Twilight Serenade, page 16
part #6 of Earth Song Series
A chime from the telemetry system made her look up. Lilith was giving it her complete attention.
“We have visitors?” she asked.
“Yes,” Lilith replied. A tactical screen came up, and Minu held her breath. “I have two targets approaching at just over 1,000 C.”
Minu could see Lilith maneuvering the two Eseel and rotating the Fiisk, adjusting its direction in preparation for its own maneuver.
“They’re big targets,” Lilith said, “and flying close together.”
“Do you think they’re hostile?” Minu asked. She sent a quick message to Aaron, who was in their cabin with Mindy, to prepare for possible battle.
“Their approach is straight in. I cannot be sure.”
“Human vessel, this is Ibeen Gamma, do you read?”
“Yes!” Minu answered with a flood of relief. “Good to hear from you, Bakook isn’t it?”
“Correct. Your memory is flawless.”
I wish, she thought. “How has your mission gone? Who do you have with you?”
“When we heard about your change in plans and the additional salvage, we docked at a space station in the Trimere system using a portal we have access to. We transferred cargo and brought aboard new crew, as you requested. Ibeen Epsilon under Captain Esha’kkl is with me.”
Lilith nodded and updated the tactical board with the details of the two ships. Little wire-frame drawings in blue showed miniature Ibeen flying toward them, not just dots in space. “Confirmed no pursuit out to maximum sensor range.”
“Great to have you,” Minu told the Beezer captain. “I’m transmitting details of more salvage, and you are entitled to a percentage for your assistance.”
The captain grunted as he examined the data. “Only one more Ibeen, but several more warships. It seems you will profit better than us this time.”
“Perhaps, but there are three more ghost fleets to salvage. Who is to say?”
“Agreed. We will be slowing soon to come alongside. I hope our appearance didn’t startle you?”
“We were expecting you today, but not two ships, so we were concerned,” Minu told him.
“When Esha’kkl heard about the other ghost fleets, he argued and wrangled with the other clans to be involved. As I might have explained, the ships are being divided between the great clan houses of the mercantile families of Serengeti. Since his ship is a new command, he was not in on the last salvage. To assuage the three new clan captains in Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon, it was agreed to let him come on this operation.”
Minu shrugged. She really didn’t care how the internal politics in the massive grazers’ society worked. In fact, when they declined any claim on warships during the negotiations, she was fine with it. She just hoped that their complete unwillingness to take combat craft didn’t bite her (or them) in the ass someday.
“We’ll be waiting for you. In the meantime, I’ve sent you some codes to share among all your houses. They will allow you to communicate instantly, across the galaxy.”
“That is amazing!” Bakook said. “How is it possible?”
“It is a gift, from a potential ally.”
“Minu Groves, War Leader of the Humans and First Among the Chosen, you are going to make your species a higher order.”
“There’s no need for insults,” Minu joked and ended the conversation, having no idea just how perplexed she’d left Bakook. “We’re standing down,” she told Aaron a moment later. “The cows have come home.”
The Ibeen arrived on schedule. Lilith temporarily left the Eseel a light hour out, their sensors tuned to the finest detail, watching space for any signs of pursuit or overly curious aliens. By the time the two hulking Ibeen were abeam of the Kaatan, she was confident they were still very much alone. They docked with Ibeen Gamma and Minu met the captain in the airlock.
“Welcome,” she said and bowed to Bakook as an equal, who returned the bow in kind.
“We are glad to be here. I thank you for the advanced data on the salvage. Many of the personnel I have are on loan from Isook, so they have worked in space. The new recruits are excited to experience the vastness themselves.”
“The vastness?”
“Yes, our people are excited by the stories others have told about space. The Beezer have begun to call it the vastness. We believe it is our destiny.”
Aaron and Minu exchanged looks. He mouthed the word ‘religion,’and she shrugged.
“As you read in my briefing, we’re facing an increasing problem getting access to the ships for salvage.”
“I have reviewed your reports, and I have a suggestion.”
* * *
A bit later, the Beezer commander, his second-in-command, and Esha’kkl, the captain of Ibeen Epsilon via hologram, met in the Kaatan’s CIC. Lilith created a gravity zone where the big grazers could stand without difficulty. They had become adept at operating in space, though small environments like the CIC and not having maneuvering units were more problematic.
“The People left these traps to stop their enemies from exploiting these war casualties,” Bakook said. “Is that correct?”
“Yes,” Lilith replied. “They are field expedient traps, right out of the People’s manual.”
“That would suggest there is a way to disarm them.”
“We can,” Minu said, “but it’s proving difficult to identify the traps before they go off. I nearly triggered a big one on a Fiisk just the other day.”
“But,” said Bakook holding up a huge hand, “the People must have had some way of disarming them. The team that came back to salvage them may not have known what traps were used or where.”
The CIC was silent for a long moment. Lilith eventually broke the silence.
“I am embarrassed that I did not consider that possibility.”
Bakook shrugged his massive shoulders. “It is how we would have done such a thing.”
“I am scanning the entire frequency range, but I am not detecting any transmissions from the derelicts,” Lilith told them. “If it is passive, requiring us to send a preset code, it could take years.”
“Again, that is unlikely,” Bakook said. “How would the salvage teams have the codes?”
“Good point,” Minu agreed. “Lilith, have you examined the traps we found?”
“Yes, I downloaded their full details into the computer before they were scrapped for parts.”
“Let’s see them,” Minu suggested. A moment later, a hologram of a digital image of the trap appeared in the center of the group. It was a typical equipment box, found on any of the People’s ships, with severed control lines. It spun on all three axes for a moment before freezing and changing to an animated drawing which then exploded to show individual parts with lines and labels.
“The booby traps isolated on the Ibeen and the Fiisk are essentially identical,” Lilith explained. “They are modified interface and control nodes found on all the People’s ships. There are more than 300 on this ship, and more than 1,000 on battlecruisers like the Fiisk. They were programmed for this task and put in place of regular control nodes. Anyone doing a simple scan would not notice them as they are not out of place.”
“Smart design,” Kal’at agreed, having floated in a short time earlier. “Nodes like this are still common, though not as high-tech as the ones the People manufactured.”
“What’s the difference?” Aaron asked.
“The People used optronics exclusively,” Lilith pointed out. Another diagram appeared, showing a commonly-manufactured Concordian node. It was bigger and had more circuitry. “The People’s use of optronics made them immune to the EMP effects of most energy weapons and allowed for faster command pathway instructions. Optronic data gateways do not suffer the same path delays as Concordian- or human-designed traditional electronics.”
“But there are still optronic components in all Concordian equipment,” Aaron pointed out. “We use optronic processors in our Phoenix shuttles at Groves Industries. We buy them from an off-world manufacturer, and they aren’t cheap.”
The Concordian-made design displayed front and center, opening up to show the interior workings. At its core was a nest of six optronic processors, all interconnected to share processing power. It zoomed in on one of the processors. Lilith explained, “At its core, the processor is made of the same material as the bots on my ship. The blue crystalline substance the People called Azure.”
“I wondered if you had a name for that stuff,” Minu said. “What is its origin?”
“According to the records, it was discovered on a world during the People’s original exploration of the galaxy. It is a bio-crystalline material with nearly infinite uses from computing to energy storage and automation.”
“I’m surprised it isn’t more ubiquitous,” Aaron said.
“It is, actually,” Lilith said. “I’ve noted it in nearly every circuit of controlling devices sold within the Concordia. But we are talking about nearly microscopic quantities. The source was never disclosed. And since the People were wiped out, it is likely the source will never be known. Any Azure being used now is from ancient stockpiles. Once that runs out…”
“Old fashioned electronics become a lot more valuable,” Minu finished for her daughter. “Maybe that was the People’s ultimate revenge?”
“Using ever smaller amounts in equipment suggests you have a point,” Kal’at said.
Minu pointed at the image of the interface and control node used as the booby-trap trigger. “How are these being controlled from the outside?”
“I think it has something to do with the gift from the Squeen,” Lilith pointed out.
“The quantum communication ability?” Minu asked. Then she considered. “Where, exactly, are these quantum communicators?”
Lilith opened her mouth, then closed it. “Just a moment.” She got a faraway look as she accessed the computers through her cybernetic link. It was almost a full minute before she returned to them. “There is no quantum communication system defined in the Kaatan’s blueprints. The only thing I can infer is that the regular communications system also has the ability to communicate on a quantum level.”
“It’s the Azure.” Everyone turned to look at Minu who wasn’t aware she’d spoken out loud. Seeing their rapt attention, she elaborated. “It’s the only thing it all has in common. The stuff can do everything else imaginable, why not communicate FTL?”
“It’s an ansible!” Kal’at said and smacked his jaws together, the equivalent of a human snapping her fingers.
“Ansible?” Minu asked, never having heard the word.
“Yes,” Lilith said, nodding. “It’s a instantaneous communication system that would, in theory, have no range. It utilizes quantum entanglement theory.”
“Try to remember I only took a few science classes. I’m not Pip.”
Lilith nodded again and backed up. “Take a subatomic particle, say a muon. Split it in half. Capture the halves in two different devices, both with the ability to monitor and affect the muon. The two halves of the muon are joined through quantum entanglement. If you affect one half, say through interaction with another subatomic particle, and the muon fragment reacts then its twin will react in the same way.”
“Sounds impossible.”
“No,” Kal’at insisted, “it is very possible. I have seen science experiments demonstrating this theory in the most rudimentary ways. The underlying scientific theory is sound, but a number of huge barriers lie in the way of utilizing it.”
“Such as?” Minu asked.
“Being able to split a subatomic particle, for one,” Lilith said.
“Capturing that split particle and holding it in that state, for another,” Kal’at said.
“Monitoring it without affecting it,” Aaron added, garnering him a strange look from his wife. “Hey, Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. Star Trek, remember?”
“Oh yeah,” Minu said with a little chuckle, “the reason matter transporters are impossible.” She turned to her daughter. “But if you could overcome all of those, this would work?”
Lilith glanced at a little, blue, crystalline bot that was partially submerged in a wall panel performing some sort of maintenance. “I think we have that answer,” she said. “Weren’t you just talking to Ted who’s more than 1,000 light years away?”
“But how does…” she struggled with the language, “agitating a muon translate to talking to someone?”
“It’s not much different than primitive radio,” Lilith explained. “A diaphragm is attached to a coil. Your voice vibrates the diaphragm and creates a charge in the coil that is then transmitted. The muon in our theoretical quantum communicator would be vibrated in some form of binary code, very quickly, then translated at either end.”
“All this in a little piece of crystal?” Aaron wondered.
“So it would seem,” Lilith said. The bot came out of the wall and extruded a pair of legs which it used to close and secure the panels. It sat there for a second, communicating with the ship’s computer. Then, with new orders, it spun around and launched itself across the zero-gravity area of the room, toward the door.
“Let me see if I have this right,” Minu said. “Every bit of that blue stuff has the ability to be a quantum communicator?”
“We have only surmised the Azure was used in the People’s technology as an ansible communicator,” Lilith said.
“But it’s possible, right?”
The bot caught the edge of the door and skittered out along the wall and out of sight. “Yes.”
“That is a formidable spy tool,” Bakook said. The room was again silent.
“Lilith?”
“Yes, Mom?”
“I want you to use the quantum communicator, the ansible, and send out fleet recognition codes. Use your records and the IDs of the ships out there. Start with the Fiisk we haven’t entered yet.”
“One moment,” she said. A second later she looked at Minu in surprise. “I have a system normal response.”
“Tell it to disarm.”
“It responds in kind.”
There was a moment of jubilation from all those present. “We figured out that mystery,” Minu said after the celebration died down.
“And added another,” Aaron pointed out.
Minu nodded. How had the People found a way to make a crystalline material so ubiquitous that they put it in every computer chip in the galaxy? She mentally added it to the list of the thousand other mysteries she’d answer some day, if she lived long enough.
“Right. Now, let’s get back to work. Lilith, contact and disarm all the derelicts. Kal’at, let’s send out some bots and verify that we can safely board. We have a lot to do.”
* * * * *
Chapter 20
March 13th, 535 AE
Deep Space, Ghost Fleet #2, The Frontier
The deactivation commands worked perfectly. Minu was sorely tempted to race over and examine the two Kiile carriers to see what they offered, but there was too much to do on the Fiisk. The arrival of two shiploads of Beezer helped, but some of them were new to space.
The Beezer all reacted the same when first exposed to space. They were useless for the first several shifts as they became acclimated and got the excitement out of their systems.
During the first shift, Minu boarded a shuttle and flew over to Ibeen Epsilon. She found the exterior almost covered with huge, space-suited grazers, all bouncing around, staring at the void, and generally frolicking in the most dangerous environment imaginable.
“Cows in space,” Aaron said, a laugh in his voice.
“Who’d have thought they’d take to it like that?” Minu wondered.
“You’ve been to Serengeti,” Aaron said.
“Sure. More times than I care to admit.”
“So, what is it like?”
Minu recalled one of her many trips. The cities were almost invisible. There were vast plains of rolling grasslands in all directions, then a building or an underground transit tunnel punching through the side of a hill, then disappearing into another hill. There were no forests, just endless, open, sky.
“I see what you mean. It’s like their planet in three directions, not two.” Aaron grinned.
The Ibeen was crowded with Beezer who were quickly becoming experts on the big transports. When Minu first boarded, she expected chaos. Then the two functional Ibeen arrived, full of extra parts from the previous salvage. They evaluated the new ship and, inside an hour, pronounced it repairable. They christened it the Ibeen Zeta.
The primary stores on Ibeen Zeta were armaments and medical supplies. Lilith reviewed the inventory, deemed the armaments useful, and sent shuttles from the Fiisk to begin transferring them. The medical supplies were split fifty-fifty between the humans and the Beezer.
“We’re going to have to bring Cherise or a Logistics team on future runs,” Minu announced at a meeting that evening.
“I agree,” Lilith said. “While I have no problem ascertaining what might be of military use, I am having trouble planning for their disposition.”
“As part of our deal, the Beezer have agreed to store material on Serengeti and in their colony.” Minu noted that she needed to arrange for a Logistics team to go to Serengeti the next time she communicated with home. What was planned as a quick grab of the ghost fleet had turned into a major operation.
Minu looked at the display showing Ibeen Zeta in computer relief. Two of the huge cargo balls were damaged beyond repair. They had been stripped down to component parts and loaded into another cargo ball. The salvage crew had also detached cargo modules and moved them around so the missing ones were on opposite sides to balance the weight.
“The Beezer reported a missile hit to the controls took the transport out. As Lilith told us, the Ibeen operated on special AI, akin to Combat Intelligences, but they were also able to operate fully autonomously for extended periods. Since the Beezer don’t have the AI and, therefore, operate the ships manually, it was easy to bring it back online.”
