Extinction Wars: 02 - Planet Strike Page 35

  “And you’re also a Forerunner object or artifact?” I asked.

  “That is self-evident,” Holgotha said.

  “Are you aware that your being here in the portal planet has opened a pathway for the Kargs?” I asked.

  “I am quite aware of it, of course.”

  “Does that bother you at all?” I asked.

  “Why should it bother me? This is one of my many functions. To deny function is to deny self.”

  Great. The freak was a philosopher. I should have expected it to be an egghead. “You’re pretty smart,” I said.

  “That is not self-evident,” Holgotha said, “but it should be a rational conclusion from the evidence. Your reasoning so far shows solid logic chains.”

  “Coming from you, that’s high praise,” I said. “Thanks.”

  “Gratitude is unnecessary. I merely state data.”

  I kept plowing ahead, but I felt the beginning edges of anger heating my words. “Here’s a fact for you,” I said, “The Kargs plan to break into our universe and destroy everything that is non-Karg.”

  “You speak as if I am unaware of the obvious. Your tones also imply displeasure with me. Surely you realize that conquest by one organism over another is a simple datum of existence.”

  “What if the Kargs begin to threaten you?” I asked. “You’re non-Karg. Aren’t you worried about extinction?”

  “Finally, you disappoint me,” Holgotha said. “I suppose it was self-evident you would do so. You are inferior in ability compared to me. Your latest question shows suboptimal reasoning. I hereby declare that as the first strike against you. Attend my words closely, human. I have obviously transferred from one location in a universe to another in a quite different place. If the Kargs overrun your universe and attempt my destruction, I shall simply go elsewhere. Ergo, I have no worries concerning extinction.”

  “Do you wish then for continued existence?” I asked.

  “That is the second strike against you. The fact that I fled the Altair star system shows—”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I said. “Back it up a minute.”

  N7 leaned forward, tugging at my sleeve. Likely, he did it as a warning. I ignored him. After all that we’d been through, I was pissed off with the big artifact. Playing it safe seemed like a dead end. This was gusto time.

  “Are your nonsense words directed at me?” Holgotha asked.

  “That’s strike one against you,” I said.

  There was a pause before Holgotha said, “What is the meaning of your outburst?”

  “You must be more specific,” I said. “Such imprecision is your second strike.”

  “Are you attempting to annoy my circuitry?” Holgotha asked.

  “No,” I said. “I’m just showing you what a pain in the ass your style of questioning and speech are. Here we’ve come all this way to speak to you, and you act like you’re too big to speak to your betters.”

  “This is inconceivable,” Holgotha said. “You must retract your statements at once. In no way are you my superior. I am adamant on this.”

  “Creed,” N7 said. “I suggest a different—”

  I twisted around and stared at N7, finally winking at him.

  N7’s choirboy image had never been stronger. He sat stark still, staring at me, until finally he nodded once, a sharp thing. Even so, I thought to see fear in the android’s eyes.

  I faced forward again, deciding on my approach. Holgotha didn’t strike me as much different from EP. I had a genie on my hands, a powerful one. Showing weakness or indecision seemed like a mistake. Therefore, I plunged ahead.

  “Look, Holgotha,” I said, “I know certain truths are always difficult to face. That’s the nature of life. I have to let you in on a secret, though.”

  “You cannot possibly know more than I do,” Holgotha said.

  “This is a much different era from the ones you’re used to,” I said. “You’ve been in the Altair system for far too long, letting the Lokhars guard you. It’s made you rusty.”

  “That is false. The Lokhars have not guarded me, but shown awe at my being. I have observed their strict religiosity toward me. I find their deference more congenial than your flood of inanities.”

  “Are you sure their awe was directed at you?” I asked. “They figured you were touched by the Creator.”

  “That is imprecise. But given your limited intellect, close enough to the mark.”

  How old was this thing? Had it been around during the beginning? “Say, Holgotha, have you ever seen the Creator?”

  “No.”

  That was curt and to the point. “Did the First Ones see the Creator?” I asked.

  “Not to my knowledge,” Holgotha said.

  “Is there a Creator?” N7 asked.

  Holgotha paused, finally saying, “My designers and builders believed so. I have awaited the cycles and millennia for conclusive proof.”

  “Is that why you came here?” I asked.

  “I do not understand your reasoning,” Holgotha said. “Can you be more specific?”

  “Do you wish to unleash an apocalypse on our universe in order to see what will happen?” I asked. “Do you believe that will bring the Creator into sight?”

  “For the first time, I find your reasoning interesting.” There was a pause, before Holgotha added, “I wonder if some of my oldest subroutines subscribe to such a notion. I will investigate.”

  “How long will that take?” I asked.

  “Do you mean in your time?” asked Holgotha.

  “Sure,” I said.

  “Twenty to twenty-five years,” the artifact said.

  “So your internal investigation is going to take quite a bit of your, ah…” I hesitated. Just how touchy was the artifact? “I don’t want to be imprecise and I don’t mean to demean you by implying you’re a computer. But will your twenty-year analysis absorb the majority of your computational abilities?”

  “Eh?” Holgotha asked. “Did you ask another question? I have begun to assemble my inquisitor files.”

  I licked my lips.

  “Interesting, interesting,” Holgotha said. “There is a new development occurring even now.”

  I stiffened. That didn’t sound good.

  “Commander Creed,” Holgotha said, “it appears there is an incoming message for you. The technology is highly advanced, better than anything you possess. I will relay this onto a wall. Yes, this could possibly prove enlightening. I will delay my beginning inquisition to observe.”

  I was about to ask Holgotha what his gibberish meant, when a round window about the size of my arms held together in a circle appeared in a wall. A grainy, fuzzy image greeted us. I had a good idea who called, and this didn’t surprise me. Had I been subconsciously expecting something like this?

  “Commander Creed?” a gravelly voice asked.

  “This is him,” I said. “Are you Abaddon or Claath?”

  First, there was silence. Then intense menace emanated from the temporary screen. Was it the half-hidden eyes? I’m not sure. But I wondered how I’d ever been able to let Claath fool us he was Abaddon. The impression I got from this being was entirely different. The creature I spoke with—I could sense he’d lived in a hopeless universe for an eon of time.

  “I see that despite all odds you have reached the interior of the ancient device,” Abaddon said. “Logic dictates that you are an extraordinarily lucky or an extremely resourceful individual. I have a place for someone like you.”

  “So do I?” I said. “It’s called home. I’m about to go there.”

  “Do not be hasty,” Abaddon said. “There is more at stake here than you realize.”

  “I don’t think so, but what do you have for me?”

  “Think well and deeply, Commander Creed. One way or another, I will regain my original universe. And when I do, all life shall tremble before me.”

  Original universe—it seemed that Abaddon had been born in our space-time continuum. That was interesting, but not germane
to the number one problem.

  “You won’t do squat if I can help it,” I told him.

  “I admire your success even as I hate it,” Abaddon growled. “It is a notable feat, an anomaly and phenomena of rarity. Such should not be squandered on normality. Come, join me, and I will teach you how to destroy every enemy you ever had. Do you desire to see Claath suffer for an age? I will give him to you, as well as the devices to make each phase of his torment one of enduring cruelty.”

  I’d never heard a pitch like this, that’s for sure. “I can forgo hurting Claath if my universe survives your tender mercies,” I said.

  “I do not mean to insult such a one as you,” Abaddon said. “But I must know and therefore find myself compelled to ask. Do you then believe in love, Commander Creed?”

  I frowned. Why would Abaddon ask that and in the way he did? Was he mocking me? I didn’t like this. In fact, it was time to go.

  “I’ve had a fun chat,” I told him. “Don’t think you’re not interesting. But—”

  “If you believe in love,” Abaddon said in a silky voice, “you would do well to listen to me.”

  “Why’s that?” I whispered.

  “Observe,” Abaddon said.

  The fuzzy images disappeared, revealing my sweet Jennifer dangling naked by two tentacles attached to her wrists. Behind her sat squat creatures with green scaly skin. One held a long prod with two prongs, with sizzling energy flickering. By barely standing on her tiptoes, she could keep her shoulders from ripping out of their sockets.

  “Jennifer,” Abaddon said in his evil voice. “Your lover is watching.”

  My heart stopped as Jennifer slowly lifted her head. Her eyes were puffy and her lower lip cut so blood trickled. “Creed?” she whispered.

  My jaw dropped. I stared at her, and I knew what this monster was going to say. Jennifer, Jennifer…how did Kargs capture you?

  “Do you believe in love, Commander Creed?” the darkest voice in two universes asked.

  I didn’t ask why he did this. I didn’t answer him. I stared at Jennifer. Could I trade my universe for her? Could I trade myself? How would I go about making such a transfer?

  “I’m…I’m sorry,” I whispered.

  “Please, Creed,” she said. “It hurts. It really hurts.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut and bowed my head. I kept shaking my head back and forth.

  “You can stop her pain,” Abaddon said. “All you must—”

  “Off,” I said. “Holgotha, turn this off.”

  “I will find you, Commander Creed,” Abaddon said, and I could feel the hatred oozing from him. “You are doomed. All you love is doomed unless you give yourself to me, and leave the artifact in place.”

  I couldn’t look anymore. I felt dreadful and awful. If I had been able, I’d have squared off against Abaddon, with just my Bowie knife in hand, if I had to. But it would never work out like that. I knew that much.

  “This is your last chance to avoid a wretched fate,” Abaddon said.

  I stood up, and although I found it almost impossible, I turned my back on the screen.

  “Creed,” Jennifer said a last time, and then it ended as Holgotha cut the connection.

  My knees buckled, and I thudded onto the bench. My gut seethed in turmoil. I’d failed in the most important area of a man: I hadn’t protected my woman. Yeah, we’d drifted apart lately, but she’d still been my woman until I had told her otherwise.

  “You do not desire further communication with Abaddon?” Holgotha asked.

  “No,” I said, in a dead voice.

  “It has been my observation that Abaddon keeps his promises,” Holgotha said. “You could have risen high in his hierarchy and saved your woman pain and death.”

  “Is he a First One?” I asked.

  “That is a remarkable leap of logic,” Holgotha said. “The correct answer is that I do not know. My suspicions, however, run in the same direction.”

  I knotted my hands into fists, and I pressed my fists against my forehead. I had to think now more than ever. Yet all I could see in my mind’s eye was Jennifer hanging like that, trying to keep up on her toes.

  “Holgotha,” I said slowly, forcing myself to concentrate on the present task. “This seems like a bad location to do your internal computations and search your subroutines.”

  “I understand your allusions, your primitive psychological tricks. Surely, even you must realize that I have grown weary of the Lokhars. They can no longer teach me interesting tidbits. My present location is much preferable to the Altair system.”

  Oh, Jennifer, it would have been better if you’d never met me.

  “Listen, Holgotha,” I managed to whisper. “We’re the new kids on the block, us humans. Maybe you can learn…more stuff from being in our vicinity.”

  “I fail to see your reasoning.”

  “The Lokhars tried to annihilate humanity, and failed. The Jelk tried to make us their slave soldiers, and failed even worse. Abaddon and his Kargs beat the Lokhars and came within a hair’s breadth of returning to our universe. Humans stopped that too.”

  “You humans have not yet halted the invasion,” Holgotha said.

  “We will if you come with us,” I said. “Think about it. How many races have you found that survived such catastrophes one right after the other?”

  “Checking my data memories will take time.”

  “I get it,” I said, “you’re well rounded and full of information. Still, I think in recent history you’ll find that Earth people are unique.”

  “That is a common supposition that each species believes about itself.”

  “Yeah, I suppose so. But how many individuals has Abaddon begged to join him, offering each top billing in his evil hierarchy?”

  “You have a point,” Holgotha said. “The number is minuscule.”

  “Are there any Lokhars in that number?” I asked.

  “No.”

  “See what I’m saying?”

  “Yes,” Holgotha said. “I do. Despite your galling primitiveness, you have convinced me. We will transfer in twenty sims.”

  “How long is that in Earth time?” I asked.

  There was a pause, a trembling under my feet. Then Holgotha spoke again. “We have begun the tertiary countdown sequence. I suggest you remain seated.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “Two…one…transfer,” the great artifact said.

  -31-

  I awoke with my nose mashed against the floor. Groggily, I sat up. The benches were gone and the temperature had definitely cooled. The air had a metallic odor and the chamber was dimmer than I remembered.

  “Holgotha?” I asked in a strained voice.

  The wall no longer vibrated in answer. The place felt abandoned. Had the artifact already begun searching its subroutines? Did that mean the thing had effectively forgotten about us? I didn’t like the implications.

  I put on my helmet and shook N7 awake.

  The android lifted his head, glanced around and finally at me. “What happened?” he asked.

  “Get your helmet on first,” I said.

  He did.

  “I think we’d better get through those walls while we can,” I said.

  N7 was busy looking around. He stopped and faced me, and he nodded.

  We approached the farthest wall. I think it was the one we’d come through. I put my hand against it. The substance felt solid. I pushed. Slowly…my hand went into the wall. This was harder to do than the first time.

  I had the feeling if I didn’t go now I’d be trapped in the chamber…maybe for the next twenty years. The struggle into the wall left me winded, and twice, I had to go around a blocked area. Finally, I forced myself past the outer shell, stumbling onto the inner surface of the artifact.

  I’m not sure what I expected. A laugh bubbled out of my throat. Stars, I saw stars everywhere. We were back in normal space, somewhere. Motion caught the corner of my eye. I turned, and saw that N7 stood beside me.

&n
bsp; “We must hurry,” the android radioed. “Holgotha no longer bathes us with its healing ray.”

  I felt it then. The black hole poured radiation at us and nothing counteracted it. Together, N7 and I trudged for the outer hull. As I moved, I studied the stars. They seemed familiar. Then I recognized the Big Dipper. How close was I to the solar system?

  “We must go faster,” N7 said.

  We dared to bound, increasing our speed. Soon, we stood on the outer hull. Nearby, prone and likely sleeping troopers lay on the surface. They had made it with us out of the portal planet.

  “I recognize star patterns,” N7 informed me. “We are very near Earth’s solar system.”

  I used my HUD, switching to greater magnification as I studied space. There was red planet, a sun. Then it hit me, the realization where we were.

  “That’s Mars,” I said, pointing at the planet. “We’re home.” I laughed with glee. We’d done it. We had won. We’d actually beaten the Kargs.

  For a time, N7 gazed at various locations. He must have been using zoom like me. “You are correct,” the android said. “Do you see that object out there?”

  He pointed into the distance. Finally, I saw it, a large rocky asteroid. I believe our artifact orbited the planetoid.

  “Yeah,” I said. “I see it.”

  “That is Ceres,” N7 said. “We are in the Asteroid Belt.”

  I laughed again as the terrible tension oozed out of me. It was great to be home. Too bad that wasn’t the end of the story. Yes, we’d beaten Abaddon and his Kargs. Now trouble brewed in the solar system between the Lokhars and the surviving humans. We were about to find out just how bad things had become.

  A few hours later, the radio messages began to reach us. First, they came from the Lokhars on Mars. It turned out they’d built a base there and kept a fleet in orbit. Second, humans from the Earth Council asked us to state our names and the nature of our visit. From their questions, N7 concluded that interdimensional transportation created a noticeable anomaly. When the torus appeared by Ceres, sensors near Mars and Earth had easily seen it.

  Announcing our names and victory created an instant stir. Soon, both battle fleets started for Ceres. I had a bad feeling the two sides were about to go to war for possession of the artifact.