PROLOGUE
The Telescope had at one time provided the Corporeals with a limitless window on the galaxy. Along with the creation of the crystals and portals, it was one of their greatest and proudest technological achievements. Using the portals like lenses, the Telescope could refract its signal from one part of the galaxy to another. Never losing integrity, the signal would travel from portal to portal, on and on, until the object of the Corporeals’ interest came into sharp focus.
The Telescope provided the Corporeals with visibility of every inhabited world they had seeded. For thousands of years, they watched and waited for the first of these worlds to reach a stage of cultural and technological evolution that finally meant they could reveal themselves. For eons the Corporeals had been alone in the galaxy, but soon they would have companions to share it with. With little more of their own culture and knowledge left to expand, this had become what the Corporeals lived for. They craved new art, literature, songs and stories to share. They yearned for new conversations and new points of view, even for arguments. Anything to shake up the status quo.
They had been patient, wary not to reveal themselves to a species that was much less advanced. The Corporeals did not want to appear to their celestial neighbors as gods, to be feared and revered. Instead, they sought the company of equals. However, Goliath had other ideas.
When the great ship had begun its rampage of destruction and extermination through the galaxy, the Telescope took on a new purpose. Instead of passively watching the many inhabited worlds, like a bird watcher in a hide, it now aggressively sought out Goliath. The great ship, with its vast intellect, had jumped unpredictably from system to system, to avoid being ambushed. To a casual observer, its movements would have seemed chaotic, even mad. Yet Goliath knew precisely what it was doing. And it knew precisely where it was going.
Incapable of predicting Goliath’s next target, the Corporeals were unable to concentrate their Revocater armada into a single fighting force. Goliath knew that it was not strong enough to defeat them all. Instead, with no predictable pattern to its attacks, the Corporeals were forced to station a Revocater at each of their seed worlds. The Corporeals believed that these solitary guardians possessed the might to thwart Goliath’s rampage. However, they had underestimated the great ship’s cunning. A single Revocater was easily controlled. It was exactly the situation that Goliath had sought to engineer.
The only warning a Revocater would get of an attack would come from the Telescope. If the Corporeals could spot Goliath’s arrival soon enough, the Revocater stationed in the system could intercept it. The intention was that their colossal warships would destroy Goliath, before its presence was ever discovered by the worlds it sought to destroy. The hope was that the seed populations would remain blissfully ignorant of the titanic battles that would be waged to protect them. However, Goliath was too ingenious, too devious, and too ruthless. It invaded the cores of the Revocater pilots and twisted their programming to serve its own will. Then it used the Revocaters to exterminate the civilizations they had been sent to protect. The Corporeals could do nothing but watch the slaughter from the Telescope orbiting above their home world, powerless to intervene. By the time another Revocater could be sent as backup, Goliath would have already resumed its erratic ballet of jumps.
The Telescope had seen horrors unimaginable to most sentient beings, but had endured them willingly. It had to keep its eye focused on Goliath, so that it would warn the Revocaters in time. Yet one by one it watched them fall, until only one last Revocater remained. Then, when all hope was lost, Goliath was conquered, and banished to the galactic core. A single seed world remained, but the last Revocater was also lost. Or so the Telescope thought.
For millennia, the Telescope had secretly watched Goliath, ever fearful that the great ship might discover a way to return. Then the unthinkable happened – Goliath emerged from its prison of isolation and began a course back to System 5118208. The moment it had dreaded for eons was here. Yet in the midst of darkness there was still hope. The last Revocater was alive, and it was coming home.
CHAPTER 1
Cutler Wendell and Logan Griff walked back into the cockpit of the FS-31. They had just returned from restoring the patrol craft’s drive systems, after the transit through the new portal from Sapphire Alpha had knocked out the main reactor. Both were wiping grease and oil from their hands, using worn and dirty rags that had been used for that purpose dozens of times before.
Tory Bellona had already begun to steadily accelerate away from the newly-opened portal, towards the closest planet in the system. However, even from tens of thousands of kilometers away, it was immediately apparent that this system was different to all the other portal worlds that had been discovered.
“The closest planet to the portal is a gas giant,” said Tory, as Cutler slid into the second seat. “I’m picking up low levels of Shaak radiation in orbit around it.” Then she looked over to Cutler, appearing slightly perplexed, “You’ll need to run a more detailed scan.”
Griff hustled over and stood between the two seats, grabbing the headrest of each. “What does that mean?” he asked, gripping the padded fabric tightly. “Are you saying the wreck crashed into the damn gas giant?” The prospect that they’d managed to stumble upon the only portal world ever discovered that didn’t have a wreck to scavenge was making him nauseous. If there was no wreck then the planet was worthless to the RGF. His grip tightened further, as he considered all the different ways that Superintendent Wash could blame and punish him for such a titanic failure. “Is there a wreck or not?” Griff snapped, unable to contain the pressure that was building up inside him, like a geyser ready to erupt.
“Why don’t you just shut up and wait?” Tory hit back. She was angling her body away from Griff, clearly uncomfortable with his current proximity to her.
Cutler didn’t answer, and instead continued to quietly analyze the scan results. The wait for the computer to process the data was becoming unbearable. Then, finally, Cutler spoke up.
“The Shaak radiation is definitely coming from objects orbiting the gas giant,” he began. “The material analysis would suggest that they are fragments of an alien hulk.”
“Damn it!” snapped Griff, releasing the headrests and punching them in frustration. Tory glowered at him, and Griff quickly moved his hands to his sides, though they were still balled into fists. “Of all the portal worlds out there, we had to find the only damn one without an intact wreck to scavenge.”
Tory laughed, and Griff glared down at her, though he was careful not to aim his clenched fists in the mercenary’s direction. “What’s so funny? No wreck means no pay day,” he growled, “and, in case you’ve forgotten, the Council are after us.” Then he remembered Tory’s background and laughed, realizing she was ironically in less danger than he was. “But I guess a former indentured thug like you will just be put straight back into service, right?”
“I’m never going back to the Council,” said Tory, with a sudden, fierce determination. “I’ll die before I let them take me again.” Then she locked eyes with Griff, and added, “And I’ll kill anyone that tries to double-cross me, or turn me in.”