Web of Worlds

by Michael Atamanov

  What should I say? If I weren’t in a time crunch, I would have told the Jarg to get stuffed. The earlier incident with the Great Miyelonian Priestess did plenty to teach me to be careful and stay out of political games that went over my head. I had no doubt that something mysterious was brewing, possibly with big consequences. Otherwise what was the point of the Jarg being so secretive? Why go inventing strange delivery schemes if they could simply send a package by regular mail? No, he needed this to be handed off personally and by a player Leng Keetsie-Myau would know and let near. I could smell the potential for trouble from a long way off. There, the game even confirmed with a popup:

  Danger Sense skill increased to level fifty!

  However, unfortunately, the Jarg had calculated right. It really was critically important for me to see Leng Keetsie-Myau as fast as possible and obtain her permission to fly to Earth. I couldn’t imagine any way of doing that quickly other than accepting this strange spiny armadillo’s offer. Overall, with a heavy sigh, I agreed. He immediately lit up and burbled:

  “Agreement. Trust. Second floor. Sector 8-13. Bar Supernova Shine. In a quarter ummi. Here to be package.”

  With those words the Jarg extended me a heavy-looking black stone disk with a polished shine. After that, the Analyst strained to squeeze itself back into the fairly narrow ventilation shaft. A half minute later, he was out of sight. And twenty seconds after that, deep inside the shaft, I heard a loud but muffled pop, telling me that the messenger had chosen to self-destruct. Hrm... Not good.

  I started looking the strange package over from every angle. The large and smooth black stone weighed ten pounds. There were lighter veins in it, and in places even transparent microscopic granules. The system even identified it as nothing more than a simple stone:

  Polished stone. Aegirine with augite flecks.

  Mineralogy skill increased to level fifty-one!

  Mineralogy skill increased to level fifty-two!

  A very common mineral on earth, it was composed of everyday iron and sodium silicates. Depending on the proportions of these metals and other things mixed in, the color of aegirine could vary from black to dark green or brown. The only interesting property of aegirine, as far as I remembered from university, was that it formed beautiful elongated crystals. In fact, neither aegirine or augite were even semi-precious stones and were not often used for any purpose. I suspected that this mineral was not a rarity in the rest of the galaxy either. So if not the material, there must have been some other value.

  Maybe the color? Or did these veins on the polished stone form a pattern a knowledgeable Miyelonian could read? Just then, Tini came back from the thieves and I asked my ward whether his race had any beliefs connected with black stones. Maybe giving one as a gift to the Miyelonian commander would be a mortal offense. Or maybe it was the opposite and was a sign the messenger could be trusted.

  The kitten considered it, stroked his nose comedically and honestly answered that he hadn’t heard of it. Still he had another gift to brag about — a special little machine for giving color tattoos directly through fur without needing to shave the skin first.

  “The local thieves gave it to me as a sign of respect! And they also promised that no thief on Kasti-Utsh III would touch either Captain Gerd Gnat or any other members of his team.”

  Authority increased to 53!

  I thanked my ward for the good work even though my authority among the local thieves was the last thing on my mind. It was much more important to get to the bottom of this stone. As soon as Scanning reloaded, its rippled icon changing color from gray to green, I activated it.

  Scanning skill increased to level thirty-nine!

  Electronics skill increased to level sixty-three!

  There we go! As suspected, the polished stone was just a case and the real payload was inside. There were microscopic electronic chips, a power source, tensiometers along the whole inner surface to detect stress and pressure, and a large faceted crystal nearly half the size of the stone itself. And all the rest of the space was filled with... explosives! So I was holding a powerful bomb that would be sure to explode if I tried to open it recklessly. No, I definitely didn’t want to bring THIS to Leng Keetsie-Myau!

  I wiped the sweat off my forehead, then asked my companions to keep quiet so I could think. Most likely, this package was interesting because of the crystal, which looked like the kind often used as data drives. But I figured I’d better take the risk and open the case myself, pull out the drive and bring only it to the commander. Otherwise, if the bomb did go off, I’d be at fault in the death of the famed general. The Miyelonians would never forgive Gnat for that!

  What was more, I could easily see how the package opened. When I zoomed in the mini-map, I could clearly make out a seam and carving running sideways into the stone. I could not see it on the smooth exterior, but in the scan it was hard to miss. Basically, the two halves of the case could unscrew and come apart, but it had to be done very carefully, only applying pressure in places without a sensor or tensiometer. I also had an alternative method in my back pocket: turning off all the little detonators and sensors using Machine Control. I didn’t consider that seriously, though, because there were just too many of them.

  Before my moment of determination passed, I traded the Intelligence rings for +1 Perception ones and took off the armored gloves from my Listener Suit so I could feel the stone with my bare fingers. Then I asked my companions to go into the corner of the hall so they wouldn’t get hurt if I exploded. And I very well might have. Everyone obeyed except for Minn-O. My wayedda sat cross-legged on the floor and refused to go anywhere:

  “You’re my husband and, as your travelling wife, it is my right to share your fate!”

  I didn’t try and argue; I just didn’t have the energy. If my wife wanted to stay, let her stay. She could hold the flashlight so I could see better. I compared the scan map with the real stone a few times and, adjusting my finger position just a hair, warned Minn-O:

  “I can’t see the groove clearly enough in the scan, it’s very fine. I could easily make a mistake. So I’d say there’s a fifty percent chance that we’re gonna blow sky high. For that reason, I leave it up to you — clockwise or counterclockwise?”

  “What? Gnat, sorry, I don’t understand!”

  I belatedly realized that perhaps my wife’s magocratic world never had mechanical clocks like I was accustomed to, so terms like clockwise and counterclockwise were unfamiliar to Minn-O. No matter. I had already made up my mind and turned counterclockwise.

  Electronics skill increased to level sixty-four!

  Machine Control skill increased to level sixty-eight!

  You have reached level seventy-six!

  You have received three skill points (total points accumulated: six).

  How lucky! Noticing in passing that, with the six free skill points, my Electronics would already be high enough to use the ring-shaped Pyramid Signal Booster, I cautiously began unscrewing the halves of the stone. First rotation, second. There, just a little bit more. Open! I couldn’t hold back the cry of disappointment. The crystal drive was so thickly wrapped in a web of fine wires that pulling it out without breaking anything seemed impossible. But what to do?

  “Ayukh!” I called the Navigator over, who was cautiously peeking from around the corner. “Say, can you copy the data off this crystal? Just be careful. This thing is rigged to blow!”

  The furry Geckho, extending his big hands to the dangerous package, grabbed it and held it far away from his face. Then he turned toward me in surprise:

  “Captain, I have never seen such a large drive before, only read about them. I can read it, that contact edge is completely exposed. But I’m not sure our frigate has enough memory to hold everything. There’s at least a yottabyte! Maybe we could stick this thing into the main ship computer temporarily until we find another swappable drive...”

  “Yes, Ayukh, that’s exactly what we’ll do! I’ll bring this dangerous item to the
starship and connect it. You tell me how to do it. And Uline can try to find another gigantic drive like this, just without any explosives and wires. Let’s go back to the ship!”

  Pressed for time, doubting my intuition was a luxury I couldn’t afford. I didn’t carry the explosive item in my hands and just stashed it in my inventory. As far as I understood the game rules, no amount of shaking or walking could trigger an explosion in there. At the very least, I hoped so.

  * * *

  “Back so soon? Did the soldiers really impose on guests to the station by challenging them to a duel?” the same registration service employee greeted our return with an acrid note.

  Sensing open mockery in the Miyelonian’s voice, I first got indignant and wanted to say he was wrong, but I sharply rethought. And really, why not? Let him think so! It was a great explanation for our hasty return!

  “We decided to get better prepared and at least take a weapon with us,” I said, fleshing out the hastily constructed story, then changed topic. “On our way back, we heard a really loud boom to the right of the corridor. Like maybe something exploded or fell. I wanted to report that and ask if everything is going alright around here.”

  Psionic skill increased to level seventy-six!

  Mysticism skill increased to level twenty-five!

  Ugh, I didn’t mean to use magic. It just happened. The dispatcher wrinkled his whiskered nose, pressed his ears to his head and closed his eyes for a few seconds, which in his race meant embarrassment and uncertainty. Finally the Miyelonian admitted:

  “Yes, there is a Jarg here we just can’t seem to get rid of... He keeps crawling around the station even though its forbidden. Every time he dies when trying to overcome the automatic security system, but he still tries again. When I find out what ship he belongs to, I’ll fine that captain and its whole crew in full measure!”

  I already knew about the Jarg, though I didn’t say that we’d met. My group and I returned to the frigate. Thankfully the hangar was just two hundred yards from the registration control service desk. After that I personally interfaced the rigged crystal drive with the ship’s computer, not willing to entrust the sensitive operation to anyone else. Ayukh the Navigator told me how the computer was getting on:

  “Captain, this is a huge file. Based on the format, I’d say it’s a star map. It’ll come quite in handy, we can add it to the one in our ship. And there are also some encrypted files here. Without the password, we can’t get to them though.”

  “Copy everything!” I ordered and the Navigator quickly ran his claws over the touchscreen keyboard on the instrument panel.

  A minute passed, then another. I was looking at the clock with greater and greater impatience. Finally I couldn’t hold back and asked if it would take much longer. The old Navigator’s answer blew me away:

  “Another ummi and a half or so. Maybe two.”

  “Excuse me???”

  I had not accounted for this. Copying such a large amount of data would take ten hours, maybe more. But I didn’t have that kind of time! In just forty minutes I was supposed to be at Supernova Shine with a package for Leng Keetsie-Myau!

  “But Gerd Gnat, what did you want me to do? Just the star-map file is two yottabytes. The encrypted files are three times that! Wait, captain...” Ayukh turned to me, his face full of apprehension and even fear. I had already guessed that something bad had happened. “All the folders just permanently erased themselves! Looks like some kind of software protection. Only the star map file is still there and being copied to our ship computer. A half ummi and it’ll be finished.”

  Damn... I guess we had just given the hug of death to six yottabytes of data. And it was probably quite valuable and secret if the Jarg had fallen back on such difficult methods of packaging and delivery. Miyelonian command was not going to like this.

  Chapter Five. Big-Tail Warmongers

  EVEN HALF an ummi was around two hours and forty minutes, still too long. So I had to go to meet the Miyelonian commander before the copying was finished. I left the Navigator on the frigate to watch over the transfer and installation of the star map, and make sure none of the crew accidentally touched the crystal with its mesh of wires and explosives. I also told Minn-O La-Fin she should stay on the ship. The Princess was just not in a good place after her two days of uninterrupted gaming, yawning wide constantly.

  So she wouldn’t get offended, I veiled my true intentions with an order to contact General Ui-Taka in the real world. That would get her out of the game, and hopefully there she could get some rest. But also, now that the military conflict with the Dark Faction had started back up, I needed to know whether the enemy Strategist’s offer to meet on neutral territory remained in force. Most likely not. The greatest living commander of the parallel world would probably reach the conclusion that he could completely end the Human-3 Faction inside the ten-day-timeframe he previously offered. And that meant there was no more reason to negotiate. Minn-O’s mission was to figure that out and at the same time tell our enemy about our starship’s new time constraint. The earliest we could be there was six days. Not a huge difference, but I still figured it was worth reminding the enemy that harsh orbital bombardment was inevitable and could wipe all their nodes off the surface of the virtual Earth. And I decided not to mention that the Tolili-Ukh X star frigate could theoretically end up orbiting Earth much sooner than that.

  Another important event was that repair bot Kirsan had given me back the disk-shaped artifact after removing the racial requirement:

  Pyramid Signal Booster (Listener armor suit accessory).

  +3% armor suit forcefield capacity per level.

  +15% Scanning radius.

  +70% more data transmitted to Pyramid.

  Statistic requirements: Intelligence 26, Perception 26.

  Skill requirements: Electronics 70, Machine Control 50.

  Attention! Your character’s Electronics level is insufficient to equip this item.

  Finally! I stuck my six free points into Electronics, raising it to seventy and stuck the bronze ring, which was covered in ancient symbols, into the special indentation in my armor’s chest-piece. Also, I did have to change rings first because, without them, I didn’t have enough Intelligence. I was expecting some overeager messages from my energy suit about that, but it barely seemed to notice, as if this was just a given. The Relicts must have replaced elements of their armor or added new equipment fairly regularly, so it didn’t merit separate messages.

  At any rate, my suit’s defensive shield had changed radically. Where just a moment ago it was 3500 points, it was now 11480 in the blink of an eye. And that allowed my Gnat to survive one direct shot from a sniper rifle. If I got lucky, I might even be able to survive two. Or ten from a light blaster or laser pistol. That was exactly what I needed before entering the Kasti-Utsh III station proper, where Miyelonian troops might be itching for a fight. It was a shame the Annihilator was still being repaired and the only weapon I had on me was the nonlethal Paralyzer. Still, shooting was never Gnat’s strong side and now, with the class change, I had started specializing in psionic.

  After that I put the Perception rings back on because I wanted to check the crystal drive’s connection to the power source. Maybe the bomb could be disarmed without undoing the many wires. But no, studying the open black stone showed that it was not so easy to detach the power source. It was fused securely to the hardened explosive. Maybe it could be extracted if the explosive was warmed and made pliable again? I didn’t have the Chemistry skill at all, so I was nowhere near knowing what this was made out of or how the explosive would react to heat. In any case, there was no time to experiment. I left it as it was.

  And I was already approaching the external airlock when I was called out to by Eduard Boyko, who was standing guard at the frigate exit:

  “Captain, come here a minute. I’ve got some important things to tell you.”

  The Space Marine waved the armored hand of his exoskeleton suit, calling me over to s
ome big containers waiting to be loaded onto our ship. This was the shipment Uline got for us to bring to Earth. I sent Tini and Avan Toi to the hangar exit, promising to catch up to them, then went after Eduard. Imran was there waiting for us next to the containers, having just come back from the Dome and seemingly wanting to share fresh news.

  But I was wrong, they had no news from the faction. The Dagestani athlete first made sure there were no other crew around, and no one was listening to us. Then he pointed at three semi-transparent plastic containers which looked to contain some large equipment:

  “Gerd Gnat, I know what these are. I’ve seen one before when that Dark Faction antigrav crashed. They’re antigravitational thrusters for our enemies’ Sio-Mi-Doris. And there are three of them, just what they need for a heavy armored assault vehicle. We just shot down one of those over the Centaur Plateau, and now the enemy is buying thrusters to build a new one and replenish their losses.”

  “Imran, how can you even see anything in there?” I asked in dubious surprise, walking around the big plastic boxes. Something like cubes, each side was around eight feet. “I can’t see a damn thing! And there’s nothing written on the packaging, just some codes I can’t understand. Eduard, walk around the container and shine your flashlight from the other side so we can see shadows at least.”

  The plastic of the three large containers was translucent and allowed us to see the outlines of the impressively large cargo inside, but I just couldn’t make anything out clearly. I had to put on my helmet, lower the IR Lens to get the +2 Perception bonus and basically press my nose into the wall before anything tripped.

  Geckho Space Company GG-880E antigravity thruster.