The Complete Inheritance Trilogy: Star Strike, Galactic Corps, Semper Human. Ian Douglas

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СКАЧАТЬ for Humankind. I do not see a third alternative, however.”

      “It’s possible that what happened in Aquila had nothing to do with the Xul,” Alexander told the AI. “It was a civilization busy destroying itself. It might even have been an accident.”

      “What kind of accident could—”

      “An industrial accident on a colossal scale. Or an engineering accident … an attempt to manipulate whole stars gone terribly wrong?”

      “I have no data that will permit me to evaluate these ideas.”

      “Of course you don’t. We’re not used to thinking about engineering on an interstellar … on a galactic scale. But it is a possibility.”

      “Perhaps the data was not as useful as we first believed,” Cara told him. The AI sounded almost crestfallen, and Alexander smiled. Artificial intelligences were superhumanly fast and possessed a range and scope and depth of knowledge that far surpassed anything humans were capable of, even with the most sophisticated cybernetic implant technology. Where they had trouble matching their human counterparts was in creativity and in imagination. Being able to imagine a cosmic engineering project on a scale that could annihilate stars was for the most part still beyond their operational parameters.

      “No, Cara,” he told the AI. “The data are tremendously useful. This is exactly what we’re looking for … a focus, a direction in which we can work.” He thought for a moment. “The question is how to get out there. It’s a long way.”

      “Which brings up the second bit of information our research has uncovered. Look at this.” The image changed, showing what appeared to be a photograph of open space. A number of stars were visible, but one in particular stood out—a dazzling, white beacon. “That is the star Eta Aquilae,” Cara told him. “A star’s spectrum is unique, as unique as human fingerprints. There is no doubt as to the star’s identity.”

      “Right. You just pointed that one out on the constellation image.”

      “Actually, this image is in our files from one of our early Gate explorations. Our probes moved through a particular Gate pathway, took a series of photographs for later analyses, and returned.”

      “Ah! And which Gate? …”

      “As it happens … Puller 659.”

      “God. …”

      “This pathway appears to open into a star system four hundred light-years from Eta Aquilae.”

      “Four hundred … Then, the other end might be close to the area of novae?”

      “A distinct possibility. Further, there did not appear to be a Xul presence there. For that reason, we have not been monitoring that path, but the original photographs were still on file.”

      “Outstanding,” Alexander said with feeling. He was seeing all kinds of possibilities here.

      “You concur that an expedition to this region of space might allow us to contact another technic species, one sufficiently powerful enough to help us withstand the Xul?”

      “Yes, although we seem to be back to needing to enter Republic space. Again … we have several possibilities in front of us.”

      “Perhaps you should list them,” Cara said. “I don’t seem to be seeing as many options and outcomes as are you.”

      “Well … the big possibility is that there’s someone out there who beat the Xul two thousand years ago. If we can make contact with them, ally with them, like you said, we might have a chance to beat the Xul on their own terms.”

      “Yes. This was the possibility we had noted when the data first turned up in our research. But … you also said the novae could have been caused by the Xul. If so, the species we’d hoped to ally with might have been wiped out two thousand years ago. A mission to the Nova Aquila region would be futile if that was the case.”

      “Not at all. If the Xul resorted to blowing up stars—incinerating whole star systems—then they must have been up against someone or something that scared the liver out of them … assuming they have livers to begin with. Even if this hypothetical technic species is now extinct, we might find remnants … like the ruins on Chiron and elsewhere. We might learn why the Xul feared them that much.” He shrugged. “At least it’s a damned good place to start.”

      “That possibility had not occurred to me.”

      “Here’s another one. Imagine you’re the Xul, hard-wired to be paranoid about anyone different or advanced enough to be a threat. Two thousand years ago, someone in that one region of space gives you such a damned bad scare that you detonate stars to get rid of them. You think they’re all dead, wiped out when their worlds were incinerated … but two thousand years later, someone with a large battle fleet shows up in that same region and starts nosing around the wreckage of those stars. What do you think?”

      “Either that the old enemy has reappeared, and is still a threat,” Cara said, “or, somewhat more likely, that another technic species is examining the wreckage of that former civilization—”

      “And might learn something from the ruins. Exactly.”

      “At the briefing, you emphasized that we needed to find a means of getting the Xul’s full attention,” Cara said. “A means of getting them to follow the MIEF off into the Galaxy instead of striking into Humankind space. The perceived threat posed by the MIEF at Nova Aquila might be sufficient for this.” The AI paused. “But suppose the Xul are not involved at all? You mentioned the possibility of a cosmic engineering or industrial accident involving some other species.”

      “If all we find are the leftovers of a colossal cosmic engineering experiment gone bad,” Alexander said, “it still might help us. Even a mistake on that scale, something capable of detonating multiple suns, would represent an extremely advanced, extremely powerful technology. I would be willing to bet my pension that the Xul keep a watch on any such system, just in case.”

      “Unless the system in question was so completely obliterated that, literally, nothing remains.”

      Alexander shook his head. “Not possible. A supernova might vaporize any inner planets the star once had, and even then, I wonder if there wouldn’t be rubble of some sort left over, moving outward with the outer shell of explosion debris.”

      “According to current astrophysical theory, supernovae are generated only by extremely massive stars,” Cara told him. “Stars that massive do not have planetary families, and in any case would be too young and short-lived to support the evolution of life, much less advanced technology.”

      “Yeah, yeah.” He waved the remark aside. “That wasn’t my point. In Aquila we’re dealing with ordinary novae, not supernovae. The explosion blows off the outer layers of the star’s surface, and what’s left collapses down to a white dwarf. Any planets in the system would be cooked, maybe have their outer crusts stripped away, but the planetary cores would remain.”

      “I fail to see how that helps us. Surely, the wreckage of any advanced technology would be obliterated by any wave front energetic enough to strip away a planet’s crust. Buildings, power generators, spacecraft, they all would be vaporized.”

      “But СКАЧАТЬ