The Iron Forest: Ancestor's Legacy

Dusk was deepening beyond the west side of the Talons. The forested apron separating the foothills from the valley floor seemed to make a good place to rest. Birds above gathered and sang energetic songs for a while, but the mountain shadow relaxed them and soon they grew quiet. It was peaceful, which helped ease the soreness from the hike.

Flint struck steel, but Victor could not get the sparks to create fire. He saw it done a dozen times, but his ratio of tinder, air, and spark was never quite right. Another strike, and another, but the slightest hint of smoke whisked away.

“Dammit!”

“Having trouble, my boy?” Jinlin asked, dropping a bundle of branches, and sitting next to him.

“No. I’ve got it.” He struck the flint with little result.

Jinlin smiled. “I hope you’re not the one to light my funeral pyre when the day comes. I’ll be nothing but a shriveled skeleton before being consumed by fire.”

“Hilarious.” Victor scowled, striking the flint a few more times. A piece of tinder smoldered. He blew on it hard, but the tiny ember died. The campfire remained unburned while his temper threatened to burst into flames.

“May I try?” Jinlin asked.

Victor shrugged.

The mage flicked his hand. A small ball of plasma lit the wood with a crackle and pop.

Victor looked between the flame and the old grinning wizard. “That’s not fair.”

“Nothing is fair, my boy. You’ll do well to remember that.”

Stroking the fire, Victor observed the satchel around Jinlin’s waist. “I see you got your bag of tricks back.”

The old man nodded. “Lady Tani passed it to me earlier while you were in the cave with Gaia. She felt I needed it more than her.”

“You wouldn’t happen to have a holographic projector?”

Jinlin rummaged through his pack and pulled out a round silver disk. “I do.”

“May I see it?” Victor asked. He studied the device to find a triangular hole in the side. A quick reach into his pocket and he pulled out a data spike, similar in size and shape as the Cypher Key that Sana used to have.

“What on Earth is that?”

“It’s a data storage device. I stole it from Gaia when she wasn’t looking. I found it on a computer terminal, but it seemed out of place, like it was put there on purpose.” He checked the end to see that it matched with the holo-projector’s input connector. It had a glow like Sana’s key, but the light it emitted was red versus blue. He joined the two devices—they brightened and flickered, turning on.

Victor placed the projector on the ground as the central lenses spun to give off a column of light that merged into an image of himself. It wasn’t as crisp or clear as the holographic images in Gaia’s cave. Instead, it twitched and distorted.

“Victor, that’s you,” Jinlin said with raised brows, sending creases across his forehead.

He chuckled. “If it’s not, then it’s a mighty good likeness. Of course, I have aged a few thousand years since this was recorded.”

The hologram of himself looked different though. He appeared exhausted, with disheveled hair and a large blood stain across his uniform.

“Log entry, number 648: November 29, 2177. From the office of Cmdr. Victor Murphy. This will be my last entry. The code needed for Gaia to create the partition, so far, has not failed. She seems to be confused but hasn’t rejected it. Only time will tell. Just in case it doesn’t work, I completed Teresa’s program that would invalidate her ternary digit, effectively making her non-sentient. In other words, it’s a virus that can kill her. The problem is, Gaia still has all the terminals locked out, so I will have to download the code remotely. I made two copies. One to take with me when I rendezvous with the G.S.S. Trident, the other, I’ll leave here in case I don’t make it. Whoever gets this message, you’ll only have to insert the data stick into an isolated terminal with a link to Gaia’s mainframe. The code will take care of the rest.”

The holographic Victor scanned the area and placed a data spike on the terminal. He walked away, leaving an empty column of light.

Victor and Jinlin stared at the projector, waiting for any further information, but the image dissipated to nothing.

Victor hummed. “Well, now we know how to kill Abaddon.”

Jinlin stared at the fire, digesting the information. “What did you mean when you said ‘ternary?’”

“You know how digital code works, right?”

“Yes, of course. You mean ones and zeros.”

Victor nodded. “We were working on a project to make machines smarter. At the time, computers only used a base two code, ones and zeros, or yes and no. By adding the third digit, then we have a yes, no, and…” he held up a finger for emphasis “… maybe. This allows Gaia and Abaddon to make decisions and gives them the ability to learn.”

“So, Gaia and Abaddon are computers… but they are alive.” Jinlin rubbed his head. “That’s impossible. How can a machine be a living thing?”

Victor pointed to a beetle that crawled across the dirt. “See that bug? You wouldn’t disagree that it is a living being and has a certain level of intelligence. It makes decisions with no outside influence. Whether it turns right or left, it does it because it wants to. If it turns right, it will run into our fire. A left turn will take it to safety. It does this because it has learned that fire is bad and hot. Gaia’s and Abaddon’s code is no different.”

“Where do we find a place to insert your virus?”

“If I had to guess. It would be in Gathal.”

*****

Victor struggled for most of the night to find comfort in the rocky soil. His makeshift bed of dry bundled grass and cedar branches played a part, but his thoughts of Sana prevented any chance of sleep. To distract his mind, he stared at the stars, wondering where mankind settled. The Alpha Centauri system seemed a decent candidate, but with the technology at the time, they would still be in transit with another thirteen-thousand years to go.

A deer bolting through the trees broke Victor’s thoughts and woke Jinlin. The glowing embers diverted the animal’s path, otherwise it would have run over the two men.

“Charred circuits! What in Gaia’s name was that?” Jinlin said, keeping his voice low.

“Something startled that deer.” Victor picked up his rifle and checked the safety. “Let’s go check it out.”

They shuffled through the trees with enough moonlight to see. The spruce and pines thinned to saplings as they got closer to the valley. Victor paused at the sound of footsteps. He peered through a pair of young pines to see robed men marching in a long column.

“Any idea who they are?” Victor asked.

Jinlin aimed his weapon. “Why not shoot one and find out?”

“What? Are you crazy?”

“Relax, my boy. I was just kidding.” Jinlin grinned. “We could just ask them.”

Victor nodded. “Sounds like a good idea to me.” He headed right towards them.

Jinlin rolled his eyes and grabbed his arm. “Now who’s the crazy one.”

They hid in the shadows behind a group of saplings, just in case the newcomers had hostile intentions. It was difficult to tell how many people there were, but the sound of metal thumping the rocky road told of their identity.

“Jinlin, look. Mechwalker.” Victor whispered. “I think they’re Shainxu.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. They have a couple of them covering the rear.”

The old man leaned forward. “You’re right. They’re Shainxu.”

Jinlin leaped forward, but Victor’s hand grabbed his robe and tugged. “Until we know their intentions, we should stay here.”

“Right.”

The column continued, getting close enough that Victor felt the ground vibrate. “Do you think they can see us?”

“Of course not, my boy,” Jinlin said with confidence. “I have trained for years in the art of stealth. To them, we are invisible.”

“You two hide so poorly, a blind man could find you,” a woman’s voice said from behind, startling them.

“Invisible my ass.” Victor glowered.

Jinlin grinned. “It’s good to see you again, Lady Tani.”

She nodded.

Victor’s excitement to see her and the huge column of Shainxu mages made him want to wrap his arms around her in thanks, but her chest was still bound in bandages beneath her red robes. “How’s the wound?”

She patted it. “Better. Master Seshin has a remarkable knowledge of healing plants.”

“Master Jinlin,” a man across the road called out. “Fancy meeting you here.” It was Master Quintu, dressed in a maroon robe with an under-steel plate. Most of the wizards wore their robes with the added protection of steel pauldrons and chain-mail. They looked less like wizards and more like soldiers.

Jinlin bowed in greeting. “I never thought the day would come when the Shainxu leave the Iron Forest. I see my wisdom has changed the council’s decision.”

“Don’t flatter yourself, old man. We march at Gaia’s request. She has spoken to the Grand Master and asked that we help Victor so he may reunite with the woman who fights against King Shunlin.”

“Sana?” Victor said.

“That was her name, yes. Mother Gaia said it would be a great act of compassion. Whatever that means.”

Victor covered his mouth to hide his laughter. “I’ll be damned.”

*****

The Shainxu halted and set up camp with Gathal looming in the distance.

Victor stood staring to the south. He could make out the city walls and temple, but any details of the Chotukhan capital were washed out by a humid haze. What bothered him the most was the surrounding land. A few random farms and shallow hills sprinkled the landscape. He knew marching an army across a flat featureless land against a fortified position would make any invasion difficult.

“So that’s Gathal?” Victor asked Jinlin, who stood at his side.

“That’s correct, my boy. It was once owned by the Shankur, but the Chotukhan took the city during the War of Five Winters. Since then, they have sought refuge in the mountains to the west while the Chotukhan ruled the land with an iron grip.”

“Taking it back won’t be easy. Anyone attacking the city will be vulnerable to its defenses.”

Jinlin nodded. “Many people died during the last war and this one will be no different.”

What Victor didn’t see while studying the landscape was the Shankur. Where are you, Sana?

Shouts and chatter reverberated as Shainxu mages rushed to gather at the western side of their camp. They pointed to the distance. Victor and Jinlin ran to see what was going on.

At the base of the mountains to the west, a massive plume of smoke rose into the sky. Wind carried the column and spread it across the land. Even during the daylight hours, a flicker of fire could be seen.

“What’s over there?” Victor asked.

Jinlin gazed at the gray and black column with wide eyes. “That’s Tashimur. It looks like it’s burning.”

Victor grinned. “At least we know where Sana is, and from what I see, it appears your friends didn’t show up for nothing.”