What War Had Wrought (Rise of the Empire Book 7) Page 11

  However, as it overlapped our dimension so much, it also meant that our dimension had some influence on it, which was why you couldn’t enter hyperspace when close to a star. Trans-space was another dimension, one that had a bit less overlap with ours, and whose rules were slightly different, which was why it could only be accessed through trans-points, which the People realized were in fact places where the border between our two dimensions was weaker. Although there seemed to be a bit of a gap with their knowledge of those dimensions. The People hadn’t used hyperspace or trans-space for travel until very late in their civilization’s lifespan, as she read it almost seemed as if they hadn’t been aware of them. They used skim drives for FTL, and a bit later something they called access points, which were massive stations built inside suns, powered by them to move ships instantaneously between these points. Their discovery of trans-space and hyperspace seemed almost an afterthought, something that developed long after they reached their peak.

  Then there was their discovery that higher intelligence required that the lifeform was capable of accessing the Sha, even if it was without the lifeform’s conscious ability. Looking back at the data, and then human history, Seo-yun had discovered that while humans didn’t have that conscious ability to manipulate the Sha, they did however have a connection to the Sha even before Adrian awakened it. It was manifested in small things, like people feeling that something was wrong when a bad thing was about to happen, one sibling feeling the death of another from far away, those kinds of things. Or at least that was what Axull Darr had written about the way it would be manifested. Not in those words, but similar.

  And there so many other marvels and achievements that the People had discovered. And all of that knowledge was there for her to access. In a way, that saddened Seo-yun; knowledge was her life’s pursuit, and now there wasn’t anything left to discover, only things to master and add to. At least until they reached the level of the People and moved beyond them. Seo-yun knew that there were things that they didn’t know—the reason why they were dying, for one. Perhaps one day she would find the answer.

  ***

  Adjutant Jonas sat at the sensor station on board the patrol ship Pharaoh. He was one of three others in command center during the third shift. It was a boring post. Jonas was looking over the passive and active sensors that were checking the space around the ship on their patrol route that took them to the edge of the nebula. Jonas had always wondered what it was like to be posted on a true fleet warship. He thought that it must be much more exciting, barring the possibility of death.

  Sometimes when he got especially bored during his shifts, he toyed with the idea of putting in a request for a transfer. But then he inevitably remembered that the Empire was at war, or soon it would be, and he always gave up on the notion. Being bored on a patrol ship in the safest place in the Empire was infinitely better than being dead. So, Jonas resigned himself to boredom and almost mechanically looking over the data in front of him.

  He was so lost in his musings that he almost missed an item that popped up on his screen. He saw that the ship’s AI had marked a scan with low priority for him to check out. Jonas frowned and took a deeper look at the data. Apparently, the ship’s sensors had detected a slight irregularity with the nebula density, which had disappeared after three point two seconds. Jonas checked and saw that there was no more data, and that the only reason the AI had marked it was because such scans had never before been encountered.

  Jonas looked at the Low Prime sitting in the command chair with a blank look on his eyes that meant that he was reading a book on his imp, as he always did during the third shift. Jonas debated on whether to bother the Low Prime or not, and after a minute or two of thinking it over stood and walked over.

  “Low Prime?” Jonas asked, and saw his superior blink a few times and then focus on him.

  “Yes, Jonas?” Low Prime said, annoyed.

  “The ship’s AI brought a strange scan to my attention. Here,” Jonas said quickly, and then accessed the holo table in front of the command chair and brought out the scan.

  Low Prime looked at the scans thoughtfully for a minute, and then turned to look at Jonas. “This is unusual, but then again we’ve never had reliable scans this close to the nebula,” Low Prime said. Then he looked back at the scans. “Do we have an exact location on where this was picked up?”

  “Yes, Low Prime,” Jonas said.

  “Alright, let’s get an active ping in that region,” Low Prime ordered.

  Jonas let out the breath he had been holding in relief. Apparently he had done the right thing by bringing this up. “Right away, sir.”

  Jonas went back to his station and targeted the active scanners. A moment later, new scans showed up on his console.

  “Anything strange?” Low Prime said from right behind Jonas, making him start.

  “Uh, nothing out of the ordinary, sir. I mean, there is interference, but it is consistent with every other scan inside the nebula,” Jonas answered.

  Low Prime nodded. “Alright, I’ll mark this in the report for the High Prime as low priority. Good job.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Jonas said as the Low Prime moved back to the command chair and continued reading his book.

  ***

  “Is everything ready?” Hanaru, Weaver of the Erasi, asked.

  “It is,” Hanaru’s second in command answered. “The stealth ships are on the way and will reach their targets in about a month. They have loaded up on rocks and are calculating the trajectories and speeds.”

  “Good, that’s enough time for us to prepare our attack,” Hanaru said. “And we weren’t detected?”

  “No, Weaver. There was a close encounter with an Empire patrol ship, but our new stealth ships proved superior to the Empire’s sensors.”

  “They didn’t see us?” Hanaru asked.

  “They detected something, most likely the nebula’s interference caused something detectable, but it wasn’t enough to betray our presence.”

  “Good, and everything else in on schedule?” Hanaru asked.

  “It is.”

  “Gather the commanders. I want one last planning session before we attack.”

  “As you wish, Weaver,” Hanaru’s second in command said, and left him alone in the room.

  Hanaru looked over the scans of the Empire’s Sanctuary system. It was as detailed as their stealth ships could get it without revealing their presence. There were many uncertainties, but in the end, they didn’t matter. Hanaru was given a mission that he had to fulfill, and he fully intended to. With a thought, he switched the holo off and left the room.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Sol

  Gotu sat down at the table in his office, and with a thought accepted the incoming call. “Fleet Commander, I hope that you have news for me.”

  “I do,” Fleet Commander Johanna Stern said. “My scout ship sent a message; they managed to enter the Tarabat system undetected. The good news is that the Tarabat system is still there; the bad news is that all hyperspace transmissions in the proximity of planet Tarabat itself are impossible—whether by jamming or by natural phenomenon, we don’t know. The bad news is that there are clear signs of a battle in the orbit. My ship detected several debris fields, and a few of the stations in orbit are clearly damaged. They couldn’t get close enough to find out if some pieces of the debris belonged to the Jewel, but seeing as there wasn’t a ship matching the visual scans of the Jewel in the orbit, I would say that it is very likely that Jewel was destroyed.”

  “Which means that our people are probably dead. Unless they were on the planet when it was destroyed,” Gotu said sadly. He hadn’t known Sentinel Aileen very well, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t feel sorrow.

  “Probably. The Erasi are regulating traffic through the system; it appears that no ships are allowed to leave it. With the hyperspace communication still impossible, it’s probable that they do not wish us to learn of what happened. They probably don’t know that we
have allies on the planet, but they must assume that some of our trading partners would let us know what had happened,” Johanna said. “As for the possibility that some of our people are still alive, it is slim.”

  Gotu thought about it for a while before speaking. “The fact that all communications are blocked can’t be a coincidence; they must be jamming communications actively. And it could be that they are afraid of someone letting us know; the Erasi must be aware that as soon as we learned what happened, we would put all our resources at disposal to Shara Daim,” Gotu added. Then after a moment of silence, he looked back at the hologram. “But it could be that some of our people are alive and they don’t want to risk them getting a message out.”

  “It’s possible, but there is nothing that we can do until we know for certain. Tarabat is too well defended for my single fleet to take, and all of our other forces are tied up elsewhere. Any rescue mission would need to be a stealth one, a small team. But without knowing if they were alive and where, it’s impossible to plan for anything,” Fleet Commander said.

  “You are right, of course. If some of our people are alive, they will need to send a message before we can act.” Gotu brought his arms in front of his chest in a gesture of gratitude. “Thank you, Fleet Commander. I assume that you have already sent a report to Fleet Headquarters?”

  “I did,” Johanna answered. “My scout ship will remain in Tarabat to monitor the situation. If there is any further development, I will let you know.”

  “Thank you again, Fleet Commander,” Gotu said.

  Fleet Commander Johanna Stern nodded firmly and closed the connection. Gotu sighed and stood. He needed to send a message to Adrian letting him know that the negotiations with the Erasi were now over. Which would mean that his fleets would be free to join the Shara Daim and engage the Erasi forces. Not many in the Empire had truly believed that the Erasi would accept a diplomatic solution; most of them had expected war. And yet, Gotu had never imagined that the Erasi would stoop to actually attacking the diplomatic team from the Empire.

  He knew that Aileen had been given instruction to give the Erasi an ultimatum: they were to commit to finding a diplomatic solution, or the Empire would sever all ties and go to war fully. However, he’d never imagined that they would kill them in order to get more time. Gotu shook his head and started recording a message for the Lord Sentinel. Adrian needed to know about Tarabat as soon as possible.

  Interlude II

  A long time ago

  Axull Darr, his twin Ullax Darr, and their close friend Waiss Gast sat on board the exploratory vessel Star Hope, reviewing all the data from the beginning of their observation of the alien potentially intelligent lifeform—which they had named Alphas. They had been at it for a long time. Over six thousand years of observations were compiled in the raw data in front of them, and this was the sixth month of their review.

  “There is nothing here!” Ullax said, frustrated. “You were wrong, Waiss, Alphas are not a stage three lifeform.”

  “They must be,” Waiss insisted. “They exhibit all the characteristics of what we believe a stage three needs to have. They live in communities, they care for their young, they use tools, and have limbs suitable for executing complicated tasks.”

  “Pah!” Ullax exclaimed. “A beast can use things in its environment as a tool if it discovers that it is useful. And there are beasts that live in communities and care for their young.”

  “Yes, but none have limbs suitable for more advanced tasks!” Waiss responded.

  “That means nothing! They haven’t advanced at all since we started watching them, not one recorded instance of innovation, of a new use for a tool or even a slight improvement of the same!” Ullax stood up. “Admit it, you were wrong.”

  “We should give them more time,” Waiss pleaded.

  “I’m sorry, Waiss, but I have wasted enough time on your project,” Ullax said, and left the room, leaving Waiss following her with his gaze.

  “I know that she is probably right,” Waiss said, his eyes still on the door through which Ullax had left. “If only I could figure out why no other life has shown signs of higher intelligence, I feel like she would look at me differently.”

  Axull sighed. He knew how his friend felt about his sister, but there was nothing he could do. Ullax was brilliant, the best in her fields; her automatons and machinery were revolutionary. But her brilliance also made her disregard anyone that was less than that. It was her biggest flaw; she expected all to be equal to her, and when they fell inevitably short, they slipped beneath her notice.

  “We don’t know that she is right for sure. They could still move beyond this phase,” Axull tried to reassure his friend.

  Waiss turned to look at him. “You were right the first time, they are an aberration. A stage two lifeform that uses tools, nothing more,” Waiss said, defeated.

  “Not necessarily…” Axull said slowly, trying to decide whether to share his thoughts with his friend.

  “What do you mean?” Waiss asked.

  “I have been doing some testing of my own,” Axull responded hesitantly.

  “What kind of testing?” Waiss asked confused.

  “Here, look at this.” Axull brought the data from his tests on the holographic display above their table.

  Waiss leaned in and studied the data, then turned to look at Axull with a frown on his face. “This is a study on the Sha.”

  “Yes,” Axull Darr said.

  “What does it have to do with the Alphas’ intelligence?” Waiss asked.

  “Do you notice anything strange about the levels of Sha with the Alphas?” Axull asked.

  “No, everything seems to be normal,” Waiss responded unsurely.

  “The levels are normal; right about in the middle of the scale of every lifeform that isn’t us.”

  Waiss narrowed his eyes. “So there is nothing strange about them. What is the purpose of this, Axull?”

  “This here is a scan of the Sha level of a newborn of the People,” Axull said as he put the new data alongside the first.

  Waiss took only a short glance at the new data before he turned to look at Axull. “This is nothing new, of course there is a discrepancy. We are far more attuned to the Sha; we can influence it, they can’t. Sha permeates through them, but it isn’t gathered in them; they have no conduit nor the biology necessary to achieve that.”

  “Exactly,” Axull said with a smile.

  “And what does that mean?”

  “Do you know when our people achieved a connection with the Sha?” Axull asked.

  “Well we don’t really know. Based on the remains, historians believe that it was just about the time we started living in larger groups and using tools.” Waiss said.

  “You are half right. That period was when we supposedly achieved conscious ability to manipulate the Sha. But, most biologists agree that we had evolved a conduit to the Sha much earlier in our evolution.”

  “And what does that have to do with the Alphas and their intelligence?”

  “They don’t have a conduit; they can’t even feel the Sha around them.”

  Waiss opened his mouth to say something, then stopped himself and looked at Axull for what seemed hours before he spoke again. “You think that the Sha has a direct correlation to intelligence.”

  “It makes sense,” Axull Darr said slowly. “There is no other lifeform in the galaxy that has our ability, none that can even interact with the Sha within them on an unconscious level. We are the only ones, and we have attained higher intelligence. It is an avenue worth exploring.”

  “If that is true, then the Alphas will never be intelligent, or at least not for a long time,” Waiss said, defeated.

  “No, not unless we help them along,” Axull said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “We could alter them slightly, give them a conduit,” Axull responded.

  “I doubt that the Grand Exatts would approve of that,” Waiss said slowly, but even as he did, Axull
could see that his friend was interested.

  “You are in charge of this project and can do whatever you want. We could change only a small number of them, monitor them for a couple of generations and see if it sparks anything. If nothing happens, it will be easy to remove any alterations we do. And if it does succeed, we would have answered the question the People had sought an answer to since we started exploring the stars. The Grand Exatts will be ecstatic,” Axull said.

  “Yes,” Waiss said, almost to himself. “Can you imagine it, Axull?” Waiss looked at his friend. “If it turns out that Sha is required to spark higher intelligence, we could spark life across the galaxy with just one small alteration!”

  Axull smiled at his friend’s enthusiasm. “Yes, we wouldn’t be alone anymore. Imagine speaking with a lifeform that is not like you, who perceives the universe through senses different from yours. What kind of conversations would we have?”

  “That will only happen if you are right,” Waiss said, his bright mood dimming a bit.

  “Well, then, let’s get to work,” Axull said as he stood up. “Oh, and we better find Ullax before she packs up and leaves. I doubt that she will want to miss this.”

  Waiss’s mood brightened again at the prospect of Axull’s sister remaining with them. And Axull couldn’t help but smile at the expression of hope and happiness on his friend’s face.

  Chapter Seventeen

  November; Year 58 of the Empire — Numvani — Bloodbringer

  The Bloodbringer dropped out of hyperspace at the edge of the system where the meeting with the Erasi was supposed to take place, and slowly Bloodbringer made its way towards the planet, all the while scanning everything around them.

  They had detected a single Erasi ship on the opposite side of the system, and a super battleship moving towards the meeting place. Once they’d detected them and calculated their speed, Anessa had her people adjust their speed so both ships would reach the planet around the same time. Almost a day later, both ships were in orbit of the planet, with the Erasi ship and the Bloodbringer taking positions on opposite hemispheres.