The Miriani structure on Oliver’s World was built near the north pole of the moon. Rhea surmised, mostly due to the underground deposits of water near the site.

Oliver’s World, like the rest of the moons of the Duchess, was tidally locked - the same side always faced the Duchess, and the length of one day on the moon equalled the time it took to revolve around its parent. Oliver’s World did so once every 3.13 days, so and the Sliver could enjoy 34 more hours of night-time.

Damien was laughing over the comms. He and PesKal were 2.1 km away from the Sliver. They used an Atomic Press to construct the engines needed for the hoverbikes. Nanites could form the majority of the bikes without problem, but using them to make the engines would sacrifice the nanites.

PesKal had rounded a corner around a golden dune, the hoverbike sleek and black beneath his Ankrahi form. His tail flapped about in the wind. PesKal summoned a pair on large nanite glasses.

“This is exciting! The grass is beautiful, and there is a river over there!” PesKal was saying to Damien.

“You know it isn’t real, right PesKal?” Damien said through grunts and laughter, his bike was going considerably faster than PesKal’s, and he used a dune to jump over his crewmate.

“Be silent Officer… Er, I mean Damien. Don’t break my illusion. I must convince myself.” PesKal said hurriedly.

Damien had insisted PesKal dropped the “officer” the moment they stepped foot outside. PesKal accepted the show of friendship happily. And he said:

“Oh, the grass is green. I am not thirsty. I am not in a desert mega-biome.”

Matrioshka laughed.

“Captain?” Rhea asked. They were walking down a corridor. PesKal had transferred his discoveries pertaining to the Miriani language to Matrioshka. She read “Neria Station” as the name of the structure they were currently in. Matrioshka and Rhea had to break through 2 meters of sand to reach an access point, so there was sand still between the nanites of their bodies. It made them both itch.

They both shook like cats, to dislodge the sand.

Matrioshka accidentally launched a bit of sand onto Rhea. Who looked slightly irked.

Matrioshka said: “Sorry! I was laughing at PesKal, he is employing self-persuasion techniques.”

Rhea shook herself some more, which threw some sand back at Matrioshka. Matrioshka looked at her, and the silver haired woman was trying hard to hide her grin.

They were currently waking straight towards the chamber Rhea had detected while they were still airborne. The place where the Miriani presumably conducted biological research.

They reached the door to the room. It was thick and wide; several redundant protection mechanisms were in place. Matrioshka detected a set of ballistic turrets mounted on the wall, and she said:

“Neria station’s design characteristics deviate significantly from the design used on Purplefront, on Jane’s World.”

Rhea added: “The language is also different. Judging by the compiled language data provided by Officer PesKal, we can conclude Neria station belonged to a distinct Miriani culture. Different from the one which built Purplefront.”

“Consensus on whether Purplefront and the Miriani city we visited belonged to the same political or private entity?” Matrioshka asked while opening an access panel on the door.

“Inconclusive. 72% chance the same entity built Purplefront and the Miriani city. Insufficient data for further conclusions.”

Matrioshka wondered just who the artificial one was here. Rhea answered most questions with the efficiency and precision you’d expect from an artificial mind, not a human.

Matrioshka accessed the door’s systems and easily initiated the opening mechanisms. A security measure tried to activate the turrets, and she was glad the turrets were 6 millennia past their best-by date. The sputtered and whirled aimlessly, before finally dying on the wall.

Matrioshka added: “We can conclude the Miriani were not united. Like humans, they reached space and began colonizing other planets before species unification.”

She hoped it would not be so. Human disunion during the early colonization period laid the seeds of war.

“True.” Rhea nodded and walked into the now open room. She surveyed it, noticed the 13 vats of biomatter, blackened and withered with age, and rushed towards them.

“Stem cells. Miriani.” Rhea said, her hands on the vats. She began further analysis, her processing power spiking to near 90%.

Matrioshka examined the rest of the room. Near a broken-down console, she found a collection of bones and withered flesh. “Miriani remains.” she told Rhea.

“Cause of death was severe blunt force trauma. Their skull is cracked wide open.” Matrioshka inspected the console, its design and tech were different from Purplefront base… so much so that Matrioshka doubted this place even had an artificial intelligence.

She confirmed her suspicions by doing an aimed station-wide scan. No hardware was present capable of simulating a mind. Matrioshka did however find a small collection of crystalized carbon deeper within the station. She noted the surrounding electronic and optics and told Rhea:

“I see long-term storage. Diamond solid state memory. Impressive.” Rhea received Matrioshka’s information and the highlighted area within the station.

“We go there next. But this here concerns me…” Rhea said and indicated towards one of the vats, and sent the data to Matrioshka. She said: “While these are Miriani stem cell, they have been severely damaged even before this station was decommissioned. Note the extreme deterioration of mitochondrial DNA.”

Matrioshka investigated the data Rhea sent, and saw broken down cells, violently torn from within. The dead cells were surrounded by dozens of distinct viral species. Even after 6 millennia, some would still be able to reproduce and infect – if they reached a suitable environment.

“Viral infection.” Matrioshka said.

Rhea nodded and pointed towards a second vat. “Look here.” she said and again sent the data.

Matrioshka’s eyes widened. More viral strains – with organized DNA. “They engineered viruses here. Biological weaponry…”

“I concluded so as well.”

Matrioshka looked at her hands. “Our bodies will remain here. We cannot risk exposure.” She said and nodded to the three cracked vats; their contents exposed to the atmosphere.

“No viral residue was detected above the sand?” Matrioshka asked Rhea, who had begun inspecting and categorizing the DNA within every vat.

“None.” Rhea replied, then added: “There are several hundred distinct Miriani genetic profiles within each vat. We now have the complete genetic tree of the Miriani race.”

“Onwards to the data storage.” Matrioshka said and turned to leave. They walked in quiet contemplation. Peering at other Miriani corpses scattered about the base. All died from trauma.

The Miriani were building biological weapons. All hopes Matrioshka had the Miriani were different than humans evaporated.

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.” Rhea said. “Aggression does have a purpose in nature. When faced with scarcity of resources, an animal which takes the initiative first, reaps the benefits of continued existence.”

Matrioshka nodded. “Still there are other ways, mainly cooperation and foresight - preparation for the worst.” Matrioshka saw through Rhea’s connection that the silver woman had a downcast gaze, so she asked:

“You wished the Miriani reached sentience without aggression?”

Rhea smiled softly. “I did.”

Matrioshka’s thoughts were interrupted by a cheer form Damien.

“Ha! PesKal, I knew you could do it!” Damien laughed. Matrioshka played back the events. She saw Damien encourage PesKal to try a backflip on the bike. There was a large dune, perfect for a long jump. PesKal accepted the friendly challenge, revving the bike.

The Bikes themselves levitate some 2 decimetres from the ground. Their impulse thrusters gently scattering sand bellow them. They had a large exhaust at the back, it glowed a neon green.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

PesKal drove up the ramp-dune, reaching 125 meters per second at the top and flew. He did a triple backflip.

Matrioshka returned to the present and heard PesKal reply;

“Thank you, Damien. I must say this is much more exciting than anticipated. Can you show me the front-flip now?”

Matryoshka let them be. She was glad Damien and PesKal were bonding, everyone deserved to have a friend.

Matrioshka looked up at Rhea. The taller woman was troubled, trying hard not to show it. A difficult proposition in their current state.

Do you have any friends Rhea? You seem…. sad? She thought, and almost said so.

They were near the data storage now. Makoe called to Matrioshka then;

“Hey captain? Could you come look at this?”

Matrioshka turned to Rhea and said: “I will return within 60 seconds, assume ownership of my nanites.” Rhea nodded and Matrioshka left the body. It dissolved into nanites and flowed into Rhea.

Makoe was in the Sliver, right in front of one of the four Atomic Presses.

The Press was a large cube, glass casing with machinery at the top. Thin spectral lines danced within the Press; an outline of the part being printed and, in this case, needed to repair the Set-drive. The Press hummed as it worked - atoms manifested into the desired shape. The part slowly took shape, levitating in the middle.

“What seems to be the issue, Officer Rue?” Matrioshka asked as she materialised.

“We are missing the spare drive-cores.” Makoe answered.

Matrioshka checked the ship’s contents. Within the storage she found 4 spare drive-cores listed.

“The manifest shows 4 spares.”

Makoe shook her head. “Go see for yourself.”

Matrioshka did. She appeared within the cargo hold, next to where the drive-cores were.

Instead of 4 spherical machines, used for traveling fast-than-light, Matrioshka saw 4 empty spaces.

What? She thought and did a ship-wide scan. Matrioshka’s eyes widened and she materialized outside the Sliver.

She stood on the sands of Oliver’s World and looked at the rear of the Sliver of the Sun. The ship sustained heavy damage here – courtesy of the Fifth Wonder.

Matrioshka’s eyes narrowed as she inspected each and every nanite of the current makeshift hull. They sacrificed themselves to close the breach, and isolate the insides of the Sliver from the vacuum of space.

Matrioshka smiled. There you are.

Matrioshka created a thermal blade, and cut out a portion of the hull. It repaired almost immediately. In her hands she held the cut-out part; and within it she saw a nanite.

It belonged to the Sliver of course, but its software was altered. Matrioshka checked its id-number and confirmed it as one of the nanites taken by Shkadov back on Jane’s World, when Matrioshka first installed the Imprisonment block.

The nanite was then returned to the Sliver with altered code. Matrioshka analysed it and found is purpose; It was to obscure the lack of drive cores within storage. Shkadov and his crew must have stolen them, to stop the Sliver from escaping the Empire system.

With one well aimed shot and a premeditated theft, the Fifth Wonder had crippled the Sliver.

Matrioshka threw the piece of the hull containing the nanite on the ground and covered it with sand. She returned to Makoe.

“Malicious code. The cores were most likely taken by Shkadov and his crew.”

Makoe sighed. “What now?”

The drive-cores were the most important part of any Set-drive. They performed the conversion of energy into exotic matter. Without it the Set-drives were glorified gyroscopes.

Matrioshka considered their situation. To make more drive cores, they would need the processing power of a gigascale mind. They currently had no access to one of those.

“We steal back the one’s taken by the Fifth Wonder.” Matrioshka said.

“Were going into combat?” Makoe asked, surprised.

“What other choice do we have? We cannot hide or escape. We can only fight. Make the Set-drive ready to accept a new core and go through the entire storage log – fix any discrepancy between the logs and the cargo hold. We will make a plan when everyone returns from their current tasks. How long until you get the Set-drive ready?”

“At least 2 hours.”

“Get on it then, Officer Rue. I’m counting on you.”

Makoe’s face turned resolute. “Understood captain.”

Matrioshka consider the small woman. Makoe appeared constantly happy, something always impressed her or stole her attention. Currently she was focused at the task at hand, lattice at 80%. Matrioshka decided she would take some time soon to get to know her better.

Matrioshka returned to Neria, her body flowed out of Rhea’s, who had just opened the door into data-storage.

“Welcome back. Everything in order?” Rhea had asked.

“Issue with Set-drive repair. During our original encounter with the Fifth Wonder, the Sliver was infected by malicious code. It hijacked the storage logs and masked the lack of drive cores. We will have to steal them back.”

Rhea nodded and pointed to the centre of the room. There was a circle of consoles there, around a small pillar on which rested a 12 by 12-centimetre cube of solid diamond. It was connected to some optics; most likely used for reading and writing data into the diamond.

Matrioshka accessed one of the consoles. Opened its panelling and let the nanites of her hand flow into the electronics, connecting her. She powered the systems, translated the algorithms and procedures. Matrioshka inhaled and said:

“Everything is in here.”

Matrioshka was connected to the diamond, it glowed a fain white as it was being read.

It contained information about the Miriani, their entire history. From their first written word - 20000 years ago, to their extinction - 6000 years ago.

Matrioshka copied the entire contents of the diamond into the Sliver data-packs, ready to be transmitted back to the Imperium the moment they left the atmosphere.

“Everything, captain?” Rhea asked.

Matrioshka retreated her hand and closed her eyes. “They killed themselves. Self-induced genocide.”

Rhea listened.

“There were these three superpowers on Prudence – three coalitions of states. Distinct political ideologies, so tensions were high. They were on the brink of war for centuries. One of the countries made this base for the express purpose of isolating the genetic markers of the Miriani who inhabited the other countries. They wished to make a virus capable of attacking only those Miriani with the isolated genetic markers. I have labelled them as the Virus-makers.”

“What of the Emperor and Empress?” Rhea asked.

“No mention of sentient stars. The data on the diamond suggests the other countries were creating doomsday weapons too. One of those was rumoured to be a swarm of tiny satellites in orbit around the systems’ suns, with the ability to concentrate vast amounts of solar radiation anywhere within the Empire system.”

Rhea’s eyes widened.

“The Emperor and Empress are artificial intelligences? Made up of those satellites?” Rhea asked.

Matrioshka nodded. “Most likely. We shall call their makers the Swarm-builders. The last entries speak of the weapon going rogue, and setting its sights on all Miriani.”

“Grand megastructures…” Rhea whispered. “What of the third coalition?”

“The poorest of the lot, spent most of the final decades trying to catch up technologically to the Swarm-builders and the Virus-makers. They made Purplefront, and wished to leave the Empire system – a vast exodus using generational ships.”

Rhea approached the diamond: “Did they succeed?”

Matrioshka shook her head. “Most likely not. The Virus-makers knew of their plans, and were determined to stop them. The data speaks of a shipyard in orbit of the Duke, given that we have scanned no such structures when we first arrived I’d venture to conclude the Wayfarers failed.”

“The Swarm-builders with their lasers. Virus-makers, with biological weaponry…” said Rhea. “Poor Wayfarers…”

Matrioshka added: “If we are to believe the data, which very well might be filled with propaganda, the Wayfarers weren’t so innocent. Centuries of oppression were brought about by the early Wayfarer societies – there used to be much more Swarm-builders, but they were exterminated by the Wayfarer warlords.”

“What changed for the Wayfarers?” asked Rhea. “To cause a shift towards pacifism?”

Matrioshka’s gaze turned dark. “Supposedly the Virus-makers… The data contains references to some genetic engineering project – to force pacifism and subservience. It might have worked on the Wayfarers…”

“Like the Reconstruction Wars.” concluded Rhea.

“Everyone wanting to kill each other? Yes.” Matrioshka surveyed the rest of the structure. She said: “Nothing else worth investigating. We return to the Sliver.”

Matrioshka and Rhea left their bodies within Neria, as agreed. They appeared on the bridge where Rhea asked:

“Will you inform the others?”

“In time. When they return. It will do Makoe no good if she’s worried while working. And PesKal and Damien are on down-time. Down-time is sacred, I will not bother them during it.” Matrioshka replied, looking out of the bridge’s window.

Damien and PesKal could be seen in the distance, their hoverbikes scattering sand as they flew across the desert.

“Kind of you captain. Permission for down-time until the rest of the crew returns?” Rhea asked.

Matrioshka turned to her and said with a smile: “Granted. Get some rest, Rhea.”

Since she had granted downtime at the beginning of the sentence, so there was technically no need for her to end the sentence with Rhea’s rank. Matrioshka did it mostly to gauge Rhea’s rection.

The other woman produced a thin smile and said: “Thank you. Matrioshka.”

Rhea went to her room, and Matrioshka sat down. She looked northwards, to the twilight created by the light of Emperor and Empress, and thought how she would tell the rest of the crew of Miriani fate.

Everything shook then, the sand becoming fluidized, which made the Sliver sink slightly before Matrioshka engaged the thrusters. The entire crew appeared on the bridge. Damien and PesKal’s bodies were on autopilot, driving the bikes towards the Sliver as fast as possible.

“A quake!?” PesKal asked.

“No. The atmosphere is vibrating, not the ground.” Makoe said.

“That is... highly unusual.” said Damien.

“Astute assessment, Officer Viris.” said Rhea and gave him a tired look.

Damien opened his mouth to reply but Matrioshka was faster: “Not now you two! We should try to…”

The atmospheric vibration coalesced into a voice;

“We see you.” It said, loud and thunderous.

“Captain. The readings on the day side of Oliver’s World...” Damien said and Matrioshka opened the sensors.

The temperature. 5200 degrees and rising.

On the entire sunward side of the moon.

Hurriedly, Makoe said: “The dense atmosphere will convect the temperature quickly. We have 7 minutes before the temperature on the night side reaches the maximum rated temperature of the Sliver’s hull.”

Matrioshka sighed and shook her head. “We can’t catch a break...”

Matrioshka waited until PesKal’s and Damien’s bodies returned to the Sliver, when she engaged the thrusters and took the Sliver into the sky. They soon exited the atmosphere of Oliver’s World, but kept in its shadow.

Matrioshka felt trapped;

They couldn’t stay in space – The Fifth Wonder would find them.

They couldn’t jump back to the Imperium – Their Set-drive was inoperable.

They couldn’t fix the Set-drive – The Emperor and Empress would annihilate the ground they stood on.

“Ideas?” Matrioshka asked.

Silence.

Makoe ventured: “We could repair the Set-drive using just energy, though it would take at least 77 days. Or, a low-density atmosphere might give me enough time to repair the Set-drive. Even if the Empire twins start melting the celestial object…”

“Closest optimal atmospheric density?” Matrioshka asked.

“Rosamond’s World.” Damien answered.

Matrioshka considered the unknown moon. It was on the other side of the Duchess still, as it would be for 12.35 more hours. A trip to it, barring the use of the Set-drive and keeping within planetary shadows, would take 5.68 days. During which time they would be vulnerable to attacks by the Fifth Wonder.

They had no other choice.

“We go to Rosamond’s World.” Matrioshka said and outlined their trajectory. The crew agreed and dispersed to their quarters. Matrioshka remained on the bridge, feeling incompetent. She ate a donut, hoping it would raise her spirits.

It did not.