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Background
This is the "N" part of my CMN role with the Democracy Game. Some of this early chapter will be familiar to Spartan Chronicles and Progenitor tales readers from a couple of years ago, as i have shamelessly plagiarized what I have written earlier.
But much is new, and from now on most will be new material, as the ACDG unfolds.
***********************************
Chapter One
DFSF2
Tau Ceti Star System
‘Tlotl yawned.
‘This job is so boring,’ he resonated softly to himself. ‘And to think it was sold to me as a scientific research project.’
He was staffing the Deep Sensor Flowering Search space station on the outer fringes of the Tau Ceti star system. Theirs was an early warning service, designed to pick up with their delicate resonance sensing equipment the first mutterings of the Manifolds if they commenced the flowering emanations. His job was to look at the screens and react if there was the slightest disturbance in the resonance field monitored in their quadrant.
He was at the middle of his shift, and he yawned again, and waggled uncomfortably on the couch. He scanned the screen again, and adjusted the resonance detector download yoke around his neck and shoulders more comfortably.
He wondered if he dared play some of the deep-res crystal he’d smuggled aboard. All the others would be asleep for at least three hours. It would help pass the time, and although the deep resonance pulsing through his body would mask all but the most blaring signal of commencement of flowering by any of the Manifolds, really, what were the chances of that happening on his watch, this day when he had the deep-res running after it not happening for sixty years. None.
‘Tlotl reached into his personal kitpouch and pulled out the player and the small collar attachment. He popped in the disc and activated.
The deep-resonance group was The Ninth Manifold, and they were the hottest thing on the Rim Systems just now.
‘Tlotl leaned back in the couch, and let the waves of resonance wash through his bones and tusks, and relaxed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He thought dreamily of the last furlough, when he was back on Rim Delta and had attended the concert given by The Ninth Manifold. It had been held at the Sensitorium, a building uniquely designed with baffles and angles to capture and redirect and amplify the resonances and alterations in many subtle ways.
An all-purpose building, used for lectures, cultural events, sports and concerts, it held about 3000 beings when seated, or 5000 standing.
The Ninth Manifold concert was standing room only.
‘Tlotl had arrived just as the warm up group were finishing their number. A frag-res kind of group, their resonances were disassociative and disjointed, staccato bursts of resonance that grated on the bones and tusks and didn’t let the audience capture or alter or augment. They had their own loyal adherents, but ‘Tlotl didn’t much care for it.
Then the Ninth Manifold had begun, and ‘Tlotl was enthralled.
His whole being responded to their pounding insistence and the vibrations began deep inside him. The waves of resonance that washed over the audience were captured in fragments by each, and altered, and the fresh harmonics blended with the still driven wave from the group to form a counter cadence that set up the secondary, deep resonating, in his bones.
The disc was playing that number now, and ‘Tlotl bared his teeth in a feral grin as he recalled the evening those days ago on Rim Delta.
As the waves grow stronger, the crowd began to shift and waver....become a shadowy semblance of what it was before......levitating those closest to the source slightly.....
And the beat grew, and deepened, and the crowd took it and cupped it, catching it in their flanks and reshaping and altering, and the levitated bodies rose higher, borne aloft by the awesome power of the resonance.
The power grew, and those carried aloft caught it, and in turn they shaped it, turning it and sending it on, and in the act of turning their bodies slowly revolved, getting faster as the resonance deepened until those at the apex were twirling and spinning like tops
‘Tlotl resonated softly, internally, “I must try this,” and with that he leapt into the midst of the inferno of whirling bodies. He was carried aloft, borne by the resonance wave, and aware of it breaking all around him, as the power grew yet stronger and amplified deeper.
He in turn caught the waves with flanks and limbs, clumsily at first, so that he tossed above the crowd like a shipwreck in a storm, but eventually he gained some mastery.
And he caught, and deflected the waves, to begin a slow torquing, then grew more adept at cupping and catching, altering and sending on so that he began to revolve and propel himself forward above the crowd.
The beat became more insistent, and faster, and the resonance deepened still more, and ‘Tlotl found himself having to put more effort into the shapings and deflections. But now he was propelling himself as one of a group, above the crowd, revolving individually and circling the crowd as they surfed the waves of resonance.
Then the pitch altered, and the harmonics changed, and ‘Tlotl fought for control as he ceased the revolutions and was let gently down back into the crowd beneath.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He sat back in his couch as the crystal recaptured that moment from his memory, and the alterations changed the tone and the mood.
He sighed, and opened his eyes.
And sat bolt upright.
A tiny flicker in the corner of the monitor screen had caught his eye.
He watched and waited.
There.
The blips were faint but distinct.
Resonance activity.
Emanating from Manifold Six
*****************************************
‘Tlotl settled back on his haunches, and adjusted the recliner carriage to a more comfortable position. His mandibles quivered slightly in agitation as he tried to digest what he had been reviewing.
Reaching towards the screen with a hooked talon, he motioned a small circle and the resrec crystal rehomed to start.
He had annotated those portions of the resonance recording that he wanted slowed in the re-run, but already he had drawn some exciting conclusions. Mentally enumerating them, he pondered:
A huge resonance blast right at the perimeter of Manifold Six’s sensory field, followed by a gradual strengthening of signals from nine emanators, then, judging from the sensor activity, on manifold Six’s surface itself, seven small and one larger final resonance bursts, and a few moments later a much stronger burst.
What did it mean?
He reran the resrec at high speed, pausing only at the significant places he’d identified.
That first blast – right at the outer reaches of Manifold Six’s sensory field. He’d only seen something similar once before, when a Usurper battle cruiser exited the Harmony wormhole with significant drive damage, and the caretaker defenses had taken it out before it had been able to broadcast its Mayday message. That explosion had produced a resonance blast right off the charts, and ‘Tlotl was convinced that had the emergence of the current anomaly been closer to Manifold Six it would have been of a similar magnitude.
So … was this a case where either a Usurper or a Caretaker scout ship stumbled across Manifold Six – whose spatial co-ordinates had for so long been lost, a casualty of the Secession Wars? And been destroyed by some long lost defensive system the Ancients had left in place around the manufactured Manifold?
And what to make of the slave resonances? Escape pods – or colony ships, making landfall on Manifold Six? And if so, which faction?
He’d better have his hypothesis ready for Base Commander H’rvath – she’d expect it – but ‘Tlotl was sure that this would go all the way to the Emperor himself. And if this indeed were to be a find by either Maar or H’minee’s factions, then Emperor Go’og would be most displeased that the information was not shared.
But what if the emanations were alien in nature? Some other sentient race who had developed spaceflight, and unwittingly stumbled onto Manifold Six?
H’rvath would know ………. And that was her, shuffling along the synthsteel floor of the space station corridor now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So – what’s so urgent that I had to be awakened?” H’rvath resonated grumpily, jowls shaking in mock indignation. Of course she knew – to be shaken awake with no explanation would be cause for instant retribution.
‘Tlotl could hardly contain his excitement.
“Greetings, Superior One,” he altered, then continued … “I have taken the liberty of identifying the appropriate sections of the resrec so as not to waste your time”
“Good, then let’s begin at once” came the counter alteration from H’rvath, as she settled comfortably into the second’s chair.
‘Tlotl set the resrec crystal to engage, and sat back to watch his superior officer take it in.
When the screen went blank, he looked expectantly over at her.
“Is it Maar or H’minee?” he resonated interrogatively.
She turned her tusks to look at him, gazing with troubled eyes.
“No,” she altered softly. “The resonance signature is not of Progenitor origin. Emperor Go’og must be informed. Manifold Six has been discovered by an alien spacefaring race - while we ourselves are ignorant as to its location.
“But we must collect more data. The sensors will be working overtime now. Have you been able to activate the Nexus?”
“Nexus?” ‘Tlotl squawked. “What is this Nexus?”
H’rvath looked at him pityingly. “Don’t they teach you anything at cadet school now? Each Manifold is controlled by a Nexus, which is the resonance focal point for the array of monoliths that encircle the Manifold. It also co-ordinates the orbitals and the deep space sensor array. We have been receiving these emanations only because the Nexus is still operating. And it will still be transmitting. I have asked Harmony and the Rim Systems for additional crews, as we will need to triple the resonance surveillance.
“What other assets do we have in the area?”
“Assets?” ‘Tlotl altered helplessly.
“Don’t just repeat everything I utter,” H’rvath snapped. “Do we have any identifiable orbitals or on-Manifold assets other than the monolith ring?”
“How would we know?” altered ‘Tlotl. “If we don’t even know where Manifold Six, then how do we know if anything is close?”
“The Ancients were meticulous,” H’rvath murmured. “they labeled everything – except the co-ordinates of the manifolds themselves. Let’s see then …”
She moved a talon across the screen, and it lit up again.
“Display Sensors and Orbitals for the Manifolds” she commanded
The sequencing began, as the library system ran through its inventory of assets for the six Manifolds. It stopped at Manifold Six, indicating ongoing extraordinary resonance activity.
H’rvath looked closely, then harrumphed. ‘Tlotl looked expectantly over at her, and coughed interrogatively.
She pointed with an unsheathed talon at two or three spikes being displayed from the readouts.
“Some of the Manifold Six monoliths have been visited by these intruders” she resonated softly. “They have activated their psych-boost elements.
“All leave is cancelled for the foreseeable future. Emperor Go’og will expect a full report every turning. Arrange your schedule with your current crew and integrate the newcomers.
“I will present this first report to Emperor Go’og personally.”
She rose, and gracefully exited the Communications Command Center
*******************************************
Immunity
Harmony Orbit
Tau Ceti Star System
Emperor Go’og wandered slowly towards the Communications Nexus situated at the other end of the gardens, deep in thought.
He knew what H’rvath was going to transmit and discuss, of course. The Emperor’s spies were everywhere. If truth be known, he knew almost as soon as ‘Tlotl had finished his initial review of the resrec, and certainly before H’rvath herself.
But he would let her have her moment in the sunlight. He owed her that.
But he was damned if he was going to let Maar and H’minee renew their festering rivalry by mounting a race to find Manifold Six.. An uneasy truce had reigned for over 120 turnings now, brokered by the Emperor himself and maintained somewhat sketchily by the Praetorian Guard. It didn’t need this revelation at this point in time, when both factions had rebuilt their battle fleets and replenished their treasuries.
As he shuffled across the dusty grass, talons digging into the hard synthetic soil, he thought fondly of his ancestral home on Harmony, second planet from Tau Ceti itself, and clearly discernable from this vantage point in orbit around it. He wondered if ever things would normalize to the extent that he could return, and resume residence, but knew that the time was not now. The uneasy truce survived only because Immunity had an arsenal of ballistics aimed at Harmony and each of Maar’s manufactured asteroid bases in the Rim Systems had a Praetorian Battle Cruiser adjacent and ready to execute the Emperor’s will immediately.
But the faction leaders were growing stronger by the turning, and if either were able to harness the power of the Manifolds, then ……..
Go’og shivered, mandibles clucking as he fought to banish that murmur from his inner resonances.
He had taken precautions.
Knowing that resonance emanations could – and would – be traced to their source, he’d had his ‘mole’ in DFSF2 alter the data ever so slightly. Now if Marr or H’minee – or both – went chasing to the presumed source, they would find themselves several galaxies and many turnings away.
And if that did happen, the time might just be right to return to Harmony and reclaim the Emperor’s lands and palaces.
He brightened at the thought, and entered the Nexus, making his way to the Holovid Council room.
The technicians fussed around him as his personal guard clicked to attention at his shoulder. Slumping in the recliner, he waited as the baffles were arrayed, and the Holovid equipment readied, then at a signal he leaned forward authoritatively and the session commenced.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DFSF2
Tau Ceti Star System
H’rvath settled into her comfortable couch, with young ‘Tlotl sitting erect beside her, as the old Holovid equipment flickered, then caught.
She appeared to be sitting opposite the Emperor himself, flanked by Judaa Maar and Lular H’minee, each of whom had a small bevy of advisors and sycophants in attendance. At one end of the conference table sat the Domestic Advisor to the Emperor, S’toth, while at the other sat the military brass, headed by Admiral Ka’a himself.
H’rvath inclined her neck and bowed in the ritual obeisance to the Emperor, who acknowledged it with a curt “Begin”
She nodded, and then activated the crystal, giving a running commentary as the salient points were displayed, and finishing with the comment:
“And these signals are continuing to be forwarded to us, indication a sustained level of resonance activity, not of the amplitude of the original display, but growing in magnitude as the turnings pass, indicating increasing activity on the surface of Manifold Six.”
The Emperor nodded sagely, and seemed about to alter, but Maar intruded, his harsh alteration reverberating even before the echo of H’rvath’s tones had dissipated.
“We must investigate immediately – send some of our fastest Scoutships to the area and deal with whatever threat these aliens represent. We Usurpers are ready, and ….. “
…… he consulted a tablet that lay on the table before him …………
“……. we have assets in an adjacent galaxy that could be there before the threat becomes significant.”
H’minee leaned forward on her chair, visibly agitated, with her mandibles quivering in rage.
“This is not proper,” she thundered. “We too are a spacefaring faction, and were it not for the effective blockade that the Emperor has in place” – and here she inclined her neck and bowed towards Go’og, who nodded amusedly – “we, too, would have assets ready to deploy.”
There was a chorus of assent from her advisors, interspersed with grunts from the cadre of Maar supporters.
Go’og leaned forward, and drew a forelimb across the table in front of him, talons unsheathed.
Immediately the hubbub died down, the echoes dissipating, as they waited for the Emperor’s words.
‘Tlotl leaned forward excitedly in his chair, as he prepared to hear the Emperor’s pontifications.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seldeth H’rvath was perplexed. She knew that these co-ordinates were altered, but didn’t know how, and couldn’t recall the original ones. All she knew was that the sector of the universe that Go’og was purporting to be the home of Manifold Six wasn’t one that had been apparent when the transmissions first came in. And the source couldn’t have changed. Therefore they were coming through a filter, that the Emperor himself seemingly had imposed.
To what purpose?
Go’og was resonating …
“And so each of your two factions shall raise a battle fleet – your newest warships and fastest scouts. Split into two battle groups, each with representation of both your factions.
“One group to go to Manifold Six, to investigate, contain and, if necessary, eliminate this threat to the Manifolds. The other to go to the homespace of the aliens. When you get to Manifold Six, communicate with and extract from these aliens the whereabouts of their home star system, then proceed to conquer it.”
H’rvath was transfixed. Go’og was sending the cream of the Usurper and Caretaker battle fleets on a phantom mission to where? ……. she strained to catch a glimpse of the star systems that were holigraphically displayed above the table where Go’og sat …………….. Epislon Eridani.
That surely was not from where the resonance emanations came. What was the Emperor up to. She continued listening.
“As to the safety of your home systems should the Aliens have the capability of tracking us to here, my Praetorian Guard will assume responsibility for their defense.”
Ah, she thought, that’s it – a counter-coup, by the Emperor himself
She mirthed inwardly, taking care to bottle the resonances just itching to get out. She felt ‘Tlotl looking at her, and just turned to him and bared her fangs in conspiratorial fashion.
He looked away.
The emperor was concluding his remarks:
“And I will deploy some of our remote probes to examine the nearspace of the known Manifolds – so do not be perturbed if you get reports of increased activity on the part of the Praetorian Space Corps – in fact I have already authorized the redeployment of several probes in anticipation of this joint venture.
“Meanwhile we will continue to monitor the resonance emanations from Manifold Six, and let us convene in this fashion again in, say, ten turnings. By then of course you will both be on your way there, so I can update you on the latest intelligence we have.
“Fare you well, till we meet again. This session is over.”
The general Holovid faded, and H’rvath and ‘Tlotl started to rise, when it re-activated, with just the Emperor himself.
“Station Commander H’rvath – would you stay and discuss some details with me – I’ll make this channel secure. Be alone.”
She inclined her neck, then motioned to ‘Tlotl to leave, and settled down again to hear what her Emperor had to say.
This is the "N" part of my CMN role with the Democracy Game. Some of this early chapter will be familiar to Spartan Chronicles and Progenitor tales readers from a couple of years ago, as i have shamelessly plagiarized what I have written earlier.
But much is new, and from now on most will be new material, as the ACDG unfolds.
***********************************
Chapter One
DFSF2
Tau Ceti Star System
‘Tlotl yawned.
‘This job is so boring,’ he resonated softly to himself. ‘And to think it was sold to me as a scientific research project.’
He was staffing the Deep Sensor Flowering Search space station on the outer fringes of the Tau Ceti star system. Theirs was an early warning service, designed to pick up with their delicate resonance sensing equipment the first mutterings of the Manifolds if they commenced the flowering emanations. His job was to look at the screens and react if there was the slightest disturbance in the resonance field monitored in their quadrant.
He was at the middle of his shift, and he yawned again, and waggled uncomfortably on the couch. He scanned the screen again, and adjusted the resonance detector download yoke around his neck and shoulders more comfortably.
He wondered if he dared play some of the deep-res crystal he’d smuggled aboard. All the others would be asleep for at least three hours. It would help pass the time, and although the deep resonance pulsing through his body would mask all but the most blaring signal of commencement of flowering by any of the Manifolds, really, what were the chances of that happening on his watch, this day when he had the deep-res running after it not happening for sixty years. None.
‘Tlotl reached into his personal kitpouch and pulled out the player and the small collar attachment. He popped in the disc and activated.
The deep-resonance group was The Ninth Manifold, and they were the hottest thing on the Rim Systems just now.
‘Tlotl leaned back in the couch, and let the waves of resonance wash through his bones and tusks, and relaxed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He thought dreamily of the last furlough, when he was back on Rim Delta and had attended the concert given by The Ninth Manifold. It had been held at the Sensitorium, a building uniquely designed with baffles and angles to capture and redirect and amplify the resonances and alterations in many subtle ways.
An all-purpose building, used for lectures, cultural events, sports and concerts, it held about 3000 beings when seated, or 5000 standing.
The Ninth Manifold concert was standing room only.
‘Tlotl had arrived just as the warm up group were finishing their number. A frag-res kind of group, their resonances were disassociative and disjointed, staccato bursts of resonance that grated on the bones and tusks and didn’t let the audience capture or alter or augment. They had their own loyal adherents, but ‘Tlotl didn’t much care for it.
Then the Ninth Manifold had begun, and ‘Tlotl was enthralled.
His whole being responded to their pounding insistence and the vibrations began deep inside him. The waves of resonance that washed over the audience were captured in fragments by each, and altered, and the fresh harmonics blended with the still driven wave from the group to form a counter cadence that set up the secondary, deep resonating, in his bones.
The disc was playing that number now, and ‘Tlotl bared his teeth in a feral grin as he recalled the evening those days ago on Rim Delta.
As the waves grow stronger, the crowd began to shift and waver....become a shadowy semblance of what it was before......levitating those closest to the source slightly.....
And the beat grew, and deepened, and the crowd took it and cupped it, catching it in their flanks and reshaping and altering, and the levitated bodies rose higher, borne aloft by the awesome power of the resonance.
The power grew, and those carried aloft caught it, and in turn they shaped it, turning it and sending it on, and in the act of turning their bodies slowly revolved, getting faster as the resonance deepened until those at the apex were twirling and spinning like tops
‘Tlotl resonated softly, internally, “I must try this,” and with that he leapt into the midst of the inferno of whirling bodies. He was carried aloft, borne by the resonance wave, and aware of it breaking all around him, as the power grew yet stronger and amplified deeper.
He in turn caught the waves with flanks and limbs, clumsily at first, so that he tossed above the crowd like a shipwreck in a storm, but eventually he gained some mastery.
And he caught, and deflected the waves, to begin a slow torquing, then grew more adept at cupping and catching, altering and sending on so that he began to revolve and propel himself forward above the crowd.
The beat became more insistent, and faster, and the resonance deepened still more, and ‘Tlotl found himself having to put more effort into the shapings and deflections. But now he was propelling himself as one of a group, above the crowd, revolving individually and circling the crowd as they surfed the waves of resonance.
Then the pitch altered, and the harmonics changed, and ‘Tlotl fought for control as he ceased the revolutions and was let gently down back into the crowd beneath.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He sat back in his couch as the crystal recaptured that moment from his memory, and the alterations changed the tone and the mood.
He sighed, and opened his eyes.
And sat bolt upright.
A tiny flicker in the corner of the monitor screen had caught his eye.
He watched and waited.
There.
The blips were faint but distinct.
Resonance activity.
Emanating from Manifold Six
*****************************************
‘Tlotl settled back on his haunches, and adjusted the recliner carriage to a more comfortable position. His mandibles quivered slightly in agitation as he tried to digest what he had been reviewing.
Reaching towards the screen with a hooked talon, he motioned a small circle and the resrec crystal rehomed to start.
He had annotated those portions of the resonance recording that he wanted slowed in the re-run, but already he had drawn some exciting conclusions. Mentally enumerating them, he pondered:
A huge resonance blast right at the perimeter of Manifold Six’s sensory field, followed by a gradual strengthening of signals from nine emanators, then, judging from the sensor activity, on manifold Six’s surface itself, seven small and one larger final resonance bursts, and a few moments later a much stronger burst.
What did it mean?
He reran the resrec at high speed, pausing only at the significant places he’d identified.
That first blast – right at the outer reaches of Manifold Six’s sensory field. He’d only seen something similar once before, when a Usurper battle cruiser exited the Harmony wormhole with significant drive damage, and the caretaker defenses had taken it out before it had been able to broadcast its Mayday message. That explosion had produced a resonance blast right off the charts, and ‘Tlotl was convinced that had the emergence of the current anomaly been closer to Manifold Six it would have been of a similar magnitude.
So … was this a case where either a Usurper or a Caretaker scout ship stumbled across Manifold Six – whose spatial co-ordinates had for so long been lost, a casualty of the Secession Wars? And been destroyed by some long lost defensive system the Ancients had left in place around the manufactured Manifold?
And what to make of the slave resonances? Escape pods – or colony ships, making landfall on Manifold Six? And if so, which faction?
He’d better have his hypothesis ready for Base Commander H’rvath – she’d expect it – but ‘Tlotl was sure that this would go all the way to the Emperor himself. And if this indeed were to be a find by either Maar or H’minee’s factions, then Emperor Go’og would be most displeased that the information was not shared.
But what if the emanations were alien in nature? Some other sentient race who had developed spaceflight, and unwittingly stumbled onto Manifold Six?
H’rvath would know ………. And that was her, shuffling along the synthsteel floor of the space station corridor now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So – what’s so urgent that I had to be awakened?” H’rvath resonated grumpily, jowls shaking in mock indignation. Of course she knew – to be shaken awake with no explanation would be cause for instant retribution.
‘Tlotl could hardly contain his excitement.
“Greetings, Superior One,” he altered, then continued … “I have taken the liberty of identifying the appropriate sections of the resrec so as not to waste your time”
“Good, then let’s begin at once” came the counter alteration from H’rvath, as she settled comfortably into the second’s chair.
‘Tlotl set the resrec crystal to engage, and sat back to watch his superior officer take it in.
When the screen went blank, he looked expectantly over at her.
“Is it Maar or H’minee?” he resonated interrogatively.
She turned her tusks to look at him, gazing with troubled eyes.
“No,” she altered softly. “The resonance signature is not of Progenitor origin. Emperor Go’og must be informed. Manifold Six has been discovered by an alien spacefaring race - while we ourselves are ignorant as to its location.
“But we must collect more data. The sensors will be working overtime now. Have you been able to activate the Nexus?”
“Nexus?” ‘Tlotl squawked. “What is this Nexus?”
H’rvath looked at him pityingly. “Don’t they teach you anything at cadet school now? Each Manifold is controlled by a Nexus, which is the resonance focal point for the array of monoliths that encircle the Manifold. It also co-ordinates the orbitals and the deep space sensor array. We have been receiving these emanations only because the Nexus is still operating. And it will still be transmitting. I have asked Harmony and the Rim Systems for additional crews, as we will need to triple the resonance surveillance.
“What other assets do we have in the area?”
“Assets?” ‘Tlotl altered helplessly.
“Don’t just repeat everything I utter,” H’rvath snapped. “Do we have any identifiable orbitals or on-Manifold assets other than the monolith ring?”
“How would we know?” altered ‘Tlotl. “If we don’t even know where Manifold Six, then how do we know if anything is close?”
“The Ancients were meticulous,” H’rvath murmured. “they labeled everything – except the co-ordinates of the manifolds themselves. Let’s see then …”
She moved a talon across the screen, and it lit up again.
“Display Sensors and Orbitals for the Manifolds” she commanded
The sequencing began, as the library system ran through its inventory of assets for the six Manifolds. It stopped at Manifold Six, indicating ongoing extraordinary resonance activity.
H’rvath looked closely, then harrumphed. ‘Tlotl looked expectantly over at her, and coughed interrogatively.
She pointed with an unsheathed talon at two or three spikes being displayed from the readouts.
“Some of the Manifold Six monoliths have been visited by these intruders” she resonated softly. “They have activated their psych-boost elements.
“All leave is cancelled for the foreseeable future. Emperor Go’og will expect a full report every turning. Arrange your schedule with your current crew and integrate the newcomers.
“I will present this first report to Emperor Go’og personally.”
She rose, and gracefully exited the Communications Command Center
*******************************************
Immunity
Harmony Orbit
Tau Ceti Star System
Emperor Go’og wandered slowly towards the Communications Nexus situated at the other end of the gardens, deep in thought.
He knew what H’rvath was going to transmit and discuss, of course. The Emperor’s spies were everywhere. If truth be known, he knew almost as soon as ‘Tlotl had finished his initial review of the resrec, and certainly before H’rvath herself.
But he would let her have her moment in the sunlight. He owed her that.
But he was damned if he was going to let Maar and H’minee renew their festering rivalry by mounting a race to find Manifold Six.. An uneasy truce had reigned for over 120 turnings now, brokered by the Emperor himself and maintained somewhat sketchily by the Praetorian Guard. It didn’t need this revelation at this point in time, when both factions had rebuilt their battle fleets and replenished their treasuries.
As he shuffled across the dusty grass, talons digging into the hard synthetic soil, he thought fondly of his ancestral home on Harmony, second planet from Tau Ceti itself, and clearly discernable from this vantage point in orbit around it. He wondered if ever things would normalize to the extent that he could return, and resume residence, but knew that the time was not now. The uneasy truce survived only because Immunity had an arsenal of ballistics aimed at Harmony and each of Maar’s manufactured asteroid bases in the Rim Systems had a Praetorian Battle Cruiser adjacent and ready to execute the Emperor’s will immediately.
But the faction leaders were growing stronger by the turning, and if either were able to harness the power of the Manifolds, then ……..
Go’og shivered, mandibles clucking as he fought to banish that murmur from his inner resonances.
He had taken precautions.
Knowing that resonance emanations could – and would – be traced to their source, he’d had his ‘mole’ in DFSF2 alter the data ever so slightly. Now if Marr or H’minee – or both – went chasing to the presumed source, they would find themselves several galaxies and many turnings away.
And if that did happen, the time might just be right to return to Harmony and reclaim the Emperor’s lands and palaces.
He brightened at the thought, and entered the Nexus, making his way to the Holovid Council room.
The technicians fussed around him as his personal guard clicked to attention at his shoulder. Slumping in the recliner, he waited as the baffles were arrayed, and the Holovid equipment readied, then at a signal he leaned forward authoritatively and the session commenced.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DFSF2
Tau Ceti Star System
H’rvath settled into her comfortable couch, with young ‘Tlotl sitting erect beside her, as the old Holovid equipment flickered, then caught.
She appeared to be sitting opposite the Emperor himself, flanked by Judaa Maar and Lular H’minee, each of whom had a small bevy of advisors and sycophants in attendance. At one end of the conference table sat the Domestic Advisor to the Emperor, S’toth, while at the other sat the military brass, headed by Admiral Ka’a himself.
H’rvath inclined her neck and bowed in the ritual obeisance to the Emperor, who acknowledged it with a curt “Begin”
She nodded, and then activated the crystal, giving a running commentary as the salient points were displayed, and finishing with the comment:
“And these signals are continuing to be forwarded to us, indication a sustained level of resonance activity, not of the amplitude of the original display, but growing in magnitude as the turnings pass, indicating increasing activity on the surface of Manifold Six.”
The Emperor nodded sagely, and seemed about to alter, but Maar intruded, his harsh alteration reverberating even before the echo of H’rvath’s tones had dissipated.
“We must investigate immediately – send some of our fastest Scoutships to the area and deal with whatever threat these aliens represent. We Usurpers are ready, and ….. “
…… he consulted a tablet that lay on the table before him …………
“……. we have assets in an adjacent galaxy that could be there before the threat becomes significant.”
H’minee leaned forward on her chair, visibly agitated, with her mandibles quivering in rage.
“This is not proper,” she thundered. “We too are a spacefaring faction, and were it not for the effective blockade that the Emperor has in place” – and here she inclined her neck and bowed towards Go’og, who nodded amusedly – “we, too, would have assets ready to deploy.”
There was a chorus of assent from her advisors, interspersed with grunts from the cadre of Maar supporters.
Go’og leaned forward, and drew a forelimb across the table in front of him, talons unsheathed.
Immediately the hubbub died down, the echoes dissipating, as they waited for the Emperor’s words.
‘Tlotl leaned forward excitedly in his chair, as he prepared to hear the Emperor’s pontifications.
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Seldeth H’rvath was perplexed. She knew that these co-ordinates were altered, but didn’t know how, and couldn’t recall the original ones. All she knew was that the sector of the universe that Go’og was purporting to be the home of Manifold Six wasn’t one that had been apparent when the transmissions first came in. And the source couldn’t have changed. Therefore they were coming through a filter, that the Emperor himself seemingly had imposed.
To what purpose?
Go’og was resonating …
“And so each of your two factions shall raise a battle fleet – your newest warships and fastest scouts. Split into two battle groups, each with representation of both your factions.
“One group to go to Manifold Six, to investigate, contain and, if necessary, eliminate this threat to the Manifolds. The other to go to the homespace of the aliens. When you get to Manifold Six, communicate with and extract from these aliens the whereabouts of their home star system, then proceed to conquer it.”
H’rvath was transfixed. Go’og was sending the cream of the Usurper and Caretaker battle fleets on a phantom mission to where? ……. she strained to catch a glimpse of the star systems that were holigraphically displayed above the table where Go’og sat …………….. Epislon Eridani.
That surely was not from where the resonance emanations came. What was the Emperor up to. She continued listening.
“As to the safety of your home systems should the Aliens have the capability of tracking us to here, my Praetorian Guard will assume responsibility for their defense.”
Ah, she thought, that’s it – a counter-coup, by the Emperor himself
She mirthed inwardly, taking care to bottle the resonances just itching to get out. She felt ‘Tlotl looking at her, and just turned to him and bared her fangs in conspiratorial fashion.
He looked away.
The emperor was concluding his remarks:
“And I will deploy some of our remote probes to examine the nearspace of the known Manifolds – so do not be perturbed if you get reports of increased activity on the part of the Praetorian Space Corps – in fact I have already authorized the redeployment of several probes in anticipation of this joint venture.
“Meanwhile we will continue to monitor the resonance emanations from Manifold Six, and let us convene in this fashion again in, say, ten turnings. By then of course you will both be on your way there, so I can update you on the latest intelligence we have.
“Fare you well, till we meet again. This session is over.”
The general Holovid faded, and H’rvath and ‘Tlotl started to rise, when it re-activated, with just the Emperor himself.
“Station Commander H’rvath – would you stay and discuss some details with me – I’ll make this channel secure. Be alone.”
She inclined her neck, then motioned to ‘Tlotl to leave, and settled down again to hear what her Emperor had to say.
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