Black Sun (Phantom Server: Book #3) (33 page)

Accept!

You’re about to send one packet of data to the Darg system prior to blocking it permanently. This will diminish the number of your available Action Points 10%.

Accept!

I played by the rules and within my remit. The Phantom Server’s AI couldn’t prevent me from doing what I was doing. All it could do was keep the score of all the “unadvisable actions” I was making, reporting,

Warning! You don’t have enough available Action Points to colonize the nearest world with a suitable biosphere.

Abort colonization: Yes/No

No!

Choose a planet for colonization

My gaze alighted on a star system within reach of the Third Colonial Fleet. Tagged with a question mark, the system was currently off line. The AI which had been sent there to research the potential cargonite resources, had reported its arrival, sent the information back and had never been heard of again.

That was it, then. My gaze shifted, drawing a new route. Breathlessly I awaited the answer, knowing that the communications stations had just kicked in, sending a request that had cost me every remaining Action Point I still had.

Reply received.

Enter the new planet’s name:_______

Rubicon.

Accepted. The databases have been updated with the new name.

Would you like to lay a route between the Central system and the Rubicon system?

Yes!

New navigational marker set up. Route laid and confirmed.

You’ve received a new ability: The Follower

The navigational route laid by you has been added to the hyperspace network. Every time it is used to transport a spaceship or a single traveler, you will receive a small number of Action Points for you to use in the future, allowing you to keep your Colonizer skill.

Quest alert: The Chasm. Quest completed!

You seem to have wasted the resources available to you. At this point, you cannot rescue three civilizations. Come back when you have enough available Action Points necessary to perform colonization.

Now transporting you and the other crew members back on board the Relic.

* * *

Respawn.

The green glow streamed through the air, dissolving slowly.

Reality was still blurring. Charon’s far-off growl was drowned out by the hissing and tweeting of the Dargian language.

Roakhmar was beyond himself, furious, disoriented. He lashed out at me, “Zander, I was in the midst of a battle! Give me a good reason or send me back
now
! Otherwise, I swear by the Founders-”

“Cool down. The Darg system has been blocked. I can’t send you back. No one can leave it from now on.”

“My people!” Roakhmar exclaimed, desperate. “We’re struggling to keep the last citadel of our Clan, and you-”

“I’ve pulled you out of battle to save all three of our civilizations! Get a grip! Then we’ll talk.”

Roakhmar stared at me insanely, unable to grasp my actions just like the Phantom Server AI had been.

“Jurgen, I’m sending you the jump settings. We’re leaving the Central system ASAP.”

“And where, may I ask you,” Jurgen raised an eyebrow, “are we going? What kind of planet is it?” he checked against his databases. “Rubicon? Never heard about it!”

“It’s our new home,” I said wearily.

You’ve received a new level!

+5 to Charisma!

Three civilizations have accepted you as their leader.

Now calculating jump settings.

Warning! The AI located in the Rubicon system is not responding. We cannot guarantee the materialization of the ship and its crew at this destination point.

Are you sure you want to continue?

Unhesitantly I uploaded Avatroid’s scanner file to the communications station and pressed
Send.

“Yes,” I said. “I’m sure.”

Jump coordinates confirmed. Dematerialization in 10... 9... 8...

* * *

The second planet of the Rubicon system.

The airlock of our Raptor hissed open.

A thick blanket of crimson-tinted clouds hung low, heavy with lightning.

We looked around us, speechless.

The planet was primeval. Groups of volcanoes erupted on the horizon. The air temperature was 160 F. To our right, an ocean boiled against a ragged coastline, spewing geysers of steam into the air.

The heavy rain evaporated before it could touch the cracked surface of this lava valley.

Our scanners detected cargonite deposits everywhere, its veins and nuggets small but numerous.

Liori and I approached the edge of the boiling water. The yellow-tinged cliffs oozed a toxic haze. Our sensors were deep in the red.

Roakhmar walked over to us, looking resolute. “Shall we start?”

“Wait a bit. Danezerath is downloading the databases.”

“Have you managed to contact the Haash system?” he asked in surprise.

“I have. Since I visited Phantom Server, all my skills and abilities have grown quite a lot.”

“But still not enough, have they?” Roakhmar asked haughtily. He was having a hard time coming to grips with his new position, which resulted in occasional bouts of temper.

“None of us can do it alone,” Liori replied.

The Dargian shrank his head into his shoulders — a funny habit pointing at his extreme impatience. Never mind. It wasn’t the first time we had to work as a team. We’d gel.

“All done!” Jurgen and Danezerath scrambled out of the Raptor. “We’ve got the databases. We really should keep a safe distance. The ocean might flood the shore.”

“That’s irrelevant,” Roakhmar dug in his heels.

* * *

After a brief discussion we decided to withdraw further into the valley.

Charon, Vandal and Foggs watched us from afar.

“Make a group,” I told the others, “and join your abilities.”

Jurgen tilted his head back and froze: a level 120 Technologist.

Liori and I held hands. We were both Mnemotechs, levels 90 and 95 respectively.

Roakhmar stepped back. He was the most advanced of us all. Back on Darg, I’d never had the chance to glean his true power.

Danezerath: a level 80 Mechanic.

Novitsky: a level 57 Exobiologist.

Our minds touched. Slowly our inner estrangement faded as our skills and abilities began to fuse together.

I opened the scanner file I’d made back in the Dargian Temple of Light and uploaded it to the network. “Commence replication.”

The ground shuddered. The valley surged with flames. Newborn nanites swirled at a distance, forming a cloud that kept growing, attracting bolts of lightning.

Clouds thickened overhead. The wind grew. A roaring noise came from the ocean.

Jurgen and Danezerath were busy getting the model ready while we created new nanite colonies.

Novitsky was but an observer for the time being. His turn was yet to come.

Billions of nanites spiraled into a vortex. I activated Self-Replication, sending more and more incandescent threads of nanites to feed the swirling twister.

My interface flashed nine-digit numbers. I’d never have been able to control this number of nanites without Liori and Roakhmar’s help.

“The model’s completed,” Danezerath reported. “No deviations from the scanner file found.”

“Databases ready for uploading,” Jurgen chipped in.

“Confirm,” Novitsky’s voice faltered with anxiety.

The level-100 replication matrix — the result of our combined effort — took some time to materialize.

A clap of thunder came first. A few square miles of the valley began to cave in, as if pounded in by an enormous punching fist.

The swirling nanite tornado began to separate into layers. The sky showered earth with lightning bolts.

The earth ran with cracks, releasing subterranean fire.

The area of our manmade disaster spread rapidly, its fiery blister swelling.

The new technogenic environment swallowed us. Our mental images began to structure the nanites. The fire and smoke parted, revealing the yet unstable rippling outline of a device that resembled a giant organic molecule.

Genesis.

The ancient machine, an early child of the Founders’ power, capable of transfiguring whole planets.

It had been lost for good, apart from its scanner file I’d copied into my mind expander. Our joint efforts had allowed us to build it anew!

Novitsky, Roakhmar and Danezerath were now uploading their own databases to it — all the information about the biospheres of three different planets.

Their co-existence on one planet was impossible, which was why our colonization zones would have to be separated from each other by force fields.

“All done,” Roakhmar’s voice was barely audible, exhausted. He was the only one with the skill necessary to program the device.

The planetary transformation machine switched to automatic mode.

It was already busy working. Its antigravs kicked in. The barrage of lightning began to subside. The wind began to abate. The clouds alone hung low over the valley.

* * *

“This is Relic. Ready for activation,” a report came from the orbit.

This was the moment of truth. Rebuilding Genesis and commencing the planet’s transformation was only a small part of our plan.

The frigate’s long-range communications sprang to life, sending us a very good clear picture.

A black sun hung low over an alien horizon. Its mineral segments emitted radiation invisible to the human eye. Still, I could see it thanks to the Founders’ artifact that the Haash had built into the grounded spaceship which now housed the last of them.

The planet’s frozen surface shuddered as our command, transmitted via hyperspace, activated their starship’s engines.

The ship settled into the planet’s orbit. Obeying my orders, its navigational systems accepted Rubicon’s coordinates.

The ship’s cruise engines kicked in.

Charon, your turn.

The Haash astronaut quickly found his way around the ship‘s systems. The temperature in one of its modules began to rise.

Good. We can disconnect now. We’ll contact the ship’s commander once he awakes from his stasis. At the moment, we’ve done everything we could.

A mental reply touched my mind,

You’re The Friend of the Haash. And so you will remain.

Next.

This time I had Roakhmar working with me.

I’d blocked the Darg system. But later we’d discovered a probe outside its limits. It contained a brief message addressed to us.

We saw the Disciples’ last citadel besieged by the Reapers.

The walls of this mountain fortress still held. Its force field emitters continued to work. Nevertheless, its defenders were doomed. The enemy was too numerous, contained solely by plasma blasts that scorched the planet’s surface for miles around.

Then the fortress shuddered and began to collapse. Its walls and its towers crumbled, revealing a gigantic spaceship enveloped in a dazzling halo of force shields. A Founders’ spaceship.

Its antimatter engines fired up while still within the planet’s atmosphere.

Flames enveloped Darg and poured forth into space, momentarily deactivating its orbital blockade.

A few Dargian symbols flashed through my mental view and broke off.

Coordinates accepted. We’ve made it. Wait for us. We’re coming in peace...

Next.

Liori’s thoughts emanated warmth, supporting me.

We were on board Wayfarer, flagship of the Third Colonial Fleet.

The complex pattern of stars moved slowly across enormous observation screens.

Destination accepted. Rubicon system coordinates received.

The cluster of combat craft, interstellar stations and link after countless link of cryogenic platforms changed their courses. They carried billions of people, their minds irresponsive in their cryogenic sleep.