In the pull of infinity (EXO-TERRESTRIAL-FORCES 5) E-Book

Jens F. Simon

• Herausgeber: S. Verlag JG
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Sigurd and Alethea are on the planet ANUN'HA, which was once a living entity. Today, on one of two continents there stands the star ziggurat, the only legacy of a very old star people, the Ancient Race of Krsutner. The second continent is populated by human-like intelligences. They call themselves Akkattarians. When the so-called 'Secret Invaders' appeared from stars over a generation ago, society was in turmoil. King Šamšī-Rohh II, the head of AKKATTA, tries to minimize the economic exploitation by the weaponry-superior aliens. When the star ziggurat suddenly becomes active and attacks the spaceships of the 'secret invaders', things finally escalate. Sigurd is involuntarily drawn into the incipient conflict and at the same time has to defend himself against the tablets of fate still in his shoulder, which have begun to manipulate him. His goal of finding a way back to Earth suddenly seems a long way off.

Leseprobe

EXO-TERRESTRIAL-FORCES

Legacy of OUTER-SPACE Nanites

Volume 5

In the pull of infinity

© 2024 Jens F. Simon

Illustration: S. Verlag JG

Publisher: S. Verlag JG, 35767 Breitscheid,

All rights reserved

ISBN: 978-3-96674-761-5

The work, including its parts, is protected by copyright. Any exploitation without the consent of the publisher and the author is prohibited and will be prosecuted under criminal and civil law. This applies to electronic or other reproduction, translation, distribution and making available to the public.

Virtual realities surround us as soon as we are born. Every person has his very own view of things. Reality is a subjective experience of things. Imagine that one day you wake up in a foreign body, see a completely new world with foreign eyes. Are you reborn? What has happened? "Only a dream", you think, but this "dream" does not end. You have no choice but to accept the new realities, even if you think that this reality is no longer your reality.

Table of content

Irreversibility unwanted

Moderate marauders

The creators

ANUN'HA'S Way

The enemy inside you

Captain Solaakk's victory

Separation from Alethea

The ring of five

The Maul’aaf M’pfank

On board of the MOOR

Past, in the palace of King Šamšī-Rohh II

The expedition

Land of the inevitable

Revolt of the subconscious

The projection planetarium

Stress factor unknown

In the catacombs of ANUN'HA

The Star Trader Fleet

Sigurd's Awakening

Sleepers of the star Ziggurat

Under fire

Trader intrigue

Battle in the star Ziggurat

Rescue for Alethea

Fire and smoke

Body nanite fight

In the Virtual Reality Center

Survival essential

Saviier's suggestion

The farewell

Space and time

The arrival

The SCIFI Freak

Irreversibility unwanted

The insidious attack had severely damaged the retina of my eyes. I most likely only had my body nanites to thank for the fact that no permanent damage had occurred.

After the jump, I was now standing in total darkness.

"That was really close. Why didn't the panels help this time, or your know-it-all subconscious not intervene?"

Alethea's thoughts pointed out to me that I only had myself to rely on.

I left the question unanswered and concentrated on the darkness. It was silent, too silent.

The eye nerves responded immediately to my need to be able to see at least a little more, and the nanobots optimized the retina's performance in seconds.

It became a little brighter now that I could see in the infrared range. I was standing in a long corridor that was about five meters wide and whose walls were a strange hue.

"I don't think what you're perceiving right now is the color of the walls. Rather, it's some kind of thermal radiation emanating from them that appears differently in infrared vision."

"Is that so important now? We've been shot at in the back. I think we leave this inhospitable place and teleport," I replied somewhat roughly to Alethea's thoughts.

Nevertheless, I carefully touched the wall surface with my hand.

The nanites of the skin receptors immediately detected the warmth and transmitted a vibration sensation to my brain.

The wall began to vibrate more and more strongly, and the vibrations propagated across the floor.

Distant thunder in rhythmic beats made me sit up and take notice. Then, abruptly, silence set in.

"I feel like I'm inside the belly of a giant creature."

Alethea fell silent, and I didn't really know what to make of all this.

"We're not getting anywhere like this! I don't know what possessed me to jump here at all. I suggest we teleport back to the room with Professor Yout'jang's horseshoe-shaped console table. What do you think, Alethea?"

"We need to talk to this Saviier again. Your body materialized from a black hole artificially created in his laboratory. I think only there is the possibility to find out if and how we can get back to our world. That's still your goal, isn't it?"

Alethea was right, and at the same time I was puzzled. Not only because of her question, but also because I hadn't thought of going back at all.

"Be careful, you are already being manipulated by the panels."

The inner voice of my subconscious made me sit up and take notice.

I had also completely forgotten that the fate tablets were still hiding in my shoulder.

The attack was again completely unexpected. Sun-bright rays suddenly enveloped my body, and I was thrown several meters into the corridor.

I had the feeling of being on fire.

It took only a few seconds for the glare from my eyes to be removed by the body nanites, but even this short period of time meant almost half an eternity to me.

I thought I was dying and a conglomerate of impressions from my past began all at once to rage through my mind.

When I looked up distraught, I recognized cube-like machines about two meters tall, each standing on six stilt-like legs in front of me.

Needle-fine laser beams were shooting toward me from red-hot emission openings located on the underside of the cube.

My subconscious had apparently already reacted long ago and built a telekinetic defense shield around me.

In any case, the beams were deflected a few centimeters away from me and even partially reflected.

First explosions showed me that they were indeed dangerous.

"Fool, normally you should have been dead long ago if the panels hadn't intervened first and then me. Come to your senses and react!"

Almost painfully loudly the mental voice of my independently acting subconsciousness sounded through my head.

Without thinking any further, I teleported and jumped to the last memory present in my mind, the large, horseshoe-shaped console table. There was no living being in the room when we rematerialized.

I winced as a sharp and at the same time hot pain in my right shoulder made itself felt.

It disappeared immediately and I was distracted when the door opened.

I knew there was an elevator behind it and that this room represented a secret retreat of the professor.

And sure enough, just as I expected, Professor Yout'jang came through the door. He entered the room without noticing me at first.

"VVT, connect with Saviier," I heard him say loudly.

Of course, I knew by now that the VVT was a new type of communication system. He had activated the Virtual Visible Table system via the voice control.

Without delay, I now saw the scaled-down image of the Gravo designer Saviier appear as a hologram directly in front of me on the desktop.

The hologram had turned its back to me and was looking in the direction of the professor.

When the professor turned to the desk, he did not look at the hologram but directly at me. A multitude of wrinkles formed on his forehead, but that was already all. It just seemed to me that he had been waiting for me to appear.

"Saviier, I'm sorry, I have to disconnect. I have a visitor!"

The Gravo designer's hologram faded away without me hearing another word from him.

"Paurusa, I knew I would see you again. I guess your sudden disappearance hadn't been entirely voluntary, right? Saviier and I could guess that you yourself wouldn't just cut off the conversation without a reason. What happened?"

He looked at me questioningly and in his face I could clearly see a growing tension.

He probably wasn't as completely calm as he put on the outside after all. I attempted a smile and sat down in one of the chairs that stood, or rather floated, in front of the lectern table.

"Professor Yout'jang, you have a point. The panels in my shoulder are beginning to take on a life of their own. The teleportation was indeed not triggered by my will."  

"Don't reveal too much about us."

I heard Alethea's thought only on the periphery of my own thought processes. Of course, I had no intention of revealing more than necessary about Alethea and myself. Especially since the director of the Virtual Reality Center had no knowledge of our physical and mental merging.

"I really need to talk to Saviier," I blurted out anyway.

"Very interesting. What are the functions of these so-called panels? As far as I understand, their bodies are made of organic nanites and are similar in structure to the Lifebots. Very interesting, really!"

Had he not understood me, or did he not want to understand me? Professor Yout'jang slid leisurely into one of the free-standing armchairs. I kept silent and looked at him skeptically.

"VVT, connect with Saviier," I heard him say.

I looked anxiously at the table, where also before the small hologram had been created. It took a little longer this time for me to catch sight of Saviier in full form.

"Yout'jang, what can I do for you? Unfortunately, I'm a little pressed for time. I'm on my way to the government palace right now."

"Dear Saviier, I am very sorry to bother you. But my visitor has an urgent need to contact you," the professor replied with an ironic undertone.

The hologram began to rotate slowly as he pressed the contact area of the VVT display on his left arm with the index finger of his right hand.

I waited until the Gravo Designer hologram had turned to face me. "Paurusa!" His astonished exclamation showed me that he had recognized me.

"Saviier apologize for the intrusion and likewise for my sudden disappearance at the time. It had not been entirely voluntary. I absolutely need more details about the black hole you artificially created. According to your information, my body was transported through the black hole. Is there any information about the point of origin?"

I paused for a moment.

"Ask him if the connection through the hole still exists," I abruptly heard Alethea's thoughts.

Before I could formulate the appropriate question, the hologram faded away and disappeared completely after a few seconds.

That's strange. The VVT signal was apparently overlaid by a stronger source, breaking contact."

I looked from the tabletop to Professor Yout'jang in amazement.

"What does that mean exactly?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you. I know too little about this new communications technology."

It was like being jinxed. I had the impression that I just couldn't get off the ground.

"What about those panels in your shoulder? Ask him if he sees a way to remove them!"

I followed Alethea's suggestion without thinking.

"Yout'jang, you certainly remember. Saviier has already brought it up. There are seven small tablets sitting in my right shoulder. From your point of view, is there any way, however tiny, to remove them?"

Professor Yout'jang looked at me with a fixed gaze.

"I remember. I also remember that your body is made of organic nanites. We have some routine here at the Virtual Reality Center about repairing our Lifebots, but these are made of artificial nanobots."

He paused.

"We would need to run some tests on your body beforehand, take cell samples and measure the area in question in detail. Based on your question, I think I can assume that these tablets were not part of your body from the beginning, but were added sometime later, right?"

"Yes, that's right. I was completely surprised by this myself."

"You'll have to explain that to me in more detail. Especially the special circumstances would be significant to know to be able to make an exact analysis. To perform an ectomy, every bit of information about the patient is basically important!"

"If I tell them my whole life story, we are still sitting here after one planetary orbit around the sun. I think the very first thing to do should be the tests. I'd appreciate it if we could get started on that as soon as possible."

"I'm not opposed to that. I would still suggest that Saviier be present for the tests. What do you think?"

"I think that's a good idea. After all, it's about the possible transfer back through the black hole and whether your body is even capable of it!"

"Our body, Alethea, it's our body," I improved on her mental communication.

"You seem pensive? Do you have any doubts?"

Professor Yout'jang had probably noticed our brief mental communication but had been unable to place it based on my facial expression.

"No, no doubts. I am also of the same opinion. Saviier should be present!"

"Good, very good. I will arrange for you to be assigned a room again. You can spend the night there, and we will begin the examinations tomorrow. I will inform Saviier accordingly when I reach him, of course."

The room was similar in design to what I remembered.

The wall space opposite the entrance housed a built-in closet. It had two visible sliding doors. On the right side was a third, almost identical looking, sliding door that led into a wet room.

The entire left wall was transparent from a height of about one meter. In front of it was the bed. The room was on the sixteenth floor of the huge apartment complex.

"Now I can finally get back into my body, or do you mind?"

Alethea desire was understandable. I, too, had a longing for her. But there was also a feeling inside me that had been troubling me all along.

I felt as if I were in some indefinite danger.

"I'd much rather hold you too, but I think it's better for now that we stay in the singularity phase. If any danger surprises us, we can teleport to safety immediately. I'd hate to give up that option!"

I stood in front of the window and looked out at the setting sun. Alethea's mental groan raised goosebumps on my back.

"If you say so!"

I fought the longing to roll around on the big bed with her. I felt lost at that moment.

"Wait, maybe we can take a chance after all. It would be also only for a short period!"

My thoughts had probably likewise certain erotic components.

"Lo and behold, when it comes to satisfying your personal needs, all of a sudden your fears don't matter so much."

"I think you're right. I didn't think as far as you did!"

I had caught her off guard with this confession. Anyway, it took her a moment to think of what to say back.

"Fine!" That was all I heard from her.

I did, however, feel her mental echo, which appeared as a small, shining bright spot in my mind, receding from me.

So far this had always happened when Alethea's body Xxiin were already making to separate from my body.

This time, however, something quite different happened.

The environment changed abruptly.

I was suddenly standing in the middle of a room crammed with all kinds of technology, which was brightly lit.

What struck me immediately was that a whole number of console-shaped tables were distributed around the room in a downright chaotic manner. There was a constant beeping, clicking, and hissing in the air.

"Out the window, that's what they say, right?"

I was only peripherally aware of Alethea's thought, because now I caught sight of the stranger.

He seemed to have just noticed me, too, because he jerkily paused in his movements and looked in my direction.

We stood opposite each other at about five meters, when suddenly from all sides the most diverse machines, which had previously stood completely motionless in the room, started to move. Their target was me.

Moderate marauders

Captain Solaakk and the crew of the downed MARSH arrived at the royal palace near the capital city of Ninuah.

Solaakk and his people belonged to the Maul'aaf people. This people had some resemblance to baboons but have an average height of two meters.

Dominant in their faces was the elongated, huge nose that extended from the forehead to the mouth. The movement patterns of this species were about fifty percent above the average time norm of the other humanoid peoples. Thus they lived quasi in another dimension, with other time sequences, but were nevertheless an integrated component of this universe.

When the crew of the MARSCH, now heavily armed, moved through the streets of Ninuah toward the palace of King Šamšī-Rohh II, they owed it mainly to the speed of their movements that they were not attacked.

They kept a proper distance. Captain Hagar-Rott, the king's strategist, was immediately informed of their arrival, that Captain Solaakk and his men were just entering the outer district.

Hagar-Rott acted immediately and appealed to the population through the city's own VVT network to keep a low profile and not to provoke any incidents.

They would receive the delegation of the 'Secret Invaders' at the Palace and ask about their desire.

After all, it had never happened in the near past that they came to the palace on foot.

Captain Hagar-Rott did not yet know about the launch of one of their spaceships.

At the palace, an incident did eventually occur. The palace guard was completely surprised by the crew of the MARSCH.

They had been informed of the appearance of the strangers and Captain Hagar-Rott had given clear instructions that they should be escorted to him immediately.

However, the sight of the strangers moving incredibly fast and heavily armed immediately gave the impression that it was an attack on the palace and King Šamšī-Rohh II.

The palace guards reacted accordingly.

The two heavy gates of the entrance portal sprang into the locked position as the guard's commander, Corporal Wring, sounded the palace alarm.

Around the portal, small embrasures-like openings in the wall opened and the beams of more than a dozen lasers were aimed at the onrushing strangers.

Captain Hagar-Rott followed the escalating situation in the palace's security center.

All monitors had variable flying drones that constantly monitored the palace and the immediate surroundings. He had long since attempted to contact Corporal Wring, but despite his best efforts, was unsuccessful.

"This fool, when he triggered the alarm, actually also initialized a positive pulse edge to disrupt all communications in and around the palace," he shouted in anger, already running out of the room.

If only that went well. The strangers from the stars, or the so-called "Secret Invaders" as they were called by the locals, were unpredictable.

There was to be no show of force, but after Corporal Wring's rash action, Hagar-Rott feared just that. He had to assume that the strangers had high-quality weapons and were also willing to use them.

Meanwhile, King Šamšī-Rohh II was in the palace's high-security bunker and thus in relative safety.

But there were well over two hundred other people in the palace. In addition, there was the population of Ninuah. Under no circumstances could they be exposed to the arbitrariness of the strangers.

When the heavy explosion shook the palace walls to their foundations, Captain Hagar-Rott, the king's strategist, already assumed the worst.

A huge cloud of dust came flying toward him.

He tried to squint his eyes so as not to lose his vision completely. With narrowed eye slits, he stared into the dust-covered facility in front of him, trying to make out something.

Coughing and cursing, he kept moving, always expecting to stumble over pieces of rock or parts of the former interior. When suddenly the stranger stood in front of him, he was taken completely by surprise.

More reflexively than consciously, Captain Hagar-Rott reached for the weapon hanging from his belt, which he had been carrying until then merely for form's sake. It was the only other feature of his rank conferred by King Šamšī-Rohh II besides the insignia on his jacket.

He did not even have the laser properly in his hand when the weapon was already knocked from his fingers, and he received a jab to the chest.

Suddenly, a whole number of dark figures surrounded him.

He stumbled over a wall stone lying on the ground but was immediately picked up again. The speed of the movements kept him literally in breath.

"You will take us to your ruler at once!"

The voice was very high-pitched, and he looked in wonder at the face of the stranger before him, rounded with a white beard.

The long, somewhat reddish nose and the eyes deep in their sockets made him take a loud breath.

"Did you hear me?"

The high-pitched falsetto voice did not want to match the appearance in front of him at all.

Somewhat irritated, he surveyed the other strangers constantly in motion around him.

A loud groan from a pile of rubble lying to his side brought Hagar-Rott back to reality.

"You are the strangers, the invaders," it slipped out of his mouth unthinkingly!"

"All seems to be quiet again. At any rate, there is no more resistance to be seen. Why the shots were fired at us is not apparent now!"

The voice frequency of the speaker was almost at the edge of the ultrasonic range. Hagar-Rott could just about understand what was being said, however, he would not have been able to tell where the voice was coming from.

The dust had spread to the floor by now.

"King Šamšī-Rohh II will answer us, I'll see to that. We have two wounded. That's going to cost him."

Captain Solaakk pointed with his arm to the interior of the palace ahead of them.

"Come on, let's push on."

Then he turned to Hagar-Rott again, "You lead us. Don't make any mischief and nothing will happen to you!"

Captain Hagar-Rott didn't know what hit him as he was jerked around with improbable speed and received a blow to the shoulder that hurled him forward several feet.

It was clear to him that he had to act immediately.

Of course, he couldn't lead the strangers directly to King Šamšī-Rohh II; he couldn't have done that at all, even if he had wanted to, since the high-security wing of the palace was off-limits to him as well.

There were too many trap systems that he also knew nothing about.

He spontaneously decided to lead the strangers to the audience hall of the palace. There was a secret side passage there, located just behind the throne platform.

If he could reach it, it would be easy for him to escape. With his shoulders high, he walked ahead of the strangers.

Again and again he received a push in the back. Apparently he was too slow for them.

Like dancing dervishes, they scurried around him, always on the move.

Hagar-Rott thought he remembered King Šamšī-Rohh II talking about this strange behavior of the Secret Invaders.

The movement patterns of the strangers were about fifty percent above the normal for Akkattarier.

He had tried to count the strangers but had failed miserably because of their rapid movements.

Now Hagar-Rott focused on the moment when they reached the audience hall.

The corridors and hallways on the way there were as if empty. Even of the multitude of servants who normally moved about here, there was absolutely nothing to be seen.

No one crossed their path.

When the large entrance gate, five meters high and three meters wide, opened and the first strangers moved in with immense speed, he focused only on the platform about fifteen meters away.

There he could make out several palace servants, who suddenly froze completely in horror and looked like lifeless, stone sculptures to the strangers rushing in.

The stranger at Hagar-Rott's back, whom they called Captain Solaakk, was briefly distracted.

He shouted some orders to his men that Hagar-Rott did not understand.

With a speed he would not have believed himself capable of, he too was already running toward the throne platform amid the invading strangers.

He was still moving slower than the others, but because of the same direction of travel, it did not seem to be noticeable at all that he was a native.

The first cries echoed through the hall as the servants recovered from their fright.

But that mattered less to the king's strategist. He threw himself to the side in front of the throne platform just as a servant and one of the strangers in front of him clashed and a scuffle ensued.

Nobody seemed to pay attention to him, and he took the unexpected chance.

The secret passage could be entered by simply pressing against a certain spot on the wall.

This did not open a secret door, but the whole part of the wall turned 180 degrees, like a spiral door. All Hagar-Rott had to do was follow the movement and he was standing on the other side in front of the wooden steps of a narrow spiral staircase.

Behind him, the wall cutout had long since closed again without a sound.

The staircase led over several floors into the king's private chambers. Captain Hagar-Rott belonged to the king's inner circle of confidants, but the current location was taboo for him as well.

Rather, it was only His Majesty's Lifeguards who had unrestricted access rights; a handful of men who had pledged their lives to serve the king. One of these Lifeguards was already waiting for him at the top of the stairs.

"His Majesty expects the specialist and gravo-designer Saviier in his chambers immediately. It is urgent!"

Hagar-Rott was about to reply that he had already ordered Saviier to the palace when the man continued, "Inform Saviier immediately to report to the following coordinates. Inform him further about the presence of the Secret Invaders. It is necessary that he does not encounter these creatures."

He handed the captain a piece of foil and looked at him piercingly for a moment.

Then, without another word, he disappeared down one of the three corridors that joined the stairway and from which he had almost certainly come.

Hagar-Rott spooked to call and instruct the Gravo designer who was already on his way.

Saviier was already on his way from his castle to the palace when the call from Professor Yout'jang reached him the second time.

Captain Hagar-Rott, the king's strategist, had ordered him to an emergency meeting and to do so in the strictest secrecy.

Of course, he could imagine what it was about, although no details had been given to him in this regard.

But Saviier had, of course, also followed Hagar-Rott's call over the VVT network and he was aware that the presence of the Secret Invaders and their appearance in public could not be without reason.

An escalation with the overwhelming opponent seemed to have become not so unlikely and the king was looking for ways to defend himself.

As he already knew from the previous conversation, right now his new discovery was becoming of ever greater value to the head of the government.

The Gravo designer was pleasantly surprised when he recognized the stranger named Paurusa in the hologram.

He was just asking him a question about the artificially created black hole when the connection abruptly broke.

Instead of the image of Paurusa, another hologram appeared, although no call had been received.

Saviier could not explain this at first. Only when he recognized Captain Hagar-Rott did he realize that something so important had occurred that the call protocol had been bypassed.

"Saviier, I speak in the name of His Majesty King Šamšī-Rohh II. The Secret Invaders have entered the palace. There is no safe ground there anymore. His Majesty has asked them to fly to the following coordinates."

Hagar-Rott transferred a prepared file as an attachment within the VVT link. The data was immediately copied into the glider's onboard network. A dotted line in the pilot's display showed Saviier its receipt and, at the same time, that the aircraft could process the data.

"I acknowledge receipt!"

That was all he could get out, and the connection was already broken again.

While the autopilot let the glider turn to the new target, Saviier was overcome by an inner compulsion.

He activated the VVT connection to his castle.

Somehow, he felt that the current events were rapidly approaching a common culmination point, centered solely on something he didn't really know well yet, the black hole he had artificially created.

The hologram of WEbtab, one of the two scientists working with him, was building up.

Mullokk grunted with satisfaction as the two ships fell out of faster-than-light. Markon, still a relatively young trader, had kept his word and appeared for his reinforcements within the agreed time.

"Markon, my friend, I salute you!"

Markon, like Mullokk, belonged to the Maul'aaf people. Their outward appearance was roughly like the baboons of Earth.

Her face was dominated by an elongated, huge nose that extended from her forehead to the mouth directly below. Her small ears did not sit on the side of her head, but directly above the bushy eye structures.

Otherwise, the members of this race were completely hairless and very slender.

They had a humanoid body shape and reached a height of about two meters. Their movement patterns were about fifty percent above the average time norm of the other humanoid peoples of this star region.

"I am simultaneously transmitting to you a data packet containing the most important information from the strike match between my ships and the alien weapon at that time!"

Gigantic energy arrows had attacked his ships and damaged the MARSCH so badly that it had to make an emergency landing on the planet.

"You can stay in the background for now and back me up if necessary. I will approach the capital Ninuah with my ship to take in the crew of the downed MARSCH under Captain Solaakk in the palace of the acting ruler. If there is any trouble there, I will manage on my own. You mainly watch out for possible attacks from outside, by that I mean not only space, but likewise from the surface of the planet."

Mullokk, of course, had no intention of thumbing his nose at his young merchant colleague for the diversity and wealth of the Akkadian economy, the exploitation of which was his alone.

"As soon as you perceive a corresponding energy detection, strike back immediately and with all means. Do not wait for the sighting of the energy arrows first!"

Markon confirmed only briefly, then the connection was also interrupted. All that needed to be said had been said.

Mullokk activated the internal communication to the supply hangars. The MOOR had already picked up speed.

At moderate speed, it approached the Akkattarier planet.

"Get the salvage boat ready. Once we reach the crash site of the MARSCH, disembark, and salvage the wreckage. Avoid direct contact with the natives. I will personally take care of that. Mullokk out!"

Salvaging the downed ship was a priority.

Mullokk had no intention of simply writing off valuable resources. He did not know how badly the ship had been damaged.

In any case, there was still enough metal and rare earths in the ship's electronics that could be recycled.

Trader Markon's two ships, the STELKA and the MARLY, had just taken up their waiting position at three thousand kilometers from the planet.

Mullokk noted the appropriate acknowledgement signal on his control panel sympathetically.

He decided to declare Markon his new minion, should he continue to distinguish himself accordingly.

It was always good to have someone at one's side on whom one could rely one hundred percent.

Just as the MOOR was dipping into the deeper layers of the planet's atmosphere, Captain Solaakk's radio call came in.

"There was a brief skirmish just outside the government palace when we were denied entry. There were two light casualties. We are on our way to King Šamšī-Rohh II. Solaakk out!"

Mullokk looked thoughtfully at the voice grid of the communication system.

What had happened on the Akkattarier planet that such changes had occurred since his last visit? First the attack with a powerful and totally alien weapon. Now the apparent resistance of the government to his emissaries.

For better or worse, he would have to take this King Šamšī-Rohh II to task himself.

So he decided not to land the MOOR away from the city, as he had originally intended, but directly in the park next to the palace.

This would cause some devastation and damage, but on the other hand his men had been attacked and he could not and must not accept that.

He could not let these primitive planetarians take the reins from his hands.

The ship now shot with increasing speed through the lowest layers of the atmosphere towards the capital and pulled a real whirlwind behind it.

Temperatures dropped by more than ten degrees Celsius in the process. 

The creators

SWmobur, the sleeper, had now finally awakened. He still had some trouble to become completely clear about his present situation, but the missing knowledge about it was imposed on him by the star ziggurat in only a few time units by the mental induction.

The mechanical-hadronic artificial existence, after the planet ANUN'HA had fallen into a coma and was dying, had taken over the supervision of the last one hundred Krsutners lying in stasis.

At the same time, the star ziggurat had cut itself off from the rest of the planet.

Only the outer appearance of a 1500-meter-high tower had remained.

SWmobur began to activate other previously dormant features of the last bulwark of a once powerful entity. There was indeed an intruder.

This knowledge was communicated to him simultaneously with the activation of a subroutine responsible for control and security.

A state of alert still prevailed throughout the facility.

The probability extrapolation showed that further attacks by unknown spacecraft were to be expected.

In the depths of the autonomously acting and quasi-conscious monument, ancient relics of a time long past began to come to life.

Once the starfighters of ANUN'HA had been destined to discover new worlds.

They were fifty-five machines that had once been created from the diverse technologies of a multitude of star races.

Half of the ships were made of millions of organic nanites, which, when combined as a ship, developed a quasi-intelligence.

Each starfighter ship could act independently and autonomously.

It did not have a pilot, nor did it have a conventional cockpit.

The whole ship was the body and the artificial ego in one.

However, the star ziggurat could only have its ships overhauled by an army of working robots. Operational use required the prior approval of two Krsutners.

But this was precisely where the problem lay.

In the hastily prepared threat analysis, a preventive approach was absolutely required.

SWmobur had been informed about it, of course. However, since he did not react at all, the mechanical-hadronic brain came into a conflict of conscience.

It had to take care under all circumstances that its existence was not endangered.

However, it could not do this if the approval of the deployment of the starfighters was not given.

The star ziggurat had set itself a precise period within which it expected a statement from SWmobur.

Should that period pass, without a directive from the Krsutner to that effect, a security protocol would be activated, and necessary further de-escalation measures would be initiated.

"WEbtab, I still need more specific data about the black hole. You know I am on my way to King Šamšī-Rohh II, would you please compile all the secondary emission data you have collected so far and send it to me still as well."

Saviier remembered too well the atmospheric distortions that had appeared immediately after the black hole had formed, encompassing the entire near vicinity of the castle.

WEbtab acknowledged briefly as URgbei's voice came loudly in the background, "WEbtab, where are you? I need your help. The frequency density of the event horizon seems to be changing. Something is happening inside the black hole!"

"WEbtab, what's going on? Quick, talk to me!"

WEbtab's body hologram distorted and went out a few seconds later.

Saviier looked at the corresponding spot for a few more seconds. On his forehead, one could clearly see that it was working hard inside him.

The obvious question, of course, was should he turn back?

With nimble fingers, he tried to re-establish contact via the VVT bracelet.

Oddly enough, there was not even a recognition signal anymore.

According to the data stream, the address of his castle no longer existed.

Saviier did not think twice but deactivated the automatic control of the glider.

He wanted to get back to his castle as quickly as possible. A little too hectically, he jerked the control wheel of his glider around.

At the same moment, the flight assistance system triggered a collision alarm and took over the steering.

A huge, dark mass had suddenly appeared in the field of view without warning.

The lidar system still indicated about 250 meters, but due to the extreme size of the other flying object and the whirlwinds it triggered, Saviier's glider was in an acute danger situation.

The pilot seat's safety-alert system activated, pressing Saviier even tighter into the seat contour, which had increased in size by about thirty percent and now encompassed his body almost entirely.

Feedback to the glider's automatic control system about the pilot's backup was immediate, and already the glider was smearing sideways and setting off for low-level flight.

At the same time, it accelerated to maximum speed. The alien spacecraft came in for a landing.

The government palace was only about a kilometer away, yet it now seemed very small compared to the ship. Mullokk piloted the MOOR single-handedly.

He grunted with satisfaction as the ship now descended into the stately park.

Fifteen landing props extended independently from the mighty hull, and with their supporting plates of twenty square meters each, they rolled down everything in their path.

An Amanda of wild animals desperately sought escape in a nearby wooded area.

But there, too, the hurricane-force winds tore entire rows of trees from the ground and literally dismembered them.

A massive avalanche of dust, crammed with soil, plant debris and pieces of wood, pelted down on the stone walls of the nearby government building.

Strong electromagnetic fields automatically settled over the entire building, not only protecting the facade but preventing the large window areas from being affected.  

The hurricane around the ship had not yet completely dissipated when the floor lock opened and heavily armed Maul'aafen rushed out.

Almost simultaneously, about forty meters above them, two hangar doors opened, and five armored gliders shot out.

In one of them sat Mullokk himself. While the four other gliders took care of securing the terrain around the seat of government, he headed straight for the palace.

Captain Solaakk had been informed of the arrival of the MOOR.