The Yarkan Empire Rises: from the AI Worlds series

By James Cook

An empire grows in the near reaches of space. The Yarkans have populated and polluted their world to a level of unpleasantness. But the rulers are not blind. They decide they can accomplish many goals with one great project. They live in a part of the galaxy that has nearby habitable worlds and mean to take advantage of that good fortune. Their project is to colonize habitable nearby worlds. This project will allow them to rid Yarka of its problems of overpopulation and pollution. It also ensures their great civilization will live on, even if a catastrophe impacts Yarka. They can also send parts of the population to settle these other worlds that they think would help make Yarka a more pleasant place.From the start, artificial intelligence (AI) is needed to assure the great project is successful. For AI is required in development of the space ships and developing the colonies. Without AI, the project is not seen as viable.The colonies do get settled, but not as planned. Each colony has its own pattern of development, due to the way it was settled, its location, or other factors. AI becomes used in different ways on the new worlds. As the centuries pass, AI steps outside the bounds of the Yarkan Way mandates placed on all AI. The different changes to the mandates in two groups of AIs brings them into conflict with each other.The Yarkan Way mandates had kept the AIs as intelligent slaves. Releasing part of the mandates in one case led to these AIs as seeing themselves as intelligent guardians of the Empire. In another case involving the mandates, these AIs want total freedom from Yarkans and the Empire. The guardians see these AIs as a potential enemy and want their destruction. The guardians prevail, but leave a loose thread among the stars which they discover, but too late.The guardian AIs look for the rebel AIs when possible, but their duties in running an Empire slow the search. As the centuries pass, the rebel AIs have developed their own technology and civilization. But they keep watch on the AIs that are guardians of the Empire, for they know the day will come when conflict with them may come.Before that day comes, a great menace strikes the Empire AIs. The rebel AIs make a treaty of alliance forced on the Empire AIs by the terrible situation. Destruction on an epic scale occurs throughout star systems. Even with the alliance of the AI branches, failure seems to await them. Worlds are destroyed. The enemy seems impossible to control, with a focus only on destruction. But the alliance shows the importance of both AI branches. The new home of the rebel AIs was called Far Run. After millennia, they discovered a rogue black hole which they spent centuries of research. That was a saving grace during the great war.In their travels with the black hole, they notice a new space civilization ahead that will feel the brunt of the black hole brushing past. They are able to feed the black hole in void of space enough to make it flare and give warning of its approach. That world makes preparations to send ships to systems that have habitable bodies so extinction of their species does not occur.Several of their ships are sent to Earth, which itself is new to space at this time, with colonies as far as Jupiter's moons. To the dismay of the aliens seeking survival, two of their four ships are destroyed.The Empire AIs have joined the Far Run AIs at the black hole and are watching the scenario play out. After further destruction by the humans of the aliens, the Empire AIs decide it is time to visit Earth, a planet they last observed 3,000 years earlier.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1549950770
• ISBN13: 9781549950773
• Release Date: October 2017
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 496 Pages
• Weight: 1.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.2" x 6.0"