"STORY ARCHIVE - Star CLUSTER KINGS (George Townsend)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Townsend George)
STORY ARCHIVE - Star CLUSTER KINGS (George Townsend)
STAR CLUSTER KINGS
George Townsend
The Terran Empire had spread far across the Galaxy, it's contacts
maintained by the mighty Power Station complex that drove the force beams
across to the farthest ends of the Galaxy, and those slender ships that
rode the mighty beams. But, suddenly the Power Station blew up, reducing
its base planet, Pluto, to atomic dust. The result was that interstellar
travel was paralysed. The colonies were isolated, for at sub- light
speeds, it took over five years to reach even the nearest star. The
colonies in the far spiral arm became, in time, just a dim memory to the
races of Earth, who had virtually attained eternal life by replacing their
vital organs with mechanical parts. The colonists, however, remained
human, living and dying in their average life spans of ninety years. Three
centuries passed while the Mechanika, the new master race on Earth,
laboured to rebuild the Power Station and reconnect their links with other
systems. They laboured in vain.
Out in the stars, Earth became a dim memory, and, without the vital
trade links, many systems lapsed into decadence and decay. Others, more
self sufficient, such as Manco 3 flourished and grew in power. When the
Mechanika finally accepted they were unable to reopen the beams, they
decided upon a different use for their rebuilt Power Station. There were
some humans who had refused to have their bodies replaced with
Orgometallic parts; refused to accept a mechanical existence. A meeting of
the High Imperium of the Mechanika was convened.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"And that, basically is our plan," Mer23 concluded. "I think you will
agree that our terms are generous."
Jack Beech, leader of the Human delegation, looked individually into
the faces of each member of the High Imperium, seeing the cold, hard,
metallic expressions set on them. "We don't have much choice," he
muttered. "I take it this is an ultimatum?"
"It has been found essential that humans are segregated from our
people," Mer23 replied. "We do not mix. In every city where humans are
present, trouble blows up."
"We are persecuted," Beech interrupted. "We're looked on as inferior
beings, but we are the rightful rulers of Earth."
"You are treated as inferior," Mer23 continued unruffled, "because you
are inferior. You are vulnerable to disease, death from ageing, the animal
emotions that cloud your reasoning, and all the other defects that we have
eliminated; pride, arrogance, love, stupidity. We are perfect. You need
not fear us, for we do not wish to destroy you. On the contrary it is we
who fear your motives. We are unable to hate your kind, but we mistrust
you as an adult mistrusts a deceitful child. In ourselves, we have
eliminated all the problems that have dogged the human race since its
inception; we have not destroyed those of you who could not accept
existence as one of the Mechanika, for your type were needed to spread out
across the Galaxy; the pioneering spirit that put Earth in its present
position of power. But now it is time to call a halt. Time to decide that
progress has gone far enough. Time to eliminate those factors that could
lead to our self destruction. It was ridiculous to perfect machines to
think for us, if we continued as little more than animals. So, it was the
only answer; to incorporate our machines into our own bodies. We are all
equal now, all perfect, all incredibly intelligent, far more so than any
of your kind could ever hope to be, even if they were to spend each moment
of their ninety short years cramming their minds full of knowledge."
Beech got to his feet and waved a finger at Mcr23, who had now finished
his speech, all of which had been delivered in the same flat monotone. The
cyborg regarded Beech with impassive eyes as the man shouted: "Don't you
see, by making yourselves into machines you may have eliminated the
so-called 'human' errors, but, at the same tine, you are unable to
progress, and this must inevitably lead to the quick decay and fall of
your race. Do you know what's going on in the Galaxy outside? The real
human beings - the ones that you sent out there - they may already be
advanced beyond your level. They may repair the space link and return, to
destroy you, for you will be the children then, and they the adults. They
will have new thoughts, new weapons, new ideas, and your kind will be
wiped from the face of the Earth. Look at you. You remain in the same form
that you held when you were human, but your skins are orgo-plastic, your
eyes crystal, your voices synthesised, your brains computers that
mechanically control your synthetic limbs. You have retained the forms of
male and female, but neither sex feels any love for the other. You can
never reproduce. You are finished."
Mer23 held up his hand for silence, and Beech fell back into his seat,
his angry rhetoric exhausted. "In our studies of the races of Earth, and
their empires through the centuries," the cyborg droned, "we have found
that they have risen, reached a peak, and declined into decadence. It has
always been the same. We have now reached what we believe to be our
climatic development, but, instead of decaying due to human failings, we
will maintain our position. Admittedly there has been a grave recession,
but this was caused by the failure of the Power Station you humans built.
In time the link will be reconnected and we will re- establish our
relations with the other parts of the Galaxy. However," he continued, "I
recall that we have had this argument many times before. Let us return to
the subject at hand. As you know we have been unable to reconnect any of
the links with our bases out in the Empire. Thus, it is the intention of
the High Imperium that all humans of the Solar System should be rehoused
in the new Power Station we built, and work to reopen the link with the
outer Galaxy. This will not only keep you out of our way but will occupy
your minds at the same time. The exodus will commence immediately. The
only condition is that you report back to us regularly. We shall, of
course, monitor you ourselves for signs of any relinking that you might
achieve."
"What you really mean," Beech interrupted, "is that you are unable to
find the cause for the broken link, and therefore you are putting us
'poor' humans onto the job in the hope that we'll do your work for you."
"You are entitled to your point of view," Mer23 said, "however misled
it may be. We assume that you are in agreement with our proposals?"
"As I said before," Beech said, "we don't have much choice."
"Good," Mer23 concluded. "The plans will commence tomorrow. At the end
of the final phase we shall expect all humans to be housed on the Power
Station. Any humans found on any of the planets will be assumed to be
traitors and will be executed accordingly. We have drawn up a work
progress chart for the operation, and each of you will receive a copy.
That is all."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Lan Breck and his wife, Lin, gazed out of the porthole at the ever
growing mechanical mass that was the Power Station. It grew larger every
second as the space-ship carrying them from Earth drew nearer. This was
the first time that they had ever seen the gigantic station, and it
exceeded any of their wildest dreams. The vast globes that housed the
mighty three mile long, wide and high atomic furnaces which provided the
necessary power to warp the ships past the speed of light out to the
farthest points of the Galaxy reflected the starlight from their colossal
metallic hides.
At the centre of the four giant globes were the vast computer banks
that projected the ships in the correct trajectory from the blast-off
area, and also the living quarters. But all this seemed dwarfed by the
mighty armada of ships that hung in silent ranks to the right of the
complex. Ten thousand ships had been built, after the destruction of the
original fleet, to ply the routes out into the Galaxy, but none of them
had ever left the Solar System. They hung in Space, silently waiting for
the station's beams to send new life into them.
The journey out had not been comfortable. The Mechanika, forgetting
human weaknesses, had crowded the men and women into the ships like
packages, leaving little room for them to breath, and less for movement.
The oxygen systems in the ships had not been designed to carry such a
load, and the air was stale and sweaty. But the journey would soon be over
now..
Lan and Lin were lucky in that they had been allocated spaces near the
viewing portal and were thus able to gaze out into the blackness of space
when they grew tired of surveying the sea of faces in their compartment.
This was the first shipment of humans, and this compartment held what the
Mechanika considered to be the more important members of the race: the
ruling council of humans, the scientists and the mathematicians. The
others would follow, in degrees of lessening importance. They had all been
given a final chance to become 'altered' but only a few had accepted.
A slight bump made Lan look out of the window, and he realised that the
ship must have been travelling faster than he had imagined, for they had
just docked in the centre of the complex. The orders for disembarkation
rang out over the loudspeaker system. As they had entered the ship, each
human had been given a number, and they filed out in numerical order. The
Brocks had been allocated low numbers, and thus found themselves amongst
the first group to be herded across the travellater tube that connected
the ship with the station. They were met inside by a group of altered
humans, one of whom spoke to them in the now familiar monotone.
"You," he began, "will oversee the transportation and accommodation of
the others of your race. We are leaving at once, as we are wary of our
safety in the face of such overwhelming odds. But do not forget that we
will be monitoring you at all times, and if your reports do not reveal the
entire truth, disciplinary action will have to be taken. A programme of
work, showing the distribution of labour forces, has been drawn up, and
will be put into operation at the earliest possible moment."
The cyborgs filed out of the room via another airlock to a waiting
spaceship. The final android deposited a set of discs into Jack Beech's
hands. "Here are your instructions," he stated, "plus a plan of the Power
Station. More detailed information will be found in the computer banks.
You may alter anything you like, so long as the Mechanika find the
alterations in keeping with the operation." The creature then strode from
the room, leaving the humans alone. Beech studied the plan that he'd been
given. Although the more important members had been briefed by the
Mechanika back on Earth he wanted to be sure that they hadn't pulled off
any trick alterations in the meantime.
"Right," he said. "Your accommodation is numbered, and is to be
allocated in accordance with the numbered disks that you were given
earlier. I suppose the easiest way to get things going is for us in the
first group to supervise the others..."
It was many hours later that Lan and Lin finally arrived at their own
quarters, situated near the computer bank main controls. The place was
strangely large and eerily empty at the moment, with only a few hundred
people aboard. Later, when there were ten thousand or more, things would
begin to get cramped.
They collapsed onto a couch, exhausted, and gazed around the room. It
was rather small, but comfortable in a frugal way. Lin wiped beads of
perspiration from her forehead. "Well, I'm glad that's over," she said.
"Perhaps now we can get settled in ourselves."
As she spoke, a buzzer sounded. The face of Beech appeared on a screen.
"Whatever you're planning," he said tiredly, "forget it."
"What's wrong?" Lin asked. "trouble?"
"Not really," Beech replied, "but I think you'd both better get some
sleep in right away. The work programme is scheduled to begin tomorrow,
and you're marked down for the first shift. As scientist- engineers,
you've been allocated the task of checking the circuits from-" he paused
to check his chart, "control section 12ci to Input 94. I'll show you
exactly where it is tomorrow, I know it's short notice," he continued,
"but we've got to keep in right with the Mechanika, at least in the
beginning, if we're going to make this our new home."
"What do we do when we've completed that job?" asked Lan. "Move on to
the next section?"
"I wouldn't worry about that," replied Beech, smiling. "There are 953
main circuits, 8,500 sub-circuits, about ten thousand miles of cabling.
Plus about 3,000 unaccounted for connections that seem to lead to dead
ends." He paused. "Eventually you two will have a large work force under
you, but at the moment you've got it all to yourselves."
Lin smiled at the scowl on Lan's face as Beech cut the connection.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Early next morning Beech accompanied the two of them to the work area.
He supplied them with a plan showing the set-up of the section they had
been allocated, together with a master plan showing the main power lines
etc. of the entire station. "I think that you can eliminate the testing of
the circuits," Beech stated, "that will be left to the manual work force
following. I suspect that the cyborgs may already have run such a checking
programme and in any case; it's well within the limits of their rigid
minds. What we want to find is an explanation for all those superfluous
connections that lead nowhere."
"Surely the Mechanika had a reason for putting them in. They must know
what they're for?" Lin argued.
"On the contrary," Beech corrected. "You see, the original station was
built by humans, and they retained only the master plans; all the
subsidiary information being in their own heads, or in the station's own
computers. They lived in the station, so that when it blew, they and their
computers went up with it.
"The Mechanika rebuilt the station, but were unable to create anything
new. They worked entirely from the incomplete plans that were all that
that original construction team had left behind them. They easily built
the main shell and fired the mighty atomic furnaces; that was all in the
plans - complete. They also knew the general - well, no, to be fair,
almost the complete principle of the light-drive power, but there seems to
have been something missing, and it's that something that we've got to
find. I'm sure that the answer lies in all those connections that are
unaccounted for - they must lead somewhere and join up with something or
other. I've obtained the following information from the computer: There
are getting on for 6,000 dead ends altogether in the section linking the
computer to the power supply, over half of which are in the section that
you'll be working on, They could be joined up in approximately 69 billion
different sequences, and it's likely that only one of these will give us
the secret of the light drive."
"So it's going to be virtually impossible to us to find the right one,"
Lan breathed.
Beech agreed. "Short of a miracle, it is impossible for us and not
worth the time that it would take - that's the way the machines see it,
anyway. But we know that nothing is impossible to the human mind.
Remember, back in the early part of the twentieth century they said that
we would never exceed the speed of light. They proved it was impossible,
but we did it. Admittedly the odds of us finding the right series of
connections is so small as to be almost worthless, but we must try. If we
can link up again with one of the bases out there in the stars, we'll find
other human races. Maybe we can unite with them to regain control of our
own Solar System once more."
"We live in hope," Lan muttered. "But you're right. We must try."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The weeks passed and Lan and Lin studied the miles of baffling circuits
that led nowhere. More humans arrived frown Earth, and a society of sorts
began to form on the base, or New Earth as it's new inhabitants had
renamed it. The Brecks, however, were too busy to notice the alterations
springing up all around them. Lan had produced a master chart of the whole
system showing every circuit, no matter how minute. This covered half of a
large conference room. The other half of the room was occupied by a plan
showing what was known of the old station and emblazoned on the wall in
large letters was the only co- ordinate relating to one of the colonies
that was salvaged from the wreckage of the old Station. Lanva 3 -
34bi6e49n53dm9t32.
The long study was paying off now, and the unconnected circuits seemed
to be forming a pattern, although their computers, despite constant and
repeated scanning of the data yielded nothing. Finally it hit Lan, and he
jumped into the air with a yelp of joy. "It's so simple," he shouted. "How
could I have missed it?"
Lin grabbed him by the arm. "What is it?" she asked.
"Look" he pointed. "These dead ends fall into eleven separate groups.
One near the computer, which is fixed; nine rotating sections in between,
and another here at the power intake from the atomic furnaces." He
scribbled circles and connecting lines across the plan. "Join these to
these," he babbled. "Look, the power amplifiers should be joined to this
set of circuits here. At the moment they're only drawing a fraction of the
energy, and they should be going here, here and here." He scribbled in
more lines across the plan, and Lin was quickly left behind despite a
quick eye and high intelligence. Lan finished and stood back. "That will
boost the power eighteen thousand times."
"But none of it makes any sense, " Lin argued, beginning to catch up
with his reasoning. "That would destroy us in a puff of smoke if we
attempted it. You can't feed power like that into the space-drive."
Lan looked smug. "Exactly. But look; all these rotating blocks of
circuits come into contact with the power supply when they reach a set
point in the rotation. The sequence in which they are set determines the
destination. See, here are the leads to the directional selector on the
computer. The power is filtered through these, and the energy beam warped
into a unique complex pattern. That pattern, using the co- ordinates we
have salvaged will send a ship to Lanva 3."
"But that's a ridiculous way of operating," Lin protested. "No-one in
their right mind would construct something that way!"
"Don't forget," Lan argued, "the original station was built by humans.
I'm sure they deliberately did it like that to ensure the Mechanika could
never master it, with their intellect inhibited by logic. Our own
computers couldn't cope with the concept and must have discarded it in
their scans. Don't forget, as well, how much data the original engineers
kept close to their chests."
"But there are God knows how many circuits there," Lin argued. "How can
we find the right ones for a particular destination?"
"But don't you see that the circuits are in nine groups. Look on the
wall. That's the setting for Lanva 3: 34-bi-6e-49n-53-dm-9-t-32! It's all
falling into place. I'll bet you the Universe to an atom that those leads
should be connected to the directional selector on the station's computer.
No wonder the Mechanika couldn't make it work. What little energy is
coming through is not being filtered or bent into a warp, and it's just
escaping into space. There's not enough power to push a bolt from here to
Uranus." He calmed down. "I think we've got it," he whispered, "but we're
only just scratching the surface at the moment. There's a hell of a lot to
do. I've got to identify all those moving circuits and correctly link up
everything up. It's going to a long job!"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
It WAS a long job. It took almost a year's continuous work, and the
task was not helped by the fact that the humans had to continuously cloak
their true work and dispatch false information to the Mechanika back on
Earth. Finally, the triumphant day dawned when the last circuit was linked
to the power supply. The power began to flow, and previously silent
screens burst into life displaying data as they responded to the surging
power. Lan was given the honour of selecting the coded co-ordinates for
Lanva 3 cautiously checking each number as he input them. The displays
surged towards full power. Lin clutched at Lan's hand as the growing curve
on the graph crept towards the red line at which point the beam would
break through normal space-time, and be thrown at incredible speed across
the Galaxy. Lanva 3 was in the other spiral arm and therefore the power
required was almost the maximum, so that there was still the possibility,
if things went wrong, of the whole station being blown to bits. Time
seemed to stand still as the red line was approached. Then the pattern of
displays on the computer's board changed abruptly as it switched a
multitude of machines into action. The system was working at full power!
The clustered technicians waited for the other eleven screen shapes to
illuminate. That would mean that everything was working correctly at both
ends of the link-up, which would imply that conditions were right for
travel to begin. Of course, no-one knew what the intervening years had
done to the receiving station at Lanva 3. Even if it had survived the
passing centuries, it might not be operational after so many years of
silence from Earth.
A hush fell ever the room as minutes ticked by and nothing happened.
This did not mean failure, however, for when the beam arrived and failed
to make contact, a series of red characters would illuminate. They had not
yet done so. More minutes ticked by, and then, suddenly, the eleven shapes
were illuminated in green.
"Incredible," breathed Beech. "After all this time." "Transmission of
pictures and sound," ordered Lan. The computer responded, and the screen
lit up. Lan turned to Beech. "May I?" he asked. Beech nodded. "I think
you've earned it," he said.
Lan bent forward and spoke into the microphone. "This is Earth calling
Lanva 3. We have reconnected the beam and intend to send through a team to
your system. Please acknowledge."
The message was thrown out into hyperspace. They waited in the great
room, hushed with expectation. Only a few of the leaders on the Station
knew of the plan - the great mass of it's new inhabitants having been kept
in ignorance. They waited and waited, but there was no reply.
"Is it possible for us to switch on from here, if it's just a matter of
their receiver being switched off at the other end?" Beech asked. "After
all, let's face it. If I was them I'd've given up listening out for
messages a very long time ago."
Lan nodded "Yes, it's possible," he confirmed. "But it'll take a few
hours to construct the data set I'll need to transmit to them."
The small party toiled with feverish haste, and, in a few hours, the
self running program was beamed to Lanva 3. The initial excitement of the
watching group was beginning to fade towards a sense of failure as nothing
happened.
But, finally, to the surprise of most of the group, a picture flickered
onto the screen. It was incredibly hard to distinguish, but it looked like
the control room of the receiving station at Lanva 3. The scene was one of
desolation and decay. The room was empty and seemed to have been so for a
long time. It was quite clear, from a gaping hole in the roof that the
whole area had fallen into ruin.
The picture vanished. A red light flashed on at the console and the
computer advised them that the transmitting equipment at the other end of
the link-up had burnt out. With feverish haste they checked that the beam
was still functional. It was only the picture that had gone. They switched
off all the circuits and Beech convened a meeting to try and decide on
their next step.
"It looks as though they have given up hope of contacting Earth again,"
Lester, one of the administrators, commented. "That much is obvious from
the state of the building and the lack of technicians. Of course, I'm
assuming that there's still people alive on Lanva 3."
"We didn't gather much information about the place," Beech said. "We
can't ask for data from Earth's central memory store, or the Mechanika
will become suspicious. All we really know is that it is, or was, a planet
on the far side of the Galaxy, somewhat similar to Earth. At the time of
the blow-up they had a fair degree of civilisation. They relied somewhat
heavily on trade, but I think that they could've survived without us.
There's a good chance that life remains on the planet." He paused.
"Therefore, as leader, I'm in favour of sending through a ship. But
there's a problem. I can only allow two people to go, or we will be unable
to continue our pretence of following the Mechanika's work programme, they
ensured we would work to maximum capacity. Under the circumstances, I
nominate the Brecks as the crew."
The vote was unanimous in favour.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
After three days of tests everything was ready for the takeoff.
In view of the small crew, one of the tinier ships had been selected,
but even in this the Brocks felt small and insignificant. For two hours
they had sat in the ship waiting for the moment that was about to come,
when the ship would be hurled through space and then outside space and
time.
Takeoff. For a few seconds nothing happened, then there was a gigantic
plopping noise and everything outside was no longer black, with the
pinprick points of the stars, but a pure white. Fear gripped Lan, as he
clutched Lin's hand. He found with a start that he could no longer see
her, there was just a white light that blotted out everything. They lost
track of all time, but the period that followed seemed like hours. Then
with a sucking noise, they were back in space once more, and the mighty
retro rockets were bursting into action with an atomic roar. They saw that
they were flying towards a star system at terrific speed. Surely they must
fly right past; they could never slow down in time. Then the Sun was
flashing past them and the and their first stage retros had burnt out. The
second stage lit and they began to slow as they approached their target -
Lanva 3! Retros roared in a final crescendo as they burst into the
planet's atmosphere.
"We'll crash," Lan gasped.
They hurtled towards a giant inverted dome; the ship was landing, soft
as a feather.
"Anti-gravity," breathed Lan. "So that was the purpose of those odds
circuits in our docking bay."
The skip's computer was relaying information back to the Power Station,
and, when it had finally satisfied itself that everything was in order a
series of controls became operational. From a nearby hangar a machine with
a huge, tube-like attachment rumbled out towards them. "Look," exclaimed
Lin. "Life-"
"No," Lan disagreed. "it's a machine. See, it has no observation
windows."
"What's it for?" Lin wondered.
"I think that the outer hull must be drenched in radiation from our
motors. I bet it's going to spray us."
"After all these centuries it still works?"
Lan nodded. "Yes. Just as well for us! Though our short link with their
control tower did suggest that most of the mechanisation on this planet
will still be functioning, if it's been properly sheltered. I wonder
whether any people are left to appreciate it?"
They sat expectantly in the cabin while the machine carried out it's
task. Satisfied at last, the computer in the ship opened the air lock. The
two eagerly clambered down the escalator that carried them to the surface
of the bowl-shaped dome.
Lin pointed towards a cluster of buildings nearby. "This way," she
said. In both directions buildings thronged, some housing rusted space
ships. Lan pointed about them as they walked. "When we get back," he said,
"I shall have to study the whole Power Station. Think of the bases like
this there must be dotted all over the Galaxy. The mechanisation of this
one alone must be a house of wonder, and it all still seems to mainly be
in working order."
The building that they were approaching seemed to have shared in the
same fate as had stricken the control room that they had viewed from the
Solar System. Maybe it even housed that room, The windows were broken or
dirty, and parts of the walls had crumbled away . "This looks like the
scene of a battle," Lin commented.
"Yes," Lan agreed. "But many years ago, I'd say."
"It at least proves that there was life here not that long ago," Lin
observed.
They walked into the crumbling building, and discovered that it did
indeed house the room they had seen on the screen. In general things were
in better condition inside than out, and most of the machines seemed still
to be in working order, but, from the dust that lay about it was obvious
that they were not in general use.
Lin wiped the grime from one of the windows and peered through. Then,
abruptly, she recoiled with a gasp. Lan looked up. "What's the matter?" he
demanded.
"Come and see," mumbled Lin.
Lan peered out of the window looking along the spacefield in the
direction they had been travelling. He found himself looking at the
Spaceport's main gate. Beyond the gate was a high, spiked fence, and
clustered around it was a group of fifty to seventy people. It was hard to
make out details at this distance, but the mob appeared to be dishevelled
and dirty.
Fearless for their own safety, the two ran towards the exit and up the
cracked roadway to the main gate. As the crowd saw them, a gasp of
surprise went up. As Lin and Lan drew nearer they could see the crowd was
made up of human beings, although they looked in generally poor health and
condition. The crowd appeared to be unarmed and Lan approached them to
speak.
"We're from Earth," he proclaimed. "Do you understand me? Understand
what I'm saying?"
It appeared that they did. "Erf," they moaned. "Ay ur fram Erf." They
milled about, fearful expressions on their faces. The two sides stared at
each other for several moments, then, at the sight of a strange vehicle
floating towards them from the opposite direction the crowd broke and fled
in terror, leaving Lan and Lin staring at the floating craft which was
descending towards them. It hovered to a halt at the other side of the
fence.
A door opened in the machine and a creature got out. it looked as
though it had been human once, but now wires trailed back from it's body
into the floater. It touched the fence, which began to sink into the
ground. A section of the fence disappeared, leaving a gateway for the two
voyagers to pass through.
"What is it?" Lin gasped. "It looks like a symbiotic man! It's
connected up to it's power supply of the machine. It's almost like the
Mechanika," she observed coldly. "You don't think-"
"It can't be anything to do with them," Lan said. "They vowed they'd
never leave the Solar System themselves; that was the human's job."
"I don't think we'd better argue with it," Lin decided. "Though it
seems to be just a servant of the real rulers of this place, and I don't
like the look of that gun it's pointing at us."
They walked through the gap in the fence that the android had made for
them, and were motioned into the hovercar. Inside were two other androids,
similarly connected to the floater's power supply. As the first android
seated itself by Lin and Lan, the floater rose into the air and zoomed
across the broken town.
During the journey the two humans caught glimpses of other groups of
humans sitting by the roadside, staring blankly into the air. Then a huge
castle loomed up ahead of them. This was their destination they realised
as the floater began to descend.
They were hustled out of the vehicle, and met by more androids, this
time with their own large, cumbersome, but portable power supplies. They
were chivvied into the castle and along a series of broad corridors.
Finally they found themselves in a vast central room, where sat their
captors.
"Mechanika," Lin gasped, as they saw the gigantic metal bodies, twelve
feet high.
"No, not quite," Lan muttered. "We should have known though. Evolution
is parallel on parallel worlds, or almost so. Cyborgs developed on this
planet too. But they seem dependent on external power supplies , whereas
the Mechanika have their own in built supplies.
"Silence," the giant cyborg boomed. "So, you have come from Earth at
last. We, the Cybers, have waited a long time for this. But we are
patient. We shall use your ship to travel back to Earth. The first step in
our conquest of the Galaxy."
"God," muttered Lan. "These are worse than the Mechanika. They're
warlike. If we don't stop them they'll spread all over space. If they get
through to the Solar System they'll find the Mechanika and learn the
secret of mobile power sources. With internal power they could be
invincible. Without it I bet they can only temporarily leave this world."
"But what can we do? muttered Lin hopelessly.
The humans were hurried back to the spaceport, and shepherded back into
the control room. Lan stared about him as the cyborgs ordered him to make
the connection. He turned to Lin.
"I'm sorry," he said. "There's only one thing I can do to stop these
things. Something they'd never comprehend."
"Whatever you do," she said. "I'm with you."
Lan began to adjust the controls. Lin realised he was about to move the
reflector bowljust slightly. When full power was activated, the beam would
now rip right through the planet. Lan grabbed Lin and hugged her close to
him.
The cyborgs turned to see what was going on.
A huge white beam of fire suddenly appeared in the sky and lanced down
at the spaceport, ripping it up and tossing it miles into the sky, to rain
down as finely divided dust. Now there was just a vast crater.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Back in the Solar System, Beech received a call from Mer23. "We have
noticed," the cyborg droned, "that a ship was launched recently. Why was
this not reported. Do we understand that the Power Station is functional
once more?"
Beech shook his head. "No," he replied sadly. "It was just an
experiment. It failed. Two human lives were lost, and a spaceship. It will
be in our next report."
"No doubt a human failure," Mer23 stated. "We cannot afford the
continued loss of ships in this manner. You must pass details of all
future experiments to us for vetting first. We cannot put up with human
error." The screen blanked.
Beech screwed his fists into tight balls, until his nails drew blood
from the palms. "Soon, Mechanika," he cursed, "soon we shall succeed in
our link with our colonial brothers and then your days will be numbered!"
GO TO
THE STORY ARCHIVE
|
STORY ARCHIVE - Star CLUSTER KINGS (George Townsend)
STAR CLUSTER KINGS
George Townsend
The Terran Empire had spread far across the Galaxy, it's contacts
maintained by the mighty Power Station complex that drove the force beams
across to the farthest ends of the Galaxy, and those slender ships that
rode the mighty beams. But, suddenly the Power Station blew up, reducing
its base planet, Pluto, to atomic dust. The result was that interstellar
travel was paralysed. The colonies were isolated, for at sub- light
speeds, it took over five years to reach even the nearest star. The
colonies in the far spiral arm became, in time, just a dim memory to the
races of Earth, who had virtually attained eternal life by replacing their
vital organs with mechanical parts. The colonists, however, remained
human, living and dying in their average life spans of ninety years. Three
centuries passed while the Mechanika, the new master race on Earth,
laboured to rebuild the Power Station and reconnect their links with other
systems. They laboured in vain.
Out in the stars, Earth became a dim memory, and, without the vital
trade links, many systems lapsed into decadence and decay. Others, more
self sufficient, such as Manco 3 flourished and grew in power. When the
Mechanika finally accepted they were unable to reopen the beams, they
decided upon a different use for their rebuilt Power Station. There were
some humans who had refused to have their bodies replaced with
Orgometallic parts; refused to accept a mechanical existence. A meeting of
the High Imperium of the Mechanika was convened.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"And that, basically is our plan," Mer23 concluded. "I think you will
agree that our terms are generous."
Jack Beech, leader of the Human delegation, looked individually into
the faces of each member of the High Imperium, seeing the cold, hard,
metallic expressions set on them. "We don't have much choice," he
muttered. "I take it this is an ultimatum?"
"It has been found essential that humans are segregated from our
people," Mer23 replied. "We do not mix. In every city where humans are
present, trouble blows up."
"We are persecuted," Beech interrupted. "We're looked on as inferior
beings, but we are the rightful rulers of Earth."
"You are treated as inferior," Mer23 continued unruffled, "because you
are inferior. You are vulnerable to disease, death from ageing, the animal
emotions that cloud your reasoning, and all the other defects that we have
eliminated; pride, arrogance, love, stupidity. We are perfect. You need
not fear us, for we do not wish to destroy you. On the contrary it is we
who fear your motives. We are unable to hate your kind, but we mistrust
you as an adult mistrusts a deceitful child. In ourselves, we have
eliminated all the problems that have dogged the human race since its
inception; we have not destroyed those of you who could not accept
existence as one of the Mechanika, for your type were needed to spread out
across the Galaxy; the pioneering spirit that put Earth in its present
position of power. But now it is time to call a halt. Time to decide that
progress has gone far enough. Time to eliminate those factors that could
lead to our self destruction. It was ridiculous to perfect machines to
think for us, if we continued as little more than animals. So, it was the
only answer; to incorporate our machines into our own bodies. We are all
equal now, all perfect, all incredibly intelligent, far more so than any
of your kind could ever hope to be, even if they were to spend each moment
of their ninety short years cramming their minds full of knowledge."
Beech got to his feet and waved a finger at Mcr23, who had now finished
his speech, all of which had been delivered in the same flat monotone. The
cyborg regarded Beech with impassive eyes as the man shouted: "Don't you
see, by making yourselves into machines you may have eliminated the
so-called 'human' errors, but, at the same tine, you are unable to
progress, and this must inevitably lead to the quick decay and fall of
your race. Do you know what's going on in the Galaxy outside? The real
human beings - the ones that you sent out there - they may already be
advanced beyond your level. They may repair the space link and return, to
destroy you, for you will be the children then, and they the adults. They
will have new thoughts, new weapons, new ideas, and your kind will be
wiped from the face of the Earth. Look at you. You remain in the same form
that you held when you were human, but your skins are orgo-plastic, your
eyes crystal, your voices synthesised, your brains computers that
mechanically control your synthetic limbs. You have retained the forms of
male and female, but neither sex feels any love for the other. You can
never reproduce. You are finished."
Mer23 held up his hand for silence, and Beech fell back into his seat,
his angry rhetoric exhausted. "In our studies of the races of Earth, and
their empires through the centuries," the cyborg droned, "we have found
that they have risen, reached a peak, and declined into decadence. It has
always been the same. We have now reached what we believe to be our
climatic development, but, instead of decaying due to human failings, we
will maintain our position. Admittedly there has been a grave recession,
but this was caused by the failure of the Power Station you humans built.
In time the link will be reconnected and we will re- establish our
relations with the other parts of the Galaxy. However," he continued, "I
recall that we have had this argument many times before. Let us return to
the subject at hand. As you know we have been unable to reconnect any of
the links with our bases out in the Empire. Thus, it is the intention of
the High Imperium that all humans of the Solar System should be rehoused
in the new Power Station we built, and work to reopen the link with the
outer Galaxy. This will not only keep you out of our way but will occupy
your minds at the same time. The exodus will commence immediately. The
only condition is that you report back to us regularly. We shall, of
course, monitor you ourselves for signs of any relinking that you might
achieve."
"What you really mean," Beech interrupted, "is that you are unable to
find the cause for the broken link, and therefore you are putting us
'poor' humans onto the job in the hope that we'll do your work for you."
"You are entitled to your point of view," Mer23 said, "however misled
it may be. We assume that you are in agreement with our proposals?"
"As I said before," Beech said, "we don't have much choice."
"Good," Mer23 concluded. "The plans will commence tomorrow. At the end
of the final phase we shall expect all humans to be housed on the Power
Station. Any humans found on any of the planets will be assumed to be
traitors and will be executed accordingly. We have drawn up a work
progress chart for the operation, and each of you will receive a copy.
That is all."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Lan Breck and his wife, Lin, gazed out of the porthole at the ever
growing mechanical mass that was the Power Station. It grew larger every
second as the space-ship carrying them from Earth drew nearer. This was
the first time that they had ever seen the gigantic station, and it
exceeded any of their wildest dreams. The vast globes that housed the
mighty three mile long, wide and high atomic furnaces which provided the
necessary power to warp the ships past the speed of light out to the
farthest points of the Galaxy reflected the starlight from their colossal
metallic hides.
At the centre of the four giant globes were the vast computer banks
that projected the ships in the correct trajectory from the blast-off
area, and also the living quarters. But all this seemed dwarfed by the
mighty armada of ships that hung in silent ranks to the right of the
complex. Ten thousand ships had been built, after the destruction of the
original fleet, to ply the routes out into the Galaxy, but none of them
had ever left the Solar System. They hung in Space, silently waiting for
the station's beams to send new life into them.
The journey out had not been comfortable. The Mechanika, forgetting
human weaknesses, had crowded the men and women into the ships like
packages, leaving little room for them to breath, and less for movement.
The oxygen systems in the ships had not been designed to carry such a
load, and the air was stale and sweaty. But the journey would soon be over
now..
Lan and Lin were lucky in that they had been allocated spaces near the
viewing portal and were thus able to gaze out into the blackness of space
when they grew tired of surveying the sea of faces in their compartment.
This was the first shipment of humans, and this compartment held what the
Mechanika considered to be the more important members of the race: the
ruling council of humans, the scientists and the mathematicians. The
others would follow, in degrees of lessening importance. They had all been
given a final chance to become 'altered' but only a few had accepted.
A slight bump made Lan look out of the window, and he realised that the
ship must have been travelling faster than he had imagined, for they had
just docked in the centre of the complex. The orders for disembarkation
rang out over the loudspeaker system. As they had entered the ship, each
human had been given a number, and they filed out in numerical order. The
Brocks had been allocated low numbers, and thus found themselves amongst
the first group to be herded across the travellater tube that connected
the ship with the station. They were met inside by a group of altered
humans, one of whom spoke to them in the now familiar monotone.
"You," he began, "will oversee the transportation and accommodation of
the others of your race. We are leaving at once, as we are wary of our
safety in the face of such overwhelming odds. But do not forget that we
will be monitoring you at all times, and if your reports do not reveal the
entire truth, disciplinary action will have to be taken. A programme of
work, showing the distribution of labour forces, has been drawn up, and
will be put into operation at the earliest possible moment."
The cyborgs filed out of the room via another airlock to a waiting
spaceship. The final android deposited a set of discs into Jack Beech's
hands. "Here are your instructions," he stated, "plus a plan of the Power
Station. More detailed information will be found in the computer banks.
You may alter anything you like, so long as the Mechanika find the
alterations in keeping with the operation." The creature then strode from
the room, leaving the humans alone. Beech studied the plan that he'd been
given. Although the more important members had been briefed by the
Mechanika back on Earth he wanted to be sure that they hadn't pulled off
any trick alterations in the meantime.
"Right," he said. "Your accommodation is numbered, and is to be
allocated in accordance with the numbered disks that you were given
earlier. I suppose the easiest way to get things going is for us in the
first group to supervise the others..."
It was many hours later that Lan and Lin finally arrived at their own
quarters, situated near the computer bank main controls. The place was
strangely large and eerily empty at the moment, with only a few hundred
people aboard. Later, when there were ten thousand or more, things would
begin to get cramped.
They collapsed onto a couch, exhausted, and gazed around the room. It
was rather small, but comfortable in a frugal way. Lin wiped beads of
perspiration from her forehead. "Well, I'm glad that's over," she said.
"Perhaps now we can get settled in ourselves."
As she spoke, a buzzer sounded. The face of Beech appeared on a screen.
"Whatever you're planning," he said tiredly, "forget it."
"What's wrong?" Lin asked. "trouble?"
"Not really," Beech replied, "but I think you'd both better get some
sleep in right away. The work programme is scheduled to begin tomorrow,
and you're marked down for the first shift. As scientist- engineers,
you've been allocated the task of checking the circuits from-" he paused
to check his chart, "control section 12ci to Input 94. I'll show you
exactly where it is tomorrow, I know it's short notice," he continued,
"but we've got to keep in right with the Mechanika, at least in the
beginning, if we're going to make this our new home."
"What do we do when we've completed that job?" asked Lan. "Move on to
the next section?"
"I wouldn't worry about that," replied Beech, smiling. "There are 953
main circuits, 8,500 sub-circuits, about ten thousand miles of cabling.
Plus about 3,000 unaccounted for connections that seem to lead to dead
ends." He paused. "Eventually you two will have a large work force under
you, but at the moment you've got it all to yourselves."
Lin smiled at the scowl on Lan's face as Beech cut the connection.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Early next morning Beech accompanied the two of them to the work area.
He supplied them with a plan showing the set-up of the section they had
been allocated, together with a master plan showing the main power lines
etc. of the entire station. "I think that you can eliminate the testing of
the circuits," Beech stated, "that will be left to the manual work force
following. I suspect that the cyborgs may already have run such a checking
programme and in any case; it's well within the limits of their rigid
minds. What we want to find is an explanation for all those superfluous
connections that lead nowhere."
"Surely the Mechanika had a reason for putting them in. They must know
what they're for?" Lin argued.
"On the contrary," Beech corrected. "You see, the original station was
built by humans, and they retained only the master plans; all the
subsidiary information being in their own heads, or in the station's own
computers. They lived in the station, so that when it blew, they and their
computers went up with it.
"The Mechanika rebuilt the station, but were unable to create anything
new. They worked entirely from the incomplete plans that were all that
that original construction team had left behind them. They easily built
the main shell and fired the mighty atomic furnaces; that was all in the
plans - complete. They also knew the general - well, no, to be fair,
almost the complete principle of the light-drive power, but there seems to
have been something missing, and it's that something that we've got to
find. I'm sure that the answer lies in all those connections that are
unaccounted for - they must lead somewhere and join up with something or
other. I've obtained the following information from the computer: There
are getting on for 6,000 dead ends altogether in the section linking the
computer to the power supply, over half of which are in the section that
you'll be working on, They could be joined up in approximately 69 billion
different sequences, and it's likely that only one of these will give us
the secret of the light drive."
"So it's going to be virtually impossible to us to find the right one,"
Lan breathed.
Beech agreed. "Short of a miracle, it is impossible for us and not
worth the time that it would take - that's the way the machines see it,
anyway. But we know that nothing is impossible to the human mind.
Remember, back in the early part of the twentieth century they said that
we would never exceed the speed of light. They proved it was impossible,
but we did it. Admittedly the odds of us finding the right series of
connections is so small as to be almost worthless, but we must try. If we
can link up again with one of the bases out there in the stars, we'll find
other human races. Maybe we can unite with them to regain control of our
own Solar System once more."
"We live in hope," Lan muttered. "But you're right. We must try."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The weeks passed and Lan and Lin studied the miles of baffling circuits
that led nowhere. More humans arrived frown Earth, and a society of sorts
began to form on the base, or New Earth as it's new inhabitants had
renamed it. The Brecks, however, were too busy to notice the alterations
springing up all around them. Lan had produced a master chart of the whole
system showing every circuit, no matter how minute. This covered half of a
large conference room. The other half of the room was occupied by a plan
showing what was known of the old station and emblazoned on the wall in
large letters was the only co- ordinate relating to one of the colonies
that was salvaged from the wreckage of the old Station. Lanva 3 -
34bi6e49n53dm9t32.
The long study was paying off now, and the unconnected circuits seemed
to be forming a pattern, although their computers, despite constant and
repeated scanning of the data yielded nothing. Finally it hit Lan, and he
jumped into the air with a yelp of joy. "It's so simple," he shouted. "How
could I have missed it?"
Lin grabbed him by the arm. "What is it?" she asked.
"Look" he pointed. "These dead ends fall into eleven separate groups.
One near the computer, which is fixed; nine rotating sections in between,
and another here at the power intake from the atomic furnaces." He
scribbled circles and connecting lines across the plan. "Join these to
these," he babbled. "Look, the power amplifiers should be joined to this
set of circuits here. At the moment they're only drawing a fraction of the
energy, and they should be going here, here and here." He scribbled in
more lines across the plan, and Lin was quickly left behind despite a
quick eye and high intelligence. Lan finished and stood back. "That will
boost the power eighteen thousand times."
"But none of it makes any sense, " Lin argued, beginning to catch up
with his reasoning. "That would destroy us in a puff of smoke if we
attempted it. You can't feed power like that into the space-drive."
Lan looked smug. "Exactly. But look; all these rotating blocks of
circuits come into contact with the power supply when they reach a set
point in the rotation. The sequence in which they are set determines the
destination. See, here are the leads to the directional selector on the
computer. The power is filtered through these, and the energy beam warped
into a unique complex pattern. That pattern, using the co- ordinates we
have salvaged will send a ship to Lanva 3."
"But that's a ridiculous way of operating," Lin protested. "No-one in
their right mind would construct something that way!"
"Don't forget," Lan argued, "the original station was built by humans.
I'm sure they deliberately did it like that to ensure the Mechanika could
never master it, with their intellect inhibited by logic. Our own
computers couldn't cope with the concept and must have discarded it in
their scans. Don't forget, as well, how much data the original engineers
kept close to their chests."
"But there are God knows how many circuits there," Lin argued. "How can
we find the right ones for a particular destination?"
"But don't you see that the circuits are in nine groups. Look on the
wall. That's the setting for Lanva 3: 34-bi-6e-49n-53-dm-9-t-32! It's all
falling into place. I'll bet you the Universe to an atom that those leads
should be connected to the directional selector on the station's computer.
No wonder the Mechanika couldn't make it work. What little energy is
coming through is not being filtered or bent into a warp, and it's just
escaping into space. There's not enough power to push a bolt from here to
Uranus." He calmed down. "I think we've got it," he whispered, "but we're
only just scratching the surface at the moment. There's a hell of a lot to
do. I've got to identify all those moving circuits and correctly link up
everything up. It's going to a long job!"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
It WAS a long job. It took almost a year's continuous work, and the
task was not helped by the fact that the humans had to continuously cloak
their true work and dispatch false information to the Mechanika back on
Earth. Finally, the triumphant day dawned when the last circuit was linked
to the power supply. The power began to flow, and previously silent
screens burst into life displaying data as they responded to the surging
power. Lan was given the honour of selecting the coded co-ordinates for
Lanva 3 cautiously checking each number as he input them. The displays
surged towards full power. Lin clutched at Lan's hand as the growing curve
on the graph crept towards the red line at which point the beam would
break through normal space-time, and be thrown at incredible speed across
the Galaxy. Lanva 3 was in the other spiral arm and therefore the power
required was almost the maximum, so that there was still the possibility,
if things went wrong, of the whole station being blown to bits. Time
seemed to stand still as the red line was approached. Then the pattern of
displays on the computer's board changed abruptly as it switched a
multitude of machines into action. The system was working at full power!
The clustered technicians waited for the other eleven screen shapes to
illuminate. That would mean that everything was working correctly at both
ends of the link-up, which would imply that conditions were right for
travel to begin. Of course, no-one knew what the intervening years had
done to the receiving station at Lanva 3. Even if it had survived the
passing centuries, it might not be operational after so many years of
silence from Earth.
A hush fell ever the room as minutes ticked by and nothing happened.
This did not mean failure, however, for when the beam arrived and failed
to make contact, a series of red characters would illuminate. They had not
yet done so. More minutes ticked by, and then, suddenly, the eleven shapes
were illuminated in green.
"Incredible," breathed Beech. "After all this time." "Transmission of
pictures and sound," ordered Lan. The computer responded, and the screen
lit up. Lan turned to Beech. "May I?" he asked. Beech nodded. "I think
you've earned it," he said.
Lan bent forward and spoke into the microphone. "This is Earth calling
Lanva 3. We have reconnected the beam and intend to send through a team to
your system. Please acknowledge."
The message was thrown out into hyperspace. They waited in the great
room, hushed with expectation. Only a few of the leaders on the Station
knew of the plan - the great mass of it's new inhabitants having been kept
in ignorance. They waited and waited, but there was no reply.
"Is it possible for us to switch on from here, if it's just a matter of
their receiver being switched off at the other end?" Beech asked. "After
all, let's face it. If I was them I'd've given up listening out for
messages a very long time ago."
Lan nodded "Yes, it's possible," he confirmed. "But it'll take a few
hours to construct the data set I'll need to transmit to them."
The small party toiled with feverish haste, and, in a few hours, the
self running program was beamed to Lanva 3. The initial excitement of the
watching group was beginning to fade towards a sense of failure as nothing
happened.
But, finally, to the surprise of most of the group, a picture flickered
onto the screen. It was incredibly hard to distinguish, but it looked like
the control room of the receiving station at Lanva 3. The scene was one of
desolation and decay. The room was empty and seemed to have been so for a
long time. It was quite clear, from a gaping hole in the roof that the
whole area had fallen into ruin.
The picture vanished. A red light flashed on at the console and the
computer advised them that the transmitting equipment at the other end of
the link-up had burnt out. With feverish haste they checked that the beam
was still functional. It was only the picture that had gone. They switched
off all the circuits and Beech convened a meeting to try and decide on
their next step.
"It looks as though they have given up hope of contacting Earth again,"
Lester, one of the administrators, commented. "That much is obvious from
the state of the building and the lack of technicians. Of course, I'm
assuming that there's still people alive on Lanva 3."
"We didn't gather much information about the place," Beech said. "We
can't ask for data from Earth's central memory store, or the Mechanika
will become suspicious. All we really know is that it is, or was, a planet
on the far side of the Galaxy, somewhat similar to Earth. At the time of
the blow-up they had a fair degree of civilisation. They relied somewhat
heavily on trade, but I think that they could've survived without us.
There's a good chance that life remains on the planet." He paused.
"Therefore, as leader, I'm in favour of sending through a ship. But
there's a problem. I can only allow two people to go, or we will be unable
to continue our pretence of following the Mechanika's work programme, they
ensured we would work to maximum capacity. Under the circumstances, I
nominate the Brecks as the crew."
The vote was unanimous in favour.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
After three days of tests everything was ready for the takeoff.
In view of the small crew, one of the tinier ships had been selected,
but even in this the Brocks felt small and insignificant. For two hours
they had sat in the ship waiting for the moment that was about to come,
when the ship would be hurled through space and then outside space and
time.
Takeoff. For a few seconds nothing happened, then there was a gigantic
plopping noise and everything outside was no longer black, with the
pinprick points of the stars, but a pure white. Fear gripped Lan, as he
clutched Lin's hand. He found with a start that he could no longer see
her, there was just a white light that blotted out everything. They lost
track of all time, but the period that followed seemed like hours. Then
with a sucking noise, they were back in space once more, and the mighty
retro rockets were bursting into action with an atomic roar. They saw that
they were flying towards a star system at terrific speed. Surely they must
fly right past; they could never slow down in time. Then the Sun was
flashing past them and the and their first stage retros had burnt out. The
second stage lit and they began to slow as they approached their target -
Lanva 3! Retros roared in a final crescendo as they burst into the
planet's atmosphere.
"We'll crash," Lan gasped.
They hurtled towards a giant inverted dome; the ship was landing, soft
as a feather.
"Anti-gravity," breathed Lan. "So that was the purpose of those odds
circuits in our docking bay."
The skip's computer was relaying information back to the Power Station,
and, when it had finally satisfied itself that everything was in order a
series of controls became operational. From a nearby hangar a machine with
a huge, tube-like attachment rumbled out towards them. "Look," exclaimed
Lin. "Life-"
"No," Lan disagreed. "it's a machine. See, it has no observation
windows."
"What's it for?" Lin wondered.
"I think that the outer hull must be drenched in radiation from our
motors. I bet it's going to spray us."
"After all these centuries it still works?"
Lan nodded. "Yes. Just as well for us! Though our short link with their
control tower did suggest that most of the mechanisation on this planet
will still be functioning, if it's been properly sheltered. I wonder
whether any people are left to appreciate it?"
They sat expectantly in the cabin while the machine carried out it's
task. Satisfied at last, the computer in the ship opened the air lock. The
two eagerly clambered down the escalator that carried them to the surface
of the bowl-shaped dome.
Lin pointed towards a cluster of buildings nearby. "This way," she
said. In both directions buildings thronged, some housing rusted space
ships. Lan pointed about them as they walked. "When we get back," he said,
"I shall have to study the whole Power Station. Think of the bases like
this there must be dotted all over the Galaxy. The mechanisation of this
one alone must be a house of wonder, and it all still seems to mainly be
in working order."
The building that they were approaching seemed to have shared in the
same fate as had stricken the control room that they had viewed from the
Solar System. Maybe it even housed that room, The windows were broken or
dirty, and parts of the walls had crumbled away . "This looks like the
scene of a battle," Lin commented.
"Yes," Lan agreed. "But many years ago, I'd say."
"It at least proves that there was life here not that long ago," Lin
observed.
They walked into the crumbling building, and discovered that it did
indeed house the room they had seen on the screen. In general things were
in better condition inside than out, and most of the machines seemed still
to be in working order, but, from the dust that lay about it was obvious
that they were not in general use.
Lin wiped the grime from one of the windows and peered through. Then,
abruptly, she recoiled with a gasp. Lan looked up. "What's the matter?" he
demanded.
"Come and see," mumbled Lin.
Lan peered out of the window looking along the spacefield in the
direction they had been travelling. He found himself looking at the
Spaceport's main gate. Beyond the gate was a high, spiked fence, and
clustered around it was a group of fifty to seventy people. It was hard to
make out details at this distance, but the mob appeared to be dishevelled
and dirty.
Fearless for their own safety, the two ran towards the exit and up the
cracked roadway to the main gate. As the crowd saw them, a gasp of
surprise went up. As Lin and Lan drew nearer they could see the crowd was
made up of human beings, although they looked in generally poor health and
condition. The crowd appeared to be unarmed and Lan approached them to
speak.
"We're from Earth," he proclaimed. "Do you understand me? Understand
what I'm saying?"
It appeared that they did. "Erf," they moaned. "Ay ur fram Erf." They
milled about, fearful expressions on their faces. The two sides stared at
each other for several moments, then, at the sight of a strange vehicle
floating towards them from the opposite direction the crowd broke and fled
in terror, leaving Lan and Lin staring at the floating craft which was
descending towards them. It hovered to a halt at the other side of the
fence.
A door opened in the machine and a creature got out. it looked as
though it had been human once, but now wires trailed back from it's body
into the floater. It touched the fence, which began to sink into the
ground. A section of the fence disappeared, leaving a gateway for the two
voyagers to pass through.
"What is it?" Lin gasped. "It looks like a symbiotic man! It's
connected up to it's power supply of the machine. It's almost like the
Mechanika," she observed coldly. "You don't think-"
"It can't be anything to do with them," Lan said. "They vowed they'd
never leave the Solar System themselves; that was the human's job."
"I don't think we'd better argue with it," Lin decided. "Though it
seems to be just a servant of the real rulers of this place, and I don't
like the look of that gun it's pointing at us."
They walked through the gap in the fence that the android had made for
them, and were motioned into the hovercar. Inside were two other androids,
similarly connected to the floater's power supply. As the first android
seated itself by Lin and Lan, the floater rose into the air and zoomed
across the broken town.
During the journey the two humans caught glimpses of other groups of
humans sitting by the roadside, staring blankly into the air. Then a huge
castle loomed up ahead of them. This was their destination they realised
as the floater began to descend.
They were hustled out of the vehicle, and met by more androids, this
time with their own large, cumbersome, but portable power supplies. They
were chivvied into the castle and along a series of broad corridors.
Finally they found themselves in a vast central room, where sat their
captors.
"Mechanika," Lin gasped, as they saw the gigantic metal bodies, twelve
feet high.
"No, not quite," Lan muttered. "We should have known though. Evolution
is parallel on parallel worlds, or almost so. Cyborgs developed on this
planet too. But they seem dependent on external power supplies , whereas
the Mechanika have their own in built supplies.
"Silence," the giant cyborg boomed. "So, you have come from Earth at
last. We, the Cybers, have waited a long time for this. But we are
patient. We shall use your ship to travel back to Earth. The first step in
our conquest of the Galaxy."
"God," muttered Lan. "These are worse than the Mechanika. They're
warlike. If we don't stop them they'll spread all over space. If they get
through to the Solar System they'll find the Mechanika and learn the
secret of mobile power sources. With internal power they could be
invincible. Without it I bet they can only temporarily leave this world."
"But what can we do? muttered Lin hopelessly.
The humans were hurried back to the spaceport, and shepherded back into
the control room. Lan stared about him as the cyborgs ordered him to make
the connection. He turned to Lin.
"I'm sorry," he said. "There's only one thing I can do to stop these
things. Something they'd never comprehend."
"Whatever you do," she said. "I'm with you."
Lan began to adjust the controls. Lin realised he was about to move the
reflector bowljust slightly. When full power was activated, the beam would
now rip right through the planet. Lan grabbed Lin and hugged her close to
him.
The cyborgs turned to see what was going on.
A huge white beam of fire suddenly appeared in the sky and lanced down
at the spaceport, ripping it up and tossing it miles into the sky, to rain
down as finely divided dust. Now there was just a vast crater.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Back in the Solar System, Beech received a call from Mer23. "We have
noticed," the cyborg droned, "that a ship was launched recently. Why was
this not reported. Do we understand that the Power Station is functional
once more?"
Beech shook his head. "No," he replied sadly. "It was just an
experiment. It failed. Two human lives were lost, and a spaceship. It will
be in our next report."
"No doubt a human failure," Mer23 stated. "We cannot afford the
continued loss of ships in this manner. You must pass details of all
future experiments to us for vetting first. We cannot put up with human
error." The screen blanked.
Beech screwed his fists into tight balls, until his nails drew blood
from the palms. "Soon, Mechanika," he cursed, "soon we shall succeed in
our link with our colonial brothers and then your days will be numbered!"
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