Chapter 18
Rayne screamed almost the entire length of the jump, which meant that I laughed the entire way. It didn’t help the sick feeling that the jumps supplied me with in any way, but boy, it was funny. The strips of light rushed past the front window, and the bright, glowing tunnel stretched out in front of the ship like an intergalactic child’s play tunnel.
Both Rayne and I were thrown back in our seats, and I gripped the arms of my chair as hard as I could. After a few goes at it, I figured I might have gotten used to it, but it still felt just as strange as the first time the folding engine had catapulted me through space and time. My whole body felt like there was a concrete slab pushing down on top of it, and as I looked to the side, I could see Rayne pressed back into her seat too. The skin on her face was drawn back slightly by the force, which meant she looked like she had just had a very dodgy facelift.
I closed my eyes this time and tried to picture space folding in front of us. It was the final jump we needed to make, so when we came out the other side, we would be over Francine’s planet. It was an exciting moment, and not just because I’d finally meet the parents, in a manner of speaking.
The details of Francine’s homeworld, and in fact, a lot of the information regarding the impending invasion of a murderous alien race that was headed toward Earth, hadn’t really been discussed. Francine didn’t have many of the answers herself because her programmers, for whatever reason, hadn’t included very much. The AI knew the basics, but not much more than that. And now, here I was, very quickly approaching at least one answer to the millions of questions that I had about the whole situation.
I felt the familiar final pull, and then my body was thrown forward as the ship came to a grinding halt. We burst out of the tunnel like lava out of an erupting volcano, and the stars and planets around us, which had been smears of light during the jump, shrank back to their proper sizes. The usual black backdrop spread out before us, as infinite as time.
Rayne grunted as her body slammed into her seatbelt, and her hair tumbled forward over her face. She pushed it back as she tried to shift in her seat, and she made a small gagging sound that had me worried for a moment. But she took a couple of deep breaths, and that seemed to steady her.
Once the regular engines kicked in, I unfastened my harness, stood up and stretched, and a moment later, Rayne undid her harness as well.
She clutched the back of her seat to balance herself as she climbed to her feet and groaned loudly. She wretched a couple more times, but she managed to keep her last meal down.
At least my body was recovering more quickly with every jump. All I needed was a few deep breaths, a couple of squats, and I was ready for a sandwich. I glanced at Rayne, but she still looked a little green, and I didn’t think she’d be able to keep it down if I offered. Still, I didn’t want to be rude.
“I told you breaking through the atmosphere was the easy part,” I said.
“No amount of warning could have prepared me for that,” Rayne sighed.
“I was the same the first time I went through it,” I said. “Do you want a sandwich?”
“The fact you’re even thinking about eating right now is insane,” Rayne replied. “I’m good. Thanks.”
“Alright,” I chuckled.
I made my way into the living area and quickly rustled up my usual ham and cheese sandwich. Then, I ambled back into the cockpit, sat down in my seat, and began to munch on the first half of the sandwich.
Rayne came to sit down beside me, and at first, she grimaced at even the smell of my food, as though she had a really bad hangover. But, after a short while, she continued to eye the second half of my sandwich with increasing amounts of hunger in her eyes until finally, I caved.
“Would you like some?” I asked.
“I mean… if you’re offering,” she said, and then she reached over and took the entire other half of the sandwich.
“I don’t think I had much of a choice there, did I?” I chuckled.
“Nope,” she said through her full mouth. “Although, I could get used to having my food made for me all the time.”
“It’s not gonna be a habit,” I laughed. “So, don’t get used to it.”
“Alright,” she giggled and popped the last piece of the crust into her mouth. “I could use another one of these, though.”
“Help yourself,” I replied. “All the stuff you need is in the cupboard under the counter.”
“Okay,” she sighed as she stood back up. “But I bet it won’t taste as nice as when you make it.”
“Nice try,” I chuckled. “But I’m still not making it.”
“Well, it was worth a try,” she laughed, and then she made her way into the living compartment.
I chuckled and then amused myself as I listened to Rayne attempt to make a sandwich in the back room of the spaceship. She had been so used to killing things, roasting them, and living off the land that the concept of preserved meats or packaged goods must have seemed like such a luxury to her. I could hear her wrestle with the bread bag and the jar of mustard, but she wasn’t deterred. She even started to hum quietly to herself. I didn’t know the song, of course, but the sound of the quiet tune that escaped her lips was lovely.
Bob strolled into the cockpit during Rayne’s sandwich making attempt and sat down beside my chair. He beeped a couple of times to greet me, and then settled down beside my feet.
“It’s lucky you don’t have a stomach, buddy,” I muttered to the little robot. “Because no matter how much I play it off, it’s still one of the weirdest sensations ever when everything is folded.”
Bob beeped in agreement, and I nodded my head slowly as I turned to look out of the front window.
I couldn’t see any planets close by, which seemed odd. I told myself we had probably jumped to the nearest place that didn’t have any debris or obstructions, and since this was supposed to be a very advanced world, that probably meant a lot of satellites and space stations near the planet. It was perfectly logical, if I ignored the fact that I didn’t see any other ships around, either.
I looked down at one of the screens on my control panel and saw that this star system actually had two suns in it, but only two planets, one of which had to be Francine’s homeworld. I felt a tingle of excitement, and I smiled as I glanced up at the ceiling.
“So, Francine,” I said. “Home sweet home.”
“Not quite,” the AI replied. “We still have some distance to travel before we arrive.”
“Still, does it feel good to be back?” I asked.
“Familiarity is always pleasant,” it replied. “Or so I understand from my research on human behavior.”
“You have such a way with words,” I chuckled.
“Although I am detecting sarcasm, I will take the compliment,” the AI said. “Thank you, Will.”
“You are so welcome,” I said.
“You know, you really do sound like a crazy person,” Rayne called out from the living compartment behind me.
“Thank you,” I replied.
“I think I might have a quick nap,” Rayne said. “My stomach feels kind of weird again.”
“Go for it,” I replied. “Apparently, we still have a while before we get there.”
“And where is ‘there’?” Rayne asked.
“Francine’s homeworld,” I replied.
“The alien AI that talks to you in your head,” Rayne said. “Yep. I’m definitely going to sleep.”
I listened as she crossed the room and slumped down onto the bed. I just hoped she hadn’t brought the sandwich with her, or else the mattress would be crumb city by the time I got to it.
And that was another thing. I only had one bed, and I didn’t know what exactly was appropriate with regards to the sleeping arrangements now that Rayne was on board as well. Of course, sharing a bed with her sounded like a wonderful idea to me, but I didn’t want to push it or rush things along too quickly. And I definitely didn’t want to freak her out, either. After all, it wasn’t like she could get pissed at me and move out, unless she wanted her head to implode in the vacuum outside. Perhaps a rotation would be a better idea.
“Are you driving or me?” I asked.
“I can steer the ship for now,” Francine said. “But once we get closer to my planet--”
“I’ll take over,” I said with a nod. “You got it.”
“Excellent,” the AI replied, and I heard the engines begin to whir as the ship drove itself forward under Francine’s control.
“So, I’m about to meet the people that made you,” I said. “I always get nervous meeting the parents.”
“Very funny,” Francine replied. “That is a strange custom from your planet. Surely meeting the lifeforms that birthed your significant other should not be such a big deal.”
“Well, it is,” I said. “And believe me, there is nothing more terrifying.”
“I will have to take your word for it,” the AI said.
“Alright,” I chuckled. “But really, are you looking forward to seeing the people that made you again? You haven’t really told me much about them.”
“You are right,” the AI said. “It seems we were in such a rush and have often gotten distracted by other matters that I have failed to provide you with all of the necessary information. I have not even told you what I know about the invasion coming for your planet, let alone my own world.”
“I would like to know more,” I replied. “Whatever your builders included would be helpful. And now seems like as good a time as any, don’t you agree?”
“I do,” the AI said. “Alright. I will begin with my home planet.”
“I should’ve made some popcorn,” I chuckled as I leaned back in my chair and put my feet up on the control panel in front of me.
“My planet is named Lilacron,” Francine said. “It is a beautiful place. There are many rivers and oceans, and the land is covered in well-preserved nature. My creators care for their planet, and only create waste when it is imperative to do so.”
“They sound like model beings,” I said. “If only everyone took after them.”
“The lifeforms that created me are intelligent, bipedal, and technologically advanced,” Francine said. “However, over time, they became very reliant on AIs like me to handle most of their day-to-day activities until eventually, most of them stopped doing much at all. A majority of the planet is now run by AI. In fact, most of my creators live in stasis, and the AIs make sure to keep them alive. Those who are not in stasis live in small factions away from the main cities. As for the people in stasis, we feed them, we care for them, and we operate their planet while they sleep. And before you make a joke about the robots taking over the world, no, that was not the case. All of the AIs that were built were loyal to their creators, and the AIs that the originals made were the same, and so on. I am not one of the newest models, but we all share the same basic programming command to protect and obey.”
“I see,” I said.
“The AIs on Lilacron became aware of the genocide and invasions of other planets when one of our AIs that was monitoring the other planets in the galaxy noticed unusual activity there,” Francine continued. “We sent a team to investigate, and the team reported that the entire planet had been taken over and the local population had been murdered.”
“The entire population?” I asked.
“The ones the invaders kept alive were used for slave labor to harvest the planet’s resources,” Francine said. “We then retraced the invaders’ steps and found that they had done the same thing to many other planets.”
“Damn,” I sighed.
“Indeed,” Francine agreed. “And with each planet they conquered, their confidence grew. At some point, they allowed a few survivors to ‘escape’ so those survivors could spread the stories of this conquering army. As far as we could tell, the purpose was to spread fear ahead of their attacks.”
“Sure, sure,” I said and nodded.
“It was a successful tactic,” Francine said. “Most planets went into a frenzy of sorts. There was no discernible pattern to the attacks, so no one knew who might be next.”
“It’s cruel, but effective,” I noted.
“It took time, but we were able to determine a certain logic to their process,” the AI continued. “We were able to deduce that our planet would soon be attacked. We also found a survivor from another planet, and based on the information he was able to provide us, we were able to determine some of the other likely targets.”
“And that’s why you think Earth is on their list?” I asked.
“It is,” the AI confirmed. “Earth was a planet we had been monitoring for some time for purely historical reasons. It was like looking back in time to an earlier stage of Lilacron’s evolution, and it was fascinating to see what choices Earth would make and where it would go.”
“Thanks?” I said.
“We knew that Earth would have no idea what was coming for it until it was too late, and even then, it would have next to no chance to defend itself,” Francine said. “We formulated a plan to send fighters to intercept the fleet heading for Earth, but we underestimated how much time we had. One of our outer colonies was attacked, and the invaders have been steadily moving toward the homeworld.”
“So your resources were kept close to home,” I said and nodded.
“They were,” the AI said. “I was the Plan B, as you would say. The idea was to create a warrior to defend Earth. As you know, that brought me to you.”
“Good thing it was me,” I chuckled. “Someone else might not have tolerated your snarkiness.”
“And another AI might not have tolerated your unnecessary risk-taking,” Francine countered.
“See, you just proved my point,” I said.
“Bob agrees with me,” Francine said.
“Leave Bob out of this,” I chuckled as I patted the robot on the back. “Besides, he’s biased because you can take control of him whenever you want.”
“Whatever you say, Will Ryder,” the AI sighed.
“Anyway, we got sidetracked,” I said. “I wanna know more about the invaders. I’ve been so busy trying to get here that I’ve never asked you about them. Who are they? Where do they come from?”
“In your language, the name for them would be the Karaak,” Francine said. “They are a ruthless species. Incredibly strong, frighteningly fast, and intelligent.”
“Great,” I sighed. “Why couldn’t they be slow and stupid?”
“While my creators were unsure of their motives, I can tell you that they appear to show no remorse, no regret, and no mercy,” Francine said.
“It just gets better,” I muttered.
“Their fleet is strong, but not as large as you may imagine,” Francine said. “They prioritize skill over quantity of ships, and so far, they have been able to destroy and assume control over every planet they have come up against, no matter what defenses they faced.”
“So, they’re kind of an unstoppable force?” I said.
“That is where you come in, Will,” Francine said.
“Right, yeah,” I replied.
“I am afraid that I do not have any more answers for you now,” the AI said. “But I am hoping that my creators will have more for you once we arrive there.”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “Hopefully, they’ve collected more information by now. Maybe they’ve even found a weakness or two that we could take advantage of.”
Over the next couple of hours, while Francine flew the ship, I occupied myself with a particularly difficult crossword puzzle. Rayne was out for the count on the bed with her empty plate beside her, and I decided to let her sleep off the sickness from the jump rather than wake her up. I frowned as I slowly worked my way through the word problems, and all the sounds I could hear were the whirring of the engines and Rayne’s heavy breathing.
“Will,” Francine finally said after a few hours. “You may need to take over from here.”
“No problem,” I said as I strapped myself into my pilot’s chair.
“It is strange,” Francine said. “There was not this much debris when I left.”
“Is there enough for you to be concerned about?” I asked.
“I will know when we are closer,” the AI said.
“Have I missed anything?” Rayne asked as she sauntered into the cockpit from the living compartment.
“Strap yourself in,” I said. “We’re almost home.”
“Sure thing, captain,” she chuckled as she put her own seatbelt on. “Whoa. There are a lot of rocks out there.”
She pointed to the screen that showed our course to the planet. There were several flashing dots that indicated some sort of debris we’d have to navigate around, though we weren’t close enough yet to see it with the naked eye.
“Yeah,” I said. “This might require some expert flying from yours truly once we get closer to Lilacron’s atmosphere.”
“Well, I’m ready for a master class,” she chuckled.
“Good to go?” I asked.
She gave me two thumbs up, so I clasped the joysticks and deactivated the autopilot. It was an easy flight at first, and I was able to enjoy the view of the two suns as we made our way toward the outer planet.
But as we got closer, I realized that the objects that surrounded Lilacron weren’t asteroids, they were ships.
“Francine, are you seeing what I’m seeing?” I asked.
“If you are referring to the destroyed spaceships, then yes,” the AI replied.
“Whose ships are they?” I asked.
“I believe they are from Lilacron,” it replied.
A wave of foreboding crashed into me all at once, and a pit opened up inside my stomach. Something was seriously wrong, and I wished I’d paid more attention to that strange feeling I’d had when I hadn’t seen any ships in the system.
As we drew closer, I could see that what had once been a fleet of warships posted to defend Lilacron from danger was now just a salvage yard of decimated spacecraft. It was devastating even from afar, but once we were in it, it was scary to see the level of destruction. The ships had been torn apart and were now little more than floating bits of junk.
“What the hell happened here?” I muttered.
“Nothing good,” Rayne replied.
I took us through the debris and to the edge of Lilacron’s atmosphere. The flames had already started to cover the front window, so all we could do was brace ourselves and fly through it. Rayne and I were jostled about as the atmosphere resisted our entry, although it was much less difficult than our departure from Wildern.
Once we were low enough, we were greeted by a beautiful blue sky. What was below it, however, was not so beautiful.
“Holy shit,” I gasped as I saw the mess below us.
“Oh, no,” Rayne said.
Below us, Lilacron was a shell of what I imagined it once was. As we got closer, I could see the floods, the fires, and the debris that lay scattered across the surface. Huge clouds of black smoke covered most of the land like some kind of deadly mist, and the only light that came through it was the bright orange glow from the fires raging through what had once been the wonderful nature that Francine had described to me. Everything was dead or dying, and by the look of it, there was nothing left.
The Karaak had been here.
I brought the ship down on one of the larger plains that hadn’t been touched by the fires yet. Dust swirled around the ship as we touched down, and the sunlight was soon blocked by thick gray clouds.
Rayne glanced at me as I shut down the engines, and I looked back at her. We were still in shock, and it suddenly occurred to me that Francine hadn’t said a word since the destruction had come into view. Even Bob was silent.
I stood up and walked over to the door on the side of the cockpit. It slid open, and then I jumped out of the ship and onto the cracked ground beneath me.
The buildings lay in piles of rubble all around us. There had been a fountain in the center of the intersection that I was parked on, but instead of flowing with water, the pool beneath it was filled with bright purple blood.
Bodies were piled in two nearby heaps, and the stasis tubes that had kept them alive were little more than broken bits of plastic and hardware. There were broken robots mixed in the debris as well, and I noticed that the Karaak had made a point of not only disabling the little warriors, but dismembering them as well.
“There is nothing left,” Francine said.
The wasteland spanned out in front of me as far as I could see. There were no signs of life, just endless decimation.
“God, Francine,” I sighed. “What the hell are we supposed to do now?”
End of Book 2