Remember the Starfighter (41 page)

Alysdeon summoned her ship the moment she heard the news. In minutes, the craft arrived, zeroing in on their location at the shelter. They now walked inside the hallways of the vessel and entered the bridge, Alysdeon anxious. She needed to see the evidence for herself.

The room immediately became immersed in the light from the data, the star charts and scans emanating from the bridge’s central view screen. Connected to both the Alliance and Ula surveillance networks, the bio-ship displayed the latest intelligence, isolating the view on an anomaly over 200 light-years away. The energy pattern was old, and fading, but an unmanned Alliance probe had managed to record it and beam it back to the central analytical networks for processing. The Ula’s own surveillance drones had just been dispatched to verify the scans. But as she read over the preliminary analysis, Alysdeon could feel her worst fears coming true.

she said.

“Yes,” Richard said. “That warp signature is probably only over two days old. But others will appear. They always do”

More time would be needed to trace the direction of the emerging Endervar presence. But it was unmistakably a disturbing development. All this time, Julian had worried about the Ouryans, only to realize that it was the Endervars who were closing in.

“Containment,” he said. “It’s over, isn’t it?”

Richard nodded. “The Alliance won’t publicly say it, but they’ve pulled back most of the defending machine fleets. It’s all to reorganize them into new offensive operations. The Ouryan collapser is now the priority.”

Richard then accessed his own systems, and displayed the latest data on Endervar movements, sending them to the view screen. It was all classified information, imprinted with confidential markings. Julian could tell why; the holographic images were rife with maps that showed new sectors currently under threat. The projections showed enemy ships doubling in numbers. 

“With the recent loss of the Arcenian homeworld and the Swardigan cluster, the timetable for the collapser is accelerating,” Richard said. “The Alliance could choose to deploy it on a full-scale bombardment in four or five months. Maybe even sooner.”

He then displayed other maps, showing hundreds of systems at risk of invasion. It was all bathed in pools of red, the enemy movements expanding into the different habitable zones.

“In the meantime, it’s best to talk with the Ula over evacuation procedures,” he added. “For all we know, the Endervars could arrive in weeks or even days.”

Richard stared at Alysdeon, as he expressed the warning. He was grave, and empty of his once charming smile.

Alysdeon was even more so, staring down at her clenched fist.

“I know. But the galaxy still needs them. I urge you to try to change their minds.”

Her anger was quiet, but the hatred was there, contained behind her almost stoic gaze. She had, in fact, made the same promises before, only to fail time and time again. It was a futile pledge, one that added to her regrets.

“Davinity, I’m sorry, but you know that’s not prudent,” Richard replied. “The galaxy still needs you as well. You can do much more alive than dead.”

She was silent for a moment. Out of her own error and emotion, Alysdeon then tapped into the anger and said it.

she uttered, before wanting to take back the words.

Alysdeon shook her head, and cast a look of apology to Julian. She hesitated in a sigh, her anger doubling back and into her control.

she said.

The specialist and Richard left the bridge in haste, but Julian and Arendi stayed behind.

He refused to look at the data anymore, the information echoing what Julian had already largely known. The war was going badly. Far worse than what most of the public knew. For so many, including the people of Carigon, time was running out.

As for Arendi, she could only look on, and find herself drawn into the data. She stepped closer to the view screen, and stared at all the virtual dots, each one a system facing potential invasion. Billions more were at risk, the enemy almost too vast to stop.

“The collapser,” she said. “I understand now.”

It was the solution the people of the galaxy had been desperate for. The last resort to prevent total subjugation. The more she thought of it, the more it made sense. Even Arendi could no longer blame them. They had no other choice. No choice but to take the fight to the next extreme, even if it meant the death of so many others. It was the instinct to survive, an emotion she felt now.

She closed her eyes, and thought back. Her own mission at the forefront. Unbeknownst to the rest of the galaxy, there was another way. Arendi wasn’t sure where it might lead or if it was too late. But she knew she had to try. Everything would depend on it.

PROCEEDING WITH TEST A-37. PARAMETERS READJUSTED AND OPTIMIZED.

The words cut through the underwater lab, the telepathic thoughts distilled into a bellowing translation. The Ula known as “Faraday” made the statement, as his marine body hugged the crystalline structure of the facility. He looked down into the room with his gem-like eye. With another telepathic thought, he then ordered the lab to proceed with the next test. 

SHALL WE RESUME?

Arendi nodded, ready for it to begin.

She was inside the oxygenated lab room, staring at the would-be target of the experiment. It was a piece of energized Phidinium armor, the very material used in the bulkhead of warships. Outside of the Endervar’s own technology, it was one of the most durable substances in the known galaxy, and also perhaps one of the heaviest. A slab of the shaded metal now sat on the floor, the armor close to a meter thick, and about twice as tall. The gray wall of matter was so dense that it seemed almost unbreakable. But nonetheless, Arendi had found a way. She approached the block of metal and gazed at the small, but noticeable dimples in its polished surface. Each of those dents represented a test, the individual pock-marks slightly larger than the last. Now she wanted to make another attempt, this time with even more power.

COMMENCING. 3, 2, 1.

The impact was apparent at the moment the experiment went off. The invisible force, the size of a fist, imprinted against the superdense metal, and carved in, opening not just a dent, but a winding hole into the armor. For a whole three seconds, the matter slackened, turning into gunk against the warping energies of space. Then it stopped, the imprint becoming scar.

Arendi walked up to the wall of metal, and studied the effect. She was not surprised. The armor was simply no match for the exotic particle that she and Faraday had been trying to control. Arendi looked off at the crystal pillar on the other side of the room, the containment pod flashing its darkness. She was fully aware of its power, and its ability to manipulate the fabric of the universe. But what concerned her more was the costs, and if it those alien energies could be tamed.

“Status?” she asked, running her hand across the beaten armor.

RESULT: DEGRADATION TO PARTICLE AT 0.02 percent

She shook her head. “That’s a little higher than I thought it would be,” Arendi said, not fully satisfied by the results. “We may just need to wait for Julian.”

AGREED.

She went back to work, determined to stabilize the enemy particle as much as possible. Next to the containment pod, Faraday had set up a console station designed for human interface. It was embedded inside its own elevated pillar, and displayed the data in the air, through a thin layer of yellow holographic light. 

For three days, Arendi had been at the underwater lab, thinking over the possibilities, and testing her theories. At her disposal, was not just the Endervar particle, but the advanced technology of the Alliance and the Ula. She could see it now, the knowledge of hundreds of alien races, condensed into data, and ready to be utilized. It was leagues ahead of almost anything her creator possessed on Earth, the breadth of research so vast she felt overwhelmed.

Faraday, however, had been her steady guide. The Ula was, indeed, a genius, processing the near endless calculations with a computer-like ease. He had formulated his own theories, from which Arendi had studied and reworked with her knowledge of the particle. Together, they had begun making sense of the patterns. Perhaps the life of the particle could be prolonged, she thought. Stabilized to the point that its degradation was not inevitable.

Arendi considered the prospect. They were inching closer. So close that she felt the excitement. With any luck, maybe they could safely wield the power driving the Endervars.

“Hey, I got what you wanted.”

She noticed the footsteps as the door to the lab room opened. Julian had arrived from the lab’s elevator, carrying the object in his hand. He now raised it up in the air, holding the binding with his two fingers.

It was in the shape of a silver ring, large enough to fit over one’s wrist. Along the edges lined a web of iridescent circuitry, the device shimmering like a prism under the light.

“This is the amplifier, right?” he asked. “I brought a whole cargo of them.”

Julian did not really know what he was holding. He only knew that he had traveled over 12 light-years on board the Au-O’sanah to fetch the coveted gear Faraday had so wanted.

The Ula batted its large octagonal eye at device.

EXCELLENT. PREPARATIONS SHALL COMMENCE.

A drone dropped down from the ceiling above, the glass machine built to resemble a flying insect. It was the size of a finger and helicoptered across the room, picking up the ring from Julian’s hand with its tiny pincers. The drone then hurriedly ferried it off to the Endervar particle, where it was joined by three others of its kind. Carefully, they fitted the so-called amplifier over the containment pod, the placement sealed with the sound of a clasp.

PROCEEDING WITH TEST A-38. AMPLIFIER READS AS FULLY FUNCTIONAL. SHALL WE COMMENCE?

Julian saw the block of metal in the room, clueless as to what was going on. Arendi walked to his side, and told him to stand back.

“Proceed,” she said. “Same as before.”

Faraday agreed. With a thought, he activated the Endervar particle. In another moment, the experiment commenced, the invisible force striking at the wall of armor once more.

Julian saw the impact, the warping energies drilling the large dent into the metal. He then realized what the experiment was trying to test.

“Is it working?” he asked.

Arendi looked at the Ula scientist above, and wondered the question herself.

PARTICLE REMAINS STABLE. DEGRADATON AT 0.00000001 percent.

“Raise the power level. Double it,” she said.

The Ula complied, the impact in the armor growing in both length and depth.

DEGRADATON UNCHANGED.

“I think it’s working,” she said cautiously. “More.”

By now, the impact had left a large and growing crater near the center of the metal. Rapidly, the layers of alloy were peeling away, the exotic energies easily digging deeper into the wall of superdense matter.

PARTICLE POWER AT TEN TIMES AND CLIMBING.

Faraday was moving the experiment beyond the previously imposed limits. But so far, everything was working just as planned. The newly applied amplifier was making a difference. Not only had the device unlocked the power of the Endervar particle, but its integrity had remained stable.

“It really is working,” Julian said.

The energized Phidinium was being pulled apart, the crater widening into a large hole burrowing deep within the metal. The Endervar particle pressed on, stretching the wall of armor. To Arendi, it was like the metal had come alive, the matter winding into a twisted sculpture of black. The effect was more than anything the previous experiments had achieved before, the target completely compromised.

“I think that’s enough,” she said. “Status?”

The effect dissipated, as the Endervar particle powered down.

DEGRADATION AT 0.0000001 PERCENT. STABILITY ACHIEVED AT OVER HUNDRED FOLD.

Although neither Julian nor Arendi could tell, Faraday was impressed. The results had gone beyond his own expectations, the device they had created a fusion of both Alliance technology and old Earth know-how. 

“The amplifier,” she said, returning to her console. Arendi scanned the displayed data, verifying the results. Despite tapping into the Endervar particle, and using its exotic energy, the alien power source remained unfazed, the integrity barely disturbed.

“What you brought Julian,” Arendi explained. “It’s kept the Endervar particle stable,” she said.

“Then it works?”

“Yes. The particle… It can act as our gateway.”

Julian heard the words, as he approached the remains of the energized Phidinium armor. He knelt down and stared through what was now the overt opening inside the wall of metal. Julian couldn’t help but reach through the gap, his fingers dangling inside the empty cavity. 

“You punched a hole right through it,” he said. “Just like last time.”

Julian had already been a witness to the particle’s power, having seen what it could do a month before, on board the SpaceCore station. It had saved his life, pulling him from the vacuum of space, and sending him through solid matter, unharmed. He touched his chest, recalling the sensation, or lack of it.

Now the particle had returned, more powerful than ever. It was ready to assist, the containment pod housing its structure, and blooming in darkness.

“Then the only thing left is the real test,” he added.

“Yes,” Arendi replied. “To Earth.”