But that would cripple them too. For all of their technology and knowledge, the People had failed. Failed to stop what they unleashed, and failed to stop themselves from dying. And Tomas was not going to let that happen to the Empire. They would use their ancestors’ technology only as a rough guideline, as inspiration for the things that would surpass their ancestors. Tomas wanted the Empire to struggle, to be challenged by other races in the galaxy, to grow from those interactions. But this ship was a lifeline, a thing that he would consider using only as a last resort to preserve the Empire. That was the only way they could surpass their ancestors fast enough. The People had had no rival to push them forward; they had done everything on their own over an insane amount of time. And Tomas knew from Earth’s history that conflict and struggle were the only way for them to catch up faster and also grow more than their ancestors ever did, even though growing might hurt more than if they simply used the People’s technology.
“So what is the real reason?” Isani asked.
“Adrian asked me to choose a replacement for him as the Lord Sentinel,” Tomas said, turning to look at the Clan Leader. “But there isn’t really a need for that; the only obstacle is that he wouldn’t be able to be on Mars for some time. The Sentinels don’t need his constant oversight; they were designed to be independent and to operate outside of the Empire. But he still needs to be reachable for any emergencies and discussions. So I was thinking of giving him a mobile base, one that can accommodate all of his needs and staff, and can move fast from Shara Radum to Sol.”
Isani bent the fingers of his left hand in a gesture that signaled alarm. “You are not thinking of giving him this ship?”
Tomas laughed. “No, of course not. I wanted to see if you might be able to speed up Project Sovereign.”
“I don’t see how that would allow him to move faster than with the ship he already has,” Isani said.
“You forget, Axull Darr put the Shara Daim on Shara Radum, and just like in Sol and Nelus, he built an access point in the system’s sun, and Sovereign ships will be able to use them,” Tomas said.
“Of course, but you know that we are a long way from even finishing the prototype. We could do it faster if you allowed us to use this ship’s manufacturing capabilities,” Isani said.
“No. If I give in to that, I might as well let you copy technologies from it. Everything needs to be built by our hands and our technologies,” Tomas said sternly.
“How much faster were you thinking?” Isani asked.
“A year,” Tomas said.
“Impossible. Projections put it at ten years before we finish everything, maybe more now that we are funneling all our resources into increasing the number of our fleets. Half of the resources we were sending here are now rerouted to the Forge. You can’t rush this, Tomas, not if you want a ship with a hull strong enough to survive passing through an access point. And if you don’t want us using this ship, then it will take time until we can manufacture enough compressed matter for even one ship,” Isani said.
Tomas grimaced in annoyance. “And if I get you resources? More people, more experts?”
“Even if we can halve the time needed, it will still be too long, Tomas,” Isani said.
“We need this, Isani. I don’t want us relying on the People’s technologies, but access points are one of their more advanced technologies that we can make use of even if we can’t build them. With our advances in compressed matter, we can survive going through their access points. Just barely, but that is enough,” Tomas said, and shook his head, suddenly feeling a great weight on his shoulders. “We are spread too much, Isani.” Tomas continued wearily. “And we don’t have the infrastructure of other civilizations. They had years developing and expanding slowly; their outer territories are mostly self-sufficient. Ours rely mostly on our core, and we are expanding too fast. Unless we can have ships traveling much faster across the Empire than even with the skim drives, we will have problems.”
“I know,” Isani said. “But unless you want us to use our ancestors’ technology, you will have to be patient.”
“No, I don’t want that. You have seen the records; it will do us no good following in their footsteps. And you’ve seen what alterations Axull Darr did to this ship for their battles with their enemy. They are laughable; all that technology and they failed because they didn’t know how to fight. If Adrian was in Axull Darr’s place, the enemy never would’ve had spread so much, even if he only had this ship’s technology at his disposal. This ship’s weapons aren’t weapons, they are glorified tools. Tools advanced enough that they could wipe out every single ship in the Empire, but still only tools. None were truly designed for warfare. Their enemy adapted, changed; their technology went beyond the People in directions they never explored. We need to advance beyond them, to build up technologies that they neglected and found no use for,” Tomas said.
“We will, Tomas. We have time. The People’s countermeasure has kept the enemy contained for a long time; it will not fail before we are ready,” Isani said.
“I know. I just hope that we survive long enough to become ready,” Tomas said. “Now let’s continue with a tour of the ship, I am eager to see all of it.”
Chapter One
Shara Radum
Adrian stood in the landing bay of the Veritas, watching the shuttle from one of the Empire’s ships that had just arrived in the Shara Radum system land and then the doors of the bay close, with air being cycled back into the room. As soon as it finished, Adrian entered the bay and walked towards the shuttle to meet the person just then coming out of it.
“Teacher,” Adrian greeted the taller Sowir, Lurker of the Depths, telepathically.
“Adrian,” Lurker of the Depths returned.
Lurker of the Depths had just arrived with six of the Empire’s fleets, and had brought with him his construction ships from Sol, as well as some cargo ships carrying materials so that they and the fleet auxiliaries could meet the needs of the fleets.
“Come, let us move somewhere more private,” Adrian sent, and made his way through his ship towards his rooms. Once there, he took one chair and the Sowir curled his three tentacle-like legs and lowered himself on the floor.
“I hope that you’ve brought everything that you will need,” Adrian sent.
“Most. A few shipments of materials are lagging behind, but they will be sent here from Sol.” Lurker of the Depths responded.
“Did you bring me what I asked for?”
“Yes, although we had some difficulties making them. They are still too large to be fired from current war vessels without significant retrofits,” Lurker of the Depths sent.
“Pods or cargo ships?” Adrian asked.
“Cargo ships. They are too large to fit a reasonable number into the pods.”
Adrian grimaced. “I had hoped for pods; bringing cargo ships into a battle will be an extra worry.”
“We cannot yet reduce the skim drives sufficiently in size, and we still need a fairly large battery in order to run them. Coupled with the targeting systems and the receiver, we cannot reduce them in size any more than we already have. And they are resource costly; I don’t know if they will be as useful as they are time- and resource-consuming,” Lurker of the Depths sent.