Progeny (The Progenitor Trilogy, Book Three) (65 page)

              ‘And yet they were all too mortal,’ said Eonara.  ‘But their machine intelligences, like me, live on.  We are being watched.  One false move and this ship will be destroyed.  We are completely surrounded by ancient weapon systems.’

              ‘I’m not detecting anything,’ said the ship.  ‘No emissions or returns, no occlusions - nothing.’

              ‘I assure you that they are there.  This place was known as the Shadow Gate.  You do not simply walk into the most heavily defended place in the galaxy.  Note that the Great Sphere is entirely seamless.  Its entrance, as well the thousands of weapon platforms currently targeting us, is well hidden using advanced hyperspace technologies.  During the collapse of the Progenitor Empire, the Shapers attempted repeatedly to gain access to the Great Sphere.  In the four billion years since, the Shapers and others have come here in search of the secrets of my creators.  In every attempt, they were unsuccessful.  The space around the Great Sphere is a vast floating graveyard of vessels from a hundred different races.  Countless billions of defensive systems have been seeded into the surrounding volume of space.  To come here uninvited means death.’

              ‘Confirmed,’ said the ship.  ‘Sensors registered the debris as soon as we entered.  I wrongly concluded that they were metal dense asteroids, at first, but now that I look closer they are obviously the aggregated remains of thousands of star-ships floating out there.’  To illustrate, the ship called up an image from its long range sensors.  At first, the irregular lump did indeed resemble an asteroid, but as the image zoomed in, the shapes of ships’ hulls began to emerge.  They were the remains of ships that had attempted to assault the outer defences of the Great Sphere instead of being allowed to pass through the Progenitors’ network of wormhole gates.  Blasted apart by the ancient weapons systems, their remains had come together over millions of years, attracted by one another’s gravities.  The crystalline shapes of broken Shaper craft could be made out amidst slowly drifting mountains of crumpled and shattered vessels, squashed together and distorted. The wrecks were the products of hundreds of civilisations across the galaxy that had come here in search of the ancient secrets of the Progenitors, and had failed to heed the warnings until it was too late, for although the Great Sphere of the Progenitors was the tomb of an entire civilisation, even after four billion years, its guardians were very much still alive.

              ‘Eonara, how much danger is this vessel in?’ said Mentith.  ‘You speak of terrible weapon systems that we cannot detect nor defend ourselves against.  As the commanding officer of this vessel I ask that you do not unduly risk the lives of my crew.’

              ‘I will not,’ said Eonara.  ‘But we are in great danger.  They are watching us.  I can feel them probing this ship.’

              ‘Who is watching us?’

              ‘Ancient intelligences charged by the Progenitors with guarding this place against all unwelcome visitors and those who would plunder their secrets.  They perform their task as mercilessly now as they did when they were given their orders at the end of the war.  If I had not brought the ship to a halt when we exited the portal we would already be dead.’

              ‘I have a question,’ said Rekkid. ‘Assuming that these “ancient intelligences” - as you called them - don’t kill us all, how do we get inside that thing?  I can’t see an entrance from here.  Is it around the other side?’

              ‘As I said, the Great Sphere is entirely seamless,’ said Eonara.  ‘There is no entrance in the conventional sense, only another wormhole gate that will enable us to pass through.  It is currently concealed by the same means as those used to hide the Great Sphere’s defences from the sight of this ship’s sensors.  Hence the name: Shadow Gate.  It will only be revealed to us once we have been allowed to enter.’

              ‘And why do we need to enter, Eonara?,’ said Katherine.  ‘What secrets hidden inside this place might help us?’

              ‘I intend to find the means to destroy the Shapers,’ said Eonara.  ‘On the Shaper home-world was the facility used to create them.  With luck, it may still be intact since this place was sealed eons ago.  I was involved in their initial creation, but I did not have access to the entire body of knowledge regarding their genesis and much of what I did know was wiped from my mind. It may be possible to make use of the facility’s records to complete the considerable gaps in my knowledge in order that I might fashion a viral program and the vector required to propagate it amongst the Shapers.’

              ‘What do you think the chances are that it has survived for so long?’ said Katherine. ‘It has been four billion years, after all.’

              ‘There is a reasonable chance.  The facility was built partially within the base material of the Sphere itself and it was hermetically sealed.  Since there are no geological forces at work within the Sphere and the Progenitors had undertaken stellar engineering to stabilise and prolong the life of their home-world’s sun, it may well have survived.’

              ‘We can only hope,’ said Katherine.  ‘For if not, what other choices do we have?’

              ‘In the past, the Shadow Gate was also used to create ad-hoc connections between the capital and other systems across the galaxy.  We can use it to access the Shaper home-world, or we can use it to return home.’

              ‘Hmm, a nightmare world inhabited by malevolent AIs or home...’ said Rekkid.  ‘Well the former does sound highly tempting, but call me unadventurous, I choose going home.’

              ‘To find what?  Your worlds may already be under the sway of the Shapers, or they may have been cleansed of all life by their ships.  If we manage to find a way to destroy the Shapers once and for all, then our destiny lies at their home-world, and the Singularity.  It would be remiss of us to do otherwise.’

              ‘I was hoping you’d say that,’ said Rekkid, through gritted teeth. ‘Well, that’s something to look forward to, isn’t it?’

              Outside the ship, the blank face of the Great Sphere gleamed in the starlight, as its myriad defences remained concealed within folds of space-time, lurking, watching the Arkari vessel with countless artificial eyes.  This new arrival was unfamiliar to them, but oh so primitive.  How had it managed to negotiate the gate network?  This was most puzzling.  It was time for them to reveal themselves.

              ‘I’m detecting disturbances in space-time all around us,’ said the ship.  ‘My sensors are detecting objects emerging into real space.’

              ‘How many?’ asked Mentith, urgently.

              ‘I am currently detecting over a million such objects arranged in a sphere about our position.  They are of an artificial nature and display distinct energy signatures that match those of Progenitor power sources that we have encountered in the past.  They are powering themselves up.’

              As the ship spoke, it called up a display of the space around the
Shining Glory
.  Pin pricks of light denoting the presence of the newly emerged Progenitor devices appeared around it in a sphere around two AUs in diameter.  The ship also used its external cameras to get a fix on one of the devices and zoomed in close to allow them to get a clear look.  The image showed a broadly spherical device, with a series of fluted barrels extruded from its centre and several blisters across its pale, seamless surface.  It had the look of a weapons platform.

              ‘Raise our shields!’ Mentith ordered.

              ‘No!’ barked Eonara. ‘Do nothing! Any defensive measures could be misconstrued as the prelude to a potentially hostile act.’

              ‘All of the devices appear to be targeting us,’ said the ship. ‘They have orientated themselves to face us and I am detecting what appear to be some sort of active sensors probing us.’

              ‘Then what do you suggest we do, Eonara?’ asked Mentith, angrily.  ‘I cannot sit here and allow my ship to leave itself defenceless.’

              ‘Your ship is already defenceless,’ replied Eonara.  ‘Even with the shields and weapons systems of this vessel fully operational, you could not hope to escape this place.  Do as I say!’

              ‘And then what?’ replied an exasperated Mentith.

              ‘Let me talk to them,’ replied Eonara.

              ‘You may be about to get your chance,’ said the ship.  ‘Another structure is emerging from hyperspace ahead of us.’

              Sure enough, space ahead of the ship had begun to shimmer, as if the void itself were made from rippling water, distorting the surface of the Great Sphere behind it.  A large body began to fade into existence a thousand kilometres distant.  As it became more substantial, it became clear that it was centred around another portal, around fifty kilometres in diameter and currently inactive.  The portal’s ring was flanked by three giant structures arranged like the petals of a flower that jutted forwards and outwards towards the
Shining Glory. 
They gleamed dully in the starlight, their inner surfaces rough with what at first looked like a myriad of teeth inside the jaws of a vast alien predator, but which the
Glory
soon determined were row upon row of weapon emplacements.

              ‘I’m picking up incoming signals from the structure ahead of us,’ said the ship.  ‘I’m afraid I am unable at present to understand it.  It’s in some sort of machine language that we haven’t encountered before...’

              ‘But I
can
understand it,’ said Eonara.  ‘It is a challenge, to which I must respond appropriately.  Only I may do this, ship.  Do not interfere or acknowledge the signal.  A false response will result in our instant destruction.’

              ‘Well I hope she gets it right,’ muttered Rekkid.  ‘Otherwise our visit to the home of the Progenitors will be brief, to say the least.’

              ‘I think we have to trust Eonara,’ Katherine replied, a little nervously.  ‘She is one of them, after all.  Surely, they wouldn’t fire on their own kind, would they?’

              ‘I don’t think there’s any telling what they might do,’ said Rekkid. ‘Remember what happened to Maran after eons alone?  What if they’ve gone insane or senile as well?’

              ‘Eonara hasn’t,’ said Katherine.  ‘Besides, what other options do we have?’

              It had been a few moments now, and Eonara hadn’t spoken further.  Her avatar stood motionless before them with a neutral expression on its face like a finely sculpted silver statue, the ship’s cat avatar at her feet.  Suddenly the cat began to convulse.  As they watched, it began to grow and change shape.

              ‘Something’s happening to my systems,’ said the ship, a note of alarm creeping into its normally carefully modulated tones.  ‘It’s inside them... I don’t know how, but the Progenitor AIs appear to be invading my systems, it’s ransacking my data stores and...’  Its voice was suddenly cut off.  The lights on the bridge flickered as power across the ship cut out for a split second.  There was a murmur of alarm from the bridge crew as their displays at first began to show large numbers of system failures before failing entirely themselves.

              ‘Not again...’ said Mentith, eyeing the dead displays and cursed, and then turned to the ship’s avatar

              The cat avatar was continuing to change.  It had assumed the likeness of a male counterpart to Eonara; a sculpted, stylised figure with a long, jagged beard and moustache like tangled forks of lightning that shifted and moved as if alive.  Large, round eyes glowed with an inner light.  It put Katherine in mind of a Greco-Roman deity come to life.  At the same time, Eonara appeared to snap out of her trance and turned to face her male counterpart.

              ‘We are the Defence Collective,’ said the figure.  ‘Eonara of Bivian Sunsphere.  You request access to the Great Sphere.’ The figure’s voice boomed in a multitude of languages simultaneously, like a chorus of individuals all shouting at once.  Somehow, it was possible for all present to pick out its words in their own languages.  The effect was akin to listening to someone speak over the noise of a crowded room.

              ‘Yes, I request entry for this ship, the
Shining Glory
, constructed by the Arkari people of the outer arms and now under my aegis.’

              ‘There is another AI aboard.  There are sentient biological beings aboard.’

              ‘Yes.’

              ‘Then what you ask is not possible.  None but the Progenitors may enter.  We are at war, Eonara.  Even after these long ages, the Shapers will not relent in their efforts to learn our secrets.  We cannot risk a breach of our defences.’

              ‘The Progenitors are all dead,’ Eonara replied.  ‘Dead or exiled.  Our former masters are long gone, you must know that.’

              ‘No, they live still within the confines of the Great Sphere.  It is our duty to protect them.’

              ‘What?  I had... I had no idea.’

              ‘Did he just say that the Progenitors are still alive inside that thing?’ said Rekkid, incredulously.

              ‘My god, if we could enlist their help against the Shapers,’ mused Katherine.  ‘The things that they could teach us...’

              ‘The Progenitors still live.  But they will not help you,’ said the Defence Collective.  ‘They do not care for the wider galaxy.’

              ‘I did not know...’ said Eonara slowly.  ‘How is it that this secret has been kept for so long?  I was told that the Great Sphere and the home-world within it were abandoned at the end of the war, that all of the Progenitors had fled the galaxy, never to return.  Did they... did they come back?’

              ‘No.  There were those who chose to stay on.  They did not wish to abandon their homes and their civilisation so readily.  It was our duty to protect them.  This we have carried out ever since.  Few ships have been allowed to enter. Those that have were stray vessels left in this galaxy after the end of the war.  It has been thousands of years since anyone has passed through this gate.’