They were met by two people, he knew that they were Gloria Hernandez and Mathias from their profiles, the boy didn’t have a last name, or didn’t remember it. Seeing them Jacob released a breath, he had a small fear that this was all a Ra’a’zani ploy, though they rarely showed the capacity for elaborate plots. Jacob approached the two and greeted them.
“I’m Jacob Kelly, the leader of the Resistance. You have done a great job here.” Jacob said. And offered his hand.
They shook his hand, and Mathias answered.
“We didn’t really do anything sir.” He said.
“Jacob please.” Jacob looked around. “It is an impressive ship.”
Mathias and Gloria looked at each other. “That it is sir. But why did you come personally?” Gloria asked.
Jacob sighed, he had spent a long time keeping secrets, but there was no need to hide anything from those present here.
“I am old, I was born a long time before the war, and I remember Olympus. So I am the only one who could have verified that this indeed is an Olympus ship. You said that there was an Ai on the ship?” He asked.
They looked blankly at him for a moment, and then Gloria understood. “Oh, you mean the Artificial intelligence.”
Jacob nodded.
“Well you better come with us to meet Asumy.” Mathias said.
“Asumy?” Jacob asked.
“The artificial intelligence.” Gloria said.
He and the rest of his party followed them to the bridge. The first thing he noticed was that the bridge room was a half sphere. When they all entered, Mathias turned towards a floor plate in the room.
“Asumy, the leader of the Resistance is here to speak with you.” He said.
“I am aware of his presence.” A voice said. And a moment later a hologram of a man appeared. The rest of his party was startled, but Jacob took it in stride, he remembered that Olympus had excellent holo technology. The hologram was dressed in standard Olympus fleet uniform, black with Olympus symbol on its shoulder, though there was no rank insignia. Jacob stepped up to the hologram.
“I am—” He started, but was interrupted.
“Jacob Kelly, born May 2049 in Sidney, Former chief of staff to the President of The League, current leader of the human resistance.” It said.
Jacob looked at the hologram taken aback for a moment.
“Well, you might know me, but I don’t believe we had the pleasure of meeting before.” Jacob said, he had a feeling that he should treat it as an equal, and to be direct.
“My name is Asumy, and you are correct, we have not met before, though I know about you, I have access to the files Olympus had on you, and have since added to them in Olympus’s absence.” The artificial intelligence named Asumy said.
“May I know how you learned that I was the leader of the resistance?” Jacob asked.
“You said so yourself when you boarded the ship, but I had prior knowledge, I have been monitoring all communications inside the Solar system since I was left here.”
“That is an amazing capability, I don’t believe that even the Ra’a’zani are capable of monitoring all communications inside the system.” Jacob said.
“You are correct, they don’t have that capability, they use mostly focused laser comms and have limited radio capability.” Asumy said, it confirmed Jacob’s suspicions. Ra’a’zani might have taught humans how to use their technology, but there were still things that they kept secret, like their communications, and weapons.
“So because they use lasers, I assume that you can’t listen to those communications?” Jacob asked.
“Correct, though I can monitor their radio communications. Which most of their military vessels use.”
Jacob’s mind immediately went into high gear, thinking how he could use that in his favor, and then he realized that he needed the cooperation of the Ai first.
“I’m going to be direct with you. First, why are you here?”
“I was left by Professor Hyeon Seo-yun, to monitor Earth, and in case it ever united in a single entity aid them in their expansion to the stars.”
Jacob remembered about Professor Hyeon, she was a brilliant scientist, and later one of the leaders of Olympus. He stored that information for later and continued.
“I assume that it was you who sent us these coordinates, so that we could find you. Will you help us against the Ra’a’zani?”
“Yes.”
Jacob released a breath he didn’t know he was holding, he knew that the Ai was in control of the ship, and since his people lacked expertise, he knew that they had no hope of circumventing the Ai in order to gain the ship and its technology.
“There is one more thing I need to ask you.” Jacob looked back at the others present on the bridge before continuing. “Can you contact Olympus?” He asked.
The Ai didn’t immediately answer, the hologram looked right at him, as if it was really seeing him through the image’s eyes, even though Jacob knew that he saw him through some hidden cameras in the room.
“Yes, I can contact them.”
“How long would it take to get a message to them?” Jacob asked.
“Approximately six months.” Asumy said.
“Six months?” Jacob exclaimed. “So little? They said they were going to find another Star system, and there isn’t supposed to be one close enough so that messages at light speed could get there that fast.”
“They are not close, this ship is capable of faster than light communications.” Asumy said.
Jacob was stunned, yet again his knowledge of Olympus was proven insufficient.
“Faster than light? How far away are they?”
“The system they planned on colonizing is 600 light years away.” Asumy said.
“600 light years? So far… Then we are on our own, there is no way for them to send help back, they might not have even arrived there yet.” Jacob said solemnly.
“According to their projections they would have arrived there five years ago, Olympus ships could travel up to ten times the speed of light.”
“That is amazing, but that means that it would take them around 60 years to come back, provided that they had ships that could fight the Ra’a’zani. And from what I remember of Olympus warships they were impressive, but I don’t know how they would fare against the Ra’a’zani, I don’t know if we can wait that long.”
“It wouldn’t hurt to let them know that the Earth is enslaved.”
“Why didn’t you inform them when the Ra’a’zani came?” Jacob asked.
“There was nothing they could have done then, when the Ra’a’zani came they were still in hyperspace, and once they reached their destination they would have been busy colonizing a new planet and building infrastructure. Letting them know about the Ra’a’zani wouldn’t have mattered in the short term, they would still need time.” Asumy said. “We can send them a message now, even if they can’t do anything in the short term, perhaps they can aid you in other ways, there is still a lot of technology that Seo-yun didn’t leave with this ship. In the meantime, I will release all the technology this ship was equipped with, there are a few things that Seo-yun specifically transferred that will be of great use to you, including a fabricator.”
Jacob stared at the hologram. “A fabricator? And you will let us use it?” He asked excitedly.