Zero: Earth

By Clifford Barker

Super soldier, super spy ... Alien odd job man. Gray Albern, alias agent Zero is a busy man as together with his boss and friend Geyldian, an alien clone human hybrid; they attempt to prevent humanity from making leaps which might destroy the planet or themselves.
It’s a mission the circle of Numbers has been looking after for eons ever since their creators the Devine evacuated Earth, moving onward a new home world. Now everyone’s job is about to get harder still as the humans inadvertently give away the position of planet Earth to an old foe of the Devine. In a feud which has run for millions of years across the cosmos, the Khai-mah are on their way. Their aim? ..... To extinguish the Devine, their neighbours of old and expand across the universe, possessing all that they find and killing any race that would dare to stand in their way.
The Old alien caretakers were just beginning to allow the humans to progress at a faster rate technologically. For eons they have tried to shepherd the humans towards an enlightened state like their own. News that the Khai-mah have found the tiny blue planet couldn’t have come at a worse time. The humans aren’t ready, the Caretakers know what’s coming but they aren’t ready either having stagnated technologically since arriving to planet Earth. Only Zero can stand in the way of the Khai-mah, but he has problems of his own ...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clifford Barker
• Release date: Jun 6, 2019
• ISBN: 9781370315864

Clifford Barker

A mechanical design engineer who had a idea to write the Zero - Earth book series.

Book preview

Zero:

EARTH

Author:- Clifford Barker

Contents

Chapter 1 – A new plan and a missed chance.

Chapter 2 – The longest Journey.

Chapter 3 – A glitch in the Nano-elemental matrix.

Chapter 4 – Disappointment & Dreams.

Chapter 5 – Antarctica.

Chapter 6 – Subject Zero.

Chapter 7 – A problem shared is a problem doubled.

Chapter 8 – Anomaly and assassination.

Chapter 9 – The burden of enlightenment.

Chapter 10 – The Hunter.

Chapter 11 – The Hunted.

Chapter 12 – The Mothership .

Chapter 13 – The Interrogation.

Chapter 14 – Thrall.

Chapter 15 – Pursuit and Perfection.

Chapter 16 – Zero.

Chapter 17 – The king maker.

Chapter 18 – Finally …

Chapter 19 - Prime Number Mind Games.

Chapter 20 – Flying in and checking out.

Chapter 21 – Re-record. Not fade away.

Chapter 22 – Army of Zero.

Chapter 23 – Leren’s Wild Bunch.

Chapter 24 – Wraith.

Chapter 25 – Down and out down under.

Chapter 26 – Echoes of Déjà vu.

Chapter 27 – Roland prepares for Oliver.

Chapter 28 – The Apple that broke the tree.

Chapter 1 – A new plan and a missed chance

-He’s a big one; it’s gonna take some luck for me to beat him. Still, he’s not as big as mother though……… I have to beat him this time.

As the shadowy figure looked down from his vantage point atop the roof of a three storey building into the dimly lit suburban street; his quarry was clearly visible. In a leap he was amply prepared to take, the assassin could strike quickly whilst the big man was contained inside the phone booth he was calling from.

The waiting assassin was slightly bemused; how had his prey squeezed inside the booth and still managed to close the door? Why would he need to, given the lateness of the hour? There was no one else around. His own previous attempts to get close to this man had shown him to be hyper-aware. Bordering upon psychic, it was as if the agent always assumed he was being followed … He’s a wily one alright.

Two decades spent in merciless and endless training had prepared the assassin for this veritable clash of the titans. Another five years had seen the man in black simply trying to get close enough to the huge secret agent that he could finally draw the Katana from his back and strike; never had he been closer than tonight. In twenty-five years, this was the first time he’d even seen his target up close. Before tonight, all information had been provided by blurry photographs and hurriedly gathered data, usually after the agent had staged yet another successful intervention into some human endeavour to further develop technology.

Much hearsay and conjecture surrounded his target. A Solid source had verified that the secret agent was friendly with the leaders of every major superpower. Rumours were rife, and if believed, the agent had carried out missions in most of the countries on every developed continent. Some of these missions were game changers. Others were merely to obtain a clearer picture inside the borders of a country locked against foreign diplomacy.

Quinn had seen the manila file into which his mother had compiled all her information on Zero; it was disappointingly thin considering what an industrious spy their target was. The agent had no real name and was simply known by his code name, Zero. His age and nationality were also unknown, as was the organisation he worked for. "The Cabal" as Quinn’s mother referred to it, was arguably more secretive and mysterious than Zero.

Though he was only looking at the huge man from behind, through the filthy glazing, the light inside the phone booth afforded the assassin a much clearer view of his target. Zero appeared to be in his early thirties, but his thickly muscled physique was more typical of a man with many years of extremely harsh physical labour under his belt. Quinn knew better than to trust his eyes, the one sense he could normally rely on. The fact that Quinn’s mother had been trying to bring Zero down for several years before she’d adopted him, said the agent’s age was double this at the very least. Zero’s reputation hinted that even if he was in his sixties or perhaps older, his reactions and physical abilities were far more in keeping with his looks.

At this stage in his efforts, the assassin’s Katana had so far only been used to loosen the lips of people whom Zero had left in his wake: Soldiers who’d been immobilised, other spies who’d been baffled and evaded, not to mention Scientists who had all been left disappointed. The message was unanimous in both volume and clarity … If Quinn was serious about bringing down this target, he would need skill and luck in equal measure as the only thing faster than Zero’s hands, was his mind.

Silently and with perfect balance even on the steep incline of the roof, the assassin moved to the gutter’s edge. Hand on hilt, the killer prepared to leap. Below him on the opposite side of the street, his quarry was clearly having a difficult conversation; it had been this way since Zero’s call had been connected. It was comical to watch this large man get so animated inside such a tiny space. But as the conversation progressed, so Zero became more and more animated as he attempted to persuade the respondent. So loud had Zero now become, that the transducer in his suit was passing the noise clearly to his jawbone. Quinn couldn’t understand a single word Zero uttered; this didn’t matter as everything was being recorded for later. His mother would make short work of her analysis.

Below him inside the phone booth, Zero continued to be pre-occupied. For some minutes since his call had begun the discussion had become increasingly one sided. A rare feeling of helplessness washed over Zero as he hoped for a change in the luck of their project …

Another failure? Really? That's a shame … He was a good man … What!? What do you mean he was the last one? … I know that … but … no ... wait ... you have to keep trying! I'm coming in! We need to think of something else and fast … we’re on a clock … Yes … Yes … I know you know, but that's why we have to move onwards … I'll see you when I get back … Ok ... Zero out!

Zero slammed down the receiver, but this was more out of shear disbelief and frustration rather than anger. Zero never got angry. So much had been accomplished, but more importantly, there was still so much left to do; things which must be put in place … Before it was too late.

With his head bowed in silent frustration, and his hands placed on the glazing either side of him, Zero took a few moments to think deeply about their next move. Outside the booth a noise piqued Zero’s instinct. Contemplating his surroundings Zero became aware of at least two other presences in his vicinity. With the hour well past midnight, as Zero peered out through the dirty glass of the phone kiosk, the image was hazy; the street still appeared empty.

-Good concealment guys … Well done! But as I’m sure you’re both more than aware, if you’re gonna wind me up … You’d better be prepared to watch me go!

Not for the first time Zero was being followed, but previous attempts had never employed a team. Whoever was trying to get close to him was stepping up their game. Whilst the agent was very far from feeling threatened by the two hidden figures, now seemed like a good time to get moving again.

Turning his massive body on the spot before squishing himself into one corner, Zero yanked the double jointed door open before sprung from the booth, landing two footed onto the pavement. He was now facing the unseen assassin. At least he would’ve been, had the shadowy figure not bottled his attack, preferring to perform a backwards summersault to a hidden location behind a chimney stack further up the incline of the roof. The ease with which the big man had extricated himself from such a confined space to emerge back into the dim glow of the street lighting outside the booth verified both this guy’s self-awareness and mobility.

-Damn! That was quick.

The assassin had taken five years just trying to get close, he was in no rush to be wiped out on his first real attempt. Better to use tonight to gather useable data instead, then stick to the man like glue and use whatever he learned to make his mother’s goal a reality at a time of his choosing. From behind the chimney stack the shadow continued to watch the complete mystery as he took off walking down the street at a serious pace … Quinn would follow along the roof line as closely as practicable; he already knew there was a fire escape at the end of this row of buildings.

The only thing on Zero’s mind now was the urgent need to get back to Central. He only had to ditch his baggage first, and the agent continued to walk at a pace that would even make an athlete tired.

In the last few hours since completing his mission, Zero had previously recognised all the markers which indicated he was being tailed and had taken measures to lose them then. Now it seemed as if they’d caught up to him again. A normal person would not have the inclination to try to match Zero’s extreme pace; but the tail would have to stay with him. Then, as fatigue set in, they would be revealed.

Carefully, Zero tried to listen behind him for footsteps, only one set could be heard. The rhythmical setting of one foot carefully followed by another sounding more like a slap, hinted at a largish man with a previous leg or hip injury. Figuring this man should be easy to lose, Zero continued to increase his own pace but this only prompted his tail to begin a slow jog. Ironically the echo of the man’s patented leather shoes was now much more precise and even. Rounding a corner Zero considered breaking into a sprint; if he had then no mortal man would be capable of keeping up with him. With curiosity burning in his mind to determine who was tailing him, Zero stopped dead. Clearing his mind Zero hoped the tail didn’t round the corner too soon or his brain would be melted by what he might’ve seen. With a clear image inside his head Zero performed a perfectly modulated telekinetic jump; in an instant he was back in the phone booth under the dim street light.

Exiting the booth again, even faster this time Zero ran to catch up to his stalker, this didn’t take long. The black suit and white shirt were a dead give-away. The tail was CIA, probably assigned as a protection detail. The agent was now running flat out in the realisation that losing Zero yet again would earn him a one-way ticket to an ass chewing of epic proportions. After the last time CIA was keen never to repeat the experience.

The CIA operative had been briefed only with enough information to find and then recognise Zero, a good friend of tricky Dickie. The U.S. President had ordered the protective detail to follow Zero. Even armed with the exact location of his subject, CIA had arrived in Munich just in time to find Zero had already completed his mission. Well ahead of everyone’s predictions.

The agent had been well concealed as Zero was talking in the booth, but from his position he had briefly seen the glint of something moving on the roof line overlooking the booth where Zero was. He’d been unable to gather more intel on what this might be without giving away his own position; but for a brief moment the silhouette had looked a lot like a man, hovering over Zero like the Pale Death himself.

Either way it was now safe to assume he’d been made. Zero wouldn’t hang around for long before he’d be gone again; he never did.

Zero however, was not gone just yet. Closing in on CIA’s position from behind, he was skilfully hearing the American agent’s thoughts in real time. Whilst confirming Zero’s suspicions that there had been two bodies tailing him, they clearly weren’t a team, not by any stretch. Zero hadn’t seen the second man on the roof. Despite feeling his presence strongly Zero had arrogantly assumed both men were at ground level, following in relay. Clearly this had been wrong.

To repay CIA for his unwitting assistance, Zero now visualised the map he’d memorised during Gill’s mission briefing prior to coming to Germany. Ahead of CIA, around one more junction, was another street much like this one. In a flash Zero jumped again, unaware of the assassin who had still been observing him, unseen from above. Now the assassin was also mentally thanking his mother for teaching him to close his thoughts. Quinn could feel the way his target kept probing into his mind. Zero was mentally strong, and the shadowy figure still had no idea if he would be able to fend off a mental assault when the pair would meet toe to toe, in the very near future.

Hearing the clumsy jangling of rubbish bins in the next street, CIA wiped the sweat from his brow, and dug in. Maybe he could still avoid a serious reprimand. Taking off like a scolded cat to find his subject, CIA rounded the corner breathing hard, just in time to see Zero disappear down another street. The road sign indicated his subject was headed for an industrial area. CIA knew Zero was finding a deserted spot in readiness to leave.

Reaching an industrial quarter, Zero took his opportunity to mess with CIA, jumping clear over an old wooden factory gate with heavily set forged iron hinges.

-Okay that was slow enough for him to see.

Once on the other side of the gate Zero jumped again, but this time with inhuman velocity and power, far too fast for a person to see. In the blink of an eye the super-agent was landing five storeys up on the flat roof of the factory.

Zero turned quickly to overlook the edge of the parapet; shielding his profile against the orangey glow of the city’s night sky. As he now waited for CIA to catch up, Zero was free to cast his eyes much wider afield. If Zero was going to spot the second man, now was the time. The unknown man was out there, somewhere, looking for the kill.

The factory roof was much higher than the surrounding dwellings; the street where Zero had started this little game of cat, mouse and hawk, was clearly visible three streets over. Thirty seconds later Zero observed as his follower scaled the gate, expending much more effort than it had taken Zero. Poor CIA was getting tired. Sighing, Zero realised that CIA had committed his first mistake by giving himself away; after this he had been in harm’s way far more than Zero. The second psyche which Zero had found initially but then lost, was still blinking into Zero’s mental range occasionally and his intentions were clear. Zero had a bullseye painted on his back, and this man, whoever he was, was here to collect. Zero would have to pay Richard a visit soon and ask him why he was sending good men, potentially to the slaughter, for nothing. They couldn’t protect him ... Indeed, he did not need their protection.

On the ground below CIA had taken to banging on doors and rattling their handles only to find them all locked; he was desperately checking if any had allowed an escape route. His face was perturbed but quickly phased to frustration as he realised the man he was chasing had actually vanished into thin air again.

CIA had drawn his sidearm the moment he’d scaled the gate, purely as a precaution. In the next moments, Zero watched as CIA gave up the chase. The realisation that he had lost Zero not once but twice, in only five minutes seemed to depress the agent deeply. With his head hung in contemplation at how he would explain this failure, CIA re-holstered his Beretta-92.

As if to compound the misery, his previously noisy checking of the building’s access ways had been a powerful attractant for the factory’s security guards, allowing them to close in on his position. They’d be on top of him in a few more seconds. Leaving CIA to his situation below, Zero cracked a wry smile …

-I'd love to be there while you explain this CIA. You look like a jewel thief all dressed up in that suit … But I gotta go.

Turning away quickly Zero’s twisting core caused a loud rumble to emanate from his empty stomach. Stopping dead in his tracks, Zero now remembered he hadn’t eaten yet today.

-Dammit, jumping back to Central now would be far too risky, I’ll have to find another way back.

Scanning his surroundings for a suitable landing point, Zero leapt away again into the night in the direction of the airport …

The assassin, now thirty meters away, watched as the prospect of sticking to his target melted away like an ice cube in front of a five-bar heater. Not to worry; just like his mother, the assassin had time. It wouldn’t be long before their network leaked another sighting of Zero … Then he’d be there.

Chapter 2 – The longest Journey

Zero’s last leap had been altered by a sudden gust of wind. Unable to compensate and ten feet off course, the agent had landed on top of a shiny new BMW five series. After finding his feet, Zero stepped down from the wreckage of the car, which looked like it had been on the wrong end of a demolition ball. All the windows were smashed and the doors had popped open. Having bottomed out during the impact, the floor pan had bounced back pretty well ...

-At least now it doesn’t need factory air ... no fuel leaks ... It might even start ... Not my problem.

One minute later, having made his way down the stairwell, Zero emerged from the shadows into the orange street lighting. Quickly crossing the road, Zero entered the departure terminal. Leaning against one of the many telephone kiosks, Zero was able to observe people as they passed by.

Observe wasn't really the right word, in reality Zero was entering their minds, reading them mentally. Not everyone, only men who appeared to be travelling alone in their middle thirties with dark brown hair. They wouldn’t look exactly like him, and of course no one was a match for his size; but if certain features could be found, he could convince anyone that he was someone else.

It wasn’t long before Zero found a thirty-four-year-old German male. He was travelling to Florida on business. To do this he was leaving his wife of two years and a son almost as old......Ralph! He'd been with his firm for over a decade and was time served so Zero wasn't about to harm his career. He would however have some serious explaining to do, to his boss and his family.

Now Zero was the stalker. Watching calmly as his mark approached the check-in desk, this young man was perfect for the agent’s needs. Travelling light with only carry-on baggage, meant the man wouldn't be losing any of his luggage at least; this was a good thing.

Once the check in clerk issued his ticket, the man turned to see Zero stood off to his far right at the end of the check in desks. Eye contact was established, enabling much more than a quick read. Without really knowing why, after exiting the check in area the man became consumed by the need to visit the toilets even though he did not feel any physical urge compelling him to do so. Seeing the man head for the gents at the end of the check-in hall, Zero moved to intercept. Following the man in without words, the suggestion was implanted directly that he'd be better off in a stall. Entering and turning before finding the seat with his trousers still up, the man waited. Zero swiftly followed him, completely filling the doorway to the stall. As Zero held out his hand the man simply handed over his passport and ticket, silently. Zero’s final suggestion, straight into the man’s head was that he should try and get some sleep, and remain there for at least twenty-four hours before leaving the airport. Zero also suggested he should then return home with a big toy and a bigger bunch of flowers; the man nodded. Taking a step backwards, Zero watched as the stall door was closed after him and vacant revolved to show occupied. Zero headed for the security area.

To enter the security check area, Zero was easily able to place his own image into the mind of the passport control attendant. Employing a further misdirection, Zero took the time to pass some pleasantries with the attendant in fluent German, even using the local dialect.

As Zero approached the scanner, his mind wandered back to a few years previously when there’d been no scanners, before a series of highly publicised hijacks inside the airspace of the continental U.S. had occurred. These had forced the FAA to introduce modified sawmill log scanners to alert staff to the presence of weapons. These bulky machines were very basic magnetometers, but they worked sufficiently enough. Other airports around the world had quickly followed suit in order to instil confidence and keep hold of U.S. tourist traffic.

Hardly inconspicuous, the 5ft long dark tunnel was sat in the middle of the hall like a macabrely dismembered chunk of a ghost train ride. Zero was careful to make sure he got his footing right as he entered the scanner; much criticism had been lobbied regarding their design as people had been injured while missing their step either inward or outbound.

-People will adapt, that's what humans do.

Zero also knew better than anyone that pretty soon this tech would be adapted too, to become smaller.

Another thing humans were good at was accepting things; if someone in authority told them a thing was necessary, they'd accept it. They’d complain first, eventually allowing time and familiarity to break their mental inertia and allowing them to carry on with their lives regardless.

This was a golden age; mankind’s accomplishments with or without the assistance of Central and Gill’s Human Network had certainly become much more technically proficient ... And bold.

Russia had achieved some technical credibility by being first to punch through the atmosphere. Both were crudely executed, but that mattered little; America was left playing catch up. Explorer 1 bettered the Russian efforts easily; placed in an orbit which was very stable, the satellite had only re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere three years earlier, dying in March of 1970.

Explorer 1 had been the first; the grand-daddy of the comm system used later on the moon missions. The skill of the U.S. had burgeoned well beyond the predictions of Central in the 10 years which separated these two events.

Since that time, the communication equipment had been re-designed several times, following information seeded through Gill’s human network to an ageing senior design engineer. By the time humans landed on the lunar surface in 1969, the comms system was more than capable of going much further than the moon.

The Apollo missions had been endorsed by Central and even partly planned by the Old Ones. Apollo 11’s expected landing zone was a quarter of the moon away from Mona, the embedded leviathan. There was little chance of the humans rocking up for tea and biscuits if the mission plan was followed.

On approach, the simple blowing of a fuse delayed the lunar landers descent. Not wishing to halt the mission, the astronauts belatedly split the lander from the orbiter anyway; landing only two rocky ridges away from Mona. The expected landing point had been completely missed. To spare their embarrassment, mission control did not reveal this mistake quickly, hence Mona had not been informed at all.

The final straw was broken during the astronauts’ second outing. The astronauts had needed to switch to the emergency channel, away from prying ham radio ears. Following an accident of cosmic confluence, Mona had been communicating with a deep space outpost, thousands of light years away at the same time. NASA’s equipment was so closely derived from the original Devine equipment, that the two signals achieved frequency resonance. The lander’s signal piggy backed Mona’s transmission through a micro-wormhole out into the void, back towards Devine Prime at many times the speed of light.

Almost immediately the Numbers on Central were sure that both signals had breached the limits of the solar system. The excess baggage in the Mona signal created an error in the usual encryption and the message had blasted across space completely unprotected. Such an error left Earth vulnerable; not to say Central was in a flat spin, the Clones weren't capable of this, age and experience made panic impossible. But their suspicions had been confirmed when Mona received a reply back from the deep outpost a thousand galaxies away within 2 months of the moon mission’s faux pas. The message was simple, STOP THEM! It was also made clear to Central that the signal was capable of going much farther with very little trouble.

Zero remembered receiving his orders from Central within minutes of the incoming communication; shortly after he’d found himself infiltrating NASA under an assumed identity. Posing as a comms scientist, his objective was simple, swap components and replace the blueprints. The aim was to make it so a signal to the moon was possible, but definitely NOT Mars! After Zero was done there was a broad difference in the two signal formats; resonance could no longer be achieved. Central hoped that the Earth would get lucky; the original signal might be missed, but there definitely could not be another one.

It had been a further eighteen months before a second and far more ominous message arrived. The same outpost, far away in deep space had evidence to suggest that the entangled lunar communication had probably reached their old home world, a veritable disaster. Some comfort was taken from the fact that without a second signal it would be nearly impossible to triangulate the origin, but if the signal had been spotted Earth would know the enemy was looking quite quickly …

After passing 20 minutes in the lounge, Zero boarded the plane to find the seat intended for the young German businessman. After ducking his head and almost dragging his wide set shoulders along practically the full length of the ceiling inside the passenger cabin, Zero was heard muttering muffled profanities cursing the man’s company for putting him in such a cheap seat at the back of the plane. Zero removed his coat and stowed it in the small locker above, before straightening his Hawaiian print shirt and taking his seat.

His antics throughout the day had left Zero quite tired; as the plane took flight, the agent began to doze. As he did so his mind wandered ...

The Khai-mah, as far as Zero had been informed were a species of alien vastly different from their neighbours the Devine, who lived one planet further away from the sun both planets shared. The Khai home world was a hot place populated by a hardy lizard like species. The planet only had a thin and sometimes incomplete crust of solid ground which actually shifted seasonally according to the planet’s location in its orbit. Frequent earthquakes, molten lava and hot gaseous ejections which drifted over entire cities were a way of life which had led to great upheaval for even the lowliest of the Khai-mah. For the ruling class however, this stunted lifestyle was unbearable.

Through iterative reproduction between Lizards who had been strong enough to survive, the Khai ruling class had evolved with an all-consuming lust for power, but even greater was their desire for territory which remained stable all year round. A side effect of living this way generation after generation had lead the Khai-mah to become a violent race; death occurred less and less by natural means and when it wasn’t their own planet which was trying to kill them, death usually resulted from mass killing or simple cold blooded murder. Both were merely tools which made the gaining of ground easier.

To say that the development of the Khai-mah was severely hampered by the planet on which they lived, was an understatement. The Devine had, many millennia before them gained the power of flight; shortly after they had made their own way in to space for the first time. The milestone of space travel inside their own system followed quickly. This rapid progress had afforded the Devine a wealth of time with which to try and evaluate their less fortunate neighbours. Though it came much more slowly the Khai-mah did eventually learn how to make cities on rafts. These would sometimes last for hundreds of years; but without fail and without warning, their ever churning and unforgiving planet would always consume the city and its inhabitants whole. And always before any kind of evacuation could be mounted.

Eventually the Khai raft cities were elevated onto huge crawling tracked bogeys; these were able to move constantly as the crust became eroded or was melted by the magma below. Development of ground penetrating radar lead to city loss becoming a thing of the past, finally allowing the Khai to embark upon their own technological revolution. The Khai would never look back again, now their eyes were only fixed upwards upon the huge blue planet which was always visible in their skies, but was closest every five of their solar cycles.

Even though the Devine had gone through their own cycles of change by war, this time was so long ago that the Devine couldn’t even remember; before records were kept; long before they technologically came of age. Since then, arguments were few and were always settled peacefully. Words were rarely spoken once the Devine evolved to achieve a shared consciousness through peaceful meditation. Eventually the race became so well connected mentally that entering a meditative state wasn’t required for communication to take place. The hive mind was born.

This was not to say that the Devine no longer thought for themselves or ceased to be ambitious; they did and they certainly were. But from within the hive mind, solutions were found to even the most complex problems very easily. Zero considered that humans were very similar to the Devine; even though the Earth species were so many light years away not only in terms of distance, but also in terms of their evolutionary journey. Still the agent considered that all the same potential had been seen within the humans when the Devine set down on the Earth by mistake. The Devine could easily see their past as they looked at us.

Inevitably though, there is no better way of developing new technology than through war, and the Khai-mah eventually took great strides with weapons and equipment. Ultimately these would rival Devine weaponry. The Devine hadn’t needed weapons in thousands of generations; but being a prudent race and growing nervous about recent developments made by their neighbours, the Devine knew they needed weapons again.

Only two short millennia spanned between the Khai-mah making their first projectile weapons, which were of course tested into reliability on their rival clans first, to the time that this land-hungry race landed on the Devine home world.

This first encounter had been very odd indeed. The invaders with caps in claws, had very politely asked the Devine to share their vast Mega Class A planet in order that their own suffering be ended. The Devine gave this request full consideration, but by this stage in time speed was not a priority for them. Their processes were engineered over ages; receiving no decision after two hundred or so years the Khai-mah simply grew impatient and took matters into their own hands. Unwittingly, and whilst trying to do the right thing, the Devine had made an enemy for life. No … forever!

The war between the two planets was waged over thousands of years, though at first it seemed the Khai-mah might simply be swatted back to their planet by the Devine who were still superior in many facets. The Devine never considered that the Khai-mah had the tactical advantage until it was far too late. Being far more used to life at war, strategic sacrifice and the utilisation of sub-standard equipment in a superior way to win battles, their deviously sadistic lizard minds operated at a level the Devine found impossible to match. In addition, the Khai-mah were incapable of either obeying or drawing a line in the sand as far as their ethical policy when at war. The Khai policy for war had only one pledge. Anything goes. Their higher intelligence only saddled the Devine with the most inconvenient disadvantage when fighting against a race whose gloves were always off, laying tattered and dusty at the side of the battlefield.

The Khai-mah had not achieved a single consciousness and never would, even as they fought in battle, it was every lizard for themselves. So ships captains, and inter clan allegiances changed, oft times many before even reaching the battle. Violence certainly only begat more violence, but this made the Khai-mah forces more efficient and stronger. There were no weak individuals, indeed the lower casts could be ordered to their deaths and they would go begrudgingly but obediently.

In the face of this, initially at least, the Devine remained true to their high morals as they attempted to win the war without excessive killing. Eventually though, when logic, decency and empathy all failed, even the Devine succumbed to having a collective hatred of the Khai-mah.

One of the final processes embarked upon by the normally peaceful race involved the development of a high intensity particle beam capable of being fired at the Khai-mah home world. The aim was simply to induce a rapid and violent instability into the planet’s surface, to consume the Khai scourge in one final act with fire and lava. Had the Devine acted fully upon this plan, with their home world destroyed the last of the Khai-mah would’ve been confined to space with basic resources. The Devine figured that this would end the terror allowing both species to move forwards.

This was very rapid and decisive action on the part of the Devine and the fact they had collectively decided to go this far only brought a deep concern that they might’ve begun to evolve backwards without realising it. The Devine stopped short of destroying their enemy’s home planet; but this was to be a mistake ...

A similar weapon the Khai-mah had been trying to perfect, theoretically had the power to change the face of the battle. Being the polar opposite of their peaceful neighbours, the lizard race had no qualms about unleashing this devastating weapon upon the Devine.

Development had wiped out many of their own as they hurriedly clambered to make the weapon safe to wield. It was huge at first, colossal in fact; so large as to render it un-transportable. Little by little, successive incarnations of the weapon were made smaller and smaller until the weapon could eventually be mounted on the side of the Khai’s largest class of attack ship, at the cost of maneuverability. The intention was to launch a single devastating attack which would bring certain victory; but the Devine weren’t slow on the uptake. Just a brief sighting of the blue-prints for this ship brought with it the immediate realisation of what the ship’s intended function was. Even before the vessels deployment to Devine Prime, the Khai forecast that ship to ship combat would be highly likely. It was imperative that the other ships in the Khai fleet rally round to defend the gargantuan weapon long enough for its process to be carried out to completion.

All too late the Devine intelligence network caught on to the attack plan of the Khai-mah, they had run out of time. There was nothing left for them to do but run, saving as many of their kind as they could. This was one plan which had never been executed, but had been formed since shortly after the war had begun. Certain of the Devine leaders foresaw a 2.5% chance of any prolonged battle with their enemy ending in defeat. A slim chance indeed but being a prudent species who always minded the details, a plan had been formed anyway. Now they were facing a one hundred percent probability that the only outcome would be global annihilation.

With their typically logical approach, devoid of sentimentality, the Devine were able to evacuate into space with approximately fifty-five percent of their planets inhabitants, along with the genetic and mental prints of another forty percent in vast data storage banks called the record.

The remaining Devine who were required to stay behind, along with their cloned administrator and warrior casts, agreed willingly to prolong the fight for as long as they were able; but of this task they were not hopeful. All reports suggested that a single strike from this latest Khai weapon would suffice to eradicate them and maybe even their world completely.

Voyaging farther outwards into their galaxy than ever before, the escaping Devine had flown past many planets which would have been suitable for their needs. These worlds were not considered to be far enough away to guarantee their safety. Eventually the Devine exited their own galaxy in all directions, continuing onwards into black space, the space between galaxies. Eventually communication between ships became patchy before being lost completely as the distances grew too vast even for their technology.

Eventually before their fuel was depleted fully, the exiled leviathans were forced to stop for a few millennia to mine ion rich gases before refining them into fuels. The Devine weren’t idle in other fields of development and research during this time.

The Devine had been moving incredibly fast. At these rates of travel, from time to time anomalies had been observed to form close to the hulls of their ships. One ship had even pierced such a vortex and was lost for 300 years with no communication. Assuming the worst, the Devine slowed their rates of travel so course corrections could be made around these anomalies should any more be formed. None were.

Eventually the Devine caught up to the ship. After entering the anomaly, the vessel had apparently bolted through several Parsecs of space ahead of them. The ship had sustained damage enough to be crippled, but still had power enough to support the inhabitants. Telemetry from the vessel showed that despite the vast distance covered, the vessel had only been travelling for a few hours. The inhabitants of the stricken ship allowed themselves to be transferred to the record, which by designed contingency had room remaining, allotted for this exact scenario. The retired souls were secure in the knowledge that should the rescue ship avoid danger; their bodies could be re-grown at any time once safe pastures were reached. Their personalities could then be reinstalled.

The crippled hulk, at over 10 Kilometers long was twice the length of Central and four times her mass. It took several decades to systematically destroy the ship, along with the bodies of all who had boarded her. Releasing only small bursts of energy, the Devine considered this to be more than fast enough while still hiding their activities from Khai scout ships.

It was impossible to salvage the reactor, which was towed behind the rescue ship until a red dwarf star was spotted. From the outer edges of this dying solar system the reactor was fired straight towards the suns core. The energy released from the reactor as it exploded was enough to make the sun glow several shades brighter for a period of minutes, before the unbalance this created accelerated the star’s decline into supernova. In this manner the reactor was disposed of in a completely natural way without leaving any trace for the enemy to follow.

The next time the Devine had been required to stop to gather and refine fuel, the opportunity had been taken to develop methods to create and stabilise the hyperspace anomalies they had encountered previously. This also necessitated the power of their ships shields be increased to protect their reactor function from being neutralised in a similar manner to the stricken vessel. This development allowed the Devine to quickly put distance between them and their old home world.

The manufactured anomalies could only carry them in a straight line; but the three ships in the group which had eventually arrived at Earth were collectively moving very fast. They only had to be careful to look before they leaped. The anomalies, whilst being useful were still not fully understood and so the Devine had no way to know where the exact exit point would be. The power used to create and stabilise the anomalies was significant but seemed also to limit the distance which could be travelled; a good thing as long as there was nothing in the way. The anomalies could theoretically also end at any solid object which could not be folded, and this would spell disaster for anything inside the conduit at the time. The direction of travel once inside the conduit was one way only; there could be no slowing down or throwing the vessels into reverse.

In fact, this was why the three ships had eventually, after many jumps ended their voyage at Earth. Against impossibly long odds and at the end of a routine jump, a small miscalculation had led to the conduit being partially obscured by the Earth’s moon; the surface of which became molten in the region where contact was made. The first vessel was fired from the conduit at a shallow angle into this molten pool like a bullet into butter. Unfortunately, the other two ships quickly followed, but shoot past the Moon. After this the conduit was gone. With the momentum gained during her travel, Mona glided quickly through the liquified lunar surface before slowing rapidly due to the drag of the molten rock against her hull.

With the conduit gone, the molten rock soon began to solidify again. Slowly, Mona’s nose pressed free of the thickening crust; before the rock solidified. For the rest of time Mona would stand proud of her surroundings, entombed like a huge elliptical tower, which having begun to fall had then suddenly found support and stopped dead, at an inclination of twenty degrees.

The remaining two ships barely had time to react before they were burning through Earths dense atmosphere as fireballs, frantically trying to decelerate. With their formation through the conduit preserved, the third leviathan had made landfall halfway round the planet after the other …

Chapter 3 – A glitch in the Nano-elemental matrix

There was a bump and a screech as the plane landed in Florida.

Whenever Zero was travelling the slow way, he always recounted this story in his mind, as told to him by the Old Ones back on board Central. No matter how many times he recounted these events, Zero could not, even with his now far superior intellect, begin to appreciate neither the vastness of space, nor how far the Devine had travelled. Not for thousands of years but for over two and a half million years. Of course, this was barely a problem for them as their own lifespans could easily reach many thousands of years. The move to Earth was made in around 80 generations, and the journey was never intended to end here. However, for this group of Devine the journey had come to an unscheduled and unforeseen end.

Whilst Zero could not begin to comprehend the technical aspects, he certainly always felt strongly connected to the story and the struggle of the Devine. Unable to explain this feeling, his guts felt like they were wrenching and he could feel his usually steady pulse begin to race. Sometimes Zero would dream about other things, happier things. A family with him at the head, a loving wife and a son, maybe a couple of daughters. Zero had already begun to make this dream a reality, not the wisest idea from the normally clear minded and logical super soldier; there were far bigger priorities in his life.

As the DC-08 came into the terminal Zero gave pause to the ease with which his flight had passed. These planes had thus far proven trusty in their service lives, but after 8 years of in-service developments, this marque of the DC line had been discontinued the year previously. Only a few weeks before, one had crashed headlong into a Japanese mountain in fog within just fifteen miles of its destination. The inquest was still open and had not yet had a chance to determine the cause of the crash. Normally a trans-Atlantic flight such as this should have been on one of the much newer and vastly more modern Boeing 747’s. In service for almost 3 years now; there was still a chance that the oil crisis currently being faced would not force the abandonment of such big wide bodied planes. For the most part a 747 would have been much more economical to fly, but as no one could afford to fly right now the number of empty seats rendered them unfeasible.

Zero was glad to be back down on the ground. Leaping as he could, he had often reached a 400m altitude, always landing unharmed. Even with his accelerated healing powers, afforded to him thanks to physical changes made by Central; he did not fancy the prospect of trying to land on foot from a height of 2.5 miles! Zero had certainly never tried this before, and was most unwilling to do so. Exiting the airport through the usual Channels, Zero saw his aide, perched on the hood of his Caddy.

His aide Billy was an ex naval aviator in fast jets, and a bit of a joker; but in a crunch Zero was happy to have him at his side. Billy was fearless and not without serious skill in a cockpit, he’d always been a flyer, working from the age of fourteen on his father’s farm to dust crops. It had been an easy decision for the young man to enlist as soon as he turned eighteen. By twenty-two he was fully trained in fast jets and shipped out to Korea. After flying many successful missions in the last six months of the conflict in Korea and then successively in Vietnam Billy had been decorated for his bravery. Now almost forty-three, Billy still saw himself as only a young man, and in fairness he didn’t look any older than his mid-thirties.

Zero had been hoping Central would process him through conversion as they had with him years before, but the Old Doctor said this was not possible. A simple blood test told Leren everything, Billy would never have survived the process.

This came as a blow to Zero who avoided day to day contact with normal humans; after so many years as a vastly enhanced convert, Zero found that he just couldn't stand most humans anymore. His thoughts and skills were on a much higher plane and it seriously galled him that here was a human he actually respected and trusted, whom he couldn't be fully open with. Billy was a good man, but Zero’s many secrets made for some awkward silences in the Caddy.

In fact, now Zero remembered his conversation with Central back in Germany; there would be no more adult test subjects. Since the success of Zero, only four others out of one hundred test subjects had actually survived. One had been silenced permanently after developing a serious god complex. The other three had only just survived but following their recovery they had failed to manifest any enhanced qualities at all. The whole series of tests was now considered to be a shambolic failure, perplexing the Old Ones no end. After the many millennia they had spent on Earth, the Caretakers were beginning to doubt whether they could protect us at all.

Upon his arrival back at Central, Zero was shown the body of the latest failure. This was intended to be a one month therapy, with the subject completely anaesthetised throughout. Somehow though, on day fourteen, the patient had mysteriously awoken, passing immediately into fatal cardiac arrest. The Old Ones informed Zero this failure was most likely due to the pain he would have experienced the moment he became conscious.

So why did he regain consciousness?

Zero made his enquiry, before remembering the old alien doctor could not verbalise English. Zero continued the conversation seamlessly within the hive.

-Honestly ... We don't know, there was no indication on the monitors. The situation is just the same as before, a fit male, only 25 years old. It's like the changes were just not happening as we wanted. That