The Present - A History Department Misadventure: The History Department at the University of Centrum Kath, #6

By SC Marshall

The eighth version of the universe destroyed itself...so did all the rest.

Welcome to the 1,143rd iteration. 

A mining android found a rock that defied chemical analysis out in the Molliere Rings at the edge of the Finite Void.

Contained deep inside of the rock was the orb.
 

It contains the complete history of the eighth universe.

The Android Republic intends to give the orb to the University of Centrum Kath to establish diplomatic relations.

But when Pete and Wazzit find out it is the most valuable artifact in the universe welll.....
 

....thieves will be thieves.
 

Can our simple minded thieves pull off the greatest heist in history?

Or will they have to settle with their new real estate scam?

A famine rages on Earth Seven due to the Sociology Department's memory wipe of the planet.

But now things have changed and Koven Modi is sent with Historians and Sociologist to save as many as possible.

.
Can Koven finally live up to his potential?
 

Will Allor forgive the sociologists?
 

How can Rusa help?

The rouge android Zero is still plotting against them all. 

He wants Rusa and Koven dead and decommissioned and will stop at nothing.
 

Then he will focus on the enhanced human ambassador from the Android Republic. 

Dru must also die.

Get The Present before your planet self-destructs
(now a 71.27% probability)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Foxtail Media
• Release date: May 18, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393025719

Book preview

The Present

And the History Department at

The University of Centrum Kath

By Steve M

Yeah, I wrote this. Blame no one else.

Earth 5 – 2019

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty One

Chapter Twenty Two

Chapter Twenty Three

Chapter Twenty Four

Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter Twenty Six

Chapter Twenty Seven

Chapter Twenty Eight

Chapter Twenty Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty One

Chapter Thirty Two

Chapter Thirty Three

Chapter Thirty Four

List of my books:

WHO IS STEVE M?

Chapter One

Frederick the Heretic

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Dorian stood beside his father. They both wore their uniforms for the last time. The gold buttons and service medal shone bright against their dark gray fabrics. They were alone on the balcony.

Do you think it will work? Dorian asked.

I don’t know, Adric replied.

They looked off in the distance at a small rocket that was being launched from a platform far away. It pushed upwards quickly, the rocket burning liquid fuel to get it beyond the escape velocity of the planet. It disappeared briefly in the clouds, then reemerged to view above them as it approached the upper atmosphere.

Father and son saluted the rocket as it slowly disappeared from sight, their right arms extended and their fists clenched.

Adric was the Research Commander of the Emperium, all scientific research and development was under his command. He also held the highest military rank. But like everything else, his command was coming to an end.

What do we do now? Dorian asked his father.

Prepare yourself.

What do you think it will be like?

It will be nothing. You’ve heard the reports. Just nothing. No one. Everything and everybody gone.

But what about Gendor? 

Gendor is not coming, said the older man.

But father...

He’s not coming, Adric replied angrily. Prepare yourself. You have a young wife. Spend your final hours with her.

Yes, father.

I’m sorry son. I shouldn’t have yelled at you.

It’s alright, father. I understand.

You’re a good son. I’m proud of you, Adric said.

I hope the next ones find it.

Me too, Adric said to his son.

‘It’ in this instance is a small round ball about the size of a baseball or cricket ball. It has a weight of 1.65 metric tons and is made from Gravisium, the densest material ever manufactured. Despite the extreme weight of this orb, at its center it is hollow. The center is gel tech, the formless memory storage goo used in advanced computers.

Adric pulled up a holocast of the mission statistics. The fuel consumption was less than expected, despite the heavy load. The catalyst appeared to be working.

Will we make one of the large rings or will we be small like the second ring? Dorian asked his father.

If Corden’s calculations are correct, we will make the largest ring so far. We’ve lasted longer than any other.

Why? asked Dorian.

Many will say it was our beloved leader and because we are blessed by Gendor.

But you don’t?

No, I don’t.

Then how did we last so long?

The balance of power between us and the Deusen. For millennium neither could win against the other, until now.

Destroying everything can hardly be a win, can it? Dorian looked puzzled.

Lord Frederick obviously believes it is.

He is a fool as well as a heretic.

He was both, replied Adric, but he is also dead now. His throne planet was lost hours ago when they invoked the device.

It is good that he is dead. I’ve hated him my entire life, said Dorian. Murderous barbarian.

He was only doing to us what we’ve done to his people.

How can you be so kind? You are talking about the butcher of Lebron.

The time for hate is past. I don’t want to die holding hate in my heart. We will be judged poorly by the warrior council.

But father if Gendor is not coming, how can you still have faith that we will be judged by the warrior council after we die?

I don’t have faith, my son. Now I only have hope. Just hope.

Well now I have neither, replied Dorian angrily.

You may be right, but it would be better to die in the loving arms of Dessi than in the hard grip of anger and hatred.

It’s gone, Adric said as he pointed to the sky then turned away from the balcony and started to walk back indoors.

Dorian followed his father back into the palace. Gone too were the guards, the soldiers given by the emperor to protect them from the forces of Frederick. Gone too were the cooks, the servants, and the cleaners, all vital to keeping the palace operating smoothly.

It won’t be long now, said Dorian. Thirty two minutes to Gaspar 4 once it clears the solar system, he added.

Gaspar 4 is a neutron star. If successful the rocket’s payload will collide with the surface of Gaspar 4 and begin to drill and cut into the surface of the collapsed core of the once giant star. Instrumentation will guide it until it reaches the center. Of every bit of matter in the universe it has the best hope for survival. 

You should come bid your mother and sister farewell, said Adric.

Yes, father. Dorian said, his tone still betraying his anger.

We have drugs from our chemist, said Adric. It will help ease the passage.

"I don’t want an easy passage, father. I don’t give a damned about easy. What is the point? It will be over in an instant. What was the point of any of this? The emperor, the war, the battles, why? What did we gain from our allegiance to a man who is the ‘messenger of Gendor’? What did we gain? Absolutely nothing. Nothing but death and destruction.

Son, Adric said in a soothing tone, I am sure followers of Frederick are asking themselves the same questions right now. Those that are still alive.

But father, it makes no sense. What we have done that is so wrong? I don’t know the mistake.

Neither do I, son. It would be comforting to die knowing, but we won’t. We’ll be like those before us.

That’s all that will remain of us, a radiation ring and a few small rocks. Today I hate both the emperor and Frederick, was Dorian’s bitter reply.

I understand.

Adric touched his ear slightly, then said ‘thank you’.

The Cal Galaxy has disappeared from the charts. The emperor is dead, said Adric.

Good riddance, said Dorian.

We served him well, said Adric.

Adric touched his ear again and said ‘thank you’ again.

We have one hour until the darkness reaches us, he said. The rate is accelerating.

Dorian’s eyebrows betrayed his shock.

Father I must go, Dorian said his tone now betraying his fear.

I understand. Don’t worry about your mother and your sister, I will comfort them as best I can.

Thank you, father.

Dorian saluted his father then turned sharply on his heel and walked away, towards the exit to his adjoining suites. He would spend his final moments making love with Dessi.

Adric continued walking down the hallway to his study. His wife and his daughter would both be there waiting for him. They would be laughing and joking as the aerosol drugs took effect. He would hold their hands as they perished.

From his study window Adric would be able to see it coming, an avalanche of blackness. It would consume their sun first, plunging the entire planet into darkness. Then three minutes later, it would reach them. 

He had advised the emperor and his generals that a direct attack on Frederick’s home planet would destroy any chance of a negotiated peace. When he heard that the heretic’s family had been killed he knew what was coming. The device Adric had built for his emperor would be used by their enemy in revenge.

Still there was hope.

No, not hope for survival. But hope that the memory of them will be more than just a larger radiation ring and a few small rocks.

Inside of the orb now hurtling towards Gaspar 4 was the unabridged history of the eighth iteration of the universe. Adric hoped that if there was a next universe, they would find it and use it to avoid self-destruction.

As Adric opened the door to his study he heard his wife’s laughter.

I told him that if he didn’t charge me more, I would never buy from him again, she said and then laughed some more.

Is he a new citizen?

By Gendor, that must be it, said his wife and she began laughing again with her daughter.

Father, you should listen to mother’s incredible story about the the new food merchant.

Indeed, I want to hear it. Darling you must tell it again and spare no detail, Adric said to his wife. He sat down on the sofa beside his wife. He motioned for his daughter to come sit beside him. 

Adric touched his ear again.

Sorry sir, its accelerating again. It will enter our solar system in less than a minute.

Thank you, you are a good soldier, Adric replied to the voice in his ear.

Thank you, sir. It has been my greatest honor to serve you, sir.

I appreciate that.

The voice in his ear miscalculated the acceleration of the darkness because after only a couple of seconds their sun disappeared.

And just as his wife began to tell her story again, this time from the beginning of her morning that day, the darkness reached them and they were gone.

The ninth iteration of the universe didn’t find the orb.

The tenth iteration didn’t find it either. The eleventh failed too. Not even the twentieth iteration found it.

The fortieth failed.

The sixtieth failed too.

Not even the one hundredth iteration. 

Three hundred? No.

Failure after failure, billions and billions of years, more life extinguished than we have a name for the number.

In all it was a very depressing set of results.

This brings us...well to us, actually.

We are the one thousand one hundred and forty third iteration of the universe. That makes us sound really old but it requires a different orientation towards time in order to put it into perspective.

So far we have survived an extinction event by the narrowest of margins. Not to make you depressed or sad but there could be more of them in our future. That is why the First McGee radically changed the structure of sentient life in the universe in the hope of avoiding them in the future.

But we have one distinction that we believe separates us from the other iterations.

We found the orb. 

Chapter Two

Softest of Kisses

––––––––

Rusty 6.669321 ran a fault trace routine on his sensors. The Molliere Rings were known to have strange effects on instrumentation and particularly sensors. Rusty had experienced anomalies since his arrival four days ago. First it was the moisture sensors that showed him deep in an ocean of water, somewhere that his mining vessel was not. Then there was the magnetic variances, which played havoc with his navigation and directional instrumentation. The effect of the loss of instrumentation accuracy was that Rusty 6.669321 was required to use visual scanning in order to avoid collisions. He sat in the upper drive deck, the clear bubble at the top of the ship and turned his head in a circle every few seconds, scanning the horizon and his immediate surroundings.

Then his chemical analysis sensors began to act up. He ran a fault trace routine and it came back clean. This was expected since the chemical analysis sensors were some of the most reliable instrumentation onboard the vessel. But despite the clean fault trace, Rusty concluded that the chem sensors were malfunctioning. Less than one hundred meters from his ship was a small piece of Molliere debris that failed all chemical analysis.

Rusty maneuvered his ship, turning it thirty one degrees then using his puff thrusters to move his collection hopper closer to the small rock. He calculated the probability of finding a new element as nearly zero. His interest was in collecting the debris for analysis to determine why it caused such reliable instrumentation to fail. He watched as the small grayish black rock entered the hopper. The collector tines would scoop it into the sample tubes, that small collection area used to provide samples that were sent back to Broken Spill Mining Company via one of the weekly sample rockets onboard the ship.

What Rusty 6.669321 did not expect was the horrible grinding sound followed by the failure of the collector.

He immediately sent a message out to the hive asking if any other androids had experienced a collector failure. He received hundreds of responses. No android had ever experienced that type of failure. All responses requested additional information. Since the instrumentation on his ship was effected by the Molliere Rings, Rusty 6.669321 had to use visual inspection in order to locate the point of failure. 

What he saw was supposed to be impossible. The collector tines were broken, those long metal fingers made from Corelundum alloy had broken off. Corelundum alloy was the hardest substance in the universe. Rusty 6.669321 immediately shared the visuals with the hive. Millions of android could now see that the impossible had happened.

Is this performance art? asked Rukha 8.2639547 an android assigned to metallurgical duties at Broken Spill.

No, replied Rusty 6.669321.

Is this a joke? asked Rusa 0.194735. Androids develop their sense of humor at their own pace, one of the few differentiators in a largely collective experience.

No.

There were no further responses for a few seconds before Rusty 6.669321 asked the obvious question.

What should we do?

Then all androids made the same calculation they had made thousands of times since their deployment, they calculated the best androids to seek out for advice on what to do with the unknown orb, made from an unknown substance, one that should not exist.

If you guessed that Rusa One came back as one of the optimal answer due to her having the longest time in service, congratulations, you’re beginning to think like an android. That Rusa and Koven Modi were kissing when she received the request was of little significance as androids are one of the few sentient beings that can truly multitask. For the rest of us multitasking is just a buzzword used by those who want to get us to work harder than we should, and for their benefit, not ours.

Collect it and put it into a suspension chamber, was Rusa’s advice.

How do I report it? asked Rusty 6.669321.

Do not report it, advised Rusa as Koven gave her the softest of kisses. He was completely unaware of what was happening in the hive.

But what do I do about the broken tines? They are supposed to be unbreakable.

Turn on your lateral shift while you alternate the motion of the tines, said Ruhka 1.736598. This will cause your tines to hit each other and will break them. You can blame it on interference from the radiation rings.

This is how the history of the eighth iteration of the universe came into the hands of the Android Republic. At the time of finding it, there was no Android Republic yet.

But it would come to be very soon.

Chapter Three

The Interview

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What do you bring to P&W Medical that we can’t get anywhere else, Pete said as he leaned back in his chair. He looked at the young man across the desk from him, a nervous young man that was fidgeting, rubbing his fingers together as if they were sticks and he was trying to start a fire.

That’s a very good question, said the young man stalling for time until he could think of a good answer.

I bring dedication, he finally said.

But I can get that from anyone desperate for a job, replied Pete. There are plenty of hungry people out there.

I know, I’m one of them, said the young man who was applying for the medical technician position at P&W Medical.

Pete looked at the young man. He was indeed gaunt, his cheeks sunk into his face from hunger rather than dimples.

Do you have any special skills?

No medical skills, replied the young man with a resigned to failure tone of voice.

No, no, not medical skills. Any kind of special skill. What can you do that other people can’t?

The young man froze as if he were a squirrel unsure of the movement to make to avoid the oncoming car.

Come on...Barnaby, there must be something you do that is special.

I’m sorry, I’ve never been special. The only thing I can do that is different is nothing that would ever interest you and would be of no benefit to P&W.

Let me be the judge of that, said Pete. Show me.

I’m embarrassed, replied Barnaby.

Don’t be. Save it for when you have a woman old enough to be your great grandmother lying naked on the examination table in front of you complaining that she doesn’t feel sexy anymore. That will be your time to blush. For now, just relax and show me what you can do.

But it’s stupid.

Fine, then don’t show me and this interview is over.

Wait, OK. I’ll do it, Barnaby replied with a desperate tone fueled by a day without food.

He quickly got up from the chair and removed his jacket. Then he bent over forward and placed his palms flat on the smooth floor. An instant later he was doing a hand stand in front of the interview desk.

Wow, that’s impressive, said Pete with an insincere tone.

Wait, there’s more, said Barnaby.

He began to walk around the room on his hands. After a few seconds he began to run around the large office on his hands.

Excellent, replied Pete with a grin on his face.

Encouraged that he was doing well where he had seconds ago been feeling like all hope was lost, Barnaby began to pogo jump around the room using just his arms to propel and catch himself. He heard Pete laughing as he bounced past the credenza.

Enough, said Pete. You’ve got the job.

Barnaby collapsed onto the floor, arms tired, wrists teetering on being sprained. Despite this he quickly got to his feet, walked over to the desk and extended his hand. Pete rose from his chair and the two men shook hands.

When can I start? It was a question fueled by hunger.

Right after lunch. First we feed you, then we’ll turn you into a medtech. How does that sound?

Great, came the enthusiastic reply.

Pete and Wazzit returned from Centrum Kath with a spaceship filled with stolen items. Most of them were sold to McConnell, a woman who specialized in helping others in the disposal of informally requisitioned items and all for only a fifteen percent fee.

The effect of their new friendship was that Pete and Wazzit joined the top 0.1% of the wealthy on Infelos Neso. No more poorly sealed housing, the orange toxic dust piled up just inside the doors every morning from the night storms. No more food poisoning every few days from low-cost restaurants that used soft lighting to improve the ambiance and to hide the filth. Now Pete and Wazzit lived in the Golden Towers, the newest and most exclusive high rise development in Reon, the capital city of the planet.

Pete walked with Barnaby towards the cafeteria. The young man was smiling broadly and had to keep swallowing his saliva due to the smell of the food when they got within nose shot of the cafeteria.

Where do you live? Pete asked his newest employee.

With my parents, Ayn district, replied Barnaby with considerably more than negligible embarrassment.

Good, said Pete. I need to tell you about our probation period. The first one hundred days you will not be paid. We want to make sure you are a good fit with our organization.

Oh, said Barnaby with a descending tone that betrayed his disappointment.

There are no labor laws on Infelos Neso. No minimum wage, no limit on the number of working hours, nor any prohibitions on child labor. Infelos Neso is a libertarian paradise, which is why the air is toxic and most of the people living on the planet are near or in poverty. But they are all free to make their own decisions about everything. Poisonous air, water and food are a small price to pay in their minds.

Don’t worry, Barney. Your days living with your parents are over. Each medtech has access to their assigned clinic at all times, 28 x 9 x 412, (which translates on Earth Five to 24 x 7 x 365). Each clinic is equipped with bedding and shower facilities. All of our new hires live there for their probation period. A quick ride on the train every day for a free lunch and a free dinner and the cafeteria is ready to feed you, anytime, 28 x 9 x 412.

Excellent, replied Barnaby enthusiastically.

He may have overacted his response because he was still disappointed that he would not be paid for the first one hundred days but he was able to stop his disappointment from entering his voice. At least he had somewhere to sleep and free food. Maybe finally his mother would quit her complaining. Now that he had a job, she might finally quit calling him lazy.

Pete held the door to the cafeteria open for Barnaby. Inside were shiny white tables with between twenty and thirty people sitting at them eating their lunch.

Go get some food, said Pete.

You’re not going to join me?

No, I eat at my desk. It’s the price of ownership, Pete replied with a well-rehearsed shrug.

I am required by law and license to point out that Pete didn’t eat the food from his own cafeteria. His meals were prepared by a special chef that worked back in the kitchen, his meals made from only the freshest and cleanest ingredients, and made solely for the benefit of Pete and Wazzit.

A few minutes later Barnaby and Pete were sitting at one of the tables. Barnaby was trying to eat slowly as not to show how desperately hungry he was.

How do you like it?

It’s great, Barnaby replied to his new boss.

Glad you like it.

When do I start training as a medtech?

Training? Pete laughed. Right after lunch. But it’s a lot less involved than you think.

I don’t understand, replied Barnaby.

The Remedium fixes all medical problems with the exception of mental illness and death in just a couple of minutes. Just run it over the body of the patient and it will do the rest.

It’s that simple?

It’s that simple, confirmed Pete. The hardest thing for you will not be curing the patients but making sure to get paid before you cure them. Pete remembered when he set up the first clinic. He had a rash of patients that ran away after being cured, ran away without paying.

How much do we charge?

It depends on how they are dressed, replied Pete.

What?

Look at their shoes. If they are cloth rags, no soot barriers, no thermal protection, then you aren’t going to be able to get more than twenty CTs out of them. If they are wearing work boots without soot barriers, then you charge them fifty CTs. If they come in wearing fully functional work boots then you charge them one hundred. If they are wearing dress shoes, you charge them one thousand. Do you understand?

Yes, Barnaby replied enthusiastically.

But there is a special case. Sometimes a man or woman will come into your clinic from outside with no shoes on their feet at all.

The dusters, said Barnaby.

Right, the dusters, replied Pete. When they come in, let them know that they are eligible for our free service that we offer to our poorest patients, those without the ability to pay.

Then I can cure them?

No. Then you send down to this office. I’ll look after them personally.

But won’t that be a waste of your time? asked Barnaby.

No, for me it will be a reminder of where I came from. For years I was just like them. No shoes, no food except for what I stole, living in a rundown abandoned switching office at the rail yard.

Wow, that’s very generous of you. You’re a very good man.

I do what I can, replied Pete.

Let me clarify what happens as it is significantly different from what you have just heard. Yes, Pete cures the indigent without making them pay. However it is not without a cost.

As you may or may not remember, Pete likes to hurt people. Whether it is by using his fists or a weapon, the wealthy man that sits atop the fastest growing business on Infelos Neso, a business founded on stolen Remediums, a device that is free everywhere in the universe, except on Infelos Neso, this same man will cure the homeless, restoring them to perfect heath, if and only if, they submit to an hour of him at his worst.

After the first hundred patients Pete had settled on electric shock as his most satisfying tool. In return for one hour they receive perfect health and a good meal.

When Barnaby had finished his meal Pete took him down to meet Doris, the woman who handled all of the administration for new hires. It all started with a non-disclosure agreement, one that threatened prolonged and abject poverty to any employee that spoke about their work to anyone not a member of the P&W Medical team.

Then there was the physical exam. Each applicant was taken into a room where they were required to lay naked on a table while a medtech ran a Remedium over them, fixing any medical condition and making sure they were fit for duty. In actuality, it was so that Pete and Wazzit could look at naked pictures of their employees. Should any of them violate their non-disclosure agreement, naked pictures of them would be used to quickly get them back into compliance.

Doris, we’ve got a new one. This is Barney, he said as he entered her office.

Doris was one of the few obese people on the planet. She had become so used to having clean food from the cafeteria that she often had two lunches and two dinners before going home each day.

Hello Barney. Let’s get you started. Now I need you to go behind that curtain over than and remove all you clothes.

Doris turned to Pete.

I’ll take it from here boss.

Thank you.

As he walked out of Doris’ office, he said, "Welcome to