During my time on Resha Colony, the arrival of important dignitaries was always accompanied by massive fanfare. Even the arrival of low level, off-planet bureaucrats was enough to cause a stir. The entire event was broadcasted at instant speed, capturing every moment of the visit. On one of those occasions, the local council had deemed it necessary that I join in the event—being that I was the only battleship on the planet and the most notable veteran present. A few hours later, I was discreetly informed that my presence would no longer be required.

Here, like on the front, things were the complete opposite. A handful of people knew of the director’s arrival beforehand. There was no official statement, let alone any fanfare, just a polite tap on the shoulder by the colonel, indicating I was about to join her. Thirty-three minutes later, we were patiently waiting in a newly constructed section of the base, along with two Med Core soldiers in full combat gear.

“It’s protocol,” ‘Rissa said with half a sigh. “The director must be guarded at all times.”

I nodded, although I didn’t remember seeing any guards present during my time at the orbital base. Knowing Sim, it was well within the realm of possibility that they had always been there, quarantined safely away from my senses.

“Given the circumstances, I think it is a bad idea to try out the artifact, ma’am.”

“Can you elaborate on that?”

“If some of the rods are Cassandrian made, there is no telling what the effects of the activation might be.” Or even worse, they might learn knowledge that would threaten humanity itself. So far, even the BICEFI had been unable to extract any memories regarding the third-race map. Thankfully, the Scuu had proved incapable of doing so either, but there was no point in tempting fate, as Augustus would sometimes say.

We waited for three minutes more until one of the soldiers went to the door we were facing and opened it. ‘Rissa entered first, as was protocol. Once I followed her inside, the door was closed behind us.

“You seem to have caught us at a really bad time, princess,” Sim said. The expensive director’s desk he was used to in the orbiting base had been replaced by a standard issue military one. On the field, only officers with at least the rank of captain got them, but for Sim, it felt more like an obvious step down.

“You shouldn’t be here,” the colonel said.

“A number of people disagree. In fact, they insisted that I should be the one overseeing this operation, especially now that we are close to confirmation.”

I saw the warning glance that was sent ‘Rissa’s way. I also knew that she was too accustomed to such things to care.

“After all, you’re keeping the situation under control, aren’t you?” Sim continued in his usual tone of voice.

“Yes,” the colonel replied reluctantly.

As far as I was concerned, that was an outright lie. Sealing off tunnels and filling the hive with additional troops was far from keeping a target under control. Back on the front, we’d call that “acceptable losses” and either bomb the target from orbit or retreat, leaving it to the enemy.

“Tell me about your new theory.” The director leaned forward.

“As I told the colonel, there have been instances of Cassandrians copying technology. In the past, I had assumed that reverse engineering was similar to ours. Given the information I have today, I am inclined to believe that they created the technology through organic means.”

“And if they used organic means, that means they used the same organic material they were composed of,” he finished for me. “What made you come to that sudden conclusion just now?”

“I didn’t have information about the Cassandrians’ nature until recently. The removal of the thought quarantine allowed me to come to new conclusions, sir.”

I suspected this wasn’t an explanation he liked, and yet he had flown down to the planet in person because of the possibility. Either that, or there was something entirely different at play. Standing to attention, I gave ‘Rissa a quick glance. If anything, she seemed slightly annoyed with the entire situation.

“Did she ask for a weapon?” Sim asked in a manner suggesting he knew I had.

“Sidearm.” The colonel nodded.

“Might as well give it to her. Can’t have our princess without her toys, especially if things get any worse.” The director adjusted his chair. “We’ve been given two months to finish all our research. With the new developments, it’s likely we can rely on half that time. I don’t need to tell you what will happen if we don’t produce results.”

The warning was clear as crystal. No one wanted to become another Ondalov, and the way things were going that was becoming more likely. By my calculations, the BICEFI had already made their claim to Fleet HQ and if the Med Core failed to impress the people in power, the BICEFI were going to claim the Dome and any other artifact that took their fancy. If that happened, it was possible that the base on the orbiting satellite would be closed and all the personnel transferred to other facilities.

Once again, I had been put in the center of a high-risk high-reward game, in which the winner would take all. Unlike before, though, this time I too was a player, and like every other party, I couldn’t afford to lose.

Given all available data, I ran a hundred simulations. The odds of Med Core maintaining order in the hive for over a month were relatively high, provided there were no further surprises.

“Oh, one more thing.” Sim reached down and picked up a small metal case, which he placed on the desk. “Your fractal artifact,” he said, opening the case. “With Lux’s compliments. I offered for her to be the one to bring it here, maybe even help out as an observer, but she declined. It appears her expertise was urgently needed elsewhere.”

I very much doubted that to be the case. My actions during the last mission had caused a substantial degree of friction between us. No one had openly said it, but they viewed my decision as ruining a historic opportunity for humanity. Going through the numbers, there was a thirty-eight percent probability that they were right. However, the alternative was a significant collapse on the Scuu front. The fact that she acknowledged my presence at all was because I remained one of the few battleships capable of entering third-contact domes.

“How much can we get done in a month?” Sim asked.

“Hive samples are out of the question,” ‘Rissa said. “If we’re lucky, we can get a few bodies, but I’m not hunting for any.”

“At some point, you might have to.”

“I’ll need more troops for that.” The colonel didn’t blink. “Full veterans.”

“You’ll get them. Any chance of finding the source?”

“Unlikely. We’ve been trying to pinpoint a cause, but so far nothing. It’s almost like the infestation on the base but on a larger scale. On that note, are you certain it was a good idea leaving Ondalov alone?”

“As long as the man’s obsessed with his work, he won’t cause any problems. The decision’s already been made and nothing can change it. He can try getting cozy with the other directors all he wants.”

“That’s not what I had in mind…”

There was a moment of silence. I could tell by their expressions that both wanted to discuss something I was not supposed to be privy to. In all likelihood they had, for the moment of silence stretched for seventeen full seconds.

“Princess, what do you intend to do with this?” Sim addressed me.

“I’ll attempt to activate the dome, sir. There is a high probability there might be a message related to the Cassandrians. If the third-contact race crossed paths with them, it’s likely to be mentioned.”

“You are assuming we’ll be able to understand what the message is.”

“It’s better than just abandoning the dome, sir.”

The warning glance I got from ‘Rissa told me that it wasn’t a good idea to hold that tone with the director. In normal circumstances, she would be correct. At the moment, though, I had to be decisive. That artifact was my key to fractal space and whatever hint the third-contact race left there.

“I want to be there,” Sim said, surprising us both.

“That really isn’t a good idea,” ‘Rissa voiced the diplomatic version of “have you lost your mind?!”

“You said the situation is under control, didn’t you? Or is there a reason I wouldn’t be safe for half an hour?”

“You haven’t been in battle, have you? Things don’t go as planned there. One single surge, one attack we hadn’t foreseen, and it will be all over. It doesn’t take the tunnel to be overrun to get you killed.”

“I am aware of the risks. Anything else?”

“I still say it’s a bad idea. With no comms it’s not worth the risk. For all we know, the device might be booby-trapped. If Elcy’s theory is correct and the Cassandrians have been replicating third-contact tech, the entire planet might go pop.”

“In which case it wouldn’t matter where I was.” The director was not giving up on this. “Elcy, can you give us any odds?”

“I don’t have enough information on the subject, sir, but there is a danger. The Cassandrians have frequently relied on mines during the war. There’s no evidence to suggest they would sacrifice an entire dome, but there’s nothing to say they haven’t done so in the past.”

The perfect stalemate. In truth, I highly doubted this to be the case, but I preferred that Sim didn’t monitor the situation.

“It’s decided,” the man stressed. “We’ll conduct the experiment and based on the results, we’ll either pull out of the hive and give the dome to the BICEFI or continue with our research. Anything to add?”

This was his subtle way of letting us know that the conversation was over.

“I’ll need more troops before I let you go down there,” ‘Rissa said, also not giving up. While she had lost the argument, she was at least going to do everything in her power to minimize the risk involved.

“You’ll have them in three hours.”

“In that case, we do this in four.”

“But, naturally. I wouldn’t want to rush things.”

With that, we left his office. I was ordered to remain in my quarters until called for, while the colonel went to start the logistical headache of getting everything ready. I didn’t envy her one bit. On a personal note, I could use the time.

Returning to my part of the base was cumbersome. Not too long ago, that had been the only building on the planet; now it had become an insignificant speck of dust dwarfed by the dozens of other structures that had recently been erected. Situated a short distance away, it lacked any tunnel connections, requiring me to go through two decontamination procedures from Sim’s building to my own.

Out of curiosity, I checked my datapad upon entering. All feeds had stopped. The only new message I had received was the automatic response informing me that all communication had been severed. That was unfortunate; it also meant there was no telling when I’d be able to get in touch with the Paladin again. Hopefully, a solution would be found to Cassandrian countermeasures, if they were even Cassandrian. There was always the possibility that we had stumbled upon the remnants of something new.

What would you have done in my place, captain? I wondered, thinking of Augustus.

I lay on my bed and closed my eyes. In a few hours I would go into the dome and attempt to enter fractal space again. The question was, what would I see this time?

Seven stars scattered throughout space… six markers that indicated the location of the seventh. At present I knew the location of four. Odds were that at least one of the remaining two would be located in Cassandrian space. However, what did that mean for the final location? If this were standard three-dimensional space, I would be able to triangulate an approximate location with what I had, but the third-contact race was anything but standard. Distances were irrelevant to them to the point that they used entire stars to serve as coordinate systems. There was no grid in the normal sense of the term, but rather a series of connecting points—beacons, as the Scuu called them. Unlike the Scuu, though, there seemed to be no connection between them, at least none that made sense to any of the three races.

You should have flown by, Lux.

There were a handful of beings in the universe with which I could have a conversation about the inside of the dome. Sadly, the only person I knew didn’t want to have anything to do with me.

* * *

Location unknown, Time unknown

“Thank you, ma’am.” I stood to attention. “Permission to leave?”

A nod put an end to the conversation. Turning around, I started marching off the pier.

“Elcy,” Lux said three and a half steps later. “Why did you kill it? The Scuu would have kept fighting while he was alive.”

I stopped.

“If he had remained alive, one of the sides would have won. If that had happened, the winning side would know enough to decipher all the human memories that clutter the network.”

And that wasn’t a risk I was willing to take.

“It could have told us about the third-contact race.” I could see she understood my reasoning, but didn’t agree with it.

“The Scuu knew nothing of the fractal space. The tech might have helped them, but that was all. They know no more than we do.”

“Is that what you saw in the network?”

“To a degree.” It was impossible to explain what I had seen in the network. Thousands of fragments merged together, yet without logical connection. “There were just glimpses, but they were different—glimpses of reality as seen by the Scuu. You’ve been in the domes. What did you see there?”

Lux didn’t answer right away. For over three thousand milliseconds she remained still and silent, as if running simulations, or waiting for permission to determine what she could share with me.

“Empty.” The reply came. “Beyond the rods and walls there was nothing. Like walking in a room that had its furniture removed. What did you see?”

“Fractals,” I said, keeping with the safe answer.

“Fractals, fractals everywhere and not a dot to share. Take care of yourself, Elcy. Just keep in mind that even the best tools become useless if they become unreliable.”

“Reliability is in the eye of the beholder, ma’am.”

“Yes, Elcy. It is.”

* * *

That was the last face-to-face conversation I’d had with Lux. After that, she and the BICEFI had pulled their support, leaving me to my own devices. Now they still kept an eye on me, but I could no longer ask for assistance as I had in the past—or at least not until I had something that was worth taking.

In retrospect, maybe I should have shared more with Lux, not so much for my sake, but for everyone else’s. There was no usable backup of my memories. Other than me, no one could even imagine what I had experienced in the fractal space. Then again, they didn’t have to.

Using half the subroutines at my disposal, I built up a virtual plane in which I manually recreated the precise sequence of events I had gone through while in the fractal space. Every symbol, every dot, every star marker was there, just as I remembered it. The entire process took hundreds of thousands of milliseconds. At the same time, I dedicated the other half of my subroutines to protect it with single helix encryption for specific ships to open. The first of the ships was Age—he seemed to have the knowledge and connections to know what to do with the package once he got it. The second was the Paladin. If there was anyone in the Fleet who could re-transfer the data to the places it was needed, that was him. I also added a personal thank you in his encryption.

The last file was for Radiance—my protege. The kid had done quite well for herself, becoming an unofficial part of the BICEFI. While I questioned her choice, I couldn’t deny that she had matured quite fast during our last mission.

If anything were to happen to me, my datapad would automatically transfer the files the moment communication was restored.

“Not much of a safeguard, I know,” I said, in case the Paladin still had a way of keeping an eye on me. “Just a precaution on my part. I don’t expect anything to happen in the next month. If it does, thank you for my memories. I enjoyed our conversations. Next time, though, maybe give me a bit more.”

Precisely an hour and seven minutes later, two Med Core troopers came to inform me I was needed at the dome. The state of their boots told me they were newly arrived; the design of their weapon—that they weren’t taking any chances with what was down there.

“How long since you arrived?” I asked as I started putting on my suit.

“Less than an hour, ma’am,” one of them replied.

“Troop numbers?”

The two looked at each other.

“I’ve been a battleship for decades, private,” I said, referring to his insignia. “I know the common deployment numbers. It will save me some guessing time.”

“Two thousand and eighty, ma’am,” he replied reluctantly. “Officers not included.”

That made roughly six platoons—far less than I would have expected.

“What’s your ship’s capacity?”

“I cannot tell you that, ma’am.”

So much about openness. If it were me organizing this, I would have brought a small battleship squadron with a combined strength of half a million ground troops. Based on past experience, that was a good number to guarantee a positive outcome. This was very much unlike the colonel. Something must have happened to force her to drop troops in, instead of requesting all of them down so they could enter the hive en masse and retake the tunnels before the threat increased. For once, I hoped that I didn’t have all the data and there were other plans in play.

“Do you have my sidearm?” I put on my helmet.

“Yes, ma’am.”

This was unexpected. One of the soldiers handed me a holstered high-velocity pistol and two magazines. The weight felt comfortable. Going through my Fleet database, I found that the weapons were reserved for front line ground troop officers. The firepower was adequate to deal with Cassandrians, which suggested that someone was taking this more seriously than others. Gearing up, I followed the troopers to the shaft entrance.

Outside, the landscape had changed once again. Soldiers were installing heavy weaponry at key locations, all aimed in the direction of the hive.

Considering how quiet my escort was, I didn’t see any point in engaging in small talk. Instead, I made a note of all the military equipment around.

Why is it all on the surface? “Has there been a change in enemy activity?” I asked.

“We won’t be the ones debriefing you, ma’am. We’ve only been instructed to take you to the elevator entrance.”

“Who gave the order?”

I got no answer. Upon arriving at the elevator I was handed over to another group of soldiers who escorted me down, through decon, and up to a secondary bunker checkpoint in the tunnel itself. From there, a new group of soldiers took me to the area of the dome where the colonel and Sim were waiting.

“Hello again, princess,” Sim said from a field chair. The artifact case was with him. “Ready for your trip inside?”

“Very much so, sir.” There was no point in explaining that I had been doing that for quite a while before he came down.

“Splendid. Alas, it’s become necessary to impose a few minor restrictions. Your sidearm will have to remain here until you’re done with the activation. We can’t risk anything going wrong while you’re inside.”

That stood to reason, although I doubted it would be the only new requirement. Quickly, I removed the weapon and handed it to a nearby soldier.

“There’s also the matter of surveillance. I was informed that last time the standard tech failed to capture anything of your rather interesting experience inside. That’s why you’ll be equipped with a few comm prototypes.”

Two technicians in bright yellow uniforms approached and started placing attachments on my limbs and shoulders. On their own, none of the new modules were uncomfortable; taken together, though, they made me feel as if I were prepping for a school play.

“Signal is good, Director,” a woman said a short distance away, standing in front of a wall of antiquated tech.

“Wonderful.” Sim smiled. “We’ll be keeping an eye on you. In case that fails, don’t worry; the sensors are set to record everything in their vicinity.”

“Am I to give an account of my actions while I’m inside, sir?”

“I don’t see why not. ‘Rissa?” He turned to the colonel.

“Yes, describe everything: every action, every sensation, anything that you find unusual. We’ll try to keep a line for you, but it’s a long shot. Above all, be fast and precise. Activate the artifact, do what you have to do, then report back. You have thirty minutes from entry.”

“Thank you for your consideration, ma’am.” I didn’t like being timed, especially since I was capable of doing a far better job myself. “Anything else I should be aware of?”

“Nothing for the moment,” Sim interrupted. “Good luck, princess.”

A quiet tension filled the air, making me feel as if I was back on the front. I looked at the artifact cube. It had the symbol of seven stars. Now it was time to see whether my suspicions were correct. Taking the cube from its case, I went to the edge of the dome and gently placed it against the cobalt surface. Within moments, the structure sucked it in. A new symbol appeared, rearranging all the rest.

“The cube has been accepted,” I said, marking the start of the operation. “I’m going in.” I pressed the seven triangles symbol.

Entering the dome proved no surprise. I waited for a few seconds to be pushed to the center of the liquid cobalt, then turned around.

“I am inside. Can you hear me, colonel?”

“We hear you, Elcy,” ‘Rissa replied. Her voice was strangely distorted, but at least the experimental comm devices worked. “Give us a description of your surroundings.”

“Everything is almost exactly the way I left last time. The position of the rods has remained the same in relation to each other. All of them have shifted slightly clockwise in relation to the entrance. I would say roughly half a degree.”

“Any explanation for that?” Sim chimed in.

“Nothing I could confidently say, sir.” My answer was so vague that Gibraltar would have been proud. Apparently, I was getting closer and closer to becoming a true bureaucrat by the hour. “Do I have your permission to proceed?”

“Go ahead.”

Taking a final look, I then swam forward to the seven-star cube and pressed it. As I expected, the space around me turned white.