Entropy's End (Targon Tales - Sethran Book 3), page 14
“They won’t survive long if their presence becomes known,” Ciela said.
Seth nodded. “Maybe their idea of jumping to some faraway place where people aren’t going to hunt them down isn’t such a bad idea. So far, things are still contained on Chitta Moor.”
“You’re not contained. And we know there’s at least one more out there.” Ciela held up the scanner. “And now you’re pretty easy to detect, at least at close proximity. This can’t be contained.”
He sighed. “No, I guess not. Not while there are rebels making their own plans on Chitta Moor. I think we’ll need to update the colonel.”
“What are you going to tell him?”
Seth took the screen from Ciela and engaged the Dutchman’s com system. Using an encryption employed by a handful of special ops agents, he created a message packet to Colonel Carras, one of the few contacts at Air Command who knew he was not just a smuggler and rebel sympathizer. The mode he used also scrambled and resynthesized his voice, hopefully obscuring any traces of the Dyad signature. He stared at the symbols waiting patiently for him to begin his recording and then tipped his head back to look up at the ceiling. Nothing up there, among the exposed pipes, light strips and ventilation ducts, offered any clues as to what to tell the Intelligence officer.
He took a long breath and tapped the panel. “Good morning,” he said, not having bothered to check what time it would be on Targon when this message arrived. “Lovely weather we’re having in subspace. By now you and Astrophysics will know that we’ve picked up the Dyad signature in the Callas-Tor Ag span. The cause of the problem is not Tor Ag.” He combed his fingers through his hair, pondering his next sentence. “The keyhole now terminates in the Chitta Moor sub-sector, which is cut off from the outside now. We were able to get out only by sheer luck.”
Ciela rolled her eyes. This was not the first time that they had to create some explanation for their ability to travel where others could not. Some day, they both supposed, they’d have to trust the colonel with their secret but neither Seth nor Ciela worried about a future that seemed to change with every new assignment.
Seth winked at her. “We encountered Dyads at Queta Station. We think they’re creating a new keyhole out there, possibly to leave the Trans-Targon sector. They know we don’t want them here. Unfortunately there are rebels among the Dyads, mostly Shri-Lan, that are planning to stay in Trans-Targon and rejoin their factions. If the keyhole is restored, and there are indications that it might be, you can expect them to emerge at Ud Mrak, so you might want to intercept.”
Seth was glad that this was not a two-way conversation. The colonel had a way of asking questions that even the wiliest agents were unable to dodge. “Well, long story much shortened, we’ve located some of the lost ships on Chitta Moor, but there’ve been casualties that require evacuation and medical support.” He paused again. Carras would need to know to quarantine these victims under very tight security. “Many are Dyad casualties. You know what that means. Unfortunately, Doctor Hedvig is now one of them, although she appears unharmed. We can probably expect more ships to be intercepted and rerouted to the Moor.”
He scratched his chin and then realized that his little habits were telling the colonel that he was less than forthcoming with his report. By the time Carras heard these words, he’d be cursing Seth’s birth for keeping so many details to himself. Seth walked a fine line between acting as a Union agent loyal to Air Command, and a mercenary looking to get paid for his work. It was not a relationship that the colonel much cared for but the value Seth brought to the Intelligence team outweighed his occasional delinquencies. “We have information about at least one Dyad currently elsewhere in Trans-Targon. We’ll investigate and report back when we know more. Kada out.”
Ciela regarded him in silent astonishment. “He’s going to resort to foul language when he gets that message.”
Seth grinned as he sent the packet to the Union relay at Ud Mrak’s stable jumpsite, from where it would be forwarded to Targon. “No doubt. But he’s got enough to get busy here, in case our pal Skoth and his posse actually get the Dyads to stop their interference with the keyhole. We should probably leave before any of them arrive here. It’s not something I want to get in the middle of.”
“Let’s jump to Callas from here, then. Larris needs help. And, really, I would love to get Caelyn’s thoughts on all this.” Ciela waved her hand vaguely in Khoe’s direction. “It’s all a bit much.”
“Can I jump us?” Khoe said. “Please?”
“She’s a spanner, too?” Ciela said.
“Yeah, although not your kind of spanner.”
“There are other kinds?” Khoe asked.
“That little squiggle in Ciela’s brain lets her get around the mapped exits in subspace,” Seth said. “She can emerge anywhere. This keyhole here doesn’t naturally span to Callas, not even for the best of the Delphian navigators. It only leads to the Chitta Moor sub-sector. It takes weeks to travel from here to Callas using the commercial jumpsite near Ud Mrak. In fact, it would take us three days just to get to the jumpsite from here to make the first leap. But Ciela can re-map the ship’s path inside subspace using this keyhole.”
“What? How’s that even possible?”
“Ask the Delphians who designed me,” Ciela said. “Or that part of my brain, anyway.”
“It’s also a secret,” Seth said. “Imagine if she fell into rebel hands with this gift of hers. Or if Air Command decided they didn’t want her working with me anymore.”
Ciela scowled at him. “I think I can decide for myself who I want to work with.”
He got up and headed for the cockpit. “Yeah, I worry too much.”
“Well, don’t.”
Khoe drifted across Ciela to approximate standing on the cabin floor. “I think it’s sweet that he worries. Don’t you?”
“Worries too much,” Ciela said, loud enough for Seth to hear. “We’ve done fine so far keeping our heads down. I can handle this without hiding on Delphi for the rest of my life in fear of someone snatching me away.”
“I’d be worried, too,” Khoe said. “I’m sure Air Command wouldn’t dilly-dally to make you part of whatever crew they thought was more important than this one.”
“This crew is important,” Ciela said. “And Colonel Carras knows it.” She threw up her hands. “Now look at me, arguing with a hallucination.” She got up and followed Seth into the cockpit. “Your Dyad is taking sides,” she said.
“Mine, fortunately.” He engaged his mental link to the ship and set a course to return to the keyhole.
“Know what’s interesting?” Ciela said as she took to her bench beside him. “My head doesn’t hurt very much. I wouldn’t want to keep this khamal open for very long, but it’s bearable right now.”
“Really? That’s great!” As her practice of her innate Delphian talents had led her to explore the khamal, they had tried a few times to maintain a mind link between them. But he was not Delphian and using his neural interface to create the connection inevitably ended up with a troublesome headache for Ciela. “Is that something you’re doing, Khoe?” He looked around to see her sitting cross-legged on top of the com console.
“Yeah. Can I watch you jump?”
Seth waited for Ciela to respond, unsure if she would allow having all three of them linked in a khamal during what was not a simple jump.
“Be my guest,” Ciela said, already feeling her way into the Dutchman’s subspace navigational system. “But you’re showing me later how I can get around that headache myself.”
The ship responded to her mental touch, ramping up shields and processors while Seth accelerated toward the keyhole coordinates. The aperture opened when he projected the energy upon which it fed. At a mental nod from Ciela, he punched the ship into the breach and once more their world disappeared into nothing.
* * *
“Dutchman? Is that you? I cannot believe my eyes!”
Seth relaxed his grip on the pilot bench when the voice cut through the silence of the cockpit at what felt like the very moment they emerged in real-space. He opened his eyes and, as always after a jump, immediately checked the overhead diagnostic reports for any emergency caused by the traverse. His second check was for his co-pilot who smiled back at him, apparently unaffected by this jump.
“Amazing,” she said. “I think Khoe lent a hand in there somewhere. This didn’t hurt at all.”
“Not tired?”
“Not even a bit!”
“Dutchman? Come in.”
“I remember that voice,” Khoe said. “Is that Caelyn? I liked him.”
Khoe beamed so happily at Ciela that Ciela responded with a smile of her own before turning to Seth. “How long were you two joined?”
Seth replied to the hail by opening a video link. Caelyn’s face blinked onto the screen and Seth and Ciela exchanged an amused glance when they saw the smile on his normally motionless face. “Yes, it’s us. What are you doing there?” Seth scanned the vicinity of the Callas system. It had only the one habitable planet and the second keyhole, the restricted one leading to Tor Ag, lay beyond its outer planet, several hours from this one. Caelyn’s research ship had left its position and now stood in orbit over Callas. A military cruiser hovered protectively nearby but did not contact the Dutchman.
“Air Command ordered us away when some ships arrived, insisting on passing with the threat of guns. Nobody’s saying so but we’re guessing they’re rebels, worried about something going down on Tor Ag. Some of them actually made it past Air Command and entered the breach. Who knows what’s become of them. It appears to be a combat situation now. We’re about to be recalled to Targon, I’m sure. Did I mention how happy I am to see you, Centauri?”
“We’re happy to be seen, Delphi,” Seth replied with a grin. He focused the Dutchman’s sensors on the distant keyhole to Tor Ag to see the Air Command fleet surrounded by a swarm of private ships. Their open com transmissions sounded a lot like nobody was about to give way in the situation.
Ciela had Larris on her feet by the time they approached the Laruel above Callas. As before, both Caelyn and Shan Quine awaited them at the docks. Their serene expressions did not change but Caelyn’s eyes brightened with joy when the arrivals stepped through the airlock. A third Delphian accompanied them and immediately took the catatonic woman into her care. Larris, looking no more or less confused than she had all along, allowed herself to be led away.
Ciela watched them go. “I hope she’s all right.”
Shan Quine sighed. “We were not able to help them before, but we have learned from our observations. We will do what we can.” He lowered his voice. “No one else here is aware of her condition. If necessary, we will remove her to Delphi.” With a nod to Caelyn, he hurried after his colleague to begin his work.
Seth and Ciela followed Caelyn along the curved passage matching the Laruel’s graceful contours until they reached a small lab, more private than the large observation hub at the ship’s center.
“We’ve got a bit more information, but nothing conclusive,” he said when they settled around a hologram board. “I’m anxious to hear about your findings.”
“Oh, we’ve got findings, all right,” Ciela said, glancing at Khoe who was waiting to be recognized by Caelyn, looking like she’d burst if that didn’t happen soon.
Seth pointed at the interface node at his temple. “Take a look.”
Puzzled, Caelyn reached over to initiate a khamal between himself and Seth, taking a sharp breath when he realized that Ciela was already linked. When he then saw the white-haired woman standing behind Ciela a surprised smile lit his face. “Gods!” he exhaled. “How did you manage to find Khoe?”
“The resonance,” Seth said. “Or, rather, our version of it. Frightened away everyone but her. That’s how we made it back here. Good thing she’s nosy. She gets that from me.”
“Hello, Caelyn,” Khoe said. “How’s the hand?”
The Delphian automatically flexed the prosthetic that served as his hand, almost indistinguishable from the other. “Close to perfect. You’re aware of what’s happening in subspace?”
She shook her head. “Something sad, I think. Some of us are lost again. Everything seems so slow. Dark.”
“Dark? In subspace?” Caelyn smiled. “I do suppose that’s a good analogy of what we’re theorizing.” He manipulated a few symbols on the data screen before them. It showed a standard image of what represented a subspace span, looking like little more than a thin funnel between two or three endpoints outside of which nothing existed. This, all of them knew, was no longer true. “We’ve been chasing probes through that span since you left. Some were lost, some returned. We’re detecting a discrepancy in the strength of the resonance that we’re finding now. When compared to your recording, I mean.”
“But that is just a facsimile,” Ciela said. “Isn’t it?”
“Yes, but not where it counts. It allowed us to make comparative measurements.”
“Compare what?” Seth said.
“Well, time. We’ve found that what we call subspace is likely very old. Perhaps older than we assume our own universe to be. And it’s in decline.”
“How can it decline?” Ciela said. “It’s the Big Nothing.”
Caelyn shook his head. “Another misnomer. It has mass, although very little. Khoe herself possibly encompasses more space than this solar system but out here she fits into Seth’s head without even causing physical discomfort.”
Khoe snickered.
“Rather broadly scattered but nevertheless entangled in ways we don’t really understand,” Caelyn amended. “Gravity is most likely, but drawn together by the Alpha resonance. Therefore subspace has energy and time, which is what we assumed not to be the case before we encountered the Dyads.”
“Khoe said that they were dying,” Seth said.
Caelyn’s face showed no surprise. “She is likely correct. Her space, her world, is basically winding down. With such weak fields, so little energy, it is ending.”
“Ending how? It’s already nothing.” Ciela said. “Sorry, Khoe, but it really does seem empty.”
“Entropy,” Khoe said and looked to Caelyn for confirmation. He nodded. “They think that we’ve reached a point of equilibrium. What energy we have is now dissipated so evenly that it cannot provide us with what we need to maintain our connections. We are finite. We can reform from existing entities that have lost their cohesion but we don’t multiply.”
Ciela blinked. “Entropy.” She seemed to taste the word as she spoke it. “Everything just stops?”
“Energy yes. Mass no,” Caelyn said. “Khoe’s particles in a vacuum will keep moving. She’ll just fly apart without the energy she needs to maintain cohesion. And without that they are just that. Particles floating around in a vacuum.”
“That’s terrible,” Ciela said. “It’d be the end of an entire species.”
Seth studied the keyhole model which told them absolutely nothing of what was really going on. “This isn’t just the end of the subspace entities,” he said. The others watched him change the interface and then flick his finger across the string that connected one terminus to the other. The line crumpled and then reformed. “This is going to change how we travel through subspace. If we can travel at all.”
“That, my friend, is the conclusion we’ve come to.” Caelyn changed the display to show a map of the sector, including the location of several gated jumpsites and known keyholes. “We’ve now had reports from navigators here, there, and at those two locations that they are unable to find the expected terminus at all. One military ship reported a very rough jump coming out of Aikhor. But the navigator is Delphian and held it together. Said that he lost his grip on the exit during the jump but then found it again.”
“You can't just move a keyhole,” Ciela said. “Or delete it out of space.”
“The terminus hasn't moved for those keyholes. But the path we use to connect them can dissipate, which is new to us. Or switch to another keyhole, which Ciela’s talent has proven. We occasionally lose ships during a leap. Some of them may have emerged in some distant spot well outside Trans-Targon. Who knows, maybe outside this galaxy. We all know that it's a very bad idea to jump if you don't know where you're going to land.”
Seth watched holographic display for a moment. It looked less real than Khoe’s very tangible shape beyond it. “When is this going to happen? Their energy fizzling out like that.”
Caelyn winced like the bearer of bad news. “Her people are already falling apart and even failing to merge, which is probably the only thing that made them aware that this is even happening. Without even gravity, the Alpha resonance that brings them together is weakening and will stop. We’re seeing the results in the way some subspace spans are failing for us. We’ll soon see more, making travel impossible. In this part of our galaxy, the end has already begun.”
Khoe poked his arm and then pointed at the interface to the Laruel’s data system. “Can I take a look? Seth says I have to ask first.”
“Of course. Look for the files we’ve put together on the span from here to Tor Ag.”
Seth put his hand on the interface panel. Khoe’s image faltered for a moment as she turned her focus onto the machine to feed her unending thirst for knowledge. Not for the first time, Seth wished she had the means to pass what she learned on to him.
Caelyn observed her for a moment. “She seems different,” he said. “I’m not sure how, though.”
Seth shrugged. “I am different.” He looked to Ciela. “Things are different. Khoe just sort of slipped into that difference without missing a beat.” He grinned. “I think she’s taken a bit of a shine to Ciela, actually.”
“I think Ciela is very shiny,” Khoe said with a smile, but her attention seemed elsewhere.
“What a peculiar situation,” Caelyn said, shifting his eyes meaningfully from Ciela to Seth. Delphians weren’t famed for their empathy, especially when reading the emotions of other species, but Caelyn knew how inextricably Seth and Khoe now entangled, and what it meant to his friend. The worry on his face was undisguised.
