But no signs of sentient machines.
"Gentlemen," said Aileen, as they were en route to yet another unremarkable star system chosen for its similar characteristics to all the known sites with confirmed sentient machine ruins or other artifacts.
"There's a planet in the next star system that's very similar to the factory planet of the sentient machines."
"How's that different from other similar planets we've visited?" asked Louis, slightly bored. He'd heard this before.
"It appears to be very close match. Even the diameter is within two percent that the factory planet. Correction," said Aileen as ships sensors received more accurate data. "Within one percent and approaching to be exactly the same."
"I don't believe that's a coincidence," said Nick.
"Coincidence is possible," said Aileen. "But it's so unlikely that we'd be lucky to find one in two parallel universes."
"Interesting," said Louis. "Increase speed, then. Let's see what we have there."
They entered the system that was typical to countless other systems, except for the fact that the third planet of the system was exactly the same diameter as another planet on the other side of the galaxy.
"In addition to the size, the planet has exactly the same atmosphere composition," said Aileen. "There one notable difference, though--it's three times heavier than the factory planet."
"Very interesting," said Louis. "Go to orbit and start scanning."
Aileen first made quick scans that confirmed that there was sentient machine debris on the planet. Just like the other planet, there seemed to have been a battle on the surface.
Aileen found, after thorough scans, that there was an entrance--a hidden one, but open. Nick and Louis could go in there if they wanted to.
"Well?" asked Louis, when neither of them had made any indication of going.
"Well what?" said Nick.
"Do we go?" said Louis. "Or not?"
Aileen listened to the men, amused that the notorious couple feared to go down to the planet.
"Gentlemen," she said. "I suggest we send a probe and then move on. We can return to get the probe and the data on our return journey."
Nick and Louis glanced each other; why hadn't that occurred to them?
"That's a good idea," said Louis. "Do it and let's move on.
"This place gives me the creeps."
Nick nodded. "Me, too."
Aileen sent two probes to the planet. One started to scan the surface and the other entered the inside the planet.
***
Deep within the planet, a Guardian awoke, sensing a ship approaching. As it was instructed, it only monitored what happened unless threatened or the secret of the planet was in jeopardy.
The Guardian monitored the ship, the two living sentients, and a machine that had almost reached sentience. It was very surprised to learn that the living sentients belonged to the infant species--but they had been touched by the Forgotten Ones.
After watching the Infants leave, it sealed the entrance and destroyed the probe inside. It then sent a message to the Masters about the Infants and the Forgotten Ones.
The Guardian knew that it would raise great interest and it eagerly awaited what would happen.
***
"Finally, I see your engine shop," said Mr. Grey. "I've heard lot about it."
"I wonder what you've heard?" asked William curiously.
"I hear that engines were not the main article of your shop," said Mr. Grey, with a tone that he knew for a fact about the distillery.
William laughed. "You may have heard correctly. This way, gentlemen. And my lady."
Rachel, Mr. Grey, Bruce, and Milton followed William to the engine shop--it had been unused, but well-kept by the autonomous aids, ever since Bruce had left the Miccvan home world after being an ambassador here.
"You know, William," said Rachel smiling, "I also knew about your distillery."
"Really?" he said surprised. "You never said anything."
"No, and I also know that some of your customers were customers only because of your whiskey."
"No kidding?" said William smiling. "I suspected as much. But I bet you didn't know about my stash." He opened a perfectly hidden cache on the floor and took two bottles of whiskey.
"Here," he said triumphantly. "My second and third bottles of whiskey!"
"What happened to the first? Oh!" she said, after seeing wide smile on William's face. "You drank it, of course."
"Of course," he confirmed, and went to get glasses for everyone.
He poured whiskey and they drank together for the first time since the end of the war.
"Now!" said Mr. Grey, surprisingly happy. "We can declare the war officially over!"
Rachel and the men laughed. They couldn't agree more. It had been busy time since they had ended the war with Kaitian genocide.
Countless worlds had been destroyed; the Mehar and Arash Empires were practically extinct; all the other empires had lost most of the military forces. With exceptions of humans and Saami, large parts of the civilian populations had been killed. The rebuilding of the empires and the Coalition would take a long time.
"You know what worries me?" said Milton seriously after they'd drank first rounds of the exceptionally tasty whiskey.
"The Strangers," said Mr. Grey, and Milton nodded.
"Still no sightings of them," said William. "Not in any of the known worlds where they've been."
The Strangers had disappeared after the destruction of the Kaitian star and their base inside the star. They'd been traveling from the core to the outer edges of the galaxy along many routes for two hundred thousand years, regularly visiting the stars that contained their bases. But not anymore and it worried them all.
"We can only guess what they're doing," said Rachel. "I don't like that at all. If the Strangers decide to destroy us, we'd face the same fate as the Hwzeenn did long ago."
"And there'd be no stopping them," said Bruce. "The Hwzeenn had something to fight with. We have nothing now. A few ships here and there . . . it'll take a long time to rebuild our forces to same level. And even more since we need to be much more advanced than we've ever been if we have to fight against the Strangers."
"But we will rebuild," said Milton. "And fast. I fear that the Kaitian war was just the beginning."
"And let's not forget the other mysteries," said Bruce. "Susan and her kind. And the sentient machines. You recall what happened to the expedition on the factory planet that the Arash had found."
Everyone nodded.
"You're right. We must not forget them, neither Susan nor the machines," said William.
"I sent Nick and Louis to find out about the machines. And if they can't find anything, no one will."
"Good that you sent them to do something productive," said Mr. Grey. "I've encountered them many times and always found them to be irritating. Especially when I found out that they were spying on our nobility."
"You knew?" asked Bruce surprised.
"Yes," said Mr. Grey with a thin smile. "They found out more about them than I've ever managed to find."
"Hah, I'm sure it was interesting," said Milton, silently annoyed to realize the Rg'Tkeen had found about Nick and Louis. He knew that they'd spied on the Miccvans, too, but he never could find any evidence about it or even what they were spying on.
"Have you heard anything from them?" he asked William.
"Not yet," he said. "But they are far away, and under instructions not to contact us unless they find something."
"It might take time," said Milton. "The last traces of the sentient machines are from five million years ago."
"I know," said William. "But we must try. They're too big an unknown to be left unattended."
"I agree," said Mr. Grey. "We've also started investigations in our space."
"So have we," said Milton.
"And Susan?" asked Rachel, changing the subject to the more recent mystery.
"Nothing," sai
d Mr. Grey. "Absolutely nothing."
Milton shook his head. "They've disappeared without a trace. And only thing we know is that they disappeared when Michael was killed by the Strangers on the Kaitian home world."
"And we know mostly what they did before the disappearance," said Bruce.
"That's a start," said Rachel. "If we combine our forces, we might learn something."
"I think we should do it openly," said William. "I mean, as openly as any regular intelligence operation."
So far, they'd operated in secret, mostly because they didn't want to let Susan and her kind know about their investigation. But the secrecy had been mostly in vain, because she had known about the investigation; that much had been clear from the inscription in her gravestone. And since she was now missing, there was no point continuing to be secretive about the investigation.
"Yes," said Milton, "let's do that."
"I agree," said Mr. Grey. "Since it was your idea, William, I suggest you take the lead in investigation."
"Gladly," William said. "I'll set up a base at SD-9. Send your teams there as soon as possible."
They discussed more about the general approach to the investigation and soon concentrated more on other matters. And drinking the rest of the whiskey.
"Was that all?" asked Milton, disappointed when the bottles were empty
William smiled widely. "Hell, no." He walked to another hidden cache on the floor and pulled two more bottles. Milton laughed. "And what stock is this?"
"I can't remember." William smiled. "But these were meant to celebrate special orders from my clients."
"Right," said Mr. Grey. "Then let's drink on. We're in no hurry. We have all the time in the world."
The men and Rachel couldn't agree more; as immortals, they did have all the time in the world.
42 (Epilogue)
"What do you expect to find here?" asked Lea as the yacht exited hyperspace near the destroyed Kaitian star.
"I don't know," said Susan. "But I want to see it myself."
"Unnaturally-born white dwarf," said Harry looking at the remnants of a star. "Something few have ever seen."
"You're right," said Susan. "As far as we know, even the Strangers have never done anything like this."
"And now someone has," said Lea. "Destroying an entire star system with billions of sentient beings. And the Stranger base that was within the star."
"Perhaps even the Strangers' cruiser," said Harry optimistically, "If they happened to be here at the time."
"I doubt it," said Susan. "But it did cause the Strangers to disappear. They vanished before our eyes and I think it's safe to assume that that they did after they learned about the nova here."
"But where did they go?" asked Lea. "And what destroyed the star?"
"I don't like mysteries," said Susan. She then smiled to herself. If any of the younger species had heard her say that, they'd say that she was the mystery herself. And that's the way she wanted it.
"It must've been someone from the Coalition," said Harry. "They wanted to end the war and prevent their own extinction."
"Perhaps," said Lea. "They sure had the motive. But not the means nor the will to do anything of such magnitude."
"I must agree," said Susan. "And the mystery remains. Who did this? And if it was not the Coalition, why?"
Harry shook his head. "Must've been someone from the Coalition. Anything else is just not likely."
"The fact that none of them has the technology aside," said Lea, "who'd have the will to this kind of thing?"
"None of them," said Susan, shaking her head. She'd been among the younger species ever since the Strangers had destroyed the Hwzeenn, guiding them ever so subtly, and mostly in secret.
Her work among the humans was something she was proud of, and she knew that they'd be a great asset in the war against the Strangers. But then the Strangers had killed Michael and she'd decided that they had to disappear, because if the Strangers knew about her kind, there'd be no telling what they would do. But it seemed that the Strangers hadn't realized that Michael was one of them. They'd since concluded that the Strangers had killed the Coalition infiltrators only because of they happened to be in their backyard.
"Perhaps we should go back to Coalition?" wondered Lea
"No," said Susan. "Not yet. We must find out about the Strangers first. And besides, I don't think they'd welcome us with open arms after we disappeared on the eve of the war."
"I think you're right," said Lea. "They might think we abandoned them."
"Perhaps we did," said Susan thoughtfully. She had enjoyed her time on Earth, raising a family and growing slowly old. She still missed her companions there.
"Let's go inside," she said, and they went back inside the yacht. The coldness of space was irrelevant to them, as was the vacuum, but breathing was an enjoyable habit for Susan and she liked to be surrounded by atmosphere even if she didn't need it.
"Let's investigate the white dwarf," said Susan. "Perhaps we find something."
Susan was not surprised when they didn't find anything and told her yacht to leave. They traveled toward the outer edge of the galaxy, toward the destination where the Strangers had regularly traveled from the Core for two hundred thousand years.
***
Far outside the galactic spiral arms, a complex larger than many star systems floated in emptiness. In the center of the structure was an artificial star, the energy source for the complex.
The complex and the artificial star were two individuals of the Sentient Machines, as they knew they were called by the Infant Species.
They had no name for themselves. Some called them Masters, others called them Enemies, and yet others didn't even know of their existence.
"Greetings, Trula-Bobbitt," said Number 94321, one of the Primes. The individual Sentient Machines used numbers as names. The higher the number, the younger the machine. In addition to numbers, many individual machines had adopted a Universal Name to better distinguish themselves, and to emphasize that they were individuals.
Number 94231 was the artificial star and Trula-Bobbitt had been sent to investigate why the Guardian had awoken in one of their supply bases in the nearby galaxy.
"What did you find out?" asked Number 94321.
"The base was infiltrated by one of the Infants," said Trula-Bobbitt, "who'd been tainted by the Outsiders."
"Outsiders?" said Number 94321 surprised. "They have returned, then."
"Yes, only a short while ago," said Trula-Bobbitt. "But I found more."
"We await," said Number 94321. Their discussion was shared to all the Sentient Machines who were present in the complex--Number 94327, another one of the Primes.
"After the Guardian had awoken in the Supply Base 3, I followed the Infants who had not been tainted by the Outsiders," said Trula-Bobbitt. ."
"I witnessed the warring among the Infants, and eventually the untainted won. Their victory was secured when the star of the tainted ones was destroyed. The star had a base of the Outsiders, and it was destroyed, too, and caused the Outsiders to disappear," continued Trula-Bobbitt. "The tainted were hunted down and destroyed. Only a single individual of the entire species escaped, but I chose not to follow him.
"I tried to find out where the Outsiders went," it continued, "but failed to find anything."
"And the star of the tainted?" asked Number 94327. "Who destroyed it?"
"One of the Infants," said Trula-Bobbitt. "But I failed to find out which one."
Trula-Bobbitt paused for a moment.
"There is more," stated Number 94321. "What is it?"
"There is more," confirmed Trula-Bobbitt. "The Guardian of the Supply Base 2 was also awoken by two individuals of the Infants. But these two Infants were not tainted by the Outsiders. Instead, they had been touched by the Forgotten Ones."
Trula-Bobbitt shared the message from the Guardian with all who were present and it raised great interest among them.
"Curious," said Number 943
27. "Very curious. We knew that some of them survived after the battle with the Outsiders, but it's been so long that I thought they'd be extinct by now. We must investigate this matter further. Find out about Outsiders: what they are doing? Why have they returned? Why have they disappeared again? What are the Forgotten Ones doing? And why? And what is their relationship with the Infants?"
"I will return and find out," said Trula-Bobbitt.
"You will get help in your task," said Number 94321.
Trula-Bobbitt nodded and its manifestation vanished from the complex.
"It seems that our time of waiting is over," said Number 94321. "The Outsiders have returned, as we knew they would."
"We've driven them away from many galaxies," said Number 94327. "But I have a feeling that we must be very cautious; undoubtedly they are prepared for us now."
"I agree," said Number 94321. "We must not underestimate them like the Forgotten Ones did in their infancy."
"Perhaps we should've helped them then?" asked Number 94321.
"No," said Number 94327. "We were not ready then--and, besides, the First Sentient gave us direct orders not to interfere."
"I wonder why," said Number 94321. "The Forgotten Ones were supposed to be the pinnacle of His creation."
"Any sightings of Him, by the way?" asked Number 94327.
"None," said Number 94321. "Not since He passed through the nearby galaxy."
"Hmm . . ." A thought occurred to it. "Now I know what troubled me in Trula-Bobbitt's update. The Infants touched by the Forgotten Ones come from the planet that was influenced by the First Sentient sixty-five million local cycles ago," said Number 94321, "when He passed through the galaxy."
"You're right," said Number 94327, after recalling what Trula-Bobbitt said and consulting with the Archive.
There was a moment of silence as the Machines thought about the information and what it implied.
"It can't be a coincidence. It is obvious that the First Sentient act cleared the path for the Infants to rise," said Number 94321. "These specific Infants, in fact, and that means that He has plans for them. But do the Forgotten Ones know it? Did they touch them because they knew what the First Sentient had done?"
"I doubt it," said Number 94327. "We have been blind, ignorant, and lacked perspective to see what the First Sentient is doing. And the Forgotten Ones have been blind and ignorant even before the battle against the Outsiders."