MotherShip (45 page)

Eight of her main batteries had been destroyed. With spare parts no longer available, the Kraaqi provided their best replacements to complement the remaining four human-made weapons. Her hybrid weapon was repairable, but the reload time could not be brought under seven minutes, no matter what fixes were tried. It would have to do.

But the greatest gift the Kraaqi bestowed were the enhancements to her navigation systems, a specialty of this great race of explorers, and the addition of anti-gravity repulsor engines so that Mother could land upon the surface of a planet without polluting its atmosphere. With these two modifications Mother could explore new worlds just like any honorable Kraaqi longship.

Minstrel had also bestowed a gift. With the help of Fixers, who performed the actual work, Minstrel directed the integration of its race's secret Stealth systems. Minstrel had received permission to bestow this gift from the Minstrel society's highest Council, deeming MotherShip a
worthy life form
; the only condition being that Minstrel obtain Mother's promise not to misuse this technology.

Mother was now recognized as a friend to all Minstrels throughout the known universe.

Vast sections of Mother's power grids, circuitry and main systems were being repaired or completely refurbished by each race. She was now a true hybrid ship of strength, power, and wisdom.

In her last milliseconds of consciousness before the explosion, Mother had done everything she could in order to protect her long-term memories; both so that she—her essence—would survive, and so that the precious last memories of mankind would also survive. She had succeeded.

As her repairs continued, both the Hrono and Minstrel were simultaneously downloading those memories of humankind—never again would these ever be lost by a single calamity.

In addition, Minstrel was quickly finishing
The Symphony of Humanity
in order to share it with the rest of the universe. This, too, would be downloaded to the Three Kingdoms along with the knowledgebase of humankind.

Now, through the huge speakers that hung from the wide ceiling above the assemblage, Mother spoke.

“We can be sure that every T'kaan ship at the battle was destroyed. But there will no doubt have been small scout formations, or even a few larger formations, performing reconnaissance, that were not present at the battle.”

“But would they not have self-destructed as the other ships did when the Great Horned ships died?” Jasus asked.

“With our newly acquired data, I compared it with the almost total destruction of the T'kaan Third Fleet by humankind at Earth's destruction.” Mother paused ten milliseconds. “Every ship in close proximity was indeed destroyed, whether directly by the blast, or by self-destruction. However, small formations of the T'kaan Third did survive which were located great distances from that battle.”

A murmuring began among the throng. Mother paused momentarily.

“Months later, as the other T'kaan fleets sent reinforcements, and especially after the new Great Horn ship arrived...”

“Or was born?” Jysar interrupted.

“Yes, with the existing data that can be inferred with a high probability.”

A new murmuring swept the audience.

“Let me guess: one of the remaining creature-ships, one of the Great Horned ships, gave birth and then had its newborn escorted back to begin the process of rebuilding the Third,” Jysar added.

“That would seem logical,” Mother agreed. “But to finish my current line of reasoning, T'kaan warships not in close proximity to the Great Horned ship when it died did not self-destruct.” Mother allowed her words to sink in. “From my knowledge of the T'kaan—from my battles with them—it can now be deduced that they did not fight at one hundred percent capacity. I had assumed that my skills were simply superior, but after the new Great Horned ship arrived, the T'kaan's strategy and their effectiveness increased substantially, though I, too, increased my capabilities as I grew as a life form.” Mother again paused for the benefit of the slower minds listening to her.

“Some individual ships did survive of the Third, but they were still affected and not fully functional. And so,” Mother began.

“What does this mean?” Chira asked quickly, interrupting Mother. “Are there T'kaan ships left? And what about this symbiotic relationship, when that was broken because of the creature-ship's death—self-destruction was almost immediate.”

The murmurs increased as emotions grew higher for all present.

Mother waited until Chira called for order and silence returned to the hall.

“First, we cannot be certain any survived, because we are still not in possession of all the facts. Some of our conclusions will still be conjecture, and some will merely have a high probability of being correct.” Mother waited.

“Please proceed,” Chira directed.

“There were normal communications between the T'kaan ships and their commanders. The humans had also detected the so-called background noise that accompanied these normal communication signals during the original assaults. But it did not seem to contain real data, so it was dismissed as meaningless as the tide of war turned against them.”

“However, the only time the Great Horned ship had accompanied the other warships into battle against humanity was at the final assault against Earth. We must assume the Great Horned ships only take part in what they perceive are decisive battles.”

“So this more intense, all-enveloping symbiotic signal, or noise, was picked up for the first time by our sensors at the recent battle.”

“It was of a greater magnitude in signal strength?” Jysar asked.

“Yes, and there were several other differences, including certain bands of frequency generating at a significantly higher rate. Still, we have deciphered no formal data streams embedded inside them. We can only infer what function this signal stream, this background signal, from the creature-ships to the T'kaan warships and their crews had in this triple symbiotic relationship.”

“Triple?!” Jaric half-shouted.

“Before I begin that aspect of the discussion, let me finish the first train of thought by stating that it seems, and I repeat
seems
, that T'kaan warships farther removed from the creature-ship's death
were
affected by that rare and catastrophic event, but not as intensely. Hence, they did not immediately self-destruct with empathy as did the warships located nearby; though again, they were affected in a negative way. There may be isolated T'kaan warships still remaining, but with no creature-ship to lead them now, they probably do not present a threat. More importantly, with no creature-ship left, it would seem no more can be created—or born. That is the best I can surmise at this time.”

“It is a reasonable conclusion,” Jaric commented as he nodded to both Rok and Kyle.

“I agree,” Jysar added. “And I would think when you present what you have learned, or inferred, about this triple symbiotic relationship, that it will confirm this first conclusion.” Jysar looked around at the other leaders, a knowing smile on his face.

“I bet he's had this same discussion with Mother already,” Kyle whispered to Jaric.

“No doubt,” Jaric agreed.

“He's such a geek,” Kyle added.

The two chuckled until Mother's voice returned.

“This is interesting, though.” Jaric nodded with a rapt look.

“The background signal, or noise, was one of the links in this complex relationship. Because we still cannot find any detectable data streams, and it is likely there are none to find at this point, we find ourselves faced with supposing its true function. I have, in previous discussions with other scientists on this subject, looked at its possible function at several levels. One inference is that it was some kind of subconscious connectivity, albeit crucial, between the creature-ship and the T'kaan. Or an emotional connectivity...”

“Like love?” Chira suddenly asked. “Like the bond of each family member?”

“Perhaps it was that simple, if love is indeed a simple emotion. But I would not classify it love,” Mother added. “We have also looked at it as a type of
shared instinct
, such as is found hard-wired into the brains of animals. A strong instinct which drives their innate desire to survive, perhaps like that which drives the pack to fight together as one.”

“Or a combination of the above,” Jysar added, his smile now larger.

“Agreed,” Mother said. “What's more, maybe it is not just a link between the creature-ship and the T'kaan, but perhaps between certain classes of T'kaan warships as well.”

“She lost me there,” Kyle whispered.

Jaric
shhh'ed
harshly.

“To begin with, I would classify this symbiotic relationship as Commensalism, meaning both species obviously benefited from it.” Jysar crossed his arms, a pleased-with-himself look on his face.

“But not completely,” Mother interjected. “I suggest it might be partly Helotism as well, the creature-ship seemed to have a Master/Slave relationship with the T'kaan.” Mother paused. “Are there any other ideas?”

“I'd say the creature-ship was at the top of the food chain, too,” Rok ventured.

A ripple of laughter raced among the crowd.

“You laugh, but there is truth in his statement. Individual T'kaan were consumed by the creature-ships. That is a definite fact.” Mother paused for effect. “But each species benefited.”

“The creature-ship was a home for the T'kaan. I discovered that a large section of their population actually lived inside of them. That is where their factories and cities existed. That is where the maggot young were sent after they entered their second stage of life, and it would seem from the great numbers I recorded on the desolated human worlds, that most of them never made it to their second stage.”

“The maggots ate each other as well!” Rok shouted.

“Right again,” Mother said. “I would venture an assumption that the fiercest maggot young were identified for the warrior class and were nurtured through the third stage.”

Murmurs again swept the room.

“The Great Horned ships, the creature-ships, were first and foremost biological entities, though their outer shell, or skin, was equal to the strongest steel used in starship construction. It was the T'kaan species that added the hyperdrive engines and enabled the creature-ships the ability to travel faster than light. They were mainly biological, and then only partially technological, through these separate enhancements. Of course, we will never know completely.”

“And the T'kaan warships?” Kyle asked, his interest piqued. “From a distance they seemed to be constructed like the creature-ships.”

“The warships were first ships. Kyle is indeed correct, their outer hulls were constructed of the same material. But from our scans of their destroyed fleet, we have determined that their hulls were manufactured.” Mother paused. “So, the warships were first technological, and only then partially biological. That is the best I can do with the limited facts available to me.”

“What part was biological?” Jaric asked.

“Certain interior sections of capital warships. Inside, the T'kaan warships were vast mazes of labyrinth rooms, similar to the creature-ship's natural ones, but these were manufactured, as was the entire ship, except for sections of specific labyrinth rooms. I would suggest these biological structures integrated both some of the warship's systems with the creature-ship, and performed some type of integration or communication between the individual T'kaan and the creature-ship.”

Jysar felt his excitement growing. “I can understand the warship integration; after all, your main long-term memories are constructed out of Human DNA, albeit artificially produced and of a single type for its superior durability and reliability.” Jaric looked at Kyle while Jysar paused to catch his breath. “Actually that single aspect of Mother might be considered biological, integrated with her technological systems.”

“But the T'kaan warship's integration seems to have been more sophisticated, though we cannot ascertain that with precision now,” Jysar added.

“So, let me see if I understand this correctly,” Chira said. “The Great Horned ships were living beings. Sometime in the past, the T'kaan began a symbiotic relationship with them and began to live inside the huge creature-ships, transferring their cities and changing their previous way of life.” She paused. “At this point they constructed warships whose outer hull was made of the same material as that of the creature-ship, but these were in fact warships, not alive?” Chira waited for confirmation.

“Correct so far,” Mother said.

“And then living, biological sections were added to these T'kaan warships. Now we have a symbiotic relation between creature-ship and T'kaan, and now also between creature-ship and warship and T'kaan. And perhaps these warships enhanced the original symbiosis; and then perhaps created new aspects for it, making it stronger? The creature-ships and T'kaan made the warships pseudo-alive and therefore more dangerous than simply a
ship?
”

“That is a reasonable conjecture,” Mother replied.

A hush filled the room.

“Perhaps I might use the comparison of myself and my sister ship?” Mother asked.

“Please,” Jaric said as he leaned forward with interest.

“The A ship was constructed for the very reason that I was, though it was the prototype. To better explain, the A ship's memories and programming were solely battle algorithms and coding. Afterward it was given Artificial Intelligence programming so it might adapt and learn, so as to become invincible in battle. That would be similar to the T'kaan ships, except they were also in a symbiotic relationship that increased their battle effectiveness. But the T'kaan warship's sole purpose was war, as was my sister ship.” Mother paused.

“In contrast, I was given much more long-term memories than my sister ship, so as to be able to store the entire collected knowledge of humankind. But most importantly, Ron and Rita allowed my AI systems to access this data in addition to my battle algorithms and memories. My AI programming was also more extensive—I could learn from anything, from any source. Thus I became something more than my original programming, something unexpected even to my creators.”