Conflict Unending Read online

  The four sat in silence for a while thinking about Fleet Admiral Streth’s prophetic words.

  “I think it’s best we don’t tell anyone else about this,” suggested Massie. “This needs to be kept between the four of us until we better understand what it means.”

  “I agree,” said Race.

  Admirals Baasil and Lankell nodded. “It is for the best,” said Baasil. “It may be years in the future before we fully understand what the fleet admiral meant.”

  -

  In the far off former Human Federation of Worlds former Fleet Admiral Hedon Streth was standing on the shore of the small lake he and his brother used to fish in. He missed those days which now lay hundreds of years in the past. It had been several days since he had the vision he’d told Admiral Tolsen about. The visions were coming less frequently now than when he was younger. He reached up, rubbing his brow. The headache from the vision was slowly receding.

  The sun was beginning to set and he looked up at the first stars as they began to appear. A large part of his life had been involved in war. War in the distant past when the Hocklyns and the AIs first found the old Human Federation of Worlds and then in the future when he had fought to save the new Federation.

  There were several things about his vision he had not revealed to Race. Parts of the vision were too horrifying to reveal and it could change the future for the worse. The war with the Eternals would have to play out along with the consequences he had foreseen. With great sadness he knew many who were going to fight in this war would never return home.

  Chapter Ten

  Major Brenda Wilde stood inside a long and deep tunnel, which had been dug down to what they believed, was a hidden Originator stasis facility. It lay beneath a small mountain and sensor readings indicated it was nearly two thousand meters beneath the surface. It had taken several days to assemble the necessary equipment and drill down to the complex.

  “They sure didn’t want to be found,” commented Sergeant Metz as he gazed at the thick metal wall in front of them.

  Leeda turned away from the wall where she had been using several instruments to scan it. “It’s constructed of ship battle armor and nearly a meter thick. We can cut through it with the high intensity plasma cutter we brought.”

  “Go ahead,” ordered Brenda, folding her arms over her chest. It appeared this was going to take a while. “We came to find out what’s here so we need to get inside.”

  Leeda quickly contacted several waiting AIs who pushed forward a large projector and began setting it up to face the metal wall. Portable lights had been brought in and shone on the area to be cut.

  Reesa walked over to stand next to Major Wilde with a look of excitement on her face. “The complex is immense. There could be thousands of Originators in stasis inside.”

  “We must be careful not to damage the complex,” said Cynthia, who was standing by with a mixed medical team of Originators, Altons and a few specially trained AIs. “We don’t know what condition the Originators in the stasis chambers will be in. One thing we can expect is all of them will be suffering from the pathogen.”

  “We have plenty of the antidote and can get more if needed,” said Brenda.

  “Have we been able to contact any AIs inside the facility?” asked Faboll Lavar.

  Leeda shook her head. “I don’t believe any AIs could survive this long without some type of maintenance facility. Our lives are very long but after a certain point, our memory engrams have to be downloaded into another body. I doubt if that resource is available in this stasis facility.”

  “What if they were in shutdown mode like Albate was aboard the Seeker?” asked Brenda. Albate and some combat robots had survived several million years by shutting down their systems until the Seeker was boarded by Commander Zafron and Rear Admiral Barnes. “Kazak managed to survive using that method as well.”

  “It might be wise to summon a few combat robots just in case,” Leeda said as she looked back at the wall. “We don’t know what type of defenses there might be inside.”

  Brenda nodded. She had two squads of Marines and three squads of combat robots on the surface. “Sergeant Metz, have a squad of the combat robots come down here just in case we need them.” There was already a squad of Marines waiting just behind her in case they were needed.

  Turning her attention back to the wall Brenda saw the AIs activate the plasma cutter. A red beam struck the wall and slowly began cutting into it. “How long will it take to cut a hole in the armor plating?”

  “About an hour to make it large enough for us to enter,” Leeda replied. “The armor is thick and we’re trying not to damage anything beyond the wall.”

  “Do you know of any other precautions we should take?” asked Brenda, looking over at Deelia. She had been in charge of the massive underground stasis facility of the Lost Originators.

  Deelia shook her head. “Not that I can think of. I’m curious as to why this facility did not activate when word of the cure was sent to all the Shrieels. Surely it was set up to do so.”

  “As are we all,” replied Brenda as she watched the plasma cutter. It was making slow but steady progress.

  -

  An hour passed and the plasma cutter shut down. It had cut a hole three meters high and two meters wide into the metal wall. Earlier they had inserted a small probe which showed they were cutting into a dark corridor.

  “We’re ready to go inside,” reported Leeda, turning toward Brenda.

  “Sergeant Metz, take two Marines and two combat robots. You will escort Leeda into the facility. When you and Leeda deem it’s safe the rest of us will come in.”

  “I would like to go with them.” said Cynthia.

  “No,” Brenda replied. “We don’t know what might be in there. I’m not going to risk your safety until we know it’s safe.”

  Cynthia nodded, eyeing the opening which led into the corridor.

  “Private Malone, Private Stern, the two of you are with me,” said Sergeant Metz. “Each of you bring a combat robot along and try not to bump into anything.”

  Brenda watched expectantly as the Marines, the combat robots, and Leeda vanished into the opening. She was anxious to see what was inside. It had taken them months to finally find one of the hidden stasis facilities they felt were hidden on the Shrieels. The Shrieels were so large it was impossible to find the facilities using sensor scans. Fortunately the computer drive furnished by Jontel provided the exact coordinates for this one.

  -

  For several long minutes they waited and then an excited Private Malone appeared in the entrance. “It’s safe. Major Wilde, you need to come inside and see this. It’s amazing!”

  “Let’s go,” Brenda said to the others.

  Going inside they made their way down the dimly lit corridor to a door standing wide open. From the door bright light was shining. Stepping inside they came to a stunned halt.

  “It is a stasis facility!” said Reesa excitedly. Inside the room were a number of stasis chambers along one wall with Originators inside.

  “The setup is similar to what we were using only smaller,” said Deelia as she walked around gazing at the consoles and computer screens.

  “There’s more,” Sergeant Metz said from another open doorway. “There are stasis chambers on both sides of this corridor for as far as we can see. Not only that, we’ve found two other corridors set up the same way.”

  Cynthia walked over to the chambers in the room checking them. “The stasis chambers in here seem to be working perfectly,” she reported as she scanned them with an instrument she was carrying. Several other Originators were checking the stasis chambers in the tunnels

  Faboll walked around the large room, inspecting it. “This seems to be the Control Room for this facility. The Originators in stasis are probably the leaders as well as the specialists who would administer the antidote to the pathogen and awaken the others who are in stasis.”

  There were fourteen stasis chambers in the room. They
held eight male Originators and six female. Cynthia checked each one thoroughly before turning back toward Major Wilde. “They’re in reasonable health. However, as expected, they are all suffering in different degrees from the pathogen.”

  Faboll was hovering over a computer console, examining it closely. “This appears to be the main computer console for the complex.” He took out a small handheld device and placed it on top of the console. For several long minutes he studied it and then looked over at Brenda. “It appears a command was received by this computer that the facility was not to be activated unless a code was entered manually.”

  “How long ago?” asked Brenda.

  Faboll looked confused. “The command originated from the Communications and Transport Hub about twenty thousand years after the last of our people who were not in stasis died from the pathogen. A little over two million years ago.”

  “One of the AIs controlled by the Defenders of Zorn,” said Leeda. “It’s the only explanation.”

  “Can you override the command?” asked Brenda.

  Faboll nodded. “Yes, now that I have access to the computer it will be relatively simple. However, I should inform you that 8.2 percent of the stasis chambers have failed.”

  Cynthia looked intently at Faboll. “Why?”

  “The designers of this complex did not expect to be in stasis for millions of years. Some of the stasis chambers suffered catastrophic failures.”

  “Lack of a proper maintenance program,” Deelia said. “I have noticed several repair robots in the corridors, but they seem to be nonfunctional.”

  Brenda could see how upset this was making Cynthia. “Faboll, how many stasis chambers are in this facility?”

  “Thirty-eighty thousand,” he answered. “Slightly over three thousand have failed.”

  Brenda took a deep breath. “I know it is horrible that over three thousand have died in this facility but there are thirty-five thousand still living. We must concentrate on them and not those who have died.”

  Cynthia nodded. “We will need more of the antidote. We should probably arrange for shuttles to come here so we can take the stasis chambers to a large medical center in one of our cities. It will be safer to awaken them there where we will have the proper facilities to treat the pathogen as well as the weakened conditions of those in the stasis chambers.”

  Deelia spent a moment examining one of the chambers and nodded to herself. “It should be relatively easy to move the chambers. I would suggest we bring in a number of repair robots to assist.”

  Brenda looked back over at Faboll who was still busy at the computer. “Have you found out anything else?”

  Faboll turned around with a pleased and excited smile on his face. “It seems this facility is one of many which were constructed during the final days of the pathogen. The Originator Council was involved and great care was taken to keep the locations of these facilities a secret.”

  “How many facilities are there?” asked Brenda. She guessed there were probably a few hundred scattered across the Dyson Spheres.

  “There are thousands of them,” Faboll answered. “All have been instructed not to activate until the manual code is entered into the primary computer system.”

  Brenda took a deep breath. They now knew why none of the facilities activated when the cure for the pathogen was announced. Councilor Bartoll would be highly distraught when he found out about this, particularly if the delayed activation caused the deaths of many of those in stasis.

  “Do you know where they are?” asked Brenda. This information needed to be sent to Councilor Bartoll and Fleet Admiral Strong as soon as possible.

  Faboll shook his head. “No, only about a hundred or so. I believe each facility will have information on others. The more facilities we open up, the more we will have locations for.”

  Reesa looked over at Brenda. “It is going to be a massive job to find and awaken all of these Originators. If there are an average of thirty thousand in each facility we’re talking about sixty million Originators who may be in stasis.”

  “It could be more or less depending on the number and sizes of the stasis facilities,” Leeda said.

  “Councilor Bartoll will be thrilled to learn of this, though he will be saddened by the deaths,” Brenda said.

  “There is a problem,” Cynthia said worriedly. “We’ve already lost over three thousand in this facility. The longer it takes to find the others and awaken those in stasis the more that will die. We have no way to tell how rapidly the equipment in those facilities is failing.”

  Brenda realized this was going to be a massive undertaking. It would require the utilizing of many of the Dyson Spheres’ AIs as well as a number of the Lost Originators. If all the stasis facilities were buried like this one, the project could take many months or even years.

  “I’d better go make a report to Councilor Bartoll and Fleet Admiral Strong,” Brenda said. “There are decisions which need to be made.” Brenda wondered what sixty million more Originators would mean to the war effort. Starting to walk up the long tunnel she knew things were about to get even more interesting.

  -

  Jeremy, Councilor Bartoll, Councilor Trallis, Councilor Castille, Admiral Kalen, General Wesley, Marisa Lillad, and Santol were in an emergency meeting.

  “They say there are thousands of potential stasis facilities on the Shrieels,” said Bartoll in disbelief.

  Jeremy nodded. “In her report Major Wilde indicates there could be as many as sixty million of your people in stasis.”

  Bartoll leaned back still in shock. “They were here all along.”

  Marisa looked thoughtful. She was an Originator geneticist and medical expert. “The report also indicates over 8 percent of the stasis chambers in this facility they’re reached have failed. They were not designed to operate for so long. It’s been a little over two million years.”

  “Yes,” replied Jeremy. “That’s why we need to move quickly on this. I’ve already contacted the Altons and they’re preparing all of their medical staff. We’re also mobilizing all of our Marines to help dig tunnels to the underground facilities. It’s not going to be easy as they’re all probably deep underground like this one.”

  “Our drilling equipment will make it easier,” Santol said. Santol was an Originator engineer. “We can use our AIs to operate it but we’ll need technicians and medical staff once we reach the stasis facilities.”

  “Military as well,” said Bartoll, thinking about the potential dangers. “We must make sure none of these stasis facilities are controlled by the Defenders of Zorn. With the current war against the Eternals, we dare not risk awakening more of them.”

  “I agree,” said Councilor Trallis. “I would suggest we begin immediately making ready medical facilities in every Shrieel.”

  “Yes,” said Marisa. “I think it’s best the stasis chambers be moved to the facilities for awakening. Cynthia reported all the Originators in the facility they’ve opened are suffering from the pathogen. Everyone we awaken will need several weeks of intensive care. It’s going to be a shock when they discover how much time has passed and we’re now at war with the Eternals. This is going to stress our resources as we don’t have the people or the AIs for such a massive operation.”

  Jeremy looked around the group. “Perhaps the best solution is to find all of these stasis facilities and then use your people and the Altons to make sure no more of the stasis chambers inside fail. Then you can awaken your people as the resources become available.”

  Councilor Castille looked over at Jeremy and then nodded. “That sounds reasonable. It would also give us time to scan our data banks to determine if anyone in stasis was involved with the Defenders of Zorn.”

  “General Wesley,” said Jeremy, addressing the general. “We’re going to need more troops to guard these facilities until the Originators inside are awakened. Contact Governor Barnes and inform him of the situation and see about getting qualified soldiers on some of the transports which w
ill soon be returning. Councilor Bartoll, we also need to ramp up the creation of more combat robots as we’ll need them for guard duty as well.” Jeremy didn’t want to take anything away from the planned attack on the Simulins’ vortex Control Centers in the two Dyson Spheres.”

  “You really think there is a danger to these underground facilities?” asked Councilor Trallis.

  Jeremy nodded. “I do. Look what happened to the one we designed to trap any rogue AIs supporting the Defenders of Zorn.”

  Everyone nodded. The fake stasis facility had been destroyed and a number of Marines killed. Eight AIs had been destroyed in the blast as well . There was still some suspicion Commander Alvord and Albate had been behind the attack.

  “I suggest we leave Major Wilde in charge of this project,” said General Wesley. “We will substantially increase the size of her team, allowing them to work on multiple Dyson Spheres at the same time.” Wesley looked over at Councilor Bartoll. “We will need additional Originator medical personnel, technicians, and AIs assigned to her.”

  Councilor Bartoll nodded. “I will make the arrangements though I fear we’re going to fall short finding the necessary personnel we’re going to need.”

  Admiral Kalen looked thoughtful. “We could contact the Altons back in the Federation and explain the situation. They are familiar with long term stasis. They could send the personnel we require.”

  Jeremy looked over at the three Originator Councilors. “What do the three of you think of Admiral Kalen’s suggestion?”

  “The Altons are the most advanced race we know of next to us,” replied Councilor Trallis. “I have no objection.”

  “Neither do I,” added Councilor Castille. “The sooner we can awaken everyone in stasis the better it’s going to be for all of us. It will greatly improve the odds of us being able to defeat the Eternals.”

  “I will speak to Governor Barnes,” Councilor Bartoll said after listening to his two fellow councilors and then looking over at Jeremy. “Do you think the Altons will agree?”