They took up their usual positions on the sofa and immersed, moving rapidly to sub-quantal space, where they found a very worried-looking Barth waiting for them.
‘This is dreadful. We don’t have much time.’
‘We know. Maybe less than you think. Look Barth, this is what we’re going to do.’ Josh explained the details of the new arrangements so that Barth could ensure there was a steady stream of Founders to escort out. ‘We’re confident we’ll manage a full evacuation in time,’ he finished.
‘Good to hear. I’ll get on it now. I’ve already got the first two ready and waiting. There won’t be any trouble getting the rest in line after that shockwave.’
He disappeared, and Josh and Tao proceeded to piggy-back their respective Founders and transport them to normal space. Chard was performing his usual role, in charge of the spark generator, and it wasn’t long before he spotted a problem. There was a natural limit to how frequently the thing could be discharged. They had been using it about once every seven minutes, and the new schedule stipulated once every four minutes. Re-charging couldn’t be accomplished that quickly, the natural maximum being one discharge every five minutes.
‘Shit!’ Josh began pacing and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration as he did the maths. ‘That’ll just about work, but it’ll take us right up to the forty-eight-hour deadline. You sure you can’t coax a little more out of it, Chard?’
‘I’m absolutely positive. This is the charging time. If I fire before that, you’ll get a substandard charge and that will affect your ability to move the Founders.’
‘What about increasing the charge and hitting two of us together?’
‘It still works out the same, I’m afraid. The available charge will be distributed between the two of you, but the charging time will increase proportionately. Josh, I’m sorry, but there’s no way round this.’
‘Okay.’ Josh stood for a moment thinking frantically. Theoretically, this was possible, but it was a hell of a gamble to be taking with such high stakes. There must be some other way. ‘We need another spark generator,’ he muttered.
Sol stuck his hand in the air. ‘I’ll see about that. They might just have another one where this came from. You get on with the evacuation and leave this to me.’
‘Thanks Dad. Best of Luck.’ Josh immersed again.
Sol glanced at Deira. ‘Be back soon, Dee.’
‘Do you really think John might get his hands on another one?’
‘I don’t honestly know, but there’s no harm in asking. See you.’
He opened a portal into John Kendrick’s office and stepped through, arriving just as Kendrick was showing someone out. He turned as Sol appeared and shrugged his shoulders.
‘What now? I hope you’re looking after my spark generator.’
‘Yeah, John, it’s worth its weight in gold.’ Sol sat and waited until Kendrick had returned to his desk. ‘Thing is, we’re running out of time. There are a few more Founders left to evacuate and not enough time to do it in. I presume you felt the recent quake?’
‘You mean the earthquake? Yes, of course, but we’re used to those in this neck of the woods.’
‘John, it wasn’t just an earthquake.’
‘Meaning what?’
‘It was a universe quake. It affected the entire space-time continuum. And it’s because the universal constants are beginning to degrade.’
‘Oh shit!’ It finally dawned on Kendrick what Sol was talking about and his face went white. ‘Can’t you speed up the evacuation?’
‘That’s the problem. Your spark generator’s doing a great job, but the charging time’s limiting our speed of evacuation.’ He came to the crunch. ‘Any chance of a second one? For the sake of the universe?’
‘Oh shit.’
Kendrick was on his comm in an instant. Apparently, he’d gained some special status in the higher reaches of government, because he was patched through to the Pentagon in double-quick time. Sol sat back and twiddled his thumbs anxiously as he tried to make sense of the ensuing one-sided conversation. It didn’t sound good. Finally, Kendrick ended the call and stared fixedly at Sol.
‘No dice,’ he said, in a voice that seemed to anticipate impending doom. ‘It’s not that they won’t let me have another one – they just don’t have one. It was never felt they’d have much use for even one, and there was no imperative to make more.’
‘What about other countries? Surely, the good old US of A isn’t the only one to have one of these?’
‘I’ll get straight on it.’ Kendrick activated his comm again, ‘I wouldn’t get your hopes up, though. What size spark do you need?
‘Five hundred terajoules.’
‘Oh God. I wouldn’t think anyone’s got anything approaching that. This is extremely high-end technology, ultra-top-secret. I’ll get back to you if I find one.’
‘We’ve only got a couple of days, tops.’
‘I’ll do everything I can.’
‘I know you will, John. I just hope something turns up.’ Sol opened a portal and stepped through. Deira was waiting anxiously for him and he shook his head. ‘No good, Dee. The Pentagon only had one, and we’ve got it. He’ll try and source another, but he isn’t confident.’
‘Shit, shit, shit!’ Deira started pacing, and Sol watched her bleakly. She could pace as much as she liked, but it wouldn’t do any good.
‘Dee,’ he said, ‘it’s still possible, you know. We don’t know exactly how much time’s left. We might have more than we think.’
Deira glared at him. ‘And we might have considerably less!’ She resumed pacing, occasionally slapping herself on the forehead in frustration. Sol sighed and kept quiet. There was no point in trying to talk her out of this. She’d just have to work it through for herself. Suddenly, she stopped, and her frown was replaced by a look of hope.
‘The El!’
‘Huh?’
‘The El. Sol, Micha offered to lend a hand if we needed anything. He’s got access to very advanced technology. He might well have something that would help. I’m going to see him.’
‘What, now? On your own?
Sol was about to protest, but it was too late. Deira had already used the procedures Josh had previously shown her and folded out to the Earth survey ship that was orbiting Mars. Captain Sleeman’s attitude had improved considerably since the first time she’d had dealings with him. Perhaps it was the changed circumstances, but he was certainly a different man, polite and more than happy to assist her with her onward fold. The X-ray scanner was duly brought on line and the El ship identified, allowing Hope to calculate its orbital path. After about ten minutes, she was ready to go.
‘Thanks for your help, Captain.’
‘You’re very welcome.’
It was as easy as she’d expected, the mentalic procedures Josh had given her and the calculations Hope had performed enabling her to form a portal directly onto the bridge of the El ship. Micha was superintending things from the Captain’s chair, but he hurried over when he saw her.
‘Agent, MacMahon,’ He enclosed her hand in a firm handshake. ‘I hadn’t expected to see you again so soon. How is Sol?’
‘Sol’s a bit blue, but otherwise he’s okay, thanks.’
‘Perhaps you should bring him to visit us. It might do him good.’
‘Thanks. I’ll bear that in mind.’ Deira grinned, wondering how Sol would respond to that invitation. Then she thought of something else. She’d come here for possible help with the evacuation, but she shouldn’t lose the opportunity of talking to Micha about the possibility of a rapprochement between the Eich and the Cthon. ‘Could we go somewhere a little quieter?’
Micha glanced around at the rest of the bridge crew, many of whom had stopped what they were doing and were listening to the conversation with interest. My apologies. Of course. Let’s adjourn to my ready-room.’
After a brief fight with one of the self-regulating chairs in Micha’s ready-room, Deira took the offered h
ot drink and waited while Micha settled himself in his seat.
‘So, what can I do for you?’
‘We were wondering whether you could do anything to get all the folded-space barriers taken down and some peace talks started. The Founders’ evacuation is proving very troublesome but, if we’re successful, we’ll also need the Eich and the Cthon talking to each other.’
‘I’ve already spoken to the Cthon and briefed them on the situation. As you might imagine, they weren’t very happy. So much mistrust has grown up between the two groups over such a long time that I can’t guarantee an immediate cessation of hostilities.’
‘But what would be gained by more attacks? Surely, they can see the logic of the situation?’
Micha sighed. ‘Unfortunately, we developed the Cthon to be a particularly rigid species. We wanted to be confident they’d carry out their pre-arranged task without deviation for as long as necessary. While I accept that the methods used to achieve that task have deviated considerably from what we intended, they’re still convinced that the Way should remain closed.
‘So, nothing to be done, then?’
‘I’m sure we’ll get there eventually, but it will take time. Rest assured, I’ll keep at it. Now, I may be wrong, but I don’t think this is the main purpose of your visit. You just indicated that getting the Founders out of sub-quantal space was proving to be difficult. So much so that you said, “if we’re successful”. I don’t like the sound of that.’
Deira explained as well as she could about the difficulty they’d initially had in getting the energy-bodies into normal space, and Micha listened politely, apparently understanding very well what she was describing.
‘The low energy potential problem. Did you find the obvious solution?’
Deira felt completely deflated. This had been the problem that none of them had been able to solve for weeks and then Sol – for God’s sake – had come up with the solution. And now Micha was talking about it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Which, she had to admit, it was.’
‘We used a spark generator to increase the energy potential of the agent-Founder combination.’
‘Yet somehow, that hasn’t worked, has it? We felt the universe quake out here too. You’re running out of time, yes?’
‘Yes. Our spark generator’s output isn’t sufficient to allow us to complete the evacuation in time. I wondered if you might have something that would help.’
‘I think I might have just what you’re looking for.’ Micha used his communicator to contact his Science Officer. ‘Ah, Tzaphki, would you mind bringing a PSG564 to my ready-room?’ He smiled at Deira. ‘I’m trying to get everyone familiar with English. We’ll be making ourselves known to your authorities soon.’
‘Oh, good.’ Deira said, a little vaguely. ‘And a PSG564?’
‘That’s the designation of our own form of spark generator. It’s a Portable Stimulating Gun. For its size, it’s very powerful and might be just what you’re looking for. It draws its power directly from any nearby fusion reactor – no wires necessary.’
A knock came at the door and Tzaphki entered carrying what looked to Deira like a modern semi-automatic machine rifle. He handed it to Micha, who passed it over to Deira. It was obviously made from some lightweight material because, despite being constructed for El use, she was able to manipulate it easily. She glanced up at Micha.
‘It feels like a gun.’
‘That’s why we’ve called it one. It’s extremely easy to use. Set your required energy pulse using this dial. I’m afraid the figures are in our notation and relate to our units, but that shouldn’t matter. I would begin in the mid-range and vary the output as you see fit. Then, you simply point and shoot, exactly as you would with a gun. Everything else is automatic. If you run into any problems with it, we can always supply you with a replacement. Worth a try, do you think?’
‘Hell, yes! It’s just what we need.’ She quickly finished her drink and stood, too excited to sit around any longer, and eager to get back to the evacuation effort. ‘Micha, I’m sorry if this seems rude, but I need to get moving.’
Micha stood too and briefly took her hand. ‘I think you do. It’s good to know we’re on the same side at last. Best of luck.’
‘See you soon.’ Deira performed the return fold straight into her living room and found that Sol hadn’t gone very far. He was sitting in his usual place on the sofa, waiting for her, and his face registered his surprise when she stepped through with her new acquisition. She hurried over to him.
‘Sol, I think I’ve got the solution.’
‘That machine gun you’re toting?’
‘Yep. This is a PSG564. Kind of like a portable spark generator. All we need now is a fusion generator to power it.’
‘I’m sure John will be able to source one of those.’ Sol stood, getting ready to fold out.
‘No need,’ Deira grinned. ‘I’ve already thought of that. We’ll use the engines of the Mars survey ship. Half of us will stay here with the original spark generator, and the other four will head to the ship and use the gun. Simple.’
Chapter 47
Deira’s plan worked perfectly, and, for once, the agents felt things were going their way. Deira, Josh, Tao and Victor stayed with the old spark generator while Dominique, Kadir, Pyotr and Chloe folded over to the survey ship, where they set up in the hold. Then the evacuation continued in earnest. After twenty-eight hours, they were down to the last forty or so Founders, and they were confident they’d be finished very soon.
Sol had wondered round the house doing this and that, and catching a good night’s sleep in between, but he was in the throes of terminal boredom by this stage. There was nothing he could achieve here, and he badly needed some time out. Perhaps another visit to Juliette? The last time he’d folded over to England he’d left Chard at home to help with the spark generator. However, he’d felt lost without him, so this time he arranged for Swift to do the honours and placed Chard back in his holster.
‘Fancy a little jaunt, buddy?’
‘In fact, that would be very pleasant,’ Chard said. ‘I was beginning to get a little bored doing such a mundane and repetitive task. Where were you thinking of going?’
‘Only over to Chayka’s lab to see Juliette. Take a little fatherly interest in what she’s up to. Our last meeting got a bit taken over by the spark generator.’
Sol folded to the usual spot in Chayka’s lab, next to Juliette’s workstation, and was interested to find a small crowd gathered round her. Chayka was there, as was Gary and a rather lovely-looking young lady. They were all staring intently over Juliette’s shoulder at something on her screen, and whatever it was must have been extremely interesting because they were so engrossed they didn’t notice his arrival. He sneaked up and peered over Gary’s shoulder.
‘Mind if I join the party?’ he said, causing Gary to jump almost out of his skin. He patted him on the back. ‘Sorry, Gary, I’ve a habit of doing that.’ He turned to the young woman. ‘I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure, miss. My name’s Sol – Sol MacMahon.’
The woman laughed. ‘Oh, I know who you are Sol.’
‘Then you’ve got the drop on me, I’m afraid. Have we met?’
‘In a manner of speaking. I’m Evara.’
‘The Founder that’s been working with the Prof? Good to meet you.’ He stared at her, wondering where they could have possibly met, then gave up and pointed at Juliette’s screen. ‘Something interesting you’ve got there?’
Gary was about to reply, when there was another quake. If anything, it was larger than the first one and, for one awful moment, Sol thought the entire lab might collapse. He was about to form a portal to get everyone to safety when it stopped again, leaving behind the period of “opaqueness”, which lasted for at least five minutes.
‘Shit,’ he said. ‘That was a big one. They should surely be getting smaller now that almost all the Founders are out.’
Gary cast a scared look at him
. ‘Nearly out? How many are left?’
‘Not many at all. Don’t worry yourself about it. They’re working their butts off to get finished. Should be done anytime now.’
‘Oh God!’
That wasn’t the reaction Sol had been expecting at all, and he saw that Gary wasn’t alone in looking panic-stricken. Everybody else was giving him horrified looks too, except for Chayka, of course. Juliette took it upon herself to explain.
‘Dad, Gary’s found something in the Founders’ data – something very unexpected.’
‘Well don’t keep me in suspense. What’s he found?’
Whatever it was must have been bad, because Gary looked frightened out of his wits. Juliette put a gentle hand on his shoulder to try to get him to calm down.
Come on,’ she said. ‘It’s your discovery. Tell him.’
Gary swallowed hard. ‘It’s bizarre actually. We know that it was the presence of the Founders in the early universe that resulted in the cosmic constants being set in the way they are – and if they hadn’t been set just so, there probably wouldn’t be stars and planets, let alone life, in the cosmos. Yet the data we have confirms that it’s the presence of the Founders in sub-quantal space that’s disturbing the very constants they helped set up.’
Sol nodded. ‘Yeah. I understand all that.’
‘It seems,’ Gary continued, ‘that the erosion of the constants by the presence of the Founders began soon after they were first initialised and has continued at an extremely slow rate ever since, only becoming evident after billions of years. Now, we’ve reached the tipping point, and if the Founders aren’t removed from sub-quantal space very soon the Universe as we know it is doomed.’
‘Gary, old son, you’re reporting old news,’ Sol said. ‘That’s why we’ve got the evacuation programme.’
‘Yes, but it turns out its more complicated than that.’ Gary licked his lips and swallowed again. ‘On further examination of the data, I discovered an anomaly.’
Gods of Titan- The Cosmic Constants Page 40
