If things continued to stabilize, it may only be a matter of centuries before pockets of humans were spread all across the stars.
Suddenly, her view of the star system shifted, and she was at the edge, the dim glow of the second neutron star barely visible against the backdrop of the Stillwater Nebula.
All around her, Orion Guard ships were transitioning out of the dark layer. Twenty, fifty, a hundred, then a thousand, they kept coming, numbers far beyond what Jessica could count.
<Nearly one hundred thousand,> Eleven said as though he had sensed her question. <We warned them. We told them to leave, but they would not abate. They forced us to be murderers of millions.>
Engines on the Orion Guard ships flared to life, accelerating the vessels toward Star City. It was a force intended to be overwhelming. To induce surrender.
Then the second Neutron star flared brightly, and a beam of blinding light shot out from it, tracing through the Orion ships cutting many in half, crippling others.
The ships began to jink, flying erratically, and spreading out. They pushed forward continuing to close in on Star City—a destination which was still 30 AU distant.
More beams fired from the second star, and some from Star City as well, tearing through more and more of the Orion ships.
The enemy spread further and further, and the beams became less effective, though still devastating to any ship they made contact with.
<It took them over a day to close within thirty light minutes of Star City,> Eleven said as time sped up. <We had, quite honestly, been taking it easy, trying to dissuade them from further incursion without destroying all their ships. At that point, they had only lost thirty percent of their armada. We warned them not to come further, but they must have been led by either the most stubborn, or the most deluded commander imaginable.>
As Eleven spoke, the Orion ships crossed an invisible barrier, and the firing pattern from the stars changed. Rather than just one beam at a time, both stars fired a dozen beams simultaneously. Beams which did not pause between shots.
Thousands of Orion Guard ships were destroyed in minutes, it was carnage unlike any Jessica had ever imagined and her breath caught as she thought of all the hapless men and women who were sacrificed for nothing.
It was then that the Orion Guard fleet broke and ran.
<That was…> Jessica began, unable to summon a word to encapsulate how she felt.
<It was horrible,> Eleven said. <We Bastions had never known anything but peace. We couldn’t fathom an enemy that would send their people to the slaughter in such a way…three of my kind ended their existence afterward. Four others disappeared into The Dream. Eventually three others did as well—all have long since ascended.>
<And now you’re the last Bastion,> Jessica said, feeling profoundly sorry for Eleven, spending centuries alone, protecting his people, people whose one goal was to ascend and leave him behind.
<I am,> Eleven said. <And I grow so weary of this existence. But I cannot abandon my post. There are still billions of my people within The Dream. They have not yet passed on to the next place. Yet Orion has been increasing their patrols. Seven years ago, they flung a thousand rocks into the system. They were travelling at relativistic speeds. I came very close to failing that day.>
<It was too much?> Iris asked.
<It was,> Eleven replied. <I can only manage three beams on my own—and even that is very taxing.>
They were all silent as they watched the Orion Guard ships flee the system.
<Are you not able to recruit help from those of your people still in The Dream?> Jessica asked after a time.
Eleven’s tone was morose. <I tried. Those that would come were unable to have their minds transposed properly. Being in The Dream for so long had changed them.>
<You sent out probes!> Iris said. <You sought out others to come to Star City to help you.>
<I did,> Eleven affirmed. <I learned much about the world beyond Star City. Alas, the information fell into the wrong hands, and more than one group of unsavory individuals came. I had to destroy several of them, some I hoped to come back with suitable candidates to join me. None did.
Eventually I believed—hoped—that all knowledge of the deep FTL path had been lost. And then your probe arrived, telling of the technology you would be willing to trade for the route through the nebula.>
<We are still very interested in making that trade,> Jessica said.
<Your technology is not what I desire,> Eleven said. <I erred in revealing the deep FTL route into the system. It is only a matter of time before the Orion Guard learns of it. When they do….>
Jessica nodded solemnly. <If they take the same path as we did, they will overwhelm you alone.>
<I’ll make them earn their victory,> Eleven said with a vehemence he had not shown before. <But I fear that I would not be able to withstand them forever. Eventually they would win. The Dreamers would be destroyed.>
<What is The Dream, exactly?> Iris asked.
<As I had mentioned, it is a way to experience many lives in a short time,> Eleven said. <You are in The Dream right now.>
<It just feels like…well, it doesn’t feel exactly like a sim, but it has to be one, since I’m just floating in space without an EV suit,> Jessica said.
Eleven chuckled, and suddenly everything changed around Jessica, she was floating in the shaft inside the tower once more.
<You were in The Dream for forty six seconds,> Eleven said in a soft whisper.
SAVIORS
LOCATION: Manhattan, Star City
REGION: Star City System, Perseus Arm
“Forty-six seconds!” Jessica exclaimed. “How the…. Iris, were you aware of that?”
<Yes, but only if I chose to be. I opted to experience everything through your senses. It was quite exhilarating.>
Jessica turned and looked at Trevor, still floating nearby, his hand still clasped around hers.
“Is he—” Jessica began to ask, and then Trevor’s eyes fluttered open.
<He took a different path than you,> Eleven said. <His Dream was different.>
A moment later, Trevor’s eyes opened and a smile spread over his face. “That was…incredible,” he said and turned to Jessica. “Did you see…did you see them build this place, and then see the things they dream?”
Jessica nodded. “I saw some of that, yes. I also saw war.”
“War?” Trevor asked, appearing perplexed.
“You didn’t?” Jessica asked. “Orion has attacked this place more than once. Eleven is alone now, he’s not enough to defend it on his own, and Orion will come again.”
Trevor shook his head slowly. “No, I didn’t see that part. When the people went away—into The Dream—I watched them grow there, many ascended, but many remain. They live lifetimes over and over, evolving and growing. But I guess it works better if they don’t know it’s a dream. They don’t even know that they are living more than once. Well, some suspect, but they cannot prove it.”
<Those are the ones that are close to ascension,> Eleven said. <Unfortunately, they are the ones who will usually come out to try to help me. But their minds are the least able to manage transference.>
The grav field lifted them once more, carrying them back to the platform where they settled gently onto their feet.
Jessica looked to Trevor and saw a question written on his face.
“You’re worried about them, aren’t you?” she asked.
“Aren’t you? You said that Orion may attack again and that Eleven is not enough. Stars, if Misha knew about a way into this system, you can bet that the Guard isn’t far behind.”
Jessica nodded. “It’s why Eleven sent out the information; he was hoping to find people who could help him.”
<It is true,> Eleven intoned.
“How can we help?” Trevor asked, turning to the glowing pillar in the center of the tower.
“Trevor!” Jessica whispered hoarsel
y. “The kind of help he needs is not the kind you want to offer.”
<She is right,> Eleven replied. <It is not an offer you should consider making lightly.>
“What do you mean?” Trevor asked.
Jessica suspected that he may not have learned what she had about the transference and the creation of the bastions.
“Remember how he said that Yohan lived and died long ago? Yohan didn’t die from the transference. He lived his life. Eleven is not Yohan, but he is Yohan. He is made from Yohan’s mind. Helping Eleven means you—a version of you, at least—stays here forever.”
“Does it have to be forever?” Trevor asked. “Couldn’t it be just to deal with the impending attack, and then I could be merged back?”
“Why are you so attached to these people?” Jessica asked.
Trevor took a step back, looking Jessica up and down. “How are you able to see them destroyed?”
Jessica looked to Eleven. “Will you excuse us, we need to have a chat.”
<Verily.>
Jessica reached for Trevor’s hand and he gave it—which was a start—and they walked out of Eleven’s sanctuary, through the foyer and back out into the warm afternoon air.
Neither of them spoke as they walked down the stairs, past the Sexy and through the park at the southern tip of Manhattan Island.
A walkway ran along the southern edge of the island, with a stone balustrade; a gleaming copper railing running along its top.
Jessica leant against it, resting her elbows on the bright copper that showed no signs of discoloration, and stared out over the breakers rolling in from the Atlantic Ocean…or whatever it was called here.
Trevor stood stiffly at her side for a moment, then let out a long sigh and rested a hip against the railing, staring at her silently.
“It’s a beautiful place. So peaceful,” she said after a moment. “I could imagine staying forever. The…draw of being in here, safe in this shell is more than a little alluring. Let the galaxy tear itself apart beyond the system and its impenetrable beams.”
“It could be a refuge,” Trevor said. “You could fit the population of the AST in here and still have room to spare. But only if it’s safe.”
Jessica turned to Trevor. “And what about me? Could you just leave me?”
Trevor’s brow furrowed. “I wouldn’t be leaving you. If I helped, which I guess means I’d have to become a Bastion, I don’t die. I stay with you.”
“It’s not like giving a blood transfusion,” Jessica said sharply. “A version of you would stay here—forever. That version of you would not have me. As far as that ‘you’ would be concerned. You will have left me….”
She saw the realization dawn on Trevor of what that would mean. An eternity without her, separated by thousands of light years.
“What if you joined me?”
<She cannot,> Iris said.
“Why not?” Trevor asked, visibly annoyed that Iris had butted in.
<Because of me. The presence of an AI in her mind has altered it in in ways that make it impossible for her to be transposed. We could bear a child together, a new non-organic being that could become a Bastion. But it would not be her, and it would not be me,> Iris said.
Trevor blew out a long breath and turned his gaze to the ocean. “So I’d be going it alone…”
“Well, I hope you wouldn’t go, but I can’t stop you,” Jessica said.
<I wasn’t kidding about a child,> Iris said privately to Jessica. <We could bear many. With Trevor, too. For them, the time spent to aid in the final ascension of Star City’s population would be trivial. Then they could join us at New Canaan, or go wherever they wished. Their presence would allow Eleven to finally ascend—like he wants to so very badly.>
If there was one thing Jessica knew, it was that this was not how she had expected her day to go.
<You want me to have children here and then leave them behind?>
<It was just a suggestion. I can have them on my own, or with some of the other AIs aboard Sabrina.>
“I’ll admit,” Trevor said after a moment, bringing Jessica back to her other painful conversation. “I may not have thought the ramifications all the way through. I would categorically not want to spend eternity without you—alone here on Star City. Not sure I’d want that for our children either. Not that I’d ever thought about having non-organic children…”
“I have,” Jessica admitted. “Though not often, but Iris and I have been together for some time, children are often the outflow of more simpatico pairings.”
“It is?” Trevor asked.
“Well, where I’m from, it is,” Jessica said. “Granted, most of the child’s makeup comes from the AI, but the human adds important traits, and diversity.”
<But I wouldn’t want to do it if it made you uncomfortable,> Iris added.
“Are we talking now about having a child and leaving it here, or about having a child in general?” Trevor asked. “Because I’m not comfortable with the former, but the latter is very intriguing.”
<There is another option,> Eleven said, his voice a quiet thunder in their minds. <I apologize for listening in—I have heard the verbal portions of your conversation.>
“It’s OK,” Jessica replied. “I expected that you would listen in.”
“Not sure that I did,” Trevor added. “But it’s OK.”
<Thank you. I wonder if you’d consider The Dream. You could have a host of children with your AI, and live a lifetime to raise them.>
“The thought had occurred to me,” Jessica said. “But I don’t know if that would make anything better or not.”
“At least we would not be making them and then abandoning them to their fate,” Trevor offered.
<I also believe that the remainder of Star City’s population will ascend in your lifetime, Jessica and Trevor—given the levels of technology you seem to possess.>
Jessica nodded slowly. That meant that her children could still find her—if they chose to.
“How do we do this?” Trevor asked.
<I believe the systems they used to create the Bastions could—with some modifications—be used to assist in the creation of our children,> Iris offered.
“How long would it take?” Trevor asked.
<We could bear and raise our children to adulthood in a matter of days,> Iris said.
Jessica took a deep breath and looked out over the ocean before directing a stern look at Trevor, and another in her mind at Iris. “Let me be clear about one thing. Our children do not become Bastions unless they want to. This is not conscription.”
<That would be best,> Eleven said. <Though I do hope you’ll encourage them to help me.>
“I will,” Jessica said with a heavy sigh.
Not how I expected my day to go at all.
PURSUIT
STELLAR DATE: 11.19.8938 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Sabrina, near the Star City System
REGION: Interstellar Space, Orion Freedom Alliance, Perseus Arm
“Shit! Oh Shit!” Cheeky exclaimed as they dumped out of the dark layer and scan lit up with a dozen signatures.
“How the hell?” Finaeus asked. “There’s no way they could have predicted where we’d exit…”
“Unless there are just that many of them out here,” Cargo mused.
Finaeus shook his head. “This isn’t a patrol fleet, this is an invasion force.”
Cargo looked over the signatures of the enemy ships, more of which began to appear on scan with each passing second. There were easily hundreds of ships within just a few light seconds of Sabrina.
“Flame on,” Cheeky called out as she executed her burn, running out the AP nozzle and the fusion drives at the same time.
“Do you think that’s wise?” Finaeus asked. “Perhaps we should circle around.”
“Finaeus,” Cargo said quietly. “If Orion is about to invade Star City, we gotta get in there as quickly as possible and get Jessica and Trevor.”
“And what if
we give them the way in?” Finaeus asked.
“Look at their positions, how the Orion ships are grouped,” Cargo said. “They already know about the FTL path we plan to take.”
Finaeus was silent for a moment, then nodded slowly. “You’re right, they must know. They’re stacked up in successive waves, all aligned with the vector we plan to take.”
“Are taking,” Cheeky added. “Just eleven more seconds and then I’ll dump back into the DL.”
“The closest ships have spotted us,” Finaeus said. “A group is altering course and boosting toward us.”
“Too late,” Cheeky said, and Sabrina dumped into the dark layer once more.
<That burn was shorter than the plan,> Sabrina said. <You’ll need to do another here.>
A point lit up on the holo and Cargo saw Cheeky nod from her pilot’s seat.
“Yeah, but it’s better than taking a beam. Maybe our current vector will fake them out as well.”
“We can hope,” Cargo replied.
<How are things down there?> Cargo asked Nance.
<Good. Terry’s a good help. We’ll have all our tubes loaded and stocked in no time.>
<Glad to hear it,> Cargo said. <Cheeky’s back to normal, but I don’t want her to get messed up again.>
<So weird,> Nance said. <Maybe…stars, nevermind. I can’t speculate on why Cheeky would get so jealous of Finaeus. Either way, Terry seems to be glad to be down here as well. We’ve been getting Misha to help us too. Seems like he doesn’t want to get blown up by the OG either.>
Over the next four hours, Cheeky dumped out of the dark layer three more times before they were finally on the correct vector. The final time they took fire, but the shots were long-range and easily shed by Sabrina’s conventional shields.
<Gonna take more than that,> Sabrina said as they entered the relative safety of the dark layer once more.