The Aurora (Aurora Saga, Book 1) (16 page)

At the base of the pictures he read ‘
RATSONERB SEKT KUNG AKV GI DVEPAN PE
.’

In memory of the flagship, Brenostar,
he translated.
That must have been an impressive ship, Kalrea,
James thought.

It was the largest ever built and, like the Aurora, a prototype,
Kalrea said.
The cost of the project nearly caused riots on Qintaino, so plans for others were scrapped.
She paused
. If only they could have foreseen the future.

What do the colours on those uniforms mean, Kalrea?
James asked, looking at the bottom picture.

From his thoughts Kalrea replied,
they’re all officers. The woman in the centre with the yellow stripes is the executive captain, to the left in red the commander and the others with green are lieutenants.

Eleven minutes passed.

He’s on his way, James,
Kalrea said.

James hurriedly moved towards the door, just as Milonri entered. He smiled at James and held out his hand.

‘I believe they greet people on Earth by the shaking of hands. Please sit!’ Milonri said, pointing to the table. ‘I’m sorry you had to wait so long.’

‘It’s all right. I imagine it takes time to debrief Gulino and the… Ah!’ James said, realising what he was saying.

‘How do you know that?’ Milonri paused. ‘Oh yes, of course - Kalrea,’ he almost laughed. ‘It has been so long, I’d forgotten that she’s not just any nuronic computer. When the
Aurora
was built I worked on its reactor control systems, although I never did finish them.’

He smiled.

‘When the Treitans attacked, I had to return to my ship, the
Brenostar
, before the
Aurora
and
Pulsora
were launched.’

James suddenly realised that Milonri was one of the lieutenants in the photograph of the
Brenostar
.

‘So you’re Lex and Karunet’s son,’ Milonri said. ‘I’m sorry for your loss.’

‘Thanks, Milonri.’ James replied.

‘You told me earlier that Lex died before Kalrea had completed the ship,’ Milonri said. ‘That would explain why it wasn’t returned sooner.’

‘Yes, he died when I was very young. According to my mother, Lex was the only one who could interact with Kalrea, so she had to wait for my mind to become old enough. I have to tell you that I only learnt my true identity recently, when my mother passed away. It was a bit of a shock.’

‘I bet it was.’

‘Why did she keep this a secret? I would have come back sooner, had I known.’

‘That’s why, James, because you would have wanted to return when your mind wasn’t ready.’ Milonri replied slowly. ‘She was protecting you. Interacting with Kalrea is dangerous. A young mind can be overwhelmed to the point of madness.’

‘I can remember my mother; Carol… I mean Karunet… mentioning that I am only, now, barely old enough to pilot the
Aurora
.’

‘Carol?’ Milonri repeated.

‘It was the name she used on Earth,’ James replied.

‘Ah, I see. That must be where the name James comes from, then. I was surprised when you didn’t use your real name, Jameilo.’

‘As far back as I can remember I’ve been called James. I can’t change now.’

Milonri smiled.

‘No. I understand. How old are you, James?’

‘I’m seventeen… Earth years.’

Milonri looked perplexed.

‘I’m afraid that means nothing to me.’

You’re thirty-four sykals,
Kalrea informed James.

James smiled.

‘Kalrea just told me I’m thirty-four.’

‘You really are, barely old enough to interact with Kalrea,’ Milonri said, with a surprised look on his face. ‘From tests that Ontano made, he said a male pilot must be over forty-one.’

‘Who’s Ontano?’ James enquired.

‘Oh, Ontano Gindot. He and Ka Glia Plyane were the brains behind the project. They had the dream to build the ultimate Qintaino ship; one that needed no pilot and had a Plyane hull, so it could travel where others only dreamt of going. Of course not all that was possible. Even with all the latest top secret technology at their disposal they had to compromise. The result was the
Aurora
and
Pulsora
and their two advanced nuronic computers, Kalrea and Sarhao.

‘Ontano Gindot found that although a nuronic computer was self-conscious and could function by itself, it needed a Qinant to give it a long-term purpose.’

‘A long-term purpose?’ James repeated.

‘Yes, give it a command and it would carry it out, but leave it alone and it reasoned that there was nothing for it to do. Think about it. If you didn’t need food or sleep, had no one or nothing to look after and no curiosity, because you already had all information you needed, would you be able to find a purpose?’

‘I would probably find something to do, just not to get bored,’ James replied.

Milonri smiled.

‘Unfortunately Kalrea and Sarhao don’t get bored. That’s why we gave them someone to obey and protect.’

‘Was Kalrea created before the seatra then?’ James asked.

‘Oh yes. The mind control seatra and telementor were developed to give the pilot the perfect way of communicating with the computer. You can control the ship from almost anywhere.’

James felt the telementor on his wrist.

Indicating toward the telementor with his finger, Milonri added,

‘They’re so complicated it took seven sykals to perfect them. The
Aurora’s
and
Pulsora’s
are the only ones of their type. The devices surpassed all our expectations. The only constraint we found was with the telepathic connection with Kalrea and Sarhao, where the test results showed that the Qinant had to either be a female between thirty-four and sixty-eight sykals old, or a male between forty-one and ninety-seven sykals old. There was no success outside of that, hence my surprise at your age. You’re seven sykals younger than the minimum age, so you need to be careful. If you get any headaches you must exit the seatra and remove the telementor.’

‘Why?’ James questioned.

‘Because prolonged exposure can lead to madness.’

‘Oh, I see.’

‘Just be careful, James. I’m sure Kalrea will warn you if she feels you are in danger. Remember, the
Aurora
is a prototype.’

‘So is everything about the
Aurora
new?’ James asked.

‘Very much so. The
Aurora
was barely a shell when the war came upon us. The
Pulsora
was at a more advanced stage of construction. I can remember it very well. The
Aurora
only had one event horizon drive installed. They didn’t even have time to test it. All the remaining information on the construction plan was passed to Kalrea and Sarhao and they got them away from Qintaino, just before the Treitans destroyed the base. Unfortunately, the Plyane hull had never been tried on anything as large as the two ships, but Ka Glia Plyane was confident they would make it through Normia. The fact the
Aurora
is here means he was right.’

‘But we only just made it out of Normia,’ James said. ‘We wouldn’t have if we’d only had two drives.’

‘Oh yes, Ontano designed them with redundancy in mind. They have three reactors instead of one; four drives instead of two.’

‘Is the
Aurora
a war-ship?’ James asked.

Milonri bowed his head.

‘I’m sad to say the weapons were introduced just before they left Qintaino. Ontano intended them to be science ships. Do you know how special Plyane is?’

‘Yes, Kalrea told me all about it.’

‘And why the ships were built?’

‘No, she did not tell me that.’

‘Well there’s an inner-space, which Ka Glia Plyane discovered, whilst he was testing at Normia—’

‘I’ve seen inside the inner-space,’ James said, interrupting.

Milonri raised his eyebrows in surprised.

‘Really? Then you probably know of the Paradoxica?’ Milonri asked.

‘Yes. A group of scientists, including Ka Glia Plyane, believed it was another dimension; a kind of hyperspace. They named it Paradoxica.’

‘That’s right, and the
Aurora
and
Pulsora
were being built to explore it.’

‘Really?’ James replied.

Kalrea, you never told me that when we discussed it.

I didn’t know. I hadn’t been told why I was built.

Milonri continued speaking, while James was communicating with Kalrea.

‘Ontano and Ka Glia Plyane believed it would provide a faster way of travel. Imagine if you could get to the next galaxy in under a day instead of many sykals. It would open up endless possibilities. You could explore the universe. Of course the war changed that...’

James, if I was built to explore Paradoxica and
Ka Glia Plyane’s theory of time-travel within it is true, then
there may be a link between Paradoxica and the diary you have.

What! You mean at some point we’ll end up inside it? Travel back in time?

We nearly entered it at Normia, so it seems rational to believe we could, at some point in the future.

But that means we would disappear. I mean from this time.

Yes and end up in the past.

We must know what’s in that diary, Kalrea. Have you had any success in de-coding it?

Sorry, nothing as yet.

Do I tell Milonri about the diary?

Why? He can’t help us and I’m not sure what he would make of you telling him something which we cannot prove. With your young age, he may think that your connection with me is affecting your mind.

Ah yes. I see what you mean. Then we need to know what’s in that diary, Kalrea, before I tell anyone.

Milonri paused and took a deep breath.

‘The leaders of Qintaino had no choice but to order the
Aurora
and
Pulsora
to be transformed into war-ships. I don’t know what the galaxy is coming to, when we have to turn science ships into instruments of war. Moreover, I’m sorry to say that our most eminent scientist, Ontano, died onboard the cruiser
Jotosio
when it was destroyed in the evacuation of Qintaino. At least the
Aurora
made it and we can now use it to find the
Pulsora—
’

‘But we already have,’ James said, immediately. ‘We found it on our way here.’

Milonri looked amazed.

‘I’m astounded you found it so quickly.’

‘Kalrea managed to pick up a few clues from a Treitan scout ship,’ James said. ‘It’s hidden in the Uolcolian planetary trading station.’

‘We searched a few planets for the
Aurora
and
Pulsora
, but we never got to Uolcol,’ Milonri said. ‘The majority of the Telqintre decided it was a waste of resources. It was like looking for a nifig in a poin stack. After all, both ships could have been destroyed.’

Milonri paused.

‘If you found the
Pulsora
that close to Qintaino it must mean there’s something wrong.’

‘It was badly damaged in the Treitan attack on Qintaino. It’s a bit of a mess and has holes everywhere. The starboard event horizon drives have been completely destroyed.’

‘What about Horus and Maris,’ Milonri asked.

‘I’m sorry. They didn’t make it. They died trying to repair the ship, but Sarhao is still functioning.’

‘Was there a kiol onboard?’ Milonri said.

James was surprised that Milonri mentioned her.

‘Yes, Kira. She was still alive in the seatra. She’s now onboard the
Aurora
.’

‘Maris was a very close friend of mine.’ Milonri sighed. ‘She loved that kiol. I’ll always remember when the Treitans attacked. I was ordered back to the
Brenostar,
and Horus and Maris returned to Rinaf. We said our goodbyes. It was as though we knew we’d never see one another again. Even Kira sensed there was something wrong.’

He paused.

‘Oh well, at least we can bring the
Pulsora
home.’

‘Can you rebuild it?’ James asked.

‘It’s impossible I’m afraid. The
Pulsora
and
Aurora
are totally different to any other ship we have. And even if we had the parts to repair it, there’s no regenite to rebuild the hull.’

‘What are the other ships hulls made of?’ James asked.

‘An ulite metal. It’s much stronger than untreated regenite,’ Milonri replied. ‘We would have to totally rebuild the
Pulsora’s
hull in it. Unfortunately, we just don’t have the resources.’

‘Gulino told me that you don’t have many ships,’ James said.