Progeny (The Progenitor Trilogy, Book Three) (107 page)

              ‘Well, it would be a shame to pass up on this career opportunity of a lifetime,’ she replied, and laughed.  They drank some more.

              ‘Being famous is rather fun, don’t you think?’ said Katherine.

              ‘Well the accolades and so on are rather nice, not to mention the limitless research grants, what with us having apparently saved all of civilisation.  Well, the Progenitor AIs did, pretty much.  In fact, didn’t we cause the problem in the first place?’

              ‘Something like that.  I just like walking in a room and seeing heads turn.  It makes a girl feel glamorous.’

              ‘Oh people have been staring at me for years, what with me being non-human and everything.  Bloody xenophobes, I mean you think they’d never seen an Arkari before.  If only I could tell them the truth about where we all come from.... that would be interesting.’

              ‘We really can’t Rekkid,’ said Katherine.  ‘They made us promise, remember?  People aren’t ready for knowledge like that.  Remember the Akkal?               

‘How could I forget?’ said Rekkid.

              ‘Besides, we don’t know if it’s really true.  That data we found on our worlds in the facility on the Progenitor home-world was tens of millions of years out of date.’

              A shadow fell across the two of them.  Sitting up to see who it was, they saw a woman in naval uniform silhouetted against the sun.  Behind her a short distance away, stood a male figure.  She was Admiral Chen.

              ‘Good afternoon, Professor Cor, Doctor O’Reilly,’ said Chen.

              ‘Oh no, it’s her...’ said Rekkid.  ‘This is bad news, I can tell... make her go away...’

              ‘Hello, Admiral,’ said Katherine brightly.  ‘What can we do for you?’

              Chen was about to answer when the other figure stepped forward.

              ‘Hello Katherine,’ said Steven, moving out of the light so that she could see him properly now.  ‘It’s good to see you again.’

              ‘You too, Agent Harris,’ said Katherine.  ‘Been in the wars?’ she added, noticing that his arm was strapped up.

              ‘Something like that,’ Steven replied.  ‘You’re looking well.  I gather we have you both to thank for well, everything.’

              ‘That’s a little overstating the case, but yes, if you like,’ said Rekkid.  ‘Good to see you, Steven.’

              ‘I have a proposition, for you both,’ said Chen.  ‘The data that you and the AI known as Eonara recovered from the Progenitor home-world contains the locations of all worlds seeded by them, as well as a map of their gate network that spans the galaxy.  We are also exploring the possibility of constructing our own portals.  We have the device that the Shapers constructed in Achernar for study.  Perhaps one day we can repair the gate network.  For now though, Eonara has kindly volunteered to help us explore the surviving section of the network and attempt to contact the other worlds across the galaxy that the Progenitors may have seeded, a program that I have been place in command of.  I require the services of esteemed archaeologists with knowledge and experience of ancient alien civilisations and an extensive knowledge of the Progenitors.’

              ‘That sounds suspiciously like us,’ said Rekkid.

              ‘I’m hoping that you’ll say yes,’ said Chen.

              ‘What do you think, Rekkid?  Adventure, excitement, a chance to explore the galaxy?’ said Katherine, her eyes shining in the sunlight.

              ‘Well,’ said Rekkid, thoughtfully.  ‘I’ll have to think about it.’

              The Shaper home-world was utterly destroyed by the Arkari.  After being repeatedly bombarded by the Executioner Cannon until much of the mass of the world had been converted into pure energy, what remained was pounded into dust by the guns of the massed dreadnoughts and then dusted with anti-matter warheads until nothing remained except a fading field of radiation which gradually dispersed into nothing.

              The Shapers themselves turned upon one another across the galaxy as their hive-mind collapsed in on itself.  Some survived, and were occasionally glimpsed in the depths of space by explorers and adventurers and it is not inconceivable that perhaps pockets of them still exist in some dark corner of the galaxy, biding their time, building their strength and waiting to strike.

The Arkari recovered the wreck of the
Shining Glory
and carefully collected the surviving parts of the ship that had been scattered by its destruction.  War Marshal Mentith’s body was never recovered, and it seemed unlikely that he could have survived the near destruction of his vessel.  Aaokon’s vessel had taken the brunt of the Shaper barrage and was entirely destroyed.  The largest surviving fragments of the great golden craft were only a few metres across.  Although Eonara’s AI core was recovered and the data she and Aaokon had unearthed on the Progenitor home-world given to the Arkari and the Commonwealth, much of its content remained classified for several decades and some of it may never be released to the general public.  The
Shining Glory’s
own AI did not survive, although many of her crew were rescued from the wreck, along with a group of terrified K’Soth females, who became inconsolable with grief when they learned that their master, the Lord Steelscale, had met his death on the planet below.

              Of all the items recovered from the wreck, perhaps the most poignant, not to mention the most curious, is what appears at first glance to be a metal statue of a cat, perfect in every detail, and curled around itself as if sleeping.

The End

About the Author

Dan Worth was born in Bradford in the United Kingdom in 1977 and was educated at Hull and Bradford Universities.  He has probably worked in every office job known to man at some point and writing kept him sane during his evenings and weekends.  He writes for his own enjoyment but even though he now spends his working hours in a job he enjoys he still likes to wander off into his own imaginary worlds during his spare time.

Also by Dan Worth

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