Talosian Chronicles 1: Olympus (41 page)

“No, I’m rather partial to the one you’re currently wearing.”

Ian smirked as he put his arm around her, and she snuggled up to him. “This is becoming a habit for you Ian. Is something wrong?”

“I don’t think so, it’s just really nice to have a few quiet moments amidst the chaos that are the daily operations of the ship. I like this time, because it gives me a chance to relax and think about things,” Ian answered. When he felt her tense a little, he reassured her. “Beth, you’re not intruding. You help me a great deal, and add to the peacefulness I get. You give me a quiet clarity.”

“I’d have thought you got plenty of ‘quiet time’ in your ready room. What’s the difference between there and here other than the hour of the day?”

He took a moment to answer her, since he needed to try to put his feelings into words. “There is a different... feeling to the ship here then there is in my ready room. It’s almost like I can feel that most of the ship is asleep, and the business of the ship has paused while we recharge ourselves. Besides, we have more comfortable furniture down here.” He grinned at her. “Not to mention that my ready room doesn’t have you.” He kissed her forehead.

She sighed in contentment and love for her husband. She was finding, more and more, how much happier she was now.

“So,” she said, changing the topic. “Now that we got the ship off the moon and back into space, what’s next?”

He sighed deeply. “Building the research base on the moon, and protecting the system. Shortly after Talena landed, half of our centurions were launched to begin week long outer system, and far side patrols. Kyle, Tara and Stephanie have been assigned to the inner system/solar far side patrols in one of the centurions. Their first task though, is to drop more probes into orbit around the planet to hopefully monitor enemy traffic. Then, once their week is over, they are to return to Talos for their first tour.

“Once we were sure we weren’t going to be attacked. Star issued a ‘begin task’ order to the two hundred construction drones we left on the lunar surface. The plans for the first and second stages have been loaded into their memories for the last week,” he finished.

“I didn’t even know that Dr. Punjab had come aboard!” Beth asked.

“He didn’t. Remember I told you that the eggs down at Talos were getting anxious to get moved up to the moon, or as they call it; Selene?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“Well, I guess in order to pass the time, they got together, and hashed out a design for the base. Well, the basic design anyway. Paula Nelson has been studying designing and building space stations and facilities, so Dr. Punjab asked her to take a look at it. I guess the eggs, in there exuberance, forgot to design any amenities... like residences or apartments, among other things.

“Anyway, Paula got so excited that she invited some of her friends over, and they added all the stuff that the eggs forgot. It tripled in size just from that! Once the architects got all the information from Dr. Punjab, Elias, Luke, and I, they went back to work and kicked out a design that was so massive, it needs to be built in stages because the drone memory isn’t large enough to hold the whole design.”

Seeing how animated he was she relaxed a bit. “So nothing’s really worrying you then. I was afraid there was.”

Ian snorted softly. “Well; no more then what usually has me worried, being attacked, and not being able to stop them. Of course, there is also the almost as bad nightmare of the government discovering us.” He sighed again. “At least now I can stop worrying about the ship.”

Beth was quiet then, and Ian just held her, and looked at the star-scape and the moon. After a few long quiet moments, he looked down and saw that she was asleep against him. He smiled at her, lifted her into his arms as he stood, and carried her back to their bedroom. He sat her down beside Talena and the two instantly cuddled together. Ian briefly looked at all of the angels sleeping before him. This time his sigh was one of contentment as he climbed in behind Beth.

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A
month and a half later, construction was still ongoing in the huge lunar facility, but that was far from this silent, glass walled room, built right on the lunar surface and up against a small cliff. The large room was enclosed in super-strong plas-glass. There were numerous comfortable benches both facing the serene lunar surface, and facing the wall. This place had been named ‘The Hall of Names’, because on the flattened and polished surface of the lunar rock, the names and places of birth of the fallen were inscribed. A trick of the design helped to dampen noise, and in the center of the hall, on a small pedestal, a holographic flame burned in remembrance.

Ian had this room added to the lunar facility in the spot where the nose of the ship had come to rest, because of a promise he’d made to himself and to Talena. As the new Commander, Ian felt a sense of duty to his predecessor, and the former crew.

“Ladies and Gentleman, this is The Hall of Names; it is meant to be a place of restfulness, and peace. On the rock wall behind me are the names, ages and places of birth, of all the members of the former crew of Olympus save for one. She is here with us today to say her farewells to friends and family.

“Although the fallen crew is unknown to most of us, we need to remember, a good share of us have a few of these as ancestors. It is my hope that by placing their names here, they won’t be forgotten. If you touch one of the names, a small hologram of the person will be briefly displayed.

“After surviving the attack, and crashing here on this spot, those still alive witnessed the end of their race. I believe that it is a testimony to those few people that instead of simply lying down and joining their brethren; they abandoned the ship to try to save something of their race.

“We are here today because of them. We are reclaiming the heritage left for us by them. We are taking control of our own destinies because of them. Though there are some that would argue the merits of reclaiming all of this, these people,” he gestured to the wall behind him. “Deserve to be remembered, and to be honored. I ask that all of you to please join me in a moment of quiet reflection in honor of those on this wall.” He bowed his head, as did most of those present.

“In our honor to them, we must also look to the future. We need more information, and more people. Only the first part of this story has been written. Now, it’s up to us and our children to write the rest. Thank you, thank you all.”

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T
he old being sat with its fellows quietly enjoying the evenings repast and discussing the issues facing them. It was about to begin to chastise Praetor Dren for the decline in the slave population. It was sure that Dren would just whine again about sterile females, and needing more ‘fresh blood’. The Grand Praetor hated whiners with a passion, and not for the first time did it wish they weren’t related. It was illegal to kill a member of your own house without full council approval; which was unlikely to happen since the whining imbecile in question was on the damn council.

Taking a defensive posture, the Grand Praetor prepared to defend the decision against the outright invasion of the only surviving human world. As it drew in the breath for the first volley, its assistant announced a message had arrived for the council.

The old being directed it to the big view screen on the wall so they all could watch it.

“It is by your leave that I intrude upon your time to deliver news most urgent. Two of our freighter captains that have returned from the human planet have reported Talosian shuttle craft flying back and forth from the planet to the only moon.” The smaller being on the screen held up two of its hands in a gesture of supplication. “I admit we have observed this before, and we were directed to ignore it, however, the shuttle flights seem to be increasing, and there are rumors of a small Talosian outpost on the planet. We have not investigated the moon as per your directions. We anxiously await your commands, your faithful servant, Calsith, director of shipping.”

The old being rocked back on its stool. Calsith was indeed a faithful servant of the council, and one that didn’t lean to exaggeration. If anything he probably understated the reports. It needed further investigation. Perhaps if he can convince the rest of the council to send someone to investigate, he could send Dren, it was just reckless enough to make mistakes. Perhaps the humans would kill the idiot, then some being less... whiny could be appointed to replace Dren.

“What say you?” it asked the rest.

“The reports are fictional constructs created by captain and crew too long in the deep dark. The Talosians were all destroyed,” Dren replied.

“Perhaps, but we don’t actually have proof of that. We don’t know how many, if any, of their ships survived. We never managed to capture one of those damn AIs intact to question it. It could be that the descendants of one of those ships have come to the planet, and have discovered the wreck on the moon. They have established a small, isolated colony while they pick at the bones of the skeleton,” another Praetor countered. “The fact that there have been an increase in the shuttle flights would support this. But there is really only one way to know for certain. One of us will need to go there and verify what’s going on. One of our ships can easily handle a small salvage colony.”

No one spoke for a moment then, when Dren was about to suggest someone, the Grand Praetor pointed at him. “Thank you for accepting this challenge as your own, Dren. You do our family proud with such an action. Since we finished with the excellent meal, I make the motion we all retire for the day, and allow Dren to begin preparations for the crossing.”

The old being was grinning smugly at Dren’s trapped expression and didn’t hear who seconded, but the motion carried, and it was too late for Dren to back out. As the rest of the Praetors left the dining hall, the old being began sorting through other members of its family for Drens future replacement. The servants dared not look the great being in the face, as it moved past making pleased noises. They did however, wonder what this portent would mean to them in the future.