Authors: Jr H. Lee Morgan
Better information than I
dreamed of learning.
He thought privately.
“Can you pinpoint his exact location?”
“
Not at this time, Master.”
She sadly smiled. “His location is shielded from even our long
range scans. The only time we are aware of the Corrupted One’s
presence is when he reveals himself.”
“
Then can you link your
sensors to me whenever you detect him?”
“
At my heart I can… If it is
your will.”
“
It is. I’ve got some ideas
I need to do to your systems too anyway.” He glanced at the others
watching, those unable to recover so fast. “Would it be possible to
make the city surface?”
“
Of course, but must be done
manually. Automated surfacing is damaged.”
Five minutes of rest was enough to get
everyone ready and they followed Aquerril many kilometers to the
heart of the castle. The style of buildings were the same pyramid,
but were somehow made of actual water wet to the touch. Thousands
of majestic waterfalls sprayed everywhere with lights coloring them
lovely colors. They passed one of four nurseries as three armed
pyramids stood around an open one near exactly as found on
Havannah. If not for the roaring falls and fountains, the silence
would be disconcerting.
Water sculptures showed the style of dress
between men and women. They were more flowing, like waves upon the
water and bit more conservative. Not by much though. They still
highlighted the life giving curves of a woman and the fierce
musculature of men, often the sculptures cloaked the men in scale
armor and women in low cut dresses.
On they walked, sometimes looking up over the
soft blue dome to see four great eels had come for a fresh meal
sitting wide open for them. Meat ripped off by hundreds of tons,
making the smaller ones flee from the greater cannibals. Thankfully
the city shield were plenty strong enough to resist the ferocious
nature of the massive predators.
Lights inside the watery city gave it an
ethereal feel. Relaxing and gentle. Like a mother’s warmth and
comfort. It wasn’t hard to see this city was clearly feminine
dominated. Water was life and women gave life. It was no wonder
this city was easily three times larger than the other two visited
previously.
In the long walk Renee asked “Aquerril?”
“
Yes, Mistress?”
“
Where is the nearest
bathroom?”
“
You wish to use the
lavatories?” Renee nodded. The AI then made the group blink as she
split into two identical, individual images of herself that moved
differently enough to not be a copy. The one on the right raised an
arm. “This way.”
“
Thanks. I have to pee too.”
Breena said in confidence and went with her.
The men though continued following the other,
heading straight to the grand azure castle made of water itself.
They were thankful the ground at least was solid cobbled stone as
well as held dirt for a wide variety of unattended foliage. Growing
wild all around. Remarkably healthy to boot.
This time the castle was wide open so Oliver
didn’t need Renee to help open a nano-wall. Inside was even more
elaborate fountains and artistry that put the first two found
cities to shame.
They followed the AI over to a dais where sat
a throne with many cushions likely for the Water Queen Shalek’s
Pride of Ligers to lounge around. She said “Stand within this
square and I’ll transfer you to my station.”
Following instructions weren’t hard and in a
quick blue flash they left the lovely hall and entered a guarded
watery room. Inside were many colorful fish swimming through the
walls. The floor too. Straight ahead was the familiar and large
control sphere. In front of it though was a single seat made of
contoured turquoise metal.
“
Where is my fishing pole
when I need it?” Steven said with a mild whimsy.
“
Guys, shut your eyes for a
few moments and turn your back. Whatever you do, don’t look.” The
Hunters did without question. “Aquerril, please show me part
two.”
“
Very well.”
The clean and flawless sphere lit from within
and the Solarian language began flashing like a hologram, searing
the fragmented parts right into his mind, shaping the entire puzzle
a little more. It was far too incomplete to piece together. Still,
he had to use the seat to keep standing and pinched the bridge of
his nose because gaining the information didn’t get any easier. He
kept working the tension out and said “Open your eyes again,
Brothers.”
Eventually Oliver asked “How do I go about
raising the city?”
“
Take the seat and link your
Valek to the city’s systems. Cast a search for the buoyant systems
and tell it what to do.”
The seat was remarkably comfortable and on
the right armrest was the round recess no larger than a coin. Using
the brain-hack function, he made a sucker connect and immediately
Oliver’s mind was filled with millions upon millions of systems the
city used. Some of the automated ones were malfunctioning.
Repairing programs were barely holding to compensate for others
that had failed long ago. Being a city, it wasn’t meant to be
submerged for over twenty five thousand years, especially at these
extreme depths. Power reserves were holding steady thanks to
collectors that absorbed extra power from the electric eels
countless skirmishes.
Eventually he sorted through the complex
Solarian circular language to locate the buoyancy regulators to
find Aquerril’s words true that only manual firing was left and
repairs were unable to reach the millions of bladders spread out
underneath the city. If she had blown the dozen within her power it
would destabilize the city and send it crashing the last eighty
kilometers to the core. Total destruction would result.
The city would be lost.
Manually though Oliver knew the physics of
buoyancy and activated all of the bladders of air to fill with the
compressed oxygen inside the water all around. When they filled he
drew up the shields under the city so the bladders could make
contact with the water and the compression of the sea released the
extra air that bubbled up against the barrier he curved. Rising
bubbles pressed against the underside and began raising the entire
city steadily.
A shudder shook the city and Stone said “How
long will it take, Brother?”
“
Six hours and I need to
stay connected to monitor the ascent the whole time. Can’t go
anywhere unless you want the city to come in upside down. You two
go find the ladies and explore. Start recording if you haven’t
already. Document everything before others come in.”
“
You going to put it by
Dorgen Isle?”
“
No, the city is far too
large.” He said, eyes unfocused and staring at nothing which was a
little disconcerting for the Hunters. “Surfacing will create too
much water displacement that will result in a tidal wave near a
kilometer high that won’t dissipate for a hundred all around. I’ll
have to slow the city and alter the shape of the barrier into a
cone tip rather than a smooth lens. But not till we reach six
hundred meters, where the water pressure won’t make the barrier
buckle. I have to be careful and the only way I can be sure I don’t
kill anyone is if I surface
far
from everyone already on Mereddia. This city is
too big to take chances.”
“
Raising an entire city is
unheard of, but we’ll take your word for it. You just do your
best.” Stone said. “Aquerril, please send us back down and guide us
back to the women.”
“
They have entered the great
hall, but it shall be done.”
Five hours and thirty three minutes later
everyone had returned to the reinforced room where Oliver still
sat. He lengthened the tip of the barrier to part the water more
efficiently and slowed the bubble release underneath to raise the
city one meter every second. Holographic displays showed late
afternoon sunlight illuminating the water all around. It was
memorable for an ascent when several eels and giant marine life
were hit by the city early on and pushed aside, but the feeling to
leave the crushing depths was a blessing.
For space faring people, the fear of being
crushed by water pressure was more of a concern than a hull breach
in outer space. Death would be instantaneous in space. Being
crushed by an entire ocean sitting on top of them was much more
feared.
On the visuals the surface was breached,
parting the ocean to allow the city up on top. Even going slow, it
was still like the water had exploded. Out belched the city of
water that had at least seen sunlight for the first time in twenty
five millennia. And the city was more breathtaking in sunlight.
The watery dwellings shone in sunshine.
The sucker detached from the armrest and
Oliver closed his eyes for the first time in hours and leaned his
head back on the headrest. “I need to sleep.”
“
Master, I detect thirteen
incoming human ships. If you do not want me to shoot them down, I
must destroy all advanced technology.” Said the AI.
“
Do it except in this room.
I’m going to rest.” He leaned the comfortable seat back and in the
time it took to settle he was out cold.
“
Strange, he never tires so
early in a day.” Noticed the Huntress.
“
He’s mentally exhausted.”
Said Renee who brushed the tips of her fingers over his ruggedly
square jaw. “He couldn’t look away from what he was doing this
whole time. He made constant minor adjustments to keep the city
from flipping because of the bubbles. Little by little, it wore him
out.”
For the next week Jake Dorgen and the crew
stayed in the majestic city, staking claim under the imperial
historical laws for preservation. Laws the Mereddian police had to
abide by. Especially with the Pirate King in command.
Renee spent most of her time as the liaison
between the AI and her father due to Oliver’s command to protect
the remaining spheres. Oliver though was hardly around as he was
busy working on another project on the River Skipper. Giving it an
FTL drive as advanced as the one put on the Flare and Sun Spots.
Now that he had all the materials, he knew how to do it.
He was currently moving the
Gravity Forge, now complete, into the River Skipper’s cargo area
and welding a few braces to one of several maneuvering thrusters
when Rose and Sparky came in. The latter said
“We got the captain’s approval. He doesn’t know our true
reason, but we will meet up with the Dorgenox in three weeks at the
ice planet, IC-99-VCX.”
“
We’re still going to put
the Gravity Forge through multiple stress tests.” He aimed a thumb
over to twenty crates all the size of the River Skipper itself.
“Supplies are ready as you can tell.” He smirked and Sparky rolled
his eyes.
Renee happened to appear right then from the
elevator, surrounded by six cubs all standing knee high. One of the
females followed last. Renee now had to modify her clothes into a
strap to act more like a hammock as Isabelle had grown to be bigger
than a single hand in size. Still their daughter was attached to
the breast and much more developed and she was a wiggler. She
smiled as she came over “Just checked David and everything is just
fine. Just had the hiccups and burps at the same time. Andrea is so
cute when she’s worried. I take it Papa is alright with us
going?”
“
Like you need to ask. You
and Sparky are inseparable remember.”
“
I was just being nice.” She
stepped right in to the space inside her ship. “You sure my baby
can drag the crates in FTL? That’s easily forty tons of
steel.”
“
Forty three and a half
actually. And don’t worry. I increased output efficiency and thrust
for the River Skipper to optimum level. There will be no problems
even if I doubled the current load. Just in case I’ll lead and take
up some of the stress. We’ll reach empty space this time
tomorrow.”
“
I’ll take your word for it.
How much longer till we go?”
“
I need to finish welding
two more struts and take a quick shower… so, ten
minutes?”
Using a finger as a arc welder he finished
fixing everything, ran inside their room for a bath and hopped into
the Flare with his trusty copilot feline. Tethers dragged the
crates behind the River Skipper and they left the atmosphere. He
sent a line to her ship and let the navigation computer make the
necessary corrections and together they entered FTL.
Leaving the Dorgenox and Mereddia far
behind.
Chapter 16
The long day of rotating colors at last came
to an end. Most of it was spent playing a two person game between
himself and Renee or sometimes Rose would take over and she was a
master of spatial reasoning. But the games had to be specialized
because technical games had long since lost their novelty for
Oliver’s talents for calculation. The ancient game of chess, Go and
Mancala were too easy to hold his attention as he could beat anyone
after seeing the first three moves. So Renee had got creative and
they played several modern games often used for pilots to keep
their wits sharp, especially when given a clear set of emergency
instructions. Renee was good and used sexuality to her advantage.
Mostly to get under his thick skin. And she knew exactly what
buttons to press.
He’d get mad, but she would shrug and tell
him life wasn’t fair and if he couldn’t control his own lust it
wasn’t her problem. What made it worse is Rose had egged her on
just to enjoy the show.