Earth Song: Twilight Serenade (26 page)

Lilith smiled at her mother, admiring her ability to catch details.

“Yes, that,” Lilith said, her voice betraying some excitement. The map zoomed out from the world capable of bearing life to show the artificial point orbiting it. The map zoomed back in to show a massive construct. It was a central structure with innumerable arms extending in all directions out from it like branches on a tree. Minu, Aaron, and Aaron’s eyes got big. They’d all seen one before.

“What is it?” Kal’at asked.

“That,” Minu said, “is a firebase just like were we found this ship.”

Naturally Aaron had gone ahead and named everything. The star was officially Aether in the human database. The inhabitable world he’d named Midgard. The remnants of the gas giant were Asgard, and keeping with the theme he’d dubbed the metal rich planet Niflheim.

“Should have named the bloody star Valhalla,” Aaron joked that evening in bed with Minu while Lilith was still grumbling about the silly names.

“We already used that name in Bellatrix for our gas giant,” Minu reminded him.

“I know, that’s how I got to Asgard for this ex-gas giant.”

“So what’s the plan in the morning?”

“We’re going to let the Beezer and techs start investigating the ghost fleet.”

“And what are we going to do?”

“We’re heading for Midgard, and that station.”

Chapter 27

May 24th, 535 AE

Midgard, Aether System, Aether Nebula, The Frontier

Aether put out a surprising amount of light for a neutron star. Combined with the thermal radiation of its super dense surface and gamma rays Lilith had to run the shields full time as they descended down into the system.

Then they passed the radiation plane, as Lilith called it, and the radiation dropped incredibly, and the amount of light the start gave off increased even more.

Midgard got steadily closer and they could begin to see details in real time. It was mostly thermal imaging and radar returns as there was almost no visible light, even on the dayside.

“Most be like a nearly moonless night on Bellatrix down there even at high noon,” Aaron said.

“Not quite that bad,” Lilith said, “with the magnetar at noon, there would be approximately 0.3 lux of lamination.”

Since Minu had no idea how much light a lux was, she didn’t have much to compare that with. So she continued to examine the planet below, its topography and layout of cities.

They could see four of them. One was at the edge of the planet’s largest ocean which itself was maybe twice the size of Bellatrix’s equatorial sea. Another was in the mountains in the northern latitudes. Another was on a vast plain in the center of the largest landmass. And the final was a purely industrial affair midway between the ocean city and the mountain city.

“Any idea what the populations were like?” Aaron asked his daughter.

“Baseline suggests between five and ten million.”

Minu shook her head. And like so many other worlds in the Concordia, it was just abandoned. It seemed like a perfect place for The People to fall back to if they were losing their war. So why didn’t they? There were never enough answers for questions in the universe.

‘More detailed analysis continue to become available,” Lilith told them. “There is no modern indications of habitation. The power signatures we picked up are transient and difficult to localize. Each habitation center has many.”

“Where do you think we should land?” Aaron asked.

Minu had been considering that since they’d left their other people where they’d been rendezvousing with the new ghost fleet. There were certainly a lot of possibilities.

“I think the city in the center of the plains,” Minu said.

“Why that one?” Lilith asked.

“It looks like it might have been the biggest civilian population. I’d like to get a look at it and see if that was the purpose.”

Aaron had been tapping on his tablet and finished with a flourish. On the map above, the plains city was now designated as Des Moines. Lilith cast a baleful look in his direction and couldn’t see the mischievous look on his face.

All three of them rode down in the Kaatan’s shuttle from orbit. The warship was on automatic, it’s sensors working at full power and a squadron of six Eseel gunboats, now permanent escort for the fleet commander Minu, staying in a higher orbit with an eye towards whatever might come their way.

The atmosphere was surprisingly dense, as Lilith had described it would be. Because of the Kaatan shuttle’s shields and drive Aaron could have flown them in as steep of an angle as he wished. Instead he described a relatively shallow approach that brought them in over a mountain range which gradually levelled out onto the planets vast open plains.

Now below the planet’s dense atmosphere Lilith could tell more about the world’s biosphere.

“The planet and animal life I’m scanning is scant,” Lilith reported. “Plants adapted to metabolize infrared and thermal radiation, animals that appear largely sightless.”

“By scant you mean sparse?” Minu asked.

“No, I mean in its diversity. The biosphere appears artificially crafted, similar to Bellatrix. There is ample quantities of life. Look at this.”

A miniature of the common holographic displays appeared in the cockpit of the shuttle. It was artificially colored to make up for the rather dim planet’s surface. Now that they were over the plains they could see its lands were covered in untold endless rows of vegetation. Neat, orderly rows. And interspersed every couple dozen kilometers, robotic tending machines. And in the distance were truly titanic storage silos.

“Damned farm factory!” Aaron said.

“The capacity exceeds a hundred million for this amount of land,” Lilith confirmed. “Everything appears operational.”

Minu pointed at the silo complex. “Put us down over there.”

Aaron nodded and brought them into a wide sweeping turn, slowing for approach.

“If there is anything hostile down there that doesn’t kill us, Selain will finish the job,” Aaron said.

Minu only nodded. The Ranger had almost had a fit when Minu took off without her personal bodyguards.

As they came around the true size of the complex came into perspective. Each silo was fifty meters across and they were arranged three deep, five kilometers long. Three hundred silos in that complex. Lilith had identified ten such complexes surrounding the vast plains.

Aaron put them down on one of a series of ceramic concrete landing pads. The seemingly endless line of silos stretched into both directions and loomed two hundred meters above their heads. Production buildings abutted the nearest silos.

Sensors on the shuttle’s exterior verified chemically what Lilith had already done remotely. The atmosphere, while cool, was ideal for human life.

Minu grabbed her uniform jacket and slid it on over her tiger-striped jumpsuit before triggering the rear loading door to cycle open. Even expecting it, the blast of cold air was a surprise.

“It is winter for this region, based on the world’s orbital inclination and position around the magnetar,” Lilith explained. “Summer will be quite a bit warmer, I suspect.”

Aaron came up and took her hand as they began to walk down the ramp. But Minu suddenly stopped and turned back.

“Just a sec,” she said and returned a moment later with a pair of shock rifles. She slung one and handed the other to Aaron. “Just in case.”

Aaron checked the weapon’s charge and safety before slinging it and taking her hand once more. They walked down the ramp together and set foot on Midgard.

Lilith walked out floating inside the zero gravity field projected above her blue crystalline mobility bot. As a group they went over to the structure. A door of the same size as found on the Kaatan opened at their approach, no locks in evidence.

Lights were already on when they went inside, revealing massive processing equipment, all in excellent shape, and all awaiting something to begin working.

“It’s like it’s waiting for something,” Aaron said in hushed tones.

“Why are you whispering?” Lilith asked, her voice echoing off machines and pipes in the cavernous space.

Aaron chuckled and shrugged.

The three had spent an hour exploring the building when Lilith located a command center. It was a circular room whose walls were constructed of video displays. The three gathered there while Lilith brought up the facility’s computers. Just like the building, there were no codes for access. In only moments of interfacing with her augmented mind, her face showed surprise.

“What is it?” Minu asked.

“There are AIs operating these facilities,” the young woman said.

“Can we use them on the ships?” Minu asked immediately.

Lilith was silent for a time before answering.

“No,” she pronounced finally. “It is possible they could do some of the non-combat work on the Kiile, but that is about it. And considering their utility here that would be a waste.”

“What do you mean?”

“Consider this planet’s potential output. You and the Tog are making massive profits from the sale of foodstuffs. Consider the potential here.”

Later Minu wandered out past the waiting shuttle to the edge of the nearest field. The plants growing there were similar to winter wheat hybrids on Bellatrix. The dim bluish light of the magnetar created the feel that you were watching an old Earth film using fake night filters. The wheat stalks had wide, pronounced leaves that reminded her of corn. They seemed to be following the movement of the star above.

As she looked up the star flashed slightly, just as it did every twenty-two minutes. The atmosphere rippled in multi-color coronal discharges, a strange version of an aurora borealis. Aaron came up beside her and looked out across the field.

“It’s not that cold once you get used to it,” he said.

“Fifteen right now,” Minu noted. “Not as cold as a cave east of Steven’s Pass.”

Aaron gave a half grunt, half laugh. They’d all had to cuddle together in a big pile in a cave one night of their Trials many years ago to avoid freezing to death. Cold and shivering, only centimeters from her, it had been a long night for Aaron. He bent over and plucked a stalk of the wheat-like plant. With practiced ease he rubbed the seed bearing part between his hands, separating the chaff. He plucked one of the seeds and popped it in his mouth, chewing.

“Tastes a little like soybeans,” he said.

Minu nodded slightly and considered what Lilith had said about the planet’s food production. More than a hundred million beings could be fed. Only she wasn’t thinking about selling it. A breeze blew her coppery hair around her face, and she pushed it away without thinking. The faint blue sunlight made it look so red it was almost black. Aaron caught the look on her face and knew she had an idea.

The shuttle slowed as it approached the vast firebase extending for many kilometers in all directions. It was a perfect match for the one where they had found the Kaatan Lilith called home. Except it held not a single ship.

At the controls now Lilith used the shuttle’s systems to query the firebase computer. It was essentially shut down and would only respond to close proximity transmissions. After a minute she floated out of the pilots area with a considering look on her face.

“What’s the prognosis?” Minu asked.

“The firebase is essentially operational,” Lilith said. “It has a basic store of consumables and power. Not optimal but enough. It was not moved here with the ghost fleet, either. It was built here in orbit as a permanent facility.”

“They meant to make a stand here.”

“It would seem,” Lilith agreed. “Linking with the base’s systems I have isolated one hundred remote weapons and defensive satellites in low and extreme orbits around this world. All in safe mode.”

“Damned fortress,” Aaron said under his breath.

“We hit the jackpot,” Minu said. “Can we go aboard?”

“I’d advise against it,” Lilith said. “We’d have to take the station out of power-down mode to get atmosphere and gravitics operational. I’ve confirmed everything is operational. Perhaps we should wait.”

“I’ll take your lead on this, then,” Minu agreed. “Aaron, let’s get back to the fleet. Minu to salvage fleet.”

“Cherise here,” came the familiar voice in the little shuttle’s cockpit, “you about done playing down there?”

“Been a long day,” Minu said. “We completed our survey of the planet. It’s simply amazing! An entire world set up to operate an arm’s span from one of the most deadly interstellar phenomenon, and teeming with life.”

In the day they’d spent exploring they’d found diverse plant and animal life. Plants designed to use what little visible light was available and the ample thermal radiation coming from the magnetar. Animals that were nearly blind but took advantage of sonar senses to find food and prey. But like Lilith said, not much diversity. Just like Bellatrix. The hand of the Lost was everywhere there. And the presence of bots left to keep the planet healthy was omnipresent.

Minu took a moment to tell her about the planet and the firebase.

“Well we’ve been busy up here while you played,” Cherise joked. “Ready for the ghost fleet breakdown?”

“Please proceed,” Lilith said.

“We have twelve Fiisk in various states. The best is better than our bes currently operating. Looks like it took a hit to its main computer. Our Kaatan CI is as excited as a computer can get.”

Aaron gave a low whistle.

“We have another five Ibeen, most in pretty bad shape. Bakook thinks we can put together two more, with some spares.”

“Good,” Minu said, her tablet was out and she was taking notes. “What else?”

“Sixty more Eseel, most are almost perfect. Don’t understand that one.”

“They may have been used to maneuver the ghost fleet into the rendezvous with the magnetar,” Lilith postulated.

Cherise continued: “There are also four more Kaatan. We were waiting for Lilith, but the CI thinks two, maybe three can be salvaged. One looks to have had its brains blown out. The CI says that could be a candidate to make it operational again as a Kaatan. I think it’s getting tired of playing brains for the Fiisk.”

Lilith gave a shrug.

“The last you are going to have to see to believe.”

Lilith acknowledged a data transmission and brought the cockpit’s smallish holographic display alive. The object floated past a nearly shattered Ibeen, and it was bigger. Well, longer at least. And it looked like no Lost ship Minu had ever seen.