An Obsidian Sky (29 page)

I could not
say that I did. This vision was something that I could not let hold
of, something that I simply could not will out of existence.
Carvelle might have turned them on, and ordered them to begin
terra-forming the colonies, but I didn’t want to be the one to turn
them off.

It was then
that I saw Adrian in the periphery of my vision. He was bathed in
pure light. He was the very image of perfection. Suddenly the light
of the Promethean Layer did not shine so brightly. This star, my
star, outshined all others. I could see in a moment of pure
contemplation the very essence of his soul, his good nature, his
love, the reasons that I loved him; and they were all a greater
bliss than anything Ascension could ever offer.

The artefact
shut down. A flurry of concepts and images flashed across my mental
paradise. The lights in the room went out. The artefact stopped
pulsing, and yet the room didn’t darken at all, because the light
shining from Adrian never faded.

As the network
faded so did the Promethean Layer. I let it go with a mixture of
regret and relief. I was very aware of just how addicted one could
have gotten to that sight.

‘It is done.’
With those words we turned. Aeniah, Adrian and I reached the
surface, linked arms and walked back to the vessel. We all sat
comfortably in the communal area and told the ship to reach the
atmosphere and break orbit.

We were
lounging around not saying very much as the vessel lifted its
little self up and into the cosmos. Aeniah spoke for the first time
and seemed to be smiling at some private joke. ‘So guys, you wanna
take a look at my little contribution to our stories end,’ she
announced innocently. A holo resolved of the planet. She pulled a
small canister from her pocket. ‘You know, I’ve been carrying this
around ever since the wars, and I never found a use for it until
now.’

She pulled a
little rip cord out of the canister and pointed to the holo. At
first I couldn’t see it, but then it grew in size and took on the
form of a blast of light that would eradicate a small section of
the continent. ‘Planted the charge right next to that bastard
artefact, even if it survives don’t think anyone’s gonna dig far
enough down to find it.’

Despite
ourselves we all laughed. ‘So where to now?’ I asked.

Adrian was the
first to reply, ‘to the colonies.’

The little
ship, this Xenith class vessel bolted out and into the night sky.
The starlight twinkled about the vessel as it crossed the rivers of
emptiness and into our future. We all sat around that table and
discussed the worlds we hoped we’d find. We sat there and promised
ourselves a quiet life, tending the grapes in a sunlit field. With
delight I held onto Adrian’s arm, and kissed him.

Epilogue

After a little
bit of searching we found the only colony left that still had life.
In fact it actually still held a civilisation. They listened to our
story and believed our every word, for they knew it to be the
truth. The artefacts had yet to do much damage to their society.
What limited activation there had been had done little damage to
their population.

The incredible
thing was that this colony had held on to themselves far better
than our planet ever had. They understood how to maintain and
repair the Blue Clarity generators. They had great cities that were
as beautiful as they were large. They lived upon an ocean of
promise and they welcomed us with all their hearts. Were we not
treated as guests, or immigrants, or invaders, we were treated as
one of them.

After the
first year Adrian and I bought a house, not a large one, but large
enough for the both of us. In my interaction with the artefact I
had gained a sizable amount of knowledge through which I was able
to help the people of Aurelia build up their technology.

Aeniah popped
round once a week for tea. We would all sit around the stone table
and talk of the great adventure that we had been on. We would laugh
at all the stupid things we did and she would tell us about the
world she had grown up in. The sun would always shine a little
brighter when we were all together.

Aeniah and
Sean had used the components of the Xenith class to design and
develop an FTL capable vessel for the people of Aurelia. They were
just a few weeks away from completion of the project. Everyone was
getting quite excited by it.

I had a proper
job for the first time in my life, working as the head of Deep
Space Observations, keeping watch over the stars for signs of
life.

It was four
years now since we had shut down the Artefact and Adrian and I were
eating breakfast together. It was bright outside and the plants
rustled in the warm ocean breeze.

‘Did you see
the Conem’s destroy the Deneut’s last night? It was awesome they
never stood a chance. Four to one, brilliant!’ Adrian pushed his
fist into the air in triumph.

‘That’s
fantastic, wish this place had a concept of commerce so that I
could have put some money on it.’ We both laughed.

I was clearing
away the plates when the phone rang. I almost dropped them all with
the shock. I pressed the air where the answer button for the phone
had resolved. An image of John Cueson appeared. He had worked for
me at the Deep Space Observation Centre since I had joined.

‘Sir,’ he said
a little timidly, ‘you need to come in right now sir. This is an
Alpha Protocol alert.’

Alpha
Protocol
I thought. What the hell, and in the middle of a
dishwashing. I kissed Adrian on the forehead and rushed for my
sub-orbiter. The journey through the outer atmosphere was a tense
one, a thousand thousand thoughts rushed through my head. What if
it was another meteor or something else?

I burst
through the doors of the DSOC and was confronted with a mass of
people throwing themselves at one another, trying desperately to
bark information at one another. John was right by my side in an
instant.

‘Sir, Aeniah
is on the line for you, the President is also on call. They and the
supreme cabinet are waiting for you in the control centre.’

I ran through
the departments, at some points physically pushing people out of
the way. There was an energy in the building that told me all that
I needed to know.

In the control
centre was a holo of all the people that John had informed me would
be there. Aeniah looked tense.

‘Brief me!’ I
shouted to no one in particular. It was John who responded, he
waved at the people manning the controls for the holo.

‘Sir, one hour
ago a Ceila satellite detected an incoming into the system. The
image you see behind you is a wave-form consistent with faster than
light translation. At the same time our monitoring of the
co-ordinates you gave us showed a massive increase in energy
output.’

I gasped and
pushed my hands against one of the desks near me to try and keep
myself on my feet. Aeniah recoiled away from her camera. ‘You don’t
mean,’ I said.

‘Yes sir,
Ascension appears to be doing something. But sir that isn’t the
point.’ He waved at another technician. The holo resolved upon an
image of a large and powerful looking vessel. It was bearing a
United World insignia.

‘Oh my god!’
Aeniah shouted. ‘Oh no, that’s
my
ship, that’s my fucking
ship.’

‘But I thought
Carvelle?...oh no...oh no.’ I couldn’t even begin to bring myself
to form the words. I knew exactly who it was, and exactly why we
were here. But above all I knew with absolute certainty that we did
not have the power to resist.

‘Sir,’ shouted
a technician, ‘we have a message incoming.’

‘Open
channels,’ I said.

The image of a
man who was infamous in my mind resolved and stood before me. His
eyes held a murderous texture to which I felt my very hopes and
dreams die beneath its weight.

‘Ladies and
gentlemen of Aurelia, my name is Alfred Carvelle, and I am here to
offer you
Ascension
.’

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