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For a year, the Ambassador stayed in a relatively low orbit around Ex-001,
monitoring its developments on the surface. It occasionally flew off to
expel its waste heat from the hot pocket on the other side of the host star
to avoid detection, but then it flew right back to continue collecting data.
There was no indication that either Bronach or Elder was aware of its
presence overhead, so the invisibility protocols were holding. It didn’t
hurt that it automatically relaxed them while it was on the other side of
the planet, and that the ground inhabitants hadn’t bothered deploying any
sort of satellite of their own. Oaksent probably believed that there was
basically no way that anyone else could be around this far out in the
galaxy, this far back in time. Which was ridiculous, because if they were
able to travel here from the future, so could anyone else.
When the team came back, Leona and Ramses started skimming the data. The
forefathers of this budding civilization were doing exactly what could be
reasonably expected of them, but also a few unexpected things. They were
staying within the confines of the geodesic dome despite the fact that the
planet was habitable, evidently out of an abundance of caution, and so that
their business could be taken care of in a controlled environment. They may
have gotten the idea to do this from Dubai on Earth, which adopted this
lifestyle back in the late 21st century. It became an isolate, determined to
maintain its outdated and violent societal norms against a backdrop of
global progress. The population dwindled over time, but the dome was still
there the last time anyone checked. Here, in the seed of civilization for
the Exin Empire, the population was expected to survive, and eventually
expand. Should they let it happen?
The two of them had selected 147 people for the first generation, gestating
each one about thirty times faster than normal until they were all in their
teens. Not being the fatherly type, they used androids to raise these
rapidly grown individuals from then on. They taught them everything a good
group of indoctrinated slaves needed to know. Math, Science, Language,
Physical Fitness; these were all on the schedule, but at their most basic
levels, and history was nowhere to be found. They didn’t teach them anything
about where they came from, and they steered clear of philosophy and ethics.
It was no one’s job to question authority. There was only Bronach’s word,
and their obedience.
Elder was reportedly under duress the entire time, though he seemingly grew
tired of feeling the defiance in his heart so strongly. He fell into a
routine, and just did whatever he was told, like it wasn’t even him anymore,
but an automaton with no free will. If Team Matic was going to put a stop to
this, rescuing the one person who Bronach needed to keep his plans moving
forward was likely their best option. Elder didn’t want any of this, but
Bronach wasn’t smart enough to do it on his own. If they were to take that
tool away, what would he be left with? Then again, what would the
consequences be for the team interfering in any form, let alone in such a
monumental way? This wasn’t the first time they had changed the past, but it
would probably be the biggest, and the hardest to predict. But also, what
did it really matter at this point? Things already had changed, just by them
coming here in the first place. The timeline was already new. There was no
going back to the old one, unless maybe if they happened to run into Dilara.
This was the earliest in the timeline they had ever been to, except when
they were in The Constant during its early days. Was that the solution?
Contacting Danica?
“Danica and the Constant are 16,000 light years away,” Leona reminded
Olimpia.
“That’s nothing,” Olimpia replied. “We could just take the slingdrive
there.”
“The slingdrive?” Ramses questioned, having not been listening to the
conversation too hard until now. “Is that what the kids are calling it these
days?”
“Yeah, because it’s like a slingshot,” Olimpia explained. “You can pull
back, and let go, and it will generally go in the direction you’re aiming,
but precise targeting is difficult at best, especially when you’re first
learning. You’re bound to miss the mark on the first few attempts.”
Ramses frowned.
“No one’s mad at you,” Leona told him for the umpteenth time. “I think we’re
supposed to be here anyway. I mean, we could have ended up landing in the
timeline a thousand years ago, which wouldn’t have done us any good. Yet we
happen to wind up just when the Goldilocks Corridor is getting interesting?
That’s no coincidence.”
“Well, anyway,” Ramses began, “if that’s how we’re framing the quintessence
drive, then trying to get to Danica would be foolish. I obviously don’t know
how to aim this thing. We may indeed find ourselves a thousand years
off course or worse.”
“That’s not what she’s saying,” Mateo decided. “There’s a learning curve
with this new technology. It might not even be you, per se. Maybe the ship
just can’t handle the quintessence yet, and needs to learn. Right now, we
have a single point of data, which is our arrival two years ago. You need
more data, which means you need more jumps.”
“Hold on,” Marie interjected. “Aren’t we trying to do something here?
Shouldn’t we be saving Elder, or—I dunno—assassinating the Oaksent?”
“They were just saying, it would be too dangerous,” her sister insisted. “I
don’t think we should be messing with the past any more than we already
have. Ramses, aim for the future, and if we go to the wrong place, then try
again. Keep trying until we get there. Every time we show up in the wrong
point in spacetime, we should do as little as possible until that next
jump.”
“Maybe we wouldn’t be changing time,” Mateo offered. “Maybe we always did
come here to save Elder. We don’t know that that’s not what always happened.
No one in the Corridor in the future ever mentioned him. Perhaps he’s but a
footnote in history because we took him out of the equation at the right
time. That’s the thing about changing history; if you don’t know that you’re
doing it, you can’t be at fault. You might just be fulfilling your destiny;
closing your loop.”
“He’s right,” Leona confirmed. “Getting him out of there could be our only
purpose here. Society is incredibly advanced three thousand years from now.
If we don’t take Oaksent’s toy away, maybe they turn out even
more advanced. Maybe that would be changing the timeline.”
“I think that’s a weak justification,” Angela contended. “I still say we do
nothing.”
“Hon, I think this may be one of those times that calls for a vote, even
though we’re not a democracy,” Mateo said.
“Not yet,” Angela said, raising her voice too much. “I need time to build my
case.”
“You’ll have the time,” Leona promised with a hand upon her friend’s. “We
have all day to make a decision. Pia can jump down there and grab him in a
matter of seconds if that’s what we decide to do. They’ll literally never
see it coming.”
“I would like to do it,” Mateo volunteered. “If we agree to it, that is.”
“Why?” Leona asked him.
“I wanna help. And I don’t think I need to be invisible, though I do think I
can pull that off for a limited time.”
“We’ll vote on that too,” Ramses suggested.
Marie shook her head. “Whoever goes can’t be invisible. We keep
calling it a rescue, but we don’t know for sure that he’ll want to leave.
That’s just what the satellite images imply. He may want to be there, or he
may have his own plan. Either way, if he doesn’t want to come with us, he
should have the right to refuse. I’ll agree to a rescue mission, but not an
abduction. I won’t be party to that.”
“Good point,” Leona agreed. “Angie, you want time to formulate your
argument? Tell us when you’re ready, and we’ll listen to it. I can’t tell
you that the decision has to be unanimous, but we’ll consider every option
carefully.”
“Do I get a vote?” It was Bronach Oakset. He was lounging on the couch.
Except he wasn’t really there. Looking closely at the way he was sprawled
out there, it was clear that he was on a different couch, and was merely
projecting his image into the ship, just like he did on Welrios. Which was
good, it meant their defenses were holding. But it also meant that they
needed better defenses. No one should be able to come up here to spy.
Even so, just to be sure, Mateo stepped over, and attempted to smack him in
the face. Yes, his hand went right through.
“Yes, daddy,” Bronach replied grossly.
“Goddammit,” Leona lamented.
“Oh, no, did I ruin your plans?” Bronach joked. “Look, I’ve told you in the
past, and I’ve told you in the future. I can’t be beat. I know everything. I
know where you’ve been, what you’ve done...where you’ll go, and what you’ll
do. You want Elder, go ahead and take him.”
Without hesitating, Mateo disappeared. After a long detour, he reached the
surface, where he grabbed Elder, and attempted to teleport back up to the
ship. “Guys, I’m stuck,” he said through comms.
“Did I forget to mention the teleporter trap?” Bronach asked with a maniacal
laugh. “Why do you think we’re in that dome, you idiots?”
“Shut it off,” Leona demanded.
“I’m not doing that,” Bronach replied. “The stopping and starting process is
a major pain in the ass. But I’m having one of our people escort the two of
them to the exit, where they’ll be free from the spatial field. I wasn’t
kidding; you want ‘im, you got ‘im. But don’t think for a second that any of
that matters. I scanned that man’s quantum state years ago. I can always
bring him back. You’ll be taking a clone, and that will have zero impact on
what I accomplish.” He sighed, and stood up to look around the room. “You
will always fail. Best get used to it.”
Mateo and Elder appeared on the other side of the room.
“Welcome back!” Bronach exclaimed in a terrible approximation of sincerity.
“Let’s try this again,” Mateo growled. He steadily, but not too quickly,
approached Bronach’s hologram, and swung a punch at him. To everyone’s
surprise, it worked. Bronach fell back, tripped over his couch, and tumbled
back behind it.
“How did you do that?” Leona questioned. “Is Oaksent just playing around?”
“No, he’s not.” Bronach stood up, and wiped the blood from his lip. “I
second that question, how the fuck did you just do that!”
Mateo lifted his leg, and slammed it into Bronach’s chest, making contact
once more, and forcing him down hard to his back. “I thought you knew
everything. Now get the hell off my ship, and erase every single copy of
Elder’s brain scan!”
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