9 Years, 11 Months, 13 Days After Eridani Landing
Home World
[Vann] rubbed at his temples trying to suppress the pounding headache that was beginning to form behind his eyes. [Sonten] oblivious continued to drone on, “So after we crashed the transport on the side of the mountain, it took another two hours for the stupid B’s to get another transport out to us. It was horrible, the insects bit!”
[Sonten] extended his arm shoving it into [Vann]’s face showing off several small dimpling’s from insect bites.
[Vann] turned an eye on the man, “You took control of the transports at the protest of the driver you hired to navigate the valleys, and sitting for three hours in a jungle inside a transport is what you are complaining about?”
[Sonten] nodded, “Yeah, the hull cracked! That’s how the insects got in! We’re lucky some other animal didn’t come along and eat us! I doubt the B’s would have been able to fight them off, all he did while we waited was complain about some scratch on his arm.”
“There are not large predators left in any of the Home World biomes [Sonten], they’ve all been moved to off world ecologies.”
[Sonten] grinned, “Really? Didn’t know that.”
[Vann] resisted the temptation to reprimand the man about what he should have known and turned to [Syn], “How much further?”
She glanced up from her Comm a smiling, “We’re arriving now.”
[Vann] sighed and turned to the window of the vehicle, switching the opacity to zero. The Emperor blinked in as a flood of multicolored lights, flashing on and off in a myriad of insane patterns flooded the inside of the vehicle. On the side and on top of the buildings huge holographic projections were cycling through images as quickly as they could.
Young class A were floating between buildings on massive transports that were little more than platforms dancing and drinking. Others were inside the buildings and on top of them, mingling and slowly moving about.
[Vann] looked around at the spectacle, almost as far as the eye could see each building seemed to be hosting a separate event while all of it merged into one.
“What is this?” asked [Vann] as he looked around.
“The copiers, ignore them.” grunted [Sonten] as the transport began to slowly loop around the tallest building. The transport rose at the edge of the building’s tallest landing pad, the small crowd of people collected at it began screaming so loudly it was audible through the hull.
[Vann] glanced back as [Syn] a question in his eyes.
She shrugged, “This is a little more energetic a party than usual. You’ve not confirmed going to any party before, although if the rumors are to be believed you’ve gone to quite a few. The people not invited to the Centrum throw companion parties. It’s been this was for a few hundred years, wasn’t it in the history lessons?”
[Reece] stepped out of the transport’s front and moved around to the door.
[Vann] continued, “The best locations to party was not part of my curriculum, no.”
“You should add it.”
The door opened and [Reece] leaned down, “Emperor.”
[Vann] steeling himself to the incredibly loud music that was shaking the air around the building stepped out of his transport.
The noise from the crowd intensified and [Vann] resisted the urge to dive back into the vehicle a note of apprehension in his stomach. He was used to public venues, but not ones where the rules were so lax. Sweeping eyes over the crowd [Vann] tried to regain some control.
“Smile cousin!” said [Sonten] as he leaned over and wrapped a hand around [Vann]’s should.
For a single second [Vann] debated the merits of throwing the annoying man over his shoulder and onto the hard metal of the platform. Settling himself [Vann] turned to his cousin by blood, “Emperor.”
[Sonten]’s eyes widened slightly and the smile on his face dropped slightly. He quickly nodded, “Of course Emperor.”
The people in the crowds continued to scream and shout, oblivious to what was happening. Ripping [Sonten]’s hand from his shoulder [Vann] settled his icy glare on [Syn].
“You never told me the parties would be this, energetic.” Hissed [Vann], shooting [Syn] a glare.
She didn’t flinch away, “You hardly leave the Palace for state function’s and gatherings. If I had told you what this was really like you would have found an excuse. Even now, you’re not here to actually relax are you?”
“You’re lucky I can’t replace you.”
[Syn] smiled and ignoring the crowds began to urge [Vann] forwards. “The lack of appearances has built up a fair amount of mystic, and I’m going to be able to rub it into more than a few faces. No one’s believed me in years when I say I manage your schedule.”
“That’s what you officially do?” asked [Vann].
“I think so, I’ll check.”
[Sonten] let out a whoop and ran forwards, “Let’s go!”
He was the first to reach the doors, the two Class B servants manning the massive doors jumped to attention, but did not move to open them waiting for the Emperor.
“Can I just say I’m glad you are not like him?” asked [Reece].
“He needs to be more like him if he’s going to fit in.” muttered [Syn] as the three of them walked through the gap in the crowd being maintained by low powered shields.
“I’m with [Reece] on this.” Said [Vann].
The bodyguard smiled, an expression that dropped as the class B began pulling the ancient doors open.
A blast of loud discordant music, heat, and light flowed out from the building onto the landing pad and crowd.
The center room was cavernous, a dance floor full of people at its center with small tables and bars around it similarly packed. [Vann] spotted many familiar faces, young men and women who were the sons and daughters of Senators and other important people within the Empire. He had seen them at official functions and events along with their parents.
Here though, the façade of that public decency was broken. Few were wearing as much clothing as [Vann] the thick robes thrown to the side for far more revealing clothing, which was further ignored. In the center of the dance floor where people were less dancing than grinding up against one another.
At the bars and tables around the rooms Class A sat enjoying massive amount of food and liquor, [Vann]’s eyes widened as a Class B servant who was wearing something that could barely be called clothing much less a uniform passed in front of them, a frazzled expression in her eyes as she delivered a tray.
[Vann] glanced around, looking towards the corner of the rooms and his eyes widened further. Class A women on raised stages with almost as little clothing as the servants were dancing along to the music, throwing their bodies around in beat.
[Syn] smirked seeing where his gaze was, “This what you were expecting?”
[Vann] winced, “No, and yes.”
[Sonten] ignoring them, stepped forwards towards the massive crowd. “Welcome to the party, Emperor!”
The men and women in the front of the crowd, who could hear him all snapped their heads around to look at him. A ripple of recognition quickly flowed through the room, and the music was quickly killed. What had been loud only a moment ago was suddenly silent enough to hear the ragged breathing from those on the dance floor.
[Sonten] glanced back at [Vann] and then turned back to the room at large, “Why you stopping? My Cousin came here to party!” shouted [Sonten] at the same volume as before despite the silence.
[Syn] stepped back from [Vann], who turned to her confused. She ignored him, instead trying to push [Reece] forwards, “You’re going to want to be in front of him.”
People surged forwards towards the Emperor and [Reece] braced himself.
9 Years, 11 Months, 13 Days After Eridani Landing
Chront
Derrick stepped out of the ground transport and winced as the oppressive heat and light of the planet beat down on him. Bellona had always been cold, and big blue had been so far from Eridani the sun had never been incredibly bright.
Ships were maintained, and lights controllable. All the environmental variables something that were managed and maintained.
The stickiness of the atmosphere, and the brightness of it were something that he was still getting used to. Squinting behind the light filtering material Derrick strode across the tarmac into the massive hanger, the two Human crewmen guarding it not moving from their post as he strode past.
Stepping inside Derrick paused for to look at what was left of the Canada. It was not a pretty sight, the ship had looked defiant and broken at first embedded in the airstrip. A testament to human engineering and ingenuity that she had even survived an atmospheric landing something she had never been designed to do. Now laid bare, she only looked broken.
The Seninon had needed to cut the main corridor of the ship, it’s spine into five pieces to move it. The individual compartments had been difficult to separate from the spin in a gravitational field but possible. Most of the intact modules were strewn about the hanger, power lines and cables between them allowing the vessel’s sub systems to operate.
The Canada would never fly again.
The main beam had been sheared in the landing, even if Derrick had wanted to repair the ship she would have never been able to move out of the atmosphere without an antimatter jump. Considering that system was now a hole in one compartment, and that detonating antimatter in a populated area was inadvisable, Stagg had deemed the vessel lost.
“Derrick!” shouted Anil. The woman was standing next to one of the engineering compartments, Captain Stagg standing beside her with King Henswick, President Renil, and Bitus.
Derrick tore his eyes from the ship, “Captain!”
Stagg nodded, “Derrick, sorry I had to pull you away from the Seninon teams.”
“It’s fine, we just finished the brief. What can I help you with?” asked Derrick for the benefit of the Seninon leaders. Stagg would have simply communicated through the Link if she had needed something.
Henswick stepped forwards, “You have working nano-machine fabricators.”
Derrick frowned and looked over at the module the machine was in, one of the medics was working at it sitting at an awkward angle to use a display that was built for zero-g. “We do.”
“Yet you are having us wait to begin distributing nano-machines to our people until the machines you are helping us build are complete. Why?” asked Henswick.
Derrick raised an eyebrow and glanced at Stagg, she shrugged, “Henswick.”
“King Henswick.” Growled the man.
Stagg cleared her throat, “Sorry. King Henswick. We cannot produce nearly enough nano-machines with the fabricator of the Canada to distribute them to your people. It was a machine designed for my crew,”
“Who still require them even now?” asked President Renil quickly cutting in.
Stagg glanced at the woman, “Yes. The nano-machine regimen is needed as most of my crew is still adapting to gravity. It is the price we have to pay for space travel without the artificial gravity that the Empire uses.”
Bitus frowned, “Then why don’t you use it? If your people must be reliant on a medicine to survive?”
Derrick smiled, his requests for more information in front of the other leaders were almost always to defuse tension. Neither of the other leaders would refuse gaining more human knowledge, not wanting to be at the disadvantage, and no doubt hoping Stagg or another would let something ‘secret’ slip.
“We haven’t had it. The precision needed to create artificial gravity with strange matter is beyond us, or rather it was until we got samples of Empire technology. Before then, we used strange matter for inertial stabilization to within one or two g’s of acceleration. So, we could make ships with artificial gravity now I suppose, but we like the freedom the zero-g environments offer. All of our space based technology is built for it, our ships and stations designed to be navigated in three-dimensional space, gravity would mess that up.” Said Derrick as he folded and put the shades away in a pocket.
Stagg nodded and continued, “My crew also does not need the nano-machines to live, no one does unless they have spent several months in zero-g without them and must return to a planet.”
Henswick turned to her, “Than why not share them? Your crew’s comfort surely does not trump the health of my citizens.”
Stagg’s lips twitched but Bitus spoke before she could, “For the same reason they refuse to give their technology to only one of us Henswick. Who should receive the very limited amount they have? You, me? Those who have the money to pay for them?”
“If the Humans can survive without them then our people should have access!”
Derrick shook his head, “King. Would you like for me to simply hand over all of the design schematics I have in the Canada’s computer core?”
Henswick blinked and he narrowed his eyes, “You have refused to do this.”
Derrick nodded, “But let’s say I changed my mind. We give you the designs and leave your planet, you can have your greatest minds study the technology and I have no doubt you would be able to eventually replicate it.”
Henswick said nothing his snakelike eyes still on Derrick waiting for him to continue.
“They wouldn’t be able to understand the engineering behind all of it, the same with any of the technology we just give you. Without understanding the intermediary steps, you’re liable to kill a lot of people before succeeding. Would you give a ruler from three hundred years ago a nuclear weapon?”
President Renil shook her head, “I most certainly would not.”
King Henswick shot her a glare but inclined his head, “I suppose not.”
Derrick smiled and looked at the world leaders, “Your people are learning at an incredible rate, from all three of your nations. The advantage I am giving them is a simple one, they don’t have to test something to know if it will work, they don’t have to completely program something from scratch, or even design something independently. I only give them what they need, because of this they are not simply copying what I give them, they’re learning like any student does. The most intelligent people on the planet are students again.”
Derrick turned to Stagg, “In a few months, you’re going to have your pick of new Engineers if I’m annoying you too much.”
“Don’t tempt me.” said Stagg.
Bitus blinked, “Really? Only a few months, to advance to Humanities level of knowledge?”
Derrick shrugged, “I’d like to think I’m smart, but the people you’ve put on my engineering teams? genius’s. The bottleneck isn’t going to be getting your scientists to our point of understanding, it’s going to be the economy needed to support it.” Derrick pulled out his Link and held it up, “We can’t build technology like this without building most of the intermediary technology, and the processing methods to create the new materials, and so on.”
President Renil nodded, “Yes, my analysts have been pointing that out as well. This is why you have the Engineering teams focusing on the fabricators?”
Derrick nodded, “The fabricators will be able to build most of the intermediary technology, the high precision parts will need to be manufactured on Bellona and installed though. If we build those here it will take at least thirty years or so.”
Henswick frowned and looked around the wreckage of the Canada, “You cannot duplicate the needed parts with what you have here?”
“No. The Canada does not have fabricators precise enough. The fabricators needed are even with our technology far larger than what could be placed on a ship.”
“You can make machines smaller than cells, that it not precise enough?” asked Henswick.
Derrick shook his head, “Not even close. There are about a hundred trillion atoms in a cell, and I need parts with precision down to a few atoms.”
King Henswick’s eyes widened, “That small?”
Derrick nodded. President Renil chewed on her lip thinking, “The Vakurian have no comparable systems?”
Derrick frowned, “I don’t think so. You would have to ask Allen to be sure, but the technology the Vakurian use it old Empire technology and the Empire does not seem to fabricate components like we do. From all their technology I’ve seen, they operate like Earth did spreading manufacturing out and creating small pieces all over their Empire. Assembling it in one place, Human fabricators are designed to operate with only the raw materials where such manufacturing is impossible like on Mars, or Bellona.”
The world leaders all nodded, and Stagg clapped her hands together making all of them jump.
“Right, thank you for clearing that up Derrick. Before you go back to your Engineering teams, we recovered another computing node.”
Derrick’s eyes widened, “Where?”
“One of the Seninon workers helping to salvage the ship had it, along with a collection of other components.”
“One of my people I’m afraid.” Said Bitus, “He is being reprimanded.”
Anil raised a small bag up, “I have the technology here.”
Derrick stepped forwards between Renil and Henswick taking it from her. “Captain?”
Stagg nodded, “Your dismissed.”
“Good luck!” said Bitus.
Derrick said nothing, already rushing back towards the engineering compartment of the Canada. Climbing up into the compartment through the hole that had been made when the ship had impact the tarmac of the runway Derrick moved across to where Arik had been perched.
The hole was empty, her actual brain had died during the antimatter jump. During the point when all the computer systems stopped logging, and no sensor system worked but the displays still showed something.
Opening the bag Derrick slowly dug through the components, a piece of armor, a basic power distribution control circuit, a piece of someone’s Link, and a processing node. Lifting the node out Derrick slowly examined the small grey box. It was one of the few hundred basic computer processing nodes that were contained within the ship spread out along it. Every Human ship or station had the small computer stuck wherever space was available.
Slowly Derrick set the node down in the cradle Arik had occupied. The node was far smaller than hers but the interface was the same. Turning back to the computer console Derrick closed his eyes bracing himself for the disappointment.
Derrick activated the node. Raw status information streamed across his screen, the entirety of the node’s memory and data being cloned to another for redundancy and backup. The data whatever was on it was intact.
Derrick sighed as the file structure instantiated and a list of the data contained within the module was listed.
“Damn it.” muttered Derrick.
The targeting calculations and solutions the node had been responsible for during the battle, a task pooled across all of them was neatly displayed. The node, having received power and noting the time difference was requesting to be reformatted with the Canada’s compute network.
Derrick stepped back from the console and sat.
“Derrick?” asked a voice from the hole in the side of the compartment.
The engineer quickly wiped at his eyes, “Yes Anil?”
She looked at him and then the computer console, “Nothing?”
“Nothing.”
Anil shifted and swallowed, “I’m sorry.”
Derrick shook his head and stood, “Don’t be. It’s insane for me to be hoping for something. Arik’s brain is the central core for all her processing. She spreads out into the computer nodes to process when needed, but most of her computation was done in her core. It shouldn’t be possible for her to live without that node, and” Derrick shook his head, “It was knocked offline during the battle.”
Anil stepped into the compartment her eyes on him, “The Gods are being cruel to you. Giving you these small hopes, you have had no chance to heal.”
Derrick ground his teeth, biting back the first thing that bubbled to his mind. “I’ve lost people before Anil. Every Human but the very youngest on Bellona have. She died fighting. It’s more than most got to do.”
Taking in a breath Derrick started the formatting of the computer node. “I’ll be going back to the engineers, unless there are any further questions?”
“No, they don’t have any more.”
Derrick walked over to the hole in his ship, Anil offered him a hand and he hopped down onto the concrete.
“Thanks.”
9 Years, 11 Months, 14 Days After Eridani Landing
Home World
[Charles] swirled the drink around in the small spherical glass, watching as a small whirlpool formed and dissipated frothing in the middle. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the small flicker of movement at the window.
“[Yuka]! Another!”
She jumped from where she was cleaning up in the kitchen and shook her head, “You told me not to!”
[Charles] muttered several curses under his breath, “Then leave! Out, go home for the day!”
[Yuka] hesitated and looked at his glass, and then around the rest of his home. “You are sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure, leave!”
[Yuka] jumped again and quickly jumped to gather her small bag before darting to the entrance of his home. [Charles] heard the door open, and close.
Lifting the glass to his lips [Charles] drained the glass hardly noticing the burning of the alcohol.
“How did you know?” asked the same voice that had been invading his home for weeks, a personification of what he had done.
[Charles] turned to the other side of his small kitchen, the young Human woman Minerva glared back at him. She was dressed in a Class B’s work uniform, and her skin was an unnatural white with small bluish veins running up and down her hands and face.
“It’s been almost a week, seven Earth days. Humans like to keep things on that schedule.”
Minerva raised an eyebrow and looked down at his glass, “I thought you were going to stop drinking.”
[Charles] scoffed, “Do you care?”
Minerva crossed her arms, “The butcher of Humanity, drinking himself to death? Your death should be more.
“I agree.”
Minerva sighed and sat down at the table across from him, “Why do you keep sending that woman away every time I’m here? She’s your slave, why care if she sees me?”
[Charles] shook his head and switched to the Human’s language, “She is not a slave.”
The girl thumped her chest, “I’m a class B [Charles]. They’re second class citizens, they don’t have the same opportunities as you. They are disposable, and any time they do anything remotely out of line they’re put down. You give them credits, but they are not citizens of your Empire! They’re slaves.”
[Charles] stood up turned around, “The class B are not slaves, not like the ones your people had.”
“We got rid of that, it was bloody, violent, and it took far too long. You’ve had the Class B under your thumb for thousands of years. You can claim what you want but you know the truth is that they’re slaves.”
Grinding his teeth together [Charles] opened a cabinet and pulled out a bottle he had hidden from [Yuka]. Pouring himself another glad [Charles] turned back to the young Human.
“I would rather not have [Yuka] put in the position where she has to decide to turn you in or not. Is that good enough for you?”
Minerva shrugged,
[Charles] sighed, “No class B within the empire has remained Class B for that entire time in any case. They’re now class A.”
Minerva laughed, reaching into her jacket she pulled out the small injector and set it on the table. “The Genomic Correction Virus.”
[Charles] slowly nodded.
Minerva spun the small device around on the table, “I’ve got to give it to you guys on that one. Work as a Slave, and eventually your children get to live as we do. It’s a nice gimmick, what else is in this serum?”
[Charles] frowned, “Not everything in the Empire is a lie Minerva. More class B join us, than are converted to Class A by a large margin. All of them eventually become class A though, and we’ve found more class B.”
“And what will happen when you reach the edge of the sphere or Panspermia? Your Genomic Correction Virus will fail? You’ll find a way to convert the last few Class C you haven’t converted? Hell, what happens when you encounter a Class B or C that’s more advanced then you?”
[Charles] rolled his eyes, “There are no other species more advanced than us. We are the origin of this form, the basis on which everything else is built.” [Charles] gestured at his own body.
Minerva let out a short bark of cruel laughter, “That’s propaganda, I’ve looked at the actual research. It’s funny, you’ve been spouting the rhetoric for so long even the scientists who investigate genetics don’t consider the possibility that you are not the ‘Seed’ as you call it.”
“I suppose Humans are the origin then?” snapped [Charles].
Minerva smiled. “Maybe. Perhaps We’re the class A, and you’re the class C?”
“Perhaps neither of us are the origin.” Snapped [Charles].
Minerva shrugged, “Doesn’t matter to me or the rest of Humanity. Humans are Humans, and we’re not the one who’s built my entire fucking culture around being special. Before you showed up, Humans were doing a shitty enough job we didn’t want to think we were the best. Now though, well at least we’re not genocidal on a galactic scale.”
[Charles] sighed and forgoing the glass lifted the bottle to his lips. “What do you want Minerva?”
Minerva scoffed, “I don’t need anything from you!”
[Charles] lowered the bottle and waited.
Minerva closed her eyes, “Have you heard anything new about the Human defense of Chront?”
[Charles] fingered the bottle and pursed his lips, “Some. None of it official. I’m not in the loop for that.”
“I thought you were the Emperor’s mentor or something?” asked Minerva.
“I’m not a very good role model, am I? He needed me to learn about what [Marcus] is doing, I tried to teach him about you while warning him of that.”
Minerva shrugged, “Genocidal, racist, slaver scum? I think you’re the perfect role model. That certainly represents his Empire.”
[Charles] bit his tongue resisting the urge to reprimand the girl and took another swig from the bottle. Leaning up against the counter as his balance began to face [Charles] drew in a breath.
“The civilian populations are not really reacting. The Jikse colony was mostly Class B, so it’s defenses were minimal and the consensus is that the ships used to attack it were stolen from the Empire.”
“The ships were from the Empire. From what was described by those who escaped, it was not a Human attack. Beams of light from orbit, an hour-long assault? If Humanity were attacking a planet one, maybe two nuclear tipped kinetic warheads fired from a Country Class vessel would have been used. The city would have been destroyed in an instant.”
[Charles] inclined his head, “I know. While I was in the bunker, the Humans there showed me the video of the attacks during your Earth Mars war. They were brutally efficient.”
Minerva smiled, “and those are small compared to what we could do without holding back.”
[Charles] took another sip from the bottle. “The military however, at least in the higher circles is reacting more strongly. The battle over Chront, and the strategies that Emperor [Vann] employed to counter your people…” [Charles] trailed off considering his words, “The commanders who were not present for the encounter, and those loyal to [Marcus] have criticized him for the unorthodox strategy. Those who were present, and fell into his command when the Admiral was killed. They believe he is the only reason they managed to survive.”
Charles took another sip from the bottle. “He was prepared to face your people because I convinced him you were a threat to be taken seriously. He looked at what the Yamato did, and the extrapolations on Human strategy I constructed.”
Minerva’s eyes narrowed, and the small Human firearm appeared in her hand drawn from some small pocket in her clothing.
[Charles] barely looked at the weapon, moving to place the empty bottle in the trash.
“You have not told me this.”
[Charles] moved back to his table and sat, still ignoring the weapon.
“The Emperor is not your enemy, but the only way I could get him to start looking at the class C was to have him treat you as a threat. Any other approach, and he would dismiss it. The class system of the Empire is ingrained, each generation of his family has perpetuated it. It is in his blood.”
“Then I should have killed him.”
[Charles] glanced up at her his eyes sharpening, “then the Empire would now be controlled by a man who knows the truth behind the classification system, and does not care. Which is worse Minerva? A man bound by honor and tradition? Or one bound by greed?”
Minerva said nothing her gun still leveled at him.
“The Emperor is young, and all your people need to do is place doubt in his mind. He is honorable, more so than many of his ancestors. He doesn’t just want to pretend to hold the people’s interest first. I guarantee you he actually believes all of what the Emperor is supposed to be.”
[Charles] continued, “In any case it does not matter. The deactivation of the tachyon beacon in the Chront system is causing the largest amount of grief. It will take another 80 of your years for one to reach it at sub-light speeds.”
Minerva lowered her gun, “I haven’t heard about that, the tachyon beacon is down?”
[Charles] nodded. “It is. There are only whispers in the military now, but it will spread through the civilian population soon enough.”
“I thought it was impossible, the public data your people has on those beacons. It’s a network of a few thousand micro satellites around a hub. Taking out that hub is simple enough, but do that and the micro satellites automatically call in another hub.”
[Charles] let a small smile tug at his face, “You doubt your people would be able to find a way to shut it down?”
“No.”
Closing his eyes as the world dulled around him by a small amount [Charles] drew in a breath. “The Emperor is not a threat to you. He must wrest control from [Marcus] before he could go after your people, and [Marcus] is focused on replicating the antimatter drive. If you truly want to help your people obstructing that research, and putting a bullet in [Marcus]’s head should be your goal.”
Minerva slowly sat down across from [Charles] and groaned. [Charles] said nothing, watching the youth. The only other Human’s he had interacted with to a large degree had been the Martian General and Emily.
Minerva was a child, forced to become an adult because of his actions. She was intelligent, skilled, and resourceful but still a child.
“Teach me how to be a class A if I’m going to do anything I need to get into the more restricted areas.”
[Charles] blinked, “I’m sorry?”
Minerva picked at her disguise rubbing off some of the paint on her skin, “I figured out the class B easily enough.”
[Charles] shook his head, “You figured out how to impersonate a class B because you could walk around without a disguise and no one would think you are class C. Seeing a class C walking on the street is not something that anyone on a colony, much less the Home World would consider.”
“But?” asked Minerva.
“Class B have tried to fake being class A. There are genetic scanners, and other devices to weed them out. They don’t bother creating profiles for class B, but the markers for a class A are apparently easy to pick up. You could have faked being a class A with some makeup and a shave maybe four hundred years ago. Not now.”
Minerva frowned, “Then how do you expect me to kill your Consul?”
“You are a sniper, aren’t you?”
“A very good one, but I need information as well.”
“I’ve given you everything I have.” Said [Charles] annoyed.
“Which is useless unless I get it back home, at the very least I need access to some sort of high powered transmitter. Do you have anything like that?”
[Charles] shook his head, “No. Tachyon communication is the only thing that is used for long distance communication.” He paused thinking, “Tachyon beacons have backup communication systems though, that might work.”
Minerva nodded, “How do I access one of those?”
“You don’t. They’re under military control. I have no valid codes, and you would have to be on a command ship or in a government center to access them.”
Minerva thumbed the small injector, “Simple then. Get information, get codes, and break into a facility to get a transmitter.”
“There is still lightspeed lag. Anything you send to your people will be a year or two behind.”
Minerva frowned, “A year or two? The closest system to Humanity is more than a decade away from any of your own systems.”
“True, but one of the first things [Marcus] did when he discovered your antimatter technology was fire off a tachyon beacon towards every star within a twenty-light year sphere of your planet. Is Humanities new home within that?”
Minerva’s face was carefully neutral “How fast are they traveling? The Beacons?”
[Charles]’s face turned pink at her question, “About 80% the speed of light.”
“And it’s been nearly a decade,” muttered Minerva.
“They’ll be arriving soon.” Said [Charles], “and [Marcus] will send every ship in the fleet to your new world.”
Minerva swore.
Epoch Null
Null
MemoryError
Error in arik.main:
Traceback(most recent call):
File “/root/arik.ii”, line 5545, in main(x,x,x):
File “/root/arik.ii”, line 223, in main
If core_present is false: force_recompile
MemoryError