The Deep Dark Well (6 page)

"Truly God has
sent us here, captain," he continued as he looked intently at the view
screen.  "I have heard that man commingles with aliens on many of the
worlds ahead, treating with the evil that threatens their very souls."

"The
Donut
will be a tough nut to crack, admiral," said the captain, calling up
information from his command console.  "According to our agents' report we
have already lost over a dozen scouts trying to get near it.  Automatic
defenses, the experts say, though I wouldn't be surprised if sentients weren't
still on the structure."

"Probably damned
Maurids," spat the admiral, "the blood thirsty spawn of Satan.  Well
we didn't bring scouts with us, now did we," he said, looking over at the
ship's commanding officer.  "We brought thirteen of the most powerful
ships in the known Galaxy with us.  We are the supreme naval power in this
region of space."

"And if the
Donut
,"
said the captain in a low voice, walking over to where the Admiral paced,
"the supreme example of the power of the ancients, turns out to be more
than our match?"

"Why then, my good
captain," said Admiral Gerasi, "we tear the system apart if need be,
till we find the door that opens up on the
Donut
, and drop a couple of
thousand marines through the wormhole."

"Signal the fleet,
Captain," ordered the flag officer.  "We move at maximum accel toward
that structure.  Plot decel so that we stop approximately four billion
kilometers from it.  That should be a safe enough distance to scout from, don't
you think?"

"Yes sir,"
agreed the captain.  "At least the reports are that the scouts were still
fully operational out to two billion kilometers."

"Then we move,"
said the fanatical admiral, “and may the spirit of the righteous Lord move with
us."

The
Orca
leapt
ahead in space, a field of inertia shielding energy springing into existence
around the vessel, as she moved at fifty gees accel toward the
Donut
,
the other vessels following in her wake.  The men on the bridge continued to
walk and talk in a perfect one gee field, a luxury of the ancients that very
few worlds still enjoyed.

*    *    *

Watcher sat in his
chair, the intruder vessels centered on his projected screen.  They moved in
deep space, surrounded by the field of stars, one of the orbiting suns
providing a back lighting that made the shark shapes appear even more
sinister.  As long as they kept their distance from the
Donut
he would
not molest them.  But he was sure they would do as those had done before them. 
Move in on the station and try to take its secrets back with them, to whatever
system they came from. 

He would then destroy
them, with the same technology they came to steal.  Their home stars would
never hear from them, and maybe that would keep others of their kind from
coming here to threaten Watcher.

He had seen something
like these before, though they had been fewer and smaller.  They looked more
advanced than what had come from the planets of the Supersystem.  These looked
hyper capable, probably from outside of the multiple star system that made up
the local space around the
Donut
. 

“Computer,” he
ordered.  “What kind of hyperdrive do those ships carry?”

“From schematics the
probability is a Space Destroying Warp Drive.”

Idiots
, thought Watcher. 
That type of drive was a hazard to anything in the direct path of the ship, and
could be a hazard to the ship itself.  A Space Destroying Drive traversed space
at a pseudo velocity much faster than light by destroying space in front of the
ship, and recreating it to the rear.  Anything in the space that was destroyed
was annihilated as well.  Unless it was a massive object, like a moon, planet
or star.  Then the ship was obliterated by the energy feedback.

“Let me know the
instant they move into two billion kilometers of the station,” he ordered.

“The human you asked me
to watch has started to move,” said the computer.

Watcher swore again
under his breath.  It would have been so much easier if she had just stayed
put.  There was less likelihood she would have wandered into something
dangerous, or attracted
his
attention.  And
his
attention was
something she didn’t want to attract.  It would be doubtful if lust or
loneliness would blunt his sadistic tendencies.

“Put her on screen.”

The woman was dressed
differently now, no longer in the bulky suit.  The black fabric of her garment
fit her tightly, showing off her luxurious curves.  Boots were on her feet, and
it looked as if she carried some kind of weapons in holsters on her belts. 
Lasers
would fit with her technology
, he thought,
or maybe even primitive
projectile weapons
.  Not enough to protect her from the terrors roaming the
station.

She moved with a grace
that bespoke an athleticism born of health and practice.  She looked at
everything, her eyes constantly on the move.  Intelligent and curious.  A
fitting companion for him.

A small, furry bundle
jumped into his lap as he watched the object of his infatuation.  His hand
began to gently stroke the soft fur of the creature.  It flicked its tail as a
musical purr issued from its throat. 

“You’ve been a good
companion, Hannibal,” he said, looking down at the small silky cat.  The
creature dug its paws into his lap, its solid red eyes looking up into his as
it purred its pleasure.  “But I need another kind of companionship.”

Hannibal meowed
slightly, the pet sensing the combined excitement and sorrow of its master. 
Watcher continued to stroke it, his soft hands working the fur of the
creature.  His hands tensed as something else moved on the screen.  Something
he had hoped he would not see.  A robot, of the kind
he
used.

*    *    *

Pandi caught the
movement out of the corner of her eye.  Something in motion among the stillness
of the station.  Her body tensed as she slowly turned toward the movement, not
sure what to expect.  

Some kind of animal was
her first thought, as she watched the thing moving in her direction.  It was
all the way across the long room, a hundred meters or more, and she wasn’t sure
if it had even spotted her yet.  It behaved as if it hadn’t.  Its six legs
moved in a most peculiar manner, rotating up and over as the long body slid
forward.  Not like the movements of a beast.

Its skin seemed to be
made of a series of small scales of equal size.  It had no discernible head,
just a continuation of the long body.  No mouth, no ears.  Spots on the forward
scales could be eyes, or something else?

A robot of some kind
was her second thought, though like nothing she had ever imagined.  She
couldn’t guess its purpose from its configuration.  Slowly she put the helmet
on her head, not wanting make sudden movements that might alarm it.  She pushed
a button above the faceplate, engaging the helmet sensors.  The creature leapt
forward in her vision, as the face plate magnified the image.

Definitely some kind of
robot
,
she thought, wondering if it might be dangerous.  On infrared it glowed an even
orange color, no apparent power-generating center, as if the entire robot were
equally power producing and using.  Suddenly her faceplate went blank, opaqued
over as if struck by a bright light.  That was when she knew she was under
attack.

Chapter 3

1.  God created man, and gave him the Universe
to use as he sees fit.

2.  Satan created Nonhumans, to stand against
man to contest the mastery of the Universe.   

3.  Humans are the perfect creations of God. 
The defective are touched by Satan and are unworthy of life.

4.  The War between Good and Evil rages on. 
Mankind, the force of Good, must contain Evil, the soulless ones.  Evil is to
be destroyed when possible, and not allowed to spread across the glories of the
Heavens.

Edicts of the Nation of
Humanity

 “And it will fall upon
the children of Man to defeat the hell spawn where ever they may be found.”

Admiral Miklas Gerasi
looked up from his podium to gaze over the gathered off watch crew of the
Orca
. 
They filled the huge auditorium that doubled as recreation room, gym and
temple.  Now it was decked out as a temple, holo walls portraying an exact though
smaller replica of the Supreme Temple of Humanity on
Drefuss
.  Scenes of
the heroes of humanity, at war with the aliens who stood in the way of
humanity’s destiny, adorned the marble of the walls. 

The ceiling stretched a
hundred meters above in the simulation.  The furnishings were real enough,
benches and pews, the altar behind the admiral.  A holographic representation
of the central home worlds moved in accelerated simulation above the altar. 
Wasp
,
Marvel
and
Warlock
, all green and blue worlds, in orbit around
the barren super rock of
Hulk
.  The far disk of golden
Eternity
shone in the near background, while the point of its identical twin,
Galactus
,
was noticeable as the brightest star in the local field.  It was also the home
of the inhabited worlds of the
Nation
.

The upturned faces of
the crew betrayed their origins among the many habitable worlds of the
Nation
,
skin tones darker for those of the worlds closer to the stars, builds heavier
for those from the more massive planets.  The admiral always felt fragile
himself when he looked at those from
Grimm
,
Captain
America
or
Ego
, some of the bigger worlds.  His home planet of
Marvel
only carried a G field of .8.  But it carried power beyond its size, as the
Capital of the worlds controlled by the
Nations of Humanity
.

“We are here, my
brothers,” he began in the ritualistic forms of the Church, “to advance the
cause of humanity.  Although we are a mighty nation among the stars, destined
to greatness, to bring the teachings of the Holy Drefuss to our entire supreme
race.  Although we have the will, and the fortitude to accomplish our task,
still our enemies stand before us in their ignorance, delaying the inevitable.”

He stopped for a
second, listening to the chorus of amen’s that echoed through the hall.  This
was a handpicked crew, determined in their faith.  The hundreds of off duty
spacemen, the more than a thousand marines, their faces all glowed with the
rapture of their faith.  They would die to a man or woman for the cause. 
Nothing would get in their way.

“But our enemies refuse
to see the wisdom of our teachings,” he continued.  “The forces of the Kingdom
are likely on their way here as we speak, to try and stop us from achieving our
goals.  They shall not succeed.”

The image of the home
worlds faded out behind him, replaced by the view of what awaited them.  The
thin silver ring orbited around the point of darkness that was the black hole,
the primary star of the system.  A slight distortion could be seen at the edges
of the blackness, the effect of gravity on the light that bent around the dead
stellar mass.

“The
Donut
,” he
cried to the assemblage, as the men and women stared in fascination at the
object.  Most had no idea of their destination when they left their double
system.  The artifact was the object of legend, not believed by many.

“The largest man-made
object in the known Universe.  Nine and a half million kilometers in
circumference.  Three thousand kilometers in width, fifty kilometers thick.  An
interior space of almost one and a half trillion cubic kilometers.”

He could see he had
their rapt attention now.  Fright was evident on some of the faces.  How could
a dozen battleships with little more than thirty thousand personnel take such a
structure, if it were defended?

“An enormous energy
generating station,” he continued, as the picture moved to a closer view of the
artifact, shifting to the north pole of the hole.  A dozen arcs of bright
electron beams connected the spinning ring to the event horizon of the hole. 
“Using the gravitational energy of the hole as an enormous electrical power
plant.  Producing the yearly energy of a star every standard minute.”

More faces were showing
alarm now.  He could guess the thoughts, the same he had held when first given
this information himself.  His culture generated less than a ten millionth of
the energy potential of the
Donut
from their two star based Dyson
Rings.  It had taken the yearly production from one of the rings to provide the
antimatter needed for this mission.  And the artifact could produce that much
energy in less than a second. 

“I know the risks are
great,” he said, “but so are the rewards.  Imagine if such a structure were in
our hands.  Imagine if we controlled the power production of the
Donut
. 
It was said to be the antimatter production center of the old Empire, the
empire of humanity that stretched across this Galaxy.