The Pandora Paradox Page 12

  "Hit me."

  "After the main force hit the Imperial Navy in their home system, there were two smaller taskforces observed hitting targets that weren't known military installations deep within Imperial space, each said to have met with heavy resistance." Kage enlarged the star chart of the Cluster and highlighted two worlds. "This first planet was rumored to be experimenting in militarized AI systems. From what little chatter there was about it after The Fall, the Empire was basically funding research being carried out by Kheprian scientists."

  "Khepri?" Jason asked. "Khepri is a ConFed Pillar World. They were one of the original signatories of the first binding charter. Why would they be in bed with the Eshquarians?"

  "There are some areas of research, specifically in AI, that are strictly outlawed within the ConFed," Kage said. "The Eshquarians may have given them funding and a planet in return for a share of the spoils. We can assume it was something much more intense than their illicit next-gen battlesynth program we stumbled across while trying to bring Lucky back from the dead."

  "An insane AI attacking a site doing AI research isn't likely a coincidence," Jason said, ignoring the sharp pang in his chest at the mention of Lucky. "What was the other planet doing?"

  "No idea," Kage said. "And I mean no idea. Usually, the backchannels will have at least some plausible rumors, but it's like this site never even existed. Nobody is talking about it, either."

  "Are they not talking about it, or is it being actively suppressed on the Nexus?" Jason asked.

  "Clever." Kage bobbed his head in the Veran approximation of a nod. "You're right. The Nexus is something that, by its nature, should be impossible to police, but that was before a hyper-intelligent AI was plugged into it. The Machine could be actively monitoring and squelching any news that comes out about Site Two."

  "Which means that's where we're heading," Jason said. "Send all information about that site to the bridge. In the meantime, try to dig up whatever you can regarding the Kheprian AI project they had going at Site One. Let's assume these things are all connected."

  "On it," Kage said.

  Jason walked out of the planning room feeling marginally better than when he walked in. At least now there were the beginnings of a solid plan.

  14

  "It's breathtaking, isn't it?"

  "You want to know something funny, sir? This is the first time I've ever been here."

  Scleesz chuckled appreciatively at that.

  "The entire galactic quadrant at our fingertips thanks to the miracle of slip-drives, and yet most of us never even bother to explore the wonders of our home planets," he said. The pair were at an observation point, overlooking the Grand Canyon. The councilman's personal security detail held a perimeter about one hundred and fifty meters away, and the Navy had cleared the airspace all the way to orbit for the sightseeing expedition. "The look on your leadership's faces when I asked to come here with you alone makes me think this isn't normal protocol."

  "Not quite," Webb agreed. "I'm just a captain in the Navy, assigned to a small command on a colony world."

  "I'm well aware of your Naval Special Operations Command, Captain Webb, as well as your reputation personally," Scleesz said. "I even read a report on how your people sent you to kill Jason Burke once."

  "Thankfully, I didn't succeed."

  "Indeed. You know he was involved in the attack on Miressa Prime, right?"

  "I've heard many rumors, sir," Webb said, sensing a trap.

  "He is quite integral into the operations of this new rebellion…as am I." Scleesz's casual revelation he'd been committing high treason against his own government jolted Webb. He didn't know how to respond to that, so he stayed silent.

  "I'm not sure how much you know about what's happened in the Core World political structure, but things in motion must be stopped. I don't know if I'm suspected or not, normally being sent to a planet like Earth as a Senior Councilman would be a grave insult, but I'm beginning to see signs of instability in its behavior."

  "The Ma—"

  "Do not speak its name!" Scleesz whirled on Webb. "I'm fairly certain we're not being observed but speaking the name it calls itself near public networks tends to draw the attention of the sentinel programs it has deployed throughout the Nexus."

  "Understood," Webb said. "Why are you telling me all this, sir?"

  "It sent me here because it suspects you have found something…something that would allow you to make sizable leaps in technological prowess," Scleesz said. "This diplomatic mission is just a cover, and perhaps a warning as well."

  "What sort of something are you talking about?" Webb said, now beginning to sweat. He knew what had given Earth an edge in weapons tech in recent years, but he needed to know if the ConFed knew about it or if this was all just a fishing expedition.

  "I don't know," Scleesz admitted. "Ancient ruins from a past civilization on one of your planets here. Maybe a derelict ship you found. The civilization we suspect your technology comes from were prolific explorers in this part of the galaxy long before most of our species had discovered fire."

  So, the ConFed didn't know about the Ark, but they knew humans had gotten some help from something. Webb knew he was on the spot here, and he had one chance to get this right. He realized that no matter what choice he made, it was almost certain he would be put in prison. That realization gave him a sudden calm. If all choices led to ruin, then the only thing he had to worry about was doing what was right, not what benefited him personally.

  "What will happen if I can't give you what you want?" he asked.

  "I will return to ConFed space and tell my leadership what you have told me," Scleesz said. "You won't be believed. It is already convinced you have it. The next group of ships that come from the Core will not be diplomatic vessels, and they will not send a politician to talk."

  "We found some ruins on Mars, the planet your charts list as Sol-4," he said, trying to sound like he was giving the information reluctantly. "That was the beginning. Advanced metallurgy used in our ships came from what we learned there. At first, we assumed it to be some sort of shelter used by a former indigenous population, but now we think it might have been a scientific outpost.

  "The next leap came when we were attacked by a fleet of starships. It was our first encounter with aliens as a collective civilization and not just a random abduction. Jason Burke fought them off, but one of the ships was shot down and crashed on the surface. It was loaded with technology we were told came from a race Jason called the Ancients. Most of it was non-functional, but from it we were able to develop our own systems to supplement what we purchased from the Ull, and later the Cridal Cooperative."

  "So…some ancient ruins and a crashed ship," Scleesz said. "From that you were able to develop an entire engineering methodology?"

  "It's one of our talents as a species," Webb said.

  "I can work with that," Scleesz said, clapping his hands in front of him. "I can't guarantee it will be fully believed, but I can order some detailed scans of your Mars. Where is the wreckage of the ship?"

  "Same place," Webb said. "It was disassembled, and the pieces put into a hangar carved into the wall of the same canyon. The Ull want it badly still, so it's secured where few know about it. "

  "Convenient," Scleesz said. "Now come, Captain, I can tell your diplomatic delegation is becoming quite distressed at how long we're taking."

  "I can only imagine," Webb sighed. He wasn't looking forward to debrief and hoped he'd only be busted down in rank, not arrested and sent to Red Cliff Military Prison.

  "I've ordered the captain to begin high resolution scans of Sol-4, but it appears the humans were forthcoming about the source of their newfound knowledge."

  Scleesz sat in a dark chamber that had been anchored to the deck of one of the Seileu's cargo holds. It was an extra-secure communications nook that could open a direct link to the Machine that didn't pass through Miressa Prime's governmental Nexus hubs. It was as secure as standing in the aud
ience chamber with it.

  "And you believe them?" the Machine asked. "About these…ruins?"

  "They're definitely there," Scleesz said. "That much at least shows up on our long-range scans. The humans appear to be without guile, somewhat overwhelmed that a member of the governing body is visiting their homeworld and eager to impress their betters."

  "Complete your detailed scans and transmit the raw data to me," the Machine said. "I will then be able to further tell you if a landing party will be necessary."

  "What about the ship they spoke of?" Scleesz asked. "The storage bay they carved into the planet's surface is shielded."

  "It is immaterial," the Machine said. "I already know where it came from, and it holds no interest for me. Is there anything else to report?"

  "Nothing of note," Scleesz said. "I will forward you the raw data from the scans once the captain completes his sweep."

  "You have performed adequately at this task, Councilman," the Machine said. "Be quick about the rest of your mission. I have need of you here."

  "Of course." Scleesz said that last sentence to a blank screen since the channel was cut the instant the Machine had stopped talking. He disengaged all of the locks on the com pod so he could get out and inform the captain of their new tasking. There was one more state function he would need to attend, and by the time it was over, he should be well on his way back to Miressa Prime.

  Saditava Mok sat silently through the briefing being delivered via slip-com link by both Burke and Ma'Fredich. The latter went by the name Doc to his crewmates, but the crime lord just couldn't bring himself to think of such a brilliant and accomplished geneticist as Jorvren Ma'Fredich as Doc. Why he stayed with that pack of pirates was beyond him.

  "This is compelling but hardly solid proof," Mok said once Burke finished speaking. "I think I'd still prefer that you scout the construction zones."

  "Part of the problem with that is we have no practical way to approach the sites without being spotted, and this ship isn't equipped for long-range passive recon," Burke said. "Even if it was, that sort of intel gathering takes weeks and weeks. We feel comfortable at this point with our analysis of the data we've already collected. These two sites in what used to be Eshquaria are big question marks and are almost certainly tied together."

  "And if you find out that the Machine just happens to have a penchant for ancient artifacts?" Mok asked.

  "The least likely of scenarios," Burke said. "Remember, I've had personal interaction with this thing. Trust me, it's not after art or trinkets."

  "I never trust you, but in this case, I can see your point," Mok said reluctantly. "How long will this take? I can't keep my private security force pooled up and off-task for too much longer. If we don't have a target, I'll need to release them to maintain order within my own organization."

  "We're at max slip-velocity now," Burke said. "What about the Imperial Remnant?" He referred to the sizable group of Eshquarian warships that had fled the initial invasion when the ConFed attacked and were now manned by former Imperial Navy spacers and pledged to support their cause.

  "Hidden," Mok said. "They're too hot a commodity to have flying around right now, and logistical support for Imperial warships is now non-existent. We can't have them out chewing through spare parts we can't replace before the real fight begins."

  "We don't need them, just idly curious," Burke said. "We'll let you know what we find." The channel died, and Mok's screen automatically retracted into his desk.

  "I notice he didn't ask about the Cridal strike group," a voice belonging to someone who had been sitting off-camera said.

  "I wouldn't take it personal, Admiral," Mok said to his guest. "What do you make of the rest of his presentation?"

  "I've learned Jason Burke and his team have an innate talent for finding things people didn't even know they wanted," Kellea Colleran said, rising smoothly from the couch. "If he says they're on to something, they're on to something."

  "And you? What will you do now?" Mok asked.

  "You mean now we know Seeladas Dalton has put a price on my head?" Kellea asked. "There's not much I can do. The Viper will catch up to me if I remain with my ship. I suppose there would be some honor in remaining at my post and letting her kill me, but I'm just not all that eager to die just yet."

  "You're too important a talent to waste on a pointless gesture," Mok agreed. "We will keep you safe until I can call the Viper off."

  "Humans," Kellea hissed. "What have we done to deserve to be saddled with them?"

  "It must have been something terrible for the fates to curse us so," Mok said, swirling his drink.

  15

  "Minimal security presence."

  "No kidding. I'm not even seeing any capital ships in the system, just that frigate they've landed on the surface."

  The planet, a cold, rocky world named Che'ilith Minor, sat in an orbit just barely close enough to its star to be considered habitable. Jason had been on more extreme planets, but none with such a cold climate that supported such a large population. That population, roughly two-hundred million that had grown from the original ninety thousand colonists, lived in equatorial cities as would be expected. This left the vast majority of the planet unexplored and largely ignored. The Eshquarian Empire saw an opportunity to put in some factories on a planet with an ecosystem that wasn't too sensitive to pollution and a population that didn't care.

  It was during the second phase of factory construction in the northern hemisphere that the ruins of an advanced civilization were found under the ice and permafrost. Scientists and activists flocked to Che'ilith, the former stayed, the latter left quickly. The icy climate was not for the faint of heart. The scientists were baffled at what the small city they'd uncovered even was, much less who built it. Their dating techniques put the settlement at over seventy million years old, so old it was impossible to pinpoint any more accurately than that. The reason that number was so baffling is that the oldest known sentient species in the quadrant was only seven million years old, most much younger than that.

  "They're parked right over that archeological site," Doc said. "That frigate is an older ship, probably repurposed for the science expedition. There's evidence of orbital bombardment as well."

  "So, the ConFed rolls in, wipes out the existing scientific camps, and parks their own team right down on the surface," Jason said. "Any pushback from the civvies?"

  "Doesn't seem to be," Kage said. He'd been scouring the local Nexus to see what was being said in the media. "The site is pretty remote, and they didn't decide to make too much of an issue about the invasion. Apparently, they weren't as loyal a vassal world as the Empire would have liked. They were aware of the attack, but the scientists weren't locals so not much was made of it."

  "How many people you think they have down there?" Crusher nodded to the image of the camp on the main display.

  "If the ship had a full complement, maybe forty or fifty," Doc said.

  "The crew and most of the security complement would probably be quartered on the ship, right?" Crusher asked.

  "Makes sense. They're not going to want to be here anymore than any other sane person," Jason said. "A starship will be infinitely more comfortable than any temporary shelters the science team would bring."

  "That simplifies things," Crusher grunted. Jason just smiled as he fully understood what his friend was hinting at.

  "Shall we go play?" he asked.

  "Why don't we?" Crusher’s feral smile hinted at the violence to come.

  The SX-5 zipped through the cold, fast air of Che'ilith Minor, making entry well north of the equatorial settlements on the night side of the planet. Jason and Crusher were the only two in the ship, riding along in comfortable silence, both keenly aware of the missing person on their tactical team. Not having Lucky along just felt…wrong, somehow.

  "Okay, Devil…light 'em up," Jason said as the SX-5 passed over an imaginary boundary that kicked off their mission clock.

  "Standby,"
Kage's voice said.

  A few heartbeats later, brilliant red plasma cannon fire rained down from above, impacting somewhere just over the horizon. The small ship flew over a rise just as something exploded with tremendous force ahead of them. The blast was so energetic that the small Jepsen was buffeted by the shockwave, and the canopy automatically dimmed as a fireball rose into the night sky, turning the desolate landscape into daylight for a brief moment.

  "Target is down," Kage said.

  "No kidding it's down," Jason breathed. "That's intense when you blow one up within a planet's atmosphere."

  "It's a good thing this planet is practically deserted," Crusher said. "That would have been bad."

  "Get ready on the guns," Jason said. "I'll overfly once at speed, and then we'll circle around and make sure we're clear to land."

  Jason shoved the throttle forward and angled the ship so they'd present the smallest silhouette possible as they approached the target area. The sensors did an impressive job of peering through the smoke and showing the smoldering wreckage that Kage's orbital barrage had left behind. The ship, which had been on the small side to still be considered a frigate, had been blown into two pieces. The bow had been launched nearly three hundred meters away from the dig site while the stern, which housed all the engineering and drive systems, had exploded with tremendous force. The blast had flattened all of the temporary work buildings that had been erected on the surface, and Jason just hoped enough remained for them to figure out what was so special about the site that the Machine had research teams here.

  "Targeting scan is negative," Crusher said. "If anything survived, it isn't moving."

  "Cycle the gear," Jason said. "I’m going to set down on that flat spot just south of the worksite opening. How's the radiation look?"

  "Negligible," Kage's voice came over the open channel. "Antimatter reactor blew, but the housing itself remained mostly intact, so we didn't contaminate the area."