Child of Time (21 page)

Finding a balcony on one of the upper floors Tessa
noticed that a guard was standing just outside the door. Activating
her stealth module Tessa made her way to the wall below the
balcony. She levitated up the three floors quickly. The guard only
noticed the intruder standing in front of him an instant before he
was lying unconscious on the floor. Taking the guard's security
card Tessa soon found herself inside.

The computer mainframe was five stories down. Tessa
worked her way onward without much difficulty. The security inside
the building was refreshingly lacking. One more story to go and
Tessa walked through a door and stopped short. Stretching out in
front of her were long rows of pods. Looking closer she thought
that these might be the cloning machine. Wiping the condensation
from the glass she found herself staring into the face of a
sleeping drakken. Kendra noticed the distinct similarities the
thorans she had met and the drakken clone in front of her. They
must be a hybrid of some sort. The discovery did not bode well.

Deciding to try the mainframe for more information
Tessa looked for a route down. Dispatching the guards stationed by
the mainframe she found a data port. Tessa was soon in her natural
element. The firewalls were impressive but she was one of the
latest generation AIs so they were more of an annoyance. They were
defective on the basic levels and utilized a predictable algorithm.
Doing a quick scan of the data files she found plans for the
construction of a central cloning facility based off those of
drakkos prime. The drakken were planning on setting up cloning
sites throughout the galaxy. There was nothing more that could be
gathered from this mainframe. It seemed that the data files were
physically separated by keeping them in different bases. Finding
that the other bases computers were linked with a basic com link,
Tessa managed to exploit it and upgrade it to a data link. With the
new data link, Tessa was able to spread her viruses unimpeded.

Unfortunately by Tessa's calculations there were more
than a couple thousand automated cloning pods in cooperation and
more being built. The gestation cycle of a drakken clone was less
than five days. If that many drakken invaded the remaining free
thoran cities the protectorate would not be able to fend off the
unending flow of clones. They could easily track down and destroy
each cloning site on the planet but by then there would be no more
thorans remaining on the planet. The battles could all be won but
the war would be lost.

There was only one thing that could be done.
Rewriting the code of the connected mainframes took a few minutes
and soon they all had viruses sabotaging rebel activity and
routinely reporting intel to a protectorate satellite in orbit. Now
it was possible to alter the cloning parameters. Not enough to shut
them down but to cause the hybrid clones to become a failure. If
one of the steps was to malfunction the alien antibodies would
destroy each other. By the time the mistake was uncovered, it would
be too late. Disconnecting from the computer Tessa turned at the
sound of footsteps.

“Filthy dirt woman.” The drakken sneered as it
approached. “Your pathetic resistance will soon be crushed by our
superior soldiers.” Seeing Tessa prepare to defend herself, he
laughed harshly. “I could snap your under developed spine with one
hand.” The drakken lunged forward to act on his threat and found
empty air when he clawed at Tessa. Using his momentum against him
she gave him a shove as he passed. Losing his balance the drakken
fell flat on his face. Brushing himself off the drakken uttered a
few more insults.

Tessa knew that there would be more guards coming
soon. If her work was uncovered it could undo every advantage that
her work had gained. It was time to end the drakken. Tessa charged
at the surprised drakken. Meeting her charge head on the drakken
was thrown backwards like a rag doll. A computer console abruptly
ended his ungraceful flight. The drakken climbed to his feet and
uttered a blood curdling screech. This time Tessa seized him by the
scruff of his neck and hurdled the drakken against the far wall.
There was no movement from the broken mass.

“Then it is a good thing I don't have a spine.”
Hearing the heavy footsteps of approaching reinforcements Tessa
sighed. “I liked this chassis, too bad but hey it will go out with
a bang.” The self-destruct countdown started and Tessa waited until
she was sure it couldn't be stopped before disconnecting her data
link from the android. Activating the scanners of the Athena Tessa
watched as a portion of the planet surface spewed dust before
collapsing leaving a crater. The traces of what she had done were
now an atomized dust. The virus was propagated and some of the data
centers were already uploading. Tessa informed Kendra of her
success and began analyzing the data retrieved.

---------

Aren started at the tremors that made his table
quiver. Without the interference field he felt exposed. The rebels
could be hatching all sorts of plans. The protectorate claimed that
they were doing anything about it was not convincing. He felt that
the protectors wanted something from his planet. Soldiers, workers,
slaves or resources, the dismal list of possible exploitations was
endless. They had practically forced him to sign the treaty. No
race as powerful as the protectors would ever offer to protect a
single world from attack and help them quell a rebellion without
demanding something in return. He had recommended several of his
staff as liaisons yet they had turned every one down finally
telling him that they would choose one. He had never felt so
powerless in a negotiation before. The fact that he had nothing to
hold as a bargaining chip was even more depressing. Saying no could
doom his people and saying yes could condemn his people to a
different fate. Aren's assistant interrupted his eternal brooding
with a request for a meeting from Draxos. A "request" he thought to
himself. There really is no need for being polite when you hold a
blaster to someone's head.

“I'm glad you could make it.” Draxos started the
meeting as soon as Aren arrived. “We made our selection of the
liaison and we hope that you will be happy with our choice. Savos
of the thoran defense force meets our requirements.” Aren had to
swallow his words of protest as Draxos continued. “We just received
Intel that the drakken do indeed have cloning facilities on New
Thoros and that they have begun cloning drakken troops. Our
operative was able to destroy one of these primary facilities and
you may have felt the explosion a few minutes ago. We believe that
there are other cloning facilities and that the drakken will be
making an attempt to break your defenses soon. We recommend that
you withdraw troops into your cities and fortify yourselves.
Prepare for a siege until we can eliminate cloning facilities. We
will provide as much support as we can until this is settled.

Aren pondered the information.
It could be a trap,
get us all together in our city's then bombard them from space.
Neatly eliminate them all. On the other hand if it was true then an
offensive would be impossible. What do the protectors want? They
are too powerful of a race to simply want to help us out of the
goodness of their hearts.
“They want something these
protectors, you are a thoran. Do you have any loyalty to your own
race?”

Reaching out and touching Aren's forehead Draxos
initiated a psychic link. Calming the flustered emotions from Aren
he showed him the colony ship as it tried to escape the thoran home
world. “We were benders and the purifiers branded us as mutants, a
disease that needed to be eradicated. We tried to leave, escape
with our lives but they hunted us down and proceeded to destroy our
ship. The ascended saved us and took us to a new world. Draxos
showed memories of his home and family. We thrived and have decided
to never do what was done to us. The protectorate as you call it is
made up of several races that believe as we do. Many of them were
saved by the ascended and many were born on the refuge worlds.”
Releasing Aren from the link Draxos watched him intently.

“The Zorrel clan was thought to have telepathic
ability but nothing more than a basic sense of emotions. How did
you get memories that were so clear?” Tapping a pad Aren looked at
it for a moment before continuing. “I found a record of the clan
leader also called Draxos from the colony ship and I have to say
you look almost identical to your ancestor.”

Draxos smiled to himself. He had knew this day was
going to come sooner than later. “I am Draxos Zorrel, head of the
Zorrel clan. Those were my memories. I am many hundreds of years
old. Can we discuss plans for fortifying your populace
centers?”

---------

Kiyan walked through the ship as he thought about how
life used to be. He knew he could use the transported and be at
Jeremy's room within a moment yet he was walking across the ship.
It could take hours to reach the other side of the vessel. I hadn't
been built to be walked across. Each section of the ship was easily
navigated but each section was mostly independent of the
surrounding sections. Life support, gravity and a dozen other
things could be independently controlled. Kiyan noted the tactical
advantage of being able to seal off any portion of the ship due to
damage or invasion but it did make it difficult to take a leisure
stroll. Kiyan had access to a full map but exploring was more
fun.

“Humans and their sense of adventure. I may never
understand.” Alec might have made Kiyan jump if he had not figured
that the AI would do something like this. “Make a left at the next
corridor.”

“Oh come on, where is the fun it that. Can't I get
lost?” Kiyan laughed.

“Very well, make a right at the next corridor.
Besides you can't get lost. You have a detailed map of the ship
stored in your memory banks.” Alec seemed to miss the point even
though Kiyan detected increased activity in Alec's humor related
algorithms.

“Ha, ha very funny. That is not the point. I want to
find something new, waste time if you will.” Kiyan made the left
turn, Alec laughed and disappeared. The next door slid open and
Kiyan walked through. Kiyan's retinal interconnect informed him
that it was the primary atmospheric processing facility. He looked
the immense room over, dominated by a huge tree in the center,
surrounded by plants of all different kind. Kiyan could feel the
life energy flowing around him. He found it a relief to be
surrounded by the small forest. The effect was finished by the
stream flowing through the room. The inter-connect gave a detailed
description of the water purification system. Kiyan decided that he
would be coming back here soon. Giving in he activated the
transporter and was at Jeremy's door with Corban in a second.

“Fred says to tell you that he and Savos will be
joining us in a few.” Corban relayed the message to Kiyan.

“I heard that Savos is an earthbender. I hope he is
strong enough to bend after what happened. He didn't look very good
but he had just had his world turned upside down.” Kiyan activated
a group transport to the simulator.

They started the hanging village simulation and were
soon practicing. Kiyan watch Jeremy bend with a new level of skill.
He didn't seem to need to focus, it came easily to him now. Water
was merely an extension to his body. Kiyan focused back on his
bending again. Water soon swirled around them.

Fred, Addy and Savos left the infirmary and activated
the transporters. They opened the door to the simulator and stepped
inside. Finding themselves on the walk hanging off the cliff they
made their way towards the training grounds. It was an impressive
view overlooking the lake and village. Samtan hung in the sky with
both of its suns visible with the faint colors of the nebula as a
backdrop.

Savos took a minute looking at the view. “This is not
real?” He was a little confused at being in orbit of his home world
and on an alien planet the next second.

“It’s a simulation of a place near our village so yes
and no.” Fred explained as he continued along the walk.

“It looks incredible. I didn't know the surface could
be so beautiful.” Savos was awestruck and lingered a moment more.
Arriving behind the waterfall he appeared rooted to the ground when
he saw Jeremy and Kiyan water bending. “What magics is this?”

“Its water bending, haven't you ever heard about it?
It’s like earthbending just one of the other schools.” Fred waited
for Savos to recover.

“Can you do this waterbending also?” Savos turned to
Fred.

“No, no I'm just an earth and life bender.” Fred took
a stance and lifted a few nearby rocks.

Savos decided to not ask any more questions for a
while to avoid looking like a fool. Before he could make any
further decision he turned towards the edge of the platform as
movement caught his eye. Before he could react a huge black flying
lizard burst through the falling water and landed in front of him.
Looking into the clear grey eyes of the creature he felt like his
entire life was being watched. The shock of his knees hitting the
ground jarred him back to reality. He watched as the creature
shifted and shrunk until Savos recognized the same being from that
morning in the med bay.

“Forgive me if I startled you. I mean you no harm.”
Ray quieted Savos' sudden urge to flee.

Draxos appeared near them as he entered the
simulator. “Savos I hope you have been enjoying your time with
us.”

“I... Yes I have, I have learned much.” Savos was
beginning to adjust to the rapid changes he was being presented
with.

“I am told that you are an earthbender.” Draxos
offered Fred a couple pointers before Savos answered.

“Yes I was the best in my detachment but I am nowhere
near as good as Fred.” Savos was taking the opportunity to examine
Fred's form.