Dreams Manifest Read online

  Dreams Manifest

  Book Two in The Depths of Memory Trilogy

  Candice Bundy

  Lusios Publishing, LLC

  Dreams Manifest

  Copyright © 2017

  by Candice Bundy

  Cover illustration by Christopher Stewart of Red Aces Media © 2012

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, any place, events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines are created from the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Editor: Zippy Wizard Redaction

  Identifiers: ISBN-10: 0-9854185-2-4 (epub)|

  ISBN-13: 978-0-9854185-2-6 (hardcover : alk. paper)

  Published by Lusios Publishing, LLC, Centennial, CO.

  First Edition, 2017.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Author's Note

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Gazing into the mirror Brague surveyed the work of his colorist, ensuring all of the details were perfection. Brague had had his sigil improperly applied once before, and to his great embarrassment, it had taken almost a full season to grow out. He'd killed the colorist as soon as he'd seen the flaw to prevent anyone else from being scarred...no, maimed as he'd been. The offending colorist had gotten the yellow background swirl a whole tone darker than normal, throwing off the overall harmony of the design. Spending another few moments checking over the placement and color choices, Brague gave a perfunctory nod to the colorist, signaling his acceptance of the proposed work.

  He held very still while the colorist activated the chemical heat-set, and felt the radiating warmth of it through his thick, insulating shell. At that inopportune moment, his communicator chimed. He waited impatiently for the process to finish, lest he mar the design. It took only another few moments, and then the colorist moved in to polish and shine the crisp new lines. Brague waited patiently, knowing that this step was necessary to seal in the colors. The colorist finished and then backed away, deferentially exposing the vulnerable cleft of his neck to Brague.

  Brague raised himself to his full height and examined every detail of the finished work in the mirrored wall. It satisfied him to discover all elements met his exacting attention to detail. His communicator chimed again, reminding him that there was an urgent message awaiting his attention. The colorist waited, frozen, waiting for Brague's judgment.

  "It is ... acceptable," Brague graciously intoned.

  The colorist eased his submissive posture and bowed. "I am honored to please you. I will endeavor to exceed your expectations in the future."

  Brague caught a quick, caustic whiff of emotion lacing the air, entirely at odds with the colorist's demeanor. He took another, deeper breath, but Brague no longer scented the affront. Brague chose to ignore the cheeky colorists moment of indiscretion and strode back toward his research facility. Keying the security algorithm into the communicator on his left arm, Brague accessed his systems. Bringing up the messaging relays, he found a communiqué from Princess Qwell awaiting his review. He'd heard she was working on a particular project, and this was her request to have him, Selector Brague, placed on this assignment. He keyed off a quick acceptance note, full of the requisite honorifics and gratitude. Brague had assumed he'd be chosen for the project and would have been greatly disappointed if his assumption had been proven incorrect. Still, this gratifying moment of acceptance was a unique thing to be savored.

  Brague adored his job, but he had no cause to find it anything less than exceptional. His illustrious career as a Selector had earned him full autonomy over all aspects of his research, from the specimen labs to the computing systems. The Hegemony had endowed his recent projects with generous resource budgets, both monetary and material, much to the chagrin of lesser-ranked Selectors. Due to his proven and dependable results, Brague had been granted great freedoms with his Selection process and staff allocations. He had a reputation as one of the best available, with no errors in Selection and an Evaluation rate of over 96%. Accurate Selections avoided losses of resources and time for the Queens, allowing the territories of the Hegemony to expand at a calculated and consistently planned pace. His most recent assignment to Princess Qwell was surely a sign of the Hegemony's enduring faith in his abilities.

  Entering his research quarters, Brague noted everything was precisely as he'd left it. He strode to the main terminal interface, not wanting to delay starting on his new assignment another moment. He reviewed all of his current projects and found none of them at the level of Princess Qwell's priority or status. Brague foisted the rest off onto lower rated Selectors, (He gave them) nothing above their abilities but quite beyond their prestige.

  After taking care of reassigning his current project load, Brague searched through the databases for candidate planets. His carapace hummed faintly in excitement, for this was no ordinary Selection.

  Princess Qwell's directive was to create a new breed of Juggernaut that would be adapted to submerged, aqueous environments. With the resources required for proper growth margins, utilizing partially or wholly aqueous planets opened up a much wider range of options for future expansion. Presently specialized equipment was needed for their race to operate underwater. This raised the cost of extracting needed minerals and chemicals from the oceanic floors to prohibitive levels. Logistics wasn't the only problem. Such operations experienced a worker loss in the mid-fortieth percentile as well, which was wasteful and inefficient. This Selection might prove to be the most exciting, interesting, and hazardous challenge of Brague's entire career.

  Failure to Select an appropriate planet would be a disgrace with the potential to ruin his career. Although he'd never botched a job, this assignment brought with it the highest risk of failure to date. Erroneously Selecting a planet that led to Princess Qwell's failure would, of course, mean his immediate extermination, a possible but highly improbable outcome in consideration of Brague's exemplary record.

  There were plenty of water worlds out there, but as always, the trick was in Selecting the one that would allow for the best success for the future Queen's goals. All Selectors created their own search and filtering algorithms, and Brague had the utmost confidence in his methods. Selecting the right planet for this mission would ensure the highest of honors for Brague--the ability to contribute his genetic material to future generations.

  Brague's first step was to compile a listing of possibilities for Evaluation. The needs of this particular case opened up an entirely new range of planets and criteria most often excluded from common searches. A humid, primarily oceanic world with some swampland would be ideal,
to provide a transitioning zone for Princess Qwell to experiment with different genetic variations of Juggernaut pupae. Caves were also desirable for this type of work, as they lent shelter, safety, and privacy to the Queen's activities.

  Brague was familiar with all steps in the Juggernaut life cycle and Juggernaut physiology. This extensive and exhaustive standard training was required of all Selectors and would play heavily into this assignment. The database filter netted a variety of initial possibilities, many of them inevitably inhabited by lower beings that were often more suited to such climates. Brague had noted over his many cycles of research that the less-than-sentient races often gravitated towards wetter climes, but he'd never cared enough about them to find out why. Upon brief reflection, he discovered he still didn't care.

  Brague mused that when this initiative proved successful the expanded range of the Juggernaut's territory would mean fewer "safe" colonization options for such pathetic life forms, which was as it should be. Species who couldn't compete due to a lack of intelligence or hardiness should do the universe the favor of extinguishing themselves or at least cease their predictably incessant breeding.

  Perhaps it would be preferable to Select a planet already colonized by one of the more disgusting races? Choosing an already inhabited world would send a message that their infestations on proper Juggernaut territory would no longer be tolerated. Expanding Juggernaut territory options in this manner would significantly limit colonization options for a variety of inferior species, especially the invasive species of primates. All affected lesser races would have no choice but to accept their subsequent reduction of position within the celestial hierarchy.

  The idea of bringing home to the substandard races the gravity of their mistake in colonizing Juggernaut lands pleased Brague immensely.

  Brague updated the database filters to include only planets colonized by lower beings. The enormity and significance of this project made good, solid supply lines (and frequency of transit within them) of paramount importance, so he added another filter, one that specified planets with proximity to military outposts and agricultural distribution points. Soon a preliminary list of a few hundred planets ranked in descending order of relevancy appeared in his result set.

  At this point, his real work began. Just because the database listed a given world did not mean it still met the necessary qualifications. The experienced Selector knew that the real determinant of a planet's usefulness lay in one key factor above all others: toxicology. Especially with colonized worlds, frequently the new inhabitants had introduced toxins or chemicals into the ecosystem that were difficult or time-consuming to remove, and these potential hurdles didn't always get into the database promptly. Not all settlements were reported as required to the Hegemony, and some species of lower beings foolishly continued to ignore Hegemonic mandates.

  To maximize the efficient use of scientific resources, inspections of distant planets didn't occur with any real frequency, at least not until they were needed. Thus was the need for skilled Selectors, to sniff out problems and challenges well in advance of any resource commitment.

  For instance, the fourth planet on the list looked particularly promising. Topping the list were its extensive cave complexes, deep oceans, vast mineral deposits, sizable areas of swampland and a humid but mild climate. It fit all the major criteria perfectly. It also matched with Brague's secondary requirements, having a small colony of primates, who were clinging to a meager existence and plagued by disease.

  Primates were still a relatively new species, and as such, hadn't won the Hegemony's formal Acceptance of Sentience ranking. Based on what he'd learned of the species, Brague doubted they ever would. Weak races that couldn't adapt to life off of their home world were doomed to failure in the goal of galactic expansion. The primate species current circumstances didn't bode well for their future. Primates should have taken the hint in the beginning and given up!

  It was evident they weren't up to the task. After all, the database showed primate numbers across all of their colonized worlds were in a slow, steady decline. How primates kept fighting without any discernible forward progress was beyond Brague, and he idly wondered what possessed such a lowly race to attempt seemingly impossible things beyond their means. It would be a charity to release them from their problems, and it genuinely pleased Brague that he might be the one to do so.

  Brague sent a communiqué to Princess Qwell, presenting the current list of options. Even for a well-respected Selector like Brague, frequent demonstrations of progress were essential. He included a timeline for narrowing down the attached list to a few dozen for Evaluation, setting an aggressive goal of a mere three Latnes for this task. He also noted that comprehensive progress reports would be sent every sub-Latne. This was more detail than necessary, but Brague preferred to keep Princess Qwell as involved as possible. This meant assignment completion would occur in the Nithe Tor-Latne of the Sun Trine, always an auspicious time for accomplishments involving new growth and Juggernaut expansion. Of course, with the importance of this task and what was at stake, Brague would Evaluate each of the final options personally.

  Brague swelled with pride over the Queens' enduring faith in his abilities. He only hoped to be rewarded with the highest of honors for success in this venture. The competition was brutal amongst his caste for the limited breeding rights available. Surely the enormity of this task would secure his privileges?

  Quickly cross-checking his personal lab's roster of available specimens with the initial list of planets he'd forwarded to Princess Qwell, Brague was pleased to find some matches for initial testing and research. He found it quite remarkable what one could learn about a planet through its evolved fauna, especially when those creatures experienced certain ... stressors. Heading off to his lab, Brague considered that this part of his job was by far the most interesting and certainly the most entertaining.

  Selector Brague Research Notes,

  Princess Qwell Assignment,

  Kacke Prime-Latne of the Dark Trine.

  Update for the first sub-Latne of the project. Initial re-screenings of the top 200 identified prime pre-Selection planets have been ordered and scheduled. While waiting to receive the re-screening reports, I have spent my time in my formidable lab researching flora and fauna specimens that correspond to planets on the pre-Selection list. Specimen research is always most gratifying, but I'm anxious to begin reviewing pre-Selection reports so a visitation schedule can be set. It's most important to keep up the pace! Princess Qwell will be expecting status reports soon.

  Specimen research has proved educational, yet I cannot fully apply it until the present stage of the project is completed. I have placed orders for new sample retrievals from the top 25 planets on the list, as I found some of my stocks lacking. I expect these to arrive within days. It's frustrating to have to wait that long, yet I can't waste my time doing the scut work myself. Better to take full advantage of my status and staff by delegating such work to them.

  Also of note for this log entry is that Princess Qwell's personal guard and assistants have supplemented my staff. Extra ships from her fleet have been placed at my disposal. Although I could, of course, have managed with current resources, it is a generous gift nonetheless. Resources are clearly not an issue for this Princess. She wants results and seems quite free with her assets to help make it happen.

  I must have the final Selection listing for Princess Qwell's review by the next Latne as promised in the initial project plan, which would be Perith Prime-Latne. Although I'm not comfortable spending an entire full Latne just to narrow down the search and conduct specimen studies, with what's at stake for this project I consider it necessary. Failure to properly screen out planets not matching Princess Qwell's requirements would only add precious sub-Latnes to this project.

  Best to keep myself busy in the lab while I await the re-screening results. Besides, I find lab work can be quite gratifying, second only to hands-on fieldwork. Experimentation sometimes yields t
he most surprising results, often giving clues to a creature's native environment and culture. Dealing with specimens during fieldwork in their natural habitat elicits more precise responses.

  Although it is not related to the current project for Princess Qwell, I must note progress on one particular experiment I've had underway for some time. The species known as Taska of the Hunchen galaxy will continue to care for injured individuals within the breeding group, even when it is evident that the person's wounds are beyond all repair. They even allocated a portion of their already limited rations to the dying member! This demonstrates an inability of this species to think clearly in the face of crisis. No truly rational--and certainly never any true sentient being--would ever behave so foolishly!

  Chapter 2

  The loud scraping of the barn door opening startled Terem, making him look up from oiling the saddle. Treus entered against a backdrop of fading sunset. How was it already dark outside? With the lanterns lit in the barn, Terem hadn't noticed the hour.

  "Still hard at work, I see?" Treus smiled at him, leaning against the doorframe.

  "I'll be in for dinner in just a moment, sir. I'm almost done getting the saddles cleaned."

  "I doubt they've ever been cleaner, Thad. Still, you have to eat sometime, son."