Gravity Wielder - Book 2 of Re-Forge

The Rings of Saturn

Matt relaxed in his spa-bath after a sparring session with Carl that stretched his abilities to the limit. He smiled and let out a sigh of contentment as thousands of rising bubbles tickled his skin and high-pressure water pummelled his sore muscles.

He thought: "I am so lucky to have such great friends and without Carl, there would be no colony and no humans. He is desperate to find out where he came from, so long ago? Someplace outside of Earth is all he knows... but where?"

"The existence and origin of Carl remains a mystery that We need to solve. It is obvious to me that SP1 is the result of Hybrid Technology but SP1 lacks that 'pre-lived human' feel, that Carl always has."

"There is too much we don't know and after all this time, there remain blocks in Carl's memory that will become accessible, only after pre-established criteria has been met. It is killing me, not knowing. So, I understand why finding them is important for Carl and I know that anything important to Carl, is critical for humanity."

Matt breathed out an audible sigh as the mineral salts eased his aches and bruises and the sound of bubbling water and soft background music lulled him into drowsiness and for a while Matt's mind floated between sleep and consciousness.

Matt and his long-lived companions witnessed technological marvel after marvel over the last century as the devastated remnants of humanity pulled themselves together before reaching into the inner Solar System with hesitant care.

Over the last century, humankind gained a confident footing in space with the help of hybrid technology and AI controlled systems. Small asteroid based mining colonies sprouted and as anticipated, hybrid technologies enhanced performance in every application. Advances were made that would have otherwise taken hundreds of years to develop or may have never see the light of day.

If it weren't for hybrid technology and probability AI software, there would be no SP1. In Matt's mind, hybrid technology heralded unlimited possibilities for humankind and over the last century, these advances boosted ship building.

Now, there were more than six hundred warships in active service and this number was in addition to the multitude of civilian ships designed for passengers, cargo, or mining.

Humans were completely focused on building the infrastructure needed to mass produce powerful warships for the purpose of defence against the arrival of the promised enemy... or any other aliens with hostile intent.

In the century it took to reverse engineer the ancient's technology, there was one major hiccup with an otherwise smooth transition from the Luna Colony, into space. Recently, four AI-controlled mining ships self-destructed.

The vessels ceased to exist while operating at the outer edge of the Greeks asteroid belt. Investigation discovered residual radiation signatures that proved the self-destruct systems onboard each vessel had functioned.

Speculation that the AI in each ship felt threatened enough to carry out the self-destruct directive was a cause for alarm and nervous tension throughout the system grew in proportion with each ship lost.

The Lunar Council decided to cease general expansion beyond Jupiter for a five-year period to see if the incidents stopped. None were reported, so the council voted to permit limited mining of the mineral-rich Trojans and Greeks asteroid belts. There had been no incidents since, so mining the outer limits of the Trojan and Greeks resumed at full scale.

Matt's gut feeling told him that humankind was in big trouble, and secretly, he and his closest circle, consisting of Joshua, Carl, Sharon, Susan, Steve, and Hymie, now known system wide as The Seven, believed that someone or something was trying to capture a human spaceship to ascertain humanity's level of technology.