Trinity 1

Why don't I have a Star Destroyer? Or even a cruiser?

How am I supposed to detect any object in the wilds of space? The scanner on the Corona was good, of course, but not as good as I would have liked - the detection range was within a million kilometers in active scanning mode. That's only three light-seconds, a billion and a half times less than the distance between two fairly close stars. Do you get the scale?

So a ship as big as mine couldn't do full space-scale work. I needed a star destroyer and its super scanners, which were much, much, much more powerful than what's on an ordinary small ship. Too bad that ZRs are simply not made in my time, so there was nowhere to get a super-scanner that could find what I needed.

But I had the Force. That's what I used, once I realized that the scanners and all the other sensors told me I was in unknown outer space, outside the star systems.

The Force was much more useful than the scanners-I sensed something strange in the distance. Pointing my ship there, I flew closer to see what it was.

The closer I got, the better I saw-it was it. Scanners soon showed the presence of an object.

An octahedron, indeed. It's hard to imagine such a large object, it's not just big, it's overwhelming in its incredible size. An entire fleet of smaller ships could fit inside.

The object was made of something that, upon observation, most resembled metal. The Sith said he didn't know what it was made of, so I, being an iron lover, would see what kind of metal thing it was.

The object was getting closer and closer. I was about to prepare to land, but the scanner showed that it was still one kilometer away. Strangely, at this approach, it occupied my entire field of vision-almost from horizon to horizon. The surface was not smooth and uniform, but dotted with huge symbols that faintly reflected the light of the stars, making the matte-black octahedron surface seem to shine with thousands of sparkles.

- What a piece of shit! - Erdva marveled. - 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 hasn't been explored in my time either, so there may be native life forms here. As far as size goes, though, it's too early to draw any conclusions.

- We'll see about that. Landing on the surface? - The droid asked cheerfully. - Or are we going to hang out here?

- Landing, my iron friend," I let go of the handles and Erdva took over the controls.

No reaction to the crown landing on the object. No lightning, no self-defense, nothing at all.

I went out alone to explore the object. You can penetrate anything with power.

Once out of the ship, I adjusted my spacesuit helmet. Gravity was microscopic - created by the object itself.

And inside...

Okay, in order. There was nothing inside that I could understand. There was a tremendous amount of force inside the object that flowed through the many lines inside the object, more like a current of electrons across a circuit board.

It didn't help to understand the essence of the object, but there was already some clue-it was related to the force.

The lines intertwined with each other and the force flowed through them, pulsating.

The subtlety of the lines and the anomalous complexity of the force design suggested that the Jedi had nothing to do with this object, and neither did the Sith-it was probably older than both orders combined. I can't say for sure, but that's my guess.

There was nothing more to understand 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, but lo and behold!

I had to go back to the ship in thoughtfulness. To understand how this thing affects hyperspace, you have to understand how it works. And that was beyond me. All I had to do was grit my teeth and watch the thing.

When the pressure in the hold reached acceptable levels, I took off my helmet and tossed it on the shelf and went to the cabin. Figuring this thing out was my job.

- Erdva, let's take off. Keep a little distance," I ordered. The ship, ready for takeoff, immediately lifted off the surface and began to move away. The droid wasn't interfering with my thoughts so far.

Suddenly, one might say, all of a sudden, something happened. Before I knew what it was, the ship shook and the cabin was illuminated.

- Erdva?

- The object is on the move! - the droid reported.

The octahedron did move - the facets began to glow and slowly the sides of the octahedron, from that sharp angle directed towards us, opened. Inside was light, lots of white light, a little glow.

- So what of it?

- We're in a gravitational hold! - Erdva answered.

- Full power to the engines! - I commanded.

- It's no use, Captain," Erdva replied a little sadly, "the power of the gravity beam is much higher. We would only destroy the ship.

I had no choice but to swear and watch as the ship was pulled toward me by this incomprehensible thing.

After a minute, the light from the portholes flooded the cabin, and it became unaccustomedly quiet.

- Erdva? - I asked, as even with my super-vision I could not see anything.

- Yes, cap? - the droid asked interestedly.

- Are we alive?

- From the looks of it, yes. The sensors are completely off. I can't see anything.

- Neither do I," I nodded, "then I just hope we're not dead yet. At least I'd get to meet Ali... Oh, I should never have trusted that Sith. He didn't care, but I was going to die young!

After a minute and a half of this sojourn, it began to get darker. The outlines of the control panels became visible.

- Erdva?

- Got it. The sensors are still silent," the droid reported.

Gradually, visibility improved. Judging by the speedometer in front of me, the ship was flying at high 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's a strange way to get to a planet," I grimaced. - I thought we were dead.

- The gravity beam is coming from this planet.

- So we're still being led?

- Yes, the engines are off," the droid was laconic.

A planet remotely resembling Earth was ahead of us. No matter how hard we tried, we had to endure and prepare for the worst. I checked to see if I had a lightsaber - if anything, I'd give the aggressor an axe-bashing.

I couldn't do it, because I couldn'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, to all appearances, housed the attractant beam projector.

- Coming out? - asked the droid, turning the video sensor in my direction. - You don't have to wear a spacesuit.

- I nodded to the droid, "There's no sense in sitting around," said I, "but they would have torn the ship apart if they'd wanted to. I wish I knew where we were," I got out of my chair and went into the hold. I didn't wear a suit. Erdva was beside me, and I provided him with armor, so I wasn't afraid for my friend.

The planet was a typical garden planet, that is, an abundance of vegetation, water, moderate climate, fresh air, suitable for breathing.

- I suggest we examine that structure," the droid turned toward the structure that housed the beam projector that drew us to the planet. The projector itself is not a small thing and would hardly fit in such a small building, much less a reactor for it, but it was worth a try, especially since it was the only trace of civilization within sight.

As we approached, a man appeared in the doorway of the cabin. An old man.

- Hello," he raised his hands in a friendly manner, "I didn't know I had guests like this.

- Guests come on their own, and we are here involuntarily," I answered.

- To find the monolith by one's own will. I'd say it's almost impossible," the old man smiled.

- The monolith? - Erdva didn't understand.

- The Gate. The gateway is this way," he answered, but then he was silent for a moment, thinking. - I suggest you come into my house.

I took my hand from the hilt of my sword, and with a nod I followed the old man. Whoever he was, he must know something about this strange artifact...

The old man was clearly not young and clearly not of the human race. Soon we reached his "home". Well, as "home", a small mansion, with incomprehensible, but remarkable architecture. The droid flew in first, and I followed, constantly checking with the force.

I was sure this adventure would not turn out badly...

Meanwhile, the old man turned to me:

- This is where I live. It's nice to see a new face. It's been thousands of years since I've had a visitor...

- Thousands of years? - I don't understand. - You don't look the youngest, of course, but...

The old man laughed at this statement.

- Yes, yes, I see," he nodded. Well, let's not talk about it too much. What brings you to the monolith, tell me?

I had to tell the old man my story. As surprising as it was, he was not at all surprised by what had happened to me. But at least he thought about it.

- Well, I didn't think you'd find us with that excuse, but what was, was," the old man nodded.

I sat down on the comfy couch, and the old man also landed on a comfy chair and began to speak. He was a verboten man:

- "To begin with, Anakin, I'd like to ask you if you've noticed any special abilities beyond the mere power?

- No, not beyond the Force," I declined, "but I've noticed others using the Force as a club.

- Oh, yes, of course," he nodded, "I understand. There's more to strength than we can imagine. The more you recognize the power, the more will be hidden from you, it's a law of nature. Your abilities are clearly beyond what is considered normal.

- It is," I confirmed. Then the old man, smiling, began to speak:

- I, like many before me, do not belong to your familiar notion of race, not at all. Who I was born is of no importance. The Force made me its chosen one, a guide. It used to be that among the ordinary gifted, there were those whose vision of the Force and ability to control it surpassed that of the ordinary gifted. Digging even deeper, about a million years ago, there was a race of Celestials who had an innate ability to manipulate the Force. But even among them there were those who were bestowed with the Force more than others. Some called us "lords of the Force," others "descendants of the Force," but the point was the same-we were far more powerful than others. It played tricks on me one day.

- So even among our own Celestials there were geniuses," I nodded.

- Not at all! - The old man feigned denial, "Not at all. 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 were all gifted and their race attained unprecedented power. But mere users of the force, who in their pride called themselves just that, were subject to architects whose abilities were beyond the comprehension of mere mortals. It made us different. It-it is what ruined the Celestians. But we'll talk about that another time. I have two pieces of news for you, very good, good and bad..." he smiled. - Which one do you want to hear first?

I wondered. Not on the news, but on the old man's speech. If it's true... Oh, Powers, what kind of creature is in front of me!

- Let's start with the good stuff.

The old man cleared his throat and answered:

- The good part is that you're also one of us," he snapped at me. Although I had begun to guess from the moment 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 be afraid of what the old man would 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 offense, but even compared to the child architects, your skills are below average. You can either learn and build yourself a hyperdrive to fly away in your own time, or you can stay here. One thing's for sure, I'm not letting an untrained Architect out of here. You're too much of a danger to the galaxy.

Well, well...

- How long will I have to stay here? - I asked, shrinking. The old man smiled wickedly:

- I don't know. A few years at least. Believe me, young man, whatever you think of yourself, your connection to the force and learning ability is no greater than that of any other Architect. And the age at which you were most teachable, you've already missed out.

- Did I? - I was saddened. - So I've made my choice, I'm going to learn.

- Well, I see that you have a desire to learn. That's good, but not enough. Come to my house. I will begin to prepare you for what you have to do..." he said cryptically and left.

I sat on the couch for another minute, and then I went around the house, looking for the guest bedroom.

- On the second 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, that's not even telepathy, that's full-on connection!

I climbed into the bedroom and sat down on the bed.

The house was quite ascetic, but not at all poorly furnished, as I liked it.

Erdva was seated there.

- What do you think, Captain? - he asked.

What did I think? I was at once panic-stricken, ashamed, and a little nervous. From what? From the fact that before I could think of myself as strong. As strong, skilled, requiring no additional training, i.e., a master at certain things. I guess if Newton had encountered Einstein's theory of relativity, or Leo Da Vinci, who thought he had invented everything he could, with 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 to me ridiculous. I puffed myself up like a self-confident child, you know...

So, digesting the information and thinking about what was to come, I fell asleep...