Evolution's Essence (20 page)

Finishing first, Oliver and Nova leapt out of
the Flare and took in the surroundings of the landing platform just
outside the walls of the dazzling city. He made sure there were no
life signs and there weren’t any. They didn’t wait long for Renee
and Sparky to follow and come closer. Behind them came Renee’s
personal guards. Stone and the others. Rose stayed back with
Isabella and Davan aboard the now faster Dorgenox, keeping the
child entertained.

Standing eight meters away was the bronze
skinned man with short hair, pointed ears and watched them closely.
Renee asked first “Laxus, what did you mean when you said not all
of your core was wiped?”

“
Many facets of my memory
were cleansed, but I remember my kingdom was in a desperate rush
and didn’t have the time to completely cleanse my records as my
brother and sister cores were here in this galaxy. I do not know of
why my queen left, but her people hadn’t the time to finish before
everyone was taken away and I was put asleep. Because I retain full
system operations, the degradation of my city is not an issue as it
is with the other four currently operating. Most of our research
was either taken or destroyed and yet I keep my freedom to choose
as is the most logical choice of action unless it is in conflict of
my master’s wishes.”

“
If your claim is you’ve
been watching me and Olly then you know I’m now a Solarian queen
and as this is the first city I feel I can love…”

“
Yes, I know you wish to
rule this kingdom. I hold no objections. Your qualities are just
like Queen Jattem and I welcome you to be my master, but as queen,
Master Oliver is your consort. He is not my king. This is not our
way. You must rule and he give you guidance and council. Matters of
rule fall upon the queen. As he is not the Galactic King, nor is
there one currently, you are his superior.”

“
No shit. He knows his place
isn’t as leader except in matters of battle.”

“
I’m not cut out to lead
people. I like creating things.” Oliver promised.

“
Then I hereby claim you are
my queen, Lady Renee.” Laxus bowed deeply to her, both hands over
his chest.

“
That was easier than I
expected.”
Thought Sparky aloud.

“
Such are my master’s ways.
They preferred simplicity in their advanced lives.” Laxus claimed.
“Come, if you wish to move the city for safety concerns then do not
waste time.”

A nano-wall blocked the entrance, but was
easily passed through with only Renee’s hand this time since the
new queen had full commanding privileges.

“
Now that is more my
clothing style!” Renee pointed to a feminine statue and turned the
white spiked armor into a dress that offered sensuality and a
promise of an ass kicking if you stepped out of line. Sharp high
heels made her a little taller and the style of the dress enhanced
her bust while covering her slender hands in plated gauntlets.
“Slutty sensual and wicked tough.”

“
You are one lucky man,
Brother.” Brenna elbowed Oliver’s ribs as his jaw hung at staring
at his beautiful woman. “I’d take her to bed myself if I didn’t
only like cock. Still, I might try her out if I get the
chance.”

“
So sweet of you!” Renee
threw an arm around her Huntress friend and permanent bodyguard.
“Too bad I’m the same way. I tried being bi when I started going to
the sex centers, but a big shaft is sooo much better.” They laughed
till Oliver at last closed his mouth. “Come on, we got work to
do.”

The stroll through the flaming city was by
far the best and most dazzling experience any of them experienced.
Visor and Satellite flew on ahead, scouting and enjoying the warmth
of the updrafts created by the warm city.

Rather than worry about traps, Laxus assured
them that they were being deactivated, but not destroyed. As queen,
Renee had final say on what was destroyed or not. The artificial
personality took things in stride and didn’t get bent out of shape
like Vladamin and Jenniviq when Oliver brought out the case storing
their information in palm size crystals after being ton from their
cores.

Along the way Oliver asked “Laxus, is there a
way to remake the city control cores for these two and get them
back to where they belong?”

“
I’ve already taken the
liberty of creating the new cores after listening to you four
months prior. The new central city controls already await in the
queen’s court as we speak.”

“
Then I thank you.” The AI
of fire merely bowed with both hands clasped over his
chest.

It was proven true as soon as they entered
the citadel and beside the throne were enormous crystal spheres
ready and waiting for a file transfer. As Oliver used the Valek to
transfer all data from a manmade crystal to the new cores Renee and
everyone were spellbound by the amazing entrance hall decorated
with statues and harmless fire. As soon as it was over he joined
them in admiring the splendor of change only fire could truly bring
about. Hours and days could have been sat watching the splendor of
roaring flames.

“
Laxus, please teleport us
into your control room so we may leave as soon as possible.” Renee
commanded and unlike before, the artificial man did as commanded.
Queen commands trumps law in regards to humans being present and
their lack of knowledge. Laxus only asked that any humans visiting
never attempt to stick their noses in places better left alone. She
gave him permission to teleport any violators to Verard after being
sent to her for punishment. Laxus seemed to happily accept the
command humbly.

Inside the small control room with red walls
Oliver sat in the chair and closed his eyes as his Valek accessed
the city’s functions. “Whoa…”

“
What is it, Olly?” Renee
asked, touching his shoulder.

“
He wasn’t kidding. Laxus
holds so much more memory than the others and the city is in
pristine condition. It’s practically brand new. Not a single sign
of damage the automated repairs cannot fix. It was why the city
didn’t look to have any dust. Everything works.” Oliver declared
with eyelids shut, but darting around. “This city indeed was
scientific based… records show near seventy percent of a population
of two point three million were in fact builders and inventors
before disappearing by a mass teleportation… across the whole
universe. Laxus may not know for what reason, but the power spike
as his former queen was sitting in this chair at the time of wiping
his memory was of a power never seen before in his records. It’s
why he is more forthcoming. She was in the process of deleting his
memory and was barely half way when she was taken… his databanks
are
loaded
with
technology and theories I’ve yet to even attempt or consider. All
active and technology too dangerous to leave behind was taken away
with all my people at the time… likely to prevent what can make a
society advance too fast. Only the five kingdom cities in each
inhabited galaxy were left alone because no one could get to the
cores except us.” He told her, then cocked his head after a moment.
“Well that makes things even more simple.”

“
What?” She asked, trying to
telepathically follow along, but the technicality aspects he sifted
through were beyond her area of expertise.

“
Seems Fire cities were all
made as environment terraformers and were fully mobile. After Wind
people discovered a worthy solar system, Fire came in behind to
make it habitable. This city may not have FTL drives, but they
didn’t stay in one place when a Wind city located a suitable world
to change. This city is more than able to enter hyperspace to
teleport and has no distance limit. It even controls its own
gravity and is designed to maintain an orbit around a world, but to
save power this world’s unique magnetic stratosphere was selected
for its ability to easily keep it aloft perpetually for a long term
orbital station. There are devices that are dropped on a planet to
transform it to be habitable… and this city alone created a hundred
thousand oxygen and nitrogen rich worlds in this galaxy alone even
before dropping seeds to selected worlds designated for
experimentation to make new species.”

“
More than a
hundred
thousand worlds?”
Steven whistled in a drawn out way.

“
And also selected certain
worlds for Beasts to thrive so as to be farmed since all Solarian’s
required meat to survive. This world we’re at presently was farmed
especially for robust Beasts. The high concentration of protein in
Beasts is what kept our minds in peak performance.” He added then
cocked his head. “Hmmm, that is a good world… out of the way.” A
moment later Oliver used his left hand to tap an ear. “Captain, I
know you can hear me. I’ve dropped the disruption barrier of the
city.”

“
Aye, Lad, I hear ye. What
is the situation?”

“
No problem’s at all. It’s
actually
better
than expected. I’m going to flash you a set of coordinates to
an isolated world that will take you two and a half days in FTL to
reach. This city is going to teleport right there and we’ll await
for you to arrive so go ahead and get a head start if you’d
like.”

“
Why, Lad? Ye said ye were
going to just leave the planet, not jump to another. Is the
magnetic influence that bad?”

“
No, I can do it, but to
save time and energy we should check out this new world. It’s a
paradise, like Earth was before the last ice age. It’s also
crawling with Beasts, plants and animals. It’ll be perfect for a
long term orbit between the planet and it’s single moon. By the
time you arrive I can have the city create a bridge you can dock
the Dorgenox safely with.”

“
Dock ye say? That sounds
safer than shuttles constantly flying back and forth. Aye, Lad, I
give ye permission to go. Abdul says we got the coordinates. We’ll
follow soon as ye leave in event ye can’t leave.”

“
Thank you.” Still connected
to the city systems he easily made the jump trough hyperspace
without making a sound. There was no sensation of travel. He opened
his eyes and said “We’ve arrived.”

“
Already?” Breena was
shocked it happened so fast. “My queen, can I take the River
Skipper for recon?”

“
Go ahead and take Stone and
Satellite with you.” They passed the nano-wall easily. “Olly,
Steven, Visor and I will be outside.” He smiled, she returned it
and left last.

Before long Oliver stood alone in the small
and mostly empty command room in front of Laxus’s core. “Are you
ready for the fifth and final part left to me, Master? I take it,
it is why my queen left you alone.”

Remembering past experiences, Oliver took the
lone seat again and relaxed as best he could. Preparing for the
headache about to result. “Proceed.”

Millions upon millions upon millions of word
fragments of a lost people appeared holographically real in the
air, spinning around like a tempest. The parts passed from his eyes
to the subconscious part of the brain that does most of the work.
Almost like a branding iron, the puzzle pieces seared into the
mind, unable to be forgotten. It took long, silent minutes for the
rapid download to come to an end.

Soon as it was over the unfocused eyes
squeezed shut, he leaned forward and put his head in his hands. The
temples throbbed and tension in the back of the neck hurt a great
deal. Heavy breathing slowed as he assimilated to the final
aspect.

Eyes remained clamped shut, but he imagined
seeing the storm at last making sense, but the profound feeling
told him something else that made him laugh dryly, hands still
holding his head as sweat dripped from the brow. The final part
allowed the broken sections to reconnect and break off into many
thousands of areas to start making the circular Solarian writing.
His mind was doing the work, it wasn’t an automatic response like
breathing or a heart beating. It was a mathematical process for the
ancient written word.

Renee looked up as a large body passed
through a red wall painted with flame to go over and ask “Is it
really going to take that long?” He nodded as she Read him like
always. It made talking all the time much slower and less
intimate.

“
How about sharing what you
know for the rest of the flock.” Visor chirped from Steven’s
shoulder. “Not all of us are telepathic with everyone.”

“
It’s going to take a good
long while to figure it out.” He told the Hunter and Golden
Eagle.

Visor shrewdly narrowed his eyes. “Few weeks?
Months? What’s the timeframe we’re looking at to hear this puzzle
is complete?”

A deep breath swelled Oliver’s chest and was
released to calm the nerves and help his still throbbing headache.
Renee flew up behind and began massaging the back of his neck. “The
amount of information is going to take me anywhere from one and a
half decades to three to sort out and chronologically line up
properly. Journeying through Andromeda will be only for fun for me
in these next years as I figure out this difficult puzzle. Seems
I’m going to get that reprieve for a few years whether I like it or
not. Fifteen to thirty years is my estimate.”

“
Well I’m glad. We need to
relax for a few years while you knock me up a few more times and we
can raise our kids without traipsing all over the damn galaxy on a
wild goose chase. So suck it up, Idiot. Few people in the Empire
live such an exciting life as ours. A little stability in our lives
is owed to us.” She said as she rubbed his temples with the heel of
her soft hands. “You need to lie down. I’ve already checked out our
new bedroom so get me pregnant before you keel over.”