The Independent Worlds (The Sixteen Galaxies Book 2) (15 page)

They all watched heavy projectiles leap from each ship and hurtle toward the planet. The projectiles glowed near white when they entered the atmosphere. They smashed into the planet’s surface and shock waves flew around the whole thing in seconds. The shattered ground and roiling seas were soon lost to sight as thick clouds of smoke and debris engulfed the entire globe.

The British Prime Minister leapt to his feet and thumped a fist onto the tabletop. “You…you absolute
monster!
”

Kestil regarded the British statesman as a father would a petulant child. “Oh, I’m not the monster, Mr Prime Minister. In fact, I am more of a savior, in truth.” He waved the enraged Englishman back into his seat.

He placed his hands flat on the table. “Your society has absolutely no chance to save your planet without our help. But, rather than accept my assistance, you prepare for life elsewhere. Let’s get something very clear, right here and now. You are not leaving Earth without my blessing. And you won’t get that until you fix your homeworld.”

“And what do you get in return?” the Chinese President asked.

Kestil roared with laughter. “You people, honestly. This is not a bargain I’m offering you, Mr President. This is simply
what is going to happen
, whether you like it or not.” He held out his hands. “Surely you realized your ship would never get past our fleets, if you actually got to launch the thing.” He looked around at them all. “No, you didn’t think that far, did you? You honestly believed you could continue to work on escape from this planet, as if I somehow wouldn’t notice.”

“So,” the Indian president said, “we are little more than your prisoners, it would seem.”

Kestil waved a remonstrative finger at him. “No, no, Mr President; not
my
prisoners, really. All of you are prisoners of your own stubborn refusal to deal with reality, even when your scientists have warned you for decades that you couldn’t go on as you were. Oh, you started to listen, eventually. But only when the disasters began to pile up at a magnitude too large for your insurance companies to ignore. And then what did you do? Got together and planned to escape the consequences of your own stupidity.”

The Turkish president leapt to his feet. “What escape are you talking about? I know nothing of this!” He turned to his compatriots. “What is this Project Exodus he speaks of? Why were our people excluded?” He slammed a fist on the table in frustration at their blank expressions. “Tell me, damn you all!”

Kestil held up a hand and beckoned the enraged man to sit down. “My dear Mr President, please remain calm. Yes, your fellow statesmen, along with a cabal of the very wealthiest individuals from across the globe, were preparing to abandon this world and nearly all its people to their ultimate demise. A forward base on the moon is already half-built, actually. Payloads have been shot into space under the guise of experiments for years, now.” He laughed at the naked rage on the Turkish leader’s face. “Come now, Mr President, are you really surprised your fellows are that callous?”

The French president leaned forward in his seat. “You seem remarkably well informed, monsieur.”

Kestil pointed to the Frenchman. “An excellent observation, my friend. And that is something you should all be aware of, and never forget. Thanks to my technology, I see and hear everything that is pertinent to my purposes.
Everything
. The knowledge I have is enough to topple all your governments, provoke civil war across the planet and usher in complete anarchy upon all humanity. After all, my ‘Letterbox Sniper’ has already thinned the ranks of some very unscrupulous characters. Let me assure you, I can do a
lot
more than that.” Several started to protest, but Kestil held up his hands. “I have no intention of any such action, don’t worry.”

“Then why say it?” the Australian prime minister asked.

“Because,” Kestil replied, “you must be aware of my total power over you all.” He swept his gaze across them. “I realize that, as politicians on this fetid little planet, you may have completely lost sight of something relatively simple. That is; the nature of truth.”

Many of them frowned, and he laughed at them. “You see? The very mention of the word, and you are uncomfortable.” He threw his arms wide. “The truth is just reality. It’s not difficult to grasp, it’s not complex and mysterious; you people just make it that way to avoid the need to deal with it. The fact is, mankind has, over the centuries, tried every form of government it can possibly conceive. Great wars have been fought, millions of lives have been lost, and for what? The pinnacle of your achievement, the crowning glory of human self-rule is? Democracy. You call it ‘The Free World’.”

He walked to the table and slapped his hands down on the surface. “Here’s the reality for you,
all
of you. This democratic freedom of yours is a miserable and catastrophic failure. It is tied to an antiquated and ridiculous notion of growth as a measure of success, with no acknowledgement of the limited sustainability of such a policy. The whole mess has brought untold calamity and misery upon those who are a part of it, yet you
still
force it on the rest of the world at gunpoint.”

The British prime minister sat back and folded his arms. “And you have something better to offer?”

Kestil leaned toward the unfortunate head of state. “How could I have anything
worse?!
”

He straightened back up. “Nuthros came to you and laid it all out, openly and honestly. He was wrong about timelines, of course, but the rest was spot on. And you couldn’t accept it. I took a subtler approach. Found some good people to work with, and got things headed in the right direction. Still you carry on as if nothing’s changed. However, the time has now come to wake you all from your stupor, because events demand an accelerated timetable. I am here to help you; all of you. But, you would rather abandon your planet and your people. So, you must understand that you will accept that help whether you like it or not. I will reform your world’s political structure to achieve global unity. I shall provide technology to eliminate environmental damage. You shall have the best education system, the most efficient infrastructure, the eradication of sickness and disease, and the removal of all that inhibits your proper social integration. All this will be done with a gradual process that will ensure as little disturbance as possible to the Earth’s stability. Also, eventually, you will be welcomed into the Independent Worlds as a full member planet. And you may take all the credit; my role will be largely hidden.”

The Canadian prime minister sighed. “And we have no choice whatsoever.”

Kestil shrugged. “The alternative is that I leave you to destroy yourselves and this planet. But, even if that came to pass, you must understand that there will be no escape from your demise.” He surveyed them intently. “For
anyone
.”

They all sat in silence. “Right,” Kestil continued, “we must get you back to your little conference before your security people have apoplexy. Please remember all we have discussed here. I would advise you to keep the content of this meeting secret.” He waved a hand in the air. “Make up some lies and half-truths, you’re all pretty good at that. President Maitland will keep you informed as to what happens next.”

“So,” the German president said, “Maitland belongs to you?”

Kestil laughed. “No, Mr. President, you
all
do.” He held up a finger. “As, in fact, do all the bank accounts and secret holdings you all possess, plus those of your families and proxies, wherever they may be on the planet. Every single one of which has just been halved.” He waved a hand in the air. “Think of it as a minor demonstration; in case any of you still harbored lingering doubts as to my ability to execute my decisions. I’m afraid you cannot possibly insulate yourselves, or your loved ones, from what may come upon you, should you fail to comply.”

Global News Update

“…Delegates at the G20 summit in Beijing, China, announced today that, after an extended special meeting yesterday, agreement has been reached regarding preparations for a global transition to a one world government. This government will be formed under the auspices of the United Nations, and a president will be chosen by all member nations’ representatives. Several delegates praised US President Michael Maitland’s selfless efforts to push the agenda forward towards this goal.

When one correspondent asked how such a momentous agreement was reached so quickly, the British prime minister replied ‘Let’s be perfectly honest; we have no choice in the matter.’ While most of the leaders were quite happy to talk about the meeting, The Turkish prime minister refused to comment, except to describe the gathering as, ‘Very revealing.’ A full meeting of the United Nations may be convened as early as December this year.”

*****

Western Queensland

Mandy looked around her in confusion. A young man in his early twenties wandered in, absentmindedly scratching his nose. He looked as surprised as she did. “Hey,” he said, “can I help you?”

“Where am I?” she asked.

He blinked. “You mean you don’t know?” He half turned to the doorway behind him. “Hey Ron,” he called, “you got a sec?”

Ron Baxter walked in and did a double-take when he spotted the newcomer. “Mandy?”

Mandy sighed in relief. “Ron; thank God for that. I thought I’d lost my mind for a minute. What is this place?”

“Well,” Ron replied, “it’s our base on Earth. But, what are you doing here?”

“I portaled Mandy here, Ron,” Truly replied.

Mandy frowned. “I thought Truly couldn’t be on Earth. Any contact with Kestil’s AI and it takes her over, or something like that.”

Ron nodded. “Yeah, it’s a copy of Truly, updated by short-burst laser package to the ship every hour or so. It’s bounced off a host of satellites, to confuse any trackers. We are totally off-grid here. Well, sort of; it’s complicated.”

“Well, why am I here, Truly?” Mandy asked.

“Ah,” Ron responded, “I think I know the answer to that. Nuthros and Jack have been captured by Kestil’s men; long story.”

Mandy stared at Ron for a few seconds. “Right. Are they…are they alive?”

“They were when they were taken, but as of right now, we have no idea.”

“So, again, why am I here?”

“Because I knew that is what you would want,” Truly replied. “If you found out while on the ship, you would have wanted to come straight down. I merely pre-empted you on that.”

Mandy rubbed her forehead. The resentment brewed inside her; she was a woman who hated anyone contesting her own self-determination. However, Truly was right, not that Mandy would ever admit it out loud. “Okay, what can I do to help?”

“Well,” Ron said, “right now we still need to put a plan together. David’s doing his usual zombie statue trick, so we’re waiting for him, really. Truly, or at least the copy here, is doing what she can to locate Kestil’s base, but she has to avoid any contact with Earth technology, so it’s very limited.”

The younger man stepped forward. “I’m Garth, by the way. Me and the boys have built a rig that Truly designed. It uses packet bursts bounced off satellites and up to the ship. Truly sends requests down via the same route. We’re using it to search for Kestil’s base. Trouble is, Truly says that Kestil’s AI has just gone to the quantum level, and is now free to roam networks undetected by hiding its superposition and entanglement coded qubits inside standard binary code. It can somehow read across to ordinary binary and influence data at that level, but can penetrate any system in the quantum state. Isn’t that unbelievable?!”

Mandy stared at him. She shook her head to clear it.

Garth winced. “Sorry did I confuse you?”

“Only the bit after you told me your name,” she answered.

“What Einstein means,” Ron said, “is that Kestil’s AI is now upgraded to where it can be anywhere on the ‘net, and nobody can possibly detect it. It can pass through any security in the world instantly, change or take what it wants, and nobody can see it, let alone stop it. It means if we so much as glance at anything connected to Kestil, it will be onto us straight away. If it makes connection, even Truly will take time to block it. She’ll have to use FTL speed to cut it off. That’s probably another reason she put you down here.”

“Yeah,” Garth said, waving a finger at Ron. “That. What he said.”

“Right,” Mandy replied. “We need to access the ‘net, but through third parties. Do we have a portal here?”

“We sure do,” Garth said. “It’s a new type; it operates on a-”

Ron cut him off with an upraised hand. “Yes, we have a new type of portal that Kestil’s AI can’t backtrack, so we can send you wherever you need to go. Trouble is, the second you’re seen on a camera anywhere, you’ll be captured almost instantly.”

“Tell her about the bracelets,” Garth said.

“Oh, yeah,” Ron said. “They’ve got these things,” he passed her the translucent band he’d taken. “Truly and the boys have checked it out. They have very short range; no more than ten feet, but when they’re within that, they block all portal activity. Truly is busy with a design for a counter to them right now.”

“So stay hidden,” Mandy said. “If they get within ten feet of me, there’s no escape.”

“Pretty much,” Ron replied.

Mandy smiled. “Truly, I’m going to need some help with makeup and clothes. Then I’ll find this base.”

Ron frowned. “How the hell are you going to do that?”

“Good old legwork,” she replied. “I’ll need some cell-phones that are untraceable; can we do that?” She pointed at Garth. “Don’t even think about it.”

Ron smiled at her. “Yeah we use them all the time.”

Garth shuffled out of the room, his face downcast. Ron watched him go. “You were pretty tough on the kid, you know. He’s a good sort.”

Mandy sighed. “I’m just warming up for when I see Jack again, I guess. I’ll apologize to him later.”

Garth came back into the room at a dead run. His face was white as a sheet. He took a moment to get himself together, and then he whispered, “David’s gone!”

*****

Kestil’s base

Kestil looked up as one of his men raced into the room. “We’ve found the Starchild!”

Kestil smiled widely. “That didn’t take long. I love the predictability of the Sixteen Galaxies mindset. So very convenient. Where is he?”

“He’s in a park in DC, sir.”

“Very well,” Kestil said, “let’s go meet him, shall we?”

*****

Kareetha

Asdrin found Christine Joyce down by the lake shore. He smiled at her as he approached. “May I join you?”

She returned the smile. “Of course.” They sat together in companionable silence for a while, each lost in contemplation of the sparkling water and the boats that hurtled by.

Chris eventually turned to the older man beside her. “David came to see me last night. As a hologram, of course.”

Asdrin nodded. “Yes, he said he would.”

“He said he was about to step into danger. Those were his words, not mine.”

“Well, he wasn’t wrong, Chris. David has a task ahead of him that could cost him his life.”

Chris kicked at a rock with her foot. She saw several little fish race away from the edge when she did that. “I yelled at him. Told him he was a fool.”

Asdrin chuckled. “The Starchild is many things, but a fool isn’t one of them.”

Chris sighed. “I know, Asdrin, I know. He told me that he loves me, and he will come here when this current situation is resolved.” She laughed. “I told him not to bother. He knows I was just lashing out. I always do.”

Asdrin patted her arm. From anyone else, it would seem condescending, but from Asdrin, it felt like it was from a father to a child. She’d slowly allowed this wise old man, with his quirky manner and his ready smile, into her life. They were as close as family, now. “Of course he knows, of course he does. He must do this now, though, Chris. Matters have come to a head on your planet, and Kestil must be reined in. Many people are about to risk their lives in this. But, we must trust the Entity. We built it to guide us, because we recognized the need for guidance from the wisest source possible. Everyone needs a little direction, Chris.”

His face darkened. “At least, that is what we believe. Kestil, however, is another matter. He and Prestern will rain death and destruction wherever they go, and all because of their foolish pride. Unfortunately, as with most proud people and their attendant stupidity, it is not just them that will suffer.”

Chris turned to Asdrin, her face filled with concern. “What if he does die, Asdrin? Not only will I lose my reason to live, but the Sixteen Galaxies loses the Starchild. Will Truly make more?”

He took both her hands in his. “Perhaps she would, in time. But she won’t have to, Chris. Did David tell you nothing else?”

She nodded. “Yeah, he said the weirdest thing, actually.” She frowned at the memory. “He said, ‘You have me within you, so I am never really gone.’ He says the strangest things, sometimes. It’s all lost on me, I’m afraid.”

Asdrin’s eyes twinkled as he replied. “The Starchild DNA has some special properties, Chris. It laid dormant inside David for many years, until Truly activated it, is that not so?”

She looked at him with a quizzical face. “Yeah, so?”

Asdrin laughed with the merriment of a little boy. “Oh, my dear girl, how I do love your ways.” He sobered. “Chris, there’s no easy way to tell you this, and please don’t hit me when I tell you, okay?”

She looked at him through narrowed eyes. “Okay…”

“If a Starchild male impregnates a woman, Chris, the fertilized egg remains dormant until such time as the mother wills it to grow. I’m afraid no human contraceptive can prevent the will of a Starchild.”

Chris stared at him, and tried to make her brain work. Her brain was having none of it, and remained closed for business.

Asdrin sat back from her, a look of concern on his face. “Oh, my dear, I have shocked you. I’m so sorry, I am not very good at this kind of thing. It’s a self-defense mechanism the Entity put into the Starchild coding, you see. Because we knew the Starchild may well come under threat, along with its progeny, so the mother was given the ability to-”

“Just…
stop
!” Chris cried. “Enough, okay? Just let me…I need to…” She sat back and stared at the lake again. The slight breeze ruffled the water and made the Kentiks weave as they danced at the water’s edge. “If he gets back alive,” she muttered, “I’m going to kill him.”

*****

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, Washington DC

David sat on a bench and admired the lake, all covered in huge lilies. It was 4am in Washington, and mist shrouded the water. The tranquility was intoxicating. Such beauty, everywhere you looked on this planet. Yet, it hangs in the balance through our own foolishness, he thought. He sensed a presence behind him.

“Nice spot for a chat, David,” Kestil said.

“Any closer than twelve feet and I portal away,” he replied.

Kestil maintained his distance, but moved around so that he stood within David’s field of view. He held out his hands. “No weapons, no tricks; I promise.”

David nodded. “You will release my friends. Then I shall go with you.”

Kestil scratched his chin. “Now, how do we do this in such a way that neither of us risks being duped?”

David shrugged. “You can trust me; you know that. I will keep my word.”

Kestil pointed a finger at him. “Ah,” he responded, “But, things have changed, haven’t they? You people are now capable of murder, it seems. A little dishonesty should be easy, after that.”

David stretched out his legs and leaned back. He regarded Kestil with cold eyes. “The death Nuthros caused was an accident, Kestil. His weapon was to stun and incapacitate, not kill.”

“It was a weapon, nonetheless,” Kestil replied. “Your passive philosophy has vaporized, it would seem. Who knows what other standards you people have abandoned.”

“How about this,” David said. “You portal them to the opposite side of me from you, so that they are out of range of that portal jammer on your wrist. I will allow you to move toward me at that point. They can be extracted with a simple speed-dial on this cell-phone,” he held up a phone. “I throw them the phone, they portal out, and I go with you at that time. They can get out before you can calculate an ingress to get them with, I’m sure.”

Kestil pondered that proposal. He nodded. “Very well, I agree.” Within a minute, Nuthros and Jack appeared.

David tossed the phone to Jack. “Take this, and get back to base.” Nuthros went to open his mouth. “Do it now!” David commanded. The two men vanished. David nodded to Kestil and they both disappeared.

*****

Western Queensland

Jack and Nuthros appeared in the base. “Oh, David,” Nuthros groaned, “what have you done?”

Jack put an arm round the alien’s shoulders. “He’s traded himself for us, Nuthros.”

“Truly,” Nuthros said, “why did you let him do this?”