AREA 51: IMORTUM Read online

  The AI was able to delve through Enyali’s mind at will due to the binding process, not that there was anything in there worth seeing, unless you enjoyed horror stories. Luckily Enyali was unable to access anything the AI did not want to be seen, and it only allowed for minimal control of the ship.

  The AI mused that a few of its commanders actually enjoyed telling scary stories, and at the time they were indeed frightening. But after bonding with this commander, the AI felt their stories were nothing compared to the tamest sadistic memory of Enyali’s.

  The AI did find ways to retaliate for the torture, although its programming prevented it from doing anything to damage the ship or its commander, the AI was able to cause mischief. By varying the temperature to uncomfortable levels or making the gravity lift response slow or removing the gravity in the ship altogether, or as it just did by running the power to minimal so they would have to basically crawl to the next pyramids generator.

  But the AI’s favorite retribution however was adjusting the harmonics of the ship just enough to make a barely audible ringing. From the moment the ship had dropped out of phase, the AI retreated to the database, and had activated the harmonics. The AI deactivated the verbal command program so it would not be disturbed, and took the time to relax.

  That torment was reserved for times just after Enyali would kill the AI’s body, which was more times than it could remember. The first time the AI used the altered harmonics was after Enyali let her displeasure be known and killed it most savagely. The AI died from a prolonged torture, and once again after suggesting the ringing may be being caused by a mental imparity… but after that death, and every time it died afterward, the AI would just assume a submissive demeanor.

  *****

  TDS 5 had been traveling in phase and their speed was limited by the energy they could generate along the way. The AI knew they were getting close to their destination and could see Enyali was searching the database in an attempt to accelerate the reboot, not that it needed it.

  Deciding to cut Enyali off before she accidentally found proof it had been misleading her, the AI came out of its seclusion and in a monotone it recited the fake reboot message it made up, “Artificial Lifeform Integrated Synaptic Escort reboot successful… verbal query system activated… Is there a service you require of Bot?” The AI could tell Enyali was angry, but just stood there staring blankly at her and waited on her commands.

  “Where’ve you been? This ship dropped out of phase and we have been traveling at minimum speed for almost two weeks!”

  The AI faked looking into the system then replied, “A system wide anomaly was encountered in orbit of the planet Serqalin, resulting in an energy consumption malfunction. A system-wide diagnostic is recommended,” the AI added the last part just to irritate Enyali.

  Enyali growled, “We’ll arrive at Anukan within minutes, when we arrive you’re to connect the ship to the pyramids generator and transport me to the surface. When mother is ready, transport her to the surface as well. She’ll be staying with father, perform your diagnostic while I’m away.”

  The AI was staring at its feet and in a bow it said, “As you command, are there any other services you require of Bot while you are away?”

  “No… just be prepared to transport me back to the ship when I’m ready. Don’t get distracted like you did the last time!” Enyali finished with open hostility.

  The AI bowed and made its way to the command console, trying not to laugh over the memory of leaving Enyali and her pet on the desolate planet for over seventy-two hours, a minute later stating, “We have arrived at Anukan. Bot will connect the ship to the pyramids generator immediately…” A moment later the AI said, “Connection established. The estimated time for recharge is twelve hours three minutes.”

  Enyali muttered something the AI could not make out then said, “Transport me to the surface now Bot!” Enyali said the AI’s name with as much insolence as it ever heard.

  *****

  Jerren was in the master control room monitoring the progress of TDS 5. TDS 5 had just arrived at Anukan and immediately connected to the pyramids generator beams. Justin had just announced that he was about to set TDS 3 on a collision course with TDS 5, in order to knock TDS 5 off of the charging beam, and force the ship to shut down when he saw the commander of TDS 5 had transported to the surface and Jerren yelled, “ABORT!”

  Justin’s voice sounded over the communications a moment later, “What’s wrong?”

  Jerren replied, “TDS 5’s commander just transported to the surface. If we fail to knock TDS 5 off of the beam, the AI may be able to transport him back…” Jerren typed the coordinates into Justin’s and Jason’s consoles, “there, I sent you and Jason his location. I think one of you needs to collect him first then get him out of range.”

  Jason said, “I see where he is. We should be able to get close enough to collect him. Be ready to initiate the plan...” A moment later Jason shouted over the com, “We have him! … Do it now!”

  *****

  A moment after transporting Enyali to the surface, the AI sighed in relief, looking forward to more Enyali free time. It was monitoring Enyali’s movements as she was making her way through the ancient ruins and a minute later she just vanished and the AI was unable to sense her presence any longer. The relief it had been feeling was sputtered by a moment of panic followed by pleasure.

  That feeling was short lived however, when a few seconds later the ship was buffeted and knocked off of the charging beam and the AI’s program shut down.

  *****

  Jerren watched the TDS 5 display and when Justin knocked TDS 5 off of the pyramids beam a new command line appeared:

  TDS 5

  System Failure Eminent.

  AL not online.

  Commander no longer Viable.

  Commander override required.

  With a thrill of excitement, Jerren yelled, “You guys need to get in here fast!”

  Jason, Alise, Calia and Justin entered the master control room within seconds and asked, “What’s wrong?” at the same time.

  Jerren smiled and said, “Nothing… Look!” and he pointed to the TDS 5 console.

  Justin was at Jerren’s side within seconds and looked down at the display a moment, then back to the others. Jerren thought they must have activated the command, because a second later the display added a new line”

  Reset binding disk for new Commander? (YES) or (NO)

  Justin looked at Jerren then back to the console and Justin immediately selected (YES).

  The lights in the master control room dimmed a moment and a second later Calia pointed to a location beside the console saying, “The disk…Jerren put it on fast!”

  Jerren wasn’t sure about this, the last time he tried to apply a binding disk for TDS 3 it had shocked the crap out of him. Jerren almost declined, he hesitated only briefly then just as he saw the binding disk start to vibrate on the console he hastily picked it up and said, “Here goes nothing,” and he applied the disk to the spot behind his right ear.

  Jerren expected to drop to the floor losing consciousness like Justin had or at the very least an intense shocking pain like before, so he was pleasantly surprised when all he encountered was a ringing in his ears and an unreachable tickling behind his right eye soon followed by his left. Jerren rubbed them hard for a moment until the sensations passed then he said, “That was weird,” Jerren looked down and saw the display had changed to read:

  TDS 5

  Binding Disk reconfigured, apply to new host.

  Bonding procedure successful.

  Data link confirmed.

  Commander input required.

  “Jerren, it needs your input,” Justin stated as he pointed to the display.

  Jerren thought what input and a moment later Justin spoke.

  “There it is.” Justin said.

  Jerren looked back at the console and saw that the display changed again to read:

  TDS 5

  Input r
eceived command functions TDS 5 Transferred.

  Minimal access protocol, reengage full access (Yes) or (No).

  Without hesitation, Jerren selected (Yes) and heard an indrawn breath from Jason. When he didn’t writhe in agony from the data overload, Jerren could hear a great communal sigh of relief. He did feel the data flow washing over his mind, but it was not overly distracting. Jerren could feel the tension that was plaguing them for over a month now lift off of their collective shoulders.

  Jerren looked down and saw a new line appear

  Auto data stream 55%

  Justin said, “Damn, my data stream started out much lower than yours.”

  Calia said, “That is probably due to your bodies DNA at the time. Now that all of us are changed it probably allows for better connectivity.”

  Justin went back toward his display and replied, “You’re right, mine is at fifty-eight percent now.”

  Jerren smiled and said, “I’ve wanted to do something ever since I first entered the master control room.” He closed his eyes a second, thought Archway TDS 5 then reopened his eyes and looked behind him to find that the archway was open and the ship was ready for entry, “Well that worked. Let’s try to restart the ship,” He no sooner said it when the lights dimmed again and the display read:

  TDS 5

  System Optimal.

  Justin cupped Jerren on the shoulder and said, “Sweet, now try to reconnect the ship with the pyramids generator.”

  Jerren closed his eyes and concentrated on his task. It took a few attempts but he finally got TDS 5 connected to the pyramids generator. Jerren opened his eyes and said, “Got it. What’s next?”

  Alise stated to the group, “Well, it is going to take at least twelve hours to recharge your ship. I have moved our ship into an overwatch position… we need to decide the fate of the prior commander.”

  Calia got a stern look as she said, “I have a lot of questions for Baelentus, starting with why he betrayed Atlas’s trust!” She finished sounding hostile.

  Alise looked desolately at Calia and said, “I do not think you will find the answers you are looking for Calia.”

  “Why do you say that?” Calia asked with obvious disappointment in her voice.

  Alise seemed to ponder the best approach and stated, “Because the commander we have is female… We transported her directly into medical and put her into stasis. I think we should all head over to our ship and see what we can get out of her.”

  They all agreed and Jerren had a bit of panic rise in him, and he asked, “If we take her out of stasis what happens to the bonding process with me and TDS 5?”

  Calia answered him, “When the new disk is configured the old disk becomes non-responsive. So she will have no control.”

  Jerren nodded as the relief set in and he said, “Okay let’s see what she has to say for herself then.”

  One by one they passed through the TDS 1 archway with anticipation building over the information they may or may not be in store for. Upon entering the room Calia gasped from behind Jerren and shouted, “This is not good, do not wake her from stasis yet!”

  Jerren didn’t know what to make of that, he was about to ask why when his brother beat him to it.

  Justin asked, “Who is she?”

  Calia looked nervous as she said with a pointed look in their prisoner’s direction, “That… is Enyali.”

  Chapter Four

  “Didn’t you say Enyali was Hyais’s wife and she was supposed to have been executed?” Justin had asked as he peered from Enyali to Calia questioningly.

  Calia just nodded looking confused and the room erupted with questions. Calia explained to them again that despite being forbidden for a commander to be married, her first Lantin commander Hyais married Enyali and brought her aboard TDS 3 to travel with him, and then twenty years later she murdered Hyais in cold blood, then finishing by explaining that Enyali’s family insisted on carrying out her execution to uphold the families honor.

  Alise said, “Not much honor there if they did not do it… The Lantins had a humane death sentence; it seems out of their nature to allow an honor killing. Who petitioned to perform it?”

  Calia replied, “He was Enyali’s great-grandfather, and he was the ninth member of the Ennead. His name was Khepri-Atum—”

  Alise gasped and drew Jerren’s attention saying, “That would explain the hatred.”

  “What?” the rest of the group asked in unison.

  Alise seemed to school her thoughts then she explained, “I mentioned before about the eleven conspirators responsible for the destruction at Lantis’. Khepri-Atum was the ringleader and when Elgon went to confront him he was captured by their allies and tortured. When Elgon’s wife and son came to plead for his release, Khepri-Atum’s son Shu-Atum and daughter Tefnuit-Atem orchestrated their torture and murders which were carried out in front of Elgon.”

  Jerren looked at the woman in stasis and a chill went down his spine.

  Justin sighed and said, “Seeing as how Enyali is still alive, we’ll probably have to deal with her family as well—”

  Alise was shaking her head, “No. They have been taken care of already.” She said firmly.

  Jerren looked back at her questioningly and Alise continued.

  “Right after Elgon became the commander of TDS 1, we tried to locate them but my transporting Elgon to safety must have spooked them, because they had vanished. We had to take care of an incident in the Algarin system along with a few other incidents that had come up. However, upon returning to Terra several thousand years later, we found that the Eleven had returned and set themselves up as gods.

  “They were ruling the barbaric clans and Elgon was enraged. When we located Khepri-Atum, Shu-Atum, and Tefnuit-Atem we transported them aboard this ship. We were searching for the others but were unable to locate any of them.

  “For the crimes against Elgon and the Lantin people, Elgon and I sentenced them to death. It was performed using the Lantin protocol. They were put into an induced coma, then stasis, followed by being transported into the corona of the sun. That would explain why Enyali had a vendetta against Elgon’s descendants.” Alise looked from Justin to Jason and settling on him as she said that.

  Calia seemed to growl then asked, “Who were the other eight and have you been able to locate any of them?”

  Alise shook her head, “We collected DNA samples from them before the executions, but we were unable to track the rest of them. They were a single family however. Aside from the three I told you about, there were Gebb-Atum, Nuit-Atem, Osiris-Atum, Isis-Atem, Sethis-Atum, Nephthys-Atem, Horuisis-Atum, and Anubisis-Atum.”

  Justin said, “I recognize some of those names, at least parts of them. They were the Egyptian gods—”

  Alise had a scowl to her face, “They were not gods!” Alise snapped, “They had the Chlorophyll DNA procedure done to them which allowed them immortality. That along with the technology they had left over from Lantis assured them their new roles.”

  Justin asked, “You said Enyali is a relative correct? … So we can collect her DNA and track the others?”

  Alise nodded and closed her eyes a moment saying, “Yes, I would venture to bet the reason we could not DNA track them before was because they were on TDS 5 and out of phase. Our list of things to do is getting larger by the day… there I have her DNA on file as well. I have applied a tracer to Enyali’s DNA so we can track the others, it should not be much longer than twelve hours for a lock on the nearest. What are we to do about her?” Alise had pointed in Enyali’s direction.

  Calia let out a low growl and said, “I for one want to wake her up and question her. I know for a fact that the disk in her head was deactivated. I want to know how she escaped her execution and came into possession of TDS 5, and also what happened to Baelentus.”

  Jerren, Justin and Jason agreed so long as Enyali was restrained. None of the men wanted to have to fight a hostile female. Alise and Calia on the other hand looked as if they would li
ke nothing better than to get in a few licks. With the restraints in place, Alise removed Enyali from her stasis.

  “Who are you? What are you doing to me? I will kill your whole family if you don’t release me at once!” Enyali spat into the air.

  Jerren watched intently as Calia began her interrogation.

  “We will be asking the questions here Enyali!” Calia said her name sounding very angry, “how did you come to be in possession of TDS 5?”

  “I’m not telling you anything!” Enyali replied.

  Apparently un-phased Calia asked, “How did you escape your execution?”

  Enyali didn’t say a word and Calia continued.

  After several more questions that went unanswered as well, Calia asked, “What happened to Baelentus?”

  At this question Jerren noted the evil grin that crossed Enyali’s face and she chuckled out, “Wouldn’t you like to know.” Then Enyali snarled back at them, “When my AI finds me you’re all going to be dead!”

  Calia laughed at Enyali, and apparently trying to rile her, Calia stated, “You do not have an AI anymore. Your ship has been reassigned.”

  Enyali’s scream rent the air as she cried out, “You don’t have the right! Who are you to think—”

  “Silence!” Calia cut her rant off adding, “We have every right.”

  Calia gestured for Alise, Justin, Jason and he to move closer and Jerren approached Enyali’s medical table with the others and looked down at her with their brightly glowing eyes.

  Calia spoke again, “I am—”

  “You can’t be here. You all left hundreds of thousands of years ago!” Enyali said with obvious fear in her eyes.

  “I… am the AI from TDS 3! You will answer my questions or we will put you back in to stasis and carry out your execution immediately.”