires
oxygen but an elemental is fundamentally different. For that matter
Sapphire could go. I think she has reached a sufficient level of
skill.” Corban protested Kiyan’s attempt to dissuade him.

“My analysis indicates a three person team would have
the best chance of success.” Alec entered the discussion.

“That just leaves room for me.” Fred piped up this
time. “I want a chance to metal bend some of those tin heads.”

“And what does Addy have to say about that?” This
time it was Jeremy.

“She says that if I don’t come back unharmed she will
kill me. I am fairly sure that I can talk her out of it so I am
willing to risk her wrath.” This earned Fred a glare from the
dryad.

“So it is decided?” Alec queried and continued after
a nod from Kiyan. “My sensors have detected a stellar mine on a
star only a couple light years from here.”

“Good, then let us be on our way.” A few seconds
following Kiyan’s order the Avenger was in subspace approaching the
stellar mine.

--------

I was expecting something more alien. Fred seemed
disappointed. The avenger had dropped out of warp next to the
station and had begun jamming the interlink signal. Alec was sure
that the solar activity frequently interrupted the connection so
the short interval would cause minimal suspicion.

“The drakken were a semi humanoid race of organics
only a short while ago. It stands to reason that they would have
certain architectural characteristics that bear similarities to
human kind.” Kiyan listened to Luke’s explanation without comment.
The large ring shapes structure was above the surface of the star
far enough beyond the corona to only require minimal reflective
shielding. The ring manipulated gravity to pull matter from the
core of the star. Once the core material reached the ring the heat
was drained off and stored as energy while the matter was condensed
and moved into storage. A star this size certainly had reached a
fusion level that produced carbon. If all the plasma gases were to
blow off and the core cooled there would have been a giant diamond
left behind. As it was the carbon was processed to produce advanced
materials for the construction of the endless fleets the dark lords
marshaled.

“It is going to be hot in there.” Corban gave Kiyan a
sidelong grin. Kiyan wasn’t relishing the prospect of walking
inside the station. The Avenger’s sensors indicated that due to the
non-organic nature of the workers there was little in the way of
temperature abatement. In fact there was not even an atmosphere
aboard the station.

“It only makes it easier for us.” Corban was right.
The original design of the station had been for living drakken and
as such provided numerous walks throughout the station that
exceeded what the drones required for movement. Kiyan had his own
force fields and environmental system with his implants. When Fred
was shifted his body transferred to a metallic silica from a carbon
base. In that state he metabolized metals instead of oxygen. Corban
metabolized pure energy in his elemental form so an atmosphere was
merely a convenience.

“I found a hole in the solar shielding unstable
enough for me to transport you through. There are a number of
drones operating but I have disabled their links with each other so
hopefully they are unable to operate on any level that might offer
resistance. Are you ready?” Alec looked everyone over for the last
time.

“Yes we are ready. Initiate transport when you are
ready.” Kiyan nodded to Alec and the trio disappeared in a
shivering wave of light.

“You know that the two of us could have gone over and
completed the mission with ease.” Theo had watched the preparations
and departure of the team.

“Indeed but then that would have stolen all the fun
from our son. He is a lot like you at that age.” Kendra looked up
and Theo placed his arms around her shoulders.

“You never met me at that age.” Theo gave Kendra’s
shoulders a squeeze. “It wasn’t for a few more decades that you met
me.”

“Like you don’t know what I mean.” Kendra was silent
for a moment. “He almost pulled it off without us knowing. If he
succeeds with his plan you realize what could have happened.”

“The timelines would have reset and the war would
never have happened. We would have had no knowledge of what our son
becomes.” Theo summarized what they were both thinking. “The time
vortex could have done so many things to the one that was
instrumental in so much change.”

“I have already sensed an unusual amount of temporal
energy around his time stream.” Kendra reached up and held Theo’s
hand on her shoulder. “If he succeeds, the worst or the best thing,
depending on how you look at it is that we all forget about this
and he lives a normal childhood before his powers claim him.”

“We both know that there are worse things that can
happen. Time doesn’t like paradoxes.” Theo had a grim edge to his
tone that made Kendra look up into his face.

“He is already a paradox. I have seen him slip
backwards in his own time stream and undue the future. You don’t
think that....” Kendra dared not speak aloud her worst fears as if
uttering them gave them substance.

“Just in case I will be the one closing the portal. I
have had centuries of life while he is yet young. There is much
left for him to do.” Theo felt Kendra’s muscles tense under his
fingers but was relieved that she did not argue with his
decision

-------

“
This feels weird.”
Fred’s attempts at speech
in the vacuum were futile but Kiyan was able pick up what he was
thinking.

“
Get used to it.”
Corban had lost the flames
that had enveloped him before the transport. Now he just glowed
like a coal in the heart of a fire.

“
We need to find the mainframe.”
There was a
slight blue tint to Kiyan’s skin that indicated the shields were
protecting him from the radiant heat that surrounded them. The
vacuum meant that no protection was needed from the convective heat
carried by air.

“
Split up or stay together?”
Fred gave up
trying to speak out loud.

“
We could search faster alone but we don’t know
what we are up against so let’s stick together for now.”
There
was sound logic in Corban’s words and Kiyan agreed so they moved
out together. Kiyan made a move to act when two drones rounded the
corner of the corridor that the trio was in.

“
This should be easy.”
Fred stepped forward
and waved his hand at the drones. The effect that Fred had been
aiming for fell short of his goals. The metal construction around
the drones rippled momentarily betraying Fred's intent.

“
What the...?”
Fred was standing with his hand
still stretched out towards the drones. The two drones added to the
surprise by raising what stood for their forearms toward the trio.
Small panels slid open and curious devises snapped into position.
The purpose for these devises became apparent an instant later.
With mechanical precision the drones unleashed a hail of plasma at
the intruders. Kiyan reacted and tried to blast cold fire at his
attackers. The lack of atmosphere eliminated the fire aspect of the
attack but the cold worked in spite of the vacuum. Motion ceased
even on the atomic level as the kinetic energy was sapped away. The
blasters gave only a couple more pulses before stopping their
menace. The frozen drone gave a final attempt to move before Kiyan
drained the last remnant of heat away. Without even the energy to
maintain molecular bonds the drone dissolved into a pile of black
dust that sifted through the grate that made up the floor.

Fred had bent the metal from the corridor around his
antagonist and was constricting the metal bands around the drone.
There was a bright flash as an energy cell gave way under the
strain and the drone ceased struggling.

“
Is everyone alright?”
Kiyan glanced at his
companions.

“
I'm fine, just have to scrub these scorch marks
off.”
Fred gave Kiyan a wry grin. “
By the way, what was up
with those things?”

“
A little plasma never hurt a fire elemental.”
Corban responded to Kiyan's interrogative glance. “
Wasn't Alec
disrupting their network? They should all be offline.”

“
I'm not sure but I think that they are designed
to be able to act autonomously in the event of a network
failure.”
Kiyan stepped forward and rubbed a finger in the
black dust that was covering the grate. “
I think they are made
out of carbon.”

“
That would make sense this being a carbon star
mine.”
Corban moved to the still metal bound drone to Kiyan's
other side. A thin beam of confined heat extended from his finger
for several inches. With a neat motion Corban sliced the drone in
two with his heat blade. “
The way these things are built even
our kind would be hard put in the event of an invasion.”

“
An emotionless killing machine. The crowning
jewel of the dark one's creations.”
Kiyan stood up and looked
down the corridor both ways. “
We need to get moving. We can
expect every one of these to attack us on sight so stay sharp and
undetected if possible. Without the network they won't be able to
warn the others about our presence so let's find the computer core
and retrieve those codes.”

“
These drones will complicate things so let's get
a move on.”
Fred shook a kink out of his shoulders.

“
Alright, let's go.”
Kiyan picked a direction
and strode down the corridor. After the initial surprise encounter
Kiyan had expected more. Despite his expectations the station
seemed to only need a few drones to operate due to a large amount
of automation. There was no markings that would give them any clue
where the data core was located. From the Avenger the ring shaped
station hadn't looked so large but the illusion was quickly
dispelled as they navigated endless corridors.

“
So it looks like the main part of the station on
the inside of the ring is composed of the plasmasized carbon
processing facilities. The data core would be located in a shielded
section of the outer ring.”
Corban was thinking out loud in a
sense. “
If we only had a map. It could take a day to search the
whole thing.”

“
I might be able to help with that.”
Luke
elected to remain a bracelet on Kiyan's wrist due to the fact his
nanites performed poorly at the high ambient temperatures. “
Just
get me access to a drone.”

“
Will do.”
Kiyan relayed the idea to the rest
of the group. When they next found a couple drones they tried to
sneak up on them. This task was not that difficult because both
drones were busy welding a section of the station structure. The
true purpose of their plasma weapons became evident as they
directed a stream of the plasma against the portions of the metal
being welded. When they had gotten within range Kiyan signaled to
his companions. Corban flashed forward and struck at the first
drone with his heat blades. A moment later it was little more than
shreds. Meanwhile Fred had imprisoned the other drone. It managed
to release a blast of plasma at its attackers from a free
appendage. Fred readjusted the bands and slammed the drone against
the wall in the process. When Fred released his hold on the metal
that held the drone it dropped to the floor and remained
motionless.

“
I wanted one that was functional.”
Luke
sounded disappointed.

“
I didn’t try to break it.”
Fred was a little
defensive. “
I can’t help that they are so fragile.”

“
I might be able to fix it enough to access the
data banks. Just get rid of the metal.”
Fred bent the metal off
before Kiyan stepped forward and squatted by the motionless drone.
He held his hand out over the crushed portion of the machine and
watched as Luke’s bracelet liquefied into a silver liquid and
dripped onto the drone. Seeping through a crack in the exoskeleton
a minute or two passed before the cracks began to disappear. The
carbon composite plates began to reform. Kiyan stepped back as the
drone stirred to life.