Chapter 42: Trinity-1
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***
Why don't I have a star destroyer? Or at least a cruiser?
How do you detect any object in wild space? The scanner installed on the Corona was certainly good, but not as good as I would have liked - the detection zone was within a million kilometres in active scanning mode. That's only three light seconds, which is a billion and a half times less than the distance between two fairly close stars. You get the scale?
So a ship as big as mine couldn't do a full space-scale job. I needed a star destroyer and its super scanners, which were much, much, much, much more powerful than they are on a normal small ship. It was a shame that ZRs were simply not manufactured in my time, so there was nowhere to get a super-scanner capable of finding what I needed.
But I did have the Force. I used it as soon as I realised that, according to scanners and all other sensors, I was in an unknown space outside the star systems.
The Force was much more useful than the scanners - I sensed something strange some distance away. Pointing the ship there, I flew to see what it was....
The closer I got, the better I saw it was. Scanners soon indicated the presence of the object.
An octahedron, indeed. It's hard to imagine such a large object, it's not just large, it's overwhelming in its incredible size. An entire fleet of smaller ships could be housed inside.
The object was made of something that looked most like metal when observed. The Sith said he didn't know what it was made of, so I was going to see what kind of metal thing it was.
The object came closer and closer. I was about to prepare for landing, but the scanner showed that it was still a kilometre away. Strangely, at that close, it took up my entire field of vision-almost horizon to horizon. The surface was not uniform and smooth - it was mottled with some huge symbols that faintly reflected the light of the stars, making the surface of the matte-black octahedron seem to glitter with thousands of sequins.
- What a bloody thing! - Erdva marvelled. - Who could have built it?
- I don't know, my friend, but I'm sure whoever built it was an incredibly long time ago. This region is unexplored even in my time, so there could be local life forms here. Although in terms of size, it's too early to draw any conclusions.
- We'll see about that. Shall we land on the surface? - the droid asked cheerfully. - Or do we just hang here?
- We are, my iron friend," I released the handles and Erdva took control.
No reaction to the Crown landing on the object. No lightning, no self-defence, nothing.
I went out alone to explore the facility. You can get anywhere with power.
As I stepped out of the ship, I adjusted my spacesuit helmet. The gravity was microscopic - created by the object itself.
And inside...
Okay, first things first. There was nothing inside that I could make out. There was a tremendous amount of force that flowed along the many lines within the object, rather like a current of electrons across a circuit board.
It didn't help me understand the essence of the object, but it was already something of a clue - it was connected to the force.
The lines were intertwined with each other and a force was travelling through them, a pulsating flow.
The thinness of the lines and the abnormal complexity of the force structure said that the Jedi were not involved with this object, nor were the Sith - it was likely older than both orders combined. I wouldn't take the liberty of stating that, but that was my assumption.
It was impossible to understand any more, except that it was clearly an order of magnitude above my level. Mine! My level of power. I thought I was the master of subtle manipulation, and here I am!
I had to go back to the ship, brooding. To understand how this thing affects hyperspace, you have to understand how it works. And that was beyond me. All I could do was grind my teeth and watch the thing.
When the pressure in the hold reached acceptable values, I pulled off my helmet and threw it on the shelf and went to the cabin. It's my job to understand this thing.
- Erdva, we're taking off. Keep a little distance, - I ordered. The ship, ready for takeoff, immediately lifted off the surface and began to move away. The droid didn't interfere with my thoughts yet.
Suddenly, one might say suddenly, something happened. Before I realised what it was, the ship shook and the cabin was illuminated by light.
- Erdva?
- The object is in motion! - reported the droid.
The octahedron did indeed move - the faces began to glow and slowly the sides of the octahedron, from that sharp angle pointing in our direction, opened up. Inside was light, lots of white light, a small glow.
- So what of it?
- We're in a gravitational hold! - Erdwa replied.
- Engines on full! - I commanded.
- It's useless, Captain, - replied Erdva a little sadly, - the power of the attracting beam is much higher. We will only destroy the ship.
I could only swear and watch as the ship was pulled towards me by this incomprehensible thing.
In a minute the light from the portholes flooded the whole cabin and it became unusually quiet.
- Erdva? - I asked, since even with my super-vision I couldn't see anything.
- Yes, Cap? - The droid asked interestedly.
- Are we alive?
- Apparently so. Sensors are completely shut down. I can't see anything.
- Neither can I," I nodded, "Then we'd better hope we're not dead yet. At least I'd get to meet Ali... Oh, man, I shouldn't have trusted that Sith. He doesn't care, but I have to die young.
After a minute and a half of being like this, it started to get dark. The outline of the control panels became visible.
- Erdva?
- Got it. Sensors are still silent," the droid reported.
Gradually, visibility improved. Judging by the speedometer in front of me, the ship was travelling at a high rate of speed.
After another minute, when the vision returned to us, in front of me and Erdva....
- There's a planet ahead! - reported the droid.
- I see it. That's a strange way to get to a planet," I shuddered. - I thought we were dead.
- The gravity beam is coming from this planet.
- So we're still being guided?
- Yeah, engines are off," the droid was succinct.
A planet that looked remotely like Earth was ahead of us. No matter how hard we tried, we had to be patient and prepare for the worst. I checked my lightsaber to see if I had a lightsaber, in case of trouble, I'd give the aggressor a head-butt.
I couldn't do it because I didn't feel the aggressor.
The ship slowly crawled through the atmosphere and landed on a small landing platform. Next to it was a concrete building, which, apparently, was the projector of the attracting beam.
- Coming out? - The droid asked, turning the video sensor in my direction. - You don't have to wear a spacesuit.
- There's no point in sitting here," I nodded to the droid, "if they wanted to, they'd probably tear the ship apart. I'd have to find out where we were..." I got out of the chair and went into the hold. I didn't put on my spacesuit. Erdva was next to me, and I had provided him with armour, so I wasn't afraid for my friend.
The planet was a typical garden planet, i.e. plenty of vegetation, water, moderate climate, fresh and breathable air.
- I propose to examine that building, - the droid turned towards the building that contained the projector of the beam that had drawn us to the planet. The projector itself is not a small thing and would hardly fit in such a small building, especially the reactor for it, but it was worth a try, especially since it was the only trace of civilisation within sight.
As we approached, a man appeared in the doorway of the cabin. An old man.
- Hello," he raised his hands in greeting, "I didn't know I had guests, and even such guests.
- Guests come of their own accord, and we are here out of our own free will," I replied.
- Finding a monolith isn't something you can do on your own. I'd say it's almost impossible," the old man smiled.
- A monolith? - Erdva did not understand.
- The gate. The gate is this way," he answered, but he was silent for a moment, thinking. - I suggest we go to my house.
I took my hand off the hilt of my sword and, with a nod, followed the old man. Whoever he was, he must know something about this strange artefact....
The old man was clearly not young and clearly not of the human race. Soon we reached his "home". It was a small mansion with an obscure but remarkable architecture. The droid flew in first, and I followed, constantly checking my strength.
This adventure was not going to turn out well....
The old man turned to me:
- This is where I live. It's nice to see a new face. It's been millennia since I've had a guest...
- Thousands of years? - I don't understand. - You look, of course, not the youngest, but ...
The old man laughed at this statement.
- Yes, yes, I see," he nodded, "you can't tell at once. Well, let's not scratch our tongues unnecessarily. Tell me, what brought you to the monolith?
I had to tell the old man my story. As surprising as it was, he wasn't surprised by what happened to me. But at least he thought about it.
- Well, I didn't think you'd find us with such an excuse, but what happened is what happened," the old man nodded.
I sat down on a comfortable couch, the old man also landed on a comfortable chair and began to broadcast. He was no stranger to verbiage:
- First, Anakin, I'd like to ask you if you've noticed any special abilities beyond just the Force?
- No, not beyond the Force," I said no, "I've noticed others using the Force as a bludgeon.
- Oh, yes, of course," he nodded, "I see. There is more to strength than we can imagine. The more you recognise the power, the more will be hidden from you, it is a law of nature. Your powers are clearly beyond what is considered normal.
- It is," I confirmed. Then the old man, smiling, began to broadcast:
- I, like many before me, do not belong to the concept of race that you are used to, not at all. Who I was born to is no longer important. The Force has made me its chosen one, its guide. It's happened before - among ordinary gifted people there were those whose vision of power and ability to control it surpassed ordinary gifted people by an order of magnitude. Digging even deeper, about a million years ago there was a race of Celestians who had an innate ability to manipulate the Force. But even among them, there were those who were gifted with the Force more than others. Some called us 'Force Lords', others 'descendants of the Force', but the point remained the same - we were far more powerful than the others. It played havoc with me once...
- So even among your own Celestians there were geniuses," I nodded.
- Not at all! - the old man denied it, "Not at all. Genius is different. There were two kinds of power users, two levels of hierarchy. We, those who called ourselves Architects, and the simple Celestians who called themselves Celestials. Such was their fate - they had been gifted everything and their race had achieved unprecedented power. But the mere users of the power, who in their pride called themselves just that, were subject to architects whose abilities were beyond the comprehension of a mere mortal. It made us different. That... that's what ruined the Celestians. But that's for another time. I have two pieces of news for you, very good news, good news and bad news..." he smiled. - Which one do you want to hear first?
I wondered. Not about the news, but about the old man's speech. If it's true... Oh, Force, what kind of creature is in front of me!?
- Let's go with the good one.
The old man coughed and replied:
- The best one is that you're also one of us," This threw me off balance. Though I started guessing from the very beginning, as soon as I saw this "monolith". The old man, meanwhile, continued: - The good news is that you can go back to your own time.
- And the bad news? - I began to fear what the old man was going to say.
- The bad news is that I'm not going to send you back to your own time. Your skill level may have given you the illusion that you're more adept at controlling power, but it's an innate ability. No offence, but even compared to child architects, your skills are below average. You can either learn and hyperdrive yourself to fly back in time, or you can stay here. One thing's for sure, I'm not letting an untrained Architect out of here. You pose too great a danger to the galaxy.
Well, well, well.
- How long will I have to stay here? - I asked, shrinking back. The old man smiled ominously:
- I don't know. A few years at least. Believe me, young man, whatever you think of yourself, your connection to the force and your learning capacity are no greater than any other Architect. And the age at which you were most teachable is already gone.
- Is that so? - I grew sad. - Then I have made my choice, I will learn.
- Well, I see in you a desire to learn. That's good, but it's not enough. Make yourself comfortable in my house. I will begin to prepare you for what is to come..." he said cryptically and left.
I sat on the couch for a minute, and then I went around the house, looking for the guest bedroom.
- On the first floor," the old man said from somewhere in the back of the house. An image of the bedroom and the whole structure of the house appeared in my mind. Wow, it's not even telepathy, it's full-fledged connectivity!
I climbed into the bedroom and sat down on the bed.
The house was rather ascetic, but not poorly furnished, as I liked.
Erdva had made himself comfortable.
- What do you think, Captain? - he asked.
What did I think? I was panic-stricken, ashamed, and heartbroken all at the same time. From what? The fact that I used to be able to think of myself as strong. As strong, skilful, requiring no further training, that is, a doka in some matters. I guess if Newton had encountered Einstein's theory of relativity, or Leo Da Vinci, who thought he had invented everything he could, had encountered modern industry, they would have felt the same way. I was wrong. It didn't make me stronger, just my self-esteem dropped below the plinth. Compared to the one who created the "monolith", my level of knowledge seemed laughable. Pompous, like a self-confident child, you know.....
So, digesting the information and thinking about what I have to do, I fell asleep....
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