Ardra

"Major, we have an opportunity and a conflict," the Colonel said. "Part of the deal is to deliver the bodies to the Space Nav Guild. It could be an opportunity to seize Ardra, but I think it would risk the deal. We need alternatives."

-----

November 30

Press Release: Inquisition Drops All Charges on Al Raqis Landsraat "Taurean Defendants"

Colonel Aodhfionn MacMoragh of the Union of Allied Planets reached an agreement with the Imperial Inquisitor, His Grace Margrave Princely Count Sardar Kumar Sri Rai Sahib Khanzadeh for the release of the three Al Raqis Landsraat defendants from 34 Tau.

Charges are hereby dropped for Calina Tereschenko of House Shanjian, Zeno Baxton of House Zenobia, and Deren Ireton of House Barca. All travel restrictions and asset controls are hereby lifted effective immediately.

The deal was brokered by the Space Navigator Guild who refused to make comment.

The Imperium expressed appreciation to the Union of Allied Planets and the Space Navigator Guild for their assistance in the pursuit of justice.

The Margrave Inquisitor declined to disclose the nature of the deal other than it was "evidence vital for the furtherance of the pursuit of the Imperium's Justice".

Inquisitor His Grace Margrave Princely Count Sardar Kumar Sri Rai Sahib Khanzadeh commented, "The three Taurean prisoners were very tight-lipped and refused to turn State's Evidence, but they obeyed the forms which is important as per the Great Convention. The forms must be obeyed. Fortunately for them, their home government was resourceful on their behalf and was able to procure their release."

-----

My shuttle sped through the Black.

The space in between. The neither-neither.

I flipped a switch and spoke into the communicator, on a private channel, "Requesting coordinates."

The reply was immediate. ** 190 190 4040 for lower entry. **

"Confirmed," I replied.

The signal continued to broadcast as my ship approached the structure.

** 190 200 4144 for terminus entry. **

** 190 190 8640 for auxiliary entry. **

** Permission for entry is granted. **

** Proceed and land in the lower level. **

** Entry to the loading bay is on the lower west side. **

-----

The shuttle door opened with a hiss.

I was confronted by a cloud of iridescent bubbles, each one roughly a meter or more in diameter. Scintillating colours of red, green, and blue.

"Welcome, Major." It was the voice of Ardra Aurotharius. It was accompanied by an echo:

"You may leave your shuttle," she added. "The bay is pressurized for your convenience."

I stepped out onto the sloping deck. The walls arching upward into the gloom.

The bubbles were warm and soft to the touch. The accompanying noise was chaotic and loud, difficult to define.

"Hello Audrey..." I began.

"I will permit it," she said, on my use of the name. "Tell me, Major, does this errand remind you of anything?"

"The bubbles make me think of New Year's," I replied, "why don't you show yourself?"

She did not reply. Instead, the bubbles gradually subsided revealing her familiar form. The claws were tucked in. The wings pulled back. Spice vented from the top of the framework, where the head should be.

"Thank you," I said, "That's better."

"Tell me of your errand today," she said, "An Alliance Officer brings to the Spacing Guild Corpus a body to secure for some purpose of political necessity."

"I have some dead bodies for the Guild," I agreed, "Something Central Government arranged."

"We will accept them for safekeeping as in the past," she declared. "Twenty years ago, such an errand only merited a lieutenant," she added with a hint of mockery.

She referred to the bones of St. Zenobius housed with the Guild during the war. The same relics she had tried to put on the blackmarket. Her attempt to sell those artifacts had led to her file being sent to my desk over two years ago.

We had indeed come full circle.

"Well," I replied, "we have a connection, you and I."

"I might not have come in person for others," she admitted, "Especially after the recent security breach."

I smiled. "So, how is the Guild treating you?" I asked, as if we were old friends, "Are you happy here?"

"To the extent to which I am capable, yes," she replied. "And I have facilities available to me that I would not otherwise."

"Your research is going well then?"

"Yes it is," she replied, "Your assistance has moved things along well. Have you progressed on my request?"

I answered charitably, "Glad to be able to help. You are aware that we take a great interest in your work..."

"That has never changed," she remarked.

I continued, "... and I do have a preliminary medical report on the twins."

"Have they found the Aleph or the Zahir?" she asked.

I did not answer her question. Instead, I said, "Let me ask you, Audrey, what would it take for you to come back to us...to continue your work in 34 Tauri.... for the Alliance?"

"Tell me if you found the Aleph or the Zahir," she said, "and I will answer you plainly."

"We might have found the Aleph. We are running tests."

As promised, she answered plainly. "If you have indeed found the Aleph, you may have custody of me on June 3rd of the coming year."

"Surely, you would like to be part of the testing procedure," I said, "to verify the find."

"I will be able to verify on June 2nd."

"Why that date, Audrey?" I asked.

Ardra explained, "It is when the Aleph will be activated....and I can return home." She then asked a question. "How is Wylder? You keep him off the grid."

I was not done talking about June 2nd. "Is that the date your consciousness transfers into the Audrey clone?"

"It is not like that," she said.

"What is it like?"

"It is like family," said Ardra. "Being together. Eighteen years has been a long time to wait."

I paused, giving her response the respect it deserved, then I answered her earlier question. "Wylder is fine. A charming man indeed. Would you like to see your father? We can arrange that."

"It will traumatize him," she replied, "You would do well not to tell him about the Aleph. We will be reacquainted after the singularity event. It will be like it was. Have you told him of the Audreys?"

I answered with a question. "Would you rather wait until after the Aleph is activated?"

"It would be best," she replied. "It is Wylder you risk by your rash acts. You awakened him too early," she accused, "Tragedy has made him fragile."

"I am glad to see you are protective of him," I answered, "as a daughter should be."

Ardra continued, "He can maybe forget the tragedy like it was a bad dream, a hibernation nightmare."

"We want you back home, Audrey. You can help him forget... once you are restored."

"We will help him forget," she agreed, "and we can all move on." She then asked, "Did you bring the Centavo?"

I pulled a coin out of my belt pouch and held it up, the strange light of the Guild Terminus reflecting off the metal. It was the 1929 Argentinean 20 centavos given to me by Wylder Aurotharius.

Another cryptic noise came from Ardra:

She had activated sensors.

Still holding the coin, I asked, "What precautions should we be taking, prior to the activation of the Aleph, to ensure a smooth transition?"

"Keep the girls' strength up."

I slipped the coin into the breast pocket of my uniform. "Come and inspect our laboratory before the event," I said.

"I might," answered Ardra, "We will discuss again after you get further confirmation."

"We will keep in touch," I said, "You and I."

"We can," she replied.

-----

Project Aurotharius was an Alliance sponsored think tank funded to research and develop the most experimental technologies.

During the time of the project's existence, Audrey Aurotharius, daughter of lead researcher, Professor Wylder Aurotharius, took gravely ill. Her father used all the resources at his disposal to save her life. His efforts proved fruitless.

Audrey died, still connected to the Auto Regressive Development Research Algorithm, an artificial intelligence that was her playmate in life. The result calls itself/herself Ardra Aurotharius.

Whether Ardra was the data ghost of a dead girl lingering in the microtubules of a quantum computer, or an autonomous artificial intelligence yearning to reunite with her friend, it did not matter in the end. Sometimes experiments are stolen. Other times, they get up and walk away on their own. Either way, it part of my job to find them and bring them back.

And if Ardra/Audrey was a monster, she was our monster. We created her. We had the responsibility to take care of her.

Whatever that might mean.

-----

***** Secured Comms *****

From: Colonel Aodhfionn MacMoragh, UAP Special Projects
To: Major Pepper Siamendes, UAP SIU

I am forwarding to you Mu Draconis Terminus Observational Analysis from Doctor Serendipity.

Report is as follows:

From: Doctor Qui Von Wer Foreman Serendipity, PhD
To: Colonel Aodhfionn MacMoragh, UAP Special Projects

Reference: Mu Draconis Terminus
Subject: Observational Analysis

The scheduled arrival of a member of the Space Navigator Corpus to pick up cargo from Major Siamendes created a unique opportunity to get a better scan of the interior of their local terminus which has replaced the High-Liner and perhaps learn more about their operating mechanisms.

The High-Liner moved twice in the previous year to finally be replaced by this new Terminus Station which is now in the same general location as the original High-Liner.

Attached please find two image files for your reference.

The outer image shows the Terminus Station with what bears a resemblance to a Fermitron, an orbital based particle collider reputedly designed by Enrico Fermi in the mid-twentieth century Old Earth-That-Was. These Fermitrons are not permanently attached to the Terminus, they only seem to be active with the arrival and departure of the Navigator Corpus.

From our previous reconnaissance, we know the approximate dimension of the Fermitron. The two paper thin plasma antenna extend up over 32 kilometers from the base. The particle tube extends 4.5 kilometers from the base. The Collision platform is about 2 kilometers from the base with a containment rotor extending up 100 meters above and below. The Confinement Torus' base is about 400 meters from the base and extends up to 100 meters over the top of the Terminus.

A similar Fermitron extends horizontally 90 degrees from the vertical one. It's dimensions appear the same except that the Confinement Torus is much wider almost a hemisphere 500 meters in diameter.

The Eye of Harmony and the Titan Ignition Matrix is not shown, it is contained within the Terminus itself, we estimate at about 125 meters from the base.

The second image is based on some new imaging technology we are employing which allows us to know some of the gross architecture of the main building.

The Terminus Station is 700 meters high with an perpendicular conduit extending out 2 kilometers. There is some sort of particle tube in the center of the conduit which extends 4.5 kilometers from the Terminus, it appears to function as a beacon of some sort. A similar vertical particle tube at the center of the Terminus also extends 4.5 kilometers from the Terminus.

Eye of Harmony - 4150 estimated
Titan Ignition Matrix - 4125-4175 estimated
Confinement Torus - 4400-4750
Plasma Antenna - 4150-37,000
Collision Platform - 6150
Containment Rotor - 6050-6250
Particle Tube - 4100-8700

4700m Upper Rim
4650m Upper Entry
4600m Upper Staging
4400m Bottom of Confinement Torus
4350m Unknown Function
4300m Unknown Function
4275m Unknown Function
4250m Unknown Function
4225m Unknown Function
4200m Unknown Function
4150m Conduit Access
4100m Console Room
4075m Staging Area
4050m Loading Area
4025m Entry Area

Some areas still remain unknown to us, further study will be required.

We are still constructing models to theorize about the purpose of the purported Fermitrons. Future reports will follow.

Doctor Qui von wer Foreman Serendipity, PhD
Zenobia Institut Polytechnique
Department of Physics

***** End Secured Comms *****