With Polyakov and Co. all snug a-bed in stasis, we can finally start making some progress. This wasn't an ideal solution to the problem by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a solution nonetheless. As for the long term, I'm still considering their eventual fate. If they are coming back with us to Terra, they'll definitely be making that trip in irons. In the meantime, it's quite sufficient to have them completely out of the way. Polyakov's the sort of chap you'd cheerfully kick into a jet turbine's intake, and I doubt any sane person would even bat an eyelid.
Still, there are far more important matters to attend to. DIGBY has volunteered to oversee the decontamination process at Lava Castle once we're ready, freeing me up to continue the construction of Borealis. JUNO and IANTO now have all the information and biological specimens they need to develop an antigen for the Kharaa plague, although we're going to need a viable sample of this 'Enzyme 42' from Father of Tides to verify that we're on the right track. Given Baat Torgal's almighty stuff-up with those bioengineered Chinese potatoes, you'll have to forgive my insistence on what might seem an unnecessary intermediate step. Sure, we can synthesise Enzyme 42 by the metric butt-tonne once we have a precise picture of its structure and properties, but not one second before. For all we know, that stuff may not be entirely compatible with human cellular biology. Remember, we're also the alien invaders here.
Five minutes out from Kaori-san no-shima, I radioed ahead to let the colony know that Esperanza was no longer under Polyakov's control. Judging by the stunned silence on the other end of the link, I can only assume that this was an entirely unexpected development.
"... Say again, Ulysses?"
"Alexander Selkirk here. Requesting docking permission and remote guidance handover for Esperanza. Awaiting your response Controller Savini, over." I repeated, slowly and distinctly.
"Uh, clearance granted, Captain Selkirk. Will you require assistance securing the prisoners, Sir?"
"That won't be necessary. I've left them back at the Lava Castle, banged up in stasis." I said coolly.
There was a moment's hesitation, then a text message came up on the communication console.
You may be answering under duress. Send two blank carrier waves to confirm. Security standing by.
"Hoy, Enzo! Grumpy and The Five Mental Midgets aren't here, mate. Told ye, they're long gone!" I activated Esperanza's interior video feed, panning the camera around a hundred and eighty degrees. "See. Nobody's home. I'm in Ulysses, all by my lonesome."
"I'm sorry, Captain Selkirk. I wasn't sure if I was doing the right thing, but I had to check."
"No problems, lad. You did well to check. By the way, how's that sonar range gate of yours set?"
"Wound all the way out, Sir! - Just like you told me!" Savini replied eagerly.
I grinned. "Good man, Enzo. I'm anchoring Ulysses 150 metres out under full quarantine. Maintain a cordon sanitaire of 50 metres radius around this vessel until otherwise ordered. As she now contains extremely hazardous biological material, no human personnel may enter this secured area without a member of my crew acting as escort. Please notify all standing watch teams."
"IANTO here, Captain. Please come to the Med Bay immediately. A decontamination lock has been installed on the starboard side of the module." He said tersely.
To save time, I exited Ulysses through the divers' lockout hatch, rather than use the decontamination lock in the onboard research module. Considering that the Kharaa infection was already well established in the colony, stringent decontamination procedures when entering and leaving Ulysses would only be necessary once we are actively engaged in eradicating the organism. As it was, I have to pass through the colony's Med Bay decontamination lock anyway. No sense in doubling up just yet.
Héloise, JUNO, IANTO and DIGBY were waiting for me as I exited the chamber.
"Okay troops, what have you found out about this Enzyme 42 so far? Can it be synthesised?"
IANTO projected a hologram of the enzyme's molecular structure. The image rotated slowly in the air, but I was none the wiser for it. I grimaced sheepishly. My current knowledge of biochemistry could easily fit on the head of a pin. That's something I'll have to look to changing very soon, or else I'm just dead weight in this particular crisis. Time for another software upgrade, methinks.
Okay Universe, I get it. This is my karma-imposed penance for rubbishing users of skill chip implants.
"What am I looking at? It's most definitely an organic molecule, but that's as much as I know."
"Cysteine protease, Sir. A rather unusual form of it, in fact. It's a left-handed version."
I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. "Isn't that a property called chirality?" I ventured timidly.
IANTO beamed delightedly. "Precisely, Sir. This particular molecule will not interact with any proteins found in human tissue, since it is entirely the wrong shape, if you will. However, it will certainly degrade a wide range of cellular protein linkages typically found in Kharaa physiology. Extremely efficiently, as far as I am able to determine."
"That's a kindness. It wouldn't do to have a treatment that also attacks human tissue. Next question; have the colonists been notified of this outbreak yet?"
JUNO responded. "Yes Sir. Shortly after you departed en route to the Lava Castle. No further cases require clinical care as yet, although our preliminary screening tests indicate that at least 45 per cent of the colonists are presenting with initial symptoms of infection. Current estimates indicate that infection will spread to the remainder within 72 hours. Unfortunately, the Enzyme 42 dermal vaccination patches recovered from Polyakov's quarters are completely inert. The active component has deteriorated to a point where it cannot be reverse-engineered to form the template for a fresh batch. However, Baat Torgal created a non-invasive biochemical scanning and replication device, so it should be possible to analyse and re-create the enzyme once a viable sample has been obtained. When we have that sample, mass production should be a fairly straightforward procedure."
"Looks like I'm up for another chinwag with Father of Tides. I'd best get cracking, then." I said.
As much as I would have enjoyed having Héloise share another meeting with Father Of Tides, there was a definite element of risk involved this time around. According to IANTO's best guess, Father Of Tides probably doesn't secrete Enzyme 42 unless it's absolutely necessary. This means that the compound is only produced as a direct response to the presence of the Kharaa organism. Obviously, I'm going to need to produce a sample of infected tissue to stimulate that response, and that's where it gets risky. Naturally, this particular encounter needs to be handled delicately.
IANTO has fabricated a new piece of kit for me. He calls it a 'DNA Transfuser'. Looks roughly like an elongated propulsion cannon, although he assures me that all of its functions are perfectly harmless to the test subject. It's a portable biomedical scanner and gene sequencer combined in a single handy package, designed to analyse the genetic structure of any living creature and produce a transfusible serum of any of its selected physical attributes. Assuming that I was still occupying a human body, it would be possible to scan any one of Manannán's organisms and inject myself with a serum that confers faster swimming speed, dermal armour, improved night vision, bioluminescence or whatever else lights your Tiki torch. In theory, this all sounds absolutely brilliant. However, the effects are only temporary and non-stackable, somewhat limiting its use as a dedicated survival tool. Most Reapers won't sit quietly while your Transfuser cooks up a batch of Bone Shark armour. Presumably, it would be less than edifying to discover what survival benefits Crash Fish have to offer the human genome. I'm in no particular hurry to find out.
But that's just my opinion. By all means, feel free to experiment to your heart's content.
The first DNA Transfuser was designed and built by Baat Torgal. I scanned one of his prototype units during my sweep through his research facility. Even though I could have simply picked one up, they were heavily contaminated with who-knows-what. Having the device in blueprint form made it much easier to correct a number of design defects in the original. The Transfuser I'm using is a considerably more sophisticated version. I admit to feeling a grudging respect stir for Baat Torgal. He may well have been an insufferable, preening little ponce, but he also had that rare spark of genius about him. This gizmo transcended anything a skill-chip alone could produce. Left to his own devices, that kid might have cut an impressive swathe through this galaxy. Probably not in a good way either, but he would have certainly made his mark. That must count for something.
Fifteen minutes later, I activated the call signal at the Talking Wall.
A Warper duly arrived, its mantle patterns flashing in cheerful greeting.
"Warm seas, Father Of Shells. How can this one assist you?"
"Warm seas, Friend. I must speak with Father Of Tides. The sleeping Enemy has awoken."
Without warning, an energy vortex flared in front of me, enveloping the Warper. It disappeared instantly. Seconds later, I was surrounded by dozens of rapidly forming vortices, each one heralding the imminent arrival of other Warpers. As they emerged, I felt the next best thing to a chill of dread.
Their customary array of shifting, vibrant colours was gone. Their skins were completely black.
One swam slowly forward, its talons raised menacingly. Pitiless alien eyes glared into mine.
Let's hope they don't define the infected colonists as their enemies. At least they can't simply take that information from his mind now that he's an android.
+++ CONDITION RED. ENERGY TRANSIENT DETECTED. MAGNITUDE: 6.5 x 10^4 TERAJOULES. +++
"JUNO? Speak to me, lass... A warning just flashed up on my HUD. What the photon's going on?"
"Captain! Sensors have detected a massive energy surge. Planetary scale, numerous points of origin. Focus of convergence... Pyramid Rock."
Hell. That's roughly the energy released by a 15 to 20 megaton hydrogen bomb. And it's all being pumped into an area only slightly smaller than the Duchy of Grand Fenwick. That's not a good sign.
"JUNO, Get some eyes on the scene, pronto!"
"Aye, Captain. Transmitting map overlay of all energy transient sources. Drones are underway. Pyramid Rock video feed will be available in 240 seconds, Sir."
I stared at the map, utterly gobsmacked. The Lava Castle has become a switchyard, routing power flows from dozens of concealed Precursor installations scattered all over the planet. I must have covered every square metre of Manannán's seafloor during my travels, and I've never detected any of those structures before. The network resembled an asymmetric spider web. No rhyme or reason at all to its overall layout, although its function was immediately obvious. The Lava Castle is an ideal site for a honking great geothermal power station, and all of those sub-stations have been quietly trickling energy into the planet's crust, storing it in geological strata for countless years. The entire planet has been transformed into a geo-capacitor with an insane potential output. Suffice it to say, something HUGE is powering up on Pyramid Rock.
The drone video feed came online. At first, I wasn't entirely certain what I saw. There was some kind of hazy distortion forming at the northern end of the island, uncomfortably close to the site of the ARGUS satellite launch pad.
"JUNO, what's the read on that distortion field? - Is a spatial warp forming on the island?"
"No, Sir. The energy signature appears to be analogous to our nano-lathe construction field."
"Bloody hell. Whatever it's building, it's going to occupy a decent chunk of terrain. I only hope it doesn't take out our storage bunkers... Or worse still, breach the RADSAFE facility. We stored four neutron accelerator silos in there, and it's still hotter than Hades." I said grimly.
An outline formed, tentatively at first. Power surged through the planet's distribution grid, pouring into the construction beam at an unimaginable rate. I could make out the ghostly lines of a monolithic structure about 100 metres square, extending high above and far below the water's surface. It had the distinctive Precursor look about it, vaguely resembling a skyscraper fused with a Mayan sacrificial pyramid. A secondary construction pattern 150 metres in length began to coalesce on one side of the pyramid; blocky, elongated and tilted skyward at an angle of 20 degrees.
The building process took about five minutes to complete. Mercifully, none of this ominous structure's components came close to damaging any of our onshore facilities or storage bunkers.
Unless I'm very mistaken, the inhabitants of this planet have just gone straight to DEFCON One... And I'm staring down the barrel of the proverbial 'Cocked Pistol'.
Not sure why the warpers had to activate the quarantine and construct the planetary defense system when they seemed to do a fine job destroying any ships coming to the planet without the help of a giant cannon. Either way that was an awesome way to implement the gun and such into your story.
"Sky Shell swim free. Lost Ones go above-sky first home." Father of Tides gestured gracefully.
Just what I wanted to hear. Father of Tides has given his explicit word that He will not interfere with any rescue attempt. Given that it would be in the planet's best interests to allow us to leave, He could not have answered otherwise. To put it mildly, this meeting would have lost any semblance of cordiality if he had refused.
Looks like that promise will be broken when Sunbeam shows up (If Sunbeam is part of this story, that is?). It will certainly make things difficult where the Borealis project is concerned.
This must be the silverware they use for particularly special occasions.
I don't know how many planetary defence cannons you've seen during your travels, but this one was about as impressive as they come. No known class of Terran warship could carry one. This was a weapon that would get a taciturn nod of approval from any self-respecting dark overlord, along with a quietly menacing command to build many more of them.
Now, you're probably thinking that something this size would be a sluggish performer in the anti-aircraft stakes. Not so.
Within seconds of completion, the turret rotated through a full 360 degrees in only five seconds. At the same time, the cannon's barrel moved through its complete arc of motion thrice in the time it took the turret to complete a single revolution. Make no mistake; this turret is entirely capable of tracking and engaging a high-speed target. An approaching starship in high orbit would be easy meat, although an atmospheric fighter wouldn't last too much longer.
Apparently, Aurora wasn't sufficiently threatening enough to warrant The Big Gun treatment. All it took was one Warper popping a hole where no holes should ever be popped in a starship's drive system, and that was it. Now that the Kharaa have been mentioned in casual conversation, more shall we say, direct methods have been called into play.
I think that I finally know why.
Most folk seem to think that Kharaa can only travel between star systems aboard ships they've infested. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Kharaa can also travel independently over interstellar distances, by creating space-faring organisms called 'Spore Ships'.
Millennia before Terrans acquired space flight capability, Kharaa hive minds assimilated the original Spore Ship genome, adapting its organic solar sail and bio-stasis pod to suit their own purposes. Although each spore ship can only carry a single dormant Kharaa hive and its transit times are often measured in centuries, this is still a highly effective means of quietly spreading the Kharaa infestation. Of course, this slow and steady approach can also deliver sufficient viable hives to launch a devastating blitzkrieg attack on a planet. The Precursors clearly had this prospect firmly in mind when they created this defence turret.
Seemingly oblivious to the ring of furious Warpers that surrounded me, I continued to watch the drone's video feed with a mounting sense of dread. Its motion checks complete, the weapon swung around abruptly and elevated its muzzle, aiming at an empty patch of sky. A pulsing blue-green glow strobed rapidly along the full length of the weapon's barrel, increasing in intensity until no human eyes could watch it without suffering permanent injury. Three shots fired in rapid succession before our shielded surveillance drones finally succumbed to the weapon's massive EMP backwash. By the looks of it, this weapon appears to throw a phased particle beam. I don't even want to estimate how much power eventually leaves that muzzle, but it's more than enough to ruin any poor spacer's day.
This left no room for doubt in my mind. We are now entirely at the mercy of Father of Tides.
Speak of the Devil. Here he comes.
"Where is Enemy, Father of Shells?" He gestured abruptly."You tell this one now. We hunt. We kill."
I activated my dive suit's holo-emitter. Looks like it's time to bite the bullet.
"Enemy seeds are growing where you cannot go. Enemy seeds awake in Dark Place. We cannot kill."
"You show this one Enemy. We kill. All Enemy life will burn." Father of Tides signed emphatically.
As a member of the evil overlord community, I resent your statement that any evil overlord would approve of this gun. As a matter of fact, that gun is not nearly large or evil enough to suit my dark purposes. I and many other evil overlords have very particular standards regarding large guns, and this one simply doesn't measure up to them. My dreadnoughts bristle with weapons of far greater size and power, and when the time is right, I shall march to war on the fools who have thought themselves safe, MUWHAHAHAH!
"We need deep life-stuff from Father of Tides. We make Enemy burn in the Dark Place."
Father of Tides swam closer. His face was less than two metres from mine. His expressions were well-nigh unreadable at the best of times, although it was a fair to say he was less than impressed.
"Show this one Enemy. Now."
I took a small phial from one of my suit's harness pouches. A biological sample capsule.
"Seeds of Enemy in here. Father of Tides make life-stuff to burn Enemy... Yes?"
The Leviathan regarded me curiously, as if uncertain of my meaning. I raised the capsule slowly and held it in front of his face so that he could see it more clearly.
"You make bubbles in this one's face, Father of Shells. There is no Enemy here." He gestured irritably.
Great. He thinks I'm yanking his chain.
Time for a change of approach. One wrong move at this point, and any surviving colonists would be scraping tiny flecks of Selkirk 2.0 off their filtration plant intake screens for the next decade. Moving as slowly as possible without making it appear suspicious, I removed the DNA transfuser from its holster. Father of Tides reacted instantly at the sight of it, bristling with barely-contained fury.
"Talon from Dark Place. Make great pain. Father of Shells take life-stuff from this one? - No!"
I made calming signs of negation. "Not talon... Eye. Eye to see deep life-stuff of all living things."
As luck would have it, a shoal of Spadefish cruised blithely through our tense little gathering. Taking care not to aim it at Father of Tides or any of the surrounding Warpers, I drew a bead on one of the fish and activated the transfuser. The Spadefish froze momentarily as the device scanned its DNA, then it continued on its way, unconcerned and completely unscathed.
According to the transfuser's raw info readout, the Spadefish's most outstanding features are excellent monocular depth perception and unusually palatable flesh. Not the sort of genetic attributes any sane person would want to acquire for themselves, but there you have it. Even so, that wee fishie has served its purpose by demonstrating that this device is indeed harmless. I used my suit's holo-emitters to display some of its genetic features to Father of Tides, comparing them with images of similar traits expressed in human DNA. Eventually, He appeared to get the basic idea behind the scanning process. However, Father of Tides' full DNA scan would have to wait, for now at least. I still need to get a physical sample of that enzyme.
No matter how respectfully I tried to express it, Father of Tides could not be persuaded to release any of the enzyme he carried. I have done my level best to convince Him that the Kharaa were a clear and present danger to all life on this planet, even at this early stage of their incursion. All to no avail. He continues to insist that there is no Enemy here.
Only one thing for it.
I retrieved the Kharaa sample container from its storage pouch. Slowly and deliberately, I crushed the phial in my right hand.
An insignificant swirl of grey-green matter seeped from my clenched fist.
I retrieved the Kharaa sample container from its storage pouch. Slowly and deliberately, I crushed the phial in my right hand. An insignificant swirl of grey-green matter seeped from my clenched fist.
Ohhh boy, even tho Selkirk now got a Full-Metal butt casing, ive got a good feeling he's gonna feel that one passing!
One question: How are your Dreadnaughts sorted for thermal exhaust ports?
Just curious.
Pffft, thermal exhaust ports are an amature mistake. I've been foiled because of mistakes like that too many times. Now, I have to go explain my entire plan to the one man that could stop me, who happens to be my prisoner at the moment, and then leave him in a very poorly secured prison so he can think about my genius for a few hours before I have him killed.
One question: How are your Dreadnaughts sorted for thermal exhaust ports?
Just curious.
Pffft, thermal exhaust ports are an amature mistake. I've been foiled because of mistakes like that too many times. Now, I have to go explain my entire plan to the one man that could stop me, who happens to be my prisoner at the moment, and then leave him in a very poorly secured prison so he can think about my genius for a few hours before I have him killed.
Make sure to keep the timer that stops at the last possible moment and also has a wire that speeds up the countdown instead of cutting the power
I conjured it would take quite some time before Father of Tides figured out what was happening. Exactly how long, I wasn't certain. IANTO's blue-sky estimate of twenty minutes seemed like a sod of a long time, particularly as I'd have to keep Father of Tides hanging around long enough for his enzyme production processes to kick in. Believe me, He's not the sort of chap you'd willingly annoy.
To pass the time more profitably, I continued talking with Father of Tides. Naturally, there's a finite limit to the amount of idle chatter one can successfully palm off on an entity this powerful. Even the Warpers were beginning to simmer down appreciably, their skins returning to almost normal coloration and patterning. However, there was a certain edginess about them that refused to settle.
"Tell this one of Sky Watcher, Father of Tides."
"Sky Watcher awakes, his talon of skyfire now seeking Enemy world-seeds from beyond sky."
"This one has seen no Enemy world-seeds. Only smallest seeds of Enemy, all found in Dark Place."
So, the Precursor cannon is specifically tasked with shooting down Kharaa spore ships, along with any other vessels suspected of harbouring the Kharaa contagion. Some folk might consider this a prime example of xenophobia taken to extremes, although it makes perfect sense when you're dealing with the Kharaa. Those bastards have already laid waste to most of the human-habitable planets in the Ariadne Arm, and it won't be too long before they're caught sniffing around the outermost Core Worlds. Definitely not an ideal time to consider signing on as a Frontiersman.
All the more reason to proceed with this extremely risky gambit. As well as a cure for the colonists, Father of Tides' enzyme is potentially the ultimate weapon against the Kharaa. From what little I already know of it, a weaponised form of this enzyme could be deployed from low orbit, entirely without risk to human lives. Although he never committed it to print, I'm fairly certain that Baat Torgal had been working toward this goal as well. Developing an effective cure for the Kharaa plague would have only been the first step. It's a fair bet that House Torgal wouldn't have been shy about accepting any lucrative military supply contracts, either. With Father of Tides safely locked away in the Lava Castle's containment facility, Torgaljin Corp held a monopoly on this planet's sole source of Enzyme 42.
Until I appeared on the scene, of course.
Time's up. The Warpers are showing the first signs of extreme agitation. Although the tiny amount of Kharaa pathogen contained in the phial has completely dispersed in the current, a sufficient concentration of organisms remained in the water around me, triggering specialised chemoreceptors in unknown organs or physical processes deep within the Warpers' bodies. Their skins abruptly turned black as the faint chemical signals spread rapidly among them.
Hunter-killer mode engaged.
Father of Tides roared deafeningly. The water around me shuddered with the full force of his fury. Obeying his command, the ring of Warpers surged forward as one, their talons raised for a lethal strike.
Dismemberment and decapitation. An archaic, yet appropriate punishment for my crime.
Umm. You had a better idea? He's basically got a disposable body. Might lose a few hours to fab a new one. Big deal. I'm sure (well I would have if I was him) he did a backup right before heading out. Easy-peasy.
The big question comes with getting the Father of Tides to see reason after collecting Enzyme 42. Wouldn't do to have him on your bad side (and not sure how that would affect the new colony, as well).
Honestly, if I were Selkirk, I'd give the Father of Tides a little (respectful) dressing-down. Selkirk freed Father of Tides, and has been nothing if not a problem-solver for all sides here. A little trust is warranted, and Father of Tides did basically refuse to listen when Selkirk was trying to fix a problem that would affect all parties involved. Selkirk's got the attitude for that, and Father of Tides has it coming. He done goofed. Father of Tides, that is. Selkirk shouldn't have to work around Father of Tides to help Father of Tides, that's just counter-productive.
What both sides could use would be official ambassadors who take time to intermingle with the inner circle of the others, and learn their ways.
I mean, I know the humans are packing up and all, but 1) they've still got a ways to go and 2) as fast as life is progressing on that planet (precursor tech is obviously there already, not sure how they'd go about using it, or what happened on that planet.. a 'reset' maybe?) it's probably not going to be too long before you have them surfing the stars, or at least guarding their own solar system from incursion. The big gun obviously isn't impervious, too many ships have made it through. What if enough of the Aurora had survived and the other yahoos had activated the STARFISH? Or what if no one had been around to patch up the Aurora's leaking nuclear bits? The planet's inhabitants could obviously use at least being part of a treaty or somesuch where they agree to co-operate, and can leave the treaty if a terrible disagreement comes up in the future.
I dunno, IMHO they're wasting a lot of effort by not cooperating. The humans could use more workers for their ship building project. The locals could use some knowledge regarding working with tools and building things.
You can always have a radial third party enter the fray later on or something. Maybe a alien race sets up in an isolated corner or the planet and starts sabotaging the other 2's dealings or something.
Bah, I'm rambling. Comes of too long waiting for Bugzapper's next bit of story (j/k, I know you can't force these things to come out, I don't know how paid writers under contract do it, that has to take all the fun out of writing I'd think).
Comments
With Polyakov and Co. all snug a-bed in stasis, we can finally start making some progress. This wasn't an ideal solution to the problem by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a solution nonetheless. As for the long term, I'm still considering their eventual fate. If they are coming back with us to Terra, they'll definitely be making that trip in irons. In the meantime, it's quite sufficient to have them completely out of the way. Polyakov's the sort of chap you'd cheerfully kick into a jet turbine's intake, and I doubt any sane person would even bat an eyelid.
Still, there are far more important matters to attend to. DIGBY has volunteered to oversee the decontamination process at Lava Castle once we're ready, freeing me up to continue the construction of Borealis. JUNO and IANTO now have all the information and biological specimens they need to develop an antigen for the Kharaa plague, although we're going to need a viable sample of this 'Enzyme 42' from Father of Tides to verify that we're on the right track. Given Baat Torgal's almighty stuff-up with those bioengineered Chinese potatoes, you'll have to forgive my insistence on what might seem an unnecessary intermediate step. Sure, we can synthesise Enzyme 42 by the metric butt-tonne once we have a precise picture of its structure and properties, but not one second before. For all we know, that stuff may not be entirely compatible with human cellular biology. Remember, we're also the alien invaders here.
Five minutes out from Kaori-san no-shima, I radioed ahead to let the colony know that Esperanza was no longer under Polyakov's control. Judging by the stunned silence on the other end of the link, I can only assume that this was an entirely unexpected development.
"... Say again, Ulysses?"
"Alexander Selkirk here. Requesting docking permission and remote guidance handover for Esperanza. Awaiting your response Controller Savini, over." I repeated, slowly and distinctly.
"Uh, clearance granted, Captain Selkirk. Will you require assistance securing the prisoners, Sir?"
"That won't be necessary. I've left them back at the Lava Castle, banged up in stasis." I said coolly.
There was a moment's hesitation, then a text message came up on the communication console.
You may be answering under duress. Send two blank carrier waves to confirm. Security standing by.
"Hoy, Enzo! Grumpy and The Five Mental Midgets aren't here, mate. Told ye, they're long gone!" I activated Esperanza's interior video feed, panning the camera around a hundred and eighty degrees. "See. Nobody's home. I'm in Ulysses, all by my lonesome."
"I'm sorry, Captain Selkirk. I wasn't sure if I was doing the right thing, but I had to check."
"No problems, lad. You did well to check. By the way, how's that sonar range gate of yours set?"
"Wound all the way out, Sir! - Just like you told me!" Savini replied eagerly.
I grinned. "Good man, Enzo. I'm anchoring Ulysses 150 metres out under full quarantine. Maintain a cordon sanitaire of 50 metres radius around this vessel until otherwise ordered. As she now contains extremely hazardous biological material, no human personnel may enter this secured area without a member of my crew acting as escort. Please notify all standing watch teams."
My communicator chimed softly.
"IANTO here, Captain. Please come to the Med Bay immediately. A decontamination lock has been installed on the starboard side of the module." He said tersely.
To save time, I exited Ulysses through the divers' lockout hatch, rather than use the decontamination lock in the onboard research module. Considering that the Kharaa infection was already well established in the colony, stringent decontamination procedures when entering and leaving Ulysses would only be necessary once we are actively engaged in eradicating the organism. As it was, I have to pass through the colony's Med Bay decontamination lock anyway. No sense in doubling up just yet.
Héloise, JUNO, IANTO and DIGBY were waiting for me as I exited the chamber.
"Okay troops, what have you found out about this Enzyme 42 so far? Can it be synthesised?"
IANTO projected a hologram of the enzyme's molecular structure. The image rotated slowly in the air, but I was none the wiser for it. I grimaced sheepishly. My current knowledge of biochemistry could easily fit on the head of a pin. That's something I'll have to look to changing very soon, or else I'm just dead weight in this particular crisis. Time for another software upgrade, methinks.
Okay Universe, I get it. This is my karma-imposed penance for rubbishing users of skill chip implants.
"What am I looking at? It's most definitely an organic molecule, but that's as much as I know."
"Cysteine protease, Sir. A rather unusual form of it, in fact. It's a left-handed version."
I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. "Isn't that a property called chirality?" I ventured timidly.
IANTO beamed delightedly. "Precisely, Sir. This particular molecule will not interact with any proteins found in human tissue, since it is entirely the wrong shape, if you will. However, it will certainly degrade a wide range of cellular protein linkages typically found in Kharaa physiology. Extremely efficiently, as far as I am able to determine."
"That's a kindness. It wouldn't do to have a treatment that also attacks human tissue. Next question; have the colonists been notified of this outbreak yet?"
JUNO responded. "Yes Sir. Shortly after you departed en route to the Lava Castle. No further cases require clinical care as yet, although our preliminary screening tests indicate that at least 45 per cent of the colonists are presenting with initial symptoms of infection. Current estimates indicate that infection will spread to the remainder within 72 hours. Unfortunately, the Enzyme 42 dermal vaccination patches recovered from Polyakov's quarters are completely inert. The active component has deteriorated to a point where it cannot be reverse-engineered to form the template for a fresh batch. However, Baat Torgal created a non-invasive biochemical scanning and replication device, so it should be possible to analyse and re-create the enzyme once a viable sample has been obtained. When we have that sample, mass production should be a fairly straightforward procedure."
"Looks like I'm up for another chinwag with Father of Tides. I'd best get cracking, then." I said.
IANTO has fabricated a new piece of kit for me. He calls it a 'DNA Transfuser'. Looks roughly like an elongated propulsion cannon, although he assures me that all of its functions are perfectly harmless to the test subject. It's a portable biomedical scanner and gene sequencer combined in a single handy package, designed to analyse the genetic structure of any living creature and produce a transfusible serum of any of its selected physical attributes. Assuming that I was still occupying a human body, it would be possible to scan any one of Manannán's organisms and inject myself with a serum that confers faster swimming speed, dermal armour, improved night vision, bioluminescence or whatever else lights your Tiki torch. In theory, this all sounds absolutely brilliant. However, the effects are only temporary and non-stackable, somewhat limiting its use as a dedicated survival tool. Most Reapers won't sit quietly while your Transfuser cooks up a batch of Bone Shark armour. Presumably, it would be less than edifying to discover what survival benefits Crash Fish have to offer the human genome. I'm in no particular hurry to find out.
But that's just my opinion. By all means, feel free to experiment to your heart's content.
The first DNA Transfuser was designed and built by Baat Torgal. I scanned one of his prototype units during my sweep through his research facility. Even though I could have simply picked one up, they were heavily contaminated with who-knows-what. Having the device in blueprint form made it much easier to correct a number of design defects in the original. The Transfuser I'm using is a considerably more sophisticated version. I admit to feeling a grudging respect stir for Baat Torgal. He may well have been an insufferable, preening little ponce, but he also had that rare spark of genius about him. This gizmo transcended anything a skill-chip alone could produce. Left to his own devices, that kid might have cut an impressive swathe through this galaxy. Probably not in a good way either, but he would have certainly made his mark. That must count for something.
Fifteen minutes later, I activated the call signal at the Talking Wall.
A Warper duly arrived, its mantle patterns flashing in cheerful greeting.
"Warm seas, Father Of Shells. How can this one assist you?"
"Warm seas, Friend. I must speak with Father Of Tides. The sleeping Enemy has awoken."
Without warning, an energy vortex flared in front of me, enveloping the Warper. It disappeared instantly. Seconds later, I was surrounded by dozens of rapidly forming vortices, each one heralding the imminent arrival of other Warpers. As they emerged, I felt the next best thing to a chill of dread.
Their customary array of shifting, vibrant colours was gone. Their skins were completely black.
One swam slowly forward, its talons raised menacingly. Pitiless alien eyes glared into mine.
"Where is Enemy? We hunt. We kill."
I tend to write most of this intentionally. It's an old writer's trick.
In all probability, yes. The Devs have a Heart of Gold.
"JUNO? Speak to me, lass... A warning just flashed up on my HUD. What the photon's going on?"
"Captain! Sensors have detected a massive energy surge. Planetary scale, numerous points of origin. Focus of convergence... Pyramid Rock."
Hell. That's roughly the energy released by a 15 to 20 megaton hydrogen bomb. And it's all being pumped into an area only slightly smaller than the Duchy of Grand Fenwick. That's not a good sign.
"JUNO, Get some eyes on the scene, pronto!"
"Aye, Captain. Transmitting map overlay of all energy transient sources. Drones are underway. Pyramid Rock video feed will be available in 240 seconds, Sir."
I stared at the map, utterly gobsmacked. The Lava Castle has become a switchyard, routing power flows from dozens of concealed Precursor installations scattered all over the planet. I must have covered every square metre of Manannán's seafloor during my travels, and I've never detected any of those structures before. The network resembled an asymmetric spider web. No rhyme or reason at all to its overall layout, although its function was immediately obvious. The Lava Castle is an ideal site for a honking great geothermal power station, and all of those sub-stations have been quietly trickling energy into the planet's crust, storing it in geological strata for countless years. The entire planet has been transformed into a geo-capacitor with an insane potential output. Suffice it to say, something HUGE is powering up on Pyramid Rock.
The drone video feed came online. At first, I wasn't entirely certain what I saw. There was some kind of hazy distortion forming at the northern end of the island, uncomfortably close to the site of the ARGUS satellite launch pad.
"JUNO, what's the read on that distortion field? - Is a spatial warp forming on the island?"
"No, Sir. The energy signature appears to be analogous to our nano-lathe construction field."
"Bloody hell. Whatever it's building, it's going to occupy a decent chunk of terrain. I only hope it doesn't take out our storage bunkers... Or worse still, breach the RADSAFE facility. We stored four neutron accelerator silos in there, and it's still hotter than Hades." I said grimly.
An outline formed, tentatively at first. Power surged through the planet's distribution grid, pouring into the construction beam at an unimaginable rate. I could make out the ghostly lines of a monolithic structure about 100 metres square, extending high above and far below the water's surface. It had the distinctive Precursor look about it, vaguely resembling a skyscraper fused with a Mayan sacrificial pyramid. A secondary construction pattern 150 metres in length began to coalesce on one side of the pyramid; blocky, elongated and tilted skyward at an angle of 20 degrees.
The building process took about five minutes to complete. Mercifully, none of this ominous structure's components came close to damaging any of our onshore facilities or storage bunkers.
Unless I'm very mistaken, the inhabitants of this planet have just gone straight to DEFCON One... And I'm staring down the barrel of the proverbial 'Cocked Pistol'.
Oh, crap.
Looks like that promise will be broken when Sunbeam shows up (If Sunbeam is part of this story, that is?). It will certainly make things difficult where the Borealis project is concerned.
One things for sure, That thing is definitely operationnal!
I don't know how many planetary defence cannons you've seen during your travels, but this one was about as impressive as they come. No known class of Terran warship could carry one. This was a weapon that would get a taciturn nod of approval from any self-respecting dark overlord, along with a quietly menacing command to build many more of them.
Now, you're probably thinking that something this size would be a sluggish performer in the anti-aircraft stakes. Not so.
Within seconds of completion, the turret rotated through a full 360 degrees in only five seconds. At the same time, the cannon's barrel moved through its complete arc of motion thrice in the time it took the turret to complete a single revolution. Make no mistake; this turret is entirely capable of tracking and engaging a high-speed target. An approaching starship in high orbit would be easy meat, although an atmospheric fighter wouldn't last too much longer.
Apparently, Aurora wasn't sufficiently threatening enough to warrant The Big Gun treatment. All it took was one Warper popping a hole where no holes should ever be popped in a starship's drive system, and that was it. Now that the Kharaa have been mentioned in casual conversation, more shall we say, direct methods have been called into play.
I think that I finally know why.
Most folk seem to think that Kharaa can only travel between star systems aboard ships they've infested. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Kharaa can also travel independently over interstellar distances, by creating space-faring organisms called 'Spore Ships'.
Millennia before Terrans acquired space flight capability, Kharaa hive minds assimilated the original Spore Ship genome, adapting its organic solar sail and bio-stasis pod to suit their own purposes. Although each spore ship can only carry a single dormant Kharaa hive and its transit times are often measured in centuries, this is still a highly effective means of quietly spreading the Kharaa infestation. Of course, this slow and steady approach can also deliver sufficient viable hives to launch a devastating blitzkrieg attack on a planet. The Precursors clearly had this prospect firmly in mind when they created this defence turret.
Seemingly oblivious to the ring of furious Warpers that surrounded me, I continued to watch the drone's video feed with a mounting sense of dread. Its motion checks complete, the weapon swung around abruptly and elevated its muzzle, aiming at an empty patch of sky. A pulsing blue-green glow strobed rapidly along the full length of the weapon's barrel, increasing in intensity until no human eyes could watch it without suffering permanent injury. Three shots fired in rapid succession before our shielded surveillance drones finally succumbed to the weapon's massive EMP backwash. By the looks of it, this weapon appears to throw a phased particle beam. I don't even want to estimate how much power eventually leaves that muzzle, but it's more than enough to ruin any poor spacer's day.
This left no room for doubt in my mind. We are now entirely at the mercy of Father of Tides.
Speak of the Devil. Here he comes.
"Where is Enemy, Father of Shells?" He gestured abruptly."You tell this one now. We hunt. We kill."
I activated my dive suit's holo-emitter. Looks like it's time to bite the bullet.
"Enemy seeds are growing where you cannot go. Enemy seeds awake in Dark Place. We cannot kill."
"You show this one Enemy. We kill. All Enemy life will burn." Father of Tides signed emphatically.
Good day sir!
One question: How are your Dreadnaughts sorted for thermal exhaust ports?
Just curious.
Father of Tides swam closer. His face was less than two metres from mine. His expressions were well-nigh unreadable at the best of times, although it was a fair to say he was less than impressed.
"Show this one Enemy. Now."
I took a small phial from one of my suit's harness pouches. A biological sample capsule.
"Seeds of Enemy in here. Father of Tides make life-stuff to burn Enemy... Yes?"
The Leviathan regarded me curiously, as if uncertain of my meaning. I raised the capsule slowly and held it in front of his face so that he could see it more clearly.
"You make bubbles in this one's face, Father of Shells. There is no Enemy here." He gestured irritably.
Great. He thinks I'm yanking his chain.
Time for a change of approach. One wrong move at this point, and any surviving colonists would be scraping tiny flecks of Selkirk 2.0 off their filtration plant intake screens for the next decade. Moving as slowly as possible without making it appear suspicious, I removed the DNA transfuser from its holster. Father of Tides reacted instantly at the sight of it, bristling with barely-contained fury.
"Talon from Dark Place. Make great pain. Father of Shells take life-stuff from this one? - No!"
I made calming signs of negation. "Not talon... Eye. Eye to see deep life-stuff of all living things."
As luck would have it, a shoal of Spadefish cruised blithely through our tense little gathering. Taking care not to aim it at Father of Tides or any of the surrounding Warpers, I drew a bead on one of the fish and activated the transfuser. The Spadefish froze momentarily as the device scanned its DNA, then it continued on its way, unconcerned and completely unscathed.
According to the transfuser's raw info readout, the Spadefish's most outstanding features are excellent monocular depth perception and unusually palatable flesh. Not the sort of genetic attributes any sane person would want to acquire for themselves, but there you have it. Even so, that wee fishie has served its purpose by demonstrating that this device is indeed harmless. I used my suit's holo-emitters to display some of its genetic features to Father of Tides, comparing them with images of similar traits expressed in human DNA. Eventually, He appeared to get the basic idea behind the scanning process. However, Father of Tides' full DNA scan would have to wait, for now at least. I still need to get a physical sample of that enzyme.
No matter how respectfully I tried to express it, Father of Tides could not be persuaded to release any of the enzyme he carried. I have done my level best to convince Him that the Kharaa were a clear and present danger to all life on this planet, even at this early stage of their incursion. All to no avail. He continues to insist that there is no Enemy here.
Only one thing for it.
I retrieved the Kharaa sample container from its storage pouch. Slowly and deliberately, I crushed the phial in my right hand.
An insignificant swirl of grey-green matter seeped from my clenched fist.
Ohhh boy, even tho Selkirk now got a Full-Metal butt casing, ive got a good feeling he's gonna feel that one passing!
Just replace Bill Murray with father of tides and the girls with the borealis crew and it's almost the same
(Sorry couldn't find shorter clip)
Pffft, thermal exhaust ports are an amature mistake. I've been foiled because of mistakes like that too many times. Now, I have to go explain my entire plan to the one man that could stop me, who happens to be my prisoner at the moment, and then leave him in a very poorly secured prison so he can think about my genius for a few hours before I have him killed.
...must..resist..urge...
Oh it's no use
F5
F5
F5
F5
F5
..
F5
Make sure to keep the timer that stops at the last possible moment and also has a wire that speeds up the countdown instead of cutting the power
I conjured it would take quite some time before Father of Tides figured out what was happening. Exactly how long, I wasn't certain. IANTO's blue-sky estimate of twenty minutes seemed like a sod of a long time, particularly as I'd have to keep Father of Tides hanging around long enough for his enzyme production processes to kick in. Believe me, He's not the sort of chap you'd willingly annoy.
To pass the time more profitably, I continued talking with Father of Tides. Naturally, there's a finite limit to the amount of idle chatter one can successfully palm off on an entity this powerful. Even the Warpers were beginning to simmer down appreciably, their skins returning to almost normal coloration and patterning. However, there was a certain edginess about them that refused to settle.
"Tell this one of Sky Watcher, Father of Tides."
"Sky Watcher awakes, his talon of skyfire now seeking Enemy world-seeds from beyond sky."
"This one has seen no Enemy world-seeds. Only smallest seeds of Enemy, all found in Dark Place."
So, the Precursor cannon is specifically tasked with shooting down Kharaa spore ships, along with any other vessels suspected of harbouring the Kharaa contagion. Some folk might consider this a prime example of xenophobia taken to extremes, although it makes perfect sense when you're dealing with the Kharaa. Those bastards have already laid waste to most of the human-habitable planets in the Ariadne Arm, and it won't be too long before they're caught sniffing around the outermost Core Worlds. Definitely not an ideal time to consider signing on as a Frontiersman.
All the more reason to proceed with this extremely risky gambit. As well as a cure for the colonists, Father of Tides' enzyme is potentially the ultimate weapon against the Kharaa. From what little I already know of it, a weaponised form of this enzyme could be deployed from low orbit, entirely without risk to human lives. Although he never committed it to print, I'm fairly certain that Baat Torgal had been working toward this goal as well. Developing an effective cure for the Kharaa plague would have only been the first step. It's a fair bet that House Torgal wouldn't have been shy about accepting any lucrative military supply contracts, either. With Father of Tides safely locked away in the Lava Castle's containment facility, Torgaljin Corp held a monopoly on this planet's sole source of Enzyme 42.
Until I appeared on the scene, of course.
Time's up. The Warpers are showing the first signs of extreme agitation. Although the tiny amount of Kharaa pathogen contained in the phial has completely dispersed in the current, a sufficient concentration of organisms remained in the water around me, triggering specialised chemoreceptors in unknown organs or physical processes deep within the Warpers' bodies. Their skins abruptly turned black as the faint chemical signals spread rapidly among them.
Hunter-killer mode engaged.
Father of Tides roared deafeningly. The water around me shuddered with the full force of his fury. Obeying his command, the ring of Warpers surged forward as one, their talons raised for a lethal strike.
Dismemberment and decapitation. An archaic, yet appropriate punishment for my crime.
Treason most foul.
The big question comes with getting the Father of Tides to see reason after collecting Enzyme 42. Wouldn't do to have him on your bad side (and not sure how that would affect the new colony, as well).
Honestly, if I were Selkirk, I'd give the Father of Tides a little (respectful) dressing-down. Selkirk freed Father of Tides, and has been nothing if not a problem-solver for all sides here. A little trust is warranted, and Father of Tides did basically refuse to listen when Selkirk was trying to fix a problem that would affect all parties involved. Selkirk's got the attitude for that, and Father of Tides has it coming. He done goofed. Father of Tides, that is. Selkirk shouldn't have to work around Father of Tides to help Father of Tides, that's just counter-productive.
What both sides could use would be official ambassadors who take time to intermingle with the inner circle of the others, and learn their ways.
I mean, I know the humans are packing up and all, but 1) they've still got a ways to go and 2) as fast as life is progressing on that planet (precursor tech is obviously there already, not sure how they'd go about using it, or what happened on that planet.. a 'reset' maybe?) it's probably not going to be too long before you have them surfing the stars, or at least guarding their own solar system from incursion. The big gun obviously isn't impervious, too many ships have made it through. What if enough of the Aurora had survived and the other yahoos had activated the STARFISH? Or what if no one had been around to patch up the Aurora's leaking nuclear bits? The planet's inhabitants could obviously use at least being part of a treaty or somesuch where they agree to co-operate, and can leave the treaty if a terrible disagreement comes up in the future.
I dunno, IMHO they're wasting a lot of effort by not cooperating. The humans could use more workers for their ship building project. The locals could use some knowledge regarding working with tools and building things.
You can always have a radial third party enter the fray later on or something. Maybe a alien race sets up in an isolated corner or the planet and starts sabotaging the other 2's dealings or something.
Bah, I'm rambling. Comes of too long waiting for Bugzapper's next bit of story (j/k, I know you can't force these things to come out, I don't know how paid writers under contract do it, that has to take all the fun out of writing I'd think).
Anyways.