Shadow Core - The Legacy (22 page)

“But that's not what's confusing you, is it? You're wondering why they seem to be taking their sweet time getting here, right?” Kade asked.

Zen asked enthusiastically, “You noticed it too?”

“Kinda hard not to, by all rights the fleet should have been in firing range some time ago.”

“Yes. They stopped to get into formation and then started moving again at only a fraction of their combined top speed. Their approach vector also changed, coming in at an angle now,” Zen explained.

“The captain of the Regent is no fool,” Drake said, startling Kade who hadn't noticed him moving closer.

“What do you mean?” Kade asked.

“Here,” Drake said as a dotted line appeared on the screen, tracing its way from the Zenith past the fleet's old position and intersecting an area beyond. “If they had stayed in their original approach vector then any return fire from the Zenith would risk hitting the mining outpost behind them,” Drake explained as he pointed at the outpost the fleet had been stationed at before being sent to intercept the Zenith.

“But you wouldn't do that anyway, right?” Kade asked, concerned at Drake's potential answer.

“No, of course not!” Drake answered without hesitation, putting Kade's mind at ease. “But the captain of the Regent doesn't know that. And more importantly, he's not willing to take the risk. I can certainly respect his way of thinking. There are too many captains out there that wouldn't think twice at using such despicable tactics.”

“That only accounts for the first course correction the fleet made. They performed a second correction a short time ago, that's what's confusing,” Zen said.

“Oh?” Drake asked instinctively and then looked over the data. He had not been keeping up to date with the fleet's movements due to recent events.

“There was nothing behind them but empty space when they changed course. And coming in at an angle compromises the effectiveness of the formation. For best effect it wants to travel head-on to the target. The only thing I can think of is that they want to avoid cross fire, but I can't see any other fleets within range,” Zen said.

Drake, who was now standing next to Kade, raised his left hand and held it in front of himself for a second: causing a console to appear. And then he got to work reviewing all the information the ship had amassed while he had been distracted.

As Kade looked on she felt a hand on her right shoulder, turning around to see her grandfather's smiling face and Jude standing next to him. Nexus and Static had apparently left the environment while she wasn't paying attention.

“He's a good guy, but he's a bit old for you.” Toby smiled, causing Kade to blush.

“And just who are you calling old, you old fart!” Drake grinned without taking his eyes off the information streaming in front of him.

“Respect your elders, boy!” Toby snapped back in a grandiose but playful tone, causing Drake to start laughing and easing the tension in the room.

Kade couldn't remember the last time she had felt so at ease. It was almost as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She knew the loss of her grandfather had hit her hard, but she had never realised just how hard until now. The person standing beside her was not the grandfather she had once known, but even so, she was happy to have part of him back in her life.  

“Drake, why did you lie before?” Kade asked.

“As a personal rule, I don't lie. I do tend to tip toe around the truth on occasion though. What are you referring too?” Drake asked, still focused on the data.

“You said you didn't know our grandfather, but it seems rather obvious that you are old friends. So why did you lie about it?” Kade asked.  

“I didn't lie. I said I knew 'of him' but that we'd never actually met in person. The first time I met Toby was when I entered this environment a few minutes ago. Get it?” Drake said, leaving Kade wondering what he actually meant.

“Good grief, are you still doing that?” Toby chuckled, amused at Drake's explanation.

“What?” Drake said with a sly smile.

“Answering questions with long winded explanations that sound like riddles. You used to do that all the time and it would drive me nuts. It used to be impossible to get a straight answer out of him,” Toby said to Kade while pointing at Drake. “We would try to figure out what the hell he was trying to say, and he'd enjoy every minute of it.”

“Oh?” Zen asked in surprise as she looked back at Toby. “So he used to do it before as well? I thought he just enjoyed tormenting me.”

“Everyone needs a hobby!” Drake grinned mischievously.

The Back-Story

Kade was still trying to figure out Drake's riddle when she noticed Jude's carefree expression. She had obviously already solved the puzzle, but she wasn't about to simply give her the answer.  

“Oh come on, just tell me,” Kade said.

“Heh heh, nope! It's fairly obvious, if you consider all that we've seen so far,” Jude said while clearly looking at their grandfather.

“All that we've seen?” Kade asked while tracing her sister's gaze, and then it finally dawned on her. Jude was right, it did seem obvious. And it certainly went a long way to explaining a few things.

“I see... so you're also a copy?” Kade asked bluntly, causing Toby to cringe slightly.

“Damn Toby! She's as bad as you are.” Drake laughed. “Yes, I suppose you could call me a copy, but we prefer the term 'Incarnate'.

“What's the difference?” Jude asked.

“None at all actually.” Drake smiled and then explained, “A clone is created when the body dies and a Core which holds a neural footprint is merged with the fresh body, recreating the mind. The process is seamless from a memory point of view. It's like going to sleep and waking up the next day in a fresh new body. But Incarnates are under no illusions that we are the same person.”

“So Drake's an incarnate and gramps is what? An imprint?” Jude asked.

“That's a very good question,” Toby replied as he looked at his hands. “In my day memory extractions were always fatal. We could remove memories from a Core by force or implant them into a fresh body, creating an incarnate. But I don't have a body right? So what does that make me now?” He asked with concern in his voice.

“Maybe you're the same as Static?” Jude asked.

“Static doesn't have a body either? Since when?” Toby asked, clearly surprised at the revelation.

“It happened shortly before we thought we'd lost you. But no, you're not like him. Static is a, hmm... a unique case. To be completely honest we're not really sure what he is anymore. But Jude had the right idea about you Toby. At the moment you are an 'Imprint', a recreated human mind in a computerised environment. A human Artificial Intelligence, if that makes sense,” Drake said.

“That's... going to take some getting used to,” Toby replied, not really sure about how to take the news.

“Well this is a bizarre twist,” Jude said. “I've spent years trying to meet an AI and then not only do I meet three of them in one day, one of them turns out to be the re-incarnation of my dead grandfather.”

“Weird, right?” Kade asked.

“We're way past weird. We left weird behind several light years ago.” Jude grinned.

“Three? Who's the third?” Toby asked, somewhat confused since he was only aware of Nexus.

“Oh! Sorry about that. I haven't introduced you two properly yet. Toby, meet Zen!” Drake said as he gestured towards the petite girl with purple hair who was staring at the wall screen. Causing Zen to take notice, turn around and give Toby a warm smile.

Zen said happily, “Hi!”

“Hello.” Toby said with a dumbfounded expression as he waved at Zen and then turned towards Drake again. “Wow, I've missed a lot while I was gone. When did we restore the AI forge?”

“What's that?” Zen asked, leaving Toby looking as confused as Kade and Jude.

“That brings back memories,” Static, who had reappeared in the room, said with a hint of nostalgia. “The Artificial Intelligence Forge. A suite of specialised software and hardware created a long time ago in order to develop the first working AI's. But the technology was lost when the Artemis shipyards were destroyed.”

“But you recreated it, right?” Toby asked.

“Nope, Zen's my daughter,” Static said proudly, causing Zen to break into a smile.

“Your daughter?” Toby asked in complete disbelief.

“Wait until you hear who the mother is.” Drake grinned without looking away from the data streaming in front of him.

“Who?” Toby asked but then immediately realised the one and only option. “No! Seriously? Nexus?”  

“Ha ha ha, yep,” Drake replied.

“Why is that so funny?” Kade asked.

“I want to know too!” Zen chimed in.

“I'm still trying to figure out how that would even work I must admit,” Jude added.

“It's just that... well, frankly Nexus couldn't stand him. They were always arguing,” Toby said.

Toby stared at Static with a bewildered expression stamped all over his face. Wondering just how much he had missed during all those decades he had spent away from the Zenith.

Drake was still busy sifting through what appeared to be an endless stream of information and Jude was looking over his shoulder, seemingly fascinated by his ability to process so much data at such a rate.

Zen had gone over the information almost countless times now but she still couldn't find a reason for the fleet's behaviour, which was rather frustrating. So she had decided to take a break and keep Kade company for a while since she seemed to be at a loss as to what she should be doing.

As Kade and Zen talked they noticed Toby approach Static, talking briefly in a hushed tone and then moving away to the far side of the room.

Toby looked concerned, or perhaps frightened would be a better description. Regardless, to Kade it seemed that whatever they wanted to discuss was weighing heavily on Toby's mind.

“You curious?” Zen asked while Kade stared at her grandfather, as he walked out of earshot.

“Yes,” Kade answered without really thinking.

“Drake, I'm taking Kade to see something, we'll be back in a bit,” Zen said and then grabbed Kade's hand, both of them vanishing from the virtual environment.

“Have fun!” Drake answered back.

Meanwhile, Toby and Static were having a discussion on the other side of the room.

“I'm sorry I didn't come back sooner. I hope you don't think I ran away from my duties,” Toby said.

“What happened?” Static asked with a serious expression. “We thought you were dead. I... I saw your ship explode, or at least I thought I did.”

“I know I was going against my orders, but I was trying to disable the troop transport which had stolen Nova when a stray shot from the battle hit my engines, disrupting my ship's systems. I lost plasma containment on the main drive and was forced to eject most of my fuel reserves into space. The resulting explosion melted away the aft armour on the Phoenix to within a centimetre of the inner hull, it was a close call,” Toby explained.

“I see, so that's what I saw,” Static said with a clear sigh of relief, which quickly faded away as he waited for the rest of the story.

“After that the transport must have thought I was dead, because they made a beeline out of the combat zone. I trailed them all the way to a carrier which had been hidden nearby. That assault had been well planned out. I had managed to tag the transport ship, which was a good thing since the carrier Burst out of the system as soon as they secured the transport. And that's when I did something truly stupid. My fuel reserves were nearly depleted, my engines were leaking plasma and my communication system had been fried by the explosion. I couldn't report back so, in my infinite wisdom, I decided to try and give chase instead,” Toby said with a solemn look.

Static asked with a surprised look, “You didn't?”

“Oh, but I did! I activated my ship's Vortex drive in order to follow the retreating carrier... it was a disaster. My memories of that day are still hazy. I woke up on Andreus II. My ship had somehow managed a crash-landing on its own. Or maybe I was the one that guided it down, it's hard to say. But regardless, my injuries were severe; the only thing keeping me alive was my Core. By all rights I should have died there. I managed to limp my way to the nearest settlement, where a guardian angel nursed me back to health.” Toby smiled as he remembered.

“What happened then?” Static asked.

“My memory was scrambled beyond recognition. I could barely remember who I was. It was a decade before my Core finally managed to restore the memories of that day's events and I finally remembered my mission. I found my ship and eventually managed to repair it, but by that time the trail had gone cold and I had no idea if the Zenith had survived the battle,” Toby said.

“The Zenith survived, though the shock troops that boarded us massacred most of the crew that day. The Athena was lost with all hands, no-one survived.” Static said with a pained expression.

Toby asked in a state of shock, “No-one... at all?”

Static said sadly, “No. I suppose they thought they had what they had come for. Nova had been extracted and the Zenith had been boarded, most of its crew dead or contained. The attacking fleet turned its guns on the Athena as it tried to leave the system. They never stood a chance, none of us did.”

“How did you survive?” Toby asked in disbelief.

“I didn't, not really,” Static said cryptically. “All that I was back then died on that cursed day. I was furious, I wanted blood, I wanted to rip the attacking ships apart with my bare hands. I... lost control. By the time I regained my senses the battle was over. What remained of the Second fleet was floating around the Zenith in bite sized chunks, and the hallways of the ship were full of corpses of dead marines... it was horrible. So, if you're looking for forgiveness my friend, just know that I don't blame you. If you had come back odds are good you would be dead now. And I for one am glad you survived.”