Sentience 1: Storm Clouds Gathering (7 page)

An x-wake, way out here?

“Identify!” barked Tzal.
There shouldn’t be any Rak ships out here. Trakaan? How could a Trakaan ship get through so much Raknii space undetected to get here?

“Unknown, master. The wake does not match any known signature of Raknii or Trakaan vessels.”

“Put us into the wake shadow.” ordered Tzal.

The Raknii had discovered several hundred cycles earlier that a ship traveling in x-space produces a distortion wave in tachyon space that travels out and away from the bow of the ship, in much the same manner as the wake of a boat traveling through water. They had also discovered that by placing oneself directly within that distortion wave, small speed and directional maneuvers could measure the intensity variations of the wave and provide information on direction and speed of the target vessel creating the wave, allowing the other vessel to be tracked. Also, by traveling within the distortion wave itself, normal scanners could not detect your ship as the wake distortion masked your presence.

“We are within the wake shadow, Master,” declared Astrogation-Master Ceak.

“Very good, let’s follow this stranger and see where he goes. It might be a new Trakaan design, so everyone stay sharp,” ordered Tzal.

Akudavex
continued following the unfamiliar ship, hidden within its wake shadow. Ship-Master Tzal chaffed at the stranger’s slow speed of only x120 light-speed, which was about half of their normal cruising speed, but it was imperative that they discover where this stranger was going, and where he’d come from. Tzal’s astrogator plotted both the forward and reverse of the stranger’s current course on their star chart, but unless he’d come from an incredible distance away, he’d made course corrections at some point. Perhaps this strange ship came from an isolated Trakaan enclave that had developed ships having a different wake signature than the ones the Raknii were familiar with. There was just no way to know until the stranger reached his destination and translated back into normal space.

“Fuel status?” barked Tzal.

“57 percent, Master Tzal.”

At least this crawling through x-space at such an incredibly slow pace seemed to be reducing their fuel consumption. Tzal wondered if Rak scientists knew about this phenomenon. The Rak were normally a race of extremes — either fully stopped, or moving as fast as possible, with little use for anything in between.

Tzal doubted that the ship they were stalking was Trakaan. There was just no way a Trakaan ship could get here undetected. If it wasn’t another Rak ship, who could it possibly be? Tzal pondered the quandary for a few moments, before a startling possibility suddenly revealed itself to Tzal’s unusually open mind.

“Master Tzal,” called passive scan operator on duty. “The target is changing course. New heading is 401-056.”

“Helm, change course to keep us within the target’s wake shadow,” barked Tzal. “Scan, has the target changed speed?”

“Negative, Master Tzal. Speed is still x120.”

Tzal got up from his command mount and nodded towards his deputy. “You have control, Unak. I will be in my cabin. Stay with the target and notify me of any changes. If he should happen to translate into normal space, follow and maneuver us directly behind him so that we’re hidden behind his engine plume as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, Ship-Master. It will be done, as ordered.”

Akudavex
tailed the strange ship through three more course changes over a period of six turns. When the target suddenly dropped out of x-space, the Rak helmsman reacted immediately with no prior warning to the crew, as he’d been directed turns earlier. There were a few injuries from the unexpected lurch into reality, but the
Akudavex
managed to maneuver behind the stranger, hopefully without being detected.

“Close up as close as we dare, without charring ourselves in his drive plume,” ordered Tzal. “If they have scanners going, I want us too close to differentiate from the target. Comm, activate recorders… I want everything covered. Astrogation, mark the location of this star system and give me everything you have on it.”

“This system is beyond our available star charts, Master. I will make observations to create a star map of the surrounding space and attempt to correlate it to our logged speed and course variations to plot exactly where we are.”

“Master Tzal!” yelled the comm tech. “I am picking up electromagnetic radiation communications on many frequencies… an incredible number of emission sources.”

“Can you identify it?”

“No, Master. It is not the Trakaan language — our translator does not recognize the language. It appears totally
alien
.”

At Tzal’s command,
Akudavex
reoriented and with a short burn, dropped away from the target as they approached a dense asteroid field. “Helm, set us down on the closest asteroid having sufficient mass to produce enough gravity to keep us stationary.” Tzal could only pray they had escaped notice of the aliens, allowing the Rak ship to hide among the swirling rocks, monitoring and recording. Tzal then pressed the toggle on his console to activate the ship’s intercom.

“All warriors, this is Ship-Master Tzal. It appears that the unknown ship that we’ve been stalking has led us to its den. While not confirmed as yet, initial indications are that we may have discovered a previously unknown source of prey.”

Throughout the ship, excitement buzzed among the crew. If they truly had discovered a new star-faring race, they would all be entered into the histories, immortalized for all time.

One of the
Akudavex’
most startling discoveries about this new prey was the periodic departure of craft traveling at twenty times the speed of Raknii warships. Using only passive sensors, it was difficult to be absolutely sure that they had correctly identified each alien transmission, but from their best efforts, it certainly appeared the same transmission source traveled an impossibly large distance between transmissions.

Tzal initiated open discussion among his bridge crew and listened closely to the resulting debates amongst his junior masters, concerning the dichotomy between the existence of these remarkable vessels, and the fact that the prey still apparently used conventional transports like the one they’d trailed to this system, the uses of which seemed about equal. Eventually, a consensus of sorts was reached that the faster vessels must primarily be used for passenger service and high-priority freight while bulk freight was still moved by the larger, slower vessels.

The mere existence of these ultra-fast ships brought some consternation to the Raknii: how were they supposed to catch prey that could move that fast? Later, the concern faded as the fast ships were likened to the flying creatures on Raku the Rak were simply not equipped to hunt, but as both the slow ships and the planets themselves could be caught and devoured, the fast-movers were ultimately dismissed as irrelevant. The military potential of these fast-movers was also dismissed as relatively insignificant compared to the firepower and armor of a Rak warship like
Akudavex
.

The sheer number of these incoming and outgoing vessels suggested a large number of planets within this civilization. When astrogation finished making new star charts from their observations and fuel reached 28 percent, Tzal followed another outbound freighter out of the system as surreptitiously as they’d snuck in and
Akudavex
began the long journey back to Troxia Station with their treasure trove of information about these new aliens.

Wise men don't need advice. Fools won't take it.
-- Benjamin Franklin

The Planetoid Discol, City of Waston

February, 3858

Diet was settling into a routine within his sumptuous new digs, and getting used to the ghostly voice that seemed to come out of the air around him. He was also getting quite used to being waited on hand and foot. Hal manipulated remote-controlled maintenance robots around the apartment, taking care of all the domestic chores for him. Cooking, cleaning, laundry... Hal took care of it all, freeing Diet from the drudge-work of everyday life.

After learning he was now the proud owner of more bank accounts than he could ever possibly need, Diet considered quitting his job and enjoying the lap of luxury this apartment and Hal offered him... for about a half-second.
I’m too young to become a hermit.
After a lifetime with few people in his personal life to talk to, Diet was coming to really enjoy his daily discussions with his new artificial friend.

Diet regularly researched subjects that involved complex social issues, as fodder for his ongoing efforts to “educate” Hal in understanding and interacting with humans. In the real world, Diet had learned to avoid discussing certain subjects like religion and politics, as those subjects tended to divide people, and often generated great animosity from the arguments that inevitably ensued. But those were
exactly
the kinds of things that Hal truly needed to understand most about humanity — the subjects that generated strong emotions and irreconcilable differences of opinions.

Diet had already been surprised, and amused on several occasions, by some of Hal’s shrewd observations about many incongruities within human society — an unbiased view from the
outside-looking-in
, so to speak.

The Planet Raku, Rak Imperial Palace

It was a long trip from Troxia Station to reach the Imperial planet of Raku. It took another 23 turns for even a quadrant-master like Raan, to finally arrange a private audience with Supreme-Master Xior. Drik was startled when he first laid eyes of the supreme-master. Raan had somehow neglected to mention that Supreme-Master Xior’s pelt was as white as driven snow. He was not a true albino however, as his eyes were not the normal telltale red, but a brilliant blue — a very rare eye color that Drik had only seen on one other Rak face… in a mirror.

Drik stood silently as Raan presented the supreme-master with a recording of the full inquiry, showing an exceedingly detailed and thorough report on the loss of Imperial Warfleet #28 and the two follow-up fleets. It also revealed the change in Trakaan strategy, and the particulars of how Drik’s squadron had escaped to bring the vital information back. Drik noticed that Supreme-Master Xior’s blue eyes flicked towards him periodically during Raan’s presentation, but he could read nothing from his controlled, neutral expression.

Surprisingly, Raan even went on to reveal Varq’s grim prophecy. Drik recognized pain registering in Supreme-Master Xior’s face when the details of the prophecy were fully revealed. When Raan’s lengthy report was concluded, Supreme-Master Xior closed his eyes, absorbing all that he’d heard. Suddenly, Xior’s eyes snapped open and bored in on the young squadron-master.

“Squadron-Master Drik,” said Supreme-Master Xior, speaking directly to Drik for the first time. “In regard to the charges brought against you, for your having broken the 500-cycle-old injunction against modification of Rak warships from the accepted standard — and of your contention that the restriction is appropriately applicable to inter-Rak warfare, but should not be applicable in the hunt of intelligent non-Rak prey, I have only one question. Knowing what you now know of our current Trakaan situation, would you do the same again?”

Without hesitation, Drik replied, “Yes, Supreme-Master... more so now, than before. Had I not done exactly as I did, the ships and crews of my entire squadron would have also been lost, and our people no wiser as to the cause of the disaster. If I must pay the ultimate penalty for having broken imperial injunction, so be it. The lives of my crews and the countless lives of other Rak warriors that may be saved from a repeat of the disaster because of what knowledge we now possess is fair enough exchange for the life of a single warrior. I die gladly in the knowledge that my life has served and saved others of my people. Right or wrong, it was needful.”

Supreme-Master Xior studied the young Rak warrior before him, obviously in deep thought. Drik waited stoically for the pronouncement of his condemnation, firm in his resolve that what he had done, was both necessary and
right
. It mattered not what the records said of him. What mattered was that he had been true to himself and to his people. He had been taught all of his life to honor the ancient ways and the ancient god. Regardless of what Xior or anyone else said, or thought, Drik felt no prick of conscience that would indicate the Dol was displeased with him.

After an indeterminable wait, Supreme-Master Xior finally nodded and said, “I agree. I will clarify the written injunction to formalize this exception. “I am curious, though… Drik, if it were up to you, how would
you
handle the Trakaan situation going forward?”

Drik frowned in concentration before answering. “It would depend on my authority and what instructions were laid upon me by my superiors. If I were instructed to obliterate the Trakaan fleet and subdue what appears to be their home planet, I would first assemble at least five full fleets, so that we were at no worse than a 2:1 disadvantage in numbers to keep our casualties minimal. Then I’d scout the system thoroughly before attacking, so we knew exactly the what and where of Trakaan defenses. Attack would then come from multiple random angles at non-standard distances to avoid their self-homing missile swarm.

“However, had I the authority to do so, I would choose to leave the Trakaan alone completely.”

Surprise registered on the supreme-master’s face at that last remark. “After that disastrous defeat, you would allow the appearance to flourish that our defeat has made us too timid to attack there again?”

“Supreme-Master, we have never cared what prey thought of us or didn’t, so I assume from your question that this ‘appearance’ refers to the image formed in the minds of Raknii. Our people are obsessed with appearances, but appearances are not fact, nor are Raknii opinions evenhanded. We scorn the Trakaan for not fighting well, but then we become incensed against them when they do? How can it be both ways? Has hypocrisy now mated with our arrogance?